Back in Midnight’s world, Twilight and the team are walking amongst the shadows in a field of old abandoned building, with Borris leading the way. “Don’t worry about any Morks in this area,” he says to comfort them, “they usually never patrol this sector of MorksVille, and with most of them in your world, this place is basically a ghost town.” As they continue to head deeper and deeper into the town, Rainbow Dash notices an odd behavior going on with Borris’ slightly clunky movement. He glances back to see her studying his movements and asks, “Is there a problem?”

“Nothing really,” she replies, “I just noticed that your head kind of bobbles from side to side often when you move.”

“Oh really, I did not notice.”

“You should maintain that little tick and yours, it seems to be throwing off your aim and focus.”

“Actually, it’s not quite the reason why I made such a blunder from that ball.”

“Oh. By the way, how did you come up with that anyways?”

“What? The ball?”

“Yeah.”

“My 69th mission, I was a young teenager at that time. Several small tornados were approaching the small beginning settlements of Appleloosa so a group of members and I were assigned to pierce the tornados so they would not cause any damage. We were doing great, even making a small game out of it, but then we discovered that all these small tornados actually originated from a gigantic one producing them. We attempted to group ourselves into one unit and smash the sandstorm, but it was too strong for our small group and we all were scattered inside it. I was the first to regain stability and tried to use the wind’s force to launch me out of the whirling, but I was trapped inside a continuous orbit, not able to build up speed. So I tried to spiral down lower into the skinnier part of it, only to end up pulling a tactical egg, going lower and higher loop by loop. However, I noticed that as I continue to increase my slope of orbit, the tornado would round out more and more. In my final attempt to escape the titan, I circled my body all around the tornado, turning it into a sand ball with my comrades inside. The twister was then unstable enough for me to escape, causing the ball to drop to the ground, releasing a dusty explosion. My fellow ponies were safe and shocked at what I did just then, unable to process what just happened. The Appleloosans also saw this and told me I was blessed with the strength and magic of the Ghost Pony.”

“The what now?”

“You never heard of the Ghost Pony?”

“I have!” Applejack cheers, “my cousins have told me the story many times.”

“Well do you want to tell the story or should I?”

“You should, you seem more like the expositional type.”

“The Ghost Pony is a legend of the deserts; they say that the he was once a fellow pony that was one of the first to settle into the land. Legend goes, The Ghost Pony, known then as Blaze Rider, and his band of twelve older unicorn brothers were on the hunt for gold said to be in the unexplored lands. They mined, day and night, searching for a fortune, only to get angrier and angrier with each other. Many lost their minds, turning against the group and trying to eliminate each other. Blaze kept quiet during these conflicts, but was scarred by the violence and abuse the brothers gave to each other and him. Years later, when only seven brothers remained, while mining, they came across a massive vein of Foal’s Gold, but due to the insanity that build over the years, they believed it was real gold. Blaze’s brothers shoved him into a small dried ravine as they ran back into the mine to collect the gold. Having enough of this torture and wanting the gold to himself, Blaze crawled out of the canyon and pushed a bunch of large boulders at the entrance of the mine. While his brothers continued to dig deeper for more gold, Blaze loaded the covered wagon with as much of his brothers’ gold he could steal and shoved the boulders over the mine entrance, sealing them in. They all died from each other within a week with the only remaining pony of the Rider family being Blaze, but this glory never lasted long. A tornado torched in fire, claimed to be sent by the gods, swept over the land, taking Blaze with it.”

“Wait,” Rainbow interrupts, “why were you supposedly, ‘blessed,’ by this pony?”

“Don’t interrupt the legend and my story isn’t over.”

“Sorry, continue.”

“Instead of killing the unicorn, the flaming tornado burnt off his flesh, his wagon, and his false gold. He looked upon the eye of the tornado and saw the dastardly deeds he did as his eyes turned to dust. When the sandstorm died down, all that was left of Blaze was a skeleton with his soul trapped inside. For decades, the skeleton spirit traveled across the badlands, searching for some reason why he’s this and not suffering for his crimes in Tartarus. Until one day, while looking upon the buried mine in which his brothers lay, he came across an Earth Pony mare being attacked by her six brothers. Seeing that she was almost just like him, at that moment, Blaze knew his destiny, and fire erupted across his bones as his stood between the pink mare and the six stallions looking for a fight. Upon seeing the flaming spirit, the six brothers turned to stone from total shock. The mare then asked for hero’s name after witnessing this selfless act, he turned to her and said, ‘I was once a black-hearted sinner, a killer, but now I am, and forever will be a savior of the desert. I am the Ghost Pony, the Spirit of Redemption.’ With that said, he ran off into the night, off to redeem himself and to this day, they say that he continues to wander the desert, searching for more lost souls to save. After the Appleloosans told me the legend, I decided to name my new trick after the Ghost Pony, the Flaming Rider.”

“You then learned how to levitate and buck the Flaming Rider?”

“It took several field missions, but I did figure out how to fire one with pinpoint accuracy. I was able to hit a tree from over a kilometer away.”

“Then how’d you miss when that giant Spike was mere hooves away?”

“I uh…” Borris stops and shudders frantically, realizing he’s bragged a bit too far.

“What? Something happen?”

“Well, uh,”

“Now Borris,” Gruncle Boris blurts, “that’s enough story time for now, maybe another day.”

“Like two pages worth of story time!” Pinkie Pie cheers,

“Quite Pinkie, let’s rest that voice of yours buddy.”

“Thanks,” Borris whispers into his companion’s ear, “if there’s any story that I don’t want to tell, it’s that one.”

“What?!” Boris yells, “Sorry, my droopy ear’s in the way, something about you liking the Powerhoof Mares?!”

“Wait what?!”

“Gahaha! Gotcha sport. I’m on a roll today, first Twilight and then you.”

“Can you please cut down the joking for now; we’re in the middle of a war zone.”

“Oh bah, you said it yourself, no Mork would be here.”

“Still, it helps to keep ourselves on a low profile on the surface. Moving on,” They then continue on their way deeper into the village. Boris takes several steps back behind Borris and whispers to Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy behind him.

“He’s always like this, enjoying himself for once in a while, only to turn back to his militarian mood and demanding mindset.”

“He seems to be hiding something,” Rarity replies, “he’s like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. And with such a disturbing history, it’s almost unimaginable how bad it could be. For some odd reason, I feel attracted to this,”

“As soon as you get one mystery about him answered, five more showed up,” Fluttershy adds, “Boris, do you know why Major Borris was acting so distant when Rainbow brought up this misfire I keep hearing of. Maybe I can help him out.”

“Well,” Boris hesitates before continuing his reply, “let’s just say some chapters should remain unspoiled until the time is right.”

“Like a plot twist?” Pinkie asks.

“You can say that, but for now, let’s just leave the fellow be, let him have some personal time with Rainbow Dash for now.”

“Wait,” Twilight stampers, “you know that the Rainbow Dash with us isn’t Captain Dash?!”

“The signs seemed a bit too obvious, most recently being that Rainbow not knowing about the Ghost Pony. What happened to Captain Dash anyways?”

“Midnight, she got her.”

“I see, and Borris might be delaying acceptance now,”

“What?”

“Nothing important now, we should just keep this act up for the others till this blows over.”

“Hmm,” Pinkie Pie sighs.

“What?”

“Why do I have an odd feeling of déjà vu all of a sudden, maybe because I’m hungry.”

“And I thought Lieutenant Pie was all over the place…” Back in the front of the group, Borris and Rainbow Dash are chatting with each other with Applejack shortly behind them.

“So Borris,” Rainbow asks, “what was this other me like?”

“To be honest,” he replies, “not that far different than you.”

“Figures,”

“She was a lot stricter and commanding than you, but that’s what war and trauma does to you.”

“Why did you join the AWE in the first place? Didn’t you know what you were going in for?”

“I was given an invitation to join, and considering how young and unknowing I was, I didn’t really see that much peril in for the job.”

“Then why did you keep to the AWE after that second mission?”

“Because after my first mission, I felt a sense of responsibility, a place to call my own, the feeling you get when you’re doing a major part for your country. Even after that second mission, the only thing keeping me from ditching the team was that feeling, and you.”

“Me?”

“After seeing how loyal, how willing you were to go up in the face of odds at such a young age, it inspired me to press on, hoping to become as great as you were.”

“I wasn’t all that special,”

“You were, even to this day, I’ve looked up to your works and feats as a pegasus, striving me to improve and maybe one day be like you.”

“Thanks, it’s good knowing that I’m helping many ponies without me even knowing.” Applejack quickens her pace and taps Rainbow on the shoulder and asks,

“Hey Dash, can I borrow you for a second?”

“Sure, you mind Major?”

“Please,” Borris bashfully replies, “just Borris.” Applejack pulls the pegasus next to her and lags far to the side and the two whisper to each other,

“AJ, what’s up?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Applejack replies, “Borris is into you.”

“Yeah, I’m a great role model and it’s helping our friend be a better leader.”

“No, he likes you.”

“What? Nah, it’s just good old friendship.”

“Oh please, do you honestly think that all that preaching about you is a mere friend to friend pep-talk?”

“Well I’m not the Element of Honesty, but I’m pretty sure that it’s merely mutual,”

“I’ve never seen such emotional ‘mutual’ talk since the last time I’ve seen one of those sappy romance plays.”

“Even if he was into Rainbow Dash, he grew up with Captain Dash, not the other Dash. So quit trying to set up relationships that aren’t even there.”

“Fine, ignorance only gets you so far anyways.” The group come across an enormous object blocking out the already blacken skies.

“Wait a minute,” Twilight speaks, examining the shape of the shadow, “that’s looks just like my old tree.” Upon closer inspection, the alicorn notices the bark and leaves covering the building. “It IS! Guys, it’s the old library before it was destroyed by Tirek!”

“But wait, wouldn’t that make MorksVille,”

“Yes, Ponyville.” Soon, everypony from their originally peaceful world recognizes the old buildings that were once the homes of ponies they knew. “Empress Midnight, what has she done to this place?”

“She destroyed it,” Borris replies, “every building, smashed, robbed, and burnt, all except for the library.”

“Why didn’t she destroy it?”

“Look inside.” They look to see a small pony-sized crack near the roots of the tree, golden light beaming from inside creaks out into the warm gravel outside. Twilight peeks her head inside to see an enormous spiral staircase in the middle of the hollowed tree. She tries to look what the staircase leads to, but due to the wood work and the smog not helping her vision, she can barely make out what’s underneath. “Go on, it’s safe.” Following his orders, Twilight and the others squeeze through the crack and head down the stairs. Golden light showered their faces as Twilight gasps at what she sees in the basement.

“Dear Celestia, Empress Midnight has the largest library I have ever seen!”