Ghost Herders in the Sky

by SanityLost

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Braeburn
Length: 5115

Braeburn has turned to alcohol to quell his pains, can a spirit save him from himself?

An accident on Braeburn Apple's farm turns into tragedy, which causes him to slip into deep depression and alcoholism. His family has all but given up on him. He has lost faith in himself. Will dark spirits that appear in the nighttime sky intervene on his behalf, and save him from the pits of despair?

This story was inspired by Johnny Cash's "Ghost Riders in the Sky." The cover picture that you see was created by the talented =Icaron. You can check out her Deviant Art page here. http://icaron.deviantart.com/

Published 2012-02-16 10:14:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-02-16 10:14:02 UTC

Ghost Herders in the Sky

Purples, reds, and oranges streaked across the puffy clouds in the sky as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon. A yellow earth stallion stood upon a cliff staring hard at the rolling hills of sand and irregular brown rock formations in the distance with bleary green eyes.

He took a drink from the black bottle he held in his hoof and felt the liquid burn its way down his throat. Whiskey tasted terrible, but it kept his mind nice and cloudy.

Wind tussled his disheveled blond mane and tail, causing him to pull his stained leather vest tightly about his chest and hold his wide brimmed hat to his head. The grass rustled behind him. He stumbled around to see an orange earth mare with the same green eyes walking toward him. "Braeburn?" She asked inquisitively, with a thick drawl.

"Yeah, what, Applejack?" Braeburn sputtered, trying hard to focus on the mare before him.

Applejack shook her dark blond mane and then nodded at the bottle in his hoof, "That, again?"

His jaw clenched, "What again?"

The mare's eyes narrowed, "You know what Ah mean, that stuff ain't helped you yet. It ain't gonna help you now."

"Ain't helped you either cousin, dear."

"Yeah, well Ah don't take it in by the gallon either."

Braeburn took another drink, maybe it would make the nag vanish. "You come up here to talk to me 'bout drinkin' again?"

"Naw, I was just comin' up to see if you was alright."

"Horse crap Applejack, I'm almost drunk and I can tell you're fibbin' me."

Applejack grimaced, "Alright, you caught me. Ahm here 'cause the whole family wants to see if you're alright."

"They know I'm the same as I always was," Braeburn staggered forward and took another drink.

"Braeburn, how long you gonna do this? It's been six months, six whole months. When are you gonna move on?"

"I already did move on. I didn't have a choice, there wasn't anythin' left to leave, just some black spots in the ground."

Applejack stamped a fore hoof, "Braeburn, I'm getting sick an' darn tired of this, and so is everyone else. I understand you feelin' bad, but this is plain ridiculous. There ain't no point in doing this to yerself. Cousins Ariane and Pitmaston are lettin' you stay at their place till you're back on your hooves, you got everythin' in the world to be thankful for. We can't do nothin' to bring it all back, and the stuff in that bottle certainly won't do it. So why do this?"

Braeburn took another drink to drown out his cousin's lecture. A raging fire roared down his throat and ripped at the pit of his stomach. In his mind, a fire blazed. Fire was an amazing thing, so powerful. Once it started to spread, there was hardly any way to contain its pitiless rage. This thought prompted another drink.

"Braeburn Apple," Applejack's tone was stern, "I've had it with this, and so has the family. We can't stand to see you like this. We wanna help, but you won't let us. It's either whiskey or us."

Braeburn took another drink and began staring lopsidedly down at a particular blade of grass.

Applejack's face screwed up, "I'll see you back at the house. Oh, and I decided to stay an extra week to help Pitmaston buck apples. Just thought I'd let you know." She was glad he couldn't see her face. She had actually prolonged her visit in the hopes that maybe she could help her cousin.

The stallion took another drink as his cousin slowly walked away, hiding the heavy torrent of emotion on her face.
With another burning drink, he saw her leave. It worked! The magical liquid made her go away, "It's a miracle!" Braeburn's exclamation was passed off by Applejack as drunken nonsense.

He stumbled around and looked at the setting sun. It had gotten lower, purples were quickly replacing the brighter colors. With a final drink, the stallion dropped the empty bottle to the ground.

Standing on shaky legs, he watched the stars appear in the night sky where there were no clouds. He stared for a few seconds, letting the whiskey take his mind into an uncaring lassitude.

As the night drew on, the clouds began grow darker. The puffy forms became misshapen and smoggy, and reached out to hide the stars. A green glow started to illuminate the crevasses, giving illuminations to the nearly pitch black forms.

There was a rumble, and a bright flash of lightning in the distance. A thunderous pounding of hooves could be heard. Braeburn turned one way, and then another, but saw no stampede. He slowly swayed then looked up as more lightning shot to the ground.

The thundering of hooves grew louder. The stallion nervously looked around, but could still see nothing. Then, there was a shadow in the sky.

An obsidian shadow, in the form of a bull, leaped from the smoky clouds. Its eyes were red and its hooves glowed bright silver. From its nostrils came a small jet of fire.

Each time the hooves came down, sparks erupted beneath them. More appeared, plowing through the skies and up the cloudy draw. On their flanks was an indiscernible, violent red brand.

Behind them emerged pitch black silhouettes of ponies wearing wide brimmed hats. Their hooves dug into the puffy clouds, running up and down banks, bodies shaking as they fought the uneven ground, trying to keep up with the heard of cattle. Their mournful cries to each other sent shivers down the stallion's spine.

Braeburn thought they might have been pegasi, however he clearly saw that many had no wings. Even from this distance, he could see the grimaces on their faces. Booze made him see things, but nothing like this.

With mouth agape, he admired their struggle as they chased the herd. Their red eyes were focused as they continued what looked like a futile chase.

Braeburn stumbled backward, falling into the grass behind him. He felt fatigue start to loosen his muscles. The stallion wanted to close his eyes, but he bit his tongue, he'd be darned if his cousin Applejack found him passed out in the open again.

Almost at once, the herd of cattle stopped. The cowponies behind the herd stopped as well collapsing on the spot where they stood. He thought that the cowponies might take this opportunity to corral the bulls. However the herders only crawled toward a central cloud where they formed a circle and began talking, saying things Braeburn couldn't hear.
After a few minutes, one of them rose from the circle and looked at Braeburn's and slowly galloped in his direction. Fire and smoke rose from its hooves. Its eyes grew darker, and seemed a bit blurred, as if there were no pupils. As it got closer, he noticed its face was gaunt, almost skeleton-like. It's smoky gray body was the same, looking to be made of skin, bone, and gristle. The flannel shirt it wore was soaked in sweat and its hat was askew, revealing stringy gray hair and no horn. It also had no wings, it was an earth pony walking on the sky.

The pony walked toward the yellow stallion until he was standing just a few feet above him. Looking down, he smiled translucently. "Braeburn? Braeburn Apple?" It called down in a dry, husky voice.

Electric fear crawled through Braeburn. He crawled backward, trying to get away from the apparition. His rump bumped against a tree stump however, stopping his motion.

"Boy, are you listening to me?" The gaunt figure asked with strained agitation, "I asked you a question, are you Braeburn Apple?"

With wide eyes the stallion half-nodded.

"'Bout time you answered me, thought for a moment you were deaf."

Braeburn just lay there, staring at the figure above him.

The figure stamped a silver fore hoof, causing tendrils of flame to jump from the space where its foot connected. "Well, are you just going to lay there, or are you gonna stand and talk to me like a stallion?"

On wobbling legs, Braeburn picked himself up and looked up. He attempted to brush himself off, but when he lifted a foreleg, his inebriated state nearly made him lose his balance.

The figure looked the stallion over, "Yeah, I should have figured you were an Apple, you got that cutie mark that gave 'em their name." The figure referenced Braeburn's simple apple that adorned his flank.

"You got a problem with me bein' an Apple?" Braeburn asked, not really knowing what to say to this strange pony. He had to fight to keep from running away.

"I couldn't care less either way," the figure looked the stallion over, "by golly I don't believe it. You look just like 'im. Didn't think looks would make it that far down the family line."

"What in tarnation are you talking about?"

"I'm talkin' about your family heritage."

"What about it?"

"You look like your great-great grandfather Keswick Apple."

The name struck a cord deep in Braeburn's mind. The clawing fear inside of him subsided a little. "W-What do you know of my great-great grandfather?"

"Not too much," said the ghost smiling translucently again, "other than the fact I was the one that strangled the life out of 'im."

The yellow stallion took a step back, "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said, I'm the feller that killed Keswick Apple."

Although the creatures face was gaunt, realization shot through Braeburn's mind. He had seen that face before in old news clippings. This pony was the notorious robber Casselman Plum, from the then prominent Plum family. He ran away from home and became famous for robbing and killing many ponies on country backroads, one of which was his ancestor, Keswick Apple.

Braeburn swore at him, "Wicked ghost! Get out of here, you aren't welcome 'round these parts."

"I'm not welcome around any parts," said the ghost calmly, "it's part of the bum deal ya get when they sentence you to them eternal fires."

The yellow stallion's eyes narrowed, "It's what you deserve Casselman Plum."

"Guess so," the creature didn't seem phased by Braeburn's knowledge of his name, "though I'll tell ya, I don't have it as bad as some. Thank goodness I learned how to heard in my lifetime, otherwise I'd be languishing away like those other poor sods."

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

"Just wanted to trot down to see how the descendant of the stallion I strangled was doin'. The stallion whose great-grandpappy's death finally got me hung."

"Well you saw, now git."

"Now you don't have to be rude, Keswick was polite to me. He even said 'please' as I was takin' his life."

Braeburn started to shake, the fire in his belly spread out and burned up his insides. His cheeks were unbearably warm, "Git outta here spirit. What are you, somethin' my drunken mind conjured up? What's your business here? I'm not Keswick, I'm Braeburn, I ain't got time to talk to my ancestor's murderer."

Casselman stretched his long, bony neck and cackled dryly, "What difference does it make what brought me here, I'm here ain't I? Anyway I know you ain't Keswick, 'cause Keswick wasn't a drunk."

"I ain't no drunk," Braeburn stumbled backward.

Casselman nodded toward the bottle, "Right, and I ain't an ugly ole ghost."

"Well ya are, now go away."

"Keswick was brighter than you, too. That stallion understood what sarcasm was."

"What did you know about my ancestor, all you did was kill 'em"

Plum's eerie grin caused Braeburn's heart to freeze in his chest, " Oh I knew him a little while before I killed him. We also have a chance to catch up from time to time."

"Why don't ya go catch up to him then, and leave me alone?"

"'Cause he ain't around, so I have to find someone else to torment. I saw you, so I thought I'd take the opportunity. Anyway boy, what's got you on the bottle? Mare trouble?"

Braeburn struggled to look back at Plum's blurred eyes, "No, I ain't got no mare troubles cause I ain't got no mare."
"Stallion trouble then?"

"I don't swing that..." The yellow stallion was cut off by a laughing fit from the ghost, which sounded like gravel scratching against a wagon tire.

"I was just foolin' with ya. Anyway, good. Ain't no mare worth drivin' yourself to drink."

"If you love her, she is."

"That's the biggest load of plant fertilizer I've ever heard. I loved lots o' mares in my lifetime, some several times, and ain't a one of 'em were worth losin' a night of sleep over."

"We have different ideas of what love is."

The ghost shrugged, "Maybe so, though it ain't my favorite topic. Tell ya the truth, love makes me nauseous."
"Well, lookin' at you makes me nauseous."

"That's probably the fire all that Whiskey is causin' in yer gut. Speakin' o' fires, there used to be lots o' prairie fires go on round here when I was walkin' this earth. They still go on?"

Pictures of merciless flames leaped to Braeburn's mind. He saw fences, houses, trees, and the face of a strong stallion consumed in a violent conflagration. "They happen now and again." His voice was cold.

"I remember one that happened in my youth. Nasty incident, was caused by someone not payin' special attention to a trash fire. Nearly took out an entire farm, and the family with it. Mommy and daddy didn't make it, but they saved those kids."

Iron claws tore at Braeburn's chest. "Yeah, well, that was mighty brave o' them. Them things do happen though."

"Yes sir they do, happen to the best of us." The ghost's eyes seemed to bore into Braeburn's.

Through a huff, Braeburn said, "Why don't you go on back ta hell where you belong?"

"Boy," rumbling anger came from Casselman's throat, "hell is with me wherever I go. It never leaves. Another bad part 'bout getting sent to 'the bad place.'"

"Well that ain't my problem."

The ghost nodded, "Sure ain't, thankfully. You wouldn' be able to handle it
."
"You don't know what I'd be able to handle, and what I wouldn'."

"Boy, I know more about people than you think. Had time to think about it while I've been ridin' the sky. You wanna see if you could handle it?"

Without waiting for an answer, Casselman's eyes began to glow brightly. Braeburn's vision blurred, and instead of seeing a ghost, he saw a dark, cloudy sky before him. Searing heat coursed through every nerve in his body, causing him to scream. White hot pins pressed themselves in his brain as his legs fought to traverse the uneven clouds, trying to catch the heard that was always ahead of him, the never tired cattle that he couldn't corral, he couldn't catch...

Braeburn's vision returned to him. He realized that he was on the ground, quivering. He looked up and saw the stoic face of the ghost, "As I thought, couldn't handle it. Boy you shoulda seen yourself scream, sounded like a little filly down there."
"Is that what you go through?" Braeburn said breathlessly, the experience made him a bit more sober.

"Sure is, every night. My skin burns like fire, kind of like those fires that burn on these prairies sometimes."

Braeburn growled through gritted teeth, "I've heard enough 'bout fire."

"Ain't no reason to get mad son, I'm just tryin' to hold a friendly conversation."

"Well, fire ain't friendly conversation."

The ghost made a sound like gravel dropping onto a tin pan, which Braeburn guessed was chuckling, "Sorry boy, but fire is just about all I know. Anyway what's unfriendly about the story of what happened to that father and mother. Great story of bravery, even if things didn't go as intended."

Sounds of screams and crackling flames plagued Braeburn's mind. His hooves fumbled around for a bottle that wasn't there. "Shut up damn it, just shut up!"

"What did I say?"

A charred face of a strong stallion handing him a small foal, a crying mare, and a towering inferno crashed into his mind, "Stop it! Stop it! Go torment someone else you demon!" Braeburn screamed.

"Torment? What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! You saw that fire! You saw what it did. You saw what I did, now you're just here to torment me! Gonna take me to hell now you son of a bitch?"

The ghost took a step back. "Well, I don't think I've ever had a conversation take a turn like this before."

"Are the ponies you torment more passive than me?"

"I don't torment no ponies. Just talk is all I do. What are you screamin' at me for?"

Acid felt like it was leaking through Braeburn's body, "You saw that fire didn't you. You saw that fire at my ranch! You saw what it did!"

"I saw no such thing," the ghost tried to put on a sympathetic look, but could only succeed in looking mildly frightening, "what happened?"

"I started a little brush fire to get rid of some bramble and fallen limbs. Somethin' I always do. I left it to go get somethin', forgot what. Sharp wind blew through, and the fire got out of control. Burned down my farm."

"Well, them things do happen. You got a good family to take care o' ya though. Apples, I hear, take care of their own."
Braeburn shook his head, "It wasn't just that. The fire spread to a neighborin' farm. Caught their house on fire. I ran over to help 'em out. I ran in an' tried to save everybody. Grassland's wife got out okay, but her husband an' baby was still inside. I looked through the house an' found 'em trapped in a corner. He handed his little filly to me an' said 'go.' I told 'im no but he just thrust her on my back, just as he did, a big ole timber came down. I didn't see it crash on 'im but I heard the crunch. I managed to get out and give missus Grassland her baby. Once the fire died down, they said they found his body..."

"No one else hurt?"

Braeburn had crumpled on the ground, tears smeared his cheeks, "No, they contained it after that."

"Hmm...saved a baby, momma got out okay, coulda been a lot worse. I was expectin' a mass tragedy or somethin'. So this is why you hit the bottle?"

"Partly."

"Really? Damn boy, how sad. You are stupider than Keswick."

"I guess I am stupid, talkin' to a stupid ghost like you," Braeburn forced words through the tightness in his throat.

Casselman just shook his head, "You was a hero, an' all you can do is lay there an bellyache."

"I caused the fire. I destroyed two farms, an' I killed a stallion. Heroes don't kill."

Casselman threw his head back and cackled, his loud, high pitched laughed echoed across the plains. "Boy, you ain't no killer, I would know. You ain't got the guts to be a killer, don't flatter yourself."

"Bein' a killer ain't flattering, at least to people that have morals."

"And you have morals?"

Braeburn's muscles tensed, "Sure do, just like the rest of my family."

"If that's true," Casselman flashed his teeth, "you ain't a killer. See? I cut your throat with your own sword. You're gonna have to choose your arguments better next time."

The yellow stallion stood firmly, despite his inebriation, and dug his hooves into the ground, "I won't have this. I won't have you insulting me!"

"I'm not really insulting you, just pointing out your stupidity. It's really kind of sad once you think about it."

"Oh really? Tell me, how sad is it? Do you know how this feels?"

"Nah, not personally. I'd rather not find out. All I know is you're stupid."

"Stupid? I feel remorse because something I did caused someone to die! Then again, I guess that is something you wouldn't know anything about."

Dark anger was pressed on the ghost's face, but with a stretch of his neck it subsided. "Everypony knows remorse, some just don't know it before it's too late. So you caused that fire?"

"Yeah," Braeburn choked through a sob.

"And you say it was because a sharp wind blew through?"

"Uh huh, what of it," Braeburn hid his head from view.

"By deduction then, you control the wind! You must be some kind of god, boy. I never knew. Should I have brought somethin' to put on your alter?"

Braeburn looked up in quizzical sadness.

"Well, you said you can control the wind. Ain't no pony I know of that can do that. So you must be a god."
"I ain't no god, you damn fool." Said Braeburn

"Then you didn't cause the wind to blow through, which made the fire get out of control. It was the wind's fault. Nobody can blame you for somethin' beyond your control."

"I shoulda watched that fire..."

"Us pony folks are creatures of habit. You said you started fires like that all the time to get rid of trash, how was you supposed to know it was gonna get out of control? I shouldn't have done the things I did when I was alive, but I did 'em anyway. Funny thing about the past, it let's ya see what went wrong, but won't let ya fix it. The past is sadistic in that way."
Braeburn quivered, "I imagine he suffered like hell...getting crushed..."

"No, he probably died pretty quickly," the ghost picking up on the other stallion's line of thought, "I imagine that timber, depending on how big it was, crushed most of him, or at least his spine."

Braeburn looked up at the ghost with flaring eyes, "You sick, son of a...!"

"I'm sick?” The ghost cut him off, “You're sitting here claiming to do things you can't do and bellyaching about being a hero, and I'm sick? Son, no offense, but to say the least, I think you're a little loco. You might need to see a doctor."
"If you were alive I'd make you wish..."

The ghost growled, "Make me wish what? That I was dead? Son if I were alive, back when I was the stallion I was then, and you met me, you might already be dead. I couldn't stand crazy ponies."

"Do you know what it feels like to have blood on your hooves?"

A somber expression came onto Casselman's face, "Think about who you're askin' that question."

"It hurts so much," Braeburn's voice quivered, "Missus Grassland won't even talk to me anymore. Guess it's hard to talk to someone who reminds you of your dead husband."

"If she's like most ponies I knew, when she looks at that kid, she'll remember her husband when he was alive. So when she looks at you, she'll remember her dead husband, but she'll also remember the pony that kept him living, so to speak. Won't be that way at first, but time has a way of doing these things. That's what I think anyway, take it for what it's worth."
"I can't even face her. I haven't talked to her since a month after the accident happened."

"So you're loco and a coward. I can imagine the look on old Keswick's face when I tell him that."

"Loco and a coward? I ain't loco and a coward, I'm handling this as best I know how!"

"Oh, I almost forgot, stupid."

Braeburn stomped his fore hooves on the ground and let out a snort, "Good ponies have a hard time coming to terms with their transgressions!"

"But they come to terms with them. Are you a good pony?"

"Yeah."

"Don't sound like it to me. Good ponies try to move on. Rotten ponies drown others in their own miseries."

Braeburn shook his head, "I can't change anythin', I can't give life back."

Casselman's eyes went wide in mock disbelief, "Hey! You ain't as dumb as I thought boy. You might have hope yet."

Braeburn reared up at him in anger, "I'm glad you're up there and not down here, I'd..."

Casselman floated downward until he was at eye level with the other stallion. The ghost had been a large pony in life, with very broad shoulders. Braeburn felt ice in his veins as he shrank back. "You'd what?" The ghost said menacingly.

Braeburn was quiet, his show of strength gave way to shivering. "How am I not dumb?"

"You can't give life back." The ghost echoed his words.

"I don't have anything to give anyway, my farm is gone."

"Well you can build another, or not. You can live with family, you can move to the city and be a gardener, you can put on a joker suit and be a jester. It's all your call."

"Some of those options don't make sense."

"But you have them. You can do anything right now, you're alive and kickin'. Mr. Grassland is dead, and the past won't let ya change it."

Braeburn looked out into the distance at the ghostly herders resting on the green tinged cloud. "I guess anyone coulda made a mistake but...what if everyone else don't see it that way."

Casselman shrugged, "Can't change what they think. If I coulda done that, I would've changed the minds of the ponies that strung me up for killin' Keswick."

There was a rumble in the distance, Braeburn saw the bulls start to run up the cloudy draw again. The tired ghosts rose from their cloud and started chase after them.

Casselman turned his side to Braeburn, "Think on some o' that. Maybe you're not as dense as I think. Maybe you'll understand. Then again, if you keep doin' what you're doin'," he looked up at the running cowponies, "we could always use help with the devil's herd."

With those final words, Plum turned his back to Braeburn, galloping at full speed into the night sky. The bulls ran into the horizon, cowponies working hard to chase after them. As they vanished, the clouds started to disappear into thick, dark misty vapor. They quickly evaporated until nothing remained but a crystalline black night, watched over by Luna's full moon and winking stars.

Braeburn stared hard into the distance, pushing all thoughts from his mind. He allowed tears to roll down his cheeks as he looked upon the beautiful darkness. Crickets were chirping. Wind rustled the grasses. A lone wolf howled in the distance.
Braeburn's momentary meditations were broken by a heavy voice, "Well Ah'll be, thought I'd find you passed out up here like Ah always do. What happened, whiskey run out before you could get drunk?"

The yellow stallion turned to address his cousin Applejack, but nearly jumped when he saw a bright purple earth pony standing with her. "Missus Grassland?"

Mr. Gardner's striking red eyes looked hard at Braeburn, "Yes?" Her tone was curt and harsh.

Many thoughts swirled in Braeburn's mind as he and the widow looked at each other. All was silent. Applejack dug her hoof in the ground before clearing her throat to speak. "Well Ah uh, Ah thought that you two should you know...uh...talk or somethin'..."

"I only came because your cousin seemed desperate," Mrs. Grassland said to Braeburn did little to hide her acidic loathing.
Braeburn said nothing, his brain still unraveling the wisdoms passed to him through ghostly insults.

"Well then Ah guess Ah'll just be goin' then, Ah'll uhh...let you two alone." Said Applejack, turning around.
Braeburn looked up, "No!"

Applejack stopped, "What?"

"I want to talk to you. I...I need to talk to you both."

"What you need to say, you can say right here," seethed Miss Grassland.

Guilt began to claw into Braeburn's gut. He looked directly at Mrs. Grassland and shook his head, "No, there's a lot between us that needs to be talked about. There is a lot between all of us we gotta talk about."

"I don't really want to talk to you." Mrs. Grassland ignored the pleading glance she received from Applejack.

Braeburn knew it, she didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to make this better. What was the point? Where there were no amends, there was no healing. There was nothing. The yellow stallion was about to turn around, when he looked up into the sky. In his mind's eye he saw tired cowponies chasing the devil's dark herd. He bit his cheek and steeled his resolve, pushing away thoughts of remorse.

"Missus Grassland, I ain't happy 'bout the way things are now, but I can't change it. All I can do is keep goin', that's all any of us can do. You don't have to talk to me, that's fine. But if you do, I'll be here." Braeburn said. His voice was quivering but he held himself together.

Applejack's face lit up in surprise. "Braeburn?"

"Applejack, is most of the family still up?"

The orange pony nodded, "They're all up, worried sick. They always are."

Liquid remorse flooded Braeburn's body, "Good, cause I gotta talk to 'em. Maybe...maybe they'll listen."

Applejack just nodded and started walking toward town. Braeburn followed, but noticed that Mrs. Grassland stood where she was, looking daggers at him. Braeburn's green eyes softly met hers, "You can come too ma'am."

"I don't have a choice, the Apples are watching my baby while I'm here." She returned his glance, her voice cracked and lost a little of it's steely edge.

A cool wind blew through the valley, and Mrs. Grassland shivered. Braeburn removed his vest and offered it to her. A frown weighted with sorrow met the stallion's lowered gaze as she took it and put it on. They spoke no words. Slowly they walked together behind Applejack, beneath the stars whose alignment, for one yellow stallion, would change for the better.

The End

Author's Notes: A great big thank you goes out to Taranasaurus0.0 for proofreading what was a mess of grammar (and may still be). Another big thank you goes out to Magiccolt808 and Big Mac for reading this story and giving it their stamp of approval before I sent it out.

I sat down and wrote this story after hearing the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky" by Johnny Cash. I wrote this story in a rush (2 hours) so there may be a few mistakes. Please give me your honest feedback! I hope you enjoyed the story.