Chapter 5:

Gunfire could be heard...screams of men and women could be heard all over...burning buildings light up the night sky...A lone figure in the middle of a a bloodied street stood still... looking at all the carnage... bright green eyes loomed over a man pleading for his life...pointing a rifle at the hapless civilian...

"All of this...is because of you..."

"No, damn it, NO!"

"All these lives are gone, not by my hand but by yours... the bloodied hands of a traitor..."

"No it's not my fault! I tried to help them!"

"Your betrayal is the reason that these people died... for whatever good you try to do, it will never redeem you of your past"

"SHUT UP,SHUT UP!"

It's bright eyes stared at him, hate and rage emanating from it. Noticing a gun pointing at him, he tried his best to move but found it impossible. An unseen force shackled him in place. Until one echoing gunshot ended the torment

X woke up, sweating and panting heavily. He looked at his surroundings almost as if he was expecting an enemy to lunge at him and end his life. He laid his head once more on top of his pillow and let out a sigh.

It's getting worse...I need to get back before the inhibitors give out or else who the hell knows what will happen.

Looking around his room once again, he was greeted by the morning sun's rays. Slowly they crept into the room, he could here chattering and commotion outside. No doubt everyone else was already up and about, taking care of their designated tasks or enjoining themselves. Getting of from his bed, he quickly stretched his body, as he did he heard a distinctive poofing sound near him.

"Well, good morning to you!" Discord yelled in an overly happy tone but he didn't receive a reply. Turning around to look at the grey pegasus, he saw X staring outside the window. In another puff of smoke, he reappeared in front of him

"You alright my green eyed friend?" Discord asked. He could notice that something was severely bothering him

"Yeah, I'm fine" X replied as he shook his head

Discord materialized a small teapot "How about a cup of tea to give you some energy for today" he said as he poured some of the liquid into a small cup" It'll perk you right up!"

"How's about you tell me how to get you free" X replied "The sooner I do this the better it will be for all of us"

"You know it's not a good thing to be in a hurry all the time. You may run yourself ragged" Discord said, he took a small sip of tea and looked at it with disdain "Hmm... needs more sugar"

"Thanks for the advice, now tell me what to do"

"Alright,alright. Take it easy." Discord said, poofing once more this time on top of his head "First you need to go to the garden and find my statue"

"The garden? Why would they keep you in a garden instead of having your statue either locked up or hidden away?

"Simply because it's a harmonious place. Too much if you ask me" Discord replied "The very ambiance of that place contributes to the magic that has me sealed"

"So what? I go there and smash some flowers and then you'll be free?" X said, his task was far to simple. He didn't like it when things sounded simple as it would usually mean that something could either go horribly wrong or a trap was waiting to be sprung

From his tone of voice, Discord knew that X was weary of a possible catch to his deal "I know it sounds easy, but afterward comes the hard part"

"That would be?" X asked as he raised an eyebrow

"Dealing with the contingents of Royal Guards who will try to stop us and then there's the matter of the princesses of the Sun and Moon"

"If you get these bands off me, then I'll have access to my psionics. That shall make it easier to deal with the guards and princesses"

"Whoa, hold on there!" Discord tugged his ears slightly "I have no doubt that you are gifted in magic, but against the two of them? You wont stand a chance!"

"You haven't seen me in action" X replied exuding confidence in his voice

"And you haven't seen them either. Trust me, I'll deal with them" Discord said as he laid on X's back. A wicked grin ran across his face "After all, I have a score to settle with those blasted ponies"

"Fine then, let's get this thing over with" X said as he exited the room, Discord making himself small enough to hide in his mane

"So I'm gonna watch him first?" Applejack asked

"No way! There's still some lessons he needs to learn so I'm going to watch over him!" Rainbow exclaimed getting right on her face. Seeing the two bickering got Twilight on edge, she wanted silence so she could focus on her research but with them having another debate it would be impossible. She finally snapped and gave them a stern look

"Girls! It doesn't matter who watches him, so long as we keep an eye on him like the princess mentioned. It's alright if you both want to watch him" Twilight replied as she picked a book

"Now please, I need some silence to focus"

"Well then, how about we both watch him" Applejack said. Rainbow nodded in agreement "What will you gals be doing in the mean time?"

"Since X is not a pony per se, I have no idea how he will react to the Elements. I need to figure out if it will help him or if he might end up suffering any unwanted effects. I'll spend my time here in the library until it's my turn to watch him" Twilight replied, quickly she buried her head on a book, taking notes at the same time.

"What about you Rarity?" Applejack asked

"I'll take the opportunity to finish some designs I have in mind. I sure hope he grants me the opportunity to try out the material of that suit" Rarity replied, her mind coming up with many possibilities

"Flutter?" Dash asked as she looked at the timid pony

"Well... since you're already going to watch him... I'll wait for my turn then. I wouldn't want to overwhelm him" she timidly replied

"Ok then, let's get going. I want to race him again!" Dash exclaimed as she left the room

Before leaving Applejack turned around "By the way, any one seen Pinkie?" she asked

"Knowing her, she's probably getting a party ready for X. After all he still hasn't been officially welcomed by her. She'll turn up soon enough" Twilight replied as she looked at another book

Applejack nodded at her and left the room. Once again, Twilight focused on the book she was reading when she heard a soft voice "Um...Twi...can I ask you something?" Fluttershy said as she slowly walked towards her

Twilight would prefer to keep focusing on her books but opted to answer the pegasus question "Sure, what's on your mind?" Twilight asked

"Well...its about...stallions...is there something they really like?" Fluttershy asked

Twilight stood silent for a moment, trying to figure out why she would ask such a thing "I guess it depends on who it is. One must consider their personality and other traits to figure out what they might like"

"What about... nice things? Like flowers...because I was thinking about getting some for X..."

"Wait, for X?" Twilight pondered for a moment. She put together the meanings behind her questions when she understood what she was trying to say "Flutter, do you...like X?"

Fluttershy blushed at her words and nodded slowly. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other with surprise "Last night, I went to his room. We talked and then I hugged him... only when I did it... it felt very nice... like when I go out to pick flowers... only even better"

"Well dear, it looks like you may be falling for him"" Rarity replied

The yellow pegasus stood there blushing "I think you should try giving him some flowers, I have a feeling he would like that" said Twilight

"You really think so?" Fluttershy asked

Twilight gave her a smile and nodded. "Okay, I'll go to the castle garden to pick some for him" Flutter replied as she left the room

Rarity quickly turned towards Twilight "X and Fluttershy?"

"I believe X may have a soft spot for her, I could tell there was something going on with him when she was near him" Twilight said as she continued to read her books

"You are perceptive" Rarity replied, focusing on her work as well

Arriving at the garden, X was greeted with the sigh of many flowers of various colors, shapes and sizes. He walked around the garden looking for the statue. The happy chirping of the birds were slowly grinding on Discord's mind. For a quick second he popped his head from X's mane to look around only to feel sick to his stomach

"Ugh, I really can't take it anymore" he said, hiding once more in X's mane

"What's wrong with you?" X asked. He could feel Discord shuffling around his mane

"What's wrong?! Look around! All of this harmony and sweetness, is driving me to sanity" Discord replied

X gave him a quizzical look "You're going...sane?"

"What kind of a chaotic being will I be if I'm alright in the head?! Sanity is the essence of order and that is just so bloody boring!"

"First time I've heard someone complaining about going sane" X replied. He kept walking around the garden, looking for the statue that held his freedom. Not an easy task as the garden was pretty extensive. He took flight for a moment and looked down at the garden, using his optic implant he scanned around every inch of it until he saw it. Swooping down on it's position, X looked at the statue depicting a Discord looking away in agony and fear. Almost as if something was causing him harm.

"This is it" X said. Quickly Discord jumped out and stood in front of X

"Alright, now you have to spread some chaos. An easy task for one such as yourself" Discord said giving him a smile

X looked at the many flowers that were around them, he slowly walked towards them and then began to stomp them. He felt silly for doing such a trivial thing. But if it meant that it would get him back to Umoja, then so be it. Discord was smiling all the time as he saw the grey pegasus destroying them, he heard a pair of birds chirping happily above a nearby tree branch.

"Deal with that awful sound while you're at it" Discord yelled. X complied, he approached the tree and with all his strength, bucked as hard as he could scaring off the birds.

Fluttershy could hear a commotion nearby, she decided to inspect what was causing all the ruckus and what could be interrupting the happy melodies of the birds. Her face turned to shock and horror, seeing X stomping and killing them. It made her swell up with emotions raging from sadness to rage against him.

"Why would you do this?" she said in a soft tone to herself, tears slowly rolling on her face. Before she confronted the pegasus, she looked at Discord's statue and notice that it was breaking. Once again she was stunned when she saw a miniature Discord smiling and laughing

"Oh no! He must be forcing X to do this... if this keeps up he'll be free... I better warn the others!" Fluttershy quickly scampered off, hoping that her warning would be on time

Discord gave out a content sigh, he could feel himself getting stronger. Turning around, he could see that cracks were beginning to appear in his statue. As X continued his flower killing spree, Discord slowly began to vanish. The cracks now getting more and more prominent until a bright light blinded X momentarily.

X regained his vision and now stood in front of a large Discord "OH YES! DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO BE BACK!" Discord yelled, he stretched all his limbs

"Still can't believe all I had to do was this, feel like a damn fool" X muttered as he approached him

"Now, now no need to feel down my friend. Look at it this way, its so simple that who would think about doing it"Discord replied as he sat down a large throne that appeared from thin air

"Things this simple don't sit to well by me" X said

"Then allow me to cheer you up" Discord snapped his fingers, quickly the bands on X's hoofs disintegrated "You really shouldn't over complicate your life, it's bad for your health"

X could feel his body back to normal. He could feel the psionic energy concentrating heavily in his mind, almost begging to be used. "Finally, back to being a psion"

"See? I treat my friends right. Now what say we pay a visit to sweet Celestia and her lovable sister, Luna?" X nodded in approval, both began to make their way towards the throne room.

"Tia, I told you we should have been stricter with him" Luna said as she paced around the throne

Celestia stood still, her eyes closed as if she was meditating "As I said before, everything will be ok"

"How can you be so calm when we have Discord and a raging pony helping him?" Luna replied looking directly at her eyes

"It's not Discord, but what could happened to X that worries me" Celestia said as she stood from her throne

"You're worried about him? What he's done merits a lifetime of imprisonment not some misguided pity!"

"Discord has him fooled, as soon as we deal with him, then we'll focus on X" Celestia replied. Turning her attention towards Twilight and her friends she addressed them "My faithful student Twilight, I know you and your friends have worries for X. But assure you that he shall not come to any harm. You must focus on Discord and leave him to us"

"Yes princess" Twilight replied. All the ponies bowing to her and Luna. The six elements gathered together and readied themselves for what was about to enter the room. Each took their respective amulets and gathered in a circle

"Jeez, what's going on with X?" Applejack said "He knows that Discord is bad news, so why help him?"

"He thinks Discord can get him back to his home, that's why he's helping him" Twilight replied

"Don't worry, I'll knock some sense into X!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she hovered in the air and shadowboxing at the same time

"I really hope this doesn't take too long, there's still several things left to get ready!" Pikie exclaimed, bouncing in the same place over and over

Fluttershy stood silent as her friends discussed the matter. Twilight noticed her brooding and walked towards her "Don't worry, we'll help him Flutter" The yellow pegasus looked at her, she could feel the confidence of her friend and thought that everything will turn out for the better. She smiled at her friend.

"HALT! IN THE NAME OF..." before he could finished his sentence, X entered the armored clad unicorn's mind and upon sighting his main nervous center, proceeded to disable him. The guard fell over unconscious as other began to rush him.

"Ten against one? Not fair, they should have at least sent more at once" Focusing his mind, X launched a psionic wave at the group of guards approaching him. The attack was as if a gale of wind entered the hallway, knocking all of them into the walls and furnishings rendering most unconscious in the process

"Over there!" yelled out an Earth pony guard. Several others joined the charge. X tried to use the same tactic of entering their minds and incapacitating them but found it very difficult.

Hmm...so the earth variant is more resistant to mental attacks...fine by me, I'll do this the old fashion way

Right as the lead guard was about to tackle him, X quickly bucked him right under his chin. The force of his hit, sent the guard stumbling back. Using his psionics, he focused them on his limbs. Now having higher reflexes and a stronger hitting power, he began to beat down on all that approached him. Amidst the waves of guards that came after him, there would be some pegasi that would attempt to strike him from the air, but being one himself, he would take the fight to the sky and sent them crashing back towards the ground. X continued to fight until he reached the throne room's door. Standing between him were one last group of guards.

"If you don't want to have a mind fray, I suggest you stand aside" X said giving off a smug look

All the guards stood silent, looking at him with anger. Two of them rushed him, but quickly were put down by his psionics, another one tried to surprise him with an air attack however this one suffered the same fate as his two companions. One last guard stood ready, X tried to enter his mind but couldn't.

"I've sealed my mind with magic" said the unicorn "You won't take me out that easily"

"Good, it was starting to get boring" X replied, smiling at him

Both rushed each other, X quickly aimed at his opponents hoofs, with the intention of crippling his mobility. But the unicorn saw this and dodge him. In retaliation, he turned around and bucked at X, landing a solid blow to his chest. He stumbled back as the wind was knocked out of him. Before he could recover, the guard lunged at him and aimed at his fore-leg, swiping him of his hoofs.

"Not bad" X said as the unicorn stood over him

"You ain't so bad yourself. For you to go through many of my troops with ease, it shows that your a capable warrior. Maybe after you finally get some sanity, I may put in a good word for you as a possible guard"

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to decline" quickly X swiped at his hoofs, causing the unicorn to fall to the ground. Both stoop up in an instant and readied themselves for a second round. This time X launched a full assault, bucking and swiping at the guard. Most of his attacks hit their mark, the unicorn now had a hard time keeping up. The sudden burst of speed at his opponent troubled him. Before he could properly retaliate, one final buck to the face caused him to fall once more to the ground. He slowly drifted of into blackness as X's now stood over him.

He fought well...might have been a quicker fight if I knew how to properly use this form... still he did well... X looked at the unicorn and noticed the mark on his flank. A bright shining shield was depicted. Before he entered the room, a voice called out to him

"Not bad at all, you certainly did well" Discord said as he suddenly appeared on top of him

"Where the hell did you run off to?" X asked shaking his head

"I was watching you from afar, I need to conserve my energy for what lies ahead" Discord replied "Now let's get this amazing streak of good luck going. Onwards my jade eyed friend!"

"Hello everyone! It's so nice to see you all!" Discord cheerfully yelled as he and X entered the room "Dear Celestia you look ravishing as usual and Luna... you're still alive! That's nice"

Both rulers stared at him, the seriousness of their looks would have driven anypony crazy with fear but Discord saw it as mere stubbornness on their part. "You've all met my friend, right?" X slowly made his way next to Discord. All the ponies in the room looked at him with various looks, ranging from worry,anger and even pity at some point.

Celestia looked t the gray pegaus and addressed him directly "X, you must know that Discord is simply using you. He may promise you one thing but you would never receive it" she said in an effort to reason with him

The chaotic creature leaned over towards X "Don't worry I'll fulfill my part of our deal. But first you must deal with those six" Discord said

"What? I agreed to help you out with the guards and princesses, but never to harm them" X replied

Discord grabbed X's head "Don't go soft on me my friend. Tell you what, I'll give you some inspiration" He gave a slight squeeze and let him go, X stumbled back and placed his hoofs on his head. His body was shaking ad his wings were flapping in an erratic manner

"Wha... what the hell did you do to me?!" X yelled, shaking his head

"Well I shut down those pesky inhibitors that prevented you from fully embracing your chaotic side, you can thank me later" X was struggling to contain his mind. Memories ran rampant on his minds, the associated emotions of each one caused him great stain.

"X..." Fluttershy whispered with worry. Celestia land Luna looked at each other and readied their magic, their horns glowing with power.

"Luna, keep X contained while we deal with Discord" Celestia said. Luna nodded at her and charged her magic. She casted a a shield around X trying to keep him form interfering with the bout. Inside X was squirming around, residual energy managed to passed unchecked in his mind. Psionic blasts hit the purple tinted shield. Luna was strongly gifted in magic like her sister, but the strength that X exhibited caught her slightly off guard

"Tia! You best hurry" Luna exclaimed.

"Come on girls, we'll show Discord that Friendship is stronger than his trickery" all the ponies nodded. Focusing on their amulets, the intensity of the magic levitated them all. Discord looked at them with anger, he knew what would happen if he didn't stop them.

"Oh no you don't!" He exclaimed, launching a burst of magic at them. Before it could have impacted them, a beam of light intercepted his attack. Discord turned and looked at both princesses, giving of an audible growl. Before he could attack once more, a bright beam of many colors was heading towards him.

"I will not be turned to stone again!" Discord exclaimed, he directed all of his magical energy at the beam, trying his best to either dissipate it or deflect it. Luna and Celestia added their magic to the beam, slowly it crept towards Discord.

"I shall not return to that blasted garden" The beam stopped a couple of inches away from him. He tried his best to protect himself. X's powers continued to grow, his mind had reached a critical point

Rage...feed...FEED THE RAGE! X gave out a mental yell. A large psionic wave hit Luna's shield. It was too much for it to handle, it burst open like a balloon. The wave was like a sonic boom, causing the windows in the room to break. The floor where X was standing cracked under him. The princesses were surprised to see X. Part of his mane covered his left eye, only his bright green eye could be seen. Discord gave of a chuckled, he knew that X was now free from Luna.

"Nice display of chaos my friend, now what say you get those ponies" Discord said, still holding at bay the burst of magic

X continued to struggle with his mind, for a quick second he looked at the spectacle before him. As he looked at Discord a large frown was forming on his face "You...tried to screw me over... you'll pay for that!" X focused his psionics and unleashed a psionic blast. At the same time he dashed towards him, hoping to break a few bones.

Discord felt the psi blast hit him, he flinched for a moment then looked for his attacker. "Why you ungrateful little gnat" he saw X running at him at full speed his green eye looking directly at him. He extended his arm and hit him with all the strength he could muster. The hit sent X' flying back towards a wall. Celestia looked at X with worry, in response to to Discord's attack she focused her magic as well. This gave it enough strength for it to penetrate Discord's defenses

"No, it's too soon!" Discord yelled "I didn't even get to mess with the lives of those in Ponyville" slowly his body was turning gray, his skin slowly turned rock solid with one final yell, he was sealed once more. Slowly Twilight and her friends descended towards the ground.

"We did it" Twilight panted. The ordeal took a toll on her. Fluttershy quickly trotted of towards X. He was on the ground still shaking and his eyes closed.

"X! X!" she yelled. She gently shook his body trying to get him to come about. Seeing that he wasn't responding, she began to sob, until she felt a hoof touching her back

"It's alright dear Fluttershy" Celestia said "I'll do my best to help him"

"As will I" Luna added

Fluttershy looked back at the stallion, he was slowly moving his head and mumbling. The rest of the ponies approached them, a saddened look was on their faces. The yellow pegasus embraced X as several ponies wearing doctor's clothing arrived. They picked up X and left the room, the six Bearers following closely behind

"You're majesty, the guards aren't severely injured. Just some bruises and some magical induced headaches" said one of the medical ponies

Celestia gave out a sigh "That's good to hear" she was deeply worried about her subjects.

"We'll have the best doctors help him"

"No, I'm afraid that this situation requires our intervention" Celestia replied "Luna, please follow me"

Both regal ponies left the room in a hurry.

Well that's the fifth. I shan't lie, I sorta struggled here, the mix of writers block and work can take a toll on one. Even so I hope you like it. If not then eh, what can you do? You're entitled to your opinion... even if you are dead wrong. I kid, anyway let's roll to the next one, hope you have a nice day and it's a couple of days late, but happy new year, hope everything goes better for everyone this year.

P.S. Spelling errors tick me off! You spot anything go ahead and set me a blaze with a PM. I'm gone.