Bloated Buggos Burst their Barding

 

---

 

"Pull it TIGHTER, worm!"

 

"Nnngh...yes, Your Majesty!"

 

Queen Chrysalis grumbled as the two drones on either side of her worked. A corset of precious star spider silk, onyx black with luminous blue stitching, was currently stretched around her barrel. Hooves fumbled against her back as they struggled to cinch the garment closed.

 

"There!" cried a drone as the last tie was knotted. "All finished, My Queen!"

 

Chrysalis huffed and turned her gaze to the bedchamber mirror. The elegant garment was painfully tight, the fabric stretched drum-taut around her middle. As she gazed, the queen released the breath she had been holding.

 

The painful tightness of the corset increased. A sharp tearing noise filled the room as the silk stitching tore and parted. A moment later the garment's ties came undone, and the ruined corset fell to the floor. There was a soft blorp as the queen's green-banded belly surged forwards, jiggling as it sagged below her and squished into her legs.

 

Queen Chrysalis stared at the mirror in shock as the corset failed. Her lips peeled back as her face contorted with anger, and a growl of rage escaped her throat. Sparks of green energy crackled around her spired horn. The two drones who had dressed her fled the room in terror.

 

Gradually, the changeling queen regained her composure, exhaling slowly and dispelling her magic. Advisor Cellia, who had been watching from afar, stepped forward, ready to offer condolences to her queen.

 

Chrysalis frowned as she examined her reflection. Ruining her sculpted figure had NOT been a part of the plan. Her frown contorted into a scowl of disgust as she took in the swollen roundness of her gut. For the past week she'd been putting on weight at an alarming rate - she could no longer suck in her plumpened barrel, and now a corset failed to hide it! Her bony flanks were now soft and thick, wider than even the chunkiest of earth ponies, with an alarming habit of jiggling when she walked.

 

"HOW? How did this happen, Cellia?" Chrysalis asked frustratedly. "How did my beautiful figure become buried under so much fat? I must be fatter than even that sow Celestia!"

 

"I-it's the heart, My Queen," her advisor answered. "You must be absorbing more love from it than your magic can dispel. It might be a problem for the drones, too. If you could look over these quotas for the storage caverns-"

 

"Ugh. Later," Chrysalis said. She had just noticed the beginning of a double chin forming below her muzzle. "For now, I must find a way to expel this unwanted weight and return to normal!"

 

Cellia gently cleared her throat. "You majesty, perhaps we should part ways with the Crystal Heart?" the changeling chirped. "At least temporarily...we have more than enough love stored to-"

 

Chrysalis silenced her with a wave of her hoof. "Unthinkable! The Heart is mine by right of conquest. I'd NEVER abandon such a vast source of power!"

 

"Oh. Well, perhaps a little exercise? Some of the scouts have been holding races to burn off-"

 

"The Queen of the Changelings does NOT need EXERCISE!" the plump changeling bellowed, nose scrunching as she bared her fangs. Cellia cowered as Queen Chrysalis sauntered around the chamber ranting to herself. Her banded belly swayed like a blubbery pendulum, while her pillowy rump bounced and wobbled in rhythm with her gut.

 

"I'm more powerful now than ANY changeling before me! We've enough love stored to last decades! I just...need to find a way to expend this excess is all..."

 

"Military exercises?" her advisor suggested timidly. "Drilling the hive for battle could expend our energy."

 

"Drills?" Chrysalis stopped in her tracks and pondered. "Yes...an attack! No, an INVASION! Of course! With our newfound power, this is the perfect moment to CONQUER EQUESTRIA!"

 

Cellia gulped, smiling nervously as her queen let loose a villainous cackle. "Come, Cellia. There is much for you to do! A full inventory of drones and equipment must be taken. New armor and weapons shall be made for everyling! Battle tactics and magic must be rehearsed!"

 

Chrysalis sighed dreamily, her eyes glowing with mirth. "Oh, our conquest will be glorious...the greatest triumph over ponykind in generations..."

 

---

 

The military review was off to a slow start.

 

Preparations for the queen's invasion of Equestria had proceeded at a record pace until now. Wagons and sleds were packed to overflowing with stored love, weapons and supplies. The changeling artificiers had tested and perfected a surfeit of new, powerful spells to batter down pony fortifications and shield spells. The hive's armorers had worked frenetically to produce a thousand new sets of battle armor - helmets, peytrals and flanchards of gleaming blue metal, deadly spiked shoulder and hoof plates, and caparisons of sturdy chitin mail. No drone army in the hive's history had ever been so well-armed and armored.

 

The troubles began as they were mustered for battle. The queen's affliction of excess weight had been slowly spreading across the hive. Each day overfed changelings awoke to find themselves a bit softer. Round potbellies thickened the barrels of all but the most active drones. Love energy from the Crystal Heart was accumulating faster than the hive could store or expend it.

 

So when the call to assemble in the great hall, the swarm rushed to grab their new weapons and armor, but had great difficulty equipping them. Love-plumpened drones found that the new barding barely fit around their softened rumps. Soldiers struggled to belt plates and mail around their chubby new tummies. The armorers were beset with requests for wider fittings and looser straps.

 

Finally the changelings had squeezed themselves into their gear and mustered for review. Drones chittered excitedly as they stood in close formation, their chatter punctuated by grumbles of discomfort as the heavy armor pinched against their flanks and dug into their rounded barrels.

 

The drones turned and snapped to attention at the sound of armored hoofsteps and clanking armor. Queen Chrysalis waddled into view atop the great hall's balcony, illiciting the usual cheers from below. It had taken over an hour for her guards to squeeze her into the elaborate full barding she had commissioned for the invasion. Her head was adorned with an obsidian-black helm, richly patterned with inlaid silver and gemstones. Flexible metal crinieres connected it to a thick peytral plate around her chest, also inlaid with silver and polished to a gleaming shine. The set's matching croupiere had had to be repeatedly widened to fit around the queen's fattened flanks. A coat of thick chitin mail was cinched tight around her love-bloated belly, which bulged out her sides and hung nearly down to her knees.

 

Chrysalis struggled against the painful tightness of her barding. Sweat dampened her brow, and her legs were aching under the weight of so much heavy armor. But the sight of her army filled her with smug satisfaction. Ignoring the discomfort, the haughty queen held her head high and launched into her pre-invasion speech. "My dear subjects!" she crowed. "The time has come to put our great bounty to work! The Crystal Heart has made us stronger than any other changeling hive in history! We are now UNSTOPPABLE!" The assembled drones reacted with a confident cheer.

 

"With our newfound strength, we shall march on Canterlot! The pitiful ponies shall fall before us, and we shall soon rule ALL OF EQUESTRIA!" The cheers crescendoed into a roar of approval. Queen Chrysalis smiled smugly as she signaled to several drones in the chamber's upper balcony.

 

"Behold, the instrument of our victory!" she called out with a flourish.

 

At her signal, the Crystal Heart was lowered from the ceiling, bathing the great hall with blue-white light. The changelings cheered as they felt a familiar tinge of warm love energy wash over them. Chrysalis grinned ear to ear with glee. With so much power, victory over ponykind would be assured. Equestria would be HERS!

 

As the queen gloated, the tenor of the room began to change. The drones' cheers dwindled, replaced by gasps and grumbles of discomfort, then moans of pain. The room echoed with the squeaks and rasps of armor fittings. An undertone of gurgling rumbles emanated from the packed chamber floor.

 

What? What is happening? the queen mumbled to herself in angry confusion. A wet gurgle arose from within her own gut. She winced as her heavy armor grew tighter. Green eyes gazed upwards at the shining beacon of the Crystal Heart. A nervous realization set in. Oh no...

 

A loud SNAP sang out from the front row. Chrysalis looked down to spy a drone captain, muzzle scrunched with effort as he struggled to remain at attention. A second SNAP was heard as the straps fastening his flanchard in place came apart. The back armor piece clattered to the floor, taking his mail shirt and croupiere with it. The captain gasped with relief as his plump belly surged out an extra inch.

 

A chorus of snaps, clatters and gasps of relief filled the great hall as the changeling soldiers, feeding on love from the radiant Crystal Heart, began popping out of their armor. Swelling bellies tore through mail shirts and burst apart fastening straps. Thickening flanks deformed and forced apart croupieres. Discipline collapsed as the drones broke ranks, falling onto their sides or haunches to massage their swollen barrels. The remaining soldiers tore off their chest and rear armor pieces, freeing their chubby bodies from the painfully tight uniforms.

 

Queen Chrysalis watched in horror and fury as her invasion force fell apart. The pain of her own armor was becoming unbearable as the warmth of fresh love welled within her. Creaks and groans came from everywhere as it failed to contain her own swelling bulk. The changeling grit her teeth and held her breath, unable to speak, legs wobbling as she struggled to maintain composure. If she could just hold it together...restore discipline...

 

Lightheadedness finally forced her to exhale. With a series of loud SNAPS her chitin mail coat burst apart. The queen's love-stuffed belly GLORPED as it sloshed and surged outwards, now hanging inches above the floor. Her ornate croupiere cracked and clattered to the floor as her blubbery rump surged outwards, dimpling and sagging over her thickened thighs. Bits of metal plate and fasteners fell around her as the ruined armor fell to pieces.

 

Chrysalis stood mortified, her face flushed underneath her helmet. Her massive army lay scattered before her amidst piles of ruined armor and discarded weapons. Her ego deflated even as she felt her gut slowly swelling beneath her.

 

"Um, you majesty?" Advisor Cellia whispered from the edge of the balcony. The drone was mercifully allowed to remain unarmored, save for her helmet and a cape stretched around her own voluminous potbelly.

 

Chrysalis turned her head to look at her plump advisor, as if seeing Cellia clearly for the first time in days. Recovering her composure somewhat, the queen glanced back and cast her magic, grasping the Crystal Heart and hurriedly levitating it up and out of the great hall. The moans and groans of the changelings began to subside as the love of the Heart grew fainter.

 

Chrysalis gulped, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Right...have every soldier return their gear to the armories. Then have every drone report for love storage duty. Our invasion is postponed. I must...recalculate our strategy..."

 

The changeling queen turned and hurriedly waddled offstage, cringing as she felt her love-bloated barrel and flanks wobble. Cellia was left alone to restore order and convey the queen's commands to the captains. She did her best to project confidence, despite the absurdness of what had just happened. Surely Queen Chrysalis had a plan...