//------------------------------// // Chapter 6- The Mega Sized Savior // Story: MEGA Macintosh // by BottleH2O //------------------------------// Oakenwood was a small and quite town, about as backwater as you can get. There was a mostly an earth pony population running the show around there. Not unlike Ponyville. The town was run by their mayor, a stallion named Chief Royal. He was very much liked among the community, always friendly, always accommodating, and extremely patient with others. He was the one of the ponies Celestia had to write to when a certain noble mare had asked to do community service in the town. A noble, who, up until very recently, had been so gigantic she overshadowed entire mountains as she and her associates galivanted around the Kingdom. Mayor Royal had at first been apprehensive, but after some persuasion from the Turner family, whom the noble had sparked a bond with, he agreed to let them host the former Titan at their residence. The guest bedroom of the Turner family opened and out stepped the yawning unicorn mare. She was a little taller than most ponies in town, having spent most of her time working out at the gym. Her fur was snow white which matched perfectly with her similarly colored mane, which was now sporting ocean blue highlights. And adorning both sides of her was her cutie mark, which was in the shape of two dumbbells. Sturdy Step was her name. In her late twenties, she was a third-generation professional boxer and winner of nine championships in a row. Sturdy walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet as she grabbed her toothbrush. As she brushed, she continued to reflect on her past. When she had first began her boxing career, Sturdy had risen to stardom almost instantly, once word had gotten around that she was the daughter of the now retired, second-generation professional boxer Stalwart Step. She had wanted nothing more than to make her father proud and threw herself into her training. Stalwart had been extremely supportive of his little girl. Being a single father after his wife had run off with some lifeguard, he wanted nothing more than to make his daughter happy and give her a loving and supportive life. And through this, Sturdy had rarely known a bad day in her life. But even though things were alright for her everywhere she went, this unfortunately did have some unintended side effects to her ego. Sturdy spat into the sink and washed her mouth, taking a second to spray some breath freshener. Stepping back, she looked herself over in the mirror, satisfied with what she saw, Sturdy nodded and trotted back to her room. Match after match she had kept winning, the crowd going wild for her, and she got nothing but praise left and right. And that nonstop admiration went straight to her head. Before she knew it, she was hanging out with a crowd of ponies she barely knew well past 3 in the morning at ratty old bars, started getting more arrogant with both her manager and her poor father, and even started dating Prince Blueblood. All because they had literally run into each other after one of her matches. Sturdy still didn’t know, even now, if she had been genuinely interested in dating him or if that was the gold digger part of her mind coming into play because he was the prince. Regardless, she had not been in a good place for a while, surrounding herself with the snobs of the nobility that most ponies of Equestria had come to despise because of how far their heads were in the clouds. But that had all come to a climax just over a week ago. Sturdy Step rummaged around inside her bedroom “where did I leave it?” she murmured. Pacing around her room once more, her eyes settled on a familiar blue headband laying on the bedside table. Sturdy smiled internally at the familiar headwear as she walked over to the table and put it on her head, just below her horn. As she walked out the bedroom door towards the stairs to the first floor, her mind flashed back to the events just a week prior. She had gotten into an argument with her father. He was getting worried that she was beginning to hang around with the wrong crowd, that the ponies she had met recently, Jet Set and Upper Crust, were not the best ponies out there and would most likely take advantage of her somewhere down the line for their own gain. But she had shouted back that he didn’t know what he was talking about and that he barely even knew her or who she hung around with. Even now Sturdy knew that was a blatant lie she had thrown out in her anger. She had lost contact with a lot of her former friends after she rose to stardom and her father knew that. But at the time she had been a completely different mare, she had yelled at her father that he didn’t control her and she could hang out with whoever she wanted before storming out to meet up with Blueblood for whatever “special” plan he wanted to do that day. When Blueblood had announced that “grow into giants for the day and roam around the kingdom and eventually go to Canterlot” plan Sturdy was initially just along for the ride. The more egotistical side of her wanted a break from the argument she had just had with her dad and just be free to do whatever she wanted. And what better way to do that than parade around the kingdom as a several thousand-foot-tall titan? She would go from town to town, soaking up the praise and cheers from all of her adoring fans, do a few photoshoots with bug sized ponies clambering all over her, and even get to travel around the kingdom. The perfect way to get away from her nagging dad and be with the ponies who really cared about her. “And how naive I was,” Sturdy thought as she made her way down the stairs towards the kitchen, where she could hear a few lively voices chatting away. While she had been on her globetrotting stroll, she had come across a particular young colt who went by the name Thimble Turner. Sturdy still winced internally as she recalled the predicament she had faced when she first “encountered” him. At the very first town she had visited, Oakenwood, she had been extremely careless. Still not accustomed to her size just yet she had roughly handled ponies when she picked them up, almost damaged buildings, but worst of all, accidently, unintentionally kidnapped Thimble who had shown up to the meet up but was left unseen and unnoticed by her due to his small size. As she left the town her tail had landed on the crowd, sweeping up Thimble in its strands and taking him along for the ride. The poor colt had been left tangled up and dangling from the tail strands as her mountainous form went from place to place. She had eventually noticed him and brought him back home. But while Thimble and his family were overall alright with how things ultimately turned out; Sturdy was still haunted by the experience. The entire time there had been a foal trapped on her and she hadn’t even known until Thimble tiny little voice eventually traveled to her ears. What if he had fallen from her tail? What if she had sat down at some point and accidently squashed him? Sure things turned out alright but that doesn’t mean that there hadn’t been a few near misses! Thimble and his parents may have forgiven her because nopony was hurt but that doesn’t mean that she forgave herself. But what really did her in was the aftermath of the Titan debacle. After the guards had taken her into custody and she was given a reduced sentence, Sturdy felt like she didn’t deserve it. Just being there with the other made her feel like she was just as guilty as the other nobles were. But after seeing just how enraged Princess Luna was at Blueblood and the others, she was too intimidated of the Luner monarch to speak up. Instead, she had requested to be sent back to Oakenwood to do her community service. She could have easily stayed in Canterlot where she’d have access to the luxuries of her mansion, gym equipment, and fancy restaurants. But she felt like she’d be getting off too easy. She had done wrong and she wanted to make things right. And what better way to do that than by helping out the town and family she had inadvertently caused the most damage to. But there was also another reason why she had chosen the Turner family specifically, one was to make her little buddy Thimble happy because of how much he idolized her, and the other was to take the time and do some much needed soul searching. The Turners didn’t have nearly as much as she did, yet as she reflected on the time she had spent with the family while they had picked cotton for their hat making business, she realized that they were happy. And she couldn’t understand why. At least not yet. Before the guards had lead her to the train so she could be taken to Oakenwood to serve her sentence, her father had managed to catch up with her and the others. And to this day Sturdy couldn’t shake the devastated look on his face as he begged her to tell him that what had happened wasn’t true. Sturdy had no words as all she could do was look down in shame as the guards lead her away from her weeping father towards the train that was about to depart. The heartbreaking sight of the legendary Stalwart Step breaking down to pieces as he watched his only daughter be arrested and carried off to server her sentence. Sturdy was hoping that spending more time with this down to earth family would help her realize what she was missing with hers. Why the Turners, despite having so little, were far happier than she and her father. Despite the Sturdy Step’s family having seemingly everything, over the years the she and her father had grown apart. Sturdy was determined to figure out the answer to this riddle. “And make it up to you father,” She thought as she finally entered the kitchen “I promise you that when I return home, I’ll be a better mare than I was before. Not the selfish and egotistical one you had to watch grow up under your roof. No, I want to be somepony you can be proud to call your daughter,” Thimble Turner giggled as his mother set another batch of scrambled eggs onto his plate. “Now make sure you eat all of it sweetie, you need your energy if you want to help us out in the fields today,” Mrs. Turner said “Sure thing mom!” Thimble squeaked cheerfully as he began to ravenously wolf it all down. Mrs. Turner smiled at the sight “Slow down dear, you’ll choke on it if you eat too fast,” she chided gently. “Mmmmm!” Thimble tried to say, his mouth full of scrambled eggs. Reaching for a cup of orange juice, Thimble Turner chugged down the entire lot in one go. Exhaling in relief, he was greeted to the blank stares of both his parents. “Hehe. Oops?” Mr. and Mrs. Turner smiled and rolled their eyes as they went back to setting up the breakfast table, just in time for a certain white unicorn mare to make her way into the kitchen. “Ah, good morning, Sturdy, how did you sleep?” Mr. Turner asked as he moved the spatula around the pan of eggs on the stove. “I slept fine, thank you for asking Mr. Turner,” Sturdy replied politely as she took her seat at the table. “Morning Sturdy!” Thimble piped up excitedly from his seat as he was gnawing his way through a pear fritter. Sturdy chuckled and ruffled his mane with a hoof “Morning champ,” she said “Are you trying to set a new record on how fast you can eat your breakfast today?” “Yup! I wanna be as fast as you are!” Sturdy chuckled “Don’t worry kiddo, I’m sure you’ll get there eventually,” she said as she slid a pear Danish onto her plate and began to gobble it up. “Oh Sturdy, surely you’d want to eat more than that,” Mrs. Thimble said as she began to move the plate of pastries over to the mare. Sturdy shook her head with a small smile “That’s alright Mrs. Thimble, I have to get an early start for today,” she said “Oh? And why is that?” “I have to head out to town as early as possible to grab some new seeds for the plants out back as well as some new watering cans for the fields,” Sturdy replied “Yeah!” Thimble spoke up “And I want to go with her so I can show her all the right seeds to get!” Mrs. Turner nodded “Alright then you too, don’t let us keep you for long then. I’m sure you two would want to leave as soon as possible,” she said. Thimble looked a little shocked at those words “Really? You’re not going to make us stay and try to force us to eat third helpings again before we leave?” he asked Mr. Turner chimed in at the question, turning away from the stove briefly “Nah it’s alright Thimble, I understand that you two probably want to get a head start before Celestia brings the sun up too high and it gets too hot outside. Don’t let us keep you,” Smiling brightly, Thimble turned to Sturdy who had just finished polishing up her pastry “Ready to go?” he asked his idol excitedly. Study could only smile at the young colt’s enthusiasm “Yeah, I’ll meet you outside,” she said as she rose from the table and trotted out into the hallway. Thimble squeed with delight as he quickly put his plate and cup into the sink before dashing out into the hallway as well and out the door. But before he could take one step outside, he realized that Sturdy had forgotten to take the bag of bits the two had put aside for today for their shopping. Racing back upstairs and into the guest bedroom, Thimble retrieved it and began to trot back downstairs. But as he did, he heard his parent’s hushed voices coming from the kitchen. Sparking his curiosity, Thimble tip-hoofed over to the closest wall and began to listen in “Have they left?” Mrs. Turner’s voice asked “I think so,” Came Mr. Turner’s voice as he replied to his wife, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor could be heard as the stallion took a sear down at the table. “Thank goodness, I didn’t want them to be around while we discussed this, I didn’t want to make Thimble worry,” Mrs. Turner said “Don’t worry dear, I’m sure everything will be fine. Luckily Thimble and Sturdy went to the market to get some more seeds so they’ll be out of the house for a while,” Thimble could hear a small scoff come from his mother before she spoke up again “I not sure how much good that will do considering the first batch of plants barely had any gain from them,” she said “This month’s harvest has been extremely taxing on us as well as the rest of the community. There has been little to no rain here and because of the drought, us and most of the town have barely grown anything,” A sigh could be heard from Mr. Turner as well as the ruffing of papers “I know honey, these bills and taxes speak for themselves. We were barely able to pay off the previous set, but with the way things are looking, I’m not sure if we can even afford to pay the next months.” he said “Has the mayor heard anything from Cloudsdale’s weather team? Will they be sending over some storm clouds so we can get some water into the soil?” “So far there’s been nothing from them,” Mrs. Turner said somberly “They’ve been prioritizing major cities like Las Pegasus and Manehatten over smaller towns like ours. And of course, Ponyville.” Mrs. Turner looked as if she drank some sour milk as she uttered the rival of their town’s name “One of the members of the weather patrol lives there and she occasionally likes to give her town special treatment. One of Princess Celestia’s element bearers, Rainbow Dash,” A sigh could be heard from Mr. Turner “Do we know when Cloudsdale will send rain clouds to us next?” he asked “At least another 3 weeks or so,” “But that’s way too long! The bills are due in one week! There’s no way we can pay those off in time. We haven’t had a good harvest, nor have we gotten enough supplies to keep up with the demands from customers commissioning hats from us.” Mr. Turner said before letting out another tired sigh “We’re falling behind on our bills. At this rate we’d probably have to start selling a few things just to keep up, I don’t want us losing the house next,” “Does Sturdy and Thimble know?” asked Mrs. Turner “No, I don’t want them to worry,” Mr. turner replied “Sturdy already has enough to worry about with her punishment still in effect, and I don’t want Thimble to worry as well, that’s why I was so intent on getting them out just now so they wouldn’t have to hear us talk about this,” “Is it not possible to simply ask Sturdy and her family for a loan?” asked Mrs. Turner “I wish that was possible, but Princess Luna forbade any access to Sturdy’s wealth during her time here, remember? That was part of Sturdy’s agreement,” Mr. Turner said “We’ll just have to figure something out dear. I’m sure we’ll come up with something. Somehow.” Outside, Thimble’s ears flattened against his head as he overheard the conversation. Their sales weren’t doing well? They had a poor harvest? They could lose the house? He had never heard about any of this. Every time he asked about his parents would tell him not to worry, so he would always assume everything was fine. But things clearly weren’t fine! But what could he do? Slowly backing away from the entrance to the kitchen, he made his way back outside. Closing the door silently behind him, he then scampered down the road to catch up with Sturdy Step. But as little Thimble raced down the road, his mind just kept replaying the words over and over again of what his parents said and that did indeed fill him with worry. Worry about his parents and what they must be going through as well as what they all might loose later if something isn’t done. He eventually met up with Sturdy Step who had already arrived in the town square. There she was, already in conversation with the Pegasus parole officer who had been stationed at Oakenwood by order of the Princesses. He went by the name True Law. After all the strict and stern officers that had been assigned to the likes of Jet Set, Upper Crust, Enterprise Pursuit, and Lily Shine, Officer Law had been surprisingly mellow about the whole ordeal. Though it could be argued that he had been briefed form the Princesses that after the whole Titan ordeal, Sturdy had been the least terrible one of the lot and had actually tried to keep her damage to an absolute minimum. So he knew she could be trusted. “So what was it like?” He was asking her as they both wandered over to the marketplace “Being all big and such?” Sturdy blushed “It was interesting to say the least,” she said “When I first came to Oakenwood I was still getting used to my size so I may have been a little rough handling ponies the first time around. But as the day went on I just kept getting bigger and bigger. Soon towns looked like moss on the ground, and I was able to sit against a mountain like it was a chair,” “Wow,” Law said looking awestruck “If it was me who was that big, I would have been so nervous. I probably would have stepped on somepony or something by accident,” Sturdy giggled “I will admit, that almost did happen once or twice. But luckily I had my magic to make sure nopony got seriously hurt,” she said “Why bother becoming gigantic if you got nopony around to see you, you know? Just because I’m gigantic doesn’t mean I suddenly forget my morality.” “True,” Law chuckled “I’m happy that we got somepony like you passing by here. Somepony who was careful and kind with their size, and didn’t abuse it,” “Yeah,” Sturdy replied, looking distant as she glanced off to the side “I guess I got a bit of a wakeup call during all that.” With a sigh, she paused as she noticed a small figure running up to her. A smile broke across her lips as she recognized who it was. “Hey Thimble, there you are! I was wondering where you had gone off too,” Sturdy said cheerfully, looking over from Officer Law “Ready to go get those seeds kiddo?” she asked. But Thimble said nothing as he slowly came to a halt in front of her. Sturdy looked on confused as he silently deposited the bag of bits into her saddlebags before retreating a few steps. “Thimble? Is everything ok?” She asked Sniffle Sturdy’s eyes widened as she saw his lower lip start to tremble. Crouching down, she softly put one of her white hooves under his chin and gently raised his little face up to hers. A single warm tear fell onto her hoof. “Thimble…? Why are you crying?” she asked lightly, sitting down on her hunches, with Officer Law coming over silently with a concerned expression on his face. Thimble shook his head, refusing to say anything. “Did something happen on your way here? Did you hurt yourself?” she asked “N...No,” Thimble squeaked out “Did somepony tell you something on your way here? Were those guys from school picking on you again?” Again, Thimble shook his head no “So what happened kiddo?” Sturdy asked gently. She froze and Thimble suddenly dashed forward and latched onto her with a hug, more tears beginning to spill as the little colt began to cry silently. Sturdy put her forelegs around him and hugged back, adding a small rocking motion as she let Thimble let it all out. Eventually Thimble’s sniffles lessened, before turning into exhausted breathing. He tried to pull away from the hug but Sturdy held tight, rubbing the top of his mane softly “Feeling better?” she asked. Thimble nodded silently. “Why were you crying kiddo?” Sturdy asked him. “Mom and Dad might lose the house soon,” Thimble stammered out “What?!” Sturdy and Law exclaimed “I heard them before I left the house. They were saying that they were running behind on their bills and because of the harvest and no rain! They don’t know if they can keep up on all the payments!” Thimble said weakly. Sturdy bit her lip as she heard him. She had noticed the increasingly decrepit state the town was starting to undergo. She had tried to see if she could pull things back together with her family wealth, but that agreement she had made with the princess was unknowingly a double-edged blade. She couldn’t access her wealth, nor could she let others use it. Probably a side effect of Princess Luna’s return to the modern age. She was still getting used to how things were run, as it had been she herself who had made the written agreement. If she appealed to them now, she was sure that Luna would overturn her vote in a heartbeat, but it would take some time go through the legal process. Time that the Turners and the Town didn’t have. So, what could they do? It wasn’t like they could ask the national heroes of Equestria for help. This was probably below their paygrade. If they were even on the crown’s payroll. Well, luckily for the town of Oakenwood, help would indeed come. But it wasn’t in the form of the Mane 6. But instead in the form of one kindhearted stallion. Who happened to be several thousands of feet tall, had bright red fur, and wore a humongous brown yoke and a cowboy hat. Sturdy Step, Thimble Turner, Officer Law, and all of Oakenwood seemed to freeze as the felt the ground begin to shake rhythmically. Low THOOMS echoing through the air. It was the sound that everypony in Oakenwood remembered quite will. That was the same noise a giant sized Sturdy Step’s hooves had made the first time she came to Oakenwood. Big Macintosh traversed the tiny landscape of Equestria, his size increasing ever more as his magic continued to seep into the soil. He had just bid everypony in the city a fond farewell after taking care of the issues there. He was feeling pretty accomplished from the events prior; he repaired a city, brought it back from the brink of disaster. Big Mac remembered all the tiny construction ponies clambering around his massive muzzle as they relayed instructions, the ticklish feeling their little hooves made as they scurried about. After that was done, he had then had time to spend time with the miniscule ponies of the city. Helping out a tiny class cross the street and even making it into the newspaper. With the press taking various photos of him, even one of him holding up an entire stadium full of ponies. Big Mac blushed as he recalled reaching down into the pavement like it was butter and tearing out the stadium full of hundreds of ponies watching a hoofball game. “Ah admit, Ah might have gone a tad bit too far on that one,” he thought sheepishly with a small grin. But, if he really though about it, the ponies really didn’t seem to mind. They had outright cheered when Big Mac and reached down scooped them all up into the frog of his hoof. “Maybe them little folk enjoyed seeing powerful ponies throw their weight around?” Big Mac wondered. He stopped for a second, thinking it over before he shook his head and continued on his stroll. That couldn’t be it. After all the exact same thing had happened only a week prior in the form of the nobles and they had been left pretty scared at the end of the ordeal. “Or maybe they just enjoyed seeing mah big mug after repairing tha city,” Big Mac shrugged his huge broad shoulders at the proposition. While he didn’t have a definitive answer as to why the ponies were so happy while he was in Manehatten, he could only assume they gave him a pass because he was the one who fixed everything, and they knew he wouldn’t harm them. “That’s probably it. Speaking of which, where am Ah going?” Big Mac stopped his earth-shaking walk again and observed his surroundings. After leaving the city the landscape around him was back to the normal countryside, a sight he was used to. Well aside from his point of view. After leaving Manehatten the gargantuan apple stallion had grown even bigger. He was now bigger than the nobles were initially when they grew into Titans. Towering well past the height of all the skyscrapers in the city. His massive bulk rose into the sky, his head and bright orange mane almost piercing the low clouds above. Trees and entire forests had been reduced down to the size of moss below him which trembled and quaked with each one of his mighty steps. Flocks of birds, no bigger than pinpricks, flew past his legs as the world rumbled around them. “Well, it looks like Ah’ve gone past Ponyville by this point again. Ah have repaired some of them craters the nobles left behind around in tha area. Though Ah do seem tha recall AJ going on about them waking around the place and then some. Maybe if Ah keep walking around Ah could find some more craters and patch them up,” Big Mac though with a small snort, the powerful gale blasting from his nose, scattering a flock of bird’s V formation in front of him. Raising his colossal hoof, Big Mac stepped forward and continued on his path forward. Though he did try his best to keep his growth at a minimum. After all, he didn’t want to terrify any new ponies whom he would eventually meet. Big Mac could only think about scared they would be of him. Similarly, to how the ponies of Ponyville reacted when Blueblood stepped over their tiny town as he walked by on his way to Canterlot. As the landscape around Big Mac shuddered from his mighty size, he eventually was able to spot a patch or brown and grey among the clear green landscape. “Well, Ah’ll be. Ah almost forgot there was a lil town round these here parts,” Big Mac thought with a small smile as he thundered over to it “Might as well go an say hi to the lil’ ones,” But as he got closer and closer to the town, his newfound earth pony magic began to tingle around within him. There was something off about this particular town, though he couldn’t quite tell what just yet. Searching deeper within himself, Big Mac focused. Feeling the rush of the wind, the feel of the ground, and the earth beneath himself. There! He could sense it! The town he was approaching was filled to the brim with decaying plants. Fruits, Vegetables, and all sorts were in a bad state due to the poor conditions of their environment. Probably due to some neglectful weather ponies no doubt. Well, he had already fixed up his family’s orchard at only 100 feet tall. Now several dozens of times bigger, this should be no problem for the caring apple Titan. Oakenwood continued to tremble as Mega Macintosh got closer. Ponies and stands bouncing up and down amidst the rumbling ground. Even entire houses were bouncing up from their foundations and back down animatedly. Macintosh’s shadow covered more and more of the town as the giant stallion got closer. Eventually, Big Mac’s ginormous hoof landed on the edge of the town with a resounding BOOM! sending everyone and everything in the town up into the air one last time. Rubbing her sore rump from the impact of the fall, Sturdy Step looked out towards the distance. And up. And up. And really far up. Craning her head backwards she could barely make out the colossal spire that was the red leg that towered over the town. The massive tan hoof attached to the leg was humongous in it’s own right. This pony was so huge that the houses and clock tower didn’t even reach up to half of the hoof’s height. “W-Wow,” Sturdy though in awe as she stared slack jawed at the hoof’s girth in front of her “So this is what it looks like from down here, huh?” Big Mac chuckled internally a little as he examined the little town in front of him. He really had gotten much bigger from when he had left Ponyville. Before he used to be able to tell the individual buildings apart, but now he was so massive that they all seemed to blend together. With the little multicolored dots that were ponies staring up at his colossal self, high up in the sky. “Well, howdy down there little ones,” Big Mac spoke in a friendly manner, tipping his massive cowboy hat in greeting. “Woah,” Thimble squeaked out as he stared up at the giant “He’s even bigger than you were Sturdy,” “Uh-huh,” Sturdy said weakly Seeing that there was nopony answering the gigantic pony’s question, Thimble bravely steps forward, away from Sturdy Step and True Law and towards the red giant “Um, h-hi Mr. Giant, sir,” he said. Big Mac’s ears twitched as he picked up on the young colt’s voice. Swiveling his massive head towards the ground he spotted a trio of tiny little figures all grouped together near the center of the town. “Howdy there young stallion,” Big Mac said kindly, crouching down a little bit so he didn’t intimidate the tiny ponies on the ground with his huge bulk. It obviously didn’t work, but hey, it’s the thought that counts. “Uh, umm,” Thimble’s mind seemed to draw a blank as he tried to think of where to steer the conversation next, luckily, he had a former Titan next to him to pick up the reins. “Hey, hold up there buddy! How did you get so big?” Sturdy Step demanded as she stepped in front of Thimble protectively “And why? I seem to remember the Princesses getting pretty mad the last time some ponies tried doing the same thing!” Big Mac pulled his head back a little and bowed his head respectfully “Begging yer pardon little miss, Ah understand y’all have the right ta feel a tad nervous after what them nobles did to ther kingdom. Ah don’t mean ta cause all y’all any alarm. Ah simply got tis big cuz of a magic mishap. Tha Princesses are currently working on a counterspell for this, so in tha meantime Ah decided to head out and put this here size ta good use an fix all tha damages that them nobles caused around tha kingdom,” he said honestly. “You’re fixing all the damages? But that was part of their punishment that the Princess gave them,” Officer Law called up to Big Mac “Wouldn’t they be mad about that?” he asked uncertainly Big Mac shook his great head as he spoke “Mad or not sir, some ponies got hit hard by tha damages them no good nobles caused and almost lost their livelihoods and jobs. Tha Princesses can be mad at me if they want but as an adult mahself, Ah couldn’t, in a good consciousness, let mah fellow ponies suffer while Ah have tha power ta do something about it,” “Wow,” Sturdy thought as she listened to Big Mac talk “This is such a contrast to what we did when we were giants. With us, all we could think about is how to benefit ourselves and do whatever we wanted. Because who could stop us? We got hit hard by karma. But here’s this complete stranger who became even bigger than we did, and instead of doing as he pleases, he instead is trying to help others as a giant. The complete opposite of what we tried to do,” Sturdy’s ears flopped down as the revelation hit her. Did this make her a bad pony? Sure she had initially fixed the places she had gone with her magic, but morally, she couldn’t deny that she had became huge for the initial purpose of doing as she pleased. “Um, Mr. Giant, Sir?” Officer Law’s voice broke Sturdy out of her thoughts “You said that you were trying to fix the damages that the nobles caused, correct? How have you been doing that? I thought that Earth ponies could only manipulate the magic in the ground to grow crops,” The ground rumbled as Big Mac chuckled “Normally ya would be right little one, but with mahself being all huge and such came with a huge magic boost!” he replied Sturdy’s ears flicked at the familiar description. “I’ve been able to completely repair the ground and craters that them nobles left behind as well as any structures they damaged,” Big Mac said “And that leads me into why Ah’m here actually. Has tis here tiny little town been having some issues lately, more specially with tha plants y’all harvest?” “Yes!” pipped up Thimble “The crops and all of our harvests wouldn’t grow because nopony from Cloudsdale would send rainclouds over to here! So because of that a lot of the town’s crops aren’t growing as well anymore,” “Ah see,” Big Mac rumbled as he looked up thoughtfully “So how’s about ya let me help all y’all?” “Really?!” Thimble asked, a spark of hope beginning to grow in his eyes “You would do that for us?” “Ah would little one,” Big Mac said “How are you going to do that?” asked Officer Law “You can’t just walk over to Cloudsdale, take some clouds, and come back with them. That’s stealing!” Big Mac nodded his head “Ah know that sir, that’s why Ah wasn’t going ta go get rainclouds. Ah’m going to save yer harvest a different way. One only Ah can do,” “And what’s that?” asked a random pony in the background. Big Mac smiled “Ah’ll let it be a surprise. Will y’all let me save yer town?” the gigantic stallion asked The crowd muttered amongst themselves. Well, the last time a giant came to the town nothing really bad had happened. And this one had said that he was fixing up Equestria from the damages that was caused. So maybe this won’t be so bad? Big Mac heard the mutters of approval float along the crowd as he stood back up to his full, absolutely massive height. Standing so tall that the town could fit in one of his hoofprints. The air seemed to rumble as Big Mac stood tall, towering over all of them. Sturdy gulped as she looked up at the Titan. “So, this is what most bugs see when a pony passed by, huh?” she thought with a shiver. It was pretty intimidating. And she certainly felt as small as one in the presence of the colossal stallion. “Alright everypony, it’s going ta be a surprise!” Big Mac boomed cheerfully as he reached up and removed his cowboy hat “So no peeking!” The town seemingly stood still as they saw the Titanic pony lower his enormous hat towards the town, setting it down with a soft BOOM! Causing the ground to tremble slightly, as they were all bathed in a gentle shadow. “It kinda smells like hay and apples in here,” Thimble though with a small giggle at the though of the giant liking the same food as him. High up above, Big Mac looked down at his hat with an amused look. To think, he was now so gigantic that an entire town could fit under his hat, with hundreds of miniscule ponies underneath the simple article of clothing. “Wonder how big Ah’ll get by tha end of this?” Big Mac wondered as he charged up his earth pony magic. A small grin made its way onto his lips “Well, why not set a goal for mahself? How about so big Ah can hold entire cities an mountains in tha frog of mah hoof? Now that would be a sight! Watching all them little ponies scurry around a giant pony hoof. Let’s just hope that by tha time Ah’m done with all tha repairs Ah’ll be that big. And of course, before tha Princesses reverse tis here growth,” With his goal set, Big Mac set his hoof down and gently tapped the ground, unleashing a small wave of magic into the earth. Inside the hat, ponies gasped as all around them in the darkness, flashes of green erupted around them, lighting up their surroundings. The air rumbled as the humongous red hoof belonging to Big Mac reached down and lifted up the town covering hat. Ponies down below looked up in awe as they saw the hat they had been previously stuck under, lifted up like it was nothing by the giant and set back onto his head. “Annnnnd done!” Big Mac announced with his deep, booming voice and a cheerful grin “So what do y’all think everypony?” The ponies looked around in shock as they saw their previously lifeless plants suddenly blossoming with life. Dull yellow leaves and stems had been miraculously changed to a rich, green color teeming with beautiful pigments. And while this was happening, the familiar glow engulfed Big Macintosh as he began to raise to even bigger and better heights. Thimble gasped as, even from the town center; he could see the sudden explosion of growth from the cotton plants from his family farm. Tears began to build up again in his eyes, but this time they were tears of joy at the sight of the huge crops. Turning his head away from the sight, he looked back up at the red Titan, towering over them in the sky “T-thank you Mr. Giant, sir! Thank you so much!” Thimble squealed with happiness “I can’t wait to tell my parents the good news! Our family farm is saved! Now they won’t have to sell their stuff!” A gentle smile graced Big Mac’s face as he leaned down again, tremors shaking the earth as he shifted his colossal bulk and faced Thimble Turner “Ah’m glad ta hear that youngin. By tha sound of it, yer were pretty worried about this ain’t ya?” he asked Thimble nodded “Well, not only that, but my parents were really worried as well. And I don’t like seeing them that worried because it makes me worried as well,” he said. Big Mac nodded “Youngin, during those time, you should always remember never ta give up hope, specially when it comes to ya family. Especially during times of crisis, always remember to cherish your moments with yer family because those moments at tha end of the day, they always matter most. Family support ya, no matter how though things might seem,” Thimble’s eyes widened with happiness “I will Mr. Giant, sir! Thank you! Thank you so much!” Big Mac winked down at Thimble with a kind look as he stood back up to his full height, the town of Oakenwood beginning to cheer for him, thanking the Titan who saved their town. Big Mac looked down at the diminutive sized town and even tinier residents and gave them the good old tip of the hat as he bade them farewell. The colossal stallion lifted up his hoof and set it down next to Oakenwood with a THOOM, once more bouncing the residents and structures up into the air comically as the Titan resumed his stroll. The deep, booming sounds of his hoofsteps fading off into the distance along with his colossal frame. “Wow…” Thimble said in awe “Amazing…” Officer Law trailed off as he still looked off into the distance, faint Booms and still echoing through the air along with the minor tremble. But Sturdy Step however had stopped thinking about the Titan walking away, rather the words or wisdom he had imparted onto Thimble about family “Especially during times of crisis, always remember to cherish your moments with yer family because those moments at tha end of the day, they always matter most. Family support ya, no matter how though things might seem,” The colossal titan had said to him “Maybe he’s right,” Sturdy thought “Maybe later today I can send a letter to my father and check in on him. He’s probably worried sick and I haven’t said a word to him since. I promise as soon as this shopping trip is over I will send one immediately!” As Law and Thimble struck up a conversation talking about what just happened, Sturdy trailed behind, lost in thought “And maybe, it wasn’t really the material stuff that makes the Turners happy, but the love they have for one another. Maybe that was the answer to the riddle that has been vexing me this entire time. Even with the thought of their house being sold it looks like they still remained tight as ever. Huh, maybe I should try doing that with father more. Spend time with him instead of remaining alone and by myself all the time,” Sturdy smiled to herself as she looked up at the approaching evening. Part of the reason she had gone down to Oakenwood was to figure out how to better herself, and at long last, she may have finally found the answer. All it took was a different perspective and the wise insight from another fellow Titan. Meanwhile, now many miles, Big Mac looked up at the sky at the setting sun, admiring the night sky as it began to peak out. “Well, Ah think that Ah did pretty good today. How’s about Ah get some shut eye and then resume tomorrow. Hopefully by then Ah’ll have everything fixed up nice and neatly,” he thought. Big Mac sauntered over to a nearby mountain that reached up to his chest. Leaning back against it, Big Mac checked the surrounding areas, making sure it was clear, before putting his colossal hooves up on the second mountain range next to him with a BOOM. Pebble sized boulders rained down from where he rested his gargantuan hooves. “Now that’s more like it,” Big Mac thought with a small smirk as he put his forelegs behind his head in a resting position, pulling down his hat over his eyes. Who would have thought that he’d be using an entire mountain as a pillow and another one as a hoof rest? Certainly not him. “But boy howdy does this feel mighty good,” Big Mac thought as he settled down to sleep, letting his tired muscles rest from a long day of hard work. Thank goodness he didn’t snore or else nopony would be getting sleep that night “Arrgh! We’ve tried everything!” Twilight exclaimed as she blindly tossed aside another crumpled piece of paper over her head “I don’t know what we’re doing wrong!” Luna snorted as the paper ball bounced off her head “Have faith Twilight Sparkle, I am sure we shall find the answer we are looking for eventually,” she said as she levitated the wad of paper and tossed it into the waste bin. Meanwhile, over by the whiteboard, Celestia was busy going over the various spells that the three of them had come up with over the course of the two days. So far nothing had work. Big Mac’s fur had been completely resistant to them no matter what variation of the spells they casted or how many times they altered them. “Maybe I have been looking at this all wrong,” Celestia thought as she looked over the markings on the board. They knew that spells wouldn’t work, Blueblood had confirmed that much when they tried casting spells on him when he was a titan. Even a blast from the elements of harmony didn’t work. “So why bother with a spell at all then?” Celestia wondered “Why not use something…different?” And just like that, a lightbulb lit up in her mind as she put the pieces together. They really had been going at this all wrong! Just because spells didn’t work before meant that they would work now. There are different forms of magic available to them aside from spells. “If Big Macintosh is completely impervious to spells from the outside, then perhaps a shrinking potion that he has to swallow would suffice!” Celestia thought excitedly as she began to erase the board “Wha-HEY! Princess! Why did you erase all my equations?” Twilight wailed at the sight of her precious knowledge getting scrubbed away by the eraser. “Because my faithful student, my dear sister, I believe I have just come up with the solution to our predicament!” Celestia cheerfully said as she began to write on the board. Looking back, she saw she had Twilight’s and Luna’s full attention. Celestia smiled back at the two behind her ecstatically “We’re going to create our own, original shrinking potion to counter that spell!”