Spike gets into a magical accident. Fattening occurs.
Spike gets blasted by a magical spell that wasn't meant for him. It makes it impossible for ponies to realize things are different about him. He takes advantage. Weight gain ensues.
Spike snuck through the crystal hallways of Twilight’s castle, staying low to the ground and being careful to not scuff his claws against the crystal floor. He didn’t want Twilight, or Starlight, waking up because he didn’t want to get in trouble.
Spike carefully made his way to the open door of the kitchen, and peered inside carefully. Spike sighed in relief, allowing himself to stand upright again. Last time he’d tried this, Starlight had been awake studying, drinking some warm milk in preparation for going to bed.
Now though, Spike was free to do what he wanted. Moving his step-stool to the counter, Spike climbed onto the counter to reach his prize: the dessert tray. Pinkie had been over earlier, and brownies had been her mark. Twilight had only let Spike have one of them. One-a growing dragon needed more than one!
Spike lifted the lid off of the dome over the massive tray, and plucked two of the thick cut brownies from the tray. Placing the tray carefully back, Spike crept into the pantry where nopony could see him from the hall. There, he devoured the thick, fudgy treats in peace.
Finally satisfied, and rubbing his plush belly contentedly, Spike made his way back to his room. Now he’d be able to fall into a full sleep. Falling into his basket, Spike cuddled into his warm nest of bedding, and fell asleep.
The next morning, Spike awoke to the now-common sounds of Twilight and Starlight in the library practicing magic. Blinking away sleep, and scratching at his plump belly, Spike got out of bed. He stretched, and caught sight of himself in the mirror.
Spike still had smudges of frosting on his muzzle. Moving to the jug of water Twilight insisted he keep in his room, he dipped the edge of a towel in and cleaned his muzzle. The last thing he needed was Twilight suspecting his small raids of the kitchen. Because of her diet plans, his midnight raids were the only thing that kept him full like he felt a dragon should be: besides, a couple of cookies wouldn’t hurt anypony, right?
After finishing washing his face, Spike finally left his room. His stomach rumbled hungrily, but he wanted to check in on Twilight and Starlight first. Sometimes, they had breakfast ready in the library so that they didn’t need to stop reading or practicing spells.
Spike opened the ornate door, squeezing himself in so he didn’t need to open to door too wide. Even after all the years he’d lived with Twilight, the sight inside the library was an unusual one. The tables inside the library were pushed against the shelves, and a magical circle was drawn on the floor with...chalk?
Starlight and Twilight were on one side of the circle, facing Spike. Their horns were alight with magic, and when Spike shut the door, Starlight started. Spike was struck dumb when he saw Starlight’s concentration break, and the spell sailed over the magical circle and toward Spike. Twilight shouted something but by the time she dismissed the spell she’d been casting, it was too late.
Spike wanted to move, but tables blocked his way to either side, and it was too early to do anything else so soon after waking up. Spike squeezed his eyes shut, and braced for impact. He felt himself collide with the door behind him, and the world went white.
“Spike, Sweet Celestia, are you okay!?”
Spike groaned, blinking slowly as he came back to consciousness. He was laying on something soft, so they’d moved him. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a croaky groan. How long had he been out?
Spike tried again, “Starlight?” Spike blinked his eyes open, squinting through the brightness of the lights above him.
“Thank goodness,” Twilight loomed over Spike, “We thought something had happened! Without the circle, maybe the magic just knocked you out? We were so worried.”
“Me too,” Spike muttered. He could feel Starlight’s guilt spike, and he heaved a sigh, “It’s okay, Starlight. It’s not the first time I’ve been caught up in magic. I’ll be okay.”
Sitting himself up, Spike was surprised to see he was covered in...soot? Ash? Spike ran a hand over the purple scales of his stomach, and wiped clean a line in the ash, “I think I’m going to go clean up.”
Twilight’s head tilted to one side questioningly, “Why? You look fine to me. You washed your face when you got up, right?”
Spike blinked, then nodded slowly, “You don’t see anything wrong with me? Like I’m not dirty?”
“Not at all,” Starlight spoke up, “You look normal to me.”
“What was that spell supposed to do, Twilight?” Spike asked cautiously, feeling something strange settle in the pit of his stomach.
“It was supposed to change the visible properties of that crystal,” Twilight pointed towards the still intact circle, where a piece of crystal lay in the center of the runes, “We weren’t sure what it would do to you, with you not being the target or being within the circle. But you’re still visible, and you’re up and talking. So, no harm done?”
Spike looked down at his ash-coated body, and smiled, “Nope, no harm done. Thanks, Twilight!”
With that, Spike hopped off of the couch, and sped out of the library.
Starlight sighed, “Do you really think he’s okay?”
Twilight shrugged, “We couldn’t see anything, and our magic says he’s okay. We’ll keep an eye on him for a bit, but he should be fine. Now, do you feel up to trying again?”
Starlight nodded, “Okay.”
(LINE BREAK)
Spike cleaned the ash off of his body, then wandered around the halls of Twilight’s castle. He wasn’t sure what to do or think: clearly the spell’s original function had worked in some way: it just applied to him differently than anticipated.
An idea washed through the small dragon's mind, and he couldn't help but smile widely in response. He hurried to the kitchen, dragging his stool to where the brownies were. He scampered on top of the counter, sitting on the edge like Twilight had warned him against time and again. He lifted the dome off of the brownie tray, and started eating.
Spike lay on his back, his feet no longer visible thanks to the dome of a stomach he now possessed after almost a month of non-stop gorging. Twilight’s ‘diet plan’ was barely a notion that Spike remembered anymore: if he needed to eat after eating a meal, he just went to town on whatever was in the castle. It didn’t matter if Twilight, or anypony else for that matter, was present; they couldn’t really see him anyway.
So, all Spike really did anymore was eat and sleep. Twilight could notice that Spike’s jobs weren’t getting done, but he usually just chalked it up to ‘I’ll do it later!’ and the issue was forgotten until the next reminder. No permanence to his actions at all, whether he did things or not. Nopony noticed anything more than a few seconds.
Everypony couldn’t even see how fat he’d gotten, either! Twilight had levitated him off of his basket the other morning, almost absentmindedly, so she could wash his bedding. She had hummed to herself, staring at her horn, then complained that it had taken more effort than normal. She chalked it up to her rigorous experiments with Starlight, but Spike knew it was because of his weight.
Grasping the edge of his basket to help heave himself into a sitting position, Spike couldn’t help but smile down at his belly. Twilight had been trying so hard to minimize his weight, but he was a growing dragon. When had anypony ever seen a skinny dragon?
All the dragons he’d seen at the Dragon Migration had been large; in stature, weight, or both. Spike had been chubby, but incredibly small in comparison of the other dragons he’d seen. Maybe the first step in growing big and strong like a proper dragon was to gain enough nutrients to support the growing.
Climbing out of his basket took a significant amount of effort, but Spike did it in order to get to the breakfast he could smell. It smelled like Twilight or Starlight had cooked a proper breakfast, unlike the cold yogurt and fruit he had been eating for breakfast.
Padding quietly into the kitchen, he was surprised to see Pinkie and Starlight working on what looked like a massive breakfast feast.
“Um...what are you guys doing?” Spike asked, rubbing his sleep-encrusted eyes with a talon.
Pinkie beamed at Spike, “Starlight wanted to apologize for what happened, Spike. She thought maybe the spell took more out of you than everypony thought.”
“Why would you think that?” Spike asked, looking down at his plush body. Just days ago Starlight and Twilight had been criticizing him for his weight.
“Well you’ve been sleeping for a lot,” Starlight answered, stirring at some batter in a mixing bowl, “And look at you, Spike. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this thin.”
Spike blinked in confusion, “What?”
Starlight set the bowl down, her eyes wide with sorrow, “Can you not tell? I can see your ribs! Twilight is off in the library, trying to see if she can find anything. Oh what if you’re blind to this? Oh this is all my-”
“It’s ok, Starlight,” Spike soothed, moving to sit down at the counter, “Honest.”
Out of Pinkie and Starlight’s sight, Spike poked at the edge of his belly, his talon sinking in several centimeters into the soft flesh.
“Are you sure!? What if you get worse?!”
“Well I’m here, and I’m sure we can get Spike back to a healthy weight in no time!” Pinkie ruffled Spike’s head spines, “So sit back and relax while we make you a great breakfast to get started!”
Spike watched as Pinkie and Starlight cooked a feast. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast, and homefries. All the while, his brain churned over what Starlight had told him. Instead of seeing him gain weight, they saw him lose it.
“So, Starlight? When did you realize I was losing weight?”
Starlight looked up from the pan of eggs, stirring occasionally, “Well, I realized it yesterday? I think? I just, suddenly realized you’d lost more weight than Twilight had anticipated. She checked on you overnight, and agreed. We’re both shocked we didn’t see it before. It’s gotta be the spell-”
“I’ll be fine for awhile, Starlight. Especially if I get more meals like this into me! This all looks amazing!”
Starlight fixed Spike a plate, and ate her own breakfast as Pinkie sampled the dishes. Spike dug into the food like a dragon starving. With Pinkie’s help, Starlight had cooked a delicious breakfast.
When Spike cleared his plate, he piled it high with food again. When he finished that plate, he leaned against the counter, hiccuping a little. He’d eaten too fast.
A spark of curiosity lit in Spike’s chest. He waited a few minutes, then cleared his throat gently, “How much did I just eat?”
Pinkie and Starlight shared a confused look, “Um...You ate...um…”
“Y’know...I don’t know,” Pinkie said, unusually sombre, “I gave you a plate-”
“You know what, I’ll get another plate okay? Sorry, I just...blanked there,” Spike lied unconvincingly. It wouldn’t matter in a few minutes anyway.
Starlight’s eyes narrowed, but she nodded, clearly thinking. By the time Spike had cleared his third plate, the harshness to her expression had disappeared. Spike belched, a little burst of dragonfire erupting from his gullet.
“Sorry,” Spike murmured, “That was really good. Thank you guys!”
Pinkie beamed, “Not a problem, Spike! I’m glad you liked it!”
“Twilight said to tell you to go back to bed, Spike. The library is a mess, and so is her study. Go get some rest, and I’ll come get you if we need you.”
“Thanks, Starlight,” Spike slipped onto the crystalline ground, and waddled back to his room. His globular belly was strained and bloated, noisily trying to digest the greasy food piled into it.
Pinkie and Starlight stared after the little dragon. Pinkie sighed, scratching her chin, “Did I hog most of the food? After cooking that much food, I would have thought there would have been more left over.”
Starlight looked down at the mostly empty plates, and shrugged, “My fault too, probably. I’ve been up half the night worrying. I just hope Spike ate until he was full.”
“I uh, think he did?” Pinkie questioned, “He usually does with my cooking!”
Starlight stared at the still open door, nodding absentmindedly, “Yeah, he does. Are you okay here if I go check up on Twilight?”
“Bring her breakfast too!” Pinkie quickly assembled a plate for Twilight, hoofing it over to Starlight, “I’ll clean up here!”
“Thanks, Pinkie!”
“Do you think I could make Spike some cupcakes? I just want to see him back to his normal self.”
Starlight shrugged, “I can’t see why not. Just…please clean up after? I don’t want to stress Twilight out more.”
“Of course!” Pinkie beamed, already speeding around the kitchen to gather ingredients and clean at the same time, “Now go on! Before Twilight’s breakfast is cold.”
Starlight left Pinkie to her own devices, hoping Twilight had found anything about what had happened to Spike.
I just hope we can get some more weight onto him soon. He looks so fragile.