Chapter 9:
"Now then, on to the next matter at hand. The council will now hear Doctor Cais Nier, Head Researcher of facility LB-71"
In the middle of the room, a hologram flickered to life. The image showed the good doctor wearing a lab coat with various pens and tools sticking out of his pockets. From Nier's point of view, he could see a large well lit room surrounded by desks and chairs each occupied by Terrans wearing intricate clothing. Now in the presence of the Umojan government, the doctor readied himself to present his case
"Good afternoon Nier. You requested a meeting with the Umojan Council; please tell us why you are here today"
"As you all know, my team was currently working on Protoss warp technology. We have been doing our best to come with our own methods to allow us to blink from location to location. Well it's with great joy to inform the council that we managed to accomplish our goal"
"The experiment was a success then?" The man asked
"Yes Minister, earlier today we managed to send a team through and made contact with our Protoss allies. An exchange was made and currently we have a team of researchers on the way as we speak"
"Excellent work doctor, you and your team are to be commended for your work. We will need to see more about..."
"If I may interrupt you for a moment Minister Jorgensen... but I have request"
Jorgensen looked at him quizzically "What would that be doctor?"
"During one of our earlier stages of experimentation, we had a volunteer test out the gateway we are currently using. The operative was X8177E, one of the Protectorate's shadowguards"
"This was the incident regarding the infiltrating changeling correct?" Jorgensen asked as he looked at some files
"Yes sir. The reason I present this now is because I wish to send a team and recover him. The gateway is stable enough to allow team through and recover him"
"Have you received confirmation about his current condition?"
"No sir" Nier replied
"What about his location? Do you even have the coordinates from where he went?"
Nier rubbed the back of his neck and looked at him somewhat nervously "I am...still deciphering them"
Upon hearing his response, Jorgensen looked at his fellow Terrans. Each looking at each other as they slowly shook their heads in unison"...I'm sorry Doctor, but without knowing where he is we cannot agree to what you are asking us"
"Minister, please I'm sure he..."
"It's been a month since we received the report about the incident" another Councilor said as he cut him off "Considering the nature of the experiment as well as the many risks involved, there's no possible way he still draws breath"
"He may still be alive! He's a shadowguard, and before that he served as a ghost!" Nier replied as he looked at the man "He has experience on surviving extreme situations!"
"But he was still human" added a councilwoman "The fact that we haven't received anything from his emergency transmitter is enough to tell you what has happened to him"
"Please reconsider. He's done us a great service" Nier said as he stared them down
Jorgensen looked at Nier, a hint of disappointment on his face "I'm sorry doctor. The lost of our operatives, especially those rescued from the Dominion, is indeed a tragedy. But we cannot risk the lives of others to search for his body. We deny your request. I give thanks to our Councilmember's present as well as to the Umojan people that tuned in today. This meeting is adjourned" Jorgensen's words echoed in Nier's mind.
As the hologram flickered off, the doctor was looking at the white floor clearly not taking well the news that his friend could very well be gone for good. Even worse was the thought of him considering that it was his own fault. Leaving the communication room, he stumbled upon familiar face. It was the captain that accompanied X when he volunteered to try out the gateway.
"Adam..." Nier said as walked away with the battlecruiser captain following him closely.
"I take it from your current attitude that things didn't go well" Adam replied
"They denied the search team" Nier replied without looking at him
Sigh "I told you they wouldn't accept it"
"Damn it, I need to figure out the correct coordinates" Nier said aloud "I'll just have to work overtime until then"
"Look Nier, I know it's not easy. But it's been almost a month and you are going to go insane if you keep this up" Adam replied "It's not your fault. You need to let go"
He stopped in his tracks, letting his words sink in "I can't do that, I have to at least try. I owe him that much" Nier replied as he stared the man down "I'll be in my office working on the data. If you need me, then find someone else to help you until I'm done"
"Damn it man" Adam whispered as he watch Nier continue ahead
"Does this mean what I think it means?" An unknown voiced asked
"Unfortunately, it does" Adam replied as he looked at the empty hall. "I'll see if I can get him to reconsider. But knowing how he is, you'd best ready yourself for a trip" He began to walk away but as he was about to round the corner he stopped "And please stop cloaking around the facility, its annoying having to bump into an invisible wall"
As he finally left the sounds of sparks could be heard, a smirk running across the woman's face as she decloaked.
Inside Twilight's home, both ponies were in the living room. X had his eyes on a book while Twilight was standing close to him with her eyes closed and her horn glowing. Across from them stood Spike next to a chalkboard. Several lines were already on it.
"Come on Twi, you can do it" said Spike in an encouraging tone
She grunted as she let her magic flow. The room lit up in a purple hue. "Did it work?!"She asked with enthusiasm "Am I finally invisible?!"
"Nope, I can still see you" X replied as he gave a quick look
"I don't get it. What am I doing wrong?" Twilight asked as her ears dropped slightly down
"From what I can tell you are straining yourself. It's not something you can force. Cloaking has to become as natural as breathing" X replied as he continued to read
"How long did it take for you to fully go invisible?" Twilight asked as she approached him
"I don't know. Spent most of my childhood training and getting ready as a Ghost that when it finally happened I wasn't even paying attention" X said as he continued to read "It just sort of happened"
Twilight was surprised at his response. He spent his youth training instead of having fun like a normal colt? "But I thought that you joined when you were older. You've spent all of your colthood training to be a soldier?" Twilight said as she tried to understand who would do a thing to such a young life.
"Yep. Pretty much" X replied in a nonchalantly manner
"Jeez. That's sound rough" Spike said
"Well I'll admit it; at times I wanted to be the kid I was before the Dominion put me in the Ghost program"
"I'm really sorry X"
"No need to be. It's all in the past, just keep moving on and enjoy life at the same time" X replied as he gave her a smile
"Still, don't you wish you could be a kid again?"
"Sure I do. Don't we all feel like wishing to be younger at times?" X replied "But enough about all that. Come on, I want to see you try once more"
X closed the book he had and trotted over towards Spike "Right then let's try again. Close your eyes and focus"
She nodded at him and did as he said. Her horn glowed once more as it accumulated magic. "X..." While she could still hear him, Twilight's mind continued to think about him not having a true chance at being a kid
"Now, visualize yourself. Imagine that you're slowly fading from everyone's sight. Blending in with the rest of your environment" As he and Spike looked on, they noticed that her body was slowly becoming translucent
"Well I'll be... She actually doing it" X said as he looked on.
"This will mark a new record on her magic tricks!" Spike added as he readied his chalk
"X..." his ears twitched a bit. This time he heard her errant thought. "Did you call me?" X asked Spike
"You mean right now? No I didn't" Spike replied
He looked back at her his eyes narrowing slightly "Twilight?" he said softly
The magic in her horn finally discharged, a bright purple bolt headed straight for him.
"Look out!" Spike exclaimed. X didn't have time to react as it struck him. The bright flash of light caused the small dragon to look away in an effort to shield his eyes. After she finally stopped, Twilight opened her eyes only to see a small smoke cloud obscuring X.
"Oh no! X, are you alright?" She said as she tried to air out the smoke
"I'll open the windows" Spike added. With most of the house now ventilated, the smoke quickly cleared out
Both of them could hear X coughing "Yeah… I'm fine. Don't worry about me" X replied. But they found his reply rather strange. The tone of his voice now had a somewhat higher pitch. As it dissipated, she was surprised by what she saw
"Oh boy…" Twilight said as she looked at X. Spike had his mouth open as he saw him as well.
"What?" X asked perplexed as to why where they looking at him weird way. "Why do you look taller now? What…What happened to my voice?!"
"X, now don't freak out or anything…"
"Twi what did you do?"
"Well I was listening to everything you said and followed it all to the letter. But I kept thinking about what you said and well…" Using her magic, she levitated a small mirror towards him.
"What did you do to me?!" X replied. Now what stood in front of them was a young colt with multicolored eyes and a short black mane.
"I'm sorry! It's just couldn't stop thinking about you not having a proper childhood"
"This can't be happening. There's no possible way, no Psion can alter age" X said as he panicked slightly "It's just a dream. Has to be, remember those messed up dreams you had during Terrazine withdrawal"
Spike proceeded to pinch one of his cheeks, causing him to flinch a bit in pain "Sorry X, but it's not a dream"
"You didn't have to do that!" X replied as he rubbed it "Twi please tell me you can fix this"
"Well…" Twilight said nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck
"Twi…" X said as his eyes locked with hers almost pleading
"Ok just give me a moment. I'm sure there's something in one of my books" she replied. It would take a bit of time for her to actually find something. While she looked for a way to get X back to normal, the small colt was sitting on the floor either flapping his wings experimentally or just messing around with his Psionics.
"Oh man, this is bad… I can't be a kid again… There are so many things I don't want to do again… X though as he looked outside a window "But then again, is it really that bad? I could find a way to make the best out of this… No, stop thinking like that! Just focus on getting back like you were before!"
"I found it!" Twilight exclaimed. X looked at her excitedly as he quickly trotted over to her "Okay. Here it says that spells to make somepony young again can be reverted and the spell to reverse your current situation isn't as difficult as one would think"
"That's a relief" X said
"But…"
"But what!?" X said aloud
"Not everypony has the same reaction. Most react instantly, changing back to their original age. While a rare few have to spent at least a day or two before the spell takes effect and change them back"
"Okay I have to think positive. I'm sure I'm not one of those rare few" X said in a confident tone "Well come on Twi. Get that magic going"
"Ok but can you give me a couple of minutes. Constant use of magic can be tiring" Twilight said as he closed the book.
"Twi… fix it now!" X said as he grabbed her face
"Please just a moment X. I promise I will help you"
"Fix it now Twi! Fix it, fix it, fix it" X said as he continued to repeat the words. Seeing Twi stressed out, Spike came up with a way to distract X while she recovered
"Uhm X! Want to see a trick?" Spike asked. X casted a quick glance at him. The purple dragon then proceeded to spit out some of his green fire.
"Oooh cool fire…" X said as he looked with awe; he walked slowly towards him and sat near him as Spike continued his show. To try and keep his 䁡ttention, the dragon also did his best at juggling as well as other tricks.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight thanked Spike. Right when she thought that she could take a moment to relax, a knock was heard on her door. As she opened it up, she was greeted by the sight of Applejack and Rarity
"Good morning Twi!" Applejack said in a cheerful tone
"Morning girls"
"You alright, you look kinda tired" Applejack said as she noticed her eyes somewhat closed and her mane somewhat messy
"It's alright. Just practicing some magic with X"
"Well we came by to see how he was doing today" Rarity said
"Come inside, there's something you should see"
As they entered her house, both ponies saw X continued to be distracted by Spike. They were certainly surprised to see how he looked now.
"Hi Apple! Hi Rarity!" X said in a happy tone
"Uhm… Was this part of your practice?" Applejack asked
Twilight gave out a nervous chuckle as she proceeded to explain what had occurred.
"Well you can turn him back to normal right?" Rarity asked
"I think so" Twilight replied "Hopefully he's not one of those rare cases"
"Well then, give it a go" Applejack said
While having his back turned, Twi readied her magic once more. She let out another beam of magic that hit X directly. But of course X's luck just wasn't that great in this world. He was still a colt.
"Of course he's one of them" Twilight said tiredly
"Well now what do we do?" Applejack asked
"We have to wait at least one day or two" Twilight replied "But what am I going to do while he's like this in the meantime? I don't know if I can handle a colt like him right now"
"Hmm… You said that X didn't have much of a colthood. Maybe he can use this current predicament to his benefit" Rarity replied "Like, say getting him to act his age"
"You're right, it wouldn't hurt for him to have a second chance at being young" Twilight said "But how should I start with him?"
"I have an idea" Applejack said as she approached her. She leaned towards her and whispered her plan to Twilight
"That's a wonderful idea! But I can't use his name so I'll have to come up with another one for him" Twilight said as she rubbed her chin
"You're smart dear. I'm sure you'll come up with one" said Rarity
She suddenly felt something poking her. When she looked down she saw that it was X "Twi… I don't think Spike is doing ok" X said as he looked at her. When she saw Spike, she saw him panting heavily and his eyes half open.
"Spike, are you alright?" Rarity asked as she rushed towards him
"Yeah… Just need to take nap" he replied, closing his eyes
"Twi… The spell didn't work did it?" X asked
"No it didn't" she replied
"I thought so" X said in a somewhat sad tone
"Hey now don't feel so blue" Apple said in a comforting tone "It's just for a while until the spell wears out"
"I guess" X said as he idly traced a hoof on the floor
"Say X… How would you like to spend some time having fun?" Twilight asked him as she lowered her head "You know, to make the day go faster"
Though X still had the mentality of an adult, the spell was causing his mind to slowly revert to that of a child "Well time does go faster when you are enjoying yourself…Alright. What are we going to do?" X asked with a smile
"Well, after you come back. We can go ahead and play, maybe go visit some of our friends…"
"Wait. What do you mean after I come back?" X asked raising an eye.
"No way!" X exclaimed. In front of them was the door leading to Ponyville's school. Sounds of chattering and laughter could be heard coming from the other side of the door.
Sigh "Come on X!" Twilight said as she rolled her eyes
"No! I'm not going!" X replied as he stood behind her
"Come on. You never know until you give it a try, it'll be a nice experience for you"
"No!" X exclaimed once more as he turned his back to her
"You don't have to be scared"
X looked at her as he turned around "Scared? I'm not scared"
"Then why won't you go inside?" Twilight asked him
He stared down into the ground and kicked the dirt causing a small dust cloud "I…I don't want to…"
Twilight wondered why he was acting in such a way. There could only be one reason, but X couldn't be feeling that way "X are you shy about being with others?" Twilight asked him. But she didn't receive a reply from him instead turned his gaze away from her
She turned around and lowered her head "I know it may be a bit scary when you meet somepony for the first time. But who knows, maybe he or she will be your best friend" Twilight said as she smiled at him.
"Why am I feeling like this? Seriously it's just a school, so what's going on with me?" X thought
"Come on, it'll be alright. I promise" Twilight said as she opened the door with X following closely. As it opened X could hear the sounds of chattering fillies and colts in the air. He could see desks, bookshelves and a chalkboard being used by a grayish rose Mare
Noticing them, the mare trotted over to them "Oh well hello Twilight, I didn't expect to see you here today"
"Morning, Cheerilee" Twilight replied in a cheerful tone
"What brings you here today?" Cheerilee asked right as she noted X hiding behind her "Oh and who's this handsome stallion?"
X hid behind Twilight once again "He's a relative who's staying with me until his parents come back tomorrow. He's just a little shy" Twilight replied "Go on tell her your name"
He looked at Twilight nervously; he could also feel the eyes of the other colts and fillies looking at him. Taking a quick gulp, he answered "My name is X"
"Oh X, it's that a nickname you use?" Cheerilee asked
"Yes, he's rather fond of it. Isn't that right Xylophone?" Twilight said with a smirk as she looked at him
" Xylophone? That's the best name she could come up with?"
"Yes Twilight" He said somewhat bitterly
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you" Cheerilee said as she smiled at him
"Likewise ma'am" X replied
"And he's such a gentlecolt as well!"
"Well I better get going. I'll be back later to pick you up" Twilight said as she headed towards the door "Have a good day everyone!"
"Wa…Wait!" X said as he trotted over to the door, but it closed at the last second. "Twi!"
"Alright class! We have a new friend today" said Cheerilee "I want you all too please welcome Xylophone"
He stood nervously next to Cheerilee "Uhm… Hello" he said nervously
"Why don't you go ahead and tell us a bit about yourself" Cheerilee said "Like where are you from?"
"I…well… I'm from… far away…" X said as he looked around nervously
"Far away?" one filly asked "How far away are you from?"
"Are you from Manehattan?" another asked
"Well… I… guess I am?"
"What do you mean you guess?" replied another filly. Her mane was grayish violet with white streaks and she had a magenta colored coat "How can you not know where you are from?"
"Leave him alone Diamond" replied another voice
"No fighting, alright?" said Cheerilee "Go ahead and take a seat. You can tell us more about yourself later, ok?"
"Ok…" X replied. As he walked pass the seats, a couple of the fillies were whispering. He took a seat near a corner and looked at the chalkboard.
"Howdy!"He looked for the source of the voice and found that it belonged to that of an earth filly. Her coat was a light grayish olive and her mane was reddish orange tone with a bow tied to it. Seated next to her was a grayish coated unicorn with a mane colored half in pink and grayish purple. Behind her was a Pegasus whose coat was light orange and her mane was a light purple.
"Hi" X said sheepishly
"My name's Applebloom. It's nice to meet you" she said in a cheerful tone
"I'm Sweetie Bell" said the grayish unicorn
"And I'm Scootaloo" added the tiny pegasus
"I'm… Xylophone"
"New to Ponyville?" Applebloom asked
"Not really. I've been here for awhile now"
"Really? Well I haven't seen you before"
"I've usually spend my time with Twilight" X replied
"So you're really from Manehattan?" Sweetie Bell asked
"I'm actually from far away. Really far away" X replied
"So you're like an alien or something?" Scootaloo said in a sarcastic tone
"Me? No of course not! I'm just like you" he replied nervously
"All right class, please pay attention for today's lesson" Cheerilee said as she wrote on the chalkboard
"Say, do you want to hang out later?" Applebloom asked
"Yeah, we could get to know you even more. And maybe you can help us get our cutie marks!" Scotallo said in an enthusiastic tone
"I don't know if I could help you, but I'll try" X replied with a smile
Class was boring for X. What the teacher showed her pupils that day he already read in a book a few days ago. Some bits about history of Equestria, math problems, pretty much the basics of life. But even though he knew about all of it, part of him was somewhat glad to actually be there. The fact that he could act as a normal child when that was taken from him made him feel rather good. After school was over, Twilight was waiting for him.
"Well, how was your day at school?" she asked
"It was fun! After class I've played with some new friends and had a blast" X replied happily.
"See I knew you would like it here. Come on, we should get going home"
"Twi, is it okay if I could stay and play with them a bit more?" He looked at her wide pleading eyes "Please?"
Twilight gave out a light chuckle "Alright, but be back before nightfall"
"I will Twi, I promise" he replied as he ran towards his new found friends. She looked on as he ran off with the Crusaders, smiling at him.
"Come on Xylo! Betcha you can't go faster than me" said Scootaloo as she ran ahead of the group
"Ha, you're on!" X said as he and the other two ran off laughing
"What am I missing here?!" Nier yelled as he pounded his desk in frustration. Looking back at the monitor, constant streams of data continued to be show before him. Crossing his arms he waited until all of it finished compiling. "All this technology and this thing is slower than a damn reaver"
"Patience is a virtue doctor"
"I made it clear that I didn't wish to be disturbed" Nier said as he looked at the door. From thin air, the silhouette of a Ghost operative manifested in front of him. "What do you want now?"
"Me? Nothing really, just thought you could use some help on finding our missing shadowguard"
"I have enough problems right now. I do not need you to go and mess with what data I have"
"I'm hurt doctor. Why would you think I would hinder you're work?" As she finished speaking, she tossed him a small data chip. Nier grabbed it in mid air and looked at it "The information that keeps eluding you is there"
"Whe…" Before he could finish asking, the ghost cut him off
"The location and timing of how I acquired it is irrelevant. What matters is what you will do once you figure out where he is"
Nier looked at her with caution "And that would be?"
"You're not telling anyone"
"What makes you think I'll do that?!"
"Think about it Nier. Umoja is the current leader when it comes to cutting edge technology. So how the hell do you propose that changeling managed to enter one of the most secure labs in this planet?" the ghost said as she walked around looking at all the knick knacks in the office "That critter had help getting inside"
"Are you saying that someone let it in here? Who the hell would do that?"
"If I knew that I would take care of it personally. Whoever it is definitely has a high standing within the Protectorate to be able to pull it off. It would be better if we find him on our own. So, what do you say?"
Nier looked at the chip in his hand "You'll deal with security at the lab?"
"No one will die. You have my word"
"Alright, if a madman is indeed smuggling Zerg, then it would be better to do this alone so as not to get unwanted attention. I really hope you…" as he looked back the Ghost was gone. "Right, forgot you were one of them"
Nighttime came once more upon Equestria. Back at Twilight's home, X was talking excitedly about what he and the others did during the day, exploring the town and getting into some adventures courtesy of the Crusaders. Eventually the colt began to yawn quite often.
"Are you tired?" Twilight asked as she noticed him rubbing his eyes
"No, I'm not feeling tired" he replied
"X, is getting a bit late and you should be getting to bed" Twilight said as she looked at him
"What? But I'm not that…" His words were cut short as he yawned once more
"Come on, it's time to go to bed" Twilight said as she cut him off
"But Twi"
"Let's go X" Twilight said in a soft but authoritative tone. X gave out a small groan as he followed her. Seeing that he was a colt at the moment, she thought that it wouldn't feel right if he would sleep that night at the couch. Instead she led him towards the bedroom. Seeing a small bed, X went over towards it and laid down.
"I thought today was going to be really bad. But I really enjoyed being a kid again" X said in a happy tone
"I'm glad for you. It's not every day one gets to relive one's childhood"
"Yeah, but I can't wait to get back to my age. Fun as today was, there are things I don't want to go through again. Like early bed time"
She gave out a chuckle "The spell will wear off tomorrow so all we can do is wait until then" Twilight said as she used her magic to placed a blanket over him
"I feel kind of bad about them not knowing who I am" X said
"Who says they don't know?" Twilight replied giving off a smirk
"They know about who I really am?!"
"Kids can be smarter than they look. Now go to sleep, ok?"
"Ok" he said as he closed his eyes
Turning the lights off Twilight headed off to bed herself "Night Xylo"
"Night Twi" he said without giving the name a second thought
"So this is what is like to have a little brother" she though as she closed the door.
Nier was shocked as he saw the piles of bodies all around the lab "You said you wouldn't kill them!"
"Relax Nier. They're just having a quick nap" the ghost replied in a mischievous tone as she walked among the unconscious scientists "You figured out where he is?"
"He went way off course" Nier replied as he typed in the coordinates "Ok, coordinates set"
The gateway began to power up, lighting up the room. "You have everything you need?" Nier asked as he walked over to it
"Indeed I do" she replied as she loaded a new magazine in her rifle "What about you?"
He checked his backpack one last time "Yeah I'm good" he replied rather nervously
"We'll be fine" she said as she patted him on the arm. Looking up, the portal slowly descended down. "Here we go"
Well there it is, the ninth is up. Nothing special to say other than apologies for the delay,now to sit down and keep on writing while the keyboard is hot. As always, hope you enjoyed what you've read and have a nice day.