To say the rain was relentless would not be doing justice to the weather of Gloomhaven. The storm had been battering Castle Dreadhorn from early morning and had decidedly not let up since. Much to everypony’s dismay, it was now accompanied by harsh crackles of lightning and heavy, booming thunder. It was not unusual weather for Gloomhaven so to speak, but it was never pleasant. Everypony at best, put up with it.
The poor weather never did the roads any good either, at least if you could call them that. Cobbles extended in and a small way around the towns but between places, you could only really rely on the surface being dirt, which in this weather had now become a rather wet slurry of mud. Jinx Weaver felt her carriage stop for a moment, then heard some muffled discussion from outside as well as a shout. She would have stuck her head out to ask what was going on, but within a few moments the carriage moved again and the surface it was riding on became much smoother and more stable. They had left the mud some time ago, and Jinx was now riding slightly more comfortably on cobblestones, as they had since the other side of the bridge, she also couldn’t see it due to the weather, but definitely could hear the thunderous roar of a waterfall off in the distance. She could barely make anything out through the rain smeared window but she just about could see she was travelling across a high bridge that crossed a river below. They must be approaching Castle Dreadhorn. Jinx put her small book away and looked in a small mirror that was within the interior of the carriage, just to make sure she still looked neat and tidy. She made a few small adjustments as she felt the carriage enter the castle courtyard and swing around slightly, before coming to a stop.
The journey had been less than ideal with the weather, Jinx felt bad for the bat ponies hauling the carriage, they were likely going to catch a cold or several if they hadn’t already. Having set off several hours earlier from the town of Somberheart the weather had already been poor. It had only gotten worse. Still, she had come here at the invitation of Count Tenebrous. The letter that had arrived for her had lauded her skill in archival as the main reason for the invitation. Jinx was not one to turn down an offer from someone with the Count’s reputation, so here she was. The provided carriage for the remainder of the journey after having arrived by train earlier in the day was much appreciated. Jinx had noted it was very well appointed, clearly the Count was not a pony short of bits.
She exited the carriage, stepping down onto a wet floor as expected, but her body did not suddenly get a lashing of rain. A pony stood near her, emerging from behind the open carriage door and levitating an umbrella in just the right spot to keep her dry. Jinx tried to look around to get a better look at the castle, but the storm and low level of fog prevented her from getting too much of a look besides the walls that loomed over her. She felt a little enclosed, even though the courtyard was an open space. The only thing that really stood out was the main castle building, which rose above the low-lying fog and dominated the surrounding landscape. The only detail she could make out was an illuminated clock, which lit it up partly through the fog. The courtyard itself had a split in for two levels, on the second the vague outline of a noble, cast forever in statue form, was illuminated somewhat by the clock. It was impossible to make out who though. The pony next to her spoke.
‘Welcome to Castle Dreadhorn, Lady Weaver. Please allow me.’ they said, starting to move forward with her, ensuring the umbrella continued to keep her dry. ‘I am Prim Proper, Head Butler. The Master is expecting you presently.’ they said. Jinx gave the pony a smile. Right now she just wanted to get inside the warm castle, out of the storm.
Jinx had been in a few castles in her lifetime. They didn’t differ greatly, the stonework often led to a certain type of architecture that was inescapable. Dark and dingy hallways and rooms that only managed to be lit up either by gigantic glass windows or pitch filled lamps that blazed brightly, but kept the staff busy ensuring they didn’t go out. A maid scuttled past her and Prim, assumedly on the way to tend to the castle in some fashion.
Prim barely spoke a word, he simply led Jinx down what seemed like hallway after hallway. Perhaps he had taken her the long way around on purpose? The castle didn’t look that big from the outside, but it was difficult to tell with the fog. It obscured the true size of the structure. For all Jinx knew, they barely were any distance inside. As her hooves were starting to protest however, she followed Prim to a large double door which he opened and stood aside to let her through. Jinx nodded politely and trotted inside. The space itself opened out into a large rotunda, the room itself having a ceiling that Jinx had to squint to make out any detail on, seeing as it was high above her head. Around her were plenty of bookshelves on two floors that seemed to be in varying states of use. Some looked as if they barely got touched, being under a few layers of dust, to others that looked as if the book was removed from the shelf daily. It wasn’t all books though, Jinx noticed a number of larger tomes, as well as artifacts that she couldn’t quite figure out their purpose. None were obvious, some were also encased, while others simply stood on a shelf or small display piece.
In the centre of the room was a large desk that looked like it may have been an artifact itself, the wood looked ancient and well worn but the furniture was clearly very well looked after and would fetch a fortune should it be sold. Jinx had not met Tenebrous, but she assumed the rather fetching unicorn sat at the desk, head buried in a tome was him. He was wearing a jacket with a frilled section in the middle that covered his lower neck. He sported a small set of sideburns that added to the distinguished nature of his look. The light grey stripe up the centre of his face coupled with the darker grey, verging on purple coat was very well kept. Clearly Tenebrous wanted for nothing. As Jinx observed him, she hadn’t noticed that Prim had trotted up beside her, the Head Butler gave a small cough to make their presence known.
‘Count Tenebrous, may I present Lady Jinx Weaver, at your request.’ Prim said, then stepping aside to give Jinx more of the floor space. Tenebrous lifted his head from the tome. Usually in this situation Jinx would have been expected to have been greeted by him, but for a good ten seconds the stallion just stared at her. Jinx suddenly felt very self-conscious. There was an inescapable silence that permeated the space as the Count did little more than fixate his gaze upon her, as if he was studying her. He then slowly stood up and closed the tome, placing a book mark magically between the pages before the shut so he could pick up where left off. Tenebrous moved around the desk, and his stoic expression broke as he began to speak.
‘Greetings Lady Weaver. I am Count Tenebrous Grimoire. Welcome to Gloomhaven and by extension, Dreadhorn castle. I take it your trip here was without complication?’ he asked.
It made Jinx smile, she was not a noble, in fact how she had picked up the title of “lady” that Prim kept calling her she wasn’t sure, but she thought perhaps it was just a part of how they spoke in this part of the world. She had never had much interaction with ponies directly like Tenebrous, usually if she was employed to do work for them she only ever dealt with their staff who relayed things to her. She was never privileged enough to actually come face to face with royalty. She assumed somewhat that Gloomhaven was perhaps a bit different, stuck all the way away quite the distance from Canterlot and the warm middle of Equestria. Nobles here were perhaps a bit more hooves on about matters. ‘It was as pleasant as it could have been, oh - I appreciate you sending the carriage to pick me up. Is that your personal one? It was really fancy.’ Jinx asked.
‘But of course, I would have it no other way. Prim, you may leave.’ Tenebrous said. Wordlessly Prim left the two of them alone in the library, shutting the large door behind him. It gave the two a moment to talk.
‘I apologise for the vagueness of my penmanship. I will be able to explain everything in due time. For now however, I trust you are quite tired from the journey. I have had Prim and the staff prepare the best guest room in the castle for you to stay in. I hope you will find it to your liking.’ Tenebrous said, his words felt quite stiff to Jinx, as if he was subconsciously reminding himself how to speak like a noble. Possibly he was just used to it now, and didn’t even notice himself. Years of training yourself to talk in a particular manner did that to a pony. Jinx wasn’t about to start altering her language just to sound more proper herself. Tenebrous would have to like it or lump it.’Let me take you there.’ Tenebrous finished, starting to trot towards the door. Jinx followed. He was still looking at her, as he had when she had entered the room, but clearly the Count felt more at ease. ‘I must admit I wasn’t quite expecting you to be quite so pulchritudinous. You are delightful.’
Jinx didn’t even know what that word meant. Pulchri…pulchritu…she gave up trying to repeat it in her head. The second was rather flattering. Jinx thought it best to smile and just thank the Count for the compliment. ‘Oh, uh, I guess I owe you a big thank you, Count Tenebrous.’ she said.
‘Tenebrous is perfectly fine.’ the Count said. ‘Now we are introduced properly, I do not require my full title spoken every time you address me. It is cumbersome.’ he explained, trotting with Jinx down a different hall to the way she had come. Perhaps Jinx could ask Prim for a map, if she ever found him again, Dreadhorn castle felt quite easy to get lost in…
More stone walls lit by torchlight, only punctuated by a door here and there was very much starting to confuse Jinx. Clearly, Tenebrous knew his way around the castle very well however. After more twisting and turning, he and Jinx entered a rather well decorated hallway. Suits of armor and paintings hung up, with a large carpet above a polished wooden floor running down the centre. It looked like somewhere fancier than guest quarters, at least to Jinx.
‘I must apologise, when you got my letter you must have been quite alarmed. I’d like to thank you for arriving in haste, even if it was somewhat vague. I tried to make sure I at least gave it some urgency.’ Tenebrous said.
Jinx remembered the letter, it was more the vagueness than the urgency that actually had caused her to come. It seemed like as good a time as any to clarify things and ask why she was here after all. ‘I gotta ask, Tenebrous, but as you say the letter was a tad vague. What is the urgency behind it?’
‘You are an Archivist, from what my sources tell me, one of the finest. My current, long trusted Archivist Sigil Scroll is retiring and can no longer fulfil their duties. Normally I would have been quite content to wait on a replacement and not scramble to replace somepony so quickly. However, I’ve recently taken delivery of a shipment of magical artifacts, from Canterlot no less. The castle’s arcane repository is currently under extensive renovation and therefore, I find myself quickly in need of an Archivist who specialises in magical, as well as chemical artifacts. Sigil was also well versed in the codex chamber here at the castle - which brings me to you.’ he explained, quite thoroughly. ‘On a temporary basis, I would like you to fulfil Sigil’s role as the Arcane Archivist here at the castle until I can find a more permanent replacement.’
‘Ahhhhh.’ Jinx replied. At least there was no more vagueness to the request, it did sound important, but that had come across in the letter. It seemed Tenebrous wasn’t quite finished though, as if he felt he needed to do some further convincing.
‘There are prerequisites of course. You will be paid and be allowed to have access to the majority of the castle. I am sure you’ll need access to some of the rooms I’ve already mentioned. We have an extensive library which should fulfil the needs of your work and I have had Prim ready one of the study’s that Sigil used for your own use. Your bedroom is away from guest quarters so you will not be disturbed by other visitors to the castle. Here.’ he finished, opening the door to the aforementioned quarters.
The room itself was clearly one that was normally reserved for other nobility. Jinx didn’t know if others lived in the castle with Tenebrous, but she hoped they hadn’t been shuffled out of one of their nice cosy rooms to make way for her. It was a large space, dominated in the middle by a huge bed that looked as if it had been put together by artisans in ages past. Massive bed posts on each corner rose high towards the ceiling, with surrounding curtains for privacy. There was a gigantic wardrobe for all of her clothing, as well as other ornate pieces of furniture around the room.
‘I do hope this is to your liking.’ Tenebrous said, having followed her inside.
‘Oh, it’s great!’ Jinx said with a smile. ‘Just one thing.’
Tenebrous looked worried for a split second, but his gaze returned to a neutral expression. ‘Yes?’
‘I haven’t actually accepted.’ she said, pausing to see how Tenebrous would react. The reaction though wasn’t a panic as she was expecting, Tenebrous kept his cool and waited to see if she would follow up. When she didn’t, he asked the obvious question.
‘Would you like to accept?’
‘Ah, why not!’ Jinx said, she grinned a little. It was fun to see him squirm a little, but she was a guest here, she didn’t want the stallion to be uncomfortable.
‘Excellent, well. I shall bid you goodnight Lady Weaver. I suspect after that long journey you’d like some rest. If you require anything, Prim is always on call. You may pull the rope near your bed and someone from the staff will be along.’ Tenebrous said. He seemed to stop and look for a moment again, but quickly left Jinx alone in the room to let her settle in and get comfortable. She noted her luggage had already been brought up and her clothes unpacked into the large wardrobe, there was little for her to actually do.
The more Jinx studied the room, the more she found things that piqued her interest. A number of odd paintings hung on the walls, clearly in need of some restoration. They depicted ponies who likely occupied the castle in the past, but not ones of great importance. They were only small portraits and had no plaque to name them. Some looked a little creepy to Jinx, she worried though if she touched them to take them down they might just crumble in her hooves. The furniture was very detailed woodwork, which must have been painstakingly carved and perfected over hundreds of hours and made the stand the test of time. As far as castles went, Dreadhorn definitely fitted the aesthetic of an old and perhaps a little spooky castle.
Tenebrous was right however, the journey had been quite long. Jinx herself was exhausted and she looked at the rather comfortable looking bed for all of a second before flopping down on top of it. Before her head hit the pillow, Jinx was asleep.
-
‘Brother?’
Tenebrous wasn’t the sort of pony to jump at the slightest noise. Over the years he had become somewhat accustomed to the many noises of the old castle, which had tempered his fight or flight response when he suddenly heard a sound when he wasn’t expecting one. He had been standing on the other side of the door to Jinx’s room and had not moved since he shut it a moment ago. His listening had been interrupted by Umbral, his brother who also lived in the castle. Umbral was a bit of a night owl so it was not unusual for him to be up and about at this hour, but strange he should come to this part of the castle. ‘Ah, Umbral. You’re too late to introduce yourself to our temporary replacement Archivist. She’s gone to bed.’
‘I see, and you were helping her sleep by guarding her door, were you?’ Umbral joked half-sarcastically.
‘Please, Umbral.’ Tenebrous said, although he could see he was about to be drilled for information. Rather than beat about the bush, he decided it was just best to come out with it. ‘She is…sensational.’
‘Is that your way of saying you like her more than as somepony to work for you?’ Umbral said quite flatly. ‘I suppose though if I was a mare and was described as such that’s what I’d think.’
‘I am quite smitten.’ Tenebrous carried on, leaving the door and walking with Umbral with him. ‘She is quite the charmer, although she has not spoken much. I mean in her appearance. She is also very sagacious, she made quite the name for herself at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns due to her magical abilities.’
‘So the looks and the brains.’ Umbral said, he quite liked to bring his brother’s language down a peg as a way of teasing him. He knew he didn’t like it. At this point the two of them turned, having reached the end of the current corridor and carried on down another, back towards the main innards of the castle. ‘It sounds like there may be somepony for you after all, how exciting!’
‘Mmm. There is something else.’
‘She’s rich as well? That would be the whole package…’ Umbral mused.
‘No, if she was rich she wouldn’t be here offering her services as Archivist, would she?’ Tenebrous said quite sharply, tempering his tone for the next discussion point. ‘She is not the thinnest pony I have met.’ he tried to be delicate.
‘I don’t understand you, brother.’ Umbral started to say. ‘One moment she is attractive, smart and the next you are commenting on her size? You spoke as if it were…’ Umbral stopped, what Tenebrous was trying to say clicked in his brain. ‘Ohhhh I see, so it is a positive.’ he smirked.
‘I noticed as she walked, she wears quite loosely fitting clothing to attempt to hide some of it, but the creaking floorboards under her weight and the speed of her trot told me she was on the plumper side. No matter what she wears to hide it on her body I could see it in her face. I had a good look when she arrived.’ Tenebrous explained. ‘I plan to do some extra work in the laboratory…with her.’ he corrected himself at the last moment. Suddenly Umbral felt rather nervous, there was a glint in Tenebrous’s eye that he had seen before. It usually led somewhere that required a lot of help to get out of. ‘In any case, we’ll speak soon I’m sure.’ Tenebrous said. They had come to a fork in the hallway and Tenebrous was going the other way to Umbral. The younger brother let the Count go, but he heard some words under his breath as he headed away.
‘Yes…third shelf on the left and three rows back. Quite the potion, the imbiber gains quite the appetite as well as a change in their digestive system to work at speed, it adds quite the extra gain along with the appetite. I must speak to White Truffle and the rest of the kitchen staff and ready them to prepare a banquet…’ Tenebrous said, pausing for a moment. ‘Then I can work on the potion. Hidden in plain sight. Perhaps the wine? Hmm…’ he mind started to gallop off at quite the pace as he thought about how he could work this all together into a rather ingenious plan. The Count was getting quite the fluttering in his chest at the thoughts of seeing Jinx become the biggest mare in all of Gloomhaven.
-
Knock knock knock!
It was still extremely dark outside, bleary eyed, Jinx was suddenly woken from her sleep and looked around the room. It was extremely quiet, the sort of non-sound you got in the dead of night when even the birds were asleep. The storm seemed to have stopped, not even the sound of rain now permeated the darkness. She dressed herself as best she could which was admitted, rather hastily and made her way to the door, still half asleep. The pony on the other side was clearly a butler, but it wasn’t Prim. They were, however, quite smartly dressed.
‘Lady Jinx Weaver. Your presence is requested by Count Tenebrous. Dinner has been prepared for the both of you.’ the butler said quite loudly. The announcement made Jinx more alert, taking in what had been said to her. She motioned a hoof towards the wardrobe in the room.
‘Urgh, give me five minutes.’ she said, shutting the door and doing her best to throw together some sort of outfit and make herself as presentable as she possibly could. She had arrived quite late at the castle, it must have been gone midnight. She knew that the small outlying kingdoms such as Gloomhaven had strange traditions, but was a midnight feast one of them? In any case, she was now somewhat presentable. Jinx opened the door, the butler still dutifully stood there waiting for her. ‘Lead the way.’
The two snaked their way down a number of corridors until Jinx started to recognise some of the castle. She hadn’t really taken it in when she had arrived, being tired. Even though she had been woken up, she was a little more alert now and was starting to get her bearings. Eventually they came to a room that Jinx realised she had passed earlier when Tenebrous had shown her to her room, it was hard to miss as the entrance was two very large, very tall doors. The butler opened one, which was sufficient to allow Jinx entry.
Tenebrous was already in the room, seated at the far end of the rather long banquet table that stretched the length of most of the room. A place had been set for Jinx at the opposite end. It was not far enough she had to shout to speak to the Count, but she’d certainly have to talk quite loudly and firmly for him to hear her properly. There must have been space for a good twenty ponies at the table, although right now they’d all struggle to get any plates on for them. Aside from the plate settings for the two ponies it was made up for, the table itself was crammed full of plates of food. Jinx was somewhat overwhelmed, it looked as if Tenebrous had laid on every local delicacy (and then some additional things from Equestria and beyond) that she could attempt to try and recognise. Jinx wasn’t even sure what half of the dishes were, but she wasn’t going to start guessing and making herself look foolish in front of the Count.
‘Ah, Lady Weaver.’ Tenebrous said as Jinx was seated at the table by the butler who had brought her down. ‘My apologies, I should have spoken to you earlier before you slept. The large portions of food are merely a tradition we have here in Gloomhaven to greet new guests of the castle. None of it will go to waste, there are plenty of staff in the castle that require sustenance.’ Tenebrous said in a flat tone, he did not want to give away his true intentions. Magically, he raised a glass of wine at his end of the table. Jinx spotted a similar glass next to her place setting, so thought it was only best to reciprocate, raising it also. ‘I dedicate the toast to you, our new, albeit temporary Archivist. May you forever be happy, healthy and content.’ Tenebrous finished, moving the glass to his hoof and then taking a sip.
‘Thank you for the hospitality Count Tenebrous.’ she knew she had been told to drop the title, but for a toast it felt appropriate. ‘Good health to you too!’ following suit, Jinx took a sip of the wine as well. It was rather sweet, perhaps with all the inclement weather in Gloomhaven the grapes were particularly juicy.
Usually Jinx would not drink an entire glass so quickly, but there was something about the wine. Perhaps it was the taste, or the texture even? But there was something she couldn’t quite put her hoof on that drew her to gulp, rather than elegantly sip. The Count didn’t seem to notice, apparently preoccupied with his own plate at the other end of the table.
Tenebrous out of the corner of his eye watched Jinx quite quickly gulp the potion laced wine down her throat. It had been concentrated slightly to go better with the drink. He could tell she knew something was different, but Jinx didn’t seem to raise any concerns. Quite quickly, she turned to her meal.
It had been a long trip, perhaps the rest had worked her appetite up somewhat. Before her was a large plate of food, which in most normal circumstances would have been more than enough for Jinx as a meal. She began to eat, normally at first. There was quite the selection of food on the plate. Jinx still didn’t recognise all of it, but she knew food when it passed her lips and hit her stomach. Tenebrous ate well, it was all delicious in one way or another. Quickly and without realising, Jinx had polished off everything on the plate and wanted more. A butler helpfully moved to the table and without having to be prompted started to gather additional food and then placed it in front of Jinx. She thanked them and continued to eat.
The second plate vanished even quicker than the first.
So did the third, which the contents of was all gulped down rather quickly.
And so it continued, Tenebrous, having about eaten most of his original plate watched as Jinx began to almost effortlessly work her way through plate after plate of food, with his butlers having to quickly start to rota themselves around the table to make sure the mare didn’t have an empty plate in front of her. A grin crossed his face, it was indeed a potent potion. Perhaps a little too potent. He was always surprised just how unpredictable different forms of magic could be.
Much to Tenebrous’s amusement, Jinx didn’t appear to notice that her already ample frame was becoming much more weighty with each bite of food she was taking. On its own, it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference, but under the effects of the potion - well, it was having quite the marvelous effect on her figure. Her whole body was swelling quite nicely. Her stomach began to bulge from the thin dress she had hastily thrown on for the meal, making it even more ill-fitting than it already was. Her thighs began to press into the side of her chair, a rather ornate wooden relic which was beginning to creak under the pressure of her body and flank pressing down on it, with more weight being piled on with every mouthful she took. Jinx however, was totally focused on eating her fill. The butlers began to struggle to keep up with making up the plates of food from the larger ones in the centre of the table, without a care for manners, Jinx was beginning to pull foodstuffs in from them herself, magically levitating as much as she could towards her suddenly greedy lips. Her cheeks bulged, crammed with food like that of a chipmunks as she chewed and swallowed at a rate Tenebrous had never seen in a pony, well, perhaps except for that one time…
The ornate chair which she was perched upon began to give up its fight against the gravitas of her body. Between chews, Tenebrous heard wood start to falter. It generally started with a light splintering noise as a few strands of wood began to go, crescendoing into a rather pleasant but loud crunch as the wood broke into two separate halves. It was with this that the chair became two under the massively doughy flanks of Jinx.
Crrunnnnncchhhhhh!
Her rear end spilled like jelly over the armrests, as they two split from the main structure of the chair. What was left was Jinx sitting on the floor, her two enormous round and blubber buns forming a replacement seat. In any normal situation, Jinx would have stopped and apologised - likely red in the face with embarrassment from having destroyed such a precious and likely irreplaceable antique piece of furniture. Her mind however was so focused on consuming as much food as she could cram into her greedy maw that it barely registered for her, the mare instead opting to continue to magically pull things towards her to eat. Tenebrous was, of course, a bit surprised by the failure of the furniture. He stopped eating to get up to help Jinx, but her taking completely no notice of the event made him sit back down, simply watching as the greedy mare continued to hoof in great portions of food. Perhaps he had overdone the potion? He felt a bead of sweat trickle down to his brow, which he wiped away with a handkerchief tucked in his jacket pocket. Magically, he raised his eye piece to his right eye to get a better look at Jinx, now she was slightly lower down at the other end of the table, on account of the chair being splintered wood beneath her.
The butlers, Tenebrous noticed, seemed to have switched tactics. Instead of bringing Jinx more plates of food, they were now having to do their best at clearing away empty ones so she didn’t accidentally grab one with nothing on. The ratio of full plates to empty was starting to swing the other way extremely rapidly. They were having to pile them up at the edge of the room, being quite careful not to get any half eaten or spilled food on other parts of the old furniture and carpet. One chair being destroyed was quite enough for the day, but Tenebrous didn’t need to communicate this to them. They knew.
Jinx ploughed her way through the remainder of the food and wine. By the time she was done, there was nothing left but empty plates, cleaned out glasses and a number of butlers who were panting from all the work they had been doing to ensure Jinx was properly fed. There was only really one thing left to do to show her appreciation for such a large and delicious meal.
‘UUUUuuuuUUURRRRppppPPPPPPPP!’
A belch that not even the most heavyset of stallions could produce echoed around the room, nopony said anything so as not to be rude. The empty plates on the table rattle and the chandeliers above swayed with the sudden onset of the gust from her maw. It seemed that this was a bit of a wakeup call for Jinx, who looked somewhat embarrassed.
‘Ah-ha, my apologies. Where are my manners?’ she simply said, trying to brush it aside. She was now considerably larger than before the meal had begun. Tenebrous tried not to look at her with doting eyes, but it was quite hard to ignore that hefty frame that had a dress barely covering anything, in fact it looked like with the first movement she tried to make it might come ripping off that blubbery body of hers. He could only hope…
Tenebrous thought it best to get up and not attempt to shout down the table, it was not fitting. He trotted over, around his staff who were still clearing up the mess and starting to stack empty plates ready for them to be taken back to the kitchen. ‘How are you feeling? You seemed to enjoy that very much.’ Tenebrous said.
Jinx herself didn’t try to get up, still planted somewhat on the floor. She gave her stomach a rub. ‘Your food is quite something else, would you believe me if I said I was still hungry?’ she said with a large smile. Tenebrous reciprocated with a somewhat haughty laugh.
‘Ahaha, I would. Your appetite seems rather intense, Lady Weaver. Do not fret, I will ensure with my staff that you are well provided for during your stay.’ the two were alone for a moment, as the staff had left to remove the empty plates. Did he dare? Well, now seemed as good a time as any to at least try, the conversation was apt. Tenebrous gently put one of hooves, then a second, on that large belly of hers. It felt so warm, very inviting. To ease her tensions he began to knead and rub while reassuring her of the fact that yes, there would indeed be plenty more food where that came from. ‘We have large stocks of food here at the castle, we must always be prepared to cater to guests and weather out a long storm where supplies cannot get through from the rest of the kingdom.’ he explained, while still gently rubbing on Jinx’s warm and excessive belly. ‘This is all rather…libidinous.’ he finished. Jinx looked at him with a look of unsureness, he would explain later if she asked.
Jinx herself was returning to her senses, at least somewhat now that the food - or what remained of it - was being cleared away by the butlers. She was quite shocked herself at just how much she had managed to go through. It actually seemed impossible to a point, at least without some sort of magical assistance. She had been quite alright until she had drunk that wine.
Sitting on the floor practically, with a host who was getting close to her and making comments about her figure that she didn’t quite understand was one thing, but the belly rubs were quite another. In any other situation, having your drink spiked and then the perpetrator attempting to get close to her would have made alarm bells ring in her head. The thing was, Jinx prior to this meal knew she wasn’t the thinnest pony. She had, of course, tried to be good and keep the weight off, but she had never really made an effort to lose it entirely. Things got in the way, like life, her work and well…she actually liked being a bit heavier than most mares out there. Putting it all together, Tenebrous was definitely up to something. A midnight welcome meal indeed? Even the strangest corners of Equestria didn’t do such things.
In any case, the new figure felt…exciting, at least that was the best way she could think of it right now. There was even a small thought at the back of her mind to keep going, to gain even more. For now however, she dismissed it. She had just eaten enough to feed a small dragon for pony’s sake. Perhaps the comment about being hungry still was a little much.
With a little assistance, Tenebrous stopped his kneading and helped Jinx roll herself so she was back on all fours again. Her stomach now pressed quite heftily into the floor, enough so that Jinx had to wiggle her hooves around her blubber to actually be able to walk forward. She looked at Tenebrous, who gave her a smile.
‘As I said, do not fret - the chefs of the castle will be more than prepared to keep your appetite sated. It would be remiss of me not to escort you back to your room.’ Tenebrous offered, although there wasn’t really an option to turn him down. Jinx just nodded in agreement, her neck fat pressing into her chest as she did so. ‘Tomorrow to work, my brother, Umbral Dreadhorn will be there to assist you. You’ll need at least a little orientation to pick up from where Sigil Scroll left off.’
It was a much slower walk, nay, waddle back to her room with all the extra weight to shift around. As Jinx and Tenebrous started to make their way down yet another corridor, Umbral rounded the corner near them. He was carrying a stack of books, ever the night owl the stallion was, he was quite obviously in the middle of some catching up and had gone to the library to fetch more reference material. The stack of books however was not so high he could not see where he was going. Upon seeing Jinx, he dropped them all to the floor anyway, the small pile clattering down onto the wood. Umbral shook his head, not quite believing what he was seeing. Before his was a pony that was nearly as wide as the corridor she had been travelling down, in fact, there was barely any space for Tenebrous - who now looked quite bemused and stared at the books on the floor. He hadn’t actually introduced the two yet. He thought it was best to.
‘My brother, who I just mentioned.’ Tenebrous said.
‘L-Lady Weaver! A fine evening to you!’ Umbral managed to sputter as his brain caught up with his lips. Tenebrous rolled his eyes, it was like watching a slow motion carriage crash.
‘A fine evening to you as well, Umbral Dreadhorn.’ Jinx returned the compliment. She thought on this occasion, she should stow her attitude a little bit. The poor thing seemed somewhat shocked.
‘Yes, well you’ll see each other tomorrow. Goodnight Umbral.’ Tenebrous said, continuing to walk as the pair passed. The books were trotted over, but with care as to not step on them. Umbral was left quite astonished, picking them up and trying to remember what he was actually doing before the encounter. Once he had them back in hoof, he simply sighed before carrying on.
‘I knew it…’
After some time and well, a little huffing and puffing, the pair made it back to Jinx’s bedroom. He thought it best not to push his luck any further than he had done this evening.
‘Goodnight Lady Weaver.’ he said, trotting away and leaving the mare to her bed. The Count however had only made it about ten feet before he heard a fair bit of commotion from Jinx. Evidently, a mare quite considerably wider than the door she needed to get through wasn’t a recipe for a quick exit. He turned to look, seeing the large posterior of Jinx firmly wedged in the frame.
‘Tenebrous? I could perhaps use a hoof…’ Jinx said rather sheepishly. Tenebrous was, of course, a noble. He would behave in a manner befitting of a noble. This situation called for the staff to…
Oh the heck with the staff, she had asked for his help personally. Tenebrous was not about to make her wait around. ‘But of course, Lady Weaver.’ he simply replied. Tenebrous had no hesitation in pressing his body quite firmly against her gigantic, squishy and soft rear, pressing as hard as he dared against it to give her the final shove Jinx needed to get herself into her room. He was not the strongest pony however, so with a little magical help, there was a somewhat gentle rubbing noise as her flanks pushed through the door. Tenebrous pulled back, she was now inside. He simply smiled and nodded, very glad to have been of assistance. Once the door was shut, he wiped off more sweat, Jinx was incredibly heavy, he had had to put all of his effort into getting her in, even with magical assistance. As he made for his own bed, his mind started to wander with possibilities. Possibilities like, what time does she wake in the morning so he could be here to help her out the room?...
Jinx herself, now full of food and flagging, was quite ready to get into bed. Before she did however, she took a few moments to fully admire her new figure in the large mirror nearby. She moved herself around, posing in a few positions to get the best look she could at herself. Her dress was quite tight on her, she’d try and do something in the morning to remedy it if the staff at the castle were unable to help - although she was sure Tenebrous could send for a seamstress.
‘I do look rather good…’
-
Jinx looked up at a large and rather ornate grandfather clock, the hands were both towards the top middle. She had managed to get some sleep in what remained of the night after the huge meal with Tenebrous, and was, while still feeling a little groggy, awake enough to perform her duties.
Umbral was working with Jinx, giving her a hoof to arrange artifacts, scrolls and tomes in the arcane repository that the castle had, which was a rather large but neatly arranged storage space. It lacked the ornateness of the rest of the rooms. Functionality over aesthetics. Umbral hadn’t said much, she could tell quite obviously he was trying his best not to make any mentions of her figure. They had been at it now for several hours with little words exchanged, as Jinx used her telekinesis to move most of the items around with ease. She didn’t really think attempting to get up a ladder to some of the higher shelves would be a good idea. In fact she was just trying not to move around too much, lest she accidentally bump a shelf with her behind and send priceless magical artifacts to their doom.
Umbral however, had been quite desperately fighting the urge to speak to Jinx about her the entire time. The stallion had been going back and forth in his mind over the past several hours in a should I, or shouldn’t I? battle that in the end, he came to the conclusion he should, but be as polite as he could. He decided to broach the subject by throwing the blame towards Tenebrous, which well, was easy to do. It was his fault.
‘I am not very impressed with my brother. Midnight meals are not a Dreadhorn custom. Especially ones that leave the guest so…porcine.’ Umbral said.
‘Yeah, I somehow got the idea that it wasn’t very usual.’ Jinx replied as the two kept working. She didn’t notice Umbral looked rather gobsmacked, he had expected her not to know - but clearly she did. ‘I mean, I doubt you’ve ever seen a pony this large.’ Jinx carried on. She figured she may as well have a bit of fun. She placed the artifact she was currently handling with her magic onto its set position on the shelving then moved into the centre of the room. She moved her body in a way that meant most of her weight was not doing gravity and favours, as the floor beneath her held strong but clearly was at the mercy of all that pony blubber, her vast frame wobbling around as she strutted about, with her immenseness causing the floor to shake - just not enough to damage anything. Jinx was somewhat interested to see if Umbral had the same reaction to her size as Tenebrous did, but the stallion just seemed more concerned.
‘I uh, I haven’t. But I thought you might just want to know…’ he managed, turning back to his shelf and continuing his work. Jinx however was having a rather good time. Everything moved in a rather fluid motion that felt quite good, her fat warmly lapping against her was rather nice. Even without Umbral’s attention, she carried on for a little bit. The castle (at least now) didn’t have many spaces where she could do this, so she figured while she had the opportunity, why not? Surely Tenebrous wasn’t such a curmudgeon it would be all work, no play.
‘You have the grace of a swan, Lady Weaver.’ Tenebrous said. There was a short and sharp draw of breath from Umbral, followed by a small gasp. Tenebrous had come in so quietly that neither Umbral or Jinx had noticed his arrival. He emerged from between the shelves towards the doorway. ‘Seeing as you seem to have a moment, could you meet me in the ballroom as soon as you’re able Lady Weaver? I have something to show you.’ Tenebrous said, saying no more than that and leaving the two alone again. Umbral appeared to be clutching his chest, letting the adrenaline from the shock leave his system.
‘Celestia, what is it this time? Hopefully nothing so ridiculous she cannot fit back in the repository…’ Umbral said to himself. Jinx grinned, what if Tenebrous did have something else to make her larger? The thought was quite exciting. She decided it was best not to keep the Count waiting, so made after him for the ballroom. Umbral let her go, opting to carry on working.
Although Jinx’s intention was not to keep Tenebrous waiting, her size meant she wasn’t quite as quick on her hooves. The ballroom wasn’t far, although at one point she took a wrong turn and had to ask a staff member for directions. When she did arrive, despite the room being quite grand the entrance did not reflect that of the space. Two batpony guards stood outside and opened the doors for her as she was expected inside - Jinx however only made it a few feet inside before like last night, she felt her flanks wedge themselves in the frame of the door. Tenebrous wasn’t behind her to help, so the two batpony guards had to sink themselves into her gigantic but firmly stuck behind to push her through. Thankfully with two of them throwing their weight into it, it didn’t take much effort or long for Jinx to slide her rear out the door frame and into the room. It was a very large space, probably the biggest room she had seen in the castle so far. It needed to be after all, Jinx could imagine a whole host of nobles dancing the night away in here, it might be quite romantic. In the middle of the room, she could make out Tenebrous standing, waiting for her.
‘Lady Weaver, thank you for coming. How are you finding Castle Dreadhorn?’ Tenebrous asked. ‘The accommodation is to your liking?’
‘Very lovely.’ Jinx replied, she didn’t feel she needed to say more than that. It seemed to be the right answer, Tenebrous smiled.
‘Splendid. Ah, as I mentioned…’ Tenebrous said, his horn glowing with magic. From thin air, a rather striking looking dress appeared. Jinx would have said it would be something nobility would have worn, it looked quite fancy. An expensive green material with a floral design. There was only one problem, it was clearly made for a pony of much smaller size. Jinx wasn’t sure it would have fitted on her even before the meal last night. It seemed though Tenebrous had thought of this as well, the dress had only just appeared, but it was quickly encased in a magical aura. The material seemed to stretch quite considerably, but still retained its shape and elegance. Tenebrous managed to weave his magic to get the garment to a size fit for Jinx, which he wasted no time in placing on her. ‘A gift, as a thank you - even if you don’t wish to continue working here full time.’ Tenebrous said.
‘Oh, it’s beautiful.’ Jinx said, the dress was just right on her. It hugged her figure quite elegantly. She gave her rear a little shake, just testing the material. It didn’t seem to show any signs of coming apart, it was well made.
‘You seem to be getting on quite well with your work this morning, and at managing yourself around the castle.’ Tenebrous said with a rather devilish grin. ‘I am quite impressed.’ at which point Tenebrous lifted on of Jinx’s hooves and gave it a gentlecoltly kiss. ‘Would you give me the honour of a dance? We are in the ballroom after all. Traditionally the place for a small waltz.’
‘I ah, absolutely would. Except…’ Jinx said somewhat nervously, but Tenebrous twigged quite quickly.
‘Of course, of course. I wouldn’t want you to do yourself an injury.’ he said with a broad smile. ‘That frame of yours needs all the care it can get.’
‘Mmm, indeed.’ Jinx replied with a wink, she thought she may not be able to dance, but the odd strut here and there wasn’t out of the question. Put the new dress through its paces. Ballroom floors were traditionally reinforced for dances, but with a few quick hoof movements, Jinx had left a good number of sightly cracks in it due to her massive weight bearing down on it. There was a smile as she did so that indicated to Tenebrous she was actually quite enjoying this. He decided to ask the next question quite plainly.
‘I wonder, Lady Weaver, how you’d feel about increasing that girth of yours. You are quite gargantuan, but not as gargantuan as say, a dragon, or a titan. What if you could match, nay, outdo creatures such as them?’ Tenebrous questioned. He was quite interested in how she would respond.
Jinx stopped her strutting. She felt her heart skip a beat in her chest, the proposition was exciting. But she didn’t want to seem too excited. Somewhere between over enthusiastic and tempered would land the answer correctly. ‘I would love that.’
Tenebrous’s devlish smile returned, he pulled himself closer to Jinx. So much so that they were a few inches away from kissing. She felt her snoot press against his, before the next question came. ‘Then what if, as big as the castle? How would you feel about that, Lady Weaver, to have a body so immense you rival that of an entire keep? Hmmm?’ Tenebrous teased. It was no good, Jinx could no longer hide her excitement at such a proposition.
‘I…o-oh gosh, that would be…’ Jinx fumbled her words for a second as her mind raced. ‘Glorious.’ Jinx didn’t realise it, but she had agreed to a proposal, Tenebrous was quite excited himself to hear she would be more than interested. He said nothing, but his horn glowed as he pushed himself back from Jinx.
In a sudden flash of magenta magic, Tenebrous vanished completely, leaving Jinx alone in the ballroom. Jinx was a bit confused for a moment, as she looked around to see if he was anywhere close by. Teleportation magic was quite easy to spot, she was familiar with it. She was about to try to leave the room and go looking for him when with another flash, Tenebrous reappeared. This time however, he had something in his hooves.
Jinx couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the liquid was a golden yellow colour and seemed to be extremely thick like a syrup. It was in a glass jar, of which Tenebrous removed the lid and then passed the open jar to Jinx. She didn’t need to be told, the liquid was clearly for drinking. She tipped the jar up, her fat and greedy hooves pouring the liquid down her throat and sating her hunger. It did not take long for Jinx to drink every last drop, she actually found it quite pleasant. It had a sweet taste and was slightly warm. When she finished, Jinx had a few seconds to pass the jar back to Tenebrous, before her stomach let out a loud and deep rumble. Her body, already huge, started to swell. Whatever was in the liquid, it had quite the effect on the blubbery mare as her whole body rapidly began to get even bigger. Her bulging cheeks went a rosy red, the feeling was indescribable. All Jinx could manage was a series of rather lustful and happy giggles and noises as she felt every part of her rapidly expand. Her already plump flanks pushed backwards, forming not just a seat but a small mountain of blubber behind her, quickly swallowing her tail between two cheeks that looked as if they might quickly turn into actual mountains. Her stomach not only pressed forwards but also sideways, the mare quickly finding that her fattened hooves were swallowed and made quite useless by the wave of fat that engulfed her. Tenebrous had found a spot on her stomach that seemed quite stable to plant himself, as Jinx did nothing but expand and fill the huge space of the ballroom with her body - which was now pressing up against the walls, ceiling and windows. She had gained several tens of thousands of pounds within a mere moment, the liquid she had drunk having been even more potent than the potion from last night. She was able to do little except wobble and even that was somewhat involuntary, her fat apparently having a mind of its own. She heard a light crunch as one of the windows of the ballroom started to give in against the mountain of pony blubber pressing against it, before her gut growled once more.
Oddly, for Gloomhaven, it wasn’t raining. For the guards, it made guard duty just that little bit more bearable. For the two batponies who were on their tenth day of standing guard at the ballroom when it was out of use, they were starting to run out of things to talk about. The current topic was that of large creatures.
‘I saw a serpent at the shore of lake Somberheart some years back, must have been…’ they paused to try to scale it with their hooves. ‘Probably about the size of me ten times over.’ they finished with a tone of voice to attempt to describe how impressive it was.
‘You should look up, the Roc’s that fly about in the storms are much more impressive.’ the other replied. ‘It would gobble your serpent right up.’
‘Look up in a rainstorm? Are you…’ they started to reply, but their response was cut short. The guard noticed one of the many stones on the floor in front of his position moving around, he felt it too in his hooves. There was a rumbling in the floor, the sort that you get when there was a great seismic event. For a moment there was panic, until his colleague tapped him on the shoulder, pointing at the ballroom.
The large windows were all completely covered with what looked to be a thick mass of purple flesh.
They were cracking.
Then they cracked some more.
Each guard raised one of their spears. They had no idea what was inside, but neither seemed very willing to open the door that they were guarding to go inside and find out. Each of them also thought it best to slowly back away, neither knew what was inside but they were definitely expecting some kind of monster to come crashing out any second. What they were not expecting, was a pony.
There was a loud ear splitting shatter as all the windows gave way to the purple blubber pressing up against them, with it now practically exploding out from the space where the windows once stood. It wasn’t long after this before cracks began to appear in the walls of the structure, with both guards seemingly awestruck at what to do. What could they do? They were only two guards, armed with only spears. One thought they might try a futile throw to see if it would do anything, but decided whatever it was emerging from the collapsing ballroom wasn’t worth upsetting with what would only be felt as a small inconvenience.
Castle Dreadhorn was old, and therefore, although reasonably well maintained the buildings and their structures were not built to take a siege of fat that was quite unstoppable from ripping them apart. The walls gave way, followed quickly by the roof which had been supported by the structure below. Jinx’s swelling fat practically exploded out of the confining space, no longer with any of the structure holding her back. The wobbling of her blorpy blubber shook off any loose bricks and parts of the ballroom that might have remained on her, leaving a pony shaped mass in its place. What was once a ballroom had been completely replaced by a small mountain of a unicorn, that of Jinx Weaver, who although reduced to complete immobility, had gained quite the set of lungs. She couldn’t help but shout, her adrenaline was racing through her body.
‘I am THE BIGGEST and MOST BLUBBERIEST unicorn in ALL of EQUESTRIA!’ she practically screamed. The guards didn’t protest this proclamation.
‘Indeed you are my dear.’ Tenebrous replied, he had shifted positions somewhat, seeing Jinx getting so big he had decided to pitch up on the back of her neck fat, which seemed like a good position close to her head. The “syrup” that Tenebrous had given her was a liquid form of a much more straightforward weight gain potion that was even more potent this way. It was far more concentrated, having not been mixed with anything else to get it to the pony in question. Although like everything, it too had its limits. Jinx, even more massive now than the tallest part of the castle, had stopped expanding. She was quite the sight, her massive purple body somewhat lit by the lamps of the courtyard which burned even throughout the day. It was quite attention grabbing, with most of the castle staff now looking directly at Jinx. How could they not?
‘Oh gosh, I love it…I love me.’ Jinx said, completely unable to hide her excitement.
‘And I love you too.’ Tenebrous said, now feeling rather safe he could reveal how he felt without hiding anything. He gazed at Jinx, who gazed back at him. The moment was only interrupted by shouting from below.
‘Oh my gosh! What on Equestria is going on!?’ came a shout, more guards had appeared, wondering what had happened. It didn’t take long however for them to put two and two together, seeing Tenebrous quite safely on top of the seemingly endless mass of Jinx. Looking down at them, Jinx could see quite a bit of debris around the courtyard where the guards had gathered. It was a reminder she had become a one pony demolition crew.
‘Oh dear, sorry about your ballroom.’ she rather sheepishly said.
‘It is of no matter, it needed revitalising.’ he replied quite plainly. He gave Jinx a loving little pat on the head, quite content.
Grrummmmmbbllleeeee!
‘I’m uh, still a bit hungry.’ Jinx said with a blush.
‘I’m sure the chefs will be along soon, after you’ve had a bit of a rest. I think you need it my dear.’ Tenebrous said with a loving smile. ‘Besides…I have the biggest bed to relax on.’ he teased, giving Jinx a rather loving kiss.
The arcane repository had shaken quite violently. Umbral had dashed for the nearest desk, fearing the worst. After the shaking had stopped, the pony rather sheepishly pulled himself out from beneath it and got to his hooves. His mind told him it had been an earthquake, how could it have been anything but?
He rushed over to the nearest window to survey the damage, fearing the worst. The scene before him was that of carnage. The ballroom was destroyed! But…Lady Weaver occupied the space, he recognised the colour of her coat and massive cutie mark that seemed to be bigger than even one of the largest rooms at the castle. He groaned, he was partially right, he supposed. He’d have words with his brother later.
He was not looking forward to all the paperwork.
