The Apple Does Fall Hard for the Tree

Fluttershy darted from wispy cloud to wispy cloud, finding cover where she could, on her way to Sugar Cube Corner.  While fewer ponies walked the streets at night, there were still enough out and about that she'd decided to make her approach from the air.

~Without Applejack with me, I don't know if I could handle somepony staring.~  She sighed as once again, she found herself fleeing instead of facing her problems.  ~At least I'm on my way to face my friends though.  That's a step in the right direction!~

Flying with a bit more confidence, the pegasus glided down to a landing on the street right in front of the bakery.  Applejack was there waiting, her anxious face relaxing into a grin the instant she spotted the shadowy yellow blot in the sky.

“Glad ya made it, darlin'.  Everyone else is inside already, so let's not keep 'em waiting any longer."  Applejack paused, gazing directly into her lover's eyes.  "Are...are you up for this?”

Fluttershy met that gaze with hardly a waver, before leaning in to peck AJ on the lips.  “Let's do this.”

Applejack chuckled, tail swishing with new energy.  She bounded over to the door and nudged it open, slipping inside to hold it for the other mare.  Fluttershy stepped through, the laughter and conversation of her friends like familiar, well-loved music to her ears.  With the hibernation attempt, it had been quite awhile since she'd seen them.  Lips curled into a gentle smile, 'Shy trotted over to the table the girls were clustered around.

“Hi girls,” she murmured, half-expecting her greeting to go unnoticed under the buzz of their normal-pony-volume conversation.  But four heads turned her way, and six eyes widened.

“Fluttershy!”

“Flutters! What the hay?!”

“My dear, what happened?”

“Now girls, don't go getting' your tails in a twist.”  Applejack drew up beside 'Shy, her warm flank close enough to brush the rounded yellow one.  “Fluttershy will explain if she wants, but what's im-por-tant,” AJ pronounced the word in three chunks, heavy as bricks, “is that she's still our Fluttershy, and that she's happy.”

'Shy studied Twilight Sparkle, then Rainbow Dash, and Rarity through a few wisps of mane that fell across her eyes.  Respectively, they looked confused, dismayed, and...angry?

“Darling, you do realize you've just ruined your birthday and Hearth's Warming Eve presents, don't you?  I'll have to have you in for new measurements, tout suite!”  Rarity rose from her cushion on the floor, and crossed the few feet between them to throw her hooves around Fluttershy's neck, squeezing her ferociously.  “And how dare you miss so many of our spa days?  Do you have any idea how lonely it's been?”  Tears threatened in the unicorn's voice.

Fluttershy patted and stroked at her best friend's coat.  “I'm so sorry Rarity.  I've missed you deeply.”

~It's been so hard not having Rarity around to talk to, the last week.  It didn't matter so much earlier, with all the sleeping, but...~  Fluttershy gave her elegant friend a good tight squeeze of her own.

“So, I guess you don't have to tell us if you don't have to, but...how?”  Twilight asked, gesturing helplessly at Fluttershy with both forehooves.

“Ooooobviously she was hibernating on the advice of her bear-friend as a treatment for wither-wrinkles, and it led to a cycle of gorging and sleeping, which everyone knows is the fastest way to put on weight.  Duh!”  Pinkie rolled her eyes, and like an acrobat, dodged every incredulous glance sent her way.  “Speaking of weight, I'm tired of waiting to reveal my super secret dessert!”  With that, the pink pony back-flipped away from the table to land behind the counter, then retreated into the kitchen.

Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy drew up to the table and settled down, while all five friends tried to ignore the clatter from the back of the bakery.

“Okay, so if that's the how, I'm afraid my next logical question is...why?”

“Why...am I h-happy, do you mean?” Fluttershy whispered, and after a moment of thought, Twilight nodded.

“I'm happy because I l-like being this, um, soft.  You all know I'm mostly a p-push-over, and, um...”

“The gentlest, kindest, squishiest soul in all of Ponyville?  Maybe all of Equestria?” Applejack prompted her, kindling a fiery blush in her yellow cheeks.

“Oh no, there's no way I'm that special."  Fluttershy hunkered down under a good-natured glare from AJ.  "Well, if you think so, maybe a little.  Well, now on the outside, I...match?  And it feels right.  But even more wonderful than that,” 'Shy leaned over to nuzzle Applejack's cheek.  “My special somepony loves how I am too.”

Now it wasn't just eyes that were wide, but mouths gaping open as well, when Fluttershy could bring herself to lift her gaze from the tabletop.  In the same order as before, her friends' eyes reflected complete shock, fury, and glistening joy.

A sharp double-thump boomed through the bakery as Rainbow slammed her hooves down on the table.  “Applejack!  How could you encourage her?!  Just, just look at her!  She's a co--”

Applejack had lunged across the table and stuffed a hoof in Rainbow's mouth, but Rarity and Twilight had both had the same thought, leaving the cyan pegasus with a very full mouth indeed.  The save came too late though; the word hadn't been completed but the thought had made it across.

Fluttershy let her mane fall completely across her face, screening her from the world, while hot tears rushed to her eyes.  Just as unwelcome as the tears were the ugly thoughts that welled up a few inches behind those eyes.

~They're right.  I am a cow.  I'm enormous, a monster, and no one could ever love me.  I shouldn't be out in public; what was I thinking?~

She shook her head, hard, sending tears scattering through the air.

~Applejack loves you.  It's spitting in her eye to even think otherwise!~

“Rainbow, ah'm going to take my hoof out of your mouth, on the condition that nothing else feather-brained leaks out of it tonight.  It took a lot for 'Shy to even come here tonight!  She's very self-conscious around other ponies still, but thought her friends would be able to handle her and not call her names.” With that, AJ and the others removed their hooves.

Up until those last four words, resentment smoldered in Rainbow's eyes.  Fluttershy could see it even across the table and through her mane.  But when she realized she'd done what Fluttershy had feared a stranger would do to her, her agitated wings drooped, along with her ears.

“Sorry, Flutters.  Guess...guess I wasn't really thinking.  I'm just worried about you, y'know?” Dash spread her forehooves helplessly, before staring down at the table.

“Whoa, my friends disappeared and a whole squad of saddy-sad McTeary-pantses took their spots!”  Pinkie pranced in, a huge platter balanced on her back while another rode atop her poofy-maned head.  She bounced both off onto the table.  The smaller platter bore an enormous pie, baked to a perfect golden brown with suspiciously colorful syrup oozing out of the vent holes in the crust here and there.  The other platter was loaded down with a three-tier cake thickly frosted in white, and surrounded in a sea of adorable little tarts and larger cupcakes frosted in a variety of colors and (presumably) flavors.

“What was shakin' while I was bakin'?”  Pinkie zipped from pony to pony, getting nose to nose with each of them, before parking herself in front of Twilight at last...hanging upside-down from the ceiling.  Despite the unlikely perspective, the look she was giving the lilac unicorn was implacable.

“There's been some, um, friction over Fluttershy's new, er, figure.”

Pinkie gasped, and galloped along the ceiling until directly over Fluttershy, before falling and flipping to land on the pegasus' back.  “Did you get the newest Wonderbolt action figure, Fluttershy?!  Wax Lips told me he'd sold the last one already!”

Fluttershy, flattened to the floor beneath Pinkie, only squeaked in response.

“Pinkie,” Applejack sighed.  “Twilight means the weight 'Shy's put on.”

“What about it?  It's cuddly,” Pinkie sighed, sprawling out atop Fluttershy and hugging her loosely around the neck, her eyes sinking shut.  Rarity and Applejack muffled snorts of laughter, and Twilight's lips twitched.  Rainbow just shook her head with a couple short stiff jerks.

“But I don't wanna steal AJ's seat,” Pinkie said, dismounting, totally oblivious to the horrendous blushes on two pairs of yellow and orange cheeks she left in her wake.  “It's time for the reveal!”

The lights in the bakery shut off with a snap, and before the other five ponies could make more than a cursory complaint, a spotlight shone down on Pinkie Pie, dressed in a safari outfit complete with pith helmet and hiking boots.  “There I was, all alone in the Everfree forest, hunting for new and exotic ingredients and totally not lost after a Pinkie-copter crash at all, when I saw them!”  Shielding her eyes and peering about while narrating, Pinkie gasped and pointed at something off in the distance.

“They were the most amazing, colorful berries I'd ever seen!  They reminded me so much of you, Rainbow, that I wanted to call them Dashberries!”  She pulled a small branch from her mane festooned with blueberry-sized fruit, each slightly squashed sphere striped with every color of the rainbow.  “So, being the super-cautious smarty-smart pony that I am who never wants her friends to wind up in the hospital after eating baked bads, I paid a visit to Zecora to make sure these awesome-looking berries were safe to eat!”  Pinkie bounced in place, humming, then mimed pulling open a door.

“Zecora!  Are these Dashberries poisonous?”  Pinkie squealed, hopping up and down.  Everyone could imagine the almost infinitely-patient Zecora waiting for Pinkie to resolve into something more than a blur of pink before responding.

“'A prismaberry poison you?  No chance of that.  The risk dear Pinkie is--'  OkaythanksZecorabyeeeeeee!”  Pinkie 'slammed' the door and ran out of the spotlight's circle.  A bare second later the door to the bakery slammed open, the spotlight having shifted, admitting a Pinkie carrying a bushel basket.  She raced right to the kitchen and made a terrible racket.  Then a rather suggestive moan drifted out to the other girls.  “Oh Celestia, so goooooood.  I can't eat anymore though!  I only found one bushel of berries, and I have to let the girls try them.”  She gasped so loudly, everypony felt the air currents in the dining room shift.  “I'll throw a PARTY!”

The lights came back up, revealing Pinkie standing atop the table beside the treats.  “And now you're all caught up!  So sorry Dashie, they already had a name.  We have prismaberry cake, prismaberry tarts, prismaberry cupcakes and prismaberry pie!  I saved a few berries if you want to try growing them, Applejack.  Dig in everypony!”  Pinkie followed her own advice and took an enormous bite out of the top tier of the cake, getting creamy frosting all over her face in the process.

Twilight looked over the desserts, biting her lower lip.  “I'm a little worried about you leaving before Zecora finished telling you about the berries, Pinkie.  She mentioned a risk.”

Rarity selected a tart from the platter.  “Oh, relax Twilight.  If it had been something serious, surely Miss Zecora would have followed Pinkie into town to tell her.”  She took a delicate bite of her tart, and swooned as she chewed.  “Ohhh, darling, I can't believe what I'm tasting!  It's like a...fruit spectrum!  And they don't clash!”  She turned the tart to show it to everyone at the table, revealing the vibrantly-colored interior.  “And it's so gorgeous!”

Rainbow Dash didn't waste time slicing herself a big wedge of pie and digging in.  After the first bite, her eye widened even further than her first glimpse of Fluttershy had elicited.  The speedy pegasus cut two more slices of the pie and crowded them onto her plate before she even took a second bite of her first piece.

Applejack cut a big slice of cake from the first tier, and slid it over to Fluttershy, pairing it with a kiss on her cheek.  “Here ya go sugarcube.  Try and relax now, ya hear?”

Fluttershy had managed to relax a little during Pinkie's performance, and now that much of the attention was off of her, it was easier to just be here with her friends and not think of current events so much.  She took a bite of cake, and mulled over the flavor.  Rarity was right; it was like a fruit spectrum.  'Shy swore she could taste strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, kiwi, raspberries, oranges, grapefruit, and more...harmonious, worked into a dense, rich cake and covered in a fluffy layer of buttercream frosting.  But as interesting as the flavor was, it just wasn't what she was after tonight.  She glanced over towards the Corner's display case, and saw them.

A plate of brownies rested between a couple of cakes inside the case.  They were so dark the big slabs of fudgy goodness were almost black, with shavings of chocolate and a sprig of mint atop each brownie.  “P-pinkie?” Fluttershy beckoned the party pony over.  “The prismaberry cake is very nice, but, it's been a long time since I've been in of course and I was wondering...since my favorite brownies are in the case, if I could...”

Pinkie giggled, and rocketed to the case and back again with the entire plate.  “Of course!  Anything you want in here is yours, Fluttershy.”  Pinkie leaned in closer and stage-whispered, “Just means more prismaberries for us!”

Applejack finished the prismaberry tart she was nibbling on, and cocked her head at the brownies.  “Somethin' special, there?”

“Oh yes,” Fluttershy sighed, lifting a brownie and letting it hover beneath her nose, its scent teasing her.  “These are dark chocolate, lime, and sea-salt brownies.  They're soooo rich, and complex.  Normally I just eat one and, um, think about the taste for an hour it's so interesting.  But it's been so long since I had one, and I am hungry, I think I'll have more than one.”

By now everyone was involved with their snacking, and it brought a smile to Fluttershy's face to see her friends all enjoying some sweet treats.  Even Applejack was tucking in with a hearty appetite.  'Shy had started to feel a little guilty when she tended to eat everything AJ brought her, leaving nothing for the farmpony.  She tried not to giggle at Rainbow, who looked like she might finish that huge pie by herself.  Pinkie started a 'swordfight' with a fork, dueling Dash for the last piece.

“Want somethin' else from the case, love?” AJ asked, nuzzling up against her shoulder.

Fluttershy glanced down to find her brownies gone.  The tang of limes and salt, plus the mild sweetness of the dark chocolate still lingered on her tongue.  “Um, wow.  I guess so.  W-what about some custard donuts?  And some cheese danishes?  And maybe a coconut cake?”

Applejack grinned, and leaned in to rub noses with her before rising to fetch the food.  Across the table, Rainbow had lost her duel, and had started making inroads on the tarts.  Rarity had a big slice of cake in front of her and was plainly savoring every bite, while Twilight methodically devoured alternating bites of cake and tarts.

When AJ returned with two platters, one on her head and one on her back like Pinkie had sported earlier, Rainbow gawked.  “Is that all just for Fluttershy?  Come on Applejack!”

“SHHHhhh!  Rainbow!”  Twilight hissed, eyes darting between the two pegasi.  The desperate, almost hunted look in her eyes was rather telling.  Rainbow had voiced what she was thinking.

Fluttershy's head drooped, and she waved a hoof at Applejack.  “N-nevermind AJ.  I think...think I'll just go home.”  Before Applejack could shed the trays and stop her, or Pinkie could stage some musical intervention, 'Shy rose and bolted out the doors.  She didn't realize she'd been crying again until the cool autumn air hit the hot tears streaming down her cheeks.

Fluttershy beat her wings frantically, hating how hard she had to work now to get herself off the ground, but she couldn't bear to be there any longer.  It wasn't a long flight home, and she couldn't quite get a good breath all the way there as she quietly sobbed across half of Ponyville, moonlight catching tiny teardrops that fell unnoticed on roofs and gardens alike.

Twilight woke the next morning feeling awful.  After Fluttershy had flown the coop, Applejack hadn't said a word.  She'd just stared at them with such a look of disappointment, she was sure she'd never forget it.  Stiff with anger, the blonde mare had stalked out.  Pinkie had seemed at a loss, and made herself busy packing them each a doggy-bag of prismaberry goodies to take home.  Several times she saw the party-pony open her mouth to speak, then think better of it, subsiding with downcast eyes.  By the time all the food was packed up it was nearly nine, so everypony had headed home.  After a late-night snack of cupcakes, Twilight had hit the hay.

This morning she felt bloated, but worse than that she felt like a terrible friend.

~Certainly Fluttershy is an unhealthy weight, and can't be allowed to remain like that, but I handled the whole situation poorly and came across as little better than a stranger, when Fluttershy really needed the support of her friends.~

Twilight rolled out of bed and almost collapsed onto her stomach at the unexpected weight on her hooves.  “What the hay?”  Prying her eyes open fully, Twilight glanced at herself in confusion.  “No.  No no no no no...”

Her legs seemed puffy, swollen, and when she dipped her head down lower to peer beneath herself she saw that her stomach hung low, well-padded with fat.  “Spiiiiiiiiiiiiike!”  She dashed to a mirror, and whimpered.  Her cheeks were rounded, and she sported a double-chin.  Even her neck was padded.

~I don't want to think what my rump looks like!  Is this an allergic reaction?  Did this happen to the others?  The berries!~

Spike sat up and yawned, rubbing sleep from his eyes.  “Mrph, wha--?  What is it?”

“Bring me A Herbological History, volumes V through VIII, and Trail Blazer's Field Guide, Everfree supplemental volume!”  Twilight rattled off the titles without turning from the mirror.

An ear-piercing shriek filtered in through a window one of them had left ajar the night before.

“I guess Rarity's awake,” Twilight mumbled.

Four tubby ponies gathered outside the door to Sugar Cube Corner, a few onlookers pausing to watch Twilight Sparkle bang away at the portal and yell.

“Come out Pinkie!  We know you're in there!”

Rainbow's hooves barely touched the ground on either side of an enormous dome of cyan-furred fat.  She had more in common with the clouds she kicked than a pony today, and her wings and eyes telegraphed nothing but pure rage.

Rarity had tailored herself a new cloak to hide the extent of her weight-gain, but judging from her double-chin, it was along the same lines as Twilight's.

Applejack had gotten away with just a bit of a potbelly and plumped up limbs, having eaten only a couple tarts and a cupcake, but she stood with the rest of the 'injured,' glaring at the bakery.

Just as Twilight's horn lit, promising impending property damage, the door creaked open an inch to reveal a watery blue eye.

“Sorry everypony.  I guess the party went even worse than I thought last night.  I didn't think that was even,” Pinkie sniffed, “possible!”  She threw open the door, and seized Twilight around the neck, sobbing.  Standing revealed in the light of morning, the pink pony was almost as fat as Rainbow, and her mane was dangerously limp.

Twilight sighed as she grew soaked in Pinkie-tears, patting her fattened friend with one hoof.  “It's...fine.  We'll figure out something.  We should go see Zecora first, I suppose.”

Pinkie gasped, and released Twilight before vaulting right over the unicorn.  It was as if that huge gut was merely inflated with helium, for how much it slowed her down.  “That's right!  Her unfinished rhyme!”

Rarity let out a snort, sticking her nose in the air.  “I can't help but feel put out, really.  She couldn't come to town and make sure Pinkie received the warning?  This isn't exactly dangerous per se, but it is mortifying!”

Rainbow Dash glared at everyone and everything, jerking her head from side to side.  A fair number of ponies on the street had stopped to gawk at the five girls, and a few of them were muffling laughter or hiding smiles.  “What's so funny, huh?  Y'got something to say, say it to my face!”

“Or what, you'll sit on us?” came a call from the sparse crowd.  It was answered by popcorn-bursts of giggling.

“All right, that's it.  Whoever said that, your ass is grass!”  Rainbow tried to launch herself into the air, but only rose a couple feet before starting to fall back towards the ground.  Her wings flailed, but she only gentled the belly flop; she couldn't prevent it.

Now the crowd was really giggling, and more ponies were joining to see what all the fuss was about.

“Oh my gosh, what happened?”

“They're huge!”

“I didn't know we were having an Elements of Harmony parade today.  The balloons are so realistic!”

“Tch, don't they know that's soooo bad for them?”

Rarity's eyes were almost whirling as she searched for an escape route, and Pinkie's head drooped further with every audible comment and catcall from the crowd.  Twilight winced, but not wholly for her own wounded pride, her eyes almost squeezing shut.

Twilight Sparkle dragged the squirming sprawled pegasus back into their midst in the grip of a violet field.  “Rainbow, quit fighting me and look at them for a second.  Listen to them.”

Dash stopped fighting long enough to glare at the jeering ponies.  “What about them?  They're just mean-spirited jerks who don't understand what's going on.”

“And what were you and I last night, when Fluttershy was here?”  Twilight said, bearing down on every word like she could shove them into Rainbow's brain by forceful tone alone.

Dash snorted, struggling to her hooves, cheeks burning as she found it impossible to maintain any kind of dignity much less cool-ness in the process.  “I'm just worried about Fluttershy!  She can't stay that fat, just like we can't!  It's bad for her, and--”

Rarity stepped in, pushing a hoof into Rainbow's marshmallow-y flank.  “Rainbow Dash!  Do you honestly think Fluttershy, with all she knows about medicine, isn't aware of any health risks?”

Twilight took a step back to make room for the other unicorn, eyes widening.  ~I didn't expect Rarity to make an argument in support of Fluttershy's weight.  And it's a good one.~

“She is a grown pony, who can make her own choices.  It's frankly insulting of us to presume to dictate what she does with her body.  Now, if she starts neglecting her animals," no one could hide a smirk at that impossibility, "or if it winds up getting us into trouble performing our duty as Elements, then we may have to have a little chat.”  Rarity sounded embarrassed to even suggest such eventualities.

“I won't let her do this to herself!  I mean, she won't even be able to go out outside!  Look at how they're treating us!”  Rainbow gestured to all the ponies still gathered about.  A few cameras had appeared by now, and a flash going off had Rainbow ready to try another aerial assault.  Applejack stopped her this time, a hoof on her trailing tail.

“Sugarcube, it's not up to you.  All you're doin' by fightin' it is making 'Shy feel as bad as these strangers are makin' you.  Y'have a point that it will be a mite awful for her for awhile, but that's part of her choice.”  AJ let the steel in her voice give way to a pleading note, stepping off of Rainbow's tail to circle around, looking her in the eyes.  “I know she can plow that furrow, if her friends back her up!”

“But...this...I feel so awful being this huge!” Rainbow choked out, turning her head and tucking it under a wing.  Her friends couldn't help but stare.  Rainbow had been angry, embarrassed, coy, even perhaps shy a time or two, but this was the first time she seemed ashamed.

Twilight trotted around and leaned against Dash's other flank, brushing her unoccupied wing.  “I don't feel comfortable either this way Dash, but that's us.  Fluttershy is her own pony, and she feels differently.  Can't we respect that?  I think you know she'd respect how we feel.”

It was a damp, squeaky voice that responded from beneath her wing.  “I guess.  Can...can we get away from this crowd now?  I don't know if I can see them again without doing something dumb.”

Pinkie brightened a little, and pointed towards the murmuring mass.  “Looks like it's being taken care of.”

Twin paths of disturbance ran through the townsponies towards the girls, cries of outrage and vague, muffled threats following until first Derpy shouldered her way out, and a few yards to the right Cloud Kicker popped into view.  Both turned and planted their hooves, placing themselves squarely between the Elements and the gawkers.

“The show is over ponies!  Don't you have shopping to do?” Cloud Kicker belted out the words like a challenge to a duel, not bothering to hide the anger in her eyes.  Ponies at the front of the pack were cowed, but those further back couldn't read the dangerous body language she was giving off and ran their mouths.

“Yeah, we should see if Twilight and her friends left any food in the market for the rest of us!”

“Whassa matter?  Did they promise you their leftovers, Miss Bicycle?”

Cloud Kicker scraped a hoof through the soil, her wings trembling against her sides with the urge to erupt into an aggression display.  “How long has it been since these girls last saved your ungrateful lives?  A week?  Three?  That's how long it takes to give yourself free rein to mock ponies who risk their lives for us more often than you change your horseshoes?”  The lavender mare's tone grew more incredulous with every sentence, and ponies began slinking away from the mass, ears and tails low.

“C'moooooon, they look ridiculous, you have to admit!”

“Who're you, the fun police?”

Obviously a few still weren't getting the message.  Cloud Kicker opened her mouth to roar at the diminished crowd but it was Derpy who hollered, fluttering up to hover a half-dozen feet above the hecklers.

“Someone looks funny, and you get to be mean?  That's the rule?  Where's that written?  Did your mom tell you that was how it worked?”  Derpy frowned, muzzle scrunched, eyes seeming to track two shamed ponies at once as they sloughed off from the group.  “Is this the only way you can have fun?  Teasing ponies who are different?  They're your neighbors!  Some of them are your friends!”  Derpy's lip trembled, pointing back at the five ponies frozen before the storefront.  “I know what it's like being laughed at.  Some of you think I don't notice or I can't even hear you, but I can!  It's not okay, and just because I'm not a foal anymore, it doesn't mean I can't be bullied!  It doesn't mean you can't be bullies!”  Derpy was crying now, eyes welling over, bobbing in the air as her wing-beats became erratic.

Cloud Kicker was at her side in a second, nosing her cheek, ignoring the dissolving crowd below.  A cyan shape ponderously flapped up on Derpy's left, Rainbow straining for altitude with all her new bulk.

“Derpy,” Dash sighed, pressing her nose against the gray pegasus' neck, “thank you.  Thank both of you.  I don't deserve friends like you guys.”

All three pegasi slowly sank back to the ground, and Derpy turned to rest her chin atop Rainbow's neck, nestled in the riot of colors that made up her mane.  “Of course you do, Rainbow!  You prove it all the time.  I'm happy I got to prove it for once,” Derpy grinned, and hugged Dash around the neck.

Cloud Kicker chuckled as Dash struggled to escape the enthusiastic embrace, and gave Rainbow a lazy swat on her rump as she trotted by.  She had to stop and ogle the resulting ripples, before remembering to speak.  “Uh.  Need me to take over the weather crews for a bit, Dash, while you, er, sort things out?”

“Umm, I'll...let you know.  We're going to follow up a lead, and then I'll have a better idea what to tell you.  I could fix this by lunch, who knows?”

Dash didn't miss the dubious look on Cloud Kicker's face, and snorted, tossing her mane.  “Really!  You can't smother awesome beneath a few pounds of fat.  C'mon girls, let's go grill Zecora.”

Twilight perked her ears at Pinkie, expecting to hear something along the lines of 'zebras kind of look like they've been grilled already, don't they?' but the pink pony just fell in line, eyes drifting towards her own hooves.

One by one the other Elements fell in behind Rainbow Dash, each of them passing the other two pegasi with a smile, nod, or word of thanks.  Though they encountered a handful of ponies on their way to the edge of the Everfree, the five girls managed to avoid getting embroiled in another embarrassing confrontation.

Soon enough the shadowy latticework of the forest canopy took shape overhead, and Rainbow drifted back from the point position, letting Twilight take the lead.

“You know the way better,” Dash muttered in response to the glance Twilight shot her.

Twilight kept her smirk to herself, and trotted on ahead down a path spotted only rarely with sunlight.  The Everfree was a dark and foreboding wood, but its bark was worse than its bite, at least here near its boundary with Ponyville.  Though it was just a few minutes' canter along a fairly level path to Zecora's hut, everyone but Applejack was panting to one degree or another by the time they arrived.

~How embarrassing, to struggle with such a short trip!  We've got to dump this weight!~  Twilight's urgency to regain her normal body was rising by the minute as she rapped on the zebra's door with one hoof.

Zecora opened the door, her imperturbable smile fading at the sight of the five fattened friends.

“What's this on my doorstep I've found?  Five dear friends, but grown so very round!”

Pinkie somehow blurred and filled the small space between Twilight and Zecora, nose pressed against the zebra's.  “Zecora!  The prismaberries!  You tried to warn me about them but I left before you could finish.  What was the rest of your rhyme?  What more do you know about them?”

Zecora winced, and stepped back from Pinkie into her hut, motioning everypony inside.  The girls filed into the familiar home of the zebra, ever-exotic and fascinating with Zecora's pieces of art from her native land, and herbal ingredients perfuming the air.  “Pinkie, the bag has given up its cat; the berries you found make the eater very fat.”

Rarity made a sound half-way between a gasp and a hurt cry.  “Why didn't you pursue Pinkie, and make sure she was responsible with the berries?  It would have saved us all a lot of trouble, not to mention one very precious set of silk pajamas.”  Rarity struck the floor of the hut a petulant blow with one hoof.

Pinkie hung her head.  She pulled a mask off the wall that featured a comically-drooping mouth, slipping it over her face.  It would have been funny if Twilight didn't know the pony behind it was wearing an even more dismal expression.

Zecora frowned, settling back on her haunches.  “Pinkie slammed my door when she took off like a shot, and the blow shook several objects into my potion pot.  To forestall a greater disaster I had to remain; I apologize this has caused you all pain.”  Zecora shook her head, squinting at the five ponies.  “I find it strange though I must admit, that after a few berries you did not quit.  The fattening starts in seconds, such an obvious sign!  After the effect was apparent, why did you continue to dine?”

Twilight tilted her head, confused.  “None of us gained any apparent weight until the next morning.  But,” she glanced at Pinkie, still wearing the sad-mask, “the berries were baked into desserts.  Maybe that had something to do with it?”

Zecora's eyes widened.  “That it may!  Heat could cause a delay.  Prismaberries have not been studied much, yet.  What I know would be intriguing to your vet.”  The zebra squinted at the group of ponies.  “Oh my, where is Fluttershy?”

“She...didn't eat many of the berries, and is a little...busy today.”  Twilight shuffled her hooves, hoping Zecora didn't press the issue.  She could hear the rest of her friends stirring just as awkwardly.

“Mm.”  Zecora just shook her head the tiniest bit while wandering to a bookshelf.  She pulled a volume out with her mouth, setting it down on a work table near the door.  After flipping through its pages a moment, she tapped an entry with one hoof.  “To prevent pre-hibernation bears from eating all their fruit, they developed a defense that made eating more, moot.”

Twilight thought for a second, then brightened.  “I see!  Bears eat a lot before they retire to their caves for the winter, but because they don't roam very far, they aren't good seed carriers for the berry plants, who prefer birds.  I bet birds aren't affected by the berry's fattening agent.”  Her face fell.  “But that means it isn't a temporary magical effect, doesn't it?  If it wasn't legitimate fat, the bears would starve during the winter, and if the effect was only temporary then they'd be back for more berries the next day anyways.”

Zecora nodded, her jewelry jingling.  “I'm afraid these berries, for ponies there is no perk.  To shed the weight will mean much hard work.”

A mixture of sighs, groans, and one “Come on!” filled the hut in the wake of that announcement.

Pinkie sobbed softly behind the mask, until Zecora gently took it from her, and the other girls surrounded the deflated party pony.

Twilight wrapped a foreleg around Pinkie's shoulders, squeezing her tight.  “Pinkie, you have to stop blaming yourself for all of this.  This isn't all your fault!  You found something...”

“Awesome,” Dash supplied.

“...awesome, and wanted to share it with your friends.  What happened with Fluttershy definitely wasn't your fault.  You tried to show us how we ought to have perceived her...as the same kind, sweet pony we've known from the start, in a more huggable package.”

Pinkie shuddered a few more times in Twilight's grasp, making the unicorn squeeze her all the harder.  When she finally stopped quivering, Pinkie raised her head enough to peer around at her friends, bright blue eyes shimmering behind wobbly discs of tears.  “You d-don't hate me?”

“Pinkie, of course not!  Just because we got mad you helped turn us into whales doesn't mean we'd stop loving you.”  Rainbow rolled her eyes, and reached over to noogie the pink pony.

Rarity stroked a hoof along Pinkie's back, adding a pat now and then.  “My dear, accidents happen.  It's true that the results of this one are a tad more, er, personal and harder to remedy than a spilled punchbowl or a hole in the wall, but it's still nothing to lose a dear friend over.”

Applejack took her turn, trotting over and plopping down in front of Pinkie, looking her in the eyes.  “You were the first, after me, to see Fluttershy after she'd gotten softer, sugarcube.  You didn't bat an eye, and whether you knew it or not, that went a long ways toward encouragin' her to brave the rest of her friends.  You set the best example y'could have.  Ah'm...and Fluttershy is I'm sure, mighty grateful to ya.”  AJ sniffled, and held Pinkie's gaze.

Slowly, with pinging sounds like springs releasing tension, straight hairs in Pinkie's mane began to curl.  More and more wound themselves into cotton candy spirals, condensing into the bright cloud of poof all were accustomed to seeing bouncing atop Pinkie's head.

Pinkie sprang free of the various embraces surrounding her, and Twilight swore the hut's interior grew thirty percent brighter.  “Well then, first thing's first!  We go see Fluttershy and we don't leave until she knows for abso-positively-dum-tiddily-doe-toodly-lutely that we all love her just the same!”

Zecora chuckled, stepping over to brush a hoof along Pinkie's cheek.  “And after soothing sweet Fluttershy, what will you do?  How will you get your bodies as good as new?”

“Magic,” Twilight said, supreme confidence behind the single word.

“Grueling exercise,” Rainbow groaned.

“Running around Ponyville eight-hundred and forty zillion times!” Pinkie bounced up and down, which caused a rather fascinating lava lamp-like effect as her billowing fat rippled.

“Some light aerobics I suppose, and I'll get my dressing on the side for awhile.”  Rarity blushed for some reason, looking anywhere but at the ponies and zebra sharing the hut with her.

“Enough with the talking, time to get walking!”  Pinkie reared to crash through Zecora's door when she froze, and glanced back at the zebra.  “Oh.  Uh, I'm sorry I caused you some trouble last time I was here, Zecora.  And, uh, was there anything else you wanted to say before I gallop off?”

Zecora laughed, nose pointed ceiling-wards.  “No dear Pinkie; this visit's come to a pleasant end.  Good luck soothing your troubled friend.”

Pinkie grinned, then vanished, a few stray hairs left hanging in the space she'd just vacated.  The other ponies quickly said their goodbyes and raced after, though Twilight was very careful about closing the hut door behind them.

The purple unicorn caught up to the cloaked white one within a few galloping strides, and gasped out a question.  "Rarity, you're handling this with a lot more aplomb than I expected.  Are you sure everything is, um, okay?"

Rarity tossed back the hood of her cloak, and just flashed Twilight a dazzling smile.  "Oh, I'll be fine, Twilight.  I admit I was quite startled at first, but I am nothing if not adaptable."

Twilight grimaced when Rarity turned her attention back to the path.  Was this the same pony who had gone into virtual paralysis for twelve hours after Trixie turned her mane green...?  Her friends had matured and changed in the months since she had met them, but this felt wrong.  Very wrong.