It had taken almost two hours for Twilight and her friends to be loaded onto the Friendship Express. Their massive, jiggling bodies needed to be strapped in place in their carts, so they wouldn’t move around the cabin freely and accidentally cause damage or injury to each other.

The whole process had been awkward, and tiring for everypony, Twilight included. Through half-lidded eyes, she watched Pinkie devour a whole pie in one swallow. Fluttershy, while now mobile thanks to Discord’s magic, required a Belly Board and a pegasus to help her sit and stand. She was in a cart of her own for convenience. She had brought Angel with her, whose paws were swallowed by the fat hanging from their joints, and the massive, spherical belly that pinned him permanently to the ground.

Rainbow was dozing peacefully, her waves of malleable flesh jostling and jiggling as the train moved along the tracks. Rarity, using her magic, was reading a new fashion magazine; one that glorified everything and all things fat. Twilight had tried to read one on Rarity’s request, but had felt unsettled at the sight of grossly fat ponies acting like the thin supermodels had only months before.

Twilight sighed, shutting her eyes fully, and thought hard about what Celestia had wanted them to do. In Twilight’s mind, she pictured Celestia’s reply perfectly:

My faithful student,

I have examined Stout Rangler, her associates, and other businesses thoroughly. Everything is legal, and nothing seems suspicious. However, I have asked permission for you and your friends to go and examine their facilities, and talk with Bubble Beaker. It seems Stout Rangler is on tour around Equestria and the lands beyond, trying to help the sentient races.

On that note, Twilight, I have some alarming news. We haven’t heard from the Griffon Kingdom in quite some time. After your inspection of Rangler’s facilities, I ask that you and your friends travel to Griffonstone, to offer Equestria’s aid.

And possibly to ask for aid for Equestria. Because, with everypony gaining so much weight, it’s becoming abundantly clear that we’re going to start needing thinner ponies to do the heavy lifting that society requires.

I’ll be awaiting a direct report once you’re back to Ponyville.

Celestia.

Twilight could still imagine the icing smears on the parchment. She shook her head, and thought about what she knew about Rangler’s facilities. They were apparently state of the art, and had many, many greenhouses. The place Twilight and her friends were going was just one of two-dozen similar facilities around Equestria.

Bubble Beaker was supposed to be there, and was going to give them a grand tour of the place, as well as giving them lunch, and allowing Twilight to examine the paperwork on her own. Despite the apparent openness of the company, Twilight still felt like something was fishy about the whole operation.

How had Rangler and her business friends gotten together so fast to make the greenhouses workable, and produce more than enough food for the entirety of Equestria so quickly? What about the sudden shift of society from being so thin-conscious to being the opposite? Not to mention the ridiculous amount of obese friendly businesses that had cropped up in the immediate aftermath of the fattening of the populace.

Twilight hoped she was wrong, but there was just too many little things that added up to be some form of conspiracy from the business peoples of Equestria. The whole situation didn’t sit right with Twilight, so she wanted to make sure the population of Equestria would be alright.

Twilight dozed off, sleeping soundly until the train rolled to a stop outside the metallic, impersonal looking building. Twilight and her friends were loaded out of the train, where Bubble Beaker awaited for them already.

Once the group was out of the train, and ready to go, Bubble Beaker waddled over, his stomach still held off the ground by a constricting belt. Unlike last time, he wasn’t covered in sweat. He seemed to have adapted to his new weight well, waddling slowly and breathing heavy, but still mobile.

“Hello!” Bubble Beaker greeted, “I hope your train ride went well. I hate to rush you, but I have a busy schedule to adhere to, so I’m afraid the tour won’t be lead by me the entire time.”

“That’s alright,” Applejack smiled, “Business is important, especially with Rangler not being here.”

Bubble Beaker smiled gratefully, “I’m glad you understand. Now, please follow me!”

Ponies pulled Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow along, while Rarity and Twilight used their magic to propel themselves forward. As they entered the massive, Twilight was amazed at the scope of the building. Ponies of varying sized waddled this way and that, and unicorns wheeled themselves at quick speeds, trying to get things done.

“This is where all areas of the facility converge, as well as the main lobby,” Bubble Beaker explained, waddling forward with obvious difficulty, “Today is a busy day for us, so if you don't mind, I'll show Twilight to the records room while the rest of you are given the grand tour. Then, I'll have to go back to work-”

Suddenly, an alarm sounded off, and Bubble Beaker looked alarmed. Without a word, he waddled to the front desk, and dialed a number into the phone. With the commotion around them, Twilight couldn't hear what he said at all.

Just as suddenly, the noise stopped. Bubble Beaker hung up the phone, “I apologize girls, there was a small fire in one of the greenhouses. It's been taken care of now, but I need to go figure out what happened. Vanilla Roll here will escort Twilight to the records and Emerald Daze will take the rest of you to the greenhouses. Please excuse me,” with that, the fat pony waddled off as fast as he could down a hallway, and around a corner, soon out of sight.

Emerald Daze was an earth pony who was so fat that her stomach was dragging along the ground even with the aid of a belly board. She moved excruciatingly slowly, but her blue eyes were bright, as was the smile that created dimples in her near spherical face.

“Follow me!” Emerald Daze exclaimed, motioning with a leg that had nearly encased the hoof in it’s own leg fat, “I’m slow...but you mares will...make it.”

Vanilla Roll was a unicorn that was larger than Twilight by a substantial margin. She was in a vast cart, that had clearly been reinforced multiple times over. Her tan coat glistened with sweat, but her pale pink magic lit up around her horn and the cart. Twilight received no smile, as the mare’s mouth simply hung limply open. Twilight got a wheezing, “Follow....me…,” instead.

Twilight used her own magic to follow the incredibly massive mare down a different set of hallways that her friends had gone down. After what seemed like an eternity, after Twilight’s horn began to ache from having to carry her bulk around, Vanilla Rolls stopped, and opened a door. The mare’s fur was damp with sweat, her limbs hung limply where they had been twitching slightly before. Twilight wheeled herself into the room, only to have the door slammed shut before she could thank the mare that had lead her here.

“You must be Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight turned herself around to find a young, unicorn mare sitting in a reinforced chair behind an expansive desk, “I’m Sweetie Star, I work here in the records department. Doc Bubble Beaker told me to expect you. I’ve already pulled the legal documents that you requested, as well as some additional files pertaining to the food reproduction, patents, and the like that we and our partner companies have been involved in.”

Twilight blinked in shock, not expecting the warm welcome or the help, “Thank you. I-I didn’t know I was such a big deal-”

“Of course you are!” Sweetie Star smiled, showing off her cute double chin, “You’ve saved Equestria, and you’re trying to make sure nopony gets hurt because of this new technology. Nopony here is angry with you. In fact, I’m ecstatic that you thought to check for everypony’s safety!”

Twilight offered a tentative smile, “Thank you for the help. Is there anywhere I can read these over, or-”

“Right over here,” Sweetie Star motioned to a set of couches near the door, “Feel free to drink as much water as you want, and eat whatever you want out of my fridge. It’s all free, and I know the way here from the lobby isn’t an easy one.”

Twilight gathered up the papers with her magic, and wheeled herself over to the couches. She poured herself an ice-cold glass of water, and sipped it as she began to sort through what she had in front of her. Even scanning the documents, Twilight’s heart fell: everything seemed genuine, with no ulterior motives or crooked schemes at all.

As Twilight absent-mindedly drank glass another glass of water, she looked through the files more carefully, and mentally groaned. Everything checked out, and while the companies were all making a ridiculous amount of money, there was nothing legally wrong with that, especially not when they were saving Equestria.

Sweetie Star heaved herself to her hooves, and lumbered to the fridge. She opened it, and pulled out a massive cake, “Would you like one?” She mumbled around the plate, “it’s magical. Always a new one waiting.”

Twilight’s stomach growled hungrily in response. Twilight glared down at the massive mattress of flesh, blushing in shame. Sweetie Star seemed to notice, and put her cake down, “It’s okay, Twilight. You don’t need to be bashful around me, after all, I know you had to have been eating a lot to get yourself immobile like you are now,” Sweetie Star jostled her own flab with a hoof, “There’s nothing to be ashamed about, not now.”

“I suppose not,” Twilight replied slowly, still refusing to meet Sweetie Star’s well-intentioned gaze, “I’ll help myself, go enjoy your cake.”

Sweetie Star beamed, “I will. You enjoy yours. I don’t want to be the pony responsible for starving Twilight Sparkle!”

As Sweetie Star sat herself down, and began to eat, Twilight looked down at the sea of fat that imprisoned her. If you starved me, it might be better.

However, not even ten minutes later, Twilight found herself pulling a magnificent looking, chocolate cake from the fridge. She had finished it, and with a sinking realization, realized the entire cake had barely taken the edge off of her hunger.

Twilight suppressed a moan, and got back to work. You can wait until lunch. All the while, Twilight tried to ignore the sounds of Sweetie Star practically inhaling her second cake, even bigger than the first one.

(LINE BREAK)

Fluttershy had felt uncomfortable with being pulled around by a fellow pony for a while, but soon realized it was the stallion’s job. Underneath his thick layer of adipose lay strong muscles, built after months of pulling heavy, immobile ponies around.

While still nervous, and painfully shy to any who tried to wish her or Angel well, Fluttershy began to enjoy herself. The building was cool, and Fluttershy didn’t need to worry about getting herself stuck in narrow corridors or doorways. The experience was nice, because she could still see and talk to her friends, while still learning little bits and pieces from the guide.

The greenhouses were large, humid rooms that made Angel wriggle his useless body in happiness. Fruits, vegetables, grains, and everything else his little bunny mind, and some stuff he couldn’t, were being grown in massive quantities. It all made his empty stomach growl hungrily, the sound in turn making Fluttershy’s stomach growl empathetically.

Fluttershy petted Angel’s stomach soothingly, “We need to wait for lunch, Angel.”

“You won’t...need to wait much...longer,” Emerald Daze stated brightly, “We’re almost at the cafeteria!”

“Thank heavens, I’m starving,” Rarity piped up, “and the humidity was beginning to mess with my mane!”

Emerald Daze giggled, “I know. It’s a problem...not too long now! C’mon stallions!”

The stallions strained against their harnesses, pulling their charges around a corner, and out of where the greenhouses were kept.

“I hope Twilight Sparkle will be done her business,” Emerald Daze said, “I don’t want her to go onto Griffonstone with an empty stomach! It’s almost 5 hours by train, and I hope you five will eat as much as you can to sustain you. I don’t know if the Friendship Express has changed their portion size or not!”

“We’ll tough it out, no matter what!” Rainbow declared, “We’re the Elements of Harmony, and we can survive a little while without food!” As if to contradict Rainbow’s bold statement, her tri-folded stomach let out a mighty rumble of hunger.

Applejack chuckled, “Right. So you say, Rainbow, but you almost ate a whole shipments worth of pie in that eating contest! You wouldn’t fare any better than the rest of us!”

“Does that mean I ate two shipments, AJ?” Pinkie giggled, “All those pies just made me hungry! I had to eat two whole cakes after I got back to Sugarcube Corner!”

“That’s why those poor unicorns had such a hard time with you!”

A round of laughter, shared between the five friends only began to die down once they were carted into one, magnificently large, room. It was the larges cafeteria set-up any of them had seen, and seemed to look more like a large buffet-style restaurant than a cafeteria.

The stallions pulled the carts to a large table, unhooked themselves, and made sure the five mares were comfortable where they were ‘seated’.

“Since this is the end of the tour...I’m going to go...get lunch myself,” Emerald Daze said cheerfully, “But- oh! That’s Sweetie Stars and...Twilight Sparkle! They made it to lunch after all...how good. As I was saying...I need to get lunch myself. I’ll leave you in the capable...hooves of Silver Dot. She’ll make sure you mares get as...much food as you need! Have fun...and I hope you’ve enjoyed your...stay here! Good luck...with the griffons!” With that, Emerald Daze waddled slowly away, moving toward a row of steaming trays of food.

Silver Dot was a light grey mare, with a black mane and tail, merely chubby rather than fat. Her body was coated with equal amounts of fat and muscle, both rippling under her fur. She moved elegantly, and easily, with a notepad held in the dark blue aura of her magic.

Twilight arrived, pulling herself close to the table. She looked troubled, but didn’t have a chance to say anything before Silver Dot began to take food orders, drink orders, and made suggestions to the hungry mares.

Twilight said her order, heavy on Neightallion food, and watched as Silver Dot began to pick up heaping portions of food, and levitating them over with her magic before moving on. Twilight, so deep into despair, began to stuff the food into her gullet, not noticing the thick, fattening layers of cream, cheese, and butter encasing her ‘authentic’ food.

It took three buttered bread rolls, a massive amount of linguini, a piece of lasagne with garlic bread, and a tureen of the creamiest soup Twilight had ever eaten, for her to begin to calm down. Looking down at the empty, sauce-smeared plates, Twilight felt both shame and delight.

“It’ll be a while before Griffonstone, Twilight,” Pinkie informed Twilight cheerfully, noticing Twilight’s lack of progress on the whole pizza she’d ordered. Pinkie herself had eaten almost twelve plates laden with greasy oat burgers, fries, and other fast-food delights.

Twilight was kicked back into her funk at the sight of all her friends glutting themselves on various foods, all of them having eaten at least five plates by this point. Twilight allowed herself to lose herself in the delicious flavours dancing on her tongues, and turned her brain to the problem of what Stout Rangler and her cohorts could be planning, and how they could have covered their hoofprints so well.

(LINE BREAK)

“Could I have some more, please?” Spike asked, holding up the empty bowl that had once been full of gems.

Sweetie Belle filled the bowl full of various gems from Rarity’s stash for the sixth time in half an hour, “Are you sure Rarity said this was okay when she was gone?”

“The Cakes don’t have a problem with this, and they were told by Twilight what to do with me. Why wouldn’t this be okay?” Spike questioned, popping a mouthful of gems into his greedy mouth.

“That’s true!” Sweetie conceded, “Here’s the chest of them. Rarity has a shipment of them coming in tomorrow, anyway, so she must have known about you coming!”

“Thanks, Sweetie!” Spike smiled. He dipped a paw into the chest, and noted with glee that his claws were so fat, that it was becoming difficult to bend them. Become too fat for Twilight to put on a diet? Check.

Spike couldn’t help but feel pleased with himself, and treated himself with more gemstones.

Author's Note

I'm sorry this took so long. I blame inconsistent computer access.

Hope you enjoy!