//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: Lost Hope 
// Story: The Pony Games 
// by UnidentifiedFlyinPegasus 
//------------------------------//

	Fluttershy shrieked and dived out of the axe's path. Her long, messy tail was thrown out behind her, and the axe flew straight into it. Only a few of her long pink strands were severed, but the weapon's course was diverted, twirling in the air until it stuck in a tree a few yards out of the clearing. 
"#@$% it, Fluttershy!" Prudence cursed. "I said don't move!" 
Another earth pony darted into the clearing, coming out of the forest where Fluttershy had been just moments ago. She brandished a large spiked club in her teeth. Had... had Prudence been aiming for the mare instead of her?
"Trouble in paradise?" the newcomer snarked out of the side of her mouth. There was blood staining her pale green coat, either her own or another tribute's. 
Prudence's eyes darted to the tree where her axe was impaled before fixating her stare on the new tribute. "Nice club. What are you, a cavemare?" 
The mare's pale pink eyes twitched with a hint of amusement. She spit out the club, and it thumped onto the soft green grass. "The old fashioned way then?" Her voice had a soft, youthful quality to it that made her words all the more aggravating.  
"Just the way I like it." Prudence said, her face cleared of emotion. 
"Oh," the tribute remarked, glancing at Fluttershy, and, more accurately, her feathered yellow wings. "It looks like somepony forgot to take out the trash. Do you mind?" 
Prudence's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare."
The mare laughed, a tinkling, dainty laugh. "Oh, I see. You had so much fun killing those other three. I really should let you have one more. By all means, then, go-"
Prudence lunged. 
She went for the throat first, teeth bared like some prehistoric beast. The tribute leapt backwards and stumbled for a few steps, all the while cackling like it was a game. 
"Is that really all you've-"
Prudence reared back, kicking hard with both front hooves. One caught the mare in the chin. 
There was a crack, softer than thunder, but louder than the snap of a branch. Blood dripped down the side of the mare's mouth as she pressed a hoof to her face. It took Fluttershy a moment to realize that she was holding her jaw in place. 
"Ish dat all hyoo got?" She couldn't smile, but her eyes still showed a grin. This mare was insane. Insane or on drugs. 
Prudence looked on her with a hint of pity. She galloped to the tree where her axe still stuck, and pulled it out. 
The tribute shook her head, which should have caused her even more pain. If she could still feel, that is. 
"Wan me? Come an ged me." She turned and trotted off into the forest, blood dripping behind her. 
Prudence shot Fluttershy a look. She took a breath like she was about to say something, but decided against it. She ran off after the tribute. It was less than a minute before the cannon was heard. 


***


"Are they ready?"
Pinkie Pie smiled, something she did far too often. "Yupper-doodle-doo!" Her pink hair bounced too much too. Didn't it ever get tangled in the controls?
Twilight rubbed her temples with one hoof. "Miss Pie, a simple 'yes' is an acceptable answer." 
"Okay!" The pink Gamepony smiled. Again. "Or should I say yes? Does yes work in that context? Should I say yes to everything you say? Yes yes yes!" 
A mixture of a sigh and a groan escaped Twilight's lips. "Just make sure that everything goes smoothly." 
"Yes!" Pinkie exclaimed. 
Twilight trotted down the hallway towards the hangar, shaking her head. Pinkie Pie was more trouble as a Gamepony than she was worth. Always screwing up messages, delaying the production of obstacles. And that vacant look in her eyes, like she knew nothing and everything at the same time...
But Twilight wasn't going to let that distract her. As the head Gamepony, she couldn't focus on a little thing like an incompetent employee. She raised her head high as she neared the hangar door, horn glowing magenta as she slid open the gate. The creatures were waiting inside, shuffling nervously in their lineup. Twilight Sparkle ignored them completely and walked straight to the trainer. 
"Have they all been implanted? We wouldn't want any of them to survive." 
The trainer nodded smartly. "Yes, of course. Although..." he trailed off, not desiring to finish the thought. 
Twilight looked straight at him. His reflective glasses showed her stern eyes. "Is there something you wanted to say?" 
He cleared his throat. "I thought that we were going to save the use of these creatures for next year. I'm not sure they're fully mature yet. Perhaps we could wait until next Games and instead-" 
"Remember your place." Twilight said to him coldly. "If President Celestia wants to use these monstrosities in this year's games, then we are going to send them in. You are not to question direct orders. Is that clear?"
The trainer bowed his head. "Crystal, ma'am. But why-"
"The workings of our President's inner plan are none of your concern." Her eyes stared daggers at him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a launch to oversee." 
She turned and walked out of the room. The only sound was the clopping of her hooves against the cool pavement.  


***


Applebloom pushed her sister away. "Would you stop coverin' mah eyes every time there's a little blood? Ah'm a big girl now, an' it's not the first Games ah've watched!" 
Applejack smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Appebloom." The picture on the television screen zoomed in on the dead mare once more, showing her blood-splattered green coat in exquisite detail. What kind of deranged mentor sends their tribute pain-erasing drugs as a sponsor gift? 
One that's lost hope, that's who.
And Fluttershy- she'd almost killed Fluttershy. Applejack had nearly yelled at the television screen at the sight of that mare, raising her club for the kill with murder in her eyes. If it hadn't been for Prudence- Nope. No thinking of that. Besides, without her, all that planning... it would all be for nothing. 
It should be me, Applejack thought. How could I have let her volunteer? She's going to die, and it'll be all my fault. And she has no idea... no idea of what's in store. If only I could warn her...
But really, she could do nothing. Nothing but sit here, watch her friend struggle, and keep up the regime of hope that she maintained, year after year. 
"You okay, sis?" 
Applejack took a breath and tried to relax. 
"Ah'm... ah'm just fine." She said, putting on a smile. "Just worried for my friend, is all." 
"Oh. All right then." Applebloom turned back to the television, where Fluttershy walked through the forest, alone. Before long the scene changed, showing a blue unicorn mare that was digging through a pile of provisions. "Ya think she'll win?"
"What?"
Applebloom pointed at the television. "The unicorn mare. Trixie. She's hardly killed anypony yet, but she can if she needs to, with all those weapons, and her magic too. An with her partner gone, she's the only unicorn left. Ah bet she'll win." 
Applejack looked at the picture with uncertainty. "Ah sure hope not. We're rootin' for Fluttershy, remember?" 
"Yeah." The filly looked down at her hooves. "Ah'm gonna go get some cider. You want some?" 
"Ah'm good, thanks." 
The young pony trotted out of the living room. Applejack watched the screen, where the scene had changed once more. A cerise pegasus sat onstage, uncomfortably shifting in a huge round seat. 
"Good evening, folks, and welcome back! I'm your host, Fancy Pants!" Applause pattered through the speakers as a white unicorn trotted onstage to greet the interviewee.
"Is this gonna take long? I got ponies to see, places to be." The mare shook her mane, six different colors that framed her annoyed expression. 
The audience laughed.
"Now, now, Miss Dash, we'll only be a few." He grinned at the audience. "And aren't we excited?" 
More cheering.
Dash mumbled something that the microphone didn't pick up. Applejack wasn't a lip reader, but it looked an awful lot like, "Celestia kill me now." 
"So," Fancy Pants leaned back in his chair. "Both of your tributes have made it to the top ten!" He cocked his head for a moment, listening to a voice coming through his earpiece. "Sorry, it appears to be nine, now! My, how these Games fly by." 
Rainbow stiffened, holding back a grimace. 
Fancy Pants looked at her with a glint in his eye. "It takes a good mentor to get two tributes this far. How did you do it? Beforehoof training? Good advice? Perhaps a," he paused, "sponsor gift or two?" 
So this was the point of the interview. Applejack scoffed at the television. Celestia wanted to know where Fluttershy's fancy sponsor gift had come from. 
"Well, I... uh... I..." Rainbow's searched for words.
Just be yourself, Applejack urged. 
"I'm only the best mentor in all of Paneighm." 
The country mare sighed with relief. Celestia wouldn't learn a single secret, not when Rainbow was busy talking... about herself. 
"Of course, I couldn't let them get killed on the first day. We had nonstop training, at dinner, on the train, even before breakfast. I didn't win my Game by chance, you know. If only the other mentors could see that it doesn't-"
Applebloom walked in with a cup of cider in her hoof. She glanced at the screen, and her face fell slightly. 
"They're doing another interview? Ah was hopin' there'd be some more action..." 
"Action?" Applejack got up and turned the sound down a few notches. "Whadya mean, action?" 
"Ya know, fightin'." Applebloom said, setting down the cider. "It's the best when there ain't no weapons. Just pony 'gainst pony, to the death!" She threw a few punches against an invisible enemy. 
Applejack stared at her little sister, sadness spreading across her face. "That could be you in the arena."
"But it ain't." Applebloom tried out some more of her fighting moves, leaping across the room with karate kicks. "Hyah!" 
That was too much. Applejack pounded her hoof on the wooden floor of the home, causing the framed pictures to shake and the cider to fall on it's side, spilling foamy liquid onto the rug. 
Applebloom stopped pretending. 
"Fluttershy is risking her life!" Applejack said loudly, her tone harsher than it had ever been. "For you! Doesn't that mean anythin'?"
"Ah-"
"Go to your room, young filly!" Applejack stamped her hoof again, softer this time. 
And then she was alone in the living room. The sound of hoofsteps receded as Applebloom raced up the stairs. 
"And what about your district partner? What was his name?" Fancy Pants was still interviewing Rainbow Dash. 
"You don't remember?"
The host was a bit taken aback. "Well, I hardly-"
Rainbow shook her head. "No. Of course you don't. But some of us do. His friends, his family. Those that loved him. Even those that didn't know him could see his strength, his sacrifice for what he knew was right. He may be dead, but he'll be remembered."
"And- while we're on the subject- would you mind reminding me of this strong young stallion's name?"
Dash looked at Fancy Pants, and then at the audience, and then straight into the camera. Her face tightened as she spoke. "His name was Big Macintosh."