I wish I could say that I was sleeping soundly in my sleeping bag, but that wasn't entirely true. I was asleep, yes, but as I walked in my dreams vivid memories kept flashing through my mind. Memories from the games; watching Silver Streak get killed, watching the one stallion get struck by lightning, seeing Gaelan falling from the sky, and the scenario with Scale.
Scale's encounter in particular haunted me; his face full of fear and sadness, and his story. He was just hurting and struggling emotionally. He felt like so much depended on him doing well within the games. It made me sad. But what made me even sadder was the image I had of holding a knife against his throat. I was so ready to kill him. But I couldn't. It all just made my heart ache. I let him go and he just. . .kissed me. The kiss was constantly running through my mind. Why? Did he have feelings for me? Or worse, did I have feelings for him?
Mixed with all of these more recent memories were other painful ones from my past. I recalled breaking up with Circuit, and the moment of being reaped. I remembered my parents fighting, and I remembered my father leaving my family for another mare.
With all of these negative thoughts in my head, I awoke from my sleep suddenly, gasping for breath. My heart pounded inside of my chest, almost as if it wanted to escape. I sat up a little awkwardly and sighed. Even though the memories were just images in my head, I could still feel the anger, the sadness, the fear and the confusion that came with them.
I sighed a second time and looked around the dark room. There was still the pattering of the rain against the cornucopia, but it did not bother me anymore after I had listened to it for so long. My eyes fell on Moon Breeze's empty sleeping bag, only for my ears to catch her barely audible voice over the sound of the rain.
"You having nightmares?" She asked.
I looked around the room again and spotted her shadowed figure sitting by the entrance, outlined by the light cast by the moon.
"Yeah," I responded, "But they aren't exactly nightmares. More like . . . tragic flashbacks?"
I rose to my feet and started to make my way over to her just in time to hear her scoff.
"I get them too, and that is probably the best way to describe it," she explained. "I have this feeling that they are probably only going to get worse though."
"What makes you say that?" I asked.
"Nopony ever leaves the arena as the same pony who came in. There is always something follows everypony - be it an injury or a disease or even just a few horrific memories."
I blinked at her and looked out at the rain that was pouring just a few inches in front of me. "Yeah, you are probably right. Some things just can't be unseen, I guess. . ."
Moon Breeze sighed.
We sat there for a few moments, just watching the rain fall through the rays of the moon.
Finally, the blue unicorn broke the silence. "How do you do it?"
I pushed my eyebrows together and looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"How do you have so much faith that your friendship can withstand so much? You haven't known these ponies longer than a month and yet you have so much trust in them. And even those you don't know -- ponies that you have just met -- you're still so kind and honest to them. Why?"
I looked away and thought about it. I closed my eyes and just sat there for a moment, breathing, trying to collect my thoughts. I eventually began to let my mouth speak the words that popped into my head.
"I put so much trust in them because I want them to trust in me, I guess. True trust only works if it's both ways. One-sided trust can lead to manipulation, to broken friendships, to misery."
"But is that the only reason why?"
I flicked my ear, and thought for another moment. "I don't think so. It just feels natural, I suppose, to treat them like that. But still, I think I am also trying to convince myself that a strong trust like that is possible. There have been so few ponies that have kept my trust for a long time. . . I guess I just want somepony I know will die with the trust that we have for each other."
"Who hurt you?" She asked softly.
I gave a weak smile. "Well, the most recent one is my coltfriend, but I guess you have heard of that."
She chuckled. "Yes, and how you slapped him? That tale has been going around actually."
"But a long time ago, my father left me. he promised me that he never would. . . but then he did."
"I'm sorry, I guess..."
"Heh, he ran off with some pretty white mare and didn't even say goodbye to me and my brothers." I slouched my shoulders. "Well, he said goodbye to my mom but that was it. And all she told us was that he was leaving for a better life," I added, scoffing, "Whatever that means."
Moon Breeze sighed. "Maybe he wanted a better life for you?"
"I highly doubt it. He would have taken me with him, or at least tried to," I added, my ears lowering.
Moon Breeze had taken a breath as if she was going to say something else, but the sound of faint, painful coughing came from the back of the cornucopia. My ears perked up and turned to face the noise, and Moon Breeze did the same. She got to her hooves and turned to face the back of the cornucopia.
"She isn't going to last much longer if that cough keeps up..." Moon Breeze murmured.
The coughing gradually blended into the sounds of choking. I held my breath almost as if I was trying to save air that could be used for Mousha. Suddenly, the coughing came to a sudden stop. Thinking that she had just fallen back to sleep, I released my breath.
The sudden cannon got my attention and made me jump. Out of the corner of my eyes I watched as Moon Breeze jumped significantly more than I did, in fact, I think her hooves even left the ground. She then bowed her head, her ears folded limply back.
I looked back at Moon Breeze and shuddered."How did she even get sick like that anyway?" I asked.
The shrug she gave in response was so small I barely even noticed it. "I honestly don't know. It could have been almost anything. An allergy, poor drinking water, food poisoning, maybe even just the change in climate. All I know is that the day after you left was when her coughing picked up."
"Oh," was all I could say.
She thought for a moment and turned her body to face the rain again. We sat there in silence for a few more moments before she spoke again.
"You didn't happen to have any connection to her being sick, did you?" She asked, flicking her ear in my direction. Her gaze never left the rain though.
I shook my head side to side as I gave her my answer. "No, of course not."
Her ears turned back forwards towards the rain again, and I could hear her deep, frustrated breathing through her nostrils. I didn't really know why she was mad though.
"I honestly think you did," She added sharply.
Caught off guard I awkwardly got to my feet. I turned to face her, trying to fight the urge to flatten my ears against my head in anger. "What?"
"You heard what I said."
"Yeah, I did, but why would you think that?" I whisper-yelled.
"I don't know, maybe because you took half of the supplies with you when you left!?" She whisper-yelled back.
"Well, what did you want us to do, starve?"
"If it would have put me closer to first place, then yes!" It was getting harder for us to whisper-yell, and our voices were gradually getting louder. Someone snorted loudly in their sleep, but I could tell that Moon Breeze didn't really care.
"Well too bad! You're gonna have to live with it!" I replied.
"I don't want to live with It! I still want this to be like the other games - and I want to win!" Her voice was gradually crescendo-ing.
"Winning isn't always everything," I growled.
"It is if it means your life is the reward," She growled back.
"Sometimes others will give up their life for a greater cause. Other ponies have given their lives in this very arena just so the right pony will be the one to survive!"
"There is no such thing as the right pony. Only those who fight for what they want, and those who don't!"
"Well last time I checked, you haven't been doing too much of the fighting yourself!"
"Oh, Yeah!?" She growled as she flung herself at me.
Taken by surprise, I rolled backward over my shoulder with a thud. She leaped over me, but I could feel her hooves brush against the hairs on my back as I rolled. Taking a sharp breath I turned and twisted towards her, only to be met with hooves against my chest. I wheezed as my back collided against the dirt, feeling most of the air in my lungs pressed out. She lifted one hoof up to punch me, and I rolled my head to the side and I heard her hoof pound against the ground. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I knew that I couldn't panic. That didn't mean that my body listened to my thoughts though.
I felt like a turtle stuck on it's back, and my front limbs were literally all flailing in whatever pattern they decided. Sometimes my forelegs collided with Moon Breeze's, and other times I would hit her neck or her face. In one fluid motion, however, my forelegs hit the sides of her head next her ears with such force that she was stunned. She shook her head and was looking around her like the didn't know what had happened. I saw this as my chance and took control of my hind legs long enough to use them to kick her up and over me. I rolled onto my stomach and carefully stood myself up.
I sighed, hoping that she might stop.
But she didn't.
She flew at me again, this time with more rage than before. Her head collided against my own, our horns banging against each other. I looked straight at her brown eyes and only saw hatred in them. She back away and reared up on her hind legs, swinging her forehooves furiously in front of her. Her teeth flashed in the dim light of the moon, and then the tilted her head forwards, trying to pierce me with her horn. I did the only thing I could think to do and jumped out of the way.
She was fighting so furiously - her style was similar to that of our long forgotten ancestors. And it was terrifying.
She landed on the ground, her hooves in the exact spot were I was standing before. She was rearing up again, and this time I was prepared for her actions. I copied her motions, just seconds after she did, and swung my hooves in her general direction. She rolled to her side after one hoof collided with the base of her neck, and my hooves were quickly brought down into the dirt.
After watching her roll, she leaped forwards, striking low, and I found that her forelegs were wrapped around my stomach and she was pushing me into the rain. We somersaulted over each other until her hooves let go of me and I crashed into a tree behind me. I spotted her as she hit the mixture of mud grass beneath her with a definite 'splat.'
I got to my hooves again only to see her charging towards me, her head tilted downwards and her horn pointed straight at my head. I ducked out of the way and head a loud CRACK.
I looked up at the dark blue unicorn to see her horn stuck about halfway into the tree. I giggled with relief and humor. She lifted her hooves to try and push her way out, but it served her no use. I watched her for a few moments, large raindrops crashing into our pelts and manes after rolling over the thousands of leaves above us. We were covered in watery mud and some blades of grass. I thought for a split moment about finishing her off there, but I couldn't. It would go against what I had said before - that I would only kill in self-defense.
She finally began to wiggle her head up and down and as she continued to push against the tree. With a loud grunt, she flew backward into a thin mud puddle. She yelled with anger in response.
She got to her feet yet another time and had taken only a few running steps towards me when the ground shook violently around us. I was brought down by the force, and so was she. The rain stopped falling around us suddenly, but the ground kept shaking, and the moon in the sky . . . flickered? It was there and then it wasn't for a few seconds.
The ground stopped shaking, and I contemplated rising to my feet. Moon Breeze didn't, of course. She quickly rose and was charging towards me again as soon as the ground had stopped.
She reared up a third time and prepared to pummel her horn into my side. I took in a sharp breath and dove towards her, lifting myself up as I was underneath her. Her armpit was at the back of my neck and my back was on her chest. I rose just quick enough and with enough strength to stop her momentum and to fling her over me. I heard her squish into the mud, and I turned my head in time to watch her slide a few feet.
She got to her feet one more time and charged towards me for another time. I realized at this moment that if one of us didn't die, then the other would. Maybe I should have taken the chance when I had it. Her horn flashed and was alight in a bright orange-colored glow. Watching her new move gave me an idea.
I readied myself for her collision, and just a few steps before she would have struck me, I teleported myself. I appeared close to where she had started her running, and quickly cleared my head of the dizziness that followed. I twisted to face her and raised my front hooves, my horn aglow. Quickly and strongly, I brought my hooves straight down into the ground. With a loud crack that rumbled underneath my hooves, I found my front legs engulfed in a bright glow that prevented me from seeing what was happening right in front of them. However, I knew exactly what had happened as I heard the deep cracking noise continue and gradually grow farther away from me. I had managed to split the earth beneath me and was sending the newly formed fissure towards Moon Breeze. I didn't entirely have the desire to kill her, but I mainly just wanted to put an end to her actions. Just prevent her from making a move for a while.
I repeated my actions, attempting to make the crack wider and longer.
I did it a third time, and the force was so great that I collapsed onto the ground and the arena shook again violently. The light around my hooves and legs faded, and in its place I found an intense dizziness in my head. The rumbling continued around me and I couldn't get to my feet. What was going on?
All of a sudden, the moon disappeared and everything went dark. It was like someone had just turned off the television in the living room of my house. There wasn't even any wind left, nor were there visible stars in the sky. The rumbling faded away into nothing, and the arena was so dark that I didn't even dare to move. I didn't need to fall down into the fissure I had just created.
"M-Moon Breeze?" I called out. "A-Are you there?"
"Yes. But I can't move after what you did," She responded bitterly.
"Well, that was my intention, but I didn't think that the power was going to go out."
"Yeah, right."
"No, honestly! I don't know what's going on!" I yelled.
The next thing I knew, there was a large, bright and colorful explosion in the sky. Or at least I thought it was the sky. I looked towards the explosion and spotted a trail. What was it? It was glowing faintly and it was leaving a trail of light and dark blue. A few other streaks emerged from the explosion a few seconds later, though these ones were not quite as fast. How many were there? I counted five.
The explosion had left a large hole in the side of the arena, and I could see metal curling around it. I watched at the streaks slowed and gathered together and gradually took a more solid shape. In fact, they looked more like pegasai, and it looked as if they were looking around them.
Was it a rescue team? I wondered if I could be of help or something, even though the very sight of them stirred some degree of fear inside of me. Taking as strong of breath as I could while still caught in the dizziness, I raised my head and lit my horn. I launched a single ray of light straight up towards the ceiling leaving a spot on the panels far above me. I could feel my eyelids growing heavy and the lightness of my head expanding, and I feared that I would pass out again. My chest was tight and I wanted to just collapse and sleep. But something in the back of my head told me not to. I saw my light flickering, and I knew that I was close to being done. Panting and shaking I struggled to even keep my head upright.
I couldn't do it anymore. Slowly the light cast from my horn faded away and the only light was a tiny spark on the tip of my horn. However, it was just enough to light to see a pair of purple, masculine, friendly looking eyes that I had never seen before. I blinked lazily at them, and then the world that I could see faded into darkness.
I awoke slowly on a cold hard, flatbed - or was it a bed? I think it was a table. I rolled my head to the side slowly, feeling the muscles in my neck stretching a little painfully. I groaned and spotted a familiar figure through my slightly blurry vision. It looked like Cherry Cloud, but there was a dark teal pony standing next to her on the other side of the table she was laying on. The pony had a red mane and was doing something to Cherry's foreleg. What was she doing? I watched her as she walked away from the sixteen-year-old mare and made her way towards another table, one that I couldn't really see.
I glanced around the room more, and then slowly began to notice the little vibrations that were sent up the legs of the table and through my back. Based off of the vibrations I could tell that we were in some kind of aircraft. They were a lot softer than those of a train and more consistent.
Sighing, I awkwardly attempted to roll over, but I just ended up rolling on to the floor with a metallic sounding thud. I shakily got to a standing position, and glanced around the room again. I saw bright lights as well as medical equipment. Code Red, Jockey, and Cherry were all laying on tables, and Gaelan was laying on the ground, his wingless-side being checked out by the teal and red pony. I didn't see Moon Breeze or Scale though, and I briefly wondered if they had been left behind and if so, if it was intentional or not.
I spotted a door and shakily made my way towards it, trying to be as quiet as possible and not attract the other mare's attention. I had just reached the door and was about to press the button to open the door when the mare called out to me.
"Hey, w-wait! What are you doing!?"
I opened the door and quickly slid inside, only to see four ponies staring at me intently. I glanced at each of them, trying to see if I knew any of them. I didn't.
The first pony who caught my attention was a dark, beautiful blue mare who had a stary, flowing mane. She had both wings and a horn, and I wondered if she was one of those legendary ponies who seemed to live for almost forever. A large black necklace was around her neck, and in the center was a pure white, moon shaped jewel. I would have guessed an opal. A similarly designed crown rested on top of her head. Her eyes shown a bright blue-teal, and despite the fact that her expression was filled with confusion, her eyes remained friendly and strong.
I then spotted two ponies standing next to each other, one who looked to be about twice the age of the other. The elder of the two ponies was a pale grey with a thunder-cloud-grey mane that had the slightest curl to it. His eyes were a deep purple, but they didn't match the eyes that I remembered seeing before. The younger pony next to him looked to be about my age, maybe a little older. His pelt was a pale pastel grey, and his mane was a dark blue and was streaked with a pinkish-purple. His eyes too were purple, and it sent off signs that the two ponies were related, most likely father and son.
The final pony I spotted was an older, golden yellow colored mare. Her mane was the color of a freshly picked apple in the springtime or at least the color I had seen in photographs. A pink bandanna was over the top of her head and pulled her hair away from her face, allowing me to view her caramel-hued eyes. She looked to be about as old as the first grey stallion.
"Well, it appears that the spark has awoken," the dark blue mare said, sounding quite proper as she did so.
"W-what?" I stuttered, blinking at them. "Where am I? And who are you?"
"We'll tell ya, don't you worry, but ya really should go an' get some rest before we arrive at our destination," The red-maned pony answered, her country accent think.
"But where is our destination?" I asked. "Where are we going?"
The teal pony who was in the other room had opened the door and walked next to me.
"It doesn't matter. All that does is that you're safe here," said the yellow mare. "We ain't gonna hurt you."
I glanced back at the teal pony who was giving me a desperate look to come back towards the medical room.
"I don't know if you knew this, but I don't rest well on most modes of transportation, so it's a little pointless to try and rest when I already know I won't be able to," I explained sharply. The younger stallion perked his ears towards the end of my sentence, and the corners of his mouth twitched in just a way that little dimples were forming on his cheeks. It was kind of cute, but I didn't know why he was doing it. "So, can you answer my questions or what?"
The four ponies looked among themselves, as if they were all thinking. The dark blue pony began to speak first.
"I am Princess Luna, the raiser of the sun and moon and one of the three rightful princesses. This pony," She gestured to the yellow mare, "is Apple Bloom, sister to the former bearer of the Element of Honesty, Apple Jack, and the martial arts teacher at the Academy. The nurse who had tended to your wounds while you were unconscious goes by the name of Tender Blaze Beats. And finally, the two stallions you see are father and son; the father is named Rumble and his son is named Thunder Runner. They are members of the Flight Fleet; a group of highly trained pegasai who fight for the Crystal Empire."
"The Crystal Empire? As in. . ." I trailed off in thought. I thought that the Crystal Empire and all of its habitations were destroyed, annihilated, killed. Weren't the buried underneath a deadly snowstorm that Discord had cast?.
"Yes," She continued. "You are on a Crystal Empire Aircraft, currently guarded by the generals Flash Sentry and Soarin', as well and their two squadrons, which whom are monitoring the craft by air. I also cast a spell so we can remain undetected by those whom we do not wish to see us."
"And?" I added, almost a little rudely.
"And we are on our way to District Thirteen."
I let out a short, sharp breath and sat down on the ground. "So. . . I. . ?"
I couldn't think of what to say, but my mind was buzzing with a dozen questions. I thought all of the princesses died? How did the district remain unseen? Protected? Why didn't they help us? Defend us? What happened to my family? My friends? Would I ever see them again? Was I going to go back home eventually? What did the teal pony do to us? To me? Are my friends okay? Are any of them dead? What happened to Moon Breeze? What happened to Scale? What happened to the Arena? What happened after I passed out? My heart was pounding so rapidly It felt as if it was about to leap out of my chest, sprout feet and run away.
"We are getting your family, don't worry, your father made sure that we would. We are also getting-"
"My FATHER!?" I repeated loudly as I cut the princess off.
"Yes, didn't he tell ya where he was goin' all those years ago?" Apple Bloom asked.
"No, not really! All we were told was that he fell in love with some white mare and ran off to go and live with her in a different district!"
The group of ponies looked among themselves awkwardly. Apple Bloom looked the most uncomfortable.
"All the same, we are getting your family and you will meet them there. We are also attempting to get the other tribute's families as well, in case you were interested, though so far, finding them has become a little bit of a challenge. But you are all going to be fine. . . for now," Luna explained.
"For now? What do you mean?" I asked.
The group looked around at each other again, filling the room with another silence.
This time, Thunder Runner spoke. "I know it feels like you have just come out of a war, but with your help, we would like to start a real one. We need you to help us take town Discord."
"Wh-what? Why me?"
"Because," Luna's horn began to glow, and she pulled out many pictures of other districts. And all of the ponies in the districts, or at least in the pictures, were fighting against the peacekeepers. They were revolting. "What you said in that arena; the thoughts that went through your head, your actions, inspired others to rise up. A war is only a true war when there is civilian support on both sides. And after what you have done, we have all of the support that we need. All we need is somepony to help lead them; to keep that inspiration going."
"And you think that somepony is me?" I ask quietly. "I don't think I'm exactly qualified to lead an army..."
Luna chuckled. "Well, you won't be doing it entirely alone. Others will be there to lend assistance. No nation was created only by the actions of a single individual."
"Meaning...?"
"Tacticians, officers, politicians, soldiers, princesses; all of it will be at your side."
I scoffed in disbelief. "I can't lead. . . why do you think that I - I of all ponies can lead you?"
"We have seen you do it before; lead groups. It's natural for you. You do it without thinking," Luna explained.
"But I. . ."
"You don't have to make up your mind now, it's okay. Just go and try to get some rest, please."
"But do you really think I can. . ?"
"We don't think it, Terra," Thunder stated. "We know it."