The Adventures of Princess Malum

Princess Malum was now present in his princess alicorn form, standing by in the Carousel Boutique alongside Twilight. They were both being prepared for their appearance at the Galloping Gala. Rarity was dressing her up in a lovely light green gown with golden thread embroidered around the dress's skirt and oversized poofy sleeves around her shoulders. Her gold bridle with the purple amethyst set squarely on her chest. While Twilight was dressed in a lovely night blue gown with silvery stars embroidered around the edge of the skirt of the dress. Both mares were wincing in pain as Rarity pulled, brushed, and braided their manes and tails with magic.

"I'm not really interested in dresses or girly stuff, but I have to say we look rather beautiful."

"Haha, so funny," Big Mac grumbled under his breath.

"I do apologize, but both of you had so many tangles," Rarity replied as she went about her business. Big Mac wanted to apologize for muttering to himself. Still, he kept his mouth shut as it would be rather difficult to explain why he was talking to himself. After getting the two had their manes done, Rarity looked over the mares and asked, "so I heard down the grapevine that Princess Malum saved your life again, Twilight."

"Yes, she did, and I don't want to talk about it," The violet unicorn growled.

"Well, it was a rather hilarious tale, Twilight, and I almost ended up as toys," Princess Malum explained with a snicker, unable to contain the truth. The unicorn mumbled under her breath as Rarity when about to apply makeup and blush to her friend's face.

"Oh my! Sounds like a tale!" Rarity cooed in a rather seductive tone as she moved over to Princess Malum, doing the same to her with the alicorn coughed as the blush was applied to her face. The fashionista then went about and went about applying makeup over her eyes and applied blush to her cheeks. Princess Malum looked rather stunning with a regal look on her face, the dark eyeliner making her eyes look much more intense along with her eyelashes, a crimson sheen on her lips, along with a slight blush to her cheeks. Princess Malum had to admit she made a damn good-looking alicorn. She then turned towards Rarity and asked, "so, are you finished?"

"Not quite yet, darling, just glad you approve of me doing your makeup," Rarity chimed as she took a step back; there was something odd about her with this strange green glow coming from her eyes. Magic tendrils swirled around her and squeaked as she felt all the bruises vanish with the pain leaving her in ecstasy. The princess threw her head up and sighed, seeing her body had this shine to it and she couldn't help but feel that not only did Rarity heal her wounds but rejuvenated her body.

"What did you do?"

Rarity trotted around her, admiring her body, placed a hoof over the mare's face, and whispered, "just helped relax and heal you. You had so many cuts and bruises all over your body I just had to patch them up."

"Wow! I didn't know Rarity was a medical mage!? Didn't know they were needed in this day of age. Back in my day…."

"Ok, I get it," Big Mac grumbled as he was somewhat irritated that he had to get all girlied up for this fancy-schmancy gala he wasn't in the mood for another of Apple Ale's long drawn out rambles about the old days. But what Luna said kept playing in his mind, and he had to figure out what she wanted to speak to him about so he'll go to the gala find out why and leave.

As Princess Malum brooded Rarity performed the same spell on Twilight with green tendrils swirling around the mare, and she seemed to relax abit and looked instead at ease.

"Well, now that you two are groomed and dressed, you two need to be going! You're already late as it is!" Rarity exclaimed; she then lit her horn. She had an apple on the road transformed into a carriage as it grew in size; it was rather fun to watch the apple turn into a pristine white carriage with golden rims around the wheels. But the two mares were too concerned about being late as Princess Malum and Twilight ran inside the carriage and then shot off with a swoosh of magic as it soared off into the air.

"Well, I didn't know that Rarity was so well versed in magic." Princess Malum replied with a yawn being somewhat surprised at her magical prowess."

"She isn't," Twilight mumbled as she looked instead worried as she shifted in her seat. "That green glow in her eyes, I think I've seen it before…."

"Yes, I believe Twilight has a point; if she's telling the truth and Rarity never studied magic, she shouldn't be able to cast such advanced spells like that."

"Well, there's no reason to worry about it now; let's just focus on the gala," Princess Malum replied, seeing that Rarity looked fine to her. Still, she'll investigate her odd magical abilities the first thing after she returned to Ponyville.

She must've slept through the ride to the castle because they were at the glistening fairy tale castle of the grand Canterlot palace. The castle was beautiful, looking like something out of a fairy tale glistening in white stone and bathed in moonlight.

"Isn't it beautiful!? It's rather breathtaking, huh?" Twilight asked with a smile.

"Yes, it is," Princess Malum gasped as she was escorted out of the carriage. The two mares continued their trot on towards the castle together. They eventually came upon the front doors where Princess Celestia was standing before the door where she would greet the guests as they came in. The alicorn princess bowed her head as she looked over Twilight and Princess Malum, looking somewhat relieved. She then flew towards them and wrapped the mares tightly with her massive wings as she pulled them into her motherly embrace. Big Mac was rather surprised squeaking as he was smooshed up next to the princess of the sun. She couldn't help but feel content being so close to Celestia's warm body was like laying her head on a warm pillow. Big Mac was so close to the mare that he could smell the cake on her breath as she cried, "Oh, I'm so happy to see you're both ok! I was so worried about you both!"

But Princess Malum squeaked in response as she kicked about, feeling abit awkward being held in such a manner by another pony, especially being from the princess of the sun! After breaking off the embrace, Celestia flashed the mares a smile and said, "Princess Malum, I'm so glad to see you’re alright, I've heard about your many battles. I do hope you're not injured?"

"No, I'm not but thank you, princess. I wouldn't have been able to go through them without Twilight and Rainbow Dash as teachers. Also, Fluttershy deserves praise for helping me stop Trixie's rampage."

Celestia flashed her a smile and said, "I see you've made some friends; also, I see that Rarity made you such a lovely dress."

The mare's cheeks flushed pink as she said, "yes, I've made many friends here, and I bet I'll make many more."

"that's wonderful to hear," Celestia chimed she then turned her attention to Twilight and said, "I also see princess Twilight is looking fabulous as ever! I hope we can actually talk with each other this time."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" the unicorn exclaimed. She jumped over to Celestia's side, not even caring that she was called a princess or had never been to the gala before.

"Well, I also have a da- I mean engagement with your sister, Princess Luna," Princess Malum responded with a smile and nod. She then trotted through the doors. She was among dozens of ponies in suits and dresses, all dancing together in a rhythm to the music being played by a rather joyous orchestra that played soft music that reverberated across the walls. It was all rather romantic and dreamlike, being something he's never seen before. She's been to parties, but they were much more rustic with drinking and square dancing. Princess Malum turned her attention to Luna in the ballroom corner as she waved a hoof towards her. The two alicorns slowly trotted off down the halls and ended up in a room together. As Luna slowly closed the door behind her she looked over at the red-coated princess with a smile and said, "here, we can talk in private."

The alicorn princess looked around the room, seeing it made of dark stone with little blue moons printed on the tiles. Seeing how mystical the room looked, she wondered aloud, "what is going on here?"

Princess Malum squeaked as her voice sounded more masculine sounding voice coming from her. She was surprised to see that he was back in his stallion body. Big Mac looked upward and saw Luna was looking rather serious. The big red-coated stallion started to feel worried as he cleared his throat and asked, "why am I here?"

"I'm showing you the truth," Luna whispered as she opened a window. Big Mac slowly walked to the window and gasped upon what he saw. It was just a vast emptiness of purple and black mist with bubbles floating by looking like random dreams floating through the aether. Big Mac was somewhat scared and in awe, being rather worried about what was happening. He slowly turned towards Luna and asked, "where are we?"

The princess of the night lowered her head as she explained, "a week ago, I released an entity known as the Tantabus on accident, that grew beyond my control over my guilt of becoming Nightmare Moon. I thought it was over, but somehow Ponyville vanished into the dream realm."

"Wait but aren't we in Canterlot right now!?" Big Mac asked; now he was worried, thinking all of Equestria got sucked into this massive dreamscape.

Luna shook her head and continued, "no, only Ponyville; this is just a construct that was created as an extension of your subconscious connected to others who have been to Canterlot."

Big Mac being somewhat confused as Luna's words just went over his head; the princess noticed that he didn't catch on and said, "basiclly, this is an actual dream."

"So, did Nightmare Moon trap us here?" the stallion asked, seeing that she had to be behind all of this.

Princess Luna tapped a hoof to her chin and added, "sort of; she took advantage of the chaos the Tantabus was causing and slipped into the dream without me noticing. She must've then sucked all of Ponyville into a portal in hopes of possessing somepony, most likely Twilight. But for some reason, she has had her sights on you."

Luna turned her head and stared right at Big Mac, who was now looking in a mirror at his stocky masculine form with the amethyst. So many questions were running through his head as he asked out loud, "so why me? Why not an alicorn?"

The princess of the night bowed her head looking somewhat ashamed as she answered the stallion's question. "I believe it has to deal with jealousy; Nightmare Moon attaches to that emotion like a fly to honey."

Big Mac blinked as the metaphor seemed to go over his head, making Luna roll her eyes as she added," she can't resist feeding off that emotion, and you must've attracted her."

Big Mac's heart was thumping in his chest; he couldn't remember being jealous of Applejack. But he could feel deep down that what Luna said was true and that he was jealous of his sister. He stomped a hoof down to the ground and said, "so is Nightmare Moon turning me into a hero to feed off my ego?"

"No, I believe that she would've tortured you with nightmares to bend you to her will instead." Big Mac's face turned a pasty white out of the thought of having his worse nightmares. Luna must've seen how scared Big Mac looked and quickly added, "however, something is stopping her from doing so. Whatever that is has been giving you the power to transform into an alicorn princess."

Big Mac blinked as he held a hoof to the gem around his neck and whispered, "Apple Ale?"

"Yes, whoever this entity is, she has connected to you and your love of comic books, creating a dream of a young stallion who accidentally became a hero. Thus you're in control of the dream, which is why Nightmare Moon can't just do what she wants. She has to play by the rules."

"So, Princess Malum is like a good version of Nightmare Moon?"

Luna nodded again and said, "Yes, this is like before, where my guilt fueled the Tantabus. Your dream is fueled by your strong will, and we can use that to defeat her and restore Ponyville back to the waking world."

Big Mac nodded as he threw a hoof over his mane. He's been through a lot in his life, but he never felt this much pressure on him than before as he asked, "But until then?"

Luna trotted over as she looked Big Mac right into the eyes; she continued, "until then, things have to remain as they are to keep Nightmare Moon in the dark. If she finds out, you know the truth of what's going on, it'll make things worse. We need her to exhaust all options she'll then get sloppy and when she does we can trap her once and for all."

Princess Luna bent down to get at Big Mac's level until he could see right into her teal eyes. He could tell that the princess was desperate as she continued, "but my plan will require you to play your part. I'll admit this is a gamble; if we fail, we can lose everything, and you'll be risking your life. So it has to be your choice."

Big Mac looked downward with an unsure look; he wasn't like other stallions. Many would jump at the chance trying to prove their bravery, not knowing the risks involved. Others would do it simply to get the favor of this beautiful princess on the notion they would court her. But he always admired heroes in comics because most of them saved lives and fought villains, not because they got something out of it. But because it was simply the right thing to do and they had a responsibility to help others with their powers. He looked right back at Luna with a determination, knowing full well he could be putting his life at risk as he said, "tell me what to do?"

Big Mac was stunned after hearing about Princess Luna's plan, and he gave it a lot of thought in his mind. It was a terrifying plan, but it can only happen when Nightmare Moon reveals herself and not just her minions. From the looks of things, she'll only get more desperate and trick more ponies into becoming her villains and making his life more difficult. The stallion's train of thought was broken, and he became somewhat surprised as his body began to morph again into an alicorn princess once more. As Big Mac returned from the other room as they entered the grand hall, he saw that other ponies were ball dancing around them in rhythm to the classical music that echoed across the room.

"So, is this all a dream?" Big Mac asked, still somewhat confused as he looked over his body, seeing he was back into his alicorn form.

"Yes, it is," Luna whispered as she took his hoof as they continued towards the middle of the ballroom. The two began dancing together rhythmically to the music as it played around them; it was unlike anything the former stallion felt before falling into the mare's embrace as she nuzzled her head into his chest. Big Mac had to blink, knowing that this was a dream, but this was also somewhat real, seeing that they both were physically here. Dancing with a princess was something he would've never dreamed of happening, not in a million years. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, seeing this was technically a dream and reality mixed together. But as they twirled about the room, something was bothering him as he couldn't help but wonder if Luna liked him because of who he was? And not because he was an alicorn princess?

However, he could see that Princess Luna was having a good time, so he didn't say anything to interrupt the mood. As the music stopped, the two princesses came to a standstill, and they then were taken to the back of the palace. There they sat down in a rather lovely garden full of lavenders, with lightning bugs flashing their lights, as crickets chirped, a waterfall in the back with the sound of rushing water echoing as it created a rather soothing atmosphere. A massive moon rose up through the night sky with the ground aglow in silver light. Big Mac was somewhat surprised by the new scenery, and Luna looked over at her and said, "I do love you as an alicorn, but how about you show me your true form."

"Ok," Big Mac mumbled as he took off his amulet, and he felt his body revert back to his bulky male stature. He threw his mane back as he lowered his face and said, "Well, I think it's time to get to know you."

"Yes, seeing that we are starting to know each other pretty well, "Luna whispered as she looked over at him. "This was a lovely night, and I thank you for dancing with me."

"It was my pleasure," Big Mac chimed in response. He then shifted about in his seat and replied, "but I…I mean, do you really think this will work?"

Luna sat back, and she didn't answer right away as she thought things over, then shrugged, "not sure; I haven't dated in over a thousand years."

Big Mac chuckled as he brushed a hoof over his mane and said, "sadly, I haven't dated much either but seeing that I'm not a prince…."

"Well, come now, I was Nightmare Moon! You think that I would care if you're royalty or not?"

Big Mac couldn't help but admire Princess Luna's candid remark and said, "Ey'nope."

Luna giggled as she flapped her wings, "well, then tell me about yourself?"

Big Mac wasn't sure what to say; what would he even talk about? His life as an apple farmer? Him putting the responsibility of running the farm after his parents died? There wasn't much to talk about, seeing his life was somewhat tragic and dull. He scratched the back of his head while nervously sweating and said, "Well, after my parent's pa-"

Big Mac stopped as he saw a bright green light approaching them; out of pure instinct, the stallion jumped onto Luna. The two fell onto the floor as the green light flew over them harmlessly. Big Mac raised his head to see that Rarity was looking up and the fashionista slowly trotting over with her eyes glowing with her wavy mane and laughing maniacally. "You think you can avoid me so easily!? Soon you two will become beautiful attire!"

"What is going on with her!?" Big Mac asked, being somewhat stunned at the sudden turn of events.

"Remember Nightmare Moon is still around; she must be using her somehow!?" Luna shouted as she got up on her hooves and leveled at herself, shooting a beam of energy at the invader. Rarity, however, created a shield around her body and deflected the magical blast of energy. The fashionista then started to bombard her with a torrent of green beams of magic falling from the sky. This time, Luna took Big Mac (still lying on the ground); she lifted his massive body with her hooves and flew off into the ballroom slamming the doors behind them. There they saw that everypony inside we're now just ponyquins with gowns or suits dressing over them. Big Mac was gasping, looking around in horror as Luna added, "don't worry, none of these ponies are real; they're just figments of somepony's imagination."

"Ok, so whose dream is this!? Maybe whoever it is can help us!" Big Mac shouted as he slammed the amethyst into his chest and transformed back into a princess alicorn.

"Well, she would, but she's busy trying out a lovely gown!" Rarity cried as she trotted over with an evil grin planted on her chest. As she showed off two alicorn ponyquins, one being purple with light violet eyes, along with Celestia and her light pink colored eyes on a bright white ponyquin. They looked worried as their plastic wings and legs seemed to vibrate as the two obviously wanted to break free. It was rather disturbing, and all Princess Malum could do was curse under her breath, and Luna shouted in anger, "What did you do to my sister!" The princess flew through the air rather recklessly at Rarity. But she cried in horror as her body started to turn into a plastic form. The princess kicked about and cried as she flapped her wings and looked down at her body, seeing that she couldn't move as a plastic pole was now coming through her body. She roared in anger, trying to escape, but her mouth was soon no longer there as her body stiffened, as her hooves and wings stopped moving. Soon all as she became nothing more than a plastic mold. Rarity then dressed the ponyquin in a dark purple dress and cooed, "now you just look as beautiful as your sister."

But Rarity was distracted and didn't notice as she dressed the ponyquin; a tree trunk started to wrap around her body. The fashionista kicked and shouted, trying to get herself free. Rarity turned to face proper princess Malum and snarled, "there you are, Princess Malum! Let me go, and I might still make you a beautiful ponyquin and not a scarecrow!"

The red-coated alicorn shook her head and demanded, "not until you restore everypony back to normal right now!"

Rarity just gave her an evil smile and added, "no, I believe this is over; yes, all of these ponies are figments, but Luna and Twilight are now hostages under my control. Until you allow Nightmare Moon into your mortal form, they will remain this way forever!"

The alicorn princess glared at Rarity, seeing that this wasn't her fault and she didn't want to hurt the fashionista. But she had to do something to save the princesses and Twilight. Then Apple Ale whispered into her mind, I have a plan to agree to her terms but make it clear that we'll only do it if she decides to restore to ponyville. Make it seem that you really are going to give up your powers.

She slammed a hoof to the ground and, with a defeated look, shouted, "fine! I'll let Nightmare Moon into my body if she not only turns these mares back to normal and restores Ponyville back to the real world."

Princess Malum disintegrated the apple tree wrapped around Rarity as she chirped, "Done, done, and done! Well, let's do this, shall we!?"

"Let's go back to Ponyville first, ok?" Princess Malum replied as she still eyed Rarity for being suspicious.

It wasn't long until they were back in Ponyville with the place looking much more different with the streets full of gold bricks with dozens of ponies, now all ponyquins as well. What was disturbing like before, they still had their eyes and minds as they all gave her worried looks. Princess Malum looked all over the town seeing that the houses looked like fancy manors. The sky above was a dark blue with sparkling diamonds replacing the night sky. It was like Nightmare Moon had given her some power to alter the dream realm. She wondered if she had already taken over Rarity's body almost to the point. But no, if she did, there would be no reason to put her into this position. Standing across the street, Rarity stood proudly with her eyes glowing green as she growled, "well, what are you waiting for? Take off the amulet and give it to me!"

Princess Malum ground a hoof into the dirt below, not knowing if this was the right decision, but she heard deep in her mind, "trust me, give it to her; we can save everypony."

The alicorn princess growled under her breath as she slowly removed the amulet. Then she reverted back to her stallion's bulky body. He then tossed the amulet to Rarity, who squealed, taking it and started to kiss it. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Now Nightmare Moon will let me make all of Equestria beautiful!"

"I got them!" a little plastic alicorn chirped as she fluttered over with two crystals in her hooves.

"Get back here!" Rarity shouted as she chased after the action figure; she would blast it with magic, but Big Mac jumped over and tackled the toy and shielded it from the blast. He cried in pain as he felt his body turning into a hardened plastic. He could feel himself turning into a ponyquin, but he fought through the pain and shouted," destroy the green gem!"

"O…Ok!" The toy cried, seeming rather horrified as she took her tiny plastic hooves hoof and slammed them on top of the green crystal with her hooves shattering it into a million pieces. She gasped as the green glow in her eyes suddenly dissipated as the fashionista collapsed to the ground.

Big Mac felt his body reverting back to normal as he shook his limbs and started to look around, seeing that Ponyville was beginning to transform in front of him, seeing that that town had begun to change back to normal. With the ponyquins all beginning to revert back into ponies, he realized that everypony was standing around; Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Twilight, and tons of ponies were now eyeing him. He slammed the amethyst into his chest and turned back into an alicorn princess right in front of the crowd. This transformation was unlike any before as it became relatively routine. Still, he could feel the heat on his back from dozens of eyeballs on him this time as his body turned into a mare. He could sense his mane elongating, his masculine form grew in size and became much more feminine with wider hips. The crowd gasped as a horn grew on his head, and wings sprung from his sides, making the crowd cry out in shock as he revealed their entire span. He stood there silently as his heart thumped in his chest, and he slowly turned his head towards Luna, until their eyes met. There was so much to say about how sorry he was seeing that their evening was ruined and that he wanted to make it up to her. But seeing the dozens of other ponies now all gazing at him, he suddenly felt an onset of fear rush through him as he launched himself into the air. He flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres, wanting to be alone and think things over, seeing that his secret identity was now fully exposed.