Big Mac grows to immense proportions to save Equestria from a terrible evil.
Big Mac isn't a hero. All he's ever done is stymie his envy as Applejack and her friends save the day again and again, preventing terrible monsters from wreaking havoc across Equestria. He wishes he could do more to help, but he's never had a chance. All he's ever been able to do is tend the farm and watch over the Apple family, year after year.
But then Big Mac is given a blessing of power. He's barely given time to react, but he does know that this is his chance to be the hero he always wanted to be. Before he knows it, he's all that stands between Equestria and oblivion, and only he can save the day.
Big Mac had always been one of the largest ponies around. It could’ve been his earth pony heritage, good luck with genes, or maybe he’d just eaten right as a colt. He didn’t know why. All he did know was that ever since he could remember, he’d been a good head or two taller than all of his peers, and it wasn’t long before he was eye level with all the adults. Then he’d shot up past them as well, and pretty soon he realized he’d have to be shopping at the Big and Tall store from now on.
He’d always been strong, too. Although that was to be expected, considering his line of work. Apple farming wasn’t exactly a desk job, and the amount of lifting, pulling, pushing, carrying, and bucking he did every day was evident in his figure. It’d just made him look buff at first, but when puberty hit... well, things shot up a whole new level. He became a walking wall of muscle, his massively broad chest filling out and drawing the envy of all his peers. His legs became like tree trunks, the rippling muscles bulging and bristling with unspent strength. His thick, beefy neck and shoulders flexed with every step, and his shapely rump looked like it’d been chiseled out of granite.
(That last part was a description his new marefriend, Princess Luna, seemed to favor.)
Yes, there was no mistaking it; Big Mac was a big pony. He didn’t mind his size, though. Rather enjoyed it, as a matter of fact. Mac liked that it made the farming easy, and that it allowed him to protect his home from the dangers of the Everfree Forest. He was a workhorse through and through, and as long as he could do what he liked, he didn’t have a problem with it.
Of course, that’s when the changes started.
Mac was in his room getting ready for the day one sunny Tuesday morning. His harness was in his hooves, staring at it with a twinge of annoyance was building in his chest. He’d noticed it been feeling a little snug lately, but now, he couldn’t even get the dang thing around his neck! It’s not like it’d shrunk or anything, either. It was made of wood!
“Consarn it.” Big Mac walked over to the full-length mirror on the wall. He examined both himself and the harness with a critical eye, but the more he looked, the more it was evident that he was the one who’d changed. His neck was thicker, his shoulders were broader, and even his chest looked deeper. He’d always been able to see all of himself in this mirror, but now, he noticed that the top of his head was out of the frame.
Curious, Big Mac went over to the wall where he’d marked his height for years. It was covered with small notches, steadily climbing up higher and higher. He’d thought his body was quite through with the growing thing, but hey, it couldn’t hurt to be sure.
Mac stood up straight, marked his height with a pencil, then stepped back and took a look.
The new notch was higher. A good bit higher, too. Mac went into his closet and got a tape measure, and found he’d grown a good three inches or so.
Big Mac frowned. “Well, that ain’t right.”
He leaned back on his haunches as he pondered. He hadn’t been doing anything different in his routine. He hadn’t stumbled into a patch of poison joke. He hadn’t been around any unicorns casting strange spells. He and Luna hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary, and he’d steered far clear of that Discord fella. His diet had been the same, and there hadn’t been any world-ending apocalypse scenarios that threw all of Equestria’s magic into flux (at least, not since last year).
Big Mac scratched his head. He didn’t think he was doing anything different. So why was he growing again? A late growth spurt, maybe? That could happen sometimes, right?
He decided not to overthink it. It was only three inches, after all. Not the end of the world. Luna might notice, but other ponies probably wouldn’t… hopefully.
But even with his dismissal, the lingering worries stayed with Big Mac as he went through the motions of his day. He was even more quiet than usual at breakfast, dodging any questions about why he wasn’t his harness. He’d have to eventually get it refitted, but today, he didn’t actually need it for his chores. He just tended to wear the thing out of habit.
Work was nothing but normal routine, although he couldn’t but notice that everything seemed… easier. He could buck trees with barely a swat, he could push the plow without breaking a sweat, and he could carry more barrels of apples than he usually could! His large muscles flexed and moved with his fluid motions, making the normally grueling work look like foal’s play.
Big Mac chuckled as he finished up for the day, two hours early. “Okay, so maybe I could get used to this.”
He put the farm tools away and headed into the house to clean up. He helped Granny Smith fix dinner (much to her surprise) making a good load extra for himself. He’d always had a good appetite, but tonight, he felt especially hungry. He ate it all without a problem, too, which drew more than a few curious glances from his family members.
“Geez, Mac,” Applejack said. She looked down at the six plates of food that her brother had polished off. “You practicin’ for a contest, or something?”
Big Mac picked at his teeth with a toothpick and leaned back with a contented sigh. “Nah. Just one o’those days, ya know?”
Applejack eyed her brother, searching for any sign of falsehood. She found none, but some part of her noted that something seemed... different about him. He seemed to have a presence about him, subtly drawing her attention.
Applejack nodded. “Yeah, I do know. Some days, your belly just feels like a bottomless pit. I hear ya.”
Big Mac smiled his slow smile. “Eeyup.”
“Ya ate almost as much as much as that fillyfriend o’yours,” Granny Smith said, smirking. “Between the two o’ya, we’re gonna need a bigger fridge.”
Mac rolled his eyes. “She’s pregnant, Granny.”
Granny put on a look of mock shock. “Why, ya don’t say?! I plum hadn’t noticed! I thought that she’d just put on a bit o’water weight!”
Apple Bloom snickered. “A lotta water weight.”
The three mares broke into laughter, and Big Mac couldn’t help but join in. They loved to rib him about his relationship with Luna, but he knew they meant well. They’d actually been very kind to her. Apple Bloom especially for some reason.
“Think i’m gonna be goin’ up this weekend to visit her,” Mac said. “Ya’ll don’t mind, do ya?”
Applejack shook her head. “Naw. You know there ain’t much to do this time of year. All I’m planning to do is teach Apple Bloom how to watch for tree fungi.”
“I’m sooooooo excited,” Apple Bloom said dryly.
Big Mac smiled. “It ain’t that hard, Bloom. You’ll get the hang of it.”
That night was a simple affair. The four Apples wound down in their usual ways, and Big Mac said his goodnights and retired to his room. He dawdled around a bit before crawling into his soft-plush bed, noting that felt a little smaller than he remembered. He still fit, of course, but if he stretched out his hooves all the way, they spilled out over the edge.
Big Mac couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of excitement. He wasn’t sure why, but something about that made him feel giddy. Sure, he wasn’t a big hero like Applejack, but if he could take care of this farm by himself without any problems, then maybe… maybe that was enough.
“I just wish I could do more,” he muttered to the dark ceiling.
“I’ve found that greatness tends to be a family trait, young Macintosh,” Luna had said when they’d first met. “Just because you haven’t had a chance to prove yourself, doesn’t mean you never will.”
Mac sighed. Luna seemed to think he had potential, but in what way? He didn’t see anything on the horizon, and unless something drastic changed somehow, he’d likely live his whole life on the sidelines.
Ironic. The eldest child of the Apple family, the so-called protector, sitting useless while his younger siblings went off and did great things. He was the firstborn, but yet, he’d seemed destined to be no more than a figurehead. Leader of the clan in name only, with no real clout or respect.
Sighing, Big Mac crawled under the covers and drifted off to sleep.
Big Mac was on a barren plain. The sky was a mix of swirling colors like the northern lights, and the air was absolutely saturated with magic. There was a soft wind blowing, and a dull malaise was creeping over his senses. He looked around to see if there was anypony else, but he was completely and utterly alone.
That is, save for one other thing. An enormous piece of metal shaped like an eight-pointed star was before him, sticking out of the ground like some sort of monument. The north and south points of the symbol were much longer than the others, and in its center was a bright, pulsing diamond. The metal was blue and crystalline, and glowing bits of plant matter hung from its edges that were reminiscent of ivy.
The entire thing was covered in cruel, spiked chains with links bigger than his entire body. They were so long, they stretched off into the horizon and out of sight.
Big Mac took a step back, shivering at the amount of magic in the air. “What the…”
Do you wish to be a hero?
Big Mac jumped. He looked around to try to find the speaker, but all that was around was the strange monument.
“Who’s there?!” Big Mac said.
I sense the desire in your heart, Macintosh Apple. The voice was female, and it echoed all around him, ringing in his ears. I’ve sensed it for some time. You wish to be more than what you are, to aid in protecting your world. You yearn for the chance to prove yourself, and make your ancestors proud.
Big Mac realized that the voice was coming from the monument. The words were jarring and blunt, but they couldn’t be more true. He was frozen in place, his heart was now hammering in his chest, but the words resonated with him so much that he couldn’t help but reply.
“E-Ee-n…” he gulped and wet his lips. “Erm… well, I-I’ll admit ya hit the nail on the head, but who are you, exactly? What do ya want?”
The diamond’s light flickered softly. Once, I was many things. I was the beloved ruler of my people, a lover of trade and peace. I was a seer that could see glimpses of the threads of destiny. But I grew selfish and arrogant, and the seeds of cruelty were planted in my mind. I became consumed in a quest for domination, and my greed and lust for power ultimately brought about my end... as well as the end of my people. My punishment has already been decided, but I’ve been offered a small chance to reduce my sentence. To that end, I’ve brought you here to give you a choice.
Big Mac could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. This was all utterly crazy, but despite that, he couldn’t help but ask the alluded question.
“An’ what choice is that?”
The voice spoke without any stutter. There is a great evil that threatens your world. I can provide you the power to stop it, but only if you are willing. If you were given a chance to be all that your heart desires—to be a hero, a protector, a pure and righteous force for good—would you take it? Would you take up the mantle of responsibility, and rise up to defend your home?
Big Mac couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was this all real? Was this all a joke? He had dreams of being a white knight all the time but this… this was different. This was practically surreal, and every one of his senses was tingling. It felt like he was really there in that moment in time, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
“Ya’ll can’t be serious.”
There is potential within you. The chains constricting the monument rattled in the wind. Potential that one of your gods has already seen, and become drawn to. You wish to do more than chores on your little farm? This is your chance. I’m offering you what you’ve always wanted; the only catch is that you must actually use the power I offer. If you don’t, everything you know and love will be destroyed.
Big Mac chewed on his lip. “I… I don’t really understand.”
The voice let out a long, windy sigh. The strong, silent types never are known for their analytical skills… All will be clear shortly, young Macintosh. All that’s required of you now is a simple yes, or no.
Big Mac sucked on his teeth. He still wasn’t entirely sure whether this was real or not, but if it was, it wouldn’t do very well to pass up such a golden opportunity. He wasn’t too keen on his home being threatened, but this gal did sound sincere, and if the magic in those chains was as strong as it felt, he doubted she was in a position to lie.
“Eeyup.”
The monolith glowed with white light. Then let it be done.
There was a crack like thunder. The magic in the air thickened, and then all at once, bolts of multicolored lightning struck Big Mac from all directions.
“GAH!”
Big Mac fell to his knees. His yells were of pain at first, but soon, they turned into groans of pleasure. The magic surging into him, it felt good… REALLY good! It was hot and pulsing, flowing into him with the rhythm of his heartbeat. He felt his hooves leaving the ground, rising up into the air. More and more magic was injected into him, dancing through his muscles, skin, and veins, and he could feel the raw power building, more, and more, and more!
The threat is nigh, the voice warned through the euphoria. Act quickly, and without hesitation. This evil is not something that your Chosen Six will be able to defend against, nor will even your gods be able to help. You will need to act alone, for only your strength and courage will make the difference.
Big Mac could feel the magic... changing him. He wasn’t sure how to better describe it, other than that something fundamental about him was being... altered. He yelled again in ecstasy, his yells echoing long and loud across the ethereal plain.
You have the soul of a protector. The monument was now fading in and out, its features becoming indistinct. You cherish your family, and value the preservation of life. You love those close to you unconditionally, and while the friends you make are few, they are loyal, and lifelong. You remind me a bit of myself, before I strayed down the path of evil. Perhaps that is why I have faith you will succeed...
The power continued to flow into Big Mac, his eyes shining like beacons in a starless night. His whole body felt tight, coiled up, like a compressed spring straining to break free. He almost thought he would explode, but he continued to absorb all the magic given, soaking it all up like a sponge.
Finally, it was done. Big Mac’s whole body glowed with harmonious might, and he hovered back down to touched down on the plain. He opened his eyes, and a prismatic glint could be seen shining within them.
“Whoa,” Big Mac gasped.
Now, go forth, the voice said in a faint whisper. Wield my power for good, and show your world what kind of hero you can be...
Big Mac blinked several times, still regaining his senses. “Wait, what? N-No, don’t go! I still—
***
Big Mac jolted awake in his room. He sat upright and looked all around, his eyes wild and confused.
“Damn…”
It was just before dawn, and nothing seemed out of place. Big Mac sat there for a while, gasping for breath and rubbing his temples, the fog of sleep receding. He regained his senses after a moment or two…
...until he noticed his rump was scrunched up against the headboard, and his legs were hanging far, far out over the bed.
Big Mac did a double-take. “What in tarnation?”
Either the rest of the world had shrunk, or he’d grown several feet in his sleep! His extra-large bed couldn’t quite contain his extra-extra large frame anymore, and the springs were creaaaaaking with every shift of his weight. His whole body was spilling over the bed in every direction, almost like he was in a foal’s bed.
Thump-thump!
Big Mac gasped. Something had pulsed mightily in his chest, almost like a second heartbeat. Tight, tingly energy flowed out to fill the rest of his body, filling him with a hot, heady sensation that made him shiver.
Big Mac stared at his own hooves, watching the fetlocks become thicker, longer… wider with each passing second. The rest of him followed suit, his body gaining more and more bulk, the rippling, chiseled muscles swelling with every breath. It was an adrenaline rush like Big Mac never experienced. He felt like he could rip a full-grown apple tree out of the ground!
And the sensation was only getting stronger. Big Mac guessed that he’d already doubled in size, but by the looks of things, that was only a warm-up...
“Shit...” He tore off his blanket and got to his hooves…
Thump-THUMP!
...only to smash his head against the ceiling.
CRUNCH!
Big Mac staggered. The growth spurt combined with his force of his motion inadvertently punched a hole in the roof, the sturdy timbers falling away as if they were toothpicks.
“Double shit!” The floorboards groaned under his still-increasing weight, bending and creaking ominously. Thinking quick, Mac ducked down low and charged towards the window, diving out into the night.
CRASH!
It wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. Sure, he’d been up on the second floor, but it didn’t seem to matter much. He barely even stumbled as he came down with a heavy thud and jumped away from the falling glass, cringing as he turned and saw the giant hole now in the side of the house.
Damn it. That was gonna take weeks to fix.
Thump-thump!
The power inside Mac flared again, the light in his eyes shining brighter.
“Ergh!” Another great burst of burning energy flared, the ground around him cracking from the pressure. The stretching of his limbs and barrel was almost audible as he inched upward, widening his stance more and more. He grew until he found himself eye-level with the hole in his room… then kept going until he was looking down at it.
“BIG BROTHER?!”
BIg Mac looked down. Standing at the front door were Apple Bloom, Applejack and Granny in their pajamas. They stared up at him with incredulous eyes, and he realized with a start that they didn’t even come up to his ankles.
Big Mac winced. “Uh…”
And then all hell broke loose.
SHWUMMM!
A titanic tear in space ripped open over the western orchards. The night sky was lit up by violet, crackling light sparking out of the hole like lightning, along with a deafening, screeching sound like scraping metal.
The Apple mares yelped and covered their ears. Big Mac merely pinned his back and narrowed his eyes.
“Threat...”
The tear lengthened and widened. The air became filled with the sharp smell of ozone, and the light became so bright that only Mac could look directly at it. There was an incredible CRACK, and then slowly, something began to step out of the rift.
Something foul, big, and made of stone.
“EENOPE!” Big Mac sprinted for the rift, the farmyard shaking with his mighty steps. He got to the edge of the orchard in seconds, but there he encountered a problem. Many of the trees were still bigger than him, and at his current size, it’d be slow going to get through them. He knew he was strong enough to push through, but they would definitely slow him down.
He didn’t have time to be slowed down.
Thump-thump!
The power within him pulsed mightily, his whole body shimmering in reply. Big Mac began to grow again, his whole perspective shifting as the ground fell farther and farther away. His body bulged, as he quickly became the height of the tallest trees…
...then a head taller than them...
...then two heads... then four.
Before long, even the greatest apple trees only came up to Big Mac’s barrel. Now sixty feet tall, he crashed through the field and ran headlong for the rift, the trees crunching and toppling around him like dominoes. The sweet smell of pulped apples filled his nose as he carved a path through the orchard, ignoring the wrenching screams within his soul.
The... thing kept coming through the rift. It looked like a colossal pillar of black rock, but Big Mac could tell it was alive from the way it moved. There was also an aura of malevolence about it that almost made him feel ill. A trio of short, powerful legs supported it like a tripod, and its angular body was covered with spikes, sharp ridges, and hooks. It also had three long arms that waved about like whips, each one ending in a long, vicious point like a scythe. The thing had no eyes or face to speak of, but just from one glance, Big Mac knew damn well that it could see.
And it was looking at him.
Big Mac grit his teeth. There was no way he was gonna let this thing onto his farm. Already, the trees around the portal were withering and turning black, the very air turning acidic and foul. As he neared, its vileness washed over him like a filmy slime, but it slipped right off him, unable to infect his body. He had to push it back into the portal, but even at his new-and-improved stature, the thing had to be at least three times larger than him! It was blooming enormous!
“Not enough,” he growled. “More… give me more!”
Thump-thump!
The magic answered his call. With a blinding flash, Big Mac’s body exploded outward, doubling, tripling, than quadrupling in size! His shoulders widened with new muscle, his legs bristling with newfound power. His chest broadened even more, gaining hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of sheer bulk. He could now see well out into the valley and beyond, his eyes and other senses sharpening to superpony levels.
He felt massive. He felt mighty! He felt STRONG!
But against this thing, he could only pray he was strong enough.
Now within striking distance, Big Mac made his move. With wind-whipping force, he whirled around, reared, and bucked the monster with earth-shattering might.
KA-WHAM!
It was like a bomb went off. The trees in the area were uprooted and sent flying, every one of the farmhouse windows shattering. Big Mac felt like he’d just struck a brick wall, the tremendous kick vibrating throughout his very being. Fortunately, though, his strength won through. The thing was sent sailing back into the portal from whence it came, and the feeling of evil and foulness disappeared along with it.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Big Mac could sense that he’d just knocked the thing back, and it was still through there, just beyond the pale.
He wasn’t gonna let it try again.
Without hesitating, Mac charged into the crackling portal, disappearing off into the unknown.
An instant later, Big Mac was standing in an alien wasteland. The air was thick and dry, and the blue, ravaged soil felt dead beneath his hooves. The cloudy sky was green, with forks of lightning lancing off into the horizon. A large, red sun hung fat and low in the sky, and there were sickly lakes of yellow far off in the distance.
Big Mac felt a chill. “Whoa, nelly…”
Around him were the ruins of a destroyed city. The buildings looked to have once been bulbous, pod-like structures, but they’d all either been ripped open, collapsed, or were laying on the ground in pieces. Some of them might have once even been taller than him, although at two hundred forty feet tall, it was hard to get a scale of things. Most of them only came up to his knees.
He was able to see the skeletons, though.
And boy howdy, were there ever a lot of them. Most had rotted away or had been ravaged by time, but from what he could tell, they seemed to have been some kind of... spider? Skulls with far too many eye sockets stared off into eternity, with dual-segmented torsos and multi-jointed limbs broken and strewn across the streets. The ground was cracked and fissured all over, with dark, yawning pits that ended only in blackness. The cruel, howling wind was the only sound in his ears, and there was a sense of wrongness that pervaded his entire being.
Big Mac shifted his enormous hooves. He could still feel a connection to the land, but... it wasn’t giving him any feedback. It was terrifyingly silent.
Big Mac could immediately discern one thing about this eerie place.
“This world’s dead,” he muttered.
And standing on its uneven feet a scant few hundred feet away, was what had likely killed it.
The stone creature beat its scythe-like arms together with a click-click-click! It took a few steps forward towards Big Mac, sizing up its new foe.
Big Mac gave a perfunctory glance at the glowing portal behind, then spat on the ground and glowered at the abomination.
“Definitely nope.”
There was a brief standstill. The two titans stared each other down, neither willing to make the first move. The wind was howling, carrying with it the sickly smell of rot. Big Mac could still feel that oily magic emanating from the creature, but it was little more than an irritation. He was a little bit bigger than the thing, and from the looks of things, he was confident he could take it.
But it seemed fate had it out for him.
In the exact instant Big Mac thought that, the creature’s body glowed with violet light. Buildings, skeletons, earth, and stone all flew towards it, vaporizing on contact and making it grow, rumbling as it absorbed all the newfound mass.
Big Mac clenched his jaw. “Aw, hell.”
Seconds later, the creature towered over him. It had to be over seven hundred feet tall, looming menacingly over him with its clawed whips. It resembled a foul, walking skyscraper, arms poised and ready to strike.
Big Mac glared at the monster. “Gonna play that way, huh? Well, fine! I can—
BAM!
The monster punted him like a hoofball. Big Mac was sent flying through the debris of the city, his giant red body smashing through buildings with an earsplitting din. He sailed for over a thousand yards before tumbling into the dirt, the cracking and crunching of the ruined structures the only sounds he could hear.
Big Mac shook his head clear. With an annoyed snort, he clambered back to his hooves. He stomped on the ground with a set of tremendous THUDS, his blows leaving behind craters over thirty feet deep. He hadn’t been harmed by the strike, but he’d sure as hell felt it.
“AS I WAS SAYIN’,” Big Mac spat in a vicious snarl. “Gonna play that way, sugarcube? Well, guess what? I CAN DO THAT, TOO!”
Thump-thump!
Big Mac’s body flashed like a prism. He shot upward, growing bigger and stronger by the second. A river of electricity was flowing through his veins, suffusing him with more strength, more energy, more wrath. The ground seemed to fall away from him, his stance widening as his body thickened and broadened. He broke five hundred feet and kept right on going, reaching seven hundred with a mighty flare of power.
BIg Mac met the monster’s eyes with a sneer. The wellspring of energy within him seemed endless, so he decided to test it. He tapped deep into the power, his tremendous form SURGING upward, shattering one thousand feet in the blink of an eye. Fire and fury flowed through him, imbuing him with new strength, a giddy chuckle escaping him as he looked down on his foe.
Before Big Mac knew it, he’d grown to fourteen hundred feet tall. He now had the mother of all adrenaline rushes, and the ruined city seemed like a foal’s playset. The low-hanging clouds seemed no farther away than the rafters of his barn. The obsidian golem didn’t seem deterred, however, and approached him with surprising speed. It’s scythe-like arms were waving menacingly, still making that damn clicking noise.
Big Mac scraped at the ground, demolishing an entire city block in a cloud of blue dust. He could get off to the power trip later. Right now, he had asses to whoop.
Click-click-click! The creature swung at Big Mac, its scythe like arm whipping up and aiming for his neck.
Big Mac ducked and responded with a wicked right hook.
THWACK!
The sound was like a thunderclap magnified a hundredfold. A shockwave exploded out from the strike, the city ruins around them blasting to rubble and dust. The creature was sent reeling, completely knocked off its charge and sent rolling into the dirt, even further demolishing the city.
“See how YOU like it!” Big Mac judged the distance the creature had fallen, then took a few running steps forward. THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! His movements were a destructive cacophony as he spun, bent on his front legs, and bucked the thing like a stubborn apple tree.
CRUNCH!
The creature literally was sent flying. It broke the sound barrier on its ascent and sailed up and away several thousand feet. Big Mac watched the thing land ass-over-teakettle with an incredible, rumbling CRASH, devastating the landscape and causing an earthquake that cracked the land even further. A mile-high dust cloud spread out from where it landed, enveloping the ruined city and obscuring Big Mac’s vision.
Big Mac folded his arms as the cloud washed over him. “Hmph. Get up from that, ya dragon’s ass.”
I’d keep up the pressure, if I were you.
Big Mac jumped. A smooth, teasing male voice had filled his mind, familiar, yet strange. He couldn’t see very well because of the cloud, but his heightened earth pony abilities allowed him to feel any life around for miles. He couldn’t sense anypony else around but him.
“Who’s there?” Big Mac demanded.
What, you don’t remember me? the voice said with mock affront. Why, I never! And after all those times we spent not talking to each other! Such a forgetful little pony you are... er, well I suppose you’re not exactly little anymore, are you? I suppose you’re just forgetful.
Big Mac felt his stomach drop. The longer he listened to the voice, the more familiar it became. He had a pretty good guess he had as to who it belonged, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“...Discord?”
A ringing bell sounded in his mind.
Well done, Red! Perhaps you’re not as dull-witted as I thought. By the by, I can’t really blame you for wanting to take a small interdimensional vacation, but if you’d bothered to consult me beforeclaw, I could’ve recommended some more hospitable locales.
Suddenly, there was abruptly a sound of grinding, cracking, and crunching. The dust cloud rippled, and then from out of its depths, the stone golem exploded out of it, swelling rapidly larger and larger as it sucked in the debris!
Click-click-click!
Big Mac cracked his neck with a loud pop. “I’m kinda busy right now, Discord.”
The creature’s waving limbs grew longer, sharper, and more wicked. Its legs became taller and stronger, to the point that each one rivalled the size of a skyscraper. Its aura grew thicker and fouler, nearly making Big Mac retch. It matched his size of fourteen hundred feet, but the violet magic around it only became stronger, and it rocketed past him to fifteen hundred... then seventeen hundred... then two thousand...
Big set off at a full-blown gallop, intent on engaging the creature before it grew any bigger. His hoofsteps shattered the earth, each one of his legs weighing thousands of tons and carrying unbelievable force. The monster noticed his advance and turned to meet him head-on, the two racing towards each other.
Hmm, yes. You do seem to have your hooves full, don’t you? Though I have to admit, you’re not doing half-bad… collateral damage notwithstanding.
Big Mac SLAMMED the monster with a heavy shoulder ram. It reeled from the blow, but then re-steadied itself and sliced at Mac with its arms. White-hot pain erupted in Big Mac’s shoulders and barrel as the blows raked cruelly at his flesh, but the fifty-foot-long cuts were only skin-deep thanks to earth pony fortitude.
Big Mac retaliated with a flurry of blows on the golem. He threw hooks, uppercuts, and jabs, chunks of decrepit stone flying all over the landscape.
“Just tell me what ya want!” Big Mac snapped.
Oh, nothing really, Discord drawled. Your sister summoned the cavalry after the rift showed up, and dear Fluttershy alerted me. Not that she needed to, mind you. I’m quite sensitive to tears in interdimensional space. She asked me to provide a play-by-play of your little slobberknocker.
Big Mac felt himself being pushed back by the monster. His hooves dug over a hundred feet into the earth, his legs buckling as he tried to stand his ground.
“I could... use some help... ya know!” BIg Mac grunted.
Can’t, said Discord. That oily, slimy stuff that thing is giving off? That’s a mix of anti-magic, and necrotic energy. The anti-magic is anathema to beings such as myself and Sunbutt, and the necrotic energy’s flat-out deadly to mortals. Not quite sure how you’re resisting both, but that’s a question for later. I’m afraid all any of us can do right now is just close that nasty ol’ rift.
Big Mac felt his frustration build. He shifted his weight and whipped the creature around, tripping it and making it fall on it’s side. The dust cloud became even thicker as more of the land was destroyed. “Fine, so I’m on my own! Do ya at least know what this thing is?!”
Now that, I can tell you, Discord said. After all, one can’t truly appreciate a fight like this without knowing both of the contenders! That ‘thing’, as you so eloquently put, is called the Yigrox. It’s known by a few other names—Eater of Worlds, Consumer of Souls, The Godbreaker, yadda, yadda, yadda. It’s a nasty leftover creation of the now-dead gal who used to rule that world you’re on. Didn’t think you could make an undead construct, but hey, learn something every day, eh?
TH-WPPPP! Before Big Mac could capitalize on the Yigrox’s position, it wrapped its stony arms around his barrel. The perverse magic assailed him as he fought to get free, his ribs creaking.
“Not… helpin’!” he gasped.
Oh, right. Anyhoo, as for stopping it… I’m not sure that you can. The Yigrox is supposedly indestructible, and it destroyed all life on that planet before going into standby mode. Not sure what woke it up… Honestly, the best you can probably do is stall for time while Sunbutt and company close up the rift. Once that’s done, if you can get far enough away from the Yigrox and it’s necrotic aura, I can come and teleport you out of there.
Mac’s pride rankled at that. He knew it wasn’t the same, but a part of him couldn’t help but whisper that he’d just be playing second fiddle if he did that.
“Hell with that!” Big Mac said with glinting eyes. “If this thing got through once, it’ll do it again! I’m takin’ it out right here, right… NOW!”
Thump-THUMP!
New strength poured into Big Mac. His scarlet body glowed with otherworldly might as he began to grow once more, breaking free of the Yigrox’s grip with a roar. He grabbed one of its arms in his teeth, used its momentum to pull it up, then leapt to the side and smashed it back down with a haymaker.
WHAM!
The Yigrox cratered into the ground, its arms and legs wildly waving about. Big Mac took Discord’s earlier advice and kept up his assault, pouncing on it and punching it relentlessly. The air became thick with flying chunks of ebony rock, Big Mac’s strikes becoming heavier and more damaging as he grew.
Discord sighed. Stubborn as your sister, I see. Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. More of a spectacle for me, I suppose.
Big Mac matched the Yigrox’s size again in seconds, the power flowing through him like a river, more intense than ever. It made him feel unstoppable, powerful and in control. If he wasn’t yelling out of rage, he probably would be out of pleasure.
Big Mac grew to a half mile and kept right on going. A single one of his hooves could’ve crushed Ponyville in a single step, his eyes bigger than the rift he’d used to get here. He was literally beating the Yigrox into the ground now, drilling both of them deeper and deeper into the crust as time went on.
Quite the interesting power you have there, Discord remarked. Never quite seen anything quite like it before. Almost reminds me of Tirek, except you don’t seem to be siphoning magic from anything. It almost seems like you’re just tapping into the latent energy within your soul. Heh… quite ironic that you’ve little talent of yours a secret for so long. And I thought your family was all about honesty.
“RAAAAAGH!” A spiderweb of fissures formed all around Big Mac and the Yigrox, tendrils of steam wafting out from their inky depths. Big Mac didn’t notice at all. All he could see was red… red, and black. The clouds parted away from him as he broke a mile in size, and the crater was now so deep, the tendrils of steam were now full-blown vents spewing forth superheated clouds of gas.
But the Yigrox didn’t seem phased much by the beating. It kept trying to throw Mac off, struggling and kicking beneath his titanic weight. The heat coming from the ground was exciting it, it's clicking rising in pitch and speed, and it began to thrash wildly, drawing the heat into itself. It too was swelling larger, slow at first, but faster and faster as seconds passed. It healed the chips and cracks in its hide and then some, filling up the crater Big Mac had made all the while.
The Yigrox’s chittering could just be heard under Big Mac’s tumultuous strikes. It gave a mighty heave, trying to get itself free. No such luck. It grew another thousand feet and heaved again, this time throwing Big Mac off balance. It was almost twice his size now, and it only was then BIg Mac realized something was up.
Uh, Red?You might wanna—
SWISH!
Big Mac just barely managed to duck a swipe aimed at his neck. He reared and jumped away in time to dodge a second swing, then moved back to a safe distance, the alien crust crumbling beneath his every step.
The Yigrox emerged from the crater huger than ever, bathed in lava and dark magic.
CLICK-CLICK-CLICK!
“How big can this thing get?!” Mac said. The molten rock had energized the construct, allowing it to move even faster with deadly intent.
The Yigrox is a essentially murderous mobile mountain that converts all forms of mass into negative energy, which it then absorbs it for fuel, Discord said. It doesn’t really have a limit to how much mass it can absorb, which is one of the reasons you can’t really beat it. Smack it around all you like; it’ll just regenerate and come at you, bigger and stronger than ever.
The Yigrox skittered back and forth, trying to get in Big Mac’s blind spot. He didn’t let it. He crouched low and kept facing it, watching its every move like a hawk. The ruined city was decimated, and the lands for miles around were in a state of upheaval.
“So what you’re sayin’,” Big Mac said. “Is that I’m basically fighting the whole o’this here planet.”
Something like that. Not really fair, is it?
Big Mac bent down and picked up a town-sized chunk of rock. “I learned life ain’t fair a long time ago. S’not exactly a new feelin’ to me.”
He flung the rock at the Yigrox, beaning it right where its head would’ve been. It didn’t have much effect, but it did make the Yigrox hesitate just a tiny, tiny bit. That was all the opening Big Mac needed, and he sprang forth to roll behind it and grapple it from behind.
“Upsy-daisy!” Big Mac pulled with all his might, but the Yigrox was too heavy to lift. It seemed to sense what he was trying and stomped on one of his hooves, but Mac didn’t let go.
If you’re trying to break its connection to the ground, I’m afraid that won’t work, Discord said. Like I said before, you’re probably better off just distracting it for now instead of trying to do it in. You’re just making it angrier right now.
“Eenope!” Big Mac again tried to lift the Yigrox, but again he couldn’t budge it. He was over a mile tall, several hundred million tons in weight, and still he had nothing on this thing.
He needed more. He needed a LOT more, needed to be more. He wouldn’t let this thing get free or threaten anypony else, no matter what he had to do.
Thump-THUMP!
The power within him sensed his resolve and flared to life, sending the mightiest pulse through him yet. Big Mac started growing again, and when he tried to lift the Yigrox a third time, he was almost able to do it. He tightened his rapidly-increasing grip and tried again, this time actually getting it a few hundred feet off the ground. The planet beneath them groaned and rumbled under the increasing weight, and more and more fissures appeared around them.
Oho, Discord said, a bit of surprise creeping into his voice. Look at you.
A mile and a half tall. Not nearly enough. The Yigrox still had a lead on him.
Thump-THUMP!
Three miles. He was the larger combatant once more, but only just. He needed increase his lead.
Thump-THUMP!
Six miles. Still shy of what he wanted, but he supposed it was a start.
“ERRRGGGH!” With a herculean heave, Big Mac lifted the Yigrox off the ground and raised it over his head. He kept going and suplexed the creature, driving it claws-first into the planet.
KA-RUNCH!
The planet’s crust shuddered. Destruction spread out through the entire hemisphere, plunging the entire surface into a dark dust cloud. The Yigrox became firmly wedged in the collapsing rock, wiggling and squirming like a worm on a hook. Great plumes of lava began shooting out from the fissures, punching holes in the clouds and sending tons of ash into the atmosphere.
Big Mac narrowly avoided a lava geyser and rolled back onto his hooves. The ground crackling and snapping as if he were on thin ice. He couldn’t see where he was stepping because of the clouds, and suddenly was quite worried about his footing.
“Discord,” Big Mac said. “Ya said this thing killed everything on this planet, right?”
Down to the bacterial level, Discord confirmed. Good thing, too, because if anything had survived,it’d be good as dead now thanks to that little move of yours. Speaking of which, don’t you ponies need that oxygen stuff? How are you managing without it?
Mac blinked. Come to think of it, he didn’t feel much of a need to breathe. The frigid temperatures of the upper-troposphere weren’t bothering him, and neither was the lava. He could feel the temperature, but it didn’t hurt.
“Apple family secret,” Big Mac replied.
Discord snorted. My front-right paw.
“It’s true,” Big Mac said solemnly. “Swear it on my horn.”
You’re an earth pony.
“Damn straight.” Big Mac concentrated and opened himself more to the mysterious energy inside him. “And earth ponies ain’t much for askin’ questions, now are they? They’re known... for gettin’... things… DONE!”
Big Mac’s body shone like a star. The power responded to his call, and the clouds parted away once more from his ascending form. He grew ever upward, surpassing the troposphere and entering the warmer air of the troposphere. He doubled in size to stand at over twelve miles tall, and finally, after one particularly potent surge, the crust gave way and plunged him into the mantle lava.
SPLOOSH!
Big Mac abruptly found himself swimming in warm, soupy gunk. Kinda felt like he was in a hot tub, really. If he wasn’t fighting for his life against a cataclysmic death machine, he might’ve actually enjoyed it.
Speaking of which…
CLICK-CLICK-CLICK
The lava began to drain away. Big Mac yelped as he found himself in a hellish whirlpool, with the Yigrox in the center. Its terrifying body was bathed in fel flames, its mile-long claws were covered in cruel hooks. The grating sound it was making sounded like the shrieks of the damned.
Big Mac grit his teeth. “Just when I thought this thing couldn’t get any uglier.”
Pffft. You think that’s ugly? You should see the Garglschnorfs of Teralsi IV during mating season. Just seeing them in your peripheral will make your eyes melt clean out your sockets.
Big Mac thought about trying to swim against the current, but reconsidered. He was building momentum from being in the maelstrom, and momentum was good. He treaded lava and stared the growing Yigrox down, watching as it went from an unholy abomination, to apocalypse incarnate.
“That’s right,” Big Mac muttered. “Eat up, pebblehead. I’ll give ya somethin’ to chew on…”
The Yigrox was becoming a monolith compared to him. At one hundred miles tall, it dwarfed him in all aspects, swiftly growing even bigger as it devoured the essence of the planet. Its necrotic energy continued to try and latch onto him, eager to leech away his soul and leave him nothing but a husk. Its defiling touch made him sick to his stomach, but he didn’t even flinch. The deadly magic slipped right off him as he looked on, glaring.
Big Mac didn’t know what this power was, or why he’d been chosen to wield it. He didn’t know if what he planned was going to work, and was very aware that this might spell his end. But he didn’t care about what-if’s. All he cared about was what was in front of him, and how to best deal with it.
When one looked at things that way, things tended to be real easy.
The Yigrox reached for Big Mac with its enormous unholy claws…
SWISH!
Only to miss as Mac whirled around, took aim, and bucked the Yigrox with the force of a thousand hydrogen bombs.
BA-WHOOM!
Shimmering earth pony magic erupted from Big Mac’s hooves on contact. It struck the Yigrox and completely enveloped it, knocking it back with sheer force. The monster twitched and stuttered, its siphoning disrupted from the sudden blast of alien magic that shorted out its own.
BIg Mac grinned. “Suck on THAT!” He felt a giddy elation spreading through him, amplified all the strength coursing through him. His body began to shine even brighter, his eyes turning a pure white. “So, ya munch on the planet to heal yourself? GUESS I’LL HAVE TO TAKE IT OUT WITH YA!”
Red, I don’t think—
But it was too late. The energy within Big Mac was answered his call, making his body rumble and shiver.
Thump-THUMP!
Big Mac laughed madly as he felt the first tendrils of power seeping in, adding to his already towering form. He became a landscape unto itself as he grew bigger, and BIGGER, adding mile after mile to his height and millions of tons to his weight. The muscles of his chest and legs were godly, bristling with untold, unspent power, just begging to be unleashed. He resisted the urge for now, though, because he still needed more. He still needed so much more...
And more he got. When Big Mac matched the Yigrox’s fifty mile height, he grabbed it and struck it with gargantuan headbutt.
WHACK!
The Yigrox fell flailing back into the lava with a leviathan splash. Country-sized globs of lava flew sailing into the atmosphere, bursting into flames once more and falling back down as meteors.
Big Mac put a growing hoof on the Yigrox and pressed it down, cackling as he pushed it further down into the planet’s core.
“Take it,” he hissed, his face a mad grin. “Take it all...”
The whirlpool around them swirled faster. Splinters of lightning burst around and above them, the air filled with clapping thunder. Big Mac could feel the Yigrox swelling beneath him as it absorbed the outer core of the planet, as well as all aspects of the crust. Cities, forests, lakes, oceans, and whole continents were drawn into the vortex, all to fuel a malevolent force of death.
But Big Mac was growing, too. Fifty miles became the size of his hooves alone as he continued to ascend, the power within him incredible surges that accelerated his growth to greater heights. He grew out of the mesosphere and into the thermosphere, his form expanding far beyond any and all expectations. He had to keep ahead of the Yigrox, and the Yigrox was absorbing quadrillions of tons of mass.
“More…” Big Mac growled. “More! MORE!”
Thump-THUMP!
Explosions went off around and below them from the planet’s death throes, but neither of them paid the light show any heed. They only had eyes for each other, the momentary standoff lasting only while they continued to ascend.
Hmph, Discord muttered. Maybe I should’ve bet on you, after all.
Big Mac was now a titan of epic proportions. The light of the planet faded away as he rocketed up into space, and he was left with a sense of weightlessness as the planet’s core fell into the Yigrox. They were both thousands of miles tall now, and the Yigrox was truly a monstrosity. Its clicking sounds were soundless in the vacuum of space, but Big Mac could still hear it’s gibbering echo in his ears, taunting and gnawing at his thoughts.
The Yigrox lunged at Mac, it’s necrotic energies eagerly reaching for him. Mac raised a hoof and fired a burst of his own magic directly in its face, blasting it with the raw essence of life.
VWUMMMMM!
The amplified earth pony magic burst out in an emerald beam, fully enveloping the Yigrox. Its silhouette could still be seen through the onslaught, stubbornly trying to absorb the incredible energy. The dreadful spellwork within it churned and chugged like a furnace, but eventually... gradually... it cracked and creaked under the strain.
Big Mac narrowed his glowing eyes. “Not enough, eh? HOW ABOUT SOME MORE?!”
His entire body flashed brighter than the sun. He doubled the ray’s power with a soundless cry, also doubling in size. He reached the ten thousand mile mark and still grew on, the moon shifting trajectory to orbit around him.
Cracks were beginning to show in the Yigrox. Continent-sized flakes were breaking away, its claws on the verge of snapping off. But even still, it tried to convert and process Big Mac’s beam into fuel.
The energy within Big Mac just kept amplifying. It fed him more and more power, which he used for a single purpose. On and on he grew, and the beam of energy grew wider and more intense with him. He didn’t care what happened to him anymore. He didn’t care about some lifeless rock. All that mattered was his home.
“JUST DIE, YA VARMINT!”
At last, with a mute scream, the Yigrox’s core overloaded and burst like an overfilled balloon. Big Mac’s beam fully enveloped the construct’s tainted mass like a cleansing flame, and it disintegrated into ash that faded away into the endless expanse. Where there had once been an effigy of terror, there was now nothing, not even a graveyard of a planet.
Big Mac cut off the ray. He stared at the space where the Yigrox had been, searching for any remaining remnant that could somehow re-form and start again. He saw none. He floated alone in the void of space, a shining, colossal pony almost three times the size of his home planet.
‘Varmint?!’ Discord said in his mind. Seriously, Red? VARMINT? That’s the best you could think of?!
Big Mac rolled his eyes. Oh, shut up.
Discord’s voice was filled with mirth. I mean, come on! You get the chance to be a badass hero, and the best one-liner you can come up with is ‘Just die, varmint?!’ Bahahahahahaha!
Big Mac felt his cheeks flush. Hey, gimme a break! I was kinda preoccupied with stoppin’ the damn thing!
Discord’s laughter died down a bit. Oh, I’m going to remember that one for a while... The mighty stallion saves Equestria from certain doom in an amazing, grandiose display, and at the end, delivers the most hickish line possible. My ribs hurt from laughing…
Big Mac sighed. Are ya done? I’m kinda just floatin’ here at the moment. Can ya bring me back to Equestria, now? Or at least close by, so the Princesses can help figure out how to shrink me down?
There was a momentary pause.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Big Mac folded his arms and sighed. It sounded like he might be waiting a while.
“And this entity you encountered said nothing of her name?” Celestia asked. “Or why this Yigrox creature had awakened?”
Big Mac, once more his normal size (thanks to some royal assistance), shook his head. “Eenope. Was reluctant enough to tell me what she did. Seemed real sorry about it, though.”
They were currently in the hospital wing of Canterlot Castle, where a flurry of doctors and mages kept coming and going to look over Big Mac. Apparently, Discord had saw fit to broadcast the fight all across the sky, and just about every pony in Equestria had seen it. The princesses had had to bring Big Mac to the palace just so he wouldn’t be mobbed by journalists, and was now in a private hospital room filling them in on what’d happened.
“An eight-pointed star, with elongated north and south arrows...” Celestia scratched her chin. “I’m not familiar with that symbol. What about you, Lulu?”
Luna, who’d been fussing over Big Mac since his return, shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing comes to mind. T’was likely associated with this now-destroyed planet.”
Big Mac put a hoof behind his head. “Ah… yeah. Sorry ‘bout that. Kinda went a bit overboard.”
“No, I don’t think you did,” Celestia said gravely. “From what saw, you were barely able to defeat it with the considerable force you used. Perhaps there might’ve been another way that didn’t involve the planet’s destruction, but all things considered, I approve of your actions.”
Luna leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Better you a dead world be destroyed than a living one.”’
Big Mac nuzzled her back. He couldn’t argue with that logic, although a part of him wanted to for some reason.
Celestia turned to Twilight, who was running a scan on Big Mac. “Have you found anything?”
Twilight ceased her scanning and turned to Celestia with a scrunched-up frown. “The spell matrix at work here’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s completely different from the magic of ponies, or anything else that’s been documented.”
Big Mac cocked his head. “How’d the three o’ya know how to help me reverse it, then?”
Twilight shifted on her hooves. “We’re... not exactly strangers to power suppression. It’s a pretty universal concept across the board, to be honest.”
“But that doesn’t mean we understand whatever’s going on with you,” Celestia added. “Assuming it’s not inimitable, we’re going to need some time to reverse-engineer it to make sure that you’re not any danger.”
Big Mac shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it was hurtin’ me none, and I feel fine right now. Why would ya think I’d be in danger?”
“Big Mac, your soul’s been transmuted into some kind of magic generator,” Twilight said flatly. “Not to mention that your body’s been altered to be able to adapt to as much as your soul can put out. I’m not sure if you have a limit or not, but considering that it allowed you to become twenty million times your original size, I’d consider it a non-issue.”
“What’s more pressing is the question whether you even qualify as an earth pony anymore,” Celestia said. “You’re still a living, thinking being, but your internal makeup is immensely changed. You swam in lava, shrugged off necrotic energy, endured enough kinetic force to destroy a planet, and survived out in the vacuum of space. Who knows what else you can do?”
Big Mac felt a chill. He hadn’t really thought about all of it like that. But when it all got laid out for him in such a manner, he suddenly wondered just what on earth he’d agreed to.
He cleared his throat with a cough. “Uh, well… i-if you’re lookin’ for a place to start, ya’ll might wanna have a word with Discord. He sounded like he knew a thing or two about the planet, as well as the Yigrox. He might be able to tell ya a bit on how this magic works.”
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear...
All the ponies looked. A tear in space opened to reveal a polka-dotted void, and through it stepped a brown unicorn stallion with red-on-yellow eyes. His mane was black and gray, along with a neatly-trimmed beard of the same coloration. His cutie mark was an eight-pointed star, although different from the one Big Mac had seen.
“I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten about little old me.” Discord smirked slyly at the group. “And here I thought we were friends.”
There was a brief stunned silence, but Twilight was the one to recover first.
“We didn’t want to bother you. You might be busy selling limited edition collector’s plates of the fight.”
Discord’s eyes lit up. “Oho! There may be hope for you yet, Sparkle! By the way, like my new look? Fluttershy suggested I dress down a bit, so I’m giving this a try. I call it, ‘Incognito Mode’.”
“Discord,” Celestia said in an even tone. “What do you know of all this?”
“Hmm, a little of this, a little of that,” he said. He produced a pair of spectacles, polishing them before putting them on. “I might be inclined to even tell you, if I could get a little bit gratitude for my unsolicited assistance, hmm?”
Celestia lowered her chin. “I’m not in the mood for your—”
“Thank you, Discord.”
Everyone looked to Luna, who continued without pause. “It’s because of you that we were able to quickly locate Mac. You also brought him back without any fuss, which would have been difficult by ourselves. You did us all a service today, so for that, you have my thanks.”
“Yeah,” Big Mac chimed in. “You told me what I needed to know to win, and ya even got me back here in one piece. Prolly would still be floatin’ out there if it weren’t for you. I owe ya one.”
There was another silence. Discord seemed just as thrown-off as the rest of them, and for once, he didn’t have a witty remark. Celestia and Twilight exchanged a shared look of reluctance, but finally with pursed lips, they muttered their thanks, as well.
Discord coughed and looked away, his cheeks a slight pink. “Well… t-that’s, um… well. I-It’s about time, is all I have to say! Yeah! Here I’ve been on my best behavior these past few years, and it’s only now that you begin to appreciate me! Yeesh, better late than never, I suppose, but really now...”
Luna chuckled. She rested a hoof on her enormously-swollen stomach and gestured for him to go on. “You said you knew something about this incident. Mayhap could you tell us?”
“As you wish, oh gravid one.” Discord horn glowed again, and the wall he’d come through vanished to portray an image of the monument Big Mac had seen in his dream.
“I’m assuming this is what you saw?” Discord asked him.
Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup. That’s the one.”
Discord sat on his haunches. “I’d guess then, that you met Araus, Goddess of Destiny and Queen of the Arachni. She went mad with power awhile back, and created the Yigrox to try and conquer other worlds. Not a bad plan, but she couldn’t control it, and it killed her along with the entire planet. I’d heard that her trial was coming up, but it must’ve been moved up if she met with you...”
Big Mac was quiet. He was recalling the dream more vividly now, and there had been a mentioning of a punishment being decided. He’d no idea what said punishment was, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
“But why meet with Big Mac?” Twilight asked. “Why not meet with one of the Prin—er, one of us?”
Discord examined his hoof. “Red?”
Big Mac leaned back in his bed. “She said she thought I had potential, and that I reminded her of how she used to be. Also said this all was gonna happen too fast to get out a proper warnin’. I’ll agree with her on that.”
Luna wore a smug grin. “A mare’s intuition is never wrong.”
He smiled despite himself. “Never said it was.”
Why would the Yigox come here, though?” Twilight cut in. “What do we have in Equestria that would attract a monster like that?”
“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight,” Discord said, clucking his tongue. “You’ve been to an alternate reality before! Don’t you know anything about how the multiverse works?”
Twilight gave him a deadpan stare. ”Enlighten me, Professor Chaos.”
“Gladly!” Discord waved his hoof, and instant later he was wearing a tweed jacket and bowtie.
“Consider this information for you as well, Red,” Discord said. His horn flared to life, and a grilled cheese sandwich appeared in his yellow magic. “If you will, imagine that this top slice of bread is our reality, and the bottom slice is a different one. We coexist side by side separately, but we’re also stuck together by an adhesive of sorts. Our planet and the now-destroyed Arachni homeworld exist in the same space, along with countless other alien worlds. The only thing that separates is us is dimension gunk.”
The grilled cheese sandwich became a double-decker, then a triple-decker, more and more cheesy slices being piled on until the swaying column of gooey toast reached the ceiling.
“If you have a device, spell, ability, or whatever that can make a hole in it somehow, it’s a simple matter of simply stepping through,” Discord said. “The physical coordinates where the Yigrox tried to get through just happened to be Sweet Apple Acres, that’s all.”
Twilight was starting to see. “And I’m guessing that the Arachni dimension is metaphysically located close to ours?”
“That it is,” Discord said. “What likely happened was that the Yigrox was merely following its programming, whatever that was, and went for what it perceived to be the next-closest target... In other words, us.”
Celestia exhaled out her nose. “But the ruins suggested that the Arachni calamity happened quite a long time ago. Why would the Yigrox come here now?”
“See, that’s what I can’t figure out,” Discord said. He turned the grilled cheese tower back into a normal sandwich and took a bite. “I didn’t even think that the Arachni had interdimensional travelling capabilities! Because if they did, the Yigrox would’ve come here centuries ago when they all kicked the bucket. Something must’ve woke it up, but as to what, that’s certainly a head scratcher.”
“A worrisome head scratcher,” Luna said darkly.
There was a murmur of approval at that.
“It’s not my first choice for a brain teaser,” Discord admitted. “I’ve grown rather fond of this reality. Just picked out the curtains for my living room, and everything.”
“D’ya think it had anything to do with Araus gettin’ sent to jail?” Big Mac asked. “Maybe she knew somethin’ was gonna happen the moment they put her in, and this was her way of tryin’ to fix things?”
Discord tilted his head from side to side. “Araus always was the paranoid type. She might’ve had failsafes built into the Yigrox to protect her somehow, so… maybe it was trying to cross dimensions in an effort to get to her?”
Twilight shuddered. “If that’s true, then that means it might’ve done damage to multiple dimensions, not just ours.” She turned to Mac. “Your efforts might have just saved multiple realities.”
Big Mac blinked several times. “Ya really think so?”
Twilight smiled. “You’re definitely a hero, Big Mac. You deserve a medal.”
He looked over at Luna, who was also beaming at him. “A medal sounds nice. I don’t gotta dress up or nothin’, do I?”
Luna snickered. “I think you’re entitled to wear whatever you like.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good. I hate tryin’ to find suits that fit. And that Rarity gal always fusses on how I should do somethin’ with my mane...”
Discord burst out laughing. “Red, do all of existence a favor and go into deadpan comedy. You’ll make a killing.”
Celestia stepped forward. “I recommend we hold the ceremony here at the castle, so that your farm doesn’t get further disturbed by any commotion. Oh, and speaking of which, I can put in a few words with the Canterlot Arboretum to repair the damage to your crops.”
“Big Mac bowed his head. “Thank ya kindly, Princess.”
“I would ask one thing, though,” Celestia’s tone turned serious. “Now that you have this power, what do you intend to do with it? The whole country just saw what you can do, and I fear that you’ll find it difficult returning to your old life now.”
“Ponyville’s probably crawling with journalists,” Twilight said. “And trust me, they can be persistent.”
“Not to contradict you, Twilight Sparkle, but there were already plenty of those thanks to my vists these past few months.” Luna idly traced her hoof up and down Big Mac’s leg, noting the size difference between them. The Mages Guild had cast their growth spell on her, and the result was that she was a head taller than Celestia. “I tend to stand out these days.”
“You’d stand out regardless,” Big Mac said, putting a hoof on her giant womb and rubbing it gently. “That’s what happens when you’re gorgeous.”
Luna tittered and put a wing around him. “On second thought, maybe you should stay here. We can hire some ponies to watch over the farm, and I can help you learn how to use that power of yours.”
She leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “And once that’s sorted.... we can take turns being the big spoon.”
Big Mac’s eyes widened. “You know, stayin’ here sounds like a good idea! I’m prolly gonna need help me out with all this, and ya’ll can figure out how best I can help in the future. Yep, sounds good to me.”
Celestia looked between the two of them with an unreadable expression. After a long pause, she spoke in a cautious tone. “Yes… that does sound… logical. I’m sure that that would be best. Are you certain you wish to volunteer your services so quickly, though? You’re not under any obligation to.”
“And it’s not exactly easy,” Twilight added. “Take it from somepony who’s got experience.”
“I wanna help protect my home,” Big Mac said simply. “That’s what I’ve wanted to do for years. Now that I can, I’m gonna take full advantage of it. Just tell me what to do, Princess, and I’ll do it.”
Celestia considered that. She looked to Luna and Twilight for their opinions, but neither of them offered any protest. Luna was, however, giving her a look that spoke volumes, and it was this that ultimately made up her mind.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mac.” Celestia smiled warmly at him, happy that her sister had managed to find such a good partner. “There aren’t any issues right now that I’m aware of, but if anything comes up, I’ll certainly let you know.”
