The platforms lifted out of the ground, revealing the arena for the very first time. What Cherry saw made her stomach sink. All around them were small hills, but that wasn't the problem. Anywhere there was land, there was snow. Lots of it. She looked forward again and saw all the tributes around the cornucopia. At one side she saw the careers evil stares, and she saw one look at her and smile. She shivered and looked to the ponies next to her. Same as usual, Blaze and Terry. She looked at Terry who looked back and gave a nod saying, alliance. Cherry nodded back and focused back on the cornucopia. She scanned the various items and picked out what she wanted to grab. A small white backpack, and a bag of several knifes. She crouched, her wings expanded. A simple takeoff position. The countdown was at the single digit numbers now.

Cherry swallowed the lump in her throat as the final countdown started.

5

4

3

2

1

Everypony took of at once. Cherry gained extra speed from her practiced flying, but she could see the careers and more athletic ponies getting there first. She landed and was able to grab the backpack, then she saw another pony reaching for the knifes. A white stallion with light blue hair and an evil glint in his red eyes. Cherry reached toward them and grabbed them at the same time as him. He snarled and flared open his wings and began to gain altitude with the weapons. Cherry wasted no time in lifting with him, the backpack slung over her back.

Various cannon sounds could be heard, but she didn't pay much attention. her attention was all on this stallion, as she pulled harder. Since he didn't seem content with letting go, Cherry had an idea. She let go with one hoof and instead grabbed a knife from inside the bag. His shocked expression was amusing. She gave a silent pray that she wouldn't miss and threw the knife, just barely managing to hit the base of his wing.

With a yowl, he plummeted down into the snowy terrain. Cherry clutched the bag close to her chest, and began to slowly reach toward the ground. She was looking for her allies. With glee, she found Terry and Blaze fleeing the area. She used the last of her flying strength to chase after them. She landed into the snow behind them, scattering the white fluff all over Blaze, who shook it off with annoyance.

"Dang, snow. Why did it have to be snow!?" He whined, flicking more off his hoof.

"No time to complain Blaze," Cherry snorted, "Right now we need to find shelter." They both nodded and followed behind her. The trek through the snow was long and slow. Thankfully nopony had attacked them, though, they felt like they were being watched. They were relieved to find a cave to rest in and look over their items. They sat down and relaxed, except for Terry who had a spear clutched in his hoof, ready to attack anypony to come in unexpectedly.

Cherry unzipped her bag and looked inside. She made a mental list of the items, then looked in the backpack Blaze managed to grab. She smiled to herself.

Paint, for camouflage
Various berries and fruits, not sure if poisonous yet.
rope
two blades
And three canteens of water.

Just as she was setting the bags back down, she heard a mare screaming. She whirled around to see that it was Terry screaming, not a mare. She looked at what he was looking at, and gave a tiny smile. Terry didn't.

"I-I'm sorry you can have our stuff and weapons just don't kill us!" He shouted, dropping his spear. Cherry went over and gave him a bonk on the head.

One of the two mares outside the cave chuckled. "Well when you put it that way..." The dark brown one said. Cherry laughed.

"Alright, come on it guys." She waved for them to come in. "Terry, Blaze, this is Ember Blaze and Moon breeze." Terry nodded a bit, still a little frightened, and Blaze nodded, failing at trying to look confident. Ember and Moon snickered for a second, then Ember whispered in Moon's ear. She nodded. Cherry cocked her head at this exchange.

Moon Breeze opened her mouth to speak, "Well-"

Two screams interrupted her. Two ponies leaped in from the mouth of the cave. The first, a tan unicorn holding a bow and arrow, crouched and pulled back her arrow. The second, an orange stallion with a ginger and crimson streaked mane, threw a spear, narrowly avoiding Terry's hoof. Who then gave a yelp.

"Drop your weapons and hand over the supplies!!" The mare yelled, dragging her arrow back further.

"Or else," The stallion growled.

"No," Ember replied calmly.

The mare narrowed her eyes and repeated, "I said, hand over the supplies!"

"And I said," Ember paused as she whipped out a bow and arrow from behind her, "NO!" She loaded the bow with no time to spare, and shot it at the mare, who leaped out of the way, letting it hit her in the shoulder. She gave a startled scream and dropped her bow. Cherry quickly grabbed two knifes and rushed forward to the stallion. She lifted one knife and brought it down hard, but he just barely managed to block it with her spear. With a snarl and took the other knife and stabbed him in the chest, causing him to drop the spear. Cherry felt a warm, sticky fluid run down her hoof, and she quickly brought the knife out from the stallions stomach. She gasped and let him drop to the ground. Cherry looked at the mare who had been watching with dread.

"Oh potato," she muttered and she quickly limped out with the arrow still in her shoulder. Cherry then looked back at her hoof, which was coated in blood. She shivered.

"I-I'm gonna go wash this off." She said, walking outside. She dropped the knife in the snow, letting it melt around and wash off the blood. She looked around and spotted a stream nearby and grinned at her luck. She went over and stuck her hoof into the water, then immediately pulled it back out. "Holy crap that is cold!" She shouted. She looked back at her bloody hoof and sighed. She splashed the water over it, pretending not to feel the burning cold it caused. Just as the last drops were falling off, she heard a cannon. The stallion must be dead. She thought. She stood up, grabbed her now clean knife and headed inside. As she sat down, she heard the anthem start to play. She put the knife with the others and went outside to join her allies in honoring the ponies who died in this horrible game.

You are not alone...

Author's Note

Hellooo again dear friends! We now have the first chapter of the actual games! I hope you're excited cause I'm excited! I want to jup up and down and yell "YAY ME" But I also want to curl up into a tiny tiny ball and hide at the same time!! You get a golden muffin if you know where that's from. So now... yay new chapter! Expect that they'll come out sooner, because I'm more excited for this part of the story than the others. And expect more OCs!