“Applejack, what are you doing here?” Braeburn asked.
“I’m just off on a little search. Don’t mind me.” Applejack replied.
She turned away from the town walked along the tracks ahead. Braeburn quickly trotted to her side with an intrigued look on his face.
“Searching for what?” He asked.
“Just something in the desert.”
“Something in the barren desert? You won’t find anything but hundreds of acres of nothing.”
“I’m going to break away from the tracks a kilometre or two ahead. I’ll just be out there for a day.”
“A whole day? Are you okay?” Braeburn asked, now concerned.
“Yeah, I can take care of myself.”
“I’ve heard many ponies say that before going where you’re going.”
“How many?”
“A few. Though, even fewer return…”
“You’re joking, right?” Applejack asked, holding back a snicker.
“No. I’m serious. There’s a whole load of trouble out there.”
“Pfff, nothing I haven’t dealt with before.
“What the hay are you even looking for?”
“The Ghost Pony,”
“Oh my- Are you purposefully trying to get yourself killed?!”
“What, is he not real?”
“I rest assure you, he is real-”
“Have you seen him or even have any evidence he exists?”
“Well, no, but from what I’ve heard, I most certainly believe he is. But look-”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t fully believe you on that. I’m going out there to find him myself. Big Mac and Applebloom have been fighting relentlessly about it. I’m putting this whole mystery to an end.”
“Applejack! As your cousin, I can’t let you go out there alone.”
“You’re coming with?” Applejack sneakily asked.
“Wha-no!” Braeburn gasped.
Braeburn galloped in front of Applejack and stamped his hooves in front of her.
He told her, “You’re going to die out there in only a couple of hours. Ever since Appeloosa had been around, we always keep away from the deep desert. That Ghost Pony you’re looking for is in the deepest, deadliest place in the entire area. The native buffalo are scared to death of it, calling it La Tierra del Diablo. No pony has gone there and come back the same.”
“…” Applejack raised a suspicious eyebrow.
“I mean it. There are monsters in that place, things beyond comprehension.”
“Please, I’ve taken on a megalomaniac alicorn that had fused a gigantic airship to his body. Whatever ‘monsters’ are out there, I got ‘em.”
The determined mare walked around Braeburn and resumed her hike forward, never looking back at her cousin.
“It’s your funeral!” He told her.
“That’s nice.”
“I’m not going to chase after you into there!”
“Okay.”
“I mean it!”
“You’ve already said that. Have a good day.”
“Gr…”
Braeburn shrugged and turned back towards the town, pondering about Applejack’s sheer willpower.
Braeburn said under his breath, “Well, if you’re going to do it… As we say to all the daredevils that go out there: ‘Good luck, and beware the Demon of Despair.’”
“This seems like a good spot to split.”
Applejack looked to her right and saw the vast and empty desert. There was absolutely no sign of anything made by hooves, perfect for hiding an ancient spirit. Her pace turned to that direction and walked. Eventually, she found herself out in the middle of nowhere, with no sight of both the railroad and the town of Appeloosa. Time seemed to slow down as Applejack walked around aimlessly throughout the wasteland, looking in every direction for the Ghost Pony.
“Hmm… now what would he look like? Other than just a flaming pony skeleton I mean,” She told herself.
Her stomach rumbled before she could put much thought into his appearance. Applejack stopped and reached around to her back. Flipping open the large bag with her nose, Applejack sifted through her things until finding the set of ten ripe red apples near the bottom. She picked one up with her mouth and ate it. She continued to think out loud while chewing the juicy fruit.
“Maybe… maybe he wears some type of clothing to keep him hidden… but what could he wear that doesn’t burn from his body? Actually, why’d he need to hide anything? He’s already a ghost in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps he’s embarrassed?”
With one final gulp, Applejack finished the apple and continued her stroll.
An hour passed and the sun had nearly grown to its peak. The heat of the desert had grown drastically, and was now taking its toll on Applejack. Beads of sweat started to seep from under her hat and run down her face. Her lips grew stiff and dry, having to be licked every once in a while just to keep the awkward feeling at bay. Her chest started to cramp and tighten with the lack of food and water given. Her lungs felt as if they were starting to wither away.
Having grown tired enough of her body’s woes, she reached into her right saddlebag and pulled out a water bottle. She unscrewed the lid in one swift motion and lifted the lip of the bottle to hers. Immediately, upon the first drops of liquid hitting her, a glorious sensation pulsated through her body as moisture purged the sick dryness. The feeling was nearly euphoric for Applejack. However, she stops herself halfway with the bottle.
“I have to conserve.” She warned herself.
She screwed the lid back onto the bottle and slowly set it back into her pouch. However, just as it was nearly set back from where it was initially packed, the clear liquid inside started to swirl around. It was practically hypnotizing Applejack with its freshening appearance.
Without finishing that other half of the bottle, surely the heat would strike quick. Applejack couldn’t trust herself to last long before taking another break. She had no pony but herself. She must play safe or be doomed to the desert’s skillful card tricks and gambling techniques.
“Well, maybe one bottle won’t hurt me that much.” Applejack said.
Quickly, she yanked the plastic bottle back out, unscrews the lid once more, and gulped down the second half. After which, she continued forward, now with one less bottle of water.
Another hour passed. Applejack was now climbing up the side of a steep hill, trying to get to a vantage point. The loose gravel and sand shifted around her hooves as she attempted to reach the top. She stepped onto a large boulder lodged into the hill. Suddenly, the boulder slipped and slid down the hillside. Applejack fell and crashed into the ground below, landing knees first on the rocks several metres behind her.
Sharp pains spiked across her body as she landed. The mare shouted and whimpered in response to the horrific pain.
“Ow! What happened?!” She yelled.
Carefully, she stretched out her right front hoof and nearly vomited on sight. Her knee was bruised and decorated with large cuts across it. Red blemished all of her orange fur and pink flesh, with small pebbles mixing with the blood that was about to pour from the wound. She could only imagine what her other parts looked like.
“Gah! It hurts so much!” Applejack exclaimed.
She knew what had to be done. She had to get back to Appleloosa and get medical attention.
However, a voice in her head reminded her why she was there. If Applejack didn’t finish this expedition, she’d let down Big Mac and Applebloom. How would she prove anything if she couldn’t last three hours in the deep desert?
“I have to continue.” She commanded herself.
Despite her pain, Applejack regained focus and continued her climb up the hill, as agonizing as it was.
Half of an hour passed as she struggled to climb up. Finally, at the top of the steep hill, Applejack pulled out another fresh water bottle. She poured it on each of her clotted, yet brutal scrapes and cleaned them.
“It’s nothing. I’ve been through worse…”
Her stomach growled again, only this time being much more brutal.
“Aw, for Pete’s sake! Well… I guess it’s lunch time. Might as well get my bearings straight while I’m at it,”
She unloaded her saddlebags onto a large flat rock and took a moment to recover. Four apples were eaten as she examined her compass for directions and her surroundings for any sign of the ghoulish spectrum.
“Let’s see, if the needle is pointing east, then I must be facing east, right? I think that’s what Twilight said.”
A haunting feeling soon crawled up her spine, the feeling of being lost. A feeling a failing, but much worse than not finding the Ghost Pony or getting a worthy drink break.
“What if I’m… No! I’m not lost! Whatever heebie-jeebies this desert is trying to pull on me, ain’t gonna work! I just need something to cool myself down that all,”
After a quick scan of her begs, Applejack pulled out the random magazine she stuffed back home.
“I wonder what I brought anyways…”
One quick glimpse of the cover was all she needed.
“Oh, one of Rarity’s fashion brochures…”
She stuffed the magazine back into the bag and pulled out the puzzle block. However, after looking at it for a minute, Applejack was immediately frustrated.
“Where the hay do I even start with this darn thing? Twilight said it would be easy… I need something that’ll calm me down my way.”
Retuning the block to its proper place, Applejack blindly grabbed a mirror and brush. Upon pulling them out, a seemingly disgusting thought entered her mind. She glanced into the saddlebags to find Rarity’s magazine crinkled near the bottom of one of the pockets.
“Well, I’m alone. Might as well…”
Another half-hour passed upon the hill top. Applejack, now fully entranced in the mirror and one of the pages of the magazine, was brushing her mane to fit the curled style of the model on the page. She had not noticed the amount of time that has passed.
“Hm, doesn’t feel that bad. I might actually like this time. I wonder what Rarity would think of it...”
A queasy feeling started to build in her stomach, but she knew it was not hunger.
“Gosh, I think I may be getting a little homesick. I wonder what my friends are doing right- No, stay focused Applejack! You got a mission, and like an Apple, you gotta stick to it. You will not fail the family!”
Applejack cleaned up her spot and continued on, deeper into the desert. Her knees started to buckle from the return of the weight and the recent accident that has happened to her. A heavy groan escaped her throat as Applejack strained to stand upright once more.
Taking one last look at her surroundings for any signs of the Ghost Pony, she prepares herself for the next leg of her trek.
“Nothing in sight… The journey is still young, though. Maybe somewhere else outta give me a better view.”
Slowly, yet surely, Applejack walked once more and headed down the hilltop and across the barren valley.
An hour ticked by. Applejack was now walking across a dry lakebed. No mountains or anything close of a landmark were in sight. It felt just like the vast ocean, but hotter. The sun had finally grown to its brightest. It seemed to be beaming its entire wrath upon the orange mare.
The bottom of her hooves started to burn from standing on the heated clay and the top of her spine boils from the still heat. Promptly, Applejack pulled out another water bottle from her saddlebags and drank it, bringing only a temporary relief to her body.
“I swear, if there’s no Ghost Pony, I am going to be crossed beyond belief.”
As she continues to walk, her eyes manage to catch a glimpse of something in the distance. It was bright red, surrounded by a shady aura. It looked like a shelter, waiting for Applejack. Newfound energy and adrenaline rushed through her system as Applejack darted towards the red dot in the distance. Her tongue slipped from inside her mouth and flopped around her chin like a dog. The shady object was getting closer and closer.
Now, only a hundred metres away from the thing, Applejack saw that it was a shelter she in the midst of the dry basin. Her speed almost doubled. Her mind could barely catch up to the body, now running by its instincts. Just as she drew close enough for the blur to go away, the red entity vanished before her eyes. Only the cracked clay ground and a few, meager hoof prints, could be seen as far as her eyes could see.
“A mirage?! Gosh darn it to heck!”
Applejack furiously slammed her hat onto the dusty floor and stamped onto it with her hoof.
“Now I be hallucinatin’! How am I ever going to make sure that I actually saw that ghost?”
However, in the midst of her fury, Applejack remembered what to do at times like this. She took a deep breath and picked up her hat.
“Calm down Applejack. You can do this, girl. All you have to do is keep your head straight. Focus on your goal. You can last the night and morning no problem. My siblings are counting on me, so I’ve got to follow through.”
Setting her dusty hat onto her head, Applejack shook her head to make sure her mind’s fully awake and set off once more. She continued down into the deep desert, closer to supposedly her doom.
Another hour of seemingly endless walking passed before the faint blur of an object in the distance caught her eyesight.
“This better not be another hallucination…” She hissed.
Her pace accelerated for a moment as she drew closer to the unknown thing. The loud clopping of her hooves against the bone-dry lakebed rattled in her ears as she grew faster and faster.
“I think… I think it’s a plateau. I could probably find an overhang and cool off! Yes! Finally, things are starting to go-”
Suddenly, a surge of pain jolted through her torso and head. Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs and fell, grinding to a halt. With a split-second turn of the neck, Applejack winces in fear. It was a long snake, decorated with brown diamonds laced upon its beige back. A rattle at the end of its tail frantically shaken, rattling so loud that that only thing to down it out would be Applejack’s galloping.
The viper had managed to leap from wherever it came from and had sunk its fangs deep into Applejack’s torso. Applejack bucked around viciously until the serpent let go and slithered away.
Panting, Applejack looked back to where snake had bitten to find two small holes in the flesh. The surrounding skin was turning black and blue. The fear inside the mare tripled as the sight struck her. Applejack’s eyes started to shutter and water in pain and anguish.
“It was venomous! I might die! If only I didn’t run so fast and loud!” Applejack cried to herself, though with no hope of a cosmic aid hearing her plees.
Applejack quickly dropped her saddlebags and pulls out a fourth bottle of water and Rarity’s magazine. She flipped onto her back with the brochure and bottle in her hooves.
“Just stay clam, Applejack, you didn’t expect to be bitten by a snake, but it’s fine. I know what to do…”
Applejack puckered her lips and held her mouth on the bite. She sucked up as much of whatever liquid was in the holes and spat it out across her shoulder before repeating. Blood, yellow venom, and red slush coated the ground over the pony’s shoulder as Applejack continued to clear the infection.
Her mind cramped up as little traces of venom made its way into her brain despite Applejack’s best efforts. After a while of only sucking up and spitting her own blood, she poured the entire bottle of water over the wound. She used the papers and applied pressure to the area. Several minutes passed as the pony held her position, unsure of what to do now.
She looked at her upturned body to get a good look at the damage she has taken. From the scrapes on her knees, to the dark flesh of the bite, to the amount of filth and dust on her body, it was obvious she was in a crisis.
“This has gone too far… I need to head back…” She slowly gasped.
Slowly, the mare got back up onto three hooves, still holding the papers to her bite with her fourth. Pulling out a compass, Applejack attempted to decipher what its saying.
“Let’s see, if I’ve been going east, then I should go west back to Appeloosa. So, should I turn until the needle points west? Or was it to point north and go right? Augh! I can’t think straight!”
In frustration, Applejack shook her head violently, even knocking against it with her free hoof. She had to get the gears going. Fear, anger, confusion, sadness, all crowded her train of thought as the mare continued to unleash her fury on whatever she can get her hooves on for what seems to be an eternity. Despair had taken hold of her, and was not intent on letting go.
Finally, after an hour of emotions and frustration, Applejack soon recollected her sanity, what little of it still remained. Whatever venom left in her system had hopefully been flushed out. Her brains felt like mush, though perhaps usable. Yet, Applejack didn’t think about her potential descent into madness. She was trying to think of what to do.
“Alright, what would Twilight do in this situation?” She asked herself. “She’s the smart one… I think… so she’d have the best answer. I think that’s how it works, being logic and all…”
Her eyes caught a glimpse of the plateau off in the distance.
“Shelter, that’s right. Don’t worry, Applejack, don’t need to be fussy. You’re just, tired, and a little thirsty. Are things hopeless? Most likely, but let’s gamble.”
Although weak and terribly ill, Applejack managed to regain some strength. She picked up her bags and slowly walked towards the plateau.
Two hours of walking in the bright sun passed by before Applejack finally arrived at the foot of the massive plateau. The snake’s venom had returned to Applejack’s already injured knees, causing them to buckle once again. In a matter of moments, Applejack’s legs gave in and her body violently hit the sandy ground below.
Now with her belly unwillingly pressed onto the desert floor, her skin started to cook from the burning sands. Applejack winced, biting her lip as the burning sensation rushed through her. She frantically searched for a way to quickly get back up. Using the rock wall as a grip, Applejack attempted to pull herself up, only to find it more strenuous and painful than just burning from the hot sand.
Eventually, she managed to pull herself up. The relief on this accomplishment only lasted for a moment before dread and despair took over.
“I hate this… I hate all of this… No Ghost Pony… Barely any water left… These bags tearing my spine apart… Lost… Scraped and battered… Going stupid… Probably infected… Hungry… Thirsty… Tired… Dying… Why did I ever agree to this?” Applejack asked herself.
Applejack slid her saddlebags off and opened them to see what she had left. Six apples and one bottle of water remained.
“My main priority now is to survive. Maybe I can make this work…”
As the sun started to touch the horizon, Applejack feasted herself with four apples and only a quarter of water in the bottle. She didn’t even dare drink a single drop more. However, her stomach still yearned for more food. Her throat still demands more water. She had to deal with it, it was hopeless to reason otherwise.
“Night’s coming fast, if I can make it to the top with the remaining daylight, I could have a safe spot to sleep for the night and figure out a way back. Maybe I’ll even feel better by tomorrow or better yet, actually find that darn ghost. I deserve to find something after what I’ve gone through…”