Ghosts of the Past

"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she awoke again, sweat dripping from her mane.

It was just a nightmare, she thought shaking off the drowziness that filled her head.

"Your finally awake," said a mysterious voice.  "Quit making so much noise.  It's bad enough I had to bring you back here."

Rainbow Dash jerked her head in the direction of the voice.  She stared at a pony bigger than herself.  He was crimson with a black mane and tail.  Crimson streaks were intertwined with the black.  He had his wings folded into his sleek body.  He wore a cowboy hat over his head.  Dash's heart lept at the sight of the majestic pony she saw before her.

"Where is here anyway?" she finally managed to say.

"Your in my cabin.  Don't touch anything or I'll through you in the rain."

"What's your problem?" asked Rainbow Dash angrily.

"My problem is that you are in my cabin.  The cabin where only I am aloud to be in.  The cabin I use to stay away from all you heartless ponies out there."

Rainbow Dash tried to get up in the air, but the pain in her right side reminded her of her broken wing.  She settled for walking over to the bitter pony.

"Listen up," she started.  "I don't know who you are, but no pony talks to me like that unless they want a beat down."

"Bring it.  I'll just break your other wing and through you outside to suffer.  I gave you some medicine for that pathetic wing.  It will heal your wing within a few hours, so just shut up and lay back down."

Rainbow Dash felt the anger bubbling in her chest.  She wanted nothing more than to sock this pony in the side of the face.  She hated it when people told her to shut up.

"Whatever," she said.  "If my wing wasn't broken, I'd beat the living snot outta ya."

"I bet you would," said the mysterous pony sarcastically.  "Now if you don't mind, I have to go out and find some extra food.  The medicine works better when your full, so I can deal with a little foul smelling rain if it means your out of my mane quicker."

He got up and turned around.  He picked up a saddlebag and proceeded out the door into the terrible storm.  Rainbow Dash spotted his cutie mark as he left.  It portrayed a setting sun.  This peaked Rainbow's curiousity, but she would have to wait until her angry host came back.

She took the time to take in her surroundings.  The cabin was small.  It housed a small bookcase filled with dusty tomes. A small fireplace crackled in the corner  giving the room a soft warmth.  The windows were dark, kinda like her host's heart.  She looked at her wing.  It was bandaged up and a green liquid oozed from the bandages.

"Ew!" she exclaimed, "This stuff better work, because it's nasty."

She continued to look around her dismal surroundings.  The fireplace only gave a small amount of light, but from what she could tell there was a table at the end of the room.  It didn't look like there was a bed of any kind in the house.  Her eyes fell upon a small chest just barely visible in the room.  It hummed gently in the quiet surroundings.

I wonder what this idiot is hiding, she thought to herself.  She walked over to the strange container and tried to open it.  It was locked.

Dang.  I wonder where mr. grouch is hiding the key.

She looked all over the cabin for the key.  She looked under the rug, on the table, and in the bookcase.  She bumped the flimsy bookcase as she turned around and a small book fell out of it.

"What's this?" she said as she flipped through the ragged book.

She opend the book to a picture of Canterlot Castle.  Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were standing under a small tree with two other alicorns.  They seemed like they were younger in the picture, as Luna was only half the size of Celestia, but Celestia was double the size of the other two that stood in the picture.  The color has long faded from the picture, so she couldn't tell who the other two were.  It didn't even look like they had their cutie marks yet.

Upon further inspection, she spotted a slight bulge in the picture.  When she removed the picture, she found a small key.  She took it and proceeded back to the chest.  She put it in and turned the it in the heart shaped lock.  It clicked and unlocked.

Before she could open up to reveal its contents, she found herself sailing across the room.  She crashed into the table, knocking it over in the process.  The left side of her face hurt worse than her wing.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING!" exclaimed an angry crimson pony.  His yellow eyes were brightened as rage filled them.

Rainbow Dash regained her footing and stared at him intensly.

"What's the big idea?" she said.

"You shouldn't have touched my things.  Where did you even find that key?"

"Behind this picture," she said producing the faded image.

The crimson pony's eyes widened as he tried to grab it from the cyan pony.  She was to quick and pulled it away from his grasp.

"I'll give this to you after you give me some answers," she said flatly.

"No, you'll give it to me now!"

He ran to grap it, but she got up and ran the opposite direction.  They ran in circles for what seemed like hours.  He wanted the photo, Rainbow Dash wanted answers.  Both were to stubborn to satisfy the other.

"It's just like you ponies, taking away things that don't belong to you and being mean and uncaring towards each other," huffed the crimson pony.  "I bet this is exactly what you do to others.  You don't care about anypony but yourself."

Rainbow Dash stopped and turned to the crimson pony.  He stopped a few feet away from her.  She placed the photo on the ground behind her and sat on it.  This only angered him even further.

"What do you mean I don't care about anypony else.  I care a lot.  I do reperesent the element of loyalty after all."

This took the crimson pony by surprise.  "If your what you say you are, where is the element?" he said curiously but not without a hint of anger tainting his tone.

"It's right here," said Rainbow Dash pointing to the lightning bolt shaped gem in her necklace.  It glimmered softly in the warm glow of the fire.

"That's not an element.  They are stone orbs that house powerful magic.  If it was an element, then the...." he stopped and listened.  He hadn't noticed it before, but he heard a soft humming coming from his small chest.

Rainbow's head moved slightly to the side.  She was confused at the other pony's reaction.  She decided to break the silence.

"Ready to answer my questions?" she asked.

She began to levitate slowly off the ground.  It caught her off guard and she yowled in surprise.  Her wing was still hurt, so it wasn't her.  She saw the picture fly softly back to the crimson pony.  A soft red glow was coming from under his hat.  The picture landed just in front of the pony.  He gazed at it intently and shook his head.  Rainbow was slowly set back down on the floor.

She looked at the pony oddly.  She was more confused than ever now.  She started to say something, but stopped when she saw tears dropping from his glistening eyes onto the picture.

My past has finally caught up to me after all these years, he thought sadly to himself.