Captured

Acting on hunger impulses Twilight had been, knowingly and not knowingly, indulging for too long for it to even register, Twilight unwrapped the special burger. She brought it to her lips as she finished the sketch, and compared it to the picture. They looked eerily similar, even considering Twilight’s lack of artistic talent.

I need to contact the princesses! Twilight thought, opening her mouth wide. This action caught her attention, and she struggled with the urge to bite down on what was sure to be delicious. I have to get to Canterlot! The ponies need to know, they need to know! Screaming in anger, her willpower snapping back into place,Twilight finally regained control of her faculties; her magic flashed, and she teleported herself right in front of Princess Celestia, who was muzzle-deep in an exquisite looking cake.

Celestia blinked in surprise, “What-”

In a rush, Twilight explained what she’d found. Who knew that resisting the call of a burger could save the world?

Several Weeks Later

Twilight skimmed over the drafts and magical theories, completely absorbed in her work. She was close to a breakthrough, she knew it. There was a way to kickstart metabolisms again, she just had to find it.

After hours of reading BubbleBeaker’s too small, cramped handwriting, Twilight threw the papers onto her desk. She rolled herself to her chalkboard, and flipped it over with her magic to the clean side.

BubbleBeaker had been arrested along with Stout Wrangler, as had many of the upper people within their vast web. Equestria’s prisons weren’t used to handling so many prisoners, but already there were deals going on to shorten sentences and clear the backlog a little. Hard work and information about what BubbleBeaker had been doing and his technology were always valued over empty prison time.

Which was why Twilight had the schematics, reports, and other papers that she had now. BubbleBeaker had been meticulous, and the most damning evidence he’d kept hidden in his own filing cabinets. It was a miracle he hadn’t had time to destroy them before the police had arrived.

Now that BubbleBeaker’s factories had been cleared of their magical draining properties, ponies who had previously not gotten incredibly fat were already dieting their way to be more thin: mostly older ponies whose bodies couldn’t handle the strain of mass amounts of fat. It was a good sign, that ponies could now lose weight when they tried.

Now, Twilight was trying to find a solution that was better than just ‘diet and exercise’. If BubbleBeaker had created all of this technology, then it only stood to reason he (at least) had theories on how to reverse things if necessary. All Twilight had been able to find was that BubbleBeaker had some strong formula he’d meant to use on Celestia, Luna, and herself: one that made them addicted to whatever foods he put them in. It would have neutralized them as a threat, and it made Twilight even happier to know she’d resisted it’s call.

The problem now, was making it possible for ponies like Twilight to lose unwanted weight with relative ease. Twilight herself knew how hard it was to slow down her ‘usual’ rate of eating, much less resist the cravings that tempted her at every turn. Not everypony had enough willpower to diet themselves down to a reasonable size, which was why Twilight was trying her best to find any answers she could. Surely he left some answers.

Twilight wasn’t necessarily expecting all of the answers, but even a clue would be worth it. Sighing, Twilight turned her attention to the mass amounts of papers she hadn’t finished sorting through yet. Hopefully something would be in there. If not, Twilight would have a puzzle to work on for a long time.

(LINE BREAK)

Discord pouted, arms crossed over his flabby chest as he watched Fluttershy be lifted onto the industrial scale.

Even Discord couldn’t help but stop pouting for a moment when the doctor smiled widely, “Good job, Fluttershy! You’re down ten pounds!”

Fluttershy squeaked in happiness, “Yay! When can I start helping my little animal friends again?”

“If you keep losing at this rate, it won’t be long! Maybe another month or so!”

Fluttershy wriggled in excitement, causing the equipment to creak and groan. That caused her to stop, blushing madly, “Sorry doctor.”

“It’s alright, there’s no harm done. I’ll come back in another couple of weeks. In the meantime I want you to stick to your diet and do your exercises. It’s unlikely you’ll ever be as thin as you were, but if we can get you mobile we can get you outside.”

“Thank you again! I’ll be sure to make sure Angel doesn’t snack anymore either.”

Discord looked over at the bunny in question, who had gotten so fat he was practically a sphere of flesh. Angel had been immobile for a long time, and was used to eating incredible amounts for a bunny. He was upset with his recent diet, and it showed even on his fat squinting face.

The doctor smiled, “Good! I’ll tell Doctor Fauna when I see her. She was able to stand up the other day.”

“That’s fantastic! Tell her I say congratulations! See you soon!”

Fluttershy laboriously waved the doctor out the door as he waddled his way outside. She then waited patiently to be gently deposited onto the floor, and sighed happily.

“Isn’t this nice, Discord?”

Discord shrugged, looking around Fluttershy’s crowded house at the array of obese animals. Many were immobile, or so close to it it no longer mattered. Discord heaved a sigh, “It could be worse, could be better.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“The chaos this was all generating was just so invigorating! You have no idea Fluttershy, how boring Equestria can be once you’ve resigned yourself to a specific role. I’m the master of chaos, but now I’m reduced to nothing more than a guard of Tia’s realm.”

“I think you’ve been doing an excellent job of that, Discord! After all, you helped the princesses when they couldn't get out of their castle, right? And you helped try to find us.”

“And I failed, Fluttershy, failed!” Discord threw his arms into the air, the movement causing him to jiggle madly, “I couldn’t find you when it mattered most! I felt the harmony and the order coming off of so many places that I didn’t even bother to check! If I ignored-”

“If you ignored your instincts then my friends and I wouldn’t be as successful as we are now,” Fluttershy interrupted. “What happened to us wasn’t okay, but I know you did your best, and that’s what mattered. Besides, I think things turned out okay, don’t you?”

Discord sighed, but nodded in agreement, “That’s true, isn’t it? This could’ve been much worse.”

Fluttershy nodded, “Now, can you tell me about the princesses? How are they?”

Discord’s smirk slid back into place as he leaned closer to Fluttershy. This made Fluttershy immediately more happy. Things were returning to normal, and that was nice.

(LINE BREAK)
Rarity hummed happily to herself, using her magic to sew clothes that were incredibly small in comparison to her own girth. As ponies decided to stay large, or shrink down, Rarity’s services had once been in high demand.

Rarity was beyond successful, and her expertise had been been in high demand by both important ponies in the fashion industry, and by ponies who wanted a new wardrobe. Thin was still old fashioned, but immobility didn’t always fit everyone.

If Rarity wanted to, she could lose most of her weight. She doubted she would ever get to her previous thinness, but she could become mobile again if she wanted. She had the willpower, had the money, and she was sure there was somepony who could help if she simply asked.

However in all of this, Rarity had become a massive figure in the fashion industry. What she did would impact the industry she’d worked so hard to transform, and even though beauty came in all shapes and forms, Rarity felt that thin had been in for too long. For now she would stay her current size, and help ponies of all sizes with their wardrobes.

(LINE BREAK)

Rainbow was so close to her personal best it hurt. Quicker, quicker- Pushing herself harder and harder, muscles aching from the effort, sweat beading across her body but her uniform was a good one. Stretching over her body and wicking away sweat before it was a problem.

Just a bit harder- Rainbow grunted, swallowing hard. She could do this, she could do thi-

“AND TIME!” A voice bellowed from below, almost in tandem with a horn. Rainbow stopped, sides heaving. Panting and wheezing for breath, she looked up from the massive table of now-empty pie tins to look at the judge, then at the crowd.

Had she done it? Had she beat her record?

“Ladies and gentlecolts!” The announcer yelled, to much cheering and applause. “Miss Rainbow Dash has done it again, folks! She’s beaten her record and has eaten 70 pies in forty-five minutes! This beats the best of Pinkie or anypony’s records out of the water!”

More thunderous applause rocked the stadium. Rainbow lifted her fat legs as high as she could, about as high as her mouth, in rejoice. It didn’t matter her legs were already burning from the exertion of lifting 70 pies to her mouth in forty-five minutes, this was victory and it tasted sweet.

(LINE BREAK)

“Okay, everypony! Follow me as best you can!” Pinkie yelled. From her seated position in Canterlot’s palace, Pinkie the perfect view of her students. Ponies, all immobilized, were either pinned to the ground by gargantuan bellies or were resting in carts.

As for why Pinkie was sitting...well, she lead these jazzercise classes here twice a week in between helping the Cakes and visiting her friends.

Celestia and Luna were there, in front of the class. Sweating together, and following along as best their bloated bodies would allow. Celestia was more intent on losing weight than Luna was, but Luna wanted to increase her fitness level. Maybe slim down until she was mobile again. She just enjoyed spending time with Celestia and others.

Celestia could raise her front legs fairly well, but Luna could just about raise them from where they were resting against her mattress of a stomach. Both mares however, were equally sweat coated...Heck all the ponies here were drenched in sweat, even the ones who could just twitch their muscles.

Fleur de Lis was there, as were some of the other big-shots in Canterlot. Photo Finish, Prince Blueblood, and a few others were regulars. A lot of people attended the class once or twice before quitting, but Pinkie didn’t mind.

Pinkie had lost the most weight out of her friends. She was still fat, basically everypony was, but she was thin in comparison to just about everypony around. She liked it, she still got to eat what she wanted, but she could see and help everypony. Helping, by running classes like this, or by delivering cupcakes and other pastries.

“Okay everypony! Keep lifting those legs, or twitching them, whatever works for you! I know you can do it! Just listen to the beat! And don’t forget to drink plenty of water!”

Pinkie was having fun, and she was doing it her way. What else was new?

(LINE BREAK)

Applejack waddled back and forth in front of the very infrastructure Stout Wrangler and all those nasty ponies had put in place at her farm when she and the others had gotten too big to work the farm like they’d once had.

Applejack had lost some weight, bordering on the edge of immobility even with four Belly Boards, but had plateaued. All she did these days was pace back and forth in the barn, ‘test’ her stock before it went out, and then went back into the house for more food.

And she was bored. So bored. Too fat to work the farm like she’d had as a thinner mare, but just mobile enough to not spend her whole life eating.

“You sure I can’t do-”

“Nope, I’ve got it,” Replied Granny Smith. She operated the controls. She was by far the thinnest member of the Apple Family, mostly because of her hip.

Apple Bloom was still the chief taster, still trapped in a fleshy prison of her own making in the middle of the ‘factory’ floor, but she enjoyed herself. Now that food demand wasn’t quite so large, they weren’t bringing in the profits they used to.

Which meant less paperwork. Which meant Applejack had even less to do than normal. Their profit margins were smaller, but there was still profit margins to be had. Which was good.

So, technically, Applejack was fine. Things she was too fat to do were taken care of, but so was everything else.

Maybe she’d make the trek to Sugarcube Corner. Get some treats for the whole family.