As the Element Bearers entered the worn stone path that lead to the Sister's Palace, Rainbow stretched her legs while she hovered in the air.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Eh, I'm fine Twilight." Rainbow replied. "Just stretching."

"I can see that." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Look, let's keep moving. If we can catch the fire before it spreads, we'll have an easier time putting it out."

"Agreed." Applejack nodded. "So, let's get a move on!"

As the six of them headed deeper into the forest, the orange glow coming from the castle grew brighter and brighter in the darkness.

"That doesn't look like fire." Pinkie frowned thoughtfully. "There's no smoke."

"You're right!" Twilight said, noticing Pinkie's statement was correct. "If there's no fire, what's making that light?"

"Aliens?" Rainbow asked, almost hopeful.

"Please, Rainbow." Twilight rolled her eyes once more. "The odds that aliens reached Equestria in the time that light appeared in the castle to now is infinitesimally small. in fact, I'd say it's impossible."

"C'mon, Twilight, what else could it be?" Rainbow protested. "Like, ghosts or something?"

"Well, that I could say.... is well, unlikely. Probably it's some creature causing mischief." Twilight deadpanned. "We're almost there."

As they approached the old castle, Twilight could see the light source was starting to fade. While they approached the steps leading to the balcony, the light moved out of their fields of vision.

"See, nothing to worry..." Twilight stated, only to be cut off by the light being thrown into their faces. As the orange light blinded their vision, Twilight heard heavy steps coming towards them, followed by a metallic clanging noise. As they recoiled, the footsteps stopped.

Then, a voice, toned and gruff-sounding, but with a hint of fear, spoke directly to them.

"What the hell are you?"

=====

Logan had been roused from his sleep by footsteps and feminine voices speaking in the courtyard below. As he reached for his SA-805 and picked up the flare by his side, he threw it into the courtyard. As his eyes searched for any potential hostiles, they soon widened at the sight of what had approached him.

Loading and aiming his SA-805, he spoke in a tone that attempted to disguise his uncertainty.

"What the hell are you?" he asked, his left hand shaking slightly on the rifle's foregrip.

"What's that? Who's there?" came the reply. "I can't see!"

Logan rolled his eyes, picked the flare up and threw it to the side, nearly out of view. Now that the light had softened, the voice was revealed to be the last thing Logan expected to see.

Six small equine beings, each with pastel-colored coats, were gaping at him like fish out of water. Logan could see that they each had a unique feature. One with a rather styled mane had a horn, two others had wings, two didn't have either. The one in the point position, however, had both. As they stood, completely paralyzed with shock, Logan could tell they weren't armed in any way. As he sighed and started to leave, a winged one with a rainbow-colored mane flew in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked aggressively.

"Back to sleep." Logan replied, pushing past her. The equine's reply was to fly in front of him again.

"You can't sleep here!" she protested. Logan huffed and looked her in the eye.

"Who says I can't?" Logan said. "This place isn't a hotel, you know. I don't have that luxury available right now, so for now, get out of my way."

The being was speechless. As Logan ascended the stairs and shouldered his SA-805, the rainbow one growled at him.

"Rainbow, I wouldn't do anything brash." one wearing a stetson hat cautioned. "I think he means business."

"How can you tell it's a he?" the one called Rainbow asked.

"His voice." the hat-wearer replied. "Let me handle this, okay? Trust me."

As she approached Logan once more, he turned around and raised an eyebrow underneath his mask.

"Listen, mister. We don't want to cause trouble with you." she said. "I reckon you have a lot of questions about where you are?"

Logan nodded, unsure of where this conversation was going.

"Well, if you'll come with us, we can answer them." she said, taking off her hat in a respectful manner. "We've got questions about you, so...I guess we can answer yours, and you can answer ours? Does that sound fair?"

There was quiet. The being turned and sighed.

"Alright." he said. "I'll come with you. Let me get my gear first."

"Go on ahead." she said. "I'm Applejack. You got a name?"

"Logan." he replied. "One sec."

As Logan finished climbing the stairs and grabbed his survival kit, he took a little time to put on his combat gear once again. Holstering his knife and shouldering his rifle, he went back down the stairs once more.

"All set." Logan said to Applejack, who nodded. As the five others watched, Applejack showed Logan to the rope bridge, which they easily crossed.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm impressed." Pinkie said, her eyes wide with admiration. "See what I mean?"

"I do, Pinkie." Twilight said. "I'm not sure where this will go, but for now, let's play along. We can ask him whatever questions we want, when we get back to Ponyville. Until then, let's keep to ourselves."

As Rainbow frowned slightly, the others set off after Applejack and Logan. Eventually, she swallowed her pride and huffed before following the others back to Ponyville.

====

As Logan and Applejack walked ahead of the group, Applejack looked over their companion with curiosity. His clothing was colored gray, black, and white, with pockets and pouches scattered about. A knife rested in a sheath on his left shoulder, with a small L-shaped object on his right thigh.

What fascinated her the most was his mask. It covered the whole of his face apart from the eyes, and it was a shade of black so dark Applejack had trouble telling it apart from the sky. Painted in a rough manner on the front was a skull, or what Applejack assumed was a skull. As they walked in silence, Applejack looked away for a moment.

"Something wrong?"

Applejack shook her head, and looked at Logan.

"Not really. The mask you're wearing is...interesting, though." she spoke. "Where'd you get it?"

"It was my dad's before it was mine." Logan said. "A symbol of the group of brothers I belong to. We were an elite unit designed to strike fear behind enemy lines."

"You're a Royal Guard?" Applejack asked. "Like, in the military?"

"Yes and no." Logan said. "I am a soldier, but not a "Royal Guard" as you said. My unit consisted of a chosen few, the best of the best. To my country, we were honored. To our enemy, we were feared."

"What kind of soldier are you?" Applejack queried, only for Logan to quietly chuckle.

"A Ghost." he replied, intimidating Applejack with the tone of his voice.

"Okay then..." she said, shaken. "We're home."

Logan looked up to see that the seven of them had arrived in a small town on the edge of the forest. The one called Twilight took the lead and brought them to a Crystalline tree-shaped structure on the edge of a grass field. They headed inside to a living room covered in sleeping bags and games, with a library in the other adjacent room visible through a door.

"We were in the middle of a sleepover." Twilight explained. "I guess we can put that on hold while we answer your questions."

"That's fine by me." Logan said. "Mind if I take the couch?"

"Sure."

As Logan sat down on the crystal-shaped sofa, he gently removed his mask as he relaxed. Now that his face was unobscured, the six of them could see that he had a black crew cut, with a clean-shaven face. His eyes were dark brown and gave off a feeling of intent and dedication.

"So, where do we start?" Twilight asked. "Where are you from, Mr. Logan?"

"Well, I'll start from the beginning, then." Logan said. "My full name is 1st Lieutenant Logan Walker, of the Ghosts. I'm a human from planet Earth. Here, let me show you."

Logan pulled out a small tablet from one of the pockets on his chest, and flicked a switch. A pale blue light appeared, showing a map on the screen. Twilight could identify several major continents across the screen.

"This is your world?" she asked.

"Yeah." Logan said. "I'm from the United States, right here in North America."

As he zoomed in, the ponies crowded around.

"I'm not exactly well-versed in our nation's history, seeing as it's been years since I was in an educational environment." Logan said. "I graduated from college about three years ago."

"Then why are you a soldier?" Applejack asked.

"I'll explain." Logan said. "About four years ago, the great deserts of the Middle East that supplied most of our world's fuel began to run dry. Fuel became scarce, and as a result the entire Middle East descended into chaos. From this, the Federation began to rise."

"Federation?" Rainbow asked. "Where's that?"

"This is South America." Logan said, scrolling the map. "The Federation is the name of the government that united all the nations in South America under one flag. It's based in Caracas, Venezuela, here."

"The Federation quickly took control of the remaining fuel available to the world, and began amassing a powerful military. They began to push north, towards the United States, conquering nation after nation in their path."

"How could they do that?" Fluttershy asked. "Didn't anypony try to stop them?"

"No." Logan replied. "The Feds had a military that was second to none. Whatever nations that didn't stand aside because of that did so because they needed Federation fuel. Soon, the United States stood alone against them. We had a military comparable in size and prowess, but they had numbers on their size. Soon, we had one last deterrent against an invasion."

"What was that deterrent?" Twilight asked. "What kept this onslaught at bay?"

"ODIN." Logan replied. "The Orbital Defense Initiative. Our world had achieved spaceflight by this time, so the US built a defensive platform in our planet's orbit. One central module controlling five satellites, each of them equipped with a payload of kinetic energy missiles."

"What's that?" Rarity asked.

"These missiles were essentially giant rods made of metal." Logan said. "All propelled by rockets, each of these rods, when fired would slam into their targets on Earth. They also hit with enough force to level cities and create massive sinkholes on impact. And that's just the capability of one. Each of these ODIN satellites carried a payload of seven."

The ponies blanched a stark white, with Pinkie's mane starting to deflate.

"ODIN was considered untouchable." Logan said. "The threat of an ODIN strike on the Federation states forced them into a temporary truce with the US. However, it wouldn't last."

Logan took a deep breath before continuing.

"On one fateful day, the Federation launched a space shuttle full of veteran soldiers equipped for space combat to take control of ODIN. Using intercepted codes, they boarded the main capsule and took control of all five satellites. We were caught completely by surprise. Then, the Feds hijacked one of the satellites and turned it against us."

"Using their newly acquired weapon, they fired all of the rods into the seven main cities on the US and Federation border, decimating the land and killing countless numbers of innocent people as well as some US soldiers." Logan said. "The damage was incomprehensible. The neighborhood I once lived in with my dad and my brother is now the site of a giant, miles-wide sinkhole, the city nearby a ruin."

If the concept of ODIN alone had shocked the ponies, the destruction it caused floored them. Pinkie's mane deflated, Fluttershy began to cry, and everypony else just stood there gaping.

"However, two US astronauts managed to scuttle the satellite and knock it into the Pacific ocean, presumably destroying it and preventing further destruction." Logan said. "But the deed was done. The Feds had turned a once-prosperous section of my home nation into a devastated warzone now known as No Man's Land. The beaches I used to play on were mined with explosives and abandoned. The war as we knew it had changed forever."

Logan sucked in a breath and continued.

"I saw the kinetic rods hit my neighborhood." he said. "It was hell on earth to put it lightly. After my family and I escaped, my brother and I joined the US Army while my dad returned to the service."

"What happened after that?" Rarity asked.

"The Feds after the ODIN strikes believed we were crippled, weak, prey to be taken." Logan said. "But we regrouped, and fought them over two years to a bloody stalemate. One day, my brother and I were on patrol when we learned the city of Dallas had been taken by the Feds. That was when the war truly began for me and my brother."

"After engaging the Feds, our dad sent us to link up with two soldiers in No Man's Land. Their names were Captain Merrick and 2nd Lieutenant Keegan. They were scouting a Federation base to recover their friend, Ajax. He had been captured by the Feds. While we scouted the Fed's base, we caught a glimpse of a strange man leading the Fed soldiers, and interrogating Ajax."

Logan pulled up a video, and hit play. An image appeared of three men on a platform. Through the grass, they could see one wore urban clothing with a tied-back bandanna. The second was clad like Logan, complete with a Mask, and the third held what was presumably a weapon to the head of the second.

"The man there is Ajax, held by a Federation infantryman." Logan said. "Watch this."

"Well, well. So nice you could join us." the first man said, placing his hands on his waist.

"Rorke?" Ajax gasped, clearly frightened.

"What's the matter?" Rorke taunted. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"You won't get anything from me!" Ajax recovered.

"That's too bad, then." Rorke said, holding a pistol to Ajax's head. As he pulled the trigger, a click could be heard. The ponies realized Ajax was fine, but shaken.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you? Oh no, we got a lot of catching up to do." Rorke said, motioning to the Fed soldier. As Ajax was carried away, Rorke spoke to the watching crowd.

"Move everything to Firebase Charlie! Including him! Operation Homecoming will proceed on schedule!"

As the video ended, Logan sighed.

"As we linked up with Merrick and Keegan, we attempted to recover Ajax, only to learn he had been moved to a Federation base built in a sports stadium. Merrick and Keegan were dead-set on recovering their Ghost, and we were going to help them."

"What do you mean by "Ghost"?" Twilight asked.

"Merrick and Keegan were members of an elite unit called the Ghosts." Logan said. "They were the shadows of No Man's Land. The Federation feared little, but they definitely feared the Ghosts, for good reason. My brother and I met them, and we were determined to join them."

The ponies were spellbound as Logan continued.

"We smashed our way through the Feds defenses and made to Ajax, but we were too late. He was wounded, and he wouldn't survive. As he died, he told us Rorke was hunting the Ghosts. On the wall across him Ajax was a kill-list made by Rorke himself. As we escaped, we learned the Federation was attacking Fort Santa Monica, where dad was at, en masse. On our arrival, we jumped into the fight. However, when we searched for dad, we were rescued from the battle by the Ghosts."

"Turns out that all along, Dad was a Ghost." Logan said to the stunned ponies. "he was testing us, and we passed. Dad inducted us into the Ghosts, and our new mission was to take down Rorke."

"What's Rorke got to do with this?" Rainbow asked.

"Rorke was good, very good at his line of work." Logan growled. "He knew how the Ghosts operated, because he was one of us. During the early days of the war, a US invasion attacked the Federation capital of Caracas. The Ghosts' mission was to kill a leading Federation General. They succeeded, but in the battle, Rorke was lost to a raging flood. The US presumed him dead, but he was alive and in Federation custody."

"That's not good." Twilight said.

"Not good at all." Logan sighed. "Rorke had been tortured, brainwashed, and turned into a monster by the Feds. He was the Ghost Killer now. During a Fed Holiday, we secured intel on his location, and later captured him."

"However, our plane was shot down and Rorke escaped." Logan sighed. "We conducted later ops against the Feds, and later learned that they had reverse-engineered a copy of ODIN, codenamed LOKI from the remains they found in the Pacific."

"Oh no." Twilight gasped.

"Oh yes." Logan said. "We managed to regroup in the ruins of Las Vegas, but Rorke knew where we would be. We were captured, and Rorke...shot my father. Executed him before leaving the rest of us to die. We managed to get out alive, but we were not the same. Now, our mission was personal."

The ponies had grief and pity displayed on their faces as Logan wiped his eyes.

"We had one last change to stop the Feds. We risked everything for a surprise attack on the LOKI platform. Though we succeeded, we lost our last aircraft carrier. Soon after, we struck at the space center controlling LOKI while our ground forces began their attack. Soon, a team of US Army astronauts took control of LOKI just like the Feds did to ODIN. Let's just say the payback was worth it. We decimated the Fed military while my brother and I headed off to find Rorke."

"Did you?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. We made a plan with Merrick, and boarded a train carrying Rorke to safety. We cornered him, but he bested us and was going to kill my brother when we sent the signal word to Merrick."

"What was that?" Applejack asked.

"Checkmate." Logan said. "That was the signal for the troops on LOKI to fire on our position. We were trapped underwater, and I managed to shoot Rorke. As we swam to the surface, we saw the Fed's navy be destroyed."

"Did you win?" Rainbow asked. "Did you beat the Federation?"

"No." Logan said. "We only wounded Rorke in the end, as he was wearing a bulletproof vest. He kidnapped me and dragged me to a Federation prison in the Amazon jungle. He tried to break me like what had happened to himself, but I had learned that Ghosts don't break from my dad. One day, I managed to escape. As I was cornered on top of a waterfall, I knew that I wasn't going to make it out of this alive. I drove the MRAP I was in over the waterfall. I wasn't going to let Rorke win, even if it cost me my life. Next thing I know, I woke up in my crushed MRAP in the forest, and then that led me to now."

Logan took several deep breaths as the ponies took in what they had heard.

"Now, I'm stuck here." he said. "I know my time will come when I'm going to kill Rorke, but until then...I'm here for the time being."

Twilight hopped up next to him and sighed.

"Logan, you can stay in my castle for as long as you want. We'll get you home somehow, I promise.'

"Thank you." Logan said. As the others affirmed Twilight's statement, Logan stretched his weary arms and sighed.

"You got a spare bed?" he asked.

"Upstairs to the left." Twilight said. "Bathroom's on the right. Come down if you need anything."

"Thanks."

As Logan followed Twilight's instructions, he stripped off his gear in the bedroom before cleaning himself up. As he entered the bedroom again and fell backwards onto the mattress, he was soon in a well-deserved slumber.

It wasn't long before the ponies downstairs followed suit, and soon Twilight's castle was quiet, the moon taking its apex position in the night sky.

Author's Note

Wow, this is now the longest chapter I've ever written. And I'm proud of that.

Next time-Logan's first morning in Equestria, and on Earth the Ghosts resume their seach for Logan and Rorke.