"Hey, Twilight!" Spike called, trotting into the eponymous purple princess's bedroom with a rolled-up letter in his claw. "This just came through the mirror portal for you."
"Really?" Twilight took the letter from him with her magic, unfurling it. "Oh, it's from Sunset. Hey, it says here she got a job with the school paper!"
"Nice," Spike replied. "What is it? I'm guessing music correspondent."
"I'll say sports reporter." Twilight cast her eyes further down the letter. "And... huh, it's neither of those. She does restaurant reviews for them."
"Restaurant reviews?" Spike repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Why in Equestria would Sunset want to do something as boring as restaurant reviews?"
"Haaah..." Sunset sighed, puffing out her cheeks as she waddled down the street, her large reserves of fat wobbling, her stomach gurgling and churning as it worked on digesting the massive stacks of pancakes she had just devoured at Pancake Palace. What was, without a doubt, the biggest perk of reviewing restaurants for the school paper? The school covered your restaurant tab for anywhere you reviewed. Thanks to them, Sunset had been eating like a queen. She did like to be as fair as possible with her reviews, after all, and the way to be fair was to be thorough. And the way to be thorough was to sample as many items on the menu as possible.
Sunset had taken to her task with due diligence. Secure in the knowledge that the school would be footing the bill, she'd taken to feasting on the finest food the restaurants she visited had to offer. That was another great thing about reviewing restaurants—once the restaurant owners got word that a reviewer was coming, they pulled out all the stops to ensure that you got only the best service. She had complimented the manager of Pancake Palace on just that as she'd sat back in her booth, stuffed to the brim with pancakes.
"I'll be sure to give them five stars," she told herself, giggling as she gave her gut a slap. All of her fine dining had certainly done a number on her figure. Rather than the slim, trim physique she had once owned, Sunset was now bulging out in all directions, jiggling with every hefty step she took. Her jeans were beginning to grow considerably tight around her generously-proportioned butt and hips, with a couple of seams already beginning to split slightly, allowing orange-tinted flesh to bulge through the gaps. Her customary leather jacket was opened at the front to allow her yoga-ball belly to hang out in front of her, along with her jeans being permanently unzipped and unbuttoned, held up only by a belt loosened as much as it would go. Not for the first time, she resolved to get a new, larger set of clothes as soon as possible... but not before fulfilling her obligations to the school paper, of course.
Pausing to catch her breath, Sunset took a notebook out of her jacket pocket and flipped it open as she leaned against a wall, her belly fat squishing against the brick surface as she did so. Taking a pen from behind her ear, she crossed off Pancake Palace on the list of dining establishments she planned to visit that day. Pancake Palace thus joined Tacopalyse, Winging It, and Atlantis Seafood on the list of places she had already gorged herself at that day. Next on the list was an Indian place called the Tasty Treat, it seemed.
"Nice," she said to herself, licking her lips in anticipation. "I do love me some Indian food." She gave her stomach a pat. "What do you say, buddy? Shall we go try it out?"
Her stomach let out a gurgle, and she grinned. "Well, okay, if you insist."
She set off toward the restaurant, images of a slap-up meal already filling her greedy mind. And to think Rainbow Dash had scoffed at her for agreeing to do the restaurant reviews. "Boring," she had called them. Well, boring they may have been, but they were more than rewarding enough to make up for it. It hadn't taken long at all for her to outgrow her first pair of pants, and she was fast about to burst out of her second pair, from the feel of things.
Already panting a little from the strain of lugging her excess weight with her, Sunset wiped a bead of sweat from her brow as she arrived at the Tasty Treat. She liked the look of it from the start—a cosy-looking little place with several happy diners already visible through the windows. If the place was doing that well, the chef was clearly doing something right, and Sunset was very eager to find out what.
As she squeezed her way through the door of the restaurant, she was greeted by a pretty-looking girl.
"Welcome!" the girl said, bowing. "My name's Saffron Masala, and I will be your server this afternoon. Please let me show you to a table."
"Thanks," Sunset replied, her stomach growling as she caught the wonderful smell of spices coming from the kitchen and the bowls on the other diners' tables. She grunted as she squeezed her gut behind the table that Saffron showed her. "I'll order now, if you don't mind."
"Of course," Saffron replied, notebook and pen at the ready. "What will you have?"
"I'm gonna need you to bring me one of everything on the menu," Sunset told her, making a show of setting her own notebook and pen down on the table. She saw Saffron's eyes widen as she put two and two together in her own head.
"Absolutely, ma'am," Saffron replied, bowing again. "We'll have that out for you as soon as possible."
Sunset smirked as she watched Saffron go. Yep, she'd gotten the hint alright. Now that she knew Sunset was a critic, she and the chef would be sure to pull out all the stops for her. All she had to do now was sit back and wait.
While Sunset waited, she decided she might as well make a few starting notes on the place. She took the notebook and jotted down her first impressions. "Tastefully decorated... friendly staff... prompt service."
Speaking of prompt service, as soon as she set her notebook down, Saffron returned with a jug of water, setting it down on the table.
"Thanks," Sunset told her.
"Not at all!" Saffron beamed. "We do like to please the reviewers... um, customers, after all!"
"So I see," Sunset chuckled, as Saffron left once more. Her stomach gurgled again, impatiently. She gave it a reassuring pat under the table. "Easy there, buddy—food is on the way."
Sure enough, Saffron returned before long... this time, carrying a tray stacked high with plates and bowls of steaming Indian cuisine. With a heavy thud, she set it down on the table before a very eager-looking Sunset.
"Enjoy," she said simply, bowing once again as she left.
"Oh, I intend to..." Sunset breathed, rubbing her plump hands together as she got ready to dive in. This was it—the best part of the job!
Pulling up a large, steaming hot bowl of curry, Sunset took a forkful and shoved it into her greedy maw. The first word that came to mind was, "delicious." Succulent lamb cutlets combined with a wonderfully hot and spicy curry sauce and basmati rice to provide the perfect flavour. It was rich, hearty, and hot enough that Sunset was sure she could feel the fillings sizzling in the back of her mouth.
"Fantastic," she said to herself as she polished the bowl off, stifling a spice-fuelled belch as she pushed the empty bowl away. No sooner had that bowl been finished than she was starting on the next. For the next bowl, she alternated between shovelling curry and rice into her mouth with the aid of a fork and scooping up handfuls of it with slices of naan bread. Moaning with pleasure, she paused in the middle of her gorging to reach down and undo her belt entirely, allowing her stomach to flop out unhindered into her lap.
"Ahh, that's better," she told herself, using a napkin to wipe curry sauce off her chin. Sweat was already beginning to bead on her forehead from just how incredibly hot the food was. She made a note of that; "Curry is SUPER hot, big plus points there."
With that, Sunset continued to glut herself with abandon, the empty plates and bowls piling up as she kept on filling her ever-ravenous gut with spicy Indian goodness. She considered, again, just what an incredibly, unbelievably sweet deal she had landed with this restaurant review gig. Heck, she was considering doing it for a proper newspaper once she left school. Imagine being paid to do this, instead of just volunteering for the school paper! Forget being the President or a supermodel, that was a dream career that was worth shooting for.
Finally, the last bowl was pushed away, and Sunset lay slumped back in her seat, her eyes closed and her fringe damp with sweat. Her belly was bubbling and churning like a witch's cauldron, and her mouth was smeared with the remnants of approximately a dozen full-sized meals. She was so unbelievably full that she couldn't eat a wafer-thin mint.
"Check, please," she said, raising an arm lazily. Within moments, Saffron was at her side. "Just send the bill to Canterlot High School."
"Absolutely," Saffron replied. "Was everything to your liking?"
"Oh yes," Sunset assured her. "It was more than to my liking. In fact, I'd say it was outstanding." She winked. "I'm sure you'll get a great review."
"Wonderful!" Saffron beamed, as Sunset lumbered slowly out. "Please come again!"
Oh, Sunset definitely would. But for now, with her overloaded stomach nagging her, she decided it was as good a time as any to head home and sleep it all off.
As Sunset turned for home, she almost walked into a friend—Twilight Sparkle, to be precise. Twilight was pretty hard to miss these days, with her own obese body practically spilling out of her clothes. Ovals of lavender belly flesh showed between the tortured buttons on her shirt, as well as a nice, deep belly button. She currently held a corn dog in one hand, the other being used to tug up the hem on her ever-tightening skirt.
"Hey, Sunset!" she smiled. "Great call on that corn dog place, and that Japanese place. And that Cajun place. You really do know your way around awesome food."
Sunset smiled as she took in just how huge her friend had gotten under her guidance. She wasn't the only one—a load of kids at Canterlot High were blimping out after following her reviews. Her love of food was contagious, it seemed.
"Glad to hear it, Twi," she said. "Be sure to look out for the next review. It's gonna be a good one."
"I'll do that!" Twilight promised her, burping. "See ya 'round!"
Sunset bade her goodbye, chuckling to herself as she headed home. Hopefully, the school had room in the budget for XXXL-sized desks.
END
