As the weeks passed, her resolve weakened. Though she tried her best to ignore it, her body screamed that it was starving. Her ribs were becoming visible, her stomach ached, and she was constantly tired. She had 2 meager meals a day that seemed to shrink each day. They hadn't brought in anypony since they captured her, so she doubted the meat was even from one.

Wild Berry came down with Pinkie’s veggies. They stopped bringing meat a long time ago, but if Pinkie wanted it, they would give it to her. “Pinkie, have you been crying?”

“I’ll take the meat,” Pinkie said, almost inaudibly.

“Oh... alright dear. Here's your food. I’ll get some meat,” Wild Berry placed the bowl on the basement floor then walked out.

Pinkie moved the veggies closer to herself, then ate. She finished in only a few minutes. Her stomach growled, but Pinkie tried to ignore it. She idly played with her chain while waiting for Wild Berry. It severely bruised her neck from walking outside of its boundaries. She had become better at staying inside recently, but her fatigue kept her from moving too much.

Wild Berry came down with a small cube of meat. “Just a bite will be enough,” she placed it on the floor, then stepped back.

Pinkie got up and walked to the plate, then cautiously licked the cube. A wonderful taste filled her mouth. She sniffled, closed her eyes, then took a bite. Juices exploded in her mouth. The taste was absolutely amazing. Tears streamed down Pinkie’s face, though a smile grew as well. Her mane deflated a small amount, though nopony noticed it.

“It tastes amazing.” Pinkie said. She pulled her blanket tighter around herself and licked her lips. She was shaking.

When she looked back up to see Carnival holding an enormous bowl of veggies. They were both grinning. He put the bowl down and pushed it to Pinkie.

“Is this all for me?” she asked, still shocked by the meat. She ate, she ate until she almost burst. Pinkie almost forgot what a full stomach felt like, and it did not feel good.

After she finished, they all talked. Pinkie asked what had been plaguing her mind since they captured her. “Was the meat that I… just ate, was the meat pony?”

Wild Berry stopped for a second. “Yes, the one you just ate was. Although in the beginning when we offered meat every day, it was a pig.”

Pinkie looked down, then walked to the sink for some water. Her mane deflated slightly more while she drank. Wild Berry and Carnival glanced at each other, finally noticing Pinkie’s changing mane.

“Hey Pinkie, did your mane just shrink?” Carnival looked between Pinkie and Wild Berry. “Or is it just messy?”

“Yeah, my mane does that sometimes. Is it not normal? I rarely spent time with ponies other than my family, so I don’t really know. I miss them… I don’t think I’ll ever see them again through,” Pinkie turned around with a big smile, though tears were forming again in her eyes. “It doesn’t really matter though, I’m fine.”

When they finally left, Pinkie collapsed. She screamed and cried until she had no energy left. Her stomach churned, not used to eating so much food. The feeling increased until it forced her to puke. She cried as she retched into the toilet; she tasted bile, meat, and veggies. She rinsed her mouth, curled in a ball, and cried.

’I ate somepony, I ATE somepony, and they tasted delicious! I hate them; I hate them; I hate… I want to go home. I miss mama and papa. I didn’t even tell them I love them. I forgot because of how excited I was; I forgot to tell them I love them; I want to go home. How will Maud and I exchange necklaces? Will I ever see them again? I don’t know, I’m tired.’

Pinkie laid on her mattress for hours, not able to relax enough to sleep. She finally got up and worked on the puzzle she had neglected for weeks. Once she finished, she put it back in the box, although some pieces were still out of reach, which left the puzzle forever incomplete. She looked through the pile of goodies and picked up a harmonica. She didn’t know how to play, but it was better than silence.

Her captors came down to the insufferable noise of the instrument. Pinkie’s voice grew hoarse, but she still played. They placed a plate of meat and a small bowl of veggies in front of her. A larger bowl was present, but out of reach. She finished the small bowl, but when asked, Pinkie refused the meat.

“I’m not that hungry, I’m just tired, I’m going to sleep,” Pinkie turned away from the couple, covered herself in her blanket, and laid down.

“Um, okay honey, we’ll go back up, but we brought you something. Do you want to see it?” Wild Berry asked, ignoring Pinkie’s request.

Pinkie’s head poked out the blanket. She eyed the couple expectantly. “What is it?”

Wild Berry pulled out a bowl of candy, “This is a reward for eating the meat earlier today.”

Pinkie took the bowl, examined the candies, and chose a chewy caramel. They were all unwrapped and irregular shapes, so Pinkie asked, “Did you guys make these?” She popped the candy in her mouth and chewed, “It's great, though I haven’t eaten, so I guess anything tastes good right now.” She was fully expecting the candies to be drugged, but nothing happened.

“Don’t eat them all at once,” Carnival said, “See you tomorrow, Pinkie.”

Pinkie covered her head once again. Her tears had long since run out, so she merely chewed her candy in silence.

Author's Note

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Schoolwork has been hard because of the pandemic and using new software and all that pizzazz, I'll post a story whenever I get the chance.