Author's Note

One of the more requested things for Captured was to see how the Crystal Empire/Shining and Cadance were doing. I never really did it before now, mostly because of when Captured takes place. I always thought it would take place S2, before Cadance and Shining were introduced. Also well-before the Empire was revealed to us.

Either way, here is a quick what-if for you all.

I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about this chapter. I feel like I could have streamlined it.

Crystal Empire

The Crystal Empire could be a dangerous place, with or without magic. King Sombra’s magic still held sway, buried deep within the minds and hearts of the Crystal Ponies. His magic had once seeped into the ground, polluting everything it touched. His influence may be gone, but with dark magic it could be brought back in an instant. Outside the Empire was dangerous as well; they were in the North after all. One wrong move and somepony could get lost outside the dome of magic, and be stranded in the freezing cold.

Princess Cadance and her husband, Shining Armour, did their best to route out the dangerous magics within the Empire proper. They did their best to ensure that nopony, regardless of intent, would be able to unlock any of King Sombra’s traps or curses. They had light posts and guards patrol outside of the dome, just in case somepony got lost during bad weather. They did all they could to ensure the still unsure populace of the Empire that rulers didn’t have to be cruel and unjust.

They’d been succeeding, until everypony had woken up one morning to find themselves suddenly fatter than they’d ever been before. Some ponies had gained relatively little, yet others hundreds of pounds. After the initial panic had died down, they realized it had been months, not overnight. Something, someone, had put everypony under the influence of some spell and the populace had panicked.

In an effort to keep the peace, especially while still trying to figure out what exactly had happened, Cadance and Shining had decided to to have a cautiously positive outlook over the changes that had occurred.

Yes ponies were bigger, but look at the new industry and jobs that had been created. Ponies who physically couldn’t handle extreme weight gain hadn’t gained much, simply being chubby rather than obese.

Cadance noticed that the Crystal Ponies, in spite of the fear, had taken to their new dimensions rather well. They’d even taken more of a liking to herself and Shining, since they’d gained quite a bit. Cadance wasn’t exactly sure why, but if she had to guess, it was likely because of their long enslavery. None of them had the resources before to put on extra weight, so maybe that was it?

Regardless, Cadance and Shining did their best to put their people at ease. They ate large banquets, fully embracing the new lifestyle that had been forced onto them. Cadance was most excited about this change. She’d always been slender, and societal pressures for Princesses always ran high. This was a break from her strict regimens, and Cadance reveled in it.

The royal couple welcomed all the new technology that was built to accommodate larger ponies, even buying some of the tech themselves. Cadance gained a lot of weight quickly, mostly due to her staying relatively sedentary while Shining still moved about to ensure his guards were still keeping an eye on things.
Cadance was used to having her subjects approach her with love problems. Fights, misunderstandings, lack of communication. From friends, couples, and all sorts of other relationships. As the populace of the Empire fattened, she found these problems weren’t nearly as common.

Ponies followed their leaders’ lead. Love, acceptance, and compassion filled the Empire to such a scale that Cadance’s magic picked it up in the air. It was beautiful that all the ponies were so happy, turning a potential threat into a strength.

Four months after the Empire had awoken, Cadance’s stomach had finally grown large enough to prevent her hooves from touching the ground. Even with her legion of well-used Belly Boards, she simply was immobile. She loved food, loved what the fat was doing for all of her people, and she didn’t even try to curb her gains.

Fat had become a symbol of peace, hope, and love. What kind of ruler would she be if she didn’t set an example? She wanted to be a symbol for her people in a way Shining couldn’t: and it worked.

Five months after the Empire had awoken from the Fattening Sleep, and Cadance couldn’t be happier. She stayed in the crystal palace, willing and able to talk to the subjects that dragged themselves away from their eating long enough to visit. Unlike many with magic who found themselves immobile, Cadance forgoed the mobility carts and scooters. Press visited often, from Equestria, the Empire, and beyond. It had taken a while for the northern railroads to be repaired after months of neglect, but once the Empire made itself accessible again, ponies visited in droves.

There was one pony in particular Shining and Cadance wanted to see, and soon after the railway opened again, they weren’t disappointed to learn Twilight would visit them.

(LINE BREAK)

Twilight’s massive body swayed and jostled in time with the train, the soothing motion almost soothing her into sleep. Her mind was too wound up to allow for that, however, still spinning from her meeting with Stout Wrangler.

Twilight was berating herself for listening to Stout, and felt even more upset that she’d somehow agreed to work with the pony she was sure had caused all of this. On her way back from Ponyville, Twilight had heard the news that the Empire Railroad had been opened. On a whim, Twilight decided to go visit Cadance and Shining Armour on the next train out of Manehatten. Twilight sent an express letter she was on her way, and got onto the train.

Twilight sincerely hoped, due to their isolation, that the Empire had been spared. She doubted it but she hoped.

As the spires of the Crystal Empire got closer, Twilight breathed deep. She had a feeling she’d need all the calm she could to make it through her visit. It was going to hurt to see everypony so changed, especially Cadance and Shining.

The train pulled into the station at the edge of the Empire, and Twilight rolled her cart onto the platform. She scanned the crowd, and her heart ached at the sight.

Things had escalated here. The ponies that were out and about were grossly overweight, using whatever they could to keep their gigantic bodies mobile. There were fewer ponies than Twilight had expected, though the streets weren’t as deserted as Griffonstone’s.

“Twily!” Twilight’s eyes snapped to the source of the noise, and she was taken aback by how large her brother had gotten, even though deep in her heart she’d expected it.

Shining was massive, using what looked like three Belly Boards to keep himself mobile. Even then, it looked like he had difficulties reaching around his stomach to walk. His stomach had taken the brunt of his gain, but the rest of him was packed full of fat as well. His toned muscles were gone, buried under pounds of fat that collected in every portion of his body. He still had a semblance of a neck, but the beginnings of the fat rolls that was sure to overtake it were present. He had three chins, and fat squishy cheeks. His shoulders and flanks had bloated with so much fat that they sagged over the edges of the rest of his legs, making him look very wide.

Twilight put on a mask of a smile, and carted herself over, “Shining!”

“Glad you could visit, sis. It was a long train ride, did you need to stop somewhere to eat?”

Twilight was hungry, but she wanted to see Cadance and spend time with her family doing something that wasn’t eating, “I’m okay, thanks.”

“We can get something from the palace. The chefs have been doing such an excellent job,” Shining said, beginning the laborious process of getting himself turned around, “You’ll...love it!”

Twilight said nothing, simply watching as Shining started to lead the way to the palace.It wasn’t normally a long walk, but with how much work Shining had to put into one step it took twice as long as it would have usually.

All the while, Twilight had been smelling the delectable scents of the Empire. The Crystal Ponies were large from what Twilight could tell. Not quite as large as the residents of Griffonstone, but coming very close. They overfilled seats, took up large portions of the sidewalks, and on one memorable occasion broke their mobility scooter under them.

Finally, the brother and sister reached the castle. Shining was terribly out of breath, panting and wheezing. Sweat dampened his white coat, and seemed to pool among his rolls and folds. It looked uncomfortable, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel sorry for her brother.

The throne room was much the same as Twilight remembered, with the exception of the blob that was her sister-in-law.

Cadance lay at the foot of the dias she once ruled from, taking up a significant portion of that part of the room. Cadence had become a blob, barely recognizable as a pony at all. Her distinguishing features, her cutie mark and face, were so distorted by fat that if Twilight didn’t know better, she’d say the blob in front of her wasn’t Cadance at all. Cadence’s eyes were just visible between a sliver of space between her sagging forehead fat and her gargantuan cheek fat. Her face was further obscured by a servant who had climbed up her many neck and cheek rolls like a ladder, and seemed to be feeding her something.

The servant, seeing Twilight and Shining approaching, stopped the feeding, and climbed back down. She was an obese mare with a large, drooping stomach. She bowed to Shining, then stood to the side, clearly awaiting orders.

“Twilight!” Cadance rumbled, her voice weak and wheezy from her weight, the sound slurring a little because of her impressive amount of face fat..

“Cadance! It’s so good to see you!” Twilight sincerely hoped Cadance couldn’t hear the forced edge to her voice.

“You’ve...been eating...well,” Cadance observed, squinting hard in an attempt to see through her fat.

Twilight looked down at herself as much as she was able, “Not really,” She muttered, and winced when she realized how loud she’d been.

“That’s terrible!” Cadence gasped, “Things are...so good here...you must be...hungry.”

“No, I’m-” Twilight’s stomach betrayed her at that moment, letting out a huge growl that shook Twilight’s body. Twilight sighed in resignation, already mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

“Third...lunch..please!” Cadence called, the servant nodding and ringing a bell next to a wide stairway off to the side of the throne room.

It took a few minutes, but servants did bring up huge cartloads of food, panting and sweating as they did. They appeared happy at least.
“Eat with us, Twily!” Shining begged, his eyes shining in the light of the room.

Twilight sighed, then nodded. She wanted to talk, but knew that it would be a stupid thing to try to do while they were eating. Nothing seemed as important as food nowadays. Twilight started eating, feeling resigned. At least I get to spend time with them, even if it isn’t ideal.

A year later, by the time Twilight and Celestia and Luna were all locked in their food addictions, Cadance and Shining were still happily unaware of the difficulties faced elsewhere. They were happy, their people were happy. While they missed their family and friends, they received letters from them still, which was almost as good as seeing them.

When every new letter arrived, Shining would have the servants read it out loud. He had finally hit immobility, and he lacked the breath to talk any more than a few words at a time without needing to stop to breathe.

Cadance could hear the letters, but couldn’t see them. Her fat had finally rendered her blind, and had made eating solid food almost impossible. So in an effort to ensure his wife didn’t starve, Shining ensured Cadance was hooked up to a system of tanks and hoses that constantly pumped milkshakes and other liquid treats into her mouth. Whatever it took to keep her happy and full.

All in order to keep the ponies happy.