Return of the Strong Ones
It was another late night and Twilight Sparkle was reading another book on magic. Spike had gone to bed for the night and the only company that she had was her pet owl, along with the single candle that she used for light so that she could continue studying. She was reading The Myths Of Magic and was on a very interesting passage on non-unicorn magic users.
The only known users of magic that were not unicorns were “The Strong Ones.” According to legend, they were Earth ponies that could break the magic barrier with their immense strength. They then could use the magic to do simple spells, such as teleports and magic missiles. The last of the strong ones died over 500 years ago in the war of the second age of Celestia, their secrets lost to time.
The book went on to tell of the great military triumphs of The Strong Ones and how they could stop whole legions of griffins with their unknowable strength and magical knowledge, as well as helping Celestia in the Moon revolt of the first age.
Twilight was enthralled by the thrilling history, and by the time she was nearing the end, it was almost midnight. At the end of the book, she noticed a small footnote, “Only one in a million can ever be strong enough.” She breathed to herself.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I was writing to ask if I could have any information on the Strong Ones and their ways.Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
To my Faithful Student
Twilight Sparkle,
This is all the information about the Strong Ones that I can give you for now. I have included a couple books about them from some of the oldest parts of our library.
Yours Truly,
Princess Celestia
The very next day, Twilight started to read the books that the Princess had sent. The covers were brittle and dusty with age, and some of them looked like they had been retrieved from the middle of battlefields, pages stained dark magenta with the blood of those that had fought there. Of the five books that the princess had sent the one that she noticed the most had a black cover that drew her in like it was speaking to her. Whenever she went to open it she felt weak. She could tell that this book was the oldest of them all but it had be preserved through spells.
“What are you?” She mumbled to herself. “What have you gone through to get to me?” She could clearly see that the others had been through wars and had seen the rise and fall of nations, empires, and dictatorships. This book, though... this book had the secrets she wanted. She slid her hoof down to the latch. She then felt the same feeling of weakness and dread as she flipped open the latch. A great gust of wind came from the book and pushed back the purple unicorn. When she righted herself she was staring a ghostly figure.
“Who is it that opens the book of the Strong?” The image was now solidifying into a tall earth pony. He was as tall if not taller than Big Mac and just as muscular.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and student of Princess Celestia.” Twilight replied, trying to sound less terrified than she really was. The ghost nodded his head.
“If you are truly the Element of Magic, then you should be able to defend yourself!” As he said this, the earth pony tensed up and with all his might struck the ground with his forehooves. The air crackled, and a lighting bolt flashed through the air aimed at Twilight. She barely had enough time to throw up a ward against the lightning bolt, and with a loud explosion the dust settled.
“What was that for?!” Twilight yelled at the ghost.
“That was a test,” said the ghost, “and you, Twilight Sparkle, have passed. As a reward, I will tell you whatever you wish about the Strong Ones.” Twilight stammered for a moment as she tried to relax after being attacked so viciously and so quickly. She paused a moment and asked the ghost, “Who are you?”
“I am Rock, last of the Strong Ones. Before I passed away, my soul was sealed by Celestia in the pages of this book to be used as a tool for the future.”
“What type of magic was that? I’ve never seen it before.”
“That was earth pony magic. Unlike your weak and passive unicorn magic earth pony magic is strong. We use the elements to force our opponents to submit.”
“So your magic is for fighting?”
“Yes.”
“Then what is the point of even having the Strong Ones around? Equestria hasn’t had a war in over 500 years.”
“We are what prevented many wars just with our presence and stopped many of them before anypony innocent got hurt. I am personally the victor of thousands of battles.”
“You’re a monster!”
“I’m a hero for my time, young filly, and I could have killed you with my very first strike. You are weak compared to me.” He paused for a second. “Anyway, if this book has been opened, then it is time to search for a new Strong One. I will now show you how you will find one strong enough to break the magic barrier.” With that, the ghost exploded and Twilight blacked out.
“Y’all okay, sugarcube?” A familiar voice asked.
“Huh, what happened? My head hurts.”
“I dunno, I walked in here and saw ya sprawled out on the floor.”
“Oh, I was just sleeping, Applejack.” As she was saying this, she started looking around the room for the black book. She noticed that it sat closed on the table in the middle of the room.
I have a lot of work ahead of me. Good thing that Applejack is here, I was going to need her help with this any way. Twilight thought to herself.
“Hey Applejack, is there somewhere we can find an oak tree in Ponyville?”
“Why yeah, there is Twi, but why do you need an oak tree specifically?”
“Oh no reason really just need to do some stuff with it.”
“Like what?”
“Tear it down.” At this Applejack looked terrified. Why would Twilight want to tear down a tree, let alone a big and strong oak tree in the middle of town? To this Twilight replied “It’s for a test, and the Princess herself has ordered me to do this.”
“Well... okay Twi, if you say so.”
Together the two ponies walked toward the center of town. Applejack couldn’t wipe that worried look off her face until she finally turned around.
“What’s this really for, that you have to destroy a 100 year old tree?”
“Its about earth ponies and their ability to use magic.”
“What? I thought that earth ponies were the strongest and the unicorns could use magic. That's how it’s always been.”
“Well, apparently not, and now I am going to make another earth pony warlock.” This is the point where Applejack scoffed and laughed.
“And how are you going to do that, Missy?”
“By finding the strongest earth pony in a million.”
“That doesn't make sense but I guess I'm in for the ride on this one. So how are we going to set this up?”
“Simple the pony that can knock over a 100 year old oak tree with a single buck is the only one strong enough to begin the training.”
“Wha...? Twi, I can’t even do that! I don’t think anypony could do that. There are only one or two ponies a generation born that can do that.” Applejack was in shock at what she just heard come out of her friend’s mouth.
“Well then let’s find that one in a million.”
The very next day, Spike had gathered up any and all of the local earth ponies and then sent letters to the mayors of all of the nearby cities to bring out none but the very strongest of the strong. Many had arrived, and in the middle of all them stood Twilight and Applejack. They were setting up everypony that had decided to show up to attempt the feat of the century, but none of them knew what was reserved for the one that was able to overcome this task.
“All right everypony, listen up!” Applejack shouted through a megaphone, “You are all going to line up in single file. You only have one attempt to break this tree, if you fail, you’re done and you will be asked to leave. Understood?” All the ponies muttered and moved into a line, some shaking their legs to loosen up for the upcoming test of strength. The first stallion stepped up to the tree he looked up and down trying to find the right place to strike the tree. After surveying the tree, he turned around to face the other stallions.
“Brothers, you have already lost this challenge by letting Ivan of Stalliongrad go first!” At this he turned around and with all of his strength he struck the tree dead center. The whole tree shook but not a single leaf or branch fell the tree stood there defiant. Ivan of Stalliongrad was dismayed that he had been defeated, bowed to the tree and walked away.
This went on in the same pattern for hours, everypony stepping up and being defeated by the ancient and mighty tree. Some of the ponies defeated were graceful and accepted their defeat, while others turned to the two mares running the show and cursed them for creating a such impossible challenge. Then near the end of the day when most of the ponies had gone home, Applejack looked at Twilight worried.
“What is my brother doing in line?”
“I asked him if he would compete on Ponyville’s behalf.” Twilight responded.
“There is no way that he could ever do this! Larger ponies have come and gone and there isn't even a dent in that tree’s bark. How is mah brother gonna kick that tree down?”
“Well, why don’t we watch then?” Said Twilight as Big Mac walked up to the oak tree. He stood there silent staring at the tree staring at it. Until suddenly, with one smooth turn and a sharp kick right at the apex of his reach, he struck the tree. From the perspective of the others he had barely struck a glancing blow to the tree. Unfortunately for the tree, it was so quick and sharp that it cut like a knife through butter. The tree shook and fell from what looked like a sawblade cut, right at the top of the stump. Twilight and Applejack looked shocked amazed at what they had just seen. Big Mac looked at the fallen tree, then turned to his sister and her friend.
“What have ah won?” He said.Twilight smiled a soft and gentle smile.
“Come with me Big Mac I believe that this is only the beginning.”
When the trio got to the library the book was sitting on the table already open. Then out of nowhere, Rock materialised in front of the three ponies.
“So this is the piece of dirt that I have to turn into a diamond?” He said.
“Um-Um Twi what is going on here? Who is this and what is he talking about?” Applejack stammered, paling both at seeing a ghost, and at the insult to her brother.
“This is Rock,” replied Twilight, “He is the one that will be teaching Big Mac how to use magic.”
“That is another thing,” interrupted Rock “You will no longer be known as Big Mac,” He spat the name out, as if it was dirty and weak. “You need a new name. A strong name, but for now you are dirt until you complete your training.”
“Now you listen here-”
“Sis, shut up.” Big Mac cut off Applejack before she could speak any more. Big Mac had never seen a pony like this before, but knew well that he meant business. “What do you want with me?”
“Mmhm, you are strong, but you are still stupid. I am going to take you and make you a warrior. From here on out, I am your master, and I will teach you how to use the magic around you. Until you master this, however, you are worth less than dirt.” With that final word he tensed his muscles. Seeing this, Twilight readied herself for another attack. Then it came: a gust of wind hit Big Mac square in the chest, knocking him into the wall over 20 feet behind him. The attack was aimed well enough to only hit Big Mac, and the mares just watched from the sidelines.
Big Mac struggled to get up, trying to recover the wind that had just been taken from his lungs. Applejack just stood there, too terrified to do anything.
“Is that all you got Rock?” Said Big Mac with a small smirk on his face, in great defiance of the being that just threw him around like a rag doll.
“Good,” Said Rock “Feel that power. That was beginner’s stuff, weak but precise. Able to hit a single bit out of the air if you had thrown the whole equestrian treasury into the air, but I’m getting ahead of myself.”
“So what now?”
“See me tomorrow to start your training.” The spectral pony faded away as the book closed on its own. Applejack was petrified, having just seen the impossible, her brother getting thrown 20 feet with so little effort as a simple flex.
It took a while for Twilight to regain her voice but after a bit, she asked Big Mac to stay with her in the library until he had finished training. He silently agreed as the two girls went up to their room for the night and Big Mac went to the guest room.
The day had been long and the tempers were short. Celestia and the diplomat had been sitting at this table for over 6 hours. With the day wearing on, negotiations were going nowhere fast, and they might take a turn for the worst if she didn't persuade the griffon across from her at the table. He had the blankest expression on his face. His name was Vladimir and he was the leader of the communist party of the United Griffon Republics.
“You must understand,” Celestia began, “That we have not had a standing army for over three hundred years now because of this peace that we have been keeping. Would you really jeopardise the lives and prosperity of millions?”
“What you must understand, Princess, is that while Equestria is bountiful and prosperous, the other nations that you destroyed hundreds of years ago are still in shambles.Our nation has only now been able to regain our strength to that of over five hundred years ago. Your ponies have only known happiness while we writhe in the mud and filth to export anything that is worth something to your pitiful country.”
“Then I have no choice but to not only cut off any aid to your country, but I am going to cut you off from all trade.” At this the Griffon’s face turned from a poker face to an expression of rage.
“Then you would let my people starve! You have gone too far, Celestia!” The griffon shouted. The Princess had never heard another diplomat use her name before. It was considered disrespect to not address somepony by their title at a meeting such as this. “You will bring the death of your ponies and your land! These peace talks are over! I will return to my country for now but when I return it will not be on friendly terms.” At this Vladimir left the table.
The princess was shocked for this had not gone the way she had planed it, but for now she would have to deal with these problems. Equestria is not ready for a war.
“Guard!” She said to the white pegasus in the corner “Get me Commander Dawn Star, dark times are coming.” The guard nodded his head and flew off to go find the commander. “Dark times are ahead of us indeed.”
The Return of the Strong Ones
“Wake up dirt. Today we start your training.” Said Rock. Big Mac grumbled and got out of the bed in the guest room. “Now, first rule of training: You are going to hate me and I will not be your friend. Other than that, training is pretty straight forward. Follow me, we’re going for a little run.” Big Mac grabbed the book that contained the warriors spirit and walked out the door. Big Mac noticed that it was early in the day the sun had not even been risen by Celestia yet.
“So what are we starting on?”
“Didn’t you hear me dirt? I said we’re going on a run. Well more of a race really. you’re going to race the fastest person that you know of.”
“I mean your friend Rainbow Dash, of course. Mighty fine mare if you ask me.”
“I wasn't asking you though.” Big Mac immediately regretted saying this as a wall of wind smashed into his chest, dead center. Big Mac was more prepared for this attack than the gust that he had been hit with last night, so he didn't go flying this time but it still stung.
“Soon you will learn your place, and soon you will rise above it.” Big Mac got up and kept walking until they reached the area below Rainbow Dash’s cloud home.
“There is no way that she is awake at a time like this. Even then how will we get up there?”
“Dirt, what did I say about talking?”
“Uh, nothing?”
“Good! That’s the amount of talking I want you to do unless spoken to!” Then the ghost flew up to the window of the cloud house and poked his head in.
“GHOST!” Yelled the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash as she came blasting out of the opposite side of the house.
“Miss Rainbow Dash, I have a proposition for you.” Said Rock to the startled and scared Rainbow Dash, “I have a strong connection to princess Celestia and the Wonderbolts.” At the mention of her idols, Rainbow calmed down enough to listen to the floating stallion.
“So... all I have to do is race Big Mac through the Everfree Forest for the day and I get a letter of recommendation to the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow Dash summed up after listening to Rock’s proposal.
“Only if you win. But here's the catch: you can fly, he can’t.” Rainbow nodded and flew down to where Big Mac was sitting and waiting for them.
“Listen up! The race will last for the rest of the day,” Rock explained as Big Mac stood up and got ready to run. “The finish line will be at the old castle in the Everfree Forest. Do you understand?” Both of the contestants nodded as they turned to face the road leading to the Everfree Forest.
Rock landed in front of the two ponies who were tense with anticipation.
“Go.” Both of the ponies rocketed off towards the forest. Rainbow Dash was getting a quick lead on Big Mac, and unfortunately for Big Mac, Rainbow Dash was soaring ahead of him in the trees and didn’t have to circumvent the heavy foliage. Big Mac could only hope to catch up in the sparser parts of the forest. He could never overtake Rainbow, only keep up to her.
This continued for hours as Big Mac would find a small clearing and use all of his strength to keep up and then fall further behind the next time. He was now to the point that if he fell behind any further he would lost sight of Rainbow and then get lost. ‘This is impossible,’ thought Big Mac. ‘How is an earth pony supposed to keep up with a flying pegasus?’
Big Mac slowed down and stopped, watching Rainbow fly off into the distance. It had been hours since the two of them had started their race.
“Why are you stopping?” Asked Rock as he appeared in front of Big Mac. “Are you done for today? It’s only been eight hours and we still have two more to go.”
“This race is impossible.”
“Are you saying that I am unfair?”
“Eeyup.” With a crack of thunder a bolt of lightning struck Big Mac squarely in the side, knocking him into a nearby tree. Big Mac stood up quickly, only to see a fireball flying right at him. He dodged to the right but his tail was still caught in the blaze singeing the end. A second fireball was launched at him this one causing him to jump to dodge it.
“Got you.” Rock muttered. A gust of wind slammed into Big Mac from below, launching him through the treetop. Gravity resumed normal operation shortly after, and Big Mac started falling, hitting branches and leaves on his way down until he finally met the ground with a thick thud.
Big Mac couldn’t move a muscle, he felt absolutely exhausted. All he could do was lay there and breathe.
“How does it feel, dirt? Do you like the feeling of failure? Let me tell you one thing, if you give up again I will be far less pleasant. Tell me, can you feel your legs at all?” Big Mac grunted a no to the ghost. “Lightning does that, it scrambled your nervous system. You will get motor control back within an hour or so, but for now I want you lay there and become one with the dirt. Learn to hate this feeling of being able to do nothing.” That’s what Big Mac did. He sat there and imagined himself as dirt for the last hours of the day until he could get up and walk home. He would never give up again, this was for sure.
“You worthless maggot!” Rock had continued to yell at Big Mac “If you can’t summit this mountain, your punishment will be ten times what I did to you when you couldn’t out run that rainbow pegasi! Do I make myself clear?!” Big Mac could only grunt. He was not only climbing the tallest mountain in the Ponyville region, he was also carrying the rock formerly known as Tom. Rock was also tagging along on his back in the form of a big black dragon-leather book. The past few weeks had been the hardest of his life so far. The first week had been the worst when he would be presented with with seemingly impossible task that only could be done with magic or pure strength. Unfortunately for big mac he had not yet tried the first option so he was doomed to make the impossible possible every day for tree weeks now.
“What are you doing? Are we slowing down?” Said the ghost,
“No!” Big Mac Interjected.
“Was that a request for a lightning bolt I heard? I think it was!” At this Big Mac grunted again and moved at twice the original speed he was going at. Big Mac reached the top of the mountain and stopped to admire his surroundings.
“Now you go down. You have an hour.”
“What? That's impossible!”
“Alright, smartass, now you have half an hour! Get going!” WIth an explosion of fury, Big Mac threw the boulder off the mountain and bucked the ghostly pony right in the face, only for his hooves to go flying through what would have been his face.
“So that’s how you want this to go. Wish granted.” The ghost replied with a sneer, then he reared back on his hind legs and then struck the ground at Big Mac’s hooves, sending him flying toward the edge of the cliff.
Big Mac stood, every muscle screaming at him to stop, but he couldn’t. He had to show this foolish old pony what real strength was, and with nothing but a grunt he tensed all of his muscles, silencing their defiance. He took a step forward, imagining tearing into Rock with all his might. At that very moment something extraordinary occurred, he felt a strange energy around him. Without knowing how, he started to absorb this energy.
Then in the moment that he wanted to release it at his foe a sharp pain shot through his body and he collapsed to the ground. The last thing that he could remember was Rock standing over him, smiling a triumphant smile at him.
“What happened to him?” Twilight exclaimed, “What did you do to him this time?”
“I did nothing to him,” Replied Rock, “He did this to himself.” The normally proud stallion looked like he had been through hell. He had cuts and bruises all over his body. Most of them were very shallow but there was the occasional gash that looked like a knife wound. Big Mac was passed out on the floor as Twilight was trying to desperately heal the broken Earth pony.
“You can't heal those wounds with magic, Twilight.” Said Rock, “Those were created by pure magical energy, the only way they will heal is with time.”
“But if I don't do anything, he will be scarred for life! I have to do something!” Twilight was desperately looking for ways to heal Big Mac, but she just couldn’t find any that worked. She turned around and saw that the ghost was now standing right in front of her, staring down at her. She looked back at him for a few seconds and then he materialised again in front of Twilight, this time with no armor.
“I was never touched by an enemy's claws or sword.” Twilight was in shock, this stallion was covered in scars similar to those that Big Mac would gain if she couldn't heal his wounds. “He just needs to heal.”
Twilight had never seen this from Rock until now. He was acting as if Big Mac was a little brother that need to be taken care of instead of the piece of dirt that he had been treating him like for the past month.
“Er... Rock, what caused those cuts?”
“He broke the barrier.” He replied quietly, “He was too tired and had no idea what he was doing, but that is what we all have to go through. You can't be shown how to break the barrier, but you can be pushed to the edge. When he broke the barrier, he was attempting to kill me.”
“What?! No, Big Mac would never do that! He would never try and kill somepony, even if they were a ghost."
“I'm sorry Twilight, but that's how the training works. I trained him to hate me with every fiber of his being until he tried to strike me down. If a normal earth pony had tried to do that, they would have died. Fortunately for him he was able to open the door, but once he did, he was flooded with magic power with no way to release it, so the magic turned on him and. Some ponies burst into flames, some are electrocuted, and some are frozen where they stand. The lucky ones are shredded by wind that acts like knives from all angles, that's what happened to me.”
Twilight sat there, stunned. She had been attacked by this stallion earlier and now she was feeling bad for him. It was obvious that he had gone through hell, and now her question had been answered. That book had not only gone through wars and centuries of pain and suffering, but the stallion inside had gone through the same, as well as seeing his friends and comrades die in battle as he lived on in the pages of a book.
Seeing the look of pity on Twilight’s face, Rock stood up, looked at twilight and scoffed, “You unicorns. So in touch with everything yet so oblivious to what’s happening around you.” and then he disappeared.
Big Macintosh woke up three days later feeling nothing but numbness in his whole body. everything seemed to move in slow motion around him as he sat up to survey his surroundings.
“Hey look everypony, he’s finally awake!” Yelled the familiar voice of the ghost. With the same smug flair that he always used around Big Mac he disappeared as Twilight and Applejack ran in. Big Mac couldn't quite put his hoof on it but something felt off about the way everything was going on. Twilight rushed up to Big Mac before his sister could get to him.
“Oh thank goodness you're awake. Now, don't sit up just yet, I have to do some quick operations.” At this Big Mac finally noticed that he had an I.V. drip in his right arm and fresh scars all over his body.
“What happened to you, big brother!?” Applejack exclaimed.
“I... I don’t know. I really couldn't tell you what happened before I woke up here. All I remember was a sharp pain all over my body, then I woke up here.”
“Well, I have to go take care of the farm.” She said with a bit of a sigh.”Glad to know that you're okay, and that your trainin’ or whatever ya call it is doin’ good for ya. I’ll see you later big brother, I have some apples to buck.” Applejack turned to walk out of the library.
“Isn't she just a little spitfire.” Said Rock as he materialised in front of the two ponies remaining.
“What’re you sayin’ ‘bout my sister?” Said Big Mac with a grumble of irritation.
“Nothin’, big boy just saying your sister has a bit of an air to her is all.” Rock had chosen those words specifically to piss Big Mac as much as he could at the present moment.
“If I wasn't so out of it, I would kick your flank in, ya hear?” Big Mac knew he had no way to back up this statement but there was something nice about talking back to the ghost that made him feel like he was still in control.
“Settle down, both of you!” Twilight yelled. Both of the stallions continued to glare at each other as Twilight slid the bandages off of Big Mac’s arms and legs.
“What happened to me?!”
“Settle down, I need to change your bandages!” Twilight said, irritated as she was thrown off by Big Mac sitting up to inspect his injuries.
“Well, dirt, you did something rather amazing for an earth pony. Too bad you didn’t know what to do after that, and you ended up with those scars all over your body. They’re permanent, by the way.” Big Mac started looking around wildly trying to get out of his bed and tear his bandages off.
“No, Big Mac, stop! It’s too soon, you need to heal more!”
“Uh oh, there he goes! Good luck getting him back in bed, Twilight.” Rock disappeared as Big Mac sat up. He fell off his bed, landing on Twilight with a solid thunk. Big Mac stood up, and everything was blurry as he started to walk towards a mirror, tearing off the bandages covering his body.
“Twilight, I'm sorry if I hurt you when I landed on you.”
“It’s okay Big Mac, I just need you to-” Twilight stopped mid-sentence to gasp as Big Mac passed out on the floor. “Buck, now what am I going to do with you?”
When Big Mac came to, it was late night, and Twilight was passed out in the chair next to him. Big Mac stood up trying to not wake the mare that was snoring softly at his side. He wobbled a little as he stood up, trying to gain his balance. After getting it, he walked out to the main room of the library where Rock’s book lay on the central table.
“So you heal quickly.” Came the eerie voice of the ghostly stallion. He suddenly appeared in front of Big Mac. “I know what you want to know. But you’d better not pass out this time.” Big Mac nodded, every muscle in his neck aching from this simple gesture. “Alright then, follow me. We wouldn't want to wake our gracious host.” The ghost settled next to Big Mac and set a slow pace as they headed outside. “Seems the nights have become more beautiful, now that Princess Luna is back. I was there with Princess Celestia when she tried to take over the palace in her youth. I was there when she was banished. I could see the tears streaming off of Celestia’s face as she banished her sister.”
“What happened on the mountaintop?” Big Mac strained to say out of breath even from the slow pace that they were walking.
“We lost three of our remaining six.” Rock continued, ignoring the question, “In that battle we held off thousands of Nightmare Moon’s blackguards, only to have her banished. If I had the chance, I would have killed her then and there, but I couldn’t because it was the Princesses’ battle.” Those words rolled off his tongue with a large amount of disgust and hate. “I did my duty as a soldier of Equestria. That is your duty from here on out.” Rock stopped walking as they settled down near the fountain in Ponyville park. Big Mac rested himself against a tree trying his best to relax and listen to the ghost.
“Now I will tell you what happened at the top of the mountain and what this means for you. You broke the magic barrier in an attempt to strike me down. Those scars are from the pure magical energy that you absorbed attacking your own body. When you broke the barrier, you were suddenly flooded with magical energy. You didn't know what to do with this energy, so your body released it all at once. Unfortunately for us, our form of magic is volatile and dangerous. Where a unicorn would have thrown objects across a room, or turned a quill into a cactus the energy turned into knives of wind.”
“Okay so I can do magic now?” Said Big Mac
“No. All you can do now is tap into the magic energies around you. This is the first step to learning magic but it is in no way the hardest.”
“...So I have more training after this?”
“You have a lifetime’s worth of training ahead of you.”
“You told me that you were going to tell me what this meant for me and how it would affect my life more than it already has.”
“Yes,” the ghost replied, face grim, “You are no longer a pony. You are a tool, a weapon in the hoof of Equestria. Your life as you knew it is over.”
“What if I don’t agree to this?” Said Big Mac, trying to sound as threatening as he could, even though breathing and walking were laborious.
“You don’t get a choice. Hate it as much as you want, you are now both an asset and a threat to all pony-kind. It’s your turn to defend Equestria, as all those who came before did, and you will do it without fail. Do you understand me?!” Big Mac could only nod in agreement. “Good. Now, get back to bed, and don’t wake Twilight. Your training resumes as soon as you’re finished healing.” Rock faded away and Big Mac made his way back through the night to the library.
Due to unknown recent events, ponies living in the U.G.R have been seizing the property of ponies and deporting mares and foals. It is unknown what happened to the stallions as one witness who arrived back in equestria today tells us of the horrifying actions of the U.G.R. “We were woken up in the middle of the night. Several G.R.B. agents were forcing us out of our homes with little more than the clothes on our backs. When we got outside they forced the men and even some of the older boys into the back of heavily guarded carts.” No stallions of the age 16-35 have arrived from the U.G.R. and we can only fear the worst. Princess Celestia has made a public statement on this issue: “This is an outrage. The overtly hostile actions against ponies of their own country is evidence of their more recent aggressive actions against Equestria. I am forbidding all commerce and travel to the United Griffon Republics for the safety of our state.” Along with this, the Princess commented on the possibility of war on the horizon for the reason that stallions of age are being held in the U.G.R. “I am not going to thrust my country into war. We are not ready, and have been at peace for far too long to throw it away, but I will begin registration for a voluntary defence force. This defence force will be headed by Commander Stone Wall and will only be for the defence of equestria.” We will continue to follow this story as much as we can but troubling events are causing equestria to form a standing army in the first time in 600 years.
The Return of the Strong Ones
“Join the Royal Guard! Defend equestria!” The recruiters shouted. Young stallions were lining up for their chance of glory on the battlefield. Some were there out of necessity, looking for a job due to the trade cut off. Whenever Big Mac walked past the recruitment table, they all would holler at him to join the Guard, but Big Mac never looked up or even acknowledged them. He just kept walking toward the clearing near the Everfree Forest that he and Rock had used to practice magic. When Big Mac arrived at the clearing to see the ghost laying down in what he could only describe as a sleeping position, he chuckled a little. To his knowledge, ghosts didn’t need to sleep at all. Big Mac walked up, noticing that Rock was snoring rather loudly. To get his attention he cleared his throat.
“Have you ever walked up the stairs and miscalculated your steps.”
“Eeyup.”
“That’s what it’s like to be a ghost. Taking that last step, anticipating it, but all you find is air. That falling sensation... that’s what I feel. I know I should feel the warmth of the sun, I should feel the breeze, or how the grass moves as I walk, but I can’t.” Big Mac could only nod, not quite comprehending. “Alright, back to work. You ready, filly?”
“What was that wind spell that you hit me with the first day?” Rock had a nice chuckle to himself.
“Set up the targets, and I’ll tell you.” Big Mac walked over to the five targets that were leaning on the nearby pine. They were very simple targets wooden stake with a bullseye on the top. Twilight was nice enough to place a spell on them that made them as strong as steel for the magic they would eventually be using on them. Big Mac set all of the targets in a pentagram and walked back over to where rock was standing.
“Listen up. The key to this spell is imagining snapping the wind like a whip. The bigger you make your whip the more power it will have. The smaller it is, the more accurate and deadly. For now don’t worry about the size, focus on a quick release of the energy to have a sharp snap.” Big Mac nodded and stepped up to the targets. With a deep breath he focused In an instant he flexed every muscle and focused every ounce of mental and physical strength into breaking the magic barrier. Time seemed to stop as he felt the magical energy flow around him. He let in some of this energy flow into his body. “Snap like a whip,” was all he was thinking. “Snap like a whip. Snap like a whip.”
He forced all of the energy out of his body using it to grab the air around it. He imagined the snapping of a whip as the magic reached his target. The wind struck the target with a weak pop. Big Mac exhaled exhausted from such a weak attack. Breathing heavily he turned around to his mentor for feedback.
“Good. Do it again, you will grow stronger with repetition. Continue to the other targets in one minute. Focus on the beginning where you are drawing energy, that’s the most important part. It’s the foundation of all the magic you’ll use.”
“Got it.”
The exhausting training continued as he tried to strike the five targets one after another. He began to get into a rhythm, where he could hit the targets one after another, but there was no power to his attacks.
“Enough! You’re done for today! If you keep that poor performance going, you’ll end up flat on your back, just like before. Your fundamentals are improving, and you will overcome that lack of power with practice.” With this the ghost stood up, nodded his head, and disappeared. Big Mac began walking back to the library. The library had become a second home to him in the last couple months, just as Spike had become a little brother.
“You can’t be serious! You can’t join the Royal Guard! You have to stay here in Ponyville, in case this escalates and the Princess needs us as the Elements of Harmony.” Big Mac looked up through the door of the library to see Rainbow Dash and Twilight arguing. Twilight seemed to be winning this argument seeing as Rainbow was keeping quiet. “What about the Wonderbolts? You wouldn’t be able to join them if you were in the Guard! What if you died? Come on, Dash, think for a moment.”
“But I feel like it's my duty to Equestria to go out and keep everypony safe!” Rainbow was on the verge of tears. It was all she could come up with to respond to Twilight’s well-reasoned arguments against her joining. Twilight sighed and dropped her head. Rainbow was now just sitting there sobbing, slowly trying to use her bangs to cover her eyes.
“Rainbow I- I’m sorry but you just can't join the Guard because we are needed right here, right now. Not just you but every one of us.” Twilight walked over and picked Dashes chin up. “You are the most loyal pony ever, but right now being loyal to Equestria means staying here.”
“Th-thanks Twi.” She got up and started walking to the door. “Hey Big Mac.”
“Miss Dash.” Replied Big Mac as he opened the door for her to leave. Big Mac gently shut the door behind her as she stepped outside the house and took off. Twilight let out a big sigh, devastated that she had done that to her friend. She picked up her head, trying to give the most sincere smile to Big Mac to welcome him home, but then she let herself slip and a small tear slid down her face.
“Big Mac, what should I have done? I hate making my friends sad.” Big Mac walked up and sat down next to her.
“I don’t know.”
“What would we have done if she had gone off and gotten herself killed? What would happen to us back here if she didn’t come back?”
“I couldn’t tell you.” Twilight leaned her head against Big Macs shoulder.
“I hope this whole war thing blows over before any of my friends get hurt.” Big Mac could only nod and sit there, trying to comfort the purple mare. Big Mac sat there until he could hear the soft breathing of sleep coming from the head resting on his shoulder. At this he slowly got up trying not to wake Twilight. He carried her to the bed and set her down. With a big yawn he turned around and walked to his room.
“You’re a smooth one, aintcha? Well don’t go falling in love, you still have a duty to all of Equestria.” Rock materialised standing next to the table in the guest room.
“I have a duty to my friends too.”
“Hmph! You may not talk much but you choose your words well. Rest up.” Big Mac nodded as the ghost evaporated. Before he slid into bed he looked at the lamp that was lighting his room. He used the same magic attack that he had been learning all day to blow out the candle. The small flame was extinguished and the room plunged into total darkness, and with a satisfied smile Big Mac slid into bed and let himself fall asleep.
Big Mac awoke to Rock floating above him with a dark smile on his face. Big Mac pulled himself out of bed.
“Leave your harness, you’re not going to be wearing it from now on.” Big Mac had been reaching for said harness, but stopped at the command.
“This harness belonged to my father, and his father before him. I have worn this harness ever since he died and you're telling me to leave it here.”
“Yes.”
“You better have a good reason for me to leave it here.”
“You don’t get to make that decision. It’s time for you to put it down for good, go hang it on a wall. You aren't going to need it anymore.” Big Mac stared at the ghost, who only held the same stern look he always had when he was in his “training” mode. With an angry grumble, Big Mac dropped the harness on the ground and walked towards the door that lead to the main room of the library. As he walked out of the door he saw Twilight busy at work, reshelving all of the books. Without a word he walked out the door into the blinding sunlight. He blinked to let his eyes adjust to the brightness. The pegasi must have been hard at work for such a beautiful sunny day.
“Unfortunate that you don’t get to enjoy it.” Rock said, almost reading his mind.
“What makes you say that?” Replied Big Mac turning to face him.
“Because the Everfree Forest isn't known for being sunny.” The ghost started walking towards the entrance to the forest that lay near Fluttershy’s cottage. They walked in silence as they entered the shadows of the sinister-looking forest. Everything had an eerie, unnatural feel to it, as a cool breeze blew across the back of Big Mac’s neck, making him slightly more alert. From what Applejack had told him of their adventures, the two stallions were headed towards the old city that was once the capital of Equestria. All that was left of it now was crumbling, broken ruins, overgrown with vines and home to various creatures.
They continued through the town making their way to the ruined castle in the middle of town. Rock stopped and looked at the doors of the castle then turned to look at Big Mac.
“This was the capital of Equestria for several hundred years after the banishment of Princess Luna. It actually turned out to be an extreme advantage when the griffons attempted an invasion: the trees were so dense that the griffons were forced to land to attack, and that pretty much won the whole conflict for us.” The ghost motioned for Big Mac to open the door as he continued his history lesson. “After the wars ceased, the capital was relocated to where it is now and where it would stay.” They continued to walk through the castle. Big Mac could see the pedestal that the Elements of Harmony had lay on before his sister and her friends had gotten to them. Instead of going up into the crumbling towers of the castle, they went down every set of stairs that they came across. As they delved deeper into the castle, it was like taking a step back in time as they continued to descend into the darkness.
They continued to walk until they reached a door that was a dirty yellow color. The dust and cobwebs covered the door but there was no rust anywhere to be seen. This intrigued Big Mac because the cave was dripping from the ground water seeping through the walls. Yet the door stayed unrusted even though it must have been over five hundred years old.
“This door is made of adamantium. Has some weird properties like nullifying magic and being ridiculously heavy,” A smirk crossed the ghost face, “I wouldn’t hang around it though, it'll make you sterile.” With a slight chuckle he walked up to the door. Big Mac looked it over, the door was completely flat, and had no handles to grab onto.
“How am I supposed to open this thing.”
“Push, hay-for-brains! Only somepony strong enough can enter the forge.” Big Mac ignored the last bit of the sentence as he readied himself. With a grunt of exertion, Big Mac drove his shoulder into the flat surface of the adamantium. He could feel a strange draining effect coming from the gigantic slab as it started to turn inward. With a groan of protest, the door gave way to a huge cavern. Stalactites hung down from the ceiling, occasionally dripping. A small creek flowed through the cave, disappearing into the wall on the far side. The cave was a dim green as fluorescent mushrooms lit the area. They walked the path down and over the underground creek. The path wound its way through the cave.
“Welcome home. This was both our barracks and training room before the wars. Unfortunate that the Princess abandoned this place for Canterlot, so many secrets hidden in these walls...” They made their way through the cavern, Big Mac taking in the the dilapidated ruins, before they came to a door. This one looked more like your standard door, wrought iron and wood, but it was old and rotting with age. Big Mac watched as the ghost phased through the door, and assumed that was his cue to follow.
Big Mac started to open the door, but pulled back from the incredible heat that burst forth. Mustering himself, he closed his eyes and pushed through to enter the room. Big Mac opened his eyes slowly, expecting to be blinded by the small sun he must be standing in front of. As his eyes crept open he was shocked to realize that it wasn't a sun of any size, but an enormous roaring purple flame. The flame surged higher and hotter, almost as if it had realised that he was staring.
“This, filly, is the Eternal Flame. As long as this cave survives, so does this flame. Celestia may have power over the sun, but this flame isn't hers. This is a product of the Earth, this is our Flame.” The ghost walked took a step towards Big Mac, making himself as tall as he could. “It is time for you to prepare for war. Your harness will be replaced with something that will become even closer to you: your armor. Not even death will separate it from you.” The ghost turned to look at the flame again “You will forge your armor just like everypony that came before you, in the fires of the Earth.” He smirked as he let out a small chuckle. “Now that the formalities are finished, I can tell you what is going to happen.”
Big Mac dumbfounded by the flame could only nod his head.
“First things first, you need to go back into the cave and get some ore. Adamantium is better used for armor than doors and doesn't affect our type of magic, so it makes for incredibly strong, if heavy, armor.” The two ponies exited the forge and walked back up the winding caves. They reached an offshoot that Big Mac had not noticed, and they walked all the way to the end of the cave where a pickaxe waited for them. Big Mac struck the vein of golden metal as hard as he could, knocking out some of the golden metal.
“Good, but you're going to need a lot more than that.” Rock spurred Big Mac on. Every time he hit the vein, more ore would fall from the wall and pile up at his hooves. Sweat crowned his brow as images of long days at the farm crossed his mind.
“Stop, that’s more than enough!” Big Mac, startled by his sudden jolt back to reality, realized that he had a massive pile of ore on the ground. Big Mac took some seconds to gather himself and look around. Until then Big Mac had not realised how much he missed the simple farm work, but now was not the time to worry about it. Gathering the ore, Big Mac and Rock made their way back to the forge.
When they got there, they found old smelting molds and pots that they could use to refine the adamantium. The metal glowed a magnificent gold as it began to melt and the impurities were removed. Once all the gathered ore had finally melted, Rock directed Big Mac to place the molds and retrieve the purified ore. Sweat dripped from Big Mac’s brow as he stretched toward the fire to grab the pots of molten adamantium. The flame seemed to see him, and it parted for just an instant so he could get a easy grab with the tongs.
The adamantium was taken directly to the molds and poured into each one. All the metal that had been mined earlier was used, not a drop of the rare material wasted. When the metal slowly solidified, Big Mac knew it was time to douse the pieces in water. Many years of making horseshoes for himself and the farmhands had prepared him for the backblast of steam as he plunged the shaped metal into the water with a hiss and a boil the water cooled and tempered the armor pieces. After several more hours of stitching and binding the pieces with links of chain, his work was done.
“Not bad for your first attempt.” Rock critiqued, inspecting it with his keen eye. Big Mac set the armor on the floor in front of him, looking at the gold chest and back plate. His new helmet looked almost exactly like the ones the Royal Guard would have worn, but with spikes so that headbutts would be more damaging. Big Mac pulled the chest plate over his head and slid it down into place around his neck. The weight was something that he would have to get used to, but other than that it felt like it was just another harness, only this one would protect him from claws, arrows, and magic.
“Back to Ponyville, move out.” Rock commanded after Big Mac finished donning the helmet that would keep his head safe in the battles that would surely come. As he started walking the only thing that Big Mac could think about was how his life as he knew it was now over. He would likely never be able to buck apples or squeeze cider again. He was a soldier now, and he had to protect his country. At this thought he dropped back a half step from Rock and shed a tear in mourning for his old life.
The walk home was somber, with no words spoken between the ghost and the soldier. As they reached the outskirts of Ponyville, they realised that the sun was just starting to creep up over the eastern hills. As they walked through the marketplace, nopony selling at this hour, Big Mac’s fatigue finally caught up with him and all he wanted to do was sleep. Neither the pony nor the ghost knew how long they had been in the cave, and neither cared at the moment. Big Mac arrived at the library around the time that Twilight would have normally been waking up to find that the lights were still on. Big Mac opened the door to see Twilight passed out at her desk again, reading another book on science and magic. He walked past the sleeping mare noticing that his harness was sitting next to her desk. As he walked over to go pick up his harness so that he could give it to Applejack to take back to the farm he noticed that the spell that she was trying to learn was a tracking spell. The spell required something of great importance to the pony that you wanted to find.
“She was trying to find me?” Big Mac was interested as to why she would be worried about him. He picked up his harness and gently nuzzled the purple mares are to wake her up. With a yawn, Twilight’s eyes slowly opened. A moment later, after seeing that it was Big Mac that had woken her she fell out of her chair, wide awake as if ice water had been dumped on her.
“Where have you been?! You have had me worried sick! I was scared that you had done something stupid with that ghost!”
“Now hold on-” Rock began, only to be cut off.
“And what do you do, you come back three days later! Who do you think you are scaring me like that? Why are you dressed up in all this armor? Where have you been?” As the questions kept rolling in Big Mac noticed tears slipping down the mare’s face at the sight of him. Big Mac did the one thing he could think of. He took a step forward and wrapped his foreleg around her. As soon as he had the mare in his embrace she stopped talking.
“It’s okay, I'm back now, and I won’t leave without telling you first.” Big Mac reassured the crying mare in as gentle a voice as he could muster.
“You better, Big m-Mac...!” Said twilight between soft sobs. As she said that Big Mac let her go.
“How long have I been gone?”
“Four days now.”
“Four days? Really...?” At this, he could last no longer, and Big Mac closed his eyes to blink and fell to the ground snoring.
UGR moves forces towards the border.
The United Griffon Republic announced today that the forces near the Equestrian border are conducting a training exercise and are not intended as a threat towards their neighbors. As forces move towards the Equestrian border, a spokespony of Princess Celestia had this to say: “Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia respectfully requests that the United Griffon Republic conduct their training exercises elsewhere, and continued advancement toward the border will be considered an act of aggression.”
In other news, Equestrian Army recruiters around the country have recruited enough able ponies for a solid defense force but with these current events we may need more soldiers soon. Cont Pg. 4C, “Soldiers”
Authors note: Thanks to my editor Sujamma.
