Inside the giant tree that served as the Ponyville library, a purple figure slept peacefully on her bed. A sleeping dragon’s chest rose and fell in rhythm as he slept in his own bed. The pony was abruptly woken by the rays of sunshine streaming into her bedroom, and she grunted as she turned away from the offending light. Reluctantly, she opened her sleep laden eyes and tried to shake off the feeling of something heavy atop her head.
The last thing she expected to happen was a blob of purple to fall from above and land on the pillow below her.
Twilight gaped in amazement and confusion at the little ball that seemed to be sleeping peacefully, despite having just tumbled down from her head.
The mystified unicorn studied herself-or rather, her counterpart-as her face became increasingly scrunched up. The creature looked to be about as big as the sleeping dragon’s head, give or take, and it seemed to have all the characteristics Twilight did: The multicolored mane, the star like cutie mark, there was even a small horn on the top of its head. In fact, the only thing that seemed to be physically different between the unicorn and the blob were the extremely diminished properties of the latter’s body. With apprehensive curiosity, the baffled unicorn poked the mysterious pony like creature, unsure of what exactly she was expecting to happen. It felt like a marshmallow, strangely enough, and Twilight couldn't resist poking it a few more times. She gave it one too many pokes and the creature began to stir, causing her to back away. This little thing didn’t seem all that dangerous, but Twilight had thought the same of the parasprites, and that wasn’t exactly a mistake she was looking to repeat.
The blob yawned, its mouth stretching out far more than Twilight thought possible. Its eyes opened, revealing a set of deep violet irises. Unsurprisingly, given the similarities between the two, they were the same color as Twilight’s eyes. However, unlike the unicorn looking down on it, the irises seemed to be the only component to its eyes. It looked up at Twilight and gave a small, high pitched shriek, but it didn’t take any motion to hide itself. Instead, after recovered, it looked up at her curiously, going through the motions the larger unicorn had not a minute ago.
There sat the two Twilights in a very peculiar stare down, both of their faces contorting with disbelief and curiosity. Eventually the larger pony decided that she had to break the silence, if only to see if the marshmallow entity could respond. “Uh…hello. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she said with uncertainty.
The strange blob looked at her with its monochromatic eyes. It answered in Twilight’s own voice, though slightly higher pitched. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, too.”
So it can talk and it thinks it’s me, Twilight thought to herself. This is too weird.
Twilight took care to not step on her strange clone as she pulled the covers of her bed off herself and got up. She stood next to her bed as the blob, which had been resting on its back, righted itself by rolling back and forth, eventually gaining enough momentum to swing onto its stubby legs. “So,” Twilight began, unsure of her own sanity at this point. “You’re Twilight Sparkle. Uh huh. Gotcha. Would you mind telling me what, exactly, you are?”
“I’m a pony, just like you,” the blob responded. “From what I’ve seen, I’m willing to bet that we’re the same pony, even. You’re me, just bigger.”
“Actually,” Twilight began, looking back and forth between herself and the pony resting on the pillow, “I think you’re me, just smaller.”
The blob’s face scrunched at this, causing Twilight to smile at its annoyed yet adorable expression. “How about we just say we’re both copies of each other?”
Twilight gave a small laugh and agreed. “Alright, we’re both copies. Now, what are you? And I don’t mean as in a pony, I can see that. What I mean is, why are you so small?”
“I’m not small,” she pointed a stubby leg at Twilight. “You’re big.”
Twilight was about to say that she was normal sized but held back, pondering over this strange situation. After a few moments of deliberation, she questioned the pony. “You obviously don’t belong here, so I’m assuming there’s someplace you came from, somewhere where everything is more down to your size. Am I right?”
Blob Twilight, as Twilight had begun to call her, nodded. At least, the little unicorn nodded to the best of her ability, since she was just a ball of a pony with no neck. “Back in Ponyville, well, my Ponyville, everything was a lot smaller than anything here, though I suppose that’s because we conform to our universe’s properties.” She looked at her bigger self with a befuddled expression. “Does that make any sense to you?”
“Well, I’ve heard theories on the existence of other dimensions…” Twilight paused, rubbing her neck. “There was never enough evidence to support or disprove them, but with your sudden appearance, there might be something to them.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Or maybe I’ve just gone crazy.”
“Well, if you’re crazy, then I must be too. So we can be crazy together.” Blob Twilight waved her little leg around her head in a circular motion, sticking her small tongue out and rolling her eyes as she did so.
Twilight had to admit, this little version of herself was starting to grow on her, though that might have been because they were essentially the same pony. “Okay, okay, hysterics aside, we have to find out what’s happening here. Do you remember anything from before you were transported here?”
The blob frowned, eliciting a small laugh from Twilight. A grin was beginning to creep onto her face as the little pony spoke, “Like I said, the last thing I remember is falling asleep and waking up to your gigantic face. Beyond that, it’s just normal memories of previous days.” Blob Twilight shook her head. “Sorry to say, but I’m just as confused as you are.”
“Well, that’s just great,” Twilight said with a groan. Once she was done pouting, she turned her attention towards the dragon that was still fast asleep. “Just as a hunch,” she asked her doppelganger, her eyes narrowed in thought, “you wouldn't happen to have a Blob Spike in your dimension, would you?”
“Of course I do!” the blob said. “From what I’ve seen, our universes are exactly alike, except for the obvious discrepancies in size. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that my dimension contains everypony you know, and that your dimension contains everypony I know.” Blob Twilight seemed impressed with herself, but her ego deflated as she noticed the look on Twilight’s face. It was bright red, and the unciorn was holding her mouth in her hooves, sputtering as she mouthed something inaudible. “What’s got you so hot?”
Twilight couldn’t contain herself anymore and burst out laughing, much to the blob’s chagrin. The serious look on Blob Twilight’s face only sent Twilight into another fit, and the red faced unicorn had to catch her breath as she finally got control of herself. She was certain her ribs were about to burst. “I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It’s just, you’re sooo adorable!” Twilight’s body shook with more laughter as the blob’s mouth curved even further downwards. “It was so cute to see you talk like that!” Another round of laughter escaped from her mouth, and she was completely oblivious to the small horn that was now glowing with energy.
A book from the shelf rose up and flung itself at the oblivious unicorn. It knocked her on the head and fell to the ground in front of her. “Okay, okay, I deserved that,” Twilight said, rubbing the area where the book had connected. She happened to look down at the book and her eyes narrowed in concentration. “Hey, I think I might have found something .” Blob Twilight jumped down from the bed and waddled over to the book, Twilight snickering at her until the small horn atop her head started to glow. Twilight cleared her throat and pointed to the picture on the page. It showed a blob pony, much like the one opposite Twilight. Underneath the picture, a caption read ‘Chibi’.
“Huh. What do you know?” She quickly skimmed the page, reading the information aloud. “It says here that you’re some kind of creature.”
“I thought we established that I’m a pony,” Blob Twilight said, none too pleased with the larger version of herself.
“Yes, I know that, but this book says you’re a chibi version of a pony.” She prodded the book with a hoof. “Apparently, that means you’re a diminutive pony.” She glanced up from the book at Blob Twilight. “Pretty fitting description, if you ask me.”
“I’m not diminutive…” the blob pouted.
“Then what could we call you?” Twilight was lost in thought for a few moments, then raised her hoof triumphantly. “I’ve got it! I can call you Chubbie Twilight!” Twilight had a huge grin on her face as she looked down at her newly christened companion.
“Chubbie?” The small pony thought the idea over for a few seconds. “I guess that would work, just long as you don’t call me diminutive.”
Twilight nodded. “Then it’s agreed. Now, we should probably check in with my-or rather our-friends.” She enveloped the book with her magic, closed it, and floated it over to its proper place on the shelf near her bed. “Okay,” she said, turning back to the chubbie waiting on her pillow, “ready to meet the bigger versions of our friends?”
Chubbie Twilight shook her body up and down in what Twilight took as a nod. She carefully lifted the little pony with her magic and plopped the chubbie safely on the top of her head. “Now hold on tight, Twilight. I wouldn’t want to buck myself off… myself.” With that Twilight headed for the front door, leaving the unconscious dragon behind to snort and roll over in his sleep.
She opened the door and was greeted with a brilliantly sunny day, a day made all the more sunny by the hyperactive pink pony waiting for Twilight. “Hey Twilight have you got your own little pony cause I have and-“
“PINKIE!” Twilight shouted over her motor mouthed friend. Pinkie Pie settled down as Chubbie Twilight readjusted herself in her resting place. “There’s no need to speak so quickly, Pinkie. As for a chubbie, yes, I did happen to find one sleeping on my head when I awoke this morning.”
Pinkie looked up at Chubbie Twilight and her mouth ignited into a flurry of words. “Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie, but I bet you already knew that! I bet you’re just like Twilight! I know my little pony’s just like me!”
“Wait a minute, Pinkie,” Twilight said, having caught the last part of the excited pony’s sentence. “You have your own chubbie?”
Before Pinkie could answer, Twilight noticed her pink mane ruffle. What Twilight had at first thought was just part of her friend’s mane actually turned out to be her chubbie. As the little pink pony escaped from the hedge maze that was Pinkie Pie's mane, the unicorn watching the jailbreak noticed that she shared the same spherical form as Chubbie Twilight.
Chubbie Pinkie took one look at the figure on Twilight’s head and made an impressive jump, flying from the head of her doppelganger to Twilight, grabbing the pony on the unicorn’s head in a tight hug. “Twilight! I thought you had been replaced by all these ginormous ponies walking around!” Much like the small purple pony wrapped up in her hug, Chubbie Pinkie spoke in a slightly modified version of her larger version’s voice. “I’m so glad I found you! We have to start putting together a party for all these huge ponies!”
“Oh, great idea, little me!” Pinkie said enthusiastically. Chubbie Pinkie relinquished her grip on her friend and hopped back over onto Pinkie’s head. They spoke in hushed whispers and eventually looked back at the two Twilights with eager smiles. “We’re gonna go get everypony else and set up a huge party in Sugarcube Corner! If you see anypony else with a chubbie, be sure to invite them both!”
“Wait a minute, Pinkie,” Twilight said, raising a hoof to stop the pink pony from running off, “Don’t you think it’s a little strange that these ponies just appeared out of thin air? Not to mention that they look and act exactly like us.”
“Nope!” Pinkie replied with a huge grin. “I think its super fantastic! Now that there’s two of me, I can plan even better parties than before!” She turned away from the two purple ponies.
“Pinkie, wait-“ Before Twilight could finish her thought, Pinkie took off. The smaller pink pony griped the other’s mane in her mouth, holding on for dear life as Pinkie left the two Twilights in the dust.
No doubt they’re off to plan some sort of zany party, Twilight thought. “So, your Pinkie is just as crazy as my Pinkie?” She said to the purple blob clinging to her mane.
“Looks like it.”
Twilight glanced around, looking for any signs of another odd pair of ponies. “I wonder who else has a chubbie…”
*******************************
Twilight trotted through Ponyville, her chubbie having hitched a comfortable ride on her head that gave the astounded residents a good look at the purple blob. Twilight herself was going over countless scenarios in her head, searching for an answer as to why she had awoken with this little thing on her head. Perhaps it was a spell gone wrong? Chubbie Twilight had demonstrated that she possessed at least some sort of magical talent, which, given who she was, didn’t come as any surprise. Could it have been a joke orchestrated by Pinkie Pie? She had done stranger things in the past, but Twilight cast that off, as these chubbies were living, breathing creatures. Unless Pinkie had been dabbling in the dark arts of magic, she probably hadn’t had a hoof in this. Maybe Twilight had simply gone insane, and this was how her mind was amusing itself while she lay drooling in a strait jacket on some hospital bed. As that explanation was the simplest, she decided to roll with it for the time being.
As the pair walked through town, Twilight noticed that nopony besides Pinkie Pie and herself had a chubbie of their own. It struck her as a little odd, but then again, this entire situation was entirely bizarre to begin with, so what did it matter if they were the only ones with them? Twilight raised her head, trying to get a view of the chubbie that was curled up on it. “Hey, Twilight? Have you noticed-“
“That you and Pinkie are the only ponies with chubbies? “ Twilight felt the chubbie shake up and down. “I thought something looked out of place. Well, something other than the exaggerated properties of your world, at least.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as a little strange?” She said. Her insanity theory began to creep into her mind as she realized what a sight she must have been to the ponies going about their daily business. “I mean, of course this entire situation is bizarre, but still. There's something very wrong about all of this.
As Twilight rounded a building Sugarcube Corner came into sight and, figuring that it was a good a place as any to continue her search, started towards it. She caught sight of two ponies standing near the front door, one of them wearing her trademark cowpony hat and the other fussing over her stylish mane. Twilight quickened her pace and called out to the two. “Applejack, Rarity, you would NOT believe what I found on my head this morning!” With Chubbie Twilight obviously visible on her head she was expecting them to be surprised, but Applejack’s reaction only caused more questions to pop into her head.
“Hey, Twi, you got one too?” As Twilight got closer to her two friends, she realized that they were not, in fact, alone. Perched atop their heads just like Twilight and Pinkie were tinier, rounder versions of themselves. Chubbie Applejack was wearing a cowpony hat just like her bigger self, but this hat was more her size. She resembled Applejack in every way, right down to the freckles on her face. Rarity was busy styling the mane of the large marshmallow on her head, much to the chagrin of Chubbie Rarity.
“Really, my dear, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my own mane, though I appreciate the thought.” She tried to swat Rarity’s hoof away, but her legs were too small to reach. She could only flail about helplessly as Rarity finished up. “Hmph. It is entirely unfair that you have such a great advantage over me. Honestly, how can I defend myself against the actions of such a hulking pony?”
Rarity gasped and went off on the little pony occupying her head. “Hulking!? How dare you! I am Rarity, and to an extent so are you, so I would expect that you would have some manners, you uncouth little marshmallow!”
“Uncouth!? Me!? You must be blind if you can even think of calling me uncouth!”
Twilight groaned as the two Rarities bickered back and forth, turning her attention to her orange friend who was snickering at the two white unicorns. She was about to say something when the orange blob on Applejack’s head spoke up. “Twilight! I was hopin’ you’d show up!” Twilight realized that the little cowpony wasn’t talking to her, but to the chubbie on her head.
“It’s good to see you too, Applejack. I’d like to introduce you to my acquaintance, Biggie Twilight.”
“Howdy!” Chubbie Applejack said as she tipped her dwarfish hat. “So your name’s Biggie Twilight? Strange name, but ah guess it’s not as strange as you bein’ so big. Ah mean, look at ya!” Chubbie Appelejack let out a long, low whistle. “Ah ain’t never seen a pony as big as the ones walkin’ around here!”
“Pleasure to meet you too, Applejack,” ‘Biggie’ Twilight responded as she did her best to stare down her own chubbie. “I’m sure you have plenty of questions, but I’m telling you now, neither of us have any idea what’s going on.”
“Really?” Applejack said. She had been looking expectantly at Twilight. “You ain’t got no idea why ah found this little lady sleepin’ in mah hat when ah woke up this mornin’?” Twilight shook her head. “Well ain’t that the darndest thing. Hey, Rarity, Twilight says she doesn’ have any idea what’s goin’ on.”
The two Rarities put their argument on hold to address the four ponies waiting on them. “Well, do you at least have any idea why my-what did you call them, chubbie-do you have any idea why my chubbie is such a fussy and uncooperative little lady?” Chubbie Rarity’s face scrunched up at that, and Twilight could sense a powder keg waiting to blow.
“Now, girls, let’s just calm down,” Twilight began, stepping cautiously towards the two heated unicorns. “Rarity, from what I’ve seen, these little ponies are exactly like us in every way, except for the obvious difference in size. So, if you call your chubbie a fussy little lady, you’re just calling yourself a fussy little lady.” Rarity’s face grew red, and Chubbie Rarity stifled a laugh. It was a strange and oddly heartwarming sight to see a chubbie laugh.
“Oh. Well. I suppose that does make some sense. It would hardly be fitting to call myself such a thing, now, wouldn’t it?” Her eyes went up to the chubbie on her head. “So, me, what say you and I put that little argument behind us?”
“I agree wholeheartedly. If I may say, though you were a little too eager to help me, I know you only had the best intentions, so I forgive you.” Chubbie Rarity was enveloped in a blue aura and was floated down in front of her counterpart. The fabulous pony carefully embraced her chubbie with one leg, and the chubbie returned the hug as best as she could, her tiny legs just barely reaching Rarity’s coat.
“I’m sorry, my dear. Just so you know, I was only adjusting your mane because it’s so luxurious, and it deserves to be in nothing but the best condition possible.” Rarity returned Chubbie Rarity to her head, both of them looking much happier. “Now that that’s settled, what should we do, Twilight? It’s obvious that something is amiss, but what can we do about it?”
Twilight was about to respond when a blurred multitude of colors flew above their heads, nearly sending all the chubbies flying off the heads of their counterparts. All six looked up in surprise and found two light blue pegasi hovering above them. They were both panting, and the larger of the two burst into a triumphant cry. “Hah! I beat you! That was some race, but when it comes down to it, no pony’s faster than THE Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow proudly placed a hoof on her chest. “Not even a clone of myself is good as the original!” The chubbie beside her had a sour face as Rainbow gloated on and on. “Listen, you were pretty good. Not as good as me, but keep at it, and you might just be able to tie me in a race.”
Chubbie Rainbow had had enough, and she flew right up to Rainbow’s face. “The only reason you won is because you’re so big! Those bigger wings give you an advantage, I bet!” Rainbow Dash was slowly backing away from the fiery little pony, but the chubbie kept the pressure on. “And besides, that was obviously a tie!” She then flew down to Chubbie Twilight and pleaded with her. “Tell her, Twilight! I’m sure there’s some kind of Eggheaded reason why she won!”
It was apparent by the frown Chubbie Twilight was giving Chubbie Rainbow that the race was the last thing on her mind. “Rainbow, we have a lot bigger things to worry about than some silly race. Besides, since you’re the smaller one, you should have had less mass to slow you down.” The cheated blue pony frowned at her friend, while the purple chubbie smiled sheepishly at her. “What? It’s true.”
Rainbow Dash had been listening in, and she pumped her fist in the air as Chubbie Twilight finished her physics lesson with Chubbie Rainbow. “You even had the advantage over me! Too bad, kid, maybe next time.” She was chuckling to herself as she floated down and landed in the middle of the group. Chubbie Rainbow hovered over and took a spot on her head, imitating the other chubbies. She was still pouting over the loss, if her sour face was any indication. “So Twilight,” Rainbow paused, placing a hoof on her chin and frowning. “Or should I say Twilights? What’s going on around here? This little speedster here,” she pointed a hoof at the tiny ball of blue on her head, “was sleeping on my cloud when I woke up, and I wanted to see what she could do, so we challenged each other to a race to Sugarcube.”
“Well you seem to be taking this whole thing quite well, Rainbow.” Twilight said, not bothering to hide the snark in her voice. “Anyways, I don’t know what the hay is going on, but I think I’m seeing a pattern. You, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and myself are the only ones I’ve seen today with a chubbie, so I’m beginning to think that this more than just a coincidence.”
“Wait a minute, Biggie,” Chubbie Applejack began, before being cut off by the stare Twilight gave her. The subtle yet noticeable annoyance in the unicorn’s eyes convinced the chubbie to use Twilight’s real name from then on. “Uh, ah mean, wait a minute, Twilight. What about Fluttershy? If all of us,” she pointed to herself and the smaller versions of her friends, “have biggies, shouldn’ she have one, too?”
The Twilights mimicked each other, putting a hoof to their mouths as they thought about what their diminutive friend had said. “You know what, I think I’ve got something…” The bigger unicorn said, raising a hoof in the air. “We’re the only ponies who’ve got chubbies, right?” All of her friends nodded. “And all of you were the Elements of Harmony in your own world, right?” The four chubbies shook up and down. “Then this whole thing might be connected with the fact that we’re such close friends.”
“That does make sense,” the purple chubbie on her heab began tapping her hoof on her chin. “I think you may be onto something, Twilight. Wait a minute…” The chubbie pondered with a hint of uncertainty, “What if this has something to do with the fact that we’re the Elements of Harmony?” All eyes were now focused solely on the purple blob. Well, almost all eyes. Twilight was doing her best, but she could barely make out her doppelganger’s figure. “I mean, we’re not the only group of friends in Equestria, but the elements make us stand out.”
“Honestly, dearie, this whole thing might be some crazy coincidence.” Rarity flipped her mane back, over the small pony on her head. “A very strange coincidence, albeit, but do you honestly think that someone specifically targeted these little cuties?”
“Rarity, think about it!” Twilight said, her voice rising slightly. “I admit there’s a possibility that this whole thing might just have been the result of some experiment gone wrong, but there’s also an equal chance that this could be part of something bigger!” Twilight finished, panting slightly. While she might have gone overboard a little, she felt that she had made her point.
The ponies were starting to shift uncomfortably, some pawing at the ground and others looking around with apprehensive expressions. The chubbies were looking to each other for answers, but none of them could come up with anything. Applejack was the first to speak up. “Alright, Twilight, ah think you may be onto somethin’. We should probably go get Fluttershy, an’ if she has a chubbie, then we might have to start lookin’ for a way to get these little guys back home.”
“Speaking of missing ponies, has anypony seen Pinkie Pie?” By the looks Twilight was getting, she guessed not. “My chubbie and I saw her when we left the library, but she ran off. She said that she was going to throw all of us a party at Sugarcube, so I was wondering if you'd seen her enter.” The others shook their heads, causing Twilight to sigh. “Great. Now no Pinkie and no Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash,” both of the rainbow maned pegasi turned towards her. “Could one of you go and check out her cottage? She might still be sleeping. “ Both of them gave her a salute, and as they prepped themselves for launch they caught each other’s eye. Without a word, they grinned at each other and rocketed into the sky, leaving two rainbows in their wake that quickly dissipated.
“Good heavens, and I thought one Rainbow Dash was bad enough…” Chubbie Rarity moaned, trying to fix her mane. Her chubbie was doing the same, and the two Applejacks relinquished their grips on their hats once they finally settled back into place.
Twilight coughed and waved her hoof, trying to clear the dust that surrounded her head. “Okay, hopefully they’ll get back with Fluttershy soon.” Twilight heard her stomach growl and gave the ponies looking at her a small, embarrassed laugh. “I guess in all this commotion I forgot to get breakfast.” She walked past her friends and pushed open the door of Sugarcube Corner when she was blasted back in a huge explosion of confetti that so politely introduced itself to her face. She flew backwards, sending Chubbie Twilight spiraling through the air and the others ducking for cover. Twilight recovered just in time to wrap her chubbie in magical energy, slowing her fall and depositing her gently on the ground.
With her chubbie safe, Twilight turned around and saw that a cannon had been positioned in front of the door. Confetti littered the ground inside the bakery and just outside the door. Behind the cannon stood two laughing pink ponies, one of them just smaller than the other’s head. “Pinkie Pie!”
The bigger of the two gained control of herself just long enough to gasp out a few sentences. “Y-you should have s-seen the look on your faces! I d-didn’t think the cannon had that much confetti in it!” She began chortling uncontrollably, and the laughter of her chubbie only caused her to laugh even harder. “S-sorry, Twilight. I-It was all her idea!” she said, pointing a hoof at the small ball of cotton candy. Chubbie Pinkie was suddenly wrapped in a purple light, and the ponies outside looked back to see one very angry little Twilight, her horn shining with the same magic that had a hold of the pink chubbie. The flew through the air and was dumped unceremoniously inside the cannon. Before anypony could stop her, Chubbie Twilight pulled the small rope that stuck out of the rear of the cannon. In another confetti filled explosion, Chubbie Pinkie shot through the air, her screams of delight accompanying the blast.
While that had been going on, Rarity had walked over to help Twilight off the ground. Unfortunately for her, she had placed herself directly in the line of fire. She barely had time to open her mouth to scream before the pink bullet impacted her square in the face, muffling her cries as Chubbie Pinkie clung on for dear life. The two Applejacks burst out laughing and fell to the ground, kicking up dust as they rolled around. Chubbie Rarity’s horn flared, and she tossed Chubbie Pinkie away from the poor unicorn who had been blinded by the horrible pinkness. Rarity gasped for air and stared down at the pink ball with murder in her eyes. “You…little…fluff ball!! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get my mane just the way I wanted it!?” Twilight had to rush over and restrain Rarity in order to keep her away from Chubbie Pinkie, who was making a quick escape to the bakery. “Celestia help you if I catch you, Pinkie Pie! I’ll destroy you, and your little chubbie, too!”
“Rarity, calm down!” Twilight cried, still holding Rarity back. “We’ve got better things to do than kill Pinkie!” Rarity was huffing and shooting daggers at the two ponies hiding behind the cannon as she fixed her mane.
“Thank you for releasing that little monster from me, Rarity,” she panted, her voice edged with pure hatred for the ponies ducking behind the cannon.
“Of course, dear, anything for you.” Chubbie Rarity began to smooth out Rarity’s frizzled mane.
Twilight, satisfied that she had prevented a double murder, walked over to the purple chubbie on the ground and picked her up. She placed the chubbie on her head and apologized for flinging her in the air. “Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting such an exuberant welcoming.” She turned her attention to the ponies around her. “Anyways, what say we grab something to eat?” They agreed, following her into the bakery. The two pink ponies situated themselves behind the counter and grabbed a wide selection of confections, passing them out to their eager friends.
They had just started to eat when the door of the bakery burst open and two blue pegasi walked in, followed by a shy yellow pegasus. “Found her!” They shouted in unison. The two Rainbows caught sight of the food and rushed over, stuffing their faces with the baked goods.
Twilight put her cupcake down and trotted over to Fluttershy, realizing that there was an empty spot atop her head. “Fluttershy, you wouldn’t have happened to find a chubbie version of yourself when you woke up this morning, did you?”
“Oh, uh, no, I didn’t.” She looked up at the chubbie on Twilight’s head that was busy gnawing on a small piece of cupcake. “I’ve never seen any animal like these ones before, and I’ve seen just about every animal there is in Ponyville.” She glanced around the bakery, catching sight of the other chubbies that were happily devouring their sweets. “Why do they resemble all of you?”
“Well, that’s what we’ve been trying to figure out.” Twilight said, turning around and looking at the small ponies. She raised a leg and waved it in a sweeping motion. “We all woke up with our own chubbies, with no explanation as to how they just appeared, but I think it has something to do with the fact that we’re such close friends.” Fluttershy’s eyes were shifting around the store, focusing on nothing. Twilight narrowed her eyes and questioned Fluttershy, “Are you sure you didn’t find a chubbie in your house anywhere?” Fluttershy began nodding even before Twilight finished the question. Unsatisfied, Twilight inched closer to her. “Fluttershy, my whole theory falls apart if you don’t have a chubbie. You’re absolutely positive you don’t have one?”
Fluttershy’s eyes darted nervously back and forth, but it wasn’t her eyes that gave her away. From within her mane, a small sneeze echoed out, and Twilight zeroed in on it. “Did your mane just sneeze?” She reached out to her pink hair, but Fluttershy jumped back, giving the unicorn a smile that only served to make her look even more suspicious. Twilight frowned and reached out for it again. “Fluttershy, what are you hiding?”
“H-Hiding? Me? Oh, I’m not hiding anything...” Rainbow Dash, who had been watching her two friends banter back and forth, decided to get in on the action. She put her chubbie down on the table she had been eating at and,carefully tiphoofing towards her shy friend, rushed forward and grabbed Fluttershy around the waist. She pinned the yellow pony’s wings against her body. Fluttershy jumped in surprise and tried to fly away, but she was held down by Rainbow’s grip.
Twilight took advantage of the distraction and jumped for the pink mane, pushing it away as she searched for the source of the sneeze. After a few moments of searching, she found it in the form of a small yellow blob, who took one look at her, squeaked, and buried her face in the mane of her bigger self.
The little yellow pony was so heart stoppingly adorable that Twilight was overcome with the cuteness, and the only thing she could was pass out. Had she kept eye contact with the little pony, her brain could have possibly exploded from an overload of adorableness. Twilight’s chubbie, however, was impervious to Chubbie Fluttershy’s power over the larger unicorn and tumbled down as Twilight dropped to the floor. The other ponies rushed over to see why Twilight had fainted, but they all made the mistake of looking at Chubbie Fluttershy and fainted themselves. The chubbies and Fluttershy, who seemed to be resistant to her chubbie’s powers, gasped as each one of her friends fell.
“Oh my...”
*******************************
“Twilight! Oh please, Twilight, wake up!” Fluttershy said desperately, gently nudging her unconscious friend. Around her, the chubbies had gone to work trying to revive their fallen compatriots. Twilight moaned, and Fluttershy took a step back. “Oh, thank goodness! Twilight, can you hear me?” The groggy unicorn waved a hoof, signaling that she was indeed perceptive enough to hear the nervous pegasus.
The chubbies were having similar success, as the ponies that had fainted were beginning to stir. Fluttershy stuck a hoof out for Twilight and helped her to her hooves, Twilight still feeling the effects of Chubbie Fluttershy. “Thanks, Fluttershy.” She rubbed her head, trying to shake the feeling of lightheadedness that occupied her mind. “What happened?”
“Oh, um, I think you, um, passed out.”
Twilight was gazing around at the ponies raising themselves off the floor when her mind finally caught up with her. “Fluttershy!” The timid pony jumped a bit at Twilight’s sudden cry. “You said you didn’t have a chubbie!”
Fluttershy backed away from her friend as she tried to deny any knowledge of such a creature. “Oh, a chubbie? No, I don’t have one of those. I think you might have fainted because you were so hungry…”
Twilight wasn’t impressed. “Fluttershy, why are you hiding your chubbie? We might have a serious problem on our hands, now that we know for sure we all have chubbies!”
The others had recovered from their bout of cuteness overload and were now watching their yellow friend back up into a corner of the bakery. She frantically looked to each of her friends, until she finally caved in. “Okay! Okay! I was lying because she said she was too afraid of everypony!” The ponies surrounding her raised their eyebrows as they looked to each other.
“Okay… is there any particular reason as to why?” Twilight asked, stepping closer to the shy pegasus.
“She… she said that she’s scared of all the big ponies walking around…”
Twilight couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. “Is that it? Fluttershy, you can tell her it’s safe out here. There’s absolutely nothing here that would dream of hurting her.”
As if egged on by Twilight’s proclamation, Sugarcube Corner began to shake violently, throwing all twelve ponies to the ground. They could only grab hold of whatever they could get their hooves on as the building shook, sending chubbies sliding all over the interior of Sugarcube. Chubbie Twilight and Chubbie Rarity had the advantage of a unicorn’s horn within their reach, but the others had no choice but to roll around and wait out the earthquake.
After a mercifully short period of time, the bakery finally settled back into a stable state, though the damage had been done. Besides the colorful mess of ponies sprawled about, several of the cupcakes and other treats had spilled onto the floor, and minor physical damage had been dealt to the rafters.
Twilight was the first up, the little purple pony on her head having kept a strong grip on her horn. “Ow,” she grunted, feeling a small pain in her extremity. “You can let go now. I think the earthquake’s over.”
“Sorry,” the chubbie said, releasing her grip. Twilight walked over to her closest friend, the yellow pegasus who was doing her best impression of the tremor as she shook and shivered, her eyes covered by her hooves.
“Hey, Fluttershy, it’s okay.” Twilight stuck a hoof out, offering Fluttershy help up. The frightened pony lowered her hooves and saw the friendly gesture. She offered her own hoof, and was pulled up the unicorn. “I think things have just gotten a lot more complicated…”
A scream shattered the uneasy silence inside the bakery, and the ponies who had recovered perked at the sound.
“Was that screamin’ ah heard?” Applejack asked tensely as she grabbed her hat off the floor and placed it on her head. She then picked up the little orange pony looking up at her, also placing the chubbie on her head.
“It came from outside!” cried Rainbow Dash. Her mane was ruffled, and her blue coat was splotched with frosting, though she couldn’t care less at this point.
“Alright, everypony!” Twilight yelled. “Gather up your chubbie and follow me! We need to get out there and find out what’s happening!”
The bigger ponies collected their smaller selves and followed their leader outside, none of them with the faintest idea of what they would find.
