The Adventures of Princess Malum

The next day came and went in what felt like a blink of an eye. Big Mac was now standing out in an open field near his family's apple orchard, already in his alicorn form. The former stallion was somewhat nervous as he was about to have his first flying lesson with Rainbow Dash. Was he really going to be able to learn how to fly? Or is he just going to end up crashing all day? Regardless he was here, and there was no turning back. The alicorn took a moment to spread out his wings and admire his massive wingspan. He decided to give his new appendages a few gentle flaps. Big Mac then looked over the long flowing wings and couldn't help but focus on how massive they were on either side of his body. Despite being somewhat used to his new form, his new appendages still felt alien to him, and he still saw them as something that shouldn't be on his body.

You'll get used to them.

"That's easy for you to say," Big Mac scoffed out loud, addressing the spirit living inside him had more experience with this stuff than him. As he thought about this, he couldn't help but ask Apple Ale within his mind. "How many years did you have this body?"

I can't recall the exact number, but it was for at least a decade.

"So please understand that I've only been a mare for a week, so give me a break," Big Mac grumbled rather irritably, annoyed with the fact that Apple Ale should know he had little to no experience in this foreign body.

Of course, just remember I'm always here and will lend you, my expertise.

Big Mac shrugged as he was okay with her assistance and was also grateful; she was there to keep him from making a complete fool of himself. "Right, I'll keep that in mind."

He threw his long-flowing mane back looked up into the cloudless crystal blue sky. Today would be perfect for flying, with no clouds or wind; this was somewhat reassuring to the alicorn as he hoped that he wouldn't embarrass himself too much with constantly crashing.

"Hey! Glad to see you made it before me!"

Upon hearing Rainbow Dash’s voice, Big Mac then had to switch to his alter ego Princess Malum as she turned to face the pegasus and flashed a smile. "Yeah, good to see you as well, Rainbow um…uh…Rainbow Crash?"

"My name is Rainbow Dash!" The mare shouted as she slammed a hoof down on the ground.

"Right, sorry…" the former stallion stammered with his cheeks flushing red, feeling somewhat embarrassed for getting the mare's name wrong.

The daredevil rolled her eyes and said, "it's fine, now are you ready for some flying?"

Princess Malum wasn't sure, and she wasn't ready for what was to come, and she could feel the sweat pouring down her forehead as she stammered out. "Yeah, sure…"

"Okay, let's start with take off!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she took on a stance spreading out her four legs. "Now, get into a stance like mine; this is important to a proper lift-off!"

Princess Malum followed suit, taking a similar stance to her mentor and spreading out her large wingspan. Rainbow Dash gave a nod of approval, then said, "good, now start gently flapping your wings. Once you get enough push, you should be able to lift yourself off the ground."

Princess Malum started to flap just like Rainbow Dash and gently lifted herself up. Unlike her first flight, where she was pumping with adrenaline as she rushed into a battle going off of pure instinct. This time the slow, gentle flapping and gradually rising in the air felt more natural as she slowly rose into the sky to meet with her mentor.

"Hey! you're getting the hang of it!" The daredevil cheered as they were now hovering over the apple trees below.

The alicorn flew up right after her, and they started to fly together gently. Princess Malum stumbled about a little as she was getting used to being in flight, but despite her inexperience, she was in complete ecstasy with her long flowing mane trailing in the wind and the feeling of the cool breeze blowing through her feathers. But as the initial experience was wafting over her, she turned to face Rainbow Dash and saw how effortlessly she was flying through the air without a care in the world. It was then Princess Malum realized how clumsy she was, stumbling about with every gust of wind and having to adjust her position to keep upright constantly. After a few more stumbles and with Princess Malum finally able to steady herself, she heard her mentor shout.

"Hey! Pay attention!"

The mare looked up and saw a hot air balloon floating right towards her! Princess Malum cried out as she took a dive and was able to avoid it barely but ended up slamming into a cloud. The water vapor blinded the alicorn as she started plummeting towards the ground. Then almost as if somepony else was taking control of her body and she threw her wings out to their full length. Princess Malum closed her eyes and braced for impact as she fell to the ground with a loud crash!

As Princess Malum woke up from her crash, she could feel her body aching as she slowly got up on all fours. She flapped her wings, making sure they weren't broken, but winced, feeling some pain, but after a few more flaps, she could feel the pain receding. The princess then looked over to see Rainbow Dash landing next to her with a worried look on her face as she asked, "Hey, are you alright? Are ya hurt?"

"Ey'nope," was all the alicorn said, feeling somewhat embarrassed and rather shaken by her fall.

Rainbow Dash then went from being worried to being annoyed and said, "seriously, you need to keep an eye out where you’re going; you’re not the only thing flying around here."

"Right, sorry," Princess Malum squeaked, being taken aback by Rainbow Dash's demeanor. They then both lifted off into the air once more then the pegasi turned towards her with a smile and commented, "Honestly, you’re not half bad; you're doing a lot better than Twilight did on her first time."

There it is again; it seems many ponies think Twilight is an alicorn for some reason?

"Who cares? I shouldn't be focusing on that right now," Princess Malum grumbled in her mind; it was strange how many of Twilight’s friends thought of her as an alicorn, not a unicorn. But honestly, it wasn't something she should be focusing on right now. The alicorn pushed it out of her mind as they reached a higher altitude with a few clouds in the area. Rainbow Dash then began to explain. "Now that you have the basics, there are some things you should keep in mind. Flying is like when you’re a baby trying to walk; when you start, you'll be stumbling about, and you're rather clumsy, but over time it becomes more natural until it’s second nature."

Princess Malum lowered her head, feeling self-conscious of her ability, but Rainbow Dash continued with that smile of hers. "But that's okay; all beginner flyers have to pay attention to their balance and need to focus on keeping themselves upright."

"Okay…so, it's just going to take more practice…." Princess Malum sighed, feeling somewhat relieved to see that she was utterly hopeless. So, she continued to fly across the landscape for a few more hours. She was much more vigilant of her surroundings, avoiding collisions with birds or other flying objects. However, the princess couldn't help to look down at the sprawling landscape, and the view below was breathtaking. The apple orchard below looked like a sea of green dotted with tiny spots of red. They were now far above Ponyville with the homes of her fellow ponies looking no bigger than dollhouses, and Golden Oaks library looked no bigger than a shrub. Princess Malum turned her gaze to the vast Everfree Forest outstretched like a sprawling entity of darkness with its scraggly trees and ominous presence. Then beyond that was a mountainous landscape that stretched out to the horizon. At that moment, she realized how little her town was compared to the rest of the world and how despite Ponyville not being that big her home, she had to protect it at all costs. Then her train of thought was suddenly broken as she heard shouting.

"Hey, Princess! Where did you go!?"

"I'm coming!" Princess Malum exclaimed and quickly flew over towards her mentor. She didn't notice earlier, but the alicorn outpaced Rainbow Dash by quite a lot, and she wasn't even aware of it.

Rainbow Dash sighed relief as she flew over and shouted, "seriously! Stay with me; if anything happens to you, Celestia knows what Twilight would do to me!"

"Right, I apologize," Princess Malum insisted as she bowed her head a little out of respect.

"Stop with the apologizing come on, let's just go home using a current." Rainbow Dash opened her wings more and flew off. The princess followed suit, unfurling her wings as the two descended back towards Sweet Apple Acres. As they did so, Rainbow Dash began to explain, "Easy, now remember you want to let yourself go with the flow and allow the current carry you. You'll tire yourself if you exert too much."

"Right, "Princess Malum gasped as she felt rather beat and bruised from the crash and the amount of time she's spent flying. As the two got closer to the ground, Princess Malum bent her wings a bit more, letting the wind push under them, allowing her to slow down.

"Good! Good!" Rainbow cheered as she led the alicorn through the air; they continued to the ground. Rainbow Dash landed rather well, slamming perfectly into the grass. As for, Princess Malum squealed as she stumbled a little on her landing and ended up falling right on her face into a mud puddle which resulted in a laugh from Rainbow Dash.

The alicorn groaned as she slowly got up, shaking the mud off her body and feeling like she failed as the mare bent her head and apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to land so hard."

"What did I say about apologizing all the time? It's getting weird!?" Rainbow scoffed, and Princess Malum was going to utter another apology but decided at the last moment to keep her mouth shut. Rainbow Dash then continued to compliment her. “Seriously, you’re doing fine; keep it up and continue practicing; you’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

"Right, it just takes practice," Princess Malum mumbled back with a smile feeling rather proud that she got such a compliment from Rainbow Dash. All it took was more practice, and she’ll be ready to face Nightmare Moon again.

Two weeks later…

What turned into two weeks of practicing magic and flying felt like a few hours to Big Mac. Since his first flying lesson with Rainbow Dash, he's been busy nonstop, and it showed. His eyes had dark bags under them; his flowing mane was a giant frazzled mess. Sitting across from him was Twilight, who was the exact opposite looking much more regal with her straight dark blue and light pink mane and sitting up straight in her chair. His vision narrowed as he focused his attention on a big red rubber ball. Twilight was standing aside, and there was a tense atmosphere. Big Mac closed his eyes and concentrated all his energy, trying to teleport a ball from one side of the room to the other. Then without warning, he sent an aura of green energy towards the ball as it suddenly disappeared with a flash of light. Twilight and Big Mac were both astonished and waited to see what happened next. Then a ball suddenly appeared again right before him, but his astonishment turned to one of dismay seeing the ball return as nothing but a pile of ash.

Big Mac rubbed his hooves over his face and cried out, "Ugh again!? I'm never going to get this!"

Twilight clapped her hooves and cheered, "It's okay, you’re getting better at this. You’re just over-exerting yourself, is all."

Despite feeling like a failure, Big Mac did feel better-having Twilight mentoring and encouraging him. He didn't have anything else to say as she waved a hoof and said, "come on, let's get something to eat; you need a break."

The former stallion shrugged as he wasn’t feeling hungry but didn’t see the harm of taking a small break. He trotted over with Twilight to her kitchen. As his mentor brought over some dandelion sandwiches and glasses full of iced tea, they sat down together. Big Mac then took his hooves and was going to take a bite of his sandwich, but he looked up to see Twilight wagging a hoof in his face. "Come on, Big Mac, use your horn like I taught you."

The alicorn was rather annoyed seeing he's been eating with his hooves his entire life. But he relented and levitated the sandwich with his light green aura and started chomping on it rather aggressively. They sat there eating their sandwiches together in silence, with Big Mac brooding.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked.

Big Mac looked over towards the violet unicorn. He thought about how for two weeks as he thought about the massive amount of pressure coming down on him. The alicorn felt like Daring Do trapped in a room with the ceiling and walls slowly closing around him. He usually kept all his thoughts and emotions to himself. But he also tried to keep his identity secret, and he needed to rant a little. "Yeah, I have been working nonstop for two weeks; I wake up, do my chores, make an excuse to come here to practice magic, practice flying, go back to finishing my chores, then collapse on my bed, or sometimes in the middle of the orchard."

Twilight blinked then shouted, "wait, why didn't you tell me that you're working so hard! I don't want to overwork you!"

That's what I keep telling him.

"Shut up," Big Mac snapped mentally at the voice; with all of this on his mind, he no longer felt hungry as he rose up from the table to leave. But, despite all of the pressure he was putting on himself, he wanted to explain to Twilight the was a reason for it all as he said, "I need to practice, I don't know when Nightmare Moon will return or who is working with her, so I need to practice and be ready for her."

Twilight rose, and in a worried tone, she explained, "I understand, trust me, I know how you’re feeling. But you can't save the world if you don't care for yourself. Please go get some rest."

Listen to her stop trying to do everything on her own.

The former stallion sighed as he collapsed into his chair and looked downward. Despite everypony that knew his identity giving him the same advice, he was still unsure if he could stop practicing his magic and flying. Big Mac then looked Twilight right in her big round violet-colored eyes and admitted, "I'm scared, that if I'm not ready and somepony gets hurt on my watch, I would never be able to forgive myself. I need to be ready."

Twilight smirked as she tossed her sandwich at the alicorn; out of almost pure instinct, Big Mac used his horn to zap it with a flash of lime green light. Then in a blink of an eye, the sandwich ended up speared on Twilight's horn with mustard running down her face.

Big Mac was surprised despite the sandwich ending up on Twilight's face; he was surprised to see it was mostly intact!

Twilight then teleported the sandwich back onto the alicorn's plate as she beamed a smile at him and said, "You see! You did it! You’re learning magic and how to fly faster than anypony I've ever seen! You're going to be fine."

"Thanks…is it okay if I take a nap?" Big Mac asked as he lowered his head, admitting that he was indeed learning and was grasping his newfound magic and flying ability.

"No problem come on, follow me," Twilight chirped as she led the alicorn princess up to her room. Princess Malum almost instantly collapsed on the mattress, not even bothering to throw the blankets over her. He laid there on the bed, looking out the window mulling over what Twilight said, wondering if he was indeed ready to protect Ponyville. But the desire for sleep was much more alluring. For now, he'll close his eyes and get some rest…

A few hours later…

Princess Malum stood on top of Golden Oaks Library and looked down over Ponyville, taking in the scenery. She looked much better after a shower and some coffee with her mane flowing and looking less messy and with her amulet glinting in the sunlight. The princess looked downward, watching the town and seeing the hustle and bustle of the townsponies below like ants going about their work, unaware of how small they were. The exhilaration of finally showing herself and going on a flyover was something she wanted to do for some time when she felt fully ready. Yet, she still had this sense of dread that she wasn't prepared…

Despite Princess Malum’s self-doubt, she felt like it was time to show the citizens of Ponyville their safe and that she was their protector. With a look of determination on her face, she got into a stance as she threw out her giant red feathered wings; then, she lifted herself into the air with a sudden burst of energy. Princess Malum narrowed her wings towards her body as she soared through the skies at breakneck speeds, and she threw herself up through the clouds then cried out. "Wooo! Hooo!"

The mare was embracing herself fully; after weeks of training with magic and flying, she felt like she was becoming an alicorn. The alicorn continued to fly over the town with the crowds of ponies looking up, staring at her in awe. Stallions cheering, mare clapping and chanting her name, foals jumping up and down in excitement. She, of course, was too shy to say anything and could only wave a hoof back. But the moment ended as she heard a sudden loud Boom! She turned to see a house exploding near the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. The princess tucked her wings, soared across the sky, and headed towards the explosion. As she got near the flames, the princess was hovering over what appeared to be a blue-coated unicorn wearing a purple cape and a strange amulet in the shape of an alicorn around her neck. Trixie was laughing maniacally and shouting, "Run! Run! As I the great and powerful Trixie will take over this Ponyville and rename it Trixieville!"

But her shouting ended as Princess Malum slammed into the ground sending a cloud of dust and smoke to fly around her. As the debris cleared, standing above the unicorn was a mighty red-coated alicorn wings spread out, horn alright with magic and glaring right at the unicorn, causing havoc. The citizens that hadn't evacuated were in awe at the powerful visage standing before them. Trixie, however, seemed unphased as she turned around and scoffed back. "Another princess alicorn has come to stop, the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

Princess Malum narrowed her gaze, focusing her attention on her foe as she said, "yeah, that's right, my name is-"