The Equestrian Hunger Games - Act II: Trail of Blood

Chapters

The Initial Destruction
The Training Regime
The First Kill
The Raging Inferno

The Initial Destruction

“FUCK!!”

That single word echoed within Sparkler’s mouth. This couldn’t be happening, it just can’t! For the past few weeks, Sparkler had practiced her newfound powers and abilities to the max. She had made sure that she was well equipped with all the knowledge needed for her survival. But now…

Now, she was as good as dead.

Whatever those Royal Guards shot into her, it had damaged her greatly. All of her powers were gone, not even something as simple as levitation! There was no time to think on how all that happened in the span of the milliseconds it took for her to think. Right now, it was do or die.

Should she run away? No, never. She promised herself she would see this through. With the little dwindling strength she had left, Sparkler charged.

Her running figure caught the other Tributes off guard, even her friends Lyra and Mjolna. They were sure Sparkler would summon the weapon of her choice towards her and start firing or slashing like the insane maniac she was. They quickly shoved aside their thoughts and used whatever means necessary to get their hooves on weapons and supplies.

The magenta Unicorn made a final jump and landed at the pile of supplies and weapons stacked in the middle, just as the Pegasi had flown over and took their own required items. However, that was also the time the Unicorns had levitated the weapons towards them and was using it to their full advantage.

“Damn it!” was all Sparkler managed to say as a spear missed her by an inch

She grabbed the nearest weapon to her with her hooves and pointed it in front of her. When her eyes managed to focus on it, she realised that it was a crossbow. No biggy, she’s practised with it during her insane fights with the insane Lyra. However, this time the weapon felt… different.

Without much thought, she raised the crossbow and fired as many bolts as possible during the chaos. Ever since she was a child, she had practised to increase her accuracy to the highest possible level with the bow her father mad made for her. She was a sharpshooter, and she was proud of it. Deep inside her heart, she even liked the nickname Berry Punch made for her. Hawkeye, a wonderful name indeed.

The chaos cleared up, and Sparkler’s eyes widened at the amount of carnage she had managed to produce.

Nothing.

All of the bolts had missed their target, some even straying way off course and hitting the tress. No way. She was prepared to kill in the Games, but how could she miss every last one? She could only sit there blankly, staring at her clean hooves that were free of any forms of blood.

“Sparks!”

Her eyes shot open once more, hearing the voice of her new best friend. She could see Lyra, standing with all her might on her hind legs like the people in those anime the two watched together. In her hooves were chains which connected to a pair of red, spiked chakrams. Her insane grin was replaced by a look of serious determination.

“I dunno what happened, but I’ll cover you” Lyra said hastily

“But-”

“IKOU!”

Without another word, Sparkler dashed away, crossbow stashed on her back. She can’t believe she’s relying on Lyra for support. All this while, she was able to protect herself. But now, she felt hopeless. As she ran through the area, she decided to use her other skills for survival.

“AARGH!” Lyra’s distant scream worried Sparkler, but she had to press on

Now getting a better look at the surroundings, Sparkler noted that the arena was a giant network of caves, leading her to feel it as an underground setting. This won’t do. There was little to no chance of her finding any food or water in a cave, so she should have stolen one of those survival packs from before.

Inwardly cursing at herself, Sparkler’s tired hooves finally gave way and she collapsed, right onto the hard stone floor. Damn it, she was tired as hell. She needed to find some shelter quick, or the other Tributes would quickly dispose of her. But where to go? If only she had some sort of scanning and detecting magic, but her powers are all gone. Even if she did have her magic, she didn’t know any of those spells.

Groggily standing up, Sparkler started to trot off to a random location. Maybe if she was lucky, she would stumble into a sealed off cave somewhere that would be hard to find.

The sound of hooves on the stone floor alerted Sparkler, and she jumped up in an instant. She took out the crossbow she had risked her life to get and pointed it to the source of the clopping. No, she would never hit. Instead, she raised it as high as she could with her fore hoof and prepared to strike down.

“H-Hello?” the voice of a fellow Tribute caused Sparkler to instantly jerk, sending the crossbow down in an attempt to smash the enemy

SMASH

The sound of wood on stone echoed through the cave, leaving a stunned Sparkler gaping in awe. Her reaction time was way off. She had missed the pony by a nose, and the weapon almost cracked from the impact. Sparkler looked at the pony who had come, and made a desperate sigh.

A Pegasus with a snow-white coat and a short sea-foam green mane looked at her with a confused stare. Her striking dark orange eyes showed no sign of fear, only confusion and pity. The Pegasus had a Cutie Mark in the shape of the two masks of theatre, comedy and tragedy. She opened her mouth, and Sparkler was hoping she would at least have pity on the Unicorn.

“Wow, your aim sucks”

A deadpan silence was shared amongst the two.

“NANI?!”

Sparkler’s rage-induced scream was so loud, Caramel, who was hiding miles away in the opposite direction could hear it. She grabbed the mare by the collar of the black jacket she wore. Their faces were inches away, making the Pegasus able to see her deep violet eyes.

“Now listen here, baka! You’ve got a nerve insulting me, and I hope you have your will ready, because I will MURDER your ass!”

“Says the mare who can’t even hit a trembling Pegasus right in front of her face”

When those words reverberated through Sparkler’s ears, she instantly let go of the white Pegasus and dropped to the floor. She looked at her hooves once more. Still clean, not even a single speck of blood on it. Why? She was ready to become a monster to win the Games. But now that she was in it, she found out that she was unable to do so. Just what was that thing the Royal Guards put in her?

“Hey, you’re Thespian, from the same bus as just now, right?” Sparkler said softly, only allowing the mare to hear her

“Thespian Moon, that’s me” replied the mare

“Well, don’t die” Sparkler said as she looked up with a determined expression “Because when I get my magic back, I’ll be the one to kill you!”

Seeing Sparkler finally smiling, Thespian gave a sigh of relief and helped her back onto her hooves. She was glad to have run into the mare. In her short life, maybe the best way to die was by the hooves of her newfound friend. If anything, she would make sure that her death would be quick and painless.

Thespian helped Sparkler, who was dead tired and about to fall asleep, to a nearby hidden cave and the two entered. The mare then told Sparkler that she was going to leave then, but promised to return soon. Sparkler forcefully made her promise to stay alive till then, which Thespian easily complied to. With that said and done, Thespian Moon trotted away, leaving behind a tired Sparkler with nothing but her thoughts.

How many ponies have died? She would find out soon enough. There will be a screen appearing in a few more minutes, made out of magic created by the Gamemakers. She prays that all of her friends were alright, but knew that it was pointless since they would all be dead since there could only be one survivor.

‘I’m weak’ thought Sparkler as she looked at the cracking crossbow ‘I’ll never get to kill anypony until my magic comes back, and I’ll be dead by then’

A single tear dropped onto the cold hard ground as Sparkler contemplated on her current predicament.

The Training Regime

How long has it been since Thespian Moon left the vicinity? Hours, probably. Hours that Sparkler had feeling lonely and separated. She didn't want to split up with Thespian, but her current condition will be more of a liability for the spunky mare.

For the past few hours, Sparkler has been practicing her marksmanship nonstop. Each bolt was aimed at the scarf she had pinned to the wall. Her plan was to try and use as much of her natural talents as possible in order to fire at the scarf. To her dismay, she realised that she had no natural talents at weaponry. At all.

Throughout her whole life, she was gifted with a power so great and she barely knew of it. Sparkler scoffed at her idiocy.

"What I need…" said Sparkler to no one in particular "is a trainer. Someone to help me get better again"

She looked around, hoping that her increasing bad luck has finally given way to some good luck. Nope. Nothing. Nopony had come to her aid, and nopony had come to murder her in cold blood. Honestly, she was sure the racket she was causing was enough to attract the Alpha Team. Well, looks like she was wrong.

Firing more and more darts, Sparkler continued with her measly training. Slowly, she did get better. Though not by much. Her aim was WAY off, and the weapon felt alien in her hooves. Whenever she ran out of bolts, Sparkler had to pick them all back up by hoof. No magic to levitate them, none at all.

A few more hours must have passed when a magic flare erupted somewhere on the outside. To Sparkler, this could only mean one thing.

Dashing outside as fast as her hooves could carry her, Sparkler looked at the grand fireworks of magic that had split open the sky. It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful thing Sparkler had seen. But yet she could not feel any sense of wonder as she saw it.

For its reason for existing is as ugly and black as the soot left by fire.

Ponies have died, and all they got in return are beautiful fireworks that lit up the sky in a torrent of colours depicting their coat and mane colour. Counting the many flares, Sparkler noted that there were eleven of them in total.

Eleven flares.

Eleven deaths.

It was natural that the first day will be filled by the most amount of death. Sparkler had seen it since she was but a mere filly, still unused to the concept of death. At that age, Sparkler was truly amazed by the brilliant firework display, blissfully unaware of the deaths needed to produce such beauty.

Sighing once more, Sparkler returned to the inner area of the cave, knowing what was surely to come. And soon, it did happen. A miniature magic screen which showed the faces of the many dead ponies appeared in front of her. If she was still outside, the light from the magic screen might have revealed her hiding location.

But just maybe, she wanted people to know where she was.

She quickly made a scan-through of the dead. Boxxy Brown, Ambrosia, Quick Fix, and many other names she barely knew. These ponies had lives, they had families. And all that was stripped away in the blink of an eye. Still, Sparkler felt lucky. Lyra, who had stayed behind to protect her, was still alive. But is she safe? Is she on the brink of death? Sparkler had no way of knowing that, and was sort of glad she didn't. She didn't know how to face her best friend after this.

The soft clip-clopping of hooves brought Sparkler's attention to the mouth of the cave. She considered using the crossbow, but thought against it when she remembered her disastrous attempt at killing Thespian Moon. So she decided to go bare-hoofed. Leaving behind the crossbow and quickly wrapping the white scarf around her neck, she braced herself for what was to come.

"There is no need to fear, my dear friend"

That voice. Sparkler's face quickly lit up as she looked outside the cave, meeting the face of a familiar mare. Her tan coat, already blotted with her own dried blood, mixed perfectly well with the silver chain-mail like shirt she wore. Her blond mane was messed up, but her striking golden eyes showed a determination and an air of regal beauty that could not be overshadowed.

"MJOLNA!"

Sparkler ran to her friend and embraced her in a tight hug. She could feel the blood on Mjolna's coat and the sweat from her survival attempts, but she didn't mind. After all, Sparkler was prepared to suffer these anomalies as well.

"Ano~ How did you find me?" Sparkler asked "I'm pretty sure this place is hidden well enough"

"Thou art a God!" Mjolna's epic response resonated through the cave "There is nothing thou cannot see"

"You're fucking with me" Sparkler deadpanned "Seriously, how did you find me?"

"I passed by Thespian Moon, the white Pegasus from before. We came to a truce and she showed me where you hid under the promise that I help you"

A stiff laugh escaped Sparkler's mouth. Her mind only thought one thing and that thing is the sole fact that Thespian Moon may have more or less sold her out. She wondered if she would tell an enemy where Sparkler was, but dismissed the thought.

Wait, her Cutie Mark more or less said that her talent is acting, right?

"I have borne witness to your… performance" Mjolna said with slight hesitation "My best guess is something foul and vile has occurred towards you. Would you kindly explain?"

Letting go of her friend, Sparkler and Mjolna both sat down at the side of the cave as Sparkler spoke of what happened, but in hushed tones. There is no doubt that they are being monitored, and neither of them wanted their families to suffer because of them. As they spoke, Mjolna's face turned into one of disgust.

"Those fiends!" Mjolna whisper-shouted "They shall become the first upon thy holy judgement!"

"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you" Sparkler laughed before silencing "But… I need your help"

"What for?"

"Attack me" Sparkler's eyes burned with determination "Attack me and harm me as much as you can! Do not hold back, do NOT hesitate! Fuck me up so badly, I'll never walk again!"

Now Mjolna, who was a fairly powerful mare on her own, was dumbstruck at her words. Since when was Sparkler this suicidal? Did the loss of her powers slowly make her revert to her old self again? If so, then Mjolna would have easily done so. There was no denying it, she hated the original anti-social, snarky, pessimistic Sparkler.

Still, if her friend wishes so…

Mjolna's hoof quickly darted back, grabbing onto the handle of something large. Sparkler, who had not noticed the weapon until now, quickly jumped back. Her timing was more than perfect, as Mjolna swung her foreleg towards Sparkler, revealing a silver war hammer. The swing missed by a nose and smashed into the side of the cave, creating a giant gaping hole.

Sparkler, who had jumped back, quickly grabbed her crossbow and fired. She wasted no time in making sure ten bolts were aimed directly at the tan Earth pony. Eight of them missed, while two of them were simply reflected by the chain-mail shirt Mjolna wore.

"HYAH!"

Mjolna threw the hammer right at Sparkler. This time, the Unicorn did not have time to dodge it as the hammer crashed into her chest. The two collided into the wall and it picked up a ton of debris. When it cleared, blood was flowing from Sparkler's mouth and her head was bleeding.

"I do not wish to kill you, Sparkler" Mjolna said warily as she trotted over to pick up her hammer "Please, cease your attacks"

"NO!"

Sparkler, free of the burden of the heavy hammer, jumped Mjolna and struck her hard. She raised her crossbow again and fired, but missed as Mjolna quickly rolled away. Sparkler continued firing more bolts, wasting another ten as they all missed. The tan Earth pony, still confused as to why Sparkler wanted her to attack, struck the ground. The resulting attack shattered the earth and left a wide crack where it had struck.

Sparkler jumped the crack on the ground and fired another bolt at Mjolna, missing only because Mjolna blocked it with her hammer. Mjolna jumped towards Sparkler and punched her with her hoof. Hard.

"Enough of this, Sparkler" Mjolna spoke calmly "You and I are outmatched until you have recovered your fighting prowess"

"Iyada…" Sparkler muttered "Iyada,i yada, iyada, iyada, iyada!"

With the final shout, Sparkler tried to knock Mjolna with her hoof, but was easily held down. Mjolna then proceeded to use the mare's long white scarf to strap down her hooves

"I do not know what that meant, but I shall assume you were refusing my offer" Mjolna said with a true sense of guilt and pity "You are not in the condition for battle. I only attacked you the first time to fulfill your wishes. If I knew you were suicidal, I would never have made the first strike"

"I was always suicidal…" Sparkler laughed coldly "Ever since day one. But now, I'm weak…"

Mjolna looked at her friend, who was already tearing up. A single wet line cleared the dirt on Sparkler's face, and Mjolna quickly let go of the mare. She stood on all-fours and helped Sparkler up. When they both managed to catch their breaths, Mjolna hugged Sparkler gently.

"If you require training, I shall be obliged to help you" Mjolna whispered "But do not be reckless. I will help you for as long as I can, and then I will be off. For now it is not wise for us to team up. The next time we meet, I hope we shall become a powerful team"

"Arigatou…" Sparkler said "Mjolna…"

They spent the next few hours duking it out, with Mjolna trying to sharpen Sparkler's lost battle skills. They were to separate soon after, but not without faith that the other would survive. They wanted to make sure they could meet each other again, and meet each other again they must.

The First Kill

Sleep deprived eyes opened up to the fake lighting created by the Gamemakers of the death match known as the Equestrian Huger Games.

Sparkler looked around, hoping to see the form of her friend nearby. Of course, that wasn’t the case. Mjolna had already told Sparkler that she was going to leave once she felt that she had trained Sparkler enough for her to survive without her powers. Still, Sparkler felt kind of lonely without her.

The training had gone for hours, leading to Sparkler only getting few precious hours of sleep. Her body was covered in bruises and blood, battle damage that Sparkler was glad to have. Though she had to admit that this was a terrible idea. She needed to make sure that she was aware of her surroundings in order to stay alive and not die any time soon.

Hearing the sound of something grumbling, Sparkler realised that she was getting hungry. Again regretting her decision of not getting a survival pack from the huge mound of items at the beginning of the death match, Sparkler decided that it was time to start looking around the area for anything that would resemble anything that is edible.

On her early run, though you could probably call it more as a random forced struggle to move around, Sparkler saw something move. It couldn’t be a pony, it was flying. Can’t be a Pegasus either, it was too small. There was only one thing that came to mind, and Sparkler was too hungry and desperate to think rationally anymore.

Sparkler dashed off, knowing fully well that wasting energy could lead to her downfall. However, she was also positive that the flying creature she saw was edible. She made a few quick turns, making sure that the shadow of the small flying creature was in view. Finally, she saw it.

It was a fruit bat, coloured to look like a fresh strawberry.

Taking out the crossbow Sparkler had strapped to her side by her scarf, Sparkler targeted the flying mammal. She knows that she had one shot at this, and time was running out. Usually, fruit bats come in a massive group, though this must be one of those rare times where one got separated from the pack.

Releasing a breath Sparkler didn’t realise she was holding, the bolt was shot.

It struck the fruit bat right in the wing. Pretty good, though not good enough. She would have usually been able to fire a bolt right between its eyes. Still, she didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sparkler trotted over to the squirming creature and took it, knocking it on the head with a blunt stone in order to fully kill it.

With that finally done, Sparkler made a creepy smile as she sat down and got ready to eat it.

“Ittadakimasu~” Sparkler sang as she bit into the fruit bat, releasing its juicy qualities

Strange things, these fruit bats.

The sudden sound of tumbling pebbles makes Sparkler look up in surprise, knowing full well what it could mean. She bit into the bat and jumped to the side, hoping to dodge whatever was going to come her way. Luckily for her, her training with Mjolna did just the trick.

“ARGH!”

An axe was wedged right where she had stood, accompanied by a battle cry. Sparkler picked up her crossbow and aimed at the offending attacker’s location, spotting him almost instantly. He was buff and strong looking, obviously supporting the claim that this stallion was a powerhouse. Sparkler remembered seeing him as a District Nine tribute.

The earth-coloured pony jumped Sparkler, prompting the mare to fire at him. Sparkler knew she would have missed had it not been for the short range. Two bolts managed to lodge itself into the pony’s chest, making his attack cut off abruptly.

Sparkler realised her mistake too late.

The pony had stopped where his axe was left, and he took it out of the ground carelessly and raised it. With another mighty yell, the axe-wielding pony struck down, missing Sparkler by an inch. He raised the axe again and Sparkler rolled away, dodging the attack once more.

Fruit bat still in mouth, Sparkler kicked the stallion’s rear legs. The swift attack made the attacker wobble, giving Sparkler enough time to act. She delivered another kick towards the stallion’s chest and he was knocked back, his axe falling onto the ground.

Without another thought, Sparkler dropped her crossbow and jumped for the axe. Taking it with both hooves, Sparkler noticed that it was indeed heavier than she had expected. She then remembered her strength leaving her body and mentally facehoofed.

“Fuck off” was Sparkler’s short speech as she brought the axe down

The stallion seemed to have been more agile than he looked. He rolled over and managed to avoid the axe burying itself deep inside his chest. He didn’t manage to pull his right foreleg away in time, though. What happened would always imprint itself in Sparkler’s mind as her first official strike and murder.

The leg was chopped off, followed by a gush of blood staining the cavern floor. The pony screamed in pain as Sparkler raised the axe again, bringing it down with full force. Still, the stallion tried to roll away only for it to hit his back. More blood came gushing out as the stallion screamed again.

Sparkler was many things, but a sadist was none of them. She didn’t want to see the pony suffer anymore and thought it would be better if he had died right then. Compensating for the poor soul, Sparkler bit on the fruit bat in her mouth strongly and bucked the stallion in the head and watched as he and the axe slammed into the cave wall splattering it with the blood of the unknown stallion.

The body of the stallion shimmered a beautiful bright purple light and exploded in a flare, signalling his death.

Swallowing the bat in her mouth, Sparkler turned around and prepared herself. Twelve ponies were dead and twelve others remained alive, eleven of them were going to die. What she knew now was that the game had truly begun, and she needed to survive to see the end of it.

“Murder…” muttered Sparkler as thoughts of the dead stallion plagued her mind, causing her to not be able to think straight “I just murdered a pony…”

The Raging Inferno

How long has it been since Amethyst Star actually found something worthwhile to actually look into? Days. Three days, to be exact. Her mind was in a state of confusion. At one point, she is glad that she could actually get some peace for once. But still, three days is quite long in terms of The Equestrian Hunger Games. The viewers at home will start to get bored, and Sparkler knew that the ponies over at Canterlot would not want that to happen. Something was going to happen, she was sure of it.

The caverns looked exactly the same as it always did. It was dank, humid, and so full of rocks. Sometimes, Sparkler questioned whether or not she is even going anywhere, or if she was just circling the same area over again. She should have marked the area, but it was almost impossible to do so. She also did not want other ponies to detect her and probably kill her any time soon.

Just as she thought that nothing more was going to happen to her, she heard something shift in the distance. Knowing the rules of the Games, she was bound to be in for a surprise. Cautiously trotting over to it, Sparkler hoped that it was nothing that could kill her. And if it did, she hoped that it would be quick and painless.

The mere thought made her shudder.

All this time, she had steeled herself in order to prepare for the incoming storm of death and destruction she would have to face. But now that she actually has killed, and is under the threat of instant death, her mind is in a rut. Maybe all her mental preparations had gone along with her magic. If that was true, then she really did wish it would come back soon.

A few more cautious steps forward, and Sparkler saw two cavernous holes paved into the walls. They were exactly identical in every shape and size. If anything was there to differentiate the two caves, it was only the fact that one was on the left and the other was on the right. Yes, it was that similar. Unicorn magic, powered by Nightmare Moon’s dark powers, had certainly revolutionised death traps.

“When in doubt…” Sparkler whispered to herself “Choose right”

She turned her head towards the right cave, ready to enter it with all her courage, when a shrill shriek reverberated off the walls. Squinting her eyes, Sparkler noted something else was within the right cavern. Something large. Something dangerous.

“Maybe left isn’t such a bad choice” Sparkler admitted and turned left instead

Just as she entered the left chamber-like cave, a loud explosion of magic echoed through the area. The magic flare, of course. The single explosion of magic that hinted all the other ponies as to the death of another Tribute. This time, when the magic screen appeared, Sparkler watched the face of a certain Tumbleweed, smiling happily as the words “Death by beast” shone beneath her image.

Sparkler shook the thought of another dead pony and continued her trek.

‘Is it me…’ thought Sparkler ‘or is it getting real hot in here?’

Sparkler’s internal thinking gears whirred and clicked. Something was happening. The Gamemakers want her dead. There was little hope of survival now. Gulping down her own saliva, Sparkler braced for the death that was sure to come. Slowly? Quickly? If anything, she wanted to be prepared for it, at least so she could survive to see another day.

“NANI?!” screamed the Unicorn as she tilted her head back, seeing the choice of death that the Gamemakers had chosen for her

A wall of fire, burning with the intensity of a thousand suns, zipped across the stone floor in a tremendous rage. It was pony-made, Sparkler knew it. No natural flame could actually look as beautiful and deadly as the one right in front of her at the moment. Cursing the stars, Sparkler ran and ran, hoping that she could escape the flames.

“FIRE! Why did it have to be fire?!”

On any other day, Sparkler would have laughed and stood her ground as the flames licked her coat and mane. But not today. Not when she had no magic and no skills. She was not prepared yet to face this sort of enemy, and would have liked it better to duel with the beast in the right cave. At least that one was killable.

The heat died down, but Sparkler kept running.

There was no way for her to be sure that the threat was over, not when the Gamemakers were on a roll. So instead she kept her eyes closed and prayed to the deceased Princess Celestia that she would be able to open her eyes without seeing fire surrounding her. When she finally dared to do so, a certain sight caught her eyes. For once, the thing in front of her was not made of stone.

Pity it was also a murderous beast.

The creatures were made entirely out of wood and branches. They all seemed to magically connect it together as there was no clear reason as to how the creature actually stuck together. Being the size of three ponies and glaring at Sparkler with glowing yellow eyes, Sparkler instantly recognised the monster in front of her: The Alpha Timberwolf.

Sparkler knew Timberwolves. They chased enemies and prey based off their own predatory instincts. The more dangerous the enemy, the more riled up the Timberwolves would act. They live off of danger, mostly due to the fact that they could instantly regenerate their bodies if they are ever destroyed. It is once stated that if a Timberwolf has caught your scent, you were as good as dead.

Alpha Timberwolves are worse. Being a combination of multiple Timberwolves, the Alpha Timberwolf looks for his own enemies. There are legends. Legends that tell of how a lone Alpha Timberwolf destroyed an entire village, consuming all of its inhabitants in a single attack. There were no facts that said that it was true, though there were also no facts that proved it wrong.

“Mataku…” Sparkler sighed as she drew her crossbow as quickly as possible “Fucking Gamemakers…”

Sparkler shot once, twice, thrice. Being a ridiculously large target, the Alpha Timberwolf was struck with all the darts in rapid succession. Of course, being a ridiculously large target, the Alpha Timberwolf felt no pain from such puny darts. The wooden wolf howled with all its might and pounced Sparkler.

Sparkler was never aiming to kill the wolf, though. Oh no, Sparkler had much more common sense than that. A one-on-one with an Alpha Timberwolf was suicidal, and Sparkler had way too much to live for. She was done being suicidal. She was done being depressed. She wanted to fight on.

Just as the Alpha Timberwolf was about to catch the lavender Unicorn, Sparkler swiftly slid underneath the wolf, dodging it just by an inch. She wasted no time in running away. The cavern was huge, though she realised that the top did seem to lower down near the place where she was chased by the fire. She didn’t even need to look back to wonder if the Alpha Timberwolf was chasing her, the thumping of the beast’s feet was loud enough to cause the cave to start shaking.

Sparkler’s memory proved right. The roof of the cave started to close down the closer she got to the entrance, leaving the wolf having to discard more and more of its body parts as it tried to continue the chase. This might be the only way to dispose of the Alpha Timberwolf; by making it disassemble itself.

Just as Sparkler thought that she might actually survive the Alpha Timberwolf attack, something else happened. The entrance of the cavern where Sparkler came from… it had disappeared. The Unicorn slammed headfirst into the wall, wondering if she had been hallucinating about the entrance.

‘Fat chance of that’ Sparkler mused

Looking at the beast that had chased her all the way here, Sparkler wondered if her death was inevitable. As she prayed forgiveness, another sound caught her attention. It was a monstrous roaring, though something she had just heard. Sparkler knew exactly what the noise was, and she was prepared this time.

Wrapping her white scarf firmly around her neck, Sparkler ran towards the Alpha Timberwolf. The sudden movement did not deter the beast. It continued in tis rampage, hoping to finally have its way with the future carcass of the mare. It had not realised that it had already deposited almost half of its original body, leaving it only slightly larger than the average pony. Sparkler took this into account and knocked straight into the wolf.

The force of the attack, never meant to kill but to stagger, threw them both back. Sparkler looked up just in time to see the most spectacular event happen right before her eyes. The roaring sound she had heard previously was from the wall of flame. It might have been a new wall of fire, but it had saved Sparkler’s life nonetheless. The inferno licked the wooden body of the Alpha Timberwolf, turning it into a pile of ashes in an instant.

Though this is not a time for rejoice. Sparkler was now aware that a giant freaking wall of fire was headed right towards her. Again. Silently laughing at the stupidity of the situation, Sparkler turned and ran again. In her haste, she did not realise that the cave wall had reappeared again.

Through the unfamiliar caverns Sparkler ran and ran, being forever chased by that dreaded flame. She thought that it was all over, there was no way she was going to make it. Her legs ached. Her body screamed. Her will shattered. She was about to trip and fall over her own hooves. That was when a sudden miracle happened.

In the days that Sparkler had lost her magic, she had screamed and shouted. Now, her form was suddenly calm and composed. Her breathing steadied, and her mind suddenly cleared up. She could feel something about to burst out from her chest. Something truly extraordinary. Something… magical.

Sparkler’s eyes flashed a blinding white and the familiar sound of teleporting resonated in her ears. The next thing she knew, the flame had gone, at the cost of Sparkler’s consciousness.