Ghosts of the Past

by Sepulcher

Chapter Four

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Four

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"Oh buck... oh buck, oh buck," said the blue pegasus as she pathetically attempted to crawl away.

"P-please don't kill me, whatever you are! I didn't mean to, I swear!" she sobbed after eliciting no response from the Ghost.

These ponies are just like Terrans. Declaring their innocence after committing a crime, the Ghost though wryly.

"Tell me the truth. Why did you do what you did?" asked the Ghost in his deadpan voice.

The pony sniffed. "I was sleeping on a cloud when the explosion woke me up. When I figured out it was at Twilight's house, I was gonna go rush over there but I saw a tall shimmer come out of the smoke. I guess that was you then, huh?" The Ghost made no attempt at confirming or denying that, so the pony continued.

"Well, I decided to wait until the shimmer stopped moving, and it just so happened to stop right below me. I flew off the cloud and... I think you know the rest. I don't remember what happened after you hit my chest."

The pegasus looked around in confusion. "Wait, why am I in Twilight's house?"

"It was the only place I could work in relative peace," said the Ghost, who was now fully decloaked. "Twilight, get out from your hiding spot at the top of the stairs and get down here. I have questions."

The purple unicorn was obviously dismayed that the Ghost knew where she was. Nevertheless, she did as she was asked and was checking the repair job on the pegasus' chest.

"What, don't trust me?" asked the Ghost with false hurt in his tone.

Twilight glared at him, and continued to make sure everything was in order.

The blue pony, not wanting to be left out of the loop, asked, "Twilight?! What is this thing?" After a slight growl from the Ghost was heard, she rectified her question. "I-I mean, who's your friend?"

"He's... well... he's a Ghost," answered Twilight.

"Whaddaya mean he's a Ghost! Ghost's don't exist!"

The Ghost felt it necessary to expand her knowledge on what did and did not exist. "I'm standing right here. Are you saying that I'm not?"

The blue pegasus hastily shook her head.

The Ghost smirked inside his helmet. "Where I'm from, the word 'Ghost' is a job, title, and name conveniently wrapped up in one word."

The pegasus thought about that for a minute. "So your name is Ghost? And your job is being a Ghost?"

The Ghost laughed. "Something like that. Closest thing I have to a name, anyways."

The blue pegasus shifted uneasily as Twilight made her do a variety of breathing and rotational exercises. "So... what's going to happen now? Did you force Twilight to heal me so you could have two hostages instead of one?"

The Ghost was caught off guard by the question. "I'm the one who fixed the gaping wound in your chest. Twilight was hiding behind a bookshelf, trying to watch me work without me knowing. I'm not holding anybody hostage. Where would you get that idea from?"

Twilight answered that question. "Well, to be honest, you look absolutely terrifying. I mean, your twice as tall as us, you are obviously adept at magic, and you blew a massive hole in my wall!"

Adept at magic? "I don't know what 'magic' is. And it's your fault that I had to make an exit. That reminds me, how did you fix the wall so quickly?"

Twilight was about to answer when there was a loud knocking at the door. The Ghost made cloaked himself immediately and said, "Answer it. I'd advise not telling them I'm here, though."

Twilight nodded and ran to the door. She opened it and was greeted by two Royal Guard ponies and Mayor Mare.

"Oh! What's going on?" she asked.

Mayor Mare was the first to respond. "Twilight Sparkle, we've had reports of a large metallic thing on the top of your house, and explosion destroying one of your walls, and panicked Ponyvillers who have been raving about some sort of creature taking a hurt Rainbow Dash and disappearing. Are these rumours true?"

Twilight had to think fast on what to say. "Y-yes, I was, umm, practicing some spells today and I accidently made some old scrap metal sentient, but everything's all fine now! As for Rainbow Dash, she's right over there! See? Say 'hi' Dash!" said Twilight a bit quickly and over-enthusiastically.

"Umm, hi," said Rainbow Dash.

The Ghost put his head in his hands. Note to self. Never ask these creatures to lie for me again.

Amazingly, the two guards and the Mayor seemed to buy the story. "Humph. Did Pinkie accidently add more of her 'special mushrooms' to her cupcakes again?" Sighing, the Mayor said, "Sorry for wasting your time, Twilight. We just had to make sure everypony was okay."

"No worries at all! Glad you could stop by!" said Twilight, waving out the door as the Mayor and the two guards walked away.

After she closed the door, Twilight let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

The Ghost materialized next to Twilight, making her jump. "You are terrible at lying," he stated.

Slightly embarrassed, Twilight responded, "At least I didn't withhold information, like you!"

Touché, thought the Ghost. "Whatever do you mean?" he asked with false shock.

"The Mayor said that Rainbow Dash was hurt and that you took her. How did she get hurt in the first place?"

The Ghost walked over to Rainbow Dash. "Good question. How did you get hurt?"

The Ghost could feel the pegasus' embarrassment emanating from her. "Well... I kinda sorta... attacked Mr. Ghost here. When I came in for a second swing, he got me right in the chest. That's when I passed out."

"Yes. I decloaked next to you, placed a temporary cloaking device on you, then told the ponies that were there to leave. They did. I re-engaged my cloaking, came here, and healed you."

"You did WHAT?!" yelled Twilight. "You revealed yourself to everypony? I thought you were trying to keep a low profile!"

The Ghost replied, "It was that, or let her die. I chose the course of action with the least amount of mess." The Ghost looked down to where Rainbow Dash was lying. He noticed bloodstains on the rug.

"Relatively speaking, of course."

Rainbow Dash felt it necessary to confirm his point. "C'mon Twilight, don't get mad at Ghostie here. He saved my life even though I attacked him without cause."

Ghostie? Humph, better than terrifying monster, I guess.

The Ghost felt it necessary to change the subject before he was bestowed with other names. "Twilight, what exactly did the letter say? The one you sent to your princess."

Twilight's eyes lit up at the mention of 'princess'. "It said: Dear Princess Celestia, I've just found a creature that was, for some reason, on my observation deck..." she trailed off, realizing her error.

Of course. "That was the letter you wrote before realizing I could talk, yes?"

Twilight nodded sheepishly.

"Fantastic," said the Ghost, his words dripping with sarcasm. "Make a new one. I have a feeling she will show up a lot faster."

Twilight scampered up the stairs, calling for Spike, which left Rainbow Dash and the Ghost alone once again.

Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence. "So, Ghostie, how did you fix me up? From what you've said it was pretty bad." She looked down and noticed the bloodstain for the first time. "Yeah, that seems pretty bad."

"Psychic healing," the Ghost said simply.

"What's that?" asked the blue pegasus.

These creatures are seemingly all Psions, yet they have no knowledge of the fact. Perhaps what they call 'magic' is their psionic abilities? Must find out later. "I'll give you the simplified version. My mind left my body and entered your bio-field. I directed the healing process with my thoughts, using energy from my body to do so. I would have used some of yours, but it was needed just to keep you alive."

"That's... pretty awesome. How long did it take?"

The Ghost thought for a moment. "To me, it felt like hours. In reality, it took about three minutes."

The pegasus' jaw dropped. "You healed me in three minutes? Even Twilight wouldn't have been able to do it that quickly, and I'd probably have to spend a week in the hospital as well."

"Twilight is... adept at this 'magic' I presume?" asked the Ghost.

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Yeah, you could say that. She's the element of magic for good reason." She lowered her voice and added, "But I still think you could beat her."

What did that orange pony say she was? Element of honesty. It appears Twilight is the element of magic. Interesting. Do all these creatures have an 'element' that they are good at, or is it coincidence that I met two of them?

"Thank you for the... compliment. If it's alright to ask, what are these 'elements' that you speak of?"

The blue pony looked genuinely confused. "You don't know? I thought everypony knew about the elements of harmony." Shaking her head, she continued. "Well, Twilight is the element of magic, Fluttershy is the element of kindness, Pinkie is the element of laughter, Rarity is the element of generosity, Applejack is the element of honesty, and I'm the element of loyalty."

Coincidence that the first pony I met was an element? Possibly. Coincidence that I happened to meet three of the six 'elements'? I doubt it.

"Intriguing. How did you all gain these titles?"

Rainbow was about to answer when a large flash came from the upstairs. The Ghost immediately cloaked and went to check it out, while Rainbow struggled to her feet and slowly followed.

The Ghost had felt the psionic energies of whoever had appeared as soon as they did. He cloaked immediately to hide the fact that he was holding his head in his hands.

Pain. Too much pain.

In all his memories, the Ghost had never felt pain such as this. It felt as if his brain was trying to escape through his skull. Every one of his heartbeats felt like a sledgehammer, every one of his breaths a chainsaw.

It took an eternity, but it eventually stopped. As quickly as it began, it had stopped.

No, thought the Ghost. It can't be.

The Ghost had never had the displeasure of encountering the Queen of Blades. With his psionic 'twinges' whenever a Psion was near, he figured that he would be put into a near catatonic state should he be close enough to her psionic field.

He never thought he would feel something stronger.

The Ghost quickly climbed the stairs to observe the incredibly powerful Psion. When he reached the top, he was presented with a dark blue unicorn who had a picture of a crescent moon on its chest.

No, it's not a unicorn. It has wings as well.

The unicorn-pegasus was conversing with Twilight.

"We are sorry that we came on such short notice, but our sister could not make it due to her previous obligations," said the unicorn-pegasus, in what the Ghost could only describe as a 'regal' tone.

Interesting. Knowing all the facts, this 'Princess Celestia' still doesn't consider me important enough to go herself.

"T-that's quite alright, Princess Luna," said Twilight as she bowed. "You startled me by teleporting here so quickly, that's all," said Twilight.

Teleporting? These creatures have uncovered the technology needed to teleport, yet they are astounded by what I can do? What the hell?

"We are sorry if we scared anypony, but time was of the essence. Where is the creature that you spoke of?" asked Princess Luna.

Twilight walked to the top of the stairs, narrowly avoiding a collision with the cloaked Ghost. She looked down and only saw Rainbow Dash valiantly attempting to climb up the staircase.

"Dash, where'd Ghost go?" asked Twilight.

"He disappeared as soon as that big flash happened and left me behind. Who's up there anyway?"

"Princess Luna."

Rainbow Dash looked down at her pitiful progress, then back up at Twilight. "Would you mind giving me a hand?"

Instead of helping her up the stairs physically, like the Ghost though she would, Twilight's horn gained a purplish aura and Rainbow Dash was encased in a sphere of the same color. With almost no effort, Twilight telekinetically brought Rainbow Dash up the stairs and lowered her to the ground.

Teleportation and telekinesis?! Terrans have been trying to figure out how to do both of these things for as long as I can remember and these creatures just did both without batting an eye.

Rainbow Dash bowed as Twilight had done and said, "Hello Princess Luna."

Princess Luna answered with a nod. Addressing Twilight, she asked, "So where is the creature, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight nervously glanced around, her eyes passing over the cloaked Ghost. "Well princess, chances are he's been here the whole time. He can turn invisible at will."

The Ghost felt it necessary to speak then and there. "I'd prefer not to be called a creature."

His voice caused the three ponies to jump. Princess Luna was the first to speak, "We are sorry if we caused any insult, but we don't know what to call you. Please show yourself so we can address you directly."

How polite. Decloaking, the Ghost walked forward and said, "You can call me Ghost."

The Princess stepped back a few steps in reaction to the Ghost appearing out of nowhere. After staring at him for several seconds, she asked, "Where do you hail from, mysterious visitor?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. "Don't remember."

The Princess frowned, then refined her question. "Of what race do you represent?"

Good question. Who do I represent? Terrans, or as a Ghost?

"I represent myself, as others of my kind would not have acted the way I have."

"How did you get here?"

Sighing, the Ghost said, "I am not going to tell this story over and over again. I'd appreciate it if everybody of importance was here, such as these 'elements of loyalty' I've heard of. No offense to you, Luna, but I require your sister's presence as well."

Nodding, the Princess disappeared in a flash of white, momentarily blinding the Ghost. This is incredible. There's so much to learn from these creatures.

His musing was interrupted when Twilight started to speak to Rainbow Dash. "I'll go get Pinkie and Rarity. Rainbow Dash, can you go round up Fluttershy and Applejack? They're further away, and since you can fly..."

"Sure thing, Twi!" said the blue pegasus excitedly. She opened up her wings and took to the air...

...and then fell flat on her face.

The blue pegasus slowly got back on her feet. "Sorry Twi, I don't think I can fly anywhere right now."

"I can fix that," said the Ghost. He grabbed a small syringe from one of his many suit compartments. He took the sleeve off of the needle, then unceremoniously jabbed it into Rainbow Dash's flank.

"Hey! What was that for!" exclaimed the pony.

"Just wait," was all the Ghost said.

"Wait for wha—" was all the pony said before her eyes widened and her breathing started to get heavier. "Whoa... it feels like I can fly to Stalliongrad and back!"

The blue pony spread her wings again and managed to stay aloft, her wings flapping quickly.

"Alrightgottagobye!" spouted Rainbow Dash as she darted out the window, a blur in the air.

Twilight looked at the Ghost suspiciously. "What did you inject her with?"

"A stimpack. Should last long enough for her to round up everyone necessary. Speaking of which, you should do you half of the job."

Her face slightly red, the purple pony ran off to gather Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

Alone again, the Ghost walked over to a bookshelf. Curious, he grabbed one that read 'The Principals of Magic'. He quickly flipped through each page, storing the data with his visor so that he could read it at a later time. He put the book back and reached for another, but was startled by the reptile called 'Spike'.

"Twilight's not going to be happy that your reading her books without her permission," he said.

I forgot about Spike. I can't let that happen again. My life may very well depend on it.

"I'm not reading them, I'm scanning them," replied the Ghost.

"Scanning?" asked the reptile with a confused look on his face.

The Ghost mentally sighed. "Storing the words in my visor so I can read it later."

"Oh," said Spike, not understanding at all. "By the way, I've been meaning to say... thanks for not killing me after I hit you with the frying pan."

Thanks for not killing me? That's a first. "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. But that would somewhat ruin any attempts at friendly communication, wouldn't it?"

"Err, yeah, I guess it would. I-I gotta go clean the carpet. Goodbye."

With the reptile gone, the Ghost was alone once more. He grabbed another book and proceeded to copy the information. He did so with two more books before he felt the twinge.

They're back already? thought the Ghost.

He checked the downstairs, but only saw Spike scrubbing at the rug. A pony is here, somewhere.

The Ghost checked the entire upstairs, but found nothing. Remembering his previous encounter, he looked up... right into the eyes of a pony.

The Ghost reacted instinctually, cloaking and grabbing his gun and pointing it at the creature. Or rather, where the creature had been. Confused, the Ghost turned around and was once again face to face with the mysterious pony.

"Oh boy! Somepony who can play hide-and-seek just as well as I can!" she said in an overly happy voice.

Hide and seek?

"I don't—" the Ghost attempted to say, but was cut off by the very light red pony yelling:

"I'll hide, you seek!" The pony then proceeded to bounce up and down, waiting for something.

"What?" asked the Ghost, being generally confused at the whole ordeal.

"Hide-and-seek silly filly! You close your eyes and count to ten, and I'll hide! If you find me, I'll do the same for you!" she responded, still bouncing in place.

"Why?"

"It's for fun, silly!"

"Umm. Okay?" said the Ghost, who was wondering if this pony was right in the head.

The Ghost closed his eyes and leaned against the bookshelf, careful not to spill any books. "One, two, three..." He counted up to ten, then proceeded to activate his thermal vision in an attempt to end this as quickly as possible. He saw two heat signature. One appeared to be a small, round bird, probably kept as a pet. The other was pony shaped, and was in a room that the Ghost hadn't been in yet. The Ghost silently walked over and opened the door. The room contained a bed, some dressers, and yet another bookshelf.

Probably Twilight's room, thought the Ghost. The heat signature was located directly underneath the bed. The Ghost leaned down, and said, "Found you."

He was talking to the floorboards.

What?

The Ghost stood back up, and was face to face with the pony once again, who was bouncing on top of the bed. "How the hell do you do that?" asked the Ghost.

"Do what?" asked the pony innocently. "You found me, so now it's my turn to find you!" She herded the Ghost out of the bedroom and started to count to ten. Understandably distraught with what just happened, the Ghost decided to cloak and stand by the window, just in case the pony was psychologically damaged.

After the Ghost heard, "Ready or not, here I come!" the door to the bedroom opened and the pony bounced out. After closing her eyes and thinking for several seconds, the pony seemed to reach some sort of decision. It started bouncing towards the window, coming straight for the Ghost.

You've got to be kidding me.

The pony stopped jumping a couple of feet from where the Ghost was standing.

"That's strange," he heard the pony say. "My Pinkie Sense says that he's right here."

Pinkie sense? The Ghost decloaked, drawing a small gasp from the pony who said, "There you are! Sneaky sneaking won't save you from Pinkie Pie!"

Before the Ghost could respond, a blue blur flew through the window and skidded to a halt in front of him. It was Rainbow Dash. "Do you have any more!? Do you?! Huh?! Do you?!"

"Yes, but not for you. I only gave you a shot because I want this over with as soon as possible," the Ghost replied, hoping that he wouldn't have to subdue the pegasus. Stimpacks weren't addictive, but could cause some nasty future side-effects.

There was a knock on the door and before the Ghost could do anything, the light red pony zipped down the stairs and answered it. Four ponies walked through the door. Twilight, a yellow pegasus, a white unicorn, and the pony he hadn't been looking forward to seeing. Applejack.

The five ponies walked up the stairs. The two newcomers looked at the Ghost with fear and... disappointment? Applejack was looking at the Ghost with a stern expression on her face. Before she could give the Ghost a piece of her mind, a large white flash filled the room.

When the flash subsided, the princesses of the Sun and Moon were standing in the center of the room. Everypony bowed two their two rulers. Everyone except the Ghost.

He was too busy trying to take his helmet off.

Comments

[Sepulcher]

3056292
Possibly a little bit of both.

[tomzon]

UHUUJUHUHufiohsuiododfhn
ANOTHER ONE??
SO FAST?
SO FURIOUS!
NEEEEED FOR SPPEEEEEEEEDEEEEEEDDEEDE!!!
dis gutgut

[hs0003]

3056745 best news all day

[tomzon]

No,seriously,we need another update

[Sadeipaw]

Moar.

[Shirohige]

Giving ponies drugs. Certainly a role model

[Niklashg]

"His musing was interrupted when Twilight started to speak to Rainbow Dash. "I'll go get Pinkie and Rarity. Rainbow Dash, can you go round up Fluttershy and Applejack? They're further away, and since you can fly..." "

twilights getting Pinkie and rarity ok.

"Her face slightly red, the purple pony ran off to gather Fluttershy and Rarity."

I feel the author isn't paying enough attention to detail

[trickypentagram]

light red pony REFERENCE TO RED VS BLUE

[Moonreaper666]

3056745 "The Ghost had never had the displeasure of encountering the Queen of Blades. With his psionic 'twinges' whenever a Psion was near, he figured that he would be put into a near catatonic state should he be close enough to her psionic field.

He never thought he would feel something stronger."

HERESY!!! Queen of Blades>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Princesses Celestia and Luna. So what if they can move their sun and moon, they can't even fight to save themselves!