        Lyra regarded it thoughtfully.  She vaguely remembered that she and Twilight had discussed sharing food with Dale quite early in the planning process, and Twilight had been concerned it would be risky.  She had suggested that Dale might not be able to eat pony food at all.  To Lyra, the idea had seemed kind of silly.  Dragons, griffons, zebras, mules, and even diamond dogs could eat pony food with no trouble; even the less-sapient species such as cows and sheep did.  The only food that a pony couldn’t eat was a gem, and that was just because it wasn’t in their nature to be able to chew them, but they did no harm when they were ground up finely like the sprinkles on the cupcake, and they added a little bit of zest.