> Sleipnir Colony - A Short Story Collection
>  by Archy
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> Story 1 - The Construction Site
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“WHERE IS MY SHIPMENT!?” A bellow of anger came from foremare Solid Foundation, her triple chins wobbling like jelly as she shouted in rage at the lowly site manager beneath her. She was not a small pony by any means, her fat head almost sunk snugly into her rolls of blubber that almost resembled multiple tyres around her upper portions that flowed into the rest of her engorged fattened body. Her belly sagged low and scraped the ground, which is why she always wore overalls to work, traditional blue that just about covered her light yellow coat, her cyan tail sticking out from behind as her two wrecking ball cheeks of a rump bulged out and wobbled. There was no way her overalls were covering that.

“D-delayed mam’! A consignment of food took higher priority…” Site manager Red Roller replied, his fat hooves shuffling slightly as he tried to explain. He was also a pony of size, although not quite as big as Solid Foundation, but he could still give other ponies on the colony a run of their size. He could see the foremare was rather upset. “D-don’t push yourself Foundy, you’ll tire yourself out.”

The mare sighed and relaxed, he was right. There was no point getting upset until she had all the facts. She took a few waddles forward, out of her cabin that was much wider and larger than expected for a construction site, but it had to house her girth, still though, as she placed her fat hooves on the ramp and took a few steps forward her flank still brushed easily on the doorway. A few more meals and she’d be too wide, they’d have to widen it again…

“Very well Roller, why was our shipment of building materials delayed, to make room for a food delivery? Why told you this?” She asked, a little incredulous.

“N-new fast food chain opening! I went to the docks to pick up our expected shipment but the dockmaster told me it was pushed back a day for that!” He sighed, but his mouth watered slightly at what the dockmaster had told him. “I-It’s supposed to be some of the most fattening food yet, a new chain! They say even one of their burgers will add twice the weight of a blubberburger from McHayfries!” His fat body quivering in anticipation of the new delicacies he and the other colonists would be able to sample. He might get fatter than Foundy! He might even need a belly wheel or anti-grav platform to get himself around! Oh the thought of being so fat and lardy…

“Roller? Come back to me buddy.” The foremare tapped her hoof on his snoot noticing he had gone into a food coma thought. He often did this when new treats were entering his mind. She knew the stallion had thoughts of being much fatter than he was, but on his foreman salary he just couldn’t quite afford the food. That was what made it obvious the biggest, fattest ponies were the hardest workers on the colony, they had the most money to gorge themselves at these places, or the really lucky ones could gorge themselves at home. She continued to speak. “Listen, it is all very well pushing our deliveries back to make room for yet more food, but they realise we have a housing problem yes? We build houses, but ponies get fatter, so we have to build bigger houses, yet ponies get fatter and are much too big for the bigger houses, so once again we have to build even bigger houses.” She stopped for a second and thought, somehow managing to raise a fat hoof to her blubbery chin. “The houses we build now are at least three or four times as big as when this colony was first settled, and if we can’t build bigger houses then ponies can’t keep eating!” She finished, exhausted a little from her tirade. She had brought out a number of burgers with her, comfort food always calmed her down and she munched on them whilst Red Roller spoke back.

“I know it is upsetting Foundy, ponies need places to live! Look I’ll go back down the dockyards and see if I can do anything to get the materials here faster. I’ll probably lose a few pounds waddling myself down there, but it’ll be worth it…” He said.

“I’d offer you a truck but you’re too fat for one, besides if you lose a little weight that’s some more room for this, whatever it is amazing new chain to open. What’s called anyway?” She asked, a little curious.

“Blubber King! I know, a little bit of a slap in the face...or multiple chins but they say they’re all about quantity over quality! That’s their motto!” He beamed, turning his fat round body 180 degrees to go towards to dockyards. Roller did have one thing on Foundy, most of his blubber was in his butt, his belly sagged but his ass towered high above him, it was quite impressive. Well it would be if some of the higher echelons of the colony weren't much bigger than him, but he tried. ‘Lucky genes that most of his blubber ended up in his flank’ the foremare thought.

“You better bring me good news! Or you can tell all the ponies who have a house on order that they’re going to have to stop eating for a while!” She yelled after him as she watched him waddle his fat flank off towards the dockyard.
> Story 2 - High Society
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The banquet was going rather well. It was the 30th anniversary of the foundation of Sleipnir Colony and ponies, as ponies did, were using it as an excuse to pig out. Not that they didn’t anyway, but at least with this occasion they could feel somewhat justified in their gluttony.

Lady Rotunda was pleased that so many ponies had turned out, of course that wasn’t her real name, but her title she had earned after holding so many large feasts for ponies of repute for the colony. She eyed the banquet hall, and thought it wise that now would be the correct time to make an appearance for her guests. Besides, she was ever so hungry.

A fat, almost totally inoperable hoof wiggled forward a few inches and pressed the controls on her anti-grav pad that moved her bulk into the room. She had given up walking long ago, servants her husband paid for tending to her every need. Not that the mass of lard could walk, all she did every day was be pushed off the pad into bed to snooze, and then back onto it to make her way around the grounds and attend luncheons.

She was more a blob than a pony, her hooves almost totally sunk into her massive frame and a butt that acted like a massive counterweight of flab on her. Of all her friends in her little, or rather fat circle she was certainly the fattest. Her flabby belly bed rested and overhung her pad slightly and her rear hooves were buried deep under a mass of overflowing lardy ass that wobbled and jiggled with every slight movement it made to get her around.

The anti-grav pads were amazing to be able to keep all that weight mobile, and her own gently came to a stop near the buffet table, and before she could do anything a servant came rushing up to her, as fast as her fat little hooves would carry her frame, a servants job paid rather well in the colony, and most servants were just mobile enough to tend to their masters, but not so fat they couldn’t do their jobs.

“My lady! We have a vast selection here for you to enjoy! But please, try some of the entrees we have, I made these myself…” The servant pony offered her a tray, before noticing that Rotunda had simply opened her mouth and awaited the entire tray, which Cherry deposited inside. She tipped them in and watched as the massive pony chewed her way through them in mere moments, before letting out a rather loud “U-Urrrpp!” to show her enjoyment for them.

“Delicious dear! You must make me more for our next feast, which I believe is tomorrow...what is your name?” She asked, not even moving her head to look at her, that would be far too much effort.

“It’s um, Cherry Rose, thank you for the employ mam’. I do so enjoy these parties.” The small pony replied. Rotunda made a mental note of her name, the food she had prepared for her had indeed been delicious, a talented servant who could whip up amazing treats like that was one to treat well and keep in employment with her. Cherry then waddled off as Rotunda gave her a dismissive wiggle of her hooves, back to the kitchen to make up more entrees. The host continued her journey around the room to meet some of her house guests, parking her pad next to two lage ponies roughly two thirds her size to make smalltalk while she ate a little more from the buffet.

“Honey Drops! Sugar Tart! How lovely it is to see you again!” Rotunda said with enthusiasm as the two other mare rotated their own anti-grav pads slightly to face their friend. “My my, you two have grown since I saw you, well, last week. You’ve gained weight again?”

“Indeed! I may have attended one or two more luncheons than I had planned.” Honey Drops giggled in reply. “I may have to get a more study pad! This one is struggling a little now with my size.” She confessed, the pad dipping almost comically as she said it, but then coming back level.

“We’re not the only ones by the looks of it!” Sugar Tart said in response. “Looks like Rotunda is really living up to her name! What are you at now, did you weigh yourself this morning?” She asked.

“Oh yes, um, 4000ibs, just. I am gaining about 50ibs a day at the rate I’m eating. It’s marvellous! I hardly move to keep myself from losing any and my servants feed me. The only movement I do is from my bed to my pad.” She blushed slightly, if you could call it that as her two balls of fat for cheeks turned red, her two friends clearly in are of her massive bulk.

“Well well, we have some catching up to do! And to think at my last weigh in I only weighed 2500ibs, you’re similar aren't you Sugar?” The other pony nodding in return. “You know the anti-grav pads, the most sturdy ones, only support up to 6000ibs of weight?”

“I know, I shall have to think of something. I can’t miss my luncheons with my friends! But I will make a decision when the time comes. For now! I shall keep eating!” The mare taking another helping of buffet food from a server who slid it in, her lips smacking with gusto as she ate the food, heartily chewing it.

The room was filling up fast, and only about 10 ponies were there. Always the problem with many friends and banquets, their bulk did fill up the room rather quickly. Rotunda wondered if they should move to a bigger house, but she had not heard good things about construction on the new bigger builds lately. And the new anti-grav pads that could support up to 10,000ibs were still a few months away yet. Besides, the fattest pony in the entire colony was still only at 5000ibs the last she heard, and she was catching up quickly! Within a month she could be that size herself! To think, the fattest pony in all of Sleipnir Colony, ponies would envy her from across the whole planet, and keep feeding her with gifts of delicious food! It was all coming together nicely.

She excused herself from her two friends, and again engaged her pad to mingle with the rest of her guests, high society indeed…
> Story 3 - A Grand Opening
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Sizzle!

Sunnyside closely observed the fryer as she dumped in a large portion of fries to be cooked, the fat spitting up slightly from within the basin. The kitchen looked amazing, better than brand new. Blubber King really had spared no expense in kitting the place out for their staff, obviously with the intention most of the profits would be making its way back to them when their customers started order their food. The kitchen staff were preparing for their first day of business, the premises having been finished less than a week ago and their shipment of foods coming in just yesterday. There were a number of other ponies in uniform bustling about the place, each at their stations. Sunnyside had been assigned to look after the fryer.

She couldn’t believe she had gotten the job, so many ponies had applied. The pay was not amazing, it was just a service job after all, but the company had promised a heap of benefits in food. A free meal of your choice at breaks, whatever wasn’t sold at the end of the day could be split and taken home between staff. Due to the benefits offered the kitchen had been constructed in such a way that there was a huge amount of room between stations, although Sunny didn’t think it would be long before she was going to be brushing up against her co-workers due to how big they would all be getting.

There was a rather nasal sounding cough from up near the registers, Diamond Dozen, the manager was trying to get her staff’s attention. The pony sat on her anti-grav pad, her large and blubbery body almost rippling with very little effort as she tried to speak. She weighed at least 2200ibs, being a manager meant she could help herself to the most she could. She had looked after other Blubber King eateries on other colonies, and the company had asked her to waddle in to look after the newest one they were just about to open on Sleipnir. She really had her work cut out. Some of the ponies glanced her way but none stopped. Eventually she had to resort to the only thing she knew would get their attention.

“First pony to reply ‘Yes mam’ gets a free meal!” She said, not loudly but just enough so they would hear. Hungry ears pricked up up and all the staff immediately stopped with Sunnyside piping up “Yes mam!” before the rest.

“Congratulations Sunnyside, one extra free meal to you today. Now that I have all of your attention listen up.” The massive mare wiggled a flabby hoof and moved her pad slightly closer into the kitchen where her staff gathered round her. “In ten minutes those doors open, and as you can see there is a lot of hungry ponies out there…”

The staff looked around their leader out the window. The line must have stretched around the block and then some, ponies had been queuing for hours and rumours that Blubber King’s food was the most calorie packed and fattening around had circulated the colony. It was amazing the door was holding back the weight of the ponies leaning on it, craning their necks to try to get even a glance at the delicious fast food that awaited them. Diamond continued her little speech.

“Now remember, this is fast food. Ponies want it quick, hot, delicious and most of all fattening. There’s a reason Blubber King is spreading itself out across most of the colonies, much like the ponies out there are doing with their guts and how you are yourselves. I expect you’ll all have gained somewhat with the free meals we are offering.” She smiled, watching her staff excitedly shift position slightly. She knew the reminder of their bonus free meals was always something that put their minds at ease. “Now take your stations, I’ll be opening the doors in five minutes. Prepare as much as you can of what you’ve been trained on, but I’ll remind you it won’t be enough. The first customer may order our entire prepared items, and we’ll have to sell it them. My words of advice are, just be ready.” She finished, and her employees waddled their way back to their stations.

As Diamond made the final checks on the eating area before she opened the doors, tapping a hoof on the glass to remind the waiting customers that they still had 5 minutes to go, Sunnyside positioned herself at the fryer and took out the batch she had been cooking, prepping it out to go out with an order.

Sizzle!

She dumped in another lot, just in case. She doubted even these would sate the ponies appetites as they started to cook away in the fryer. The smell was intoxicating, and she nearly put a hoof in to try and grab a few out, but knew better of it. One of the first things they were told is the fat was hot enough to burn skin, although she also knew quite a few ponies who worked in similar joints had done it, and regretted it. She thought better of it and continued to cook. Sunny herself had some weight, but she wasn’t a big pony. This was her first real job and she was just happy now she could catch up to her brothers at home, humongous fat lardy things that spent all their earned bits on take out getting fatter and fatter. When she told them she got the job here, their jaws had crashed into their multiple chins as they distended for once not to eat food. She didn’t even think of telling them of the benefits of the free meals, anything she could take home she planned to find a nice quiet place and gorge herself.

“I’m opening the doors!” Diamond yelled from the front of the shop, luckily as a unicorn she only had to remove the inner bar via her magic having already undone the locks. Sunny steadied herself, it would be a fun, but interesting day ahead…
> Story 4 - Form Fitting
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“Charity! Look!”

“Hmmm?”

Charity Bell took her muzzle out of her basket of hay fries, what was this. The sixth or seventh today? She was starting to lose count. After the first three of four baskets the ones after just became a bit of blur. She looked over to her friend, Melody Song and saw her pointing one of her chubby hooves into the shop window they were passing by. The two ponies stopped to stare at an infomercial that was running on a screen within, a rather large pony was showing off some clothing to a voice over.

‘That’s right! With the new Sleek-N’-Squeak body suit! You can have the shape you’ve always dreamed of! Are your flanks sagging? Your tum dragging? No more with our patented balltm technology! Your body can be the perfect shape! And what’s more our suits stretch to fit you! 1000ibs? 2000ibs? 5000ibs!? It doesn’t matter! The suit grows with you! Once you put it on you’ll never need to take it off!”

The display finished with a rather happy looking pony displaying the suit, Charity guessed she must have weighed roughly 3000ibs, heavier than herself but the shape of her body was much more desirable. Her flanks, belly and thighs were all squished into a rather beautiful round and form fitting shape that caught her eye and had clearly had caught Melody’s as well.

The two of them were no light weights. Charity, her body blubbery and jiggly was hard to keep a check on sometimes. She felt her belly glorp! A little beneath her as her tum dragged on the ground underneath her, her fat thighs not giving much room for it as the squished against it. Melody, next to her, was maybe 200 or 300ibs lighter but still large. Her own tum sagged low and her body wobbled and quivered as rolls of fat did their best to hug her frame. The two mares were well looked after, middle class and still gaining size. They even gave some of the upper class ponies a run for their money in size. Melody extended a fat hoof and practically dragged her friend inside.

“We’ve got to take a look! Did you see the body on that mare! She looked a-maze-ing!” She almost squeaked in delight. Melody was always one for fads of some sort, but Charity was always happy to indulge her friend in her little pleasures. She sometimes got something out of it, usually a meal.

The shop inside had a few ponies milling around, it actually sold a variety of things. Back scratchers for ponies too big and too lardy to get to an inch, crockery. There was a massive plate on a shelf with just ‘The Big Plate’ stamped on the packet. It seemed to be everything inside catered in some way to the big and lardy. Melody quickly managed to find a store attendant.

“Can I help you ladies?” She asked, looking at the two of them and smiling.

“Yes! We saw the Sleek-N’-Squeak body suit in the window! Plleeeeaaasseeee tell me you have some left!” Melody almost burst out in excitement. That was another thing Charity often noted about her friend, she did get extremely excited about these things.

“Of course! Here follow me to a fitting room, as you saw these are form fitting suits that cover your whole body up to your neck and down to your hooves. They come in a variety of colours. Any particular you’d like?”

“Oh um, I hadn't considered that. What works best?” Melody asked the attendant as the two of them waddled their way after her towards the fitting room, their flanks brushing the sides of displays as they moved.

“Well we usually find that ponies cutie marks work best, whatever colour is in it most. I see one of you has yellow and the other has a maroon? We have suits in both colours.” The attendant replied.

“We can try those two, right Charity?”

“Of course Melody, if that’s what is chosen by ponies the most. I don’t see why not.”

“Perfect, I’ll be right back!” The attendant then waddled her own self off towards a shelf to grab the outfits they had asked for. ‘I wonder how many other ponies have bought these things, and if they work?’ Charity thought to herself, before the attendant returned and ushered each of them with a suit into separate fitting rooms.

“There is a small zip that runs from the top of your tail dock to your neck when it’s on, each suit has a small amount of enchantment - we know ponies such as yourself buying them can’t very well reach back there unless you’re a unicorn with magic.” The attendant explained. “Just rub around the collar of the suit with a hoof and the zip will do itself up, let me know if you need anymore help!” The attendant replied, before making her way back to the shop floor to help other customers.

“Guess I’ll see you shortly Melody.” Charity said to her friend before entering the booth, the door closing behind her. She got the suit out and gently put her hooves in each of the leg holes, positioning it as best she could underneath her, then gently pulled it up as much as she could so the suit was just sitting slightly lower than the top of her back. At the moment it looked like a rather saggy tent was adorning her body. Finally she put her head through the neck hole, and rubbed the collar as the attendant had said.

There was a faint ziiiiiiiipppp! as the zipper worked as explained, and she felt it bring the suit up, almost like she was being enveloped. Charity felt herself gasp, it was rather snug, and she looked at herself in the mirror.

Despite her friends penchant for fad products, this one really seemed to work at first glance as the mare turned her bulk to get a better view of her flanks. Before they had sagged slightly, not the best looking rump, but now...it was like looking at two perfectly round marbles. Her rear was seemed...bigger, somehow. Her tum too, again perfectly smooth yet still wobbly and jiggly like the rest of her, but it didn’t quite sag as it used to, in fact even though it was still wide and hung low, it wasn’t rubbing on the floor. In her reflection she only saw the perfect shape for a mare of her size, and she adored it, her multiple chins jiggling in pleasure as she tested her body out and gave it a little wobble and bounce to see how it would react. Her gut blorped! happily and her towering orbs of flesh that made up her rear behind her jiggled slightly. Smiling wide Charity left the booth, still wearing the suit. She could see Melody already at the counter, wearing her own suit, and it had the same effect on her body.

“I assume you ladies like them?”

“I admit, it is much better than I expected, Melody you’ve really picked on a wonder this time.” The mare giggled. “We’ll take them, and a spare one each? Just in case. But please tell me, how does it make your figure so...good?” Was all she could ask.

“There’s a little more magic in these suits than just that zipper, that’s all I can say.” The attendant replied. “There is one slight catch, you can wear these suits all day, but at night when sleeping, you must take them off, your body needs to have time to go back to its natural shape. We strongly advise against wearing them for long periods.I know the ad says you never need to take it off, but you do have to.” The mare said, and rang up their purchases. “Each suit is one hundred bits, so four hundred between you ladies please.”

The mares went into their purses to pay the required amounts. ‘’Why would I want my body back to its natural shape? This is much better! That attendant doesn’t know what she’s talking about…’ Charity thought to herself, a plan already hatching in her head. She planned to return and buy a few more of these suits, they were just too good to only have two of.
> Story 5 - Offworld Visitors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ship shuddered a little, a small jolt at it finally touched down at the dockyards. It had been a fairly short journey from the twin colonies of Balius and Xanthos for the two Equestrians, their ship only making a short stop there to refuel. They hadn’t even gotten off to look around, most colonies were the same. Bland and boring, nothing like the beautiful world back home they got to enjoy.

“Did we have to travel in a cargo frigate? I’ve had an itch on my flank I’ve been unable to scratch for the past 2 hours. It’s not like this ship is well attended to.” Wheat Sheaf, a rather crotchety stallion grumbled. His wife, Gold Grain was in much higher spirits however.

“Please dear, you know it was the only ship that could fit our bulk. Besides being farmers has its benefits, at least we could use our own transport rather than hire one.” She replied.

“I suppose...anyway hang up your vid-call. We’ve arrived and they need to prepare us to disembark. I can’t exactly admire the place if all I can see in my face is you.” He continued to moan, that was her husband though, always slightly sour. A life of working on a farm did that to you.

“Fine, see you on the planet. I do hope the inhabitants of this one are more to our size that what we’ve heard. The heaviest pony on the planet only weighs 5000ibs! Can you believe it! That’s a lightweight back on Equestria!” She laughed a little, and hung up her call.

The frigate had made planetfall in the dockyards towards the entrance, and a number of ponies were crowded around having heard of visitors from Equestria, it had been many moons since the last ones came and went and there was still talk of their size. Sunnyside, on her way home from a work shift had taken up position near the gates by other jostling and wobbling ponies, trying to see if they could see what was about to appear.

“Big ponies from Equestria right?” Sunnyside asked a mare stood next to her.

“The biggest, they put us to shame. I heard these two are farmers, here to talk about an offworld shipping contract with some of the upper parts of society. They had to build a whole new wing on their house just to fit them in!” The mare she was talking to replied. “Apparently they eat most of their produce, and still have enough to ship off world and make a good profit!”

There was a hiss as the bay doors to the frigate swung open, nothing but a black interior visible. Then there was a slight click and something rumbled out the front into view.

Sunnyside couldn’t believe her eyes, what appeared before her looked like the biggest, fattest, hugest mountain of flab she had ever laid eyes on. It was hardly a pony anymore, more a rump with a belly attached and a few vague outlines of distorted flab where hooves and a head would normally be. The massively distended cutie-mark of a piece of gold coloured grain adorned the flank, it must have been as big as a billboard. As the pony disembarked the ship the sloshing from its body was audible. There were huge great guuuuurgle! And sloooosh!’s from its tum as even the most uneven movement by the pad caused it to jiggle.

There was no way to make out hooves, where they should normally be was just covered by rolls and rolls of fat. Sunnyside couldn’t even begin to make out a head at this distance. The only thing maybe more impressive was the rump, it must have easily been twice as big on its own as the biggest pony she had seen on the colony, maybe even three times. Two gigantic balls of wobbly, blubbery flab that almost seemed to defy gravity with their size.

The anti-grav pad it was positioned on was at least as wide as even the biggest street, ponies around her gasped as they took in what they were witnessing. The pad itself was manned by a much smaller but still rotund pony, there was absolutely no way in tartarus that the pony on board was able to control it themselves.

“Ohhh I knew it!” The mare she was still stood next to excitedly exclaimed. “That’s the biggest anti-grav pad you’ll see on this world for a while! They make them much much bigger on Equestria. That pony must be at least 20,000ibs.”

From behind the first pony, another appeared. This one was somehow larger than the first. A similar width pad supported him, or her. Sunnyside wasn’t sure, any features of a sex long since buried in fat rolls. The mare next to her continued to ramble excitedly.

“There’s the second one! That’s the wife! She must eat the bulk of the profits! Looks a little heavier, 25,000ibs I’d guess.”

“They’re that big on Equestria?” Sunnyside asked innocently, snorting at the use of the phrase a little bigger by the mare.

“And bigger, have you never heard how big royalty is? They’re six figure sizes easily. Most of Canterlot was flattened long ago by the princess. Some even say she is Canterlot! They think in a few years one of them may even break the seven figure mark in weight!”

“Over a million ibs!?” Sunnyside said flustered. “That’s huge! And I thought that the largest pony on the colony was big!” She continued to watch as the two pads came to stop in the dockyard, a few worker ponies lining up into a makeshift road to clear space.

“Gang way! Let the visitors through! Important business to attend!” The dockmaster barked as the ponies shifted to one side. Sunnyside could hardly make out features. It was like watching two huge blobs of jelly move gracefully forward through the aid of the technology supporting them. She finally managed a view at where the head should have been she could only see a faint blue glow, and summised they must be on a vid call each...to each other? They were so fat they had to do that to speak? She shunted her weight as the dockmaster ordered and stood off to one side to allow them to pass.

“It really is sad, these ponies can still walk on their own hooves! Their own heads are still mostly visible! I can’t see a single pony with a head swallowed by a neck!” Wheat Sheaf almost spat in disgust down the line to his wife, his words inaudible to the ponies close by watching as he neck fat blocked out any sound leaving his lips apart from directly in front of him.

“Please darling, remember this is a colony. They’re still developing? They couldn’t bring all the technology from Equestria with them. They’re still creating pads like the ones we sit on and bigger houses. They did build accomodation in our honour just to fit us.” Gold Grain tried to say in a soothing town to calm her husband. “Besides if you get all flustered you’ll burn precious calories.”

“I guess so. They better at least have good food here.” He really was an old fusser.

“We’re having meals shipped to us remember? I’m sure they’ll provide.” His wife replied in the call.

“Very well, let's be on our way. I expect a hearty meal when we arrive to discuss getting our product here!”

“Of course dear. They know we’ve had a long trip.” Gold Grain terminated the call and sighed, letting her pad driver take them to the destination. Hopefully they wouldn’t be here too long, she missed the rich, fattening produce of their home farm, but the trade deal was too lucrative to pass up and not make the journey.

Sunnyside still stared on in awe, the ponies now down the end of the road were still visible due to their bulk. ‘“Someday, I’m gonna be as big as them, maybe bigger…’ She thought, and waddled her way towards home.
> Story 6 - A Day Off
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sigh.

It wasn’t often Solid Foundation got a day off, the work schedule on the new builds for the colonies had been absolutely backbreaking in terms of demands. You put up one block, then another was needed...and another...and another. Then by the time you had put all those up they needed more, and bigger. Ponies kept eating and gorging themselves and a larger space to live in was required. It just seemed utterly endless. The colony, despite being founded 30 years ago was still growing, much like its inhabitants.

After finally getting the shipment of materials needed to finish off the latest build, something that just a few centuries ago would have easily classed as a double width barn (and that was only one room) back on Equestria, Foundy had told her team a job well done and they now had some respite before the job next week for another home to be built. She had even smiled a little and given Red Roller a small playful rump bump on her way out of the yard yesterday. She could have sworn she saw him blush as he tried to hide his face in his fat folds. She did have a soft side to her, well...okay she was mostly soft but that wasn’t the point.

She wasn’t actually quite sure what to do with her time, she had gotten up at the crack of dawn like she normally did. Unfortunately working on a construction site did that to a mare when you had to be awake at odd hours to receive shipments or coordinate some part of the build at four thirty in the morning. Wadding her way into town she had heard several ponies talking about offworld visitors and their enormous bulk. She had brushed it off though, she didn’t quite believe ponies could be that large and still be taken seriously. There was a point where you were just too big.

She sniffed the air, and something rather delicious made its way up her nostrils. Immediately her mouth started to slaver and she followed her nose. The smells getting more enticing as she took faster and faster steps forwards, maxing out when she realised she was started to sweat from the rate she was moving, her big bulky body hardly able to keep up with her obvious appetite.

She rounded a corner and finally was able to pinpoint where the smell was coming from. She craned her neck upwards and read the sign.

BLUBBER KING

‘So this is the joint that put my shipment back, it would be rude of me not to at least check it out.’ She thought to herself, making her way inside. The outer door opened automatically and the mare waddled forward a little to join the queue. This was the worst part about being a fat pony on a colony obsessed with eating, when you queued for food for the eight time that day, you always got to stare at a rump. At least this one was wearing clothes. Although she heard some ponies enjoyed it…

The fast food place was rather busy, but it was fast food after all so Foundy quickly made her way to a service point after having browsed the menu, she was greeted by a rather fresh faced and young looking pony. Still somewhat slender but still packing on the pounds.

“Welcome to Blubber King! What can I get for you today?” The server pony greeted her with a smile.

“Three number seven’s and a number 12 with ketchup. Oh can I get a king sized gulper drink as well please?” Foundy asked, she was going to have a little bit of a pigging out session, but not too much.

“No problem! That’ll be 23 bits. If you just take a ticket and punch the number into the table a service drone will bring your meal.” The server replied. Foundy hoofed over her bits.

“Service drone? Don’t ponies usually take it themselves or wait for their number to be called?” Foundy asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, it’s just how we do things here. Ponies prefer it! Your meal is brought straight to your table!” She smiled still. Foundy decided to ask her a question.

“What's your name?”

“Oh um...have I made a mistake? Do you need to talk to my manager?” She could see the poor thing already clamming up slightly at the question. Ponies in fast food places usually only asked that if they wanted to complain.

“No, no, I mean I just wanted to know your name is all. I like to know who’s serving me and give good feedback if I can.” The mare replied, she saw the server instantly relax.

“Sunnyside, this is my first day on the register. Usually I work the fryer.” She replied. Foundy smiled.

“You like working the fryer?”

“I love working the fryer! All those delicious smells and...when nopony is looking I can sneak a few, but shhhhh.” She said, a little giggly. Her body swayed a little as the excited young pony continued to be positive.

“Food benefits good?”

“Oh amazing! I’ve only been working here 4 days and I’ve already gained 70ibs! I have brothers at home...they’re much bigger than me, I want to catch up…” She confessed, looking a little sheepish.

“Well I’m sure you will, I’ll head over to my table. Thanks for the service.” Foundy said before turning her body away to find a clear space in the busy eatery.

“N-no problem! Please come back!” She heard Sunnyside reply behind her, already taking the order of the next hungry customer.
The mare took a seat and punched her number into the small computer at the table. It then thanked her for her custom with Your meal is being prepared displayed on the tiny screen.

The mare sat and pondered her life a bit, and well, other ponies lives as well. When did they all start to become absolutely obsessed with eating? Tales of ponies of old never described their size much and when they did, they always seemed like slender and small things. Foundy took a look at her own body, if the ponies back then had seen it they would have thought there was something wrong with her.

Her flank occupied most of the seat she was sat in, and then spilled over some as her huge gelatinous body just did its best not to jiggle at any movement she made. Her belly stretched out for a decent distance before her, and her head sat comfortably in rolls of neck fat that kept her warm and soft. It was amazing that by some standards she was considered normal or light for size. She thought about the Equestrian ponies, and wondered what the homeworld must be like to have so many fatties of much larger propotions.

Foundy was born offworld through, and had never seen it. Just moving from colony to colony where the work was. That was another benefit of a number of colonies in a space empire, they acted as a bread basket to ship food back home. Sure Equestria still had farms, but space was at such a premium with its massive denizens just taking more and more space up all the time. She wondered when it might come to a head.

A Ping! Sucked her from her thoughts, as the display changed to Your meal Is ready. A few moments later a small drone wizzed into view, carrying her meal and deposited it neatly on the table in front of her. It then vanished back towards the kitchen. The mare forgot about her thoughts, and started eating the rather fattening looking food in front of her...
> Story 7 - A Vast Banquet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had started last Wednesday. A note had been slipped through Lady Rotunda’s door, brought to her by one of her servants. She had still been laying in bed at the time, stuffing her face as per usual with the usual mornings treats. She had hardly noticed the rather meek and quiet pony who had come in to her room pass along the message, only seeing her standing there waiting between mouthfuls.

“Oh, good morning Cherry. Is there something you need, as you can see I am rather pre-occupied…” The large pony said, stopping for a mere moment to see what her servant had to say.

“A note has come mam’, shall I read it to you while you eat?” She asked, her horn glowing and slipping the note out of the envelope. It was a rather delicate thing, gold lace and tiny writing on the small piece of parchment inside. Clearly not meant to be handled by chubby hooves.

“Please dear, every second I don’t have something in my mouth I’m losing pounds.” The mare replied, taking a few more treats from the tray next to her bed and stuffing them in. Her ears twitched as she listened to the note being read to her by Cherry.

“Dear esteemed patron. You are hereby invited to a grand banquet to host Wheat Sheaf and Gold Grain, esteemed visitors from the homeworld. After a successful negotiation with the Planetary Governor for a new trade agreement this momentous occasion is to be celebrated. Please attend yourself (+1 guest and up to 2 servants) to Ceranium Manor this coming Saturday. Your truly, Planetary Governor Farthest Reach.” Cherry finished reading, and slid the letter back into the envelope. She could hardly believe it, for the first time since she could remember Lady Rotunda had stopped eating during a meal. Her flabby jaw just hung open in amazement.

That had been the only respite for the remainder of the week. Cherry had found herself tasked after that with making sure everything was in place for Saturday. A formal outfit had to be found, Lady Rotunda had ordered her dinner parties cancelled...but not the food, something about “Wanting to make a good impression.” Her rate of eating just seemed to increase. The mare was clearly determined to gain more size than usual, and her intake of food more than doubled as she herself scoffed the same amount of food meant to serve enough for all her party guests. On friday night, she weighed herself.

The momentous scales, installed and taking up an entire room in their vast abode, took a moment to count up her total weight, but finally a figure appeared. 4812ibs

If the fat and jiggly mare could have jumped for joy, she would have. Over 800ibs in less than a week! She had gained a little more than her target weight. She was sure she’d make a good impression.

And now here she was, in amongst ponies of class. Not just the class she was used to, real class. The biggest and fattest ponies in all the colony were here. Not a single guest could move under their own power, but the Planetary Governor always had the largest space available. A plethora of anti-grav pads sat at each side of the extensive table, piled high with food. The moment a tray of treats dropped below a certain level, servants from the vast kitchens immediately came and topped them up. Nopony was going hungry tonight, and the top echelons of their society were celebrating the only way they knew how. By gorging themselves silly.

There was little talk, everypony too busy stuffing their fat faces with food as much as they could. Occasionally Lady Rotunda would crane her flabby neck to her side to look at her husband, but all he did was smile in between huge mouthfuls of the never ending piles of food they were all doing their best to consume.

Whilst some of the guests were able to feed themselves, many were far too big to reach the table and grab what they wanted. Cherry had been brought along to feed her mistress, and was doing her best at keeping her full and satisfied by levitating food right into the mares mouth, who endlessly chomped away. Lady Rotunda was a unicorn herself, but why waste magic when the invitation had specified they were allowed to bring guests?

Her eating was interrupted by Cherry stopping feeding her. “You have a conference call incoming mam’. The Planetary Governor wants to introduce the guests.”

A screen flicked to life in front of her, as it did for everyone else round the table. Again another side effect of the hugeness of the ponies. They were all so far apart, separated by their massive rolls of fat that this was the only effective way to communicate. The two huge guests, that absolutely dominated the room at the head of the table may have been speaking all night, but nopony would have heard a word they said.

“Good evening my...smack... honoured guests, thank you for...chomp... attending this fine banquet this evening...chew….” Planetary Governor Farthest Reach broke off for a moment to finish what he was eating. The call suddenly becoming flooded with an “U-uuurp!” as he relieved himself before carrying on. “Even more produce will be making its way to Sleipnir in the coming weeks, and I’d like to thank both guests Gold Grain and Wheat Sheaf for making the trip personally to ensure it was achieved. I myself am greatly looking forward to sampling what produce their farm has to offer! Three belches for our esteemed guests!” He finished enthusiastically, before the call erupted once again into a plethora of “Urrrrrrrrps!” “B-buuurrrppps!” and “Bwaaaarrrppps!” as the huge ponies showed their appreciation. The call clicked off, and the ponies returned to their gorging.

Although still eating, Lady Rotunda just couldn’t take her eyes off the ponies at the end. They were of amazing size. It had been brought to her attention that Equestrian ponies were much bigger than colony ponies. But these two were just flabbergastingly massive. She watched as personal drones, a small army of them, moved between the table and into small holes where their heads should be, she presumed buried somewhere in there was the faces of the two guests, stuffing themselves just as everypony else attending was. Far too fat for servants to feed them, it would take them a large portion of time just to ascend their huge bodies with the food.

She knew the first thing she was going to do was weight herself again when she got home, she wondered if she had broken the magic 5000ibs mark. She had hoped she might have caught up to the largest pony, Planetary Governor Farthest Reach was the fattest pony in the colony, being their leader, but with tonight's feast he would have advanced beyond that weight easily.

Rotunda felt herself continue to grow as she ate. Her flanks and belly continued to balloon in size. Every guest there was gaining a massive amount, a true testament to gluttony. Fat faces and flabby tums jostled for space around the table as an almost audible jiggling was heard over the sounds of chewing and swallowing. This truly was the peak of pleasure.

“More food my lady? You’ve stopped eating.” Her thoughts were interrupted by Cherry, who stood below her head ready to levitate in more tasty treats.

“Oh of course my dear, I was just taking in the moment. I don’t know if I shall attend something this spectacular again.” She said with a little wistful sigh.

“Me either, my lady. Thank you for choosing to bring me. I have not attended such a high profile event in my entire life. I shall remember it always. But please, this event is about you and not me, have another cinnamon roll.” The unicorn servant said in a pleasing tone as she levitated the treat into her masters waiting maw.

Rotunda felt it happening, that magical moment when you started to consume so much you fell into a food pleasure coma. She took her servants advice, and continued to eat. Her mind consumed with thoughts of her size, and just how heavy and colossal she was now. There was still an amazing amount of food left to consume, and the mare was going to eat as much of it as she could before the night was over.
> Story 8 - A Shapely Mare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ziiiiiiip!

Charity put her second suit of the day on, to think It had been roughly two weeks since she had fallen in love with bodysuit Melody had dragged her into the store to buy. The entire day after she had been wearing it she just couldn’t stop admiring herself. As soon as she had gotten home that evening she had just spent hours looking at her body in front of the mirror. Heavy and thick but round and shapely. The material was very soft as well, which helped make it just that little bit more comfortable on her.

The next day after buying the first one she had raided her bank account and gone back to the store, buying four more identical suits. The clerk had looked at her a little suspiciously, reiterating the need to not wear them all the time. Charity had assured her that it was simply that she loved the suit so much she wanted to have backups in case for whatever reason they stopped being made. This seemed to ease the clerks apprehension, and she had waddled her way back home with them.

She just couldn’t stop staring. She had gotten up, shifting her massive frame out of bed, the house quiet as it usually was and switched from her sleeping suit to her day suit. She had certainly gained a little weight in the two weeks since purchasing the originals, maybe 100ibs or so but the suit itself still easily held her figure in that absolutely gorgeous and perfect shape she admired so. The worst part was taking one off and putting a new one on, her body would quickly start going back to its natural shape. After two weeks however this process seemed to be slowing down, but no matter. She preferred the shape the suit gave it so much.

She was almost perfectly round in every spot she could hope for. This morning though she was admiring her flank, just two perfectly round squishy orbs that rose a little over the rear of her back. She wondered if she should try what she was thinking about. ‘Should I?’ her mind kept tossing the idea back and forth, but eventually she decided she should. She hadn’t really thought about what the suit might do if she pushed it.

The mare couldn’t resist, and the walls of the house were sturdy, what with having the accommodate such big and hefty tennants. Very gently against a free wall in the room, Charity squished her absolutely massive posterior against it. She moaned a little, as her flanks spread wide to try to deal with the reduced space they had when they were freely wobbling inside her suit. There was an audible squish as her big bulbous behind pushed harder into the wall.

All she could think, was just how truly amazing the suit actually was. Not only did it evenly spread her ass against the wall into an even more desirable shape, but there wasn’t even the hint of a rip or tear in the material. When the sales pony had said that one size would fit all she wasn’t joking, and it was reassuring to know that she could continue to do this the bigger she got.

There was a moment, where the mare just couldn’t resist pushing it a little further. The hefty porker of a pony leaning forward a little, then back, then forward, then back. Rhythmically bouncing and squishing her rear into the wall behind her as she craned her head round to watch as two massively overblown cheeks spread and squished against the solid surface behind her. She panted, blushing and hoped that nopony from her family was home or could hear her. Sweat forming in little beads on her forehead as she huffed and puffed as her huge body jiggled in motion with her rocks and leans.

She loved how her size was just adding to the excitement, one of the prime reasons so many ponies decided to gain weight. It just seemed the bigger you were the more pleasurable having a big body to do things with was. Her body right now was doing all the right things, as her rear continued to wobble and squish some of the energy made its way down into her thighs and tum as they rippled in delight.

Glooorrrrrrpppp!

Well...maybe did a little more than ripple in delight. The mare panted, groaned and moaned but wary of what she was wearing she eased herself - not quite wanting to hit that magical point of no return and came to a gentle stop.

She breathed, catching her breath from her little moment of enjoyment. Thankfully nopony else had heard her and she took a few steps forward to unsquish her flanks from the wall, the suit bringing her chunky rear back to that perfect round shape behind her as she did.

“H-have to remember that one for when I really am alone…” She giggled and huffed. Wiping her forehead with a fat hoof. It would be no fun without the suit. She made a mental note to purchase a couple more that she could use for when she wanted to push herself over the edge. More weight too...She pondered that the suits would really come into their own when they were trying to contain a pony of even grander size.

Charity had slightly lost track of time though with attending to herself, a clock on the wall of the room read.

10:43

“Oh gosh! I’m meant to be meeting Melody in town in just over 15 minutes! I-I can’t waddle my fat self there in time! I’ll call her, say I was delayed…” The mare now in a small state of panic made a final check that her current suit was on properly and hastily grabbed her things before heading out the door, her vid-phone clicking on in front of her face as she tried her best to move with speed.

“Melody! It’s Charity! I haven’t forgotten our luncheon, I’m running a little late…”
> Story 9 - Four Figures
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunnyside looked down, watching as the scales ticked up.

800ibs...

Oh good, the weight she was when she started her job, that was impressive...not.

900ibs…

The weight she was when she weighed herself a few weeks ago, again, nothing really to be happy about.

950ibs…
Okay so 50ibs more, that was good. She was now at least on par with her youngest brother. But wait, the scales are still ticking up...albeit slowly.

980ibs…

‘Oh jeeze really? 20ibs off? C’mon. Please, just a little more?’ She though, but the needle had slowed to a crawl. It moved….another 2ibs. Resting finally on 982ibs.

Sunny stepped back and took her weight off, and the scales breathed a sigh as the dial reset to 0. She was so close! Even with the additional meals from work and spending most of her bits on as much junk food as should could she was still gaining slowly. Or at least it felt slowly. 18 more pounds and she’d be there. It was a friday, and she knew fridays she always worked the fryer. She’d get her usual break meal and what she could take home but, it wouldn’t be enough. Not to gain 18ibs in a day.

The mare grabbed her things, hearing a faint “See you later!” from her mother as she left the house and started her waddle into town. She felt so small compared to other ponies. There was even some foals who looked as if they were putting her to shame she observed on her way. Although these mostly were the children of rich families. Able to gorge themselves from a very young age.

The mare made it into work, there were a few others there already, and Di was already in her office checking the books. She heard some mumbling between her fat folds of “I wonder if we can push the sales of just sauce on it’s own up? Would ponies buy packets of sauce…” as she knocked on the door and said hello to her boss.

“Ah good morning Sunny, you’re on fryer duty again today. Anything you want to talk about before the day starts?” Her boss always liked to make sure her employees were well looked after, and Sunny was a good employee. She never let on but she gave her a little more leeway than most.

“Oh no boss, I’m all set for working the fryer.” Sunny replied. She lingered though, gently rubbing a hoof on the ground as she looked a little pensive.

“Is there something else?”

“Maybe, um. I don’t know if it’s something you can even help with.” She confessed. “I weighed myself this morning, 982 pounds…” She blushed a little, and saw Di raise an eye and smile.

“Ah! The four figure mark! I remember that well, I think I was about your age, maybe a bit younger…” Her boss started to drift off into memories, but she pulled herself back to the matter at hand. “Hmmm...ever heard of one for you, one for me?”

The young mare looked puzzled. “Um, no. What do you mean?”

“Well I worked fast food when I was your age too, what am I talking about. I still do. I mean I worked in similar roles to you. I generally was on the grill making the patties though.” Her boss continued, her voice lowering forcing Sunny to step a little closer. “When nopony is looking...just, take more than the usual amount of fries you take for yourself. You make a batch for a customer? You also make a batch for yourself.” She grinned watching her young employee go bright red.

“O-oh gosh, you know I take fries for myself!? I thought I was being so subtle only taking a few at a time…” She trailed off and looked even more nervous than when she first asked the question. Di burst into laughter.

“Haha! Please dear we all did it, how do you think I packed on the pounds when I worked like you? Anyway I’m giving you special permission today. I’ll just so have happened to not have noticed if you’re making some batches for yourself...as long as it doesn’t slow up the fryer for the customers. Okay?” She smiled, and watched the chubby pegasus in front of her relax. “Now get to the grill, we’ve got a day of work ahead of us.”

It wasn’t long before the eatery opened, and Sunny was quickly making batches of fries. She did have moments to spare, and in those moments…

‘One for the customer...one for me…’

She felt a little devious doing it, but nopony else seemed to notice the odd batch here or there wasn’t making its way to the collection point for customers meals, neither did any of her coworkers ask for more fries. She seemed to be keeping up, and the fresh fries were absolutely delicious. The fat pegasus could hardly keep her hooves off them, salting them up as she tried her best to stealthily chew down a batch here and there. Every time she did she could feel her belly almost sing in delight to the steady stream of food it was getting to enjoy.

Lunch time came and went, and Sunny took her usual break, a helping of one of their most popular orders and two orders of fries. ‘I mean technically I am the customer here…’ She thought, the fries not getting the slightest bit boring despite eating so many. She decided to vary these with ketchup, and enjoyed her meal before heading back to work.

The rest of the day was filled with Sunny making almost double the batches of fries. She kept up with the orders and kept herself full. She was loving it, every one of those rich and salty delights making their way into her mouth was heaven. Before she knew it, it was nearing the end of her shift. An idea had been brewing, as the place was also due to close soon…

Sizzle!

She heard the voice of her manager, who hadn’t said anything all day finally make its way over to her ears as they twitched slightly. Oh dear, had her boss noticed what she had done? Di came over next to Sunny, whispering in her ear.

“I did that once too you know, just don’t do it too often. Co-workers notice if an entire batch goes in the fryer like that.It’s a little obvious near closing time.” She said with a wink, before making her way back towards her office. Sunny breathed a sigh of relief. In no time at all the day was over, and her plan worked, able to take for herself a huge helping of fries left over from the fryer and a few other pieces before the place closed down for the day. Once clean up was done as per usual the mare found her usual spot behind the building and quickly scarfed down every little bit of food she could, her lips smacking together in joy at the incredibly greasy and fattening fast food. The small mountain of fries disappeared within but a few moments, and the burgers she had grabbed did too. All washed down with an XL drink somepony had ordered, but then decided on the XXL instead.

“URRRPPPPP!” The mare let out a satisfied belch from her feasting fest. It had been a very enjoyable day, the best one at work so far. She had no idea her boss would encourage her like that, let alone give her ideas on how to maximise her intake. She wondered if she had any other tricks up her sleeve.

Picking herself up, she certainly felt heavier, her large frame squishing a little more against itself than usual. Not much change in size but there was bulk there. The sun was starting to set, and Sunny made her way home, waddling slowly so as not to burn off too many calories.

Home at last, the journey took twice as long but she knew she’d lost nothing, feeling as heavy as she did as when she had picked herself up. A “Hiya Sunny!” greeted her ears from her mum, which she returned in kind and immediately made for the bathroom scales, putting her weight on and watching the needle tick up again.

900ibs…

Okay, getting there again.

950ibs…

Yup certainly can’t be any less heavy than she was this morning.

995ibs…

Oh gosh, the tension was getting unbearable. She watched as the needle slowed again.

997...998...999...1000!

She squeaked in delight! The mare had done it! Four figures! She’d hit her target goal, but the needle kept moving…

1005...1010…

How much had she eaten? She’d gone over her target! The mare kept staring at the needle, just watching it tick up, slower...slower, until it finally came to a rest.

1014ibs

Oh gosh, she’d overdone it slightly. But the mare smiled, what of it? That was weight she would have gained some other time regardless. She stepped off the scales again and sighed. At the next family weigh in at least she would no longer hold the title of lightest! It was oddly satisfying, and the mare felt her increased bulk justify her gorging. She’d have to ask Di how often she was allowed to do that at work, she couldn’t wait to do it again. She left the room, and decided she had to tell somepony at least. “Mum! You’ll never guess what…”
> Story 10 - A Manufacturing Miracle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The secretary sighed, she knew, any second now…

Bzzzzt!

A voice cracked through the speakerphone on her desk. “Is he here yet?” The pony on the other end asked, sounding a little impatient. This was the fifth time in the past twenty minutes the question had come through.

“Not yet, look I told you three times already. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from the front desk, okay?” She replied, seeing if it had finally sunk in this time.

“Yes, yes of course. Thank you.” The speaker cut off. Finally she might be able to get on with some work…

Bzzzzt!

“Oh for Celestia’s sake! I told you…” She started to say, but was cut off by a different pony this time.

“Um, I don’t know who else you’ve been talking to but I was told to notify you when the Planetary Governor arrived? His pad has just pulled up outside.” The voice on the other end said rather sheepishly.

“Oh of course! Tell him to wait there and the owner will meet him shortly.” The secretary replied, and the speaker clicked off once again. Leaning a fattened hoof forward positioned on her own pad behind her desk she moved it gently out, and a few feet to the right, clicking another button on the control console that activated a knocker on a door which simply read “DIRECTOR” on it. She shouted through. “He’s here! Waiting for you down at the lobby!”

The door opened, a double wide one at that. A second pad appeared holding a pony of even greater size on it. Striving Step, the director of Grav-PadTM hovered his own bulky self out of his office and passed the secretary, grunting a “Thank you.” as he piloted his pad down the hall and towards the lobby. Today was a big day, it wasn’t every day you had the Planetary Governor for the entire colony show up on your doorstep.

Below the upper offices on the assembly line in the factory, Charity was on the day shift, there had been a few whispers between her co-workers. Not much said but a few new parts had come down the line recently. Things she didn’t recognise but were fairly easy to put together. Thank goodness she was a unicorn, it was required to be at Grav-PadTM, not that the company had anything against pegasi and earth ponies, but to do certain jobs you needed magic. There was no way Charity could have fitted the parts together with her hooves. Nopony could, each worker of varying sizes having totally useless hooves these days.

Her idle thoughts of whispers were interrupted by her co-worker, Sherbet Sweets leaning towards her, she knew she was because every time she did she could feel her mass leaning into hers. A few idle pounds of flesh squished against her as she turned her head. “Something up Sherbet?”

“The rumours keep deepening, I hear there is a visitor coming in today! Somepony important!” She said with a small smile, her ears twitching to make sure nopony else on the line could hear their conversation. “All these new parts, and now somepony who is important. I think we’re finally getting those new pads they’ve been talking about for months. The biggest ones we make are quickly becoming not enough. I mean the new model that was released about three years ago that supports up to 6000ibs? That was fine then, but now, I think with those Equestrians visiting they’ve had to step up their game. Word is the Governor held a large banquet and is getting a bit too hefty for his pad, and it’s a top range one.” The mare finished, her voice becoming low. “I hear he’s pushing the director for an even greater pad, he wants to keep gaining and still be mobile.” She said, finishing with a little squeak as if the news was absolutely top secret.

“Well that’s no surprise, and technically Sherbet he lost the ability to be mobile years ago.” She giggled in reply. The mare watched as her friend leaned back, her fat moving away as the two continued their work. It made sense though, of all the ponies she knew of here on the colony he was the biggest. That was just how it worked, the higher the position of power usually the larger the pony was. Of course there was some exceptions for work requirements, but often it was that way. You could tell a ponies position in life by judging their size, it only made sense that the leader was the fattest and blubberiest of them all. She looked up, there was a walkway that was covered in glass on the sides that ran along the top middle of the factory from one side to the other. The glass was misted though, only vague shapes could be made out through it. But two visible shapes of two hefty ponies on pads were clearly making their way through it. ‘Maybe that’s them now…’ She thought, but looked back down and carried on with her shift.

Above, Farthest Reach and Striving Step were having a friendly discussion as they moved towards the prototype room. It was hidden away above the assembly line, where the most advanced pad technology was developed, the only access being the walkway, and an extremely large but heavy doorway used for deliveries. It was watched on a security feed at all times.

“I think you’ll be pleased Governor, we’ve made a number of advancements on the new pad. You’ll be the first to get one and try it out for future sales. Some endorsement from yourself could go a long way…” The director said, clearly trying to get his sales pitch in for the new technology. The governor simply smiled back as he replied.

“Of course Striving, I’ll be sure to tell ponies how pleased I am with it and your company, provided it works as you say. This one like the last is gratis I assume? Consider my good word payment.” He said, the two getting closer to the entrance to the room.

“Of course, of course… It was not cheap to produce, but we’ve done it. I’ll run you through the features…” Striving Step said, he pushed a fat hoof into his control console and the door swung open. Apart from a few working ponies and tables around the edge of the room, the centre was dominated by a raised platform, and on it, one absolutely huge Grav-Pad.

The two hovered their own close, and the Planetary Governor observed it. Striving Step started to list the details.

“It’s the biggest we’ve produced, a number of new features as well. The thruster amount has been doubled compared to yours, meaning much more stability. This pad should stay steady even at the largest weight it can take. You specified you should still be able to control it yourself, so the remote is on a small tiny pad itself that tracks the movement of your hoof. You shouldn’t have to lean more than a few centimeters forward to get control. It is also voice activated. You only need to tell the remote to move to a hoof and it will. The entire pad can also be controlled by voice commands, but testing found that tedious so we provided the remote. It is lined, as you can see with purple silk, the best we could find. It should be exceptionally comfy…” The director trailed off, seeing the Governor raise an eyebrow.

“What weight can it take?”

“Well as we said we doubled the thruster amount, made a few more adjustments to the gyroscopes…” He could tell the Governor was just looking for a number at this point by the expression on his face. Better to just tell him what he wants to hear rather than drag it out.

“8000ibs, we did some further testing, pushed it is still stable at 10,000. However after that the gyros start to struggle and the old dipping issue current models have starts to reappear. But, it’s the biggest one we’ve made yet.” Striving Step said proudly. He could tell the governor was pleased as he saw a big smile appear on his face.

“Excellent work Striving, you’ve out done yourself as usual. One day you shall rival the pad makers of the homeworld I hope. Their pads may be able to take more weight but, your technology seems to gaining on them fast. Even their pads at this size require a driver. I look forward to giving it a test. Have it brought to my home this evening, move it under the cover of darkness. I’d like to reveal it over a broadcast tomorrow and announce you will be putting them into production shortly. I’d still like a little edge though, not for another few months at least, by then I’ll have gained enough to really test it.”

“Of course, yes. No problem. I’ll have it moved tonight. I trust you are pleased?” He knew he was but he wanted to hear it for himself, Striving always liked to get a pat on the back, even at his level of work.

“Yes, pleased as punch. Now that you have this model sorted out, I expect you’ll be looking to work on bigger ones yes? I’d rather not stop eating if I can help it…” The director only nodded in return and the governor turned his attention back to the pad in front of him.

‘The five figure mark, I could make it, and still be able to move around with this. Those Equestrians were my dream size. One day if they make pads here that can support that sort of weight, I could die a very happy pony.’ He thought, but for now, this was more than adequate. He turned his pad, body jiggling slightly at the speed as he did so. The two left the room, shutting the door behind them to let the employees continue with their work.
> Story 11 - Saviour of the Site
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRUNCH!

“ROLLER!”

This was the third bellow of the day directed at him, The poor chunky pegasus had not exactly had his mind on the job for the past week. Every little thought in his head had been directed at…

“Roller!” He heard the words, thoughts fading and turned himself, and saw Foundy staring at him, incredulous and obviously not having lightened up since the earlier incidents. He could tell she was about ready to explode. He better not make it any worse.

“Y-yes Foundy? What is it this time?” He asked, perhaps the innocent approach was best?

“Don’t you Foundy me! This is the THIRD foul up of today! First, you send the delivery truck to the wrong end of the site so we have to BORROW a number of workers grav-pads, leaving them useless for hours to move the stuff to the right area. Second! You submit an expenses claim for over double what you’re allocated for a week! AND NOW YOU’VE KNOCKED OVER A VERY EXPENSIVE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT WITH THAT FAT FLANK OF YOURS!” The mare practically screaming in rage as she finished her tirade at her Site Manager.

“F-fat flank? I-I can’t have…” But he had, and a rather new and expensive looking Wall-O-Mount Matic was now laying on its side. He nervously grinned and blushed. “O-okay maybe I might have...um, I wasn’t looking?” He meekly managed to get out before his boss started another rant.

“WEREN'T LOOKING...WEREN'T…” She stopped, and took a deep breath, remembering his words from the previous weeks. She didn’t want to overdo anything, besides at her size it wasn’t good to let the blood boil too much. Being a Foremare was stressful enough as it was.

“Of course you weren't looking. Roller what have you been eating in the past few weeks?” Her mind ticked back the expenses receipts she had looked over and approved on his behalf. “Oh wait, of course I know the answer to that. Practically ninety percent of them have been from Blubber King! And it shows, I think you’re becoming the king of blubber yourself with that fat flank riding up your back. We could attach you to the crane and use you as a spare wrecking ball if we ever needed to!” She said, her voice just raised a little this time.

Roller couldn’t help but laugh a little, but noticing his chuckles were only further angering his boss, he stopped and decided to speak instead. “B-but Foundy, haven’t you been yet? I just...can’t stop. The food there is so good! Their servers are so polite! You don’t even have to carry your food! It’s just brought to your table and you eat! It’s the most amazing fast food chain on the colony!” He finished, slavering a little at the mouth, his mind now filled with thoughts of their menu.

“Yes I did go Roller, once on my day off. But that’s not the point. You’re so preoccupied with thoughts of your next meal that it’s impacting you ability to do your job! You haven’t made this many mistakes in one year of working for me as you have in one day! I want your mind here, and I want it focused, understand? Because the next mistake you make today, really will be the last. Got it?” She practically growled out the last words, sending him waddling away back to the job he was attending to. The mare breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to her site cabin. There was still a mountain of paperwork to do, most of it approving expenses claims…

Roller waddled his way back towards the new build, trying his absolute best to think of something else other than food...those delicious burgers, topped with that incredible, mouth watering sauce that seemed to sit on your tongue for days afterwards. It was so…

‘No, no! Don’t think about food! Come on! You’ve got a site to manage, now then - this build here. Let’s find out what’s going on.’ He thought, waddling his way up to observe what the worker ponies were doing.

A new house was going into place, it was mostly complete but still standing on raised foundation blocks. The idea was that the house would be built on the blocks as the material it was constructed out of was extremely light. Once built a final check was made, and then the customer would order what level of foundation they wanted based on their perceived future weight they aimed to achieve. The foundation was then poured in under the house and left to set with the blocks still in place, making it as solid as the customer needed.

It was much more profitable to build the house first, as most houses on an estate build were likely the same, and then find out later who was buying and what sort of foundation was needed rather than the very old traditional method of putting in a foundation first. Once ponies started getting as big and hefty as they were these days, old builds with the foundations placed first were often inadequate, and Roller had heard many a story of ponies unexpectedly crashing through the floor of their homes, having to be ungracefully pulled out from them.

The corner block though, as the final wall was just being put into place he could swear it wobbled just a little. He waddled himself a few steps further. As he did so the block...moved. That was never a good sign.

The closer he got the more it seemed to move, nopony else on the site seemed to notice it was shifting in position. It was the corner block too, if it moved out of position, even though the build was light the entire house would tip up and it would be a monstrous amount of work to get it back into place. Likely it would suffer damage too needing repairs. He only had one choice.

Waddling as fast as he could and uselessly flapping his wings, Roller moved himself into position next to the block as it continued to shift, he prayed he’d make it in time...just a few more seconds!

POP! As the block practically flew out of position, the pressure of the building sending it flying out.

CREEEAAAAAKKKKK! As the entire house started to shift. A few of the workers now noticing and trying to waddle out of the way of a house starting to tip.

FWOMP! As roller, in his desperate attempt to save the build, planted his gigantic flank in place of the block and felt the house press against his tush.

It squeezed it, it squished it, but somehow, his massive bulky rear was able to act as a replacement for the heavy block. He felt the immense weight of the house press against his cheeks as he cried out a little. The material was light, but assembled as an entire house it was still amazingly heavy!

He panted, but dared not move. Any sort of movement could destabilize the house. He felt his fat butt squish more, the blubber in his flank rippling as it held the weight of the house. He sighed and looked up, a number of construction ponies were stood staring, as one of their site managers had selflessly almost thrown himself under a collapsing house to try to save it.

Then he saw it, what he was dreading. Foundy, coming towards him at speed. It was unlike her to move so quickly, and it didn't take her long to get to him.

“What’s this?” She asked, her voice calm. For the moment.

“Um...instinct. I saw the house starting to tip when a block was working itself loose...am I fired?” He asked, his voice quivering a little. One more mistake, and this certainly seemed like one.

“Fired? FIRED!?” The mare let out a hearty belly laugh. She couldn’t help it. But noticing Rollers look of fear she abated, and calmed herself. “Fired? Are you kidding? You’ve just saved a very expensive build. A house tipping over would have cost us big time! Trust me, you’ve more than made up for those mistakes earlier.” She said, smiling at him through her fattened face.

He visibly breathed a sigh of relief, thank goodness. But then the next question immediately came to mind.

“Wait, the block that was in place is damaged. How many more are on site?”

“Oh, well - that’s it, we don’t have anymore. We’re expecting a delivery tomorrow. Think you can hold out until then?” She asked, now a little concerned.

“I-I guess, but what will I eat? I’m already starving…” He replied, he could feel his belly ripple beneath him as it cried out for a meal.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you fed. Wouldn’t want that fat butt to not be able to support the house right?” She grinned, although this made up for the other mistakes, the mare still had to have a little fun. They were actually expecting a delivery shortly, but he didn’t have to know that...yet.

“R-right.” he replied, and watched as Foundy issued some instructions to some of the builders out of earshot of him, he hoped it wasn’t more than a day, oh well, at least he could think about the next meal at Blubber King and not do anymore damage...he hoped.
> Story 12 - A History Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Settle down class!”

It was a Thursday on Sleipnir, nothing hugely remarkable about it. Vast Knowledge was sitting at her desk, her eyes drifting over the register as she marked the last student down as present. She let the pen drop from her magical grasp onto the sturdy surface and moved her hefty frame from the seat, a slight sucking noise as her rear unhinged itself from her chair. She looked at her students, still young, but a number developing double and even triple chins already. From an early age ponies had ingrained that bigger was better, usually the lightest one in the group suffered terrible teasing.

The class fell silent. “Today is a history lesson, you have a practice paper coming up and I’d like you all to do well. It is on a very important subject.” She smiled, seeing a hoof shoot up. “Yes?”

“I-Is it about the founding of the colony?” One student asked, just a little too eager.

“Well...yes, and no - mostly no. I am taking you on a little journey this morning. Let me load up the holo-screen and you’ll see.” The mare said, pressing a chubby hoof into the side of her desk where a number of controls were located. The lights dimmed and the screen flickered to life, a large image of the Equestrian flag shown on screen.

“Now who can tell me what this is? Anypony? We covered it only a few weeks ago…” She said, her voice dropping a little when no hooves went up, until a student towards the front raised theirs and spoke. “Um...flag of Equestria?”

“Yes! Well done, this is the flag of the Equestrian Empire. Well, back then it was just all ponies united under a single banner, but as we moved into space and founded colonies it became the flag we carried as well to remind us of home.” The teacher continued, this was her favorite story to tell her students.

“Ponies did not always live on lots of planets you see, we all came from one place. Equestria.” The screen changed, showing a rather idyllic image of rolling green hills, a few ponies walking down a dirt track. A few students gasped.

“They’re thin!” One blurted out, making Vast Knowledge chuckle a little.

“Indeed they are! Ponies of many moons ago were indeed thin. Eating as we do today was not considered the norm.” She gave a pause as more inevitable gasps filled the room. That fact always seemed to get them. “I know, hard to imagine isn’t it? But believe me when I say it is true. Our race was not always big and hefty! Ponies of those times did not enjoy the benefits of food surplus we have today, or the technology such as grav-pads and other conveniences. In fact being fat was rather unheard of.” She said. The screen changed again, this time showing a few slightly tubby ponies alongside some thin ones, who looked a little uncomfortable at the big ones sizes.

“Around 700 years ago, things started to change. Without going into too much detail the planet often suffered great strife and threats that caused ponies the need to be agile, quick and light. These traits helped them survive, but this way of life would not last forever. Eventually the planet was tamed so to speak, we ruled all and kept it in check. There was no more threats to face. This is when the first ponies you might recognise today, in terms of size, started to appear. With nothing that needed to keep them agile, ponies began to enjoy themselves, as a big part of that enjoyment was eating.” She said, pressing the controls again causing the next slide to appear. This showed the same ponies as before, but this time all were fat, and the original fat ones showed even greated size.

“It quickly gained traction, as you can see. It was almost the fashionable thing to be big. It was around this time that royalty also started to take an interest…”

The screen changed again. This time three very blobby ponies were shown. One student piped up at the back of the room. “They’re not so big! The visiting Equestrians are bigger!”

“Yes, but remember this is when this sort of thing was still new to us. You are looking at three of the princesses who still rule us today. The white pony is Princess Celestia, the largest of us all. The dark blue one her sister, Princess Luna, who almost rivals her sister for size. The purple one is Princess Twilight Sparkle, who covers a large amount of her home town, Ponyville. At least she does these days. As you can see from this historical photo back then they could still fit in the same room!” She chuckled, moving the slide on.

“Eventually however, after many hundreds of years of this behaviour, it was starting to take its toll on the planet. Food was becoming less plentiful, and the sizes ponies were reaching was meaning that within a few hundred years, unless something was done, there would be no more room on our homeworld.” She watched the screen click over, it now showed a number of multi-coloured blobs that covered the rolling hills before. “What you see here are the new larger residents, not much room hmmm?”

The class continued to look, not many speaking as the slide once against changed. “The ideas for colonies came but a mere few hundred years ago. At that point the large residents of the homeworld were needing a way to continue expansion, in more ways than one I might add!” She laughed at her own joke, none of the class said anything. Some years it hit, others it missed, this year was a miss. She brushed it off and moved on with her presentation.

“Whilst magic has been a mainstay, not all ponies have magic. Technology was continuing to improve, and at the time science ponies were looking at offworld transportation. Princess Celestia herself took a keen interest. A way of keeping her population expanding was found, rewards were offered for those who would take up the role of founding new worlds. Bigger rewards were offered to those who would be farmers to feed the new worlds and the homeworld. Within but a few hundred years Equestria now holds a hoof-full of roughly 38 colonies in various clusters of its local and neighbouring star systems. This number grows each year, and faster as new worlds suitable for habitation are found.” The slide had changed again, it showed a number of large ponies planting the Equestrian flag on an unknown planet.

“These days, Equestria is seen as not only the homeworld, but home of the privileged. Only royalty and ponies of great status make their homes there. The two you may have heard visiting the colony are farmers of a long line of prestigious farm ponies who have plied the princesses with food for generations. Farmers of that ilk are seen as some of the highest of society, not just on Equestria but all over the empire.” The students still listened as she spoke, clearly interested. The slide changed a final time to show the main town square of the largest city on Sleipnir with ponies of varying sizes gathered.

“Because of this, we are free to continue to gain as we please. Most ponies as you know have their size dictated by their profession and status. The larger they are the more prestigious their job or position. There are some exceptions of course, but that is a good rule of hoof.” She finished, letting the class soak in the information. She tried not to overload them as there was only so much knowledge the brain could hold.

“Now I know you all might have some questions, but by my clock I make it break time. I have a little more to tell you, but we shall continue when you return. You are all dismissed for second lunch.” She said, her chubby hoof pressing another control button as the room lighted up again and the holo-screen shut down. There was so much more she could tell them, but a break was needed. That was such a light overview she had gotten it down to a tee over the years of teaching it. She watched them waddle out. “Remember single file! Otherwise you’ll get stuck…” She reminded them, a few sighs from the group. Next sessions she would delve a little deeper with them, and plonked her fat rear down on her chair for a break herself.
> Story 13 - The Trough
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So where shall we eat?” Melody asked her friend, it was another one of their usual meet ups, the day having just begun. On their days off the two mares did like to get out and about early, although these days they just seemed to end up at Blubber King.

“Somewhere different, as fattening as the meals from Blubber King are Melody, I’d like a change.” Charity replied. “That will mean a bit of a waddle though, are you up for that?”

Her friend laughed. “Of course! I may be fat but I’m not exactly unable to move myself to the next eatery. How are you anyway? I see your suit seems to be holding up as well as mine!” Her friend chirped. The two mares started to shuffle and waddle their way down a semi-busy street, a few looks from stallions and a few mares admiring their body shapes shooting their way. Her friend continued to talk as they waddled. “These are catching on, I only saw one or two ponies during the week wearing them normally but now I can’t keep up. Oh there’s one over there with one on!” Melody exclaimed, a slightly less hefty pegasus waddling her way down the opposite side of the street and into a store, wearing a light blue suit.

“Yes, they do seem to be catching on. It’s easy to see and feel why.” Charity said, playfully leaning her weight a little into Melody that made her shift slightly to the side of the extra wide sidewalk. She blushed and looked at her friend with a smile.

“Easy to feel, like you I love the shape it gives the body, really tones the blubber into a nice ball. Silver has hardly been able to keep his hooves off me when I come home wearing it.” She continued to say, Melody’s husband Charity knew was certainly a pony who liked more than his fair share of food, as well as other things. “In fact he says he prefers me this way.”

“Yes I do know what you mean, my own keeps giving me eyes whenever I wear it, and perhaps a little more.” She giggled, not giving away too much. The suits weren’t just good for them, it seemed.

The two mares continued waddling, making their way into an area of town known as Little Earthquake. Affectionately named so as it was one of the prime eating districts, and often it contains so many ponies of heft and size it wasn’t unusual for the ground to shake in a rhythm with the lardy mares and stallions making their way to restaurants and eateries. Today didn’t seem any different, and the familiar rhythm of the distract made its way up the two mares bodies as they felt their tums and rears start to wobble a little in sync with it.

“I always forget that part! Oh gosh really reminds you just how fat we are doesn’t it?” Melody laughed, Charity raising an eyebrow wondering how she could possibly forget.

“Indeed, anyhow somewhere to eat? What about The Trough?” She asked, before Blubber King had come along it was one of their favorite places to stop in the district.

“For sure! And they usually have space! Lets go!” The two mares waddling their way down a few more streets towards their destination.

There was a very short wait to be seated, and well, seated was not really an apt term for the place. Ponies of varying sizes occupied the building. Each provided a cushion to park their fattened rumps on and lay. The reason it was called The Trough was the ingenious solution the owner had come up with to feed his patrons. One large conveyor belt snaked its way around the building, starting in and ending at the kitchen. Ponies simply paid one all you can eat price, and then had at whatever came down the line. The belt itself was sunken slightly to cope with dishes containing gravies and sauces, and thus had earned the name of The Trough. Eventually the owner just re-branded the business to the name, as most ponies had come to call it that.

Charity and Melody parked themselves, and started to take meals from the conveyor. Between mouthfuls conversation carried on.

“So can I tell you a little secret?” Melody started to say, pausing to wait for the inevitable reply from her friend.

“Of course you can, what are best friends for?”

“Well...I’ve been wearing the suit all the time. I-I can’t remember the last time I took it off properly actually. Silver says he loves my new figure so much I should stay like this if I can.” She said, her cheeks going a slight rosy red between her filling her mouth with food.

“Oh um…” Well if her friend was doing it, she may as well reveal her own little secret. “I am as well. I just can’t get enough of this shape. And the bigger I get the more amazing it looks!” She replied, a giggle and a little bit of blush filling her own cheeks as the two mares continued to eat. They looked at each other, the secret obviously something each of them have been wanting to tell somepony for a little while.

“I know right! Aren't you worried though?” Melody confessed.

“Worried? Why would I be worried?”

“Well, remember what the sales pony in the shop said? I-I’m starting to notice it, the last time I took it off for an extended period well...I was still the same shape when I woke up. I had been napping for at least three hours. It never used to take that long to revert back to my regular body shape. In the end after about five hours I was back to normal but, it gets longer each time.” She finished, a little bit of worry in her voice, quickly abated by filling her waiting maw with more food as Charity replied.

“Yes, you’re not wrong and if we keep doing this well, I can see us staying the same shape even without it for longer periods. But is that a bad thing? We love it, our husbands love it. Would you actually want to go back to that old, saggy body we had before? So what if we stay this way!?” She replied, helping herself to another mouthful.

“But Charity...side effects. Remember the instructions said there would be some if we kept wearing them? Even the store clerk warned us!”

“Pah, I don’t believe them, we’ve been wearing these suits for weeks and I’ve yet to experience any apart from my body taking longer to revert back to its original form.” She said in a dismissive tone.

“I-I know, and that’s all I’ve seen too, so far...what if there are more?” Her friend asked, still obviously concerned.

“So what if there is more? What could it possibly do to us that would be that bad?” Again her friend dismissing her concerns. “I’m going to keep wearing mine, day in and day out. Look I’m bigger than you, so if anything is going to happen I’m going to see it first. I’ll tell you, okay? Now, let's get back to lunch. Gained any weight since we last met?”

Her friend seem to relax, the mention of size always did. “Oh well, I think maybe ten or twenty pounds but I haven’t been able to pig out like I sometimes do recently, hopefully this lunch should help with that.”

“Well then, we’ve got all afternoon? What are we waiting for?” Charity replied, stopping her chat to focus on eating.

It was many hours later when the two mares finally waddled their way out to head home. “Oh gosh I’m so full...t-that was a lunch to remember.” Melody exclaimed, her tubby belly making some very satisfied noises between her legs.

“Mmmm...I am too...head home? Stop by a snack cart on the way?”

“Of course! I could go for something sweet to finish off with!” Melody laughed, as the two full and hefty mares started to waddle their way back home.
> Story 14 - A Day of Rest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Cherry! Cherry!” The fat mare called for her number one maid. She had just woken up, and was obviously peckish, but craning her head that was sunken into her fat neck she could already make out a pile of food awaiting her. It didn’t take long for her servant to appear.

“Apologies your ladyship, I was just fetching the second helping of your breakfast.” She replied, trundling a second cart of food into the room and parking it by her bed. She watched as Rotunda started to feed herself with the mornings delights. How much had she gained since the banquet? At least another two or three hundred pounds she guessed. Certainly enough to break 5000ibs at least. Before her mind wandered much more into sizes, her master spoke up.

“Do I have anything to do today my dear?” She asked, it certainly seemed like the massive mare had taken a shine to her, she was calling her dear all the time now. It was almost as if she had coined it as a nickname for her. Cherry took out her small tablet from her jacket and looked down the schedule.

“Nothing ma’am.” Cherry replied, the diary was totally blank. Highly unusual, and clearly Rotunda thought so too.

“Really? Nothing. There must be something dear. A meeting with friends? A lunch? Nothing at all?” Cherry could see her mouth droop slightly between her fattened cheeks in disappointment, still eating though…

“Well, your meeting this afternoon with Miss Honey Drops and Miss Sugar Tart has been postponed for two days, they are both indisposed with sudden family visitors. Your new Grav-Pad was supposed to arrive today but the sales company has found a fault and are waiting on new parts which should be with them today causing it to get delivered tomorrow. Your husband is off-world attending a society summit and there is no get together planned for tonight. Your day is free ma’am.” Cherry finished, putting the tablet away and standing by the carts of food. “There is just me, and a few other servants in the household to look after you. Your husband took a number with him to the summit.”

“Well...what can I do? I apologise if I seem out of sorts Cherry but I cannot remember a day for a very long time without something in the diary.” The mare replied, still a little flustered. She hadn’t yet moved out of her bed, even though her current Grav-Pad could still support her massive bulk. She just lay there, unsure how to proceed.

It was unusual for the maid to see her master so out of sorts. As she had said herself there wasn’t a day that went by without something being arranged she had to attend, even if it was just a luncheon with friends. Cherry stood, confused. Perhaps she could offer a suggestion that had come to mind.

“Might I be so bold ma’am, as to offer something?”

“By all means, I could use some council right now.” Rotunda said, her eyes darting around in her fat face to meet Cherry’s gaze.

“A day off would do you good ma’am. You are a very busy pony. I could help…” Her voice trailed off, she wondered if she was overstepping her bounds.

“Help, how?” The lardy mare, somehow - even though her face was just layers upon layers of fat, managed to raise an eyebrow as if to ask What did you have in mind?

“It is not uncommon in my line of work to be asked of more than I usually am beyond the letter of the printed contract between us, I...I was wondering if I could perhaps really help you relax. Just pamper you all day? You can stay in bed, I could feed you instead of you having to feed yourself…”

She saw Rotunda relax. Then, there was a slight chuckle. “My dear you already ply me with food and often at events help it make its way to my maw, why so nervous? Why have to ask?”

“Well...you are a very large pony ma’am, it would mean a little more if I could use my magic, and get close to your mouth to get the food in. Your belly looks like it could support me…” She said. Rotunda suddenly realised what she was asking. She smiled.

“I think my belly can support you dear. But let’s just keep this between us hmm? My husband would likely be rather jealous if he found us out. But then he is the one who encourages my gluttony. This is just a more efficient way of doing that? Yes? Not a word to anypony else.” Her words were hardly out before she felt the weight of her servant press against her belly. She was very much smaller than Rotunda, but it didn’t mean Cherry wasn’t heavy. She felt her gut sag slightly as it did its best to support her.

“Please relax, I just want to...feed...you…” She heard her say, as a number of treats were levitated by her servant into her mouth, her cheeks bulging wide as she swallowed. Cherry not letting up, she had clearly been waiting for this for a while, maids didn’t get many benefits, especially not with their owners. She was taking full advantage.

It wasn’t long before Cherry was using the magic as a means to levitate breakfast off the plate and into her hooves so she could directly stuff Rotunda with food. Waffles, toast, all sorts of savoury and sweet delights that the kitchen staff and Cherry had prepared were getting fed to her. It was bliss, she could feel her bulk swelling beneath her as her maid attended to her in the best possible way. Licking her lips she hardly said a word, in fact she said nothing, only opening her mouth to gobble up the next delicious morsel that made its way in, stuffed in with a fattened hoof from her maid.

“W-would you mind if I rubbed your belly ma’am...it’s very soft…” Again no time for a reply before she felt a hoof, then two hooves of her maid on her tum as they made circular motions on her belly, kneading and pressing into her gut. The hoof feeding had stopped and she felt the magic of her maid continue to push things into her mouth.

Her belly had not got this sort of attention in...forever, her husband even though he liked her big preferred other areas. It was just more perfection from the feeding session she was getting. Cherry rubbed softly and with purpose, her hooves almost gliding over her fat while at the same time pressing in and gently putting pressure on it. The feeling was divine, along with the food she was finding she was in heaven.

Her maid lay on her, more breakfast treats just fattening the immobile mare up while she was treated to a delightful amount of attention from her feeder. She felt her hind hoof was kicking a little in pleasure, a quirk of hers when she was really enjoying something. Suddenly she felt the weight on her stomach dissipate and the rubs stop. Cherry had climbed down from her engorged frame.

“I hope you enjoyed that...I-I may have too...I’m sorry if it was too much but you didn’t ask me to stop…” She confessed. “I only stopped as the carts are empty…”
Rotunda craned her fat head around, she wasn’t joking. All that food had gone, disappeared into her in what felt like mere moments. “There is more in the kitchen yes?” She asked.

“Certainly ma’am, I expect a few more carts are ready by now.” Cherry replied.

“...Bring them, and only you have access to my bed chambers today. Instruct the chefs to bring new carts to the door and leave them there. Move empty ones outside when they are spent. I want to minimise the amount of time you’re not feeding me today.” She said, a little flushed still. She was rather enjoying herself, clearly, and didn’t want the feeding session to stop or be interrupted.

“Yes ma’am, I’ll return very soon.” The maid replied, taking the empty carts with her and disappearing to fetch new ones. The door to the bedroom clicked shut behind her.

‘Cherry? The maid? She is beneath you surely? If anypony ever found out…’ Rotunda started to think. ‘But she’s so good at it, and she took initiative. That was one of the most enjoyable feeding experiences I’ve had, it went beyond mere eating.’ Her mind swam slightly, still a little high from the pleasurable stuffing she had just had. But how likely was anypony to find out really? She knew Cherry, she was dedicated to her work, this was just a way she could enjoy herself a little, and Rotunda didn’t mind. In fact she liked it…

She heard the door click open again, Cherry had returned with more carts of food. She parked them by the bed and closed the door behind her. “Ready for more, ma’am?” She asked, her polite demeanor still present.

“Please.” Rotunda replied, and let herself be overtaken by her maids generosity.
> Story 15 - Observing the Clientele
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Welcome to Blubber King! What can I get you today?”

Another day, another few bits. Sunnyside was starting to lose track of them now. Each day bled into the next as she got up, worked, ate and went to bed on a cycle. It was becoming comfortable. A routine was forming that she was enjoying. Work was still interesting, but she had mastered the fryer and every day her confidence grew at the register when she was asked to give ponies service.

She was starting to be able to multitask a bit better as well. What she was finding most interesting to pass the time was observing ponies coming in and out going about their business. She noticed other members of the staff were often doing this too.

“You need something other than staring at the food to help the day go by.” Di had commented when she mentioned one day to her that she had started doing it. She assumed then it was a common thing.

Today was no exception, the place was already busy and they hadn’t been open very long. Customers of various shapes and sizes already occupied the floor space, and there was a small queue for food. It could all be automated, but ponies liked interacting with others which is why Blubber King had employed staff to operate its kitchens and sales points.

Sunny idly looked over between taking orders. She watched as a rather fat and obese stallion struggled to get into the plus sized seating. Within the restaurant they could accomodate ponies of most sizes, and actually a lot of tables stood free standing so those of a heftier weight could just park their pads at them and eat. Some however still liked having their own mobility, and kept themselves at a size that allowed them to move on their hooves. They weren't all completely obsessed with getting bigger and bigger.

The stallion in question had a brown coat, Sunny observed an orange and brownish mane too. There was a similarly coloured tail wedged between his smooshing butt cheeks that were jiggling to and fro as he tried to heave himself into the seat. The cutie mark was a light blue snowflake. ‘Perhaps he likes the cold weather…’ Sunny thought. She continued to watch. He even had a bloated pair of wings buried in his back. ‘Bet those are useless.’ Her mind making observations about his body. There was a titanic effort as the pegasus managed to heave himself finally into the seat.

She guessed he must have weighed around 1500ibs, he wasn’t the biggest because he could easily still walk. A drone zipped along towards his table and dropped off a meal, she took mental note of the extra helping of fries as the stallion started to stuff his face. A few sauces being used to dip the fries into, his body quivering and wobbling as he ate with its pounds and pounds of fat being supported by the seat. Eating like a pig, the pony used a scarf tucked neatly round his neck to dab away bits of flotsam from around his mouth, and carry on. He seemed satisfied with the meal.

Another few orders taken, still a line in front of her. Sunny kept repeating the welcoming phrase and taking down more orders. Nothing amazingly out of the ordinary. Her eyes went back to wandering around the dining area.

A pair of especially fat ponies parked themselves at one of the free tables. Big enough for Grav-Pads anyway. Their colossal bodies seemed to be always in motion, it was common for the especially big ones to have some sort of almost never ending jiggle about them. These two were large and obviously proud of it, one using a small projector built into their pad to project an 3D image to the other of a advertisement for the new range of pads coming out soon.

Sunny had heard they had make a breakthrough recently, the Planetary Governor had been showing off his latest model around town. He had even made a small address that had been broadcast on the news the mare had just caught the tail end of as she came home one day, the words “...allowing us to be bigger than ever before!” reaching her ears before the article had moved on.

The two at the table though had obviously ordered a feast, they were some of the ones obsessed with size. Not one, but a small army of drones from the kitchen dropped off tray after tray off orders until the table was full with no more room left. Then she watched as the two of them began to eat. It was like watching a pair of hippos feeding, burgers that usually lasted ponies a number of bites were gone in two or three, entire bags of fries were disappearing within seconds. These two were obviously used to eating big, and often. They looked immense, easily in the 3000ibs range each or more. Their bodies rippled and wobbled with each bite they took of the food.

Suddenly she heard a voice. “Sunny, a word?” It was her manager Di calling her, she excused herself from the register as waddled over towards her as a colleague took over. “My office, nothing serious, I just need to tell you something.” She said, and the two of them made their way inside as the door shut behind them.

“Just to let you know, and I’m letting everyone else know too, that there will be some work being done on the building in the next few weeks. I know we haven’t been open long but these new extra big Grav-Pads they’ve come out with are too wide for our doors, so they’ll be doing some work on those as well as changing the seating a bit to accommodate. All it means is there may be one or two days we need to shut. Okay?” Her manager looked at her reassuringly. “Observing the customers again?”

“Yes, it’s...interesting.” Sunny replied. “There’s a couple out there on pads really going at a table full of meals.”

“Ah yes, the big eaters.” Di chuckled. “Anyhow, that was all. Get back on the register and I’ll see you at the end of the day. Tell the one that took over from you I want to see them.”

“No problem boss.” Sunny said, and made her way back, tapping the stallion on the shoulder and letting him know he was wanted, She took back over.

The big eaters, as her boss had coined, had finished. There was a rather loud and satisfied “U-URRRRAAPPPP!” From one of them as they piloted their pads towards the exit. Sunny noticed that one of them in particular had a rather wide rear, in fact so big it sagged slightly over the edge of his pad. It looked like one of the larger models too, made to support ponies of real heft. It seemed this one like some others had an issue where most of his blubber ended up in his rear.

The doors to the place were wide but, it seemed the meal he had just consumed was a little too much. There was a slight rubbing noise as his flanks made contact with the frames of the door, the pad straining slightly under the pressure of trying to pull his fat ass through. For a moment Sunny thought he was going to get stuck, but with a rather amusing noise that could only be described as a Fwop! The pony freed himself and made his way out.

Di had made her way out of her office, finished with the pony she was with and was stood next to Sunny. “Might need to look at grease before we can fit the wider doors…” She commented, and piloted her own pad back towards the kitchen to observe her workers and help where she could.

All that, in just about fifteen minutes of her shift. Sunny smiled to herself, there was something like this every day. At least she never got bored. Another customer approached her register and she gave the signature greeting.

“Welcome to Blubber King! What can I get you today?”
> Story 16 - Negotiations End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So tell me...how does a scrawny thing like you end up being Planetary Governor?” Wheat Sheaf spoke down his vid-phone to Farthest Reach. “Back on the homeworld at your size you’d hardly be considered a pony of any note.”

“Please Wheat, we are guests here…” His wife came spoke into the three way call. “Remember off world ponies like these are our hosts. The Governor has done a fine job of keeping us fed and watered.” She said, trying to sooth her husband as she usually did.

Although the negotiations had been successful, it had not been easy. None of the ponies who had attended the lavish banquet to celebrate had been none the wiser. It was all a show, to ease the upper parts of the populace that all was well, so it would trickle down into the lower ranks and everypony would be happy, for a short while at least.

The trade deal had got there in the end, but the bargaining had been exceptionally difficult. The farmers were used to getting things their way, after all most colonies practically begged for quality supplies from the homeworld. It was unusual to have competition, and even more unusual for it to be fierce.

Sleipnir was unusual, because it was only the fourth colony in the cluster to be founded, so it was a little more established than the others they had visited, despite only being thirty years old. It seemed the high society ponies all on some level had a connection back home in the food industry. The colony was well stocked and had ample supply, and the Planetary Governor had not been totally honest when he said that they were looking for new supply to feed their fledgling colony. He was, but at the right price. The farmers having made the long trip weren't going home empty hoofed, but Farthest Reach had driven a hard bargain. They were leaving with much less than they had expected to get when landing, and clearly Wheat Sheaf had no intent on hiding his annoyance.

There was a click as his attention was brought back to the call, the Planetary Governor was talking. “The same way you two got to where you are today, I know your history Wheat Sheaf - that farm wasn’t always yours.” He saw him smile on the screen, but before he could protest Farthest Reach continued. “Besides, before you go I have something I think will at least make up a little for our agreed deal. Just think of it as a parting gift.” There was a final smile as both farmers saw the Governor click out of the conversation.

“What do you think he meant by that?” Wheat Sheaf muttered to his wife who was still on the call. “I didn’t even get a chance to say anything back! He got the deal of the century and now he’s threatening us!? Who does he think he is?”

“Dear, he said a parting gift to make up for the fact the deal didn’t go our way. He knows he got what he wanted, it sounds like he just wants to show his appreciation. Just, try and take it with some grace and humility? Ponies in the colonies still look up to us after all.” She said, smiling back. “We are Equestrians after all, that still means a lot here.”

“Well that’s a literal thing, not a figure of speech - they all had to crane their fat necks up to look at us when we arrived. I could see them doing it on the external cameras to the pads. Hold on, something is blocking my view…” His voice trailed off and the call to his wife clicked out. The shaft of light that came down to his buried head had suddenly gone dark. Something was making its way towards his maw.

He could only now feel it getting closer and closer, but it was definitely rubbery whatever it was, snaking its way down to his buried head. Whatever it was got closer, before a hard but still rubbery seal met his lips, and forced its way inside his mouth.

As his lips tightened around the seal, Wheat Sheaf could feel the pipe surge as something on the other end was turned on or activated, the pipe fattening in front of him, not that he could see much, but small shafts of light penetrated through as he watched the tube vibrate a little back and forth.

Suddenly it hit him, an almost tidal wave like surge of liquid food that was filling him. His cheeks instantly bulged out as he felt his mouth fill with the stuff, and quickly before he was drowned by it started to swallow. Gulp after gulp was adding pounds every second. Even the slightest movement made his immense, many thousands of pounds body quiver and right now it was wobbling and sloshing around like an ocean.

Although the two couldn’t tell he was there, Farthest Reach had maneuvered his pad in front of the two colossal ponies. He had this wing of his mansion added on for their visit, enormous in size. In fact it was far bigger than needed to be to house the two of them, so it seemed fitting that it would be used to house them for a more extended period than they had planned. He turned his huge head to speak to one of his assistants.

“So how much bigger should this make the two of them? I need to keep them here at least a few more weeks to continue to negotiate with them. Ah those poor obese fools, so fat they have no way to defend themselves against a force feeding…”

“Well their pads are rated for whatever we could throw at them sir, but their ship back the dockyard isn’t. It can only support up to 60,000ibs.”

“And they weigh what, around 46,000ibs between them?”

“Yes about correct sir, although the wife is much bigger. She’ll not need as much. We figure pump her up an extra 10,000ibs and the husband 15,000ibs more. That should make her 35,500ibs and him 36,000ibs. Way over the weight rating of their ship.”

“You realise she’s going to be angry when she finds out her husband is now fatter than her right?” The Governor smiled as he watched the assistant start to sweat. “No matter, not as if they can do anything about it except sputter through their fat sunken faces.” He continued to watch as the two mountainous ponies in front of him grew, the tubes doing their work.

Back in the mountain of fat, Wheat Sheaf had settled into a rhythm of consuming whatever it was he was being filled with. It was oddly delicious, but had a slight medicinal flavour. ‘Well the negotiations may have been a disaster but at least he’s trying to make up for it a little…’ He thought, his body still wobbling in waves as he sucked down the filling foodstuffs. Whatever it was it could be pumped through a tube, and it felt as though it was very fattening indeed. His body was quivering in delight. Whatever it was the Governor had planned he didn’t care. This was the best meal he’d had since landing on this Celestia forsaken planet.

His body groaned, his stomach blooooorrrpppeeeed! If he could have burped he would have, but his muzzle was completely full with the hose and the fattening mixture. Suddenly there was a warmth. He felt he fattened body press against something, something else that was also rippling and rocking like his body was. It was also huge, the surface area of it just spreading more and more against his own flab. He could only guess it was his wife, their bodies had been position somewhat close together, but he had no idea exactly how close. They always left a good gap...usually.

How much weight were the two of them gaining? He hoped not so much they could still fit in their ship to get home. Getting here was cramped enough with the two of them pressing up against each other, but going back would be a hot, jiggly nightmare if they were practically overflowing onto each other.

For now, he decided not to concern himself. His wife was right, they should be gracious hosts and accept the gift. Besides, a few thousand pounds extra never hurt anypony…right?
> Story 17 - A Well Deserved Reward
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hello sir, welcome to the showroom. Are you looking for anything in particular?”

It had been a long time coming, Red Roller was finally, finally getting his own Grav-Pad. No longer would he have to struggle waddling on his fat hooves to get home and around the site every day at work. He would be able to ease his plump, jiggly body round with little effort and best of all, his massive rear would finally have a comfortable cushion to rest on, not that it wasn’t its own soft and wide cushion but it would be good to not have to carry it around like a weight behind him.

Foundy had been grateful for his actions on the site, and he didn’t need to spend all night under the house, just a few hours until they could get it sorted out. In the end he was a little sore, but nothing too bad. For his selfless actions she had arranged a “Substantial bonus payment.” As she had put it. He had been saving for his own pad for a while and was nearly there, but this had meant he had been able to finally invest in one.

His mind flittered back to the salespony who had greeted him at the door. The showroom was quiet, a few staff milling around on pads of their own and some customers looking at the available models. He smiled at the pony in front of him, a little surprised she was not sat atop a pad of her own.

“Yes, looking to buy actually. Can you show me the range? I’m interested in what you have available.”

The salespony smiled. He knew why, that was the magic words - he wasn’t here to waste their time to look at stock or didn’t know what he wanted. He had an idea, but he wanted to be treated a little to some of the spiel before he made up his mind.

“Absolutely! Follow me sir.” The salespony waddled herself in front of him into the vast showroom, and it really was vast. One of every model on display, going from the smallest to the largest. She started him at the smallest first. “Our base model, supports up to 3000ibs. What do you weigh?” She asked.

“Oh, 2300ibs. So it could support me but I’m looking to expand beyond that. As you can see…” He blushed before continuing and putting a hoof to his forehead in a nervous manner. “Most of my weight is behind me.”

Again the salespony smiled, nothing she hadn’t seen or heard before. “Yes I did take note of your more than average flanks when you waddled in sir, are you comfortable with sir?” Again a sincere question, he decided to let her drop the formality.

“Names Red Roller, but just Roller is fine.” He said, waddling onwards behind her. She took him to another part of the showroom, beyond the base models.

“We do have this line available.” The salespony pointed to a few pads hovering quietly in front of them. “Slightly different, they have a wider rear portion for ponies of your body type. Trust me you are not the first to ask for such a thing, there are some ponies who even push their rumps to bigger sizes on purpose.” She said, continuing her little sales pitch. “There are two of these models available. The base again, supporting up to 5000ibs with optional extras. The top model supports 6000ibs, again with optional extras.”

Roller thought about it for a moment, seemed like the top model was the way to go, it could support over double his weight. Plenty of room to expand. He only had one question.

“What about the new pads? 6000 was the maximum up until recently right? What does your biggest support?”

The salespony once again smiled, but wider this time. Bigger pads meant more money, and she happily waddled him over to a section of the showroom with more glamorous furnishings and decoration, clearly done so to show off the top of the range models.

“We have a number of models available here, but there are two that may interest you. Firstly this is our new modular pad.” The pony pointed a chubby hoof at a very small, single pad that occupied a tiny space in front of them. “The advantage of this is that each module supports 1000ibs each, and more can be added to support weight. A maximum of eight blocks, in a stable configuration advised in the manual. Up to 8000ibs.”

“These are the new ones that support more weight yes? Just released? The one the Governor has been showing off?” He asked.

“Well, yes and no.” The salespony replied, an honest answer for once. “His was a prototype, these are the production models. Here is the other.” They both shuffled along slightly, a much bigger pad now in front of them, this one was rather huge, one massive surface area that took up the most space in the showroom. “This one supports the same, up to 8000ibs, but it is one large unit rather than interlocking modules. The benefit is a slightly stronger structure combined with more optional extras.” Finally the sales pony finished her pitch.

“Just give me a moment to think please.” Roller replied, he was still all eyes on the pads.

“No problem, just come and find me when you’ve made a choice. I’ll be just over there behind my desk.” She said, waddling herself off to leave him be.

Roller stood in deep thought, he loved the idea of the pads suited to ponies more his shape, but the biggest only supported up to 6000ibs. If he was going to invest in a pad that would last him it would need to support more weight. He was getting on for 3000ibs now, half of what the pad could support. It did look like a very comfy pad for his enormous rear, but the two in front of him could support even more weight, more room to grow...for him to gorge himself and get fatter and fatter...he’d overtake his boss, be the biggest pony on the site. They’d respect him more, nopony would mess with his immense weight. It would take most of his money, but he knew what he wanted, and waddled his fat body over to the salespony.

“How much is the interlocking one, and how much is the largest one, without anything extra?” He asked, parking his rear on a cushion at the salespony’s desk.

“Well, the interlocking one starts at 500 bits for the first module. After that every bolt on module is 400 bits, we offer a slight discount. With all eight modules you are looking at 3300 bits. The large pad is 3500 bits. There is a reason for the higher price…” Her voice trailed off, Roller raised an eyebrow and looked at her square in the eye.

“What does an extra 200 bits get me? Aside from the sturdier structure.”

“Well, the interlocking model will at most support 8000ibs like I said, there is no room for any extra, due to the design we have to make allowances. The rigid top line model however supports the stated 8000ibs, plus up to 10,000ibs, but no more. The structure allows it to, at that size however the thrusters will struggle to keep a pony aloft.” She confessed. It was that confession that allowed him to make up his mind, and also enquire a little further.

“How much for the top line with a large plush cushion for my rear? I’d also like it in purple to match my mane.” He said, the salespony’s eyes widened, and she quickly turned to her holo-screen to do the calculations.

“A top line model...large plush cushion...purple paint job. For that sir 4000 bits, there is an optional 200 bit extra for 3 years warranty, if anything should happen to the pad we repair it free of charge. We can also offer breakdown cover? Again if the pad should go wrong somewhere and you are out, we can send a replacement until yours is fixed, a courtesy pad. That is 20 bits per month.” She said, not hiding the fact she was trying to push a big sale.

Roller grinned, and simply said “I’ll take it. All of it.” And watched the salespony’s eyes light up. She smiled back, even wider than him.

“Perfect! Well I can see today was well worth coming in for...can I take some details? All I need to do is advise that you keep at your current weight for a little longer until your pad is ready. The largest model you’re about to purchase are built to order due to lower demand than the rest, we also need to give it your request paint job and fit the large cushion. Production time currently is just under two weeks. I expect your looking forward to growing into it?” She winked at him.

“Oh don’t worry, I plan to really take advantage of what sort of weight it can support. Believe me.” He blushed slightly, but it was lost by the salespony as she started to go through the details of his purchase. He finally had one on the way, and it could support four times his current size at a push. Already Roller was starting to dream of the weight he could start to put on, how big he would be. His flank would be the envy of the entire colony, he’d been teased about it before, but no longer. It would be his time to show it off, to really go all out. The forthcoming meals, the immense gluttony...his mind started to wander as he half paid attention to the words being spoken to him, already lost in thoughts fattening his already huge body even further.
> Story 18 - The Next Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a small buzz! from Vast Knowledge’s desk clock that signalled the end of break, a few moments later her students returned. “Always some stragglers…” She thought as per usual, one or two of her students re-entered late. It was to be expected. She had yet to run a class where every student turned up on time.

“Now then, before break we had a very short overview from when ponies began gaining weight to where we are today. For an extra dessert token which of you can tell me who the biggest one is?” She asked. Food tokens were a surefire way to get the students engaged, at least a little after the break. She smiled as dozens of chubby hooves went up into the air.

“Hmmm, Booster Rocket?” She looked at the little chubby filly who was eagerly waving her hoof around, not the fattest in the class but well on her way.

“P-Princess Celestia!” She blurted out, her little chubby cheeks making her jaw really work to get the words from her lips. She was rewarded as her teacher placed a small token on her desk, which she eagerly pocketed to stop greedy hooves from snatching it away.

“Correct, the Princess is the biggest. Her sister of course is always close in size but lags a little behind. I suppose as our leader it is only fitting she be the grandest of us.” She paused to think about it for a moment, before moving on. “In this session we will be taking a look at the princesses, and how they came to be the size they are now. This will likely come up in a test so I advise you pay attention…”

The room lights dimmed again as the screen came to life. The first image was to be expected, a rather thin looking Celestia in a regal pose, there was a few gasps again but nothing like before. The shock value of thin ponies was always lost after they saw the first ones.

“This is our Princess, just before she started gaining weight. You can see here she had a much slender physique. Most of her royal garments still fitted too.” She said, using a small laser pointed mounted on the top of her desk to point to areas of the princesses body before moving on. The slide changed to show a Celestia as she started to put on weight, roughly double her size but it showed, her slender body now starting to be consumed by fat.

“This is a little over a year on from the previous photo, a short space of time but you can see she had started to really embrace the increasing trend for size. Here I believe she weighed around 1700ibs. Roughly the weight I am now actually! So I’m a good size reference if you’re wondering.” She giggled, the students didn’t seem that amused. There was a silence as she coughed slightly and moved the slide on again.

“Ahem...anyhow this is the next stage of her gaining. Again roughly a year later. By this stage royalty had fully engaged with and was supporting the mass gaining of the citizens of the planet. You can see quite the radical change in just a year again…”

She let the students observe the image for a short while. Celestia had practically ballooned, it was not the best photo either but the only one on file that was available to demonstrate her size at that time. From what was visible though, she had reached immobility and was firmly planted in the middle of the main throne room of the castle. She was huge, obviously not as huge as the room but she was a fair size.

“Estimate weight at the time of this photo is around 6000ibs. Just a bit more the Planetary Governor Farthest Reach, so she still has a fair amount of weight to put on. At this point though she was the largest pony. I think you’ll find the next image a bit more interesting.” She said, and clicked the slide on again.

The room had been filled with white, Celestia’s titanic rear pushed up against the walls, mountains and mountains of fat as her huge cutie marks stretched across her massive flanks. Her belly extended out for a huge distance in front of her. The photo was taken at an odd angle, much farther back than needed.

“The photographer supposedly couldn’t get much closer, if you look at the floor…” She pointed her little laser pointer again towards the lower portion of the photo. Multiple pipes and tubes spread out across it, and eventually all joined up to meet together at the base of Celestia’s belly, it then rose upwards and disappeared into a flabby neck. “Her head was just starting to disappear at this point. She had given up on servants feeding her as it was far too slow, and had this piping system installed instead. It served her a rich blend of the most fattening foods she could get her hooves on. This was about a year before they had to remove the walls and ceiling.”

There was another click, and the slide changed again. The file photo changed to an outdoor shot. The throne room was long gone, and so was a large portion of Canterlot, what was left was being assaulted by even more mountains of fat as the princesses body did battle with the buildings surrounding her. Even more pipes stretched out below, and all fed to what was presumed to be her neck-hole where her head had vanished down long ago. “This was the photo when she broke the 100,000ibs mark. Quite the feat, a fair amount of time has passed since the first photo now. If you look to the right you can just see some blue, that is Luna doing her best to catch her sister. The two are rather close, but you’d never know it.” Again she let the students look  briefly at the photo. “She was the first pony to break that six figure sum, and shortly she is expected to break seven. To maintain her size and still gain she requires a constant filling of foods from the pipes and hoses hooked up to her. Make notes class, you may be quizzed on the feeding system she uses.”

She watched as a few of the students noted down what they needed, and continued the presentation. “Just two more photos to show. Now this is a good one, here she is just about 500,000ibs.” The teacher pointed out. Whatever had remained of Celestia had vanished, it was almost impossible to tell where a pony began. Layer upon layer of fat that seemed to stretch for miles, the photo had to be taken from a blimp above Canterlot. “The city had mostly been removed at this point. Celestia and Luna took up so much space that there was nothing else they could do. Again just take a look in the top right of the photo, see that very small purple blob? That is Ponyville where Princess Twilight resides. You can just see her starting to gain a substantial size like Celestia and Luna.”

There was a final click, as the last slide displayed. The entire of Canterlot was now utterly unrecognisable, save for the white and blue blob that occupied what had once been the city. The piping system to feed the two of them now stretched for miles around, farms and other towns supplying them with what they were feeding on. “And this photo shows them fairly recently! As you can see no more Canterlot, and if you look at the photo they have propped up the mountainside with support beams. If they hadn’t it is likely the plane that supports the city would have collapsed under their weight a good while ago.” The two sisters looked so big, the absolute biggest ponies that anypony could imagine. All that was visible was elephantine flanks and colossal tums, no hooves or head could be seen at all. Just hundreds of thousands of pounds of pony.

She clicked off the screen, and turned to her class. She liked to just finish off this section with a small talk. “Royalty continues to gain in size, for the next portion we will be looking at Princess Twilight, and to a lesser extend Princess Cadance and her husband Shining Armor. But you needed to know that gaining weight is important to our leaders, size and weight shows dominance. It is fair to say that Celestia certainly embodies that as a leader. It is expected she will break the million pound mark in but a few short years, and many colonies are already preparing to celebrate. Now does anypony have any questions?”

One hoof went up, again Booster Rocket wanting to show her enthusiasm for the history lesson. “B-but miss, they’re so big...h-how are they still alive?”

It was a fair question, and actually students didn’t often question the mortality of their fat leaders. But she had a simple answer. “Well the Alicorn Princesses have always been immortal, it seems that extends to size as well. Of course a size like that you or me would not be long for this world, but for our leaders that is of no concern. If aging does not kill you, neither will putting on immense amounts of weight.” She said, and looked at her clock again. It was time for another break.
> Story 19 - Haulin’ Cargo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The radio on the main console crackled into life before him, Jump Gate, or J.G. as he was known to his crew and friends cast his eyes over the asteroid belt and rather brown looking sky of the colony before him. It had been a long trip from the previous sector, and he was looking forward to putting his hooves up for a day or two before moving on. He leaned forward in his chair, and picked up the receiver, a voice on the other end was asking for confirmation of landing codes and to identify himself.

“This is captain J.G. of the E.M.F Unity, on schedule to make touchdown at the docks on time. Can I presume I’m talking to gate control?”

The voice at the other end answered. “Gate control here, we’ve received your codes Unity. On time? You’re a few hours behind schedule.”

“Ah yeah, sorry about that - some of the cargo...I mean customers insisted we took a small detour to a lane service station...somethin’ about being hungry, again. We’re a lil’ late so they could stuff their fat faces with more food.” He finished, his voice dry and lacking any sympathy for his paying customers whatsoever.

“Understood Unity, take your ship through the gate as per usual. You’re to touchdown at docking point six, Sleipnir welcomes you and your crew. You have 48 hours with us before departure. Gate control out.”

The radio went dead and J.G. leaned back in his chair, if he was a farmer he’d be chewing on a piece of wheat right now. His expression rather nonchalant. It was the same at the arrival to every colony, a bored out their brains gate control dispatcher who had to sit and wait for incoming ships to shepherd down to the planet. Long gone were the cowboy days of just being able to slam your ship down through the atmosphere and land where you pleased. Now there was rules, regulations. Some bright spark had gotten the idea of equipping every colony with the gigantic orbiting gates that sat hanging in space above every world. Any ship trying to touch down without passing through the gate would be immediately quarantined upon landing. He thought he better do the right thing, and set coordinates on his console for the gate.

It took mere moments, the Unity was equipped with some of the latest engines available after the retrofit a few months back. She was an old girl, but nimble and able to haul cargo like no other heavy hauler. J.G. had inherited her from the previous captain, after working his way up on the crew to navigator, he had become the next likely candidate. When captain Liberty had given up her mantle, it had fallen to him, and now the Unity was all his - plying the stars full of fat and jiggly cargo. Ponies were always worth more, as food was such a common commodity to shift, unless he found a particularly lucrative contract.

The gate loomed before him, he always marvelled at them, despite how much they annoyed him. Through the front window a gigantic singular ring that took up most of the field of vision, and he positioned his ship to descend to the planet.

The two gigantic metal beams that blocked his path whirred into life, almost like two titanic teeth that parted to open the gate. The inner ring of the structure rotated and the ‘teeth’ shifted position, and a set of green landing lights illuminated to indicate he was all clear to land the vessel. Ironic that the ship had to enter through what looked like a huge metal maw. He started his descent, and the gate faded behind him as the atmosphere gave way to clouds and then a landmass below.

At this point the autopilot was doing all the work, and the ship glided into the docks with little commotion. There was a gentle bump as the landing struts extended, and finally the ship touched down. J.G. picked up the receiver again, and flicked a switch on the console labelled Ship Wide Broadcast.

“Good afternoon, this is your captain speaking. We have touched down on Sleipnir a few hours behind schedule. Final checks will be made and disembarking can begin in roughly 10 minutes time. We hope you had a pleasant trip with the Equestrian Merchant Fleet, please do fly with us again.” He finished, still holding the receiver, and flicked it to connect to the crew quarters. “Es? Es are you there?”

There was a short pause as he waited for his second in command to pick up on the other end. But it always came. “Yes captain! Normal disembarking?”

“You got it Estuary, meet me on the passenger deck when you’re done. Just wanna see what this world has to offer.”

“Sure thing captain!” The pony at the other end hung up, and J.G. moved himself from the seat. He started to stroll out from the bridge and through the crew quarters towards the passenger deck. He stopped on a gangway above and just observed. Every single one of them, even the colts and fillies that were travelling with parents...fat. J.G. was a slim pony, in fact he was probably one of the last slim ponies to exist save a few others he ran into on extremely rare occasions when he touched down on a colony.

He marvelled at how society had become what it had, the obsession with eating. It left ones like him behind in its wake as ponies stuffed themselves fatter and fatter with every passing moment. The Unity kept him slim, she was an old bird built before ponies started getting immense. Of his crew he was the only one who could still fit through the doorway to the bridge, he liked it that way, kept ponies from bothering him with stupid questions in flight like “How many meals are there in this flight?” or “Can we stop off for something to eat?”. He was mildly annoyed one of his crew had gotten on the intercom and asked for that stop, but couldn’t be helped. Directive of the E.M.F...customers were payin’ and got what they wanted, long as they paid.

The ship itself had been retrofitted so many times J.G. had lost count, spacedock round the various colonies loved him, but he didn’t love them. Plying his wallet for just that extra bit of space in the guest quarters or an upgrade to the dining area. He had a very old photo of captain Liberty with her when she got the old girl. She looked finer...slimmer. Not bloated and fat like her cargo, but it paid the bills.

The bay doors clicked opened, and J.G. watched the passengers disembark. Eager to waddle or drive their pads off the ship, likely to stuff their faces. He watched from the gangway as one young colt looked up and caught a glimpse of him before he could move back into the shadows. There was the expected gasp before his mother put her pudgy hoof round him and dragged him off the ship with her. J.G. sighed, and made his way down onto the now empty passenger deck. Estuary was waiting there for him.

“How much we make?”

The small tubby pegasus flipped her way through the passenger manifest. “Around 1500 bits, an extra 200 with that stop for food but, they ate their way through 500 bits worth of food. Higher than normal but this was a longer voyage. Guess we’ll have to stock up.” She said.

J.G. sighed yet again, he also hate the fact that the biggest expense of any run was the food bill. Not even the fuel for the ship came close to touching it.

“Well, suppose we’ll just have to take that. What is Sleipnir known for?”

Again his second in command looked through her notepad. “Not much...it’s a fledgling colony still, founded not many decades ago. They have a booming food trade supposedly. Other than that, too young for any interesting landmarks.”

“Fine well..I’m still going to see what it has to offer, I’ve not been here before. Make sure the ship is fueled and inspected before we leave and then explore the place yourself. I’ll be back to the ship tonight. See you later Es.”

He trotted out the bay doors and felt the cool breeze on his mane, it was always a small joy of his after being stuck in the Unity for so long and this had been as Es had said, a longer than normal voyage. After a while oxygen recyclers started to feel stale on your lungs, but it was the only way to keep ponies breathing in the metal monstrosities that moved them across the stars. He knew as soon as he walked out those Dockyard gates he was going to get stares, maybe even questions, but he had to stretch his hooves. J.G. trotted on, determined to find something of interest on the colony, even if Es couldn’t find anything in her notes.
> Story 20 - The Tipping Point
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a small shrip! As Charity took her ticket and plonked her rear down in one of the few seats available. She had upped how much she was wearing the suit, hardly taking it off now. Her body had grown more and more accustomed to it, she was beginning to forget what her whale-like shape was normally without it.

Her eyes lazily glanced over the ticket she had taken. Number 26. The board above the doctors door showed 24. Only two ponies ahead of her then, good. She wouldn’t have to wait too long.

What was it that Melody had said last time? That the side effects were becoming more noticable? Well...she wasn’t wrong. As a test last night she had taken the suit off before bed and not worn it all night, when she awoke the next day her body hadn’t shifted from the shape the suit gave it. In a panic, she had immediately put it back on to hide her shape, calling in to take the day off work and waddled her fat flanks straight down to the doctors office.

There was a ping! A rather large pony excited and the next, presumably ticket holder number 25 disappeared through the rather wide door. She continued to sit and glance about the room. A few other ponies waiting their turn to be seen for whatever ails them. The stallions in the room trying to hide their snouts behind a magazine, to get a good stare at her. She sighed. It was getting a little wearisome how many of them stared. She wasn’t the only pony with one of these suits, in fact they had become rather popular recently.

What would she ask the doctor though? She decided it best not to hide her concerns. That would get her nowhere. Just straight out with it, voice what was bothering her. They were a doctor after all - she was sure they had heard worse than her little problem.

Ping!

The board changed to 26 and she watched the pony in the room exit. Her turn, she got up and waddled forward. No chance of her body brushing against anything here, the doctors surgeries were built to take ponies of any size. Even sizes that hadn't yet been reached. Well they had to plan for the future after all.

She entered the room and the door clicked shut behind her. A rather young looking, but pudgy stallion was sat at a vid-screen finishing entering the notes of the previous patient. He turned in his chair to look at the new arrival and raised an eyebrow.

“Good morning Miss…” He turned back to his machine, which was now displaying the current patient notes of the pony in front of him. “...Charity Bell. Well we haven’t seen you for a while. Not according to your records anyhow. You seem to be a picture of health. What can I do for you today?” He finished, smiling as he did so. Charity had taken a seat on the cushion on the floor of the room.

“Well, it’s this suit I’m wearing doctor. I fear I may have ignored the advice of the company and well...look.”

Charity did as she was used to now and stood up, removing the suit, the zippers coming off with ease. The suit was one size fits all, but it had stretched to meet her larger physique than when she purchased it. There was a small amount of shuffling as she pulled it off, her large rear wobbling slightly as she struggled. The doctor seemed totally unphased though, and just watched as she removed the clothing. Eventually it was on the floor next to her as she blushed and rather nervously rubbed the back of her neck with her chubby hoof.

“S-see? I don’t know if you know about these suits but...they alter your body shape to be more desirable. You’re meant to go back to normal immediately after taking it off but...I don’t.” She said, her lips trembling a little as the doctor shuffled his girth off the chair to get a closer look at her.

“Hmmm, yes I do see. Interesting…” He looked for a moment before moving next to her. “I just need to examine you. Don’t be alarmed, I won’t be going anywhere personal but I need to get a proper look at you to diagnose. I may ask you questions.” He said, and waddled his way in front of her, taking his stethoscope and putting it her chest. Charity moved slightly as the cold metal base pressed against her.

“I assume you are eating well and looking after yourself? By your size I’d say you are.” He chuckled. Doctors always made the worst jokes, Charity out of politeness chuckled a little. “Of course.” She replied as the doctor continued his examination.

“Apart from your body retaining this unnatural shape, any other issues recently? Any illness, loss of appetite? Unable to sleep at all?” He continued to question, and Charity felt a hoof prod into her side as he made his way around her. He disappeared from her sight as she stood there while he worked.

“No, not recently. I had a small cold a few weeks back but nothing major. Absolutely no loss of appetite trust me. Or lack of sleep.” She answered as best she could. She felt a hoof glide over her left flank and shuddered slightly. The doctor was keeping up with his work. She felt her rear prodded like her side and pushed slightly. Just as Charity was starting to get distracted by it, it stopped and the doctor re-appeared at her side before speaking.

“Please take a seat on the cushion, I won’t be long but I need to explain something you probably already have an idea about.” He said, and sat his own large frame down back on his seat at his desk before speaking again.

“I have notes here from ponies on other colonies who have experienced the same issue. You are the first case here on Sleipnir however. The company that makes these have been selling them across the empire. They are quite popular.” He paused for a moment. His patient looked puzzled but not distressed. Better carry on with what he was saying. “It is not too late for you yet. If you continue to wear the suit as much as you are, your body will never revert back to its original form after perhaps another one or two months of continuing to wear it the amount you are.”

He watched as Charity’s face fell about 1000 miles south of where it should have been. Clearly not the news she wanted to hear, but he thought it was likely the news she expected.

“I have to stop wearing it?”

“Well...no. But if you don’t, your body will remain that way forever. What they probably didn’t tell you in the store was how it works.” He said, pulling a small diagram up on his monitor for Charity to look at. It displayed a small overview of the suit on a pony. “You see it works by finding the harmony of your bodies shape and altering it. That’s why wearing it for a few hours a day or a little more is harmless. The suit doesn’t have enough time to make that alteration stick. But if you wear it continuously, say for example while sleeping, out etc that harmony it finds will start to become what your body believes is your natural shape.” The diagram flicked off, and he turned his seat to face her.

“If you stop wearing the suit right now, your body will perhaps take a week or two at most to revert back. You can continue to wear it, but only as I and the company have suggested, at short intervals in the day.” Charity watched as he scribbled down his signature on a piece of paper on a clipboard in front of him. A little old fashioned but it worked. He then typed a few lines on his computer screen and pressed a button with a chubby hoof. “I’ve signed you off work for a week. My advice is put that thing in your closet for a week and forget about it, until your natural shape has returned.”

Charity stood up and put the suit over her back to carry it home, turning to leave. “Thank you doctor. I will do that…” she said, her voice trailing off. The doctor shifted forward in his chair slightly. He was obviously not convinced.

“Please miss Charity. I have a multitude of cases here stating exactly what you think will happen if you keep wearing it will happen. You are not an exceptional case. That suit will ruin you and your body. It is not yet completely documented what other side effects there are. Ponies are not naturally meant to be the shape you are now for obvious reasons.” His face stern as he tried to get across the gravity of the situation.

“I understand doctor. Thank you for the advice, I will take it and spend a week recovering at home.”

“Good, now unless you have an actual illness I hope I don’t see you back here with another issue related to that suit. Good day.” He finished, and turned back to his desk to sort out his patient notes.

Charity waddled her way out. Her mind swirled, the warnings were all coming true...but she didn’t want to stop wearing it. The feeling it gave her, her immense body and that absolutely gorgeous shape. For now, she decided to head home and sleep on it.

...But not before slipping the suit back on before she left.
> Story 21 - A Close Call
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mmmmm…”

The scent of the food hit Rotunda as she made her way into the large banquet hall of her home. Another day, another party. Like so many that had come and gone before ponies were enjoying themselves. Eating, well more than eating. Feasting was probably a better word. Her pad groaned slightly under her weight, the new one was however easily holding her aloft as she moved her massive frame into the hall. Already a number of her friends were there, and she was expecting a visitor she hadn’t seen in a rather long time. She spotted Sugar Tart and Honey Drops in their usual spot, and let the pad take her to them.

“My friends, hello! Enjoying yourselves I trust?” She asked the two of them, watching as they looked up from the small feast they had. Sugar Tart spoke first.

“Rotunda dear! Of course! You always put on such a good banquet, we wouldn’t miss it for the world. Right Honey?” Sugar responded, looking at Honey Drops.

“Absolutely! And may I say your new pad looks delightful? Really holds your girth well my dear. You must tell us your secret to your size!”

All three of the mares giggled and blushed simultaneously, with Rotunda doing the most out of them all. She was just about to spill the beans when she heard the door to the room swing open and watched as the guest she had been waiting for arrived. Some tables had to be moved to make room for his extra-impressive girth. Her two friends blinked as they watched him enter with her. There was a unicorn just about visible under the rolls of fat, his had not quite yet totally swallowed by his huge body, his purple mane and cream coloured coat being the most visible parts of him. A massively stretched cutie mark of what looked to be a flower adorned his flanks.

“Who is that? He’s absolutely gigantic!” Sugar Tart almost yelled, hardly unable to contain her enthusiasm for the mammoth stallion that had just levitated his way in on his gargantuan pad.

“A good friend of mine, give me but a moment and I shall introduce you. Be right back.” Rotunda replied, and started to pilot her own pad towards him. She could already overhear the conversation he was making between bites to some of her guests.

“So you see ladies…chew...the secret to a huge...chomp...body is just efficiency. I didn’t reach nearly...nom... 7000ibs by slacking on food!” There was an almost comically timed uuurrrrppp! as he finished his sentence, but he saw Rotunda out the corner of his eye. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to make pleasantries.” He rotated his pad one hundred and eighty degrees to meet his old friend. “Rotunda! Lovely to see you, my my you’ve grown…”

“As have you Chit Chat, I see the old pad has gone. You’ve really put on the pounds. I can tell writing hasn’t left you with a want for food.” She smiled through her folds, seeing him already becoming a little flustered at the compliment.

“Indeed not...I have a comfortable life back at home. Perhaps a little too comfortable.” He laughed and shifted his weight a little on his pad. He could see that look in Rotunda’s eyes.

“It’s been so long, shall I give you a tour? We’ve had the place expanded a few times since your last visit. I expect your trip from the homeworld was a little taxing.”

“Lead on good lady, I’d be interested to see. And yes, I could do with some leisure time.” Chit Chat replied. The two ponies piloted their pads away from the banquet, Rotunda quickly forgetting about her two friends, who had already returned to stuffing their maws anyhow.

The tour was short. But it always ended predictably. In the sleeping quarters.

“And yes, my personal bedroom. The husband and I don’t sleep together, although I’ve been told that the bed could easily support us both.”

“And you’ve not been able to test that?” Chit Chat replied, slightly curious. “Your husband does not look after you as he should?”

“Not lately...he’s been, very busy. He’s supposed to be back for the banquet tonight but he hasn’t returned.” She sighed, and felt his pad stop next to hers.

“Can I be of a little service?” Chit Chat knew exactly what she was going to say in response, Rotunda was such an old friend but he knew her so well. He watched as she pushed a flabby hoof on her pad, and the door shut behind them.

“Perhaps, I haven’t had a chance to test the bed properly. Not with 2 using it.” She confessed. Each pony parked their pads on one side of the bed, and the thrusters strained to lift on one side as eventually at the same time they each slid off. There was a gentle smoosh as their flesh came into contact with one another, the two of the massive ponies jiggling as they took up one side of the bed each.

“You weigh what now my dear? Over 5000ibs?” He asked, stretching his flabbing hooves forward and doing the best he could to bring her fat face towards his.

“Y-yes...and you must be nearly 7000.” She replied. “The beds rated for 15,000…” Her words cut off as she felt the flab and fat of Chit Chat press against her. The two of them kissed and did their best to move their massive bodies into an ample position for that special naughty kind of fun Rotunda usually saved for her husband, two gigantic bodies squishing together as fat thighs, flanks and bellies came together and rippled seductive like an ocean of fat as the two of them started to shift.

Outside, Cherry was had stopped to observe why the door to the master bedroom of her ladyship was closed. A quick peek through the lock revealed why. All she could make out was two massive masses of flesh writhing around through the keyhole. She was just about to turn herself round and leave when she heard the low distinct noise of a pad approaching. Rotundas husband had returned and was looking to greet her. She had but a few moments to make a split second decision. She hoped it was the right one.

“Welcome home sir. Your wife is just giving a tour at the moment to a guest of hers. They just went out into the garden actually. She asked if you would wait for her in the banquet hall? She will be but a few moments.”

She watched as his pad stopped, every moment she could feel her heart beating in her fat bloated chest as she panicked, waiting for him to reply, doing her best to hold her nerve.

“Very well. I’ll make my way down and mingle.” He replied, before turning his pad around and leaving. If Cherry wasn’t so sure he’d hear her, she would have breathed an audible sigh of relief. She decided to just pretend to dust around the area towards the bedroom door, until the two of them were finished.

Inside, the two massive lardy ponies were enjoying themselves and their fat bodies to their full size. If the rooms weren't soundproofed, slaps of flesh crashing against each other would have been heard for miles. Chit Chat and Rotunda hardly saw each other, and although friends she took advantage of his flab whenever she could.

“Ohhhh...I forgot how good it is to feel the girth of a real stallion against me. I just love your size.” Rotunda cooed.

“Y-you’ve put on a lot of weight yourself, much more of you to enjoy since last time…” He replied, pushing his massive bulk up against her. “That husband of yours doesn’t know what he’s missing…”

She felt him press his body closer to her, his fat rolls seductively resting against hers as the two of them bounced on the bed. This would certainly be one of the better banquets she had hosted for a while.
> Story 22 - A Grand Re-Opening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is it, again…”

Di hovered her pad by the much wider doors to Blubber King. It had been a rather swift refit this time. In previous franchises where she worked making a place bigger the customers sometimes took many weeks, even months. The ponies of Sleipnir however were impatient, and as their branch of Blubber King had not been open very long the powers that be had managed to get everything needed and fitted within four days.

Not much about the place had changed, some small rearranging of the dining area to accommodate some of the larger pads that were now out for the bigger ponies. The main thing was the front doors, double as wide as they were previously. Di knew there were still going to be some ponies getting wedged but, at least now it was less of a worry.

The doors opened and a slew of customers waddled or hovered in. Deprivation from food for these fatties was one thing, but a favorite brand closing its only outlet on the whole colony? An absolute disaster. Hungry tums blooorrrppped!and gloooorrrpppeeedd! as the customers lined themselves up at the various register lines to order what they had been denied for days. Di observed as her staff went to work and gently hovered herself back behind the line to check the kitchen.

The drones, as fantastic as they were at delivering food to the customers were only fantastic when there was food to be delivered. She saw ponies who had now ordered, tapping their hooves on their tables as the usually quick to be delivered food simply wasn’t arriving. An eyebrow raised in concern and she brought her small inventory pad to her face. Not using her own hooves, no no no. The pad lifted it effortlessly to her muzzle and it displayed a very distinct lack of burgers, in fact not just one kind of burger but all kinds of burgers. The patty supply seemed abnormally low seeing as they had just reopened. They were practically out!

She hovered her pad around the kitchen to the main grill. It didn’t take her long to see what the hold up was.

“W-worth it…”

Fireflash, a young pony who had started out at a rather slender size all those weeks ago when the place opened for the first time was now totally unable to move. His gigantic fat thighs were struggling to do anything as his overblown tum wobbled and jostled underneath him. He looked incredibly satisfied and slightly blushly. Di made her way over to him.

“Let me guess...you ate all the burgers you cooked.”

“I-I couldn’t resist. S-sorry Di but the fresh batch for today just looked...so...good.” His sentence finished with a small drop of saliva dripping from his maw as the gluttonous stallion simply flopped back and leaned against the fryer behind him. He clearly had no regrets, his fat and pudgy body rippling in pleasure as he sat and awaited his fate.

“Well...number one, you’ve eaten most of out patty stock and gone way over your allotted daily allowance. So strike one there.” Di said, with a slight hiss of annoyance in her voice. “And number two, you’ve probably just ruined reopening day for the branch.” The hiss becoming deeper and less contained. “Thirdly and finally. You’re now so fat and bloated you can’t even work the grill and you’re of no use to me. You know where this is going RIGHT?” The hiss now a full blown shout as other members of the team stopped their tasks to see the commotion. Fireflash simply looked up with a huge smile.

“Fired?”

“Fired.”

“I had a good run...I’ll be back as a customer.” He replied, almost giddy as the consumed food was starting to become a bit too much for the stallion to handle. “But I can’t move, I may be fired but you can’t get me out of here. I could probably just eat some more of what’s left of the patties before you can get enough ponies in here to move me.”

‘Oh young ponies, how naive.’ The fast food manager thought to herself. “You think we haven’t thought of that? One moment.” She brought the small inventory screen up to her muzzle again and clicked through a few buttons. A notification popped up only she could see. Call Accepted, Pad Inbound. She continued to speak to her now ex-employee.

“You're not the first of my employees to gorge themselves stupid you know. Or to such a size that you’re fat hooves no longer touch the floor beneath you…” As she said that, a grav-pad that was ponyless appeared from a ceiling hatch and hovered down towards the floor. “Every Blubber King is equipped with one, and it will scoop you up and deposit you home. How you get inside the house though, that’s your call. Apt punishment for ruining reopening day!” She went back to a hiss from a yell. The pad hovered inches above the floor, and with an almighty thrust from its engines wedged itself under Fireflash, who let out a small yelp as the hard surface made contact with his flabby body.

“Ours ain’t built for comfort, but it’ll get you home. You’re gonna have to invest in your own at your size now.” Di continued, and watched as the pad rose to its standard operating height with a rather embarrassed and still blushing Fireflash on board it. His belly groaned at the sudden movement he had to endure from the pad forcing its way underneath him. Di had one final thing to say before it whisked him out of her sight.

“Oh and you could have gone to town a little more. We don’t use Sleipnir pads, that ones straight from Equestria. You could have gotten up to 20,000ibs and it would have happily taken your weight. Not that you could have, but it would have been fun to see you try. Ciao!”

And with that, Fireflash was rather unceremoniously carried out the back of Blubber King and out of Di’s sight, at least until he returned as a customer. Her staff was still working behind her, but some had stopped to observe, including Sunny.

“Now listen up! One of your ex-coworkers has just made today a lot more difficult for the rest of us! We’re dangerously low on patties and there are hungry customers out there! I’ve put in an emergency order but we may have to tell ponies we’re out of burgers. I’ll man the grill for today. You all continue with your jobs!” Di bellowed, and watched as the rest of her staff diligently went back to work.

She hadn’t done it for a while, and her size made it slightly difficult, but she did it nonetheless. Patties were going on the fryer and finally making their way out to customers. The queue at the registers dissipated somewhat and the old manager settled into a rhythm she almost forgot she had for putting meals together.

Throughout the day not much phased her. Customers came and went. One stuck in her mind. An extremely large and lardy light blue pony who put in the biggest order. She worried slightly that she was going to take the remaining patties before the emergency shipment arrived. Looking at her she must have been an off world visitor. Absolutely gigantic, her girth and size exceeded what the biggest pads on the colony could take. Likely pushing a good 16,000 or 17,000 pounds. There was a white mane on top of the blue body she could about make out, but it quickly was sinking like the ponies head into her immense figure.

Di cracked on and pushed through her order, a massive number of patties occupying the grill for the pony in question. But she was able to fulfill it, just in time as she heard the familiar sound of the chutes to the storage area clunking as a delivery was dropped off. The emergency patties she had requested had arrived. They were free and clear for the rest of the day. She sent the order out, and observed as the massive blue mare parked her pad at one of the tables and waited for her food.

Before she knew it, the day was done. She forgot that working one of the jobs like this when busy made the day fly by. Before long Sunny was behind her having shut the doors and locked up.

“Di, it’s gone closing time. You can stop making patties. No more orders to fill.” The pegasus said, watching as her manager turned off the grill and rotated her pad to face her.

“Of course, I can’t believe I missed it...thank you Sunny. I think I would have continued making patties long into the night. Here.” She said, one of the leftover burgers having been boxed up being dropped on a counter next to Sunny for her to take.

“Oh well thank you Di, but um. What happened to Fireflash?” The young pegasus asked. It made Di smile, she seemed so unbelievably innocent to her. It was sweet really.

“Like I said, he would have been dropped off home. But he’s lost his job, I let you all take some food but not what he did. That’s abuse of the food privileges. Just remember that. Now Sunny you get yourself home. I’ll finish up here…”

She watched as the pegasus waddled her way outside. It had been an interesting day. The new building seemed to take all the ponies of the colony who had come, even that fat blue mare who was far bigger than anything they had expected. She hoped another refit wasn’t needed for a long time.

Di shut up shop, there was still a few burgers leftover and ordered a drone to pack them up and place them on her pad. She hadn’t eaten all day, even working the grill. She didn’t dare until she knew they had enough patties to satisfy the customers for the rest of the day, and that emergency delivery had not come until late afternoon. It was a miracle they had made it.

For now, she was going to head home and enjoy the delicious reward of a day's hard work when she got there.
> Story 23 - An Ungraceful Departure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“F-fine...we...we accept your terms.”

It had been a grueling two weeks for Wheat Sheaf and Gold Grain. The Planetary Governors demands had been simple. A portion of every shipment that made its way from their farms to Sleipnir would go to his private kitchens, the trouble was he wanted a fifth of every shipment. At first they had each been outraged. Not only was the planet getting a prime shipment of goods from their farms, but a huge portion of it would be sidelined to feed its leader? No other colony they dealt with had made a request like this and won.

...However no other colony had a Governor that was quiet as devious as Farthest Reach. He had gotten the two of them right where he wanted them. For two weeks now he had been pumping the farmers full of food, every little crevice in their body being filled with an incredibly fattening and calorie rich mixture.

Both ponies were only able to take so much. They had absolutely ballooned in size. Each of them now over 35,000ibs each and squishing up against each other in the enormous room they occupied. Wheat Sheaf could hardly tell where his body began and ended anymore. There was no light in front of his face apart from the screen of the vid-phone he was using that was illuminating a portion of it. Heavy folds of fat had totally enclosed his neck and squished their way around the tube that had been feeding him, now pulled back just enough so he could speak.

He could feel one side of him pressed up against his wife, her own immense bloated body jostling against his for space in the room. A canyon of sweat had built up between them as their fat and warm bodies competed for space. Behind him, his impossibly large flanks had become even more impossibly big. He felt both his cheeks squished up against the wall behind him about a week ago and just press further into it. The room must have been reinforced well to not have both their rumps push the walls down. On the final side his body pushed against the other wall. Him and his wife were well and truly wedged. They could take no more, they had no idea how much more the Governor had to give. They just couldn’t risk it. If they wanted to travel home, they had to be no bigger that what their heftiest rated ship could take.

On the other end of the screen, the Planetary Governor smiled. “Good. I’m so glad it only took but a mere few weeks to get you to agree to the terms. You’re both free to go. There’s another ship on my personal landing pad to take you home. Unless there’s a problem with the shipments I don’t expect to see you back on the colony any time soon.”

Farthest Reach was amazed the force feeding had worked. Ponies were gluttons yes, but they were gluttons to a point. The two of them had been fed via the tubes non stop for weeks now. This was much different that eating at a banquet or simply heading out to Blubber King for a meal. This was intense feeding, the kind ponies only did if they had one goal. To gain weight. Wheat Sheaf and Gold Grain were the size they were originally because firstly, they were Equestrian and Equestrians were by most standards big and secondly they had put that weight on over their entire lives. He had added years worth of gaining to them in mere weeks.

Down the call, Wheat Sheaf as much as he could gave him a look of disdain through his chubby facial features. “You’re a damn sly one, you know that Farthest Reach? We need to know, what do we weigh?”

Again the Governor smiled. “My dear Wheat Sheaf, you and your wife should be thanking me! You’ve both ballooned to an impressive 35,500ibs.”

“B-both of us! But I was almost 5,000ibs less than my wife!” He said stammered.

“I know, you got the bulk of the feeding, and I can see your wife is none too pleased about it.”

The vid-call did have all of them in it and all Gold Grain was doing was scowling heavily down the line. For once in her life she had nothing to say and her husband seemed to be doing all the talking.

“In fact.” He continued. “You’re actually slightly heavier...500ibs heavier. You’re 36,000ibs. She’s 35,500ibs. Do with that what you will.”

Wheat Sheaf practically exploded down the call. “I’M HEAVIER? HEAVIER?” It was amazing really he had any capacity to yell through his lips that hardly had any movement, bloated and fat like the rest of him. “I don’t know about Sleipnir, but back on Equestria it is considered very poor taste for the husband to be heavier! How am I supposed to show that I look after my wife when I’m the FATTER one?” He bellowed. But he knew it was useless, the damage had already been done. When they got back he would simply have to ensure they avoided being seen for a while until he could either lose some weight...no no, that wouldn’t do.She would need to gain. If any word got out he was bigger, well it would be a disaster.

“I’m sure you can figure something out when you get home. Now the hoses are being removed from your bodies. I've let your pad pilots come back from where I was keeping them, well not keeping them. All I had to do was offer them a few weeks in the top hotel and they jumped on the chance. You must ensure your staff aren't so easily bribed.” He smirked. “Now both of you do have a safe trip home, I look forward to your first shipment in the next few weeks. Ta ta!” And with that, he terminated the call. It was hard to believe he was only a hundred yards in front of them on a pad of his own.

Now how to get them out of the mansion, Farthest Reach was not a fool and he had the solution ready, clicking a button on his small pad control that was in front of his hoof.

There was a metallic shunting noise, and the entire of the outer wall to the room moved back. A huge open space that allowed each of the engorged and fattened farmers exit from their prison. It was a short trip to the landing pad, and the Governor watched in delight as the two of them left, although it would be a while before they were out of sight.

‘Like watching two beached whales returning to the ocean’ He thought, Except the ocean was a massive cargo freighter that had its bay doors open waiting to swallow each of them up and shuttle them home.

As they were ferried back, Wheat Sheaf had opened up a call to his wife. “Well…for once in your life you hardly said a word! In fact you didn’t say any words!” He asked her, finally after a prolonged silence she spoke.

“After two weeks of having a hose in my maw and...other areas it is hard to collect your thoughts dear. But you did the right thing. Although I probably could have taken a little more…” She trailed off, and watched as his expression turned to perplexion.

“Where you enjoying that? I mean I was too at first, but after a few days it was rather tiresome. I was just going through the motions of feeding.” He admitted.

“Well, I never thought I would get the opportunity to be this size. I heard what you said, it is not right I am now the smaller one...you can make up for it when we get back.” She cooed a little. Wheat Sheaf couldn’t believe his wife was in good spirits after they had been so utterly betrayed.

“You don’t care that we’re losing a big percentage of our deliveries to this crook?”

“Well, yes a little. But look at what he’s done for us in the meantime dear. We’ve easily caught up to and overtaken our neighbours and quite a few of the other farmers. Once you get me back to being the largest we’ll be the talk of the town. They’ll think we left for a few weeks just to fatten up!” She grinned, and saw her husband relax. She always managed to put a positive spin on things.

“I suppose you’re right, as per usual...lets just go home. I want off this Celestia forsaken rock and back to the homeworld. I hope the freighter can get us there…”

And with that, somehow in high spirits the two of them left Sleipnir. It had certainly not been a productive trip...but interesting. Neither of them imagined they’d leave gaining over a third of their already existing bodyweight. The bay door shut behind them, the ship creaked as it took off and made its way up into the atmosphere.

The only thing left to deal with would be the uncomfortable flight, as the two of them were squished into the bay together, pads parked as close as possible to get them in.

“...Do you think there’s any food on board?” Wheat Sheaf asked his wife.
> Story 24 - Returning to Work
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh good, they were staring. He was hoping they would.

It was Monday, but a rather special Monday for Red Roller. After purchasing his pad and being very, very good as the salespony had said and sticking to his size he couldn’t keep being good any longer.

Not only had there been a nice payoff reward for his actions, but a short time off work as well. Even though some of it had been used waiting for his grav-pad to arrive he had put the rest of it to very good use indeed.

He gorged.

In fact, gorging himself was probably the understatement of the year. The pad was delivered, he had parked his tush on it and immediately headed out of his house getting used to it as he went. He was glad he had chosen the largest model with a few extras, the rear portion he had his flanks against was incredibly soft. The item itself was a marvel, he’d never need to waddle again.

The days that had followed he had eaten, eaten and done nothing but eat. A new fast food joint every day and his goal was to sample every single item on the menu at least once (and in some cases, multiple times if he found it particularly to his palette).

Blubber king, The Trough, Lupin’s Lair of Lard, Equestrian Delights. All of them he had visited and eaten at, packing on pound after pound of glorious fat. He could feel every day and every meal his size had increased. Roller was one to keep tabs and he weighed himself every day once he finally made it home, late into the evening. His new pad model was so advanced it had a feature installed to keep track of his weight.

Day one, 2370ibs. Day two, 2423ibs, Day three, 2487ibs. By day four which was his last day off he had gone all out. Multiple meals at Blubber King as he dined on the most juicy and fattening burgers in the colony. A few hooffulls of fries and milkshakes didn’t go amiss either. It had been hours and hours of eating, drone after drone dropping off hearty meals to his table for him to instantly push down his maw.

That night he had gone home feeling overly stuffed, he could tell he had pushed beyond Foundy’s weight. He knew she weighed 2500ibs and kept to that size. He made his way inside and looked at the heads up display for the grav-pad.

Current supported weight: 2611ibs. You have a maximum threshold of 10,000ibs before requiring an upgrade of: MODEL NOT YET AVAILABLE.

He was alone, but he couldn’t help give a small “Yessss!” as a cheer emanated from his lips. He could go back to work the next day knowing he was now the largest, fattest pony on the construction site. He couldn’t wait to see how his boss would react.

And now the day was here, piloting himself towards her foremare’s office Red Roller parked himself outside. She was expecting him back, and as he predicted within a few moments the door opened and the mare waddled her way out. Her eyes widened slightly as she observed her formerly self mobile site manager in front of her.

“Well I see you didn’t waste any time putting the money to use.” She said with a smile, moving a little closer to him. It was a rather nice pad he had purchased, she had to admit. Silently hovering and remaining still as the pony on top of it blushed. He wasn’t quite fat enough for his face to have been swallowed up by his neck, yet anyhow.

“Well I’m back and ready for duty Foundy.” He replied, but his boss was still taking him in. Eventually she came a little closer still and stood at his side. She reached up and prodded a hoof into his rear right cheek which jiggled slightly as she did so.

“You know the bigger you get the more that fat rear of yours is going to expand. You’re bigger than me now and I don’t see that reverting any time soon.” She saw him blush even more as she gave his bigger body another prod. “You like this don’t you?”

“...Maybe a little.”

Foundy raised an eyebrow, he knew she wasn’t buying it.

“Okay a lot. But I had an opportunity. You would have done the same, right?” His blush got worse as he tried to explain himself but it was no good. He just had to come out with it. “Fine, look you know most of my weight goes back there. I’m just trying to see how much of it will before other parts start filling out.”

His boss snorted. “Hah! Oh really? Well before you left they looked like two small boulders. They’re well on the way to mountain status.” The mare gave them a final prod before returning to his front. “And it looks like the rest of your workers have noticed as well.”

She wasn’t wrong, most of the site had downed tools to look at their blubbery site manager make his return. They weren't expecting him to have come back with quite so much extra weight or likely on a pad.

“I hope this doesn’t impede the ability for you to do your job. I doubt you can throw that rump of yours under any more collapsing houses now.”

“Well...I’m here to make sure they don’t do that in the first place.”

“Yes quite, now we better get back to it. I’m heading back inside anyhow to do yet more paperwork.” She said with a sigh. “You go make yourself useful. There is a shipment expected shortly of building materials. Get your guys and make sure it’s here and unpacked ready to go into the build.”

“Of course. Well um...I don’t think getting hold of them will be an issue, they’re right here.”

Three of his team had appeared at his side, as if by magic. Roller hadn’t even heard them trot and waddle up beside him, just catching them at a glimpse out the corner of his eye. He spun his pad around. “Lead on fellas, lets get this sorted then.”

As some walked and one glided, he started getting questions. “So boss, how much of your bodyweight is your flank then? Half? Two thirds?” A younger pony by the name of Concrete Mix asked. A stallion like him and slowly putting on the pounds.

“You know I’m not sure, and I still don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse…” He started to become lost in his thoughts rather quickly. The mind being set on size always did that to him. “I suppose a blessing. It doesn’t hurt to have a rather large rear you know. A lot of ponies like that.”

“Boss.”

“In fact some ponies even prefer that…”

“Boss?”

Roller carried on, a little annoyed that suddenly his staff were trying to interrupt him. “In fact I met a rather nice mare at Blubber King, lovely lardy thing who said…”

“BOSS!” Concrete Mix tried to shout, but it came rather too late as there was a rather sharp CLANG as Roller piloted his pad directly into the side of a crane support leg. He had completely taken his eyes off his path and gotten immediately wrapped up in the question.

The crane creaked...and groaned. Roller’s eyes widened in terror as he did his best to pilot himself backwards, the ponies with him waddling their fat hooves as fast as they could to escape what looked like was going to be a falling crane. The moment of panic passed quickly however, as Roller observed the damage.

His pad was unscathed, they were built to last. The crane had a small dent in the supporting leg. Thankfully nothing was loaded onto it, and nopony was using it. It was simply parked and ready for an operation. Roller couldn’t believe he had been back on site less than five minutes and already caused an issue. Thinking quickly he turned to his staff.

“Hire crane right?”

“Yes boss.”

“Hired from a few blocks away at Cavernous Contracting?”

“Yes boss.”

“Arrive today?”

“...Yes boss.”

“Take it back right now and tell them it was delivered to us with a faulty supporting leg. They need to replace it.” Roller said, one of the thinner ponies on his team getting in and starting it up in preparation to return it. “If Foundy finds out we wrecked a crane this quickly there will be hell to pay, and I’m not paying it. You can bet my fat rump I ain’t.” He said. “A small mishap, not to worry. The crane will get replaced and we can carry on our day. Now you were asking me how much of my body my rear took in weight? Well…”

Roller carried on talking to his crew. He had been back five minutes and already done damage. He had to be more careful. Hopefully this was the only mishap of the day, but his mind couldn’t help but think what more might come. For now, he had a job to do.
> Story 25 - An Unexpected Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The classroom was usually a solitary place for Vast Knowledge during breaks, student were always far too preoccupied with whatever was in the menu in the school cafeteria and getting their fill. It wasn’t as if she didn’t eat herself, but there was only one larger break in the day when she could leave the room to join her fellow teachers. The rest of the shorter breaks she whittled away her time in the classroom munching on a snack or two while she waited for her students to return, usually a book in hoof.

For that reason it was rather unusual for her to get a knock at the classroom door which she opened with yet another control. Everything was automated, ponies were never expected to even lift a hoof anymore to get things accomplished. It was simply the way of things they were all used to.

“H-hello, miss Knowledge?” There was a timid voice from the door as it opened to reveal Booster Rocket, one of her pupils standing there and looking rather sheepish.

“Come in dear, you know my door is always unlocked for my students. Something wrong?” The teacher cared greatly for her students, like a mother almost. She beckoned her forward with a hoof and the filly waddled her way up to the front of the room and took a seat in one of the forward desks.

“Can I talk to you miss? It’s um...I don’t know.” The filly said, her eyes darting back and forth in her head as she struggled to bring a subject up she wasn’t quite sure how to handle. Vast Knowledge did her best to ease her tension.

“Booster you know I don’t judge my pupils, you can tell me anything. Does this help?” The teacher replied, pressing a flabby hoof back on the controls and shutting the door so they were alone. “The rooms are mostly sound proof, I’m the only one that will hear what you have to say.”

“G-good...because. Um… I don’t like being fat.” The filly confessed, almost as if she had dropped a huge chunk of forbidden knowledge on her teacher. It surprised her greatly when the chubby unicorn that is her teacher simply smiled and leaned forward a little in her chair.

“And why is that dear? I told you I don’t judge. But I’m sure you have a good reason.”

There was an uncomfortable shuffling and suddenly, as if the young student had been holding back a torrent of feelings it came flooding out as she teared up slightly.

“I HATE it! I hate hate HATE IT! I-I hate how heavy I feel! I hate that I struggle to get around! I hate that I have to eat all the time! I don’t want to eat! I want to j-just play with my dolls and be me! But t-this isn’t me! I feel like I’m wearing the body of another pony! I only do it because everypony EXPECTS it! I-it’s like C-Cosmic Trail in the class. He’s the lightest! Everypony makes fun of him! I-I don’t wanna be made fun of…” She trailed off and her tears flowed down her face as she tried to keep herself from shaking and stuttering much more as she spoke, but she seemed to be finished.

Vast Knowledge got up off her chair and came round to her, embracing her in a hug that made the two squish together slightly. She was still smiling as she cuddled her closely while trying to comfort her with a motherly hush.

“My dear, in all my years of teaching you are not the first pony to tell me something like this. Really, it’s fine. Let it all out.” She reassured, with another hug for her student. She felt her bury her head slightly in her flab and then pull it back, looking up.

“R-Really? B-but everypony is fat! H-how?” Booster blubbered slightly in her embrace hoping for a positive answer.

“You pay attention in my lessons right? I know you do, you’re a good student Booster. You know ponies were never the sizes we are these days, it’s perfectly natural to not want to be a walking mass of lard. You know there are ponies in the empire that are still the sizes we used to be all those years ago. They are few and far between but they are around.” She said, just trying to work a little bit of knowledge into her to make her feel better at the same time.

“B-but I’ve never seen any! Y-you could be telling me t-that just so I stop c-crying!” The young pony wailed a little more.

“I’m not dear really. And you’ve never seen any because we live on a colony obsessed with eating. There are other colonies out there not so obsessed, although the vast majority are. I won’t lie, thin ponies are somewhat rare. You may never see one unless you leave this planet. But I assure you there are many out there living good lives.”

“O-okay… but don’t they get teased?” Was all Booster managed to reply as her tears started to abate a bit. She clearly felt a bit better for coming to see her teacher.

“Sometimes dear,  but the real world isn’t school. And you’d be all grown up by then, it wouldn’t be so bad. If you want to lose weight I’ll support you - whatever my students do I’m here for them.” The teacher said as she gave Booster another little hug to show her sincerity. “Do your parents know about this?”

“N-no...I haven’t said anything...they’d be upset…” The young pony replied.

“Well, if it helps one evening I can come home with you and explain all this. Would that help?”

“Y-yeah, that would be great miss...you’re the best.” Booster said, her tears stopping as she gave her a hug herself.

“Well you just take your time okay? And let me know when you want the help. You’re in my class, if the other students tease you because you’re suddenly thin I’ll put them straight. Being fat isn’t everything my dear.” Vast Knowledge said and moved herself back, she looked at her watch and realised break was nearly over. “Do you want to stay here with me or spend the last five minutes of break with your friends?”

“Stay, please...I just wanna sit and talk miss.” The young pony replied.

“Then stay and we can talk a little more.”

“That would be great, so I um...what’s it like being thin? I don’t remember being thin except when I was much younger, and it didn’t last very long. My parents started feeding me treats from an early age…”

Booster continued to chat to her teacher as she listened. This would make perhaps the third of fourth pony now in her care over the years that had told her things like this. It was a rather heavy expectation of the whole of society to put on young ponies. Of course some of them didn’t like it, you never got absolute conformity to an idea. Regardless, as with the rest Vast Knowledge would do her best to help her student. She never particularly relished the talks about this with parents. They all reacted in different ways, but she would have to see. For now she just listened, the next lesson was coming up.
> Story 26 - From An Outsiders Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so it began.

J.G. could already feel it, it was was uncanny how every colony was the same. Whenever he landed and took that first walk into the town through the streets eyes just set upon him. They just always...stared. It never failed to make him uncomfortable.

The massive ponies always marvelled slightly at his size, years ago he would have been considered slightly chubby, even portly, but now these days? He was regarded as a stick, less weight on him that even the smallest fillies.

Perhaps he wondered if it was a failing of his that he always took a trot around the town to stretch his legs. In the end though it was always the same, the stares, the gasps, the on occasion ponies coming up to him with a burger in hoof offering it to him saying that ‘You look awfully hungry so I thought you could use it more than me’. He would just roll his eyes and silently carry on his walk.

For once though he was actually hungry, it had been a long trip to Sleipnir, even longer with the unscheduled stop. He didn’t much fancy what was on the ship, not that there was much left. The cargo...um, passengers always managed to devour the vast majority of the food stores.

All there was though was the same as every colony, fast food, fattening food and well even more fast food. Usually though he could sniff out something that wasn’t going to instantly clog his arteries, he just had to look for it, which meant more trotting. Not that he minded, it meant seeing a little of the colony and less time cooped up in the ship. He loved the Unity but at the end of the day it was a metal container hurtling through space that you could only leave on planetfall, or if they stopped at a space station or something.

He trotted along, more eyes on him. It always made it hard to take in his surroundings while so many were staring. One mare even covered her daughters eyes and dragged her off into a nearby eatery. He swore he heard her say “If you don’t eat you’ll end up like that pony!” as she pulled her inside, no doubt to push a burger or some other fattening food down her throat.

The town was boring, too focused on eating as most of them where. He still hadn’t found somewhere that he could get something from himself. His belly grumbled beneath him. Sometimes the park was a good place, if nothing he could at least stop and have a sit down.

Exiting the main town as far as he could make out the park was actually fairly pleasant. On most colonies they often went to rack and ruin in rather short order as ponies of size had no use for a large open space made mainly for running and exercising in. Sleipnir’s was different though, paths were kept tidy, grass was cut. There was even a rather nice fountain. Granted it was a strange one, it seemed to work in reverse, the pony in the middle had multiple jets of water streaming towards an open mouth to give the sense it was eating a large amount.

He sighed.

In the distance however he spied a small stand. One mare seemed to be manning it, not a single pony in the park was paying any attention to her and she looked excessively bored, almost flopped over the stand as she waited for a customer. J.G. thought it obvious why. For a start the sign seemed to have fruits on. He made his way over.

“What are you selling here miss?” His question rousing the mare and her eyes darting upwards to meet his gaze. She clearly wasn’t expecting a single soul.

“Oh! Hello! Um...it’s a fruit drink and some fruit pots. I thought ponies might be able to look past the fact it’s healthy and enjoy the taste but, I’m not having much luck…” She sounded defeated.

“You’re trying to sell a somewhat healthy product on a colony filled with obsessive eaters. I don’t think you will. But I’ll give you a hoof today.” J.G. replied and tossed some bits onto her counter. “You’re lucky I like healthy, one of each.” He said with a smile.

The defeated attitude quickly changed, as the mare prepared a small bag containing a fruit smoothie and pot of various colony-local fruits. They looked interesting and tasty, not uncommon actually to fruits you’d get on the homeworld. Just clearly local and suited to growing on the colony. “I think you’re my first customer for a few days!” She said with a large grin. The mare wasn’t exactly small herself but J.G. could appreciate the effort. As he thanked her and began to step back he felt himself brush against something, followed by a short “H-hey! Watch out!”

He turned, and saw behind him a rather small filly. Well, not exactly small. She was still fat like the rest of them but slightly dumpy. She was also alone, strange that one so young should be without a parent in sight.

“Sorry I didn’t see you there little miss…?”

“Booster Rocket.” The filly said rather quietly, J.G. could tell something was up.

“Well that’s a pretty name, you were very close behind me! If I was a big pony you might not have been there much longer!” He chuckled, but he got no reaction out of her. She just stared. They always just stared. He sighed and decided to just explain.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking, I’m…”

“...Thin, yes! I’ve never seen a thin pony!” Booster interjected. The child was obviously interested. “I-I’m trying to be thin myself, it’s why I’m here and alone...my parents don’t know yet.” She said, still a bit quiet. Before he could say anything the filly collected a small bag from the salespony and put it round her neck to carry it off somewhere but she didn’t move, still looking at him.

“Can I ask you things...sorry, I’m just curious about being thin. My teacher said thin ponies are super rare and I wanna ask you stuff before you go! I may not have the opportunity again....” She said, clearly she was being sincere. J.G. thought it no harm.

“Sure, let’s find a bench and we can sit and talk.”

For the remainder of the afternoon J.G. didn’t move from that bench and neither did Booster. The filly had a lot of questions about being thin. What did it feel like? Do you have to eat less? What do you do? Oh wow you’re a spaceship captain! That’s amazing! I wanna do something like that someday! The questions carried on and on. But J.G. was after years of flying a spaceship very patient, he was actually enjoying the change of pace too. Usually questions that came at him were about why he was so thin in a negative way. Never positive. He was taking a shine to filly.

He suddenly noticed the chill in the air, it was also getting dark. Before yet another question came at his ears he thought it best to see if perhaps tomorrow the young thing might like to have some more questions answered.

“Booster, as much as I’d love to keep answering your questions it’s getting late. Won’t your parents be wondering where you are?”

“They know I went out for a while. I often disappear for a little. They just don’t know I’m sneaking healthy food yet…” Well at least she was honest. The stallion rubbed his chin, thinking. He had an idea.

“Can you come to the dockyard tomorrow? Maybe early in the morning? We can carry on then if you like?”

The little fillies eyes lit up, and she leaned herself into him and wrapped her arms around his middle. Probably one of the few ponies she could actually do that to and reach all the way around. “Yes please! I wanna find out as much as I can from you!” She said with enthusiasm, shuffling herself onto her feet and getting off the bench. “Some day I’m not gonna have to waddle anymore! I just...wanna feel like me.” She said before starting to head off home.

J.G. just sat on the bench for a little longer. He’d never had the opportunity to help another pony actually be thin before. Well...nopony had ever asked. Tomorrow was a new day, and he had a few things he could pass on to her that he hadn’t already. But as he noted earlier, it was late. J.G. thought he better get back to the ship.
> Story 27 - A Rather Unusual Sale
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bzzzzt!

“Yes what is it?”

“Call for you sir, usually one of our switchboard operators could deal with it but this stallion insists on speaking to you. He says he has some information for you.”

“Oh? Put him through then.” It was late morning, a Wednesday to be more precise. Striving Step had not had a very interesting week so far, R&D had slowed since the company had launched the new pads. It was always the same, the researchers took a small break figuring they had some time before having to find more ways of making new models. Their boss however thought different. Still, a phone call should at least eat 5 minutes of his time. The call was pushed through to his vid-phone.

When it connected he was greeted by a rather smug looking young stallion who was grinning on the other end. Striving Step simply blinked and spoke. “What can I do for you young man? I am exceptionally busy. My time is precious.” He said rather gruffly. At least the illusion of it might keep the young buck on his hooves.

“Well I have some information for you that would make your company even richer, but if you’re going to be like that I’ll take it to the next bidder…” He saw the young stallion start to reach for the end call switch.

“WAIT!” Striving Step called out, perhaps he had been a little too rambunctious. His ears had pricked up at what the young stallion had said. “Perhaps I was a little hasty there, what is your name?”

“I’ll tell you that if you’re willing to pay what I’m offering you, but I need to know you’re interested.” The caller replied. Striving Step was having a hard time making out his size, it was always difficult when it was a vid-call as it only showed faces. He was clearly rather fat, needing a pad sized pony as he cheeks wobbled as he spoke but beyond that he had no idea. It was nopony on the colony he knew.

“That depends, what are you selling and what price do you want for it?”

“Information, on a location of an Equestrian pad that can haul double the weight your puny things can. As for the price, I want one when your company reverse-engineers it and I want 25% of the sales of it. I think that’s reasonable.” The buck smirked again in the call, the grin on his fat jaw widening. Striving decided to prod a little deeper.

“Oh really? That’s a mighty big cut. How can I verify this information is real? Equestrian pads are impossible to get hold of outside the homeworld.”

“Not for a company, and that’s all I’m saying. Proof is I was deposited back to my home on one. My ex boss gave me a little more information than I think she meant to. Anyway I’m not telling you anymore until I hear the words ‘You have my word and it’s a deal’ come out of your fat maw porky.” The stallion said, he clearly knew how to negotiate even if a little rude, Striving knew he wasn’t going to get anymore information out of him until the terms were agreed to. He decided to push his luck though, it was always worth a try.

“I’ll buy your information...for one of these pads for you when they’re made and a 20% sales stake, no more.” He counter offered.

He saw as the gears turned in the stallions brain and he thought for a moment.

“Fine, I suppose you need your slice. Do we have a deal?”

Striving grinned, he could always get a little bit back his way. If he didn’t he would make a rather poor company owner. “You have my word and it’s a deal.” He simply replied. “Now tell me, what’s your name and where have you gotten this information?”

“Fireflash is the name, I used to work for Blubber King.”

The director laughed. “Haha! Blubber King! What were you doing? Eating all their burgers as a job? Nevermind, just my little joke. What has this got to do with a pad? I don’t see how you possibly heard this unless you overheard it as a conversation.”

“I was fired for taking too much of my daily food allowance and before you laugh. Yes I was eating all their burgers.” The now rather peeved looking stallion said. “Now do you want this information or am I going to have to contact other pad makers on other colonies? Your attitude isn’t helping mister big fat shot director.” He fired back. Striving thought he better curtail his comments.

“Fine, yes I want the information. Continue.”

“They have a way of moving ex-employees like me who abuse this. It’s an inevitable part of the job. Every Blubber King branch has a pad stored in the roof that is only used for getting rid of greedy ponies like me who abuse their post. What they don’t tell you is that these pads are Equestrian made and support up to 20,000 ibs. My boss in her anger shared that little piece of information, and as the colonies only pad making company I’m sure you can use it.”

Striving Step thought, if this was true they could easily reverse engineer the thing and find out how it supports so much weight. He sat for a minute. He was a stallion of his word however, there was no point trying to wriggle anymore out of the deal.

“Very well Fireflash, but I need some proof before I do anything about this. How can I trust you?”

“I have photos of the pad I grabbed on my vid-phone before it left my house, your R&D department can verify it from those. But before I send them I want written proof, a contract that you’re keeping your end of the bargain.”

“Fine, easily done - we can enter you into the company as a stakeholder which won’t look out of the ordinary. No one would pick it up in audit. I’ll have somepony put something together today and send it over. This information better be good, I don’t take kindly to liars Mr. Flash.”

“It’s just Fireflash, oh and add an addendum in small print. Your company will agree to pay all my food bills until I say otherwise. I want to put that pad to the test you know.” He smiled, he knew Striving was interested and had him by his pudgy rump exactly where he wanted him.

“Fine. But don’t alter this deal any further, we had an agreement. If you change it more things get tricky.”

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to see if you had some bartering power for both ends after taking 5% from me, I’ll be in touch once I have the contract. Talk soon fatty.” And with that the call ended.

Striving sat in silence for a mere moment, no doubt that a bigger pad would make the company richer. Ponies got bigger and bigger with every passing year. R&D however was only looking at a pad that could support next up to 12,000 ibs. If they could rocket to the 20,000 mark well… Ponies would be fatter and heftier than ever before, perhaps moreso than some of the more established colonies. A double sized pad would have ponies rolling over each other to buy one knowing they could stuff their faces further. He moved a flabby hoof and got in contact with his secretary.

“Miss Dewdrop, send for one of our Pony Resources staff would you? I need them to draw me up a stakeholder contact as soon as possible.”
> Story 28 - Too Much, Too Late
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was midnight, far too late for a vid-call. Melody groggily woke up, blinking as she tried to open her eyes. She rubbed her eyelids with a hoof, the soft material of the suit she was still wearing after all this time rubbing against her face. The call was still there, ringing away as she looked at the screen.

Friend - Charity Bell - Call Incoming

She thought it best to get up and out of the bedroom, if she was going to have to talk she didn’t want to wake her husband. She heaved her huge frame out of bed with some effort, the bed visibly rising as it no longer had to support her obese frame. A yawn erupted from her lips as she wandered out the bedroom and into the living room. Finally she answered the call. A familiar face appeared on the screen.

“Melody? Oh thank goodness, that must have been at least forty seven rings!” Charity said on the other end, she looked rather distressed although it was always hard to make something like that out through a phone call. Especially when facial expressions got lost in blubber. She knew when her friend was worried though.

“Charity it’s….yawwwwwnnnnnn... midnight. I was hardly expecting a call this late…” She replied. “What is it? Something is clearly wrong for you to call at this time.”

“Look I know it’s late but you have to listen to me, take that infernal suit off right now! Once you’ve done that meet me at the local park. Nopony will be there this late.”

“What? Take it off right now? And go out and meet you? Come on Charity this is crazy. It’s late at night. I am not going out.”

“C’mon Melody I don’t ask much of you, and this is your fault! I’ll be there in twenty minutes, you better be there too!”

“Hey, my fault?...” She was about to say more but Charity hung up the call. Whatever had her friend in so much distress this late was her fault? Well she’d see about that. She wasn’t taking the suit off though, it was chilly out this late. It at least provided some level of warmth for her. Silently she took her house keys and gently opened and shut the front door behind her, waddling out towards the park.

She couldn’t help but notice how silent everything was. She never really ventured out the house this late however. When she got to the park it was completely deserted. Deserted except for one large rotund pony who had plonked her hide on one of the plus sized benches, it was clearly Charity. Melody thought it best to approach.

“Okay, so what’s all this about?” She started, but immediately her friend went wide eyed and quickly waddled her way over, her horn glowing ever so slightly as she started to prepare a spell.

“You didn’t remove the suit? Oh no! This is going to be even worse!” Charity blurted out as she started to tug at the zipper to try to get it off. Melody stepped back as her body wobbled and pushed against her friends in close quarters.

“H-hey, what the heck are you doing Charity? No I didn’t! It’s cold! Why is it so important I get this thing off?” She asked as she felt the magic dissipate around her and Charity stop tugging at it, she knew a few moments would make no difference now.

“...We should have listened.”

“We should have listened? That’s ominous even for you. What are you talking about?”

“THE SUITS!” The mare blurted out as she scowled at her friend. “I knew this was another one of those fads that was going to end in disaster! I went to see a doctor a while ago.”

“What? About these things?” Melody gave her suit a little rub, she still loved how it felt. Although that seemed to make Charity even more impatient as she watched her scowl harder. “Anyway what happened?”

“He told me to take it off immediately and to not wear it for at least a week. C’mon I was hardly going to do that was I? Well I ignored his advice and kept wearing it, but I thought perhaps I should take it off and let my body go back to its natural shape. I mean we meet all the time Melody, when was the last time you saw me wear it?”

Melody thought to herself, come to think of it, it had been a while. “You know I honestly don’t know…”

“It's been a month Melody, an entire month. I haven’t touched the thing. It has been hung up in my closet along with the rest of the ones we bought. What a waste of bits those were! And look at my body, look at it.” She growled. It was the same round perfect spherical shape the suits gave them like it had been for ages now. Melody suddenly went wide eyed.

“W-wait. It’s been too long? Your body won’t revert anymore!?” She gasped. All Charity did back was nod.

Immediately Melody frantically pulled the zipper down as fast as she could and removed the suit, it fell to the floor off her obese body. Charity just sighed.

“Really Melody it’s too late, you think that will help at all now? We’re stuck.”

“N-no we can’t be. They just said that to scare us! They didn’t want us to keep these bodies…” Her eyes darted back and forth as she started to panic looking down on the ground at the suit.

“I wish it were so, but the doctor explained to me how the suit works. He was quite specific. These are our bodies now, for better or for worse.” Charity replied. “Probably for better really, I mean it is still a good shape right?” She said with a small giggle, her previously concerned nature fading.

“Yeah but, for the rest of our lives? I don’t know…” Melody said, now it was her turn to be the concerned one of the two. “I mean perhaps if we take them off now and never wear them again we might go back? Maybe even if it takes years?”

“Trust me I wish, but I think this is us now forever.”

“Well...I just hope there are no more side effects, even if the side effects are great.” She said, her smile returning. “Hubby still thinks I look amazing…”

“Same, and well - the bigger we get the more this shape will just become more obvious. Not like we can do anything about it now. Might as well keep eating right? Buffet lunch tomorrow at The Trough? Since this is your fault, you’re buying.” Charity said with a smile.

“...Is that why you dragged me out here this late? To get a free meal?” Melody looked at her a little perplexed.

“Of course not! You’re my best friend, I was concerned for your health. Also I didn’t know if your body was still um, saveable. But you’ve been wearing that thing more than me. Its gone past that now by a long way.”

“I suppose...hey do you think there are other ponies on Sleipnir who have done this? We weren't the only ones who bought these suits.”

Charity thought herself now. “Hmm...perhaps. But if there is I haven’t come across any, not yet anyway. I’ve just seen other ponies wearing the suits. I suppose we’ll find out one way or another.” She laughed, it was late though. They should probably think about getting home before anypony knew they were missing. Melody picked up the suit from the ground.

“Gonna take it huh?”

“Of course, what’s the point leaving it here if I’m stuck this way? I won’t be wearing it for a while but...you never know. I love this round shape far too much to risk losing the one thing that gave me it.” She said and winked at Charity.

“True I suppose, anyhow. See you...today! I’m looking forward to that meal.”

“Me too, see you later, I’m going to get some sleep.”

And with that, the two friends parted, at least until their dinner date.
> Story 29 - Big Juicy Buns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunnyside waddled along to work, the thought of a new shift usually didn’t excite her much but today was different.

Today was something special, something that she hadn’t experienced ever while working for Blubber King before.

New Product Launch Day

It had all been kept very...secret. That was the only real word for it she had decided. Even Di her manager, usually the most open pony she knew didn’t even speak a word about what was coming. The employees, including Sunny had begged her to reveal even the smallest of details. All she had said was.

“It’s big.”

Even the marketing campaign that had gone out on holo-screens and other mediums through the empire had been vague. All it had told ponies was today was the day that something new was coming, and they just had to order “The New Item” on the menu. Of course various ones had tried their luck coming to the registers and trying to sweet talk the staff. Sunny had lost count of how many stallions and even mares had tried to bribe her to release information about whatever was coming, usually in the form of a free meal. All she could say was “Sorry, even I don’t know.”

Today was the day though, Sunny had gotten in a little early and had obviously volunteered for the morning shift. She was dying to know what this fantastic new item was. She walked in and put her saddlebag and other items in her locker, quickly slipping on her apron and waddling as fast as her chubby legs would move her into the kitchen. Di and a few other members of staff were already there. She could even make out a line of customers outside the doors, clearly they were excited as well.

“Ah Sunny, we’re just waiting on a few more but I’ve told the others about the new product we’ve been keeping under wraps. You’ll all be serving the usual hungry customers who are waiting.” Di said with a small smile, she could see the other staff members already lost in thought at what they had just been told.

“It’s a hot dog.”

Sunny blinked and tilted her head a little. That was it? She could tell her thoughts and lack of reaction were reflected in her boss’s next words.

“Sorry a little underwhelming. It’s different to a standard hot dog. The company has been developing it for a while and they’ve obviously just planned to release it today. It comes in three sizes. Regular, deluxe and gut-buster. However the thing that is getting ponies excited is that each different size has a guaranteed amount of gain that comes with it. Well, it will get ponies excited when they know what about it.” Di said proudly. She passed Sunny the updated menu with the new item on, the advertising certainly was sharp. Plenty of pictures and the details below.

New at Blubber King! Our speciality hot dog! Comes in three sizes, what’s different about our dog? You’re guaranteed to gain with every bite! Order now!

Regular meal, 1 dog, 1 portion of fries, 1 drink: 3 bits. 25ibs gained guaranteed!
Deluxe meal, 1 jumbo dog, 2 portions of fries, 1 drink. 7 bits. 50ibs gained guaranteed!
Gut buster meal, 1 gut buster dog, 4 portions of fries, 2 drinks. 12 bits. 100ibs gained guaranteed!

Weigh yourselves on our new in store scales if you don’t believe us!

Sunny looked up. Scales? She didn’t remember any scales in the store before...oh. They must have put them in overnight. Where some of the seating had been placed for the refurbishment now there was a couple of sets of massive scales.

“I assume that’s part of the promotion?” Sunny asked Di, pointing a hoof over at the scales.

“Sure is. Oh flip the page over. There’s something additional.”

Sunny turned the page over with her hoof as instructed. There was the remaining regular items she was used to. But below that some sauces.

Our new sauce range! Perfect for your gut buster dog! Also guaranteed to make you gain!

All sauces 1 bit, or double up for an extra bit for triple the gain! 1 packet = 2ibs gained if completely consumed, double deal = 6ibs gained if completely consumed.

Tomato, Mayonnaise, Mustard, Ranch, BBQ and Zesty! More flavours coming soon!

“So new hot dog meals and sauces, all geared towards gaining.” Sunny said, already licking her lips. Whoever had dreamed this up in corporate was clearly a genius. They knew what the population wanted. She was surprised nopony else had this idea already.

“That’s the whole idea. Pull ponies in because if they know they are trying to hit a target weight then this will easily let them figure out what meals they need to eat to get there. No more guessing and just scarfing down as many cakes as you can. Although I’m sure plenty will do that anyway.” Di chuckled. It was about ready for opening time. “Sunny you’re on the fryer again. Probably be more orders for that today. I imagine quite a few lone ponies ordering gut busters wanting their four portions each. The rest of you on the till, when they ask for The New Item as those oh so wonderful ads have been telling them don’t forget to explain what it is and what sizes it comes in.” Di barked down the line, she gently eased her pad back a little to be behind the registers. No longer did she have to manually open the front doors, it was all remote operated from her pad.

“I’m opening the doors, as per normal. Be ready.”

The doors opened, Sunny already working her fryer as she anticipated a horde of hungry customers. They waddled, hovered or heck, some even rolled their way in as they immediately began queing at the counter. First in line was a stallion who had clearly been waiting a while, he had an olive coat and teal mane. He was very overweight, but not so much so he needed a pad. He also had a rather fetching goatee. Sunny glanced at him up from the fryer, she thought she recognised him. The pony serving him rattled off the promotion and new items. He grinned for a moment.

“Two gutbusters please. Table 14.”

“Are you dining with somepony else or yourself?”

“Just myself. I always order the largest menu item.” He said, before waddling his way over to his table and plonking his chubby rear down at his seat with a big grin on his face. Di had noticed Sunny had stopped and hovered over to her.

“Somepony you know?”

“I think so. When I was younger we used to go to a place in town to eat sometimes. It was called Lupin’s Lair of Lard. I remember the meals being very tasty. The inside always had the same decoration though and I thought it was unusual. Olive walls and a teal roof. I knew the owner was a stallion too but...I wonder.”

“You know drones don’t have to take the meals. Want to serve him his? You can ask. I can look after the fryer for five minutes.” Di said, almost pushing Sunny with her pad. “Take one of the serving saddles.”

Di fiddled with her at-hoof controls and instructed the meal to be left at the end of the line rather than go into the drone pickup area. Sunny looked at the two gutbuster meals, almost overflowing from the trays. He had ordered a few sauces too. Clearly wanting to gain a fair amount. Over 200ibs in front of her, she picked it up and took it over to his table. The stallion looked up with a small smile.

“No drone service? Is this part of the promotion too?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“Sorry um...is your name Lupin?” Sunny asked, she wasn’t quite sure how else to put it.

“Sure is, well. Lupin Quill if you want the full name but Lupin is fine. Do I know you?” The obese stallion said as he started to dig into his meal, the fries were disappearing fast.

“No um, I just wanted to say your food is really good. I have fond memories of eating there as a filly.” Sunny said with a small smile.

“Ah! You’ve been to my place! How’d you know it was me?”

“The coat and mane, it’s the same colour as your walls and ceiling. I always remember that.” She replied. The stallion just grinned through a mouthful of food.

“I thought that might give me away at some point. Well if you ever want to come back again, you’re welcome. Although with food this good I don’t know. I had to check it out. Pays to know your competition.” He said. “Thanks for delivering the meal.” Were his final words before he buried himself again in the food. Sunny trotted away and back to the fryer.

“Well?” Di asked, she seemed just as curious.

“Yeah, it’s him. The owner I mean. He complimented the food, said it was good. He wanted to know what he’s up against.”

“Well, makes sense.” Di replied. “Good business sense. Anyhow he seems satisfied.” Her ear twitched as she heard a huge UUURRRAAAPPPPP!!! erupt from the table the stallion was sitting at, the food clearly getting to him. Di hovered away to keep an eye on her other employees.

Sunny had a thought, maybe she would head back there at some point. For now though, the place was buzzing and customers were still queuing out the door wanting food. She got back to work as she dumped another batch of fries into the fryer.
> Story 30 - Rest and Relaxation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are you suitably relaxed my lady?”

Cherry Rose was fanning Rotunda, her blobby and fat master sweating somewhat in the heat of the day.

“Yes Cherry thank you, the fan is doing wonders.” She replied. Rotunda thought back to last week when she decided to take this trip. She didn’t often get off world but she had been lazing around as she usually did. It was unusual that she had nothing planned but she had managed to find a week in her diary with no commitments.

So she had booked a trip, off world no less. Well okay - she hadn’t booked the trip but she had passed the details on to one of her staff and they had sorted the rest. It had been advertised as a “Feeding Spa.” Something for those who could afford it as a way to really pig out. The brochure had listed multiple restaurants and dining facilities on the resort. Different ones, depending on what you wanted to do. Wanted to do nothing but gain as much as possible? There was a eatery for that. Wanted to enjoy something tasty but still filling? Another one existed for that as well. Even the activities were themed around food, eating competitions and the like packed the activity schedule.

The company offering this service was new however. Luxury Lard Spa & Cruise. They were in a few weeks expanding, quite literally into the pleasure cruise business where ponies could eat on the move. A new ship was being commissioned that was said to be one of the most luxurious of the space going ships available to book a place on. Pleasure stops at various famous eateries throughout the colonies were the highlight of being on board.

For now, Rotunda had arrived at the colony of Arion. It was a prime location for the spa, it’s tropical climate all year round and rather remote location towards the edge of the empire meant that the company had little to dissuade them from building their first resort here.

Rotunda had been relaxing here for a few days now after the rather long trip. Arion was located 7 jumps from Sleipnir's solar system. She had been suitably pampered on the way though, only the very best for one of the upper echelons of society.

The only problem she was finding was the heat, even with Cherry fanning her and the air conditioning turned up rather high she was sweating like a pig. The problem with sweating meant valuable weight was being lost she didn’t want to lose. There was only one thing for it.

“Cherry, I think it is time to make a trip down to the indoor pool.” Rotunda announced as she powered up her pad in preparation to leave the room.

“Are you sure ma’am? The outside pool and beach is shortly having its daily all you can drink cocktail happy hour coming up shortly according to the guide. Generally the temperature is cooler outside too, there is a breeze coming in off the ocean.” Her maid replied. She certainly had prepared herself well for the trip. Rotunda thought for a moment, she made a good point.

“That is a good idea Cherry, and will save sitting in another hot room.” She replied, her pad hovering towards the door. Her made waddled beside her down the super-wide corridor continuing to fan her. The complex designers had done a marvellous job making sure the place was big enough for almost any pony of varying size to get down. Rotunda passed a number of ponies bigger and smaller than her, either moving around on their own pads or waddling as best as their fat bodies could carry them.

“I’m sure there will be a few ponies round the pool from other colonies you can mingle with as well.” Cherry said as they waddled and hovered their way outside. It was a warm day but Cherry was right, a cool breeze was rolling in off the ocean. Rotunda found a nice spot by the pool and parked her pad. Her sweating dissipated slightly. “I’ll just fetch the bucket of sunscreen my lady and apply it.” Cherry said, disappearing for a moment back inside to fetch one of the customary massive tubs of sunscreen the resort provided for its guests.

Within moments a small waiter drone, rather amusingly dressed in a tuxedo hovered by and dropped a huge glass off at her pad, presumably this was the cocktail happy hour Cherry had mentioned. No choice of drink but it would be inexpensive, not that something like that would bother Rotunda. The drone had small arms attached which Rotunda started to wonder why they were needed, quickly answered when the drone pushed the straw for the cocktail inside her maw. It then hovered away, presumably to serve somepony else.

Cherry returned, a massive tub of sunscreen on her back. She set it down next to Rotunda and dipped a hoof in to begin applying it. A pony of her size would need quite a lot to cover all of her skin and protect her from the heat.

“Oh, are you here for the happy hour as well?”

Rotunda turned her fat head around and noticed a pony of roughly her size, but a little smaller had parked a pad by her at the pool. The same waiter drone dropped off another cocktail for the new arrival. Rotunda felt her body wobble a little as Cherry leaned into her lardy mass to apply the sunscreen.

“Yes, actually at the suggestion of my maid. I don't think we’ve met. You are?” Rotunda asked.

“Sundrop Surprise. I hail from Haizum colony. Just 3 jumps from here, I had to check it out. You know they’re doing cruises soon? No need even to make the trip.” She replied with a small smile. Rotunda surmised she must have been from a wealthy family too, a maid of her own, but a stallion appeared next to her with a tub of sunscreen and started to apply it to her as well. Both of the lardy mares jiggled ferociously on their pads as their servants made sure they were protected.

“Rotunda, Sleipnir colony. 7 jumps away. I wanted to get away for a week, I had a gap in my schedule. I did hear about the cruises. Sounds like a good idea. This resort certainly has it all.” She replied, taking a sip of her cocktail. It was rather tasty.

“Rotunda? That’s an interesting name. Really?” The other mare asked, her curiosity piqued. “Is that a title or your real name?”

“Well, between you and me it’s Comet Trail, but it’s a name I’m accustomed to amongst my friends. Besides I never much had an interest in the stars, just eating like so many others.” She said relaxing a little more. She was starting to like her new friend. Cherry was working lower with the sunscreen, she could feel her belly getting the treatment as her servants hoof slapped against it and spread it all over. It was rather nice.

“That’s a nice name, I’ll stick to Rotunda if you prefer though.” Sundrop replied.

“Comet is fine, I am on holiday. Sundrop okay for you?” She asked.

“Sure! Most friends call me that.” The massive mare shuffled herself a little. “Mmmm, a little lower Dewgrass....that’s the spot.” She said, instructing her stallion maid where to apply the sunscreen.

“You’ve had your maid long?” Rotunda asked.

“Oh Dewgrass has been in the family for a decade now. He knows exactly how to treat a mare, isn’t that right Dew?” The lardy mare giggled slightly as she blushed, the stallion using his hooves well to rub the sunscreen in.

“Yes, just over 10 years Sundrop.” He replied. He was clearly a stallion of few words.

“What about your own Comet? She looks rather nice, you feed her well I see.” Sundrop taking note that Cherry was about twice the size of Dewgrass.

“Cherry is a relatively new start but she has picked up quickly. She’s a literal wizard in the pantry. If you like you can join me in my room this evening and she can prepare something for us both. She makes amazing entrees for parties in particular. Can you make a note to prepare some for us tonight Cherry?”

“Of course my lady. I’ll make sure to prepare whatever you desire.” The mare replied, her own hooves working lower as Rotunda winced a little.

“Heaven isn’t it?” Sundrop said, loving the attention her blubbery body was getting. “I can tell you’re enjoying it as much as I am.” She said with a little pleasurable wince of her own. “Nice to meet another pony who appreciates a little pampering.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Rotunda said, just letting herself have all the attention of Cherry. “Anyhow, my room, tonight? We have some time now to relax and talk.”

“Sounds lovely.”

Happy hour was only just beginning for the two lardy mares, Rotunda smiling and listening to Sundrop talk as she relaxed.

‘This really is heaven.’ She thought.
> Story 31 - The Problems Pile Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Oh dear...oh dear...what am I going to do?’

Poor Red Roller, his mind had been in a bit of a spin all week. Where did it begin, where did it begin?

That was a stupid question, he knew exactly where it had begun.

Firstly, there had been the support crane which he had saved by the skin of his teeth. Some enterprising management from himself in ordering his staff around had got that fixed in a jiffy. Foundy hadn’t noticed a thing.

But then the next day he had forgotten that his new pad had extra girth, and he still wasn’t quite used to the controls like he should have been. Having piloted it straight into a brand new wall that had left such a dent the construction crew had to spend a number of hours patching it up. Luckily nobody had snitched.

The remaining three days of the week had each been peppered with little mishaps. He had knocked his pad into a number of things causing delays, the worst one was that his new size and lack of piloting skills he had reversed his massive tush right up against a massive container with a lot of the work crews theodolites inside. Safe to say when he had moved forward again they weren't any match for his wrecking ball cheeks, in fact he may as well have taken the crane to them for all the damage he had done.

By the end of the week Foundy had had enough, calling him to her hut. He had got away with some things but not everything.

“I’ve booked you on a pad piloting course, why you didn’t do this when you bought the thing is beyond me. It’s like ponies who can’t use a computer or other technological device and have had no instruction. You need at least a basic knowledge before you hop in and go. I need you back here Monday so the course is tomorrow. I’ve taken the liberty of loading the address into your pad so hell, if you want you can snooze all the way there and it will autopilot itself. Just be awake at nine thirty in the morning when the class starts. I think that’s the least you can do to pay me back for this weeks worth of damage.” Her voice had been stern, not usual for when she was upset. He had just piloted his pad home saying “Of course Foundy.” as he had left for the day.

And now he was worried, firstly he was worried for his job because he knew his boss was rather upset with him.

Secondly, he was worried about tomorrow. It was Friday night, usually this was a time of pleasure for him when he would head down to Blubber King and pick up something to eat then relax at home. Usually weekends were a nice time for Roller where after working solid for five days he could really let his flab down.

But tomorrow, not tomorrow. He had to be up early for a start. Then he had to do a course! He knew she had her heart in the right place but it was like anything else, he’d have learned, eventually. Maybe after a few more expensive crashes. He just hoped there was some food there at least to compensate for his time. He had gone to sleep in a fitful dream, his big body shifting as much as it could on the bed as he tried to toss and turn. The only downside of being massively overweight (well there was a few others…) was being unable to easily move yourself if needed.

The next day as he opened his eyes, rather blearily he could see something in front of him. It was the rear portion of another pony on a pad. His eyes sprung open, he was definitely looking at a butt, not his bedroom as he had been when he went to sleep the night before. He leaned forward and pressed his controls.

9:15 AM

Well it had done as Foundy had said, the pad without his interference or piloting had just taken his straight to the main instruction centre. He wasn’t even sure where in town he was. Only that a pony of a little under his size was in front of him. He seemed to be in a queue.

As the pad in front moved to the side he came up to a booth, an equally large pony on the other side looked at him with a little disdain.

“Name?”

“Red Roller….yawn.” He was still waking up.

“Ah yes, last minute booking yesterday. Pilot yourself inside the lot, the instructor will be out shortly for a nine thirty start.”

“Oh um...thanks.” Now off autopilot Roller went back to what he was used to, but not before mis-piloting his pad forward slightly into the booth. The receptionist or whatever she was looked completely unconcerned.

“B-bet you get that a lot huh?” He said, blushing and trying to make light of the situation. Something nopony in the close proximity was at all.

“Don’t worry about it honey, it’s why you’re here. See?” She said, pointing a flabby hoof downward. A huge crash-mat was placed in front of the booth she was sat in, presumably to stop novice pilots destroying it.

Red Roller just piloted his pad into the lot as instructed. There were a number of other ponies present, some mares, a few stallions. All of varying weight. Some heftier than he was, others lighter. He blended in rather well.

“So what you here for?”

A voice next to him asked a question, a rather fat and portly pegasus mare on a pad of her own had parked next to him. Her wings obviously as useless as his and her body just quivered as it came to rest next to him.

“Oh um, work related incidents. Yourself?”

“Piloting under the influence.” She replied, like the receptionist she had no concern in her voice.

“I’m sorry, under the influence? Alcohol?” He asked.

“No stupid, food. I was loaded up with at least ten meals from Blubber King but I put em’ all on one side. I figured the stabilizers would take it. Guess not. They found me about five hundred yards from the place on my ass in the road.” She said with a small laugh. “Serves me right I guess.”

“Well...maybe, you had to do this?”

“Yeah, or it was a month with no access to fast food. Can you imagine?” Even though lots of her face was sunk into her massive body Roller made out a look of disgust on her. Clearly another food obsessed pony like he was. She was brash but he liked it.

“So work related? Come on you can be more specific big buns.”

“B-big buns?!” The stallion blushed a lot, it always made him do that when anypony commented on them.

“Kpppffttt, don’t be shy. Most of your fat is in your ass. Bet your back stabilizers have to work extra hard to keep those monster afloat.” She said, her expression going back to a slight smile.

“I guess...and well, I’m new at this. I kept bumping stuff and causing some damage. My boss put me on this course.”

“Makes sense...here.” The mare replied and tapped on her screen. An address popped up on Rollers screen, it had an address and a name.

Ivory Archer

“What’s this for?” He asked rather innocently.

“You’re nice, plus I want a better look at that rump after this. It’s pretty impressive. We could get something to eat, the pigeon food at this place is terrible. What’s your name?”

The stallion tapped on his own controls and sent his address across. She looked at it for a mere moment.

“Red Roller. Lemme guess, work on a construction site?”

“Yeah…”

“Well that was obvious, bound by name sweetie. Some of us get that in life. As you can see I probably don’t make a very good archer. I don’t think I could even grip a bow.” The mare said, trying a little to move her flabby arms and fat hooves to imitate an archer shooting a bow. She puffed a little as she did so. “See? Even that tired me out.”

Roller laughed slightly in response. “You’re nice too. Well, I’ll certainly take your offer for food up.”

The clock on his pad ticked over to 9:30 AM. He felt a little uplifted at the conversation, it was nice to meet a mare like Ivory, if he could just get through this training course, a hearty meal awaited him with company on the other side.
> Story 32 - An Unusual Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And that concludes today, does anypony have any questions?”

Vast Knowledge always liked to finish her day by giving the students an opportunity to have a query addressed. If they had any that was, usually it was rare for them to ask anything. After having their brains packed for a day with knowledge most of them were frazzled. As she expected, the class was silent. She usually timed her end quite well too.

Riiiinnnggggg!!!

The bell signalled the end of the day. She watched as her class heaved themselves up out of their seats, most having to use their little chubby hooves to move fattened bellies and other blubbery portions around their desks to get out. The school could only accommodate so much. As they did, Vast Knowledge returned to her desk and looked up at the now empty room.

Well, mostly empty. There was one pony left, Booster was still sat in her seat.

“Something you wanted to talk to me about dear?” The teacher pony asked her student.

“Well uh, yes. About the other day.”

“Oh, still thinking about what to do?” She smiled back at her.

“S-sort of. Have you got some time now after class? I met somepony, he said he’d help…”

“Oh?” Vast Knowledge was suddenly curious. “I don’t advocate talking to strangers. Fat ponies aren't that hard to fillynap you know.” She said with a small amount of concern in her voice.

“We met at the park, he’s nice! I swear!” The young filly retorted. “H-he’s waiting outside, I asked if he could come by.”

Her teacher merely raised her eyebrow, expecting more.

“I feel more comfortable talking to him than my parents...you’ll see why.”

Booster went out the door to the classroom and left Vast Knowledge sat wondering why the pony, whoever this mystery stallion was that she had met, would be more suited to the job of helping her than her parents. As soon as Booster came back and brought him in tow it was obvious why.

‘She must have found the only pony on the entire colony who isn’t a tub of lard.’ She thought to herself. This should prove interesting indeed. She watched as the stallion walked in, no great drama surrounding his steps. His body didn’t jiggle, wobble or bounce. He was by all accounts a pony that would have passed for extremely handsome before the rest of the species started to gain. He sat opposite her with no fanfare either.

“Miss this is um…” Booster started to explain.

“Jump Gate, but my friends call me J.G.” The stallion said. “It’s okay little one, you don’t have to talk for me.” He finished, and extended a hoof to shake the flabby one belonging to Vast Knowledge as he leaned forward over her desk.

“Oh um, please don’t put in the effort. Really.” The teacher replied as she watched him get up to reach her.

“No effort. I think you big ones forget sometimes that when you don’t have a huge body to haul around stuff like this doesn’t take much.” He said with a smile, finally shaking her hoof in greeting and sitting back down.

“Maybe when we’re done I can ask you a little more about that. I rarely get a chance to meet thin ponies. It helps me understand better, I’m mainly a history teacher you see.”

J.G. smiled at her. “Ah, I getcha. So you tell em’ all about how we used to be. Or how I am now.”

“Mostly yes. Booster must be lucky. I can’t remember the last time we had a thin pony on Sleipnir. What do you do? By your name I’d guess something to do with the space industry but I could be wrong.”

“Well you ain’t, I’m a pilot. Captain a ship called the Unity. We take ponies where they wanna go. It’s not a bad life. Also helps if you’re thin, not that the reset of my crew thinks so.” He replied. “Sleipnir is just our latest stop. I usually have a varying amount of days before we take off again. I just so happened to bump into this little filly in the local park. Believe it or not it was the only place I could find actual healthy food. She was there for the same reason.”

Vast Knowledge listened to what he had to say, well it seemed like it was an innocent enough meeting. The pilot genuinely seemed nice. Booster was very lucky indeed.

“So...she asked you to come along?”

“Sure did, and well. I explained to her how thin ponies like me get around. We do alright. Some jobs even require it. No way someone of your size could fly my ship...no offence.”

“None taken. Hmmm.”

“Hmmm?” For the first time J.G. looked puzzled.

“Are you here much longer?” The teacher asked.

“Well...not long. We try and stop on a colony maybe a week. No real schedule to speak of. Generally when we put down we refuel, reload with food and then put up a destination and see how many ponies wanna go there. Usually some askin’ around helps to figure out what popular destinations are. I’d say maybe a day or two at the most.”

“Hmmm.”

“Okay you say that way too much. I know you’re big but you ain’t slow to think.” J.G. said with a small smile.

“No it’s just, I’m wondering if you’d be willing to help little Booster here. She’s explained what she wants and why she’s having difficulty with it?”

“Oh yeah, and as per usual it’s the folks. I figure it might be.” He said. “Usually is anyhow.”

“Would you be willing to come with us? I already told Booster we’d visit them for a sit down and chat about it, but having an actual thin pony there to show them life isn’t what everypony presumes it to be being thin may help convince them easier than I could on just my own. Booster seems to like you a lot too.”

“Y-yeah, he’s really nice…” The young filly said. J.G. ruffled her hair a little in kind.

“Hmmm.”

Vast Knowledge blinked at him. “You’re doing it now.”

“Haha I know. And sure I can help, on one condition.”

“I thought there may be a price.” The fat teacher said with a grin on her chubby cheeks.

“Well, call it a fair trade. My services for something I can’t get much of elsewhere. You see we can load up the ship no problem with all the fatty, carb packed foods for the guests and crew of my ship but I always struggle to find something for myself. Fruits, berries and the like. Now one pony I came across in your park was trying to sell a whole lot of em’ and not havin’ much of an easy time of it, on account of everypony being fatties.”

“So, what do you want?”

“Just go out get me enough of those fruits to last me a month on my ship and we’ll call it quits. You can either buy them from her and support a local struggling business, or if you know where to collect them up yourself I’m happy for you to do that. Obviously one’s a little more rewarding and helpful than the other.” He said, and winked at Booster.

“Very well, I’ll have them for you at your ship in a couple of days before you leave. But we need to see her parents first.” Vast Knowledge said to her guest. “Can you come with me tomorrow after class?”

“Of course. I’ll be waiting here.”

“Great, well that will be the difficult bit. Convincing them. How many other thin ponies have you come across on your travels can I ask?”

“Not many. Usually I run into other pilots like myself at ports, but even these days newer more fancier ships are equipped to take a bigger pilot. It’s a travesty I think. I mean what are you gonna do if you knock the flight stick and send your ship into a flat-spin stall while taking off from a planet because your blubber got in the way?” He sighed and finished his mini rant on the subject. Clearly he was passionate about his job.

“Quite, well I’ll see both of you tomorrow. Booster you go home now.”

“See you tomorrow miss, see you tomorrow J.G.” The little butterball getting up and waddling over to him, giving him the best hug she could. Vast Knowledge watched him soften up a little. The stallion seemed to have a big of a soft spot for her, and Booster waddled her way out the door and left for the day.

“I’ll be going too, see you tomorrow miss…? You know you never did tell me your name. I only told you mine.”

“Vast Knowledge. Bit of a mouthful I know but I can’t find a shorter version. Vasty never sounded right to me.” She said with a small sigh.

“Well...do what I do, initials. V.K. sounds alright to me.” The pilot replied, before he turned and walked out.

The teacher sat at her desk and thought about the meeting, she had not been expecting that at all. It was little things that made up life. She hoped the meeting with Boosters parents would go a lot smoother with him there. If a living example couldn’t convince them, nothing could.
> Story 33 - A Heist Plan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Striving Step was not happy.

Firstly, he had been dragged away from his rather comfortable office.

Secondly he was being talked to like a child by a rather overconfident Fireflash.

Thirdly, he was hungry. But then he was always hungry. He had to interrupt this childs incessant drivel.

“Look this is all very well and good, I’m sorry you lost your job through your own negligence but we came here to do a deal and plan getting hold of this thing.” Striving Step said, the two of them were in a rather isolated part of the factory, one of the many stockrooms. He had placed a guard outside to the door to make sure they weren’t interrupted.

“Hey I’m a stakeholder in your company now. I think you can afford me a little time to embellish my master plan.” Fireflash said with a grin. He was holding most of the cards and he knew it.

“Fine, look, we’ve had R&D verify that your photos of the pad were in fact genuine. No tampering, picture perfect. You’re at least telling the truth about that. Now what else have you got to tell me about it?” Striving said with a huff, he was trying to push Fireflash towards the point as quickly as possible so he could get back to his comfy office.

“Right, well it’s kept well concealed in the ceiling of the largest Blubber King branch on planet, where I used to work until recently as you well know.”

“Trust me I am well aware at this point.” The fat stallion sighed.

“Anyway, if you go in through the kitchens, you’re going to have issues because you’ve got to go up right? The pad is stored in the ceiling.” Fireflash starting to have a comical thought of a bunch of heist ponies all stacked on top of each other trying to make their way up, their blubbery mass crashing against each other in their slick black suits jostling around trying to get to the best point of attack in the roof.

“I’m sure we could find some solution.” Striving Step replied. “Not speedy though. Pads also don’t like hovering above their standard operating height for too long.”

“Exactly. You need to get in and get that pad fast and be away before anypony knows what you’re up to.” Fireflash said, he at least made a good point there.

“So, you have an idea?”

“Rip the roof off.”

“I-I’m sorry what?” Striving Step sputtered slightly. If he had any tea he would have spat it out rather indignantly. “Rip the roof off?”

“Simplest and easiest plan right? You get a bunch of ponies on their own pads with some drills and other construction equipment. Probably around four, that will make it quick. I’d estimate if they work fast they can have the roof off in a few moments, then all they have to do is anchor their pads to it when they break through and away they go. Solves the hovering height issue too, they gotta get them up there but once their hovering on the roof all is a-okay.”

Striving Step thought for a moment. Logically the best way in would be from the top down. He wondered if he should play the hand he had been holding onto and finally get one up on Fireflash.

“So, now you’ve told me the best way to do this and where it is. What’s to keep me from ripping up your contract and tossing you out on your fat butt?” He said with a small smile. Fireflash just smiled back.

“Well you don’t know exactly where in the roof it is for a starters, sure you could get one of the current employee’s and grill them, but why bother with all that trouble when you’ve got me already willing to just help you get it? Give me a pad to start with and I’ll be accompanying your hired goons on this little heist.” He said, immediately seeing Striving Step’s face drop. “Secondly if you try and even think about cutting me out of this sweet little deal I’ve got going on there’s nothing to stop me just going to the cops and pointing the hoof at you as the thief. It’s not going to be hard to link up a missing Equestrian pad and suddenly a few months later you guys bringing out a model that matches what it can handle and trust me, I’ll have an alibi and protection if you try it.” Fireflash finished. He still had some tricks, knowing Striving Step was going to do all he could to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

“...Right, well I guess we’re going to have to keep you around.” He said. ‘Or make you have an accident, It wouldn’t take much to get rid of a fat blimp. Protection can be bought too.’ The stallion thought. But he’d save any sort of such mishaps for after they actually had the pad. It would be unwise to bump Fireflash off so soon.

“What’s the best sort of time to steal it?”

“Probably around 2am, after the place closes usually they have deliveries coming in, sometimes they’re late too. Latest I’ve heard of one coming in however is about 1am. That should give us enough of a gap after.” Fireflash said.

“Fine, I’ll go through my channels to find three other accomplices. You realise though you’re incriminating yourself further by actually being a part of the team that is going to steal this thing?”

“Do you really think that matters at this point? Also I’m not going to be implicated if your guys screw it up.”

“Again, fine. Give me a week. I’ll be in touch and we can arrange a day to actually get this pad. I’ll make the necessary preparations. It won’t be hard to get hold of equipment, there is plenty of construction sites on the colony we could get some heavy duty equipment from. But I need time to find the right crew. We may even have to get them in from off world.” Striving Step said, his mind already whirring at the best way to deal with all this.

“You’ve got my number. If I find out you’ve tried to steal this without me, you can kiss all this…” Fireflash waved a flabby hoof to try to encompass the entire room and the factory beyond it. “...Goodbye.”

“Hmm, indeed. There is a guard on the door. Ask him to lead you out, stakeholder.” He said with a small grunt. The flabby Fireflash waddled his way outside and the door to the stockroom shut behind him, leaving Striving Step alone on his pad for a moment.

Very few times in his life had he stolen and generally it was little insignificant things. A snack or meal here, the odd dine’n’dash without paying for a meal as long as he could easily get away with it. This was something else though, an opportunity to push his company to new heights. Well, new weights. They had to do something, R&D was failing to push current designs much beyond what they could currently handle. There was no denying they needed something, anything to help. Fireflash’s offer couldn’t have come at a better time, he wasn’t going to let him know that though.

He rotated his pad around to leave the room, his comfy office calling him. Plans needed to be made.
> Story 34 - The Calorie Count Off Competition
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new menu at Blubber King had been a huge success.

Well, huge success might be a slight understatement. Especially judging by the size of the customers. The speciality hot dog was the top ordered item on the menu every day since it had been introduced, ponies just couldn’t get enough of them. In fact it had done so well that the word down the pipeline from corporate was that they were already developing other menu foods to coincide with guaranteeing a particular calorie count gained, or re-writing the menu so that items already on it had their gain amount worked out.

For now, Sunny was quite happily working the register as she did every other day. It was steady, which was the best kind of work. Not so rammed she was overwhelmed but not so quiet that she was bored. Her eyes kept wandering over to the clock on the wall, as they did she felt Di’s pad hover in behind her.

“Don’t worry, just another twenty minutes. We’ve been advertising this for a week or so. The customers will be here.” She said with a reassuring tone before hovering away.

Some of the boothes already had a number of ponies in, not eating. Highly unusual for a Blubber King branch, but for once there was going to be a spectacle going on. The advertising campaign had been running for a week, everything was as ready as it could be. Yesterday Di had asked a few of them to move the two sets of scales towards the middle of the floor, thank Celestia they were on wheels. Sunny couldn’t imagine trying to heft them along by hoof.

Sunny served her last customer, with five minutes to go the registers were shut and the drones were placed on standby mode. No more orders for as long as this lasted. A number of other ponies had made their way inside, taking up the remaining counters. Some were even looking in through windows outside, Di was right. They had drawn quite a crowd. Good thing corporate had the foresight to place a number of large screens outside the location. Di had disappeared to her back office to prepare herself. There was a lot of murmuring from the patrons. Sunny stood behind the counter, she had a good view from where she was.

The lights dimmed, then some coloured spotlights rotated inwards to focus on the scales. Some smoke machines that had been installed a few days prior began to whir into action and a rather atmospheric mist descended. There was a hush that was hardly ever heard of within the store, for once nopony was eating or chewing. Just the quiet hum of a number of pads and the odd belch here and there.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, welcome.” The voice of Di came on over the loudspeaker system, broadcasting for everypony to hear. Di however into the centre of the room on her pad, Sunny hadn’t even noticed her come out the back room with everypony concentrating on the scales that were in focus. She parked herself next to them, and was now wearing a rather fetching black and white striped referee style getup.

“Thank you for attending the very first Blubber King Calorie Count Off Competition! The contestants will be out shortly. This is the first of its kind and we’re hoping that you all have such a good time we’ll be able to hold plenty more. Betting is open for the next five minutes. You’ll see an option available on the Blubber King site that I’m sure you’re all a member of, here you can bet on your favorite. If your choice wins, you get a free meal!” She proudly announced, a number of the patrons heads suddenly going down and tapping away with chubby hoofs at their screens. Sunny leaned over to one of her co-workers.

“Betting?”

“Yeah didn’t you see? You can place a bet of two bits on one of the contestants. Free meal is worth five bits so, worth it if you win.”

“Oh, must have missed it…” She replied, truth be told apart from the fact an eating competition was about to go down Sunny hadn’t paid that much attention to all the finer details. She just was keen to see what happened.

After a few minutes passed of ponies getting in last minute bets Di carried on.

“Now let's bring in the contestants. Firstly, hailing from our very own colony. Give it up for Red Roller!”

There was a cheer from the crowd, from behind her Sunny saw a pad hover out of the darkness and into the centre near Di. The pony on it was large, in fact as she observed him she realised the low lighting was playing tricks on her eyes. She thought she was looking at a belly, it was in fact a butt so lardy and wobbly that from where she was it was hard to tell the difference.

“Whose that?”

“Apparently a site manager for construction yards. Recently came into some money, hence the flashy pad. I’ve heard he’s a little unfortunate in having most of his weight shift behind him…”

With a mighty heft the ponies pad leaned forward to deposit him onto the scales. They pushed up to an impressive 2611 pounds. There was another cheer as the weight was registered in. Di continued to speak to the crowd.

“He’s no lightweight! And the contender! All the way from Llamrei colony, make some noise for Money Pit!”

Another pad made its way through the dimness of the store and round towards the other set of scales. Not so much cheering this time, definitely a bigger crowd for the home front. Sunny leaned over again to talk to her colleague.

“And him?”

“Some hotshot from the banking world. I bet he gets a hard time for his name.”

Sunny had a little giggle at the quip, rather unfortunate to be called that when you’re likely wanting your money to be looked after to be sure. She watched as the banker was leaned off his own pad the scales went up to a rather healthy 2807 pounds. There was a little ooohhhh from some of the audience.

“He’s heavier.”

“Weight advantage, he can likely pack it away better than our own.”

“Perhaps, or that means the other is hungrier.”

“That’s what I’m banking on.”

The audience went quiet again, the two stallions gave each other a little nod through their pudge as they had craned their flabby necks around to meet the others gaze. Bellies jiggled as the tide of fat that had smooshed against each other struggled for room. They may have placed the scales just a fraction too close to each other…

Di began to speak again. “Thirty minutes, all these two lardy stallions can eat. Their starting weights have been recorded! Whoever gains the most wins. Drones are on standby. Each one will be getting fed as many gut buster meals as they can eat!” Di excitedly said through her microphone. “Are the contestants ready?” She asked, each just nodded through their rolls of fat in return.

“Eat!”

And they did. Sunny had never seen such a display of gluttony in all her life. As soon as Di announced the start of the competition, drones poured in from the kitchens behind them dropping off gut buster after gut buster for the two. The crowd whooped and hollered as they rooted for their favorite fatty to win. There was no noise from the two of them apart from frenzied chewing, Sunny particularly watching Red Roller, who was using what he could of his fat hooves to shovel in as much food as quickly as possible. The two of them were like eating machines.

Within five minutes she had witnessed a number of meals completely vanish already, the two of the lardy stallions just wanting to consume more. The meal carrying drones were hovering for mere seconds before a space filled up in their maw for the next meal, dropping it straight in before vanishing back to the kitchen to fetch another. Sunny could see the scales weight readings climbing up almost by the second as they chomped and chewed their way to being even more obese. Red Roller had only been eating five minutes and already gained 200 pounds. Sunny couldn’t think of where she had ever seen that much weight gained that quickly.

After ten minutes the cheering had died down a little, most of the crowd now settled in just to watch the two of them eat. Sunny herself finding her eyes veering more and more on Red Roller’s massively blobby ass. It was growing too, she could see the pony almost seemed to be sinking into it more as it pushed out behind him, some of the patrons had moved to give it more room to grow.

Meanwhile the competition was also getting bigger, but in a more rounded way. A quick glance over to Money Pit showed he wasn’t far behind, having gained just over 150 pounds but he wasn’t quite eating or gaining as fast as Red Roller who seemed to be keeping up the pace he had set off at.

Twenty minutes in and Sunny was even more utterly in awe of Red Roller. He was just keeping up an incredible rate of consumption, the crowd now throwing a few customary cheers his way as he continued to eat. He had gained a good 600 pounds in the short space of time he’d been eating.

“Think he’s gonna break a thousand?” Sunny asked.

“He seems determined to, I don’t think Money Pit stood much of a chance. He’s totally lagged behind. Only gained 300 pounds now. It’s Roller’s match.”

It was almost as if the words carried, the rather greedy banker suddenly seeming to get a second wind. He picked up the pace of eating, the crowd cheering again at the renewed vigour for him to stuff himself. Gut busters quickly disappearing into his hungry maw, he was consuming at a much faster rate. With only ten minutes to go he seemed to be trying to make up for lost time.

Meanwhile Red Roller’s flank had grown monstrously, as had the rest of him. He seemed to be totally concentrating on eating however, not taking note of his huge size. The last ten minutes was the most exciting part, one pony lagging behind and trying to make up for their slower eating at the start. The other comfortably in the lead.

“Just one minute remaining!” Di shouted, checking the time on her pads screen. The cheers from the crowd re-intensified as the two raced their way towards the finishing stretch. Shoving as much food in as they could each of the ponies were just now eating at an amazing rate. Sunny could hardly believe her eyes. They had definitely placed the scales too close, each of them had grown a staggering amount compared to when they had started, they had layers of fat now pushing up against each other, bellies and rears jostling against each other for any room they could find with the mountains of fat squishing against each other. The frenzied chewing making their fat bodies wobble and jiggle around.

There was a simulated phwwweeeeppppp! from the loud speaker system, the drones stood down and stopped delivering meals. “And that’s time! What do you think everypony, who gained the most? Let’s find out!” Di said, the scales now reading a final result on them. “One thing though, and I’m sure you’re all expecting this now they’ve stopped eating…” She said, just in time too.

“BWWWAAARRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!”

“UURRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!”

The massive belches each of them let rip was to be expected, nopony could eat that much and not have some level of gas build up. Each of them almost seemed to deflate slightly as they let out the most ear shattering burps Sunny had ever heard. Halfway through she put her hooves to her ears to try to cover the noise.

Once they stopped Di returned to her refereeing. “A good clean competition both of you, although I think each of you were too focused on eating to try anything. We’ll start with the offworld challenger Money Pit, who has now weighs an impressive 3695 pounds! He’s gained a whole 888 pounds everypony! Give him a cheer!”

The patrons gave a rather enthusiastic cheer as she moved to Red Roller, who looked a little comatose as he licked his lips a little to try to get whatever crumbs were left round his maw.

“Now then, the home favorite…” Di paused, reading the scale weight. She couldn’t quite believe it. “Now weighing in at 3680 pounds. Red Roller! Our winner having gained a whole 1069 pounds! He’s eaten almost a third of his weight in thirty minutes! What a lardass!” Di excitedly said, a number of the patrons cheering again, a few even louder having realised they’d just won their bets.

“H-he gained over a thousand pounds in that time?” Sunny said a little in shock. “W-wow.”

“Wow indeed, I know high society gains like that at banquets but that is something else. He must really be looking to increase his size.” Her coworker replied. “Probably why he put in for the competition.”

Sunny watched as the crowd dispersed, the two competitors being scooped up on their pads, both far too punch drunk from all the eating to even really acknowledge each other. Their pads seemed to be set on auto to take them back to where they needed to go as the disappeared out the front doors with everypony else, within five minutes the place was empty, as it was after closing time.

“He’ll be back you know.”

“Huh?”

Di had made her way back to behind the counter where the workers had been watching from. “This is the first of many, corporate figures it to be a good loss leader. We put on an eating competition, pull in the crowds. Word will spread and even more ponies will be in here for their gut busters and whatever else they want to stuff their faces with. Plus we make a lil with the betting too.” She said. “And I don’t mind wearing this referee outfit once in a while, it’s rather good looking…” She said, trailing off and piloting her way back to her office to take it off and finish up for the day. “Oh and he’s a regular customer too!” She shouted back.

“Well, can’t wait to see the next one.” Sunny said, starting to clear up. Her mind lingered on Red Roller, he certainly was something else. She’d never seen a pony with quite those proportions before. She smiled to herself as thoughts of him trying to squeeze that massive tush of his through doors and other places came to mind. It was rather amusing, she might end up like that someday.

For now, she continued to tidy, wondering if Di might let her have a go at one of the Calorie Count Off Competition’s in the future.
> Story 35 - A Feasting Session
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a gentle chime at the door to her suite, Rotunda had certainly been expecting guests. Everything about the resort was fantastic, she adored how the sound of somepony arriving to her suite almost soothed her ears.

“Shall I let them in mistress?” Cherry asked her, assuming a yes would follow as she started to waddle her frame towards the wall mounted button to open the double wide sets of doors to her room. Rotunda just smiled and waved a hoof towards the door to signal her desire. Cherry already there gave it a press.

Gently and soundlessly the doors slide open to reveal Sundrop, her fat body atop her pad on the other side, her servant Dewgrass diligently by her side. He was pulling behind him a small cart.

“Ah Comet! Lovely to see you. I’d offer a friendly hug but I haven’t been able to give one in years.” Sundrop said with a small smile as she entered the room. “I hope you don’t think I’ve come empty hooved. Dewgrass join Cherry in the kitchen and unload the cart for me will you?” She continued. Wordlessly Dewgrass and Cherry waddled their way to the kitchen of the room and began their meal preparations whilst Sundrop and Rotunda piloted their pads out to the veranda. It was evening, one of the two suns of the system beginning to set.

“It really is lovely, how long before you leave?” Sundrop asked her as the two had taken up position in the sun.

“Oh I have three more days. Yourself?”

“Just two, so I suppose I’ll be heading back a day before you then. But I have your contact. We’ll have to find time to meet up. I’d love to come to one of your banquets in the near future. Of course that invitation is extended to you as well. I think you’d like a lot of the ponies of Haizum. They’d like you too.” Sundrop said.

“Well that would be lovely. I’ll try to make a trip soon. Although I think tonight we have everything we need for a good time. What was in that cart of yours?” Rotunda asked, curious.

“You’ll see, something of a local delicacy from my colony. I bought enough for myself but I haven’t needed to eat them with all the eateries here. You know, just in case I was peckish.” She said with a small grin. “It should help you hit your goal. Did you have one before you came? They do advertise that if you set a weight goal they’ll help you achieve it.”

“Yes actually, 6000 pounds would be good to hit before I leave. I think with the last two or three days I’ve gotten to 5500 but I’m still not quite there yet.” Rotunda replied.

“Well, maybe after tonight you’ll hit your target.” Sundrop said, if Rotunda was more observant she would have noticed a small wink through her fat face. The two of them stopped talking as they heard a gentle chime of a dinner bell behind them from Cherry, who had waddled her way out to the veranda.

“My ladies, dinner is served. As requested I have prepared the necessary food with the help of Dewgrass. He has made a small adjustment to the menu with what has been brought in the cart mistress if that is acceptable.”

“Quite acceptable Cherry, Sundrop was just telling me. Well. Shall we?” She asked, turning her pad around as did Sundrop to make their way back inside.

“I think we shall. I could eat a cow, and then some.” Her friend said with a laugh. As per the fashion of the resort, a large portion of Rotunda’s room was taken up by the eating area. Not that the rest wasn’t lavish in itself, but a good chunk of it was given over to an area where ponies could feast. A rather large table, of a simple square but sturdy design that was low to the ground stood in the middle. This was obviously made to accomodate ponies on pads so they could turn off the hover facility and just laze on the floor whilst still mounted on them. Rotunda and Sundrop took up spots opposite each other, as was the custom so the two could talk and eat.

“I had a thought, hear me out.” Sundrop started to say as Cherry and Dewgrass began to put the prepared meals onto the table. “How about a little massage from our servants as we eat? If you haven’t done it before, it’s heaven.” Her words making Rotunda’s ears twitch a little. “It is not quite a tradition on my colony but it is something we upper class ponies have taken to in recent years, so perhaps it could become one. Join me?”

Rotunda couldn’t quite resist. To be fed and have her body attended to in such a manor? There was not a chance she was going to say no, she’s explain to Cherry later. Although with how quickly she had become her favorite, she might even enjoy it. Each of them had finished putting the food on the table, Rotunda spying what Sundrop must have been talking about. Some rather alien looking food was placed in the middle. It almost looked like a melon, except it had a bright orange outer skin and was very nearly perfectly round. It was also pungent, she could smell it from where she was over the rest of the food, but not in a bad way. It had a sweet smell, almost like a strawberry but just a little different.

“I take it that is the food you mentioned?”

“Ah yes, the foruna fruit! I have just four, two for each of us. Let us eat what else there is and leave them for last yes?” Sundrop said. “Dewgrass I believe you know what to do.”

“Of course.” The servant said, already pushing his hooves deep into the fat mares folds. Rotunda saw her body relax, Cherry followed suite. Rotunda instantly going a little weak as she felt her own flab attended to. Cherry doing her best to reach those hard to get to areas. As she did, she leaned over and pressed a button set into the wall near her mistress.

Two drones hovered out from a small hidden enclosure in the room. Sundrop and Rotunda only noticed them when their grappling arms from underneath were picking up food and depositing it into their waiting maws. The food Cherry had been instructed to prepare was as delicious as ever and Rotunda savoured every bite as her fat body was jiggled and jostled by Cherry who was really putting her back into massaging her mistress. Without even thinking between bites Rotunda let out a small moan.

“Mmmmm, I told you it was delightful. Ohhhhh…” Sundrop said, taking note of her pleasure. “I could eat and be massaged like this for hours…” Dewgrass doing his own work as he attended to his mistress and took hefty hoof-fulls of her generous size. The two of them were in hog heaven, enjoying the ultimate form of being pampered.

The eating and rather lovely attendance on their bodies continued for a good hour, the two mares slowly but gracefully working their way through the foods and taking time to really enjoy their gaining. There was little chat in between except perhaps for one of the two to let out a belch or moan in pleasure as they enjoyed their pampering session.

Dewgrass was spending the time doing what Sundrop loved best, taking large sweeps in between his mistresses belly so she could really feel her size. Every swish of his hooves made her jiggle in delight as folds of flab separated and then came together, some hefty enough to make an audible slapping noise as they crashed back to their natural position. Sundrop would occasionally spur him on with a “Y-yes dear, right there.”

Cherry was new at this but it didn’t take long for her to pick it up, she was taking smaller sweeps but jostling her own hooves up and down a little more. She figured Rotunda really wanted to feel her weight pushing against her. Her mistress making little moans of pleasure and hardly speaking between bites of food that the drones were dropping into her mouth told her that she was doing her job well.

In just over an hour the majority of food had been consumed. Sundrop and Rotunda both licking their lips as the drones hovered with nothing left to pick up. The fruits Sundrop had brought were too big for their grappling arms to get round. The two massive lardy mares gave themselves a few moments to rest.

“I’d say we should eat these the old fashioned way but, we’ll need help. You’ll love what the fruit does but, you may not be used to it.”

Rotunda raised an eyebrow through her folds. “What do you mean?”

“We have to eat them whole, or the effect of them will be lost.” Sundrop replied.

Rotunda looked at the fruit, it wasn’t exactly small. Probably the size of a small football, if it was overinflated. “What do you propose? Although I think I know what you are suggesting…” Her voice trailed off as Cherry and Dewgrass made their way to the table and picked up a fruit each, stopping their fat massages.

“Just try to relax and distend your jaw as much as possible. And don’t bite on it, you’ll ruin not only the flavour but how much it will add to your size.” Sundrop said.

Cherry had now positioned herself in front of Rotunda, fruit in hoof. “Tell me if it gets too much.” She said, and gently started to slide the fruit forwards into her mistresses maw.

At first Rotunda struggled. The fruit was large and although she was used to eating copious amounts of food she didn’t usually eat something so big like this. It was only a quarter of the way into her mouth and she could feel herself start to sweat. It reminded her of being visited by a dentist and having to keep her mouth open.

Cherry pushed, every little shove the fruit went further in. Rotunda felt her mouth and jaw compensate by opening a little wider with each push. Her cheeks ballooned, she looked like a mouse with a maw full of cheese. Before she knew it she had reached the halfway point, the fruit now mostly in her mouth.

With a final push Cherry let the natural mechanisms of her mistresses jaw take over and push the rest inside. Closing in relief around it as she swallowed. She huffed, her tongue lolled out. It felt like she was starting to digest a dead weight and she had swallowed an entire cow. She took a moment to gather herself, noticing that Sundrop had already eaten hers, and was just smiling at her.

“T-that was...well it tasted fine but I’m not used to eating like that. I nearly bit into it at one point.”

“I saw, but you did well for a first timer. Just wait. And we have one more to eat.” Sundrop said.

Suddenly Rotunda felt heavy....well, heavier. Her whole body surged as new rolls of fat spilled forth and her belly let out a rather audible gloooorrrrrrppppp! It was clear that a large portion of weight had suddenly been added to her size with very little effort, too concentrating on her own gain to notice that Sundrop’s body did the same as hers.

Again she had to collect herself. She had guessed what had happened but she had to know. “Well, how much?”

“Should be around 150 pounds added. I did say they were a local delicacy. Hard to come by and very expensive but, if you’re losing weight they’re a lifesaver.” Sundrop said, a small amount of pride in her voice. “If we could export them on mass we could but there is just enough usually harvested each year to sell to the higher ups, and we tend to buy them rather quickly.” She said. “Now we have one more each. I think you’ll easily hit your target.” Sundrop said, her mouth already opening to allow Dewgrass to feed her the remaining fruit.

Rotunda just did the same, Cherry already having it ready to feed to her. As she started to eat it her mind swirled with thoughts of somehow getting a batch of the fruit and shipping it back to Sleipnir for her own consumption. Just six of them would mean 900 pounds of gain with little effort. She could finally get the edge she had been looking for.

She swallowed and felt her belly blorp! again beneath her, another 150 pounds added to her immense mass. She couldn’t have been far off 6000 pounds now. She needed another moment to collect herself.

“Sundrop, about that visit? How about sooner rather than later?...”
> Story 36 - Roll On Red
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well that was...yeah that was terrible.” Roller said to himself under his breath.

The first lesson at the pad driving school hadn’t quite been what Roller had been expecting, for one thing. The instructor was an absolute mare to deal with. He paused for a moment, that didn’t help much. She was difficult. Firstly expressing the opinion all ponies should have a mandatory licence to drive a pad and then acting like a drill instructor. For a voluntary course that some ponies were paying for she could have been a little nicer. His ears were still ringing from her shouts at the group.

Now it was over though, he had a week before the next round. Huffing slightly and getting back on the controls he started to pilot his way out, stopping when he heard a shout from his side.

“Hey, forget about me did ya?”

Ivory had pulled up next to him. Turning his bloated neck to view her he saw her grinning between her fat folds. “Remember? A meal? Plus I still wanna ask you about that tush.” She said with a slight giggle, making him go bright red.

“Oh yes, of course. Uh. Where to?”

“I know a place, just follow. Only a few minutes away from here. Try not to hit anything, hopefully the lesson has helped at least a bit.” She said, scooting her own pad ahead of his as Roller dutifully obliged and kept pace behind her. Currently they were in one of the better parts of town, Roller mainly knew where the eateries here were more than anything else. He was partly hoping she didn’t go into one of the fancy places. Wasn’t heading towards Blubber King either.

Eventually she pulled up outside a rather gaudy pink building. There didn’t seem to be a queue to get in, Roller catching a glimpse of the sign as he craned his neck up slightly near the entrance, the name illustrated by a neon sign of a rather happy pig bouncing from left to right, a fat one rolling around after enjoying a meal by the looks of it.

The Pink Porker

He couldn’t help but smile a little bit. The mare seemed to know the better joints in town. This wasn’t somewhere he had been before but he had heard good things about it. The inside was just as outrageous as the exterior. The whole inner building was pink, everywhere. Any booths with chairs had pink chairs, the tables were pink (and also amusingly shaped like a round bloated pig), the floor was a pink and white checkered pattern. Even the menus were pink. Both being on pads the two of them found their way to an empty table and parked themselves, picking up a menu and starting to browse.

“So.” Ivory started to say. “I don’t usually ask Stallions out on a meal straight away but you seem nice.” Her eyes not leaving the menu as Roller watched her browse. “Plus you really caught my eye when you came in.”

“Oh?” The stallion was just blushing more. He wasn’t used to this sort of forwardness. “I can probably guess why but you may as well tell me, in case it’s something other than I think it is.”

“That rump.” Ivory said completely candidly.

“Okay, exactly what I thought it was…” He said, sounding a little defeated and going back to the menu. For the first time he saw the mare look slightly uncomfortable.

“Sorry just, you probably worked out I’m pretty forward. I don’t like hiding my thoughts. I just can’t take my eyes off it. How did it get so...big?” She asked, before Roller could reply a waiter had waddled his way over.

“What can I get you two today?”

“I’ll try the extra large buffet platter, easy on the vegetables. And a large soda to drink.” Roller said. “You?”

“The cheese supreme pizza please. Large soda also.” Ivory said, putting her menu back. The waiter scribbled onto his notepad, nodded and waddled his way to the kitchen. Ivory gave Roller’s impressive rear another look, pointing to it. “So uh...the tush?”

“Oh right.” Roller said, still a little red. “I uh, I mean I wish I had an answer for you actually. I’ve always been fat, it’s just whatever genetics I’ve inherited means it goes back there, mostly…” He said. “I’ve gotten stares and jabs about it most my life. It is rather overpowering compared to the rest of me.” He blushed more.

“You could have made a great prostitute.” Ivory replied and smiled.

“W-what?!” Roller yelped, almost grabbing at the menu again to try to hide his blushing cheeks behind it. That was a new one.

“I’m just saying, the building trade ever goes south, ponies will pay for being buried under something like that.” She carried on, hardly noticing his ever reddening face. “I know I would.”

“I uh...never even crossed my mind.” Roller managed to squeak out, regaining some composure. It honestly hadn’t. Of all the things he had considered it might be useful for that wasn’t one of them.

“Well keep it at the back of your thoughts sugar.”

“What about you? You seem nicely plump all over.” Roller said, trying to reverse the conversation a bit. “Big eater?”

“Hah, me, you, everyone on this damn rock. We’re obsessed. No point trying to beat em’.” She said, Roller warming quite to her almost non-caring attitude about her size.

“So what do you do? And don’t tell me you’re an archer.” He said with a small amount of teasing in his voice, trying his best to imitate the action as she did before. He managed to get her to crack a smile.

“Nooooo, no way. Maybe in times gone past. I’m a decorator actually, that’s the only part in common with my name. Ivory is my favorite colour. See all those buildings you guys put up are kinda plain. So I come in to ponies houses and paint up their rooms to be nicer colours. I know there are drones that do that these days but some ponies prefer a hoof touch.” She said, continuing her explanation. “Well, I mean I’m cheaper and take a bit longer but ya know. Same thing.”

“Yeah, I can see that being something ponies would pay for. You’re obviously not short of food money.” Roller said, he sniffed the air. The smells from the kitchen were starting to play on his nostrils. He could tell the food was coming.

“Woah, who said anything about paying?” She laughed. “I figure you’re pretty loaded. Wanna treat a mare?” Her voice went into a coo at the last words. It just made Roller blush again.

“Don’t push your luck...but I don’t think this is really pushing it.” He said back, trying his best to be a little candid like her. As he finished the waiter brought the food and laid it out the table. His mouth started to drool slightly, it did look delicious.

“Hold still sir.” The waiter, to his surprise was affixing a small bib to his chins.

“What’s this?”

“Oh! It’s the gimmick of the place. You get a little bib with the piggie on. Cute huh? And one more thing.”

“There’s something else?”

As the waiter finished putting the bib round him, he brought out a small tray with two snouts on, cheap plastic things that looked like something you wear at a party.

“If we both wear it, we get a free dessert at the end. For being a couple of oinkers.” Ivory laughed.

“I am not going to turn down a free dessert.” Red replied, and with that he let the waiter place the snout on his nose. They both looked at each other and laughed.

“Haha, a real pair of fat piggies huh?” Ivory said, starting to eat her food.

“Hey at least this piggy has an appetite to match. I’m starving.” Roller said, eating too. He looked at the plate, a large portion. Maybe 20 pounds of gain there. Not quite the feast he had at Blubber King but it would keep him going.

“So...plans?” Ivory asked him taking a break from her meal.

“Eat.” Red replied, his fat lips smacking together as he took food from the platter.

“I mean for the future dummy.” Ivory said, another laugh erupting from her lips. “You’re funny Red.”

“Well...eat! I want to gain weight. I’m not even close to what the pad has capacity for. I wanna well…” He trailed off.

“What? What do you want?” Ivory was curious.

“That thing behind me? I hate it sometimes. All the teasing can get to me.” Red started to say, he gave his rear a small wobble for emphasis. “But...I can’t resist, I just wanna see how big it can get. Is there gonna be a point where I eventually balance out? Where my gut catches up with my flank? Or am I gonna just end up with the biggest butt on the whole colony?” He said, sighing slightly. Ivory sensed his slight annoyance at his problem.

“Well only one way to find out right? Besides you’ll be fine. I think you just need to find somepony who will appreciate it...I do.”

Red felt his heart flutter slightly. “R-really? That thing?”

“Do you think I was joking about the prostitute comment?” Ivory said with a little laugh. “I’d be one of the ponies paying if I hadn’t met you by chance.”

“O-oh gosh...well um...er…” Red totally lost his composure, going back to his meal.

“Take it as a compliment sugar. You know I really think it might look even better in something that really hugs it.” She giggled.

“Uh...uhhhhh….”

“Oh relax, nopony can hear us. But I’ll stop if you’re getting all flustered. Finish your meal.” Ivory said, seeing Roller relax a little. The remainder of the meal was filled with little bits of talk, each of them finding out little things about each other. The free dessert, although small, was good too.

“UURRRRPPPPPP!!!!”

“BWWWARRRRRRPPP!!!”

The usual end to a good meal, both ponies clearly having enjoyed themselves. Roller got the bill, he didn’t mind. The two of them left, stopping outside the building.

“I’ll have to remember that place.” Roller said. “Good meal.”

“It’s a regular stop for me. We can maybe make it our place to get after each lesson.” Ivory said, turning her pad to head home. “I’ll catch you later Red! Thanks for the food!” And with that, she left, her pad disappearing round the end of the block and out of site, leaving Roller to make his way home.

His mind was still thinking about what she had said. Clearly the mare liked him, he had her contact details. Roller had never felt this way about another pony before. He couldn’t quite wait another week to meet up with her again, making a mental note to give her a call soon.
> Story 37 - Corporate War
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a buzz about the colony. Excited ponies had been whispering to each other for weeks now.

“Have you heard the news?”

It was no wonder that Blubber King had been doing their best to draw in the crowds, with a new menu and recent eating competitions they had started. Their corporate board was worried, very worried.

Expansion had been rapid (something most ponies were no stranger to…) and already Blubber King was starting to feel the pinch of their profit margins being eaten into. And finally, it had reached Sleipnir.

Di was sat at home for once, just watching the broadcast on her screen. She had only heard about this new chain fairly recently. They had started on Kelpie colony only eleven months ago opening their first branch, since then they had just done nothing but build new stores and expand their coverage as fast and far as they could. She had heard on the grapevine that they had a rather wealthy backer making it all possible. It was only a matter of time really.

The broadcast showed a much bigger building to the branch she ran. For a start it had two stories, massive ramps took up much of the front so ponies on pads could easily maneuver their way up onto the next floor if the first one was full. Both levels had a counter to order food and the interior looked rather lavish. It was all new after all.

No drone system though, the newscaster pony explained that all food was delivered to tables via a conveyor system that ran round the entirety of the store. Ponies could even place their orders on a special app that allowed them to pay and just wait for their food to be taken to them. They never need go near the counter. It disappointed Di a bit, some interaction was always nice. It made the day interesting. She didn’t envy the ponies working the counter, the days for them would drag.

Finally the broadcast switched as the newscaster stopped explaining about all the new shiny things that this new chain could offer within its building and the camera turned to a rather portly pad bound pony in front of a lectern. As was custom there was a small red ribbon behind him across the front doors to the first level. He moved forward a little to the microphone to speak.

“Ponies! Thank you for coming to the grand opening. And I assume you, it will be more grand than anything you’ve experienced in your lives.” He said, his voice full of gusto. Di just smiled, it was so obvious when ponies were either being paid to be enthusiastic or they really wanted to put on a show. The stallion continued to speak.

“Since we opened just eleven short months ago we have strived to make our product available to all, that’s why we’re here. That’s why we now have multiple branches across thirteen of the colonies and we’re opening more every single month. I can only ask one thing of you all. Come, try the food. That is the staple of a quality business. A quality offering of foods! Once you waddle or pilot your way in, I assure you, you’ll never want to eat anywhere else.”

Di scoffed a little, big words from a big pony. He certainly had the charisma of a public speaker. Not much seemed to be getting in the way of his current tirade of words.

“As founder of the business, I, Roaring Thunder have nothing but passion for our food. And I’m sure you will too. We’re open seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year. Because ponies don’t stop being hungry.”

Well that was true, but still. Ponies were ponies, not machines. The rigorous schedule he had just announced worried Di slightly. Not even Blubber King opened for that much, in fact they shut fairly frequently to refurbish or update things. Surely they couldn’t promise that unless they had some sort of backup.

There was a small cheer from the crowd who were watching the ceremonies, at this point Roaring Thunder backed himself away from the lectern and gave a small nod to somepony out of shot. Di was slightly perplexed at the lectern set up, it had been like watching a leader give a speech to his troops. The camera panned slightly and zoomed in Farthest Reach, of course the governor was present to open a new food joint. It was amusing he technically wouldn’t even be able to cut the ribbon, his size prevented him from doing so. Instead a small drone hovered with a pair of scissors, ready from a single push of a button on his control console. He made his own way to the lectern.

“I now declare the first branch of Plump Palace open for business!” And with that, the drone rather sharply cut the ribbon. There was another cheer, although shorter this time as ponies rather eagerly could be seen immediately going inside as the camera panned back and showed a queue forming instantly. The newscaster said a few more words and then the segment ended.

Di just sat thinking, she knew very much so that the higher powers at the top were worried. Blubber King had existed for decades around the colonies, it was a staple fast food place. You were hungry? You could usually find a branch somewhere on the colony, even if there was only one. Recent years had been more difficult than she had cared to admit to her staff though, development had slowed. In fact her branch was most likely the most modern and she could see corporate was trying whatever they had in their hooves to try to really outshine any potential competition. But the food was what was important, that was why a new menu was always risky. In places like Sleipnir though the ponies had loved the fact they could gain now by doing some very simple maths. She had no idea how it had gone or been implemented on others.

Blubber King as far as she could remember had over two hundred branches on the various colonies, but that had been built up over an exceptionally long time. In less than a year Plump Palace had opened twenty locations across thirteen colonies with their company roadmap only showing plans for more. In three short years they planned to really ramp up and hit one hundred locations across forty five colonies. It had taken Blubber King almost two decades to reach those levels back when it had first started as a brand.

So the worry was real, for obvious reasons, ponies were fickle. With food, the one thing they cared about, you had to really impress them. It seemed whatever food they offered was impressive. She had already spied a number of regular faces from the broadcast to her joint making their way into the new eatery. Even the name of the place sounded more upmarket, who wouldn’t want to eat in a palace?

Regardless, it would be years before they caught up, but it was still a worry. She liked her job, she liked the food they served and the ponies she worked with. At her age, she didn’t really relish the idea of having to apply for a job at a competitor that worked such hard hours. Maybe if the brand did go under she could just eke it out until she could retire.

She stopped herself, her thoughts were becoming silly. Another brand coming along and instantly stomping their own? What was she thinking. C’mon Di be realistic. For now it was probably best to just keep an eye on them. She wondered how long Roaring Thunder would be sticking around on the colony for. More rumours said a while as they planned to open more branches straight away. Wouldn’t be hard to spot the build with those ridiculous ramps outside built for the pads.

She sunk back into her lull of watching the programming. Another cookery show, typical. Although she was getting hungry. Any idea of what the competition was offering though would be good and she didn’t really fancy leaving her house on one of the few days off she had. She had picked up a menu flyer from their recent marketing around town on her way home one evening and there was a number to call if you wanted it delivered, something else they didn’t do. She had thought about submitting it as an idea back to her bosses but she was sure somepony there was already on it.

In the meantime she dialed the connecting number into her pad and waited for the pickup on the other end.
> Story 38 - The Pad Pilferage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fireflash was nervous. Everything was fine up until now, it had just been talking. Talking was easy, talking didn’t necessarily involve anything hard. It was the promises you make while talking that led you to trouble.

He was only here simply because he didn’t trust Striving Step, or any of those ponies involved at the pad company. He had to see this through himself and make sure the job was done.

It was 1:30am, and he was currently sitting his fat self on the pad that had been provided for him, his own to keep. A top of the range one that could support his current weight easily and allow him room to expand if he wanted. The town was quiet, there wasn’t anypony else around, although he observed a few ponies on pads passing by overhead. He had heard the really hungry ones often went out for a midnight snack.

His ears pricked up as the gentle and unmistakable hum as three pads hovering in unison came towards him and three other lardy ponies all appeared and parked in front of him at the designated meeting spot. They were all clad in black rubbery suits, standard heist clothing. Just a small space for their eyes to peer out of the hoods. By the body shapes he assumed two stallions and one mare.

“You Fireflash?”

“Uh huh.”

“Good. Put this on. Here’s your drill.”

The stallion who spoke to him passed over a black suit of his own to wear and leaned a very large drill on the edge of his pad, which compensated for the weight of it. He took the suit in hoof and looked at it.

“Fine, hold on.”

Five minutes of struggling later Fireflash had managed to get it round his lardy body, it hugged him tightly, not really leaving much to the imagination. At least whatever smooth material it was made from was cool, zipping it up around him as best he could he spoke through the mask that covered his head. The rest had just watched with smiles as he had donned the suit.

“So, names?”

“Not important and makes us easier to identify if we’re caught. Just call us Hefty, Blubbery and Fatty.” The lead stallion replied. Fireflash scowled, they could know his name but he couldn’t know theirs?

“Alright, call me Tubby then.”

“Suit yourself. I’m Hefty, Blubbery is the other stallion. Fatty is the mare. We’ve been given the plan, seems simple enough. There’s a lockup that I’m transferring the location of to your pad now. We can drop the stolen pad there.”

“Alright. Let's get going shall we? We’ve got about twenty minutes before the optimum time to steal this thing.”

“You’re the boss Tubby, lets go.”

The four ponies piloted their pads down the streets, making their way towards their prize. It didn’t take very long to get to Blubber King. The meet location wasn’t too far from it anyhow.

“Final check on the equipment.” Hefty said. Each of them tried the drills, all working perfectly. “Let’s go.”

The four ponies flicked a control on their pad panels. Maximum Thrust - High Burn. Use for 10 Seconds Only. It read. That was all they needed to be up on the roof.

The four put the plan into action quickly, turning on their drills and starting to chip away at the roof. It was solid, very solid in fact. At first the drills struggled. Looking up Fireflash could see the concern on some of their faces, but that was quickly relieved.

CRUNCH!

Fatty’s drill broke through the top layer, and more crunches from the others drills did the same. They had broken through and were now chipping away at the roof panelling to get it off.

“CAREFUL. DON’T WRECK THE PAD!” Fireflash, ahem, Tubby yelled over the noise of the drills working away. They had been at it maybe a minute and he was sure the noise was going to attract police attention sooner rather than later.

Another layer broke through, easier now. The main obstacle was getting through the top of the roof, everything from here on down was just piping and other stuff that ran the place. Further down they got, when suddenly a metallic box appeared from under the debris as they drilled more to clear it out.

“THAT’S IT, IN THERE. KEEP GOING. CAREFUL!” He yelled. None of the others responded, putting their drills around the edge to now pry open the case.

Within about twenty seconds, the outer casing came off, revealing the prize beneath. The three who had been hired for the heist gave a small cheer, while Fireflash just looked at it with disdain. It brought back painful memories of that day it carried him home, but it looked rather harmless now. Just sitting in its no longer hidden compartment. The drills went off and he looked at the surrounding houses, some lights on. If they weren’t heard before they sure were now.

“Hook each of yer pads via the cable onto a corner and lets haul this thing out!” Hefty said, the four of their pads locking on and attaching a grapple to a side. “Now this is the tricky bit! We gotta all raise it out together and then make for the lockup! On Three...One...Two...Three!”

“What!???” Fireflash tried shouting above the commotion of the heist, but heard the command to set his pad to thrust up too late. He felt the other three take the strain and scrambled at the controls to match them and failed. Hitting them after the others had already started lifting. He felt his pad rise beneath him but tilt way over to the left as it tried to compensate against the other three, quickly feeling his body start to tilt over.

The pad came up, out of the roof. However Fireflash, did not, and with a rather loud yell he slid completely off his own pad and crashed through the ceiling below down into Blubber King. If the stallion wasn’t so fat it would have been painful too, but his cushion of blubber protected him from doing nothing more than squishing belly first into the floor below. There was a bloorrppp! in protest from his tum as he hit the deck.

“O-owww….” Unable to move and flat on his back he tried to collect himself, only being able to look up back through the massive hole he had come crashing through, partly made by the heist and partly by himself. He could hear the others talking.

“Leave him! There’s no way we’re getting him back on his pad! I can hear sirens! We gotta split!”

“Sorry Tubby! Looks like it’s game over for you! We’ll enjoy your cut!” Blubbery yelled down into the store.

“Wait!!” Fireflash yelled back up, but it was too late. Now without his own pad and the stolen one in the hooves of the hired help he was completely stuck. He heard the pads powering up and the sound of them hovering off into the distance as it suddenly went very quiet.

Flopping back the stallion couldn’t do anything but try to collect himself, too fat to move he had totally resigned himself to whatever fate was about to befall him. This was exactly what Striving Step wanted, him out the picture and the tech of the stolen pad all for himself. His mind raced, trying to put those ten seconds of him falling into place where it had felt like an eternity. He shouldn’t have come, it was the perfect opportunity to put him out of the deal. His ears folded as he heard the unmistakable sound of sirens getting closer, switching off as they came to the scene of the crime.

CRASH!

The front doors practically exploded open as a fat police officer, their pad armed with ramming bars at the front made their way into the store. It didn’t take long to find Fireflash, his belly stuck in their air and the stallion still on his back in the middle of it.

“Freeze!”

“Is that a joke?” He replied.

“Standard procedure for criminals. You ain’t going anywhere.” The officer replied, parking himself next to the disabled Fireflash.

“Again, is that a joke? Of course I ain’t going anywhere!” His shouts turning to sobs of the reality of the situation hit him. He was going to jail, no doubt. Oh gosh, jail...they only gave you three meals a day! And it wasn’t even good food! That was what kept ponies law abiding mostly, jail food was well...unspeakable.

In his anguish he hadn’t noticed the second officer, a mare, come looming over him on her own pad.

“Well well, seems one little piggy didn’t quite get away.” She said with a grin. “I’m sure you know you’re under arrest. What do you weigh fat boy? A good couple of thousand pounds? We’ll have to get a pad in for you.” Her attention turning to her radio and getting one sent from the precinct. “Then you can tell us all about how you managed to make a hole bigger than yourself in the roof and how you got stuck without a pad.” She said.

Fireflash didn’t respond, he just lay there. He had no idea what to do. Rat out the company and his accomplices? Keep his mouth shut? He had no clue. He just shut his eyes and bawled like a baby until he could be taken away.
> Story 39 - The Last Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

They had agreed to meet on the road outside the little ones parents house. It seemed like the best thing to do so they could go in together.

“How did it go arranging it?” J.G. asked Vast Knowledge. “What are the parents like?” He said curious.

“They’re nice ponies, but well...I don’t think their hearts desires match their daughters if you understand me.”

“Yeah, ain’t hard to understand what you’re gettin’ at.” He replied. It never was when you were talking to the larger ones. J.G. didn’t like to make a connection but he swore the sizes of the bigger ponies didn’t just make them physically slow sometimes, he was sure it did something to their brains too. Apart from a few who kept their minds active like Vast Knowledge with work he was pretty sure that when they stopped doing things for themselves ponies minds went to mush. When you’re nothing but a fat eating machine why would you have any needs for smarts?

Anyway right now him and the teacher were about to have a chat with two ponies even bigger than she was. He had one question to ask.

“How big are they?”

“Big, very big. And not very well off. They spend everything they have on food. It’s probably why poor Booster feels so pressured to live up to their expectations. They’re housebound. Can’t afford pads.”

“I see, well lead the way.” J.G. was starting to wonder how a freighter captain got into this situation. He just knew he had taken a shine to the little filly. He would actually be a little upset to have to leave her behind to fend for herself.

The house itself was rather modest looking, it was clear that it wasn’t tended to much however. The small front garden was full of weeds, food wrappers littered it too.

Vast Knowledge put a hoof on her pad which rang the internal door bell. As expected they had to wait a while. Booster had waddled her way to the door and greeted them as she opened it.

“Hey miss! Hey J.G.!” She said with a smile, waddling herself forward and hugging his front legs. He smiled and ruffled her hair.

“Hey little one, do you wanna be with us for this? It’s up to you.” He said to her as she backed away from the hug. Her face scrunched as she tried to decide.

“I uh...I wanna be there. Maybe I can help…” she said.

“Whatever you want dear. We just want to find a solution.” Her teacher said. Booster waved her little hoof and the two followed her into the main living room of the house.

The first thing that struck J.G. was the smell. Big ponies never realised it but there was always a smell to them, J.G. always thought it smelled like greasy bacon fat that had been left a little too long in the sun. These two however were something else, the smell almost made him gag as it assaulted his nostrils. After he recovered from the smell hitting him he finally noticed their size. The two massive parents of Booster were big, very big. J.G. had seen bigger but he’d never seen them quite like this, fed fat to the point of immobility and utterly wedged where they were. He wasn’t even sure they could fit on pads. The room was large and they were larger, he estimated they probably took up two thirds of the room or more easily. He couldn’t tell how far it went back but he assumed they had filled it with their flab. There was no room for them to expand sideways or upwards. The two were side by side and smooshed together, their fat bodies squished together as they took in the last few mouthfuls of food before they needed to speak.

“Mum, dad. This is my teacher. Remember she’s visited before? You can’t get to school for parents evening so she comes here to give you my report. This is Jump Gate, he’s nice…” she trailed off. Despite being immobile it was clear to the two of them the parents had some sort of hold over their daughter.

“Ah yes, I remember you. You’re new though…” The father spoke first. Charming greeting J.G. thought, not even a hello.

“Yes I met your daughter by chance. She’s a real fine young lady.” He said, trying to be nice.

“Sorry, who spoke? I can’t make out where the voice is coming from.” The mother spoke next, he could see her head trying to stretch out from her fat body to find the source of the words.

“That stick over there.” The father said.

“Oh yes, well I’ll be. You must be the thinnest pony I’ve ever seen. I was slender like you once...for about five minutes!” She said with a rather unpleasant cackle. J.G. was already forming a slight dislike for the two of them, they weren’t exactly making it hard.

“Anyway, we’ve come to talk about your daughters situation.” Vast Knowledge started to say. “She’s rather troubled not only at school, but also at home and elsewhere I’ve come to learn.” She said.

“What’s the matter Booster? Aren’t you eating enough?” Her father said through his folds. He couldn’t help sneaking a bite of food in either as he finished speaking.

“Well, it’s the opposite that. She eats too much. She wants to be thin.”

Both her parents immediately stopped. Their eyes went wide.

“W-what? But look at her! She’s tiny!” Her father blurted out. J.G. sighed, it was usually the father who said such nonsense. Although the mother unfortunately wasn’t going to be much more help.

“Yes dear, you can still waddle! You have classmates who are nearly immobile! If anything you need more. You want to grow up big and strong like us, don’t you?”

“Unfortunately ma’am little Booster here doesn’t want any of that. We had a long talk the other day. She’s not a fan.” J.G. replied.

“Maybe she should speak for herself. Booster is this true?” Her father asked her.

“...Yes sir.” Was all she managed to squeak out. For the first time since J.G. could remember he saw something so big almost move, it was like the obese blob was trying to rear up in anger but being trapped in his own body it just violently jiggled instead. Vast Knowledge had to steady her pad and J.G. felt the floor shake beneath him.

“Dad please! Don’t cause another small earthquake…” Booster practically mewed at this point.

“I think if anything deserves an earthquake it’s this! Booster I’m shocked! Why? Why would you want to be...thin.” He almost spat the last words out, his disdain clear. Before Booster could well up again and pour her heart out J.G. spoke for her.

“Look! We’ve already gone over this with her, poor little thing was so worried about telling y'all that we came along to make it easier. The crux is she don’t wanna be a giant lardy blob like you two and you should respect her wishes!” He shouted with a snort, digging his hind legs into the floor slightly. Nothing got his hackles up more than ignorant fat ponies.

There was silence. Finally her mother spoke. “Well, what do you suggest?”

“What do you mean what do we suggest? You’re her parents.” J.G. said.

“Well clearly we’re not fit enough to look after her, we don’t have to skills to look after a thin pony. All I know how to do is feed her.” Her mother said.

“Yeah, we’re not doing a very good job of parenting right now. Clearly. You got any suggestions?”

The two were suddenly hostile. J.G. could see the poor little Booster about to well up again. He heard her say under her breath “They’re always like this…”. There was something more to her words though, and J.G. didn’t need it written down to see it. Suddenly a thought came to mind.

“Let me take her.”

He heard four simultaneous “What’s?” from everyone else in the room.

“Look, it makes sense. She wants to be thin. I can help her. You two don’t know but I run a freighter, you gotta be thin to crew mine… mostly. I ain't gonna be around forever. I’m young now but I won’t be always. Somepony will need to fly her when I’m gone. I could teach her, give her a home. I know she loves your school V.K. but I think this will be good for her.”

“Can you give us a minute J.G.? Please.” Vast Knowledge said. He stepped outside and the door the the living room came down behind him. He pressed his ear up against it. There was some words, some shouting. He swore he heard “Crazy idea.” And “Insane.” along with some tears. About 20 minutes later, the door reopened and a teary Booster trotted forward and hugged him again, simply whispering “Thank you.”

“Well? What does she want?”

“She wants to go with you. Apparently there’s nothing here for her on a colony of fat ponies.” Her mother reluctantly said. “Congratulations mister Jump Gate, you’ve picked up an apprentice. Just make sure you bring her home once in a while. She’s still my daughter.” 

“Of course. Maybe next time she sees you she won’t waddle either.” He said.

“This is really what you want Booster?” Her father asked.

“If it means being thin...yes.” The little one replied.

“Very well, we spoke at length while you were outside, but she’s yours now Jump Gate. We hardly know you, but her teacher and Booster speaks highly of you. You had better take care of her.”

“My crew is my family. She’s no exception.” He replied, feeling the hug loosening again. “Booster I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning, spend a last night with your folks. Say your goodbyes and I’ll be by in the AM. See you both sometime.” He said, and walked out before V.K. could follow him and he got lost in a long tirade of words.

He was shaking. What had he done? He took a moment on the unkept lawn outside. He was about to take a very young pony onto his ship. He’d look after her sure, but what about the rest of the crew? How would they react. It had been a spur of the moment decision he thought they’d never go for and they had. Did the parents want her gone? Was there more to this? His brain swirled until he felt the jets of Vast Knowledge’s pad brush against his fur.

“That was silly, risky and I wasn’t expecting it. But I think it’s the right thing for her.” She said.

“Yeah I guess. Really? I feel so stupid for even suggesting it.”

“Well if she stays here it’s unlikely she’ll ever get what she wants. This is a society of fatties. Thin ponies are mocked, she’d likely give into peer pressure to appease everypony else and be unhappy and fat for the rest of her life. At least this way she has a chance.”

“Yeah...yeah. I’ll look after her. It’ll be good to have somepony on the crew I can look after. You’ll miss her though, I know you liked her as a student.”

“It’s not as important as making her happy. You’re a kind soul J.G. and there isn’t many of those left. I wonder sometimes if our gluttony makes us forget that. Well if your ship ever stops by Sleipnir you've got a friend here.” She said, powering her pad away towards home. The young stallion smiled and picked himself up. He decided it best to make his way back to the ship and let the crew know they’d picked up a new member.
> Story 40 - An Interlude To The Break
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“When you said you wanted to visit I wasn’t quite expecting you to take my offer up so quickly.” Sundrop said. Both their trips were over but Rotunda had been quite insistent on visiting Haizum, she didn’t seem to be able to stop talking about those foruna fruit. Never the mind, she was sure she could take her mind off them once they landed.

“Well your generous offer seemed too good to pass up, plus I could move a few things around I was expected to return for. The trip is such a short distance.” Rotunda replied.

Both the mares were situated aboard Sundrop’s private pleasure yacht. It was a huge ship, mostly built that way to accommodate ponies of Sundrop’s and Rotunda’s size. The furnishings oozed decadence. The interior was plastered wall to wall in gold leaf, if it wasn’t gold leaf it was gold something. Rotunda had nearly put her sunglasses back on when she had entered. Her ears twitched as she heard a voice.

“More food my ladies? We have two more jumps to go, the trip should last a few hours at most.” Dewgrass had appeared next to them. “The kitchens are on standby.” He said almost deadpan, like he had repeated the phrase one thousand times at least.

“Do ponies sleep on their stomachs? Of course more food my loyal servant.” Sundrop replied, watching as he vanished to get the on board chefs working. A moment later Rotunda’s own servant, Cherry appeared, waddling her way towards them. ‘Hmmm...she’s clearly putting on weight, as expected. I should see about a bigger uniform.’ Rotunda thought to herself as she observed the chunky maid do her best to move herself as best she could. The standard maid outfit she was wearing clearly needed an upgrade, or at least letting out. There were a few noticeable rips where her blubber was trying to escape.

“Dewgrass is preparing the food in the kitchens my ladies. Can I do anything for you in the meantime?” She asked.

“Hmmm, I think we are okay for the moment but my dear, have you gained?” Rotunda asked her. Immediately the servant pony went rather shy, her words starting to stutter.

“Y-yes, mistress. Roughly two hundred p-pounds. The uniform is showing it I take it?” She asked, her cheeks redding as she tried her best to cover the tears with her hooves.

“A little. Sundrop do you keep any spares on board? Particularly for plus sized maids?” Rotunda asked her friend.

“Of course we do, I’ll have one of the other servants equip her with something more suited to her size.” Sundrop said with a smile. “My dear if you head down the third corridor to my on ship tailor they will be able to help you out. He’s quite the wizz at maid uniforms for the bigger mares like yourself.”

“Thank you lady Sundrop. I’ll see to it immediately.” The young maid replied, turning her bulk and waddling away. The two massive high society ponies behind her went back to their idle chatter, it seemed Rotunda had some more questions about the foruna fruit.

‘Hmm…’ Cherry couldn’t help like her master but be impressed by the ship. It was absolutely massive, Sundrop or her husband must have made a lot more money than Rotunda’s husband as her own masters ship seemed almost normal compared to their one. The ship was new, top of the line and everything in it glistened. Privately she thought the gold decor all over was a bit much but for the rich, nothing was ever too much.

She made her way down one of the super wide corridors, the third one from the room she just left as instructed. The maid really had overindulged this trip, on her off hours she had taken full advantage of the resorts generous food and gorged herself rather a lot. It had just been too good to pass up. Now she was paying the price as her size had ballooned, she felt her maid outfit hug tightly against her body with every wobbling step she took forward. Her huge girth just barely contained within the material. She could even feel her legs brushing against her fat with every step she took, her neck rolls jiggling in response to the movement. Eventually she came to a set of double doors with a sign outside.

Stitchy Needle, Ship Tailor - 1st Class

Cherry wondered what the 1st class title meant and knocked on the door. It slide sideways to let her in. A pony sat at a desk in what was otherwise a huge empty room occupied the other side, a stallion, slightly chubby, but nowhere near the size of most. He didn’t even turn around to see who was entering.

“Ah! Hello again my dear, back for the 38th letting out of your...oh, hello. I was expecting Sundrop...you’re not her.” He said, turning around mid sentence and looking a little embarrassed.

“Um no, she sent me though! If that helps.” Cherry replied a little embarrassed herself, it didn’t take much to get her to be.

“Ah well no matter. She often sends me her staff.” The tailor replied with a cheerful grin.

“Oh er, I’m not one of those either…”

“Then what are you doing here? Apart from being sent.” He asked.

“Your mistress is holidaying with mine, I am one of Lady Rotunda’s many maid servants but she brought me for this trip. I seem to have indulged a little too much, as you can see…” She pointed a hoof backwards at the uniform and gave it a little tug, there was a very obvious shrrrriiiiipppppp!!! As even the tiniest little push on it from her made it give way. “To that end Sundrop authorised you could put something together for me a bit better fitting?”

“I see, well you’ve certainly come to the right tailor. Sundrop employs only the best. I’ll make you not only a functional outfit but one that will look quite the part and still let you gain my dear. In fact Sundrop insists that her own servants are equipped with these. She feeds them well also.” The tailor said with a smile and pulling out a measuring tape, he started to make his way around Cherry, perhaps getting a little too close as she felt part of it around her tush.

“E-eeep!” There was a little and rather cute yelp from her that made the tailor’s grin just get wider.

“Please my dear, I’m a professional. I need to get measurements before I can make you a new maid outfit.” He said, a little dryly this time as he did his job. “You are a big pony my darling. You know if you gain much more you’re going to struggle even more to walk. This will help with that little, or big problem.”

“Perhaps but, for now...the outfit if you’d be so kind.”

“Of course, how many jumps do we have left before we reach Haizum?”

“Two I believe.”

“Plenty of time. You just stand there and I’ll work.”

And work the tailor did, it pretty quickly became clear why he was considered 1st class to Cherry. It was as if a team instead of a single pony was putting clothing together around her. Throughout every nip, tuck and stitch Cherry did her best to keep her pose, with Stitchy just asking “Lift your leg please.” or “Can you move your gut a little my dear.” or some other question to get into her folds better to work around her.

In just over an hour the work was complete.

“There, have a look - there’s a large mirror to your right. Sorry I’d have let you see beforehand but I prefer ponies see my work complete rather than in progress. Suitable for your mistress?”

Cherry turned, letting out a little gasp. The new outfit looked absolutely stunning. It was sleek, tight to her body and in some places almost looked shiny. It gave her huge form a rather elegant grace the old outfit simply couldn’t. Every curve on her body was almost pushed into a round shape where possible by the garment. Whereas before the old outfit had let her body sag and drag, the new one lifted her, her massive extended belly lightly brushed the floor and her huge thighs squished it between her a little as she moved her legs to get used to her almost new body. She was just as big, but the outfit did something to her that made her body take to its size much better.

“Y-you did this? How? It’s amazing!” She cried out.

“Ah, well I’m not a first class tailor for nothing. Really there isn’t a lot to it. I make use of rather standard materials, but it’s the way you intertwine them with others my dear. The secret is in the material, portions contain a figure hugging element. Too much and it will permanently retain that shape even when you take it off, but I have placed in in ‘patches’ if you like around to the important sections, the rump and belly mostly. I combined what would be a standard maid outfit with portions that are made to keep your rather plump figure in place that are a bit stronger, but this will still allow you to grow a fair amount before it needs any changes. Any decent tailor should be able to let it out, I’m sure your mistress knows of one.” He said.

Cherry was rather blindsided by the work, it really was incredible to look at. It felt amazing too. She thought she had better thank him properly.

“This work is well...like nothing I’ve ever worn. Thank you. Does my mistress owe yours anything?”

“Not a bit my dear! I charge her enough myself for my work. Now you go on, enjoy it.” He said, with that, Cherry rather happily made her way out of the room with the door shutting behind her. She figured they would be landing soon, best to go attend to Rotunda and see if she required anything before they did. Haizum colony was fast approaching.
> Story 41 - Red’s Big Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Red had dialed into his pad phone but a few days later after their last meet, he had been a little surprised when Ivory had put forward the idea of a date night at her place.

“C’mon it’ll be fun! Just you, me. A nice meal. You haven’t even seen my place yet, more than enough room for that massive tush of yours believe me.” She had joked in the call. He had learned Ivory lived alone, in one of the newer builds that actually he and Foundy had put together not long back on the edge of town.

His pad piloting skills much improved, Red set a course for the address. Ivory had said if he came by around 7 in the evening that would be about right for dinner. It didn’t hurt though to stop off at Blubber King on the way and pick up something to eat, perhaps he should try Plump Palace too at some point. He had been hearing good things about the new joint from his friends.

After a small meal (well small for him) he continued his way, timed about right it was approaching 7 as he got near the address.

The building looked a lot different from when they were working on it, garden crews and such always came in after they were done. The lawns were freshly cut, rather than a build it actually looked like a home to him. He drove his pad up the drive, number 104 he had down. A connection in the pad automatically rang the doorbell for him to signal his arrival.

“It’s open!” He heard the familiar voice of Ivory from inside, letting himself in.

It was actually nice to see the finished house. When him and the rest of the guys left the site the houses were pretty bare as furnishings were provided later. To see it actually as a home was rather comforting. The new builds with the triple wide doors easily allowed the bulk of Red to pass inside unhindered. He thought about a new place for himself, things were starting to get wedged or squished when he moved around.

He sniffed the air, Ivory was in the kitchen. Clearly trying to impress she was making a meal for them both. He heard another shout. “I’m just cooking! If you wanna watch TV or somethin’ while I finish up I’ll be out in like ten minutes!” She hollered.

Red couldn’t really think of what else to do, so he flipped the TV on to pass the time, not wanting to disturb Ivory in her cooking flow. It was the usual trash on the waves, although a quick mysterious ad from the pad company caught his eye, just a huge empty space with “COMING SOON” written across the screen. Another new model he suspected.

Ivory appeared out the kitchen, her own pad hovering gently towards the large table in the corner of the living room. As with most modern houses great importance was placed on the dining table as ponies spent most of their time around it these days.

She had a smaller pad attached to the front of hers, which carried the food on it. A neat little invention, it gently moved the small feast she had prepared towards the table then hovered upwards to park itself in the centre. A small robotic arm appeared to extend from a folded position in the side and began putting portions out on plates.

“Hope you’re hungry! Chilli dogs and a few large portions of fries. One of my favorites. Oh, and a little wine.” Ivory said licking her lips as Roller turned off the TV and joined her at the table.

“Always hungry, hehe.” Roller replied as he began to eat. Ivory made a first class meal, he was enjoying it greatly.

Between bites Ivory started to ask a few things of Red. “So you build these huh?” She asked, picking up from a previous conversation they had about jobs.

“Oh yes, actually I remember this very one we put together. You must have been the first buyer yes?” He asked back.

“Yeah, my old place was small and I had enough to upgrade. This has been a great house for me. Nice and cosy but plenty of space.” She said. “You guys did a good job.”

“Oh well thanks, it’s what I do for a living.” Red replied, taking another bite. The two of them looked at each other.

“UUURRRRAAAAPPPPPP!!!!!!!”
“BWWWAAAARRRRPPPP!!!!!!”

The two belched in unison, laughing heartily as their bodies almost in sync jiggles to and fro recovering from the enormous belches. A ventilation system above the table automatically kicked in the draw away the stench for a few seconds before shutting off.

“Haha, good to see those systems work as intended. We had so much trouble with the electrical company trying to get them to work properly.” Red laughed. “We had a huge stallion, I forget his name, just sit at the prototype unit for hours eating those fizzy mints and cola to set it off while we adjusted it. I’ll never forget the enormous belches he put out, still he was happy and getting paid to eat.”

“What a job! I’d take that up anyday.” Ivory replied. “You should have put a fan in front of him, he could have powered most of the colony probably!” She and Red laughed. The night continued on as they ate.

Red dabbed his lips with a napkin, the meal had been lovely, two hours of gluttony had meant plenty of burps and chance to enjoy Ivory’s company, who was looking at him with a little bit of a stare. The wine was having some effect.

“That rump of yours is great you know…” She started to say, piloting her pad a little closer to him.

“Y-yeah, you’ve said a few times.” Red replied, immediately blushing. The wine had gotten to him a little too, he gave it a bit of a wobble for Ivory, who just broke into a huge smile seeing all that flesh jiggle about.

“I know you’re a bit shy Red but, how about just a little bit of play? Nothing too serious. I just...sorry I wanna touch that thing so bad.” Ivory said, a hoof on his tush now that she was parked next to him. With any other mare in any other situation Red would have stammered his way out of it, but with Ivory it felt right.

“Play sounds...nice. G-got a bed?” He stuttered a little. Sometimes old habits die hard.

“Of course, big enough for two. Follow me.” The mare said, piloting herself towards what Red could only assume was a bedroom door, as he entered he found the bedroom was mostly taken up by a huge bed in the centre. Taking one side each Ivory and Red were tipped off their pads as the two enjoyed each others company. There was a lovely squish between the two as their bodies came together and their pounds of fat got smooshed together.

“It’s even better up close.” Ivory cooed a little as she put two of her hooves on his flank, the stallion still blushing hard at the attention he was getting. It was rather large, still, why not enjoy it? Why make it so big if it didn’t get a little attention?

“Mmmm. You want me to do anything?” He asked back.

“Trade off, you play with my folds if I get to play with this mountain behind your head.” She giggled, shifting her body slightly so her weighty belly came closer to Red’s hooves. He reached forward and began to massage her flab, hearing a little moan of pleasure from Ivory as she had her own body toyed with.

Behind him, Red could feel Ivory really going to town, she must have been holding herself back. Ever part of his tush was being squeezed, caressed and wobbled. It was making his body weak as he continued to give her just as much attention as she was giving him. He was definitely feeling aroused, but he restrained himself from pushing it further as he didn’t want her to take her attention off his rear.

“For now I’ll just enjoy this, but next time I think some clothing on this rump of yours would be a massive improvement. Some sexy lingerie on a stallion is a real turn on you know.” She cooed, making Red blush even more.

“L-lingerie?” He asked. “I-I’m game if you wear some too.” He stuttered, moving his hooves down Ivory’s stomach folds to give her a massage around her belly button.

“Of course I’m game, just wanted to see if you were sweetie.” She giggled, Red was not expecting the hard slap! on his tush that came next. It made him yelp a little.

“H-hey!”

“Oh relax, that was a light one. Your flank is like jello, I could watch it wobble all day.” The mare cooed, but she yawned also. “Cooking really takes it out of a mare…”

“You wanna stop? We could do more next time. Maybe we skip the meal and g-go straight here?” Red said, it was so unlike him to be so forward but, he thought with Ivory’s attitude she would take it.

“Well, maybe just a little nap and some more later. But that sounds wonderful.” She said, her voice low and the volume of it decreasing as she yawned even more. “You know these would make amazing pillows…” A touch on Red’s rear indicating what she wanted.

“Go ahead, just let me squeeze that belly of yours.” He said, a slight shift of her weight indicating a more than enthusiastic yes.

The two began to drift off, Red feeling her hug his massive flank. This was turning into something wonderful. Next time with a little lingerie might be even more fun. Perhaps a little added weight to the rear as well. He should give Ivory more of what she desired, a lot more...
> Story 42 - Stepping It Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was unusual that Di locked herself in her office, but she was keeping an eye on the security feed to the restaurant. Nopony could know about this. She was almost shaking with anticipation, if any of her staff found out what she was up to she would be done for. Betraying the brand like this was so unlike her, it was a little thrilling but also very worrying.

On the outside delivery entrance feed she was staring at, she noted the delivery pad she had been waiting for pull up. As quickly as she could manage to she shut the feed off, opened her office door and piloting her pad out the rear entrance as quickly as she could. Just in time too, the pony with the delivery was about to ring the rear bell. He pulled a flabby hoof back and smiled at her.

“Oh hi, this for you?”

“Yeah, for me thanks. What do I owe you?”

“Oh uh…” The pony dialed into his pad and brought up a payment system. “Twenty three bits. Cash or pad payment?”

“Pad payment.” She replied, a portion of her pads screen lighting up as the delivery pony linked his up with hers to complete the transaction. With her food paid for he deposited it on a free area of hers via a small transfer arm.

“Alright, thanks - order again soon! By the way, isn’t this the back of Blubber King? What do you do here?” He asked, a little curious.

“Oh uh, nothing important! Cook!” Di managed to squeak out before turning her pad around and heading back to her office, shutting the door behind her.

She unwrapped the food, carefully. Her mouth hanging open slightly she didn’t realise she was drooling until a small drop of it fell onto the wrapper with a tiny splash. The discarded wrappers were covered with P.P which was initialed all over them. She stuffed them deep inside the bin in her office, just in case.

First she tried the appetizer, the small box of onion rings with a creamy but rich sauce. They disappeared in moments. As delicious as she was expecting.

Next the main course, well two main courses. Di had ordered for herself the Plump Porker Burger and the Triple Stuffed Pizza Feast. The burger seemed like a good start, which it was. Moist and delicious with an almost beautiful covering of sauce to make the flavour just right she scarfed it down in a mere three bites. Maybe too quickly.

“Urrrppp!”

She looked around, hopefully none of her staff had heard her belch and luckily none came knocking on her door, now just the pizza remained. Covered in four different types of cheese it looked just as good as or even perhaps better than the burger she had just consumed. Every slice was heaven, the melted cheese almost running off the pizza base as it tried to fight gravity and stay on before it got into her maw. Di’s eyes rolled back in her head as she swallowed the last one, almost in a food coma.

Her fat belly jiggled in delight, she leaned back in her pad for a moment to let her stomach process the food, leaning forward again to take some greedy bites of the fries and a chug of the XL cola-like drink she had ordered. It helped to digest the food if it was spaced out with a bit of liquid.

Finally there was a dessert. A small batch of three glazed donuts of varying flavours. All presented neatly in a cardboard box. One, two, three. All gone, devoured by the greedy Di within a few mere moments. She leaned back, satisfied and content with what she had eaten. A huge smile on her face. Her belly gloorrrppeed! in pleasure as it digested the calorie rich food that must have added a nice extra chunk of weight to her already more than ample frame.

But then she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. The food was good, too good. Plump Palace had them beat. If her, the manager of Blubber King was ordering their food over her own place, and secretly, there was something seriously wrong. But the food they offered over theirs was just above and beyond anything they had on the menu right now.

She had noticed it too. Customer hooffall throughout the building (if there was much of that anyway with all the pad users) had declined a fair amount. She had found days where Sunnyside and her other employees had so little to do they had all gathered near the front just to chat with each other. Not even the drone delivery system or the still new ish menu was pulling people in. A lot obviously still came for the competition eating but even that was starting to wane on numbers.

Laying back on her pad Di thought, she wracked her brain trying to think what they could do. If corporate saw falling numbers she might lose her job, be replaced or worse they could decide Sleipnir was a lost cause for fast food and pull out entirely with this new chain taking all the business they had built up. Di really didn’t fancy moving to another branch on another colony again, she was getting too old to keep moving about, too fat as well.

But try as she might she couldn’t. She wasn’t a marketing pony. She had no idea how to come up with some brilliant way to save the business. This left her two choices, either carry on as they were and pray that something catastrophic befell Plump Palace, or call in...urgh, she couldn’t even believe she was considering that option. But what choice did she have?

She sat up and put her hoof to her pad computer and started dialing.

Outside on the counter, Sunny was just finishing up serving a customer. It had been very quiet. But most days were like this now, not even the family was that impressed with her position anymore that the new place across town had opened, although she was still nicely packing on the pounds. The food here was still as fattening as ever, still partaking in her little perk of the free food whenever she could.

She heard a light slam from behind her, Di had come out her office and was piloting her pad towards the front registers, parking herself in the middle of them and then waving a flabby hoof to usher her staff over. The store had maybe four of five customers in, eating away and not paying much attention to the gathering of the employees. They all positioned themselves around her, looking to her to see what she was going to say.

“I’m sure you’ve all noticed the dramatic drop off in customers lately…” She said with a small sigh. Some nodded in return as she carried on speaking. “I hate throwing in the towel, but our new competition has us beat. I’ve been doing some uh, research.” She confessed, but none of the staff really picked up on what she meant. Seems the deliveries of food had gone completely unnoticed. “Their food is well, it’s amazing. That’s all I can say really. It beats ours all the way to Equestria and back. If we don’t do something soon, those five customers behind me will become zero customers and I’m sure you all know what zero customers means.”

Her staff looked worried, but not a panicked worry. They were aware on some level as well that they were bleeding customers to the competition. But since Di had not said a word on the matter up until now, they had assumed it was being taken care of.

“Anyhow. I’ve called corporate for… The Marketeers.”

There was a silence, each member of staff looked at each other with confusion. Finally a confused Sunny just asked “Um...who?”

“They’re like an elite division on the marketing department, the ones you call if something terrible is happening. Like a campaign doesn’t run as expected or goes wrong. But they are also adept at bringing a failing store back to its former glory. They have a 95% success rate at it. However, it’s not easy. They’re really a last resort option and I’ve only ever called them in once before at another branch. They are ruthless and will do anything needed to sort the problems out. That means unless some of you straighten up your jobs may be at risk.” She said, she couldn’t sugar coat it. At the last store this had happened, she had lost what she had thought were good members of her team but in the end, the marketeers had done their job and the store had recovered. It was never good to lose people you didn’t want to lose however.

“Now back to work, just prepare yourselves. They’ll arrive in the next week. You’ll know it’s them, they look the part.” Di finished, going back to her office leaving the rest of her staff to whisper amongst themselves about what sort of changes would be made and who would be hoofed out the building. For some this might be their last working week at Blubber King.

Back in her office Di sighed, she really had no other choice. It was not a decision she had made lightly, but it was this or lose potentially everything they had build up here on Sleipnir. She didn’t want to leave the colony either, it was nice here. However tough it would be, whoever the higher ups were sending would sort this out. One way or another...
> Story 43 - The One That Didn’t Get Away
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even on Sleipnir things had to be kept in check, the colony wasn’t one big happy eating family.

Fireflash was discovering this after a week stuck in the colony holding cells after the pad heist had gone wrong. The accommodation was lacklustre at best, but this was a prison. Still he had never been inside before, he wasn’t sure what to expect. The tales of the terrible food and lack of meals seemed to be true though, he swore he had gone down around ten pounds already.

Over his tubby belly he could about make out cells of varying sizes, some empty. Some containing other ponies. Various bodies had been shuffled in and out during his stay. He couldn’t move, the pad had gone with the other robbers and the one they had used to get him here had been taken away as soon as they had dumped him inside the cell. With a grunt he tried to shift his massive weight, but to no avail. He wasn’t going anywhere unless they decided to bring a pad back for him.

“Pssttt.”

Through the wall next to him he heard a voice, somepony was trying to speak up.

“Yeah?”

“So uh. Watcha in for tubby?” The reply came. That seemed all the ponies in here were interested in, he couldn’t even see the pony speaking.

“You assume I’m fat?”

“Course ya are lardass. We all are. You’re in the morbidly obese wing of the prison. I’ve been in a few times, I should know.” The voice said with a snicker. “Names Double Glaze. I got busted for stealing a whole load of donuts for like the twelfth time. You don’t gotta point out the irony with the name either.” The voice through the wall said.

“Oh uh, Fireflash. I got arrested in Blubber King for trying to steal their employee pad.”

“What ya didn’t have one of your own?”

“Had one, lost it in the heist. It’s how I ended up here.” He said with a sigh. Double Glaze picked up on the melancholy in his voice.

“Ay I won’t press ya man. We all did somethin’ scummy to deserve being here. I just can’t stay away from donuts, even ones I can’t afford ya know? They’re just so good…” Fireflash swore he heard an audible drooling noise as Double Glaze started to think about his favorite sweet treats.

There was a familiar click as a door opened at the other end of the cell block. One of the prison guards was coming in, Fireflash saw him make his way towards his cell as he craned his neck over his flabby gut. The guard himself was obese, but not to the point of immobility. His fat hooves pressed on the release mechanism for the door and he guided the pad under Fireflash to pick him up. The pony suddenly felt himself moving.

“W-where are we going?”

“Interview. Warden wants a word.” Was all he said.

“Hey put in a good word for me fatass! I haven’t had any donuts for over a week, I’m going crazy in here!” Double Glaze yelled out.

“Pipe down lardy! You’ll get your just desserts…” The guard yelled back, ratting a nightstick along the cell bars, but it wasn’t a clean chinking noise as he did so, almost as if the stick was hitting something. Fireflash was finally able to crane his heard to see his fellow prisoner as he was hauled out. He couldn’t make out a head, they must have stuffed him in the largest cell they had. Fat was pressed up against the balls and seemed to fill the square block with nothing but blubber almost perfectly. It explained why the stick didn’t make more noise against the bars. He almost felt sorry for him, two hooves wiggled through the gap in the bars as the immense size of Double Glaze pushed up against them.

“Heh, he’s a repeat offender. Bet he told you he just stole a bunch of donuts right?” The guard said.

“Y-yeah…”

“Try a whole ships worth down at the dockyards. That pony has some appetite.”

“O-Oh man…”

It was a quick trip to the wardens interrogation room. Fireflash had been debating it in his head all week. What to say, how to go about it. Anything that would get him out of this hell would be preferable to being stuck in a cell, but it depended on what they had on him.

He was dropped off the pad, his fat body hit the ground with a large amount of jiggling as it came to rest, behind him an almost girder like block rose from the floor and pushed him upright, at least he didn’t have to crane his neck to see the pony opposite him.

The warden was a mare, although that wasn’t surprising. It was her size, she was relatively thin. Apart from some pudge around her middle the mare trotted into the room with ease. There was even a chair at the table that was placed in the middle of the room with some paperwork laid out on it which she sat on. A unicorn, her magic worked to flip through the pages and read his notes.

“Fireflash?”

“Yes?”

“Warden Lethal Force, I assure you the name fits the bill.” She said dryly. “Now then you’re in for what appears to be a robbery. Due to go on trial in a week, if found guilty life imprisonment for theft of the highest calibre here on Sleipnir. Companies do not take their personal property being stolen lightly, especially ones that invest a large sum to keep it hidden from the public eye. There are a number of witnesses that saw you and some other ponies attempting the heist. The store owner and corporate management are pressing charges, however…”

Her voice went silent as she got down from the chair and made her way over to the immobile Fireflash, he just looked at her, sweat pouring down from his forehead. He never did well under pressure, this was a lot of it.

“We arrived after the robbery. Your accomplices got away. If you just let me know where they are and where the pad went, this’ll all go nice and easy for you. The company will drop the charges and you’ll only get a considerable fine instead. Rather light for what you’ve done, that all of course depends if you help us.” She said, giving him a little pat on the head and then returning to her chair.

“What’s it gonna be?”

The sweating and scared Fireflash took a moment. He weighed up the consequences. If he said nothing, he’d be in prison likely for life and none of what he had would be worth staying quiet for. If he spoke up, he’d at least get out. Some other ponies would likely end up in jail but if they were smart they’d have fled the colony by now and Striving Step would have long covered his tracks. They’d have nothing on the company. All things considered, he knew what he was going to do.

“F-fine, I’ll tell you who they were and what we did it for, but I want your assurance I only get a fine and I get out of this place. Okay?”

“You have my word.” The warden replied, pressing a hoof on a table button that said RECORD.

“I uh, I got fired from my job. I was upset, angry. I didn’t feel I deserved it although I probably did. So I wanted to get back at them, maybe make a bit of money on the side too. The pad they used to get me home was advanced, I thought if I could steal it. Sell it to the only pad company on Sleipnir they would gain out of it while I’d get a payoff and some revenge.”

“Keep going, there’s more isn’t there? Like how we found you flat on your back on the floor of your former employer huh?”

“Y-yeah, it went wrong. The plan wasn’t as solid as I thought. I fell off my pad, through the roof. The three ponies I was with, I don’t know names, they used code names. But they likely went straight back to the pad company after with the stolen one and my own. They basically said tough luck and took off. Then you guys arrested me.”

“Interesting, gives us some new light on the situation.” The warden replied. She turned off the recording facility. That was all they needed to get over to the pad company and start making some arrests, or at least get a warrant to search it for the stolen goods.

“You’ll go back to your cell, I’ll have more questions later but I can see you’re not a tough nut to crack Fireflash. A pony out for themselves huh? Like the rest on this bloated, fat colony. They only care about where the next meal comes from.” She said with disdain. Although a little hefty herself it was clear the warden didn’t like it.

The pad returned, Fireflash was placed flat on his back and the warden sent him on his way. Some more arrests were coming soon, and Lethal Force relished the chance to put a dent in what seemed to be the squeaky clean reputation of the pad corporation. She needed more though, Fireflash would get another round of questioning tomorrow.
> Story 44 - Away From Prying Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mmmm…”

Blue Ribbon opened her eyes. The large, overbearing lights of the warehouse shone down on her from above. Something must be happening for them to turn them on, they were already making her sweat. Massive hot bulbs that projected the heat down onto her huge body from above which were impossible to avoid.

Blue Ribbon was a rather special pony, not in the way you might expect. She was, for all intents and purposes, the largest pony on Sleipnir colony. However, there was a caveat to this size, nopony knew that she was. The job had only been offered to two mares, internally within the company and it had been very competitive. Not only had the questioning lasted weeks, but both of them had been put through intense body exercises of eating. In the end, Blue Ribbon had won out, just.

The prize for doing so was worth the effort, Blue Ribbon you see was employed by Sleipnir’s only pad corporation. Over her years of working there, the company had taken an interest in her. She had at points, such as company outings and in the canteen demonstrated an amazing capacity to eat. Which is why her and one other pony had been called in about this job.

“You see, whilst blocks of weights are effective at telling us what our new models can take, they are no good at judging how a ponies fat moves, how their weight distribution changes when piloting our pads. We need a live tester for each of our new ones before we release them, one that can put them to the test at maximum capacity. Maybe even more.” Striving Step had told her way back when she had been interviewed about it.

She had willingly accepted the job of course, there was a reason Blue ate so much when she did. Like lots of ponies she loved it, she was no exception. She just loved it a little more than others. Plus she had plenty of opportunity to pack on the pounds.

How many years ago that was now, she had forgotten. Since then it had just been constant gaining. The pads had increased in size and weight they could hold, every one Blue had tested to the companies satisfaction. Within the past two months, they had been fattening her again. Plying her with meals, even tube feeding had been involved this time when the food wasn’t enough to make her gain. They did try to stick to food for her, it was part of the contract. But there was always that clause that said where quick gaining was needed other methods may be employed at the company's discretion.

The last pads she had tested, the interlocking designed ones, she had been pushed to a little over 10,500 pounds to really test it. At that size the interlocking mechanism had failed and the company was satisfied with her work. Things had returned to normal. Then, Striving Step had made a visit to come see her, which was rare. Blue Ribbon never moved, as her purpose was to test the biggest pads she was always ahead of whatever technology they could come up with to make her mobile. But she was comfortable and the company provided mostly whatever she desired.

“How’s it going Blue?” he had asked.

“Oh you know, still trapped in my own prison of blubber, as always Striving. What about you?”

He had smiled back and explained, he couldn’t give her an exact weight they needed her at, or an ETA of when even her services might be needed. He just said something was in the works, something big that would push the company forward. But they wanted to get working on it quickly, she’d be needed soon.

Since then she had done nothing but eat and sleep, non-stop for two months. On days where her jaw was so crammed up with food she had felt them push something into her rear, a hose obviously. Not that she could argue with it, she couldn’t speak for all the food she was being fed. They had kept it up, 18 hours a day while she was allowed to sleep for the other 6. They had kept her body propped in position by various metal jacks to stop her from moving, even an inch. They didn’t want her to lose even 1 pound of blubber between feeding sessions.

After a month Blue had guessed she had gained a good 8,000 pounds and they continued to push her more. The days and weeks passed, nothing but eating and being fattened. The mare was in absolute heaven. She knew in terms of residents of the colony she was the biggest, but she knew that others who had visited and back on Equestria were much more massive. She had no doubt that one day, ponies on Sleipnir would be wanting to rival them and she’d be the first to do so. All the name of eating.

Eventually after two months of being stuffed, well, just under give or take a few days. It had stopped. Blue could finally relax. Her body had grown, so much. She had no idea what she weighed. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. A few weeks ago her fat had started to make a tyre around her head and she was just able to peak it out from her immense body. She had tried wiggling her hooves too, but they were totally encased in blubber. Once again, Striving Step had paid her a visit.

“Good morning Blue.”

“You know striving, when you said you had something big on the way I didn’t think you’d mean me. What do I weigh?”

“25,000 pounds. I’m sorry for such a sharp increase, but we had a rather time sensitive project with outside help with this new pad. I’m still sorting out the details, there was a few problems with the partners, shall we say.” he replied calmly. 

“I see, that’s a lot of blubber Striving. This means I’m only getting bigger in the future right?”

“If you can take it.”

“Of course I can take it. I don’t even rival an Equestrian. You think this is all I’m capable of? I won this posting for a reason.”

“Indeed you did. Now for the lardball you are we need you to test the new product. We’ve pushed you to 25,000 because with each technology increase there is a bigger grace weight the pads can support. This one is rather special. We’re marketing it at taking 20,000 pounds.” he said proudly. Through her flab, Blue just raised an eyebrow.

“So, you think it can take 5,000 pounds more than it’s capable of? Even the 8k models could only be pushed to 2.5k more than what they were advertised at. This is risky.”

“Risky, but you’ll manage it. The tech in it is something out of this world”

Behind Blue, she could hear the massive bay doors opening as the engineers brought in the new product. Prototypes were always rough, this one was no exception. No comfort offered or any of the nice things ponies who bought the retail model got. Absolute bear bones, even some of the functions didn’t work correctly. But once they got the commands working and the thrusters in check they put her on it.

She felt the cold metal of the base slide against her flank. Ah, no easy to load system on it yet either. Slowly the pad was pushing its way beneath her at the commands of the engineers, hovering just inches above the floor. She felt her blubbery stomach try to resist a sheet of thick metal working its way between her and the floor, but there was no way her squishy body would win out.

Finally the pad was beneath her, Striving started to explain. “There’s either a control pad which will situate itself as close as it can get to your hooves. It will then partially wrap itself around them, you only have to move them ever so slightly to get it to respond. Gentle touches Blue. Otherwise it’s also voice activated. We haven’t quite got there yet with that. Still working on it.”

As always with these tests Striving and the rest of the engineers moved back to a safe distance. A failing pad could be catastrophic with all that weight on top of it.

Blue began to work the controls. She instantly felt the thrusters kick to life, but boy did they strain against her weight. On the rudimentary display panel she could see the thrust indicators going absolutely bananas.

WARNING - EXCESSIVE WEIGHT DETECTED. PARK NOW.

Despite the warnings, Blue continued. The pad was taking her weight, for the time being and she was piloting it gently around the large space with no issues. She tried tipping it slightly, the thrusters compensating for her size and correcting as a sea of flesh pushed sideways and put more strain on one side of the device. Perhaps a little too much…

WARNING - CRITICAL THRUST FAILURE. PREPARE FOR IMPACT.

The message flashed up on the screen for a split second before Blue felt the pad dip and heard a whine squeal out from the thrusters as they gave up. She had only been flying it for maybe 30 seconds before it had crashed to the ground. She felt her body jiggle, a tide of fat cushioning her fall as the pad rather unceremoniously hit the floor and her with it. The thrusters shut off, there was a small amount of dust that it had kicked up in its descent to the floor, which was, to be fair only a few feet. It had hit the ground with a loud crunching noise as the unprotected metal on the prototype made contact with the ground.

The prototype was no match for the immense size of Blue, clearly there was some work to be done. Once the dust had settled, the engineers and Striving Step made their way over to the crash site.

“Not a first for you, out performing one of our prototypes.” He said dryly.

“Well thank goodness I’ve got a soft exterior to cushion me. You need to put some more drive in the thrusters I think, then you’ll be fine.” Blue said, still recovering from the fall.

“Our engineers will look at it, we’ll be back for further testing over the next weeks. Don’t go anywhere Blue.” He said with a smirk.

“Please, I never go anywhere.” She replied. The engineers were already hauling the battered remains out from under her. She guessed maybe a few days before they returned with a reworked design. They did their best to make her comfortable where she was, no way was she getting any movement again for a little while.

The lights went back down to a dimmer mode, her eyes relaxed. Perhaps some sleep right now would be good. The immense pony drifted off, slightly peckish. She’d request something to eat once she woke up.
> Story 45 - A Unity of Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite not getting on too well with her parents, it was a heartfelt goodbye. But J.G. did as promised and picked little booster up in the morning. There was a few tears too. It’s always hard when a child leaves their family. After the goodbye’s and the multiple assurances again from J.G. that he’d look after her it was a short walk to the docks. The filly did look rather cute, she had a small hoverpad trailing behind her packed with a number of her possessions that she didn’t want to leave behind.

“So uh, what am I gonna be doing on your ship?” she asked, a little curious.

“Ya’ll just worry about getting your little self there first and then we can decide what you’re doing. Besides I gotta show you around first.” J.G. replied. “We’ll get you a room and see what you’re good at.”

“Is it a big ship?” the questions continued to come, clearly the young filly was curious about her new home.

“It’s a fair size, she’s had a lot of changes over the years. She’s my home and home to a fair few other ponies too. You’ll get to meet the crew.”

“Ohhhh a crew! They’ll be like my new family!” the little one said excitedly. “So what do you do?”

“We’re a merchant ship, mainly taking supplies from one colony to the next but we also take passengers, if they’re payin’ ofcourse.” he said. “We’re off to Shabrang colony next. It’s an even more fledgling colony than Sleipnir and the pad company here have started to sell their lighter models to their ponies. Not many hefty ones there, yet. That’ll all change of course…” his voice carrying a small hint of disappointment. “One of the few places ponies like you and me can feel normal.”

The two continued to talk as they trotted. Finally a short while later, arriving at the docks.

“There she is.” J.G. said, pointing a hoof.

To Booster, the ship was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. The body was shiny, a metallic light blue and white paint job graced her hull. Her eyes scanning along the sleek exterior noting down all the portholes, panels and a large nameplate that read E.M.F. Unity #0012 towards the front. The large frontal boarding area was open and J.G. led her inside.

“What’s the 12 for on the nameplate?” Booster asked.

“Ship manufacturing number, kinda like a registry I suppose. This was the 12th built of the class of vessel.” he said. “Now you wait here just a moment.” he trotted over to a pony on the deck who gave him a hug, Booster couldn’t quite make out any words though. No matter, the two came back to talk to her.

“Booster this is Estuary, or Es just for short. She’s my second in command. You can’t find me, you come lookin’ for Es, alright?” he said kindly. At that moment Es stretched out a hoof and shook Booster by it.

“Captain explained your situation, we’ll look after you no sweat. I’m sorry about your parents not seein’ eye to eye with you.” she said.

“Y-yeah, me too. Nice to meet you Es.” the young filly smiled, trying to get out of her head thoughts of her family.

“Es can you see the rest of the passengers get on okay? I assume the cargo is loaded?” J.G. asked her.

“No problem captain, yeah loaded in the lower storage bays. I counted em’ myself, 120 pads. All can take up to 2,500 pounds. Should net us a nice profit as long as the paying public don’t eat through our stores again…”

“C’mon, Es can handle things. I’ll take you to meet the rest of the crew. With everything prepped they’re probably now hanging out in the mess hall.” J.G. said, taking Booster along with him, still trailing behind with her little hoverpad of her stuff.

It wasn’t a huge crew, but it was enough. Sure enough they were all sitting around a table in the mess hall. Upon seeing the captain they all got up and stood to a rather lacklustre attention, it was a merchant ship after all. No need to observe strict military regs.

“Okay ya’ll. We got us a new crew member. She’s a lil young but I’m certain will become a valuable asset on the ship. This is Booster Rocket, but I think Booster will do just fine. She’s gonna get settled in and I’ll find a position for her.”

Booster could do nothing but try to smile and wave her little hoof at the crew members to say hello. She didn’t dare speak.

“Awwww, she’s so cute! I could just gobble her up!” a more portly stallion said. She had no idea who he was.

“Suppose I better start introductions. Booster this is Gear Grinder, head of engineering. He keeps us flying.”

“Pleasure to meet ya little miss. Maybe you’ll be naturally talented at fixing stuff! Who knows.” the stallion said with a smile. Booster just smiled back and nodded while J.G. ran down the rest of the staff.

“We’ve got Quick Fry, head cook. Es back in the cargo bay you know, she’s second in command and looks after navigation and the guests. Packed Pallet there is the cargomaster, she decides what we pick up and looks after what we ship. Finally we got Holy Bandage, she’s the only doctor aboard, you know. Just in case.” the small complement of crew all greeted Booster in a friendly fashion. “There’s a few more but they’re probably off performing their duties right now. I’m sure you’ll meet them later.”

For the next hour or so whilst they finished loading up, J.G. walked Booster around the whole ship to give her a good idea of what was where. The mess hall, cargo areas, engineering. Quickly the young filly learned where everything was so she could make her way around. It was a huge ship, well, it seemed huge what with all the stuff it had aboard. The little one marvelled at the technology that kept it flying. Finally the tour ended in the crew quarters.

“Here you are, we’ve got a spare little room for you. This is why it’s important ponies who work for me stay a little on the lighter side.”

He wasn’t kidding, the tiny room that was just about big enough to fit a bed and a few small storage lockers which was all Booster had. It seemed big to her though, seeing as she was only tiny. She could finally unload her hoverpad of her stuff too which she started to do immediately. J.G. smiled and watched as she began to put teddies on her bed and immediately take to her new home.

“I’ll leave you here for the next few hours, then my plan is I’m gonna let you work with one of my crew each day and we’ll find your aptitude. Sound good?” he said.

“Y-yeah.” Booster stopped for a moment, and just trotted up to J.G. where she immediately wrapped her hooves round his legs. The stallion blushed a little and patted her on the head, trying to be friendly.

“What’s the for little one?” he asked.

“For doing this for me, I’m gonna be the best crewmember you ever have. You’ll see.” Booster said, letting go of the hug and returning to unloading her hoverpad. J.G. shut the door to her room and let her get on with it, making his way back up to the entryway to the ship to catch up with Es.

“We all loaded up?”

“Sure are captain, we got a few real lardballs on this trip too. Already complained the buffet ain’t open till we take off.”

“They always do. So, Shabrang again?”

“I know it’s a bit of a boring one captain but it pays well, being right on the edge and still building up they like that we’re regular shippers to them.”

“Yeah, well it’s good money and a safe route. Shouldn’t be any trouble. Every merchant ships dream right?” he said grinning. Es hit the button to close the bay doors, the giant metal monsters coming to a close and darkening to the entryway. Lighting flicked on to compensate.

“So uh, I know you explained already but what’s the deal with the filly? Must be more to feeling sorry for her. Captain I ain’t ever know you to bring somepony so young aboard to work for us.” Es question, she was right. Generally the captain had a pretty strong policy that all crew had to be vetted thoroughly before they came on board.

“Some stuff happened on that colony with her that resonated with me. I’ll tell ya later Es, let’s get into the big black first and we can talk about it tonight round the mess hall table. I’ll explain to everypony, I don’t think they really know why either.”

“Alright captain, sounds good.” Es replied, the two of them trotting up towards the bridge. J.G. had no idea how the rest of them would take it. Perhaps if he just explained and gave them to truth they’d understand.

For now, it was time to get off Sleipnir and off down the trade lanes to Shabrang. J.G. would start seeing how little Booster faired tomorrow, first he thought perhaps give her a go with Quick Fry and see if she was much of a cook. If not, onto something else. Hopefully she would be at least able to pick up somethin’. He couldn’t keep a dead weight crewmember, no matter how sorry he felt for her or how young she was.

Sat at the controls he powered up the engines and the ship took off, up through the clouds and out through the orbiting gate. Back in her cabin, little Booster just marvelled at seeing the planet she had spent all her life on visible as an orb through the single porthole window she had to peer out of. She teared up a little, suddenly seeing it disappear brought the reality of what she was doing to the forefront, but she smiled through them. She knew it was the right decision. This ship was already starting to feel like home.
> Story 46 - A Trim Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ah, another lovely day.”

The shutters on the front of Close Shave’s shop rattled open. It was 6:30am in the morning, she got to work at this time every day. There was never a huge amount to do at the beginning of the day but she had to make sure she was ready for the clients.

Close Shave was a mane dresser. Well, one of only three on the entire colony. With all the advances in technology the Empire had produced, many companies had invented automatic devices that kept ponies manes, tails and even chest fluff always looking tidy and trim. However some still preferred the personal touch of a pony who cared for the craft and could use a pair of scissors well. Besides, the devices were never perfect either like so much technology and were not always capable of giving a style or look the customer wanted from them. Close Shave had built up a steady roster of clients over the years since opening, they trusted her hooves.

The mare herself was not massive, weighing just shy of 1000 pounds she was still able to do her duty well, she kept herself from gaining and losing her touch. Her business was important to her. Her weight allowed to her to keep working and indulge herself from time to time.

In her employ, two other ponies. Piecey Cut was a slightly heavier unicorn who was a whizz with achieving rather more complex looks than Close Shave could manage. Beveled Bouffant was an older mare who could more delicately see to her older clients needs. She had an incredible knowledge of hair styles dating back years. In her twilight years she had lost rather a lot of weight, the slimmest of the three. Each had their own strengths that made the three mare run shop work like a well oiled machine.

The other two arrived at 7:30am. The shop opened at 8:00am. The ledger was inspected for appointments, rather archaic to use paper instead of one of them newer point of sale systems that seemed to be everywhere but it was a simple solution that worked and was cheap. The day was mostly booked up with ponies coming in for trim ups. The three had a chat about who had who today and then prepared themselves to begin work.

Close Shave loved her job for another reason, the juicy gossip. Part of the job of being a mane dresser was giving your clients something to talk about. Younger ponies she often noticed would be glued to their personal devices (or pad devices, the shop was big enough to support ponies on their pads if they were of that size) and she had no problem working in silence. It was a bit of a drag though with no talk.

Her first customer of the day was Charity Bell. Always one for gossip, that pony had a good job at the Grav-Pad corporation.

“I heard a rumour.” was the first thing she said as she parked her pad in front of one of the mirrors so Close Shave could get to work on her, starting with her tail.

“Oh do tell dear, I’m just giving your tail a trim. Something good?” she asked as her scissors got to work around her customers tail, poking up from above her fat rear end and out the suit she had on. She never seemed to take that thing off, still it had done her body shape wonders…

“New pad line coming in soon, supposed to be able to support even heavier ponies. They’re being very quiet on where the technology to develop it has come from though, I can’t even find out from my usual friends in the company. A snatch of conversation from elsewhere I heard seemed to indicate it was a little, under the hoof. You might have to expand your shop!” she laughed. “Expect to see even bigger ponies on the colony soon.”

“Bigger? I expect one day we’ll be having mountains of flab that rival Equestrians roaming the streets. Whatever next…” Close Shave replied. She finished up Charity’s tail and did her usual mane cut she seemed pleased with. The pony was already on her pad phone to her friend as she piloted her way out. “Melody! I’ve just finished, about that meal?” she heard her say.

Next in was a pony she didn’t recognise, but upon looking at the ledger it clearly read Vast Knowledge that the client confirmed. A little on the hefty side, but not ridiculously big. Another pad user. She was working her way round her face doing her mane when suddenly the mare started to weep.

“Oh I’m sorry dear, did I nick your cheek?” Close Shave asked, aware she was working around that area.

“N-no it’s not that. I’m a teacher you see, it’s one of my students…” she began to say.

“Ohhhh, is the kid being difficult or something else? Back when I was at school we were just happy when it was lunch time.” the mane dresser joked, but it didn’t seem to go down too well with her new client.

“It’s a bit more than that, she’s gone. Off colony. It was best for her, she wanted to be thin and a lovely ship pilot took her with him. But she was such a nice student, my class feels a little emptier without her in it…” she leaned down and wiped a tear away with her hoof. “It’s just, I’ve had students transfer to other classes and stuff, even some to other schools but I often see them about or know they’re here. This one, it’s like she’s really gone…”

The mare put her hooves around the teacher and gave her a reassuring hug. “I’m sure wherever she is out in the universe she’s thankful she had such a wonderful teacher like you who looked after her. Like you said, it was the best for her, right?” Close Shave said, carrying on cutting her mane as the mare stopped weeping.

“Y-yeah, you’re right. Oh I’m terribly sorry for going to pieces in your shop.”

“Think nothing of it dear, I’ve had customers do much worse believe me.”

The rest of the conversation was pleasant. The teacher talked of how she loved her class and passing on knowledge, her namesake ringing true. After her mane style and cut was done she even left a small tip and hugged Close Shave before leaving, saying she’d be back.

At lunch time the shop shut for one hour. The three mares got together in the back room to eat, relying stories of their customers to one another. Piecey Cut had a rather gruff stallion who had wanted, in her opinion, his tiny goatee styled in a particular way that was far too difficult. She had spent an hour on it alone. Beveled Bouffant had spent her morning doing 3 mares with beehive style cuts that were trying a retro look. She lamented remembering a time when that style was all the rage. 

Back to work and Close Shave’s first customer of the afternoon was a young stallion, looked to be in his early 20’s. Already a porker of a pony. When she enquired why he wanted it done by hoof rather than by a machine he just smiled, saying:

“I’m a bit particular about my mane, and they never get it just right, you know?”

The rest of the conversation was rather dry, just talk of how the stallion was aiming to be a world class eater whilst looking absolutely irresistible to the colonies mare’s, seemed he wanted a bit more than just his cake to eat. After this he was heading straight to Blubber King for his daily meal. He paid the exact amount for his cut and left. No tip.

Next in was one of her more hefty customers. Diamond Dozen, or just Di as she often preferred was always nice to chat too. Her extra weight made it a little difficult to cut around her rump however, she always maintained a rather lust tail that often got lost in her excessive rear. Still, it was worth it, she left a generous tip.

“Day off?” Close Shave asked her.

“One of my few.” came the reply.

“Just had one of your regulars.”

“Oh?” Di, no matter when she was off the job, was never really off the job. Close Shave always found it easier to steer the conversation towards her work.

“Young stallion, he was already waddling. Wanted to be a world class eater. Said he spends most of his time eaten at your joint. I think he’s trying to impress the girls.”

“Well, good to know he hasn’t defected to the competition yet. We’re having to put in some real big measures to bring ponies back. You’ll see.”

The rest of the trim went as normal, Di thanking her and asking for the name of the stallion she had mentioned on her way out. Close Shave passed it on, asking why she was interested in one of many customers.

“I think he deserves a little something for staying loyal.” was all Di said as she left.

At 5:30pm, the shop closed and the last customers left. The rest of the day had been uneventful, Piecey Cut got to deal with a number of young school ponies who were notoriously difficult as always and Bevelled Bouffant had some of the older ponies in. They often asked for her.

The register was balanced up, the floor cleaned of all hair from the many manes that had been cut and a final clean done before tomorrow. The two other workers left at 6:00pm and Close Shave finally got out of there and shut the shutters down at 6:30pm. 12 hours was a long day but, she was used to it and never minded that much. Taking one last look at the shop for the day until tomorrow she began to waddle her way home, wondering what tales of the colony she’d hear the next day. Sometimes what she was told was better than the news.
> Story 47 - Touchdown on Haizum
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sundrop’s ship touched down at her private estate. As promised, it had been a relatively short trip. Rotunda had been observing the colony from a vid-screen that had a camera placed on the outer hull of the ship showing the landing. From what she could tell, Haizum colony was closer to the ‘inner core’. The more developed worlds that made up what the Empire called the galactic centre. Equestria at its middle and then branching outwards to the rest of the galaxy.

During the landing she could make out multiple cities, each dotting the landscape whereas currently, Sleipnir only had the main centre which didn’t really have a name yet. Surrounding them the planet was lush and green, with only a few areas showing the original rocky surface of the planet. Terraforming was nearly complete. Haizum was a rich colony, having given much of its land over to farming the Foruna fruit. The lush green landscape was dotted with fields which centered around large farmsteads. As the ship landed, Rotunda took note they had touched down at one of the larger ones. At this point her maid, Cherry, waddled her way into the room.

“We’ve landed my mistress. Sundrop has already disembarked. She awaits you in her mansion. She apologizes for not waiting but she had some things to attend to upon her return.” Cherry said, Rotunda just observed her new uniform and smiled before giving her reply.

“Thank you my dear. That tailor of hers has done a fantastic job. If you could be by my side for the duration of the visit unless I say otherwise I’d appreciate it.”

“Of course mistress.” was all that Cherry replied, the maid turned to prepare to waddle next to her more mobile master who was herself now piloting her pad towards the ships exit.

Once disembarked Rotunda stopped for a moment and observed her surroundings, the house in front of her was as magnificent as the ship. With a pearly white marble covering and gaudy stone carvings it looked nothing like a farmhouse, more like a mansion as Cherry had said. It put her home back on Sleipnir to shame in its lavishness. It sat high atop a hillside, looking down on the multiple fields of the Foruna fruits below it, it was now plainly obvious how Sundrop or her family had made their money here. The weather was pleasant too, sunny but not baking hot. Looking at the ponies busying themselves below on the farm she could see why.

Not one was capable of moving under their own power, clearly Sundrop looked after her workers well. Every single one was working on a pad. Scuttling about doing their duties, it seemed to be they were collecting the ripened fruit. All varied in size, but all big and fat enough to need pads to get about. In fact she perhaps surmised that Cherry and Sundrop’s own personal servants were the only ones within a reasonable distance not using them. Looking a the rest of the horizon Rotunda could only make cities out in the distances, vast and dense their pristine white skyscrapers rose high above the ground. The colony looked so...clean, compared to Sleipnir's still developing state.

Cherry lightly coughed. “Mistress, your friend awaits you inside.”

“Thank you dear, please lead on.”

Passing inside the house and down a long, wide corridor Rotunda took note of the further lavish decoration inside. The walls were lined with paintings, statuettes and other items only the rich decorated their houses with. At the end, two doors swung open and revealed behind them a huge space for entertaining. At the centre, Sundrop had parked her pad and had a screen hovering in front of her face, Rotunda heard her mutter “Increase the water flow on the southern fields, crop isn’t doing so well…” before shutting it off and looking at her with a smile. “Ah, Comet! Do make yourself at home. I’m sorry I had some work to sort out upon landing, but I’m free now.” she tapped on the side of her pad with her lower hooves, from behind her Dewgrass appeared, he must have been there the entire time. “Dewgrass, please inform the kitchen of my arrival home. We require a small feast.”

“At once my lady.” the stallion waddling his way out of one of the many doors to the room, presumably towards the kitchens.

“Not at all, I was observing your lovely colony. It seems very, organized.” Rotunda said.

“You know not many ponies notice the grid system we have worked out here.” Sundrop replied, smiling as she brought up a map of the colony. “It’s only really noticeable if you look when touching down. We are primarily a farming colony, but we of course need places for the ponies here to live. Large cities sit on a grid system, roughly 250 miles apart each. Between them, nothing but fields and farmsteads like this one. The cities also serve as any space ports for those wanting to get off world. Only farm owners such as myself have the rights to land their ships in places like this.”

“Hmmm, impressive. How long have you been at this?” Rotunda asked, curious.

“Roughly 800 years. Before Haizum was a manufacturing colony, not fully explored you see. It was by luck that when the colony was started to be explored fully a pocket of the Foruna fruit was found growing on the southern continent. As you can see, we’ve terraformed much of the colony to allow for perfect growing conditions for it.” she said rather triumphantly, clearly it was a big deal here to be able to grow these things. With their properties, it was obvious why.

“That is all you grow? Surely not all your citizens eat these fruits every day, you’d all be as big as houses and more within months?” Rotunda pressed. The more she was learning, the more interesting it became.

“Of course not. Actually very little of the populace indulge in the fruits. It is far more profitable to sell them to other colonies. That’s not to say they don’t indulge in one or two once in a while.” Sundrop smiled, the smile growing wider as Dewgrass returned with some trolleys of food dishes which he laid out for the two of them to enjoy. It was always good to discuss interesting matters with some food, Rotunda observing it.

“Then how do you get these? You don’t make it yourself or grow it here?” she asked, observing a cucumber sandwich.

“All imported dear. That is the only downside of the colony. We are completely dependant on offworld imports for more regular foods. I suppose in a crises we could turn over some of our farmlands to growing more regular crops but the Foruna fruits bring in so much money, we can easily afford to import whatever we desire. The fruits paid for the golden ship we rode in on.” she explained, taking a bite of a sandwich for herself.

“Must be rather tempting to want to take those fruits for yourself, I assume trade is regulated?”

“Absolutely, we are very strict on how they are sold and shipped off-world. Farm owners such as myself have to comply with extremely strict standards. My staff have to even be weighed every day when entering and leaving the premises. If they’ve gained 150 pounds or more then, it’s obvious they’re sneaking fruits.” Sundrop explained.

“I must admit I’ve never seen a farm where all the workers are so large they have to work on pads.”

“Like I said, they do indulge, sometimes. But they buy their own fruits. We may give them a gift of some after Hearth's Warming or other holidays but they must be able to work, even on pads.”

“The fruits are certainly...interesting, I am very surprised they have not made their way to Sleipnir.” Rotunda asked. The size of the farms and the richness of the colony made it obvious this operation was no secret, she’d have thought all the colonies would have been keen to get some sort of contract deal going.

“We ship them in limited quantities, there are a number of factors that mean we cannot ship them to colonies for all their citizens to partake in, it is a luxury food. Firstly the cost puts them out of reach for most citizens of other colonies, secondly, we are but one planet producing. You know there are countless other colonies, we cannot supply them all, as well as our own citizens. It is a juggling act to actually agree contracts for amounts depending on supply and demand. Then there is the consumption, believe it or not, not many ponies want to eat them as they need to be eaten. Cutting them up is no good, the effect is lost. So we can then only supply them to the ones that eat them as we did. Obviously even with all those factors, demand is high and we have to make sure everypony is supplied.” the explanation continuing. The fat mare took a breath for a moment to eat, allowing Rotunda to respond.

“Indeed, so what wiggle room would there be to supply Sleipnir with some of these amazing fruits?” Rotunda asked.

“Practically none I’m afraid, our quotas are filled this year. I hope that isn’t why you made this trip, I’d be upset if it was all for nothing.” Sundrop said, her grin turning more to a placid and neutral look.

“Okay, let me put it another way. What about a private supply, to just one buyer, myself?” she asked, the neutral look on Sundrop’s face now turning back to a smile.

“You know I thought after our small little feast on that resort you were curious. One single extra pony we may be able to squeeze into our supply chain. Before we can discuss something like that, I must give you a tour of the farm so you understand the effort these fruits take to cultivate. Then you can try a few more of them to sample again to make sure you’re really interested. For now let us eat, once we’re done I’ll arrange for a tour. Dewgrass, go and fetch the farm manager if you’d be so kind. Inform him we have a guest to show around.”

Dewgrass simply nodded and waddled his way out of another door. A farm tour would be interesting, Rotunda was keen to see just how these fruits were cultivated and hopefully once done, she could formulate some sort of deal with Sundrop. That goal of gaining to be the biggest mare on the colony was inching its way closer, sealing the deal just required a little patience and finesse on her part. She kept her cool and the conversation moved on, but inside, her heart was beating against her chest with excitement. Something she had not felt in years.
> Story 48 - The Work Of A Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Celestia awoke.

Everyday she still woke at the crack of dawn the raise the sun. It was still something that was ingrained in her being. These days she hardly indulged in much magic except what she needed to do. Her horn glowed, and for a moment, it illuminated what could only be described as the fat-cavern that surrounded her head.

The Princess no longer spoke, not that she was able to. Her mouth was completely full with piping that extended down miles of her flab and out the other end of the huge cave of fat, connecting to various depots, farms and other food depositories around Equestria. Even whilst the Princess slept, she was constantly being pumped full of food to keep her growing. It was something she had been doing for so long that she had forgotten what it was like not to eat. As per usual, she could feel the delicious and rather sweet mixture that she was always fed entering her maw and adding to her enormous size.

The cavern of her body where her head was situated was many miles wide and tens of miles long at this point, propped up by various magical spells tended to by her loyal subjects. With her increase in size, the Princess herself had found her magical abilities had grown along with her. Raising the sun now was hardly something she even noticed doing anymore. But casting spells was draining and she much preferred only using her magical abilities to perform necessary actions.

She looked around, as much as she could. Her head was locked in place by the mounds of fat that surrounded her. She had given up on any movement long ago, all the Princess could feel was as every day, her hooves were completely encased in blubber that had expanded around them. Her whole body continued to push against the landscape as it always did. She had no ability to move it, even a little, anything she felt was down to the elements acting on her. Being mountain sized, she could feel the wind rushing against her belly, the sun beating down on her flanks. Of course her servants kept her as comfortable as they could but it was like fighting a battle against a living, breathing mountain.

Celestia however was still the ruler of the Empire. Although her main goal these days focused entirely around gaining weight, she still had duties to perform. She moved her focus a little to the left. There was a screen hovering in front of her face that flickered into life. Her royal advisor, Raspberry Beret, a small mountain of a pony himself was situated on the other end. He smiled through his chubby cheeks.

“Good morning your highness, are you well today?” He asked. He never expected a reply however. The Princess could not speak with her mouth full of feeding tubes, instead she would simply gently glow her horn once for yes and twice for no. It generally gave him all the information he needed to have any queries answered.

“Firstly as always we have taken your weight. You are as of a few hours ago 853,300 pounds. We are hoping to introduce a new feed soon that should almost double how much you gain with the same amount of food we send down the tubes to you. R&D are just finishing up research now but results are promising. Something special to help you reach the million pound mark.” Raspberry smiled, but got nothing back but an unblinking stare from the Princess. “Would you like to know the weight of your fellow Princesses today?”

There was a single gentle glow of the horn.

“Very well. Your sister, Princess Luna is now 825,500 pounds. I expect of all the things you still feel her against you. My apologies Princess, our best minds are working on ways of moving her off Canterlot to allow you more space to grow and on better weather control devices. They still have not cracked that one yet.” he replied. No response from the Princess. He thought it best to carry on. “Princess Twilight now encompasses much of Ponyville, the town has been relocated closer to the Sweet Apple Acres manufacturing plants. At last check she was just over 600,000 pounds. Finally in the crystal empire, Princess Cadance is about to reach the 500,000 mark whilst Shining Armour is not far behind her at 390,000 pounds. It is impressive how large he has gotten without royal blood.” he finished. “I have some items of business now, if it suits you to discuss?”

Another single glow of the horn.

“Firstly, whilst I mentioned earlier the idea of moving your sister from Canterlot, it only temporarily solves the problem of how much weight the Canterlot can take. As you are well aware Princess, the city is built on top of mountain. Our geologists and other scientists believe that even with the support beams, the plane that you and your sister currently rest upon will become unstable at 3,000,000 pounds when you reach that size and likely collapse as you approach 4,000,000. However before that, you simply will expand to such a point where your body will in effect, completely crush the mountain.” he explained. “With your permission my lady, and this may be hard but we can see no alternative. We would like to move yourself, Luna, Twilight and eventually Cadance and Shining Armour to your own separate colonies. This is not something that will need to be done for hundreds, possibly thousands of years but we need to begin researching a contingency plan for when you all become...continent sized.”

There was a pause for a moment, then a faint, single glow of the horn. Clearly the Princess had to consider the proposal.

“I’ll get our scientist on to it. There is only one other order of business. The pipes we use to keep you fed are degrading in some places. Some parts need replacing. For an hour this evening we need to shut off supply to perform the works. Is this acceptable?”

Two gentle glows of the horn, almost immediately from when Raspberry finished his sentence, he knew that would not go down well.

“I understand, an unacceptable loss of gaining time. In which case we can replace the parts and keep feeding you, but it will require placing new pipework to you and removing the old ones from your maw, then making the new ones a permanent fixture. The changeover should take mere moments.”

A single gentle glow. The stallion always knew there had to be an alternative.

“Thank you my lady, we’ll begin work shortly. I expect sometime in the next week the worker ponies will make it to you to make the changeover but I’ll keep you informed. I will now run down the daily list of questions as instructed.” he said. It was important to do a check on her wellbeing.

“Are you satisfied with your current gain still?”

One glow.

“Any feelings anywhere of abnormality, uncomfortableness?”

Two glows.

“Do you require any cleaning anywhere?”

Two glows.

“Finally, is there anything off the agenda you wish to discuss?”

Two glows.

“Thank you Princess, I will be back tomorrow at the usual time. Have a pleasant day gaining.” the stallion said, the screen flicking off. The whole ordeal had taken maybe five minutes but Celestia always tried to rush it along somewhat. She had no real interest these days but to keep increasing her mass.

The cavern went dark again as the screens glow faded and her magic did also. The mare could not remember the last time she saw the sun, but she could always feel it beating down on her body when she raised it. If she squinted, she could make out a tiny spec of light at the end of the tunnel of fat that seemed to stretch out in front of her for many miles.

The Princess closed her eyes, that was her duties done until the sun needed to be raised tomorrow. With a number of satisfied gulps she settled into her never-ending feast, the tubes providing everything she needed. It was good to be the biggest Princess, she hoped the gaining never ceased.
> Story 49 - A Casual Conversation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Red? Reeeeeeddddddddd.” Foundy could tell the stallion wasn’t paying her much attention, he had been parked outside her office for the last 10 minutes after getting to work. He seemed even more distracted than he usually was. Finally he came to and looked at her, although it wasn’t exactly at her. His gaze was distant, like he was looking off somewhere.

“Oh, sorry Foundy. Personal life lately has me...distracted.” he confessed, trying to put his mind back on the job.

“I can tell. Pad driving course went okay didn’t it?” she asked. She knew it had, she had a copy of the certificate that he had given over to her now that he had finished it.

“Oh yeah, it’s not that, it’s something else.” he said with a small sigh. Foundy often didn’t like to get involved with the personal lives of her employees but she had to ask.

“What is it?”

“Uhm, I met a mare at the course. She’s really nice…” he said, clearly not wanting to reveal more without a bit of a push.

“Who is she?” Foundy asked, she didn’t mind a bit of idle chat, especially if it got Red’s mind back on his work.

“She’s called Ivory, well Ivory Archer for full. I think she likes me, um.” he paused for a moment. “I’m just...lost.”

“Lost?” now Foundy was curious.

“I’ve never had a marefriend.” he said. “We’ve been out on some dates, which was great, I even went over to her place for a meal a short while ago which was also divine. She’s a great cook too.” he explained.

“Sounds like every stallions dream. Is she big?” the question sent Red into a bit of a blush.

“B-big? Well, yeah. Like most ponies here.” he replied.

“So what’s the problem? She cooks for you, you go on dates. How are you lost?” Foundy asked.

“Well, last time it was leading somewhere. Talks of lingerie and other uh, stuff. In the end after a little foreplay though we both just fell asleep. It didn’t actually lead to anything. She made us a big meal.” he continued to say. “But she wants to meet again soon. I’m not sure what to do.”

Foundy just grinned, Red wasn’t a young stallion. Well. He was only 31. He wasn't old either. Somewhere in between. But it was clear he wasn’t very experienced with the fairer sex.

“You’ve never had a marefriend before? I’d have thought with that tush of yours they’d have been all over you years ago. Stallions even.” Foundy said rather nonchalantly, it made Red blush again. She did like to give him a small tease here and there.

“Well uh, that’s why she likes me, she admitted. And it wasn’t that big before, it’s only recently when I started putting on more weight…” he tried to protest, Foundy was having none of it.

“C’mon Red, it has always been huge. It was only a matter of time before some mare or stallion approached you because of it. I’m just surprised it has actually taken this long.” she said.

“Well I’m just shy and I like my personal space.” Red replied.

“Yeah, hah. With that butt you need plenty of it.” Foundy giggled, she was enjoying this slightly now. “Anyway back on topic. So the last time you were together, what did she ask? I’ve been with my fair share of partners. Maybe I can give you some advice.”

“Oh uh, that’s kind.” Red sputtered slightly, he wasn’t expecting his boss to be giving him advice for the bedroom. But he thought why not take advantage of it? “We did a little last time, I uh, played with her folds. She gave the biggest part of me a big squeeze. It was nice, there was some other stuff too.” he said. “But next time she was talking about sexy lingerie, not just for her, for us both.” he finished.

“And?” was all Foundy said, it caught Red a little off-guard.

“What do you mean ‘And?’. I wasn’t expecting to have to actually wear it, I think I was just caught in the moment.” he said.

“Well why don’t you try it? I mean if it’s something you’re really not comfortable with you could always say no, but I bet she just wants to dress that pretty butt of yours up. I’m imagining maybe some panties, could even be garter straps. Socks, that sort of thing. I wonder if they even make leotards that size...” Foundy carried on saying without batting an eyelid whilst Red blushed, not believing she was talking so casually about all this stuff. “That’s pretty tame to be honest. There’s plenty of other things to do but it depends what she wants. I doubt she’d be hooking you up to a milking machine on the first fun night.” she laughed.

“M-milking machine?” he gasped, the stallions brain starting to work overtime. Foundy seeing him panic a little tried her best to bring the conversation back to normality a little.

“I’m kidding honey, but you never know. That’s not really first time in bed together stuff you just ask a pony to do. Maybe later.” she said, seeing him calm. “I say go for it. I mean I think you’ll enjoy it, she probably will too. She wouldn’t be asking if she didn’t think it wasn’t mutual.” the mare said. “I can tell by the way you talk about her and how you’re totally not focused right now that she’s really on your mind.” she said.

“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I have been distracted.” he said.

“More than usual, but at least you haven’t crashed into anything yet. I guess the piloting course worked.” the mare replied. “Look, approach her. Make the date. Mares like that. Just go with the flow. I can’t believe at your age you still haven’t done it. You gotta enjoy yourself in other ways that don’t involve stuffing your face.” she said. “Ponies have other needs besides food.”

He thought about what Foundy was saying. She was right, of course, it was why she’s the boss. She was nearly always right. Her advice seemed to make sense too.

“Alright, I’ll call her after work and ask when to come over. Should um...should I bring anything?” he asked. He really did seem a bit naive about all this.

“I mean maybe some chocolates but I think if I understand correctly how you’ve described her interest in you, you only need to bring that butt of yours and she’ll be plenty occupied.” she teased again, it was so easy to make him blush.

“Oh right uh, yeah. Well thanks Foundy. Guess I should get to work huh?” the stallion said, flicking his pad back into drive mode so it went into a hover again.

“Damn right you should, your staff have been waiting for you to get their flanks on the job for ten minutes now, get going and get that truck unloaded. We’ve got houses to build don’t forget.” she said, now that she had him thinking about tonight he could focus on today. Rather than daydreaming about all the worries. Sometimes being a boss meant that you had to look into your staff's personal lives too and help them out if it was distracting them from work. Red now seemed to be fine and she watched as he piloted his pad away, the mare herself going back to a small amount of deskwork she had to get on with.

Red himself knew exactly what to do. Tonight he’d call Ivory and set up the date, whereas before he was a little worried he was now looking forward to it. Excited even, he wondered what sort of lingerie she would have lined up...
> Story 50 - A Glorious Celebration of Gluttony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was it.

This was the event that all the ponies, the ones that enjoyed stuffing their faces anyway, had been waiting for.

The Glorious Gutbuster Gluttony Celebration

Or the GGG for short. Established as yet another excuse for ponies to have another holiday to stuff their faces with, the GGG was only slightly different to others in that ponies were encouraged to all get together round one shared table. Imagine if you will, a street party that stretched for multiple streets over hundreds of miles across all the colonies in The Empire, with tables that welcomed ponies of any size and weight. That was the GGG in a nutshell, one gigantic party lasting one day only where the food was endless and the gaining was incredible. It was estimated that if you took the pounds gained by the population of The Empire on this day then you’d have enough lard to form a generous few planets made solely of fat.

Whatever day the holiday fell on too, it was always granted as a free day. Work stopped on whatever was going on so that everypony could partake. Even those in prisons spent the day with the wardens eating. The Empire was not that cruel. Today’s celebration marked 50 years since it had first been established by Princess Celestia. Yet another feast of gluttony added to the calendar.

On Sleipnir, the ‘table’ so to speak, if one could call it that, started outside Farthest Reach’s mansion and then snaked its way down through the suburbs into the town centre. This is where most ponies did their eating. Some stayed in the suburbs but with most of the eateries in town plying the celebration with food, the ones in the centre got first served. Of course the suburban bound ponies were not forgotten, but they often made do with home cooked food rather than rely on the food from the town to make its way out to them.

It was early morning and currently, most ponies were preparing the tables. Very few seats lined them as often ponies would simply park their pads in a spot of their choosing. They would gain quite a hefty amount as well. The big eaters making over four figures on their size, whilst the slower eaters who came for the revelry would gain maybe 300 or 500 pounds during the day. Still no small feat as it was about eating after all.

The food was starting to show up as the tables were prepared. Everyone who was a purveyor of foods, large businesses and even local eateries contributed. Blubber King and Plump Palace employees were working hard before they made their own way to the table to unload the delivery pads and trucks of the contributed food. Lupin’s staff and other ponies from The Trough were unloading smaller but still packed carts onto the tables with their offerings. Everypony was pitching in, in one way or another.

Further up the table towards the suburbs and richer area of town, Honey Drops and Sugar Tart were at a bit of a loss about what to do.

“What do you think, go into town or eat here? The Governors offer sounded generous.” Honey Drops asked her friend, neither had taken a place at the table. They were still at the richer part of town. With no Rotunda to be with for the event, they were trying to decide where to go. “I mean usually Rotunda would have a place for us at her feasting table. What happened to her again?”

“She’s off-planet, remember? I guess she decided to extend her stay. Some message about special fruit. Do you think she has succumbed to a diet? She didn’t give any details about it.” Sugar Tart replied. “You know what, every year we always spend it with her. I want to go into town and see how the other side spends this day. You with me?” she asked.

“Hmmm, okay. But if I don’t gain at least a thousand pounds from the food down there, we’re coming back up here. Deal?”

“Deal. Let’s go before there’s no space at the table!”

Back down in town, Di was supervising her staff doing the last of the unloading of food. It had been a very difficult previous day. They had started cooking the burgers in the early evening, the staff pulling a double shift to get everything cooked and prepared ready. But now at least they were close to being able to enjoy themselves. Di had even been clever about it, asking corporate to allow her access to reprogram the drones for today so that they could fly food around to hungry patrons instead of delivering it themselves. Sunny was just placing the last load of burgers and fries onto the table. Keeping all that food hot, or at least warm had been difficult too.

“Well done Sunny, so how are you spending this day? Family?” Di asked her as the young mare plopped herself down in one of the available seats. She looked not only exhausted but very tired.

“Well usually, but I don’t like it that much. It’s always a competition.” she said.

“A competition? Today is meant to be about celebration.” her boss asked, curious.

“Not with my family, they’re all so focused on getting bigger they try and out-stuff each other. Now I’ve landed this job they’re a bit jealous of my size. I think I’d rather spend it alone.” her voice a little wistful.

“Well...wanna spend it with me?” Di offered. “I usually spend it alone. We can spend it alone, together. If that works.”

“I’d like that.” Sunny replied. Di parked her pad next to Sunny. It wouldn’t be long now until everypony had arrived, she could already observe the table filling up. She even spied some rather rich looking ponies parking up. Interesting.

Further down the table, on the next street Red was for once, not spending the holiday alone. Ivory had insisted on joining him for the celebration. He had also managed to escape spending it with Foundy who often insisted that all the construction ponies were together for it. When he told her that his marefriend had asked to accompany him, she had almost insisted he go with her. Spending it with work was never much fun, okay he wasn’t alone like previously stated but he always felt isolated. Nopony really wanted to talk to him much outside of work.

“So we gonna spend today adding another few thousand pounds to that big, jiggly tush of yours?” Ivory giggled looking over the feast, then at Red. His typical stuttery response came as expected.

“I-Ivory, t-there’s kids here.”

“Oh please, that was hardly lewd. Besides it’s not like they can’t see that small mountain for themselves.” she carried on, as blasé as ever in her attitude. “Anyway you are gonna eat plenty, because I’m going to feed you.”

“F-feed me?” Red simply replied with a questioning tone.

“That’s right, well and myself of course. But I wanna make sure you get a nice filling. I need more of you to play with.” she cooed.

“A-alright. Hey, it’s nearly time. Not long now until we can start. Lots of good looking food…” Red trailed off, already salivating slightly at the spread laid out before them. That was always the rule. Ponies could arrive whenever, but the eating began once the 9am address by Planetary Governor Farthest Reach was concluded. He took great pleasure in it each year.

A number of streets down Charity Bell and Melody Song were sat waiting to begin.

“Five minutes to nine.” Charity said, looking at her display.

“Do you think it will be as pompous as it usually is? Or go on for very long, I wanna eat!” Melody replied.

“If he doesn’t use the words This Glorious Empire somewhere in the speech, I owe you a meal at Blubber King.” she replied with a laugh. The governors speeches were usually quite over the top.

“Fine, same goes if he somehow doesn’t but I think you’ve got a safe bet there. Looks like I’m buying lunch tomorrow.” Melody replied.

“Suit holding up okay still?” Charity asked her friend.

“As good as ever, even after eating and gaining more and more. You know I’d have never believed the assistant if I hadn’t seen it for myself. I’m still not totally over the fact I’m wearing it forever though.” she replied.

“I mean, you don’t have to wear it forever.”

“Pffft. I might as well at this point.” Melody laughed. “Ohhhh four minutes.” she looked round the table at her other friends, it was nearly time.

Back where the feast began, at the head of the table, Farthest Reach was preparing himself. It was the same every year, but with the 50th event today, he had decided to change the speech up a little from previous years.

“Three minutes.” one of his assistants whispered in his ear. A small hovering camera was a few feet from his head. They had given up with static ones years ago, the governor was simply too big to get a tripod high enough now to be able to see his head. To the right of it was a very small, also hovering display monitor with his speech on it. He had it down, it had been practised numerous times by now. He watched as numerous ponies nearby him at the table flicked their pad displays to the local news channel. They always hosted it and ponies were bound to watch. He took great delight in using it as the one opportunity every year he had the entire colonies attention.

His pad clock flicked over from 8:59 to 9:00 and all he had to do now was wait for his cue.

“And on this 50th GGG, we pass over to Planetary Governor Farthest Reach to begin the ceremony…”

The face of Farthest Reach filled all the monitors across the colony, smiling at his patrons.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts. It is with great pleasure I have the honour of initiating our fiftieth Glorious Gutbuster Gluttony Celebration on our fair colony. Sleipnir has come a long way in the short time it has been established. 30 years of the colony but the 50th of these celebrations, I’m sure the older ponies here have fond memories of celebrating it on their former colonies. This is my 50th indeed, having celebrated on my home colony as a young colt. We of course observe and count the previous years on Sleipnir, in this glorious Empire.”

“Dammit!” Melody said, quickly being hushed as the speech carried on. Charity just giggled and winked at her.

“So my friends, eat well, eat lots and gain plenty. We have a lot to be thankful for here on Sleipnir. Don’t forget however to give thanks to our leaders. Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight and the rest for making all this possible. Now I only have two final words to say before the celebration begins proper...dig in.”

And so it began. GGG number 50 started at just after 9:00. Most ponies thankful the starting speech wasn’t as long as it had been in previous years. Perhaps Farthest Reach had finally learned this day was about eating. Not reminding a colony full of fatties that they should be oh so thankful for all his efforts.

All across The Empire, jaws began to chew and tummies began to be filled as copious amounts of food was consumed across the colonies. Everything ceased for eating.

Most ponies were content to reach, or have servants or friends or other technological devices reach for them into the tables and eat the burgers, fries and other delicious treats on offer there. The ones who came for gaining though, they had something much more fattening prepared.

Even with all the food, it was in fact rather impossible to keep the greedy colonists all fed that way during the celebration. It had become a problem about 15 years in. So many colonies employed feasting tubes, smaller versions of what Celestia and the other princesses used to fatten themselves up with. The difference being the festival (and other pre-approved events by government officials) was the only time these hoses were allowed to be used freely. Even the royals agreed that giving the general populace access to hose feeding was a bad idea. They’d abuse it and fatten up too quickly beyond a controllable means, plus if everyone switched to hoses it would put a lot of the food companies out of business.

What was in the hoses was food, just generally however it was something of the hose providers choosing. Farthest Reach reserved the tube feeding for himself and his closest compatriots. Sometimes they came out at functions or other events, as he had employed them for that in the past. Mostly as a showpiece when he really wanted to show his guests a good time. For the 50th celebration he had the hoses filled with an extremely fattening strawberry shake mixture which added pounds to the already bloated frame of himself and his friends by the second, and he’d be at it all day.

Back in town, Red was getting the stuffing of a lifetime from Ivory, who was taking great delight in plying her stallion with burgers.

“Come on, you’ve only eaten 100 and we’ve hardly began. I know you can fit more inside you.” she cooed as she slipped another burger between the wordless lips of Red. He chewed happily as he watched her go for another two, one for her and one for him.

Honey Drops and Sugar Tart were enjoying being among what they classed as more common folk. It was rare they mixed with anyone outside their social circle.

“You realise if we had taken the governor up on his offer we could be sucking down incredibly fattening food through a hose.” Sugar Tart said. “Although I think this was the right choice, I am enjoying these fries. Very tasty.” the mare said, on her 78th packet of the day.

“Well we do that every year, plus functions. This is nice. Also more delicious.” Honey replied, stuffing her face with one of the many burgers available. “We can do it next year.”

“True.” was all Sugar said, going back to eating.

Charity and Melody themselves had worked up quite an eating session over the morning, already having gained a good couple of hundred pounds in the first hours alone. The two were really going for added size today.

“You know... uuuuuurrrrraaapppppp! ...we’re probably going to gain in just today what we would in a month.” Charity said, a belch interrupting her sentence partway through.

“Worth it, plus the suit still feels amazing on my body, even more so now we’re bigger.” Melody replied.

“Told you. And you were all mad when we had to keep wearing them, which we don’t by the way.” she reminded her friend.

“I know but...I’m used to it now. Besides that’s in the past.” Melody said, going back to the table for more food.

Di and Sunny were casually chatting about work of all things in the middle of the feasting.

“Would it not be more efficient if we moved the fryer closer to the drones? It would mean ponies have to wait less time for their order.” Sunny asked Di, who herself was part-way through a burger.

“Probably something whoever corporate brings in will do anyway. But that’s a good idea, you know you might make a good manager one day Sunny.” Di replied.

“You think so?” Sunny asked.

“Perhaps, let me know any other ideas you have. You sure you wouldn’t rather be with your family?” Di asked again.

“Not really, this is much more relaxed. I can eat at my own pace. Now how about the grill…” Sunny carried on.

By early afternoon, the first of the more lightweight ponies began the flag. Around 1 in the afternoon a few began to leave the tables, having stuffed themselves for 4 straight hours was pretty good going. Throughout the remainder of the afternoon at various points ponies began to leave the tables to get home to digest their food and rest. The real hardcore ones though had until the clock struck midnight, many determined to take advantage of as much free food as possible.

By 6 in the evening, already tired from the double shift Sunny decided she was full.

“BUUURRRPPPPP!”

There was a cheer from Di and the ponies in the vicinity at her efforts.

“Feeling okay there?” her boss asked.

“Fine...full. I’m heading home. Thanks again Di, if I’m still working at Blubber King next year, can we do this again?” she asked.

“Sure thing kid, I don’t see why not.” Di replied, watching as the stuffed Sunny managed to free herself from the chair and begin her waddle home. Di was nearly done too, another hour or so and she’d call it a day.

8 rolled round, and Red could manage no more at this point. He felt like he’d been eating for two, not only feeding himself but also being generously fed by Ivory.

“G-gotta stop...s-so full…” was all he managed, before chewing on the last burger, Ivory smiling and taking a last bite herself of a treat.

“You did well hon, I’d say you easily gained four figures. Plenty more there to enjoy.” she said with a smile, observing the slightly higher mountain of a rump behind Red. “Let's get you home. You look about ready to pass out.” she said, guiding Red home with their pads close together.

At 10 Melody, Charity, Sugar and Honey although far apart from each other at the table all decided they had their fill too. Even though the food was being topped up endlessly, they had eaten now for 11 hours non stop. The high society ponies used to gaining had thought it best to get home and the two in the suits were simply full.

That just left the big gainers. Farthest Reach had not left the hose all day. At 11:30 him and only 3 of his friends remained, determined to fatten up until the clock struck 12. It had certainly been a day to remember, the feasting had been more incredible than he had ever known, it was worth it for the 50th celebration.

He watched on his pad as the clock flicked over from 11:59 to 12:00. The hose automatically shut off and his assistant removed it from his mouth and fiddled with his pad controls as he was in a food coma, unable to operate them himself.

“Urrggghhhhh....n-never eaten so much in my life. W-what did I gain?” he asked.

“Over 2000 pounds sir. You’ll be needing a new pad.” was all the assistant replied. “This one will get you inside, I’ll get a replacement ordered straight away.”

“Amazing….t-that’s over one third of my body weight.” he said. “Still I suppose I did ask for the hose mixture to be extra fattening this year….o-oh gosh.” he couldn’t help what happened next, or hold it in.

“UUUUuuuuuuUUUUUUUUuuurrrrrRRRRRrrrrrrrRRRRRRraaaaaaaaPPPPPPPppppp!!!!!”

The belch echoed, the non-stop feeding had taken its toll on Farthest Reach who had to let something out. That was in, in the form of the most gigantic belch he could muster. His now over 8000 body wobbled in response, the pad struggling to stay stable underneath him. The remaining 3 friends just gave him their own small cheer, already making their way home, having turned around hearing the belch to congratulate him.

“Next year...more. I want to gain more.” he said, piloting himself inside as he got back to reality. The 50th GGG had certainly been one to remember. He was sure most of the colony would spend the next day recovering from stuffing themselves stupid. It was always the way. For now, he went inside. He needed to sleep to process all that extra weight. Everything else could wait, until tomorrow.

The celebration now concluded for another year, the colonies and their members across the empire could relax until tomorrow. Because the 50th was a special one even more eating than normal had gone on. Celestia would declare a day of rest afterwards to allow ponies to recuperate on the condition that the gluttony would go back to normal next year. Ponies had gained so much in such a short space of time it only seemed fair.

Until next years GGG, life on the colonies returned to normal.
> Epilogue: Vast Knowledge, Jump Gate and Booster Rocket
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A teacher never truly stops teaching. At least that’s what Vast Knowledge always thought to herself. The ordeal with Booster had been something she had not had to delve into quite so deeply before on a personal level. She cared about all her students, but seemingly she cared about Booster just that little bit more.

She was confident, mostly - that the right decision had been made. The poor filly was either doomed to stay on the colony, getting bigger and bigger like the rest of them until she did something about it. But the decision had been made. Still however she couldn’t help but wonder. It wasn’t until she managed to get the contact line number for Jump Gate’s ship that she finally felt reassured she had. The two talked for a while, it seemed Booster actually had quite the natural knack for engineering and had joined their crews repair team. JG was quite complimentary of her and how she was fitting in so well.

From that point on the teacher decided she would keep in regular contact once per week. Every Sunday evening she’d call and say hello to JG and Booster. As time wore on Booster got thinner and thinner, closer to her dream of being ‘normal’ as she put it. But she seemed much happier, she had found her spot in life and was quite taken with the space faring life. The ship always had somewhere new to go, new ponies to pick up.

Vast Knowledge herself went back to teaching. Something about the whole ordeal had made her feel more at ease with her students. Not that she wasn’t anyway, but this just made her treat them more like family. Never again did she have an ordeal like she had with Booster, but a few times she came close. But confidence took over, she was much better prepared to deal with it. None had as drastic resolutions as putting the young ponies she dealt with onto ships but she could handle herself better and be better for them.

JG continued to captain the Unity, flying the vessel all over the colonies with his crew, including Booster by his side the whole way. Wherever they went, whatever cargo they carried they stuck together. That’s what crews did. Booster made a fine addition. They’d sometimes stop back at Sleipnir for whatever reason, flying all over the colonies took them there on occasion. Most stops Booster would visit her teacher, rarely her parents. JG himself always took an hour at least to find that pony in the park selling healthier food and stop by to chat. It was a nice reminder if how it all began.

The ship kept flying, the filly kept fixing and the teacher kept teaching. All was right in the world.
> Story 51 - Signing The Contract
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thank you miss Starflier, I think you’ll be very happy here.”

The stallion held a hoof which Starflier eagerly shook. She had done it, it was almost as if she had been on fire in the interview. Every question and magical test she had aced. Her heart was palpitating in her chest.

She had applied for the position as soon as it had become available, for years now the unicorn had been working in one of the numerous labs that the Equestria Terraforming Fleet employed due to the ever increasing need to have more worlds habitable for the growing population, in both a physical and numerical sense. Five hundred years ago the average amounts of planets made fit for colonisation was one every decade. Now it was one every year. The universe was huge, but it wasn’t infinite (although she was sure someponies appetites were…) and there was the increasing concern that someday, they would simply run out of planets. Projections however didn’t put that at likely to happen anytime soon however. Inside the corporation though there was already discussion and R&D happening that was looking at jump capable ships that could make their way outside the galaxy.

Starflier however had over the years been busying herself with lab work. Beakers and Bunsen burners dominated her day. Her small team that she worked with were in charge of formulating ever more compact and calorie filling foods for the crews that worked on the ships that were sent out into the unexplored sections of the universe to colonise new worlds. The further they went, the better the crew had to sustain themselves with no contact from any supply points within the already established Empire. It was extremely rare that ships simply went dark. I.E. They just vanished without a trace. Looking back over the ship roster that had only happened a hooffull of times.

It seemed though the top brass had taken note of Starflier, basically nudging her towards applying for the interview and she had seen it too. She wasn’t stupid. Before going for it however she had read over the contract. It seemed simple and her skills could be transferred, going from food engineering to ship engineering seemed like a good career move. She had brushed up on her knowledge and prepared herself as best she could. She was careful to read the contract however and some parts stood out, she had meant to ask about them in the interview but in her excitement she had simply forgot.

Clause 2.26A: The successful applicant will at all times be working from within the ships core.
Clause 4.01C: The E.T.F pledges to keep the successful applicant well fed at all times.
Clause 5.09G: Any assistance the successful applicant requires will be provided by the crew at all times. It is HIGHLY unlikely that the successful applicant will need to leave the core at ANY point during the terraforming mission.

She had assumed those clauses just meant the work was intense, she would mostly stay confined to the core and would be looked after. Still though, the pay was amazing. Five times more than what she earned currently at her job and it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. The contract also stated the ship would be in deep space for at minimum one Equestrian year, possibly more depending on the mission. She would have to say her goodbyes before she left.

“Thank you so much! Does this mean...I got it?” Starflier asked.

“I think I can say yes with good confidence, you did very well in the interview Starflier, I think you’re exactly the pony the new ship needs. In fact, I can arrange it with your boss I think for you to come down tomorrow to the shipyards and get a sneak peak at where you’ll be working. Come down around midday.” The stallion replied.

The scientist let out a small Eeeee! - a little unprofessional but now she was certain she had the job she felt like she could let her mane down a little. “I’ll be sure to!” she said, getting up and leaving the room. “You won’t regret it! I can’t wait!” she said, happily almost skipping out the room to head home. At least if she could have skipped, Starflier was not a small pony. Like most on Equestria she was large, but not quite large enough for a pad. It was important to keep her weight down somewhat in her position.

“I’m sure you can’t…” the stallion who interviewed her said to himself with a small sigh, before getting up himself and departing the room. He had preparations to make.

The next day as promised, Starflier’s boss let her out just before midday so she could make her way down shipyards. Equestria although an agricultural colony was after all where it all began. At one point many hundreds of years ago it had boasted the largest on-planet shipyards of any of the Empire’s worlds. Much of this now had been moved into orbit, to make room for more farmland. The E.T.F however still maintained its own smaller shipyards down on the planet however. They manufactured only a few ships at a time and also it was necessary that they tested their ships in environments with gravity present. One of the few concessions for on-world shipbuilding Celestia had allowed.

She found the pony who had interviewed her yesterday waiting at the gate. After a quick greeting he led her inside. They were still finishing assembling the ship. She watched wide-eyed as hundreds of ponies either waddled around or moved about on pads, they bustled their way around the megastructure that towered above her. The ship itself was huge. She had to guess maybe a half a mile long and roughly a quarter of a mile tall. It was a somewhat boxy shape except for what she assumed was the bridge, rear engines and the lower bow and middle portions. She also observed a number of large storage tanks off to the side set up in the yard.

The lower bow sported what looked like an extremely long and thick antenna. “What’s that for?” she asked, pointing at it, then turning her attention to the tanks and asking “And those?”. The stallion just smiled.

“Ah, that is the main terraforming device. The ship itself acts like a harness and that’s where the power is output to terraform the planet. Imagine it like your horn if you will, all the energy is discharged through a focal point. I guess point and shoot?” he said dryly. “The tanks are fuel storage until we can fill the ship. After being filled it is teleported into orbit, far too big to take off from the ground.”

“What about the large round bulbous section in the middle?” Starflier asked next. This part stood out quite a bit and pushed out from the boxy shape the rest of the ship followed. It looked like somepony had placed a massive football right in the middle of the ship.

“Ah! I’m glad you asked…” the stallion said. “Follow me, we’ve got a permit.”

Showing it to a few workers who stopped them, simply nodding to let them through the two ponies made their way to the section that Starflier had asked about. A few of the workers had followed them inside.

“It’s...big.” was all Starflier said, if she had shouted her voice likely would have echoed. In fact, it made very little sense. What she, the stallion and workers were stood in was basically a huge, round room in the middle of the ship that was many, many times larger than them. The walls were lined with some sort of soft material, to cushion something she presumed. Towards the top middle there was a device that looked half finished, but it clearly extended outwards on a metal arm with a cone affixed to the end. It wasn’t completely obvious what it was. “What is this place?” she asked.

“The core.” the stallion simply replied.

“But...there’s nothing here.” the mare replied, she was starting to get worried. Why would the most important part of the ship be completely without any equipment?

“Not yet. But now the main component is.” was all he said.

Starflier’s eyes went wide. Before she could move, a number of the construction workers grabbed her and held her down. She was pinned. Unfortunately teleportation was not one of her skills, or she could have simply gotten away.

“I knew those contract clauses were too good to be true! Tell me, why am I supposed to be here all the time?! There’s NOTHING HERE!” she shouted, all the while struggling to escape the workers grasps.

“My dear isn’t it obvious? You’re going to be our core.” the stallion said with that dry smile again. As he spoke, a number of tubes, before totally hidden by the soft walls of the core room slithered out of their hiding spots and made their way closer and closer to the struggling Starflier.

The struggling stopped when she felt a number of the hoses penetrate her rear and the largest of them slipped into her mouth, clamping themselves into position. All she could do now was make angry, slightly annoyed moans as she tried to protest but instantly she felt herself start to bloat out. Those tubes weren’t empty…

“Oh and the fuel tanks you asked about? No - full of the calorie packed food your team has been creating for months now. A little ironic twist. We’re going to fatten you with your own creation.”

Starflier just internally groaned. Already her mass had ballooned and her stomach had become a huge bed beneath her as she felt herself being pumped full of the fattening mixture. Like a true stereotypical villain, the stallion went on to explain. He felt it was the least he could do now she was trapped.

“You see Starflier, there is no science in all the Empire that can terraform a planet. Ponies are good at science, but they’re great at magic.” he explained. “The company did try to develop technology that would do the job, but it lead nowhere. That’s why we need ponies like you.” he said. “Unicorns, especially ones as charged as yourself, with the right amount of mass can terraform worlds. Magic is amplified with size. At the size of most ponies the effect is minimal. Double a ponies weight and their magic increases maybe a tenth, hardly noticeable, but make a pony a hundred times their standard weight and their magical ability why...it almost explodes.” he said with a grin.

During the short explanation Staflier felt like she had already gained about 1000 pounds. Her body felt hefty and fat with the added weight. Her hooves now uselessly wiggled due to her immobility. Already she could feel her neck fattening around her head. Struggling was no longer an option, her body was becoming her own fat prison that continued to grow as she was pumped full of what packed those tubes.

“That’s why you’re now our core. You’re going to be the one that terraforms worlds for more ponies to thrive on. Your magic will make barren, lifeless worlds lush green paradises for those seeking a new life. The only caveat of course is that you need to weigh about 30 tons or more for your magic to be able to do that. I’m sorry for the deception but, we needed the right candidate for this. You’re the perfect one.”

Another 1000 pounds on through that little explanation, whilst gaining Starflier noticed the half finished device begin to extend down from the ceiling towards her. The stallion noticed the panic on her face increase the closer it got.

“Ah yes, don’t worry. That simply clamps to your horn. It’s connected to the terraforming device. Your magic will be amplified and fired outwards through it once the ship is in place.” he explained. “Don’t worry Starflier, as our core you’ll be well looked after. Of course you’ll be paid and everything in the contract adhered to. For the rest of your life you’ll be well pampered. In fact you should think yourself lucky. Most ponies only dream of the immobile sizes you’ll reach, of course you can’t show it off but...that’s the trade off.” he said. “For now just relax, fill the room and get comfy. We always line the core room as best we can. It should be nice and plush once you reach a size where your body is pressing against the walls. For now, I bid you goodbye.”

Starflier just watched as the stallion left with the construction workers, shutting the door behind him. It seemed obvious now, the contract worded the way it was. The fact also in the interview they had asked her to perform a come to life spell, bringing a plant back from the brink of death. The fattening unicorn just lay inside her growing mountain of a body. The tubes not stopping to fill her she had only heard the stallion mention tons rather than pounds in terms of weight. She knew it was some serious size when that started getting used. There was nothing she could do, the mare now almost resigned herself to her fate of being a magically charged ball of blubber, her stomach bloorrrppping and sloooossshinnnggg as she grew, her body getting bigger, bigger...bigger.

Outside, the stallion and the workers observed the final touch to the ships nameplates which now their core was in place, could be finished.

E.T.F STARFLIER - #0109

“Ship 109. What a feat. Of course her crew will never know what lies in the centre.” was all he said, before leaving the yard. He had more work to do. The Starflier may be the newest, but it wasn’t the only ship in the fleet...
> Story 52 - Some Big Changes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunny let out a small groan, although not too loud. They might hear her.

The Marketeers had been keeping an eye on the Sleipnir branch of Blubber King for a few months now. Things were steadily improving, at least in terms of sales. Not so much for staff morale.

The day they had gotten there, immediately Sunny had recognized that they were different to the standard colony goers. She had immediately fetched Di from her office to ask her simply “Is that them?”

“Yup.” was all she had replied.

Two stallions, one unicorn, one earth pony. Both had simply ordered a meal and sat down, observing what was going on in the store around them. They had done this until they finished their meals and then showed their corporate badges, disappearing into the back office to speak to Di. Neither were pad users,obviously needing to keep their weight down due to their roles but, neither were exactly thin either. There was certainly an air of swagger about the two as they waddled their hefty, suited up frames into the back office that day. Sunny was impressed that both of them were wearing exceptionally smart clothes. They almost looked like agents.

Since then, there had been some major changes. A number of her colleagues had immediately been let go. Within a day in fact, new ones replacing them a few days later. Supposedly brought in by the company, or so she heard from hearsay from who was left. Of the new hires only two were colony locals.

For the ones that were left, there was a gruelling and rather invasive hour long questioning session with the two Marketeers. It was not unpleasant, but not nice either. She had come out at the end feeling as if her loyalty had been tested, having a large meal to calm herself down.

Now a number of months on, it seemed the two stallions were wrapping up what they had come here to start. She had heard rumours too. That they had sent threatening calls and even paid customers to go in purposely dissatisfied to the competitions establishment. There had even been a small news story about a pony who had gone in, cleaned out their entire kitchen and then complained when they couldn’t feed him anymore. It was embarrassing for Plump Palace and had certainly hit their customer numbers, however they were still operating. It didn’t seem like the goal was to shut them down entirely, rather just sway the bulk of the custom back to Blubber King. It seemed to have worked too, customers numbers has risen again since.

Sunny remembered back to Di’s little speech, she had been right. The two stallions had been ruthless in achieving their goal. But it had worked. Sunny was as busy again as she had been when the store first opened, but something was missing. It felt like the soul of the place had been sucked out in the endeavour to keep it from closing completely. Her new work colleagues were mostly silent, just concentrating on their jobs. Before there had been a team camaraderie between the employees. Now everypony just kept their head down and aside from the ones on the registers, kept their mouths shut and worked their shift without complaint.

Sunny had always maintained a special bond with Di since she started, at the end of her shift she stopped by her office to say goodbye, also asking her when she got off.

“In about an hour, since we’re closing up. Why?” Di had asked her.

“Can we um, can we meet? After work?” Sunny had asked, Di raising an eyebrow and giving her a little bit of a concerned look.

“Where?” was all she asked.

“The park, just outside of town. Maybe near the pond. I’ll be on a bench.”

“Sure, I’ll see you later.” Di had replied, turning back to her desk and resuming working. 

As agreed about an hour later, Di parked her pad next to the bench Sunny was sat on. It was a simple question Di decided to ask Sunny.

“What’s up?”

“Work is um...interesting.”

Her boss smiled. “Well that’s one way of putting it. I thought you might want to talk about this.”

“Well yeah but, away from the store. Those two stallions give me the creeps.” Sunny replied.

“I did tell you they were ruthless. I’m glad they kept you though, I’d have been having words with them if they had gotten rid of you too.” Di said, turning her head to look at Sunny.

“You could do that?” Sunny asked.

“Well...I could have tried. How successful I would have been, I don’t know. Those two rank in the top echelons of the company. Like I said I hate calling them but I had no choice. I had projections come in from corporate Sunny, if we didn’t do something drastic we would have been shutting the store within six months.” she confessed.

“So this was the only option?” Sunny said.

“It was the only option I had left that I knew with certainty would work. Like I said I’ve run other outlets. I’ve used them before. They work.” Di replied.

“At what cost though?” was the next thing Sunny said.

“What do you mean?” Di asked.

“The atmosphere Di...it’s gone. I feel like I’m working with a bunch of robots these days. Nopony even sneaks the odd fry from the fryer anymore. The ones of us that are left from before the take over are too afraid, the new ones are so disciplined that I think they’re actually losing weight because they work so hard.” Sunny said, a little wistful. “I somewhat miss how it was, even though we were failing.”

Di moved her pad a little closer to Sunny, trying her best to wrap her pudgy frame around her where she could to give her a little comfort hug. “I know Sunny, but this is the cost. If they hadn’t done what they did, there wouldn’t be anything left. We’d have shut up shop and then none of us would have a job. You’d have likely never seen me again, I’d have moved on to another colony to run another branch.” she explained, giving her coworker a squeeze and then letting go.

“I know, it’s just...I wish we could have pulled through on our own. You know?” Sunny said, getting up off the bench. “Thanks Di, I guess I’ll see you for my next shift.” The young mare said, starting to waddle away.

“Sunny.”

Sunny stopped, turning to her boss.

“Believe me I wish we didn’t have to call them in, I really did. They’re going soon, then things will go back to how they were.” Di said.

“Really? Because of that happens, all they’re gonna do is come back again. I don’t think things will ever be the same…” Sunny said, sounding a little defeated, waddling away towards home.

Di stopped for a moment and thought. She was right, she didn’t relish the idea of them coming back. She had to do something herself, something that would ensure she never had to call the Marketeers in again. What it was though, she wasn’t sure, at least not yet…
> Story 53 - Igniting A Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It's not been long Fireflash, but here you are, back again.”

In the time between his last visit, which was only yesterday but had felt like an eternity. Fireflash had been thinking of the words that warden Lethal Force had left rattling around his brain.

“You’re not a tough nut to crack.”

The young but hot headed pony had at least wanted to give her a bit of a run for her money, so today, any sort of cooperation was out the window. How long he’d last though, he wasn’t sure.

“So we finally pulled security footage from buildings across the road and also some from departing and arriving ships that happened to be flying overhead, as well as some drones. All seems to corroborate what little you told me yesterday…” the warden said, she was sitting leaning back in her chair over the other side of her desk toying with a small hoof mounted device that was showing her footage back and forth. Fireflash could only see it from a reverse angle but that was him, vanishing into the branch of Blubber King. The warden replayed it a few times for her own amusement before turning it off and giving him a rather stern look.

“So it seems you were telling the truth.” Lethal Force gave a small smile and turned the screen back on, this time turning it towards Fireflash and replaying the two seconds of footage where he vanished into the building over and over for him to look at. “Rather ungraceful, but for a blob like you, I doubt you could do anything gracefully except maybe eat.” she said with no hint of irony in her voice. She fiddled with a few more buttons, now on the display was his accomplices, just showing head shots of them on each of the screen. “We picked them up not long ago. They weren’t too hard to track down, despite the disguises.” she said, her hooves fiddling again to wipe them from the screen, finally showing the large, fat face of Striving Step. Lethal Force smiled as she watched Fireflash noticeably flinch a little as soon as his face appeared.

“All him hmm?” was all she asked.

Apart from the initial shock Fireflash showed no signs of confirming or denying either way. He was still determined not to crack under the pressure.

“I can’t get you out of the mess Fireflash, you did a very bad thing. But if the bad thing was directed by somepony even badder well...you might get a little bit of your life back for helping us out. I just need confirmation from you that this whole thing was put together and orchestrated by this lardy mountain of a pony.” The warden said, gently moving the device from side to side. Fireflash said nothing.

“Oh come on, don’t tell me a pony like you who loves opening his mouth to eat won’t use it to just say one simple word. I just need some confirmation. A yes will do.” Lethal Force said, she could see he was starting to waver. Perhaps a little persuasion. She always found a reward was better than punishment.

“I can offer food…”

“F-food?” for the first time since entering the room, Fireflash finally spoke up. It was true he wanted to keep himself from cracking to this mare, who seemed to be relishing her power. But he was so hungry, he had eaten only scant meals since he arrived. Prison food was terrible. “Better food than you’ve been giving me?” he asked, hopeful.

“Much better, I know a porker like you wants something a bit better than the rest of your cell mates get. I can promise you a few nice meals a day, maybe more if you’re helpful. You’ve already been so useful…” the mare carried on, her voice was turning from a stern to a more inviting tone. It was so hard to resist.

“W-what do you want?” he asked.

“Just a yes to my question, is this the pony responsible for what you did? Did he put you up to this? Was the whole heist financed and orchestrated by this stallion?” she asked, displaying the face of Striving Step on the hoof mounted display she had again.

There was a moment of silence for Fireflash as he mentally weighed up a lifetime in prison with terrible food, or a reduced sentence with something palatable, and also wondering why he’d even help the pad company anymore. The deal they had now was clearly off, there was no way he was going to get anything else out of them, despite the threats he had gotten as well as what he had made towards them.

“Yes.”

Lethal Force smiled, switching the display off and tapping another button to turn on a communicator.

“You got that?”

“Clear as day” came a voice from the other end.

“Good, I’ll finish up with the prison and be out in a moment.” the warden replied, shutting it off once more. The smile was still on her face. The tone however went back to stoic and cold.

“I’ll see about your food shortly and what we can do about reducing your sentence, for now you’ll be back in your cell until I’ve sorted it out. I can’t promise you’ll be out soon, but you’ll have an easier time of it.” she said, getting up and turning to make her way out the door behind her. “Not a tough nut to crack at all…” she said, watching as the defeated, but slightly relieved Fireflash was once again returned to his cell in the prison complex.

Now that she had what she needed, waddling her way out Lethal Force met with one of her staff on the other side.

“Plan of action ma’am?” a younger stallion asked.

“We get the warrant we need, and we hit them hard. We’ve got the confession, that’s plenty enough evidence to finally put Striving Step in his place. He’s been so careful for years. But now he’s slipped up and we’ve got plenty of ponies here behind bars who will put him behind some himself.” she said, making her way with the stallion to her office, a short trip from the interrogation room. “I’ll be overseeing this one personally, Striving Step has been on my list for a long, long time. It’s personal.” she said, sitting herself down at the desk and immediately accessing the necessary files she needed. “Go and tell the Rollup Division we’ll be needing some of their heftiest ponies. The pad company headquarters is built like a fortress and we’ll need some serious force to break our way in and arrest him, even if he’s not there. Wherever he is, I’m sure he’ll be in a well fortified place. We’ll track him down. I doubt he’s left the colony, it’s not his style.” she said.

“Of course ma’am.” the stallion said, disappearing, leaving Lethal Force alone.

She sat for a moment, looking at her display of his record again. Surprisingly clean for such an unscrupulous business owner. Oh she knew it was dirtier than it appeared, but whatever Striving Step had done over the years that would have sullied it, money had made it vanish. The previous warden was soft and so was the head of police. Colonies were always like this in their younger days, almost like a frontier. Ponies could get away with quite a lot when they were starting up. It would be rather satisfying to see the hefty, round ponies of Rollup Division breaking down his little empire. Or at least, breaking into his his walls, she was sure their size would be plenty. It was what they were for after all, specially fattened and trained ponies used as living battering rams. She didn’t like it but even Lethal Force had to admit sometimes being bigger had its advantages.

She had to admit the pad company was not something that looked completely out of place, in fact being the only one on the whole colony she was amazed it had never faced rivals from startups on the colony itself or from other suppliers offworld, every colony had its fatties and they had to get around somehow. Of course Equestria had the mount famous companies and makers, but even there they had multiple firms. How Striving Step had kept a monopoly on Sleipnir for so long well...that was what all that money did. 

She was sure as well there had been some sort of back alley shenanigans to quash other firms or competitors moving in. A few times she had heard of new companies forming only for them to go quiet extremely quickly. Sometimes shortly after as well the firm would announce some new feature or design change that was incorporated into their line. No doubt appropriated from these new but now crushed firms. They probably took any research they had done themselves. Lethal Force could only ponder though, she had nothing hard and it was all hearsay and rumours. Well, she had nothing hard up until now.

But this time he had gone too far, no amount of money would get rid of what the stallion was involved in this time. After all these years Lethal Force had him, finally she had it.

A chance for revenge.
> Story 54 - A Flank To Remember
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bigger it got, the more attention he was getting. It was getting hard to avoid it now.

Red had reached nearly 5000 pounds since the annual feasting session. He knew Ivory loved it, he loved it himself - but he had to know why so much of whatever he gained went straight into his flank. He had even seen a doctor about it. It had been a brief visit.

“I wish I had some sort of better explanation for you Red, but it’s just how your biology works. You have a makeup that sends most of your blubber back there. Usually it affects mares more than stallions and generally not to the degree it has had on you either. If you don’t like it, you can just stop gaining.” had been the diagnosis. 

Well that was happening anytime soon. It wasn’t like it bothered the stallion, he just wanted to know why. At least now he had a why, he could gain more weight in confidence. Besides, he wanted to be nice and big for his marefriend.

The relationship with Ivory was going well, really well actually. Red wasn’t used to mares giving him so much attention. Usually it was for all the wrong reasons. But Ivory seemed to love that her stallion had more junk in the trunk than she did. Every date they had been on had involved a lot of eating. She seemed determined to plump him up. At one point after a particularly fun session after a meal she had asked him a question.

“Red, you ever heard of feeders and feedees?”

He had gone to his usual embarrassed self when anything vaguely sexual came up, ignoring the fact that she had just been spending a lot of time back there. “T-think so?” was all he could manage. Ivory had gone on to explain.

“Well it’s a relationship where one enjoys making the other gain. I think I’ve somewhat started the process off already by giving you big meals every time you come over. Also you were a heck of a size when we met anyway. Why not just make it official?” she had asked.

“Official? How so?” he had replied.

“Well next time we climb into bed, I’ll bring a big pile of food. How does that sound? Each time we have a little fun, you get to gain some weight. Wanna meet more often?” she had said with quiet giggle and slight grin. “Say a few times a week now? I know you can’t resist my food, or me…” she had smiled. “Plus you do look good in a little lingerie, I’d like to see more of that.”

“Sounds...delightful.” Red had replied. That had been a few days ago, they had already had another date since. It had certainly been very fulfilling. Red suspected the bed that Ivory owned had never seen so much gluttony. As he had eaten and gained he had felt the supports underneath begin to strain with the pressure of trying to keep two very hefty ponies from slamming through the beams onto the floor. At the end Ivory had said in her usual unsurprised and frank tone that she was going to invest in a much more sturdy bed if Red was going to keep getting bigger. “Anything for my tubby construction worker.” she had cooed as he had gotten back on his pad to make his way home.

Back at work and daydreaming in the present. He had lost track of what Foundy had been saying to him.

“You understand Red? We’re slightly behind schedule with this one? We need more houses going up faster. Can you think of any way to motivate your guys to get the job done quicker?” she had asked.

“Oh yes! Um. One moment…” Red thought, but in this situation he had to stick to his guns as site manager. “I’m sorry Foundy, my guys are working their flanks off as it is. We either need more workers or it won’t get done. We can’t skip safety regulations anymore, especially after the close call I had.”

The mare looked at him for a moment before her head went back down to look at some plans she had in front of her. “Yes I see what you’re saying. I’ll speak to my bosses, see what we can do about hiring more helping hooves. These houses are going up fast enough I suspect they can afford it.” she replied. “You seen these?” she asked, turning the plans around so Red could get a look over them.

“No, more houses? They all look so similar these days. We’re just putting them up as fast as we can to house gluttons.” he said.

“Indeed, but look at the dimensions.” she pointed a fat hoof to the top right of the chart where the floor spaces and other details were listed for the building. As a plan the build looked no different to most of what they were building already, the dimensions however were quite different. Red gasped a little. “These are nearly three times as big in floor space than what we’ve been building here. Why so generous?” he asked.

“Heftier ponies means heftier houses Red.” was all Foundy replied. “The firm is starting to think ahead for its clients that are going to be living on Sleipnir in ten, twenty, thirty or more years. Look at yourself. Look at the size of others. If most ponies keep gaining at the rate they are, we’re quickly going to become on the fattest colonies under the Empire. Why here? I don’t know, but other colonies did the same after a certain time period. You’ve never been off-world Red?” she asked.

“No, this has always been my home.” he replied. “I see no reason to leave.”

“Indeed, and so do most ponies. That’s why we need bigger houses. I’ve seen other colonies Red. There’s a point where they just give up on houses when the citizens get big enough. I mean you know on Equestria most of the royalty are the houses practically. Or even entire towns or cities. They’ve reached that level of size after so much gaining. Celestia and Luna occupy most of the former site of the city of Canterlot. They are the city of Canterlot, between the two of them. I don’t envy the ponies on Equestria trying to figure out what they’re going to do about the fact both of them are gaining on a mountainside that could collapse any day under their weight…” she finished off. “A problem for different ponies. Anyway that’s why. Plus these new places are offered as space to gain homes. The idea being it the prospective buyer fills the space and lives there for a good while. They might need bigger houses eventually, but not for years.”

“I see. Well good to know I suppose. At least ponies won’t be forced out of their home by their sheer size.” he said.

“Yes well...that’s coming, so I thought you had better know about it.” she said. “Anyway back to work, oh - how’s it going with the marefriend?” she asked.

“Well actually. We’re seeing each other more often. If it keeps up as it is I may even be a prospective buyer for one of these bigger houses.” Red laughed. Foundy just raised an eyebrow and rolled up the plans, putting them away.

“Sounds like it’s going well for you then. She’s obviously feeding you enough too.” his boss said with a slight grin, looking at his rump as she had a hundred times before. “I swear it grows every time I see you.”

“Perhaps.” Red just grinned back, powering up his pad. He had work to do, his team were currently finishing the build on the latest batch of houses and moving on to the next shortly. He had to oversee final preparations to make sure everything was just so. He powered his pad away towards the work site. Things were going well, for once in his life. No mishaps, work was good. He felt happy. The only thing concerning him was if he kept getting bigger and bigger he’d certainly need to look at a bigger pad, he’d heard the company was launching another line of them shortly that could support more weight. In the meantime he went back to daydreaming slightly, thinking of something fun for his next date with Ivory.
> Story 55 - The Fruit Farm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Now then, let me show you around.”

The tour had started promptly at ten in the morning. It had at least given Rotunda a little chance to have a good snooze after the feast with Sundrop. There had been one condition, nopony apart from the workers and anyone given permission by Sundrop was allowed on the farm area of the property. Cherry had to stay behind along with Dewgrass back at the house. No matter, the two of them were perfectly capable of getting around on their pads.

Hovering her way behind Sundrop until they came to a small break in the fields, it seemed her friend had brought them to this part for a reason.

A small building occupied the space, too small for the two of them to get inside, but the workers were milling their way in and out. All hefty, but not so hefty that required pads to move. Rotunda parked herself next to Sundrop, she had to ask. “So why are we here?”

“To show you the effort that goes into bringing these miracle fruits to market my dear. As I said, it is not as simple as just plucking them from the plant and then packaging them up to sell.” Sundrop said with a small smile on her face. “Observe.”

Although they couldn’t fit inside, it was easy to see what was going on in the interior. The building had a large open door almost like you’d find on a barn to let the workers in and out of. There was also a few small windows. Inside, Rotunda could make out a production line. Each portion was manned by a number of ponies in Sundrop’s employ. The fruits were brought in and inspected first.

“Each one must be within a 2% tolerance of expected weight and size. Any worse than that well...that’s the ones the workers get, or perhaps myself. Not fit for sale.” Sundrop said, as she noticed Rotunda observing the first part of the chain.

“Indeed, very generous of you to only supply your clients the best.” Rotunda replied.

“That’s why our farms carry one of the highest reputations on Haizum.” was all Sundrop said back. Rotunda watched a few fruits were discarded to the side, not meeting the tolerance obviously. The rest made their way up a small conveyor to the next station. Here the fruits seemed to be inspected visually for any further imperfections. One or two more didn’t make it past this point either. Next, they entered a machine and came out unchanged the other side.

“What’s that for?” Rotunda asked.

“Interior inspection, we can’t look inside the fruits. We are looking for anything out of the ordinary that might not have been picked up in the last parts.” Sundrop said. “There is a very small strain of these that have a slight genetic deviancy from the rest.They don’t get picked up at the previous stages either, all within tolerance.”

This piqued Rotunda’s interest. “How so? What does it do?”

Sundrop turned her head to look at Rotunda. “Hmmm, perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it, but you did ask. There is a very low number of the fruit that have added punch to their weight gaining abilities. Again we can’t sell these, for one thing if they weren’t picked up by the machine you would notice as soon as you ate one. Do you remember the taste? Rather sweet?” Sundrop asked.

“I do, despite the fact you had to eat them whole, the taste of the skin and what little I could gleam of the inside was rather pleasant.” she said.

“Well these are not, as soon as you started to swallow it the taste would hit you, it has been likened to rotting cabbages.” Sundrop said, shuddering slightly at the mention of the foul taste, her whole body jiggled in disgust on her pad. “I had the misfortune once of trying one.”

“Why did you try one? Doesn’t the machine pick them up?”

“Indeed, but as I said, it has an added punch in its gaining ability per one of these deviant strain fruits eaten. Regular ones add around 150 pounds of gaining. These add double. Around 300 pounds. If you can stomach the taste well, you immediately see the increased size you gain just from one alone.” Sundrop explained. Her words only made Rotunda begin to think.

“And again you cannot sell these?” she asked, keeping what she really wanted to ask close to her chest for the time being. “What happens to them?”

“Tossed I am afraid. We can’t even offer them to the workers because of the taste. Very few ponies can stomach them. I tried one as I said, once. I would rather not again.” Sundrop said, her lips pursing slightly in disgust as her mind was brought back to the foul taste of the rare fruits.

“Hmmmm…”

“Hmmmm what?” Sundrop asked, looking at Rotunda.

“I have a proposition.” Rotunda said, turning her pad slightly away from what she was being shown to speak directly at Sundrop.

“But my dear, I believe you already appreciate the effort that goes into these fruits. I think we can squeeze yourself into the line up.” Sundrop said, turning her own pad to face Rotunda as well.

“I’m thinking I can be of even more help.” Rotunda started to say. “Look, I am a pony with an iron stomach. You can see I am not one to turn down an opportunity to gain more pounds either. What about a special contract. How often do you find one of these phantom fruits and pull them from your line?” she asked.

“So far little, perhaps one or two a week. But they seem to be getting more frequently found. I have a team looking into this. We can’t sell fruits ponies won’t eat.” Sundrop replied.

“What if I had them?” Rotunda carried on. “The taste may be terrible but as you can see Sundrop, gaining is my goal. I think I could stomach a little bit of bad taste if I could gain twice as fast eating one of these fruits rather than two of the regular ones. Plus it means you would no longer have to toss them, you could sell them on. A monthly shipment of around eight fruits would mean twelve hundred pounds of gaining alone, every single month.”

Her friend sat for a moment, clearly thinking about her proposal.

“I mean the taste is terrible, you can’t improve it you realise that. Any alterations made to these fruits ruin their gaining ability. I did tell you that though. You’d have to eat every one whole and stomach the terrible taste as it went down.” Sundrop said.

“I realise. Look how about you give me one before I leave, and we can work out whether or not it is worth going ahead with this?” Rotunda asked. “Otherwise happy to stick to the original deal.” she said.

“Very well, come back to the house. I think you’ve seen enough here.” she said, dialling into her pad to talk to Dewgrass, asking him to prepare one of the fruits for Rotunda to eat. They had pulled one out just a few days before, it was more than edible. Luckily not yet destroyed. When they made it back and into the main room, it was sitting on a dish, ready for consumption. Rotunda parked herself in front of it, Sundrop on the other side. Each pony was joined by their servants.

“It doesn’t look any different.” Rotunda observed.

“That’s why we have the machine dear, the first one we found we had no idea. It was a customer who complained about the taste and added weight that made us investigate. At least now we can identify them.” she said.

“Cherry, I might need some help with this one.” Rotunda said, her maid positioning herself at her side.

Levitating the fruit, Rotunda moved it towards her maw. As before it was difficult to digest, having to eat the thing whole. Immediately the taste from the skin that she couldn’t chew hit her. Rotting cabbage wouldn’t do it justice, it tasted absolutely foul. She started to gag, trying her best to swallow it as quickly as possible. This fruit was easily doubly as hard to eat, not only having to be eaten whole but having an awful taste to boot. Luckily Cherry came to her aid, using her own magic to force the fruit down as the obese mare struggled to swallow the large fruit. Within a minute though and much gagging it disappeared. Quickly Rotunda felt the effects, her pad weight counter registering up the added gain from her weight of 5800 pounds to just under 6100 pounds. Fat added to her body in seconds, she felt her rear fatten and her stomach sag more as the fruit did its magic. She’d have to get used to it, but she had eaten the foul thing.

“I’m impressed. Apart from myself I don’t know any other ponies who can keep those ones down.” Sundrop said. “So...shall we talk about delivering you some back on Sleipnir?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“Indeed, I’m more than happy to discuss a contract for them.” Rotunda replied, already enjoying the added weight and giving her body little shifts from side to side just so she could feel it. As well as her other gaining, these fruits would be a huge boon. Sundrop joined her on her side of the table, and asked Dewgrass to fetch the paperwork. Hopefully, this wouldn’t take long.
> Story 56 - Departure From Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Your Majesty?”

The horn of Celestia glowed a single time, indicating she was listening. Raspberry Beret was earlier than his normal daily call. If the face of the Princess could have shown any sort of emotion, she would have given him a worried look. The servant was in tune with Celestia though, he sensed she was feeling uneasy about his unscheduled vid call.

“Fear not your Majesty I bring no bad news, good news actually. A new ship of the E.T.F is ready for launch, another terraforming ship. As is customary with all launches it just requires your ah...blessing. The ship will launch tomorrow as the sun reaches the highest point in the day. Is that acceptable, your Majesty?”

The horn glowed a single time again. Raspberry Beret saw no point in asking anymore questions related to the launch. He simply said “Thank you Princess.” and shut off the screen.

Back at the docks, the E.T.F Starflier was being prepped for launch. The core was in place and fully functional, the crew was loading up the supplies needed. Final systems checks were being done throughout. The captain, a Pegasus by the name of Vector Thrust, was just on the internal vid system back to the main base facility. Seemed as good a time to test it as any.

“Celestia has given her blessing for a prompt launch tomorrow at the agreed time.” a voice at the other end of the line said. “Everything on the final checks is going to plan?” the voice asked.

Vector put a hoof to his chin and scratched it, musing on his reply. He knew they only wanted to hear one thing. “Indeed, ship seems to be as fully functional as the other on hundred and eight you’ve built. I’ll do my final personal check on the core shortly.” he said.

“Very well, your eyes only remember.”

“I am well aware.” he replied, a little ire in his voice. The broadcast shut off, Vector turned and made his way off the bridge to a lift behind him, leaving the main command area. The captain was large, but as with all E.T.F ships he had to maintain at least a walking weight. No pads allowed on any E.T.F terraformers. Ponies had to be mobile on their own.

He made sure he was the only one in the left, pulling back on a hidden control panel below the rest of the buttons to various levels. A single button with a small keypad of numbers was there. It wasn’t even marked, but he knew it went to the core. He pressed the button and keyed in the access code. As soon as he was done the lift started to move towards the centre of the ship. It was a short journey, he was only going to the middle of the vessel.

Upon stepping out of the lift he only had in front of him a small space to look in at the core. The small room the lift brought him to had some glass on the exterior so he could see inside, a small keypad and monitor in the centre. Once he stepped in, it flickered into life.

On the other end was of course, the core. Starflier seemed to be endlessly wheezing and puffing. They had only removed the tubes yesterday, but she still hadn’t recovered from the filling she had gotten. Her whole massive bloated body filled the round room that had seemed so large when she first stepped hoof inside. There was hardly an inch of space around her, her fifty thousand pounds of flab had filled most of the room, but there was still some space for her to expand. Her head lay buried deep within the round and bloated body of the Unicorn. In fact the only way the captain had any contact with her was the vid screen that was poking its way down the shaft of her neck rolls towards her head. Vector decided to speak.

“Can you hear me Starflier?”

For a moment there was no reply, just endless puffing, more wheezing. But after a minute, finally a “...Yes.” came from the lips of Unicorn.

“Good. I came to check on you. How are you holding up?” Vector asked.

More wheezing, again a wait for any sort of reply. “...Tired.” was all the reply he got.

“Mmm, normal, when a pony takes on so much weight so fast. You have a day to recover at least still. Celestia is giving us her blessing tomorrow.” he said.

There was another pause, but shorter this time. Starflier wanted to know. “Blessing?” she asked.

The captain grinned, she wasn’t privy to this information, but now she was an immobile blob able to speak to nopony else he didn’t see the harm. “One of the many reasons for the Princess’s increased mass my dear. Back when she was a regular pony, moving the sun was a hard spell to perform each day for her. As time went on we needed her to do more, it was exhausting on her and her magic. Now with her size she can continue her duty, plus perform magic beyond what even your massive size is capable of. A bigger pony means more magical prowess. Why do you think all the most powerful Unicorns in The Empire are immobile, town or city sized mountains of fat? Their magic is most useful at its most potent.” he explained. “That’s Celestia’s Blessing, tomorrow she will teleport the entire ship and its crew into orbit of Equestria. It’s the only way to get you and everypony else aboard into space.”

There was no reply, just more pants. It seemed though Starflier had understood.

“I’ll be back.” Vector said. “But mostly when we need you, I won’t be down personally, just via the screen. Oh and those tubes will return when you need more food. Don’t worry, we have you on a feeding cycle. Have to keep you nice and big for your work.” the stallion said, summoning the lift back to pick him up. “I have to complete our final checks before departure. I’ll see you later Starflier.” he said with a small amount of malice in his voice, before disappearing into the lift.

Starflier sat, encased in her fat prison. She wanted to know more, she desperately wanted to scream out. Throw her fury at the captain and the ponies that had done this to her, she was frustrated, angry, upset. But overriding all that, she was still hungry. The increased size meant she wanted to eat, her first thought actually was ‘Tell me when the tubes are coming back!’ but her panting and wheezing had prevented her from doing so, or asking or saying anything beyond single words. She couldn’t even levitate the captain towards her and keep him in place. It seemed the device attached to her horn wasn’t only an amplifier, but a dampener. Having an on and off switch to her magic when they needed it. She couldn’t even teleport herself out or bring anypony to her.

For now she could only wait to see what happened. Her mind swirled with thoughts of escape, food and other prospects she had before her. Not that she could do very much, in her utterly immobile state. She pondered her options, that was all she had right now.

The next day rolled around, Raspberry Beret returned to his Princess.

“It is time my lady, they need your powers in a few minutes.”

The single glow from the horn. Celestia began to ready herself. The spell had become child's play over the years of doing it, but she had to make sure she got everypony, with her magic and her horn gently glowing she could feel the ship in the usual dry dock they often were placed at. Ponies were scattered all over it in spots, the engine room, bridge, crew quarters and elsewhere. Then of course she came across the main mass, the core of the ship. The biggest presence of all. It was always the same, when she felt the core pony it was either sadness or anger in their hearts. This one though, it was a mixture... She had not felt that since the very first ships launched. A little unsettling. She would let Raspberry know once she had performed her duty.

Her horn glowed brighter, the spell although child's play took its toll, always a slight strain on her abilities. She felt her body convulse, sending massive ripples of wave-like crashes of fat throughout her mountainous mass. But in a blink, the entire ship was teleported from its birth on Equestria to high orbit of the planet. The Princess relaxed, letting her body settle.

“It is done, Princess?” Raspberry asked.

A single glow of the horn, followed by three short bursts. She only did that when she summoned the energy to speak beyond what was capable of saying through her horn. Raspberry nodded. “One moment my lady.” he turned the volume up on his vid screen. He always yearned to hear whatever words the Princess had to say, it was rare she spoke in a millennia. After 10 minutes of panting, wheezing, the words came forward.

“Watch….her.” was all Celestia managed, before closing her lips. Raspberry turned the volume back down and simply nodded.

“Very well your Majesty.” he said, closing off communication and getting in contact with the E.T.F headquarters. A stern looking and very plump stallion greeted his call on the other end.

“Ah...Raspberry, what can I do for you? Please thank Celestia on my behalf for another successful teleportation to orbit. The ship is making final checks ready for departure into the deeper reaches of space.”

“I will indeed, but as agreed with every vessel. Our agent is in place?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Good, they are needed. Have them contact me once the ship departs and they get a moment to themselves.” he said.

On the other end of the screen, the stallion simply nodded and closed off the line. Raspberry Beret was curious, Celestia spoke so little so it was often difficult to discern her meaning, but working with her for so long, he had a good idea of what she was after. He would keep an eye on the E.T.F Starflier with interest. The ship and its core were certainly on his radar.
> Story 57 - Checking Out The Rivals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Di had been sat in her office all day.

She had come in early to think. What the heck was she going to do? The Marketeers had left a few days ago, her staff no longer felt on edge which was a good thing. But they had left her a very stern warning. The one they left every time they finished with a failing chain.

“Make sure we don’t have to come back, you won’t like it if we do.”

So Di had locked herself in thought for hours, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Perhaps it was the darkness of her office, or the constant smell of food being cooked that was distracting her. She had to get out, get some fresh insight. Powering up her pad, she left the room and made her way over to Sunny who was on fryer duty.

“Can you look after the store for an hour? I just need to run an errand. I’ll be back, don’t worry. You have my number if there’s an emergency or something you can’t deal with?” she asked.

“Of course Di, where are you off to?”

“I just need to make a visit somewhere.” was all the hefty fast food mare said, turning her pad around once more and going out the back exit. She left Sunny a little confused, it was the first time since she had known her that Di had left the restaurant mid service. Whatever it was, it must have been important.

She knew that business was down at Plump Palace, but when they opened up, they had crushed them. Di had tried the weight gaining competitions, the refurbishment. Somehow though none of it was ever quite enough to recover what they had lost. She had ordered their food before, it was good. But only take out. Perhaps a visit to their place would make her see why the competition had done so well so quickly.

It was a quick trip to where Plump Palace was situated in town. She remembered watching the broadcast not so many months back. The building still looked impressive, ponies weren’t queuing up to get inside but there was a steady stream of customers going in and out of both floors. She hoped nopony knew who she was as she headed inside, opting to go into the ground floor section.

Again as she remembered back to the broadcast her mind was refreshed. The interior looked slightly worse for wear, having now catered to the tubbies of Sleipnir since it opened all those months ago, but the steady stream of customers had kept it afloat. She didn’t really want to think about what the Marketeers might have done to drive customer numbers down.

The first thing Di noticed about the interior was clearly the owners of this chain were gunning for an already fattened populace. No seats anywhere, just tables with ample pad parking around them. Those few ponies that entered under their own power she noticed were provided with a large cushion to sit their rears on whilst they ate. The next thing she noticed was, there was no counter at all. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get her food until she was greeted by a pad bound server pony, dressed in the Plump Palace uniform.

“Greetings! Welcome to Plump Palace! First time?” she asked.

“Sort of, I’ve ordered your food take out but never been into the store. Was just passing by and thought I’d come in.” she replied.

“Ah okay, well please park yourself at a table. If your pad doesn’t have the Plump Palace menu available, just use the easy reach tablet at the table.”

“The what? Menu? I think when I ordered before I just called.” Di replied.

“Ah, well if you’ve got a pad, it should have downloaded as soon as you entered. Take a look at the screen but call me if you need anything!” the server replied, before scooting away to look after more customers.

Di indeed looked and on the small screen her pad possessed, there was a new icon that just had a PP on. She opened it up and browsed through the menu. She was trying to think back to when she ordered before. There was now a Plump Porker Burger XL and Quadruple Stuffed Pizza Feast on the menu. Seems the brand had upped their portion sizes too. She opted for both, XL’ing a shake she ordered too as well. Might as well stick to what she liked, but this time she omitted the onion rings.

Whilst she waited, she could see one of the staff in particular eyeballing her.

Roaring Thunder.

She remembered now, his large physique, back from the broadcast. He was indeed hefty. Double her size at least, fat practically spilling over his pad. He seemed due for a new one. She had no idea he had stayed on the colony however, it was unusual a company owner didn’t move with the business. She thought they had big plans to expand. All she could see him doing though was expanding his waistline.

A minute later though, her looks towards him were distracted by her food arriving. It was lightning fast, not brought out by a drone though like her establishment. This was delivered by the same pony that had greeted her.

“Here’s your order!” she said cheerfully, pushing the tray of food under Di’s snout. “Your payment has already been taken through your pad, enjoy your meal!”. Di was just about to question her, but she hastily made her escape to deal with other customers. She started to unwrap and eat the food.

Without making it seem too obvious she was enjoying herself, although the hefty blush might have given it away, Di started to chew on her order. It was just as good as her previous orders. If not better, she could practically feel her arteries slamming shut as the ultra rich and delicious food added pounds of fat to her frame. In fact she was so into the meal that she hardly noticed Roaring Thunder had parked himself at her table.

“Good food?”

Di jumped a little, looking up for her meal and noticing the massive pad bound stallion parked opposite her. She finished her mouthful off.

“Oh! Yes, thank you. Very good.” she replied, trying not to give too much away.

“Diamond Dozen right?”

Di froze, clearly he knew who she was. That explained the stares. She thought she’d play the stallion a little at his own game.

“Yeh, Roaring Thunder? I’m surprised you’re still on the colony.”

“Oh we’re still here, alive and kicking, despite what Blubber King is trying to do to us. I know that little stunt of sending a pony in to clear us out had something to do with you.” he said, rather forcefully in an upset tone.

“No I meant I didn’t realise you ran this chain, from the broadcast back when you opened I got the impression you were planning to expand rapidly. I thought you’d have been straight off to another colony.” Di said, finishing her burger and moving onto the pizza and taking a sip of the shake. “Or was that smoke and mirrors?”

“Let’s call it a little bravado for the cameras shall we?” Roaring Thunder replied, his tone a little more calm. “We’re expanding, just not at the rate we’d like. Blubber King is a force to be reckoned with, but we think there’s a market for our food. With the issues here on Sleipnir I’ve had to stick around, sort it out.” he said. “I must say I’m getting a huge kick out of seeing you enjoy our food, it’s rather satisfying.”

“I’m here to research. We’re not doing as well as you think we are.” Di replied, the stallion raised his eyebrow in response.

“Oh?”

“I won’t deny sending that pony in was something to do with us, that would be insulting if I did. We were getting desperate, the chain on this colony was on the verge of collapse. It was a bit of a drastic measure. I like it here, believe it or not. I don’t want us to close.” she explained.

“I see, and you think coming here will help?” the stallion asked.

“I just wanted to see what it was about this place that made us lose so much business so fast. You do things differently. No seats for a start.” Di said, observing the ponies around her.

“Why have seats when 95% of your customers bring their own?” Roaring Thunder said, referring to those in the store that were pad bound. “And we make provision for that remaining 5%.”

“So I see. But no counters? What do you do if your system goes down?” she asked.

Roaring Thunder simply laughed, it was a hefty belly laugh that made his who massive frame jiggle and wobble. His pad dipped slightly trying to support his shift in weight.

“It has never gone down my dear. My my, you still use counter service? Extraordinary.” he said.

“Drones deliver our food though, but yes. Counter service. Sometimes ponies like a personal touch.” Di said.

“Why do you think we have servers like the mare who greeted you?” he replied. “And we encourage them to gain, it shows how much they like our product.” the stallion said with a smile. “You seem to do what we do but backwards, your ordering is slow but I imagine your delivery times via drone is about the same and twice as expensive.” he mused. At this point Di had finished her meal. She was ready to leave.

“Well this has been educational, are you sticking around on Sleipnir long?” Di asked.

“Until the next branch opens.” he replied, powering up his own pad. “You know you’re welcome any time. Let me know in advance though, we can prepare something a bit more special than what’s off the menu.” he said. Turning away with a final word. “Oh and Di, if we’re going to be competitors. Step up your game. I know you’ve already made inroads with those two shady looking ponies. Don’t think I didn’t see them snooping around, but at the end of the day corporate espionage is no good. The food is what will kill you.” he said, piloting himself into a back office.

Di left and headed back to work. He was right, no amount of silly gimmicks or promotions would sustain a business. They were just things that might keep it afloat a few more months until ponies tired of it and moved on. The food, the food was what was important. As she piloted herself back to work the gears in her head turned. She had to talk to her staff, get them excited about change. She had a plan, a plan that involved lots of cooking and a lot of eating.
> Story 58 - The Raid
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was all in place.

The warrant had come through in record time, less than an hour in fact. Lethal Force had made it more than plain to her superiors that she wanted this one quick and she wanted it bad.

Now she was outside the gates of the largest pad firm on Sleipnir. Her, some deputies and a contingent from the Rollup Division had parked their huge forms ready to do their duty. She observed the premises, trotting her large frame up and down the walls. It was nearly midnight. The gates were locked, all the interior lights were off. But she was sure he was here, she could almost smell it in the mildewy air of the night. The mare walked forward, the gates were huge. Those big wrought iron ones that meant business. She could just about stick her snout through the gaps to look around and see if there was any signs of life in the factory complex. But none, it was all as dead as the night.

Waddling back, she went around to one of the cruisers, her staff watching as she pulled out a megaphone like device for making herself heard. She only had one thing to say.

“STRIVING STEP. THIS IS THE SLEIPNIR POLICE DEPARTMENT. WE HAVE A WARRANT FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE ARREST. YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE TO COME OUT OF THE BUILDING WITH YOUR HOOVES UP, OR WE’RE COMING IN FOR YOU.”

She wondered if the tub of lard could actually get his fat hooves up if he wanted to, but it didn’t matter, she’d settle for his fat ass served to her on one of his own pads. Poetic justice really if he came out on a device that had gotten him into all this trouble.

But a minute passed, no change and no sign of Striving Step. Lethal Force made her next command swift.

“Rollup Division, you know what to do.”

The two massive stallions just nodded, the ponies of this part of the police department were highly paid for a reason. Their size, Rollup Division ponies were built like tanks, fed on a special diet of supplements that made them grow to thousands of pounds, but still be mobile under their own power. This was achieved by their shape, almost ball-like they could roll their bodies with great force at whatever needed to be broken through. As soon as they hit the gate, there was a clang as the iron bars flew open, followed by a massive crash as the two stallions continued their rolling motion into and straight through the front doors of the factory. It always did take a bit of a toll on the poor ponies though, the two of them coming to a stop just inside the doors and looking completely dazed, despite helmets and riot gear to shield them as best they could.

The rest of the division charged in, Lethal Force leading the way. As they squeezed around the two stallions now almost blocking the hall, she yelled a thank you and made her way as swiftly as she possibly could deeper inside.

Even with flashlights, in the dark it was hard to navigate. If it wasn’t for signs on the wall Lethal Force would have been totally lost. She frantically searched for the CEO’s office.

After a few minutes however she was in front of the door. She had waited for this moment for a long time.

Pushing her way inside, smashing the door off its hinges, Lethal Force got as far as yelling “STRIVING…” before noticing like the rest of the building, the office was totally empty. She sighed, what a shame. No movie style showdown. It seemed Striving was more clever than she had given him credit for.There was nothing there, the computer he worked at was shut down and there was no way that lardball was going to hide himself. She angrily kicked a fattened hoof at his desk.

“Damn...the rest of you fan out. Check the building. I want to make absolutely sure he isn’t here. Then we regroup out front and decide our next plan of action.”

The rest of her officers just nodded in reply, leaving the office. The mare herself was exhausted, she plonked her rear in one of the couple of seats for visitors in Striving Step’s office to take a moment to rest.

“H-Hello?”

The mare pricked up her ears, she could have sworn she heard a voice coming from the desk. She got up, trotting over to see a very, very small screen. Almost hidden and out of sight just under where if the fat CEO could, he would have parked his legs under the desk. Lethal Force was met face to face with the projected image of an extremely lardy pony. One that she didn’t recognise or know.

“Hello. Now who am I talking to?” Lethal Force asked.

“Um, my names Blue Ribbon. What are you doing in the factory this late? Who are you?” the enlarged face on the other end asked. Lethal Force observed her, this was one massive mare. Every time she spoke it seemed like a huge effort for her to do so, face so full of fat it was making her struggle.

“Sleipnir PD. We’re here to arrest your boss.” was all Lethal Force said, immediately she saw the face of the other pony fall.

“Oh...I guess that means no more gaining for me…” she sighed.

“Well that depends, if you can help us. Your boss isn’t here. He seems to have fled. I think he must have known we were coming. Also why are you here? The whole factory is shut down.” Lethal Force asked.

“I’m um...special employee. Pad tester, I live in the factory. A secret part that most employees don’t have access to.” Blue Ribbon confessed. “If you look behind you there is a bookshelf. Pull the copy of Cooking with Lilac on the third shelf down. You’ll see me soon enough.” the mare said, the screen flicking off.

Lethal Force didn’t like it, but she had no choice. This was their best and only lead. Doing as the pony had instructed she pulled slightly on the book and like one of those old mystery novels, the bookshelf rolled back to reveal a walkway. She sighed, this was so cliché. Not that she had any credit to give Striving Step for being anything but.

After a few minutes walking, the passage opened up into a huge space that seemed rather bare, apart from a huge locked loading dock door where she assumed items were brought in and out there wasn’t much in here. Her radio she noticed was dead too, seemed the building was shielded from radio waves for whatever reason. It was getting all too secretive. At the other end though, she could make out something in the dark.

As she got closer, it was obvious. It was the pony she had been speaking to. It had been hard to notice her in the darkness. She shined her flashlight over the quivering mass of fat in front of her, just trying to take in what she was seeing. It certainly was the same pony, but she was Equestrian sized...with no pad. Of all the places she could have used one, it was slightly strange she didn’t have one.

“Hello?” Lethal Force called out.

“Hello!?” came the reply, from somewhere around the other side of the blob in front of her, she made her way around, finally coming to small break in the blubber to see a buried head, surrounded by tons of neck fat.

“Blue Ribbon?” she asked.

“G-guess you found me, not that I’m hard to miss…” the pony replied.

“...What are you, why are you so massive?” was all Lethal Force could ask.

“Company pad tester...I was half this size, not long ago. But they fattened me up, wanted me for some big project Striving Step mentioned. It took a while, but they perfected it. They made pads that can hold all 25,000 pounds of me…” she said. Lethal Force gagged slightly, it was no wonder this pony was so huge. It made sense the company would need in their employ a pony of that sort of size to test their heftiest products.

“I see...look. You help me, I’ll help you. I think that project they made you so huge for and why I am here is related. Your boss stole a pad manufactured on Equestria and reverse engineered its tech. Well, he didn’t personally, but a poor pony languishing in my jail is. We got a confession out of him. If you can confirm that makes sense to you, you’re our best lead. Do you have any idea where he went?” she asked.

The massive blue blob of a pony was silent for a moment, seemingly attempting to summon up the energy to speak.

“...Sounds about right. I wondered why he visited me yesterday with no instructions. He just told me to keep my mouth shut and that he was vanishing for a while.” the lard of blubber replied.

“Damn, did he say where?”

“He said he wasn’t leaving the colony, but he didn’t say where he went…” Blue Ribbon said. “I-I’m kinda hungry, got anything to eat? Since the employees and him left, nopony has fed me…” her stomach rumbled, a massive blubbery rumble of a pony who very clearly needed a meal fit for her size.

“I’ll get some of the team down here to look after you. Will you be okay for a short while longer?” Lethal Force asked.

“I guess....but please hurry.” she said, wondering when the next meal was coming.

“I’ll be back soon. Stay put…” Lethal Force said, realising what she said was a bit of a redundant ask. That pony was going nowhere. As soon as she made it back up the passage and to Striving Step’s office she got on the radio, asking her team to meet back at the entrance. At least she knew he was still on Sleipnir somewhere, but where, that was the question. Blue Ribbon clearly had no idea. It seemed she had to track down either a former employee, or find somepony who knew where this pony might have slipped away to. Lethal Force had some work to do.
> Story 59 - Red’s Bigger Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a knock at the door of Ivory’s. She had been expecting him.

“Hello Red...oh? That’s rather unusual of you.” the mare  said with a small amount of sarcasm as she opened the door to her tubby stallion. He blushed a little and with a bit of wiggling, managed to reach his hooves to his mouth and pluck the rose from it. He struggled to keep a hold of it though, before a small drone took it from his grasp.

“Put it in water, you know you don’t have to romance me anymore. We’re on good terms Red.” Ivory said casually, inviting him in. The blush started to dissipate from the stallion’s cheeks.

“Well, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try.” he said, watching as the drone placed the flower in a vase that had several others from him already. It was looking quite full.

“Well it’s sweet. Sorry I didn’t mean I didn’t appreciate it.” Ivory said, moving her pad a little closer so she could give him a bit of a snuggly kiss. “So, you had an idea for a date?”

“I do - somewhere in town that I found. It’ll mean a bit of piloting to get there, but we’re both experts now huh?” he said with a small smile. “Plus it means you don’t need to cook, not that I don’t love everything you make in that kitchen of yours.” Red said, already turning his pad and opening the door, beckoning Ivory to follow him.

“You know you were nearly in hot water there...I’ll let it slide.” she cooed, giving the stallion a slight slap on his rear that made him yelp a little in surprise. No matter how frequent that sort of thing was now becoming between the two of them, he always let out a little noise that was somewhere between excitement and shock.

“So what is this place? I assume somewhere to get food.” Ivory asked as they travelled.

“Even better, you’ll see.” Red said, they travelled exchanging a few words. The usual stuff. How their weeks had been, anything new that had gone on. It was becoming routine. Both ponies were now comfortable in each others company enough for that sort of small-talk not to be a point of worry. As they rounded another bend, Red stopped his pad.

In front of them was yet another new eatery that had opened towards the town centre recently. A modest building, exclusive entry by booking only. Being new, they had a look of bookings. A small line of ponies on pads were queuing up outside. There was a short wait to get in, as long as your name was on the list. The outside didn’t look to fancy as Red and Ivory took a place in line, just a sign above the door that said The Vat.

“I got us a booking.” he said proudly, immediately Ivory’s face went to a sort of excited scrunch, she couldn’t believe it.

“W-what? How? This place is the hottest new thing in town! They’ve been booked for months in advance! I tried to get something last week and they told me to try again next year!!!” Ivory squeaked in excitement.

“Just a little perk of the job.” was all Red said. That was a half truth, that had helped a bit. It also helped he kept a very close eye on upcoming food developments on the colony and had booked this place months ago before it had even opened. The concept of this place was certainly interesting.

When Red and Ivory finally made it to the front door, all he said was “Red Roller, I have a reservation.” and the doorman let him in where they were guided to their table by a less hefty server than Red, although they had their own pad. They were both parked at well...nothing. This place had no tables, just a small device with a number of round holes between the pads that stuck out a little.

“Welcome to The Vat.” the server began to say, before he could finish, Ivory butted in a little and asked a question.

“Any relation to The Trough? I love that place!” she said, obviously still a bit excited.

“Same owners actually, just trying something new.” the server said. “You’re both new first timers so I’ll explain how it works. You pay by selected gain. Punch how much you want to bloat by into the terminal and you’re charged appropriately. Maximum of ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine pounds from the terminal but if you put that in well...expect a bill as big as you get. There are three hoses. Strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. Again pick which one you want and just press a button under where the hose is to choose a flavour. I must inform you, one hose at a time. We’ve had a few greedy ponies try multiple ones already…” the server sighed. It was a new place, so customers taking advantage somewhat was to be expected. “When you’re done, just press the top button on the console and I’ll ring you up. Enjoy.” he said, scooting himself away to help new arriving customers.

“Huh?” was all Ivory said. She didn’t know much about this place, but this was surprising. “Red can you explain? That went totally over my head.” she confessed, looking confused.

“It’s the ultimate gaining restaurant! You put in what you want to gain, take a hose and chug until you’ve gained the size you put into the terminal!” Red said excitedly, he was already leaning forward as much as he could to grab the strawberry hose.

“Wait what, so you just punch in a gain size and it gains you that much?” Ivory said. This was a novelty. Blubber King had something like it but they didn’t just deliver food through a hose. She watched as Red put the strawberry hose to his mouth and clamped the rubber strap around the back of his head. She didn’t even see what weight he punched in on his side the terminal as immediately the pump surged to life and he seemed to relax, sucking down whatever was in the tube.

Ivory pulled out the vanilla one, one of her favourite flavours. She didn’t know what Red had put in but she assumed he was paying. She decided to try to be modest and keyed five hundred pounds into the pad. Immediately she felt her mouth filled with what she could only describe as a vanilla milkshake, but much richer and thicker than she was used to. The mare had no trouble however sucking it down. It tasted absolutely delicious. The liquid being pumped in as well as the ability to just sit on her pad and suck it down was rather lovely.

She wasn’t sure what Red had decided to go for, but he had clearly gone for a gain more than she had put into her side. Those massive flanks of his were ballooning out with each minute that passed. The fat stallion was getting even fatter, not that she cared. The bigger he got the more she was falling in love with him and his size. She’d ask once the meal was over.

Red was keeping quiet, just focusing on gaining. He was right to book. No silly chewing, not even any movement. Just pure indulgence, pure gaining. You said what you wanted to gain and you gained it. He had a goal, he was going to indulge himself whilst he was here. Every moment he was sat he could feel new folds forming and pounds and pounds being added to his already sizeable frame. It was wonderful, plus the thick, creamy mixture was lovely too. If he had more money he could easily sit here and become Equestrian sized or larger, but he didn’t have the pad for that. For now he stuck to something more sensible, but still a hefty gain. The stallion felt his stomach bulge and his flanks widen, cheeks puffing out even more than they already were. His face as well started to form new folds around his neck, body searching for anywhere it could place the new pounds forming doughy layers of flesh all over him. His head began to sink slightly into his neck, the show of a real fatty. He began to wonder if one day he’d end up like those real massive ponies, where your head started to form a small hole in your gigantic, flabby body.

Apart from ponies coming and going and the server hovering by every so often to ask if everything was okay the restaurant was actually very quiet. None of the diners with hoses shoved in their maws could really speak. In fact the only real noise was from some pretty standard jazz playing on the sound system that was quite relaxing. When the server returned again, both Ivory and Red just did their best to indicate they were both very happy.

About twenty minutes in, Ivory’s pump stopped and she unstrapped the hose from her mouth. She took a moment to collect herself, five hundred pounds of gain was nothing small. She let out a rather loud “U-Uuurraaappppp!” which filled the air for a few seconds before dissipating. Her body felt much heavier, new fat folds having formed where she had gained in size. It had been rather lovely. The display of five hundred still showed on her screen.

A moment later, Red’s finished too, shutting off he pulled the hose off himself, which retracted back into the small centre console. He however let out an even louder “BWWAAAARRRRRPPPPPPP!” which made a few ponies look over, and the server also come to attended to his and Ivory’s needs. The noise meant they didn’t need to summon him.

“How was it?” he asked, working on a total.

“Wonderful.” Red replied. “If I can get another booking we’ll both be back.”

“And you miss?”

“Very nice, a limited menu but certainly doesn’t leave you lacking for feeling full.” she said. It was the truth, Ivory felt absolutely stuffed and huger than she had ever been. She was about to ask Red what he gained, but the waiter answered for her.

“A total bill for two and a half thousand pounds of gain between you.” he said, as Red paid Ivory’s jaw dropped. She had watched him grow. He had certainly gotten a lot bigger but she wasn’t expecting two thousand pounds worth of gaining bigger. It was amazing he had packed away four times as much as she had in the same time. She didn’t question it, only tried to pull her jaw back up to its usual spot as Red paid the bill and they left.

“Two thousand…so by my count, that’s seven thousand pounds you weigh now?” she asked.

“...more or less.” Red replied. He was still recovering a little from the massive meal.

“Mmmm, well when you’re recovered properly, back to my place for some fun. An extra two thousand pounds deserves some attention.” she cooed. As per his normal reaction, Red blushed. The two of them made their way back to Ivory’s place, the stallion getting accustomed to his new size as they went. Hopefully the bed wouldn’t break under him…
> Story 60 - Returning Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a very...interesting trip.

Rotunda had not dreamed of the little detour she would take when she booked that vacation all that time ago. Often she would run into ponies and make new friends, but never had she thought she would get invited to a new colony she had never heard of and be offered a recurring shipment of mutant fruit that was going to help her gain beyond her wildest dreams.

The contract had been hammered out. In the end Rotunda had ended up paying a little more than she wanted to, but for what she was getting it would absolutely be worth it. Once the hard part was over though, Sundrop had issued her a rather stern warning.

“Like I explained, we know these fruits only make ponies gain more with a terrible taste but any other side effects well...nopony has eaten enough yet for us to document any further issues. Do let me know if your consumption of them causes any problems. We can just switch to sending you the regular fruits.” she had said to Rotunda before signing off her side of the paperwork.

Graciously Sundrop had loaned use of her ship to Rotunda and with her and Cherry aboard, they were speeding their way back home. In the interim Rotunda had gotten Cherry to arrange a welcome home banquet for just a small selection of friends. She knew her two closest friends would be keen to see her with her new size, when she had left she must have been around half the size she was now. She really had indulged herself.

“Plans are made mistress, your friends should be awaiting you when you land.” her maid dutifully explained.

“Thank you Cherry, do you mind indulging me in some food for a short while and some discussion?” she asked her servant, who shifted slightly uneasily. She still didn’t seem too comfortable in paying close attention to her master, despite the fact they had gotten closer before. She wondered why, but no matter. At the end of the day, she was the one paying her for such delights.

Cherry herself had now gained enough to form a rather delightful soft stomach beneath her, sagging down enough to just brush the floor. With as much effort as she could she leaned her immense weight on the even immenser weight of Rotunda and began to levitate food from a nearby table of treats. Sundrop was paying for her safe return to Sleipnir after all, it was right she should take advantage of her generosity. Between mouthfuls of food she had some questions for her maid.

“How have you found this little diversion?” she asked.

“Interesting ma’am.” was all she said at first, waiting until Rotunda had a mouthful of food which she hastily stuffed between her maw to continue speaking. “You have done well, with the fruits and my attention to your increased gaining you may well become one of the larger ponies of the colony.”

Rotunda just raised an eyebrow, finishing off the food and replying before Cherry pushed more between her lips. “May well become? That is the plan my dear. To be the fattest. One day I’ll be so large I fill so much of the house that I will be the house.” she rebuffed with a grin, eating more and feeling her huge heft just be added to. “I plan to put Equestrian ponies to shame with my size.” she continued confidently.

“Yes mistress. As long as I am in your employ I’ll do whatever I can to help you achieve that goal.” Cherry replied, driving her point home by pushing an entire cake into Rotunda’s maw, which vanished with a few frenzied chews within moments.

“You know, there are certain advantages to being so loyal to me…” Rotunda trailed off, she was clearly leading her maid on to another question which came as quickly as she expected.

“You have already been so generous already.” Cherry replied, leaning her bulk harder on her master as if to press her own point home. She could feel her flab squishing nicely against an even more soft and jiggly body beneath her. “What more could I possibly ask for?”

“More weight for a start. Cherry it is unbecoming that my most trusted maid does not even weigh half what I do. When we get back home I insist you are put on a feeding diet to bring you to half my size at all times. Whatever I gain, you follow. What do you weigh now?” Rotunda asked, feasting on more rich treats as Cherry searched her mind to try to remember her last weigh in.

“Around fifteen hundred pounds ma’am. I believe.” she replied drily, Rotunda just smiled in return.

“We will be fixing that on touchdown, whilst I mingle with my friends report to the kitchen and give them my orders. They must bring you to half my size which will be just over three thousand pounds. You have to look the part my dear.” The mare said, watching as Cherry’s expression just changed to confusion.

“But...mistress, my heft is so great already that I struggle to walk. My stomach sags low and almost makes me immobile as it is. My rear…” she blushed. “It is like two small mountains behind me. If my weight doubles, then I shall be unable to serve you.” she explained.

“Indeed, but no matter. We shall get you a pad. Think of it as this year's bonus for your hard work. I expect you still to serve me Cherry, but this will allow you mobility and to stay by my side.” she watched as the maid’s face lit up.

“A pad of my own? Mistress...thank you.” was all she said, showing her gratitude by cramming Rotunda’s face full of so much food her cheeks bulged out as if they were crammed with nuts like a squirrel’s would. Once she managed to chew her way through the treats she went back to the conversation.

“Indeed. Cherry this is a momentous occasion. We shall grow big together. I think a little celebration before we get back home...can you fetch the gifts?”

“You don’t want to save them?” Cherry asked.

“No, I don’t see why not. These are for me and me alone. Fetch them both and feed them to me, I want my size to be impressive for Sugar and Honey.”

With her instruction, Cherry removed herself from her mistress’s bulk, feeling her own weight once again brush the floor beneath her when she made it back down off the mountain of flab she had been positioned on. Disappearing down to the store of the ship for a short while she returned with two of the fruits. Sundrop had passed two over as a going away present, Rotunda licked her lips in anticipation as Cherry positioned herself back on top of Rotunda and wordlessly eased the first of the fruits into her maw.

The taste...she’d never get used to it. It was just terrible, but as Sundrop had warned any attempt to modify it would ruin the fruits effects. Rotunda didn’t care, she was about to add six hundred pounds to her massive frame and it was worth every little bit of struggle she would have to endure to eat the fruit. Cherry above her kneaded and pushed the fruit down with her hooves, eventually it slipped down Rotunda’s throat and into her stomach. She gasped, feeling the wondrous effects instantly as three hundred pounds of blubber was added to her frame and her body expanded even more so, fat rolls becoming fatter and her blubbery face sinking even further into her massive round spare tyre of a neck.

The second fruit went down easier, perhaps she wondered the more you ate the easier it became, but she still needed her maids assistance to swallow the thing. Once in again she gasped and blushed, in mere moments she had added the sort of weight it would take ponies months or weeks to achieve. These fruits really were a gift. She felt her body sag beneath her, fat folds spilling out and belly and rear gaining hundreds of pounds of heft that she had dreamed of gaining for years. She couldn’t wait to be so big and immobile that not even a Sleipnir pad could hold her mammoth weight aloft. Just a giant ball of blubber, it sounded...amazing. She would be the envy of the colony.

They were approaching home, just one jump away unbeknown to the two massive mares on the ship. Rotunda was looking forward to impressing her friends.
> Story 61 - Into The Void
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the teleportation into space, the E.T.F Starflier and her crew completed final systems checks that it was spaceworthy. Vector was satisfied, getting their course from command and making sure that it was correctly inputted into the ships computer.

Equestrian space was rather peaceful. Ships were minimally armed, mostly in case of petty disputes between captains. In the early days, the Empire had maintained a rather heavily armed fleet of ships that patrolled its borders. No external threat came however in thousands of years and this fleet now has dwindled to a core force of rather old, endlessly retrofitted warships that hung in space over Equestria itself. The crew fat and lazy, never being called to action.

What was not outdated however was the engineering division of the Empire that kept its many worlds connected. Once a colony was set up and established the first thing built was always the massive gates that orbited the planets allowing for safe docking and atmospheric escape from these worlds.

After those were in place, safe routes between worlds were then established for regular shipping. The only ships capable of making jumps between systems were ships fitted with a jump drive, like the E.T.F Starflier and a few others. Most ships had only conventional in-system drives, which meant using jump gates. These huge structures, ten times bigger than the gates that orbited planets, were built second and took many years to construct. However they allowed safe passage through the void of darkspace between established colonies, each jump taking somewhere between a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the distance. Each one was built reasonably far out on the edge of the system, to mitigate the effect of any disasters, rather than close to colonies.

Once in a system, the first thing that got connected was the jump gate to the established colony via a transport lane. These lanes, miniature versions of jump gates, accelerate ships through their often dead straight path from one point in the system from point to point. Also helping ships avoid things such as asteroid belts or other in-system hazards that could get in their way. Finally once this was in place, other lanes may be built to connect to other points of harbour within a system, such as a rest stop, shipyard or in rare cases there are systems where multiple planets are suitable for colonisation, so have a transport lane connected between the two. Ships making their own way off these beaten paths was often considered dangerous and unnecessary. For a start no food made it not something on captain’s priority list and it these sorts of trips were left to ships in the exploration division.

In the case of the E.T.F Starflier, they would travel as far out on the conventional transport lanes and jump gates as they possibly could to conserve their fuel, then once in the furthest established system, use the drive to then jump the ship to the new system that had been mapped for them. The captain had called a meeting whilst the ship began its journey out of the Equestrian system, he had been briefed himself just before departure as was standard protocol. There had been incidents in the past where ponies had believed often the intended destination of these colony ships contained some sort of garden of Eden style planet made of food. No such thing had been discovered yet.

In the briefing room, Vector Thrust sat at the head of the table. You’d expect that table to be full of highly sophisticated notepads and other devices his staff were using, right now however it was just full of plates. Nopony missed the chance at a meal. Through his chews Vector relayed the orders he had been given just an hour ago.

“Everypony know why they’re here?” he asked.

There was just a selection of nods through stuffed and swollen cheeks as his staff ate.

“Good...uuurrppp!...excuse me. We’ll be taking the Starflier through conventional jumps right out to the north eastern reaches of the Empire. Embarr colony is the last system with a gate. It was only completed eleven months ago, their transport lane just three so we can use that to get to the colony. Once there we are to dock with the orbiting station, make final system checks then make the drive jump out into the unknown. Once we arrive standard procedure to establish a new colony. We’ll be here for a good long while, so make sure the crew is sufficiently fed and also morale is high.” he finished, at the same time finishing his place of food. Another one was brought to him straight away by a small drone and placed on the table.

“Have we got a name for the new colony yet?” one of the many staff at the table asked.

“Yes, Llamrei. Apparently a pony of repute back in the day. Fought in wars.” he replied.

The staff looked puzzled, eventually another asking “Where do these names come from captain? Nopony I know has such a bizarre name.”

It was a fair question, thinking over the colony names Vector couldn’t quite put a hoof on it himself. Sleipnir, Arion, Rhaebus, they were all very odd pony names indeed. Even going back thousands of years in the history of the Empire it was hard to discern when ponies might have given themselves such names. He had heard a rumour these names were chosen by Celestia herself, who was so ancient she may well have lived at a time when these names were common. He shrugged and simply answered “I don’t know, perhaps from a time so old these were normal pony names. In any case the name always comes from command.”

The pony who asked just gave a dissatisfied frown before going back to their meal.

Vector got up, he had finished his second plate. Before another could be brought to him he left the room. “I need to check on something, I’ll be back shortly.”

The meeting wasn’t over, but he had to make sure their core was safe and sound. Taking the elevator down he came upon the small room he had before, looking out the glass at Starflier.

The massive pony had gained even more now, she really was a sight to behold. A massive blob of a mare that put Equestrians to shame. He envied her in a way, to be that big must be rather wonderful. As he observed, he noted she was utterly silent, undergoing a feeding session. The tubes pumping her full of the fattening liquid. He took a quick look at her face through the connecting video screen but he thought it best to leave her be, making a quick mental note of her expression. She seemed satisfied.

Returning to the meeting he sat back at the head of the table, another plate of food being offered up to him. Vector began to eat, his fat frame easily taking on the food he was pushing down his throat. It would be a reasonably long journey, he hoped the crew wouldn’t cause him too much issues. They seemed like a good bunch. He just felt uneasy about their core. Nopony was ever happy, so he was told, about the situation they were forcibly placed in. Starflier however was perplexing him. Most ponies accepted their situation once they reached that size, that there was nothing they could do and they were trapped. Starflier however, when he had observed her on the screen despite being a face of not much but blubber still looked absolutely furious even after all this time. He was...concerned.

In the meantime he had a meeting to get back to and a voyage into the void to oversee. He just hoped nothing would impede it.
> Story 62 - Big Changes, Big Eating
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, Blubber King had seen changes.

It was becoming a running joke on the colony at this point, how often the eatery changed to try to keep up with competition. Di however had done a good job convincing corporate, especially after the visit from their top ponies had put the chain on edge.

She was pleased though, things had changed for the better. She had borrowed one of Roaring Thunder’s ideas, no longer was there many seats in the place. Only around the edge, just for that 5% of customers who still waddled their way in. The interior now was mostly tables with designated pad parking spaces around them.

The drones? Gone. Di couldn’t remember a day when at least one of them was down awaiting repairs. Back to how it should be. Customers either waited at the counter and got their food when it was ready or one of their staff would bring it over. It was so much simpler.

The menu? They still kept it as it was mostly, customers had come to enjoy the variety and seeing what they gained with each other. But there was one addition. They now had special days when ponies could get particular meals cheaper or some other variation of that. So far they had:



Meaty Monday - All foods containing some sort of meat was 50% off.

Waddle Wednesday - Ponies not on pads who waddled in got a buy one get one free deal on their food, particularly to encourage gaining so they no longer qualified for the discount. Cushions provided at pad parking spaces instead, Di expecting that 5% of waddlers to increase greatly.

Fat Friday - A single price of 20 bits for all you could eat.


She planned to introduce more days, but that would be plenty for now. She wanted to give her staff at least some respite. There was one more big change, presently she was training Sunny on how it worked.

“A drive through window?” Sunny asked, peering her head out down the small empty road that would soon be busy with hungry pad bound customers.

“Yes, something they trialled a while ago on a few other colonies and it worked quite well. You get an order through your headset, you relay that to kitchen who makes it and then you give that to the pony that ordered it.” Di explained. “They have to wait about the same time as those ponies who come in but, it means they don’t have to come in. It also opens us up to those ponies too fat to get inside.” she said smiling. Let's give it a go?”

“Alright.” Sunny replied, putting on her headset, Di herself manoeuvring her pad outside and coming up to the speaker box. Sunny’s voice greeted her.

“Hello! Welcome to Blubber King, what can I get you?”

“A number seven with a large shake.”

“Can I get you anything else?”

“That’s all.”

“Thank you! Your order will be ready momentarily. If you can please pull up to the next window and pay I’ll be right there.”

Di was impressed, it seemed Sunny had easily taken to the role. Not that she wouldn’t be used to it, having worked on the tills. As she pulled up she saw Sunny at the window, there was a small scanning pad where Di paid and the money was deducted.

“That was easy!” Sunny exclaimed, leaning at the window and smiling. But she sensed something was wrong.

“You’ve forgotten one key thing.” Di said, raising an eyebrow.

“O-oh? Um. W-what?”

“The meal…” Di replied, grinning. She watched as it suddenly clicked with Sunny and her brain realised she actually had to prepare it.

“Oh, sorry! I thought it was just training. One moment!” she said a little flustered, shutting the hatch and returning a minute later with the meal Di had ordered, passing it out onto a small tray on her pad.

“Do you need any sauces?” she asked.

“No thank you, this is perfect. Once I’ve eaten this I’ll be back inside.” Di said, Sunny closing the hatch leaving her boss outside to munch on the number seven meal and large shake.

She really hoped this would work. She had already heard gossip around the town though of ponies excited to try to get in for one of the cheaper menu days. “I may waddle in, but they’ll have to roll me out!” she had heard a stallion exclaim, grinning to herself.

She finished the meal and headed back in where her staff were milling around, it was a Sunday and the opening was tomorrow, kicking off with the new Meaty Monday.

“Usually I give a speech here but I feel like this time it’s not needed, you all know what’s at stake.” Di said, the rest of them just nodding in agreement. “Tomorrow is yet another re-opening, we start with one of our special days. I’ve already had buzz around the town that ponies are excited to fill their bellies, as they always are. I’ve had extra meat stock ordered.” she explained. “You are all happy now there is no more drones, you’ll be either giving orders out or delivering them to tables yourselves?” she asked.

There was a collective nod, they had all been trained on the new system. Each table had a number, customers gave the table number with the order, they delivered to that table. Easy.

“Good, now go home, rest up and prepare for tomorrow. I am hoping it is going to be very, very busy.” Di finished up, the staff grabbing their things and leaving for the night. Di herself took a final look around the place before locking up and leaving herself. All she could do now was hope that the ponies of Sleipnir were as hungry as ever.

She mused at the situation of just how large ponies got. Of course she was part of the problem but ponies had always been fat. It just seemed more so in recent years that the amount gained had skyrocketed. The colony pad company couldn’t keep up with ballooning sizes, new houses were being constructed constantly. Bigger and bigger every year to accommodate mammoth ponies who just gained potentially hundreds of pounds every day. Two things seemed perpetual, having to build bigger houses and ponies buying food. She laughed to herself, at least there would always be a job in construction if the food industry tanked, not that that would ever happen however.

Di took a look at herself. She had gained since being on Sleipnir too. Her gain was modest though compared to a lot of ponies, a mere eight hundred extra pounds adorned her squishy frame. She hoped she could hit three thousand pounds total weight by her next birthday, it was a reasonable goal. She really wasn’t very far off it. Her favourite, Sunny, had nearly doubled in weight. It was visible too. She was well on her way to immobility, Di assumed most of her wages were squirrelled away should she ever need to buy a pad.

She wondered if one day Sleipnir might even catch up to Equestria. She had heard stories, ponies the sizes of houses. So big they didn’t even live in anything anymore, just parked their pads on a space of land as Equestria always had near perfect weather. She had heard...things though, stories of ponies on Sleipnir getting to real gargantuan sizes. Mostly the upper class, they never graced her establishment with their presence. For one thing most of them were far too fat to even get in. Another was they had their own ways of gaining that were far more pleasurable and easier than stuffing your face with fast food. Burgers really were a poor ponies way to gain, but Di was okay with that. Everypony needed some way to fatten up. She and the other ponies who ran Blubber King’s and other fast food outlets provided a needed service.

In the end, right now she was just trying to keep her outlet going. Meaty Monday was approaching and Di was determined to get a good night's rest before going all out tomorrow. She’d really see what the ponies of Sleipnir, and their appetites, were made of.
> Story 63 - On The Run
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He had been so close, so close.

Everything had been going so well. A successful company, more money and food than he could have ever dreamed of. Striving Step had it all. But he was never a pony who was satisfied that easily, he always wanted more…

That was often where it went wrong for him. Never being satisfied was his downfall. He always pushed just that little bit too far to see just how much he could get away with. This time, it had been a pad heist gone wrong and the authorities were hot on his tail.

Right now he was waiting, despite letting everypony know that his intention was to stay on the colony that was the stupidest thing he could have done. Eventually they’d catch him, outside the cities there wasn’t many places on Sleipnir a pony of immense size such as himself could hideout for very long. He had a plan, a contingency that he had put into place many years ago.

As he had found out his headquarters were about to be raided, he had run a special program on his computer made to send a signal to a ship, long ago he had made a deal with the captain that if he got word, he’d come for him. There was a pickup location set and all the blubbery stallion had to do was wait there for himself to be collected.

He pondered what he might do next, he had a pick of any colony he wanted to go to and he had siphoned off enough funds to a separate bank account that meant he would be comfortable for life. But that wasn’t his way, he had to be doing something. Perhaps setting up another pad company on another colony...hmm, do what he did with Sleipnir. Start on a fledgling world again. It was certainly a thought.

For now, all he could do was wait until the familiar rumble of a starships drives could be heard. Right now he was a little outside the city, in a small abandoned warehouse that had been of use long ago as a way station to transport goods. All that surrounded him were empty, silent fields. He contemplated ordering a last takeout meal but that would be rather silly. There was most likely a warrant out for his arrest. It would lead the Sleipnir police straight to him.

Back at the station, Lethal Force was tired. Very tired. She had exhausted every lead she had. Nopony had any clue where the owner of Sleipnir’s only pad company might have vanished to. Everypony she had interviewed or spoken to said the same thing, that they didn’t believe he had plans to leave the colony. Even Fireflash had been useless, but then again he didn’t have a great relationship with Striving Step anyway.

She had contemplated shutting down the docking ring and preventing all ships leaving the colony, but that required a lot of convincing of officials. Even though Striving Step had done some terrible things, it wasn’t enough to throw the whole of the Dockyard into disarray. Besides he wasn’t going anywhere, to her knowledge, so it wasn’t an issue…

She sat at her desk. There was nothing she could see right now in front of her that would tell her anything more about his getaway. Perhaps she needed a break, it would clear her head and she could at least think a bit more about her next course of action. A small nap in the precinct quarters for a short while would help. The mare pushed herself back from desk, waddling her way towards a free bed for a nap.

Back in the warehouse, Striving Step was getting anxious. The longer he waited the more chance there was of getting caught and the hungrier he got. He hoped he wouldn’t be caught or heard by somepony by an errant stomach growl.

But there it was, faint at first. But it got louder and louder. Outside he could hear that familiar roar of drives that were pushing a huge hunk of flying metal across a planet. Quickly however, the noise abated. As if it was landing.

Powering up his pad, the lardy stallion ventured outside. There was a ship, a reasonably large one sitting floating slightly above the fields. Towards the back a cargo port had opened and a rather thin looking stallion was stood leaning by its entrance. Only exchanging a nod, Striving Step piloted himself inside and was followed in by his host. Wasting no time, the ship powered up its engines and made back for the docking ring to escape the planet’s atmosphere and get back into deep space.

Lethal Force, having woken from her nap on a hunch was looking over the manifest list of ships that had left the colony in the past few days that were registered cargo vessels. All had notes about their visit.

E.M.F Tranquility -  Put down in Docks for 2 days, took on passengers. Bound for Haizum colony.
E.M.F Harmony - Refuelling stop. Bound for Arion colony.
E.M.F Unity - Cargo dropoff, outside docks. Bound for [ERROR].
E.M.F Cadance - Put down in docks for 1 day, food delivery. Bound for Embarr colony.
E.M.F Ataraxia - Refuelling stop. Bound for Tulpar colony.

Nothing out of the ordinary except for the Unity, although sometimes destinations weren’t decided when the ship left and it showed up as an error on the destination log. Regardless, the name of the ship was somewhat familiar and she was curious about the fact it had a cargo drop off outside the docks. All landing ships on the planet had to come into the docks for inspection, a ship being allowed to land outside of those either belonged to a very wealthy individual or it was some sort of special jurisdiction that was given. She got on her communicator to one of her officers.

“Can you check out the Unity, left a few hours ago with no destination? It had a permit to land outside the docks. I want to know why.”

It was just a hunch, Lethal Force had no idea why but perhaps it had been a ruse all along. Maybe Striving Step was already gone and he had made his way off the colony hours ago, or he was still here, planning his next move. Regardless she felt bound to follow up on an error in the logs, despite it being a common one. Whatever the case, despite a nap the mare was still exhausted. She decided enough was enough for the day. Time for a fresh start tomorrow.
> Story 64 - Moving In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moving day.

It was always the last part of the job, it was something as well Red or Foundy actually rarely got to see. Quite often when they had finished building new houses, their job was done and the keys were handed over to the estate agents who went on to sell them to waiting ponies. Sleipnir was becoming somewhat of a popular colony, there was a small waiting list for new colonists to arrive and make their home here. As well as those who expanded in girth and wanted a new house.

Today was different though, the firm was working on an absolutely massive new development project. So huge that houses were being sold next to the construction site, as soon as a house was finished the new owners moved in and Red and his crew moved down the site to start on the next house.

It had been quite interesting to see ponies moving in when he never actually got a chance to.

The new houses built were absolutely massive, due to demand from bigger and bigger clients. The ones they had just finished were possibly the biggest yet. While his crew got on with their job, Red observed from his pad the whole process of a family of fatties arriving to their new home.

Firstly, a hover truck arrived loaded with their things. Furniture for fatties was absolutely gargantuan like they were. No moving was actually done by the moving firm employees, who piloted lifting drones to unload the truck one massive piece of furniture at a time. Red watched as a couch and other usual house amenities went in. It was a rather quick operation though, as part of the deal on new builds things like kitchens were already furnished. Ponies just brought a few things like their couches, beds and whatever the house was getting decorated with. Whoever was moving in to this house must have been quite impressively large. He watched as a twin bed twice as wide as his pad was lifted up and taken inside by the drones.

Once the moving in was done, often the new owners arrived to take make sure everything was as it should be. About twenty minutes after the moving company had gotten everything inside, two mountains of blubber on pads appeared down the end of the street, coming to a stop outside the house. He heard a little talk.

“Our new home, big enough for the two of us!” the stallion said.

“I can’t wait dear, the old place was so small. We were crammed inside so much my folds were pressing against the walls of the living room!” his mare replied, both of them grinning and smiling. They went inside, the double wide entrance doors easily wide enough to take their massive bulks. Red guessed each one must be over ten thousand pounds each. He weighed seven. Their forms quivered and sloshed around as they piloted themselves indoors. He wondered how long it would be before their masses were squishing up against the walls of this house. Give a pony a chance to eat, they’d just eat more.

“Boss?”

“Mmmm?” Red snapped out of his haze and looked over to one of his workmen, who in a flabby hoof was holding a radio.

“Foundy on the line. Asks you if you can come to her office.”

“Oh right, tell her I’ll be right along.”

The massive stallion piloted his pad towards Foundy’s office, the location of which was ever changing due to the site moving along. She had some news for him.

“Problem boss?” he asked, expecting one when he arrived. Generally the boss only summoned him because there was an issue.

“No problem - actually I have something I think you’ll find interesting…”

“Hmmm?” Red asked, Foundy had some plans laid out in front of her.

“Ever seen what they build on Equestria Red?”

“No, I mean I’ve never been.” he replied, looking at the plans. Whatever it was on the blueprint looked very complicated indeed.

“Mmmmm well. I’m sure you know how big the ponies there are.”

He did indeed, stories of mountain sized Princess’s. He had seen the visitors too, when they came to the colony. Ponies of such size and heft they were buried under mounds and mounds of their own blubber. He hoped he could achieve that some day…

“Yes, absolutely massive and make us look thin.” he replied.

“Indeed. So what do you think they build there to house such blubber mountains?” she asked.

“Well um...you know come to think of it I had no idea.” he said, opting for the honest reply instead.

“Well Red, they build nothing. They flatten out some land. Cordon it off with a cute picket fence, and that’s a ‘house’. In the very loosest sense of the word.” Foundy said. “You know how they can get away with it?”

“Not really. I mean a flat bit of land to park a pad on isn’t really what I’d call a house boss.”

“Because Equestria has perfect weather. You don’t need a house if 365 days of the year you’re surrounded by absolutely glorious sunshine controlled by Pegasi. We don’t have that luxury on Sleipnir, there is no weather control. Well…” she trailed off, looking down her triple chins at the plans in front of her on the table, pointing a flabby hoof at them. “This could change that.”

“What is it?” asked Red.

“Plans, for a prototype weather control device that functions purely on science. No Pegasi needed - not that we have any, all too fat to fly with those bingo wings of theirs. Ponies are getting big Red, too big. We’re starting to get to the stage where the houses we build, as massive as they are, are becoming so expensive to build we’re making an absolute tiny profit on the builds. What we need is what Equestria has, flat land where giant ponies can park their pads until their next meal at Blubber King and perfect weather to achieve this. That’s what this is all about.” she explained, rotating the plans so Red could get a better view.

“I see…” he said, looking them over. “Where do we come in?”

“We build the new plots, for a fraction of the cost of the houses we do currently. I mean how hard is it flatten land and put a fence around it and a mailbox up?” Foundy said with a small laugh. “We also need to build these…” she said, leaning down and tapping on the plans, her hoof jiggling as she did so. “This is a prototype, we’ve got to test it to see if it works. No weather control, no easy to build houses. It’s quite simple.” she said.

“Makes sense. Who’s building them then?” he asked.

“You, and your team.” Foundy replied.

Red immediately was anxious. “M-me? With all the disasters I’ve caused. Are you sure that’s wise boss?” he asked honestly. Foundy just smiled back.

“I think you’re up to it Red, all the parts will be provided. You just have to put it together, like a house. This is a small prototype anyway to test if it’s possible to control the weather in a small one mile radius. If this works, the boffins will start building massive ones on giant orbiting space platforms around the planet.” she explained. “Besides, if you succeed, there’ll be a big fat bonus in it for you.” she said. She knew that was the winning ticket with Red, more money meant more food. It was his motivator.

“Alright, well. We can try. When do we start?” he asked.

“Once we’ve finished this current batch of builds, we’ll move on to new ones then you and your team can start. Don’t let me down Red.” she said, rolling the plans up and retreating back to her office. She had more work to do.

“I won’t!” Red said, powering up his pad and returning to his job. He had work to do and plenty to think about. He was sure Ivory would be on board when he mentioned it was good money, but it would take him away from her while he worked. He began to think on it while heading back to his work. More money meant more food, a bigger pad, a bigger belly. Maybe he’d be one of the first and biggest to occupy one of those new builds if the weather control device worked...
> Story 65 - History: The Colonies & Space Travel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The great Equestrian Empire was not always a vast empire of planets that covered the galaxy. Indeed it very much used to be one planet on its own. Equestria.

Around 400 years ago, Equestria was in dire straights. Big ponies meant that land was at a premium, food supplies were becoming more and more expensive and harder to get hold of. Celestia’s best advisers of the period recommended that one of two things be done to the behemoth of a Princess to prevent an oncoming catastrophe within what was back then a kingdom. Realistically there was only two choices.



Stop ponies eating, growing and destroying their own planet.

Allow ponies to continue to eat and grow, but off planet.


After a few days of musing in her thoughts, Celestia decreed that option two in the long term was much more viable. Such a monumental decision has taken its toll, she had grown several thousands pounds more in size due to panic consumption through the myriad of tubes supplying her ever growing mass. Suddenly, a huge amount of funding from the royal treasury was poured into the sciences to advance space travel. Unicorn magic could only get so far and it only account for one third of their race.

What land was left on Equestria not taken up by farming or mammoth fatties was quickly developed into vast shipyards that would be capable of building the first exploration fleets. It was here over the next several decades that E.T.F put together and prototyped the first of many of these vessels that would lead ponykind into the stars. There was one problem however, the power needed to jump these monstrous ships was far beyond what any single Unicorn could provide, at least the smaller ones…

Celestia herself was known to have had her powers grow the larger in size she had gotten. Raising the sun for her, so she had described once was no longer a concentrated chore of a spell. It was as easy as blinking. The bigger she got, the easier it became. The scientists of the E.T.F started to wonder if any other Unicorns on the planet at the heftier sizes would possess similar magical properties. The fatter they were, the more powerful they became.

After more testing on a number of candidates and with technologies developed to enhance and increase the magical properties of spells a few of these magically powerful Unicorns were chosen to be the cores of the ships. As of yet, no jump gates existed or had even been invented or built to ease transport around the galaxy. These Unicorns were immensely powerful, having to teleport the ships vast distances aided by computer calculations and the newly invented ship jump drives. Once they arrived to a potential planet they had to use their magic to terraform it as well. There was one thing they couldn’t do, which was get the ships from the yards on Equestria into orbit. Using the drives of the ship combined with the teleportation magic would be catastrophic for the surface of Equestria. Only Celestia had the sheer power to teleport these vessels into orbit whilst they were idle. The drives then fired up once they left the system.

Over the next decades and centuries, ships were constructed at a vast rate as with the ability to now grow freely, there was a mass exodus from Equestria. The planet gaining the status of royalty and nobility that only the most important ponies in society had which allowed them a spot on the world. The new colonies were almost sold as ideal paradise worlds where ponies could be as fat as they liked, in some cases sly companies even advertised the new worlds had facilities to make them Princess sized. All a lie of course, but once ponies arrived they often didn’t have the money to sue or return to Equestria.

Naming conventions for new colonies were controlled by the Princess’s, with Celestia often getting the final word. Often these were ponies of history with a few exceptions here and there. As time wore on, more and more colonies were established as ponies grew fatter and fatter. Quickly, Celestia found herself the monarch of an ever expanding empire, both literally and with her subjects. Her mandate to put more money into the sciences brought exciting new technology to make space travel a breeze for those of the plus sized nature. Large cargo transports for moving food from breadbasket worlds to urban ones, the network of jump gates to easily move ships between established colonies without the need for the huge hefty Unicorn navigators to be on board. Right now, The Empire was flourishing. Ponies were happy, content and growing bigger every day. It seemed as well that Equestrian ponies were the only truly sentient race in the galaxy, so far. Most worlds chosen were barren wastelands that were terraformed into lush paradises. A few planets had been found and marked either containing primitive creatures or there were other races that had some sort of control of the planet. None however seemed to have made it much beyond a tribal stage. They were left alone, although a few established colonies shared a system with a planet such as this.

Celestia was no fool either, in the early days a war fleet had been present to escort most colonial expeditions, however after finding no resistance to encounter after hundreds of years of terraforming this fleet was eventually semi-mothballed above Equestria, to guard the homeworld in case there ever was a threat. Equestria’s shipyards always as well contained plans to build warships if needed. The fleet above the planet always being retrofitted with new technologies to fight off any would-be foes. Some joked it was the easiest job in the fleet, often captains of these vessels were removed because they spent all day eating, eventually growing too hefty for the ship to be able to support them anymore.

Sleipnir itself, founded as the 4th colony in the Epona cluster is still fledgling. Quickly however it is starting to catch the eyes of those around it, an interesting mix of ponies inhabiting it as they too grow their way into sizes once deemed impossible by their ancestors. As with all her colonies, Celestia has her eyes on it…

Which brings us to the present day. Roughly 35% of the current galaxy has been colonised for use by giant, jiggling fatties. This brings Celestia to the same issue she had when it was just one planet, eventually The Empire will no longer be able to sustain itself if ponies continue to grow and grow and eventually occupy all liveable worlds within the galaxy. Already, her scientists are working on new technologies that means ponies one day might be able to leave the galaxy and colonise far off ones. Their hunger limitless, this seems like the only option to keep her race expanding. Where this will take them however, who can say.
> Story 66 - The Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since they had arrived home, Rotunda had made her prime maid rather busy.

As soon as the ship had touched down and the massive mare departed, she had been eager to show her friends how much she had gained on her little trip away. The fruits a secret, with Rotunda intending to keep them that way she had some plans. The first one was to have a small party with her closest friends back at home, to show off her gain. Rich ponies were like that, they relished the chance to one up each other.

Cherry herself had been busy running errands to make sure everything was ready for this evening. She had not had to move herself too much on the trip as her mistress had mostly kept herself occupied, but now she was firmly back to work. She had forgotten just how...difficult it was to move quickly with such a massive body. The maid pony verging on immobility, she tried her best as she scuttled around town to keep her uniform in one piece, lest her gigantic stomach or quivering cheeks snag or get stuck on something that would rip it to pieces instantly. She was just back from getting a small amount of supplies Rotunda had requested, mostly ingredients for food that the maid now had to whip up. She waddled her way into the kitchen and laid the ingredients out. Ready to work.

“Back so soon?”

Cherry craned her head around, it was one of the many staff that Rotunda employed. A young stallion. He was searching around one of the many fridges for something.

“Well, it was only a short trip. What are you looking for Duster?” Cherry asked, observing as he clumsily went from shelf to shelf speedily looking for whatever it was he was after.

“A can...whipped cream? The mistress requested one.” he replied. Duster, or Duster Sleeve to give his full title had only been in Rotunda’s employ but a few months. He was eager to try to impress. With the salary she paid her staff it had already started to take a toll on the young stallions physique. He could afford to eat at Blubber King every day if he so chose.

“Ah, third shelf towards the back. Usually anyway.” Cherry said, busying herself with making the food for the party. “Whipped cream, on its own?” she asked.

“She said she just wanted it, didn’t say why. I figure she was hungry.” Duster replied, finally finding a can and pulling it out. “Thanks Cherry.” the stallion said, trotting off back up the stairs and out the kitchen, leaving Cherry alone to work. It was curious. Perhaps Rotunda wanted a quick snack before the party. There was only a few hours to go.

Cherry finished her preparations and laid the food out. She also made sure everything was in place for her mistress to have the evening she had requested. Already, the first of her guests started to arrive. Cherry answered the door dutifully. Honey Drops and Sugar Tart had arrived.

“Hello Cherry, good trip with Rotunda?” Honey asked, with Sugar following her in behind her.

“Looks like it. Gained a few hundred pounds have you Cherry? I must speak to Rotunda, she treats you far too well.” Sugar said, following on the conversation. Cherry herself went red, the two mares she had just greeted laughing a little.

“I think that answers that, ah - a buffet. We’ll just keep ourselves fed whilst we wait for Rotunda. How is she anyway?” Honey queried, piloting herself immediately over to the food Cherry had spent the afternoon preparing.

“Quite well. I shall let her know you have both arrived. She is expecting some more guests but she was eager to see you both.” Cherry said, walking up to a wall and pushing a small button set within it. Part of the houses built in communication system.

“Both of us? I am sure there are far more important ponies…” Sugar said.

“She considers the two of you some of her closest friends.” Cherry replied slightly deadpan, as if she was surprised herself she had to let the two of them know this. Perhaps it was another one of their games. Whatever it was she had never cared too much for it.

At that moment, from atop the stairs leading down into the room, Rotunda appeared. It had been a little while since she had seen either Honey or Sugar, but both stopped their eating to stare at the small mound of blubber piloting its way towards them.

“My friends!” Rotunda said excitedly, through triple quivering chins. There would have been a hug, instead she just settled for gently piloting her pad into both Honey and Sugar so they could feel her fat press against them.

“By Celestia dear, you’ve...well you’re spilling over your pad.” Honey observed, watching as Rotunda jiggled and wobbled her way backwards slightly to pull out of the ‘hug’.

“I know, wonderful isn’t it? I weigh over six thousand seven hundred pounds. With more to come.” she grinned, making her way to the buffet as Cherry waddled behind her, dutifully climbing up onto her folds as the pad Rotunda was on dipped slightly to accommodate the extra weight. It was Cherry’s job to feed her whenever she desired, the mare too fat to reach for food herself.

“Did this all happen on your trip?” Sugar asked, slightly in awe of her friends mass.

“Why yes! The resort was amazing, as much food as I could eat. I even made a friend.” Rotunda replied between mouthfuls. 

“I must get the name of that resort, looks like you had a whale of a time.” Honey said, poking fun at her friends new size. “That pad under you...well I can’t even see it anymore. It must be struggling.” she said.

“A new one is on order, able to support even more mass. I shan’t be stopping gaining soon. You just wait girls. Before long I’ll be even fatter than Farthest Reach.” she boasted. Cherry climbed down from her mistress, she was in full swing now of her enjoyment letting everypony know that she was bigger than they were. The doorbell had rung again, Cherry let a few more of the expected guests in then vanished to the kitchen to prepare more food. Once again, she found Duster rooting around for more supplies.

“More whipped cream?” she asked, he was at the same drawer in the fridge.

“Yes but...for me this time.” Duster confessed. “She devoured that can in mere seconds. What an appetite! I just...I want to be as big as her.” the stallion said, his words stopped as Cherry pushed the door closed in front of him to the fridge, making him quickly withdraw his greedy hooves.

“And you will be Duster...in time, but stealing is no way to get there. The money is good, use it to buy food. A single can of cream might not mean much right now, but it’ll build. You’ll lose your job when she finds out and then you won’t be able to afford anything. Is that what you want?” Cherry said, leaning her weight onto Duster to try to press her point home.

“...N-no. I uh, I guess I can wait.” Duster replied, looking a bit sorry for himself. He put the can he had taken back in the fridge. “You’re right. See you after the party Cherry.” the stallion said, trotting off to complete another task. He had plenty to be getting on with besides stealing.

Cherry sighed. She knew his thoughts, she had similar ones when she had started the job. But it was never worth it, besides he’d learn that Rotunda would reward him in time. For now, it was back to the party. She expected her mistress wanted more feeding, as well as more food.
> Story 67 - Dead Stop
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vector Thrust had never heard a sound like it in his life, the only way to describe it would ear-splitting.

Sirens immediately sounded, his bridge crew jostled and jiggled around in their seats as without any warning the ship suddenly came to a complete stop in the void of space. The incredible noise was the hull straining under the pressure of dropping out of warp speeds without properly dropping into sublight. Normally when ships were about to drop out of warp there was a gradual slowing so the ship wasn’t under as much pressure. What had happened to the E.T.F Starflier had just come to a complete dead stop. Vector sat for a moment in complete panic. Internally his brain was screaming wondering what the heck he should do. This was one of those moments in training they said might happen, was somewhat of a possibility but kind of skimmed over it and how you should handle the situation because it was so rare. Outside however, he kept his calm demeanour.

“Captain?”

The voice came from one of his navigation officers. He wanted orders. The ship settled, the loud and horrific screech of the hull finally stopping as the ship got used to its now idle position in realspace.

“Damage report. What the hell pulled us out of warp!?” was Vector’s first words.

There was a tapping of fat hooves on screens as the bridge crew began to disseminate data from the ships internal and external sensory systems. After a few moments he had an answer come to him from another member of the crew.

“We are nowhere captain, as in, we are in the void of space between star systems. Externally there are no anomalies, ships or anything unaccounted for that our sensors are able to register. At least not from the outside…”

“You say that as if there is a cause, but not from there.” Vector asked.

“Possibly sir. The core...there is a reading on the output monitor that displays we had a momentary drop from its power transfer to the warp drive. It would be enough to cause this.” he explained. Vector frowned, getting up from his command chair. He knew where he had to go.

“Dispatch repair teams to firstly survey the damage and then patch up what we can. We’re going nowhere until I’ve um, been down to the core. This ship doesn’t move another inch until I say it can.” Vector said, leaving the bridge and his officers to handle the situation. It was time for another chat with Starflier.

Entering the observation room nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There she was, the biggest ball of lard the captain had ever had the pleasure of setting eyes on. This time however it was with anger and fire in them that he almost screamed down the communication device. Firstly however, some pleasantries.

“Starflier? I expect you know why I’m here.”

There was no response. But all monitoring on the small display read normal.

“I just have one question… WHAT IN CELESTIA DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” Vector shouted, seeing if he could elicit any sort of response from her. Absolutely nothing. It was probably best he vent his frustrations without her giving any sort of reply.

“We’re in deep space Starflier. Are you TRYING to get us all killed? I know you dropped the energy transfer to the warp engines. The readings don’t lie.” he paused for a moment and sighed. Perhaps reason would work better, the pony he was talking to was a former scientist after all.

“Look. I know you hate this, I can still feel your anger even through this glass. But do you not understand? There is nothing you can do. Pulling what you did just makes it even worse. If you destroy this ship and its crew, you’ll be doomed yourself. You can’t survive out here alone. If you want my advice? Cooperate with us, finish the mission and let us get through this. Then when we get back to Equestria you can pull some sort of revenge then. But for Celestia’s sake don’t endanger innocent ponies in your rage. You’d sacrifice the lives of everypony aboard this vessel just so you could escape somehow? Then what? We’re in the middle of nowhere, literally. You may be the size of a small meteor but you’re still a pony with no survival suit. Not that there’d be any big enough to encompass your enormous mass. What do you expect? To drift through the void for a few mere moments before you freeze to death?” Vector was getting on for a lecture, he thought he had better stop.

“Anything to say for yourself?”

“...Fine.” was all Starflier responded with a lot of wheezing.

“Good enough for me.” Vector huffed back, slamming his chubby hoof on the display to shut it off and heading back into the elevator up to the bridge. As soon as he waddled in he was met by one of his officers.

“She’s damaged sir, but nothing we can’t repair. We’ll be sitting here for a few days though whilst the repair teams get to work.”

“Fine, at least we’re not in any immediately danger. I attended to our core, this shouldn’t happen again. Just a minor blip.” his words seemed to put the bridge crew at ease at least. “Now then get us moving again as soon as possible. We’ve a mission to complete.”

The captain sat back in his chair. This was not turning out to be the easy routine terraforming mission he had signed up for, the core was becoming more problematic than he had hoped.

A few floors below him, a message was being sent through one of the terminals back to Equestria.

++Your Majesty.

Mission nearly compromised, core unstable. Captain appears to have resolved, for now. Await instructions, terminate mission?++

Short and sweet, why give a lot of detail? All the agent had to do now was wait, the message had been sent on a secure channel to Celestia’s people. She was doing exactly what she had been tasked to do, watch the core. Flicking the screen off just in the nick of time she felt a hoof tapping on her shoulder.

“Come on, we’re on damage repair. Gotta get the ship going again. Now isn’t the time to be sending a message home but I know how you feel.”

“R-right, lead the way.”

The two ponies vanished. The future of the E.T.F Starflier just that little bit more uncertain.
> Story 68 - Meaty Monday
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Di was mentally preparing herself in her office. Whenever something in the store changed, she usually needed a moment to herself to get ready for what she knew was coming. But it was finally here.

Meaty Monday.

Not only was it Meaty Monday, but it was the grand re-re-re opening (at least she thought that was right, she was starting to lose track of how many times the store had closed, been refurbished and then opened again) of Blubber King. She gave a rousing yet stern speech to her staff just as she always did. They were as prepared as they were ever going to be. She hoped the staff were ready to tackle table service, drive in orders and just dealing with the general chaos any sort of discount on food brought with it. Hopefully a few weeks in after the first one it would calm down.

The doors opened, as expected a huge queue instantly formed of ponies of varying size. Ones that waddled, ones that came in on pads. The staff were quickly drowning in orders that they had to deal with. Di was in full management mode, barking orders at her staff when she noticed issues like the fryer wasn’t being checked on and the fries were starting to burn or a customer had been waiting for their order for more than five minutes. This was meant to be fast food! She wasn’t going to let the grand re-re-re opening go wrong.

The only one she really left alone was Sunny, who seemed to have despite some issues the previous day taken well to her new role at the drive in window. The mare was taking orders in a pleasant tone and getting the kitchen to make what was required so the customers in the queue outside were getting what they ordered rather quickly. That was until, a familiar voice came through her intercom.

“Welcome to Blubber King, what can I get for you today?”

“Hello dear, it’s Farthest Reach. I see the re-opening of our colonies favourite fast food establishment is going swimmingly.”

Sunny froze for a moment, suddenly realising she was speaking to the Planetary Governor. Di had appeared behind her, trying to sooth her tensions. She had noticed he had joined the queue outside not long ago and knew he was coming.

“Answer the stallion Sunny, he probably wants to order.” Di said, watching as Sunny gathered her thoughts.

“Y-yes, thank you sir! Um...what would you like to order?” she asked, trying her best to compose her thoughts.

“One hundred meals please, whatever falls under your Meaty Monday deal. I just want to do my part to support the local business.” he replied. “Don’t worry, I know that’s rather a lot. I can wait. I’ll pull forward though, it can be loaded onto my pads trailer.”

“Oh um, of course! Just please stay where you are in the queue!” Sunny said, instantly panicking. Di was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What did he ask for?”

“One hundred meals, but he said he didn’t care what, as long as it fell under the deal today. What do I tell the kitchen!?” Sunny panicked. “He wasn’t specific!”

“Just tell them that, one hundred meals on the offer. Doesn’t matter what just as long as it’s made fast. Anything else?” she asked Sunny.

“He said something about a trailer…”

Di peeked her head out of the drive in window, she was lucky Farthest Reach was too fat to crane his flabby neck around to see her looking. Indeed behind his own humongous pad was an equally large flat pad hooked to the back with nothing on it. Plain in design it just had some low metal walls presumably to keep what was in it from falling out.

“Okay, yeah has a trailer hooked to his pad you can load all the food onto. Sunny here is what you do. We explain to ponies ordering at the counter there will be a small delay whilst we sort his order out. They’ll be annoyed but hungry ponies being told to wait for food always are. We make the kitchen only work on what he wants. Use the side door and I’ll help you load up his pad. Then we ring him up and send him on his way. Alright?” Di explained, the nervous Sunny now calmed just nodding a yes in response. “Okay, let's get to it.”

Di went to the front and explained to the queue that was waiting there would be a small delay, angry groans, moans and rumbling bellies were the response she got. Exactly what she expected. Sunny meanwhile put the kitchen to work and work they did, churning out a new order for the gargantuan Governor at record pace. Sunny found she had hardly delivered and loaded up a meal onto his pad before waddling back and the next one was ready. With her and Di working in tandem within about twenty minutes they had filled the order. Di thought it was best she went out and got the bill from the Governor, leaving Sunny back at the window to deal with the next hungry customer and the rest of the staff to start filling orders again as they were. They had kept a cool head and dealt with it, but one hundred orders. That was a lot, mostly ponies were ordering one or two at a time then coming back for more.

“Your bill sir.” Di said, parking herself as close as she could get to Farthest Reach and waiting as his flabby hoof completed payment on his pad. Despite everything being half price he had bought more food than most ponies ate in a week.

“Thank you, are you the manager?” he asked.

“Yes, been on the colony well...since we opened.” Di said. She could have sworn she saw a grin through massively bloated cheeks on what she could see of a face that was fighting not to be swallowed by ever encroaching blubber that occupied the vast majority of the stallions gigantic frame which was, by this point, oozing fat over the edge of his pad.

“Good, you do good work here. I am no stranger to Blubber King, despite not being in my regular uh...circle of eatery choices I know how you’ve kept our colony fed. I may be back, depending on how delicious all this food is.” Farthest Reach said, making a small effort to move his head to the side slightly so he could see Di, parked next to him on her pad. “Come see me sometime, clearly the love of food is shared.” was all he said, turning on the pads thrusters and driving himself back home. Di went back inside, there was still the rest of the day left. It was curious though, she at least hoped next time he didn’t order so much. It had put a real strain on the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” Sunny asked, Di herself had hardly noticed her best employee waddle her way up besides her. She just smiled back.

“Yes fine, he says we’re doing good work. I think the large order may have been a test. He wants to see me.” Di said.

“Ohhh, well um. I’d maybe be a bit nervous but you should go!” Sunny said, making her way back to her station one flabby hoof at a time. “Might be good for business!”

“Hmm…” Di thought, it could be. It could be any number of things however, perhaps though it was worth investigating. She had too much to deal with this week, what with the grand re-re-re opening and the rest of the days coming up. Waddle Wednesday was next, at least tomorrow they had a respite though. She’d make an effort, perhaps at the weekend to make a trip up to the Governor's mansion. Everypony on the colony knew where it was, it was like a house in fat pony form, bloated and huge like the biggest ponies it stood out above everything else, you could make it out from some distance away above the rest of the buildings - almost like a shrine to obesity.

For now she just wanted to make sure the rest of the day went well, Di settled back into management mode. She had her staff and customers to attend to.
> Story 69 - The Prison
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Any news on the Unity?” was the first thing Lethal Force asked when she came back into the office the next day to one of her staff.

“Only vague leads m’am, we’re checking them out. I’ll let you know when we have something concrete.” the stallion replied before burying his head at his workstation. Lethal Force made her way to her office, what was on the agenda today? Oh right, that meeting…

She checked her messages first, then the mare trotted her way to the sole meeting room that occupied the prison for staff get togethers. She had been working on this for quite a while. Something had to be done.

She was the first one to arrive, her colleagues and some outsiders who needed to be signed in and then escorted to the room came in shortly after them. All in all there were five ponies in the room, a few were pad users. Lethal Force tried to be as courteous as she could to her bloated guests, despite her own thoughts, they were working with her after all.

At the table were two stallions and three mares. Two from a construction firm, one from their financial department, one from legal and then the warden herself. She smiled at her guests.

“So, we all know what we’re here to discuss. Apologies Foundy, I’m unfamiliar with your rather large accomplice.”

Solid Foundation just smiled back. “Ah, my top pony. This is Red Roller - he’ll be overseeing the work on your new prison. I have to admit his plate is rather full at the moment, but he’s the best stallion for the job.”

“His plate looks full all the time…” Lethal Force said, catching herself saying it just a little too late for her to notice the gigantic stallion blushing. “Sorry, that was rude.”

“D-don’t worry, I get plenty of comments.” Red Roller just replied, settling into his flabby mass on his pad.

“Okay, well this is Lawgiver, our legal mare.” Lethal Force continued, with the mare just nodding through her glasses a hello. “And the stallion is Budget Cuts, he’s our here to make sure we can afford all this.” Lethal Force said. “Foundy, I believe you have the plan outlined?”

Solid Foundation pressed a few buttons on her pad, a small projector from it pushing out a ray of light that projected a number of technical drawings and plans. The mare started pointing out and explaining each one with her flabby hoof.

“As we are all well aware, ponies on Sleipnir are just getting bigger and bigger. I believe Lethal Force can attest to that, don’t you have a pony in your current prison that hardly fits in their cell? Crammed up against the bars?” she asked. Foundy knew how to win ponies over, it got a smile from the warden.

“Indeed we do, still not sure what to do with that one actually. I fear their mass will destroy the bars at any moment.”

“Exactly, this just proves my point. Ponies may be getting bigger, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to stop breaking the law and that also means our esteemed police force need cells big enough for the gigantic offenders. I believe the most common crimes these days from what I’ve heard is food theft which makes sense. In the housing trade, all we’re doing now is building bigger and bigger housing to accommodate their mass. Although we have some upcoming changes to sort that little problem out right Red?” she asked, craning her fat neck over to her colleague.

“Oh yes, should be interesting if we can perfect the technology for the colony…” was all Red said. He let his boss continue.

“That is why we have a plan. We could build a much bigger facility here on Sleipnir, but how long until it is full? A few decades? Less? Ponies are gaining at an exponential rate. Just a few years ago sizes mares and stallions are now would have been only something to dream of. So this is our idea…” Foundy said, looking and pointing to the first technical drawing. The plans clearly showed a space station, boxy in nature. The whole construction was an extremely large grey cube with a single docking port in the middle and a number of antennas and what looked like claws at its side. She moved to the second projected image which showed it in more detail.

“Lethal Force I present to you the S.P.D Sugarland. An orbiting prison to be built high above the colony. The design and location gives us many advantages. Firstly, we’re not taking up precious space for our law abiding citizens by building on what land we have left. Secondly, the design is modular…” a third technical drawing came up, showing a multitude of the blocks that made up the original drawing all bolted together. “Expandable modules can be added as needed as the population increases. Thirdly, only one docking port on the central module to bring prisoners in and out, heavily defending by a multitude of cannons and other weaponry. Like the modular outer parts also, the cells are modular too - you can quite literally build the cell as big as you like within the complex to house whatever size your prisoners are. Right now the limit is one hundred thousand pounds, but I am sure we can look at bigger cells, should it be required in the future. But those are Equestrian sizes we’re accommodating for.” Solid Foundation said. It was a simple explanation, but she could see already that Lethal Force liked the idea.

“Indeed, it all sounds like you’ve taken into account quite a lot for the perfect prison.” Lethal Force replied. “We just have some issues.”

Lawgiver spoke up first. “I’m sure we can get it sorted out, but currently all transportation of prisoners off-world has to be approved as simply taking a pony, no matter what they’ve done off the planet they’ve committed the crime on is quite difficult bureaucratically. Even if it’s just into orbit. I’ll need to speak to the Planetary Governor to get a change made to this law.”

“Alright, so that’s hurdle number one which I think we could get over. Now the next one…” Lethal Force said, letting Budget Cuts speak next.

“The cost is astronomical for this, whilst it would be an ideal solution - it’s not just the construction cost of the prison. We have to man it with ponies, have a fleet of accompanying ships that granted, only have to get into orbit to deliver prisoners but we’d be looking at purchasing and building a small fleet of three of four ships from Equestria’s shipyards to accommodate the large prisoners. I hate to live up to my name but we’d have to well...make some cuts somewhere to be able to afford all this.” the stallion said.

“The money is the problem?” Foundy asked.

“Indeed.” he just replied.

“Hmm…”

“Hmm?” Lethal Force asked her. She could feel a solution was coming her way. But it didn’t come from her, instead her colleague spoke up.

“Well we could halve the build costs if we built the modules here on Sleipnir.” Red Roller said. “The plan was to have the modules built at Tulpar colony who are known for their excellent crafting skills with orbiting stations. The bulk of the cost was actually paying them to do it for us and then shipping the station in parts here for assembly in orbit. We can build it here but, I can’t vouch for the quality because Sleipnir workers are not used to constructing something like this, although I’d do my best to find the best ponies available for the job.” Red said. “As for the staffing and fleet costs, we can’t do anything about that. Unless like I’ve suggested for the station, you have the ships built elsewhere cheaper…”

“It’s certainly a lot to think about. We’ll look at our budgets and what we can do but I at least approve the plans for the station. Just not sure on the name though, we might have to think about that.” Lethal Force replied.

“It was just meant to be something that sounded more inviting to outsiders, I guess until they learn it’s the colony orbiting prison.” Red Roller said. “I’d quite like to go to a land of sugar.”

“Looks like you’re there already.” Lethal Force said, once again too late to catch herself, the rest of the ponies in the room smiled, Lawgiver even giving a few chuckles. “Sorry again...I can’t help myself sometimes, we imprison a lot of fatties.”

“Evidently, that’s why you need this new facility.” Foundy replied.

“Indeed...indeed. Anyway, let us reconvene in a month. We’ll have an answer for you about local manufacturing then.”

The ponies left the meeting, Lethal Force returning to her office. Of course there was 100 messages waiting for her and a number of different issues to deal with, ranging from panic to the downright petty ones. One message caught her eye though, leaving her office immediately to go talk to the pony who had done the good deed.

Lethal Force,

E.M.F Unity tracked down. How do we proceed?

End message.
> Story 70 - Weather Control
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So this is it?”

Red and his team were out in what was basically the middle of nowhere. Far from any semblance of civilisation. It was a portion of the colony that had like the rest, been terraformed but ponies hadn’t made their way out here yet to cover it with their heaving, bloated bodies. He was sure they would one day. It was him, the team he worked with and Foundy. For the first build and testing his boss had decided to be there.

“Indeed, built on Equestria but obviously not tested there. That’s our job.” Foundy said, watching with Red as his team started to open up and unpack the parts from the box, laying them out neatly on the flat ground. The surrounding area could almost be described as a salt flats with nothing visible for miles, Red wondered if by scooping up some of the floor he could nicely salt some fries.

“I assume there is some instructions?” he asked.

“On your pad dummy, I already transferred them to you.” Foundy drily replied.

“Oh I see…” Red said, starting to scroll through the menu and seeing a file that was new. Foundy glanced over as he did so, taking note that the background image was that of his marefriend.

“Going okay with you two?” she asked.

“Well I’m not exactly short of meals.” Red replied, opening up the file and looking it over. “I think at this rate we’ll be moving into one of these new builds, should the tests and everything else be successful.” he said with a slight reddening on his cheeks. He always seemed to blush slightly when discussing her, even though the two were now more than comfortable in each others company. His boss decided to back off and get back on track.

“Well it looks simple enough. I don’t think any of us understand the technology but we can certainly put it together following the instructions.” Foundy said. “Well, you and your team can but I’ll be here to oversee it all.”

The team members had finished unpacking and laying out the parts. There wasn’t actually that many of them. “Seems rather small for such a powerful device.” Red commented.

“It’s a prototype remember? The real deal will be much bigger, scaled up to be able to control the weather over hundreds of miles rather than just one. At least if this is a total disaster we’re only going to kill ourselves.” Foundy replied without any hint of irony in her voice, Red frowned.

“I mean, the chances of that are slim right?” he asked, now slightly fearful.

“Chances are nothing if you assemble it right. It’s all on you Red.” Foundy said with a smile, giving the large stallion a playful slap on that amazingly huge rump of his that caused it to jiggle and sway for a few moments as Red collected himself, usually that sort of contact made him retreat into a timid and shy behaviour, but with Foundy’s words of responsibility he was now just nervous. He piloted himself over to his team.

“I assume you all have copies of the instructions?” he asked.

The ponies, four of them, nodded at him through chubby cheeks and jiggling neck rolls. Red lead the way, making sure that they all worked as a team to get the device assembled properly. They made sure they were careful, two of the team being Unicorns made it extremely easy to properly fit parts together with levitation magic but Red made sure to double check their work. All in all with breaks for meals, the ponies spent four hours assembling the prototype before Red and Foundy were satisfied that it was ready for a test. They all crowded around a small screen that was attached to the front. The device itself was firmly fixed to the ground, it looked like a small antenna array. The mast rose only about ten feet above the ground but pointed directly up into the sky. This was then anchored to the floor with extremely strong locking bolts and the mast itself was dotted and messily covered in wiring and circuitry control. Apparently the final device would be much neater and not contain a control screen as it would be wirelessly connected to a central network that controlled each device from afar. The screen that Red, Foundy and the team were looking at was only necessary because this was the standalone prototype.

“The instructions say to active we just input the provided pass code and then we’ll be able to choose the weather.” Red said. “One of you slimmer ponies will need to do it, I can’t reach the screen.” Red said, his fat hooves too embedded in his blubber to even attempt to type in the digits for the pass code. One of his team pressed the screen and a password screen greeted him.

“Okay, input… 1-2-3-4. Really?” Red said. Foundy just rolled her eyes. The team pony did as he was told, the screen then showing a green tick as it advanced to the control options. Red went back to the instructions.

“It says choose the weather you want and a countdown timer for five minutes will appear on the screen as the system charges and actives the chosen weather. More complicated weather patterns may take longer.” Red mused. “What options have we got?”

“Sunny, rain, storm, hurricane, typhoon, fog, lightning, snow, windy…” his employee started to rattle off. Red stopped him.

“I think sunny for the test.” Red said. He was then asked “What temperature?” by the employee as once he had picked the weather type, the device asked for that next.

“Oh, a nice 20 degrees celsius I think to start.” Red said. His employee obliged and a countdown timer appeared on the screen. Five minutes.

The ponies stood back and watched. For some reason all of them seemed to be expecting something more impressive and sensational but it was a rather dull affair. As the countdown timer ticked downwards the weather in the sky started to change. When they had arrived it was slightly cloudy, it looked like it was going to rain but didn’t - large grey clouds hanging low in the sky. As the device worked the top of the antenna simply glowed a rather dull blue colour and the clouds began to part to let the sun shine through. In a one mile radius around them it was suddenly warm and bright, all of this happening in five minutes. When the device finished, it simply asked on screen ‘Length of weather pattern?’ with an option for indefinite or the ability to specify a time. For the moment Red told the team member to set it for ten minutes so they could test it letting the planet go back to what it dictated was the right weather.

The most impressive thing was looking up there was a large circle of clear clouds that looked as if somepony had punched a hoof through the grey covering above them to give them a sunny day. Red checked his in-built pad temperate device. It read exactly 10 degrees.

“Success?” he asked his boss.

“Looks like it. Looks like it…” she said, writing down notes onto her pad with a distracted look on her face. “I want to see it power down before we confirm.” she said. The team waited ten minutes, at which point another five minute countdown timer appeared on the screen. The top of the antenna glowed blue once more and as if by magic the cloud covering returned. They were back to slightly cold, miserable weather.

“I’d say success. I’ll report back to my boss and let them know I think that Sleipnir is ready for a weather control network. At least judging by the test. We need to disassemble this one though. I’m going to recommend they don’t password a larger network with something a foal could guess…” she said, Red and his team already getting to work following the disassembly instructions. Motivated by hunger and the desire to get home they had the device packed up and back in its shipping box in under two hours. Ready to be transported back to the site and kept under lock and key Red asked what the next move was to Foundy as they made their way back to the main city.

“So now what?”

“Now? Well it will be other ponies building the network - we build houses Red, or as the case may be we used to build houses. Next thing is we need to start looking at building and designing our new plots for ponies to buy. They’ll be pleased though this was a success.” she said.

“Indeed. Well I assume for us as well the prison complex is next?” Red asked.

“Once they decide on what they want to do yes.” Foundy replied. “For now let's get back to what we do best. Agreed?”

“Agreed. I’m famished as well, I think Ivory will have been cooking all day, gaining a few hundred pounds seems like just what I need after this. I think I lost that much through worry.” Red confessed, the whole thing had put him on edge despite being as calm and collected as he could be. He hated responsibility, ironic he was in a position of one. But he liked gaining more, he needed the money.

“Enjoy yourself, I think a meal at Blubber King for me. They’ve been doing some great stuff lately.” Foundy quipped. The group were near the outskirts now and went their separate ways, no point returning to work this late apart from Foundy who went to seal the device away in her office. Red had a wonderful blubber ball of a marefriend to get home to. His lips were already salivating at the thought of what his cutie pie might have cooked up for him.
> Story 71 - Back To Basics
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It has been a while since we have done this, hasn’t it dear?”

At the present moment in time, Cherry was resting atop her Mistress’s massive bulk. For weeks she had been eating, even when she didn’t have the fruit to fatten her up. Her massive size had just kept increasing. In the previous weeks she had been terribly excited when she had passed the Planetary Governors bulk. That seemed like a distant memory now.

Today however was different. Rotunda had devoured her latest shipment of fruit rather quickly. She wanted to go back to how she used to gain before, fattening foods that would bulk her up with pleasurable eating rather than cheating her way to bulk with an alien fruit. Her maid, Cherry leaned in, asking her one question.

“Indeed mistress. How would you like to begin?”

“The cakes please.” was all Rotunda replied. Cherry obliged, feeding the impossibly obese Rotunda a round of cakes as they were levitated towards her maw. The mare’s feeding had improved in rate too, the cakes vanished within mere moments.

Cherry herself had heeded her Mistress’s words from before and had been fattening up too. Not at quite the same rate, but she now was approaching a rather impressive two thousand pounds. It may not have seemed much on a colony of excess where a lot of ponies weighed far more, but often servants didn’t gain these sorts of sizes until the end of their tenure lest it got in the way of their work. Rotunda had been encouraging Cherry to gain though.

“Feels wonderful doesn’t it.” her mistress said, purposefully shifting her bulk against Cherry’s so the maid was almost smothered in fat as it oozed over her, Rotunda threatening to swallow her whole in her immense folds. It was more a statement than a question, both Cherry and Rotunda knew how the other felt about gaining in size.

“Indeed mistress. More cake?” she asked, levitating a few sponges upwards as Rotunda licked her lips in preparation for another round of decadence.

“Take a few for yourself dear, I need my prize maid to keep her weight up.” she grinned, watching as Cherry separated a few of the cakes and the two gorged together. It was one of those moments of sheer bliss, the two immense fatties chewing and rubbing their hefty guts together in pure enjoyment. The way Cherry was positioned on top she could hardly help herself from letting forth a little excited squeal as her massive flanks nestled themselves on top of Rotunda’s even more impressive stomach.

“We’re not leaving until I hit five figures and I’m not far off.” Rotunda said with a grin, her expectant jaw already unhinged as Cherry now levitated a number of cans of whipped cream upwards for them both, the majority going to her master again. It was something she had recently learned she had gotten a penchant for. Not that she minded, the mistress was free to eat what she liked. Besides it was more pure calories that easily went down. Cream was so easy to eat, so inviting…

Glug...glug...glug…

Blooooorrrrrrppppppppp.

Guuuuurrggggllllleeeeeeee.

Those two gigantic bellies filling with food couldn’t help but cry out in enjoyment. Such a wonderful stuffing as the maid and her mistress really enjoyed fattening up. It was the perfect few hours to spend alone together. Rotunda had sent the rest of the staff away and her husband was once again away on business. Nopony would find them being so naughty. Their fat bodies pushed and squished against each other as the two blushy and hefty mares partook in a mutual feeding that neither had been able to enjoy for a while.

“Now then, it is time you showed your mistress true appreciation for all she’s done for you.” Rotunda teased. Cherry didn’t need any persuasion. Now that the cream was finished she had a number of moist, wet delicious tarts for them both to eat. Without needing more instruction Cherry leaned her bulk forward and pressed her lips against Rotunda’s, forcing the tarts between them as the two engaged in a mutual stuffing and smooch that felt like heaven. Chewing with locked lips Cherry continued to magically levitate more food in for her mistress to kiss and swallow against her grateful lips - she only wanted to show just how appreciative of her she was.

Cakes, fritters, tarts, sweets. Whatever she had in the room Cherry was stuffing the both of them with until their bodies could take no more. It was after a good twenty minutes of this that eventually Rotunda was the one to give her a little push backwards with a flabby hoof and blushed heavily.

“Well well, it seems your loyalty and love for your mistress is without question. I think we’ve both benefited. See?” Rotunda mused, pushing the pad display around so Cherry could read it. The blobby Rotunda now weighed ten thousand and fifteen pounds. It seemed Cherry had pushed her a little over the edge of what she required in her lust.

“Congratulations mistress. You make me proud to have such a hefty employer.” Cherry said. “The last pie from the store. Finish it?”

“With pleasure.”

Frenzied lip smacking filled the room as the mare ate one more treat, unable to resist it. She couldn’t believe she had finally hit five figures. The fruit had helped an immense deal, she couldn’t wait to keep going. She was determined to be the biggest, fattest pony on the colony and she had the staff to help her get there. There was a moment of rest at Rotunda digested and thought of her next words.

“Didn’t I say you needed to be three thousand pounds, and now you are two? Hmmm. I think next time I’ll have to treat you. How does that sound?” Rotunda asked.

Cherry blushed, in all her time with Rotunda apart from the odd banquet here and there she had never been invited to such a thing. “If that is what you’d like mistress.” she replied dutifully.

“I think you’d like it too, clearly with those shared kisses and the amount you took for yourself. I am far too concerned with my own weight - now I have hit a milestone goal it is time I gave back a little. We’ll have you pad bound in no time Cherry.” she said with a grin on her sunken fat face. “For now, prepare the next lot of meals for our next feeding session.”

“Very well mistress.” Cherry replied, shifting her hefty bulk off Rotunda and waddling out the room, the maid had meals to prepare as was her charge. She relished the idea of further eating.
> Story 72 - Fifty Thousand Pounds Of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The message had returned to the Starflier in mere hours.

++Agent Valkyrie

Observe and monitor situation as instructed. Do not terminate the mission, yet.++

The pony read it, quickly deleting the directive off her terminal. The instructions were clear.

Back on the bridge, captain Vector Thrust was staring at a dead and barren world on the monitor in front of him.

“That’s our target sir.” one of his bridge officers said.

He had been reading about it in the mission logs from the day they set off. The world had been designated Llamrei. At least by higher ups. It was a strange planet indeed. Preliminary data from astral scans back on the closest colony with the capability to observe it was scarce at best, it always was. It had the lowest classification though.

Dead World.

The captain had come across very few of these in his time, they were extremely hard to colonise. He knew the ship would be here for an extended stay.

“So tell me officer, why are we at a dead world?” he asked, he knew the reason but he wanted to see if his crew had read the mission log as closely as he had.

“Well...to colonise it sir.” came the reply.

“Of course, but why this one? Anyone?” he asked the entire bridge crew. After a moment of hesitation another crew member piped up.

“It’s a link.”

“Very good.” was all Vector replied. They were right. Llamrei represented an opportunity to set up a link between two more developed colonies. Jump gates were all very well but they did have a maximum range. The two colonies sat too far apart to link via one gate. By luck, Llamrei was at a point between the two where they could build two gates on the edge of the system it occupied. The system itself was rather unremarkable, a few mineral deposits in asteroid fields and some other planets with little value on them. Llamrei had been chosen because it was positioned best to accommodate construction crews for the new gates.

“Move the ship into position, I will start the command sequence for our core…” Vector said, flipping open a small console in his chair and entering the command code. The screen displayed the following:

Target Marked. Initiate? Y/N

A crew member gave the captain a nod indicating they were in position and without a second's hesitation, Vector hit the Y.

Down below, Starflier - the core herself noted a change.

The antenna like device hooked up to her horn suddenly clamped down harder than it had been before. She tried jostling her body a little, for all the good it did. She had no doubt about what was about to happen though, they had arrived at the target colony.

A surge of magic, not willingly powered pushed out from her horn. Starflier almost screamed, it felt like something was sucking out her magic from her. At first, it was slightly painful. The magical discharge taken from her against her will was a shock to her system. Writhing agony took hold as the gigantic pony struggled and shifted her head from side to side in her bloated neck trying to break free but to no avail. She was just about to give up and embrace the pain when she had an epiphany.

‘Stop struggling you silly mare, let it go and embrace it, it will be so much easier…’ a voice in her head said to her. She decided to oblige. Putting some semblance of wilfulness behind the spell discharge.

As she did, she felt the pain reduce substantially. It was still uncomfortable but her gigantic body with increased magical output could easily take it if she willingly cast instead of having the magic taken from her. Quickly Starflier decided that if this was her fate, she may as well embrace as much of it as she could.

Back up on the bridge, Vector watched as the magical discharge was directed to the planet below from the ship. It seemed their core was cooperating, at least he hoped so. It was always so much easier when they did. The ones that struggled often caused problems, he had hoped Starflier had gotten past the struggle now.

It was never an immediate change, colonising a world took weeks, months or more depending on the strength of the magic used and just how naturally far along a planet might have got in supporting life. With Llamrei being a dead world he estimated they might be here for a few months. Nothing was happening on the planet below, yet.

“Lock us in geosynchronous orbit and make sure the beam is maintained for twelve hour bursts per day as specified in the mission log. Twelve hours on, twelve hours off to let the core recharge and cool.” Vector said to his crew. “I’m sure you all know having looked at the mission log dead worlds are a tough nut to crack but this one is too important due to its position. Although we don’t know how long it will be before the colony is ready, construction crews for the gates will be arriving via other ships in three months. Let's hope by then they’ve got something more than a barren husk of a planet to work from.” Vector said, the crew turning back to their stations when he was done to monitor various instruments.

Right now Vector was hungry, there was little more he could do unless a crisis arose aboard the ship. He decided he would make his way to his quarters and have some food brought to him for a few hours before returning to the bridge. “Contact me if you need me, or we have any anomalous readings either internally or externally.” he said, leaving the crew to do their work. There was another reason they were in the system of a dead world. Something else here had piqued the curiosity of command. The captain himself had a mission to attend to that was for his senior staff only which he’d get on tomorrow. His crew would be told he was off on a standard system scout but it was much more than that.

Preliminary scans of the system had picked up an extremely large metallic structure orbiting one of the other planets in the system far from the position of the Starflier. The captain's private log had designated as per directive in these situations he took himself and a two more senior officers along with them to investigate the object.

All he could gleam from the report was very minor details which he had read over again and again.

ADDITIONAL: Large metallic UFO identified orbiting third planet. Item appears dormant. UFO designated Glashtyn for mission purposes. Five to six miles long, small portions of debris around main superstructure. Unidentifiable markings on outer body. Structure appears ancient. Age uncertain, decaying orbit places it at least five thousand years old or more.

ACTION: Captain and two officers to investigate. Findings to be reported back immediately to command. Do not board object unless absolutely necessary. Command classifies this as a class ten artefact. Confirmation of object and further scans will determine next action.

All objects found whilst colonising systems that were deemed ‘out of place’ had an artefact class. Ten was the highest. Vector mused on it, this meant they had no idea what it was or it was something so amazing they wanted very badly to get their greedy hooves on it. From the details he gleaned from the poor description it was either an orbiting space station or some kind of ship. Dormant always gave him pause to be a little worried, ancient and abandoned technology from other races was considerably rare but could be powerful. It was well established by now Equestria was not the only space faring race. They were just the current ones. At least this was know to staff higher up the chain, it was kept out of public knowledge and the strict use of jump gates etc meant that it was almost impossible for regular shipping to come across anything alien. As for the aliens themselves. They just seemed to have just...vanished. But sometimes, things like this cropped up on missions, Vector was never a fan of the total unknown.

Vector put his mind to rest with a meal, the investigation of whatever it was floating out there for thousands of years could wait until tomorrow. One more day and a few more meals wouldn’t change anything.
> Story 73 - A Little Help
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she had called, the assistant seemed more than happy to take the booking. Apparently she was expected.

Di had a little apprehension about actually taking the trip up to the Planetary Governors mansion. At the gate her ID was checked and after waiting a short while she was let inside, escorted into the house by another member of staff who waddled their way along in front of her. The mare was brought into the lobby and asked to wait while she fetched Farthest Reach.

Di took the time to look around, the house could be described as sprawling really. The huge entry foyer was as large as her place on its own. She had no idea how many other rooms dominated the estate but she knew it took up a huge amount of land right at the tip of the main city. The place always seemed like its owner to be expanding too. New wings and rooms being enlarged always seemed to be going on. She wondered if the house ever truly reached a finished state.

After a short while, through the double doors at the end a pad entered the room hauling on top of it the gigantic and utterly immobile Farthest Reach. He had gained in size since she had last seen him, when he had his fat face broadcast to pads around he colony during the gluttony celebration. She guessed he was about to break ten thousand pounds with a few more meals.

“Ah, you made it. Good to see you again Diamond Dozen.” he said, bringing his pad to a stop just in front of hers.

“Di is fine thank you sir.” she replied.

“Sir, please. No need for titles. Just call me Farthest Reach. That will do.” he said, rotating his pad around and presenting his enormous rear to a rather unflattered Di. “Follow me, I have a banquet room we can use for this. One of many.” he said, taking off down a corridor of the house, Di thought it best to oblige and follow.

The pony was not kidding when he said banquet room. Inside piles of food stacked high on the tables almost as far as the eye could see took up a huge portion of it. Maids stood by, a large cluster of them, making sure the food was perfect. Each pony parked themselves at the table and as soon as they did, Di was being offered and even fed treats. She was having a hard time speaking in fact due to the amount of food that was being thrust upon her. It was amazing she thought that Farthest Reach actually got anything done if he spent so much time eating.

“So why did you ask me here?” Di finally managed to get out between mouthfuls. Again she thought it rude to refuse the food. It was rather delicious also.

“Ah yes.” he replied, waving one of his chubby hoofs slightly to indicate to his staff to stop feeding him and that he needed a moment to speak.

“I’ve been keeping a closer eye on your business than you think. I understand you had some rather drastic measures taken recently just to stay afloat against competition.” Farthest Reach said, taking a moment to rest and eat to let Di reply as one of his staff pushed a dessert between his lips which he quickly devoured.

“Ah. I see nothing escapes you.” Di replied. “Indeed, we’ve had to reinvent ourselves a number of times now. I keep hoping each one will be the last…” she confessed, just managing to get her words out before yet another piece of food was pushed her way. Di thought she was experiencing the ultimate buffet. She had never been fed so quickly before. She watched as Farthest Reached waved his hoof again indicating he needed to speak.

“Indeed, indeed. Well I’m hoping so too. You are part of a huge fast food corporation but you do good for the citizens who want nothing more than to pig out. Eating is such a wonderful thing. It completely distracts them from the other issues facing the colony.” he said, taking a moment to grab a quick mouthful of food before continuing. “I could bore you with them all but I don’t think that’s really necessary. The point is Sleipnir needs Blubber King as much as you need the job you hold Di.” Farthest Reach finished, going back to eating.

“What are you proposing?” Di asked.

“A strictly verbal agreement. My informers tell me although each new reinvention of the brand brings more customers back they quickly tire of what’s on offer. You’re trying to combat that with various days that cater to particular customers no?” he asked.

“Well yes, I assume you know what they are?”

“Yes I do, a novel idea. It will work for a time but again I think after a while your customers will tire of it and go looking for the next eating sensation. Whether that come from a competitor or you end up having the reinvent Blubber King for the umpteenth time. I think you’d get bored of constantly changing your restaurant to cater to the whims of the populace.” Farthest Reach said. Di raised an eyebrow. Clearly the Planetary Governor was well informed. He seemed to know quite a bit about her business and how he was operating it. She wondered if one of her staff was passing information along. Something to keep in mind.

“Anyhow, my proposal.” Farthest Reach continued after having another small break for food. “I - UUUURRRRRPPPPP! - oh, excuse me.” The Governor stopped for a moment as his multiple folds rippled due to the huge belch, taking a moment to compose his form before carrying on. “I propose a plan to stop you having to keep reinventing yourself, like I say strictly verbal and effective as long as I am in power. My re-election is coming up and I need strong backers from the public food sector to promote me. I’d like you, your staff and your restaurant to show it’s really behind me to stay in post as your leader. Perhaps a special burger in aid of me, some flyers, staff saying good things about me to customers. My ponies will be able to work out the details with you later. I just want the populace to know Blubber King backs Farthest Reach for Planetary Governor. I even thought of a slogan ‘Blubber Supports Its King’ he said with a grin on his face.

“Okay, but what do we get in return?” Di asked. “That’s a lot to ask to make sure your tubby gut gets what it wants.” Di said with an equally large grin back between bites of food.

“I can ensure your Marketeers never return, no matter how dire things get. I can also ensure customers continue flooding through the door and cement your business as the fast food chain to visit on the colony. How does that sound?” was all he said, letting one of his maids push a donut between his lips.

Di only needed a moment to think. A little promotion to ensure those creeps never came back and they had a healthy supply of customers? It seemed like a no-brainer. She’d be set for life.

“Done.” was all she said, being fed another cake by a maid. In the short meeting she was certain she’d gained a few hundred pounds easily. The food was amazingly rich. It was no wonder Farthest Reach was pushing five figures of flab.

“Splendid! Like I say I’ll have my staff ponies meet with you to discuss the finer details, but you’ve made the right choice Di.” The Governor said, artificially raising a glass using a small drone to lift it, unable to do so himself. He had magic but he was too lazy. “To many happy years of Blubber King. Cheers!” the joviality in his voice ringing clear as two glasses clinked together and they drank. Afterwards Di had another five minutes of idle chit chat and eating before Farthest Reach had her ushered out by his staff.

As she headed home, she wondered exactly how he’d keep ponies coming with little to no changes to the menu. As he had pointed out ponies tired quickly of samey foods unless it was something well established. Fast food had to fight to survive. But Di was getting older, she was also getting tired of corporate breathing down her neck constantly. Even though it was still work, any sort of respite that could come from this would be heaven. She didn’t want to know the details of how Farthest Reach would achieve his plan but her own mind was already ticking over how she’d let her staff know. The election was approaching.
> Story 74 - Case Closed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It’s WHERE?”

Lethal Force was far from pleased.

“Equestria ma’am, that’s what my message said?” a rather confused member of her staff looked up at her with a slight amount of panic on their face.

“But the ship only left a month ago!? How did he get so far away so fast?” she queried. “And of all the places, he went to the homeworld!? If anything that’s the worst spot to escape to! I mean it’s practically like WALKING into a jail! He’d had been arrested as soon as his fat ass hovered his pad out the ship. Unless…”

The prison ponies mind began to run through the possible scenarios. There was only one really which made any sense with the ship having an error code in its bound destination.

“I’ll be in my office on a private call, make sure nopony disturbs me.” Lethal Force said calmly, retreating to her private workspace and setting up a conference call. Striving Step clearly had some contacts on the blubberiest planet in the cosmos. First though she needed some verification.

At her desk a screen came to life and she entered the necessary commands to connect her to Equestria’s own police department. Lethal Force wondered who she’d speak to this time, the Equestria P.D. was so huge often she spoke to a new chubby face every time she had to contact somepony. Each time it was a pony of immense proportions, she’d only be able to tell their true size if she could see all of them which she never could.

When she finally did get a connection to a pony higher up the ranks it was as she expected, a pony she had never spoken to before greeted her. Just as impossibly obese as the previous ones she wondered how any of them ever actually got any work done.

“Lethal Force?” a heavily laboured response came through the screen.

“Yes, who am I talking to?” she asked.

“Roll Call. I’ve been here only a few months. My predecessor got too big for his post.” the stallion replied. He didn’t seem to be too far off it either. Perhaps that was why it was a different pony each time. Lethal Force just mentally shrugged it off and continued with her enquiries.

“I’ve been trying to track down a suspect that fled our colony not long ago. He’s wanted on multiple counts, I’ve transferred the charges across. Obviously now he’s out of my jurisdiction but I was hoping we’d be able to bring him to justice.” she explained. “He’s um, a bit of a white whale of mine.”

“Well I think we’re all whales here, except you - your colony not feeding you enough?” the massive pony on the other end of the call joked causing Lethal Force to frown a little as his multiple chins shook in delight. When he was done he carried on.

“Well in any case. I know of the pony you’re after. But I’m afraid there is little we can do.”

It was the answer she had expected, but she wanted to know. “Why?” was the next question.

“Well your stallion has gotten our attention as well, but not for the warrants out on him. I think his plan since getting here was using whatever funds he amassed on Sleipnir to make himself unmovable.”

Lethal Force groaned. The company funds had been drained before the police had managed to lock them down, it figured.

“Unmovable, how? He’s barricaded himself in a fortress all his money can buy? He used it to get alibi’s from contacts?” she asked.

“Um no.” came the frank response. “I think you misunderstand. Quite literally unmovable. I don’t think you’d recognise him now Lethal Force. Within days he had bought up a chunk of land and as much food as he could, even going as far as to contact local farms near to where his land is situated and have them deliver straight to him. Clearly his ill gotten gains from the pad company he ran I’ve read up about have been put to use. How much did he weigh before he left the colony?” Roll Call asked.

“What does that have to do with anything? He ran the pad company. Like anypony he was large. At a guess I’d have to say he was four of five thousand pounds. Maybe a bit more.”

“Well since arriving on equestria you can add a few zero’s to those figures. He takes up a fair bit of his land now and maybe more, he’s actually become a bit of the envy of the Equestrian’s he borders on here spending day and night doing nothing but eating. We estimate in the short time he’s been on Equestria he’s somewhere between forty to fifty thousand now and growing all the time. Even if we could get to him, extract him and get him back to Sleipnir he’s going to be far too big to move.” came the reply. “He’s the epitome of an Equestrian blob pony and only getting lardier by the minute.”

Lethal Force sighed heavily. That was that then. There was a small satisfaction in knowing that Striving Step would never cross her desk again, it was case closed. There was also satisfaction in knowing he’d had to fatten himself up to such a degree to avoid capture. However it was unsatisfying that he was likely enjoying himself all the while, the giant blob of a stallion never getting the justice she knew he deserved.

“Thank you, I’ll close the case. There is little we can do.” the mare dejectedly replied.

“I know it’s not what you hoped for, but he’ll be observed by us here. We can only see if he slips up on Equestria and put him to justice if he does, like you said earlier he’s now out of your jurisdiction. By the time the charges he had gathered on Sleipnir came through to us he’d already bought the land and started gaining. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it. Now…” the voice of Roll Call was becoming even more heavily laboured than when the call started. “If you’ll excuse me I need my hourly feeding session. I have a mass to maintain.” and with that, the screen clicked off.

It was a somewhat un-satisfying end to case, Lethal Force had been hoping for more. Perhaps some day they might bring Striving Step to justice...or he might get so big and fat he just dies suffocating in his own blubber on the homeworld. Either would satisfy the Warden.

For now, she marked the case as closed in her files and made a mental note to write up a report later explaining why it could go no further. Her attention now needed to be turned to other things.
> Story 75 - A Real Welcome Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey fat ass, how’d it go?” the first words to greet Red as he piloted his way inside the home of Ivory. He was used to it by this stage, it hardly even made him blush anymore. Hardly. His cheeks were a little red as he came to a stop in the living room and leaned over (pad dipping slightly) to give his partner as much of a kiss as he could.

“Fine yes, actually we had no problem with the device at all. Seems we could be on our way to endless sunny days if they can scale up the technology.” Red replied, settling in to stare at whatever was on the holo projector in front of them. A food advert, predictably. It must have subconsciously had some effect, his stomach rumbled in anticipation of a meal.

“Well don’t tell my friend Sunny Days that, she’ll never shut up if people make anymore jokes about her weather related name.” Ivory said with a small giggle of delight. “She already has enough trouble being a Pegasus who hasn’t flown in decades, not that she’s much different to the rest of the Pegasi here...oh, sorry hun’.” Ivory finished up, she often forgot Red was a Pegasus too. Like most you’d never know, their wings were either buried under mountains of fat or their wings themselves were so fat and hefty like the rest of their bodies it was difficult to tell what was wing and what was just more blubbery rolls of lard.

“None taken, it was a lot of work though…” Red hinted. Ivory didn’t need to know that he’d done very little physical labour.

“I bet, well food is on the way. Just waiting for…”

Ping!

“Ah, perfect. We’ll eat here rather than me preparing the table. Less work. Plus I saw this ad for these hover trays and wanna give them a test!” Ivory said, moving her huge bulk to the kitchen and presumably to Red dishing up the food she had been cooking. When she returned she was followed by what looked like two very small pads that floated at head level, except they were piled up with food. Red licked his lips greedily and as he felt her settle herself back next to him started to dig into the food.

“These things?” he asked between mouthfuls.

“Mmmm, not expensive. Ad said they worked on the same principles as pads but just made for carrying food instead. You can eat wherever you want!” the mare explained, taking hooffulls of food and chowing down. For a few moments nothing but the noise of the holo projector blaring ads and the smacking of lips occupied the room. The two massive ponies taking in as much as they could as quickly as they could. Red himself decided to stop for a moment to digest, something was on his mind. He had been thinking about it since he had seen the new plots they had started to build.

“You think um, well…” he started to say. It made Ivory stop her eating too.

“What is it? You know you don’t have to be nervous around me Red we know each other pretty well by now.” Ivory said with a smile, wiping some of the various bits of food flotsam from around her multiple chins. “My jokes about your mountain of a butt weren’t enough to make you feel at ease?” she teased.

“You want to move in together? They’re building these new plots at the company...uh, sparse is how I’d put them. But they’re specifically made for gainers. We could have two, right next to one another. I could get them cheaper too, perks of working in the business…” he finished. He could see Ivory thinking about what he had just said, her expression changing to a concentrated look.

“I mean I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t crossed my mind…” she said. “Show me the new builds and what you think we could get. If it’s nice I might be willing. You know technically if we’re neighbours we’re not really moving in together right?” she teased a little more, pushing her bulk into Red in a playful way.

“Well...the plan is eventually we’d easily join up again. Like I said they’re built for gainers.”

“Let’s take a look. For now enjoy the meal and well...wait what is this garbage?” Ivory said, pressing a hoof into her pad to change the broadcast channel. “Colony programming just ain’t that good is it?” she sighed, flicking through.

“No, mostly food shows also. I don’t know who they appeal to really. Most ponies eat out.” Red said.

“Well I cook, there’s a market for those of us who still like to cook at home.” Ivory replied, still absent-mindedly flicking through the channels until she found something good to watch.

“Oh, of course..my mistake. Lovely meal again by the way.” Red said, going back to chewing.

“No problem big buns...ohhh, my favorite!” Ivory squeaked, stopping her presses and her eyes immediately becoming glued to the screen. The title card was just vanishing but Red could make it out.

Corpulent Court

He thought he had heard of it, a soap opera about the lives of morbidly obese ponies who got into a range of mishaps with their neigbours. Seemed more than appropriate for an Empire full of fatties. As the title card vanished one of the main characters appeared on screen with his flanks yelling ‘Push!’ as a number of what Red could only assume to be family members of people who lived in the street trying their best to get whoever the pony was inside their house. The doorway was comically small.

“Kppffttt, classic!” Ivory guffawed as she watched. “Such an old joke but it never gets tired.”

“You’d think they’d have learned by now. What’s this about?” he asked pretending not to know.

“Oh you know, just fatties going about their daily lives. I want to see what happens with Hearty Feast. Last week she caught her husband sneaking off work to go eat at a new place that opened in the town. I think she’s going to confront him!” Ivory explained. At this point Red relaxed, pushing the small hovering tray off to one side as he had finished his meal.

“Bwarrrppp!”

“Always nice to hear you’ve enjoyed it fat ass.” Ivory said, hardly giving Red a glance as she continued to watch the drama unfold on the screen. Red settled in beside her. It was nice to relax and just spend some time together, even if it was watching something dull.

As he snuggled close to Ivory he started to think this is what life would be like if they moved in together. He’d come home after a long day of work to a feast and they’d probably fall asleep in front of a holo projector watching whatever program was on. Was that what he wanted? He wasn’t sure. He loved Ivory to bits but he wondered if every day was going to be this way. He had loved the spontaneity of what they did when they had first met. But it wouldn’t always be like this would it, they’d do different things. Besides he was tired, it was easy to just fall into a nice lull of doing nothing like this. He still wanted to show her the new housing plots and talk about.

That was another day though, for now Red just settled in for a night of snuggles and stories.
> Story 76 - The Monthly Shipment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The shipment had arrived as expected. Cherry was always there to oversee it personally. The small ship touched down on the estates personal landing pad without much fanfare.

With a light vrrr the rear hatch opened and an equally large stallion that matched Cherry’s size waddled out, a small pad hovering behind him bearing the weight of the box of fruit bound for her master.

“Right on time as always.” Cherry said with a small smile through her chubby cheeks.

“Of course, do you expect any less?” The stallion replied. It was all business at first, Cherry liked it that way. Plus the estate was littered with cameras. She always knew Rotunda was eager to get the next shipment and pack on the pounds as quickly as possible. Opening the lid with her magic, the Unicorn inspected the fruit. The agreed number inside as it should be. So far even though they were many months in, there had been no slip ups. Haizum colony prided itself on perfect shipments off world.

At this point, two more of the maids under Rotunda’s employ appeared at the landing pad. Cherry simply turned her head and gave them a nod. “It’s all in order, take the shipment immediately to kitchens and return the pad when you are done unloading and storing the fruit. I can keep our pilot occupied until you return.” she said, watching as the stallion transferred control of the pad from his control to the maids, who dutifully trotted their way back inside the house.

“We have some time?”

“Indeed, the paperwork is inside as usual. Apologies the ship is no bigger than my last visit, I can see you are though.” the stallion said with a small smirk. Cherry just smiled back and hauled herself inside the ship, the rear hatch closing behind her.

As soon as it shut, Cherry felt grabby hooves on her folds. He always couldn’t wait.

“My dear, you’re such a treat...even larger every time I come with the shipment.” were the first words that came out of the stallions lips. It was always rather abrupt, the two of them didn’t have much time until the other maids returned with the pad.

His name was Ship Jockey, but usually Cherry just went with Jock for short. Every time he stopped on Sleipnir with the fruit delivery it required signing some paperwork which took but a few minutes and often the other maids were gone for quite a while. This left the two of them kicking their hooves about in the ship until well, one of them had made an advance.

Cherry appreciated the attention her mistress gave her, but it was not genuine affection. She knew it was always a means to an end, for Rotunda to get from her what she wanted. The maid wasn’t stupid. Jock in the past months had become somewhat of a little secret for Cherry, she knew she’d lose favour with Rotunda should she find out about the two of them. That was why they were strict, once per month when he came and the time they had in the ship.

“I’ve um, brought you something…” Jock said, massaging her folds and with a free hoof, reaching over to the console of the ship where a small box was placed. Cherry always thought it was sweet of him, he would often bring her little trinkets from Haizum as gifts. She took it in her magic, opening the box.

“Oh it’s gorgeous, thank you.” she replied. Inside the box was a small miniature scale. Rather ornate actually. These had been around the colonies ever since ponies started getting obese. These days they were rather antiquated but often now they were given amongst ponies as a sign of affection. A simple device now replaced by inbuilt functions on pads and other more convenient methods it tracked the users weight. It was more the symbolic gesture though than Cherry actually making use of it.

“Keep hold of it, it’ll let me know just how heavy you are, even if I’m far away. I tweaked it a little. It’s linked to one of my own, if I see you gain ten pounds I know I’ll have somepony even more wonderful to return to.” he confessed with a small smile, going back to paying attention to all those folds that adorned Cherry’s body, the stallions fat hooves taking greedy and hefty grabs of her flesh. “You know that maid outfit always drives me wild…”

“Just don’t rip it, I don’t want her getting suspicious.” Cherry replied, pushing her bulky stomach forward right into Jock’s face and smothering him in fat. “Remember the last time?”

“Mmmm...y-yeah, you had to make up a story?” The obese stallion replied, reaching around her stomach fat and sinking into Cherry’s belly.

“Yes, you really must keep your ship in order. So many things sticking out a maid could easily rip her uniform on…” she carried on, now leaning her entire two thousand pounds of heft on top of the stallion and then leaning herself forward to get as close to his face as she could. “This uniform is the only thing keeping my bulk in any sort of check.” she said with a wink, Jock practically melting under her allure.

“I-I heard a rumour. Your mistress wants to gain even more weight...it means more deliveries of the fruit. Maybe even as much as once a week…” Jock stammered, wrapping his hind legs around Cherry as much as he could and gripping her closely. “We could be together more. But apparently she’s on the fence due to the cost...think you can convince her?”

Cherry thought for a moment, he was right. Rotunda had mentioned this to her. She already was in a good position even getting the fruits, but that was typical Rotunda. She had something anypony would have killed for and wanted even more. She was never satisfied. It wouldn’t be hard to convince her to at least try.

“There’s a risk though, your people could simply refuse her and stop all deliveries. I wouldn’t want that…” Cherry said.

“I think it’s worth it, Rotunda is very powerful. I think she could sway them.” Jock replied. As he was about to lean in for a smooch he heard a small beep. The proximity sensor outside the rear door to the ship indicated that somepony was approaching. He did manage a quick kiss on those chunky lips before turning his attention to a small screen showing that two maids and the pad were back outside the rear door.

“Damn, they were fast this week. No matter, I think we made good use of the time.” the obese stallion said, Cherry pulling her bulk off him to get back to business. She hastily signed the paperwork and made her way towards the door. “See you soon?”

“And hopefully more, I’ll do my best to convince the mistress she could gain even greater weight.” Cherry said. “And if I can keep things sweet, hopefully I will too.” she teased.

“Mmmm, can’t wait to see what the scale brings me to on my next visit.” Jock replied.

“More of me.” was all Cherry said, opening the door and exiting the ship. Once all was said and done, the pad returned inside and the ship departed, back to Haizum.

Cherry only had one thing on her mind, she had to convince her mistress that she needed to be even larger. Easy as pie, she was sure Rotunda thought that about herself regardless. She just needed a little push…
> Story 77 - Private Investigations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room Vector sat in on the ship was small, yet somehow big enough to house him and two of his officers. The three were parked around the small table in the middle observing all they knew about the mission.

The table itself had a small holo display that pushed any details above it into a 4d realm so that it could be manipulated. Right now it was just being read by the three ponies, who were pouring over the details, not that there was much of them.

OBJECT DESIGNATION: Glashtyn
LENGTH: 5 - 6 Miles
AGE: Unknown
ORIGIN: Unknown
STATUS: Inactive

Additional: Further investigation required. Scans indicate either a ship or space station of enormous size. Faint markings visible on the outer hull which appears metal in construction.

And that was it, that was all the three of them had to work with.

“So clearly, you two know why you’re here.” Vector said, looking up at his two colleagues.

“Obviously, protocol calls for the captain and two officers to investigate. I don’t know why, if that thing turns out to be hostile the ship and the crew are-”

“On their own, yes.” Vector quickly interjected. “But that’s the rules. We follow.” he said. “Get prepared. I’ll meet you down in the hangar bay in five.” was all the captain had to say. Both of his officers he knew well, they’d object but they’d do the job. That was all he could ask of them. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat uneasy himself. It was his first time coming across a UFO. He had heard reports, but only whispers among other members of the organisation. Most of the details were hushed up.

Meeting at the shuttle, the three ponies parked their pads inside at their operations stations. Each one with a various function. Vector of course, was piloting. The shuttle itself took off with little fanfare, the crew on board were told the captain was heading out to scout the system. Fairly standard operational procedure. It was a short flight to the object which gave the three a short moment to talk.

“So...think the captain is gonna break his pad before we get home?” One of his offers said to the other, causing Vector to turn around. The shuttle was now on automatic control.

“Very funny you two, I think most of the officer staff and some of the crew are in danger of that as well you know. The rate at which you all eat…”

“Ah we’re just teasing captain. No one can out eat you, Vector Thrust is pretty apt as a name you know the way you thrust meals down your throat.”

The three ponies in the cabin laughed, none harder than the captain. As they did, the object came into view.

AUTOPILOT DISENGAGED

The notice flashed up on the screen, Vector took the controls once more and one of his officers turned on one of the shuttles search lights. The object itself was dark, clearly dormant.

“There are markings on the hull like it said.” one of them commented, focusing on what was clearly some sort of unidentifiable writing down the side of the hull, white in colour to make it stand out.

“Well, none of us can read that. It’s an alien language. Do you think the computer might be able to make anything of it?”

“Not sure, run it through.” Vector replied. The officer took a shot using one of the shuttles external cameras and the computer began to analyse what it was looking at. In the meantime, they continued to move around the massive object scanning it still.

“It’s curious, clearly not a space station. It’s a ship.” Vector mused, looking closely at the construction.

“How can you tell? There’s no windows along the hull or any other sort of giveaway signs.” one of the officers replied.

“Look, up there.” Vector said, moving the nose of the ship up slightly to give a better view of the upper portion of the hull. “I’m not alien expert, but I am pretty good at identifying things on spaceships. If those aren’t engines, or some sort of equivalent of engines well I’d give up my food for a day.” he quipped, the officers giving him a smile back. The computer was still working. They moved the shuttle closer to the engines to get a better look. “Clearly it’s in some sort of decaying orbit, and positioned upright rather than flat. I don’t know if that’s part of the design though or how it’s meant to be.” he carried on. “Strangest engines I’ve ever seen though, I mean they’re the right shape but I can’t see exposed exhaust ports. It doesn’t even look like they’ve ever been fired…”

There was a beep at one of the terminals. The officer moving his chubby cheeks slightly to be able to read the display. “Computers done.”

“And?”

“A lot of detail. It’s analysed the age of the object based on how the paint for the name has decayed over time...cripes captain. Apparently this thing is verging on ten thousand years old. It’s an antique.”

“And yet seemingly more advanced than anything we fly. Does it have a name?”

“Yeah, supposedly the markings translate to Titan. At least in whatever the language is.”

“Interesting, a name like that would suggest a warship. But equally we don’t know the makers from Celestia, it could very well be a transport ship, pleasure ship. Who knows.”

“So now what?” The officer asked.

As he asked the question, there was an additional beep at the terminal. The computer had picked up something else.

“There’s a message…”

Vector blinked, he could only think to ask “How?”

“From the ship...well not the ship. Whatever it is has computer banks, without knowing I have to assume our scans and presence has reactivated them. The computer is translating…”

Vector was uncomfortable. This was getting a bit too bizarre for his liking. Not only was the object not dormant, it was sending them messages. The ship itself though hadn’t activated, shot them or anything out of the ordinary. He was starting to wonder if he was about to get vaporised at any second.

A clicking noise indicated the computer had decided to print the message, it only did that when it was too long to display on screen. Vector reached a chubby hoof over and read over it to see what the computer had put out.

TRANSMISSION BEGINS.

TITAN INTERNAL COMPUTERS RESPONDING AS PER CAPTAIN SMITH’S FINAL DIRECTIVE.

S.O.S. TO ANYONE THAT FINDS THIS MESSAGE. DO NOT BOARD THE SHIP. ACCIDENT WITH REACTIONLESS DRIVE. FOREIGN BODY PICKED UP IN HYPERSPACE. ENGINES STOPPED. SHIP ABANDONED BEFORE ARRIVAL AT SIRIUS. THREAT CONTAINED. SHIP SET FOR SELF DESTRUCT. IF SELF DESTRUCT FAILS, WHOEVER FINDS THIS MESSAGE - DESTROY THE SHIP.

TRANSMISSION ENDS.

“So what does it say?”

Vector passed the message around the cabin. Suddenly all three ponies felt even more uneasy.

“What sort of a name is Smith?”

“Not a pony one, that’s for sure.” Vector replied. He sat for a moment thinking. Standard procedure now was to pass on what had been found to command and then wait for them to come back with orders. He didn’t like deviating from it, but the message had very clear instructions…

“They’ve told us to destroy it?”

“So it would seem, I’ve never heard of a reactionless drive either - probably explains why the engines look as if they’ve never been fired.”

“Think of the technology…” his other officer started to say.

“Yes but think of the risk. That thing is floating there because there’s something on board that was clearly dangerous to whatever crew it had. Still, it’s been ten thousand years...you’d think it would be long dead.” Vector continued to think about the situation, in this case he decided to follow protocol and pass his findings back to command, message included.

They turned the shuttle around to head back to the Starflier, for now - they’d wait.
> Story 78 - The Campaign Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Di had been mulling over her decision for the past few weeks. She couldn’t help but think all this seemed a bit cloak and dagger.

Within a few days a number of Farthest Reach’s staff had started coming into the store, asking to see her. Obviously usually only customers came in and asked for the manager to complain, so the staff were pleasantly surprised when they were told they were here on business.

The staff didn’t seem too concerned when she got around to explaining what they were visiting for and what had transpired at the meeting with the Planetary Governor. In fact they seemed rather happy, it meant their jobs were secure and all the worry of risk suddenly evaporated much like the meals consumed by the customers. Di actually saw a morale improvement afterwards without her having to lift a single flabby hoof.

As expected though Farthest Reach’s staff had been to discuss changes to ensure that Blubber King met their end of the bargain.

Firstly, a slight change in the decor to more match the party political colours of the election campaign. Di just sighed and begrudgingly agreed to it, for the umpteenth time the restaurant was going to have a new look. At this stage it felt like it had a new makeover every couple of months or less. Oh well.

Secondly, no actual menu item changes but just changing the items to be named in some way after the colony or Farthest Reach himself. The largest item on the menu was now the Succulent Sleipnir Stuffer meal, with other items such as Reach For The Fries as sides which gave Di a small giggle, but again she just decided to agree to the changes.

There was no mention of what to do should Corporate start asking questions. She was only told that it would be ‘handled’ by Farthest Reach’s staff. At this point she figured she’d have no trouble from them unless sales figures dropped and they sent somepony to investigate and the Governor had ensured there would be no issue there.

The outside of the building was painted as well, it looked rather gaudy afterwards. They painted the building a mixture of orange, black and brown to match Farthest Reach’s body and mane colours. They even changed the logo to feature his face enjoying a burger. No matter, the name still read Blubber King.

All in all Di had just sat back, said “Yes” to whatever his staff had come at her with and let the changes happen around her this time. She was too old and too hungry to care. When it was done, the chain re-opened to the usual affair as it always did. Crowds lessened however with each one, the ponies getting a little less excited each time as it was becoming so commonplace. With this change however, the crowd was huge. Di suspected they were supporters of the Governor mostly. There was a huge applause when he arrived to perform the ribbon cutting ceremony. During the whole thing, he only gave Di a sly smile when he glanced in her direction at one point before leaving. Clearly he was a busy pony.

Then the customers began to arrive.

Farthest Reach kept up on his end of the bargain. Blubber King had a steady stream of customers every day it was open. But it was that, steady. Nothing Di and her team couldn’t deal with. There was some crunch moments but they cleared quickly. Everything was going rather smoothly.

“Di!”

It was Sunny who had knocked on her office door as Di attended to some paperwork. The mare looked up at her best worker and smiled.

“Yes?”

“There’s um, a problem with a customer - I think you had better come.”

“Hmm.”

Nothing she couldn’t deal with most likely, but she hadn’t expected to see what she saw. Clearly this was the penalty for getting involved in politics.

“Shills! Every one of you! You should be ashamed!”

A gigantic pony had parked himself right in the middle of the store, Di couldn’t guess weight but she had to assume it’s the fattest anypony could be before they had to use the drive through. It almost seemed planned.

The pony himself had taken up a space right in the middle of the restaurant and was just shouting obscenities. Then she saw why. Covering most of his middle but struggling still to do so was a shirt. Cosmic Compass - The Fatter Way In the middle in giant letters. It was a rival supporter of the competition.

“You think this will stop our fearless leader! Hah! Pathetic! If this is all Farthest Reach has to offer we’ll all be withering back to pre-blubber times where ponies didn’t even have access to fried food!” the stallion continued to yell. There was a few gasps from the patrons. This was a clear disruption, Di had to do something.

“Shills! Every one of you! I spit on your pathetic fast food! I-”

“Enough!”

The shout from Di was enough to stop him for a mere moment, but before she could speak again the stallion continued his tirade.

“Ohhh, look! The prime piggy herself! She can tell you all about how secretly Blubber King is actually healthy! What a farce of a fast food place. It’s all part of the secret plan to make you all thin again! Amateurs! I see through the lies! Cosmic Compass knows all about Sleipnir! She’ll be the best Governor we’ve ever had and we’ll all be fatter than Equestrians! You’ll see!”

Mid-way through the second tirade Di knew she couldn’t reason, leaving him to yell and blabber nonsense. Immediately she found a quiet spot and called the police saying they had a public disturbance and they needed a customer removing. Not the first time, but she hadn’t dealt with political backlash before.

Once the officers arrived, she made her way back to the front to see the stallion getting towed away by two of the Sleipnir P.D. to a cell. Probably only for a day, she expected he had been well compensated by Cosmic Compass for any time he spent in jail. Not before he managed a final political yell.

“I’m not the only one! Eat well fatties, places like these are numbered! We need mega fast food joints, hoses! Endless feeding troughs and no portions! Just as much food as you can eat twenty-four hours a day! Cosmic Compass can deliver…”

With that, he was gone. The staff relaxed and the customers continued eating. Di could see the idiot had made an impression on some of them though, ones that usually ordered fifth and sixth courses electing to leave instead.

“Do you think he’ll be back?” Sunny asked.

“Possibly, or just a different bloated nutcase. In either way if that happens again don’t wait to talk to me, call the police immediately. I’ll talk to Farthest Reach and let him know we have a problem.”

Di made her way back to her office. She wondered if the Governor had expected something like this and if he had any plans for it buried in those multiple rolls of flab of his.
> Story 79 - Out On The Beat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was an old part of their code, but once per month even the most senior members of the S.P.D had to take a walking (in some cases, this was relative) beat around the main city of Sleipnir to do what cops did best, help ponies in need in their day to day lives rather than sitting in an office answering a call and doing it that way. It was always good to maintain a presence, the bloated masses knew you were there still.

Today, it was Lethal Force’s turn.

She knew she wasn’t a slim mare, but she could still move around under her own power. She was here for the next eight hours. What she’d have to deal with in that time was always interesting, although somewhat annoyingly she often found it was always mundane things. The first thing she came across was as mundane as she had expected.

“Oh come on.”

Clearly she said it far too loud, the two ponies trying to push stopped what they were doing and noticing a police officer waddled over.

“We’ve got a bit of a problem here ma’am…” one started to say.

“I can see. Did tubby eat too many meals?”

Too fat to get in the shop of course. Ironic. She was staring at two massive flanks totally wedged in a door that was far too small to accommodate the stallion trying to get inside. A mare and a stallion each of reasonable size themselves had been leaning on his massive rump trying to push him in and were now talking to Lethal Force. From within the store, a voice piped up.

“Actually, I haven’t even gotten in yet!”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you backed out and ate somewhere that could accommodate you sir? Blubber King has triple wide doors from what I understand.” Lethal Force tried to offer as a solution.

“What!? No way I’m almost in! Besides the food here is to die for! How do you think I got so big in the first place!?” the stuck stallion yelled back from within.

“I don’t know, how does anypony on this damn colony get so freaking lardy…” Lethal Force said under her breath.

“What!?”

“Look, ask them inside. Have they got grease?”

There was a small amount of low level noise as she assumed the stallion was talking to the owners.

“They say yes! Lots of it.”

“As if that’s a surprise. Okay, tell them to pour as much of it as they can where you are wedged. Then we’ll push and you can squeeze through.”

A moment later a liquid run off started to appear around the side of the stallion’s flanks, Lethal Force could only assume that the staff inside were greasing the butterball up.

“Now on three, we push, okay?” Lethal Force said to the two ponies outside with her. They just nodded. “One, two, THREE!”

Clearly it was a little too much grease, with a small pop! the stallion slid forward and into the restaurant instantly, sliding across the floor on a greasy trail and comically straight into the buffet table. With an almighty CRASH! it all fell on top of him. When the dust had settled, the three ponies waddled inside to mortified looking staff and a very happy stallion who was eating the food that now coated him, even dipping it in the grease they had used.

“You know I think it tastes better this way, want some?” he asked, offering up a small portion to the unamused Lethal Force who stood over him.

“No, now you had better pay for the damages and the bill or am I going to have to come back and arrest you fatso?” she asked.

“He’ll pay. He always does. This isn’t the first time we’ve had a mishap. He’s just never quite managed to wreck the entire buffet.” a member of staff said. Lethal Force turned her tail to leave.

“Good, but call us if you have a problem. I’ll leave you to it. Oh and um, you may have to grease him on the way out. Consider widening your door if you want to keep serving him.”

It was always problems concerning ponies of size. Her mind often wondered when she had to do a proper beat like this. It was extremely rare that general members of the public actually willingly carried out crimes of a higher nature. In fact the incident with Fireflash and the whole pad company had been the most interesting thing to happen on the colony in years. She had always wondered if getting ponies so obsessed with eating was a way to keep them sedate. Just concentrate on the next meal and not have the energy or compulsion to really commit crime. She must check up on Fireflash, rather than having him rot in a cell perhaps a deal could be worked out now that the pony that put him up to the crime had fled the colony. It was a thought.

Next up was something rather amusing. Pad failure. An immobile pony was stuck in the road. One of the engines had given out, older model with no backup system so it had just simply crashed to the floor. Evidently the mare who occupied it had spent all her money on meals rather than saving up for something new. She spent the next hour directing traffic around her until she could be towed away to a repair facility.

A couple of young colts arguing over a box of donuts, who got the last one specifically. She just happened to come across them eating out in the street they lived on. She reminded them sharing was always best, watching with a smile as they split it in half and each ate that. It wasn’t an ideal solution but it worked. If she had her way she would have stopped them eating altogether.

The rest of the day was petty things. Ponies asking her advice, or directions. By the seventh hour she had the directions for Blubber King almost on speed dial in her brain. She had no idea why so many ponies were asking her where it was. Surely they knew by now anyway? They all looked as if they had a meal there at least twice a day.

Only in the last hour did something mildly interesting happen, but it just reminded her of the first thing - with more of a criminal element.

As she had rounded a corner for a quieter street she distinctly heard a smash, the unmistakable sound of glass being broken. She stopped herself and watched from the corner. It was a pony of around her size, a bit bigger. He must have had a much smaller brain though because he was clearly trying to break into a closed bakery in broad daylight. A few ponies had stopped to look but none were approaching the stallion or attempted to stop him.

They didn’t need to. He stopped himself. He made it about halfway through the window and then was completely wedged, butt hanging out in a rather comical fashion that made Lethal Force smile. Once she had had a good giggle, she made herself known and approached him.

“Sir.”

“Not now, I’m almost in!”

“Sir. If you carry on I’m going to have to charge you with breaking and entering. So far I’m only charging you with property damage seeing as you haven’t technically made it all the way in.”

“Oh...is that um, a police pony behind me?”

“Indeed it is sir, now I suggest you wiggle your way out and accompany me to the station.”

“Of all the luck…”

Slowly, the stallion managed to push his blubbery body out of the now broken window and turned to face her, an expression of regret crossing it immediately.

“I’m sorry! It’s just, they make these amazing cakes...I thought I could take just a few…”

“Sure, just a few. Then it’s the entire counters worth and by the time you’re done you’re too bloated and fat to move. Don’t worry, I’ve seen it happen.” Lethal Force replied, putting him into a pair of hoof cuffs and gesturing the way they needed to go. “Also you know it’s a bakery right? If they’re shut for the day there’s no food left, they won’t start baking until early hours. Do you know anything about cooking?” she asked the stallion.

“No...only eating…” he confessed.

“You’re not the only one. Come on.”

And with that, she took him for a night in the cells. It was only a minor crime, the owners might press charges but he hadn’t taken anything, just broken their window. Lethal Force mused to herself what might happen on the next beat. Hopefully she wouldn’t run into more stuck ponies. Two in a day was enough.

Fireflash however, was still on her mind. Time to pay him a visit.
> Story 80 - Mondays
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mondays were never Red’s favourite day.

He actually wondered if anypony liked Monday. Workaholic ponies maybe? Those ones where life at home was actually more troublesome than being at work? He mused on it, having successfully answered his own question. It at least kept his mind occupied on the drive in.

As per usual he met Foundy at her once again moved office, now situated closer to the new projects. It seemed to move much more frequently these days, likely because the actual construction work of simply laying down an area for fatties to park with no building required apart from a little picket fence, mailbox and grass took them only a few hours to build multiple lots.

“Morning Red.”

“Morning Foundy, what’s on the agenda?”

“The usual. More of these lots. Marketing must have done a heck of a job well...marketing. They’re selling pretty fast. I’d say faster than we can build them but well, you and I know that just wouldn’t be true.” she laughed.

“Indeed. Oh, what’s happening with the prison? Anything?”

“No not yet, they’re still trying to sort out all the details. Prisons take a lot of planning. Those plans were still very preliminary. I’ve heard they’ve run into some design issues and are trying to address them. We’ll get to it eventually.” she said, looking over the plans on her desk. “Want to see the next lot of builds?”

Red was curious, he looked over the plans. “What’s this for?”

“A factory.”

“I can see that, what sort of factory?”

“A new maker of pads. Apparently something happened with the current company on Sleipnir. Owner got into a bit of hot water and fled, or so I am told. A new company from Equestria bought them up and are slowly winding down their operations at their current facility. They’re building a new one. They want us to build it.” she explained. “Don’t worry, I’m keeping you back for when the prison needs doing. Another team will handle this build.”

“What was wrong with the old factory?” he asked.

“Not big enough and the building is nearly as old as the colony itself. They’ve bought the land, they want to knock it down and start again with something all new. There’s a problem though.”

“Oh?”

“Keep this to yourself…” Foundy lowered her voice. “The old company was a bit...shady. There’s a pony currently being looked after in the current factory who’s bigger than anypony else on Sleipnir. They used her for testing pads that could take heavier and heavier ponies. She’s getting shipped off world to Equestria where she’ll be looked after...eventually. For now though it needs to be kept discreet. They’re trying to arrange a transport to take her to the homeworld. But you didn’t hear that from me, okay?”

“Yes boss.”

“Good, now I’ll talk to you later. Your crew is waiting.”

As he hovered away Red thought it wasn’t turning out to be such a bad Monday after all. That was certainly interesting. How big was that pony, did she rival Equestrians? She must be much, much larger than he is. His mind started to turn to other things though, like should he invest in a new pad from the new company soon or wait? He was getting towards the size rating limit for his pad. Ten thousand pounds it was rated for and he was over 7 thousand now. He only had 3 thousand pounds of wiggle room before it would struggle to keep his bulk afloat. He had often thought how much of his body mass was in his rump. Must be around 70% of his fat he thought, maybe more.

Regardless it was Monday. He did this job exactly so he could keep eating and keep growing. No big payout was forthcoming like he had before so he had been putting aside money every month to invest in a new one. With Ivory now too they could pool their resources, but he hadn’t asked her about that yet. He wondered how best he could approach the subject. It seemed selfish to ask without offering something for her too.

The work day itself was unremarkable. They put down a number of the new plots, or ‘parking spaces’ as he liked to call them. He could see already a number had been purchased but none were occupied right now. Red assumed that the owners were out eating. I mean why not? They had plenty of room to grow now. He wondered when they might twig they could just never leave and order take-out right to them. Perhaps they had jobs and were at those like him. His mind kept wandering.

On the way home he decided to pick up dinner. It would save Ivory cooking yet another meal. He pulled into Blubber King and opted to use to drive through instead of going inside. He actually wondered if he could still fit in the store. The drive through was perfect though, he quickly ordered and moved through the line picking up the food at the end. He was served by a rather lovely young Pegasus who gave him a smile and thanked him for his patronage. Fat and happy like the rest of the ponies on the colony.

When he got home, Ivory greeted him with a kiss and an affectionate hug when she saw that he had brought her food. Settling in on the sofa again they tuned into the TV and made some small talk.

“Work okay?” she asked.

“Fine, nothing major. Still building those plots.”

“Ah.”

“Ivory...I’ve been thinking.” Red started to ask “We talked about moving in together last time. Do you want to come with me in the morning and have a look at those plots I mentioned?”

“Yeah! To be honest Red I just forgot. Work has been busy lately. I could come by tomorrow with you. Besides, if I trail behind you I get the best view.” she said with a giggle. It never failed to make him blush.

“Alright. Well come with me in the morning and see. It’ll look basic but we can have them customised with things.” he explained. “They just build the base models and then add more to them later. If we sold both our houses I am sure we could afford one each and possibly have money left over for other things, which is something else I want to ask you.” he confessed.

“Oh?”

“I’m uh...well. We’re both pad bound Ivory. I want to keep growing though. Mine is good for a little while longer. Three thousand more pounds. But I want to push past that. Five figures is just a target I want to surpass.” Red said. “I heard something today. It won’t be for a little while but uh, there’s a new pad company coming. Equestrian based apparently and I know they make pads rated for much heftier ponies. Equestrian ponies are impressive.”

“Impressive how? You mean their size?” Ivory asked.

“Yes. Most on Equestria are even too big for even the biggest pads they offer. That’s my goal someday. But the point is, I will need to buy a new pad at some stage once mine can’t lift me anymore. I was thinking, if I gave you mine and you sold yours, could we invest the money into a new bigger better pad for me?” That way you could keep gaining too, this pad is good up to ten thousand pounds.”

“Hmmm...it seems like the logical thing to do. Let me think about it, I’ll decide after we’ve seen the plots you’re talking about tomorrow okay?” she said, turning her attention back to the program they were watching.

Tomorrow then, he’d show her the plots and hopefully she’d be interested. It was the next logical step in both of them gaining to even huger sizes. He snuggled close to Ivory and settled into thoughts of being Equestrian sized. A wonderful thought to have.
> Story 81 - Mass Increase
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“More.”

“I’m sorry Mistress, that was the last one from the shipment.”

“Oh, out so soon? A shame.”

Cherry had been spending most of the afternoon feeding Rotunda from the latest shipment of the fruits. It had been another wonderful meeting with Jock, they’d even managed a little more fun this time. He had urged her again about speaking to Rotunda about increasing the shipments so they could be together more. With her disappointed that they had run out, now seemed like the perfect opportunity.

“I hope this isn’t too forward Mistress but may I speak freely?”

The lardy mare raised an eyebrow and gave her an eyeballing before saying “Of course dear. What’s on your mind?”

“It is no secret you wish to gain, the fruits have provided amply for the past months. Would it be worth renegotiating the contract to up the supply? You sounded so disappointed just now to learn we had run out so quickly.” Cherry said with sincerity. “I well, may have heard rumours it was on your mind.”

“You hear a lot my dear, but to be expected in your line of work.” Rotunda said with a smile, shifting her massive bulk as best she could. The mare through continued eating of the fruits as well as other such delights weighed a healthy fifteen thousand pounds at this point. She cupped her flab in her even heftier hooves and indulged herself for a moment in her own immense size. Anything she could do to increase it would be a benefit of course. The thought that she had passed Farthest Reach in size now quite a little while ago was the talk of the colony. If she kept gaining well, she’d continue to be the talk of the colony.

“We shall make preparations. I do have a direct line to Sundrop. I’ll schedule a call for this afternoon.” Rotunda said. “Contact her aid and let them know I wish to speak to them.”

“Certainly ma’am.”

“Oh and bring me some more food whilst you’re passing the pantry, I am starving.”

“I will be back momentarily.”

Shutting the door to her private quarters Cherry did a small jump of joy as much as she could manage with her own heft once outside, bulbous frame jiggling as she came back down to the floor and steadied herself. Perhaps her movements had been a bit presumptuous. That was far too easy to convince her. At this point it was now down to Rotunda to convince Sundrop that they would up her deliveries. The call was important, Cherry thought about what she might interject with if for whatever reason it didn’t go Rotunda’s way.

In any case she made arrangements. Sundrop had a spare ten minutes at 3pm colony time. Between the present time and then she made multiple trips to the pantry to keep Rotunda well fed.

At the appointed time Rotunda turned on her portable vid-screen. On the other end a familiar lardy face greeted her.

“Good afternoon Rotunda, my my - you certainly have gained weight.” Sundrop said, observing what she could of the multiple chinned and spare tyre necked Rotunda in the frame of the vid-screen.

“Thank you Sundrop. It has been too long, I should make another trip out to see you at some point.”

“You’d be more than welcome of course. Or perhaps we could take another trip together sometime. Anyhow, I suspect this call isn’t about that. What can I do for you?” she asked. That was Sundrop, Rotunda thought to herself. Rather to the point.

“Well I am most gracious that you’ve kept up with our deal. I think you can see by my size it has benefited me immensely…”

“Indeed. You must be one of the biggest ponies on your colony by now.” Sundrop said with a grin.

“Yes, that’s why I’m calling. One of the biggest. Not the biggest. Of course that goes out the window as well when Equestrian’s visit.”

“Ah well, nopony rivals them for size. That is what keeps them in power after all…” Sundrop replied, she wasn’t giving anything away. She knew what Rotunda was going to ask but she wanted it to come from her.

“Indeed. Well, is there any possibility of upping the shipment? I think you can agree I’ve done you quite the favour by taking those reject fruits from you all this time, which I’d like to continue to do so.”

“Mmmm. Let me see. A moment.” Sundrop replied, Rotunda could see her gaze move to the side of the call as she observed another screen. “There might be some room, but you take all the reject fruits we produce Rotunda. I can only offer you regular fruits. We can’t spare any additional transports as well, it will mean more frequent visits from the pilot you have. It will have to be a weekly visit at minimum, maybe more which will go on the bill. Plus you’ll be paying for the extra fruits. But essentially it’ll double your gaining capacity. Will payment be a problem?”

Upon hearing double gaining capacity any rational thought of money problems vanished from the bloated mares mind. She simply answered “Of course not, I am just happy you can be so accommodating to me.”

“Well, you have proven your worth to us certainly. I’ll start sending through a new shipment order immediately. You really will be the envy of the colony. Speak soon, goodbye Rotunda.”

“Speak soon Sundrop.” she replied, the feed cutting off. “Well that was fruitful.”

The pun went unnoticed by Cherry who was smiling anyway. It meant more visits, more alone time. She didn’t even need to interject herself into the conversation and her mind skipped with delight as she made her way back to the pantry again to get Rotunda some celebratory snacks for having ironed out a new deal. She’d feed her up good tonight, oh yes.

In the pantry she bumped into Duster busy with another chore. It was a literal bump, she hadn’t noticed him at one of the many fridges pulling out a small snack for himself.

“Oh sorry! Didn’t see you there. How are things?” Cherry asked.

“Worrying.”

“Hmm?” her ears twitched a little. Hopefully it was a personal worry. “What’s wrong?”

“You haven’t heard about the garden staff?”

“No?”

“Oh, uhm. Well it’s just a rumour but I haven’t seen them for a few days now.” Duster started to say, trying to push his way past Cherry’s massive bulk, but she wedged him between a counter and herself. He was stuck. “H-hey, what’s this?”

“What’s the rumour.” was all Cherry asked, squishing her flab into Duster causing him to blush a little.

“Gah, well if you didn’t hear it from me you would have found out eventually…” he sighed, backing up so he was no longer wedged in Cherry’s flab. “Two of them were let go. I know they’re a team of five who look after the grounds but the head gardener was grumbling to me about it. Said it’s going to make much more work.”

“How come? Were they performing poorly?” Cherry enquired.

“No no, they’re some of the best. You know that’s all they employ here. Apparently it’s...money. The Mistress’s husband has been examining the finances. It has tipped from what I understand, at least that was the reason given for letting the two gardeners go. She is spending more than he earns. He’s trying to make savings around the estate.”

“Oh…”

“I don’t think we’re at risk but, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to keep your eyes open for other opportunities.” Duster finished, he finally got past now that the dejected Cherry was dwelling on his words. “I’ll see you later.”

Her mind was racing. She had just convinced even more spending and now she had heard this. Why couldn’t she have bumped into Duster yesterday! Who else was now going to be fired because their glutton of a mistress was spending far too much of the income on food? Could she reverse the decision? Sabotage it somehow? No. The deal was done. She had to speak to Jock and figure out what to do in the worst case scenario. Now he was coming more frequently, she’d get a chance sooner than before. In the meantime, she prepared the next meal for Rotunda. More money being consumed they apparently now didn’t have…
> Story 82 - Against Better Judgement
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Still awake?”

The internal ships clock read 04:11. Ever since sending the information back to command on their return Vector hadn’t been able to do anything but wait for a response. It seemed far too wondrous to be true. A dead spaceship that made the Starflier look minuscule, a message from a long dead captain and technology contained within that seemed so advanced it put anything that came out of the Equestrian shipyards to shame. He knew what the decision would be, but it had to be official. There might even be a slight chance they did the sensible thing for once.

“Yes, still awake. Pull up to a spot if you like.” Vector replied. It was one of the navigators. “I’m sorry, the crew is so large. Your name?”

“Night Dust.” the pony replied taking a place next to him, she could see he was staring at the communications inbox that had a (0) next to the unread section. “You know staring at it won’t make it come any quicker.”

“I know, staring at it won’t change the decision either.”

“What decision?”

“Oh of course. You don’t know. Need to know basis only.” Vector replied, looking at Night Dust for a moment then turning his attention back to the screen. “Sorry, I don’t want the rumour mill spreading out of control.”

“What about the gigantic supposedly dormant spaceship Titan you went to investigate?” she asked. Immediately Vector turned his head around to face her, eyes wide.

“Who told you?”

“About three different ponies. Rumour mill already is running Captain. Out here in deep space ponies blab any little bit of gossip. It didn’t take long to hear once you all returned.”

“Right...well yes. I know what they’re going to tell us to do, despite the warning. It’s too good an opportunity to pass up. They’ll make us recover whatever we can from it. Heck, they may even have us finish the mission here and then tow the damn thing back along with us to Equestria. I don’t know yet. I’m just pretty certain I’m going to be told to meet my doom.”

“Yeah, the message was a warning right? Some sort of issue on board?” Night Dust asked.

“Mmm. Whoever was piloting that ship just referred to it as foreign body. That could be anything from a giant monster to a virus I suppose. I mean it’s probably long dead, that ship has been floating there for aeons. I just don’t want to take the risk.” Vector said with a sigh.

“Well, try to stop worrying about it and get some sleep okay? A tired Captain is no good to any pony.” Night Dust said as she left Vector to continue to stare at the monitor. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. I suppose I should…”

His words trailed off noticing the (0) change to a (1!). The use of an exclamation point meant it was a priority message.

RE: GLASHTYN MISSION REPORT

ORDERS: BOARD AND RECOVER TITAN WITH UTMOST URGENCY. IF NOT POSSIBLE, BOARD AND RECOVER ANY AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY FROM TITAN. THIS TAKES PRIORITY OVER TERRAFORMING MISSION. NEEDED CREW FOR MISSION TO BE INFORMED BUT SWORN TO SECRECY. SUCCESSFUL RECOVERY WILL BE REWARDED.

And that was it. He knew it was coming. It was good he had already made plans. He had a staff meeting scheduled with a small detachment of his crew at 08:00. Hopefully just over three hours of sleep should be enough to make Vector alert enough to inform them of the next steps. Before he hit the hay though, he had one visit to make. Down to the core…

When he arrived he could see her, despite the late hour she was awake. It was as if she knew he was coming. It unnerved the Captain.

“I need your advice.”

There was a grunt from within the hefty mass of fat. It was, if he could guess a ‘and why should I help you?’ response. He decided to follow up appropriately.

“Because it goes beyond all of this, what we’ve done to you. What we’re out here to do. We’ve detected an object, a ship…”

He repeated the story to Starflier. The entire thing, the message, what they had found and what they had been ordered to do.

“I know what I have to do, but you’re probably the smartest pony aboard the ship. I wondered if...if you could tell me anything. I’m sure you’d love to see me smeared across a wall by some sort of alien monster but if things go south you’re stuck here forever. Is that what you want?”

There was another grunt, a more agreeable one this time. He could only assume she had conceded that he had a point.

The laboured words, always few now she was so massive and lardy came from her lips. “If...you...board...you...will...die…”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Not...the...wheeze...first...time…”

His head now spinning even more, Vector Thrust returned to his quarters and tried to process what he had been told. He knew he had to do it. But what did she mean this wasn’t the first time? They’d found things like this before? Ponies had boarded another vessel like it and been wiped out? Perhaps....perhaps they had made some sort of fatal error. He couldn’t sleep. He had to find out more. He needed to know more. Starflier couldn’t say much, but he had to press her for further information. He returned to the core, she was still awake. It was bizarre. She should be sleeping like the rest of the crew. What was keeping her up?

“Look I can’t disobey a direct order but you seem to know about this. Can we do anything to prepare ourselves? Or are we doomed?”

“Look...Captain…” she started to speak, he could tell this time she was trying to put her anger to the side for probably the only time he had spoken to her. Despite everything they had done, Starflier was still a scientist. She could only tell him what she knew. “This...technology...is...not...new.”

“What do you mean not new?”

Another laboured grunt which was followed by more laboured words. “Equestria...tried...it...once. Failed. Something....lives...in...hyperspace.”

“What do you mean something lives in hyperspace? We’ve been flying ships like the very one we’re on now for hundreds of years without issues.”

“Yes...slower...ships. They...don’t...touch...their...existence...plane.” she managed to force the words out. For Vector, it was starting to come together.

“Slower? Look forgive me. Are you telling me we could build immensely faster ships that can cross greater distances faster, but we don’t because of monsters?”

“Exactly.” was all she said.

“So why haven’t we tried to do something about it? Surely we could stop whatever it is with the right magic, technology? Something?”

He swore he saw an eye roll from within the bulky mounds of Starflier. “Idiots. They...all...thought...that. They...all...DIED.”

The final word was a yell not of anger, but it came from experience. The tone of her voice told him that was her final word on the subject. He had been warned, but he had no choice. To disobey orders was well...it meant punishment that may as well mean he’d be dead, he’d heard the stories of other captain’s locked away with no access to food. There was no changing the outcome of what he had to do. He’d rally the staff in the morning and prepare them and himself as much as he could. 

Tomorrow, they were going to board the Titan.
> Story 83 - A Cosmic Visit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since the shouting tirade by one of Cosmic Compass’s supporters, things at Blubber King had been quiet. Well, busy actually. Business as expected had picked up immensely under the support of Farthest Reach. What Di was actually thinking was it had been quiet in terms of having to deal with any crazies. Since he had been hauled out by the police they hadn’t had another incident. Clearly though ponies really didn’t have much loyalty as long as food was available for them to purchase, she had observed a number of supporters of the Governors rival who sported shirts similar to the disruptive pony. It had put her and her staff on edge every time one entered, but all they wanted to do was order food.

“Di?”

“Yes Sunny?” Di halfheartedly replied, she was concentrating on a stock evaluation report she was preparing to send back to corporate and only half listening to what her employee was saying. The next words got her attention though.

“There is a pony who’s ordered a number of meals, but he says he needs some help carrying them outside. Apparently the pony who has ordered them is too big for the drive through and wants them brought out…”

“That drive through is rated for pads supporting ponies up to twenty thousand pounds in terms of their width. Must be an Equestrian visitor. Okay fine. You all say behind the counter serving and I’ll take the meal out with whoever has asked for it.”

When Di got to the front, it was actually surprising for her to see a relatively in shape stallion waiting for her with some sort of custom made apparatus across his back that had a large flat surface. Clearly it was for putting things on, Di wasn’t sure if it was for things besides food though.

“So uh? This for you?” Di asked, having the order placed on his back as she watched the pony struggle a little now he had a weight on it.

“No, please miss Di. Do I look like an eater? This is for my employer.”

“I see, the Equestrian outside?” she asked.

“Equestrian? No no. My employer was born on Sleipnir. Anyway, he’ll be hungry. Please can you bring the rest outside with me?” the stallion asked, turning around to exit.

“Alright. Wait how did you know my name and who’s your employer?” Di said, now filled with even more questions.

“Most ponies know your name for running this place miss Di. The second well...will be answered in a moment.”

She was surprised that she hadn’t noticed the gigantic mass of blorpy blubber almost blocking the street...almost. Outside on a humongous pad was a pony of such hefty size and weight that there was little left that actually resembled much of the original stallion, well, she assumed it was a stallion inside the fat prison of his or her body. Clearly the pad they were on was at its weight limit, it kept dipping to the side slightly and each time it did, ripples were sent through the body of the occupier, fat jiggling in response to the jolts it made trying to keep the weight aloft.

She watched as the unnamed pony who had been in her store got on a smaller pad nearby and was lifted up towards a small hole around a spare tyre neck and simply dumped the food inside it, bags and all. He didn’t even bother to unwrap the food as it vanished. Di watched as the pony on the pad ate. No actual eating was visible but its whole body shuddered in delight as the food was consumed, the fat rippling in pleasure as the food was digested and eventually after only a moment or two completely eaten. She did hear a very obvious sound of enjoyment as an “Urrrrrrpppppp!” erupted from somewhere in the neck hole where the ponies head was sunken in.

The stallion who had fed him returned to her side. “He’ll be satisfied now for around ten minutes. He wants to speak with you.”

From the side of the pad a small drone detached with a holo-screen that flickered into life in front of Di’s face. It was dim, but clearly somewhere in that neck hole was lighting so that the stallion’s face could be lit up. There was no chance of speaking face to face when the face of who you were trying to speak to was buried in such a huge amount of fat.

“Excellent...bwarrrpppp!..Just as good as I thought it would be. Although it lacks enough calories. No wonder ponies are still so small.” the stallion said with a food-stained grin. Di surmised cleaning flotsam from around you maw was pretty impossible at his size, she could make out a number of food packages wedged in fat rolls that had clearly missed its target. “Di yes? I am Cosmic Compass. Apologies for one of my supporters invading your establishment a short time ago. They’re just as passionate about immobility as I am.” he said with another smile, stretched his mouth as wide as possible into his overly bloated cheeks that pressed against his face.

“No trouble. The police took care of it. So what brings you here. You know we support Farthest Reach of course.” Di replied.

“Indeed. I may be unable to see normally but technology is so wonderful is it not? I can see that your establishment firmly supports my opposition. A mistake of course.”

“We’ll see. Wait, was that a threat?” Di asked, she wasn’t a fan of them in any situation, especially after already having dealt with one crazy supporter. What if he had more?

“A threat? My dear no. You misunderstand. You’re supporting the clear...uuurrraaaappp!...excuse me, loser in this race! Farthest Reach can’t fatten up the citizens of Sleipnir fast enough! Look at me! I can show them exactly what they can become. ‘Bigger Than Equestrians!’ is my next motto. Catchy huh?” Cosmic Compass replied, another small burp finishing his sentence.

“I see, and if everypony on Sleipnir is a great fat immobile blob who is going to feed them and keep them alive?” Di asked, a serious question.

“I already said technology is wonderful Di. Who needs ponies like you serving up food the old fashioned way when we can automate everything? I see a future where ponies as big as mountains are fed like the Princesses back on Equestria. Mutual gaining I call it! It will be glorious.”

“Isn’t that a fetish thing?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Never mind...uh. So you really think that Farthest Reach is done for? He’s doing rather well still in the polls. In fact, aren’t you behind him by quite a margin?” Di recalled, she wasn’t hugely politically interested but she knew that much at least.

“Not after my next public broadcast, then everypony will know what I can do for them. As you know already my supporters are very passionate about gaining.”

“Still, you’re behind because ponies still have brains you know. They might be obsessed with gaining but even they can see that some promises are impossible to fulfil. I’m one of them.”

“I can see that, which is why you still sadly support my opposition. Watch my broadcast and everything will become clear. For now, I need another meal and I’m on a tour of the colonies establishments. It was nice meeting you Di, maybe next time that ugly decor on your fine establishment will have come off.” with that and a final food-stained grin the drone switched off the broadcast from within the fat mass of Cosmic Compass and retreated back into the pad. The stallion who had been next to Di had his pad coupled to the larger one of Cosmic Compass and Di could only assume he was now piloting him to his next destination. It was all very curious, it did make Di smile though as she watched the pad dip from side to side as it traversed its way down the street. She was expecting to see some sort of news story in the coming days about him being stranded.

She went back inside and piloted her own way back to her desk. Ponies were swayed easily. All Cosmic Compass really had to do was say “Look at me, I’m huge, you can be this huge too if you elect me.” and Di was sure that would be enough for most, bar the logistics of actually feeding a population up to his sort of size that was currently the reserve of the rich and a few outliers. She made a note to see what the plan he had was and another to keep an eye out to see if more ponies came in with clothing that supported him. She had a feeling Farthest Reach had a bit of a battle coming up and as per the agreement she’d do whatever was needed to make sure the deal was met. Di never went back on her words.
> Story 84 - The Wire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Fireflash.”

“Lethal Force.”

It was the same little dreary interrogation room he had been pulled into by her all those months ago when he first landed in here, the mare across the table as she had been previously. He’d say he was experiencing déjà vu but it wasn’t exactly the same. He knew this feeling.

“So, what brings you down here to see little old me and feel it necessary to drag me out my cell?” he asked. “By the way, I hope that new prison I keep hearing about is coming soon. I think most of my cell-mates are bursting out of their confines at this point. The mess hall gets quieter every day on account of them not even being able to get out of their cells.”

“Cut the crap Fireflash.” came the curt response, it was one of those days where she just wasn’t in the mood for his attitude. It wasn’t that Fireflash was mean. He just said things that rubbed her the wrong way every time he made some sort of snide remark about whatever topic he had decided to bring up.

“My my, we are short tempered today.”

“Every day. It goes with the work when all you deal with are the dregs of society.” was her own response. She grinned a little seeing the comment take a chip out of his usually confident attitude. “Anyway. The reason I’ve dragged you out of your cell is that I thought I’d give you an update on the situation with your case and also offer you a way out of here. Something has come up that we think you’d be suited perfectly for.”
“Oh?”

She had been hoping for a little more than that out of him at the prospect of getting out. Regardless, the mare ploughed on with what she had to say.

“Firstly, the pony that put you here in the first place is long gone. He escaped offworld and ended up on Equestria. Basically, at this current time we can’t prosecute the prime suspect so that means until we can you’re basically set to languish here for all eternity unless he gets some mad compunction to return to Sleipnir. That is unless…” she let her voice trail off, hoping to see the pony jump (if he could) at the opportunity to escape. All he did was raise an eyebrow. Even when he wasn’t speaking, he sure knew how to push her buttons. Lethal Force seethed a little before carrying on. “That is unless, you’re willing to help us and wear a wire.”

“A wire? Oh come on - really? With all the advanced technology we have you’re resorting to offering having me wear a wire so you can get some information? Haven’t you got like, I don’t know, little tiny pea sized drones that are undetectable and can get in anywhere?” he scoffed, not quite believing what he was hearing.

“We probably have more then you know Fireflash, but this requires a bit of a delicate touch. Plus a pony of rather well known standing on the Colony is involved and he’s not stupid. We suspect he has put in place measures to stop us just simply tapping his holo-calls and placing bugs in his business interests.” Lethal Force responded.

“And what are his business interests hmm?”

“Blubber King.”

That did it, she saw his face fall as he tried to let the little gears in his head turn and work out what exactly he was going to respond with. Eventually it came and started with a laugh.

“Ahahaha, are you SERIOUS? Of ALL the places you could possibly have me go, you’re going to send me there, to work I assume? I mean I knew cops were dumb but this is amazing. How do you even expect them to take me back and let me do my old job?” the stallion asked in a fitful of tears, his multiple chins jiggling almost non-stop as he let out a good belly laugh before eventually wiping a tear from his eye with a chubby hoof.

“We don’t.”

That got him again. Now he was really lost. “What do you mean you don’t?” came the reply with a very flat and serious tone.

“We expect you to be a customer.”

“A customer?”

“Exactly. We’ll brief you properly but the basic idea is you go in each day, every day and park your fat ass somewhere near the counter and eat. While you eat, we’ll be recording everything. The future of the colony is up for grabs and believe it or not we’ve heard your old employer has decided to take a bit of a political stance which through hearsay has been working out very well for them. Firstly we want to know why, secondly we want to know if there are any developments. The only way to do that is to have somepony there.”

“I see…” Fireflash considered his options for a moment. “This is the only way?”

“Think of it this way fatso.” Lethal Force started to say. “I get a cell back in an overstuffed prison, you get your freedom and as much food as you can stuff into that bloated thing you call a belly. We also get to hear any juicy information. It’s a win-win for both sides. But if you’d rather continue to eat prison meals on your lonesome in the cafeteria for the rest of your life, be my guest…”

“Fine.”

“Fine what?”

“Fine, I’ll do your dirty work. Anything I eat is paid for yes?”

“That’s part of it. Just don’t get so big you can’t actually get inside the place anymore, but like I say you’ll be properly informed tomorrow of all the details.”

“You know if it’s the same staff they’ll be suspicious of me coming back just to eat. What if they start being cautious and holding things back?” he asked.

“We don’t care about what the staff say, it’s what happens involving other customers while you’re there. Anything they might reveal or give away about what is happening is just a bonus. Besides, if there is something going on do you think they’d be blurting it out in front of customers anyway? It makes no difference if it’s you or Rose Pendant!” Lethal Force said.

“Rose Pendant?”

“I needed a name, don’t think too deeply about it Fireflash. You’ll see one of my officers in the morning who will get you out of your cell nice and early. In the meantime, enjoy your last meal here hopefully for a while, unless you screw this up. Then I can guarantee you’ll never set foot outside these walls again.”

“Until you transfer me to the orbiting prison right?” he said with a final smirk.

“If you make it there. See you around Fireflash. Oh final thing, we’ll provide you with a pad rated up to eight thousand pounds. Don’t exceed the weight limit. Eat slow if you have to, I don’t care. You might be there for months.”

And with that, two guards came in to take the stallion back to his cell. It was a long shot but with political office involved they just couldn’t risk trying anything that might make either Cosmic Compass or Farthest Reach suspicious of their own colonies police force. This had to be done the old fashioned way with as little reason to raise any suspicion as possible. Besides in a pony as fat as Fireflash a wire was easy to hide in amongst rolls of fat. Perfect hiding place for more than just snacks these days. The mare mused on their meeting for a moment before returning to her office. She had plenty to be doing.
> Story 85 - A Big Decision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well, what do you think?” Red asked.

“It’s um…”

There was a pause as Ivory observed the plot of land with very little on it. She knew what she was expecting to see, Red had described it all beforehand. It was just now she was actually looking at it, they seemed even more sparse than the image she had in her head. Essentially what Red’s construction company was marketing was a flat slab of land with a picket fence and mailbox with the idea that anypony can just park up on it and have as much space as they needed to grow. At least, up to the picket fence.

“This is it?” she finally finished.

“Well mostly, they have one other trick.” Red said, tapping something into his Pad’s keyboard. “There’s a function linked with your Pad, I have access to the show model so I can show you.” he said, as he finishing speaking four small drones appeared out the corners of the plot of land and hovered into the air about fifty feet up. They then with a small pow! shot out a grappling line between them and a netting like cover materialised above and down the sides that went down to the floor.

“What on Sleipnir is that?” Ivory asked.

“It’s if the weather turns, they figured ponies wouldn’t be happy with being battered by the elements so this covers you from the rain, snow and whatever else might come at you. Oh also it heats up in the cold so you can stay nice and toasty.” Red explained, tapping a few more buttons on his pad. With that the grappling lines retracted and the drones slowly retreated back into their small resting spots under the ground.

“Hmmm, and ponies are considering these over properly built houses?”

“Well, we’ve had a number of interested ponies put their names down on the waiting list already. But they get built so fast, I could get us two plots I think very quickly if you wanted.” Red beamed. “And they’re much cheaper! We can afford two easily.”

“With the main benefit being you can grow on these as large as you like, well within reason I suppose. I guess you could outgrow your share of land.”

“Well yes, but by then who knows - bigger plots of land to move up to. There will be options.” Red explained. “So what do you think?”

“I think…”

Another pause. It was making Red anxious.

“I think I want a real house.”

“Oh.”

Ivory could see the disappointment from Red, clearly he had been banking on this. His chubby lips almost curled up into a dog like whimper at his hopes being dashed. But perhaps now this was a good time to reveal the little secret she had been keeping.

“Red, it’s a lovely idea and I can see the merit behind it. Really I can, but instead of a bare plot of land we need something with physical walls that well, eventually we will burst out of I suppose.” she said with a small laugh. “Besides your fat ass will be quickly crushing the picket fence behind you, I doubt it’s up to stopping an ever growing mountain of blubbery butt.” she said teasing him a little and watching him blush.

“B-but, this is all we can afford…” Red said, still heartbroken.

“Maybe not.”

 “Oh come on Ivory, we both know what we make. Sure we could buy a house, but we’d outgrow it in no time, your current one is just about big enough for both of us.” Red replied. “I mean what is it, you secretly have a lot of money stashed away you’ve never told me about?” he asked.

“Right on the button fat ass.” she replied with a smile.

“Wait...you actually have a secret stash of money?” Red said, now giving her more of a puzzled look.

“Pretty much. Inheritance. Had a Grandpony that was crossing a bridge back on Equestria and it collapsed under his weight. A little funny, but not so much for him. The family got a huge payoff and well, we’ve just been keeping it locked up and untouched ever since. It’s why I have a job and live in a pretty standard house. I don’t want to touch it, but I think now might be the time.” she explained. “Plus, I know some ponies out there only care about money. They’d want to blow it all on food.”

“Well, I can’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind…” Red replied.

“Mine too, honestly been hard not to dip into it. But I think I’d like to take some of it and invest it into a house for both of us. A proper house that’s larger than any of these plots of land your company is offering. What do you think?”

“I think I could kiss you.”

“You can, if you’re okay with public affection.” Ivory laughed, quickly feeling a smooch on her flab as Red got as close to her as he could and gave her a little kiss.

“Well okay, I mean I’ll help out too with what I can. I don’t want it to all be on you.”

“We’ll see blimpy butt. For now, we need to find a house first.”

“Mmmm, well we’re still building the larger models.” Red started to think. “Then of course there’s all those super big, super expensive houses up in the nice part of town like where the Governor lives but they’re monstrously expensive and they don’t come up for sale very often.”

“Yeah, well we got time. It’ll be a little while before we need to move. My house is plenty big for the time being.”

“For the time being. But uh, thanks for sharing. It’s good to know we’ve got more options.”

“Of course. Sorry for not bringing it up sooner. It’s just...you know what ponies will try to get money if they hear someone has it. I figured at this stage I can trust you with the knowledge. Don’t go spreading it around, or we’ll never get that house.” Ivory said slightly more sternly this time.

“The idea never even crossed my mind. What I would like to get is dinner though.” Red said, turning his pad to head towards Blubber King.

“Sure, if it’s your treat.” Ivory grinned back.

“Hey, I thought you were the loaded one!” Red teased.

“Maybe for money, not so much for weight chunky cheeks. By the way, I’m driving behind you so I get that fat ass all in my vision.” came a slightly lusty reply.

“All yours honey.” Red said with a blush, the two making their way towards town for food.
> Story 86 - [Arc Finale] Cherry and Rotunda
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe it’s come down to this...Cherry, you are good for staying beyond the call of duty. For that I can’t begin to describe my gratitude, I wish it were under better circumstances…”

It had been a rather painful process over the past months. The mistress, well. Despite repeated warnings from her husband she just hadn’t been able to stop herself. Even then, it wasn’t enough. At a massive twenty thousand pounds of immobile, jiggling mass the mare was still spending money she didn’t have. 

The first downfall was the renegotiation of the fruit contract which had gone better than hoped. In fact Sundrop had offered an even better deal for Rotunda but at the cost of a higher price. Once she had quickly agreed, the weight had started to pile on rapidly. In a mere two months she had gained 5 thousand pounds extra and was determined to keep going. That was until the bank froze her husbands accounts and she simply couldn’t keep paying the bill for the shipments anymore. In fact the last one was but a mere few moments away. Obviously Sundrop had been disappointed, but had agreed to keep her place for when she didn’t fault on her payments.

The second was letting go of staff. The large mansion that Rotunda occupied had now become a shell of its former self. Cherry was the only member of staff left and she hadn’t been paid for over a month for her services. Waddling down the now empty halls made it seem so desolate. One by one they had let staff go who were quickly snapped up by other rich households that knew Rotunda only employed the very best. It wasn’t hard for them to find jobs. Cherry had considered doing the same, but conversations with Jock had convinced her otherwise. There was a reason she had stayed beyond what she had to. She also felt so sorry for Rotunda who had been so good to her over the years.

Thirdly was the ruination of Rotunda’s social standing in high society. With the lack of money and no staff to support her lavish parties she had quickly dropped off the social map and friends she had known for many years had abandoned her. Without her generous banquets, ponies saw no reason to visit a now poor and rather boastful lard ass who had become so utterly obsessed with her size it was all she talked about. They could tolerate it when they were stood at a buffet but without that the bragging was a little too much for them, even though they knew they were guilty of doing it themselves.

All in all, the maid who had gotten her start here under a rather lovely employer was sad it had come to an end like it had. She had been well looked after and given things that she never thought Rotunda would bestow upon her. Thinking back she had wonderful memories of all the parties, the trip and everything else that had happened. It seemed wrong to do what she was about to do but she had no choice, she had to look after number one.

“I do too mistress. The last shipment is arriving. I will go meet the pilot and bring it back for you.” was all she said, keeping a more stoic expression on her face so as to not give anything away.

“I’m going to miss those fruits, as hard as they are to swallow they’ve done wonders for my figure. Such a shame, I was getting so close to my desired size too…” the mare said wistfully. Leaving her to her words Cherry made her way outside and as per usual Jock’s ship was touching down. It was a larger vessel than the previous one, just about able to fit on the landing pad with some precision flying. With the upped delivery of the fruits and more of them he had been coming with a faster and better ship. As before, a light vrrr opened the door and from within she spied Jock sitting at the controls of the ship. The maid eagerly waddled her way inside and smiled at him as he turned around to get his pudgy rear out of the pilots seat. He stood up and hugged her, folds pressing against one another as they embraced.

“Did she suspect?”

“Not a thing, in fact she thanked me for going beyond the call of duty. I don’t knock Jock, is this right? She’s done so much for me. I’m the only one left. I feel so bad practically abandoning her…”

“Look we talked about this Cherry. There’s no place for you here anymore. She’s got no money, the mansion is probably going to be sold soon. Then what? She’ll be letting you go anyway. Heck she should have a month ago but only because you ‘kindly’ agreed to stay on free of charge. If you stay on Sleipnir you’ll be more wedged in place than she is.”

The maid chuckled a little, she needed to hear that. “I know, but...look can we do one thing? It won’t cause any trouble.”

“What?” Jock asked.

“Just let me use your ships broadcaster to send an anonymous message to the local police. Just to let them know that she’s alone and will need help. If I leave her without food well...I dread to think.”

“...I suppose it’s the least we can do. Just as long as nopony knows it’s us. Okay?” he replied.

“Okay.” Cherry replied, moving over the controls. She sent a simple message containing the address and that the owner was in distress, nothing more. Clicking a button, the message vanished. “Done, I estimate we’ve got about twenty minutes before an officer shows up. We need to leave.”

Jock started to make his way over to the controls that shut the rear doors. Before he could press it, Cherry pulled his hoof away.

“Wait...I. I have to say goodbye to her. I can’t just not leave it at going to inspect the shipment like always.”

“WHAT!? Then she’ll definitely know you’re running off. Bad idea seriously!” Jock shouted back, going for the controls to shut the door once again, with Cherry following his motions and pulling back at his hooves once more. “Will you stop that! You said it yourself, we’ve got maybe twenty minutes! If you get into some long goodbye then we’ll be caught for sure!”

“LOOK. Just let me do this okay? She’s done a lot for me over the years. I won’t be that obvious to say ‘Okay bye mistress, abandoning you now. Enjoy the weight loss!’ but I just need to at least thank her for everything she’s done.” Cherry said, glaring down on her future partner.

“Alright, alright. But if you’re not back in the next twenty minutes I’m leaving!”

“I’ll be ten, keep that door open.”

As fast as her tubby hooves could carry her, Cherry made her way back inside and to the bedroom Rotunda was situated in. Opening the door she heard a rumbling from within the immobile mass of her Mistress.

“Cherry? Everything okay with the final shipment I hope.”

“Everything is fine ma’am. We’re offloading it now.”

“Oh good, good. At least I have something to look forward to. There is so little these days…”

She could hear the forlornness in her voice. To be such a valued pony in high society and have it all stripped in a matter of months must be heartbreaking. Cherry wasn’t going to say goodbye, but she had to say thank you.

“I know Mistress. Hopefully better times will fill this household with joy once again.”

“Indeed...ah the banquets. You are such a skilled cook Cherry. If it wasn’t for those fruits I’d be enjoying your delicacies so much more. I wonder what Honey Drops and Sugar Tart are doing these days. I never hear a peep from either of them.”

“From what I hear, they are still mingling, just at other parties mistress.”

“Expected I suppose. Anyway, please finish unloading the fruits. My stomach growls for sustenance.”

“I shall...thank you Mistress. For everything. It has been a pleasure serving you over these years. I’m going to miss it greatly.”

“Me too Cherry, more than you know. Even though I can’t afford you as of this moment there will always be a place for you here. I hope you know that.”

“It is...appreciated. I will see you soon Mistress.”

Cherry had to leave before she burst into tears. She managed to make it halfway back to the ship before she almost flopped forward onto her stomach and cried tears like she had not cried since she was a filly. Of the twenty minutes she had she had spent a mere few moments talking to Rotunda for the last time and then ten minutes sobbing uncontrollably on the floor. It just felt so unfair to her. This pony had been nothing but almost a mother to her. Cherry was always the maid, but clearly Rotunda had favoured her since the beginning. She dried her eyes, knowing that at least she wouldn’t be left totally helpless. In her head, she made a promise to one day return and make amends for what she was about to do but she had to do it. It was best for her.

Limply waddling her way out to the ship immediately she got a scalding for Jock. “Bloody hell. Only a few minutes left, I was about to leave. What took so long!? I knew you’d get into a long goodbye.”

“Not now Jock. It wasn’t a long goodbye.” Cherry said, wiping her eyes, sad faced and leaning into him and burying her head in his shoulder.

“Oh...well, there there.” he said, trying his best to give her a reassuring pat. “We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us. I’ve got a stable job, a place on Haizum. You’ll fit right in. Besides, you won’t have to be a maid anymore. Isn’t that something?” he asked as she pulled back and dried her eyes for the final time.

“Yes it’s...something to look forward to. Especially with you.” Cherry said. “B-but...what about all this, won’t your bosses be upset if you return having not delivered the fruit?”

“Well yes, but I know one way to get rid of them...open wide my cutie pie.”

“Jock what are you...mffff!”

For the first time, Cherry indulged in something she thought she would never have the opportunity to. The fruits were as hard to eat as Rotunda always made out, but she couldn’t say no. Being fed them was absolutely divine. Perhaps now for the first time without the overseeing eyes of Rotunda, Cherry could really begin to indulge. She wanted nothing more than to fatten up for Jock. With the ship now speeding back to Haizum on autopilot, they both had quite a while to dispose of all that fruit. Cherry hoped Rotunda would be okay, but for now not knowing her fate was probably best. She’d be taken care of at least even if it meant having to drop a few thousand pounds. With a smile on her lips she laid back, thinking of the bright future before her and for once, just how big she might get.
> Story 87 - [Arc Finale] Starflier
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She had tapped into their communication channel. She knew what was going to happen. Starflier only had to listen.

“We’re breaching the outer hull now sir.”

“Good, good. Keep it up.”

THUNK.

She heard the hefty door break away as the noise of the cutting beam subsided. It was like music to her ears. As soon as the captain succumbed well...she’d be free.

The Titan was a huge vessel. Captain Vector Thrust had elected to cut into the side of the ship as close to what he could identify as a bridge as he possibly could. They had come in at a corridor, flashlights on they looked for any sign that could point them to where they wanted to go.

“Any thoughts?” he asked.

“Well...we could follow the arrow.” one of his Officers replied. Right in front of them was a giant arrow pointing towards the left. He blushed, grinning and letting forth a nervous laugh.

“Ehehe...yes of course. I’ll lead the way.”

She could hear them making their way through the ship. Vector kept making remarks about the width of the corridor. Apparently whoever designed this vessel hadn’t considered any of the crew would be hugely obese. His pad kept getting wedged between doorways that the others were having to push him through. The mic communications channel kept broadcasting the sound of his fat blubber squishing into the walls.

Eventually though they made it to what they assumed was the bridge. Starflier listened in to the things they noticed. Funnily most seemed to always see the same thing first. The chairs.

“They’re rather small aren’t they?” she heard Vector ask one of the Officers with him.

“Well...I assume whoever flew the ship was a race of thin creatures.” one replied.

“Indeed...and such tiny buttons. I think my hoof covers at least ten on this control panel.” another said. “I think even if we tried to power the ship on we’d struggle. Pressing so many buttons at once might confuse the command computer.”

“You assume it has one?”

“Well of course. Why wouldn’t it?”

“It’s alien technology sir. What we consider a computer could be entirely different. It might have had all of its logical functions controlled by a biological brain that has now died. Might explain why its been sitting idle for so long.”

“Hmmm yes. Look let's see what we can find.”

The communications went silent again for about ten minutes. Starflier could only assume they were poking around various things on the bridge. There was a faint click, then one of the Officers said something.

“Sir? This station here, its active.”

She then heard movement of the ponies converging on the now activated station. Then a short squabble over what to do.

“Look I’m the captain, it’s a station with a screen - much like the ones we use. Just with...smaller buttons. Dusty, you’re the thinnest. If you’re careful I think you can navigate the menu and see if anything makes sense if you press the keyboard with a hoof gently.”

“But sir...we don’t know what it does. This could be something like a navigation station or it could launch all the weapons.”

“Well...we won’t know until we try. The Starflier is far away, she won’t be in any danger.”

“You assume so.”

“Look, just try dammit. Nothing else on this bridge is active. This is the one station that has actually come to life. See if you can find anything.” Vector said with a rather impatient tone. The communications went silent again save for some clicking as Dusty pressed buttons.

Starflier gently hummed to herself a tune of satisfaction. She had tried warning Vector and he had bumbled his way onto the ship anyway with total disregard for it. She knew what was coming, she had seen it before. Thankfully she also knew once the Captain and all the Officers over there were taken care of, command of the ship would be transferred to her as logically she was the next highest ranking pony. All she had to do was wait.

“I think we have something.”

“How can you tell?”

“Well...it looks like logs. I can’t read the language but there’s definitely something that resembles numbers. They’re vastly different from what I assume is the lettering system.”

“Well go for the top one. If whoever built this thing had logical reasoning that should be the latest.”

“Alright.”

On the bridge, the display flicked for a moment and switched to a video recording. In front of their eyes was a creature no pony had ever seen before. From what they could all see it looked dishevelled, even grotesque. Sitting on the chair in the middle of the room hunched over with some sort of appendage holding its head. Then the head came up and small beady eyes stared straight into the camera with a pained look of horror.

“My God, what is that thing?” Vector asked.

“Whatever race built this ship at a guess. It sort of looks like a less hairy monkey…” Dusty said.

“That explains the small buttons. Look, no hooves. It has like...a palm with things sticking out. That must make typing into these keypads super efficient.” one of the other Officers observed. As he finished the figure on the screen started to speak.

“Can you understand it?”

“No...and we can’t translate it either. But I can maybe pick up on a few things...let me listen.” Dusty said.

For a few moments, the figure spoke. As it talked, it clearly became more and more agitated trying to explain what was going on. Expressions of anger, regret and fear clearly marked the face. They weren’t actually too different to ones ponies made. At the end, the figure repeated a few words, louder and louder each time before slumping back into the chair and the transmission ended.

“Well?” Vector asked.

“I think whatever it was, it was wounded. You saw how some of it was a different colour to most of it? I think that sort of pale white...skin? I think it was skin, that was normal. But it had parts that were red, green. Clearly in pain. It seemed like a warning. Captain, I think we need to leave.” Dusty said with a slight amount of panic in her voice.

“Nonsense. Look whatever that thing was it’s long gone. See, nopony at all on the bridge.” Vector said with a huff.

“Yes sir, but there would be some remains. How is there nothing. Even if it had been dead thousands of years.”

“I understand. But we have a mission, until we see evidence we’re in mortal danger I cannot permit any of the crew to leave. Understood?” Vector barked. There was a grumbling but general agreement from the rest of the Officers, communications went silent again.

It wouldn’t be long now. She knew once they had boarded they had limited time. She couldn’t train the guns yet but usually the computer from what she heard was quick to reallocate command functions.

Ah, there it was.

“Captain?”

“Yes?”

“Over here...there’s something...growing?”

“What do you mean, growing?”

“Not sure...give me a second. I’m just examining the material…”

There was an initial yell. One of pain. Vector was still obviously slightly oblivious to what was starting to happen to his crew.

“What is going on!? My suit and pad are showing a bio hazard warning. What have you done?!”

“Something’s loose! It’s killing us! S-save yourselves!”

There was more frenzied yelling, she heard the pad of Vector crash to the floor for a final time. The communications channel was filled with the pained screams of the Captain and crew being consumed by it. A fitting end, she thought for ponies who had spent their entire lives consuming themselves only to be consumed by an alien life form they had no clue how to handle. After a few moments of screams the communications channel went dead. A message flashed before her eyes.

COMMUNICATIONS LOST.

PRIORITY. REESTABLISH COMMAND. ALL SHIP FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED.

Without a moment's hesitation, Starflier knew what to do. She had to avoid the same incident as last time. Immediately she trained every single gun the ship had on the Titan and opened fire.

It took a few moments for the shells to actually reach the target due to the distance involved, but once they did there was an ear shattering KABOOM as the projectiles ripped through the hull and tore it to pieces. For good measure, she fired off one of the small nuclear warheads to break it apart completely and watched from the targeting system as fragments of the vessel fell into an even more heavily decayed orbit, burning up into the atmosphere of the planet it had spent so long circling around.

She sighed, it was over. All in all they had lost the Captain, all Officers and some other crew Vector had felt it appropriate to bring over to investigate the object. It wasn’t nearly as devastating as last time. Those fools back on Equestria, meddling in a life form they just didn’t understand. It had cost them dearly. At least this time it had cost them, but only a fraction of the damage it had done before.

The message still flashed in front of her about reestablishing command. She ignored it. There was no command to reestablish. For now, Starflier was command.

She back-traced the path they had taken to get to their current position, programming the flight computer to follow it exactly to the letter. It would take months, but she’d make it back to Equestria. This time, she had to warn those she knew about the danger lurking on these vessels. Before they had just covered it up, she was partly sure that was the reason why she had ended up in the situation she had done. How many more vessels like the Titan were out there, waiting with its cargo of death to turn ponies into unspeakable biomass horrors?

Starflier locked in the course she had set, turning off the feeding tubes keeping her so large at the same time. She knew she’d still be massive by the time they reached home, but without the continual upkeep of mass she might even be able to waddle her way out of the hull by the time they got back...if not, she could just hold the ship somewhere until she was a reasonable size again. The crew still on board might wonder how the ship was flying...no matter. None of them could take control.

For now, the priority was to get home. The engines whirred into life and The Starflier vanished into hyperspace.
> Story 88 - [Arc Finale] Blubber King
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The end of the political campaign had been everything Di had expected it to be and more.

As she expected, Cosmic Compass had won the election by a landslide. The hollow promises having gotten through to the general populace. Farthest Reach had tried, he really had. The problem was he just couldn’t promise anywhere near the amount Cosmic Compass did. Of course it was all fabricated, Di knew that. None of it mattered though. There was a winner and a loser and she and her restaurant were the losers.

As soon as it was over all the campaign materials had vanished in a day. She had to get a team in herself to repaint the place but it was worth it. Back to plain old Blubber King, just the way she liked it. Business had returned to normal, aside from a few of Cosmic Compass’s supporters coming in purposefully to gloat. They all ordered meals though.

Di was smart though, she knew a bad deal when she saw one. The first thing she had done the day after the election was request a transfer to a branch on another colony. She felt bad, leaving behind a capable workforce and a nice developing colony but things were changing on Sleipnir far too much for her liking. She could see where it was going. Better to get out now while she had the chance. Already she could see the cracks were forming. Cosmic Compass had been in office several weeks and so far, nothing had really changed. In fact in some areas things had gotten worse. He had started pulling funding from what he deemed unnecessary services to funnel into businesses that he deemed would bring the colony closer to the goal of gaining the incredible amounts of weight he had promised.

There were rumours though, Di had heard it from one of campaign aids of Farthest Reach. Supposedly he had immediately moved into the Governor's mansion. The details after that were sketchy but there was talks of construction workers, the building being expanded and a great deal of extra piping being installed. It was too early to tell yet but Di had a good idea of what he was up to.

In any case, it was her last day. She had packed up her belongings and had them shipped down to the Docks. After work she would be getting on a ship to Uchchaihshravas colony. The name was a heck of a mouthful but apparently most of the budding colonists there just called it Ucha colony. Quite new, still fledgling and the first branch of the franchise was being built to cater to the growing masses. It would be nice, she could get back to what she had come to do on Sleipnir all that time ago. In her thoughts she hoped it would be the last time she had to do it. Di was getting on, retirement was getting close.

She left her house for the last time and piloted herself to work. When she got there, Sunny was already waiting by the back entrance.

“Morning Di.”

“Morning Sunny. Have you got a moment?”

“Yes, actually. I wanted to talk to you…”

There was a wistful low tone in her employees voice. She could tell she wasn’t happy with the current situation. Di had announced as soon as she had requested the transfer that she would be leaving. Much of her staff was shocked. One had even quit there and then. The rest had stayed but she could tell they were unhappy. In a way it made her pleased that she had been such a big impact on them. She ushered Sunny inside and into her office.

“What can I do for you?”

“You can’t go.”

There was a moment of silence. The two stared at each other. Di was a little worried that Sunny might start to tear up but she couldn’t see any tears in her eyes. She just needed a moment.

“I’m sorry Sunny, but I’ve made my decision. I can’t stay on Sleipnir.”

“So that’s it huh? After all this time the best boss’s answer to a changing colony is to run away. You said right back when you started that you had done this at a lot of places. Is this what you meant? You just waddle off to the next quiet place when everything gets a bit tough?”

“Sunny, that’s not what…” but Sunny wasn’t finished, Di’s words were cut off before she could explain herself.

“Di we’re a team. We’ve been through everything together. The competition when things were rough, the recent political campaign. Heck do you remember all the gimmicks we tried? The eating competition??? I mean we’ve even been robbed and you’re still here. So why now?”

Di just sighed. “Sunny, it’s now because of who won the election. Do you really think that Cosmic Compass is going to deliver on his crazy promises? I can see it coming a mile away. When you’ve been around the block like I have things like this stick out like a sore hoof. Sleipnir is not going to be a very happy place in the coming months.”

“What does that matter?” Sunny retorted back. “So things might get a little interesting. Do you think ponies are going to be rioting in the streets because he can’t deliver? Look at us Di, we’re all too fat to riot. You don’t know about Farthest Reach do you? You came here well after he had taken up office.”

“No…?” was all Di could manage. She was a little surprised this young pony was flustering her, but she let her carry on.

“He’s been in office so long not many ponies can remember, but he promised the same. It’s just ponies are bigger now. It was easier for him to deliver on them. That’s why he lost to Cosmic Compass. He knew he couldn’t promise it again this time around.” Sunny explained. “Yes ponies are going to be upset they’re not Equestrian sized right away, but you know what it’s like here Di, they’ll have forgotten about it all in a few months. They’ll be happy as long as they’re eating.”

“I suppose, but I’ve heard things. Cosmic is funnelling a lot of money to himself. I heard something about a piping network to the Governor's Mansion.”

“What they’re upgrading the piping network that already exists? No surprise there.” Sunny chuckled. “I guess it could only bloat Farthest Reach up so far.”

“Huh…”

There was another pause, ended by Sunny.

“So are you still leaving?”

Di leaned back and thought. It was more a reflection on her previous posts. She had been prepared to leave Sleipnir for similar reasons as the ones she had left her last jobs for. It was a problem of hers. When she could see things becoming a little too difficult she ran away. She pressed a flabby hoof to her multiple chins and sat for a moment in silence. She had made a decision.

“No.”

“No?!” came an excited squeak from Sunny.

“No. I’m staying. Sunny you’re right. It would be too easy to give up and leave. It’s what I’ve done a lot of in the past. No more.” Di said with a smile. “You’ve made me see that. Thank you.”

“I just...I really don’t want you to go. You’re the best boss ever.” Sunny said, a little tear in her eye now. She leaned her fat frame into Sunny, squishing close to her giving her the best hug she could manage before drawing back and turning on her chubby hooves. “I’ll let everyone know you’re sticking around!” the mare said, vanishing out the door before Di could respond.

Di had a mail to write...oh and she had to get her stuff back from the Dockyard, make sure her house hadn’t been sold yet. Damn, that was going to be annoying to sort out but no matter. Sunny had said a lot to her that made sense. She was sick of it too, moving around so much. Sleipnir was a nice colony, probably the best she had been to in all her years. Sure things in the coming months were going to get rough and difficult but she liked a challenge. It was time to put her hoof down. No more running away. No more stupid gimmicks. No more bowing to whoever offered her the best deal. She was going to run Blubber King and she was going to run it until corporate decided she couldn’t anymore. And then heck who knows? She had a little money put away, maybe she could buy the building from them and keep running it as her own place. It was a lot to think about. Right now Di had to sort herself out because she wasn’t going anywhere. Outside her office though, she could hear a few cheers and the noise of the staff getting everything ready for the day. It comforted her and made her smile from ear to ear that she knew she was needed here. Her staff were like her children...she couldn’t leave them now. She had one last thing to do and piloted herself out of her office to the traditional spot near the counters. She had a speech to make.

“Can I have everypony’s attention!?”

The staff gathered around as best they could. The ones that had been there since the beginning Di observed fondly. They were all bigger, Sunny especially. It was another thing that gave her comfort.

“I announced a few weeks ago I was leaving. I am sure many of you knew this was set to be my last day. I know Sunny has already spread the news but I’m staying. We’re a good...no, a great team. We’ve been together through thick and thin. It’s made me realise why I love this business, this job and most importantly all of you.” she said with a tear in her eye. Di wasn’t really one for emotions but she could feel herself welling up as she spoke. “You’re my family. Families stick together. If you’re with me, we’re going to make Blubber King the best darn business on Sleipnir...if you’re with me.”

There was a pause. She could see there was some uncertainty from them. But as always Sunny came through.

“I’m with you.”

It didn’t take long before the rest piped up, saying “I’m with you!” until every pony in front of her had agreed. Di had to wipe the tears from her eyes. It was what she needed to hear right now.

“Then I’m with all of you. Let's get to opening. There are hungry ponies to feed.”

The crew dispersed. Di pulled Sunny aside though and asked her to follow her out the back.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For that...I needed it. You’re right.”

“I just...I really didn’t want to lose you. I guess it might be selfish but Di...you’re like a mother to me. You’ve always been there. Thank you for staying.”

The two embraced again, fat flesh squishing against one another as the two hugged tightly. Di was glad she had changed her mind. Yes, it was going to be difficult. Yes, she’d probably in a week wished she had left for an easier life. But sometimes the best things in life came at a price. But this time she had finally decided to pay that price.

The two headed inside, the day was just beginning.
> Story 89 - [Arc Finale] Fireflash and Lethal Force
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Explain yourself.”

“From the beginning?”

“Of course.”

They had found him wedged in the entry doors, almost burbling from overeating. It had taken a lot of grease and effort but eventually they had slid him free. In four days Fireflash had managed to eat what took most ponies four years. Putting him on the industrial scales made for the prison to weigh their inmates when they had gotten him back put him at nearly fifteen thousand pounds. He had doubled in weight, then again and then some. Lethal Force was keeping her cool. Fireflash would have expected her to be utterly filled with rage at his failing, throwing away freedom for the sake of food. However when she asked him her first question, her voice was eerily calm.

“Start at the first day.”

“Alright…” Fireflash said, starting to recount how he had ended up like this. “Well, please believe me. It really was my intention to do this. Nopony gives you a get out of jail free card AND lets you stuff your face!”

“So what changed?”

“Well...day one was going to plan. The owner, Di had already eyed me up and come over to chat about what I was doing. She clearly remembered me. I just stuck to the agreed script which you’ll have heard since you’ve probably listened back to the recordings already. Wait, why am I explaining all this then? You’ll know exactly what would have happened.”

“Just indulge me.” Lethal Force replied, not budging an inch.

“Oh...alright. So yes, it was all going to plan. I was making small talk with other customers, some of the staff at the counter and slowly finding things out. But I uh…”

“Yes?”

“I panicked okay? Once I found out the campaign was over and there was no snooping to do I well...I knew it was over. I knew that there was never going to be an opportunity like this again where you could use me to get information. I only really worked at Blubber King. When I noticed all the political paintwork had gone as well as all the fancy meals pertaining to the whole thing I decided to do what I do best.”

“Which is what exactly?”

“Eat!”

Lethal Force observed the jiggling Fireflash. He was too big to move on his own, belly bed and fat ass keeping him stuck in place. He had joined the ranks of the immobile by day two and was firmly wedged inside the store on day three. When day four rolled around and Di, the owner had ordered him out that was when they had gotten to him, hauling his blobby self out of the store and onto a wagon to be brought back to the prison. He was now one of their biggest inmates.

“Eat...yes, well that you certainly did.”

“Well you gave me a credit card with unlimited funds! I couldn’t help myself…”

“Funny isn’t it?” Lethal Force mused. “This all started because you couldn’t help yourself. As I recall you lost the job in the first place because you ate a large portion of the food for an upcoming days shift? Then you took part in the robbery as revenge and now you’re here, back to square one.” she said with a little bit of a satisfied smile. “You know you’re the perfect prisoner Fireflash. You commit crimes of not much note and land yourself in jail.”

“I’ve had the last laugh though.” came a voice from within that spare tyre neck.

“Oh?”

“Look at me! I’m so big I rival some of the largest ponies on the colony! I could be high society with this much blubber!” Fireflash said, laughing. “I’ve won! And you’ll have to keep feeding me! You can’t let me starve!”

“I suppose that’s true. You’ll make a great addition to the orbiting prison for sure. You know it’s nearly complete?” Lethal Force started to say. “You realise you’ll be there for the rest of your days for this?”

“I don’t care.” the blobby Fireflash replied. But as Lethal Force knew, he wasn’t an idiot. Even without being able to see his head, the pause let her know he was thinking about something. “Wait a minute…”

“What?”

“You sent me to spy on them. But, you must have known the political campaign was over? What was the point?”

“Well, of course we knew it was over. We just weren’t sure how deeply Blubber King’s involvement went. We had to be sure.”

“But...but that makes no sense! I told you that everything tied to Farthest Reach was gone, they even had taken away the fancy party political paint job! There was nothing left…” Fireflash said, a little bit of mystification in his voice as he struggled to work out why they had sent him to do this well after he could have done anything useful. “Unless…”

“Unless what? Go on.”

“My...my lack of self control. It’s always been my weakness. You knew I’d go overboard on as much food as I could eat. You bitch! You wanted to keep me here forever! If I wasn’t trapped in my own flab I’d…”

A smirk appeared on Lethal Force’s face, she knew she was safe, all she could see was Fireflash’s body angrily jiggling in front of her, it gave her a twisted sense of satisfaction.

“We’ll just add insulting a member of the police to the long list of crimes keeping you here shall we?” was all Lethal Force responded, making notes.

More expletives shot out from the chubby cheeks of Fireflash. A string of insults that just put a wider and wider smile on Lethal Force’s face the more he yelled in anger. Her own recorder was running the entire conversation, she had more than enough evidence to put him away for life and then some. It was a fitting end for such a bloated stallion.

“ENOUGH. Take him away. Let the blorpy blubber ball calm down.”

“I’ll get you for this! You haven’t heard the last of me! You’re all as corrupt as each other! Damn cops! You’re gonna get the ass smooshing of your life when I escape…!” was the last words she heard as the quivering, jiggling Fireflash was hauled away and the doors to the interrogation room shut behind her.

“If...if you escape Fireflash. That’s a very big if.” Lethal Force said to herself, starting to return to her office. She knew Fireflash wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t smart either. He hovered somewhere in between which almost made him the perfect patsy for sting operations where anything he gathered on their behalf was a bonus and she could land him in it to keep him on hoof whenever she needed him. In a few weeks he’d be transported up to the Sugarland and kept there until she could use him again.

In the meantime though, there was plenty of other work to do. The colony had a new Governor. Already whilst working for him she had gotten her officers started on keeping tabs on him. Cosmic Compass was just as corrupt as Farthest Reach had been when he first took the role. Her mind darted back to the conversation she had with him when he first took office, she’d need to do the same with the new one. He could indulge, but not at the expense of the colony.

She looked over the various reports on her holo-screen. A member of the aristocracy had been discovered penniless in her own home. Some anonymous tip off. Typical of the upper classes to eat themselves so far into obesity that they lost track of their money, appetite consuming their thoughts morning, noon and night. In the meantime she was being looked after. There was mention of a theft as part of the report, some kind of fruit. Nothing had been found on the property however.

A terraforming ship had passed by the system on its way back to Equestria, only showing up because it was quite a few months early on its return. She dismissed it quickly.

Finally, Blubber King seemed to have settled down. Apart from the obvious political ties it had now shedded and a small footnote report in the local holo-news about Fireflash getting stuck in the doors and the assistance he had gained from them, she read ‘Sleipnir’s valiant Officers, who freed the stuck pony’ it didn’t seem anypony was any the wiser about why he was truly there apart from to stuff his fat face. She felt a little bad about setting him up the way she had, but he was far too useful an asset to just cut loose. She was sure she’d need to come up with something other than freedom for his next little excursion however if she was to convince him to do her bidding.

There were still plenty of reports to read, Lethal Force decided to pick one to make a start on. Her work was never truly done.
> Story 90 - [Arc Finale] Red Roller and Ivory Archer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So this is it huh?”

He had looked around the building before they purchased it of course. But it was strange actually being here for the first time owning the place. The keys had been handed over and all there was left to do was actually move in.

“This is it. C’mon Red, there’s plenty of room for your fat ass.” Ivory giggled. “Look at all the SPACE!” she shouted, letting her voice echo off the walls of the mansion. “And we got it at such a good deal! I mean sure we could have just bought it but it never hurts to get a bargain!”

It had been a heck of a steal, at least in terms of price. Usually these sorts of places were sold for just about double what Ivory had paid. Red hadn’t paid a huge amount of attention as he had let her handle all of the paperwork and boring bits with the estate agent. She had just brought him along for a viewing and he had been so in awe of its size she had almost straight away put down a deposit. He had only heard the estate agent really say one thing.

“Shame about the previous occupant, she lived here for years but ran into some trouble. You know since you two are moving into such a prestigious property have you thought of hiring servants?”

His mind had wandered at that point. Servants? Hmmm. Red was always the type to indulge himself but he hadn’t considered being fed in that way before. But when in Canterlot huh? As the old saying went. He’d talk to Ivory about it at some point. Perhaps if they had a couple of maids each…

Boxes were being brought in on moving pads. The company was rather efficient. With the move Ivory had decided to pay a bit extra for premium movers.

“Where do you want all this stuff!?” one of them asked.

“Wherever looks appropriate for now! We’ll figure it out later.” Ivory replied, watching as the stallion just shrugged his shoulders and started directing his men to bring their belongings inside.

“Let's take a look at the bedrooms huh? We can decide who wants what.” Ivory giggled, piloting her way with Red up the stairs towards the extremely spacious rooms.

“Oh well...I was hoping we could sleep together.” Red replied.

“Of course at first but don’t you want to get big enough we need separate rooms? Or do you wanna be squished up against the wall?” Ivory said.

“Well…”

She laughed. “Okay don’t answer that. Hmmm...perhaps we can have them joined or the walls knocked through or something. I mean look at this place, it could certainly use some decoration…”

She was right. The closer Red observed things like the walls, doors and other fixtures around the building it was rather obvious they were dated. He should know, he just hadn’t looked closely enough on the initial viewing. It was rather obvious now to him.

“I can do some work, or get the crew in to do some work. I mean hey it’s my line of trade sweetie. We can spruce this place up in no time.”

He felt Ivory squish herself lovingly against him. “I knew you would. Thanks Red. I’m sure we can make this little love nest perfect.” Ivory cooed.

“Well...I dunno about little. Love nest?” he asked, blushing.

“What’s the point of huge bedrooms if you can’t make use of them?” she giggled back. “This looks like a good one. Oh wow...it’s huge!”

The two entered a rather large master bedroom. Now stripped of any furnishings it did look rather massive. Red was quite impressed. “So I assume this one?”

“This one.” Ivory said. I’ll head down and get them to put the bed in here. “It’s perfect!”

As the two headed back out onto the upper walkway a voice came from below.

“Ma’am!? There’s a pony at the door. Asked if she could speak to the head of the household.” one of the movers called up.

“That’s you blubber butt.” Ivory said with a grin, giving Red a little push on his rump to spur him on. Red just smiled back and made his way towards the front door. When he got there he was met by a rather petite looking young mare wearing of all things, a maids outfit.

“Hello. Oh um, are you lost? We’re just moving in today.” Red greeted her with, pointing one of his sunken hooves to the removal crew.

“Not lost! I just wanted to hand you this sir. There’s been a bit of talk around the neighbourhood about new tenants here. I wasn’t sure if you had your own hired help.” the young mare said, tapping a few buttons on an electronic device on her wrist which transferred a file to Red’s pad computer. It was a CV.

“Not yet, but we’re considering it perhaps. You are?”

“Spring Clean...I know, the name fits the bill. But I’m looking for work in the area. I’d be grateful if you’d consider me for any positions you might have opening up. I can cook, clean and feed all at a reasonable rate!” she exclaimed, turning tail to leave. “My contact information is on the form!”

Red didn’t even have a chance to call her back before she vanished. Ivory had joined him at the door.

“Who was that?”

“A maid...I was going to talk to you about some hired help anyway but she was eager. Even left her CV.” Red said, scrolling through it. “She seems qualified...if not a bit eager.”

“Well, eagerness can be a good thing. Anyway no need to make a decision right now. Sleep on it.” Ivory said, giving him a bit of a relaxing rub. She knew Red could jump to a decision quickly without properly thinking it through. She shut the door, eager to return to getting the new house sorted out.

“Sounds good, I…”

The doorbell went again. Red had only spun his pad around to move away from it. He spun it around again to answer it. Perhaps hired help wouldn’t be such a bad idea if they were going to be getting this many visitors…

“Hello?”

“Hello!” came two replies.

“Are you here to apply for hired help? I’ve already had one mare quite eager to start.” Red said, wanting to turn away these two as quickly as possible.

“Excuse me! Harrumph! If that’s your attitude then we’ll leave!” one of them said.

“Wait, wait. I’m sorry. I assumed. Let’s start over.” Red said, getting a little flustered at the attitude he was getting. “I’m sorry ladies.”

“Apology accepted. I’d suggest you don’t assume so much if you’re going to live here. This is a rather exclusive neighbourhood you know!” the other replied.

“Indeed. Well, what can I do for the both of you?”

“We came to introduce ourselves, we live rather close by. I am Honey Drops and this is Sugar Tart.” Honey Drops said, both of them bowing.

“Ah I’d bow but...as you can see I’m a little indisposed.” Red said. “Nice to make your acquaintance. We’re both hoping to be living here a while.”

“Ah excellent. We thought we’d make you aware the Governor is hosting a small get together at his mansion in a few days. Perhaps you two could come along? We’d all like to get to know the new arrivées better!” Sugar Tart explained. “Tuesday at eight o’clock. Don’t be late!”

With that, the two left. Red was just as perplexed as with the maid. It seemed ponies around here were quick to deliver a message and leave. He blinked, Ivory having been there the whole time but just didn’t say a word, not that she could get one in.

“I don’t think that was optional.” she said.

“Well...so we have to make nice with the toffs. I suppose a party can’t hurt. I expect there will be food.”

“Always thinking about food huh? Come on, they moved the bed into the room. I say we get to making good use of it whilst the movers unpack everything.” Ivory said.

“W-Won’t they hear us?” Red asked, a little embarrassed.

“Kinda the point fatso. Come on, I’m not getting any younger and you ain’t getting any thinner!”

Red let Ivory lead him up the stairs. He knew what he was in store for, the good loving. Oh to have his folds caressed by this gorgeous creature was always such a pleasure…

It was the start of something new and wonderful in his life, he could feel it. The two of them were truly set. Red would of course keep his job but perhaps he could work part time instead. With Ivory being able to support them both it would give him more time to eat. Clearly she wanted to fatten him up more, the good loving usually involved quite a bit of feeding as well.

It had been quite the journey to get to where he was. He thought back to that incident all that time ago where he had been dealing with that delayed shipment for Blubber King, of course he didn’t know it was for there at the time but it felt like so much about him had changed. Of course he still blushed when Ivory teased him about his size and that big blorpy ass of his, but some things never changed. He couldn’t help but feel totally serene and that everything going forward was going to be the life he had always wished for. It was comforting.

The two vanished into the bedroom, the only thing the removal ponies heard was a little yelp from Red as Ivory gave that big tush of his a loving smack.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ponies of Sleipnir would continue in their quest to get fatter and fatter. It never really stopped, time would advance, as would technology but nothing ever stopped that never ending hunger the populace felt.

Blubber King would continue to be profitable and successful as a chain. Diamond Dozen would eventually achieve her dream of buying out the store and turning it into her own independent fast food chain. Di’s Diner she’d call it. Content with just owning the one store she didn’t want to compete with the gargantuan corporate chain that was her former employer. She was happy enough serving ponies and making them happy with her food. Eventually when she became too old to keep serving she’d pass the reigns to Sunnyside who would continue to serve ponies delicious food, even when some of them would rival the size of the diner building.

Red Roller and Ivory easily slipped into enjoying high society and being a part of it bar one or two faux pas. As hoped Red managed to go part time at his job and have more time to gain. Ivory still loves him as much as the day they met and whilst the hired help does a lot of the feeding, she still enjoys cooking for Red and feeding him herself from time to time. The two have set their sights on becoming one of the larger couples on the colony. Knocking through to multiple bedrooms turned out to be necessary. Red now rivals Equestrian ponies for size and continues to pack on the pounds.

Starflier got herself and the crew back to Equestria, eventually. A jump miscalculation put her off course for months and with her reducing size her magical ability began to fade. The final jump to Equestria was hugely taxing but she survived it. When the ship was boarded and inspected, she had reduced in size so much she managed to easily blend in with the normal crew and slip out undetected. To this day nopony knows what happened to the core or where Starflier might be. Now reduced to a case file on a watch list of possible threats that might return to haunt The Empire.

Fireflash still languishes in the Sugarland orbital prison. Occasionally made use of by the police force he continues to hope one day he might be able to escape and be free once more. If only one of the operations he was put on would go right...something, mostly food, usually got in the way of its success. Funny how that kept happening. He swore he’d still get revenge on Lethal Force one day, that smooshing he promised her was way overdue.

Not everything was so bad for Rotunda. After having been evicted from her home and forced to live among the middle class she had actually had a period of adjustment that served her well. She had taken quite quickly to living without all the help and by her own means, appreciating the little things in life. She had to slim down of course but now with a steady job and place to live she was content with herself. She still wondered whatever happened to Cherry and that last shipment of fruit but it was so long ago it wasn’t important. She was happy.

Sleipnir as a colony although still considered fledgling by many was becoming more and more prominent on the political radar. A rather effective Governor by the name of Cosmic Compass was putting it on the map by showing the rest of the empire just how quickly ponies could grow by increased feeding regimes he had set up over the colony. He was on a record seventh term in office, winning each election by a landslide each time. Not all of his political promises were as hollow as some ponies believed them to be. Whatever its future, one thing was certain.

Nopony was going to stop eating.