Big Macintosh was having trouble keeping a long distance relationship with his new girlfriend Sugar Belle, the constant traveling to another town was not an easy process. The two wanted to spend more and more time together to strengthen their relationship, but being apart for so long was not helping advance their relationship, they decided they needed to take a vacation for themselves. They decided that the perfect place would be the Crystal Empire, a town ruled by the Princess of Love and powered by the Crystal heart, that seemed romantic enough.
The two were seen sitting at a public restaurant sharing a cobb salad. The two tried to have a good time, but the whole event just felt awkward, as Big Mac was being his usual stoic and reserved self while Sugar Belle was trying to activate conversation. “So this is a beautiful night right? All the stars are in the air, isn’t it pretty?”
“Eeyup.”
Sugar Belle tried to continue the conversation, to sure where to go with a response like that, “Oh, well, isn’t this a beautiful city? All the buildings have such a magical glow, crystal seems to make a great material for homes, right?”
Big Mac looked around and took a look at all the buildings, he did notice the shiny parts and even saw his reflection in one wall, “Eeyup.” He said as he just continued eating the salad.
Sugar Belle just sighed briefly as she tried to find another topic of conversation with her boyfriend, “You know I’ve been thinking of expanding my bakery, maybe opening a franchise outside my town, maybe this place could be a possible area for one?” She asked, really looking in his eyes, hoping he would have some true advice.
Big Mac looked around the place, noticing how healthily the other ponies were eating there, he then looked at his menu and noticed there was no desert section. “Sugar Belle, do ya want mah honest opinion?” Big Mac asked. He looked into his girlfriend’s eyes and noticed she seemed very passionate about his answer, hoping he would be heartfelt in his response as she gave an excited nod, “Sugar Belle… Eeyup!”
Sugar Belle just looked exasperated at that answer, banging her head on the table once, “Eeyup… Eeyup… Eeyup… Is that all you can say?” She asked as she cartoonishly slid the salad bowl away from them to make a scene.
Big Mac looked confused as to why she would react like that, “Uh, nope…?” He asked as he tried to make sense of her attitude.
“Big Macintosh… You know I love you, but we never get to see each other, this is one of the few times I get to truly know about you, don’t you want to have a real conversation with me?” She asked as she put her forehead into her front hooves, sighing.
Big Mac looked confused and upset at seeing this mare look so depressed. He leaned over, and put his hoof on her shoulder and tried to comfort her, “Eeyup.” However that response did not seem to make her any less upset.
“Big Mac, you’re sweet and strong, but if we are going to make a long distance relationship like ours work, we need to communicate more. I never get to see you, I don’t know anything about you. All I know is you kick apple trees. Isn’t there anything about you that you’ve been wanting to tell me? Anything at all?”
Big Mac tried to think of something to tell her, but there was nothing that came to mind. As much as he wanted to tell about himself to his love, he had nothing to tell. He was a pony of almost no words, and nothing can change that. He tried to think about anything to tell her, but there was just nothing. Big Mac just sighed as he looked down at the floor, “Nope…”
Sugar Belle looked up and seemed a bit angry and hurt, “Big Mac, I broke Feather Bangs’ heart by choosing you over him. I felt terrible just leaving him like that, but I did it because I thought you wanted a pony to share your life with… If you can’t share anything with me, what are we doing?” She said as she took his hoof off her shoulder.
Big Mac just sighed and looked in Sugar Belle’s eyes, “Ah don’ know… Ah just wanna be with ya cause ah like you, ain’t that enough?”
“You say that, but you couldn’t even tell me that when we started dating, you had to have your little sister tell me… I need a pony I can talk to…” She said as she turned away slowly, “I think I need some alone time right now… You should go, I’ll meet you back at the hotel later tonight.”
“But Sugar Belle… Ah…” Big Mac tried to interject, but Sugar Belle refused to make eye contact, so Big Mac just sighed and got up, “Eeyup…” He said sadly as he started to walk away.
Sugar Belle looked at him as he made his way out of the restaurant, then waving for the waitress, “Excuse me Miss, can I get a glass of… Apple Cider? Extra strong please…”
That was the hardest conversation Big Mac had ever had with Sugar Belle. They had never fought before, and that was the first time he had seen her upset sense he was fighting with Feather Bangs. It was a very painful fight too, because he was always very sensitive about the fact that he could never share how he felt. His sisters used to always come to him for advice but he never gave the right advice, so he just decided to never share how he felt again. It was a decision he had often regretted, because it made him feel like a failure in life who could never help anypony, but at this point he had gotten so used to never sharing his thoughts, he just can’t do it anymore.
Big Mac looked up at the stars and started seeing patterns in them, all of which reminded him of Sugar Belle: one constellation was of her mixing batter for a cake, another was of her eating an apple pie, and the last one was of her holding a balloon and stick of cotton candy, the last one making him chuckle a little. He thought about her more and more and just wanted to run back and apologize. He knew he loved her and he wanted to do whatever it took to make her happy.
As Big Mac was looking up at the sky, he was not paying attention to what was around him, he had walked to the edge of the Empire with most of the buildings behind him. By the time he realized that he walked out too far, he ended up tripping over something he did not see, resulting in him cartoonishly falling over, “NOPE!!!” He said as he tripped and landed in a bush. When he got himself back up, he shoof the leaves and twigs off his coat and walked back to where he was when he fell. “What in tarnation is this…?” He said as he leaned down and picked up what he tripped on, seeing a disturbingly large and smooth Crystal.
Without warning, the horn shaped crystal began to glow a bright red and before Big Mac knew it, it started to become burning hot, so hot that Big Mac couldn’t continue to hold it, “YE-OUCH!!!” He yelled as he threw the object right back onto the ground, starting to walk back around into town, blowing on his hoof to help relieve the pain of burning. Big Mac was not expecting to see what happened next… The horn shaped crystal began levitating on its own and thrusted itself right in front of Big Mac’s face. “What in the Hay is…” He tried to ask as the object began glowing red again, and somehow caused Big Mac’s eyes to turn from green to red. Once it started glowing and catching his eyes, he stopped moving and simply stood still, staring blankly as the object continued to illuminate.
After about thirty seconds of Big Mac standing in complete attention, the object started moving again, attaching itself to Big Mac’s forehead like a unicorn’s horn, and that broke Big Mac of his trance, with him closing his eyes as a loud scream in terror came out as he felt himself start to grow slightly, almost one foot taller. His coat also started to take on a slightly darker shade of red, going from a bright crimson to a shade of scarlet under a shadow. The crystal horn then fully fused itself to Big Mac’s forehead, attaching itself and taking on the same shade of red as Big Mac’s new coat. His Mane also changed color, turning from a golden orange to a cool gray, almost like the color of smoke. Once he finished his scream of pain and horror, Big Mac opened his eyes again and this time, his left eye remained the deep red but his right eye returned to its normal green shade.
Big Mac looked as confused and disoriented as anypony could possibly be, he had trouble standing, he could not keep balance and had to just sit down. Once he found a large crystal that was big enough to hold him up and plopped down on it, the new horn began to glow a bright blend of purple and lime green, and that aurora surrounded the stallion. He began screaming again once the aurora started surrounding him whole, and before he knew it, he just… Vanished, there was nothing on the crystal anymore, not a trace that anypony was there except for Big Mac’s signature neck harness.
The next morning, Sugar Belle was seen walking along the same path her boyfriend was walking along. She had been alone all night and had time to think things threw. She realized that she knew what she was getting into by dating Big Mac, and that he was a reclusive pony and that sharing would not be easy for him. She realized she was being unfair by making him go out of his comfort zone and went out to find him and apologize.
“Big Mac? Big Mac? Big Macintosh? Some ponies told me they saw you walking this way. I’m sorry I got so mad last night! I want to make it up to you! Big Macintosh?” She yelled as she started looking around, worrying that Big Mac may have gotten so mad that he just returned home. “Big Mac please tell me you’re still here! I want to make things right! This is our trip and I need to find you!” She added right before she almost completely gave up and turned around. Before she could retract, she noticed something odd on top of a large crystal… Big Mac’s harness? “What the…? BIG MACINTOSH!!!” She yelled out in terror…