Sleipnir Colony - A Short Story Collection

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

They had agreed to meet on the road outside the little ones parents house. It seemed like the best thing to do so they could go in together.

“How did it go arranging it?” J.G. asked Vast Knowledge. “What are the parents like?” He said curious.

“They’re nice ponies, but well...I don’t think their hearts desires match their daughters if you understand me.”

“Yeah, ain’t hard to understand what you’re gettin’ at.” He replied. It never was when you were talking to the larger ones. J.G. didn’t like to make a connection but he swore the sizes of the bigger ponies didn’t just make them physically slow sometimes, he was sure it did something to their brains too. Apart from a few who kept their minds active like Vast Knowledge with work he was pretty sure that when they stopped doing things for themselves ponies minds went to mush. When you’re nothing but a fat eating machine why would you have any needs for smarts?

Anyway right now him and the teacher were about to have a chat with two ponies even bigger than she was. He had one question to ask.

“How big are they?”

“Big, very big. And not very well off. They spend everything they have on food. It’s probably why poor Booster feels so pressured to live up to their expectations. They’re housebound. Can’t afford pads.”

“I see, well lead the way.” J.G. was starting to wonder how a freighter captain got into this situation. He just knew he had taken a shine to the little filly. He would actually be a little upset to have to leave her behind to fend for herself.

The house itself was rather modest looking, it was clear that it wasn’t tended to much however. The small front garden was full of weeds, food wrappers littered it too.

Vast Knowledge put a hoof on her pad which rang the internal door bell. As expected they had to wait a while. Booster had waddled her way to the door and greeted them as she opened it.

“Hey miss! Hey J.G.!” She said with a smile, waddling herself forward and hugging his front legs. He smiled and ruffled her hair.

“Hey little one, do you wanna be with us for this? It’s up to you.” He said to her as she backed away from the hug. Her face scrunched as she tried to decide.

“I uh...I wanna be there. Maybe I can help…” she said.

“Whatever you want dear. We just want to find a solution.” Her teacher said. Booster waved her little hoof and the two followed her into the main living room of the house.

The first thing that struck J.G. was the smell. Big ponies never realised it but there was always a smell to them, J.G. always thought it smelled like greasy bacon fat that had been left a little too long in the sun. These two however were something else, the smell almost made him gag as it assaulted his nostrils. After he recovered from the smell hitting him he finally noticed their size. The two massive parents of Booster were big, very big. J.G. had seen bigger but he’d never seen them quite like this, fed fat to the point of immobility and utterly wedged where they were. He wasn’t even sure they could fit on pads. The room was large and they were larger, he estimated they probably took up two thirds of the room or more easily. He couldn’t tell how far it went back but he assumed they had filled it with their flab. There was no room for them to expand sideways or upwards. The two were side by side and smooshed together, their fat bodies squished together as they took in the last few mouthfuls of food before they needed to speak.

“Mum, dad. This is my teacher. Remember she’s visited before? You can’t get to school for parents evening so she comes here to give you my report. This is Jump Gate, he’s nice…” she trailed off. Despite being immobile it was clear to the two of them the parents had some sort of hold over their daughter.

“Ah yes, I remember you. You’re new though…” The father spoke first. Charming greeting J.G. thought, not even a hello.

“Yes I met your daughter by chance. She’s a real fine young lady.” He said, trying to be nice.

“Sorry, who spoke? I can’t make out where the voice is coming from.” The mother spoke next, he could see her head trying to stretch out from her fat body to find the source of the words.

“That stick over there.” The father said.

“Oh yes, well I’ll be. You must be the thinnest pony I’ve ever seen. I was slender like you once...for about five minutes!” She said with a rather unpleasant cackle. J.G. was already forming a slight dislike for the two of them, they weren’t exactly making it hard.

“Anyway, we’ve come to talk about your daughters situation.” Vast Knowledge started to say. “She’s rather troubled not only at school, but also at home and elsewhere I’ve come to learn.” She said.

“What’s the matter Booster? Aren’t you eating enough?” Her father said through his folds. He couldn’t help sneaking a bite of food in either as he finished speaking.

“Well, it’s the opposite that. She eats too much. She wants to be thin.”

Both her parents immediately stopped. Their eyes went wide.

“W-what? But look at her! She’s tiny!” Her father blurted out. J.G. sighed, it was usually the father who said such nonsense. Although the mother unfortunately wasn’t going to be much more help.

“Yes dear, you can still waddle! You have classmates who are nearly immobile! If anything you need more. You want to grow up big and strong like us, don’t you?”

“Unfortunately ma’am little Booster here doesn’t want any of that. We had a long talk the other day. She’s not a fan.” J.G. replied.

“Maybe she should speak for herself. Booster is this true?” Her father asked her.

“...Yes sir.” Was all she managed to squeak out. For the first time since J.G. could remember he saw something so big almost move, it was like the obese blob was trying to rear up in anger but being trapped in his own body it just violently jiggled instead. Vast Knowledge had to steady her pad and J.G. felt the floor shake beneath him.

“Dad please! Don’t cause another small earthquake…” Booster practically mewed at this point.

“I think if anything deserves an earthquake it’s this! Booster I’m shocked! Why? Why would you want to be...thin.” He almost spat the last words out, his disdain clear. Before Booster could well up again and pour her heart out J.G. spoke for her.

“Look! We’ve already gone over this with her, poor little thing was so worried about telling y'all that we came along to make it easier. The crux is she don’t wanna be a giant lardy blob like you two and you should respect her wishes!” He shouted with a snort, digging his hind legs into the floor slightly. Nothing got his hackles up more than ignorant fat ponies.

There was silence. Finally her mother spoke. “Well, what do you suggest?”

“What do you mean what do we suggest? You’re her parents.” J.G. said.

“Well clearly we’re not fit enough to look after her, we don’t have to skills to look after a thin pony. All I know how to do is feed her.” Her mother said.

“Yeah, we’re not doing a very good job of parenting right now. Clearly. You got any suggestions?”

The two were suddenly hostile. J.G. could see the poor little Booster about to well up again. He heard her say under her breath “They’re always like this…”. There was something more to her words though, and J.G. didn’t need it written down to see it. Suddenly a thought came to mind.

“Let me take her.”

He heard four simultaneous “What’s?” from everyone else in the room.

“Look, it makes sense. She wants to be thin. I can help her. You two don’t know but I run a freighter, you gotta be thin to crew mine… mostly. I ain't gonna be around forever. I’m young now but I won’t be always. Somepony will need to fly her when I’m gone. I could teach her, give her a home. I know she loves your school V.K. but I think this will be good for her.”

“Can you give us a minute J.G.? Please.” Vast Knowledge said. He stepped outside and the door the the living room came down behind him. He pressed his ear up against it. There was some words, some shouting. He swore he heard “Crazy idea.” And “Insane.” along with some tears. About 20 minutes later, the door reopened and a teary Booster trotted forward and hugged him again, simply whispering “Thank you.”

“Well? What does she want?”

“She wants to go with you. Apparently there’s nothing here for her on a colony of fat ponies.” Her mother reluctantly said. “Congratulations mister Jump Gate, you’ve picked up an apprentice. Just make sure you bring her home once in a while. She’s still my daughter.”

“Of course. Maybe next time she sees you she won’t waddle either.” He said.

“This is really what you want Booster?” Her father asked.

“If it means being thin...yes.” The little one replied.

“Very well, we spoke at length while you were outside, but she’s yours now Jump Gate. We hardly know you, but her teacher and Booster speaks highly of you. You had better take care of her.”

“My crew is my family. She’s no exception.” He replied, feeling the hug loosening again. “Booster I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning, spend a last night with your folks. Say your goodbyes and I’ll be by in the AM. See you both sometime.” He said, and walked out before V.K. could follow him and he got lost in a long tirade of words.

He was shaking. What had he done? He took a moment on the unkept lawn outside. He was about to take a very young pony onto his ship. He’d look after her sure, but what about the rest of the crew? How would they react. It had been a spur of the moment decision he thought they’d never go for and they had. Did the parents want her gone? Was there more to this? His brain swirled until he felt the jets of Vast Knowledge’s pad brush against his fur.

“That was silly, risky and I wasn’t expecting it. But I think it’s the right thing for her.” She said.

“Yeah I guess. Really? I feel so stupid for even suggesting it.”

“Well if she stays here it’s unlikely she’ll ever get what she wants. This is a society of fatties. Thin ponies are mocked, she’d likely give into peer pressure to appease everypony else and be unhappy and fat for the rest of her life. At least this way she has a chance.”

“Yeah...yeah. I’ll look after her. It’ll be good to have somepony on the crew I can look after. You’ll miss her though, I know you liked her as a student.”

“It’s not as important as making her happy. You’re a kind soul J.G. and there isn’t many of those left. I wonder sometimes if our gluttony makes us forget that. Well if your ship ever stops by Sleipnir you've got a friend here.” She said, powering her pad away towards home. The young stallion smiled and picked himself up. He decided it best to make his way back to the ship and let the crew know they’d picked up a new member.