Phantom Pony

by Zeprto678


The Box Ghost Appears

After eating some Chocolate Chip Muffins that had finally finished baking, Danny was now following Applejack on a path outside the town of Ponyville. Apparently, the apple pony's family farm was located somewhere on the outskirts of the city. As soon as he heard that, the ghost pony immediately regretted it since that would mean that Danny would have to walk back and forth between the farm and town.

Right now, he was feeling tired from walking for so long. “Are we there yet? My fe-hooves are getting tired,” complained Danny. “Phew. That was a close one. Almost said feet.

The farm pony chuckled. “Dun’t worry there, Danny. We’re almost there like ta last time ya asked,” Applejack explained. “Ya can see it in the distance over yonder.”

The apple pony looked ahead, causing the ghost pony to follow her gaze. In the distance was a farm with rows and rows of apple trees as far as the eye can see.

He looked impressed and amazed. “Whoa. So many apple trees,” said Danny.

She smiled. “Yeah, an’ ya’ll be helpin’ buck ‘em too,” said Applejack.

Danny stopped trotting, surprised. “Wait, wait, wait. Hold on,” he said. 

The apple pony stopped trotting and turned around to face the ghost pony.

“Did you say ‘buck’? As in, ‘kick backwards with my hooves’?” asked Danny.

She nodded. “Ya-huh,” confirmed Applejack.

He then pointed at the trees. “At those trees?” asked the ghost pony.

“Ta git all of the apples to fall inta the baskets,” the apple pony informed.

Every single one?” asked Danny, in disbelief. 

He was starting to regret choosing to live with Applejack.

“Just the ones yer able ta clear before the day is up. Ya also be helpin’ around the farm doin’ chores too,” she informed.

The ghost pony was regretting it even more.

“Now, come on. We’re burnin’ daylight, an’ ah want to introduce ya to mah family since ya will be livin’ with us fer a while,” said the apple pony. 

She continued on down the road, leaving the ghost pony dumbfounded.

Danny was really regretting his descision now. “I should’ve chosen to stay at the library. I could have read those comic books that that dragon had,” thought the ghost pony. He sighed. “Too late to switch now.

The ghost pony reluctantly and begrudgingly followed after Applejack.


Few Minutes Later

They arrived at a farm house. There, sitting on the porch in a rocking chair was an old mare.

“Hay there, Granny Smith. Ah'd like ya ta meet Danny,” said the apple pony. “He’s stayin’ over at the farm temporarily and helpin’ with the chores until his friends come ta git ‘em. Ya don’t mind, do ya?”

She smiled. “Ah dun mind at all, Applejack. We do have an extra room fer ‘em to stay in,” said Granny Smith. The old mare looked at Danny. “Nice ta meet ya there, dearie. ”

He smiled. “Nice to meet you too,” said the ghost pony.

“Where’s Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom?” asked Applejack.

“Yer big brother finished applebuckin' a while ago an’ is inside havin' a drink, an’ as fer yer little sis, she left a while after ya did,” she informed. “She went off ta go hang out with her friends to try and git their Cutie Marks again.” The old mare chuckled. “Those three will probably end up covered in tree sap again.”

Hearing that made the apple pony frown. “Ah hope that filly finished all of her chores. Ah told her that she couldn't play with her friends till she's done,” said Applejack.

“Knowin' that filly, she did all of her chores so you wouldn't git mad at her later,” said Granny Smith.

Her frown lifted a little. “We'll see,” said Applejack.

Suddenly, the house door opened, and in trotted a big, red-colored stallion. He was bigger and taller than all of them.

Danny was flabbergasted. “Whoa!” shouted the ghost pony. “What do they feed him to make him so big?!

“Hay, Big McIntosh. Ah’m goin’ to see if Apple Bloom did a good job on all of her chores,” the apple pony informed. “Can ya guide mah new friend Danny here ta the guest room? He’ll be stayin’ with us fer a while.”

Big McIntosh nodded. “Eeyup,” said the red stallion.

She looked at Danny. “Ah'll see ya in a little while, an’ then ah’ll give ya the grand tour of the farm,” Applejack informed. 

The ghost pony nodded. “Sure thing,” he said.

The apple pony smiled and headed for the barn.

Danny looked up at Big McIntosh, a nervous smile on the ghost pony’s face. “Um, I'm Danny. Nice to meet you there, Big McIntosh,” he greeted.

“Likewise,” responded the red stallion. “Follow me.” 

Big McIntosh then started trotting back into the house, and Danny followed after him. After trotting up the stairs and past a few rooms, the two arrived at another room. The red stallion opened the door, revealing a room that had a bed, table, bedside table with a lamp on top, and a dresser. It even had a window that had a view of the forest.

“Homey,” said the ghost pony. “And not even a single tv, phone, computer, or video game console in sight. This is going to be a fun stay here in pony town.

“Eeyup,” agreed Big McIntosh.

Danny looked at him with a grin. “You’re a pony of few words, huh?” asked the ghost pony, joking.

That made the red stallion smile. “Eeyup,” said Big McIntosh, joking.

The two of them laughed for a while, but then Danny’s stomach interrupted them.

GROOOWLLL!!!

Realizing that the sound came from his own stomach made the ghost pony blush out of embarrassment.

“Want somethin’ ta eat?” offered the red stallion.

Danny nodded at his offer. Even though the ghost pony had some muffins, he hadn't eaten dinner yet, so he was kind of still hungry. “Sounds good,” said Danny. 

The ghost pony followed Big McIntosh to the kitchen. If the two of them had looked down at a distance, they would have noticed that underneath the end of the bed, cloaked in its shadow, there was some sort of long, cylindrical object with some sort of half-hoop on top on its left side.


Meanwhile at the Library

Twilight was reading a letter that she had received from Princess Celestia. It was responding to the letter that smart pony sent to her teacher about the alicorn ghost and asking if there were any spells that could help them catch ghosts.

Twilight sighed sadly.

Spike was cleaning when he heard the sigh. “Something wrong, Twilight?” asked the dragon kid, concerned.

“Princess Celestia said that while there are sealing spells, it might be impossible to seal the alicorn ghost away. Even if we were to use magic, we might not be able to hold the ghost once it escapes by becoming intangible and disappearing,” the smart pony informed. “And since it’s an alicorn, its magic will be powerful. A battle with it might end up destroying Ponyville, so the princess suggests that we talk it out with him first and try to become friends. If a battle does indeed happen, she wants us to get the alicorn far away from Ponyville. The princess will help us if it comes to that.”

The dragon kid was surprised. “Whoa,” he said.

Suddenly, the sound of screaming and things crashing into the ground. She and Spike looked at each other before galloping, or running in the dragon kid’s case, towards the door. The door was slammed open by the smart pony’s magic as the two came out of the library.

Twilight was shocked at the sight, but then she snapped out of it. “What's going on around here?!” exclaimed the smart pony.

There were some ponies that were galloping around, screaming as boxes were floating in the air with an eerie, blue glow surrounding them, while others were hiding, scared. Some of the boxes smashed into the ground, spooking the ponies.

“What’s going on around here?!” Twilight repeated even louder.

Then, all of a sudden, Rainbow Dash crashed into the ground, looking battered, causing the smart pony and Spike to gasp. 

“Rainbow Dash, are you okay?!” asked Twilight, concerned.

The smart pony’s horn glowed with a magic aura. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash’s entire body was surrounded by Twilight’s magic. The rainbow pony was lifted off of the ground and placed onto her hooves. After that, the magic aura disappeared. 

Rainbow Dash brushed herself off. “Yeah. Nothing can stop Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash,” reassured the rainbow pony, confident.

“Rainbow Dash, what’s going on around here? Why’s everyone screaming?” asked the dragon kid. “And why are there boxes floating in the air?”

She frowned. “Seems like there’s a ghost in Ponyville,” the rainbow pony informed.

The smart pony became worried. “Is it the alicorn prince?” asked Twilight.

“Nope. A different one,” answered Rainbow Dash.

Before either one of the two could ask her what she meant, they were interrupted by an evil laugh. The three looked up to see a pony floating in the air.

“Fear me, for I am the Box Ghost! Master of all things square and box-like!” exclaimed the ghost worker pony. 

The dragon gasped again, and then pointed at the Box Ghost. “It’s another ghost pony!” exclaimed Spike.

The rainbow pony chuckled while giving off a grin. “Don’t worry, Spike. I’ve got this,” reassured Rainbow Dash.

But before she could even fly off into the air to go fight the blue ghost, Rainbow Dash was held in place by the smart pony’s magic.

“Hey! Let go of me, Twilight!” shouted the rainbow pony.

“Sorry Rainbow Dash, but I need you to go find the others. We need all the help we can get,” she informed. “Me and Spike will stay here and distract the ghost.”

“What?! But-” Rainbow started but was quickly interrupted.

“There’s not much time, Rainbow Dash. Hurry,” said Twilight.

The smart pony released her magic from the rainbow pony. 

She grumbled. “Fine, but if you two are in any trouble, I'll come right back in an instant,” said Rainbow Dash, serious tone.

“Fine. Just go,” said Twilight.

The rainbow pony flew off quickly, leaving the smart pony and the dragon kid alone with the Box Ghost.

He laughed. “A horse with wings and a plastic horn, and a pipsqueak lizard. This will be easy,” said the ghost worker pony, confident.

What the Box Ghost said had insulted Twilight and Spike.

“I am not a horse with wings and a plastic horn! I'm a unicorn with wings!” she shouted. 

“I'm not a pipsqueak!” he shouted.

The ghost worker pony didn't care though. “Now, it's time for you to fear, tremble, and most importantly, cower at my power!” shouted the Box Ghost.

Tons of boxes had appeared and started to levitate behind him. The smart pony hoped that Rainbow Dash gets back with the others fast enough.


Meanwhile at Sweet Apple Acres

Danny had just finished off a slice of apple pie and a glass of apple juice. 

He happily sighed. “Ahh. That hit the spot,” said the ghost pony.

Granny Smith was at the stove, cooking, while getting some assistance from the red stallion. “Glad ya liked it, dearie, cause dinner will be ready in a few hours,” she informed. “We'll be havin' mashed potatoes, green beans, vegetable stew, biscuits, and some apple dumplings.”

Danny was both impressed as all of it sounded good, but was kind of sad as there wouldn't be any meat.

Great. The one place I end up in the Ghost Zone that doesn't have any meat is a town full of vegetarian ponies,” thought the ghost pony. “If Sam was here, she'd love this place. As for Tucker, he'd freak out and want to get out of here as soon as possible, especially since they don’t have the tech that he likes.” He got up from the seat and carried each of the dishes into the sink before heading for the door. As soon as the ghost pony opened the door, he then realized something. “Wait a minute. I've only been a pony for a little while, so how have I been picking up and grabbing things easily without a problem?

Danny's train of confused thought was interrupted as the ghost pony then heard Applejack's voice. He looked ahead to see the rainbow pony talking with her while flying in the air sporting a face of urgency. Feeling concerned, the ghost pony trotted over to them. Oncein range, he was able to hear what the apple pony just said to Rainbow Dash.

Applejack was confused, but wanted to make sure that the rainbow pony wasn’t being mistaken. “Slow down there, Dash. Now, what are ya sayin' about some kind of pony callin’ himself the ‘Box Ghost’?” she said.

As soon as the ghost pony heard those two words, he stopped, shocked. “The Box Ghost?! That moron is here too?!” thought Danny. “I have to help them out somehow before he causes even more trouble.” The ghost pony continued to trot over to them until he was eventually noticed by the two.

“Howdy there, Danny. Did ya see the room?” asked the apple pony.

Danny smiled. “Yeah. It was quite…homey,” he said, while thinking the last part to himself. “Anyway, I heard you say ‘Box Ghost’? What’s up with that?”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah. Dash was sayin’ somethin’ about how there’s another ghost, but the rest ah couldn’t follow since-” The apple pony looked at her. “-somepony was talkin’ too fast for me ta follow,” she said. “Now, repeat what ya said before but not too fast.”

Rainbow Dash gave off a frustrated sigh. “There’s a new ghost in Ponyville calling himself the Box Ghost’ and is going around attacking everypony with boxes. Twilight and Spike are distracting him while I’m getting the others to help out,” explained the rainbow pony. “I came here to get your help as well.”

The apple pony, now understanding, had a determined expression on her face as Applejack remembered that her little sister, Apple Bloom, was in Ponyville right now, which meant that the filly, plus her friends, were in danger.

“Got ya’,” said the apple pony. She looked at the ghost pony. “Stay here at the farm with mah family, Danny. Ah’ll be back later to help mah friends out an’ find mah little sis while ah’m there.” Then, Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash. “Let’s git goin’, Dash.”

The two then galloped, or in the rainbow pony’s case, fly, away towards the town.

He watched the two leaving. “I hate to say this, but they’re only going to end up getting hurt if they go against the Box Ghost. Especially since he’s not that terrifying or hard to beat,” thought Danny. “I know that I’m going to have a hard time dealing with both them and the Box Ghost, while trying to control my powers, but, I’d better go help them before it’s too late.

The ghost pony then galloped away towards the barn. Once he was inside it, Danny checked to see if the cost was clear.

The ghost pony smiled, seeing that no one was inside. “Perfect,” he said. “I'm going ghost!”

Danny transformed into his ghost form.

“Now then, time to fly…” said the ghost pony, looking in the direction of the town. Then, Danny looked worried. “Oh man, I have a feeling that I’m going to end up feeling pretty sore after this is all over, but a hero’s work is never done, even if I’m not known in this part of the Ghost Zone.”

The ghost pony concentrated really hard while focusing on his powers. After a while, Danny opened his eyes to find himself floating in the air.

“Yes! I did it!” cheered the ghost pony. “Now, to Ponyville.”

Danny flew out of the barn, in the direction of the town.