The hot, dry desert air hung over the city of Los Pegasus, keeping the city at a good eighty-two degrees even at this hour of the evening. It was an evening for either strolling along the beach, hanging out in a nightclub, or just enjoying the air-conditioned comfort of your own home. On this particular evening, Button Mash had opted for the third option. He had plans for that night. Button smiled as he stretched out on his couch, thinking of the chain of events that had led him from the small town of Ponyville to a swish house in the San Ferneighndo Valley.
Ever since he was a colt, Button's one true passion had been video games. He'd known from an early age that he wanted to get a job as a game designer, and when he had graduated from Ponyville Elementary and gone on to high school, he'd immediately snapped up computer science as his elective. He quickly showed an aptitude for the work. By age fourteen, he could write text-based adventure games, and by sixteen he had moved on to platformers, puzzle games and even shooters. His teacher had sung his praises, as had his mother, and both encouraged him to go on to the prestigious Canterlot Institute of Technology. Five years of hard work, student debts and working as a grocery store clerk later, and Button had graduated magna cum laude with a master's degree in game programming and software engineering, with a minor in database studies.
From there, the next step had been to look for a job. To his delight, after much searching, Button managed to land a job with none other than Cyclone Gaming, the biggest developer and publisher in Equestria. The job had great pay, great prospects for promotion, and offered the chance to live in Los Pegasus—Button couldn't have snapped it up fast enough. Since he'd joined them two years ago, he'd been involved in developing everything from platformers and adventure games to simple free-to-play games for cellphones. Button was finally living the dream.
As it turned out, pulling in a sixty thousand-bit paycheck meant that Button could really afford to indulge himself... particularly when it came to food. It didn't help that the Cyclone offices were packed with snack machines and even a doughnut shop. It hadn't been long before Button's waistline had begun to suffer, and a combination of lots of junk food and a sedentary career meant that he'd begun to balloon up quite quickly. He was certainly a far cry from the skinny colt he once was.
Button now boasted a fine spare tyre of a belly, a plump, wobbling mass that hung over the waistband of every pair of pants he owned, accompanied by a pair of juicy love handles that joined them in bulging over his belt. His chest now sported a pair of plump, B-cup-sized moobs, which bounced slightly against the top of his belly with every step he took. His thighs and upper arms had grown big and meaty, and his neck was surrounded by a small ring of flab that foretold the arrival of a double chin quite soon. His cheeks had swollen up nicely as well, giving him a cherubic appearance.
Right now, Button was dressed in his usual evening wear. An old white T-shirt was stretched tight over his belly, stopping a few inches above his waistline and leaving his deep belly button exposed to the world. A pair of grey gym shorts were just about managing to hold in his sizable rear end. His feet were bare. Button yawned and gave his belly a pat, smiling as he heard it gurgle impatiently.
"Easy there, buddy," he said softly to it. "Food's on the way." He looked at the clock on the wall, watching as it clicked over to seven. He'd placed the order at quarter to, and the pizza place were always good about their "thirty minutes or less" guarantee.
Sure enough, ten minutes later the doorbell rang. Licking his lips in anticipation, Button heaved himself up and headed to the door, his feet padding off the wooden floor. He opened the door to reveal a young mare of about twenty standing there, wearing the red and green uniform of the local pizza place, carrying a stack of four boxes.
"Hi," she said, sounding incredibly bored. "I've got an order here for four pizzas, two Haywaiian, two mozzarella."
"That's me," Button replied, reaching for his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"
"Eight bits, plus tip," the delivery mare replied snippily. Button forced himself not to roll his eyes, and simply peeled off a ten-bit note.
"Keep the change," he said, handing it to the mare.
The mare snorted. "Are you kidding me?" she muttered, as she flounced off back to her waiting scooter.
Pushing the rude mare out of his mind, Button felt his mouth begin to water as he set the pizza boxes down carefully on the coffee table next to the couch. All he was missing was one ingredient to make the night complete. Smiling widely, he headed into the kitchen, opening the fridge to reveal a crate of Muleson lager.
"Okay," he said to himself as he carried the crate into the living room, setting it down next to the pizzas. "Pizza, check. Beer, check. Operation Friday Night is a go."
Chuckling, he settled down on the couch and made himself comfortable, the springs creaking under his bulk. Resting his feet on the coffee table, he reached beside him and pulled out a bottle of beer, while using the other hand to reach for a box of pizza, resting it on his belly. The underside of the box was warm, but not hot enough to be painful. He popped the lid off the bottle, causing a jet of white foam to bubble out and over his plump fingers, before opening up the box of pizza and taking a deep whiff of the pan-fried, cheesy goodness that lay within. The pizza looked positively divine—orange, melted cheese forming a thick layer over a light brown, fragrant crust. Button's stomach was moaning just from looking at it.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Button peeled off a slice, the cheese stretching out into thin strings as he did so, and took a massive bite.
"Yow!" he yelped, as the hot cheese burned the roof of his mouth. Luckily, an ice-cold beer was on hand to douse the flames. Panting, he downed a few more mouthfuls of booze before letting out a small belch, and taking a more cautious bite from the pizza. Bliss. Pure cheesy heaven flowed over his taste buds, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut and moan in rapture. Taking another chug from the bottle, Button quickly moved on to a second slice, tipping his head back and lowering it whole into his mouth like a sword swallower.
"Mmm, baby," he moaned, slapping his gut as a booze-fuelled belch rose up his throat. "Now this is living."
By the time Button finished off the first pizza, he'd already downed the entire bottle of beer and was a quarter of the way through the second one. The alcohol was starting to go to his head, and he felt a warm fuzzy feeling as he moved on to the second box.
"Mmm, Haywaiian," he sighed, licking his lips as he tore off a chunk of pizza from the tip, the juicy pineapple chunks squishing between his teeth and causing him to moan appreciatively. He steadily worked his way through the pizza, patting his belly as he felt it grow nice and full. Once he'd finished it off, he eyed the still almost-full bottle of beer, and smiled as he remembered the game he used to play at his college fraternity. Picking the bottle up, he threw his head back and chugged it down, taking great big gulps as the alcohol flowed into his system. Once the bottle was empty, he immediately popped another one open and did the same thing. With three beers in his system in less than fifteen minutes, Button was starting to feel thoroughly tipsy. Letting the empty bottle fall from his grasp, he started giggling uncontrollably, his flab jiggling and wobbling in time to his mirth.
"O-oh man," he laughed, his cheeks flushing. "That's... *urp* that's good stuff right there. Alright, alright..." He attempted to compose himself. "Still got two pizzas to go."
The pizzas quickly met the same fate as the others had, as did two more bottles of beer. Button's stomach began to swell as more and more pizza was forced into it, the skin around it growing taut as his belly grew to accommodate the pizza and beer. On top of that, his body was working on converting the calories in the pizza and booze into even more fat. Button wiggled his toes in pleasure as he grew fuller, drunker and heavier.
Finally, four pizzas and five beers later, Button slumped down on the couch. Now thoroughly intoxicated, he sniggered drunkenly as he rubbed his packed, gurgling sphere of a gut, watching as it bounced and wobbled under his touch.
"Nopony..." he slurred to himself. "Nopony elsh hash it ash good ash I do. Great job, great shalary, great food, anna great body... I've got it all."
Yawning, Button's booze-soaked brain felt the call of the Sandpony as his eyes grew heavier. Within minutes, he was asleep, slumped over on the couch with a contented smile on his face. Nothing could ruin this life of his. Nothing...
"Ugggh," Button moaned, gagging as he swallowed the bubbling, fizzing water. While he waited for the painkillers to do their work, he slumped onto the couch.
"When am I gonna learn I can't handle my booze?" he groaned, holding his head in his hands. As he lowered his head, he was greeted by the sight of his big belly filling his lap, his toes just visible from underneath it. It could have been his imagination, but he could have sworn it had grown since the previous night.
He smiled. "Well, at least it's not all bad news."
END
