Rarity was sweating furiously as she pushed herself beyond her limits. Just one more pushup..., Rarity told herself.

   To Rarity, her workout music began to sound like nails sliding down a dusty chalkboard. She could feel her muscles burning as if they were screaming for her to stop and she could hear her heartbeat clearly in her ears. She forced herself to go down into another pushup. All at once, Rarity felt dizzy and fell to the ground. I can't do it, Rarity thought sadly. All those extra calories. What will my friends think?

   "Rarity!" the sweet voice of Pearl called up the stairs. "Someone's here to see you! Is it alright if I send her upstairs?"

   "Yes, mother!" Rarity called back, but due to her exhaustion, it sounded more like a frog trying desperately to croak after its vocal cords had been damaged.

   Rarity heard the sound of someone running up the stairs as if they were eager. She was delighted to see Applejack reach the top of the stairs, holding a tray wrapped in tin foil.

   "Hiya, Rarity!" Applejack exclaimed with a twinkle in her eye. "What have you been up to?"

   Rarity chuckled in embarrassment. "Oh, you know, working out..." she trailed off.

  Rarity could see the excitement in Applejack's eyes wither away slightly. She knew that Applejack was aware of what she was going through, but she didn't expect Applejack to be able to tell what she was doing so easily.

   "Well, uh... great," Applejack said. "Ah baked something for ya too! Ah just thought I'd bring it on over."

   "Oh, you didn't have to do that!" Rarity replied with a nervous laugh. She really didn't have to do that. I can't eat it or I'll gain back the weight.

   "But ah did," Applejack said, winking at her. "Look!" Applejack unwrapped the tinfoil covering the tasty treat. "Apple cobbler."

   Rarity had to admit that Applejack's gift looked delicious and she could see that Applejack had poured her heart and soul into it. She'd feel guilty if she didn't eat it.

   Rarity forced a smile as she took the tray from Applejack. "Thank you, dear. That's so thoughtful. I'll be sure to save it for later."

   "Oh, ah hope so," Applejack said. She grew serious. "How has recovery been comin' along, Rarity?"

   Rarity swallowed nervously. This was the question she'd been dreading from Applejack since she had arrived. Rarity sighed. Despite how poor the results had been so far, she wanted to be honest with her. "I'm... afraid of the consequences," she admitted reluctantly.

   Applejack sighed sadly and sat down on a nearby sofa. She beckoned to Rarity to come sit with her. "Rarity... may ah ask ya... if it's not too personal, of course... may ah ask how much ya... weigh?"

   "I'm too ashamed to say," Rarity replied, clenching her eyes shut and turning away to hide the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

   "Well... ah won't force ya, but it don't look like you're healthy," Applejack claimed. "You're skinnier than Apple Bloom, sugarcube. She's two heads shorter than you. She should not weigh more than you do, Rare."

   Rarity sighed and reluctantly admitted her weight, "110.09."

   Rarity's heart sank when she saw Applejack's eyes widen with shock. She could only assume than Applejack was disgusted by how much she weighed, but in fact, it was the exact opposite.

   "Rare... someone your height should weigh at least 130 pounds," Applejack said. "That's twenty pounds underweight."

   Rarity just stared at the ground. "I... I didn't know how bad it was getting," she said softly.

   "Ya need to go into recovery therapy," Applejack pleaded. "Please."

   "AJ, I---"

   "Please."

   Rarity saw the fear in Applejack's eyes. Tears were brimming in them and the usual shine to her grassy green eyes was gone. Rarity realized how far she had fallen when Applejack begged again and her voice broke as if she were about to sob at any moment, "Please, Rarity."

   Rarity took a deep breath. "Applejack, I'll do it."

   Applejack looked at her in hope. "You will?"

   Rarity nodded. "I'll do it. I'll do the recovery therapy. I'll do whatever it takes to get better."

   Applejack threw her arms around Rarity and sniffed as tears began to trickle down her face. "Ah'm sorry. Ah... ah just don't want to see ya go through this."

   Rarity sighed and felt a few tears of her own slide down her cheeks. It was going to be a long road.

                                                                                              ***

   The following night, Rarity was continuing to cut her food and move it around at dinner as if it were a force of habit.

   Her parents were too busy talking, but Sweetie Belle looked over and noticed Rarity move some of her meal across the plate and set her fork back down. "Hey... you're not even eating anything."

   This caught the attention of Rarity's parents. They looked down at Rarity's plate to find that Sweetie Belle's remark was true.

   "Rarity, why aren't you eating anything tonight?" Pearl asked. "Aren't you hungry?"

   Rarity finally gave in with a sigh. "Mom, Dad... I want to sign up for recovery therapy," she admitted.

   Her parents and Sweetie Belle merely stared at her.

   "Recovery therapy for what?" Pearl asked. 

   "I've been struggling with something for awhile now and I feel it's time I came clean to you," Rarity continued. "I... I think I'm struggling with an eating disorder."

   The table went dead silent. Even the sounds of silverware and chewing weren't heard.

   "What's been happening, dear?" Pearl asked, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "Please tell me what's been going on."

   Magnum and Sweetie Belle started to become scared.

   "I... I don't really feel comfortable giving away the details," Rarity stated. "Can you please just sign me up for the therapy?"

   "Rarity," Pearl said, gently. "I'm afraid we can't sign you up if we don't know how bad it's gotten. We need to know if it's something we should truly be concerned about."

   "I suppose you're right," Rarity said, reluctantly. "Alright. Well... it all started when I realized that I wanted to be a model in the fashion industry for my future career choice. But I started learning about the typical diet of a model and what was expected of them to get the right type of body for their job. I began to feel pressured and like I'd never be good enough for the job, so I started pushing myself to lose weight, so I could become good enough for it. But I began to feel like my current diet was part of the issue. So I started cutting back on the calories and paying attention to what I could and couldn't eat. Soon... something in my mind just seemed to... change. I decided I'd go throughout the day eating as little as I possibly could. But soon, that wasn't enough either and I made a workout routine. I also doubled the amount of time I worked out and pushed myself as hard as I thought I could go. But now, I see... that what I'm doing to myself isn't healthy. However, I also know that my mind has changed and I'm going to need some help to get out of this. I... I can't do it alone, Mom."

   Pearl began to cry on Magnum's shoulder. Magnum's eyes filled with tears as well. "Alright. We'll sign you up for the therapy, sweetheart."

   Sweetie Belle went over to Rarity and embraced her. "You're going to be alright, right, sis?"

   "Of course, Sweetie Belle," Rarity reassured her, running a comforting hand through her bouncy curls.

   "Good!" Sweetie Belle cried, hugging Rarity tighter. Tears began to seep out of her eyes. "I don't want to lose my big sister."

   Hearing these words, Rarity began to cry as well as she hugged her sister in return. She had to get better. For her family- and her friends.

(A/N: Okay, I know I asked this last chapter, but I didn't get any responses, so I'm going to ask again. I'm thinking of making one of my stories an audio drama on YouTube. Is this story something you'd like to see turned into an audio drama?

Anyway, you're probably thinking, "MLP Reader, what took you so long?! Usually, there's a new chapter almost every day." I have reasons, I promise! Reasons are... rehearsals! Holy crud, rehearsals have been a pain in the butt lately. Since I'm a larger role, I have to be at extra rehearsals too. Yay. But I finally got time to write a little! Also, I applied for a new job because working at Chik-Fil-A was not a great experience for me because my manager was a bitc- I mean, rude person. But I applied for a job at Taco Time and I'm stoked because that's one of my favorite fast food restaurants. You have to try one of their crisp burritos some time. They are so good. 

But here's a new chapter! Hope it didn't disappoint. Also, there's another chapter too. Go ahead and read that as well.)