As the sun began to set behind the horizon of the kingdom, guided by Princess Celestia, the moon began to rise over the skies of Equestria, guided by the younger sister, Princess Luna. The two of them, standing on opposite sides of the castle outside their respective towers nodded to each other from their balconies before turning in for the night. Celestia yawned, unceremoniously tossing off her crown, regalia, and kicking her hoofshoes off into a corner before swan diving into her bed for a good night’s sleep.
Concurrently, on the opposite side of the castle, Luna stepped back into her chambers, having just gotten out of bed and ready to start her night. She donned her royal effects, a dark counterpart to the pieces of jewelry and footwear Celestia had thrown off in her room so callously, and exited the room, walking over to the throne room to begin night court and dream viewing. With the moon in the air, it signaled to all the creatures around the world that the day was over and that it was time to get a good night’s sleep.
One by one, ponies bade each other good night, wandering into their bedrooms and closing the doors behind them as they prepared to sleep. Lights went off in their homes as they settled in for the night.
Except for one house.
The door to the farmhouse on Sweet Apple Acres slowly creaked opened and a large head poked out. A large red head with an orange mane. Big Macintosh cautiously looked left and right. Letting out a snort, he carefully pushed the door fully open and stepped outside into the cool night air. Closing the door to the house behind him, he set off on a brisk trot over to the orchard and into the Everfree Forest.
For nearly every night after he had acquired his newfound powers, Big Macintosh had been sneaking off into the forest to continue his practice over it and eventually gain mastery of it. It was a long process, trying to learn exactly what extent of control he had over nature as well as the chaotic size magic within him. And so far, the results he had found were staggering. Nearly everything he had tried had ended in success.
For example, one time a hydra (he was pretty sure it was the same one he had accidentally shrunk) had rampaged through a deeper part of the forest, resulting in a ton of birds and squirrels losing their homes and nests. Wanting to do what he could to help, Big Mac had initially contemplated going back to the farm and getting some tree seeds to plant here for them. But he realized that would be no good because the weather team had planned a huge storm for that week. A storm so big that it will cover even the Everfree itself. And that would mean that these little guys would have nowhere to go. And as kindhearted as Fluttershy was, there was simply no way all of these animals would be able to fit inside her house.
And that was when an idea came to him. What If he tried to use his enhanced earth pony magic to repair the trees that had been destroyed? He had done it by accident before when he first acquired his magic and accidentally supercharged the trees in the orchard. Making them taller, healthier, and producing more fruit. Could he possibly try something like that again, only this time to fix these trees here? It was worth a shot.
Big Macintosh had tapped the ground, concentrating with all of his might to channel his magic into the trees. His eyes and cutie mark glowed green, and light emanated from his hoof, traveling along the ground and onto the remains of the tree trunks. Big Macintosh and the forest critters all watched on with amazement as their surroundings glowed emerald green, the silhouette of the trees began to grow larger as the tree trunks reassembled themselves. When the light faded, everyone was greeted with an astonishing sight. The forest had been grown completely back to normal, with the trees now stronger and healthier than before and leaving plenty of room for the woodland critters.
The critters all scampered back to their restored homes, happy as can be.
As Big Macintosh walked further into the forest, his mind continued to wander through the other times his nearly limitless power had come into play.
Another example of this was one time he saved and befriended a manticore. Yes. That actually happened recently.
Earlier in the week
Big Macintosh had been doing what he was doing right now, walking through the forest to get to his usual practice spot, the abandoned castle of the two sisters. It had been a quiet and peaceful night, the sound of the owls hooting, the wind rustling the leaves, and the soft crunch of grass beneath his hooves. But suddenly, Big Mac heard a loud noise. Almost like a creature was in pain. He had rushed over to the noise bounding though the trees and crashing though everything in his way.
It wasn’t long before he found himself inside a clearing, and there he was met with an astonishing sight. There before him was a manticore, lying down on the ground injured and bleeding. And towering over it was the same hydra from before, snarling at it. Big Mac watched on, frozen, as the manticore attempted to stand back up on it’s paws, only for the pressure to be too much and he collapsed back down on the ground. The hydra was practically laughing at it’s defeat, all of it’s heads hissing in the manticore’s direction as it began to move it. The manticore turned his head around and snarled frantically, and to Big Macintosh’s shock, two little heads popped out of the bush behind the manticore. Two manticore cubs. The big one’s children. He was telling his children to run away and save themselves.
Having seen enough, Big Mac stepped in. He wasn’t about to let these two cubs lose their father. Much like how he had lost his own so long ago.
“Hey you!” Big Mac had called out to the Hydra.
The Hydra paused, temporarily ceasing its hissing and spitting on the downed manticore as it heard a new voice. Who would possibly be foolish enough to challenge him? He was the king of this forest! No one else! The hydra turned around, determined to give this idiot a piece of his minds.
…Only to spot the strange red stallion that had shrunk him a few weeks ago.
Instantly, the hydra began to sweat, staring at the pony with wide eyes.
“Ah think you’d do well ta step away from tha manticore. Wouldn’t ya say?” Big Macintosh told the hydra cooly.
Instantly the hydra’s eyes bugged out before it turned away and began yipping frantically. Running off into the forest.
Big Macintosh rolled his eyes, watching the large beast turning tail and running off into the trees. He turned his attention to the downed manticore, who was watching him with calculated eyes, he said “Are ya ok?”
The manticore growled in response, but it wasn’t threatening, it was more docile, like an acknowledgement of what Big Macintosh had just said. Slowly, the beast shook his head. Big Macintosh walked over, all fear seemingly gone after the exchange and looked over the manticore, spotting the injuries the manticore had gotten on his paw and back from the hydra.
Big Macintosh frowned “Ah may not be as good as miss Fluttershy at animal care, but Ah’ve got some experience on tha farm. Ah’ve got ta try,” he thought. His eyes flashed and a few plants suddenly sprouted up, typically used for medicinal purposes. The manticore’s eyes went wide at the display of magic. Big Macintosh quickly grounded them up and applied the paste to the creature’s wounds, the manticore cubs watching anxiously from the sidelines.
Slowly the manticore felt the pain began to subside, he looked down at where his wound used to be in disbelief, before slowly looking up at Big Macintosh. This pony had healed him? But why? Ponies usually ran away from him and his kind, not helped. Well, aside from that other smaller pony…
But nevertheless, this one had helped him and given him another chance to protect his cubs, which he really appreciated. He growled in thanks, shakily standing up onto his paws and walked an unsteady pace over too his cubs. The two of them latching onto his forelegs, crying in happiness.
Big Mac smiled at the scene, happy to have saved the manticore. But later that night after he had left the manticore with its family, he had found him following him again, after leaving his cubs behind with his mate at their nest. But the manticore had no aggression within it. In fact, the manticore had seemed more curious than anything else.
“Ah wish there was a way Ah could understand this big feller here,” Big Macintosh thought glumly as the two stared at each other silently. Suddenly, an idea came to him. Maybe a potential way for him to communicate with this seemingly harmless manticore.
“Ah’ll be right back!” he called to the manticore, dashing off further into the Everfree, with the manticore looking on in confusion. Big Mac raced though the woods, cutting though trees, jumping over flowers, and veering off the path occasionally. Hey, he’s been coming here so much that he knew the forest like the back of his hoof. It wasn’t long before he had reached his destination. Zecora’s hut.
Sauntering up to the front door, Big Macintosh knocked on it.
“Is that a knock on the door I hear? Please wait friend, I shall be right there!” came the familiar rhyming voice on the other side. A small smile was on Big Macintosh’s face as he heard the voice of his sister’s good friend, Zecora. Once upon a time, he had, much to his shame, also been with the town in their silly superstition that Zecora was an evil enchantress. The kindhearted shaman had quickly become friends with his little sister Apple Bloom, after the latter had gone and sought her out multiple times. And it wasn’t long before the same followed with Applejack. Now, Big Macintosh was doing his best to give the zebra his time of day, to let her know as well that she was always welcome to spend time with him and his family, as well as Ponyville.
It wasn’t long before the door opened, and there standing before him was the zebra Zecora herself “Ah, a pleasant surprise we have here, Big Macintosh has come to visit me, what a cheer!”
“Howdy Zecora!” Big Macintosh said with a smile “How are ya doing today?”
“I’m doing quite well my friend! Thank you for stopping by, is there a matter you need me to attend?” she asked, tilting her head curiously.
“Actually, there is. Recently Ah came across an injured manticore. Now, Ah did treat tha poor thing’s injuries, but after Ah did so, he did try nothing funny. In fact, tha manticore seem more content ta just follow me around and growl. Not in any aggression mind ya. So Ah was wondering, do ya happen ta have a potion of any kind ta help me understand tha manticore? Or maybe make tha manticore speak ta me?” Big Macintosh asked the shaman.
Zecora hummed, bringing her hoof to her chin as she contemplated the conundrum. This was the first time she had been asked something like this. And yet, there actually was something she could do to help. Zecora asked Big Macintosh to follow her into her hut. He followed her over to a nearby shelf, where she pushed through various bottles and pouches of magical powder and dusts until she found what she was searching for: a small vial containing a glowing green liquid inside. Zecora handed the potion over to Big Macintosh “This is the potion I was looking for, hidden behind my tea. Give this to your friend and he shall speak, free as can be!” Zecora chirped happily.
“Thank ya kindly miss Zecora,” Big Macintosh said taking the vial, dropping it between his yoke “Ah’ll head back then, don’t be a stranger,”
Zecora saw him off, waving to him as he made his way back to where the manticore was waiting curiously. Big Mac then played a game of charades with him, trying to explain what drinking the potion would do. Though it took a while, he did eventually manage to convey the message to the huge creature. The manticore opened his mouth, allowing Big Macintosh to pour the contents of the vial in. The manticore shuddered for a second as he felt the bitter after taste of the potion linger on his tongue.
“My word, what in the world did you give me?” he rumbled in a deep voice.
There was a pause. Followed up by a yell of joy as the manticore registered what had happened.
And that was how Big Macintosh helped create the first talking manticore. From there, Big Macintosh and the manticore had gotten down to talking. The manticore expressed his gratitude to Big Macintosh for saving him and his cubs, Big Macintosh replying that he was happy to help.
But when Big Mac asked the manticore if he had a name, he replied that he didn’t. So Big Mac had named him Leo, a name that the manticore was all too pleased to have. As it turned out, Leo had actually received help from a pony before, and that pony was none other than Fluttershy. Big Macintosh was shocked when he first heard this. He had heard the story from Applejack before but the odds of him actually running into the same manticore was incredible. After Leo had returned his cubs to his den and safely with his mate, he returned to Big Mac and asked him if there was anything he could do to repay him for his kindness.
A sudden idea had crossed Big Mac’s mind, and he asked Leo if he would like to help him experiment with his magic. And from there, and in the weeks that would follow, Leo would accompany Big Macintosh whenever he went into the forest at night to partner with him as they focused on testing out Big Mac’s magic more and more. Sometime, Leo even let Big Mac test it on himself. For the first test the pair had done, Big Macintosh increased Leo’s size. Wanting to see the effects his magic would have on a creature that was not a pony. The results were more or less the same. He had begun by growing Leo as tall as the trees. Something relatively small considering Big Mac’s big standards.
But growing Leo to that height did have its benefits. In no time at all, he had become the alpha predator of the forest. Even being able to resist the Cockatrice’s petrifying stares, immune to the magical effects of the poison joke, and big enough to frighten off any would be predators. Before long, Leo’s den and his territory (which included Zecora’s hut) was perfectly monster free.
Back to the present day
Big Macintosh made his way into a clearing. Standing ahead of him was the castle of the two sisters. Now, currently dubbed the ‘testing grounds.’ Ever since Leo had chased off all the monsters here, they’ve been able to lurk around however they wanted. It wasn’t long before he heard the soft thudding of heavy footsteps. And the groaning sounds of trees getting pushed aside from something large as it waded through them. Big Mac turned around to see the greatly enlarged form of Leo the Manticore squeezing though the treeline. Now standing at a hearty 20 feet tall. The perk of being the biggest and toughest predator in the forest.
“Big Macintosh my friend!” Leo’s deep voice shook the ground as the lion spoke “So good to see you again!”
“Good ta see ya too Leo,” Big Macintosh replied, looking up at Leo’s towering form smiling down at him “How’s tha family?”
Leo waved his paw “Same old. The cubs are still as mischievous as ever, keeping me and my dear mate busy, Heh heh.” He chuckled “We’ve also been able to completely clear out most of the other creatures away from the perimeter of your pony town. Now they won’t accidently wander in and hurt someone,”
“Ah appreciate it greatly Leo,” Big Macintosh said, the two of them hoof bumping each other, sharing a laugh. Leo had become a close friend to him over the following days, the two of them regularly talking about personal and family affairs while dealing with Big Mac’s magical experimentation.
“So, what’s the plan today?” Leo asked, laying down heavily on the ground, causing it to rumble and birds to fly off from the trees in a panic.
“Ah wanted ta try out some more of mah nature magic. This time, Ah want to see how many trees Ah can nurture when Ah’m small.” Big Macintosh said.
Leo’s eyes lit up “Mind if I join you? I’ve gotten so used to being this tall, a change in perspective could be nice,” he asked, pawing the ground as if to emphasize the point.
Big Mac nodded “Sure. Ah’ll shrink both of us down. You can explore while Ah practice a bit more an try ta build up mah nature magic,” he said.
Once Leo agreed, Big Macintosh cast the magic on both of them, dwindling down in size until they were both about an inch tall. The grass effectively turning into a forest for the two of them.
The two of them giggled like children as they looked around excitedly at the change in scenery before they scurried off to go explore. For Leo, it was like he had been introduced to an entirely new world. What was once familiar and normal had been transformed into something completely alien. The grass had become the trees, the trees stretched up into the heavens, flowers towered over them like mountains, and even the dirt beneath his paws had grown considerably. The individual grains were as big as boulders to the tiny manticore and pony. Leo looked up in awe at a nearby mushroom, which had been increased into the size of a house. While he clambered up onto it and began to bounce up and down on it like a trampoline, Big Macintosh skittered as fast as his tiny legs could carry him over to the edge of the grass line and back onto the path, looking up at the gargantuan trees.
So far, he had only been able to manipulate smaller things when he was tiny, such as the vines that aided him when he made his home-made tiny gym set. He wanted to keep practicing his magic to expand the scope of what he could do and increase his range of nature magic. Concentrating hard, a burst of magic emanated from his hoof and shot over towards the trees far off in the distance.
Nothing.
Frowning, Big Mac tried again, trying to make them grow fruit.
The green magic hit the tree and traveled up it, causing the tree to quiver before settling back down. Still nothing.
“Alright, third time’s tha charm,” Big Mac thought, casting another beam of magic towards the trees. The magic traveled through the ground and up several tree trunks. The trees began to glow like a beacon as they became infused with magic. The ground rumbled as the magic glowed brighter still, before finally, various fruits began to pop up on the top most branches of the trees.
“Success!” Leo cheered from atop the mushroom, hopping up and down in place. Flushed with his success, Big Mac joined him, the two of them extremely excited that Big Mac’s magic was growing more powerful by the day.
“Well, Ah’ll be. If Ah can do all this all small like, Ah wonder how strong tha magic will be when Ah’m normal sized, or huge?” Big Mac wondered out loud. Leo shrugged “Who knows? Probably pretty powerful!” he exclaimed.
But amidst the celebration, the ground began to shake. Rhythmic steps began to reverberate through the ground. Someone or something really big was coming!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ant sized Big Mac and Leo slowly looked up nervously as they fell in the shadow of whatever had been walking towards them. Their eyes traveled up the skyscraper of white and grey strips, a gigantic cloak with a hood adorning a mountainous form with piercing yellow eyes and a mohawk mane.
It was Zecora. She had been woken up from the bright flash of green and the shaking and had come to investigate.
She looked around curiously at the nightly surroundings of the forest. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. That is until a glint caught her eye. Turning around, she spotted the newly spruced up trees. The grove glittering brighter and more vibrantly than all of the other trees in the area.
“How curious the trees look over there, they do not resemble the ones I’ve passed on my way here,” Zecora said out loud, cocking her head to the side. She wandered forward curiously, wanting to get a closer look at this new phenomenon.
Big Mac and Leo nervously huddled together on the mushroom as the sky darkened, Zecora taking a step forward. Their ears flattened against their heads as the underside of Zecora’s hoof began to descend towards them.
“Ya better skedaddle!” Big Mac yelped as he and Leo scampered off the giant mushroom. Just in time as the even bigger castle sized hoof slammed down behind them. Squishing the mushroom into sludge.
Squish!
Bits of wet mushroom remains and chunks flew off in all directions as it was crushed under Zecora’s mighty hoof. It remained there for a second before a loud squelching sound echoed though the air, audible only for those with tiny ears, and her hoof lifted up, the remains of the mushroom now at the bottom of her footprint as the giant zebra walked away, the entire world shaking as she lumbered past the speck sized duo.
From their place laying on the ground, Big Mac and Leo watched nervously as Zecora’s hind leg lift up, and they watched her walk away.
“So, uh, how about we practice closer to the castle next time?” Leo chuckled, bouncing around on the shaking ground as the giant walked around in the background.
“Eeyup, Ah couldn’t agree more,” Big Mac said, covered from head to hoof in the sticky chunks of mushroom.