//------------------------------// // The Games: Tragic Focus's POV // Story: Equestria: The Hunger Games // by Shukawarioserfi //------------------------------// I try to relax. Deep breath in, raspy breath out. I can't let my emotions cloud my judgement. I turn my eyes up to my mentor, Grey Scale, who's trying his best to comfort me. "You have no idea what's waiting for you out there." He says. "I only have five minutes to give you good advice. Then you have to go out there." He motions to the tube leading up to the games. My possible execution. Five minutes of life is all I can be sure I have left. "Then tell me, I want to make sure this isn't my last conversation." I try to give a smile but fail, quiet tears start rolling down my face. "Run. Grab something. Don't just start brawling, you'll be dead with in minutes. Get what you need to survive and then get the heck out of there." He cautions. I nod feverishly. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks." My head starts spinning and I'm getting disoriented. I try to collect my thoughts for a few seconds before Grey Scale starts to help me up. "I'm sorry kid." He sighs. "It's time to go." I almost look for a place to run, before taking a deep breath and regaining my composure. The next few steps to the tube are excruciating. I enter and it closes immediately. I scream and bang on the glass, before going down on my knees. The tube rises. The light at first is overwhelming. I stand on my hooves as my eyes start to adjust. I glance at all the tributes. The colt from my district Monotone, waves at me from a separate platform. His oddly casual demeanor doesn't make me any confident that he'll last very long. I really hope we can speak to eachother one more time before he dies. 10... 9... I start to panic. 8... 7... I look around to see where I'm supposed to go to grab the supplies. 6... 5... I look sharply at Monotone and point to the supply tent, hoping he follows me there. 4... 3... I crouch down on my hooves so I can get a running start. 2... 1... Buzzer sounds. Me and Monotone start running. Me and Monotone are the first ones to the supply tent. Everyone else pauses for a second to try and figure out who they're going to kill. I quickly grab a bag of supplies. Monotone grabs a weapon. I swat it out of his hoof. "Are you crazy? No fighting let's go." Just as everypony else starts to grab their weapons I grab Monotone's hoof and run out. I see Arctic Blast grab a sword and slice through Lightning Bolt's stomach behind me. One Down. Right when I start to think we'll be okay I see Cyclone start to chase after us. The truly massive Hippogriff is very hard to miss out of the corner of your eye. "I bet a weapon would be great now." Monotone says irritated, running. "Shut up, we all know you wouldn't hurt a fly." I say, looking back at Cyclone as I'm running. Obviously, the problem with being so freakishly huge is that you're normally not very fast. We can outrun him. The Hippogriff continues to snort and charge after us. Monotone looks back and stays frozen as Cyclone leaps for him with a long blade clasped between his hoof. Monotone closes his eyes before ducking, sliding and jerking his way out of the way as Cyclone takes a stab at the ground. Monotone swings a hoof at Cyclone's jaw. He didn't flinch. "Ow." Monotone whines. "That hurt. Run!" I almost start running before I see Cyclone grab Monotone by his neck and gasp. "Don't try to hurt me pony." He grunts. "No!" I yell, trying to get closer to Monotone. Cyclone points his long sword at me with his other hoof, keeping me from moving any further. "Crushes are so fitting here." Cyclone smirks. "Because that's what I'm going to do to your little coltfriends neck." I can visibly see Monotone already struggling to breathe, a tear or two running down his cheek. I break down into tears, wailing. "Don't. PLEASE DON'T." I start to yell. Cyclone looks to me for a moment before releasing his grip on Monotone's neck, dropping him to the ground. "Fine. But don't expect any more favors from me. Be grateful you have somepony to love." He snarls. Almost as quickly as Cyclone appears, he runs off into the forest. I hear a piercing scream that likely reverberated over miles. Somepony else is dead. The cannon of death sounds and the pictures of the fallen tributes light across the sky. Lightning Bolt. Columbine Flucie. Two down. Monotone looks like a nervous wreck, his eyes bulging and long scars visible across his neck. He won't last a day. I kiss him. "We've got to go. Whatever happened, there's a reason we're both still alive." I say quietly. "It'll be okay." Monotone nods. "Yeah." He starts to smile. "I think everypony already else went deep into the forest. We can probably go back and get more supplies." "Let's see what we already have so far..." I search through the supply bag I got earlier. "Mushrooms, a frying pan, and some matches." Without warning Monotone sticks his hoof in the supply bag and takes out the mushrooms. "What are you doing?" I snap. "What?" He responds. His mouth full of mushroom. "They're dried mushrooms. Ready to eat." I sigh. "I know I couldn't keep you from eating for very long." I hear rustling in the trees. My heart pounds. Monotone looks equally frightened. A couple of changelings peek out of the woods. "Don't kill us!" They shriek in unison. I breathe a sigh of relief. "Relax. We're not going to kill you." I say, laughing slightly. My laughter is quickly cut off by cannon fire. Plum Rose. Two tributes from district 4 are already dead. I shudder. "We can't stand in one place for too long, you guys found us, likely more ponies will find us if we stay. You two can come with us." "Whoa." Monotone says. "Why is everything so red." He stumbles slightly. "What are you on?" I ask jokingly. Those mushrooms must have been legit. But why would they pack drugs in our supply kits? To cloud our judgment? Chitter steps closer to Monotone. I almost hit her. She seems to be absorbing energy off of him. "I haven't felt that emotion in awhile." She giggles. "He's higher than a wonderbolt." "Can I have what he's having?" Says Starlight Comet, who I didn't know was standing there for the last eight minutes. Chitter shrieks and shoots a beam of yellow magic right at him. He falls to the ground. She gasps. "Relax. Maybe you didn't kill him." I say nervously. Shift puts his hoof on him to check his pulse. "He's not breathing." The cannon fires. Starlight Comet District 5. "What was that Chitter?" Shift yells. "Sorry." She snivels. "Euphoria does some tricky things to my powers." She takes the bag of mushrooms. "I'm going to need these." Fallen Tributes: 24th place: Lightning Bolt, District 4. Killed by Arctic Blast 23rd place: Columbine Flucie, District 1. Killed by Anvil Strike 22nd place: Plum Rose, District 4. Killed by LawWing 21st place: Starlight Comet, District 5. Killed by Chitter Remaining Tributes: Anvil Strike, District 12 Arctic Blast, District 1 Blue Ice, District 10 Chitter, District 11 Coconut Swirl, District 5 Cyclone, District 10 Hurricane Bash, District 2 Ill Omen, District 9 LawWing, District 3 Midnight Dreams, District 8 Monotone, District 7 Moonlight Mist, District 6 Posetem Weave, District 9 Prism, District 2 Selune Darkeye, District 12 Shift, District 11 Sonic Aura, District 8 Swifty Sketch, District 3 Tacitus, District 6 Tragic Focus, District 7