But We Can't Eat Meat!

“They’re swarming in again.” A gruff stallion’s voice causes four sets of ears to perk up. “We need to move.”

The owner of the voice steps away from the cracked window he had been looking out of. His dark gray coat and black mane had caused him to almost camouflage against the similarly dull-coloured wall. His eyes are a deep brown, continuing his apparent theme of looking like the environment around him; the only bright colours on him are in his cutie mark, which is of a pair of bright yellow saddlebags.

“Gather up our supplies and see what you can scavenge. We head west in half an hour.” The earth stallion walks past the other ponies in the room over to a set of saddlebags that almost mirror his cutie mark, except for the fact that these ones seem to have suffered much more wear and tear.

For the past several months since the country was attacked, these ponies had been doing their best to survive. Their group had started out larger, but for a variety of reasons, over half of them were now gone. Some ran away; some tried to betray them; some went out on a scouting mission and never came back. But the five that remain are determined to stick together until they reach their goal.

They had first met in Dodge City, having come together from wherever they lived previously all over the map. The clones apparently didn’t consider the place worthy of attacking a second time, so it was a fine place to stay until resources ran low and they had to move. That was when they began planning their route to the Crystal Empire.

The gray stallion, Baggage, had been the one to come up with the idea. The way he saw it, the empire couldn’t have just vanished; it was just being protected. If they could get to it, they might be let in, where they could be safe from the attacking clones. However, this was a long trip, and they hadn’t even gotten halfway there yet. They were just getting ready to leave Baltimare.

The group consists of three stallions and two mares; two earth ponies, two pegasi, one unicorn. Baggage had more or less named himself the leader, and the others didn’t bother protesting; the title didn’t amount to much anyway, aside from allowing him to decide the path they travelled and when they left each location. He rarely spoke of his own past, only telling the others that he came from Ponyville and worked as a mailstallion.

The other earth pony, Trifecta, is a light green filly with a darker green mane and tail. She had just earned her cutie mark, a silver triangle with a red dot at each point, before the clones attacked; as such, its significance has been mostly lost, to the point where she doesn’t even remember what she got it for. She and her older sister had been living in Canterlot when the clones attacked, and they just kept running until they stumbled across Dodge City and found Baggage.

Her sister, Celosia, is a violet unicorn with dark blue hair, and her cutie mark is a potted plant. Being the only unicorn remaining in the group has made her a top priority to protect; Baggage believes that the Crystal Empire is being protected by a large magical shield, similar to when it was being attacked by King Sombra, and so they would need help from another unicorn’s magic to get through.

The two pegasi are both stallions, but aside from that, they’re different in just about every possible way. Savage is dark red with an orange mane and tail, a quick flyer, and typically very boisterous; Virus is off-white with light blue hair, prefers to walk, and is not afraid to admit to being a coward. Savage often ends up trying to fight incoming clones rather than running, which has caused him to build up a wide assortment of scars all over his body, rendering his broken bone cutie mark almost invisible. Virus, meanwhile, is more content with letting the others handle the hard work, only stepping in when medical expertise is needed. Both of them came from Cloudsdale, which had since been crashed into the ground beneath where it once floated.

Celosia is the first one to approach Baggage after he had given his orders. “Didn’t we just come from the west?”

“If you want to get nitpicky, yes,” he grunts. “Southwest, specifically. But we needed supplies, and this was the closest city we could get to. Everywhere else is too small to have much of use to us.”

“Then where are we headed now?” she asks. “I’m assuming we’re not going back to Dodge City?”

“You’d be right. We’re going to Ponyville.” Pulling a large, battered map out of his bags, Baggage unrolls it on the floor and points to the aforementioned village. “Accounting for hiding and/or running from clones, trying to avoid encountering them in the first place, and assuming we stick to our current rest stop schedule… we should arrive there in two weeks.”

Savage trots over. “Sorry, what? Two weeks to get to Ponyville? I could fly there and back in less than a day!”

Baggage shakes his head, chuckling grimly. “I’d give you three days at least just to get there, if you even survived. Keep in mind the clones can fly too, and you’d be pretty easy to spot flying through the air.”

The pegasus growls, muttering to himself as the other winged pony steps up. “I do agree, though… two weeks seems like an awfully long time just to get to another town.”

“Give or take a couple days.” The earth pony shrugs. “If we’re lucky, we can shave off a whole week just by not running into any clones. Or any other dangers. But that’s highly unlikely.”

Savage raises an eyebrow. “You think we’d need an extra week just from dealing with clones?”

Baggage nods. “Based on past experience… if we so much as get noticed, we’ll get chased. If we get chased, ignoring the fact that at least one of us will likely die, that whole day will be spent getting lost and trying to shake them off. Then we’ll spend the next day trying to get back on course, if not two days. So I’m allowing for anywhere from two to four clone encounters.”

“...you’ve really thought this through, huh?” Celosia asks.

“One of us has to.” He starts rolling the map up.

“Why Ponyville, though?” Virus questions. “If we just need more supplies, Fillydelphia is just north of here, and Manehatten just above that. I’m certain we could reach both of those places in less time than it would take to-”

“No.” He shakes his head. “We need to go to Ponyville.”

“I refer you to my original question, then. Why?”

Baggage slips the map back into his bags. “That’s where the Elements of Harmony all lived. There might be some sort of clue there to help us find them.”

“Aren’t they at the Crystal Empire?” Celosia points out. “You know, where we’re going?”

“It doesn’t hurt to double check. Besides, there might be something to help us get into the empire ourselves.” He glances over to the window and the dim rays of sunlight coming through it. “Fifteen minutes before we go. Hurry up and get your stuff.”

A short while later, the group of five are making their way just out of the city, having been lucky enough to avoid all clone encounters so far. Baggage stays at the front, leading the crew and looking around anxiously to make sure no clones sneak up on them; thanks to the daylight, a black pegasus pony is very easy to spot, but it pays to be careful. The other four just travel in a rough line behind him, side by side.

“Stay close,” Celosia whispers to Trifecta for the umpteenth time. She glances around. “So good so far...”

Baggage nods. “Nothing yet. But keep your eyes peeled and your voices low.”

“Already on it,” Savage declares, flying upside-down and not bothering with the second of those instructions.

The filly of the group tries to balance sticking next to her sister and not getting under her legs. At the same time, her head seems to be on a swivel as she constantly looks around.

Virus looks worriedly at the single flying one of their group. “Savage, seriously, you’ll attract attention!”

“I can do better.” He flips upright and takes a deep breath, but the lone unicorn just magically grabs his muzzle and yanks him back down. “...I was joking.”

She rolls her eyes and lets him go. “And stop flying, too. They’ll see us easier.”

“I’m two feet off the ground!” he protests, though he still lowers both his voice and his body, soon trotting on all fours like the others, but not without some grumbling.

The other pegasus looks to Celosia. “Thank you. He had me worried.”

“Had me ready to rip his wings off,” she mutters in reply.

“Sis…” Trifecta leans against the unicorn, a worried look on her face after that comment.

Celosia sighs and nuzzles her. “Figuratively, Tri.”

“If you ‘figuratively’ touch my wings, I’ll ‘metaphorically’ snap your horn off,” Savage hisses.

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Who cares?” He snorts and moves a few feet away.

“Guys, can we not fight?” Virus asks, shying away from both of them a little. “Talking about ripping limbs off isn’t helping anything.”

“It’s cathartic.” Celosia smirks, bumping him lightly. “Try it sometime. You’re always so nervous about everything.”

He smiles, noticing Trifecta looking at him too as he chuckles sheepishly. “I don’t think I could joke about that… I’m more into making sure they don’t lose them.”

“An important job,” Baggage points out from his spot at the front. “Now keep it down. I think there might be something up ahead.”

The others quickly go quiet, looking forward. “Clones?” Savage asks in a stage whisper.

“Possibly. But there’s a structure up ahead.” Baggage gestures forward, where a metal roof can barely be seen in the distance over a hill. “We can scavenge for supplies and then get back to it. We have food and water, but you never know what could be useful.”

“Should I check it out?” Before a response comes, Savage has already flown off, staying only a few feet above the ground but still moving quickly.

“Sa-” Celosia starts, but cuts herself off before she can yell, just growling. “He’s going to get us all killed...”

“Isn’t it better to stay in a group?” Trifecta asks, frowning.

“That’s debatable,” Baggage grunts, getting close to the ground. “Don’t move. Wait for him to get back, or scream in pain. We either go to the building or far away from it depending on which one happens.”

Virus swallows as he crouches as well. Celosia glances at him, opting to sit down instead, though still leaning close to the ground. “Virus? Can you promise me something?”

He looks to her, curious. “Umm… sure, what?”

“If he does scream in pain...” She puts a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Grab Tri, and fly off with her. Get her somewhere safe.”

Hearing the seriousness in her voice, he nods. "I will."

Trifecta, however, looks up at her sister with confusion. "Why can't I stay with you?"

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch up.” She leans down and gently nuzzles her. “I just need to set off a little light show to distract them first.”

Baggage nods. “Good thinki-”

“Shiiiiit!” A scream cuts him off, and next thing they know, Savage is back in front of them, wings flapping rapidly despite him staying still. “...there’s some clones.”

The filly's eyes shrink to pinpricks as she clamps onto her sister's leg. Celosia just raises an eyebrow at Savage. “And your first thought was to lead them over to us?”

“...not exactly like that?” He shrugs a little sheepishly.

“How many?” Baggage demands.

Savage shrugs again. “There were about ten flying after me, but there might be more hiding someplace.”

“They saw you?!”

“Uh, did you not hear me scream ‘shit’?” He rolls his eyes. “Because they certainly did.”

"Then why are we standing here?!" Virus demands.

The other pegasus blinks. “I dunno. Why are you?”

Behind him, the rest of the group sees the clones rising up over the hill before flying towards them. As Savage said, there are at least ten. Virus makes a motion for Trifecta to come to him as his wide eyes are locked onto the crowd in fear. Unfortunately, the filly reflexively hides next to her sibling, not wanting to move.

Baggage growls. “Savage, do your job. We’ll try to sneak into that building.”

“Can he take on that many at once?” Celosia asks, worried.

Savage rolls his eyes as he turns back to the clones. “Duh.” With that, he flies off towards the small swarm.

Baggage turns to the others. “Celosia, get ready to distract them if you need to. Virus, stay near the kid. Let’s go.” Turning back around, he starts to practically crawl forward, keeping a careful eye on the battle going on above them.

Celosia blinks. “He looks like he’s having trouble...” Sure enough, the clones are easily outnumbering and outmatching him, keeping him darting away for brief reprieves of safety more often than he’s actually fighting back.

Virus reaches a hoof out toward the filly. "Come on Tri, we have to be ready to go."

Her ears pinned to her head, she nods, crawling towards him but looking back at her sister. She just nods to her. “Go on. You’ll be-”

A loud cracking sound, followed by a bloodcurdling scream, cuts her off. All eyes go to the pegasi in the sky, and widen when they see Savage plummeting from the fight down to the ground. The clones, one with a familiar dark red wing in its mouth, all fly down after him. His screams continue even after he hits the ground and the clones begin ripping him apart, using tooth and hoof to literally tear into him.

Soon, his screaming abruptly stops, but the clones continue to rip pieces off of him, apparently eating him.

Trifecta's eyes widen in horror as she whimpers quietly, shuffling along quickly between Celosia and Virus. Her older sister has a hoof over her mouth, ears flattened. “Oh dear Luna...”

Baggage, after a second of silence, looks back at them. “Mourn later. For now, we have to get to that building while they’re distracted.” He resumes moving ahead, keeping a careful eye on the feasting clones.

Virus does the same, but with horrified confusion and terror. As far as he's concerned, they can't get away fast enough.

Celosia squints her eyes, starting to look a little pale. “Th-they’re… eating him...”

A horrified shudder goes through the remaining pegasus. "That makes no sense..."

“Even clones need to eat.” Baggage sighs. “We all know food isn’t very common now… they just decided they found ponies frequently enough to rely on them for survival. Why do you think we barely see any bodies, but plenty of clones?”

The unicorn whimpers and holds her sister closer. Trifecta holds her just as tightly, speaking with a whisper. "Ponies don't eat meat... Ponies don't eat ponies..."

“These ones do.” The stallion grunts, looking at the building ahead of them. “Seems like a warehouse of sorts… Virus, go see if the door’s locked before we get our hopes up.”

Nodding, the other stallion quickly heads over to the door, testing the knob. His eyes widen as he feels it turn the barest of amounts. "No..." He tries again with the same results. In desperation, he pulls and surprisingly, the door shifts, part of the frame splintering.

Baggage notices this as the others catch up. “Well, better than nothing...” He glances behind them. “Celosia, see if you can carefully pull that door off. We’ll attract their attention if we make too much noise. Virus, try to help her.”

Nodding, Virus looks as Celosia comes forward, her sister almost literally right on her tail. "How should we do this?"

“Do you have anything to remove the screws on the hinges?” she asks.

He shakes his head. "Nothing even close."

“Damn.” She bites her lip, looking at the door. “...grab the knob again and try jiggling the door around. See if that loosens anything. I’ll try to pull one of the hinges off.”

Nodding this time, he does as she asks. Trying to do so quietly, he pulls the knob it different directions, splintering the frame as much as he can. Celosia, meanwhile, takes the top hinge in her magic and begins wiggling it around as well, trying to get it off.

Watching them both, Trifecta stays quiet for a bit before piping up. "Is there a way I can help?"

“Just help Baggage keep an eye on the clones,” Celosia hisses, trying to concentrate. “And stay quiet.”

Ears folded, the filly nods and goes back to lookout, a little sigh coming from her.

After a moment, Celosia grins as the combination of her wriggling the hinge and Virus working the door causes the top hinge to pop off, quietly dropping to the ground. She starts working on the bottom one next. “What are they doing now?”

“T-They’re still eating…” Trifecta says in a small voice.

“Sad when that’s the best thing that could be happening...” Celosia sighs, focusing on the hinge again. Finally, she gets it off. “Now pull the door out… carefully.”

Bracing his other forelegs against it, Virus pulls once more, wincing in preparation for more splintering, but none comes. The door practically lifts off the frame with no sound as he has to suddenly brace himself to keep from falling over.

Celosia grabs the door with her magic, lifting it away from him and off to the side. She looks back at Baggage and Trifecta. “In, now!” The filly zips in before another second passes, Baggage following in shortly after. Virus and Celosia bring up the rear, the unicorn turning and setting the door somewhat back into place. “It won’t hold anything out, but maybe they won’t think we came in here...”

As if she was waiting for a cue, Trifecta takes this opportunity to let it all come crashing out. She sniffs loudly as she hugs her sister, a few tears leaking out. “Why do they keep killing ponies? Mister Savage wasn’t that mean…”

Celosia hugs back, trying to comfort her the best she can. “It’s all they care about… good or bad, nice or mean, all they want is to kill ponies.”

“And they’re damn good at it,” Baggage grunts, pacing back and forth as he looks over what little of the warehouse they can see in the darkness. “Buncha fuckin’ cannibalistic bastards...”

“Language,” Celosia snips, looking a little irritated.

“Doesn’t make it any less true.” Virus leans up against a wall, a hoof on his chest. “I kept thinking they were only a second away from lifting up their heads and seeing us…”

“They were. All it would’ve taken is a cough, or one of us tripping, or… just about anything.” Baggage grumbles. “We got lucky.”

The lone unicorn raises her head, glaring at him. “Savage is dead and we’re trapped in a warehouse! How are we lucky?!”

“Comparatively,” he says simply before walking off. “I’m going scavenging. You three cry it out.”

As he leaves, the filly looks up at her sister with shimmering eyes. “Why isn’t he sad? It’s supposed to be sad when ponies die…”

Celosia sighs. “He’s… different.” She idly pets her sister’s mane. “I’m sure he’s sad. He just… he cares more about our survival than somepony else’s death… do you understand?”

“If she does, she knows more than I do,” Virus mumbles.

Trifecta shrugs her shoulders, leaning against the mare. “I guess… he’s focusing on the numbers.”

“That’s a good way of putting it.” She sits down, grumbling just loud enough for the others to hear. “Dammit, Savage… whole mess could’ve been avoided if he didn’t fly ahead in the first place...”

Virus shakes his head, sitting down as well. “Just… doing his part for the group I guess. In his own way.”

“He killed himself and almost killed us!” she snaps. “He would’ve done just as well by slitting his own throat.”

“Sis…”

The pegasus narrows his eyes at the mare. “Well excuse me for trying to think the best of him! He’s not the only one that screws up, but at least he saved us after he did it!” He slumps a bit. “I hope I can do the same...”

Celosia sighs. “...we’re both right, I guess… he was stupid, but he got us in here, at least...” She moves over to pat his shoulder. “As for you, don’t think about that. We don’t plan on letting you get yourself killed anytime soon, and I hope you don’t plan on screwing up.”

“Does not fighting count as screwing up?” he asks seriously.

Surprisingly, Trifecta answers sternly. “No. If everypony fights, then everypony can die.”

“And if nopony fights, everypony will die,” Celosia adds, directed at her sister, before turning to Virus. “As for your question, no. Your job is to heal us, not defend us. I’m sure Baggage or I can take over what Savage did. You stick with what you know best.”

“Well, I can do that.” He nods. “Yeah, can definitely do that. Would be great if I actually had supplies besides bandages and rusty tools, though.”

“Maybe Baggage will find something.” She lies down on her belly between the other two ponies. “For now, let’s just wait… and keep an eye on the door.”

He looks at the portal as Trifecta snuggles up against Celosia. “Do you think we can block it somehow?”

“Maybe… let’s wait for Baggage, though.” She sighs, nuzzling her sister. “Shouldn’t be too long…”