As I was writing, I began to think about whether ponies (in MLP:FiM) eat meat. I always assumed they were vegetarian, they're never seen eating meat in the show (from my recollection), but then I remembered they kept pigs on farms. Cows and chickens can be used for milk, cheese, eggs, etc. Pigs on the other hand don't have a purpose other than for their meat (as far as I know, anyway). So, if they're keeping pigs, do they eat pork?

7246635
They could use them as natural trash disposal.
Pigs will eat anything, even a pony

7246635
I typically roll with "for the most part, no". From what I've seen, it looks like the vast majority of ponies' diets are vegetarian, so if ponies do eat meat or animal products, it'd likely be on very rare and/or special occasions and circumstances.

Or maybe all those animals are being raised to feed the carnivore friends Fluttershy has. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7246640
Maybe they sell the meat to the griffons

7246640
That last part could explain it...

7246635
In "Over a Barrel" Pinkie specifically sings "Both our diets, I should mention, are completely vegetarian."

7246635
you should research a little more. pigs have as much use as any other farm animal. Like Sleepless said they eat anything and handy for ridding of old produce. They can even usage outside of farm animals. they can be used to hunt for truffles. pets that are as loyal as dogs are. they don't have to be used for food.

but on that subject. they can sell them to meat eating races like Gryphons, Hyppogriffs and even Kyrins

7246644
Fair point, but what are the pigs for exactly?

7246642
That could be the purpose, but Gryphonstone's history was lacking majorly in Equestria, implying the two countires didn't interact much before Twilight and her friends.
7246639
I suppose that if they were used as garbage disposals, they could produce manure along side it, but pigs don't eat absolutely anything. They can only eat edible products, which likely could be used for compost on its own. That, and unless there are some shady things going down in Sweet Apple Acres, I doubt they'd want to feed the corpses of their loved ones to pigs.

7246635
The pigs could also be used for truffle hunting. Iirc, there was a bit where Fluttershy was giving a fish to one of her animals, but besides that, I don’t think FiM has had any meat in it.

I do think it’s safe to say ponies are vegetarian but not uncomfortable around meat due to a scene from the first Equestria Girls movie. When grabbing lunch, there were meat and veggie burgers, and Twilight grabbed a veggie burger without comment or reaction to the meat one (also, Fluttershy grabbed a veggie burger in that scene). Later EqG stuff has Sunset with non-vegetarian sushi, but that’s also after she’s been in the human world for at least over a year. The only other non-sweets I can recall from EqG was the pizza from Rainbow Rocks (might’ve had pepperoni, but I can’t remember if it was the movie or a comic, and I don’t remember of Sunset or Twilight ate any) and bean burgers Sunset and co ate.

It a iffy subject we never seen them directly eating meats. On the other hand a few sandwiches appeared that seem to have meat or questionable meat like items.

It could be something they eat very rarely. Sometimes herbivores do eat meat. Just google dear eat bird for example.

Another question is what do the Seaponies/ Hippogriffs eat?

7246646
Yes, but compost takes quite a while to made in high quality, manure is a more easier way of doing it.

And maybe not loved ones, but if a cow dies of natural causes you could either bury it or just use pigs to dispose of the body.

PS: in my farm we buried the bodies in their waste so we could make compost and not have to dig a huge pit every week. A bunch of pigs would have saved us a lot of effort

7246635
One of the oldest "newbie" questions in the show. Pinkie Pie doesn't seem to think so at least ("both our diets, I should mention, are completely vegetarian!") Official answer for the pigs is "truffles" with a side of waste disposal - although it should be noted that ponies do keep some carnivorous pets.

(Aaand everyone's already said all this, despite the thread barely being half an hour old. Some people get all the responses...)

Would shrimp or other small animals count in this case?

7246651
Buried in your own waste. What a way to go!

7246635
I believe ponies in the show are largely vegetarian, with the exception of Pegasi who are largely accepted to eat fish (they're like birds, geddit?).

In real life horses have been known to eat meat, though. They have the teeth for it, and given the chance they would very happily chow down on a good steak. Much like chimps and other "herbivores" it's just not their most preferred form of sustenance.

As for possible usages for meat animals in the show: I guess that depends on the headcannon you're working with. I've seen a range of fics who include it to varying degrees. It's either considered a griffon thing, where ponies find it disgusting but tolerate it (so long as it stays within dedicated establishments, lol) to se where it's technically illegal to deal in animal meat due to the sentient nature of most animals in MLP.

My favourite is probably in Dash of Humanity 2, where a Griffon restaurant opens locally serving meat, and (iirc) the steaks were obtained from willing volunteers. Whatever that means, lol.

7246645
7246651
They do make good pets, and the are useful outside the farm, but what about inside the farm? They could be used as disposals (And as Sleepless pointed out, manure is quicker than compost is).

7246650
Hadn't noticed that till now... odd. I was aware that herbivores can eat meat, but I was more wondering about if the ponies in MLP do it normally.

7246654
I suppose, yeah.
7246655
You've given me a lot to think about... (Oh, and nice joke)

7246656

I was more wondering about if the ponies in MLP do it normally.

I don't believe so.

7246656
If one is willing to read too much into it, the use of the term "vegetarian" rather than "herbivorous" might indicate it's a lifestyle choice - like how humans forgo cannibalism for the most part. (Well, that and "herbivorous" wouldn't have fit the metre.)

7246635
Usually I assume that ponies can eat meat, just like normal horses. But most of them vegetarians by choice.

7246635
It's a little known fact that the Apple clan looooves the taste of sweet, sweet bacon. How many times have you seen the same pig in different episodes? Remember that one really big one Apple Bloom got stuck washing? Don't see her around anymore, do ya?

The only other pony that knows about the Apples' secret diet is Rainbow Dash, as she's always "dropping in" right around suppertime. At first, she was shocked and appalled, but then AJ dared her to try a nice, juicy pork chop. With cinnamon applesauce on the side. That was it for Dash's strictly vegetarian ways.

P.S. Just kidding; I have no idea if the MLP ponies eat meat, but it's fun to speculate.

7246727
Great story!

7246656
Well, that is the thing true "herbivores" don't exist. Well, actually it is said that out of all the wild animals, the porcupine is the only total herbivore, which means that you are not at risk of parasitic infection from eating raw porcupine. In other words, every other "herbivore" eats some level of meat. I once saw a horse chew a mouse like it was a vitamin. Similarly, whenever researchers leave a dead body in the woods, to train new crime scene investigators, deer are usually the first animals to eat the bodies.

My point is that meat is an easy way to get a lot of protein and calories, so athletes like rainbow dash and applejack would probably eat a bit of meat. Depending on how much energy magic spells take twilight and other unicorns might also supplement their diet with it.

7246774
Neat! I'll have to keep this in mind!

7246635 7246645 7246642

7246788

7246780
One middle ground I saw was the use of insects for proteins. I think the fanfic was interview with a batpony. Twilight has a bowl of ground Beatles as a side dish. During the dinner scene. I might be wrong about what story it was in.

It might be insectivorous meals could be more acceptable in pony society. They get the proteins with out the question if it came from a creature that was self aware.

My headcanon is the predators in the Everfree mostly ate Parasprites. That why the don’t leave the forest.

There also some evidence that MLP has self aware animals and normal animals.

We see both types of Goats. The talking intelligent type working for Ironwill. In a few episodes we see a simple minded goat. A key difference is the eyes. It could be the same for other animals. This is what they have in the Wicked stories. Animals with capital A for smart animals and dumb animals for food and life stock.

7246635

I'd always assumed that they're a multi-use creature, and they can be sold as meat if necessary. A niche market kind of business, see? An acquired taste, with a small but dedicated market.

7246814 Is that Fluttershy buying meat for herself her bear?

7246635
In the wild, horses do, occasionally eat meat. There are many video on YouTube about just that. Other than that, like you said, they raise pigs. That would mean that, at the very least, they don't have a problem with eating meat like some stories depict.

Ultimately, it's up to one's own headcanon. Mine is that ponies do eat meat, but it's a very small part of their diet.

Then there's all the time obvious meat was used in sandwiches and such.

7246639
That would be a needlessly expensive and inefficient method of trash disposal.

7246644
Vegetarianism is a lifestyle choice and not the same as being an herbivore. That would suggest that both ponies and buffalo are omnivorous.

I’ve read several themes like this. Take the Hive series when Twilight gets turned into a changing Queen. She rainbow and rarity are having a meal and Twilight states that ponies can eat meat but they don’t digest it very well. In a recent story I was reading with anthro kitsune and ponies, the ponies are extreme vegetarians even trying to deny the Kitsune rabbits from the everfree forest (aka fluttershy trying to save bunnies from foxes almost causeing an international incident.) it also pointed out how spike was too small from lack of meat in a pony diet with a side of gems.

7246822

You know, I've always suspected that about Spike, a drake his age should be several times his size, no matter what sort of dragon he is.

And honestly, I've always loathed stories that portray Fluttershy like that. She's a full-time caretaker for wild animals, she should know very well what an obligate carnivore is.

7246635

Are the capable of it? Yes. Do they do it? All signs point point to it being culturally taboo to do so. That doesn't mean that it never happens. We see ponies fishing, and there's a pony in the movie that has a can of tuna for a cutie mark, which both seem to indicate it is less taboo to eat fish. They also use gelatin which is something that typically doesn't exist if there's no meat consumption going on anywhere (read up on where gelatin comes from).

7246644
Well Pinkie Pie is a liar because at the beginning of the Sisterhooves Social episode, Rarity and Sweetie Belle make fried eggs.

7246896 Clearly not fried eggs if they're made with cereal and a carrot though, are they?

This is basic cooking, guys.

7246899 Of course this is not how you make fried eggs. It's obvious, lol.

This is how you make cereal.

7246653
Or Earth Ponies are vegetarian in specific.

7246925 You put carrots in your cereal?

This is why I don't take cooking tips from the internet. Some of you think carrots and cereal are eggs and some of you put carrots in your milky breakfast.

7246896
Pinkie said vegetarian, not vegan. At least where I am (UK) eggs are considered vegetarian food.

7246635 The ponies themselves may not necessarily meat, not because they physically can't but because they know the animals that become the meat. But the fact that they can befriend griffons indicates that they're at least aware of other species that eat meat, and aren't bothered by it.

I can't help but think they eat humans. Look, it explains so much...

Princess Twilight Sparkle covered her mouth and blushed. "Excuse me."

"Perfectly understandable, darling." Rarity gently touched her lips with a napkin and pushed the nearly picked-clean thighbone away. "This one was absolutely delicious. Plenty of marbling and still quite meaty. Didn't he say he was a vegetarian, Pinkie?"

"Not sure. Too full." The pink party pony poked listlessly at the remains of her fifth peopleburger. "He said something with a V in it before Rainbow Dash hit him. Ventriloquist? Violinist?"

"Victrix," said Applejack, who was starting to box up leftovers to take home. "And it weren't no he, it was a she. Victrix is some sorta Latiny word for a female warrior. All that brass armor probably confused y'all. Speakin' of which, I suppose you want it dumped in the recycling with the rest of the gear, right?"

"Except the helmet and skull," said Fluttershy, who had a red patina of splatters across her chest due to her habit of dining before the roasting was complete. "We're making birdhouses."

"I love self-inserts," managed Rainbow Dash around a hefty bone. "They're the best-tasting of them all."

7246984

That made me think about a pre-Twilcorn story with bronies that had the unicorns being omnivores that actually ate humans.

7247073 Cold in Gardez's story National Geographic Presents: Big Princess Week is the topper of them all.

“Right. Uh, first question.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Why is there a dead zebra in your room?”

Celestia glanced across the room toward the parlour, where a half-eaten zebra carcass was splayed out atop an exquisite Prench silk carpet. “Oh, that? That’s just a snack.”

7246635
Well, technically, there are no true herbivores and horses will eat meat if there is nothing else at all to eat. I imagine that the primary diet and disposition of ponies in this world is to be completely vegetarian but, I imagine, in some of the most dire of circumstances (a literal absolute last resort) they would consider meat....besides, things based on plants can taste like meat (veggie burgers, for example) or just adding the flavor of the meat (like a bone broth, for example).

7246635

If they're Nightmare Moon they do.

7246965
Well then... today I learned something.

7246635

"Pin-kie--Pin-kiiiiieeee..."

"What? What? The steak was right there so I ate it!"

"But Pin-kiiiiieeee.."

"I mean it would've been rude to let it go to waste!"

"PIN-KIIIIIEEE..."

"But WHAAAAAAT, Flutter--shyyyyyyy?"

"The steak was still attached to the cooooowwww!"

"It did seem a bit rare."

"Who was still walking arooooouuunnnd!"

"Not for long!"

7246635
I generally have the ponies being herbivores, but do not freak out about the idea that other species eat meat, I mean Griffins live amongst them after all. So there is some minor meat production going on for at least the non-pony citizens of Equestria who have a more omnivorous diet and any such visitor to the country, plus their more carnivorous pets. I've also noticed it's rather popular to have Sombra being a meat-eater, so I took that idea as well and ran with it. We've seen Fluttershy feed fish to animals, so clearly at the very least, she understands not everyone has a pony diet

7246984
Okay: WHY haven't you written this as a story?! That's hilarious!

7246635
Well, I do not recall seeing any cows, sheeps. So I don't know if they even exist.

But I have seen chickens and I believe the only reason for them to be in the show is for eqq which ponyies will use to bake cakes.