Celestia's Weight Gain Experiment

“Oh, good heavens.”

Yes, she did. Of course, she did.

Starlight eventually decided that the friendship problem was resolved. Although, many ponies could rightly argue this ‘decision’ was several weeks overdue. When Celestia and Luna reconciled, they began sharing meals together, gleefully experiencing a gluttonous spread of goodies. Luna’s gaunt, emotionally depleted demeanor became one of blissful fulness, a mirror image to her massive sister’s gainful hobby. Starlight curiously stuck around to participate, going from slight added pudge to a truly enormous chubster in record time. She was back in Ponyville, and the fact of her weight gain had not gone unnoticed. It hadn’t exactly slowed down either. The routine visits to Sugarcube Corner had seen to that. Her arrival, along with the clear evidence that Celestia, Luna, Starlight, and Canterlot Castle’s entire royal staff had begun to plump up with reckless abandon, meant that most ponies came to accept the idea that being fat wasn’t just okay, it was being actively encouraged by the highest members of government. Raven Inkwell was perhaps the most visible example of the change in attitude. Starlight Glimmer had proven unable to avoid the temptation. And Rainbow Dash was among the first, most receptive members of this cultural shift, her round belly and flabby flanks quickly growing to draw the envy of her neighbors and friends.

The results escalated. As many in the royal guard grew out of their armor, their dashing, illustrious captain was meant to re-establish some sense of order, some notion of normalcy. Shining Armor’s belt snapped open a month later. Publicly. A photo was taken of him eating a muffin afterwards – his belly proudly bulged outwards, his eyes wild and face grinning, he seemingly embraced the new physique as an official, royal standard. Her majesty’s soldiers that had until then been uncertain, that had been sneaking glimpses of their monarch’s growing backside and crossing their legs, understood the message clear as day. Anypony who had once been avoiding fattening snacks could now be spotted in a local buffet or grocery store, picking up extra helpings of carb-laden dinners and gratuitously sugary desserts. In the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence had previously spent months campaigning against the idea of gaining “baby weight.” After her husband’s little ‘incident,’ she mysteriously gained twenty pounds, as if to signal to mares the world over that mothers were meant to be just a bit chubby – more cushion for the foals to cuddle. Shinning Armor got even fatter out of respect to his wife’s efforts.

Rarity began promoting plus-sized clothing, her massive flanks showcasing the limits of fabric as they burst free of a particularly tight dress. Pinkie Pie and the Cake Family had never experienced a more successful winter shopping spree, though the workload had become decidedly split between baking for the public and filling the bottomless pit that was the flabby pink mare herself. Fluttershy suddenly found it necessary to share her animals’ routine, becoming a cushy, bloated butterball that lacked the excuse of hibernating at all. Rainbow Dash’s initial growth found itself threatened by the community at large, so she committed to growing fatter and faster than the entire town. Applejack started out as hesitant, but after the usual Apple Family feasting for the holidays, she appeared conspicuously slow to drop the extra padding around her tummy and muscular thighs. Twilight herself did not experience a single request for the weight loss spell she had so painstakingly invented – in fact, She and Spike could nowadays be found in the castle throne room, muzzle deep in cartons of ice cream, developing a method to reduce fullness and maximize stomach capacity.

And then there was Luna.

Surrounded on all sides by ponies gorging themselves, the magnificent Princess of the Night had encased herself in an ever-changing rationalization that spiraled out of control.

“I’m just going to do this until my flanks are a bit more prominent.”

Then, fifteen pounds later.

“I’m really not that big. It’s popular to be a bit thick these days. Who am I to argue?”

Then, twenty pounds and a gratuitous cake binge later.

“At least I’m not as fat as you.”

In this regard, she was correct. Celestia was supposed to have run an experiment. She was supposed to have identified when enough was enough. Instead, the entire nation of Equestria had followed her off a deep end. The average Equestrian citizen was now obese. It was seen as odd to be a little pony. Chubby, jiggling frames trudged along Canterlot’s streets in dutiful fashion and reverence of their monarch – the fattest of them all. Perhaps a nation of equines was not meant to be exposed to frequent meals and processed sugar. Perhaps everypony was supposed to have some little voice in the back of their heads telling them that eating was a chore, not a pastime. Perhaps some curse had stricken the land, and nopony was willing to fight it. Though, with so many full, happy faces busy chomping and chewing, no such questions filled the air. Conversation turned to food and getting more of it.

It became a significant undertaking to reorient the globular alicorn to her office. Her staff were becoming so large that their fat bellies impeded their movement. Raven could barely haul herself to the top of the throne’s platform these days. Though, a snack halfway through often helped. Celestia plopped off of a royal rickshaw, her legs hopelessly abandoned, her wings retracted within folds of flab. Her lips were so ensconced between her chubby cheeks and copious triple chin that her voice sputtered.

“I think…I am fat.”

She laughed, the mountain of flab jiggling in response.

“Is there any question or doubt? I feel the swell of my tummy absolutely dominate my body. I cannot move. The softness of my form encases me in a warmth and comfort that is beyond compare. Behind me is an entire, globular expanse that I can call my butt…but really…it’s just one more orb of me – a fat-filled mass that protrudes outwards and advertises two of the largest cutiemarks in the nation.”

“Twilight has offered to use the weight loss spell. But for the purposes of this experiment, something is wrong. Or perhaps, something is right. I have not considered the option in months.”

She took a bite of cake coated in vanilla frosting.

“I’m not done. There’s still more that can be gained.”

She thought about Raven, about Starlight, about Luna becoming fatter by the day. Good. They were right to do so.

+5 pounds since last measurement, +236 total

“As it turns out, knowing that you can get fat isn’t the hard part. Everypony knows you can. Everypony knows you will. The hard part…is getting started.”