Midnight could feel the weight of the spell book in her saddlebag as it bounced against her plump, wobbling flank. She bit her lip as she looked around her, observing the trees and bushes on either side of the path she was walking. She always used this path to get home from school—she enjoyed the seclusion it provided, away from prying eyes. And away from the bullying and teasing...
"There she is!"
Oh no. They'd found her. Midnight squeezed her eyes shut as they approached her. Four of them, all her age, all with malevolent sneers on their muzzles.
"You trying to avoid us, Midnight?" one of them said, poking her roughly in her fleshy side. "You really think you can hide that massive flank from anypony?"
"Ponies can probably see you from the other side of town," another added, leading to peals of laughter from the group. Midnight simply stared down at the ground, feeling tears prick her eyes once more.
"Leave me alone..." she mumbled. "Leave me alone..."
"What was that, tubs?" the first bully said as he poked her again. "You wanna start something, Midnight? Midnight, the Great Big Bl-"
"Leave me alone!"
The power behind Midnight's scream was enough to cause the bully to take a startled step back. He had never heard Midnight yell so loudly before... in fact, he had never heard her yell at all before now.
Midnight looked up, and the look in her eyes was enough to give her tormentors pause. Fury, raw and hot, burned behind her eyes as she clenched her jaw. And as she did so, she brought to mind the spells she had read in that book, and her horn began to glow...
"Ma'am?"
Midnight was startled back to reality, looking around her. She was no longer a filly, but a grown mare. She was no longer surrounded by bullies, but alone in a hot air balloon high amongst the clouds.
"Um, sorry," she said to the balloon pilot. "I was miles away."
"We'll be arriving in Cloudsdale shortly," the pilot informed her.
"Ah... good, good," Midnight nodded. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Midnight wasn't normally the type of mare to dwell on the past, but ever since that incident with Derpy and that thug of a pegasus who'd attacked her, her mind had kept flashing back to those bad old days. The bullying, the taunting... and how she'd finally gotten her own back...
She shook her head. Enough of that. Right now, she was on her way to Cloudsdale, with a clear game plan. Go in for the tour of the Academy, find Soarin, get him alone... and have her fun with him.
She certainly looked the part, with the gear and accessories she had bought at the stadium. A Wonderbolts cap adorned her head, along with a matching T-shirt and a pennant sticking out of her saddlebag for good measure. A camera was slung around her neck to complete the look, making her look every bit the excited Wonderbolts fan.
Just call me Shutterspeed, she thought as she adjusted the cap on her head with a smile.
"And here it is," the pilot announced as they broke the last bit of cloud cover. "Welcome to the Wonderbolts Academy."
Midnight looked up as the balloon drew closer to the Academy, flying low over the landing strip. Ahead of her lay a grand-looking cloud structure, with several blue-clad pegasi flying around it—the Academy's latest students, all looking for a spot on the team themselves. Midnight lifted her camera using her magic and took a photo, figuring she might as well grab at least one while she was here.
A Wonderbolt officer on the ground guided the balloon in to land, and Midnight soon found her hooves on the tarmac. Before she had departed, she'd had a cloud-walking spell cast on her by a cheerful old mare at the balloon terminal, so there was no fear of her falling to her doom.
"Ticket, please," the officer said brusquely as Midnight disembarked.
"Here you are, sir," Midnight said as she handed her ticket over, the officer giving it a cursory glance.
"This way," he said, turning and following without even looking back.
Stallion of few words, huh? Midnight thought as she followed him. As they made their way towards the Academy itself, Midnight found herself silently hoping that Soarin himself would be the one to guide her. Oh, that would be just perfect! She could follow him along, lure him in somewhere and just...
"Well, hey there!" a distinctly female voice said. Midnight looked up to see a familiar face smiling at her—not familiar from personal relationships, but rather familiar from being plastered all over posters and promos. Granted, she wasn't wearing her iconic blue uniform, but it was still unmistakably her.
"You must be the lucky contest winner, huh?" Spitfire continued. "Welcome to the Wonderbolts Academy. I'll be your guide for the day."
Damn it. This complicated things a little. Now Midnight would not only have to track down Soarin herself, but she would also have to find some way to give Spitfire the slip. Still, all in good time.
"The Spitfire?" she gasped, every bit the adoring fan. "Ohmigosh, that's amazing!"
Spitfire chuckled. "Glad to see you're so enthusiastic!" she said. "And judging from the attire, I'm guessing you're quite the Wonderbolts fan, am I right?"
"Huge fan, ma'am! Huge fan!" Midnight said as she nodded rapidly, her camera bouncing up and down around her neck. "Uh, my name is Shutterspeed, by the way."
"Well, it's a real pleasure to meet you, Shutterspeed," Spitfire assured her, giving her a pat on the back. "Now then, while we're on the tour, I'm gonna have to ask that you don't wander off and stick with me. We wouldn't want you getting into any bother—not that I think that's going to happen, of course. Just a precaution, you know?"
"Oh, of course, ma'am," Midnight assured her. "I understand."
"Great! In that case, let's get started, shall we?"
As Midnight followed behind Spitfire, she had come to a conclusion. If she wanted to get to Soarin, she would have to get rid of this mare somehow.
"And to your left," Spitfire said as she gestured to a display case, "is where you'll see a display of the campaign medals won by Commander Easy Glider during the Battle of Mount Moesring. It's said that during the battle, Easy Glider took on three wyverns single-hoofed..."
Midnight was bored to a point slightly beyond being bored out of her mind. She had been following Spitfire for about an hour now as they moved through the academy, and despite her best efforts to put on an eager face and act all happy and excited like a fan would, it was seriously beginning to take its toll. The truth was, she had no interest in this sort of thing. All the words Spitfire was speaking—about the history of the academy, the names of famous Wonderbolts, the battles they had taken part in—may as well have been in Neighponese as far as she was concerned.
To make matters worse, Spitfire hadn't been kidding when she said she wasn't going to let Midnight wander off alone. Even when Midnight had requested a bathroom break, Spitfire had stood right outside and waited for her. Midnight swore that if Spitfire could have gotten away with it, she'd have stood right outside the bathroom stall.
What was more, they hadn't seen hide nor hair of Soarin during the entire tour. Midnight had asked about him, to which Spitfire had simply replied that he was occupied for the day, refusing to divulge any more details beyond that. It was becoming increasingly clear to Midnight that if she wanted to get to Soarin, then she would have to find some way to remove Spitfire from the equation. But how?
That was when Midnight saw it. A door with a frosted glass window, with a name embossed on it—Commander Spitfire. Was that...?
"Um, excuse me?" Midnight asked politely. "Would that happen to be your office, ma'am?"
"Hm?" Spitfire turned her head to look at the door in question. "Yep, that's it right there."
Her office! Perfect! If Midnight could lure her in there, she could definitely put her out of the way... in the best way she knew how, of course.
"Holy cow!" Midnight exclaimed, Shutterspeed's excitable personality coming to the fore once again. "That's your office? Like, that's really it? Oh, could you show me around it? Pleeeeease?" She topped it off by giving Spitfire some big ol' doe eyes.
"Uh..." Spitfire blinked, looking slightly weirded out. "You want to see my office? There's not a whole lot to see in there..."
"Please?" Midnight asked again. "You'd be doing a fan a huge favour!"
"Well... if you insist," Spitfire said. "Just don't expect to be blown away or anything."
Too easy, Midnight thought to herself.
She followed Spitfire into the office as she opened the door and led her through. "Well, here it is," Spitfire remarked.
"Whoa," Midnight said with wide eyes as she looked around. "So this is your office, huh?"
"Heh, yep," Spitfire replied with a smile. "This is where the magic happens."
Oh, you have no idea how right you are, my dear.
It was then that Midnight noticed the ponnequin at the far end of the room—a ponnequin with a familiar electric blue flight suit stretched across it. As she looked at it, the gears in her head began to turn.
"Oh. My. Celestia," she said, her eyes wide and shimmering with faux excitement. "Is... is that your flight suit? Is that Spitfire’s flight suit?"
"That it is," Spitfire nodded. As she said that, Midnight finally came up with a rather devilish idea. She had never been a mare to buy into the notion of "business before pleasure." Sure, she needed to get Spitfire out of the way... but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun at the same time.
"Uh, ma’am?" she asked. "If I could make one last request..."
"Shoot," Spitfire replied.
"Could I... could I possibly get a couple of photos of you in your flight suit?" Midnight asked. "This has been such a wonderful tour already, and this would truly be the icing on the cake!"
Much to her surprise, however, Spitfire pulled a face. "Eh... I dunno, kid. I’m not exactly one for getting my photo taken."
"What?" Midnight asked, confused. "But... you’re the captain of the Wonderbolts. You’re not seriously telling me that you’re camera shy, are you?"
"That’s different," Spitfire clarified. "Getting your picture taken by legions of fans in an open stadium? No problem. Having your photo taken with a bunch of whiny fillies while their parents watch? A pain in the flank, but doable. Having your photo taken by a complete stranger in your office, in private? Sorry, not so much."
A stubborn one, eh? Midnight knew that type all too well. Still, mare or stallion, she could turn them around. She let out a little whimper as she gave Spitfire the same big eyes that had gotten her into the office in the first place, her lip quivering slightly.
"Please? You’d be making my day. For a fan?"
Spitfire rolled her eyes before hanging her head. "Fine..." she moaned. "I suppose a few shots wouldn’t hurt."
"Thank you! I promise this will be a photo shoot you’ll never forget."
"Yeah, yeah, I’m sure." Spitfire moved towards the ponnequin, before pausing and turning to face Midnight. "You’re not planning on selling these or anything, are you?"
Midnight placed a hoof over her chest as she proclaimed, as if giving a solemn vow, "I give you my word that the only ponies who will ever see these photos will be me, myself, and I."
Satisfied with that answer, Spitfire turned and continued towards her costume. Midnight took the opportunity to surreptitiously cast a soundproofing spell on the walls around them, just in case things went south. From her position, she could make out the tight, powerful muscle beneath Spitfire’s fur—a real athlete’s build. Not for long, it wouldn’t be.
At the other end of the room, Spitfire set about squeezing into her uniform, feeling the material snap into place over her body. "Alright... how do I look?" she asked.
"Oh, fantastic!" Midnight assured her. "Really, fantastic! I should be able to get some great photos out of these!"
"Good, good," Spitfire replied. "So... what, do you want me to strike some poses or something?"
"You know what?" Midnight said. "That’d be just perfect. Let’s see... can you give me a really dynamic pose? Like you’re poised for takeoff?"
"Eh, I guess," Spitfire said. She tensed herself as she lowered her front half to the ground, sticking her rump up in the air and tensing her muscles.
"Oh, that’s amazing!" Midnight squealed, clopping her hooves together with delight as she took a photo. "Okay, what next, what next... alright, give me a confident shot next! Give me a look that says, ‘I’m a top athlete and I know it!’"
Spitfire chuckled. She hadn’t been sure of this at first, but she had to admit that this mare’s enthusiasm was contagious. "Alright, hold on," she said, before tossing her mane back and giving Midnight a half-lidded smile.
"Perfect, perfect!" Midnight gushed. "Alright, demure pose. Give me a nice, cheeky shot."
This time, Spitfire had no hesitation, feeling much more at ease in Midnight’s presence. She stretched out on her side on the ground and rested her head on her front hoof, giving the camera a wink while sticking her tongue out.
And so the process continued, with Spitfire posing for several different shots at Midnight’s command. Unbeknownst to Spitfire, Midnight was moving closer and closer to her with each shot, moving within touching distance. As she approached her, she cast her spell into her hooves, feeling the magic flow through them.
"You know what?" Spitfire said. "I never was into those cutesy modeling things, but this is pretty fun."
"I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, Captain," Midnight smiled. "Maybe you could answer me a question I’ve been pondering for a while now."
"Go ahead, shoot."
"Just how strong is the elastic in those uniforms?"
Spitfire paused just as she posed in a mid-takeoff position. "Uh... I don’t know, that’s not my department. They have to stand up to some strong G-forces, as well as the usual crashes and accidents you can expect, so I’d say it’s pretty resilient."
"Hmm... I see. Maybe we should do a test?" Midnight asked, her eyes glinting as she circled around her.
"A... a test?" Spitfire repeated, puzzled. "What kind of-"
She cut herself off as Midnight pressed her hooves into her flanks, rubbing her rear end vigorously.
"Gah! What in Tartarus?!" she yelled, lashing out with her hind legs and getting Midnight to stagger backwards. "Get off me, you perv!"
"Oooh, a feisty one, eh?" Midnight said as she recovered herself. "Well, it won’t do you any good. I imagine you must be feeling a bit... bottom-heavy right about now."
Indeed, Spitfire could feel a definite weight tugging at her rear end. Twisting her head around, she was shocked and horrified to see that her rump had swollen up as surely as if her butt cheeks had been a pair of balloons attached to a helium tank. They were round, flabby and quivering, straining the fabric of her suit that bit tighter.
"What did you do to me?" she shrieked. "Help! Somepony get in here-"
"That won’t do any good," Midnight said airily as she grabbed hold of her forelegs. "Looks like the suit is still holding... for now."
As Midnight said that, she quickly rubbed at Spitfire’s forelegs. Spitfire felt her breath catch in her throat as they too turned thick and fleshy, the muscles being buried under layers of pillow-like fat. She tried to wriggle free and send a punch Midnight’s way, but the new weight added to her legs rendered it little more than a clumsy swipe.
"Aw, feeling a little lethargic?" Midnight giggled. There was that glint again. To Spitfire, it was merely a confirmation that she was dealing with a madmare.
Midnight took Spitfire by surprise by shoving her backwards. With her new weight around her rear compromising her balance, Spitfire found herself falling onto her side with a cry of shock and pain. Midnight bore a toothy grin as she stood over her. Spitfire tried to edge away from her, eyes wide with horror as she raised a hoof.
"Please don’t..."
"My dear Spitfire..." Midnight said, her grin now positively predatory. "I’m just getting started."
Spitfire screamed out as Midnight flung herself at her, rubbing her hooves over every inch of her body. Immediately, she could feel herself swelling grotesquely with blubber as Midnight ran her hooves over her belly, quickly transforming her sleek, toned abdomen into a massive gelatinous gut. Rolls of fat began to appear through her suit as it was stretched tighter and tighter, the material creaking and groaning from the new exertion being forced upon it.
"My, this is a tough suit, isn’t it?" Midnight said with a high-pitched giggle as she rubbed Spitfire’s back with one hoof, feeling thick, juicy back rolls spread out beneath her touch. She used her other hoof to knead the mare’s buttocks, causing her rump to lose all definition as they went from balloons to deflated airbags. "You must be feeling rather uncomfortable right about now, am I right?"
Indeed, Spitfire could feel her suit constricting her like never before. No matter how much she grew, the suit would not yield. It was beginning to ride up crevices she didn’t even know she had, her new rolls of fat being outlined more clearly as the material grew taut over them. She let out several intermittent high-pitched whimpers, her eyes watering as more and more of the rubbery material found its way up her rear end. She wiggled her front legs in a comically useless display of defiance as Midnight moved to her face and neck. As she felt the mare’s evil touch roam over her cheeks, they too began to fill the confines of her suit, being compressed uncomfortably as they swelled to cherubic proportions. Likewise, her new treble chin was being constricted far more than she would have liked. She let out a strangled croak as Midnight looked her in the eyes.
"Well, what do you know?" she said. "You were right—that suit really can withstand some serious strain."
It was true. Spitfire’s suit had miraculously survived the entire ordeal. It was now stretched so tight over Spitfire that it may as well have not been there at all. Every roll, fold and crease was visible, with the suit riding up any crack and hole it could find. Spitfire rolled onto her side as Midnight pushed her, revealing her perfectly-outlined belly button.
"Well," Midnight said as she made for the door, "it was fun, but I have places to go. Ponies to see. Or rather... a pony to see." As she opened the door, she turned to face her once more.
"Oh, and by the way? I honestly couldn’t care less about your silly flying team."
With that, Midnight closed the door and placed a seal on it, trapping Spitfire inside. "That takes care of that," she told herself as she set off.
There were a number of thoughts running through Spitfire’s mind. How could she have been duped by such a deranged pony? How would she run the Wonderbolts now? How would she explain this to the Wonderbolts? Yet none even compared to the large problem that was currently riding up her rear.
"I have the mother of all wedgies right now."