My Not-So-Little Pony Write-Off

It’s kind of weird, being awake on a winter’s night. All around me I can hear those faint shrieks of the wind, rushing up against the house and sounding like they’re going to slice through the walls at any second. They won’t, and I know they won’t; this house may be old, but it’s Apple Family built. Ain’t no way we’d let a weedy little storm take down something of ours.

Even so, it ain’t exactly a friendly storm: one that brings a whole lot of rain over the orchards and helps give us a nice, big crop for the year, or that gives us a nice, cool shower at the end of a long day. Nah. This one’s bitter and cold, with icy winds that nip around my hooves whenever I try to go outside, and make me wish Twilight had put that spell on my hat. It’s one that sends frost creeping up the windows, peering in and reminding us how it’s going to stay there for a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if it got mixed up with something from the Everfree, what with all them huge forks of lightning and roars of thunder that send a certain special—and I can’t even begin to say just how special she is—somepony diving into bed, shivering and trembling with her head under the covers and her rump sticking out. And what a mighty fine little thing—

I want to give myself one of my own stares, right now. The kind that comes with rigid lips. The one that I usually give to Apple Bloom when she’s gotten swill all over the barn wall, again. That one.

Anyway, it is weird tonight. Even though I can hear all the cold and the wind and the rain thundering against the windows, I can’t feel it at all. It might as well be just a normal crisp and clear winter night, for all I care. Because I’m all warm and toasty, safe and snuggled in bed, as my little mare-friend would put it. And I should put it like her, really, as it’s all down to her.

It’s Fluttershy who has her soft little hooves wrapped around me, gently cuddling us together. It’s her soft chest that I can feel against my side, beating along in time with mine like a lullaby. It’s her cheek and her smile that I can feel laying across my heart. It’s her quiet, soothing little breaths that I can feel brushing through my fur, filling my nose with dewy grass and that warm, mousy smell that just makes me want to curl up!

But that’d mean I’d have to move her, even if I didn’t wake her up outright. And I’ve seen her like this enough to know that Celestia she is cute. No, adorable. Actually, that ain’t enough either. Apple Bloom, with that chipper smile and her eyes bright with a thousand questions, is adorable. Fluttershy, with her soft, whispery voice that’s like a cuddle around my ears, the way she hides under her mane and just peeks her little muzzle out, and that smile… Gol-darn it, she’s something else altogether…

And it isn’t just that, either. True, it probably wasn’t the right time to think about Fluttershy’s pert little rump when I was supposed to be rushing to her side and gently coaxing her out and reminding her that that horrible old storm’d have to get through me to even think of getting at her—and I did do all that—but…

Oh, dear Celestia, I’m tying myself in knots inside just thinking about her. I’m just going to remember that I’m the luckiest mare in Equestria and leave it there.

And to think that I was actually worried about telling my family about Fluttershy when we first got together. Me. The most dependable of ponies and somepony whose saved Equestria, worried. Well, actually, I wasn’t worried about my whole family. I knew Big Mac wouldn’t mind at all, and AB was bouncing around for days after she found out that she had a new sister, but Granny…

Granny’d met Fluttershy. Granny liked Fluttershy. They’d even spent a whole couple of afternoons baking pies and all sort of other goodies together for the harvest festival, and gotten on like a house on fire. But as pretty as Fluttershy is, that willowy pegasus body of hers ain’t prime applebucking material. Shoot, I can even picture her thinking about laying her hooves on nature.

And I wouldn’t have her any other way, mind.

That didn’t stop me from biting my lip and sweating the entire way over to Granny’s rocker, and that was after I’d downed about a quart of cider. And then when I told her… she just smiled at me and patted me on the head, saying how proud of me she was for finding somepony I was happy with…

Great. Now my eyes are getting too hot…

Still, I don’t know why I ever thought Granny wouldn’t be happy.

Although, I’ve probably got some explaining to do when they all get back…

I shift a little in bed, just enough to lay a hoof on my middle, and I find myself having to share space with Fluttershy’s.

It was going to happen eventually. With all of Fluttershy’s little animal friends holed up for the winter, she’d come over to stay with me. And being the pony I know she is and love, she couldn’t stop herself from helping out with all them little chores that me and Mac hadn’t gotten round to do. I can still see Granny’s smile when she found out that somepony’d finally cleaned out the old cutlery drawer…

Anyway, about a month ago it all came to a head: with snow piling up outside, no surplus apples to take to an emptying market, and no indoor chores, the whole family was sat around doing nothing.

That’d never sit well with Granny. Even if she’s doing it slowly, and with a couple of naps in the middle of it, there’s no way she wouldn’t be doing something. And since she, Mac and AB hadn’t been to Braeburn’s orchards yet, and AB hadn’t seen him since before she could talk, that’s where they went. That’s probably why I can hear the storm so loud, as a matter of fact: there’s none of Granny’s snores, and no little yelps of ‘wow’ from AB as the thunder rolls on by…

Shoot, there go my eyes again.

I know they’ll be back for Hearth’s Warming Day. I know that. Ain’t too long to wait, now. Besides, Fluttershy’s been here to keep me company, and it’s sure been nice to spend some time together as mare-friends…

I rub my hoof across my… my tummy. Breaths catch in my nose, and my heart pulses just a little quicker as I feel it shift and roll. Fluttershy lets out a little groan.

Yeah… I’ve got a lot of explaining to do.

Particularly as to why I didn’t notice it sooner! Why I didn’t see Fluttershy making a stack of pancakes twice the size of normal for my breakfast. Why I didn’t see her baking a good three or four apple pies a day and only saving one slice for herself before giving me the rest. Why I didn’t say anything when I saw her with only her hindquarters poking out of a barrel four days after it’d been full. Why I didn’t notice when I couldn’t quite put on one of the sweaters Rarity’d knitted for all of us.

Actually, I kind of know why I didn’t notice then. Rarity’d said that those things had to be washed carefully or else they could shrink, and I don’t really know much about clothes.

And maybe I didn’t notice because, well… I was having such a nice time being with my mare-friend. Shucks, I never realised just how long it’s been since I could just relax without having to worry about what I should be doing instead. So we spent our time curled up next to each other by the fire downstairs, reading books and playing board games and doing all them Hearth’s Warming things, like Chevalades and Fiddlesticks and meeting under the mistletoe…

My cheeks burn up. Yeah… yeah, we did plenty of that. And I never did notice at the time just how much Fluttershy liked to keep her hooves on my sides…

But I know that the biggest part I’ve got to explain is… is why I haven’t stopped her.

I talked to her about it, definitely. I’d finally noticed my… my paunch after I got out of the shower about a week ago. I was towelling myself down good and proper; after all, even a lick of damp in this cold can give a pony proper chills. But then I felt my thigh shake.

Shake. Not just sink a little as I rubbed my hooves over it, like it normally did, or even feel a little soft like it did during a couple of other Hearth’s Warming times. No. It wobbled. And it jiggled and wobbled a couple of times after I took my hooves away.

It actually took the wind out of me for a moment. When I got my breath back, I stood up and took a gander in the mirror. Rarity’d have probably called it ‘inspecting the damage’, or something like that, but me… Well, I saw the round ball where there’d once been a belly worn flat by all my hard work, and I saw it hanging down partway to my knees. I’d turned around, and I could see just how thick my thighs had gotten; they were almost as big as Ma’s were!And my rump… at least I’d finally found out why I didn’t sit on the cushions anymore.

Shoot, when I looked down to see if my forelegs had packed anything on, I felt something bunch up underneath my chin. I don’t know anypony else who has a second chin!

But there was something I didn’t feel, though.

Something was telling me that I should’ve been angry. That there should’ve been a fire roaring through my belly, about as large as it had gotten, and that I should’ve been stomping my way down the stairs with stream flying out my nose, and that I should give Fluttershy a proper talking to! She’d taken away my figure! She’d been under-hoofed! She’d made me into a right porker!

But there weren’t anything like that.

Nah… I can’t really describe how I felt walking down those stairs. And I did walk, mind. I didn’t stomp or drag my hooves. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even frown.

Still, it looked like nopony’d told Fluttershy about that. When I walked into the room, my eyes wide and my jaw slack, she smiled up at me. But the second I touched a hoof to my belly and looked at her, her smile disappeared faster than varmints. All I saw was a flash of yellow and pink, and the room was empty. Somewhere upstairs a door slammed, and I had to let out a sigh.

I found her, eventually. It was pretty easy, actually; the instant my hoof so much as brushed the doorknob for AB’s room, she wailed… wailed that she was sorry…

I don’t ever want to hear a sound like that again. Or see what I did when I opened the door: my sweet-hearted mare-friend, her eyes red and raw and a damp spot by her muzzle, curled up as tight as a drum.

And shrinking away when I took a step nearer, whimpering.

I made sure my face was as… measured—I think that’s the right word—as I could, before telling her that I wasn’t mad.

And so we talked about it, the same way we’d talked through any other problem we’d had. Just like when she had to ask me to stay away from her cottage for a few days because I was getting too rowdy for some of her more delicate animals, or when I’d had to talk to her about letting me get out of her hooves and of bed before noon so I could go to work.

I told her how I felt. Shucks, I don’t remember exactly what I said to her; I don’t look back at Fluttershy bawling her eyes out too fondly. But I do remember saying over and over again, because she kept asking, that I wasn’t angry with her. I wasn’t even angry that she’d gone behind my back, in a way, and it hadn’t crossed my mind then just how many apples I’d stuffed down my gullet. I just wanted to know why…

And she told me.

And I do remember what she said…

“Applejack…” she says, looking firmly at the bedcovers. “I’ve been a very naughty pony.”

She looks straight at me, her eyes stopping only for a moment on my belly. I see them widen. “I’ve always wanted a… a pudgy special somepony. Not obese, not so that it’s… it’s dangerous, but just… pudgy.” A little smile creeps onto her muzzle. “I don’t know why, though…” She traces a hoof around the covers, her eyes focussing on that again. “Everypony I’ve ever been told was pretty… all those ponies who I modelled with… they were always skinny and thin and… and I never thought they…”

She blushes, her mane falling back over her eyes. I take a step closer.

She bursts back out. “They never made me feel all squiggly inside!”

I stop. Whoa Nelly… this filly’s gonna’ give me a heart-attack someday!

Fluttershy continues. “But whenever I saw somepony with… um, with a bit of weight to them… th-that always did… um… that!” she finally squeaks out.

I can’t help but smile at her blush.

“And then when I found some of your old Hearth’s Warming pictures and I saw that you, um… fill out a little over the holidays, and I found out that we’d be alone this year…”

She disappears behind her mane again. This time, I’m by the bedside in a heartbeat.

“I’m sorry, Applejack,” she croaks. “I’ve been a terrible, naughty mare-friend. I should never have gone behind your back, I… I…”

She sinks her muzzle into the bed. I can feel my heart do the same in my chest.

“You should hate me.”

“I don’t.”

I can see her muzzle poke into her mane, but not all the way through it. With a light smile, I part her hair with a hoof.

And I nearly have to bite my lip when I see how red her eyes have gotten.

“’Shy… yeah, you should’ve talked to me about this. But I don’t hate you. Shucks, you’re my mare-friend, and one of the greatest friends a pony could ask for!” I run my hoof between her ears, taking her mane back with it. “I couldn’t hate you.”

Fluttershy’s smile holds for only a couple of moments, disappearing again when her eyes dart to my belly.

“But… but what about…?”

I couldn’t answer then.

Land sakes, I don’t even think I cananswer now, if I’m being honest. I mean, sometimes I do really, really like how I feel. Maybe it’s just the fact that Fluttershy likes using my belly as a pillow, but there’s something… nice about being this soft, and I can’t quite put my hoof on what exactly it is. Then again, most of the time I don’t even notice it. Ain’t exactly like I lost all my muscles over the last few weeks, even if I can’t see most of them anymore.

But I can say one thing honestly: I haven’t not liked my new size yet. Maybe that’ll change next applebuck season, or even just when the planting season starts again, but for now… I can’t rightly say that I’ve had any problem being a little bigger.

And that’s what I told Fluttershy. After she’d calmed down and let me dry her eyes, I let her know how I felt about it all. She kept her eyes stuck to the floor when I said I was still annoyed with her that she did all of this without even speaking to me first.

But then her eyes lit up when I said how I thought we could work this out…

“Fluttershy, darlin’… I know you never meant anythin’ bad t’happen. I know I like to go on about how honesty’s the best way, but… I can understand why you didn’t say anything to me…”

She tear her eyes away from the ground, pointing them straight at mine. A little way below, a tiny smile makes itself at home. “Really?”

I send back a much bigger one of my own. “Yup. Shoot, sugarcube, I don’t tell you about how wild themfine flanks o’yours make me feel.”

I bury my muzzle into her sides, nuzzling deeply as she bounces up and down with giggles.

Eventually, I manage to pull myself away. Just about. “You made a mistake, sugar-cube. Ain’t too much harm done.” I bend over to peck her cheek. “I can forgive you, so long as you promise to be honest with me from now on.”

A sniff pulls my eyes wide, but they land on an even bigger smile. “Of course I will, Applejack.” She swishes her nose softly against mine, before her smile shrinks again. “But does this mean—”

“I ain’t done yet, darlin’.” I can practically feel my eyes glinting.

“Oh, um…” Fluttershy falls a little behind her mane again. I smirk.

“If you’re gonna’ be honest with me, sugar, then I’m gonna’ be honest with you…” I scoot a little closer to her, wrapping a hoof around her side. “And the honest truth is… I don’t really know how to feel about… about…” I rub a hoof against my belly.

Whoa. How the hay did I not notice that before?

I see Fluttershy’s eyes glued to every wobble, and my smirk deepens. “But I do know somepony very special t’me, and I know that she loves it… And I’m more than happy when I see that she’s happy…”

Fluttershy peers out from behind her mane again, locking eyes with mine. For a good minute she just looks at me, her eyes wide and shining, her lips trembling and just itching to smile.

I nod.

And the next thing I see is soft pink.

We stayed in that hug for I don’t know how long, that morning; me with my hooves gently wrapped around her head, her with hers squeezing around my middle, and not just because of how much wider it’d gotten. He-he, I could hear her giggling. And I could definitely feel her burying her muzzle into my belly.

Still, we broke apart in time for something that made Fluttershy let out one of her little squeals: lunch time.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t exactly bounding downstairs after her rump, despite her bouncing and prancing the whole way down. After all, I’d just given her free reign to try and fill me up, pretty much. I could’ve stopped eating at any time before I knew, and I never did stop until my plate was clear…

But I was wrong. Like she said, Fluttershy wanted me pudgy, not a whale. If anything, I think she made fewer sandwiches and served up smaller slices of pie than she had the day before. Still, it weren’t like I was being starved at all: by the time I collapsed onto the sofa for a power-nap, I reckon I’d still eaten more than I would for lunch during applebuck season. And I was using all that energy and food to laze about on my rump, same as the last few weeks.

Only with one difference. This time, Fluttershy curled up next to me, laying her head on my belly. I cracked open an eye, and I couldn’t help but notice she wore the same small, tender smile as when we first found each other.

The rest of last week carried on pretty much like that one lunch. I’ve probably been eating less than I did in the weeks before, but I’m still growing. I’m sure my backside’s started to stick out behind me, and I couldn’t even get that sweater of mine past my barrel yesterday morning. Hay, I even tried on my old plough harness a couple of days ago—with Fluttershy smiling away to my side—and I could still feel it pinch me, even when I’d loosened the straps…

Actually, maybe it’s not too much of a bad thing that I’m starting to top out.

And Fluttershy… I can’t even describe what she’s been like this past week. Every spare moment she’s been by my side. Actually, that ain’t too different to before. But now she’s a whole lot more… cuddly. I can’t remember the last time I lay down without her taking the chance to rub my tummy, to feel it squish and roll under her hooves. Whenever we read together next to the fire, she’s always got one hoof on her book and the other on my side, stroking away all nice and gentle.

Shoot, last night I felt her pinch my rump.

And then at mealtimes… Hoo-eee. Fluttershy might not cook up so much for me to eat as she used to, but dang does that filly make it last. I don’t know how she does it, but she does this… something with her voice. She makes it go a little bit… husky. I think that’s the right word.

She’ll park her chair right next to mine—heck, sometimes she’ll sit right there on the floor, so she can get right up close to my belly. And then while I’m ploughing my way through her latest desserts, and my mare-friend can cook, she’ll have her hooves all over me. Rubbing and stroking and teasing at my tummy, saying just how soft I am, or how nice it feels to cuddle up to me, or how great a mare-friend I am, or asking me just how much I love her cooking, with all of her thick, but fluffy breads, and her rich, zesty pastas, or her zap-apple cakes, with just the right amount of jam so that they tingle all the way to my tummy…

Oh Nelly…

I take a deep breath, and those tingles in my middle slowly fade. I let the air out again.

Maybe I’m enjoying all this a little more than I thought…

And now that I think about it, I’m alright with that.

Really. Sure, I may be have those empty barrels looming over me for when the rest of the family gets back, and how they’re going to react when they see me. Plus, I ain’t told any of my friends; I’d love to see Dash’s face when I challenge her to an Iron Pony contest.

Oh yeah, and I’d probably win it, too.

Course, I might not be able to jump as high I used to, and all this weight’ll be a killer on the long runs, but I can train to beat that. Underneath all this fat, I’m still the same pony that took home all those medals at the rodeo. I can still applebuck like the best. I still dragged our Hearth’s Warming tree up from the valley by myself. And that was the twenty-five-hoofer going by the gate.

Yeah… I think I’m alright with my life at the moment.

Just then, Fluttershy gives a little snore, and pushes her muzzle deeper into my tummy.

My eyes go warm again.

Scratch what I thought. I’m more than alright.