//------------------------------//
// Chapter Four: Cinderella Mac 
// Story: The Many Dreams of Princess Macintosh 
// by Foal Star 
//------------------------------//

Big Mac suddenly woke up in his bed, which was normal! It wasn't oversized or had a canopy; it was a plain old bed. The stallion then inspected his body, seeing he was his normal Earth Pony self, with no horns, wings, or weird elongated body. The stallion was just a simple earth pony once more! The stallion then got out of bed and rushed around his home, seeing it wasn't a palace; there were no servants, no lush carpet with simple creaky wooden planks covering the floor, no fixtures, and looking rather dusty with cobwebs covering the ceiling of his bed. In fact, his room looked rather dreary and decrepit and seemed like an attic. 

He then turned to see that there was a prench maid's outfit dressed over the ponyquin, his cheeks flushed pink seeing he's been wearing this outfit for years, but he's gotten somewhat used to it. It was to mark his lowly status as a servant to the Apple family. The stallion then went and fixed a bonnet over his head, feeling so insecure and nervous as he tied the strings under his neck. Looking at a cracked mirror, he saw how ridiculous he looked in such an outfit. The black silk dress with a frilly white fabric stitched to the bottom of the skirt and with poofy sleeves around his shoulders, not only that stains were covering the material along with random patches of cloth sewn to cover the holes, along with his apron weathered from age and splattered with tea stains. The truth was he seemed to have memories of his life as always being the maid to his family. That was how things have always been, as the rest of his family were alicorns, yet he was born a simple earth pony. 

After reminiscing about his position in life, Big Mac then trotted through the door, looked around, and saw a long hall with tons of windows aligned with vases filled with apple blossoms. He was in some sort of mansion, wondering exactly where the buck was. The stallion then slowly trotted down a massive flight of stairs made of marble and gilded rails. He then spent the morning going outside and feeding a bunch of cows, chickens, ducks, and the family dog Winona. The outdoors were much different, with a rather large apple orchard, but few other farm animals were milling about. They all seemed to enjoy his company, and they enjoyed the food that he handed out. After he finished feeding the animals, he went to the kitchen. He started preparing breakfast, making apple cinnamon pancakes along with making tea. As he prepared three separate platters nearby, a cacophony of bells rang as voices chimed, "Big Macintosh!" in a shrill but demanding voice for his family.

"Coming," he grumbled as he picked up three platters carrying all three on his back and slowly made his way upstairs, trying to balance them on top. They went into each of their rooms, serving them breakfast. First, he came to Apple Bloom's room which was now decorated in a super girlishly pink, along with the plush carpet. The room was covered in plush animals. Apple Bloom herself, with her stubby horn and tiny buttery yellow wings, sporting a frilly pink dress, was sitting on a fancy tea set spread out with a bunch of teddy bears set up in chairs around a little pink plastic table. 

"It's about time!" she shouted with her snout. Big Mac was taken aback by her rude behavior but continued to serve her platter before performing a curtsy and slowly moving out of the door. He then trotted down the hall to Applejack's room. As Big Mac slowly approached the door, he could hear rather beautiful piano music playing from her room. He then slowly entered the room and saw that it was lovely, with a lavish orange carpet, a crimson red apple-shaped rug in the center of the room, and a canopy bed. He slowly went through the doorway, and she waved a hoof at him as he put her platter of food down and curtsied. She didn't even look up from her music book as she continued to play with her hooves dancing on the keys of her piano. He even noticed that she was an alicorn now with two massive wings covered in orange feathers perfectly preened and a massive horn protruding from her forehead. The stallion then slowly and quietly left the room as he trotted off towards the hall and continued down what felt like a never-ending hallway. He then came upon two double doors to Granny Smith's bedroom, entered the old mare's room, and slowly opened the door. His grandmother looked up from a book revealing her massive green wings and dull horn looking sharp but weathered from age. She was still lying in bed, looking rather angry as she growled, "you're late."

"Y…yes, I apologize," Big Mac stammered. He then slowly slid the platter near her bed; she then went back to reading a book and started to sip her teacup. The stallion then performed a curtsy before slowly taking his leave through the door and slowly closing the doors behind him. He then sighed, relieved he didn't piss his grandmother off before going off and taking a scroll out and seeing the long list of chores he had to perform. He rolled the scroll back up, took out a broom and dustpan, and went downstairs to start his daily routine. 







As Big Mac spent the rest of the day cleaning, his sisters would walk by, barely noticing him as they went about their business. Big Mac was surprised by their coldness and how rude they acted towards him. But from many memories, he could only ever remember them acting this way, either barking demands at him or acting like he didn't exist. Was this to be his life? A servant to his family? Yet he had to serve them because that was his duty as their older brother. So he continued to clean the manor, sweeping and mopping the floor while thinking about something nagging him at the back of his mind. His dream last night…somepony he couldn't remember who told him to go see Princess Luna at the gala, and it seemed that he wasn't going to be allowed to go…maybe he asked Granny. He turned to the posh older mare trotting through the halls with her head Big Mac trotted over meekly and asked, "Granny Smith would it be ok if I go to the gala?"

Granny Smith threw her head up and, disgustingly, scoffed, "you go to the gala!? You have nothing to wear and would do nothing but embarrass the family!"

Big Mac shook his head as he felt everything was; for some reason, he knew Granny Smith shouldn't be acting like this, let alone look so posh. Something was definitely off despite having memories of her acting like this, but it still felt wrong. Regardless he was compelled to go to the Gala no matter what. He then looked up and asked, "so…if I get something to wear, I can go?"

The mares all laughed again as Applejack looked towards him with her snout in the air as she scoffed, "wear what!? Nothing but rags will ever fit you."

Both Apple Bloom and Granny Smith laughed at her mean comment as Big Mac lowered his head feeling shame for even asking such a question. They were right; he was just a lowly servant unfit to attend such a ball; he should've just kept his mouth shut. Apple Bloom nuzzled her sister, "Come on, let's get out of here; let's just go to the spa and get our manes and hooves done!"

"What a wonderful idea Apple Bloom!" She then nuzzled her little sister, and they trotted off with their heads in the air. Big Mac just watched with utter confusion, wondering why his sisters were acting so rude and mean. Granny Smith turned towards him with a scoff, "you may go to the gala…."

"Yes…"

"If you find something to wear and…." The mare then led him outside, and there she pointed to the apple orchard and said, "you buck every apple and store it in the barn. You may go if you can get that done, clean yourself up, and find something to wear."

"Th… that's impossible!?"

She chuckled evilly and said, "of course it is, now stop being an idiot and start bucking! You won't be able to come back inside until every last apple is bucked."

"Yes, Granny," Big Mac grumbled under his breath. He then went off to go onto his work bucking despite knowing it was impossible to buck all these apple trees in time to trend the Gala let alone find something suitable to wear. He might as well just give up on going and resign to his life as a servant…







Big Mac bucked apples all through the afternoon as day turned into night. It must've been at least a dozen hours, and yet looking over the sea of apple trees; Big Mac saw he was barely halfway done. There was no way he would be done by the time the Gala started, let alone get ready for it. If he was stuck here, does that mean this? He thought about just breaking into the party but…seeing how the dream was, he would be thrown out and be put in a much more precious situation as pissing off his "family" could make things even worse; he started to tremble thinking about his dream as a princess alicorn wishing that was the case. Just then, he heard fluttering and looked up to see a beautiful white-coated unicorn fluttering above the trees with a pair of gorgeous butterfly wings protruding from her shoulders. The mysterious unicorn flapped slowly as she descended to the ground. She had a wand in her right hoof and proclaimed, "did somepony wish to become a princess!?"

Big Mac just stood there with a confused expression on his face seeing that she was some sort of fairy. "Uh…who are you?"

"I'm Rarity, your fairy godmother! And I'm here to get you ready for the galloping gala!" she then whisked her wand out as he scoffed, "seriously!? You don't recognize me!?"

Big Mac blinked, somewhat confused. He had seen her before, but for some reason, her name was hard to recall…but then it came to him rather suddenly and exclaimed, "Rarity!? That's your name, right!?"

"Yes …yes, it is!" The mare then flashed him a smile as she asked, "Come now? You want to go to the gala, don't you!?"

The stallion looked down; he seemed unsure, as if he was unworthy of his goal and would only bring shame onto himself and his family. Rarity, seeming to see he was looking rather uncomfortable, asked, "do you want to go to the gala? Not if your family wishes you should go?"

Big Mac paused and looked up at the moon above as, despite his feeling of shame, the idea of going to the Galloping Gala was compelling. He then gave a slight nod seeing that this might be his only way in. He wanted to do this for himself and reluctantly said, "ey'yup."

"Alright, darling, just close your eyes and let the magic begin!" She then whisked her wand as sprinkles of magic fella around massive wings sprouted from the sides of his back; a horn appeared on his head. It wasn't so much that they grew, but it seemed like they were always there. Rarity flew upward as she chirped, "if you're surprised by that, I'm just getting started."

She then flicked her wand as Big Mac's maid uniform was transformed into a gorgeous emerald green gown as shiny glass slippers appeared beneath his hooves. Rarity then fluttered above him and sprinkled fairy dust over him. He could feel his mane elongate and something now sitting squarely on his head. Meanwhile, makeup brushes started trailing mascara over his eyelashes, as small brushes applied makeup under his eyes and lipstick applied to his lips. Then a powder pad dabbed light blush on his cheeks, making him cough a little. He then squealed as he turned around, seeing his tail had grown out and brushes were attacking it as a shiny green bow near where the base of his tail met his flank. 

Rarity just stood there in front of him with a smile as she exclaimed, "oh my! This has to be my best work yet!"

"You've done this before?" Big Mac asked rather squeamishly and squeaked, hearing how girly his voice sounded rather soft-spoken such as a yellow-coated pegasus whose name he couldn't recall. 

"Yes, that's a perfect princess voice if I could say so myself!"

Big Mac was rather furious at his changed voice, slamming a hoof down and shouting, "Change my voice back now!"

Rarity threw her hooves over her chest and rolled her eyes. "Come now? You don't want your family to recognize you do you?" 

Big Mac paused, seeing if they did see him there, they would expose him, and gave the nod and said, "you have a point."

He then flared his wings, planning to fly towards Canterlot, but Rarity flew in front of him, unfurling her wings and shouting, "what do you think you're doing!?"

"Going to Canterlot?"

Rarity tore at her mane and shouted, "A princess doesn't just fly by herself! You don't want to ruffle all your feathers and have your mane become a tangled mess." She then threw a hoof over her face as she laid her head back and cried, "Or worse, if it ruins, your mascara would run all over your face!"

Big Mac rolled his eyes, not really caring about his appearance and seeing that Rarity was over exaggerating and asked in an irritated tone. "Ok, so how am I going to get there?"

Rarity whispered her wand again and exclaimed, "Come now, darling! You just need proper transportation fit for a princess!"

She then flicked her wand and sent her fairy dust over an apple on the ground. The two then watched the fruit suddenly transform into a beautiful white chariot in the shape of an apple with wheels made of gold. She then zapped two cows with her wand. They were suddenly transformed into white-coated blue-eyed pegasi mare soldiers sporting gilded armor as they were hitched to the chariot. 

Big Mac was somewhat surprised and impressed with his two guards as he came over to check them, and he couldn't help but put a hoof to his mouth, seeing they also had massive teats underneath their armor. But he suddenly squeaked as he was levitated and placed inside the chariot. Rarity skipped over and chirped, "now, before you leave, I have to explain that the spell wears off by midnight. So please be back then, ok darling?"

"Ey'yup!" Big Mac squeaked, still being rather uncomfortable about his situation and getting the gist. Rarity then closed the door, and the pegasi hitched to it and then took off into the air, with Big Mac flinging his hooves over his dress and squeaking at how sudden the take-off was. He then laid back as the chariot leveled out. He then noticed a tea set in the middle of the chariot; he used his new magic to levitate a cup up to his lips and sipped it as he tried to relax. But he couldn't help but feel jittery and nervous seeing he didn't finish his work, nor was he invited to the Gala. All of this was hanging heavy on his mind wondering if he'll even be able to attend. 







At the gala, Big Mac's chariot landed right over the red carpet, which was situated in front of the palace. One of the guards unhitched herself as she opened the door. He slowly came down feeling somewhat embarrassed, seeing he was sporting drag to a fancy ball. Big Mac saw he was outside Canterlot Palace with a few fancy-looking ponies waiting to attend outside. As he trotted through the crowd, he started to get stares, but the crowd seemed to mostly just smile at him or bow, seeing he was an alicorn. It was odd as, unlike his previous princess form, he still looked reasonably masculine…in fact, other than his horn, wings, dress, and shoes, he was still a stallion. But from the expressions of the stallions checking him out as mares swooned, they must think he truly is a princess Alicorn. He continued to slowly trot towards the castle's entrance and slowly came up to Princess Celestia. She was standing outside with a massive checklist in front of her. She then looked over her massive scroll and blinked, somewhat surprised as she asked, "oh, another alicorn!?"

"Ye…yes…" Big Mac stammered, somewhat nervous, as his voice sounded so girlish and high-pitched, unlike his deep masculine tone.

The mare chuckled under her breath as she looked down at her guest list, then her eyes lit up and asked, "Pr…princess…princess…Mac…Macintosh?"

"Princess Ma…Macintosh, it seems that somepony is here to see you."

The stallion turned to see that a handsome-looking alicorn prince standing across the ballroom looked rather dashing, sporting a silky green coat, slick violet hair, and dashing red eyes. He was wearing a tuxedo, but beneath his jacket was an interesting cutie mark, a flask with some bubbling liquid coming out the top, and a small apple. The scary part was how the prince looked exactly like him, being rather muscular with broad shoulders and stocky. He looked more like an earth pony who happened to have sprouted a pair of wings and a horn. The prince then slowly trotted towards him, bowed, and asked, "may I take this dance?"

Big Macintosh wasn't sure, but despite looking rather feminine, he was still a stallion and wasn't comfortable dancing with a pony of the same gender. However, he was the one who put his name on the guest list, so maybe he should return the favor.

"Ey'yup," was all Big Mac said in his soft-spoken tone, then gently laid out a hoof, and they started to perform a ball dance. Despite never having ball danced in his life, the red-coated stallion thought he would be clumsy and awkward. Still, he was dancing to the beat of the classical music playing in the background as his dress swished around his body. He started feeling less embarrassed and self-conscious about being at the gala. They must've danced for some time as he was beginning to feel somewhat exhausted, and the prince then led him to a lavish dining hall. The two then went to a long buffet table and picked out some horderves (with both stallions trying to fill their plates, seeing how small the portions were) and some glasses of wine. The two then sat across from each other as the mysterious prince sat back with his hooves crossing his chest and asked, "so, Princess Macintosh…or do you prefer Big Mac?"

The stallion in drag was somewhat surprised as he slowly came over and asked, "Big Mac is fine…Now, who are you?"

The prince chuckled as his eyes glowed and said, "The name is Prince Poison Apple, but you can just call me Poison Apple."

"Poison Apple?"

Poison Apple swished his wine about in its glass as he said. "Yes, an odd name, I know, but let me assure you I'm not dangerous. I'm here to help you."

Big Mac eyed him and then asked, "Help me how?"

Poison Apple chuckled and continued, "yes, you see, Princess Luna created this dream in hopes she can take you away from me and get you to wake up."

Big Mac paused, somewhat confused and still not trusting; this stallion asked, "why would she be doing that?

Poison Apple drank from his glass of wine before saying, "Because she thinks I'm a villain, and she also thinks I'll turn you into a monster like what happened to her with Nightmare Moon."

Big Mac paused as he figured he was in a dream, but he couldn't wake up no matter how he tried! He shouted, "Did you turn my family evil!?"

He rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Of course not."

Poison Apple rose from the table, held out a hoof, and said, "I think it's better to show you everything, come." He then led Big Mac into the garden; on the way, he would lay his coat out over a puddle so she wouldn't get his hooves dirty and even picked out a rose and place it in his mane. Despite how dark his name sounded, Poison Apple was so gentle and kind that he wasn't gay, but he had to; if he was, he definitely would date him. The stallion then led him to an area with two pools full of water. The two pools began to ripple, and soon two images appeared; where one was his previous dream of being a princess and having ponies adore him; he was loved by Apple Bloom and going on fantastic adventures with Princess Twilight and her other friends. Then he turned to another pool which showed him just bucking apples and going about his day in solitude. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom showed her love to Applejack, who also saw his sister going on adventures with Twilight and her other friends. At the same time, he was ignored by everypony and just in the background.

The prince trotted towards him with a sly smile. He continued, "Believe it or not, you are starting to understand that this is your dream, and it's one crafted to the feelings you bury deep down. I've done nothing to influence how you really feel." 

Big Mac paused, seeing Poison Apple may have a point as feeling left out and alone was something he felt a lot of the time but has tried to ignore. The green-coated stallion then trotted right in front of him until they were face to face and said, "you feel discarded, and I know that your greatest fear is losing the love of your family. If your life continues the way it is now, that will happen, and you'll die alone and in misery."

What Poison Apple said stung as he put a hoof over his chest because he wasn't entirely wrong. The prince then pointed to the other pond where he was an alicorn and continued, "I can make this reality true; you will have the admiration of everypony in Ponyville and be a hero, you'll be more popular than Applejack and her friends, and Apple Bloom will adore you forever. And at the end of the day, that's all I'm offering you." 

The green-coated stallion pointed a hoof to his chest and concluded his speech, "I'm not evil; I'm just offering the opportunity to give you what you always wanted. That's all."

Big Mac blinked as he was actually tempted to take the dream of becoming an alicorn. Still, he knew deep down this wasn't right, but the worst part was Poison Apple wasn't entirely wrong. He didn't know what to choose and was somewhat uncomfortable with such a significant decision being thrust upon him. Big Mac then looked over his shoulder and asked, "Do I have time to decide?"

Poison Apple took out a pocket watch and shook his head, then said, "Sadly, time is running out; you have to decide soon."

A loud "Bong!" sound reverberated across the garden as the prince closed his pocket watch and stuffed it beneath his shirt as he explained, "by the twelfth bong, this dream will end, so decide."

Big Mac gulped as he looked downward at the pools once more. More than anything, he wanted the reality where he was popular, had all that fame and had the admiration of Apple Bloom. But there was a pang in his chest at the thought that something was wrong and he shouldn't take the offer. It was as if his gut was telling him that was a bad decision. He shook his head and replied with a stern, "Ey'nope." The prince didn't seem disappointed with his determination. He simply shrugged as he said, "too bad, we can always try again tomorrow."

Another Bong! He Rang out, and then that's when he saw the stars above start to disappear, with the night sky turning into a dark void that was engulfing the night sky. Big Mac looked around him, seeing 
The garden was now being swallowed by the darkness. Big Mac started to panic and began to run in the opposite direction back towards the Gala. As he ran through the ballroom, he could hear ponies all around him making cruel laughter at his expense as if they saw through his disguise. 

"Look, it's just Big Mac dressed in drag; he's not a princess!" he heard Apple Bloom shout.

Bong!

"What a moron; why did he think he could be a princess? He's such a pathetic excuse for a brother," He heard Applejack snort.

Bong!

"He should've stayed home and bucked apples; it's all he's good for." He heard his grandmother snicker in a harsh tone. 

Bong!

Big Mac continued to run, ignoring the laughter and hurtful words and knowing that "his family" wasn't real. Still, he would be lying if what his fake family was calling him wasn't hurting him. But he couldn't focus on that now as he looked behind his shoulder to see the crowds of ponies being swallowed by the shadowy darkness. Big Mac then looked forward, sprinting back outside through the front doors of the palace, sprinting past Princess Celestia and stumbling right into his chariot as it flew off into the air heading back to Ponyville. Then as another Bong! Reverberated across the sky, his pegasi guards were suddenly turned around into cows. His chariot slowly collapsed onto itself as it turned back into an apple. Big Mac had to smash his way out the door, fly down his wings, and use his magic to slowly alleviate the cows back to the ground. Dream cows or not, he wouldn't want anypony or cow to be harmed on his behalf. He then gently fluttered down to the ground just as an apple bonked on top of his head as the cows ran off in terror. As another Bong! Echoed across the orchard, his fancy emerald dress was turned back to a dirty maid's outfit, and his tiara was now back to a maid's cap. 

"Big Mac, are you ok?"

The stallion heard somepony ask; he then looked around to see Princess Luna standing over him and sighed with relief, seeing she was here. He hugged her, feeling her soft fur against his face and the smell of lavender wafting over him. Big Mac had never felt so scared in his life, and he felt rather pathetic, like a child clinging to a doll for comfort. However, Princess Luna wasn't perturbed by his behavior as she whispered, "I'm so sorry I didn't expect Poison Apple to invade the dream I created. This wasn't how things were supposed to go."

Big Mac then broke from the embrace and asked in a threatening tone. "Wh.. what's going on!? What are you talking about!?"

"Listen, I can't help you now…I can only guide you, but I'll try to get you into the next dream."

"H…how!?" Big Mac cried, seeing that most of the orchard was slowly devoured by the shadowy void. 

Bong!

Princess Luna gulped and said, "you…you have to end this dream or be trapped in its cycle forever."

Bong!

The dark void was coming closer to him and Princess Luna; he just stood there in fright, stepping back from it. But Luna was unperturbed by the shadowy mass coming towards them as she exclaimed, "Kiss me!"

"What!?"

Bong!

Luna shouted, "you have to kiss me! Do it!"

Bong!

Big Mac groaned as he didn't feel like kissing anypony, let alone a princess but seeing the shadowy substance coming towards him made the stallion realize he had to do something! If he didn't, he would probably be stuck in this dream, forced to be a servant until being whisked to the Gala, only to be confronted by Poison Apple with the choice of staying or becoming an Alicorn. Bong . Realizing he was thinking too long, without warning, he placed a kiss on Princess Luna's lips. As the two ponies embraced, Big Mac couldn't help but feel so awkward and alarmed by the kiss as the shadowy substance came over himself and Princess Luna engulfing them in a tidal wave of darkness.