The Big Mac Question

Big Mac and Sugar Belle get married.

**The Big Mac Question** is the twenty-third episode of March of the Oni and the one hundred sixty-second episode overall. The title is a reference to the saying "the big question", which is often used as a euphemism for a marriage proposal, which is later use when Jay wants Nya to be his Yang in the later two episodes. This episode is based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode of the same name and the second half of LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu episode, *Into the Breach*.

When Big McIntosh and Sugar Belle decide to propose to each other, everything their friends do to help ends up making a mess of the whole thing. Meanwhile, the Oni have returned to conquer the Sixteen Realms, and Lloyd, Garmadon, Morro and the Overlord find something unexpected when meeting the Oni leader.

## Production

This episode was released on Videoland's on-demand service in the Netherlands on August 17, 2019, but was later taken down.

This episode was originally scheduled to air on September 21, 2019 on Polish channel MiniMini+, but was replaced with a rerun of an earlier episode. However, it was still released the following day on the nc+ GO on-demand service.

It also aired on PLUSPLUS in Ukraine on September 22, 2019.

The scene of Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops proposing to each other was animated by Morgan Shandro.

## Plot

### How to defeat the Oni: A Ninja Point of View

The episode tells what happens before the next episode, as Vinny interviews the Ninja, Morro, Garmadon and the Overlord about how the Oni have returned. Nya recalls the flashback on how the Oni attacked Ninjago City. It is a matter of fact that when the Oni grab Cole's leg. Morro's point of view was that he never saw an Oni, but his old enemy Lloyd remembers that the Oni have large horns, and one of the Oni is Mistaké. One of his point of view was that they both went to Mistaké's tea shop. He told Morro about the legend with the same tea that Mistaké used to tell Lloyd and Jay in the past. Vinny cuts as he said that Mistaké is dead, but Morro said "Come on, I want learn more about it, since I was in the Departed Realm."

### Big McIntosh's proposal

In this another mockumentary, Spike, Discord, Mrs. Cake, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders all explaining to an off-screen character about a crisis that recently occurred in Ponyville. Beginning from Spike's point of view, the story flashes back to some time prior; on a hill overlooking Sweet Apple Acres, Big McIntosh shows Spike and Discord an engagement ring that he plans to give to Sugar Belle when he asks her to marry him.

As part of his elaborate marriage proposal, Big Mac is putting together a romantic hilltop meal on a picnic table similar to the shelf he made for Sugar Belle and leaving apples with messages tied to them around Ponyville inviting Sugar Belle to the hilltop. While Big Mac finishes building the table, Spike volunteers to get the picnic food while Discord leaves the apples around town.

### Explaining Jay and Nya's point of view: The Yin-Yang Problem

Returning back to the previous scene, Jay and Nya share a point of view when they finished teaching at the Academy of Spinjitzu. During recess, Jay practice Nya to be his Yang, Jay tried to ask Nya to be his Yang, but decided to tell her later a black cloud lose his confidence. A student cry out the Ninja that the black cloud is an Oni. Nya rushed to the announcement room to make an emergency announcement for the students to evacuate the school.

Vinny questioned what happened to the students after being attacked by the Oni. Cole shares his point of view on the problem that reach Ninjago City. The Overlord and Garmadon said that only Oni can survive the dark clouds. He, however, needs a weapon but the others are hesitant. Lloyd said he is part Oni and could survive too and that he is going with him, while Morro also come with the three, due to being a ghost. Vinny stops and answers why Lloyd is a part Oni. Obviously, since his father was an Oni, Lloyd is also an Oni, due to his father inheritance.

### Plans quickly come apart

Outside Sugarcube Corner, Spike tells Discord to carefully leave apples around town for Sugar Belle to find while he gets food from Mrs. Cake. All of a sudden, Sugar Belle and the Cutie Mark Crusaders come out of the bakery and run past them. Inside, Spike finds Mrs. Cake frantically baking twenty-one desserts and placing a piece of paper in each one for a mysterious reason. When Spike offers to help Mrs. Cake complete her task faster with his message-delivering fire breath, he accidentally sets all the desserts on fire.

Discord tries leaving an apple with a message attached for Sugar Belle to find, but Sugar Belle does not notice. In an attempt to be more direct, Discord brings all the apples to life and instructs them to go to their designated locations and verbally deliver their messages to Sugar Belle. As a result, all of Ponyville quickly devolves into chaos as the living apples terrorize the ponies in their mission to deliver their messages.

Spike confronts Discord over the trouble he has caused, and when Sugar Belle wanders into town during the chaos, Discord transports her to Sweet Apple Acres. Upon realizing Big Mac is not there, he blindfolds Sugar Belle and brings her back to Sugarcube Corner, where Spike, Big Mac, and Mrs. Cake have gathered. Before Big Mac can chew out Discord for nearly ruining his proposal plans, the Crusaders and Granny Smith suddenly appear being followed by a giant monster.

### Lloyd's point of view: No Ninja left behind

Vinny now questions Lloyd on how he, his father, the Overlord and Morro enter the cloud of darkness. He explains as it follows. The Overlord and Garmadon jumped off and Lloyd and Morro followed behind.

The Ninja went to the computer to watch Lloyd through his head cam. Lloyd started to suffocate but recovered. They then came across a solidified Borg. Lloyd insists they take Borg back, but the Overlord refused to help him and states it will slow them down. Morro then told Borg they will fix him and they continued their journey.

### Sugar Belle's proposal

The story then shifts to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' point of view; while Spike and Discord help Big Mac with his proposal plans, the Crusaders and Mrs. Cake help Sugar Belle, who also has plans to ask Big Mac to marry her. As part of her proposal, Sugar Belle is making twenty-one desserts and putting part of a proposal message in each one, and she instructs the Crusaders to deliver an extra dessert to Big Mac with an invitation to Sugarcube Corner inside.

When Sugar Belle and the Crusaders notice Spike and Discord outside the bakery, they quickly run past them before they realize what is going on. The Crusaders head to Sweet Apple Acres to find Big Mac, but he inadvertently eludes them while building the picnic table. When Big Mac finishes building the table, he waits for Sugar Belle to arrive. When she takes too long to appear, Big Mac heads into town to look for her.

After searching for Big Mac all around town and failing to find him, the Crusaders return to the farm and ask Granny Smith where he is. As Granny goes into detail about the strange dream she woke up from, a giant apple monster—formed when all the apples Discord brought to life merged into one—appears before them. The monster chases them to Sugarcube Corner, where Spike, Discord, Big Mac, Mrs. Cake, and Sugar Belle have gathered.

With the episode's two storylines now together, the giant apple delivers Big Mac's "will you marry me?" message in front of Sugar Belle, causing his surprise to be ruined. As Mrs. Cake chews out Spike for ruining Sugar Belle's proposal plans and nearly everyone casts blame on Discord, Big Mac and Sugar Belle go off on their own.

### Zane's point of view: Letting go of his love

We return to Zane as Vinny questions him why he must let go P.I.X.A.L. The Ninja picked it up but was not quick enough to respond. They needed to rescue them, and P.I.X.A.L. decided to stay behind in case Lloyd, Garmadon, Morro and the Overlord needed her. She took off in her Samurai Mech and they Ninja left with the Bounty.

### The perfect "pear-posal"

Big Mac and Sugar Belle walk together to the apple and pear trees that were planted by Big Mac's parents. Big Mac apologizes to Sugar Belle for everything that happened that day, comparing the day's disaster to what happened in The Break Up, Break Down.

However, Sugar Belle recalls Bright Mac and Pear Butter's story and the hardships they faced trying to be together, and she is certain that just as Big Mac's parents survived everything they went through together, so too will she and Big Mac. With that, both Big Mac and Sugar Belle propose to each other, and they both answer yes, much to the delight of the friends that tried to help them throughout the day.

The story shifts back to present day, where it is revealed the off-screen character that Spike, Discord, Mrs. Cake, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were speaking to is Applejack. With their explanations over, the ponies gather for Big Mac and Sugar Belle's wedding, with all their friends and family in attendance and Mayor Mare as the officiant. The mayor declares them husband and wife, and Discord celebrates the occasion with more of his living apples.

### Garmadon's point of view: Enter the Omega

Before moving on to the actual scene, Vinny tells the five where Lloyd, Garmadon, Morro and the Overlord went. Jay said that they went near the Realm Crystal, and the screen goes static. Vinny then interrupts to the Ninja on how the four are doing before it ends the interview. In the Borg Tower, Garmadon, Lloyd, the Overlord and Morro then encountered two Oni outside of the tower. When Lloyd and Morro was about to be attacked, the Overlord saved them and revealed he only did it because they stand a better chance of saving the city if there are both of them. They walk closer to the Crystal, and Zane said it was interfering with the head cam's signal. Both Garmadon and the Overlord tried to destroy the Crystal, but an Oni emerged and stopped them. After the Oni blocked all of their attacks, Spinjitzu included, Lloyd's head cam was broken, and Morro is defeated. The Oni introduced himself as the Omega and questioned why Garmadon and the Overlord, an Oni hybrid and a dark spirit, didn't take over Ninjago. The Overlord answered by saying if Ninjago and Equestria are going to be taken over, it will be him instead. The father and son, a ghost and a Dark Lord then continued to clash with him.

## Cast

* Apple Bloom - Michelle Creber
* Apple Monster - Peter New
* Big Mac - Peter New
* Cole - Kirby Morrow
* Discord - John de Lancie
* Garmadon - Mark Oliver
* Gayle Gossip - Kelly Sheridan
* Granny Smith - Tabitha St. Germain
* Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
* Kai - Vincent Tong
* Large Apple - Peter New
* Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
* Mayor Mare - Cathy Weseluck
* Morro - Andrew Francis
* Mrs. Cake - Tabitha St. Germain
* Nya - Kelly Metzger
* P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward
* Scootaloo - Madeleine Peters
* Spike - Cathy Weseluck
* Sugar Belle - Rebecca Shoichet
* Sweetie Belle - Claire Corlett
* Talking Apple 1 - Peter New
* Talking Apple 2 - Peter New
* The Omega - Zach LeBlanc
* The Overlord - Scott McNeil
* Vinny - Gavin Langelo
* Zane - Brent Miller

## Locations Visited

* Equestria
	+ Ponyville
		- Sugarcube Corner
		- Sweet Apple Acres
* Ninjago
	+ Ninjago City
		- Academy of Spinjitzu
		- Borg Tower

## Trivia

* It is revealed that Cyrus Borg is a victim of the Oni's attack.
* Jay attempted to ask Nya to be his Yang, but failed once again.
* This is the final episode revolving around Applejack, unless this episode end up Big Mac only, then the final Applejack episode would be "Going to Seed".
* It is the final new episode to first air at it's usual Discovery release time (11:30 AM), and final time for one episode to release alone.
* This episode may be a sequel to the eighth season episode, "The Break Up, Break Down".
	+ It is also the sequel to the current season's episode, "The Beginning of the End: Into the Breach".
* This is the second episode where the Omega appears without the Legion of Doom.
* Applejack appears in this episode, but she doesn't speak.
* This is the first mockumentary-style episode in the series. The second is "Snaketastrophy".
* It is the fourth episode to depict a wedding after "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master", "Slice of Life", and "The Perfect Pear".
* This is the first episode where two couples have an on-screen marriage proposal, in that case, Big McIntosh and Sugar Belle.
	+ Two episodes later, Jay finally made his marriage proposal to Nya as a Yin-Yang Promise.
	+ In the later season, Sunny Skies made a marriage proposal to Petunia Petals on-screen. The same way, Lloyd made his marriage proposal to Akita is also made on-screen as well.
* Granny Smith's outer space dream with Grand Pear, Mudbriar, and Discord is a reference to *Star Trek*, including paraphrasing the franchise's tagline "Where no man has gone before".
* Grand Pear and Burnt Oak made an appearance in this episode, "The Perfect Pear" and "The Best Gift Ever".
* Apple Bloom noticing the apple monster's approach by seeing ripples in a bucket of water is a reference to the 1993 film *Jurassic Park*.
	+ This is the third reference to this movie, the first time is in Season 1, "Day of the Great Devourer" and Season 8, "Big Trouble, Little Ninjago and Equestria".
* It is the second depiction in the show of a same sex couple after Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty in "The Last Crusade".
* This is the final episode to have Celestia absent until "The Belly of the Beast".

## Differences between this episode, a Ninjago episode "Into the Breach" and the original MLP episode

* When March of the Oni aired in the US, the Omega never said "Then perish with them!" and the episode ended with "The signal is lost, Kai".
* Morro and the Overlord joined Garmadon and Lloyd to destroy the Realm Crystal.