Sunflower was terrified.
She had been terrified for so long now, for so many reasons. Unicorns, pegasi, windigoes, cold, freezing, starvation, fear of the future... Even fear of other earth ponies. The clan's leader saw the writing on the wall and lead her people far away from the feuding madponies. In all likelihood, they were all dead and frozen by now, buried under mountains of snow.
Going north seemed counterintuitive, but it was actually far warmer there than under the icy breath of the windigoes. They have survived there, in those odd snowy plains of the far north. The people recovered a little and started to settle down, building the beginnings of a village in this snowpit.
However, it was autumn already, and winter was going to come upon them all soon.... Again. She did what she could, but there were too many things to do to, the land too foreign to know where and how to forage best.
There were no sunflowers in these lands...
The supplies they managed to scrounge up during the summer were meager, and ponies were rightfully afraid of dying from starvation. The elders were already openly talking about not eating so the children could survive.
And so, here she was. Ears cocked and alert, eyes wide open, carefully following bear tracks to find out just how they managed to survive around here. She heard that they ate berries and honey, besides other animals. That meant she could probably find something edible, even a berry bush, even some leftovers, if she followed their tracks.
As long as she didn't become the food herself, of course.
She wasn't the first to have such an idea, but ponies so far avoided tangling with the wildlife, as they were too exhausted from the dozens of things they needed to do to start civilization anew almost from scratch. Heck, picking a fight with a bear to get lunch was a monumentally bad idea even if you were at full strength.
Soon, she heard the sounds of rushing water. It sounded like a fairly large river. Creeping closer, she found a convenient rocky outcropping from which she could watch the river, but which was too steep to get up to from the riverbank. Looking around, she examined the shore thoroughly.
There were no berry bushes there. A couple bears were in the river, just standing there, looking downstream. It didn't take long to see how they got their food. They were grabbing large fish from the water with their strong jaws, without even having to move. It was ridiculous - the fish were practically jumping in their mouths.
She watched them for a long while, envy and hunger burning in her gut. It looked so damned easy! Almost effortless, even! Eventually, the bears got their fill and left. One of them actually looked at her, but seemed completely uninterested. Likely stuffed up with fish up to it's ears...
She stood on the outcropping a while longer, her emotions raging at the unfairness of the situation while her head was empty of any coherent thoughts. Without thinking, she angrily stomped down to the riverbank, looking around. There were some fish bones and nasty leftovers scattered around, all that was left of the bear's gluttonous feast.
There was one fish that was practically untouched, though. Just cut open with a few bites taken out of it, almost like it was left for her. She stared at the fish, wondering whether she was really about to do this. Her stomach growled then, a sound she was painfully familiar with.
"BUCK YES I'M DOING THIS!"
The first bite was terrible, as she got a bunch of scales in her mouth. "Bleh." Undeterred, she held the fish down with her hooves, spitting out the scales and going for the flesh. It wasn't... The worst thing she ever ate.
It wasn't exactly good, but she didn't think she was going to throw up or anything like that. It took her a while, but eventually, most of the flesh was stripped from the fish, the mare picking out little pieces stuck in between her teeth with her tongue. She stood there, thinking about what just happened.
She licked her lips, tasting blood. For the first time in a long time, she felt full. Not simply satiated for a while, but really full. And that was just one fish. No wonder those bears liked fish so much. And it looked so easy to catch it! Her gaze was drawn towards the river. She could actually see the salmon jumping over the rapids, right there.
"No, Sunflower. Don't be crazy."
"..."
"All aboard the crazy cart!"
She waded into the river, careful not to lose her balance on the slippery stones. It was a bit deep, but she found a shallower spot eventually. She hoped no one was watching her standing in the freezing water like some idiot. A moment later, something flashed in the corner of her eye.
A fish!
Too far, though. A few more fish jumped through the water to either side of her. She lunged towards them awkwardly, but her reach was too short. Then, a fish jumped right at her face. She actually shouted in fright, opening her mouth.
She get a mouthful of fish for her trouble.
It was slimy, wet, and VERY wriggly. Her first instinct was to spit it out. But a flash of anger passed through her, and she grit her teeth in rage, instead. She was not going let anyone die of hunger, herself or others! Gritting her teeth just so happened to help her clamp down more firmly on the fish's tail, too. She blinked for a moment, wondering what was she supposed to do next.
"Get out of this river, probably."
Once she got to the shore, she remembered that she didn't really have any sharp claws or tools to cut the still-struggling fish with. And she didn't really feel like trying to bite it to death like the bears did. After a moment's thought, she decided to gallop back to the rest of her clan.
The looks she got when ponies saw her carrying a weakly-struggling fish in her mouth were priceless. Everyone was utterly flabbergasted, to say the least. She carried it where ponies were making dinner, finally spitting it out on a table.
"What the hay, Sunflower?!" That was Allspice, one of the cooks, looking at her offering with a stunned expression.
"Not hay, fish," She said smugly.
Before they could get too disgusted or throw the fish away, she immediately launched into her explanation. The fact that she was willing to follow a bear to provide food for them earned her a lot of respect from the rest of the ponies. More of them soon joined the forming crowd to listen to her.
Some gagged and made sounds of disgust when she described chewing on the dead fish, but she persevered. That respect she earned probably went a long way to explain why they even considered her proposal. Also, the fact that eating the fish didn't seem to make her sick at all probably helped. After some more reassurances that she really was fine, all eyes turned towards the fish.
It stopped struggling, likely suffocated. Ponies shuffled awkwardly, unsure of how to proceed. Sunflower tried to remember the way she ate the first one. The scales on the outside were unpleasant, like the rough, inedible skin of a fruit. The guts were slimy and nasty and she ignored them. The flesh was pretty good, though. Not tasty, but definitely filling.
A few ponies stepped up, not cooks, but ponies who used to be fighters, pulling out some sharp daggers and eyeing their target. They gutted the fish awkwardly, but in the end, with some pointers from Sunflower, they were left with some fairly nice-looking, pink cutlets of meat. Then, there was another round of shuffling as none of the assembled ponies dared to try it first.
Sunflower rolled her eyes as she took a small bite, showing that it was safe. A couple more ponies took tiny bites, chewing on it experimentally. When they didn't immediately throw up, others looked more interested. However, Allspice intervened, scoffing loudly.
"Oh, cut it out, you savages! Of course it's not going to taste great raw! Now, I don't have the foggiest idea about how to cook fish, but let's try adding it to the stew I was making and go from there."
The ponies agreed, and eagerly awaited the results by the cooking fire. It was... Good. Honestly quite good. Obviously, one fish didn't really feed anyone, but lots of ponies tried it, just to make sure it really was good. Moments later, the chefs were already discussing the best herbs and spices that would make the flavor even better.
The news set the whole village abuzz. There were plans being made to go fishing tomorrow already, with all the important elders and warriors asking Sunflower for details and advice. She felt awkward for being called a hero and praised as a savior, but she agreed to lead the ponies to the river tomorrow.
She no longer felt terrified of the future.
