Celestia's Weight Gain Experiment

Celestia felt no alarm when she heard the news that Twilight’s own apprentice, Starlight Glimmer, would be visiting the castle. Although it did mean her breakfast would be delayed. In fact, she was happy for the change of pace and the added company. As she strode through the opulent hallway towards the throne room, she consciously added extra hip sway to her steps, advertising her thick behind for anypony lucky enough to cross paths with her. Royal guards were meant to stand rigid at attention when in the presence of royalty, but they were unable to contain a particular breach of etiquette when the princess left their sight: several stallions crossed their legs to hide a very embarrassing development.

The attention made Celestia very pleased with herself and her efforts thus far. She thought it was humorous that she could have indulged her sweet tooth all this time, and the result would have apparently been becoming even more physically attractive. As it turns out, between the stages of skinny and chubby, there was a very sexy middle ground. Many nights were spent with concubines to confirm this theory. Celestia’s indulgence crossed into the realm of sheer debauchery, much to the antagonism of her beloved sister.

When Celestia entered the throne room, she spotted Luna already standing on the raised platform. She joined Luna at her side to receive and welcome Starlight when she arrived. Luna, in a contrast to the optimism and sexually-charged confidence of her sister, was not looking her best that morning. Dark circles formed around her eyes and a stern expression occupied her face. Celestia did not say anything at first, but her growling stomach interjected anyway, clearly upset about the missing breakfast.

“Seriously?”

“What? I can’t control it!”

Celestia offered a soft smile, but Luna did not return it.

“Did you know, dear sister, that the kitchen staff has added three new chefs this past week alone? They say it’s to keep up with the ‘workload.’”

Celestia blushed, but she couldn’t attribute it to a feeling of embarrassment. In fact, she was oddly proud that her habits were starting to influence others. She lamented that it could become a negative one at that.

“Hey, there is nothing wrong with having a healthy appetite. I’m sure if they have any concerns, they will let me know. I’ve been chatting with them about modifications to their recipes.”

“What’s to add? Far as I can tell, your binging is having its intended result.”

Luna gestured to Celestia’s cutie mark with a hoof.

“Your butt looks huge.”

Celestia thought such a comment would upset her, would dissuade her. Instead, it made her feel happy. How strange.

“Thank you very much for noticing, dear Luna.”

“GAH. Are you immune to shame?!”

“On this one particular topic, apparently I am.”

Celestia playfully swayed her tail back and forth to accentuate the subject of conversation. Luna huffed and redirected her attention to the doorway where Starlight Glimmer respectfully entered the room.

Celestia offered warm greetings with a smile. They exchanged pleasantries, and the conversation quickly shifted to the purpose of Starlight’s impromptu visit to Canterlot.

“So, the map sent you to solve a friendship problem?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong here, right sister?”

Celestia’s glowing good mood was compromising her better judgement. For even as Starlight stood before the throne of the Equestrian Princesses, Luna still could not muster a cordial tone.

“No. Everything’s perfect as usual. Sister.”

Celestia knew better than anypony to obey the prerogatives of the Elements of Harmony. But her conceit and confidence had seemingly blinded her to the fact that, as she had grown curvy, Luna had grown resentful. Starlight looked up at the Princesses with brow furrowed and thoughts clouded. The two siblings were clearly having a disagreement of some kind. And when had Celestia’s butt ever been that big?

Starlight Glimmer was granted a guest room in the castle to stay for as long as she needed to solve the friendship problem. In her room, she was surprised to learn that Twilight Sparkle had vicariously joined her in her mission, taking the form of a small ballerina in a music box. Starlight found this action a bit presumptuous and intrusive but opted to focus on the task at hoof.

These royal tensions were certainly on display when Starlight joined the sisters for breakfast. She was amazed by the decadent, heaping pile of pancakes the princess had personally prepared for the three of them.

“Thank you so much for breakfast, Princess. I can’t believe you cook it yourself.”

“Of course, Starlight. I really enjoy doing it. It’s a small way to say I care.”

Celestia bit her tongue and remained discreet about her more personal, ulterior motive. Sharing was the least she could do. And what was the harm if the pancakes just so happen to be especially flavorful and filling? It’s not like anypony eats them looking to diet.

It was at that moment that Princess Luna popped open the dining room door and groggily approached the table. Celestia hoped that having a guest might snap her sister out of this apparent funk. She had prepared an extra plate just for her.

“Good morning sister! Join us?”

Celestia levitated the smiling stack of sugary treats in front of Luna, matching its happy expression with her own. But the tired mare did not share the enthusiasm of the moment. Luna could see for the first time that Celestia’s stomach looked bloated even though the plates on the table remained untouched. She wondered how huge that stomach would get today, given the fact it would be both flabby and filled. She merely grumbled.

“Too tired.”

The normally graceful pony unceremoniously picked up a whole pineapple and took a bite right out of the skin. She then walked past her sister to leave the room.

“Please excuse me.”

Celestia watched her sister with a healthy degree of concern. Isn’t…biting a whole, uncut pineapple, like…excruciatingly painful? It was like she was treating the act of eating as some form of self-flagellation. She forced herself to not enjoy the experience.

Celestia thought to herself that the connection between her own habits and Luna’s were becoming more apparent in their contrast and more extreme in their execution. Nopony was forcing her to finish Luna’s extra plate on top of her own, that was for sure. But she couldn’t help herself. How else was Celestia going to regain that warm, buzzing tightness to which she had grown so accustomed? As golden magic returned knife and fork to the work of consuming the large mound of sugar and carbs, Starlight interjected and distracted Celestia from pondering these issues too much.

“Wow, last night must have been really hard on her.”

“Perhaps. But she is like this every morning.”

Celestia felt a pang of sadness in her throat and set to squashing it with yet more pancakes. The sweet taste, the blissful full feeling, and the momentary realization that her hips were filling the dining room chair more than usual did alleviate it somewhat, but it did not disappear.

Celestia changed the topic to Starlight’s experience of friendship lessons under Twilight’s tutelage, and both mares finished their respective breakfasts. Starlight noticed she was very full – a bit uncomfortable even. But she felt it would have been impolite to leave leftovers. Princess Celestia certainly had no trouble finishing everything. Her appetite impressed the purple pony sitting across from her, and it was unmistakable that Celestia’s belly was rounded and enlarged by the meal. Maybe that could explain the widening view from behind. Starlight respectfully kept such observations and speculation to herself.

That evening during a conversation with Twilight Sparkle, Starlight emphasized the way that Luna’s curt tone and blatant avoidance could be the source of the tension.

“I think Luna might be hurting her sister’s feelings…without even realizing it.”

“Poor Celestia. That’s so sweet that she makes her sister pancakes every morning.”

“She’s your mentor. I think you might be biased.”

“Fair enough.”

“Nothing yet. I have to get all of the facts. I asked Luna if I could spend some time with her this evening.”

As if on cue, a royal guard entered Starlight’s room to announce that Luna was awaiting her arrival.