How does Fluttershy manage animals not eating each other in her sanctuary?

[Trot Shuffle 3,599]

She's shown that she would prefer the animals to not eat each other, yet on the contrary she's pulled a fish out of the water and fed it to some otters.

She may have done more feeding of animals to other animals like that but I don't recall anything else from the show.

How would she manage all of these animals not eating each other there?

I can only guess Discord did something funky and used some of his chaos magic to make it so when (predatory) animals enter the sanctuary, they don't want to eat prey and instead eat some alternative protein (secrecy or with permission from her? Who knows...). Similar magic involving appetite has been shown off before by Twilight (2 times from what I remember) so I wouldn't doubt Discord's magic abilities to do that here.

Or maybe she just let's it all roll on and watches from afar like it's a nature documentary (even though she wanted it to be a place where all animals can relax momentarily before going back into the wild).

Any thoughts? 

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

She probably taught them, and then feeds them correctly so they don't need to go preying out of hunger. She also probably has more dangerous animals in different areas with different schedules and keeps new animals in their own areas. She certainly has the knowledge to pull that off. The only thing that seems weird is that she does it all by herself, but then again, she's the one bearing an Element of Harmony, not me.

[SharpWit 2,472]

I find nature documentaries very relaxing,,, 

And the sanctuary has been around longer than Discord has, so none of it is his doing.

Animals act very different in captivity than they do in the wild. Without the stresses of finding your next meal and fighting for survival, one can afford to be more curious and have a playful aditude. Instincts and behavioral traits will remain, but they'll be less intense.

This is why we can have a dog and Cheetah be best friends, or why we can hang out with a variety of species.

Now all of these animals have extensive interactions with humans, and may have been entirely raised by them, but aside from the dog and kitten, none are domesticated species, and will therefore on paper, always retain an added degree of danger than the pets and livestock we've bred to be more docile.

The level of care needed can't be applied to every animal, and takes a considerable amount of time. But, Fluttershy has the one trick up her sleeve to circumnavigate this. Her ability to talk to animals. In a near instant, she can establish a trusting connection, as well as boundaries for staying within the sanctuary.

Her catching fish shows that she has an understanding of the dietary requirements for those under her care, and that she will provide for them as she can.

A side note. Twilight has a pet owl. Owlicious in all likelihood freely hunts at night, helping maintain the rodent population on the streets and nearby fields and orchards of Ponyville.

Pinkie Pie has an alligator. Luckily they swallow their food relatively whole, so Gummy's lack of teeth shouldn't be much if an issue, but he does require a varied diet of raw meats. This requires butchery on some ponies part.

Rarity has a cat. Cats will eat grass to soothe their stomachs, enjoy the effects of catnip, and will even enjoy munching on some carbs from time to time. But animal protein is essential to their diet, and cannot be substituted. Opal's pates and kibble would require a factory setting to produce, so there must be an industrial setting for meat products somewhere in Equestria.

[Trot Shuffle 3,599]

21 minutes ago, SharpWit said:

And the sanctuary has been around longer than Discord has, so none of it is his doing.

I'm confused by this, the sanctuary wasn't set up until way after Discord was set free from stone and reformed. unless you mean how she did things before but that was more like spoiling the wildlife than a proper sanctuary.

Also her sanctuary seems to not have any boundaries, cages, nothing like that. Pretty sure she's shown to be overwhelmed and tired when there's so much caring she's attending to, so I don't see anything else other than volunteers that weren't shown in the show. That's pretty much why I asked. She can't be in every corner of that place at once so some needs may fall short at times.

Everything else you've said is fair enough. 

 

And I've just remembered Discord opened a portal for her before. So that's definitely a possibility on top of her animal communication ability and stare. Just makes it a lot easier when you can go through portals to different parts of the sanctuary because it seems quite large for only one person to manage.

I just can't see her doing it alone. Plus what else is Discord gonna do? He doesn't really have much going on at that point, let's be real.

[SharpWit 2,472]

On 2023-09-10 at 10:34 AM, Trot Shuffle said:

I'm confused by this, the sanctuary wasn't set up until way after Discord was set free from stone and reformed. unless you mean how she did things before but that was more like spoiling the wildlife than a proper sanctuary.

You're right! I appear to have my timeline tangled up. 

Still, I doubt he stepped in. He could have conjoured the sanctuary in a snap, but he seems to enjoy the struggle of everyday mortals, as well as the pride they take in overcoming them. 

[Trot Shuffle 3,599]

On 2023-09-11 at 8:57 PM, SharpWit said:

You're right! I appear to have my timeline tangled up. 

Still, I doubt he stepped in. He could have conjoured the sanctuary in a snap, but he seems to enjoy the struggle of everyday mortals, as well as the pride they take in overcoming them. 

But, he never made the sanctuary if I recall correctly. I need to go back and watch that episode again but I'm pretty sure Fluttershy just went ahead and did it herself with some of the other creatures. I have a memory of Dr. Fauna being there but I don't ever remember Discord being there.

Plus, he seems really easy to manipulate in his reformed state if Fluttershy doesn't approve of what he's doing.

Altering how animals would interact with each other would be causing chaos with how wildlife nature works. It's more like a "chaotic good" type of thing, considering the circumstances. After all, if he doesn't do any chaotic things for a while and becomes "normal" then he vanishes, even in his own realm.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Trot Shuffle
edit for clarity