My Little Tribute: The Pony Games

Chapters

The Reaping
Saying Goodbye
Sound Advice
On Display
Safety in Numbers
A Scratch
Luck of the Draw
Snow
A Blaze of Words
May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor
The First Day
Woods
Prologue

The Reaping

As previously stated, I’m not good at fighting. I had never fought before in my life, unless you count that time Vibrant stole my sandwich at lunch. I gave her a good beating for that. Still, fighting is not my forte. I couldn't kill somepony, not even if my life depended on it. Every year, as I watched the Games, I would imagine what I would do if I were picked. I guess I would hide and wait for death.

My family is reasonably wealthy, for the poorest District that is. My mom is a seamstress, and my dad is the foreman over at the mines. I took up playing the cello, and that earns us some extra bits in hard times. It’s funny, what I can do with music. I’m somehow able to... influence people. Not mind control or anything, just when I play, people seem to forget their troubles, and lay back to enjoy my music. I always get at least one bit from everypony listening, even from the cheapest or poorest in the District. My cutie mark showed for it. The music note had appeared on my flanks back in fourth year during music class. We had just started the cello, and since the school could only afford three, we took turns. When it was my turn, everypony was silent, just staring at me in awe. The teacher even began to cry, saying it was the most beautiful thing she had heard.

After that, no pony really paid attention to me. I don’t strive to be noticed, I just... exist. I try to live out my life. I guess I’ll find myself a nice stallion or mare to settle down with soon enough. It’s my last year in the Reaping for The Pony Games anyway. After this, I’ll finally be an adult.

The morning of the Reaping for the 74th Pony Games was like any normal one. I ate my breakfast, brushed my teeth, practised my cello for about an hour, then headed out into town. My mom wanted me to get some things from the market anyway, so I took the list from our counter, grabbed my saddlebags along with my cello, and headed off. On the way there, I bumped into Roseluck. She’s the florist's daughter, and my best friend. We’ve know each other since we were fillies.

“Hey, ‘Tavia!” Roseluck bumped my shoulder, and smashed her head into mine. For somepony who grew up all around flowers and nature, you’d think she’d be a little less rambunctious. Nope, she was the District's biggest tomboy, and always insisted we greet with a shoulder brush and a head smash.

Shaking the dizziness off, I smiled back at her. “Hey, Roseluck. What’s been going on with you?”

Roseluck smiled and rolled her eyes. “Nothing really. Mom’s pregnant again, though.”

“What? Don’t you already have three sisters?”

“And two brothers, don’t forget that. They go at it like rabbits every night, so I’m not really surprised. I’m glad I can get nine months of uninterrupted sleep.”

I grimaced. “Too much, Roseluck. I did not need to know that.”

Roseluck laughed. “Well... what’s up with you?”

I gave that some thought. Nothing really interesting was going on in my life. “Nothing really. You know me. I’m just that boring mare who plays the cello.”

Roseluck smiled at that remark. “Aw, come on... you must have something interesting to tell me!” I shook my head.
“Sorry, you’re out of luck, filly. I’m heading off to the market to play to get us some bits for grocery money.”

“Yeah, because I couldn’t tell that by the cello sitting on your back.”

“Hey, for all you know, I could have been using my cello for something else.”

“Like what?”

“You know, fishing.”

Roseluck bopped my head. “Silly filly. Anyway, mom wants you to convince your dad to raise my dad’s salary a bit. You know, with the new foal coming and all.”

My dad was a good hearted stallion, and him and Roseluck's father had been friends for years. I guess that’s one of the reasons me and Roseluck knew each other. We had been destined to be friends since birth. “Sure, he’ll be glad to do it. All your dad needs to do is ask, they’ve been friends forever.”

My friend nodded. “Alright, I gotta get back to my place. Shop opens in ten minutes and I’m running counter today. Good luck at the Reaping!”

I smacked myself mentally. Today was the Reaping! “You too!”

Trotting off to the market, I went over to the corner where I normally play. Today, something was different. A thin unicorn with a rag tied over his head and horn was standing on the makeshift stage and preaching to a small group of onlookers.

“... I’m telling you! District 13 is still alive and functional! Discord just wants everypony to think he can go and obliterate whole Districts like that to instil fear into us! Well, he hasn’t got me fooled! Anypony who wishes to join me, I’ll be leading an expedition out into the wild to find the District! Come tonight at-”

“Excuse me, sir. That’s normally where I play my cello.” We got crazies like this all the time here. I think it might be something in the water. Or genetics, I’m not sure, and really don’t care. The other day we had three mares who were convinced that Roseluck’s dandelions caused non-pegasi to swell up and float away when eaten. The Peacekeepers normally dealt with this deranged ponies though. While I can’t say I can agree with their methods, I suppose it’s the only way to get them to stop.

The stallion gives me a glance. “Oh. You’re the cello girl. Then my time is up.” The strange pony used his horn to levitate pamphlets to the small crowd. “Anypony interested in leaving for a better life, take one of these and meet me at the fence tonight!”

The unicorn left, and I got up into the stage. More ponies gravitated towards the crowd as I put my bow to the strings. I started off with a simple melody, a calming tone to take pony’s minds off the Reaping. More and more showed up to listen.

Once I was finished with that score, I moved on to another, one that was slightly eerier, one to fit the mood of the day better. The ominous notes soared through the quiet air, and even the merchants stopped selling to come and join the crowd. I ended the track with a shrill screech from the strings.

Everypony was silent. Then, one by one, they began stomping their hooves into the ground, cheering and calling for more. I shook my head, and told the crowd “Sorry, that’s all for today. With the Reaping and all.”

The ponies deposited their bits into the small crate I kept near the stage for such a purpose, and departed, going back to the normal marketplace lifestyle. I looked in the crate. A heavy haul today! I went off to buy the groceries. Even after I was finished purchasing the food, I still had plenty left over.

The bell tower rang, bringing me back to reality. It was noon! The Reaping was starting! Rushing home, I opened the door to the kitchen to drop off the food, when I saw my mother crying.

Most ponies assume I’m an only child. That’s not true. I had an older sister who was picked as a tribute back when I was still a little filly, before I could even remember. She wasn’t as lucky as to win. My dad recalls that they sent her body back in a small box. The only thing that they could salvage was her left front hoof. The rest... I guess they had the decency not to send the rest.

I trotted over to my grieving parent. “Shh... it’s ok mom. I’ll be fine.” I brushed her mane with my hoof. “I’ll be fine...”

My mother sniffed, and looked up at me through watery eyes. “I’m sorry... Octavia, it was so hard on us... most days, I try not to think of it... but the Reaping...” My mother burst into tears once more. It’s days like this when I despise Canterlot and all they’ve done. I’d despise them more... but there’s no use in that. I’d just end up surly, hating everything if I dwelled on that too long.

My mother took a sharp intake of breath, and sighed. “Come on, ‘Tavie. Let’s meet up with your father. He’s with Roseluck’s family.”

I nodded, and put my saddlebags down. My mother and I trotted off to the town square where we spotted my dad waving us over almost immediately.

Joining up with them, Roseluck’s parents were trying to corral the foals. Roseluck met up with me, and we greeted each other in our maner.

“It’s Daisy Petal’s first Reaping.” I looked at the young filly. She had just gotten her cutie mark, three daising tied together at the stems. She looked very nervous.

I smiled reassuringly at her. “Hey, don’t worry. The odds of you getting picked are astronomical. You’re only in there once.”

“Yeah, I’m in there fifty-six times. If anyone in this family is going, it’s me.” Roseluck grinned at her sister. You’re added one more time every year, so I was only in there seven times. But seeing as Roseluck’s family had so many kids, and so little money, they opted for tessera, for extra grain and oil. So, she was in seven times herself, twice for her parents, once for each of her siblings. These stacked up every year, leading her up to a whopping fifty-six. I’m surprised she hadn’t been picked already.

Up on the large stage which the town erected every year for the Reaping, the Canterlot Royal Guards stood all around as the mayor stood up and read the short history of Equestria at he main podium which, the watered down one that praised Discord to no end, and read the list of fallen tributes. Upon reaching the 59th, my mother choked back a sob.

Rolling the scroll up, the mayor groaned and announced the only living victor of District 12. “And now... the only living victor of District 12... Hayseed Turnip Truck Sr.!” Hayseed stumbled his way up to the stage. As his name implied, he had a son which he named after himself, along with two others. The Turnip Trucks were a family of farmers, the only ones in the whole District. So, the only produce we have that isn’t shipped from District 11 comes from them. Unfortunately, they only grow Turnips, and I hate Turnips.

Victory was not easy on Hayseed. He took to drinking soon after, and became the town drunk. The winnings he earned from winning drained away, so now the family struggled with finances. Somehow, Hayseed had attracted a mare, and had a family. He wasn’t an abusive drunk, he was just... sad. Pathetic. I don’t know what his wife saw in him, but they had three children, so...

Hayseed staggered drunkenly over to the mayor, shook his hand, and collapsed into the stage. A few snickers rose from the crowd. Like I said, pathetic.

“Yes, well, thank you, Hayseed. And now, to draw the names of this year’s tributes... Hoity Toity!”

No pony applauded, or really did anything as the fancy looking Earth pony strutted onto the stage. the mayor backed away as the stallion took to the podium. Hoity Toity once was a fashion designer over in Canterlot, but was promoted to Reaping Overseer. We could all tell he liked Fashion far more, as he was assigned to the one district who never won.

“Yes, well, let’s get this over with,” Hoity Toity said in his drawling accent. I hated his accent. The way he enunciated his vowels, and they way it made him sound as though he was better than you... I hated it all. I calmed myself down. That was not the outlook I wanted to have.

“Well, let’s go for the mare’s first, shall we?” The stallion stuck his head into the large bowl which held the names, and spit out a piece of paper into the podium.

“This year’s female tribute for District 12 is Octavia Violone.”

Saying Goodbye

Hoity Toity’s voice rung in my ears. Had he really just called my name? No, this can’t be happening, it wasn’t fair... No, no, my parents had already lost one of their daughters, there was no way they were going to lose both of them! How could it be, me, of all ponies, when Roseluck was in there fifty-six times...

I looked back at my friend, who stared back at me with sad eyes. She bent her head down, and pushed me forward. I stumbled ahead, and ponies in the crowd slowly moved out of the way, no pony talking, no pony moving. Just silent and static.

“NO!” The cry shattered the silence like a rock thrown into a cracked window. I felt force push down on me as my mother threw herself onto my back. “NO! NO, YOU TOOK CHIME, YOU AREN’T TAKING OCTAVIA!”

A Royal Guard trotted over. “Ma’am, released the tribute, she’s in government custody now-” My mom spit into the Royal Guard’s face. Now she had done it.

The guard glared in anger, and raised a hoof, punching her right in the snout. She fell off me, and the guard unceremoniously dragged me to my feet. My mom was sobbing on the ground as I slowly trotted to my death sentence up on the podium. I nearly stepped on Hayseed, who was still out cold.

“Alright, now that that... unpleasantness in over, let’s pick our male tribute.” Hoity Toity once again reached into a bowl, this one containing male contestants. “Hayseed Turnip Truck jr. Huh. Well, what a coincidence.”

This wasn’t the first time I thought the Reaping’s were rigged, but this was when I was most sure of it. Me, whose sister was already dead from the Games, and Hayseed, whose father was a victor. This had to be rigged.

I scanned the crowd and saw Hayseed, who was very confused. He wasn’t a very handsome pony. It may sound mean, but when I thought of him, the first thing that came to mind was his silly buck teeth. At least he wasn’t wearing that hat with the turnip on it. That would have just made this situation unbearable.

Hayseed jr. had been in my class all the years I had been in school, but we had never been friends. Truth be told, he was kind off the laughing stock of the school, what with his looks, and his father.

Hayseed jr. walked up to the podium, and stood beside me. Unable to look at him, I stared off into the crowd. Hayseed’s mother and brother’s hadn’t broken down. Maybe they thought he would be lucky like their father. Well, lucky is a relative term in his case...

“Ladies and Gentlecolts, here are the tributes for District 12!” The guards led us down to the carriage while the mayor finished up with the closing speech. Hoity Toity got in after us.

“Thank goodness, we're finally leaving this rank District! No offense.” I was still in too much shock to be offended. How could this happen? My poor mother... and my father, whom I’m sure was just as upset about this whole ordeal.

The carriage stopped at the Government Building. “Oh, right, we still have to go here, for the visits and whatnot.” Hoity Toity sighed. “Oh, the things I do for this country.” I bit back the response I was itching to give him.

We walked into the building, and went up the elevator to the visitor’s rooms on the third floor. My sister had walked these very steps fifteen years ago...

I entered the one designated for mares, and sat down. My father was the first one to show up. He looked down at me sadly.

“Oh, ‘Tavia...” He gave me a hug. I was surprised to find myself still not crying. Either the shock had gone away, or the apathy had kicked in. We broke our embrace, and my father looked deep into my eyes.

“Octavia. Your mother... she’s not going to be able to say goodbye. She... couldn’t handle getting over here. And even then, I don’t think she could face you.” My father and I stared at each other in grim silence for several moments. He broke the silence by giving me another hug and saying “I love you, ‘Tavie.”

“I love you too dad.”

We broke apart again, and he stared me right in the eyes. “Try to win. If we lost you... I might lose her.” I nodded, and he left.

Roseluck walked in, holding something in her mouth. I looked, confused. It was a pin of a pegasus. Why would she bring me this?

Roseluck pinned the pegasus trinket to my hair. “Here... I know it’s not much, but take it. I can’t very well send you off with flowers, can I?” she laughed feebly. I waited for a few seconds, then Roseluck began to cry.

“Oh Octavia, this isn't fair! How could they do this? The odds...” Roseluck inhaled deeply. “Ok... ok, it’s all ok...” Roseluck grinned at me, although I could still see the sorrow beneath it. “You better kick flank in there.”

Roseluck left as the Royal Guard came to remind us visiting time was up. I saw Hayseed’s mother leaving as I left my visiting room. She wasn’t crying she just looked... numb with shock. I guess that’s how I looked, because that’s most certainly how I felt. Hayseed jr. joined me, and we walked outside together in silence. Hayseed had been crying.

We were met with a stream of reporters, cameras flashing, notebooks scribbling. Hayseed jr. answered a few and tried to smile, while I just pushed them aside. Oh course, Hoity Toity was eating this attention up, except he was mostly relaying how awful our District was rather then giving any useful information about us as tributes.

The carriage started up again, and in around five minutes we were at the train station. Hoity Toity nearly ran to the train car. Stepping out, my mental image of the train was similar to the one we used for coal. I was in for a surprise.

My mouth fell open as I looked at the prestine condition of the bullet train before me. The head was bulky and square, but rather rounded down to cut through the air at high speeds. The paint wasn’t chipped and peeling or covered in coal dust, instead it was a sleek silver with a blue trimming.

It was beautiful.

Of course, immediately after that, I was reminded of how Canterlot just let us live in such poverty with they could afford things like this, but I focused on the beauty.

Inside, there were rooms for me, Hayseed (both jr and sr.), and Hoity Toity. There was a dining cart, which beside an awe-inspiring array of food, also contained a large TV so we could watch the Reapings of the other Districts.

“Shall we watch?” Hayseed jr. asked me, and I shrugged. We sat down on one of the couches that were about the cart, and watched as all the Reapings occur.

District 1 was first. District 1 is Luxury items, and the tributes were Fleur de Lis and Fancy Pants. I almost giggled at their names. Honestly, District 1. Both of them were as old as the Reapings allowed.

District 2 looked more menacing. Both of these tributes volunteered to go up. In the career districts, Districts 1, 2, and 4, mostly we get volunteers. And most years, they win. District 2 more often out of them, which is weird, because they’re masonry. Anyway, District 2’s volunteers were Trixie Cantrip and Snowflake Horsepower. Trixie was a mean looking unicorn who looked about a year younger then me. She looked deadly. I actually laughed at Snowflake though. Me and Hayseed both snickered at the Pegasus, who looked like someone had hit him up on steroids so much he was going to explode into a giant pile of muscles. His wings were small and shrunken, so we wouldn’t have to worry about him flying around.

District 3, technology, had some decent looking tributes. A purple mare by the name of Twilight Sparkle who looked like she knew a spell or two was the female tribute, and the male tribute was a brown earth pony. Nothing special about him. Time Turner was his name, I think.

District 4, the last career district and fishing, actually looked on the weak side. No pony volunteered when a small colt by the name of Pipsqueak was picked, but when another foal was picked, a grey pegasus with a cockeye volunteered. I could almost hear the crowd groaning when she took the place of the sacred filly. Ditzy Doo and Pipsqueak. I immediately renamed Ditzy “Derpy” because of her eye.

District 5, which was power, gave us two pegasi as tributes. A rainbow maned one by the fitting name of Rainbow Dash was the female tribute, and the stallion tribute was a dark grey white maned one called Thunderlane. Pegasi were tricky, because they could control weather to an extent, and that was always a feature implemented into the games. Last year, District 5 won because the pegasus from that District had killed off the last three careers with well placed lightning strikes.

District 6, transportation, who had probably built this train, garnered a small orange filly named Scootaloo. She was only a little bit older then Pipsqueak. I made a mental note to stay away from those two. I was not going to kill a foal. The other was a little bit younger then me, named Caramel. He was an Earth pony, unassuming as we tend to be. We never make an impression in the games, and rarely win. Some years, though, as Hayseed sr. was able to prove...

District 7, lumber, brought us a yellow pegasus who was my age. She looked very shy, and hid her face behind her pink mane. I remeber District 7 for it’s particularly brutal victor from four years ago, Johanna Mareson. Johanna had pretended to be weak, then viciously shredded her way though the final five. It was a bit scary, to be honest. The male tribute was a colt around the same age as Scootaloo named Snails. He had a long neck, and looked a little clumsy. I was certain he would end up falling off the plate at the beginning and explode.

District 8, which does textiles, yielded a white coated mare who looked more sophisticated than her other textile workers. She was a unicorn, and actually had to be separated from her sister, who wasn’t letting go of her. Her name was Rarity, if I remember correctly. Another foal, this one a unicorn by thee name of Snips was chosen. We had a lot of foals running for us this games...

District 9, which was grain, actually brought a smile to my face. When the female tribute, Pinkie Pie, was called up, she smiled, and bounced right on up to the stage, giving a speech about the party she was going to throw once she won the games. A bit cocky, but she was fun. The male tribute was less so. He was the same age as me, but he looked older. His name was Pony Joe. Like us, this District almost never won, and normally gave both Earth ponies, like it did this year.

District 10 was livestock. No pony I knew ate meat, so I guess livestock was more for milk and eggs and animal byproducts and things like that. The mare was a few years younger than me, but she was no filly. She walked with a limp. Ouch, that would get her killed right away. I didn’t catch her name, but the stallion from her district stood out for some reason. He wore a vest, yellow coat... his name was Braeburn.

District 11 was kind of sad. As stated before, this is the agricultural district. At first, a little red maned filly by the name of Applebloom was chosen to go up, but her sister, Applejack, volunteered to go. Then, what do you know, their brother, Big Macintosh, was chosen. The odds of that must have been astronomical. Either that, or my rigged games theory wasn’t too far off the mark. Anyway, the cameras made a huge fuss over this. I could tell they were to be favorites in this year’s game, right after the careers.

And then came us. I got to witness my mother’s breakdown on live television. That was fantastic. Now everyone would think I had a weak family. Or sympathise with me. It didn’t really matter, I stopped caring once my name had been called. I already had a plan. I was just going to jump off the plate in the beginning and kill myself. No pony was to die by my hoof. My mother would get over it...

Hayseed jr. was called, and that was the end of it. The TV shut off manually, and I got up to go to the dining table when Hayseed stopped me. “Hey, Octavia?”

I looked down at him. “Yeah?” The words felt odd in my throat. I hadn’t spoken since I told my father I loved him. He would get over it too...

“Let’s team up. I mean, we can’t stay together forever, but it gives us an advantage, right?”

I thought about my plan. What did I have to loose that I already had not lost, or given up on?

“Sure, Hayseed. Sure.”

Hayseed smiled. We trotted to the dining cart, and sat ourselves around the table. Hoity Toity was eyeing the food like he wanted to eat it, and yet didn’t at the same time. Hayseed was passed out in a mess of booze and crushed pastries. Hayseed avoided looking at his father, and instead tried some of the green mush on a plate in front of him.

“Hey! This is good! What is it?”

“Mashed up Xander root died with seaweed extract,” Hoity Toity responded, eyeing the disheveled Hayseed sr. disgustedly.

“Tastes kinda like a turnip! But with somethin’ else...” Hayseed ate some more of the mush, while I sampled a muffin. It was good, better than anything I had ever eaten before. I was just getting into the mood of eating when Hayseed sr. lifted his head out of the mess.

“Wha? Whas goin’ on? Junior, go back to bed, you have shcool tommorah...”

Hayseed jr. winced when his father said addressed as “Junior.”

“Dad, I was picked for the games. We’re heading for Canterlot, remember?” Hayseed sr. looked at his son through bloodshot, unfocused eyes.

“YOU? Th’ gamsh? Jeesh, you’ll be dead before sundown...” Our mentor laughed, then vomited, splattering Hoity Toity in the rank liquid.

Hoity Toity huffed, and walked away. “I hate this job.”

Sound Advice

Hayseed and I stared at his drunken father. He was truly a mess. I’m honestly surprised that he didn’t die of liver failure years earlier. I guess the Turnip Trucks have good genetics.

What upset me the most wasn’t the fact that this mess was going to be our only hope, as I had resigned myself to death in the first five seconds of the games, but rather that Hayseed jr. had to deal with him as a father. We would have one week of prep in Canterlot, and the whole time this sad inebriated excuse of a stallion was going to be representing us. Hayseed jr. had absolutely no chance.

“C’mon, dad, lets get you cleaned up.” Hayseed hoisted his dad over to the bathrooms. The drunk smiled lazily at me.

“Remember, shweetflanksh, if yah ever need a real shtallyun, I’ll be in th’ room righ’ o’er there!” I cringed at the thought of what might entail if I followed through on his offer. I actually found myself nauseous. Another twang of pity arose, this time not only just for Hayseed jr., but for them both. It was truly a sorry sight.

I sighed, and grabbed a napkin from the table and attempted to clean up his sick. I gave up right after the first few moments, instead electing to go to the back of the train and watch the sunset. We would be in Canterlot by tomorrow.

It was a peaceful evening outside. We were heading down the tracks through a forest. The moon slowly rose, and I tried to envision a time when Luna rose the moon. It must have been nice, back then.

I used this time to reflect on how my life had changed in the past few hours. My mother, who was heartbroken and suicidal. My father, who tried to desperately keep my mother under control. Roseluck, who had just lost her best friend...

I looked down at the tracks, how the train sped over them, how we whizzed by everything so quickly. The first tear was soft, slowly beginning its long and lonely journey to the ground I across my cheek, before slipping off and plummeting to the floor of the platform I was on. The others followed, pouring down my grey furred cheeks. Do all ponies react this way when faced with certain death? I doubted that the careers cried like this, even though they knew that they would probably die.

I thought of the orange filly, from District 6. She had nearly been in tears by the time she had gotten up to the platform. I thought of the colt from District 4, and the colts from 7 and 8... why did Discord have to be so cruel? Why didn’t anypony try to stop him?

I hadn’t even noticed that Hayseed jr. had shown up. “Hey.” He came over and sat by me. His cheeks were stained with not yet dry tears. “I came to watch the sunset. Didn’t know fancy folks like you did the same.”

I laughed, which felt odd. Conflicting, really, given my circumstance. “I’m not that fancy. The mayor and several others were way fancier than me and my family, and I’m sure they watched the sunset as well.”

Hayseed smiled. “Well, you’re always wearing that bowtie. Where is it? I kinda liked it.”

I shrugged. “Who knows? I left it off when I came to the Reaping, it’s probably still at home in my drawer.”

“And then there’s that pin. Where’d you get it? It’s nice.”

“This? My friend Roseluck gave it to me.” I looked at Hayseed. He avoided my gaze for a few seconds, then looked over.

“How did you get so good at the cello? I’ve heard you play before. It was... amazing.”

“I dunno. It was a natural talent, I guess. That’s why I got my cutie mark for it.”

Hayseed sighed and looked off into the woods. I followed his gaze off into the woods. I could have sworn I saw a pony in the shadows... my mind was starting to play tricks on me. Hayseed turned his head to look at me. “I wish I had something useful... nope, I got a drunk dad and a talent for picking turnips. Whoop-dee-doo.”

I was going to answer him, but at that moments, something incredible happened. As we stared out into the wild, the woods gave way to the ruins of a town. We passed by the train station, and overlooked the town square. A large, faded sign read “Ponyville.”

“Ponyville...” I muttered. “I guess this is one of the pre-war towns.” Hayseed nodded, still staring in awe at the ruins. I say “ruins” in the sense that the place was deserted, because most of the buildings were in fine condition. I guess for some reason, Canterlot never bothered with this place. I assume Discord sent out scavenging teams. Tech from before the war is prized in Canterlot for parts. I bet District 3 would kill to get their hands of some pre-war tech.

The sun was fully down by now, and the cold wind rustled through our manes. We would be reaching Canterlot by around two tomorrow, giving us six hours of cosmetic prep before the opening ceremony. I wasn’t looking forward to being dressed up like a clown and paraded in front of two hundred thousand or so strangers, not to mention the countless numbers who lived in the other Districts.

We went back inside, not speaking as we headed to our respective rooms.

“Night,” Hayseed said, opening his door and going into the room.

“Night.” I did the same, and observed the place I was to spend the night. another TV was in there, turned off. There was a bed, and not much else, but the room looked nice. A painting of Discord was hanging above my bed. He was wearing his suit, and had his white rose in his lapel. He sickened me. I didn't want him watching me sleep. I took the painting, headed outside, and chucked it off into the tracks behind us. It splintered upon making contact. I knew Hoity Toity would be angry at me, but I didn’t care.

I returned to my room, and layed down. The bed was soft and comfortable, much softer then my bed at home. I tried to enjoy it, but was reminded of the people in my district who slept on old, bare, stained mattresses in the street. I tossed and turned for who knows how long before finally drifting off into unconsciousness.

My dreams were filled with the homeless all trying to get into my house to sleep in my bed. I had to keep denying them, and they got angry. They turned into a mod, trying to break down my door. I had to give them my cello to get them to leave. I turned around to see Roseluck holding a white rose in her mouth. She transformed into Discord, who smiled menacingly down at me, before holding up a pistol, like the ones the unicorn peacekeepers carried, and shot me in the face. I woke up in a cold sweat.

Heading to the window, I saw that it was day. The sunlight felt warm on my coat, and I just stayed there, basking in its rays. I heard a sharp knocking on my door, and ran over to check on it. It was Hayseed jr.

“Come on. Let’s head to breakfast. It’s almost noon.”

Hoity Toity and Hayseed sr. were already at the table. Hoity Toity was spreading a thin blue cream on a single crumpet, while Hayseed sr. was nursing a sparkling water. He must be extremely hung over. I resisted the urge to shout as loudly as I could in his ear.

“So, dad,” Hayseed jr. began, “What are you going to teach us about the games?”

Hayseed sr. grunted. “What? There’s nothing to teach. You’ll most likely die. Nothing I can do to change that. In fact, I know you’re not going to make it out, jr. Sorry, the odds are against you.”

I looked in disgust at our mentor. “How can you say that? He’s your son! Give him some encouragement, at least!”

The drunk cracked a grin. “What, and lie to him? You’ve got more a chance then him, and you’ve already resigned yourself to suicide!” I gasped. How did he know that? Seeing my startled expression, he went on.

“Oh, believe me, Sweetflanks, I know. You’ve got that look, that energy around ya. You’ve already given up! You know how many tributes I’ve gotten in the past twenty-four years who just gave up like you did? I can’t remember, drink has a way of doin’ that to ya, but I’ll tell you one thing. Not one of those tributes went through with that plan of ‘stepping off the plate’ or ‘giving themselves up to the careers.’ You wanna know why?” Hayseed sr. put both of his hooves on the table, and put his face very close to mine. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. Actually, it would be more accurate to say I smelled his breath on the alcohol. He continued, this time his voiced lowered.

“You wanna know why? Because when it came down to it, they didn’t have the guts to go and do it. Their basic instincts kicked in, and they fought like hell. Sure, many died in the bloodbath, or were killed in the first few days. But a few had the mettle to pull through. Your sister, for example. She was the mare in the ninth set of tributes I had gotten. She fought hard. I believe her kill count was seven. She made it down to the final five. Pity that she was watching where she was going. That stallion from 3 sure knows his stuff.” A stared into his eyes, cold hatred seething through me.

“How dare you bring my sister into this. I’m not my sister.”

Hayseed laughed coldly. “Obviously. She actually knew what she was doing. You... well, the less said the better.”

I was getting ready to punch him right in his ugly face when he suddenly grabbed a very long serrated knife and lunged it at me. Time seemed to slow down as I grabbed the handle with my hooves and forced it down into the table. It sunk in halfway down the blade.

“That is mahogany!” Hoity Toity exclaimed in distress.

“No one cares, you fashion whore,” Hayseed barked at Hoity Toity. The stallion opened his mouth in horror and shock, but Hayseed cut him off and turned back to me. “Sweetflanks, trust me, life ain’t grand if you do win. Especially for the mares. You’ll just end up a Canterlot whore, starving in the streets, addicted to all sorts of drugs you couldn’t even pronounce. Death would be better. Trust me, I would know.” Hayseed jr. stared at his dad in awe. I’m guessing he had never heard his dad talk about the Games before.

Hayseed sr. put his hoof to his head. “Dammit, all that talking is making my head pound. i’m gonna finish this up. To put it bluntly, death is the prefered option if you're a mare. This system rips mares apart. But I want you to at least try. There’s no way I’m having one of my tributes kill themselves. So... don’t try to win, but don’t give up. And if you do happen to win...” Hayseed chuckled darkly “Goddess help you.”

On Display

“There you go, dear. You look much better now.” I looked myself over in the large mirror. I did look better now that I was groomed. Not to say I didn’t keep myself unbathed back in my District, but it never seemed necessary to do the smaller things, like pluck my brows, or style my hair. Aloe and her twin Lotus Blossom, my prep team, did absolute wonders on me. My grey coat actually seemed to radiate, and my mane was styled into a wave that wrapped around the underside of my jaw and flowed in front of me. I looked stunning.

“I must say, Aloe, we really outdid ourselves!” Lotus Blossom looked over me, nodding in approval. “Yes, sister, we did ourselves on this one! Now, let’s tackle that tail of yours.”

Aloe took a brush in her mouth and went to work on my tail. I cringed as the brush tore violently through the knots. I had never tail much attention to my tail, and now I was paying the price. “Jeez, Octavia, when was the last time you brushed this thing?”

I ignored the quip from Aloe and screwed my eyes shut tight as another painful pass of the brush came. Little tears glistened at the edge of my eyes as the pain grew worse with each brushstroke.

Aloe put down her brush. “There. That’s the best that I can do for now. Lotus, come here with the scissors. There’s a particularly stubborn clump near the base of her tail that just won’t come out...”

A few snips later, I was staring at the large clump of my tail hair. As I said, I had never really paid much attention to my tail, so the nasty knot came as a surprise. I vowed to always take care of my tail from now on. Then, I remembered that “from now on” was only going to be about a week from now.

Yes, I had thought about what Hayseed sr. had said, and yes, I was still going through with my plan. I didn’t care what he said, he wasn't changing my mind. That salty bastard could rot in Tartarus. he was terrible to his own son, and wouldn’t even give him any advice to win the Games. I wasn’t going to listen to him.

“Alright dear, I think your tail looks better unstyled,” Aloe said, stroking it with a hoof. “It’s fine just the way it is. Nice and silky, and flowing behind you. Your mane, however, needs a bit of a change.”

Lotus nodded. “Yes, I agree. Let’s give it a bit more... floatability.” The two sisters went to work on my mane again, which was a pity. I liked this style.

In a few minutes, the mane was now as it was before, except it seemed... lighter.

“Now walk.” I followed my prep team’s instructions, and as I walked, my mane floated delicately behind me. When I stopped, my mane drifted over my shoulder, and seemed to blow in the wind peacefully, even though we were inside with nothing to move my mane. Lotus squealed in delight.

“Oh, it’s beautiful! Now, let’s turn you over to Photo Finish! She’ll want to get you and Hayseed into proper apparel. I hear she’s got a very special this year...”

I thought back to Photo Finish’s other outfits. Customarily, since we were the District of coal, we would always do coal themed costumes to wear to the opening ceremonies. Photo Finish had been District 12’s designed since before Hayseed sr. had won. She was never very imaginative, always coming up with the same thing more or less, with a few tweaks each year. It was a coal miner’s outfit, with a skintight jumpsuit and a bulky miner’s helmet, sometime with picks to go along. Last year, she had decided to do something a bit different. She had covered the two tributes with coal dust. They had looked ridiculous.

I was ushered out into the next room, where Hayseed was already sitting. I couldn’t help but stare at him. His mane had been groomed back to look less scruffy, and his coat was cleaner then I had ever seen it... but the biggest change was his teeth. His two buck teeth were straighter, and somehow smaller and less noticeable.

“How did they do that? With your teeth, I mean.”

Hayseed ran his tongue over his new teeth. “I dunno. They put me to sleep for a bit, and when I woke up... I was like this! They said they did some ‘oral surgery.’ I do like my new teeth better, though.”

I smiled. “I dunno. I think that you look better with giant teeth.” Hayseed chuckled.

“Alright, shut up in here, I’m coming.” Photo Finish strutted into the room. She had a bleached white mane, and garish round magenta tinted glasses. A pink scarf was wrapped around her neck, and the less said about her dress, the better. All in all, she looked like a fashion train wreck. I groaned silently, thinking about the horrors that awaited us.

“Vell, it looks as doh I, Photo Finish, vhill hafe to deal with zees new tributes.” Her accent was commanding and dismissive at the same time. It hurt my ears a bit to listen to, but at least it wasn’t that stuck up Canterlot accent.

Looking over us, she smiled. “Ah, yes. Vundibar! You two vhill look look shtuhnning in mine outfits I hafe made.” Going back into the door from which she came from, she returned a moment later with a unicorn who was levitating the outfits for us all to see.

They were beautiful. Mine started off with a tiara of coal that looked almost as if it were fashioned after Celestia’s tiara herself. I had seen pictures of it in my textbooks, and I had always envied it. the dress itself was marvelous as well. It too started off as coal, its black fabric rippling from the magic that encased it, but around the middle it became red, and the fabric gave way to dazzling diamonds that would cover my flanks, plot, and back legs. Hayseed jr’s was similar, but his lacked a tiara, and was more of a jumpsuit then a dress. Where my diamonds would hang loose a bit, giving it a more feminine look, his would be closed to his body, and stay in place.

I must say I was totally blown away by the magnificence of the outfits. I was honestly expect a horror show like last years. Well, Photo Finish surprised me there.

“Alright, now get into da outfits, and vhe vhill dazzle them vhith District 12!”

A few minutes later we were standing in the carriage that would take us on our introductory run. Where we would be paraded in all our glory to the citizens of Canterlot, before they shipped us off to train. I shifted, the diamonds rubbing against my fur uncomfortably. It looked so much more appealing when I wasn’t wearing it.

District 1 started off, the tributes wearing dazzling jewels everywhere on their bodies. Emeralds, rubies, sapphires... you name it. I thought for a moment that Photo Finish may have ripped their idea off, but I couldn’t see any diamonds on them, so maybe not.

District 2, clad in carved stone armour with intricate designs went next. I could hear a lot of cheering from the crowd. They always did this for the careers. I stole a glance at Hayseed jr, who was sweating. “Don’t like big crowds?”

Hayseed looked over at me. “Not really... it’s just, the whole nation...”

I patted him on the back. “It’ll be fine. They’ll love us.”

“Easy for you to say,” Hayseed jr said with a roll of his eyes “you’re used to crowds.”

District 4, dressed in green plant-like rags and nets went next. More cheering. I actually began to feel self-conscious a little bit. What if they thought we were ripping off District 1? Then we wouldn’t get any sponsors!

I calmed myself down after remembering that I didn’t need sponsors, because I was going to kill myself the instant I stepped off the platform. Still, Hayseed jr. might want a sponsor or two...

District 7 was going now, the tributes apparently made up to look like trees, with bark covering them, and branches sticking out at odd angles. Hayseed couldn’t help but laugh a bit.

“Well, at least our costumes aren’t the dumbest looking ones!” I surveyed the others. He had a point. District 8’s tributes were covered in thread and needles, District 9’s mare was a cupcake and the stallion was covered in wheat, and District 11’s pair of siblings were wearing what looked like armour made of apples.

“Our outfits are nice.” I smiled, looking back at the diamonds. I didn’t care that they rubbed my fur the wrong way anymore. They were bedazzling, the proof that if you put enough pressure on coal, it would become an object of beauty.

But that’s not what happens. Remember in school they taught us graphite tuned into diamonds, not coal? I banished the little nagging voice in my head. Canterlot was so ignorant to the ways of the districts that they probably didn’t know that.

District 11 started their journey down the line, and our carriage pulled up to go next. I found myself sweating a bit. Just pretend it’s another one of your cello playings, Octavia.

“And now, beat your hooves for... District 12, represented by Octavia Violone and Hayseed Turnip Truck Jr!” That voice... it felt so smooth, so lovely... at the time I had no idea what I felt when I heard the voice, but later on I would realize what was happening in my mind that night. All I knew was that I wanted to meet that mare who was talking behind that microphone.

We were thrust out into dazzling lights as we shot down the runway. As the citizens of Canterlot saw the lights sparkle off our outfits, they beat their hooves for us, calling, throwing rose petals upon us. They were white white rose petals... Roseluck told me white roses had to be bred specifically. One landed on my nose, and I tried my best not to sneeze. I blew it off with a snort, and inhaled deeply a few times to keep from sneezing.

“Wonderful!” The voice sent chills down my spine. They were good chills... I wanted to listen to that voice all day. She would make a good signer, or radio host. “That was lovely District 12! Here’s hoping they finally get another winner this year!”

Our carriage docked in the stable room at the end of the runway. All the tributes were milling around, talking to each other or their mentors and prep teams. I disembarked from the carriage, and looked at Hayseed jr. “Who was that mare? The announcer, I mean.” Hayseed shrugged.

“What, you didn’t know? That was Vinyl Scratch.” I turned around to see the purple unicorn from District 3 looking at me. She was adorned in piece of machinery and tech. “She was in the games five years ago and the age of thirteen and won. She made lovely electronic music... I often listened to it as I worked in the plants. Now, she’s the announcer for the Games. She was the announcer last year too. I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is Time Turner.” Twilight gestured to her partner, who was wearing similar attire to her. He waved his hoof at me cheerfully.

I extended my hoof to Twilight, and she shook it. “Well, a pleasure meeting you Twilight. Good luck in the games.”

Hoity Toity and Photo Finish trotted up with Hayseed sr. in drag. “Dat vas shtunning! Dazzling! Gorgeous! I, Photo Finish, hafe truly outdone mineself this time.”

“Yes, you were quite exquisite out there.” Hoity Toity nodded in approval. Hayseed sr. just mumbled something about cabbage and burped loudly.

“Yes, those outfits are simply divine, darling,” the white unicorn from District 8 eyes my diamond adorned flank. “Your stylist is simply marvelous! I’m Rarity, by the way.” She also extended a hoof, and I shook it. Smiling, Rarity took a look at Hayseed jr. “My my my! It even looks good on stallions! Props to you, Photo Finish, props to you!”

Photo Finish blushed a bit. “Vhell, coming from one of the head designers of District 8, I, Photo Finish, am honored that you would complement mine outfits. Shame that you have to go into the arena.” Rarity looked downcast for a second, but then smiled and walked off to talk to the tributes from District 1.

“Come, now, dinner is wait for us!” I followed Hoity Toity and Photo Finish as they made for the elevator.

Safety in Numbers

The place where we would be training was a large circular room. For the next seven days, this would be where we would be trained in the arts of combat and survival, as well as getting know our enemy. Hayseed and I showed up a little later than most, but District 4 and 11 hadn’t shown up yet, so at least we didn’t look foolish.

Hayseed immediately went off to the edible plants station. I guess he would have some experience with them, working on a farm and all. I didn’t really have any need to go visit these stations, so I just went off to the knife station where the orange filly from 5, Scootaloo, and Rarity were practicing. Rarity was using her magic to jab at a dummy with a small survival knife while Scootaloo tried to pick a knife up with her teeth.

“Ah, hello Octavia!” Rarity put down her knife and smiled at me. I smiled back, faking hospitality. Scootaloo grunted, not bothering to acknowledge me, still trying to get the knife. Rarity giggled and levitated the handle into Scootaloo’s mouth. Scootaloo looked surprised, but then chomped down on the knife and went off to practise.

“Why’s you help her?” I asked, looked at the filly as she stabbed the dummy.

“Oh, I don’t know. She sort of reminds me of my sister...” Rarity sighed. “She was heartbroken when I was called. But, that was that, and well... nothing I can do to change it.” The white unicorn looked down to examine some butterfly knives. “I saw your mother try and stop you from going. She’s brave. Stupid, but brave. She must love you a lot.”

I couldn’t bear to look at Rarity. She had a way of taking me apart with her words... how could she do that?

“Anyway, I think we should team up for the Games. Going on your own is a sure way to get killed. The careers team up, why can’t we?” Rarity looked at me expectantly.

“Um...”

“She’s right, you know. I regret not making more friends myself.” Twilight, from District 3, trotted up and levitated a knife over to examine it. “If you don’t mind, I think I would like to join you as well. This could be my only chance except for the careers... but I’d rather not go to them. They’re savages.” I looked over at the careers. They had painted one of the sword dummies to look like yellow mare from District 7, and were tearing it to shreds. I felt disgusted just by looking at them.

“So, then. We’ll team up. You in, Octavia?” I blinked a few times, then looked over at Scootaloo, who was still stabbing the training dummy viciously.

“Sure... but I think we should also let Scootaloo in. I mean, she looks like she might need the help. She couldn’t even pick up the knife until you helped her, Rarity!” I decided to act as engrossed with the group as I could to throw off any trail that I was going to kill myself as soon as the games began. Also, I couldn’t bear to think about what the game might do to her if she were alone. I guess I have a soft spot for fillies. I’ve seen far too many of them starve in the street not to take pity on them.

Rarity eyed the orange filly. “Sure, let her join! I think she may be good for some scouting, you know, to check to see if anypony is there. You’ll have to go and do it yourself, though, I’m afraid.”

I shrugged, and walked over to Scootaloo. “Hey, Scootaloo, right?” The filly didn’t respond, just continued to stab the mock pony. “Ok, well, we’d, that is, me and Twilight and Rarity, would love to have you with us a part of-”

Scootaloo turned around to look at me. “Your little group? No thanks. I don’t know about you, but I do things alone here...” she took a longing look at the rainbow-maned pegasus from District 5, who was trying her hoof out at archery, using one of her wings to pull the bowstring back.

I knew what was going on here. I smiled slightly, then walked away. The little filly had developed a crush on the mare from District 5. I shook my head sadly as I thought of a very likely scenario in which an arrow fired from the bow of that pegasus ended Scootaloo’s life. I was actually sort of horrified by that. I wasn’t looking where I was going, and bumped into the stallion from 11.

“Oh, sorry! Didn’t see you there. You ok?”

“Eeyup.”

I looked over the red stallion. He was large, and had a strong build. A green apple half was his cutie mark. I did not want to get on the wrong side of him. He might be valuable to the team, to the others...

I was about to offer him a place with the rest of us when the mare form 7 diverted his attention over to firemaking. I opted to head back over to Rarity and Twilight. When I returned, I saw they had the colt from 4 with them.

“Octavia, this is Pip. He was being picked on by the other careers for being a foal, so I think he’d fit better with us. No luck with Scootaloo?” Twilight asked. I shook my head.

“Ah well. I think we should probably go and do some training now that we’ve got a substantial group down! Let’s go do trapmaking first, that could protect our campsite in the games...”

I followed the purple mare as she led us to the trapmaking station, when I bumped into Hayseed. “Oh, hey Octavia.”

“Hey, Hayseed.” I smiled at this little pun. Hayseed rolled his eyes.

“So, looks like you got yourself a group.”

“Yeah. You wanna join?”

The stallion shook his head. “Nah, I’m with the careers.”

I stared at him, appalled. “What?”

He shrugged. “Well, they’re my best chance, aren’t they?”

“How could you team up with those savage brutes? Besides, why would they let you join, anyway?”

Hayseed looked indignant. “Are you implying that I’m not good enough for the careers?”

“That’s not an answer to my question.”

“Neither is that.” Damn, he’s good.

I heaved a sigh. “Look, what did you do to impress them?”

“I showed them my skill with the sword. I’m actually fairly decent with it. My mom always wanted me to join the peacekeepers, so I got some training with it. They deemed me worthy to travel with them. And I’m sure I’ll last twice as long as you!”

“You don’t know the half of it,” I mumbled. Hayseed cocked an eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Octavia, you aren’t still considering killing yourself, are you?”

“What’s it to you? You’d just kill me with the careers at the first chance you’d get!” Hayseed opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it again, biting his lip.

“That’s what I thought, Hayseed. You know, I thought I could get along with you. But, I can honestly say that I’m the better pony here to choose taking her own life over the ones of others.” I stomped away from him in a huff.

Rarity gave me a knowing look. “Stallion problems, sweetie?”

I didn’t look at her, just choosing to go straight to attempting a noose knot. “Not like that.”

“I don’t know, darling, you two looked like you might have something for each other...”

I rolled my eyes at this. “Pfft, yeah. The star crossed lovers from District 12. Who’d buy that? I didn’t even so much as look twice at Hayseed before he got chosen for the Reaping.”

Rarity looked at me incredulously, surveying me. “Well, you have that ‘look’ to you... you love somepony, and I can tell...”

I thought back to the mare who had announced us back at the runway, Vinyl Scratch. I wondered how she looked. I tried to envision her, but all I could focus on was that voice...

I chased the thought from my mind, and finished my noose. These were going to be a long seven days...

A Scratch

After training, I dragged myself up to District 12’s suite at the top of the training building. I had stayed later than almost everypony else, with the exception of the siblings from 11 and Snowflake, the male from 2. I honestly didn’t know why he spent all his time in the weight’s section, he already had enough body to punch through one of the solid steel walls of the training arena.

I exited the elevator, and entered the room. It was nice, with a dining room in the middle, bathrooms to one side, and bedrooms to the other. It was deserted, save for a note on the table.

I picked up the note and read it.

Octavia,
Since you weren’t here when we left, I thought I’d leave you a note. Down on the first floor, in the room where the door was locked before. Apparently, they have this banquet with all the high class Canterlot nobility, some of the victors, and even Discord himself!
-Hayseed

I could tell this was not the drunken scrawl of Hayseed sr, so I felt bad that Hayseed jr. had gone to the trouble of doing this after our fight. I would have to make it up to him somehow.

Heading back down the elevator, the doors opened on the 7th floor, and the yellow mare got on. Nervously looking in, half her face hidden behind her pink mane, so looked about for a second, then got on, not looking at me. We rode down to the first floor in silence, then headed off to the banquet hall.

Everypony was already there, in the midst of eating, drinking, or talking. My quiet companion rushed off to where the rainbow pegasus was sitting with the orange filly and her fellow District 5 tribute. I looked over and saw Rarity waving me over. Glancing about the table, I saw the careers along with Hayseed all together, talking and laughing and drinking, just being normal. No pony would have ever guessed they were planning on killing everypony who got in their way in some horrific manner.

I sat down between Rarity and an empty spot, and looked over the table. So many foods... I settled for a very nice looking potato salad, who’s aroma attracted me immediately. I was just about to dig into it when I heard a voice that made my spine shiver.

“Is this seat taken?” I looked up to see the ruler of Equestria himself grin down at me. He smelled of white roses so strongly it was almost overpowering. I shook my head as politely as I could, swallowed hard and said “No, Sir Discord, sir.”

The draconequus laughed. It sounded like someone strangling a cat to death with broken glass gloves. “Oh please, no need for formalities. After all, we’re all aware of my position... and power...”

Few things scared me, but Discord was absolutely terrifying. The leader of Equestria made a large pitcher of chocolate milk appear from thin air, and he poured himself a glass. The milk filled from the top down, disobeying gravity entirely. He proceeded to drink the glass itself, and then passed the chocolate, which hung suspended in midair, to a passing waiter.

“Do be careful with that, it’s a bit... unstable.” The unicron water began to sweat as he carefully levitated the beverage into the kitchen. I stared in awe like an idiot throughout the entire performance.

Discord took note of this. “Ah yes, being the God of Chaos has it’s finer points... ever since I took over from that other one who cares how many years ago... that fool of a human was always obsessing over the correct way to create cotton candy clouds... I’m glad I was able to take him out so easily.”

I didn’t want to ask what a human was for fear of an answer. It sounded almost as terrifying as Discord himself.

The draconequus pulled up a bowl of what looked like pink fluff, and stuck a straw into it, slurping it down. I wanted to ask a million questions, but was too scared of the ruler to do so. He was surprisingly friendly... but there was something about him that was so off putting.

Maybe because he brutally murder Celestia and Luna, a part of my brain reminded me.

“Ah look! My lovely wife! Eris, get over here!” I was shocked by Discord’s spouse. She looked exactly like him... except for the pink tale, and the fact she was more... feminine.

“You two look... similar. Do all draconequi look alike?”

Discord chuckled. “Oh no. I made Eris myself! Out of my own genetics and chaos magic!”

“You made yourself a wife?” I shuddered at how rude that sounded coming from my mouth.

“Rather pathetic, isn’t it?” Eris said, smiling at me. He smile filled me with fear, just as Discord’s did. I turned back to my salad, not wanting to go further into this conversation for fear of what might happen. I suspected Discord and Eris could do things far worse to me than death...

After a few moments of talking with Rarity, the two left to talk to the careers. The newly vacant seat was immediately replaced by a mare. When she spoke, my heart skipped a beat.

“Hello, Octavia.” Vinyl Scratch smiled at me from behind giant sunglasses, tinted purple. Her soft white fur glistening from the lights above us. Her brash blue and cyan mane striking out at me.

My jaw dropped. “How did you know my name?”

The announcer giggled. “Your friend from 3 told me about you infatuation with my voice. What, you don’t think I spend time with my kinsponies from my old District?” I looked over at Twilight, who was tinkering with some piece of technology with Time Turner. She caught by glance, then waved at me. I sighed.

“I hope you don’t think I’m weird...”

Vinyl laughed. Her voice sounded less melodic than it did over the microphone, but it sounded beautiful nonetheless. “Hey, I think it’s great! I always love to meet my fans. You into music?”

I swallowed nervously. “Yeah, but I um... play the cello. Not like your electronic music that Twilight told me you did back in 3 or anything...”

Vinyl looked thoughtful, well, as thoughtful as anypony can from behind glasses that covered most of their face that conveyed expressions. “Ah, yes... those beats I made when I was young... sometimes I wish I could go back to those days. Before...” Vinyl trailed off, and I waited a few seconds before speaking.

“So, um... I play the cello. Not really like anything you did, so I’m sure you aren’t-”

“Show me.”

I was taken aback by this statement. “What?”

Vinyl was adamant in her decision. “Show me. They have some cellos off in the ballroom to the side of here. This isn't always the tribute training area. They use other parts of this building during the rest of the year. I’ve hosted a few parties here myself. Come on!”

The unicorn dragged me off towards a door near the back of the room.

“Wait!” I told her. “Won’t they notice if we’re gone?”

Vinyl laughed at this. “Oh, they won’t care! Come on, I want to hear you play!”

Entering the ballroom, I saw the instruments lined up on the stage. Vinyl sat down in one of the chair, and I picked up the cello. Slowly, I began to play a sad, mournful melody, similar to the one that I had played back before the Reaping, but with more emphasis on lower notes. At one point, I think Vinyl actually teared up. I could accurately tell because of her glasses.

I finished playing, and Vinyl clopped her hooves together. “That was great, Octavia!”

I blushed. “You really think so?”

Vinyl trotted up to the stage and got very close, practically whispering in my ear. “I know so. Trust me, you’re a lot better than most of the ponies who play those instruments. Now come on, before they notice we were gone.”

I watched as Vinyl left for the door, gazing at her plot as she exited. I blinked a few times, and blushed. I was not falling for her, no, there was no way... I had just met her! I couldn’t base a relationship off a whimsy feeling and a voice, not to mention the little fact I was going to die in seven days...

Ah, but there is...

Shut up, brain.

Luck of the Draw

The rest of the six days passed by in a blur. Mostly, it was training, training, training. I grew closer to Vinyl Scratch, too. She would show up to watch me train, and I would smile at her. She would smile back mostly, and on the fourth day, she even came over and congratulated me on how well I was doing! I felt as though a swarm of butterflies had taken up residence in my stomach when she had done that.

On the seventh day, there was no training. That was the day we were to prove our worth to the judges, be ranked on a scale from 1-12, then in the night, we were going to be interviewed by none other than Spitfire Flickermane herself! She was something of a celebrity, everyone knew her as the friendly face of the Games. She was lovable, funny, charming, and had been there for as long as I, or my parents for that matter, could remember. Yet, she looked no more than a few years older than me.

We were all lined up, waiting to be called into the room for our private session. District 1 went first, then 2, then 3, and so on and so forth. I didn’t really care what they saw me as, for I was going to be stepping off that plate and into oblivion less than twenty-four hours from now.

Pinkie Pie from 9 had just walked in to start her session when Vinyl showed up. The butterflies started up again in my stomach, refusing to leave.

“H-hey, Vinyl!” I stammered, smiling nervously. She grinned her wide, friendly, crowd pleasing grin back at me.

“Somepony’s a little nervous about their first private training session. Don’t worry about it, Octavia. It’ll be fine. I went through there once, remember? They’re nice! Mostly...” I felt a little better, not so much because of the meanings of her words, or her intentions, but more so of the fact that it was her talking to me.

I smiled. “Thanks, Vinyl.”

Vinyl’s face became very serious all of a sudden. “Hey, Octavia? Promise me you’ll do well in the Games, ok? You have a lot of potential.” They called District 11’s stallion, and Vinyl left, winking at me as she trotted away. I could feel myself melt. Now, however, I was faced with a complicated situation. Vinyl had been able to do something my mentor had failed at, and that was to instill a bit of fight back into me. Hell, if I won the Games, I might have a chance with Vinyl!

“But you don’t have a chance,” I wondered out loud, and Hayseed jr., who had been sitting beside me, gave me a look.

“Hey,” he said, speaking to me for the first time since our encounter on the first day “I’m sorry for getting all pissed at you a few days ago. You have to understand though... the careers are my only shot at winning this!”

I turned my head from him. “They’re monsters, you’ve seen what they do in the other Games... they’ll just use you as fodder, or when they’re down in numbers, kill you themselves. You shouldn’t ally yourself with them.”

Hayseed just shook his head sadly, his mane sashaying from side to side. After a pregnant pause, he spoke again. “You really like that Vinyl mare, don’t you?”

“Why? You were planning on going in on me?” I laughed a bit at the idea of us together.

Hayseed snorted. “Naw, it’s just... well, you know. It’s not good to have emotional attachments before the Games. Falling in love right before you kill yourself is a bad idea. For both of you.” I looked at him astonished, and he continued. “What? I knew you would ignore my dad’s advice. He’s just a drunk who could care less about what happens. He hasn’t even been trying to line up sponsors for us.”

Hayseed’s name was called, and he trotted off to the doorway that would take him to the private training area. “Hey, one last thing. Good luck. With your decision and all.”

And the door closed, giving me some time with myself to think.

What should I do? I was obviously very in love with Vinyl Scratch. I wanted to be with her at every chance I got, I wanted to laugh with her, hang with her... just be with her. But I couldn’t do that. I was going to die. But on the off chance I did win.. it could all become a reality. But then, I would have to take the lives of innocent ponies... and I was never good at fighting.

Maybe not so innocent... That was true. If I were killing a career, it would all be justified. It would all work itself out in the end...

“Octavia Violone.” I jumped as my name was announced. How long had I lost myself to my thoughts? It couldn’t have been long...

I slowly trotted to the doorway, and passed through into a room almost identical to the training area I had spent the past week in, except there was a side panel with several fancily dressed ponies, save for a white, blue maned pony, who was adorned in armour. I recognized him immediately as the head Gamemaker, Shining Armour. He was new this year, and had been introduced in the opening ceremony after the tributes had left. He had promised an exciting and rewarding Games this year...

The Gamemakers were not paying any attention to me, instead talking amongst themselves. This frustrated me to no end. Just because I was last didn’t mean I was any less important!

What was I good at? What had I really gotten good at while I had trained?

Knives... I raced over to the knife rack, and pulled a simple throwing knife, and tossed it into the air, sending it flying into the dummy. It hit the mock pony straight between the eyes, an instant kill. I was pretty please with myself. A very excellent throw for my first try. I guess I was pretty used to knives now, I hadn’t even tried any other weapon besides a slingshot for about thirty seconds. I looked over, smirking to see what the Gamemakers thought.

They thought the meal that was currently being brought to them looked pretty delicious.

I gritted my teeth, furrowed my brow, and scowled. How dare they continue to ignore me! I tried to impress them with more perfect shots, but missed three times, and hit the dummy in the left hoof the fourth time. Taking the last throwing knife from the set, I was beginning to become irrational. I grabbed the last knife, and threw it at the Gamemakers, not really aiming at them, just trying to get their attention.

I realized my dire mistake at just the last moment, and tried to grab the knife, to somehow stop it. It was too late. The deadly weapon soared gracefully through the air, heading towards the Gamemakers in what seemed like slow motion. I braced myself for the sickening shink that would foretell the death of my superiors at any moment.

Instead, something extraordinary happened.

The knife’s hilt clacked against an open wine bottle, causing it to fall on a wine glass, filling it perfectly. The knife then sliced right through a cabbage, then lodged itself perfectly in a wedge of cheese.

No, I thought. No, that’s not possible. Not in the slightest. I didn’t even try, I’ve had only a week of knife training... no, I’m dreaming, I must be.

But, through some instance of miraculous luck, I had pulled off a seemingly impossible move, one that only gets accomplished once in a lifetime, and make the user look skilled beyond imaginable circumstances. A pity something like this couldn’t happen in the Games, as I knew a chance like this would only happen once in a lifetime. i might have been able to make it out of that arena, and into Vinyl Scratches waiting arms...

The Gamemakers were all stunned, all staring in awe at the wineglass, the cut cabbage, and the cheese. All, except Shining Armour. The head Gamemaker simply levitated the glass of wine with his horn, and sipped it tentatively. He turned to me, and said “You may go now, Octavia.”

I headed over to the elevator that would take me up to my suite, and left my head. What had I just done?

Snow

As I headed back into the elevator, I was mentally beating myself up. What was I thinking? They’d probably drag me down into the dungeons beneath the palace, and torture me in odious ways until I begged for death.

I savored the ride up to the top of the building where I would probably spend my last night before being taken away in the morning. It’s funny, how your mind works when you’re in impending danger. You rarely can focus on the problem at hand, and your mind drifts off to think of other things.

It was a cold morning in the winter, the sky grey, and the streets of District 12 greyer. Coal dust mixed with the freshly fallen snow to make a disgusting slush, and the homeless in the streets slowly froze to death. Peacekeepers would come the next day to disperse of the frozen bodies.

Roseluck and I were at the barbed wire fence that marked the end of our District, looking out into the large pine forest. It was calm, peaceful, serine. I wondered what life would be like, out there. Every year, ten to fifteen ponies would just up and leave, sneak out and head off. They never made it far, though. Sometimes they would come back with their bodies as an example of what would happen to us if we attempted a similar stunt.

Roseluck nudged me. “Come on, I know where there’s a grove of Snow Lilies that only bloom this time of year. Let’s head off and grab them, it’ll be quick!”

I gave her a skeptical look. “Roseluck, I already skipped rehearsal to come and look at the forest with you, I’m not about to go and risk my life for some dumb flowers. It doesn’t make sense.”

Roseluck grabbed my hoof, and slipped under the barbed wire. I was almost thrust into it, so I had to roll very quickly underneath the offending wire to avoid getting cut. The snow, here untainted by the coal dust, felt pleasant and cool on my coat.

“Roseluck, you could have hurt me!” Roseluck grinned.

“Well, next time you’ll learn to just go along with my ideas!” I shook my head at her. Even though she was my best friend, at times I felt like strangling her.

We trotted off into the woods, the world growing darker as the trees obscured the little sun that was able to get past the clouds. It was beautiful, serine. Here, we were away from the troubles and woes of the District. I was instantly glad I had gone with Roseluck.

We spent some time exploring, then remember our whole purpose here. We couldn’t dawdle any longer. The Peacekeepers would come, and find us... I didn’t want to think of what would happen next.

We came to the frozen pond where the curious lilies grew. I inspected them while Roseluck picked the choicest of them.

They were similar to the lilies that bloomed in this pond during the spring, but were snow white all over, instead of just the petals. Their roots boor into the ice, being able to draw sustenance from the water. They were cold to the touch, like the very ice it grew on. A very strange plant, indeed.

“Alright, Tavia! Let’s head back, I got the good ones,” Roseluck told me as she slung her saddlebag back on. I nodded, and the two of us trotted back the way we came, hoping we could get back in time.

About halfway back, we heard voices. My heart skipped a beat, and I dragged Roseluck into a small hollow beneath a Snowberry bush. We heard hoofbeats breaking the previously untouched snow, and fearful and tired voices. One belonging to a stallion, one to a mare. The stallion, grey furred with a map cutie mark, spoke first.

“Listen, we can’t run any longer, my legs are too tired.”

“But we’ve come this far! We can’t give up now!” The mare was white, and sported a hatchet for a cutie mark. They were both earth ponies.

“They’ll catch us no matter what we do! We were safer in 7.”

“What, we were safer there? Even if we weren’t going to be picked for the Games, we would just have to live our lives out as woodcutters, or sawmill workers. You know how high are fatality rates get to!”

“Oh, so that was just enough reason to go on the word of a crazed mare who wailed that District 13 was still here, somewhere out in the wilderness? Look, we’re nowhere near 12, and even then, how can we be so sure where 13 is? It’s not like the Districts are in a perfect line, they taught us that in school!”

We heard the mare snort. “Well, fine then. Maybe my judgment was wrong. Maybe. But we’re better off here then we were in 7. The ‘crazy mare’ told us to look for the ruins of Ponyville. But where would that be? I brought you along, brother, for this very reason. You know old maps, and you know star positions. You could find us Ponyville.”

“I’m sorry, but most nights were cloudy, I had no idea where we were going. Damn... I wish I knew where 12 was...”

I saw Roseluck about to head out, but I stopped her. Rightfully so, as I heard another crunching noise, this one not from the two from 7.

“Oh no! They’ve found us! Come on, let’s-” The stallion’s voice ended in a cry of pain as we heard a metallic whirring noise. The mare shrieked, and blood splattered the snow next to us, staining it crimson.

“NO! NO!” The mare’s voice was hysterical as we heard a slightly mechanical sounding stallion speak to her.

“Fugitive from 7, you are under arrest. Comply, or meet a similar fate.”

We heard more sobbing, and the hoofbeats receded from the area. After we were sure they were gone, we emerged from our hiding spot.

The snow was red all in the clearing, mostly in a spot about eight feet from where we were hiding. It had sunken into the snow, it’s heat melting it a bit. A trail led off deeping into the woods, where they must be taking the body and the mare.

Roseluck and I headed back to the fence, not speaking the whole way. We never once discussed what had happened that day. I rarely thought of what happened to the mare, but whatever it was, I was sure it wasn’t pleasant.

I was shaken from my stupor as the doors of the elevator slid open with a soft hiss, and I was faced with my suite. Everypony who was affiliated with District 12 was seated around the table, staring at me.

“Ah good, our little troublemaker has decided to join us,” Hayseed sr. snarled, taking a swig from a tankard of hard cider.

I was confused. “Wait, how did-”

“Oh please, I already know what happened down there. We all do.”

“But that was supposed to be private training!”

Hayseed laughed, spilling some of his drink down his front. “Please! Anypony can watch as long as they’re a part of the same District team as the tribute! Now, about your performance: I’ll expect them to come and kill you any moment now.”

I grew angry at our drunken mentor, and this time, I didn’t try to hold it back. “Look here, you drunken slob, they weren't paying any attention to me, AT ALL. So, I had to do something a little absurd, to catch their eye. And like I said, I don’t care about being killed. Besides, it’s too far into the Games to replace me now.”

Hayseed was about to reply, but his son stopped him.

“Dad, their showing the scorings!” Hayseed sr. grumbled, and took a big swing of cider as the scorings were shown.

District 1’s stallion scored an 8. Not bad. The mare got a 5.

District 2’s stallion scored a 10, no surprise there. The mare gathered a 9.

District 3’s stallion scored a 6, and the mare scored a 9. That was good, I thought. Twilight obviously knew some tricks.

District 4’s stallion, Poor Little Pip, scored a 4. I groaned. He would most definitely be targeted. Good thing Rarity and Twilight would protect him. The mare, the cockeyed pegasus, scored a 7.

District 5’s stallion scored a 7. The mare, Rainbow Dash, scored a marvelous 10. She had that look about her, the one that said “I’m the best, and you better believe it,” So I wasn’t all that shocked to see her score so high.

District 6’s stallion, the caramel coated one, scored a 7. The little filly, Scootaloo, the one I had tried to reach, got an 8. I couldn’t help but smile a bit at this.

District 7’s young colt got a 6 for his score. The mare, the yellow shy one, scored the same.

District 8’s young colt scraped a 5. Rarity scored herself a 9. She was very capable of fighting if she needed to.

District 9’s male tribute ranked in at a 7. The pink mare fared a bit better, getting an 8. I wondered what her attack style would be. She was always so happy, always making friends with everypony, talking about the party she was going to throw when she won...

District 10’s stallion ranked a 7, and the mare ranked a 5. Nothing special about this district. District 10 was the least impressive in my mind.

District 11’s brother and sister both scored 10’s. I nearly applauded them out loud, but stopped myself. They were going to be fierce opponents... not that I would have to worry about that.

Now, came Hayseed jr. We all held our breath, and he showed up as an 8. Hoity Toity and Hayseed jr’s prep team applauded him. I help my breath, as I waited for a 2 or 3.

The number 11 flashed by my name.

A Blaze of Words

Everypony was staring in shock at the screen. Aloe was the first to speak.

“Well, you’re better than everypony expected, then!”

I turned away from it all, just wanting to leave. I had no reason to be around them anymore. I needed some time to myself, to think.

I entered the washroom and got into the shower. I then just realized that this was the first shower I had taken since the one I had been given by my prep team. I was used to going unwashed for days at a time, so I didn’t find it entirely impossible I had forgotten to take one.

I stared at the odd dials and buttons on the shower wall before me for a few moments, and then realized I had no idea how to use it. We took showers bac in our District, but it was always a bucket of preheated water being dumped over us while we sat in a wooden tub. Any running water was directed towards the sink, or the water pumps outside.

After messing around for a bit, and getting a blast of soap to the face, I turned a weird lever in the middle of the interface. Warm water, just at the right temperature, flowed down my body, washing away the grime and sweat away from me. I thought of the foals in my district who didn’t even get a decent meal tonight, much less such a nice feeling such as this.

At least they’ll be alive tomorrow...

Maybe not, though. Dead foals who had starved to death weren’t uncommon...

I pressed a few more buttons, and rose scented shampoo poured all over me. The smell instantly reminded me of Discord, and I vigorously washed it off. I got myself some conditioner (thankfully lilac scented) and brushed my mane. I wanted to look good for my last time anypony would ever see me in public before I killed myself.

I stepped out of the shower, instantly realizing there was no towel. I shivered slightly as the heat of the water slowly faded. “Can somepony get me a towel?” I asked loudly.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and a mare entered. I looked upon her snowy white fur, and gasped. Even though the hideous scars and burn marks that adorned her flank made it hard to see, there was no hiding her hatchet cutie mark.

“You’re...” The mare looked deep into my eyes, hers looking dead and empty. What had they done to her? I felt my contempt with Discord rising to threatening levels.

Obviously, the mare didn’t recognise me. Roseluck and I had hide from her and her brother, but she could see that I recognised her. She held the fluffy towel in her mouth, and moved her head forward a bit, gesturing me to take it.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, my eyes tearing up a bit. “For what they did to you and your brother.” The mare stared back at me, dead eyed expression eating away at my soul. She slowly walked around me, and dropped the towel on my back. Turning away silently, she left the bathroom.

I had heard tales of what they did to traitors of the state if they weren’t immediately executed. The nicer of these things was that they took a burning hot poker, and rolled it around the inside of your mouth and throat, making it impossible for you to speak, and nearly impossible for you to eat.

I dried myself off, and was about to style my mane when Aloe and Lotus Blossom waltzed in.

“Alright, now, we’re gonna make your mane extra nice for tonight while Photo Finish goes and gets you and Hayseed Jr’s outfits!”

I didn’t protest, and the two started experimenting with my hair. Much humming and hawing ensued, with a “No, Lotus, bring her bangs that way,” or a “Now swipe her hair over a bit this way, Aloe,” here and there.

The end result was my mane looking normal, except it seemed to flow to one side. Infact, the hair nearly obscured my left eye. Again, I think I saw a bit of the former Princesses Hair influenced work in my mane, but it was beautiful, so I didn’t complain.

Aloe and Lotus babbled excitedly to each other as we walked back into the main room. Hayseed Sr was downing a maretini while Hoity Toity played with his napkin. Hayseed Jr. entered from his prep room, and he looked, well, presentable. Simple, but I guess that’s the style we were going for tonight.

Photo Finish burst in, and presented us our costumes. With some help from our prep teams, we dressed ourselves up in them, and took a look. True to our current mane styles, we were staying simple.

My outfit was simply one that was reminiscent of what the princesses used to wear, you know, the thing around the base of their necks. For the life of me, I can’t remember what they were called. It had a single piece of coal whose lower half had been turned into a diamond. I could only imagine how many starving fillies and colts could have been fed with the money it took to make that.

Hayseed’s costume was a simple sash adorned with tiny diamonds and coal fragments. It was nice, better then mine in my own opinion.

“Shall we go?” He asked me. I nodded, and the two of us left in silence. Hoity Toity then said something about meeting up with us later, but I didn’t care. My mind had wandered back to the poor mare. Would my family meet a similar fate if I killed myself? It had just occurred to me. Surely, Canterlot wasn’t above that.

We arrived at the live stage where we would be interviewed. All of us tributes were mulling around the back, muttering to one another. Rarity approached me almost immediately.

“Oh, finally, Octavia darling, you’re here!” The white Unicorn’s dress was one that was a simple blend of furtight orange, blue, and silver fabric. I never thought those three colors would work so well together, but Rarity pulled it off.

“Hey, Rarity,” I said with a smile. “Yeah, we finally got down here, Hayseed’s dad got drunk and we had to sober him up.” The lie slid easily from my lips, and Rarity soaked it all in.

“Huh, yes, I feel sorry you got such a mess for a mentor.” She sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Our mentor is an older mare, but she’s quite lovely. Too bad she’s not here, I really wanted for you to meet her before-”

“Shh!” The mare from 10 said, and pointed up to the TV screen on the wall. An image flickered to life, and there was Spitfire Flickermane, her hair almost like a burning flame as her name would imply, getting ready to interview the female from 1, Fleur De Lis.

“Welcome to the interview of the Tributes for the 74th annual Pony Games,” Spitfire said with her charming smile. I always did enjoy her interviews the most out of any part of the games.

“And today, we have one lovely Fleur De Lis, now Fleur...”

I must admit, there were only four interviews I honestly paid any attention to. The first, was of course, Twilight Sparkle’s.

“And so, Twilight, you’re from District 3, is that right?” Spitfire smiled at Twilight, who answered very concisely.

“Yes, I’m from 3. I worked in an electronic database. I compiled all sorts of information about different spells, recipes, schematics, a lot of history...”

“Interesting! Maybe you’ll be able to beat ponies to death with your knowledge!” the crowd laughed, and to Twilight’s credit, she took it in stride.

“Yup! Here’s to hoping they have some thick books in the arena!” The crowd applauded as Twilight left the stage.

I payed close attention to Scootaloo’s interview. I definitely needed to know more about her.

“So, Ms. Scootaloo, how’s it like in District 6?”

“Dry.”

“That’s it?” Spitfire seemed to lose a bit of her flame. “Just... dry? Come on, we know you can do better than that!” The crowd roared testimony to this statement.

“What did you do there?” She asked.

“Scooters.”

“Huh, makes sense with your name and all... well then, what did you do with scooters?”

“Repairs.”

“Well then, can we call you Scooterloo?”

“Absolutely not. And if you do, I will tear your wings of and force-feed them to Discord.”

That was the end of that. It was kind of a disappointment, really, that we didn’t get more out of her. I was looking forward to knowing about this little filly...

I had no choice but to acknowledge Rarity’s, for the first thing she said was “Octavia, I expect you to pay close attention to this one, darling!”

The crowd laughed pleasantly at this, and Spitfire jumped right into the interview. “Lovely introduction, Rarity. Now, District 8 is responsible for textiles, if I’m right, so tell me. What did you do there?”

“Well, Ms. Flickermane, I was one of the designers of the workshop I was in. I would get orders from Canterlot, and I would design outfits as they instructed me to. In fact, I think I remember designing yours!”

“Ah, so you did!” Spitfire chuckled, and a smattering of laughter came from the crowd. “So, what about your sister? We saw she was just devastated when you were called to be tribute.”

Rarity’s composer softened. “Yes, poor Sweetie Belle was distraught... very much so. She cried when she saw me the last time during visiting... bawling, tears everywhere...” Spitfire wiped a tear from her eye, and Rarity choked back a sob. I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not.

Rarity took a deep breath, and continued. “But that’s why I’ve resolved that I must win this for her! I will return back to my little sister!” The crowd roared in approval, stomping and hollering, clopping their hooves together to show their delight. Rarity definitely generated the biggest reaction out there that night.

Pinkie Pie, that over-hyper mare from 9 was all over the place, but fun nonetheless. The two siblings from 11 were also of interest. The sister did most of the talking, the brother merely going “Eeyup,” or “Nnope,” in appropriate areas of the conversation.

Finally, it was my turn. My legs were a bit shaky, and Hayseed took note of that.

“Don’t tell me the high and might Octavia, the one who’s performed so many shows in front of crowds before is nervous?”

I laughed a bit at this. “Oh, shut up Hayseed.”

I walked out, and the crowd applauded me. I sat down on the couch that was provided for this occasion. Spitfire, who was lounging on the couch across from me, smiled and began.

“Welcome, Octavia! Canterlot must be quite a change from District 12.”

I swallowed a few times, and said “W-well, yes. Your buildings are certainly... shinier.” Why did I say that?

Spitfire laughed her laugh that sounded like the tinkling of crystal chimes, not that I had heard those before. It just sounded like what I would imagine crystal chimes would sound like. “Well, that’s good. Don’t come here for our amazing architecture, food, or culture, we have shiny buildings!” The crowd roared with laughter. I blushed heavily, but found myself laughing along.

“So,” Spitfire became serious again. “Your mother. We all watched her try and stop you from going in vain. What was it like?”

I racked my brain for the experience. I guess I had tried so hard to forget it, it had faded.

“Wet.” Wow, Octavia. You’re just nailing it tonight.

Spitfire laughed, and the crowd followed suit. “Well, I can imagine why. Well, do you have any hidden talents you’d like to tell us about? Not to intrude on your privacy,” Like Canterlot cared about that “And nothing combat related, just... a hobby, perhaps.”

Should I go for it? Yes, I think I shall. “I can play the cello.”

Spitfire raised her eyebrows, intrigued. “Really now. I wonder how you got into such an upper-class instrument in a District like yours.” I ignored that comment. “Nevertheless! Somepony get me a cello!”

There was a scuffling backstage, and after a few moments, a flustered looking unicorn presented the musical instrument to me. I took the bow in my fetlocks, lined the large instrument up, and began to play.

The melodious sound floated over the crowd, silencing them. They all watched in awe as I performed in front of the two hundred-odd stallions and mares in the flesh, while thousands more watched at home. It was most definitely my biggest concert.

As I finished, Spitfire was stemming a flow of tears. “I am just all over the place tonight... such a shame to see us condemning such talent to the arena... we need to get a cello in that arena for you to play!” The crowd all mumbled and nodded in agreement. I felt a swell of pride. I had fans now! The swell died as I remember what I would be doing tomorrow.

Spitfire wiped her eyes, her red eyeliner running “Tell you what, if you make it out alive, you’re going to be my personal musician. I’ll buy you if I have to!” The crowd laughed, and I smiled at her. “Alright, everypony, give a hoof for Octavia!”

I stumble in a daze backstage where Rarity confronted me. “Darling, that was simply the most devine playing I have ever heard! Why didn’t you tell me sooner, I would have loved to hear you play!”

“Shh!” Twilight pointed to the screen, and I watched as Spitfire started conversation up with Hayseed.

“So, Hayseed, did you know Octavia before she was picked to be tribute?”

“Not personally, no, but I did show up at one or two of her playings.”

Spitfire nodded. “Ah, so you got to listen to her more than we did, you lucky bastard.”

Hayseed smiled. “Lucky, I wouldn’t say so. She hit a sour note at the one I went to and nearly took out all of our eardrums.” The crowd laughed hysterically, and I felt my face burn with embarrassment.

Spitfire laughed heartily, then got serious again. “All jokes aside, how is your take on this whole situation?”

Hayseed jr. smirked. “Well, it’s... less than desirable. I find it absolutely barbaric that we do this, and that's comin’ from a simple turnip farmer like me!”

Spitfire nodded once more, then went on. “So, how is it like having your father as the mentor?”

Hayseed opened his mouth, ready to speak, but stopped, and then closed it. “No comment, Spitfire, no comment.”

The rest of the interview was lost to me. When Hayseed returned, he gave me a strange look. I raised my eyebrow at him, and he dragged me over to an isolated corner.

“What’s this all about, Hayseed?” I inquired.

“Are you still planning on... you know... tomorrow?”

I scowled at him. “Look, what I do tomorrow is none of your business. You lost any right or respect to me or from me when you joined the careers!”

Hayseed rolled his eyes at me. “We both know that you were planning on killing yourself since the beginning! My choice had nothing to do with it!”

“Maybe you could have talked me out of it,” I countered “But any chance of that is gone. I’m not going to become a murderer, Hayseed!”

Hayseed became quiet for a few moments. I turned from him, and was about ten paces away when he said it.

“What about Vinyl?”

Those words cut deeper into me then any tribute’s knife could. I trotted away faster, and a single tear sliding down my cheek as I headed for the elevators.

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

My sleep was dreamless that night. I woke up to the ceiling staring blankly down at me.

“Well, today’s as good of a day to die as any other day.” I hopped from my bed and took the last shower of my life. I made sure not to use the rose shampoo this time around.

Aloe and Lotus fussed over me, and Hoity Toity talked on during breakfast about how surprised he was that Hayseed Sr actually managed to line us up two or three sponsors. Hayseed Sr was downing a fifth of vodka, and Hayseed Jr. picked at a bagel. I stuffed my face. It was going to be the last meal I would ever have, so I figured I would make the best of it.

As I guzzled down orange juice in a very unladylike manner (much to Hoity Toity’s chareign) my mind thought guiltily of the starving ponies back in 12. I once again banished this thought to the back of my mind. Soon, I would be free of all cares.

After I was nearly ready to pop, we headed down to the launch pad where the airship would be taking us to the arena. I didn’t talk the whole way there. Something I’ve gotten used to doing.

We got into the airship, and I took a look around. The engineers had outdone themselves. This was quite a marvelous piece of craftsponyship! It had some pre-Discordian influences for sure, and I could have sworn that the floors were mahogany. Really, it was quite amazing.

My ogling of the craft was ended when we landed. We were ushered out into a small concrete building, where we all assigned different room. Once in my room, I was greeted by Photo Finish. I was surprised. I can honestly say I didn’t expect her to be down here.

“Listen, Octavia,” Photo Finish said. “I, Photo Finish, do believe you have a chance here. Do not screw it up. Try and stay alive. I, Photo Finish, went to the extra trouble to secure some sponsors. Don’t waste it.”

I stepped into the tube which would be taking me up to my demise. It would all be over there... just one swift step, a burst of light, and it’s be over.

The tube began to slowly rise, and I began to have second thoughts about this whole ordeal. Did I really want to do this?

Of course you do, Octavia. You can’t kill somepony else. I swallowed hard, and closed my eyes. When I reopened them, I was standing on the pedestal, looking out at the Cornucopia.

The Cornucopia was a large metal container holding various supplies. It was were the bloodbath occurred every year as the twenty-four of us made a mad dash for supplies. One year, only five tributes got out of the bloodbath. It was a very short games that year.

A voice I knew, and yearned so much for, was heard over sound system. “Welcome, stallions and gentlemares, to the 74th Annual Pony Games! I am your host, Vinyl Scratch, and I will begin the countdown now. May the odds be ever in your favor.”

Well, I thought to myself It’s now or never, Octavia.

I contemplated going over the side. It’s all be over so quick... but I’d never hear Vinyl’s voice ever again. If I hung on for just a bit longer, I could hear her again...

“45... 44...”

If I won, I’d be able to be with Vinyl... nopony would stop us... it would be the dream! It would be a reason for living!

“37... 36...”

But could I do it? Could I kill others for a very slim chance at my own happiness? I gazed over at the other tributes I’d be facing. Rarity’s haughty-yet-scared look, Scootaloo’s crestfallen look, Rainbow Dash’s shakily-determined one, Hayseed jrs terrified expression. Even Snowflake’s crazed look had a bit of sorrow behind it. Did I want to be responsible for one or more of their deaths?

“14... 13...”

I was running out of time! I needed to make a choice now!

“10... 9...”

Vinyl’s voice does sound nice. So very, very nice.

“8... 7...”

Too bad it’s be the last time I would hear it.

“6... 5...”

Just let me listen for a few more moments.

“4... 3...”

Oh well.

“2... 1...”

Goodbye, Vinyl, I thought as I jumped off the pedestal. I braced myself for the explosion.

Which never came.

I was too late! I had jumped off just as they had deactivated the bombs! Not wasting any time, my mind recovered and I forced myself to run forward, to grab anything I could. A bright blue saddlebag popped out at me, and I grabbed it in my mouth.

Immediately, I was tackled by the mare from 10. Not wasting a second, I smashed my forehead into her snout, and I was doused in blood from her nostrils. She snarled, and prepared to gut me with a nearby sword when her head separated from her shoulders.

Rarity gazed down at me from above. “You didn't think I’d leave, did you dear?”

I got to my hooves, smiling slightly despite myself. “Come on, let’s go grab Twilight and Pip.” The two of us dashed off to find them.

Like it or not, I was now in the Pony Games.

The First Day

Rarity and I ran to the woods. After a few minutes of running, when the bloodbath area was almost out of sight, spotted Pip scurrying to hide under a bush. The white unicorn used her magic to drag the poor colt by his tail from the underbrush.

The little pony squeaked in fear before seeing that it was us two who had found him. “Oh, thank goodness! I thought it was one of the scary, bigger ponies from the career districts! Where’s Twilight?” I don’t know why, but I found his accent adorable.

“I don’t know...” Rarity looked back to see the pink mare from 9 bouncing around the stallion from 11 in dizzying circles. “I thought I saw her head off towards the lake, but I’m not sure. Oh dear, this is bad.”

“Well, let’s go and find-” a snap of a twig behind me caused all three of us to spin around. Rarity hovered her sword and the sword she had gotten from the mare that she had killed a few moments earlier. I prepared to strike out with my hooves, and Pip hid behind me.

A career did show up, but not the one we were expecting. It was Hayseed.

“What are you doing? The others are gonna get here soon!” Hayseed waved us off. “Come on, this is risky already! Head for the deep woods!”

Rarity turned to me. “Can we trust him? He’s with the careers.” I looked back at Hayseed. His face was full of what I could only see as true compassion and worry for us. I thought back to the week I had spent with Hayseed. Even though he was with the careers, I felt like I could trust him.

“Rarity, I say we trust him.” Rarity gave me a sideways glance. The alabaster mare sighed, and looked down at the little foal still cringing behind me.

Rarity bent down, and spoke calmly to Pip, “What say you, Pip?”

Pip tried to stay as small as he could, looking around like a terrified rabbit. Realizing that Rarity was talking to him, he did sort of a double take, and then said “Just as long as we get somewhere safe is fine with me, Ms. Rarity!”

Rarity nodded, and turned to Hayseed. “Fine. We’ll trust. But I swear to Discord himself, in anypony in our group gets hurt, if I’m still alive I will gut you and hang your remains on a tree for all your career buddies to see, is that clear?” Hayseed nodded quickly and dashed off into the underbrush.

“Jeez Rarity, I didn’t think that was very ladylike of you!” I said with a smirk. Rarity rolled her eyes at me.

“Please. I may act like a prissy bitch at times, but when my friends are in danger, I’ll be damned if I don’t help them.” Six cannons boomed, letting us know that six had died in the bloodbath.

The three of us quickly trotted back over the clearing. Bodies and blood littered the battle scene, and I was just about to step out into the open when Rarity stopped me.

“Don’t be foolish! Look! Somepony’s dug up all the mines. I’ll be surprised if they haven’t scattered them around from place to place to prevent looters.” I looked at the empty field ahead, the cornucopia gleaming in the sunlight.

“So what do we do?” I asked the white mare beside me. Rarity furrowed her brow in concentration.

“We-ell...” Rarity looked at a loss for words. I knew we were just sitting ducks out here, waiting for the careers or somepony else to swoop down and pick us off.

Suddenly, a voice rang out. It was coming from inside the cornucopia, and it sounded very similar to one we had all heard before.

“Hey! Are you coming or not?” All of us looked over in astonishment as a purple head stuck its way out from inside the metal contraption. “Just watch out for the mines! I reburied them once the fighting died down!”

I stared open mouthed at this. “But we were gone ten minutes, tops! And to top it off, you couldn’t have buried them in the miniscule time you had after the mare and stallion finished fighting!”

“What happened to them?” Pip squeaked from in the patch of grass he was trying to hide in.

“Yes Twilight, you were here. You should know,” Rarity followed up, looking at the mare for an answer to her question.

Twilight shrugged. “Well, it was odd. Pinkie Pie, the mare, just bounced in circles until the red one, Big Macintosh, got dizzy. Then, his sister called for him, and he trundled over towards the lake where she had called from. And then-” Twilight gulped, “Pinkie Pie looked at me, winked, and bounced off towards the cliffs.” Twilight looked visibly disturbed. “Something about her scares me.”

“Well, I guess we'll just camp in the Cornucopia.” I looked up at the sky and saw that it was already late afternoon. “Jeez, does anypony know at what time we started? It can’t be getting to nighttime already!”

“I think the gamemakers are messing with our heads,” Twilight explained. “They have all sorts of technology that they can use to change the weather, time of day, the terrain...” The unicorn in the Cornucopia shook her head, then pointed to the ground. Jump from grass patch to grass patch. I buried the others in the grassless areas.”

We all did so, Rarity helping Pip out a bit, and soon we were all in the Cornucopia. Twilight had already stashed a blanket, two spears, and a small bag of trail rations.

“This was all that was left over?” I asked, poking the bag of rations with my front hoof.

“Unfortunately. But you have a saddlebag!” Twilight excitedly took it off of my back. “Let’s see what you’ve got in it.”

Twilight opened it up, and the rest of us gathered around to see what I had procured for us. The satchel contained a brown sleeping bag, two empty canteens, a pack of firestarters, and three apples.

“Oh well...” Twilight said, disappointment creeping into her voice. “Better than nothing, I suppose.”

I walked to the front of the large metal container, and looked back outside, where the body of the mare from 10 was collecting flies. It sickened me to think that just some time ago(I couldn’t tell with how the gamemakers were messing with us) she was trying to kill me. And Rarity had just jumped in and saved me like that...

I was about to descend into a pit of self loathing when Pip tapped me on the shoulder. “Um, Ms. Octavia? Ms. Twilight wanted to know if you’d go on the first night shift with Ms. Rarity.”

I blinked a few times, and looked back at the faol. “Huh? What? Oh, um...” I thought about this. This would be a good time to level with Rarity about my gratitude towards her. “Sure!”

Pip scuttled to the back to tell the others about my decision, and Rarity joined me soon after. “Come on, Ms. Cello player, we have to get on top to watch for careers.”

I nodded, and we went outside, careful to stay on the grass patches. I let Rarity climb on me, and once she was up, she helped levitate me a bit into the top. We both stared up at the darkening sky, and Rarity put her two swords down next to me.

As the sky eventually turned to night after around ten minutes(if I had to guess), the sky suddenly light up, becoming illuminated with the faces of the mares and stallions who had died in the bloodbath.

The first was the stallion from Twilight’s District, Time Turner. Below his name was the cause of death: Mauled by Snowflake, the stallion from 2. I felt a pang of sadness for Twilight. Although I wasn’t sure of her relationship with Time Turner, it still must be hard to lose a District member.
The second the stallion from 5, the dark grey one with the mohawk. Apparently, his name was Thunderlane. He had died from a stabwound by the hooves of Derpy, the pegasus mare from 4.

The third was the stallion from 7.

“Goodness, I hope they aren’t ALL stallions!” Rarity said with a slight chuckle.

“You killed the mare from 10, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

The stallion from 7 was that poor colt, Snails. His cause of death was being mauled by Snowflake. Another twang of sadness hit me. He had only been what, 13? 14? He had barely lived out his life, and now he was gone.

Come to think of it, I had barely lived out my life, and I could die any moment now.

The stallion from 8, another colt named Snips, was the fourth. I heard Rarity gasp slightly when his face became illuminated in the sky. He had been killed with an arrow shot by the stallion from 9.

“Are you ok?” I asked my nightwatch companion, who still wore a slightly shocked expression on her face.

“Yes, I’m fine, it’s just that...” Rarity looked off into the distance, nowhere in particular. “Sweetie Belle used to play with Snips...”

I looked sadly at the white mare. She was still looking off, her shocked expression slowly fading to be replaced with her usual one. Despite her looking fine, I thought it would be best to leave her alone for a bit.

The fifth was the stallion from 9, Donut Joe, or Pony Joe, I can’t remember his first name. It simply said “Joe” up under his name. He had died from Trixie, from 2. Apparently, burned to death.

“Well, serves him right for going right after a foal,” I heard Rarity mumble to herself, a bit angrily. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to console her, or not. So I kept quiet, leaving her to her thoughts.

The sixth and final one was the mare from 10. The cause of death, which I already knew firsthoof, was decapitation at the hooves of Rarity. Rarity said nothing to this matter, and I said nothing back. We both knew what had happened. She had done what was necessary to save my life.

And dammit, I’d do what’s necessary to repay the favor.

Woods

“Hey, wake up!”

I blinked wearly. The world was dizzy and blurry, and my mind wasn’t fully awake. Somepony was bent over me, purple tones flashing around like crazy.

As my vision adjusted, I saw that it was in fact Twilight Sparkle, and she was prodding me with a stick. “Yoo-hoo... Octavia... wakey-wakey! We gotta go gather up some food!”

I slowly rose to my hooves, and Twilight pointed to the dirt below me. It was dusty and dry, and covered in tracks.

“Did somepony go through here?” I asked her.

“Nope! That was you rolling around all night. You were muttering something about roses.” I blushed. I couldn’t remember anything about last night’s dream, but roses? I hadn’t dreamed of Roseluck at all, hell, I hadn’t even thought much about her since after the training incident.

“Um, well then...” I coughed and looked around. “Where’s Pip and Rarity?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, Rarity took him down to the lake so they could get ‘proper grooming’. I tried to tell her about how dangerous that would be, not to mention pointless. She brought her swords, through, so I think she’ll be fine.”

I thought about this. Certainly this was irresponsible, but Rarity had proven herself worthy time after time. If anyone was to be trusted with Pip, it was her.

I looked up at Twilight expectantly. “So... we’re gonna gather food?”

Twilight nodded her head, her mane bobbing around as she did so. “That’s right! It’s a good thing I did all the research on edible plants and berries while I was in the training arena.”

We headed off into the woods behind us. The leaves and branches brushed past me, shaking off the dust that had collected upon my count in rough clouds. Twilight, who had the misfortune to be behind me and the time, turned her head and coughed.

I blushed a bit at this. “Sorry...”

Twilight shook her head a bit to rid herself and the dust, and said “Oh, don’t worry. I’m used to dust from District 3.”

I paused and looked back at her. “District 3? What’s it like?”

Twilight stopped walking too, and thought about this for a moment. “Industrial. We have buildings upon buildings of places where we process research, and factories lining the streets where we create technology. It’s a giant mess of factories, sort of like District 8, but more organized and orderly. Just as it should be.” Twilight looked down at the patch of greenery we were currently in. “Oh, we can look for food here!”

I nodded and began my search through the bush. The leaves were odd and pointed and got knotted in my fur. They didn’t yield any berries, but I kept digging in further. Maybe there were some roots worth eating down in there.

“So,” Twilight said, levitating several blackberries from a bush nearby into her saddlebag “What’s your district like?”

I had come across some little tubers growing at the bottom of the bush. Beetles and grubs scuttled away from the light which I had shed upon their home. “Huh?” I responded to Twilight’s question intelligently.

“District 12! I know it’s where we get all our coal, but tell me more about it!” I looked up, and saw an expression of pure fascination on the unicorn’s face. I guess she really was one for knowledge.

“Um, well... what do you want to know?”

Twilight looked as though she had just been given the world’s greatest birthday present. “Oh, everything! Let’s start with what you did back in your District?”

I smiled at her enthusiasm. “Oh, I was cellist!”

Twilight cocked her head at this, slightly confused. “Yes, I remember several other ponies talking about it, but... what’s a cellist?”

It was my turn to wear an expression of shock and confusion. “You don’t know what a cellist is?”

The unicorn shook her head. I burst out in a small fit of giggles, and Twilight gave me an indignant look.

“Sorry,” I said, still giggling slightly. “It’s pretty commonplace from our District to know what a cellist is! It’s somepony who plays the cello.”

Twilight Sparkle’s face lit up with comprehension. “Ah, and a cello is a musical instrument, right?” I nodded my head.

Twilight stuck her head down into a bush to the left of me, and came back up with several tubers levitated around her. This reminded me of the own tubers I had found, and dove my head underneath the bush to pick some of my own.

“Anyway,” the lavender unicorn continued, “We don’t have a lot of musical instruments that aren’t electronically created. Mostly the stuff ponies like Vinyl Scratch created was industrial sounds that she made more harmonic. She said it was somewhat popular with the foals in Canterlot.”

I looked up, my mouth full of slightly muddy tubers. I spat them out into Twilight’s saddlebag, right on top of a small mound of blackberries.

“You knew Vinyl Scratch?”

Twilight looked a bit peeved at my actions. “The tubers go on the other side! We can’t have them intermingling, that’s just disorderly!” She used her magic to move the tubers into their own little pile. “Sorry, I just hate to see things disorganized... listen to me, I sound like Rarity!” She smiled sheepishly at me. “Anyway, I thought I already mentioned this, but yes! I knew Vinyl Scratch. She even came to talk to me during our stay in Canterlot, numerous times, in fact.”

I grinned like a maniac at this. Twilight gave me an awkward smile that conveyed mass amounts of uncomfortability in this situation.

“So, um... tell more about your District,” Twilight said in slightly scared voice.

“Oh, well, as you know, we do all the coal mining...” I put my hoof up to my chin and thought about my District. The grey snows, the rundown buildings, the beautiful wilds that lay beyond the fence...

“Well, yeah. What else?”

I thought some more. “Also, we have the best woodlands.”

Twilight paused at this. “Woodlands?”

I nodded. “I snuck out in the winters beyond the borders with my friend Roseluck. The landscape there is just... wonderful.”

I smiled and looked up at the branches above me, then back down at Twilight, whose mouth was agape. “What, is there something wrong?”

“You snuck out? Without being caught?” Twilight;s face was a mix of emotion, an odd bond of fear, excitement, and curiosity. “How?”

“The fence is just barbed wire. Nothing particularly dangerous. And they don’t keep constant maintenance on it. It’s practically gone in areas. I mean, if they notice a large group of people leaving, then they go after them and kill them, but...”

Twilight’s look of fascination seemed to grow with every passing moment. “In 3, they keep security tight as can be. They make sure nopony even ATTEMPTS escape.”

This hit me harder than I anticipated, because I never thought that news would hurt. It did, though. It meant that Canterlot just didn’t care about our District. They never bothered to send in more troops for the peacekeepers, new supplies to fix the fence, hell, they didn’t even seem to bother with electricity. Total neglect.

“Well, come on then. We’ve gathered everything around here. Maybe there’s some fruit trees over in the next patch.” Twilight began to trot off, but I put a hoof on her saddlebag to stop her.

“Wait! What if Rarity and Pip think we just took off, or worse,” I swallowed hard. “Got killed?”

Twilight looked at me with a little smile. “Don’t worry, Octavia, I told Rarity we were going to go get food before she left!”

I blushed a bit, feeling foolish for not considering that. The two of us trotted off through the woods, off into the next clearing.

There we were greeted with a sight I’d never forget.

The yellow mare from 7 was silently crying. A few birds and small woodland creatures were gathered around here.

“Isn’t that-” Twilight held her hoof up to my mouth. I looked out and saw that there were two figures slowly and noisily breaking through the brush. I held back a gasp when I saw who those figures were.

Trixie and Snowflake, the two from 2. Trixie was smiling evilly, while Snowflake held the same facial expression he always did, the one of grim determination.

“Aw, the poor little filly, all alone in the woods...” Trixie’s voice carried through the air sickeningly, poisoning my ears as I heard her speak. “With nary a friend to help her...” She smirked, and drew ever closer to the yellow mare.

Trixie’s eyes shifted about, then she called out “Fancypants! Fleur! Derpy! Come on out! It’s safe, just the yellow one from 7, Fluttershy!” More snapping foliage was heard, and two more unicorns walked gracefully into the clearing. With a loud snap, and branch fell to the forest floor, followed by a grey pegasus who crashed into the ground. Fluttershy flinched at the loud noises, and Trixie groaned.

“Honestly, the Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t know why she keeps you around, Derpy. Shape up!”

“I just don’t know what went wrong!” The grey pegasus’s good eye was focuses apologetically on Trixie.

“Well, at least you knife better than you fly,” Fleur said with a little laugh, and both Trixie and Fancypants joined in soon after. Snowflake said nothing, just continued staring his stare down at Fluttershy, who was now curling up in a ball, absolutely terrified.

“I have to help her,” I whispered to Twilight.

“Shh!” Twilight hissed. “They can hear us!”

“What was that?” Trixie stopped laughing and looked over at a patch of brush around ten feet away from us.

“What was what?” Fancypants said with a drawl.

“I heard somepony talking!” Trixie swept her head all around, her mane swooshing into Snowflake’s face, who did nothing still.

“Come on, show yourself,” Fleur called out.

“Idiot, they aren’t going to come out just because you asked them!” Trixie facehoofed. “What did the Great and Powerful Trixie ever do to get stuck with a retard,” she moved her hoof over to point and Derpy, who looked down on the ground “An airheaded looser,” she pointed at Fleur, who looked offended “And a living statue!” She gestured to Snowflake, who was still staring down at Fluttershy.

Trixie groaned. “Fancypants, as the only other remotely competent pony in this party, Trixie commands you to go and check out where that sound came from,” Fancypants looked like he was about to whine about it, but Trixie gave him a look which sent him moping to the bushes.

“Now then,” The evil grin returned to Trixie’s face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie shall deal with you!” Fluttershy squeaked, and Trixie levitated a short sword from the underbrush at her hooves to in front of her.

As Trixie slowly trotted forward towards the mare in front of her, Twilight had to practically hold me back. In fact, she had wrapped her hooves around me and was keeping me close to the ground, half buried in undergrowth to keep me from moving.

“How could you let this happen?” I growled, trying to wiggle free.

“They’d kill us all, Octavia,” Twilight hissed in my ear “You know they would! As cruel as it sounds, it’s better only one dies instead of three!”

Well, I couldn’t really argue with that logic. Still, it pained me to watch this go though.

“We’re in a death arena, Octavia,” Twilight continued. “We’re not going to make it out alive, not both of us, anyway. Either you or I will die, and then we’ll most likely be killed by one of those horrible excuses for ponies that are just about to kill Fluttershy!”

“Hey, it’s coming from over there!” I heard the hoofsteps get closer. I twisted my head back to Twilight.

“Did you bring a weapon?”

Twilight levitate out two small knives. “They were all Rarity left that I could fit into the pack. Always come prepared, right?”

I grasped one of knives in my mouth, just as Fancypants smashed through the bush and stepping right in front of us.

Twilight stabbed first, but I was a second after. My knife sunk deep into his left leg, and Twilight’s did the same to his right. Fancypants screamed in agony, and fell over, blood pouring from his legs.

There was another shriek, and a shunk, and hurried hoofbeats over towards us.

“RUN!” Both me and Twilight jumped to our hooves, and bolted as fast as we could away, back towards the cornucopia. As I shot to my hooves, I got an unpleasant view of what had happened to Fluttershy. She lay there, still breathing, with blood pouring out of a deep neck wound.

As Twilight and I crashed through the forest, I heard the boom of a cannon.

Prologue

I was never any good at fighting.

I’m Octavia. I was born in District 12, and I thought for certain I would die in District 12. But, a certain event would change my life forever.

Equestria is a smoking shell of what it once was. At least, that’s what I assume. Like most ponies, we have no idea what pre-war conditions were like. I suppose some historians in Canterlot might know. They give us the watered down version in school.

Equestria was ruled by Two Princess: Celestia and Luna. One day, an unknown force attack Equestria and the nearby Griffon Empire. We won, but both kingdoms were shattered by the war. Famine, disease, poverty... all ran rampant through the broken lands. The Princesses power waned, and the griffons isolated themselves from us. Things looked pretty grim.

In an attempt to instil order into Equestria, 13 districts were established. Each gave a certain boon to Canterlot, the capital. Like, District 5 is power, and District 12 where I live is coal. However, a revolt was led against the princesses by their old enemy, Discord. The war that followed was called “The Dark Days.” All the Districts except District 13, which mined graphite, helped in the rebellion. In the end, Discord proudly hung the heads of the Princesses on pikes above the palace entrance. District 13 was obliterated for its disobedience.

Discord had a fine job cleaning up the mess that was left of Equestria, but in the end he managed to fix it up quite nice. However, being the twisted deviant he is, he wanted to have complete control over us. To ensure that, he established something called “The Pony Games”, where he has each District send one mare and one stallion to fight to the death in a giant arena every year. This practice was established 74 years ago, and when our story starts, the 74th annual pony games were about to begin.