Big Macintosh took a few step forward, his feet clopping softly against the solid stone ground of Manehattan. This place had gotten bigger since he had left and now skyscrapers towered above him to the left and right of either side.

He kept his cool, not marveling at the massive building and instead walking forward to one in particular. He chewed on his piece of wheat he held in his mouth a few times before walking up to the massive dome like structure.

Outside in the front, it had a large sign that had todays match up in the ring...

*Flashback*

"Clyde Stale and Big "Boss" Macintosh! A match that shoulda been promoted a long time ago kid!" Spoke his manager as he wrapped his arms around the pony fighting champions back. He held out his arm in front of him as he waved it horizontally. "All the lights in Manehatten will scream your name out, everyone will be talkin' about this for years to come!" He spoke as his eyes lit up.

The brown pony stopped hanging on the now grinning Big Mac as he gave off a characteristic "Eeyup". He looked to his manager, the piece of wheat absent his mouth during this time. The somewhat smaller brown pony had stubble and a piece of metal strapped over the bridge of his nose. Something he had claimed had happened before his days of fighting in the ring were over.

Big Mac walked out of the room, leaving his manager to deal with all the phone calls that were flooding his room at the moment. He walked past the secretary, a pretty little pony by the name of Clarity. A name she had gotten from her mother and because of how clear her thoughts had always been. Never swimming around with anger, lust, or many other emotions. Just experiencing them enough to be pony-like.

She gave a nod to Big mac as he passed, and as he stepped out into the world and started back to his house...

*Flashback end*

Big Mac saw Clyde Stale and someone he didn't recognize. A young but very large pony going by the name of Red Beast. Sad really, this kid had no idea what he was in for when dealing with Clyde.

Macintosh heard a single banjo being played nearby, the first few opening notes of his theme as he entered into the arena. He smiled and walked over to who playing it, a dark gray pony with a hat down in front of him and his eyes closed. Big Mac threw a few bits into the hat down in front of him.

The pony lifted his head and spoke, " Thank'ya kindly- Big "Boss" Macintosh?" He seemed to question as the massive red pony walked past him.

"Eeyup." He spoke as he walked into the front door of the arena, walking to one of the seats in the far back he took his place. Security didn't notice him and neither did the announcer as he started to call out both the names of the fighters. The Red beast walked into the arena, a maroon stallion. large and powerful, obviously thinking that he was indeed gonna live up to his name against Clyde. He was wrong.

*Flashback*

Big Macintosh stepped into the ring, his mere footsteps shaking it with the force he was setting them down with. His theme playing in the background as he looked around to all of the fans that were calling out his name. He smiled and opened his mouth, crunching the piece of wheat in a single movement.

Then everything went silent as the music changed. Smoke poured from one of the entrances and a massive pony walked out of it. Big Mac blinked a few times before looking at this massively intimidating pony. Each one of his steps shook the ground, even without him trying. He was just that massive. He had to stand as tall as one of the princesses, and had a chest that you could probably compare to a barrel. He walked into the ring, stepping over the top ropes as he looked at Big Macintosh. His dark brown fur and even darker mane seemed to suck in the light.

And then came the stomp. Clyde Stale reared up onto his back legs and gave a loud whinny, the crowd erupting at it as he stomped down. Big Mac was nowhere near the size of this pony, but he had a feeling he could beat him.

His feelings didn't matter as the ref Stepped into the middle of the massive ring, taking up the microphone as he started to announce their names and accolades.

*Flashback end*

"In one Corner! We have the current Champion and the longest running in UPW History! Fillies and Gentlecolts! I give you! Clyde Stale!" The Massive pony gave off the massive whinny and the stomp that shook the arena once more. The Red Beast gulped down his fear, but he was nearly fainting on the inside. Big Mac could tell it from here.

"Then in the other Corner! We have the star rookie! The Red Beast!" There were mixed cheers and boos from the crowd around him. A bump on his left shoulder from a pony, "I got twenty bits on Clyde. Whatchu say-" He stopped as he noticed the piece of wheat, the peculiar red of his coat, and the massive apple of his cutie mark. "Big "Boss" Macintosh..." He spoke for a moment before the massive colt stood up.

The Red Beast had just been slammed almost clear out of the ring by just a single one of Clyde's Charges...

*Flashback*

Big Mac Had been slung back like a rag doll, no one was strong enough to do that to him, and yet just a simple tackle from this massive pony was enough to send him rolling into the ringside, disoriented and annoyed. He stood and narrowly dodged another charge from the rumbling feet of this massive pony. He delivered a good solid charge of his own to this ponies side, but it seemed to do nothing but get absorbed by the large ponies bulk.

He slung his weight to the side and sent Big Mac rolling once more with a body check. Big Mac hadn't ever met a pony bigger and stronger than himself until now, but he knew how to fight one on the off chance that they showed up.

He spat a bit and waited for the next charge. When it came he spun out of the way and delivered a tree shaking buck to Clyde's jaw. The full force of the buck actually sent the much larger pony down onto his side, but he rolled back onto his feet in the middle of it, spitting out some of his own blood...

*Flashback end*

The Red Beast spat out a good deal of blood onto the floor of the arena, having just been kicked in the head by Clyde. Big Mac let out a loud enough whinney to go above the roar of the crowd. And with a leaping jump after a good galloping speed, he landed in the arena, his weight shaking it all as he looked at Clyde.

Clyde stopped and turned to him, his eyes wide with shock, "Big Macintosh?!" He spoke as he walked over.

Big Mac smiled and walked over to the massive pony holding out a single hoof to him, "Eeyup!" Clyde gave out a laugh and took his hand, pulling in the big red pony as their chests connected, a resounding thud sounding throughout the entire ring and through the stands that had now fallen silent.

They had started chanting something, even as his old theme started to play. "BIG "BOSS"! MACIN-TOSH!"

*Flashback*

He had smiled at this. He had just wounded the great beast that stood before him. "Ladies and Gentlemen I don't believe it! Clyde Stale has actually been hurt in the arena! A first in his entire career!" The crowd screamed out Big Mac's name in a frenzy.

Then Clyde Charged again, this time, the smile was gone from his face. Big Mac waited for him to get closer in just a moment then spun around the side of this massive pony, kicking him and sending him flying, out of control, into one of the posts at the side of the arena, head first.

He heard a snap as Clyde went flying out, his massive weight enough to break one of them without much extra effort on Big Mac's part. The ref started counting, "One! Two! Thre-" He was interrupted by a whinney as Clyde jumped back into the arena, his eyes going from the odd orange they were before to dark red with anger. He gave out a loud snort and then charged.

*Flashback end*

The Ref had stepped into the middle of the Arena, "Fillies and Gentlecolts this is a historic day! Big Macintosh returned from Ponyville! So What are you doing here Mac?" He asked he put the Microphone up to Big Macintosh's Mouth.

"I'm Here to gather my friends. War is coming and we need some good fightin' ponies to help protect our towns."

His theme stopped and everypony around him went silent, even Clyde. "Y'all heard me right. War. In case some of you haven't got the message yet, Changelings are gonna be coming in a massive army. They are gonna be lookin' to take over all of Equestria, but we can't let 'em!" The crowd started murmuring.

"I'm here to warn y'all about this before it is too late! Start making sure that you and the ones closest to yah are safe at all times! Start training to protect them! 'Cause if you don't, you're gonna find you have a lot less people to love!" He spoke, his tone losing all playfulness a long time ago. He was now serious as he looked at the crowd that had gathered.

"Will Y'all just let 'em take over?" He asked.

The crowd shouted back, "NO!"

"Will you sign up and protect!?" He asked them once more.

The crowds responded, fervor growing, "YES!"

"That's what I wanted to hear. There should be a recruiting station for a militia somewhere nearby. Head there and sign up, if you aren't scared of protecting those you care about. No matter what the cost!" The crowd shouted out and started to funnel out of the UPW ring, heading to the recruiting station like he had said.

Clyde looked at him, "Are you serious Macintosh?! War?!" He spoke. Big Mac nodded solemnly.

"Eeyup." He spoke as he pulled out a piece of wheat from the bag on his back and put it back into his mouth. "I think this is the biggest upset since you beat me a few years ago.

Big Mac nodded and started to walk, "Get the others ready for this. You need to teach 'em that killer instinct of yours. And make sure that they can actually do it too." Big Mac spoke as he stepped out of the building. The stars looked down at him and seemed to smile a bit. He had taken about 3 days to walk here, and he had enough rations to last him three more. A singular week to deliver a message of this importance.

He felt like he had done something great to help protect the realm of Equestria but he wasn't finished.

He walked up to the recruiting station and after the massive line he had caused died down he was the last to sign up. "You must be the infamous Big Mac. You've caused quite the burst in our numbers with that little speech of yours in the ring all those other ponies were talking about." The Officer spoke as he wrote down his name on a piece of paper. "And I think with the way you've been leading them, you would do wonders as a squad leader." He spoke as he handed Big Mac a piece of paper. Taking the pen in his teeth, he signed onto the paper, his name in bold letters.

He would be here for quite some more time than he imagined...so he asked one singular question, "Mind If I write a note to my family quick?" He asked. The officer shrugged and gave him a blank piece of paper. He wrote it down quickly and the unicorn flashed it away to Ponyville when he was done.

He could now continue on. These ponies needed a role model and a morale booster. Who better to do that then the old champion and the biggest name in Manehatten for quite some time?

Spike sat upright in the middle of the night. He usually slept on the couch, but with Dusk Shine being here and having taken it, he was sharing the dragon bed with Barbara. He belched out a letter and gave it a quick scan through, looking at all the words. "Holy guacamole! I better get this to Applejack!" He spoke as he ran on through the late of night, braving through his fear of the dark to reach her barn.

He walked up the ladder and found her sleeping next to AJ, one bandage up around his legs, the other around her chest. He walked over to her. "Big News Applejack!" He spoke. This sort of thing wouldn't wait for morning, especially not for her.

She opened her eyes, "Why in tarnation are you waking me up Spike?" She asked as she blinked sleepily.

"Dear Applejack.

I am going to be staying in Manehatten for some time, a few weeks at the most. I am a squad leader for the ponies here, and they need someone to raise their morale while we train. I'll have to give you the full story sometime later when I really can afford to write out the whole thing or just say it.

Don't Tell Applebloom or Granny Smith until they start asking. It'll only worry them more than they could be already.

I love you Sis, From Big Macintosh."

She looked at the leader and took it from Spike when he finished reading it. She gave a sigh. "Thanks fer telling me Spike." She spoke as she nodded off, stuffing the letter underneath her as she drifted off to sleep.

The Baby dragon nodded a bit and walked over to a comfortable looking pile of hay, falling asleep that night and waiting for the morning to come and shake him up.