Twilight Sparkle is a mare we all know and love. Everypony has some relationship with that lavender unicorn, some more than others. Some see her as a beautiful, curvy pony who feels lonely and needs some compassion, and others see her as a half-crazy witch who should be locked in a dungeon where she is exiled. She doesn't seem to mind these judgments, however. She was pondering what people think of her one day in her home in the library. She munched on her treat, a delicious biscotti from Sugar Cube Corners. Usually these crunchy cookies were eaten with coffee, but she liked them by themselves. She took another bite, and crumbs scattered on her face. Twilight reached for a napkin, just a few feet away... just out of reach. She stretched a little, then a little more, but she could not get it. That's when she remembered she was a unicorn, and grabbed it with magic, rolling her eyes at her own forgetfulness.
In that forgetfulness, however, a new thought occurred to her: an ordinary pony could have grabbed that napkin with ease, magic or not. She trotted over to a mirror and stared for a minute. Her cheeks were rather puffy. She turned, noticing that her body was not much different; her hips were wide, her plot round, and her gut enlarged. Twilight's breathing quickened. Did everypony see her this way? She called to Spike.
"Spike?"
He replied in the same tone
"Yes, Twilight?"
She stopped a minute, unsure of how to phrase this
"Am I fat?"
Spike laughed a little.
"No way! You're like a model pony!"
She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but she dared not find out. Instead, she realized she would need another opinion. She walked back over to the cushion she was sitting on, finished her biscotti in one bite, and left the library without another word. Her destination was clear. She knew one pony who would tell her exactly what she thought about her appearance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rarity adjusted the dress on Twilight. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it came together. The white unicorn smiled with a hint of smug, happy that she had made this work. Twilight did not seem as cheery.
"Thank you very much, Rarity," she said, straining a little, "But I don't think this is the right thing for me."
Rarity stopped her immediately, like a moth to flame.
"Nonsense! This dress makes you look much slimmer!"
The dress was actually a size smaller than the average pony's. Rarity had no worries about making her friend feel better.
"Well...thanks again" Twilight said, beginning to leave
"Come back if you ever need any more reassurance!
Reassurance? She gave her a dress! That wasn't reassuring.Nice, but not what she hoped for. Clearly, Twilight needed an honest, to-the-point pony, and Applejack fit the bill perfectly. She started towards Sweet Apple Acres, but found herself exhausted after only a few minutes. Disappointed, she opted to teleport there. A bit of concentration and enough willpower to make Iron Will himself gasp, she arrived at the farm. Big Macintosh was sitting on the ground near an empty apple cart, likely having just made a run through the fields. Apple Bloom was near the pig sty, working and playing with Granny Smith as they bathed the pigs. Applejack wasn't one to spend time alone indoors, so she must have been out in the fields. Not feeling like searching the entire orchard, she approached Mac, ready to ask him for directions.
"Excuse me, Big Mac, but where is Applejack?"
He pointed to the field of trees
"Do you know exactly WHERE she is?"
The colt extended his neck slightly
"Nope"
Facehoofing, she turned towards the massive orchard. Applejack could be anywhere in there. Twilight took a deep breath and started off. To her surprise, AJ was resting behind an apple tree at the edge of the field.
"Applejack!" she said, glad to see her friend "I have something to ask you."
"Well," the Earth pony sat up, "Go right ahead, Twalaght."
"Am I...fat?"
Applejack laughed heartily. Why were so many ponies not taking her seriously?
"Twah, you're body is nothin' to worry about! To tell the truth, y'aren't much chubbier than Ah am. You can even fit in that weirdly small drayss!
Just hearing her say that made Twilight feel better.
"Thank you, AJ..you really think that?"
She stood to meet Twilight
"Ah do."
Twilight was confused..she had trouble doing things that she knew most ponies could do easily. Applejack interrupted her thoughts
"Yer just a little lazy when it comes to work"
Twilight frowned a little, but it disappeared. She was glad to be who she was. And so, she decided to head back to her home in the library.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Twilight entered the library. It was unusually dark, and she knew what that meant...
"SURPRISE!"
"Hey Twilight! Rarity told me you were feeling down about your body image, so I decided to get everypony I could to come to this "celebrate who you are" party in your library so that you could spend time with your PFFs and enjoy yummy cake!"
Her friends truly cared for her. Every one of them had shown up, and some ponies she hadn't even met yet; a green unicorn who was noticeably close with a light beige one, a cobalt blue one whose hair looked like toothpaste, and of course, a white unicorn with purple sunglasses was blasting music at the other end of the room while a posh-looking gray one was playing a cello louder than she thought was possible on such an instrument. Pinkie sure knew some interesting ponies.
Everything considered, she didn't feel very self conscious any more. She was Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight Sparkle was her.
It was a good day.