Heavenly Virtues

by Doctor Song MD

Temperance: Twilight

Temperance, or abstinence, is the opposite of gluttony. Without temperance to some degree, a pony would surely become very fat and unhealthy. But what happens when a pony is too temperate? Well, Twilight happens, and it isn't pretty.

---

"Oh, Spike, time for breakfast!" Twilight called out to her number one assistant from the kitchen. Twilight had made pancakes with loads of butter and syrup on it, and she even put some gems in the pancakes, just for Spike. Twilight walked into the living room, and waited for the baby dragon.

Spike trudged down the stairs slowly, yawning. "Hey, Twilight, what'd you make?"

"Oh, just your favorite," Twilight said with a mischievous grin.

"Okay, let me guess." Spike paused for a moment to think. "Cupcakes?"

"No."

"Ice cream?"

"No again. Why would I make that for breakfast, anyhow?"

"Uh, waffles?"

"Getting warmer."

"Cake?"

"Sort of."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"C'mon, can't you smell it?"

Spike sniffed the air. "Hm...waffles?"

Twilight shook her head in disappointment. "You already said that five seconds ago."

"Yeah, I give up. Can I eat now?"

"Oh, fine. They're pancakes by the way."

They went into the kitchen and Spike and Twilight sat down at the table. Spike exclaimed, "Oh my word! These have gems in them!" Spike then proceeded to shovel pancakes in his mouth with his bare baby dragon hands. Hopefully the greedy dragon wouldn't get a stomach ache from that.

Twilight watched him for the short while that it took him to finish his breakfast, giggling to herself all the while. He could be pretty cute sometimes, when he wasn't being defiant. She felt like a mother to him, which in a way, she sort of was. She was all Spike had ever known. Too bad Spike never had a father. But despite what Twilight had read about single parenting, it was actually pretty easy.

Spike putt more pancakes on his plate from the stack that sat at the center of the table. "Mmf...om nom," grunted Spike. "Aren't you going to have any?"

"Oh, yeah. Though it wouldn't hurt if you slowed down a little bit."

"What'd you say?" said Spike, unable to hear over his own chewing noises.

"Never mind, Spike." Twilight slowly started eating her pancakes. She didn't put any gems it hers, obviously, but they still didn't look that tasty.

"I'm going to go out to a friend's house for a while, okay Spike?" Twilight told him. "Can you watch the house while I'm gone?"

"Yeah, sure," said Spike, still preoccupied with his pancakes. He looked up at Twilight's plate. "Can I have those?"

"Haven't you already had enough? Oh well, you can have them." Twilight moseyed out the front door, sighing. What was with her today? She had been feeling a little bit down all week. She had been so busy studying the entire time, and not really thinking about having fun. Maybe visiting Rarity would help.

---

Twilight knocked on Rarity's door.

"Hello, who is it?" Rarity called out. She was too busy to get the door.

"It's me, Rarity, Twilight."

"Oh, come in dear."

Luckily, the door was unlocked. She walked inside to find Rarity working on a new fashion collection. Twilight was never really into fashion, but she still thought that the dresses so far were pretty awesome.

"At it again, huh? They're beautiful," said Twilight.

"Thank you, darling, even though they're not finished yet. Would you mind handing me that purple thread over there?" Rarity was obviously talking about the small wooden spool on the table near the entrance. Rarity was quite unorganized, it seemed, when she was designing dresses. Some ponies swore that they could find things better when their belongs were unorganized, but Twilight was pretty sure that their claims were due to sheer laziness.

Twilight gave Rarity the thread. The dress she was currently making was purple, adorned with white and lavender sequins made out of gemstone fragments. The other dresses around the room also had sequins. Twilight guessed that was the common theme in this collection.

"Twilight, have you ever gone on a diet?"

Twilight looks at Rarity with an eyebrow raised. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just wanted to watch my figure, and wanted to ask you if you knew anything about the subject, that's all."

"I might have some books in my library about that. I've been thinking that I've been getting a bit chubby lately." Twilight's eyes moved down to her barrel, which seemed to be growing by the hour. With all the parties of Pinkie's she had gone to lately, it was no surprise. The cupcakes, the candy, and the punch had all gone to her stomach. She had never gone on a diet before. Really, she had never even cared about her weight before now.

"Oh, you don't look that bad darling, but if you want to join me on my diet, you're more than welcome. I wouldn't mind having a diet buddy for motivation."

Twilight smiled at that, and said "Sure, I'd love to." The both stood there for a moment, thinking about the time they would spend together. Maybe they would go out for walks together, play some sports, go swimming. Maybe it would be a good learning experience for both of them to share.

Rarity broke the silence by saying, "I've had some experience dieting before, so I'll give you a few tips. Here, I'll write them down for you." Rarity grabbed a quill and paper with her magic. She read out loud what she wrote to Twilight. "Number one, drink plenty of water. Sometimes when you think you are hungry, you are actually thirsty. Number two, eat lots of fiber filled foods, and stay away from the sweeties. Vegetables will fill you up more than cupcakes. Number three, exercise is important to increase muscle mass and rev up your metabolism. Number four, don't keep fattening foods in your home, they will just tempt you. And finally, number five, weight yourself once a week to keep track of your progress."

"Wow, Rarity, you sure know a lot about dieting! Thanks a bunch." She left Rarity's house with a smile, and so Rarity could finish up her sewing.

Twilight decided to go to the market to buy some fresh fruit and veggies. She bought apples, carrots, cherries, and various other foods. She brought everything back to her house and was ready to start her diet.

Spike greeted her, and saw that she had her hooves full. "What do you have there?"

"Just some fruits and veggies. I've decided that I'm going to go on a diet."

"Um, okay then." Spike didn't think Twilight was the type to diet, but hey, maybe she wanted to try something new. Or it could be a research project for the Princess.

Twilight unpacked her groceries, putting some fruit in a bowl in the middle of the kitchen counter. She had been out shopping for a while, she realized. It was already noon. She picked up an apple to eat. "You want one Spike?"

"No thanks, Twi. I was going to clean up around here a little bit. If you want to go somewhere else today, I can keep an eye on things for you."

Twilight considered this for a moment. "You know, I think I will go out. Maybe I should check and see if AppleJack needs any help on the farm."

---

"Yeah Twilight, if ya really wanna help out, Ah'd 'preciate it," said AppleJack. "I'll buck the trees, ya catch the apples, alright?"

"Let's do this!"

They spend a good part of five hours out in the orchard, working and laughing. Twilight never knew exercise could be so much fun. Maybe Twilight would even have lost some weight by morning. As the sun set lower and lower over the horizon, the two mares headed inside.

"Would ya like ta stay fer supper, Twi? Ya been such a big help today, that I think ya'd be pretty hungry."

"No thanks, AJ. I really have to get home to see how Spike's doing. I need to make sure he hasn't gotten into too much trouble. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe I'll be able to stay for dinner some other time. Sorry, I really wish I could stay. Maybe we'll see each other tomorrow?"

"It's fine, hun. Have ah safe trip home." AppleJack waved good-bye, and brought the last basket of apples with her into the barn.

Sure, Twilight was worried about Spike, but the real reason she wanted to go home was so that she could avoid any potentially fattening food that the Apple family might serve. It's better to be safe than sorry. Twilight was just so happy to finally be on a diet, and have a chance to flatten out her barrel a bit. From all the books she had read, she knew that with every extra pound, there was an increased health risk. She couldn't afford to stay at the Apple's for dinner.

"Welcome home, Twilight!" Spike greeted. "I did all my chores, and even fed Owloysius."

"Good job. Uh, I'm going to go to bed now. I'm exhausted from the long day. You can make yourself anything you want for supper." Come to think of it, Twilight had only had one apple all day. But she was too busy all day to care. Why bother eating when there were so many fun things to do?

Before going to bed though, she weighed herself. The display on her scales showed that she weighed two hundred-fifty pounds, quite a lot for an Equestrian pony. She decided then that she would continue her diet until she was two hundred pounds even.

---

For the next several days, it was the same as the day before. Eat a little, skip most meals and snack times. Twilight felt so tired, even though she had gotten a full night's sleep. She had already lost two pounds, so she wasn't ready to give up yet. She figured dieting was supposed to make you tired and hungry. She would go over to Rarity's house, and they would share diet tips. Sometimes they would go out for a walk, or go shopping for clothes. Twilight was already beating Rarity at this weight loss game. She was losing weight so rapidly, and yet she couldn't stop. She counted every calorie, every ounce, every morsel, every crumb that touched her lips had to be accounted for. Her obsessive personality had gotten the best of her.

At this point, it was more than a diet. It was an obsession. And the smaller she got, the less she ate. And the less she ate, the hungrier she grew. And the hungrier she grew, the more she obsessed. It was an endless cycle. One day, she ended up too thin. Her body couldn't handle the strain anymore. She fainted, and was admitted to the hospital. There, she was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. She was the last pony anypony would suspect of being anorexic. She was so smart, so talented, so beautiful. She just wanted to be a better pony. She wanted to be happy.

---

All of Twilight's friends had come to the hospital. RD, Rarity, Fluttershy, AJ, and Pinkie were all there for their dear fried, worried that she would die.

"Twilight, I'm so sorry," apologized Rarity.

"I wish I had known," said Rainbow Dash, digging at the floor with her hoof.

"Cheer up, and get better, Twi," said Pinkie Pie. She was tempted to force cupcakes down Twilight's feeding tube.

"I told you not to work yourself too hard," said AppleJack. She had brought a get well present of Zap apple jam.

"Angel says hello and to get better," said Fluttershy. "Please be ok."

Twilight whimpered. She was hooked up to IV, a feeding tube, and a bunch of other monitors. She was hanging on to life by a thread. Her face was sunken in, her ribs visible. Her mane didn't shine like it did before. Her hooves were chipped, and her skin rough. Her friends could only wish that she would get better. What could they do? They didn't know if they would be able to talk any sense into Twilight. A mentally ill pony wasn't easy to persuade.

Rainbow Dash leaned in over Twilight. "We like you just the way you are Twilight. We need you. We can't protect Equestria without your Element of Harmony. You're our leader."

Tears begun to form in Twilight's eyes. "I love you girls so much. I need you, too. I need you to help me get through this. We can do this together. I couldn't possibly leave this world so soon."

"Oh Twilight, I should have never suggested going on a diet," said Rarity.

"No Rarity, it's not your fault. I was just so sad at the time, and my emotions overcame me. So, please don't blame yourself. I'll get better, I promise."

Twilight kept her promise to her dear friends. She lived, and even became Princess of Equestria. She gained some of her weight back, and cherished every moment from then on. She had learned a very valuable lesson about friendship from her anorexia. She learned that sometimes your friends could keep you from dying.

That is the true magic of friendship.