Blink Again

by Amarandream

3 - Good Eatin’

Light watched in open-mouthed shock as Twi devoured Spike's cupcake. It had been a few days since her arrival, and that was all it took for the hunger to begin gnawing at her insides. She'd taken out the treat, which she carefully saved to stave off having to eat... that, only to find the previously amicable Twi pouncing on her like a greedy Diamond Dog. She hadn't offered up a fight, choosing to let the traumatized pony have it rather than get into a full on brawl over a cupcake.

Twi licked the last of the frosting off her no-good, treat stealing hooves, then noticed Light staring at her and finally had at least the good graces to blush. "Uh, sorry. I, um, guess I'm more desperate for a good meal than I thought." She gave a weak, apologetic smile.

Light sighed. "No, I guess it's fine. I just wish you would have asked first. Had I known you wanted it so badly, I would have offered to share."

"You would have? Oh." Twi stared at the ground in shame. "I guess I'm starting to forget just who Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, is." She grimaced. "I hate this place. Come on, let's get you something to eat. I won't let you starve on me, whatever your opinion of our dietary choices."

Light weakly nodded. “Right. I guess it had to happen sooner or later.” She gulped. “Lead on.”

The other mare gave a curt nod, then waved her over to the cookfire. “Alright, it turns out, cooking pony flesh is pretty simple. Start by taking one of those carving tools over there,” she pointed to a small pile of sharpened bones, “then find a body and carve yourself off a piece. Next, you need to scrape off the fur and... are you okay? No offense, but you look ill.”

“I might be,” Light groaned. “How can you do this? Our bodies aren’t even built to digest this stuff. I mean, you know it will eventually kill us, right?”

Twi nodded. “Yeah, but eventually is better than in a couple of weeks, which is how long starvation will take. As for how I can do it, you get used to it. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but trust me, you will. Now, are you ready to continue?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Good. Once you have an appropriate amount of meat, you need to suspend it above the fire. I already built a sort of rack made of bones for exactly that purpose, and every single saddlebag here has been combed through for fire-starting tools—flint, matches, strikers, you name it. Anyway, just cook it on one side until it’s brown, then flip and do the same with the other. You'll know it's done when you can see brown all the way through. Frankly, it tastes slightly less awful if you leave a bit of red in the middle, but I made myself sick doing that. It is much safer to burn it a little than to leave any chance of a pathogen surviving, especially on meat as rotten as this.” She picked up a bone axe and thrust it at Light. “Here you go. Get started.”

Light took a step back. “I don’t know if I can. I mean...” She glanced between the axe and the nearest body, failing to find the words to properly describe her disgust.

Twi sighed. “Okay, I get it. I had a lot of trouble the first time too. I didn’t have anypony here to help me though. Maybe it can be different for you. We can introduce you more slowly, avoid tossing you in at the deep end.”

Light blinked. “Um, how do you intend to do that? I can’t just not eat.”

“By doing it for you. Just this once.” She gave a sympathetic smile. “I kind of owe you for the cupcake anyway.”

"You would do that for me?" Light smiled. "Thank you."

Twi nodded. "Of course. I mean, I've done it dozens of times anyway and probably will dozens more. Next time, we can do it together. After that, you're on your own."

"Okay, makes sense. I'm, uh, sure I will grow a stronger stomach by then."

Before Light even finished speaking, the other mare began her gruesome work. She took to it with the same attitude one might have of making a salad, more desensitized to the act of carving a pony than Light yet was to the wretched smells. Though she made herself watch, as it seemed discourteous not to after her only friend made such a nice offer, it still felt almost physically painful for her to witness. Twi had, of course, made herself several meals over the last few days, but Light placed herself nowhere near each time—even if she did feel bad about periodically failing to provide the company Twi so clearly needed.

Once the slab of Twilight Sparkle steak had been cooked to Tartarus and back, Twi hoofed it off to Light, who held it as gingerly as one might a used tissue. A moment later, she provided a small cup of poorly purified water from their still. Light didn't even want to think about what that water used to be.

“Ugh, do I really have to eat this? M-maybe if I wait a little, the new Twilight will decide to teleport a banquet or something.” Her stomach rumbled, as if sensing the nearby food, no matter the source. “No, I’m just delaying the inevitable. My brain is trying to rationalize ways to avoid this. Well,” she took a deep breath, “here goes.”

It was rough as a hardback’s cover, and little more fun to chew than wet concrete. Maybe it wouldn’t have been quite that bad had her teeth been made for such a thing, but as it was, their sole purpose was to munch on plant matter. Worse was the taste, similar to beans if they’d been burnt, hardened, and spoiled all at once, but with something distinctly foreign added in. Used to a diet of hay and daisies, Light found it bitingly unpalatable. She wished she could at least forget where it came from. Still, by some unparalleled stroke of luck, she managed to keep it down.

“See?” Twi said. “It’s not so bad. In time, you may even get used to it.” She patted Light on the withers, nearly causing her luck to reverse itself on reflex alone.

“Uh, thanks.” Light stared at the meat. “I have to consume this whole thing, don’t I?”

“Yep. Waste not, want not.”

“Ugh.”

Comments

[Kirtai]

bitesize chunks

I see what you did there.

[Amarandream]

10307583
I try. ;)

Edit: For those wondering, the author's note originally mentioned me writing chapters in bitesize chunks. I have since removed this as it is not as true now as it was then.

[Dakuookami]

Poor light

[lolitsjack]

Do not eat Taco Bell while reading this chapter, it's not pleasant.

[LeylaQuartz]

I... strangely want a steak burrito or steak teriyaki while reading this.

[darklight731]

Well, if it wasn`t for the fact that there is no constant influx of any sort of energy into the system, or plants to convert waste into food, one or two individuals could probably survive here indefinitely.

[DarkSnowGaming]

10945659
And I want an apple pie, why is this story making me hungry?