//------------------------------// // CYOE #2: Goddess and Peasant // Story: Big Mac Writes a Love Letter // by HiddenMac //------------------------------// "Do I dare?" Princess Luna knew she was not meant to snoop; she was only supposed to observe certain ponies in their dreams and guide them if need be. She hesitated as she stood in front of the door leading to Big McIntosh's dream realm. Though she could not sense any distress, she did feel a sense of restlessness emanating from his dream. That feeling seemed to be common among the population of Ponyville ever since Mac gave his speech, but it is best to give them their privacy when it comes to romantic matters. Still, Luna's curiosity ate away at her as she herself could have been the object of his affection. Pacing back in forth in front of his door, she argued with herself the reasons for going and for leaving him to his privacy. She could observe what was making him so restless... but that would just be an excuse to justify her spying. She could forget about this and move on to the next... but then she might never know his true feelings. Since no other pony seemed to be having an emergency and she was already here, she figured she might as well go in...for official duties. Yes, that's it... she told herself. She opened his door and walked into his dream. Upon entering, Luna found herself on the edge of a vast green field. In the middle, she found Big McIntosh sitting in silence wearing a white martial arts robe with a red belt matching his coat. He seemed to be meditating in peace and gathering his thoughts for some upcoming event. Luna crept forward and created an inconspicuous shrub for her to hide herself while she observed what Mac's dream had in store. Once she settled in, a large puff of white smoke burst forth in front of Big Mac as a dark, ominous pony materialized. This apparition had a villainous appearance with his black robe with hood and dark blue belt that was meant to oppose Mac's attire. Clearly, this was meant to be Mac's nemesis in the dream to come. The enemy stepped forward to Mac, who still rested in meditation, and mocked the hero of this dream. "MWA-HA-HAAA!" the villain cackled, although the words did not match the movements of its lips, "you shall never see your true love again! Die now in sea of regret and sad time!" The horrible translation and dubbing was supposed to give the effect of a classic martial arts adventure, though perhaps Luna had not come across any since her return from banishment. She continued observing in confusion, but with increased interest as this might reveal his true love. A dozen more puffs of smoke appeared as numerous ninja henchponies in dark blue robes surrounded our hero. They slowly crept in, ready to pounce and eliminate the humble farmer. "Any ending words you wish for?" the master villain dubbed in literal translation. Mac stood up while keeping his eyes closed and a sprig of grass in his teeth. His mouth moved, indicating he was speaking though no sound was yet heard. After what seemed like five seconds and a lot of words mouthed, his response was finally audible. "Nope" The mob pounced. First, the henchpony directly behind him tried to sneak attack him, but Mac jumped to the side and took him out with a spinning back kick as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then two from opposite sides rushed together in a pincer, to which Mac ducked to the ground in a perfect leg-split as they stabbed each other and vanished. Mac slowly ascended back up, closing his hind legs to elevate and keeping his fores in a defensive posture. The gang stared at each other in hesitation after seeing how effortlessly Mac reduced a quarter of their number. Eager to resume the fight, Mac motioned the rest to attack. Letting out a scream, all nine attack in unison, hoping their numbers could overpower our hero. Mac performed a back hoof-spring and landed on the one closest behind him, sending the enemy away in another puff of smoke. He picked up the dropped spear and launched it, taking out two more with a single throw. Another enemy tried to sneak from the side, but Mac dodged and took him out with a spinning back-forehoof punch. One ninja managed to grab onto Mac from behind in an attempt to incapacitate him, but Mac flipped him over and threw him onto two others, causing all three to disappear. Two now remained. However, one knew he was outmatched and attempted to flee that battlefield while screaming. Mac picked up a nearby stone and hurled it across the field to hit the target on the head before he too vanished. The final, toughest hench-ninja brandished dual katanas and flourished them as he closed the distance, trying to impress and intimidate Mac. One he got close enough, Mac turned and apple-bucked the enemy right through the spinning blades, sending shards of metal exploding outward as the final opponent dematerialized. All that remained was the boss, slowly clapping his hooves in mockery. "Bravely, you have fought well. But...AVAST!" The scene quickly changed around Luna as she now found herself aboard a pirate ship. The villain now adorned a long, black coat and a mask covering his heavily bearded face. A hook took the place of one hoof while a cutlass was placed in the other, showing this confrontation will be a duel on the high seas. Big Mac's appearance also changed as he wore a loose, white shirt purposely unbuttoned to show off his muscular chest. His now long, blonde mane flowed from his head much in the style of the male hero in most trashy romance novels. Luna herself blushed as Mac brandished his own rapier sword, ready to do battle with this dastardly knave. "Y'ARR! A long sleep awaits ye in the cold, briny deep of Pony Jones' Locker, says I" the villain taunted as they scratched swords in preparation for the battle. "HAVE AT THEE!" the villain thrust in attack first, to which Big Mac easily parried the blow away. Numerous swipes clanged back and forth as the two dueled across the deck of the rocking frigate. Naturally, the pirate tried any dirty trick he could think of, such as dumping a bucket of loose nails in Mac's path or cutting a line causing a sail to fall, but our hero prevailed through them all. The battle waged throughout the ship, from bow to stern. Mac's blade once got trapped in the helm, to which the evil captain gloated in victory. Mac spun the wheel and back-flipped to the other side to retrieve it and continue the battle. It wasn't until the fight reached the entrance to the fo'c'sle did the enemy waver. His strength left him as he began to tire. He stumbled backward, desperately trying to fend off Mac's relentless barrage until he reached the end of the plank overlooking the water, which every clichéd pirate story needs. In a final act of anguish, the coward pulled out a concealed pistol and aimed at Big Mac. Before he could fire, Mac stomped on the plank, causing the villain to fall over and splash into the salty brine. Moments after the enemy fell in, the sea began to churn as the waves circled into a maelstrom. Slowly, the water changed form again as it turned into a swirling mixture of grass, stone, and earth. The ship changed from a wooden vessel to an outcropping of boulders overlooking a barren rocky valley. The ground in front of Mac erupted as our villain burst forth, revealing his final, terrible form. First, a giant pony head shot from the ground, blue flame forming its mane and eyes. Its wings and tail resembled a dragon's as it flew into the air. The long, muscular legs mirrored Mac's in shades of dark blue as it landed and grinned with sharp, dragon teeth. The great beast was a hybrid of pony and dragon; fortunately for Equestria, this is but a dream. It gave a mighty roar at McIntosh as it took to the skies. Big McIntosh's attire had also, once again, changed. He was now clad in black and gray armor with a matching helmet and horns that curved downward. A large sword lay in its scabbard along his back. Before the monster could escaped, Mac gave chase. A heroic battle-chant accompanied the fight as a soundtrack to the dream. Luna had to switch from hiding to her concealment spell so as to not alert either party as she followed the action, thoroughly entertained with the adventure, random as it may be. After catching up below the dragonpony, Mac gave a scream. "JOOR ZAH FRUL!" A blue light burst from his mouth and surrounded the flying gargantuan. It started to stutter, then slowly fell to the ground. The monstrosity turned back toward Mac and fired a plume of blue flame at the defenseless pony. Mac recoiled, waiting for the end to come. Though it was a just dream and Big McIntosh would indeed wake up unharmed, Luna instinctively created a defensive shield to protect the earth pony from harm. Mac looked, expecting to be immolated and wondering why he wasn't only to see a wall of magical energy dispelling the fire away. Once the flame ended, Luna panicked to come up with a reason that Mac will believe as to why he was saved. She quickly remembered a previous dream incarnation in which he had a unicorn horn, so she hastily created another and hoped he would believe he had created the shield wall. She sighed in relief as he did the same to continue the battle. The Dragonpony turned in an attempt to fly away, but not before Mac could jump in its back. It took to the air, Mac still hanging on and kicking in hopes of bringing the beast down again. After nearly being shaken off a few times, Mac remembered he could now use magic with his inexplicably acquired horn! Using his best guess at whatever magic he could do, Mac summoned a great apple tree directly in the path of the dragonpony. The beast slammed right into it and stumbled about in flight with Mac desperately hanging on. Mac summoned another with the same result. After a few more, it finally succumbed to the arboreal onslaught and crashed to the ground leaving a long trail of devastation behind. Big Mac was thrown and rolled, but quickly recovered his way back to his fallen enemy. The mighty dragonpony shrank back to his original size and form. Curious, Mac removed the hood to finally look his enemy in the face. Both he and Luna recoiled to find the image hidden behind. "W-what are you?!" Big Mac ordered, frightened and alarmed at this sorcery. The blue face looked up, staring at its own discolored and mirrored image. "I'm you!" the doppelganger gloated. "I'm your confidence, your assertiveness, your loquacity!" He started to laugh in mockery, "I'm everything you wish you were, but aren't! AH HA HA HA!" Big Mac could take no more. He raised his front legs and smashed them down onto the face of his dark self. The head shattered as if it were made of glass, sending shards in every direction in defiance of gravity. Underneath where the demon was felled, he finally found his love buried inside what was the wreckage. She was still unconscious, for now. "My love!" he whispered loudly. Luna peered forward hoping to finally catch a glimpse of what all this mystery was about. Her heart jumped when she saw...HERSELF! She was his true love! She was the one he fought for! What she had desired had indeed come true: Big McIntosh loved Princess Luna! The version that lie before Mac soon started to wake. An eye opened, looked around, and identified Big Mac. "Are you alright, my love?" Mac asked the recovering captive princess. "Love?" she questioned, "What dost thou mean 'love'?" Her tone changed to childish mockery as she began to insult her rescuer. "Do thy thoughts perceive affection twixt yonder serf and nobility? How amusing!" Bearing no consideration for his feelings, Mac's dream-Luna steps forward, slowly transforming into Nightmare Moon. "HA Ha Ha Haaaa! To think: a GODDESS with a peasant! You FOOL! Thou are not even worthy of licking my Royal shoes!" Her size continued to grow. "Since you amuse me, however, I will make your end quick and relatively painless!" Her form changed to that of the Tantabus that terrorized her dreams. Mac fled away from the leviathan, but it seemed he was going nowhere as a giant leg followed, soon to crash down onto him. Before he was finally squashed, the real Luna stepped forth and blasted the leg with her magic. The energy followed up the body until the entire nightmare was destroyed. Mac lay prone on the ground in terror at this new Luna and what terrors she could bring. "Peace, McIntosh!" she gently greeted. "For I am the real Luna; thou art safe now." Mac slowly stood up, confused. He hoped Luna didn't just see him fight for his love. How embarrassing that would be! "Forgive me, but I have been watching in curiosity," Luna cautiously admitted. "We never knew thou felt that way about us...uh, I mean about me." Big Mac's coat couldn't conceal THIS blush. "Do you truly think this?" she waved toward where her dream-self had been, "That thou are not worthy?" "E-eeyup..." Mac mumbled, too humiliated to enunciate properly. " 'Goddess and peasant'; 'tis a silly thing to worry about. No pony should ever believe themselves above nor beneath another. All that should matter is the quality of a pony's actions and character. Big Mac, YOU are the desirable one!" "Eeyup?" he questioned. "Indeed! And if we are not too forward, I shall like to get to know thee a lot better... if thou thinks I am worthy?"