Pony

Written by R. J. Palacio in 2021, Pony is a middle grade, historical fiction novel that incorporates elements of magical realism. When 12-year-old Silas’s father is kidnapped by outlaws in 19th-century Ohio, Silas embarks on a journey to find him, accompanied by his teenage ghost companion, a magical pony, and a mysterious US Marshal. As the story unfolds, Silas must confront real-life challenges and supernatural elements on a journey of love, loss, and self-discovery.

This guide refers to the 2023 paperback edition published by Knopf.

Content Warning: Both the source material and this guide include descriptions of violence and death.

Plot Summary

Pony is set in the fictional town of Boneville, Ohio, in the mid-19th century and follows the adventures of Silas Bird. At age 10, Silas takes shelter beneath a tree during a lightning storm, and a flash of lightning creates a tree-shaped scar on his back. Silas’s father, who he calls Pa, is a bootmaker but does photography as a hobby. After the lightning incident, Pa recommits himself to photography. He invents and obtains a patent for a more effective and less expensive process, increasing his local popularity.

When Silas is 12, three strangers appear in the night to kidnap Pa: Rufe Jones and Seb and Eben Morton. They want to take Silas too, but Pa only agrees to go with them if they allow Silas to stay behind in safety. The kidnappers say they need Pa’s help with business and that he will be back in a week (which is a lie). They keep calling Pa “Mac Boat,” which is the name of a notorious counterfeiter, but Pa claims that he is not Mac Boat. After they leave, Silas is comforted by Mittenwool, his teenage ghost companion. (Although Mittenwool has been around since Silas was a baby, the ghost cannot remember who he was during his life, and he doesn’t know how he is connected to Silas.) The next day, one of the men’s ponies reappears on Silas’s doorstep, which Silas takes as a sign that he and Mittenwool should go after Pa. Before leaving home for what turns out to be the last time, Silas takes his deceased mother’s violin with him.

Silas, Mittenwool, and “Pony” go to the woods, which have always scared Silas because he has heard strange voices in them. Now, Silas hears the voices again, and so does Pony, who suddenly gallops off toward a clearing. Once there, Silas meets an older US Marshal named Enoch Farmer, who is chasing after some outlaws. Farmer is actually a ghost, but neither Silas nor Farmer realizes this. Farmer offers to share his campsite with Silas and lead him back toward his home the following day. Silas doesn’t want to go home and is convinced that the outlaws Farmer is chasing are connected to the ones who took Pa. Silas doesn’t usually tell people about Mittenwool because other people don’t believe in ghosts, but when Silas mentions Mittenwool to Farmer, Farmer offers to take Silas with him in pursuit of the outlaws if Silas promises not to mention ghosts again.

Following the outlaws’ trail with Farmer, Silas hears voices again and sees a large crowd of ghosts who notice Silas and approach him. He and Pony gallop off again, but Farmer catches up. Because a large battle between colonizers and Indigenous peoples occurred in these woods years ago, Silas concludes that the ghosts probably died in that battle. The ghosts stay contained to one area of the woods, and Silas and Farmer follow the outlaws’ trail, which leads elsewhere.

Silas suspects that the counterfeiters kidnapped Pa because of his knowledge of chemical printing processes. Farmer is familiar with Mac Boat, the counterfeiter with whom the outlaws confused Silas’s Pa. Mac Boat was the leader of a large, notorious counterfeiting gang, but eventually, police killed or captured all members of the gang except Mac Boat. When he escaped, Mac Boat took $20,000 worth of gold coins and was never caught or seen again. The coins never reentered circulation, and nobody knows where Mac Boat is. Farmer would love to catch Mac Boat, but he is mostly interested in catching Roscoe Ollerenshaw, a counterfeiter who, years ago, killed Farmer’s partner (and, as the narrative will later reveal, Farmer himself). Silas remembers that Rufe Jones and the Morton brothers named Ollerenshaw as their boss. This confirms that he and Farmer are seeking the same group of men.

Silas and Farmer find the cave where the counterfeiters are working. Mittenwool sneaks in and confirms that Pa is inside with his feet shackled but is otherwise unharmed. To reach the cave, they have to jump across a wide ravine; Farmer and his horse get injured. Silas and Pony travel to the nearby town of Rosasharon; Farmer claims to know the sheriff, although he hasn’t seen him in years. When Silas arrives, he discovers that the former sheriff has died and that Sheriff Chalfont has taken over the position. Chalfont and Deputy Beautyman agree to accompany Silas back to the cave to help Farmer and capture Ollerenshaw, but they refuse to bring any extra backup despite Silas’s warning that they will be outnumbered. When they reach the place where Silas left Farmer, neither Farmer nor his horse are there.

A flashback explains that Pa met Mama when she was engaged to someone else, but she broke it off with the other man and married Pa instead. This decision displeased her wealthy family because Pa was working class. Mama’s Philadelphia family disowned her, and she and Pa moved to Ohio. Mama died in childbirth and did not stick around as a ghost (at least not that Silas can see).

The police and Silas see the Morton brothers out hunting, tackle them, and tie them up. The police put the Mortons’ clothes on and kill some rabbits so that they can approach the cave without being immediately detected. They stuff their own clothes to create decoys and make it appear as though they have more people with them than they really do. They tell Silas to stay with the horses while they approach the cave. The ghost of Chalfont’s sister, Matilda, appears to Silas and wants him to deliver a message: that she’s sorry for eating more than her fair share of their mother’s plum pudding. Silas gets upset at the realization that Matilda could stay behind as a ghost over something so seemingly trivial because he cannot understand why his mother, who he calls Mama, wouldn’t stay behind for his sake.

Silas, Mittenwool, Matilda, and Pony follow the police from a distance. The police attack and kill some of Ollerenshaw’s minions. When one man is about to shoot Chalfont, Silas shoots the man, saving Chalfont’s life. Ollerenshaw tries to bribe the police with Mac Boat’s money, but they refuse. Farmer appears, takes a bullet for Pa, and then passes on to the afterlife. The police kill everyone but Rufe Jones and Ollerenshaw (and the Morton twins, who are still tied up elsewhere). Pa dies, but he says that Silas will have a good life.

The group buries Pa and lets the Morton twins go free because they seem to have been tricked into the counterfeiting business. They take Ollerenshaw and Jones to prison. Silas has no family left, so Chalfont invites the boy to live with him and his wife, Jenny, for the next six years. Silas delivers Matilda’s message to Chalfont, and Matilda moves on. Jenny coincidentally knew Mama when they were both children. As time goes on, the Chalfonts have two daughters, Marianne and Elsa (or Elsie, named after Mama). Silas remains friends with Beautyman and also meets the ghost of Beautyman’s beloved, a man named Peter. At age 18, Silas journeys to Maine for college, meeting many Civil War ghosts along the way. He stops in Philadelphia to see his maternal grandmother, who gives him the first photograph of his mother that he has ever seen and tells him that Elsie’s violin was called a “Mittenwald.”

Silas and Mittenwool roam around the estate, and Mittenwool remembers that he died by drowning in the pond there. He was friends with Mama’s brother, and Mama tried to save him but was devastated when she couldn’t. She played her violin at his funeral, which touched him. The narrative implies that Mittenwool has looked after Silas out of affection for Mama. Now that Mittenwool remembers his past and Silas is an adult, Mittenwool is finally ready to move onto the afterlife. Silas finds Pa’s $20,000 buried on the estate. After Silas finishes college, his grandmother dies, and he turns the estate into a school for orphaned children.