//------------------------------//
// Chapter Three: Princess Macintosh vs Jack O Lantern 
// Story: The Many Dreams of Princess Macintosh 
// by Foal Star 
//------------------------------//

"Please wake up!"

Princess Macintosh blinked as she slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was standing in front of two giant doors, flanked by guards on either side of her. The princess was trying to figure out where she and what was she doing? The mare looked down and saw a pegasus soldier come forward with a worried look and asked, "is everything ok, Princess Macintosh?"

"Y…yes…I assume it's time for the ceremony?" the princess asked as she took a gulp seeing she remembered that much and wasn't completely clueless. 

"Yeah, it is! And you're super late!" Apple Bloom chimed as she came up running beside her. "The celebrations are nearly over! And you've been sleeping here!? Seriously stop staying up all night with Princess Luna; you're basically a zombie at this point.

Princess Macintosh bowed her head as memories flooded her mind of having long talks in the night with Princess Luna. But the memories felt off…as if they were placed there, and she never actually did anything her memories said she did. But they felt so vivid, as if she was having these long, drawn-out conversations with Princess Luna. 

"Ye…yes… I'll keep that in mind," The alicorn princess mumbled to herself as she rubbed her forehead with a hoof, then asked, "Now I believe it's time to proceed to the ?"

"Yes, come on! You're going to be late!" Princess Twilight already gave her speech, so we gotta hurry!"

The alicorn princess nodded as she started to trot out from her castle and towards Ponyville. Princess Macintosh took her time to trot through the streets; meanwhile, stallions would check her out while mares would look away, blushing. It was a lot to take in, seeing how she was the center of attention, and it wasn't hard to see why. She then continued walking among the ponies of Ponyville with the crowds playing games like using catapults to launch pumpkins at targets, bobbing for apples, and throwing plush spiders on webs made of velcro. The festivities were all rather interesting, seeing how fun the catapult game looked. She trotted over as ponies bowed their heads and moved out of the way.

Apple Bloom ran over with a big smile on her face, "oh! We're going to play this game!?"

"Ey'yup!" Princess Macintosh chimed.

"Let me help get you set up!" The little filly then took one of the pumpkins and placed it onto the catapult launcher. "Ok, pumpkin set!"

"Ey'yup!" the princess chimed, "now we need to set the catapult," the alicorn princess chimed with a smile watching how excited Apple Bloom was.

"Ok, shall we set the catapult, princess?"

"Yes, private Apple Bloom," the princess replied as she slowly pulled the launcher back with her magic eyeing the target and performing calculations in her mind (along with Apple Bloom pressing her hooves on top of it). The mare felt somewhat nervous as she wanted to make this day memorable for Apple Bloom. The ponies turned towards her and watched anxiously, making the princess feel somewhat uneasy. 

"Target acquired. Is everything ready?" Apple Bloom asked, looking upward with a smile. The princess peered down and gave her a gentle smile, and replied, "ey'yup,"

"Ok! Let's launch on the count of three."

Princess Macintosh nodded and lowered her head, self-conscious as everypony watched in anticipation as Apple Bloom counted down slowly, "One…two…three...Go!" She released the tension and sent the pumpkin from the catapult, and everypony gasped. Their eyes followed the pumpkin sailing through the air, and everypony was watching their eyes following the pumpkin as it splatted right into the center of the target. Everypony clapped and cheered around her as they clopped their hooves on the ground. The alicorn princess was somewhat amazed at how she got a perfect shot but did not know how. But what made her happy was Apple Bloom throwing herself into her hooves, shouting, "we did it! You see!? We make a great team!"

"Yes, we did," Princess Macintosh replied with a sigh seeing she was rather impressed with them being able to get a perfect shot. But the wave of pride that came over her followed the princess as she went to a giant trough full of apples.

Apple Bloom skipped over and exclaimed, "this is the game I set up! Wana sees who can get the most!?"

Princess Macintosh lowered her head to meet Apple Bloom's gaze and said, "Oh, you bet?"

The little filly then pointed a hoof to her snout and snapped, "no magic got it!?"

"Ok, no magic," the alicorn princess laughed as she and Apple Bloom perched themselves over the top of the trough. Then a countdown began as the ponies around them began to chant, "three…two…one…Go!"

Then at "Go!" She and Apple Bloom plunged their faces into the pool full of apples. The two raced, pulling apples out from the water and placing them into a pile. Princess Macintosh could see her longer face made it much easier to snag apples, and her pile was growing much bigger than Apple Bloom's. She thought about slowing down and letting her win. But knowing Apple Bloom, she would rather win fair and square than have her give her a win, so she continued until every last apple was out. 

"Wow, you got way more than me!" Apple bloom gasped, seeing she had to catch her breath. Princess Macintosh blushed and lowered her face, not feeling too prideful of having beaten her little sister. But she just laughed and ran over and hugged her. "Hey, I don't care! You're super amazing! What can I expect from the best princess in Equestria!"

Everypony around her nodded in approval and clapped their hooves, some tearing up and talking about how humble she was. The ponies' praise and admiration made her swell with more pride than what felt like a cherry on top was Apple Bloom tugging at her hoof. As she shouted, "Come on! We got one more game to play!"

They then came to a simple game where they had to toss foam spiders onto a sticky web.

"Wana try to see who can get one in the center!?" Princess Macintosh asked.

"Sure, I'll get on your giant head and toss them!" The filly chirped and then got on top of her head and watched her toss the spiders onto the sticky web. She kept missing the center, but the princess would whisper directions as she calculated how to help Apple Bloom. After several more attempts, she started feeling somewhat disgruntled, "I guess my cutie mark ain't gonna be in spider tossin'."

Her older sister noticed her last throw was near the center and said, "Hey, you almost got it that time; come on, give it one more try."

"Ok," Apple Bloom mumbled; she took another plush spider, tossed it once more, and landed it dead center in the middle of the web. Apple Bloom gasped in surprise as she shouted, "Ya see, I did it! Ya see that!" The little filly continued to squeal in delight as she bounced up and down in excitement. 

"Ey'yup!" Princess Macintosh cried as she hugged her little sister again. They then went to the food stalls; the food smelled rather sweet, with apple pies, candy apples, apple fritters, and nuts dipped in cinnamon and brown sugar. Every vendor started to shove their sweets into her mouth as she sampled a portion of each one as she made her way down the line. The princess would then hoof what she couldn't eat to Apple Bloom, and she happily snacked alongside her. It was all a sight to see the celebrations going on, and it was nice to see her subjects being so happy and carefree. Despite not having the best memory of being a princess for the past year, it seemed she was doing a decent job. They eventually made their way across the square to a podium where Apple Bloom got off her sister's back and said, "alright, don't mess up your speech; ya brought your index cards, right?"

The princess gulped, feeling somewhat nervous, seeing she didn't remember making index cards; she then shook her head, "ey'nope."

"Ugh, Princess Twilight spent hours on those! Just don't screw it up, ok!?" The little filly cried out as she shoved her hooves on the princess's tush and shoved her to the podium. The alicorn princes then slowly trotted towards the podium, feeling extremely nervous. Despite the feeling that she's done this many times, this felt like the first time she's ever done public speaking before. 





It felt like an eternity for Princess Macintosh to climb to her podium, and she then looked over the crowd and exclaimed, "Good evening, my subjects!" 

Everypony stopped and looked up at her with their eyes glued to her, admiring her beauty. Those in the front row sniffed and sighed at her perfume, seeming to cloud over her like an aura. Stallions were peering down, seeming to look rather sheepish, as mares swooned (while others looked somewhat jealous). But what was interesting was it appeared that these ponies didn't seem to remember her as Big Mac, the simple farmer. All they saw was the regal and powerful Princess Macintosh, and she will fulfill her duties as such. So despite being nervous about having to perform her speech, she cleared her throat and started, "Tonight we celebrate the first anniversary of the Apple Blossom ceremony! It's been only a year since the reign of Jack O Lantern, the cruel Nightmare that terrorized Ponyville. With the help of Twilight Sparkle, I could seal her away. Now we celebrate not just that victory but a celebration of a good harvest of all kinds, not just apples, pears, pumpkins, strawberries, or lemons. We love all fruits in their various forms, so please eat your fill and play as many games to your heart's content. I wish every single one of you a fun-filled afternoon and hope to see you at the grand ball later this evening!"

Princess Macintosh winced as the speech sounded rather pathetic, and she wondered if everypony would boo her. But instead, she got a cacophony of clopping on the ground and chanting, "Princess Macintosh! Princess Macintosh! Princess Macintosh!"

The alicorn princess was astonished by the response pressing a hoof to her chest. She felt proud of herself and how her subjects responded to her speech. Then the night fell, and the entire town was covered with a fog-like mist as she saw an object going down from the moon as the orange-coated alicorn flying down from the sky with her wings unfurled and glowering over them. She looked much different, with her mane being a crazy wave of locks of green, looking like a comic book villain. The alicorn princess had this crazed look in her eyes. She bombarded the crowd with bombs in the shapes of jack-o-lanterns spreading a strange green mist over the crowd. Suddenly there was screaming from the ponies as they transformed into pumpkins. Everything happened relatively quickly, and Princess Macintosh had to act fast!

"I gotta stop this," Princess Macintosh cried as she leaped to action and rushed the Nightmare creature! They fought in the air, shooting beams of energy at each other as they danced through the skies. Their fight led towards Sweet Apple Acres, where the two alicorns slammed across each other as Princess Macintosh cried, "Applejack, please stop this! This isn't you!"

Jack O Lantern glared at Princess Macintosh and shouted, "Yes, it is! You sealed me away because you were jealous of me and stole it away!" 

The evil-looking alicorn shoved her hooves into her chest and shouted, "I was the Element of Honesty! You stole that from me!"

The red-coated alicorn held the gem to her chest; she didn't remember if she had stolen this from her sister. She just thought it was just a piece of jewelry! The alicorn then began to stammer, "I…I…."

Tears filled the orange-coated alicorn as she cried, "not only did you steal my element! You sealed me away!" Jack O Lantern then glared at Princess Macintosh and shouted, "Now I'm back for vengeance!"

Princess Macintosh was stunned at what Jack O Lantern said. The evil-looking alicorn had to be right!? Why else was she a princess, and why was Applejack missing? Despite not knowing if she was Big Mac, the pony would never do what Applejack said he did. He was jealous of Applejack and their relationship with Apple Bloom, sure. But he would never do anything to jeopardize his relationship with his family for personal gain! The red-coated alicorn ripped the jewel off her chest, threw it to Jack O Lantern, and said, "here, I don't want it!"

Jack o Lantern paused, levitating the amulet with her magic. She seemed to look at it for a few moments, then threw it aside and shouted, "I don't need it anymore! I have a power that is much greater than that!"

She threw a couple more pumpkin bombs at Princess Macintosh, who quickly lit up a shield and used her magic to deflect the projectiles. Once she saw an opening, Princess Macintosh slammed a beam of energy into her sister's, making her scream as she was knocked unconscious. The red-coated alicorn then quickly ran over towards her sister, ensuring she didn't permanently harm her and stood there trying to shake her awake.

"Come on, Applejack! Please wake up! Please! I'll do anything!"

She then turned to see the element of Honesty not far from her with its orange glow reflecting in the light. Even if she had to give up being a princess alicorn, she would save Applejack from this fate! So Princess Macintosh levitated the amulet to her chest and, with all of her might, used her magic to send a beam of light that tore through the being that was Jack O Lantern. As the light faded, Princess Macintosh felt her slender frame become bulkier, and the feeling of being a stallion returned to him. It wasn't long until Big Macintosh was now a bulky Earth Pony stallion. But he wasn't concerned over himself as he looked down to see his sister seeing the orange-coated earth pony mare laying on the ground with her cowcolt hat covering her face. He stood there with tears filling his eyes, fearing that Applejack wouldn't wake up. But then the mare coughed and slowly opened her eyes; she looked towards her brother and asked, "hey…is that you, Big Mac?"

"Ey'yup," was all the stallion could say, being so relieved that his sister was ok.

Applejack sighed relief and hugged him, "oh, Big Mac, ya gave up a princess for me?"

"Ey'yup," Big Mac replied once more, having never wanted to be a princess in the first place, especially if it meant losing his sister. 

Applejack sighed as she got up, steadied herself on all fours, and said," I know you're jealous of me..a…and I'm sorry if ya think Apple Bloom and I forget about ya. But I'm glad you didn't let jealousy consume you. When you wake up, I'm gonna have Pinkie Pie throw ya the biggest party ever!"

"Y…you don't have to do that, Applejack…." Big Mac paused mid-sentence seeing he was questioning everything that was happening. What did she mean by wake up? Wasn't he already awake!? He slowly took out a hoof touched her, and could feel her warm body beneath his hoof as he asked," are you real?"

His sister seemed to pause and looked unsure as she said, "um…yeah…sort of? I'm sorry for scaring ya being Jack o Lantern, and all it wasn't expecting that. Something is trying to manipulate you to think I was evil."

Big Mac blinked while still confused as he asked, "say what?"

Applejack just slammed a hoof to her face and groaned, seeing what she said sounded crazy, then said, "look, ya gotta trust me there are rules to this, and ya just got through a big hurdle dealing with your jealousy just find Princess Luna, and she'll help with the rest ok?"

"Where is she?" Big Mac asked as, despite not understanding what was going on, he could get some answer from Princess Luna. 

"She's at the Grand Galloping Gala, find her there, and she'll tell ya everything, ok? Ya gotta listen to her."

"Grand Galloping, what!?" Big Mac shouted in shock; what the buck does the Grand Galloping Gala have to do with anything?

Then a loud beeping started to ring through the orchard, and Big Mac had to plug his ears as the beeping grew louder and louder! The noise became so nauseating, and he felt like he was going to pass out. The world around him began to warp around him as if reality was collapsing on itself! Applejack, however, seemed to keep herself together and shouted, "Find her at the Gr-" Those were the last words Big Mac heard as everything suddenly went black.