The Equestrian Hunger Games - Act I: Reigning Darkness

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.