In her apartment above Sugarcube Corner, a barely conscious Pinkie Pie was laying flat out on the floor upon her belly, once again left utterly exhausted by her daily exercise regime. She made a feeble effort to eat the celery on the plate in front of her. Her misery at having to eat the veggie couldn’t be more evident. Behind her, Gummi the alligator was busy dragging her sweat soaked track suit to the laundry pile.
Pinkie had been left so exhausted by today’s exercise, not only had she not been able to make it to the pile, but she had needed her pet’s help in getting the track suit off her too. After finishing the celery stalk, she sighed and rolled onto her back. Her massively over plumped body, barely decreased in girth by all the punishment she had been subjected to these past weeks, jiggled and wobbled as she did so.
‘‘Ooooooh…I can’t do this anymore Gummi!’’ the pink pony lamented with a groan. Her great belly was rising and falling with her heavy breathing. And there were the beginnings of tears in her bright blue eyes. ‘‘I just can’t do it! All this exertion! All this burning, pain! All this sweaty…smelly…stickiness! All this injuring my best friends! All this celery! I…just…can’t…do…it!’’.
She wiped sweat off her brow, then sniffed under her right front leg. This action made her wrinkle her muzzle in disgust. ‘‘Ewww, I am so gross right now. I smell worst than Mr Cake’s socks. Be a dear, Gummi, and run me a bath please? That’s a good boy.’’ The little alligator, finished with the track suit, rotated on the spot and blinked his trademark blink before scuttling off towards the bathroom.
That morning had been a particularly tough one. Rainbow Dash had made her canter even further than usual today. She claimed that she obviously hadn’t been pushing her friend hard enough, otherwise she still wouldn’t be so fat. Dash apologised to Pinkie for going too soft on her, and promised to push her harder and harder from now on. The thought of this prospect filled Pinkie with dread. However, on the plus side, Rainbow Dash did also promise to go easier on her with the motivational shouting. So at least her feelings wouldn’t be hurt anymore. Just her body.
Things hadn’t been any better with Rarity after the daily canter either. The poor fashionista had slipped on the large puddle of sweat which always formed around Pinkie Pie when she was working out in the gym. The Unicorn went down hard, and badly twisted her leg in the process. Rarity did her best to underplay the whole thing, but it had been obvious to Pinkie that her friend was in tremendous pain. Combined with the memories of what had happened with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie’s sadness began to reach critical levels.
‘‘I promised my friends I’d get slim…’’ she whispered very slightly to herself. ‘‘And I’m not…and I’ve hurt them so much. I’m…I’m a terrible pony.’’ Tears began to flow slowly down her cheeks. Her bright pink coat and her bright blue eyes began to dull, and there was a faint trace of air escaping from a deflating balloon as her puffy, curly cotton candy mane began to ever so slowly straighten out on it’s own. At that moment, there was a knock upon the door. Pinkie Pie wiped her face clean of tears and sweat.
‘‘Come in!’’ she called out flatly. There was the sound of the door opening gently, and then the sound of hooves clopping upon the wooden floor as the visitor entered her room. Pinkie Pie couldn’t see who it was though, not over the vast mound of her huge belly, and she was still too exhausted, and now too miserable, to bother shifting her position for a better look. Whoever it was though, she hoped that they couldn’t see her tears.
‘‘Pinkie Pie?’’ said a female voice. Pinkie recognised it as Twilight’s.
‘‘Oh…h-hey Twi-Twilght! How are you doing to-today?’’ she replied. She fought to keep her sobs under control.
‘‘I’m…fine, thank you…Pinkie? Are…are you ok?’’ her friend asked. Her voice was full of concern. Pinkie Pie decided to muster the strength needed to sit upright after all. She didn’t look Twilight in the face, but she did answer her question.
‘‘No…no not really. I’m actually pretty down right now Twilight.’’ Pinkie said in a completely flat tone. Twilight saw now the deflated, straightened mane, and the dullness in Pinkie’s watery eyes. ‘‘I’m pretty down because…I’m a big fat tubby mess of goo who can’t lose any weight and breaks promises to her friends and who hurts them when they’re only trying to help her.’’ There was the sound of running water and a gentle steam coming from the bathroom now. Pinkie looked over to it, and sighed before continuing. ‘‘And I’m wasting time, and hot water, running a bath in a tub that I can’t even fit into properly anymore. I’m a pathetic, p-plump, pony hurting…p-p-p-punk!’’ Pinkie practically spat the last word out. Then her lips began to tremble, and she buried her head into her hooves as she began to openly cry.
Without a word Twilight Sparkle, herself now teary eyed, went over and hugged her friend tightly. She left Pinkie Pie cry herself out onto her shoulder. After a few moments, she took hold of Pinkie firmly, and said;
‘‘Pinkie Pie. You are not a punk. And you haven’t broken any promises to any of your friends. Do you hear me? Do, you, hear, me? You promised you would try your very best to lose the pudge, and you did. You really, really, did. That’s all anypony could ask of you. The others and I can plainly see that. You’ve done the exercise with Rainbow Dash and Rarity every single day. They’ve told me how hard you’ve been pushing yourself, and how proud they are of you for it. And I know, that you’ve stuck to the diet, because you would have starved otherwise. I know my magic, and there’s no way you could have willingly eaten any junk food while under that spell.’’
‘‘But…I hurt Rarity and Fluttershy, Twilight!’’ Pinkie Pie said.
‘‘Hey…no pain no gain…and that applies to all of us.’’ said Twilight defiantly. ‘‘And besides…they were accidents right? Nopony can blame you for an accident! Erm, incidentally, what exactly happened with you and Rarity in the gym?’’
‘‘She twisted her ankle when she accidentally slipped and fell in my sweat puddle.’’ replied Pinkie.
‘‘Oh…well, you see? You even said it yourself! An accident!’’
‘‘The first time with Fluttershy wasn’t an accident though. I deliberately sat on her that time.’’
‘‘But she got over that quickly enough, didn’t she? And she was walking around and flying again in no time…for a while. Look, the point is, none of us are mad at you, and you shouldn’t be mad at yourself either, OK?’’
‘‘OK. I guess so.’’ Pinkie then asked Twilight the question which had been running through her mind for what felt like forever.
‘‘But…why can’t I lose my pudge Twilight? Why am I so fat still? Even with all the exercising and dieting and sweating, I’m still super-sized! You know things about stuff. What gives?’’
‘‘I don’t know Pinkie. It’s a mystery alright. But…listen. I think I’ve found a way to help you end this, once and for all.’’ Pinkie Pie looked up hopefully.
‘‘You…you have?’’ she asked. Her eyes portrayed her interest very keenly.
‘‘Yes, but! To do so will require you to give me your permission. It involves more magic you see. Advanced magic. And I understand that it can be…unpleasant…potentially. And there might be some small risks involved as well. But, if it works, you’ll be back to your previous weight in no time at all!’’
‘‘REALLY?’’ Pinkie gasped. ‘‘What is it? Whatever it is, I’ll do it!’’
‘‘Now hold on Pinkie! I haven’t explained what it is yet. You need to fully understand the potential implications of this procedure before you can truly decide whether or not you want to go through with it. It is called…Liposuction. It’s often used by celebonies to…to…erm, Pinkie Pie? Your bathroom’s flooding.’’
Pinkie shifted her weight to see what Twilight was talking about. Water was now seeping into the bedroom from the bathroom. Steam was pouring out of there, and by the sounds of things, the taps were still on. Then Gummi the alligator, his expression as emotionless as ever, came skidding into the bedroom atop a massively oversized yellow rubber duck. When the duck came to a halt, he blinked his trade blink, then started gumming the duck’s head.
‘‘Oh, Gummi! You so silly!’’ said Pinkie with a chuckle. Some of the brightness began to return to the pink pony. She then explained to Twilight. ‘‘I forgot that I haven’t taught him how to turn the taps off yet. He’s still one lesson short. Silly, forgetful me! Oh well, I better help him out.’’ Pinkie Pie attempted to get up onto her hooves by herself, but she just couldn’t manage it. After a few tries, she blushed, and asked Twilight with a nervous laugh;
‘‘Little help?’’
‘‘Of course’’ said Twilight kindly with a smile. Her horn then began to glow, as she prepared to summon a powerful levitation spell.