Midnight Macintoshby Mocha JonChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1Big Macintosh was having trouble keeping a long distance relationship with his new girlfriend Sugar Belle, the constant traveling to another town was not an easy process. The two wanted to spend more and more time together to strengthen their relationship, but being apart for so long was not helping advance their relationship, they decided they needed to take a vacation for themselves. They decided that the perfect place would be the Crystal Empire, a town ruled by the Princess of Love and powered by the Crystal heart, that seemed romantic enough. The two were seen sitting at a public restaurant sharing a cobb salad. The two tried to have a good time, but the whole event just felt awkward, as Big Mac was being his usual stoic and reserved self while Sugar Belle was trying to activate conversation. “So this is a beautiful night right? All the stars are in the air, isn’t it pretty?” “Eeyup.” Sugar Belle tried to continue the conversation, to sure where to go with a response like that, “Oh, well, isn’t this a beautiful city? All the buildings have such a magical glow, crystal seems to make a great material for homes, right?” Big Mac looked around and took a look at all the buildings, he did notice the shiny parts and even saw his reflection in one wall, “Eeyup.” He said as he just continued eating the salad. Sugar Belle just sighed briefly as she tried to find another topic of conversation with her boyfriend, “You know I’ve been thinking of expanding my bakery, maybe opening a franchise outside my town, maybe this place could be a possible area for one?” She asked, really looking in his eyes, hoping he would have some true advice. Big Mac looked around the place, noticing how healthily the other ponies were eating there, he then looked at his menu and noticed there was no desert section. “Sugar Belle, do ya want mah honest opinion?” Big Mac asked. He looked into his girlfriend’s eyes and noticed she seemed very passionate about his answer, hoping he would be heartfelt in his response as she gave an excited nod, “Sugar Belle… Eeyup!” Sugar Belle just looked exasperated at that answer, banging her head on the table once, “Eeyup… Eeyup… Eeyup… Is that all you can say?” She asked as she cartoonishly slid the salad bowl away from them to make a scene. Big Mac looked confused as to why she would react like that, “Uh, nope…?” He asked as he tried to make sense of her attitude. “Big Macintosh… You know I love you, but we never get to see each other, this is one of the few times I get to truly know about you, don’t you want to have a real conversation with me?” She asked as she put her forehead into her front hooves, sighing. Big Mac looked confused and upset at seeing this mare look so depressed. He leaned over, and put his hoof on her shoulder and tried to comfort her, “Eeyup.” However that response did not seem to make her any less upset. “Big Mac, you’re sweet and strong, but if we are going to make a long distance relationship like ours work, we need to communicate more. I never get to see you, I don’t know anything about you. All I know is you kick apple trees. Isn’t there anything about you that you’ve been wanting to tell me? Anything at all?” Big Mac tried to think of something to tell her, but there was nothing that came to mind. As much as he wanted to tell about himself to his love, he had nothing to tell. He was a pony of almost no words, and nothing can change that. He tried to think about anything to tell her, but there was just nothing. Big Mac just sighed as he looked down at the floor, “Nope…” Sugar Belle looked up and seemed a bit angry and hurt, “Big Mac, I broke Feather Bangs’ heart by choosing you over him. I felt terrible just leaving him like that, but I did it because I thought you wanted a pony to share your life with… If you can’t share anything with me, what are we doing?” She said as she took his hoof off her shoulder. Big Mac just sighed and looked in Sugar Belle’s eyes, “Ah don’ know… Ah just wanna be with ya cause ah like you, ain’t that enough?” “You say that, but you couldn’t even tell me that when we started dating, you had to have your little sister tell me… I need a pony I can talk to…” She said as she turned away slowly, “I think I need some alone time right now… You should go, I’ll meet you back at the hotel later tonight.” “But Sugar Belle… Ah…” Big Mac tried to interject, but Sugar Belle refused to make eye contact, so Big Mac just sighed and got up, “Eeyup…” He said sadly as he started to walk away. Sugar Belle looked at him as he made his way out of the restaurant, then waving for the waitress, “Excuse me Miss, can I get a glass of… Apple Cider? Extra strong please…” That was the hardest conversation Big Mac had ever had with Sugar Belle. They had never fought before, and that was the first time he had seen her upset sense he was fighting with Feather Bangs. It was a very painful fight too, because he was always very sensitive about the fact that he could never share how he felt. His sisters used to always come to him for advice but he never gave the right advice, so he just decided to never share how he felt again. It was a decision he had often regretted, because it made him feel like a failure in life who could never help anypony, but at this point he had gotten so used to never sharing his thoughts, he just can’t do it anymore. Big Mac looked up at the stars and started seeing patterns in them, all of which reminded him of Sugar Belle: one constellation was of her mixing batter for a cake, another was of her eating an apple pie, and the last one was of her holding a balloon and stick of cotton candy, the last one making him chuckle a little. He thought about her more and more and just wanted to run back and apologize. He knew he loved her and he wanted to do whatever it took to make her happy. As Big Mac was looking up at the sky, he was not paying attention to what was around him, he had walked to the edge of the Empire with most of the buildings behind him. By the time he realized that he walked out too far, he ended up tripping over something he did not see, resulting in him cartoonishly falling over, “NOPE!!!” He said as he tripped and landed in a bush. When he got himself back up, he shoof the leaves and twigs off his coat and walked back to where he was when he fell. “What in tarnation is this…?” He said as he leaned down and picked up what he tripped on, seeing a disturbingly large and smooth Crystal. Without warning, the horn shaped crystal began to glow a bright red and before Big Mac knew it, it started to become burning hot, so hot that Big Mac couldn’t continue to hold it, “YE-OUCH!!!” He yelled as he threw the object right back onto the ground, starting to walk back around into town, blowing on his hoof to help relieve the pain of burning. Big Mac was not expecting to see what happened next… The horn shaped crystal began levitating on its own and thrusted itself right in front of Big Mac’s face. “What in the Hay is…” He tried to ask as the object began glowing red again, and somehow caused Big Mac’s eyes to turn from green to red. Once it started glowing and catching his eyes, he stopped moving and simply stood still, staring blankly as the object continued to illuminate. After about thirty seconds of Big Mac standing in complete attention, the object started moving again, attaching itself to Big Mac’s forehead like a unicorn’s horn, and that broke Big Mac of his trance, with him closing his eyes as a loud scream in terror came out as he felt himself start to grow slightly, almost one foot taller. His coat also started to take on a slightly darker shade of red, going from a bright crimson to a shade of scarlet under a shadow. The crystal horn then fully fused itself to Big Mac’s forehead, attaching itself and taking on the same shade of red as Big Mac’s new coat. His Mane also changed color, turning from a golden orange to a cool gray, almost like the color of smoke. Once he finished his scream of pain and horror, Big Mac opened his eyes again and this time, his left eye remained the deep red but his right eye returned to its normal green shade. Big Mac looked as confused and disoriented as anypony could possibly be, he had trouble standing, he could not keep balance and had to just sit down. Once he found a large crystal that was big enough to hold him up and plopped down on it, the new horn began to glow a bright blend of purple and lime green, and that aurora surrounded the stallion. He began screaming again once the aurora started surrounding him whole, and before he knew it, he just… Vanished, there was nothing on the crystal anymore, not a trace that anypony was there except for Big Mac’s signature neck harness. The next morning, Sugar Belle was seen walking along the same path her boyfriend was walking along. She had been alone all night and had time to think things threw. She realized that she knew what she was getting into by dating Big Mac, and that he was a reclusive pony and that sharing would not be easy for him. She realized she was being unfair by making him go out of his comfort zone and went out to find him and apologize. “Big Mac? Big Mac? Big Macintosh? Some ponies told me they saw you walking this way. I’m sorry I got so mad last night! I want to make it up to you! Big Macintosh?” She yelled as she started looking around, worrying that Big Mac may have gotten so mad that he just returned home. “Big Mac please tell me you’re still here! I want to make things right! This is our trip and I need to find you!” She added right before she almost completely gave up and turned around. Before she could retract, she noticed something odd on top of a large crystal… Big Mac’s harness? “What the…? BIG MACINTOSH!!!” She yelled out in terror… Chapter 2The rather massive stallion eventually woke up with a massive headache. He was not sure where he was or what he was doing. He didn’t even know his own name at that moment, all he knew is that he was lost. “Where… Where in the name of beauty and beasts am ah?” He asked with a rather distinctive inflection. There was still a small country drawl to his voice, but it almost sounded, slightly elegant and refined at the same time. It was dimly light outside, and the large pony noticed it was merely daybreak, the sun was still setting in the horizon. He was not sure why he was able to detect the time of day so easily however. He had not known anything about farming or sleep cycles that required rising up early. “What is this place?” He eventually got to his hooves and started walking off in an attempt to find shelter. As he walked, he heard loud clacking sounds with each hoof step. “In the name of lord Celestia, what’s t’at?” He asked as he noticed he was wearing metal boots. That seemed rather impractical considering that he was just sleeping out in the cold, he should be wearing something softer right? Especially because he also noticed he was wearing a red cape with a white lace on the end. Why did he need a cape like that? Before he had time to figure out an answer, he accidentally walked right into the back of a random pony, tripping and knocking the other pony over. The other pony, a purple pegasus with an orange mane, turned around and looked furious, “What in Equestria is your problem!?” He asked as he got right up into the red stallion’s face. Problem? Was he having a problem? Aside from being confused, he had not considered anything to be a bother. “Oh, Ah’m terribly sorry. Ah just have a lotta complications in mah head, needed to self examine.” He tried to say in order to avoid confrontation. The pegasus looked at the big red pony, taking note on what he was wearing, not only did he have on those metal boots and the cape, but he had a strange silver amulet with a large ruby in it. Why would anypony be stupid enough to wear stuff like that in this area? “I take it you aren’t from around here, huh?” While the stallion was still lost and confused, he knew for sure that that place was a mystery, he knew nothing about it so he must be right, “Affirmative.” That was a strange answer, the pegasus was expecting a simple yes or yeah or um hum, but not an answer as formal as that. “I can tell…” He said as he reached over and touched the amulet, “Ponies from over here never dress this flashy, know why?” “Negative.” The purple pegasus quickly put his hoof under the amulet and pulled it back, detaching it from the red stallion’s neck before attempting to fly away, “Cause nopony here can be trusted!” He said with a selfish laugh as he attempted to flee. What just happened? A complete stranger from out of the blue just took something that wasn’t his? The amulet didn’t necessarily hold any value to the red pony, but that was his property. Just something about that seemed to take a large hold on the large stallion. “Who was that ratchet varmint? He took mah property and he must pay his debt!” The red stallion yelled to two ponies who were standing within the distance from him. The two ponies, a pink mare and a green stallion, refused to give the red pony a solid answer initially. “Why do you think we’ll tell you?” The pink mare said with a heavy ghetto accent. “Yeah, he took ya shiny necklace so you ain’t got anythin’ ta offer us!” The green stallion responded, sounding equally urban. The large red stallion was at a loss, he had no money on him, he had no credit card, no check book, not even a quarter hidden a sock for a payphone. It looked like he was simply at defeat. He grunted to himself as he began to turn around, still grunting his complaints. Before he could walk off, his repressed rage began to manifest into a glow on his horn, and before he knew it, a mailbox he was standing by suddenly started having a crystal like substance appear at the bottom of it. That gave the red stallion an idea, so he quickly turned back around and walked right up to the pink and green ponies. “Naw man ya must be stupid if ya think we’d help ya after thirty seconds, unless ya found 50 bits on the ground!” The pink pony said as she held her hoof out to take a bribe. “Negative…” The red stallion said as he leaned his head down, making his horn touch the pink pony’s hoof, causing both to glow. When the large stallion leaned back up, and small crystals appeared on her hoof. The large pony then repeated the steps on the green pony with her. “There’s your bribe, now take me to him.” “Nuh uh bra, we got our gems now, we don’t need to help,” The green pony said as he refused to offer help even after a bribe. “Oh but you need my help… Look again…” The red stallion said as he pointed to their hooves, before the two could notice, the crystals had gotten bigger, covering up their hooves entirely, and they looked like they were still growing. “What the hay is this? Do ya got a death wish or somethin’?!” The pink pony yelled in anger and fear as she saw them slowly growing. “Negative… It’s just a little incentive to make sure ah get what ah pay for.” The stallion said as the crystals continued to increase, at this point making their arms unable to unbend, leaving them to stand on three hooves. “Ya can keep the original crystals, but ya gotta lead me ta that traitor over there…” The red pony said with a look on his face that lacked any humor, and proved he was not playing around. The two witnesses were at a loss, they had no choice but to give the stallion what he wanted, “Ugh fine, he’s about two blocks from here, we’ll take yas, just stop this!” The green one caved in, with the pink one nodding with an equal grunt. “Affirmative, lead the way.” The red pony cooed as he gestured his hoof forward to signal them to start walking. After about twenty minutes of walking, the two ponies were seen further covered in the crystals. They had reached up to their necks and most of their torsos, making walking a challenge. They eventually made it to what looked like a severely damaged home. It was rather small, only looking like it had one single room, and there were chips of paint falling off the wall, and the single window was broken. “Alright, here’s the place! Now let us go so we can beat you until ya skin is a red as ya coat!” The large red pony looked annoyed and confused at that comment, “You must be dumb as livestock to threaten who holds your fate…” He said as he almost walked inside himself. “She is!” The green one interjected, “Look, ah’ll keep this chick cool, just let us go and ya won’t hear from us again!” He begged, and before he knew it, the crystals began to recede from his body, returning back into the small hooffull sized one it initially was. The same did happen for the pink pony too, but hers was much slower than the green one. “Get her far away from me…” Was all the red pony said. He clearly wanted her to be at a distance when she was able to move again. The two awkwardly nodded as they slowly walked away, not even bothering to look behind them. The red pony then walked to the door of the hobble, he wanted to barge in and knock loudly onto the door, but after the first harsh knock, the door simply opened itself, as it was clearly unlocked and damaged. He refused to be formal and wait for a response and simply rushed into the house. “Where is it?” He yelled loudly. When he arrived, he noticed the purple pony was sitting on a cardboard box, and he was not alone. There was a red filly with a bright blue mane sitting with him, and she looked like she was about to cry. “Daddy, they’re here early…” She said as she looked terrified. The filly was used to intruders coming into their home, as they are robbed rather frequently. “You? How did you find me here?” The purple pony asked as he stood up, still holding the amulet in his hooves. He clearly positioned himself to block his daughter. “I assume you want this back?” He asked with a scowl on his face. “Affirmative.” The red stallion confirmed, he looked around and noticed that all that was in the room were a box filled with bags of rice and potatoes, presumably all they could afford, and a ripped up blanket that looked like it was wrestled from a stray dog. “It’s okay daddy, he can have it back…” The filly said as she took the amulet herself, and held it up for the red pony. At her angle, her cutie mark became visible, it was that of a diamond. “I hope you’re happy. She’s supposed to be a jeweler but we can’t even afford playground rocks…” The father said, disappointed, but he conceded. “Negative…” He said as he took the amulet back, and put it on his neck. He then removed his large red cape with his horn and placed it on the filly’s back like a blanket. “I thought you stole it for yourself, but for her, a father must take risks…” He then walked right up to the purple pony and looked him dead in the eyes, “You have a responsibility to your daughter. I am willing to help you give her a future… But if you ever steal from anypony again, ah will lock you in a barn’s dungeon and have rats eat ya eyes out and crawl out ya belly button…” The filly just stood back in shock from that image in her head, “You mean if I promise never to steal again, she can have the amulet?” The dad asked, also worried. “Negative. Ah don’ know why but ah need this with me.” He said as he looked the two both in the eyes. “But ah have another solution…” The red pony said as his horn light up and before they knew it, the filly was holding crystals similar to the ones that almost imprisoned the witnesses. The dad looked scared but the filly looked confused, “What are these?” She asked. “They’re a gift, they grow on their own.” He said as he reached down and broke one in half, they both quickly regenerated into equally sized crystals as the first one. “Save one, take the rest to a jeweler, sell your new supply every week.” He said as he went off wanting to leave then and there. The purple one looked suspicious at such an offer, “Why would you do this…?” “Ah hate thieves with a passion, stealing is a horrible act that nopony should do. If ah can stop it, ah will. Don’t mean ah need to be violent though…” He said as he began to turn around and leave. “Sir…” The filly interjected, “What’s your name?” The red pony was not sure how to answer that, he was not sure. He looked back, looking a bit morose, but instead of answering, he just left the hobble, leaving the crystal gifts. Chapter 3Much later that night, Celestia had taken down the sun and Luna had risen the moon, but the giant red stallion was not asleep, he had nowhere to go. In the place he took refuge, he had assembled a box made of crystals that was only big enough to fit himself in, but not in a very comfortable position. While attempting to rest, the red stallion was pondering who he was, where he was, and why he was there. He did not even know his own name, and was living in a crystal box, what was his purpose? And how was he to survive living in a town with so much crime? Even though many of the ponies only commit those crimes to survive, he cannot stand seeing those crimes happen in the first place. Stealing was always wrong right? Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard, and the red stallion could faintly see a train coming through the translucent crystals. Even worse, he could hear fights starting to take place, and morbid curiosity made him cut a hole through the crystal shelter and saw that two ponies were fighting for a ticket. “Okay girl, I paid for the ticket, it’s mine!” The orange one tried to tackle the blue one for the ticket, but she dodged her. “Girl you bought it with the money I gave you, come at it and I’ll stab you a third belly button!” “Sista I survived you doing that once I can handle it again!” She said as she successfully tackled the blue pony. The red stallion knew why they were fighting for it without needing to ponder anything, they both wanted to get out of that town and go to a safer and more secure location, he rationally understood how adamant they wanted to leave but did not like them fighting over it, but he stayed out of it. Eventually the incipient train eventually arrived, and the conductor went out the front cart and did a stereotypical, “AAALLLLLLL ABOARD!” He yelled until he noticed the two mares fighting for the ticket, “Oh come on… Every time…” He was used to seeing ponies fight to get out of there, nothing surprised him… Until he saw the sparkling set of Crystal ten feet away from the two ponies. “One night this place can’t afford a coffee house but the next has crystals the size of Celestia?” The two mares stopped fighting and pulling each others’ manes when he asked that, “Brotha stay FAR away from those… That pony will make you real messed up!” The blue one told him, the orange one took the opportunity to take the ticket and quickly ran onto the cart. “BLAM!!! DUH DUH-DUH DDDUUUHHHH!!!” She yelled with a smug grin. The red stallion rolled his eyes at that, he didn’t even know who rightfully owned the ticket, but he felt bad for the blue mare, anypony who is forced to stay where they are now in that place is living torture. “Sorry sista but I can’t let anypony on without a ticket, unless you want to start another fight with a cactus for one, you’re out of luck!” The conductor told her, rather unsympathetically. “Cactus? Boy you got problems!” She said in anger, not expecting to get on the train now, “Brotha I clearly ain’t gettin’ on the train so why don’t you take your ticket and just shove it up your…” She tried to threaten until a loud shattering sound was heard that cut her off, leaving her and the conductor surprised. They looked over and noticed the crystal shelter had basically exploded, with the red stallion standing up while looking like a mixture of smugness and confidence, “Willing to take a bribe?” He said as he used his horn and the largest crystal shard was levitated to the conductor, who looked at it in awe, “We’ll take two seats please!” While the conductor was distracted looking at the crystal, the large red stallion simple grinned and guided the blue mare to the cart, “I think we’re we’re all set.” The conductor allowed them to cheat like that and let them on board, “Sure thing… All aboard…!” He responded as they entered, with a tone in his voice that expressed that he was aware of them cheating the system but clearly didn’t care. The orange mare was seen sitting with her hooves sitting on the head rest of the seat in front of her, but she looked surprised and angry when she saw the blue mare enter, “Hold up! I had the ticket, what in the h…” She tried to exclaim until she saw the large red stallion enter too and instantly retracted, “Never mind.” The red stallion remained quiet as he took his seat, returning to his more signature stoic expression on his face. The blue mare sat two seats over from him and wanted to seem like she was ungrateful for what he did, not wanting to give credit, but even she was wondering why he did it. “Man I don’t get you, you’re here for a day, knock out ponies and almost turn them into jewelry then help their income and get them on trains? Are you a goody two shoes or sociopathic maniac?” Another guest on the train, a pegasus wearing a green visor, “Well he’s an Apple, so clearly he’s a nice guy.” He said as he pointed to the red stallion’s cutie mark. “An Apple?” As she was a city girl she was unfamiliar with the famous country Apples. “Oh totally, they’re the most famous farmers in Equestria, looks like this one’s related to Big Macintosh, probably a distant cousin.” He added, but looked surprised to see he was a unicorn, “Must be a defect, they usually don’t marry unicorns.” The red stallion looked a little concerned and confused at hearing the name ‘Big Macintosh’, it sounded rather familiar, but he couldn’t put a hoof on it. He looked up at the moon and instantly knew it was midnight, and he had an epiphany. That was who he was, Midnight Macintosh, that was his name, that was who he was. Now all he needed to know is what his purpose is, wherever he is going, Midnight Macintosh knew he would find his purpose in the new town.
Chapter 1Big Macintosh was having trouble keeping a long distance relationship with his new girlfriend Sugar Belle, the constant traveling to another town was not an easy process. The two wanted to spend more and more time together to strengthen their relationship, but being apart for so long was not helping advance their relationship, they decided they needed to take a vacation for themselves. They decided that the perfect place would be the Crystal Empire, a town ruled by the Princess of Love and powered by the Crystal heart, that seemed romantic enough. The two were seen sitting at a public restaurant sharing a cobb salad. The two tried to have a good time, but the whole event just felt awkward, as Big Mac was being his usual stoic and reserved self while Sugar Belle was trying to activate conversation. “So this is a beautiful night right? All the stars are in the air, isn’t it pretty?” “Eeyup.” Sugar Belle tried to continue the conversation, to sure where to go with a response like that, “Oh, well, isn’t this a beautiful city? All the buildings have such a magical glow, crystal seems to make a great material for homes, right?” Big Mac looked around and took a look at all the buildings, he did notice the shiny parts and even saw his reflection in one wall, “Eeyup.” He said as he just continued eating the salad. Sugar Belle just sighed briefly as she tried to find another topic of conversation with her boyfriend, “You know I’ve been thinking of expanding my bakery, maybe opening a franchise outside my town, maybe this place could be a possible area for one?” She asked, really looking in his eyes, hoping he would have some true advice. Big Mac looked around the place, noticing how healthily the other ponies were eating there, he then looked at his menu and noticed there was no desert section. “Sugar Belle, do ya want mah honest opinion?” Big Mac asked. He looked into his girlfriend’s eyes and noticed she seemed very passionate about his answer, hoping he would be heartfelt in his response as she gave an excited nod, “Sugar Belle… Eeyup!” Sugar Belle just looked exasperated at that answer, banging her head on the table once, “Eeyup… Eeyup… Eeyup… Is that all you can say?” She asked as she cartoonishly slid the salad bowl away from them to make a scene. Big Mac looked confused as to why she would react like that, “Uh, nope…?” He asked as he tried to make sense of her attitude. “Big Macintosh… You know I love you, but we never get to see each other, this is one of the few times I get to truly know about you, don’t you want to have a real conversation with me?” She asked as she put her forehead into her front hooves, sighing. Big Mac looked confused and upset at seeing this mare look so depressed. He leaned over, and put his hoof on her shoulder and tried to comfort her, “Eeyup.” However that response did not seem to make her any less upset. “Big Mac, you’re sweet and strong, but if we are going to make a long distance relationship like ours work, we need to communicate more. I never get to see you, I don’t know anything about you. All I know is you kick apple trees. Isn’t there anything about you that you’ve been wanting to tell me? Anything at all?” Big Mac tried to think of something to tell her, but there was nothing that came to mind. As much as he wanted to tell about himself to his love, he had nothing to tell. He was a pony of almost no words, and nothing can change that. He tried to think about anything to tell her, but there was just nothing. Big Mac just sighed as he looked down at the floor, “Nope…” Sugar Belle looked up and seemed a bit angry and hurt, “Big Mac, I broke Feather Bangs’ heart by choosing you over him. I felt terrible just leaving him like that, but I did it because I thought you wanted a pony to share your life with… If you can’t share anything with me, what are we doing?” She said as she took his hoof off her shoulder. Big Mac just sighed and looked in Sugar Belle’s eyes, “Ah don’ know… Ah just wanna be with ya cause ah like you, ain’t that enough?” “You say that, but you couldn’t even tell me that when we started dating, you had to have your little sister tell me… I need a pony I can talk to…” She said as she turned away slowly, “I think I need some alone time right now… You should go, I’ll meet you back at the hotel later tonight.” “But Sugar Belle… Ah…” Big Mac tried to interject, but Sugar Belle refused to make eye contact, so Big Mac just sighed and got up, “Eeyup…” He said sadly as he started to walk away. Sugar Belle looked at him as he made his way out of the restaurant, then waving for the waitress, “Excuse me Miss, can I get a glass of… Apple Cider? Extra strong please…” That was the hardest conversation Big Mac had ever had with Sugar Belle. They had never fought before, and that was the first time he had seen her upset sense he was fighting with Feather Bangs. It was a very painful fight too, because he was always very sensitive about the fact that he could never share how he felt. His sisters used to always come to him for advice but he never gave the right advice, so he just decided to never share how he felt again. It was a decision he had often regretted, because it made him feel like a failure in life who could never help anypony, but at this point he had gotten so used to never sharing his thoughts, he just can’t do it anymore. Big Mac looked up at the stars and started seeing patterns in them, all of which reminded him of Sugar Belle: one constellation was of her mixing batter for a cake, another was of her eating an apple pie, and the last one was of her holding a balloon and stick of cotton candy, the last one making him chuckle a little. He thought about her more and more and just wanted to run back and apologize. He knew he loved her and he wanted to do whatever it took to make her happy. As Big Mac was looking up at the sky, he was not paying attention to what was around him, he had walked to the edge of the Empire with most of the buildings behind him. By the time he realized that he walked out too far, he ended up tripping over something he did not see, resulting in him cartoonishly falling over, “NOPE!!!” He said as he tripped and landed in a bush. When he got himself back up, he shoof the leaves and twigs off his coat and walked back to where he was when he fell. “What in tarnation is this…?” He said as he leaned down and picked up what he tripped on, seeing a disturbingly large and smooth Crystal. Without warning, the horn shaped crystal began to glow a bright red and before Big Mac knew it, it started to become burning hot, so hot that Big Mac couldn’t continue to hold it, “YE-OUCH!!!” He yelled as he threw the object right back onto the ground, starting to walk back around into town, blowing on his hoof to help relieve the pain of burning. Big Mac was not expecting to see what happened next… The horn shaped crystal began levitating on its own and thrusted itself right in front of Big Mac’s face. “What in the Hay is…” He tried to ask as the object began glowing red again, and somehow caused Big Mac’s eyes to turn from green to red. Once it started glowing and catching his eyes, he stopped moving and simply stood still, staring blankly as the object continued to illuminate. After about thirty seconds of Big Mac standing in complete attention, the object started moving again, attaching itself to Big Mac’s forehead like a unicorn’s horn, and that broke Big Mac of his trance, with him closing his eyes as a loud scream in terror came out as he felt himself start to grow slightly, almost one foot taller. His coat also started to take on a slightly darker shade of red, going from a bright crimson to a shade of scarlet under a shadow. The crystal horn then fully fused itself to Big Mac’s forehead, attaching itself and taking on the same shade of red as Big Mac’s new coat. His Mane also changed color, turning from a golden orange to a cool gray, almost like the color of smoke. Once he finished his scream of pain and horror, Big Mac opened his eyes again and this time, his left eye remained the deep red but his right eye returned to its normal green shade. Big Mac looked as confused and disoriented as anypony could possibly be, he had trouble standing, he could not keep balance and had to just sit down. Once he found a large crystal that was big enough to hold him up and plopped down on it, the new horn began to glow a bright blend of purple and lime green, and that aurora surrounded the stallion. He began screaming again once the aurora started surrounding him whole, and before he knew it, he just… Vanished, there was nothing on the crystal anymore, not a trace that anypony was there except for Big Mac’s signature neck harness. The next morning, Sugar Belle was seen walking along the same path her boyfriend was walking along. She had been alone all night and had time to think things threw. She realized that she knew what she was getting into by dating Big Mac, and that he was a reclusive pony and that sharing would not be easy for him. She realized she was being unfair by making him go out of his comfort zone and went out to find him and apologize. “Big Mac? Big Mac? Big Macintosh? Some ponies told me they saw you walking this way. I’m sorry I got so mad last night! I want to make it up to you! Big Macintosh?” She yelled as she started looking around, worrying that Big Mac may have gotten so mad that he just returned home. “Big Mac please tell me you’re still here! I want to make things right! This is our trip and I need to find you!” She added right before she almost completely gave up and turned around. Before she could retract, she noticed something odd on top of a large crystal… Big Mac’s harness? “What the…? BIG MACINTOSH!!!” She yelled out in terror…
Chapter 2The rather massive stallion eventually woke up with a massive headache. He was not sure where he was or what he was doing. He didn’t even know his own name at that moment, all he knew is that he was lost. “Where… Where in the name of beauty and beasts am ah?” He asked with a rather distinctive inflection. There was still a small country drawl to his voice, but it almost sounded, slightly elegant and refined at the same time. It was dimly light outside, and the large pony noticed it was merely daybreak, the sun was still setting in the horizon. He was not sure why he was able to detect the time of day so easily however. He had not known anything about farming or sleep cycles that required rising up early. “What is this place?” He eventually got to his hooves and started walking off in an attempt to find shelter. As he walked, he heard loud clacking sounds with each hoof step. “In the name of lord Celestia, what’s t’at?” He asked as he noticed he was wearing metal boots. That seemed rather impractical considering that he was just sleeping out in the cold, he should be wearing something softer right? Especially because he also noticed he was wearing a red cape with a white lace on the end. Why did he need a cape like that? Before he had time to figure out an answer, he accidentally walked right into the back of a random pony, tripping and knocking the other pony over. The other pony, a purple pegasus with an orange mane, turned around and looked furious, “What in Equestria is your problem!?” He asked as he got right up into the red stallion’s face. Problem? Was he having a problem? Aside from being confused, he had not considered anything to be a bother. “Oh, Ah’m terribly sorry. Ah just have a lotta complications in mah head, needed to self examine.” He tried to say in order to avoid confrontation. The pegasus looked at the big red pony, taking note on what he was wearing, not only did he have on those metal boots and the cape, but he had a strange silver amulet with a large ruby in it. Why would anypony be stupid enough to wear stuff like that in this area? “I take it you aren’t from around here, huh?” While the stallion was still lost and confused, he knew for sure that that place was a mystery, he knew nothing about it so he must be right, “Affirmative.” That was a strange answer, the pegasus was expecting a simple yes or yeah or um hum, but not an answer as formal as that. “I can tell…” He said as he reached over and touched the amulet, “Ponies from over here never dress this flashy, know why?” “Negative.” The purple pegasus quickly put his hoof under the amulet and pulled it back, detaching it from the red stallion’s neck before attempting to fly away, “Cause nopony here can be trusted!” He said with a selfish laugh as he attempted to flee. What just happened? A complete stranger from out of the blue just took something that wasn’t his? The amulet didn’t necessarily hold any value to the red pony, but that was his property. Just something about that seemed to take a large hold on the large stallion. “Who was that ratchet varmint? He took mah property and he must pay his debt!” The red stallion yelled to two ponies who were standing within the distance from him. The two ponies, a pink mare and a green stallion, refused to give the red pony a solid answer initially. “Why do you think we’ll tell you?” The pink mare said with a heavy ghetto accent. “Yeah, he took ya shiny necklace so you ain’t got anythin’ ta offer us!” The green stallion responded, sounding equally urban. The large red stallion was at a loss, he had no money on him, he had no credit card, no check book, not even a quarter hidden a sock for a payphone. It looked like he was simply at defeat. He grunted to himself as he began to turn around, still grunting his complaints. Before he could walk off, his repressed rage began to manifest into a glow on his horn, and before he knew it, a mailbox he was standing by suddenly started having a crystal like substance appear at the bottom of it. That gave the red stallion an idea, so he quickly turned back around and walked right up to the pink and green ponies. “Naw man ya must be stupid if ya think we’d help ya after thirty seconds, unless ya found 50 bits on the ground!” The pink pony said as she held her hoof out to take a bribe. “Negative…” The red stallion said as he leaned his head down, making his horn touch the pink pony’s hoof, causing both to glow. When the large stallion leaned back up, and small crystals appeared on her hoof. The large pony then repeated the steps on the green pony with her. “There’s your bribe, now take me to him.” “Nuh uh bra, we got our gems now, we don’t need to help,” The green pony said as he refused to offer help even after a bribe. “Oh but you need my help… Look again…” The red stallion said as he pointed to their hooves, before the two could notice, the crystals had gotten bigger, covering up their hooves entirely, and they looked like they were still growing. “What the hay is this? Do ya got a death wish or somethin’?!” The pink pony yelled in anger and fear as she saw them slowly growing. “Negative… It’s just a little incentive to make sure ah get what ah pay for.” The stallion said as the crystals continued to increase, at this point making their arms unable to unbend, leaving them to stand on three hooves. “Ya can keep the original crystals, but ya gotta lead me ta that traitor over there…” The red pony said with a look on his face that lacked any humor, and proved he was not playing around. The two witnesses were at a loss, they had no choice but to give the stallion what he wanted, “Ugh fine, he’s about two blocks from here, we’ll take yas, just stop this!” The green one caved in, with the pink one nodding with an equal grunt. “Affirmative, lead the way.” The red pony cooed as he gestured his hoof forward to signal them to start walking. After about twenty minutes of walking, the two ponies were seen further covered in the crystals. They had reached up to their necks and most of their torsos, making walking a challenge. They eventually made it to what looked like a severely damaged home. It was rather small, only looking like it had one single room, and there were chips of paint falling off the wall, and the single window was broken. “Alright, here’s the place! Now let us go so we can beat you until ya skin is a red as ya coat!” The large red pony looked annoyed and confused at that comment, “You must be dumb as livestock to threaten who holds your fate…” He said as he almost walked inside himself. “She is!” The green one interjected, “Look, ah’ll keep this chick cool, just let us go and ya won’t hear from us again!” He begged, and before he knew it, the crystals began to recede from his body, returning back into the small hooffull sized one it initially was. The same did happen for the pink pony too, but hers was much slower than the green one. “Get her far away from me…” Was all the red pony said. He clearly wanted her to be at a distance when she was able to move again. The two awkwardly nodded as they slowly walked away, not even bothering to look behind them. The red pony then walked to the door of the hobble, he wanted to barge in and knock loudly onto the door, but after the first harsh knock, the door simply opened itself, as it was clearly unlocked and damaged. He refused to be formal and wait for a response and simply rushed into the house. “Where is it?” He yelled loudly. When he arrived, he noticed the purple pony was sitting on a cardboard box, and he was not alone. There was a red filly with a bright blue mane sitting with him, and she looked like she was about to cry. “Daddy, they’re here early…” She said as she looked terrified. The filly was used to intruders coming into their home, as they are robbed rather frequently. “You? How did you find me here?” The purple pony asked as he stood up, still holding the amulet in his hooves. He clearly positioned himself to block his daughter. “I assume you want this back?” He asked with a scowl on his face. “Affirmative.” The red stallion confirmed, he looked around and noticed that all that was in the room were a box filled with bags of rice and potatoes, presumably all they could afford, and a ripped up blanket that looked like it was wrestled from a stray dog. “It’s okay daddy, he can have it back…” The filly said as she took the amulet herself, and held it up for the red pony. At her angle, her cutie mark became visible, it was that of a diamond. “I hope you’re happy. She’s supposed to be a jeweler but we can’t even afford playground rocks…” The father said, disappointed, but he conceded. “Negative…” He said as he took the amulet back, and put it on his neck. He then removed his large red cape with his horn and placed it on the filly’s back like a blanket. “I thought you stole it for yourself, but for her, a father must take risks…” He then walked right up to the purple pony and looked him dead in the eyes, “You have a responsibility to your daughter. I am willing to help you give her a future… But if you ever steal from anypony again, ah will lock you in a barn’s dungeon and have rats eat ya eyes out and crawl out ya belly button…” The filly just stood back in shock from that image in her head, “You mean if I promise never to steal again, she can have the amulet?” The dad asked, also worried. “Negative. Ah don’ know why but ah need this with me.” He said as he looked the two both in the eyes. “But ah have another solution…” The red pony said as his horn light up and before they knew it, the filly was holding crystals similar to the ones that almost imprisoned the witnesses. The dad looked scared but the filly looked confused, “What are these?” She asked. “They’re a gift, they grow on their own.” He said as he reached down and broke one in half, they both quickly regenerated into equally sized crystals as the first one. “Save one, take the rest to a jeweler, sell your new supply every week.” He said as he went off wanting to leave then and there. The purple one looked suspicious at such an offer, “Why would you do this…?” “Ah hate thieves with a passion, stealing is a horrible act that nopony should do. If ah can stop it, ah will. Don’t mean ah need to be violent though…” He said as he began to turn around and leave. “Sir…” The filly interjected, “What’s your name?” The red pony was not sure how to answer that, he was not sure. He looked back, looking a bit morose, but instead of answering, he just left the hobble, leaving the crystal gifts.
Chapter 3Much later that night, Celestia had taken down the sun and Luna had risen the moon, but the giant red stallion was not asleep, he had nowhere to go. In the place he took refuge, he had assembled a box made of crystals that was only big enough to fit himself in, but not in a very comfortable position. While attempting to rest, the red stallion was pondering who he was, where he was, and why he was there. He did not even know his own name, and was living in a crystal box, what was his purpose? And how was he to survive living in a town with so much crime? Even though many of the ponies only commit those crimes to survive, he cannot stand seeing those crimes happen in the first place. Stealing was always wrong right? Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard, and the red stallion could faintly see a train coming through the translucent crystals. Even worse, he could hear fights starting to take place, and morbid curiosity made him cut a hole through the crystal shelter and saw that two ponies were fighting for a ticket. “Okay girl, I paid for the ticket, it’s mine!” The orange one tried to tackle the blue one for the ticket, but she dodged her. “Girl you bought it with the money I gave you, come at it and I’ll stab you a third belly button!” “Sista I survived you doing that once I can handle it again!” She said as she successfully tackled the blue pony. The red stallion knew why they were fighting for it without needing to ponder anything, they both wanted to get out of that town and go to a safer and more secure location, he rationally understood how adamant they wanted to leave but did not like them fighting over it, but he stayed out of it. Eventually the incipient train eventually arrived, and the conductor went out the front cart and did a stereotypical, “AAALLLLLLL ABOARD!” He yelled until he noticed the two mares fighting for the ticket, “Oh come on… Every time…” He was used to seeing ponies fight to get out of there, nothing surprised him… Until he saw the sparkling set of Crystal ten feet away from the two ponies. “One night this place can’t afford a coffee house but the next has crystals the size of Celestia?” The two mares stopped fighting and pulling each others’ manes when he asked that, “Brotha stay FAR away from those… That pony will make you real messed up!” The blue one told him, the orange one took the opportunity to take the ticket and quickly ran onto the cart. “BLAM!!! DUH DUH-DUH DDDUUUHHHH!!!” She yelled with a smug grin. The red stallion rolled his eyes at that, he didn’t even know who rightfully owned the ticket, but he felt bad for the blue mare, anypony who is forced to stay where they are now in that place is living torture. “Sorry sista but I can’t let anypony on without a ticket, unless you want to start another fight with a cactus for one, you’re out of luck!” The conductor told her, rather unsympathetically. “Cactus? Boy you got problems!” She said in anger, not expecting to get on the train now, “Brotha I clearly ain’t gettin’ on the train so why don’t you take your ticket and just shove it up your…” She tried to threaten until a loud shattering sound was heard that cut her off, leaving her and the conductor surprised. They looked over and noticed the crystal shelter had basically exploded, with the red stallion standing up while looking like a mixture of smugness and confidence, “Willing to take a bribe?” He said as he used his horn and the largest crystal shard was levitated to the conductor, who looked at it in awe, “We’ll take two seats please!” While the conductor was distracted looking at the crystal, the large red stallion simple grinned and guided the blue mare to the cart, “I think we’re we’re all set.” The conductor allowed them to cheat like that and let them on board, “Sure thing… All aboard…!” He responded as they entered, with a tone in his voice that expressed that he was aware of them cheating the system but clearly didn’t care. The orange mare was seen sitting with her hooves sitting on the head rest of the seat in front of her, but she looked surprised and angry when she saw the blue mare enter, “Hold up! I had the ticket, what in the h…” She tried to exclaim until she saw the large red stallion enter too and instantly retracted, “Never mind.” The red stallion remained quiet as he took his seat, returning to his more signature stoic expression on his face. The blue mare sat two seats over from him and wanted to seem like she was ungrateful for what he did, not wanting to give credit, but even she was wondering why he did it. “Man I don’t get you, you’re here for a day, knock out ponies and almost turn them into jewelry then help their income and get them on trains? Are you a goody two shoes or sociopathic maniac?” Another guest on the train, a pegasus wearing a green visor, “Well he’s an Apple, so clearly he’s a nice guy.” He said as he pointed to the red stallion’s cutie mark. “An Apple?” As she was a city girl she was unfamiliar with the famous country Apples. “Oh totally, they’re the most famous farmers in Equestria, looks like this one’s related to Big Macintosh, probably a distant cousin.” He added, but looked surprised to see he was a unicorn, “Must be a defect, they usually don’t marry unicorns.” The red stallion looked a little concerned and confused at hearing the name ‘Big Macintosh’, it sounded rather familiar, but he couldn’t put a hoof on it. He looked up at the moon and instantly knew it was midnight, and he had an epiphany. That was who he was, Midnight Macintosh, that was his name, that was who he was. Now all he needed to know is what his purpose is, wherever he is going, Midnight Macintosh knew he would find his purpose in the new town.
