‘It’s just so unfair! We’re better than this! Don’t you agree lad?’
‘Mmmm.’ Stygian was only partially listening to the Guard Captain’s gripes. He was actually trying to concentrate on a spell which had been vexing him for a few hours now. The Unicorn had followed the instructions in the spell book quite closely, but clearly something was still missing. He squinted, but no amount of squinting could stop the chatter of Greyline who was still bemoaning his woes. He gave up, shutting the book and turning to the stallion, walking past him as he levitated it back onto its rightful place on the bookshelf. ‘But you’re the Captain aren’t you Grey? Isn’t it your job to, you know…make yourselves better?’ he asked. He liked to poke a bit, just to see what sort of reaction he would get. Greyline was a gruff pony, he sported a rather mature beard for any Unicorn on his chin and was built somewhat stockily making his armour fit snugly around his body. Black hair, mane and beard complimented the grey body, his right blue eye only slightly marked by a scar that sat above and below it - presumably from some past engagement that Grey hadn’t shared the details for. The pony was somewhat stern, at least while he was on duty. Right now he was, part of his patrol took him by Stygians’ small abode in Canterlot and Stygian. Likely either Starswirl or Celestia had asked Grey to, knowing that the two were somewhat related, if quite distantly. The relationship was distant too, the best way Stygian could describe it was ‘cousins’ - the sort you saw once a year at a family gathering and made small talk with and that was about it, only to repeat the painful process next year. What had turned into a quick look in, followed by the Guard Captain leaving had turned into longer discussions. Stygian blamed himself, not wanting to appear rude he had one day engaged in a bit more conversation than usual. The rest, as they say, is history. Greyline had been talking for a good twenty minutes about how recent skirmishes hadn’t gone so well, it was the main cause of his lamentation. He went back to leafing through books, while he waited for Greyline’s answer.
‘I’m a Guard Captain, Stygian, not a General. The orders come down from the top ponies. I follow them.’
‘Yes, I’m somewhat aware of how the army works, Grey.’ Stygian replied. ‘So who do you blame if it doesn’t go well?’
‘We report back and get new orders.’
‘And what if there’s nopony to report back because the previous orders were so bad you get wiped out?’
‘We always report back lad.’ Greyline said quite bluntly, as if there was no other answer. Stygian glossed over it, at least for now. He filed the response in the back of his mind to speak to Celestia about. Worrying. ‘So what’s the cause of the recent problems?’ he asked, moving the conversation along.
‘Monsters are just…stronger these days.’ Greyline sighed, he had been standing, but upon sighing plonked his flank down on the floor and put his armoured hooves up to his bearded chin. ‘The guards are just as tough as we ever were, some of the new recruits even outshine me back when I was younger and just starting out.’ there was a pause. ‘I don’t know what the answer is.’
Stygian pulled a spell book out, he had finished looking through the books and already his mind had zipped ahead to a possible solution. It was an old book, he blew dust off the cover which made Greyline sneeze. The noise of it was probably heard several streets over.
‘Sorry.’
‘No bother. I shouldn’t have blown dust towards you.’ Stygian said, he opened the book, knowing what he was looking for. Starswirl meticulously categorised spells in any book he had written. This one though he knew quite well, he found the double page spread in a flash and began reading to double check it over. It was indeed the correct spell. ‘I might have something here, but I need to study it…with no distractions.’ Stygian said, giving the Guard Captain a good stare, who rolled his eyes.
‘Alright, I know when I’m not wanted. See you tomorrow lad.’ Greyline said, picking himself up and exiting, the door shut with a light slam behind him. Stygian breathed a sigh and put the book down open on a lectern. He began to read.
It was indeed the correct spell. It was located towards the end of the book where the magic was documented less thoroughly. In fact on the double page spread, there were large spaces of white that looked quite ready to be filled in with missing text. Starswirl had never finished the spell himself, Stygian hoped one day he might be able to fill in the blanks. Perhaps Greyline’s moaning for once might actually come in useful. This would be the perfect opportunity.
The spell in itself was described as being able to make ponies stronger, much more able to withstand blows in combat to keep going when fighting was tough. With tougher monsters being fought, it seemed to Stygian that the guards themselves would need to up their ante and this might just be the way to do it. The thing was, Starswirl had tried quite a combination of things to make it work, the page detailed roughly eighty percent of what he had down was successful, but that last twenty the great pony hadn’t been able to figure out caused it to be incredibly unstable. The instability was not specified, only marked as so on the pages. Stygian wondered if he could figure it out. The puzzle was nearly complete, he just needed the final few pieces. Maybe then with this, Greyline might be so preoccupied with it, he might stop checking in on him and Stygian would get some peace and quiet. If Stygian wasn’t able to figure it out, Starswirl was of course available again (despite being busy). He could perhaps snatch some of his time to help him out, but Stygian liked a challenge. He wanted to at least try on his own first before resorting to asking him. He wasn’t even sure how successful he’d be, seeing as the great master hadn’t been able to finish the work himself previously. With all the time passed, would he be able to now?
He’d tell Greyline tomorrow when he stopped by again. No doubt the pony would be interested. They’d probably have to call in some of the Royal Mages to assist. This was quite a powerful spell. Perhaps asking Starswirl would be a good idea. He’d think on it.
-
It had taken several months of work, Stygian had eventually given in and called on Starswirl after all. His old mentor and he had worked closely together to finish off the missing parts of the spell. A breakthrough had come some weeks ago, Stygian had initially regretted telling Greyline about the unfinished work so soon, the pony had bothered him every day asking for updates like a foal on a long wagon ride. It was during one of these visits quite by chance the breakthrough had come, Stygian was working on two mixtures, with Greyline clopping around the room while he talked. Admittedly Stygian hadn’t really been paying attention, too focused on the concoction in front of him as he was delicately about to drop a small tablespoon's worth of mixture A into mixture B that had been precisely precalculated. At that moment, he had been bumped. Much more than a tablespoon’s worth had entered the vessel.
‘Teleport!’ he had screamed quite suddenly, with Greyline realising the seriousness and moving both of them a distance from Stygians’ house. However, after a few minutes of staring intently at the property, the roof didn’t blow off upwards like Stygian was predicting it would. Wordlessly, he made towards it to find inside the mixture was bubbling in the vessel quite harmlessly. He hit Greyline.
‘Ow!’
‘Grey, you big oaf! That was probably thirty or forty times what should have been added! I was concentrating!’ Stygian said with a raised voice.
‘Well, your house didn’t explode lad and look, it’s quite pretty.’ Greyline replied, pointing a hoof at the mix which was simmering away nicely. Stygian just sighed, then grinned.
‘Yes it is.’ he observed it, it seemed he had precalculated incorrectly. The mix needed to be much more potent. Still, he wasn’t happy it had come about by means of an accident that could have cost him his home. ‘Leave this with me. We’ll need a volunteer you know. To test.’
‘Sign me up.’ Greyline replied, saluting with vigour as he said the words. ‘I’m not afraid.’
‘I didn’t say you needed to be.’ Stygian responded. ‘It’s not quite there, I need to consult with Starswirl about the finer details before I let you anywhere near it. Least of all to make sure it’s fit for pony consumption.’
‘I’ll be back tomorrow.’ Greyline said as he left, Stygian didn’t doubt it.
The potion itself was a rather inky red, verging on purple. The two didn’t mix greatly but Stygian could only describe the mixture as ‘Royal’. The colours were quite intoxicating to the naked eye.
‘Good to finally see it finished, especially with a happy accident.’ Starswirl quipped. He levitated the small corked bottle towards him so he could take another look for himself. ‘Fine work.’ he finished saying before magically passing it back to Stygian, who was careful not to let it fall to the floor.
‘Thanks. Well, our test subject should be arriving any time-’ there was a light crunch as the door to the chamber of the palace flew open and crashed into the wall next to it. Greyline pushed it shut just as roughly behind him. He wasn’t alone, two other guard ponies had come in silently behind him. One of them had jumped roughly their body height when the door had slammed into the wall, now looking a little shaken. Starswirl and Stygian were with three Royal Mages they had asked for help. They had been quite instrumental in figuring out a lot of the smaller details and wanted to see the fruits of their labour, quite rightly. ‘...Now, Captain Greyline. This is…’
‘Starswirl, I know.’ Greyline said quite curtly. ‘The most important conjurer of the pre-classical era.’
‘I’ve been called that. You must be the extremely distant relative.’ the wizard responded. He motioned to Stygian. ‘Well, it’s ready and I’m told you’re the one to test it. Stygian?’ he looked at the scholar somewhat expectantly.
‘Right, now don’t gulp it all down at once.’ Stygian said, popping the cork off and levitating the bottle towards Greyline, who took it with his own magic.
‘I’ll be careful lad.’ the pony said. Stygian wasn’t sure if that was possible, in any case it was out of his telekinesis field now, he watched as Greyline eyed the mixture for around ten seconds and then lifted the bottle to his lips, starting to drink. There was ulping, then silence as the mixture vanished and the bottle was left empty. Greyline passed it back to Stygian. ‘Quite pleasant, almost minty fresh.’ he grinned slightly.
‘Probably the mint plant we had to add.’ one of the Royal Mages said.
There was a further few minutes of silence as the ponies all stood around expectantly, waiting for something to happen. It was finally Stygian who broke the quiet. ‘Grey, it might not take effect right away. Potions of this nature can take some time to actually kick in. Could be a few more minutes or hours.’ he said. ‘Shall we reconvene at the same time tomorrow and see if there’s any changes?’ he suggested.
‘Sounds good lad, I do have things to do.’ Greyline said. ‘Patrol for one thing.’
‘Mmm, well, see you tomorrow.’ Stygian said. He watched the trio of guards go. Then he looked down at the floor, feeling the hoof of Starswirl on his back.
‘Disappointed?’
‘I thought there might have been something sooner rather than later. It was quite a potent mix.’ Stygian confessed.
‘Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll hear quite soon. These things can take time and it probably would have been quite horrific to see him grow in front of our eyes. Best it happens slowly. He could wake up tomorrow with a six pack double the size of what he has now.’ Starswirl said, dismissing the Royal Mages. ‘He had his armour on, too. That likely wouldn’t have survived.’
‘I suppose.’ Stygian agreed. ‘Well, until tomorrow.’ he said, taking leave himself.
-
Gruummbbllleee.
There it was again, louder this time too. Greyline was about finishing up his patrol. The other two guards had left him roughly an hour ago and gotten off duty. As he trotted he found his stomach had started making light grumbles every so often, about now it was down to every few minutes. After a day's work, he was always hungry - but this was a different hunger. The pony found himself licking his lips and almost biting at the air as he did so, as if he was expecting a meal to just magically pop out in front of him. Currently, he was making his way down one of the many large halls within Canterlot castle. The sort that is sparsely occupied as it only exists as a means to get from one spot to another and to fill the space with the odd creaking suit of armour that should have been oiled several centuries ago. He knew exactly where he was, Greyline knew the place like the back of his hooves, it was his job after all. He was twenty paces, turn right at the old marble pillar and then ten more paces from the royal pantry. It was early evening and right now, the smells from the kitchen of the meals the Royal Chefs were preparing for Luna, Celestia and any other delegates were rather wonderfully wafting their way down the hall and up his nostrils. He began to walk forwards. One step, two, three…
Before long he found himself barrelling through the double doors at full force, several yells and screams from the kitchen ponies punctuating the air along with a few clatters of kitchen equipment, saucepans and the like, hitting the floor. It looked as if the chefs were just finishing up putting together a main course for a large delegation of visitors, as well as beginning work on a rather large cake with several layers of chocolate and icing. Straight away he made for the first plate his eyes set upon, knocking aside a chef who tried to stop him with ease, sending the poor Pegasi crashing into a pile of pots.
Several more leapt upon his person, Greyline shaking them off with ease. He might have struggled somewhat before with four regular ponies attempting to drag him back from the plates, but he simply shrugged them off his armour as if they were nothing. Each one falling to the floor and trotting out the kitchen as fast as their hooves would take them. Greyline was left along to gorge and gorge he did. He was onto the fourth plate of mains before the same pair of guards who had been there when he drunk the potion entered the room, watching as their Guard Captain greedily chomped his way through another helping of food.
‘Captain Greyline! Stop!’ one of them yelled rather fruitlessly, it was met only with more chews. The two looked at each other and summoned a shield, but Greyline’s more powerful magic overwhelmed the pair, pushing them back with force. There was a clattering as they both slid backwards across the smooth kitchen floor and came to a stop in a store cupboard, a few plates falling down and smashing on their helmets.
‘He barely looked up from his meal!’ one of the guards blustered, getting up to his hooves. He was about to charge again, but felt the hoof of his companion across his chest, stopping him from moving forward.
‘Don’t. Something’s wrong here…’ she replied, walking forward gingerly. ‘Greyline? Can you hear me?’
There was no reply. Greyline simply took a step to the right to start on the next plate as he had finished the previous one. She gave her fellow guard a puzzled look, then motioned to the door. Both left rather quietly, allowing the Guard Captain to continue feeding his unrelenting hunger that didn’t appear to be letting up. The pantry was still full of food and he was alone, for now.
‘Bbbbbwwaaarrrppppp!’
The belch made his armour shake and belly roll. There was a crash as a ladle fell to the floor beside him. He had finished up with ice cream, most of it having melted. The Guard Captain had been ladling it into his greedy mouth and drinking it quite voraciously, he put a hoof to his head. Brain freeze.
As he unscrewed his eyes he took a moment to observe the devastation around him. The royal pantry was a total mess. Utensils everywhere, food as well. In his haste to cram as much in his mouth as quickly as possible not all of it had quite made it there. A mixture of starters, mains and desserts littered around a neck that had formed quite a blubbery ring below his head. The rest of his body had fared the same - ballooned would be the only way to describe it, with his appetite seemingly sated and no more stomach grumbles Greyline was somewhere between hippo and whale. His stomach bulged out pressing on his armour, threatening to snap metal such was the immensity of it. He pushed himself onto his stomach, hooves just about reaching the floor as he tried to stand, feeling a great weight towards his rear. Flanks that were once slender and toned now bulged as colossal blubbery balls that rose up behind his head and brushed against a low hanging ceiling lamp, they were only contained somewhat by that buckling armour that it looked as if they were about to pop out of any second. When he stood it somewhat became clear just how big he was, he was roughly three times the height of any other normal pony, maybe even a little taller than Celestia. All of it blubber, thick, fat cellulite that had piled onto his body in the bingeing session.
With some clarity of thought he came to a conclusion. The potion. It must be. What else could drive a pony to disregard his work and personal work ethic so badly that it came to this? Initially, he thought to seek the advice of Stygian and report what had happened, but likely word had gotten to him already. He was sure at some point during his feasting a couple of guards had entered the room, but he couldn’t quite remember. It was lost in a blur of feasting.
The next best thing would be to check himself into the castle medical ward. It wasn’t too far away. He was reasonably sure he could make it unassisted, even with all the extra weight he wasn’t used to. Gingerly, Greyline took a laboured step forward, his whole body shifting as the hoof he put a couple of feet in front of him weighed heavily down on the floor. The castle was built of solid stuff, if it could take a siege it could take several hundred pounds of blubber putting a bit of pressure on its surfaces. He managed to turn, squeezing himself out the double doors which prior had been quite huge looking, now on the small side as flanks and belly fat brushed against the frames. There was a pop! as his rear pushed him forward, out of the royal pantry and into the corridor. It was still silent, it seemed nopony was waiting for him to emerge. The chefs had long scarpered. He had to take into account how many steps it would now take to actually reach the medical ward, now that his body was much larger it completely threw out any metrics he knew prior. It wasn’t far. Right now, he was just attempting to concentrate on getting used to shifting all this new weight without falling on his massive ass and thinking of what he’d tell the medical staff once he arrived. It also begged another question.
Would they even have a bed big enough for him?
-
‘Celestia, he snores like a train.’
‘After a meal like that, are you surprised?’
Stygian and Starswirl had arrived at the medical ward. They had gone to the royal pantry first only to find Greyline gone. A guard had met them, advising he was now under medical observation and they should make their way there. Expecting to find him awake, they actually found the Guard Captain fast asleep in the middle of the ward covered in several blankets. They did not have a bed big enough.
‘Best time to see what’s up with him, if I’m gentle enough he won’t wake up.’ one of the nurses said. Starswirl and Stygian turned to observe a pony in a gown start to administer from their horn the green glow of a magical spell. She was joined by another, the pair left them to work for a few moments. Usually these things were quick.
‘He’s huge!’ Stygian blurted out when they were alone.
‘Quite observant as always.’ Starswirl said with a modicum of sarcasm. ‘He’s the right colour for a hippo too…or maybe an elephant.’
‘Really?’ Stygian asked, giving Starswirl a beady eyed look of concern. ‘The potion did this. He’s going to be so mad with us when he wakes up.’
‘I feel like he’d be more angry if we weren’t here.’ Starswirl replied. ‘We did this so we need to be responsible for it. I heard he went through all the food in the pantry.’
‘All of it?’
‘Yes, supposedly a banquet's worth of food for over forty guests. Don’t worry they got fed. Celestia is aware but she’s busy, I’m sure however she’ll be along later to have a look at what has happened to one of her Guard Captains.’ Starswirl sighed. ‘Be prepared to apologise to her as well.’
‘Right…’
‘All done.’ the nurse pony had found the pair. ‘You might want to see this, it’s um, interesting?’ she said, sounding unsure. The trio walked together to a few wall charts that showed various information about Greyline, who was still snoring quite peacefully. The nurse hadn’t woken him during her tests. ‘We keep records of certain things for the guard personnel.’ she said. ‘Here’s Greyline’s last physical.’ she pointed a hoof to the left chart. ‘And here’s how he looks now.’
Two points stood out as being much higher than the previous chart. They were marked Strength and Formidability. ‘Despite his size, he’s probably the biggest, toughest guard we have now.’ she explained.
‘I am?’ Greyline yawned, then snorted. He moved his flabby hooves somewhat but didn’t move from his sleeping position. All three turned to face him. Stygian grinned awkwardly, first to speak.
‘Sure are! If these results are correct.’
‘They are, I assure you.’ the nurse said flatly. ‘But we do need to run a few more tests before he’s allowed to leave.’
‘More tests? You’ve told me everything I need to know. I can handle the added bulk if the potion has achieved the desired results!’ he said quite excitedly, moving his huge bulk upwards. The trio looked up, the mass of pony almost towering over them now he was fully upright. Greyline smiled, extending a fatty hoof of slapping Stygian on the shoulder, nearly sending him flying. ‘Well done the pair of you! Especially you lad! Extend your thanks to your mages as well!’
‘Guard Captain, please - this isn’t-’ the nurse started to say, but she was interrupted by a face full of wobbling ass as Greyline turned, still somewhat unaware of his new body’s size.
‘Say no more nurse! I’ll not linger here while there is work to do.’ Greyline said, already shifting himself forward and out of the medical ward.
‘What work? It’s the end of the…’ Starswirl started to say. ‘You should at least get some rest here, even if you don’t want any more tests.’
‘I’d prefer the comfort of my own bed, thank you.’ Greyline replied. He left the stunned trio and slid his way out the double doors, an exit that was becoming quite common thanks to his bulk.
‘Stubborn.’ the nurse said, huffing as she trotted away to her next patient.
‘You have no idea.’ Stygian replied. He simply shrugged at Starswirl.
-
The bed had not been so comfortable, especially after all the legs had buckled under Greyline’s weight and he had practically had to sleep on the floor. The mattress was completely pancaked when he awoke in the morning. He was lucky he held the position he did and wasn’t still sleeping in the barracks with the recruits. He got up (with some effort), squeezed himself into the bathroom (with lots of effort) and washed (magical effort - to move around the shower head). It took three times as long to clean himself, being over three times his original mass. With another squeeze he moved out of the bathroom and thought about breakfast. The stomach grumbling had stopped however and after yesterday, he barely felt any hunger. No surprise, he had eaten enough to likely keep him fed for several months, but the body didn’t quite work that way. Normally the stallion would have a reasonable breakfast to set himself up for the day, but instead opted for two pieces of toast with butter. Something was better than nothing. He decided it was best instead today to go to the training ground. The words of the nurse, biggest, toughest guard were ringing in his ears and he intended not to waste this gift on merely patrolling. Not that he could - his heft was making it quite difficult still to move, he was still getting used to the added bulk.
Luckily, the training grounds were quite close by. The place always had a few guards testing their mettle, today however there seemed to be a drill in progress. With Greyline’s appearance, the drill stopped and the ponies who were undertaking it simply stared at the massive grey blubbery bulk moving its way slowly towards them. When Greyline did come to a halt, he grinned, attempting to strike a ‘strong’ pose, but all this did was make his armour quiver and his flanks wobble. The confident grin turned into a nervous one when a few of them started sniggering and several more joined in with full blown laughter.
‘Woah! Captain Greyline! Or should that Hippoline now?’
‘I know we’re meant to carbo load but it looks like somepony ate his entire yearly session in a day!’
‘Gonna have to ask the blacksmith to let your armour out, big boy!’
‘...One of his flanks are bigger than the entire of me…’
Greyline was not amused, especially by lip from the lower ranks. It wasn’t to be tolerated. Several things crossed his mind. Verbal recourse (which he was never very good at), sitting on them (and likely making them end up in the medical ward) or he could simply prove his newfound strength to them. An obstacle course had been set up, now clear of guards who had all stopped to observe him. Greyline took a few steps forward. He moved faster, wheezing and turning the trot to a gallop. Quickly, he was heading for the start of the obstacle course as fast as his fatty hooves could carry him, belly wobbling with gusto and ass doing its best impression of jelly as he quite literally smashed his way through the starting gate - sending the thing flying in an explosion of splinters. The same was true of the next obstacle, a small wooden vaulting box that was meant to be leapt over gracefully. Greyline demolished it by barraging straight through the middle without stopping, barely anything left of the thing which had split right down the middle as he charged through.
Some obstacles he did manage to actually traverse, his bulk being an advantage rather than a hindrance. Most however were destroyed instead. None of the obstacles that required any sort of finesse survived, he simply crashed right through them. It was a completion - of sorts. After less than a minute of crashes, bangs and wallops Greyline crossed the finish line. If anyone had timed it (and if it had counted - destroying equipment wasn’t really in the rules) he would have beaten the record by well over twenty seconds. For him however, it was more a test of just how strong and formidable this added size had made him. He had hardly flinched or felt anything as he had charged through the course, leaving most of it destroyed in his wake. The laughter and teases of his fellow guards had quickly stopped. When he crossed the line, there was only stunned silence.
‘Do you all want to keep making jokes? Or shall I take the winner's drink?’ he asked to nopony in particular. None replied. With his magic, he levitated two barrels of cider over to himself, meant to supply the entire guard force for training and began to drink. The effort had made him quite thirsty, his enormous belly sloooossheeeedd as he sucked the liquid down. It was extremely refreshing.
‘Hey, that’s meant to be for all of us!’ one of the guards piped up. A little two late, the barrels were nearly empty. Greyline still put them down, wiping some cider from his lips. He recognised the young guard. A reputation for being mouthy and no respect for the higher ranks. Greyline had been quite looking forward to putting him in his place for some time, it seemed that time was now.
‘Well, come and take it.’ he said with a grin. He watched as the guard was joined by a friend at their side. Two against one! This should indeed be an interesting fight. The pair charged at him, Greyline stood up and steeled himself. Right as they were approaching his front, he turned as quickly as his legs would allow, making the pair charge straight into the side of his sloshing stomach, sending them into a soft pillow of flab that for a second absorbed them completely, then spat the dazed pair back out and deposited them on the floor.
Before they could get up, a shadow loomed over them. Two colossal orbs blocked out the sun and descended downwards. Greyline parked himself on top of them, his fat rear wobbling as it came to rest on the hapless pair now trapped under his titanic tush, unable to free themselves from the mass of fat smothering them both. ‘Anypony else?’ Greyline said, smiling as he leaned back and finished off what was left of the cider. A few ponies attempted to throw some weaponry from a distance, not wanting to meet the same fate as the two guards smothered in ass, but it simply bounced off. Nothing left so much as even a mark on his body. That resilience really was paying off. He thought he’d drive home the point a little more, smooshing and wobbling his flanks around a little, to the protest of those trapped under them.
With all this going on, nopony noticed they were being observed. ‘Interesting.’ Celestia simply said to herself. She had been alerted by the first crash through the obstacle course and had then bore witness to the whole event, quite content to watch and see how it all panned out. From her balcony quite high up on the castle towers she had a rather good view. The ruler had seen plenty of strange things in her lifetime, this ranked somewhere in the middle. Not world shatteringly alarming but certainly not a run of the mill daily occurrence. She had laughed softly to herself when Greyline had rested his rear end on the two guards. For now, she decided to retreat and discuss it with Starswirl later. She spotted him and Stygian trotting at quite a high speed towards the training grounds. Not everything required her intervention, she’d let them do what they could until they stepped in to ask, or she was forced to. Whichever came first. ‘Our guards are putting on quite the display.’ she said once back inside the tower to Luna, who was busy, snout deep in some paperwork.
‘Really. I’ll look later. Where is Kibitz?’
‘Day off.’
‘Explains why I’ve got the paperwork…’
‘Grey, stand up!’ Stygian yelled. He wasn’t really one to raise his voice but the situation called for it. Even Starswirl was surprised.
‘Rather unlike you, lad.’ he murmured, but it seemed to work, the Captain got to his hooves and the two guard ponies that were trapped under him comically took a huge gulp of air before shuffling themselves to freedom and getting up themselves, sheepishly vanishing from the crowd that had gathered around Greyline. They managed somehow, to slip away unnoticed.
‘They laughed at first - but now? Not even a chuckle!’ Greyline said rather triumphantly. ‘You see? Respect.’ he turned his head to look at some of the guards, giving his rear a threatening wobble. Their wide eyes told him that not even a single murmur of amusement would pass their lips.
‘I’m not sure that’s respect…’ Starswirl said under his breath to Stygian. ‘Intimidation maybe?’
Stygian just nodded at Starswirl. ‘Yes, clearly they respect you.’ Stygian said dryly, he didn’t want his words mistaken for sarcasm. He didn’t fancy ending up like the two guards. ‘We’ve been looking all over for you.’
‘You thought I was patrolling?’ Greyline asked.
‘Well…yes. You normally do.’
‘Not today. Thought I’d get some training in with this new added weight. Really put it to the test.’ he chirped, proudly pointing a hoof at the still somewhat destroyed obstacle course which several of the guard ponies were now in the middle of repairing. Accidents with new recruits were common, it needed maintenance to remain useful. Just usually not quite this much in a single day.
‘Indeed. Listen, we’re not quite sure this is right.’ Starswirl started to explain. ‘You’re tougher and stronger, yes, but the side effect of you being this gigantic wasn’t intended.’
‘I’m getting quite used to it.’ Greyline replied.
‘Whether you’re used to it or not, clearly we missed something when putting the formula together. We intended for no change to your physique. At least, nothing this drastic.’
‘I see, what do you plan to do?’
‘Well, make another potion.’ Stygian explained. ‘Keeping the strength you’ve gained but not the size. Celestia can’t send a squadron of elephant sized ponies into battle, it’s not exactly practical.’
‘Plus they’d probably get laughed off the battlefield.’ Starswirl said quite plainly. ‘Not very threatening to the enemy.’
‘I don’t think that will matter much when their weapons are simply bouncing off.’ Greyline said. ‘They’ll soon change their mind like the guards here have.’
‘Be that as it may, we need to cure this.’ Stygian said. ‘You can remain on duty Grey, in the castle and its grounds. Just please don’t stray from them. We’d rather fix this before it becomes the talk of Equestria.’
‘Very well. If those are orders.’ Greyline replied. ‘For now I’ll return to my normal patrols.’ the Guard Captain said, he left to the sighs of relief of most of the guard troops. Stygian gave Starswirl a relieved look.
‘I hope he can stay out of trouble.’
-
It had been several weeks since the training ground incident. As far as Stygian was aware, Greyline had managed to keep himself out of trouble. The only real indication he had that he was still on duty was the floor outside his house would shake for a few moments as Greyline passed by. The pony had given up coming inside to talk, his size meant that he wouldn’t fit through the door, much to the relief of Stygian. There had been no real news of any more binge eating sessions like the one that decimated the castle pantry. Thankfully, the nurses in the medical ward had quickly found a way to manage his appetite. Huge portions of meals every day. The kitchen staff were grumbling about having to work overtime to feed one pony and Celestia had made a comment to Starswirl it was putting quite a dent in the food budget, but Stygian and he had insisted it was only temporary, which seemed to placate both parties.
Right now, Stygian was working alone on the next potion, Starswirl was apparently with Celestia. Delaying a parade which Greyline was due to take part in. As he worked, he wondered how it was going.
‘Absolutely not, we’ve been planning this for months. Starswirl we cannot delay this parade.’ Celestia said quite firmly. ‘Can he simply not take part?’
‘That would be the obvious solution, yes.’ Starswirl replied. Usually Celestia was quite agreeable, it was rare for her to be so unwilling to move on something like this. It was one of the rare times he would have to see if his reasoning would work or fail him. ‘There’s two problems though. Firstly, he’s a Guard Captain so he’s expected to take part. Secondly, if we do tell him he cannot, can you imagine how that will make him feel? Do we want another incident like in the castle pantry? I can only imagine a pony that size deciding to stress eat.’
‘Point taken. However, even if there was another…incident.’ Celestia said, gritting her teeth slightly and looking at Starswirl. ‘It would be far less expensive than delaying this parade. We’ve had to pay caterers, musicians, organisers and not to mention all the expense on the guards themselves to put them in uniforms suitable for the occasion. We need a compromise.’
‘Agreed.’
‘He will take part, under supervision. I want the best and strongest with him. Two front, two back. Tell him that he’s to be given a special honour.’ Celestia said.
‘And what would that be, out of interest?’
‘I don’t know.’ Celestia whined slightly, Starswirl could tell she was getting a little tired of the topic. ‘Just make something up, to do with your potion. How is that coming, by the way?’
‘Stygian is working on it as we speak, top priority.’ Starswirl replied.
‘Good. Hopefully back to normal soon then.’
‘Hopefully.’ There was a pause. Starswirl could sense she wanted to move on, there was a lot of planning to do with this parade and felt he likely should get out of her hair. ‘Shall I leave you to it?’
‘If you wouldn’t mind.’ Celestia replied. To that end, Starswirl left her to it.
-
The day of the parade came. Greyline had finally been given some better fitting armour, even if it was ceremonial for the most part. It rather nicely fitted his form, making the Captain look quite resplendent. Gilded with gold and silver, it was a fitting uniform. Starswirl had even told him it was quite the honour. ‘For services to Magic.’ he had explained when he and several guards had brought the armour to him. The pony felt rather proud, happy to be showing off for the citizens of Canterlot.
All eyes seemed to draw to him as he walked, booming hoof steps being heard before he was visible. Once he hoved into view of the onlookers they couldn’t take their eyes off him, most ponies seemingly transfixed as his massive heft wobbled by. The entire time he smiled, he wasn’t an attention seeker, but when attention seemed to seek him he revelled in it.
Gloorrrpp!
The parade had only been going for a short time. Greyline had of course eaten, but that was yesterday. He had even, against the advice of the nurses, put a meal off - he wanted to make sure the rather amazing armour that had been presented to him fitted properly without his massive body breaking out of it before he even got the chance to show it off in the parade. Perhaps that hadn’t been such a wise decision after all. For now, he ignored it, focusing his attention on looking his best for the crowd as he trotted along with the rest of his fellow guards. Four flanked around him, it drew even more attention towards him, not that the size of him wasn’t enough to begin with.
Grrrummmbbllleeee!
Blloorrrpppp!
As the parade had gone on, the noises had become more frequent and well, noisy. The music from the marching band had mostly drowned them out, but Greyline was quite aware of them. The hunger from his stomach was building quite rapidly. Right now, his mind had completely moved off the preoccupation of looking his best for the viewing public and instead was now thinking about just how quickly he could make for a meal once the parade was over. There wasn’t long to go, just a few more streets to march down and he’d be at the end. His discipline as a guard was the only thing at the moment keeping him from giving in to his stomach. Anypony else with his condition would have likely barged through the crowd and made for the nearest place with food. Smells of various stands set up to feed ponies attending the parade wafted up his nostrils. It wasn’t helping. It all smelled so good, even the cheap food that was normally something he tried to stay away from. He focused himself up, staring straight ahead and counting down the streets to the final road which he knew was quite a short, straight one that ended in a circular green where the guards would stand down and disperse from their parade duties.
Three roads to go…
Slooosssh!
Two roads…
Gloorrpp!
One!
Grummbllee!
The hippo-like pony had made it, armour intact to the end of the parade. In front of him, what had been neatly lined guards was now a sea of armour and unorganised chaos as they dispersed. He stopped and looked around, expecting the guards nearby him to leave themselves now that the parade was over. However, they didn’t seem to want to move. They too had heard the grumblings and hungry sounds of the massive ponies stomach. They were aware he had to eat and were discussing amongst themselves how quickly they could get him back to the palace proper where a meal was waiting for him. The thing was, Greyline wasn’t prepared to wait that long. While the four guards were preoccupied talking, he turned to see what was close by. A tavern, not hugely busy due to being at the end of the parade route, got his attention.
‘He’s walking away.’
‘What?’ Now as I was saying…’
‘He’s going towards that tavern.’
‘Private please, we need to-’
‘No really, he’s definitely going towards the tavern.’
‘Oh for Celestia’s. With me!’ the lead guard among the four said, trotting at pace to catch up with the Guard Captain who had already reached the tavern, they weren’t quite quick enough to stop him entering, or at least attempting to. The building was quite old and the doorway quite narrow. Greyline, with a lot of effort, squeezed his way inside, destroying much of the doorway with a loud CRUNCH in the process. Wood that was several hundred years old was no match for a pony of his weight and size. The massive Guard Captain took a few pounding steps forward, looming over the bar and slamming his enlarged flanks down on the wooden floor, which cratered under the weight of him. Two of the guards assigned to keep an eye on him were just catching up to him, perhaps a little too closely, being pinned underneath as he brought his down to the floor. A repeat of the incident in the training ground, but this time, Greyline wasn’t doing it on purpose. In fact he didn’t even notice, assuming the uneven feeling beneath him to be the wreckage of the floor. The other two who were spared quickly attempted to start pulling them free, but they didn’t seem to be very willing to budge.
The bartender who was noticeably quivering behind the bar at the absolutely massive pony in a guard uniform looming over him, salivating, only managed to squeak a single word. ‘Yes?’
‘All the food, your kitchen can make, as quickly as possible.’ Greyline said quite bluntly. From beneath the huge armour he magically levitated a coin purse which he dumped into the bartenders hooves. A Guard Captain’s salary was nothing to be sneezed at and Greyline wasn’t a big spender, the bed he had destroyed at home was the only real dent in the old coin purse recently and it had been replaced with something much sturdier weeks ago. The bartender took the purse, emptying the contents into a secure till and rushing off to the kitchen to tell them to start cooking food immediately. As soon as that was done he reappeared.
‘Anything else?’
‘Detach the hoses.’
‘I’m sorry?’
Greyline pointed at the taps that lined the bar, usually reserved for only pouring the liquid they brought up from the basement into ale mugs. ‘Your pumps. Pull the hoses out from under them and give them to me.’
‘R-Right..’ the barpony simply replied. They detached one of the hoses from a pump and passed it to Greyline, who hooked it directly into his mouth and made a motion with his hoof.
‘Another.’
‘S-Sure…’
He gave him another.
‘More.’
‘O-Okay.’
There was another. Greyline continued to ask for more until roughly six small hoses filled his mouth. The pumps weren’t needed, the pony quite able to suck the liquid up through the hoses directly with his immense strength. By the time the first barrel was empty, the food had arrived, at least the first plates. Greyline removed the hoses and began to eat. Plates were arriving about as quickly as he consumed what was on them. Yet his hunger wasn’t being sated.
Glllooorrrppppp!
He needed more, much, much more. It was quite amazing the kitchen was keeping pace with the growing pony, who was quickly expanding from elephant to whale as he consumed gallons of drink and seemingly endless plates of food. A hush had come over the tavern, guests that had chosen to stay watching a display of gluttony quite unlike anything that they had witnessed before or likely would ever again. The massive Guard Captain seemed to be expanding before their very eyes, wobbling flesh gaining weight with every mouthful he took.
‘I can’t get them out and it’s not getting any easier!’ one of the free guards said. The two were still trying to get their unlucky colleagues free.
‘Forget it, with any luck his weight will cause the floor to collapse and they’ll fall into the basement.’ the other said. ‘No freeing them now.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘...Better go tell Celestia.’
The pair left, leaving Greyline to continue to drink and eat his fill until he was sated, or the kitchen ran out of food and the hoses were drunk dry. Whichever came first. He continued to eat as long as the kitchen kept up with his demand for food and the barrels for drink.
It seemed like an eternity but in reality, it was only half an hour before the Guard Captain managed to exhaust both at roughly the same time, due to the speed at which he was able to put away anything that came close to his greedy lips. By the time he was done, he had grown in size even more, ceremonial armour much like his original, struggling to contain the mass of him. His fat rolled, great big folds of blubber rippling as even the slightest movement caused a shift of cellulite. Gigantic flanks pushed out to the side as he sat, back armour spreading with them - metal plates stretched and practically flat against his fattened back, a small strap from under them to keep them in place around his belly, forming two massive bulging hunks of blubber that somehow hadn’t snapped it in two. Legs now useless, all he could use them for was to aid in shifting his position as they’d have no way of carrying his weight. His neck had gained a second ring, head nestled neatly inside as some food which had failed to reach his lips littered the space around his head. At one point, he had to shift his sitting position to one that was more of a laying down position, a belly bed much more comfortable. Unfortunately this only pinned the two guards trapped under him in place even more. Greyline practically took up most of the downstairs seating area of the bar. He removed the hoses from his mouth and observed the huge stack of plates piled up on the bar. His eyes felt heavy.
‘I’m just going to have a little sleep, if you don’t mind.’
Before the bartender could protest, greedy snores began to erupt from his nostrils. Greyline had already passed out, satisfied.
-
‘Now he snores like an ocean liner's foghorn.’
‘Upgraded from a train?’ Starswirl asked Stygian sarcastically.
‘I mean look at him. This is even worse!’ the pony protested. He, Starswirl and Celestia had arrived at the tavern as quickly as they could after being alerted by the guards. They had cleared the bar area and posted a number outside to stop them entering, but the large hole Greyline had made when entering meant they could easily see inside the building. There were a few jeers and whistles from ponies outside, somewhat drowned out by Greyline’s snores. A few guards were inside, along with nurses.
‘How do we get him back to the palace?’ Celestia asked.
‘Or even inside it, I’m pretty sure he’s wider than even the grandest entry doors.’ Starswirl replied. ‘We should have delayed the parade.’
‘This is a rather minor incident Starswirl.’ Celestia said, somewhat reassuringly. ‘I can assure you that we’ve had worse.’
‘Oh, I know.’ Starswirl said, observing the sleeping Guard Captain. A couple of Pegasi were completely unsuccessfully attempting to lift the massive weight with their wings. Mainly to free the two guards who’s legs were wiggling rather comically trying to get themselves free. It wasn’t looking as if it would be successful. What did free them however was Greyline shifting his body to the side, finally freeing the pair from under his flanks. The snoring stopped which was followed by a huge belch.
‘BBBWWAAAAAARRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPP!’
He almost somewhat deflated as the build of up gas left his lips, but he was still as big as ever. Greyline turned his head to observe the three ponies looking at him but addressing Stygian, grinning rather sheepishly. ‘I guess things got a little out of hoof lad, sorry.’
‘More than a little.’ Celestia said, laughing. ‘But I’m told Stygian has the new potion ready. We’ll have you back to normal soon. If we can get you out of here first…’ Celestia mused.
‘I think I’m just about mobile still.’ the Guard Captain said. He tried to move, but the increased weight made it even more difficult. His size now meant mobility was out of the question. ‘...Or maybe not.’
The four of them laughed, they’d find a way to get him back to the palace. Getting inside though might be another issue entirely…
