//------------------------------// // Part 1: The Setup // Story: The Wonderbolt Tour // by Shamrock95 //------------------------------// If there was one thing that Midnight had concluded about stallions in her years, it was that any of them could be lured in by an attractive mare. Deep down, they were all the same—flash them some cute eyes and a sweet voice, and they'd cut off their own tails to make you happy. She had used this observation to her advantage on more than one occasion... as she had done at that moment. "So you probably figured it out yourself by now," she said to the huge mass of fat and flesh behind her, "but I wasn't actually lost. Plot twist, right?" She giggled as she pressed into her victim's fleshy side, listening to his distressed whimpers and moans. "Oh, quit whining. You decided to let me in. You decided to take me up to the bedroom. I'd say this is all on you, buster." Midnight chuckled as she rested her head on his side. "Don't worry, I'll be out of your mane in a few minutes. Right now, I'm just too comfy to get up!" As Midnight made herself comfortable, she allowed her eyes to wander around the room. Her victim kept a tidy house, it seemed. Her eyes eventually settled on a flash of blue and yellow on the bedside table, which had been fortunate enough to be spared the fate of the stallion's bed, crushed beneath his colossal bulk. "Hello, what do we have here?" Midnight asked, her horn lighting up as she picked it up and lifted it over to her in a magical glow. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp of excitement. "Oh my gosh, a ticket to the Wonderbolts show in Manehattan! Were you going to go?" "Hey! D-don't touch that!" her victim said indignantly, his blubber wobbling as he tried in vain to stop her. "Well," Midnight said, pursing her lips, "this is a bit of a conundrum, isn't it? I mean, you're clearly in no shape to go to the show now. Not in this condition..." She made a show of humming and pondering, before her face lit up. "Oh, I know! I'll take it off your hooves for you! I was planning on going myself, and this would save me the trouble of buying a ticket myself. Sound good? Good!" "No!" the stallion cried as Midnight rolled off. "Do you know how much I paid for that?! You can't just steal it!" "Oh please, stealing is such an ugly word," Midnight tutted. "I'm simply requisitioning it for my own personal use. Big difference." She tucked the ticket into one of her saddlebags, before hoisting them over her back. "Well, I'd best be off now." "What?! You can't leave me like this!" "Sure I can," Midnight chuckled. "Don't worry, somepony will be along eventually, I'm sure. Until then, you can spend the time getting used to that new body of yours." With that, Midnight gathered her things and trotted out of the bedroom to the front door. "Take care now!" she cooed, slamming the front door behind her. The crowds packed into the stadium cheered and hollered for all they were worth as the blue spandex-clad Wonderbolts soared overhead, pulling up high into the sky as they performed all kinds of spectacular stunts for their viewing pleasure. Midnight had to admit, they were very impressive. And there were certainly far worse ways to spend an afternoon than sitting under a gorgeous sun in Manehattan watching the best flying team in Equestria give it their all against the backdrop of the city skyline. Of course, Midnight wasn't just there to appreciate the athletic capabilities of the Wonderbolts. As she watched them pull into a steep dive, her eyes were constantly scanning the cheering crowds, on the lookout for any ponies she could have her way with. She was certainly spoiled for choice with the number of stallions crammed into the stands, but as she looked about, she found her eyes resting on one stallion in particular... not in the stands, but up in the sky. One of the veteran Wonderbolts was leading the formation. What was his name again, Midnight pondered? It was... Soarin, that was it! As Midnight set her eyes on him, she felt it. That twinge in the back of her head that said, "Yes. This is the one." And what a prize a stallion like Soarin would be! Sure, Midnight had fattened up fit stallions before, but Soarin? Soarin wasn't just fit... Soarin was an athlete! The idea of luring in not just a celebrity, but an athlete, and reducing him to a bloated pile of flesh and flab... oh Celestia, Midnight could feel her knees going weak just thinking about it. He would truly be the prize to end all prizes. "You okay there?" Midnight started slightly as she turned to look at the pony who'd addressed her—a grey-furred, blonde-maned pegasus mare, clad in what looked like a mailpony's uniform. She would have looked perfectly unremarkable, had it not been for her eyes. While the mare was clearly focused on Midnight, one eye was pointing down at the ground, while the other was gazing up and off into the distance. Fortunately, Midnight managed to avoid offence by not appearing startled at the sight. But still, she could tell... this mare was different. Different like Midnight was... "You looked a little flushed," the mare continued, snapping Midnight out of it. "You need a sip of water or something? I've got some here." "Oh, um... no, I'm fine, thanks," Midnight replied, giving the mare a smile. "Just excited by the show, I guess." "I know, right?" the mare grinned. "I decided to check the show out after I dropped off a package in town, and boy, am I glad I did! These guys are something else!" "Uh-huh," Midnight said, already losing interest as both mares returned their attention to the show, Midnight's brain going back to Soarin. Midnight was no fool. She knew full well that getting any sort of alone time with a Wonderbolt would be much easier said than done. Once the show was over, Soarin would more than likely head off in the company of his fellow team members, and for the rest of the time, he would be square in the public eye. No, luring in Soarin wouldn't be easy, nor would it- The stadium's PA system let out a high-pitched squeal. "Attention, fillies and gentlecolts! Don't forget to grab your tickets for the raffle at the end of the show! One lucky pony will win the grand prize of a guided tour of the Wonderbolts Academy in Cloudsdale, guided by one of the Wonderbolts themselves! Get your tickets now!" "A tour of the Wonderbolts Academy?" the crosseyed mare repeated with a squeal of excitement. Well now, Midnight thought to herself with a grin, is that a stroke of luck or what? She made a note to head to the raffle once the show had concluded—there was no way she was going to let an opportunity like this slip past her. She settled back in her seat, a smirk on her face as her eyes once again rested on Soarin leading the team in a coordinated double aileron roll. Enjoy the flying while you can, my dear, she thought. I daresay it'll be the last show you'll do for a long, long time. The excitement in the air was palpable as a large crowd of chattering ponies gathered in the stadium's interior. The room they stood in was normally reserved for giving press talks after athletic events, but today, it was proving to be more than adequate for announcing which lucky fan was going to Cloudsdale and the Wonderbolt Academy. As the overly mane-gelled stallion at the podium wittered on about what an exciting prize this was, Midnight stood in the back, having found herself a nice, discreet little spot. Unlike many of the other ponies in the room, Midnight didn't actually have a raffle ticket... but then again, she didn't need one. Once the winner was announced, it would be a trifle for Midnight to... persuade them to hand over their prize to her. Especially once she found a nice, quiet spot to corner them in. If it got her the chance to have some fun with another cute stallion, so much the better. "Alright, fillies and gentlecolts!" the stallion said in a dramatic tone, causing a hush to fall over the crowd as he held up a slip of paper. "The winner of our grand prize is ticket number... 46!" "Yes!" Midnight heard amid the disappointed groans of the other competitors, as the ecstatic winner took to the stands. To her surprise, it was none other than the cross-eyed mare who had sat next to her at the show. "So, we meet again, my dear," she murmured as the mare was handed a ticket... her ticket. Midnight knew that a good hunter was a patient one, and this situation would be no different. As the crowd dispersed, Midnight left alongside them, keeping a close eye on the mare all the while. The crowds, fortunately, provided the ideal cover and concealment for her as she followed the mare through the stadium. She knew that sooner or later, they would pass by a relatively secluded spot where Midnight could pounce on her. As she followed her, Midnight was close enough that was she able to spot the mare’s cutie mark. An image of a swarm of floating bubbles. Midnight had to cover her lips to stop herself from giggling at the sight. "Oh, my dear, you’re practically begging me to make a bubble butt joke." A smile full of malice soon formed across Midnight’s features. When she was done with this mare, her cutie mark wouldn’t be the only thing round. The mare passed through the crowds, Midnight keeping close behind as she followed her out of the stadium and into the open air. Now that they were away from the crowds, Midnight would have to be extra careful to keep her distance. She hung back about twenty feet as she followed the mare back towards the city itself. Just before they could reach the busy street outside the stadium, however, the mare took a left turn, heading towards what looked like... Midnight grinned. A public toilet. Perfect. The mare must not have wanted to bother with the queues in the stadium—that suited her just fine. After double and triple-checking to make sure nopony else was coming, Midnight entered the grimy bathroom, where she could see that one of the stalls was already closed. Midnight had her all to herself. The only trivial part now was deciding how to approach her. Should she come off as shy and timid? Or perhaps friendly and cheerful? Either didn’t matter. Whether it was mares or stallions, Midnight always knew how to greet a new face, just before it turned to flab in her hooves. In the end, it amounted to timing, and keeping a cool head. Soon, Midnight heard the click of the door unlocking, and got ready to pounce... but as the door opened, again she saw those eyes. And she hesitated. There it was again—that unshakable feeling that this mare was different to the rest. "Oh!" the mare said, looking slightly startled. "Um, hi again." "Uh... hi," Midnight said simply. Even though part of her brain was screaming at her to do her thing, she just... couldn't. She was paralysed. "Um... are you following me?" the mare asked, raising an eyebrow. "What? Uh, no! No, no!" Midnight said quickly, laughing a bit too loudly. "I was just, uh, looking for a place to beat the queues back there! Definitely not following you." Dear Celestia, what was happening? Why was this so hard? Why was she panicking? "Really?" the mare asked, chuckling. "Me, too. I still can't get over how busy this city is." Midnight breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, so the mare didn't think she was a stalker and she hadn't screamed for any cops. That was a good start. "Heh, me neither. So, you're not from around here?" she asked. She had to keep the mare talking. If she was talking, she wouldn't have time to think. Midnight was beginning to feel in control again. "Oh no," the mare replied with no small amount of pride. "I'm from a town called Ponyville. Have you heard of it?" Ah... Ponyville. Though it had been a while since Midnight’s last visit, the memories were as fresh as if it were yesterday. "Oh, I may have heard the name from time to time." "Cool! My name's Derpy, by the way," the mare said as she offered a hoof. "Derpy Hooves." "A pleasure, Miss Hooves," Midnight smiled as she took her hoof. Alright, enough beating around the bush. Time to move in for- "Hey!" an angry voice bellowed, before Midnight found herself being roughly shoved out of the way by somepony. In front of her, a very angry-looking green pegasus mare was staring down this Derpy mare. "You!" she continued, getting right up in the mare's face. "Ah! Wh-what do you want!" Derpy asked, looking frankly terrified. "The ticket," the mare growled. "Hand it over." "What? N-no!" Derpy stammered. "It's mine!" "Listen to me, you wall-eyed little cow," the mare spat. "The only pony going to that academy is me, you hear me? Me, Lightning Dust! I'm going to make that Spitfire bitch pay for kicking me out all that time ago! And I'm not about to let some cross-eyed freak get in my way!" "I'm not a freak!" Derpy protested, sounding on the verge of tears. "And you're not getting-" She screamed as Lightning grabbed hold of her, roughly pushing her back into the wall. "Hand it over, you Celestia-damned retard!" she roared. As Midnight watched from the ground, she could see Derpy's terrified, tear-stained face. Only... it wasn't Derpy's face anymore. It was Midnight's. A much younger, more timid... rounder Midnight. She was alone. She was big. She was crying. The bullies were doing it again. Singing their schoolyard taunt like it was some kind of chant. "Midnight, the Great Big Blight! She's so fat it's quite a sight! Watch out or she’ll crush you will all her might!" And what did the children all do? They just laughed along with them. Joining in on the taunt like it was a chorus. And there was nothing little Midnight could do, except cry. It was pathetic, nauseating, and infuriating to watch. The children were mocking her. The bullies were mocking her... A wave of anger, white-hot and all-consuming, crashed over Midnight as she forced herself to her hooves, gritting her teeth as her horn lit up. Faust damn it, get off of her. Lightning slammed Derpy's head hard against the wall with a sickening thud, causing the poor mare to slump to the ground in a semi-conscious daze. At the same time, a pair of hooves grabbed Lightning from behind and flung her painfully to the floor. "Agh! What do you-" Lightning cut herself off as she saw an utterly furious-looking unicorn mare staring down at her. Midnight looked at Lightning with hate... no, not hate. Loathing. What was this mare... just another pathetic bully. Another thick-headed, cowardly... Midnight growled as she pressed down into Lightning's stomach, rubbing up and down and causing her svelte form to balloon outward with blubber. This time, there was no playfulness, there was just a deep, angry urge. She wanted to see this mare suffer. "Wh- what in Tartarus?!" Lightning shrieked, frantically trying to wriggle her way out from under Midnight's grasp. "What are you doing? Stop it!" "Oh no, you don't," Midnight growled as she grabbed hold of Lightning's cheeks. "You're not going anywhere." With a rub of her hooves, Lightning's cheeks swelled to chipmunk proportions, accompanied by a thick roll of adipose around her neck. Lightning whimpered, wiggling her unchanged legs, now comically out of proportion to the rest of her. Midnight roughly flipped Lightning onto her heavier stomach, straddling her as she took hold of her rump. Under her touch, Lightning's flanks began to swell up into two big bags of adipose, sagging slightly under their own weight, along with a pair of holiday-ham thighs. And Midnight was nowhere near done with this mare yet. Oh no... by the time she was done, there would be no space left in the bathroom at all. They would have to knock the whole thing down just to free her. But as Midnight prepared to do that, the red mist cleared. She looked down at Lightning and saw her for what she really was. Just a sad, pathetic thug. She wasn't worth it. Midnight got to her hooves and took a deep breath, before looking down at Lightning. "Stay down," she told her. "Follow us, and I will make you pay for it." With that, she went over to the semi-conscious Derpy and helped her to her hooves, leading her out of the bathroom. Just to be on the safe side, she shut the door leading into the bathroom itself and sealed it shut with a magical seal, trapping Lightning inside. "Ugh, my head..." Derpy moaned as they left, looking up at Midnight with bleary eyes. "What happened...?" "I... I scared that mare off," Midnight said. "She won't bother you again." "Oh yeah... she was scary," Derpy said with a shudder. Then, to Midnight's surprise, she found Derpy throwing her forelegs around her and pulling her into a hug. "Thank you," Derpy said, sniffing. "I dunno what would have happened if you hadn't..." "Hey, think nothing of it," Midnight assured her as she gently pulled Derpy off... only to find a piece of paper being handed to her. "What's this?" "It's my ticket," Derpy explained. "I can't offer you much, but I want you to have it. As a token of my gratitude." "Wha..." Midnight said, looking quite surprised. Derpy had been so excited to win this, and now... "Derpy... are you sure?" "Sure I'm sure!" Derpy said with a smile. "Honestly, I'd probably be too busy with work to go to the academy, anyway." Midnight, genuinely touched, gave Derpy a smile of her own. "Well, thank you kindly, Miss Hooves." "No problem," Derpy giggled. "Hey, I don't think I caught your name." "Didn't throw it," Midnight replied. "It's Sooty." "Well, maybe I'll see you around, Sooty," Derpy said. "As for me, I've got a train home to catch." "Do you want me to walk you there?" Midnight asked. "That was quite a knock on the head you took..." Derpy shook her head. "I've had worse, believe me. I'll be fine. Oh! Before I go..." She reached into her mailbag, sifting through the various letters before pulling out a muffin of all things. "Take this, too." Midnight almost wanted to scoff. The last thing she needed was something to add weight to her. Working through a smile, Midnight declined her offer. "Thank you, but I try to avoid eating stadium confectionaries." Derpy just smiled as she shook her head. "Don’t worry, this isn’t from here. I made it." Midnight’s smile fell. Once more, the pegasus had rendered her stunned. "You made it?" "Yeah, with my own two hooves. And you look like you could use a real meal." Unsure what to do, Midnight’s magic took hold of the baked good as she studied it for a moment. "Well... thank you again, I guess." "No problem," Derpy grinned. "See ya!" "Later," Midnight said, giving her a quick pat on the flank with her hoof as a way of saying farewell... as well as giving Derpy a "gift" of her own. She smiled as she watched Derpy go, this time with a noticeable bounce to her butt as her rump grew thicker and fatter. "Every mare wants some bigger assets there, right?" she said to herself with a chuckle. "Rock on, Miss Hooves." As Midnight went on her own way, she paused as she caught sight of her reflection in a puddle. She gave her replica a wink as she tossed her mane. Sure, she had looks, confidence, and a voice that would drive any stallion wild the moment she turned on her husky setting, but it wasn’t always like that. It wasn’t always so easy. The puddle began to ripple, the reflection of Midnight rippling along with it. There she was again—younger, fatter, tear stains on her fat cheeks. She had hidden in an old barn near her home in an attempt to escape the bullies chasing her, taunting her. That had been where she found it, she recalled. A thick, leather-bound spell tome. For want of something better to do while she hid, she had picked it up and read it. And the spells inside... they just called to her. As she read them, she saw a chance for payback, a chance for- Midnight shot back to reality with a gasp as she realised a taxi had almost collided with her. She span around to see the driver giving her an angry look. "Hey! Wake up, ya rube!" he yelled. "S-sorry, sorry..." Midnight rambled, flushing lightly as she realised she was drawing quite a few stares from passers-by. With as much dignity as she could muster, she headed back to the stadium. She needed to look the part for her big day, after all.