Chapter 10:

In the middle of an arena stood two figures, one was standing while the other had a knee on the ground. Looking up for a moment, the injured operative noticed that a crowd gathered to watch the fight. He could see that there were many but couldn't make out the details due to the combination of the glass windows covering them and the lighting in the room. Only their silhouettes could be made out.

"Hey! Eyes over here, you can't let yourself be distracted if you plan on staying up for more than two minutes"

The operative was panting heavily, his opponent giving him a smug look as she readied for another round. He wiped the blood coming from his mouth and put his hands up. With his vision blurry and his balance faltering, he wasn't going to last long against the coming assault. Still he persisted as he managed to stand up straight in a show of pure willpower.

"You sure you want to keep going? I don't want to hurt you too bad" the young woman asked as she cracked her knuckles. He replied by just giving her an angry look. "Alright then, I'll do my best to not break any bones but no promises" She rushed him and began to swing at him, hitting him constantly as he tried his best to keep up with her. Every time he tried to hit back, she would counter with ease and force him back on defending resulting in him getting another barrage of punches. The process continued to loop, each time he tried to attack her and with each hit, his body began to slowly give out. Nearly done; she cocked her arm back and swung with all the strength she could muster. Hitting him squarely on the jaw he stumbled back, his legs shaking uncontrollably and seeing multiple figures of her walking towards him.

"Tell me. Is it true that when you get hit like that you hear the sounds of birds chirping? You know like how they showed in those cartoons we watched when we sneak out?" He didn't reply. Falling instead into the cold hard floor and panting heavily. "You can hear them, right?" she said as she stood next to him.

"You did better this time. Just keep on practicing" she said giving of a smile "But right now, it's time for you to get up"

The sounds of birds chirping happily outside ended up being his alarm clock. "Hmm, alright I heard you already" he said in a grumpy tone

Opening his eyes, X gave out a sigh seeing as he was still a colt "Guess I still have one more day to be a kid again" Getting up from his bed, he stretched his body and wings until the bones popped. After he did a quick exercise routine, he walked over towards the window and saw that the town was already up and active. Days have passed since he first got here and though he was wary about those around him, he slowly began to grow accustomed to their good hearted nature. So much that even though he knew that he had to get back to Umoja, a small part of him began to feel that if that didn't happen then it wasn't much of a problem.

Looking around the room he noticed a small white cup on top of a nightstand. Walking towards it, he focused his attention on it and caused it to levitate. "Hmm… I can still use my psionics in this form. Now that I think about it maybe I'll finally be able to do that. Well, only one way to find out" X began to imagine a perfect replica as it continued to float in mid air. His head began to tingle slightly but he kept on focusing his psionics. "Come on… I did a psionic lash once so I should be able to do this" he said in a whisper. Unknown to him, his normal eye began to glow in an ethereal hue. Pain was beginning to creep around. He closed his eyes as the pain quickly began to gain intensity and right when he was about to call it quits, he focused all his will.

"Oh man, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be" X said as he placed a hoof on his head. Looking back, he gave out a slight chuckle "Yes! Finally able to do a successful hallucination" Standing next to the original cup was another cup with the same size and form "Why is it blue though?" he asked himself as he grabbed it. It was curious for him. Though it was a manifestation of psionic energy, the texture of it managed to mimic the original. "Now that I think about it, every time a hallucination would dissipate there would be a blue mist. So it's blue to me, but would others see it like this?"

While he continued to inspect it, a knock was heard on the door "It's alright to come in" he said.

"Morning X" Twilight said with a smile as she entered the room

"Hey" he replied as he put the cup down

Twilights faced shifted a bit seeing he wasn't back to normal "Looks like you're still a colt. Sorry again for putting you through this"

"It's alright; you said that it should fix itself later during the day and I trust you" he said smiling back at her "Hey Twi, what color are these two cups?"

She was a bit confused about his question "Well… they're both white. Why do you ask?

"So I was right" he thought "No reason in particular"

"Ok then… Anyway, come downstairs. Breakfast is ready"

"Alright Twi" X replied as he followed her. Right as he reached the doorway, he turned around and looked at the cup. Closing his eyes he focused on it until he made it dissipate in a puff of ethereal smoke. Giving off a satisfied smirk he trotted downstairs.

"Ah my head… good lord now I know how the shadowguards feel after neuro-surgery" Nier groaned. "Jeez, feel so weird" He looked around for a moment to try and figure out what kind of planet X ended up in. Tall trees shrouded the area he was in; sounds of birds chirping as well as other sounds of unknown creatures clearly indicated that the place was capable of sustaining life. Curiosity began to get the best of him and he decided to explore a bit. But as he took a step, he found himself falling over to the ground. "What in blazes?" he said to himself. Taking a moment to figure out why he fell saw that he now had a rather different appearance. "My God, this is definitely not what I expected to happen"

"Nier!" He heard the voice of the ghost that accompanied him but he couldn't make out where she was. "Doc, can you hear me?"

"Yes!" he yelled in response

"Oh good, you're still fine. Stay where you are, I'm heading towards you" Listening to her words, he stayed put while he looked at himself.

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere" he said as he looked at his body with curiosity. A moving bush signaled the location of the ghost. Looking over towards it he found yet another surprise

"Doc?" the ghost asked in a rather worried tone. She saw what looked like a big eyed pony. It sported a light brown coat and a light ash mane. On its flank was depicted what looked like three test tubes each filled with the primary colors. Seeing his coat and backpack, she figured out that it was indeed Nier

"I see you underwent a transformation as well" he replied as he saw the gray mare. Though shadows hid many of her features, he could make out the silhouette of the Pegasus in front of him as well as her blue eyes

"What the goddamn hell happened to us?" she asked as she looked at herself

"I truly do not know. But If I had to guess, I would say that this is one of the reasons why we need to be shielded when we decide to teleport to another location. Whatever the reason for our current forms, this is definitely a fascinating turn of events that has befallen us"

"Why are you taking this so calmly? We've changed into…frigging ponies. I mean, I've seen a lot of messed up crap and have felt a lot of them myself as well. But never have I gone through something like this" The ghost replied as she flapped her wings

"Come now. You're a shadowguard, surely you can manage" He said as he laid down his backpack. He felt a quick fascination as to how he could accomplish such a task seeing as he now had hooves instead of hands. "Besides I can assure you, that I am as freaked out about this as you are If not more. Is just that I'm letting my scientific side be more aloud than my… unwanted emotions"

"Damn it. Why did I let you talk me into getting my inhibitors turned off?" she said in frustration as she kicked a small rock

"It was for your own good and you didn't complain before" he replied as he rummaged around his pack

"Yeah, I know" the gray mare said as she took a couple of deep breaths. Calm and centered. Cool and collected. I've gone through worse situations than this and made it alive. I can make it through this weirdness as well "We'll need to find a source of water as well as food and shelter. Once we're all set, we should explore a bit and see what we can find"

"Very well. Lead the way" Nier said as he trotted over to her

"Stick close and don't wander off without telling me. Who knows what critters lives in this place?" she said as she looked into the darkness of the forest. As if to emphasize her words, noises, growls and even howling could be hear all over them.

"Who knows indeed? Maybe this could be a zerg world for all we know" Nier said as he gave out a nervous chuckle. The ghost simply looked at him in a rather deadpan expression. "Right, sorry about that crappy joke"

Knocking was heard at the door. "Spike, could you see who that is please?" Twilight asked as she wrote on a piece of parchment. Sitting across her was X eating a bowl of oats served with some apple slices.

"Sure thing" the young dragon replied.

"I was thinking of flying around today. See If I can break the sound barrier again" X said as small bits of apple flew from his mouth

Twilight gave him a quick glance "Actually, Rarity was hoping to see you today. Remember you promised to let her give a look at your suit"

"Oh, I forgot about that. I was hoping to fly a bit, but I guess I have to stay true to my promise. We'll go there today then?"

"After breakfast. And please don't talk with your mouth full" she said as she continued to write

"Uhm… Twi" Looking back at her, she saw Spike peeking around the corner. "It's for you"

"Excuse me for a moment. I'll be right back" she said as she walked over to the door. Thinking that it was one of her friends, she opened it expecting a warm hello. She indeed got it, but not from her friends instead from both princesses

Surprised by their presence she quickly bowed "Good morning, princess Celestia, princess Luna"

"Good morning to you as well Twi" the regal pony replied as she gave off a gentle smile.

"What brings you here?" Twilight asked as she noticed the retinue of guards behind them. "Is everything alright?"

"That remains to be seen" Luna replied "May we come in?"

"Of course" Twilight said as she stepped away, allowing them passage. As soon as they entered the guards took position outside the house and kept watch while both rulers stayed inside.

"I'm sorry to have arrived unannounced Twi. But we have some news that we must discuss together" Celestia said as she and Luna sat on the couch "Is X here?"

Right on cue, X walked into the room with his eyes closed, still savoring the flavor of the sweet apples. "Twi, I'm just going to take a moment to fly around the house until we leave. Is that oka…"

"X?" Celestia said as she saw the colt

Coughing upon seeing them, he stammered "Ce…Celestia!? Luna!? What are you doing here?"

Without responding, Luna stood up and slowly walked over to him. As she towered over him, X felt rather nervous. Suddenly, she quickly grabbed him and spun him around "My word X! You are as cute as a newborn star!" she said in a happy tone, her eyes sparkling with the same happiness "Tia, isn't he one of the cutest things to ever exist?"

"I have to agree with you" Celestia replied as she placed a hoof over her mouth in an effort to suppress a chuckle "Twilight did you by any chance cast a spell on him?"

Giving a nervous chuckle she answered her "Yes, though it was an accident. At any rate, it should wear of later in the day"

"Tia, you're not thinking of changing him back, are you?" Luna asked as she still clutched X. He was already quite dizzy from the constant spinning as well as uncomfortable from the unusual smothering he received

"I have to. We need him back to normal" Celestia replied. A disappointed look ran across Luna as she placed X down. "Now X, this may sting a bit" Celestia said as her horn began to glow

Shaking his head in an effort to get rid of the dizziness he asked "What's going to sting?" A bright beam emanated from Celestia and made contact with him. A puff of smoke filled the room. Quickly Spike opened a window allowing it to vent out.

"There we go" Celestia said in a satisfied tone. Standing there was X back in his adulthood

He could feel the muscles in his body as well as his psionics all back to standard as well "Much better, thanks for your help" he said as he nodded at her

"Not a problem X"

"So, why are you two here? Did something happen?" X asked with concern in his tone of voice

"Something did indeed occur last night. Luna and I felt something. A presence" Celestia replied

"That doesn't sound good" Twilight added as she and X looked at each other

"The thing is, it felt quite familiar" Luna said as she walked over to him "It felt like you" It took him a couple of seconds, but once he got her meaning his eyes opened wide in surprise

"…Now the problem occurs when you decide to use liquid nitrogen. See the flash freezing may cause damage at the cellular level and the last thing you need is to…

"Doc!" the ghost yelled tired of his lesson. Since the two decided to head deeper into the woods, Nier kept talking non-stop about topics regarding all scientific matters. "As enlightening as this conversation is, I have to keep my attention on our surroundings. Now kindly shut up"

"I'm sorry. I tend to speak a lot when I'm nervous and I actually tent to…" She interrupted him by extending a hoof over his chest. He grunted at being suddenly stopped. "What is it? Am I speaking too much again?" Nier nervously asked

She stood quiet for a moment, a serious look etched on her face as she looked around. "We're being watched"

"Wh…What?!" Nier whimpered "How can you be sure?"

"Everything went quiet all of the sudden. Also, the many bright green eyes staring us down are a dead giveaway" she replied. From the shadows, bright eyes looked at them.

"That's definitely not good" Nier said as the creatures began to emerge from the folige that provided them cover.

"What the hell are those things?" The ghost said upon seeing them clearly.

"They look like wolves, made completely out of wood!" Nier said as he got behind her "It would appear this planet harbors innate psionic energy for them to manifest in such a way"

"If they are indeed psionic creatures, then something is wrong with me. Otherwise I would have sensed their presence"

The Timberwolves slowly approached them. From the way they were surrounding them showed that they creatures were intelligent predators. The ghost looked all around noticing that more were coming out from the woods. This isn't good. If it were just me, then I could handle this no problem… The Ghost looked behind her. She saw Nier looking around quickly, whimpering softly, body shaking and eyes like pricks. Crap… I have to keep him safe… I got no choice here…

"Nier…" the doctor quickly looked at her "When I say go, you run straight ahead and you don't look back"

"But what about you?" he asked as he looked at the wolves "What are you going to do?"

"I'll deal with them as fast as I can then run straight for you" she replied "Until then just keep running. Ok?"

Taking a deep gulp and steeling his nerves as much as he could, Nier nodded at her "Ok, say when"

The ghost narrowed her eyes as lead wolf readied itself to pounce. Snarling and growling, it then jumped straight at her. "NOW!" she yelled as her eyes glowed in an ethereal hue. Using her psionics she enhanced the strength of her body and aim at the wolf's chin. With one well placed upper-cut it, the creature went flying up a considerate distance into the air. Seeing the opening that she made for him, Nier ran away as fast as he could. A couple of Timberwolves wanted to give chase but the ghost quickly stepped in their way.

She flapped her wings, kicking up a small cloud of dirt. Looking at them, she gave of a smirk "Come on. I can provide a better challenge for you lot than him"

Nier was panting heavily as he ran "This… Isn't what a man of my… field should be doing" he thought to himself. As he continued, he saw what appeared to be the edge of the forest. Feeling relief, he managed to exit it and came upon open fields of grass. He gave out a sigh of relief thinking that he managed to escape. But much to his dismay, he heard the sounds of howling. When he looked back, he saw a three wolves running towards him. "AH CRAP!" he yelled as he strained his body to run even more. But they proved to be faster, slowly catching up.

Oh God… I don't want to die…There's so much more I could do... so many more... experiments to finish... He could feel fatigue getting the better of him until finally he ran out of steam. As he lay on the grass, he looked back and saw them closing the distance. This is it… he closed his eyes as he prepared for the worse

Right when the lead wolf was about to pounce him, the sound of crackling wood was heard, followed by whimpers and yelping. Opening his eyes, he saw the ghost in front of him, standing in a battle-ready pose.

"You alright?" the voice sounded familiar to Nier.

"Ye…yeah…" he replied

"Good" the ghost said, casting a quick glance at him "Now then. To deal with you termite ridden mutts"

Almost as if it felt offended, one of them lunged at the Pegasus. The Ghost dodged it and retaliated with a well placed hoof the muzzle. Another one tried to get the ghost from behind but again he dodge it and this one felt the force of a psionic bolt, sending it flying back a couple of feet. Nier Looked in awe, as the Pegasus dodge lunge after lunge and kept hitting them. Splinters kept flying all over, until finally the wolves had enough and retreated back to the forest with their tails between their legs. Only the one that received the psionic blast stayed behind as it was unconscious on the grass.

"And that takes care of them. So to whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?" the gray Pegasus said as he walked over to him

"…Is that you?" Nier said as he tilted his head. Looking right into his eyes he saw the tell tale ocular implant that belonged to X "It's you! You're alive man" he said in a joyous tone

"Wait… Nier?!" X said upon recognizing him "The frigging hell you doing here?!"

"I came here to get you back you lucky bastard" Nier said as he placed a hoof over his shoulder "Seriously that's all you can say after all this time?"

"Well I sure didn't expect you to personally lead the rescue party. What with you being always cooped up in that lab of yours" X chuckled

"Glad to see you" Nier said

"Likewise doc"

"So how did you manage to survive all this time?"

"I'm a shadowguard doc, survival is part of the job description" he replied with a smug look "But I did manage to make some friends to help me"

"X!"

"Speaking of which" the gray Pegasus said as he saw Twilight and her friends approach them

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked

"Never better Twi. Nier, these are the friends that kept me alive" he said as he introduced him to them "Everyone, this is Nier, the good doctor that helped me back in my world"

"Pleasure to meet all of you" he said in a cheerful tone

"Likewise sir" Twilight said as he looked at him with interest

"Nice to see a gentlecolt with manners such as yours" Rarity said as she bowed slightly

"Howdy there, partner" Apple said as she shook his hoof

Pinkie could barely contain her excitement as she bounced around him and spoke lighting fast hellos at him. Nier just chuckled nervously as he tried to keep up with the pink lightning bolt. Fluttershy sheepishly said hello to him, since he was a friend of X then he couldn't be a bad pony especially when he had a gentle voice like the one he had.

"Cool! So you're an alien like X" Rainbow said as she flew around him "Tell me, did you go on missions with X? What kind of things do you do on your world?"

"Well. I'm mostly a scientist, so I spent most of my time doing research and learning as much as I can" he replied. Upon hearing what he was, Twilight's eyes glowed with glee at the thought of a fellow pony vastly interested in knowledge

"Ah man. And I thought you were as cool as X" Rainbow said with disappointment "No offense though"

Nier chuckled "None taken, I know my life isn't as interesting as his" As they continued to converse among each other, they didn't realize that the Timberwolf near them began to gain consciousness. As it got up, it noticed the grey Pegasus that knocked him out and snarled. Taking the advantage that he had his back turned, it ran towards him.

Noticing it, Twilight quickly yelled "X! Behind you!" as he turned around he saw the wolf already in mid-air. He barely had time to react, but to his relief a flash of light blasted the creature to bits. As splinters rained down on the group, X thought it was Twilight or Celestia that protected him. But to his surprise, a gray Pegasus stood where the wolf once stood.

"Thanks for that" he said as he addressed her

"Still keep leaving yourself open to attack" the mare replied "Here I was hoping you would have learned by now" As she turned around the entire group was stunned upon seeing her.

"Oh my God" X said as his mouth was wide open

"She looks… just like you X" Twilight said. Indeed the mare was almost identical to him, the differences being that she had a longer mane, two blue eyes and longer eyelashes. The mark on her flank was the same as X but the difference being that the detailed ghost decal was inverted as well as the silhouette.

"Who are you?" X said as he looked at her with curiosity

The mare smiled at him as she approached him. She managed to get face to face as he was still stunned about seeing her "Don't you recognize me? I'm hurt by that" she said in a sarcastic tone as she looked at him straight into his eyes "And here I thought you would remember me…Xyvi"

His eyes widened in shock upon hearing the way she said it "…P…Pyre?" he said in almost a whisper as he fainted. Twilight and her friends looked at him and then back at her. A moment of silence reigned over them until Pinkie burst out in an overly joyful tone "YAY! X's twin sister made it alive after all!"

X opened his eyes slowly as his eyes adjusted to the light of the room. Getting up, he realized he was back in Twilight's house. "That was a weird dream" X said aloud as he stretched. He could hear voices coming from downstairs. "Guess everyone's here today. Better go and say hello then"

Getting close to the door, he decided to peek inside. He could see everyone looking at the two new arrivals, questioning the same way they questioned him when they first met him. Both princesses were there as well looking at them with interest.

It wasn't a dream…shit…

X… A voice crept into his mind Are you awake?

Yeah I'm up Luna.

Are you going to come in?

I actually don't want to…

Sooner or later you'll have to…

…

Am I going to have to go and get you?

Sigh. Fine I'm going…

Upon entering the room, all of them turned their heads and looked at him. "Finally up from your nap Xivy?" Pyre said with a smirk. He didn't reply, instead sitting next to Flutter.

"Xivy?" Twilight asked

"Just a nickname I used when we were younger" Pyre replied "Better than addressing him as X or X8; don't you think?

"Hmm... X'sy or Xivy? Both sound nice, don't you think so X'sy wesy" Pinkie said upon learning about it, with X giving out a low groan

"So you are a scientist and you were the one who brought X to us" Celestia said as she looked at Nier

"That's correct your majesty. Though this land wasn't the intended destination" Nier replied

"Even so, the time that X has spent here has been quite enlightening. While you wait for your friends to arrive and bring you home, we hope that the time here in Equestria will be a pleasant one"

"Thank you for your hospitality. My companion and I are most thankful"

"Speaking of which…" Celestia said as she looked Pyre "I've heard quite a bit about you"

"Have you now? Did he blab about our time in the Dominion?" Pyre asked as she pointed at him "Xivy wasn't never a good keeper of secrets"

Celestia chuckled "Yes, he mentioned you and your exploits together. How you would ensure he was safe, make sure he was always healthy. He painted you as quite the caring sibling and I'm inclined to believe him" Unknown to Pyre, Celestia took the initiative and prodded a bit in her mind. Though she managed to acquire a bit of insight about the mare, Pyre had the same thing happen to X. Constant mind wipes and training proved to be a bit of a challenge to her and Celestia opted to not forced herself to find out more out of respect for Pyre.

"I'm glad I made such an impression on my little brother" Pyre said as she smiled

"X you're awfully quiet" Twilight said as X stared Pyre down

"Indeed he is. Is something bothering you brother?"

"I am not your brother" he replied dryly

"Come now X. She's identical to you" Rarity said

"Doesn't matter if we look alike, she isn't my sister"

"Here I was thinking you would be somewhat happy upon seeing her" Nier said as he looked at his friend

"Yeah, if I spent such a long time without seeing Big Mac or Applebloom, I'd definitely be overjoyed to see them again" Applejack added

"Family is important X" Celestia said as she looked a Luna tenderly

Their words instead of helping come to terms with Pyre only ended up inciting him "I saw my sister die. I was the one who put a hole on her chest. I saw the light of her life leave her eyes" he said. His face may have not showed it, but his voice reflected sorrow "I have no sister!"

"X!" Flutter exclaimed as she tried to calm him down. Pyre simply gave him with an indifferent look

"Actually X… she didn't die. She is right here after all" Nier said as he walked around the room "Yes you did shoot her but she managed to survive"

"How the hell did she survive then?" X asked

"You missed" Pyre replied

"What?!" X said in a perplexed tone

Flashback- Jamais Town, Icarus IV

Rain was pouring down upon the two figures. One was standing over the other. Flickers of light emanated from their suits. Their clothing as well as their gear indicated that they were both Ghosts. The one standing was clearly a man, pointing down his rifle over a young looking female. His arm was shaking, his finger on the trigger of his gun. He was pointing at her heart.

"Do it. I don't want to be a slave for them anymore"

"I… I can't… I won't…

"You have to. If you don't then they'll just send someone else to find you and they'll end up killing me"

"They'll send someone else even if I shoot you…"

"Heh,heh… You think I didn't thought about that…they don't care who's blood is shed so long the target is dead… did you forget we share the same DNA?

"Pyre…I'm sorry"

"It's alright… just promise me… You'll live… for both of us…

Hearing her words, the ghost closed his eyes and looked away as he pulled the trigger. He stood there for a moment as tears were mixed with the rainwater. He looked down and saw blood coming from her chest. Once he left, Pyre's body remained on the ground. After about several hours some terrans in white arrived next to her. The Umojan logo on their clothing could be seen.

"Is she still alive?" One of them crouched over her and placed two finders on her neck. It was faint, but the man could feel her pulse.

"Barely" he replied as he fished out a needle from a pouch that hanged from his leg.

"Is it worth it to bring her back?" one of them asked as the medic filled the needle with medicine "I mean, bleeding for so damn long must have messed up something in her"

"Yeah well, Ghosts are supposed to endure pain and more. Besides, the higher ups will decide whether she keeps on living. We just make the delivery" he replied as he carefully injected the ghost "There we go, that should help you out. Come on let's get her out of here"

"Once she was brought to Umoja we helped her. Since you were a shadowguard by then, we already had blood samples from you" Nier said as he looked at X "We simply changed the facial aesthetics from a fallen Dominion soldier and added your blood to the mix and came up with a fake body for you. Same story with her"

"It took me a year to recover" Pyre said as she placed a hoof over her chest "If you hadn't missed my heart. Then I would be pushing up daisies"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me all this?" X said as he sat back down

"I told Nier to stay quiet about it" Pier replied "Since you were doing fine by yourself, I figured you didn't need me anymore"

"Didn't need you? Damn it, I mourned you" X replied as he looked at the floor "All the memories that involved you, I sent them to the deepest recesses of my mind just to numb that feeling of being alone" Both princesses looked at him with sympathy. After dealing firsthand with ensuring that his mind didn't break, they knew what he was going through

"Jeez, you're been kinda dramatic are you?" Pyre replied "Well, I'm back little brother. So you don't have to feel like that anymore"

"You're right, I don't" he said as he stood up and headed for the door

"Where do you think you're going?" Twilight asked as he stood in front of his way

"Flying" he replied "The farther away I am from her the better" he passed next to her in a hurry

"X!" Twilight yelled. Right when she was about to go and stop him, she heard Celestia's voice

"Twi…" the unicorn turned around and looked at her mentor "Give him some space. I'm sure he'll need some time to let this situation settle with him. In the meantime…" the Alicorn turned her attention to Pyre "I would like to spent some time with you. Get to know you a little bit more. If it's not a bother to you of course"

The ghost gave Nier a quick glance "I'm sure she wouldn't mind" Nier said with a smile

Nighttime came and X still didn't return. Instead he was laying on top of a small cloud, gazing at the stars. The time X spent alone was quite peaceful for him. Indeed he needed the peace since he couldn't stop thinking about Nier and Pyre. He was quite pissed off with his friend, to keep her existence a secret from him greatly bothered X. Combined with the fact that him being a shadowguard, he should have at least found out on his own that Pyre still lived.

"I missed… fucking unbelievable…" he said to himself as he rested his head on the pillow soft cloud "Point blank range and I missed"

"Hello there X. Mind if I join you?" a voice asked. Turning his head around, he saw Luna giving of a slight smile. Since he didn't reply and instead looked back to the sky, the alicorn sat next to him. "A bit for your thoughts?"

"You already know what's on my mind" X replied

"Yes, but I think it be best if you shared it instead of keeping it to yourself"

"I should have found out. What kind of a shadowguard am I if I can't even figure out that my twin sister is alive?" X said as he flicked a small fluff of cloud

"Everyone makes mistakes X. You can't blame yourself for not knowing" Luna said in a soft tone "The important thing is that she's alive and that you should be happy about it. I know I would be" For a brief moment X remembered what he read about the princesses. How at one point they were both separate, how Luna was somebody else

"I know. It's just hard to process that fact. But I've gone through worse news" he said as he looked at her

"I understand that it may take some time before you two see eye to eye. However I'm sure that you'll eventually return to that nice sibling relationship you once had"

"Thanks for taking the time to check up on me. It's not something that usually happens to me"

"Any time X"

"Have to say, the night sky is something else today"

"Glad to hear that you like it" Luna replied as they both stared at the starry night

Here's a pro tip for everyone. Always make sure you have a back-up of every single file you deem important before your computer decides to implode upon itself. I found out the hard way and well... it was an experience I can tell you that. But enough of that, glad to post this up. As always, here's me hoping you enjoyed what you read and have yourself a nice day/night.