Aggressive Business Tactics
Sunnie finished wiping the last glass dry and placed it neatly back in line with the rest. She let out a little woof as she finally was able to sit back down behind the counter. The Blue Bee’s dinner rush had finally ended, and Sunnie discreetly swept the last loose Bits into the cash register. She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow, then peered outside. The long summer day has finally started to darken, the stars just beginning to twinkle in the twilight. Her eyes flicked over to her assistant, a younger pegasus who was finally able to enjoy his dinner. He was a good kid, even if he had a weird accent, and talked about something called ‘hockey’ a lot.
“Hey, Stick!” Sunnie said, startling him. “You can head out if you want, I’m gonna close up early.” Her assistant brushed his red and white mane out of his eyes and blinked in surprise, before bolting out the door, his “thank you!” muffled by his sandwich. Sunnie couldn’t help but to chuckle. She heaved herself up onto her hooves, meandering over to the door and flipping the Open sign over to Closed. The bright neon sign outside was next. Sunnie poured ice, some berries, and milk into one of the blenders behind the counter, absently scanning the newspaper that had been delivered in the morning, as well as the newest postcard that Bumble and Breezy had sent. The pair had retired in the spring, and were now traveling the world together. Their postcards were always a treat to read, and Sunnie was planning her response letter. The blender’s low buzz made the tubby mare’s eyes droop a little, and she leaned against the counter, which creaked a little. She yawned, and poured her nightly milkshake into her favorite glass, sipping as she plodded up the stairs to her room, the postcard carefully tucked inside the newspaper. Kreutz, her pet bird, tweeted happily at her from his cage, and she stopped to give him a little kiss on the top of his head. The cardinal had flown into her mane a few months back, and seemed quite content to just be with her from then on. Sunnie sat down on her very sturdy bench, laying everything on her desk, before reaching down under and pulling out a sheaf of papers and a pen. She chewed on the end of the pen thoughtfully, trying to think of what to tell Bumble and Breezy, when her phone let out a loud trill. She jumped, and scrambled to answer, Kreutz tittering in his cage as if laughing at her. Sunnie shot a glare at him, and picked the phone off the wall.
“Hello, this is Sunnie!”
“Hello,” a voice breathed on the other end. “I’d like to order one extra-large Sunshine milkshake, with extra cream, please.” Sunnie felt heat flood her round belly.
“Hey, Vel.” Sunnie replied, a blush forming on her face. If you had told her a year and a half ago that Velvet Melody would not only be in her life, but that she would also be closer than just a friend, she would have cried laughing. Now? Velvet just saying her pet name made her knees weak. “How was your day?”
“Dreadful. Long. Lonely.” Ever since Velvet had moved into Sunnie’s old place beside the pawn shop, she’d been helping Sal run the place. Even though she moaned and complained constantly about it, Sunnie saw the sparkle the place brought to her eyes. “And it was just made worse by that advertisement in the paper!”
“Which one?” Sunnie slurped her milkshake loudly into the headset, knowing that Velvet loved to see, and hear, her Sunshine eating.
“You haven’t seen? Check the newspaper! Page one!” Sunnie groped for the paper, and scanned the front page. Halfway down, cut in half by the fold, was the ad:
The Cream Brothers invite YOU to our grand opening! Come on down to try the best milkshakes and ice cream in town! Opening Day Special, half off ALL PRICES! Opening day only!
Sunnie clicked her tongue.
“Best milkshakes in town?” She huffed. “That’s a pretty bold statement.” Sunnie then shrugged, her straw slurping up the last remains of her shake. “Eh. We’ll see if they live up to it.”
“Sunnie, my honey, they have insulted you, the Milkshake Queen, with this advertisement! I, as the Royal Consort, cannot let this stand!” Sunnie chuckled and rolled her eyes. Velvet loved to make big deals out of small things, and especially about competitors, or ‘pretenders to the throne’ as she called them. Sunnie found it adorable, most of the time. “We must nip this insolence in the bud!”
“And how are we to do that? Are you going to have me eat their entire stock… again?” Sunnie teased, knowing the perfect buttons to push, and smiled imagining Velvet’s blush. “I’ll meet you out front after they open, in my royal robes, though if I split them again, you’re fixing them this time. Deal?”
“Deal.” Velvet purred. “See you tomorrow, then, love.” Sunnie smiled, hung the phone back in it’s cradle, and clambered into bed.
~~~~~~
The dawn had broken as Sunnie wandered up towards the Cream Brothers Creamery, sunlight playing tag with her hooves. Despite Velvet’s plan to chase off the new milkshake place, a sack of Bits sat securely in the small shoulder bag that Velvet had given her for Hearts and Hooves Day, just in case. They’d only done this sort of thing a couple of times, to big chains trying to get into the market, but she still felt a little guilty after the glow of being stuffed wore off.
She found the Creamery just after it opened, and, despite the advert, was very pleased to see that there wasn’t any sort of line. Velvet waited out front, dressed as she always did when she wanted to be the Royal Consort, a blue dress that clung tightly to her bloated body, and a small, glittering tiara that Sunnie had found at the pawn shop. Sunnie couldn’t help but lick her lips at how much her partner’s dress accentuated her largeness. Velvet’s worried frown flipped like a switch when she saw Sunnie approach, jiggling her way over to plant a very soft kiss on her cheek. Sunnie gave her a smooch back.
“Hello, darling.” Velvet whispered, hugging Sunnie tight, her fat warm and soft as it enveloped the tall mare. “Hungry?”
“As always.” Sunnie gave her another quick kiss before they turned to the door of the Creamery, noticing for the first time a small, thin pony with huge, thick eyeglasses standing off to the side, who Velvet nodded at as she passed.
“He’s a journalist, just here to keep track of your judgment. Pay him no mind.” Velvet murmured. Sunnie rolled her eyes. Velvet took being the Royal Consort seriously, and her frequent meetings with the press in regards to ‘royal affairs’ had managed to repair her previously bad standing with the community somewhat. There were still many who disliked her, but her relationship with Sunnie had mellowed their hatred to mere discontent. Bringing a journalist along also added an air of credibility to her underhoofed scheme.
Sunnie tried the door, and finding it unlocked, entered. Her wide hips brushed the sides of the doorway, and she heard Velvet let out a quiet gasp before her larger flanks bumped the doors with a loud thunk. Almost immediately, a tall, thin, younger-looking pony with a patchy mustache greeted the pair, glancing a little wide-eyed at the clock.
“Uh… hello there!” He blurted out, a mix of cheerful and anxious. “Welcome to the Cream Brothers Creamery! I’m Butter Cream! May I take your order?” Sunnie settled onto one of the stools placed along the counter, realizing with a little blush that she needed to sit on two of the stools to be comfortable. Velvet heaved herself up onto the stools beside Sunnie, her fat ass squishing against Sunnie’s own, and cleared her throat.
“The Milkshake Queen and her Royal Consort respectfully request to requisition a round of every one of your milkshake flavors!” Velvet said with gusto, piling her haughty accent on thick and rolling her r’s. Butter blinked, and smiled while scratching his head, eyes flickering between the door and the clock.
“Uh… I guess that’d be alright. Which would you like to try first?” He slid a small menu across to the two mares. Velvet frowned down at it.
“Hmm… we’ll go alphabetically.” She jabbed a flabby hoof at the menu. “First up, the Apple Apricot.” Butter nodded, and went about making up the shake. Velvet turned to the skinny pony, who had sat beside her, and whispered something that Sunnie couldn’t hear over the buzz of the blender. Butter returned a moment later with a small glass, barely half the size of the Blue Bee’s regular sizes, filled with an orange shake. Velvet sniffed indignantly. “What? A child size? For the Milkshake Queen? This is an outrage! The Milkshake Queen demands a large! The largest you have!” Butter blinked, and scratched his head again, chewing his bottom lip.
“Uhhh… I guess that’d be alright.” He repeated, a little uncertainly. He took back the small glass, grabbing a larger one from behind the counter. After a moment, he slid the refilled drink in front of her. Sunnie leaned up and took a slow sip. The flavor was a little disappointing, the barest hint of apricot or apple was drowned out by vanilla, but the vanilla was deep and rich, and she instantly wanted another. She quickly sucked up the drink, settling back down on her stool with a contented sigh.
“Well?” Velvet asked, the thin pony beside her ready with a quill and notepad. “What would you rate it out of ten?”
“A six. It’s good, but you can barely taste the fruit.” Sunnie licked her lips. “If it was just vanilla it’d be rated higher. I really want another one.” The journalist hastily scribbled in his notebook as Velvet pointed at the next shake, the Banana Berry Blitz. Butter slid it down to Sunnie, who drank it quickly. She sighed, and let out a quiet burp behind her hoof. “Another six. Again, too much vanilla, not enough fru-.” Before she could even finish speaking, Butter placed another shake in front of her. There was an uncertain expression on his face, and he went back to making the next shake without even being prompted by Velvet. Sunnie had no idea what it was supposed to be, but as she drank, the taste of an orange popsicle flooded her mouth. She let out a little “mm!” as she happily drank it down. “Ooh, that was good! A ten, for sure!” Velvet shot a glance at the journalist, who paused and seemed to scribble something out. The next shake arrived right on cue, and Sunnie got back to drinking.
Glass after glass of thick, calorie-laden shakes disappeared into her plush belly, which had begun to swell out first with each glass, and then with each swallow. Her belly soon bulged out to the counter, her legs forced wide as it continued to grow. Her shoulder bag strap grew tight, and she quickly unclasped it between swallows, letting it fall to the floor. Velvet watched with barely concealed excitement, waving for more shakes as the rest of Sunnie began to bloat and swell along with her. Those calories had to go somewhere, after all. Her already round ass began to plump up, the stool underneath her disappearing with every new inch of ass fat that appeared. Rolls appeared on her back, and a third chin was born under her stained muzzle. Sunnie was in abject bliss, a haze having descended down over her mind, any pretense of ‘rating’ the milkshakes had long since vanished. There was only another milkshake, more calories dumped into her overfilled belly, more fat to pile on her body. Velvet ordered another full round, and then another, pressing her hooves into the bloated, sloshing mare next to her in abject glee, feeling her love swell with each sip. Sunnie chugged the next glass, forgoing a straw, the shake spilling down her face to her blubbery chest. She reached for the next milkshake, not an easy task with how large her gut and forelegs had become, only to find air. She looked up, confused, as Butter shook his head, eyes twitching to the door nervously.
“I’m… I’m out.” He said, fidgeting with his apron. Velvet pulled her gaze away from Sunnie’s flanks and fixed him with a cold stare.
“What else do you have? The Milkshake Queen is not yet satisfied!” She bellowed, her thundering voice forcing a belch from Sunnie’s mouth.
“URRRRRRRRRRRRP! Oog… I… I think I’m good, Vel. I don’t ne-mlk?” Sunnie was interrupted by a bowl of ice cream being shoved into her face. The cold shock to her muzzle made her shiver. Despite her assurance that she’d had enough, she gulped down the bowl without a moment’s hesitation. The last glob of cold vanilla had barely left her tongue before Velvet pushed another into her face. Sunnie kept eating, though her pace was slowing as she grew fuller and fuller, her whole body expanding slowly with each sugary gulp. Her flanks were beginning to spread across to the stools beside her, her cutie mark stretched across her bloated ass, and all four stools began to let out worrying creaks as she kept growing. Her belly was even larger, piling up against the counter, spilling down to the floor in front of the stool, a churning mass of cold sugar and fat, that glorped loudly as it continued to grow. Her legs were swathed in fat, her forelegs so bloated she could only use them to rub what little of her aching stomach she could reach, smearing the mess of ice cream, whipped cream, and sprinkles that continued accumulating the more she gorged herself. Her face was also a mess, her muzzle stained a myriad of colors, her multiple chins liberally coated in cold cream. Still, she ate. Still, she grew, even as the stools beneath her began to buckle under the strain. Her head swimming, Sunnie was barely aware of her surroundings, pleasure radiating out of her swelling, stuffed belly, more than she could even bear. She hadn’t even noticed another pony entering the store until he started shouting.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” The newcomer was dressed in a snazzy suit and tie, a briefcase slotted into a fashionable saddlebag. He looked somewhat like Butter, but leaner and meaner looking. His eyes bulged as they swept across Velvet and Sunnie, before focusing on Butter behind the counter. Sunnie, sensing danger, involuntarily gulped her last mouthful of cherry chocolate chunk. That last gulp proved to be more than the poor stools beneath her could bear, and with a thundering keeerunch! Sunnie was unceremoniously dumped to the messy floor, her entire body wobbling and sloshing audibly like a waterbed. Sparks flew behind her eyes as absolute pleasure pulsed through her body with each jiggle, and she let out a long, loud moan. Her belly let out a glorp, and seemed to swell, even without her eating anymore. Velvet’s face flushed even more, as her eyes flicked between the newcomer, and Sunnie, who was beginning to lose control. Sunnie tried to reign herself in, calm herself down, but she was just too big, just too full. An orgasm was building, and as it did she began to swell larger, and larger, short, shuddering bursts of growth. Velvet’s ears fell back against her head, and she pushed the journalist towards the door.
“Uh-oh.”
Sunnie could hold on no longer. She let out a louder moan, slowly winding to a scream as pleasure coursed through her body, which began to grow faster, an avalanche of flab that began to spread throughout the shop. Stools cracked and crunched underneath her gargantuan gut, her flanks ballooning out, her cutie mark stretched and nearly hidden underneath new rolls and folds. Velvet jumped up and embraced the growing mountain of fat, moaning herself as the warm softness enveloped her. Sunnie kept growing, another surge of growth as she felt Velvet squeezing her, feeling her belly pressing against the counter, feeling the counter break under her weight. Her screams and moans were muffled now, her cheeks and chins so bloated with fat she couldn’t see anything aside from her own fat, and the ceiling. Butter jumped over the counter just before Sunnie’s belly flooded into it, glasses and bowls shattering. Another orgasm, another surge of growth. Sunnie’s vision, what was left of it, began to darken.
“N-no… not yet… gotta get… b-mmmmmff… bigger…” Sunnie moaned, laying fully on her belly, her legs sinking in as she grew fatter, and fatter, and fatter. The Cream brothers stood outside, watching in horror as a wall of flab pressed against the windows. Sunnie had filled the entire shop with her fat, and as the windows cracked, the support beams creaked, as her head brushed the ceiling and pressed her muzzle down into her pillowy chest, she let out one more scream as her world spiraled into darkness.
~~~~~~
Sunnie woke in her own bed with a raging headache, her mouth sticky. She groaned as she sat up, her mane flat against her head and neck. Kreutz twittered in his cage, and flapped his wings.
“What… happened yesterday?” Sunnie murmured, remembering drinking tons of milkshakes and eating loads of ice cream, but nothing else. She looked down, and it took her a moment to truly see the potbelly sitting in her lap. She blinked, and gave it a jiggle, before running a hoof over her hips and flank. They, too, were swollen with fat, far more than usual after a ‘reset’, as she called it. The potion that she’d taken so long ago, the one that both gave her curves to begin with, and the uncontrollable swelling, always reset her back to a smaller, more manageable size, but ever since she became the Milkshake Queen and gained her cutie mark, it was as if some of its effects were wearing off. She tried to contemplate the ramifications of it, but her pounding head and growling belly made her forget about everything but a glass of water and a bagel. She trudged down the stairs, and was ambushed by Velvet, who seemed close to panic.
“Sunnie! Oh, it’s a disaster! A travesty! A tragedy! A-.” Sunnie cut her off with a hoof pressed gently against her lips.
“Not so loud, Vel. My head hurts like Tartarus.” Sunnie croaked. “What’s going on?”
“A protest! In front of our shop! Preventing the public from entering and sharing slanderous lies about us!” Velvet’s voice rose shrilly. Sunnie winced.
“Who? Who’s protesting?”
“The Cream brothers! They’ve been out there ever since we got you back home!” Velvet glowered. “Stick has offered to fetch some friends and break up their unseemly demonstration.”
“Ugh.” Sunnie shook her head. “I’ll talk to them.” She squinted her eyes as she walked towards the front door. Even with the curtains drawn, the morning sun was sending needles of pain into her head. She hesitated for a moment at the door, before pushing it open. The sunlight seared her bleary eyes, and she held up a hoof to try and block it out. When her eyes adjusted, she spotted Butter and the suited pony who burst into the Cream brothers shop. Her memory finally clicked in, and she felt a wave of shame as she read their protest signs, each one calling her a gluttonous pig, and not in the way she liked to be called that. They had been in the middle of chanting some sort of slogan before Sunnie opened the door, but now were silent, staring daggers at the plump mare, surrounded by curious onlookers. She opened her mouth to say something, but words escaped her. Instead, she simply said “uhhhh.”
“Is that all you can muster, you monster?” The suited pony shrieked. “You devoured our entire stock, you demolished the entire shop, refused us payment, and now all you can say is ‘uhhh’?!?” He seemed about to launch into a further tirade before Butter kicked him in the leg. Velvet pushed her way outside next, and she seemed ready to snap back before Sunnie coughed, her brain starting to shake off the cobwebs.
“As many of you may know, in no small part to the Cream brothers, yesterday I… destroyed their shop.” The suited Cream brother furiously waved around a blown up photograph, showing the ruins after Sunnie had been taken away. “I want to apologize deeply to the brothers. I did not intend to destroy their shop, especially not on their opening day. I… Velvet and I,” she motioned to the plump unicorn, “got carried away. I wanted to taste test their wares, and so I did.” She licked her lips unconsciously. She hated public speaking. “They were some of the best milkshakes I’ve ever had, including from the Blue Bee.” Both Cream brother’s mouths dropped, and Sunnie heard Velvet let out a surprised squeak. “I want all of you to be able to taste their milkshakes as well. If I had the Bits, I’d pay for the reconstruction right now. Sadly, I do not, so from now until their shop is rebuilt, half of all sales will go directly to them. In addition, I invite them, if they so wish, to make shakes here as well, to remain in practice until their own shop reopens. Is that okay with you?” She asked.
“Uhhh… I guess that’ll be alright.” Butter Cream nodded his head, kicking his brother again in the leg before he could say anything. “As long as you make good on your words.”
“I always do.” Sunnie gave a ghost of a smile that Butter returned. “For the rest of you, we’ll be open a little bit later today, to get everything ready, maybe just before lunchtime. See you then!” Sunnie waved, forcing cheerfulness, then headed back into the Blue Bee, leaving the Cream Brothers standing rooted to the ground behind her. Velvet managed to make her hooves move, and chased Sunnie into the shop, spluttering her protests.
“This… half?!?… can’t understand… in our shop?!?” Sunnie turned and gave her a cold glare.
“It was your idea to go there, Velvet, now I have to do what I can to make it right… again.” She rubbed her forehead, the pain not fading no matter how hard she dragged her hoof across it. “You pushed me to lose control. It didn’t take much of a push, but it was still there. What happened to the bag of Bits I brought?”
“I… I didn’t know you brought one.” Velvet looked close to tears. “I wasn’t sure what to do after… I panicked, I’m sorry.” Her lower lip trembled. Sunnie sighed, and her hard expression softened.
“It’s okay.” She leaned forward and gave Velvet a gentle kiss on the cheek, before pulling her into a hug. “I love you. We both need to work more as a team. I’m going to go freshen up, and it’d be a good idea for you to as well.” She let the tubby unicorn go and stretched, yawning loudly. “We’ll be busier than bees in a minute.” Sunnie said, quoting one of Bumble’s favorite phrases, before heading back upstairs. Her belly rumbled loudly as it swayed back and forth.
She needed a drink.