Years ago, Celestia planted surveillance probes all around the city of Canterlot. What follows is a transcript of two ponies conversing at a dinner table.
“So how do you like your hayfries?”, a red pegasus asked the pony in front of her.
“They’re greasy, burned, and downright unhealthy...just the way I like ‘em! What’d you order, anyway?”, he asked before diving into his dish.
“Nothing special really.” She looked away from the pony in front of her, and observed the masses of ponies protesting outside. “Just a few pounds of steak.”
“Steak, eh?!” he mustered out while continuing to stuff his face. “Sounds great...what is it?”
“Well I might have lied about the ‘a few pounds’ part, but your reaction is probably going to be the same either way. Long story short I ordered some meat. Cow, to be exact.” She looked back at him with a nonchalant expression glued on her face.
Slowly lifting his head from the plate, he looked across the table with a bewildered stare. “Wow! I’ve been away from Equestria longer than I realized. How did it catch on so quickly?”
She raised an eyebrow at him, with surprise slowly sneaking its way onto her face. “What, you thought it was for me? And that it was actual cow meat? That would not only be unnatural considering what we ponies need to survive, it would also be considered murder. I ordered it for the homeless wolf sleeping in the corner over there. He saved some random filly from freezing in the winter last month by sleeping on top of her in the cold weather.”
“Wasn’t sure how your stomach could handle it, but considering it’s here on the menu...wasn’t sure what to make of it.” He sat silent for a while, then asked, “So it’s not for you..but it is meat, right? Isn’t that still murder?”
She let out a small chuckle, and leaned closer in to her friend. “It’s grown like plants with magic. It was invented by the wolves when they realized that we could gather armies and fight back. Saves them the trouble of hunting and killing sentient beings.” She then started smiling from ear to ear. “They even added in another enchantment that allowed them to add chocolate flavour. Take note that they don’t have any magic themselves, they just designed it through studying our unicorns.”
A waitress came over with the meat that was ordered, and asked them if they needed anything. Hearing both of them decline, she motioned to leave, but was stopped by a wing hitting her in the side. “What do you think you’re doing? I didn’t order the meat for me, it was for that sleeping wolf over there. I’m not the one who’s supposed to sit here with it, bring it over to him!”
For the first time all night, the blue unicorn raised his eyes from his plate. Having remained composed all night, the emotion in her voice seemed to appear out of nowhere. While the waitress fumbled for words, he levitated the tray over to the mysterious wolf.
“What’s his story anyway?” He wondered before turning around to the two silent mares.
Both clearly surprised by his interference, he took the chance to finally ask. “What’s your connection to that wolf? I haven’t seen you angry too often.”
With a wave of a hoof, the pegasus had the waitress leave. “It’s a long story, Phaze. I haven’t spoken to him yet, but that random filly he saved was one of my cousins. Ever since he did that, my family have been paying his expenses. I still haven’t actually met him yet, but we know of each other.”
“Why would this wolf sleep on top of a filly? You’d naturally expect him to eat her instead. Suppose he has his reasons though. Given how Equestrian restaurant are now serving meat, the wolves have really integrated into our society.” Realizing he was muttering away, he shot his head back toward the perplexed pegasus. “Sorry, Amethyst.” He smiled sheepishly, “Got lost in thought again.”
“It’s fine, Phaze. You’ve just returned home yourself, so it’s a lot to take in.”
The two ponies continued conversing for 20 minutes before leaving the diner. The probe turned off a few hours after this, as it noted that the recorded events weren’t related to the ongoing protest outside. Just before shutting down, it caught sight of a wolf awakening to a dinner laid before him.
If you’re reading this then you might wonder why it’s placed next to the documents written by the device. Seeing as how Note is bringing in the next few barrels of coffee, I’ll keep this short.
Both my colleagues and several of the subjects are a little confused, so we pulled out this relic of the past to clear out a few things. By the look of things, even Amethyst didn’t remember this conversation.
In any case, whether you’re reading this shortly after it was added to the collection, of once the collection is completed, you’re going to need it.
I’m Cypher, and this is hopefully my last intervention.