The Captain of the Lunar Guard, Midnight Blossom, plodded her way to the meeting hall, her wide, grey flanks brushing through every doorway. The tubby mare's large, doughy belly let out a grumble, and she grimaced. Of course they had to schedule a meeting now, during her second brunch! She shot a withering glance at her companion, a young, fresh-faced Guard recruit that she hadn't seen before. It was him who had spoiled her meal, and it was him who was going to face the punishment. Scrubbing the latrines for the next six months with his standard issue toothbrush should do. Upon entering the hall, Midnight took her customary place next to Princess Luna, adjusting her purple mane under her helmet and trying her best to ignore the tea and cakes set out by the royal bakers for the meeting. Luna nodded at her, stern and proper as always. Her sister, Celestia, on the other hand, gave Midnight a bombastic wave, her cheeks already bulging with cake. The elder alicorn seemed to have been indulging in quite a lot of cake recently, Midnight observed. Not even her alicorn metabolism could stop her trim, royal waistline from gaining some pudge. As the last few guards and other staff entered, Luna used her magic to tap her spoon against her mug of tea. The quiet mutters of conversation ended, and Lune sat up a bit straighter.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. This meeting is regarding an issue that was brought to my attention about fifteen minutes ago, and I figured it prudent to address it posthaste!" Luna scanned the room. "The Royal Bakers, Cooks, and Other Kitchen Staff have submitted a request that we not magic away any leftovers from any function, be it balls, galas, state visits, etcetera. They feel it is unfair, and a waste, that their efforts go untasted. Henceforth, moving forward, storeroom 4590-B has now been officially renamed the Royal Leftover Room. It has been enchanted to prevent any sort of decay to the leftovers. I have already begun storage of the leftover foods. Full access will be available to all staff, provided they submit a proper request." Lune paused to take a breath, and glared over at her sister, who was still cramming cakes into her mouth with her magic, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "In relation to this, I request- no, order! -the Royal Bakers, Cooks, and Other Kitchen Staff to refrain from enabling my sister's poor eating habits! The Royal Fitness Instructor will pass out her diet plan starting immediately after this meeting." Celestia began eating even faster. "In addition, to prevent any thefts, a rotating shift of Royal Guards will remain posted outside. I appoint my Captain, Midnight Blossom, to take the first shift, starting immediately after this meeting concludes. Any questions?" The room was silent, save for Celestia's shameless slurps and gulps. "Dismissed!"
By the time Midnight had taken her post, just outside the door of the Royal Leftover Room, word had swirled around the castle already. Hushed whispers placed bets on how long it would be before Midnight caved to the temptations of the room. So far, the average bet was around eleven minutes before the batpony captain truly lost control, though that time was being cut down with each growl of Midnight’s plentiful gut. Midnight’s weight issues were a legendary open secret in the castle. Somehow, Luna’s near tyrannical eye for utmost fitness had swept across her pudgy Captain without so much of a hesitation. Some rumours stated that despite Midnight’s obvious heft, she was more useful as a political advisor to the princess than any other guard. Others, less kind, said that Luna simply wanted a flabby shield to protect her from attacks, though those who spread that rumour made sure they kept their voices low. Midnight, while not particularly agile, moved faster than one might expect, and while her wide flanks looked soft, they did hurt quite a bit when they were slammed down upon a hapless pony. The truth of it was, not even Midnight was sure why Luna had spared her from demotion or, worse, physical activities, though just to guarantee her safety, Midnight made sure to have her armour tailored as slimmingly as possible, and fudged her physical tests to make sure she passed. Today though, as she stood at attention, she was almost certain that this was some sort of test. Midnight thought she'd be able to beat it by pretending she was guarding something other than a treasure trove of the kingdom's most delicious eats. For a time, it worked. Midnight imagined she was guarding some artifact gifted to Luna by Saddle Arabia. That was, until the first cart arrived.
It was a standard dining cart, used for the various guests who visited the castle, but it was overloaded with food, the cart sagging in the middle. Midnight's eyes lingered on each item as the orderlies struggled to get the cart through the door. Cakes, cupcakes, fudge, cookies, hayburgers, every single item left over from the banquet the night before. She was practically drooling before the orderlies left, and she absently wiped at her mouth with an unarmoured part of her foreleg, though the look the orderlies gave her made Midnight draw upon her reserves of willpower to avoid looking towards the door, and to keep breathing through her mouth so she didn't smell the delicious scents oozing from under the door. As the orderlies disappeared down the hall, Midnight felt her stomach rumble so loudly that her armour rattled. She gritted her teeth, stood even straighter, and stared at the wall, willing the hours to pass as sweat dripped down her muzzle, determined not to think about what was on the other side of the door, that flimsy, unlocked door... After what seemed like an eternity, she glanced at the clock. Only ten minutes had passed. Midnight felt her walls of will crumble, piece by piece, until she was no longer facing the wall, until her hoof was resting against the door, until her spear was left resting on the doorframe. Her eyes widened as she took in the room, practically panting as she eyed the shelves, the carts, and the mountain of cakes piled in the centre of the room, reaching the very top of the tall ceiling.
"Sweet Celestia." The batpony hissed. The door clicked shut gently behind her, and Midnight felt a wave of giddiness wash over her, greed and gluttony overriding the small voice inside her telling her to get back to her duty, to forget the food and remember her career. That voice wasn't in control of her anymore. Her stomach was running the show now, and her stomach was hungry. Midnight walked to the first pile of food, a dessert plate overloaded with squares of cake and fudge, the soft clicking of her hooves swallowed by the grumblings of her belly. She held up one of the squares, eyes alight with desire, and she took a bite. The square was delicious and moist, the icing creamy with a hint of… butterscotch?
“Just one bite.” The little voice said in vain. “Just one, and we can get back to our post.” But the next square was already in her mouth, and the next, and the next. That first bite had awakened the gluttonous monster that resided deep inside of Midnight’s plump gut, and it roared with its demand to be fed. Without a moment’s more hesitation, Midnight set to work with a will. The dessert plate was her first victim, as she tilted it up, letting the squares of confectionaries pour down her gullet, barely chewing, scarcely tasting. She already knew it was delicious, and she simply needed it inside her. The plate shattered on the floor, and Midnight plunged forwards, the room filled with the gulps of a gluttonous beast unleashed. The hayburgers were next, a giant mound that she tore into, scooping whole armfuls into her mouth, eyes squeezed tight in ecstasy as she felt her empty belly fill, and fill. With each bite, with each morsel, her already fat belly grew, and grew, her armour’s straps straining against the sudden surge of batpony blubber, the metal armour itself creaking as Midnight’s body plumped up larger, and fatter. As the last hayburger met its end, a strap snapped with a sudden ping, that signalled the final end for Midnight’s thrice-tailored armour. As she waddled forth towards several towers of pancakes, each twice as tall as Celestia, she felt the armour start pinching her, her flab bending the metal plates as it forced its way outwards. She didn’t care about her armour breaking, didn’t care about the cost to replace it. All that mattered now was the food, the pillowy mounds of pancakes covered in thick, sticky, sweet syrup that deserved, no, belonged, inside her. She crammed the fluffy disks into her mouth, moaning at the taste.
Snap! Ping! SNAP!
With whiplike cracks, Midnight’s armour finally failed. The plates clattered to the floor, bent and warped nearly beyond recognition, crushed even further as Midnight’s body, no longer constrained, surged outwards with an audible bwomph! Her belly finally reached the floor, glorping as it pressed into the cold cobblestone, swelling larger and larger with every pancake Midnight pressed into her mouth. Every part of her was growing, rolls forming on her back, her chins multiplied even as they were coated with syrup. Even her wings, which had long since fluttered uselessly on her back, grew flabbier and flabbier. Midnight reached for another stack of pancakes, her flabby foreleg quivering as it knocked the stack over, causing an avalanche of pancakes that would have buried any other pony. For Midnight, it was just another portion of her feast. Scooping piles of pancakes into her mouth, she was in heaven, sticky, fluffy, flabby heaven, a heaven that ended far too soon. She licked at the sticky mess on her chest, gasping with the effort of moving her fat body to the next pile of food. Midnight was quite literally three times the batpony she was when she entered the room, and she was nowhere near done yet. She scoured the room as fast as she could heave her bulk around, the thundering hunger inside her belly slowly being replaced with a dull ache, but she wasn’t satisfied, couldn’t be satisfied. Soups, stews, roasts, full untouched meals from cancelled banquets, all were devoured, all added to Midnight’s waistline. Faster than could be believed, the storeroom was cleared, save for the tower of cakes in the centre. Midnight had saved that one for last.
She was huge, immense, fat in every sense of the word. There was not one single part of her that was not swathed in thick, jiggling blubber. Her flanks wouldn’t even be able to fit through the main castle doors, let alone passageways. Her legs were the size of regular pony’s barrels, barely up to the task of moving her. Her face was plumped and fattened too, her cheeks bloated and stained with the remnants of her unfinished feast, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as she stared down the cakes, the pile as wide as her belly, which was a sight to behold all by itself. Easily the largest part of her, it spilled down onto the floor, lifting Midnight almost fully off the ground, emanating thunderous grumbles and gurgles angrily, both as if it were too full to fit another bite, yet still greedy for more. Midnight’s eyes flicked up and down her final course, choosing the best spot to strike. Willing herself forwards, even her flabby wings flapping to give herself just that much more forward momentum, Midnight bit into the first cake, and then it was gone, along with the next, and the next. Midnight gorged, and grew, fatter and fatter, the cobblestone cracking beneath her as her belly pushed her higher and higher into the air, the pile of cakes wavering, falling onto her, only to be vacuumed up instantly, packed into her already overfilled belly.
Still, she ate.
Still, she swelled.
Still, she gorged.
Still, she grew.
~~~~~~~~~
Silver Platter heaved against the overloaded cart with all his might, and managed to make it roll just a bit further towards the Royal Leftover Room, muttering under his breath between grunts. Of course, the others had been called away. Of course, he had no more help. Of course, he just had to be a waiter for the Princesses. He couldn’t have gone into business like his brothers, could he have? Finally, with one last push, the cart creaked to a stop in front of the door. Silver poked his sweaty head around it, intending to ask Captain Blossom for a helping hoof to get the stupid thing inside the room, but she wasn’t there. Her spear was, and Silver let a smirk cross his face. She caved, just as they all knew she would. He walked over to the door, wanting to see the famed ‘Pignight’ during one of her binges, but when he opened it, he was met with a grey, squishy wall that gurgled and growled like an animal. He poked it with a cautious hoof, and a thundering belch made the walls shake.
“URRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRALP!”
Silver’s ears fell back on his head as a stone fell from the wall beside the door, and then another. The grey wall began to push its way out of the doorway, and the stone wall beside the door bulged outwards, crumbling away to reveal even more of the grey. Silver let out a squeak, his hooves tangling in the carpet as he tried to back away, stumbling before regaining his balance and running for it. The walls and ceiling crumbled behind him, torches sent flying as whatever it was continued chasing after him, stopping a ways away from the Great Hall, where Silver burst in, skidding to a stop in front of the princesses, eyes wild with fright.
“Monster. Grey. In the storerooms. Thought you ought to know.” He said, then collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. Luna leapt up from her throne in an instant, her horn glowing as she slid her helmet over her head.
“Guards! To me!” She roared, and three guards fell in behind her as she galloped back the way Silver had come. Celestia simply shook her head, and used her magic to turn the carrot she was about to eat into a donut. The four’s galloping hoofsteps thundered down the corridors as they rushed into battle, only to be blocked by the same squishy grey wall that had chased Silver Platter down. Luna’s expression changed to a scowl, and fired a blast of magic at the ceiling, breaking a chunk away. She unfurled her wings, and zipped through the hole, getting a bird’s eye view of the destruction. The grey blob had destroyed a good third of the castle’s sprawling architecture, and crushed almost half of the Royal Thinking Gardens, the half that Luna had just finished planting not even a week before, and when Luna spotted where the middle of the blob was, her scowl deepened even further. The Royal Leftover Room looked to have been the focal point, and as she flared her wings and landed on the soft blob, she looked directly into Captain Midnight Blossom’s eyes, who was busy licking frosting off of a chunk of ceiling. “I should have known.” Luna sighed. “Now what am I to do with you?” Celestia appeared next to her sister, munching a banana that looked suspiciously like it was made out of cake.
“Well, with the Royal Leftover Room demolished, and with Captain Midnight obviously not going to pass her next physical.” Celestia paused to take a bite. “Why don’t we promote her to Royal Leftover Disposal Specialist?” Luna said nothing, instead inspecting Celestia’s snack closer. With a snarl, she snatched it away with her magic. The hunk of stone Midnight was licking was hurled away, and Luna shoved the cake-banana into her mouth.
“Thanksh youuuuuUUUUUUUUUUURPPPP! I wash… huff… shtill hungry.” Midnight belched happily around her fat cheeks. Luna sighed, and flew off, needing to be alone. Celestia watched her sister disappear into the afternoon sky, and smiled. Maybe with her Captain ballooning to the size of a small city, Luna wouldn’t care so much about her sister’s eating habits. Her horn glowed, and a carrot cake materialised in front of her. Before she took a bite, she looked down at the batpony she was standing on, and without a word, duplicated the cake, and placed it in front of Midnight’s mouth. Celestia’s smile widened as she watched Midnight devour her cake without even needing her hooves. She sat, and made herself comfortable on the batpony blubber, and her horn glowed brighter. Another cake appeared, then another, and another. Celestia watched as Midnight tore into her new cakes, seemingly not pausing to even breathe. As she watched the display of gluttony before her, it dawned on Celestia that it didn’t matter how fat she got. As long as she kept feeding Midnight, she’d always look skinny in comparison.
With that happy thought, Celestia tucked into her own cake with gusto.
