Chapter 6:

"I'm sorry your majesty, but we haven't been able to make progress in bringing him back" a doctor explained himself to Celestia "We've done our best to try and enter his mind, but it's as if a battle raging inside him, we cannot manage to get solid connection"

"It's as I fear then " Celestia whispered "Thank you doctor for everything you and your colleges have done, but I'm afraid that this situation requires our intervention"

"Very well then, we'll leave this to you" the pony replied as he bowed. After leaving, Luna and her entered the room where X was held. When they both entered, they saw X on a bed. He was slowly shacking his head and sweating. Twilight and her friends were watching them from a glass window. Fluttershy never took her gaze away from X, she tried to contain herself but a sniffle would at times go unchecked.

"Don't worry, he'll be alright" Twilight said in an effort to comfort her. The yellow pegasus looked at her and smiled briefly before looking back at X. Both princesses got at his side and looked at each other intently

"Are you ready Luna?" Celestia asked

"Yes, let's begin sister" Luna replied. Both of their horns began to glow. Several medical ponies stood at attention in case anything went wrong. The room stood quiet as the room was illuminated by magic.

Rain began to pour. Lightning would occasionally strike, revealing the destroyed buildings that surrounded the vicinity. A single figure stood out midst the destruction. Slowly it walked around the streets, pausing at times to look around. Clearly looking for something, yet still not managing to find what it looked for. For several long minutes it continued to search, ignoring the downpour that continued to fall

"Where could he be?" the voice clearly belonged to a woman "X!" she called out, looking around for any signs of life.

She continued to search around the town, eventually she stumbled unto a large building, it resembled a clock tower albeit extremely damaged. Staring at it intently, she quickly gave out a sharp gasp when lightning struck. For a moment, she saw a humanoid shadow where the clock once stood. Immediately she entered the building and made her way to the top, taking careful steps to avoid destabilizing the building. Arriving at the top, she began to look around, avoiding the debris that was around her.

"X? Where are you?" she asked, the downpour outside, still raging, echoed across the interior.

"X, please answer me" she said once more, this time she received a reply

"What are you doing here?" a voice asked

"I'm here to help you X. To bring you back" she replied, still searching for him

"You've wasted your time, there's no helping me. No reason to"

"Yes there is, please tell me where you are" the woman said, once again only the sound of rain was the only thing she could hear "X?" She slowly walked towards the source of the voice. A large bolt of lightning lit up the night sky, when she saw him sitting near the large hole that once held a clock. A green light where his eye should be was the telltale sign that it was X

"Why do you persist?" X asked staring outside. A rifle sat near his leg, his hand on top of it ready to pick it up and use it.

"Because I believe that you deserve to live and be happy" she replied as she approached him

"No such thing as happiness, only misguided optimism and delusions of life" X replied looking at her "Go back Luna, leave me to wither in peace"

She ignored his last statement, instead she got closer and sat across him. What little light entered the room showed her navy blue skin. She was wearing a black shirt depicting a crescent moon and a pair of dark blue pants that covered her legs. Another moon was depicted near her right thigh.

"I won't leave you, I can help you X. All you need is to let me do that" Luna said, she placed her hand right on top of X's

"Do you remember what I said? About me wanting to do right? To fix what wrongs I've done?" X asked, this time looking straight into her eyes

"Yes. I remember X" Luna replied. She noticed that X had a strange metallic looking stick next to him but focused her gaze once more on him

"The void has taken many lives. Mostly due to me. I wonder if I'll ever be able to redeem myself" X said, he slowly gripped his rifle tighter as he continued to talk "I can still hear their cries, pleading for mercy and help. I can see the one who snuffed out the light inside them. The one who use to call me...friend"

Celestia felt strange. She has entered X's mind without him noticing, but this time it was different now that she was fully immersed in his mind. Her body was no longer equine, she assumed it took the form of a female Terran The first steps were some what awkward for her, but she quickly got the rhythm right and managed to walked without any problems. She noticed a metallic looking slab nearby, curiosity got the best of her, she slowly approached it with hopes of seeing how she looked.

"My word, so this is what a Terran looks like?" she said. The reflection showed a tall woman, pastel white skin and a "mane" with bright colors. She wore a white shirt with a glistening sun embezzled in the center and a pair of brown pants that covered her lower body. She placed her hands on her head, she sighted with relief when she felt her horn and flapped her wings quickly just to make sure everything was where it should be. Celestia spent a couple of minutes, looking at all the features her new body had.

"Focus Celestia, you need to find X" she shook her head and continued her route, passing by the remains of the siege tank that served as a makeshift mirror. For a while she wandered around the wasteland, passing by wreckage of vehicles along the way. Until something resembling the sound of thunder got her attention. As she ran she continued to hear more "thunder". She wondered what could be causing such a sound as not a single cloud could be seen for miles. Only a bright sun was up in the sky, shining at it's fullest extent. When she got closer she was shocked to see X surrounded by many bodies.

"Where is he?!" Celestia could hear him yelling, as she got closer she saw X grabbing another Terran by the throat with one hand. The other was brandishing a small pistol

"ANSWER ME!" the figured yelled, it's voice boomed across the landscape. He tighten his grip causing an audible bone breaking sound that disturbed Celestia

"X!" Celestia exclaimed. A bright green eye turned around and looked at her. As X turned around , he let his grip go. Allowing the other Terran to fall to the ground, but as soon as it made contact, he shot the man without even looking down.

"You..." X said, hatred emanating from his tone of voice "Are you here to finish me off?"

"I'm here to help you X" Celestia replied. She noticed that X had a knife in his hand. He was twirling it as he got closer

"How? By taking away my psionics again?" X said, slowly approaching her "Or are you going to take away what's left of my mind?"

"No, I do not wish to take anything from you. On the contrary, I want to give you a chance at life"

"Life?" X chuckled "An overrated concept, that holds no meaning anymore" X said as he pointed his gun at at her. In an instant, Celestia's horn glowed and drawing her magic, created a barrier around X. He emptied the entire gun with hopes that it would have broken the golden barrier, yet the bullets simply bounced of it without making a dent

"I do not wish to fight you X!" Celestia exclaimed

"Good, It'll make it all the easier to deal with you" X began to strike the golden barrier with all his might. Celestia just stared at him, pitying him as he tried to get to her

"X...you can't let this rage consume you..." she said in a soft voice

"Why not? It's what's been keeping me alive for years" X replied "Like a wise man once said... Rage is the universe best anesthetic"

"Nothing good comes from blind fury, you'll destroy that wish you hold dear"

"If you'd only know what I was forced to live with, what I have been forced to do!" X yelled

"I do X... I've seen your memories" she replied "I know that you were forced to take take the life of your friend"

X stooped his attack for a moment "Pyre..." X whispered.

"This emperor you served... I understand why you would have such rage against him. But you can't let it take over you, other wise you'll lose those that care about you"

"I have no one" X replied dryly

"You have Twilight, her friends, Luna and me. And all of us want the best for you" X was silent upon hearing her words. He stared at the ground as his hands shook. "They have proven that they care about you since they met you. They were the ones who saved your life by getting you to the hospital when you arrived"

"Don't you get it? You've seen my memories so you know that I've been dead for a long time now, so what they didn't doesn't even matter!" I was denied a life. All because of a tyrant... I won't quit...not till the bastard is dead!" He resumed his assault, striking the barrier even harder "I can't quit...Pyre wouldn't want me to quit!" Celestia continued to pity him, she closed her eyes as her horn began to glow once more

"You can't blame yourself. She didn't give you a choice" Luna said as she looked at him with sadness

"A ghost has several rules to obey, one of them is to not get attached to anyone. Yet she and I broke this rule from the very first day we met" X said as he looked outside "Our superiors would have had us separated from the beginning, but they could see that the two of us were excellent as a team. We were always in perfect synch. So they would sent us on missions together as a fireteam" Luna saw how X's hand was balling into a fist "From the very start they knew... they knew that would be the perfect kill switch if either of us would have gone rouge"

"I found out later why we were so closed to each other...She wasn't my friend... she was my sister... She was the one who showed me how to use my psionics to the fullest extent, she was the one who would vouch out for me, she was the one who would always make sure I was unharmed after a mission" Luna could make out the sadness In his tone of voice. Though his face did not show it, she knew that inside he was crying.

"When the Dominion figured out where I was, they sent her specifically for me. They counted on me to not harm her" X said, turning his gaze outside "But having her mind wipe, she didn't have the same problem as I did. When I look back, I think that all of these people may be alive if I had stayed...maybe even Pyre"

Luna looked outside, the intensity of the storm increased as more lighting strikes lit up the tower. She looked back at him, stood up for a moment then sat right next to him. She extended her arm and embraced him.

"Then you would have never been a free man" Luna said "You would have never met the doctor that you mentioned, never have met the people of Umoja... never have met her"

X looked at Luna, slowly he picked up the rifle. Luna looked at him as he contemplated it. She still didn't know what it was, but she assumed that it wasn't good for either of them.

"She cares a lot about you X... and though you may either not know it or even deny it. You do too" Luna said softly

"...Can I ever be redeemed?" X asked "Can I ever be forgiven for my actions?"

"Yes. I can speak from experience that there is a thing as a second chance" X felt truth to her words. The way she said that had a hint of remorse. "You just have to accept a helping hoof or in this case, a helping hand to send you on the right path"

X leaned his head towards her. He gave out a sigh as he briefly looked at his rifle "I'm tired of being a tool of death. I just want to do right from here on out." he tossed the rifle to the open hole and looked back at Luna "Do what you have to do. I won't fight you, not anymore"

She smiled at him and embraced him once again. X closed his eyes as he felt Luna's presence take over part of his mind.

"Look! Princess Luna is back" a doctor exclaimed, immediately several nurses entered the room and approached her.

"No need to worry, I'm fine" Luna said to calm everyone down

"Your majesty is X?" twilight asked with worry in her tone of voice

"I've done my part Twilight, now the rest is up to Tia" She turned around towards them. Celestia was still next to X, her eyes closed and her horn glowing "She's the only one who can stop his rage"

"LET ME OUT!" X yelled as he struck the barrier. But right as he was about to hit it once more, the barrier vanished causing him to stumble but he quickly regained his stance

"X...I can't force you to change... but I also cannot reason while you are in this state. I'm right here, you may take your best shot" Celestia said as she closed her eyes. A wicked smile went across X's face, she wants to be a sitting duck? Then that was fine by him. He ran towards her, his hands ready to shed her blood. He cocked his arm back and lunged with all his might. Celestia simply stood there smiling. However, she was unharmed as she simply sidestep his attack .

"What the?" X said, he looked around for her only to see Celestia right behind him

"Like I said X, I'm right here" she said in a soft voice. X stared her down and swung again. Once more, he missed. The way Celestia moved implied that she was faster than him by a long shot

What the hell is going on?! X asked No one can be that fast, not even by boosting their abilities through psionics! He continued to hit the air as he attempted to strike her down. She simply moved from side to side evading him all the time. He couldn't figure out how she could dodge his attacks with ease.

"You certainly are fast..." While X was in the middle of swinging his arm, Celestia managed to poke him on the forehead "But you leave yourself exposed to counterattacks too often."

There's no damn way she could have done that X thought as he continued to wonder how she accomplished such a task

And yet I did X Celestia replied to him giving off a warm smile in the process. X was surprised by her, how could she reply to him telepathically "You're leaving your mind exposed as well. But i can understand that you're not concentrating on your mind right now"

The very ground were X stood began to crack as his psionics were receiving a rage boost. Celestia simply stood and watched. "I'll kill you!" X launched bolt after bolt of psychic energy at her. At one point, it kicked up a small dust cloud obscuring Celestia from him. When the dust settled, he again was surprised by her.

"Now that you've had your little outburst, are you feeling better now?" Celestia asked as she sat upon a small rock, looking at her nails

X gave an audible growl "That's it, I'm finished with you!" X focused his mind. While he didn't finish his specter conversion, he managed at one point to unleashed one of strongest ability available to a psionic individual. Placing his hands on his temples, his body began to glow in an ethereal hue. He intended to end her with one swift and brutal attack.

"I want to see you try and survive this!" He felt his body go numb as he unleashed his energy. Such a feat would drain a specter of his energy regardless of who it was. X was giving of a smirk as the area exploded in psychic energy kicking of another dust cloud that lingered for several more minutes. Not even an Ultralisk would be able to shrug of a psionic lash without it being severely injured. X gave out a chuckled, feeling satisfied with his actions "Good night dear princess" a smirk ran across his face, but as the dust cloud dissipated, so did his attitude

"...No fucking way..." X said in a low voice. Celestia was still sitting on that same small rock just giving of a smile. He actually felt somewhat scared "There's no way you could have come from that unscathed"

"And I believe you. Then again, I have many years of magic experience so I know how to counter such an attack" She replied. She stood up and began walking towards him. X took a step back and readied himself once more. But spending his energy the way he did, exhausted him and he struggled to stand up. For every two steps that Celestia took, he would back away. He knew that at this point, him being exhausted and with no one to give him back up, he was done.

X was panting heavily "I... I have no choice... I can't even stand without feeling like I'm about to topple over. Just hurry up and finish it" X closed his eyes. He expected the Void to finally come for him, only to receive an embrace from Celestia

"I do not wish you any harm, only happiness and joy" she said, looking at him tenderly"You've known only rage,betrayal and sorrow for far too long. Now you have a chance to change that into something else. Something worth living for"

X stood silent. His panting was all that Celestia could hear from him "You know that she would want the same for you" His eyes widened up when he heard those words

"Pyre..." X whispered "...You can do whatever you want...I just... I just want to be at peace" Celestia smiled at him, her horn began to glow even brighter than before

X...You tried to save me...Don't let my death cause you any pain...Live, for both of us... "Pyre" X whispered once more as Celestia extended her wings and wrapped them around him. He felt calm as her presence took over his mind.

X opened his eyes, his vision took a brief moment adjusting to the light entering the room. He felt strange, not feeling a burning rage or a soul crushing sadness. Before he blacked out all he could think about was revenge, now that feeling was gone. As he tried to move to get up from the bed, he felt something on his chest. When he looked down, he saw a familiar yellow pegasus sleeping.

Feeling movement, Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes "X! You're awake" she exclaimed as she hugged him

X blushed slightly, he cleared his throat "How...how long was I out?" X asked

"You've been asleep for nearly three days now" Twilight replied right as she entered the room. She was accompanied by both princesses and her friends

"We're not interrupting you two are we?" Applejack asked. Fluttershy quickly let him go, both ponies were blushing

"I've been out for three days? What exactly happened?" X asked "I remember being in the throne room and then... oh hell, I screwed up" X said as he placed a hoof on his face

"We can't change past events X. The important thing is that Discord is sealed once more and you are well" Celesta replied

"What about you're guards?" X asked "I went through many of them"

"Thankfully, just some bruises and lots of headaches. Nothing of the serious nature"

"That's good to hear... but still after what I did... I put in danger the lives of many innocents beings. You have every reason to despise me" X said as he looked at each of them "I won't hold it against any of you"

"Even though you kinda messed up, I don't see why any one of us would hate you" Twilight replied

"You're still my number one student!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed

"I still haven't seen you dancing at my... Oops, spoiler alert! I can't tell anything about the next chapter!" Pinkie said as she bounced in place "Which reminds me, I need to get more blanks for the super duper blank!"

... And i thought I was eccentric X quickly thought If she were to stumble upon some terrazine... I can't even imagine the consequenses

X looked at them, each were giving him a friendly smile After what happened... They would forgive me that easily? I don't think I'll ever be able to understand this world

Sigh "Celestia, Luna... What exactly did you do to me?"

"We did like we said" Luna replied "We helped you"

"You're mind was being overtaken by all your emotions. To feel everything all out once would have certainly driven you mad" Celestia added "Which is why we both took the initiative to relieve you of such a strain. The two emotions that were strongly acting up were regret and anger"

"We couldn't just stand by and watch you lose yourself. It's not how we do things around here"

"So, my inhibitors are shut down and I still have the ability to reason... I've don't tend to say this very much... Thank you, you've saved me from a life sealed in a padded room. I am forever in your debt"

Celestia and Luna both smiled and nodded at him. The ponies in the room began to converse with him, Twilight asked question after question. Rarity continued to ask about his suit. Rainbow constantly told him that she wanted to race with him again. X tried his best to answer all of them.

Fluttershy could see that X was being overwhelmed by them "Umm, Girls... I think it would be best if X rested for a while" she said

"Twilight, I promise that your question will be answered. I'll race you again after I get out of here and I have no idea how are you going to fix it, but I'll let you take a look at my hazard suit" Hearing this Rarity's eyes lit up with joy

"Ok then, but I won't take it easy on you again" Rainbow replied

X gave out a chuckle "Who says you were going to win in the first place?" X said with a smug look on his face

"Thank you X, I know I can be somewhat intruding and I'm sorry for that" Twilight said

"No need to apologize, like I said before. You remind me of myself, nothing wrong with curiosity"

"Do you think you can teach me some of your magical abilities?" she asked with hope in her tone of voice

"Only if you teach me yours" X replied

"It's a deal" Twilight said with joy

They were all conversing among each other, when a nurse entered the room. It was very same pony X saw when he tried to escape the hospital. "Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting but Mister X here requires his medication" she said as she laid a tray on top of a table

"Medication? I feel fine" X replied

"You were running a fever when you arrived. No need to worry, this won't take long" as she said that, she picked up a needled full of medicine. Upon sighting it, X's eyes widened open and he backed up against the bed in such a manner that if looked as if he would have broken the wall behind him

"Oh no the hell with that!" X exclaimed. When his inhibitors were running, they would suppress any feelings of fear or anxiety. When they began to give out, it would cause him to cringe a bit when faced with any situation that would have scared a normal Terran. Now that they were fully turned off, his fear of needles fully manifested itself into full blown phobia.

"It won't take long and you won't feel a thing" the unicorn tried to reason with him. But X continued to hide his body under the sheets. Some of the ponies in the room were chuckling quietly. The sight of him being scared was not something that they expected

Fluttershy cringed a bit as well, even though she wasn't the one that would be injected, yet seeing the sight of X being scared caused her to be brave. She embraced him "X, would you kindly stay still for a moment?" she said in a soft manner

"I am not going to get needled!" X said as he looked at it "I mean haven't you ever heard of pills or liquid medicine?!"

"X, please stay still for her" Fluttershy said, somewhat annoyed at him for not listening to her in the first place

"But..."

"X..." she cut him off. Her tone of voice while low, reflected authority. She gave him a serious look, he had no choice but to comply. Hesitantly, he stood still as the nurse approached him. He looked away, burying his face on Flutter's chest. She began to hum softly, calming him down a bit but not by much.

Rainbow could barely contain her laughter, she along with several of the ponies including the princesses left the room. From outside, X could hear them laughing.

Goddamn it...I'm never going to live this down...

Another one bites the dust. I apologize if I utilized to many horizontal lines in this one, but I did not want to risk possible confusion for anyone. A heads up, the next chapter will take a while to post as I need to focus on an important task. I do not plan on cancelling this, it's just one of those unexpected things that needs to be taken care of. Anyhow, I won't keep you anymore, as always hope you enjoyed what you've read and have a nice day. Until next time.