It was a clear, sunny day in Ponyville, a typical mid-summer afternoon in Equestria. Big Macintosh squinted against the glare of Celestia's sun as he made his way into town.
The stocky farm pony had received a message the previous day from Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's resident party pony, asking him to come over to Sugarcube Corner that afternoon. From what Big Mac could gather from the rambling, excited letter, Pinkie had made some kind of new treat and wanted him to test it -- apparently, she didn't trust her friends to give her a completely honest opinion.
Seeing as he had that particular day free, Big Mac decided it couldn't do any harm to at least see what Pinkie had made. As he trotted through town, he idly wondered why Pinkie hadn't just gone to his sister Applejack if she wanted an honest opinion -- she was the Element of Honesty, after all. But the stallion had learned long ago not to try questioning Pinkie Pie's logic.
Big Mac's train of thought was interrupted as he found himself at the entrance of Sugarcube Corner. Noticing that the door was slightly ajar, he stuck his head in. To his confusion, there didn't seem to be anypony there. The bakery was completely empty.
"Uh... he-" Big Mac began. That was all he had time to get out before a pink blur appeared out of nowhere and nearly sent him flying.
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy, Big Mac, you're here you're finally here!" the blur squealed joyously. "You were starting to run late and I thought you might not be coming and that would have been SO awful because I really really really counted on you coming here but now you made it and that's good because you kept your promise and I can finally show you the new treat I've been working so hard on and ohmigosh I should tell you about that new treat I didn't tell you about it did I?"
Pinkie Pie finally paused for breath, before turning to Big Mac with an almost worryingly large grin. "So, you agreed to try my latest creation?"
Big Mac paused for a moment. He wasn't accustomed to this level of... Pinkie-ness. Whatever Pinkie wanted to show him, it must have been important.
"Eeeyup", he replied. "I, uh, guess ah did."
Pinkie let out another eardrum-shattering squeal. "Oh that's great! Now come on, follow me into the kitchen -- I just know you're gonna love what I have to show you! C'mon c'mon c'mon!"
And with that, Pinkie tore off towards the kitchen, leaving a slightly dazed Big Mac to follow her.
Inside the bakery's kitchen, Pinkie was waiting for Big Mac with another almost-inequine grin. Neither of them said anything for a moment.
Big Mac eventually broke the silence. "So... what was it you wanted to show me, Pinkie?"
"This!" Pinkie Pie opened a drawer, rummaged feverishly around for a second, and finally produced a small object, which she held out proudly to Big Mac. "Behold, my thing de resistance!"
Big Mac looked at the object in confusion. It was a chocolate bar, brown and rectangular and slightly melted from being in the drawer for so long. Big Mac liked chocolate as much as the next pony, but he didn't see what Pinkie was getting so excited about.
"Pinkie", he said slowly, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice, "are you saying you dragged me away from the farm just to look at a chocolate bar?"
"Ex-cuse me?" Pinkie snapped, a brief flash of anger appearing in her eyes. "This is not 'just a chocolate bar', mister. This is quite possibly the sweetest, most delicious, most scrummy-yummy-dumptious chocolate bar to ever have been made! I spent weeks working on this, Big Mac! Weeks! In fact, I don't think I've slept since Tuesday..."
Big Mac stifled a laugh. "That good, huh? So, what, d'you want me to taste it?"
"Exactamundo!" Pinkie nodded her head rapidly. "I promise you, this is going to be like nothing you've ever tasted! It'll be awesome. It'll be fantastic. It'll be the most amazing motherb-"
"Okay, Pinkie! Okay!" Big Mac was openly laughing at the pink pony's antics now. "If it makes y'all happy, I'll taste this super-amazing chocolate of yours."
"You will? Great!" Pinkie practically shoved the bar into the red pony's hooves. "C'mon, time's a-wasting!"
Big Mac looked at the bar. He had to admit, he was a bit skeptical -- how good could a chocolate bar be, after all? Shrugging, he raised the bar to his mouth and took a bite.
For a couple of seconds, the stallion was frozen in place, his expression a mix of surprise and delight. Then, Big Mac hurriedly crammed the rest of the bar into his mouth like he was afraid it was going to run away from him. Once it was all in his mouth, he began to make a series of rapturous noises of sufficient gusto to draw a slightly worried look from Pinkie.
"Uh... Mac? You okay? You're starting to, uh, drool a little."
Big Mac paid her no heed, as he continued to savour the chocolate's incredible flavour, his eyes squeezed shut as he continued to whimper ecstatically. The bar was absolutely fantastic -- sweet enough to make your head spin, creamy enough to almost be a liquid, and underneath it all was the taste of the richest, most delicious chocolate Big Mac had ever tasted in his life. The red pony was almost crying with joy, dribbling like a foal trying to feed itself. He couldn't help it. He hadn't known chocolate could be this good. He hadn't known anything could be this good.
Eventually, Big Mac came to his senses, and his cheeks turned a faint pink as he realised what a spectacle he'd made of himself. Wiping a string of chocolaty dribble from his mouth, Mac turned to face Pinkie, who was looking at him with a wry smile.
"You enjoyed that, I take it? I knew you would!"
Big Mac nodded happily. "Pinkie, that was... it was indescribable! What the hay was in that chocolate?"
"That's the secret, my friend!" Pinkie laughed. "One very special ingredient... 'Sabor del Cielo'!"
"Sab... what?"
"Sabor del Cielo!" Pinkie repeated. "It's a special kind of sugar, imported all the way from Neighcaragua. It's supposed to make chocolate like, a billion times more delicious. I guess this means it worked!"
"Eeeyup!" Big Mac agreed.
"Y'know", Pinkie said thoughtfully, "I have a few more of those bars if you'd like some more..."
Big Mac's eyes went wide. "You do?! Here?!"
"Yep! Would you like some m-"
"YES! GIVE IT TO ME! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" Big Mac screamed, wearing an expression like a crackhead looking for his next fix. Then he calmed down. "Ah, ah mean... yes, I certainly would, Pinkie!"
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie said happily. "Why don't you take a seat over there..." she pointed to a couch outside that customers normally sat on while they were waiting for large orders, "...and I'll bring them right out!"
Big Mac nodded, trotted over and sat on the couch. Pinkie darted back into the kitchen, taking just long enough for Big Mac to wonder what was keeping her. When she eventually re-emerged, Mac turned to look at her.
And his jaw dropped.
Pinkie Pie was pushing a trolley carrying a large box, which was packed to the brim with Sabor del Cielo chocolate bars. There was easily a hundred, no, two hundred bars in there! Pinkie set the trolley down next to the gaping stallion. "Is this enough?"
"I... I... wah... hah..." Mac stammered. "Th... that's all for me?"
"Sure!" Pinkie said happily. "Well, aren't you gonna eat them?"
Big Mac did not need a second invitation. He grabbed one of the bars, feverishly unwrapped it, and stuffed it into his mouth. Once again, he was lost in a sea of intense flavourable pleasure, as the magic of the Sabor del Cielo enveloped his mouth. Grinning like a fox in a hen house, Big Mac quickly consumed a second bar. Then a third. Then a fourth.
Around the tenth bar, Big Mac stopped for a moment to catch his breath. There was chocolate smeared all around his mouth, making him look like a messy little colt.
Pinkie laughed. "Wow, Mac. I knew those bars would be good, but I didn't think they'd be that good!"
Big Mac stifled a burp and smiled. He was far from done yet...
At the bottom of the box that Pinkie had brought in along with the chocolate bars, there was a small piece of paper that Pinkie had failed to notice when she was unpacking the Sabor del Cielo. The paper had a message written on it:
"¡CUIDADO! El consumo excesivo de este ingrediente puede provocar aumento de peso permanente. Se aconseja consumir productos con este ingrediente con moderación."
Big Mac had just finished off chocolate bar #47. Savouring the exquisite chocolate, he patted his stomach and let out a small belch. He was starting to get a little full, and a small corner of his mind was telling him that now might be a good time to stop. However, a much larger part of him was saying, "Buck it, this is too tasty to pass up!" Pinkie was watching him with an almost enraptured expression.
Unbeknownst to Big Mac or Pinkie, the red stallion's stomach was slightly increasing in diameter with every bar he wolfed down. The fattening effects of the Sabor del Cielo were starting to make their presence known.
Big Mac turned to look at Pinkie. "Unf... uh, Pinkie? D'you *hic* have something I could *hic* wash these down with?"
"Of course!" Pinkie beamed. Just gimme a second!"
Pinkie raced into the kitchen, and returned with a large bottle of milk. Taking it from her gratefully, Big Mac threw his head back and quaffed the stuff down. The milk combined with the substantial amount of chocolate in Big Mac's belly to create a wonderful, heavy sensation in the stallion's gut.
Big Mac smiled and groaned happily. This was simply the best treat he'd had in ages.
And so it continued, with Big Mac continuously gulping down the Sabor de Cielo bars and washing them down with copious amounts of milk. Pinkie stood by and cheered him on as the pile of bars gradually diminished. She seemed to be having just as much fun as he was!
Eventually, Big Mac reached over for yet another bar and discovered that there were none left. Letting the now empty milk bottle slip from his grasp and crash to the floor, Big Mac slumped back in his seat and let out a long, low moan.
He'd eaten too much. No, that was an understatement. He'd eaten everything, literally. There must have been two hundred bars in the box, and Big Mac had consumed all two hundred of them.
Big Mac's belly had become a round, packed red sphere just about two feet wide, gurgling and sloshing as it struggled to digest the ridiculous amount of chocolate it had been saddled with. The stallion's face, chest and the top of his belly were all stained with chocolate.
Big Mac shut his eyes and swallowed, feeling ready to pop. He moaned again, and shifted slightly. His belly rocked sluggishly, pinning him in place. He was so unbelievably full it almost hurt!
The stallion gasped as he felt something touch his gut, which was extra sensitive from being stretched so tight. He opened his eyes to see Pinkie resting a hoof on his belly and staring at him with wonder.
"Big Mac", she said slowly, "I don't think I've ever seen somepony eat that much in one go before."
Big Mac grunted, before smiling at Pinkie. "Pinkie... that was *urp* some of the most *hic* fun I have ever had in my *glurp* life."
Pinkie grinned back at him. "I'm glad to hear that! You look like you could use a rest now, though."
Big Mac rubbed his belly. "Eeeyup. If it's alright *hic* with you, maybe I'll just rest here for a bit."
"No problemo!" Pinkie said. "Sit there as long as you need!"
"Just a little nap", Big Mac mumbled. "Just... a... little... nap..."
It was late evening and the sun was starting to set when Big Mac woke up with a light head and heavy everything else. Rubbing his eyes blearily, he looked down at himself.
And gasped.
Pinkie came trotting downstairs. "Oh, are you awake, sleepy-head? Boy, you must have been real... tired... after..."
Pinkie tailed off as she joined Mac in trying to comprehend what had happened to him.
Big Mac's stomach had gone from lean and muscular to a huge, soft gut -- from a six-pack to a keg. His belly almost scraped the floor when he stood up. Rolls of fat had appeared all along his back except for near his flanks, where they rounded out into a pair of sizable love handles. Speaking of flanks, they had both rounded out to a massive size, too, along with a pair of thick, tree-trunk thighs. His rump had ballooned in size, each cheek almost as wide as he was tall, quivering slightly with every movement. He had a double chin, forming a soft layer of adipose around his neck, and both of his cheeks had plumped up like a chipmunk's. In short, over the space of a few hours, Big Mac had become Enormous Mac.
After what seemed like an eternity, Big Mac spoke up.
"Pinkie", he said slowly, "do you know what exactly was in that Sabor del Cielo stuff?"
Pinkie shook her head frantically. "No! I swear, I don't know how this happened! I... oh, wait." Pinkie noticed a bit of paper on the ground. "Maybe this will tell us."
Pinkie grabbed the paper, while at the same time pulling a Spaneish-Equestrian dictionary out of hammerspace. For a few seconds, her eyes darted back and forth from the paper to the dictionary. Her eyes slowly grew wider, before she looked back to the obese earth pony before her.
"Um... it looks like if you eat too much Sabor del Cielo at one time, it makes you really fat. And, uh, it also says here that it's... oh no... it's permanent." Pinkie looked devastated. "Oh, Mac, I'm so sorry! I never knew this would happen, I promise! Pinkie promise! And now you're all big and fat and I'm so sorry and oh Celestia you must hate me right now!" Pinkie was on the verge of tears.
But Big Mac wasn't listening. He softly poked his belly with a hoof, watching as it jiggled and quivered before him like a big red pudding. It was weird, but... being this fat didn't feel bad. It didn't feel bad at all.
Big Mac spoke up.
"...I think I'll survive, Pinkie."
"Really?" Pinkie sniffed. "You're not mad?"
"Nnnope." Big Mac smiled reassuringly at her.
Without any warning, Pinkie had Big Mac wrapped in a big hug. "Ohmigosh, thanks, Mac! You're the best! You're... you're really soft..."
Big Mac laughed nervously. "That's... okay, Pinkie." He pulled her off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd better get home."
He turned and, with some difficulty, waddled to the front door. Just before he left, he turned to Pinkie one last time.
"Thanks for the chocolate, Pinkie. Lemme know if you make some more, won'tcha?"
"Sure thing, Mega Mac!" Pinkie and Big Mac both laughed, before Big Mac finally squeezed out of the front door and into the cool night air.
Once he was outside and alone, Big Mac slapped his rump. He giggled as it wobbled before him.
"Yep", he thought, "I could definitely get used to this."
And with that, Big Mac -- now bigger and better than ever -- turned and waddled his way back home to Sweet Apple Acres..
As the sun crept over the horizon and bathed the town of Ponyville in soft early-morning light, the residents of Sweet Apple Acres were just beginning to stir to life. One pony in particular was just waking up from a particularly heavy sleep.
"Mruh... wha... urgh." Big Macintosh sat up in bed and sleepily rubbed one of his eyelids. The red earth pony's bed was a curious-looking affair. Rather than the traditional wooden bedsteads that were common in Equestria, his bed had been modified with sturdy steel bars that looked like they could survive a blast from a hoof grenade.
This was to accommodate his weight.
Ever since a (not so) little incident involving an experimental chocolate bar about a month ago, Big Mac had become, to put it charitably, overweight. In truth, he was a massive butterball of a stallion, weighing in at well over 400 pounds. He was huge. A serious fatso. Equus terrus maximus. His once svelte, muscular physique was long gone, replace by a great, jiggling bulk that bulged irrepressibly outwards. His big red tummy hovered just a few inches off the ground when he stood up, and slowed him to a waddle when walking. Soft, plump love handles had grown at the top of each of his enormous flanks, fading into the flabby rolls of adipose all along his back. His once thick and sinewy thighs were now wonderfully chubby, forcing his hind legs wider apart than normal. His belly and legs were both connected by an economy-sized plot, which looked like it was threatening to swallow up his tail. Moving along, his body tapered just a little at his chest, which merely served to emphasise the size of his lower half. Finally, his head and face sported a soft double chin and a pair of boyish-looking chubby cheeks.
Big Mac was far from the only overweight pony in the land, of course, but his predicament was unusual in that his weight gain was permanent. He'd never get back his former slim figure. While most other ponies would have been devastated at this news, Big Mac had taken it quite well. In fact, he had grown proud of his new body, choosing to let it all hang loose rather than holding it in. Sometimes, when he was alone, he'd take the opportunity to explore and lovingly caress himself with his hooves, running them slowly along his gargantuan gut and down towards his sizable-
"Mac! Are y'all up yet? C'mon, Granny Smith's got breakfast on the table!" Big Mac's sister Applejack's voice blared up the stairs. Big Mac's ears perked up -- he was starving!
"Eeeyup, I'm coming," he called back, before finally hefting himself out of bed and squeezing out his bedroom door, the floorboards creaking in protest under his bulk.
As Big Mac made his way downstairs, he greeted his little sister Apple Bloom, who was just passing the foot of the stairs. Apple Bloom tried not to stare at her brother moving down the stairs, but she couldn't help herself. The sight of his massive body lumbering through the narrow space reminded her of a video Cheerilee had shown at school once of a container ship sailing through the Panamane Canal.
Waddling into the kitchen, Big Mac greeted his family and took a seat in a chair that had also been specially reinforced to cope with his capacious rear end. Luckily for the family, Big Mac's new size didn't hinder him from his regular farm work that much. It had, however, given him a much larger appetite than he had previously -- fortunately, the Apple family's surplus of food meant that wasn't an issue. Big Mac's breakfast for that particular day consisted of: eight apple fritters, five helpings of apple-glazed hay fries, three slices of fried apple bread, two glasses of apple juice, an apple crumble, and a chocolate doughnut (compliments of Sugarcube Corner). It took him less than fifteen minutes to polish it all off.
As Big Mac was leaning back in his chair with closed eyes, a satisfied smile and a heap of dirty plates and cups before him, letting his belly hang comfortably like a deflated parachute, Applejack cleared her throat.
"Now, Mac," she said, "y'know today's the first day of applebucking season, right?"
Big Mac's eyes snapped open. Applebucking season -- two words that had filled him with foreboding. Although he could still make repairs and lug around hay bales with his new bulk, he had no idea how it was going to affect his applebucking prowess. Applebucking was a task that required a lot of muscle power, and with most of Mac's muscle converted into fat, things weren't looking as certain as he'd have liked.
"Eeeyup," he replied, trying not to show how nervous he was.
"You think yer up fer it?"
"Ah hope so."
"Well, c'mon then. We're burning daylight, an' ah don't want that gigantic plot of yours slowin' me down!" Applejack laughed heartily at her own joke, before heading out the door. Big Mac shook his head and smiled, and followed his sister.
After a brisk trot -- or, in Big Mac's case, a brisk waddle -- the two siblings came to the crest of a hill. Standing before them was the huge expanse of apple trees that Sweet Apple Acres got its name from. The trees spread out across the land like a great army, row upon row of them advancing almost to the horizon. Every one of them bore a bountiful load of sweet, ripe apples just waiting to be harvested.
Applejack turned to her brother. "So, d'you wanna take the first one? At least then we'll know right away if that gut of yours made any kind of difference."
Big Mac didn't take any offence to his sister's rather blunt phrasing -- it was simply her way. He looked at one of the trees just in front of him. "Sure, ah guess ah might as well," he said, before taking a deep breath and moving towards the tree.
Applejack didn't think it looked very promising. The sight of her brother puffing and wobbling towards the tree was almost comical. She hadn't said it to him outright, but she seriously doubted that he was up for this.
In front of her, Big Mac was echoing her thoughts. He slowly turned his back to the tree, braced himself, and bucked it as hard as he could.
Unfortunately, rather than a satisfying whack!, he heard only a hollow thud. The impact set his whole torso off jiggling like a big strawberry jelly, before precisely one apple fell and landed on his head, bursting open as it did so.
Spitting and wiping apple juice from his eyes, Big Mac turned around just in time to see Applejack collapse in hysterics. "PfffftAHAHAHAHAHAAA! Oh, that was just the f-funniest thing I've ever... dohohoho!"
Big Mac stared at his sister convulsing on the ground. "Are y'all quite finished?" he said flatly.
Applejack continued to giggle. "Ah'm s-sorry, Mac. It's just.. teehee..." She finally composed herself. "Alright, look, don't worry about the trees, okay? Ah can get the girls to help us out again. Celestia know ah know better than to try doin' it all myself."
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Big Mac's head. "Hang on!" he said. "Ah think ah know how ah can still help with the harvest. But first, ah need to visit Sugarcube Corner."
"What?" Applejack said incredulously. "Mac, y'all only had breakfast twenty minutes ago!"
"It ain't for snacks!" Big Mac said irritably. "Ah just need to ask Pinkie for something. Can you keep bucking some of these trees until ah get back?"
"Uh, sure, ah guess. But Mac, what...?" But Big Mac had already turned and started moving down the path towards Ponyville.
As Big Mac waddled through town, his bulky body attracted the usual gazes from passers-by. The tubby stallion knew that his new body attracted stares from some of the mares (which he found flattering) and some of the colts (he wasn't sure how to feel about that...). Eventually, he came to Sugarcube Corner, and made his way in. "Howdy, Pinkie!" he called out to the pink party pony behind the counter.
"Oooooh, hi, Big Mac!" Pinkie called back happily. "What brings you in today? Well, that's a bit of a silly question, since this is a bakery! Whaddaya need? Doughnuts? Cakes? Pies? Maybe some more 'Sabor del Cielo'?"
Big Mac laughed. "Not just now, Pinkie. Ah need something a little different today..."
"Mac, will ya please explain your plan to me?"
Applejack was staring in disbelief at the twenty-foot-high diving board that Big Mac had inexplicably rigged up in the middle of the orchard (Pinkie kept several of them stashed all over town -- in case of diving board emergencies, apparently). This particular one had a small lift in lieu of a ladder, so Big Mac wouldn't have to worry about his gut slowing him down on the way up.
Big Mac snorted at his sister's question. "Ah'd have thought that was obvious," he said slyly. "Before, mah weight was working against me. Now, it's gonna work for me."
And with that, Big Mac stepped onto the lift, pressed the button, and began his ascent to the top.
"Hey, AJ, what's going on out here?" Apple Bloom had wandered to her sister's side. "And what in tarnation is Big Mac doing up there?" she added, staring at the diving board in confusion.
Applejack shook her head. "Dang if ah know. He just said something about-" Then the realisation hit Applejack like an anvil dropped on a cartoon bunny. "Apple Bloom," she said urgently, "get back."
"What? Wh-"
"NOW!" Applejack roared, before grabbing hold of her sister and racing to the safety of the edge of the orchard. They could still see the top of the diving board from where they stood, and they could also see the large form of Big Mac stepping onto the board. Mouths agape, the two siblings watched as Big Mac approached the end of the board, paused... and jumped.
Not a million miles away, in the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle was busy studying a pile of books. "Spike," she called out, "could you bring me that copy of 'Interdimensional Travel for Dummies', please?"
"Sure thing, Twilight!" A second later, Twilight's faithful dragon assistant handed her a hefty tome. Twilight smiled and thanked him, then opened the book and began to read. "Transliminal passage of quickened objects or entities without the persistent agency of hyperagonal media is not possible, and even if possible, would result in-"
BOOM!!!
The lavender alicorn almost knocked over the table in her panicked leap. Racing to the window, she saw a massive mushroom-shaped dust cloud billowing over the outskirts of Ponyville.
"SPIKE!" she shouted as the sound of terrified screams from the rest of the town's residents started. "Take a letter! 'Dear Princess Celestia, Equestria appears to be under attack by an unknown assailant! Request immediate sending of a Royal Guard division to Ponyville..."
Applejack and Apple Bloom stared in utter shock at what had just happened. When Big Mac had hit the ground, he had created a shockwave that had blown the fruit off of every tree in a five-mile radius. The area around them looked like a war zone. The trees had had all of their apples blasted off, along with most of their leaves. Sitting in the middle of it all was a very pleased-looking obese earth pony, his excess blubber having cushioned his fall.
Applejack stammered, "Mac... how did you... wha... huh..."
Big Mac looked at his sisters, shrugged and smiled.
"You know what they say, girls," he said cheerfully. "Bigger is better!"