It was after dinner in the palace that X decided to go outside the palace for a walk. After all, X never had much time to go out for walks when he was active back at Earth. It was much too dangerous to be going on leisurely strolls when there were Mavericks roaming outside the 'safe-zones' surrounding anyplace with a substantial population, whether that population was human or Reploid. Besides, there was the strange, pulsing light that Luna had told him about. It seemed to come from the hills beyond the castle, and despite being highly visible, nopony had been able to reliably pinpoint its location. "It seemed to move somewhere else when I got near," one Night Guard had told Luna.
Fluttershy had insisted on coming along with X. "I'm not going to let you get lost again, X." she said with a stern voice.
"But the castle is huge, and in plain sight! You could see it from miles away!"
Of course, when Fluttershy told everypony that she and X were heading out, Rainbow Dash insisted on coming along, and naturally the whole group would tag along as well.
"Besides, if Flutters is going on an adventure, why the hay would I stay behind? I like my nightly flights anyways." Rainbow Dash said.
And so the Mane Six and X (plus Spike) went off on an adventure to the Canterlot backhills.
"Be careful, my ponies. No one has any idea what that light could be. Even though nothing bad has come out of it, it would be wise to be careful, and to also carry a light source." Luna advised before the Mane Six and X (plus Spike) left the castle.
"No worries, Princess! Me and Rarity can use our light-casting spell!" Twilight replied as the group walked (or flew) towards the hills.
-----
"Wow, it's really dark here..." Applejack said as everypony struggled to navigate through a dense section of forest in the dark.
"And cold..." Rarity complained.
"Why isn't my magic working?! The mana seems to be inert here!" Twilight shouted in exasperation as her horn shot a few rays of light ahead before fizzling out. "What about you, Rarity?"
"Oh dear, it seems my magic refuses to work here either!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Don't worry! I brought a lantern with me!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she pulled a lantern out of her inventory.
"What in tarnation...?! Where'd you pull that lantern out of, Pinkie?"
"Out of my inventory menu, silly." Pinkie replied to Applejack. "Now, does anypony have something I can light this thing with?"
Everyone facehoofed.
"Don't worry, everyone. I can use this..." X activated his X-buster and unused solar energy began flowing out of it, illuminating the surrounding area with a warm, golden glow. "I can see in the dark, but I forgot that you ponies probably can't."
Fluttershy's eyes widened at the sight of the X-buster, remembering that it was the weapon that X had used to knock down the dragon. It had fired a ferocious blast of compressed solar energy before, but now it was giving off what could only be described as gentle beams of sunlight.
"Oh my, that's actually quite warm." Fluttershy said as the X-buster gave off a significant amount of heat, acting as a heater for the ponies as they continued walking in the cold, night air.
"Hey guys, what's that?" Rainbow shouted as she pointed at a glowing area deeper in the forest.
"I think that's our target, everyone! Let's go!" Twilight shouted as everyone raced toward the glowing light.
-----
"What the hay?! I could've sworn it was right here!" Rainbow shouted. Indeed, there was no light coming from where Rainbow had pointed at earlier, even though everyone had been walking straight at it. The light seemed to not get closer no matter how hard they ran at it.
Suddenly, X had a sudden revelation. "Everyone, stop chasing it."
"What? Why?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Don't question it right now. Just let me walk there. Alone. And don't look at it either!"
The ponies silently obeyed and turned the other way while X approached the light by himself.
As he got closer, he found that it was getting increasingly harder to move, until finally, he was frozen in place as the light subsided and a capsule erupted out of the ground.
"X. So you've broken through the barrier and reached this desolate place." Doctor Light's hologram said.
"Can they see?" X motioned at the ponies still looking the other way.
"Oh! So you've brought friends with you this time. They shall always be welcome here."
The ponies approached the capsule after some encouragement from X, and their apprehension disappeared after they saw who it was.
"You're the old guy in Fluttershy's shed!" Pinkie pointed out.
Doctor Light chuckled. "Aye, I am. However, I hide other capsules like these throughout the world wherever X might be. They contain powerful upgrade parts, and they must be well hidden, for I cannot imagine what would happen if this technology fell into the wrong hands."
"Just how do you do this, Doctor? You've even followed me across whole universes."
"That's a trade secret, X."
"Alright, then. What do you have for me?"
"I don't know? What kind of ponies do you like the most?"
"What do you mean? Do you mean what race?"
"I suppose that's what I mean, if that's what you think."
"Hmm... I don't know then. I think most ponies are very nice. Isn't that right, Fluttershy?"
"Eeep! I... you're right, I suppose."
"Well, you had better choose a race then, X."
"Well, I can't exactly choose one race as my favorite and offend the other two, Doctor."
"Well then, I'll help you. It was Fluttershy who found you first, right? By that logic, you would choose pegasi as the best race."
"I don't think..."
"Pegasi can fly! But unicorns can use magic, and earth ponies can grow plants. Decisions, decisions..."
"Err..."
"I only kid, X! I wouldn't have you answer a question like that, not in front of those ponies." He pointed at the six ponies, who looked rather bewildered by this strange conversation.
"I present you with the Pegasus foot parts! These foot parts will allow you to dash in any direction, as well as making you run faster and jump higher under normal circumstances. I've also enhanced them to allow cloudwalking, as well as boosting your movement speed greatly while traveling on a cloud. Enter the capsule, X."
X complied, and hopped into the capsule. The capsule closed shut, and began uploading armor data into X's system, as beams of light began surrounding him. Finally, a bolt of energy struck the top of the capsule as the Pegasus foot parts materialized on X's feet, and the capsule opened. X examined his new feet. They were more streamlined than his original feet, and were colored a very light blue. X hopped out, immediately feeling the lightness of his new feet, and dashed diagonally upwards, leaving a trail of magically formed feathers that faded away quickly. He then landed on the ground, noiselessly.
When X turned around, the capsule was gone.