Spatial Consumption

It was the end of a very long, very exhausting day. One that had been filled with frustration, raised voices, banging hooves angrily on desks and a lot of regrettable words. To say that Typhoon was exhausted might be the understatement of the century. The mare had gotten into her high-rise apartment very late after a trip back from the main development complex and practically crashed into bed without bothering to eat so much as a morsel of food or even wash. She was far too tired. About all she could muster was to lay there for thirty minutes checking the news she had missed before falling asleep.

Perhaps though this was a bad idea. It had been three months since the news from Vanguard Perihelion DSE had broken about their little experiment with a mare named Rivets. Yet it still dominated all the top news sites, with Typhoon hardly even able to find an article on much else that was happening in the wider galaxy. The reporters seemed to be digging up every little piece of information they could find on this mare who up until three months ago nopony had even heard of. The articles were getting more click-batey too. Typhoon’s eyes glanced over Ten Top Tips To Total Tubbiness supposedly from Rivets and Rivets Reveals All: Why Size Is All Important. Typhoon nearly threw the tablet device she was using to browse away in disgust. This was the last thing she needed to see after a terrible day.

Why this was happening Typhoon could at least understand somewhat. Ponies across the galaxy were always fascinated by something that graced the headlines. This was a bit different because body weight was not something that ponies generally thought about too much. Most were what you’d call a ‘healthy’ weight for the most part with a few exceptions like fashion models being under or ones who didn’t have the means to take care of themselves but ate lots of food over. But these days even the poorest of the galaxy’s workers could probably scrounge enough together to go to a clinic and have fat sucked away to return them to a steady and more reasonable weight. She just believed some refused to, probably for personal reasons. Rivet’s was different. She was by all accounts the fattest pony alive recorded through all of history. The fact that she was alive was incredible in itself, and she seemed to show no signs (at least from the news articles) that she was under any duress from her mammoth body. It made Typhoon wonder why.

Typhoon had her own company, one she had inherited from her father who decided to retire at just the wrong moment as their rivals DSE were starting to get more pull in the sector. Now Typhoon was seen as a failure by her family for making a booming exploration research company go from being one of the top providers in the sector to middling at best. The name of ISE (Interstellar Sector Exploration) had far less clout than it did a year ago. Typhoon was trying her best to bring the company back to its former glory but with DSE dominating the press and all their customers flocking to them for their exploration needs, ISE was taking a battering it didn’t deserve. Typhoon sank into her pillows and switched off the device, her brain swirling over the day’s events but ultimately returning to one key thing. Right now, with their fame induced clout DSE was the source of all her problems. ISE had the people, the equipment. They were just as competent in the exploration division. If not more so, her company focused more heavily on equipment and new ways of exploring the vast reaches of space that still outpaces DSE, for the moment. She still kept her eyes on non-fantastical weight gain articles that seemed to dominate the press these days and looked at industry ones. With the added cash boost from all this fame and glory, she was worried DSE might even catch up and overtake them. She knew who their CEO was, Amber. That name was burned into her head. As she lay in bed slowly falling asleep her final thoughts flickered back to Rivets. The fact that she was the way she was fascinated Typhoon. It should be utterly impossible, but there she was, a mare of practically mountainous proportions giving news interviews and being perfectly fine all the while. There had to be something that Amber and Rivets weren't telling. She had noticed in interviews they had when all the interviewers had popped the inevitable question of how she achieved such a monstrous frame that both ponies had avoided it, either flipping the question back to the interviewer or simply saying ‘How it happened isn’t important.’ when it very clearly was. There was wild speculation of course all over the galaxy, but nothing concrete anyone could discern about just how it had happened. Everything from magical weight gain food to Rivets had always been that large but been in hiding for years.

Typhoon’s body finally gave up allowing her to be awake, her mind drifting off into unconsciousness. A short nights sleep before she was rudely awoken by an alarm and then a trip back to the office for another day of hell. Despite all the problems, there was something they were working on that she was quite excited about and she had been promised an in pony report and possibly demonstration tomorrow by the head of the department. Her final thoughts of the night were to make sure she prepared herself during the journey with any questions she might have about the project.

Typhoon’s clock beeped at her. Six in the morning. She opened her bleary eyes and made for the bathroom to clean herself up after having failed to do so last night. She could at least head into work fresh for the day. Once that was done, a quick snack followed by getting herself into her usual work attire was the final things she did before hastily stepping out of her apartment and riding the elevator up to the roof where her transport would be waiting for her. She envied ponies who could get up at a more reasonable time in the morning. Sometimes she’d be able to catch a few moments of sleep on the ride to the office but today she wanted to prepare herself, and spent the journey doing so.

It only took around twenty minutes to get to the station that ISE operated in high orbit above the planet. It was an impressive structure, somewhat a bit all over the place. Over the years they had bolted on more and more to the original structure to expand their area of operations and to give them more working space. They had ground facilities too but most of the testing they did needed to take place in space itself. The transport entered one of the many stations docking bays and landed on a small pad inside with a light jolt. Typhoon thanked the driver for the usual safe and speedy trip and departed the transport. She’d stop by her office first and check in with her secretary before seeing what time the new project’s demonstration and report would be ready for.

It was a little bit of a trot to the main office, Typhoon had to pass through various parts of the complex to get there. On the way she saw employees she passed nervously shuffle, look away, pretend they were occupied with work. She could feel that atmosphere in the artificially generated air around the station felt sour still from yesterday. She tried her best to smile somewhat, look happy, but the employee’s who could read her saw through it without much effort. The mare finally made her way to the outside of her office, letting out a small sigh of relief as the doors shut behind her. She was in the small foyer area.

‘Good morning Miss Typhoon.’ came the usual cheerful response. Her secretary, Fusion Coil was already here and sitting dutifully at her desk browsing through her work computer checking the communications for the morning. She looked up with an expression that told Typhoon she was expecting a reply.

‘Good morning Fusion. Anything I need to know about?’ she asked. She watched as Fusion sorted through the information quickly. The relationship between the two was...interesting to say the least. Fusion had worked at the company for some years, underneath Typhoon’s father before she had taken it over. From what Typhoon understood the two had a great relationship and it was at her father’s insistence that she remained employed. Typhoon herself saw the mare as somewhat replaceable, particularly by modern equipment. She didn’t really understand the need to employ a personal secretary these days. The thing as well was Fusion was quite smart, often she had made comments or suggestions about issues she had heard within the company that actually ended up being on par with the solution her highly paid engineers came up with. She had a few times offered her a ‘promotion’ to get rid of her, but each time the mare had turned it down, stating she was happy with her current job and had no ambition or want to do a different job. It might have been for the best, Fusion Coil was almost a little too trusting of ponies and Typhoon had an inkling she was a little naive actually. Perhaps her sticking to where she was best the more she thought about it.

‘The project report should be ready in around thirty minutes, they’ve asked if you can visit the laboratory as they’d like to give you a demonstration too. Other than that it is just daily issues that can wait until you get back. Would you like some coffee?’ Fusion Coil asked.

‘Yes please, thanks. Bring it into my office, I’ll be there until I need to leave.’ Typhoon responded, trotting past Fusion Coils desk and entering her office. The office was still somewhat like her father had left it. A large wooden desk dominated the middle of the room, it was a bit of an oddity in an age where furniture all had a sleek shine to it and was mainly silver in colour. She remembered he had paid a lot of money to have it shipped up to the station and have it installed here. It seemed silly to remove it. The mare sat for a few moments browsing through her own work for a few moments before Fusion Coil came trotting in with a cup of warm coffee, setting it down on the desk near her.

‘Thank you Fusion.’ Typhoon said, hardly glancing up from her work. ‘Apart from work related details you’ve spared me, anything in the news?’ Typhoon asked, a little curious as to what Fusion might respond with.

‘Well sector news is all about DSE still, which I’m sure you won’t want to hear…’ Fusion started off, a droll nod from Typhoon indicated she was indeed correct so she quickly moved on ‘...and the regular news is still also dominated by them, so to speak.’ Fusion finished with, she knew Typhoon would figure that one out fairly quickly.

‘Yes, I had a look last night before bed myself. Can’t really get away from it right now.’ she replied.

‘Perhaps the lab ponies will have something promising today?’ Fusion suggested with a hopeful tone.

‘Well let’s put it this way Fusion, if they don’t we’re going to be in a serious pickle. More than we are already.’ Typhoon said, Fusion looked at her confused.

‘A...pickle? What’s a pickle?’ she asked, her naivety showing through a little.

‘Oh I am sure you can look it up.’ Typhoon replied, returning to her work. She waited as Fusion quickly used her small, wrist mounted device to look it up. The device read a definition back to her.

‘A DIFFICULT SITUATION.’ it read in a slightly robotic voice. Fusion frowned.

‘I see, well I hope they can...unpickle us? Is that right?’ she asked.

‘Close enough. Anyway please can you give me some time, I need to prepare for the meeting that’s coming up.’ Typhoon said with a slight smile.

‘Of course, I’ll be outside if you need anything.’ Fusion replied, leaving the mare to her work. Typhoon began to jot down a few notes of questions she might want to ask, hoping that indeed the results would lead to them being...unpickled.

Typhoon was quite excited by the prospect of this new development, which was a feeling she rarely got to experience these days. Before taking over the company, her father had overseen all the research and development projects that the company undertook. He had only really started letting her into meetings and other events to do with it once he had decided on retirement. To say Typhoon had been thrown in the deep end was somewhat of an understatement. Apparently before her, her father had dictated what should be looked into, a sort of ‘I want this to happen, you make it happen.’ arrangement with the departments. Typhoon, not knowing completely how to handle it yet had instead decided to take a softer approach and meet with department heads to discuss with them what they saw as beneficial. It had been extra work, a LOT of extra work. She could understand why her father was more of a project dictator. But it seemed now the payoff would be worth it, this was one particular project she had been following since its inception.

One of the largest problems for any Pacer (Pony Spacers - the ones who actually did the exploring of deep space) was always supplies. The whole point of exploration was well...just that, exploring. Going out into the vast reaches of nothingness and seeing what you could find in the depths of space. Ships these days were getting better and better, fuel economy was incredible and sleep designs (not that aerodynamics mattered much in space) meant that what was happening now was a reverse effect. Ships were returning back to their home planets still with plenty of fuel, but the pilot had used up all their energy reserves and the on board ship food devices no longer had any power to make further food for them. It was getting a bit desperate, as those who really pushed their luck often returned to the planet they had set off from unconscious and on the verge of severe malnourishment, their last act before their bodies gave out was to set the ships autopilot to safely get them back home where they would be attended to. There were more and more stories of these ‘ghost ships’ turning up at planets, not responding to any hails and only the truth being discovered when they were boarded by rescue crews.

She knew other competing companies were now turning their attention to bigger energy cells to power these on ship devices for longer, or ways they could use less energy, or a combination of both. The thing was, one of the department heads at ISE had a better idea, what if you could just remove the need for these devices entirely? You’d not only take away a huge power drain on the ship's systems but you’d also free up some space on board. It seemed like the perfect solution. At this point, Typhoon had questioned what he had in mind as an alternative.

‘High efficiency rations.’ he had simply stated at the initial meeting.

Small foodstuffs that could easily be stored somewhere on board. The cargo hold, even the spot where the original powered food device had sat. He had wild expectations for the small storage they’d take up and just how long pilots could go for even on one ration. Typhoon was a little sceptical but she had sanctioned the research and apparently good progress had been made. Today, as she trotted into the research lab she saw a number of the department head’s team doing what she expected, looking at vials and going about their work. The department head was waiting for her towards the back of the room.

‘Miss Typhoon, lovely to see you again.’ he said, dispensing with the pleasantries.

‘Indeed, you too, so what do you have for me?’ she asked, keen to see.

‘Well we are making good progress. Here.’ he said, passing her a small silver package.

Typhoon picked it up and held it in one of her hooves, inspecting it. It was tiny, no bigger than an access card for buildings. About the same thickness too. She opened the package and was greeted with a very small, boring looking cracker. ‘Do I eat it?’ she asked.

‘By all means.’ said the department head. Typhoon took a bite, but almost immediately spat it out.

‘Eww, sorry, but that’s gross! It tastes like wet cardboard.’ the mare said, using her hooves to clean her tongue. ‘Okay, so point one is you guys really have to work on the taste. I don’t think any of our customers are going to willingly eat that.’

‘Yes...we’ve been focused on making sure it’s sustainable rather than taste Miss, I am sure you understand. If you had eaten the entire thing you would have been fed for three whole days.’ the department head explained.

‘That is good...it’s heading in the right direction.’ Typhoon mused. ‘How much longer do you think you can get out of one cracker in terms of keeping a pony fed?’ she asked.

‘You mean can we extend the time the consumer feels satisfied? Probably, but we’d degrade the taste even more. If anything we need to improve the taste as per your comments but this would likely bring the time it works for down…’ he started to say.

‘I see. Well I think for now, please try to find some solution to that awful taste.’ Typhoon replied, still trying to brush the taste from her tongue. ‘Keep me informed.’ she said, turning on her heels and leaving the team to it. That had been...bitterly disappointing, and not just because of the taste of the cracker either. She was hoping they would have been able to get at least one week out of each cracker and it would have been palatable. As Typhoon’s mind started to wander while she trotted back to her office, her thoughts were brought back to the news articles she had been reading and Rivets. There had to be something somepony knew about her gigantic size that could lead her to help with this project. Ponies didn’t just balloon up like that for no reason. Perhaps DSE had been working on a similar project and it had gone wrong? Something else? She had to know. Once she got back to her office, she stopped by Fusion’s desk.

‘Fusion, can you find me the contact details for a private investigator and pass them to me securely when you do? No mail or anything traceable, just verbally.’ she said. She watched as Fusion shifted nervously in her seat.

‘I can...is this, above board?’ she asked.

‘It’s to save us from that serious pickle we mentioned. Do you want to be out of a job?’ Typhoon said, with a slight threatening tone to her voice.

‘No...I’ll see what I can find.’ Fusion responded, busying herself with the task.

Typhoon re-entered her office, going back to work on her tasks. It was now just a waiting game.

A few weeks had passed. Nothing of massive note had taken place at the company, work was still progressing as normal. Rivets and her mega size still dominated the news. It seemed she was getting bigger and bigger with each passing day. Typhoon hadn’t actually ‘met’ the investigator that Fusion had managed to find for her, at least not in the flesh. Fusion had said that they came highly recommended and were one of the best available on planet currently, she had just managed to catch them before he was headed elsewhere for other work but agreed to take on the case as personally, it intrigued them also.

It had been like something out of a movie, over a secure line that had been provided to Typhoon she had to buy a burner device that she immediately destroyed afterwards. The call had come through with a voice disguiser that meant she couldn’t actually tell if the investigator was a mare of a stallion, it just sounded robotic. The investigator however had named a rather hefty price and told her where she could send the credits, they would begin their work as soon as it was paid. The next burner device would be sent mailed to Typhoon and she was told only to keep it on her person at all times. It would ring when the investigator had more information for her.

It was the middle of the day when it did ring, Typhoon just going through some work that had come her way. Cautiously she pressed a small button on her desk to lock the door to her office to ensure she was not disturbed, and then answered the device.

‘Hello?’

‘Miss Typhoon?’ came the reply.

‘Speaking.’ was all she said.

‘I have done some digging as requested. Unfortunately what I have for you must be said face to face, I cannot risk passing the information over a call, even if it is secure.’ came the reply. ‘In the next few minutes you will receive an address and a time to arrive. One minute late and the deal is off. Once you have the address. Destroy the burner device immediately.’ the line then went dead. A moment later, on screen, an address arrived. Hastily Typhoon made a note of it, it was in an industrial district on the other side of the planet. The meeting was at 2 in the morning as well, tomorrow. Typhoon sighed, she’d have to prepare for a long day then. But clearly this was important info. She unlocked her office door and dropped the burner device in a small receptacle in her office that was for recycling any sorts of trash. For the rest of the day until she left, Typhoon busied herself so nothing seemed out of place. She headed home first, then made sure to summon a transport to take her to the address at the appropriate time. As the transport entered and approached, she noted her surroundings. It was a grimy, run down industrial district where lots of parts were presumably produced. Even at this time, the smog steamed high into the clouds and the noises of working machinery permeated the air. Thank goodness atmospheric scrubbers were a thing, otherwise the whole planet might be ruined by now.

Her transport touched down a block away from the meeting location. It was five minutes to two, so Typhoon made sure to trot rather quickly to the location. When she arrived, nopony was there apart from her. She was in a small road that ran between factories, so enclosed. It suddenly occurred to her that if anypony were wanting to get the drop on her this would be the perfect location to do it. She shuffled nervously, waiting for this mystery investigator.

She heard the low hum of an older ground style transport, which sounded like it was equipped with tyres round the bend. It pulled up next to her and a door opened, the interior was dark, she couldn’t quite make out the figure inside.

‘Get in, quickly. You weren’t followed?’ it asked, it was the voice of a mare.

‘No.’ Typhoon replied as she got in the vehicle, which started to drive as soon as the door shut. It started to make its way from the factory complex out into the wider world, the destination seemed unimportant, the vehicle merely acted as a secure place to talk.

‘Before you ask, I am not the investigator you hired. I am a middle pony. More secure, but I have all the information they found.’ the figure started to say. Typhoon still couldn’t quite make them out, the corner of the vehicle they were sitting in was dark, and they were wearing very concealing clothing.

‘I see...so what is it then?’

The figure tossed a small package across the car towards Typhoon which she just about caught, opening it up and getting out a small vial which contained a liquid like substance that she couldn’t identify...it looked alien.

‘This is your competitor's secret. It is a compound, discovered on a far off world that naturally occurs on the planet. We could not discern what planet, the location was not logged anywhere but we know that much.’ the figure said as Typhoon inspected it in her hooves.

‘I don’t understand, how is this their secret?’ Typhoon asked.

‘Take the compound to your lab technicians, research teams, whatever your company has at its disposal. They will be able to analyse it. Possibly replicate it.’ the figure continued. ‘This is what gives Rivets her seemingly impossible size.’

Typhoon’s jaw dropped. It all clicked, how tight lipped they were about it, never giving up any secret to her size. It was because even they themselves didn’t know, they had just somehow come across this stuff (why some pony had ingested it, she had no clue) and now we had Rivets, the fattest pony to ever grace the stars. At that point as realisation hit, the transport stopped and the door opened.

‘This is where we part ways, you know how to contact us.’ the figure said.

‘Thank you.’ was all Typhoon replied, getting out. They were still in the industrial district, but had just covered enough ground to get to the edge of it. In the dark of night, Typhoon hit a button a small wrist device and summoned her own transport, programming it to take her home. As she travelled, she stared at the small vial that contained the odd looking compound. Perhaps...perhaps tomorrow if she presented it to the team working on that terrible cracker, they could make more of this.

‘Well...it’s incredible.’

Typhoon had never quite seen the research team head behave like this. He was utterly obsessed with the small vial of compound she had brought into the lab for him to analyse as the pony she had met with suggested. He had been working around the clock with his team now for several weeks and finally, after some waiting, he had something concrete to tell Typhoon.

‘So why is it incredible?’ she asked.

‘It’s...well, here, let me show you. Stellar?’ he said, calling out to one of his team. Stellar Whirl, a rather regular and unremarkable pony trotted over.

‘Yes boss?’ she asked.

The department head held out a tiny sample, no bigger than the size of a pea and placed it on a small stick. ‘Ingest this. I can promise you it’s safe, we’ve been working on it after all.’

‘...Alright.’ the pony replied. Typhoon could tell she was rather uneasy, and likely if it wasn’t for her presence she would have turned it down. The pony did as she was asked though and swallowed the tiny sample. Typhoon just watched.

The mare's body started to expand, slowly at first. But Typhoon could easily see after a few moments the tightening of her work clothes, the sudden chub added to her cheeks. In a few mere moments she appeared to have gained quite a few pounds. Her stomach started to make its way towards the floor and her rear began to rise. However, it abated quickly, the amount she was given only tiny.

‘H-Hey! You didn’t tell me THAT was going to happen!’ the somewhat annoyed mare responded.

‘You can go to one of the recuperation chambers and lose it.’ Typhoon responded. They had a place where Pacers had to shape up before a long mission, as fitness was key. The mare just grumbled, hauling her new, larger body off and out the lab to go size down.

‘I see what you mean, how does it help us?’ Typhoon asked.

‘Well she won’t know it but the compound, as we found out from analysing it would keep her feeling fed and full for several weeks at least, maybe even months if she had eaten enough. It’s the perfect solution...well, almost perfect.’ The department head said with a sigh. ‘Obviously, we need to do something about the sudden and very visible weight gain that comes with it.’

‘Indeed...hmm.’ Typhoon thought for a moment, a devious little thought popping into her head. ‘What I’d like you to do first is work on replicating the compound from this sample and at least get that right. I’d also like you to send any excess you produce to me. Is that clear?’

She could see the department head desperately wanted to question her as to why. The unmistakable look of confusion crossed his face. But he knew his place, simply replying with ‘Straight to your office?’

‘Yes, that will be perfect.’ Typhoon replied. ‘Excellent work, I look forward to seeing your further progress.’ she said with a smile, trotting back to her desk.

Typhoon was thinking...of herself and the company after all. She had the key to compete with Amber and her pet blob Rivets with that impossible size. Turning this compound into something to help keep Pacers going out in space for a longer period would be the eventual payoff yes, but right now they could only work on replicating it before they started messing around with altering it. She was fed up with Rivets still dominating the news and her competitors still getting all the attention. Sure, when the compound was ready for Pacers, it would make waves, but the general public wouldn’t care the slightest. They were just captivated by this seemingly never thinning blob that took up their news articles, broadcasts and other media most days.

She didn’t know it yet, but Fusion Coil was going to help Typhoon out with that side of it...help her out greatly indeed.

Typhoon sat at her desk...trying to think.

Fusion was well...naïve, that much she had established some time ago. She was also fiercely devoted to her work. She was sure that she could use that to sway her. The question was however thinking of a plausible reason.

Just tell her the truth.

Now she thought about it, that seemed the way to go. She pressed a little button on her desk which was solely for the purpose of letting Fusion know she needed to see her in pony. A mere minute later, the mare entered the room.

‘You called Miss Typhoon?’ she asked.

‘Yes Fusion, take a seat.’ she said, a light command on one of her personal devices automatically pulling the chair back from her desk to allow Fusion to sit down. Typhoon could see her nervousness, she shuffled about uncomfortably in the chair. ‘I need to ask a favour of you Fusion, one greater than any pony at this company has likely asked you in your entire working career.’

Fusion clammed up a little more, these words were not very easy for her to digest. Still, she pressed on. ‘What is it?’

‘I’m sure you know our research department, busy ponies.’ Typhoon started to say. ‘They’re working on something very special. Something that is going to save Interstellar Sector Exploration.’ she said firmly. She saw Fusion relax. ‘However, we need a volunteer, someone we can trust implicitly. Immediately I thought of you.’

Fusion perked up at the compliment, but she was still wary. ‘Well, I’m flattered, but I do want to ask what you want.’ she said.

Typhoon just stuck with her thoughts of being honest, at least partly. ‘We’re developing a new...super food for the Pacers to help them stay out in space longer. It's currently very experimental as you can imagine. We need a test subject.’

‘I see, and you want me to be the test subject.’

‘Yes.’ Typhoon replied flatly. The department is sending me samples on a daily basis that need to be tested, I will be returning the results to them. No one is forcing you Fusion, but if it all goes well, there will be fame involved...a raise.’ Typhoon hinted. ‘I don’t need your decision right away…’

‘I’m in.’ Fusion said, she hardly hesitated. It was probably the first time that Typhoon had really seen her make such a big decision with such decisiveness.

‘Are you sure?’ Typhoon replied, she wanted to make absolutely sure.

‘Yes. If it can save the company...maybe help me, I don’t see why not.’ Fusion said.

‘Excellent, then we start immediately. I’ve already had a batch shipped this morning.’ Typhoon said, her voice slowly descending into a somewhat sultry tone. It was odd for Fusion to hear but she paid it no mind. Typhoon pointed to a small cart to her right, it seemed to be covered in...crackers? With what looked like some kind of sauce or gel on top, Fusion wasn’t quite sure. She eyed them suspiciously.

‘It’s edible right?’ she asked, getting up off the seat and trotting over to the cart, picking one up and holding it aloft in her hoof to try to get a better look at it.

‘Of course, we’ve at least had somepony else test it before you.’ Typhoon replied.

‘Oh well then...hmm.’ Fusion said. ‘Might as well…’

She gingerly bit into one and swallowed. The taste was certainly...interesting. The cracker itself was terrible, the stuff on top was at least palatable, she could eat that with no problem.

‘Urgh, well the cracker is awful.’ she said.

‘Yes we know, sorry they’re still working on fixing that. I’ve suggested combining the compound on top with it but this is the best they can do for now.’ Typhoon replied. ‘Are you okay to eat the entire tray? We need a good sample size.’

‘Oh well, if you insist.’ Fusion responded, she supposed she could stomach the rest. It was for the good of the company after all…

She ate the rest of the one she had, then picked up another. She ate a little more of it this time, still breaking it however. It was almost as if the more of these things she ate, the more she seemed to be able to stomach.

‘I’m just observing, pay me no mind.’ Typhoon said, watching as Fusion continued to eat the treats. She hadn’t quite noticed yet her expanding frame, that her clothes were tightening against her body, that her belly was starting to push its way down towards the floor… Typhoon wondered how long it would take. She seemed completely devoted to making sure she ate everything in front of her.

‘Now then, I need to explain some side effects…’ Typhoon started to say as Fusion finished off the last one, she ate it whole.

‘Side effects? H-huh…’ the mare said, finally looking down at her body. Her work clothes were practically popping off her. She suddenly felt the tautness of the material pressing against her. She looked in horror at her fattened forelegs, feeling her rear ones had packed on just as much weight. As she took a step forward, she felt her low hanging belly brush against the flooring, her flanks jiggling freely as she moved. A bright red flush of embarrassment appeared on her cheeks. ‘S-side effects...these are some side effects!’ she said.

‘Yes the lab is still working on that...we’ll get it ironed out.’ Typhoon said, playing off any worry she might have shown. ‘I’ll contact you via mail, keep an eye on your inbox. We might need a bigger space for more batches.’ Typhoon said.

R-Right…’ the now extremely plump Fusion replied. ‘Will that be all?’ she asked, still trying to get used to her new gigantic size.

‘Until tomorrow.’ Typhoon said. She watched the mare’s squeeze her bulbous flanks out the office door, the sides of her blubbery rear brushing against the frame. It shut behind her, a moment later there was a crunch, followed by a yelp. Typhoon got up and opened the door, to see a somewhat dazed Fusion sprawled on the floor. Her hover chair was no longer where it should have been, it had made contact with the ground. ‘What happened?’

‘I uh, just sat in my chair as normal and it started to sag, then I think the gravity field gave out…’ Fusion replied.

‘Well, ask Resources to send a new one up right away. Perhaps heavy duty.’ Typhoon said, closing her office door. Fusion was fine, she was just awkwardly picking herself up. Clearly, she just hadn’t considered her new weight. It made Typhoon smile, likely soon, there wouldn’t even be a chair capable of holding her weight, even heavy duty ones.

Before she had even gotten into work this morning, Fusion had received a priority message from Typhoon. It simply stated rather than coming to her desk, she was to come to one of the hangar’s in the complex, marked down as 28-C. Last night had been...interesting, getting home at least. She had struggled to get inside her apartment which was planet side, her bed had sagged heavily in the night (when she had awoken, it was tilting to one side, she was amazed she hadn’t rolled onto the floor) and everything was just more of a chore to do. She hadn’t dared get on a set of scales to see what this compound had done to her, she just hoped that the lab technicians would get their act together and get rid of whatever was in it causing her to gain so much weight so quickly.

She stepped off a transport and into the entrance to the hangar. It was a massive space, big enough to house several of the company’s largest star ships. It appeared to have been cleared out however, just a few miscellaneous items of no importance around the outer walls. Inside Typhoon was waiting for her...with another tray.

‘Ah good morning Fusion.’ Typhoon said, hearing her enter. The heavy fwumps of Fusion’s fattened hooves hitting the floor were the giveaway.

‘Good morning Miss Typhoon.’ Fusion replied. ‘Another batch so soon?’

‘Well the lab ponies are keen to continue compiling results, time is of the essence.’ Typhoon said. ‘They are continually tweaking the makeup of the compound. This one is different. I will confess no word yet on whether this one is any less fattening, we shall have to see.’ the mare said, pulling a soft cloth covering off the top of the tray. ‘They do tell me the crackers are more palatable now however.’

Fusion was dubious, but she had agreed. She took a bite. She was quite hungry anyway, she hadn’t dared eat anything after yesterday seeing as she felt she had eaten enough for a year. There was no avoiding it though, either they had fixed the side effects, or they hadn’t…

This time, she immediately felt that they had indeed not fixed the side effects, and that they had indeed not made the cracker more palatable, it was just as dry and disgusting as yesterday. The mare hadn’t managed to sort out bigger clothes in the short time she had, and she didn’t earn enough to be able to afford fancy form fitting material that stretched to any size - not that she thought she had any need for it. Quite honestly she had never planned on putting on this amount of weight.

The clothes were struggling, Fusion felt like she was almost imprisoned within them, her fattening form just blorping up only for the purpose of ruining her clothing. She felt her underwear bite down onto her increasingly huge cheeks as beneath her pants and shirt, fat spread out and searched for space. She wished she could have enjoyed the experience, there was something about feeling this much tightness that was making her mind wander to less than proper thoughts, but these thoughts were interrupted when a loud SNAP permeated the air, the waistline of her pants giving way as embarrassingly, her lower portion was suddenly exposed. She heard Typhoon snort, seeing a pair of impressively tight striped panties now revealed to the world.

‘C-Can I stop?’ Fusion asked, feeling rather put out by this sudden turn.

‘Normally I’d say yes, but you need to consume the entire batch I’m afraid or the results will be ruined.’ Typhoon simply replied. ‘It is only us two here, the cameras are not recording.’

‘F-Fine…’ Fusion responded. She continued to eat, feeling her body just getting even bigger with every bite. Her belly now firmly pressed into the floor, spreading so much that she found her front hooves were now squishing gently into it. Her rear well...that was almost bulbous enough it was hitting the ground with her standing upright, the only thing preventing it from doing so was that belly bed beneath her. Fat rippled across her enormous body. The whole experience was horrible. If she had known this, she may not have agreed in the first place. But the thoughts of fame and a raise still occupied her head. It helped her manage to swallow the last cracker with the compound spread on top.

‘G-Guh...gone…’ Fusion managed to squeak out, the whole ordeal practically exhausting her as she simply flopped into her own body, tired out from her mass getting well...more mass. She was twice as big as when she started, having crossed into immobility quite quickly, having just reached it with that final cracker. Suddenly, the reason for the hangar became clear. ‘I’m not moving, am I?’ she asked Typhoon.

‘Ah, well like I say the lab technicians are working on a non fattening version but unfortunately, this is the best place for you until they do. You’ll be looked after, don’t worry.’ Typhoon said.

‘O-Other ponies will see me like this!?’ Fusion almost shouted.

‘Well, do you want to starve, or be uncomfortable?’ Typhoon asked her.

‘Well...no.’ Fusion replied. ‘Can’t the company robots attend to me?’

‘It would require reprogramming, we don’t have the resources currently.’ Typhoon lied. ‘They’ve been informed of how you are anyway. None will be shocked.’

‘Alright…’ Fusion said. She tried to move herself, but it would have taken considerable effort to do so. Her hooves could still just make floor contact if she really tried. She was suddenly aware that the only clothes left on her was her shirt on the verge of snapping off, hardly covering any of her and those striped panties, but by feeling, those had vanished so far into her rear that well, she just looked naked back there now. She could feel the material though, pressing tightly into her body. Another tray of those things would likely finish off both the panties and shirt.

‘More samples will arrive, with different results I am afraid, I’m sure you’ll notice when you stop gaining weight.’ Typhoon said. ‘And I’ll be here to personally oversee each session.’

‘Well I suppose that makes me feel a little better…’ Fusion said. It didn’t really, but she decided to tell a small lie to make sure her boss know she wasn’t regretting this, even if she deeply was. At this stage, it was pointless changing her mind anyway, the damage had been done.

‘I’ll see you when the next batch is ready.’ Typhoon said, leaving the hangar.

And so it went, with Fusion’s weight climbing upwards at an utterly incredible pace. The lab team was very quickly able to almost perfectly replicate the compound to produce as much of it as was needed to keep Fusion gaining. Typhoon had taken the head of the department aside and explained what she was doing. She could tell ethically he didn’t agree, but he didn’t want to lose his job either so he had his team oblige her request to keep making more and more of the compound with no alterations. Typhoon was simply lying to Fusion about them working towards the fattening side effect being taken away.

It was simple. Already, Fusion was getting to a size on per with Rivets. Everyday Typhoon had brought a new batch to test on her, on a good day, two or three. It meant her weight had exploded on her body. The decision to have her come to the hangar and remain there had been a necessary one, Fusion would likely in a few days fill it completely and then Typhoon could put her plan into place.

She had already contacted the new outlets, letting them know that ISE had something big to show the world, she just didn’t quite state how literal this was going to be to them. The interest was already growing, they had all responded stating they’d send reporters at the day and time she had marked out for the big reveal.

Typhoon had been quite impressed with Fusions ability to just keep eating. Clearly, ponies were capable of getting this gigantic, it just wasn’t common knowledge. At first she had been worried it just wouldn’t work, but it had worked better than she had expected. The two had stopped discussing each day during the feeding sessions anything at all now. Fusion was too big and fat to really expend additional energy talking and seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that she had accepted this agreement to test the compound. Typhoon just arrived, fed her and then left, returning when a new batch was ready for Fusion to eat.

It was quite incredible how her body had dealt with all that weight. Typhoon had expected excessive fat to be rather unsightly but perhaps there was something in the compound that caused the body to deal with it better. The fat on Fusion wasn’t unsightly at all, in fact it looked rather good actually. Even all over, smooth. There were rolls on her belly of course, but these were nicely thick and thickened up the more weight she gained. Her rear had turned into two perfect spheres practically, rising above her head behind her getting to the point where they were nearly hitting the hangar roof. Typhoon was almost...well no, she had dismissed that thought from her mind. Naïve little Fusion was her test subject and would continue to be. Besides, Typhoon had to run the company.

It was a mere few days until the reveal, plenty of time to push Fusion above and beyond the weight of Rivets. Typhoon decided it best to make use of the time as wisely as she could. Another batch was ready.

‘Well...I did not expect this at all.’

Amber was sitting in her office, flipping through a virtual press release. Flipping was probably the wrong way to describe it though, as she had seen the article covering the front page and immediately flicked through to where the story continued further in. The press release was titled:

A NEW BEGINNING: ISE AIMS BIG WITH BIG REVEAL. MEET FUSION COIL, THE GALAXY’S BIGGEST AND HEAVIEST PONY

Immediately she was intrigued. Rivets probably would be too. As Amber had promised, Rivets had been gaining more and more, but the photo of this Fusion Coil showed just how far she had to go. She must have been a good several thousand pounds bigger than Rivets was. Amber of course had intended to have Rivets feed on the compound of the planet and grow her for both their desires, but...duty had called, they had had to return to Python IV. She had of course made sure Rivets was happy with the attention she was going to receive when they returned, but both had agreed to be tight lipped about how it had happened.

The article was vague, mostly it was full of boasting. Amber chuckled, so this was her plan to get back at her huh? She knew something was going to happen now DSE dominated the sector since their return. She just thought they might have tried innovating more, or perhaps branching their business out. She did not expect a straight up response of an even fatter, bigger pony than Rivets. A scan of the article was just a boastful Typhoon saying this was only the beginning, it was a show of power more than anything else, to get the fickle public's attention back to them in an easy way with something they were fascinated with. Amber was no fool. She commended Typhoon on her ingenuity.

What she was not impressed with however was that clearly, Typhoon had gotten hold of a compound sample and managed to have it replicated. Amber knew when a small amount was reported missing some time ago she should have put more resources into tracking it down and finding out what happened to it, but it was long gone and the thief had been clever to mask their tracks. Clearly, it had ended up in the hooves of her rival. She wondered what Typhoon had managed to scrape together in this last ditch attempt to save ISE. Probably everything she had left and maybe a little extra to boot. She flicked on a display and contacted her head of security.

‘Good morning Amber.’ came the reply from the other end when the stallion who ran the department picked up. ‘All quiet here, in case you were wondering.’

‘Good good...listen, I wonder if you can do something for me. Do you remember several weeks back we had a vial of compound reported missing? Well I think I’ve tracked it down, I’m sending you something.’ Amber said, transferring the press release across.

‘Oh...my.’ came the response. There was silence for a moment. ‘Well...that’s more than one vial, but I see what you’re talking about.’

‘Indeed. The vial is not my concern anymore, what do you notice about the pony in the picture?’ Amber asked.

‘Apart from her size? She’s given Rivets a heck of a run for her money.’ the security head replied.

‘Yes apart from her size, look at her face.’ Amber said.

‘She’s...well, sad. She’s frowning, usually ponies smile for pictures.’ he said. Inspecting the photo, it was very clear that there was more to this than met the eye and the article explained, the expression on Fusion Coils face told the two everything.

‘Exactly. We have a stallion on the inside at ISE don’t we?’ she asked.

‘Yes we do, works in one of their research divisions but can’t be the one this is related to or they’d have known about it.’ the security head replied.

‘I can’t help but feeling a little responsible, even though that sample was clearly stolen and is being used against us. I want you to get them to make contact with this mare and find out what her condition is, that is all for the time being. Nothing else, I don’t want to raise any suspicion we’re making a move to Typhoon and ISE, is that clear?’ Amber said.

‘Clear as day.’ the security head replied, he closed the call. Amber sat back in her chair and sighed, Rivets likely wouldn’t be too impressed either. She’d tell her of the news later, she needed some time to process all this. It just made her think, like Typhoon, she had initially gone into fattening a pony with selfish gains in mind, but...during her time with Rivets, things had changed, it had become mutual. The two had agreed to it, even if Amber was being sly at first. This clearly was not agreed to and this Fusion Coil had not come around like Rivets had. Her facial expression gave it away. Amber had to confirm first, she didn’t want to jump to conclusions and decided it would be best to wait and see what their informant came back with. In the meantime, Amber prepared herself for a drop in sales and attention, now there was a bigger pony to compete with.

The report had come back. It had taken a little time for their inside pony to actually manage to get in contact with Fusion Coil. She was guarded tightly and he had to find some reason to see her. When he did, what he had sent through to the security head and then what had made its way to Amber was rather worrying.

Supposedly Typhoon was purposefully fattening this pony up completely for her own gain to catapult ISE back into the spotlight. It was no secret they were facing hard times and as Amber had guessed, this was her way of doing it. There was mention in the report that the goal eventually was to re-engineer the compound into some sort of long lasting food without the fattening side effects, but this had completely gone out the window once the media had started paying attention to Fusion Coil over Rivets. She was gaining weight at such a rate she was practically bursting out of that hangar she was in. Obviously her health was poor and the informant said she even had trouble speaking, her cheeks so full of fat that they had given her a speech impediment. What he had found was that it had started out as a mutual agreement, but it was indeed no longer mutual.

With that, Amber had started formulating a plan. With all the money coming in, Amber had a hard time allocating it all into company research that was obviously useful. She did however, recall a project that had just been completed for detachable ship boosters. She was sure if they were detachable, they could also be attachable. She had eight prepared and loaded into a transport that they had procured with ISE markings and identification codes. It would get her into the complex, from there however it was down to her.

It was not usual for deliveries to be made late at night when space traffic to and from the planet surface was at its quietest. Amber had been given directions to the hangar and found it easily...it was the only one that was bulging.

She parked the transport on a landing pad outside it and using some less than legally obtained entry codes. Got in. It was not hard to find what she was looking for, immediately upon stepping in she almost walked face first into a fat mountain. She had to squeeze her way around the edge of the hangar to start climbing up the slightly jiggling mountain to locate Fusion Coils face. She noted as she ascended that the hangar was being held together with massive jacks, straining at trying to keep the bloated mare from popping out into space. It was hastily done, shoddy work. Typhoon and her lackeys clearly didn’t know when to stop. It was amazing Fusion Coil hadn’t actually burst out already.

Eventually, she found the ‘fat hole’ that had Fusions faced buried some way down, making her way in. More neck rolls than Amber could count spread out from her bloated cheeks, her face nestled in the middle of it all. She was asleep, what with it being early morning. Amber gently nudged her awake.

‘Zzz..h-huh?’ Fusion said.

‘Hi...you don’t know me, but I’m Amber, owner of DSE, your competitor. I heard about your...not so mutual agreement with Typhoon. I’m here to help.’ Amber explained.

‘Helpsh? Howwww…’ Fusion asked. It was almost painful to hear her speak, her words were slurred, her tongue getting trapped in fattened lips that struggled to get words out. Everything was slurred in some form, there was no getting away from it at such a monstrous size.

‘Well first, getting you out of this hangar which by the looks of it, you’re going to get out of yourself if they feed you much more anyway…’ Amber said. ‘To safety, is that what you want?’

‘Yessshhh...T-too muscchhh...f-fattsshhh.’ was all Fusion managed to get out. Amber just nodded and climbed out of her neck fat hole, she had to go and attach those eight boosters around her body equally, otherwise getting her out of here wasn’t going to work.

Climbing down her fat rolls (and nearly slipping back down to the floor, all that blubber wasn’t exactly easy to get down) Amber was able to squeeze her way around the copious amounts of fat pressing up against walls. Those jacks were in use again, apparently to hold back the never ending tide of expanding fat to allow regular sized ponies to get around the blob that was Fusion. Presumably for feeding her. It also luckily meant Amber could attach the boosters in just the rights spots around the base of her body. They were small things, but they packed a punch.

There was one final thing to do, climbing back up the blubber mountain towards Fusions face, Amber fitted a small mask around her bloated muzzle, stretched to its maximum size. ‘There’s no air out there, you’re big, your body will be able to cope with space, but you need to breath still’ she said, just seeing Fusion lazily nod in agreement. With that, Amber made her way outside and moved the transport to a safe distance, looking down at an activation button on her wrist device. This was it.

She heard a small pop from inside the hangar, then the sound of metal straining. Unfortunately there was no release to allow the hangar roof to open. Amber was banking on the weak jacks, coupled with the metal structure being pushed to its limits would mean the roof would pop off with enough force pressed against it, and that it did.

It was quite the sight and completely silent, apart from a low whoosh as vacuum filled the space that the artificial gravity and air keeping Fusion breathing and grounded vented into space. Some debris followed and the structure collapsed but Fusion was free. Amber watched as the boosters started to guide her up and then towards the pre-designated spot she had told them to move to. It was a much larger warehouse in a remote DSE storage facility. It would be plenty big enough for Fusion. Amber entered the coordinates in her transports nav computer, following behind the gigantic pony blob now rocketing through space.

When she arrived, she was pleased to see that the roof had opened to allow the boosters to gently park Fusion inside, Amber using a small platform this time to get closer to Fusion’s face so they could finally speak without worry that Amber might have been discovered.

‘You’re safe, this is a remote storage facility we use. Typhoon can’t get to you here.’ Amber started by saying.

‘T-Thankssss.’ Fusion replied.

‘Now, unlike your employer, we do actually have ways of making you normal again. It’s not quite a magical compound but...we have things that can help.’ Amber said.

‘N-No…’ Fusion said. There was silence for a moment, Amber was rather shocked. She had expected her to (figuratively) bite her hoof off at the offer of losing all these pounds she hadn’t agreed to pack on.

‘No?’ Amber asked. She’d have to press the struggling to speak Fusion for an answer.

‘No...N-nottshh rigghsshhtt awwayysshh.’ Fusion said, every word a slur and effort. ‘I worrkeeddsshh attshh thattsshh compaannyyssh fforrsshh yeaarrssshhh, I cannsshhh….URRRPPPPP!...hellpsshh youushhh gettsss payyybacckksshhh.’ Fusion said. Amber was intrigued.

‘How will staying this big help with that?’ Amber asked.

‘Useesshhhh meee, myyyssshh boddssyyy caannnshh helppsh yousshh.’ Fusion sputtered. Amber thought for a moment. To her, it wasn’t completely obvious right away what Fusion was suggesting, but the more she thought, the more she observed that absolutely gelatinous form, the more it made sense to her.

‘Okay...you’ll be looked after here Fusion. I’ll...speak to you soon.’

With that Amber left to ponder her next move. She had until morning until Typhoon discovered her prize blob was missing. For now, it was important that Fusion was safe and looked after. Amber had achieved that much.

Tomorrow was a new day, for now, she’d go get some rest.