It's four o'clock in the morning, why in Equestria are you making chocolate pudding?
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Twilight's Troublesome Treat
It's four o'clock in the morning, why in Equestria are you making chocolate pudding?
A fluffy white blanket of snow coated the small town of Ponyville, and its inhabitants were all in the spirit of the Hearth’s Warming season. Garlands and streamers connected lamp posts together, and stalls were set up in the marketplace to peddle festive treats and knick-knacks. If ponies weren’t eagerly taking in the crisp winter air, they were hastily bustling around trying to finish their gift shopping.
“Candy canes… marshmallows… plenty of sugar… and a lot of chocolate…”
Twilight Sparkle slid her hoof down the list of ingredients to see if she had missed anything. The Princess of Friendship was very much caught up in the holiday cheer herself. Her entire castle was decorated, from the holly wreath on the front door to the tinsel spiralling down the tallest spire. All thanks to her innate magical ability, of course.
At the moment, she was in the castle kitchen, whiling away the time with a touch of baking. Her good friend Pinkie Pie, widely considered the best baker in Equestria, was gracious enough to lend her a cookbook for desserts, and Twilight had chosen a simple chocolate pudding. It wouldn’t be like the last time she tried baking a pudding, she’d assured herself early on. Oh no, she wouldn’t be flooding her castle’s halls with a tidal wave of a sweet, magical mess this year. This time she was doing it by the book, and if there was one thing Twilight trusted, it was a book.
The wooden spoon slowly stirred the concoction inside the pot, the handle glowing in the same aura as the horn on her forehead. She peered into the pot and took in a whiff of the sweet, chocolaty aroma wafting into the air. A smile crossed the alicorn’s purple muzzle. her brother and his family were coming over that very night, and she couldn't wait to surprise them.
“I dare say I’m doing quite well so far,” she said with an air of pride. She regarded the book and scrolled down the instructions. “Let’s see here… I’ve added the ingredients at precisely the right times,” she muttered, glancing toward the egg timer she had been using to meticulously follow each part of the recipe, “now all that’s left is to let it bake. Easy!”
She turned on the oven and double, triple, quadruple-checked the temperature to make sure it was just right, and then quintuple-checked for good measure. Everything was perfect. Now all she had to do was wait for half an hour. She levitated the pot inside, set the egg timer and stood back, marvelling at her work.
“With all the ridiculously delicious treats Pinkie’s made, I’d bet she could bake this pudding in her sleep,” she mused to herself. She couldn’t help but eagerly prance in place. “I’m gonna bake something myself, and it’s gonna go according to plan! I can't wait to see Flurry's face when she tries some!”
She stood there and waited for her dessert to bake.
And waited.
She tapped her hoof on the floor.
And waited.
Flexed her mouth muscles.
And waited.
Whistled a little tune.
And waited.
She leaned toward the egg timer. Three minutes had passed.
“How does Pinkie have so much patience when she’s baking something that smells this good?” she groaned. She shook her head. “Come on, Twilight, you’re the Princess of Friendship. Soon to be the Princess of all of Equestria. You’re better than getting impatient.”
Her eyes lit up as an idea came to her, and she glanced up to her horn. “Maybe a little magic will speed things along?” she mused with a hint of mischief in her voice. The appendage began to glow, but she suddenly remembered Pinkie Pie’s words. She could nearly see the frizzy-maned earth pony standing in front of her.
“You gotta do the cooking by the book,” she warned. “You know you can’t be lazy.”
“I’m not being lazy,” Twilight murmured.
Fantasy!Pinkie booped her on the nose. “You can’t be impatient either!”
Twilight shook her head and rubbed her face. Did she really feel that? Though, that would be the least weird thing her bubbly friend had done. “No, she’s right–I have to do this properly. By the book, just as she said. I just need to kill some time.”
She tapped her hoof on her chin and furrowed her brow. “Let’s see–Spike is helping Rarity with something all day, and Starlight is visiting her dad. The others are busy with their own families. Maybe I could reorganise my spell books? No, I’ve already got them alphabetized by release date and author. Maybe I could work on that spell? Hm, no, I might lose track of time.”
She paced back and forth as she mulled over what to do. She had practically worn an inch-deep groove in the floor when she finally stopped. Her ears pricked up and her eyes widened with a smile.
“Oh, it’s so obvious! I’ll just grab a book to read while I wait! I really need to stop overthinking things.” She disappeared with a flash of purple, and reappeared just as quickly with a book in her magical grip. “A few chapters of Intrepid Teleporters Through Time oughta make half an hour fly by. Now I just need to keep an ear out for the timer.”
She sat down at the table and opened the book, proceeding to start reading. She managed to get a few sentences in before glancing toward the timer. Her ear twitched as she listened to it softly tick on the counter. Another couple of sentences went by before she looked again. Then a few words. She groaned when she realised she’d started staring at the timer more than the page!
“Oh, nothing’s sinking in,” she groaned, hopping onto her hooves. “I’ll just get some peace and quiet in the next room.”
She trotted out of the kitchen, and all was silent bar the ticking of the egg timer and the soft hum of the oven.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Tick-
With a flash of magic, a purple alicorn appeared. She certainly looked like Princess Twilight Sparkle, but that manic, wide-eyed glare certainly didn’t fit on her face.
“Just one little speed-up spell!” she cackled, her horn glowing as she charged up a blast. “Surely that won’t do any harm!”
Fantasy!Pinkie popped up behind her once again. “Don’t be crazy either, Twilight!” she yelled.
“Wah!” Twilight jumped and fired a beam of magic from her horn. It hit the oven and encompassed it, and the alicorn frowned as she heard a low, sparkly humming that quickly rose in pitch.
“Now you’ve done it,” muttered Fantasy!Pinkie, before vanishing into the aether once again.
Twilight’s ears drooped as the humming grew louder and louder, and the oven began to shake.
“Uh oh.”
PWOOSH!
A pulse of magical energy blasted from the oven, sending the princess flopping onto her back. She sat up and shook her head with a groan.
“Yeah, bad idea,” she admitted. She let out a sharp gasp when she saw smoke rise from the oven. Strangely purple and sparkling smoke but smoke nonetheless.
“Oh, no no no! Please be okay!”
Using her magic, she swung the oven door open and yanked out the pot. She took a minute or so to look it over. “It looks okay, smells okay… in fact, it looks and smells finished! Magic comes through once again!”
But just as she was about to compliment herself on a job well done, she heard a faint tink tink sound nearby. She looked around, then down at the pot. She put a hoof on the rim and furrowed her brow as she felt it vibrating. Softly at first, then getting stronger. Twinkles of light glittered around the surface of the pudding.
“That’s never happened before,” she mused. “Must be a side effect.”
She stepped back as the pot’s shaking got more violent, like an egg about to hatch. Drops of pudding were flung up and back down.
“That was definitely a speed-up spell, wasn’t it?” she asked herself. “It shouldn’t be shaking like that.”
Just as the thought crossed her mind, a small glimmering mushroom cloud erupted from the pot and it settled down like nothing had happened. Twilight dared to approach and give it a gentle nudge with her hoof.
And she was greeted with the sight of a chocolate-covered hoof gripping the rim from within.
“Wha-?!” she yelped.
A second hoof grabbed onto the rim, and then what looked like a pony’s head emerged from the pot. Twilight could only watch, in a mixture of horror and intrigue, as the pony (at least, she was nearly sure it was a pony) dragged itself onto the floor. It was a few inches shorter than Twilight, about the same height she herself was before she became an alicorn. A candy cane stuck out of its forehead like a curved and festively-coloured unicorn horn. Its eyes were made of two large white marshmallows that stared at Twilight intently.
“Am I glad to be out of there,” it said in a mare’s voice. “That thing was cramped, let me tell you.”
Twilight stared at the creature, slack-jawed and bug-eyed. “You’re… you’re alive…?!”
“Sure am,” it said brightly. “Thanks for that, by the way. Talk about a Hearth’s Warming miracle!”
The princess gingerly raised a leg toward the creature, who didn’t object to her prodding a hoof into its cheek. She kept going and going until she felt her hoof emerge from the back of its head. She pulled it back out and stared at the chocolate along her leg. She licked some off with her tongue, and was surprised at how delicious it was.
“You’re…you don’t have any skin or bones,” she breathed. “You’re a living, breathing pudding pony!”
“Not every day you see one, huh?” It wore a grin on its chocolaty muzzle.
Twilight wasn’t sure what to feel. On one hoof, her simple baking project had just backfired so hard that she had accidentally created life, and she wasn’t sure what could be running through this creature’s head. But on the other hoof, she had accidentally created life! Part of her couldn’t wait to show her family her creation. Flurry Heart would certainly get a kick out of it.
Grrrrrrooowwwrrrrr…
A low growling sound filled the air. Twilight’s purple cheeks flushed pink as she put a hoof to her stomach. The taste of that chocolate pudding had awoken her appetite, and staring at a pony made completely out of the stuff wasn’t helping.
“Somepony looks hungry!” chirped the pudding pony in a sing-song voice. Twilight wasn’t sure how, but she could notice a glint in its marshmallow eye.
“Oh, I’ll just grab a little salad.” The alicorn backed away with a nervous smile. “Then I’ll figure out what to do with y-”
“A salad? During the Hearth's Warming season?” the pudding pony gasped. She trotted over, leaving chocolate hoofprints on the floor. “Oh, surely not! You need to eat properly.”
Twilight’s wings ruffled at the creature’s tone of voice. “Okay, you seem a little agitated, so I’m going to–mmph!” She was interrupted by the pudding pony raising its own leg, which extended a stream of chocolate pudding right into her mouth. Twilight’s legs flailed, helpless against the warm, thick flow from filling her cheeks. She had no choice but to swallow the mouthful.
But when she finished, she made a big mistake. She let out the tiniest moan of pleasure at how deliciously sweet it tasted.
"Yeah, that's it," purred the pudding pony. "That's way better than some stinky old lettuce, isn't it?"
Twilight kept her mouth shut, but the look in her eyes betrayed her.
"Well," it went on, with a flick of its saccharin hoof, "thanks to you, there's plenty more where that came from!"
Twilight shook her head, getting her wits back. No, she couldn't give into this creature's temptation. Luckily, she knew just the spell to reverse all this and turn this wayward dessert back into what it should be. Her horn began to glow once again.
"Ah-ah-ah!" The pudding pony raised her hoof and fired another stream of chocolate goop. This one covered the princess's horn, hardening around it. "How am I supposed to treat you with firing spells willy-nilly?"
Twilight grunted and puffed, but try as she might, no amount of magic could escape that devious ice cream cone. Her mind flashed back to when her brother's magic was blocked by King Sombra's dark crystal, only this time felt worse somehow.
"Now, why don't you get comfortable?" asked the pudding pony. It stomped its front hooves on the floor, and a wave of chocolate erupted in front of Twilight, startling her enough to send her stumbling back onto a chair.
"Okay, let's just take a step back and talk this through," said Twilight, raising her front hooves in defence. "I'm the Princess of Friendship–solving problems is my thing."
"Problems?" repeated the pudding pony with a tilt of her head. "You're hungry, and as a dessert, it's my job to feed you. I don't see any problems."
Twilight pursed her lips. Perhaps she needed a different approach? “Well, there are a lot of hungry ponies in Ponyville. Maybe you can share your gift with them all, then we’ll talk about what to do with you?”
“Ooh, that’s a great idea!” A smirk crossed the pudding pony’s moist face. “And since you’re a hungry pony, I’ll start with you!”
Twilight let out a groan. She wasn’t getting anywhere with this creature. Either its potential lack of a brain was making this hard for it to comprehend, or it was more clever than she thought. Either way, it had her trapped until anypony arrived to help. As much as she disliked the situation, she’d have to play along for now.
“I suppose I see the logic there,” she admitted. “Alright then. Since I’m pretty hungry, go ahead and fill me up.”
The pudding pony hopped in place, sending drops of chocolate splashing around. “I’d be delighted to!”
Just as Twilight began to find the living dessert’s excitement endearing, she immediately found it irritating when another stream of pudding shot into her mouth. Though, she was prepared this time. She quickly found a rhythm and swallowed mouthful after mouthful before her cheeks strained too much. Like before, she couldn’t help but feel herself enjoying this somewhat. The thick, creamy chocolate poured down her throat to create a warm pool in her stomach. Her tail twitched and her wings ruffled with pleasure. She felt weak for letting her guard down like this, but she just couldn’t help herself.
It was just the thing to distract her from what was happening to her body. Naturally, chocolate pudding was not just rich in flavour and texture, but also in calories. Each gulp pushed against the walls of her stomach, which was normally a healthily small size but now threatened to outdo her chest in distance.
The poor princess felt nauseous when the pudding pony finally relented her delicious assault. Her stomach was a perfect orb, a glow of red pulsing past her purple fur. Around her mouth was coated in chocolate, and she didn’t dare to try and lick up a single drop, fearing she might explode if she tasted one more thing. Despite the creature’s intentions, she certainly didn’t feel satisfied.
“Oh, you don’t look so good,” said the pudding pony. She smiled and set a thick, goopy hoof on Twilight’s bulging middle. “Let me fix that for you.”
Twilight winced at the touch, fearing any amount of extra pressure would invite the worst. But after a minute or so, she found herself relaxing. The pain was easing, giving way to a wash of relief.
“Oh, that’s much better,” she sighed gratefully. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure, Princess,” the creature grinned, looking downward. Its magical touch didn’t just cause the ache to go away–it outright sped up Twilight’s stomach digesting all that pudding. As her stomach shrank back down, her legs grew thicker with new layers of fat. Her cheeks grew just a little rounder, and the beginnings of a double-chin peeked beneath her jaw. Even her backside was filling out the chair just a little more.
But Twilight didn’t seem to care, or even realise that it was happening. Once she had finished digesting, her softer stomach let out another demanding grumble. And this time, its owner had her own glint in her eye.
“I’m really hungry again, all of a sudden,” she purred, before shaking her head. “Alright, you’ve had your fun, now I need to-”
“Hungry again?” repeated the pudding pony. It raised a hoof, which bubbled with warm liquid cocoa. “I’ll take care of that, Your Highness.”
“Wait-!” Twilight yelped, but it fell on deaf ears. Another stream of pudding fired into her open mouth.
For hours, the creature had its way with its creator. Twilight was constantly stuffed with chocolate pudding until she felt sick, then had her digestion quickened so that new mounds of lard appeared around her body, in a constant fattening cycle that she was helpless to stop. Her flanks grew larger, her cutie marks swelling up to accommodate the new space. Her attempts to escape the kitchen were foiled by her stomach pressing against the floor and forcing her legs apart so she could only manage a slow, awkward waddle. And by then, she had grown far too heavy for her wings to get her even an inch off the ground, as hard as she flapped them. The pudding pony simply giggled at her frankly pathetic attempts to flee, and rewarded her efforts with even more pudding.
But at some point, she stopped resisting. What was the point? She had grown too fat to escape her creation’s sugary malice, and her horn was still coated in that unbreakable chocolate cone. There was no way to escape, so why try? Besides, all that chocolate was so delicious anyway. And it was the season for indulging, perhaps even overindulging, so she figured she may as well enjoy it for a while. At least until this creature was satisfied.
Meanwhile, the pudding pony knew it was in control. It had grown in size, to a height rivalling Princess Celestia, and while one hoof was busy feeding its victim, the rest of its body had thick chocolaty tendrils emerging and wriggling around the kitchen. Some pressed and rubbed against Twilight’s body, her layers of alicorn blubber squashing and contorting from the pressure, while others snaked around the floor and walls, through the doors and windows…
“I’m pretty sure the castle didn’t have chocolate tentacles hanging out of the windows when we were last here,” said Princess Cadence, staring up at her sister-in-law’s home and the tendrils squirming out of every space.
“Looks like Twily’s been baking again,” said Shining Armour flatly. “I keep telling her not to get all magic-y with the recipe.”
The alicorn filly cradled in Cadence’s leg babbled eagerly as they approached the door.
“Easy, Flurry,” giggled Cadence, holding her daughter back from licking one of the low-hanging tendrils. “Let’s find your aunt first, huh?”
Shining knocked on the door, and blinked at the lack of response after a few moments. “Not even Spike? That’s weird.”
“Maybe they’re out?” Cadence suggested.
“Nah, the door’s not locked,” said her husband, pushing the door open a crack. “She won’t mind if we let ourselves in–we should get Flurry out of the cold anyway.”
The three entered the castle, and their brows furrowed at the strong smell of melted chocolate in the air. Their curiosity getting the better of them, they followed the scent toward the kitchen. As they got closer, they could hear peculiar sounds. Familiar, yet not. Cadence halted when she felt something warm and moist at her hooves, and blinked at the inch-high ocean of melted chocolate covering the kitchen floor. But their attention was brought toward the source of the sounds–where the table usually was, there was this giant, purple blob coated in large splotches of brown. It was grunting and moaning softly, along with some slurping noises.
“The heck…?” murmured Shining as he approached. He raised a hoof and pressed it against the blob, feeling it sink in down to his shoulder.
“Mmff…?” the blob grunted in a familiar voice. “Who’sh there…?”
Flurry Heart wriggled out of her mother’s grasp and spread her wings to fly up to the top of the blob. She regarded it with a quizzical tilt of her head.
“Flurry!” Cadence gasped, immediately flying after her. But when she saw what was up there, her jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Oh, hullo Flurry…” said the blob. “Hi, Cadenshe…”
“T…Twilight?!” gawked Cadence.
“Twilight?” repeated Shining. The stallion trotted around to the side, and he saw the blob sporting his sister’s cutie mark, albeit incredibly oversized and horrifically misshapen by being covered by so many thick rolls of fat. At the back, he could see the tips of her wings hanging limp and useless, the rest of the appendages buried by back folds. Her massive body had a sloping appearance, like a mountain made entirely of alicorn blubber with a messy mane at the peak.
Cadence, meanwhile, took in her sister-in-law’s face. At least, as much of it she could see wasn’t engulfed by lard. Her neck was almost nonexistent thanks to so many rolls covering it, and her massive cheeks caused her eyes to have a permanent squint and her lips to be constantly puckered, giving her a lisp when she spoke. Curiously, her horn was covered in a thick layer of chocolate. The same kind of chocolate that was splotched all over her gigantic body.
“Twily, what happened to you?” asked Shining, prodding his sister’s globular body and causing a chocolate-scented belch to erupt from her.
“It’sh a long shtory,” she grunted, her voice deepened by layers of fat pressing on her vocal chords. “But, uh, there’sh a creature in the cashtle… keepsh feeding me pudding…”
“A creature feeding you pudding?” repeated Cadence, blinking quizzically. “That’s a new one.”
“A monster, huh?” asked Shining, and he cricked his neck. “Where can we… find it…?” he trailed off, looking down at the shadow looming over him.
Behind the visitors, the liquid chocolate on the floor began to bubble silently. It rose up and began shaping itself, taking the form of a giant, monstrous pony made entirely of chocolate pudding. It was almost as big as Lord Tirek when he was at full strength.
“‘Monster’?” it repeated, its marshmallow eyes narrowed in a mischievous glare. “That’s a bit harsh, hm?”
Shining and Cadence’s horns began to glow, but were quickly covered by fast-hardening chocolate. Flurry wisely hid behind her adipose-laden aunt’s fat head.
“But it’s okay,” it went on. “I’m in too much of a giving mood to be upset. And besides, the more guests, the merrier…!”
