A warm gush of wind flowed through Applejack’s fur, the first thing Applejack felt. She was returning to her senses. As she awoke and opened her feather-weight eyes, a golden gradient of white and dark blue filled her vision. It was the horizon, transitioning from black to morning.
A small tingly feeling could be felt all across her body. In her knees, her back hoof, and her belly, everything felt odd. Memories returned of every torture she went through yesterday. Her throat promptly turned dry and her stomach rumbled on cue. The mare groaned in irritation to her body and slowly lifted her head from the dusty rock where it rested. Her mind retraced what has happened to her as she stretched, up to the point where she was on the plateau looking up at the night sky.
A sharp pain in her head interrupted her thoughts.
“Ow, my head…” She moaned.
A stallion’s voice replied behind her, “Figures. You nearly died after hallucinating for a good couple of minutes.”
Applejack leapt forward in fright and turned around to the voice, ready for a fight. However, all she saw was a stallion, plain and simple. He was slightly larger than her, draped head to hoof in black clothing. She’s unable to see what he looks like underneath because of the darkness of the night and the shadowy clothing he wears on him. The only thing she could actually identify was a water flask by his flank.
He was standing only a few centimeters from where she slept.
“Wh-who are you?” AJ asked.
“Name’s not important. Just refer to me as the stallion that saved your life.” The stallion humbly replied.
“What are you? The Ghost Pony, I presume?”
“The Ghost Pony?”
A dry chuckle belted out as the mysterious stallion’s body shivered in laughter. It was like an old pony, hearing his grandkid say the darndest thing.
“They still use that name for-haha! I would’ve thought they’d change it by now…” He said, giddy.
“So, are you him?” Applejack asked.
“Well, that depends. Do you want me to be him?”
“What does that mean? Are you the legendary Ghost Pony or not?”
“What gives you the idea that I am the Ghost Pony?”
“I don’t know, you did save my life.”
“Hahaha!”
“What’s so funny now?”
“Can’t a pony do some good these days and not be labeled a ghost? If that’s the case, most ponies be better off dead than alive-HA!”
“Quit makin’ fun of me! You just seem to come out of nowhere and rescued me for no reason. The most logical conclusion is that you are him.”
“Logic huh? Trying to tackle paranormal ideals, or any ideals of that matter, with logic? What a laugh. If I was a logical pony at this here point, I could very simply kill you in this weak and pathetic state, take all of your valuables, and none would be the wiser. The world isn’t a very logical place, my dear.” The elderly stallion explained.
“Well, fine, I can see it like that. But if you aren’t the Ghost Pony, what are you even doing here in the first place?” Applejack asked, still as perplexed as ever.
“What are you doing out here, if you’re not the Ghost Pony?”
“Looking for him.”
“Why?”
“I have my reasons that you don’t need to put your nose into. How about you?”
“It’s a long story. Let’s just say that I have some unfinished business to take care of out here, I’m tied to this here land so to speak.”
“What business?”
“Helping idiots like you not die out here for one.”
“Excuse me? What gives you the gall to call me an idiot?”
“Well for starters, the shoddy work on your preparations. How long did you plan on staying out here?”
“A day and a night.”
“Are you serious? With this setup, I expected an hour or two at most.”
“Look who’s calling the kettle black. I don’t see any fancy schmancy gear on you except for that little canister on your flank.”
“I understand my strengths. I’ve never really needed much food or water. I’ve grown used to the barren desert so to speak. Want some water?”
“Really? After insulting me, you’re expecting me to just take your generosity?”
“Well, if you want to be dehydrated for the rest of your time here, be my guest.”
“…Fine...”
An orange red aura glowed around the black canteen on the stranger’s body and begins to hover towards the orange pony. The lid unscrewed as the water canister is caught in Applejack’s hooves. It was very warm on touch, like it was protected by the night cold. She lifted the metal canteen to her lips, and water poured into her system. It was also warm, but Applejack didn’t mind. Her body rejuvenated and her mind started to clear up for once.
After finishing, AJ realized she downed the whole thing.
She tried to apologize, “Sorry I drank the whole thing, I just,”
“It’s fine.” The stallion replied, dismissing her apology. “You’ll need every drop if you’re going to make it back to that town alive.”
“Appeloosa?”
“That’s the name of the town? I see.”
“Well, do you mind pointing to me the right direction?”
“Sure, it’s Southeast from ‘ere, a bit more to the south.”
“…”
“You have a compass with you, it won’t be that hard to find.”
“…”
“Are you saying that you don’t know how to work the thing?” The stallion asked.
“…Yes…” AJ silently answered, humiliated.
“Gah, idiot…”
The black figure lifted a hoof to the right of Applejack’s head.
“That way. About a four hour walk in your condition. Not a hoof left nor a hoof right.” He said.
“Thanks.” Applejack replied.
“Is that all?” He asked.
“Could I get a lift, my hooves are-Wait a moment…”
Applejack quickly snapped her head to her knees, finding them barely scarred. It was as if her previous injuries vanished overnight.
“How did you even-” She started to ask, only to be immediately answered.
“A lot of things can be accomplished with a little bit of magic and secrets of the desert.”
“Okay…”
“Just don’t strain yourself, I’m not too sure if I was able to get rid of all of the glass in your hoof and heal it, so take caution. There also maybe some snake poison still in ya.”
“Okay. Thanks again. Seeing as you’re not the Ghost Pony, I won’t bother you and leave you be.”
“Who said I wasn’t the Ghost Pony?”
“So you are?!”
“Who said I was?”
“Hey! Are you or are you not? It’s that simple of a question.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Why do you have to keep it so secret?”
“I don’t know, maybe you want to exorcise me if I am him or rob me if I’m not. It’s that simple of a question.”
“Grr…”
Applejack grinded her teeth in frustration, now being trapped in a questions game that was impossible to escape from. They only way out was to just be honest and spew everything.”
“…Fine. My brother and sister back home were fighting over whether or not the Ghost Pony exists or not, so I set off to find the answer, come back home, tell them the truth, and finally get some decent sleep as part of our deal.”
“I see…”
“Can you please just answer my question?”
“I could, but would you actually believe my answer?”
“Oh my… Enough of these riddles! Can’t you just give me a straight answer?!”
“Sure I can, but what’s to make you think that your kin will believe in ya? What’s to make ya think that you’re not just hallucinating at this point and that what you just drank was your own urine?”
“Well, I…”
“You believe?”
“Well…”
“Your brother and sister can believe whatever they want, you can’t fight that.”
“Then what am I going to say to them when I get home? Any smart ideas?”
“I’ve always had trouble with... sibling problems. Never been my strong suit. Maybe I can’t help you with your siblings, but maybe I can help you with your sleeping problems. How do you sleep at night? Are you comfortable, cozy, no nightmares?”
“I have a nice bed, and life back home is safe, so I have nothing to really have any bad dreams about.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, from what I can tell during your little trip several hours ago, I could hear you mumbling to yourself about something you might have done in the past. Something you regret is haunting you both at night and day it seems. Actually, on closer inspection… maybe two things…”
“I rest assure you, I was just tired.”
“…You seem like an honest pony, I can see it in your eyes. I can see that you would rarely ever lie to anypony. However, from what I see, you lie to yourself with your pride, and you buy it.”
“No, I don’t. I am completely hundred-bonified-percent honest with everypony including myself. And what gives you the authority to tell me what’s real or not?”
“You’re right, I don’t have the authority. And yet, you still give me it.”
“Well maybe I’ll stop it and be on my way.”
“You won’t, you need to give me authority. ‘Cause inside, you know that something’s wrong, and I am the only pony you feel that can help you.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m just an old stallion in the deep desert that can’t tell anythin’ humilitatin’ to anypony and knows a few healing tricks. Even if ‘ain’t logical, it true.”
“…”
“I know how you feel, I’ve been there. I know how it felt to have dark memories haunt you for days and nights, maybe even years. But I never had a shoulder to cry on and accept what had happened, and it took me a near eternity to come to terms. Let me be your shoulder. I don’t want you to suffer.”
“W-Why? What did you do?”
“Committed a few crimes, murder, robbery. Nowadays I’ve managed to get over it and move on.”
“How did you feel?”
“I was pretty much good as dead during those times of my crimes. Considering you have a family, and are not a lone-wolf like me, I see it best you get on your hooves as soon as possible. Tell me what happened. Please.”
“Well, if you really want to know… fine.”
Applejack lied down onto her belly, followed by the stallion.
“…” The stallion was perfectly silent.
“Eight-nine months ago, a couple of friends and I went on this sort-of adventure. We were chasing a pirate that stole something valuable from us, Korsan. He had this… thing, where he thought pegasi and Earth ponies were inferior.”
“Sounds like a logic-bonehead.” The stallion commented, only to return immediately to silence.
“He was going to go on this killing spree if we didn’t stop him. However, on the way, I found myself… seeing things from his perspective. I was tempted by fear. I joined his team. I didn’t do anything! Let’s make that clear. I rejoined my friends, and we beat and stopped him. But still, if my friends didn’t talk sense into me, I might’ve done something terrible.”
“And you fear that you could slip back, that you’re hopelessly inevitable to slip into the same trap.”
“Celestia, what would my parents think of me?” Applejack silently cried.
The two stayed silent for half of an hour. Applejack was unable to speak. The stallion stared into the stars, with no pony alive to see what was going through his mind.
“They’re gone, aren’t they?” The stallion asked suddenly.
“Huh?”
“Your folks, Mom and Dad, they’re gone, right?”
“Mmhmm,” Applejack nodded.
“Your parents, what were they like?”
Applejack’s eyes start to water a small bit as memories of her parents ran through her mind.
“Well, my dad and mom ran a farm back in our town. They weren’t all that famous, but they did have an easy life raising us.” Applejack said.
“I mean, what were they like themselves. What were their souls? How did they treat each other and you?” He asked.
“I don’t really remember that well. I wouldn’t be able to give a good description for ya.”
“Still, I want to hear.”
“My father was a little cynical, and my mother was always a bit clingy to us. But overall, it was all in good love for me and my kin, like all parents, you know.”
“…”
“Right?” Applejack asked the stallion.
“…”
He was deathly quiet. Applejack gasped, worried she offended him.
“I’m so-”
“Don’t bother, you didn’t know.” He sharply replied. “In truth, I never really did know my parents that well. My father, he died in the coal mines back in the day, a common yet very unfortunate event, they said.”
“And your mother? If you don’t mind,”
“She also worked in the coal mines, even shortly after giving birth to me and my kin. My mother, she’d always break up the small quarrels me and my siblings had when we were foals. I’m still surprised she was able to both manage work and us for however long she lasted.”
“What do you mean?”
“While my siblings and I were still very young, she died of sickness, most likely from the mines. It’s an extremely common thing to happen, but tough nonetheless.”
“Oh… I’m so sorry for ya, not know what having a pa and ma feels like.”
“Don’t worry yourself over it. You have far more important things at hoof. You have a pair of dark shadows above you.”
Applejack hesitated a moment before talking.
She said, “…It was a long time ago when my parents died. Shortly after my younger sister was born, they simply up-and-vanished from our lives. We were devastated, all of us. However, we came to terms to it, and lived life as normal.”
“…Hm.” The stallion simply huffed.
“What do you mean, ‘hm’?”
“’Up-and-vanished’, aye? Sounds a bit vague,”
“I don’t like talking about it.”
“I wonder why.”
“It’s private.”
“It shames you.”
“No, it don’t.”
“It do, same as Korsan. Stop lyin’.”
“How? How does it?”
“You blame yourself.”
“…W-what?”
“You were quite young when your parents left. You were confused, and blamed yourself for their deaths. You’ve held onto these emotions for years it seems, destroying you from the insides. From what I see of you now, you have built a wall, a barrier of pride and stubbornness, not allowing anypony past and interfere with your life. If you let anypony in, they’d be surely destroyed.”
“I-I just don’t want anypony to get hurt due to me. I’m not guilty. I didn’t murder them in cold blood or anything!”
“But you feel responsible for them.”
“…Yeah. I-I just think I could’ve done something. But no, I just let it happen. It was my fault.”
“You are no murderer. You never intended to kill, not with your parents nor that Korsan stallion. Me on the other hoof, ha… I’ve killed with intent. I practically am a murderer. To make matters worse, I knew the ponies and the families I had destroyed much more than you knew your own kin. Suffering in Tartarus is what my fate should be at this point. My life of innocence ended a long time ago. Miss...”
The black figure gently grabbed the mare’s messy blonde mane with his hoof and lifted her face from the ground. Even though she couldn’t see them, Applejack could tell his eyes were looking into hers.
“Things happen.” He said. “Either it be by our own design or by our own mistakes, thing happen. Both can be devastating, and can leave a lasting negative impression on your life. However, there are millions of solutions to you problem. You can either label yourself a criminal and shame yourself as such, or, you can accept what had happened and better yourself upon these experiences.”
“How do I do that?” Applejack asked.
“Your parents are dead, and there’s nothing you could do about it. How they died was by mistake, you were never truly guilty for it. And you didn’t deal any punches for Korsan. You probably dealt the finishing blow with hooves like that.”
“But I still-”
“Shut up, you didn’t intend to kill your parents. You didn’t intend to go on a genocide route. What happened was a mistake in judgement. Was it a mistake?”
“Well, yes. But still,”
“But still what? You have no room to blame yourself. However, that doesn’t mean you’re scot-free. There is still a lesson to be learned here. If you were to replay them moments of your life once more, what would’ve you done different?”
“I’d-”
“You figured it out already, haven’t you? No need to tell me.”
“…”
“Listen. Don’t be wrapped up in whatever you’re trying to prove and listen to your folk. You not listening is the reason why you’re out here in the first place without having enough knowledge to prepare yourself. Your life is still young and innocent, don’t destroy it over your own fear or pride.”
“I guess you’re right. I think I do need to break those barriers, listen to other ponies, and let them help me through my problems.”
“Correct.”
“So, did you learn anything from your experiences?” Applejack asked.
“Quite frankly, I never truly did learn anything, not way back when, not now. I’m still figuring it out, it’s complicated, to say the least. I’m hoping that on my road to redemption, I can learn from the ponies I’ve helped and find a way to better myself from the crimes I committed o-so long ago…” The stallion replied, looking back to the stars.
At this point, Applejack had stopped her sobbing and was now only sniffling off a few more tears.
“You already have, based on what I have heard. You’ve gone from a criminal to a hero, how is that not bettering yourself?” Applejack asked.
“That’s mighty kind of you to say, Miss,” He replied.
“Applejack, call me Applejack.”
“Applejack, thank you for the compliment, but I’m afraid that I’m not quite there yet to fully fixin’ myself.”
“What do ya mean?”
“Let’s just say I haven’t moved on yet. I still have some loose ends to tie up, still gotta find my path.”
“Well, good luck on that, Mister…”
“Eldur, just call me Eldur, or the Ghost Pony if you so desperately want.”
“Eldur, that’s quite a unique name, I like it.”
“Haha, I’m glad you think so.”
“So, where again to I go?”
Once again, the stranger lifted his hoof in the same direction he did before.
“Not a hoof left-” He said.
“Not a hoof right.” Applejack finished.
“Catch on quickly, I see.”
“So wait, before I go, I just want to know. Are you truly the Ghost Pony? And can you please just give me a straight answer? A lot has happened over the past hour.”
“The funny thing is…”
“Oh dear-”
“The funny thing is, there isn’t really a Ghost Pony. Sure, you got your sand monsters, your spirits and ghouls, your despair-inspiring demon, but no ultimate ‘Ghost Pony’. The Ghost Pony these days is more of a title that the good ponies of these here deserts badge themselves with. The Ghost Pony is seen as a positive influence to all, and the good ponies that travel under his name make up that influence.
“So I guess, by definition, I am the Ghost Pony. Now, whether or the ‘original’ one, being the flaming skeleton Ghost Pony, exists or not… In this crazy type of world we live in, one with so much magic and mystery, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were amongst us at this very moment.”
“I guess so. Thank you for everything, I’m not sure how I’ll be able to repay you.”
“You don’t need to, Applejack. Thank you for letting me help you despite our past quarrels. Have a safe travel back.”
“I will, Mr. Eldur. Oh wait!”
Applejack hopped onto her hooves and dashed to her saddlebags. She poked her head into them in search for the last two apples she had.
“Let me give you an apple, I have two so we can share one each!” She said.
Applejack’s eyes finally set on the pair of red fruits and she picked them up with her mouth. Lifting her head from the bag and turning back to where Eldur was standing, the mare found that he has disappeared without a trace. Dropping the apples in shock, Applejack looked around frantically, searching for her new friend.
“Eldur? Where are you?” She asked.
A bright light pierced the corner of her eye, causing her to wince. She turned to see the sun rising from the horizon, beaming its early rays of morning.
“Is he… No, I’m going to have to think about it later. For now, I better head back home as he suggested.”
“Good luck, Applejack…” A faint whisper echoed in the morning breeze.