‘We’re on duty with the Captain today, you know.’
‘Yes, I know - don’t remind me.’
It was early in the morning. For anypony else it would be far too early, but the palace guards were quite used to a start before the birds started chirping and the sun rose. Protection of royalty was a round the clock job. For the next few weeks however, it was protection of the castle and its grounds. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were away on royal business. It was no time for slacking however, the need to keep a tight control on security was what they were paid to do. Paid quite handsomely, mind - a guards salary was nothing to be sniffed at. The two ponies talking were experienced and had been on the job for quite a few years now, they felt they had earned their place among the ranks of the guards and were well cemented in their roles. The rest in the changing room, aside from a few new rookies, were longer in the tooth than they were to differing degrees. Some were real veterans, having been part of the guard since before the attack on Canterlot or even longer than that. These guards were well respected, there were very few of them left who hadn’t advanced up the ranks. Some didn’t for personal reasons, a few made the comment they liked the work and didn’t want to go up. No matter how much of a veteran they were, they still preferred pounding hooves on cobble and cleaning armour than barking orders and doing duty rosters. The first pony who had spoken, guard Shock Shield, looked at their companion, Hard Line, with a grin.
‘Come on, that last debacle? One time thing. It was a month ago.’
‘You say that but he kept all the weight.’ came the reply. It was accompanied by a sarcastic snort.
‘With good reason. He can throw it around quite readily. He’s tough.’ they commented. In the short time that Greyline had been the biggest of the guards, his reputation had quite quickly become something almost of legend. Everypony on the guard knew Greyline and all the shenanigans he got involved in, with such a tight-knit group it was impossible for information not to trickle downwards and through either whispers or rumours, disseminate itself among the guards. One of the main things though was Grey’s reputation for toughness. The guards all wore armour and were trained to be strong, sure, but Grey’s size meant it worked well…slightly differently. He had all that training previously, but a natural thick coat and plenty of blubber meant that he had a lot more cladding than all the other guard ponies. He had quickly earned a reputation for toughness, for being able to seemingly stand up to blows that would have knocked other guards out. You’d think an extremely large target would mean that Grey took more hits and therefore was going to be taking more blows, while partly true, the Guard Captain seemed to take it in stride - as of yet not much seemed to phase him during fights.
‘Stop yakking and hurry up you two. You’re with the captain in ten minutes!’ came a bark from a senior guard. The two shut up and continued to get changed. There were some giggles from the newer guards, who were quickly put in their place and quietened. Discipline was important among the Royal Guard, especially instilling it among the younger ones so they knew the importance of it.
Greyline himself was getting ready for the day's duties ahead. While in the past he would have been in with the other guards in the same locker room, these days due to his size that simply wasn’t possible. He had his own space to prepare for upcoming duties. Partly he missed the camaraderie that happened between guards before they were officially on duty, but he also quite enjoyed the privacy. It left him to his thoughts, quite often these days his mind wandered onto effective combat techniques for larger members of the Royal Guard. He was the only one of course currently, but what happened to him could happen to other ponies. Today his thoughts went to just that, effective combat techniques he had been starting to perfect could be passed to others. Perhaps that could be something he suggested in the next meeting he had with his superiors, but it would require a few ponies to train…
Nonetheless, his thoughts were interrupted by a rapping at the door. Grey was just about finishing up putting on his armour. It was Stygian, who had been keeping a close eye on Grey since his size increase. Often the two spoke regardless. These days Stygian tried to catch Grey before he was busy and went out on patrol for the day.
‘How’s it going, Grey?’ Stygian asked quite casually. He always had a small clipboard and a quill, ready to take notes.
‘Absolutely fine Stygian, same as yesterday. Same as the day before that.’ Grey replied quite bluntly. ‘You know you don’t have to keep checking up on me like this, if I have a problem I’d be coming to see you straight away.’
‘I know, but well…it’s still unheard of Grey - all this that has happened. What if something changes? I need to keep track of you for the purposes of future academics. You never know, in a thousand years it could happen to another pony. I don’t want them to have to start from scratch.’ Stygian explained. Grey knew it was a commendable thing to do, Stygian was quite astute in his studies and ensuring that he noted down absolutely every detail, what Grey didn’t appreciate was as of late being treated more as an experiment that fascinated a scholar than a friend. The two had always had a good rapport, he didn’t think telling Stygian this would upset him greatly.
‘I do get it Stygian, really. It’s just bloody inconvenient is all. You’re here every day and nothing changes. Look, can I be honest with you? As soon as something even mildly different happens, I’ll be straight to your tower as fast as my fat hooves will carry me. Can you just stop coming by here every single day? I’d like a little bit of space.’ Grey said.
‘Oh, of course - sorry. I didn’t realise I was such an inconvenience.’ Stygian said, Grey could see his face contorting into that of regret. He put one of his large flabby hooves on the ponies shoulders, lifting it so the weight didn’t transfer to the rather thin frame of Stygian.
‘You’re not an inconvenience, never. But I don’t think this close level of note taking is necessary. Look if you must come and see me, come after hours when I’m in my quarters. I’ll be much more relaxed. My mind is on the day's duty ahead. This is somewhat of a distraction.’ Grey said, he was a bit concerned that his train of thought about the suggestion to teach other large ponies was getting away from him - but Stygian was far more important. The words seemed to reassure the pony, who at least smiled.
‘Alright, that’s fair.’ Stygian said, starting to trot away. ‘The moment anything changes, you let me know!’ Stygian shouted, vanishing behind a castle wall. Grey smiled, he knew Stygian cared, it was why he was here, but there had to be a bit of distance. The issue had cropped up before and Grey had made a slight hash of getting it across. He was much more gentle now, at least as much as he could be. His mind returned to thoughts of training up other big ponies. For a moment it wandered to a thought about actually convincing the senior officers that bigger guards were more effective. He stopped himself though, that was a hoof slightly too far. Grey had gotten used to his size, in fact for the most part now he actually enjoyed it greatly. Forcing that on other ponies though? He didn’t like the idea. Perhaps on a voluntary basis…
His mind continued to wander as he got ready for the day, any moment now he was expecting a couple of guards to show up, eager and ready for the patrol they were going to undertake.
‘Keep up you two!’
It was an authoritative command. Captain Greyline was a very authoritative pony. His huge size gave him a speed advantage he rarely compensated for, he forgot that other ponies had to keep up at pace just to stay besides him. A bigger body meant his strides moved him somewhat further than his regular sized colleagues. Shock Shield and Hard Line had to move at a brisk trot just to keep up with the captain, who was moving quite a bit faster than they were.
Today they were patrolling along the castle ramparts. A very usual route and one of the few remaining ones Greyline could take without becoming hindered by something. His huge size meant that going down narrow Canterlot alleys wasn’t much of an option anymore. At least not if the castle didn’t want to pay for expensive building repairs each time he did so, the last one had been quite expensive which is what had led to a review of his patrol routes. The owner of the historic building he had lightly bumped into (and Grey had made a point that it was indeed a very light bump) hadn’t been very happy that suddenly a gigantic, bouncing rear had appeared through his wall. The customers had been aghast. In the end it all got sorted out of course, but Grey still thought the building should have been built better. ‘Old and barely holding together.’ he had written on the report. The senior guards hadn’t believed him.
His oversized armour made a light chinking sound with each heavy step he took, the stone flooring of the ramparts was just about strong enough for him to waddle along without them being damaged underhoof. The excessively large pony brought himself to a halt, his mass of blubber sloshing forward then coming to a rest after a few moments. Shock Shield and Hard Line took this opportunity to position themselves in front of him, having to crane their necks upwards to see a fattened head somewhat nestled in blubber, helmet making an obvious split between head and neck, as well as everything else that surrounded it. He glanced out over the ramparts and down to the town below for a moment then moved on, slowing his pace.
‘There’s a whole lot of worry down there.’ he said. It was slightly ominous. Shock Shield wanted clarification.
‘Worry, sir?’
‘Aye. You should have heard the reports. Our trading caravans and trains are being raided.’ he explained. Hard Line had seen what the captain was talking about, but the reports he spoke of were vague. They wondered if the captain could shed a bit more light. There was certainly talk of raids and attacks but the details were extremely scarce. All they had been informed about was to keep an eye out if they happened to be on one of those patrols, and keep vigilant.
‘Yes sir, although the reports are not hugely detailed.’ the guard pony clarified for the Captain.
‘There wasn’t much to go on, at least not until a few days ago.’ Greyline replied, familiar with the vagueness of the reports. ‘All I can tell you is a citizen's arrest was made, very fortuitous. We got quite a bit of information. All the raiders are Changelings, which we’d never have known if we weren’t told. You know how they can shapeshift, be anything? They were taking the forms of regular ponies to make it less obvious it was them.’ he explained.
‘Hmm. To what end?’ Shock Shield asked. He rolled his eyes, it was a stupid question. Changelings took the form of other creatures to hide themselves, that much was obvious. What he meant to ask was ‘Why were they taking the form of regular ponies and not other creatures?’ but the question had come out all wrong. He felt embarrassed. Greyline however, didn’t skip a beat, he simply carried on answering the younger guards question.
‘To make it harder for us to track them down, taking the form of a pony just means we wouldn’t be looking much beyond our own people as well. We wouldn’t be looking for a Changeling hideout, especially hardliner Changelings. These are the kind that don’t want to submit to Thorax’s rule. The kind that still retain their old forms and would worship Chrysalis if they got a second chance.’ Greyline stopped himself again, his blubber shook, the sudden motion of stopping caused it to slosh about before it came to a rest again. ‘They were hiding right on the fringes of pony lands. Now we have the knowledge we do though, they’ve been tracked quite quickly. The one we captured though? Currently in the Canterlot dungeons. We’re trying to get more information out of them before a raid is mounted. I don’t think we’ll be involved, too much work for us to do here, but certainly some of the other guards. You’ll likely hear about it soon.’
Mentally, Hard Line rolled their eyes. Raids often meant many months away from the city and Grey’s comment of they wouldn’t be involved was just to soften a potential blow. The Captain could sometimes be a bit of a pony pleaser, he had no idea which of the guards would get sent on raids and which wouldn’t. That was up to the seniors and if they decided Hard Line was going, they’d be going.
In front of Captain Greyline however, they simply saluted and said ‘We await the command!’ quite enthusiastically. Hopefully Grey wouldn’t suggest them as volunteers for the raiding party.
Greyline simply nodded. The patrol continued on, they had a few hours to go before a scheduled break. Both the smaller ponies hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to keep up with the massive captain, who was already striding off ahead of them once more.
-
The room was filled with the sound of eating. Aggressive eating.
Half the guards in the room were trying not to look the way of the captain who was ploughing his way through enough food for ten ponies. Since he had gotten larger, the appetite had grown with him. It had been somewhat uncontrolled at first, Grey had struggled not to try to sneak into the castle kitchens and gorge himself on whatever was inside. Each time however strong will had prevailed as the Guard Captain reminded himself that he was in a position of authority. Abuse of that authority would quickly have it stripped from him. The other guards however were aware and provision had been made during meal times to make sure he was supplied with ample food to keep his hungry stomach under control, at least as much as they could. As for the other half of the guards who weren’t trying to look at Grey, they were watching in fascination, some even shouting encouraging words and pushing him to eat more.
‘Come on Captain, you call that a meal?’ came one shout.
‘Pah, you’ll be skin and bones soon if you can’t even manage that!’ came another.
‘That’s your starter right? You can do more than that Grey!’ was another, each one had a varying degree of encouragement, mixed with a strange fascination to watch the lard lump eat more. Grey paid them no mind, he was quite content to eat his fill and drown out the noise around him while putting another large hoofful of food down his throat.
The large central table was packed with food, unfortunately the guards were privy to the really sweet and fattening stuff that was laid out en masse at the grand events that were held at the castle, their food was more bland and plain, packed with protein and other things to keep them strong and shapely. The thing was though, it was the quantity of it that did the trick, not the quality. Grey had quickly come to realise this and simply asked for more of it, the reasoning being that he clearly needed more to keep himself in the proper form, which hadn’t been argued. To eat this monstrous meal, Greyline had simply parked himself on the flagstone floor. Chairs were by this point, all turned to kindling under his immense rump. Anything sturdier simply vanished. The floor was good enough.
He was just getting onto course six when the entrance door flung open rather abruptly. A guardspony he didn’t recognise was panting heavily, as if they had just run at full gallop to the room. After a few seconds of catching their breath they finally managed to shout out the message they were trying to get out, but their exasperated body was stopping them from doing so.
‘I need all of you with me! We’ve got a situation within the castle!’ the pony looked around for a few seconds before turning to head back the way they had come. ‘No time to explain, follow quickly!’ they shouted. Greyline watched his fellow guards look somewhat unsure for a moment, it was an odd thing to say and almost sounded as if it might be the start of some kind of prank. However, quickly after realising it wasn’t they got to their hooves and abandoned their meals.
Grey himself took a few more bites, before letting out a room shattering bwaaaaaaarrrrrrpppp! The Captain was displeased he hadn’t been able to finish his meal, but when duty called he had to attend, no matter what. This was the only situation in his mind where food wasn’t the priority. Getting up he made a mental note to return once this had been dealt with. The huge captain squeezed himself out of the large mess and down the corridor. The shouts of his fellow guards told him where to go. He picked up the pace, trotting at a brisk speed to catch up with everypony else.
Eventually with his large strides and quickened pace, Greyline was able to catch up with some of the guards heading in the same direction. He was careful not to overtake them, his body practically filled the space whole despite the large width of the castle corridors.
‘Any more details? The guard who summoned us was very vague. I don’t like going in blind.’ he grumbled.
‘The Changelings in the dungeon are free. The ones that were captured not long ago. There was a raid yesterday, we got a lot more. They were just about to be interrogated tomorrow.’ one of the guards managed to say as they ran along. ‘They’ve taken hostages. Some of the chefs and castle staff as far as we know…’
‘They want their companions released, supplies and a guarantee they won’t be followed once we let them out of Canterlot.’ the other guard said. Greyline chuckled.
‘So very standard requests. You know you’d think escapees might be a bit more original one of these days. Always the same thing. Food, freedom and no following.’ he replied. It brought back memories of fighting the Changelings during the invasion of Canterlot some years ago. Greyline had been younger then, much more green and a lot smaller. He still had however managed to excel at his job. During the royal wedding he had used his expert knowledge of the city (all guards were trained quite in depth on how to get around Canterlot, for obvious reasons) to navigate the underground and alleys of the city with a number of panicked civilians, fending off Changelings where he had to and ensuring their safety. His superior, a pegasus Captain, had turned out to be one of the infiltrators. It had stung quite deeply, he had looked up to the pony at the time. Watching them change before their very eyes then flying away had been quite the shock, it was quick and the moment was over in seconds. The fact that no words were exchanged was what made the entire thing even stranger.
It had, however, given Greyline a resolve, mostly through the anger they felt. They had pushed through several packs of Changelings and fended off a number more to get the citizens to a place in the city where they could hold out until backup arrived. Grey stayed with them until the end of the fighting, not being able to leave as the whole city was far too dangerous. They had taken refuge in one of the smaller districts, a place he thought the Changelings might overlook until later in the fight. If anypony managed to turn the tide, they’d be safe there and be able to come out once the fighting was in their favour.
Once the whole ordeal was over and the citizens were safe, Greyline had been rewarded. A promotion to Captain now that his was gone, the citizens he had saved spoke quite readily of his heroism and therefore he was an obvious candidate for promotion there and then. He had taken on the title proudly and endeavoured to keep that same resolve going ever since. The ponies' newfound size had meant he could do even greater things, something to bolster his ability to help others even more. At least that was how he saw it. It came with some disadvantages. These days there was no way he could navigate those alleys and underground passages like he did during the invasion, but he could do a lot of good elsewhere. He had learned his lesson last time, the gaining was now kept under control. For the most part. There was that one incident in the castle pantry since, but that was weeks ago now.
A few more guards joined them as corridors converged. Greyline was able to press them for more information, each one seemed to have a slightly different report as the information had travelled throughout the castle.
‘Not just chefs, diplomats, nobles and even a reformed changeling diplomat they’ve taken hostage.’ one of the guards clarified as they all continued to rush towards the dungeon.
‘A reformed changeling diplomat?’ Greyline repeated. ‘They really won’t even give their own kind an inch.’ he lamented.
‘I don’t think they see them that way.’ another guard commented. ‘Otherwise why take them hostage? They’d probably brand them with a big red stamp that said TRAITOR if they could.’
‘Hmphh.’ was all Greyline responded with. He didn’t like the idea at all. They came to a fork, a guard pony was waiting there for them.
‘They’ve moved! Get yourselves to the dining room.’
‘Dining room!?’ one of the other guards yelled. ‘They were in the dungeon!’
‘As I said, they’ve moved! I’m here to ensure you numbskulls don’t all barrel yourselves to the wrong location! That way!’ the guard yelled, aggressively shaking a hoof the opposite way to where Greyline and the rest of the guards were originally heading. ‘The longer you leave it, the more danger those innocent lives are in! Get going!’
Mentally Greyline took note of how the pony looked. He liked to see who was upcoming captain material, the stallion who had ordered them down the current passage might just be that. A clear voice and lots of charisma to back it up. When this was all over, he’d try to find them and speak to them.
Right now however, they needed to get to the dining hall. One of many in the castle, but Greyline knew which one they were headed for. It was the largest one where all the fancy events took place, in particular the one where all the lovely food the castle kitchens conjured up went. There was a small thought that hopefully earlier in the day something might have been happening. Perhaps there would be leftovers…
It was also somewhere in the castle Greyline could still fit his bulk easily without being impeded. Quite a few guards had formed up around him now, they were in essence a very small regiment, moving along towards the dining room at a fast pace. Greyline kept a thought at the forefront of his mind that he’d have to slow down a bit before they got there, lest he do more damage to the interior of the castle. The stone walls and floors were fine, it was the ornate wooden doors that couldn’t stand up to several tons of pony smashing into them at speed.
The dining room wasn’t far, when he got there he’d assess the situation and try to make out of it the best he could. One thing in his mind was clear, there was no negotiation with hostage takers.
-
As Greyline entered the hall, he heard shouting. Lots of shouting. There was some form of negotiation happening, but it was extremely heated. Nopony was particularly listening to one another. Some of the more senior guards were trying to get the hostage takers and by extension, the hostages, to calm down slightly and allow a proper exchange to take place. The situation however meant that panic and anxiety filled the room. His presence, for a moment, seemed to make everypony stop - right before they went back to shouting, it was unfortunately short lived. Greyline found one of the other guards and asked them to fill him in.
‘I’m surprised you were unable to handle this. There aren’t many of them.’ he observed, looking at the small cluster of prisoners who were holding on tightly to their hostages, ensuring they wouldn’t be able to get away. ‘A quick surrender?’
‘With good reason.’ the guard he was speaking to replied. ‘They are weak, we would have had no trouble with them. It’s their leader.’
‘Oh?’
‘As tough as an anvil and hits harder than a freight train. We were making progress, then they came in and smashed us to pieces. We had to retreat.’ the guard explained. Greyline looked, there was a doorway on the other side of the room. He could only assume the leader had gone down it and currently wasn’t with the rest of the hostages. If they were as tough as the young guard he was speaking to was making out, they should surely have some bulk on them like he did? Greyline wasn’t expecting anything other than muscle, especially if they were able to easily take down the guards. There was little he could do though except for assume in his mind, which wasn’t the best use of his brain, particularly with what was going on around him.
‘I take it that some of the nobility are on the way to defuse the situation.’ Greyline asked. All he got were glum looks.
‘Princess Celestia and Luna are both away in Saddle Arabia.’ came the reply. Of course they were, as soon as the guard had said it Greyline remembered, it was on the daily information sheet and had been for some time - apparently the negotiations were taking longer than originally anticipated, it was why so many of the recent patrols had been quiet jaunts around the castle. ‘I don’t think Starswirl is up to diplomatic negotiations. That doesn’t leave us with anypony really.’
‘I can think of an alternative form of negotiation.’ came a voice, it was one of the other guards, a regular that Grey knew quite well. ‘You know, the kind where the biggest and bulkiest of us goes hoof to hoof with the leader?’
‘I know what you’re suggesting.’ Greyline snorted, his stomach wobbled. ‘Subtle.’
‘It wasn’t meant to be.’
‘Where is this leader? I’ve yet to see them.’ Greyline asked. A hoof simply pointed to the doorway, as Greyline suspected they were somewhere beyond it. ‘I think before we suggest it to the currently still shouting Changelings…’ Greyline raised his voice, it was getting harder to be heard as the shouting got more intense. Negotiations - what even there was of them, were breaking down rather rapidly. ‘...we should have a plan.’
‘Well you know what they say Grey, the simplest solutions are the best.’ a rather rugged looking guard had appeared. Captain Ironsides was one of the more chiselled veterans of the Royal Guard. He had been in his position for a decade longer than Greyline, well versed in his role but he was no diplomat. Ironsides was known for being quite direct, a trait which stood him well training the recruits, but made for an extremely poor negotiator or diplomat. The captain sported a small soul patch which he rubbed. ‘You distract the leader in a fair fight, we use that opportunity to free the hostages and take out the Changelings who are CURRENTLY MAKING IT VERY HARD TO TALK!’ he shouted. Captain Ironsides had clearly had enough, continuing to keep his voice raised the directness of the Captain came through in his next sentence ‘HEY, IDIOTS! WHERE’S YOUR BIG TOUGH LEADER!? AFRAID OF A LITTLE FIGHT?!’ he yelled, then smirked. ‘Good luck in the fight, Grey. We’ll keep an eye on you should anything go wrong. I think that insult means your opposition will be appearing right about…’ the captain stopped and the two large rear doors flung open. ‘Now.’
Greyline was pleasantly surprised. He had assumed the Changeling leader would be a toned, heavily muscled creature. He was wrong.
Hefty chunks of blubber rippled over the Changelings body. Neck fat wobbled around as the leader angrily glanced left and right looking for the pony who had made the challenge. There was a reasonable amount of muscle adding to his size, but plenty of fat as well. The kind that Greyline themselves were very familiar with. He could see what the guards had meant they described being taken out by something that hit like a freight train, the huge muscles on the Changeling would have given a lot of gravitas to any moves he would have put on the guards, backed up by blubber. It was a curiosity, Grey was all fat - he hadn’t considered the possibility you might be able to do both, a lingering thought wondered how it had been achieved. Grey knew his own size gave similar impressions to others. This Changeling however, while quite large, was not quite as large as Grey. They were big sure, but in a fight Grey was fairly certain he could come out on top. It wasn’t just the size advantage that made him think that either, there were plenty of other reasons. If they had to fight, those would become clear. The Changeling continued to look around, searching for the one who issued the challenge. Eventually, their eyes narrowed, locking onto Greyline.
‘He thinks I said it.’
‘Good, now get in there.’ Greyline was given a rather futile push forward. The extra large pony was moving anyway, on their way to meet the rather large Changeling. Before he got there however there was an angry snort from the Changeling, who began barking orders at the other prisoners.
‘You idiots! We were supposed to be out of here by now!’ the bulky, blubbery Changeling bellowed. He stomped a hoof angrily on the stone floor, which cracked under the onslaught of all that weight coming down on top of it. Grey continued to observe his foe, he had already established that while he was not quite as big as Greyline, another third and they’d be matched in weight but broadly speaking, there was very little in it. Proportionally they were very evenly scoped. Grey observed the monstrous rear that jiggled with every step, the stomach that swept low and hardly had anything between it and the floor. All the other features he was used to himself with a good amount of muscle built around it for a more defined figure. Perhaps he could use it as a way to find common ground, or it would just serve to be something to aim for in a fight. As the two came together, it was the first time the Changelings had really had a moment to look at Greyline properly. They had been so preoccupied with arguing. While their leader was big, Grey was much, much bigger. They stared for a moment as the two approached one another, most eyes locked on Grey. The Guard Captain assumed they hadn’t seen a pony of his size before, he hadn’t been involved in the raid to capture them and while his name and story was starting to get around the kingdom, he was fairly certain those outside of it weren’t really aware of him yet. They watched for a few more moments as Grey brought himself to a halt, fat sloshing forward in the way it did when he stopped moving, then turned their attention back to the guards.
‘Oh I’ve never seen two elephants fight! This should be good.’ there was a pause as the Changelings, guards and both Greyline and the large Changeling leader all stopped to look where the comment had come from. It was one of the diplomats, a pony who hadn’t been in the job very long. He looked panicked. ‘I’m stressed! Do you have any idea what it’s like to be taken hostage on your second week of the job!? I bet not!’ he simply barked, before attempting to cower behind his robes. Greyline rolled his eyes.
‘Let the hostages go and I’ll go easy on your leader.’ he said, looking at the Changelings who were still holding onto their pony prizes for dear life. None of them spoke, they weren’t going to speak for the biggest of them. Grey thought it might be an idea to direct it to them first to get them to let them go, but it hadn’t worked. All it had done was bring the ire of the leader, who spoke up.
‘I do have a name.’ the leader said, there was a snort of indignation that he hadn’t been adrdessed directly.
‘I’m not interested.’ Greyline snorted right back at him. ‘You’re scum.’
‘It’s Phalanx. Big words from a big pony. What’s a hippo the size of a horse going to do, sit on me?’ the Changeling laughed for a moment, but rather quickly, it turned into a winded wheeze.
Greyline had charged straight at him like an angry bull. Everpony had watched as several tons of fat had rapidly gone from standing almost stock still to a full gallop and slammed like a truck right into Phalanx. It was impressive to see so much bulk move so quickly - not even some of the guards were aware Grey could move themselves in such a way. There was a rather loud slapping noise as cellulite collided, Grey made sure the bulkiest part of him came into contact with Phalanx for maximum force. The extra weight on Greyline was more than enough to send Phalanx sliding right into a wall, which although solid stone, crumbled like sand as his own hefty body crashed into it. For a moment there was only the sound of splitting stone, before a whump as his body hit the floor echoed throughout the room. To say he flopped down wouldn’t quite be right, it was a rather undignified crumple downwards as gravity took hold and pulled the heavy Changeling floorbound.
Phalanx was completely still. Grey moved himself back. The fight was over in seconds and there was little point persisting - Grey saw no point in continuing to harass a fighter when they were down. If he wanted more, he’d come back up for it, although that was looking rather unlikely as Phalanx still didn’t move. Besides, all he’d end up accomplishing would be smothering his foe or doing more damage to the castle, which he’d been warned about. Both things, Grey was well aware about the issue of damaging royal property and more senior guards had told him about using all that weight to really kick a foe when they were down, so to speak. There was however one thing he sometimes was a little fond of, a comeback that his enemy wouldn’t soon forget.
‘That’s what a hippo of a horse can do.’ Greyline snorted.
Greyline was just about to turn and trot triumphantly back to his comrades. Surely after that display of strength, there wouldn’t be any need for a distraction. The hostages would be freed. All would be well. It had all gone better than the plan actually. A thought that was premature, it was at that point he heard a metallic clink.
Phalanx was sitting up, Grey hadn’t noticed him move - when he turned away it often was quite difficult to see behind him, since the weight gain the blind spot that was his rear had somewhat become a rather large barrier to his sight. He turned himself around to see what the Changeling was doing, in one hoof, a rusty canteen which he had just popped the top off was being held a few inches from his mouth. He tipped it back and gulped at whatever was inside. He then threw it aside, to be caught by one of the other Changelings who secreted it away. The Changeling smiled quite broadly, standing up fully and taking a few steps forward to make space around himself.
At that point the purpose of the canteen and the mystery liquid became clear. Phalanx’s entire body glowed brightly, Grey had seen this sort of magic before, it was extremely powerful - the sort alicorns made use of. The glow even was similar in colour to Princess Celestia’s own magic. How Phalanx had gotten hold of something this potent, in potion form, was a complete mystery, it was rare and only concocted by the most powerful of magicians. Nothing said it had to come from a pony magic user of course, but Grey did wonder. He continued to stare at Phalanx as every part of his already huge form shimmered, as if a small sun had been placed in the middle of his body and was giving all of its new light off from within him. Grey watched Phalanx grit his teeth, hard. His body began to swell rapidly in size and take on a new, even larger form than he currently possessed.
Grrooooaaaannnn!
Blooorrrrrrrrpppp!
The Changeling expanded at a rapid pace. Every part of his body got bigger. Hooves stamped the ground as fresh pockets of blubber formed on their upper legs and thighs, each stomp doing more damage to the ground than the last as an already wobbly rear ballooned itself into two full on mountainous orbs that bloated upwards and outwards, fat and jiggling cheeks quickly brushing themselves along the flagstone floor. Their bloated stomach glorped as it found new heft, pushing downwards and pressing quickly into the four fattened legs of Phalanx, which spread outward as much as possible to give as much room as they could for the added size of his stomach. Neck fat inflated, a tyre of blubber forming around a head with cheeks that looked stuffed to the brim with food, even though none was there. Fat wings folded on the Changelings back, likely never to be able to lift Phalanx off the floor again. The muscle that had given definition to the form had been replaced by an overwhelming amount of pure fat, any semblance of sinew gone as it was swamped by cellulite.
When the glowing subsided, Phalanx’s new size was equal to that of Greyline. He steadied himself, taking in his new form and getting used to the added weight. The Changeling seemed quite adept at this, likely from experience of shifting forms many times before. Grey did wonder actually why he needed a potion to get bigger. Couldn’t he just change form and make himself as big as he pleased? Perhaps it wasn’t that simple, if it was, he wouldn’t be chugging down an extremely powerful mystery potion. Finally, Phalanx smirked again, then spoke. ‘How about finding out what an elephant can do, like your diplomat said?’
It was impossible to look unimpressed by the rapid size increase, Grey however did his best to look nonchalant. ‘Give me a fair fight I suspect.’ Grey smiled. ‘You were looking a little on the skinny side before.’
The two lunged at each other. Greyline and Phalanx both reared up on their hind legs, locking together into a fight that made the rest of the guards around the pair clear away very quickly. Blubber slapped against blubber as the two tussled. For anyone watching the battle unfolding, it was quite the sight to see. Each of the two overly bloated combatants were trying to use their immense weights to gain an upper hoof, with Grey - the more experienced of the two - using his body slightly more effectively. Experience counted for a lot and Phalanx had only just had time to let his fat settle, let alone figure out how to use it to overcome his foe. Neither Phalanx or Greyline possessed the clear size advantage. It was a clash of two titanic bloated beasts, one that meant anypony caught in the frey would quickly be squashed, flattened or smothered in fat that rolled around uncontrollably. None were getting close enough to let that happen, although Grey was doing their best to ensure neither of them came crashing down on top of some hapless guard of Changeling - so enthralled they appeared to be in the fight that it would be easy to take a few missteps and come down on top of them.
What it did provide was that distraction the guards had been looking for, Captain Ironsides snapped the ones who were staring at the fight out of it and got them to work. While the pair went at it, Ironsides used the opportunity to lead the guards into attacking the hostage takers who were somewhat distracted by the fight going on just in front of them. By the time they realised what was happening, the guards had already freed half the hostages and the remaining Changelings were no match for the rest. The hostages squeezed out of their captors hooves, making a break for it to the safety of the guards. From one set of hooves to another, but this time to freedom.
Those that didn’t want to be taken by the guards attempted to stop Greyline. A few managed to get close, but barely feeling them on his enormous body Grey simply swept them aside, sending them bouncing off his blubbery butt as it swung around from a move he made to try to topple Phalanx which didn’t quite pan out. It worked in his favour however, as the would-be attackers were easily shrugged off and sent spiralling away as they reeled from the softest, but largest hit they had ever felt - a strange sensation, it was not painful, but they certainly felt it. An unexpected shove in the other direction from Phalanx sent him backwards onto his two huge cushions of a rear, there was a barely audible yelp as one of the Changelings - unable to move themselves in time - vanished under the titanic tush that came crashing down on the castle floor. Grey didn’t even notice a few others who simply bounced off flexing blubber that sent them hurtling towards the guards who quickly grabbed them and made sure they were no longer a threat. One even got smacked towards Phalanx, who with a quick hoof movement pushed them backwards off the fighting pair. Phalanx seemed quite locked in on taking Grey down, even at the expense of his own comrades.
‘You’re quite the…wheeze…fighter Grey.’ Phalanx said. The pair were still locked together, neither giving up, Grey still had the upper hoof. The experience he had with his size meant that despite the blows and blubbery bounces coming his way from Phalanx, he managed to not only hold his ground but have the advantage the entire fight. Unlike Phalanx, he wasn’t struggling for breath, the Changeling clearly putting far too much effort into his attacks. ‘But I’m better. Bigger.’ there was a loud glooorrppp! as Phalanx’s stomach wobbled beneath him.
‘Please. Bigger?’ Grey laughed, he took a few stomping steps forward, pushing Phalanx back on his hooves towards the wall he had destroyed. ‘Size is nothing without control. You got big, but you don’t know how to handle it!’ Grey shouted, bringing one of his hooves up to heft his fat right into Phalanx’s stomach, it was a hefty blow - as much as Grey could manage. He was well aware getting through all that fat meant Phalanx effectively had a shield that prevented him from excessive harm, but done in the right way Grey knew he could get through it. Fat would ripple back against fat, eventually working its way through to where he needed it to hurt. Phalanx stepped back, breaking the lock and wheezing heavily. He was winded.
‘Gah!’ Phalanx growled. He took a moment to catch his breath, barely taking his eyes off Grey in case the Guard Captain charged again. For a second however, his eyes darted over a few feet. The guards were fighting the rest of his comrades. One of the few left was the Changeling who had caught the canteen. It only took a second but it was all Phalanx needed.
With the gap between them, he was able to push forward and knock Greyline backwards who wasn’t expecting the charge. While the captain gathered himself to lunge back at Phalanx, stuck on his back, he saw the large Changeling put a hoof out to the other. The canteen from before was exchanged. Wasting no time Phalanx chugged the remaining liquid. A single drop spilled to the floor as he tossed it aside, completely done with the contents. What followed was a huge belch, then glowing.
-
‘BwwwWWWaaaaaAAAAAArrrrPPPPPPPP!’
Greyline jerked his head to the side, he was still stuck on his back. With a bit of help from the other guards however he managed to roll sideways and get back on his hooves. Captain Ironsides doing the bulk of the pushing to get grey upright again.
‘By Celestia, I’ve never heard such an expulsion - except from you.’ he exclaimed, the captain was known for his loud expulsions so the comment wasn’t totally unwarranted.
‘I think he’s had more than he should have…’ Grey said, he motioned a flabby hoof to the rest of the guards. ‘Get back, take the hostages and the Changelings you captured and get out the room. I’ll deal with whatever comes of this.’
‘You sure?’
Greyline just nodded. Captain Ironsides barked the order. ‘You heard Captain Greyline, everypony out!’ the sound of hooves pounding the floor quickly faded. Grey was alone with Phalanx, who was once again snorting and glowing. Hooves angrily stamped on the floor, nostrils flared as eyes fixed on their target. It was too much, Grey knew it. The Changeling, even matched in size, had been losing the fight. He likely didn’t expect to need it, but he had drunk it nonetheless. There was another, lighter belch as that already bloated frame of Phalanx glowed brighter. Then it started to happen.
His body pushed outwards and upwards, fat searching for a new form to take as the mixture from the canteen did its work, having to find new ways to make the already overly bloated Changeling even bigger than they already were. A number of loud groans, followed by a grumbling stomach and belches happened in succession as Greyline watched the transformation take place. Phalanx ballooned. Fat can only keep the form of a living being to a point, if there’s more of it, it simply fills space. Quickly, Phalanx was lifted off the floor by a stomach that became almost spherical along with the rest of his body - hooves sucked into legs that flattened and fattened out into spheres themselves. The black body of the Changeling rose upwards, like a loaf of bread that had been overstuffed with yeast.
The potion must have been extremely powerful, it almost appeared to be overwhelming Phalanx’s body to form size where it was failing to find flesh that could accommodate it. Phalanx however appeared to be enjoying the sensation, as his body grew ever larger, he watched the Changelings mouth turn into a huge grin - as if he knew this was what he needed to win the fight and overwhelm Grey. If he couldn’t win equally, he'd just have to get bigger - much, much bigger.
Between the belching and the stomach noises, Phalanx was laughing. It was somewhat typical of Grey’s expectations. Chrysalis had a bit of a villainous streak in her, Phalanx clearly possessed that same need to let their emotions run hot and expel themselves via a hearty laugh as their body uncontrollably expanded. Grey wondered if it would stop, surely the potion couldn’t keep working forever.
As Phalanx’s huge flanks sphered out like the rest of his body, they gently rested on the ceiling. This was no small feat, the room must have been ten standard stories tall with its grand roof. The Changeling bobbed for a moment, then the glow vanished. It seemed they had stopped growing at last, the effects of the potent potion finally coming to a halt - as good as it seemed to be Grey knew it wouldn’t last. There was an ominous creak to signal that the effects of the potion had completely worn off. A face, nearly completely consumed by a body that had outgrown it a hundredfold grinned maniacally at Greyline through cheeks that looked as though they had been stuffed with balloons. Grey watched, waiting for Phalanx to make a move.
It seemed however he’d be waiting quite a while. The Changeling had drunk too much. Clearly, he was trying to take a step forward to meet Grey to continue the fight. The Guard Captain watched as Phalanx tried in vain to move his hooves to walk, but none of them even came close to touching the floor. There were a few more frantic wiggles, but eventually it seemed Phalanx gave up, there was clearly quite some effort to make those hefty hooves even move without adding any locomotion to their body. It made Grey laugh, it was extremely amusing.
‘You know I couldn’t handle my own weight for a while, but this is a whole new level. My goodness, you’re quite the bloated bug!’ Grey snorted and laughed. He nearly fell over again, but managed to steady himself. Phalanx’s body had come to a rest very much resembling an orb. What had once been clearly defined features had ballooned so much that it was actually hard to tell where one part of him began and another ended. There were certainly curves, parts of the body that could be distinguished as unique, but it was extremely difficult. Stomach melded almost seamlessly with everything else - the biggest part of the overblown bug that was easily over half his entire form at this point.
Phalanx clearly did not find this the slightest bit amusing. They made a noise somewhere between a roar and a belch - it sounded as if the roar was interrupted midway through as they tried to shout. A yell of ‘RRaaaaaUUuuuRRRpppAAAAAA!’ was what they managed, before rocking their body backwards to gain a bit of motion, teetering backwards Grey watched their head rise upwards to the point it was nearly facing directly to the ceiling, then it began to move forward back towards Grey at a quick pace. It was then that Grey realised what was about to happen. Phalanx was going to roll themselves forward, crushing Grey under their huge mass. There was little else the Changeling could do at this point besides use their overly bloated body like a massive steamroller and crush Grey, although the Changeling clearly resembled a balloon more than anything else, he wasn’t full of air. Phalanx must have weighed several hundred tons at this stage. That much weight coming down on anything would cause a huge amount of damage. Phalanx had little other option than to use all that weight to their advantage, seeing as they had completely lost the ability to do anything but roll themselves. As his rage boiled over, another loud belch erupted from the wrecking ball Changeling, who was now rolling quite quickly towards Grey.
-
Luckily for Greyline, the extremely large room was positioned a few stories up from the ground. It was in particular well famed for its lovely views of the castle gardens below from a balcony. A Changeling the size of a small hill was barrelling towards him, thundering over the cobblestone floor that was cracking and crunching underneath the blubber it was failing to support. If he took Phalanx on head on as the Changeling was expecting, Grey would certainly come out the loser. He had a thought, the entire time he had the edge in the fight by using his weight to his advantage, even if now it was far, far less. Why change a tactic that had worked out so effectively? The balcony was just behind Greyline. He’d have to explain of course to some of the castle Masons just how solid stone had been cracked, but he had little choice at this stage.
Grey let Phalanx get as close as he dared, by this time the Changeling had built up quite a bit of speed. If he left it to just the right moment…
Now.
As much as he could, Greyline threw himself sideways putting as much effort behind his weight as was possible, to make a sideways motion that happened quick as a flash. He felt his body jerk as fat sloshed and almost pulled him off to the side of the intended path of Phalanx. He wished he could have seen their face, but this fight didn’t allow for any time to sit and gloat over the defeat of a rival. He simply watched Phalanx pointlessly wiggle his feet far too late to try to stop himself, before there was an almighty crunching noise as the pillars to the balcony disintegrated, no match for the mighty blob of a Changeling. This was followed quickly by a second but less pronounced crunch as the balcony edge gave way. Phalanx had very successfully, but not intentionally, rolled himself right out and over the balcony. Grey was quite pleased, a simple and effective way to end the fight. Grey was able to just about trot himself over to the edge to see the black blob plummeting below. He wondered how the ground would fair with all that weight about to crash into it.
Unsurprisingly the answer was that it faired with trying to stop Phalanx rather badly. In fact, it gave out entirely.
Whoooommppppp!
Phalanx’s body cartoonishly pancaked, the fat acting almost like a liquid and causing his spherical form to mimic a water balloon. For a mere moment he seemed to come to a stop as his body wobbled back upwards and then went down again. Clearly, the Changeling was just too much for the ground beneath them as cracks formed rapidly around the edge of him. The entire floor crumbled, giving way as Phalanx was sent on a second journey downwards.
It was however quite easy to see where he was headed, Canterlot was famed for its gem mines. Whilst the majority of it had long ago been pulled out the ground a number did still exist. The majority of untouched ones sat beneath the castle. Celestia had some time ago made a decree that these ones were not to be touched unless absolutely necessary. Phalanx had broken ground right above one of these very mines.
The gems glowed much like Phalanx had when he had drunk from the canteen, providing a light source which contrasted rather beautifully against the Changeling orb that continued to fall. There was only so far he could go however, no pit was bottomless.
THUD!
The noise of Phalanx finally coming to a rest echoed up from the bottom of the mine. He was so big it was easy to see exactly how he had come to rest with the glow of the gems around him. His body was entrenched in the floor, roughly two thirds had cratered its way deeper but then come to a stop. Somehow by sheer luck his head had come to rest near the top, Grey could see the hole where his fattened face was currently wheezing and puffing air outwards, likely quite heavily winded after such a fall.
Grey stood, looking below. It seemed prudent to let the others know, but right now he was exhausted. Throwing his huge body around like he had been was no easy task. It was no good, the tired Guard Captain flopped backwards, a light thump! audible as the floor took the weight of his body. The others would find him soon and help him up, but right now he needed a little bit of recovery.
‘What the heck was that!?’
Starswirl had felt it too, his glass of water on the table in front of him rippled with the shaking of the ground. The pair were quite high up in one of the towers studying so an earthquake was cause for concern. Stygian looked panicked. He watched the younger pony look around, exasperated. Magically, he levitated the glass of water and jostled it in such a way that the water in the glass flew outwards, soaking Stygian. The pony immediately stopped to stare at Starswirl.
‘What do you think it was? I think our Guard Captain is out there saving the Kingdom once more.’ Starswirl said in a bemused manner, putting the empty glass down and refilling it with water via a magical spell. Stygian grimaced, then went back to his tome.
‘They surrendered.’ Captain Ironsides was standing over Greyline, who was still on his back. A few other guards had returned to the room and were looking at the wheezing Captain, still catching his breath from the fight. ‘They saw Phalanx fall out the balcony and just gave up at that point. They were still struggling against us.’ Ironsides sat down next to Grey and pulled his helmet off. ‘Nice move.’
‘Thanks, if I’m honest it was all I could think to do in the heat of the moment.’ Grey laughed. ‘I didn’t fancy becoming a pony pancake.’
‘I don’t think anypony does.’ Ironsides laughed with him. ‘The guards here will get you back on your feet. Heave ho!’ Ironsides raised his voice for the last part, Grey felt his momentous body shift sideways as his comrades hefted him back upright with great effort. In the effort to move himself so quickly, some of his armour had taken a few blows. Grey would get it sorted out, he was quite particular about his armour. Still he supposed if all that happened coming out of the fight was a few scrapes on metal, he had done rather well.
Once he was back the right way up, a few of the guards thanked him.
‘Couldn’t have won that fight, whew!’
‘Yeah nice one Captain, quite the move to make them take that tumble!’
‘Three cheers for Captain Greyline!’
A hip-hip hooray followed. Grey almost felt like he could blush, but the Guard Captain kept his composure. He let a smile slip, then straightened up and changed his expression to proud.
‘Just doing my duty.’ he said with not a hint of irony. A pony he didn’t recognise appeared within the dining hall. They had a camera.
‘I think all the commotion has brought out the press. Unavoidable.’ Captain Ironsides said. ‘Want them getting rid of?’
‘I’ll indulge them.’ Greyline said. A few other guards gathered around. Grey was asked a few questions and a picture was taken for the paper. The press pony didn’t stick around for very long, it was getting quite late. ‘I could use a drink.’ Grey lamented.
‘Ahem’. It was Ironsides. ‘There are a few matters to attend to. Such as rebuilding what has been destroyed in the dining hall, do the paperwork for everything that has happened here today, make sure the trapped Changeling below isn’t going anywhere and ideally move him to a cell and then fill in the hole he made in the garden.’ Ironsides finished quite sternly.
Grey rolled his eyes, then flopped right onto his back. Simply hearing about all that was exhausting. There was another loud whump! as a mentally defeated Grey wanted nothing more but to sleep and for all the bureaucracy to go away.
‘You need helping up again, Captain?’ one the guards asked.
‘No, just lemme nap for a bit. I’m bloody tired!’
-
Grey had been left alone. He was not lying about being “bloody tired.”. The huge pony had been flat on his back for hours. A few of the guards had come by to ask how he was doing. Each time the answer was the same. ‘Still tired. Leave me be.’
One pony however had stuck around. Grey thought they were simply on duty. They spoke to a few ponies out of his earshot who came by but he didn’t leave his post by the front door, not for several hours at least. Eventually however, when it seemed that most ponies had stopped coming by for a good while, he sidled off from his position and came over to Grey.
‘Still tired!’ the captain bellowed. ‘Unsurprisingly, as you lot keep interrupting my snoozing.’
The guard looked quite nervous. He ran a hoof along the floor and twiddled with the spear weapon he had close to his body. Grey rolled his eyes as he watched the wordless display.
‘Alright, spit it out.’
‘Oh u-uh…’ the guard started to speak, then stopped himself.
‘Spit it out!’
‘I wanted to volunteer sir!’
Grey was laying flat on the floor, mostly motionless. He turned his head to look at the guard better and raise an eyebrow, he didn’t know what they were talking about. ‘Volunteer for what?’
‘To gain your strength, sir!’ the sentence again was peppered with formality at the end. At this small hour Grey told him to drop it.
‘You can be less formal. What’s your name?’ the tired captain asked.
‘Steady Stone s-...’ he stopped himself before it automatically came out.
‘To gain my strength? You mean all this?’ Grey said, stretching a flabby hoof to rub on what of his belly he could reach in the position he was in, he shifted sideways slightly, to get a better look at the young guard. Thin as a rake and clearly part of the regulars with the daily training. ‘What should we be, boy, the Canterlot Sumo Corp of the guard?’ Grey said with a smile which turned quite quickly into a hearty laugh. It made his stomach shake heavily. He could see the guard staring at his body as it quivered. Grey figured there was more to it than just “gaining his strength”. It would be unwise to go down that road.
‘Aha, I hadn’t thought that far ahead, Captain.’ the pony replied. They were very nervous, clearly.
‘Well I believe if you want to go down this road, you’ll need a task first.’
‘Oh?’
‘Tell the kitchen staff to prepare dinner. I’m famished! Make sure there’s enough for both of us.’
Steady Stone saluted and turned, bolting quickly for the kitchens. Grey went back to his resting position. At least for a short while, he’d have some peace and quiet. Perhaps more ponies like him wasn’t such a bad idea. He’d think about it.
