Today, a great commotion had woken Kobalt from his sleep. He was always used to at least a little bit of noise coming from the city below his apartment, but today it was simply raucous, waking him with a start. The blue dragon groaned and stumbled his way out of bed, clad only in his underwear, and cracked open the blinds to peer outside.
The street out his window was, to say the least, packed. Throngs of people were shuffling about out there, looking around at a wide assortment of stalls that Kobalt soon realized weren’t usually there.
It only took him a second to realize. Today was the King’s Fair! The biggest yearly event in the city. How could he have forgotten it was today? There were events, stalls, parades, and most importantly, fair food! Kobalt would never miss such an event for anything. He was only slightly groggy as he quickly got himself ready and out the door.
He soon waded through all the people, joining the flow of furs looking at what the festival had to offer. Various stalls were selling novelties, jewelry, handworks, and a whole bunch of other things Kobalt didn’t even know about. But what really mattered to him were the many stalls that were selling something to eat!
His hunt for a good meal started at a big stall labeled “Willy’s Hot Chili”. He decided to take a gander, pushing through the crowd. And there was who Kobalt guessed was Willy, a plump fox, ladling from big drums of cooking chili. The smell, meaty and spicy, wafted over as he approached.
“Hey, welcome”, the fox said as he came up in line, “Looking for some chili? How hot do you want it, bud?”
“Oh, hmm. What’s the best kind you got?” Kobalt replied.
“Oooh. I’m partial to our specialty, the Gutbuster Chili, myself. Great stuff, at least while you’re eating it.” He gave a most curious wink.
Kobalt didn’t quite get it, but the stuff he was pointing too looked rather good. “I’ll take it! One large bowl, please!”
And so he was handed a disposable plastic bowl full to the brim of the savory-smelling stuff. He could hardly wait to dig in as walked away from the stall…
And then another place, further down the street, caught his eye.
He walked on down to the stall, labeled “Baker’s Square: Desserts And More”. He only had to push through a few people to look more closely at what they had for sale, and what they had for sale made Kobalt’s mouth water.
Pies! Pies of all description filled his vision. Apple, pumpkin, pecan, lemon meringue… And, to his delight, blueberry. His absolute favourite! He immediately got in line to grab a slice of this heaven. An old lady, a mottled cat, hobbled around the stall, grabbing slices of pie and putting them into containers for her customers.
“Hello! What can I get for you, hon?”
“One slice of your blueberry pie, please!”
“Ah, wonderful choice. Ours is the juiciest around. Absolutely bursting with flavor!” She gave a most curious chuckle. “Coming right up, dear.”
Again, Kobalt didn’t quite think about that gesture as he waited for his dessert. Eventually, he was provided with a slice of thick pie, dripping with juices and sealed in a plastic container. He also got a bag to put all his edible gains in.
Lunch and dessert, all on one street! Kobalt was quite excited about all this food, but… One thing was missing. Something to drink! He peered down the street, looking for something good…
“Pandora Bottling Co.” the sign read. But what interested Kobalt more was the label below it: “ALL NEW Flavors! Limited time only!”
Well, what better time to try something new than during a festival? He walked his way right down there to give this place a chance.
Shelves of sodas, bathed in ice, lined the stall. Running it was a black dragon, humming to himself as he put more stock in the front row.
“So, what are these new flavors?” Kobalt asked curiously.
“Glad you asked!” The other dragon said. “We’ve bottled some stuff just for the King’s Fair. Say hello to Pear Passion, Grape Gratuity, and my favourite, Wild Cherry Apocalypse.”
“That’s a lot to choose from...” he said, looking at the bottles themselves. “But I think I’ll take the pear soda.”
“Sure! Enjoy this one; we put extra fizz into this flavor.” He gave a most curious grin. “See you!”
Once again, Kobalt didn’t think too much of this curious thing. Instead, he just bought something to drink. The bottle, a long glass one, was quickly put into Kobalt’s possession, and then he was off.
His bag was laden with edible loot, and now he just had to eat it. He licked his lips at the thought, slowly wading through the crowd to look for somewhere to sit. Luckily, he soon came across a big pavilion, lined with benches and tables. Perfect!
Once he sat down, the food did not last long at all. First, he took out the chili and the soda. The chili was hot, but it was immensely flavorful and hearty, loaded with beans and meat. He gulped it down as fast as he could, loving every bite. To help with the spice was the soda, which added a nice fruity flavor to his meal. It was even as extra fizzy as predicted! Once the chili was gon, Kobalt gleefully went on to the pie. The fruit was fresh, and the breading was delightfully thick and flaky. It was probably the best pie he had had in forever.
Well, it was probably the best whole meal he had had in forever, he thought, as he finished off the last of the pie. He stood up, grabbing the soda and swigging down the last drop of the pear-flavored stuff. Good indeed…
WIth his hunger sated, he walked off, belly more than stuffed… However, before he could take a gander at anything else for sale, he heard his stomach rumbling, which was strange, because he definitely wasn’t hungry any more.
He stopped and looked down at himself. His belly poked out from under his shirt very slightly; it didn’t usually do that, he thought. His stomach lt out a louder gurgle, the dragon patting his belly as he felt it churn, soon letting out a loud belch.
“Oof!” he said to himself. “There there, bud… UURP.”
And that was another belch. This meal was making him a bit gassy! He soon decided to ignore it, and walked back into the street… But he could still hear his gut rumble and complain, even louder now.
He held his gut and groaned as he felt gas well up in there. Uh oh, something wasn’t agreeing with him… And in fact, was his middle larger than it was before? He tried to vent it with a inconspicuous fart, but he didn’t feel a whole lot better.
“FRRRT. Urgh… Better get home...” He whispered to himself.
He suddenly began to notice he was taking a much wider stance as he waddled out into the street. He burped and farted, but this bad gas wasn’t going away! He took glances down at himself as he walked, and it was noticeable how his belly was growing… And how his shirt was rapidly riding up his middle... He had to leave, and fast!
But when one was that large, fast was not possible. He waddled forwards, bumping into people as they passed by. By then, his belly was beyond beachball sized, wobbling as it hit passerby. This made him burp and apologize often, only making him get more stares and glances as he went on. He was loud, gassy, cumbersome, and only getting more so as he tried to walk home…
Soon, he felt his whole body distend to accommodate his new gut, his waddling slowing down even more. It felt like a fizzy, gassy storm was brewing in there, and only growing! Burp after burp escaped his mouth, but nothing stopped the flow of gas. He felt his clothes grow remarkably tight around him…
By then, a circle of people had formed around him, giving Kobalt a wide berth yet watching in amusement or fear as he expanded. He blushed furiously as he looked around him… Not that he could move his head much. In fact, it felt like his limbs were slowly getting stiffer, their movement range stifled by his massive belly pushing into them…
“Is he going to pop?” One person in the crowd said to another.
“DId he eat something bad…?”
“What is he doing in public like this?”
The murmur filled his ears as he took a slow step forwards. He tried to call for help, but only a belch escaped his mouth, and then another! Each step sent his gut wobbling, making him pass gas all the more. With a particularly forceful fart, he wobbled on his feet, before promptly falling over, coming to rest on his stomach.
He wriggled his arms futilely as the gas inside him grew and grew. He was soon entirely immobile, limbs sunken into his blue-scaled hide, belches and farts the only thing he was doing. With a slow rrrrriiipp, he heard his clothes begin to tear around his taut body, both his pants and shirt soon bursting at the seams! But yet the inflation continued…
His hide began to creak and groan as he expanded into a blue sphere. He felt so full, so utterly full of gas, yet so light… Lighter than he was earlier, he concluded. Lighter and lighter, he felt his stomach grow, even as the pressure increased… Slowly, softly, he began to feel less of his stomach press against the ground. He was lighter than air! He was lifting off!
He tried to wriggle his limbs, but couldn’t, not even an inch, as he slowly began to lift up in the air, his belches and farts pushing him this way and that in the breeze. Soon, he was a few inches off the ground, then a few feet…
Kobalt was too busy worrying about where he was floating off to to notice the people wading through the crowd around him.Three people pushed their way to the space below the inflating dragon- A fox, a cat, and a black dragon. In each of their hands was a rope.
“Just in time”, the fox said to the others. “Glad someone ate enough.Let’s tie him down!”
Suddenly, Kobalt felt ropes smack into his spherical body. He let out a balch and wobbled as they were thrown over him and over his other side, unable to properly react or even look down. Soon, those ropes tightened, tying the floating dragon to the ground.
He sighed internally as he was brought back down to ground level. He was about to thank whoever had saved him, but who he saw there only made him pass gas in surprise. The same people from before!
“Hey! What did you do to me?” Is what he wanted to say.
“UUUUUURRRRRPP.” Is what he actually said.
Regardless, the black dragon replied. “Just in time for the parade.”
His inflating hide creaked under his bonds. He burped again. And that’s all he could do as they collected the ropes and tugged him away from the crowds.

By the time the gassy cocktail of chili, pie, and soda had stopped reacting with the blue dragon, Kobalt was absolutely enormous. His limb, sunken in, were tiny details among his enormous spherical body, and his clothes were just shreds stuck vaguely to him.
He was so wide he couldn’t even fit in the street if we wanted so… So it was a good thing he was floating a considerable distance above it, pulled down only by a set of ropes.
Way up there, the people couldn’t see what was going on, but Kobalt was still burping and farting, a near constant stream of gas. Venting was very slow, and he knew it. Even when the parade was over, it would take forever to reach a normal size...
He could hear the crowds cheering below as he passed by, the dragon only one in a procession of parade floats. However, he was the only live one, his blue hide painted to show the company logos of all the fair food vendors. He bobbed and wobbled in the wind as he was slowly marched forwards by the handlers below.
As Kobalt sat there, he made one conclusion. In the future: Beware of fair food.