Friends Forever Issue 17

My Little Pony: Friends Forever #17 is the seventeenth issue of IDW Publishing's My Little Pony: Friends Forever comic series. In the issue, an overworked and stressed out Twilight Sparkle seeks out Big McIntosh for ideas on how to relax.

Summary
At the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom castle, Twilight Sparkle struggles to solve the increasing pile of friendship problem requests that she gets in the mail. Though she is determined to carry out her duties as the Princess of Friendship, her workload is causing her stress and depriving her of sleep. From Spike, Twilight gets the idea to talk with other ponies and see how they handle work-related stress.

Twilight tries to talk to Applejack, but Applejack is about to make a delivery of apples to Canterlot and will be gone for a week. She suggests that Twilight talk to Big McIntosh, who's an even harder worker than she is.

Twilight observes Big McIntosh from a distance to try and understand how he keeps his cool when faced with so much farm work, but she doesn't learn anything. When Big Mac catches her spying on him, Twilight tries to interview him, but his limited vocabulary frustrates her even more. She briefly returns to the castle and finds a spell that allows a pony to enter another pony's mind. Twilight returns to the farm and, despite Big Mac's mild reluctance, casts the spell and enters his mind.

She finds the inside of Big Mac's mind looks like a well-organized farm. There, she meets alternate versions of Big McIntosh that represent the different parts of his personality, like a talkative fairy Big Mac and a helpful Big Mac. They explain to Twilight that each crop on the farm is one of Big Mac's ideas that he allows to grow before he properly focuses on it, explaining how calm and collected he is.

The alternate Big Mac that represents his curiosity is intrigued by Twilight's stress and pulls them all into her own mind within the spell. The inside of Twilight's mind looks like a disorganized library. Big Mac's personalities advise Twilight to take some time off from her problems and to stop taking on so many at once—the cause of her stress. As Twilight listens to their advice, a giant gelatinous form of her stress starts to flood the library. Twilight quickly ends the mind spell, and she returns to the real world.

Twilight almost starts stressing about her problems again, but she offers to help Big McIntosh with his chores to take her mind off her problems, and he happily accepts. When she returns to the castle later, she has a calm and clear mind to come up with solutions to her friendship problem requests.

Quotes

 * Spike: Are you chewing your mane again?
 * Twilight Sparkle: ...No.


 * Applejack: Well, normally I'd love to help you out, sugar cube... but me an' Apple Bloom have to cart these crates of cooking apples to the Canterlot Culinary College!
 * Apple Bloom: Try sayin' that six times fast!


 * Apple Bloom: 'Course, Big Mac don't say more than two words in a row.
 * Applejack: Well, maybe he's feelin' talkative today. He might say three words.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Er—did you hear me say that I was spying on you?
 * Big McIntosh: Yup.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Aha! The Magical Mindscape Manifestation spell! One of the finest works of Mumbo Jumbo the Mystically Enlightened!


 * Talkative Big Mac: Howdy! Welcome inside the mind of Mac!
 * Twilight Sparkle: Who are you? You look like Mac, but... aren't we in Big Mac's mind?
 * Talkative Big Mac: I'm what you might call a part of Big Mac, Miss Sparkle. The talkative part, to be precise.


 * Smart Big Mac: Salutations, fellow erudite equine! It's a pleasure to meet a legendarily learned lady such as yourself!


 * Twilight Sparkle: Just how many sides of Big Mac are there?
 * Helpful Big Mac: Well, let's see... There's Sullen Big Mac...
 * Sullen Big Mac: Don't wanna talk about it.
 * Helpful Big Mac: Overprotective Big Mac...
 * Overprotective Big Mac: You lookin' at my sister, mister?
 * Helpful Big Mac: Rude Big Mac...
 * Rude Big Mac: UUURP!
 * Helpful Big Mac: Curious Big Mac...
 * Curious Big Mac: Ooh! Someone new is here!


 * Twilight Sparkle: Well, that was... extremely bizarre.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Get the coffee on, Spike—I'm feeling inspired! And one of those muffins would be great!
 * Spike: Glad to have you back, Twilight!