The Equestria Games

The Equestria Games, by Prismatics. Chapter 7From this point on, the story will not constantly be in Azure's point of view, and will change to other viewpoints on occasion. There will be no notification on whose it is, but that's part of the fun. Azure will still remain the main character, and will obviously receive the most screen time.

The group of careers sit at their table, their previously animated conversation changed to a few hushed whispers. The rest of the tributes do not seem to notice the change in tone from the large group. Or they're scared to respond to it. This fact pleases Papercraft greatly. Being a force to be feared is a great thing in these games.

His mind is returned to the conversation they're having. The gathered ponies are discussing who they think they should target during the games. Many opinions are weighed, and some are more logical than others.

"That Electra has the look of a killer. From what I've seen, she is a ruthless fighter." Zephyr says.

"What about the guy with the electric coat? That can't be natural, he must have some kind of unworldly powers." The stallion called Eight Note replies.

Hydra appears skeptical. "I don't know about that, Eighth. Anyways, I personally think that Miss Ocean can be a threat. Have you seen her throw that spear?"

Paper clears his throat, attracting the attention of the pack towards him. "Just remember guys, we can only have so many high value targets. There's 7 of us, and taking in our fighting styles and skills, we can only really afford to have 5 primary targets. So why don't we decide who are our priorities, and go for them early on. The thing is, we will still eventually have to kill everypony else, so don't ignore a weak tribute by you if somepony else is a farther distance away."

The careers come to a state of agreement, and a short silence follows before another question is raised.

"What's our plan for the bloodbath?" Swift Gale asks curiously.

Legend replies quickly. "First, we grab weapons and control the cornucopia. We'll need ranged weapons. Who here is good with a bow or a spear?"

Zephyr slowly raises her foreleg. "I can shoot reasonably well."

"I can chuck a spear pretty accurately." Hydra tells him.

Legend waits for a few seconds before replying. "Nopony else? Ok, I guess that's good enough." He draws away from the topic for a few seconds, calculating tactics, before resuming again. "Now, there's seven of us, correct? Zephyr, I want you on top of the corn, picking off anypony you see trying to run off. Hydra, your spear throwing skills will be needed. If somepony gets close to the corn, you impale them with a spear, got it? The rest of you, start running out and attacking the tributes that still remain. We will dominate."

The group nods, and goes back to their meals in silence. Papercraft looks around at his allies. It's too bad that Discord has that bloody 'show your killer' thing set up now. These guys wouldn't stand a chance if I decided to pick them off one by one.

* * *

Azure stares at her tray of food with disgust. I thought the Capitol could afford to give their tributes better food. What is this stuff? She contemplates the food with such strength, she almost misses the mare drop down to sit by her, nearly knocking her food over. "Hey, what the- Jilly?" Azure stumbles at seeing her best friend sitting by her.

She smiles. "The one and only."

"I can't believe you got reaped. What were the odds?"

She waves the comment away. "Ah, they probably just got fed up with me. I'll show them. I will win." Her eyes twinkle momentarily, causing a slight ripple of fear to travel through Azure.

Jilly seems to notice Azure's fear about her. "Oh don't worry, I'll only go for you if we're the last two remaining. We've been friends too long for me to betray that for a silly thing like survival."

Despite the circumstances, that statement oddly calms Azure down, despite its apparent oddities. "Silly thing like survival...? I don't understa- Whatever. So, whose your partner? Hang out with him a lot?"

Her face darkens slightly. "I don't know what's up with that guy. He rarely speaks, he only comes out of his room to eat, and then goes back in and stays there for the rest of the evening. Something's wrong with that stallion."

"Ah, he's probably just in shock or something. He'll get over it, or die in the arena."

"I guess, but I'd like to know what his problem is, y'know? Anyways, how you been doing? You seemed like you were in shock yourself for the reaping."

"I'm fine, thanks. And I wasn't in shock, I was daydreaming."

Jilly raises her eyebrows, or does the closest thing to a pony raising eyebrows. "Really now? Whatever you say, sweetheart." She laughs. "Now, are you gonna finish that?" She points her hoof towards Azure's untouched tray of food.

Azure chuckles lightly, and pushes the tray over to her. "Naw, I don't know what this stuff is, but it certainly isn't food."

She shrugs. "Hey, if you're going to be picky, you won't live long in the arena."

Azure concedes this point, and shrugs. "Fair enough. But I'm still not having any of that stuff."

"Now, tell me about your partner now? He seems to like you."

"What? No, he doesn't really seem to like me that much, actually. He's sorta like your partner... ah... what's his name? Strawberry Fields?" Jilly nods affirmation. "Ya, he sorta keeps to himself most of the time. He got upset when he heard about the no-magic rule."

"There's a no magic rule? Perfect! Cheating stuck-up unicorns finally brought down to our level, hey?" She smiles widely, and glares at the short unicorn sitting on the opposite end of the the table from her and Azure. The colt looks up uncertainly, and scoots away quickly. She laughs for a bit, before diving into her tray of food again.

Azure watches in slight amusement, before finding something interesting to stare at on the ceiling.

* * *

Rainbow Dash's voice blasts across the room where the tributes have gathered. "Allllllllright maggots! Listen up! It has come to my attention that a certain somepony," She glares at Applejack, "neglected to inform you all of a certain, some would say game-altering rule. But first, I have to ask you a question. Did anypony feel any sort of wave wash over them as they entered their quarters?"

Several 'no's' can be heard from the group, which become amplified shortly after due to another glare from the trainer. She nods in approval. "Good, the Gamemakers actually listened to me for once. Anyways, the rule bans two things. Flying, and magic. The spell you did not notice has disabled your-"

She gets no further, as a wave of protest crashes through the crowd, with voices raising to intense levels. Many of the voices raised shout accusations at the trainers, while others shout at anything in general. Many of the unicorns attempt to cast the most basic of spells, confused as to why they didn't think of it sooner. The pegasi attempt to fly, only to find out that their wings no longer generate lift. The rest of them, the earth ponies, sit back with smug grins on their faces. The chaos last for quite some time, before a thundering. voice silences them all.

"ENOUGH!" Applejack slams her hoof down on the floor, creating a loud cracking sound. "If y'all could just shut your traps for one moment, perhaps Dash and I could explain this rule!" The tributes stare worriedly at the other trainer, and remain silent.

Rainbow looks at her partner with a look of awe. "Thank you... Applejack..." She shakes her head to clear away the shock. "Anyways, perhaps with you guys silent, I can explain why this rule is needed. Each of the races have their own advantages. A unicorn and a pegasus have powers that are obvious game-changers. Flying and magic are completely unfair in these games, and thus, have been removed."

"But what about the earth ponies! How come they aren't affected?" A unicorn calls out.

"Simple. Earth pony magic is in their strength. They are hardy, and strong. But strength is not all you will need in these games. You will need agility, intelligence, and most of all, you will need to be a quick thinker. Nothing ever goes right in the arena, just remember that. Now, you may all return to your training until 4:30, where you will return to your suites until tomorrow."

The players file out, returning to the places they were doing previous to the lunch call. Azure, not seeing anything better to do, decides to experiment with some different weaponry. She begins with spear throwing, and fails spectacularly, moves on to archery, and fails with that as well.

"Why am i not good with any weapon skills?" Azure exclaims after another missed shot, this one nearly taking out a light. "How will I survive if I can't fight worth anything?" She snaps off another shot, which goes wide of the target yet again. "Screw this!" She says, throwing her bow on to the ground.

"I'll try a different station, and that's IT!" She gazes around for her next chance to learn something decent, and her eyes land on the swordfighting station. She crosses over a picks up one of long blades. It's heavy, with blunted edges for training. The trainer for this station notices her examining the sword and calls out.

"Hey, 12! You wanna test out your abilities by sparring?" He draws his own sword and plants it firmly on the ground.

Azure considers the request for a moment, then realizing she has nothing to lose, grabs a sword and holds it in a ready position. "Ya, why not."

The trainer grins and returns the ready stance. "Let's dance."

Azure lunges forward, relying on speed rather than accuracy. The trainer sidesteps the thrust, knocking her off balance. He then brings his own sword down, stopping an inch from her back.

"That would have killed you. Try harder."

Azure, still shocked that she could have been killed before getting into the arena, steps back to the ready position. The trainer smiles again. "Round two."

She does not immediately strike out at the trainer, and instead waits for him to strike first. He does, with a swift side sweep to her back leg. Azure barely manages to block the blade, before she is pressed under an onslaught of cuts and jabs. One large swipe knocks her sword away, and he thrusts with the blade directly at the spot where her heart would be placed, again stopping the strike before serious damage is caused.

"You're not good at this."

"Did you expect me to be?" She says through gritted teeth.

He shrugs, then steps back. "Shall we continue?"

"Fine." Azure replies abruptly.

The fight continues, and this time lasts much longer, not out of any increase in skill, but instead because of a lack of any combat. The sparring has attracted the attention of some other tributes, namely the group of careers, who watch in mild amusement.

The first strike is delivered by an impatient Azure, a quick darting attack intended to tense him up. It works, but not the way she intended it to. He fell under the strike for a moment, then recovered and responded with a counter strike of his own. A quick skirmish ensued, with Azure inevitably falling under the strikes. She tosses the sword on to the ground in frustration, and storms off to a sanitization station across the gigantic gym.

The careers watch her, than start laughing and patting the trainer on the back.

"Nice job, man. Keep em' leveled."

"She's one of ours."

"Great fight, bro! We'll teach her how to fight in no time."

The trainer, taken aback, simply smiles and nods, waiting for the group of fighters to head off. They do, and he stands there, staring at his sword, absolutely confused.

* * *

"So, Eighth, tell me why exactly we want her to join our group? Because you're being pretty unclear about it." Swift Gale sits on a sword crate, impatiently twirling her knife.

Hydra lies with his back to a spear rack. "Yes, sir, please explain to me why we want the filly with no skills in combat whatsoever to be helping us kill the rest? It seems like a such an amazing idea." He snarls, words dripping with sarcasm.

Eighth Note is unperturbed by his skepticism, and continues explaining. "I'm just saying we take her as cannon fodder. Of all the tributes I've seen, she has the worst combat skill level of them all. If we take her in, we can just use her as a free life, persay."

Hydra still appears skeptical. He opens his mouth to speak, but is silenced by Zephyr. "It's not a bad idea, really."

"Yes, but what if she's like that one colt last year that appeared weak, then ended up owning everyone? What if she's like one of those ponies?"

"I doubt it. She looked like she was trying pretty hard during that duel." Zephyr shrugs. "And if she is, we kill her. Simple as that."

"Ugh, fine, but how do we ask her? I don't want to look like an idiot." Hydra says.

Papercraft laughs. "Too late for that, Hydra."

Viola frowns at Hydra, giving him an annoyed, confused look. "What do you mean, 'How do we ask her?' We just do! We walk up to her and say, 'Hey, 12, wanna join our crew? It's the only way to ensure you don't die instantly.' it's simple!" She slaps him upside the head to drive the point home.

he rubs his head angrily. "What was that for? You could've just gave me a non-sarcastic answer for once.

She shrugs dismissively. "Hey, you joined our group, you gotta deal with my sarcasm." She stands up, brushing the dust off. "Now, are we gonna go or what?"

Hydra rolls his eyes at the concept of asking this filly into their group, but gets up anyways. "Ugh, fine, let's just get this over with."

* * *

Azure finishes constructing a spit for a fire, and sits back relaxing as she watches the flames glow. I am not gonna last long in these games. I can't fight, I can't design traps, I have no usable skills whatsoever. I can't even- The sound of hoofsteps nearby drags her out of her thoughts, and she looks up to see the approachers. The career group, seven ponies, stands in front of her, looking expectantly at one mare in the center.

The mare clears her throat, then stares down at the pony, who is watching her through the flickering tongues of the fire. "Ok, uh... 12... We wanted to ask you if you wanna join our group. You, know, the group that kills everypony and usually wins? Ya, that's us." She gestures a hoof at herself.

Azure is shocked. Why would they ask me? They watched me lose to the trainer! I have no skills whatsoever, so why would they even consider letting me tag along with them? Unless... oh those sons of bitches... Azure's cheeks begin to flare, and her temper rises.

"Why? So you can use me as a meat shield against your stronger opponents? Or so that you can use me to carry out your menial tasks in the arena, without worrying about having to lose one of your own?"

Swift steps back, startled at the response. "Well no... we just..."

Azure jumps up, her voicing raising even higher. One of the things her brother used to say about her, was that she got angry too easily. "Just what? Hmm? You just wanted to come over and ask if I wanted to act as your insurance? No thank you!" Azure steps past the the fire and spits in Swift's face.

The rest of the careers instinctively back off as Swift casually wipes the saliva off her brow. "You will regret that, 12. You will regret that dearly, I promise."

Azure chuckles, waving the threat aside. "Yeah, bite me."

Swift gives her a wolfish grin. "Oh, I will do more than that. I will make thousands of tiny cuts on every limb of your body and watch as you slowly, painfully bleed out. Now, we gave you a chance for survival in these games, but you threw it away, and now you got yourself a nice red target on your head. Enjoy thinking about that." She turns to her comrades. "Let's leave this scum behind, and go train some more."

Azure watches them go with a cocky grin on her face. The can't kill what they can't find.