Hangry

by Fartsire

Rating: teen
Tags: Fetish, Main 7 (EqG), Slice of Life, Human, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle (EqG), Dazzlings, Romance, Drama, Equestria Girls
Length: 9882

Sunset looks inwards & sees an empty stomach making her act out. Her friends help her with that.

Still at odds with her reputation, Sunset Shimmer is looking for any way to improve her attitude when her friends notice she's far more personable when she's full, so they arrange to increase her daily dose of calories. As helpful as this ends up being, her friends have ulterior motives: Sunset, true to her name, is kind of a hottie, and an increase in fat is sure to increase those hotter parts of her. And why not?

Sci-Twi isn't too sure of this plan they started without her, but will she come around? Signs say ‘yes’.

Commissioned by a friend of mine, based on a moment of us shooting the shit.

Contains weight gain, stuffing, force-feeding, and some elements of slob (burping, messy eating, generally “pigging out”) and BDSM (implied consensual abuse, dehumanization).

Published 2024-11-26 05:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-12-03 10:17:15 UTC

Lunch Money

“NO! I don’t want your lunch money!”

Sunset crumpled the bills in her hand against the fallen nerd’s chest. His hands refused to move from their cowering position, and the money fell to the ground in front of him. Sunset pointed to him, gritting her teeth and furrowing her brow as much as the muscles in her face would permit.

“I’m not mean! Got it!?”

The kid struggled to stand up as he ran as fast as possible, practically on all fours.

“I’M NOT MEAN!!!”

The echo in the hallway brought Sunset back to reality. She looked around and saw a loose crowd made of the usual bustle of inter-class students who had stopped -- voluntarily or not -- to stare.

Sunset was instantly self-conscious of her posture: back arched forward, fists clenched, arms straight at her sides, legs parted like she was ready to grab a bull by the horns. Even now, she was breathing heavily to cool her boiling blood. It brought to mind the way she would act before Princess Twilight and her current friends saved her, on that day she didn't get her way.

Everyone looked around, anywhere to avoid her gaze. Their walking continued.

A sense of déjà vu washed over Sunset, and it wasn't the same as the last time she said those words to that kid who only needed help getting up. There was no Memory Stone this time, no time machine, no magic mirrors that reflected the past, nothing of the sort as far as she knew -- it was all her, yet she had done everything in her power to change both her outlook and her reputation. What more could she do?

More prescient, however, was the shock of emptiness emanating from Sunset’s stomach. It was the third time this hour she had felt it, and luckily, she was already on her way to the cafeteria.

Her eyes set themselves on the cash now littering the floor.

“Well,” she sighed, “I guess if he’s not gonna use it...”

“MOVE IT!”

The sight of Sunset getting lunch was something to behold. It was a one-sided gladiatorial match between her and the rest of the cafeteria as she stormed her way to the buffet-style lunch line, tried to hold herself back from pushing all the way up to the front, failed, stacked her tray with every menu item available, and stormed off to her friends’ chosen table, using her shins to clear the way in lieu of her arms.

As soon as she sat down with a neck-high stack of lunch, she dug in. She slurped up creamed corn between bites of dry turkey leg and chased both down with a cartoon of apple juice. She dipped her carrots into the mashed potatoes with gravy to make both go down faster. She alternated between bites of hamburger and veggie burger only because stretching her mouth around both at once was too hard. An audible hurricane of slobber and food raged on.

Of course her friends couldn’t help but stare. But Sunset was too busy gazing at a sign by the buffet to notice.

Gulp! “Hey, does anyone else read menus for fun, or is that just me?” she asked, thumbing away the gravy from her lips and plopping it into her mouth.

Her friends (the five of them that were present while this dimension’s Twilight on family vacation) looked around at each other, searching for a more certain answer than whatever they had in mind, only to see each other's slightly reddened cheeks.

“Rather aggressive today, aren’t we?” asked Rarity.

Sunset popped her thumb out of her mouth.

“I wouldn’t say ‘aggressive’.”

“Ooh! OOH! I would! I WOULD!” shouted an enthused Pinkie.

“You have been a little, um... forceful, lately? Maybe?” said Fluttershy.

“Are you kidding me!?” Rainbow Dash piped up. “You’re mowing down 8th-graders like a steamroller over steamed rolls!”

Applejack laid a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, startling her.

“Everythin’ alright, sugar bush? Need anything? Gettin’ enough to eat at home?”

“Of course I am! In fact, my gaming channel’s been going so well, I’ve even been thinking of quitting my job at the sushi truck!”

“Are you sure you're taking care of yourself? Three meals a day?”

“With dessert?” added Pinkie.

“Yes, yes, and sometimes! I don’t know why this is such a big deal here.”

“It’s just that, well... you eat like this. A lot,” said Fluttershy.

“I do?”

“Yes!” they all replied.

“W-well, so does Pinkie!” she rebutted.

“Pinkie’s different.”

“I am!” she affirmed.

“And she doesn’t turn people into ground beef to get to it,” said Rainbow.

Rarity placed a hand on Sunset’s other shoulder. With her and Applejack on either side, this was starting to feel more like an intervention than anything.

“Darling, do you know what ‘hangry’ means?”

“Sure, why?”

“Because you seem to have a terminal case of it.”

Sunset had to let this sink in. Thinking back on it, she barely considered all those students she pushed around in the cafeteria until her friends brought them up. If this sort of selective blindness was as frequent as they made it seem, she could imagine how it would affect the way people see her -- the nerd in the hall, all those people staring, her continued frustration with her perception making all these things worse -- all because of her appetite.

“Geez. You guys really think so?”

They all nodded.

“Hm.”

Sunset looked down at the hot mess of food that was quickly getting cold.

“Well, then...” Sunset licked her lips. “...I guess there’s only one remedy!”

All were helpless but to witness the edible onslaught. She ate so quickly and so wildly, AJ and Rarity barely had time to take their hands off of Sunset just to shield their faces from flying bits of breading and graving. It was a wonder Sunset hadn’t gained much weight, given this was how she ate. But then, maybe she didn’t have the option to, school aside. If she did...

The thought made their faces burn red. Everyone. All but Sunset tried looking somewhere else, only to meet the eyes of another with the same rosier-than-usual cheeks, having just turned their heads away from the same spot for the same reason. One by one, they looked again at Sunset, whether they were unashamed or they knew that they had an excuse if called out: everyone else was doing it. A nibble of their potatoes here, a sip of milk there, but their eyes never left Sunset.
Each bite was inhaled like no one else of her size. Except for Pinkie, who was, of course, different. Food came to her like dust in a vacuum, where her lips hugged around each item of food like a steel trap. Without even realizing it, she was so fiercely self-indulgent that the others felt intimidated... and a little excited.

With the lunch period just halfway over, Sunset was finished. She laid back as far as one could manage on a bench without a back, patting her belly as it jutted out from her as far as the width of her hand beneath her shirt -- not cartoonish in size, but given how round and wide it was and the fact that it was sticking out so noticeably in the first place, it might as well have been.

“Ahhh, that hit the spot!” said Sunset. “Guess I should throw this tray out, huh? Is anyone else’s empty?”

They shook their heads ‘no’.

Sunset struggled to stand up for a second. As she left, all eyes were on her, but mostly on the two small globes pressing against the seat of her purple skirt, enough that the fabric towards the bottom had to curve inwards. Were they bigger than the girls last saw? There was a wobble to them they didn't have before: as one foot stepped forward and its corresponding buttock stretched down, its twin bobbed up and formed an arch around the shin beneath it, bouncing in the slight pause between steps. The cascading tilde-to-hyphen dance of the dough in Sunset's can was hypnotizing, evident by the trail of turning heads leaning towards her like a zipper trying to close across too wide a gap.

Rarity cupped a hand over her mouth.

“Oh, sweet goodness, she is perfect.”

“I know, right!?” Rainbow squealed. “I can't wait for P.E.!”

“I don't know why we ever bothered her about her eating in the first place!”

“I dunno,” said AJ, “this don't seem right to me.” Sunset's butt caught her eye a second time and she bit her lip. “W-well, maybe just a little.”

Fluttershy’s pupils were pinpricks, too hyperfocused to make her own comment. And Pinkie was too busy drooling with her tongue hanging down to her tray.

Rarity licked her lips. The look in her eyes was that of a wild predator. As generous as she was, that didn't mean she didn’t want a lot for herself. And what she was looking at was a lot.

It made them wonder: they must have all been drawn together for a reason -- Twilight, the princess from the horse-dimension where they were all friends already, was the obvious answer, but if that was the case, there must have been something they all had in common -- why not this?

A sudden clattering sound gripped their attention: Sunset had bumped into another girl -- green skin, purple hair, pink star necklace -- and made her drop her tray.

“Oh... oh my goodness, I’m-- I’m so sorry!” The poor girl sounded like she was about to cry.

By then, Sunset had already picked up the tray from the floor.

“Oh please, I gotta look where I'm going more oftURRRRP!”

Sunset slapped her hand over her mouth, and her cheeks glowed with embarrassment -- she had just burped right into someone else’s face. The look on the other girl seemed just as shocked and worried as herself.

Sunset laughed.

The other girl laughed too -- nervously, at first, but she seemed to forget for a second who was in front of her and what she had done, that version of Sunset erased by the comedy of errors that just befell them both.

When all had settled down, they talked. The girl was named Bitta Luck, Sunset found out. She loved the cafeteria food almost as much as Sunset, so they went to get her seconds. Her friends witnessed all of this unfold from afar.

“Girls?” said Rarity. “I might just have an idea!”

Twilight was relieved to be back from vacation -- family reunions in an empty field with no protection from the elements in what was meant to be both the Sunshine State and lightning capital of the country were no contest for a casual meetup with close friends in the big, safe city, especially at that familiar diner called the Sweet Snack Café.

Pinkie was working her usual shift, this time pursuing her passion for baking in the kitchen, but a good word in with management gave her a few minutes to spend serving a certain party of six.

“Here you go, Sunny!” Pinkie laid out an open dozen-box of cupcakes on the booth table where her friends sat.

‘What, just Sunset?’ thought Twilight.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Sunset pulled the box closer. With a cupcake in each hand, she shoved one after the other straight into her mouth with upsetting speed. Wrappers bloomed outwards as her lips dug under them from every angle. Frosting glued crumbs to the rim of her lips until the next cupcake washed them away, adding new ones in their place.

Twilight’s eyes bugged out of her skull. Never had she seen Sunset eat so ferociously.

“Next cuppy-duzzy will be ready in ten!” said Pinkie. She pushed herself backwards, rolling on just one set of skates while her other leg was raised parallel to the ground like a ballet dancer.

Sunset’s grunt of agreement was drowned out by the sounds of her hastily chewing cupcakes and snorting breaths of air, her nod marred by her refusal to move her jaw more than seven inches from the table. Globs of cupcake frosting fell to the bottom of the box, sometimes onto other cupcakes.

Twilight looked around. She wanted to know if everyone saw what she saw. It was plain to see that they were, given how much they were staring, but their expressions were different from what Twilight expected. Brighter. More interested than disgusted, like they were watching a sporting event. She could even see Fluttershy blushing behind the lock of hair she was holding over mouth.

Twilight looked back at Sunset. Confused though she was, dots were starting to connect. She knew something was different about Sunset when they walked in together, now she was sure of it: Sunset was chubby. Her arms were thicker, her face rounder, the zig-zag from her mandible to her neck softened down to a mere suggestion, and sugar stained her jeans and jacket from prior eating sessions.

Twilight felt she should say something.

“Uh... wow, Sunny! You’ve, uh... been hitting the cupcakes pretty hard, huh?”

Sunset gulped down her eighth cupcake before throwing her head back and gasping for air.

“I... learned I act a lot... better when I’m full. Only problem is... the fuller I get, the more it takes to get me full again, so I’ve just been constantly stuffing myself to be more agreeable.”

“That... doesn't seem entirely health-- hrmp!"

Suddenly, Twilight’s head was locked in place. She moved her eyes to the side where Rarity was wrapping both arms around her head and covering her mouth. Rarity looked her in the eyes, shaking her head in disapproval.

“What Twilight means, darling, is that we're here to hel-puh you in any way we can, with whatever you need.”
Twilight tried to shout, ‘Rarity!’ but was too muffled to be heard.

Sunset rolled her head to face them, barely opening her eyes.

“Oh, good.” She belched with her mouth wide open -- a rather un-ladylike move, one that was deep and rumbly and could be heard even on the outside of the window they were sat next to, startling a passerby into peeking in for a second before going on their way. Twilight wouldn't have known it was Sunset’s unless she saw it herself... and smelled it, too. The invisible cloud of digested, processed sugar and acid hit Twilight like a Florida thunderstorm. Had she been alone and not in a headlock, she might have been comfortable saying it smelled... good. In a warm, wet, almost sickeningly sweet sort of way that -- for whatever reason -- set her cheeks ablaze.

Another open box of cupcakes slid onto the table, pushing the first box and its last four cupcakes to the wall.

“Here ya go, Sunny!” came Pinkie Pie’s voice. “Ten seconds, as promised!"

“Heh, wow! I better keep u--”

A pink hand forced a stray cupcake past her lips.

“And it's a baker’s duzzy! Haha!”

Twilight could do little else but watch Sunset smatter herself with more frosting... before realizing that frosting wasn’t the only thing dried onto her clothes: ice cream, apple filling, protein powder... dog food? Suddenly, Rarity’s behavior and her friends' lack of concern for Sunset made perfect sense.

But Rarity’s arms clamped down on her like a vice. She could say nothing.

Sunset slowed down as time went on, but all-in-all, Sunset finished all 25 cupcakes and chased them down with an extra-large chocolate-strawberry swirl milkshake in an unreasonably short amount of time. The smooth dome of her belly stuck out as far as the width of her hand plus the length of her thumb, nestling itself in the crease between her thighs as they pressed together and rose ever-so-slightly due to the excess flesh.

Sunset’s arms lay limp at her sides, too tired to ease her digestion with a belly rub.

“Oof. Little... URP! ...help?”

Rainbow Dash scrambled to get out of the booth first, but was blocked by Applejack who sat closest to the aisle. Just when Rainbow started to lean over her lap, Applejack pushed her back, squishing Fluttershy against the wall with a yelp, and stood up from the booth by herself to lay a soft, circling hand on Sunset’s food baby, softened still by a stretched-out layer of pudge. A jealous Rainbow Dash cursed her upper body strength.

“Ahhhh,” Sunset sighed. “Better. Uh, bath-- OOURP! --room?”

Applejack helped her up and pointed her to an alcove leading away from the main lobby. Sunset hobbled off, holding her belly until she vanished behind a wall.

Then, and only then, could Twilight shrug Rarity off of her and speak:

“I’m telling her.”

“Nah, she won’t believe you,” said a laid-back Rainbow Dash.

“What do you mean?”

“‘Cuz she already knows we’re doing this to help her with her mood, and so is she.”

“Her mood? You’re fattening her up like cattle for your own wanton desires!”

“Psht. So?”

Rainbow Dash regretted the remark as soon she saw Twilight’s face boil red with anger. Just when Twilight looked ready to jump across the table, Rarity pushed her down by the shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. Before you ask, no, it wasn't a ‘girlfriend’ thing, it was just a ‘Rarity’ thing -- she kissed all of her friends every once in a while. Mostly her closest friends... in fact, only her closest friends, as far as Twilight could tell. In this case, it sure seemed to cool her down.

“Allow me: we’re pampering her out of mutual interest: we like it, she likes it... and something tells me you like it too.”

“What!?” That shade of red returned to Twilight’s face, this time with something closer to confusion than anger -- embarrassment, like she had been caught.

“You don’t have to deny it, darling, we’re all on the same page here! I mean, the way you've been looking at her... the way you’re looking at us! Almost as though you're jealous.”

Twilight sputtered. “I’m not-- n-no! I-- no!” She shook her head. Nobody was convinced.

Rarity grabbed Twilight's hand from the tabletop and squeezed it tenderly.

“Embrace it, darling. You want this as much as we do!”

“But... the deception--!”

“We don’t lie, we just... don't tell her the full truth, that's all.”

“That’s still a lie by omission! I can’t believe-- Applejack?” Twilight looked at the only one not to have spoken since they arrived, hoping for support and that she would at least be the one to add some sense to this conversation.
Applejack shrugged, saying nothing.

Twilight’s mouth hung wide, wide open.

“I’m telling her anyway.”

“Oh, and waiter?” came a familiar, slightly butch voice burdened with internal gas from the other side of the room. “Some milk for the table... yes, the whole gallon.”

The whole table saw Sunset coming towards them, still waddling due to the awkward disruption of space between her thighs while her own hands cautiously cradled her abdomen like she was really pregnant.

“Sunset?” said Twilight as her friend neared the booth.

“Hm?”

“I need to--”

As she stood up to have a serious talk, Rainbow Dash had slouched down and stuck her leg out straight, hooking her ankle onto Twilight’s as the latter was in motion.

Sunset was practically there already, but Rainbow Dash’s trip sent Twilight reeling forward, taking a nosedive for the neck of Sunset’s low-cut blouse. Her cleavage.

‘This is so anime,’ thought Fluttershy wondrously.

‘This is so anime,’ thought Twilight derisively.

But she wouldn't think much for long. While Twilight's face forcefully found its way to Sunset’s bosom, the rest of her followed suit: her whole upper torso was pressed by gravity into Sunset’s midsection, her arms swinging to grab onto something and consequently hugging Sunset while her knees just barely missed Sunset’s feet, and as she felt Sunset’s warmth radiating into her, she also felt her softness, her human-ness, the pulsating, gurgling massage from beneath Sunset’s fully packed stomach that she had just unwittingly jostled into a frenzy.

“Whoops!” said Sunset. “CarefURRRRRRAAAAAAAARRP! --there!”

The cloud of smell wrapped around Twilight’s face like a blanket. Her wish prior had come true: without Rarity’s arms around her head and with herself and Sunset being so physically, intimately close, she might as well have had her all to herself.

Restraint flew out the window. After already having broken her fall, Twilight tightened her arms around Sunset's puffy cylinder of a body, nuzzling her face deeper between those fatty breasts that she swore could swallow half her head if she dug deep enough, and grunted.

‘Oh god,’ she thought, ‘was this heaven?’

Sunset tapped her on the head.

“Um, Twilight? You can get off me now.”

“Huh? O-oh, r-right!”

Twilight pushed herself off of her friend and saw that Sunset’s cheeks were a bit deeper than her usual orange -- probably just from embarrassment, but Twilight had her hopes, which she promptly cursed out.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms at Applejack, as if to say ‘beat that.’

From there, none of them brought up what Twilight wanted to say earlier, not even Sunset.

As they all left the Sweet Snack Café that afternoon, a smirk, if not a smirking attitude, was pointed in Twilight's direction by the other five (Pinkie having taken a break to say goodbye). Sunset gave a pleasant farewell to the rest, and as she and her great ass disappeared into the city streets, Twilight looked back at her five friends who had already been glaring at her with eyes narrowed in deep anticipation.

“Well?” they asked.

Twilight crossed her arms. She sighed, sounding exasperated.

“I’m in.”

Author's Note

Technically my 2nd fic ever posted to this site, but the first one was set on fire and the ashes trodden the wind. Quite frankly, it was shameless, disgusting, and overly self-indulgent; in other words, it was ahead of its time. I think I might rewrite it in the future.

Stocky Stalking

In the coming weeks, Twilight had a rough time accepting her friends’ scheme to fatten up (or ‘friendly up’, as they put it) one of their own. At first, a part of her didn’t want any involvement whatsoever, but then she would sit down with her at lunch, facing her chubbier friend head-on as Sunset stuffed her face with crusty mac-and-cheese and rubbery chicken sandwiches and weirdly thin milk until her squishy balloon of a tummy was fit to pop, and Twilight wondered, ‘why was I against this again?’

With absence came clarity, but shortly thereafter came longing, and thus relapse. Twilight knew she had to balance the two if she was ever going to decide her part in all this.

So she did what she did best: she made a plan.

She invited Sunset to go out for breakfast on the weekend, to which she obviously said yes. Twilight ordered oatmeal while Sunset ordered a stack of pancakes sandwiched between layers of cream cheese made to look like a cake, topped with whipped cream, blueberries, milk chocolate chips and maple syrup. Even Twilight's mouth watered when she heard about it. She said she wanted blueberries with her oatmeal.

Looking her over again, Sunset hadn’t grown much since Twilight came back into town, but it wasn’t hard to tell she was going places, i.e., outwards from every angle. And compared to when she left, Sunset had grown quite a bit: for example, a good chunk of what she ate went to her thighs, and what thighs they were! -- filling out her skirt like the cream cheese filling out her dish, oozing out of the gaps, raising the surface til it fit an almost dome-like mold (a double dome, in the case of her skirt), and though they were still mostly covered, Twilight could deduce from the way the fabric contoured around them that her thighs would rub together every other step. She could not begin to wonder how warm it must be in there.

Her belly had grown into quite a pooch, spilling just over her waistband as she stood up. She could ride her skirt up to contain it, but it would always come back full-force whenever she sat down. It gave a bit more depth to her belly button, which was rarely ever out and only if she was feeling careless about her appearance (she never was when she knew Twilight was around, that much she noticed), but far more than when her tummy was flat and only ever displayed in beachwear. Her back was hard to make out with her vest on, but whenever a gust of wind lifted it upwards or Sunset walked quickly enough, there could be made out the small crease of love handles forming above her hips which Twilight was very aptly tempted to grab. And she could tell that her bra was getting tight from the faint outline of her breasts beneath her orange S/M tee, straining to fit into their cups.

As they waited for their food to be done, it led to this very interesting exchange:

“Do you want to go clothes shopping soon?” said Twilight.

“Ooh, that could be fun!” said Sunset. “I’m a little overloaded on clothes, though.”

Twilight chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess you would’ve had to get some done pretty recently, huh?”

Sunset looked at her for a second or two, frowning with one eyebrow higher than the other.

“Nnnno? Why would I?”

They changed the subject.

There was an apparent lack of shyness in Sunset's demeanor that led Twilight to believe she was either in denial or completely oblivious to the newfound changes to her figure. Twilight didn't know which she preferred.

Soon, the conversation steered in the direction of their careers: Twilight was hitting the books as usual and had just applied for a general scholarship, of which she was quite proud, and now, so was Sunset; speaking of, Sunset had just given her two-weeks’ notice and planned to go gaming full-time -- with her friends “helping out” with food, she was spending less and eating more, which meant that her current stream of ad revenue was enough to live off of. It worried Twilight to hear she was so dependent on them, but she kept her mouth shut -- it was all part of the plan, wasn't it? And then, with gaming giving her more time to be sedentary...

Their food arrived. Sunset’s dish was bigger than either of them expected: the pancakes were fluffier, the cream cheese more so, and whipped cream cascaded down the sides, dividing the syrup into little waterfalls that practically flooded the bottom layer in a pool of sweet, dark, liquid sugar. It put Twilight’s plain white bowl of oatmeal with the occasional blueberry to shame. It was almost worth the bill. It was definitely worth it for Twilight, just to see Sunset dig into it with wide eyes and wider mouth, impaling and slurping up every inch she could get her fork on, sometimes drowning her bite in syrup, just to be thorough in how she cleaned up. When all but the last layer-and-a-half was defeated, she sat back with her full tummy and sighed.

“Oh, wow, that was great! Do you want the rest of mine?”

“Huh? Uh, no, I’m--”

“Really? You’ve been looking at it since you finished your oatmeal.”

Twilight looked down and saw that her oatmeal had indeed been emptied, the taste of creamy oats and blueberries somewhat fresh on her lips. She barely realized it was gone.

She shrugged and took the rest of Sunset’s plate. It was everything she thought it would be: sweet, filling, and decadent, with just a hint of fruity flavor from what was left of the blueberries, pairing ridiculously well with the chocolate chips. She almost wished there was more by the time she was finished, but if there was, she was worried it might be too much and try to eject itself.

After taking some time to digest, they said goodbye and parted ways, Sunset going one direction while Twilight went back the way she came...

...before turning back around and going the same direction as Sunset.

As much as she liked the food and Sunset’s company, the real purpose of this excursion was to determine Sunset’s eating habits, as well as her habits overall -- a blind experiment, not risking any demand characteristics that Sunset might suddenly be conscious of during testing. This would be all her.

Thus began the process of watching, checking the time, writing any activity in her phone’s note-taking app, then going back to moving behind her at a comfortably stealthy distance. Wash, rinse, repeat. For nine-and-a-half minutes, Sunset walked, then sat down for a rest at an outdoor café -- a sensible act for someone who ate as much as she did. Thirteen minutes and a root beer float later, she was up again. At noon, she ordered a hot dog, swallowed it like a candy fruit roll, then had another before the minute was out. Twilight was stunned: the sight of Sunset’s gullet swelling out with each of what should have been bites, seeing that she was so egregiously casual about it, that it was like a second chin that only appeared for a few wonderful, solitary instants--

Twilight slapped herself. She had to, anytime she gazed longingly at one of Sunset’s sumptuous body parts. This wasn’t an excuse to ogle her from afar, not a result of believing that this type of attraction was dirty and could only be justified by viewing it under purely intellectual circumstances, and certainly not a byproduct of this whole scheme she and her friends were putting on, such that everything about their relationship needed to fit that secretive and clinical mold to rectify her actions...

...right?

The more the experiment continued, the more she felt it shouldn’t. Not that she wasn’t enjoying herself, but the joy was soured knowing she could be discovered at any moment and risk ruining their friendship. How long had they known each other? About since Twilight went through something she understands was very much like what Sunset went through, something she never quite learned the nitty-gritty of, but she knew it was sensitive -- a betrayal of some kind. Twilight was one of her only friends after that. To take that trust and just...

Before she could contemplate further, Sunset took an odd turn into a part of town Twilight was unfamiliar with. Plain brick walls covered in grime and dirt became more common. The sound of dogs barking and sirens wailing were nonstop. Why was she here? Sunset lived in a much nicer place than this. Had she caught on to Twilight’s antics? Was she trying to lose her tail?

That hypothesis was disproved soon after she came to the entrance of a dark alleyway. Sunset looked around, posture hunched like she was trying to hide inside her vest. She ducked in, and Twilight followed.

There in the alley, wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, was someone Twilight hadn’t seen before: a girl with light blue skin and hair arranged in bangs and a ponytail, lazily covered by an off-kilter fedora.

“Well, Sonata?” said Sunset.

‘Sonata’ nodded. She reached into her trench coat and took out what once looked to be a hard shell taco, but was now a crushed mess of meat, cheese, and shredded greens after spending too much time in a coat pocket.

Still, it had Sunset drooling all over herself.

“Everyone knows my love for Mexican food knows no bounds,” said Sonata, her cute voice sounding strange, attached to such dramatic language. “Promise me you'll savor it.”

“Oh, I will!” With both hands, Sunset grabbed up the taco-mess and shoved it straight into her open gob. Grease and lettuce shavings littered the bottom half of her face as she breathed in and out in snorts, sounding almost like a pig as she ate just like one.

“Before we go any further...”

“Hm?” Sunset’s cheeks, though tightly packed, still had some jiggle to them as she abruptly stopped chewing to look at Sonata with patient, hopeful, hungry eyes.

“...I’m gonna need payment. Up front.”

Sunset grumbled. With sauce-stained hands, she grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and pulled it up, causing her belly to droop and bungee out.

Sonata bit her bottom lip.

“Mmm, there we go!”

Sonata crammed another gloopy taco into Sunset's half-full mouth and promptly began playing with the ball of dough hanging around her waist.

Sunset groaned, ecstatic from the taste of the taco combined with the massage of Sonata’s fingers.

“And if we keep this up,” Sonata said, taking another taco out from yet another pocket, “there'll be way more where that came from!”

Twilight didn't even bother checking the time. The scene was too much for her to look away, even for a second. Who was this girl, ‘Sonata’? How long had they been doing this? And did Twilight really want to be part of it badly enough to interrupt?

There came a point where Sonata had two “tacos” in each hand, trying and failing to keep the good stuff from gushing out between her fingers as she gave it the kiss of life; meanwhile, Sonata was on her knees, hugging Sunset’s near-full belly with firm, groping hands and kissing it right on the belly button. She was talking to it between kisses, using baby-talk to say how squishy it was, that it was a good boy, yes it was, oh yes it was. She gave it a raspberry. She barely noticed as some of the taco meat landed on the rim of her fedora.

When all the tacos were eaten (except a few that Sonata said she was saving for herself), Sunset turned around to leave, and Twilight -- realizing again that she was still on a stealth mission -- backed into a different corner.

Sunset may have walked (albeit slowly) into that alley, but she came out waddling, so full and sluggish that it put her in a haze.
As she rounded the corner of the alley, rubbing at the red hand-marks on her jutting, round belly and moaning like a ghost, Sonata waved goodbye.

“See ya tomorrooooow!”

“Oh... oh... oh...”

With little else to do, Sonata examined her hat, finding what drippings had been caught on the rim. She would have wiped them off like any normal person... if she was a normal person. Instead, she lapped it up with her tongue -- ‘waste not, want not!’ -- walking all the while towards the alley’s opposite entrance to get back on the winding path home.

She was shocked into dropping her hat when she saw Twilight blocking her way, hands resting authoritatively on her hips and brow sternly furrowed.

“What is your relationship with Sunset, exactly?”

“You!” Sonata gasped.

Twilight gazed at her questioningly.

“‘Me’? Do I know--?”

Sonata interrupted her, rushing to put her hat back on as quickly as she could.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re here for, I just can’t stay too long, or else they might--”

“Theeeere you are.”

With an ‘eep!’ to rival Fluttershy, Sonata crouched behind Twilight. Out from the shadows of the towering brick monuments came two more girls Twilight didn't recognize: one pink with purple-and-green pigtails, and one yellow with a poofy orange hair that was mostly pinned back, devilish smirks plastered across both their faces. The latter seemed to be the one that spoke before, saying in the same low, seductive growl:

“And where have you been exactly?”

“Oh, hey, Adagio! Aria!” Sonata chuckled nervously, peeking out from the admittedly weak hiding spot that Twilight was. “Just got lost, is all. But hey -- Twilight found me! And she was leading me back to you guys! Isn’t that great?”

The girl with the orange hair -- ‘Adagio’? -- looked at Twilight, raising an eyebrow. Twilight shook her head.

Adagio snapped her fingers and pointed upwards. Like a trained dog, Sonata stood up straight and walked towards her until she was an arm’s length away. There, Adagio reached into the collar of Sonata’s lofty coat and yanked out a leash attached to a choker on Sonata’s neck, which had apparently been there the whole time. Sonata stumbled forward, hunching over as the leash was pulled closer to the ground and Adagio spat pernicious hellfire into her ear.

“You're not Sunset's pet. You're not Twilight’s. You're mine. Got it?”

Unwise as it was to interrupt, Twilight dared to do so.

“Um, I’m sorry, do we know each other?”

Adagio looked at her, visibly taken aback by the question. She eyed Twilight up and down, tapping her finger to her lips until, to Twilight's surprise, Adagio grabbed her by the chin and turned her head from side to side, examining her like she was an animal for sale. Twilight's heart pounded. She wondered if she would do the same to her that she did to Sonata, putting her on a leash and yanking her around like some pet. She could only hope the girl couldn’t smell the fear and partial excitement on her.

“You don’t look like you have brain damage.”

“Excuse me!?” The words blurted right out of her.

“Her ugly twin sister, maybe?” suggested Aria.

“Perhaps.” Adagio pushed Twilight’s chin away like she was pitching a discarded bottle, causing her to stumble back a bit and massage her throat to recover.

Adagio’s focus was back on Sonata. After all this time, Sonata’s leash was still secure in her hands. She put her fists on her hips and leaned into Sonata, close enough for her to taste her breath.

“Now, what were you really doing out here?”

“She was giving my friend tacos,” Twilight reported.

Slowly, Adagio looked back at Twilight with an expression she could not decipher. She felt like she said something wrong.

“Are you with anyone?” Adagio asked Twilight.

“Um, what?”

“Like...” Adagio spent a couple seconds trying to find the right word. “Are you together with someone? Are you looking?”

Still, Twilight barely understood the question -- or rather, what answering either way would mean for her.

“Uh... not... really?”

“Hm.” Adagio nodded slightly. She sounded... disappointed? Then she turned her attention back to Sonata, and her demeanor immediately hardened.

“Tacos, huh? Now, why in Equestria would you be so giving all of a sudden?”

Twilight’s mouth hung open.

‘Equestria!? They’re--? Then--!’

“You don’t appreciate them,” Sonata answered.

The girl behind Adagio -- ‘Aria’, if one was the other -- laughed. Adagio gave her a look and she fell silent with a sharp inhale.

“Oh?” Adagio said to Sonata. “And you do?”

“Tch, duh! I mean, I’m the one who brings them home as leftovers, why else would I do that?” Sonata’s giddy attitude was flooring in just how obviously lacking it was in self-preservation, at least from where Twilight stood.

Adagio’s mouth morphed into a toothy, crocodile grin.

“Well, if you appreciate them that much, I think I found a way to free up all that space you’ve been hogging up in the freezer!”

Just like that, the look on Sonata’s face dropped.

“Uh, saywhatnow?”

“Ugh, finally!” Aria groaned.

Adagio looked back at Aria with that same ugly grin.

“What are you so excited about, Aria? After all... you'll be helping her.”

“Y-you mean helping you, right?”

Adagio ignored her, but refused to look at Sonata directly. She crossed her arms, abruptly pulling Sonata forward yet again.

“Sonata's personhood privileges are revoked. If she hears anyone refer to her directly, she should correct them without making eye contact. Does she understand?”

“She does,” Sonata sighed.

“Good.” She turned around to look back at Twilight. “Call us if you're ever looking for someone!”

Twilight nodded shyly.

And just like that, Adagio dragged Sonata off into the darkness with Aria trailing close behind.

“Seriously, you meant helping you, right? Adagio? Adagio!?”

Twilight sighed. What a mess that was. Now, if she could just find her way back to--

“Urgh... Twilight?”

Twilight turned around with a jolt and saw Sunset Shimmer, exactly whom she wanted to see... though not if it meant being seen.

“Sunny! Uh, hi! What are, uh-- what are you doing here?”

“Uhhh... nothing.” Sunset, whose eyes were narrowed by a resilient grog, looked around the alley. “Who were you talking to just now?”

“Nobody.”

“Huh.” Sunset nodded.

Twilight saw that Sunset's shirt was still hiked up above her belly button from when Sonata, uh... had her way with it, some grease and strands of cheese surviving her attempts to wipe it away. Twilight pointed at it. Sunset frowned at her, not understanding what she meant, so Twilight -- feeling bold -- pulled it down herself, feeling the moisture and body heat radiating off of her and combining with the refuse of her previous meal to make for a weirdly intimate experience, like cleaning baby food off a fully grown woman. Sunset, obviously experiencing this first-hand, blushed, blinking some of the haze from her eyes as it happened.

“Wuzzat... URRP! ...really necessary?”

“Oh! Not really, sorry. It’s just that I didn’t think you wanted it to stick out like that, and since it’s so big, I thought--”

“What’s so big?”

“Uh... wow, would you look at the time, I gotta go!” said Twilight, keeping her eyes on her watchless wrist as rounded the corner. ‘Now, how did I get here, again?’

And now, for what Sunset incorrectly thought to be the third time that day, she was alone.

Her hand went up to her belly on instinct. Her stomach wasn’t exactly concave, that much she knew. Maybe it was a bit more of a curve than there had been since she started this whole mood journey, she could accept that. In truth, Sunset knew she had put on some weight, and that people like Sonata were kind of weird about it -- it made some sense, nobody she knew was bigger than the dolls in the girl’s toy aisle -- but was it really that noticeable?

If she was going to find out and find out for sure, she couldn’t ask just anybody -- she had to ask the size expert.

Author's Note

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't forget to stuff yourself with lots of turkey and corn casserole! (Mmm, corn casserole... 🤤)

Gatelight, Girlkeep, Gasboss

Investigating the knock at her door, Rarity was pleasantly surprised to see the face of Sunset Shimmer in her peephole, now more cherubic than ever.

Rarity dusted herself off, straightened her blouse, then opened the door for Sunset, putting on a neutral face like she was just now finding out it was her.

Rarity gasped.

“Goodness, Sunset! You look so... red! Why, you must be sweltering from that heat!”

Surprised by this assertion, Sunset felt her cheek. She did feel a little warm, but she assumed that was just from the walk to the boutique. It was barely halfway through Spring, after all.

“I... didn't even notice!”

“Oh my, that’s not a good sign at all! Come in, darling, do cool off!”

Rarity barely gave her a chance as she grabbed her pudgy wrist and pulled her inside, practically dragging her past the boutique’s storefront to the rec room fashioned into a living area, where one could find a kitchenette and a sofa in front of a flatscreen TV.

“Here, rest!”

The momentum of Rarity letting go of the poor girl practically catapulted Sunset onto the seat cushions -- she had to say, they were rather comfy, not to mention refreshingly cool after the walk that was apparently giving her an invisible heat-stroke, though not until after her blubbery butt flopped on them so hard that her feet lifted into the air.

“Go on, kick off your shoes, take off your vest!” Already, Rarity was in the process of tugging Sunset’s vest off of her, and in the moment, Sunset felt obliged to let her. She had the feeling she would be strangled by her own textiles if she didn’t. “I’ll get something for you to cool off with.”

Using her arm as a coat rack for the vest, Rarity went and cracked open the freezer. Aside from the obligatory ice pack shoved into the corner, it was crowded almost solely by cartons of ice cream in every flavor Rarity could find, from vanilla bean to rainbow sherbet to something called “Cloudy Cotton Dreams”, which was supposedly cotton-candy-flavored with chunks of bubblegum and softened white chocolate. She set aside two full-sized cartons, and grabbed a spoon from the drawer next to her, closing it with a bump from her hip.

Sunset’s hands rested in her lap, which was widened by how far she had to part her thighs. Her belly had escaped her skirt yet again -- it was really getting to her, how often that happened -- and her thumbs brushed against it without even trying. She looked at her arms -- really looked at them, for the first in a long time. They never did have much definition, but her memory of them looked like twigs. And as far as she knew, muscle growth did not create such an acute inwards curve in one’s wrists. They were definitely softer.

“Rarity...?” Sunset nearly got up to face her host directly -- she had a fairly serious question to ask, after all -- but Rarity tutted her for it.

“No more strenuous activity for you, I only want you standing up if I’m taking your measurements!”

Sunset slumped back down to the couch with an audible puff. Rarity nodded.

“That’s more like it. Now, do you want rocky road or orange sherbet?”

“Rarity?”

“Never mind, I’ll get you both.”

Rarity elbowed the freezer shut and brought Sunset the cartons and spoon. She was in the process of peeling away the plastic wrapping when Sunset asked:

“Rarity, do you think I’m... fat?”

Rarity looked at her like she was crazy. She brought two fingers up to Sunset's forehead, still freshly cold from the ice cream.

“Yep,” replied Rarity. “Definitely overheated.”

Rarity handed her the rocky road, now opened with a spoon jammed inside. Peering at its bumpy, chocolatey contents, now slightly raised by the intrusion of a foreign object, Sunset smiled and shook her head. ‘Oh, that Rarity.’ She took a bite.

Then another.

And another.

And another.

Then she stopped and realized that Rarity was sitting next to her, not on the couch itself but on the arm of the couch, resting her head in her hands and watching Sunset eat like she was the most gorgeous creature on Earth.

“Don’t stop on my account!” said Rarity. “If anything, you’re the only one keeping me from eating it all myself.”

So she took another bite.

Out of all the lies Rarity had told thus far, this was the biggest: while she had been prone to snacking on frozen dairy and chose it over all other snacks precisely because it was her go-to vice, the reason her fridge was so full of it now was because of Sunset. If anything, Rarity was snacking more because there was so much of it in front of her all the time, and she always kept it restocked for when Sunset came around.

“So, I don’t look bigger to you?”

“Not from where I’m sitting,” Rarity said, having about a foot of height over her from sitting on the couch arm.

“And you don’t think I’ve gained any weight?”

“Why? Are your clothes not fitting? Because you know they can shrink if you wash them too eagerly.”

“I don’t think that’s it. See, I was talking with Twilight yesterday--”

“DON’T BELIEVE ANYTHING SHE SAYS!”

Now was Sunset’s turn to stare. Realizing her error, Rarity coughed and recomposed herself.

“Continue.”

“--and she didn’t say it outright, but she said something about me being, well... big.”

“Maybe it just looks big. Any figure can be flattered or not if one can only find the right clothes for the job. Perhaps what you need...”

Rarity could hardly contain the excitement in her smile.

“...is a new wardrobe!”

“I thought you said you wanted me standing if you were gonna take my measurements.”

Sitting on her knees in front of Sunset’s seated calves, Rarity stretched a piece of yellow tape from one side of Sunset’s thighs to the other.

“Only some measurements, darling, not these ones.” Rarity smirked. ‘Besides, I want you more comfortable sitting down than standing up by the end of this.’

Sunset looked around, shifting in her seat.

“Uh, where's my vest?” She noticed it was gone not long after Rarity had left her to get her measuring tape... for a half-hour.

For a while now, Rarity had been reading up on how to handle leather, how to properly cut and hem it without causing any noticeable damage, and in that half-hour she was gone, she was busy exactly that to Sunset’s leather vest, adding an entirely new piece to the back to bring it up a couple sizes. From then on, whenever Sunset was distracted in her house, she could replace it as many times as she’d like. It was visibly different from how it used to be, but only in a place Sunset wouldn't be able to see it very well.

“I set it down in my workshop, now stand-- uh, hold still.”

Rarity leaned forward and threaded the dummy end of the tape into the space between Sunset’s buttocks and the couch, then reached around her to grab it with her other hand. Once there, her two hands shifted, but did not move. She pressed the side of her cheek into Sunset’s tummy, clenching her arms around and savoring those swollen globes that were so supple to begin with, now made plump and juicy by her hands. It almost gave her the same satisfaction as seeing one of her dresses on someone: ‘I made that. Me. I made this beautiful thing happen, and now I get to witness its full potential being realized.’

“Uh, Rarity?”

“Not now, darling, Mama’s busy.”

“Psht! ‘Mama’?”

Rarity tried to look up at Sunset’s face, but her bust obscured most of her face from where she lay. She wanted to be spicy, not comical.

“Just... something I say to Sweetie Belle,” she fibbed.

“Glad to know you see me as a sister.”

“Riiiight.”

This was now becoming unbearable for both of them. Done pretending to have lost her own hand, Rarity finally moved to see the measurement.

“Mhm. Now, lean forward,” Rarity said, and Sunset did so, allowing her to take her waist and bust sizes. Seeing all of them together nearly took her out.

‘That much!?’ thought Rarity. It brought a smile to her face so wide and conspicuous that she was glad to be out of Sunset’s line of sight. ‘I can’t wait to see what it will be...’

With those measurements taken, she walked right back into her workshop, leaving Sunset to wonder if she had more measurements to take or she was just too busy to give her so much as an ‘all done.’ The suspense made it all the more surprising when Rarity came in with a nose-high stack of clothes in her arms.

“Here, try these on!” She tossed them at Sunset, who did her best to catch them all at once. “I’ll be just outside, come out when you’re ready.” And just like that, she was gone again.

Rarity would have loved to see Sunset’s full, blossoming figure in the half-nude, and them both being girls gave her every excuse to stay, but she had her limits. She may have been a pervert, but she wasn’t a creep.

Sunset modeled one set after the other, shirts and blouses and skirts and shorts, each one fitting her like a glove. There were some crop tops here and there, mostly paired with high-waisted bottoms, but no belly was peeking otherwise: ‘a sacrifice for the greater good,’ the seamstress assured herself.

Rarity said they were all a size Small/Medium, but the tags all said ‘Large’. Sunset brought this up with her.

“It’s still a size S/M,” Rarity fibbed again, “just not for that brand. You know how, in fashion, different distributors have different systems for these sorts of things.”

“But... aren’t these all your clothes?”

“Nonsense, darling! All that standing must be getting to your head! Here, I’ll fetch you some more ice cream...”

She sought to stuff her until that satiated feeling drowned out any doubts about her good friend Rarity that she might have had, and it worked only because Sunset wanted it too -- eating was so much easier than arguing, especially when it was Rarity’s ice cream that she was eating. Whether for clothes or for food, that Rarity sure knew how to shop!

With the pile all sorted through and most of them making the cut, there was one last ensemble Rarity asked her to try:

Sunset came out a minute later wearing what Rarity had given her: a dark maroon midi skirt, maybe an inch too big but which amusingly brightened -- shimmered, even -- into a dark green as it moved, and a long, elastic orange shirt that clung to her like it was just her size, but hung over her skirt like it was a few too many. The top had an interesting design: a red-and-yellow sun -- Sunset’s signature insignia -- radiating a gradient of orange, maroon, and sky blue from where it sat on the abdomen, just over her belly. If she didn’t know any better, she might say it was there for emphasis.

“Rarity, are you sure about this?”

“Tuck it in!”

Sunset tucked her shirt into her skirt, et voila: the sun hid behind her waistband and became...

“...a sunset? Rarity, you shouldn’t have!”

The skirt felt more snug as well, now that something was behind it.

“Not my best work, but I must give credit where it’s due.”

Another fib. Rarity thought it was her most ambitious ensemble yet: as Sunset widened, the outfit would stretch, the sun in the design would rise and the pleated skirt would unfold to reveal a green field, like the Sun was lighting it up. Literally poetry in motion. It tortured her that she couldn’t reveal this all straight away.

Rarity checked her watch.

“Hmmm, the weather should be as hot as it is now for a while. You should stay!”

The checking of her watch was a farce, of course. Anything to keep the girl right where she wanted.

“Are you sure?” asked Sunset. “I mean... I should probably be getting back,” said Sunset.

“Where to? I can call ahead, if you need.”

Though pressed for an answer, Sunset had none. She had things she could be doing, but nothing that urgently needed doing. She simply felt that the party was over.

She frowned.

Rarity pouted.

“Sunset! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to avoid me.”

Sunset laughed. “No, nothing like that! I just don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

“Too much!?”

Rarity grabbed Sunset by the shoulders -- marveling for a microsecond how even those felt more plush than they used to be.

“Too much is never enough! You are a confident, resilient, spirited girl and I shall have my head before I see you debase yourself as anything other than worthy of my time! That is...” She weakened her voice, suddenly afraid that she might come off too strong. “...if you’ll... have me.”

Somebody had been reading one too many romance novels, and Sunset could tell; yet, in a strange way, she felt flattered.

“Heh, alright,” she relented. “But only for a bit!”

“Wonderful! Now...”

Rarity brought her back into the rec room, walking her over to the couch that was already branded by the heavier girl’s buttocks.

“...you simply must try this new flavor I bought! It's called ‘Cloudy Cotton Dreams’.”

Sunset’s chubby neck perked up.

“I’m listening.”

She ate much more than the Cloudy Cotton Dream. She inhaled the Mango Meringue, butchered the Birthday Bash, slurped up the Freezer Burn, and crunched on the Moose Tracks until all that dairy had reduced Sunset into a cold ball of gas on Rarity’s couch. Rarity had the honor of easing her through it, moving her hand across Sunset’s chilled belly in slow and cradling strokes, savoring the feeling of tenderness beneath her fingertips because while Sunset’s belly was always stretching tighter and tighter, it could not hope to catch up to the buildup of adipose cushioning it from every side with every new meal. All Sunset had to do was lay her arms lazily at her sides and let every hardy burp and bout of gas flow through her unrestrained. And with each squeeze and slanted push against the core of Sunset’s body, Rarity asserted that she was the boss of it.

That wasn’t to say she was alone in her excess: Rarity had gobbled down two and a half cartons of her own before giving the melted remainders of the last one to Sunset. In a sense, they were both on that couch for the same reason, the same crime of passion, same modus operandi.

‘This is making me fat,’ a part of them thought, ‘I know it is.’ But another part of them -- or maybe it was the same part -- just didn’t care.

They sat there, most importantly Sunset, letting TV rot her brains until her eyes finally wandered to the window and wondered about the time. She was surprised when Rarity let her know how late it was. Her knees crackled and creaked from disuse as she heaved herself up, and Rarity -- relenting that it was cool enough to go back outside on this fine Sunday evening -- said her goodbyes and gave her her vest back. The thing was warm to her touch, much to her surprise.

“It’s still warm from when you came in today!” said Rarity.

In reality, it spent all this time under a lamp in Rarity’s workshop, but of course she didn’t tell her that.

Sunset began to question just about everything. Was it really that hot outside? Was she really that hot, earlier in the day? How could she be in such danger and not realize it?

“Oh, wow! That’s... intense.”

She left with a slight unease.

“...and anytime you need a new shirt or a dress, come over and I’ll make sure those clothes fit you right as rain!”

As Sunset made her way down the street, Rarity waved and gave a satisfied smile. Her gatelight -- her invitation to enter as she wished -- was now most assuredly on for Sunset, which she would most likely take as the place had been forged through deceit and debauchery into a safe haven for her. All was going according to plan.

Well... mostly.

Sunset returned not just the wave 'goodbye', but the same cheeky smile.

‘Well,’ thought Sunset, ‘if I am getting fat... at least I’m not the only one.’

She looked back at her host, and at the small fold of pearly-white skin resting subtly atop her bedazzled belt.