“Come on,” said Scootaloo. “We don’t want to be late for Rainbow Dash’s performance at the library!”
“I’d rather be helping Rarity make dresses and costumes,” said Sweetie Belle. Applebloom butted in and said “We’ll have plenty of time for that later, Sweetie Belle. Now, we can get our “Rainbow Dash spectators” cutie mark!” in her country accent.
“Fine...” said Sweetie. They raced along the roads of Ponyville in a rush to get to the library on time.
When they finally got to the library, the Crusaders looked around for a place to sit. There were other fillies and colts from their class at school there, even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, which was surprising because they always said they wanted to stay away from those“ uncool blank flanks”. The CMC chose a spot far away from those two, not wanting to be called blank flanks today.
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Twilight Sparkle was having a good day. She had planned to have her own “Hunger Games” with the fillies and colts that came to the “Rainbow Dash show”, and written her letter to Princess Celestia already, all in one day. She checked her list of who was coming and who was there. Apparently, a few who reserved spots were not there. “Oh well,” She thought. “They’ll miss out on all the fun, then.” She fired up her horn, but instead of pulling back a curtain, she put a sleep spell on everypony there. She quickly checked to see if everypony was asleep, and then she teleported them deep into the Everfree Forest.
When they got there, she quickly set up a soundproof barrier and double-checked that it was solid. “Good thing Shining Armour taught me this spell! He was able to defend Canterlot with it for a few months, why shouldn’t I be able to hold it on a small spot for a few weeks?” Then, she heard a few sounds of “Where are we?” and “How did we get here?” Twilight whipped around, and realized that the unicorns could use their magic against her, so she used a cutting spell to cut off their horns. She also used the same spell to cut off the pegasus’ wings off. The children realized that their special attributes had been thrown away. They huddled together in small groups, but Twilight did not want them that way. She picked them up and set them in orderly rows.
Twilight magically magnified her voice so everypony could hear her. “Hello there, everypony! Are you wondering why you are here today? Well, you are here to fight against one another to the death in “The Ponyville Games!” You will be divided into teams, but be warned: The winning team members will have to fight one another in the end. You will have a week to train individually and hear your teams. Do not try to escape the arena, or fight me. Good luck!”
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“This all your fault,” Said Applebloom to Scootaloo. “We never would have been here if yall had listened to Sweetie Belle.”
“Well sorry!” Retorted Scootaloo. “I didn’t know we would be dragged off to fight to the death! It’s not my fault that I can’t see into the future!”
"Come on, girls! Just because we have to kill each other in a few weeks doesn't mean we have to kill each other right now! Stop fighting!" exclaimed Sweetie.
The CMC's ears drooped down as they remembered the worst part of why they were here. "I guess you're right," whispered Scootaloo. "We'll have to either kill or be killed. Do you think teams will be allowed to ally with each other?"
"With the twisted rules that Twilight set, that's probably a no." murmured Applebloom.
"Wait!" Sweetie yelled. "If most of the fillies and colts at school suddenly go missing right after knowingly going to Twilight's, somepony's gotta notice if a large proportion of ponyville's residents go missing!"
Unfortunately, Twilight overheard them. She swooped down upon the CMC like a vulture. She cackled to them "Don't worry, dears. I made almost perfect duplicates of you! Nopony will know the difference!" Twilight whipped away, muttering to herself.
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"Oh no," Twilight said to herself. "What if I didn't set the bubble far enough into the forest? What if some pegasi see us? What if Princess Celestia herself happens to pass here? Oh no, oh no, oh No! She might get caught and sentenced to death? How would Spike fare? How would her friends fare? Her parents would lose their jobs in Canterlot, surely. Nopony would want to buy anything from the parents of a murderer."
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The next few weeks were a flurry of training for the colts and fillies preparing for certain death. They learned how to carve wood, set traps and snares, wrestle, how to make a shelter, camouflage, and fight with weapons. Twilight had brought along life-size dummies for the children to practice on. She had thought that they might turn on her with the weapons, and she had thought right. One colt tried to stab her with a cleverly concealed dagger. "Well, his life is going to be hell in the arena. And his group. Might burn them. Might starve them. Well, they're already going to live in chaos for the next few weeks anyway. Discord might as well be there." She thought to herself.
Finally, the colts and fillies had been trained, and it was time for the grouping. She started to plan the groups when the children were asleep. After a few nights of careful planning and triple-checking, it was time to read the lists out loud.
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"Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle!" whispered Applebloom sharply. "Are y’all awake?"
"Yes," came the answer from both Sweetie and Scootaloo. "What?"
"I hear Twilight is gonna tell us the teams tomorrow. I wonder who I'll be paired up with? Anyways, we need to get to sleep for tomorrow. Goodnight, girls"
"You were the one who started talking in the first place. You don't need to tell us to go...to..slee...ZZZ" yawned Scootaloo.
The next morning, all the fillies and colts were summoned before breakfast. Twilight rattled off the teams. Team 1 was Twist, Snails, Pipsqueak, and Silver spoon. Team 2 was Snips, Featherweight, Berry Pinch, and Applebloom. Team 3 was Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, and Cotton Cloudy.
1 week later, after they all had trained in groups, it was time for the games to begin. The fillies and colts were taken to a new bubble, even further into the forest. There, they were divided into sectors by teams. The teams were around a large stack of supplies, such as food, weapons, and various backpacks. A few feet away from Applebloom was a coil of rope, which she knew she had to have. After all, she was the sister of the #1 rodeo pony in all of Equestria. Applejack had shown Applebloom how to lasso things, but Applejack would never know how Applebloom would use those skills. Applebloom recalled that Applejack said “Now listen here, sugarcube. Under my coaching, y’all gonna grow up to be a great lassoer in the rodeos.”
But that was then, and this was now. Applebloom shook her head to clear her mind of the past. She had to focus entirely on moving as fast as she could to get that rope, and maybe a weapon or a few supplies. Then, the starting bell rang.
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Scootaloo was stationed right next to Sweetie Belle in the lineup. Scootaloo tried to talk to her, but it was of no use. Apparently the magic barriers that kept the ponies on their place were soundproof, too. Her life flashed before her eyes. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Babs, The Cutie Mark Crusaders adventures, and her parents. Before she knew it, the starting bell rang.
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Sweetie Belle was too scared to think. All she could do was quiver until the bell rang. A rush of adrenaline burst through her body. She immediately ran forward and grabbed a canvas saddlebag, which she hoisted over her shoulder. She quickly ran to get the next closest thing, a pack of knives. "That's enough Sweetie Belle. Now, run to your designated team area," a voice said in her head. She ran toward it, but she would never get there. She did not notice the hunting knife thrown toward her, until it embedded in her back. She screamed and fell to the ground, writhing a wave pain seared through her. A familiar figure loomed over her. "Applebloom? I know we're on different teams, but can you help me up and get this knife out of my back?" Sweetie asked from between gritted teeth.
Applebloom did't answer, but she kicked Sweetie Belle over the head with her hoof. She took the knife handle in her hoof, and withdrew the knife from Sweetie's back. Sweetie Belle felt relief that the knife was out of her back, but then she was kicked over again. She saw Applebloom raise the knife over her neck, and she attempted to roll over to her side. Her back prevented that, and she was forced to spend her last moments dying on the ground. "Applebloom! Please don't do this! Why are you going to kill me?"
"I have to make it home. I have to see my sister again." Applebloom said without emotion. "I know Rarity's greatest secret. I overheard Rarity and Applejack talking about it one day. Do you want to know what it is?" Sweetie nodded. "Rarity is not your sister. She is your mother."
As Applebloom said these words, Sweetie's eyes opened wide. Applebloom then brought the knife down on the daughter of Rarity's neck.
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All around Scootaloo, chaos was erupting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw ponies being struck down. She dodged a knife, and ran on toward the best weapons & supplies. When she got there, she found that nopony else had been there yet, as they were all either fighting, dead or hiding. She picked out a saddlebag of food, a satchel of labeled medicines and bandages, and a double-bladed yet light sword. She looked off to her left, and caught a sight of Sweetie Belle with Applebloom on top of her. She raced toward them, but she was late. As she arrived, she saw Applebloom stabbing Sweetie in the neck. She ran up behind Applebloom and sliced off her head without a second thought. “What the buck have I done?” Scootaloo asked herself. “I killed my best friend!” Sweetie Belle is dead, and Applebloom is dead. At least I avenged Sweetie’s death...” Scootaloo snuck away from the site, to her team meeting place.
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When she got there, the remaining two fillies on her team were still alive, Diamond Tiara and Cotton Cloudy. Diamond Tiara had half of her left ear and her cutie mark sliced in half. Cotton Cloudy had a chunk of flesh missing from her right hind leg and a long, bleeding scratch on her back. The two had already piled their stuff in the center. “There you are, Scootaloo. What took you so long to get here?” Diamond Tiara asked with her usual attitude.
“Well, I had to get supplies you know. I also had to avenge Sweetie’s death, by the way.” Scootaloo replied. “If we’re going to be on the same team, fighting for our lives, could you at least try to be a bit more cooperative? By the way, I have some medical supplies for your injuries, you two.”
Scootaloo and Diamond both knew nothing about medicine and the like, but Cotton Cloudy did. “My sister is a nurse at the Ponyville Hospital. I picked up a few things from her whenever I would visit. Scootaloo, you’re lucky that you got through all the fighting and got these medicines. Without them, Diamond Tiara and I would both be dead of blood poisoning by the morning.”
Scootaloo had not a single scratch on her, so she tended Cotton’s injuries, as Cotton could not reach her back and leg. Pretty soon, everypony on their team was patched up and ready to sort through their supplies. They had: a medicine pack, 3 bags of food, a large plastic wrapping, hats, sunscreen, Scootaloo’s sword, a pack of knives Diamond Tiara had grabbed, and even a pistol with 5 cartridges that Cotton had managed to nab from Snips, whom she had fatally stabbed in the neck.
