//------------------------------// // High // Story: High, Mom and Dad // by Mike_Tubapun //------------------------------// Well that was the last time she was gonna let Fluttershy bring the treats to the hangout. Big Mac could feel the wind in her mane as she zoomed up past the clouds. Of course she didn’t really blame the poor Pegasus. How was she to know that hash brownies weren’t just brownies with potato based dough. The girl trusted Pinkie Pie after all, so she had likely figured the higher price was just the result of pony inflation. Mac would have to talk with her cousin about the necessity of proper labeling techniques. Of course that would require her to have her own body, which right now she didn’t. Mac knew she wasn’t dead, fatal weed overdose just wasn’t a thing, especially at her size. She figured she was just high as one of Starlight’s kites. It wasn’t a bad high either as these things went. Of course that’s when she saw the green alicorn form from a cloud. Alicorns aren’t quite gods, Twilight was one after all, and she seemed pretty fallible. Not to mention Celestia’s well known list of losses. Still, they were pretty powerful, and meeting one while astral projecting from a half a brownie made by the inventor of “Forever Weed” line of treats seemed pretty intimidating. “Wooaah, dude, long time no see.” Holy shit. It was Rarity’s ex. Stoney Pony. “Eeeyup, it’s been a while!! Lot’s happened for both of us I can see!!” “I like your new hair dude,” said Stoney, eyes squinting to keep focus, “it’s, like, feminine and shit. Makes your eyes pop.” “Thank ya Stoney, there’s, well, a reason for that. I’m still Big Mac, but I’m going by she/her pronouns now, being a lady and all that. But enough about me, since when are you an alicorn?” “Radical dudette!! Being yourself is like half of living. The other half is getting mighty high, which you are also doing my lady friend...” “Eeyup,” said a slightly disconcerted Mac, “but the wings and horn though? They seem a mite more impressive than just a new haircut and some changes in title...” “Incorrect my friend!! All it took to get these was getting Celestia enough powerful cocaine that she imagined she was on the dark side of the Sun for like 50 moons, all from one sniff. What you did takes real bravery.” “Aw Shucks, Stoney Pony, that means a- Dark side of the Sun?” “But enough about that, see y’know how Luna patrols dreams and shit? Well I patrol the highs of every pony in this land. Ususally no one but Pinkie and Tree Hugger get zooted enough to see me, but I get the feeling you’ve had some of that bakers gooooooood shit.” The weed-leaf haired alicorn drew out the o in such a way that it sounded like a bong rip, and the news startled Big Mac a little. If her high was powerful enough that it was worth patrolling, then what was she about to experience? Stoney’s face suddenly went stony, “Hey my lady friend, I can sense that worry. You need to keep on the chill side for this. As high as big as this one could be disastrous if you harsh your mellow.” “I’ll, er, keep that in mind,” Mac said, thinking about how the warning seemed to harsh the mellow pretty harshly. But Stoney’s face went back to a calm smile. “Noice, well I’ll leave you to it then. This is the kind of high that you get once in a lifetime, so have a good one.” Stoney Pony gave one last warm smile before merging back into the clouds. Big Mac figured if she was still in her body she would smell the absolute skunkiest of weed, but she couldn’t be sure. At this point Mac wasn’t flying anymore, having come to rest atop the clouds themselves. It was a lot like how she had always imagined being a pegasus or alicorn would be. Which gave her an idea, if she was at this level of high, maybe she could..... nope, no luck on sprouting the wings or horn she’d managed when Luna had summoned to fight the Tantabus. She supposed a lucid high wasn’t quite the same as a lucid dream. Still, walking across the clouds didn’t seem a bad way to spend it, so onward she trotted. The view was beautiful, like nothing Mac had seen. She’d traveled a good chunk of Equestria, but only on the ground and a few rivers. And, it occurred to her, not yet as a woman. Her world looked so different from up here, and she knew that even the ground itself would feel different when she got the chance to take a delivery again. Ever since she had come out to her family and town so much felt different, and always it felt better. Just being her was enough, even if ponies treated her the same, she no longer felt that subtle pressure that always informed her side of interactions. She still wasn’t as talkative as most other ponies, she preferred to listen, but she could carry a conversation more confidently now, as well as countless other little subtle improvements. Somehow, she thought, the glee of Mac as a woman even seemed to dwarf her mind literally being on Cloud 9. She supposed it was just how these things went, not to mention she knew Princess Twilight had a spell that would let her walk on clouds for real. She’d have to ask her about it after she came down, just to check and see if it was more soul-filling when one did it with a real body.