The next day in the capital was one that I was looking forward to, but also nervous for. Today would be the first training day, and we would have an opportunity to not only meet other tributes but also show off our skills. We would be able to find out more clearly what we were good at and what we weren't. I knew that I would need to meet the ponies from district eight and nine since Jockey seemed to very clearly have an interest in them. However, I also wanted to see if Scale was able to stand up to his mouth. Not to mention, there was also a possibility that I could find other ponies that I would want as a potential ally.
We were rushed to the training center right after we had eaten our breakfast. They prevented us from being able to see where we were going again, which only bugged me. There was no need for the capital to hide the city from us, and there was no need to hide us from the city. I was pretty sure that both had nothing bad to share.
My mentor, Wind, was talking to both of us about what to do when we arrived at the training center. "Terra, knowing what we do about your skills, it would probably serve you best if you practice weapons. Try a couple of them out and decide on which one you can learn the fastest. Especially if it is a longer-range weapon."
I sighed. "So I can't practice my other skills, like tracking or environment studies?"
Wind smiled. "No, you will have plenty of time to do that during training with me alone. Work on things that you need to work on. You know the environment well enough so you will be fine in that category." She turned her face to Jockey, who was listening inventively. "Jockey, your mentors decided that it would be best for you to work on your survival skills. They aren't too worried about your combat skills, though it wouldn't hurt if you practiced them one or twice."
"What about showing off?" I asked quickly. It might have sounded a little rude, but I think that we needed to know. Showing off our talents to a degree will help us pick allies, but they could also make us targets.
Wind flicked her ear and gave me a very annoyed look. "If you would like to make allies, do so verbally. Showing off your skills for everyone to see instead of just a few can place a target on the back of your head. Neither of you are careers, so I assume that they will be aiming for the ponies with a higher skill set."
"What if they are targeting us because we look weak?" Jockey chimed in.
"Then do something to not make you look like the weakest. Training is the most important part before the games, even more so than sponsors. You always have yourself in the games, and you don't always have others."
I nodded at her reply as the carriage slowed to a stop. We strode out of the metal container just to walk into another, bigger one. We were met with guards who scanned us at the doors with metal detectors, and they stopped on my necklace. I reluctantly removed it from my head and handed it to my mentor. I knew that she would give it back to me, but I felt odd without it dangling from my neck.
They let Jockey and I pass, while our mentors returned to the carriage and rode off. We were led down a hallway to a pair of large doors. They looked like they were sliding doors, but they were open as of now, and they didn't close behind us.
We made our way over to a group who was waiting behind an electric screen that reached from the floor to the ceiling, and from wall to wall. They had to hold us in a box before we were allowed to place us in the training facility? I guess they wanted everypony to have an equal amount of time. Jockey spotted a group of ponies he recognized, and he trotted over to them. I did not spot either of the ponies from district 5, so I followed him.
They gave me a weird look, before they asked Jockey who I was.
"This is Terra North, the mare from my district," The green stallion explained. They all gave a nod back, and then he proceeded to introduce the other four ponies to me. "Terra, these are the ponies from districts eight and nine. This mare to my right is Moon Breeze." He said, gesturing to a dark blue mare. "You've seen her before when we walked into the building, but we just never met," He added with a smile. She was indeed the one I had seen before, the one with the light blue and spearmint colored mane. Her eyes were brown and intense, and sparked with an inner fire.
"It's very nice to meet you," She said politely.
Jockey then pointed to a silver-colored stallion next to her. His mane was dark blue, and his eyes glimmered like sapphires. Or at least what I was told sapphires looked like. They were full of emotion as well, though they shone of a different emotion than Moon Breeze's. they looked...sad. "This stallion is Silver Streak," he replied, as the silver stallion nodded in reply.
He gestured to another stallion, this one a pegasus, that had his head held high, and his chest puffed out. He looked a little too conceited in this environment. His pelt was a deep black, though he had a red mark over his right eye. I couldn't tell if it was a scar or not, but it too stood out. His mane was sharp and bold, being the colors it was; red and brown. His wings were actually red as well, or at least part of them were. "That's Gearfly," he said with a bumptious smile.
And lastly, he turned to face a small, purple-blue earth pony with a brown mane that almost touched the floor. Her brown and small eyes were slanted, though that didn't take away from the fact that she looked like she knew what she was doing and that she looked prepared. Actually, she clearly wasn't equestrian, and if anything she was Chineighs. "And that's, um, how do you say her name again?"
"Mousha," The small pony answered. "It is Chineighs, as I am, as I am sure you all think." She said carefully. Her accent and the way she said her words clearly showed that she was not of equestrian origin. Our country was probably just her domicile for right now.
I scanned over them once more and smiled. "You all seem like a good group, that's for sure," I said, trying to sound at least a little excited. "I know that Jockey certainly likes you all," I said while looking at him. My comment made the rest of the group smile.
"If I might ask, what do you specialize in?" Moon Breeze asked, her tone actually quite curious.
I hesitated. I didn't know if I could trust her, or at least to trust her enough to tell her what I specialize in. While Jockey seemed to - or at least act like it - trust her, that didn't exactly mean that I did. She seemed like a good pony, but everypony thinks differently and behaves differently in the games. There are many strategies that can be running through a pony's mind, ones that only they know how to do. I clearly wasn't the oldest one here, but I wasn't the youngest. I would need to figure out what to do soon.
Collecting myself, I said carefully, "Environment. I know plants and landscape well. I can create some plants, including edible ones, but the rules don't exactly permit them in the games."
She nodded. "Well, you sound like you could be an asset. Its a shame that the rules don't entirely allow us to create plants or food-like items, But it's still a unique ability. And your knowledge could be helpful." She turned and looked at a group of four ponies who were snickering in the corner. I recognized Cherry Cloud, but she and the other mare didn't entirely look too sure of where they were. "It sounds like there is at least one other stallion who specializes in the same department. Terrain Tactical, I believe his name was. He resides in district two, I think, which of course, only makes them stronger."
"Yeah. I met one of them though, Cherry Cloud, the green pegasus. She actually doesn't seem that bad. I wish we could make her join us. Her skills would also be helpful."
Gearfly flicked his ear. "It's probably an act. I'm pretty sure there are 'secret' training facilities in the first two districts that allow them to be as toughly built and deceptive as they are. I mean just look at her! Shes small but you can see the muscles ripple under her skin. She's athletic. Like I said, She's probably acting."
"Or maybe she isn't," I countered. "We don't know anything for sure"
He pulled back his lips in a snarl, which didn't make me respond.
Silver Streak hushed us, "Calm down. We don't know what's in her mind, so let's just leave it as a 'be careful.'" I blinked at the large black pegasus, and then gave a thankful nod to Silver.
Hoofsteps coming from the door made all of us turn our heads, though some were slower than others. Our eyes saw another pair walk in, though I could hear Gearfly's wings shift, and I knew why. One mare who had walked in was so ineffably beautiful it was a surprise that their district had allowed her to compete. Her pastel-pink body was slender and curved, while her long, blonde, curled mane only added to her figure. Everything about her was perfect, her body was perfectly shaped, her muzzle was perfectly curved, and her hooves were polished to pristine quality. even the way her long eyelashes would sweep over her cheeks were perfect. She looked like she was a goddess. Her blue eyes were like the color of the sky, but that wasn't the best part. She looked so confident and powerful that it just increased her beauty. She was practically glowing, which only made the stallion who walked next to her look bleak.
He had a strong look to him, like he spent a good time making sure he was fit, either for these games or otherwise. His pelt was fairly bright for orange, and his scruffy red mane made him look a little aged. He looked as if he was used to spending a good amount of time outside, something that would be good for these games. He blue eyes were scanning his surroundings, and I watched them until they fixated on something towards the electric screen.
I turned to follow his gaze and spotted a brown pegasus standing there, her torso wrapped in a black vest. She wasn't a tribute, but she called all of us over. Once we were all in reasonable hearing distance of her, she began to speak.
"Well, now that you are all here, in a few moments, the screen shall be put away and you will have your first opportunity to experience the training center. I must clarify that you are not allowed to fight with the other tributes, not even as a practice partner. You will have more than enough time to do so in the arena. If you would like to try your hoof at physical combat, we have several sparring partners that you can choose from, depending on the weapon you use. If that isn't enough for you, we have what we call the pixel hall, where you shall be faced against several digitally created opponents that will try to kill you. And lastly, if any of you are injured significantly, you will find about 5 medics stationed around the center. I expect all of you to behave and make good use of these training rights."
She turned to look at a panel of ponies that was in a room above the training center, and she gave them a nod. One pony pressed a button, and the screen disappeared. She nodded, and then trotted through the group to be behind the door. As soon as she walked through that doorway, the door behind her closed, and the twenty-four of us were left to do what ever we may in the training center.
I watched as the group of careers walked over to immediately walked over to the weapon area. I exchanged a glance with Jockey, and then followed them. Most of the ponies had actually gone over to the weapon center first. I looked at the weapons and picked up a knife. I stepped aside and held it in my hoof. I felt the weight of it, and how the material felt. It was incredibly smooth and there was not a single blemish. The hilt of it was a diamind shape, and the blade itself looked like an overly stretched out pyramid. I walked up to a target line, and with a breath, I used my magic to levitate the knife, trying my best to aim I couldn't fly them all the way to the target; I had to throw them. I did my best to throw the blade with my magic, finding it a lot harder than I thought. However, I did manage to I hit it in the shoulder, which wasn't that bad of a throw. I smiled, and turned to look at the other ponies throwing next to me. I saw Cherry Cloud, Golden Quill, and each Scale throwing knives towards their targets, all hitting them perfectly in the center of their targets. There were about four other ponies doing so as well, though they weren't as good as the three of them, but they were still decent. It was at this point where I walked away from the knives and decided to try something else.
I made my way over to the stand that held a bow and arrow. I stared at it, hesitating. I didn't know if I should hold with my hooves or with my magic. I turned to see Moon Breeze holding the weapon with her hooves, so I tried to as well. It was difficult, so when I shot my arrow, It just slid into the ground. I frowned and then decided to just hold it with magic. It helped and this time I hit the target, but it was actually quite difficult to aim, even with magic. I shot a few more arrows, and after about 6 more tries did I actually figure out the aiming and was able to hit the bulls-eye. I was getting confident, when I realized that there could be other things that would alter the arrow in the arena, like wind and obstacles, as well as a moving target. This only made me mad, so I shot another arrow and then put the bow down.
I walked over to the sparring partner, and watched a mare who was fighting an armored stallion with a spear. I watched them carefully and then decided that I would wait for them to be finished. The mare hit the other with a spear in the back of his head and then knocked him off balance. I gulped and shifted my ears. The blonde pelted mare strode off the mat and flipped her steel-colored mane. A pale blue griffin greeted her shortly after and gave her a smile.
"That was really good fighting Candor. I didn't know you were so good with a spear," I overheard him say. I watched as they walked over to the survival area.
It was my turn to face the fighter. I stepped onto the mat and felt it squish beneath my hooves. I took a breath and waited for the stallion to get onto his feet. He saw that I had no weapon, so he put his own spear back. I sighed and beckoned him forwards with a swish of my tail.
He rolled his neck, and then jumped forwards, aiming a blow to my right shoulder. I learned to the left, easily dodging it, and swung my foreleg around to elbow him into the ground. He landed with a thud, but he quickly swept his leg aside and knocked me off of my feet. I rolled away from him and jumped to a full stance as soon as possible. I waited for him to stand again, and when he did, I put my shoulder down and charged into him with as much force as I could. I wrapped my front legs around him, and tried to pull him into the ground. When we finally hit the ground, one of my legs was caught, and I heard a faint crack as it was smashed in between his protective gear and the mat. I could still feel my leg so I know it wasn't broken, and it clearly wasn't sprained. I didn't know what the crack was. He landed a blow to my stomach, which knocked the wind out of me. Taking a deep breath, I watched him begin to stand up fully when saw it as my chance. I kicked him with my hind legs as hard as I could, which made him fly forwards and onto his stomach. I flew on top of him and quickly struggled to pin his hooves, and once I had done so I held him there for a few seconds. I let him go, and gave a thankful nod.
I stood up, and saw that a few ponies had been watching me. One stallion, in particular, a grey one with a blue and black mane, was nodding. There were other career ponies standing at his sides, whispering to each other. I blinked at them and watched as they turned and walked back towards more weapon stations.
I had just barely begun to take a step off of the mat when I felt a sharp, overwhelming pain shoot up my front leg. It hurt so much that I fell to my knees as I let out a groan of pain. I lifted my hoof in front of me, and the first thing I saw was a large crack, going from the top to the bottom of my hoof. It reached up towards the skin, and the skin itself was red and a little puffy. On the inside of the hoof, the crack was still visible though not as clearly as the outside. It had hit the frog in my hoof, and that was probably why it had hurt so much.
I looked around, and once I had pinpointed the medic, I had beckoned her over. She pulled out a small tube, and I watched as she rubbed a white ointment over the crack in my hoof. She then proceeded to place a few heavy-duty staples in my hoof, which made my hoof feel a little heavier. She then briefly bandaged it, and then walked back to her former location.
I rose carefully, making sure that it was fine. It still ached, although not near as bad as it did before. However, I decided that it would probably be best if I took it easy for the remainder of the day. I didn't want to make it worse. Disobeying my mentor, I made my way over into the survival section, and I came across two ponies trying to start a fire.
I had seen them before, and I recalled seeing them in the elevator. One was a grey pegasus with a two-tones red mane, with thick, square glasses placed firmly over his muzzle. His blue eyes were deep and loving, and they were always glancing up at the mare who sat next to him. This mare had a blue pelt, which was actually close to the same color as his eyes. Her mane was pink and while a little messy; it did look like it had been attempted to be tamed, so it was swept to one side of her face. She reminded me of cotton candy. The pair was trying to make the fire with sticks, and they were having a good amount of difficulty. I felt bad for them, so I walked over.
They looked up at me, and the two of them looked a little unsure when I met their eyes. I sat down next to them, and tried to help them with their fire. "Well, the first issue is that the wood you chose was very damp," I said as I tossed it aside, and grabbed a clearly dry piece of wood. "drier wood will catch fire quicker, but will also burn quicker. Damper wood usually feels smoother and heavier." I grabbed a stick, and shoved it into the ground, making one end of it flat. I then located a duvet in the wood, and placed the stick firmly in the hole. "Finding a dent or hole in the wood is a good place to create a lot of friction. It helps for heat to increase, and heat creates fire." I then proceeded to place the stick in between my hooves, and rubbed them together as fast as I could with my new found injury. It did hurt as I did so. I gradually moved my hooves down the stick, and when I started to see smoke and small flashes of red from underneath the stick did I stop.
"Now you try," I said, placing the wood aside. I watched the pair copy what I did, and they picked out good pieces of wood. They followed, and when they succeeded, they looked very thankful and relieved.
"What's you're name?" The mare asked.
"Terra North, from six," I replied. "And yours?"
"I'm Aerospace Zero, and this is my colt friend, Code Red," She answered shyly, looking at her partner. "We're from three."
"Wait, you two are a couple?" I asked, my chest aching. If they had done what I thought had happened, then I would end up hating my ex-colt friend even more.
"Yeah, we've been together for a good amount of time. He actually volunteered after I was reaped-"
"Oh," I said, dropping my ears. I turned to the side and looked away for a moment. I sighed, and Zero put her hoof on my shoulder.
"You okay?'
I sighed, "Kind of. I envy you guys a little now, after hearing your story. My colt friend and I had promised each other that one would volunteer if one of us was reaped. Well, I was reaped, and he didn't follow through. His excuse was that he was just scared, but..."
Code Red added his comment, but a little quietly. "I was scared to. Especially since I'm not really a talkative pony. I guess I just cared enough for Aero that I was willing to risk my life."
The mare smiled, and kissed Red on the cheek. I smiled at them, though I could feel the jealousy building inside.
"Well I think I'll leave you two to your survival studies," I said, getting back onto my feet." If you never need anything else, I would be happy to help," I said honestly. They were a good pair, and I wouldn't mind fighting for them. Especially since their story was what mine should have been.
"Thanks for the lesson Terra," Aero said, her eyes scanning my face. "You are surely one of the nicer ponies here, and help from others wasn't exactly something I was expecting."
I shrugged a shoulder. "Well, I hate these games. No pony here deserves to die, no matter how bad they might be, "I thought for a moment. "I'd still fight to the death, but I think I will only end up killing if by means of defense. If everypony thought that way, there might not be a Hunger Games."
The pair turned and looked at each other, and then I walked away.
I made my way over to a plant quiz and decided that I should try my hoof at making sure I knew enough to survive. Another large stallion had trotted over at that point, and he was clearly looking for competition in this area. His pelt was a deep green and his mane was a lighter shade of green with dark streaks of brown. His eyes were hazel but were clearly dilated. They were all over the room, and he kept looking at the ponies he passed like they were going to challenge him. He looked like he would be perfect for camouflage, as well as pretty much anything that had to do with the wilderness.
I kept my eye on him, and I clicked on the screen that asked which test we could take. I selected the plant quiz, trying to test my knowledge. I looked over at the other stallion's screen and saw that he had selected the same option. I swished my tail and watched him look up at me.
"Best score wins," He said, a devious smirk on his face. It was similar to the same one that Scale had given like he was just conceited.
We counted down, "Three, two, one, go!"
There was a picture of a leaf that popped up on the screen, and it asked which tree it came from, and listed four options. I knew immediately that it was a maple leaf. Similar questions followed most of them of leaves, but there were a few about berries and roots. There were 25 questions. We finished close to the same time, and when we had looked at our scores, they were the same. We had each received 23/25.
We looked up at each other, and there was a shocked expression on both of our faces.
"Well, well. It seems our knowledge is evenly matched," He said, a smirk on his face.
"Indeed they are," I agreed.
"What's your name, if I might ask?"
"Terra North, from district six," I blinked. "And you?"
"Terrain Tactical, from District two."
This was the stallion that Moon Breeze warned me about. He had skills that rivaled my own.
"Oh, so you're tributes with Cherry Cloud?"
"Yeah, I'm excited about that," He commented, his eyes glazing over in a happy look.
"She seems very nice, that's for sure,"
"Indeed she is..." He trailed off, his cheeks blushing. He clearly had some feelings for her.
"Well, it was nice meeting you," I said, trying to close this conversation.
"Yes, I see that I at least have some environmental competition."
"The games should be a little more interesting now," I added.
"Bye," he said with a nod.
"Bye." I bid him farewell, and then trotted off towards the obstacle courses.
I figured that I should spend some time over there, building up more muscles so that I had better strength. It would also build up endurance, making it so I could last longer in the games, running or such. l spent the remainder of the day over in that area, practicing jumping and running techniques, as well as trying to build agility. Every pony was good at something different, which was good. Some were fast, others were strong. Some were great with weapons, others were all brains and knowledge. There were talkative ponies who wanted allies, and unsocial ones who wanted nothing to do with other ponies. This group was broad, but all of them would be tough opponents.
Though the hardest part of this would be surely choosing whom I wanted as my allies. There were too many ponies that could make good allies, and each one had something different to offer. It feels as if these games have started long before even the sound of the arena's siren.