The Greatest of Wizards

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four

Chapter One

“Princess Flurry! Are you even listening?”

Flurry snapped to attention, her dreamy smile turning rather fixed. The long tresses of her pink-red mane fell over her shoulders as her head jerked up to face Sunburst. As her tutor stared her down from the chalkboard he’d been writing on, she instinctively moved to cover up the picture she’d been doodling on the paper. The glow around her horn went out, and her quill flopped limply to the desk.

“Yes,” she lied. “Absolutely.”

Sunburst regarded her for a moment over the tips of his horn-rimmed spectacles. Then he sighed and reached up a hoof to adjust his glasses back and forth in an adorably fidgety gesture. “Flurry,” he said, dropping the hoof with a little stamp, “I can’t understand why you seem so determined to play around.” She felt a tugging beneath her hooves, and quickly tried to grab onto her notebook—but Sunburst’s magic had already pulled it out from under her. He inspected it briefly, his gaze flicking over the doodle she’d made of a stylized Crystal Heart. “Pretty,” he said, “if not entirely accurate.” Flurry's cheeks burned.

Flurry winced as he placed the notebook gently back down onto the desk in front of her. Sunburst sighed again, pinching his nose. “As a princess and Heir Apparent of the Crystal Empire, must I remind you that much depends on your knowledge of magic, Princess Flurry? Your parents know how essential it is that you complete your training in the theoretical arts.”

“I know, I know.” Flurry wilted beneath his gaze. “I’ll try harder to focus. I guess.”

Sunburst snorted softly. “I pray that you do. Now,” he said, turning back to his notes on the board, “Gant’s Fifth Law of Elemental Transfiguration—“

Flurry tried to pay attention. She really did. Strangely enough for a seventeen-year-old schoolmare, she did actually find magical theory interesting...when she wasn’t cooped up in this tiny little study, at least.

She fidgeted in her chair, resisting the urge to open up her drawing again. Instead, she let her eyes wander until they settled on...Sunburst. Professor Sunburst, she reminded herself guiltily. Not that he didn't splutter about cutely and mutter about it being a correspondence course with Great-Auntie Tia, but that didn't exactly help matters.

A little tingle of happiness ran through her as her gaze settled on his body—a little twitch of delight that made her hooves want to wiggle with glee. Sunburst may not have been the easiest lecturer, but whenever he really got into a topic, he was incredible to listen to. In any case, Flurry thought with a smile, he was certainly nice to look at, too.

It wasn’t quite what anypony might have expected. At just under forty, Sunburst was hardly the kind of prize that a teenaged mare might have set her eyes on. All the same, there was just something about him that made Flurry Heart’s chest beat a little faster. Maybe it was the brightness of his eyes, the cute stammer that occasionally visited his voice, or the little bit of plush that he had around the middle.

Make that quite a bit of plush. Flurry tried not to stare, but she couldn’t help but eye approvingly the round band of flesh that hung below Sunburst’s barrel. It wobbled whenever he moved, and his thick thighs bounced a little every time he gave his excited little “eureka wiggle.” Other young mares her age daydreamed of big, hunky colts...but Flurry had eyes for “big stallions” of another type. He just looked so warm, so squishy, so soft—just like a big teddy bear.

She’d seen pictures of him when he was younger. Her parents had a few on the wall of their den—usually starring Princess Twilight, plus some purple unicorn she didn’t quite recognize. He hadn’t had that gut then—why, he’d been downright skinny—but he’d still had that adorable, dorky smile she daydreamed about. Something, though, told her that a decade of living in the Crystal Palace had taught Sunburst to appreciate the finer things in life. When she got the chance, she often found herself daydreaming about just what she could get him to appreciate.

He was incredibly smart—that was part of what she loved about him—and she knew that he had a habit of holing himself up in his study and reading for hours, if not days. It was little wonder, then, he didn’t keep an eye on what he ate, and with the Palace food being so mouthwateringly good, she honestly couldn’t blame him. She certainly didn’t mind the soft gut he’d grown, padding from perhaps one too many late-night studying sessions, accompanied by a hefty stack of savory, fattening snacks. So squeezy! A soft layer of pudge covered his entire frame, and she longed to sink her hoof into the plumpness of his tummy, to feel it squish beneath her touch.

A blush tinged her cheeks. Biting her lip, she felt herself slipping into a daydream, unable to look away from his round, bouncy rump…

“Flurry!”

She froze. She could feel the weight of Sunburst’s eyes on her, even if she couldn’t directly see them. Slowly, like a foal who’d been caught stealing cookies, she raised her gaze to meet his.

He was tapping his hoof at her—oh, darn it, now she felt guilty. “Could you explain to me,” he said, frowning, “just what it was that you were staring at?”

Flurry couldn’t speak. She just sat there, frozen like a deer caught in the Northern Lights, barely able to even stammer her way out of this. Because she had been staring...and even now, looking up at his stern, albeit concerned expression, she couldn’t help but want to stare more. She loved his cute little goatee, his chubby cheeks, the little jiggle of his chin as he turned his face down toward her…

She noticed that he was still waiting for an answer, and winced. Her mind raced for some of her aunt's legendary intellect, something to get her out of this mess… “Um,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts. “I...was having some difficulty following the problem?”

Sunburst brightened. That little professorial spark popped into his eyes, and he pranced up onto the edges of his hooves—oh, how adorable he looked like that! “Why didn’t you just say so?” he said, stepping around the table. “Perhaps I can help.”

Crap. She didn’t even know which problem they were talking about. Hurriedly, she glanced down at the page he’d been going over. Nothing on it looked familiar. And what did those symbols even mean?

Sunburst was getting closer. Panicking, Flurry half-turned in her seat, ostensibly to grab for her notebook and flip to the notes she hoped she’d taken. What she managed to do, though, was kick out her right leg up into the air—just at the same moment that Sunburst was rounding the side of her desk.

Her hoof knocked into his knee; with a grunt, the portly stallion went tumbling forward. Flurry’s eyes widened, and she felt a protective instinct seize her. A blink of an eye later, she’d caught him, wrapping one hoof around his barrel and steadying herself with her hind legs spread wide.

She’d saved Sunburst from stumbling completely...but, she noted with a blush, she’d gotten quite close in doing so. Her hoof squished deep into his soft belly, her foreleg biting into his doughy, tender middle. Her side pressed against his, letting her feel his thick love handles folding over her skin. As an alicorn, she was taller than him by a good two inches—and, thankfully, hardy enough to catch him—but the realization that she was actually holding Sunburst’s belly left her almost flustered enough to drop him again.

Sunburst coughed.

Flurry instantly pulled back, withdrawing her hoof the second she was certain that he wasn’t about to fall again. “Sorry!” she said quickly. “Really sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Not the most uncommon occurrence,” Sunburst said wryly. He took a deep breath, likely to steady his nerves. He adjusted his wide-rimmed glasses, and blinked owlishly up at her. “Still… Those are some fast reflexes you’ve got there. Not to mention a good amount of strength.” He peered down at his gut, which was still wobbling gently beneath him from the impact. “I’m, ah, not the lightest stallion in the Palace, I’m sure.”

Flurry flushed. “Erm. Sure.” She turned back to the textbook, hoping that he couldn’t see the redness on her cheeks.

“So, having difficulty with the problem, hm?” Sunburst peered over her shoulder at the textbook below.

“Actually”—a hapless Flurry decided to take a risk, and just jabbed a hoof at the first question on the page, hoping that it was one they’d already covered—“I was looking back at this one, and was wondering if you could explain the procedure for it again.”

Sunburst tutted softly. “A basic concept question? Goodness, Princess Flurry—do I need to assign more vocabulary work?” She winced. “No matter. Let’s see…”

He began to explain the problem to her—a dinky little word problem about magical fields that she probably could have solved in her sleep if she’d been bothering to pay attention. She followed his explanation for the first few seconds...and then found herself immediately distracted when she heard the familiar crunch of a candy bar.

Barely daring to move, she glanced to her side, just toward Sunburst’s face. His words were slightly muffled, his cheeks puffed out as he chewed. An unwrapped chocolate bar hovered a few inches away from his muzzle, a few brown crumbs speckling the fur around his lips. He swallowed between sentences, then took another bite, this time wolfing down near a full third of the chocolate bar in one go. A shiver went down her spine as she briefly entertained the idea of licking those chocolate smears off his muzzle, of cleaning him up with a kiss.

Flurry was happy to watch him eat—happy to imagine that chocolate melting around Sunburst’s frame to leave him even softer, each candy bar he gulped down adding to his appetite, until he was so stuffed that his belly would have been big and taut enough to serve as a mattress... Her mattress? she wondered with a blush.

He swallowed the next bite of chocolate, paused, and then turned to face her. Then he glanced down nervously at the candy bar. “Oh, dear,” Sunburst said, his lips flecked with chocolate. “I do hope I’m not distracting you from the problem. Just was a bit peckish, I suppose.”

“No!” Flurry said—a bit too quickly. She shrank back, grinning, blushing. “It’s—it’s fine. I think I get it.” She patted her own stomach and chuckled awkwardly. “It’s almost time for lunch, anyway, isn’t it?”

Sunburst blinked owlishly at her, then levitated a pocket watch from a fold in his cloak. “I don’t believe so,” he said. “It’s only eleven-thirty.”

Flurry opened her mouth—and then found herself interrupted by a particularly loud rumbling noise. Both of them glanced down at Sunburst’s low-hanging tummy. Sunburst himself blushed, not quite meeting her eyes as the echoes of his hungry stomach faded.

He cleared his throat. “Perhaps, ah, a lunch break would not be out of order.”

The kitchen was enormous, gleaming with polished metal and well-scrubbed floors. Well, not entirely scrubbed—Sunburst stepped around a fallen puddle of gravy just moments before nearly colliding with a fast-moving chef. Their brush against one another sent him spinning, the lighter chef catching his balance easily. Sunburst just barely recovered before tumbling over completely; he tightened his grip on Flurry’s hoof, his face red as he glanced around the wide room.

“Is it—is it okay for us to be here?” he asked. He had to talk louder to be heard over the din of the lunch preparations around them. He peered through his horn-rimmed spectacles at a cluster of chefs clustered around some vast cauldron...thing, bubbling with something that both looked incredibly hot and smelled incredibly delicious. His stomach growled like a ravenous beast; it, at least, cared not one whit whether it was allowed to be there.

Flurry laughed as she all but dragged him along. “It’s fine!” she said. “I come here all the time for lunch. Sitting out in the banquet hall is so boring, and I hate making the servants march all the way up to my room. Plus, this way you get to taste-test everything!”

“Everything?” Sunburst eyed a tray of spinach pasties passing by in the hoof of an apron-wearing crystal pony. His mouth watered, his stomach rumbling all the louder as ten thousand delicious smells wafted into his lungs. Beyond the tray, a whole feast of scrumptious dishes lay out before them, teasing him and his empty belly.

“Everything,” Flurry said happily. Sunburst whined softly, his hoof going to his rotund middle as they passed a tray full of cheese danishes—one of his favorites. “Although,” Flurry added, “I think I forgot that some Saddle Arabian dignitary is visiting today. They must be going all-out for him.”

Sunburst could have died happy amongst that kingdom of delicacies. As it was, he was content to just slurp up a small trickle of drool, blushing as he hoped that Flurry hadn’t noticed. Goodness, but he was properly starved—and the dozens of delicious smells tinging the air just left him all the hungrier.

“And we can just…up and eat it?” he said. He noticed that his voice sounded bleary, dazed.

Flurry giggled. Oh, that filly had her mother’s laugh, all right. “Yup! The chefs love me, so feel free to just grab whatever looks good!” She winked down at him, stopping them before a polished steel island absolutely groaning with prepared dishes. Flurry nudged him gently with her withers, and he swallowed heavily. “I know you must be really hungry.”

“O-oh. Well, in that case…” Sunburst absentmindedly adjusted his glasses with the back of his hoof, then turned to look over the smorgasbord in front of them. He stared for a few moments, frozen, unable to follow one delectable scent over another.

Flurry appeared to notice his indecision. “Hors D'Oeuvres!” she hollered, waving a hoof over Sunburst’s shoulder. “Hey, Eggy!”

Sunburst startled as a tall, slender stallion appeared over his shoulder. He wore his mane neatly coiffed, and his moustache was curled into a well-angled swirl. A clean silk tie encircled his neck. Beside him, Sunburst felt downright dumpy, between his silly little cape, his scruffy goatee, and his—gulp—round, pudgy middle. He shrank back a little reflexively, trying to not draw too much attention to himself.

“Princess Flurry,” the stallion—Oeuvres, Sunburst presumed—said in a particularly strong Prench accent. “How many times must I remind you that Oeuvre does not mean ‘egg’? That would be oeuf.”

“But Eggy is a great name!” Flurry said. She grinned devilishly. “Anyways, I just wanted to ask what you thought was good today. Sunburst was really hungry, and we’re trying to find some lunch!”

“Lunch, mm?” Oeuvres tilted his head forward, first to inspect Sunburst, then toward the table. “The lasagna is particularly good today,” he noted, holding up a hoof and making an airy gesture. “The ricotta came in fresh just this morning.”

“Thanks!” Flurry beamed up at him; Oeuvres inclined his head stiffly, then trotted away. Sunburst watched him go for a few moments, but found his attention rudely jerked away when a mouthwatering scent begin to waft beneath his nostrils. He smelled tomatoes—cream—mushrooms…

“Here we go!” Flurry said. Sunburst’s eyes widened; a massive dish of lasagna hovered just beneath his nose, clad in the shimmering blue of Flurry Heart’s magic. His knees could have collapsed just at the scent alone. It looked beautiful—like a work of art.

And it was for him?

He licked his lips, very aware of just how much saliva was pooling in his mouth right then. “Erm... “ He glanced over his shoulder, wondering if anypony was watching. “It does look...delectable.”

“I know, right?” Flurry floated up a few sets of utensils and two plates from a nearby counter and shot him a grin. “C’mon! Let’s go grab a table in the back room. It smells delicious, doesn’t it?”

His knees actually did wobble. Fancy that. His belly did, too. Sunburst grinned back, albeit somewhat awkwardly. “Yes,” he said. “It certainly does.”

As he took his seat, Sunburst let his eyes flutter closed. He inhaled, taking in a deep breath of the lasagna before them. A few slices had been neatly cut for them; when he opened his eyes again, there was a filled plate floating before him.

“Dig in!” Flurry said. She had a plate of her own, and a set of cutlery floating in the air beside her. “I am so hungry.”

Sunburst could certainly empathize. His mouth watering, his stomach feeling monumentally empty, he could barely remember to place his napkin in his lap before diving straight in. A massive chunk of lasagna found its way into his mouth, speared on the tip of his fork. The second it passed his lips, he felt like he could nearly cry for joy.

So soft—so tender—so creamy. It was a celebration on his tastebuds, an explosion of flavor. He chewed it quickly, swallowed, and actually had to stifle a soft moan as it plopped down into his stomach. But that was a mere drop in the bucket—he wanted; no, needed more.

The second bite was already at his lips. Sunburst felt like he should be ashamed, but was far too ravenous—and the lasagna far too delicious—for him to feel concerned with his voracious appetite. It was only when he demolished the entirety of his first slice, and found himself reaching for a second, that he noticed that Flurry was staring at him strangely.

“A-ah.” Sunburst quickly dabbed a napkin on his lips and flashed her a smile. “Apologies. I seem to be remarkably hungry today.”

Flurry grinned back. “No worries,” she said, her mouth quirking at the edges. “I know just how tasty this food can be.” She patted her toned middle, and winked down at her own plate. “Delicious, right?”

“Oh, yes.” Sunburst patted his own gut, and blushed when he realized just how far his hoof sank. Still, there was a bit of tightness to it now; that lasagna had been incredibly rich and filling. But perhaps he could still have one more slice…

“So,” Flurry said, as he began on his second piece. “It’s weird that I’ve never asked, but what do you do when you’re not teaching me?”

Sunburst swallowed a heaping mouthful of marinara and creamy ricotta. Those mushrooms—why, he could have shivered with pleasure. Just sauteed to absolute perfection.

“Read, mainly,” he mumbled, taking a deep sniff of his next bite before digging in. His mouth full, he added, “Your parents were kind enough to give me full access to the Royal Archives.” He swallowed, his chubby chipmunk cheeks deflating as he gulped down that creamy ambrosia.

Flurry’s eyebrows furrowed. He couldn’t help but notice, as he helped himself to a third slice—oh, where had the second gone?—that she was only halfway done with her first. “Do you live with anyone?” she said. She waggled her eyebrows. “Did Mom set you up with anypony?”

Sunburst nearly choked. “No, no,” he said, dabbing at his lips with his napkin. Goodness; had he really been eating that messily? The clean white silk was smattered with globs of tomato sauce, and he noted, blushing, that a good bit of cheese had matted round contour of his belly. His napkin may have covered his lap, but his stomach had already been large before the meal, and filling it with three good-sized slices of lasagna had not helped matters. It pressed heavily against his thighs, and his blush deepened as he tried to wipe off some of the mess.

“She, ah, has not,” he said. He cleared his throat, not quite meeting Flurry’s eyes. “Sorry. It’s a bit personal.” He saw Flurry wince again, and instantly regretted it. “Though I don’t mind you asking,” he added quickly.

Oh, what was a fourth slice on top of another three? The lasagna tin was barely even a quarter empty by now; bulk orders seemed to be the norm down here. Sunburst helped himself to another two pieces, his stomach beginning to feel more than a little bit full.

“There was one mare…” He chewed thoughtfully as he pictured her. He could see Starlight’s face now: kind, smiling down at him as sparks danced between their horns. He swallowed, then hurriedly took another bite of the lasagna. It tasted better than his memories. Shaking his head, he added, “It wouldn’t have worked, though.”

Somehow, a good half-dozen cookies had managed to float their way off of a passing chef’s tray. Goodness, but as long as they were there…

There was an even odder expression on Flurry’s face now, as Sunburst wolfed down the cookies. He hardly paid it any mind, though. How did they manage to make the chocolate chips so sweet, so rich, so tender that they just melted the instant they hit your tongue? Had he been alone, he actually might have groaned with pleasure.

“Oh,” Flurry said. Her face shifted, becoming unreadable. Her cheeks did seem tinged slightly pink, though. And why was she chewing on her lower lip? “Okay.”

Sunburst swallowed a final time—had he really finished all of those cookies?—and reached up to give his belly a pat. He found it much sooner than he expected. His cheeks burned as he felt his gut, bloated and round with filling, sitting heavily in his lap. It felt rather like a lead weight, squishing his thick thighs against the hard seat of his chair.

And the stains… His blush deepened. Hurriedly, he went to work mopping any sauce or crumbs off of his fur. He caught a glimpse of his cheeks and muzzle in a sink mirror, and quickly went about wiping those clean, too.

“Yes,” he finally said, letting his ruined napkin drop to the table. He felt something rising in his gut; holding a hoof in the air, he felt his breath catch—and then burped, a low, rumbling sound that made his every hair stand on end.

“Sorry, sorry,” Sunburst blurted. He covered his mouth with a hoof. As the echo of it faded, he squirmed in his seat, unable to keep his eyes from wandering back to the lasagna tin. How in Equestria had a full two-thirds of the thing disappeared? Surely somepony else must have taken some when he wasn’t looking…

For goodness’ sake, he was with his student! He must have had a little bit more self-control than this. Luckily, at least Flurry didn’t seem too disgusted with him, at least visually. Though Sunburst couldn’t help but feel a bit wretched nonetheless, his ears drooping lightly.

“Tremendously rude of me,” he said. “My apologies—and I seem to have taken a bit too much advantage of the kitchen’s hospitality.” He pushed his chair back, wiping his lips one last time as he slid onto his hooves. His big, rounded belly slapped against his thighs, and he cringed at the sound of it.

Flurry grinned slyly. Inwardly, Sunburst tensed up. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “They like knowing when somepony’s enjoyed their food. Why else do you think I can come here for lunch every day?”

Something stuck in Sunburst’s mind. “E-every day?” he stammered. “Do—do you think I could—“

“—come too?” Flurry looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hm. Yeah, I think I could ask about it.” She leaned in close, an impish smile crossing her face. She hid her mouth behind one hoof, as though she was about to share a particularly juicy secret. “After all, you’re the Princess’ personal tutor! They’d let you get away with anything.”

Sunburst chuckled, though a bit of professorial indignation flared up in him at the thought. “Mind your ego, young lady,” he said. “I won’t allow a student of mine to feel so much above anypony else.”

Still, though…

As they left the kitchen, Sunburst thought he felt his well-stuffed belly grumble while they passed a tray full of delicious-smelling apple tarts. He suppressed the urge to snatch one off the top of the pile.

Tomorrow, he told himself. After all, given the quality of food here, surely coming back for a lunch here every once in awhile couldn’t hurt. He shuddered softly. And that lasagna…

Well. It sure beat the hay out of a cold daisy sandwich.

Chapter Two

“And over here they have the exhibition on Queen Crystal Heart. It’s really very interesting how lifelike her likeness is. Why, did you know that—“

As she followed Sunburst through the halls of the great Crystal Museum, Flurry found it increasingly difficult to keep her attention on the passing exhibits. It wasn’t that they weren’t interesting—they were, she supposed, though perhaps more to a younger foal than she—but Sunburst himself was a much more attractive exhibition to her.

He’d suggested the trip the second he’d heard that the new museum was finished. Tourists had flooded in from Equestria, but so had many of the locals, often eager to educate their foals on their nation’s history. Sunburst had been of a similar mind; always eager to devour new knowledge, and in any form possible, he’d all but bounced at the opportunity to visit the day before Opening Morning. Adorable.

That wasn’t the only part of him that bounced, though. In the days and weeks following their first visit to the kitchens, Sunburst had accompanied her for lunch every day after that—and visited for many other meals and snacks as well, she suspected. It was wonderful to spend the time with him; when taken out of the classroom, and given a little bit of patience for his more withdrawn, awkward personality, Sunburst was an excellent conversationalist.

And he loved his food. Eating half of an entire lasagna that first meal hadn’t been a fluke; if anything, as their “lunch dates” (Sunburst certainly didn’t call them that, but it delighted Flurry to imagine them so) soon proved, he could pack away even more without breaking a sweat. Day by day, as Sunburst’s appetite swelled, and his stomach grew more used to the rich, heavy foods of the Crystal kitchens, his calorie-packed diet began to have an evident effect on his appearance.

Where once had sat a paunch was now a true, well-rounded gut that bounced and jiggled whenever he walked. Flurry felt shivers go up her spine—and in certain other places—whenever she saw it smack against one of Sunburst’s thickening thighs. Whenever they sat down to eat, it would roll out lovingly into Sunburst’s lap, guiding her into fantasies of kneading that doughy, soft belly. Not that it remained soft for long, though—between Sunburst’s voracious appetite and the quantity of food that he could find in the kitchens, it was rare that his middle wasn’t taut, bloated, and heavy.

It was tantalizing, really—just watching him slowly grow, growing softer, pudgier, until a figure that might have once been called “stocky” grew into something well and truly fat. It may not have been normal for her to love Sunburst’s body so much, but Flurry didn’t care. Sunburst had always been a big, lovable teddy bear. Now he was just putting on the padding to be properly cuddly.

His belly wasn’t the only part of him that had expanded, though. From behind, Flurry didn’t have as great a view of her tutor’s middle—but she did have a mouthwatering view of Sunburst’s prime, wobbling rump. Twin cheeks larger than her head bounced and smacked together with each step Sunburst took. His thick thighs were pressed so closely together that he nearly had to waddle. And those Cutie Marks. Each one was massive—certainly larger than her hooves. How she longed to nuzzle them, to bury her face between them, to let her head rest on Sunburst’s pillowy rump as a burning heat grew between her—

“—ahem!”

Flurry winced. She really needed to stop getting caught not paying attention. Trying to keep a grin on her face, she glanced up at Sunburst’s frowning, chubby-cheeked face—oh, how she longed to just squeeze it!—and smiled back. He didn’t look impressed.

“Goodness, Flurry,” he said. “Did you hear any of what I said regarding the hereditary line of the fourth Empire?”

“Um.” Flurry grinned guiltily. “Princess Sapphire, right?”

Sunburst sighed. “Princess Ruby,” he said. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Really, Princess Flurry. These are, if not your direct ancestors, then at least your royal ones. It’s important for you to properly appreciate your country’s heritage!”

“I do!” she said. Thinking quickly—as much as she loved to hear him talk, she did not savor hearing him lecture—she blurted, “I—I was just hungry!”

Sunburst blinked rapidly up at her. “Hungry?” he said. “Surely you had a sufficient breakfast, Princess?”

“Well, yes,” she admitted. “But all of this walking around has given me a bit of an appetite.” Inwardly, she grinned. Sunburst could never resist the promise of food—she hoped. Ancient royals were a dry, dusty subject; watching her tutor enjoy himself, though, never got old. Slyly, she offered, “Maybe we could go try the new food court?”

Sunburst gaped at her. “But—the schedule!” he stammered. “Princess, I had every event of this visit mapped out to the quarter-hour! We’re not due for lunch for another”—he checked his pocket watch—“forty-eight minutes. Surely you can—“

Right on cue, his belly rumbled. Loudly. Flurry stifled a giggle at Sunburst’s gobsmacked expression.

“But—“ he began, a little weakly.

Another grumble. Louder. Sunburst’s mouth twisted.

“...Perhaps, ah, the schedule can be reworked,” he said at last. He nodded meekly in Flurry’s direction, the museum’s map floating inches away from her ear. “Lead the way, then.”

By the time they arrived at the food court, Sunburst looked well and truly starved.

From the first second that the scent of food had reached his nostrils, he’d instantly perked up. His eyes had brightened, his ears twitching rapidly. A full three seconds before Flurry even saw the sign bearing the words “CRYSTAL MUSEUM FOOD COURT,” the tubby stallion had all but begun waddling excitedly in the direction of food—which, to be honest, did smell very good.

Flurry took her time gathering her own meal, not wanting Sunburst to feel like he had to rush. Admittedly, she had a bit of a hassle in trying to persuade the cashier to let her pay—on recognizing her, he didn’t seem to care one whit about the budget that Mom had insisted she spend—but even after that was settled, she lingered for a moment at the other side of the court, watching Sunburst go from stall to stall with more than a mild amount of interest.

Her well-rounded tutor appeared not to entirely understand that “lunch” didn’t mean “lunches.” It wasn’t hard to guess why. After a few weeks taking his meals in the Royal Kitchens, Sunburst had gotten used to the easy life of grabbing a hayburger here, a pasta bowl there, and maybe a few slices of apple pie to round it off. It was somewhat amusing to see the look on his face when he took his towering pile of lunch-boxes to pay, and heard the cashier give him the full amount he’d have to pay. The poor stallion looked crestfallen, but had dutifully dug out his wallet and paid in full. He’d blushed as he’d walked away, though, glancing timidly over his shoulder as he plodded his heavy body to an empty table.

Flurry took her seat mere seconds after Sunburst, sweeping gracefully into her chair moments after he had simply plopped down into his. His cheeks were puffy, his face reddened. There were a few droplets of sweat on his forehead, and overall, he looked more than a bit tired. Hauling all of that bulk halfway across the museum to eat couldn’t have been easy, she decided...but that just made it all the more frustrating that she couldn’t cuddle up to him and help him relax over a nice, big meal.

At least he’d get to enjoy the large meal regardless. “Goodness,” Sunburst huffed, first gazing at his pile of food, and then over at Flurry’s much more modest meal. “I...seem to have bought quite a bit more than I intended to.”

Flurry shrugged. “They’re just opening, right?” she said. “So you get to be their first customer.” She flashed him a smile. “Think of yourself as an official royal taste-tester.”

“Something of a presumptuous title,” Sunburst puffed. “Still...somewhat of an enticing one, though.” He pondered that for a moment, and then grinned back. “Bah. No use pontificating while the food’s getting cold, is there?”

“No, sir!” Flurry said. She winked at him, giving a silly imitation of one of her father's salutes, and Sunburst laughed. It was a full, belly laugh, one that left her feeling warm and safe at the end of it. She smiled secretively at him just after he bent down toward his lunch, a tinge of red touching her cheeks.

“You know,” she said, as he began to wolf his way through a carton of rice pilaf, “I think I read that the corn cobbler is a specialty to the Crystal Empire. Or was, anyway.”

“You’d be correct,” Sunburst said, through a mouthful of food. He swallowed, and then shivered with visible pleasure. Dabbing at his muzzle with a napkin, he added, “Especially regarding ‘used to.’ The corn trade at one point was highly concentrated in the Empire. It moved southward, toward Fillydelphia, after Stronghoof’s invention of magic-dense fertilizer.”

“Interesting.”

“Very,” he said. He smiled at her, his chubby cheeks dimpling. “Why, are you taking an interest in your country’s history, Princess?”

“Never,” she said, grinning back. “Well, maybe a little. At least the tasty history.”

“On that,” he said, chewing through another mouthful, “we agree.” And he took another bite.

The conversation continued from there—mainly darting between exhibits they’d seen that morning—but Flurry’s attention truly lay on Sunburst himself. She tidied off her sandwich quickly, but Sunburst was still going strong through his second box of Chineighse food. It wasn’t just the amount that he ate that she found fascinating, she realized. It was the way he did it.

When Sunburst ate, it wasn’t just a “meal.” It was a ritual—an experience. He carved his way through his food with a zeal matched only by the most devoted athletes, chomping away at each new dish as though it was his last. His cheeks bulged, his lips smacked, his eyes rolled back as if he were eating the ambrosia of the gods themselves.

He wasn’t a glutton, though, nor a pig. He tried to keep clean—he really did—but the fact of the matter was that there was simply too much Sunburst for his napkin to cover. Every time another crumb escaped it, Flurry Heart ached to clean it from him, to take care of his soft, jiggly hide. His butt was big enough that it pushed out over the sides of his chair, and his thighs were so thick that there was scarcely a gap to speak of. His belly was held in—though just barely—by the buckle of his traveller’s cloak, a deep blue piece of cloth that was fastened only by a single button.

It was a rather scared-looking button, though, given the sheer volume of belly-flesh poking around it. The cloak’s middle strip bit deep into Sunburst’s middle, a good few gallons of chub straining against its tight confines. Each swallow, each gulp of food, only pushed his belly to grow rounder, tauter, bigger. Flurry bit her lip, her hind legs wiggling excitedly beneath the table as she watched the strain on his cloak grow larger. There was just so much Sunburst to fill it—so many calories stuffed into his stomach. Why, just one more bite might be enough to—

With a pop!, the button snapped free. It burst from its place, actually tearing its way off of the cloak and flinging itself into the air. Flurry ducked; Sunburst gaped as his cloak all but exploded off of him. With a smack loud enough for any nearby diners to hear, his big, food-stuffed belly burst from its confines and plopped directly into his lap.

Sunburst’s face was so red that it may as well have been an apple, or a cherry. “Oh, my,” he said timidly. “Oh, dear.”

Flurry couldn’t help but stare. She’d known that he was big...but this was something else. All of Sunburst’s stomach had rolled right into his lap, and wow, there was a lot of it. Thick rolls of flab settled right in the pit formed by his thighs, his generous love handles drooping past the sides of his chair. As her gaze flickered up, she caught Starburst staring, too, down at his lap with an expression of shock on his face. His tongue flicked nervously out of his mouth, licking at a spot of sauce as his second chin jiggled against his neck.

“Oh, dear,” he said again. His stomach gurgled loudly, and he cringed, groaning audibly. Somewhat awkwardly, he patted his belly with a hoof, his touch rebounding off of his bloated, overstuffed middle He burped, then quickly drew a hoof to his muzzle. Blushing deeply, he mumbled, “I appear to have—urp—overeaten a bit.”

Flurry’s heart beat faster in her chest. “Are you feeling okay?” she said.

“Fine, fine.” Sunburst patted his stomach, the sound of it sounding rather like a drum. His belly bounced, the mass of flesh wobbling in his lap like a taut bowl of jello. “Just...rather overstuffed, I suppose.” How did those chubby dimples manage to look so cute?

Flurry swallowed. This was it. Her chance to make a move. Blushing as well, she, rather hesitantly, lifted a hoof into the air. “Maybe—maybe I could help?”

When he blinked owlishly at her, she quickly added, “I just thought—maybe I could rub it a little. Or something.”

If Sunburst’s cheeks had been red before, they were simply inflamed now. “Oh! Um…” He glanced away, peering at the floor beside the table. “Well. If you think it might help…”

She was trembling even before she finally found herself pressed against his side - into the plushness, just a bit. Their eyes met; he smiled nervously, and she tried to do the same. Slowly, she began to lower her hoof, waiting for the moment when it would finally sink into his soft, plump flesh, rubbing at his doughy belly as he groaned softly beneath her—

“Flurry?”

She blinked. Reality snapped back into place. She was still in her seat, the last bite of her sandwich halfway to her lips. Sunburst sat across from her, a dumpling levitating a few inches away from his mouth. Below it, his cloak was still buttoned firmly in place...though his belly did look quite large.

Flurry tried to push through the vertigo as her daydream popped away around her. “Uh. Sorry?”

Sunburst raised an eyebrow at her. “I was just asking whether you might like to try a hayfry. You seem awfully distracted today. Is everything alright?”

“Fine,” she said quickly, flashing a smile she didn't quite feel. She dared one more longing glance at his plump middle. Oh, how she yearned to feel, to squish, to fondle that massive pile of cuddly flab. She averted her eyes, then shrugged, stifling feelings of disappointment. “I’m just fine.”

Flurry leaned back on the couch, the soft leather crinkling beneath her rump. The textbook in her lap sat heavily on her thighs, and she stared only half-heartedly at its text as she turned to the next page. One-half of her vision was directed at the chapter she’d been assigned to read; the other half couldn’t help but flicker up to the desk across the room.

Sunburst sat hunched over at his desk, his muzzle buried in a pile of papers and textbooks. The soft scritch-scratch of his quill was the only sound in the room, save for the crispness of Flurry’s page-turning and the occasional munch of yet another chocolate bar. Flurry had taken to stashing a few of his favorites around the classroom so he wouldn't run out-- and so far, he hadn't caught on. A few crumbs speckled the side of Sunburst’s lip, his mouth opening automatically for a bite of his candy bar every few seconds.

His gut, which lay fully in his lap, pressed tightly against the side of his desk. He didn’t seem to notice—or if he did, he betrayed no discomfort, focused as he was in his work. Flurry noticed though, and felt a slight spark of interest peak in her body as she watched the gentle squish of his flab against the mahogany. His belly looked so soft, so round, so gropable. Her fantasy from the museum visit yesterday yet lingered, and her yearning only grew with each bite Sunburst took from his chocolate.

Her gaze flicked back down to her textbook. Incomprehensible, the lot of it—not for want of intelligence, but for want of any sort of interest. Why pay attention to the distortion of magical fields, she wondered, when there was a much more...deliciously distorted specimen sitting mere feet away? She couldn’t help but steal another glimpse of him: his chubby cheeks, his adorably scruffy goatee, his growing second chin. Oh, but if she could only nuzzle up against it! Flurry was certain that it would be second only to his beautiful gut or soft rump as a pillow - she just knew it!

Pursing her lips, she frowned down at the end-of-chapter problem set. Truth be told, she could probably manage these on her own (upon actually reading the chapter, at least)...but she had a better idea in mind. A memory flashed into her thoughts, and a devious, hopeful plan took root.

Flurry carefully made herself stop nibbling on her lower lip, and cleared her throat. “Ah, Sunburst?” she said in her best innocent voice.

He paused in his work, looked up. “Yes, Flurry?” he said. His voice even squeaked on the last syllable of her name—she could almost squeal in delight!

She shot him a wan smile, feeling a little guilty about exploiting his desire to teach. But he was so tasty, and she was going to be learning more anyway, right? “I’m wrapping up the chapter, but I was wondering if you could just walk me through some of these theoretical problems.” She nodded toward the empty cushion beside her.

“Goodness, Princess. You really must learn to work on your own sometime.” Sunburst shook his head, but got to his hooves. Flurry waited with bated breath as he trotted toward her, his great stomach swaying beneath him with every step. It was clear that he wasn’t the lightest stallion in the palace—his gut hung down below his knees by now, and by the time he made it to the couch, he was puffing merrily.

With a grunt, Sunburst heaved himself onto the couch. The springs creaked ominously beneath his weight, but thankfully held—thankfully, Flurry supposed idly, because she didn’t know if she’d be able to keep herself under control if his weight had collapsed the thing. As it was, his wide-set rear overflowed the cushion by a good few inches. She soon found herself wedged against the side of the couch by a very generously proportioned unicorn, with her mentor’s hefty thighs squishing against her own. At a guess, she put him at just about three hundred pounds—nearly twice her own weight, for all that she had two whole inches on him. The sheer size of his Cutie Marks—why, they had to be six inches across!—left her trembling with excitement.

This was it, she told herself, as Sunburst leaned over her lap to eye her book. She had to force her hoof to stay still, for fear that its shaking would give her away. This was where she made her move.

“You’ll have to point out which problem you were having difficulty with,” Sunburst mumbled, peering past her hoof over his spectacles. Flurry had to suppress her urges again - that cute little squint, his little wriggle as he looked around - and force herself to listen to him. “I’m afraid these all are rather general theoreticals.”

“Oh, of course.” Flurry giggled to herself, then jabbed at the first one that caught her attention. In her mind’s eye, she could feel Sunburst’s belly pressing against her foreleg as she held him in place, his soft, jelly-like flesh squishing delightfully against her skin. That same belly was so close now. Its round, smooth contours caught her gaze in a trap, forcing her to appreciate every gentle slope of its girth until it dove inward into a deep, impossibly wide bellybutton. Now, that brought along a whole new set of naughty thoughts…

“This one, then?” When she nodded, he pursed his lips, then smiled. “Ah, astrothaumaturgy. A complex question, to be sure.”

“A little.”

He turned his head up to face her, his smile broadening. “You know,” he said, “while we haven’t covered the astronomical sciences in any depth yet, I generally prefer a, ah, visual approach to this kind of question. Just for perspective. Do you think that might help?”

“Visual?” Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Sunburst winked. “Allow me to demonstrate.” His horn sparked, then shimmered. A soft wave of orange-red energy spread out across the room, splashing over the walls as his aura surged with energy. Beside him, Flurry glanced around, her eyes widening as the wallpaper glimmered before fading to a deep, dusky black. Sunburst grunted softly, and a final spark of light leapt from the tip of his horn. The room plunged into darkness, leaving the two of them blind.

Then a spark—white, strong, clear—winked into existence before them. It felt impossibly close, as if she could reach out a hoof and grab it, and yet somehow infinitely far. It dangled in space like a mobile, its gentle twinkle pulling her gaze like a magnet. Then, with another wink, a second spark joined it. And another. And another.

Flurry’s hairs stood up, her breath catching in her chest as she turned this way and that. Everywhere she looked, Sunburst’s office had been replaced by an infinite, velvet-black void, with legions of diamond-white stars glimmering atop its tapestry. She felt her throat tighten, her muzzle opening wide as she stared out into the abyss—and the abyss sang back.

The gruff, warm voice of Sunburst himself pulled her back to her surroundings. “Well,” he said, exhaling slowly. “It’s not exactly the most skillful display. I’m afraid I don’t have quite enough juice to really represent the astro-field. That would take a much greater wizard than I.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Flurry breathed. She hugged the arm of the couch beside her, and was reminded that, as much as it may have looked it, she wasn’t actually hovering somewhere in the middle of the Sleipnir Nebula. Still…

Shyly, she turned to glance down at the heavyset stallion beside her. Sunburst’s chubby cheeks were flushed, his face tinted with orange-tinged pinks as the light of the “stars” glimmered around them. Jets of starlight danced across the glass of his spectacles, making his eyes shimmer and spark as he gazed out at his creation with a mixture of satisfaction and awe. And behind him...all around them, a vast, and starry universe slumbered.

And waited.

Flurry swallowed. Something slid into place, way back in the corners of her mind. With her hooves trembling, she let herself slouch a little bit against the back of the couch, the warm leather crinkling against her back. With each inch she slid, she could see his big, beautiful body looming closer, filling up the side of her vision.

“The best I could do on short notice,” Sunburst mumbled. “A true mage like Twilight Sparkle could doubtless do much better.” He sounded hesitant, as though trying to convince himself. “Nonetheless...we had a question to answer, didn’t we?”

“Mmhm.” He was so close now. She could see the gentle rise and fall of his belly, hear the soft sigh of his breath.

“There.” He raised a hoof, and a bright orange spark leapt from the tip of his horn. “Beside that nebula there. Do you see it?”

She did. A thin green line, snaking between the constellations. It pulsed, and throbbed with energy, looking almost...alive. She bit her lip, and leaned a bit closer to Sunburst’s side. The side of his great, magnificent middle squished slightly beneath her weight, and she felt herself clench her thighs a little bit tighter.

He didn’t seem to notice the contact at first, though. Perhaps he’d just grown so used to being so big that not touching anything with his gut had grown to be the exception. She stretched her neck out, guiding herself to follow his demonstration by the curves of his plump little shoulders. His voice was still muted, dreamy, when he flicked his hoof parallel to the line. “It carries mana through the heavens,” he said. “Touching each leyline on the celestial sphere in turn. The actor of astrothaumaturgy itself—its creator, its child, its parent.”

He was silent for a moment. Then—“Can you hear it?” His lip trembled, and his hoof shook. “Can you hear its harmony?” Wow, she thought. When he was all worked up like this - it was like he was gorging himself on science!

Flurry’s hoof slid around his shoulder at the same time that her other arm slipped across his middle. There was quite a lot of middle to wrap around, though, so his big, round gut squished a bit beneath the weight of her foreleg. She felt her hoof sink against the cavity of his bellybutton, deep and warm and soft, as if inviting her to probe, to wiggle her way deeper. Her other arm curled tenderly around his other armpit, rustling beneath his star-patterned cloak and feeling the gentle squish of his love handles. And, with a motion as natural as breathing, her head touched softly down onto his shoulder, her mane coming to rest upon his collar.

Sunburst stiffened. She had barely a moment of contact before he recoiled, pulling away from her with the force of a coiling viper. There was a sudden emptiness beside her—a void, a gaping, yawning abyss.

The stars winked out. The lights came on again. And Sunburst sat on the couch beside her, his legs pulled in toward himself, his bright blue eyes wide and wary.

“What was that?” he said.

“Nothing,” Flurry said, quickly. The look in his eyes—she didn’t like it. His gaze twitched and skittered, his pupils focused into pinpricks.

“I’m no fool, young mare,” Sunburst said, quietly. “As your teacher, I am asking you—what was that?”

She winced. There was a heat to his voice—a steel in it. Honesty, then.

“I just...wanted to share the view with you,” she said. She tried to inject a sliver of “innocent, injured” foal into her tone and instantly regretted it—unlike her parents, the confusion in Sunburst’s eyes just made her feel all the worse. “You looked so...soft. I just thought…”

“Thought what?” Sunburst said. “That you would touch your tutor inappropriately? And in the middle of a lesson, no less?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it!” Flurry said. “You looked really...cuddly.” The word felt wrong the second it came out of her mouth. “Cute! Not cuddly. I mean—“ Oh, gods, she was babbling—

“I,” Sunburst bit out, “will not be mocked.”

“I’m not mocking you!” Flurry said. She tried to smile at him, and instantly wished she hadn’t; it just felt so guilty. “I thought you just looked...really handsome. And with the stars...”

Wrong answer, Sunburst’s eyes told her. With a grunt, he heaved himself to his hooves. The couch squealed as his massive weight depressed, then released its hidden springs. The floor shook slightly as he plopped down onto it, his hefty guy swaying and slapping his thighs beneath him.

“Patronized by my own student,” Sunburst said. His eyes flashed behind his glasses, and his goatee trembled. “I know I’ve put on weight! I know I’ve been taking too much time snacking, perhaps, instead of drawing up lesson plans! But to be put under some foalish little prank, I swear—“

“It’s not!”

“—What would your mother say?” Sunburst said. “The Princess of Love—her own daughter taunting ponies. Invading their space, shaming them. Distracting me with food, taking advantage of me—and for what?” He fixed his gaze on her, and she cringed. “To get time away from your studies? Or simply for some cruel joke?”

Flurry leapt to her hooves. She squared her shoulders against him, sucked in a breath. “ I never—“ she gasped. “I didn’t—“

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do,” Sunburst said, “but I’ll have none of it!” His face was flushed, his thick cheeks trembling. He was breathing hard, his gut swaying like a pendulum beneath him. He turned his back to her, his vast, pudgy flanks jiggling in his wake.

“But—“

“This lesson is finished,” Sunburst said, facing away from her. “We are done for the day.”

Flurry stood there in shock. She felt...cold. Her gut twisted beneath her.

“Dismissed.”

She raised a hoof—and then slowly, weakly lowered it. There was nothing more she knew to say.

And so she left.

Chapter Three

Flurry Heart sat at the table, her legs dangling over the side of her chair. Her head in her hooves, she stared down at the smooth tiling of the table, unblinking. Her mane fell haphazardly over the back of her neck, and her back hooves swung aimlessly beneath her. With a sigh, she felt a strand of hair flutter across her cheek, her breath sending it twisting and dancing over her coat.

"Hey." Her dad's voice froze her in place. She hadn't even heard him come in. Usually, she'd turn around and give him a hug...but tonight, she didn't feel all that affectionate. She just stared sullenly at the table, kicking her hooves against the legs of her chair.

Dad's hooves tapped out a rhythm as he trotted his way over to her. She felt him before she saw him—his strong arm around her shoulder, his chin brushing against her ear.

"What's up, Hearts?" he asked. "You're not lookin' too good. You sick?"

She shrugged. "Don't think so," she mumbled. Unless you counted being lovesick...

Oh, gods. She sounded like such a teenager. Flurry decided to keep that line on the inside.

"Well, your mom'll be relieved to know." Shining gave her a kiss on the cheek, and then dropped back down to his hooves. She heard him trot a few feet away, heard the gentle click of the snacks cabinet when he opened it. "So what is it, sweetie? What's got my girl moping all over the room?"

She sighed, felt guilty for not being happy to see him, and turned to face him. His bright blue mane was tossed carelessly over the back of his neck, his tail bouncing slightly as he dug through a row of bright-colored boxes. His Cutie Mark, the bright purple shield she'd known for all her life, rustled across his fur, the stars around it seeming to twinkle with his movements.

Should she be honest with him? No, her teenage side said, without even missing a beat. This was Dad—and to find out just who she was moping over... She didn't even want to think about that.

But this was Dad! another part of her said. He'd always been there for her. And he would obviously want to help.

That's what she was afraid of, her teenage side said.

But maybe he could help! said the rest of her. Maybe she could at least ask for advice.

Hngh, her other half said. It lapsed into silence. Flurry took a deep breath.

"Well," she said, drawing out the word. "There's, uh, this stallion..."

The temperature in the room actually seemed to go up a good ten degrees. “A stallion?” Dad said. He turned, his hooves hitting the ground—hard. She winced as he rounded on her, his eyes wide and concerned. “What two-bit colt hurt my baby girl?”

“Nobody! I mean—he didn’t!” Flurry sat straight upright, waving her hooves in front of her face. “Really! Relax, Dad!”

“Oh?” Shining Armor cocked an eyebrow down at his daughter, and Flurry felt his eyes probing at hers. His voice was softer, though, more gently questioning. “Then what happened?”

“I—“

Flurry swallowed. Hard.

“I said some things I shouldn’t have, I think,” she said, softly. When Shining’s eyebrow, went higher, she shook her head and added, “Not mean ones, though! At least, I don’t think so?”

“Then...what?”

“I…” Flurry took a breath. “I told him I liked him,” she finally said. “I...got a little touchy-feely. Nothing invasive,” she said quickly, before he could respond, “but...I think I freaked him out.”

“Ah.” Shining nodded toward the seat beside her. “Okay if I sit down?”

She nodded back. He did, putting his elbows on the table and leaning his weight forward.

“Well,” he said. “Your mother would be better with this than me, but she’s away in Canterlot, so I’m afraid I’m all you’ve got to work with.”

She cracked a smile at him. “C’mon, Daddy. You’re not that bad.”

“That’s what your mother keeps telling me,” he said, chuckling. “But in any case, here’s what I think. If you’ll have me.”

She nodded, sitting up a little straighter in her seat, He grinned at her, and for a second she saw the awkward, younger stallion he’d once been (though he certainly hadn’t gotten any less dorky, Aunt Twilight told her).

“You like this stallion?” he asked. She nodded again. “Well...can you see any part of your ‘confession’ that might have put him off?”

“Um.” She glanced down at the table. “I guess I might have, er, touched him before saying anything.”

“Oh?”

“Just a hoof on his shoulder,” she said, blushing furiously. “And...maybe my head as well. But—“

His eyebrow went higher.

“—okay, fine,” she huffed. “I just saw the moment, and took it. How was I supposed to know what would happen?”

“Oh?” he said. “Is this a colt that’s had a marefriend before? Is he confident? Did you know if he was interested in you, too?”

“...No,” she said. Well, Sunburst wasn’t exactly a colt, but she figured it’d be best to leave that detail out. She’d probably regret that later, but for now…

“He’s...kinda awkward,” she admitted. “Nervous. I don’t know if he’s ever been on a date, or even viewed me...like that.”

“Ah.” Dad regarded her evenly, steepling his hooves. “Well, sounds like you had a recipe for disaster right there, huh?” He shot her a knowing grin. “I definitely wasn’t the most mare-confident stallion back in high school. If your mom had even tapped me on the shoulder when we first met, I probably would’ve conked right out there on the floor.”

Flurry giggled. She sobered up after a moment, though. Sunburst hadn’t fainted, but the look in his eyes after she’d tried to “explain”—that hadn’t been fun.

“So what should I do?” she said, lamely. “Should I just…” She bit her lip. Oops. He was her tutor, after all. How was she supposed to escape that? She could ask for another one, but that’d be nearly impossible to explain without… Well.

“Give up?” Dad asked. Flurry shrugged. “Nah. Sounds like you messed up, but I don’t think it’s unsalvageable. Like I said, not your mother, but I think you have a chance to make things right.”

Flurry perked up. Dad smiled.

“Just be honest with him,” he said. “Apologize, of course—for being too forward, for freaking him out. Tell him what you were thinking, what you’ve been thinking, and hope he accepts it. And then maybe then you can pursue him, if he’s okay with that.”

“And if he’s not?” Flurry said, nervously. “If he doesn’t accept my apology?”

Dad shrugged. “Sometimes, ponies just aren’t comfortable with some things,” he said. “And that’s his right, really. Maybe this is my time in the Guard talking, but sometimes, you’ve just got to know that you’re wrong and suck it up, right?”

“I guess.” Flurry sucked in a breath, and glanced at her reflection in the window. Outside, the thousand lights of the Crystal Empire twinkled brightly. Somewhere else in the palace, she knew, Sunburst’s light was winking back at them, just as theirs was. She hoped.

Finally, she nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Thanks, Daddy.” On impulse, she darted up and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you.”

Shining smiled back at her. “I love you too,” he said, and squeezed her hoof. “I know you’ll do fine.”

Sunburst's door loomed over her like an angry dragon.

Flurry felt extraordinarily small, standing there. She hadn't even known where Sunburst had lived in the palace—hadn't even known for sure whether he did, in fact, live within the castle's walls. A kindly Crystal Guard had pointed her in the direction of his chambers, ostensibly to turn in an essay or somesuch, and left her to dash her way there.

Now that she was here, though, she felt paralyzed. Her mind swam, her thoughts blurring. What would she say? What could she say? Dad's words rang in her mind, but where they'd felt so obvious and clear last night, they now felt hollow today. Empty. And what if Sunburst wasn't even in his rooms? What then?

She could have kicked something. She wanted to kick herself. And yet...every second she sat here angsting and debating was another second for somepony else to walk by and ask what she was doing. Another second for her to lose her nerve.

Taking in a deep breath, Flurry raised her hoof to the door—and knocked three times.

There was a moment's silence. Then, a muffled thump from the room inside. Then: "Who is it?"

Flurry swallowed. "Flurry Heart," she said. "May I come in?"

Another pause. She felt her skin prickle. "Please," she added, hastily.

She could almost see Sunburst pontificating it. His big, blue eyes downcast, his right ear twitching with that little jerk it always made. She tried to make her mental image smile, and failed.

Finally: "It's unlocked," she heard. His voice sounded oddly reserved, but at least it didn't sound... What? Hateful? Sobbing? What had she expected, really? Nevertheless, she steeled her will, lowered her hoof to the door, and gently pushed it open.

Sunburst's quarters were...about exactly as she could have expected, really. They weren't incredibly well-lit, but bright enough to read by (she supposed). Stacks of books—armies of them, really—lined the walls, reaching up past bookcases groaning with other books, and chairs creaking under the weight of even more leather-bound pages. It was, she supposed with a twinge of amusement, just about a bookish wizard's paradise.

Stepping out of the foyer, Sunburst himself came into view. He was standing toward the opposite end of what looked to be the sitting room, his shoulders squared toward her. His face was mostly blank, but she could see that his mane was messier than usual, his lower lip curled to one side. He stood beside a hefty, comfy-looking armchair; though it was currently vacant, the large, rounded depression in its cushion showed just how recently it had been occupied. Given the depth of that crater, and the low-hanging radius of Sunburst's middle (which he seemed to be trying to conceal between his thick forelegs), it wasn't hard to see just who that occupant had been.

There was a small kitchenette behind him, she noticed—and a small tub of what looked like ice cream had been hastily tucked away behind a crooked stack of plates. She caught a small dab of whiteness on Sunburst’s upper lip, and silently cursed herself for enjoying the idea of just what he’d been doing before she’d walked in.

There was silence between the two of them for a moment. Then—

"Princess—"

"I—"

Flurry caught herself, flushed. She bit her lip, and glanced away as Sunburst's muzzle shut again. They stood there for a moment more, drowning in the awkwardness together.

Then Sunburst cleared his throat. "Well?" he said. He didn't sound angry, but nor did he sound entirely happy to see her. He sounded...muted. Careful.

She swallowed. "I—I wanted to apologize," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "You did," he said. "Yesterday. I don't see why a followup request necessitates your being in my quarters, Princess."

There it was—that damn title. It might as well have been a gods-damned wall between them. "Flurry," she said. She steeled herself. "Not princess."

Sunburst just tilted his head. He was waiting for her, she realized.

"But I do want to apologize," she said. "Not like I tried to yesterday—actually apologize. Yesterday, I was too busy worrying about myself to know what I'd done wrong."

Sunburst's cheeks tinged. "And what would that be?"

"Not thinking about what you might have wanted," she said. "Being pushy. Invading your space, even when you had no idea that I might have even been interested—"

He held up a hoof. She shut up.

"Excuse me," Sunburst said coolly. "But as I've said, we've already dispensed with this fiction. Please. If you think you need to apologize, I'd love to actually hear it."

She felt like she'd been slapped. "What?" Flurry croaked. "Fiction? I'm not—I'm not lying!"

"Did I say you were?"

"You—agh!" Flurry rapped her hoof on the floor, gritting her teeth. How did he not get it? "I liked you, okay? And so I got a little bit too cuddly, without even asking, and—"

"Please," Sunburst said coldly. "I know what kind of stallion I am, Princess Flurry. Fat, dumpy—hardly a teenage heartthrob. I thought we'd agreed to put away this kind of mockery."

"I'm not mocking you, damn it!" Flurry said. "Is it that hard to believe that I actually had a crush on you?"

Sunburst actually took a step backward. His ponderous bulk swayed dangerously beneath his legs. His cheeks puffed out, his nose wrinkling below his spectacles. "I'm sorry?" he said faintly.

"I get that it sounds weird, okay?" Flurry said. "But we both know who my Mom is. I just know that I've started to—feel something, I guess, over the past few months. And you were just always there to help me out, cheering me up, showing me something new—is it so crazy I might have started liking you?" She advanced a step forward, and regretted it when he cringed back. Softening her voice, she added, "And I never even thought about your appearance!"

He blinked at her. She winced. "Okay," she mumbled. "So maybe I learned that I have a thing for heavy stallions. So sue me."

"Gods help me," Sunburst breathed. "I'm talking with a chubby-chasing filly who’s decided I’m some kind of cradle robber.”

She gaped. There was nothing else she could do, really.

Sunburst met her gaze evenly. Then, he chuckled.

What?

"I must be going senile," he muttered. "Senile at thirty-nine. What a wonder."

"You're not—" Flurry's mind blanked on all but one phrase. "Cradle robber?"

"For goodness' sake, Princess," Sunburst said. "You're a seventeen-year-old filly—"

"—mare," she bit out, reflexively.

"—and I am your teacher. Any kind of relationship would be incredibly inappropriate, and that's even ignoring the fact that I'm still skeptical of any kind of approval of my...girth." He shot her a skeptical glance, and hefted his weight between his back hooves. His massive rump, each padded cheek rising a good three inches above the curve of his back, jiggled gleefully at the motion.

"I'm old enough to do what I please," Flurry declared. "And..." She shrank back, smiled shyly. "It makes you look distinguished."

Sunburst took a deep breath, and rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sure," he said.

Flurry opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hoof before she could make a sound.

"Princess Flurry," Sunburst said, not unkindly. "Despite my great confusion, and the headache I could swear is about to knock me out cold, I accept your apology."

Flurry's heart soared. "You mean—"

"—ah, ah." Sunburst quirked an eyebrow, and she fell silent. "Do you know why I was upset at you yesterday?" When she stayed mum, he shrugged, then ambled over to a picture on the wall. She tracked his gaze, noted the portrait of him standing—smiling—beside a beaming purple-coated mare. "You're right that I was uncomfortable. Disregarding the fact of your age, and our professional relationship, I...er, hadn't quite even conceived of that particular kind of contact in years."

Flurry decided to take a risk. "Was she—"

Sunburst shook his head. "No," he said. "Perhaps. But that was then, and this is now."

He turned back to face her, his big, blue eyes piercing through her own. "I forgive you, Flurry Heart. But don't think I'll be quite so quick to accept your advances. You're a good student, and a good mare. And while I'm flattered by your...interest in me, it certainly would do neither of us any good to pursue such a matter, especially so long as you're underage."

"I turn eighteen next month."

"Then I will have to schedule your final exams for the month after." Sunburst's raised eyebrow said one thing: Do you wish to test me? Flurry decided that she rather did.

"But...after." She stepped forward, feeling brave. Sunburst didn't step back, though his neck craned backward to follow her approach. "Do you think, that maybe—"

"Goodness, Flurry. How many times do I have to tell you? I'm no great wizard. I can't see into the future." Sunburst regarded her steadily...though his muzzle did creep upward into a half-smile. "What a question to ask."

Flurry nodded. There was a lump in her throat still...but at least it didn't feel like it was ready to choke her. "But you're a great wizard," she said. "You might not be an alicorn, but the number of spells you know—and the fascination you have for knowing more." She blushed, glanced aside. "When you showed me that view of the celestial sphere—of the leylines, and the stars—that was when I knew."

"Knew what?"

"How much—" She swallowed. "How much your teaching, your company, your curiosity meant to me."

Sunburst's cheeks blushed a deep, cherry red as flamboyantly bright as his mane. "Well," he mumbled. "It was only a trifling spell, really—a projection..." He drew himself up, and took a deep breath. "...but, I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it—especially now that I know the real reason you've been distracted during my lessons." His flushed cheeks grew redder, but there was no longer only a halfway smile on his lips.

Flurry nodded.

"So. All of—this." Sunburst shrugged. "Am I being fair? Am I being...reasonable?"

Flurry considered that. "I...think so," she said. "To be honest, I was afraid that you'd hate me and ask me to leave."

"Ah, the fearfulness of youth." When she glared playfully at him, Sunburst chuckled and added, "Not that it ever goes away, mind you. Why come, then?"

"Dad," she admitted. "He...had some good advice for me."

"Prince Shining Armor is a good stallion," Sunburst said. "And as good an employer as I'll wager I ever could have found. Why, he—"

He was interrupted, rather rudely, by a deep, growling, rumbling sound. Sunburst blinked, then glanced down at his gurgling gut at the same time that Flurry did. When their eyes met again, she was blushing.

"Didn't, ah, quite have dinner." Sunburst gently nudged the ice cream carton a bit further back beneath the row of cabinets above his kitchenette counter. He licked his lips, and chuckled awkwardly when his stomach grumbled again. "Just a bit peckish, I suppose."

"Oh!" Flurry said. "Um."

An idea presented itself to her: a beautiful, incredible really hot and incredibly adorable idea. But...

"Um what?" Sunburst said, blinking owlishly at her.

"Well..." Flurry bit her lip, and crossed one foreleg over the other. “I, uh, may have a secret stash of snacks hidden by the pantries.”

“A secret stash?” Sunburst said. “I thought you were the cooks’ ‘favorite,’ to paraphrase.”

“Turns out they don’t like you snagging the special-cooked chocolate gateau baked specially for the Prench diplomat.” Flurry shrugged. “But, this is also a stash of...well, less-than-fresh food. Candy. Ice cream. A lot of chips and soda.”

She did her best to grin at him, suddenly realizing just how juvenile her offer sounded. “I don’t usually use it too much, though, so if you’d maybe want to grab a midnight snack…”

“Well, that sounds just—“ Sunburst caught himself, and frowned at her. “I’ll admit, your offer sounds rather tempting—I’m out of groceries myself—but I don’t want to expect any kind of funny business. Should I?”

“No,” Flurry said. “Just—heh—food.” She smiled sheepishly at him.

“Well, then,” Sunburst said. He inclined his head toward the door. “Lead the way, Princess maitre d’.”

Sunburst stared up at the groaning shelves of snacks with wide eyes. While not entirely sure it was the best idea, he'd followed Flurry along mostly to humor her. She did seem to be...well, suddenly intimidated (though, some part of him thought with a snort, wasn't he?), so perhaps a courtesy midnight snack wouldn't hurt.

He'd been expecting a good-sized stash, he supposed—a few bags of chips, a few kinds of sweets—but the spectacle he saw in front of him defied all explanation. Sunburst's muzzle parted, his gums salivating as he ogled the divine spread of delicious, carb-rich, sugar-packed food laying seductively ahead of, beside, and above him.

This wasn't a snack. This was a feast.

"It's...not a lot," Flurry said. "I've only—"

"—only squirreled away enough to feed two families for a week!" Sunburst stared up at the near-lewd display with an expression bordering on awe. The packaging seemed to crinkle as he looked at it, taunting him, teasing him. His stomach grumbled, and an empty, aching pain struck him in his gut.

"Oh, really?" Flurry met his eyes, and grinned. "You've been putting a good half that at meals, Professor."

"I never finished my degree," Sunburst muttered, as was customary. And, feeling a bit more cognizant, he added sheepishly, "...Though perhaps you're right. Goodness, but my appetite has gotten somewhat insatiable, hasn't it?" Stricken, he realized that this would be his sixth meal of the day. Well. Despite—or perhaps due to—Flurry's professed interest in the matter, perhaps it would be best if he failed to mention that.

"In any case," he said, coughing. "It looks more than serviceable. Where shall we..."

"Oh, you can sit at the table over there." Flurry nodded toward a set of chairs beside a painted-wood table. "I'll bring them over to you."

"I suppose you know how they're organized," Sunburst said. As he moved to take his seat, though, feeling his great belly swing ponderously beneath him, he couldn't help but feel an urge to levitate the lot of them and cram each lovely, butter-packed calorie down his throat. Put on a show, as it were. His stomach roared in approval, and Sunburst blushed. Goodness, where had that come from?

The chair groaned, complaining as he settled his weight in it, but thankfully held. Now at over four hundred pounds of stallion, it had become nearly impossible for Sunburst to find any chairs that could hold his bulk in its entirety. Not that any had broken yet—again, thankfully—but it'd become a sad fact of life that his vast, plump flanks tended to fold over the sides. They did so now, his oversized Cutie Marks sitting flabbily in the air above his chunky, swinging thighs.

Over the past few weeks, he'd grown self-conscious about sitting like this. His great belly, just barely restrained by the button of his cloak, was squished almost painfully against his middle. His thick thighs clenched and pressed together, any thought of a gap long since lost in inches of plush padding and smooth, rounded curves. His flanks—why, the only time he felt more self-conscious about having them facing somepony was when they were rounded out like this, pressing heavily against the frame of his chair.

Still...some of Flurry's compliments still rang in his ears. Smiling faintly, Sunburst gave her a nod, and settled back in his seat to wait. It was strange, really. He'd professed no desire in her—but it felt nice, honestly, to be desired. Blushing, he patted his eager stomach as it growled and gurgled, watching with baited breath as Flurry levitated over his "snack."

He wasn't going to eat all of it, Sunburst told himself, as the bowl full of chips touched down on the table. He repeated that mantra when a chocolate bar, neatly unwrapped, was placed onto the surface beside it. He felt another peal of hunger, and stifled a whimper.

"Your favorite brand of chocolate," Flurry said, shyly. "At least, I thought so. I have plenty more."

"A good guess," Sunburst said, chuckling. He held a hoof out toward the candy, paused. "Er. May I?"

She leaned forward on the table, her chin in her hooves. "Go ahead!" she said.

It was halfway up to his mouth when he realized that she wasn't reaching for the chips. "Aren't you going to have any?"

"Oh! No, I'm all full from dinner." Flurry show him a sheepish grin. "You go ahead, though. Just dig in!"

Well. He felt a bit embarrassed, really, as he lifted the chocolate to his lips. His muzzle twitched, and Sunburst took a deep breath, smelling the rich, velvety chocolate. He felt its sweet, smooth surface brush against his lips, and shivered with delight, almost tasting the sugar crystals, the cocoa beans embedded within.

Flurry was suddenly very pointedly not looking at him. Only somewhat awkwardly, but overcome by hunger, Sunburst pulled the candy bar back, opened his mouth wide, and chomped down.

That bite alone—

Sunburst suddenly didn't care that Flurry was watching him. He didn't care that his chair was barely managing to hold his weight, or that he'd been flushed with shame when passing by a visiting group of dignitaries yesterday. He didn't care that he'd told himself that this would be "just a snack." All he knew—all he cared about—was that there was a delicious, incredible flavor in his mouth, and he wanted more.

The chocolate bar was gone in the space of a scant few seconds. Sunburst had barely finished wolfing it down, flecking his cheeks with chocolate crumbs, before diving for the bowl of chips. He dug in deep with huge handfuls, crunching and gulping his way through as if he'd never eaten anything before in his life. Groaning, he felt his belly gurgle in delight, his appetite warming up as it prepared to be sated. He felt himself falling into a familiar rhythm, a ritual exercised for his body and soul, sacrificing empty calories to the altar of his stomach as it rumbled and roared—

Sunburst's hoof brushed against the bottom of the chip bowl. Blinking, and only now returning somewhat to lucidity, Sunburst glanced up to see Flurry staring at him in a way that suddenly made him feel both uncomfortable and incredibly, amazingly flattered.

His cheeks tinged red, he tried to force a grin onto his face and felt a few chip crumbs fall off of his lips. "Er.." He held up the bowl, rattled the crumbs around a bit. "I don't suppose you would have any more?"

Flurry was up in a flash. "Not a problem!" she called back, her voice rattling around her private little pantry. "Here—"

A fresh stack of candy bars, two bowls of chips, and a nice-looking platter of cheesy crackers settled before him. Sunburst barely gave himself time to lick his lips before diving right in, eager to please the rumbling void in his stomach. Making his way through Flurry's piles of snacks, he could feel his stomach growing fuller, his belly growing taut with each full bag of chips, each half-dozen candy bars he devoured.

When he coughed, the dryness of his mouth overwhelming him, there was instantly a bottle of soda floating before him. Snatching it out of Flurry's magic, Sunburst guzzled it down like a stallion parched with thirst. The fizzy liquid burbled and whizzed as it went down his throat, gushing into his belly where it left his rotund, bulging middle a little more round, and a little more bloated. He burped, wiped his muzzle clean, and set the bottle neatly aside.

It seemed there was no end to Flurry's array of snacks. Sunburst was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded; he had to spread his thighs further apart to make more room for his burgeoning belly. More and more and more—there was always something new to cram past his lips. He ate like an animal, like a machine, losing himself to that familiar thrill of the hunt for fresh sugar, fresh calories, fresh fillings. He could almost feel the fat spreading across his limbs, but in his haze of food-lust, he barely cared. Cheap snacks or not, it all tasted so good.

Another two-liter bottle of soda joined the first, their accumulated contents sloshing and churning in his belly. Now straining enormously against the button of his clock, Sunburst's gut pushed out far over his lap, its plush, generous folds folding around the contours of the fabric. His bellybutton especially had been pushed out so far that it nearly resembled an outtie; as it was, as Sunburst felt the soda-gas rising up in his gullet again, he felt a sudden pang of tight, almost painful pressure building up at the base of his navel.

With a low, rumbling belch, the pressure released itself. Sunburst collapsed back against his chair—and his belly thrust outward, providing the final push for his poor, trembling button-clasp. It snapped with a crack of air, the button going flying across the room as his cloak was flung open around him. Sunburst belched again, unable to stop that final expression of gluttony as his gigantic belly rolled out into his lap, covering his thick, chunky thighs and overflowing the sides of his chair.

A sudden silence to the room, Sunburst hiccupped—and then remembered that he hadn't been alone. Lucidity flooded back into him, and he grunted with a sudden pain. Both hooves went up to his giant, bloated middle as his head leaned back against his chair, both arms rubbing gently at his oversized gut.

His blush burning his cheeks, he caught Flurry's eye out of the corner of his own. "Er. Sorry," he said. "I was a little hungrier than I thought."

She was, if anything, blushing harder than he was. Hm. So that was that hypothesis, presumably, proven. Hesitantly, she stepped toward him, her hooves clip-clopping on the smooth marble floor.

"Um." Flurry glanced down at his middle, her expression becoming adorably—Sunburst mentally slapped himself for using the word—sheepish. "It's no problem, really."

He burped again, and then groaned, his eyes fluttering shut. "Ugh. I think I might have, um, eaten a bit too much."

"Um..." Flurry stepped a little closer, her bright tresses bouncing gently over her shoulder. She blinked down at him with big, pink eyes, and lifted a hoof into the air. "Maybe I could help?"

"How?"

"Well," Flurry said, blushing madly. "Maybe I could...give you a bit of a belly rub?"

When he blinked back at her, she appended, quite quickly, "Just like a massage! Nothing big, right? Heh. Er..."

Sunburst considered that for a moment. The very idea of letting his pupil touch him like that, just as it had yesterday, made him wince a little—out of respect for his professional decorum, if nothing else. And yet...

He swallowed. His stomach did feel awfully bloated, and he'd be a fool to think he could reach all of it like this. Why, if he'd been upright, it might have been hanging close to his ankles. And Flurry's hoof did look so very soft...

With a shake of his head and a grunt, Sunburst heaved himself out from any sorts of lewd thoughts. He did, however, make his decision. She might not have been honest with him—but if he was being serious, he hadn't been entirely honest with himself.

And perhaps he could trust her, he thought. At least enough to give her a chance.

"If—if you think it would help," he said, stumbling over the words. He didn't quite meet her eye, but he did incline his muzzle in the direction of his gut. Ponies didn't often wear shirts, but if he had been, the lower hem would have long since been pushed up past the top of his navel. Several feet of circumference lay bare to the world, great plains of supple, quivering belly-flesh.

"S-sure." Flurry stepped even closer, and raised her hoof again. "J-just, hold still, okay?" And she laid her hoof right over his belly button.

Sunburst exhaled, his shoulders slumping. The touch of Flurry's hoof was...cold, almost, but not unpleasant. If anything, it was a welcome contrast to the churning furnace of his great, wobbling food-processor. He gave her a weak grin, and she grinned back. "Is that okay?" she said.

He nodded. Her smile broadening, Flurry began to rub her hoof in small, concentric circles, keeping its tip right over his navel. Sunburst groaned, grunted, sighed, feeling some of the pressure in his gut evaporate beneath Flurry's skillful hoof. The gas from the soda especially seemed to be relieving its pressure—with a quick burp, followed by an instant, embarrassed blush, Sunburst felt the worst of the pain recede.

"Much better," he said, coughing. "Erm—you really weren't lying, I suppose. About...liking this, that is." He spread his arms at her quizzical expression, gesturing to all of his great, wobbling gut.

"Oh! Um." Flurry blushed in return. She didn't stop rubbing, though. "I, uh, yeah."

"I am sorry for being such a shameless glutton, though," Sunburst muttered. "Incredibly rude of me." He felt another belch coming on—that insufferable soda!—and quickly stifled it.

Flurry giggled, and moved her rubbing a bit lower on his belly. "I actually think it's kind of cute," she confessed. "Taking over with an appetite like that..." She shuddered, then blushed even deeper. Sunburst felt his eyebrows going up. He could probably have made that last sentence awkward for her—for the two of them, really—but felt no real need to.

"In any case," Sunburst said, kneading his bulging middle, "I must thank you for that, ah, midnight 'snack'. It really did hit the spot." He gave his belly a smack, and grinned when it sounded off with a drumlike pound. Sitting here, beneath Flurry's hoof... He almost felt like he could see it as she did. Big, but not dumpy. Powerful. Heavy, but not flabby. He remembered walking past the muscular, toned Crystal Guard yesterday and, instead of flashing back to his sense of shame, instead thought of the most amusing idea of sitting on the other stallion. Why, with a rump as large as his...

Stifling a chuckle, he turned back to Flurry and smiled. "Very enjoyable," he finished. "If not perhaps quite a snack."

"Well," Flurry said shyly. "Actually, if it's not quite a snack, maybe you wouldn't object to having some dessert?" Seeming to note his gobsmacked expression, she nodded quickly over to an unopened cabinet and flicked it open with her magic. "I had this cake that I snagged from last night's inaugural dinner..."

Just like before, the scent of it hit Sunburst first. His mouth opened; his nose twitched; a line of drool slipped down his chins. Hurriedly slurping it up, he waited with baited breath as Flurry levitated out a towering slab of chocolate-cream cake. It thumped onto the table with a delightfully solid sound, though he noticed that it was only half a cake mere moments later. And yet...

His stomach gurgled, as if it, too, couldn't decide if it were empty or full. Sunburst licked his lips, staring at the cake with wide eyes.

Chapter Four

Sunburst didn't wake so much as drift into something resembling consciousness.

He groaned, his forehead wrinkling as he felt his thoughts emerge from their sluggish mire. His eyelids trembled, flecks of sleep sticking them shut. With a bleary yawn, he let them open, soft, golden light filtering through as his legs stretched out around him.

One of his legs brushed up against something big- something warm. Blinking drowsily, Sunburst glanced up at the strange, golden mountain rising above him with a nonplussed look. What on earth was that enormous, round bulge? Why was it on top of him? And why did it—he—feel so heavy?

The shape beside him shifted, and he felt a lighter weight push across his torso. As the great "mountain" jiggled and squished beneath an out-of-sight touch, Sunburst's mind began to catch up to speed, his mental gears throwing off their cobwebs as the memories of last night rushed back to him. The food—all of that good. He could nearly moan at the memory of it. But there had been something else—somepony else, hadn't there? Smacking his lips blearily, Sunburst grunted, heaved his neck upward, and remembered: Flurry.

The weight on his gargantuan stomach shifted, and he jolted upright.

"Oh, my gosh." Sunburst scrambled for the covers, making to pull them over himself—and then realized, just as they were halfway over his low-hanging gut, that the shape beside him was also beneath them. "Oh, my stars. Oh, no no no no no."

The shape beside him stirred. Rustling softly, Flurry Heart's pink-red tresses poked up from under the sheet as she turned over on the pillow. She yawned again, then slowly opened her eyes. There was a small smile on her face. "G'morning," she mumbled sleepily, and turned her smile up to him. She noticed the look of horror on his face a beat later.

The mattress creaked as Flurry pushed herself upright. "Whoa," she said quickly. Her hooves flew up into the air. "I am so sorry. I—"

Was that it? Was he about to be fired, jailed, exiled? Sunburst's mouth worked soundlessly, a series of choking sounds fighting their way up his throat as he struggled to keep his lungs from running out of his chest. "You—we didn't—"

"No!" Flurry shook her head rapidly. "No, no! We didn't." She gave him a crooked, guilty smile. "Really. You don't have to worry about that."

Sunburst groaned in relief. Sighing, he flopped back against his bed's headboard, though the impact of his great weight sent the whole bed shuddering and creaking in complaint. As his great belly ceased its own jiggling, he pushed both hooves up around its sides and took in a breath, very carefully not meeting his student's eyes.

"So," he said carefully, "I didn't, ah—take advantage?"

"No," Flurry said. "You're good there."

"Ah," he said. "Excellent."

There was a moment of silence between them. Then:

"What did happen last night?" Sunburst finally asked.

Flurry coughed into a hoof. "Oh. Um. Well, you kind of went nuts after I brought the cake out. Really getting into it, y'know." She offered him a sheepish grin, and he saw a blush flash across her cheeks. "Kind of awe-inspiring, really."

"Lovely," he said. "I don't remember a damned thing about it."

"Oh, well, you kind of fell into this kind of food coma at some point," she said. "Once you couldn't take any more, and you asked me to start feeding you—"

"—feeding me?"

Blushing madly, she continued, "—and then your chair sort of broke—"

He very nearly choked.

"—and I knew I couldn't just leave you there, so I used my magic to carry you up here, but by then it was really late, and my rooms are all the way across the palace, and I was really tired from carrying you, and you just looked so soft and warm..."

Flurry let out a quiet "eep!" when Sunburst's gaze turned onto her. She stared down at the sheets, curling the hem in her hoof.

"I—I really shouldn't have," she blurted. "I understand if you hate me forever or anything. I should—I should just go."

She made to get up. Sunburst held up a hoof. Flurry froze.

"You...fed me?" Sunburst couldn't tell if he felt horrified or horribly, terribly amused.

"Um," Flurry said. "Yes?"

"This was after the, ah..." He searched his thoughts, scratching the back of his neck. “Belly...rubs?”

They stared at each other for another moment, blinking. Sunburst felt something rising in his chest.

“Um...yes?”

“Hah!” Sunburst wheezed with laughter, chuckling, every inch of his big, pudgy body shaking in time with his guffaws. Flurry stared at him with her mouth agape, watching with obvious befuddlement as the fat unicorn bounced and snickered in his bed.

“I’m sorry,” Sunburst gasped, finally coming down with a final few giggles. His plump cheeks dimpled as he turned to face her. “It’s just—well, this is certainly not a situation I would have envisioned myself in a week ago, let alone six months prior.”

“Oh.” She cracked a hesitant smile at that. “I guess not.”

“Most certainly not,” he corrected her. “But in any case…”

He turned to his other side, groped for his glasses. All of a sudden, there was a weight on his face, right over the bridge of his nose. Blinking, Sunburst watched the bedroom come into view around him, his vision focusing as Flurry’s bright pink magic faded from his spectacles.

“Sorry,” she said, nervously. “I wasn’t sure where to put them.”

“That’s quite alright,” he said. Sunburst telekinetically adjusted his glasses, sliding them a half-centimeter down his muzzle until the room came into perfect focus. He cleared his throat, then gave Flurry a small, sad little smile.

“So,” he said. “You really are into...all of this.” He shuffled his shoulders against the headboard and gestured down to his great, wobbling gut. It stuck up over the rest of him by a good two feet, acres of soft, pliable fat arching above the rest of his pudgy form. It was, he had to admit, legitimately impressive.

Flurry bit her lip. “I think it suits you,” she said, after a long pause.

“Oh?” Sunburst said. He took it in both hooves, and shook it. It wobbled and rippled like a gelatinous mass; he froze, then belched as the contents of last night’s feast sloshed around in it. Flushing, he shoved a hoof over his mouth to cover it. “Oops.”

Flurry only giggled.

Chuckling himself, Sunburst let his hoof fall. “Carefully, now,” he said. “You’ll leave me thinking that it suits me, too.”

“Really?”

“I’ve never felt particularly attractive, I must admit,” he said. Shrugging, he added, “Perhaps an overly personal thing to admit to one’s student, but it is nice to be aware of at least one, ah, appealing feature.”

“Oh, really?” she said. Something in her eyes glittered. “Actually—“

“Let’s skip the part where you attempt to dance around your confession from last night,” Sunburst said. He gave her a sheepish grin, and chuckled at the redness of her cheeks. “You were about to evasively ask me if there might be anything more to it.”

“Was it really that obvious?”

“I’m an academic, Princess,” he said, smirking. “Not an idiot.”

She snorted. “Well. Then yes, I suppose I was.”

“At least you’re honest about it.” Grunting, Sunburst heaved himself to face her; at his girth and weight, doing so was no easy task. The mattress shook again beneath them as his great, soft flanks spread across it. “And to answer your question—I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, to entertain the idea now would be highly inappropriate,” he said, regarding her evenly. When she wilted at his words, though, he coughed, and added, “Though that’s not to say you aren’t a beautiful mare. You’ve inherited your mother’s looks, your father’s confidence, and the intelligence of your aunt.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Any stallion would be a fool to ignore that.”

She flushed deeper. Feeling more confident than he ever had been, Sunburst barrelled on.

“But”—he saw her cringe at the word—“the fact remains that you are underage, and my student.” He pushed his glasses back up his nose, licked his lips. “So long as you are under eighteen, and under my care, I absolutely wouldn’t even consider the idea.”

“Oh,” she said. It was such a small word, really, and yet so very, very heavy. After a moment, though, she brightened.

“Wait,” Flurry said. “‘So long as’—but what about after?”

There it was. “After what?” he said innocently. “After you reach your age of majority—after you graduate from my tutelage?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Why, then I’d just be a citizen of the Empire, and you, its newly-crowned heir.” A smile touched his lips. “While I’m sure there could still be some measure of awkwardness, there certainly wouldn’t be any danger of impropriety…”

“That...makes sense.” Flurry smiled at him; chuckling, Sunburst smiled back. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was forgetting something, though. She sighed. “But I do have to wait.”

“All ponies have to wait, Princess,” he said. “And I can’t promise anything.” He shrugged again. “But...the chance would be available, yes.”

“That’s all I need,” she said. Then, somewhat more shyly, she said, “And the belly rubs?”

“What about them?” he asked. Then it hit him. “Oh, you naughty mare. No—while I’m afraid I enjoyed our ‘snack’ last night greatly, that kind of...intimate setting is best avoided for now. Although,” he added thoughtfully, “I would be happy to continue taking lunch in the kitchens with my student.” He gave her a wink, and patted his belly. “A free ticket to that kind of cooking is never unappreciated.”

She giggled. “Alright, then,” she said. “Orders understood.”

“Is that fair?”

“Absolutely.” For a second, she sat a little straighter, and he caught a glimpse of the mare she would be—that she was becoming—in the glint of her eyes. Then she relaxed, and the smile returned to her face. “But in the meantime…”

She darted forward; before he could avoid it, she’d planted a kiss on his cheek. It was a chaste one—completely innocent; the kind that a niece might give an uncle, or a thankful student to a long-time mentor...but it left Sunburst blushing and sputtering all the same.

“I, uh—“

“A promise,” Flurry said. She grinned. “For the chance, at least.”

“For the chance,” he echoed, and smiled in return.

They sat there for a moment more. This time, though, the silence was comfortable—familiar, really. And then…

There came a knock on the door.

Sunburst frowned. Flurry blinked.

“Sunburst?” Shining Armor’s deep voice floated through the door. “Are you awake?”

Sunburst paled. Oh, fiddlesticks. He knew he’d forgotten something.

“Have you seen Flurry Heart at all today?” Shining rapped on the door again, and Sunburst flinched. “She wasn’t in her room, and I was wondering if she might have come to turn in an assignment or something.”

Slowly, Sunburst and Flurry turned to face one another. Their eyes met. Flurry gulped audibly. Sunburst just trembled.

Oh, dear.