The Buffet At Galaxy's Edge - Chapter 1
Constructed originally in 15.126 EST (Equestrian Standard Time), Way Station 687 was originally built as a safe harbour for passing ships delving further and further into the unexplored reaches of space around the galaxy. However as time moved on and more was explored, like many Way Station’s, number 687 was repurposed for a different kind of patron, now that it was used more like a place to rest up rather than actually stop. Officially, it was renamed Service Station 311 as per naming conventions of the Transit Authority, but most regulars and ponies who made visits knew it as Galaxy’s Edge.
‘PRESSURE NORMALISED. WELCOME TO SERVICE STATION 311.’
Cloudy Daze sighed, every time she set hoof on the station that message played. She’d have thought the owners might have actually bothered to update it by now, but it did the job. She knew where she was which was all she cared about, the message was somewhat redundant.
The airlock doors slid open slowly, turning around she took a quick glance at her ship through the large, square windows that ran along the docking port. There was a small circular terminal just to her right, the mare pressed a hoof on the lower ring of it to summon the ship assistant AI that had become hooked into the ships systems once she had moored. There was a brief flicker as a 3D representation of a stallion who looked like he belonged in a garage, complete with tools and all appeared before her. You’d only know he wasn’t real by the fact he had come from nowhere...and the light blue, see through appearance of him.
‘A warm welcome to SERVICE STATION 311! I’m Fixer Upper, your all in one ship mechanic! My scans of your ship tell me you’re CLOUDY DAZE! Captain of the RIFT CUTTER. Is that correct!?’
‘Correct.’ Cloudy was never much amused by this AI, other stations had better and more up to date ones. It was a little dated by...a few thousand years she guessed. But it worked, most of the time. It always amused her it would robotically shout names it picked up from the database rather than say them naturally. Probably the best who programmed it could do at the time.
‘Thank you!’ There was a brief pause and the AI turned from blue to red. A small loading bar appeared in front of his nose as it analyzed her ship. He turned back to blue once finished. ‘Your ship, the RIFT CUTTER, looks to be in good shape! You have FIFTY SEVEN percent fuel remaining! Your PORT INJECTION MANIFOLD and EMERGENCY PLANETARY LANDING GEAR has not been serviced for over THREE HUNDRED SIXTY days! I have scanned your ship’s computer and interfaced with your own AI and it tells me - ‘Just refuel me you ancient piece of garbage. Oh my Celestia you’re still running the same software as last time. Tell your owners to upgrade you already.’ - Is this acceptable?!’
Cloudy chuckled. Sounded about right as the response. ‘Yes that’s acceptable. Refuel only please.’
‘Affirmative! Have a nice stay on SERVICE STATION 311!’ the AI chirped, and shut off from the terminal. Cloudy watched as a fuel pump appeared from nearby and hooked up to her ship. There was a small beep from her wrist, the mare sported a small contact device that linked to her ship’s AI. She held it up and a mini-projection, much like the station AI appeared, just much cleaner looking. It was also in full colour, resembling a robotic pony it stood on the device looking unamused.
‘You really need to tell the owners to upgrade that piece of garbage. It’s software is several centuries out of date, you’re lucky I’m not malicious. I could practically take over the station. Although I think I am always more annoyed it can’t say the common station name rather than the Transit Authority one.’ it said sarcastically.
Cloudy smiled looking at Missy. Best AI she had ever bought, extremely clever and quite advanced. It was a little bit of a personal secret how she’d picked it up. A story for a drunken night around a deep space bar. ‘I will Missy, but you know what they’re like. If they haven’t changed it by now they won’t. You’ll just have to put up with it whenever we make a stop.’
‘Just try.’ was all it said before vanishing. The name Missy had been of its own choosing, usually AI asked you to name them. But this one had chosen Missy. Cloudy had stuck with it, it fitted her somewhat haughty nature. They got along fine though, never a problem and Missy took good care of the Rift Cutter.
Galaxy’s Edge was always a bit of an enigma to Cloudy despite knowing the place reasonably well. She had just happened to stop here on a shipping run one time on a piece of advice from a stranger that it was a good place to eat. The mare was always looking for somewhere cheap and easy and supposedly this offered all that. Quite often the service stations were full, or had a wait. The shipping lanes were getting so crowded these days. Not like when she started.
Luckily, Galaxy’s Edge always had a free docking bay and the pony who had told her about it was right. Some of the cheapest and best food around. From what she had gleaned talking to locals who stopped here far more than her, they basically poured all their money into the food and little else to actually maintain the station itself. That’s why the AI was ancient and occasionally the artificial gravity stopped functioning as well as other issues. Cloudy thought back to that time her soup had floated away in a large, wobbling bubble. Then the gravity had kicked back in and it had descended right on top of her mane. It had smelled like carrots and other veggies for weeks.
She made her way down the corridor she was currently in to the restaurant...buffet...diner. It was a bit of a mad mix really. What was also mad was the weight of some of the customers, including Cloudy. It was fair to say she had put on a few hundred pounds since she had started stopping here. Each time she left, the number only went upwards. Cloudy’s space suit was now up to an XL (with added patented fabri-stretch technology) that meant she still had some wiggle room, but she was already looking into XXL ones.
The large, incredibly hefty doors to the main eating area were always open. Originally built to withstand a siege, you know, just in case. It made sense that the area you could fortify was the most central part of the station. She entered and a blue beam that looked like a semi-transparent rope passed through her body. A different AI appeared this time, one slightly newer than the one back at the docks.
‘Welcome Cloudy Daze! It’s been 34 days since your last visit! Shall I open a tab?’
‘Please. To cover everything.’ Cloudy replied.
‘No problem! Would you like a bill at the end?’ it asked.
‘No thanks, just take the money from my account.’ Cloudy said. She didn’t like that feature, once she had looked at the bill and then the itemised list of everything she had eaten and promptly opted never to again. It had a scroll bar.
The one thing however she could always count on was that the place was busy but also friendly. Cloudy wasn’t a super regular per se, but she could generally count on running into a friendly, fatty face. She often sat at the smallest all you can eat bar. She liked it because it still had a menu and you were served personally, rather than food coming on a conveyor. There were also hoses for those who just particularly wanted to gain as much as they could. As Cloudy approached, she could already see several ponies with hoses hooked up to their muzzles. A few immobile ones. Cloudy wasn’t quite there yet, she still managed to actually sit on a seat (which appeared from out the floor when she pressed a button at the bar) and talk to others. She chose a spot towards the end, slightly away from the blobs only interested in packing on the pounds.
‘Hey Cloudy, been a while.’ a stallion she had taken her seat next to spoke, looking over towards her and putting his bowl down.
‘Oh hey Scutter, how’s it going?’ Cloudy replied. Of course Scutter wasn’t his real name, Cloudy didn’t care to ask it. She saw him maybe a few times a year and it was a nickname that had just stuck. He didn’t complain either.
‘Same old same old, I’m on a nanocarbon run this time. Just wanted to make a stop. You?’
‘Yeah, polycarbonates for me. Just wanted something better than ship food.’ she replied.
‘I hear that.’ Scutter was slightly larger than Cloudy, he didn’t use a seat. Just stood, using his stomach for support. He was still mobile but clearly starting to struggle. Fat rolls were beginning to dominate his face which Cloudy made a comment on.
‘A few new rolls I see.’
‘Ah yeah, I hit four digits on the scale last month would you believe. Really starting to show heh.’ he said with a smile, picking his bowl back up. ‘Might even try a hose next visit.’
‘Careful with those, next thing you know they’ll be rolling you out of here.’ Cloudy chuckled.
‘One can only hope. You’ll be out of that chair soon, in fact your butts almost too big for that stool.’ he replied, Cloudy did feel as though her large flanks were somewhat overtaking it. Perhaps this might be the last time she sat down on one.
The space was large, Cloudy had a look over her shoulder to get a feel for the place. Sometimes she forgot just how many eateries were staffed by AI and service bots. There were ponies of varying sizes all over the main concourse. Most were just consumed by eating, not paying much attention to their surroundings. Just the food in front of them.
Ponies who visited the station were certainly well, large. There was no hiding it. It seemed to spur from Galaxy’s Edge this phenomenon, quite often Cloudy got comments from other ponies when she had made a cargo drop off or something else quite a distance away on her size and how unusual it was. Here though, it was normal, in fact she was one of the smaller ponies on the station right now.
There was another reason she had chosen this bar to eat at. It was the original one that the owners, two older ponies who still preferred to serve their customers in a now slightly dated but traditional style. As the popularity of the station grew they had been forced to introduce the AI and service bots because they couldn’t do it all themselves (this also explained the somewhat run-down nature of some of the parts of the station itself) but they made it work. Whilst a lot of ponies came here for the food, Cloudy came here for the chat, the friendly owners and well, also the food. She caught their attention and a mare made her way over to her.
‘Cloudy! Another polycarbonates run?’ came the question.
‘You know it Freezy.’ she replied. Again Freezy was a nickname. The mare’s name was Frozen Treat but Freezy was easier. Nicknames in general were just easier. Sometimes Cloudy wondered why they had full names at all. ‘Just on a stopover, can I get some food?’
‘Sure what would you like? Menu is in the usual place.’ Freezy replied. Cloudy just nodded. She looked past Freezy to the wall behind where all the usual offerings were displayed for her to choose from.
‘One of everything, just bring it a dish at a time so it doesn’t go cold.’ Cloudy said.
‘Don’t think I’ve seen you order one of everything before.’ Scutter said, taking a moment from his gorging to almost applaud Cloudy on her choice.
‘Well, it was gonna happen some time.’ Freezy said with a grin. ‘Girl’s getting big, she’ll outdo you for size soon Scutter.’
‘Don’t count on it, I’m planning on moving to a hose next visit.’ came the gruff reply.
‘I’ll be right back, or one of the bots will bring it. As much as I love running the bar totally on my own even I get overwhelmed.’ Freezy confessed. She vanished into the kitchen, with Cloudy waiting patiently for her first meal.
She took a glance over to the large, but somewhat dirty windows that looked out into deep space. The station was situated at a crossroads of sorts which is what made it a popular stopping point. Two well used shipping lanes criss-crossed nearby. Although you’d never know it from the vastness of space. Cloudy glanced out towards it, hardly able to see the specs that were ships floating by. There was one though which stuck out a little, larger than the rest. Looked like some kind of pleasure liner from a distance. The mare was slightly intrigued, an inquiry with Missy would give her something to do while waiting. She tapped her wrist device.
‘We’re refuelled, although don’t ask me where that muck came from. Barely burnable. You want something?’ Missy said.
‘Yeah, can you access the ships navigation system and tell me what that ship is way out there?’ Cloudy asked, holding the device aloft so Missy could put some eyes on it.
‘Oh I see. Just a moment.’ There was a pause as Missy vanished, then reappeared. ‘Well, it’s a ship and it isn’t a ship. Also it’s flight path is to dock with the station, but not in the usual docking port. If you lean around the bar a bit you’ll see what I mean when it gets closer.’ Missy replied.
‘How can it be a ship and not a ship?’ Cloudy queried.
‘You’ll see, it’ll be here in a few minutes anyway. Don’t forget about the AI!’ Missy said, vanishing. Cloudy just grinned, so like her to just up and vanish when she was done. She hadn’t even noticed the first portion of food had arrived. Her attention was brought back by an ‘Ahem.’ from Freezy.
‘Ah thanks. This looks great.’ Cloudy said. It was all the starters on the menu packed onto one large plate. She started to dig in.
‘Anything out there today catch your interest?’ Freezy asked.
‘Just one, whatever that is. My AI was a little vague and said I should see for myself.’ Cloudy replied. Freezy just gave her a smile that seemed to suggest she agreed with the AI.
‘You will see. It’s a regular.’ Freezy said.
‘Ohhhhhh, that explains the large ship. I suppose if they visit here they must be your biggest customer.’ Cloudy replied.
‘Well, you’re mostly right. Biggest customer for sure. We do have to be ready for them.’ Freezy answered, still being slightly vague. Cloudy stopped eating to sigh and show her frustration.
‘Ugh, you’re being vague too? Why can’t anypony just tell me what that ship is? I mean I’ll find out soon but someone can just say.’ she huffed.
‘It’s more a thing you need to see, you’ll get it then.’ Freezy replied. ‘Anyhow I’ll talk to you later dear, other customers to serve.’ she said, heading down the bar to make sure everypony was being looked after. Cloudy was still chewing through her mass starters when suddenly, the station lights dimmed and an alarm sounded. She was almost ready to waddle back to the Rift Cutter as fast as she could when Scutter grabbed her as she was just shifting off her seat.
‘Just wait. It’s to do with that ship.’ was all he said. Cloudy looked around, none of the other patrons seemed to have even taken notice of what was going on. Then there was an announcement over the station audio.
‘LARGE OBJECT APPROACHING.’
‘I mean that worries me.’ Cloudy said.
‘It’s a bug in the early warning system they still haven’t fixed. You know if asteroids or something are going to strike the station? It mistakes objects of large mass for that as well, it can’t differentiate.’ Scutter explained. ‘We’re in no danger.’
‘If you say so…’ Cloudy said, she went back to eating and watched as the ship approached. It was apparently on a course to dock close to the main dining area. Although nestled towards the middle of the station, it sat atop everything else to give a nice view of the surrounding stars. As the object approached, more things became visible.
The ship was...lumpy. The outer silver covering almost looked organic. It was sort of shaped like a ship but wasn’t one. What Cloudy could now make out was two large tanks strapped to the side of it, which as it got closer, detached and were guided alongside the main mass by booster rockets. The two tanks slowed as they approached the station, there was a light whump as they attached at docking ports and then seemed to idle. The object was still drawing nearer but slowing.
Then there was an extremely audible whirring noise, coming somewhere from the station's depths. As the object approached, a tube detached from just above the windows on course to connect with what appeared to be a small hole in the outer hull. This quickly vanished inside, the large ship now nearly on top of the station. Suddenly, Cloudy now with a better view of it right close up realised it wasn’t a ship at all.
‘That’s...a pony!?’ she gasped. Scutter just chuckled.
‘Yup. Heavy Haul. Biggest pony around. So massive they just launch a hose filled with her food and attach it straight into her maw, at least I assume so. You never see it actually attached on a broadcast. She stops here every couple of days. From what I hear she was a baroness who developed a serious love for eating. Then she found out about Galaxy’s Edge.’ Scutter explained. ‘Basically, she’s a blob strapped to rockets and two surplus tanks to keep eating from when she’s moving between places. To be that size…’ he trailed off, going back to his own meal - as if seeing the huge mass of Heavy Haul was inspiration to eat more.
Cloudy just stared in amazement, that was why the ‘hull’ was so lumpy. It wasn’t a hull at all. Heavy Haul was covered in some kind of suit that clearly stretched to meet her massive size and keep her from succumbing to the issue of being so large, you need to travel around space but clearly don’t fit in any ships. She immediately had questions of course.
‘Wait so, she just floats around, eating everything she can? How did this start again?’ she asked Scutter.
‘I already said, when she found Galaxy’s Edge. Was pretty big when she first came here, a good few thousand pounds. She’s now probably several million but nopony can weigh her clearly. I know the station is kinda run down but when it comes to feeding us, the owners were happy to install a feeding pipe so she can just dock and suck down what she wants. That’s that noise by the way, compressors pumping food down the tube.’ Scutter said. ‘Word is they even encouraged it.’
Cloudy was perplexed. She knew Galaxy’s Edge had a reputation for food. It was well known, but this was something else. She observed Heavy Haul. Even if she stayed all day she was likely unable to count the fat rolls that made up her body. Apart from a rough shape the mare hardly resembled a pony anymore. Was this what they were trying to achieve for all their customers? For what purpose? The station lights went dull again and the working TV screens flickered into life. Cloudy observed the tube connected to Heavy Haul retracted slightly. The purpose then became clear.
The screens showed an excessively blobby face, cheeks wider than Cloudy was and endless neck rolls, all illuminated by a small light. The face of Heavy Haul, covered in messy bits of food and only just about peeking out looked like it was struggling not to drown in the blubber that surrounded it. With great effort, the mare spoke into the camera.
‘UUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPP!’
There was a cheer from everyone in the room, even some words of encouragement. Clearly, it was common for Heavy Haul to show her satisfaction by starting with an immense belch. Cloudy watched as she started to speak, when she did so, everything wobbled.
‘Fellow Dinersh. Ash usuhual it ish my pleashure to shtop by…’
‘Why is she speaking like that?’ Cloudy whispered to Scutter.
‘I mean you would too if you had a lip as fat as your head causing a speech impediment.’ he replied.
‘Right…’ Cloudy said, she carried on listening to the broadcast.
‘...my wordsh are short but ash alwaysh, keep eating!’ she said. The end of her tiny speech was punctuated by another large belch, which got more applause and an increased consumption rate in the room. Cloudy noticed a far more audible smacking of lips. The tube reconnected and everything seemed to return to normal. She had finished her plate of food also. Freezy returned with mains, like the starter mostly piled on one large plate.
‘That’s the first of two, I’ll bring the next one when you’re done.’ she said, hardly batting an eyelid, but noticing that Cloudy seemed uncomfortable. ‘Oh right! Heavy Haul! Now you’ve seen her, quite a sight huh?’
‘I mean that may be understating it, I wasn’t aware ponies could get that large. She’s bigger than my ship!’ Cloudy replied.
‘Impressive ain’t it. And somehow, she just keeps going. Gotta give it to her, that girl can eat.’ Freezy said. Cloudy went into a perplexed silence. Her mind was racing at the sight of the gigantic blob still docked outside the window. She ate her mains rather quickly. Chomping and chewing down the meal with renewed gusto.
‘Freezy, I know I’ve still got a second plate to go but bring me the same order again.’ Cloudy said. This just solicited a smile from Freezy.
‘Coming right up Cloudy. Anything for you Scutter?’ she asked.
‘Aw heck, give me the hose, it’s time.I ain’t waiting until next visit!’ the stallion replied, not wanting to be outdone. This was just met with another smile as Freezy pressed a hidden button from under the bar and reached down, holding a hose which she then attached around Scutters face. The stallion was grinning from ear to ear.
‘It’s always a bit of a shock the first time, I’ll start you low and ramp up the food intake once you’re used to it.’ Freezy said, turning it on. Whilst chewing, Cloudy watched as a liquid filled the tube. When it hit his maw, she saw a slight panic on Scutter’s face as his gullet tried to cope with a sudden flow of food that he wasn’t used to that wouldn’t let up anytime soon, but he quickly settled into a rhythmic swallowing.
‘Hmmm, he took that better than most. Afraid you won’t be able to talk to him until he’s done.’ Freezy said. ‘You want one too?’
‘Just keep bringing me plates.’ Cloudy replied. Freezy just nodded and vanished off to get another order.
It was as if there was some sort of power over her. The need to eat and eat and eat. Cloudy kept on wolfing down as much of the food in front of her as she could. Not letting up even for a moment to catch a breath hardly. She could feel the pounds packing on as her belly pushed forward into the bar and her suit stretched out to accommodate her growing size. The material got tighter and tighter the more she ate. There were new flab rolls for it to cut into as fat formed with every bite she took. She looked down to her plate, which had just been re-filled. Already her vision was starting to be overtaken by her own pass as a freshly formed neck roll blorped out. Her ass had totally enveloped her seat, which was now just acting only to keep her in place, fat and hefty cheeks that she was now using as a seat instead. She tapped a button on the bar whilst she still had mobility, the seat retracting into the floor with a whump as it vanished.
‘More...please.’ Cloudy asked, trying not to forget her manners. She was determined to really eat. There would be a point when she’d need to start using her unicorn magic to levitate the food in, but she wasn’t quite there yet. It only came to mind as a now fattened hoof of hers brushed against her belly, she was still able to reach forward and pick up what was in front of her. With all this eating Cloudy was finding new realms of pleasure in the added size and she wanted more, more food, more fat, more everything. Her body was forming soft layers of blubber that felt wonderful and clearly (or at least her brain assumed so) the more of these layers and fat there was the better it would feel. She tried to imagine what Heavy Haul must feel like, buried in blubber that surrounded her very being. The feeling must be practically God-like.
The next sign she was really getting big was feeling her still straining suit and her own fat now start to touch Scutter next to her who was still on the hose. She was really enjoying the feeling when suddenly she felt his weight shift and there was a loud fwump! as the stallion tipped backwards onto the floor, having consumed so much he had passed into immobility. Useless legs wiggled about and a gigantic belly sloshed above him as he helplessly tried to move. Freezy had stopped by to drop off another plate and just summoned a helper robot, which scooped the now immobile Scutter up. Cloudy hardly noticed him go. All Freezy said was ‘A bit more than he could handle, we’ll get him back to his ship. More plates?’
‘Mmmm.’ was all Cloudy replied. She was about to take another bite when she heard her wrist device beeping. She had to search for it somewhat, it was in danger of being overtaken by fat. The mare let the strap out as far as it would go, bringing it back to her arms surface. Missy appeared.
‘You know I’ve been monitoring your food intake, you’ve eaten enough calories for what usually is three visits. What’s going on?’ she asked.
‘Gotta eat.’ was all Cloudy replied.
‘I can see that, at this rate you won’t fit back in the ship you know. At least not the conventional way. You’ll have to come in via the cargo hold.’ the AI responded.
‘I know but...I mean I don’t actually, I just gotta eat. I’ll see you later.’ Cloudy replied, magically ending the call. With Scutter gone, she had a lot more room to expand. She was about Scutter’s size pre-hose now. It seemed about the right point to ask for it. She had finished another plate.
‘More?’ Freezy asked.
‘Yes but...a hose. I can handle it.’ Cloudy replied. She watched as with the same smile, Freezy pulled a fresh hose out from behind the bar.
‘I assume you want it slow, Scutter had it set to that the entire time he was swallowing.’ Freezy said.
‘To start, yes, I’ll make a gesture if I want it higher.’ Cloudy said. Freezy just nodded and attached the hose around Cloudy’s face. There was a part of her mind that couldn’t believe she was really going for it like this, there was just some sort of nagging in the back of her head that said she had to do this, but wasn’t quite sure why. In any case, Cloudy watched with glee as the clear tube started to fill with the mixture, which promptly invaded her mouth.
It was well...lovely, clearly the mix was put together to be palatable for everypony. It tasted to Cloudy like breakfast, lunch and dessert all rolled into one meal. Yet it wasn’t disgusting as you’d expect three meals together to be. Like Scutter, she recoiled slightly at the first swallow. There was so much of it. But like he did, she found there to be a reasonable pattern to swallowing efficiently that meant she could easily stomach it. The mix was somewhat like a thin milkshake, so it was easy enough to swallow. Once the mare had gotten used to it, she observed exactly what it was doing to her body.
The suit she was wearing was really at its limit. She could feel the material was stretched tightly all over. As her body ballooned, it started to give her ass a wedgie as it desperately tried to stretch to accommodate her, but it was no good, the obvious was going to happen.
Shrrrriiiippppppppp!
With nowhere else to go, a number of rips formed near her belly and around her bloated ass cheeks as her body protested being imprisoned in the stretched fabric so much it decided to fight back. Cloudy felt relieved somewhat, although the tightness of the suit was nice, she was happy to be able to expand without restrictions. At least within reason. She made a motion to Freezy, who had returned in between serving customers to check on her.
‘Higher? Okay. I’ll put you up to medium.’ she replied, hitting another button.
Cloudy felt a surge, the flow increased. Her body churned, now the size of a small cart and growing the satisfied mare tried to move to feel her size, but realised she had now crossed that line into immobility, her useless legs and hooves now only good to caress any fat they were close to. Unlike Scutter, she had managed to keep going easily and didn’t feel overwhelmed by the sudden size increase. She could hear a beeping from Missy trying to contact her again, but her wrist contact device was now completely buried in her huge flabby arm, there was no way she was going to be able to answer.
Her body was expanding so quickly now, she could feel every part of her just becoming heavier...softer, bigger. Still with some mobility in her neck to be able to turn around and sneak a peek behind her, she could see two small mountains rising behind her. She had already felt her tail tuck into the cheeks and now she could see it completely vanishing between them, her stretching suit giving a wonderful curvy shape to her ass that made it appear like two perfect spheres. With what little motion Cloudy had left, she gave her hind legs some movement, feeling the fat of her two blubber filled cheeks protesting and squishing down on her legs. The mare nearly let out an audible wince of pleasure at the feeling. She decided to concentrate instead on the eating, if you could really call it that. It was more like drinking food.
What Cloudy wasn’t aware of was that she was being observed. As the station's biggest pony, Heavy Haul had access to the camera network and also a direct line to Freezy. She always enjoyed watching the patrons go into an eating frenzy after they saw her and heard her words, however it appeared one pony had really gone for it. More so than any other she had come across in all her visits. With a wink, she activated the communication line to the station and was put in touch with Freezy, disconnecting the hose of food from her mouth having stopped the flow.
‘Heavy? This is unusual, everything okay with the hose?’ Freezy asked. It was extremely rare to get a call, and usually one only came if there was a problem.
‘Yesh Freeshzy, fine. Who ish the mare at your bar?’ Heavy asked her. ‘Right at the end, I can shee her with a hose.’
‘Oh Cloudy Daze, she’s somewhat of a regular. Obviously not as much as you. I think honestly it’s just been unlucky she’s never been here when you have. She’s not much of an eater but something seems to have changed today. Never seen her want to eat so much she’s put on a few thousand pounds in one visit…’ Freezy replied.
‘Mmmmm…’ Heavy heard her ship sized gut rumble, even now more than a few moments away from being fed, it complained. ‘Keep feeding her, she clearly hash a big appetite, and you want more businessh yesh?’ Heavy said, reattaching the hose to her maw and letting the food flow once again. Her grumbling stomach subsided, but she was hopeful after some time they had finally found another that could help the station grow.
Meanwhile, Cloudy was doing plenty of growing of her own. The only thing holding her back at all was her suit, which was now starting to audibly creak as the material was starting to fail holding back the mountains of flab starting to spill forth. Micro-rips started to form all over it, eventually turning into larger ones that allowed portions of her rolls to push out from. Leaning forward using her enlarged stomach as a bed, even the tiniest movement of her flab-encased hooves caused the suit to buckle and strain. She concentrated on the liquid food entering her gullet, but her ears weren’t quite encased yet. That was when she heard it.
SHHHHHRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!
The suit split off her, right down the middle of her back. With the largest rip having formed right where her tail stuck out of it as it was already a weak point. With it gone, Cloudy was free to keep gaining. She saw however Freezy come back to her to check on her once more.
‘Just so you know, you’ve sucked down more of that stuff than I think you’ve ordered in all your visits here.’ Freezy started to say. ‘And you’re the first pony to actually split herself out of her suit.’ Freezy just watched as she saw Cloudy’s eyes motion upwards, no longer able to give a signal as her hooves had long vanished into her ever growing fat rolls. But the mare knew what she wanted.
‘Okay, maximum flow, I never took you for such a fat ass Cloudy.’ Freezy said with a grin.
There was a final surge, the whirring of the pumps pushing as much food as they could muster down Cloudy’s throat heightened. She felt her belly protrude under her ass and lift her legs higher. The mare was already immobile but now it just seemed like her whole body was seeking space out to expand into. Her antics were getting her a lot of attention as well. Some of the other patrons had even stopped eating. To her surprise, she heard words of encouragement and cheers from the ponies around her.
‘Woah! She’s getting huge! You go girl!’
‘Looks like the station has a new prime porker!’
‘Keep an eye on that one, she’ll be bigger than Heavy Haul some day!’
The last comment suddenly made Cloudy even more aware of her size than she was already. Bigger than Heavy Haul? The pony literally so large she’s just a blob strapped to rockets? That seemed slightly absurd. She didn’t have the bank balance for it for a start. Oh gosh...she didn’t even check how much this was costing. At a rough tally, the mare figured she’d burned through any profit she was going to make from her polycarbonates delivery and was already eating into her savings. The problem was, apart from eye gestures, she couldn’t tell Freezy to stop it. She’d just have to pray she cut her off.
She had no way of telling just how big she had gotten really apart from observing herself. Neck rolls now blocked her a reasonable amount of her vision around her, but a portion of the bar had mirrors on. Sinking her head slightly into her flab she could observe that her massive rear was twice as wide as the rest of her, two gigantic jiggling cheeks that were now somewhat wobbling on their own without her even needing to make any motion, their mass so excessively large that she could feel the weight of them pressing down on her hind legs, somewhat now even making them vanish under the cheeks - although it was impossible to see this, just feel it. Her stomach had formed such a gigantic bed beneath her that she was sinking into herself, bloated blubber starting to almost vacuum her inside her own flab. It was ironically, only even more fat that kept her from totally vanishing inside herself completely.
Freezy could tell that Cloudy was about at her limit. The mare must have gained a good few thousand pounds. She’d let her gain a few hundred more though, it was easy to just apologise and say you were attending to other patrons…
Eventually though, when she saw a third neck roll start to form around her head as Cloudy’s body started to fight for space even more, she decided enough was enough. Pressing a small button behind the bar to summon some robotic assistance, she turned the feeding tube off and let Cloudy gather herself for a moment. She was so large, Freezy couldn’t even lean forward to get the tube off her face anymore. A small flying drone did this for her.
‘Was that fun?’ she simply asked.
‘F-Fun? Oh right…’ Cloudy said, observing herself. She was hardly able to move. She felt like a gigantic pillow, all fluffed up and super soft. ‘I’d ask for more but...I can’t afford it.’ Cloudy said, slightly sad.
‘Well make another run and drop by again, there’s always room here.’ Freezy said. ‘Might have to upgrade you to one of the other bars though that cater for our bigger customers, you certainly fit that description now.’ Freezy teased. ‘I assume you can still fit in your ship?’
The question really drove home just how large Cloudy had gotten. ‘O-Oh I think so, Missy said to use the cargo bay entrance.’
‘I’ll program the cargo pad to take you back there...oh right, I meant to say that’s the only way we can move you back. I don’t think you’re up to waddling.’ Freezy replied.
Cloudy gave her now useless legs a wiggle. All they did was push up against more fat. ‘N-No, can’t really walk…’ she said, a little embarrassed now. She heard a small hum from behind her, then Cloudy yelped. A cold metal pad slid under her flab.
‘Useful things, not just for moving cargo.’ Freezy said. ‘Anyhow, until next time Cloudy. Stay big! Not that you’ll have any trouble!’ were Freezy’s last words as Cloudy was moved out the main dining area with more cheers following her. It seemed however that her contact with Missy hadn’t been lost or buried in flab, she spied it laying on top, strap broken, a few rolls away from her head. Luckily it was also voice activated.
‘Call Missy.’ Cloudy said. Within a few seconds, Missy appeared.
‘Jeez, I knew this would happen some time. You finally did it.’ the small pony like projection said, unamused. ‘Just couldn’t keep away from the hose huh? Celestia your ass must weigh as much as the polycarbonates we’re transporting in the cargo hold, which is now the only spot big enough to house you by the way. At least I have free run of the bridge without you interfering…’ Missy said.
‘I just...it was like something overcame me. I only really snapped out of it when I concentrated.’ Cloudy replied.
‘Or you really wanted it, you were huge anyway. Now you’re gigantic.’ Missy said.
‘W-Well, I dunno about…’ Cloudy started to say, but she was interrupted by Missy.
‘You’re gigantic Cloudy, might even have to reinforce the hull to take your weight. Anyhow, we’re fuelled up and ready to go.’ Missy replied.
‘Oh right...the delivery, guess I did get carried away.’
Cloudy was loaded back into the Rift Cutter, which departed the station. From a small port hole in the cargo bay, she saw the large and looming figure of Heavy Haul, still attached to the station. She wondered how long she’d remain docked for and just how much she had to eat. She also wondered if some day, she’d get there.
Freezy meanwhile was in the depths of the station on her break. It was a little bit of a journey, another area they had really failed to keep on top of and had fallen somewhat into disarray. However it held the core of the station and also a very important device that was key to its continued survival. It was curious, when Freezy and her husband had moved in, it was here - just inactive. Being an old ex-service station, it seemed somewhat plausible that the government was experimenting with things to make their non-profit public services somewhat pay for themselves but it did seem a bit excessive. Now forgotten and in the hooves of new owners, the two had decided to make use of it once they had found out what it was. Flicking a switch, the large device that weirdly sported a crystalline centre powered down. Freezy looked at it and pondered for a moment, always curious about where such a thing might have come from. It wasn’t exactly local to any planets nearby, at least that she knew of. The mare however didn’t question it much, it was here. She looked up at it, faint purple glow fading as it became de-energized. ‘Might be getting a bit too powerful, never had a customer indulge on that level before…’ she said to herself. It wasn’t like she could regulate it either, it only seemed to have two settings. On and off. The device however, now inert, was silent. Another pony with the capacity to eat huge quantities like Cloudy would be along soon enough, it just had to be awakened with a little help...
-
Despite the extra load on The Rift Cutter, the polycarbonates had been dropped off in record time. Missy of course, had used the opportunity to complain once Cloudy had found a better spot for it on her body. She had placed the communications device on a small outcropping of her flab near her head which made it much easier to talk. The first conversation once they had departed Galaxy’s Edge had been rather blunt.
‘So is it still Cloudy, or should I be calling you something else?’ Missy had started.
‘Like what?’ Cloudy had replied, she knew how to handle the sarcastic nature of her AI.
‘Like Cargo Hold Filler, or Gluttonous Guzzler? Or hey, how about you’re now so gosh darn gigantic that we’re burning 36% extra fuel just to haul your fat ass around?’ Missy said.
‘I think that last one is a bit long for a name.’ Cloudy had simply said.
‘That was more a statement than a name suggestion.’ Missy replied deadpan. ‘Seriously though, the extra weight you’ve put on is making us burn that much extra fuel. Plus you know I can feel your ship right? The extra stress on the frame and manoeuvring systems is immense. You’re gonna have to get it looked at sooner rather than later unless you’re going to attempt to lose weight.’ She said. ‘Or you’re going to buy a bigger ship.’
‘Can we just get the polycarbonates delivered, please? I don’t want to hear your belly aching.’ Cloudy had said.
‘Hey my belly is fine, it’s yours that has consumed enough for three months. You know you’ve gained about five thousand pounds in that one little session right?’ Missy revealed.
‘W-Wha, how did you figure that out?’ Cloudy asked, surprised.
‘Just some too-complicated for you maths Cloudy, trust me, I figured it out in a few seconds.’ the AI said.
‘Fine well...look I don’t care. Just get us to the drop off for the polycarbonates and make sure that our route back for whatever delivery we pick up takes us via Galaxy’s Edge.’ Cloudy said. She saw the look of disapproval on Missy’s face before she vanished.
When they had landed on Terradyne Sigma to drop off the polycarbonates delivery, Missy had certainly gotten some looks as a small hovering forklift had entered the cargo bay to pick up the load. The operator's jaw had physically dropped, then snapped back into place when he realised how rude that was before he just quietly unloaded the goods and the cargo bay doors shut, leaving Cloudy alone. Missy popped up on Cloudy’s flab.
‘We’ve been paid, although with your eating and the extra fuel consumption that just about covers the bill for both those things. I got a delivery that needs taking to Tau Minor of...you’re not going to believe this. Snack cakes. Think you can keep your greedy maw off them before we get to Galaxy’s Edge? It’s en-route as requested.
‘No promises.’ was all Cloudy said.
‘Well, you eat those snack cakes, we don’t get paid. In fact you pay them for loss of cargo.’ Missy said. ‘I’ll set a course to the pickup, it’s just over the other side of the planet.
The ship lifted off, now somewhat easier that it was only carrying Cloudy’s weight. They arrived at the pickup which was a small depot ten minutes later.
‘The company owner wants to come aboard and thank you, apparently they’ve had the delivery ad up for a few days and were worrying the cakes were going to go stale. Best of luck!’ Missy said, disappearing again and leaving Cloudy to face the music. The cargo bay doors opened and immediately before they were even fully apart, an automated robot (no pony piloting it this time) loader started to load crates into the hold around Cloudy.
‘Oh my, I can see why you picked up our ad…’ came a voice. From below her rolls, peering over the ocean of blubber, Cloudy could just about see a fairly normal sized pony standing that the entrance to the cargo hold. She grinned nervously.
‘Oh this! Oh er...it’s nothing, I just had a little binge on my way…’ Cloudy stuttered. ‘My AI tells me you wanted to thank me?’
‘Oh yes! These cakes are for our sister company, Spa Orbits on their in-flight transports that take holiday makers to the main cruise ship in orbit above whatever luxury planet they’re going away to. Very popular with the guests, some even book just to get the cake!’ the stallion said. This was not helping Cloudy keep her attention away from the snacks, which were still being loaded in. All he was doing was extolling the virtues of the food.
‘Wait...ponies book your trips just to eat a small in-flight snack cake? That’s a joke.’ Cloudy replied, trying to get the pony to confess it was indeed a prank.
‘Oh no! I am quite serious, that’s why I wanted to come aboard and thank you. I also wanted to make sure you knew the importance of this delivery. Usually we use a reliable courier service but we’ve not been able to contact them for the past several days, communications outage.’ he explained. ‘And I can see you’re no stranger to a good meal so I am confident this precious cargo will make it in one piece!’
‘Or several crumbs…’ Missy said, having briefly reappeared to make the singular sarcastic comment before going again.
‘Y-Yes, you can trust me! I will get your cakes delivered to Tau Minor no problem!’ Cloudy reassured him. The final case was loaded into the hold. There was quite a lot, in fact as they had been talking, the automatically programmed loader had basically piled boxes and boxes of the things around Cloudy. She could feel them pressing deeply into her blubber. Although the cakes were light, the packaging was not.
‘Splendid! Safe trip!’ the stallion said, vanishing back out the cargo bay and leaving Cloudy alone with Missy who started the procedure for shutting the doors.
‘You’re cruel.’ Cloudy said.
‘How so?’ Missy asked. There was a whump as the doors shut and sealed themselves.
‘You’ve literally surrounded me with cake.’ Cloudy retorted. ‘You’re going to have to keep me from eating these you know.’
‘I’m doing no such thing fatty. You’re just going to have to rely on your willpower.’ Missy chuckled, before vanishing.
‘Missy...Missy this isn’t funny. Oh dear…’
Cloudy was now stuck, for goodness knows how long, surrounded by what was possibly the most delicious tiny cakes in the entire universe. Well, perhaps just one box wouldn’t hurt...she could put that down to flight damage…
The mare was absolutely famished, she hadn’t eaten since they left Galaxy’s Edge. She had mostly spent the ride sleeping off the gigantic meal there, but when she woke up she immediately noticed she was hungry again. Must come with the territory of being so gigantic. She could understand now why Heavy Haul seemed to eat endlessly through a tube at all times. If she stopped eating for more than a minute she was probably hungry.
She knew Missy had picked this cargo on purpose, probably watching through the ships cameras out of sight to see exactly what would happen. Cloudy wasn’t sure how AI experienced emotion, she just knew they had a limited ‘feel’ for it so to speak. She was sure that Missy however was probably feeling some level of delight watching Cloudy struggle morally with the concept of eating the cargo.
From the packaging, Cloudy pulled a box and inspected it. It was a rather innocuous looking brown package simply marked with a serial number and the company logo. Magically slipping open the tape (there was no way her blubber hooves had any ability to do anything delicate like that anymore) she opened it up and looked inside. The cakes were efficiently packed and piled on top of each other only separated by thin cardboard. Magically, she levitated one out from its storage compartment.
The cake looked innocent enough. It was a small, round, in flight sized snack cake. There was a little sugar dusting on top and a faint hint of strawberries from what she could smell. She would have taken a bite, but Cloudy was so hungry she just devoured the tiny cake without even chewing, swallowing it whole as she felt the contents make its way down to her stomach. The problem was, it was so small, it hardly even registered as much more than a crumb.
‘I know you’re watching, I don’t care.’ was all she said, emptying the box and stacking the entire contents of snack cakes high and wide so she could just cram every one in her mouth. Maybe a little too wide, as she magically levitated the cakes towards her maw she felt them struggle to get in. The cakes crumbling against the outside of her mouth as crumbs started to fall away due to the pressure she summoned a giant magical floating hoof to push them in, rather than rely on her own flabby hooves which just weren’t getting the job done. She reeled a bit as she felt her cheeks bulge and her throat choke a little as she started to swallow the cakes down. The feeling however was amazing, a total juxtaposition. Her belly cried out for food because of its hunger, yet her crammed mouth felt so satisfied. The feeling then passed into her belly as the cakes then were swallowed and the mare went for another box. Once more she crammed the cakes in, the magically summoned hoof assisting her gluttony. With every box, she felt it getting easier to consume the vast quantities of the cakes. Her gut growled at first but then calmed as it understood it was getting fed. Each time she was consuming the cakes, she felt herself getting bigger. Her body spreading into the space where the now empty boxes sat for a mere moment before even they started to succumb to her hefty gains, fat rolling over the cardboard and crushing it beneath. Her ass started to squish against the rear walls, her belly pressed up against the cargo bay doors. Her body was filling the space nicely as her gains started to become even more visually pleasing as fat rolled and rounded out. She was about halfway through the boxes when Missy appeared.
‘I hate to interrupt your mass gorging, but we’re at Galaxy’s Edge. Coming into the usual docking port.’ the AI said. ‘This is going to be fun to explain to the recipients by the way.’
‘Oh uhm…’ Cloudy moved her fattened head to observe the damage. She now noticed half the cargo gone and replaced with herself. Oops.
‘Good luck fixing that, unless you’ve suddenly learned a duplication spell.’ Missy sneered.
‘No but I do know a mirage spell, I could make it look like there aren't boxes missing, at least until we leave the drop off point. Then they’d vanish.’ The blorpy mare thought. ‘Just uh, add the company to the Never Work For Again list if you’d be so kind. I’m sure those customers won’t miss a tiny cake.’ Cloudy tried to reason.
‘Not if that stallion was to be believed…’ Missy retorted. ‘Anyhow a mover is coming to get you. I assume you want to stop by Fixer Upper first then straight to the buffet?’ Missy asked her.
‘Yeah.’ was all Cloudy replied. Now in some sort of atmosphere, she heard the cargo bay doors open and observed the vastness of space, only blocked by the mover coming in to grab her. It struggled slightly to lift her weight, but before long Cloudy was being transported the long way around back to the regular entrance. She came up into the entry hall normal sized ponies used. Like before, there was not a soul around. Just her. The mover pad parked her in front of the small circular terminal. This time however, the mover pad activated remotely.
‘A warm welcome to SERVICE STATION 311! I’m Fixer Upper, your all in one ship mechanic! My scans of your ship tell me you’re CLOUDY DAZE! Captain of the RIFT CUTTER. Is that correct!?’
‘Correct.’ Cloudy sighed. Same message again. She wondered what it would find this time.
‘Thank you!’ There was once more a brief pause and the AI turned from blue to red. Cloudy watched the loading bar in front of the snoot move again before the AI turned back to blue. ‘Your ship, the RIFT CUTTER, looks to be in poor shape! You have TWENTY TWO percent fuel remaining! Your PORT INJECTION MANIFOLD and EMERGENCY PLANETARY LANDING GEAR has not been serviced for over THREE HUNDRED SIXTY days! I have detected over TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY TWO stress points and microfractures at various points in your HULL, PORT AND STARBOARD WINGS, ENGINES and seventeen other minor areas plus an additional THIRTY THREE ELECTRICAL and MECHANICAL issues that appear itemised on this display! I have scanned your ship’s computer and interfaced with your own AI and it tells me - ‘Might need more than just a refuel this time fat ass.’ - Is this acceptable?!’
Cloudy would have chuckled but that was quite the list, probably an expensive repair.
‘Fix the biggest issues working down up to a maximum of five thousand e-credits. And refuel.’ she said.
‘‘Affirmative! Have a nice stay on SERVICE STATION 311!’ the AI chirped once more and vanished. She watched as this time, not only did a fuel pump appear but also a number of service robots came out from some dark recess in the station to start fixing problems. She wasn’t aware she had done such a number on her ship with the added weight of herself. ‘Mover, to the buffet.’ she said and with that, her blubber ass was slowly being moved along. Her stomach growling once more as the thought of more food seemed to permeate her body.
Already she could see a problem, the mover pad was taking her towards the usual entrance. Although these doors were gigantic blast doors, Cloudy was pretty sure she was wider than the door. At least by a good few metres. It seemed though the mover was programmed to take this into account and two small arms appeared at the side, picking her fat up and gently squishing it upwards to allow entry to the main buffet at Galaxy’s Edge.
As Cloudy entered, there were cheers. She hadn’t been gone too long, just about a week. The thing was though the place was full of regulars who recognised her from her previous binge session. She heard a few comments as the mover pushed her into place and set her down at the usual bar, with space made for her. It was a little odd, as if they knew she was coming.
‘There she is! The mare who can eat for a family of ten!’
‘What a body! I’d like to get lost between those rolls if you know what I mean.’
‘She’s still jiggling! Amazing!’
The comments made her blush. Up until now all she had gotten were awkward stares and ponies making something off-hoof but trying to avoid mentioning her massive bulk. Here she felt more accepted. The patrons seemed to love her at her biggest. She could see why they paid so much attention to Heavy Haul who was...still docked. Curious. Freezy came over to see what Cloudy wanted.
‘Back for more? I can only assume so.’ she asked.
‘Well...couldn’t exactly stay away. H-heh.’ Cloudy confessed. Freezy just smiled at her, waiting for the request which she knew was coming.
‘The hose, maximum setting. Before I eat, did Heavy Haul ever leave?’ Cloudy asked.
‘Oh yeah, for a day. She’s hardly away now though. She’s waiting on bigger tanks to be built to follow her around. Her current ones only keep her fed for that long before she has to return.’ Freezy explained.
‘What if she doesn’t come back in a day and runs out of food?’ Cloudy queried.
‘Well at her size, the hunger would be quite painful I imagine. It happened once. Her body just started to shed weight. Ponies as you can figure were never meant to be that huge so without constant feeding the body rejects it. At your size it won’t happen for another few thousand pounds, but I bet you at least feel hungry all the time.’ Freezy said.
Freezy was right. Cloudy was hungry all the time. The only point she hadn’t eaten was after the huge meal when she left the station last. There was a small grumble from her stomach and she decided not to dwell on such things. The mare wanted a meal. She didn’t get a chance to reply and confirm Freezy’s thoughts though, the mare strapped the tube to her face, Cloudy’s maw fully open she just nodded at Freezy, who didn’t hold back and put it on the maximum setting.