Chapters "Aaaaannd, the lucky mare iisss, Cherrycloud!" The world seemed to freeze around Cherry. All of her thoughts and guilt and built up feelings about the equestrian games, all tumbled out of the mind dam. "Cherrycloud?" The mare at the front asked, trying to find the filly. Snapping out of her daze, she took a fearful step towards the stage. She cleared her throat and took another step. If I am actually going to be in the games, I may as well seem strong so they wont come after me. She took step after step, with each willing, begging her to go back! To just turn and flap her wings as hard as she could, to escape all the pain. But she would run into the electric force field that protected all the districts, no going in, or going out, unless you're on a train.
Cherrycloud soon found herself standing beneath the stage, with thick beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks. She looked to the crowd, at her mother, who was bawling her eyes out. Cherry locked her gaze on her violet eyes for a moment, before she broke out in tears again. Cherry took a deep breath and looked at the cameras scattered about. She puffed out her chest and tried to look tough and brave. The colt to be chosen was a unicorn named Blaze. He looked even more terrified than what Cherrycloud thought she had looked like. He sat down next to her with a gulp. Her gaze drifted to his flank, and she observed his cutie mark. Two fireworks, one a navy blue, the other was golden. She looked back up again, and saw the fillies departing fro their lines to join their family. Cherrycloud desperately searched the crowd to find her mother, but she was cut off by a rude shove from a bulky stallion.
"Move along." He grunted in a deep voice. Cherry stood and followed after the red pony that had picked the names. She could hear the stallion having a rougher time getting Blaze to move, but in the end Blaze was shoved into line next to her. The mare, apparently called silver fire, led them to a building. They trotted down the hall and were pushed into a rickety elevator. It coughed and wheezed, and rumbled around, and Cherry was relieved to be off it. Silver brought them down to two separate rooms, across from each other.
"You have fifteen minutes to say your goodbyes, then its off to the train!" Cherry reluctantly entered her room. It was... nice. There were two lavender couches, each looking at the other. There was a fancy glass table in-between them. There was a bowl of fruit and tissues on the table. Cherry walked over to one of the couches, and with a grunt, flopped down onto one. She immediately regretted it. She sunk down into the plush cushions, and felt awkwardly squished. She couldn't hear the hoofsteps that sounded inside the room, because she was too busy flailing around trying the escape the couches mighty grasp. With a hurpmh she managed to slip out of the couch and onto the floor, and gaze up at the unicorn above her. Cherry didn't have to get up, the visitor laid down and wrapped her arms around Cherry, who then hugged her back. The room went silent, except for the quiet sobbing sounding from the two ponies.
"Ch-Cherry," Said the mare, "can you p-promise me something." Cherry leaned back and looked into her eyes.
"Anything, mom."
"J-Just, promise me th-that... you'll come back alive.."
Cherry nodded and embraced her mother again.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye..."
Author's Note
Okay okay I know this is really short, but I couldn't resist just stopping there! It was so heartwarming for me! (even though I wrote it) So I s'pose it might hold you back for now, stop you from your 'new story rampaging'
Cherry's tearful goodbye with her mother didn't last long. After a minute or two she was pulled out of the room, and some of Cherry's friends entered. It went on like that for a while, before Cherry was allowed to leave. They brought her back to the rickety elevator, and she took a nervous gulp. She soon exited the elevator with a sigh of relief, but was then pushed out of the building. Silver Fire was saying something about how wonderful Canterlot is, and oh you two will love it there! Cherry rolled her eyes. she chose to instead look at the two massive stallions guarding her and blaze from behind.
One was a Pegasus, and one was a unicorn, and each was as bulky as an earth pony. Cherry began thinking if there was any way of escape. She scanned them carefully. They we're definitely stronger than her, and probably faster. But, she did know the area better, and there was a chance she was smarter than them, in some ways. She glanced at Silver Fire. A unicorn, but not very skilled at magic by the looks of it. Cherry looked at the path they were following. If they really were heading toward the train station, then we'll have to pass through a small forest. She grinned. It would be the perfect place to escape. The unicorn couldn't focus on magic if he kept running into trees. And Cherry learned the hard way that flying in a forest was a bad idea.
She began thinking of a more complex plan, and was so lost in thoughts, she almost missed what she was planning for. They were going down the dirt road, and Silver Fire was complaining about how dirty the districts were. Cherry turned her gaze to the right, at the bundle of trees. She kept looking, until she found what she was looking for. a gap! She took a deep breath and opened her wings. She then forced them down in a mighty heave and felt herself leave the ground. She landed in front of the forest, and without a second to spare, jumped into the gap in the trees. She could already hear the stallions pounding after her, and she felt herself already growing tired. She kept jumping back and forth between the trees expertly, while she did hear the stallions bump into a few of them. She began flapping her wings to propel herself forward, and started thinking happily, this might work!
Then suddenly, a loud boom was heard, and then sickly sizzling. Cherry didn't have to look back to see what it was. The unicorn was getting angry. She could feel the magic power radiating from the sweaty stallion behind her, and she heard him charging up to blast again. She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped for the best when she felt a searing pain in her hoof... and a beam of blue light passing over her? She glanced down and got a mouthful of dirt, and realized she tripped on a rock. She looked up at the two angry stallions hovering over her. The unicorn forcefully lifted her up in his magic, and purposely dragged her along the forest floor, back to the road.
"Well now, that was a very disappointing thing to do, you should be grateful that you get to participate in this glorious event!" Silver Fire scolded Cherry when they got back to the road. She was thankful when she was let go of the unicorns magical grasp, but was back to annoyed when he levitated a sword a few inches from her throat. Well, I guess I cant try that again.. She grimly thought. They continued on in silence, all of them thinking about Cherry's earlier escape attempt. Soon, they finally arrived at the old train station, and Cherry was surprised at the amazing crystal train parked on the rails. As she trotted up to the door she noticed a small, faded imprint beside the wheel. Pro----y -f th- C--st-l Em---e was all she could make out. She narrowed her eyes and began to wonder what it could have originally said, before she was forcefully shoved into the train by the Pegasus guard.
Once they entered, the Pegasus lead Cherrycloud down a hall, while the unicorn brought Blaze down another. They trotted on in more awkward silence, when the guard suddenly swerved right, causing Cherry to bump into him. When she stood back up, he was glaring at her. "This will be your personal room for the two day trip we are taking to Canterlot. In exactly Fifteen minutes you will be escorted to the dining car where you shall eat your evening meal and meet your mentor." He said in a gruff voice. Cherry snorted and walked into her room, and she swore she could see the stallion rolling his eyes at her.
She glanced around the room. It was fancy. There was a tiny kitchen to the side where you walk in, and a large window to see the rolling hills passing by the fast moving train. There were two couches, similar to the ones back where she said her goodbyes, so she didn't dare sit in one yet. There were two doors on opposite sides of the room. One was a bathroom, and the other seemed to be a bedroom. Cherry went into the bedroom and observed more. There was a plush bed, with black covers. The pillow was white, with a picture of Nightmare Moon's cutie mark, reminding Cherry once more of her blank flank.
She sighed, and went to sit on the bed. It wasn't as dangerous as the couches, but she still sank into it. She fell back on it and stared at the ceiling, letting all her thoughts go. Eventually, she began to wonder about the imprint she saw at the train door. She narrowed her eyes, and sat up. She glanced at the nightstand, and saw several scrolls of paper piled up. A quill and ink were next to it. Cherry snorted.Of course they would want us to make some sort of diary, so they could read what we were thinking before we died... great. Cherry got out of the bed and sat in the comfortable chair. She took a piece of paper and the quill and began writing what she remembered of the imprint.
There's gotta be other imprints of it somewhere on the train, she thought determinedly, I may as well be doing something on this train for two days. Once she finished writing what she remembered, there was a knock on the door. She stood up and trotted over. She opened the door the see the Pegasus again. "We are ready to take you to the dining hall. Come." Cherry sighed again and followed reluctantly, closing the door behind her.
Author's Note
Hello again readers! I have a question for ya. Would you prefer long chapters and slow updates, or short chapters with (reletivley) quick updates? Also don't worry! OCs are coming up soon!
The Pegasus guard led Cherrycloud silently back down the hallway. Cherry let her wings droop with boredom. He led her past the door where they had entered, and followed the path Blaze and the unicorn guard took. Her ice blue eyes trailed around the hallway, never resting on one thing for long. It wasn't until she saw three pictures in a row on the wall, did she actually pay attention. Each had a picture of a filly. One was orange, with a deep purple mane. The second, was a white unicorn, with pink and purple curly hair. The last was a yellow earth pony, with red hair. Cherry recognized these fillies, they were the three ponies that had died of mysterious causes in the games. The ponies said that they escaped and formed some sort of rebellion, and are secretly planning to get revenge on Nightmare Moon, and many think it was little than a coincidence that they volunteered for the games, each on the same year.
Cherry didn't have long to look at them, as the guard led her on. They soon arrived in a car, where tables lined the edges. In one of the booths, she saw blaze sitting, with a light blue mare across from him. She went and sat next to him, while both guard sat at the door. Cherry quietly observed the mare sitting on the opposite side of the table. She was light blue, as Cherry had observed earlier, but the way the light reflected off it gave it a silver tint. Her mane itself was a shining silver, blown back like it was frozen when she was running as fast as a train. Her navy blue eyes flicked back and forth as she observed the menu in front of her.
She soon noticed Cherry sitting there, and she put down the menu. "Hi there!" She said cheerily. Cherry replied with an awkward nod. "My name's Crystal, and I'm assuming you're the mare tribute, Cherrycloud right?" Another nod. "So, now that we're all here, lets order some things, and talk about some strategies." Cherry gave a third nod, and picked up the menu in front of her. I didnt take long for her to decide on an apple with hay fries. Crystal got a fancy salad, with a strange bubbly purple drink. Blaze just got a sandwich, with hay fries too. Cherrycloud lifted the apple and took a bite, that's when her eyes widened.
"Shif if reawwy goob!" She stuttered, with tiny bits of apple dripping out of her mouth. She soon realized this and shut her mouth, giving the time to swallow.
Crystal gave a small chuckle. "Well, they are freshly imported from the best apple farms all around the country." Cherry smiled and took another bite. They all continued like this, with even Blaze gawking at the sheer amazingness of his sandwiches flavor. But alas, the flavor awesomeness was soon over, and it was time to talk about the games. "So," Crystal began, once their plates were taken away, "Lets start with your talents. What are both of you good at." She glanced at Blaze first, who shuffled his hooves.
"Well, um, my special talent it creating illusions and shows with my magic. Uh, I guess I'm sorta strong." He looked into his lap, and Crystal took this to look at Cherry.
"Okay then, Cherry, your turn"
Cherry nodded, "I guess I'm pretty fast, and a good flyer. Hmm... I could be good at making alliances if that would help." Crystal nodded and silently observed the both of them. Then she locked her gaze on blaze.
"When we start training, I suggest that you go over to the survival section. That'll tell you about how to gather, make fires, tie knots and traps, that sorta thing." She told him a multiple reasons of why you need these skills, and how to use them, then she looked back at Cherry. "You should head over to the weapons section, specifically throwing weapons. If you are fast then you could get ahead of your enemy, hide, and attack them from the shadows with a bow if you can manage to get one." Cherry nodded and squirmed in her chair, Crystal could be really intimidating when she needed to, Cherry noticed. Crystal gave a nod of approval and slid out of her seat.
"You guys should get some rest, we'll be arriving in Canterlot tomorrow and I want to two to make a good first impression." Cherry watched as Crystal strode out of the room, and as Blaze went to enter his own room then she noticed something. Where Blaze had disappeared, next to where the hallway started, near the floor, was another one of those imprints. She quickly made a mental image of the patterns, and got up out of her seat. She began walking down the hallway, when she heard hoofsteps echoing behind her. She turned her head to see the unicorn guard following her.
"Uh, why do I need a guard following me while Blaze doesn't." She asked with annoyance, "I'm not a little filly." His stone gaze rested firmly on her.
"Based on your earlier actions, a guard must be posted with you at all times, except for when you are in your room, where cameras will be recording all of your doings, with another guard watching them." He said in his deep voice. Cherry snorted and continued on with her head lowered. She arrived at her door again and trotted in, leaving the guard to shut the door. She went into the bedroom, and looked into the corners, seeing the cameras the guard was talking about. She sat in a seat and pulled herself up to the desk, where she had written the paper before. She took it out, with a quill. She struggled to remember the imprint she had seen before, and she wrote down what she was able to recall. Then she thought of the strategies Crystal had told her earlier. With a shrug, she took the quill again and began to write more.
Once satisfied, she put down the quill and read what she had on the paper.
Prope--y of the C--stal Em-r-e
Throwing weapons-good for when being chased, or chasing. Can be used for advantage if user can hide, and attack secretly.
With a smile, Cherrycloud folded the paper up and placed it carefully under the stone lantern on the desk. She glanced out the window to see the stars rising, and sighed. It would be nice to tell If it was 'day' or 'night' based of the sun and moon, instead of stars. She hopped off the chair and left the bedroom. As she exited, she suddenly felt a pang of homesickness, and sat on the couch, knowing that she would probably never see her family again. She looked out the window again, and shut her eyes. Please, with all the power in my heart, will I come back safely and see my family and friends again. And to one day help to stop Nightmare Moon and her wicked tyranny. A tear slipped down her cheek. Please.
Author's Note
Mmm'kay, what do you think of this? The next chapter will probably come sooner because I'm on spring break now, and have nothing planned >.< If you have any suggestions to make this story better, please suggest them, it would help a lot! Thanksies!
Small sparks of sunlight danced across a white fluffy floor. A mare lay in a bed made of the same plush clouds. When the sun poked her in the eyes, she curled up tighter, hoping to gather up the wonder of her dream for a few more moments. But alas, she soon opened her blue eyes and groaned in annoyance. She rolled out of her bed and flopped onto the floor. She lay there a moment, not bothering to get up, but eventually hauled herself up reluctantly. She trudged into her kitchen, and looked into the bare cabinets. She groaned again. The mare grabbed a slip of paper and saddlebags and trotted to the porch in the front of her cloudy house. Once out of the house, she closed her eyes and spread her wings, letting the sunlight warm them. She smiled with satisfaction and opened her eyes to a bright azure sky.
She grinned and leapt off the porch. She pushed her wings downward and felt gravity loosen its grip on her. She then glided gently toward the ground. When she was a few meters above the grassy plain, she heard a sound. She stopped and hovered for a moment, and, when nothing happened, she tried to glide down. When she didn't begin to slowly fall, she began to worry. She flailed her hooved, trying to escape to invisible item suspending her in the air. Suddenly, a boom was heard. She whirled her head around to locate the sound, and saw a circular rainbow expanding around the ground. A single rainbow streak was also visible and heading straight toward the mare. As it came closer, she saw it a pony. She struggled even more to escape, to get out of the way of the flying pony, but she was still hanging helplessly.
Then, as the pony was closer than she would have preferred, it slammed against an invisible wall. Bright yellow sparks emitted from the contact point, and a yellow wave ran over in a half sphere shape, outlining a dome. When the yellow shine vanished, the pony lay where it had collided with the invisible dome. The wire that seemed to run around the dome was broken where the pony sat, and made a roughly circular shape where the electric field didn't cover. Three young fillies ran over to the pony, and the mare immediately recognized these three as the fillies who escaped the hunger games. They all shared sad words, each filled with despair, before the fillies ran and jumped out of the area through the hole in the barrier.
They began to run where the mare was still hanging in the air. Then, she fell to the floor, and sighed gladly , then frowned as the three fillies ran past her. She spread her wings and followed after them. They kept running for a while, then the mare was able to see a large crystal rising out of the ground. As they got closer, she saw it wasn't a crystal, it was a castle. Surrounding it were ruins. Random burnt crystals were commonly scattered on the blackened ground. The fillies kept running toward the castle, then they all fell over at once. A dark shadow began to loom over her, and she looked back to see icy blue eyes piercing through her soul, with sickly blue smoke flowing out from them. It floated over to the three fillies and its shadow slowly advanced on their hooves. With tears in their eyes, they all raised their muzzles and screamed.
"Help!"
Cherry snapped open her eyes and leaped up. Her chest heaved as she panted harshly. Sweat dribbled down her forehead and cheeks. She looked out the window to see the stars setting and the day moon rising. Cherry sighed and got off the bed. "least I'm all awake now.." she grumbled with annoyance. She dragged her hooves across the floor as she made her way through the living room, into the bathroom. She kicked the door shut behind her and glanced into the mirror. She then recoiled at the sight. Her mane was frizzy and poofed up. Her ears seemed to droop down and her eyes were blooodshot. With urgency, she saw a toiletry bag on the floor next to the sink. She opened it and looked inside, silently thanking whoever had the brilliant idea of giving the tributes these things for the train ride.
She took out a hairbrush, and brought it to her mane, ready to comb the crap out of it. But these things are always painful.
Cherry strolled out of her room, with a big grin plastered on her face. She smiled at the guard outside the door and she turned to trot down the hallway. This time she was in front, and she hoped her jolly mood would be enough to cover the now broken hairbrush and crack in the wall. They soon arrived at the dining car, and Cherry noticed that Blaze and Crystal were already there. Blaze had his eyes shut, and was obviously showing his concentration. A rozy colored haze floated around his horn, and the same mist covered a small crumpled slice of cake. When Cherry squinted her eyes at the cake, she saw that it was slowly repairing itself.
Cherry sat down quietly as she watched Blaze finish up his spell. Eventually, the magic around Blaze's horn faded, as it did for the cake as well. He let out a puff of breath and continued to breath heavily. Crystal trotted to his side and put a hoof around his shoulder. "Great job Blaze! Much better than last time!" He gave a half hearted smile and wiped a few beads of sweat off his forehead.
"It was still as tiring as last time." He grunted. Crystal didn't seem to hear him, as she was now walking over to greet Cherrycloud.
"Good morning! I hope you slept well, because we'll be arriving in Canterlot today and you get to make your first impression on your fellow tributes!" Cherry nodded and took a step back.
"Y-Yeah, I guess it is something to be excited about..." She looked at Blaze again, "What were you guys doing before?" Blaze answered this time.
"Crystal was helping me try out some healing spells." He pointed out, "Apparently magic and flying are limited in the arena so I'll need to practice."
"Waitwaitwait!" Cherry held her hoof up to stop him from speaking, "Flying is limited in the arena!?"
Blaze rolled his eyes, "And magic. Did you really expect them not to make it as hard as possible to survive?" Cherry sighed and put her head in her hooves. This is going to be harder than I thought. She thought. Cherry then flexed her wings.
"How limited?" She asked, almost scared to hear the answer.
Crystal gave a shrug, "I'd say you could fly at a mild pace for about, five, ten minutes tops." Cherry buried her head in her hooves again. Yep, totally going to die.
After a filling meal of haycakes and fancy toast, Crystal had begun talking about leaving an impression on the other tributes. She, again, started with Blaze first. "Okay then, at the reaping you looked like a terrified puppy, no offense." Blaze muttered a "none taken" in-between bites of haycakes. "To show them you're brave you have to stand up tall, don't waver. If one approaches you make sure that you actually manage to talk loud and clear, and not shake your voice. If you start feeling overwhelmed, then keep standing strong and head over to a quiet corner or something, where nopony would bother you." Blaze nodded slowly, as his brain comprehended what he had to do.
"Now, Cherry." Crystal began, looking at Cherry now. "Based off your 'earlier stunt', there are two things they'll think of you.Be strong, make alliances.
Crystal then looked out the window. "Ooh! We're here! Perfect timing!" Cherry looked out and her mouth gaped in awe.
"I knew Canterlot was cool but..." She uttered unconsciously. Crystal grinned.
"There's nothing like seeing the big city, huh." Cherry nodded, then felt the train screech to a halt. She saw Blaze and Crystal scoot out of their chairs and trot down the hallway. Cherry turned to a guard.
"I uh, forgot something in my room, could I get it quickly?" The guard narrowed his eyes for a moment, and nodded. She smiled innocently and trotted down the hall to her room. She went over to the desk, and grabbed the slip of paper. She folded it up and tucked it in-between the feathers in her wings. She then turned and went back toward to door leading to the outside. Crystal and Blaze were still there, waiting for her. She smiled at them, and the guards opened the door, letting the moonlight shine in. Crystal went first, then Blaze, then Cherry went, letting the fresh applause hit her ears. She smiled once more. Lets do this.
Author's Note
mm'kayyy, OCs coming up in the next chapter! I'll try and include as many as possible, but I wont overdo it. Hope you liked this chapter! thanksies!
Blaze led Cherrycloud through the crowd, to where Crystal was waiting. "Hi guys," She greeted them, "I hope you left a good impression on those, because in a few days, they wont be friendly." Blaze gulped and nodded, obviously thinking about the strange mare that threatened him. "C'mon, lets get to the hotel and see what you guys managed to do." Crystal turned around and brought then down a path lined with guards, each holding a particularly pointy spear. Cherrycloud gulped as she saw almost all of them staring at her, obviously remembering her failed escape attempt back in the districts.
They soon made their was to a large, fancy building, which Cherry assumed was the hotel. There were glass panes covering every inch of the building from the second floor up. They were brought into the lobby, where, surprise , guards were standing, watching their every move. As Crystal went to the desk to find out our rooms and such, Cherry observed the lobby. It seemed that only one other pair of tributes were here too. We must be early. She thought. With nothing else to do, Cherry walked up to the stallion. "Uhh, hi?" Cherry asked nervously. He turned his head and looked at her with bright green eyes. HIs coat was a light blue. His mane was purple and blue striped, with a strip of black in between the colors. He was a Pegasus, and had a badge on his wing that read I'm from district nine and I'm proud!
"Oh, hey. Names Sketch Pad." He spread out his wings for emphasis or something, making the embarrassing button more prominent. Cherry couldn't help but snicker a bit.
"Heh, I'm Cherrycloud." He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head in confusion.
"What's so funny?" He asked, lowering his wings a bit, and wiggling the button around more. Cherry laughed some more. "Hey! Come on! Tell me!" He flashed out his wings again, and the button fell. His head snapped down to the floor, where the pin now rested, and his face turned a brighter red than Cherry had ever seen anypony become. "Oh come on! I thought I took that off when I got on the train." He looked around to find his teammate. "Hey!" He shouted at her. Her ears flicked up and she turned to look at him. Cherry was surprised because she did it in less than half a second. "Do you know if somepony put this button back on me?" He asked.
The mares eyes shrunk to pinpricks as her mouth muttered inaudible words. Sketch Pad narrowed his eyes again.
"Mind speaking up?" The mare shrunk behind her mane and repeated what she said, this time Cherry was just able to hear it.
"Uhmm, I-I think th-that b-b-bubble p-put it b-back on as a-a prank..."
Sketch Pad nodded and went over to confront their mentor, Bubble Frosting. Cherry looked back at the mare, still amazed at how Sketch could understand what she had said. But, when she looked at the mare, her eyes somehow shrunk even more and she crouched on the floor. Finally giving up, Cherry turned and went back to blaze to chat some more.
Author's Note
Mm'kay, short chapter today. And two more OCs! Yay! (btw the shy one is Indigo Rain) The next one will be training! I promise! Then interviews and the battle starts! I cant wait! Also, whoever can guess what the arena will be gets to have their choice of OC make it to at least the final five! let the battle begin! Also, join this new group! It promotes good stories that don't get the popularity they deserve. Check it out!
Darkness. Dark. Nothing. Blackness. Shadow.
Those were adjectives Cherrycloud could think to describe the place she was in. She stood on an invisible platform. Her wings fluttered anxiously. There was a deadly silence. Her ears flicked back and forth, desperately trying to find something, anything, to hear. To get out of the quiet. Her pleads were soon answered, as hoofsteps began to echo across the dark dimension. Three blurred shaped were soon visible, and approaching fast. She was quickly able to recognize them as fillies, a pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony. Their eyes were wide with panic, and they were running right toward Cherry.
Cherry wished to leap out of the way, before she was trampled, but it seemed her hooves were rooted to the ground, which she couldn't even feel. With her eyes the size of pinpricks, she saw the first filly a hoof away. It... disappeared. Right before it hit Cherry too. She looked up at the blue mist that used to be an orange pegasus. When she looked down she saw the unicorn approaching. Then, like the other, she dissolved into blue mist right before hitting Cherry. The earth pony soon followed suit.
Then, all the darkness was wiped out by an explosion. A ring of colors shone across the sky, and was expanding, leaving milky whiteness behind it. Soon, the ring reached Cherrycloud and she was blown off her hooves. She felt the world begin to shimmer, as if it were falling apart. The last thing Cherry remembered before the world faded to black, was a voice pleading.
"HELP!"
Cherry leaped out of the bed for the second time in two days. Unfortunately she missed the bed and landed with an oomph on the floor. Too tired to move or even get up, she lay there for a moment, letting the dream sink in. Then her eyes drooped a bit. "Dammit floors, why do you have to be so hard and uncomfortable." She muttered while slowly standing up. Once achieving the troubling task, she began to think about the dream more. "Second one since this trip... hmm." She tapped her chin then shrugged, once again too tired to ponder it more. She quickly flattened her hair, which the bed enjoyed turning into an afro, and trotted into the room connecting to hers. She poked her head in to see who was up. Apparently everypony was except for her... again.
"Hey!" She shouted. "How come nopony ever tries to wake me up in the morning?" Blaze looked at you with an annoyed expression.
"Well, we've definitely been trying." He muttered. Cherry just narrowed her eyes at him. Crystal saw this and spoke up.
"Well, its not our fault you sleep like a log. Trust me, we tried this morning and you were so deep, you called Blaze Mommy and snuggled his hoof." Cherry felt her cheeks beginning to burn a bright red.
"Okay! Okay! I get it!" She stuttered, wanting to drop the topic, "Are we going to start training today?"
Crystal nodded. "Yep, as soon as you get ready, we're out the door."
As Cherry exited through the door, she couldn't help but feel excited, yet, extremely nervous at the same time. Most of the ponies she had met yesterday seemed nice enough. But she couldn't help but feel that Moon Breeze and Ember Blaze would kill her when she turned her back. A shiver rippled down her spine. And the mare from district 5 seemed to be watching her every move too. She lowered her head. The only ponies that were looking good right now would be Pageturner and Sketch Pad.
Before she knew it, Cherry was entering a large black building, filled with all the other tributes and mentors. She squeezed in between a white mare with a blue, misty mane, and an orange stallion with a ginger mane, that had dark red streaks in it. And there, flying over a high ledge, was what Cherry thought was the general. He was a light brown pegasus, with golden, shining eyes. He obviously seemed excited about the batch of tributes this year. His mane was a dark brown, and blown back. His eyes panned over all of the ponies standing on the rugged carpet below, and cleared his throat. He was ready to start.
"Good morning tributes!" He announced in a loud, clear voice. "As you all probably know, you will be training here for the next two days so that you can be prepared for the games." His eyes burned with passion as he continued with his speech. "I am Commander Thunder, leader of her highnesses guard. I have been specially chosen for this year to train you all for the upcoming death battle." For a moment, Cherry thought she saw a flicker of pain in his eyes, before it vanished and he began to speak again.
"Now, we will try to get started right away!" He began pointing his hooves in different directions. "Over in that area to the right, you will find out how to make traps, tie knots, yadda yadda. In the section to the left of the door, you will be able to figure out different kinds of trees, fruits, berries, and other types of nature you may need to know." He pointed out a few more things, then said one more thing.
"Before you are dismissed, know that there will be guards blocking the door, sections, and anywhere else you may be, so escaping would be of no use but to harm yourself." He then looked at Cherrycloud for an uncomfortable amount of time, before saying, "Dismissed!"
Cherry immediately began to walk over to the weapons section, and saw Blaze heading toward the trap section. Once arriving, she looked at the different types of weapons, and the targets on the wall. She picked up a spear first and lifted her hoof up, trying to aim the spear.
Once she felt she had it right, she pulled her arm back, and then shoved it forward... only to have the spear totally miss. With a humph, she grabbed another and tried again, with the same results. She gritted her teeth and grabbed a knife instead. She tossed it gently around her hooves, getting the feel of it. She then held it, and threw, at least getting it on the edge of the target.
Suddenly, she heard hoofsteps behind her. She turned to see a young mare walked up next to her. "Here," she said, "Lemme show you." She grabbed one of the knives and looked at a nearby target. She then pulled her hoof back and threw the knife with much more force than Cherry would have originally thought she would have used. The knife impaled into the target one or two inches away from the center. Cherry could only gape in awe. The mare noticed this and smiled. "Its all in the wrist, though, I prefer a bow and arrows."
Cherry nodded awkwardly, "I'm Cherrycloud, district 8" She put her hoof out to shake.
The mare gladly gave a white hoof to shake back. "Sapphire Swirl, district 1" Cherry narrowed her eyes, and thought. How could such a sweet mare be from district one? She seemed to read her mind. "Y'know, not everypony from the career districts are mindless killers." With that she turned and began to trot away, swishing her sea blue tail. Cherry shrugged and turned away from the throwing weapons, and over to the dummies. She grabbed another knife, this one meant for close combat. She then went over to a tablet hanging on the wall, and tapped in a few settings for the dummy.
Soon, it came to life. It didn't have any weapons, yet jumped around, ready to defend itself from Cherrycloud's knife. She raised it up, along with her wings, and shot out. It jumped to the side quickly, but Cherry was quicker. Her wings whirled around and she shot back out, making the knife collide with the dummies side. It was knocked back, but recovered and began to charge toward Cherry. It held it's hoof out at the last moment to jab her in the stomach. Then Cherry jumped out of the way, and landed another blow with the knife on the other side of the dummy. It then fell down, lifeless. Cherry grinned at her accomplishment, and laid the knife down with the others. She sighed and headed over to the trap section, to figure out some of that stuff with Blaze, and for a moment she thought.
Maybe I do stand a chance.
Cherry was trotting back to the large black building. The night after the first day of training passed in a flash. Once Blaze had 'accidentally' set a trap right where Cherry was going to walk, they went back to the hotel. The diner wasn't memorable, as everypony just took their dishes to their own rooms and ate in silence. Cherry had opened up her paper and continued to jot down various battle strategies she had learned at training that day. Once she was satisfied with the answer, she went to bed, thankfully with no nightmares.
She trotted through the gates, and saw everypony already separating into their different survival subjects. She glanced at Crystal, who nodded toward the camouflage station. Cherry smiled and headed in that direction. As she was walking, she noticed a somewhat large group of ponies gathering over by the weapon station. She narrowed her eyes and snorted, figuring they were the careers. Soon, one of them glanced her way. He was jet black, coat and mane alike. His blue eyes soon met hers, and they locked gazes. She caught a glimpse of the other careers behind him, and saw an evil glint in their eyes. She looked back at the colt, and saw that his seemed more dim. She dragged her gaze away and trod to the station.
She looked to one side and saw various material spread out, and on the other side an area of trees, grass, and other biomes. She saw a unicorn colt smearing mud over his face. As he rubbed it along the base of his horn, she noticed it seemed to be faintly glowing, but Cherry just shrugged it off. She went and sat next to him. She got a hoof-full of yellow, sand colored paint, and touched ut to her cheek. She pressed and rubbed her hoof along, smearing it all over her face. She then got a dip of darker yellow and rubbed in highlights. She soon got into a groove, and kept adding highlights, and even began to cover her body too.
As she looked to her side, she saw the purple colt watching in awe. "W-Wow!" He said, "You're so much better at this then me.." He pointed to a nearby mirror. Cherry gasped. Her face was the perfect mixture of sandy ground. She would blend in easily. She then looked at the stallion, and winced. He had dark brown smeared randomly around his face. His dark purple mane was clumped with the mud, and his horn was still flickering purple light. Cherry tapped her chin in thought. She went and trotted over to the desert biome. She laid down and looked in the mirror. Her face was as camouflaged as it would get in such a flat area, yet she smiled with pride.
She stood up and walked over to a sink, beginning to wash all of it off. Once achieving her goal, she waved goodbye to the colt and checked off camouflage in her mental checklist. She walked over to a station where various fruits and plants were on display. Under each of the items, were a small description, stating the name, cause, advantages, disadvantages, and location. She went around, studying each plant and its description, when a bell rang. The last day of training was over, and soon the first day of the rest of her life would begin.
She gulped. Oh why couldn't we have more than two days? She asked herself silently. Cherry started walking over to where Crystal was waiting, and Blaze soon joined them. Crystals grin was almost scary.
"Alrighty guys! Training is over, but you still have a few more times to prove yourselves. I hope your ready for the interviews and training tests!" Cherry sighed and hung her head.
"Yeah... I guess so." She replied unenthusiastically. Crystal smiled bigger and led them out the door.
"But the last thing we have to do today is go to the designer for tomorrows interviews." Crystal didn't wait for them to reply as the whisked around and began trotting in the direction of the designers house. Cherry and Blaze had no other choice but to follow her.
Author's Note
Okie Doki Lokie! This was kinda a short chapter, but I'm doing a vote thing and so far 2 is winning and so if that does end up winning then there'll be a chapter before the long chapter and yeah... yeah. heh heh... I don't know what else to put here. Comment like fav whatever, vote... I guess. Bai! Have some ponies!
The Beginning of the Rest of your Life
The walk to the house was quite uneventful, and they reached the giant lavender doors in no time at all. Crystal banged her hoof firmly against the wood, and the creaked open, revealing a pure white mare, who gave a large smile!
"Oh you're finally here! I thought I would have to wait forever for you to come. Honestly! Haven't you district ponies ever heard of punctuality!?" Cherry hated her already. "Now come on! We must get you ready for your interviews tomorrow!" Crystal pushed us in and waved to us as she began to walk away.
"I'll get you guys in a few hours! See ya then!" Cherry silently prayed that Crystal would suddenly turn around and stay with them, but it turned out she was stuck with this annoying mare. She sighed and followed Blaze down the hall.
"Now , lets get started right away!" She knocked on a door, which opened right away. Two stallions rushed out and grabbed Blaze's forearms, and dragged him back into the room, only letting him give a surprised yelp. "Okay , follow me now darling." Cherry followed uncertainly. She was led into a room, where the mare shoved her up on a stand."Now stand still! I must do the meausring. " Cherry stood, shuffling her hooves awkwardly as the mares horn lit up a bright purple. Various supplied floated about, measuring her. "Stand still!" She shouted, rooting Cherry to the spot. Now, various fabrics began to dance around the room. They would often place themselves onto her, and float back off. Soon, all the stuff fell to the floor and the mare got out the sheet of paper she had been scribbling on. She then brought it in front of Cherry so she could see.
It was a dress design, as Cherry could faintly make out. It was definetly fancy, reflecting district 8's specialty, clothing. There was the simple front part, with long sleeves, then in between that and the trail were some curly scribbles. The trail itself had three layers. but that was all Cherry managed to make out before the mare yanked it out of her face again.
Cherry sighed and stood still, as the mare began patching pieces of fabric together, and comparing them to her shape. She looked at the ground, realizing that she might just find out if dying of boredom was possible.
"Aye!?" Cherry's head jerked up. "Wake up! Your dress is finished! " Cherry glanced around herself, realizing that a beautiful dress was currently on her body. She looked up at a mirror and stared at the reflection, stunned.
"Wow..." She muttered. The mare just kept looking at her, then nodded, lighting up her horn again. The dress unstrapped itself and floated over to a rack, where is hung itself up. Cherry stood, looking at the mare, who had her eyes narrowed.
"You must go! Your mentor is waiting for you in the other room! " Cherry nodded and quickly left, meeting Crystal at the door. They had a brief conversation while waiting for Blaze, who soon exited his own room to join them.
"So... How'd it go?" Crystal said in a mocking tone. Cherry gave her a look that said, 'you know exactly how it went.' Crystal chuckled and trotted out, leaving the tributes to follow behind her again. Cherry glanced behind her, to look at the giant doors slamming shut, but she still caught sight of the creepy grin on the mares face as she waved goodbye. Cherry shuddered and turned forward again, trotting next to Blaze.
After an awkward moment of silence, Blaze opened his mouth to talk. "Well, that's an experience I never want to relive." Cherry nodded in agreement. "I cant wait till this is over so we can get to the actual, exciting fighting and OCs."
Cherrycloud cocked her head. "What?"
"Hm?" Blaze said, looking at her.
"Uhh, nevermind. Oh look! Finally back at the hotel." She gave a sigh of relief, and trotted inside. Ready for a good nights sleep.
Cherrycloud pranced through the lollipop trees, treading on the ice cream ground, occasionally bending down to graze at the Twizzler grass. her feathers fluttered gently in the breeze.
"Cherrycloud"
Cherry pricked her ears, trying to hear the voice that just spoke.
"Cherrycloud!"
Cherry turned her head, to see a giant gummy bear waddling toward her. She squealed in delight. "'Sir Gums a lot!" She shouted, running toward the edible bear.
"Cherrycloud!"
Cherry giggled and, once close enough, leaped onto the gummy bear. She began to lightly suck on his hand, when a voice shattered the candy wonderland.
"CHERRYCLOUD!"
Cherry jumped out of bed and tackled the dark grey unicorn standing next to it.
"Arrggh!" Blaze shouted, squirming under the light green pegasus on top of him. "Cherrycloud! Get OFF!" He violently shoved her off him.
"Hey!" Cherry shouted, "You don't have to shove!"
"Well I might've not had to if we weren't already bucking late!" Blaze growled angrily. Cherry then stood up, realizing that they had to be at the training building that morning, for the final assessments.
"Oh crap!" She shouted, running out the door, faintly hearing Blaze behind her. She charged out the hotel door, into the beaming sunlight. She shielded her eyes with her wings and ran on, now hearing the steps of Crystal and Blaze combined. The black building loomed ahead. She reached the doors and burst inside, seeing the last of the tributes filing through a door. She rushed up and started walking in with the others. Blaze soon found a spot next to her.
"Well," He panted, "You can run really fast when you want to." Cherry rolled her eyes, and continued to trod inside. Once inside, they could see peacekeepers in dark blue armor organizing the ponies into their specified districts. One of them walked over.
"What district are you two from?" He asked in a gruffy voice.
"Eight" Cherry answered.
The peacekeeper nodded and began to nudge them into line between the ponies from district 7 and 9. She could also already see the first pony, Sapphire Swirl, being pushed through a door to where she would be assessed on her survival skills. Cherry sighed and looked next to her, seeing the stallion from district 7. Who she saw made her smile.
"Hey there!" She greeted, recognizing the colt from the camouflage station. He turned and looked at her, smiling back.
"Hi! Looks like you made it!" He said, "Though I never did catch your name." Cherry almost facehooved at her stupidity.
Instead she shrugged and smiled more, "Well, it's Cherrycloud." She put her hoof out to shake.
"Oh, well I'm Terry," He reached his hoof out, but instead of shaking it he gave her a hoof bump.
"So, how do you think you're going to do?"
Terry tapped his chin in thought, "If you mean in the games, I think I'll do pretty well." He raised an eyebrow at Cherry, "Hey, do you think that anypony has ever got pregnant during the games?"
Cherry widened her eyes at the sudden question, and scooted a bit backward. "U-uhhh... I-"
Terry's cheeks suddenly burned a bright red, "Oh no no no! I didn't mean it like that." He glanced down and muttered something that Cherry could just barely make out. "At least somewhat." Then she saw him give a creepy sort of grin, before e wiped it off and returned to his casual self. Then a guard shouted terry's name. "Oh shoot! My turn already? Well, time flies fast when your having fun..." Cherry wasn't sure she liked the way he said 'fun', but he just smiled and trotted through the door, ready to show his skills.
Cherry looked nervously, knowing her turn was next. The seconds passed eerily by, until Terry came out of the room with the tips of his mane burnt, and a tooth cracked. Cherry gulped, and trotted into the room. Once entering, she was able to see the different categories she was able to use to show off to the judges. Speaking of which, Cherry looked up and saw their narrowed eyes observing her every move, like a hawk. She gulped again and headed over to the weaponry section, and grabbed a knife, twirling it around a bit to get used to the feel.
Then, with a small nod, she whipped around and slashed the first dummies throat, and thought for a moment she saw the judges surprised. She grinned and stabbed the dummy one more, then flapped her wings once to get to the next one, and wasted no time in jabbing her knife into its back. She then yanked it out and leaped to the last one, sliding her knife through its side. Then giving a bone crunching punch to its skull. She stopped and looked back up at the judges, seeing them scribbling down notes onto their clipboards. Then, the one in the middle, moved up to a microphone and said, "Dissmissed."
Cherry sighed and trotted out of the room, but as she was at the doorway she glanced backward and saw the burnt rope and paint in the corner. She gave a light chuckle and exited the room, passing Blaze who had to go in now. She then took her proper spot in line and waited for the rest of the ponies to go.
As the last pony came out of the room, a green pegasus stallion with a red mane and tail, the guards began to bring all of the tributes back into the large room, where a screen had been set up. They were pushed back into the same line they were in before, as the screen flickered to life. the first picture was of Sapphire Swirl, and her score, 9. Cherry nodded in acceptance as the next picture popped up. A jet black unicorn names Kabuto. His score was 8.
This process continued, until it was Cherry's turn. Once the screen of Terry's score of a surprising 11, the picture of Cherry appeared. She internally sighed in relief at the fact she got a 10. Then she flinched at Blazes 6. Soon the light from the screen dispersed and the tributes were, once again, shoved out of the room. They each went to their respective mentors, as they began to lead them to their designers. Cherry just lowered her head as she thought about having to deal with that mare again.
Speaking of which, the mare was now strapping the dress back onto Cherrycloud, making sure it looks like she 'lost all her baby fat' Cherry snorted as she finished adjusting it and shouted "Finito!"
Cherry sighed and trotted out of the room, and gasped once seeing blaze. The front part of his suit was a shimmering bronze color, the trim was a dark bluish purple. He had his normally crazy mane brushed back neatly, and had silver, designed shoes on his front hooves. A black cape with grey edges also flowed off his back.
Blaze seemed to mimic Cherrycloud's expression. They stared in awe at eachother for a moment, before Crystal stepped in.
"Ah yes yes yes! You both look absolutely fabulous! You're bound to get sponsers!" Cherry gave an awkward blush and she saw Blaze bow obnoxiously. "Oken then ponies! Lets get to your interviews!" They nodded and followed as Crystal rushed out the door.
"But don't we have to wait for the other tributes to get here?"
"No, they prerecord the interviews they play it on the big screen later today." Cherry nodded and followed Crystal and Blaze into a small room. The stallion inside smiled.
"Good evening tributes!" He said cheerily, his golden eyes flickering with unnatural joy. "I s'pose you're here for the interviews?" They both nodded. His smile only brightened. "Great great! Now I'll treat the mare first, if you wouldn't mind." Blaze gave the stallion a confused and offended look for a second, before turning and strolling out of the room. "Alrighty then!" He turned Cherry's head toward a camera. "Just remember to smile and look pretty!" He grinned, as the recording started.
"He-lloooo everypony!" He said gleefully, "Its time for our next interview with miss..."
"Cherrycloud"
"Aha! Miss Cherrycloud. Now, what do you think of the batch of tributes this year?"
"Well, I think I'll stand a chance. I used to play in the wild all the time as a filly." Cherry added in a small chuckle for show. the stallion followed.
"Well do you know if you'll be having any alliances?"
"Yes actually, I've already started planning ahead for the ponies I'll try and team with."
"So you heard it from her herself! You better watch out ponies! This one's a keeper!" A beep sounded and the stallion relaxed his smile. He patted her on the back and she trotted out, letting Blaze in. A minute later she was face-hoofing at Blaze's ignorance.
She was back in the usual line! Yay! Peacekeepers were slowly making their way down the line, injecting trackers into each tributes hoof. When they made their way to her, she put on a brave face, even though it bucking hurt. A lot. Once done with that, they pushed them all into positions in front of large glass tubes. They then left for the mentors to bid them goodbye. Crystal approached Cherry first.
"Hey." Cherry greeted awkwardly.
"Listen Cherry." Crystal stated seriously, "The games are about to start. I'm gonna give you a crash course on them. First, depending on the arena, be careful about what you use your energy on. If its more of a flat area with less places to hide, don't go full force on the first run. If its a jungle or somewhere with lots of hiding spots, go all in. Also don't fly too high, 'cause you never know when you'll run out of energy. And last," She paused before saying the last part, "Your friends can become your enemies in the blink of an eye in these games. Be careful who you trust. Okay?" Cherry nodded, taking it all in. Crystal nodded back and trotted over to blaze. Soon all the mentors retuned to the sidelines and a deep, mechanical voice began to count down and the giant spheres began to move.
Cherry gulped as the platform slowly lifted, and the countdown got lower and lower. Then, fresh moonlight hit her face, as the pillar lifted out of the ground.
The games had begun.
Author's Note
There'a you go guys! Sorry if this seems a little rushed, I want to get to the fighting as much as you do! Next chapter starts it anyways! I hope your as excited as I am! More OCs to come! On the topic of OCs...
Warning!
Lost OC! Night Fang I cant find any of the information for this guy, so if this is yours please PM me the information.
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!
Cherry sat next to Ember and Terry as we watched the fallen tributes. So far, it had shown the stallion from district 3, Steel Spanner, the orange stallion they had killed, from district 5, named spicesnap. The next was the mare Cherry remembered meeting in the hotel, from district 9. And the last was The stallion from district 10, Chicken Elephant. Afterwards they all headed back into the cave. Moon Breeze had grabbed a stick in her telekinesis and was drawing out a rough sketch of the arena.
"Alright, so this is what we already know," She began to draw a circle in the middle, the cornucopia, and a smaller closer to the edge. "This is the cornucopia, where the careers are probably taking for their base, and this is us. Our plan will be to get rid of the careers, then everypony else. We'll spy on them, figure out their routines, strengths, weaknesses, anything. When we've gathered enough info, we attack. It'll be on the night with the weaker careers on night duty, or when some are away, or weak." She then pointed to the large gap of space. "This is uncharted territory, nopony is to venture out there alone, or without letting anypony else know."
Everypony around the map nodded, understanding the plan. Moon Breeze stood up. "Okay then, the plan starts tonight. Ember Blaze, Cherry, you two can look for the careers and start learning about them." She looked at Blaze and Terry, "What are you two good for?" She asked.
"Well, I guess I'm good at knowing plants and stuff..." Terry said, unsure.
"And I'm pretty good with magic." Blaze said after.
Moon Breeze nodded, "Well then, Me and Blaze will guard the cave, and Terry will go through out supplies, getting rid of anything poisonous. Everypony nodded again at the plan. "Lets move out!" Moon said. Cherry and Ember started walking toward the entrance, waving the others goodbye. Cherry grabbed her bag of knifes and slung it over her back, while Ember took her bow and arrows. As they walked into the cool night air, they looked for the direction of the cornucopia.
Then, Cherry saw a glint of gold in the distance. "This way," She said to Ember, who followed. Cherry spread her wings, ready to fly, when she felt a hoof touch her side.
"Don't start flying yet." Ember Blaze said, "If we have to make a quick getaway, we wont want you to use up all your flying energy." Cherry nodded and dropped down to the floor. They walked in silence, only broken by the occasional call of a bird. The cornucopia was soon in view, and, as Moon predicted, The careers were all there. Cherry waved Ember over to a bush, where they took shelter inside. Ember pushed open a small hole in the leaves to see out of. There were two ponies on guard, the one Cherry remembered stabbing in the wing with a knife, and the other was new. He was hot pink, with a purple mane. A tuna was also printed on his flank. The other stallion, had a cutie mark of an icicle, and didn't seem phased at all by the cold, as he sharpened a knife.
Cherry narrowed her eyes as a voice shouted from inside the cornucopia. "Hey Coldblood?" It shouted.
The stallion with the knife turned around and replied, "What do you want Shooting Star?" A white mare with a floating purple/blue mane emerged.
"Did we get any sort of magical enhancement charm in our supplies?" She asked, frustrated. The pink stallion replied this time.
"Nope, we just got the leftovers." Shooting star whirled around to face him, rage in her eyes.
"Dammit!" She shouted and she shot a knife at him, just barely missing his flank.
"Hey, calm down," Coldblood said, glaring at her.
"No, you calm down!" She shouted angrily, "I'm going inside!" Coldblood rolled his eyes, and the stallion nervously poked the knife next to him.
Cherry gave a nod to Ember Blaze, meaning they could go now. Ember nodded back, and they began to slowly back away, then Cherry snapped a twig.
Coldblood sat up, ears pricked. Tuna looked at him with confusion. "What is it?" Coldblood lifted a hoof to Tuna's mouth, signaling for him to be quiet. He stood up, slowly creeping toward the bush. He had taken one more step, when two mares burst out of the side, running away.
"Intruders!" he shouted, alerting the other careers. The mare from district 5, Death Reap, and Shooting Star burst out, following Coldblood.
Cherry was running hard, when she suddenly remembered her wings. She flared them out and gave a mighty heave, lifting her up into the air. Ember Blaze spread her wings to do the same, when a knife flew into her hoof. She screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground. Cherry stopped and landed next to her, drawing her knifes. As Coldblood approached, his anger only deepened.
"You!" He shouted, "Thanks to you I can't fly until my wing is healed!" Anger burned in his red, accusing eyes. "You'll pay for that!" He growled, drawing knifes of his own. Ember Blaze shakily stood up and began to shoot at the two mares.
Cherry ran in first, aiming a blow to his neck, but he swung out of the way and punched her in the side. She fell and layed there for a moment. When Coldblood approached she flung her hoof around to stab him in his hoof. Using her wings to propel her upward, she managed to aim a kick to his side and chest. She then flew up higher, and leaned down to dive. As she was a few feel away, Coldblood lifted his hoof to punch, she narrowly avoided it and threw a knife into his side. She landed and started running toward Ember Blaze, who was already starting to fly away.
They pushed their wings hard, going faster than they ever had before. The three behind them were slowly falling behind, and as they turned a corner, completely disappeared. Cherry slowed down, and Ember followed suit. They soon made it to the cave, and collapsed, exhausted. The three other ponies immediately ran over. Terry quickly got to work on fixing up Embers hoof, as Cherry reported what had happened. Moon breeze sighed.
"You two can get some rest, Terry too. Me and Blaze will guard the rest of the night, and wake you in the morning." Ember and Terry nodded, going to the end of the cave to get comfortable. Cherry followed them, choosing to lay down in a corner. As she shut her eyes, she couldn't help but wonder.
Is there any chance she could win?
Author's Note
Aaaand yet another chapter! I tried to include more OCs in this one, and I hope you enjoyed it! This stuff is harder than it looks.
Cherry's dreams ended like they usually did, with the three fillies screaming. But it wasn't the shouts that awoke her, it was the buffeting wind hitting her in the side. Her eyes opened drowsily, as she noticed Moon Breeze and Ember Blaze sitting by the entrance to the cave. They were talking, but Cherry couldn't hear them. She shakily stood up, fighting against the forceful wind. She stumbled over to the mouth of the cave, and stared slack-jawed at the view. Swirling winds were running back and forth, dragging tiny snowflakes along with them. You couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you, which was why it was a surprise when a dead bird was flung into the cave by the wind. Unfortunately for Blaze, the bird flew right to where he was sleeping, slapping him in the face. He awoke with a start, shaking his head to clear out the smell of rotten, frozen, feathers.
Terry woke next. "Wha...." He muttered sleepily as he stood up, seeing the storm. Cherry just rolled her eyes at the two stallions and instead looked a the steadily building pile of snow. She shivered and creeped back toward the inner part of the cave, where the bags were kept. She opened one, then another, and another. After she had looked through them all, she sighed.
"We only have one blanket guys," she said, "We'll have to either take turns, or share." Ember and Moon then trod back inside and saw the small blanket Cherry had pulled out. Moon recoiled.
"That'll barely even cover one of us!" She gasped, "We'll never get through this storm if it lasts too long." She then took a deep breath to calm down, and looked at the blanket with narrowed eyes. "Is there anything else we can use for warmth."
Cherry tapped her chin. "We could use the backpacks, if we took the stuff out of them. But even with that, I don't think we'll have enough. We'd be too weak for attacks if something were to happen." Cherry sighed, and, almost as if on que, a small package flew into the cave, hitting Blaze again.
He picked it up, and observed the small tag. "Uhh, Cherry?" He shouted over the storm, "Its from Crystal!" Cherry jumped up and rushed over. She grabbed the box, pushed aside the small parachute, and opened the lid.
She grinned, pulling out two large blankets. "Yes yes yes! Thank you Crystal!" She shouted excitedly. She then looked inside and lifted out boots, a jacket, and a hat. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She said again. She took the boots and began to try them on, while Blaze brought the blankets over to the other mares. Cherry soon had the boots and jacket on, and was fitting the hat. Everything matched perfectly. She observed her outfit, and with a satisfying nod, headed toward the entrance.
"I'm gonna try this gear out. Kay?" She said to the others, receiving nods. Cherry turned back toward the lip of the cave, and took a breath. She then pushed forward into the storm. She reached up and brought down the goggles that came with the hat, and observed the surroundings. All was bare and white. She could see the frozen stream by the side of the cave and trotted over to it. She cautiously placed her hoof on it to see if it was sturdy. Once she was confident it was, she put more weight on it and took another step. Soon she was on the other side of the stream.
The wind was strong. It swayed Cherry back and forth, but she was determined to get just a little further. Then, just as she was about to turn around, she tripped over a lump. She stood up and brushed the cold snow off, giving attention to the mound. She trod over, and brushed snow aside, gasping at what she found underneath.
"Pageturner..." She whispered to herself, brushing more of the white powder away. She heaved her up and over her back, and she crouched a bit, getting used to the extra weight. She then began her trek back toward the base. The snow was stinging at her legs, and biting at her unprotected muzzle. Her mane and tail were tangled up into knots. She had spread her wings to prevent the unconscious mare from falling off, but that only made the cold worse. Her hooves ached, and stumbled with almost every step. She was relieved when she saw the stream, signaling they were close. She rested her hoof on the ice, begging it to hold. When it did, she took her second step.
She regretted that.
The ice cracked under her hoof, and it didn't take long for it to split apart, plunging both ponies into the water. Cherry screamed, before her muzzle dived under. She flailed her hooves, trying to escape the ice cold water. She spread her wings and was beating them frantically, trying to get herself up. As she broke the surface, she remembered Pageturner. She turned around and dived back under. She reached the bottom of the river and saw the limp body. Wrapping her hooves around her, she heaved her up. Cherry stumbled onto the land, dragging the helpless mare behind her. She then managed her get her forebody off the ground, as she flapped her wings as hard as she could. She then lunged herself into the cave, dragging Pageturner with her.
All of her allies rushed over, worried for their companion. Terry and Moon immediately began to tend to Pageturner, drying her off and looking for any injuries. Blaze grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Cherry, who was shivering violently. Ember had also gotten her some berries to eat, while she warmed up. Once Cherry felt good enough to move a bit, she crawled over to where they were taking care of the mare.
"W-Will she b-be ok-k-kay?" Cherry asked, still shivering.
"Can't tell" Terry muttered, as he moved his hoof around her chest, looking for her heartbeat. Once he found it, his frown deepened. "Her heartbeat's weak, I don't think she'll last the night."
"No!" Cherry interrupted, "She can't die! Not one of my friends!" She shouted, stomping the floor. She felt a hoof rest on her shoulder, and looked to see Blaze.
"Cherry," He said gently, "There's nothing we can do. Its not our fault Nightmare Moon would be so cruel." Cherry sighed and nodded, sniffling. A low cannon sounded in the distance, signaling Pageturner passing. Cherry bit her lip and looked at the limp corpse of her friend.
The friend that was destined to die in the games.
The rest of the night had been silent. Nopony dared speak after Pageturner died. Cherrycloud kept her brow furrowed, as she thought over all she had learned in the two days she was allowed to train. Terry was checking through the bags another time, his horn still letting off magic sparks every so often. Moon and Ember sat near the entrance, wrapping themselves in one of the blankets. Blaze was pacing in the back of the cave. Cherry soon found her eyes drooping, and she layed down, letting her eyes close, welcoming dreams. The last thing she saw was Ember Blaze turning around and giving her a small smile.
Cherry woke with a start. She looked around her, and sighed once seeing everything was normal. Ember, Moon, and Blaze were in thhe back of the cave sleeping, while Terry was on guard. Cherry stood up and stretched her wings. She trotted over and tapped Terry on the shoulder. When he didn't respond she tapped again, harder. His ear flicked.
"Terry?" Cherry asked catiously. The stallion whipped his head around, staring Cherry right in the eye. Cherry shrunk back, terrified. But not from the sudden movement. Terry's eyes were entirely a sickly yellow colored, with tiny, tiny, tinyyyy pupils. A green worm showed itself from behind his shoulder. Cherry fell back, but didn't land on the ground. She fell under it, feeling herself freefalling into darkness. Sometime along, she heard a voice. It was a gentle voice, but commanding at the same time. And it had some sort of regality to it.
"Wake up Cherrycloud. Wake up!"
Cherry sat upwright. She looked around, and sighed, realizing this was real life. Then, she narrowed her eyes, observing the area around her. She was able to see small black mounds in the darkness, signaling her allies, but something was missing. Cherry flattened her ears, and stumbled to her hooves. She ran over to where Blaze was sleeping.
"Blaze! Blaze wake up!" She hissed, shaking him violently. His eyes droopily opened, as he stuttered a few words, shaking away his dream.
"Whuh eth et." He uttered, drowsily cocking his head to the side.
"Who was guarding the cave last night," Cherry asked.
Blaze shook the last bits of sleep out of his head, seeing how serious Cherry was. "Ember Blaze and Moon Breeze."
Cherry fell back on her rump, with wide eyes. "Nononononono.." She whispered to herself. Blaze narrowed his eyes, concerned.
"Why does it matter?" He asked, looking Cherry in the eye. Cherry brought her head up.
"Because all of our supplies, and them, are gone!"
"All our supplies and what!?" Terry shouted, searching frantically around the cave after hearing the news.
"Everything except the snow gear, which Cherry was wearing, and the emergency weapons hidden in the corner." Terry began pacing.
"This is bad, this is badbadbad!" He muttered, shaking his head back and forth.
"Did they really just take our supplies and run off??" Cherry said, disbelievingly. Cherry looked outside. The storm had stopped, but not soon enough so their hoofprints could still be seen.
"Well," Blaze began, "Then we have to get then back!" He raised his hoof in the air, trying to look heroic, then dashed over the few weapons. "Now that I think about it, I don't think we ever told them about these." He said, picking up a spear. Cherry nodded in agreement, picking up the two knives that were there. They looked at Terry, expecting him to take something, when he shook his head.
"I'd rather use what little magic I have" He said, tapping his horn. Cherry rolled her eyes, and made her way toward the entrance.
"I say we split up, cover more ground," Cherry said, glancing around the plains.
Blaze stared at her wide eyed, "Are you kidding!?" He shouted angrily, "Haven't you ever seen horror movies? The killer always picks out people when they split up!" He snorted and narrowed her eyes.
"I think its a good enough idea," Terry piped in. "Its not a forest or anything, so we could see if an enemy was near, and it would be easy to hear one another screaming if we did get attacked."
Blaze pondered this for a moment, then sighed in defeat. "Fine, but we meet back here when the Moon is at its peak!" Cherry rolled her eyes, and nodded in agreement. After Terry had agreed as well, they split up. Cherry searching where the careers were, Blaze searching the area behind the cave, and Terry looking around the other side of the river.
Cherey had her wings clamped against her body, holding in what little warmth she had. She continued on searching, and then, when the Moon was nearing its peak, Cherry turned around to head home, when she heard something.
"I say we attack now!"
"But we can't take them all on at once! We're only two ponies."
"Oh yeah? We wouldn't just be two ponies if somepony hadn't decided to bail! And dragging her friend along with her!"
Cherry narrowed her eyes and pricked her ears, looking around for the source of voices.
"Well, I'm sorry if it wasn't more beneficial than staying with a bunch of incompetent ponies!"
"Cherrrycloud wasn't incompetent and you know it!"
Once she was confident she knew where the sound was, she began creeping toward it, clutching a knife in one of her hooves. Then, she shoved aside a bush, revealing two mares engaged in a serious staring contest. They didn't seem to notice her, so Cherry sat crouched, and observed them, and the strange black mist that covered them both.
"I've had enough of your restraint for battle! In these games, only the strongest will win!" Ember Blaze shouted, drawing out a spear and flaring out her wings.
"The strongest don't always win!" Moon Breeze replied, "The cunning and strategic are just as good as the bulky." Moon grabbed her own weapon, a bow and arrow.
Ember blaze narrowed her eyes, and took to the sky, then in a matter of seconds she was diving toward Moon, the spear stretched outward. Moon Breeze didn't flinch and drew back her bow, and launched an arrow that landed itself in the middle of Embers forehead. The pegasus fell to the floor, blood pouring out of her head wound. Moon Breeze stood, panting heavily, as she realized what she had just done. Cherry saw the mist float away, off the mare.
Moon sat herself down next to her friend. "No..." She said, wide eyed, "No no no. N-Not you..." She scrunched up her nose and sniffled. "Ember, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." Tears began to stream down her cheeks, as she wept for her friend. "I... I didn't mean any of it... I'm sorry."
Cherry sat down, and accidentally rustled some leaved. Moon whirled around, and threw the spear, which fell to the ground hopelessly. Moon narrowed her eyes, "Ch-Cherry?" She said, "I-m sorry, I-I didn't want to have to do this!" Cherry observed the poor mare, when she saw red eyes gleaming from the darkness behind Moon.
A mare suddenly leaped out, and hurled a large knife toward the back of Moon's head. Cherry acted quickly. She opened her wings and used them to life her over Moon, drawing out two knifes at the same time. She then landed and threw one of the knifes, having it hit the other knife, throwing it off track. Cherry stood panting, as she observed the mare. Recognition flared inside Cherrycloud. It was the mare from district 5, one of the careers, and her name was Death Reap.
(Quick AN I know Cherry never actually figured out her name I'm just doing this to help out the story
Death Reap grinned, as her horn let go of a black mist that covered it. The same mist that covered Ember and Moon when they argued. "You made Moon kill Ember Blaze," Cherry realized, grinding her teeth. She lifted one of her knifes to throw, when a shadow covered her.
A blue stallion launched himself over Cherrycloud, throwing a spear at Death. She jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding having the spear collide with her head. Moon Breeze and Cherrycloud wasted no time in joining the battle. Moon grabbed her bow in her telekinesis and began to rapidly fire arrows, having quite a few find spots in Death's frontside. Cherry launched a knife that impaled itself into her shoulder. And the stallion finished her off by stabbing his spear into her throat. A cannon sounded not much after. The three ponies stood panting, watching the grey mare's corpse lay there. There was silence, until the stallion broke it.
"Destiny is crazy," He observed, "We all have a way of meeting eachother."
Cherry turned to look at the stallion, then gasped, understanding what he had said. It was Sketch Pad.
Author's Note
Hello again readers! So the intense junk is startin' up! Whoop! More surprises in store for next chapter
Cherry grinned at her luck. "Sketch Pad?" She said, welcoming her friend from the hotel.
"In the flesh," He said with a toothy smile. Cherry rolled her eyes. "I was debating wether to say that, or 'that's my name don't wear it out.'" He said with a chuckle. Moon looked at him disbelievingly.
"Okay then..." She said, raising an eyebrow, "We'd best be going now." She glanced at Cherrycloud, who nodded. "And you can come too, if you want..." Sketch sat down and scratched his head, pretending to think real hard.
"I dunno..." He said.
Moon smiled and began to drag Cherry away. "Well we're sad to hear your decision, lets go now Cherry!"
Sketch then jumped up, flailing his hooves. "Alright alright! I'll come with." Moon Breeze sighed in defeat.
"Fine then, lets go." They began the slow trek, with Moon holding her bow up and loaded the entire time. When they got back, Blaze was there waiting for them, tapping his hoof impatiently.
"Well well, it's 'bout time you got here!" He growled, "And you bring back the traitor."
Moon Breeze sighed, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm back and I've brought all the supplies." She nodded toward the floating bags behind her. Blaze kept his eyes narrowed.
"And where's your partner in crime? Huh!?" He pressed, staring her in the eye.
Moon Breeze looked down and sniffled, "Dead..." Blaze backed up, seeing her reaction.
"Oh.." He then turned his gaze to Sketch Pad, "Well then, who're you?"
Cherry raised her hoof to prevent him from making a less-than-modest answer. "Sketch Pad, he's a friend from training." Blaze looked at him for a moment, before giving a satisfied nod.
"Fine then."
Cherry glanced around. "Has Terry gotten back yet?"
Blaze sighed, "No, he went into part we haven't seen yet." Cherry folded back her ears and looked across the stream. Terry tracks were being slowly covered by the snowfall. Then, almost as if on que, a cannon sounded. Cherry gulped.
"I'm going after him." She said, not anticipating an answer. She began running along the tracks, intent on finding where her friend had gone. It wasn't long before she found a sword splayed across the snow, blood dripping from its tip. The hoofprints became jumbled up, with blood beginning to cover it. Then, as she looked down, she found what she was looking for. "Terry..." She whispered, looking at the corpse. A spear was lodged in his throat, with blood splattered all over the handle.
Cherry began grinding her teeth. She drew out one of her knives, and pricked her ears. She narrowed her eyes, when she heard something.
"Yeah, I totally snuck up on him. He didn't stand a chance."
Cherry looked toward the source of the sound, hatred flowing through her veins. She flared out her wings, and began flying at full speed toward two shadows a short distance away. At some point, she began screaming, as she beat her wings harder and harder. By the time they noticed her, it was too late. She flung her knife into Tunas skull, sending blood everywhere She then leaped over him and grabbed the knife out of his head, and chucked it toward Coldblood, who leaped out of the way.
Tears were now streaming down her cheeks, as she landed hard on her hooves. She screamed again, and flung her hoof into his chest, causing him to recoil in surprise. though he quickly recovered and threw a knife he had in a bag on his back. Cherry easily dodged the knife, and aimed another punch to his cheek. He was getting a bit surprised now, as she landed a kick to his side. He grabbed another knife and threw it, hoping it would stop the raging mare. I didn't. She managed to grab the knife in midair, and stab it into his neck.
His eyes went blank, and she drew the knife out. the fifth cannon of the day sounded. Cherry dropped her weapon, and gazed at the far shape of her friend. She didn't care about the blood dotting her hooves, nor the tears dampening her face.
Right now all she wanted was revenge, revenge for the ponies who died in the games.
Revenge on the pony who invented the games.
On Nightmare Moon.
Author's Note
Howdy there! Another quick chapter I wanted to post, because something important is happeneing in the next chapter. Or shall I say, the last chapter? Yes you read it right! The next chapter shall be the finale! I hope you're as excited as I am. It will be epic. Extremely epic. With more epicness than you could have ever thought possible! Oh, and a quick little sneak peak on it, it involves some cannon ponies... hee hee. So anyways, I hope you enjoyed! the next chapter will take a bit to write because, duh, its the finale. IT MUZT BE PERFECT.
Cherry had returned to the cave with tear stained cheeks and blood covered hooves. She had explained to her allies what had happened. They had all mourned afterwards. Afterwards, they had all headed outside to see the ponies that had died. But apparently, this time was special. The large projection in the sky showed all the tributes that had died in the games so far, not just for the day. Cherry made a mental list of the poor ponies that had died.
Kabuto
Once the first projection had ended, Cherry bowed her head in respect to the ponies. Afterwards she looked up and scowled at the evil laughter that echoed around the arena. A black face was shown in the sky. Nightmare Moon gave another laugh before continuing.
"Aahhh, its nice to see you all again my dear entertainment. I hope you have enjoyed your stay here, but alas all good things must end, well, almost all." She smirked, as if referring to herself. "the deathmatch shall begin tomorrow morning, as soon as the day moon rises above the horizon. A forcefield shall form around the main area, and a poisonous gas will be released into the remaining area. So its either deathmatch, or gas. Your choice." She laughed again, her green eyes glinting in the darkness. The projection ended, and the whole arena was filled with a eerie silence. Sketch broke it.
"Welp, we best be going now." Cherry looked at him with a confused expression.
"Your just going to give up like that?" She asked, disbelievingly.
Sketch Pad shrugged, "Yeah, we don't really have any other choice than to go to the cornucopia. We'd at least have a chance to survive if we go there."
Moon nodded in agreement. "Its the best option we have now." Cherry opened her mouth to object again, but Blaze silenced her with a glare. Sketch slung a backpack over his shoulder and began to walk out. Moon grabbed her bow, arrows, and another backpack, then followed Sketch. Blaze took the rest and exited as well. Cherry looked at them, and sighed, grabbing her knives and following.
She rushed out and began a slow trot next to Blaze. She looked down at the ground, and sighed again. She kept her head low for most of the trip, when she felt a strange urge. Something was telling her to look up. She furrowed her brow, but kept her gaze lowered. Soon, her instincts got the best of her, and she raised her muzzle. She gasped.
A thin streak of colors was forming across the sky. Cherry's gaze followed it, observing the beauty. It consisted of six colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Cherry's eyes flicked open in realization. It was something extremely rare, that most ponies only ever dreamed of seeing.
"Its a rainbow.." Cherry muttered, never letting her eyes leave the colors moving across the sky. She saw Moon give her a puzzled glance from the corner of her eye, but Cherry looked in the direction it was headed. the edge of the arena. Then, she gave in to temptation. She turned and began to run, following the rainbow. Blaze was shouting to her, but she didn't notice. They could come if they wanted, but they couldn't stop her.
Soon she heard hoofsteps behind her, and she glanced to see all of her friends following. She smiled, realizing that she had made true friends. She turned back toward the front, and began to run harder. The rainbow had begun to slow a bit, and seemed to lower closer to the ground. The barrier of the arena was getting larger and faster. Cherry was beginning to slow from the cold and exhaustion, when she saw a pony at the head of the rainbow.
Cherry gasped as the pony slowed a bit, then took off faster than ever. White was beginning to form at the tip of her hooves. A cone was soon visible too. Cherry began to run harder too, just barely managing to keep the mare in sight. Soon, when the mare was on a crash course toward the barrier, she pulled up. A ring of colors exploded outward. Its knocked Cherry back on her rump, and managed to blow Blaze back a couple yards. Cherry looked up in time to see it cracking, then breaking the forcefield.
Cherry jumped up and ran toward the hole, her escape. Her friends began to follow. the mare began to turn her accent around and began to head toward the running ponies. She then pulled up along them and dropped down to a run. Cherry looked to her side to observe the mare. She was a pegasus, obviously, and had an orange coat. Her mane was messy and purple, and she had dark eyes, also purple. That wasn't what surprised Cherry. The mare had a thick jacket on, with various metal devices all around it. A small piece of metal was also snug in her ear, with a microphone leading toward her muzzle. She also had heavy duty boots, and guns strapped to her sides. The mare then began to talk.
"Once you get out of the arena, stop and wait. We have to remove the tracking devices before we continue." Cherry nodded, just barely managing to hear her over the howling wind in her ears. She soon stumbled out of the barrier, and stopped to catch her breath. Blaze followed, then Moon, Sketch, and the mare. The mare herself then wasted no time in waving some sort of scanner over Blaze. She then put it down and grabbed a knife. "I'd advise you brace yourself," she muttered to Blaze, before cutting out a spot on his skin. She then reached in with the knife and flicked out a tiny device, that was blinking green. She then stomped on it with her hoof, and moved on to Moon Breeze.
Cherry was soon sighing with relief as the last tracking device was thrown away and crushed. "Lets go." The mare said, beginning to run in a direction. At one point, she started flying, and began typing in things on something that looked like a watch. She then dropped down and took a quick turn to the right. Cherry and Moon turned with east, Blaze barely managed to turn, Sketch had to use his wings to help. The mare then stopped, and typed in a few more things. She looked at all four ponies. "You'll probably want to take a step back." They all obliged and stepped back, only to witness a dark blue cylinder open up in front of them. The mare then smirked at Blaze's startled expression.
"Lets go, before they catch up." The mare said, beginning to wave them toward the portal. Cherry gulped.
"Before, who catches up?" She said, looking around uncertainly.
"I think I know who.." Moon Breeze pointed out, pointing a trembling hoof toward a pony flying toward them, with several other behind her. It was Nightmare Moon. The mare grunted in annoyance, but seemed strangely calm. You four go through the portal now, I'll deal with miss eternal night here. She began to push Moon through the portal, when she objected.
"No. I'll stay and fight." The mare was surprised.
"But, you don't have the right equipment, your tired and hungry! You were just in the Equestrian Games for suns sake!" Cherry was about to question her use of the word 'sun', when Moon spoke again.
"I know, but I've betrayed my friends already. This is the least I can do to help. You all can go, I'll hold her back as long as I can." The mare was about to contradict her, before stepping back and giving a nod. Moon Breeze looked at Blaze, Sketch, and then Cherry. "I'm sorry..." Cherry ran forward to hug her, but was pulled back by a frustrated mare.
"We have to go through the portal now! Or else we'll have to run the whole way, with Nightmare Moon on our backs!" Blaze and Sketch wasted no time in leaping through, Cherry hesitated. The mares glare hardened. "Now." Cherry gulped, and turned toward the blue cylinder. She took a breath and entered.
She then felt herself being thrown about, torn apart and being put together again. She felt herself shrinking and growing. She felt lightheaded, when she found ground under her hooves again, and a light, gentle voice spoke next to her.
"Welcome to the rebellion."
Author's Note
Its finally done! Woo! God, my fingers hurt. If you couldn't tell, THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL! YAY! Stay turned for, 'The Dark of Night, the Light of Day.' Thank you to everyone who submitted OCs to make this story possible! And thank you to everyone who stuck through it, despite the fast paced writing, and grammar mistakes. Thank you everypony! I hope you enjoyed this finale, and look forward to the sequel. I will also be looking for more OCs for the sequel itself, but I will soon make a thread in this group when I am ready. See ya soon!
(Oh, and Shooting Star won the games
Cherrycloud trotted awkwardly down the dirt road. She would occasionally bump into a pony or two, but she didn't mind, they didn't either, not on a day like this. She kept her wings clamped firmly against her sides, and hoped that the feathers covered her bare flank. She had the beautiful home-made saddlebags stuffed to the brim with strawberries, breads, and many other delicacies. She could hear other ponies saying hi to her, and commenting on her load, while hoping to get some. But all she ever greeted them with was a nod, or a small smile. Others always said she was lucky to be who she was, and she was grateful, but it made her feel guilty. She felt especially awful when reaping day came, when innocents were sent to their deaths, and the rich celebrated with an enormous feast while watching them on TV a few days later.
Cherry's light green hooves kept on moving, moving through the crowd. The farther she went, the bigger the houses became, and the fancier the ponies looked. Eventually, when everypony she saw was wearing some sort of fancy clothing, she turned down a path, a path to a large, deep purple house. Upon arriving at the silver door, she reached into one of the lavender saddlebags and pulled out a key. She pushed it into the lock, and turned. The door swung open gracefully, and cherry trotted in, shutting it behind her. "Mom! I'm home!" She called out.
"One second dear!" Was the muffled reply. Cherrycloud walked down the hall into what looked like a kitchen. She took her saddlebags and placed them onto the counter. Hoof steps then sounded from the hallway Cherry was just in.
"Hi Cherry!" Squeaked the little filly. "Mum sent me to see if you got everything on the list, she's bust finishing up the hats she made for us!" Cherry smiled and leaned down to ruffle the fillies smooth, golden mane.
"Well, tell Mom that I got everything except for raspberries, they were sold out of them." The filly straitened out her mane with some annoyance, then nodded and rushed down the hall. Cherrycloud giggled and began putting the foods into the cabinets. She had just put the last of the bread in a cupboard, when she saw something at the bottom of her saddlebags that gleamed from the lamp next to it. With a tiny smile, she pulled out the item. It was a sun. It was painted golden, and was made of a cheap silver. It seemed awkward and dumb, but to ponies that had never seen the sun before, it was a lost treasure. She again heard hoof steps down the hall and stuffed the sun into her saddlebags. If she were caught with anything that rebelled against Nightmare Moon in any way, she would have to be turned in. It was the law.
A mare with a golden coat entered the room. She wore a lavender silk dress, with turquoise lining the edges. Her sky blue mane was tied back in an intricate bun, topped off with a pink tulip. She flipped the small bit of hanging hair not tied back. "When you live in district 8 there is no limits on what ponies will wear." Cherry joked, then received a joking punch in the shoulder.
"Well sweetie, you sure are cheery for a day like this." The mare said, while Cherry shrugged.
"Well the odds may or may not be in my favor, so if this is my unlucky day then I'll make it as fun as I can." Cherry said with a wink.
"Well then dear, I finished your outfit for the reaping." Her horn lit up a bright blue and a hat and cloak drifted out from the hall, surrounded in the same mist that cloaked her horn. The hat was simple. It was a pale purple, with a deep magenta rim. Sky blue and turquoise feathers fell out from the back, matching her mane. The dress was a mint green. Tiny pearls fell in a pattern around the bottom. There was another layer on top, that was a deep blue. White strips of fabric drifted down and flowed in the gentle breeze.
"Oh my god! Mom! This is amazing." The mare blushed.
"As you said before, we are in district 8, we must be well dressed." She stuck her nose in the air as a joke, then saw the clock hanging on the wall. "We still have time before you go, how about a snack, hm?" Cherry nodded gratefully.
"We could use some of the fresh lettuce and apples I got at the store." Cherry trotted over to the fridge and picked out two granny smith apples, and a bag of fresh lettuce.
"We eat!" Cherrycloud said happily.
Cherrycloud had gotten used to the routine of the reaping. Sign in, get your hoof pricked, yadda yadda. It was just getting real annoying by now. She was now standing in a line with other fillies and mares. There was a dark red mare with a slick back silver mane standing on stage, speaking about how their wonderful leader had come to power, and how the equestrian games were formed. She was also obviously trying to make Celestia sound as evil as possible, while everypony knew Nightmare Moon was the real enemy. "And now! We pick the two lucky ponies that get to participate in the Equestrian Games!" She stuffed her hoof in a jar, "Ladies first!" She shuffled her hoof around, and plucked out a slip of paper. She brought it up and read the tiny print through squinted eyes. "Aaaannd, the lucky pony is..." She paused for suspense, which was the part Cherrycloud hated the most.
"Miss. Cherrycloud! "
The cheers hit Cherrycloud in a massive wave. Dazed, she stepped off the train and looked at the crowd behind a red rope. Once she had gotten off, she heard the train screech away, and another one pull up. As she stepped to the side she observed the tributes exiting the train. The first one off was a stallion. He was purple and had yellow spots running down his body. His hair was long a spikey. It was grey with purple streaks. He was grinning and waved to the crowd as he got off. The second was the mare. She was grey with white stripes along her back. Her hair was feathery and white, with the tips a lime green. When she got off, she wasn't as quite excites as the other tribute. Cherry dragged her gaze to another tribute, who Blaze was currently walking over to. Cherry almost giggled at how he was trying to stand up straight and not look nervous. She rolled her eyes and trotted up next to blaze to help out.
"Hi there," Cherry began, trying to sound polite but brave, as Crystal instructed, "My name's-"
"Cherrycloud, and your partner Blaze." She stated flatly, silently observing them both.
"So uh... What district are you from?" Cherry asked, trying to make conversation.
"Five."
Cherry made an awkward smile, and looked elsewhere. "Well, it was nice meeting you." She said.
The dark grey mare just nodded and turned away. Cherry turned and began trotting away, leaving Blaze to fend for himself. She sighed and kept trotting, only to accidentally bump into another pony.
"Whoops!" Said the mare, "Sorry sorry! That was my fault.." Cherry rubbed her head and looked at the white unicorn in front of her. "Oh, uh, hi! My name's Pageturner. And I'm sorry about that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!"
Cherry smiled. "Its no biggie, I wasn't looking either." Pageturner smiled and walked around Cherry. She seemed nice, I could team with her... Cherry turned to keep walking but bumped into yet another pony.
"Hey!" He shouted. "Watch where you're going!" The pegasus loomed over Cherry. She was about to shrink back, before she remembered Crystals words.
"Why don't you watch where you're going?!" Cherry shouted back. The stallion snorted and stomped a hoof, before turning around to walk elsewhere. Cherry sighed and looked around. I guess its time to start making alliances. She kept looking until she found two mares chatting nearby. One of them was dark brown, with a fiery colored mane. The other was dark blue, with a blue and green mane. Cherry trotted over to them, hoping to leave a good impression.
"Can I help you?" Asked the brown one, raising an eyebrow. Cherry smiled, trying to look brave but nice at the same time.
"I was just seeing if we could talk or something."
The blue one looked at the other and shrugged. "Alright, fine. My name's Ember Blaze." Said the brown one, flaring out her wings.
"And I'm Moon Breeze." The unicorn stated.
"Cool," replied Cherry, "I'm Cherrycloud." Both the mares nodded. Moon looked at Ember, and the two seemed to have a silent conversation.
"So," Ember began, "wanna have an alliance." Cherry almost squealed and shouted, before she regained her cool atmosphere.
"Sure, I guess I could let you guys tag along." When she turned to walk away, Cherry thought she saw them both give a small smile.
"Cherry! Wait!" Cherry turned her head, then shrugged.
"I must be hearing things."
"Cherry! Wh... wait! Wait!" She turned around again and saw blaze running toward her. "Scary mare... *Gasp* Almost killed me... *pant* OH geez crap." Cherrycloud just looked at him with confusion while he caught his breath.
"Okay, please repeat that." Cherry stated bluntly.
"Oh, okay." Blaze said, standing up. "So I was walking around, and I bumped into a mare who suddenly became really angry at me! Sh-she said that she would kill me first in the games! She was whiteish bluish, with a purple bluish floaty mane thing." He panted. "Also Crystal wants us to stop talking to others and follow her back to the hotel because I'm making a fool of myself." Cherry rolled her eyes and followed Blaze out of the crowd. Once she was out she glanced back at the crowd of tributes and made a list of the ponies she'd want on her team so far.
Page Turner Ember Blaze Moon Breeze
She sighed. It wasn't a big list so far. But the games had only just begun. And there was still plenty of time to win.
Author's Note
Okay so I'm going to make a list of the tributes because it'll make my life a lot easier and maybe yours too.
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Alrighty, short chapter this time, but I hope you enjoy it! And don't worry if your OC didn't come up here, because they'll hopefully come up in one of the training chapters! Thankies!
