We all gotta eat.
The camera flickers on, focusing on a cobalt unicorn mare in a doctor's coat, the name tag reading 'Dr. Morning Dew'. She starts speaking for the camera as she looks through a file.
"Patient 7120. Name: Gravy Train. The patient has been here at Brisk Glade Medical Facility for the last twelve years. Mr. Train was admitted with an unnamed eating disorder, though he has been reluctant to discuss it with anypony. What little he does say is to call it a 'constant craving'. For what, he won't say. I'm hoping to try any get him to open up so we can get him on the road to recovery."
She sighs and puts the file down.
"Also, according to some of the staff, and a few other patients, there have been...disappearances in the years since his admittance." She scoffs "Personally, I have been here for over five months, and have yet to see anything of the sort."
A couple of minutes later, a dull brown, and slightly scrawny-looking earth pony stallion walks into the room. She smiles warmly at him
"Ah. Mr. Train. Please have a seat."
He lets out a sheepish chuckle.
"Heh, never been called that before. Everypony here usually just calls me 'GT'."
"I see. Well, 'GT', I know you have an obvious dislike for discussing your condition, but please understand; we are only here to help you."
"Well....what I got...I heard it ain't something your supposed to talk about in polite company." He cheerful demeanor quickly faces. "Especially when my first doctor screamed that I should be locked up when I did tell him."
"Ah yes. Dr. Trepanning." She scowls at the name. "I recall he was apparently transferred due to do his rather subpar bedside manner. Mr...um, GT, I give you my word as a medical practitioner: I will not repeat anything you say in this room."
GT's expression contorts a bit, showing that he's considering it, though possibly a bit reluctantly. "I...you promise?"
"I swear on my doctorates and PhD."
He looked at her intently for a moment before sitting back in the chair. "It...it's not really something I'm proud of, but there've been times I just couldn't help myself. This craving...it gets the better of me more often than not."
"A craving? For what?"
He looks thoroughly embarrassed about it, rubbing a forehoof on the arm of the chair.
"I don't really know how to explain it. It's something I've had for a while now. I guess the first time I felt it was when I was about nine, on my way home from school. I'd just eaten too, so it kinda surprised me. Got kinda worried when it seemed to get worse by the time I got home. Nothing there looked appealing enough for me to eat..."
"Well, sometimes cravings can denote a deficiency somewhere."
"Yeah...but what I wanted...Tried telling my dad, but he just cuffed me and yelled that it wasn't funny..." He sighs "My old man wasn't exactly a Mr. Nice Pony. Anyway, I went back out and walked around, hoping to find something and get this...want, outta my system. As I walked around town, it seemed to get worse, and I started feeling desperate."
He goes silent for a moment.
"It..it was then that I was passing through a little out of the way place on the edge of town when I saw this little filly, having a picnic behind some bushes. I..I don't know what came over me...she was a year or two younger than me...I didn't mean to scare her, but this craving...I couldn't help myself!"
"Oh dear. I hope she wasn't too frightened."
"Well...there was a bit of screaming when I came up, and I had planned to apologize, but...she was already long gone by then. I knew i should've said something, told somepony, but I was just too embarrassed to do anything besides clean up and make myself scarce after I had my fill."
"Nopony was hurt at least?"
"Well, her parents were pretty upset when they found out. And, maybe it was from eating too much or guilt, but I ended up puking a few minutes later. Either way, I wasn't in the best shape when I got back home, but the craving was gone. For a little while at least. Couldn't bring myself to tell my mom and dad anything, though."
"Understandable; some sufferers of bulimia and/or anorexia tend to keep to themselves, too. Did...did your parents ever find out?"
"Not...not for a little while." His tone turns rueful "It wasn't the last time I did that either...things were fairly quiet until the craving came back a couple of weeks later."
"Interesting, dietary cravings tend to fairly few and far between from my experience."
"Next time it happened...I found one of our neighbors having dinner in their backyard. My parents had gone out to visit a friend someone on the other side of town. I didn't really think much about it that time. In a weird way, it felt a bit more natural, and I was able to keep it down then." He chuckles half-heartedly "At least this time I managed to apologize."
"I have to admit, this is quite bizarre. How many other times did this happen?"
"Just one more. The last one, before I was put in here, it woke me up one night a month later...to the point where it almost hurt."
Morning Dew quickly grabs a reference guide and looks through it.
"Oh dear. I-I'm afraid I'm not familiar with any disorder with symptoms like that."
"All I know is that I had to do something. I knew my old man would tan my hide if he saw me up that late, but I didn't really care. It was way, WAY worse than the first time! I went down to the kitchen and saw my mom there, making herself a midnight snack." His voice hitches a bit. "I knew she'd tell him if she saw me, but...to be honest, my mom was a bit of a doormat to my dad. She'd agree with him on something even if you could SEE that she didn't like his opinion, so it was a little hard for me to respect her. I guess that's why it seemed to make what I did easier. Just helped myself."
Morning Dew looks at him with more than a bit of shock.
"I know...I shouldn't have, but between that and the pain, I just didn't care and ate...until my Dad heard the commotion and came down. To put it bluntly, he wasn't happy about what he saw. Though with him, I think it was mainly worrying more about how his reputation would be hit if word got out." he can be heard muttering 'the bastard'
"Well, GT, judging from your tale, it seems like since you were after other ponies' food, this craving is more psychological then physical..."
He laughs a bit "Well, you're half right on that."
"Pardon?" she looks confused as he walks up to the camera and looks at the lens
"You seem like a decent mare, so I think I can be a bit more honest with you." He grins into the camera. "I never said it was their food I was eating."
"W-what?"
"I told you what I was eating when those cravings hit. Admittedly, it's not something I really take pride in, but a pony's gotta eat, right?"
Morning Dew's expression slowly turns to confusion then alarm. "You...you ate...!?"
"And since I am being honest. Those disappearances around here...He smiles, showing a set of red-stained teeth and calmly reaches for something behind the camera. "Well, there's plenty of places around here to hide what's left after I've had my fill. Now, I really should apologize for what's gonna happen next. I haven't had anything in a few days." He turns to her, still smiling as he puts something in front of the camera, the last thing it sees is Morning Dew's face shift into dawning horror. "And I'm hankering for a good meal."
There's silence for a few seconds, before all that's heard is her screaming.