The Hollow Kingdom of Big Macintosh

Exhibit Q

Quiet.

Big Macintosh notices that Ponyville has been awfully quiet this past week. It bothers him a little, but only a little. There is only one pony he cares to see. She makes him happy, and that is enough. She keeps him grounded, and that is more than enough. If he spends his free time with her, he is spending it wisely. This is enough.

It's still pretty quiet.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Big Macintosh is at Rarity's. His coming and going from there has become automatic now; he barely realized he was even there. Rarity has noticed this too.

"For the last few days you've been awfully quiet, even for you," Rarity says.

"I don't have much to say," he tells her. He isn't sure if it's a general statement or directed at Rarity. Under the surface, he is itching to be free of this responsibility. He could be elsewhere spending his time wisely. He could have that much more time to spend wisely.

It gets real quiet after that.

Big Macintosh just sinks back into himself, allowing time to pass by while he stands by unaware. He can't come alive until she comes around, so he must wait. He thinks that he might be dependent on her now, but he also thinks this may be natural.

"Yes, we're alone," she had said, so many times. He was unsure at first, but the noise of the ponies faded and then he stopped seeing their faces. They were just gone. That's when it got quiet. "That's just how it is. Trust me."

Trust her he did. That's all he wanted all along: somepony he could trust with his secret. At least, he thinks he should have wanted that all along. If he didn't want it, he wants to have wanted it. He has it now, so what he wanted before doesn't matter now.

He concludes that he is, beyond a doubt, happy the way he is.

"So I guess tomorrow will be our last time."

"Really?" Big Macintosh realizes Rarity had been talking, but he doesn't let on that he hadn't been listening. He is just happy to hear he won't have to come here anymore. It's not a slight against Rarity, but there is sompony he'd rather be with. There is somepony he'd be happier with.

"So don't forget to come tomorrow, alright?"

"Eeyup." With that, he gets out of his current attire with Rarity's help and leaves. She sees him off, but he isn't paying her much mind. When the door closes behind him, she disappears from his awareness altogether. He forgets, for a moment, why he is here at Carousel Boutique and not with Hippocampy. She is probably waiting for him near the town center. These days, it feels like they are the only two ponies who ever go there.

"Don't you want to know where they've gone?"

Big Macintosh turns his head. He is surprised to see Coast Tucoast standing on the ground right outside Carousel Boutique. Macintosh knows what he is seeing is not real, but he does not understand why Coast would show up at this moment.

"Don't kid yourself," Coast says. "You've noticed that everypony has suddenly disappeared. I'm here to help you find them."

Big Macintosh doesn't say anything. He turns forward and heads towards the center of town. Through the corner of his eye, he can see Coast watching him go. Soon, Macintosh can't see him at all. He focuses straight ahead, but his eyes dart to the side when he sees Coast walk around the corner. Big Macintosh walks past him, continuing to ignore the apparition.

Coast stands around every curve. Coast is hiding in every alleyway. Coast is not real, but Big Macintosh cannot cast his image away.

"Don't try and run from me," Coast says, trotting up from behind Big Macintosh. Coast's hooves soundlessly keep pace with Macintosh's. "I'm here to help you. If we don't do something, whatever is doing this will get you too."

Big Macintosh refuses to talk to him, refuses to acknowledge the hallucination's presence. The phantom persists, but Macintosh knows better. He has come so far since he met Hippocampy; he's not going to fall into this trap now. He won't talk to somepony who isn't there, and right now Big Macintosh doesn't see anypony around. For the one pony he can see, he pretends he is not around.

"You can act like you don't see me. You can act like nothing is wrong. You can act like everything is fine," Coast says, his tone sounding something like genuine concern. Big Macintosh finds this so jarring he turns to look, but Coast has at last disappeared. His voice still hangs in the air. "If that's what makes you happy, fine... but don't say I didn't warn you."

Big Macintosh stops and catches is breath. He hadn't noticed it, but he had strayed from the path towards the middle of town as if he was trying to lose Coast. Coast isn't real, but even as he tells himself this a sense of worry hits him. There is an eerie, unfamiliarity about his location. He sees he has wandered into a slightly wooded area just outside the town. Ponyville is still in sight, so he tells himself all he must do walk towards it to get his life back on track. He can shed his unease and be happy.

He feels eyes watching him from the forest. He turns and looks, but only sees a retreating silhouette. He knows this sensation. This is the pony who has been watching him. He knows this somehow; his intuition tells him so. Forgetting about returning home, Big Macintosh runs deeper into the woods after what he has seen. He continues to run, even as the woods seem to warp into shapes he has never seen.