“And over here they have the exhibition on Queen Crystal Heart. It’s really very interesting how lifelike her likeness is. Why, did you know that—“

As she followed Sunburst through the halls of the great Crystal Museum, Flurry found it increasingly difficult to keep her attention on the passing exhibits. It wasn’t that they weren’t interesting—they were, she supposed, though perhaps more to a younger foal than she—but Sunburst himself was a much more attractive exhibition to her.

He’d suggested the trip the second he’d heard that the new museum was finished. Tourists had flooded in from Equestria, but so had many of the locals, often eager to educate their foals on their nation’s history. Sunburst had been of a similar mind; always eager to devour new knowledge, and in any form possible, he’d all but bounced at the opportunity to visit the day before Opening Morning.  Adorable.

That wasn’t the only part of him that bounced, though. In the days and weeks following their first visit to the kitchens, Sunburst had accompanied her for lunch every day after that—and visited for many other meals and snacks as well, she suspected. It was wonderful to spend the time with him; when taken out of the classroom, and given a little bit of patience for his more withdrawn, awkward personality, Sunburst was an excellent conversationalist.

And he loved his food. Eating half of an entire lasagna that first meal hadn’t been a fluke; if anything, as their “lunch dates” (Sunburst certainly didn’t call them that, but it delighted Flurry to imagine them so) soon proved, he could pack away even more without breaking a sweat. Day by day, as Sunburst’s appetite swelled, and his stomach grew more used to the rich, heavy foods of the Crystal kitchens, his calorie-packed diet began to have an evident effect on his appearance.

Where once had sat a paunch was now a true, well-rounded gut that bounced and jiggled whenever he walked. Flurry felt shivers go up her spine—and in certain other places—whenever she saw it smack against one of Sunburst’s thickening thighs. Whenever they sat down to eat, it would roll out lovingly into Sunburst’s lap, guiding her into fantasies of kneading that doughy, soft belly. Not that it remained soft for long, though—between Sunburst’s voracious appetite and the quantity of food that he could find in the kitchens, it was rare that his middle wasn’t taut, bloated, and heavy.

It was tantalizing, really—just watching him slowly grow, growing softer, pudgier, until a figure that might have once been called “stocky” grew into something well and truly fat. It may not have been normal for her to love Sunburst’s body so much, but Flurry didn’t care. Sunburst had always been a big, lovable teddy bear. Now he was just putting on the padding to be properly cuddly.

His belly wasn’t the only part of him that had expanded, though. From behind, Flurry didn’t have as great a view of her tutor’s middle—but she did have a mouthwatering view of Sunburst’s prime, wobbling rump. Twin cheeks larger than her head bounced and smacked together with each step Sunburst took. His thick thighs were pressed so closely together that he nearly had to waddle. And those Cutie Marks. Each one was massive—certainly larger than her hooves. How she longed to nuzzle them, to bury her face between them, to let her head rest on Sunburst’s pillowy rump as a burning heat grew between her—

“—ahem!”

Flurry winced. She really needed to stop getting caught not paying attention. Trying to keep a grin on her face, she glanced up at Sunburst’s frowning, chubby-cheeked face—oh, how she longed to just squeeze it!—and smiled back. He didn’t look impressed.

“Goodness, Flurry,” he said. “Did you hear any of what I said regarding the hereditary line of the fourth Empire?”

“Um.” Flurry grinned guiltily. “Princess Sapphire, right?”

Sunburst sighed. “Princess Ruby,” he said. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Really, Princess Flurry. These are, if not your direct ancestors, then at least your royal ones. It’s important for you to properly appreciate your country’s heritage!”

“I do!” she said. Thinking quickly—as much as she loved to hear him talk, she did not savor hearing him lecture—she blurted, “I—I was just hungry!”

Sunburst blinked rapidly up at her. “Hungry?” he said. “Surely you had a sufficient breakfast, Princess?”

“Well, yes,” she admitted. “But all of this walking around has given me a bit of an appetite.” Inwardly, she grinned. Sunburst could never resist the promise of food—she hoped. Ancient royals were a dry, dusty subject; watching her tutor enjoy himself, though, never got old. Slyly, she offered, “Maybe we could go try the new food court?”

Sunburst gaped at her. “But—the schedule!” he stammered. “Princess, I had every event of this visit mapped out to the quarter-hour! We’re not due for lunch for another”—he checked his pocket watch—“forty-eight minutes. Surely you can—“

Right on cue, his belly rumbled. Loudly. Flurry stifled a giggle at Sunburst’s gobsmacked expression.

“But—“ he began, a little weakly.

Another grumble. Louder. Sunburst’s mouth twisted.

“...Perhaps, ah, the schedule can be reworked,” he said at last. He nodded meekly in Flurry’s direction, the museum’s map floating inches away from her ear. “Lead the way, then.”

By the time they arrived at the food court, Sunburst looked well and truly starved.

From the first second that the scent of food had reached his nostrils, he’d instantly perked up. His eyes had brightened, his ears twitching rapidly. A full three seconds before Flurry even saw the sign bearing the words “CRYSTAL MUSEUM FOOD COURT,” the tubby stallion had all but begun waddling excitedly in the direction of food—which, to be honest, did smell very good.

Flurry took her time gathering her own meal, not wanting Sunburst to feel like he had to rush. Admittedly, she had a bit of a hassle in trying to persuade the cashier to let her pay—on recognizing her, he didn’t seem to care one whit about the budget that Mom had insisted she spend—but even after that was settled, she lingered for a moment at the other side of the court, watching Sunburst go from stall to stall with more than a mild amount of interest.

Her well-rounded tutor appeared not to entirely understand that “lunch” didn’t mean “lunches.” It wasn’t hard to guess why. After a few weeks taking his meals in the Royal Kitchens, Sunburst had gotten used to the easy life of grabbing a hayburger here, a pasta bowl there, and maybe a few slices of apple pie to round it off. It was somewhat amusing to see the look on his face when he took his towering pile of lunch-boxes to pay, and heard the cashier give him the full amount he’d have to pay. The poor stallion looked crestfallen, but had dutifully dug out his wallet and paid in full. He’d blushed as he’d walked away, though, glancing timidly over his shoulder as he plodded his heavy body to an empty table.

Flurry took her seat mere seconds after Sunburst, sweeping gracefully into her chair moments after he had simply plopped down into his. His cheeks were puffy, his face reddened. There were a few droplets of sweat on his forehead, and overall, he looked more than a bit tired. Hauling all of that bulk halfway across the museum to eat couldn’t have been easy, she decided...but that just made it all the more frustrating that she couldn’t cuddle up to him and help him relax over a nice, big meal.

At least he’d get to enjoy the large meal regardless. “Goodness,” Sunburst huffed, first gazing at his pile of food, and then over at Flurry’s much more modest meal. “I...seem to have bought quite a bit more than I intended to.”

Flurry shrugged. “They’re just opening, right?” she said. “So you get to be their first customer.” She flashed him a smile. “Think of yourself as an official royal taste-tester.”

“Something of a presumptuous title,” Sunburst puffed. “Still...somewhat of an enticing one, though.” He pondered that for a moment, and then grinned back. “Bah. No use pontificating while the food’s getting cold, is there?”

“No, sir!” Flurry said. She winked at him, giving a silly imitation of one of her father's salutes, and Sunburst laughed. It was a full, belly laugh, one that left her feeling warm and safe at the end of it. She smiled secretively at him just after he bent down toward his lunch, a tinge of red touching her cheeks.

“You know,” she said, as he began to wolf his way through a carton of rice pilaf, “I think I read that the corn cobbler is a specialty to the Crystal Empire. Or was, anyway.”

“You’d be correct,” Sunburst said, through a mouthful of food. He swallowed, and then shivered with visible pleasure. Dabbing at his muzzle with a napkin, he added, “Especially regarding ‘used to.’ The corn trade at one point was highly concentrated in the Empire. It moved southward, toward Fillydelphia, after Stronghoof’s invention of magic-dense fertilizer.”

“Interesting.”

“Very,” he said. He smiled at her, his chubby cheeks dimpling. “Why, are you taking an interest in your country’s history, Princess?”

“Never,” she said, grinning back. “Well, maybe a little. At least the tasty history.”

“On that,” he said, chewing through another mouthful, “we agree.” And he took another bite.

The conversation continued from there—mainly darting between exhibits they’d seen that morning—but Flurry’s attention truly lay on Sunburst himself. She tidied off her sandwich quickly, but Sunburst was still going strong through his second box of Chineighse food. It wasn’t just the amount that he ate that she found fascinating, she realized. It was the way he did it.

When Sunburst ate, it wasn’t just a “meal.” It was a ritual—an experience. He carved his way through his food with a zeal matched only by the most devoted athletes, chomping away at each new dish as though it was his last. His cheeks bulged, his lips smacked, his eyes rolled back as if he were eating the ambrosia of the gods themselves.

He wasn’t a glutton, though, nor a pig. He tried to keep clean—he really did—but the fact of the matter was that there was simply too much Sunburst for his napkin to cover. Every time another crumb escaped it, Flurry Heart ached to clean it from him, to take care of his soft, jiggly hide.  His butt was big enough that it pushed out over the sides of his chair, and his thighs were so thick that there was scarcely a gap to speak of. His belly was held in—though just barely—by the buckle of his traveller’s cloak, a deep blue piece of cloth that was fastened only by a single button.

It was a rather scared-looking button, though, given the sheer volume of belly-flesh poking around it. The cloak’s middle strip bit deep into Sunburst’s middle, a good few gallons of chub straining against its tight confines. Each swallow, each gulp of food, only pushed his belly to grow rounder, tauter, bigger. Flurry bit her lip, her hind legs wiggling excitedly beneath the table as she watched the strain on his cloak grow larger. There was just so much Sunburst to fill it—so many calories stuffed into his stomach. Why, just one more bite might be enough to—

With a pop!, the button snapped free. It burst from its place, actually tearing its way off of the cloak and flinging itself into the air. Flurry ducked; Sunburst gaped as his cloak all but exploded off of him. With a smack loud enough for any nearby diners to hear, his big, food-stuffed belly burst from its confines and plopped directly into his lap.

Sunburst’s face was so red that it may as well have been an apple, or a cherry. “Oh, my,” he said timidly. “Oh, dear.”

Flurry couldn’t help but stare. She’d known that he was big...but this was something else. All of Sunburst’s stomach had rolled right into his lap, and wow, there was a lot of it. Thick rolls of flab settled right in the pit formed by his thighs, his generous love handles drooping past the sides of his chair. As her gaze flickered up, she caught Starburst staring, too, down at his lap with an expression of shock on his face. His tongue flicked nervously out of his mouth, licking at a spot of sauce as his second chin jiggled against his neck.

“Oh, dear,” he said again. His stomach gurgled loudly, and he cringed, groaning audibly. Somewhat awkwardly, he patted his belly with a hoof, his touch rebounding off of his bloated, overstuffed middle He burped, then quickly drew a hoof to his muzzle. Blushing deeply, he mumbled, “I appear to have—urp—overeaten a bit.”

Flurry’s heart beat faster in her chest. “Are you feeling okay?” she said.

“Fine, fine.” Sunburst patted his stomach, the sound of it sounding rather like a drum. His belly bounced, the mass of flesh wobbling in his lap like a taut bowl of jello. “Just...rather overstuffed, I suppose.” How did those chubby dimples manage to look so cute?

Flurry swallowed. This was it. Her chance to make a move. Blushing as well, she, rather hesitantly, lifted a hoof into the air. “Maybe—maybe I could help?”

When he blinked owlishly at her, she quickly added, “I just thought—maybe I could rub it a little. Or something.”

If Sunburst’s cheeks had been red before, they were simply inflamed now. “Oh! Um…” He glanced away, peering at the floor beside the table. “Well. If you think it might help…”

She was trembling even before she finally found herself pressed against his side - into the plushness, just a bit. Their eyes met; he smiled nervously, and she tried to do the same. Slowly, she began to lower her hoof, waiting for the moment when it would finally sink into his soft, plump flesh, rubbing at his doughy belly as he groaned softly beneath her—

“Flurry?”

She blinked. Reality snapped back into place. She was still in her seat, the last bite of her sandwich halfway to her lips. Sunburst sat across from her, a dumpling levitating a few inches away from his mouth. Below it, his cloak was still buttoned firmly in place...though his belly did look quite large.

Flurry tried to push through the vertigo as her daydream popped away around her. “Uh. Sorry?”

Sunburst raised an eyebrow at her. “I was just asking whether you might like to try a hayfry. You seem awfully distracted today. Is everything alright?”

“Fine,” she said quickly, flashing a smile she didn't quite feel. She dared one more longing glance at his plump middle. Oh, how she yearned to feel, to squish, to fondle that massive pile of cuddly flab. She averted her eyes, then shrugged, stifling feelings of disappointment. “I’m just fine.”

Flurry leaned back on the couch, the soft leather crinkling beneath her rump. The textbook in her lap sat heavily on her thighs, and she stared only half-heartedly at its text as she turned to the next page. One-half of her vision was directed at the chapter she’d been assigned to read; the other half couldn’t help but flicker up to the desk across the room.

Sunburst sat hunched over at his desk, his muzzle buried in a pile of papers and textbooks. The soft scritch-scratch of his quill was the only sound in the room, save for the crispness of Flurry’s page-turning and the occasional munch of yet another chocolate bar. Flurry had taken to stashing a few of his favorites around the classroom so he wouldn't run out-- and so far, he hadn't caught on.  A few crumbs speckled the side of Sunburst’s lip, his mouth opening automatically for a bite of his candy bar every few seconds.

His gut, which lay fully in his lap, pressed tightly against the side of his desk. He didn’t seem to notice—or if he did, he betrayed no discomfort, focused as he was in his work. Flurry noticed though, and felt a slight spark of interest peak in her body as she watched the gentle squish of his flab against the mahogany. His belly looked so soft, so round, so gropable. Her fantasy from the museum visit yesterday yet lingered, and her yearning only grew with each bite Sunburst took from his chocolate.

Her gaze flicked back down to her textbook. Incomprehensible, the lot of it—not for want of intelligence, but for want of any sort of interest. Why pay attention to the distortion of magical fields, she wondered, when there was a much more...deliciously distorted specimen sitting mere feet away? She couldn’t help but steal another glimpse of him: his chubby cheeks, his adorably scruffy goatee, his growing second chin. Oh, but if she could only nuzzle up against it!  Flurry was certain that it would be second only to his beautiful gut or soft rump as a pillow - she just knew it!

Pursing her lips, she frowned down at the end-of-chapter problem set. Truth be told, she could probably manage these on her own (upon actually reading the chapter, at least)...but she had a better idea in mind. A memory flashed into her thoughts, and a devious, hopeful plan took root.

Flurry carefully made herself stop nibbling on her lower lip, and cleared her throat. “Ah, Sunburst?” she said in her best innocent voice.

He paused in his work, looked up. “Yes, Flurry?” he said. His voice even squeaked on the last syllable of her name—she could almost squeal in delight!

She shot him a wan smile, feeling a little guilty about exploiting his desire to teach.  But he was so tasty, and she was going to be learning more anyway, right? “I’m wrapping up the chapter, but I was wondering if you could just walk me through some of these theoretical problems.” She nodded toward the empty cushion beside her.

“Goodness, Princess. You really must learn to work on your own sometime.” Sunburst shook his head, but got to his hooves. Flurry waited with bated breath as he trotted toward her, his great stomach swaying beneath him with every step. It was clear that he wasn’t the lightest stallion in the palace—his gut hung down below his knees by now, and by the time he made it to the couch, he was puffing merrily.

With a grunt, Sunburst heaved himself onto the couch. The springs creaked ominously beneath his weight, but thankfully held—thankfully, Flurry supposed idly, because she didn’t know if she’d be able to keep herself under control if his weight had collapsed the thing. As it was, his wide-set rear overflowed the cushion by a good few inches. She soon found herself wedged against the side of the couch by a very generously proportioned unicorn, with her mentor’s hefty thighs squishing against her own. At a guess, she put him at just about three hundred pounds—nearly twice her own weight, for all that she had two whole inches on him. The sheer size of his Cutie Marks—why, they had to be six inches across!—left her trembling with excitement.

This was it, she told herself, as Sunburst leaned over her lap to eye her book. She had to force her hoof to stay still, for fear that its shaking would give her away. This was where she made her move.

“You’ll have to point out which problem you were having difficulty with,” Sunburst mumbled, peering past her hoof over his spectacles.  Flurry had to suppress her urges again - that cute little squint, his little wriggle as he looked around - and force herself to listen to him. “I’m afraid these all are rather general theoreticals.”

“Oh, of course.” Flurry giggled to herself, then jabbed at the first one that caught her attention. In her mind’s eye, she could feel Sunburst’s belly pressing against her foreleg as she held him in place, his soft, jelly-like flesh squishing delightfully against her skin. That same belly was so close now. Its round, smooth contours caught her gaze in a trap, forcing her to appreciate every gentle slope of its girth until it dove inward into a deep, impossibly wide bellybutton. Now, that brought along a whole new set of naughty thoughts…

“This one, then?” When she nodded, he pursed his lips, then smiled. “Ah, astrothaumaturgy. A complex question, to be sure.”

“A little.”

He turned his head up to face her, his smile broadening. “You know,” he said, “while we haven’t covered the astronomical sciences in any depth yet, I generally prefer a, ah, visual approach to this kind of question. Just for perspective. Do you think that might help?”

“Visual?” Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Sunburst winked. “Allow me to demonstrate.” His horn sparked, then shimmered. A soft wave of orange-red energy spread out across the room, splashing over the walls as his aura surged with energy. Beside him, Flurry glanced around, her eyes widening as the wallpaper glimmered before fading to a deep, dusky black. Sunburst grunted softly, and a final spark of light leapt from the tip of his horn. The room plunged into darkness, leaving the two of them blind.

Then a spark—white, strong, clear—winked into existence before them. It felt impossibly close, as if she could reach out a hoof and grab it, and yet somehow infinitely far. It dangled in space like a mobile, its gentle twinkle pulling her gaze like a magnet. Then, with another wink, a second spark joined it. And another. And another.

Flurry’s hairs stood up, her breath catching in her chest as she turned this way and that. Everywhere she looked, Sunburst’s office had been replaced by an infinite, velvet-black void, with legions of diamond-white stars glimmering atop its tapestry. She felt her throat tighten, her muzzle opening wide as she stared out into the abyss—and the abyss sang back.

The gruff, warm voice of Sunburst himself pulled her back to her surroundings. “Well,” he said, exhaling slowly. “It’s not exactly the most skillful display. I’m afraid I don’t have quite enough juice to really represent the astro-field. That would take a much greater wizard than I.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Flurry breathed. She hugged the arm of the couch beside her, and was reminded that, as much as it may have looked it, she wasn’t actually hovering somewhere in the middle of the Sleipnir Nebula. Still…

Shyly, she turned to glance down at the heavyset stallion beside her. Sunburst’s chubby cheeks were flushed, his face tinted with orange-tinged pinks as the light of the “stars” glimmered around them. Jets of starlight danced across the glass of his spectacles, making his eyes shimmer and spark as he gazed out at his creation with a mixture of satisfaction and awe. And behind him...all around them, a vast, and starry universe slumbered.

And waited.

Flurry swallowed. Something slid into place, way back in the corners of her mind. With her hooves trembling, she let herself slouch a little bit against the back of the couch, the warm leather crinkling against her back. With each inch she slid, she could see his big, beautiful body looming closer, filling up the side of her vision.

“The best I could do on short notice,” Sunburst mumbled. “A true mage like Twilight Sparkle could doubtless do much better.” He sounded hesitant, as though trying to convince himself. “Nonetheless...we had a question to answer, didn’t we?”

“Mmhm.” He was so close now. She could see the gentle rise and fall of his belly, hear the soft sigh of his breath.

“There.” He raised a hoof, and a bright orange spark leapt from the tip of his horn. “Beside that nebula there. Do you see it?”

She did. A thin green line, snaking between the constellations. It pulsed, and throbbed with energy, looking almost...alive. She bit her lip, and leaned a bit closer to Sunburst’s side. The side of his great, magnificent middle squished slightly beneath her weight, and she felt herself clench her thighs a little bit tighter.

He didn’t seem to notice the contact at first, though. Perhaps he’d just grown so used to being so big that not touching anything with his gut had grown to be the exception. She stretched her neck out, guiding herself to follow his demonstration by the curves of his plump little shoulders.  His voice was still muted, dreamy, when he flicked his hoof parallel to the line. “It carries mana through the heavens,” he said. “Touching each leyline on the celestial sphere in turn. The actor of astrothaumaturgy itself—its creator, its child, its parent.”

He was silent for a moment. Then—“Can you hear it?” His lip trembled, and his hoof shook. “Can you hear its harmony?” Wow, she thought.  When he was all worked up like this - it was like he was gorging himself on science!

Flurry’s hoof slid around his shoulder at the same time that her other arm slipped across his middle. There was quite a lot of middle to wrap around, though, so his big, round gut squished a bit beneath the weight of her foreleg. She felt her hoof sink against the cavity of his bellybutton, deep and warm and soft, as if inviting her to probe, to wiggle her way deeper. Her other arm curled tenderly around his other armpit, rustling beneath his star-patterned cloak and feeling the gentle squish of his love handles. And, with a motion as natural as breathing, her head touched softly down onto his shoulder, her mane coming to rest upon his collar.

Sunburst stiffened. She had barely a moment of contact before he recoiled, pulling away from her with the force of a coiling viper. There was a sudden emptiness beside her—a void, a gaping, yawning abyss.

The stars winked out. The lights came on again. And Sunburst sat on the couch beside her, his legs pulled in toward himself, his bright blue eyes wide and wary.

“What was that?” he said.

“Nothing,” Flurry said, quickly. The look in his eyes—she didn’t like it. His gaze twitched and skittered, his pupils focused into pinpricks.

.

“I’m no fool, young mare,” Sunburst said, quietly. “As your teacher, I am asking you—what was that?”

She winced. There was a heat to his voice—a steel in it. Honesty, then.

“I just...wanted to share the view with you,” she said. She tried to inject a sliver of “innocent, injured” foal into her tone and instantly regretted it—unlike her parents, the confusion in Sunburst’s eyes just made her feel all the worse. “You looked so...soft. I just thought…”

“Thought what?” Sunburst said. “That you would touch your tutor inappropriately? And in the middle of a lesson, no less?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it!” Flurry said. “You looked really...cuddly.” The word felt wrong the second it came out of her mouth. “Cute! Not cuddly. I mean—“ Oh, gods, she was babbling—

“I,” Sunburst bit out, “will not be mocked.”

“I’m not mocking you!” Flurry said. She tried to smile at him, and instantly wished she hadn’t; it just felt so guilty. “I thought you just looked...really handsome. And with the stars...”

Wrong answer, Sunburst’s eyes told her. With a grunt, he heaved himself to his hooves. The couch squealed as his massive weight depressed, then released its hidden springs. The floor shook slightly as he plopped down onto it, his hefty guy swaying and slapping his thighs beneath him.

“Patronized by my own student,” Sunburst said. His eyes flashed behind his glasses, and his goatee trembled. “I know I’ve put on weight! I know I’ve been taking too much time snacking, perhaps, instead of drawing up lesson plans! But to be put under some foalish little prank, I swear—“

“It’s not!”

“—What would your mother say?” Sunburst said. “The Princess of Love—her own daughter taunting ponies. Invading their space, shaming them. Distracting me with food, taking advantage of me—and for what?” He fixed his gaze on her, and she cringed. “To get time away from your studies? Or simply for some cruel joke?”

Flurry leapt to her hooves. She squared her shoulders against him, sucked in a breath. “ I never—“ she gasped. “I didn’t—“

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do,” Sunburst said, “but I’ll have none of it!” His face was flushed, his thick cheeks trembling. He was breathing hard, his gut swaying like a pendulum beneath him. He turned his back to her, his vast, pudgy flanks jiggling in his wake.

“But—“

“This lesson is finished,” Sunburst said, facing away from her. “We are done for the day.”

Flurry stood there in shock. She felt...cold. Her gut twisted beneath her.

“Dismissed.”

She raised a hoof—and then slowly, weakly lowered it. There was nothing more she knew to say.

And so she left. Next Chapter: Chapter Three Estimated time remaining: 34 Minutes