Flurry Heart, Princess of Gluttony ch 4

Squeaky wheels sounded down a dark and lonely castle hallway as Flurry Heart pushed her cart of treats. She licked her lips on her way down to her parents bedroom, eager for yet another mischievous night of gluttony now that they had left the castle for a late night dinner. With her birthday being only a week away, the preparations left them too busy to dine at their usual time; regardless, Flurry would eat without them till her stomach was heavy and well fed. As her haughty thighs rubbed against her glorping belly, tonight's session of glutting while they were gone was bound to be her most bountiful.

Her previous parent room feastings paled in comparison to this current one. In her earliest memories she usually carried with her a plate of cupcakes or a slice of pie. The thought of how small and chunky she was brought a smile to her face; her thighs barely rubbed together, her belly was still a few feet off the floor, and she was still capable of wearing dresses her mother picked out for her. Never had she imagined she’d become so fat her blubbery body would pool around her, flanks so hulking and wide they swayed her body with each step; all while being large enough to completely flatten furniture and become stuck through tight doorways. Hauling an already engorged belly full of food, the three muffins, two cake slices, whole banana cream pie, and half finished bucket of neapolitan ice cream, was bound to leave her drooling at the mouth and moaning with overglutted pleasure.

Arriving at their front door, Flurry looked behind herself to see if she was followed before entering. Even with the widened doorway renovated specifically for her, it felt an arduous task just to wiggle her waistline and plot inside. She parked her cart at the edge near the front of their bed, waddling her way over to a large bookshelf along the wall. Squinting her eyes, she skimmed through the titles before pulling out the correct book. The magic of her horn flourished through the pages until finally landing on the correct spell, causing her already sated stomach to emit a low grumble.

“Hello, beautiful,” she rubbed her hoof down the page, “did you miss me? Cuz I sure have missed you.”

Though Flurry Heart was rather mediocre at magic, preferring to gleefully glut herself and fatten up than practice her skills, the duplication spell was one that suited her needs well whenever she used it for gluttony. Even after performing it for this purpose numerous times in the past, its complexity, coupled with her own laziness, made it too much of a drag to memorize, requiring her to put in actual work to use it on a whim. With her weight gain progressing just fine without it, she was content to simply cast it with help from the spell book, using it only when her parents weren’t around to catch her.

“Ugh, why does magic have to be so complicated? Can’t believe aunt Twilight remembers all this stuff.”

Several minutes passed before she finally got a feel for the spell. Sitting on the floor in front of her parent’s bed, she floated the plate of muffins up to her, resting it on her belly. Sparks of magic flared from her horn, creating an aura around each of the muffins. As she winced and strained to cast the spell, the muffins appeared to be tearing themselves in half right down the middle. They then pulled apart, splitting into three new muffins, whole and without a single crumb lost. She continued doubling the amount of muffins until a pyramid of stacked muffins formed across her belly and chest, then continued for a bit longer, surrounding either side of her flask and love handles with additional piles. Huffing with breath as if walking up a flight of stairs, she set the book down beside her on the bed.

“That was…a lot of work,” Flurry wiped her forehead of sweat, “maybe I should…take my…magic lessons…more seriously? Just so this wouldn’t be…so hard.”

After catching her breath, she heartily began her feast. Reaching forward with her stubby hooves and bulky forelegs, she stuffed her face with muffin after muffin, biting huge chunks out of them and letting the empty wrappers drop to her sides. Blue berry, chocolate chip, and oat muffins as large as cantaloupes were specifically made abnormally big just for her. Once her cheeks felt filled to the brim, she would swallow the wad of bread in one gulp, patting her bulging throat to help it all go down.

“*Mmff*, so good,” the princess cooed with bliss, “the pastry chefs outdid themselves with this batch.”

She lovingly patted her burbling gut, feeling the boulder of desserts force itself against her earlier feast. Resuming her feeding, Flurry succumbed to her entranced state of gluttony. Her senses all became amplified by the pleasures of the feast, relishing every aspect of gorging herself and feeling herself grow fatter with each gulp. The feel of her bulging neck rolls brushing against her cheeks, the weight of her flabby forelegs, the strain of her gut being forced to contain another mouthful of food, it all brought her such a degree of gleeful satisfaction that her body felt like melting from such intense relaxation.

As the pyramid decreased in size, Flurry’s corpulence expanded. The hooves of her hind legs sunk deeper into her calves and whale-like thighs. Her luscious flanks and love handles stretched as wide as her parent’s bed, which was oddly large for just the two of them, outsizing even her own. The rolls under her arms lifted them further upright, making them outstretched and more difficult to squish her own waistline. Meanwhile, her blob of a belly flowed further onto the floor like a block of melting butter.

When the pyramid had fallen, she used magic to float the muffins surrounding her sides up to her mouth. Blithely eating, she rubbed at her engorged gut with both hooves. A cracked smile formed across the corners of her face, aroused by the pleasures of gorging herself, kneading her growing fat, and the pressure added to her stomach with each new mouthful. The vastness of her layers of lard pooling around her left her head over heels. Taking a brief moment to belch, she gleefully basked in the joy at what a hog she had become over the course of her youth.

Swallowing the last of the muffins, she belched with a sloppy grin. Her hooves squished at what parts of her blubbery gut she could still reach, feeling the added layer of pastries squelch among the rest of her gluttony. Flustered over her ample flab, she scooped up what heaps of lard she could hold in her forelegs and gave herself a fervent wobble. Pink mounds of fat violently jiggled and sloshed about to the rhythm of her huffing breath. The plopping sounds of her flab slapping against itself mixed with her symphony of hedonism. Flurry grew so hot and bothered by her wobbling lard, she leaned herself backward, collapsing half of her upper body onto her parent’s bed.

The sturdy bed framing groaned under her immense weight, miraculously holding on. The out of breath princess panted with a large smile on her face, laying sprawled out on the mattress. Her lowered body remained on the floor, hind legs spread apart with her blob of a belly pouring between them, like water flowing through a broken dam. Giving her gut a hearty smack, she murmured at how full she already felt, yet greedily eager to gorge herself further.

From in front of her mountainous belly, the princess used her magic to float over the plate holding the two slices of cake. Turning her head to look to the spell book beside her, she once more concentrated on casting the duplication spell. Sparks of magic flared from her horn, engulfing the cake and plates in its magical aura. The dessert split itself into two more slices — plate included — filling out the remaining space on the bed and some of the floor. Wincing, she stopped after feeling she duplicated enough, rubbing her head with a hoof to sooth her lightheadedness.

“Hehe, oh yeah, forgot about that,” Flurry wryly smiled, noticing the amount of plates she also duplicated with her spell. “Uh…guess we’ll have plenty of dishes for my birthday, heh.”

Grabbing her first slice of cake next to her, Flurry opened her mouth wide and shoved it toward the back of her throat, swallowing the hefty slice with one gulp. “*Mmff*, so good. *Hmmf*, nothing like cake to make a mare a massive blob, *nomf*, *mmm*.”

Wolfing down slice after slice, the corpulent princess basked in her rich feast, clutching the bedsheet with a hoof as her stomach stretched beyond its full capacity. While feeding herself with one hoof, she used magic to stack the empty plates on the right side of the room. As the space around the bed cleared, she used both hooves to feed herself. Her eyes fluttered from the sheer pleasure, enthralled by the large slices requiring her to open her mouth to its full length just to force them in. Each gulp felt like it widened her another inch, blocking further view of the front of the room and looming her mountainous gut over her.

The bedframe groaned louder as her robust back grew in size. The growing fat of her forelegs constantly squished against her burgeoning neck rolls and flabby cheeks. Her thickening waist widened toward the edges of the mattress, while the weight of her stomach flattened it further in the center. Her hind hooves were barely visible within their fleshy prison, completely enveloped by her swollen legs, each capable of burying another pony under their soft blubber. With each gulp, her thighs fought for daylight against her belly, growing just enough not to be blanketed by its encroaching lard.

Devouring all the cake within reach, she laid her forelegs out to her sides, now floating cake to her mouth with magic. She hovered several slices over her head, funneling them down into her open mouth with surprising force. Her muffled moans filled the room as her overburdened stomach stretched well beyond its limits; her ravenous gluttony pushing her to glut more despite the discomfort. Blorping and churning like a beast, her gut bellowed above all other noise, motivating her to satisfy its hunger. Unable to so much as give it a soothing rub, Flurry remained submissive to its colossal weight until all the cake was eaten.

Several stacks of porcelain plates were lined up along the right wall of the room, more than Flurry thought she had duplicated. Groaning and hiccuping, she languidly raised a hoof, straining against the weight of her lush-portly foreleg which rivaled a full grown stallion’s torso. She struggled to simply pat her enormous belly, barely reaching past her plush chest. Enormously pleased with herself, she sloppily grinned, watching her gut eb and flow in a jello-like state after each of her hiccups.

“*Ooogh*, get a load of this belly, *hmmf*,” Flurry sighed with contentment. “So big, *hic-hilp*, and stuffed. I think I’m more than, *oourp*, ready to glut twice as much cake, *hic-hilp*, for my birthday next week.”

Lifting her hulking forelegs, she collapsed them atop of her chest, wobbling the entire front of her body. Suddenly, a loud crack came from underneath her back resembling the snapping of wood. She sunk deeper into the mattress, flattening it further with her robust body and lifting her enveloped hind hooves further into the air. Looking around herself, she had created a crater where the center bed frame once held the mattress up. Wryly smiling, Flurry hid herself within her neck fat in embarrassment.

“Hehe, oops. Uh…maybe there’s a, *hic-hilp*, spell to fix this, *urp*, after I’m finished eating.”

Her belly burbled in agreement, returning her focus to the pie and bucket of ice cream still on the cart. Moaning with great exertion, the whale of a princess rocked herself left and right, gathering enough momentum to roll herself off her back and onto her stomach; the resulting roll snapped the corner of the bed frame under her gut, slanting the mattress at a downward angle. With her hind legs hoisted off the ground by her belly, she relied on her forelegs to help her turn, facing the cart with her spell book sitting in front of her.

Flurry Heart paused looking at the duplication spell page, thinking of how much magic she had left in the tank after multiplying the cakes left her lightheaded. Racking her brain for an alternative solution, she gasped at the tantalizing idea of another spell that would suit her fattening needs. She flipped over to the correct page, studied its contents, and began work on the pie. Wrapped in her magical glow, it steadily grew in size, pushing aside the cart and taking up space in front of her. When she could hold the aura no longer, she groaned as she broke free, growing the pie and its tin as big around as an above ground swimming pool.

Barely able to wipe the sweat from her brow with the tip of her hoof, Flurry licked her lips; the rim of the pie tin reached up to her chest, leaving her mouth watering at the ample amount of dessert. “*Hic-hilp*, oh yeah, this was a great idea. Can I even finish, *hic-hilp*, all this? *Mmm*, I’m gunna get so fat.”

Pulling herself up to the rim of the pie, she leaned in face first, gobbling up heaps of whipped cream and custard. Her throat filled with a constant stream of sweet debris, as if consuming it all straight from a funnel. The aluminum tin crinkled under the weight of her body as she pulled herself within, licking up even the slightest crumb of pie crust. She huffed through her nostrils with labored breath. Her rapid glutting and the strain of more food stretching her overburdened stomach left her with an intoxicating sense of euphoria.

The malleable texture of the giant pie lent itself well for Flurry Heart’s figure. With every inch she budged crawling further into the pie tin, her plot and the rolls on her back wobbled with liquid-like consistency. The coat of lard padding her body grew so thick that additional rolls and folds began forming on top of each other. Slight movements sent rippling waves across the surface of her blubber, teetering her in different directions, forcing her to try and not roll onto her sides. Though her added fat steadily enveloped her lush forelegs and head, the princess remained oblivious while diligently gorging.

Halfway through with the pie, the discomfort of Flurry’s swollen gut gradually ramped up. At intervals, she would stop her feasting just to murmur from the pain. As brilliant as she thought it was to increase the pie’s size, she underestimated just how filling it would actually be. Each slosh and hiccup felt like somepony pounded against her stomach from the inside. It’s burbling and gurgling was like a cauldron of bubbling stew that occasionally boiled over; even swallowing was becoming a chore. Yet, she continued eating all that she could, determined to exceed her limits as much as possible.

After about an hour of pushing herself, the last crumb of pie and cream staining her fur was finally lapped up and swallowed. Filling the inside of the massive pie tin, Flurry moaned from the intense fullness. Her once enamored and sloppy grin over her pleasure of the feast was now a frown of total exhaustion. Her forelegs and jaws were sore from their constant use. The rolls of fat around her head and front hooves swallowed them further into her lard laden body, nearly devouring her remaining appendages. Unable to see her surrounding body past her multiple rolls of neck fat, she could only feel its vast blob-like visage by feeling where her gut rubbed against the floor, the pool of indigested gorge sloshing within her, and the positions of where the rolls of her body squished against one another.

“*Ooogh*, so, *hic-hilp*, full. *Hnng*, feels like I’m, *uugh*, gunna, *orp*, explode. *Guh*, gosh…Flurry, *hic-hilp*, *ooo*, you’re such…a whale.”

Making an effort to wiggle her spindly hooves, her fat forelegs prevented her from so much as feeling her own blubber. She closed her eyes, trying to focus beyond the pain of her gut in order to enjoy how much her vast blubber wobbled and squished against itself. But the discomfort of her overburdened gut proved far too great. Determined to fill her stomach to the absolute brink, she thought feeling this intensely full would have brought her far more pleasure than any other feast she had.

“I know…I’ll love this more, *hic*, *oof*, once I…feel less full, *huff*.”

Happy with her progress, the princess arduously leaned herself forward, barely managing to place both her front hooves onto the floor. It had been a successful night of glutting herself to absolute fullness, stretching the capacity of her gut just a little more for her upcoming birthday feast. Pulling herself toward the doorway, she didn’t think of how she’d possibly manage to fit herself through. Instead, she wryly smiled at the inkling of a thought of how much fatter she’d be on that bountiful day.

Pulling herself a few inches forward, her eyes were suddenly drawn back to the food cart, and the solitary bucket of ice cream still sitting atop of it. As if on cue, a fierce burbling erupted from the pit of her gut. Her mighty belch bellowed throughout the room, but more importantly, her painful fullness had somewhat alleviated. Feeling a pocket of empty space within her belly, the temptation to fill it up once more overruled all of her other pleading senses to simply rest and digest.

“*Hic-hilp*, it’s just, *mmff*, half full…anyway. This won’t, *hnnf*, take long.”

Flurry Heart magically floated both the bucket and spell book over to her, sloppily grinning at having one final feast. She casted the same enlarging spell as she did with the pie, wincing from the strain. The bucket rapidly ballooned itself, filling the space between her and the doorway. By the time she stopped, it grew both taller and wider than her own blubbery visage.

Licking her lips, she pulled herself toward the bucket, pushing herself against it to help her stand more upright. Unable to reach the top rim, she enveloped herself with her own magical aura, groaning just to levitate her whale-like mass off the ground. Inch by inch, she floated toward the bucket opening, managing to barely reach inside with her enveloped hooves. Squinting her eyes, she saw the half filled pool of ice cream inside the bucket, partly melted but still lip smackingly rich. Pulling part of her upper body within, she lowered herself little by little just to get within mouths reach of the ice cream.

Having used more magic today than she ever had in her life, her horn pulsated like a sore muscle, until the fatigue caused it to finally shut down. Free from her aura, the gravity of her weight barreled her straight into the bucket, dipping her inside with a splash and pressing her cheek against the bucket’s bottom. Not having taken a breath before diving, Flurry frantically attempted to pull herself back to the surface along the bucket wall. The rest of her blubberous body filled up the bucket’s empty space, raising the fill level of the ice cream higher. Her head broke through to the surface, but her mouth only broke halfway, having her choke on ice cream after taking a breath. She tried to pull herself higher, but the mass of her rear and her bunched up back rolls pinned her against the bucket’s sides, effectively making her stuck. Wiggling her body and splashing her hooves, the princess wailed in terror as she drowned in her own ice cream.

“Help, *blrblblb*! Some…pony, *blrblblrblb*, help…me!”

Flurry screamed with her final breath before ice cream poured into her lungs, taking for granted the precious air she so desperately needed to enter her mouth rather than more food. On the brink of passing out, a flash of pink magical light filled her darkening eyes. The bucket around her instantly vanished, pouring the pool of half melted ice cream onto the carpeted floor, as well as Flurry’s blubbery body. Fur stained and coughing uncontrollably, she fought desperately to catch her breath. Wincing from the pain of each cough and blinking the blurriness from her eyes, she looked up to meet the fearsome gaze of both of her parents.

“M-mom, *cough*, dad…I…I—.”

“This has all gone far enough, Flurry Heart.” Princess Cadance spoke with a stern tone, showing an anger and pang of disappointment that went far beyond her usual scoldings. While Flurry was usually able to brush off her mother’s rants like water on a duck with a sneer on her face, the fire in her eyes burned through any sort of playful confidence she might have had. These were eyes she had never seen from her mother before.

Cadance continued. “You father and I have been very lenient with you and your insatiable need to stuff your face. We’ve widened the doorways, strengthened the furniture, and allowed you to indulge yourself to this obscene degree, but still, that wasn’t enough. Now you’re putting your own life in danger just to eat more.”

“M-mom…it-it’s not like that.”

“You were drowning in a giant bucket of ice cream! I saw it myself! You’re just lucky your father and I came running down the hall after we heard you screaming for help!”

“What were you thinking, sweetheart,” said Shining Armor with a fatherly tone. “What would have happened if we hadn’t come back when we did?”

Flurry Heart’s eyes built up with tears; the horror of it all finally weighing down on her. “I’m, *sniff*, I’m sorry. That…that wasn’t supposed to, *sniff*, happen. I…I didn’t think—.”

Cadance’s horn glowed with magic, cleaning up the ice cream off the carpet and on her daughter’s fur. “Just look at the state you’re in. You’re out of control, little miss. It’s my fault for not imagining the lengths you’d go just to overeat, and I won’t make that mistake again.”

Vanishing the cart, giant pie tin, and plates from the room, Cadance returned her spellbook back to her book case, sealing the entire case in an aura of powerful magic that only she could access. “As of now,” she continued, “you will be placed on a strict diet. That means no more cake, pies, ice cream, or donuts. Furthermore, you’ll join your father every morning for an exercise routine, and lose all this weight you’ve gone obsessed with.”

“No,” Flurry pleaded, “please, mom. I’m sorry, okay? I swear I’ll never do this again.”

“Lastly…your birthday celebration is canceled. You won’t have so much as a nibble of dessert next week.”

Flurry gasped with abject horror, feeling as if a dagger wedged itself in her heart from her mother’s words. “No, you can’t do that! That’s not fair! It’s my birthday! Dad, please!”

“Sorry, Flurry Heart,” Shining Armor shook his head, “but it’s for your own good.”

“No,” shouted Flurry, “you can’t do this! I made one mistake, and I said I was sorry! You can’t force me to lose weight and you can’t stop me from gaining!”

“So help me Flurry Heart, we are going to get through to you,” Cadance stomped her hoof, her voice bellowing like booming thunder and her wings expanded with full fury. “And if this is the only way, so be it!”

Turning her back to her daughter, Cadance stepped out of the room, followed by Shining Armor, who closed the door behind him. Flurry nestled into her own blubbery arms, tears streaming down her neck rolls as she sobbed quietly to herself. Her head was a whirlwind of emotions, saddened by her punishments, her mother’s rage, her father’s disappointment, and her own fear of what might have happened had they not come in time. She tried pushing the latter out of her head, unable to decide which of the other three hurt the most. Regardless, the young princess cried until her eyes could no longer produce tears, forcing her to whimper pitifully until the sun shined through the skylight window.

* * * * *

The next week came, and not so much as a single balloon, party streamer, or slice of cake was visible on Flurry Heart’s birthday. Even as the princess roamed the streets, ponies wished her a happy birthday, but were forbidden to give her any gifts or treats due to royal decree. The alicorn pouted, head pounding with annoyance at the two castle guards made to shadow her every move to prevent her from sneaking any sweets or eating outside of her routine set by her parents. Her body sore from exercise, stomach starved from her diet, and unable to sneak any sort of dessert with the guards hounding her, it was without a doubt the worst birthday ever.

She returned to the spot she last found the fortune teller, relieved to still see her purple tent wedged between the alleyway. Unfortunately, her week of dieting did very little to trim the increase in weight she had put on in the month since her last visit. She stood at the end of the alleyway, guards standing sentinel behind her, ready to strike at the nearest dessert that sets a hoof near her.

“Madam Ruby,” Flurry called out, “Hello, Madam Ruby! I need to talk to you! It’s about my fortune!”

An ominous wind blew down the alleyway from the tent’s direction, fluttering the brown beads that veiled the open entrance. “Come in,” called a voice from within the tent, “come in my child.”

Flurry raised an eyebrow, feeling the old mare’s voice was somehow a little deeper than before. It’s tone was reminiscent of a hissing snake, sending a shiver through her blubbery fur as if touched by its cold breath. “Um…I can’t. It’s kinda…too tight.”

Suddenly, a howl of wind burst from the inside of the tent, throwing open the flaps and revealing an abyss of blackness from the inside. Dark shadows engulfed the entire alleyway from wall to wall as shadowy tendrils lunged at the princess. Unable to wobble back in time, they wrapped around her corpulent body and limbs, pulling her into the maw of the tent with such ferocity she couldn’t help but yelp with fright. Entering the blackness, she was soon thrust onto a purple carpeted floor, having entered what appeared to be a tented bedroom complete with wardrobe, a chest, a supper table, some luggage, and numerous ghostly green candles floating in mid air and illuminating the room.

“My apologies, princess,” Madam Ruby stood over her, muzzle protruding from her dark hood but this time with the proper voice Flurry remembered. “The spirits can be a bit rough when handling other ponies. Welcome to my home.”

“Princess! Princess Flurry Heart!”

The muffled voices of the guards could be heard from outside the tent. Flurry stood herself up, still baffled by the type of magic that made such a small tent on the outside so incredibly roomy on the inside. “It’s alright you two, I’m okay! Just…wait for me, I’ll be out in a bit!”

“Oh, and by the way, happy birthday princess.” The mare presented Flurry with a paper plate, and on it, a hefty slice of chocolate cake with purple and green buttercream frosting. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Flurry needed no second bidding. With ravenous hunger she snatched the plate from the mare, shoving the cake in her mouth and stuffing it down her gullet with two hooves. The delectable taste was like that of heaven, a forbidden fruit that tasted all the more sweeter after a week without a bite. “Mmm, so good. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I see you’re, ‘stature,’ has increased since last we met. It appears the spirit’s vision is coming to pass.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Something happened last week and my parents ended up putting me on a diet, and are forcing me to exercise. My legs are killing me from all the walking dad’s making me do, and mom won’t even let me add even a speck of sugar in my cereal. Today’s my birthday, and yours is the only cake I’ve had at all. Believe it or not, I’ve actually lost weight this week, and I can’t stand it. I’m starving and I worked so hard to get so fat, I don’t want to lose it all. You said I’d have many feasts to come, but at this rate, I’ll wither away before I get to the next one, whenever that is.”

“Hmmm,” the mare tapped her chin with a hoof. “It would seem in knowing your fortune, you have traveled off the destined path to reach it. Your birthday celebration was to be a stupendous occasion, yet, your current size is certainly more than what you were at the start of my vision.”

“Please, Madam Ruby. Help me. What do I got to do to get to the grand feast, tell me.”

The princess laid on her belly before the mare, pleadinging bringing her hooves together. The mare smiled, lifting up Flurry’s head by the tip of her hoof cradled under her double chin. “Fret not, my child. There is still hope to bring about the grand feast. Wait here a moment.”

Flurry Heart stood back up, watching the mare walk over to her luggage and rummage through it. She returned with a crystal ball, a small orange size orb resembling the one she used for telling fortunes. “Here, take this,” she placed it in Flurry’s outstretched hooves, “I will be gone for some time, but with this I’ll be able to communicate with you wherever you are. It may be possible to return you on your destined path filled with feasts and fattening, but you’ll have to do as I say. Exactly…as I say, understand?”

Flurry felt unnerved by her change of tone. “I…understand. But why—.”

“The spirits have no patience for idle questioning, my dear. They shall help only if you shall listen. Hesitate too long, and they’ll take their leave, and with it, any pathway leading to your grand feast.”

Licking a trickle of saliva from the corner of her lips, Flurry looked to the orb with a deprived sense of longing. Her stomach growled, irritable at being denied the excess sustenance it so rightfully deserved on this particular day. She passionately clutched the orb, inflamed by the hope of still being able to enjoy potential future feasts with the right guidance.

“Okay, I’ll do it. I promise I’ll listen to everything.”

“Oh, I know you will, my dear. I know you will. Now, off you go. I must finish packing for my departure right away. You will hear from me very soon.”

The mare guided Flurry to the back of the tent, pulling back a tent flap to reveal a curious wooden door. “Thank you so much, Madam Ruby. Oh, and thanks again for the cake.”

“My pleasure, princess. Happy birthday.”

The door opened to reveal the outside of the street. Before Flurry Heart can assess how she’d squeeze through the doorframe, the mare pushed her out by her flank; the edges of the door frame felt as if they were never there, passing her through and onto the street as if she were a ghost. The door shut behind her, and turning, Flurry noticed she had exited an abandoned building just two buildings down from the alleyway. Opening the door, she was mystified to find nothing by the dilapidated remains of an empty room of what looked to have once been a library, with an odd lingering scent of incense like that of the burner above the mare’s tent.

Down the street, the two castle guards spotted her and ran toward her. Using her magic, she quickly floated the orb to her back and tucked it under one of her dainty wings, hiding it from sight. Filled with hope, she waddled down the street with a smile. Her optimism helped satiate her starved stomach with a promising future, so long as she listened to the mare. As crummy as today was for the princess, Madam Ruby’s orb and the hope of the feasts to come with it, was the best birthday gift she had received that day.