Chapters For Lack of a Better Title: Riley Goes on an Eating Spree
In Which Riley Gets Hungry
"Nothing like one last snack to munch on before we take the train home, eh, Cookie?" said Riley Blythe cheerfully, looking down at the faithful dog sitting against the leg of the table Riley was sitting at (he had once had Cookie sit down on a chair, but that had not gone down well with the restaurant manager), which belonged to the Ponyville restaurant he had ordered food from minutes prior. Now that his monthly trip to Ponyville was soon going to be ended by the departure of the train back to Manehattan, he needed a little something to satisfy his ever-hungry gut.
Cookie simply gave a happy bark of agreement, as he did with most of the things Riley said. Like two best buddies, they were a team.
Not too long afterwards, a waiter approached the table and set down a silver whatchamacallit. You know, that silver metal thing that's like a bowl that goes upside-down over the meal?
Anyway, the waiter lifted up the upside-down bowl to reveal the meal concealed within... a sandwich about two inches in width and only slightly longer in height.
A bit surprised at the overestimated size of the meal, Riley eyed the sandwich, his muzzle just millimeters away from it. "Um, I remember sandwiches at this place being a bit bigger," he commented, raising his head back up to look at the waiter.
Not knowing what else to tell the customer, the waiter shrugged. "Sorry, kid. Inflation from our suppliers."
"But it was only yesterday that I saw a mare eating-"
"It happened yesterday," explained the waiter briefly, cutting Riley short.
Knowing that he wouldn't be getting a bigger replacement any time soon without shelling out the extra Bits, Riley simply sighed. "Thank you, Mr. Waiter."
"Glad to be of service," replied the waiter, and departed the table to tend to more waiter business.
At least happy to get something to snack on like he intended, Riley locked his front hooves at either side of the sandwich, lifted it up from its former position on the plate, and was just about to split it into two mini-portions for he and his pet, when suddenly...
*YOINK!*
An small, crimson bird with a light yellow underside had swooped in undetected, very much like a ninja/spy, and thieved the sandwich right out of Riley's hooves.
The red Pegasus sighed for the second time within a minute. "C'mon, Cookie. Our train will be departing soon," he said, getting up and taking a few steps away from the table and towards the train station, before looking back at his companion.
Cookie obediently followed his pony friend, vowing to somehow get revenge on the bandit bird. When you crossed Riley, you crossed Cookie, and vice versa.
~~~
Now that he had his fuzzy rear perched on the comfy seat of the train carriage, and the mare with the snack cart was waiting for him to make his choice, Riley did a search through his wallet. "...Yup, we've got enough Bits for a sandwich, and some dog food for you, Cookie," he muttered subconsciously as he verified how much he had. He took out the appropriate amount of Bits from his wallet and held them out to the mare, who took them and replaced them with a hay sandwich and a can of dog food before wheeling the cart away.
Riley opened the can by pulling the ring attached to the top to peel away the lid and emptied the contents into the bowl in front of Cookie. "At last!" he said in relief, and opened his maw as wide as it would go (which proved to be quite wide for him), more than prepared to scoff it.
Moving his mouth away from the sandwich and lowering said food item, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A stallion sitting in the corner of the train, his head hung in lament. His mane and tail were disheveled, his color scheme was rather dull, he had stains on his fur which Riley wasn't even able to tell what they were, he had a blanket next to him, and he seemed rather sorry for himself. It was quite clear that either this stallion did not have good living conditions, or was a very good actor and prop designer.
Assuming the former, Riley got up and walked over to the stallion, holding out the sandwich. "Here," he said with a warm smile.
The stallion slowly looked up at the source of the voice. "Oh, no worries, kid, I'll manage," he replied, before putting a hoof to his mouth and coughing.
"No, no, I insist ," said Riley, holding his hoof out further. "You need this more than I do."
The down-on-his-luck stallion was about to decline again, but then took into consideration that it had been at least 24 hours since he had last gotten a bite to eat. He looked up and further observed the Pegasus standing before him. Eyes gleaming with innocence and sincerity, he knew the generous and benevolent stallion had meant his offer.
"Uh, sure, that'd be very nice, thanks," he replied, giving in. He gratefully accepted the sandwich and began to bite into it, savoring each tiny mouthful he took. "Thanks a lot, kid."
Satisfied at the display, Riley smiled at the display and then cantered off back to his seat. Had he eaten his sandwich, his tastebuds and stomach would have felt good, but not the most important body part of all: the conscience.
But now that his belly was rumbling again, and he did not have the money to buy another item of food for himself from the train's snack carts, he was beginning to wonder which really was the most important body part.
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For Lack of a Better Title: Riley Goes on an Eating Spree
In Which Riley Doesn't Get to Eat for a While
The train was still on its course to Manehattan fifteen minutes later, and Riley still hadn't gotten so much as a morsel to eat. A thought that had crossed his mind was asking Cookie to let him try some dog food, but seconds after that idea, he had remembered an incident back when he was a colt. He had tasted some dog food on a dare from his little brother Reece, who apparently wanted to challenge Riley's attitude that "food was made for eating".
For a few minutes afterward, whenever the older colt had tried to speak, it came out as dog noises, such as barks and whimpers.
'You don't need to resort to that,' he told himself. 'Just a little longer, then we'll be back home. Then you can eat to your heart's content!'
Like a house which had just had a train run through it, his thoughts were interrupted by the low-pitched jingle that played through the intercom of the train, signifying an announcement.
"Attention passengers. Due to unexpected weather conditions, the train will have to stop here for approximately fifteen minutes."
Riley turned around and looked out of the window. The landscape was coated in white, and more of the fluffy snow was pouring in flakes out of the sky.
Having seen it too, Cookie tilted his head and made a whimpering sound.
"I know, right?" agreed Riley. "When did all that get there? I didn't even notice it!"
His mind was currently playing "eeny, meeny, miny, mo" with the two choices he had.
"We've got two choices, Cookie," he told his faithful canine. "We can stay on this train and wait ages to get some food..." He held out his left hoof. "...or we can go outside and freeze our butts off in order to get home quicker and grab something to eat." He held out his right hoof.
Cookie stayed on the spot for a few seconds, attempting to pick a choice. Eventually, he set his paw on Riley's right hoof.
"Then it's settled!" said Riley, placing Cookie under his wing and holding him tightly - but not so tightly that he struggled to breathe - to keep him warm.
The passengers just moved their heads to keep their visions locked on the Pegasus as he exited the train... then returned approximately ten seconds later, his coat colour looking like it had had a subtle hint of light blue added to it, and his hooves covered in white.
"O-or perhaps i-it's best t-to wait..." he decided, his teeth chattering, as he released Cookie and plopped back down onto the seat.
~~~
Now that a unicorn had cleared away the snow to make way for the train's journey, it was back on its way.
And Riley still had an unsatisfied belly.
He leaned back, his mind and thoughts wandering freely.
He felt a hoof on his shoulder.
"Um, excuse me, sir, just out of curiosity..." came a mare's voice. "Why do you have your arm in your mouth?"
Riley tilted his head. "I don't ha-" He stopped as he realised his teeth were locked on to the flesh of his arm. He released the limb from his grip. 'Whoa, I don't even remember doing that!'
"Oh, uh, hehe..." he replied to the mare as he rubbed his arm on his lap to clean off the saliva. "I guess you can make some silly mistakes when you're not paying attention!"
The mare looked at him blankly, then returned to her magazine.
~~~
"IT'S HOPELESS!" he cried loudly as he kneeled in the middle of the train. "I'm gonna starve to death! People will find my body and wonder why it's so thin! The manager will be all like, 'Why didn't we just price food cheaper? It could have saved a life!'!"
"Kid, you're blocking the way out," came the agitated voice of a stallion.
Riley looked up, then at the back of the train. The vehicle was no longer moving, and ponies were making their way out.
"We're home free!" he exclaimed happily. He stopped in realisation, then looked back at the homeless pony. "Er, no offence..."
"None taken," replied the homeless pony.
Riley picked Cookie up and happily slowly flew out of the train, placing some Bits in the other stallion's hat as he did so.
~~~
After going through the streets of Manehattan (which did not have any snow), the door to his house was knocked down by said Pegasus as he flew in, clearly enthusiastic to get something to eat.
"FOOOOD! GIMME!" he yelled as he sped towards the kitchen. He swung open the doors of the food cupboard and began to stuff his mouth with bags of chips and packets of cookies.
Realising his blunder, he spat out the packaging and continued to savour the things that were actually edible.
Soon enough, he was done.
"Good meal!" he said, and wiped the crumbs from his face and his belly, the latter of which was now rather distended and made a gurgling sound when he poked at it.
"But it's still not enough," he decided.
Cookie looked up, in disbelief of what his master had just said.
"Please excuse me, Cookie," said Riley, heading towards the door. "I've got some food to eat. Make up for lost meal time, right?"
And with that, he exited the house, and set on his way.
Well, this isn't going to end normally, that's for sure.
For Lack of a Better Title: Riley Goes on an Eating Spree
In Which Riley's Mouth Begins Its Rampage
Manehattan was a rather large city, and lots of space meant lots of ponies, and lots of ponies meant lots of mouths, and lots of mouths meant lots of food, and lots of food meant... well, a full belly.
He noticed a stallion wheeling a cart. He leaned in closer to see what was painted on either side. "CARROT DOGS", it read.
"FOLLOW THAT CARROT DOG STAND WITH WHEELS!" he screamed, and flew towards the cart. The stallion in charge of it snapped his head around to look at the source of the voice, then began to get slightly scared.
"GIMME TEN CARROT DOGS! WITH RELISH AND TOMATO SAUCE AND ONIONS!" he demanded.
Hiding behind the stand, the poor terrified attendant hastily did as he was told, soon handing over ten carrot dogs complete with relish and tomato sauce and onions.
Riley placed the appropriate amount of Bits on the counter. "Thanks, have a great day!" he said cheerfully as he picked up the carrot dogs. He shoved all of them into his mouth at once.
"Mmhmm!" he said in delight. And with that, he trotted back off, with a ring of sauce around his muzzle and his gut swinging below him just inches off the ground.
~~~
He soon heard an announcement over Manehattan's intercoms:
"Step right up, fillies and gentlecolts, to Cart Wheel's Fun Fair, at Manehattan's pier!"
Riley flew up, intending to get a view of the pier. However, he found it a rather heavy job due to the extra weight he was carrying, and only managed to get a few feet off the ground before gravity kicked in and sent him back down to the hard gravel surface.
'Wings and extra calories. Not a good combination,' he decided.
He simply resorted to walking to the pier, the cookies, chips, and carrot dogs swishing about inside him.
~~~
When he reached the fair, he was treated to an assortment of bright, happy colours, and complemented by the delighted faces of fillies, colts, mares, and stallions. It could have brought a smile to even the face of a frowning toad.
Riley's eyes, however, were locked on a particular section of the funfair - the fudge stand.
He cantered over to it. "Three bars of vanilla and three bars of chocolate, please!" he said, hoofing some Bits over.
The attendant grabbed some fudge bars from their respective shelves and placed them in front of Riley, who promptly snatched them up and stuffed them into his mouth mercilessly, making short work of them.
Of course, with all that extended calorie count, Riley gut began to expand even further. He could now feel the tips of the blades of grass brushing up against his bloated form. Not to mention his rump had started to expand, his cutie marks stretching.
Perhaps he'd go play at one of the game stands.
He approached the ball toss game with great enthusiasm... and effort. "Hi, Jerry!" he greeted the attandant. "How have things been?"
The attendant looked at him blankly. "Do ah know ya?" he asked.
"Well, yeah!" replied the hungry stallion. "Riley Blythe? Does that ring a bell?"
Jerry paused for a few moments. "Ah! Yes!" he said. "You're that colt who spent up to ten bits trying to win that Robin Hoof doll for that white filly with you."
"Yeah," said Riley. "Anala did it herself in the end... she had the better sense of aim."
"Right," said Jerry. "So... wanna play? Ya can have a go on t' house, since we know each other an' all."
"Gee, that's nice of you, mister!" said Riley. He reached into the bucket of colorful balls and threw a red one into the bucket.
"You've been gettin' better, kid," observed Jerry, to which Riley smiled. He then chucked a blue ball into the bucket, followed by a yellow one.
He couldn't help but notice the similarity the balls bore to pieces of candy being emptied into a bucket at the confectionery store...
He hopped over the counter and dipped his head into the bucket, attempting to eat the colourful spheres.
"What's gotten into ya since last time ya came as a colt, kid?!" exclaimed Jerry in surprise. He grabbed onto Riley's tail, attempting to pull the Pegasus out of the bucket.
Riley felt himself being pulled until he was finally yanked back, to land on his ample posterior. "What was that?" he said aloud. "Jerry? Where'd you go?"
He felt a subtle vibration in his rear end. Curious about what it could have been, he got up and was just about to crane his head around to inspect his tushie, until he noticed Jerry lying on the ground and coughing.
"Oh, uh... sorry," said Riley.
"No worries, Riley," said Jerry.
"I... think I'd better go try out something else," said the chubby Pegasus. He attempted to climb over the counter... but to no avail.
"A little help here?" he asked Jerry, who took ahold of Riley's hind legs and lifted him over the counter.
~~~
Excited to get the ride started, Riley took his seat, his bloated rump jiggling ever so slightly.
Just then, the ride attendant approached him. "Sorry sir, but pregnant ponies are not permitted to ride."
Several moments passed, consisting of Riley looking at the attendant with a featureless expression. He finally broke the silence with, "I'm a stallion."
"Yes, well..." said the attendant. "It just doesn't seem plausible for a pony to have such extra weight and in that shape unless they're carrying a foal. So I believe that, by some freak of nature, you sir, are pregnant."
Riley didn't say a word as he got up and lugged his extra weight away from the ride which he had been denied access to. And that wasn't the worst part; he was still hungry.