The Equestrian Hunger Games - Act I: Reigning Darkness

Chapters

The Huntress
The Tributes
The Farewells
The Train
The Chariots
The Helper
The Training
The Resolution
The Interviews
The Talk
The Beginning of The End

The Huntress

A young magenta Unicorn mare, barely the age of fourteen, sat quietly on the hill that out looked District 12. Once, it was simply known as Ponyville. However, a certain Alicorn had changed that. Sparkler wasn’t around when that happened, though. In fact, she was born sixteen years after the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco.

She looked at her bow and quiver as her violet mane was blown by the gentle breeze. It was one of the few reminders of her father before he… disappeared. Yes, that was the word. Disappeared. Official sources say that he died in a mine explosion. Well, official sources didn’t say how his giant blue box also seemed to disappear after his death.

The Doctor, that’s what ponies called him. Nopony knows his real name, not even his own wife. Still, Sparkler managed to find out why he had the title after some scouring around and spying. He was The Doctor, the stallion that helps other ponies. The stallion who heals worlds. She didn’t understand what that meant, but it made her father sound a whole lot cooler.

The mare’s father worked as a miner, which is contrast to his cutie mark which is an hourglass. Shouldn’t that mean that his special talent be something that is related to time? Oh, she didn’t know anymore.

Another thing her father was amazing at was creating things. He made the bow himself, prizing it as an amazing contraption. Afterwards, the Unicorn learnt how to hunt and scavenge for food. Life was hard now living after Nightmare Moon’s early descent. Thirty years too early, how did she do it?

“Well, heya there, Sparky!” said a familiar Southern accent “How’re ya’ll doin t’day?”

“Same old, same old” the mare grumbled, not facing the stallion

Amethyst Star, that was her name. However, most ponies in town usually call her Sparkler due to some childhood incidences. She swore she would never think back on that event, but the name stuck ever since. The stallion she was talking to was the closest pony she had ever been to, Braeburn Apple. He was annoying, slightly crazy and impossible. Sparkler liked him for that. After all, she was ten times worse than the stallion.

“How’s the family doin’?” Braeburn asked as he tipped his Stetson hat like he always did to look cool “Spiffed up to all that there meat ya’ll been eatin’?”

“Mom’s doing okay, she’s been eating it for years anyway” Sparkler explained “As for Dinky… well, she’s still just a filly”

Meat, that was what Sparkler and The Doctor had hunted for. After Nightmare Moon’s early descent, known as The Descent to ominous ponies, plant life was just too scarce to find. That meant District Twelve had learnt to improvise. They started eating meat. After a failed eternal night that made it all that much worse for ponies to grow food, Nightmare Moon found an alternative. She would allow the sun to rise and set as usual, but under one condition; that everypony must…

“Reap” Sparkler muttered

“Whazzat?” Braeburn asked since he did not hear her quite well

“Reaping Day, it’s today” Sparkler finished “Some ponies are gonna lose their best friends and family members”

“And yer sis just reached ten, amirite?” Braeburn said with a frown

Every year, two ponies between the ages of ten and sixteen must place their names inside a huge glass ball. One male and one female. The reaped names would then be sent to Canterlot, the heart of all the chaos and Nightmare Moon’s main headquarters, to be trained in the art of survival and thrown into an arena to the death with the other districts. District 12 was the underdog, only having two ponies as victors. One of them had already died of insanity, too. Poor guy.

“So, we’re all ready to go, right?” Sparkler said with her wry grin as she levitated up a few dead rabbits and a bunch of strawberries “Come on, I’m hungry!”

“Sure thang, Sparky” Braeburn chided as he too held up his prizes, fish and blueberries

Sparkler didn’t like that name at all. That meant Braeburn would use it more often than not. She earned it during her first meeting with Braeburn five years ago, after the mine explosion that may or may not have killed her father. She was busy hunting and met the stallion by accident. After a rough start and an arrow to Braeburn’s leg which almost cost him his walking, he asked for her name.

“Sparkler…” grumbled the mare through gritted teeth

“Sparky?” he asked back, making the mare snap at him

It didn’t do her anymore justice that she shocked herself on the electric fence that separated the Everfree Forest from District 12 later the same day. The forest had been declared off-limits by the Capitol ponies, but that didn’t stop Sparkler and Braeburn form hunting and the few members of the Apple Family, one of the largest family branches in Equestria, to plant and harvest apple trees.

Rules just weren’t Sparkler’s style.

Obviously, Sparkler was far from being ladylike. She was volatile, rough, violent, and had a long streak of hurting other ponies. However, she has toned down as she matured… slightly. Hey, she hasn’t broken any bones for the past few months, right? She cursed like a sailor pony and wasn’t afraid to get her hooves dirty.

She was a terrible example to her sister, Dinky. Well, stepsister actually. She didn’t like to admit to being adopted when she was just a filly since it held too many said emotions. That was when she toughened up, at the orphanage so other ponies won’t pick on her.

“Come on, let’s get to Sugar Cube Corner” Sparkler grinned and bolted towards the electrified fence, most probably turned off as it usually is.

After a short struggle through the fence (“Haha, you’re fat!” Sparkler laughed once Braeburn got through with a little difficulty), the two ponies headed to the aforementioned Sugar Cube Corner. Once a beautiful street that held the local confectionary, the place had died down when food became scarce. In the end, the place became a sort of black market which operated right beneath the mayor’s nose. Seriously, the mayor practically lives next door to that place.

They managed to trade the fish and squirrels for some green vegetables, chocolate chips and even flour. Obviously, Sparkler decided to take these things specifically to make sure her mother, Ditzy Doo or better known as Derpy, would make her prized muffins. Ditzy was amazing at baking those, and they were a delight for the magenta Unicorn. They stopped by Pinkamena Diane Pie, or better known as Pinkie Pie; party planner extraordinaire, next to trade the berries.

“Good luck, you two” Pinkie said with her euphoric grin as she used some of the strawberries and blueberries to make some cupcakes and gave it to them “I have a feeling you’re gonna need it. Especially you, Sparkler!”

Pinkie Pie was famous for two things: her mane and her Pinkie senses. Her mane, once bouncy and curly, now hung like curtains. Nightmare Moon’s coming was the cause of that, obviously. She even stopped bouncing around and left that to her children, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Okay, not her children, but after their parents death, she took them in as her own. Her Pinkie senses were something else entirely, never being wrong even once.

Sparkler shuddered as she heard Pinkie Pie’s words. A Pinkie Sense that involved her? Not good. Not good at all. Before things could get awkward, Sparkler and Braeburn trotted away to the next pony on their list: the mayor herself.

When they reached the mayor’s house, Braeburn knocked four times. That was the code the ponies shared, knock four times. That meant that it was the two ponies selling their foodstuff. Before long, the door creaked open to reveal a young Unicorn filly, around twelve years of age. She smiled cheerfully as she greeted the two of them.

Sweetie Belle, younger sister to Rarity who was mayor of Ponyville and one of the most generous ponies around. Rarity had only become mayor recently, after the last mayor was taken away for speaking against Nightmare Moon. Still, she acted as if she were one of the townsponies and did not request for anything more from the ponies of District 12, even if they insisted.

“Hi!” she says simply “Come to wish each other luck?”

Sweetie Belle was wearing a cute dress, probably sewn by her own sister. Her reaping clothes, of course. Everypony was told to wear something nice for Reaping Day, so the Canterlot ponies could laugh as they watch you get chosen in beautiful dresses and suits to fight each other to the death. Go figure.

“Nice dress, ya got there” Braeburn commented coldly

A smile formed on Sweetie Belle’s lips as she thanked Braeburn for the compliment, missing the sarcasm. That was when Sparkler eyed something on Sweetie Belle’s dress, a small gold pin with a picture of a phoenix. It was beautiful and must have been pretty damn expensive. It must have been a family heirloom, thought Sparkler.

“So, how many entries ya got? Three?” Braeburn chided “Ah got about 18 when ah was yer age”

“Sorry” Sweetie Belle said, looking rather down

“It’s not your fault. In fact, it’s nopony’s fault” Sparkler said, she didn’t like to see the joyful filly sad eventhough they weren’t too close “Hey, we all have our names in there, right?”

“How many do you have?”

Sparkler paused for a while as she counted her number of entries. Every year, she would take tesserae for each of her family members. Since the Equestrian Hunger Games start reaping kids when they turn 10, that means that she has about 15 entries. She quietly sighed and gave the amount to the two ponies. Sweetie Belle didn’t say anything, since she didn’t need to take any tesserae.

They gave Sweetie Belle some berries which she paid for and the three ponies left their separate ways. Sparkler and Braeburn even separated the food and money they got so both their families could be well fed. After a few rocks almost breaking Braeburn’s skull and some sarcastic remarks from the stallion, they left for their houses. Typical way to send each other off.

Sparkler lived in a secluded section of former Ponyville, known as the Library. Once upon a time, the place had a giant tree which was transformed into a grand library. The librarian, a stallion by the name of Book Worm, was one of the casualties during the year where the sun never rose, known as Night Almost Eternal. After that, nopony had a special talent as a librarian and the tree was stripped down.

When Sparkler arrived home, she wasn’t surprised to see both her sister and mother prepared for Reaping Day. They both wore some worn out dresses since they had little to no money to use for themselves. Dinky was playing around with her magic to make things levitate. Sparkler sighed at the sight, she was terrible at magic an only knew simple levitation spells. Oh, how she wished she was better.

Ditzy Doo looked at her with her kind expression which was jumbled up with her wall-eyed stare. Ponies said her strange eyes had something to do with The Doctor, but it was hard to know how. Even Ditzy forgot how it happened.

“Goin’ for a bath, mom!” Sparkler said as she passed through, placing the groceries on the table.

“Your clothes are on the bed, my muffin!” Ditzy said back as she flew to the food, knowing just what to make for dinner.

Sparkler passed Opalescence on the way to the bathroom. Oh, how she hated that cat. Worse, it wasn’t even theirs. It just appears in the house every morning forcing Dinky, who loved the cat for some reason, to feed her. At first, Sparkler wanted to cook the cat but Dinky was against that idea.

“I still wanna cook you, you retarded excuse for a cat” Sparkler said as she levitated the cat and threw it out an open window.

Well, that felt much better.

After a nice cold bath (Sparkler had used up her supply of hot water for today to drown Opalescence earlier that morning), Sparkler looked at the clothes laid out on her table. No doubt, the faded blue dress once belonged to her mother. Just like everything else she owned. Oh, how she resented that. Still, she knew how little money she had to spend. After The Doctor’s death, they had no money to work with and Ditzy Doo wasn’t as happy as she used to be. In the end, Ditzy became a nurse after the post office fired her for burning down the building… twice… with a lemon. Sparkler too tried to help out with the family by hunting illegally, something that should have gotten her hung to death. Still, rules were long forgotten by the ponies of District 12, so she didn’t really know what the penalty for illegal hunting was, if there was one.

After putting the clothes on and receiving praises from her family member which Sparkler ignored, the family left to town square for the reaping. Two o’ clock sharp, or else there will be severe punishment. Of course, nopony knew what the punishment was. Perhaps it was being exiled, or being sent to jail. Maybe it was getting locked up in the place where you were exiled to. Meh, nopony remembered the rules, right?

After getting their DNA scanned by the bat-pony guards of Nightmare Moon, Sparkler and Dinky headed for their respective lines. Sparkler felt horrible when she saw the filly suddenly stop and cry, but she told her to move on. After all, she only had one name in the entire glass ball, what were the odds if her name coming up?

At the town centre, there was a building known only as the Harmon Building, built in each District as instructed by Nightmare Moon. There stood a large podium with a microphone flanked by two giant glass balls. Behind it were three chairs, with only one occupied. Rarity sat in the middle chair, feeling worrisome for the ponies down below who might be chosen to die. Worse, her younger sister was in the crowd as well.

The clock struck two, and Rarity came on stage to deliver her speech. She told of the history of Equestria, how it was once ruled by the kind Princess Celestia who was murdered in cold blood by her younger sister, Nightmare Moon, who had managed to escape from her thousand year imprisonment on the moon thirty years too quickly. She told of the revolution, which failed and resulted in the destruction of the thirteenth district. She spoke of the Games, a way of Nightmare Moon to make sure she still has power over the ponies despite giving them the warmth of the sun.

She spoke of District Twelve’s two victors. The first was a stallion by the name of Leeroy Wingkins, who won just because he was insane enough to jump into the fray holding a fried chicken leg. He was dead, now. The other… was Berry Punch.

Just as her name was said, Berry appeared on the stage drunk as hell. She attempted to wave at the audience but ended up hitting a chair, which caused a chain reaction causing half the stage to be destroyed, Berry Punch falling as well. She raised a triumphant hoof, and fell unconscious once more.

Rarity, giggling at Berry Punch’s uncouth behaviour, called in the next speaker. She then levitated her chair out of the rubble and placed it somewhere else, knowing what was to come. Just as she sat down, explosions and fireworks could be seen. A dazzling light show almost blinded the entire audience, if they weren’t already prepared with sunglasses each. In the heart of all the light was a blue mare wearing a purple hat and cape.

“Come one, come all! Come and witness THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!” said the mare with pride

She waits for an applause, but of course none came. It gets pretty boring after seeing the same thing over and over again for more than five years. Still, that didn’t stop THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE from continuing her speech. She states how it was an honour to be there, all the while doing some magic tricks she was fond of. In truth, everypony knew that she could only do light shows. So much for “Great and Powerful”.

After a few moments of pointless rambling and spectacular lightshows, it was time to announce the tributes for this year. As always, the mares are chosen first. THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE’s horn glowed, and a random name was picked off from the huge glass ball. She levitates the slip of paper towards her and gets ready to read it out loud.

With a clear and loud (and rather obnoxious) voice, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE said the name written on the paper. Sparkler crossed her hooves, praying that it wasn’t her when she remembered Pinkie Pie’s warning. The good thing: It wasn’t her name.

“Dinky Doo!” THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE said out loud

“BUCK!” Sparkler screamed

The Tributes

If Sparkler was scared about Pinkie Pie’s warning before, she was terrified now. Out of hundreds, maybe thousands, of names, it just HAD to be Dinky’s! She shook her head in fear and shock. No, this couldn’t be happening.

Of course, it really was happening right in front of her eyes. Sparkler looked around frantically, trying to find the filly in question. She easily found her, trying to merge into the crowds. Nopony tried to push her towards the front, of course. They knew how terrible it must be to be chosen as a tribute at such a young age.

She started to sprint towards her younger sister, at least to try and comfort her. That was when three black unicorns wearing dark purple armour suddenly teleported right in front of Dinky, all having their spears pointed towards the filly. They told Dinky to get a move on, and get up on stage as soon as possible. When Dinky didn’t move, one of the guards levitated her to bring her up front.

“NO!” Sparkler screamed at the top of her lungs

Nopony, and Sparkler meant NOPONY was allowed to touch her little sister. She had weak magic, she knew that, but somehow the adrenaline had caused a sudden surge of magic into Sparkler’s systems. She felt a grand sensation tugging her and the next thing she knew, she had disappeared in a blinding flash of purple light.

She reappeared right in front of the guard that was levitating Dinky and bucked him square in the jaw. The sudden attack made the guard drop the unicorn filly right into Sparkler’s hooves. Fury could be seen in Sparkler’s eyes as her horn glowed, ready to fight back anypony else that tried to touch her sister.

“Buck off!” Sparkler yelled “You are NOT taking her away!”

“Well, well, well” THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE said with surprise “It seems we have a fighter in the crowds”

“Shut that skank mouth of yours, whore!” Sparkler screamed, no longer trying to censor anymore of her language

“We still need a tribute, you know”

“Then I’ll do it! Fine by me!” the unicorn mare said, not thinking straight “Just leave Dinky alone!”

There was a rush of movement and a loud gasping coming from the crowds. They were not expecting to see any of this, and it surely was a shock to all of them. District 12 was always known as one of the calmer districts, even back when it was still called Ponyville. Even the guards were quite surprised by the outburst.

As one, the guards trotted towards the mare and levitated her using magic. They weren’t going to take any more chances with the pony since she seemed to be terribly unstable. Sparkler fought back hard. She didn’t like the feeling of weakness and was desperate in trying to get free. Then she noticed someone in the crowds running towards her - a stallion wearing a Stetson hat and a brown vest.

The stallion came towards the guard and told them to give Dinky to him. A unicorn guard then levitated the filly towards Braeburn and he hugged her tightly. Tears were streaming down Dinky’s face but not of fear of getting killed, she had something else to be scared of now.

Once the scene had died down, the unicorn guard that had carried Sparkler walked towards the stage. He then dropped her unceremoniously in front of THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE, who was also looking at the mare with a mix of fear and shock. She didn’t know Sparkler had weak magic, but who could blame her? That buck into the face was pretty powerful.

“M-may I know your name?” THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE stuttered, trying to regain her composure.

“Amethyst Star” Sparkler said “Ponies call me Sparkler, and don’t you EVER forget that!”

“Well, that was nice” muttered THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE “Give a round of applause to District 12’s first volunteer, Amethyst Star!”

Silence. The crowd only responded in silence. That was when Pinkie Pie, brushing her straight mane out of her face, raised her left hoof towards her chest and did a small thrusting gesture; an old way of warding off evil and honouring the fallen. Soon, other ponies had also followed suit with her actions and did the same gesture.

Sparkler knew they were saying their final farewells to her.

THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE looked at the mare in question again. Somehow, she had a sense that maybe this mare had a chance, but quickly threw the thought away. Lots of other ponies had acted the same way in the past, and they were some of the first to die.

“So, who was that?” she asked “a friend, I presume?”

“That’s my freaking sister…” Sparkler grumbled as she tried to resist the urge to strangle the Canterlot pony

“Strange, you don’t have the same family name as her” THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE said, but quickly shut up when she saw the glare coming from Sparkler’s eyes

Sparkler didn’t like talking about her blood relation with her family. In truth, she wasn’t even Ditzy Doo’s birth daughter. Nopony talked about that much, though, especially after she bucked a pony for trying to get too nosy on her background.

“Anyway, it is time to reveal our second tribute!” THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE said as she trotted as far away from the crazy mare as possible “Ready, boys?”

With another flare of fireworks and light shows, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE levitated another slip of paper out of the glass ball filled with the male ponies’ names. She took it by the hoof and examined it carefully. Then, she shouted the name out loud.

“Caramel!”

Sparkler looked at the crowd, thinking about the pony’s name she had just heard. She knew she had heard it from somewhere, but where? That was when she saw him, a stallion that was her age with an amber coat and a tangelo mane. He looked scared, pathetic actually. Sparkler even barely knew the guy eventhough they were in the same class.

The only thing she was aware about the guy was the fact that he was very easy going, and was a very kind boy. That was why he was always with his two best friends: a blue pegasus mare named Wind Whistler and a dark grey pegasus stallion, Thunderlane. Funnily enough, he was also blissfully unaware of the fact that Wind Whistler having a crush on him.

As he trotted up on stage, everypony shuffled nervously. They were all worried if somepony else would make another scene, but was glad when nopony did. He got up on stage and gave a nervous smile to Sparkler and then the crowd. Sparkler had a suspicious feeling that she should know this guy, but threw the thought away.

“Now, could our two tributes shake hooves?” THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE said with a smile, probably wondering if Sparkler would throw Caramel into the crowd with unponylike strength.

When the two ponies touched hooves and looked at each other in the eyes, Sparkler had a sudden flashback. It had happened years ago, back when she was nine and her father had just “died”, but the vision was as clear as day.

Sparkler was trotting around town at night as it rained, hoping to get some food for the family to eat. She was truly starving, and her skills as a hunter were still not good. Her usual tough and stone hard complexion was slowly fading away as the rain washed against her mane and coat.

Cold, hungry, weak, that was what Sparkler felt like right now. She knew she wasn’t going to last long and her strength was quickly disappearing. When she just couldn’t help it anymore, she just plopped down next to a tree and prayed that her corpse wouldn’t smell so bad in the rain. Nopony was going to give her a job, she was only nine years old and her younger sister was even smaller.

“Come on, don’t give up just yet!” a male voice had said to her on that fateful night “You could make it!”

A strong hoof then helped her up, making sure she was safe from any more harm. Her weak and heavy body made the pony in question lift her with more difficulty, but he didn’t mind. Slowly, the two ponies trotted towards the way Sparkler came from.

Sparkler was too weak, even her eyes didn’t seem to respond to wanting to be opened. Instead, she just gave a small sigh that signalled her life. The male pony then continued on their journey. It was going to be rough - he was just as small as her. Still, he was persistent on keeping the filly alive.

“Where do you live?” the pony, a young colt, asked

“The Library…” Sparkler said with much difficulty

“Alright, let’s go there” the colt said

After about five or so minutes, the colt had brought Sparkler in front of her house and lay her there. Her small body looked even smaller due to not eating right, and that made the colt cringe in sadness. He took out a loaf of bread and passed it to Sparkler, who was still too tired to see who her saviour was.

“Take it” the colt said, motioning to the bread

Sparkler carefully opened her eyes and noticed an amber coloured colt holding a loaf of bread towards her. She couldn’t make out who it was, her vision was still a little blurry, but she didn’t mind it that much. She could just go to school and find the pony then. However, she shook her head in arrogance.

“It’s yours, you keep it” the filly said

“Nah, I don’t need it” the colt said “Anyway, Bon Bon would have wanted me to give it to you, too”

Sparkler gave a small cry of gratitude and took the loaf, which was still slightly warm. When Sparkler tried to thank the colt, he was gone. Oh well, might as well thank him tomorrow at school.

That night, the family ate a feast fit for a king, or what seemed like one. Ditzy Doo had cooked the bread with some blueberries she had picked form the dying bush outside their house, and it was a great substitute for a muffin. That was the day where Ditzy started to get better after months of depression and sadness.

The next day, Sparkler tried to look for the colt that saved her life. She was quite surprised when she didn’t find him, since his amber coat stuck out in the dull rain. Perhaps the pony was hiding, or just missed that day of school because he was sick or something. Yeah, that was it. Sparkler tried to remember another important information, that he said Bon Bon would have wanted him to give it to her as well.

Bon Bon worked at an orphanage which had a candy store out front. Ponies that had no family would be sent there until they were adopted. Sparkler swore she would never go to that place again after she was adopted after being left in front of the orphanage’s doorstep when she was still a foal. Not that she hated Bon Bon, but it just held too many sad memories. After a week of searching, she finally gave up on looking for the colt.

Sparkler quickly came back into reality as Caramel pulled his hoof away from her. No, this pony couldn’t be the same colt that saved her all those years ago. Of course, there was a chance that it was. Not many ponies around her age had amber coats, and Caramel did try to conceal himself every so often some ponies forgot he was even there in the first place.

She thought back to how much bad luck she had already gotten on this very day. Slowly, she looked around and noticed Braeburn still comforting her sister. Sweetie Belle was also nearby, asking the guards something in her cute way; probably if she could take Sparkler’s place. That was impossible, of course. Only one volunteer is allowed per Hunger Game.

“Thank you all, and may the odds be ever in your favour!” THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE said with a final nod to the crowd and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Two armoured guards appeared in front of Sparkler and Caramel and rushed them into the justice building, which was also the final meeting place between tributes and loved ones. Quietly, Sparkler remarked THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE’s final words: May the odds be ever in your favour.

Yeah right, her odds today were as pathetic as Opalescence, and that was saying something.

The Farewells

Sparkler sat tirelessly on the plush red bean bag chair placed in the room inside the Harmony Building where the tributes are allowed to meet anypony that visited them for a final goodbye. She knew she was terrified but strained to not give anypony the chance to see her in such a weak state. It was sad, really, having to see somepony who was always so rowdy and violent end up so depressed and weak.

No, Sparkler would not end up like all the other former tributes. She would stand strong until the very end and maybe even win the Games. But how could she? Perhaps her skills in hunting would prove useful for once besides getting food on the table. Yes, that would do it.

Maybe she could even escape, right there and then. There was nopony in the room right now and Nightmare Moon’s magic powered security cameras couldn’t always keep track of her. She could go run off into the woods and live a lonely and simple life all by herself. Maybe she could even go with Braeburn’s idea and run off together with the entire family.

She never had the chance to try the escape plan, though, as the door suddenly opened and revealed two ponies. The very ponies that would always support Sparkler no matter what happened.

“Mom, Dinky…” Sparkler could only muster up to say as she saw the two ponies’ weeping faces.

As quick as the foal’s legs could take her, Dinky jumped up into Sparkler’s fore hooves and hugged her as tightly as she could. She had tear lines streaking down her face and was still sobbing even when Sparkler told the filly to let go. In the end, Ditzy Doo had to pull her youngest daughter away so Sparkler could have room to breathe.

“Why, Sis?” Dinky asked as she tried to wipe her tears “Why did you do that?”

“What, take your place?” Sparkler tried to sound calm as she could “Well, I figured you wouldn’t make it all on your own and decided ‘Hey, why the buck not?’”

Sparkler struggled a grin as she looked at her family’s expressions. Her mother had her usual wall-eyed stare, so it was always hard for Sparkler to find out what she was thinking. It took some time, but Ditzy Doo finally patted her daughter’s back and embraced her in a meaningful hug.

“I know you could do it, my little muffin” Ditzy Doo said “You’re stronger than most other ponies here in District 12, and you’re very handy with that bow”

“Yeah! Knock those other tributes down with your bow!” Dinky chimed in

Sparkler couldn’t help but laugh at her family’s remark. She knew the other tributes were far stronger than she was, and her chances of winning were slim. She knew that even if she had Braeburn at her side, she was still at risk of death or worse, having to kill Braeburn.

It was also quite sad to see how little Dinky knew about the Games. Perhaps that was what she thought it was all about, a big game. Dinky knew all about the death and violence of it all, everypony did, but there was something in that child-like innocence that couldn’t comprehend the fact that her sister was as good as dead. Maybe it was the fact that Sparkler was Dinky’s own sister and she didn’t want to lose her just yet.

“Please make it back alive…” Dinky said with an expression that could cure a thousand ill ponies

Sparkler didn’t want to take any chances. On one hoof, she was skilled. On the other hoof, so were the other tributes. She may have already lost the Hunger Games before it even began… No, she hasn’t. She is going to stay strong and survive this thing as long as she can.

“I promise” Sparkler replied

“Pinkie Promise!” Dinky demanded

“Alright, alright, I Pinkie Promise I’ll make it back alive!” said Sparkler

She then did the ritual that was created by Pinkie Pie many years ago. The ponies of Ponyville had taken it as a somewhat official ritual; even Rarity did it from time to time. It was probably the best kind of promise since nopony has ever broken one as of yet.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye”

With that said, Dinky wiped a final tear from her face and hugged her mother for comfort. Ditzy only smiled warmly as she looked at Sparkler with tear filled eyes. Their time together was ending quite soon, and there was still much left to say.

“Your father is very proud of you” Ditzy finally said

“Mom… Dad’s dead” Sparkler said matter-of-factly

Ditzy was just about to say something else when suddenly a royal guard burst in through the door and told them their time was finally over. Ditzy wanted to protest, but Sparkler told her to let it go. She didn’t want to see her mother killed, or exiled, or jailed, or killed in a jail while being in exile. Well, that sounded very strange indeed.

“Goodbye, sis!” Dinky shouted as tears started falling down her face again “And don’t forget or Pinkie Promise!”

“Remember that I’ll always love you!” Ditzy added in

The door was closed and Sparkler went back to her thinking state, wondering if it wasn’t too late to run away. The way her family had wished her goodbye and showed her love in just those few moments had really struck Sparkler deeply. She had to come back alive, if not for herself then for her family. After all, she cared deeply about the little foal and Ditzy was one of the nicest mares a pony could ever wish to have for a mother. Maybe Sparkler has been too hard on her.

Sparkler didn’t know if anypony else would be coming, since she had little ties to anypony. There was Braeburn, Pinkie Pie, Sweetie Belle…

As if on cue, the door was bust open and a white bundle of energy leaped straight onto Sparkler. That was soon followed by another white mare, walking in elegantly as she used her magic to close the door behind her. The two of them also seemed to have just finished crying.

“What is it with you guys and running into me?!” Sparkler complained

“Sorry, Sparkler” Sweetie Belle said with a sad smile

“Sweetie Belle here so desperately wanted to see you, Sparkler” Rarity chimed in “And I guess I had to see you as well”

Sweetie Belle then started to fire word after word of everything she had to say. She said she tried to take Sparkler’s place as well, just as Sparkler had predicted. Rarity was there to add in her own two bits to the conversation, hoping not to juts be a third wheel to the two ponies’ conversation.

“You know, our time’s running out pretty quick” Sparkler finally said “You guys should just say your goodbyes and get this over with”

“Time flies when you’re having fun, right?” Sweetie Belle said with a hopeful smile

“More like time flies when I have to listen to you talking” Sparkler muttered under her breath

“Well, I hope to see you around” Sweetie Belle said

“Indeed” added Rarity “I know I’ll miss you If you were to… leave”

The two white Unicorns turned around to finally leave before Rarity suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. She finally remembered the reason she wanted to come with Sweetie Belle in the first place. She turned around and handed something to the magenta mare.

“For you” Rarity said with a slight quiver in her voice “Do remember us when you’re in the Games, will you?”

Sparkler looked at the item she was just handed by the mayor of Ponyville. It was a small gold pin with a picture of a phoenix. This surprised Sparkler very much, she did not expect to be given something this… this… expensive. Yes, that was the best term, expensive. The pin would have been the most valuable thing she might have ever had in her hooves which wasn’t stolen.

Sparkler wanted to give it back to Rarity, she didn’t deserve it. Plus, this must have been very important to the family, too, since Sweetie Belle was wearing it on Reaping Day. Rarity only declined to take it back, she wanted Sparkler to take it.

“It’s only fair that you get this” she said “Sweetie Belle’s best friend should have this since I gave it to my best friend, Fluttershy a few years ago when she…”

“Yes?” Sparkler asked

“Nothing, nothing” Rarity finally said as she trotted out the door, saying nothing else. Sweetie Belle only managed to wave a hoof before the door was slammed unceremoniously by the guard.

Now Sparkler was alone again. Two visitors so far, and some others were sure to come. She looked at the pin she had just received from Rarity with amusement. Even better, Sweetie Belle claimed she was her best friend. Sparkler never considered that, she only thought of Sweetie Belle as an acquaintance.

The sound of the door opening brought Sparkler back into reality. This time, it was a mare Sparkler never thought she would see again; a cream mare with a dark blue and pink mane. Sparkler never even thought she would see the mare ever again.

“Bon Bon” Sparkler noted

“Good to see you, Amethyst” Bon Bon said with a motherly tone

“What are you doing here?”

“To wish you good luck, of course!” she added

Sparkler looked at the adult mare with a mix of relief, depression and confusion. After Sparkler was adopted by Ditzy Doo and The Doctor, she never even once considered going to visit Bon Bon. She never liked that place, after all. It was even worse considering the fact that she had lived since foalhood.

“I know you may not like me that much-” Bon Bon started to say

“As if...” Sparkler interrupted

“But I just wanted to let you know that I still care for you. I care for all of my children, whether or not they’re mine” Bon Bon started to sound melancholic as she added the final words “I could still remember you as the young foal that couldn’t even feed herself, Amethyst”

There was a collective silence between the two mares as Sparkler listened to her talk. She always liked Bon Bon for her ability to make anypony feel happy due to her motherly personality. Perhaps this was the only thing she actually liked about the orphanage: Bon Bon.

“Here, take these with you” added the mare as she handed a small pouch to Sparkler “I hope you still like my sweets!”

Before Sparkler could reply, Bon Bon had trotted out of the room. Now she had two gifts. Did the previous tributes also get as many visitors and gifts? She then remembered her Pinkie Promise with Dinky, and her resolution became even more firm. With a determined face, Sparkler took off her dress and placed it on the bean bag as she walked to the door, she was ready to leave for Canterlot.

SLAM

The door opened loudly as a pink mare trotted into the room and looked Sparkler straight in the eyes. She had a one-of-a-kind grin that meant either she was going to throw a party, or punch you in the face. This time, it was neither.

Pinkie Pie hugged Sparkler tightly as Sparkler came back to her senses. Okay, maybe she wasn’t really expecting Pinkie Pie to show up, but it was great she cared for her. After a full minute (“Sixty seconds, on the dot!” Pinkie Pie said) of hugging, Pinkie let go and placed a knowing hoof on Sparkler’s shoulders.

“Gummy and I need to tell you something before you leave” she said as the prized green toothless baby alligator could be seen munching on Pinkie Pie’s curtain-like mane “Your lucky colours are gonna be mint, light yellow and caramel. Be careful of statues and blue flowers. If you see anypony in that field of blue flowers, help them!”

“Were you consulting with your Pinkie senses again?” Sparkler asked with an uneasy expression

“Never underestimate the Pinkie senses” Pinkie Pie said with a grin “You’re gonna do fine, see!”

Pinkie Pie then had one of her famous Pinkie senses, her whole body tingling followed by her tail twitching and her ears flopping. The sign that means that somepony was going to be safe. Sparkler just wondered for how long the Pinkie sense would be true.

As quick as she came in, Pinkie Pie bounded out the door with Gummy hanging onto her mane. It wasn’t even fully closed yet when a hoof pushed it open again, a stallion’s hoof.

“Thought ah’d say goodbye before ya left” Braeburn said with a smirk

“I don’t think you have long” Sparkler added, looking at the clock

“Listen, Sparky. You’ve gotta win this, ya hear?”

“There are twenty four of us, only one of us could win! What are the chances of me being that pony?”

“You’ve got a high chance, ah reckon”

Braeburn then hugged Sparkler tightly as a guard trotted up towards the stallion and tapped his shoulder. Braeburn only nodded knowingly and trotted away. He stopped for a moment and waved a hoof towards Sparkler as he left, leaving Sparkler slightly dumbfounded. Did these teary goodbyes always bring out the strangest of most ponies? Because those two last ones were as confusing as ever.

Sparkler trotted out of the room, accompanied by two royal guards. Apparently, she was still considered unstable. Good, she had an edge to work with. She was then met with Caramel and THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE, both waiting for her at the side entrance of the Harmony building. THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE had a smug look on her face and Caramel only nodded with a calm smile.

The ride from the Harmony Building to District 12’s train station felt even longer than usual, probably because the streets were jam-packed with ponies looking at the two ponies for the last time. All the while, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE tried to make the ride as lively as possible while the two tributes only sat there silently.

“Oh, you are going to LOVE the Friendship Express! It has all kinds of food and it looks just amazing!”

“Why is it called the Friendship Express if there’s nothing so friendly about it?” Sparkler said with her typical rude behaviour

“Well, the train was called that before Nightmare Moon, so I guess the name stuck” Caramel finally said with a hopeful smile

“Lazy ponies…” Sparkler grumbled

When they had arrived at the train station, the whole place was already crowded. Apparently, they were all hopeful of this year’s female tribute. Everypony knew about Sparkler whether they wanted to or not, and it didn’t always start out with a nice conversation, either.

The three ponies got on the train and waved off the crowd of ponies. Caramel was smiling kindly and Sparkler with her grumpy sneer. THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE thought it was a good idea to start some fireworks inside the train. Needless to say, everypony cleared out of the train station after that.

“So, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE” Sparkler said with a hint of hatred towards the long name “Where do we go now?”

“Please, just call me Trixie” said THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE with a cheesy grin “As for what’s next, we just have to watch a recap of the reapings, to see your other competitors”

“She never lets anypony call her Trixie” Caramel whispered to Sparkler’s ear as they trotted towards the carriage where they would watch all the reapings

“Oh, she is going to be so disappointed when we die” Sparkler whispered back

They then watched the reapings and tried to list out all the probable enemies and difficulties they would be facing. Of course, there were the Alpha Team from Districts 1 and 2, consisting of two stallions named Snowflake (“Looks like a pony on steroids” Caramel said “Let’s just call him ‘Roid Rage”) and Billy (“I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeves” Sparkler said) and two fillies called Diamond Tiara (“She’s a bitch” Sparkler said matter-of-factly) and Silver Spoon (“Looks smart, better be careful around her” said Caramel). There were also some other ponies that stood out, mostly a Unicorn named Lyra form District 5 (“Strange pony” Caramel stated), a young filly named Apple Bloom (“Poor kid…” said Caramel disappointedly) and her older brother Big Macintosh (Big guy, big problems” Sparkler said dejectedly), both from District 11. When they were done, they all trotted outside before they were stopped by a plum coloured mare holding a bottle of alcohol.

“’Sup, guys” the mare said with a glassy expression “It’s gonna be a long week, you know”

“Berry Punch…” Sparkler grumbled

“Shouldn’t you be, you know, getting ready to train us?” Caramel asked

“Meh, you guys are good to go” Berry Punch added “I’m just her for the drinks! Have fun murdering each other~”

The mare trotted away, followed closely behind by Trixie who was complaining about something to the mare. Berry Punch, however, just bucked the Unicorn and she came flying through the carriage and slammed into the side of the train.

“We are so gonna die…” Sparkler muttered, losing all the hope she had gained from her visitors

The Train

Sparkler lay in her own room, rewatching the videos of the other reapings. She had already identified the would-be dangers. Five of them, to be exact. She also noticed some of them who surely caught her attention, the you filly from Eleven and the mare from Five who ended by standing on two legs and cheered, screaming that she would miss all of them and she’ll see them in Heaven. Yeah, maybe that Lyra mare was just crazy.

Still, she noticed some other ponies that the others might not really take into account without further inspection, being a huntress had made her keen to these small things.

First was a mare from Four, who had a mysterious cutie mark. It was a hammer with sparks of electricity. According to the video, her name was Mjolna. Just what in the world did that make her talent?

There was also a stallion from Six, probably sixteen judging by his five o’ clock shadow. He was a pegasus wearing a black cap who goes by the name of Boxxy Brown. She didn’t know why, but this stallion seemed powerful.

That was it, she guessed. These two ponies also entered her mental list of ponies to look out for. She still had a few more minutes before she had to go out for lunch, which she didn’t have the stomach for. The train trip was going to last for an entire day since Twelve was so far away from Canterlot, but that didn’t matter. Sparkler knew she was going to wish the ride was longer when she reaches Canterlot.

To spend time, Sparkler tried to practice her magic, knowing her weakness towards that certain aspect. Her strongest spell had always been levitation, which all foals already know how to do. Still, that sudden burst of magic that allowed her to teleport earlier was still pretty cool, and she wished she knew how to control it.

She looked at her Cutie Mark, three diamonds. Most ponies questioned what it meant, since Rarity had the same one and her special talent was fashion. Sparkler was anything but fashion. In fact, most ponies didn’t even know how she got her Cutie Mark. Nopony asked her to tell them, though, fearing their health. The only pony who knew was Braeburn, and that was because he was there.

Knock knock

Well, there goes her resting time.

Sparkler trotted to the door and opened it up with her magic, seeing a smiling Caramel standing there. He had long taken off his reaping clothes, and had let his mane go back to its original, uncombed state.

‘Well, he does look better this way’ thought Sparkler before coming to a realisation ‘What the buck did I just think?!’

“Hey, wanna go eat lunch?” Caramel said before getting punched in the face by Sparkler

“We’re supposed to go, dumbass” Sparkler said as she trotted away “And wipe that damn smile off your face! We’re going to a massacre!”

“Well, at least it’s better than going on a suicide mission” Caramel said, hoping to lighten up the atmosphere

“Knowing District Twelve’s losing streak, we ARE going on a suicide mission” replied Sparkler, opening the door that led to the dining carriage

That was when she stopped dead in her tracks. Caramel himself bumped into her, apologising before finally looking at the dining carriage. The sight made him stare wide eyed as well. The carriage was covered by all kinds of beautiful and elegant furniture and was carpeted. The tables were made of the finest of wood and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. Food of every shapes and sizes littered on the tables, just itching to be eaten.

“All this fancy-shmancy stuff, and Nightmare Moon couldn’t even bother to feed the poorer districts” Caramel said with a sigh “What do you think, Spa-”

He stopped talking when he saw his fellow tribute stuffing her mouth with food. She has been eating meat most of her life, so this much fruits and vegetables had easily made her fall for her gluttony. She finally sat down on a chair, a tray full of food in front of her. Beside her sat Berry Punch, holding a bottle of wine and hiccupping madly. Somewhere close by, a few more bottles must be hidden, Caramel knew it. After all, he had to go and interview the mare once during a school project, one that he wished he would have chosen another pony as his subject.

Trixie sat further off, reading pieces of paper as she used her magic (obviously, showcasing her “great magical prowess” by making it as bright and lively as possible) to feed herself some cakes. She had her typical smug grin on her face, but didn’t seem to be in the mood. She had a sort of distant expression, and was probably thinking of something. Caramel didn’t want to disturb her, so he just went to the table and picked his food. Sadly, he too was consumed by his hunger and picked up an entire tray full of food.

Before long, he was seated next to Sparkler and was digging in, making the two look like a pair of hungry pigs. Berry, probably still drunk, sneered at the thought and fell onto the floor, earning no sense of worry from the other ponies in the carriage. She then stood up and trotted over to the trash can, throwing away the bottle before picking up a cupcake and trot back to the two tributes’ table. Their trays were already empty, and Sparkler was taking even more food. Caramel was too full to move.

Berry Punch sighed at the two ponies’ antics and threw the cupcake at Caramel, making him jump. He looked at the mare questioningly before Berry Punch asked how the food tasted.

“They were delicious!” stated the stallion “I’ve never had anything like it!”

“Same” chimed in Sparkler

“Well, you guys better get ready to puke it all out” Berry Punch said, earning confused looks from the two younger ponies “You know, when we reach Canterlot. You’ll hate it there if you think back to Ponyville… District Twelve, I mean”

The two ponies looked at each other nervously before looking back at their trainer. It was true; she was quite wise and had a nasty way of telling the truth. However, it didn’t make the two of them any less worried.

“So, got any tips in the arena?” Caramel finally said “You know, for survival”

Berry Punch pondered this question for a while. It was obvious that she knew what to say, she has been helping other tributes for eight years, this being her ninth. She then placed a knowing hoof on Caramel’s hoof, making the stallion blush slightly. That was when Berry’s signature drunk grin reappeared on her face and she stabbed a fork at Caramel’s hoof, or where it used to be since he managed to pull it back in time.

“Be sharp” she said “Don’t get distracted, kid”

She then threw a knife at Sparkler, which she dodged as fast as she could, but still managed to get her mane.

“Be quick and follow your reflexes, Hawkeye” Berry Punch continued on

“Hawkeye?” Sparkler asked, never hearing that nickname before

“Well, you’re good with that bow, right?” said Berry matter-of-factly “Everypony in Ponyville… District Twelve knows that”

“Whatever, freak”

She was then met by another knife to the mane which barely grazed her ear.

“Sharp and quick, Hawkeye!”

“HEY!” yelled Trixie from the other side of the carriage “Nopony from the Capitol said you could destroy their property!”

“And when did you ever like them?” said Berry Punch as she trotted drunkly to the mare in question “You hate them just as much as I do, ever since your first day working nine years ago!”

Not wanting to be involved in another one of their fights, the two tributes quickly got up and bolted for the door. They almost closed the door when Trixie came flying through it, crashing into the two ponies. The unicorn got back up and fixed her hat, walked through the door and slammed it loudly. Now Sparkler was even more worried about her trainer AND Canterlot representative.

“We should leave them be, wait till they calm down” Caramel said “They should calm down by dinner tonight”

“We’ll be at Canterlot tomorrow, you scared?” Sparkler asked with a sly smirk

“Terrified” admitted Caramel “especially since Bon-Bon’s rooting on you for winning”

“Wait, she what?”

“She said that you’re a fighter, and you had a great chance of winning this year’s Hunger Games. Although, she never really said it like that. It’s more like she-”

“Covered it up by saying something kind and motherly, hoping to keep your feelings in check and not hurt them”

“You know her all too well”

“I lived with her for a few years myself”

“So I’m told. I came when I was about nine. Lost my parents in that mine explosion…”

Sparkler wanted to tell Caramel about Bon-Bon’s visit to her, but thought better of it. Instead, she just said she needed to go back to her room and waved goodbye to her fellow tribute. Caramel was the fifth pony she could talk to without much hesitation and worry. She was just sorry she had to kill him soon. Oh well, that’s how the circle of life goes, right?

The other events of the day went by like a blur, probably because nothing much really happened besides Berry Punch’s drunk singing during dinner that made both tributes laugh hysterically but only managed to make Trixie pissed off. She then left quite early, skipping desert. Caramel couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in the mare’s mind, especially since she always seemed to be so distant as if she was thinking of something important. Maybe a past memory, or something depressing. It wasn’t like Trixie at all to look like this, and Caramel has seen all of the Games which involved Trixie being Canterlot representative, and she was as loud and obnoxious as ever.

The next day, Sparkler woke up for breakfast to find Caramel having a heated conversation with Berry Punch. Berry kept asking him on survival tactics which Caramel answered back with great precision, only for it to be pulled down by a counter-strategy by Berry. Trixie sat nearby, drinking a milkshake as she tried to block out the two ponies’ ramblings with her magic.

“What I miss?” Sparkler asked

“She said somepony could sneak up on me when I have a trap set up in front of a cave at night, but that’s impossible since the cave’s freakin’ trapped!” Caramel yelled

“And I say the trap could be disabled especially if the other pony was a skilled one” Berry said lazily

“Pfft, I would have slept in the corner with a camouflage, with a trap to boot” Sparkler piped up

“What if it’s a unicorn with a sensing spell, Hawkeye?” asked Berry

“Stop calling me that!”

Caramel was going to say something else but stopped when the train passed through a tunnel, blocking the light outside and making the carriage considerably darker. When the train had left the tunnel, the two tributes shared another moment of awed amazement. They had just reached Canterlot, and it was much more beautiful than on the screens back home.

“Seriously, why couldn’t anypony end world hunger with all this money?!” Caramel yelled but was met with no response

They then passed through a train station, seeing hundreds, maybe thousands of ponies in bright colourful clothing waving to them. Caramel waved back happily but Sparkler only ducked her head down. She was slightly scared already.

“What’s up?” Berry Punch asked

“Hate crowds…” Sparkler said silently

Berry Punch handed her a knife and trotted away. She said that she should use that to gain the Canterlot ponies’ attentions and get some sponsors, seeing her terrible personality when speaking with others. Sparkler, enraged by Berry Punch’s cynical remark, threw the knife with all her might. It stuck to the wall a few inches away from Berry.

“That’s the spirit!” Berry said “Now go out there and fight!”

The Chariots

Sparkler was glad the train deposited them in a quiet station with nopony around to disturb her. Since arriving, she couldn’t stop worrying about the first thing in the agenda, which is the opening ceremony. It’s simple, really. All the tributes ride on fancy chariots pulled by magic around Canterlot as everypony watches them and go “ooh” and “aah”.

That was exactly Sparkler’s problem.

She hated crowds, which is opposite of Caramel who acts easily around large groups of people, whether or not he likes them. It was just like back on the train, how he complained about the ponies of Canterlot not using their ridiculously large amount of money to help the poorer districts. When Sparkler questioned him, he only replied that it was best to let them have a good first impression of him.

Sparkler thought she didn’t need to get good impressions from those stuck up ponies. She could always find a way to win all by herself. After all, she was strong and fast. Her magic skills may be pathetic, but who cares? If she could, she just wants this whole thing to be over with and just go home… or die. Whichever comes first.

She looked back around the room she was left at, some sort of remodelling centre. Truth be told, Sparkler hated the place already. It had all these beauty products and fancy smelling things Sparkler didn’t want to know about. All her life, she thought she looked okay, not wanting to look fancy in any occasion. The only exception is the reaping, and even then she was forced to clean herself and just gave up fighting.

Three ponies appeared before her, each one looking more made up than the last. The first was a cream coloured pony wearing a frilly white dress who claims to be Sapphire Shores. Next, a blue grey stallion wearing… something. Hoity Toity, that’s his name. The last, and weirdest of the three was a light blue mare wearing black and white, Photo Finish. They said that they were her prep team and they were going to remake her… and that worried Sparkler.

“You are beautiful, no?” Photo Finish asked as she scrubbed off Sparkler’s coat which looked terrible after the train ride.

“Don’t make me laugh” Sparkler muttered with a stern expression

Beautiful is not something that comes to mind when one sees Sparkler. It is usually either scary, violent, rude or food. She has heard people praise her before, but it is usually for her hunting skills and tough demeanour. She just decided that this mare was just trying to be friendly and shrugged it off.

“Oh, come on. You look simply gorgeous!” Sapphire Shores said with a smile as she brushed Sparkler’s mane “Bet you have a dandy stallion back home”

“Not exactly…” Sparkler replied

“Hmm, yes” Hoity Toity said with an accent “Well, we’re not allowed to do anything to you. We were specifically told to leave you as you are, simple and unchanged. Humph, and the sight of you makes me want to change you so badly”

“Wait, what was all that talk about remaking me?”

“Oh, that would be the job for… the stylist!” Photo Finish said dramatically

“Now don’t you be scared of him” Sapphire Shores interjected “He’s a fine stallion, that one. You’ll like him for sure!”

Sparkler decided that of the three, she liked Sapphire Shores best.

After about thirty minutes of fixing up all of Sparkler and making her look spick and span, the three ponies left with many insults as to how hard it was to fix her up. Sparkler agreed, she was a terribly messy pony. Her mane, now smoothed out and looking beautiful, looked nothing like its original form. Sparkler didn’t like that one bit and with her hoof, she messed it up easily and grinned. Nopony messes with her mane. Nopony.

Just as she turned around to trot away, she slammed into a something. When she finally got back to her senses, she looked at the pony she had hit and muttered an apology through gritted teeth. He was a stallion, slightly larger than the usual but good looking nonetheless. He was a white stallion with a blue mane and wore a simple yet elegant black suit.

“No no, I should be the one apologising” he said, bowing his head in the process “I should never have sneaked up on you like that”

“Uh… Don’t mention it?” Sparkler said in confusion

“My dear mare, my name is Fancy Pants and it is an honour to be working with you” the stallion said as he took Sparkler’s hoof and kissed it gentleman-like “I have heard a lot about you, and your reaping was simply breath taking!”

“Wait, breathtaking?!” Sparkler quickly pulled her hoof away

This stallion was… different than the others. So far, he’s acted kind and civilised. He spoke to the mare as if she were of higher standards and was the one to bow. He also wore clothes that did not stand out too much, quite a rarity in Canterlot. Did this pony even know who he was talking to?

“Listen, I think you got the wrong pony. Whatever stories you’ve heard must be awful, and my reaping was breath taking alright. Breathtakingly terrifying”

“you stood up to protect your sister, that is something I must applaud” Fancy Pants said admiringly “Surely, in all my living years, I have never seen anypony quite as brave and loyal as you! Another reason why me and Fleur have chosen to help with District Twelve. Or should I say Ponyville”

“Fleur?”

“My lover, and your fellow tribute’s stylist. You will meet her later, I presume”

“Hold on, you said you both decided to help Twelve because of us?”

“Not exactly, since we have always taken a liking to your district. You underdogs are always such amazing ponies. I have always rooted for you lot, and Berry Punch’s success is one of the most joyous moments of my life!”

That last comment made Sparkler’s heart drop. Apparently, he was just like the other Canterlot ponies who only see the Hunger Games as a form of entertainment. She frowned and turned towards the dressing table, telling Fancy Pants to get the whole ordeal over with. She then trotted over to the table and sat nearby, pouting.

Fancy Pants, who saw the sadness in the mare’s eyes, quickly apologised several times for anything he might have done. He said that he would make it up for her, even as far as to give her some bits for her family back home. In the end, Sparkler smiled and said that it was fine, but still kept her feelings hidden. After all, there was the whole city of Canterlot to please and she was going to suck at it.

“So, what are my clothes gonna look like?” Sparkler said, dreading it as much as the reaping day.

Every year, the tributes were to wear clothes that resemble each district’s profession. This made District Twelve, which is the mining district due to the closeness of the district to Dragonback Mountain, is usually the butt of the joke. Come on, how could you make mining interesting? Even Rarity would have cried trying to come up with a design!

“Oh, the two of us had something in mind” Fancy Pants said with a smile “You see, mining is also associated with multiple things, coal as an example…”

“So you’re gonna cover us up in coal?”

“No! Not at all! Still, what is coal used for? To ignite flames, I presume”

“Oh shit…”

About half an hour later, Sparkler appeared in the hallway covered in a black skin tight suit that covered most of her body except for the head, man and tail. She thought that perhaps this was what Fancy Pants had in mind, wearing black and look like coal. She didn’t know where the whole talk about fire was leading to, but she was still scared about it. She loved playing with fire, but being set on fire was NOT on her to-do-list.

She saw the white stallion approaching a few minutes later, being ogled by mares from other districts and some other stylist. Typical of Sparkler, always getting the guy that all the other girls fawn over. It’s happened with Braeburn and Caramel, anyway. Was this some sort of curse?

“Good to see you up and running, Miss Star” Fancy Pants said as he checked the clothes for imperfections, not that it could ever have any

“This thing sucks. Can’t I go out there buck naked?” Sparkler grumbled

“I am sorry, but it is the rules and… oh, your friend is here!”

Sparkler turned, seeing Caramel wearing the same black skin tight suit as she did. Beside him, a rosish white mare with a lush pale pink mane and a slender body trotted gracefully. It was like she was a supermodel or something. Somehow, the sight of her made Sparkler feel uncomfortable for some reason. Why is she surrounded by all these good looking ponies?

Caramel stopped in front of Sparkler and gave an encouraging grin which was obviously faked. Somehow, Sparkler knew they both came to a silent agreement that these clothes were terrible. Still, they didn’t want to hurt their stylists’ feelings.

“Ah, Mister Caramel! So good to see you” Fancy Pants said, bowing once more “I heard that you are a kind stallion, am I correct?”

“I… I guess” Caramel said with an awkward grin

He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but was cut off when a booming voice told all of the tributes to get ready as they were going to round Canterlot Castle soon. There was movement all around them, but the District 12 group stood silent. Fancy Pants himself stopped the two ponies from moving. He waited for everypony to get on their chariots, away from District Twelve’s chariot until he finally spoke once more.

“Now remember what I said before, about coal?” Fancy Pants asked

“Sorry, I wasn’t there and Fleur de Lis… isn’t much of a talker” Caramel said, choosing his words carefully.

Fleur nodded and smiled

“Anyway” Fancy Pants started “your suits are covered in a fire resistance spell. That means that no matter how hot the flames, you will not feel a thing. Fleur and I are going to light up you suits by magic, but only with synthetic fire. I am sorry to say this, Miss Star, but nopony seems to trust you around real fire”

Sparkler grinned maliciously

“The fire will not harm you at all and is thought controlled. Whatever you want the fire to be it will happen so please don’t try any funny business, please”

He seemed to be addressing Sparkler more, but she didn’t seem to realise it despite her good eyesight. It seemed that the thought of living flames that did no harm to herself interested her very much. That was when the chariots upfront started moving and the two District Twelve tributes jumped on their own chariot. Before they left the launch pad and be seen to the ponies of Equestria, the two stylists shot a beam of magic to the two ponies. Then, the two ponies went ablaze.

There was a distinct cheering amongst the crowd but it all seemed to die down when Sparkler and Caramel appeared. Then, there was a loud cheer and screams of joy. Sparkler had to admit, despite her hatred of almost everything in Equestria, she was glad nopony was laughing at her.

She then started to feel dizzy as her fear of crowds started to engulf her once more. She started wobbling a bit but Caramel suddenly held on to her. This made Sparkler blush slightly but then slap him gleefully on the face. Then she remembered she was on live television and she pulled away but still held on to Caramel for support.

With the flames flickering powerfully, Sparkler decided to test it. She willed the fire to change shape and morph, giving her a pair of beautiful wings made of flames. The fire danced around the two ponies brightly and the crowd cheered even more madly. Sparkler gave a shy smile as the chariots all stopped in front of Nightmare Moon’s balcony.

“Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces” Nightmare Moon said “It is an honour to be here, seeing the faces of these young foals who would undoubtly become the greatest warriors! This year…”

Sparkler, who was terrible at listening to incredibly long and boring speeches, started to gaze at the other tributes. She noticed Lyra first, standing boringly on her chariot with her two hind legs, dressed in a unique suit. District Five; the music district. That would make sense. Apparently, she too was bored and gave Sparkler a wave which Sparkler ignored. She then looked at the brother and sister from District Eleven, dressed in simple country garments since District Eleven was the farming district. Apple Bloom seemed to be holding back her tears as she waited for her inevitable death to come. Big Macintosh hugged her kindly and muttered words of encouragement. The filly must be around twelve years old, just like Sweetie Belle.

She was about to look at everypony else when she heard something unusual coming from Nightmare Moon’s mouth.

“We would enjoy this game as we have enjoyed its predecessors!” the tyrant shouted. There was an air of fear in there, however. It was like Nightmare Moon was afraid of herself.

After a few more minutes, the chariots finally left the balcony and headed towards the training centre, once used to train Princess Celestia’s royal guards. That stopped when Nightmare Moon came and could turn anypony she wanted into her devilish bat-pony guards using her magic. Sparkler wasted no time in pulling Caramel away and told her of her suspicions.

“I’m telling you, something’s wrong with NMM!” Sparkler said

“Why are you calling her that?” Caramel asked, running away from the original topic

“Nightmare Moon’s too long. Anyway, sis you hear her suddenly call herself ‘we’? And that sudden shudder in her voice? What about the fact that she looked slightly dark blue instead of black?”

“Look, your hunter instincts make you more observant than others. It doesn’t mean that everything you see is right. Maybe it’s a trick of the light, or she recently dyed her coat. I don’t know, okay. Listen, Sparkler. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I’m just worrying more about the Games than some suspicion of Nightmare Moon changing suddenly”

Caramel then trotted away as he willed his flames to extinguish, meeting Fancy Pants and Fleur along the way. He told them that Sparkler needed some time alone and the three went up the elevator first, promising to meet up with Sparkler later. The mare only huffed and flapped her flaming wings, accidentally lifting up from the ground for a few seconds. She then fell unceremoniously onto the ground and grumbled some more.

“Heya, Hawkeye!” said a mint coloured unicorn who appeared out of nowhere “Heard all about you! I’m Lyra Heart-”

“Lyra Heartstrings, I know” Sparkler grumbled “Wait, why’d you call me that?”

“Somepony named Berry said you liked to be called that, so…”

“Ugh, that BITCH!” Sparkler yelled and trotted away to the elevator “When I get a piece of her…”

“I’m guessing you don’t like that name?” Lyra questioned “Wait! Your suit has a tear! Better turn off that flame before something… bad… happens…”

Lyra was left there all alone, wincing at her terrible first attempt at making a friend. She then trotted away slowly, trying to find her fellow tribute to go to her room.

The Helper

Sparkler rode on the elevator, hoping to finally achieve peace and quiet from all the idiots in the outside world. Sure, not all of them are idiots, but Sparkler hates everypony. End of story. Sadly, Luck was never on Sparkler’s side to begin with, so somepony still managed to get on with her. It was the mare from Four, Mjolna.

“…”

The conversation carried on for a few seconds when the elevator stopped on the fourth floor. As quickly as she came in, Mjolna left the elevator. She seemed to turn back for a second, staring at Sparkler with electrifying yellow eyes. Her glare was undecipherable, mysterious to all.

“I am honoured to have partaken in this conversation with you” Mjolna said casually as the door closed.

Sparkler, who was pretty much confused by that, simply let it go as she looked at the numbers on the elevator rise higher and higher. It was new technology, so it was still rising up rather slowly. It was at these few silent moments that Sparkler tried to collect her thoughts.

She was suspicious of Nightmare Moon; that was obvious enough. For some reason, her coat had become a dark blue hue. She even accidentally called herself “we”. Honestly, even a five year old wouldn’t have made that mistake! There was also the fact that she seemed to be hesitating. Hesitating… for what? She was supreme ruler of Equestria, why would she be scared?

The floor dinged as the elevator reached the twelfth floor. Instantly, she was greeted by a gasping Fleur and Caramel.

“Sparkler, what are you DOING?!” Caramel asked with wild eyes looking at her.

Not really understanding what Caramel was saying, she looked at her body. True, the fire was still raging as hot as ever. It was starting to look like a suit of armour made of the inferno of Tartarus. What made the mare herself truly surprised was the fact that she was playing with the fire. A fireball, being tossed casually by the mare as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The suit was starting to tear as well from over stretching. She should have been burnt to a crisp.

But the fire was synthetic…

It should have only been able to be used on the suit. Anywhere else, it would just flicker off and die. That way, nothing too terrifying would happen if the tributes (read: Sparkler) were to do something disastrous. It didn’t even have that far of a range.

“Nothing, duh!” Sparkler tried to cover up her own shock, making the fireball extinguish as she threw it behind her.

“You should probably put out that fire, before you scare some other pathetic buffoon” she heard a familiar, annoying mare say

“Get lost, Berry”

“Dinner’s after the recap, Hawkeye! Hotshot here’s been waiting to watch it with you!” Berry shouted some more despite Sparkler being in the same room. Drunk, probably.

“Don’t call me that!” Sparkler said before quickly adding “And stop telling everypony else to call me that!”

She then stormed off into a room, positive that it was hers. She was met with a suitcase that looked like it belonged to another mare. Not willing to leave the room and looking weak, she levitated the suitcase and threw it into the adjacent room, which was met with the sound of a stallion holding his breath in pain and a blue unicorn asking what her stuff was doing in somepony else’s room.

She needed peace and quiet, but she also needed to see the recap. Who knows if there are more clues to be found in that mysterious speech made just now by the Ruler of The Night. Quickly taking off the suit, turning off the flames in the process, she dashed into a room with a TV, positive that it was the room she needed to be in.

Luckily for her, it was.

“Glad you could make it” Caramel said, still worried about Sparkler “Come on, Trixie’s gonna start it right now”

“Yeah, whatever” Sparkler muttered

The video started easy enough, with all the Tributes coming out on their chariots, each with their own unique design and look. She started to realise just how boastful she looked, shaping the flames into wings and smiling her proud smile before shying out when the chariot ride ended. The others may have noticed this as well, as it was a drastic change from the usual Sparkler who insulted others and cursed just for the fun of it and was a deemed psychopath.

Then it was the time she was waiting for, Nightmare Moon’s speech. She listened carefully to all of her words, her actions. Her heightened senses made things much easier to detect such changes. It was early on in the speech when she saw the first sign, Nightmare Moon shuddering before the coat started brightening up. It was dark at that time, and almost impossible to see. Still, she managed to notice it. Whoo, go Sparkler!

A few more minutes in, and Nightmare Moon looked at the Tributes. However, those eyes that looked at the twenty four suicide victims weren’t of a tyrant, they were of somepony pleading for help. Worse, she was sure those eyes were staring right at her.

“Now wasn’t that rejuvenating?” Fancy Pants said happily when the video ended “You both did marvellously, and I could not have done it better myself!”

“It was good, I suppose for some newcomers” Trixie chided, looking at the two Tributes with bored eyes “Well, time for dinner!”

Caramel looked at Sparkler once more, knowing just what the mare was thinking. It was obvious she was still worried about Nightmare Moon, but Caramel thought it was the least of their problems. They still had to die in a free-for-all death match and he still needed to find a way to distribute Canterlot’s money to the poorer districts.

He stood up and trotted away, followed closely behind by Fleur and Berry Punch. Sparkler, determination showing on her face, stifled a laugh as she trotted off as well, closing the door with a loud SLAM.

Dinner was simply sublime. All around the Tributes were food they never even dreamed of having. They both started stuffing food into their mouths as much as they could, positive that they would puke it all out later. Still, that didn’t stop them! They finished all the pastries and green food, Sparkler even managed to see some meat which she ate despite receiving disturbed glances form the Canterlot ponies.

“What? It’s good” Sparkler said “Sure, it ain’t that good for your health, but it makes a fine side meal”

Caramel took one and joined the fun.

After another hectic feeding, Trixie told them of tomorrow’s schedule; training, training and even more training. Sparkler, who was actually anticipating that part of the Games, trotted off into Trixie’s former room (“So it was YOU!” Trixie yelled before the door slammed into her face). She was quite shocked to see a grey mare sitting on her bed, apparently attempting to fix the covers up after Sparkler decided to jump on the bed before watching the rerun.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my room, bitch?” Sparkler said, adding the curse word for added measure

The mare in question, finally giving up on Sparkler’s piece of work, turned and looked at her. They just stood there… staring into each other’s eyes… for quite a while… Sweet Celestia, this is boring.

“Look, are you mute or something?” Sparkler finally asked, playing with the lamp on the bedside by now “Because if you are, I need to go and get some shut eye, so get the fuck outta my-”

“On the contrary, I am NOT mute” the mare said with an accent, one which the author could only describe as a ponified version of British “And as for who I am, have you not seen any other ponies in bowties running around doing all your work for you?”

“Nope, don’t give a shit, really” Sparkler approved

“We are known as the Afonos, condemned criminals forced to work as slaves for the rest of our lives” the grey mare started to explain without caring much about the rude mare “We are all here for some reason or another, I was given the job for speaking out against the Canterlot officials after my orchestral arrangement”

“Wow…” Sparkler said speechlessly “But… can’t you guys just, run away or some shit?”

“Unless we want to be instantly killed off by the magic deadlock that surrounds us, no” the mare sighed once more “I shall leave now, it was nice talking to you. Idon’t really have anypony else to go to nowadays”

“Just hold on one fucking second!” Sparkler cut off “You haven’t even told me your name!”

“Afonos’ are not allowed to speak our names…” the mare started to say before she was handed a pencil and paper, Sparkler grinning her malicious grin “Well, haven’t tried that before”

“Do it!” Sparkler yelled as she grinned happily

The mare picked up the pencil with her mouth slowly, hoping to not die a slow and excruciating death. She was utterly surprised when she actually didn’t! She wrote one letter, then the next, and so on. Apparently, writing wasn’t involved in the Afonos’ punishment. Of course, others have thought of this but were too worried of death to try it out. In the end, she stopped writing and handed the piece of paper back. On it was written one word, with fancy cursive writing that looked beautiful.

Octavia.

Sparkler wanted to say something else, but Octavia had vanished. Sparkler, considering it rude by her standards, flopped off onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow she was going to fight off some dummies and watch as others chop off dummies, and she was looking forward to it! Oh, this is going to be good.

Before she dozed off, she remembered something that she had received from Bon-Bon earlier on during her short meeting with her. Bon-Bon’s sweets. She found it on the nightstand, no doubt taken out of the train by some other Afonos while they were busy riding chariots while trying to burn everypony else with prosthetic flame.

She took one out one ate it, savouring the flavour. Bon-Bon always made good, delicious, mouth-watering sweets that could make Rarity do a belly roll just to get another one. Still, it was nothing compared to Pinkie Pie’s pastries or her mom’s muffins. She regretted not giving one to Octavia and continued eating, thinking about her own paranoid thoughts about Nightmare Moon and the training session tomorrow.

The Training

“Okay, hotshots!” Berry Punch said during the morning, strangely five hours earlier than the time they usually find the drunk mare staggering about District Twelve “You two have one of two options to do during training today and I could probably guess which one you’re gonna take”

The two Tributes, Sparkler and Caramel were sitting at the table, groggily eating their breakfast as they tried their best to keep awake. They were woken up from their slumber at five o’ clock in the morning, which was two less than Sparkler’s usual wake up time. She gave out a hefty sigh as she tried to imagine a session talking with Berry that didn’t involve any alcoholic beverages being chugged down the Earth pony’s throat like it was her last.

She couldn’t

Oh, how she wished she could talk with Octavia again. At least it made her feel more enthralled. For some reason, she had an air of elegance which only somepony like Rarity could attain. She went out of her way to explain the Afonos to the mare and even risked getting killed by writing down her name. Sparkler liked that about the mare, still keeping her composure while proving to be a strong mare on her own.

“Now then, Hawkeye. Which one do you want?” Berry asked as she slammed a hoof on the dining table

“Beg your pardon?” answered the mare without as much as batting an eyelid “I wasn’t giving a damn shit on what you were saying”

“Oh, I knew that” laughed the plum mare “Anyway, you either get to hide your true potential until the final day, in about a week, or you could just go crazy and fuck everything up just for the hell of it and hope you could scare those Gamemakers enough to give you a ten out of ten…”

“One”

“… Obviously, you’re gonna choose option two and – a homo say what now?!” Berry exclaimed in shock when she heard the answer

“Pfft, get real. I’ve seen the past years’ Games, and I’m gonna get a flat out ten this time. Still, I’m a great hunter but I still need to learn some survival skills. That’s what my dad would have wanted me to do. Heck, even my mom would tell me to learn how to cook without burning up the entire forest first”

“I guess I’m with her” Caramel spoke up “I’m not that good with weapons anyway, probably should get prepared”

“Go for a knife” advised Berry as she took a swig out of her beer can “They’re small and simple enough to use without much trouble. If you plan on going down in style, I suggest a dagger”

The Earth pony then finished her can and plopped onto the floor, presumably dead. Still, it was too much to hope for. Trixie who was receiving multiple praises from Fancy Pants and Fleur by showing off her magic noticed the time and told the two ponies to get ready. Their training session was about to begin, and they needed to be early.

After the usual death threats from Sparkler about training at six thirty in the morning, the two ponies went back to their rooms and got ready to change. It was in her room that she saw Octavia once more, sitting by the untameable bed and admiring the beautiful phoenix pin owned by Sparkler. Still slightly grumpy from waking up too early, Sparkler jumped on the bed just to laugh at Octavia’s bewildered face and looked at the grey former musician.

“So, how’s it hangin’?” she asked with a slight smile on her face

“So-so” answered Octavia “Listen, you need to be careful from here on, okay?”

“Why’s that?”

“They’ve got hidden cameras around the whole place, and I don’t think they like us conversing as if we are friends”

“But we are, right?”

“Of course, but my food rations have dropped dramatically this morning and I am sure the Canterlot ponies have something to do with this”

She then handed out a black shirt and pants with red lines running down the sides. It was most probably the training suit, and Sparkler couldn’t help but to think about how strange she’ll look in that. Magenta doesn’t really work well with black, she guessed. Still, she took it and hastily put it on. When she was done, she looked into a mirror and sighed.

“Has anypony ever told you that you are one beautiful mare?” Octavia asked with a warm smile, placing the phoenix pin back onto the table.

“I don’t think about it much” was all Sparkler said

Bidding farewell to the Afonos, promising to loosen their friendship, Sparkler trotted to the main lobby where Caramel and Trixie were standing, with the latter talking away about her many goals and achievements (“In your dreams, Trixie” Sparkler muttered). Sparkler was wearing a similar suit while Trixie was sporting her usual cape and hat. Together, they rode the elevator to the basement where the training was supposed to be held.

Reaching the basement level, the three ponies entered a pair of giant metal doors, built in to probably stop some poor twat from killing himself by accident in a mad dash for the toilet. Sparkler noted that all the ponies there were extremely fresh and ready to beat the crap out of each other, besides her. Did everypony really wake up that early? Hey, even District Twelve was just starting to hear the faint sounds of people yawning at this hour. Of course, that was what she thought. Doing a head count, Sparkler noticed one mare was missing: Lyra.

Giving out a loud sigh, Sparkler thought that it was obvious that there was a mare that was even more uncouth than she was. They waited for a good ten minutes before Lyra suddenly popped out through the air vents, her coat and mane smeared with dust and dirt. She landed on the floor with a loud thud and stood up, giving a slightly insane grin in the process.

The ponies all looked at her with eyes full of anger and resentment, but that didn’t change Lyra’s euphoric attitude. She apologised rather daftly about being late and said that she got lost, so she decided to go Splinter Cell and make a grand entry. Before somepony could remark on that, the head Gamemaker appeared and told them to get inside the training grounds, leaving Trixie and the rest of the escorts outside the metal doors.

Inside, there was a huge array of weapons and devices, all scattered around the area strategically. Sparkler gazed at all the weapons joyously and tried her best to memorise the exact location of everything. There were four separate sections: melee, ranged, support and advanced.

Melee was probably short-ranged weapons, ranging from knives to swords to brutal battle-axes that could chop off all the heads of a Hydra in one fatal swoop that you’d still be wiping off the blood stain off your axe until you’re in your late eighties.

Ranged was, of course, Sparkler’s specialty. Bows, arrows, darts, and all that whatnot besides guns because according to the universal law, killing each other for entertainment is completely fine and dandy but cock a gun at somepony’s head and you could get sued, or hanged, or forced to listen to endless repeats of Justin Beaver until your ears bleed out.

And then there were the support class. Sparkler knew that must be the place she should start out, learning how to give yourself a bandage and not accidentally dismember your legs in an attempt to stop blood from gushing out your finger like a fountain on summer. She should probably learn how to cook and tie knots, but she was a master of the latter thanks to her illegal hunting expedition with Braeburn.

And finally, the advanced weaponry. Weapons so confusing that it could probably take a few days just to understand that the super attack pea is actually lethal (an accident made by some arse a few years back involving said pea thought Sparkler to steer clear of the items). There were weapons of many shapes and sizes, but usually only one would get chosen to be thrown off into the arena to claim its first victim, most likely the one who found the weapon in the first place.

Ignoring most of the long, drabbling speech, Sparkler was relieved to hear that the Gamemaker was done and had trotted off, leaving the twenty four soon-to-be murderers in the care of each other. She said goodbye to Caramel who worked his way to the melee department as she trotted over to the support class department.

Surprisingly, the place was empty. Apparently, everypony with half the brain of an ostrich thought that they wanted to lay their hooves on the nearest crowbar or dual bladed sword of justice. Sure, Caramel went there as well, but he had a plausible explanation. To her disdain, Lyra came there as well.

“Hey, Sparkler!” Lyra said, remembering that she wasn’t a fan of the Hawkeye nickname “Funny thing you came here as well, eh?”

“Are you stalking me?” Sparkler asked bluntly

“What?! As if! I just thought you’d be cool to hang out with, make some friends and have a laugh or two and all that crap”

“Until we have to fuck each other up senselessly…”

“Especially until we have to fuck each other up senselessly!”

The mare kept on talking an talking as they learnt how to cook, camouflage, heal and do a tap dance (in case of a tap dancing emergency). Surprisingly, Sparkler didn’t once scream at the mint Unicorn. Maybe hanging around Berry Punch for too long made her feel that a motor mouth like Lyra is actually manageable.

“… So anyway, what do you think of the Gamemakers?” Lyra asked, snapping Sparkler for her daydream of slitting Lyra’s throat open

“What about ‘em?”

“Think you found anypony that might give us a high score?”

Sparkler looked at the multiple ponies scattered around the area in formal clothing. They were all stuck up jerks and Sparkler was positive of that. However, one of them managed to catch the Unicorn’s attention. He was a light brown stallion with a somewhat spiky darker brown mane. She knew she must have seen that Earth pony before, but she couldn’t get a clear view of the stallion. He was too far away, after all.

“Seems impossible unless you’re in the Alpha Team, but we’ll manage” Sparkler said “You know, why don’t you try out the advanced weapons? Those look like fun”

“Good idea! I’ve been setting my sights on this thing over there! I think they were called chakrams or something but they were real cool!” Lyra then trotted off but looked back and waved a hoof, shouting “May the force be with you!”

Confused as to what that was even supposed to mean, Sparkler decided to end her support class lessons and go for a few weapons handling courses. She met Caramel in the melee section, practicing the uses of a knife.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked, grabbing a butterfly knife and started to play around with it.

“Nothing much, I see you’ve made a friend” Caramel chided but was instantaneously met with a powerful uppercut to his jaw by Sparkler’s free hoof

“She’s not a friend, she just likes hanging around with me” Sparkler corrected as her mind absent-mindedly fiddled with the butterfly knife.

“You know, you should probably be careful with that. Lots of ponies got hurt with that and gave up”

Sparkler looked at the item in her hoof once more, expecting it to b on the verge of being chopped off. Instead, she found that the weapon was still being fiddled around as if she was using it her whole life. Caramel, who was astounded by the feat, quickly asked if she had ever wielded one before.

“I- I dunno! It’s the first time I’ve even seen this thing!” Sparkler retorted

She looked around and saw a Gamemaker watching her with amused eyes. It was the same one, the brown stallion with the darker brown mane. The stallion gave a wink and trotted away, showing his arse to be emblazoned with the mysterious image of…

“… An hourglass…” Sparkler mused

“Whassat?” Caramel looked at her questioningly

“That Gamemaker, he looks just like my dad! Even has the same Cutie Mark as him”

“Impossible. He’s supposed to be in District Twelve, or at least somewhere close since he was involved in that… explosion… Anyway, you’re probably just imagining things again. Seriously, first with the Nightmare Moon thin and now this? You should probably try and get yourself cured from your paranoia”

“I am NOT paranoid!” scoffed Sparkler, tossing the butterfly at the Caramel-coated equine and missing by only an inch “I’m just worried, okay? Ass hat…”

“Anyway, I’d better go and practice over at the support department” Caramel said quickly when he noticed things were starting to get a little out of hand “See you back on the twelfth floor?”

“Whatever, you lousy prick” Sparkler grunted and reached for a spear

Caramel slowly backed off into the support area, leaving the amethyst mare on her own with a pile of dangerous weaponry. Sparkler took the opportunity to try out all the weapons there. What happened surprised her greatly.

The spear felt natural in her hooves , as if she was born to use it. She quickly threw it away and grabbed a war hammer. Same results, of course. She tried spiked hoof-gloves, knives, even a bayonet, she was good at everything. Feeling scared for some reason, she ran to the ranged weaponry section and tried the same thing. Crossbows, throwing knives, boomerangs, she mastered them all.

She had the ability to wield any weapon she wishes to.

The Resolution

Training sessions was a bitch.

Sparkler found that out instantly on the next few days, when she actually attempted to avoid every weapon or weapon-like item she saw. After all, who knows what else she could do with them? Worse, what other deep hidden powers did she not know about? She wondered if Caramel was having similar mysterious occurrences like her. Sadly, he might not have.

Right now, she was practicing how to tie complex knots. It was amazing yet difficult, sort of like smashing a brick into two with your bare hooves but finding it was impossible because the pony you saw did it practiced all his life and you’re there sitting in the hospital bed with hooves so fucked up you could get an award for most disfigured bone structure. After all those years in the forest, she never really thought that so many loops and twists could be made using a simple length of rope to easily ensnare enemies or small forest creatures. Working with her were Caramel and Mjolna. The latter seemed to be having the most trouble, but kept mostly silent.

“This is a task of knaves!” the tan Earth pony suddenly screamed a few moments later before storming off “I require sustenance before indulging thyself in the art of weaponry. Perhaps thy should just ask for your help in this task in the arena”

The two friends were already used to seeing strange behaviours like that, though, so they didn’t mind at all. After all, Lyra still somehow manages to impress them despite already pulling so many tricks up her non-existent sleeves. Still, Sparkler sort of hated how she always used the old Equestrian dialect while talking. Worse, she always says that they’ll work together in the Games. It’s not that she doubted the mare’s strength, it’s just that she didn’t think that teaming up would be such a good idea.

Finished with another knot, Sparkler pulled one end which quickly undid the knot. Caramel only grumbled slightly as he watched his friend continue with the next one. After all, she had magic. That, in some way, was still a factor of her making knots so easily.

“You need more practice” Sparkler said to break up the monotony

“You need to start practicing with your hooves instead of your magic” Caramel joked back

“You’re hilarious, you son of a bitch”

“Whatever you say, whatever you say”

They both looked at the Gamemakers walking around the area, all of them jotting down notes on the Tributes. Out of all the Gamemakers, Sparkler still had the urge to find out more about the mysterious brown stallion with the hourglass Cutie Mark. Caramel, seeing Sparkler’s gaze directed at him, pulled her head down.

“Do a stunt like that and people are gonna say you wanna date him” chided the stallion

“Well, sorry for actually hoping for some fucking miracle to happen” Sparkler silently screamed “Five years, ass hole. I’ve waited five years for some sign to show whether or not he’s dead and now he’s right in front of my eyes!”

“Lots of ponies look the same. Remember Colgate, Minuette and Romana?”

Sparkler grumbled, seeing the truth in that sentence. She knew the three mares very well, albeit each for different causes. Colgate was famous in District Twelve for her dental abilities and her fondness of brushing. Minuette, however, was a popular mare in Canterlot, who was the spokespony of Canterlot. She is the mare that usually hosts the Hunger Games. Well, not actually host, more like handles all the interviews and commentates.

Romana, though, Sparkler wished she didn’t know about her.

A friend of her father and just as mysterious as him. The two would sometimes go into the big blue box together for some time, but Sparkler thought nothing of it much back then. She had “died” along with The Doctor back during the mine explosion, and Sparkler actually bought all that nonsense. Now that she was older, she was starting to have doubts. In fact, she was questioning just what were the two ponies doing inside the big blue box together?

Ditzy Doo didn’t mind her, though, and that only pissed off Sparkler more.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Caramel asked once more

“Buck yeah, it’s gonna be a blast!” Sparkler said with a triumphant yell

No, she wasn’t. She was terrified, worried, confused and even felt hopeless for tomorrow. In fact, she felt like a small puppy that just had his eyes gouged out with a tiny stick so he couldn’t use those damn puppy dog eyes and get a free bone. She thought back to all her skills. Sure, weapons would easily make her seem powerful and in control. However, it would only make her seem like a ruthless killer… Wait, she was just a ruthless killer.

Maybe she could try out some Support-type skills, but those rarely ever ended with a score higher than a five. She even considered using fire, but she never actually had time to practice that. Hell, the whole “fireball playing” thing back on the lift might even just be a fluke with the dress. Or so she wished.

Still, her best bet would be to use the bow and arrow. It was, after all, her most powerful weapon. If she could somehow convince the Gamemakers that she could give them a real bloodbath with those weapons, she would have a big chance of getting a nice sturdy bow during the real Games. Yes, that’s what she should do. She had once asked Berry Punch and Trixie about it, and they gave some of the most influential words she has received her entire life.

“I dunno, *hic* whatever floats your boat *hic* I guess *hic* *CRASH*”

“Why are you asking me?! Or perhaps only I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, could help you! *SLAM* Wait, do you still need my help? Sparkler? Hello?”

Yep, real influential… Why did she get these two idiots…?

Of course, she did consider asking Fancy Pants and Octavia, but she had promised not to be friendly with the grey mare and she still considered Fancy Pants as one of those low-life Canterlot jerks. She did, however, treat Octavia better than the other Afonos, usually telling somepony else to sweep the floor despite the former musician being right next to the dirt she dropped in the first place. She even started warming up to Fancy Pants, but was still unsure of him.

“Any plans on what you’re gonna do?” asked Caramel as he started to get up after finishing up his final knot

“Bow and arrow, duh” Sparkler said with the same cynical tone she loved “What, you actually thought I was gonna do something else?”

“Well, you’re good with a whole lot of things, actually”

“Just face it. If it’s not weapons, knots or survival tips, what else can I do?”

“True, I still don’t know how you could burn juice”

“Shut up, you dick!”

The two then heard the shrill whistle noise once more, which meant that their training time was done. All the Tributes left the room one by one, meeting up with their escorts so they could go and enjoy a cup of tea and some crumpets together. Sparkler liked pissing Trixie off, so she usually just waited to leave last just to tick her off even more. Oh, how she loved being a sadistic bastard.

Caramel left first, knowing that it was best to not ask Sparkler to follow suit. He learnt that the hard way, and could never feel his jaw the same way ever again. He even wanted to tell Trixie to just leave first, but that might cause him to actually lose a few teeth so he just kept quiet.

When it was official that Caramel had left, Sparkler started to trot around the training area. It was the last time she’ll get to be in there for training, after all, so it was best she took a good look around. She spotted Lyra, waving a friendly hoof over at her while playing with some… things. All she could say was that they looked like spiked disks connected with chains. Avoiding her gaze, she continued to trot around until she heard the distinct noise of a foal weeping. It was so familiar… it sounded just like Dinky and even reminded her of Sweetie Belle.

Looking around, she saw a familiar face weeping. Of course, it wasn’t too much of a familiar face. It just so happens that she knew the pony in question. It was Apple Bloom, the youngest Tribute this year. Apparently, she was at the corner by the Advanced weapons sector, crying by herself. There was something about the young filly that attracted Sparkler towards her, so she trotted there. She had a weakness for these young foals crying, and hated herself so much about it.

“Hey, kid” Sparkler said with the most sincere smile she could muster “What’re you doin’ here all alone? Don’t you have, like, a brother with you?”

“Howdy” the filly replied with a thick Southern accent “Yeah, but ah told Big Mac ah wanted ta be alone. After all, we’re all gonna die soon…”

“I have a friend, just around your age” Sparkler said reassuringly “If she was here, I’m sure she’d be crying as well. After all, it’s not fair. None of it. And I wanna end it all. I wanna make sure that this is the last Hunger Games they’re ever gonna make, and I don’t wanna see you cry because you’re gonna be around to see it!”

“But that’s impossible…” said Apple Bloom between sobs “Only one of us gets ta live at the end. And ya don’t look like the helpin’ type. Ya’ll just look like ya wanna fight and all that. Why’d ya wanna do it?”

“Oh, I have some of my own questions I need answering” Sparkler said defiantly “Come on, I’ll walk you back to your place. This isn’t the place for crying, you’ve got a room for that back at your floor”

After a few moments, Apple Bloom decided to follow the amethyst mare back to the lift. She tugged on the Stetson hat that she wore, holding it tightly. Underneath it, Sparkler could see a bright pink ribbon tied to her mane. That hat wasn’t hers, thought Sparkler; it must be a gift from someone. After all, the hat was a bit too big for her.

Sparkler noticed Caramel and Trixie, who only gave a knowing nod and trotted ahead. This made the Unicorn blush in anger. She didn’t want everypony to see her as some softy. She just felt sorry for the kid, that’s all. Still, she sighed and continued trotting to the lift where only Mjolna and Lyra were still there. Apparently, they were two of the three ponies to go to the Advanced weapons sector, the third being Apple Bloom. When Sparkler looked at her Cutie Mark, she instantly knew it meant that her talent was building and creating things, so it was obvious that she wanted to go somewhere where she could tinker about with things.

When the four mares entered the lift, an awkward silence fell upon them. Even Lyra, who was known to make anypony laugh and break up even the most awkward of silences, was silent. It was strange, but it gave Sparkler time to think. If she had to die with other ponies by her side, these would be good ponies to die with. They were all strong, and their beliefs were quite good.

Based on what Sparkler had managed to gather from the three ponies, she knew that Lyra was actually trying to make friends with everypony since she was shunned back at District Five. Mjolna had some family issues, and she believed that these Games would somehow prove that she is worthy of something called Mjolnir. Even little Apple Bloom has a grandmother to take care of. Yes, they were all good ponies. She even wanted Caramel in the group as well, since the two had become rather close friends.

One by one, the ponies left the lift. Mjolna left first, but she looked back at the group and gave a nod before leaving and bid them the best of luck. Lyra was the next one off, and she advised them to be happy and joyful for tomorrow, since it could increase their luck. Apple Bloom left next, thanking Sparkler for accompanying her. When the lift closed, Sparkler felt tears forming in her eyes.

She would have to kill them, or even watch them die. This was the reason why she wanted to be as hard headed and cynical as possible, so she wouldn’t have to feel all these conflicting emotions. But no, Caramel had to be friends with her. Lyra just had to hang around her so much she actually liked her company. Mjolna just had to have that regal air similar to Octavia’s which made Sparkler comfortable. And Apple Bloom… she just HAD to remind her of home…

She was probably making things up when she was comforting Apple Bloom, but she had suddenly made a resolution. She WILL end the games. Even if it costs her life, she will put an end to all this torture and madness. It is her final resolution.

Before things could get out of hand, Sparkler wiped her tears away. And just in time, too, since the lift suddenly stopped as it reached the final floor. Once it was open, she expected to see either Caramel or Fancy Pants there to greet her like they usually did, but instead was met with Berry Punch. She doesn’t look as drunk as she normally is, but it was best if Sparkler thought otherwise. After all, what good could the plum mare be to her?

“Hey, Hawkeye” Berry started as soon as Sparkler got off the lift

“I told you to stop calling me that” Sparkler only mumbled in return

“I don’t really give a damn. Listen, I know things are getting hard-”

“I don’t need some stupid advice for tomorrow”

“-But if your heart says that teaming up is the best way to go, then do it”

Okay, that was new. For once, Berry Punch was giving actual help to the mare. But how did Berry know about her emotions? Was she stalking her? Probably not, she was as stealthy as a brick wall trying to fit in at the stick pony convention. Still, Berry had won these Games before, was there something that happened back at her Games that suddenly made her want to tell this to her? Sparkler decided not to think too much about it and just trotted off.

“I cannot and will not tell a lie” Berry Punch said “But I will say this: I faced the same dilemma as you’re going through right now. It’s written all over your face. No, Caramel and Trixie didn’t tell me anything either. Ponies are going to die, but you should probably let your last memories the best and most meaningful ones you could ever have”

“Right…” Sparkler managed to say, too much at a loss of words

She wanted to know if Berry Punch was going to say something else, but she felt confident that it was the last thing she wanted to say. She isn’t drunk enough to start thinking like a philosopher, so what was her game? Maybe, just maybe, Berry was starting to actually care for the two Tributes. Sparkler let go of another sigh before heading back to her room. Along the way, she crossed paths with Fleur.

“Aren’t you usually asleep by now?” Sparkler asked, seeing that it was quite late and Fleur usually needed her beauty sleep

Fleur nodded

“Don’t feel like sleeping?”

Fleur shook her head

“Then what’s up? You’re usually with Fancy Pants or Caramel”

The rosish white mare stood up and motioned Sparkler to follow her. Not feeling tired yet, Sparkler followed suit. They passed by everypony’s rooms, of which Sparkler could see that Caramel was busy sparring with his shadow and Trixie was writing something down. She didn’t know what it was, but Sparkler knew it must have been important. Suddenly she came to a realisation, where was Fancy Pants?

She was about to ask when Fleur stopped in front of a small room, the door left wide open to reveal only a table and chair being there. Sitting on the chair, sleeping away, was the white stallion himself. He seemed awfully tired, like he hasn’t slept in days. When Sparkler went closer, she saw that he was drawing up designs for dresses and clothes, most of which were crossed put and thrown into the trash bin. There were notes scribbled everywhere, stating things about Sparkler that made her quite shocked. The notes all spoke of her interests and personality traits, most of which were written on the designs. ‘Too frilly’ one said. ‘She’ll never like it’ said another. ‘Too colourful’ was written on another. Apparently, Fancy Pants wanted to make sure Sparkler was content with the next dress; he was losing sleep over it.

There was a note nearby as well, written with care and feeling as if it came straight from the heart. It was written by Fancy Pants, of course, since his name was signed at the bottom. She found several others, but most of them were thrown away. It was an apology letter stating that Fancy Pants was sorry he could not meet up to Sparkler’s expectations and that he wished the mare the best of luck for the Games despite them not being too close.

‘God, what is with all this drama today?’ thought Sparkler as she read through the letter

She looked behind her, noticing Fleur was still standing by the doorway. She had the same model-like smile on her face, but that smile had never lost its sincerity. She wanted Sparkler to come here so she could see just how much they both cared for her. So much in fact, that they were willing to lose sleep in order to make her happy. No, not just her. Both her and Caramel.

The amethyst Unicorn nodded and returned the smile. She was not going to let these ponies’ work go to waste. She’ll do her best; if not for them then for the ponies she promised she’d see again back at District Twelve. Ditzy Doo, Dinky, Sweetie Belle, Braeburn, Bon-Bon, even Pinkie Pie. They must all be rooting for the two ponies to survive right now. Her family might not even be eating or sleeping well, not with the knowledge that she was probably on a suicide mission.

Thanking Fleur before leaving, Sparkler left the room and headed back to her own room. She needed her rest for tomorrow after all despite being the last Tribute to go up. It always went that way, the numbers ascended as they went through stallion and mare. Oh well, more time for thinking about what to do in the arena. As soon as she reached her room, she plopped onto her bed and fell asleep instantly.

On judgement day, both Tributes could barely eat a thing. Berry, who also must have felt the same way during her Hunger Games, just let them mope around as she chugged down her fifth can of beer. Still, they needed the energy to perform their stunts.

“Eat” the word suddenly came, not from Berry, but from Fancy Pants “You’re going to need it, Mister Caramel, Miss Star. I only wish for the best for both of you”

Sparkler looked at her stylist as she remembered the events of last night. He still looked tired as hell, but he didn’t complain. Instead, he kept smiling as he sat down, levitating some pastries for himself. The smile never disappeared from his face which only made Sparkler feel worse. Finally, she decided to say something.

“Sorry about the way I’ve been treating you…”

“I beg your pardon?” Fancy Pants said

“I wasn’t treating you the way I should have, and that was sort of wrong of me. I guess I was just too caught up with the Games, I sort of looked past all your efforts to help me… us, to survive. And, well, thanks for everything”

“No, I think I should be the one to-”

“Save your breath, I ain’t buyin’ it” laughed Sparkler as she finally took a bite of her muffin

Caramel looked at his friend in astonishment. She has grown quite a lot in the past week alone, starting to make more friends than she ever has back in District Twelve for starters. And that act with Apple Bloom last night, it must have been the kindest thing she has ever done other than find food for the entire town. Sparkler saw him staring at her and yelled at him, which Caramel simply laughed off. He’d miss being friends with the mare and wished he could have spent more time with her.

Today was the big day, the day that might decide their outcome for the Games. It was important that they got a good score. If they did, then the Canterlot ponies would actually consider sponsoring them in the Games which would raise their chances of survival. Of course, Berry was already sure that the Canterlot ponies would vote for them. If one thing was certain, they showed more promise than the past Tributes and were actually working hard to win, something which very few District Twelve Tributes ever did.

After their extremely light breakfast, it was time to go. Before leaving, Berry Punch and the two stylists wished them good luck as they departed off with Trixie. Even the magician wasn’t as spunky and noisy as usual; surely she was worrying about the outcome of her Tributes. When they reached the training room again, however, Sparkler noted that all the escorts were as worried as Trixie. That made Sparkler wonder if their accountability is measured by how well the Tributes did in the training session.

One by one, the Tributes were called in to perform. When they came out, they were usually sweating and panting heavily, most with rage-filled eyes or on the verge of breaking down. Of course, Mjolna came out looking as calm as ever, acting as if she had done worse scenarios and nodding to Lyra and Sparkler as she trotted away. Unsurprisingly, Lyra came out with a wide grin on her face as she passed by the final three ponies, Apple Bloom and the District Twelve Tributes and told them that it was nothing. When Apple Bloom came out, she looked rather pleased with herself as well. She raised her hat as she passed Sparkler and took the lift back to her floor.

“You sure made quite a few friends, Sparkler” Trixie said as Caramel was called in

“Don’t mention it” Sparkler said emotionlessly

“Why, I-”

“No, really. Don’t mention it. Ever. You got that?”

Trixie nodded with a slight quiver, and they waited for Caramel to come out. Sure enough, he did come out later. He looked quite down, muttering something about the Gamemakers as he left the room. When he reached his two friends, he stopped for a moment.

“Better do a good job, the Gamemakers are getting restless. You need to really set the spark if you’re gonna get their attention”

He then trotted away.

“Amethyst ‘Sparkler’ Star” a loud microphone boomed

“Well, off you go, then” Trixie said as she got up “I suppose you don’t need me around, as always”

“You got it” Sparkler muttered

She got up and calmly walked into the room, but her heart was racing like a dog after chasing his tail for ten hours straight. It was going to be difficult, of course. Still, the mixed reactions that she got sort of made her wonder just what the judgement was like. She hoped that she could make a good score, but Caramel’s ominous message still rang inside her head.

Set the spark, eh?

When she passed through the large metal doors, she could clearly see the training room once more. Everything was in place for her to show the Gamemakers just how good she was… that is, IF the Gamemakers were actually focusing on her. Caramel was right; they were all too busy chatting with each other and doing other tasks. Out of all the Gamemakers, she counted only one that was actually doing his job right. No, wait, he’s asleep.

Anger boiled down Sparkler as she watched the group of ponies taking and just faffing about. Oh, no. She didn’t wait all this time just to get ignored. She noticed a cake near the Gamemakers, most of which were busy stuffing their fat faces with it. Sparkler quickly got an idea as she reached for the long bow and an arrow.

With deadly precision and accuracy, Sparkler fired and arrow straight at the cake. It struck it dead on resulting in a straight hole going through one side. The Gamemakers were shocked by the act and looked at Sparkler, whose grin was starting to get rather menacing.

“Wanna see a spark, eh?” Sparkler laughed “I’ll GIVE you a spark!”

She fired another arrow right above her head which struck the lighting square in the middle. The light suddenly burst into flames as Sparkler’s horn lit up. She wanted to see if her theory was correct, and now might actually be the best time to do it. An energy beam was shot straight at the fire which suddenly arced into what should have been a beautiful rainbow… made of fire! With another yell, the flames exploded which burnt the rest of the lighting and nearly licked the Gamemakers and the equipment. All the lights exploded as one and it sent sparks raining all throughout the room. Pretty soon, Sparkler was surrounded in fire which made the Gamemakers unable to see her.

An arrow whizzed through the flames and missed one of the Gamemakers by a nose. It stuck to the wall with cherries oozing o it like blood. Looking back at the cake, they were quite surprised to see the cake was missing all of its cherries, all ten of them.

They quickly put out the flames, using every last fire extinguisher and water magic they had at their disposal. When they had extinguished the flames where Sparkler stood at previously, they saw a note burnt to the ground by the very fire itself.

Enjoy the cake

The cake had melted from the heat of the fire.

Back on the Twelfth floor, Sparkler and Berry Punch were laughing hysterically as Sparkler retold the story of how she had burnt down the training facility. Caramel was trying his best not to laugh but was finding it difficult to keep in. Fleur was silent as always, but Fancy Pants and Trixie looked rather worried.

“What were you thinking?!” Trixie shouted “Do you know just what sort of punishment they would do to you?”

“Well, I’m practically already digging my own grave. Why not finish up the whole thing and make a light show out of it?” Sparkler laughed

“Although you have to agree, that was hilarious” Berry wiped off a tear of joy “Say Hawkeye, do you think we could hack into the system’s hidden cameras and watch it?”

“Apple Bloom might be able to do it” Caramel added “Or maybe Lyra, since she could do quite a few things that’s supposed to be impossible”

“Well, I guess it is not good to dwell on the past” Fancy Pants said as he took a raging Trixie by the shoulders “Come, the rankings should be on by now and I just cannot wait to see what our two warriors have managed to gain after a week’s worth of training. After you, Miss Trixie”

The group of ponies trotted over to the room where they had watched the recap of the chariot rides. Outside the room, she noticed Octavia, who was nodding approvingly of Sparkler. She nodded back, at least glad that they were on good terms. Before ponies could get suspicious, Sparkler leapt onto the couch and Trixie turned on the television.

Minuette was on, of course, as she usually was during the ranking of the Tributes. Sparkler suddenly noticed something odd about Minuette, though, as if she had a more determined look in her eyes compared to the last few years. Of course, she spoke nothing of it since nopony would believe her just like her suspicions on Nightmare Moon and the brown Gamemaker. Minuette spoke casually, stating that this year’s batch of Tributes had shown quite promising stunts and quite a few had high marks.

Going up from District One, Minuette spoke their marks. Obviously, the ponies from One and Two got scores ranging from seven to nine. It would be a tragedy if they didn’t get such high scores. Mjolna had received an eight, which made the two Tributes wonder what she has done. Lyra and Apple Bloom both got sevens, which was quite a good number. Even Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom’s brother, got a nine. Berry joked that he might have just needed to walk into the room and the Gamemakers would have already given an eight.

And then, the moment they have all been waiting for. All the ponies leaned in closer as Minuette spoke Caramel’s name and his picture came up. With a nice sharp tone, she spoke a number which made the whole group cheer.

Seven.

“My word!” Fancy Pants stated “That is just brilliant! Ponies will be looking at you to win, Mister Caramel”

“So, what did you do?” Trixie suddenly asked “I’m just surprised the Gamemakers actually noticed you since you were close to the end.

“Just a few tricks with a dagger, I guess” Caramel said sheepishly

“Shut up, it’s Hawkeye’s turn” Berry scolded

They all waited once more, as Minuette spoke Sparkler’s full name and her picture came out. There was a sudden gasp in her voice as her pupils dilated, holding the card closer to her eyes as if it was wrong. Sparkler wondered if she got a score so low it might actually make Minuette get a heart attack.

“Ten”

The room exploded in cheers and joyful shouts as they all congratulated Sparkler for the first ten in the past few years. Ponies hardly ever get a ten unless the Gamemakers were sure that he or she was going to win, or were just so powerful and insane that the pony intimidated even them. This made Sparkler both excited and terrified. She actually got a flat out ten, but now the burden of winning was weighed on her shoulders. Even back home, everypony must be cheering as they watched Sparkler’s picture with the number ten beside it, gleaming brightly.

“I am honoured to be your stylist, Miss Star” Fancy Pants said as he shook Sparkler’s startled hooves “But I do believe that the Games have only just begun”

The Interviews

Due to the exponentially high score that she got, Sparkler had become more and more popular. Every time she left the safe confines of the training centre, ponies would look at her and nod. Sometimes, she would hear hushed whispers in excited tones, though occasionally she would here a snarky comment or two. The attention was overwhelming, especially since Sparkler hated any form of large social events. After all, she was usually just a lone wolf with few friends, and her social awkwardness just makes things worse.

Of course, that had slightly changed when she was cast as the twenty-fourth and final Tribute to the Equestrian Hunger Games. She has actually made more friends here than she ever had in her entire life, even from ponies she never even thought of befriending. Silently, she wondered if most of those people would cry if she were to die.

'Get a hold of yourself, Sparkler' thought the mare as she shook her head in annoyance 'You're not some weak old fart who gets sentimental. In fact, you're gonna die soon, remember?'

As she was preparing to return to the training centre, she passed by Lyra Heartstrings, the unofficial best friend to the cynical mare. More than once, the mint Unicorn would suddenly appear and follow Sparkler around. Of course, Sparkler has grown accustomed to this and pretends that the insane mare was nowhere near her, despite wanting to team up with her if possible in the upcoming Games. Still, she didn't want to suddenly grow too attached to these newfound companions, she might go insane.

Lyra, as usual, chatted on and on about whatever came to mind. It could be about games and movies, or mythological creatures called humans (her favourite subject), or maybe even on the Games. Sparkler would nod and agree to whatever she said as they continued on their trot back to their new and possibly final home.

"So, what do you think the weather's gonna be tonight?" Lyra asked when they reached the front lobby of the training centre "I mean, I could just ask one of the Pegasi, especially those who are directly connected to District 2, but I just thought it would be cooler to ask somepony who knows nothing about what she's talking about"

"Wait, what?!" Sparkler snapped back

"Well, since you keep on agreeing to everything I say, I asked if you cheated on all your tests by rolling around a pencil that you named Sigma Striker V. Hehe, kimi no baka desu…"

"I have no fucking idea what you're talking about" Sparkler grumbled "And what the hell did you say at the end?"

The original topic already forgotten, Lyra explained to Sparkler about the concept of 'humans' once more. She claimed that the planet was once ruled by hairless monkeys called humans, and some of their races and cultures were known as Chinese, European and (her all-time favourite) Japanese. She started talking about something called anime as well, but Sparkler was already lost after the word human came out. It was no secret that she detested the topic. Well, at least Lyra also said that they fought each other until complete and utter extinction. That made Sparkler feel much better as she was aware that there are others who were much more ruthless and barbaric than her.

"So anyway, what do you think the weather tonight's gonna be, Sparks?" Lyra suddenly remembered what she was originally talking about

"I dunno" Sparkler admitted, ignoring the nickname Lyra was fond of calling her since recently "Clear skies, I guess. I'm sure good ol' Nightmare Moon wouldn't want the weather Pegasi over at District Two to make it rain on such a 'special' occasion"

The two of them stifled a giggle. It was also common knowledge that out of all the Tributes, these two insulted Nightmare Moon the most. Caramel was usually too worried about his own safety, as well as his friends and family. Apple Bloom was taught by her sister to not badmouth other ponies. As for Mjolna, she has better things to take care of.

Tonight. Sparkler loathed this night for as long as she could remember. After all, it was finally turn for the final few Districts to be interviewed by Minuette. It goes on for a few days, three or four at most, after about two days of preparation. Mjolna, who came from District Four; The blacksmithing District, had gone up two days ago. She must have had the shortest interview of all time.

"So, Mjolna, how do you feel about the Games?" Minuette asked "I heard you've made some friends here, are you worried about having to kill them later?"

"I have no time for such trivial questions!" Mjolna shouted "If anypony needs me, I shall be in my room"

Mjolna stormed off the stage, leaving behind a stunned Minuette and an even more confused audience. Minuette just smiled awkwardly as she told the audience to give a big round of applause for the mare. She was the last one for the day, thankfully.

The very next day, Lyra was the second one to come up onstage. By now, everypony knew about Lyra's mental instability, but she didn't mind. In fact, she seemed to bask in the fame more and more despite being laughed at most of the time.

"Hello, Lyra" Minuette started "How do-"

"Hi!" Lyra shouted "It's real great to be up here, did you know that? I mean, I'm actually on live television! Hi mom, hi dad! Wait, my parents are dead. Or were they? I can't really remember. I think I've met these two ponies with the last name Heartstrings as well, but they always pretended they didn't know me. Some ponies said I was dropped on the head as a filly! Could you believe that?"

"Actually, yes" Minuette muttered but was cut off by Lyra

"And have you heard of these cool creature called humans? I know you think they don't exist, but I'm positive that they do! The proof is written EVERYWHERE! In fact, I'm starting to think that we're not even real ponies, but rather a sort of physical embodiment of the mind of some human. I named her Lauren Faust, 'cause it sounds cool. Do you believe me? I'm sure you do! Wait, you don't? What is it? Or are-"

"Hey! We're out of time!" Minuette piped up when she noticed a Gamemaker holding a cue card that said 'Get on with it!' "Well, I'll be seeing you around, won't I?"

She quickly covered her mouth as she realised the terrible situation she had placed herself in

"Well, of course you're gonna see me around! Of course, that won't be for long. Soon, I'm gonna go into the arena and…"

The audience grumbled in unison.

Why was she suddenly so interested in friends again?

"This totally feels like SAO!" Lyra squealed when the elevator reached the third floor

"SAO?"

"Sword Art Online. It's an anime where 10,000 players get trapped in an online game and if they die, they die in real life!" Lyra's eyes started gleaming joyfully "Oh, that anime was just the best! Sugoi!"

"That… actually sounds interesting" Sparkler said which piqued Lyra's enthusiasm "Maybe we could watch it someday at your place"

"Sure! How's about tonight, Sparks?"

"Well, I don't think we'll be murdering each other senselessly tonight, so I guess it's fine by me"

When the elevator dinged, stating that they have reached the fifth floor, Lyra got off and wished her good luck for tonight. That was one thing that she could agree to: She needed all the luck she could get. She hated socialising, why did she have to do a damn interview? Didn't ponies already know her enough?

She thought back to the events of the past week or so. In just this short period, she had suddenly gained the ability to control fire and was a natural at every weapon she held. This was sort of cheating, and Sparkler couldn't agree more. Still, it was just stupendous when she could brag about how stronger she is compared to everypony else. Berry Punch commented that she was starting to sound like Trixie, and that instantly shut her up.

At times, Sparkler would attempt to use her newfound pyrokinesis, but to no avail. After the past two days of skipping her classes with Berry Punch and Fancy Pants, she would have thought that she would become more acquainted to her ability. It didn't take long before she found out that she couldn't create the flames, but could only become impervious to it and use readily made fire.

As soon as the lift stopped on the twelfth floor, Sparkler was prepared for the worst. She was supposed to be practicing for her interview with Berry Punch and Fancy Pants just now, and she just went ahead and skipped it. Berry didn't mind, it gave her more alone time with her beloved liquor. Fancy Pants was too noble to tell Sparkler off, and he would sometimes meet her before she went to sleep to discuss on a few matters. Either way, she was prepared to lose this round.

"Where have you been?" Caramel's voice wafted through the lift

"Great, it's Lover Boy…" Sparkler grumbled

Caramel sighed at his own nickname. It was given to him by both Berry Punch and Sparkler after the latter complained that she was the only one with a 'cool' nickname. Coupled with the fact that thanks to Lyra and her ability to perform impossible feats, they found out that Caramel actually had a crush on somepony back at District Twelve. Obviously, they thought of Wind Whistler, and he was stuck with the nickname.

"Listen, we've got about eight hours until our interviews, so I suppose we should have lunch" Caramel said "The stylists want to show us our costumes for tonight after that"

"But I wanna go on buck naked!"

"Maybe next time… Maybe next time…"

The two Tributes had a nice and long lunch with everypony else on the floor, excluding the Afonos of course. Octavia looked over at Sparkler with worried eyes, though, so at least Sparkler was sure that she at least still cared for the Unicorn. Trixie was going on about how she had managed to wow the entire Canterlot elites during her own interview, until Berry Punch stated that she never was, and most possibly never will be, interviewed by anypony other than her imaginary audience of faceless ponies. When she mentioned that, Sparkler shuddered as she remembered what Apple Bloom had told her just yesterday when she met up with her and Mjolna somewhere in the park.

"Mah sis' once told me 'bout this scary ol' ghost called The Slendermane…"

The two mares agreed to never look out the window or at a boutique ever again.

Several more tantalising minutes have passed, and the clock chimed one o' clock. Seven more hours until the interview. Before Sparkler could excuse herself, Fancy Pants had asked her to follow him to the stylist's work room. Grumbling, she followed the stallion into the chaotic room filled with silk, thread and lots of other things that Sparkler couldn't name. She passed a mannequin in the middle of the room wearing a tuxedo and gave it a good buck, sending it flying into a cupboard which she quickly locked. No way was she going to be standing in a room with that thing staring at her, watching… staring…

"Miss Star" Fancy Pants snapped her back to reality as he took out a few dresses he had worked on "I do hope you're prepared for tonight"

"Not really…" she admitted

"I know, and no amount of practice and training would do you any better. That's why Berry and I have agreed to let you slide. We thought it best for you to act naturally onstage tonight. I also have a few questions on your… ah… abilities.

That made Sparkler jump up in shock. Yes, every named pony on the floor knew about her pyrokinesis, but nopony actually spoke to her about that. Not yet, that is. But for Fancy Pants to suddenly talk about it today, it must have been important. After all, she was going to war in two more days. Still, she knew this talk was coming sooner or later.

"I have decided to search up on your skills for the past few days as you were out with your friends" he started as he tried to look for the correct dress "And from what I have gathered, you are one unique mare. Elementals, as they are called, are very rare to find. In fact, most Elementals would usually have a Cutie Mark which depicted of their elemental ability. Yours, on the other hand, shows three diamonds. Care to explain what that means?"

"I don't wanna talk about my Cutie Mark story" grumbled Sparkler in protest

"I didn't think you might. Anyway, your ability compared to other Elementals is also slightly different. You have a resistance to fire, and could wield it. However, true Elementals have the ability to conjure up their specific element and strike. They have no resistance to it, so usually they fire it quickly or set it off at a distance"

"So what you're saying is…?"

"I don't know what you actually are, but I have faith in your abilities. Just keep in mind that ponies are going to want to kill you first, especially since you got a ten on judgement day. You have an unfair advantage, since you have pyrokinesis and are a weapons master. I believe some of the Canterlot elites are also considering experimenting on you"

Sparkler sighed. Great, now she was making even more enemies than before. Well, at least she has the benefit of getting to kill these people later on. She was about to ask something, when Fancy Pants exclaimed something and took out a dress, made exactly for Sparkler.

It was yellow, which complemented her magenta coat perfectly. It wasn't anything too frilly or girly, which was fine with Sparkler. It also had that look of beauty to it, though, which was strange for the mare. Usually, the dresses were supposed to show the personality of the wearer, such as Mjolna's winged helm and armour and red cape which showed her strength and hidden power, or Lyra's white and gold dress that showed her pure soul and need to make others happy.

"So, is this supposed to show how cheerful and cute I am?" she asked "Because no one's gonna buy that whole load of bull shit"

" Actually, it symbolises grace under pressure, and your ability to make do of even the simplest of things" Fancy Pants answered as he took out the accursed mannequin and draped it on the thing "You are destined for greatness, believe me"

Thanking Fancy Pants for showing her the beautiful and elegant dress, Sparkler left to go back to her own room. She wanted to get a good sleep before tonight, so she wouldn't be too worried or stressed out. As she reached the room, a pony was waiting for her.

"What's up, Hawkeye?"

"Pretty good, Dionysus" Sparkler answered to the usually drunken mare

She had crossed that name when Mjolna and Lyra were talking about the old Gods of Equestria, before Celestia and Luna and obviously before the latter murdered her sister. When she told her about the God of Wine, Sparkler had a laughing fit as she imagined Berry in a white robe sipping wine. Sadly, she looked good in it. Berry even approved of the name.

"Wanna get some shut eye, eh?"

"Sure as hell"

"Don't wanna practice?"

"Nope"

"Good, 'cause I'm gonna make sure you don't sleep "

Berry slid out a newspaper article and threw it at Sparkler, who instantly reacted and caught it with her magic. She was about to taunt the mare but Berry had already left the room and was heading to her own room. Sighing, Sparkler looked at the paper and read it thoroughly.

When she had finished the article, Sparkler read it over and over again. No, this wasn't possible. How could something like this happen? Of course, she knew it was just a matter of time before Nightmare Moon started acting out. She knew just how much of a threat Sparkler was going to become, so she must have taken necessary precautions to make sure that she would be on her best behaviour from now on.

The article was also attached with a picture taken by an extremely fuzzy camera, one which made Sparkler's blood rise as anger coursed through her veins. It depicted Rarity, injured and battered, being tended to by a depressed Pinkie Pie and the Cake twins. The news spoke of how the mayor of District Twelve had been hastily changed in the past few days, and was now under the control of somepony named Prince Blueblood. Sweetie Belle had been living with Pinkie Pie as well, since they were kicked out of their own home.

She folded the article and placed it inside a small box filled with other trinkets that she treasured. Her phoenix pin, the pouch Bon-Bon's sweets came in, even the paper with Octavia's name written on it. She was going to get back to District Twelve and show that dumb Prince just what she was made of. She no longer had the need for sleep anymore, and she didn't give a single damn. Oh, how she wished she could truly make fire appear in her hooves right now.

After hours of restless sleeping (or just lying on the bed, plotting Prince Blueblood's downfall), it was finally time for the group to move. The two Tributes were fitted with beautiful attires, the yellow dress Fancy Pants had shown her and a black suit with red linings for Caramel. Fancy Pants commented on how amazing they looked, and Fleur nodded. They trotted into the elevator and exited on the ground floor, where a small carriage was waiting to bring them to the interviewing platform.

When they reached the area, they were obviously the last ones to arrive. It has become accustomed to everypony there that District Twelve was always the last one to come, despite Fancy Pants and Caramel's advices to get ready earlier. This took the most toll on Trixie, who seemed to be getting more and more pissed off every time they were late.

The group split, leaving Sparkler and Caramel backstage with the Tributes from Districts Ten and Eleven. They were going to be the last three Districts, starting with male and then female. That meant Sparkler was going to be last… again. Sparkler grumbled about getting a transgender operation next time to get done faster.

Caramel found two empty seats right in front of the District Eleven duo. Big Macintosh, who had only spoken one word at most in an occasion, simply nodded as he watched his twelve year old sister gloomily. They wore clothes that could be a cross between fancy suits and faming clothes. Apple Bloom even wore her Stetson hat that she seemed to prize so much.

The minutes trickled by as Sparkler's nervousness caused her to be unable to talk. She wasn't afraid of much, but talking in front of many people was always her fatal flaw. That was sort of the reason why she was ALWAYS sick during Show-And-Tell at school. Well, at least everypony would be bored by the time she was up.

"Apple Bloom, you're up" a mare wearing glasses spoke to the group of three ponies that still remained after Big Macintosh's epic one-word interview with Minuette

"Wish me luck" she said with her Southern accent

"Good luck, AB" Sparkler managed an awkward smile

"And so, there were two" Caramel sighed

The two of them had the next ten minutes free. That was the maximum amount of time anypony was allowed to speak during the interview, except Lyra, and Minuette always made the best of it. It was as if she was some kind of detective who could gather any clue no matter how tiny. And so, the two of them sat there… and waited.

Ten minutes are over, and the same bespectacled mare appeared once more and announced Caramel's name. The pony nodded and trotted beside the mare, glancing back at a nervous Sparkler. He was worried about the mare, but he needed to finish off his own interview before that.

Sparkler started pacing around the room as she waited for Caramel to be done and she could probably end hers the same way Mjolna did. But then again, everypony had already seen that and was most probably anticipating Sparkler to do the same. To ease her nerves, Sparkler poked her head out the room she was in and tried to hear what Caramel and Minuette were talking about.

"I've heard some ponies call you Lover Boy before, so does that mean you have a special somepony you would like to share with us?" she heard Minuette ask with that questioning tone of hers that made ponies want to spill out their deepest and darkest secrets. It was like she was using a spell or something, but her horn wasn't glowing.

"This is rather personal, don't you think?" Caramel blushed

"Well, yes. You don't have to if you don't want to. Of course, that would make everypony in the audience start shipping you with Sparkler, so you best think of a way to get out of this mess"

"I- ah, um…" Caramel stuttered as Sparkler tried her best to listen to the conversation before he finally said "There's this one mare… back at District Twelve…"

"Okay, I think I should save you from public embarrassment" Minuette laughed as she patted Caramel on the back "At least that special somepony knows you're thinking of her, right?"

"Most of the time"

Sparkler silently slid her head back into the room and gave a low chuckle. So they were right, he did have a crush on Wind Whistler. Well, at least whatever they were going to ask her couldn't possibly be as embarrassing as whatever they asked Caramel.

"Amethyst 'Sparkler' Star, you're up" the bespectacled pony called out to her.

Sparkler looked at herself in the mirror once more as she fixed her clothing. When she was done, she trotted along behind the mare. She loved this simple yellow dress, it must be the nicest one she has ever worn. Fancy Pants was actually pretty good in transforming her simple, ruffian attitude into a beautiful dress that she was probably going to wear just the once. The moment Sparkler stepped outside, though, her joy was quickly erased as Glossophobia and Demophobia kicked in.

The deafening roar of applause that greeted Sparkler was nothing she was prepared for.

All around her, she could hear ponies clopping their hooves together as they watched the mare trot towards Minuette. The blue Unicorn mare seemed to have a sort of devilish expression, which made Sparkler question if she was replaced by a clone since she has never seen this side of Minuette on live television before. It was like the Unicorn had been anticipating her.

"Ah, Sparkler" Minuette said casually, turning back into her interviewer expression which suddenly calmed down Sparkler "How are you faring recently?"

"Meh, pretty good actually" Sparkler said without much trouble which surprised even her, she was terrified of speaking publically to this many ponies "I'm currently paranoid of mirrors, windows, darkness, crowds, loneliness, empty spaces, crowded areas, mannequins, suits and forests, especially forests, thanks to AB's sister, but I'm good"

"Lemme guess, Slendermane" Minuette sighed

Sparkler shuddered at the mention of the name again, but quickly stopped when she remembered that she was being broadcasted live. Strangely, nopony laughed. Looking around, she could see that the ponies in the audience were also shaking slightly from fear.

Wow, Slendy's a thing. Who knew?

"Well, it gets the better of us, I guess" Minuette joked as she scratched her own mane with her hoof "Anyway, I'm kind of interested in your friendship. Ponies rarely make friends in these Games, but what makes you suddenly gather up a group of ponies and make best friends of them, knowing fully well that only one of you would make it out alive?"

"I… I…" Sparkler stuttered as she was at a loss to speak once more. Maybe whatever momentum she got a minute ago was already lost "I don't know! I guess I was just… just lonely. Then I started hanging out with Berry, and I got to know Trixie better. Even Fancy Pants was nice to me, and so is his fiancée. But when I look at Caramel, Lyra, Mjolna and AB…"

Sparkler's mind was suddenly filled with pictures and memories of the group hanging around. Caramel with his overly mature personality, Lyra and her random talks about humans, Mjolna's shadowy past and stoic expression, and AB's childlike sense of wonder. It was all so heart-warming Sparkler couldn't help but smile.

"When I look at them, I feel like I could trust them. I need them, just as much as they might need me. In the arena, I would want to team up with them if it's possible. If it turns out that we're the final team that makes it out alive, and we need to kill each other, I'll let 'em do their thing. After all, they've taught me more about life than I ever knew. Next to them, I think Berry's pretty cool too. Sure, she's a total ass and I'd love to beat her to a pulp, but her heart's in the right place. She knows just what it takes to rile me up enough to actually motivate me"

Sparkler realised that the crowd was whispering with each other, and had no idea what they were talking about. Were they bored by her speech? Maybe they didn't expect something so flimsy from the tough girl she usually is. Thinking of that, Sparkler couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

"You seem to think something's funny?" Minuette asked with a confused expression

"It's just that before I came here, to the EHG in Canterlot, I never would have even dreamed of doing what I'm doing today. I'd still have at most two friends, and I'd be a narcissist bitch who curses when she can't even spell 'gorilla' correctly. Heh, but trust me, I'm gonna win these Games and fuck up ol' NMM till she's begging for mercy!"

…

The awkward silence continued on for a good five minutes, wasting the precious time Sparkler had to be interviewed. Silently she cursed to herself. Of course the ponies of Canterlot love Nightmare Moon; She was their leader. Only ponies from Districts Three and below were the ones who hate the witch with a passion. Now, it seems like all hope of getting sponsors and being voted on to survive by these ponies were as good as nil.

When Sparkler looked at Minuette, realising that her ten minutes were as good as up thanks to her slip up, she was surprised to see a look of content on the mare's face. It was like she had planned this all along, waiting for Sparkler to lash out at the Queen of The Night. That must mean that Minuette has something against Sparkler, and she didn't want to find out what.

"Well, looks like our time here is up" Minuette finally said "It's been nice talking with you"

"Yeah, nice…" Sparkler said as she trotted off the stage, her eyes in deep shock

She stepped into the backstage where she was instantly met with Berry Punch and Caramel. They both asked her what happened, and how she ruined her chances so wonderfully quick. Sparkler was too shocked by the turn of events, though, and kept deathly quiet. It was impossible for anypony to talk to her now.

"Hey, Sparks?" a voice called out to Sparkler, making the mare finally look up. Lyra was standing there on all-fours, right next to the exit "You've had a rough night. Wanna crash at my place and watch Sword Art Online, like you said this morning?"

Somehow, Sparkler smiled at the mare and nodded anyway. She wondered how come Berry Punch and Caramel were unable to reach to her, but Lyra easily made her depression disappear. Maybe she just loved having Lyra as a friend. The best friend she could have asked for.

The two friends trotted back home to the training centre, ignoring the carriage and the ponies glaring at Sparkler with eyes full of hatred. This time, Sparkler didn't feel too bad. It was like being around Lyra just made her want to smile. Sparkler looked back and blinked, thinking she was dreaming.

Minuette was talking to the Gamemaker that looked like her father. They seemed to be in a serious conversation, and she swore they looked at her with proud eyes a few minutes later. All in all, Sparkler was confused and slightly glad that she had somepony on her side other than her friends.

"You're going to love Kirito, he's just so epic and cool!" Lyra chatted on, blissfully unaware of the stares she's getting from hanging out with Sparkler "And Asuna is just so beautiful and cute and strong. If I were a guy, I'd date her. Say, I have a show called Naruto. It's about ninjas and stuff. Wanna watch it later?"

"Sure, what the heck?" Sparkler finally spoke "I'm fucked anyway"

The Talk

Berry Punch had too many things to think of ever since Sparkler destroyed all chances of her getting a sponsor for the Equestrian Hunger Games by badmouthing Nightmare Moon two nights ago. Now, she was on the verge of insanity. After years of being a mentor, she finally thought that she gained a worthwhile Tribute to teach all of her tricks; not that Sparkler needed them. However, those skills seemed pretty useless now.

The twelfth floor had started to become rather silent ever since that night. Fancy Pants was always locked up in his room, probably busying his troubled mind with making suits and dresses. Fleur de Lis never spoke, so screw her. Caramel had seemed to make a pact of silence, not wanting to talk to anypony at all. Sparkler is nowhere to be seen most of the day.

As for her and Trixie, they started drinking.

A lot.

"We're fucked!" Berry shouted to no one in particular as she chugged down another glass full of beer

"Looks like it's back to the drawing boards for us" Trixie muttered, her face a little red from being sober "How do you think we could handle this? It's worse than last year!"

"I dunno…" Berry sighed

Trixie looked at her empty shot glass dejectedly as she heard Berry's answer. Despite the tense rivalry those two had, they were actually rather close; being forced to work with each other since day one made that happen. Throughout the course of their time together, they had come to a sort of agreement: The moment somepony decent gets chosen as Tribute, they would set a long, thought out plan into motion that would lead to the downfall of Nightmare Moon.

Looks like that plan will never see the light of day.

It also worried Trixie to no end knowing that Berry was at a loss. After all, she was a brilliant strategist. She didn't win her own Hunger Games by sheer strength alone, she was a genius. A prodigy, to be exact. Now, nopony would ever believe this plum coloured mare actually knew the square route of 546 down to the seventy-fourth decimal point due to her extreme drinking habit.

If Berry Punch was stumped, Trixie was much worse.

"Talk to Sparkler" Trixie said

"Can't find her"

"That wasn't a request; that was an order" Trixie said, steeling herself "You seem to be one of the few ponies who could force some motivation into that thick skull of hers"

A groan escaped Berry Punch's lips as she thought of how annoying the task would become. The Sparkler she knew was irresponsible and unpredictable, with a raging temper to boot. She would never see reason even if it was shoved right into her face. Still, she had her sense of justice; like her resentment towards Nightmare Moon. Maybe…

"Fancy Pants?"

"She only goes to him for her dresses, go figure"

"Lover Boy?"

"Hasn't been talking to anypony"

"How about you?"

Trixie glared menacingly at the drunken mare, but the act seemed hilarious due to the fact that she too was slightly drunk. She then raised her head proudly and continued on to get another shot of beer. Berry knew this expression all too well: She was too good for this kind of shit. Well, it's not like she had anything to lose anyway…

"Fine…" Berry Punch finally admitted defeat "But where is Hawkeye? Think you could do a scan to look for her?"

Silence filled the room for a few seconds as Trixie, finishing her drink, stared blankly at her shot glass. Her eyes showed grief, implementing that she was not at all fine. By now, Berry had known that it was best not to ask the Unicorn on her condition, she was too cocky to admit that she was in need of help.

"You of all ponies should know how much that would hurt…" Trixie sighed

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bash on your weak-"

"I'll do it" Trixie said as she got up

"Dude, you must be drunk as hell. There's no way in Hell that you could actually do it, especially with your magic-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she watched Trixie's horn start to glow a magnificent azure shade. Berry quickly cursed out loud, jumping towards the crazed Unicorn mare in the process. She was too late, though, as the spell was in motion. Trixie's eyes glowed a terrifying white colour as she, too, screamed loudly. The ear-splitting scream carried throughout the floor, but nopony came to her. It was as if everypony was busy minding their own sorrows.

The scream ended as abruptly as it came, but it meant that Trixie had done her job. Berry, still cursing at the idiotic mare's attempts at helping her. She alone knew just how much energy Trixie had to exert just for an advanced spell, though she was forbidden from telling anypony. She kept her mouth shut: It was for a friend, anyway.

"Levitation and Teleportation" Berry caressed Trixie's head as she dunked a conveniently placed bottle of water onto the Unicorn's face "That's what we agreed on what kinds of magic you could do without… THAT!"

"She's at the basement, Training Centre" Trixie muttered quickly as she quickly lost her breath "Go, you idiot!"

Placing Trixie's head down, Berry went to the elevator and punched the lowest level. It was a mystery, though, how Sparkler could get into the sealed chamber room filled with all sorts of weapons of mass destruction even though it was deadlocked. Still, with all of her powers suddenly rising up out of nowhere, Berry's surprise dropped quite a bit.

It rose higher again when she reached the basement floor.

The metal doors were wide open, revealing two Unicorn ponies inside clashing swords. The mint one was brandishing a rapier, stabbing rapidly at her sparring partner. The amethyst one, though, was wielding two longswords, slashing and cutting away with ease at the mint Unicorn. The longswords were also engulfed in flames, which gave the amethyst mare the upper hoof.

Watching intently as the two traded blows, Berry actually felt relieved. At least Sparkler was still doing training despite the rough crowd she had gathered two nights prior. She watched intently as Sparkler and Lyra both crossed swords with each other. When one seemed to get the upper hand, the other would surprise her by doing a sudden movement.

At one point, Sparkler looked as if she was on the verge of winning the battle. However, her final strike, a combo which was started with her shouting the phrase "Starburst Stream!", was suddenly deflected as Lyra suddenly levitated a giant shield to block the final strike. With Sparkler being hit hard by the recoil, Lyra took this as an opportunity to knock Sparkler with the hilt of the rapier, sending the Pyromancer down to the floor as her dual swords clattered away from her.

"Don'na saigo no kotoba?" Lyra said, the tip of her blade pointed directly at Sparkler's chest

"I just wish I could have told my best friend…" Sparkler wheezed dramatically "I love him…"

Lyra shouted the most overly hyped shout she has ever made, Lyra stabbed the sword down, releasing a splash of blood towards the mint coloured mare. Lyra then laughed, laughed the most sinister laugh anypony has heard. It was so evil that Berry Punch actually thought that she truly did just kill Sparkler.

The laugh soon started to sound kind, until finally she was just laughing happily, followed closely by another laugh: Sparkler's.

"That was sweet!" Sparkler laughed, levitating the pouch filled with ketchup and chilli sauce tied to her side "That really felt like the real thing!"

"Yatta!" Lyra shouted "You're getting better at those swords, too. Maybe one day we really will forge the Elucidator and Dark Repulser. That way, you really could become the Black Swordsman!"

"But black isn't really my colour…"

"Who cares?"

The two laughed heartily, either of them aware of the one pony audience. Not aware, that is, until Berry Punch started clopping her hooves together. The two mares looked at the pony as she finished clopping, and trotted towards the two of them.

"I came under the impression that you needed some help" Berry said "Guess I was wrong"

"What do you want?" Sparkler asked, a little harsher than usual

"To try and knock some sense into you. But like I said, you don't look like you need help"

"Well, duh-" Sparkler started to say but was cut off by Berry Punch once more

"But you need some hard core mental training! Both of you!"

The two mares suddenly both sat down, terrified by the loud commanding voice of Berry Punch. The mare looked at both of the Unicorns with a stern glance, trying to look for any sense of weaknesses. Her gaze softened, though, when she noticed none. Their faces showed only determination (and insanity in Lyra's case), as if they were prepared for what was to come.

"Tomorrow's the big day" Berry Punch said with a glazed expression "You both know that, right?"

"Yes" the two mares answered in unison

"I was worried you both forgot, judging by your actions these past few days" continued Berry Punch

"What do you mean by that?" Lyra asked with her confused expression

Berry Punch released a breath that she wasn't even aware of holding. She was prepared to get this answer. In fact, she had already planned on what to say to these two ponies once she had found them. It wasn't much, but she was going to at least correct all the wrongs that Sparkler may have unknowingly made, along with Lyra as well.

"Could you list me all the anime you've watched since coming to Canterlot" Berry Punch said with a sad smile "I heard you two are big fans of those shows"

Sword Art Online, Naruto, Accel World, and Fairy Tail. The two mares told the usually drunk trainer the names of four shows that they have watched. Berry Punch looked at the two mares questioningly, but they said no more. That made the older mare sure that they truly did say all the shows that they have watched.

She then looked at the weapons around the room, all scattered and battered up since they have been roughing them up during their training practices. She mentally questioned what those shows were actually teaching these two, but didn't speak it since she had other questions to ask as well.

"Don't you think you should be spending your last days doing something more productive?" asked Berry Punch, but was met with no response "Instead, you're wasting it by watching cartoons and mindlessly fighting with each other just for fun…"

"…We learn how to fight…" Sparkler started to say "We learn strategies and new ways to use weapons… Is there something wrong with that…?"

A sincere smile formed on Berry Punch's casual face.

"Well, that's nice. And here I thought that you two were watching some sort of romance or comedy show" she stifled a laugh "So, that's really what you've been doing?"

"You saw the fight, right?" Lyra spoke up, quite cheerfully "I'm getting better, and Sparkler too!"

"Yes, yes, you two were awesome back there. But why go through all this trouble? You do know you could ask for access to this room and an arena where you could legitimately cause damage, right? I'm sure the Gamemakers would allow some last minute training. Why break in and wreck the place up?"

Silence.

"You two are scared of what the Canterlot Elites and Gamemakers think of you guys, right?" Berry Punch said with her casual glazed expression, getting serious "Lyra, the Canterlot ponies already see you as a nuisance, somepony who would die earliest. Everypony is betting on your death, am I correct?"

Lyra nodded

"And Hawkeye, you know that everypony in Canterlot, District One and District Two are holding a grudge on you. You decided to cut off all ties with everypony else in order to protect your family, since you don't want them to get involved as well. You thought that you getting a Ten earlier made Nightmare Moon take it out on Rarity and Sweetie Belle, so you bashing on Nightmare Moon would surely make her want to kill Derpy and Dinky"

"So what if it's true?" Sparkler shouted "What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm going to remind you that you could do nothing to stop Nightmare Moon. Right now, it's not in your power. If Nightmare Moon wants to hurt your family, then she will do it. For now, just go and apologise to Lover Boy, you sort of made him responsible for your actions as well since he's also from District Twelve. Then, I want you to go into the arena tomorrow, and prove to those Canterlot Elites that you deserve to win, got it?"

The two Unicorns nodded slowly, and hung their heads low. They didn't raise them back up until Berry Punch had left the room, leaving them alone. Sparkler was speechless. She never would have guessed that Berry would actually give a motivational speech to the two of them. Still, it was for the best.

For the past two days, Sparkler had felt terrified for all the things that she had done to put District Twelve in danger. She thought that if she stopped appearing in Canterlot, nopony close to her would get hurt. Oh, what a childish thought. Now, the only thing that she has proven was that she was a coward: A coward too scared to come out in public anymore.

"Come on, Sparks" Lyra said as she placed a hoof on Sparkler's shoulder "Let's get ready for tomorrow, for real this time"

The Beginning of The End

After all the time that they’ve spent, the day had finally arrived. The day that no one had ever wished to appear.

Sitting in a bus designed for ponies, six Tributes were confused as to how they should be acting. This was, after all, the Canterlot Elites’ request. In the past years, each Tribute was sent individually to the departure area where they would be sent off to their doom. This year, thanks to a certain Unicorn duo, they had to cut back cost on sending the Tributes by sending multiple at once.

All of the Tributes are separated into four groups of six; all of them would be riding on four different buses along with somepony from their team. It was a very bold move indeed by the Gamemakers. In the first three buses, the pent-up tension in the air was lingering in the air, making it extremely uncomfortable for the Tributes. After all, why were they on the same bus with the pony they were supposed to kill? Sparkler knew that the Canterlot Elites were just dying to see what was happening.

This, however, seemed to completely backfire with the fourth bus.

“LINK START!” a mint green Unicorn shouted at the top of her lungs as she stood up happily, a hoof raised in a victory pose

“Lyra, you do know we’re about to die, right?” a timid and terrified Caramel spoke

“Yeah, but for some reason, I’m excited” answered Lyra honestly, scratching her head “It’s just like a zombie invasion. No matter how much you’re terrified of one starting, you would still be excited when it really DOES happen”

“True” agreed Sparkler, best friend of Lyra

Five of the six ponies were sitting around, lounging and laughing together as they were on their way to the Death Game. It was a very awkward indeed, mostly because they seemed to be talking as if they were on a trip to the chocolate factory. Even their escorts, all of which were either their stylists or escorts, felt unsure as to how they should act.

“Hey, Fancy Pants” Sparkler continued on saying, looking at the white stallion with a shine in her eyes “Thanks for getting this bus for us. I know it must’ve been hard on you”

“No, no, Miss Star. I know how much you need in each other, especially in a time like this” Fancy Pants said with a warm smile “Though, it was quite difficult. They originally wanted to put you in the same bus as the Elite Team”

“Well, son of a bitch” Sparkler grumbled but laughed

To be honest, Fancy Pants wasn’t Sparkler’s first choice as her partner during the start of the Games. She wanted Berry Punch to be there for her. If it wasn’t for her to tell her about the Games, then it was to comfort her. After all, it was Berry Punch who managed to snap Sparkler back into reality when she lost hope of fighting in the Games. Sadly, Berry overslept, so Fancy Pants had to take her place instead.

“So, Mjolna” Lyra said enthusiastically to the pony on her right “Are you happy with this? You know, being on the same bus?”

“I have no complaints” the pale brown Earth Pony aid with a commanding tone, though her face showed a sincere smile “I guess it’s better to be happy than to already send empty death threats”

“Waa~ Mjolna’s acting so Kuudere right now~ Kawaii!!” Lyra squealed which made everypony else giggle

“Ah hope we won’t have ta kill ya’ll” Apple Bloom muttered with a sad smile “Ah want us ta be friends till we die, and all”

Sparkler, who already considered herself as Apple Bloom’s sister, placed a loving hoof around the growing filly’s shoulders. Her brother wasn’t able to get on the same bus as her. Apparently, Fancy Pants didn’t manage to get the Gamemakers to allow Big Macintosh to join their little group. To make up for this, Fancy Pants and Fleur stayed up all night looking for a Tribute that could replace Big Mac, preferably someone as kind as the five ponies currently gathered.

“We’ll protect each other”” Sparkler said melancholically “Because that’s what friends do, right?”

“Yeah, we won’t let you die that easily” Mjolna, the other sisterly figure to Apple Bloom said as an electrifying shock could be seen in her eyes

“But what if we’re the last ponies standing?” Caramel asked with a sad tone. He wasn’t that close to the ponies of different Districts, and wasn’t sure how to act

“We’ll get there when the time comes” answered Mjolna with a weak smile as she too thought of that situation

Currently at the front of the bus, the five friends sat together along with Fancy Pants. The other ponies who were supposed to be in the bus sat at the back silently, not wishing to partake in the conversation. They didn’t mind. As long as they could have fun. Although by now, Fancy Pants was getting rather tired of the conversation.

“So, you ready, Sparks?” Lyra said with a smile that could melt anypony’s heart “Got your battle strategy ready?”

“You got that right, Lyra” answered the amethyst Unicorn “But I still don’t know if I should go melee or ranged…”

“If I were you, I’d go for ranged” Mjolna said silently

“Ya’ll could shoot them buggers up no problem!” Apple Bloom continued “Ah ain’t that good with all them bows and all, but I’ve got a plan alright”

“So you wanna go Sinon instead of Kirito?” Lyra confirmed “The sharpshooter… Well, if they’ve got the weapon, I’m sure you’ll make it. After all, Berry Punch DOES call you Hawkeye”

Caramel sighed as he heard the conversation turning this point again. On some nights, Lyra and Sparkler would invite either Mjolna or Apple Bloom to watch those cartoons they called anime together. They weren’t borderline obsessed like Lyra, but at least they could understand those random inside jokes. Caramel wondered why he was never invited.

The conversation was at full swing, but Fancy Pants said that he was rather tired and went to the back to meet up with his lover, Fleur de Lis, who was accompanying Caramel. Trixie, who could also accompany the stallion, was unable to do so because of her weak state. She seemed to have used up a lot of her magical reserves, and was on the way to using up her own life force.

As he trotted along, Fancy Pants stopped by the idle of the bus, noticing a Pegasus that was probably sixteen years old, the final year of the Tribute list, sitting silently as she gazed at the outside world through the glass. The mare seemed to be lost in thought until she realised that there was somepony behind her, so she turned around to look at the stallion.

“Why don’t you go and talk to them? I’m sure they could easily accept you as they have accepted themselves” Fancy Pants said with a kind smile

“No thanks, I’m just wondering why my name had to come up this time…” the mare sighed “Ugh, after all this time, I’m still chosen”

“It seemed that the odds were not at your favour” Fancy Pants said silently “Don’t hurt yourself, child”

“I’m not a kid, sir!” the mare suddenly shouted, but quickly covered her mouth and blushed, smiling awkwardly in the process “Oops, sorry. I didn't mean it like that”

“Never mind, I am fine with your thoughts” Fancy Pants said as he patted the mare’s mane and turned around “I hope you would survive until the end, Thespian”

The mare, Thespian, nodded as she fixed her gaze back out the window. She felt awkward being here, since she was such a different pony back in District Seven. She was a cheery and happy mare, with lots of friends and a beautiful smile that other ponies said was angel-like. She knew that she had to live life to its fullest, especially since she had that illness…

“What’s so bad about a harem?!” Sparkler’s loud voice broke the silence that Thespian was hoping to build

‘Maybe these ponies aren't so bad after all’ though Thespian as she gazed out the window, though a smile was forming on her lips

“I’m just saying that it’s unconventional and illogical” Caramel shrugged “Honestly, how could one guy get, like, five girlfriends”

“But that’s the joy of it!” Lyra agreed with Sparkler “You’re in a bus surrounded by four, no, FIVE beautiful mares, and you’re saying that you’re not planning on hitting on any of us?!”

“Well, most of us are gonna die, anyway… so-” Caramel continued, but was cut off by Sparkler

“Dude, just how idiotic could you be? Just go with the flow, or is the pony you have a crush on a stallion-”

“NO, SHE’S NOT!”

“Ah’m just surprised ya could just ignore a bunch of mares without gettin’ any of them dirty thoughts” Apple Bloom joked

“Are you sure you’re straight?” Mjolna decided to join in on the fun

Caramel shouted loudly as he couldn’t stand being ridiculed. Of course he was straight! Why else would he have a crush on Wind- never mind. He crossed his fore hooves and pouted, making the mares laugh. Right now, he looked really childish.

“We’ve mostly got the whole harem, anyway” Sparkler joked “I’m the Tsundere, Lyra’s the Yandere, Mjolna’s the Kuudere and Apple Bloom’s the cute little Loli that everyone just wants to hug”

She then proceeded to hug Apple Bloom, making her squirm and shout.

“Hold on, isn’t Yandere the term used for those happy-go-lucky ones that are actually mentally unstable and could get extremely dangerous in a cute way?” Mjolna asked, making Caramel sigh at the nonsense they were spouting

“Yeah!” both Sparkler and Lyra said, earning some strained laughter from Mjolna

The joy and laughter carried on until they reached the departure area. Here, the five friends plus one all waved good bye to each other and promised to look out for each other, a statement which made Thespian ask if they were delusional. Sparkler laughed and said that the mare wasn’t as bad as most of the Tributes, and hoped that they could be friends.

As the team separated to go to their respective areas, Fancy Pants smiled at his accomplice which made her feel rather uneasy. She asked if there was anything wrong, to which Fancy Pants continued to smile and stifle a laugh.

“You have changed drastically since the first day I’ve met you” Fancy Pants stated without hesitation “To think that you were the one that offered to become Thespian’s friend this time around. In the past, you would have made some snarky comment and didn’t give two bits on anypony else”

“I guess Lyra must be rubbing off on me” Sparkler joked lightly “But I still feel the same way inside. I still hate Nightmare Moon, and I want to protect my family no matter what. I guess I’m not as cynical as I used to be, but I’m still an awesome fighter!”

“As you say, Miss Star”

When they reached the room Sparkler was supposed to spend her last moments of peace, Sparkler thought back to her last night at the training centre. It felt like a long time ago she was apologising to Caramel for being so distant the past few days, but she knew that it only happened a couple of nights ago. She had spoken with Berry and Trixie as well, but the latter seemed to be extremely weak. Maybe it was because of the stress, or something else, Sparkler didn’t know. What she did know was that she was terribly injured both mentally and physically.

She then spoke to Octavia, whom she had not spoken to in a long while. This time, she didn’t care about the consequences. Why? She managed to persuade Lyra and Apple Bloom to help her hack into the system’s hidden cameras. At that time, the cameras would only record Sparkler sleeping soundly on bed.

“Please make it back alive” Octavia said with a tinge of sadness “You were the first pony in a long time to actually consider me as a friend. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t see you again”

“I’ll work hard, Octavia!” Sparkler promised at that time

And she intended to keep that promise, the same one she told Dinky not too long ago.

“Miss Star” Fancy Pants called out politely

Sparkler turned around, noticing that Fancy Pants had something in his hooves. Of course, all Tributes are given some form of clothing on the day that they are sent into the arena. In Fancy Pants’ hooves, Sparkler noted that it was a green jacket with white linings and a scarf. She also saw something she never thought she would see again, since she had forgotten to bring it with her when they got into the bus.

“The Phoenix Pin! Arigatou!”

“Yes, I thought you were going to need this” Fancy Pants replied with a fatherly smile

He helped Sparkler into the green jacket and fixed the white scarf around Sparkler’s neck. He then carefully pinned the Phoenix themed pin onto her jacket. When he was done, Sparkler looked into a full body mirror and suddenly laughed, which made Fancy Pants ask whether she was fine.

“No, I just look a whole lot like Sinon!” Sparkler continued laughing “Maybe I really should become a long-ranged user later on”

“If you suppose that is for the best, then I will be supporting you” Fancy Pants agreed

An announcement was made, stating that all the Tributes had to enter the cylindrical object that would teleport them to the arena. Sparkler muttered a goodbye to Fancy Pants and hurriedly trotted over to the device. She was only halfway there when the doors suddenly slammed open, revealing five guards in dark purple armour. Three of them rushed in and pinned Fancy Pants to the wall, instantly immobilizing him.

“Nani?!” Sparkler shouted, only to get knocked down by another guard before she had the time to respond

The sound of Fancy Pants screaming Sparkler’s name could be heard, but Sparkler was too weak to answer him. When she managed to regain her bearings, she felt a powerful hoof lock on her back. She managed to turn her head slowly, only to see the face of an armoured Unicorn guard levitating a syringe above Sparkler.

“I apologise, but this is Nightmare Moon’s orders” the guard said quickly before inserting the pin of the syringe into Sparkler’s fore hoof and injected the strange liquid into her body

A loud shout came out of Sparkler’s mouth, screaming and wailing in agony as her body seemed to burn up tremendously. Her muscles ached, her throat felt dry and a stinging sensation quickly immobilised the mare. Sparkler still felt her whole body aching and burning in pain when the guard unceremoniously threw Sparkler into the teleporter.

A light blue light suddenly surrounded Sparkler, and when she came to she noted that she was no longer in the room. Her screaming had stopped, but she was lying sprawled on a silver plate-like object. She groggily stood up, ignoring the burning sensation, and looked around her. All the other tributes were there, though none seemed to have seen her in pain. They were all looking at a bunch of packs sprawled in the middle of the circle the twenty four of them made.

The mare noticed that she was the only one with the scarf, but didn’t really care. She tried to fix it by using her magic, but realised that nothing happened. Quickly fixing the scarf with her hooves, Sparkler tried to use any form of magic on herself.

Nothing happened.

A wave of panic suddenly engulfed the mare as she felt ultimately exposed, weak even. She dared not cry out, she knew that most of the ponies here were aware of her abilities. The fact that they didn’t know that she couldn’t control anymore was enough for Sparkler. Just as she thought nothing else could go wrong, a timer counting down from sixty suddenly appeared above the pile of supplies and weapons.

“Let the twenty-ninth Equestrian Hunger Games…” the voice of the commentator, Minuette, echoed through the area as the number reached single digits “BEGIN!”

“FUCK!!”