A large set of Prench windows sat wide open, looking out across the Academy’s courtyard. Because of the structure’s age and an expansive history of construction, many architectural styles had mingled together. Great archways spanned the perimeter of the area, a few flying buttresses connected to the particularly tall structures that jutted up, the gothic styling clashing heavily with the recognisably Canterlotian builds; great multicoloured towers with conical turrets.
It was all too apparent that the school had become architecturally bloated, too many extra quarries worth of stone and render clagged onto the structure, not too dissimilar to the many ponies who traversed its halls. Honeysweet sighed, briefly looking into the empty air, gazing upon the distant hills. She idly spun her pen between her fingers, pausing as her pen kept colliding with her swollen digits.
Shaking her head gently, her gaze wandered back over to the blackboard, tuning back into his lecture. “...this apparent trend seems to be working it’s way across the country. As you’ll no doubt recall from the fourth volume of ‘The History of Equestria’, our country has been experiencing bountiful harvests for many generations, following the miracle development by Morag and Haber. This led to excessive amounts of cheap food becoming available nationwide, causing the minimum weight to continually rise through overindulgence. Though, this has...”
She tuned out again, distracted by a slight pinching feeling of her clothes. Fumbling, she extricated the fabric from between the fleshy rolls that so gleefully swallowed. And oh, how fleshy she was. Following Autumn’s advice, the mare had begun a crusade of gluttony, cutting swaths through any dish and meal that took her fancy. Be it stacks of syrup ladened pancakes from the pancakes houses her family owned, to great slabs of chunky, greasy pizza, to more of Miss Knickerbockers fine milkshakes and ice creams.
More recently, she’d taken a great interest in a new bakery which had opened on one of the busiest crossroads in Canterlot, one leading directly to the Castle, the other joining the financial district, shopping district and various institutions of academia, Canterlot Mare’s Preparatory Academy included. Berry Pies’s Bakery was a simple-looking establishment from the outside, but within were some of the best pastries and sweet’s Honey had ever had the privilege of consuming.
Assailed on all fronts by waves of calorie dense food and drink, the few weeks she’d spent on her fattening quest had blossomed with significant results. That meant she had shot up from around 300+ pounds, too damn near 550. Such concentrated feeding had created a wobbling mass of an equine, squeezed into an outfit which had been upsized and re-tailored a half dozen times already. Great rolls and slabs of adipose hung from her bloated figure, jostling and wobbling with every movement.
Her weight distribution had remained much the same, much to the dismay of any piece of furniture she happened upon. Two round globes of blubber, jutting out into a shelf that could just about smother an entire bench, to the point where she was forced to use a seat for each cheek. Much like the gothic arches that propped up the immense mass of the building, so did Honey's legs grow outwards into two immense column sized appendages, groaning with excess poundage. Their appearance brought to mind a palm tree, the overlapping growth rings on the trunk not too dissimilar to the sections of lard gathered around her thighs and calves, each higher section sagging onto the lower one.
Her gut distorted into an apron of cellulite and roll riddled flab swell out onto her lap, almost like a blanket of a sort. As heavy as a sack of flour, it continually fought against her blazer and shirt, such as to the point where she could no longer tuck it into her XXXXXL skirt. Unrestrained, it surged forwards, squishing and squashing into the table she sat at, wrapping around the legs.
She tugged at her blazer, doing little more than emitting the quiet popping of stitches, followed by a jiggling of the smattering of upper body flab. Her love handles quaked, propagating undulations up her back rolls, which bounced her sizable chest around. Much like how her gut hadn’t grown proportionally, so too had her breasts developed to a lesser degree. That still didn’t prevent the fact that she’d outgrown multiple pairs of bras, the last one catapulting itself across her bedroom in a rather spectacular fashion.
A low gurgle rose from her ever more cavernous stomach, Honey reaching out and grabbing a handful of chocolate-covered malt balls, popping them in and chewing. Normally, eating in class like this would have, at best, drawn a few dirty looks, and at worst, the lecturer would confiscate them and give you a detention. However, she was but one amongst many. Though she had the largest pile on her desk, many of the others in the cohort had taken up this practice.
Casting a wayward eye around the classroom revealed many of her classmates were becoming ensnared by the trap of hunger. Every other desk had a snack or two sitting beside their textbooks and paper. Untucked shirts, wayward rolls of fat, criss crosses of tears riddling tights. Weight gain was becoming more and more of an apparent fact with each passing day for the Academy, with Honey sat at the zenith of the furor.
“...And there has been an interesting development in Equestriaas recently as a few weeks ago. The speculations of an exponential increase in average weight has been confirmed. Though this trend started in Manehatten, it has since radiated out to neighbouring towns and cities. This has...” Before he could continue, the concussive ring of the bell filled the room, causing a few students to jolt in the seats.
“Hold on just a second, I haven’t quite finished, so sit for just a second.” He snapped, a few of the more eager students settling back into their seats, slight scowls adorning their faces. “Now, for next week, I want to see each of you produce a report, no longer than three sides of A4. These should focus around the historic and societal changes in diet and weight through the last few hundred years. I want to see some excellent papers produced, with actual research done in both current and historic trends; not some cobbled together mess created from your notes. Dismissed”.
As the last word left his mouth, the cohort almost simultaneously rose to their feet, the sound of grinding chairs on linoleum piercing the ears. Or at least they tried to leave simultaneously. For those who’d embraced the gaining, the simple force of gravity slowed any action. Gasps and pants echoed out as leg and core muscles fought against the excess poundage bearing down upon them. Out of all the ones who struggled, it was Honey who fared the worst. Pushing down upon the table surface brought ominous groans of metal and wood, not designed for such a weight upon their frames. Mixed in the dissonance of pants and groans, occasional bursts of flatulence worked their way loose, minging and subsequently overpowering the foody smell swaddling the room.
A few of the slimmer students winced, hastening their pace towards the door. The majority, though, seemed to care little for the noxious bursts and blatant disregard for decorum. Trickles of sweat rolled down Honey’s forehead, extending her legs inch by agonising inch. A pair of hands wrapped around her upper arm, sinking into the pliant mass of her bingo wings. Gently, they pulled upward, bringing her to a comfortable standing position.
Wiping a hand across her forehead, she turned to face her benefactor. If Honey recalled, her name was Chrysanthemum, the daughter of a flower merchant, so large that they supplied stock to every gardening center and home improvement shop across Equestria.
“Thanks… I was struggling quite a bit…” Honey panted, offering a small smile.
“It’s quite alright, I’m sure you’d have helped me out all the same! Want a doughnut?” The pink-coloured pegasus grabbed a modest sized bag from her desk, offering a collection of golden brown sphere’s of sugar, jam and calories. Nodding graciously, she plucked one out of the pile, popping past her lips. Biting into it, she moaned, a flood of strawberry jam flooding into her mouth and across her tongue.
Gulping, she quickly swallowed the calorie dense mass, licking her lips clean of detritus. “I was feeling pretty hungry, thanks for that Chrysanthemum.”
“Don’t mention it, but please, call me Chrysan; all my friends do.” She smiled “Just wondering, would you and your friend be interested in a little party at my place in a few days' time?”
“I’d be more than happy to attend! Thank you for offering Chrysan!” Honey responded, a smile working its way onto her chocolate stained lips.
“My pleasure. Party starts at my place at 8pm on Saturday. It’s in the eastern section of the residential district, you shouldn’t be able to miss the flower beds.” Nodding, she disappeared through the door, leaving the pair alone; the lecturer having slipped out at some point. Gathering together the rest of her snacks into her arms, hugging them close to her chest. Waddling forth, she exited into the hall, the widest parts of Honey’s hips grazing the door frame.
“Wow, that’s two invitations in two weeks! It feels like I’m back in Primary school.” Honey whispered to herself, grinning as the stuffy classroom air dissipated. “I can’t believe how many ponies' attitudes have changed towards me; I’d pinch myself if my arms weren’t so full.” Grabbing a slab of her belly, Honey sighed. “I’m already sooooo big… compared to that Bowstring though, I’m still tiny.”
Plodding down hallway after hallway, she eventually joined the crush of students filtering out of the other classrooms and lecture halls, eager to take a well-deserved break from learning. Gently, and occasionally not so gently knocking into other ponies, the reactions differed significantly. The thinner students gave her dirty, hurt looks, often accompanied by mild insults or mutterings of annoyance. Those of a more rotund disposition tended to either wave it off, or apologise themselves for getting in her way; Some even pressing her for suggestions on dining locations.
Even so, through all the bustling students, she squeezed their way into the courtyard. A rectangular space, the grass covered space had several straight pathways, a large, high edged fountain in the centre. Large benches were interspersed throughout the space, the simple seating featuring intricately designed pieces of metal protruding from the frame, curled to form the neck and head of a serpent. These were almost all taken, the unlucky saps who didn’t find one awkwardly sitting on the stone arches that boarded the edges of the yard.
Straining on her tiptoes, Honey spotted a free bench on the far side. Readjusting her snacks, getting a firmer grip on them, she weaved into the mass of equine. Weaving through the various groups and friendship circles, Honey could feel dozens of pairs of eyes planted squarely upon her gelatinous form. Like in history class, there was a split divide in attitudes; the ones who were weirded out by her massive figure, and the ones who were jealous of Honey’s size.
She soon found herself near the centre of the yard, sun shining on the nape of her neck. The cool breath of the mountain winds blew across her face, mingling with the spray created from the fountain. With the sounds of quiet chatter blending with the splashing of water, Honey felt rather calmed, closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath. She was so much at peace; she failed to hear the sudden pounding of shoes on gravel building to her right side.
Before she could acknowledge it, an abrupt shove was delivered to the mare’s chest. Unprepared for the blow, Honey raised her arms defensively, letting the myriad of food packets suddenly drop to the ground. The bags and packets already opened rapidly disgorged their contents onto the path. A box of bite-sized brownies practically detonated, the force of the impact breaking the flimsy paper seal, creating a brief shower of chocolate chipped projectiles. Above all else, the impact created an almighty clatter and bang.
“H...hey! Watch where you’re walking!” Honey exclaimed, surveying the devastation that had been wrought upon her snacks.
“Yeah right, maybe you should watch where you're going, fat ass!” Honey blinked, her mouth going dry as she acknowledged who she’d bumped into. Ruby stood there, sneering at Honey with no attempt to hide the contempt in her face. “Although, maybe it’s my fault. After all, who could miss an ass the size of a cart?”
Honey looked around, chest tightening as already a crowd was gathering. One of Ruby’s friends stood by her side, the mare’s muzzle slightly conflicted. Ruby herself was on the lower end of the weight spectrum, with minor changes made to her physique. The red-coloured mare flared her nostrils, making an exaggerated sniff. “Celestia above, I can smell how bucking rancid you are from all the way over here. Have you ever heard of the concept of a shower? Or basic hygiene, for that matter? Then again, manners have never been your strong suit, just like your spiraling weight problem.”
She chuckled darkly, the cackle somewhat eerie in the deathly silent yard. Even her friend was near silent, making a few forced ‘ha’s’ that were just above audible.
“And?” Honey simply replied, though it was laced with an undertone of anger, the corners of her mouth drawn into beginnings of a snarl. “What about my weight or my smell is wrong?”
“Pshaw… like I really need to answer that. You already fill an entire bench made for like, three ponies, and you smell like a trash dump. Sitting through class with you is revolting, what with you stuffing your face full of junk, farting and making smells like some commoner… oh yeah, I forgot about that, you’re new money. I shouldn’t have expected you to let go of such ghastly habits.”
“Those, yes, are indeed facts. But what I’m really saying is, does anyone actually give a buck above what I smell and look like, or even where I come from? I don’t know if you’ve touched a fashion magazine in the past few weeks, but this figure is currently in. Have you even looked at anypony else besides me, or even asked what they think about me?”
“I think you look really sexy Honey!” A cheer suddenly rose from the crowd.
“She looks great! Nopony gives a buck what you think Ruby!” Another shout was hollarded from another part of the yard. Soon, a bubbling mixture of supportive and heckling comments filled the air. Ruby’s eyes wandered around, her mouth aghast at the streams of vitriolic hate directed towards her.
“What the hay? You can’t be bucking serious right now? You’re supporting that whale over me?” She whirled around, failing to rationalise any solution. So focused on the crowd, that she only realised Honey was rapidly approaching her but the sudden shift in expression on the cohorts face. Swinging her hips in a wide arc, Honey’s immense tushie squarely collided with Ruby’s belly, the immense kinetic force sending the smaller mare tumbling to the ground.
Flat on her back, the breath was forced from her lungs. Wheezing, she could only let out a weak scream as the two globe-like sphere’s that composed Honey’s ass were firmly planted onto Ruby’s chest and face. Trapped beneath the weighty mounds, she was beset by a burst of nauseous body odour, which was quickly overpowered by a low rumbling that billowed forth into a cacophony of farts. A broadside of gas muffled the moans, silencing her justly. “How do you like this… pppfffppbbtt... huh? How about this… brrrappphhhtt… yeah? You keep mentioning how much I smell, don’t you? Why don’t you get a taste of the real thing… ffffrrrnnnpppttt… bucking bitch!”
Ruby’s arms flailed around, attempting to get some leverage as a thick miasma enveloped the two. Whatever gastronomic cocktail was sloshing around Honey’s gut brought forth a barrage of stink that seeped it’s way into every stitch of clothing, making the obese mare’s odor all the more unbearable for Ruby.
“Honey! Please stop, for crying out loud, that’s enough!” The sudden bellowing cry of Autumn rang out from behind, tugging the blubbery mare’s arm forcefully. Releasing one last noxious blast, the batter coloured mare slowly got to her feet, Autumn helping her out. Sitting there shell-shocked, Ruby was breathing shallowly through her mouth, scrambling to her feet. Her eyes shimmered with moisture, the sound of sniffling reaching Honey’s ears. “God’s above, why the hay did you do that? I think she already got the message when everypony threw insults at her.”
“She deserved it, after all the flak we’ve caught…” Honey grumbled, glowering heavily Ruby. Slowly, the red-coloured mare slunk off, her face downcast as she wandered alone into the crowd. Soon, the sound of feet pounding on the ground rang forth, Honey catching a fleeting glimpse of the retreating mare’s mane flashing between other students.
“Yes, but trying to smother and gas her isn’t exactly ‘tip for tat’, is it? I’m happy you finally stood up for yourself; there’s only so many times I can bear seeing you act so gloomy.” Autumn firmly grabbed Honey by the shoulders, looking into her eyes. “But you’ve made your point. You’re lucky there aren’t any teachers around, or you’d have probably been put in suspension.”
“I guess you're right... I just kinda reached a boiling point, you know?”
“Again, I understand fully. Let’s just try to not make this a regular occurrence, OK?”
“Alright, though, I’d be even more willing if you’d help me pick up these treats…” Honey smirked, Autumn lightly slapping her arm as she grinned in return.
“Fine, you’ve got a deal, big girl. Just so long as I get first dibs on anything not smashed up.” The batter coloured mare nodded, her numerous chins dancing and slapping together. The crowd surrounding them had begun to disperse, students chatting amongst themselves as they returned to their seats. There, they grabbed bags of chocolate, pastries and other assorted junk food. Whatever future this school had, it was going to be much, much fatter.