“He is real!”

“Nope.”

“He is! The Ghost Pony does exist!”

“Nope. There is no such thing as some flaming-skeleton-ghost thing.”

“Big Mac, if it’s in this here book, then it is real!”

“Applebloom, don’t be ridiculous, that book probably states that the world is flat as well. It’s older than Granny for Pete’s sake.”

“So what if it’s old, it’s true!”

“Nope.”

The bickering between two siblings downstairs echoes throughout the home in which they stand in, reaching all the way upstairs and into a third sibling’s ears. What was supposed to be a peaceful sleep-in for the orange mare, soon turned into another rude awakening by something caused by her siblings. With a heavy yawn and a brief stretch, the mare exits from her soft bed on the second floor. She then slowly walks down to where the fighting is taking place in the living room.

Another yawn exits the orange pony’s mouth before she speaks upon confronting the arguing siblings, “What is going on down here?”

“Applejack,” the older brother greets her, “Would you kindly explain to Applebloom that whatever this ghost pony is is most certainly not real.”

“Big ‘sis,” the younger sister retorts, “Would you kindly explain to Big Mac that he is real and admit that I was right.”

“Nope.”

“I wasn’t asking you!”

“The Ghost Pony?” Applejack replies in confusion, still tired from her abrupt stir. “How the hay did you hear about the Ghost Pony you two? I know this story, and it is not one you should know at this age Applebloom.”

“This old book I found on a shelf.” The young filly retreats around a corner into the hallway and quickly comes back, holding the book in her mouth. It was old and dirty brown, with several rips and tears to be found upon every inch of the large book. The pages appeared to be not made from this time, but from a time centuries ago.

“Historic Tales of the Appeloosan Desert… I see.”

“How about you read it to us?”

“Yeah,” Big McIntosh adds, “I haven’t actually read it, but based on what Applebloom’s been spouting to me for the past few minutes, there’s no way it’s real.”

“Okay,” Applejack moans, “if it means quieting you two down and letting me go back to sleep, I’ll do it.” The yellow filly gently places the old book down and opens it to the beginning page of the legend. Applejack clears her throat and begins to read out loud;

“The legend of the Ghost Pony begins one hundred years after the fabled banishment of the queen of the night, when the city lands had become stricken with poverty throughout. When rumors of treasures hidden in the distant sands began to rose after early explorers entered the deserts of the South, it spreaded like wildfire in every direction imaginable. At this time, a poor mare gave birth to thirteen black sickly unicorns, the youngest of these children being Blaze Rider, and this is his story. Having their father died in the mines shortly after the twelve brothers were born, the young Rider Brothers had to work in the coal mines while their sick mother slowly died away. The brothers constantly fought one another, but their mother was there before they killed each other.

However, before the first born brother could get his first tooth, their mother passed away as well, leaving them by themselves in the untamed world of city life. Without a guide to break up their fights, they were quickly fired from the mines, leaving the thirteen unemployed and homeless. One by one, the unicorns turned to a life of crime, with only Blaze keeping to his mother’s words of righteousness and loyalty. The rumors of treasure in the desert soon hit the town and the brothers took this opportunity and went out on the hunt for riches in the unexplored lands. They headed towards Stampeding Mesa and began to mine there, using their prior experience as fillies.

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 remaining brothers shoved him into a small dried ravine as they ran back into the mine to collect the gold. For an entire week, the poor unicorn starved and dehydrated in his prison, trying to find a way out. Finally, having enough of this torture and wanting the gold to himself, Blaze mustered all his might and 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. But instead of killing the unicorn, the flaming tornado burnt off his flesh, his wagon, and his Foal’s Gold. He looked upon the eye of the tornado and saw the dastardly deed 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 night, a hundred years later, while looking upon the buried mine in which his brothers lay, he came across a group of settler ponies. He witnesses as a pink Earth pony mare being attacked by her six brothers and noticing a pair of wooden coffins in the back of the wagon. Seeing that she was just like him, hundreds of years ago, at that moment, Blaze knew his destiny, and fire erupted across his bones as his charged at the confrontation, looking for a fight. Blaze stood between the mare and the attackers and upon seeing the flaming spirit, the six brothers turned to stone from total shock. The mare then asked for the 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. A pony that shall smite the wicked and provide the light of which I lacked. I am the Ghost Pony, the Spirit of Redemption.’ With that said, he ran off into the sunrise, off to redeem himself and to this day, they say that he continues to wander the desert, searching for more lost souls to save. They say that if you look upon Stampeding Mesa at the final hours of night, you’d have a slim chance of seeing the red glow of the Ghost Pony, running into the East and beyond the horizon…”

“There,” the orange Earth pony announces, “y’all happy now?”

“Yep…” The red stallion replies, “Now I know for certain that this is fiction.”

“What?!” Applebloom exclaims.

“He doesn’t die from a flaming tornado after having his flesh burnt off. How does that sound real? I had a higher chance to believing your rambles before actually knowing the story.”

“It’s magic.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Big ‘sis, you said you knew this story before us. You think he’s real right?”

“Watch Applebloom, Applejack’s going to side with me on this one… Right?”

“Well…” Applejack hesitates for a moment before finishing, “I don’t really know.”

“C’mon Applejack, does it even sound remotely real to you?”

“Well, it could happen, strange things always come about here in Equestria. And I’m not the brightest filly in Equestria, so I’m not sure if there is this type of magic.”

“I can rest assure you, he is not real.”

“He is too!” Applebloom pipes.

“Nope!”

“Yep!”

“Nope!”

“Yep!”

“Nope!”

“Quiet you two!” Applejack screams, immediately silencing the two siblings. “Tell you what. How about I go out and try and find the Ghost Pony? I’ll spend an entire day and night searching for him, and if I can’t find a single hint of his existence, then he’s not real. Then, will you two stop fighting?!”

“Wait, Applejack, you sure you know what you’re getting into?”

“What do you mean?”

“The desert’s a very dangerous place. There’s a high risk that you’ll get lost, or even worse.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Venomous snakes, bandits, heat, dehydration, quicksand…”

“They’re just fictional Wild West tropes. The chances of me encountering any of that stuff would be one in a million. And besides, I would probably take care of them easy if I even came across it.”

“I’m just saying, I don’t want you to get hurt out there.”

“If it means hushing you two for once in a while and giving me some actually sleep for once, then I’ll take whatever risk.”

“Can I come with ya?” Applebloom asks, “Maybe I can get my cutie mark in something havin’ to do with explorin’, ghost huntin’, or somethin’ like that.”

“Sorry ‘sis. But it is fairly dangerous despite what I’ve made it sound like. And besides, you’ll need to cover for my work while I’m gone.”

“Aww, drat.”

“That reminds me. When Granny wakes up, don’t tell her that I’ve left to wander around the desert. Say that I went on some ‘royal errand’ to Canterlot or something like that.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see y’all the next day. Goodbye.” Big Mac and Applebloom nod in compliance and go outside for their chores. Meanwhile, Applejack rushes back upstairs into her room and begins to pack her saddlebags. Searching around the fairly large bedroom, the orange mare sifts through her things and places what she thinks she’ll need into her saddlebag. Five bottles of fresh water, ten apples, a brush, a mirror, a compass, a half-empty bottle of sunblock, an old magazine, the old book, her diary, a quill, a small bottle of ink, a puzzle block, a lamp, some oil in a glass bottle, and a small collection of random objects to help pass the time, all now tightly stuffed into her bags. After finishing her packing, Apple notices that her light green bags are about to burst from their seams, but she shrugs it off, considering how long they’ve been in her possession and having an educated guess on how much they would carry. “That should do it.”

With a swift motion of her hips and tail, Applejack slides the saddlebags onto her back. Immediately, the full feeling of the weight rushes through her spine and nearly causes her to collapse. However, Applejack is quick to recover and slowly exits her home, grabbing her iconic hat from the coat hanger on the way out. Walking along the dirt trail from Sweet Apple Acres to the main town, Applejack looks to the fields of apple trees to her left to see Big Mac and Applebloom bucking at them, already hard at work. She then looks back to her house to get one last look at the giant red barn she calls home.

With the barn now long gone and the town just before her, Applejack begins to make her way to the train station at the far side of the village. Along the way, she manages to catch a glimpse of each of her friends along the way. She spots Rainbow Dash busting clouds above in the sky. She sees Rarity greeting potential customers right outside her boutique. She notices Pinkie Pie delivering cakes to some seemingly random house along the street. She watches Fluttershy leading a team of ducklings crossing the street far ahead of her.

Upon reaching Town Hall, a familiar mare’s voice greets her from behind, “Hey AJ.” Hearing her name being called, the Earth pony snaps her head back to see a purple alicorn hovering behind, instantly recognizing her.

“Oh, hi Twilight,”

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m just going on a little trip, that’s all.”

“Where?”

“To Appeloosa. Well, to be more specific, outside of Appeloosa.”

“You mean the barren desert? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Not too dangerous for me.”

“I guess… May I ask why?”

“Meh, just to look for the Ghost Pony, see if he’s real or not. Speaking of which… You remember the legends right?”

“Yeah.”

“Could magic do it? Is the legend possible?”

“Well, there could be some unknown arcane magic that might be able to do the things detailed in the story, but based on our current understandings on magic, it’s nigh impossible.”

“Do you believe he’s real?”

“No, but it would be interesting if he was.”

“I guess.”

“Well good luck.”

“Good luck to you too.”

“Mind the pole!” Applejack immediately stops and immediately realizes that she’s at the train station, with a mere inch separating her nose with the wooden pole in front of her blind walk-and-talk. “You might need the luck more than me...”

“Ha.” Twilight then leaves her friend and flies back to Town Hall. Applejack, now back to being alone, enters the station, buys her ticket, and hops aboard the train already parked at the station. Seating herself in one of the more empty cars near the back of the train, Applejack looks out the window and gives one final glance at Ponyville. In a matter of minutes after being seated, the train suddenly jerks forward and soon begins to run. The orange Earth pony watches as the town exits her sight and the rolling fields and forests brush by her vision.

Eventually however, the sights begin to bore Applejack and she finds herself slowly becoming sleepy. Her flank sinks itself into the soft seat below and her back tightens into a strain. The bags on her sides as well as her eyes begin to grow heavy as she lies down onto the white plush seats and begins to doze off. In only seconds, the feelings of reality escape her mind and the comforting warmth of nonexistence flows through her. Visions dance before her of meadows, trees brimming with apples, and absolute peace under the warm, yet not hot, sunlight.

“…That’s it…” she mumbles to herself in the body of the real world, “…This is what I want to sleep to…”

Hours seem to pass by of nothing but rest and peace inside her dream. However, in the blink of an eye, the dream comes to a screeching halt as her body jerks forward. Nearly slipping from the seat, Applejack jolts up and realizes she’s back to reality and that the train is stopping. In the corner of her eye, she spots the desert town of Appeloosa. Stumbling from her seat, the orange mare rushes to the doors and hops off onto the platform of this new train station. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Applejack looks around to see the vast desert surrounding her and the small wooden town. Brown mountains and plateaus line the horizon with miles of wavy sand before them. The sun scorches the sky with thick yellow hues and turning everything a kilometre away from a pony’s sight into a wavy distortion of colours.

As she’s viewing her surroundings, a familiar stallion’s voice echoes into Applejack’s ears, “Cousin Applejack?!”

“Cousin Braeburn?” Next Chapter: Searching for Him Estimated time remaining: 43 Minutes