#I just. Need a bit of time to doodle for myself! Working nonstop has made my workflow a bit sloppy and I don’t like doing that to clients aa

[smokbeast]

I will be closing comms for a week or so to recharge a bit for myself inspiration wise! I do hope that’s okay thank you so much everyone for the kind words and support during the update and change!

[whockeywhore]

Between Two 18

I sat up at the sound of glass breaking and reached out for Jamie. His side of the bed was cool and empty and I called out for him. He appeared in the doorway a moment later, a dark patch of sweat blooming under the collar of his shirt. 

“Baby, that vase with the naked ladies, were you gonna bring that back to the Burgh or donate it?” 

“Donate.” 

“Sweet.” He turned to leave and I heard him yell down the hall. “It’s all good guys, she didn’t want to keep it.” 

I slipped out of bed and pulled a pair of leggings on, tiptoeing into the hall. 

“Well look who’s finally up!” 

“And right after all the heavy lifting is done. Typical Grace.” 

Braden and Alex shared a laugh between themselves before heading down the stairs, each carrying the end of a coffee table. I watched them go and turned into the kitchen to find Jake and Michael wrapping plates in old newspaper. Nicke was sitting at the head of the table with his nose buried in one. 

“When was the last time the Kings won the cup?” 

“2014.” 

“You need to throw stuff away more Grace. Are you familiar with the teachings of Marie Kondo?” 

“Cal never liked to toss anything. I’m pretty sure he still has my prom dress somewhere in here.” 

“Yeah, Jake tried it on. Very provocative for a high school prom.” 

I leaned back against the counter and watched the scene unfold, pouring myself a cup of coffee and taking a big sip before I spoke. 

“What are you guys doing here?” 

Jake held up a covered plate before tossing it into an open box. “Helping you pack.” 

“But-” 

“Tom called us. He said you were packing up your dad’s place and needed some help.” 

Nicke dropped his paper and nodded. “He promised dinner. And beer.” 

I nodded and left the room, bounding downstairs to find Jamie. He was kneeling next to a giant oak desk in the den and had a strip of measuring tape lining the edge, his brow furrowed in confusion. 

“How the hell did Cal get this in here?” 

“He built it when we moved in.” He let out a long groan and stood, rubbing his lower back gingerly. “You guys have gotten a lot of work done. When did they get here?” 

“Around seven.” My watch read eleven-thirty and a bit of guilt crept over me. “You were sacked out.” 

"You should have woken me up. I feel bad, I haven’t done anything.” 

“But you’re so cute when you’re sleeping- aside from the snoring. If you wanna help, you can start by taking this apart.” He tapped the desktop with a screwdriver and I nodded. 

“Aye-aye captain. And I don’t snore.” 

“Liar!” 

I swatted at him as he leaned down to kiss me, pressing his lips to my forehead for a few seconds. He caught my hand and shook his head before leaving me to my job. The desk was impossibly heavy and I ran my fingers over the divots in it, noting the notches Cal had carved into the edge during phone calls. It was a bad habit developed after I’d gotten him a pocket knife for Christmas one year. I’d caught him whittling away during one of his conference calls a few days later. 

“You know you look just like your mother when you do that.” 

“Do what?” 

“Cross your arms and tap your toe like that. You have her eyes.” He motioned for me to come stand next to him and I did, studying the paperwork on his desk. He’d doodled a crude horse on the side and I couldn’t help but laugh. “What? What’s so funny?” 

“You can’t draw, daddy.” 

“Now you sound just like her!” 

“You alright?” Tom was leaning against the door frame watching me and I nodded, dropping my head to wipe my eyes. 

“Yeah, just thinking.” 

“About what?” 

“My dad.” Tom pulled an armchair across the room and dropped into it, leaning forward on his elbows. “You know he built this desk.” 

“Really?” 

“Mhmm. A few weeks after my mom passed, I came home to a huge pile of wood on the front porch. Had to climb through a window just to get in. Worked on it nonstop for a month, round the clock. Our neighbors called the cops twice because he was using a table saw at midnight.”

“Sounds like Cal.” 

“He was so proud of it,” I reached out and pushed it a bit, nodding to the short leg on my side, “Never would admit it wobbled.” 

“He was a good guy, Grace. A great guy.” 

“He carved their initials into it.” I tugged the center drawer out and felt blindly for the heart he’d drawn, closing my eyes as I found the CD+MJ. Calvin Dillard and Marie Johannsen.

“Grace-” He came around the desk and knelt down, pulling me into a tight hug as my emotions got the best of me. The weight of the weekend, going through my father’s whole life and deciding what was worth keeping from the house I’d grown up in, sat heavy on my shoulders and I collapsed against him with a sob. 

Tom stroked my back gently and I curled into his lap. “I don’t wanna leave, Tom. I don’t want to move to Pittsburgh.” 

“You do, Gracie. I know you do.” 

“I don’t. I want to stay here and I want everything to go back to the way it was a-and I... I want my dad back. I miss him so much.” 

“I miss him too. But look, look at me for a minute.” He lifted my chin until I met his eyes. “You can’t bring him back Gracie. Staying here won’t bring him back. You have a life waiting for you in Pittsburgh.”

I sniffed and he reached for a tissue from the desk, letting me wipe my nose before he pressed on. 

“You’ve got your wedding and your new job. You’ve got Jamie. Everything is waiting up there for you and keeping this house, staying in Washington, isn’t going to change that.” 

He let me fall apart for a few minutes and I balled my hands into fists in his t-shirt, angry and sad and drowning in nostalgia. I pulled myself back together and sat up, retying my ponytail and wiping my face.  

“I got mascara on your shirt.”

“Don’t worry about it. I borrowed it from Braden this morning after he picked me up last night. I spent your cab money on beer.” 

“That’s my boy.” 

He wrapped an arm around me and I fell against him, taking a minute to savor the feeling of being wrapped in his arms again. My eyes burned with more tears and I realized what made all of this sting so badly. In the past few years, through all the trips I’d taken and games I’d gone to, he’d become home to me. Tom was the constant I had clung to after my dad’s diagnosis. He’d come to appointments and gone to visit Cal with me, even on his own sometimes. 

Every time things had gotten bad, every shitty prognosis or rough night, Tom had been there. For me.

“I’m gonna miss you. So much.” 

His voice was heavy with emotion as he agreed. “We’ll see each other. At games, on holidays. We’ll spend by-week together come January.” 

I bit back the urge to argue that it wouldn’t be the same and opted for taking his hand in mine and squeezing it. He returned the gesture before clearing his throat and standing up. He held out a hand to help me to my feet and I took it, falling into him again as soon as we were upright. 

“Hey guys, we were thinking about heading out for some lunch. Are you-” Braden stopped as he saw us and I turned my head to look as he stepped into the den. “What’s going on?” 

“Just hashing some shit out.” 

“So we’re... all good?” We both nodded and he came closer, wrapping his arms around the two of us with a sigh of relief. “Thank god. I hate it when you two fight.” 

I weaseled my way out of his grasp when I began sweating and he laughed. 

“What were you saying about lunch?” 

“We were going to order some pizza. Just about done upstairs.” 

“Why don’t we go out? There’s nothing in the fridge and no place to sit anyway. There’s a great parlor a few blocks away.” 

He nodded and mumbled about going to tell everyone else, leaving Tom and I alone once again. 

“So you and I are good?” 

“You tell me.” I wiped at the mascara stains on his shirt and frowned. “You should soak this before it sets.” 

“Gracie Lou, if you want to see me shirtless, all you have to do is ask.” He pulled the t-shirt off and tossed it in my direction. “You know I’ve got love for you.” 

He ran his fingers over his abs and gave me a wink. “You like what you see?” 

"Shut up, Tom.” I started towards the laundry room with a smile on my face. “I can’t believe I missed you.” 

[rynli]

Here’s a random scene showcasing the boys I’m always doodling, and Verno’s ridiculous disaster dialect. Verno has just learned that his father’s found success working for the mob, and is furious about it. Also a bit of oblivious gay fluff (Verno, pls clue in already). 2600 words.

______________________________________________________

Done set himself up right well, he has. The Jaxter woman’s words dogged Verno like a hungry gull, swooping in his thoughts. They’d returned home from visiting Murrock, and Ellie had left for the night, and Verno had gone to bed, or tried to. Ever since he’d turned out the lights, the woman’s comments had begun replaying nonstop. That milch-heart? He’s a fixer.

A fixer. Done well for himself. Always haring after money, selling his family to his own greed. And now he’d gotten it, in service of the very mob that had tried to take Tala and Verno into servitude. Verno paced round his room, near wore a hole in the carpet, seethed. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t right. Got me running jobs not fit for a gutter-grub, Daran Mayford had said, when he’d come crawling to Verno. The moment he learned his son wasn’t dead, what did he do? Came looking for money. Not oh son, I hear you’re alive, no. Oh son, I hear you’re rich. Verno had waved him off to waste away in ever-increasing debt. But seemed he’d found his niche after all that. All it had cost was his wife and children.

I thought you cared about us. I really bought it. His father had only ever cared about his own hide.

He had to do something. He couldn’t abide an injustice like this. He was putting Murrock on hold while Ellie hatched up a plan, while he gained the strength to stand against a bonder like him. He didn’t need that sort of strength to deal with Daran, though. The milch-muck didn’t have Lumelles, only fists, and he’d always been a milch-heart. Well, Verno had fists, too, and he was itching for a brawl.

He wheeled. Wheeled again. Snatched up his coat and slammed out.

The moon was high, the stablehands abed. That was fine. He wanted to storm, not curl up cozy in a carriage. The warm summer night embraced him, stroking a breeze through his tangled hair, as he stomped his way down the winding path.

“You alright, Ver?”

Verno whirled to face the soft voice: Rupert, tousled, brows drawn. “Aye. Cooling my head.” As if.

Rupert shook his head, falling in beside him. “Looks like you’re fanning it.”

Verno huffed, hunching his shoulders and resuming his frenzied storm down the mountain. “We were in the city today. Ellie and me.”

“Oh?”

“Did you ever hear straight what happened to my family? I mean, why?”

Rupert crunched along beside him, silent, gaze steady on him.

“My father was always chasing gold. Cheated Murrock. That’s why they came for Ma and Tala. Said his debt roped him in and he couldn’t cut Murrock’s chain. Figured I’d let him strangle on it. But he’s set himself up rich, Ru. He’s flourished. He sold his family down the sewers and finally got his gold.” He ground his teeth. “Murrock called him his man. He’s a valued employee. Not a debtor scrounging to stay alive.”

“So you’re storming down the mountain at two in the morning to… what?”

“Punch him? For being a milch-muck?” Verno trotted faster, adding gravity to his steps. “I’m not asking you to come with me.”

“I want to. Keep you from doing something stupid.”

Verno snorted.

“Watch your back if you’re walking into organized crime.” Rupert’s tone said clear how stupid he thought that was.

“If you’ve got a better plan, I’m all ears. Would love to tumble down his little empire, but I don’t got the strings for that. Ellie’s yet to teach me how to scheme, anyhow.”

“Punching seems good enough.” Rupert darted close and lifted Verno’s left hand into the space between them, prizing his thumb free of his fist. “Just keep your thumb on the outside. I don’t want to have to set a dislocation.”

Verno looked at him, astonished. “You’re not talking me out? I know you don’t think bright on brawling.”

Rupert raised an eyebrow. “Why ever would you think that?”

“You’re posh. Rich folk don’t fight. They just… write nasty letters.”

Rupert laughed outright. “My older sister’s a scrapper. Someone calls me a name in front of her, they get no mercy.”

“What names could anyone possibly call you?” Verno blurted.

Rupert’s grin broadened. The moonlight seemed to glance off him stronger than before, lighting him silver. “What, there’s nothing wrong with me?”

“Nothing,” Verno insisted, too ardently.

Rupert turned away, aura flickering oddly, still grinning. “If you’d rather talk about how great I am than fight your father, I can’t say I’m opposed.”

Verno flushed. “I want to scrap my father and whoever your sister’s scrapping. No-goods, the lot of them.”

Despite his intent, the long hike did cool Verno’s head, and by the time the first houses scattered about, his boiling rage had faded to a simmer. He no longer wanted to punch the man.

He wanted to ask him, was it worth it?

Dawn was paling the sky when they maundered up the road to the Jaxter woman’s house. Verno slipped around back and knocked on the fence. “Mistus?”

Silence. Rupert raised a brow at him. Then the gate rattled, deadbolt dragging back, and the woman squinted at him in the dimness. Memories of his mother reared again, rekindling his rage.

“You again?” she asked suspiciously. “Didn’t get into enough trouble with the mob first time round?”

“You mentioned my father,” Verno said, letting his accent slide full Jaxter. His voice was embarrassing rough. “Do you know where I can eye him?”

“Looking to cozy back up?” she sneered.

Verno swallowed hard, hands clenching at his sides. “Looking to crunch his face in, just. For falling in with the mob what drove us to—to this.”

“To setting yourself up posh?”

His teeth ground. “I’m hatching to set this right, mistus, I swear sure. I won’t be like him.”

She hummed. “He sets up at the Chuntery Chockers mornings.”

“Thank you much, mistus.” Verno hurried on down the road.

“Chuntery Chockers,” Rupert mused at his side.

Verno shot him a glare. “What?”

“Reconsidering the validity of all those words I thought you’d made up.”

“I don’t make things up!”

“You called a sparrow a hedge-poker the other day.”

“Aye?”

Rupert laughed, jostling him with a shoulder. “Thought you’d forgotten the word for it.”

Verno cuffed the back of his head, sticking out his tongue. Ru made a face back and shoved him off the road. For a moment, Verno’s upset vanished behind a laugh, the simple rightness of talking and tussling with his friend.

Then the tavern came into view. Its windows were dark, the patrons gone with the dawn, but a familiar shape slouched against the wall, gray in the morning light, a spot of orange glowing from the cigar in his fingers.

Verno charged up and slammed him into the wall.

Daran Mayford gaped at him. There was gold at his ear now, the hollowness gone from his cheeks, a silk scarf around his neck. Verno sneered, fisting one hand in the man’s ascot. “See you managed to turn a profit off Ma and Tala’s corpses. Proud of yourself, are you?”

Daran’s expression shuttered. “I made the best of a muckish situation, son. I didn’t plan this.”

“You don’t get to stop punishing yourself. You can’t move on. You were supposed to crawl in Murrock’s gutter for the rest of your sorry life.”

Daran sneered. “You can’t say aught. You’ve made out sore better than I.”

Verno hauled off and punched him. It was fair more painful than he’d expected; he hissed, shaking out his aching hand, and then Daran drove a fist right back at him, and his vision whited out. Next thing he knew he was on the ground, Daran’s hands around his throat, gray eyes frightening flat, and Verno choked, thrashing, clawing at his wrists. His Lumelles itched at the edge of his mind. He wanted to take them out, hurl Daran through the wall, show him what he could do. But he’d come to use his fists.

Then Daran flew back, suspended between a trio of Lumelles. Ru stood off to the side, one palm upraised, eyes narrowed. The rising sun caught him in fiery orange.

“You stay out of this, boy,” Daran snarled at him.

Rupert leveled a supremely unimpressed look at him as Verno scrambled to his feet. “If you tell Verno again how much he’s benefited from that day, I might hit you myself.”

“I got hauled out of death begging not to be spared,” Verno spat, stalking over to his father. “I kept my post in Lasien so I’d have the power to save others from that fate. Not for the money. Not for the position. What did you do? Came crawling to me begging for my coin. I told you, get free of Murrock yourself. Didn’t tell you to get in bed with him. So tell me, does that make Ma and Tala’s deaths worth it? Are you proud?”

Daran’s face twisted. “Aye. What else could I be?”

Verno itched to punch him again, but with Murrock suspended midair, it seemed unsporting. He reached up and tore the scarf from his neck instead. “Could try being ashamed, mayhap. Could try not being a traitor to your own kind. Why’d you tell the Jaxters I was up to save them? You’re the one with Murrock’s ear. See, if you’d worked your way up to bring the mob down, I could forgive it. I might fair call it noble. But you’ve done naught of the sort. You’ve left it up to me, and you didn’t see fit to tell me so, just let the folk hate me for doing naught.” He paused for breath.

“Are you done?” Daran asked, straightening his collar. “I got schemes to fix.”

“Stun him,” Verno told Ru, turning on his heel. He couldn’t haul Daran out of the mob, didn’t have the strings to ruin him. But he could ruin his schemes for the day.

Ru smiled, then clenched his fist. The Lumelles blazed with a near-deafening buzz, and Daran went limp, falling hard to the road when Ru stowed them.

“Let’s go,” Verno said, every muscle strung taut.

Ru held up a staying finger and produced a pair of handcuffs. “Think we can make his day a bit worse, don’t you?”

“Why do you have those?” Verno sputtered as Ru slung Daran over his shoulder and made for the back of the tavern.

Rupert grinned. “It’s policy to take cuffs into town. Never know when a call might come through.” He cuffed Daran to a drainpipe, and Verno gagged him with his own scarf. No one would find him until the tavern opened that afternoon. He’d have a fair bodge of explaining to do that night. Whatever mob fixers did, Verno was sure it was time sensitive.

The fury drained from him with every step they took away from the tavern. Ru ambled at his side, humming to himself.

“Still don’t get why you supported me in that,” Verno mumbled as the sun cast its first rays onto the streets.

“You’ve never said a word about your father. That told me plenty on its own.” Rupert shrugged. “You said you wanted to scrap with whoever was rude to me? I feel the same.”

“Well… thanks. You saved my hide back there. I don’t know when he learned to scrap like that.”

Rupert paused and touched cool fingers to Verno’s swelling eye, a slight smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “Want me to heal that for you?”

Verno snorted. “By all means. Don’t want Ellie asking questions.”

“As if she won’t know what happened the moment she sees you.” Rupert steered Verno into the shelter of a bookstore doorway, fingers resting against his cheekbone. Prickling burned through the area as Ru healed away the swelling, then trailed his fingers down to the marks Daran’s fingers had left on Verno’s throat. “Surprised you didn’t try to land more hits on him.”

Verno hitched a shrug. “Wanted to. Wouldn’t have solved aught.”

Ru looked at him for a long time, that inscrutable smile still flickering in and out. He was golden again, even though they were both draped in blue shadow, and the sun was only just painting stripes of orange down the street. Come to think of it, the sun hadn’t been up earlier.

“Wait,” Verno said. “Are you doing that with the light?”

Rupert’s smile turned sly. “Doing what?”

“Making yourself…” He fumbled, but there was no other word for it. “Pretty.”

“I always do it, thanks for noticing.” Rupert’s smile broadened. “Wondered how blatant I’d have to get before you caught on.”

“You always…?”

“You thought I was just that perfect?” Rupert patted his cheek and returned to the street. “I’m flattered.”

Verno fell in beside him, stifling a yawn.

“Feel any better?” Ru asked softly.

He shrugged. “Not really. But I think I can leave him be. Ellie and me, we’re gonna take down the mob. Then they’ll all go to prison.”

“If it means anything,” mused Rupert, “he didn’t look happy.”

“He said he was.”

“He said he was proud. But that was a lie, too.”

Verno wasn’t fair sure he believed that. The man had finally gotten the money he’d been chasing his whole life. Why wouldn’t he be?

“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” Rupert said, almost too soft for Verno to hear.

He blinked. “Why? He’s right. I profited off Ma and Tala’s deaths fair as much as he did.”

“No,” Rupert said fiercely, seizing Verno by the shoulders. Now the sun was over the housetops, shining bright behind him, edging him in gold. “Not profit. Opportunity, maybe. You grew. You’re taking your tragedy and making it mean something. I know you think you’re like him. You’re not.”

Verno gaped at him, strangely touched. “Did Ellie tell you what that woman said yesterday?”

Rupert smiled softly. “She’s not a gossip, Ver. I’m just getting good at guessing at what’s in your head.”

Warmth kindled in his stomach, sparking a smile. Rupert knew him well enough to know his thoughts. He cared enough to want to. Daran Mayford wasn’t worth Verno’s time, not when he had Ru and Ellie and his impossible quest to lawmake the mob into submission. Let the man have his cold wealth. “I’ll get to know you just as well. You just watch.”

Ru grinned. “Good.”

The sun edged higher, washing the stone-faced houses just as golden as Ru. The city came to life around them, clamoring crows and clopping hooves and the savory wafts of bread and bacon. Verno yawned again, wondering absently how Ru could look so fresh and put-together after a full night awake. His eyeliner was even still perfect. Rupert turned and shot one of those perfect grins back at Verno. “Think we can take a carriage back, sleepyhead?”

“What, your posh feet can’t hike down and up a mountain?” Verno teased back.

“My posh feet have turned into chuntery chockers, I’m afraid.”

Verno laughed—his dialect in Ru’s upper-class tones was amazing. He wanted to hear more. “If I say we can take a carriage, will you learn some Jaxter?”

“Want to laugh at me, do you?” Rupert mock-huffed, still grinning. “A fair trade.”

Verno splashed a carriage-summons symbol into the street. “There.”

“Better not teach me fake words and get me to use them on real Jaxters.”

Verno grinned back at him. “No promises.”

[liquid-savage]

Spelling Error (MLP/WG)

Starlight Glimmer needs a quicker way to get through her books...but sometimes the quickest way isn't always the best way. ---- Finally, something new! I know it's been too long, but I had this silly idea in my head for a while and I just had to get it out. Just something silly I wrote for myself and for anyone who enjoys a bit of Cellulite Glimmer. Enjoy!

---- Starlight Glimmer sighed as she slumped onto the library table, her chin against the varnished wood top. She stared at the open book in front of her, and her tired eyes crept to the direction of the mountainous stacks of scrolls and tomes by her side that she had to get through after. She had been reading nonstop for what had to be hours by that point in time, and her eyes and flanks were sore. And she had only completed half a dozen so far.

She made another attempt to get back to the page she had stalled on, but all she could see were words. Collections of squiggles that no longer made any sense to her overtaxed mind. The diagrams made no sense to her anymore, and they may as well have been doodles in a foal's schoolbook. "I don't believe this," she groaned, rubbing her eyes, "how many editions of 'Teleportation Theory' does one pony need?!" The door to the library opened with a soft creak, and Starlight looked over to see a small, purple baby dragon walk in with a plate in one claw and a bowl in the other. The plate held a fresh hay sandwich, the bowl a colourful assortment of small gems. "Twilight thought you could use this," he said, setting the plate on the table next to the mare. "Thanks Spike," she sighed, the sight of the sandwich making her realise how hungry she was. She grabbed it in her magic and took a hearty bite, finding the soft white bread and fresh hay more delicious than usual, the delectable aroma piercing the scent of old paper. "I really do need it." Spike nodded and hopped onto a chair beside her. "How're you holding up?" "Barely," she sighed, shaking her head. "How does Starlight do this all the time? Just sitting here and...well, reading?" "Beats me," the dragon shrugged and stuffed a clawful of gems into his mouth, crunching them loudly in his little fangs. "She's just always had a thing for books. Easier answer to remember than the one she gave me when I asked." "What did she say?" "She just sorta went off on a tangent about how important learning is and stuff. I didn't really listen, just smiled and nodded. She doesn't pay much attention when she rambles." "So true," the purple mare snorted, then her eyes widened as something came to her. An idea. A way to make getting through all these books and scrolls much easier. "Say Spike," she went on, "don't suppose you know if Twilight has any books on...'book magic'?" She asked, forcing out the words like they were foreign to her. Spike narrowed his eyes warily. "Book magic? Starlight, I dunno if you should-" "I know, I know," the unicorn interjected, waving her hoof dismissively. "But this'll be a harmless one. And I'll be using it on myself, so it's not like I'll be messing with anypony, right?" "I guess, but still," the baby dragon muttered, "just considering the last few times you've used magic to make your jobs easier. I mean, making the girls literally do what you say, swapping the Princess's cutie marks..." Starlight sighed and shook her head. She was starting to get really tired of Spike bringing up her past mistakes so often. "Look, I'll know what I'm doing this time, okay?" "Hmmm..." Spike murmured, tapping his claws on his chin. Starlight took this as the baby dragon's indication of needing motivation. A cheeky smirk crossed her muzzle. "There's a huge bowl of gems in it for you when I'm done." And in a blur of purple and green, the baby dragon was zipping around the library, scanning the spines of every book at breakneck speed. Starlight could barely keep an eye on him at the speed he was going. And as quick as he left, he returned holding an old, leather-bound book in his little claws. "Here ya go!" Starlight, a little startled at how little time it took Spike to find what she was looking for, took the book in her magical grip. The cover was embedded with the title, 'By the Book: A Basic Guide to Bibliomancy'. "Thanks Spike," she finally said, levitating the book toward her desk. "I'll get you those gems when I'm done, alright?" "I'm holding you to that," Spike warned her, smirking as he grabbed his bowl and walked toward the library door. "I'm gonna see if Twilight needs anything. Or maybe Rarity." He added with a not-so-subtle affection in his voice. Starlight wondered if Rarity's collection of gems was how she had the baby dragon in her figurative pocket so easily. "Right, see you later," Starlight said, and the two waved to each other as Spike exited the library, the door closing with heavy wooden clunk. Wasting no more time, she rushed to the desk and opened the book to the index with her magic. She traced her hoof along the different sections and page numbers. "Enchanting Quills...Paper Messenger Pigeons..." she murmured the chapter titles out loud, and then stopped at 'Bring the Words to Life'. "Aha! Maybe you're what I'm after." She used her magic to flip to the appropriate page, and got the proper title, along with instructions and diagrams on how to literally lift the words from a book's page and into the target. According to what she could decipher, she could literally take the words off the pages and ingest the knowledge from them. A smirk slowly crossed her muzzle as she read on, finding the process to be rather simple to her. However, the end of the section ominously warned that the spell, if cast carelessly, could have dire consequences. It even carried the warning that continuous use would put the caster at risk of a 'Yearn to Learn' curse, whatever that was. "Pffft," she scoffed, "what harm could a book do? Besides, this spell looks so easy!" With that, she began going through the instructions on how to cast the spell on another book, as this one had protection against magic. She didn't take much care in reading the warnings - she was such a natural in magic that she was sure she'd get it right. And if not, practice makes perfect as they say. The spell itself had to be harmless anyway, even with a silly-sounding curse like 'Yearn to Learn'. Besides, she was sure there was a reversal spell for it. Twilight was bound to know it in case things somehow got out of hoof. She pulled over one of the magic textbooks she was yet to read, and with a deep breath, she began to attempt the spell. Small grammatical symbols appeared and swirled around her horn as it glowed its usual mint colour. After charging, she fired a blast at the book, capturing it in an aura matching her magic, and it rose up into the air. The book opened and its pages flapped front to back, then back to front, over and over, each time getting faster and faster. And just as Twilight was beginning to have second thoughts, a pulsing noise sounded amongst the rattling of paper, and the book suddenly stopped at a page near the middle. She took a step forward to get a closer look, and her jaw dropped as she saw the title of the page, 'Advanced Teleportation Theory', began to remove itself from the page. The magic was literally peeling the words themselves off of the paper! Starlight stared in a mix of shock and triumph as letter after letter tore itself from the page, making the sound of a bandage being peeled off. The symbols then started to swirl around the book itself in single file, before floating toward Starlight. They began circling her head, no longer forming words and instead being a mishmash of scrambled lettering, and she could only watch, blinking in confusion. "Don't you just enter my head or something?" she muttered, mostly to herself. Then the letters swirled back around to where she could see them, and some of them began to form position in front of her. Open wide Starlight stared dumbly at the words floating in front of her, and shook her head as she pieced it together. Not only did these letters seem to understand her, they were outright telling her she had to take the symbols in orally. At least, that's what she assumed. Deciding it was a better idea than no idea at all, she opened her mouth wide open. The words then split back up into letters and shot right inside, and she closed her jaw and started chewing on instinct. Strangely, they tasted mildly of peppermint. She never thought words could have flavour. Once she swallowed them, she allowed herself a little giggle. "Talk about eating your words." She carried on eating mouthful after mouthful of letters, finding the experience rather enjoyable in itself. Soon she had finished a whole page, and then had begun on another. And another, and another. Diagrams unfurled themselves and flowed into her mouth like string, causing her to suck them up like spaghetti strands. Some letters even formed the words of foods, such as 'chocolate', 'cake' and 'hay', which made them taste exactly like the real thing! Soon she had emptied the book of all it had to provide. She'd even taken the index and annex contents for herself. The book lowered down onto the desk, devoid of words and images as if it were fresh and ready to be filled in. And Starlight had the right mind to fill it in herself. The spell had done its job, and she felt like a master teleporter with that entire book absorbed into her mind. She just had to try it out! Her horn glowed normally, and with a magical pop, she found herself inside Carousel Boutique. Then another pop, and she was in the dusty town of Appleloosa, then the cooled throne room of the Royal Sisters, then she was outside a café in a town in Saddle Arabia! She swiftly returned to the library with a final pop, giggling and feeling rather proud of herself. "Wow, that book spell really works!" Though, it wasn't just her mind absorbing the book's contents. The mare's middle had rounded out, slightly bloated from how much 'knowledge' she had ingested. A small burp escaped her before she put a hoof to her gut, which felt a little funny. "Ooof, maybe I'll give the teleporting a break," she murmured, not seeming to realise said gut had distended. Her eyes locked onto the stacks of books she was yet to read. She wasn't dreading the job anymore, not with this spell. If anything, she was looking forward to it. In fact, she felt a small desire welling up in her. An urge, really. Suddenly, she felt like she had to do this. She needed to absorb all this knowledge, and she needed to do it now. She used her magic to toss the blank book to the side and grabbed the next one nearest to her. 'Super Shapeshifting Made Simple: Advanced Transfiguration Techniques'. Starlight giggled, licking her lips as she flipped the cover open, and the word peeling spell started charging up once more. And like that, Starlight was having quite the enjoyable afternoon. She wasted no time emptying every single word, symbol and diagram from every single page, happily chewing and slurping them up like she were one of Applejack's pigs enjoying a trough of slop. When she finished, she tossed the blank tome aside and rested her hooves on her belly, which had grown bigger and rounder from her binging. Her haunches had also grown a bit as well, filling out her seat and ever so slightly daring to droop over the sides. Her cheeks were the slightest bit chubbier, and her legs were the tiniest bit thicker. All changes that went unnoticed to the mare. During her little break, an idea came to her. Being quite the imaginative magic aficionado, one technique she had picked up while studying under Princess Twilight was the process of combining spells together. She once used it to clone herself so she could go through multiple friendship problems at once. Or attempt to, at least. But this time would be different, she knew what she was doing now. "Hmmm," she murmured, tapping her chin with her hoof, "what would happen if I combined this word spell with a cloning spell...?" Deciding there'd be no harm in trying, her horn began to glow once more. The grammatical symbols appeared around it, looking much more lively and colourful than before as they swirled around. She fired the spell, but instead of a single beam, it projected as a stream of minty-green tendrils toward multiple books in the stack. The targeted tomes floated up and, like the book before them, flapped their pages rapidly as letters and symbols flowed out from between them and toward her mouth. And Starlight continued to enjoy her 'study session', chewing and slurping up the knowledge that still tasted oddly of peppermint. Adding the cloning spell seemed to be a good idea so far, since it meant she could empty multiple books at once. She could learn much more from one blast, and cut down her time all in one foul swoop. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the loss of her figure would count, if she had even noticed it. With every book she emptied, Starlight's belly grew rounder and larger, bloating with the symbols being packed into it. By the time she had gotten down to the last book on her stack, she was looking like she'd just come back from a Hearth's Warming feast at Sweet Apple Acres. She stifled a burp with her hoof and rested the other on her gut, which gurgled and groaned softly with how stuffed it was. But despite how full she was, she had a strong urge. A desire to have even more books. Even more magical knowledge to absorb into her limitless memory bank. She wanted to be the smartest and most talented magic user in Equestria. She felt stronger than Twilight Sparkle by now, but she still wanted even more! But oh, so full... "Oof," she grunted, and lazily charged up the spell once more, "Maybe one more before a little break..." She carelessly fired at the last book on the table, but this one didn't move. For a moment, Starlight considered firing it again, before the tome began vibrating ominously. It span in place for a few full turns, before quickly shifting position to the centre of the table. The bloated mare leaned forward, grunting from the pressure put on her overfilled middle, as she eyed the cover of the book. 'Jovial Jinxes: A Fun Guide to Magical Mischief' A sudden wave of realisation hit Starlight like a tsunami; she'd just used book-related magic on a book designed for magical pranks. Harmless ones, but still nonetheless. Before she had a chance to think of the counter-spell, the enchanted joke book flipped to the centre. She yelped and covered her head with her hooves as blasts of minty-green magic fired in every direction around the library. She scrunched her eyes shut, hoping one of those blasts wouldn't hit her. She couldn't even think of what the effect would be if she were struck. Would she be turned into a book? Would she be fed to a book? Would her knowledge be drained out of her and she'd be left with about as much magical knowledge as a cave troll? But the sounds of magical blasts soon dyed out, followed with the slam of a shutting book. She felt no different, so she dared to open her eyes and lower her hooves. Though what she saw made her wish she were struck and turned into a book so she could hide from how angry Twilight would be if she saw this. Every single book in the library had been lifted off its place on every shelf, and were floating around the room, their covers always facing Starlight. She could almost swear they were upset with how she had abused magic so carelessly once again, and almost expected a Twilight-level lecture to come from them. But no such angry words came. Instead, the books began to flap their pages back and forth, and like the books before them, letters and diagrams spilled out and shot through the air toward her. The anticipation of what she knew was coming made Starlight's belly ache even more. In a moment of desperation, she raised her hooves defensively and tried to reason with the floating grammatical symbols. "W-wait, hold o-MMPH!!" But it was all for nought as the word 'EAT' forced itself into her open maw. And Starlight had no choice but to chew and swallow, equally dreading any extra effects the 'Jovial Jinxes' might have as well as the inevitable stomach ache. Though strangely, the ache didn't get worse. If anything, the more letters that were shoved down her throat, the duller the pain in her stomach became. She wanted to try and decipher what could possibly be happening to her, but she was too busy flailing her hooves in a vain attempt to ward the words away. Letters formed the words of food before jumping into her maw, diagrams unfurled into string which she had to suck up like spaghetti strands, and little paper ponies jerkily moved their pointy limbs as they snickered mischievously and held the poor mare's mouth open. Though if anypony were watching what was happening, they would see right away what effect the prank book was having on her. Her stomach was growing bigger indeed, but not from fullness. It was beginning to lose its round shape and was starting to pool out as cellulite began to form. Her flanks began to expand in her chair, already threatening to spill over the sides. Her cutie marks began to stretch out to fill the extra space being made by the flab accumulating on her rump. Her face began to round out, her cheeks becoming puffier even without symbols being stuffed into them. Her legs grew softer and thicker, her poor hooves slowing as her muscles weakened and became weighed down by the new layers of flab growing around them. Starlight breathed a sigh of relief when the books stopped their onslaught, allowing her a chance to collect her thoughts. She looked down, seeing the large round ball of pink pushing her legs apart, and a red flush crossed her chubby cheeks. "S-sweet Celestia!" She gasped, and tried to search her brain for a counter-spell. "Come on, come on...!" However, she was having trouble remembering the spell she needed, or even if she knew what it was. The combined spells had stuffed so much knowledge into her head so fast that it was all jumbled up and unorganised in her memory, like a huge file that had been completely unsorted. She allowed herself a brief snort of amusement at the thought of Twilight losing her mind at such an unorganised file, before realisation hit her hard. She looked up at the floating books, which seemed to be toying with her, making her wait, and dread filled her heart. "Twilight's going to kill me..." Her dread only grew when floating letters formed words right in front of her. Not done yet! ---- The sun was beginning to set on the horizon by the time Princess Twilight had returned to the castle. She let out a yawn, covering her mouth with her wing, and smiled down at Spike, who was dutifully walking down the hall next to her. "Wow, that was a long day," she said. "Equestria's communal leaders certainly had much to talk about." "I bet you loved it though," The baby dragon murmured sarcastically. "Of course I did!" The alicorn beamed, puffing out her chest. "Who knew Vanhoover was so passionate about ice hockey? Maybe I should get Rainbow Dash to visit and help them build their sports centre. She'd love it!" Spike rolled his eyes with a smile, before getting caught off guard by his owner's quick subject change to something a little more topical. "Oh, by the way," she went on, "how's Starlight doing?" "She seemed a little nervous about getting through all those books," she said, "so I helped her point out a book to help her along. Haven't heard a thing from her for a while so I figure it was helping." Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Which book?" Spike tapped his chin with a claw, trying to recall the name. "Uhhhh...'By the Book' or something like that?" Twilight's ears flopped and her eyes diluted. "Oh no." The two began sprinting down the hall toward the library, and Twilight swung the door open with her magic. Her jaw dropped at the sight before her. "Oh no..." To say Starlight Glimmer was a blob would be putting it lightly. She had transcended 'blob' status and was something more of an enormous mass of purple, room-filling cellulite. An enormous fold curved along the middle of her belly to give her one mother of a spare tire, which was the closest thing to Twilight and Spike as they walked in. Her flanks had grown to the size of carriages, with her cutie mark greatly distorted thanks to the size and collection of rolls and folds sloping on her rump, which was squishing against the wall behind her. Her tail was amusingly tiny, flopped above the massive mare's formidable backside. Her hooves with thick like tree trunks, and were reduced to stumps being sucked into the great collection of fat on her legs. Her front legs were forced outward and rendered useless. Her face was almost nonexistent, her sagging, blushing cheeks forcing themselves over her mouth and giving her such a squint that Starlight could barely see. An avalanche of tire-like chins sloped beneath her face, almost covering her thick chest completely. Once the shock had worn off, all Twilight could do was sigh and shake her head. The mess of blank books at her hooves confirmed her earlier fears. "Starlight, what do I keep telling you about using magic as a shortcut? First the mind control, then swapping the Princess' cutie marks, and now this! What do you have to say for yourself?" Starlight could only manage a tiny, pathetic belch, causing letters to roll and bounce down her blobby form, making her flab ripple and wobble with each impact. The word BURP! landed on the floor in front of the Princess. "You're lucky I know a counter-spell for this," she went on, "or I'd have you replacing all these books!" Starlight's laboured breathing turned into pathetic grunts and huffs as she tried to wiggle her limbs, but to no avail. They had grown too heavy and flabby to have any hope of being useful right now. Another yawn escaped the alicorn. "But I'm exhausted after a long meeting, so I'm going to have some dinner and go to bed. I don't like leaving you like this, but you need some time to think about this. And I expect a good apology and an even better excuse for why you did this." And with that, the Princess turned on her hooves and walked back out. Spike could only offer Starlight an apologetic shrug before jogging along after her. Luckily for Starlight, she already had her apology ready, after having enough time to think about it. The excuse, however, might need some more time to perfect. The thought of dinner made her gigantic middle grumble with hunger, almost shaking the castle with how thunderous the growls were. And then a collection of words floated right up to the helpless mare's eyes. Dinnertime!