Ghosts of the Past
Chapter Two
"Whaddaya mean you're a ghost? I thought ghosts weren't real!" exclaimed the frightened creature.
The Ghost re-engaged his cloaking. "I'm not one in the literal sense. They call me and people like me a 'Ghost'."
The creature was still looking at where the Ghost was when he disappeared, not knowing that he stood by the door, blocking off any escape.
"How did you do that?" asked the slightly calmer creature.
The Ghost thought about how much he should say. He chuckled to himself and said, "Magic."
The creature's facial features frowned slightly. "That's not any type of magic Ah've ever seen," it said, shaking its head slightly. Before the Ghost could ask what it meant by that, the creature asked, "So Mr. Ghost, how can I help you?"
The Ghost was stunned at the creature. How is it acting calm in front of an alien visitor?
Slightly caught off guard by the question, the Ghost was silent for a minute. Finally he spoke up.
"I need to—"
The Ghost stopped his flow of words. What do I need to do? Act like the superior alien race, like the Protoss, or seek to add them to the Terran arsenal of war, like we did with the Tauren?
The Ghost debated his decision.
He chose neither.
"I don't know. I never expected to be in a situation such as this," admitted the Ghost.
The Ghost thought for a moment. I should probably gain as much information about these creatures as possible, lest they attempt to betray me somehow.
The Ghost asked, "Who are you, what are you, and where am I?"
The creature climbed back onto the bed from where it had been standing and curled up with its feet under its torso.
"Ma name is Applejack, and I'm an earth pony..."
The Ghost stiffened at the mention of the word 'Earth'.
"...you're in a land called Equestria, habited by ponies of all sorts and sizes, from earth ponies like me, to unicorns and Pegasi."
"What are 'unicorns' and 'Pegasi'?" asked the Ghost.
"Unicorns are ponies with horns atop their heads and are gifted with magic. Pegasi, or if you're talking about one, pegasus, have wings that they use to fly."
The Ghost took a second to digest this newfound information. He naturally asked the first question that came to mind. "What do you mean 'gifted with magic'?"
The 'pony' frowned at his general direction. "What do you mean? You said yourself that you turned invisible with magic!"
The Ghost stared at the creature. "I was joking," he said in a chilling tone.
"Then how'd you disappear like that?" asked the pony.
The Ghost decloaked and said, "I will refrain from answering that at this moment."
The pony nodded grudgingly. "Everypony has their secrets, and I respect that. Could you answer one question for me though? I've been dyin' to ask you..."
The Ghost sighed and said, "Fine."
"How did you get here?"
The Ghost's memory flashed to getting eviscerated by the vortex. "Very painfully," he replied.
The pony's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
He debated telling the creature about the battle with the Protoss, in case he revealed any information that was classified. He then realized that it was quite possible that he'd never make it home again. Wherever 'home' was.
"I'd rather not say," said the Ghost.
The pony laughed and said, "I'm the element of honesty, Mr. Ghost. If I say I want to know somethin', I darn well mean it."
The Ghost didn't know what 'element of honesty' meant, but he knew 'honest' was not a term he applied to himself. Why does this 'pony' want to know how I got here? Shouldn't it ask about my appearance or even my race?
"Why do you want to know?" asked the Ghost.
"Well, ya'll don't seem to be the type to talk much, so I figured asking ya'll how ya got here would be the easiest to answer," responded the pony.
Valid point, thought the Ghost. I wonder why 'Applejack' is being so understanding...
Thinking that he might as well learn as much as he could, the Ghost decided to do a brief retelling of the events that brought him here. He was already formulating his next course of action when he said, "Fine. Don't expect me to answer all of your questions afterwards."
The Ghost told Applejack about the events that happened to him since being dropped off on the fringe world with the least amount of words he could manage. He told her about his surprise at the Protoss base, the successful repelling of the subsequent attack, and finally, about the ill-fated push into the enemy territory.
Applejack was silent throughout the entire telling, not even asking a single question. When the Ghost finished his story, she broke the awkward silence that followed.
"You single-hoofedly caused the Protoss to flee, and your teammates didn't even know it was you helping them?"
The Ghost paused for a second, thinking. He had not revealed himself to his teammates, with the exception of the lone marine at the end. He nodded in response to her question.
The pony thought about that for a second. "So everything you did to save your friends was for nothin', then? You fought your hardest but they cheated with that big ship thing, and you got sucked in and somehow ended up here?"
Pretty much, thought the Ghost as he nodded again, glad that he didn't have to answer with words. He had never had to retell an encounter with the enemy before, and it left his throat sore.
The pony, Applejack, shifted herself uneasily on the bed. "So, what are you going to do now?"
The Ghost sighed and turned invisible once again. So much for no talking. "Where's the highest point within a relatively close distance?"
The pony raised a hoof to its chin in thought. "That would probably be the library in the center of Ponyville. Why?"
The Ghost opened the door and said, "That's for me to know."
The Ghost loaded a tranquilizer dart into his gun. He felt a strange feeling in his chest, and his mind labelled it as guilt. He didn't know the definition of 'guilt' and he found it strange that he knew what the feeling was even though he had never experienced it before. Thinking it a side effect of being erased and recreated, he quickly aimed and hit the pony in the right shoulder with a tranquilizer dart. Applejack fell asleep immediately, still in the same position.
It is necessary, thought the Ghost, finding himself making excuses. I can't let my presence be known widely yet and the only logical course of action is to silence the only being that knows I'm here.
The Ghost carefully pulled the now-empty dart out of the creature's shoulder and placed it in a compartment in his suit.
No sense leaving evidence behind, thought the Ghost.
He carefully placed the sleeping pony back under the bed covers. Double checking to make sure everything was as it should be, the Ghost then closed the door and exited the house. He then quickly and quietly scaled the house, hoping that it would not crumble beneath his feet.
It didn't, and the Ghost stood at the tallest point on the roof of the building. He switched his vision to thermal again, and quickly spotted the faint glowing signatures of a large amount of the so called 'ponies'. Marking his target on his visor, the Ghost dropped to the ground, his suit absorbing the impact, and sprinted towards the village.
He arrived a few minutes later at the base of a massive tree in 'Ponyville'. The tree was hollow, according to his visor, and there were two heat signatures emanating from the tree.
Strange, thought the Ghost. This place is strange. The creatures here are fully sentient, four legged creatures that speak English, are low-level Psions, some are possible flyers, and some can possibly use 'magic'.
The Ghost stood stalk still and shivered. Reminds me of the Zerg. Aside from speaking. Although... their queen does more than enough of that.
Shaking off his sudden realization, the Ghost started to climb the tree when he felt a very powerful twinge his temples. The sudden pain of it was almost enough to cause him to lose his grip.
One of the heat signatures must be a pony with much greater psionic potential than the last one. Possibly a 6 or higher on the Psi index. This one could be problematic.
Ready to circumvent any mind attacks by the mysterious Psion, the Ghost surreptitiously climbed the ancient tree trunk up to the balcony. From the balcony, the Ghost saw an observation deck, complete with a telescope.
Perfect.
The Ghost, realizing he couldn't jump that far, started to slowly climb through the mass of leaves and branches. It took him longer than he expected, mostly because his gun kept getting caught. Eventually, he made it to the observation deck.
The Ghost opened up one of his many compartments in his suit and took out a small, heavy, metal box the size of his fist. He placed the box on the floor and pushed the lone button.
The box in question was an experimental device used to rally troops to a single location. It broadcasted a specific frequency that only Terran equipment could receive, as the Protoss were capable of homing in on other, less encrypted channels.
Making a slight whirring noise, the box unfolded a small portion of itself. The portion contained only a small green light.
Good, thought the Ghost. I'm at a suitable elevation for it to work. Now we play the waiting game, and see if any Terrans arrive.
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The Ghost waited for several hours, waiting. The battery on the rally device only lasted a maximum of four hours, and the Ghost was determined to wait at least that long. Waiting for long periods of time made the mind wander, and the Ghost realized several somethings.
Why am I so eager to for a Terran to show up? It's not like I enjoy or am even capable of socializing with others. Do I want someone to talk to? No, I don't enjoy speaking. What is it then? What could I possibly want another Terran here for?
And then it hit him. I want someone to tell me what to do. Who to fight. Who to kill. I am a weapon with no user, a tool with no purpose.
Thinking again, he added, I'm also bored. Nothing attempting to eviscerate me or my allies is making me lethargic. The Ghost chuckled to himself. Who knew being out of deadly combat would be so dreary.
The Ghost's musing was interrupted when the machine stopped whirring and the green light turned off. He felt the last remnants of hope dissipate. Sighing, the Ghost went to grab the box and place it back in its compartment, to keep it from falling into enemy hands. Just as he was about to touch the box, he stopped, his hand inches away from it.
Why should I even bother? There's no way I'm going to be able to make it back home now. The Ghost silently laughed at himself. There never was a chance. I was deluding myself. He stared at the box again.
"Fuck it," said the Ghost.
The Ghost sat down, trying to find the most comfortable position on the small platform. He leaned back against the railing and did the one thing he hadn't done in over three months.
He slept.
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The Ghost felt a pounding in his head, which did not belong in the sea of black he floated in.
The Ghost awoke to the sound of a trapdoor opening. Instantly alert, he immediately stood up and had his gun pointing at it before it was fully opened.
The purple pony stared down the opening in the barrel of the rifle. It slowly panned it's head to look at the Ghost towering above her.
The Ghost stared at the pony.
The pony stared back.
The Ghost continued to stare.
Finally, after a lengthy stare-down between the two, the pony eventually gave up and asked sheepishly, "Umm. Hi there... would you please tell me why you're on my observation deck?"
The pony said these words slowly, obviously not expecting the Ghost to understand. He most certainly did understand however, and gathered a fair amount of information as well. If the pony didn't know they spoke the same language, then that meant the one he tranquilized hadn't woken up and told her friends. It also meant that the ponies were willing to talk, something he was perfectly fine with.
The Ghost wanted the pony to think that he didn't know her language so he could learn more about them before revealing what he was. He slowly put his gun down, not wanting to spook the creature. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement on the streets below him. He turned his head to the scene below him.
Ponies. Ponies everywhere. They were all different colours, red, blue, green, and many others the Ghost didn't know. They were in a loose circle surrounding the tree he stood atop of. And they were all staring at him.
The Ghost did not like feeling watched. He didn't like the fact that they were watching him before he was looking at them. The irony of it was lost on the poor Ghost.
The Ghost prepared to engage his cloaking and psi-jump from the deck and to hopefully get enough momentum to clear the ponies below him without crushing any. As he prepared his legs, the description came onto his visor as a reminder.
>>Psionically boost your muscle mass and bone density in your legs and feet to jump a much greater distance than could normally be possible. Can cause fractures, torn ligaments, and ripped muscles along the entire leg if done incorrectly.
Having done it multiple times, the Ghost channelled energy his legs for the psi-jump, but before he could execute it, he heard the purple pony behind him yell, "Stop! We don't want to hurt you!"
That gave the Ghost pause. He slowly turned back towards the purple pony, releasing the psionic energy he had been holding. As he did so, he noticed that it had a horn, designating it as a 'unicorn'. He holstered his gun on his back, in an effort to show the 'unicorn' that he meant no harm.
Obviously pleased with his effort, the purple unicorn beckoned for the Ghost to climb down with her. Inwardly sighing, the Ghost complied, but not without turning his thermal on to check for any hidden ambushes. He saw none, and soon found himself in a large, nicely furnished room.
After leading him to the center of the room, the purple unicorn stopped and asked politely, "Could you please stay here? I need to deal with the crowd outside."
Feeling it necessary to plead ignorance, the Ghost didn't react in the slightest. The unicorn sighed and motioned with its foreleg to stop and stay. The Ghost did as it asked, sitting down where he was and tapping his fingers on his suit while he waited.
As he was sitting there, the Ghost did not notice the small dragon sneak up behind him. He also didn't notice the large frying pan that he held in his claws. The dragon swung with all the might his small frame carried into the back of the Ghost's head.
The frying pan caused a tiny, almost imperceptible dent into the Ghost's helmet. The Ghost, to his credit, did not flinch. A few seconds after he was hit, the Ghost casually looked over at the now terrified dragon. Not waiting or caring for an explanation, the Ghost psionically entered the dragon's mind and caused him to fall into a deep slumber.
The Ghost continued to wait patiently for the purple unicorn to return. When it did, it was too entranced with the letter hovering in front of it to immediately notice the unconscious reptile and the severely dented frying pan. It was scribbling something on the letter and was reading it aloud as it was doing so.
"Dear Princess Celestia, I've just found a creature that was, for some reason, on my observation deck. It has not attempted to harm anypony, but it tried to jump off the deck when it noticed the ring of ponies watching it. Thankfully, I managed to disperse the crowd, and now I am going to attempt to communicate with the creature. The sooner you get this message, the sooner we can--"
The unicorn stopped her speech as soon as it saw the reptile lying on the ground.
"SPIKE!" it yelled, and rushed over to look at it. The pony quickly checked to see if the reptile was still breathing and when it did, the look of relief on the unicorn's face made the Ghost feel uneasy.
The unicorn's gaze focused to the Ghost. "What did you do to Spike?!" it yelled, obviously upset at the Ghost.
The Ghost had a challenge on his hands. Explain what he did without speaking.
The Ghost pointed at the sleeping creature, then at the frying pan. After the frying pan, he balled his fist and clanked on his helmet. After clanking on his helmet again, he pointed back at the sleeping creature.
Thankfully, the pony seemed to understand. This was proven when she voiced her thoughts. "Spike hit you with a frying pan, so you put him to sleep?"
The Ghost nodded.
"Oh Spike," said the unicorn softly. "You always go rushing into danger when you shouldn't."
This unicorn is treating the lizard like family. Are there other sentient races here as well? thought the Ghost idly.
The unicorn pulled her gaze off of the sleeping lizard. "How did you put him to sleep? And how come you don't talk if you can understand me?"
The Ghost stared back.
The unicorn sighed. "I guess that was a silly question. Can I call you something? My name's Twilight Sparkle."
The Ghost pondered what he should do next. Continue this charade or talk with this 'Twilight Sparkle'?
The Ghost immediately discounted talking. His throat still hurt from retelling his experiences to the other pony, Applejack. He also wanted to learn as much as he could without revealing his background. Charades it is then, thought the Ghost.
The Ghost stood to his full height, dwarfing the unicorn. He didn't realize until now that he was at least twice as tall as the pony, if not more so.
The Ghost pointed at his helmet, around where his eyes were, then pointed at the pony, then back at himself.
"Watch?" asked the unicorn, obviously curious.
The Ghost nodded, then activated his cloaking device. He knew it worked when he heard a sharp intake from Twilight. Walking behind the pony, he decloaked and gently tapped Twilight on the back, around where the spine should be.
Seemingly startled, the pony spun around and found itself looking face-to-mask with the Ghost. "How did you do that?" it asked incredulously.
The Ghost just stood there and stared.
"Is it a clue to your name?"
The Ghost nodded. For emphasis, he cloaked and walked several steps away, still in Twilight's line of sight, and decloaked.
"Is your name Wraith?"
The Ghost shook his head.
"Spectre?"
Closer, thought the Ghost. He shook his head again.
"Phantom?"
The Ghost shook his head again.
"Spirit?"
Okay, this unicorn has got be joking. I hope.
"Shade? Apparition? Revenant?"
"MY NAME IS GHOST!" yelled the Ghost, accidently amplifying his voice with psionic power.
Twilight cringed when it heard him speak. A slow smile crept onto the pony's face.
"I knew it! I knew you could speak! I figured antagonizing you would get you to--"
She stopped talking when she felt the Ghost's anger seeping through his mental barriers.
"I-I mean... I'm sorry..."