The Equestrian Hunger Games - Act II: Trail of Blood

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.