Various Kinds Of Dread

by JC Borch

Part 2/3

Did you hear about the man who secretly made half-human, half-horse creatures in his underground laboratory? It was the cover-up of the centaur-y

EQUESTRIAN SHIPPING SHORT STORY 04: VARIOUS KINDS OF DREAD PART 2/3

I made my way back home, crestfallen, feeling useless. Instead of helping Sweetie Belle, I had only fuelled her addiction. She had gone from a glutton to a thief and now to a garbage disposal, and every change in her behaviour seemed to come back to me. I had offered her muffins, I had offered her friendship, I paid for a night in the town. I had never felt so miserable in my whole life and worst of all, the allowance I had saved up was now all gone. And just as I thought things couldn’t get any worse... I heard the extra hoofsteps again.

There was no one behind me of course, I looked to make sure. The weather was clear that day and I would know immediately if someone was following me. But there were neither shadows on the wall nor any additional hoof prints in the ground. Fear rose in my again and I tried to walk normally. It was nothing more than a portent and yet it seemed so real to me. I remembered the message on the wall and I knew my dad had been wrong. Somepony was after me.

I rounded a corner and I saw an opportunity: the large pond near the restaurant. Before my mysterious stalker could catch up to me I had to jump into action. Literally. I landed in the water with a splash and hoped that it didn’t give away my position. Immediately I saw the legs again walking just past me. The light broke and the image was distorted, but the culprit seemed to be ten feet tall and dark as the night. By this time, my lungs were aching for air but I was too afraid to breathe even if I had been above.

When I couldn’t hold it in more and my vision started to prickle, my instincts kicked in and I resurfaced with a deep gasp. The figure was gone but without the onset of a storm, the dramatic effect had been lessened. My curiosity got the better of me and I swam back to shore and looked around. The area was completely empty and it must have moved on. But, I wondered, had it left me any messages like last?

“Stay away from her,” I read in the grass painted with the same red ink. I felt no fear, instead, rage boiled within me. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” I screamed into the sky. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” I repeated my message a few times until desperate tears were all I felt, forcing their way out of my clenched eyes and rolling down my cheeks.

“Goodness, are you all right?” A yellow pegasus had landed next to me without me noticing at all. She had a big bag of fodder over her back that completely dwarfed her, its malleable shape threatening with swallowing her. I feel my cheeks flush and I looked away. “I’m sorry, did I interrupt something? You were shouting so I didn’t to bother you but it’s feeding time for the frogs.”

One of the little green animals looked up at me from its lily pad with a ribbit. “No, it’s okay,” I huffed and started to leave when a thought occurred to me. “Did you see anypony around here? Besides me, I mean?”

She shook her head and took a hoofful of fodder, spreading the little pellets around the water’s surface. “I just got here.”

Well, it had been worth a try. I was rather frustrated as I returned home but I was soon to forget my worries… if only for a while. I entered the front entrance of our house and saw that dad had put the last touches to the shop. A desk had been erected at the other end and several shelves had been put up along the walls. In fact, my dad was standing with nails in his mouth and hoof wrapped around a hammer.

“Dinky! I’m glad you’re home already, but I had wanted to finish this before you got back.” He spat out the nails into a bowl on the floor next to him. “I thought you’d be out all day with your friends.”

“S-something came up.” With my plan formed, I had indeed hoped it would take all day. I gaped at all the improvements he had made in just a few hours.

“You like it? I’ve saved up the money and finally got around to hire a little help.” He was hopeful in my impression and I was truly taken aback, so I nodded. “I’m so glad! Listen, sweetie, I don’t want to impose this on you but do you think you could come straight home after school for a while to help? I’d rather ask your mother but since she’s still… well…”

It was just what I needed to distract myself. It was with a smile even through my weariness that I replied. “I’d love to, dad.”

He came over to me and embraced me tightly but then held me out at an arm’s length. “Dinky, you’re dripping wet.”

“It’s… a long story,” I replied and rolled my eyes. I was not in the mood to discuss it and instead started helping out my dad.

The next week was pretty basic for me. I came straight back home after school. With my aid, the shop opening date pushed nearer. We worked all weekend as well and when Monday came, the Lord of Time Repair and Sale was ready for business. My dad had a lot of clocks and watches he put on display and the rest of the house was dedicated to maintenance and stock. I would sweep the floors before school and then go behind the counter when I came home.

I had not thought much about Sweetie Belle during that time, mostly due to her sporadic absences. When she did come to school her weight seemed to have reached a zenith. I doubt very much Rarity allowed her any more indulgences. Not that she needed to become any larger. She had almost reached the size of four fillies. Her desk had to be replaced long ago with a custom made one of solid steel, and even then, she just used her sizable belly as a surface.

I still had to cheer her up somehow. Everything I had done so far, however, had been in vain, regardless of who I asked. Now that I sat shop instead of being physically engaged my mind wandered. Keeping the shop was tedious and dad was still away on his regular timekeeping jobs. He tried advertising wherever he could but the flow of customers was… chunky to say the least. But it was my dad’s dream and I had nothing better to do. All of my friends had gotten their cutie marks and become too busy, and even Noi had found a coltfriend. My dad’s talent was time so maybe mine was as well. A week into the project with nothing happening had diminished my hopes though. It was only the thought of a sale that kept me going. If I could get that done, maybe my talent could be revealed to be assistant or watch repairer or something.

The bell above the door chimed and I looked up excitedly. It was Applejack and she seemed impressed at the shop or perhaps at all the ornate cuckoo clocks on the walls. There was plenty to catch the eye and I had several ponies come in to admire the décor. But I knew she was here for more than just that, after all, she had a kitchen timer in her mouth that she spat out on the wooden finish in front of me.

“Think you can do sumthing about this here egg timer?” She took off her hat and held it to her chest while her eyes wandered.

“Sure, what’s wrong with it?” I picked it up and rattled it close to my ear.

“Well, Ah’m not sure, but ever since the Crusaders used it in their float it ain’t been working right.”

“The… Crusaders?” I nearly dropped the timer down on the counter. How could I not have realised it sooner? If I wanted help with Sweetie Belle I had to ask those closest to her, and who better to ask than her friends… former friends, but still. I tried to contain my enthusiasm for now and cleared my throat. “How has Apple Bloom been?”

“Aw shucks, a mite depressed.” Applejack sighed and looked away. “Ah thought gettin’ her cutie mark would be the best thing ever, but she’s been more listless than Winona in the heat of summer.”

I put a tag on the timer and put it away. “Mr Time Turner should have your clock done by tomorrow, if you would check back then. Where can I find her?”

“Apple Bloom? Well, she’s usually hangin’ out at her old clubhouse,” Applejack replied and tapped her muzzle. I jumped down from my stool and hurried past her. There weren’t going to be other customers so I could leave the shop for just a few minutes. I just had to ask for Apple Bloom’s opinion. With her help, I could surely get Sweetie Belle to talk.

***

A young girl sat in the garden in front of her home with one hand on her chin and the other idly rolling a ball around. The wind came to rustle the tree next to her and play with her ponytail. A tiny sigh escaped her to join the wind and flow up to the skies. A grey pegasus was suddenly sitting next to her and she nearly fell on her back in surprise.

“A cartoon pony!” she exclaimed and happily embraced Derpy, picking her up under her pony armpits like a cat and holding her close and rubbing her chin up against her blonde mane. “I’ll call you Fluffykins and then we’ll be bestest friends forever!”

“Don’t you already have a bestest friend?” Derpy asked, to which the girl sagged down on the ground again. Derpy came to rest in her lap.

“No.” The girl sniffed and leant in over Derpy, putting her head down on the pony’s back. “I just moved to town and I do want to find new friends, but Clarissa doesn’t like me and everyone is scared of her. I just don’t know what to do, Fluffykins. Even the teachers are afraid of her and no one even wants to talk me.”

“You shouldn’t let your life be dictated by bullies,” Derpy chirped happily and spread her wings. “You should confront her and tell her that you want none of it!”

“I can’t do that in school when everyone is watching me!” The girl recoiled in horror and covered her blushing face. “Oh, all those faces and judgmental stares. The new girl not knowing her place.”

“Then go to where she lives. That ought to frighten her a bit.” Derpy looked up at the girl, but she averted her eyes.

“I don’t even know where she lives.”

“But don’t you see, we’re already there!”

“Wha–”

True enough; the girl was then stood on a path made of large blocks of stone leading up to a wooden house painted red. Tiles were missing from the roof and the garden was overgrown with weeds. An old car was parked by the adjacent garage on the right but it would be a miracle if that block of rust would ever drive again.

“How did you…” she asked and looked at the pony next to her.

“Imagination!” Derpy exclaimed. “Now go and give that Clarissa a piece of your mind.”

The girl nodded, deciding not to put too much thought into it after all. She walked the last pace up to the front door and rapped twice with her hand. It took some time with nothing happening, so she turned back to Derpy who simply shrugged. But at last the door creaked open and Clarissa was revealed, a troll of a woman with wide shoulders and short salmon hair in pigtails. The girl stammered uncertainly and took a step back.

“What do you want, dweeb?” Clarissa asked, her voice sounding like a knell and her unibrow furrowing into surprise.

“On the other hoof, one must also the value of a tactical retreat.” Derpy swooped down, grabbed the girl by her arm and carried her off to a nearby tree where they sat down on a thick branch. The girl drew her knees up to her chin and began to sob.

“You see? It’s impossible to do anything about that girl.”

“I had not expected it would come to this.” Derpy’s face became solemn and cast in shadows as she bowed forward.

“What are you talking about, Fluffykins?” The girl wiped her eye but couldn’t stop her sniffing.

“There’s only one thing you can do… muffin.”

“M-muffin?”

Derpy nodded and shook her hoof. A muffin appeared out of thin air, resting on her head. Looking straight into the girl’s eyes, she continued. “Muffin is a last resort and will work where everything else fails… unless the subject is possessed by a demon, but that rarely happens.”

The girl reached out for the treat on top of Derpy’s head but the pony grabbed itself and pressed the entire thing into her maw. The muffin-shaped lump trailed down her oesophagus and landed in her stomach with a plop.

“Listen very carefully,” Derpy said and grabbed the girl’s shoulders. “It is paramount that you make the muffins yourself, otherwise this won’t work.”

“Okay…” the girl whispered with beads of sweat erupting on her forehead. The fiery aura surrounding Derpy made the air crackle with excitement and the very background around them seemed to dissolve into a blur of red and black.

“Now then, we better get back to your kitchen!” The girl looked up and she sat on her front lawn again with Derpy in her lap, her hand resting on the blonde mane. Derpy opened an eye and smiled up at her. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

The girl looked around her with mouth opening to ask some fundamental physical questions but settled after a few minutes with a simpler one. “Was any of that real?”

“As real as you want it to be,” Derpy replied matter-of-factly and got up to stretch herself. “Now then, before we begin, you must first personalise your muffin.”

The girl nodded and Derpy jumped off her lap to dart towards the door. “Muffins come in all manners of manners of flavour and sizes, but if you don’t find the right one, the message will be lost.”

“Hmm. I like mine with strawberry icing on top.”

Derpy froze by the door and slowly turned her head while ominous music played. The girl winced at the sudden change.

“Those… are cupcakes,” Derpy said with both eyes focused intently on the girl.

“S-sorry, I didn’t know!”

Derpy’s pupils became smaller and smaller before a smile cracked on her face. “Good!” she said and pushed the front door open, humming happily as she entered. “Let’s first see what ingredients you have. We may need to go grocery shopping.”

***

I had not had much to do with the Crusaders, even before all this began to happen. I merely observed them out of amusement in school and whenever their shenanigans begged attention. It was therefore with uncertainty that I stood before their old clubhouse. There was no saying Apple Bloom would actually be there. I took a moment to catch my breath before going up the ladder. But I was in luck.

“Um…” It was only as I entered the tree house that it hit me. I had not thought of what I would say.

“Ah wish Ah had never gotten that stupid cutie mark,” Apple Bloom said. She had both her front hooves out of the far window and looked longingly up into the cloudy sky. I made my way inside but stopped on the rug in the middle.

“Are you all right?” I asked but she didn’t even notice me.

“Ah thought Ah would be happy if Ah just found mah cutie mark, but… Ah was only happy trying to find it.”

“Apple Bloom, I was wondering if you–”

“Ah don’t know where Scootaloo is anymore. She found her talent and then she’s too busy to hang out. Well Ah wish mah talent was being a big jerk and go out and do cool things, then Ah’d have an excuse too. But no, Ah just have this stupid handiwork one. Ah can fix anything but my broken heart.”

I walked up next to her and extended my hoof, but her sudden sigh made me retract it again out of surprise. Apple Bloom hung lower and lower out of the tree house and pounded the outside wall with her flailing arms.

“If only Sweetie Belle was still talking to us, Ah bet our group would never have fallen apart. It’s all that selfish–”

“Apple Bloom, I was hoping you’d–”

Her rant had made her oblivious to my entrance. She yelped in surprise as she fell headfirst out of the window. I managed to grip her tail with my magic before she could go too far however. I hadn’t been using my magic a whole lot before then. Trying to drag Apple Bloom up was like having one end of a rope around you and a boulder at the other. It took all of my strength to pull her back up. In hindsight, I could probably have just elevated her gently down to the ground.

“Hey Dinky. I uh… didn’t hear ya there,” she replied with only her hind legs safely inside again. “How long were you listening in on me?”

“Long… enough,” I panted. My magic finally gave in but Apple Bloom was by then dangling on the sill. “Listen, I actually came here because I wanted to know something about Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh.” Her whole body relaxed like a bag of cooked spaghetti. “Me and Sweetie don’t talk much no more.”

“I’ve noticed,” I said as I bit into her tail to get her all the way inside. Apple Bloom fell listlessly to the floor. “Could you tell me how to get on her good side? I’ve been trying everything from food to helping her find her talent.”

“Ah’m sorry ta say this, Dinky, but we don’t know you all that well. If you want on her good side, trah and be her friend first.”

“Haven’t I already? I’ve baked her muffins and I’ve taken her out to eat, what else can I do?”

Apple Bloom rolled on her back and looked up at the ceiling. “Yer trying too hard. Of course she’ll push you away the more you shove. Talk with her, not too her.”

I could only look at Apple Bloom in wonderment, like seeing her in a whole new light. “You’re really good at this.”

“And yet Ah couldn’t get my cutie mark in it.” She lazily waved a hoof towards a set of shelves by the far wall. A dozen books with tips about everything from dating to parkour were prominently displayed. “Maybe Ah should return ‘em soon. No need ta keep them now we’ve gotten our marks and ya know how fussy Twalight gets about her books. Or maybe ya don’t. Twalight is the librarian in town and she–”

Regrettably I had to stick my entire hoof into her mouth to shut her up. She mumbled something that sounded like “Sorry” so I released her again.

“Thank you, Apple Bloom. You’ve given me something to think about, so let me tell you something too.” I smiled encouragingly and hastily made me way back outside, but not before looking back and giving my coolest look yet. “I’ll take care of things. Soon you’ll be partying with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo again.”

With that totally radical performance I knew that I had rediscovered my spark again. I didn’t even look over my shoulder to see Apple Bloom’s reaction. I just knew I had nailed it. But I had also made a big promise. For almost a whole month I had tried without success but what she had said totally made sense. I just needed to find the best way to go about it. Plans and pondering.

My train of thought was thoroughly derailed however when I returned home however. My dad’s voice carried out and I thought for a moment it was mom who had returned until I heard what he said.

“I told you never to come here! My daughter could be home at any minute.”

“But that’s why I came. It’s been little over three weeks already. Time Turner, she isn’t going to come back.”

“Get out! Get out now!”

A grey earth pony trod out with a sly smile on her lips. I recognised her before she could drag her cloak around her. It was Octavia, the famous classical artist, walking out of our house. My adolescent mind could not understand the implications this situation was fraught with. Instead I smiled and I think even a giggle escaped me. I always favoured her kind of music to, say, Vinyl Scratch’s. I think I gasped in delight as well as Octavia turned her head towards me.

“Hello little filly. Do you live here?” she asked with a bright, innocent smile. I nodded fervently. “Then you must be… Dinky Doo, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So polite.” Octavia ruffled my hair. Now that I think about it, that must have been when I giggled. “Your father mentions you all the time.”

“You know my dad?” I asked, looking up at her with eyes that had a tendency to melt ponies’ hearts.

Octavia drew her shoulders up to her chin and blushed. “You can say that. I just had to congratulate him on the shop. He’s been talking about it for years. Say, Dinky, won’t you keep my appearance here a secret? I don’t want to attract unnecessary attention.” She looked behind her but my dad hadn’t noticed our hushed conversation yet.

“Of course!”

“I can see why your dad is so proud of you. Take care of yourself, and remember, not a word.”

She winked and hastily galloped towards what I could only assume was the train station, her cloak billowing in the wind. I was astonished to see her at my home. Maybe it’s not much of an excuse for what happened next, but my head was a little empty in the next scene. Even my thoughts about Sweetie’s Belle meaty body had left my mind. I entered the shop again with eyes tracing Octavia’s supposed movements, since I could no longer see her. My attention was snapped back when I heard a heavy bag bang into the wooden floor. Dad wiped his brow and rested the hoof back down on a large rucksack in a hideous green colour.

“There, I’ve packed your bag, Dinky.”

I stared horrified, first at the bag, then at dad and back to the bag. “A-are you throwing me out because I left the shop?” I asked with tears streaming down my cheeks.

He looked at me searchingly for a moment and then burst into laughter. “What? Dinky, you’re going to Manehattan tomorrow with school.” I blinked vacantly for a moment as I allowed long-forgotten memories to resurface. My dad nudged the bag towards the wall with his head. “You be glad that Applejack was still here to tell me. You forgot to give her a receipt. I swear, Dinky, you’re getting more and more like your mother with every day.”

With everything that had happened, the thought about going to Manehattan had completely left me. If I had been talking with my friends as I usually did I’m sure it wouldn’t have. My dad embraced me and held me close to his chest while resting his chin on my head. I couldn’t help myself and I began to laugh. Such mirth had been me denied for so long with all the speculation and worrying. It was so silly and yet so like me. Soon my dad began as well. I had not seen him happy either for some time. All his business and shop opening and mother being gone must have weighed him down as well. We couldn’t stop laughing once we had started, not before we were both lying on the floor with cheeks hurting and tears rolling down them. Finally, for the first time in what seemed forever, the future looked bright again.

Of course, such idealistic visions only exist in our minds. It is up to ourselves in the present to create the future we want. It was bright and early the next morning and I had equipped the rucksack. The colour didn’t bother me, considering I could have been forced to wear… the other one. My mom probably thought it was cute on me, but pink just clashes with my grey/violet coat, and the balloons and suns just don’t belong with someone of my age at that time.

“Oh Dinky, I’m so sorry. How could I have forgotten that I had an important meeting here?” my dad said and tripped around the floor.

I yawned and pawed at my right eye. I was too drowsy to quip, but it would probably have been something like, “Who do I resemble again?” or “Are you sure I’m taking after mom?” But things have a strange way of working themselves out. A knock on the door nearly sent my dad ten feet in the air. I had no choice but to get it myself.

“Kampai!” a voice said as soon as I opened it with confetti raining down over me. A pair of blue eyes looked down at me in surprise. “Dinky? Where’s your mother?”

“She’s not home right now, but I’m sure she will be soon.”

“Waa, you’re so kawaii!” She put down a bottle of ‘Sake’ and picked me up so my backpack fell off. Raindrops was a pegasus like my mum and the two of them went all the way back to Cloudsdale. My dad didn’t much like her, probably because she was every bit as ditzy as my mum. Well, in her own way really, as I’m sure you can tell.

“What?” I asked, and she put me back down again.

“You know, cute. You’re such a moe, Dinky.”

“I don’t understand a word you’re saying,” I said sincerely. Raindrops merely snickered and I snickered back.

“Raindrops,” my dad said coldly and dragged me inside again.

“Time Turner,” she replied equally coldly and took her bottle into her arms again.

“Look, I don’t know why you’re here, but could you make yourself useful at least? Dinky needs someone to escort her to the train station and I cannot leave the shop.”

“Hooo?” Raindrops hovered just above our doorstep with a mischievous grin on her lips. “Mr Thinks-His-Wife-Is-Too-Good-For-Raindrops suddenly need my help?”

“Please, I have no one else to turn to with such a short warning!” My dad looked up at her with a serious mien and Raindrops returned the stare impressed, before chortling satisfactorily.

“Hehe, I knew today would be a good day to visit my old gal pal. All right, Time Turner, but not for you. I’m doing this for Dinky and Derpy.”

“Fine, fine, as long as you get job done,” dad said and once again hoisted the backpack up on my shoulders. I could feel his agitation and nearly had the wind knocked out of me. “But you go straight to the station and don’t you dare give my daughter any of that rice wine.”

She had already put the bottle to lips when she rolled her eyes. “Baka, I know all that.”

“And for Celestia’s sake, try acting like a grown mare.” Dad facehoofed himself and then hugged me tightly. “I’m going to miss you, sweetie. Take care of yourself in the big city and remember to send daddy a post card.”

“I’ll only be gone for a week, dad, stop it!” I tried to push him off but he had his arms too closely wrapped around me and I was starting to get smothered with his nuzzles. Finally I managed to wrest myself free and I quickly started ahead, waving behind me and dad waving back.

Raindrops flew just above me while swigging that ‘Sake.’ I waited until we had gotten sufficiently far away from home before asking her.

“Isn’t it a little early to visit my mother? The sun is barely up.”

“I just got hold of this sweet bottle of sake, no way I could keep it to myself. Looks like I have to anyway. Really, where did that crazy mare run of to now?” I could hear her sigh deeply before taking another gulp.

“Miss Raindrops, what’s a negative reinforcement?” She nearly choked on her mouthful and she pounded her chest hard.

“Where did you hear that?” she wheezed.

“My dad always calls you that whenever you leave.”

“Well, uh, you see…”

“It means you should act your age and find yourself a husband instead of fooling around with foal’s shows.”

Carrot Top came wandering up next us with Noi trailing along.

“You’re such a tsundere, Carrot Top. And what are you doing here?”

“I’m taking my niece to the train station, as you can see.”

“Your niece? Didn’t I see you enter the Sisterhood Socials with her?”

“P-lease, no one takes their sister to the Sisterhood Social anymore. Berry went with her daughter last time.”

I went with my sister last time. I didn’t mention it however because I wasn’t interested in meddling with the grownup arguments. Instead I dropped behind to walk next to Noi. She was filled with a lot more energy than I had seen in a long time and she wore her smile with genuine happiness behind.

“You look happy,” I said. “Excited for the trip?”

“No. I mean, yes, but that’s not it!” she chirped and adjusted her own canary yellow backpack. “S-Shin gave me my first ear rings.”

“No way! That colt in a class above us? With the claw hammer cutie cutie mark?” I already knew that she had gotten a coltfriend, but I had promised Half Note not to tell anyone until Noi told me officially.

“Mhm!” She was smiling so satisfied that it was hard not to be smitten. “He’s just so sweet. Sweetie Belle tried to steal my lunch again and then he stepped in.”

“Sweetie Belle…” At least I think I said that part out loud. I felt so inspired at that moment and I just couldn’t wait to see her again. But the fear of her not showing up still plagued me. I dreaded that possibility. Then I would have to wait the entire week before seeing her again. But if she did come, then the Manehattan trip could work in my favour if I played the cards correctly. I just needed to do as Apple Bloom had told me so I wished intently that she would be there.

We arrived at the train station and Noi got the same treatment as I had with my dad earlier. Raindrops landed down next to me and put the bottle to her lips again.

“I’d better get going again. Once your mother goes off on her adventures it could take weeks before she’s seen again.”

And with that, Raindrops took off into the sky again. Carrot Top grumbled almost inaudibly next to me. “Please promise me you won’t grow up to be like her.” She embraced me tightly and I nearly tipped over from the weight of my backpack. “I’m sure your dad has already done all this, but… take care of yourself, Dinky. I can’t believe that Derpy would miss her own daughter’s first trip into the world alone.”

“It’s okay, I’m sure she misses me as well.”

Carrot Top held me out at an arm’s length and looked me up and down. Apparently she found a blemish as she then started to rub my cheek. “Sometimes I wonder if that mare even knows what goes on around her.”

“There you are, Dinky!” Miss Cheerilee waved at me from the train. “Come on now, we are only waiting on you.”

I was getting pretty good at wrestling myself free since everypony always liked to pick me up or hold me tight. I slipped away from Carrot Top and hastily boarded the train.

“We have the last three train cars for ourselves so just pick any empty seat back there.”

I nodded and ran down the train, sliding doors open on my way. All of them had groups of varying sizes inside but not my Sweetie Belle. I mean, Sweetie Belle. Just Sweetie Belle. I was getting distressed however as I cleared the second wagon and entered the narrow corridor of the third. Having checked only one compartment however, I immediately saw Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara.

“Meaty Belle… G-good one,” Silver Spoon laughed nervously and looked down at her hooves.

“Come on, we’d better see where Lickety Split reserved us a seat,” Diamond Tiara replied. She shot me a venomous glance and then snorted as she passed me. Silver Spoon looked ready to say something but a pink hoof slapped her over the head so that her glasses nearly fell off.

It was easy to deduce from their statements where Sweetie Belle could be found. I should not have been surprised it was the last one in the train. Her sizable body took up most of the seat even as she just sat down. All of her folds spilled down and filled the space around her. I couldn’t even see her legs through the fat and her neck had just become another part of her face.

“What do you want?” she asked, refusing to look at me and instead directed her attention out of the window. The train had begun moving, so I threw the bag under the seats and sat down opposite her.

“I was a little late so this is the only compartment left.”

My smile went unrequited but that was all just a part of my plan. None of us said anything the next hour. We cleared the grasslands and entered the Canterlot Mountains, and by the time we were outside again, the sun was up shining properly. Lunch time I figured and levitated my lunchbox out of my bag. The hours I spent training had paid off and my magic was really getting under my control. As per my request, dad had given me plenty to eat. I took out a tomato sandwich and dug in while Sweetie Belle too began her lunch. Somewhat more meagre, she had the tomatoes but not much else.

“Oh no, it looks like my dad gave me too much again.” My voice might have been a little too insincere but Sweetie Belle’s rumbling stomach left her no room for suspicion.

“Just hoof it over,” she demanded and extended a flabby hoof but I levitated my box out of her reach.

“And what do you think you’re doing? I only share my food with my friends and you’ve made it perfectly clear… we’re not friends.”

She grumbled and actually restrained herself. I finished my sandwich at the same time as she polished off three whole tomatoes. “Fine. I’ll be your friend, so just gimme,” Sweetie Belle squealed. It tore at my heart to hear her whine like that but I couldn’t give in.

“All right, you can have one, but just one.” I had prepared special sandwiches just to get on her good side. I would never touch them myself as they were slathered with thick, creamy mayonnaise but Sweetie gulped it down in one bite. Half of my lunchbox gone.

“Now that we’re friends, perhaps you’d like to tell me what’s been bothering you?” Too soon. Sweetie Belle grunted and resumed her window staring. We were just about halfway and the endless seas of green stretched out before us in all directions. “You know, my mum has been gone for some time. When I feel really sad I eat a muffin to get better. A lot of people worry about you, Sweetie Belle. You can talk to me about anything.”

“Just leave me alone, okay? I never asked you to sympathise me with and I don’t know you, Dinky. You’re not my friend,” was the reply. I shook my head.

“Shame. Guess I have to eat this double mayonnaise, double cheese… crisp hay crust… lettuce & tomato sandwich on my own.” I was deeply revolted by the sound of it but it caught Sweetie Belle’s attention, as I had rightfully predicted. I slowly began to sink my teeth in it, nearly gagging doing so. Fortunately she snatched it away from me before I could even taste it. I would probably have ralphed for real had it touched my palate. It hovered into her hooves and she was just about to eat it when the weirdest thing happened. She simply froze for a moment before crying.

“I can’t help myself. Ever since my summer vacation I’ve been unable to think of anything but food. I can’t even escape it when I dream. I… I think I’m going mad.”

I had no words for what I was seeing. Rather than eating it, she allowed the filling to slip out of the bread and plaster her sizable stomach. Then she bowed her head into it and cried heartfelt. “I can’t stop thinking of food. Even when my stomach hurts from eating I just want more. Rarity tries to help me by putting me on diets but then I just end up stealing.”

“It sounds like you’re really ill, Sweetie Belle. Did something happen on your vacation?” I took the sandwich back from her and put it back in my box. I couldn’t finish my own portion either so instead I took a handkerchief from my bag and started cleaning her tummy.

“I don’t know! I want to remember but nothing comes to me except food. I don’t want to but I just keep eating. I’ve gained so much weight but I can’t stop. I’m six times the pony I was before the summer holidays.”

Again my heart skipped a beat and strange warmth filled my body. I had to take a few minutes fiddling with my hooves before I could continue. “Haven’t you told anyone about this? Not even Rarity?”

“No,” she replied and buried her head in her hooves. “She just thinks our parents spoiled me.”

“I tell you what, the two of us will be spending all week together. That means I can keep an eye on you. I promise, if you can stick to your diet in that time then you are stronger than your addiction. We’ll worry about what’s causing it for later, for now we’ve got to get your eating under control.”

She nodded. Finally I had gotten through to her. She had really, truly opened up to me. The rest of our trip to Manehattan went in the same vein. I shan’t bore you with the details but some highlights are in order. Cheerilee had booked a few dormitories at a hostel for us and I was luckily put in the same room as Sweetie Belle. We were about to settle in for the day when we realised Sweetie Belle had deformed the lock on her bag somehow, rendering her key useless. I was helpful enough to get the manager, unlike the others who could only laugh. He was a big, burly zebra and I must admit he frightened me a bit. But he got a pair of pliers and snipped it right open.

Cheerilee asked us to form groups of two and two so we wouldn’t get separated. You can guess who I chose. At day we went into town and visited museums and landmarks and I got really close to Sweetie Belle at that time. At night we went out to restaurants or to theatres. Pony Phantom of the Opera was something I would never have gotten to see back in Ponyville.

Not much else happened worth mentioning. On the third day, we were supposed to go visit the Statue of Freedom but Sweetie Belle had overslept. By the time we got out of the door Cheerilee had already moved on. Guess I shouldn’t have told her I was right behind them. But we still made a day out of it and hired a really fancy balloon and saw the waterfront and the statue from the air.

It was on our last night however that it happened. Noi told me about a restaurant she had visited with Shin. Since Sweetie Belle had followed her diet so strictly even from all the pain it must have wrought her, I decided it was time to splurge. Sadly I can’t remember the name of the place anymore, but the thing that struck me most was that the entire male waiting staff that was obviously homosexual. They were so polite and mollycoddling and flirting with any stallions that entered, and they had that tone and those mannerisms about them. It really left no doubt and the food was so good. I got a veggie lasagne with three cheeses. It’s strange why they wouldn’t just call it a lasagne though. We ponies never eat meat so it just becomes redundant after a while.

But anyway, I could tell Sweetie Belle was struggling with choosing something. I explained her situation to one of the waiters. “Oh honey, don’t you worry about a thing,” he replied with a slight lisp and clapped his hooves against the floor. Two others came out of the kitchen also wearing the red vests. “This little pumpkin has gotten a little, hmm, round. You know what to do, girls.”

Sweetie Belle blushed and looked away embarrassed. We ate our meal but I could tell something was weighing on her mind. “Do you still have the thoughts?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. It takes all my strength to not just jump up and eat everything in sight. It all smells so good.”

I began to regret bringing her to what could best be described as a den of vice. She had also struggled at the restaurants we had visited but it must simply have been too much at this point. But she ate her salad dutifully. Whatever they had done with it, her face got really content just after the first bite and it seemed my fears were alleviated. I even gave her my leftover lasagne. It was just a few mouthfuls but she almost cried from happiness.

We went back to the hostel shortly after that, neither of us wanting any desert. The cool night air was all the refreshment I needed and the drowsiness from eating seemed to being whisked away. Some of the ponies we passed had to look twice at seeing such a morbidly obese filly. I could feel Sweetie Belle’s self-conscious dwindle. “You’ve done it, Sweetie Belle. One whole week!”

“It’s been that long already?” she asked, her stomach gurgling. “S-sorry, the lack of food just makes me a little hungry.”

“But you’ve already eaten your fill. How can you still be hungry?”

She looked away and smiled sadly. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you but I’m not sure it will matter.”

“It will matter! You’re stronger than this.”

“I’m not so sure. I can still feel the desire gnawing at me.”

“No, you listen to me,” I said, starting to become agitated, and grabbed her face so that she looked directly at me. “You are a smart, beautiful pony and I promise you, you can do this.”

“I’m not beautiful, I’m a hideous blob.” She tried to wrest herself free but I held her in an iron grip.

“I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you.” Silence. I was shocked to find myself revealing those feelings for her. I released her meaty cheeks again and took a few steps back. “Ah… ah… s-sorry, that just blurted out, that…”

She kissed me, even before I was able to react or apologise. She simply stretched out her head and locked her lips against mine. The warmth I had felt in my chest flared to a burning fire. That was what I had felt for her along. I had finally found the words to describe it. I finally knew why I had been so intent on helping her. I loved her.

My eyes were closed and I’m guessing hers was as well. Time had completely stopped and it was just the two of us. The darkness exploded into a world of colours and it felt like I was floating away on a fluffy cloud into a rainbow land. Sweetie Belle was at my side but she was herself again. For an eternity we just drifted on an endless sky of pleasure.

But then a mighty gale blew with ferocious vigour and pushed me away. The cloud dissipated and I fell screaming to the ground. The world had darkened again aside from a small circle of light underneath me. My passion turned to a fear like I had never felt before. My coat prickled uncomfortably and I turned this way and that in hopes of finding what had done it.

The darkness swirled into a hideous mass of nuances. All I could see was glowing slits opening with burning coal as pupils. The anger of the eyes cut into my bones and I was too terrified to speak or even think.

“What bussssinesssssssss do you have to interfere with my plansssssss? Ssssssweetie Belle is mine, MINE! Nothing you can do or sssssssay will change that. If you meddle in my affairssssss one more time I will persssssonally sssee to it that you will never meddle again.”

I opened my own eyes and I was still standing on a Manehattan sidewalk. Sweetie Belle had pulled away and broken the spell. I could see fresh tears down her coat. “We should get back already,” she muttered. The fear lingered in me and I had no words to say. We went back to our dormitory without discussing the business further, or even talking at all. I laid my head down in my bunk bed but the vision pervaded my dreams. My sleep was uneasy and I was still tired when I awoke. I remembered ruefully what had happened last night and it was with greatest dread that I hopped down to check the bed below mind.

Sweetie Belle was gone. Her blue sheets were drenched almost black with cold sweat but the note she had left me was stained with tears. Those two words I’ll never forget. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh Sweetie Belle, you foal.” My own tears mingled with hers and the pencil scribbles almost completely washed out. I felt so alone and despondent. I had kept my worst possible scenarios to myself, refusing to believe that there was anything seriously wrong with Sweetie Belle. There was only thing left for me to do, that I should have done so long ago. I needed an adult.

The fine weather outside betrayed my sombre mood. Our mess hall was in the building next to ours, just down the stairs, but many chose to eat outside on the prepared benches. Noi and Shin was together as one might had expected. He was really a good-looking colt with a blood red coat and short blonde mane, and a pair of small glasses to accentuate his boyishly charming looks. That was the happiness I had unconsciously been seeking with another mare. I sighed and went over to Cheerilee who sat nearest the basement stairs and prepared a piece of toast with jam.

“Hello, Dinky. Usually it’s Sweetie Belle who’s first to the food.” She chuckled at her own wit and took a bite.

“That’s what I want to talk about. I don’t think she’s well and she’s… she’s disappeared,” I said in a low voice, looking down at my hooves. It was hard keeping the tears at bay but then, I had never stopped them in the first place. Cheerilee paused in mid-chew and swallowed what must have been a large clump of food.

“What do you mean Sweetie Belle has disappeared? The gate is locked at night.”

“I don’t know!” I was getting hysterical and I could not help but cry profusely. “But she’s… there’s something seriously wrong with her.”

Cheerilee started a search party with the help of the staff first but Sweetie Belle was not to be found at the hostel. As I had expected. They found a backdoor broken up and it was then decided to call the police. Our return trip was postponed until she could be found and messages were sent to the parents. All I could do was sit on my packed suitcase in the courtyard and wait for news. They wouldn’t be good under any circumstances. The vision I had had had been real. I looked up into the sky and saw clouds clutch at the sun.

A few hours later they found her. The police had followed a trail of break-ins at various eateries all around town starting with a corner café not far from the hostel. They ended at a very high-end restaurant some distance away. Everything had been eaten, lock, stock and barrel, several hundreds of bits worth of food. The Manehattan police promised they would take care of everything and we were permitted to go home again. I was just glad to be back in Ponyville, but I could see from my window that dad was talking to somepony. I instantly noticed the cloak.

“I told you to go home,” he hissed at the figure. “What would people think if they saw me with you in public?”

“You didn’t mind my company last night,” she purred. I crept nearer. Dad looked around him at the stream of foals and their parents greeting them.

“Nothing happened last night!” he screamed as loudly as a whisper would permit him.

“Only because you spent it bawling about your missing wife. You can’t tell me you don’t feel something about me?”

At this point, dad probably noticed my large backpack. The train whistled and their words, quieter than ever, drowned in the clamour of more talkative ponies. Alone, my dad pushed his way to me and embraced me. I explained everything to him on the way back, not just the theories I had discussed with the police officers, but also about my intentions and my feelings. I would have burst if I had held it in much longer.

“I’m very sorry about your friend, sweetie. Whatever you decide to do I will support you one hundred per cent.” He rubbed his head up against mine and gently pushed me back on my bed. “It’s been a long day. I promise you, tomorrow we’ll go visit her.”

“You know where she is?” I asked excitedly and pulled the sheet down.

“Well…” he replied nervously. The truth was visibly difficult, but I had also told him a lot of personal things. He dithered about telling me or not for a while. “I knew that you must be worried about her so I made some enquiries. They transported her back to Ponyville and put her straight in the hospital.”

I sat up abruptly. “She’s in the hospital?”

“You see, sweetie.” My dad sat down next to me, spending another moment trying to articulate a heavy subject to a minor. “Pony bodies are not meant to go on all night eating binges. She has trouble breathing and getting her blood flowing. She’s… very heavy.”

“I have to see her now then!” My dad grabbed around me and held me close, despite my tearful flailing. “Let me go, I need to see her now!”

“They wouldn’t permit us at this hour. I’ll wake you bright and early tomorrow, so please calm down.”

He pushed me down and wiped the hair from my eyes. My head was a jumble of emotions and pain and I wanted nothing more than to just jump up and race out of the door, but I could barely see straight. My dad had just turned off the light when I fell into a deep slumber.

True to his words, dad woke me shortly after the sun had risen. We rushed to the hospital after swallowing a short meal. I noticed, but didn’t pay much mind to, that my dad had closed the shop. It was only Saturday but he was willing to do that for me.

An earth pony doctor in a white lab coat stopped us outside of her room and dragged us off to the side. “You might not want to do this. Sweetie Belle ate roughly four times her own body weight in food in the space of eight hours. I’m surprised she survived this long, but it probably won’t be much longer. You are better off leaving now and not have the current image of her burned into your mind.”

“I understand, doctor, but… I love her,” I sniffed and wiped my eyes. “Please?”

The doctor looked at my dad who nodded in response, so he sighed and put a hoof to the door. It creaked open and all I could was a giant mass of white beyond.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Sweetie Belle lay on a reinforced bed, massively bigger than the last time I had seen her. Her limbs and head looked like they were being eaten by an enormous white ball. She had lost all shape and had become one solid pile of fat spilling everywhere. Wires connected her to machines that helped her breather and beat her heart for her and sent ounces of liquid directly into her system for her. Rarity sat at the bedside and snored, head resting on what had once been a leg. The stomach was so bloated that it completely overshadowed everything else.

Two of Celestia’s finest stood guard by the far wall, stoically holding on to their spears.

“Celestia herself expressed her worry,” my dad explained from outside the small room. “Sweetie Belle has caused a lot of trouble in Manehattan, but the Princess is willing to exonerate her if she really wasn’t acting of her own will.”

“She wasn’t!” I burst out to which the doctor shushed me. “I mean, she wasn’t. Aren’t you coming in?”

“This is between you and her. I won’t interfere.” He smiled to me and then closed the door again. Rarity didn’t bother me either. She had most likely been up all night. Her mascara had run and whatever she had been knitting was just an inattentive jumble of yarn.

I sat down on Sweetie Belle’s other side and grabbed her hoof. There wasn’t much wriggle room anymore but it was still warm and sweaty. A long stick with a moist rag on one end stood up against the wall, so I’m guessing she had just gotten a bath. Her white coat was certainly glistening.

“It’s my fault you’re here. You were pacing your hunger fine on your own. It was only when I began helping you diet that it went out of control.” I sniffed heavily and buried my head into her side where my cries were muffled. I had so many other things to tell her but the prospect of her imminent death choked my words completely. Once again I felt things blacken out. I didn’t go through that whole pleasure cruise like last time but was taken directly to the darkness with the spotlight.

“It isssss fortunate that you are here,” the voice hissed. “Thanksssssss to your friend, I have been able to take ssssssspiritual form. But now I feel my hossssssssssst dying and I need a new one. I feared I would have to ussssssse her ssssssssssssssisssssssssssster.”

A purple unicorn materialised out of the darkness, no longer the mere eyes I had seen previously. She was tall and lanky with a bloated stomach, and her ribs were showing. The skin looked like it had been stretched across a skeleton. Her lips were sealed together so that her mouth was just a tiny hole like the head of a needle. I think that accounted for the whistling voice.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked and backed away, trying to control my hammering heart.

“The sssssssssame thing asssssssss your friend. With your petite body I will be able to conssssssssssume enough to gain a physsssssical form as well.”

Slobber fell from her mouth as a dark yellow beam ignited from her horn. I closed my eyes and screamed out loud, feeling my own horn growing hot. My body reacted instinctively on fear and countered the spell. I peeked out of my lids and saw how her spell was being pushed back. She grunted and added more force but I could tell. My magic was somehow stronger than hers. The two spells pushed and shoved for dominance before exploding into a plethora of colours. The world around us slowly dissolved as the blackness gave for light.

“Nooooooo! How isssssssss thisssssss posssssssssible?” She snorted angrily at me and charged, but I kept my cool. I lowered my head and fired a beam of my own will. I wasn’t sure what it would do, but the light engulfed her and coiled around her until I could see only her menacing eyes. “Do not think thissssss isssssssss over. Equesssssssssstria isssssssss a much greedier place than before. I will find ssssssssssssomeone elssssssssse.”

The unicorn exploded and I was flung out of the realm. Back in the real world, I toppled from my chair with a clang. It didn’t take long for Rarity to wake up and the doctor to enter. Even the guards took a step forward, their faces dumbfounded and gaping. I looked up at the bed and saw what all the gasping was about. Sweetie Belle was… was back to normal.

The bed looked completely ridiculous to her form. She didn’t even take up half of it.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity cried out and embraced her sister tightly. “Wait till our parents hear about this. They are already on their way here now to see you. We all thought this was our last goodbye.”

She was rambling at this point, spurting out various facts in her attempt to avoid the question that lay on all of our minds. Fortunately, the good doctor had kept enough wits to put words to it.

“What in Equestria is going on here?” he asked almost agitated, looking from Sweetie Belle to me. My dad helped me back up on the chair. I could feel his support behind me even though he said nothing. There was no danger with him around so I tried to explain the best I could. Sweetie Belle herself managed to squirm out of Rarity’s arm and sat back down on the bed.

I had already told my theories so many times the day before, yet with the new information and certainty, I was able to fill out a few holes. They would probably not have believed me but the evidence was right before them. I had transformed Sweetie Belle back to her old shape with not a single gram too much. Words often failed me as I had little concept of the things that happened but dad was right at my side, helping out. He had listened to me before and knew some of what I was going on about.

“So what was that thing possessing Sweetie Belle?” the doctor asked and prodded his glasses up his nose.

“I don’t know,” I replied and shook my head. “But it’s not dead yet. It’s still out there and I think it’s going to possess someone else unless we stop it.”

“We’ll report these developments back to the Princess immediately,” the left guard said and tapped the butt of his spear into the floor.

“Sure.” Sweetie Belle jumped down on the floor and started moving around, testing her newfound mobility by walking around in circles. “I’m sure the Princess will advise Twilight to come up with something, so why don’t we get a head start?”

“We?” I asked curiously, to which Sweetie Belle nodded.

“This last month has been a haze for me but there are some things I remember… last night for example,” she said and blushed furiously. It took me a moment to realise what she was talking about and my eyes found my hooves. That was a small detail I had left out, a detail I wasn’t quite ready to tell anypony about… yet.

“So do you remember how this awful thing happened?” Rarity asked and embraced her sister again. “Mom and dad recounted how you had explored some dirty caves to the southwest.”

“Dad got tired of mom’s gambling in Las Pegasus so he booked us on a tour of the San Palomino Desert. There were some really interesting pre-civilisation ruins there but I’m not sure what happened after that.”

“That’s it, then!” I exclaimed to everypony’s surprise. I smiled sheepishly and continued less loudly. “You must have been struck by an ancient curse. This should be enough information for Twilight to go with.”

“Sis!” Rarity refused to let Sweetie Belle go despite her struggling.

“I just missed you so much, Sweetie Belle. You nearly… you know,” she replied and rubbed cheeks.

Comments

[Inferno demon Dash]

Other then remembering to say ponies instead of people unless of course you speak of a human and if the sup-plot for such a very serious story could honestly stop, I'm happy to read more of this, Raindrops is awesome and it's a new thing to see her drunk, and Octavia trying to go after the Doctor, well that is something I never seen before, impressive, wonder how the two know each other.

The kiss seemed a bit rushed and forced and.....was that Gluttony? If it was, AWESOME! I love the seven deadly sins, was nice to see Applejack, shame she was not in it so much, as well as Fluttershy, the fight with Dinky and who I'm going to assume is Gluttony was really quick and not much action, honestly a bit of a let down.

Nonetheless I shall continue reading

[JC Borch]

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I'm glad you liked it enough to make not one, but two comments. The only way I can improve is with the help of people pointing out my weaker points.
It's a little more foreign than Gluttony The fight with this spirit was just supposed to be an appetiser for the final showdown, which I certainly hope won't disappoint
I'm not used to writing romance, I have just a few stories in my repertoire. I'll try and make the intimate scenes a little more, uh... intimate in the future. The thing about Scootaloo and Apple Bloom is that they're both frustrated to begin with about a lot of things in their lives. The whole Sweetie Belle deal kind of pushed it over the edge.
I'm afraid the Derpy segments are essential, as they drop a few clues about what will happen. But yeah, they're mostly there for the entertainment. I'll try and see if I can find another arrangement.
Only one more part, hope you will stay tuned And if there's one thing I like, it's messing with the background characters and give them distinctive personalities