(Take Me Into) Your Skin

Rarity liked food. In fact, she liked food more than most anypony would realize. Oh, she could titter and gush about the tiniest of expensive Canterlotian meals with the best of high-society, but her core could not be denied. She liked nibbling at Pinkie Pie's sugary-sweet hoof-work, would sometimes indulge Dash in taking a few of the overly-cheesy hayfries she loved to munch on, rarely turned away a small tin of baked goods from the Apples. Ice cream, too, was a vice that she was to quick to indulge in her more emotional moments.

She liked food. She didn't like how much she liked food.

It sent a chill up her spine, on occasion, when she was struck with a desire to simply just eat. Eat whatever came to her mind. Perhaps a hayburger, this fine afternoon? An omelet, maybe, stuffed thick enough to spill out. A slice of cake? How about a soda or two?

The cravings would come and go in waves, every few weeks. Her mind would drift for a moment and when it'd return to her she'd feel ashamed. Her typical diet had long since been carefully developed, she knew exactly what needed to be done to keep her body in acceptable visual parameters. It was already a thin line she sometimes tread when indulging her friends when eating together, but falling to compulsions by herself, for no reason beyond her own mental weakness...

(Muscles like her father was one burden all on its own. But she'd taken after her mother, too. Any excess weight never gave her the small benefit of at least accumulating in more— tolerable areas. Always, without fail, a readily apparent pudginess would begin to widen her face, and her stomach would soon follow along to bloat downward and outward. She could never let herself get past a certain weight, ever.)

It was frustrating, the fickleness of her body. Of course, beauty was something to be strived for, but sometimes the fight was simply exhausting. Perfect truly wasn't easy.

It isn't easy for you.

Swallowing down her spike of frustration, Rarity levitated over a bagel from the picnic basket settled in front of her. She rotated it in her magic, eyeing the size of it, and summarily tore in half. Just as she prepared to take a small bite, Pinkie manifested in front of her, hoof outstretched.

"Waitwaitwait! Try it with this, try it with this! Me and Mr.Cake were messing with jelly recipes, last night! It's super sweet and really good and you shouldn't eat a bagel plain I mean why would you even wanna?"

Rarity gazed at the jar in Pinkie's hoof with narrowed, critical eyes. She'd already eaten two cookies. Yesterday she'd put four cubes of sugar in her tea rather than the usual three.

"Sorry, dear, I'm not sure I could. I doubt I'll even be able to finish just this half."

Pinkie visibly deflated, only to immediately lock her eyes on the other half of the bagel Rarity had set aside. "Ooo! Then can I—"

"It's all yours."

The bagel disappeared from the napkin she'd placed it on in a blur of pink. Pinkie, too, vanished, leaving behind a few crumbs and a splash of the jelly on the picnic blanket. Rarity clicked her tongue, but bit at her bagel with a tiny smile. The bagel, though plain, wasn't at all unpleasant, though who could expect anything less from something baked at Sugarcube Corner?

"You're missin' out, y'know? They really hit it outta the park with the jelly, there."

"Oh, I don't doubt," Rarity said, lowering the last little bit of her bagel away from her mouth a touch. Applejack settled down beside her, having slid her own plate of food closer. She had cookies, a cupcake, two muffins, and a recently topped-off glass of lemonade. Rarity carefully looked away from it all. "Beyond her more... inspired... creations, Pinkie does quite well, and quite often."

"No kiddin'! I'm serious, these cookies? Dunno what she did different, but mmm-mm!" She stuffed one into her mouth for emphasis, chewing happily. "Want some of mine? I grabbed plenty."

Rarity watched the cookie disappear with rapt attention, until she remembered that she needed to gag at the crumbs that had also flown everywhere.

"Much appreciated, but I couldn't conceive of eating any more. I've certainly had my fill, and then some." She carefully dusted away the crumbs that had gotten too close to her with a napkin, then used another to dab at Applejack's face. She snorted at Rarity's actions, but didn't put up a fight.

"Seriously? Ya already eat like a bird. A few more cookies ain't gonna hurt you none."

"One must always be aware and considerate of their body, Applejack. Besides, I truly am full. I just don't have the tongue for too many sweets, really."

How would the jelly have tasted?

"C'mon, now. Ain't nopony judgin' ya, good eats is good eats. Not like you're gonna eat more than Pinkie, anyhow, heh."

There were five cookies on Applejack's plate.

"It isn't about being judged," Rarity bit out, unsure why it had slipped free almost unconsciously. "Not everypony has the same type of constitution. Just because you can eat to your heart's content doesn't mean that everypony else can." Rarity scrunched and turned her head away. "Or will want to, for that matter."

An irritated sigh sounded off from beside her. "I was just offerin'. Didn't mean to cause no fuss."

"It's fine," Rarity quickly replied. "I know you meant well. All of the food is quite amazing. I just— like to keep my portions in mind. I apologize, it's a rather silly thing to get huffy over."

"Yeah it is," and Rarity just knew Applejack was smirking outside of her view. "But if ya didn't wanna eat ya didn't wanna eat. I haven't ever thought about all that stuff, too much."

"Hmm?" Rarity turned her gaze back to Applejack. "Portion sizes, you mean?"

"Yup." Applejack lifted a muffin to her mouth and took a hefty bite. Thankfully, she swallowed before continuing to speak. "I've had a mighty strong appetite ever since I was a filly. Always ate like I do, always will, I think. Guess I'm lucky the farm keeps me so busy, huh?"

An ugly snort broke free from Rarity before she could suffocate it. She quickly covered it up by gently coughing into her hoof. Lucky. Hah.

"While it wouldn't be so horrible to keep these things in mind for the future, you are correct. You do more than enough physical work to keep things in line. Even then, perhaps you Apples simply have a special type of physiology, to boot. Who could say?"

"Y'know, with the way Granny can still pack away food I just might agree." Applejack took a final bite of her muffin, expression a touch thoughtful. "You make it look easy, honestly. I'd probably keel over and howl if I had to start thinkin' 'bout eatin' like you do." She shrugged. "Things'll keep workin' out, I guess."

Rarity curled her left forehoof into the picnic blanket, messing up her previous effort of perfectly spreading it out. She exhaled and looked away.

"Mm. Should we all be so lucky."

Before her thoughts could spiral, Rarity picked up the last little bit of her bagel and ate it. It still tasted fine. Some small part of her knew it would taste even better with jelly, but she ignored that thought and spent the rest of the picnic in silence.