Pony Meat Business – Dissent

Sunset prowled over to a mixed group of Pinkie Pies and a couple Fluttershys. Most of the clones had been carted off by the slavers, but the remaining ones were playing idly in the open.

Her horn glowed as her teeth became slightly sharper. Licking her lips, she watched the group of ponies intently. A forlorn looking Fluttershy started crying which caused a Pinkie to rush over and give her a hug. “It’s going to be okay, Fluttershy; you’ve never had more friends,” said Pinkie Pie lovingly.

Fluttershy still looked worried. “I’ve got more friends to lose and I don’t want to lose any. I’ve heard that there’s a mean monster that runs the factory named KARiN. She’s half pony, half machine, and she causes everypony to die the most painful, gruesome deaths.”

Pinkie giggled. “There’s fun ponies there too, like Darth Pie and we also might end up in some commercials.”

“I never should have cloned myself. Nothing was worth this, I’m scared, and I want to go home to my animals.” Fluttershy tugged on her mane nervously. “I’ve never felt worse.”

Pinkie hugged her tightly. “It may sound crazy, but I really do feel happy, and it’s because I get to be with you. It doesn’t matter who we are, we still have our friendship.”

Sunset didn’t need to look any further for a better Pinkie Pie to trigger her carnivorous desires, to slide down her throat one savory mouthful at a time. She also wanted to claim the sad Fluttershy, lick up her tears, and be the one comforting her until it was time to feed. She swallowed in anticipation, trying not to let her ravenous nature get the best of her. For the task at hoof she had to select the comforting Pinkie who seemed to be a healthy specimen, both physically and mentally.

She snuck up on the two silently hugging ponies, her mouth salivating. She needed to have a pre-taste, to get her fix early. Reaching her mouth over to Pinkie’s ear, she nipped it with her sharp teeth.

Pinkie yelped in surprise and turned around to come face to face with Sunset. “Hey! What gives?” she asked, running a hoof over her ear a few times.

Sunset swallowed a single drop of blood and grinned showing her teeth, simply stating, “I couldn’t resist. Anyway, do you see those two Celestias talking over there?”

Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically. “OH. WOW. There are two of them!”

“Well,” Sunset sighed, “this is the cloning pond. That’s the problem. We need your help determining which Celestia is real and which one is a clone.”

Pinkie jumped in the air. “Oh no, you can’t tell them apart!? We’ve got to make sure she doesn’t end up at the meat factory. We can’t let Princess Celestia be somepony’s dinner.” She made a weird face as she thought of Celestia’s majestic body being served on a fancy table.

Sunset could read Pinkie’s face like a book. She smiled rapturously and spaced out, thinking she could almost taste the succulent royal flanks. She abruptly shook her head to clear it, “Yes, the stakes are high and we need to correctly sort them out.”

"Wait, just how am I going to recognize the real Celestia?" questioned Pinkie.

Sunset looked over at the pair of Celestias. "As much as I'd like to do a taste test, I don't know what the real Celestia would taste like.   Instead, the plan is for them to conduct a magic duel to prove who the clone is."

Pinkie laughed. “Oh, like Twilight and Trixie?  Are they going to make me super-old or change my gender?”

Sunset frowned slightly. “eh… I hope not. We’ll see what happens when we get you over there.”

Pinkie Pie stood up. "Okay, but first let me say goodbye to Fluttershy." Pinkie Pie walked over to the pony that was softly crying and wrapped a caring hoof around her. "Don't worry, you're gonna love the factory. There's so many conveyor belts and cool gadgets; oh, and clones! You're always gonna have somepony to hug, so you'll never be alone. Okay?" The yellow pony smiled and slowly nodded.

Sunset and Pinkie trotted back to the pair of arguing Celestias.

"I distinctly remember that you wouldn't take my hoof," Celestia pointed her hoof at Tia and then retracted it. "No, you had a look of horror on your face as you swam to get away. That is why you woke up in the pool and I was never in the pool. If you say you don't remember any of that, then you're deceiving everypony because I am sure that I cast a memory spell as I performed the ritual."

"I'm not deceiving anypony," said Tia with a sigh. "I'm just trying to figure out where everything went wrong and what I can do to set things right again."

Celestia glared back at her. “A lot of things are wrong. What makes you feel so entitled to fix anything? You’re just a clone with no powers.”

“I don’t care what you think I’m entitled to.” Tia turned her attention to her new company. “Sunset, Pinkie Pie! I’m glad you’re here.”

Sunset grinned wolfishly. “I wouldn’t leave you hanging; I know you’re fighting for your life. Now then, about that Pinkie flambé...”

“What?” Pinkie gave her a puzzled look.

Sunset averted her eyes, but still couldn’t hold back a smile.

Celestia nodded. “Well done, my faithful student. It won’t be long now before you get exactly what you want.”

Tia looked aghast. “I guess it happened too gradually for you to notice, but Sunset has been desensitized to death. She would have benefited from a steadfast guardian and mentor to help her make better choices, but now you’ve turned your back on every moral in order to make a profit.”

Celestia started looking a bit irritable at her duplicate. "I'm about to call this entire contest off, as there is clearly only one Celestia here who is interested in saving Equestria by running this business at a profit."

Suddenly, a cacophony of metallic clangs rang out from the entrance to the cavern. All of the ponies looked up to see KARiN holding a dented metal cage with two pink ponies inside, sobbing. The metal mastermind lifted the cage and threw it down the ramp as the ponies inside screamed in fear and pain.

KARiN’s slightly mechanical voice boomed out. “It appears that we've overstocked on Pinkie Pies.”

Everypony present felt some level of fear in the presence of the factory 'supervisor', but Celestia had never shown any signs of weakness when dealing with KARiN, and didn't intend to do so now. As she walked towards the ramp, she looked back and said "Sunset, go and hide. I don't want there to be any... accidents." Tia and Pinkie made themselves scarce, not wanting to attract the attention of the malevolent machine.

Sunset backed up, looking left and right to make sure she was clear as Fluttershy, fleeing in a blind panic, collided with her hind end. The unicorn got back on her hooves and brushed herself off, looking down at the terrified butter-yellow pegasus and seeing how cute and helpless she looked. Sunset relaxed the sly look on her face to hide her inner hunger. "Fluttershy, do you know who I am?"

“Sunset? or a clone?”

“I’m your friend; I’m the real Sunset that you may have memories of having a friendship with.” Sunset used a hoof to ruffle her pink mane. “I know you’re a clone, I saw you from before. But that doesn’t mean we’re not friends. Our bond runs deeper than that.”

Fluttershy tensed up. “You work here. That means you are probably not interested in saving me.”

Sunset smiled, probably a bit wider than she had intended, and hugged her. "I can assure you that I don't want to see you in a state like this. Would a true, true friend abandon you when you're feeling this frightened and alone like this? I know how serious this is; you don't want to go into the factory and you don't have to."

Fluttershy looked dumbfounded at her. “Really? I don’t?” I smile played at her lips.

"That's right, my little flutter butter; just stay and trust in me."

Just then they heard more commotion from the front. Fluttershy huddled delicately in Sunset’s arms.

Everypony watched as KARiN grabbed a Pinkie clone by her neck. “Don’t kill me,” she squeaked.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that there is just not enough room for all of you in the factory. However, we may be able to fit you in if we cut you into smaller sizes. Please relax while I seperate your appendages." Loud chainsaw-like sounds roared to life and filled the caverns as the Pinkie Pie's head was severed, followed by the rest of her major body parts. Many of the surviving clones screamed, panicked, and tried to run as much as their bindings allowed.

Celestia stood as close as she felt comfortable to the half-machine monster. “KARiN, I can tell you’re upset.”

"I don't get upset. I observed that the production schedules for..." KARiN made some beeping and 'schwirr'ing data-processing noises, "Project: Our Town have not been met and I have come to see if you have been cloning... the minimal acceptable quantities of their populace. I now see that you are incapable to accomplishing the job set for you. So sad..."

“There have been problems negotiating contracts with Starlight Glimmer and the rest. Not every pony is so eager to sell themselves out, but I assure you we’ll come to an agreement.”

“I know a better agreement: if she does not agree to your terms by tomorrow she will be terminated.”

“That’s not how I run my business; I’ve never violated the rights of any of the original Equestrian citizenry. There are absolutely no exceptions.”

KARiN prowled towards a group of frightened clones. “Well maybe it’s time you did. The humans are expecting the new lineup on a promised date and I will not be forced to compromise the quality of our product because you’re willfully wasting time.” She swished out her tail and choked a random Fluttershy clone.

“Please… nooo…” Fluttershy gasped as she suffocated.

KARiN flung her corpse with her tail all the way into the pool. “Garbage in, garbage out.”

The Fluttershy in Sunset’s arms started shaking again. “Oh Celestia, it’s so awful. I don’t want to be here.”