Hidden Heart

It was cold. Chirp had made the best campfire he could, but gathering wood and putting together a makeshift camp wasn’t exactly his forte. He had set up far enough away from Ponyville he was hoping that nopony would find him hidden among the wildlife, fairly far off the beaten track. The lights of the town glowed off in the distance, with buildings only visible by their outline in the darkness. He had a small pack and was trying to make the supplies from the hive last as best he could, but it was…difficult.

Chirp was one of a few Changelings that had been sent out to infiltrate and spy, each having been dispatched to a different location in the pony kingdom. Ponyville was considered a smaller town and easier to get among the local population. It’s why it had been given to Chirp, if he didn’t succeed it wasn’t hugely important. Not like a place like Manehattan or Canterlot. He sighed mentally. The Changeling had tried to buck himself a number of times, get these silly thoughts of being unimportant out of his head. As of yet, he hadn’t succeeded. Things like this just tended to reinforce it more.

He poked through the supplies and decided tonight he would dine finely on a meal of plain water and a small packet of dehydrated hive crackers, one of the staple foods that was bland but easy to make. He unwrapped the food and began to munch, thinking about tomorrow and how he’d make his way into the town.

He’d take a disguise of course. It would be draining, but it was necessary. Chirp was a bit of a chubby Changeling, bigger than most of the rest of his brothers and sisters back at the hive. Some years ago when Chirp was younger, a famine had taken hold of the hive. It had come quickly, suddenly all those around him were hungry. Love, the thing that kept most Changelings going, was barely available in any form. Usually the hive was quite full of it, but suddenly it had been stripped away. The famine lasted several weeks before a new source was found and things returned to normal. The main thing however that Chirp remembered during that time was that he was so hungry. He had developed a defence mechanism against it happening again, eat as much as possible whenever he could. It was why often he wasn’t put forward for anything high profile, due to his gluttony often he got quite easily distracted from the task at hoof. This time though it was going to be different. Chirp would control himself…as best he could. Going into Ponyville though he was sure he’d make a few stops at some of the pony bakeries. Their food was just so good, he couldn’t not visit some.

In any case he finished the last of the crackers and got his blanket out. The fire and this would keep him warm through the night and he’s set off early in the morning to sneak into town without anypony noticing. Among the things in his supplies was a small poster, rolled up, which had been handed to him separately by Ultrax, the leader of his infiltration group. He took it out just to double check the details and look over it again.

‘This is your in. A small concert that’ll need workers - we know there’s an outpouring of love for the performers at these events. Sign up, work the gig and then report back how successful it was.’ they had said, while handing the poster across. ‘If it’s as good as we think it might be, we’ll be sending others along to get their fill.’

The poster read that the show was in a few weeks time and up until then they’d be happily employing a range of ponies to help out to set up for the show. All they needed to do was head to the venue in town near the centre and sign up. It seemed simple enough. All Chirp had to do was maintain the disguise of a pony which he had done successfully a few times before.

The only real issue he had occasionally was keeping his weight in check against his new form. Being on the bigger side, he had to work a little harder to hide the heft. He needed to look like any other pony that might be out and about in town, so that meant looking as normal as he possibly could. Too thin or too thick would draw attention, something he didn’t want. Part of the spell meant he could “suck it in” so to speak, but it required a bit more concentration and expenditure of his already dwindling love supply. He’d just have to see how he did in the morning and hope all went well.

The fire was getting low and Chirp thought it best to get some rest while there was still some warmth and night left to actually sleep in. Due to his size, the blanket only covered about half his body so he placed it over his belly as best he could while laying flat on his back. He closed his eyes, the warm glow of the fire and the complete stillness of the air quite comforting in an unfamiliar way. Hives were often a noisy space, it was nice to be away from it and actually get some quiet for a change. Tomorrow he’d get into town and see about signing up to help with the show. Somewhere between thoughts, Chirp nodded off, the previously silent night now punctuated by snores.

-

The sound of birds chattering away woke up Chirp. The sun was reasonably high in the sky. For a moment, he ignored it, wishing for a few more minutes of rest.

Then the Changeling shot up like a bolt, his large belly suddenly wobbling heavily as he did so. He let it settle, then looked around slightly panicked. Nopony was around, he was still very much alone. There was just one problem, he had missed sunrise. It was now very much somewhere mid to late morning, although the exact time was uncertain.

Crud.

This was going to make getting into town unnoticed a whole lot harder. He quickly got up, packed his things away and thought he had better concentrate on making himself look more appropriate for blending in. Mimicking a pony was simple, Changelings had no issue with this. It was just with Chirp’s size, he’d have to put a little more effort behind it.

‘Hrffggggnnn…nnffff…nnnn-there! Haaa, aaahh, aaaaa…’ the spell always took it out of him slightly. He had to draw on the love he had left to form the shape of another being, as well as make himself look thin to boot. For a few moments Chirp stood still, just getting used to his new form and adjustment to needing to flow a small amount of magic to maintain it. Once he was satisfied he picked up the supply bag, tightening the belt on it quite a few notches to fit his new thinner physique.

Town was maybe a twenty minute trot away, if he was brisk he could probably make it in fifteen or so. The glow of the lights from last night was long gone, but the buildings stood out with their bright colours and very unique designs. Pony settlements were very easy to spot, they didn’t exactly try to hide them.

He set off, hoping to ask somepony when he made it to town where he could find the show that was being set up for.

‘Excuse me.’ Chirp had only been in the town a few minutes before he bumped into a few ponies out and about. Nopony had seen him enter, he had not taken the main road in and instead gone on a small detour to enter from a less obvious route. Once in, it had been a simple matter of trotting around in one direction round buildings to make his way somewhat towards the centre. The problem was he had gotten slightly lost, it turned out he needed those directions after all. He asked the two mares he had run into where he might find the show, unfurling the poster from his supply bag to show them.

‘Oh that. Near the middle of town, just off from the centre. When you find the town hall, head east over the small river and you’ll see it.’ one of them had responded. Chirp thanked them for their kindness and carried on in the direction the hoof had vaguely pointed. He found the town hall quick enough, in a large clearing in the middle. It seemed quite a lot of ponies were here, milling about or going about their daily business. He spotted the bridge, walking over it and immediately seeing a fairly large and obviously temporary stage. Here there were even more ponies, it seemed preparation for the show was in full swing and work was progressing along. The main stage was mostly constructed, but many other things were still barely started or midway through being built. Chirp wasn’t much of a builder, his construction skills were non-existent. Looking around he saw a building that looked as if it had been there a while, it was closest to the bridge and had a small sign out front directing any would-be volunteers to talk to the ponies inside. Chirp headed in.

‘So it’s a concert that’s going to be put on in a few weeks. A bit of fashion as well, sponsored by a local vendor.’ the pony behind the desk explained. Chirp had been directed to speak to him by a helpful mare on a small desk by the entrance. In front of the pony were a number of papers, which he was flicking through seeing if he could find a position for Chirp. ‘Construction is mostly taken care of. What are your skills?’ he asked.

‘I’m a stylist.’ Chirp lied. ‘Do you have anything working with the singers or fashion models?’ he asked. It was the role he had been told to ask for should the option arise. Before leaving the hive he had gotten some basics around it. Just enough to get him through having to apply it. The pony behind the desk eyed him for a moment, then flicked through a few more pieces of paper.

‘We are a bit short on ponies for that actually. Great. I’ll sign you up.’ the paperwork took a bit of time to go through, so many boring questions. Chirp had to think on his hooves a few times to answer them but he managed to do so with little issue. The hive had prepared him quite well for this, he had years of experience anyway.

About twenty minutes later he was out the door, name badge attached to his supply bag as “Chirpy Chippers” which he used quite often as a disguise name. The pony behind the desk had directed him to a small tent that was situated behind the main stage.

He was in. Time to meet the girls and find out just how much love was going to be at this thing.

-

‘Laaaaaaa…’ Autumn Shower was warming up her voice. She never particularly enjoyed the task, but it was necessary. Didn’t want to damage those vocal chords after all.

She was just giving her throat a massage when a new pony appeared out the corner of her eye, looking a bit lost. She gave him a wave, smiling to try to get him to come a bit closer, the poor dear looked completely unsure if he was okay to approach. The wave indicated it was. ‘Sorry, I’m the new stylist.’ was all he said, he really was lost, the pony didn’t even introduce himself.

‘Autumn Shower.’ Autumn said to him. ‘And you are…?’

‘Chirp…y Chippers.’ the stallion replied, the last bit came almost as a run on to the rest of his name. ‘Chirpy Chippers.’ he repeated slightly more confidently. ‘Do you need your hair attended to?’

The question was worded oddly. Autumn had worked with plenty of stylists before. Usually they didn’t even ask, they just rolled up with their equipment and got on with the job as quickly as possible. With all the different performers, singers and other ponies involved in the show they had to work fast to get through them all. Clearly he was new. ‘If you wouldn’t mind.’ Autumn just said. She went back to looking in the mirror in front of her, while Chirp moved back a bit away from her and the rest of the girls and started to unpack his things. Autumn was half paying attention to the stallion in her mirror, which very quickly gave him her full attention.

There was a sudden but extremely quick burst of magic. The stallion vanished, replaced with a rather chunky Changeling. Autumn had never actually seen a real Changeling before, but knew from talking to other ponies and from pictures what they looked like. The thing was, they were always depicted as quite slim and trim. The change from the pony that had asked if she wanted her hair attended to was quite drastic, especially in size. The Changeling, now panicking and trying its best to activate the magical spell again, was probably triple the size of the pony it was trying to hide as. The large central part of his body, Autumn supposed that would be the belly, only was a few inches from the ground. All of him was big, his large posterior and chubby neck were quite the sight. It only lasted a few seconds however, as the Changeling managed to regain his disguise. The large stomach vanished to be replaced by something so…ordinary. For a second he looked flustered, then went back to searching through his things. Autumn knew that Changelings had to spend some amount of magic constantly to keep their altered form in check. She wondered if this one was having to work harder to keep himself looking so slim. It might explain the slip up. She went back to working on her voice, but the mare was quite intrigued. What was he doing here? He seemed to be alone, she didn’t suppose the show was under any sort of immediate threat of being attacked by a small army of Changelings. Nopony else around her appeared to have noticed the slip up and she was quite curious. When Chirp wandered back over, Autumn decided to make some conversation to see what she could find out. Perhaps she could appeal to something they wanted.

‘So have you been here long?’ she started with, she’d always been quite good at ferreting information out of ponies. Start with innocent questions and work your way up, that was her general modus operandi.

‘Just arrived today.’ Chirp replied. He started with the basics, working a comb through Autumn’s hair and applying some spray.

‘What made you want to work this gig?’ she asked.

‘Just looking for a bit more experience. Oh don’t worry, I’m trained.’ came the reply. There was more brushing and spraying. A bit too much for a normal stylist.

I bet you are. Autumn thought, she decided to let them carry on. ‘You don’t know many ponies in town if you just arrived today then, I take it?’

‘No. I come from quite far away.’ they said. This was perfect, it gave Autumn an opening.

‘Well, that sounds like you’re free after all this.’ Autumn said with a smile.

‘Oh uh…I suppose yes.’ Chirp replied. He suddenly felt a small surge of love from Autumn, it bolstered him up a little bit. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Well I’m from out of town too, I don’t really know many ponies here. It would be nice to talk to somepony else and wind down. Where are you staying?’

‘Uhh…’ Chirp had to think of something quick, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell her he was going to camp out all week in a tent and sneak into town every day. ‘Provided accommodation.’ he simply said, keeping it vague.

‘Ah. Well let’s go somewhere fun once we’re done for the day. I’ve heard about this bakery in town. Sounds like they have some real sweet treats.’ Autumn said. She saw a small amount of saliva appear on Chirp’s lips, which he quickly licked off.

‘Sweet treats?’ he asked.

‘Yeah. You know - the usual stuff they sell at bakeries, but I’ve heard this is way better.’ he seemed quite intrigued by the bakery trip. Autumn thought she’d push it a bit more.

‘Sounds great. I’ll wait for you when we’re done for the day.’

‘Great!’ Autumn burst out quite suddenly. That was too enthusiastic. She calmed herself. ‘I mean, good. How’s the hair coming?’ she asked.

‘Hair?’ came the response. ‘Oh right! Sorry.’ Chirp said. ‘Uh, good. We’re done.’ he said, putting away his styling equipment and somewhat hastily moving on to the next pony. Autumn hadn’t been paying too much attention to what he had been doing. She observed the results.

Her mane was very wet from all the spray. Aside from that, it was the same as how it had been before he had arrived. Clearly, Changelings didn’t have much of a need for mane stylists.

‘Here we are.’ Autumn said. The pair had arrived just outside Sugarcube Corner. To Chirp, the building looked extremely inviting with its almost cake like appearance in building design. Changelings weren’t so creative in their own construction. It was almost like seeing an alien structure in so many ways. Autumn beckoned him inside.

The inside was much more down to earth, but still fun and inviting. There were quite a few tables and a counter where you could purchase baked goods. Chirp had been supplied a small quantity of bits for the mission, so he offered to buy the first lot of treats. Autumn thanked him, saying it was quite gentlecoltly of him to do so. She had quite a modest gingerbread pony. Chirp on the other hand, went for a large slice of chocolate cake. They took each item to a table and sat down. Autumn wanted to find out more about Chirp, more than she had in the brief period when they talked earlier. She knew what Changelings really wanted, for the most part. Perhaps if she showed him some affection, he’d open up more to her.

‘That looks good.’ she said, looking at the chocolate cake.

‘Do you want some?’ Chirp asked, he cut a small piece off and offered it to Autumn. She smiled and waved a hoof dismissively.

‘Oh don’t worry, I was just being polite. Really, you look like you’d enjoy it more.’

‘Oh, alright.’ Chirp replied. He withdrew the offering, eating it himself. Autumn started on her gingerbread pony.

‘So you enjoy your food?’ she asked. She was curious about the Changelings size. Love was always a factor, but they had to eat like any other creature. She wondered if this one gorged themselves on love, food or potentially both.

‘Well, I suppose.’ Chirp said, he was already quite a few bits into the cake, wolfing it down with the speed of a pony who hadn’t had a proper meal in weeks. ‘This is good though. I’ve never had a cake like this.’

‘Chocolate cake? It’s pretty common all over Equestria.’ Autumn said.

‘Oh yeah.’ Chirp had to think of a save. ‘I mean like this. This place really is good.’ he said. Half the cake was now gone at this point. Autumn had barely made a dent in her gingerbread pony.

‘How about trying something else?’ Autumn suggested. She played up to Chirp’s gluttonous side. ‘You know they make these amazing jumbo brownies. Much bigger than the regular ones.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah - I’ll get these. You paid for the first round.’ Autumn said, leaving her gingerbread cookie on the table and going to order. She decided to not get one for herself. On purpose she ordered one for Chirp only, bringing it back and making up an excuse. ‘Ah shoot, last one. Well you enjoy.’ Autumn said.

Chirp had finished his chocolate cake, it was long gone. ‘Thanks!’ he said, taking the jumbo brownie and digging in. He seemed quite content to work his way quickly through this as well, with Autumn letting him chew away at the dessert. She wondered how many more it would take to break him fully. The bigger he was going to get under that disguise, it was going to take more magical energy to maintain a slimmer form. She had a devilish suggestion.

‘Why don’t we meet here after work each day, it’ll be nice.’ she said quite innocently.

‘Oh I’d love that.’ Chirp replied quite eagerly. ‘This is amazing.’ he said, chewing his way through the brownie. Autumn took a few more bites of her gingerbread pony.

‘You know what else they’ve got here? A cupcake made with biscoff that’s to die for…’

‘Ohhhh…’ Chirp had overindulged. Heavily.

He barely made it to where he had decided to pitch up for the night. It was less far than the original camping spot.

Autumn had kept buying more and more, it almost felt like on purpose just to see how much she could stuff inside Chirp. Not that she was physically pushing pies between his lips, but he was too polite to say he had had enough. The other thing was, the desserts were just too good to pass up. As soon as he was out of sight of everypony else he dropped the disguise. He had felt the magic drain pick up the more he had eaten. It had been quite hard to maintain it at the end of the evening. He had gotten Autumn home, then made for camp as quickly as his legs would carry him.

‘Ahhh, much better…o-ohhh…’ Chirp observed himself. There was a glorsh as his true belly sloshed between his legs. It was definitely bigger, now more free to digest the treats he had eaten with Autumn. He felt about twenty pounds heavier and then some. The evening of indulgence had been wonderful, Chirp had eaten in a way that he hadn’t eaten for months. It felt good to cut loose and really indulge. The one thing that he had felt as well was there was definitely love radiating from Autumn, which seemed to increase when he was eating. Chirp had felt it quite readily, syphoning off some to keep his disguise going. Without it, he was sure it would have broken tonight. He already had a slip up earlier today, thankfully however nopony seemed to have noticed. He couldn’t let that happen again.

In any case, he needed to rest. It had been a taxing day. The work had been…interesting? He wasn’t sure he was really cut out to be a stylist, but it didn’t matter. He’d keep going until he got fired. He wasn’t sure making manes wet and combing was really enough, but so far nopony had said anything about it.

He unpacked his supplies and got the blanket out. This late, he couldn’t be bothered to make a fire. The night air was quite warm and there was little chill about. He pulled the blanket up and over him, it covered even less than before.

He was quite looking forward to meeting Autumn again after work tomorrow. He had only explored what seemed to be a small portion of the offerings the bakery had, despite overindulging in it. What awaited him tomorrow?

He dozed off with a full belly, which gurgled gently as he went to sleep.

-

‘Chocolate chip cookie?’ Autumn asked.

‘Yes…that would be…nice.’ Chirp replied. He grinned sheepishly as Autumn walked up to the counter. He had a few moments to audibly huff before she came back and he had to suck it in again and be quiet. He couldn’t give himself away.

The pair had been going out every day after work for the past couple of weeks now. It had occurred to Chirp a few days in that Autumn was being suspiciously generous with her wallet. He had tried to pay for some of the treats with his own bits, but when Autumn had seen he didn’t have that much and knew he was working on a volunteer basis, she had told him to keep his money. Since then, each night several delicious and calorie packed desserts had been bought for him by her. He could feel the affection behind it as well, Chirp was double dipping to an extent. He went to bed each night back at camp feeling even more stuffed than the day before.

The thing was, it had a huge impact on his weight. Each night when he stopped projecting the pony disguise, he was bigger. At this point in his regular Changeling form, Chirp had gone from being able to trot to only being able to manage a laboured waddle. His huge stomach easily made contact with the floor, his massive and bulbous rear wobbled with every step. His cheeks were constantly puffed out around his face, with neck fat starting to encroach around his head. A few more nights of this and he wouldn’t be able to make it to work, completely unable to move himself he worried.

There was another side effect too, the magical projection spell he and every other Changeling used for disguise was getting harder and harder to keep constantly up. He had slipped up several times now in the past few days, thankfully when nopony was looking. By some fortitude he had gotten away with being able to reapply it and carry on. Projecting the look of Chirpy Chippers however was getting harder and harder as each delicious treat filled his body with more blubber. He sat at the table, waiting to see what Autumn brought back. Hopefully the chocolate chip cookie was normal sized and easily digestible.

‘Here we are!’ Autumn said, plonking it down in front of him. She herself had bought a small ice cream sundae. The cookie was very much not normal sized, it was bigger than Chirps head. It would have been rude to not eat it. He figured he’d get through tonight, then ask if they could have a break tomorrow from meeting here, it would at least give his body some time to digest the food. At least when he made it back to the hive, he could report that concerts like this were a great source of love. He just wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. ‘How is it?’ Autumn asked.

‘Amazing as always. Autumn, can we talk? As much as I love meeting here and being with you, I’m struggling to ah…’

‘To what?’

‘To ah, keep my figure in check. I’ve put on a few pounds!’ Chirp lied. A few was an elephant sized fib. Under the projection he had packed on probably two or three hundred pounds. ‘Can we maybe go somewhere else after today? Or just take a raincheck tomorrow?’

‘Aw, but tomorrow they’ve got some limited edition, tomorrow only deep fried apple fritters. Pinkie just told me.’ Autumn said with a bit of a pout. ‘I was hoping to get some.’

‘Oh uh…well, perhaps another day wouldn’t hurt.’ Chirp said, he didn't want to hurt her feelings and he thought one more day would be okay. He could keep this up, he was fairly sure.

‘Something wrong?’ Autumn had been watching Chirp eat the cookie. He had gotten about halfway through and slowed himself down quite considerably. He looked…off. Clearly something wasn’t right, but Chirp wasn’t showing it.

‘Wrong? N-No, I just ah…want to savour this cookie. It’s really good.’

‘Well they’ve got more you know, finish it up and I’ll get you another!’ Autumn replied quite happily, she gave him a big smile. Chirp grinned back, if rather cheesily. It was just the two of them alone in the bakery for the moment. Nopony was manning the counter and the rest of the customers had left. No new ones had arrived.

He was trying, dear Chrysalis, he was trying to maintain this disguise. What on Equestria was in this cookie? Underneath the fakery he felt as if he had gained as much weight just eating half of it as he had put on in the last two days. Chirp groaned, it was no good. The disguise failed.

It all happened in about half a second, Changelings flipped between their normal form and the disguise form they held extremely fast. The stool Chirp was sitting on vanished entirely, it was completely engulfed by his flanks that swallowed it up and formed a new seat underneath him. His stomach bulged forward quite suddenly, no longer hidden blubber surging outwards filling space that had been denied to it. In a mere moment, the slim pony that was sitting in front of Autumn completely vanished, to be replaced by a blob of a Changeling.

He was absolutely gigantic. Autumn had been trying to break him on purpose since first seeing his disguise slip up, but she had no way of gauging just how much he had really gained. Clearly it was a lot more than she realised. They really did pack the treats here full of sugar, perhaps a little too much…

‘UuuUUUURRRpppPPPPpppp!!!! Oh that feels soooo good.’ Chirp said. Then he sat motionless, waiting for Autumn to scream. It was the usual reaction when a pony discovered a Changeling. However, what she did was quite different. Instead, she hugged him and looked dotingly into his eyes.

‘There’s so much of you…I never knew Changelings could get so big…’ she cooed. She squeezed him a little tighter, there was a surge of love which Chirp quite happily slurped up. He felt his stomach bulge outwards a little more. Autumn gave it a press with her hoof. ‘I felt that, does love make you bigger as well?’

‘A-Ah, love mostly is what has done all this. And the treats of course…’ Chirp said, he was slightly nervous. What if somepony should enter and see him? The place seemed oddly quiet though. The two seemed to have it to themselves, at least for now. ‘You’re not screaming.’ he suddenly said. ‘Most ponies scream.’

‘Your disguise broke on the first day we met, I saw it.’ Autumn said quite matter-of-factly. ‘You seemed cute despite the deception. I wanted to see if you still were once you didn’t need to hide behind that fake ponysona anymore.’ she said with a smile, giving his hair a gentle brush with her hoof. ‘You were big then too, even bigger now.’ there was more love for Chirp that she felt, he felt it too. He felt his rear bwoomph outwards, Autumn’s love making Chirp feel wonderful. He wondered if now he didn’t have to hide anymore, that just made her love him more? It certainly felt like it. With each hug and rub she was giving him, he felt her love growing - him along with it. He wondered actually why he wasn’t completely embracing it, he put his arms fully around Autumn, just to see…

Blllooooorrrrrppppp!

Chirp felt his body absorb the love, he grew rapidly in size even more. The small table that had been separating them prior tumbled out of the way as his stomach quickly expanded along with the rest of him. This was making him bigger than the previous few weeks of treats combined. He had to lean forward, use his stomach as a bed or he’d end up completely unable to move. He rocked himself forward, gripping Autumn in a loving embrace as he repositioned himself for more love. He didn’t care anymore if somepony else came in and saw them, he was fully committed to Autumn and getting as big from her love as he possibly could. It was all going swell, Chirp felt his legs struggling to keep his stomach from raising him off the floor. Then there was what he thought Autumn was going to do, a scream.

‘Changeling! It’s huge! And it’s eating that poor pony!’ a customer had entered, so much for the quiet bakery. Autumn and Chirp had been locked in a kiss at the time, the eating mistake wasn’t so absurd.

‘He wasn’t eating me! We were kissing!’ Autumn tried to protest. It was no good though, the customer had gone right back to screaming. They couldn’t stay here. ‘Come on, waddle as fast as those fat hooves will carry you!’ Autumn said, she grabbed Chirp and pushed him outside, quite literally, his huge bouncing butt getting wedged for a few moments in the doorway. It broke with a few well timed shoves from Autumn. She looked around, she knew the pony inside would raise the alarm. Where would she and Chirp be safe? ‘Come on, I know a place.’ Autumn said. The two vanished into the evening, before anypony could catch up to them.

-

The place turned out to be a small, semi-abandoned barn towards the edge of town. ‘The Apple family use this sometimes during harvesting season when they’ve got an abundance of crops.’ Autumn said. ‘But it’s not harvesting season, you should be safe here. Besides, it’s got double wide doors. You’re huge but you’re not big enough to break these.’ Autumn said. She followed Chirp inside, who plonked himself down on a small pile of hay. ‘Now then, where were we?’

‘H-Huh?’ Chirp said, he was quite surprised. ‘You want to carry on?’

‘Why not?’ Autumn asked. ‘Weren’t you enjoying it?’

‘Well yes, but it’s just…’ he tried to think of a good reason as to why they shouldn’t. He could only think of one. ‘You don’t care that I am what I am?’

‘Oh I do, very much - just not in the way you think.’ Autumn said, she laid herself down on Chirps’ front, which was large enough just about to support her as she leaned in to give him another kiss.

‘Oh, I uh…’ he decided not to fight it and embrace Autumn again. He knew, really - he just wanted to be sure. The love he felt she had for him was almost overwhelming in a way. He had been with partners on missions like this before, but he had maintained the disguise as he had feasted. There was something different about doing it this way. It was raw, much more potent. He wasn’t having to expend energy maintaining a disguise. At the back of his brain he wondered why Autumn was so interested in a Changeling and not ponies. She was gorgeous, the mare could have had anypony she wanted. He quickly stuffed the thought in a box and decided not to pay anymore attention to it, his body swelled again as the love between the pair grew. Chirp felt himself pack on more pounds as his body did its best to store all the love. After this, he wouldn’t have to eat for months, maybe even years. He felt another surge, his stomach lifted his legs finally off the floor, his whole body wobbling as love blubber formed in new places he didn’t even know his body was capable of making it. Every inch of him tingled with a sensation of deep passion that simply made him grow even faster. He was being greedy, yes, but not to a point where he was going to harm Amber from it. The Changeling wanted to see just how big she was going to make him, his body quivered in anticipation of just how gigantic he might become.

Several days had passed since the pair had to leave Sugarcube Corner in a hurry. Autumn had made up an excuse on Chirps behalf to the ponies at the show, saying that the stylist who had been working with them wouldn’t be coming back. Aside from the single pony in the bakery, it appeared nopony else had seen them escape and Chirp waddling his way through town. They had been very lucky, Chirp had assumed at his size he would have been seen - it was even more amazing he had managed to get away with the speed he did. Right now, if they found him he wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry.

Autumn told him they had looked around for a few hours after the event, but seeing as only one pony had seen him and the description of him had made most of the ponies very reluctant to believe the mare that had, the search had been called off once all the light of that day had gone. Large Changelings were unheard of, so they hadn’t really taken it to heart. It wasn’t helped by the fact the mare had seemed quite delirious when explaining all this. A blessing perhaps that had allowed Chirp to make his escape.

The barn was much more comfortable however than his old camp. Autumn had gathered a few things from it he had left behind and brought them to him here, making Chirp as comfortable as she could. As far as Chirp could tell, the Apples weren’t frequenting this part of the farm and the barn held nothing besides the hay he was using as a bed. Nopony besides Autumn had come by in the last two days, he figured he was safe for now.

Autumn as well had been sneaking treats from Sugarcube Corner to Chirp. Once his disguise had broken and he didn’t need to maintain the spell anymore, there was little holding him back from feasting on food as well as her love. Each day she had come to see him, he had gotten just a bit bigger. Right now, Chirp was the size of a large cart. He still comfortably fitted inside the barn with plenty of room to spare, but with each visit he felt the walls edging ever so much closer to his already huge body. The Changeling’s large flanks wobbled behind him quite like jelly now, even the slightest movement just to shift his weight sent his whole body into a blubbery frenzy that took quite some time to stop. When Autumn was with him, his body shook and jiggled as if there was no stopping it. It probably helped that he was being fondled and cuddled all the while by her, while she fed him treats and gave him big passionate kisses. He could see through the gaps in the wood panelling of the barn that the day was drawing to a close and she’d be back again soon, he wondered what lovely treats she’d be bringing him this evening, as well as what they might get up to all alone.

Autumn had a look around, just to make sure nopony had followed her. Since what happened a few days ago she was just a little paranoid, but this part of the farm was so out of the way she needn’t worry that anypony would be around. The barn door creaked open and there he was, her massive lovebug. Chirp yawned, his huge size sapped his energy but he was clearly a lot happier now he didn’t have to maintain his disguise anymore. She watched as he licked his lips, anticipating the next question being him asking her what's for dinner.

‘Did you get something good?’ he asked her.

‘Carrot cake.’ Autumn said, she watched as Chirps’ face contorted slightly, he didn’t seem pleased.

‘Cake with vegetables in? Really?’ he asked. Autumn chuckled, clearly Chirp hadn’t had it before.

‘No no, well, a little - you won’t notice it. It’s really sweet.’ she said, pulling a large slice out and showing him. She couldn’t bring herself to tease him that it contained large pieces of actual carrot. It just wouldn’t be fair. She offered some up to Chirp, who, still clearly suspicious, took a small bite at first. Then his face lit up and he took a large one straight away afterwards.

‘Mmmm, it’s so sweet and moist.’ he said with a big grin, working his way through the slice. ‘I didn’t think carrots could taste so good.’ he couldn’t help himself but be greedy, letting the luxury of a large Bwwwwuuurrrrrrppppp! leave his lips as he enjoyed the cake.

‘It’s mostly sugar.’ Autumn said. ‘But it is nice.’ she had a small slice to herself, Chirp was big enough now that Autumn could easily find a nice spot on his huge body to lean against without him minding too much. Tonight she settled for a spot just between where his large stomach met his equally fattened arms. ‘So what are you going to do when this is all over?’

‘Oh uh. I was supposed to report back to the hive.’ Chirp said.

‘Ah, what were you reporting back on? You never did tell me why you were posing as a stylist at the show.’ Autumn asked, curious.

‘Oh, well I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you…you’ve been so nice.’ Chirp paused, as if hesitating just for another second, but he quickly decided to just spill the beans. ‘I wasn’t the only one, but I was operating alone. The higher ups had picked out potential events and places for us to…feast. I had to report back how successful these sorts of concerts and shows were.’ he explained, stopping to take another bite of carrot cake.

‘Well, if they find you here like this I suspect the whole hive will swarm down on us. You must have absorbed the most love out of any of your colleagues.’ she teased, giving his stomach a little prod to see it wobble.

‘Well, a lot of it was you and the food…’ Chirp said, blushing. ‘I don’t think I can go back.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because of you, you’re amazing Autumn. I want to spend the rest of my life here in Ponyville with you, being loved by you…’ Chirp said. ‘I’ve never felt this way. This is more than just what Changelings do to get our fill of love to keep us going. You’ve overfilled me, I can feel it - you love me just as much as I love you.’

Autumn moved herself so she was right in front of Chirp’s face, it was true. She thought it best to affirm it all with a big kiss, embracing as much of Chirp as she could. She gave him the biggest love filled, passionate kiss she could muster. When she opened her eyes, Chirp had grown again, the massive Changeling now well, even more massive. The two looked into each other's eyes, the pair quite struck with one another. Chirp smiled.

‘You know every time I get bigger you love me more. Is there something about big Changelings you like?’ Chirp asked. It seemed like a silly question, especially at this stage when Chirp several hugs ago had lost most of the ability to move himself. His gigantic rear wobbled slightly as he tried to tilt himself to the side slightly to give Autumn a little more room, enormous gut spilling out further as he blushed trying to shift his weight as best he could. He still seemed to want an answer however.

‘When I first saw you, you were quite large - larger than any pony I had ever seen. It was so different.’ Autumn explained. ‘I had an idea about you growing the more affection you had, but when that disguise finally broke and you were all there, it just made me love you even more. You’re the physical form of all that love, I’ve never seen anything like it - you really make me…’ Autumn trailed off, opting to give Chirp another passionate kiss. He ballooned in size, the barn appearing to shrink around him. All the love Autumn felt for him was pouring out at a rate that he was struggling once more to absorb like a Changeling should. Already overstuffed belly bulges and butt cheeks took in even more love, swelling in size as he felt his whole body getting bigger and bigger. His stomach pushed his legs out even further, forcing his fattened hooves into a position that meant movement under his own power was absolutely no longer an option. The massive immobile Changeling gripped Autumn tightly as best he could, embracing her for as long as possible to feed off her love. He rocked his body, feeling his fat jiggle and wobble. All it did was make the whole thing even more wonderful. He hadn’t quite admitted it to Autumn yet, but he loved being this gigantic. Over the last few days he had felt his body adjust to it, to becoming a giant, soft, warm mass of blubber that seemingly had no end in growing with Autumn by his side. He didn’t want to lose her, he needed her.

‘Gosh this is wonderful.’ Chirp said with a coo. He continued to hug Autumn, still swelling in size. By the end of it, he had gotten so large his gigantic rear was just a few over enthusiastic bounces away from pressing up against the ceiling - stomach just a little off being slightly too wide to get out those barn doors. The love, the food, the feeling of this size, it was everything. He couldn’t imagine going back to the way things were before. With his brain addled in love and affected, he couldn’t help but make a suggestion. ‘Live here with me. Just the two of us, together forever.’ he said.

‘I think we need a better solution than a barn.’ Autumn said with a cute laugh. ‘If this keeps up, you’ll outgrow it before the week is out.’

‘O-Oh, yeah.’ Chirp blushed, their time together was making him quite a bit bigger each time. What had seemed like a sizable space several days ago was rapidly shrinking. He didn’t want to cause damage to the property either. The problem was, he wasn’t going to be moving himself anywhere soon. There was no way he was getting the disguise up and workable again. It seemed like he was stuck, but Autumn was quite the clever pony.

‘There’s a blimp in town, we can get you all wrapped up and moved somewhere new. They’ll think it’s crops in a big sack.’ she said. ‘My place in town won’t really be suitable, you’ll be seen - but I’ve got an idea, somewhere even bigger and better than this.’

‘Where?’

‘You’ll see.’ Autumn said, she wasn’t going to reveal all her tricks. In any case, if somepony should stumble across Chirp here, it was best he didn’t know so he couldn’t accidentally pass the information on. She just gave Chirp a reassuring kiss, which probably added a few more pounds onto his figure. ‘I’ll bring you more treats tomorrow, ones even better than carrot cake.’

‘Ever better?’ she saw Chirp already slavering at the thought. The temptation of cakes was too much of a temptation for him. He smiled in excitement. ‘Oh I can’t wait.’

Sleep tight, my big bug.’ Autumn said, getting up and giving him a final kiss goodnight. Chirp made a satisfied noise of contentment, Autumn lettering herself out and shutting the barn door behind her.

Chirp was left to wonder where she’d be taking him. Somewhere better? It was anypony’s guess what she meant. She was right though, the barn was looking smaller by the minute. As he shifted himself as best he could to get ready to sleep, Chirp felt his mountain-like rear for the first time brush against the ceiling, so massive had it become. Moving to somewhere bigger and more suitable sooner rather than later would be a good idea.

For now, Chirp had only to digest the love and food from tonight, dreams of Autumn and the treats of Sugarcube Corner filling his head as he drifted off to sleep, excited to see what the next days ahead brought for him and Autumn.