The only chapter this needs
Sunset's stomach churned as she stood in line to be served, her eyes scanning the options laid out before her.
From what she had come to understand about this world, feeling sick about food from a school cafeteria was perfectly normal, and it wasn't like Equestria's cafeterias were necessarily any better. Even when she wasn't turning up her snout at the petty concerns of her lesser classmates, she had heard the warnings regarding the iceberg salad and how it had put fifteen foals a year in the infirmary, or how “Celestia's Surprise” was made of the parts of little ponies Nightmare Moon left behind every Nightmare Night.
Then again, she had never worried about that; one of the perks of being Celestia's prized pupil was a constant stream of picnics with the high princess and the best picks of the nation's produce. Nevertheless, her years as a student at Canterlot High had allowed her to see the wisdom in those words, and to formulate many theories regarding the existence of this constant across the multiverse.
Today was different, however. As Sunset grabbed her tray and began to make her way down the serving line, her eyes remain locked on the food wells right in front of Granny Smith. And like every other Thursday, they were full of...meat.
Sunset sighed and bowed her head. How did I get into this again?
It was a typical day with a typical lunch. There were no weird girls trying to eat apples without using their hands, no new students hypnotizing the students with a musical number, and the incident with the downed UFO was quietly hushed up, leaving Sunset Shimmer's circle of friends with nothing better to do but eat their meals and enjoy the relative serenity between PE and Chemistry.
As usual, Sunset was the last to sit down, if only because she had given up her place in line several times prior to the students she had wronged the most. The others were already halfway through their lunches, save for Pinkie Pie, whose empty plate was a testament to her voracious metabolism. Rarity and Applejack nodded a greeting as their friend approached, their cheeks puffed up like squirrels from the excessive bits of peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich in their mouths. Fluttershy gave a more cheerful greeting as she scooped up some watermelon cubes from her fruit cup. Pinkie may have noticed, but the sugar from her third soda was beginning to take affect, and her consciousness had ascended to realms beyond that of human or pony understanding. (In other words, she was bouncing up and down in her seat while babbling in the tongue spoken only by those that were on drugs or a sugar high.)
That left Rainbow Dash, the school's top athlete and the only person who could match the old Sunset Shimmer when it came to ego. She was busy spinning her fork across a plate covered with spaghetti, tomato sauce, and of course, meatballs. Sunset gave a happy salutation, but Rainbow Dash did not seem to notice. Her eyes were looking at something else that was making contact with the table...
“So...salad again?”
Sunset looked down at her plate in confusion. Just as when she had left the counter, there was a plate of assorted greens, tomatoes, onions, and croutons sitting on her tray, along with a glass of water and some utensils wrapped in a napkin. She looked back at Dash, her face twisted into a sheepish grin. “Um...yes?”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Just like yesterday, right?”
“Well...yeah. I have salad a lot.”
“And vegetarian tacos on Taco Tuesday, vegetable quiche a week ago, and sandwiches with no lunch meat whenever we go out.” Dash's fork stabbed into a meatball and, in one long motion, made its way into her mouth before exiting without the ball of seared flesh. “Sounds like a bit of a rut, if you ask me.”
“Um...Rainbow Dash, you know that Sunset Shimmer's a vegetarian,” said Fluttershy. But of course, nobody listened to her, which wasn't helped by her whispering nearly every word.
Sunset sighed and rested her head against one hand. “Fine, I'm picky about what I eat. I was a vegetarian when I lived in Equestria, and I'm one here, too. I don't really see why this is such an issue.”
Dash cocked her head. “So...you mean that you've never tried meat before?”
Rarity's eyes widened as she spun her head towards Dash. “Rainbow Dash, what a rude thing to say! Whatever diet Sunset chooses to have is her own business.”
“But that's exactly my point!” Dash's elbows crashed onto the table just in time for her hands to catch her descending forehead. “She was a pony in Equestria, just like Twilight probably is right now. I get that ponies and humans eat different types of food. I mean, you don't see Sunset chowing down on hay over there.”
“Hey!” Sunset hissed. It was only the one time, anyway.
“So that's yer argument?” added Applejack. “Sunset shouldn't be able ta pick what she eats because she was a pony on the other side of that statue? What about all the other students, sugarcube? Ya know there are plenty of vegetarians in this school besides Sunset Shimmer. Would ya say the same thing ta them?”
Rainbow Dash sighed and lowered one of her hands, shifting the weight of her thick skull to the other one. “Look, I'm not a jerk about this.” The others wanted to say something to counter her assumption, but Dash continued before they could get a word in. “If somebody grows up in our world, where we can eat both meat and plants, and decides to just stick to one or the other, that's cool. But Sunset Shimmer just came here from a world where everyone eats oats and apples. She's never tried it before. How can she know it's bad?”
Sunset's eyes narrowed as she unwrapped her fork and knife. “There's something else going on here, isn't there? Why do you find me eating lettuce objectionable now?”
That was the cue for Rainbow Dash to lean back, cross her arms, and stare at the dimples in the ceiling. “Remember when we were going to order that barbecue pizza, but had to just order mushrooms and onions from Torgo's because that was all you would eat?” Everybody nodded. “Or when we were going to spin by Oaf Burgers, and couldn't because they had no salad for you?” Another nod. “Or that time we were going to go to the beach, and had to spend an extra five hours on the road because you couldn't stand to drive by a slaughterhouse and we had to avoid the fastest way there?”
Sunset groaned and slammed her hand against the table. Her eyes locked onto Rainbow Dash's, making the blue teenager squirm a bit. “Yes, I get it! You guys have had to make some sacrifices because I don't have the same diet. But I just don't want to try meat, okay? Can we accept that?”
Applejack and Rarity nodded in agreement immediately. Fluttershy followed suit soon after; she would have joined the initial gesture, but had to spit out a watermelon seed first. Pinkie was starting to drool, which was usually a sign that she would soon be rejoining the waking world. That left only Rainbow Dash...
“I think you're just scared.”
And she could always be depended on to say the exact wrong thing.
“A-Afraid?” Sunset recoiled in faux shock. “I'm not afraid! I just don't want to...”
“Then prove it,” said Rainbow Dash, a smile curling across her lips. “Tomorrow, I want you to pick something from the menu that has meat on it. A sandwich, pasta, whatever. You eat it in front of all of us, and everything will be fine. Don't, and I'll know you're just afraid to try something new.”
“That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard!” shouted Rarity. “Sunset Shimmer has nothing to prove to you, and you have-”
Rainbow Dash raised a hand. “No, this is between me and Miss Bacon Hair over here. So, what'll it be?”
And of course, you had to agree. Sunset Shimmer, you have to be one of the most easily-cowed ponies in...
“So, what'll it be?”
Sunset's head jerked back, no doubt from reality slam-dunking her consciousness back to the present. In her haste to piece together why she was doing this, she had managed to make her way through the queue, and was now right in front of where students picked up the hot food. Granny Smith, Applejack's some-unknown-number-of-greats grandmother, was standing impatiently behind the protective glass of the lunch counter, looking more than a little annoyed at the young whippersnapper and her daydreaming.
“Um...hello?” Sunset giggled, although it fooled nobody; she was obviously not quite right at the moment. “I'm sorry, I was... Nevermind.” She handed Granny her plate with another giggle. “I'll have some of the green beans.”
Granny Smith jabbed a plastic serving spoon into a tub of glazed-over green beans, scooped out what she estimated a serving to be, and slopped it down on Sunset's plate.
“A little bit of corn.”
Jab, scoop, slop.
“And...some of the...meat...”
Jab, scoop...and Granny Smith froze. “Um...pardon mah ears, dear, but did ya say meat?”
Sunset's face flushed bright red. She could already feel the eyes of her peers pouring down on her, no doubt admonishing her for such a brazen joke. Everybody that had been at Canterlot High these last three years knew two things about Sunset Shimmer: she was bad (or possibly good; it was more up-in-the-air these days), and she was very much a vegetarian. And now she was holding up the line between them and their processed, life-shortening hot meals.
The former pony gulped. Her eyes scanned the room for some kind of escape...and ceased when they fell upon Rainbow Dash. The girl that had gotten her into this predicament had already seated herself at their usual table, grinning with the same smugness she would show after every victorious sporting event. Sunset's hands tightened until they changed colors. No way I'm giving her the satisfaction.
She turned back to Granny Smith, hastily rebuilding her composure as she did so. “Well...yes. I would like to try some meat, please.”
A loud gasp echoed throughout the cafeteria as all doubt vanished. At one of the tables along the middle of the rectangular room, Flash Sentry and his bandmates gasped and dropped their silverware in surprise. Down by the far window, Trixie shuddered as if an ill wind had begun to blow. About half of the conservationism club collapsed in horror, as did all of the drama club, albeit in a more animated fashion. Even Granny Smith and her kitchen staff seemed horrified at the possibility of the former biggest bully in Canterlot High devouring the flesh of an animal.
“A-Alrighty, then,” Granny muttered. “Wh-What will it be? Spaghetti and meatballs, ground beef, or...”
Sunset shuddered and pointed at the first tray of meat she had seen that day, the stuff that matched cookbook pictures of pulled pork. “Just...whatever that is. Make it a big spoonful, too.” Not letting Rainbow Dash win this one.
Granny nodded, and with a look of terror still plastered on her face, jabbed another spoon (one that hadn't touched any of the vegetarian-friendly items) into the sauce-covered mound, pulled out a heaping helping of the mystery meat, and plopped it onto the plate. Sunset winced as the running barbecue sauce slid down the side of the impromptu miniature mountain and seeped through the piles of vegetables; no matter what she tasted, it would be forever tainted by Rainbow Dash's childish dare.
“Here you go, dearie,” Granny said as she handed the plate back to Sunset. The girl nodded in acceptance, placed it on her tray, and began to walk the very quiet way to her table. The other students gazed at her until she had passed, at which point they returned to their own meals as best they could. This brought Shimmer only a little comfort; at the very least, they wouldn't be talking about this as long as the demon thing.
Rainbow Dash scooted over as Sunset Shimmer approached, giving her plenty of room to sit. The former mare said nothing at first, instead opting to slowly unfurl her napkin, remove her utensils, and take a sip of her water. The rest of the group didn't say anything either, choosing instead to enjoy their own lunches and avoid the oncoming horror. It wasn't until five minutes of Sunset not eating a bite that Rainbow broke the silence, her mouth curling into an evil grin as she did so. “Well? Gonna do it or not?”
Applejack glared at Rainbow, and as was often the case, it was enough to get the blue one to back down a little and return to her meal. Sunset mouthed an expression of gratitude before returning her attention to the plate sitting before her...and the pile of meat just waiting to jump into her mouth. “Heh...so, what is this stuff?”
Rarity shrugged. Her own plate just had a ham sandwich; meat, but not the same kind. “You've stumped me. I've never seen it served before. It wasn't even on the menu.” She turned to Applejack. “Your grandmother is in charge of the kitchens, isn't she? Did she say what was in this?”
Applejack shrugged. “Ya got me. Granny said they were supposed to have steak, but there was somethin' in the budget cuts after they had ta repair the front wall after ta Fall Formal.” She turned to Sunset, who just slid further down in her seat, and nodded her head in a silent apology. “So they had to get something real cheap to replace it.”
“So I have to eat something that's just a replacement for another thing I wouldn't have eaten before.” Sunset sighed. “That's just what my stomach needed to hear.”
“Look, don't worry about it,” added Rainbow Dash. “It's pretty much accepted fact that cafeteria food is nowhere near as good as stuff outside the school, remember? Remember Pinkie's breakdown over the cake last week?”
“I certainly do!” shouted Pinkie. “Little cakes like that are a crime against dessert! What these schools do to lunch is a crime that deserves hard jail time! How can our world prosper when its future leaders are not getting the eggs, wheat and milk they so desperately...” And then Pinkie saw a balloon that had gotten loose during the last school event float by a window and lost track of the conversation.
“...Anyway,” continued Rainbow Dash, “I'm just saying that it's worth a shot. If you absolutely hate it, at least you tried.”
“Yeah...Yeah,” said Sunset, her tone deflating as time continued to march forward.
She poked at the meat first. It was a bit firm, but still soft enough for her fork to stick through. Juices and sauce dripped off of it as she lifted her utensil, freeing it from solidarity with its comrades. It was certainly cooked all the way through; there was none of the tell-tale redness she had seen when studying cookbooks from this world. She sniffed; there was something a bit off about the smell, but nothing that denoted poisoning or salmonella. She licked the sauce; it tasted a bit salty, but was otherwise fine.
There was only one more step.
Gulping loudly, sweating profusely, and shaking a little, Sunset moved the morsel to her mouth, wrapped her lips around it, and retracted the fork. She chewed on the piece for a while, swishing it from one cheek to another as she tried to get a clear idea of how it tasted. And yet, for all of her learning and years as the student of Princess Celestia, she could not pinpoint exactly how to describe it. There was a taste to it, but it was unlike anything she had consumed before, or even anything that grew in Equestria to begin with.
She didn't mind it.
She kinda liked it.
She loved it.
Sunset grinned as she swallowed another piece. “This stuff is wonderful! The texture, the sauce, everything!”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Yeah, it's pretty awesome. And this is just the stuff at school. Wait until you get to the real stuff! Burgers, fried chicken, fish, that weird thing with the mustard and sour cream...”
As Dash rambled on, and her friends looked on in a mixture of frustration, annoyance, and a bit of joy, Sunset continued eating. As annoying as Dash's initial provocations were, she was right about the deliciousness of meat. This will make it so much easier to hang with the girls, at any rate. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all...
“How'd ya like it?”
Everyone's attention snapped to Granny Smith. The impossibly old lunch lady had managed to sneak up on the group without a peep, right as Rainbow Dash was getting to the wonder of hot dogs in macaroni and cheese. “Oh, heya, Granny!” said Applejack, flashing the smile only shared between a child and loved one. “Lunch was perfect, like always! Sunset really seems to like that new stuff!”
“Well, that's wonderful!” Granny turned to Sunset, who was just finishing off the last piece of meat. “Have ta admit, I was afraid you were pullin' mah leg when ya asked for that stuff. Never heard of ya even orderin' something like that before!”
“I've never had a reason to try.” Sunset set her form down on her now-meatless plate and reached for her water. “By the way, what was that? Pork? Beef?”
Granny shook her head as Sunset began to take a sip. “No, nothin' like that. Figured that if we couldn't get the usual vittles, we'd try something new: horse meat!”
There was a brief delay as Sunset's brain processed Granny Smith's words before she inevitably spat out her mouthful of water and dropped her cup onto the floor. She stared at the empty spot on her plate as a burning fever raced through her veins. Her cheeks turned green, and her vision blurred as reality itself began to erode around her. And all of that was just a ripple compared to the ocean of turmoil going on inside her stomach. Her entire digestive system rebelled against this news, and what had once tasted pleasant and exotic now reaped of horror and a tinge of orange juice.
Everybody's jaws dropped in horror as they looked at the mass of gravy where an equine's meaty chunks had once been. “Th-That was horse meat?!” yelped Fluttershy.
“It was all we could afford ta feed y'all,” said Granny. “I woulda told Sunset Shimmer, but she was in such a hurry to get with her friends that she didn't ask.”
Applejack jumped to her feet, looking angrier than anyone had ever seen her. “Granny, ya don't serve people a horse without tellin' them! For Pete's sake, ya shouldn't be servin' that at all!”
“Well, food's food, ain't it?” Granny shook her head and started her way back to the counter. “Lousy young'uns these days. When ah was growing up, there were plenty of days ah would've begged for a horse steak...”
“Wh-Why would you...why would you eat something so...?” was all Fluttershy could get out before breaking into tears. The despair was picked up immediately by Pinkie's enhanced mood senses, and she responded by giving her terrified friend a big hug. Applejack and Rarity quickly joined, and Fluttershy's sobs lessened from the warmth friendship generated.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, turned her attention back to the seemingly catatonic Sunset. “Um...Okay, I didn't plan on that happening. Kind of thought it would just be pig or something like that. Still, you tried it and liked it, so...yay?”
Sunset's head turned so slowly towards Dash that one would be excused if they mistook the shifting of her hips in the chair for the creaking of her neck. Even in her addled state, she could recognize the one responsible for this. If it were not for Rainbow Dash, she would not be a...
Cannibal.
A few spasms in the stomach later, Sunset was able to share her current opinion of her lunch with Rainbow Dash's clothes.
It was with great trepidation that Rainbow Dash stepped into the nurse's office. She was now wearing her gym clothes, as the others were a bit too vile and stinky to wear around school at the moment. Nurse Redheart said nothing, but motioned to the cot on the other side of the room, where Sunset Shimmer was now lying. A large plastic bucket was near her head, and while it was empty for now, there was still a fresh odor that gave away what it was intended for. There was also a plastic chair, not unlike one seen in a preschool classroom, that would leave the girl right within striking distance of her downed friend.
“So...how's she doing, doc?” asked Dash.
“Her pulse is steady and the fever's died down,” Nurse Redheart answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “We gave her some medication to stop the nausea, but I don't think she should go back to class just yet.”
“I-Is it okay if I talk to her?”
The nurse nodded and stood. “I'll be outside if you need me. Just don't expect too much. Drowsiness is a side-effect of the medication.”
Rainbow waited until Redheart had stepped out and closed the door before approaching Sunset. She pushed the chair over, ignoring the scraping of metal legs against the tile floor, and sat herself as close as she comfortably could. “Hey, Sunset Shimmer.”
A groan initiated the response. “Go away.”
“Um...so, everybody was really worried about what happened in the cafeteria. I mean, they don't know what happened exactly; they just think you weren't used to meat and got sick. Happens all the time.”
“Please leave.”
“And hey, you got me back good!” Rainbow Dash leaned back in the chair, her right arm swinging in the breeze. “I haven't been thrown up on since my tenth birthday party, and that was because I punched that one kid in the chest so hard that he...”
“Do you find this funny?” Sunset Shimmer snarled. “I ate my own species, and you're sitting back there and laughing?”
“Ate your own...?” Dash shook her head and leaned forward, clasping her hands over her knees. “You were a pony, not a horse. I could bring Fluttershy in here and she would have a hundred differences between the two. And even if you were a horse, you were one from another world. Horses here can't even think and talk.”
Sunset rolled onto her back, locking eyes with a space about three inches away from Dash's eyes. “You have no idea what you're talking about. I come from a world where ponies, cows, sheep, and horses could all talk and think. I was a supporter of civil rights for bovines. I once had lunch with a zebra ambassador. Even if pigs couldn't talk, they could still write well enough to debate the economic merits of paper money over Equestria's gold bits. Every time you shove one of those slabs of flesh into your mouth, I can't help but think about home, about all of the wonderful people you're eating, and it sickens me.”
Dash shook her head. “Then why didn't you say anything?”
“Because I thought you wouldn't want me around anymore.” Sunset rolled back so that she was facing the bucket. “I was afraid that if I said anything, you guys would kick me out for being a nuisance. I've never had friends before. I've never wanted friends before. Losing you guys would make this place unbearable.”
A sigh, tinged with the scent of citrus. “And...you're probably right. This world and my old one are completely different. What's true about a chicken in Equestria isn't the same as one here. But...I enjoyed it. I enjoyed eating it. I enjoyed eating a counterpart to my species. I...” She shivered and coughed. “I know it doesn't make sense, and I know I'm being illogical about it, but...you wouldn't understand.”
“You're right.”
Sunset turned back to Rainbow Dash, her eyes brimming with tears. The athlete bowed her head as something she had heard was called “empathy” clawed its way to her larynx. “I don't know what it's like to be a pony, and I've never been friends with a vegetarian. Even Fluttershy will eat some pepperoni or seafood, even if she prefers veggie burgers and fruit bowls. And being friends with you has been hard. I just...I just thought if I could get you to change, it would make my life easier.”
Dash's head lowered even further, almost making contact with her lap. “I was thinking of myself when I dared you to eat that stuff. And I was so happy when you said you liked it. But when I heard what it was...when I saw you throw up and get dragged out of the cafeteria like you were almost dead...I got some time to think things over...”
Sunset smiled. “You mean Fluttershy stared at you.”
Rainbow shivered. “Trust me, time moves a lot slower when that girl's making you feel every cruddy thing you've done, especially when she has Applejack tearing you a new one. What I'm saying is...I'm sorry I was such a jerk. There was nothing wrong with you not wanting to eat animals. It might mean changing things around a bit...but I'd much rather lose out on a hamburger than a friend.” She lifted her head, staring expectantly at Sunset. “That is, if you still want me as a friend.”
Sunset was quiet. Rainbow Dash sighed and, accepting the inevitable, stood to leave.
“Rainbow, it's fine.”
The athlete froze as the pony lady rolled around until she was facing her. Were it not for the small stains of vomit around her mouth, she would have looked like she was smiling. “I'm not happy at what happened, and I'm still very, very angry. But you at least showed up and listened, and...well, I guess I shouldn't have been afraid to at least discuss my real feelings beforehand.”
Dash grinned and scratched the back of her head. “Yeah. If you had told me all that stuff instead of just saying you didn't want to change from being a pony, I probably would have waited, what, a second before being a jerk?” The two shared a brief laugh, although Sunset's part was accompanied by gasps of pain due to her sore abdominal muscles. “So...we're cool?”
Sunset's smile widened. “Not even close. Since you ruined my lunch, how about dinner? Pizza okay?”
Rainbow Dash lowered her hand and grabbed onto the back of the plastic chair. “Sounds good to me. Everybody's invited?”
“Of course.” The middle of Sunset's grin dropped down, turning her face into something out of a horror movie. “Of course, you're buying. Every day. For the next week.”
Rainbow's jaw dropped. “Wh-What?”
“Plus, you're going to write a detailed report on the differences between horses and pony. And no, you can't use Fluttershy as a reference.”
“B-But...” Rainbow Dash sighed and clenched her fists. “Fine. I'll do it. In the name of friendship and all that.”
“Good,” said Sunset. “Now if you'll excuse me, the cannibal feels like...she's...” The sentence was cut off by the soft sound of gentle snoring as the drugs in her body finally finished coaxing her to sleep. Rainbow Dash flashed one last smile to her slumbering friend before heading out the door, mourning her proverbial piggy bank all the while. And from her cot, Sunset Shimmer's mind was able to bring up one last thought before sinking into the nightmares.
I’ll let Dash know I was kidding...in a couple of days. Once I stop dreaming about metal cauldrons and boiling her alive.
Author's Note
The moral of the story: Don't be a jerk to your vegetarian friends, or you might accidentally make them taste long pork. Or long pony, in this case.
