No, this just won’t do, Rarity thought as she used her magic to levitate five different outfits in front of her, each one more elaborate than the last. I have to look my absolute best today. After all, if I’m going to Canterlot-
A knock at her bedroom door interrupted her reverie. Her younger sister Sweetie Belle poked her head in. “Rarity?”
Not even bothering to look in the filly’s direction, the unicorn replied, “Not now, Sweetie Belle.” Turning to her sister, she asked, “Are you dressed for the reaping yet?”
Sweetie Belle limply shook her head and tears began to pool in her eyes. Instantly sensing what was wrong, Rarity let the outfits she had been levitating crumple to the floor. Normally she would have avoided making such a mess, but not today.
Today was reaping day.
“Are you worried?” she asked her sister.
The younger unicorn nodded and buried her face into her sister’s forelegs. Gently, Rarity wrapped her foreleg around Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, dear, everything’s going to be alright. It’s only your first year after all, and we’re wealthy enough that neither of us has to take out any tesserae. And in the slim chance that one of us gets picked, well, we do live in District One after all.” District One was the only district in Equestria with adequate wealth and a large enough population of unicorns to teach bladecasting from an early age. As such, its tributes were often skilled in both bladecasting and combat magic, and tended to fare very well in the Games.
Sweetie Belle still seemed upset. “I promise, dear,” Rarity repeated. “Everything’s going to be fine. Now, why don’t you go get dressed.”
Sweetie Belle turned and left her room. Rarity’s heart went after her. If she gets taken….
Rarity squashed the thought down. She couldn’t, no, she wouldn’t, entertain that horrible idea.
She turned back to her pile of outfits. If I’m in the Games, she silently vowed, I’ll go down fighting- and looking fabulous.
**************
“Hey Rainbow Crash! Are you ready to die?”
Rainbow Dash glanced behind her at the sound of the taunt. Hoops and his two stupid friends were standing on the clouds behind her, their wings shaking as they laughed. “Your fancy Sonic Rainbooms won’t help if you get picked. Not against a true fighter. Like me.” He flapped his wings while his cronies chuckled in appreciation.
Rainbow simply fluttered over to them and replied,” A true fighter, huh? Funny, I don’t see one here.”
The idiot chorus- Rainbow thought their names were Dumbbell and Score- burst into a cacophony of their trademark annoying laugh. Rainbow Dash had the satisfaction of seeing Hoops flush bright pink against his brown fur. “Well,” he spluttered, “at least I’m not a poor weather pony like you.”
The insult stung, more than she wanted to admit. While District Two was one of the wealthiest districts in Equestria, they had their share of poor ponies, doing the jobs nopony else wanted to do.
Like her.
Swallowing her embarrassment, the sky-blue pegasus replied, “No, you’re just a fathead.” She flew away, still seething. One day, I’ll volunteer at the reaping- and I’ll win. That’ll show them. Call me “Rainbow Crash”, will you? She kicked at a cloud, scattering it into little pieces that floated away into the air surrounding Cloudsdale.
But… not today.
I can’t volunteer today.
It’s the Quarter Quell after all, and that means twice the number of tributes. If I volunteered, I’d just get killed. I’m seventeen; I have one more year. I’ll volunteer then. Just one more year.
She flew off to the reaping, simultaneously hoping and dreading the coming hours.
**************
Twilight Sparkle’s mind ran on knowledge.
Ever since she was just a filly barely old enough to read and write, her favorite pastime was gathering facts. Forget playing tag, or coloring, or any of the other typical foalhood games. No, she loved reading and learning. It was her refuge.
Which was what she was doing right now. It was only a few hours until the reaping and, while most of the other citizens of District Three were out and about, doing their best to pretend today was an ordinary day; Twilight had her nose buried in a thick stack of books, covering all sorts of topics that she might need to know in the arena: survival books, fighting books, spell books covering everything from cooking spells to advanced combat magic.
Not that she’d be picked of course. There were 786 eligible fillies and young mares in District Three. Two of them would have their names drawn today. She’d been lucky enough not to take out any tesserae, so her name would only go in the glass bowl seven times. That put her chances at getting drawn at 1 in 56.142. Yes, the odds were definitely in her favor today.
But on the off chance, just in case, it didn’t hurt to study.
“Twilight!” she heard Spike call from the bottom floor of the Golden Oaks Library. “We’re going to be late for the reaping!”
“Coming, Spike!” the purple unicorn replied. As she started down the steps, she used her magic to levitate the topmost book on the stack into her saddlebags.
A little reading material wouldn’t hurt.
*************
“Fluttershy?” the lavender pegasus banging on the door of the cottage called. “Fluttershy, are you awake? We’re going to miss the reaping!”
The terrified Fluttershy had crawled under her bed, hoping to shut out the world. It was reaping day, her least favorite day of the year. Every year, leading up to this day, she had terrible nightmares- nightmares of her dying a thousand horrible deaths in the arena, or a tribute finally snapping and rebelling, bringing Canterlot’s fury, or someone close to her being picked- her best friend Little Bird perhaps- or some other terrible dream. It was like being constantly stung by tracker jackers. Being from District Ten, where the word tribute translated, more often than not, to corpse, didn’t help.
“Fluttershy!” Little Bird called again. “You know what the Peacekeepers do to ponies who don’t show up in time!”
That got the yellow pegasus out from under her bed. Forcing her wings to move, she descended the stairs and pulled open her door slowly, as if the light would burn her.
“Finally you’re up, lazybones,” Little Bird said with a smile. “Come on, let’s get to the reaping.”
Fluttershy wanted nothing more than to run into the forest and stay there, at least until this horrible day was over, but somehow she forced herself to follow her friend.
Little Bird wrapped her foreleg around Fluttershy’s shoulders. “I promise everything’s going to be fine. Your name’s not in there much. You’re not going to be picked.”
“But… I’m scared. What if- what if I do?” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Then I’ll volunteer in your place.”
“But then you’ll get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt for me. It’s okay. If I get picked, I…. I’ll go. You don’t have to get hurt for me.”
“Fluttershy,” Little Bird said firmly, “If I get picked I’ll make sure to win. That way you don’t have anything to worry about.”
Both of them knew she was lying. Fluttershy would have plenty to worry about.
*****************
“AJ! AJ!”
Applejack turned her head around at the sound of her sister’s voice. Apple Bloom was galloping down the muddy road, her mane and tail flying out behind her. “I brought you something,” the earth pony filly said, spitting out a small object she had in her mouth and passing it to Applejack.
Looking closer, she could see it was a small wooden apple, or at least she thought it was an apple. It was certainly somewhat oval in shape, and painted red, but other than that, it appeared to Applejack’s eyes as a misshapen blob with several teeth marks in it, no doubt the legacy of the journey here.
“Do you like it? I made it myself,” Apple Bloom said, a proud look on her face.
“It’s really great, sugarcube,” the older earth pony said warmly. “Ah couldn’t have done a better job myself.”
“Aww yeah!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Woodcarving cutie mark, here I come!”
Seeing her sister’s happiness, Applejack allowed her mind to wander back to a happier time, a time when she, too, was eleven, and her parents were still alive and well, and she didn’t have to provide for her family and the Hunger Games were just a scary thing that happened on TV.
She cast the thoughts away. Like it or not, she was the provider now.
And after Big Mac’s injury, even more so. If I get my name drawn at the reaping….
She didn’t want to think about that.
“Well,” she told her sister, “I better get goin’. Can’t be late for the reaping, you know.”
Apple Bloom’s eyes widened in fear and her lower lip gave the slightest tremble. Apple jack pulled her sister into a crushing hug, feeling a pang of sadness strike her as she noticed how sharp her younger sister’s shoulder blades were under her skin.
Doesn’t seem right that somepony should go hungry in District Eleven. There’s food all around us, but the Peacekeepers don’t let us take any of it. I don’t know how they can do that, just sit back an’ watch the starvin’ ponies all around them.
Someday I’ll find a way to strike back against the Capitol. I could get some of the farmers and lead an assault against the Peacekeeper headquarters. Shouldn’t be that hard to do, there are plenty of farmers with a chip on their shoulder. All I’d have to do is get some weapons…
Ah, what am I doing, thinkin’ of these featherbrained ideas? If I tried that, I’d get executed for sure. I can’t afford to die right now; otherwise the rest of my family dies with me.
Applejack released her embrace on her sister and walked off to the reaping, her head hanging almost as low as her spirit.
***************
Pinkie Pie nudged the stack of cookies on the counter with her forehoof. She just didn’t feel very hungry today.
The pink earth pony had taken a seat in the back of Sugarcube Corner, watching the silent door. Most of the businesses in Equestria were closed for the reaping and Sugarcube Corner was no exception. It shouldn’t have bothered Pinkie all that much, but even she couldn’t cheer up the eerily silent bakery.
Or the district, for that matter. This was the one day of the year she couldn’t make everypony smile.
“Pinkie Pie, you better get going! You can’t be late to the reaping.”
Pinkie looked up as Mrs. Cake entered the shop, her twins Pumpkin and Pound trailing behind her. She silently got to her hooves and left the bakery, pushing her way into the cold, gray, coal-covered streets of District Twelve.
She headed to the reaping silently, ignoring the greetings of the ponies, both merchant and Seam, that she encountered. Pinkie Pie’s talent lay in making others have a good time, but even she was powerless against the Capitol.
The earth pony tossed her head in an attempt to remove the straight, dull pink strands of her mane from her face. Most ponies assumed she just styled it differently for the reaping. Pinkie knew better.
At last she reached the town square. The buildings surrounding the square seemed to be expressly designed to be somber with featureless stone gray facades. If I was designing this place, I’d make it a lot more fun. There’d be bright happy colors and balloons…
It was useless. She couldn’t even cheer herself up.
The Peacekeeper running the reaping herded them all in to the roped off section of the town square, the place where the possible tributes would stand. As the stallion closed the ropes, there was no point in denying that her Pinkie Sense was telling her something very bad was going to happen.
The Fiftieth Hunger Games were about to begin.
The sun was barely up by the time Rarity and Sweetie Belle reached the reaping square. As they walked through the gate, Rarity couldn’t help but feel a tinge of apprehension at the coming events.
Stop being silly, Rarity, she chided herself. You’ve been through this a hundred- well, seven, times. And Sweetie Belle will be just fine, I’m sure. She’s only in there once. And if the unthinkable should happen-well, she’ll probably get a volunteer. Really, there’s nothing to worry about.
The voice of the mayor of District One snapped her out of her reverie. In his somber tones he began to recite the story of the Hunger Games. He told how the Princesses Celestia and Luna journeyed to the icy north to defeat King Sombra and his cruel rule over the Crystal Empire. He told the tale of how the Princesses attempted to use the Elements of Harmony to seal Sombra in the ice. And he told the tale of their failure; how Sombra defeated and slew the Royal Sisters, taking their power for himself and raising the sun and moon.
And, in return for controlling the life-giving sun, he lay down the law that every district in Equestria must send one filly and colt to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games.
Rarity cast her gaze to Sombra’s sun now, whose bloodshine rays had just pierced the horizon. They touched upon her, turning her coat a brilliant white-gold, much like how Celestia had once looked. Rarity wondered absentmindedly if Celestia had ever held the sun too close to earth or too far, setting off massive droughts or causing bitter freezes when she ruled.
The stallion continued his narration, telling the tale of how Sombra’s original holding, the Crystal Empire, turned against him; and how it paid the ultimate price, being frozen in the thick ice of the arctic north.
Rarity’s ears flicked around in boredom; she’d heard this entire story before. From what she could see of Sweetie Belle however, the filly was listening in rapt attention, as if she thought some terrible fate would befall her if she let her mind wander. Maybe she did.
Hoofsteps on the podium snapped her attention back to the front. The stallion who traditionally escorted the One tributes- Rarity thought his name was Fancy Pants- trotted up to the glass ball. “Ladies first!” he announced, creating a miniature blue-green tornado inside the glass ball as he telekinetically shuffled them.
Rarity held her breath. Seven of those slips of paper, she knew, bore her trademark calligraphic scrawl- and one bore Sweetie Belle’s.
Fancy Pants stopped the spinning, selecting one slip and letting the others fall back into the bowl. In a cold, clear voice he read the name.
And it wasn’t her.
“Sweetie Belle! Is there a Sweetie Belle here?”
Rarity felt her knees go weak at the sound of her younger sister’s name. No! It can’t be her! She was one slip out of a thousand! How did this happen?! Of all the worst things that could happen…
There was no sign of movement in the crowd; the Peacekeepers scanned the crowd hungrily, wondering if they were going to have to find this little filly and drag her to the front kicking and screaming.
Then Rarity saw her.
Sweetie Belle was walking to the front as if in a daze, her eyes staring glassily ahead. Rarity noticed that her dress ruffle had twisted so that half of it hung underneath her belly. Rarity longed to adjust it for her, to give her sister a hug and tell her that everything was going to be all right.
But nothing would ever be all right again.
Rarity felt tears spill down her cheeks and splash onto the cold, gray paving stones. She’d always been a fashionista, not someone who participated in such dreadfully uncouth things as fighting, but, as she watched her sister step slowly toward her doom, she did something that shocked her to the core.
“I volunteer!”
The crowd went silent at the sound of Rarity’s desperate cry.
“I volunteer as tribute.”
“Hey, Dash!”
Probably Hoops and his cronies again, Rainbow Dash thought as she sped through the air. Why can’t they just leave me alone? “Go stick your head in a manure pile,” she growled at the voice behind her.
“Wow. What a way to greet your best friend.”
The blue pegasus turned her head to see Lightning Dust hovering behind her. “Dust! Sorry about that, I thought you were Hoops. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing,” Lightning Dust smirked, “Guess who’s volunteering today, that’s all.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “That’s not funny, Dust.”
“Why not?” her friend responded. “It’s my last year. And it’s not like any of those other runts would even stand a chance.”
Rainbow’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously?! Why didn’t you tell me this before?!”
“I wanted to keep the surprise, that’s all,” Lightning replied in gloating tones. “Oh, were you thinking of volunteering today?”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth and closed it again, looking for all the world like a giant pony-shaped flying fish. “N-no, I wasn’t,” she managed to choke out. Which was the truth. She’d longed to volunteer for six long years, but every time she stood in that crowd, her legs, her wings, her voice, all shut down. Every year, she’d told herself it’ll be different this year. You’ll find the strength. And every year, she’d managed to come up with some justification as to why this wasn’t the year, why she should just wait one more year.
I’m too young; I’m too small; my dad needs me.
It’s a Quell year, with twice as many tributes, and my best friend is planning on winning. I couldn’t possibly…
Something hard and aqua jabbed her in the eye. “Equestria to Dash! Are you awake?”
“Ouch, Dust, whadya do that for?” Rainbow Dash said, wrapping a foreleg around her eye, the white of which was now rapidly turning magenta to match its iris.
Lightning Dust indicated the sun. “It’s almost time for the reaping. I’m sure the rest of District Two- hell, all of Equestria- would not want to miss my awesomeness.” She buzzed her wings and took off, leaving the cracked-air smell of lightning in her wake. “Wanna race?”
A rainbow streak dashed out of the clouds behind her. “Of course I do. I’m only the best flier in Equestria after all.”
‘That’s a bet you’ll lose.”
“Hardly. I could outfly you with one wing tied behind my back…”
The twin contrails, rainbow and lightning, lingered in the air long after the pegasi had left.
***********
By the time Rainbow Dash had reached the reaping square, she and Lightning Dust had nearly reached supersonic speed.
Which proved most unfortunate to the stallion checking in the potential tributes. The two pegasi mares flew past him fast enough to spin him around and around like an oversize top.
“I win!” Rainbow announced, her hooves grazing a tiny furrow in the cloud as she skidded to a halt.
“By, like, one molecule,” Lightning Dust snorted, in between gasps for air and guffawing at the check-in guy, whose eyes now resembled billiard balls after a hard hit.
After he had regained the power of speech, the check-in stallion asked, “Can… I have your names please… ladies?”
“Sure, I’m Lightning Dust…”
A purple pegasi stallion in the crowd outside the ropes caught Rainbow’s eye. She flew over to join him. “Dad! You came!”
Her father pulled her into a crushing smother-hug. “I wouldn’t miss this day for the world, my little Dashie.”
That’s what you said last year. Aloud, she said, ”Yeah, sure, Dad. It’s great having you here.”
“What happened to your eye?”
“Nothing, Dust just punched me, that’s all,” Rainbow Dash replied bitterly. “Look, can we talk later?”
Her father let go, confusion and hurt registering on his features. “Is something wrong?”
“You know what? It’s reaping day. I don’t have time for you and your pathetic problems now,” the blue pegasus spat, flapping away into the midmorning sky.
“Dashie!” her father called. She paused but didn’t turn, hanging in midair like a brooding summer thundercloud. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you last year. I should have been better. I should be stronger,” he muttered the last part half to himself.
His words were lost into the breeze.
*********
Rainbow Dash passed through the check-in lost in her own world, still brooding over her father’s words.
Why can’t he just be there for me once in his life? It’s not like he has a job that he needs to be at- well unless you count gambling away all our money as a job. He says it’s an addiction, something he needs help for, but seriously? Why can’t he just throw away his poker chips and never walk into a casino again? What’s stopping him? Celestia?
He’s just weak. Weak and despicable and-
A hard poke in the wing interrupted her reverie. “Dust, cut it out. That’s the second time you’ve done that.”
“Sorry,” Lightning Dust admitted. “But I just wanted to let you know I’ve decided against volunteering today.”
All rational thought left Rainbow’s mind; the only thing she could stammer out was “Why?”
“Because I know how much you’ve wanted to volunteer these past few years, so I decided to give you this opportunity. I couldn’t stop my best friend from achieving her dream, after all.” Lightning Dust smiled and placed a foreleg around her friend’s shoulder. Rainbow Dash simply stood there, dumbfounded. In all her years of knowing Lightning, she had never known her to be so completely selfless- and never in regards to the Games.
There had always been an unspoken agreement in their friendship- the Hunger Games came first. For Lightning Dust to give up her chance now-
“Well, are you volunteering or not?”
But I don’t- The thought sprang unbidden to the back of her mind. Of course I want to volunteer! she told herself. I’ve been waiting for this for years!
“Make up your mind, featherbrain,” Lightning Dust hissed. “She’s about ready to call for volunteers now.”
The pony whose name was drawn, a trembling filly that couldn’t have been more than twelve, was shaking, desperately trying to hide herself behind the guardsponies. One of the stallions noticed the filly and roughly shoved her to the front as she curled up and lay, sobbing, on the clouds.
The voice of District Two’s escort, asking for volunteers, cut through the clouds. As if in a dream, Rainbow Dash forced her wings to move, heard her voice saying, “I volunteer!” It’s coming true. I’ve waited years for this moment and it’s coming true.
… I sort of thought I’d feel happier, though.
She flew up to the stage and stared dumbfounded at the crowd. A ripple swept through the assembled pegasi as they began to rhythmically stomp their hooves. It took a while this to register in rainbow’s mind. They were cheering. For her.
Okay, now I’m getting sort of excited.
She barely had time to salute the crowd before the announcer drew the next name, a twelve-year-old filly by the name of Alula. Dash recognized her as the filly that had been drawn first.
Poor kid. She just can’t catch a break.
“And do we have any volunteers?” the announcer said.
“We sure do,” came a reply from the crowd.
Rainbow turned her head to catch sight of her competition and what she saw shocked her to the core.
Lightning Dust casually flapped up to the podium, looking as if she was a cat who’d just ate a thousand birds.
What? No! I can’t hurt my best friend! How could she do this to me?
Lightning gave her friend a wink, a wink that seemed to say, All bets are off. Game on.
Rainbow Dash was never scared of anything. Especially not her best friend.
But now she was.
Author's Note
Sorry about taking so long to update, had a few family emergencies and selling the house soon. Also, what's a little black eye between friends?
