“Finally,” Twilight said sleepily as she leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms up, unknowingly letting her small tank top rise up over her chubby belly. “Four essay drafts down, and just one more to go. But I can start on that tomorrow. It’s getting pretty late already.”

With a tired yawn, she sat back up and reached into one of her bags for one last cheeseburger before calling it a night. But as she leaned her body forward, she began to feel her sweatpants riding up again. “Oh, come on,” she muttered, hopping onto her feet and pulling at the tight fabric.

But as she tugged on her pants a little too harshly, the stitching on her thigh suddenly began to pop and tear. “Oh, great,” Twilight sighed, looking down at the small bit of purple flesh trying to peek through. “Just what I needed. Another reminder that I’m getting fat.”

No longer feeling as tired anymore, but rather irritated she plopped herself back onto her chair as she bit into her lukewarm burger. “Owlowiscious, open up Journal and start a new entry,” Twilight asked her computer, trying to speak as clearly as she can with her mouth full.

The owl-themed virtual assistant on her PC pinged back in response, opening up a new speech-to-text document to record her thoughts.

“Journal Entry #2849,” she began, making sure to swallow her food before citing the date and time. “So regretfully, I’ve been rather negligent with my lack of journal entries lately. I usually try to get these done maybe every other day or so. But as of late, I’ve just gotten so caught up in my studies that I just can’t find the time for this. Sometimes, I forget how therapeutic these journals can be.”

Twilight took another bite of her cheeseburger, quickly trying to get most of it down before continuing.

“Anyway, my life hasn’t seen any major changes. You know, other than the obvious,” She bluntly added, still swallowing hard as she gave her bloated stomach a gentle pat, feeling it wobble with even the smallest touch. “Although, I did feel a little more stressed than usual during midterms. So much so, I actually spent almost all of spring break trying to decompress.” She took yet another bite, but this time, continued without even trying to swallow her food. “You know, come to think of it, this whole semester has felt really different for me. I mean, it makes sense. I do have a lot on my mind right now.”

Without thinking, Twilight reached back to scratch a flabby side roll, feeling her fingers sink slightly into her flesh. Being starkly reminded of how soft she had gotten, she quietly grimaced as she rubbed her hand over the rest of her soft middle. Getting to her belly and giving it a firm shake, not only did she feel it slosh and jiggle, she heard it loud and clear too.

She swallowed bitterly.

“You see, despite my best efforts to try and maintain my weight, I’ve ended up nearly doubling my initial weight of about 120 pounds in less than a year. My cravings certainly aren’t helping. In fact, I’m eating my third burger as we speak.” She goes in for another bite, no longer bothering to even hide how full her mouth was. “You know, I really regret not asking Rainbow for any fitness advice. Sure, I was never the most athletic person, but any help would’ve been appreciated. But now with her ankle injury, she’s got her own problems to deal with. That’s what I get for putting it off.”

Barely taking her time between bites anymore, Twilight went ahead and stuffed the rest of her burger into her irritably hungry mouth.

“On top of that, I’m running out of clothes to wear, so I’ll have to replace them pretty soon. I asked Rarity if she could help upsize them, but she barely has time anymore because she’s constantly stuffing her own face. Ugh. I swear, she’s getting heavier every time I see her,” she added with a bit of disdain as she swallowed her harshly. “So now, I need to find some time to go shopping before I have nothing to wear. Something that, again, I keep putting off! Why?! Why do I keep doing that? I have no idea! I mean, just look at me! I’m already getting so… so-!”

All of a sudden, she stopped.

Hearing a high-pitched whine, Twilight turned towards the foot of her bed where Spike slept. Though he hadn’t fully awakened, he seemed to have been shaken up by Twilight’s loud ranting, even kicking off his blanket in fear.

Taking a second to breathe and ease herself down, she goes over to calm him down, caressing a warm hand over his tiny body before covering him up again.

As she quietly sat back down, Twilight grabbed a few leftover fries and tossed them into her mouth, licking off any excess salt off her fingers. Any tension she had coursing through her body seemed to have drained away. She was simply tired again.

She looked up at her computer, remembering that she was still recording her thoughts into her journal. Swallowing the last scraps of fast food she had, she reread the whole entry before deciding to redo it all from scratch.

“Journal Entry #2849,” she repeated, stating the new date and time as she only just realized it was past midnight. “Sometimes, I forget how therapeutic these journals are. Because despite everything that’s going on right now, I’ll somehow find a way to get through it. Especially with friends and family by my side. There’s Spike, of course. And my parents and my brother. They’ve always been there for me.” As she continued, she began to look at a photo of her and Timber Spruce from her time Camp Everfree. She smiled. “There’s also my boyfriend, Timber. He’s always so patient and understanding. Plus, I think he might actually have a thing for the extra weight I have,” Twilight chuckled to herself as a slight blush came to her cheeks. “But he might just be a little shy about it.” Her eyes continued to wander up and around the wall as they went from one picture of her friends to the next. “And I can’t forget about my friends. I know we haven’t been together for too long, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve known them for all my life.”

Twilight sighed happily.

“I feel with them around, everything will be okay…”