Ghosts of the Past

Chapters

Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter One

Chapter Two

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.

\\\

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.

\\\

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..."

Chapter Three

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Three

The Ghost felt his control slipping away. The years of use, subterfuge, and pain that he had been through was attempting to bust its way through his formidable psionic mind in the form of pure rage. The small part of him that wasn't fighting for control noticed the text that was scrolling down his visor.

>>Aggression inhibitors overloading

>>Applying neural relaxant

...

>>Neural relaxant applied

>>Aggression successfully inhibited

The feeling of rage subsided and was replaced with a calculating calmness. The Ghost understood what was happening. He was under attack from the psionic unicorn. It was attempting to break his mind and make him submit, just like the academy. He would deal with the problem.

Reaching out with his mind, he met the unicorn in a battle of wills. He could tell that she was untrained in psychic warfare, as she had no mental barricades whatsoever, and he steamrolled through her paltry attempts at fighting back.

The Ghost had complete control over this 'Twilight Sparkle'. He had her in his iron grasp, and he wouldn't let go until she told him everything she knew.

At least, that's what the Ghost planned to do. Just as he was about to delve into the creature's memories to see what it was made of, he froze.

What am I doing? he asked himself, devoid of any emotion.

The Ghost realized that he was acting out of instinct. The creature hadn't harmed him. It had tricked him, yes, but no harm had been inflicted upon him. He withdrew from the unicorn's mind, suddenly exhausted. He was exhausted enough that he didn't feel the unicorn gather up her remaining strength in an attempt at retaliation. The attack took him by complete surprise, and both he and the unicorn were forced to watch the first memory that was called up.

\\\

The Ghost silently patrolled through the dull grey corridors of the academy. He didn't like the place. It reminded him too much of the horrors he was put through as a Confederate Ghost. He walked past a door labelled 'Memory Wiping' and shivered. The one thing that still haunts me.

The Ghost quickly walked past the room. Once he passed the room, he heard a quiet sobbing coming from an alcove hidden in shadow. He paused, and decided to investigate.

As he approached the sound, he felt a twinge in his temples. A strong one. The crier must be a high level Psion, thought the Ghost.

There was a female ghost trainee sitting in the alcove, hugging her knees to her chest. The Ghost had no idea how to comfort someone. Hell, he didn't know if he was even capable of comfort.

The Ghost was curious. He had never spoken to one of the trainees, and he wondered if they were being put through training similar to what he received.

Mengsk told me to observe, and I have observed, but you can only gather so much information by watching, thought the Ghost before he uncloaked and revealed his presence.

The female stopped crying and was instantly alert as soon as he decloaked. She asked in a trembling voice, "Who are you?"

Exhaling, the Ghost replied, "Nobody."

Her eyes were wide with fear and... interest?

After watching him for several seconds, the trainee said quietly, "It's you. I knew you were real. I knew it."

Knew I was real? What is she talking about?

"What do you mean?" asked the Ghost.

"There's a story passed down from the older students to the new ones. The story goes that the greatest Ghost who ever lived was watching us, testing us, without any of us knowing. They said they he was silent in all of his movements, could stay cloaked indefinitely, and only spoke to trainees who would become excellent Ghost operatives. And you're him, aren't you?"

The Ghost was stunned with the story. Greatest Ghost who ever lived? Ha. Nothing we do is great. Nothing we do is noble.

"While it's true that I watch, I haven't spoken to anybody in a very long time, besides Mengsk... and now you."

The Ghost heard the trainee mumble something about 'lying bastards'.

"Why me?" she asked.

"You were crying. I was curious. You are no longer crying, therefore you are comforted. My curiosity is sated," said the Ghost as he activated his cloaking and started to walk away.

"Wait! I want to know more about you!"

"What is your agent number, trainee?"

"X41822N," she replied automatically.

The Ghost brought up her file on his visor. November Annabelle "Nova" Terra. Class 10 Psion. Joined the Ghost program 2501. Family deceased, no known relatives.

Interesting, thought the Ghost.

Stopping and decloaking, he asked, "Why? What could I possibly say that would interest you?"

"For starters, what's your name? Your real name."

"I have no name," the Ghost stated simply.

"Really? I thought all trainees received the standard alpha-numeric code when they join, then a call sign when they graduate. Your telling me that you have neither?"

"I wasn't lying when I said I was nobody. I am nobody. I'm a textbook definition of the word 'Ghost'."

"But—"

She stopped when the Ghost raised his hand. "No more questions," he said.

"But I want to be just like you. A true Ghost."

This coming from a young women shocked the Ghost. "No you don't. True Ghosts are just dead men walking. I wouldn't give my experiences to anyone, no matter if they were willing or not."

"But your experiences made you into the Ghost you are today," she said.

"Yes. Into the cold, heartless Ghost that I am today, and will continue to be, until I expire."

"But they kept you alive, strengthened you, uplifted you into being a part of something greater..."

The Ghost was slightly annoyed at her insolence. "Greater how? They enhanced my speed, agility, muscle mass, bone density, and for what? So I could kill. They took my remorse. They took my regret. They took my memories, my name, my identity. They repressed my anger. I am now a machine... bred for combat, built for war. Purified in the blood of others..."

"But you are a Ghost. You knew the consequences when you signed up. You were willing to make the sacrifice for us. For humanity. You were willing to forget your past life."

The Ghost was surprised at the venom in her words. She obviously longed to forget a troubled past. "No. I had no past life. I had nothing to regret. Have nothing to regret. I never chose this path."

He walked closer to 'Nova'. "It chose me..." He felt a strange feeling, like he knew a prediction was coming true, even though he didn't know what it was.

Precognition. It has to be, thought the Ghost.

"...And it chose you too," he said, then cloaked and walked away.

\\\

Twilight and the Ghost had been forced to relive that particular memory, and by the end of it, the Ghost had won back control of his mind.

Unknown to the Ghost, the suit computer had analyzed the foreign psionic presence and posted the results on the visor for him to see.

>>Foreign presence detected. Class 8 Psion. Proceed with caution.

Class eight? thought the Ghost. Almost as high as me.

The Ghost walked over to the pony trembling on the ground. "Next time, knock first. You never know which memory might come up."

The pony had its front hooves trying to cover its eyes. Her eyes, he reminded himself. Her presence was definitely female. After waiting several seconds for an answer, he finally received one. "How could you have done that? How could you have let that filly throw her life away?"

Filly? "Nova? It wasn't my decision. It was hers."

"But she looked up to you! She wanted to be just like you, even though you're... you're..."

"Emotionally dead?" supplied the Ghost.

The purple unicorn managed to nod.

The Ghost laughed his dead laugh. "Nova... she would've become the murderer she is no matter what I said."

The pony looked up at him in confusion. "Murderer? But... but she seemed so innocent!"

"That was years ago. She is now Emperor Mengsk's personal assassin. She actually enjoys killing people. I don't." The Ghost paused for a second to let that fact sink in. "Also, when I said knock first, I mean it. I will eviscerate your brain if you do that again."

The purple unicorn nodded and stood back up, shaking slightly. "How did you end up here?"

"I looked for the highest altitude in this area. It happened to be on your observation deck. I fell asleep after no Terrans arrived. You woke me up. Here I am," listed the Ghost.

Shaking her head, she said, "Not here. Here. In Equestria."

"Protoss wormhole. Hurt like hell."

"Protoss? Wormhole?...Protoss wormhole? What are those?" asked Twilight.

"I'd rather not explain this again if I don't have to. Do you have a leader I can speak with?"

The unicorn looked over at the still-unconscious baby dragon. "Yes. Her name is Princess Celestia, but I can't contact her without Spike."

"Spike is the name of the sleeping creature, I take it?"

"Yes."

The Ghost walked closer to the creature. What he intended to do didn't require physical contact, but it made it a lot easier, especially since the Ghost was a bit exhausted from the battle with Twilight. He crouched down and reached over to touch the creature's shoulder. Concentrating on the point of contact, the Ghost's mind reached towards the creature's slumbering mind. He found it, and did the mental equivalent of pouring a bucket of ice water onto someone who's sleeping.

The creature awoke instantly, although he was still unaware of his surroundings. His first sight was of the Ghost looking down at him.

"AHHH! Monster!" he screamed, as he tried to crawl away. Unfortunately for Spike, he crawled backwards into the side of a bookshelf. As books rained down upon him, he looked up to see the Ghost standing above him, menacingly.

"Next time, if something is sitting down in your house and making no aggressive actions, it generally means its friendly."

The small dragon's jaw dropped.

"Also, if you try to harm me again, I suggest picking a better weapon than a frying pan."

The Ghost turned and walked away, hiding the smirk beneath his helmet.

As soon as the Ghost walked away, Twilight rushed over to see if Spike was okay.

"Spike! Are you hurt?!" she cried when she saw him slumped up against the bookshelf.

"Nah, I'm fine Twilight. Who's your new friend?" asked the baby dragon, his voice loaded with sarcasm.

"I'll tell you as soon as you send this message to the Princess."

Grabbing the scroll, Spike breathed his magical fire on it, engulfing it in the green flames. After fifteen seconds had passed, Spike burped up the return letter. Twilight grabbed it and read it aloud.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle, My Most Faithful Student. I am currently engaged in a meeting with my top advisers, and I will not be able to assist in communicating with the creature until the meeting is over, which won't be for several more hours. I hope the creature has not proved itself to be antagonistic, and I wish you the best luck in communicating with it. Princess Celestia."

"Sounds like she doesn't have time for her 'most faithful student'," said the Ghost in a flat tone.

"She has a perfectly valid reason for not being able to be here. She's in an important meeting. You can't run a kingdom without listening to your advisers," stated Twilight.

"Fair enough. You would think, however, that an alien visitor from another planet would be more important," said the Ghost dryly as he engaged his cloaking.

"Whoa!" cried Spike, who hadn't seen the Ghost do that before. "How'd you do that?"

The Ghost grinned his evil grin. "Magic."

Twilight Sparkle didn't know what the Ghost was up to. "Ghost, where are you going?"

"Outside. Need to kill some time," came the response from somewhere near the door.

Twilight grabbed the door with telekinesis, holding it in place just as the handle started to twist.

"Are you insane? You can't go out there!"

The Ghost sighed. "You know you can't keep me in here, right?"

Twilight had her game face on. "I can try," she said confidently.

These creatures have no idea what I'm capable of, thought the Ghost. Let's give them a small sample.

The Ghost grabbed a blast charge from one of his many pockets. He placed it on the door and stood back. "You may want to hide behind something," the Ghost said calmly.

"Why's that?" asked Twilight, suspicious of a trick.

"Too late."

A second after the Ghost said 'late', the blast charge went to work, blowing a circular hole twelve feet in diameter right where the door used to be. Luckily for Spike and Twilight, neither were harmed by the charge, but both were thoroughly shaken by it. Still cloaked, the Ghost calmly walked through the still smouldering wreckage and into the outside world.

The Ghost's first impressions of the town went something like this.

Is that house made of... candy?

The Ghost walked towards the 'candy house'. There were no ponies in his immediate vicinity, but there were some further down the road, obviously heading towards the source of the explosion. His curiosity got the better of him, and he ended up ignoring all pretences of caution to get a better look at the strange building. The walls were fairly standard, at least standard for Ponyville. What really caught the Ghost's attention was the roof. It was made of overlapping brown circular...

What are those? he asked himself. He took a few seconds to recall the word. Gingerbread. It's a gingerbread roof.

As the Ghost was trying to make sense of the very strange building, he felt a tingle down his spine. He was being watched. Turning on his thermal imaging, the Ghost scanned the area he was in, turning slowly. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, which made the Ghost feel uneasy.

Somebody IS watching me. I can feel it.

He didn't find the perpetrator, which bothered the Ghost immensely. Remembering that he didn't spot the small reptile either, he decided to use his psi-vision (psi-vision is when a Ghost focuses most of his psionic power into his sensory organs, mainly eyes, that allows the Ghost to "see" life, rather than heat. Can see through walls).

The Ghost closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he saw the world around him in shades of black and white. All the life was white, whilst all the inanimate objects were black. He scanned the area again, but still didn't find the presence watching him. Annoyed that his feeling was wrong, the Ghost closed his psi-vision and continued to stare at the candy building, marvelling in its strangeness.

"I've got you now!" cried something behind him. Before the Ghost could react, he felt a powerful blow to his back. The blow was powerful enough to knock the Ghost off balance, which gave the creature attacking him the chance it needed. It hit him again, on the leg this time, which caused the Ghost to fall to one knee. He caught a glimpse of a feathered blue wing before the creature took flight.

The Ghost attempted to stand but fell back down to his knee. His leg had been fractured. This creature can hit hard, thought the Ghost. As he tried to remedy his leg problem, he saw the blue creature attempting to come at him again, this time from a different angle. The Ghost waited until the last second to make his move.

In one swift movement, he jumped up into the air with his good leg, clenched his fist, and hit the creature in the chest as hard as he could. The creature flew a good forty feet before landing hard. The Ghost landed easily, and performed psychic healing on himself, psionically repairing his broken bones. The process only took a minute, but in that time a crowd of ponies had already formed around the blue creature's fallen form.

Still cloaked, the Ghost slowly made his way around the crowd to observe the fallen creature for himself.

This is not the situation I was hoping for, thought the Ghost.

The creature that had attacked him was a 'pegasus' variety of pony. It had a grievous wound where the Ghost had punched it. The pegasus' chest had been partially caved in, destroying ribs, the lungs, and possibly other internal organs.

Great. Just what I needed. Another mess to clean up.

Making a rushed decision, the Ghost walked directly next to the pony. Luckily, it was still breathing, but it was laboured. The Ghost decloaked to the collective surprise of everypony there. The Ghost picked up the broken pegasus and placed a cloaking device on her. It wouldn't last long, but it would last long enough. The Ghost engaged cloaking of his own. He said one word to the assembled ponies, psionically amplifying his voice to make the effect greater.

"LEAVE."

Whether it was his voice, his size, or his burden, the good folks of Ponyville all had the same reaction to what had happened. They ran.

Finding himself in an area suddenly devoid of ponies, the Ghost sighed and went to the one place where might have a sliver of privacy. Twilight's tree house.

He jogged over to the tree. He would have ran, but that would not have been pleasant for his passenger. When he arrived at the perfectly fixed wall, he was surprised. How could the wall have been fixed that quickly? I've been gone for less than five minutes.

Unsure of how to go about getting back inside, the Ghost did the only thing that he could think of.

He knocked politely.

Twilight opened the door, looking awfully tired. Without waiting for a response, the Ghost slipped inside, still under the effects of the cloak. He strode purposefully to a large rug on the floor and carefully laid the creature down onto it. Seconds later, the temporary cloaking field that was placed upon the pegasus fizzled and shut down, eliciting a sudden gasp from Twilight.

The Ghost uncloaked himself, and bent down to start the psychic healing. Before he could start, his concentration was interrupted by Twilight.

"What the hay happened here! You blow a hole in my wall and leave for FIVE minutes and this happens? What are you—"

"Quiet," said the Ghost sharply. "If you want this creature to live, you will leave me alone."

Cowed, Twilight retreated up the stairs, but stopped when she reached the top. She'd be darned if she was not going to watch how the Ghost healed her friend.

The Ghost gently placed his hand over the now-bloody wound that he had created. He could feel the irregular heartbeat in the creature's chest. He had minutes before it died. Reaching into his mind for the power he required, the Ghost began the process of re-knitting broken blood vessels, repairing damaged organs, and building new bones, muscle, and skin. To the Ghost, the process took hours upon hours of intensive care, but in reality, it only took the most of three minutes.

Finally done healing, the Ghost sat down beside the newly-repaired creature, exhausted from the task.

Why did I do this? the Ghost asked himself. Why did I save this creatures life? I could have easily claimed that I acted in self-defence.

The Ghost looked down at his hand. It was still drenched in the creature's blood.

No matter what I do, I have the blood of others on my hands.

Before the Ghost could think any more on the unpleasant topic, the pegasus that had attacked him started to wake up. Great.

The Ghost decided to look as menacing as he possibly could. He stood up and half activated his cloaking field, giving him a ghostly, ethereal appearance.

The pegasus woke up fully, rubbing its eyes with its hooves. It took a few seconds for the creature to grasp what had happened, and where it was. Confused as it was, it didn't notice the ghostly Ghost standing behind itself.

The creature attempted to stand up, but failed miserably. It ended up dragging itself in a slow circle in an attempt to look around. The creature stopped dead when it noticed the Ghost ominously standing stalk still.

"Oh, buck me," she said.

Chapter Four

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Four

"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.

Chapter Five

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Five

Pain. Indescribable pain. Intolerable pain. Must... remove... helmet... before...

>>Operative has been compromised

>>Terminating psionic tendencies

...

No!

The Ghost undid the last seal on his helmet, and flung it away with all his might. The helmet embedded itself into one of the bookshelves, crushing several books in the process. The Ghost was on his knees, his head in his hands. The pain didn't stop. It just kept going. And going. And going.

The Ghost couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the pain. He wanted it to stop, no matter the cost. He had been forced to endure things that would cause hardened marines to go catatonic with fear, cause the chemically altered reapers to cry in terror. He took all the pain without so much as a wince.

It didn't hold a candle to what he felt now.

After an eternity of endless pain, the Ghost looked up and met the eyes of the creature putting him through the psychic feedback. He struggling said two words to the creature.

"Kill... me..."

After saying the two words, the Ghost put his head back down, and waited for the void to swallow him.

It never did.

To the Ghost, it took forever. He wanted to die, but it didn't let him. Pain held him in its grasp for an eternity, and never let go.

Except... it did.

It's over, thought the Ghost. And I still live.

The Ghost got up off his knees, and managed to stand up. He looked down at the frightened pony in front of him.

"Why didn't you kill me?" he asked.

The white unicorn-pegasus looked at him like he was crazy. "Why would I kill you? I don't wish to harm anypony."

The looked over at the other princess, Luna, then back at the white one. "You must be Celestia. Both of you caused me great amounts of pain, whether you meant to or not. Enough pain that I wanted it to end."

"What did we ever do to harm you?" asked Luna.

"You... you caused me to live in pure, unadulterated pain. Pain everlasting. Enough pain that I wanted you to kill me. But no. You forced me to live through that pain."

"How? How could we have done such a thing?" said Celestia.

The Ghost looked around at the other six ponies in the room. Every single one of them met his glance, then looked away in fear. All except the light red one. She stared back, a smile on her face.

The Ghost inadvertently shivered.

He turned his attention to the whereabouts of his discarded helmet. He saw it stuck in a bookshelf, having destroyed several books in its wake. The Ghost walked over and yanked it out. Tucking it under one arm, he walked back to where the two princesses were.

On his way past the six ponies, he said to Twilight without stopping, "Sorry about the books."

As the Ghost approached Celestia and Luna, the white one cleared her throat and said, "We...are deeply sorry for what we've put you through. If there's any way we can help you, please tell us."

The Ghost laughed a single, sharp laugh. "You can't help me. Nobody can help me."

He heard a cough coming from one of the six ponies behind him. Turning around, he noticed that Twilight had stepped forward. "Forgive me for asking, but how did the princesses cause so much pain? All they ever do is try to bring happiness to everypony."

The Ghost sighed to himself. He sat down on the ground and motioned for all the ponies to come closer. "It's about time I gave you all a story. The story. It contains content that may not be suitable for you, and if anyone wants to back out, do it now."

All the ponies looked at him with curious eyes. Nopony moved.

Alright then.

"We will start with the Xel'Naga. The Xel'Naga were an incredibly long-lived species that didn't reproduce in the normal way. Instead, the required two different species to possess two traits, one each. These two traits were purity of form and purity of essence. You see, the Xel'Naga were the Gods of their time. They could do things we've never even dreamed of. Over time, the two species were supposed to merge as one, creating the next incarnation of the Xel'Naga. The most recent incarnations are the Protoss, gifted with the purity of form, and the Zerg, gifted with the purity of essence.

"The Protoss are bigger, stronger, faster, and tougher versions of us Terrans. They possess advanced technology, mainly powered by psionic powers. They are all linked together by a psychic bond called the 'Khala'. It allows them to communicate far more effectively with each other. Us Terrans have strived to copy the Protoss' technology and Khala for years, but without much success. The Protoss have been around for much longer than us, and we know for a fact that they knew of our existence much before we knew of theirs. They have only attacked Terran's out of self defence, and to cleanse Zerg infestations.

"The Zerg, on the other hand, have only one purpose: to consume everything in the Universe. The Xel'Naga uplifted the Zerg a bit too much, and were in turn consumed by the Zerg Swarm. The Zerg then went after the Protoss, seeking to fulfil their prophecy. We were caught in the middle of the war. The Zerg tried to consume us, to make themselves powerful enough to combat the Protoss. Thankfully, the Protoss revealed themselves, cleansing the Zerg infestation on world after world.

"Most Terrans didn't see it as a gift. They believed that two hostile aliens were trying to destroy humanity. We did the only thing that we could do. We survived. We adapted. We grew into a power great enough to rival the mighty Protoss, a power large enough to halt the Zerg Swarm. We destroyed the Zerg Overmind, essentially the 'brain' of the Zerg, but it didn't help.

"The Swarm went rampant for a while, destroying everything in its path. It was calmed by its new leader: Kerrigan, Queen of Blades."

All of the ponies were entranced with the Ghost's story.

"Kerrigan was once a Ghost, like me. She was such a powerful Psion that they had to modify the psi-index to include Psions of her calibre. She was taken by the Zerg and infested by the Overmind, for reasons I don't know. When she came out of her chrysalis, every Psion felt it. She is so powerful, that she now controls the entire Zerg Swarm. She defeated the Protoss, she defeated Mengsk, she defeated the UED. Then she and the Zerg disappeared. For four years, everything was relatively quiet.

"Then the Zerg came back. They invaded hundreds of worlds, killing billions of people. I was on one of the planets when they arrived."

"The Ghost looked at the eager faces of the ponies, who expected more of the story. "Any questions?"

All of their hooves shot up immediately.

Sigh.

The Ghost had no idea who to pick first. He randomly picked Twilight.

Twilight procured a pair of glasses from somewhere and put them on. She then picked up a couple of pieces of paper, shuffled them, then cleared her throat and asked, "You avoided my earlier question, so let's start with that; how did the princesses cause you to be in so much pain?"

"To answer that, I have to explain what a Psion is. A Psion is someone who has the ability to change or influence the world around them using only their thoughts."

To demonstrate, the Ghost tossed his helmet in the air and suspended it with telekinesis. "Other psionic abilities include mind reading, telepathic communication, and psychic healing, to name a few."

The Ghost stopped levitating the helmet, and he caught it without looking. He proceeded to continue his explanation.

"Terran Psions are rated on the Psi-Index, on a scale of one to ten. Ones and twos don't have any psychic abilities. People with a rating of three to five are generally employed by the Ghost Program as wranglers. Wranglers can normally sense other Psions of higher levels. Sixes and sevens are telepaths, meaning they can communicate with their minds. Most Ghosts are around this level. Eight to Ten Terrans are capable of telekinesis, moving objects with your thoughts."

The Ghost let out a sigh. "Very few high level Ghosts have the abilities of the wranglers. Most Ghosts can sense each other's minds as a direct result of telepathy, but next to none sense them like the wranglers."

The Ghost's mind flashed through all of his mental twinges. "I'm one of these rare Ghosts. I can sense Psions, by way of a twinge in my temple. The bigger the twinge, the more powerful the Psion."

He looked up at the two princesses. "When Luna first arrived here, I thought that Kerrigan had come for me. She was the most psionically capable Terran, even before her assimilation. Now with Zerg genes running through her veins, she is a match for even the most accomplished Protoss warrior. I figured I would go catatonic if I was in her presence."

The Ghost looked back down at the floor. "I felt a great deal of pain from your arrival, Luna. I never figured I would feel more than what I felt then and there. I was wrong."

"When you two arrived here simultaneously, it caused me enough pain that my suit was going to destroy my psionic receptors in my brain to spare me. I managed to get it off before that happened. Lucky me. Instead of going through life without psionic abilities, I had to go through the most intense pain imaginable."

The Ghost looked back up at Twilight, who was shaking slightly. "That's how Luna and Celestia caused me so much pain. It's not their fault that they are incredibly powerful Psions.

"Next question."

Several of the ponies had put their hands down. Evidently he had answered several questions with his explanation. The Ghost picked the white unicorn, who he didn't know the name of yet. "You. Name and question."

"My name is Rarity, and I just have to ask: what are you wearing?"

The Ghost looked down at his suit. It had nicks and dents, scratches and claw marks everywhere. "A Hostile Environment Suit. Standard issue, for the most part." The Ghost chose Celestia next.

"Celestia."

"These... Zerg and... Protoss. They were both created by another species called the Xel'Naga?"

"Not quite. The Xel'Naga never created another species, they just found two that had the traits that they needed. The Protoss had the purity of form. The Xel'Naga visited them when they were a young species and were interested in their mental connections.

"The Xel'Naga pushed the Protoss evolution enough that they considered them ready for the Xel'Naga to descend to Aiur, the Protoss homeworld. The Protoss treated the Xel'Naga as gods and learned much from them, but what they learned divided the Protoss, causing their mental connections to disappear and wars to break out. Having thought their experiment a failure, the Xel'Naga left the planet to search for a species with the purity of essence."

"They found the Zerg, and attempting to not make the same mistake that they did with the Protoss, the Xel'Naga subordinated all the Zerg under a single entity: the Overmind. The Xel'Naga attempted to keep their presence a secret from the Zerg, but the Overmind found them, and ordered the Zerg to attack. The Xel'Naga were driven away, and in the process, the Overmind learned of the Protoss, the species gifted with the purity of form. Apparently, the Overmind wanted to assimilate the Protoss into the Zerg, finishing the cycle of the Xel'Naga."

Twilight put up her hand again and asked, "What does 'assimilating' mean?"

The Ghost thought how he could best explain it. "You have viruses here, yes?"

Twilight Sparkle nodded.

"The Zerg are like a virus, except on a much larger scale. When they assimilate something, it means that they take only the characteristics that they want, and leave behind ones that they don't want. For example, the Zerg have assimilated many creatures on dozens of worlds in their conquest. They've taken peaceful herbivores and transformed them into spined abominations, taken already deadly flying creatures and made them even more so."

Exhaling, the Ghost chose the yellow pegasus to go next. Hiding behind the rest of her friends, she asked meekly, "M-my name is Fluttershy, and umm, if you don't mind me asking, um, why are you fighting the other aliens?"

Looking at the timid pony, the Ghost felt something. What is this? thought the Ghost. This feeling in my chest...

Shaking off the strange feeling, he said, "The Terrans are fighting the Zerg because they wish to consume us, and the Protoss because Terrans are xenophobic assholes. We should be fighting with the Protoss against the Zerg, but no. They've protected us from things we never knew existed, they watched us from afar, never interfering with our species like the Xel'Naga did to them, and how do we repay them? We kill them. We steal their technology, and we kill them."

The Ghost realized how angry he had become. He was telekinetically lifting several objects around the room without him noticing. He carefully placed the objects back down, but this did not go unnoticed.

Applejack was the first to speak. "Ah take it you don't exactly approve of how other Terrans have acted."

The Ghost snorted. "You can say that again."

Suddenly, the light red pony yelled, "That again!"

All the ponies in the room stared at the light red one. Good, at least I'm not the only one who notices something wrong.

Fluttershy broke the silence by saying, "Umm, well, that's not exactly, um, what I meant. I mean; why are you fighting?"

The Ghost opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again. Why am I fighting?

The Ghost gave the only answer he could. "I fight because I don't know any other way."

"How can you not know any other way?"

The Ghost smiled without emotion. "I guess it's time for a Ghost story."

"To become a Ghost, you needed three things. A high psi-index rating, a strong will, and a mind wipe. Mind wipes were mandatory after Sarah Kerrigan defected to the Sons of Korhal, which were a rebel terrorist group. They destroyed your memories of your life, keeping only the ones you made at the Academy."

The ponies were looking at him with a mix of fear and pity. The Ghost continued, unabated. "I don't remember my name. I don't remember my family. I only remember my training. My training, and the knowledge I've gained after the wipe."

"Ghosts. We few, we heartless few. I don't really even consider myself a Terran anymore. I'm just a Ghost."

He turned to Fluttershy and addressed her directly. "I don't fight for others. I don't fight for myself. I fight because I must."

Surprising everyone in the room, including herself, Fluttershy rushed forward and put her arms around the Ghost. "You poor, poor Ghost. I can't believe anypony could do something like that."

...

This is awkward, thought the Ghost.

Disentangling himself from the sympathetic pegasus, the Ghost cleared his throat. "Where was I? Oh yes. Next question."

Applejack raised her hoof. The Ghost nodded. Having been acknowledged that it was her turn to speak, Applejack said, "This Kerrigan person doesn't sound all that scary. How'd she get control of the Zerg?"

The Ghost nodded. "Excellent question, but I'm afraid I don't know. She was infested by the Zerg in some sort of chrysalis, but how she controls the Zerg is beyond me. If I had to guess, some sort of psionic connection."

"What do you mean by 'infested'?" asked Twilight.

"Remember my definition of assimilated?"

She nodded quickly.

"Infested is where they take you, body and mind, and make you part of the Zerg Swarm. You can still think, but your body is not yours anymore. It's theirs."

All of the ponies shivered.

"I've seen infested Terrans. They begged me to kill them. I did. Next question."

Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Can all Terrans do the same things you do? Like jump really high and turn invisible and stuff? 'Cause if they can, you guys should be able to beat them easily!"

"No. Ghosts only. A regular Terran is no match for a Protoss warrior, or anything above a zergling. If all Terrans were Psions, this war would be much easier to win. Last I checked, there's only a couple hundred Ghosts in existence."

After the Ghost finished, the light red pony started bouncing up and down while saying, "Me! Pick me! Me!"

"Fine. You. Ask," replied the Ghost.

The pony took a deep breath and asked, "What kind of food do you eat?"

The Ghost looked at the pony for a few seconds. He realized something.

She's not joking.

"I... don't know. I've lived on supplements for as long as I can remember."

The Ghost shook his head slightly, trying to clear it. He called upon Luna next.

"How does your kind and the others travel across the stars?" she asked quietly.

"Spaceships, which are flying contraptions made of metal. Some are designed for a single pilot, while others are massive, carrying thousands of people. The Protoss travel in much the same way, except their technology is far superior to ours. The Zerg, on the other hand, go into some sort of stasis when they travel through the vacuum of space."

The Ghost drummed his fingers on his leg. "Next question."

Twilight raised her hoof and the Ghost motioned for her to speak.

"How did you get here? In Equestria?" she asked curiously.

The Ghost remembered the vortex. He sighed. "My most recent commander, Jim Raynor, sent me to deal with a group of Tal'Darim, a fanatical Protoss group. While other Protoss are busy fighting the Zerg, these bastards sit back and stockpile Xel'Naga artefacts. I was supposed to destroy their pylon network, crippling them, but before I could, the army that was sent as a distraction was ambushed. Luckily, I was able to drive them back. The army rallied forward a bit too far however, and we walked right into a trap.

"The Tal'Darim had either built or stolen a new, massive ship. I was able to destroy it, but it managed to create some sort of miniature black hole, or vortex. I, along with the entirety of the army, was sucked in, our bodies being disintegrated, piece by piece. I woke up here," said the Ghost.

Rainbow Dash spoke up next. "Why is your voice all scratchy? And why are your eyes so weird?"

The Ghost took a moment to think about what she meant. "Technically, these aren't my eyes. These," he motioned to his eyes, "are ocular implants. They are cybernetically attached to my brain, and are controlled with my thoughts, same as a regular pair of eyes. These implants allow me to see much clearer, even in pitch black."

The Ghost had to cough several times before he answered the other question. "As for my voice, they tend to go scratchy when you don't use them very often. I haven't spoken this much in years."

Twilight put her hoof up again. Bloody hell, thought the Ghost. Will these questions ever stop?

"Out with it."

"How do you speak our language? Were you and other Terrans studying us?"

The Ghost shook his head. "I have no idea as to why we share the same language. The chances are astronomically low. Someone... or something has to have a hand in this. There's no other explanation."

The Ghost rubbed his sore throat. "One more question. Then it's my turn."

Twilight raised her hoof again. Sighing, the Ghost motioned for her to proceed. Twilight shuffled her stack of papers. The Ghost caught some glimpses of his speech written down.

She's taking notes?

"What was your part in the war?" she asked.

The Ghost answered simply.

"I survived."

The Ghost was deciding what question he should ask first when he was interrupted by Twilight.

"Why don't you want to give me a straight answer?"

The Ghost looked at Twilight with his cold, green eyes. "Do you really want the answer?"

She nodded, along with all the other ponies.

"Fine. I killed. I killed Protoss. I killed Zerg. I killed Terrans. Hundreds of them, thousands even. If you count all the nuclear missiles... I've killed millions."

If the Ghost had been looking up, he would've seen the horrified looks on their faces. Some ponies even took an unintentional step back.

"How... how could you have done that?" one of them asked.

The frightened looks on the innocent ponies were a nice push over the edge. The Ghost felt for his sidearm.

"I'm already dead. I'm just waiting for the end. I hoped it would come naturally. I did everything in my power to speed it along, short of killing myself, but it never came. I thought I would finally have peace when I was sucked into that vortex."

The Ghost looked up into the eyes of Princess Celestia.

"Now I'm stuck here. A tool with no purpose. A gun without bullets. Unnecessary. Unneeded. Useless."

During this speech, the Ghost had pulled out his sidearm. It was similar to a revolver in design, but packed a much bigger punch. He held it in his blood stained hand, and was staring at it.

"Unlike me, this one isn't empty."

He placed the barrel under his chin. He closed his eyes.

"Goodbye," he said, and pulled the trigger.

*BOOM*

...

Why am I still alive?

The Ghost opened his eyes. The gun was no longer in his hand. Instead, it was being telekinetically lifted in the air in front of him. There was a large hole in the ceiling. Evidently, one of the unicorns had yanked the gun away before he could end it.

"What? Don't want a mess to clean up? Fine. I'll do it outside," said the Ghost angrily.

He reached for the gun floating in front of him, but it was jerked back by an unseen force. Celestia spoke up and announced, "We cannot, in good conscience, allow you to kill yourself, Ghost."

Something snapped inside the Ghost's brain. He stood up.

"No," he said quietly. "Only I can choose that. Give me back my gun."

"I can't do that, Ghost," said Twilight Sparkle, who must have been the one who was holding the gun.

"You leave me no choice," he said as he unholstered his canister rifle.

The two princesses were talking with each other. After they seemed to agree with each other, Celestia stepped forward. "No, Ghost. You leave us with no choice."

After saying that, the two princesses disappeared in a flash, then reappeared an instant after.

Pain exploded in the Ghost's head once again, causing him to drop his gun and collapse to his knees.

NOT AGAIN! he screamed inwardly.

There was only so much pain the human mind could handle, and the Ghost fell unconscious, unable to deal with the pain.

All of the ponies were looking at the passed out Ghost. Celestia stepped forward and said, "Come, my little ponies. If we are to save this creature from himself, we must begin immediately."

Author's Note

Dat exposition.

Chapter Six

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Six

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

...

I live.

...

I am still alive.

...

I am still alive after being forced through endless pain...

...

...twice.

The Ghost regained his consciousness slowly. His vision was blurry, and his heartbeat throbbed in his ears. He attempted to get up, but couldn't. He looked down and realized he was tied to something. A bed.

He attempted to break free, but the bonds were everywhere, and they held fast. His escape attempt had caused a bundle of small pains on his arms and abdomen. Which meant...

They took my suit off, thought the Ghost. Those ponies took my fucking suit off.

The Ghost blinked several times to refocus his implants. He was wearing the skin tight suit that all Ghost operators wore underneath their combat skins, and nothing else. The Ghost looked around at his surroundings, and noticed that he was in a jail-like cell, except that it was white. Everything was white.

White. Just like a psych ward.

He tried to remember why he was tied to a bed. It hit him rather suddenly.

YOU FUCKING BITCH! MY FREEDOM WAS THE ONLY THING I HAD LEFT!

The Ghost stopped his mental yelling and turned his attention to the lone door, which was in the process of opening. Apparently, his awakening had been monitored.

A white unicorn wearing preposterous golden armour entered the room.

The Ghost watched the pony carefully. He could probably snap his bonds and deal with his warden fairly easily using telekinesis, but he decided to wait. Wait and observe.

The unicorn stopped a few paces from his 'bed'. He addressed the Ghost directly.

"I have been instructed by Princess Celestia to restore your memories that have been lost to you. You have been restrained for your own safety as well as the safety of others."

I guess they don't know that mind wipes are irreversible, thought the Ghost bitterly.

The pony walked a few steps closer. He obviously saw the anger smouldering in the Ghosts cybernetic eyes. "It's for your own sake. You should feel lucky that the princesses want you to continue living."

Hah. Lucky. I wonder what that feels like.

The unicorn's eyes were closed in concentration and his horn was aglow.

The Ghost didn't know what was going to happen. He vowed only one thing.

I swear to whichever sick, sadistic entity is watching me that I will destroy this unicorn's mind if he fucks with my head.

A light golden glow had begun to emanate from somewhere. It was almost soothing. Almost...

The Ghost felt another consciousness brush his mental defences.

You picked the wrong Ghost to mess with, said the Ghost mentally to the unicorn. He pushed the feeble mind out of his way and delved into the creature's subconscious. He weaved his way through the pathways in its brain, only stopping when he found the unicorn's nervous centre.

The Ghost had the unicorn in his grasp. He knew from experience that afraid minds were easier to control. He broke out into sadistic poetry.

One, two, Ghost is coming for you.

The unicorn's mind was awash in fear. The Ghost felt him trying to gain back control, but the Ghost did not relinquish his hold.

Three, four, you've no idea what's in store.

He felt the unicorn thinking about what the Ghost would do. Unpleasant mental images were brought from the depths of its consciousness.

Five, six, I will break you for kicks.

The Ghost made a mental picture of the unicorn being torn into hundreds of pieces. He felt the other consciousness cringe.

Seven, eight, consign yourself to your fate.

The Ghost felt the unicorn mentally say goodbye to his family. The Ghost felt no pity. Nobody had ever felt any for him.

Nine, ten, say goodbye, you won't ever see them again.

He made it as painless as he could. Having no pity didn't make him enjoy killing others. The Ghost returned to his own body. His guard was lying on the floor, his eyes glazed over, his breathing shallow. It was only a husk now.

The Ghost telekinetically broke his bonds and jumped to his feet. No sirens or alarms had been triggered... yet.

Think. How do I get out of this situation?

He looked around the room for anything that could help. There was nothing of use, save for an ornamental sword that hung on the husk.

Good enough.

The Ghost removed the sword from its sheath. In doing so, the Ghost accidently knocked a small envelope out of a hidden pocket. Curious, the Ghost picked it up and read it.

For Lumen Shield's eyes only:

You are the most accomplished unicorn currently working as a Royal Guard.

For this reason, we have a special assignment for you.

You are to assist in the memory recovery of the alien known only as 'Ghost'.

Proceed to cell block A, cell 12.

Attempt to recover his memory with his sanity intact. If something goes wrong, stop immediately.

Be wary of Ghost at all times. He has shown many magical talents. We can only assume he is hiding others.

He has been fitted with magic displacement rings on both of his forelegs.

Even so, he is to be considered extremely dangerous at all times.

Tell nopony about what you are doing and where you are going.

After completion or failure of completion of this task, destroy this message.

-Celestia

The letters were written strangely, but the Ghost could still decipher them well enough. He learned several important things from the letter. First, he had bested the most powerful Psion in this 'Royal Guard' rather easily. Secondly, according to the letter, this guard was sent on a solo mission, and no other ponies besides the princesses knew that this 'Lumen Shield' was sent here. Third, they wanted his memory fully restored for some reason. Scenarios started to appear in the Ghost's head.

Are they trying to brainwash me? Once was too many. I will die before it happens again.

The Ghost grabbed the sword and tested its edge. Dull.

Why would a guard walk around with a dull blade?

He tossed the sword aside. It would only make cloaking more difficult. Concentrating on himself, he bent the light around him to render himself invisible. Only, it didn't affect his hands and his forearms.

What have we here? thought the Ghost as he examined the small bands of metal wrapped around both of his wrists. He had not noticed them previously.

These must be the 'magic displacement' rings. It is confirmed then. Their magic is psionic, albeit the unicorns have much stronger tendencies. Perhaps something to do with their horn?

The Ghost attempted to remove the rings with telekinesis, but was rewarded with a scathing headache for his trouble. He tried wrenching them off with his hands, but that didn't work either.

I guess cloaking is a no go. I will have to get my suit back with force.

The Ghost turned to the door and attempted to open it. The door didn't budge. Frowning, the Ghost looked for any key holes or some sort of mechanism to grant him freedom, but found none.

Angry at everything in general, the Ghost kicked the door where he thought it was weakest. The door may have been iron, but the Ghost was enraged. The door flew off its hinges and crashed into the wall across from it. An alarm was sounded almost immediately after the ringing from the impact died down.

There goes any semblance of stealth, the Ghost thought wryly.

The Ghost sprinted out of the cell. He took a second to take observations of everything he could. He looked right and saw that there was a contingent of ponies, half of which was dark grey and half of which was of similar colouring to the pony who's mind he had decimated. They were all heading towards his cell. They were equally split between unicorns and pegasi, and they all had the same ridiculous golden armour on.

He looked left and saw a wall.

Decisions, decisions, the Ghost thought jokingly to himself.

The Ghost ran to the wall and leaned his back against it. He propped one foot against the wall, and planted one foot on the ground. The Ghost saw the ponies getting closer.

He concentrated on his legs. He started to slowly reinforce his bones and tendons, and relax his muscles.

This will hurt later.

The Ghost waited until the ponies were almost upon him. As soon as one of them came within fifteen feet of the Ghost, he pushed off of the wall with all of his strength.

The Ghost went from a standstill to fifteen miles per hour in a heartbeat. He bowled into the ponies head on. Several creatures were flung to the side.

None of them were the Ghost.

The Ghost kept running. He picked up speed and left the disorganized and broken ponies in a cloud of dust. iterally. The Ghost had pushed off of the wall with such force that he caused some of the stone to disintegrate, causing a cloud of dust to be left in his wake.

\\\

Golden Oaks Library, the previous day

For the first time in her life, Twilight Sparkle was unsure of Princess Celestia. Did she have the right to refuse his request? Do any of us have that right?

The Ghost had tried to kill himself and was now sprawled unconscious on the floor. Twilight slowly levitated the gun down, not wanting it to unleash any more of its projectiles.

"Come, my little ponies. If we are to save this creature from himself, we must begin immediately," said Celestia.

"Why did you have to do that?" asked Twilight before she could stop herself.

The princesses looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean? We had to incapacitate him somehow," replied Luna.

"Couldn't we have just asked him to reconsider instead of causing him to go unconscious with pain?"

Celestia stepped forward towards Twilight. She lowered her head so she could speak to Twilight directly. "Twilight, please understand that we only want what is best for Ghost. He is obviously mentally unstable from everything he has been put through."

Princess Celestia took a mournful glance at the Ghost. "Sometimes, you have to do what's best for somepony, whether they approve of it or not. Do you understand why we have to save Ghost, Twilight?"

Twilight shook her head. Inwardly, she said, How can you save somepony who doesn't want to be saved?

Not hearing Twilight's mental question, Celestia continued. "Ghost is the first alien to visit us. If what he has said is true, then he may be our only means of defending ourselves from the Zerg and, inevitably, the Protoss. We have to ensure he lives, for the benefit of everypony. Do you understand Twilight? He is the first visitor. There will inevitably be more. What would other Terrans think when the first one of them to cross paths with us killed himself?"

Twilight shivered. She hadn't thought of it that way.

Celestia's gaze grew soft once again. "I don't approve of messing with other ponies freedom, but there comes a time when it proves to be necessary."

Twilight looked down. "I-I'm sorry, Princess. I never thought of it that way. It's just... if he wanted to end it... who are we to say no?"

Twilight heard several sniffles from behind her. She turned around and saw Fluttershy was crying softly whilst being comforted by her other friends.

Princess Celestia had seen it also. She cleared her throat and addressed everypony in the room.

"We are going to take Ghost back to the castle with us and we want the six of you, the bearers of harmony, to accompany us. We are going to try to recover his memory. Maybe with his memories intact, he will realize that life is worth living. If that fails, maybe the elements of harmony can drive the anger and hate from his heart."

This is the Princess I was waiting for, thought Twilight happily.

With Fluttershy now sufficiently calm, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia teleported everypony and the Ghost to Canterlot.

\\\

Canterlot Castle, present time

The Ghost was getting tired. From his rough estimate, he had ran through over a mile of twisting corridors. He had dispatched every contingent of guards that was sent to capture him. He knew they were under orders to capture, not kill, after he had torn the information from the last conscious member of the most recent contingent that had been sent after him.

The Ghost had incapacitated the guards with ease. The unicorns had little to no mental protection, allowing the Ghost to waltz right into their mind and disable them. The pegasus were slightly more troublesome. Being only two to three level Psions, the Ghost couldn't effectively engage them in mental combat. Instead, he used his superior height, weight, strength, reach, and training to dispatch them quickly and efficiently. He refrained from killing them, but that was the extent of his mercy.

This had happened four times. He had defeated each contingent without so much as a scratch, but his exertions were starting to take their toll. Deciding that he was better off moving on, the Ghost never stopped to rest.

Just as the Ghost was starting to think that the endless corridors would never cease, he turned a corner and ran straight into a large wooden door. The Ghost wasn't seriously injured, only bruising his shoulder and breaking his nose. Letting out a sharp breath, the Ghost snapped his nose back into position. Now slightly more agitated, the Ghost was about to kick a hole straight through the twelve foot door.

Just before his foot connected with the door, the Ghost stopped. He pondered his situation a bit more.

What the hell. Might as well see if its unlocked first.

The Ghost tried the handle. The door was unlocked.

...

...That's convenient.

The Ghost opened the door and was shocked to discover that it moved silently. Shrugging, the Ghost slipped through the door and closed it behind him.

The Ghost found himself in a large room with tall ceilings. To say it was a room was a bit off. It was more like two corridors intersecting at a 'T'. He appeared to be on the left side of top of the 'T'. There was another large door opposite himself. The Ghost cautiously walked around the corner of the 'T' and looked down the long corridor.

There was a long strip of red carpet that ended in a throne. In the throne sat Princess Celestia, who was flanked by several groups of guards. The Ghost also spotted the six other ponies that were dubiously known as 'the elements of harmony'. Five of them were wearing necklaces, while one of them, Twilight, was wearing a strange piece of jewellery on her head.

No matter what happens, I win. If I kill Celestia, I win.

If they kill me, I win.

...

For once, I can't lose.

The Ghost started walking towards them, his stride purposeful, his mind clear.

\\\

Twilight was woken up by a siren blaring. Could it be...?

Her question was confirmed when she heard a knock on the door. She threw off her covers and practically galloped to the door. She opened it, and was greeted by her brother, Shining Armor.

"Hey, Twi. Glad to see that we finally have something capable of waking you up," he said with a chuckle.

Twilight glared at him. Ever since she was a filly, Twilight had always stayed up late to read and study. She was infamous in her family for sleeping through the loudest noises.

Brought back to the gravity of the situation, Twilight asked, "Is the siren for...?"

"Ghost? Yes. And before you say anything, we don't have to keep his existence a secret anymore. I doubt anypony will forget him now," Shining said with a grimace.

Her heart fluttering, Twilight asked, "Why? What did he do?"

Shining sighed. "Grab your element and follow me. The Princess will explain."

\\\

Twilight and Shining Armor were the last to arrive in the throne room. All of Twilight's friends were waiting for her, having already put their necklaces on. Shining took his place at the head of the Royal Guards. Twilight walked up to Celestia, who was sitting in her throne with a calm and serene demeanour.

"Princess Celestia," she said as she inclined her head and knelt down.

"My most faithful student," she responded.

Twilight was unsure of what to ask first. "What happened to Ghost?"

A pained expression flashed across her mentor's face. "He... erased the mind of Lumen Shield, the most accomplished magic user in the Royal Guard. His body is alive, but... he's not there. It's like his body is empty. Just a husk."

Twilight Sparkle's eyes widened. The Ghost's warning flashed through her mind.

Also, when I said knock first, I mean it. I will eviscerate your brain if you do that again.

Twilight shuddered at the thought. Celestia continued detailing what the Ghost had been up to.

"After that, he destroyed the door to his room, which is what caused the alarm to go off. I've sent several contingents of guards to stop him, but he's disabled each and every one."

Several contingents, disabled?! thought Twilight. There's twenty ponies in each one!

Another meaning of the word disabled came to her.

How many has he killed? she thought.

As if knowing what she was thinking, Celestia said, "Luckily, he hasn't outright killed anypony. He certainly left his... mark, but nopony is gravely injured."

"He's heading here, isn't he?" asked Twilight.

Princess Celestia nodded.

Twilight took a deep breath and said, "I hope the elements can help him."

Princess Celestia looked at Twilight.

"Me too," she said.

\\\

The Ghost walked down the red carpet, the irony of the statement being lost on him. His eyes never left the princess sitting on the throne.

So regal. So compassionate. So deluded.

The Ghost's legs quickly ate up the distance. He walked right past the guards on both sides of him, not caring in the slightest. The Ghost stopped when he was thirty feet away from the throne. He had only one mission.

Make her pay.

Author's Note

That escalated quickly.

Chapter Seven

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Seven

When the Ghost took one step closer, all hell broke loose.

At once, the awaiting royal guards charged at the Ghost. The Ghost reacted out of pure reflex, his body instinctually knowing what to do from years of combat experience. He kicked the first wave of Pegasi guards that attempted to dive-bomb him out of the air, causing them to land on their ground-bound companions. Distracted by the aerial assault, the Ghost didn't notice several of the unicorns that had stepped away from the group, their eyes closed in concentration.

Just as the Ghost dealt with the last pegasus, he found himself within a large, spherical dome of energy. He placed his hand on it. It was solid.

I have sacrificed too much to stop now.

The shield may have held the Ghost's physical form in, but it didn't repel his mind when he tested it.

They never learn, thought the Ghost derisively. He telepathically reached for the group of six unicorns that were locking him in. He tried to gain access to their minds, but they were concentrating hard enough on the energy-bubble that the Ghost's mind was repelled.

How the hell? When these creatures concentrate on something, they do so with their entire minds. How am I going to break free of this prison?

The Ghost thought for several moments. A twisted smile appeared when he thought of a way to escape. Pushing his mind outwards again, he returned to the six concentrating unicorns, but instead of a mental assault, he observed how they were creating the force field. The Ghost took several moments to fully comprehend how it worked, then he returned to his body.

Amazing. They are working together to create this barrier. Psions in tandem... now that's a terrifying prospect.

Touching his hand to the energy sphere, the Ghost started to channel his own energy into it. While the unicorns were concentrating on keeping the sphere active, the Ghost was working on something completely different.

Slowly, even lazily, the sphere started to grow in size. This was not immediately noticed by the guards, but eventually one of them asked, "Hey, does anypony else think the shield is getting bigger? I swear it's getting bigger."

The Ghost smiled upon hearing the distorted sounds of confusion from within his confines. He had been slowly trickling energy into the sphere with the intent on expanding it. He figured that if it kept him in, it would keep others out.

With a surge of mental strength, the Ghost put some of his last reserves of energy into the sphere, causing it to grow rapidly with size. It grew so fast that it pushed the guards that had formed a large circle around the energy dome aside and into various pillars and walls. With the guards stunned, the Ghost continued to expand the dome outwards at a reasonable pace.

The stunned and concussed guards regained their composure to see a wall of purple coming towards them. They didn't have enough time to react, and they were pushed up against the walls, slowly being crushed.

When the screams of their fallen comrades met the ears of the spell-casting unicorns, they abruptly lost concentration, causing the shield to fade out of existence. Not concentrating on the spell any longer, the Ghost quickly disabled them with his mind.

Tired, but with his revenge close at hand, the Ghost continued his leisurely pace towards the Princess. Out of the corner of his eye, the Ghost saw several Earth pony guards attempt to flank him. Before he could test their mettle, the Princess called out, "Halt! All guards stand down! The elements of harmony will make him understand!"

Grumbling, but not wanting to invoke the wrath of the Princess AND the Ghost, the contingent of Earth ponies returned to the sidelines. Unhindered and unopposed, the Ghost continued his path of vengeance.

\\\

Twilight Sparkle was afraid of the Ghost. She didn't see the cold-hearted soldier that she thought she understood.

She saw a blood soaked monster walking towards her.

His short mane was sticking out every which way. His eyes, no, his ocular implants were bright green and staring. The Ghost was dressed in a one piece skin tight suit and Twilight could tell that it was once a light grey, but it was now splattered with blood. And he was smiling.

He was smiling!

She feared what the Ghost had become, and how easily he had disabled the guards, even her own brother, but she refused to believe that he couldn't be coerced away from the violence. Gathering her wits, she said quietly, "Come on girls. We're the last chance that Ghost has. Let's show him the power of friendship!"

All of her friends nodded and concentrated on their amulets. Twilight focused her power into the tiara she wore upon her head. As one, they were encompassed in a magical aura that levitated them upwards.

\\\

As the Ghost approached the stairs that led to the throne, he witnessed the six ponies that he had met at the library levitate into the air.

"Your tricks and deceptions will not save you, Celestia," he stated calmly, thinking that Princess Celestia was pulling the strings.

As if to confirm his theory, the bearers of the elements rose several more feet in the air. The Ghost continued his forward march, undaunted. The Ghost noticed that each of them were giving off a strange aura, similar to the writhing energies of the Protoss, albeit it was white in colour, not blue.

"You can't hide, Celestia. Your illusions will not save you from my wrath."

Twilight, who had assumed the leading role of the floating ponies, said sadly, "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Ghost."

As she finished her sentence, all of their eyes started to glow white. Before the Ghost could frown, a massive surge of colors erupted from each of the ponies. The colours entwined with each other in the air above them. Distracted by the lightshow, the Ghost didn't know what hit him.

The swirling vortex of colourful energy launched itself straight at the Ghost. In the few milliseconds before it impacted, the Ghost's mind was calm and collected about the beam of pure energy that was directed at him.

This seems vaguely Protoss in terms of energy, but the Protoss weren't ones for vibrant colours. What will happen? Will it override my being? Will it change me into something they consider better?

All of this flashed through the Ghost's mind before the beam of energy hit him in the chest. The Ghost was knocked back several steps. He felt the beam as a searing heat throughout his entire body. He felt it encroaching on his mental barricades, trying to find a way through.

"I... WILL... NOT... SUBMIT!!" he yelled, psionically amplifying his voice in the process.

The Ghost stopped. He planted his feet and stood his ground, taking the full brunt of the energy beam. The beam was still trying to gain purchase on his mind. He felt its purpose: to recreate, reshape, rebuild.

The Ghost felt a deep well of power flow into him. He didn't know where it came from, and he didn't care. With the surge of newfound power, the Ghost succeeded in pushing back the swirling vortex of energy out of his mind-space. He pushed some more, and was rewarded with the searing heat dissipating from his nervous system and the 'magic displacement' bands around his wrists melting off.

The Ghost laughed maniacally. When I want something done, it gets done.

The Ghost drew from the vast reserves of energy he suddenly felt and psionically forced the last remnants of the vortex out of his system. When he finally did so, the six ponies that were levitating fell out of the air and landed on the carpet in-between Celestia and the Ghost.

The Ghost slowly advanced towards Celestia, pure energy crackling from his fingertips. The Ghost felt more powerful than he had ever felt before. He felt as if he could summon one of the fabled Psionic Storms, something only Kerrigan and the Protoss were capable of.

...You know what? I think I'll try that.

The Ghost reached into the seemingly endless well of energy and concentrated on the air around him. Sure enough, small particles of psionic energy were arcing from his fingertips into the air around him. The smile returned to the Ghost's face.

The Ghost summoned even more energy from his mysterious pit of endless energy. A storm of energy was gathering around the Ghost.

He was in control.

He had the power.

I have the power, he thought. I have the power to do as I see fit.

\\\

Twilight Sparkle was dumbfounded that the Ghost was able to shrug off the elements of harmony that easily. All of them were unconscious from having the elements of harmony rejected save for Twilight. Struggling to her feet, Twilight saw a blue ball of energy floating around the Ghost.

Twilight watched in awe as the ball of energy grew larger. It seems to be coming from the Ghost, thought Twilight. But how does he have enough power left to conjure up that much energy?

After the mass of energy had apparently reached its critical mass, it spread out like a spider web above everypony in the throne room. Lightning crackled throughout the web of energy. Afraid for her friends and everypony in the vicinity, Twilight Sparkle shouted at the Ghost.

"GHOST! Why are you doing this?! What can you hope to accomplish?!"

The Ghost looked at her from inside his writhing blue energy field. His short mane was standing straight up and he wore the same merciless smile from before. He let out a maniacal laugh before answering her question.

"Anything I want, Twilight Sparkle. I have the power to do anything I want," said the Ghost, his voice strangely distorted through the energy field.

He looked straight at Princess Celestia who had risen to her hooves and was now standing right behind Twilight.

His smile grew even more demented than it was before. "And I want my revenge..."

Twilight looked behind her at Princess Celestia. The Princess met her gaze... and gave her a hurt smile.

Celestia gracefully walked past Twilight and her unconscious friends. She walked straight over to the Ghost and looked him square in the eye, even though he was almost a foot taller than her.

"Ghost! Stop this storm of energy and come to your senses. You are going to hurt the only beings that actually care about you. Could you live with yourself if these little ponies were hurt?" said Princess Celestia passionately.

This seemed to give the Ghost pause. The smile disappeared from his face and he appeared to think deeply for several seconds. Finally he answered.

"I think you misunderstand my intentions, oh fair and noble princess. I don't care whether I live or die. I consider both outcomes as a win for me," said the Ghost as another demented smile was plastered on his face. "I am only here for revenge. I am only here for you."

As the Ghost finished his sentence, the spider web-like tendrils of energy started to jitter and arc towards the princess. The princess barely managed to conjure up a shield in time to block the writhing blue energy bolt.

"Ghost! Stop this madness and come to your senses! Violence and revenge are not the answers!" yelled Princess Celestia from behind her shield.

"Madness?! No. This is revenge," said the Ghost from within his energy vortex.

He launched wave after wave of psionic lightning at the Princess. He saw her shield start to waver, but he himself was running low on energy. The Ghost felt himself start laughing. Uncontrollable, maniacal laughter was gurgling out of his throat.

After his laughing fit, he said, "Nobody fucks with a Ghost and lives!"

With his last remnants of energy, the Ghost made one last beam of energy and launched it at the already weakening shield. The Ghost saw the shield collapse. It created a ripple of released energy that blinded the Ghost when it reached him.

The Ghost, having been blinded and having exhausted his newfound power, collapsed to the ground. Let's see you walk away from that.

The Ghost forced himself onto his knees. He had to be sure that Celestia was truly defeated. He blinked away the glaring white from his eyes, his vision coming back to him slower than he would've liked. Finally, his vision had come back sufficiently enough for the Ghost to see properly. He saw Princess Celestia collapsed on the ground, unmoving.

I... I win. Finally.

After the Ghost thought these words, Celestia stirred.

You're fucking kidding me, thought the Ghost without emotion.

He watched from his knees as Celestia slowly opened her eyes, a look of pain on her face. She attempted to stand, but only managed to make it to a sitting position.

Shaking his head, the Ghost muttered to himself, "If you want something done..." as he attempted to stand.

His limbs felt like lead, but he managed to stand up. He locked his eyes on Celestia as he slowly trudged forward, his arms already reaching forward to squeeze the life out of her. When he was but a few feet away, he heard the Princess say, "Peace and Harmony, Ghost. I know you've been through Tartarus and back, but you need to give us a chance. The power of harmony can help you."

The Ghost looked straight into Celestia's eyes, unfazed by the tears that freely rolled down her cheek.

The Ghost was outraged by her assumptions. "You have no idea what I have seen. You have no idea what I've done. You cannot hope to comprehend the horrors I've witnessed. Have you ever killed anybody Celestia? Have you ever felt their blood run through your fingers!?"

Celestia didn't answer.

"I didn't think so. I have watched a whole galaxy consume itself in war. I have watched discord sown far and wide. I have given up my life for the lesser of two evils and for what? So I could kill, rather than be killed. How can the power of harmony possibly help me!? How can that give me my life back!? The life that I've never had!?" said the Ghost with anger.

Before Celestia could respond, the Ghost was tackled from behind by a dark blue blur.

"Thou shalt silence thyself! We are not trying to give thou thy old life back!" said Princess Luna as she pinned the Ghost to the floor.

"Then what the fuck are you all trying to accomplish? Why did you try to mess with my mind?" responded the Ghost as he thought of the best way to remove Luna from himself.

Celestia answered the Ghost's question as she weakly stood up. "We are trying to give you a new life, Ghost. One free from everything that you have been forced through."

"You... what?!" asked the Ghost, who was terribly confused.

"Lumen Shield was only trying to disable the so called inhibitors in your brain in an attempt to restore your true self," said Princess Luna.

They... they were only trying to... help me? Have I injured the only peopl—.... ponies that have cared about me?

"I thought..." said the Ghost after reaching his conclusion. "I thought that you were all trying to... change me. Try to remake me 'better'. I... guess I misunderstood."

Princess Celestia's horn glowed a vibrant white as she cast a sleeping spell on the Ghost.

The Ghost had one thought before he fell into a magic-induced sleep. I'm sorry.

\\\

Ghost woke up in a soft bed. In a flash of instinct, he immediately checked for any bonds attaching him to the bed. He found none. Relieved, the Ghost sat up slowly, the memories of his ill-fated battle coming back to him. The Ghost felt several strange feelings in his chest and mind.

What is this? What are these feelings?

The Ghost isolated one of them and tried to decipher what it was. He tried to come up with a word to describe it, but couldn't find the right one.

Regret.

The Ghost blinked. The word came to him suddenly.

Regret.

The Ghost had never needed to use the word before. He couldn't recall having ever felt regret before. It felt terrible, like you did something you weren't proud of.

Shame.

He felt that too. He was ashamed. He was ashamed that he had caused so much pain and suffering through his violence.

Why? I've never felt these emotions before, why should I feel them now?

Thinking those thoughts made him remember that Celestia had put spelled him asleep.

What did they do to my mind while I was out?

Before the Ghost could consider other possibilities, a knock was heard from across the room. The Ghost was unsure how to respond. Nobody had ever knocked on his door when they needed him.

He said the first thing that came to mind.

"Who's there?"

Some muffled voices were heard from the other side.

"Boo," said one of the voices.

The Ghost frowned. "Boo who?"

Many strange sounds were heard from behind the door. It was opened to reveal Princess Celestia, the six elements of harmony, and the unicorn guard leader all struggling to not laugh. Their struggle ended when they saw the look on the Ghosts face: they all broke out laughing.

The Ghost, who was unable to comprehend what was happening, asked, "Why are you laughing?"

The Ghost's question seemed to bring the eight ponies back to reality. They stopped laughing, although they still had grins plastered on their faces. Twilight cleared her throat and asked the Ghost, "May we enter?"

The Ghost blinked several times in response to the question. "I don't understand. Why are you asking my permission? This is not my room."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "It's called 'being polite'."

Shrugging, the Ghost motioned for them to enter. The eight ponies had made a semi-circle around the bed he was sitting on. Princess Celestia leaned down to look at him eye-to-eye and asked, "How are you feeling Ghost?"

The Ghost laughed. "I feel terrible. Regretful. Ashamed." He paused for a moment. "You caused me to feel like this, didn't you?"

Princess Celestia said disappointedly, "I was unable to restore your memories from before your mind wipe. I thought that they would be simply locked up, but they just... weren't there. Instead, I disabled the—" She paused for a moment, as if remembering. "—neural inhibitor and aggression inhibitors that were lodged in your brain."

The Ghost didn't move. He was in shock.

"You... did... what?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Celestia hesitated, unsure of why the Ghost was acting this way.

"During my... visit in your mind, I noticed that several things were missing, namely emotions that you seemed to be missing. I was curious, so I briefly searched through your memories to see if I could find the source. During my search, I came across the two inhibitors that were implanted in your mind. They were the cause of your emotional instability, so I disabled them. I would have them removed, but we don't have the necessary medical facilities to do so."

The Ghost stared at the Princess with his jaw dropped. "You... disabled them? Just like that?"

Celestia nodded.

The Ghost shook his head in disbelief. "Not possible. They are specifically designed to kill me if they are disabled. I am still alive, therefore not possible."

Celestia frowned. "Then how do you feel emotions you've never felt before?" After the Ghost failed to answer, Celestia continued. "I think your race and you especially do not put enough faith in magic, Ghost."

The Ghost growled, startling everypony in the room. "There is no such thing as magic. It's false. Not real. Bullshit. Psionics are real. I have seen this in person. Nothing you have done is outside the ranges of powerful Psions."

"Then how do you explain our teleportation? The elements of harmony?"

The Ghost ground his teeth in anger. "Those are the only exceptions."

Twilight Sparkle spoke up. "What if magic and psionics are related, but not the same?"

The Ghost put his head in his hands in defeat. "Fine. Let's assume that's the case. Let's assume that I have all of my faculties back because of... magic."

The enormity of what had occurred to him hit him like a siege tank round. I have all of my faculties back. That means that... I'm free? Free to choose. Free to feel. Free to do... anything.

The Ghost looked up at Celestia."You... freed me."

The ponies all looked at the Ghost questioningly.

The Ghost struggled to say two words. He had never spoken them before.

"...Thank you."

The tension that had filled the room vanished. The Ghost was bombarded with questions, none of which he could answer before he was asked another one. Finally, Celestia cleared her throat, which caused the seven ponies to settle down.

Celestia looked at the Ghost and asked, "Where did you gain access to that much energy?"

The Ghost sighed. "I think I know. It would take too long to explain, so, with your permission, I'd rather show you."

Celestia nodded.

Ghost told all the ponies to have one part of their body touching him. He brought forth a particularly vivid memory from the depths of his mind and projected it into the minds of the ponies before him. They all witnessed it from the Ghost's perspective.

\\\

The Ghost was not amused. He leaned against a metal counter and watched as the sadistic doctor cut the fallen high templar's psionic appendages off. The Templar gave off a silent scream, his body writhing in pain from the amputation.

How can someone enjoy hurting other sentient creatures? thought the Ghost to himself. I do nothing but kill, and yet I still find this repulsive.

Sure enough, Doctor Stanley Burgess was wearing a demented smile as he cut the Protoss warrior's appendages from his head.

Mengsk had sent the Ghost as a supervisor of the Gestalt Program. The Ghost dejectedly accepted. He never declined a task, no matter how repulsive. The Ghost recalled what Mengsk told him several days previously.

"You've heard of the Gestalt Program, yes?"

The Ghost had only nodded.

"Good. The good doctor, Burgess, has recently captured a former Protoss high templar using his 'Gestalt Zero'. While I have complete confidence in his 'pet', I want you to be there should any unforeseen circumstances occur. What I don't want is for you to interfere with Doctor Burgess or Gestalt Zero. You are to treat them both as your superiors. Should any... extenuating circumstances occur, you have my permission to act in whatever way you deem necessary.

When the Ghost arrived, he was escorted to the Doctor by his pet gestalt. Gestalt Zero, or Zero, was a amalgamation of a Ghost operative and Protoss organs. Zero's head was a combination of a Terran head with Protoss tendrils coming from the back of its head. The Ghost was both repulsed and intrigued by the former Ghost operative. He found the gestalt harder to read than most Ghost operatives, as he could practically read them like a book. Either the gestalt was well practiced in hiding his thoughts, or the Protoss organs that had been grafted to him reinforced his mental prowess.

Zero did not speak to the Ghost, seeing as his... its... mouth was closed over by a layer of skin. Instead, he motioned for the Ghost to follow him. He did, and now found himself watching the mutilation of a once mighty Protoss templar.

After one particularly violent spasm from the templar, Doctor Burgess said sadistically, "Weakness is whatever impedes survival. The universe doesn't care about morality. It only cares about power, like the power I have over you."

The Ghost restrained himself from putting the templar out of its misery.

No, he said to himself. Not yet.

After the doctor finished with his task, he immediately went to work on grafting the new appendages to Zero. He tested the new statistics of the gestalt and was thoroughly impressed. The Protoss appendages had boosted Gestalt Zero's psi-index rating to over level Seven. Clapping with an almost child-like glee, he ordered the gestalt to infiltrate a Kel-Morian Combine research facility as a test run.

With the gestalt gone on his merry mission, Doctor Burgess continued his relentless torture on the high templar.

After watching for what felt like an eternity, the Doctor was eventually called away from his perverted brutalization. He placed the templar back in the cell block, which held multiple Protoss prisoners. The Ghost watched the tyrannical doctor walk away while whistling. The Ghost had followed the pair while cloaked.

The Ghost had to do something. I don't care what other purposes they have in mind for this Protoss. He had endured enough pain. I have to release him from his torment.

The Ghost decloaked and emerged from his hiding place amongst the shadows. The chained templar rose its head in curiosity to the newcomer.

"I sensed your presence as soon as you arrived at this facility, Terran. Your mind is different from others of your kind. What is your purpose?"

The Ghost was unsure how the templar was speaking to him. He, for the voice was definitely male, had no discernable mouth or orifice that could produce sound.

"Purpose. I've wondered at my purpose for a long while. But I suppose you mean my purpose here. Same as always. Watch," said the Ghost.

After he spoke, he noticed a Protoss zealot in the cell beside the templar. The zealot was cradling its head and rocking back and forth while sitting on the floor.

The templar noticed the Ghost looking at the obviously damaged zealot. "She is becoming suicidal. Her injuries and being cut off from the Khala have not been kind to her."

Her? Protoss are not gender-biased. Strange.

Bringing himself back to the situation, the Ghost said, "I do not believe in torture. If you so choose, I can end this for you. Both of you."

The templar laughed, which sounded very strange to the Ghost's ears. "If there are more Terrans like you, your race might have a chance. We appreciate the offer, but must decline. We will face death like true Protoss."

The Ghost was surprised. "There must be something I can do," he said.

The templar was silent for a few seconds. Finally, he said, "Let me see what you are made of, Terran. Try to enter my mind."

What?

The Ghost didn't know what to expect. I doubt the templar has something special planned for me. That still doesn't answer why he would want me to try and invade his mind.

Suspicious, the Ghost sent out a mental probe towards the templar's consciousness. He was surprised to find that the Protoss' mental defences were completely lowered. Now even more suspicious, the Ghost slowly wormed his way into the templar's mind, on guard for any ambushes.

None came.

The Ghost's mental self arrived at the Protoss' neural cortex. The brain of the templar was strange to the Ghost. It was much more organized than the usual chaotic mess that was a Terran mind. Everything was filed away nicely, even obsessively. Even stranger, the Ghost could find no memorabilia that related to the templar. It was like he had given up the solitary part of himself. The only thing the Ghost could sense that directly related to the Protoss was his name. Muadun.

As the Ghost implanted his mind in the templar, he felt the templar's self come out to greet him.

"Welcome, Terran. You are experiencing what very few of your kind have experienced," said the templar in his strangely melodious voice.

The Ghost took another mental look at his surroundings. "How? How is this possible? Do Protoss not care about their identity?"

Muadun laughed in his warbling voice. "We Protoss give part of our self when we join the Khala. We are not separate in our ideals, like the Terrans."

The Ghost had heard of the 'Khala' before, but never knew what it meant. "What do you gain from joining the Khala?"

It seemed as if Muadun was having a mental conflict with himself. After it passed, he said, "I cannot tell the teachings of the Path of Ascension to a non believer."

The Ghost was disappointed. He wanted to learn how the Protoss thought.

The Ghost sensed the Protoss equivalent of a smile coming from the templar. "There is a way around this. You have powerful psionic tendencies, enough that you could join the Khala. You would not be the first, but one of the very few that are capable of it."

Why? thought the Ghost to himself. What could the Protoss possibly gain?

He voiced this opinions to Muadun. "Why? Why would you let me join?"

The Ghost felt a wave of sadness emanate from the templar. "It pains me to watch your species destroy itself. The Khala could stop all self-hatred that you Terrans possess. It would also breach the gap between our races, something that should have been done since us Protoss knew that Terrans were capable of psionics."

The Ghost hesitated for a moment. Should I? No, I should not.

Will I? Yes. I must try.

"I have no self, templar Muadun. It was taken from me. I will join your Khala, if I am able," said the Ghost.

"Easy now, Terran. I cannot link you to the Khala now. The mad scientist has placed some form of disrupter in my brain. I cannot access the Khala."

"Leave it to me," said the Ghost.

He spread his consciousness thin, searching for the neural inhibitor. He found it, and using years of practice, overloaded its circuits.

The Ghost brought his consciousness back to the Protoss' neural centre. "I have overloaded the device. It should power down in approximately one hour."

The templar started to say something, but abruptly stopped. "Leave Terran! The doctor returns!"

"Stay strong, warrior. You will be free soon," said the Ghost before returning to his body.

He activated his cloaking in the nick of time. The Ghost had just melted back into the shadows as the doctor turned around the corner.

Doctor Burgess unlocked the two cells holding Muadun and the insane zealot and proceeded to drag them back to his lab with the help of several employees. The Ghost followed them like a shadow.

The two Protoss were strapped to metal operating tables by the doctor. The doctor then proceeded to attach electrodes to their heads. The electrodes were attached to a machine that the Ghost hadn't seen before.

The doctor then proceeded to making incisions on the captured zealot. He made cuts all over her body, creating a pool of blood. The Ghost had no idea what the doctor was trying to do.

What is this psychopath trying to accomplish? thought the Ghost angrily. What would—

The Ghost's thoughts were interrupted when a wave of energy erupted from the restrained templar. The energy was roughly blue in colour and it coalesced into a circle of storm-like energy.

A Psionic Storm. This won't end well.

The storm started arching out at the employees that were milling around. Somehow, the doctor managed to avoid being hit. The Ghost took several hits from the storm, but it didn't damage him. If anything, it made him feel rejuvenated. The Psionic Storm ended up breaking several other captured Protoss out of their stasis cells. The storm slowly died down, revealing the devastation to the laboratory.

Doctor Burgess stood up and said, "Fascinating! I was trying to access this Khala that I've heard so much about, yet you somehow manage to conjure up a storm."

As the doctor finished saying this, Gestalt Zero entered the room. The doctor noticed this as well and addressed Zero. "Your timing is impeccable, Zero," he said with a sigh. "Capture all of the Protoss. Kill Muadun."

The Protoss that were trapped inside their cells and containers were no match for the gestalt. While the Protoss hadn't had any physical activity for weeks, Zero was an augmented super soldier. Zero incapacitated the formerly imprisoned Protoss rather easily using his pistol as a stun gun. He saved Muadun for last.

Gestalt Zero plucked Muadun from the ground and held him by the throat by one hand. He proceeded to stab the templar several times in the chest. With his seeming last effort, Muadun touched Zero on the temple with his hand. The Ghost did not know what good it did, but it caused Zero to drop Muadun and approached Doctor Burgess.

Gestalt Zero walked up to the Doctor and attempted to stab him. Burgess was holding a small device known as a Psi-screen, which was a device that stopped telepaths from reading the holders mind. Some versions could cause pain to the telepath as well. With the fact that Zero stopped in its tracks when the doctor pushed a button on the device, the Ghost guessed that it was the pain version.

The Ghost did not like the doctor. He despised what he did, no matter if it was for Terrans as a whole. The Ghost reached out with his mind...

...and broke the device in half.

Zero immediately responded. The gestalt immediately drew his psi-blade and stabbed the doctor. The Ghost could hear the gestalt whisper mocking words as the doctor slowly died.

"I should warn you... this is probably going to hurt."

The Ghost left Zero to his mocking. He went over to the body of Muadun. To the Ghost's shock, Muadun was still alive, albeit barely. The Ghost touched the Protoss, enabling direct telepathic communication between them.

"You still live," said the Ghost.

"Not for much longer," responded the templar. "My time has almost arrived. But for you, young Terran, your life has not yet started."

With these words, the templar let the Ghost enter the Khala.

It was... a learning experience for the Ghost.

The Ghost felt millions of minds at once, all unified, all with purpose. He knew things he shouldn't, like the origins of the Protoss and the Zerg. He simply knew. He felt the vast reserves of power that the Khala granted him.

And then it was gone. One moment the Ghost was immersed in the Khala, sharing knowledge with others, and the next, it was gone.

Gone.

The Ghost collapsed to his knees. The templar had passed. His only link to the Protoss Khala had passed on without telling him how to access the Khala for himself. He had been riding shotgun with Muadun's consciousness, and he was kicked out as soon as the templar had died.

So close, and yet... so far.

The Ghost looked up to see the gestalt stab the doctor for the last time. As his body slumped to the floor, Zero walked away silently down the corridor. I can't stay here.

I have to leave, thought the Ghost.

The Ghost stood up and crept to the transport bay. He saw several Protoss communicating with Gestalt Zero. Muadun must have summoned the Protoss before he died.

Shaking his head, the Ghost hopped into the last remaining transport ship, and sped off towards Korhal. He would tell Mengsk nothing of what had happened, short of the Protoss destroying the facility. He knew that the Protoss did not care for gene-splicing whatsoever.

As the Ghost piloted the ship, he thought, If Terrans had unity like that, we'd be unstoppable.

Chapter Eight

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Eight

After the memory was done, Princess Celestia asked, "So you were in possession of all that power from when you were temporarily linked to the Khala?"

The Ghost nodded. "As far as I know, yes. I have never been able to use its power before. I have only guesses as to why I could harness it there."

The Princess cocked her head to the side, evidently asking what he thought the cause was.

Exhaling, the Ghost said, "There's a reason why the Zerg have infested Terrans and not Protoss. The Khala prevents any form of infestation or assimilation to those within it. Since the Terrans have no Khala, it makes us easy prey. When they," he pointed at the six female ponies, "hit me with their energy bolt, I could feel its intentions: to recreate, rebuild, reshape. My guess is that the Khala reached out to protect me, thinking that the Zerg were trying to infest me, and gave me access to large amounts of energy in the process."

The Ghost raised a hand to silence the protest that came from the assembled ponies.

"I'm sure that you... meant well, but the Khala didn't know that."

The Ghost looked at the guard unicorn, trying to remember what he had discovered about him.

"Who are you?" he asked to the purple armour wearing unicorn.

"I'm Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor."

The Ghost stared at him, trying to find the connection between him and Twilight. Finding none, he asked, "How do you know Twilight Sparkle? I saw fleeting images of her and another pegasus-unicorn when I forced you into unconsciousness."

"Another alicorn?" asked Twilight Sparkle, confused.

Shining Armor looked embarrassed from all the attention. "Twilight is my little sister and the alicorn you saw is my fiancé, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I was hoping that both of them would be safe after you... disabled me."

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!" yelled Twilight.

Shining Armor shifted uncomfortably underneath his armour. The Ghost found it rather ironic. "We only recently made the decision, Twily. I was planning on telling you later today, when we had some alone time."

The Ghost was amused by the siblings arguing over something as trivial as a wedding.

"Well... okay, that's a reasonable excuse. Who the hay is 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza' anyway?" asked Twilight.

Shining Armor only laughed. "Twilight, I'm marrying Cadance, your old foal-sitter. Her full name is Mi Amore Cadenza."

Twilight's face lit up at the mention of her 'foal-sitter'. The Ghost had no idea what one was, but it evidently was a good thing if Twilight's reaction was anything to go by.

The Ghost looked back and forth between Twilight and Shining, trying to see any sort of family resemblance. Finding none, he shrugged, and continued on the topic that he wanted to address.

"Don't be ashamed of me knocking you out. You put up a better fight than any of the other unicorns." Shining Armor's chest swelled up a little at the praise.

"Speaking of which, how many of your Royal Guards have I permanently crippled?" he said nonchalantly, as if discussing the weather.

Shining Armor gave him a wry smile. "None. Each and every one is expected to make a full recovery." The smile disappeared. "Except for Lumen."

All but Lumen Shield? They must have advanced healing psionics. The Ghost thought back to the pony who's mind he had erased.

"Where are you keeping Lumen Shield's body?" asked the Ghost.

Shining Armor looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know his last name?"

"I read it off of a note that I found on his body, addressed to him from Celestia." The Ghost purposefully forgot to mention the fact that he had delved deep into the unicorn's mind and had learned far more about him than he had wanted to.

"He's in the medical pavilion, under the attention of the best doctors in Canterlot. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to coax anything other than a twitch out of him," said Celestia.

The Ghost thought for a moment. "May I go and see him? There may be some way to reverse the process. If there is any way that I can, I will."

The ponies exchanged nervous glances with each other.

Sighing, the Ghost said, "If it gives you peace of mind, bring a couple of contingents of guards. Earth ponies would probably be your best bet: they are immune to my psychic tampering and they are capable of going physically toe-to-toe with me."

Twilight's brother looked at the Ghost with a confused expression. "Why are you telling us your weaknesses?"

The Ghost smiled ruefully. "Think of it as a placement of my trust. After everything I have done, I figure it is a but a small step towards redemption."

Shining Armor stood there, undecided.

"I think that a Princess, the bearers of harmony, the Captain of the Royal Guard and a contingent of Earth pony guards will be more than sufficient in dealing with Ghost. Don't you, Captain?" said Celestia with a smile.

The Ghost couldn't keep a ethereal smile from his face. Sufficient for me without my suit and gun. If I had those... there isn't one bloody thing here that could stop me.

Sighing, the Captain relented. "All of your safety is my priority, but if the Princess thinks that that is enough to stop Ghost, that's good enough for me."

\\\

Princess Celestia, the bearers of harmony, Shining Armor, a contingent of Earth ponies, and the Ghost arrived at the medical pavilion after a few minutes of walking. The Ghost had to forcibly slow his steps down to match the pace of the smaller ponies, as he was never one to dawdle. Looking at Princess Celestia, he noticed that she did the same. He thought it was funny; the ruler slowing down instead of the others increasing their pace.

The group entered the pavilion, which was still full of Pegasi and Earth ponies that the Ghost had injured more severely than the others. The unicorns had woken up completely fine, save for a bit of drowsiness. The unicorn doctors were rushing to and fro, but all of them stopped abruptly and bowed when they saw Princess Celestia. The Ghost, tall as he was, was not hidden by the ring of Earth ponies that had circled him and he was given furious glares by the patients and doctors alike.

After enlisting one of the nurses as a guide, the group was ushered into the small room that contained the comatose form of Lumen Shield. There wasn't enough room for the Earth pony guards, so Celestia had instructed them to stand outside. Needless to say, this did not go over well with her Royal Guard Captain. Only after much persuasion from the Princess and his sister did he finally cave in.

The Ghost walked over to the pony. If he didn't know any better, he could've sworn that Lumen was simply sleeping. Extending his mind outward, the Ghost mentally reached towards the unicorn.

He felt nothing. Not a memory, not an emotion. Just an empty void.

The Ghost kept trying to reach the unconscious pony. He probed as deep as he could into his neural cortex, looking for any shreds of the unicorn's former self. Just as the Ghost thought he felt the mind start to awaken, his concentration was broken by someone nudging him and saying, "Lumen has visitors."

The Ghost was going to respond in anger at the pony for disrupting him when he'd been so close, but his retort died in his throat when he saw who the visitors were. In his last memories, Lumen Shield had thought of his wife and daughter. While the Ghost didn't recall their names, he had their images mentally scarred into his brain.

And there they were. A pegasus and a young unicorn. Lumen's wife was protectively holding her daughter close with one of her wings. She saw him staring and said a couple of words to the child under her wing in hushed tones. The Ghost watched her silently as she approached him. She walked right up to the Ghost...

...and kicked him in every male's weak spot. Wincing and gritting his teeth with pain, the Ghost managed to say, "I deserve that." The Ghost saw Shining Armor about to subdue the angry pegasus, but the Ghost shook his head.

The pegasus wasn't done yet. She turned around and bucked the Ghost in the ribs. He felt several of them crack from the impact. The Ghost fell to one knee and coughed up blood. Wheezing, he said, "I deserve that too."

Still not satisfied, the enraged pegasus bucked him one last time, this time square in the jaw. Stars danced in front of the Ghost's eyes as he was launched backwards. He barely had the chance to open his eyes before his vision was filled with the angry eyes of Lumen Shield's wife.

"I should end your pitiful existence for what you did to my Lumen, you brutal, cruel, homicidal monster!" screamed the pegasus.

The Ghost stared back and said in a monotone voice, "You could. You could kill me right here, right now, and I would let you." The pegasus' eyes blinked in surprise. "It would make you feel better— for a little while at least, but it wouldn't bring back Lumen Shield. What then? With your revenge sated, what would happen next? Would your daughter see you as a hero—" The Ghost coughed violently, which had the side effect of letting his words sink in.

"—or as a monster, no better than me?"

The Ghost saw tears on the pegasus' face after his tirade. "I... I..." she sobbed.

In an act of compassion that the Ghost didn't know he was capable of, he wiped a tear from the pegasus' face and said, "I know you hate me. That hate is justified. You may continue to hate me, for as long as you want, but please save it for later. Now, I must try to bring your husband back."

The sorrow and anger on Lumen's wife's face was slowly replaced with a new emotion. Hope.

"You... you think you can?"

The Ghost weakly shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. But I can try."

The pegasus took her hooves off of the Ghost and said, "That is all I can ask of you."

Struggling to his feet, the Ghost slowly walked back to the bedside, his broken ribs grating against each other with every step. The Ghost closed his eyes and opened up his mind once more. Floating back into the void, the Ghost felt a small spark from deep within Lumen Shield's consciousness.

A spark is all I need.

The Ghost conjured up the unicorn's memories that had been passed to him through their battle. He brought up each image and feeling that was rightfully Lumen's and forced them into the spark. He slowly fed the spark all of the images and feeling, causing it to grow. Finally, the Ghost called forth the last emotion that Lumen Shield had felt.

Love.

The Ghost gave back Lumen the love of his family. He gave him the joy and happiness that he felt just from thinking about them. The Ghost gave it all back, turning the spark into an ember. From the ember came a blaze, and from the blaze came forth a torrent.

The Ghost's mind was forced out of Lumen's mind as he awoke from his deep, deep slumber. Dazed and confused, the Ghost fell backwards and landed on his rear. He heard a sound of pure, unadulterated joy from his right.

"DADDY!"

With a smile on his face, the Ghost passed out again, thinking: Perhaps the blood can be removed from my hands. I just need to try and wash it off.

\\\

The Ghost woke up in yet another bed, coughing blood onto the clean, white sheets. He sluggishly checked his ribs. Still cracked.

They must not have noticed. Perhaps they think that I'm stronger than I actually am.

Drawing a breath through gritted teeth, the Ghost psychically healed his ribs. While the fusing of marrow and bones hurt like hell, he knew it would be less painful in the long run. With his chest sufficiently repaired, the Ghost took a quick glance of his surroundings. He was in yet another white room.

What I wouldn't give for some nice, grey corridors.

Sighing, the Ghost tossed the bed covers off of himself and checked his chin for any fractures. He didn't find any, but he did find a line of short stubble forming on his cheek and underneath his jaw.

"The hell? My hair follicles got burned out of my face years ago. How the hell are they growing back now?" asked the Ghost aloud.

Grumbling to himself, the Ghost exited the bed. It was rather dark in the room he was in: even his optical implants had trouble seeing in the near pitch black. Stumbling to the nearest door, he was about to open it when he felt a shiver down his reinforced spine. He had a funny feeling about whatever was on the other side of the door.

Concentrating, the Ghost cloaked himself. It was significantly harder without his suit: he could only keep up the cloak for around fifteen minutes without it, while his suit allowed for practically unlimited cloaking.

Dammit. I miss my suit. I haven't been without it for this long for years.

The Ghost reached out an invisible hand silently opened the door a crack. He squinted through the small slit and into the advanced darkness. He could discern various pony-sized shapes around the room along with what appeared to be a table loaded with bowls, plates, and glasses of varying shapes and sizes. Closing the door, the Ghost tried to decipher what it all meant.

An ambush? He quickly brushed the thought aside. They wouldn't need to ambush him. They could've done whatever they wanted while he was unconscious.

What the hell are they doing, waiting for me to wake up? Is this some sort of social gathering? The more the Ghost thought about it, the more convinced he was. What is it for?

More curious than suspicious now, the Ghost opened the door, this time without trying to be stealthy. He was blinded when a bright light suddenly lit up the room and nearly concussed from the loud screams of "Surprise!". Instinctively crouching down to make himself a smaller target, the Ghost assumed his fighting stance once again as he waited for his vision to clear.

Instead of the ambush that he had been certain of from the flash of light, he saw...

To be honest, he had no idea what he saw.

There were twelve ponies in the room: Celestia, Luna, Twilight and her friends, Shining Armor, and Lumen Shield and his family. They were all smiling and cheerful, looking at him expectantly.

The Ghost, realizing it wasn't an ambush, stood up straight and asked uncomfortably, "What... what is going on here?"

Princess Celestia stepped forward and said, "We all thought you deserved a 'Welcome to Equestria' party, Ghost. Well, Pinkie Pie thought of it, but we all agreed." Celestia looked at the Ghost, noticing his discomfort. "What's wrong?"

What's wrong? What's wrong!?

"How... wha—...w—why?!" stammered the Ghost.

The odd pony that the Ghost had labelled 'psychotic and possibly damaged' gasped. He figured that she must have been Pinkie Pie. "Why?! Because you're new to Equestria, silly filly! Everypony new needs a 'Welcome' party!" She paused for a second, thinking. "Well, you're not a pony, but your still new! And to Equestria as well!"

The Ghost looked around at the brightly coloured decorations. There were streamers, ribbons, and many other things that the Ghost had no name for. He rephrased his question.

"Why? Why would you do this for me after everything I've done?"

Princess Luna stepped forward and said, "We believe in peace and tolerance here, Ghost. In Equestria, we strive to treat everypony equally..." Hearing this, the Ghost looked down to check if he had spontaneously shrunk and grown hooves.

Smiling, the princess of the moon continued. "...Even if they aren't a pony." Her face grew sad as she lowered her voice. "Believe us, Ghost. We know how it feels to be absolved for something that we thought unforgiveable."

The Ghost felt the pain and sorrow behind her words. He wondered what crime she had committed, but put the question aside. These are the most kind, peaceful, forgiving people that I've met. The Ghost realized he had called the ponies 'people'. You know what? They are people. They are better people than any Terran that I've ever met.

"Alright," said the Ghost after an awkward pause. He rubbed the back of his neck in anxiety for what was going to happen next. "I don't know how to... party."

Pinkie Pie appeared next to the Ghost. He had no idea how Pinkie did that: not three seconds ago, she was standing over by the table, nearly twenty feet away. The Ghost figured he would get a migraine trying to determine the how's and why's of what Pinkie Pie did.

"It's easy!" shouted the curly-haired pony. She somehow whispered in his ear even though he was several feet taller than her.

"All you have to do is..."

\\\

The party went along smoothly and lasted throughout much of the evening. The Ghost had been only been unconscious for a couple of hours after his mental repair of Lumen Shield. Harnessing Pinkie Pie's black arts of partying, the Ghost was... somewhat approachable during the social gathering. Even Pinkie's mastery of the talent couldn't entirely disregard the Ghost's lonely nature. Everypony wanted to spend some time with the Ghost. He had catalogued the three types after the party was over. Some wanted to ask questions, some wanted to learn more about the Ghost and his race, and some just wanted to be pleasant company for the super-soldier.

Twilight and Shining Armor made up the first category. While Shining Armor had asked many questions regarding the Ghost's species and combat talents, Twilight had asked hundreds of mind-numbing questions, from how do your spaceships work to how big do humans get. The Ghost had been fine with the first few questions, but he had been growing more and more agitated the more questions he was asked. At one point, the Ghost had become so fed up with her questions that he simply turned invisible and walked to the opposite side of the room before decloaking.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash had made up the second category. Rainbow Dash was more interested with how strong and fast the Ghost was while Rarity couldn't help doting over the Ghost's suit. She was fascinated by the material: it was strong, stretchy, comfortable, and soft. The Ghost was not comfortable with all the attention to his clothes. When Rarity had finally asked if she could get him to come to her shop to experiment on the material, he accepted instantly, hoping she would go away.

Fluttershy, the princesses, and the Shield family made up the last category. Fluttershy was as shy and timid as always, but it didn't bother the Ghost. He liked the quiet. Princess Luna and Celestia had each came to him at least once over the course of the party, asking polite questions and making small talk. The Ghost thought that they wanted to ask him more, but wanted to wait until they were in a more secure location.

Finally, as the party was winding down, Lumen Shield and his family had approached the Ghost. The Ghost had no idea what reaction to expect out of the guard. Based on how differently the people were, the Ghost had only guesses.

Lumen Shield walked right up to the Ghost and raised his hoof to him. Surprised, but expecting something similar, the Ghost grasped the limb and shook.

Smiling, the unicorn said, "Nice to finally meet you. The real you."

The Ghost snorted. "Just when I thought I had you ponies figured out, you go and say that."

The white unicorn chuckled. "What I mean to say is, thank you for bringing me back." He looked behind him at his wife and child, causing the smile on his face to grow even larger. "They mean the world to me, and you brought me back to them."

"No. They brought you back. It was your memories of their love that brought you back," replied the Ghost.

"You're alright, Ghost," said the unicorn turned around and walked back to his family. "By the way," he called out. "You should write down some poetry. You seem to have a knack for it."

The Ghost didn't know what to say to that.

\\\

Realizing it was getting late, the princesses excused themselves saying they had 'Very Important Business' to attend to. After the princesses left, Lumen Shield and his family left along with Shining Armor. Slowly but surely, the remaining ponies retired to their guest rooms. Eventually, only Twilight and the Ghost were left.

Bashful, Twilight apologized to the Ghost. "I-I'm really sorry for annoying you earlier. I sometimes get carried away with my questions." She smiled sheepishly.

Sighing, the Ghost gently patted her head. "It's fine. I can't blame you for wanting to know." He walked towards the door to his guest room. As he opened it, he smirked and added, "After all, I am a very interesting person," before closing the door and heading to his bed.

"Yes. Yes you are," she said to the door.

Chapter Nine

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Nine

The Ghost woke up from his dreamless sleep, instantly on high alert. He didn't know what roused him from his slumber, but he knew that something wasn't right.

He sat up, his eyes bouncing from one surface to the next. He spotted a very indistinct blur only a few feet from the only door.

Gotcha, thought the Ghost as he turned invisible and launched himself at the cloaked intruder, ready to subdue or kill if necessary.

The Ghost crashed into his intruder, causing it to yelp. The Ghost quickly found the creature's neck and pinned it to the ground by it's throat.

"Turn off your cloaking," ordered the Ghost.

"I... can't... spell... wears... off... on...own," choked the intruder.

The Ghost let off a bit of pressure on it's windpipe and asked, "Who are you and why are you invisible?"

He felt the intruder squirm from his question. "I-It's me, T-Twilight Sparkle."

The Ghost wasn't convinced with the answer. "Prove it."

"Y-you b-blew a hole in my w-wall," she replied

This is not what I needed, thought the Ghost as he decloaked.

"Why are you invisible in my room, Twilight?" asked the Ghost. He let go of Twilight and stood up, staring down at her.

The pony shaped blur stood up. "Well... you see... after seeing how easy you could get around while you were invisible, I decided to try it for myself." She laughed sheepishly. "I guess I still have some bugs to work out."

Yes, this is definitely Twilight, thought the Ghost.

"You are almost invisible, except for the faint blur that covers your body. It is similar to my own cloaking, except I've had years of practice with mine and my blur is almost nonexistent," said the Ghost.

The Twilight shaped blue raised a hoof to it's head in thought. "So I can only get better with time?" she asked.

The Ghost nodded. "Essentially. Now, why did you choose me to be your test subject?"

The cloaked Twilight shifted uneasily. "Well, I figured that you, more so than anypony else, could tell me how well the spell worked. I also wanted to see how hard it was to sneak up on you..."

The Ghost raised an eyebrow.

The shadow-Twilight cringed a little underneath his stare. "And I wanted to ask you some more questions..."

Why am I not surprised?

The Ghost was in no mood for mischief. "No, Twilight, I'm not going to answer any of your questions right now. I am well aware of your thirst for knowledge, but this is ridiculous. Go back to your room and go back to bed."

He saw Twilight's blurry shoulders sag. "Okay. I'm sorry for waking you up, Ghost," she said as she opened the door and walked out it, defeated and dejected.

What a fantastic start to the day, thought the Ghost as he laid back down on his bed, wondering what the morrow had in store for him.

\\\

The Ghost woke to the sound of hooves rapping on his door. Sighing, the Ghost tossed his covers aside and walked over to the door. He opened it to see Twilight's brother.

"Hello, Shining Armor. Is it time for my meeting with the princesses?"

The unicorn was slightly frazzled by the Ghost's response. "How did you know?"

"It was the logical assumption, based on their body language and small talk last night, that they wanted to speak with me in a private, secured location," replied the Ghost.

Sighing, Shining Armor said, "What I wouldn't give to have ten guards as smart as you." He shook his head and added, "Yes, your assumption is correct. If you'd be so kind as to follow me..."

The Ghost nodded and followed Shining Armor to the main hallway where twenty-odd Earth pony guards were gathered.

Smart pony. No matter how complacent the enemy gets, never underestimate them.

The Ghost and his Royal Guard entourage walked through many twisting corridors before finally arriving at what the Ghost assumed to be the Princess' quarters, given that they were decorated much more grandly on the outside.

The Ghost was ushered in the room by two unicorn guards standing on opposite sides of the doorway. The door was closed as soon as he was fully inside.

The Ghost took a moment to observe the room. It was nothing like the outside: there were no ostensible decorations, only practical applications. There were a few bookshelves, some lamps, and a desk with many scrolls and piece of paper sprawled out on it. The walls were a toned down white from the other rooms he had seen.

The whole room screamed efficiency. Even the carpet was a simple white.

On the outside, it gives the impression of illusion and grandeur. On the inside, however, it is simple yet effective. The Ghost was impressed. The princesses do not squander money on unnecessary decorations or trivial trinkets.

"Greetings, Ghost. I hope nopony interrupted your sleep last night," said Celestia, who was sitting behind the scroll-strewn desk.

Does she know about Twilight, or is she guessing? While the Ghost didn't approve of Twilight sneaking around in the middle of the night, he didn't want her to get into trouble because of it. After all, he was the cause of her late-night test.

"I slept fine." The Ghost looked around the room for the other princess. "Where is Luna?"

Celestia smiled and said, "She should be here any min—"

Celestia was interrupted by a brief flash of light and the appearance of the Princess of the Night.

"—ute. Perfect timing as usual, sister."

Luna smiled at the compliment. She turned to the Ghost and addressed him, a look of concern on her face. "We didn't harm thou when we arrived, did we?"

Sighing, the Ghost replied, "No. No you didn't. I haven't felt any psionic twinges since I woke up in this palace."

"What would be the cause of that?" asked Celestia.

"Well, after you both pulled the 'teleport out, teleport in' stunt at the library, I assume that you literally blew those receptors in my mind that alerted me to psionic presences with the sheer mental feedback."

Celestia and Luna both shared a look. "We are terribly sorry for doing that, Ghost. Hopefully you can see why it was necessary," said Celestia.

The Ghost waved it away with the flick of his wrist. "I understand why you did it. While I don't necessarily approve of your method, I can't argue with the results. Besides, I don't think I'd want to have a pain in my temple everywhere I went."

The princesses nodded in approval. "The reason we called you here today was to discuss the implications and protocols regarding you, an alien visitor. The only problem is that... no such protocols exist and we can only begin to think of the implications caused by your arrival."

They are handling this much better than I thought they would.

"Very true. How many ponies know of my existence?"

"Us, the bearers of harmony, and the Royal Guard. We have ordered nopony to speak of your existence to anypony outside of the few who know," replied Celestia.

"So how is this going to work? Are you going to 'announce' me as a foreign dignitary or as a space-faring alien ambassador?" asked the Ghost.

"We... haven't decided upon the course of action as of now," said Luna. "We were hoping that thou could assist us in determining a proper decision."

They want me to help them decide how to reveal my presence?

The Ghost was unsure. "Before I can help decide that, do you know what I am going to do? I can't just sit here in your palace twiddling my thumbs."

The princesses looked at him in confusion.

The Ghost raised one hand and pointed to his thumb with the other. "This is a thumb. 'Twiddling one's thumbs' is a metaphor for not getting anything productive done."

Which is exactly what I've been doing.

Confusing metaphor explained, Celestia answered the Ghost's question. "We were planning on putting you on parole. You're actions regarding Lumen Shield have helped plead your case, but until we're certain that you mean no harm to anypony, we can't in good conscience let you roam free."

The Ghost nodded, pleased with their decision. "I agree. That would not be a wise decision, letting me go without consequence."

Celestia and Luna both looked surprised. "You... agree?"

They weren't expecting me to accept their plans? Intriguing.

"Yes, I agree. While it is in my best interest to be free, it wouldn't be freedom if it was just given to me, would it? I have to earn your trust and my freedom," stated the Ghost.

"We... are glad that thou sees things our way," said Luna. "Your parole would be in the form of living in Ponyville with one of the bearers of harmony."

Now it was the Ghost's turn to be confused. "What? Why?"

Celestia said with a warm smile on her face, "For starters, they are concerned about you, Ghost. They only want to help you."

"Alright, let's assume that. Why Ponyville?" said the Ghost.

"Ponyville has been through more strange occurrences and shenanigans than anywhere else. While the residents may be wary of your presence for a little while, they will accept you, given some time," said Celestia.

The Ghost mulled these facts over in his head. He grudgingly accepted the princess' explanation.

"What am I going to say when they ask what I am or where I'm from?" asked the Ghost.

"You can tell them that you're a Terran, but please refrain from discussing how... populous your race is. As for where you're from, you can answer truthfully: I don't know."

Clever, clever.

"Fine. So who will I be staying with?" asked the Ghost. Please don't let it be Pinkie Pie, he silently pleaded.

Luna answered with a grin, "Thou will know when we gather the bearers of harmony to tell them the news."

The Ghost grimaced. They don't even know yet? I feel that this will not go over well...

\\\

Fifteen minutes later, the Ghost and the princesses were joined by the six bearers of harmony. Princess Celestia briefly went over what the three of them had discussed previously, leaving the Ghost's parole specifications for last.

"...And after thinking things over, Luna and I have decided to send the Ghost to Ponyville to stay there for a while and learn about the elements of harmony."

Pinkie Pie started to bounce up and down in excitement. "Oh, pick me! Pick me, pick me, pick me! I want to keep him!"

A very uncomfortable Ghost looked at Celestia and silently pleaded, Please, anyone but her.

"While we appreciate the enthusiasm, Ms. Pie, we have already decided who will watch over the Ghost, if they are willing," said Celestia.

"Well, come on now, don't leave us the dark!" said Applejack.

Luna looked at Celestia, who nodded. "We have decided that Rarity shall be the one to be Ghost's warden, if she is willing."

All the ponies and a Ghost looked at Rarity. Slightly perturbed by all the attention, she stammered, "Oh! I—I'd love to! I—I mean, I'd be willing to be the Ghost's cortege for however long he is to stay with me."

"That's not fair!" cried Twilight.

"Yeah, why don't we get a say!" added Rainbow Dash.

Are they arguing over where I stay? thought the Ghost absentmindedly.

After several more ponies voiced their opinions, the Ghost said, "If you would all be so kind as to let the princesses explain, I'm sure you will see why their choice is the most valid."

Luna gave the Ghost a silent thank you as the ponies stopped their in-fighting.

As soon as the ponies quieted down, the Princess of the Sun explained her reasoning. "We determined the warden by the process of elimination. We first asked ourselves, 'Which ponies have the proper accommodations for somepony of the Ghost's size?' We are sorry, Rainbow Dash, but the fact that you live on clouds made it impossible for us to pick you."

Sighing, Rainbow Dash said, "Well, I guess that makes sense. Ol' Ghostie here can't walk on clouds."

Walk on clouds? thought the Ghost. This was immediately followed by, Great, now I have a pet name.

Princess Celestia continued her explanation. "The next question we asked was, 'Which ponies would have the spare time necessary to watch over Ghost effectively?' We thought for a while about this question, but it narrowed our search down to three."

Celestia turned to Applejack. "Applejack, we didn't want to overburden you, since you and Big Macintosh are the only ones in your family capable of running Sweet Apple Acres."

Applejack nodded. "Ah guess you're right, Princess. Me an' Big Mac have our work cut out for us, even without havin' ta watch over Ghost."

Glad that Applejack understood her reasoning, Celestia turned to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie Pie, your accommodations and job will prevent you from keeping an eye on Ghost."

The Ghost swore that Pinkie Pie's mane deflated a little bit and a slightly insane look appeared in her eyes. He later decided that it was just his imagination, because she seemed to bounce back nigh-instantly.

"Okie-dokie-lokie Princess!" said Pinkie Pie. "I'll still get to see him in Ponyville though, right?"

Celestia nodded.

"Yay! I already know that we're going to be the bestest friends! Right, Ghostie?!" said Pinkie Pie as she bounced in place.

The Ghost, not wanting to see if his hypothesis regarding the inner psychopath inside Pinkie Pie was correct, said the only thing he could.

"...Sure."

Princess Celestia continued after Pinkie Pie stopped jumping in place. "That left us with three choices: Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy." Celestia walked over to the timid pegasus and bent down to speak with her face-to-face. "Fluttershy, we couldn't in good conscience assign the Ghost as yet another creature for you to look after. While the Ghost is more than a match for most ponies in single combat, we felt that you were the most delicate as well. We also don't want the Ghost to reside too close to the Everfree forest."

"Oh, umm, how kind of you take that into consideration," said Fluttershy in her quiet voice.

Celestia nodded, glad that nopony had disputed her decision as of yet. She walked over to where Twilight was glowering. "Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student—" began Celestia before she was interrupted by her.

"Is it because I tested my invisibility spell last night?!" she blurted. "Because if it is, I—"

"What invisibility spell?" interrupted Celestia.

Twilight's face grew red. She glanced over at the Ghost who raised an eyebrow in response. "I... never mind. I'm sorry for my outburst, Princess. Please continue."

Celestia glanced over at the Ghost and raised an eyebrow. He mouthed the word, What?

Shaking her head, she continued where she had been cut off. "Luna and I were going to pick you to watch after the Ghost, given that you had the space and time necessary. We decided against it, however, based on a two important facts: one, we have no idea how Spike would react to the Ghost, and two—I'm sure that you're aware how... obsessive you can get, Twilight."

Twilight cringed sheepishly.

Celestia continued. "We don't want Ghost to get aggravated based off of your insistent need to know. And that's why, Twilight Sparkle, we chose Rarity."

"I... you're right. I can get a bit carried away sometimes," said Twilight.

Celestia addressed Rarity herself next. "Rarity, we chose you based on the fact that your store is also your home, therefore allowing you to watch over Ghost whilst being able to work. I also know that you have several spare bedrooms. The only thing that we were worried about was how Sweetie Belle would react."

Rarity laughed. "Oh, I'm sure Sweetie will react just fine to having a guest as interesting as Ghost."

The Ghost had to ask one question that had been burning inside for a while. "Can I have my suit back—"

The Ghost realized he had to add something to the end.

"—please?"

Celestia looked at him wryly. "I'm sorry Ghost, but no. In time, maybe. But not now. The residents of Ponyville will have enough difficulty adjusting to you without your suit."

The Ghost grumbled inwardly. It was worth a try. "Fine."

Celestia smiled. "Now, my little ponies, the next train for Ponyville is leaving in about an hour. I hope you all enjoyed your stay, regardless of what caused it."

As the ponies filed out of door, Celestia added, "Oh and one more thing: I still expect friendship reports from all of you when you discover something!"

Once again, the Ghost was left alone with the two princesses. "That was handled well, in my opinion," said the Ghost.

"It went better than I thought it would," agreed Celestia. Changing topics, Celestia said, "You remember when Shining Armor mentioned the wedding, right?"

"Of course," said the Ghost, a bit miffed that Celestia would even consider him forgetful.

"Well, he asked, and I have agreed, to offer you the position of Security Consultant come wedding time."

This dumbstruck the Ghost. "Why? Don't you have someone more capable than me?"

"We thought we did, but seeing as how you single-handedly managed to outmaneuver almost the entirety of the Royal Guard and still manage to make a good impression on our Guard Captain, we figured that you were more than deserving of the job offer."

These ponies continue to astonish me with their decisions. They take the 'Today's enemy is tomorrow's ally' saying far to seriously, thought the Ghost.

"I accept the job. I don't care about the terms, I just want something to do," said the Ghost.

Celestia laughed. "Your enthusiasm is admirable, Ghost, but the wedding isn't for another month at the very least." Celestia's face grew darker as she said the next sentence. "We have to prepare for several unpleasant guest first."

The Ghost didn't know what she was referring to, but decided to not ask.

The dark look vanished when Celestia said, "Oh my goodness, look at the time! You must leave at once if you are to catch the train! Captain!"

Shining Armor poked his head in. "Yes, Princess?"

"Escort the Ghost to the train station. On the way, you should tell him about the duties and responsibilities of his new job." Celestia had put extra emphasis on 'new job,' causing the Ghost to realize that his soon-to-be position was still a secret.

Shining Armor nodded and motioned for the Ghost to follow him.

"Goodbye, Celestia. Goodbye, Luna," said the Ghost as he exited the door.

"Farewell, Ghost," said the princesses in unison.

\\\

The Ghost found himself sitting in the window seat in a private carriage of the train along with the six bearers of harmony. He had learned a great deal about his future position from Shining Armor during their walk to the train station. Apparently, as Security Consultant, he didn't actually have any authority amongst the Guards. What he did have, however, was the princesses and the Captain of the Guard's permission to enact emergency takeover should something catastrophic happen.

He pondered this as he stared out the window and into the mountains beyond. Several of the employees of the train station had nearly had heart attacks when they saw the Ghost and the Captain. Only after confirming that he wasn't going to eat them did the ponies reluctantly allow him to enter the train. He had been stared at during his walk to the carriage which held the bearers of harmony, but the Ghost didn't care. He knew that he was bigger, stronger, and probably smarter than the majority of ponies that he passed.

Almost all of the bearers had attempted to strike a conversation up with him when he entered the carriage, but he brushed them aside saying, "You'll have plenty of time to talk to me when I'm in Ponyville."

With a sigh, the Ghost watched the scenery pass by as he brooded about the future.

Chapter Ten

Ghosts of the Future

Chapter Ten

The train ride to Ponyville was uneventful. The Ghost barely said two dozen words during the whole trip. The other ponies that he was forced to share space with had invited him into their conversations, but he declined. Instead of socializing, he preferred to stare out the window and think about the past few days.

How the hell did this happen to me? he asked himself. Transported by the Protoss to a strange world filled with yet another sentient species that just so happens to speak the same language that I do. What are the odds of that? One in a trillion? More?

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the Ghost slowly exhaled. Whatever the odds, it doesn't matter now. I should've acted diplomatically towards the ponies, even when they abducted me. I should've extended the hand of cooperation rather than the fist of vengeance. I went on a misguided path of destruction, hell-bent on taking my revenge. I should've realized my mistake before they pointed it out to me.

The Ghost glumly stared out the window of the train, the mountains slowly disappearing from his view. Should've. Could've. Would've... Didn't. And yet... I have been forgiven.

He briefly glanced down at his suit-less form. Well, almost forgiven. Any exoneration is more than I deserve.

The Ghost's reminiscing and self-depreciation was interrupted when he caught a glimpse of the town called 'Ponyville' through the window. By calculating the estimated speed of the train and the approximate distance remaining, the Ghost estimated that they would arrive in around three minutes. Sighing, he stretched his limbs and prepared to be the subject of odd looks and hushed tones.

\\\

Two minutes and fifty-three seconds later, the train ground to a halt. The so-called 'Bearers of Harmony' exited first, with the Ghost following in their wake. Like he predicted, the Ghost found himself to be the center of attention, with ponies staring, gawking, and whispering behind his back. Doing his best not to glare back, the Ghost continued along the road from the train station to the center of Ponyville.

"Mommy, what is that?" asked a young-sounding voice from behind the Ghost.

He ground his teeth in agitation, but kept walking. I don't need this right now.

"I don't know, sweetie, but it looks dangerous. Maybe it's some sort of exotic creature that the Elements of Harmony happened to acquire on one of their latest outings," replied a female voice, what the Ghost assumed to be the child's mother.

His hands clenching into fists, the Ghost forced himself to keep walking and not retaliate, no matter how much he wanted to. The rest of his procession seemed to not hear the obnoxious pony.

When he was sufficiently away from the crowd that had gathered around the train station, the Ghost sighed somewhat contentedly. He was relieved that he had gotten awkward stares and was the subject of hushed tones: any less and he would've felt insulted.

"Somepony's in a good mood," commented Twilight Sparkle from the Ghost's left side.

The Ghost glanced over and gave her a level look. "Optimistic would be a better word," he replied, keeping his tone decidedly neutral.

"Optimistic about the future?"

"Whenever I see a world untouched by war, a world of innocence, a world of lush forests and clear rivers..." The specialist shook his head. "I never thought that I would be the resident of such a place. Just the ability to walk around without having to look over my shoulder is a blessing."

Twilight Sparkle fell quiet after the Ghost's short speech. After walking for another couple of minutes in taciturn silence, the assemblage of six ponies and a Terran broke up when they reached the center of Ponyville. Each pony went to their respective residences, with the Ghost following Rarity to her home and store, Carousel Boutique. As they were walking, Rarity tried to strike up a conversation with the Ghost.

"So, Ghost... can I call you something other than 'Ghost'? Your name just seems so dreary..."

He sighed. The Ghost was wondering when this topic was going to come up. "'Ghost' may not be my actual name, but it's the only one I have," explained the Ghost. He paused for a second, then added, "It's a rather appropriate name as well, don't you think?"

Rarity looked over at the silently moving, pale form of the biped walking beside her. Shivering, she responded, "It does seem rather fitting, I daresay."The white unicorn thought for a moment before continuing. "Maybe we can decipher your true name from your cutie mark when you remove your apparel."

Cutie mark? And what does she mean, 'remove my apparel'? "I don't know what a 'cutie mark' is," said the Ghost cautiously. "I am also rather... attached to my outfit as well."

"Well, a cutie mark is a special—"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GIANT WRANGLERS YAY!" screamed a chorus of voices from behind the Ghost. He whirled around to see three small ponies, one of each subspecies, charging towards him. Giant wranglers? thought the Ghost as he sidestepped out of the rampaging ponies line of damage.

The three ponies obviously hadn't expected the Ghost to move as quickly as he did. They kept running for a few seconds after he had moved, oblivious to the fact that their quarry was gone. After they skidded to a halt and relocated the Ghost, the small, orange pegasus said, "Whoa! It moves really fast!"

"Don't worry Rarity: we'll save you!" announced the small, white unicorn of the group.

"I don't need any sav—" Rarity attempted to say, but was cut off when the three fillies let out their battle cry and charged once again, this time from three different sides.

With a bored expression, the Ghost stood his ground until the last second. The earth pony and the pegasus were a tad bit faster than the unicorn, so he jumped in the air, causing the earth pony and pegasus to crash head-on. The Ghost scooped up the unicorn as he landed: he didn't want the horn impaling either of the ponies that were currently dazed from their collision. Hmm. Looks similar to Rarity. Perhaps her daughter? thought the Ghost after glancing at the unicorn.

With the unicorn struggling madly, but still securely tucked under his arm, he walked over to Rarity and offered the unruly child to her saying, "Is this yours?"

Rarity blinked several times before she seemingly realized what the Ghost had said. She turned her attention to the small unicorn being held out to her and said, "Sweetie Belle! You, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo almost assaulted our guest! What do you have to say to Mr. Ghost here?"

Sweetie Belle squirmed in his grasp, trying to look at the Ghost. Silently laughing, he placed her on the ground. She sat on her haunches and looked up at the Ghost with a mixture of awe, fear, and embarrassment. "I'm sorry Mr. G-Ghost," she said.

"For what? You three were just trying to protect Rarity. Although admirable, it was foolish to attack something much, much bigger and stronger than you," explained the Ghost. "You need to use stealth, deception, and cunning rather than brute force tactics to take down something like me."

No words came out of Sweetie's open mouth. Rarity looked at the Ghost in shock.

"Does that mean we don't have to say sorry either?" asked a timid voice from behind the Ghost. When he turned around, it was revealed to have come from the orange pegasus. The pale yellow earth pony was standing right behind.

Smiling wryly, the Ghost asked, "That depends: who was the one that orchestrated your little attempt?"

"That would be me, Mister Ghost. Ah convinced Sweetie n' Scootaloo to help me wrangle ya," said the earth pony filly with a similar accent to Applejack. "We're sorry for attackin' ya and we'll be sure to double check next time there's somethin' walkin' around that we don't know."

The Ghost nodded, content that they wouldn't make the same mistake twice. "Go, before I change my mind on not giving you a punishment," he ordered. The two fillies complied without hesitation.

"Sweetie Belle, do you mind leaving the Ghost and I alone for a few minutes? I need to have a few words with him," the Ghost heard Rarity say, prompting the psionic infiltrator to turn around.

Sweetie nodded and started walking towards the center of Ponyville. When the unicorn passed the Ghost she whispered, "Thank you, mister."

Thanks? What did I do to deserve gratitude? Mentally shrugging, the Ghost walked over to Rarity and asked, "Yes?"

"What do you mean, 'Yes'? You just let those three fillies, who attacked you, off scot free without so much as a stern word!" exclaimed Rarity. "Don't you know how to deal with children?"

The Ghost stared at her. "Do I look like I spend time with children?" After receiving no response, he continued. "I thought not. Anyway, regarding their punishment, I figure that once the earth pony and pegasus return home and explain to their parents what happened, they'll probably be given some sort of penalty. I don't need to add anything else. As for Sweetie Belle, I think having to share a house with me is punishment enough. She is yours, yes?"

"I... I never thought of that. I underestimated you Ghost: you certainly think things through further than I do. And no, Sweetie Belle isn't mine, but she is my sister and she does live with me."

"Good. I'm glad that's settled then. Shall we proceed?" asked the Ghost.

"Certainly. I'm just giddy with excitement to see what your clothing is made of," announced Rarity as she trotted onwards, oblivious to an unhappy Ghost behind her.

This won't be pleasant.

Chapter One

Ghosts of the Past

Chapter One

"Don't matter if it's the Confederacy or the Dominion: they're all the same. They squeeze and punch and kick you into a shape they can mould and then wipe it all and start again. You're just a machine to them. They use you, baby, use you up until there's nothing left."

Gabriel Tosh, rouge Ghost

Ghosts have been credited as having many fantastical powers. Most people knew that they were all psionic, as in, possessing the ability to control the world around them with only their thoughts. Some people knew that ghosts were able to cloak themselves and turn invisible, provided they had enough energy. Few people knew that ghosts were cybernetically enhanced to have better vision, stronger bones, and fewer emotions.

There were, however, only a handful, and a small handful at that, people that were aware of one particular Ghost's abilities. One of these people was named Arcturus Mengsk. Mengsk was the leader of a rebel terrorist group named the 'Sons of Korhal'. He became fed up with the Terran Confederacy, which was corrupt, and fought back by luring the Zerg, a species hell bent on assimilating all life in the Universe, to the Confederate capital of Tarsonis. In doing so, he single-handedly killed billions of people with his actions.

Mengsk rose from the ashes and created a new empire: the Terran Dominion, with him as it's Emperor. Despite all claims to the contrary, the Dominion was just as corrupt as the old Confederacy. One of Mengsk's first orders as Emperor was to kill over half of the Confederate Ghost's in a massacre that would later be called 'The Purge'. Many Ghosts went into hiding or made their livings as mercenaries and assassins for hire.

One Ghost in particular didn't need to avoid Mengsk. He didn't care who he fought, or who he fought for, as long as he was being used. When Mengsk relocated the Terran capital to Korhal, the Ghost was already there and waiting. After a speech, the Ghost approached the newly crowned emperor with a gun to his head and offered him a deal: I let you live, and you let me continue doing my job.

Emperor Mengsk had loved the audacity of the young Ghost, for it reminded him of his younger self. Re-establishing the Ghost program, he sent the Ghost across the stars as his personal grim reaper. The Ghost had a knack for remaining unseen and he quickly became Mengsk's favourite weapon. In response to his Ghost's accomplishments and loyalty, he allowed the Ghost to customize his equipment as he saw fit, as long as it didn't reduce his combat capabilities.

The Ghost was not vain. He didn't add visual flair to his suit, nor did he paint it a different colour. He added practical things: an EMP shockwave emitter, easily fireable from his rifle. He amplified his suit's psionic feedback receivers, allowing him to stay cloaked indefinitely. The Ghost modified his bullets to allow for greater penetration on lightly armoured targets, with no reduction in other statistics.

The Ghost's tools were enough to cause jealousy amongst the more standard variant, which prompted Mengsk to mass produce the suits with the EMP shots and penetrator bullets. He refrained from adding the enhanced psionic receivers to the majority of the Ghosts, only giving it to members who had proven themselves capable many times over. The Ghosts were once again the most feared specialists in the Terran arsenal.

After a successful assassination, the Ghost was instructed to receive his orders by Mengsk personally. The Ghost was rarely in direct contact with the Emperor, which was a direct result of Mengsk's paranoia.

The Ghost arrived at Arcturus' private quarters at the designated time. The Emperor was seated behind his desk, waiting.

"My dear Ghost. You are my most proficient assassin, having successfully eliminated every target that you've been asked too. I have a special mission for you, and only you. I want you to kill Jim Raynor. He's been a thorn in my side for far too long, and he's recently come out of hiding. There's a Wraith waiting for you at the dock. The pilot will brief you on the details. Get to it."

The Ghost made himself invisible and said, "Hell. It's about time."

\\\

The Ghost jumped out of the hovering Wraith, and landed on all fours on the dusty ground before straightening. The pilot made good time getting him to Mar Sara.

Mengsk's orders spoke in his mind. I have a special mission for you, and only you.

The Ghost loaded an electromagnetic pulse round into his trusty rifle, aimed briefly, then shot the Wraith just as it was preparing for takeoff. Without power, the ship feel from the sky and crashed into a nearby sand dune.

The Ghost calmly walked over to the smoking wreckage and shot the pilot in the head, not taking any chances. No witnesses. He then zoomed in with his visor on the building he'd been informed about: Joeyray's Bar, a small cantina where Raynor was said to be drinking his worries away. Holstering his sniper rifle, he engaged his cloaking and set off at a steady pace towards it.

Upon arriving, the Ghost was not amused at what he saw. The Zerg had returned. After four years of relative peace and quiet, the Zerg were back. That meant the formidable psionic warriors that were the Protoss were sure to follow. Despite himself, a small smile appeared on his lips.

War is coming, he thought. With all its glory... and all its horror.

The Zerg would make his job interesting. They always attacked in massive waves. They relied on sheer numbers to overrun the enemy. If Raynor was in fact here, he would be leading the defence against the Zerg menace.

Maybe the Zerg are a mixed blessing after all, he thought, as they would force Raynor to take charge, giving the Ghost the opportunity he needed.

Cloaked and silent, the Ghost silently made his way towards the only command center in the pitifully small base. Avoiding the mineral mining SCV's, he snuck into command center's entrance. The Ghost crept along the steel corridors with practiced stealth. Thankfully for him, all command centers were built more or less the same, allowing him to find the control room with ease. Upon locating the correct room, the Ghost stopped for a second and wondered at the door.

Why is the door unlocked? Does he trust his men that much? Mengsk would never do that. He doesn't trust anybody. A small smile appeared on the Ghost's lips. Not to say that I blame him.

Continuing forward, the Ghost slipped through the door and entered the control room. No matter how many times he'd seen it, it always took his breath away.

There were four large screens displaying the hectic chaos outside. He watched as Raynor, for it had be him, control his small but deadly militia against the onslaught of the Zerg. He had set up a defensive perimeter of bunkers and missile turrets, which were the only things that could withstand wave after wave of Zerg forces.

The Ghost slowly walked closer, watching Raynor manage his small base with practiced movements and commands. The Ghost was amazed at how easily Raynor commanded his troops. They all followed his orders unquestioningly.

Reaching for his gun, the Ghost did something he never had before. He second guessed his orders.

Those men would die for him, he realized.

They would die for the man I was sent to kill.

The Ghost realized this, along with another fact. If Raynor wasn't defending against the Zerg, how would he escape?

This is a suicide mission, thought the Ghost idly.

He knew he should follow his orders, regardless if he approved of them or not, but dying for Mengsk was not something he would do. Mengsk didn't command his loyalty. The Ghost had worked for Mengsk for no reason other than having something to do.

Here I am, holding a man's fate, who has won the undying loyalty of his followers, all because of some other man, who has no such loyalty, is afraid of him.

The Ghost made a choice. He disobeyed his orders.

Uncloaking, the Ghost tapped the floor with the tip of his gun, making a clanking noise. A startled Raynor spun out of the command seat, unholstered his sidearm, and pointed it at the Ghost, all in one fluid movement.

"Drop the gun," said Raynor in a flat tone.

"I can't. It's attached to the back of my suit," said the Ghost in his chilling tone.

Raynor stared at the Ghost for a few seconds before asking, "So. Have you come to kill me?"

The Ghost chuckled at Raynor's bluntness. "That was the plan, yes. I, however, had second thoughts."

Raynor's eyes lit up in realization. "You. Mengsk sent you to kill me. From all the information we gathered about Mengsk's pet Ghost, we didn't think you had any freedom of choice. I've been waiting for you to show up."

The ghost of a smile appeared behind his visor. "I have free will. I chose not to end your life. I chose to disobey Mengsk's orders. I choose to have this conversation."

Raynor frowned in thought. "Why?" he asked.

"Why? Such as simple question, with such difficult answers. Let's just say that I...admired the loyalty that you inspired in your men. Mengsk does not have the loyalty that you have. I am a perfect example of that."

Raynor said nothing, but the Ghost could see his mind racing.

"I suggest going back to your command now. I watched you before I revealed myself. You are a brilliant commander. Let no one tell you differently." The Ghost paused before asking a question. "Do you want my assistance?"

Frowning again, Raynor asked, "Why should I trust you?"

The Ghost flickered and disappeared. "Because I trusted you."

Realizing that the Ghost could kill him if he wanted to, Raynor put his revolver back in its holster and took command of the base once again.

He quickly checked the status of his marines. They were all loaded up in bunkers, firing away at the hordes of zerglings, hydralisks and roaches that continually pressured the front line. He checked the counter that displayed how long it would take for his evacuation to arrive. 8:21. 8:20. 8:19.

Another eight minutes, thought Raynor. I hope we can hold.

It was then that Raynor noticed what appeared to be a marine standing in the center of the base, doing nothing.

Suddenly angry, Raynor selected the lone soldier and shouted, "What are you doing marine!? We need all the firepower we can get to hold off the Zerg! Get your ass to a bunker!"

A cold voice answered with a low chuckle. "Is that how you treat your specialists?"

Realization flooded Raynor. "You? What are you doing?"

"Somebody called for an exterminator, but I don't know where the bugs are. Command me."

Raynor couldn't help but grin at the Ghost's metaphor. He told the Ghost to reinforce the East bridge, as a large group of zerglings and hydralisks were heading in that direction.

Zerglings were dog-sized creatures that attacked by gouging anything and everything they saw that was within melee range, save for other Zerg. They were weak individually, but this weakness was overruled by the sheer amount of them. Hydralisks, on the other hand, were over two meter tall serpent-like creatures that attacked by launching volleys of deadly spines at their enemies from afar.

The Ghost went to work, quickly shredding through the hydralisk's light carapaces as the marine-filled bunkers went to work on the zerglings. Having successfully repelled the attack, Raynor instructed the Ghost to deal with a flock of mutalisks attempting to bust down the few missile turrets that were in place.

The mutalisks were a large airborne breed of Zerg, looking roughly like a prawn with two large, leathery wings as their means of propulsion. They attacked by spewing another creature, nicknamed a 'Glave Wurm' on their enemies from their oversized 'mouths'. However terrifying the creatures were, they were still lightly armoured and if the Ghost was good at killing one type of unit, it was light units. The Ghost's modified rounds quickly chewed through the mutalisks, spilling their acidic blood on other Zerg units below them.

Everything appeared to be going swimmingly until the ground started to erupt with huge, worm-like Zerg that were seemingly being used as a transport system by smaller Zerg creatures. The worms began puking out zerglings and a new, heavily armoured strain that was protected by a sturdy carapace, similar to a turtle. It moved fairly slowly, but any marines unlucky enough to be close to them had acidic bile spewed on them, disintegrating them into a pile of goo in seconds. The Ghost struggled with these abominations, having no armour-piercing weapon on hand.

Improvising, the Ghost, cloaked as he was, managed to procure several blast charges from his deceased allies. The Ghost placed as many blast charges as he could on the new strains of Zerg before retreating to a safe distance and detonating them. The charges were designed to cut through several feet of solid steel. The armoured carapace of the resilient strain were no match. With the new Zerg taken care of, the marines quickly mulched the transport worms into paste. The new strain of Zerg would later be dubbed 'roaches' due to their resilience.

The Terrans almost assuredly survived because of the rogue Ghost. He killed hundreds of Zerg ground units and flyers and was the last one to be lifted off during the evacuation. Raynor was pleased with his work, and agreed to keep his existence a secret from the rest of his crew aboard the Hyperion, aside from Matt Horner, his second in command. Raynor used the Ghost as a scout and infiltrator, rather than just an assassin. He had saved many of the Raider's lives without them knowing it. He liked to keep it that way.

Raynor knew how it felt to fight for a cause bigger than himself. He respected the Ghost's wishes to be an unknown, even though he knew his crew would welcome the renegade with open arms. The Raider's had started rumours about a mysterious entity watching over them. Raynor hid a smile whenever he heard his crew members talked about zerglings mysteriously dying before they were about to eviscerate them, or mutalisks falling from the sky with their wings torn and their skulls broken. Regardless of what they thought, he knew who to thank.

After only a few weeks, Raynor had re-established the Raider's as a powerful fighting force. They had defeated Protoss, Zerg, and other Terrans decisively in a series of battles with varying objectives.

After just returning from another successful mission, Raynor sent the Ghost to a fledgling colony in a remote part of Terran occupied space which was commandeered by a 'friend of his' . The Tal'Darim, a fanatical Protoss cult obsessed with Xel'Naga artefacts, were harassing the colony and the Ghost was sent to put a stop to it. The Ghost found himself aboard a medivac dropship, flying towards the command center of the colony. Unaccustomed to any lengths of inactivity, the Ghost's mind started to wander, specifically about his kind.

Ghost.

It was a name, a title, a job, all conveniently wrapped up in one word.

Ghost.

The very word brought fear into the hearts of Terrans, made the tidal wave of teeth and spines that was the Zerg pause in indecision. Even in the ranks of the mighty Protoss, the word caused unrest and wariness.

Ghost.

We were the assassins, the specialists of whoever gave our commands. We would not stop...could not stop, until the job was done... or we perished.

Ghost.

We feel no mercy. We feel no regret. We fear no enemy.

"Ghost!"

The Ghost snapped out of his reverie and was aware of his surroundings once again.

"Yes?"

The medivac pilot rolled her eyes in exhaustion. To her, all Ghosts were the same: pretentious, overconfident, psychotic Terrans in fancy suits.

"We've arrived at the destination, sir. Now, if you wouldn't mind getting off your ass, I have a group of marines who need medical assistance ASAP," said the pilot in an annoyed tone.

To her annoyance, the Ghost didn't respond. She got out of her chair and was about to give him a piece of her mind when she noticed something.

The ghost was gone. She didn't notice, but he had left as soon as she said, "We've arrived".

Shrugging and returning to her pilot's chair, she pulled down a microphone from her headset.

"All aboard the flying heal bus!" she said into the microphone, which in turn broadcasted it outside.

Marines I can deal with. But Ghosts? They're just plain creepy, thought the pilot.

The Ghost walked straight towards the orbital command, only changing his path to avoid collisions with any meandering marauders, massive bipedal suits of grenade launching armour, or any mining SCVs, which were Terrans in a general purpose construction vehicle. The SCVs were a core component to a successful base: only they could harvest the minerals and vespene gas needed to create the materials for war. They were also the only Terran units that were able to create the buildings that produced the varying weapons in the Terran arsenal.

The ground was hard packed enough that his footsteps caused no dust to rise. He approached the entrance to the building and noticed a single marine guarding the entrance. He approached quietly from behind and gently pulled out his combat knife and casually pressed it against the marine's throat, who happened to have his visor open.

"Dead," said the Ghost.

The marine didn't move, as he was paralyzed with fear. Removing the knife and decloaking, the Ghost turned the marine around and said, "If I were you, I'd advise your commander to put at least two marines on guard at the entrance. That way, one of you would die, but at least the other would get a warning out."

Nodding in fear, the guard regained his senses and led him inside the orbital command. The Ghost neglected to mention that he could have gotten there quicker by himself. As he arrived at the control room, he was waved in by another marine. The Ghost walked in observed his new commander.

He was young. Very young. Still, he had an air of professionalism around him, and he wasted no time on pleasantries, which the Ghost admired.

"You'll be glad to know that I've doubled the security, like you suggested. I'm gracious that you didn't kill the marine out of principle, but I would've understood if you did. Now, to business."

The young commander told the Ghost of his plan to cripple the Protoss colony's psi grid. He somehow had access to a nuclear missile, which made the Ghost feel warm and fuzzy inside. It had been months since he'd been allowed to designate one of them. It just so happened that the Protoss had placed all their pylons in a small area, probably to reduce clutter in their base of operations, and the Ghost was going to take advantage of that. While the Ghost was scouting the base and designating the launch location, the commander would send a medium sized bio force to get the Protoss out of position.

The Ghost left the base as quickly as he could, making no noise and not telling anyone where he was going or what he was doing, not that they could see him while he was cloaked. The Ghost ran at a steady pace that he could keep up all day. He figured that he wouldn't be detected, as long as he was cloaked. The Ghost did not notice the invisible Observer keeping track of his presence. The Observer was a Protoss drone that was cloaked and could also detect cloaked units.

The Ghost arrived half an hour later at the bottom of the ramp which supposedly led into the Protoss base.

Strange, he thought. I haven't seen a single patrolling Stalker.

He cautiously walked up the ramp and saw nothing. Nothing. Not a single building, unit, or flyer. This confused the Ghost greatly.

Did they send me to the wrong base? The thought was quickly discarded. Raynor wouldn't have sent him to work with a incompetent.

Curious the Ghost cautiously walked towards what should have been the heart of the Protoss base. He caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his vision. He stopped at observed his surroundings more carefully. Next to a patch of minerals where there should have been majestic Protoss structures and probes mining away, there was only a slight haze, like heat distortion.

Suddenly wary, the Ghost turned around and looked around him more carefully. Sure enough, all around him was a collection of faint shimmers. The Ghost slowly approached a larger cloud of haze, and to his surprise, walked straight into the side of a building.

Oh shit, thought the Ghost. Protoss can cloak everything now, even without an Arbiter.

The Ghost was about to call off the attack when the largest Protoss air vessel he'd ever seen slowly floated over his location. It was at least twice the size of the already massive Carrier and was roughly triangular in shape. The Ghost wondered why the vessel wasn't cloaked like the rest of the base, and then it hit him. This is what's causing the cloaking. They repurposed the Arbiter's cloaking field to also include buildings and they put it in this behemoth.

The Ghost opened up his communications link to the commander.

"We've got a problem. There's a large, unidentified Protoss air vessel that has the ability to cloak units and buildings. I suggest a tactical retreat and the immediate production of Vikings to counter it."

The commander's voice sounded tinny when he responded. "Viking production has been started and-" the commander cut out for a few seconds. "The strike force has been compromised! I need you to get over there ASAP and provide fire support to buy time for evac!"

Already sprinting towards the location, the Ghost replied, "Got it."

When the Ghost arrived, the battle was not going well. The marine and marauder force was getting slowly picked off by the nimble Stalkers, fast, four-legged robotic shells that housed the remains of fallen Protoss warriors, who controlled the machine with their minds. While the stalkers were shooting their deadly lasers from afar, the furious Zealots, Protoss infantry that could hack and slash through almost anything with their Psi-Blades, were decimating the Terran infantry force up close.

The Ghost launched several EMPs into the Protoss forces, draining their shields and effectively cutting their protection in half. The Ghost found a small hill to use as cover. He may be invisible, but stray bullets and grenades from his allies were just as deadly to him as to the Protoss.

He started picking off any Zealots who came close enough to swing their Psi-Blades. After the majority of the Zealots were vaporized or incapacitated, he slowly went to work on the Stalkers. Being armoured, the Ghost had to aim very carefully to make any sort of damage. He targeted the joints between limbs, causing the mechanical shells that were the Stalkers to spill their blue blood. Thanks to the Ghost, the battle slowly turned to the Terran's favour.

Rallying towards victory, the marines and marauders ran forward to cut off any escape route for the remaining Protoss. The Ghost, seeing this, left his sniping position and followed the army from a safe distance. The Ghost was satisfied with the results of the previous battle. He was about to tell the commander to order the ground army to retreat before they overextended themselves, but before he could, the massive ship that he'd spotted earlier appeared and started to move towards their position.

The Ghost had a bad feeling that the Protoss had laid a trap that they had waltzed right in to. Turning his communication link back on again, the Ghost tried to get a hold of the base, but heard only static on the other side. Looking back towards the main army, he noticed that they had stopped as well. They were all staring at the massive ship in the sky. One of the marines he'd been following had lagged behind the main army, and he was close enough that the Ghost could him panicking.

"We are so fucking screwed. We're dead men walking. We might as well keel over and die."

The ship was practically above them, and the Ghost could see a massive energy core in the heart of the construct. The core was glowing, evidently in preparation for some destructive ability.

Knowing he had one chance, the Ghost loaded an EMP round and took careful aim. He couldn't help utter a cheesy one liner that he'd been working on.

He stood beside the marine and said, "They called in the thunder..."

He shot the EMP directly at the ship's core, in an effort to overload it.

"Now reap the whirlwind!" finished the Ghost.

The EMP was just about to hit the core when the Ghost felt a most peculiar sensation. He felt like he was being slowly disintegrated and sucked into a vacuum. His last sight before his reality was ripped away was of the EMP hitting the ship, causing it to power down and crash towards the fleeing Protoss army. His last thought was: it was worth it.

\\\

The Ghost woke up lying on soft ground. He opened his eyes and saw a beautiful starlit night sky, alongside number diagnostics of his condition and location.

'Error 375: Location not supported'

'Condition Stable: Heart rate optimal, psionic powers undiminished'

The Ghost slowly stood up and surveyed his surroundings. It was pitch black out, but that didn't hinder the Ghost. Even without his visor, his cybernetically enhanced eyes had perfect night vision. He found himself in a large clearing, with trees on all sides.

The Ghost didn't recognize the place. The last thing he remembered was being torn apart, piece by piece by the massive Protoss warship. A small smile appeared when he thought of it falling down onto the Protoss ground forces. The smile was quickly replaced with the bored look that the Ghost normally wore. Not that anyone could actually see his face.

The Ghost ran ideas through his head on what had happened. The Protoss must have been designing and building new weapons of war just as quickly as us Terrans have. They now have a massive capital ship that can cloak entire bases and vortex whole armies.

The ghost did a mental double take on what he had just thought. Of course! The Protoss must have developed a way to create a temporary wormhole to suck entire armies to their doom. The energy to accomplish such a feat must be incredible. Of course, that's why the ship is practically a giant core.

The Ghost looked around some more, making sure nothing was sneaking up on him. How did I get here? The vortex must have dropped me onto this world. If that's the case, there might be other Terran's here that survived.

Glad to have a plan of action, the Ghost enabled his cloaking and started to head north. He hadn't been jogging for more than five minutes when he spotted a structure in another clearing. The fact that it wasn't alive immediately discounted the Zerg. He scanned over it and realized that neither Terrans nor Protoss could have built it as it was made of wood that was nearly a hundred years old, according to his visor.

A feeling of apprehension slowly filled the Ghost. There was another sentient alien species on the planet he was on, and he may be the first Terran to be in contact with them.

Strengthening his resolve, the Ghost made his way towards the structure's supposed front entrance. There was a short flight of stairs leading up to the door, which was also made of wood. The Ghost carefully tested the door and found it to be unlocked. Silently, he opened the door, entered, and closed the door behind him.

Now inside, the Ghost activated the thermal view on his visor. He immediately saw three heat sources, one on the second floor and two on the ground level. Picking the lone source, the Ghost quietly stalked up the stairs towards his prey. He approached the room that held the heat source. He reached for the doorknob, and silently opened the door.

The Ghost slowly entered the room and stood silently observing the specimen curled up on the bed. The specimen in question was quite small, and featured four legs connected to the torso. It was an orangey colour, and it's "hair" on top of its head was blonde. The Ghost had never seen a creature like this before. He wondered how evolution had led these creatures to become the dominant species on this planet.

Wondering about evolution, the Ghost briefly thought to where Terrans had originated from. The Ghost knew that Terrans originated from a planet called 'Earth' which was controlled by the U.E.D., or the United Earth Directorate. For some reason that he couldn't fathom, the Ghost had a sneaking suspicion that these creatures were related to a species on Earth. He also wondered how he was going to communicate with the creature.

The Ghost was slowly approaching the creature, debating on a course of action. When he came within a short distance, he felt a small twinge in his temple. That only meant one thing: someone with psionic abilities was nearby. He'd learned long ago to trust the twinge, as it had saved his life may times when he fought for the Confederacy. Standing stalk still, the Ghost waited for the fellow Psion to show themselves.

The Ghost waited ten minutes for someone to give some inkling that they were there as well. Feeling a bit miffed, the Ghost quietly left the room and went back downstairs to search. Finding nothing, the Ghost cautiously went back into the room with the sleeping creature in it. As soon as he walked through the door and approached the creature, he felt the slight twinge again.

These creatures are Psions? thought the Ghost.

He double checked his theory by exiting the door, then entering it again. Twinge.

Strange, thought the Ghost. These creatures must be very weak Psions if I can only feel them from ten feet away. Still, with any luck, I can communicate directly in its mind, even if it has weak psionic tendencies.

Bracing himself, the Ghost slowly reached his mind towards the sleeping creatures. Normally, he would have had to do the mental equivalent of "knock" before he could communicate with another Ghost or Terran, but the creature had no mental barriers at all. It was eerie to the Ghost, like the creature didn't know that it was psionic.

Pushing further out with his mind, the Ghost "saw" the dream that the sleeper was having. He saw many other different coloured creatures, more or less the same as her, talking, laughing, and generally having a good time with each other. Inwardly sighing, the Ghost did the mental equivalent of tapping someone on the shoulder, which caused the dream to dissipate and the sleeper to fully concentrate its mind on the Ghost, even though it was still sleeping. The Ghost wasted no time on explaining what he did or who he was.

"Can you understand me?"

The Ghost could feel the creature's confusion as to what had happened. "Yes Ah can, but what just happened?"

The Ghost was glad that minds could communicate even if they spoke different languages.

"Good. Now I want you to be calm, and to wake up."

"How am I s'posed to do that? This is a dream, ain't it?"

"I'll wake you up. Just be calm when you do."

The Ghost severed the telepathic connection and walked closer to the bed. He reached over and gently shook its right shoulder. The creature awoke instantly and sat up, rubbing its large eyes with its front hooves.

"What a strange dream," said the creature in perfectly understandable English, albeit with what the Ghost thought of as a "country" accent.

You're joking, thought the Ghost.

Still cloaked as he was, the Ghost said quietly, "Please do not be alarmed. That was no dream, and I require your assistance."

The creature was surprised at the voice coming from nowhere. "W-where are you? What are you? Show yourself!"

This is too strange, thought the Ghost.

"I'm in the room, but I'm currently invisible. I didn't want to shock you when you woke up. I think I will refrain from revealing myself until you are calm and controlled."

The Ghost saw the creature breathe deeply and calmly to control itself. "Okay. Ah'm calm now. Show yourself."

Bracing himself for the creatures reaction, the Ghost decloaked himself.

The creature was staring at him in pure, abject terror. "What are you?" it managed to say.

The Ghost smiled mirthlessly underneath his helmet.

"A Ghost."

Author's Note

Damn, my chapters were a hell of a lot longer back in the day...