XII - In the Shadow of the Moon
Despite that the moon was high in the sky behind the wisps of clouds that were left over from the downpour, I still remained just beyond the reach of the longest tree branch. The truth was, I just couldn't sleep. Yes, my body was physically tired and I had to sometimes shake myself back awake, the thoughts that danced in my head were telling me not to sleep.
Some of these thoughts were friendly and ones that I had thought before. I thought about my family and what it would be like if I returned home as the winner of the 24th Equestrian Hunger Games. I also thought about Circuit's reaction when I returned home. He would surely beg for me to come back to him, and I might accept. I didn't know where he and I stood anymore. I just wanted to talk to him.
There was one idea that kept creeping back into my head the more I thought about home; Jockey. I made a promise to protect him, at least until he got farther into the games. There were about half of us gone, which was still a lot of ponies to go through and fight.
Ugh. Sometimes I hate it when I think.
The other thing that would come into my mind was the large group I was now in. It was practically unheard of to be in a group that large, and for the most part, it was made of most of the remaining ponies. While I wanted to stay with them and protect those that I cared about, namely Jockey, Code Red, and Cherry Cloud, I also wanted to take my leave and just fight on my own. I wanted to wait it out by myself until I was the last one left, but I knew that was unlikely.
I stared up at the moon and sighed. I didn't know what to do. I really didn't.
"Dang it! Why is a simple decision so much harder in this arena!?" I asked the white, round orb that hung in the sky. I wanted it to answer, perhaps give me some kind of guidance when I needed it. But alas, it was just the projection of a giant rock that floats in the sky.
I smiled though. I knew what the moon stood for. Long ago, before Discord ruled, it used to be raised every night by the Princess of the Moon. I knew that I was one of the few of my generation who knew this tale, and that made me proud. Circuit didn't know the tales, and when I had tried to tell them to him, he shrugged them off with a confused look. The only reason I even knew the stories was because my mother had told me the several tales about the moon.
Another one that she had told was how the moon had once held a mare. I thought was ridiculous, but she explained to me that it was actually the Moon Princess, after she grew dark with jealousy of her older sister who raised the sun every morning. I remember that the story went on about darkness taking over her, which turned her into an evil mare, named Nightmare Moon. The Sun Princess had no choice but to banish her sister to the moon with a special kind of magic.
I shook my head at the tale, a thin, sad smile on my face. As much as I didn't want to agree with Moon Breeze, she was right. This was no child's storybook. There was no use in holding on to fantasies and old legends, even if there was a chance that they were true. This was a matter of life or death now, whether I liked it or not.
I stood to my feet and shook my damp mane. My rump had grown sore from sitting for so long. It was very early morning now, though the sun was not visible yet, nor where it's rays.
I got an idea, and I didn't know how good of an idea it was. I guess I could just hope for the best. My idea involved splitting up the group.
I walked back towards the massive tree we were sleeping around and looked up into the branches. I spotted Moon Breeze resting her head with her eyes closed. Mousha was well awake though her eyes were not fixated in my direction. I figured that she had taken overwatch. It looked like Cherry Cloud was higher up in the tree, though still asleep, as was Code Red. I would need to wake them shortly.
I poked my head into the cave beneath the tree and spotted Jockey in the dim lighting. Thankfully he was pretty close to the enterance.
I walked over the other sleeping ponies that were in the way, careful not to step on them or too close to them. I remember watching movies where a pony would try to take something from some pony, and the pony they were trying to steal from would sometimes grab their foreleg or something, thinking it was a pillow or a teddy bear. I didn't need that to happen to me. No sir.
I stood carefully next to Jockey, in a thin stretch of ground between him and a lightly snoring Candor.
I cautiously poked him on his shoulder. "Psst, Jockey," I whispered. He rolled his shoulder.
I poked him again and lowered my head so my face was closer to his. "Jockey, wake up."
He mumbled something but didn't awake. I sighed, blowing my side-swept bangs up in the air.
I flicked his ear with the tip of my hoof, trying to lightly startle him awake somehow. I used to do a similar thing to my brother, and it would always work. But just after I had started, Candor let out a snort behind me, making me jump. I then nearly stepped on the green stallion. I sighed again, regaining my balance.
I continued to flick his ear back and forth with my hoof since it was getting the biggest reaction from him. I could see him smile and his shoulders were moving like he wanted to swat away whatever was playing with his ear. He let out a soft chuckle, before opening his eyes with a happy grin on his face, like he was going to say something. I place my hoof down and blinked at him while a gentle heat filled my cheeks.
He sighed, then whispered, "What?" As he got to a more comfortable sitting position.
"I need to talk to you. And no, it can't wait till morning."
I blinked and then turned sharply, nearly stepping on Candor. I quickly stepped over her and then over Gaelan, who was silently asleep in front of the door. His wound still struck me in the heart. I couldn't look at that poor griffon the same way for the rest of the games.
We made our way outside the little cave and walked to the same sitting spot that I was at before.
He sat down first, and I sat next to him.
"Alright, what did you need to talk to me about that was so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"
I flicked my ear and looked at him. "What if we left?" I asked. He looked confused.
"What do you mean? We can't leave the arena..."
I shook my head. "No, I mean if we left the group."
He looked down at the grass and gave a barely audible sigh. He was thinking. Which was okay. I don't know if it was the moonlight or just my lack of sleep, but he suddenly looked much more mature than the friendly pony I had met on the train. He had grown and he had changed.
"If we did, we would have to take some supplies and weapons with us. There isn't a whole lot, but the supply isn't exactly low." He paused and turned his head back to face me. "And would it just be the two of us? We wouldn't take anyone else with us?"
I craned my neck behind me to look at the tree. "I was hoping to take Cherry with us, and maybe Code Red. Cherry has good skills which will be useful. Besides, she shouldn't exactly want to kill me. I did save her life, in a way"
He nodded. "Yeah, they seem like good ponies. I've talked with so many and seen so many types of ponies that I know how to tell apart the good from the bad. Cherry has a good head on her shoulders, even though she is a career."
I smiled. "I'm glad I'm not the only pony here who agrees with me."
"So, how are we going to wake those two up?" He asked.
"Well, someone is going to have to climb that tree."
He looked at me, and I instantly knew that I was going to be that pony.
"Okay, fine, I'll go climb it. You have to get the weapons and supplies though." He nodded. "Probably a spear for me and a pack of throwing knives for Cherry. I think CR can use a sword. You grab what you need, and a few backpacks. Don't take more than we need though."
He trotted away towards the supply pile, leaving me to find a way to get the two pegasai down from the tree.
I walked to the base again, and dimly light my horn, giving me a better view of the situation. I smiled when I saw the two pegasai sleeping on opposite sides of the tree. I stared at them for a moment or two, before I used my levitation spell to get a grip of the branch that Code Red was sleeping on. I curved the branch ever so slightly, allowing Code Red to slowly slide down the branch. I smiled and began to curve more branches, making the transfer between slides seamless. He came close to the bottom, and he slid down the final branch onto the grass so gently that the movement didn't even phase him.
I started to do the same thing to Cherry's branches, but about halfway down, she woke up. She jumped up, and hovered in the air with her wings flapping at her sides. She floated down, a concerned and confused look on her face.
I poked CR awake, and he rose slowly. I wanted to explain the situation as few times as possible. "Jockey and I were planning on leaving the group, and we were wondering if you could come with us. Jockey is already getting what we need from the supply pile." The glanced at each other like the other would give them the answer to the question. "We would really appreciate it if you came with us."
There was a small pause, and then Cherry Cloud nodded with a little, "Hmm." She landed silently on the ground. "I'd gladly be in an alliance with you. You are one of the only ponies I've met so far who even remotely cares for me. You've earned my trust, and for that, I'll fly with you."
CR was looking back and forth between me and Cherry. He shrugged. "Why not? I do need to get some vengeance for killing my marefriend. I want to take down the last career with my bare hooves. Joining you guys gives me my best chance of doing so."
I nodded. I completely understood where the two ponies were coming from, and I respected their decisions and why they chose to join us.
Jockey trotted back over, his magic levitating several weapons and bags behind him. He looked ready to go, and the two other ponies smiled when they saw him. The green unicorn handed a bag to each of us and then gave us each our weapons. Jockey and CR were each given a sword, and Cherry and I were given our strongest weapons.
Code Red adjusted the glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. "Well, should we take our leave?"
Jockey started to trot away from the tree, and we all followed. My only hope would be that the other remaining ponies wouldn't get too angry with us just disappearing like that in the middle of the night.
We hadn't walked for too long before the sun's rays were just starting to creep up over the horizon, casting a purple-pink hue over the sky. We decided not to sleep since we wanted to put as much distance between them and us as possible. It was also fairly early in the morning, and sleeping would be near pointless.
There was some rustling in the bushes in front of us, making us grip our weapons even tighter. We got into battle ready positions, and we all prepared to face an enemy. I lowered my ears and muttered to myself. Again? Really? If they were some ponies from our old group, I wouldn't be happy. Then again, they wouldn't be either.
We waited for the thing to come out of the bushes, and what did greatly surprised us. This thingwas low to the ground, crawling forwards ever so slowly, with its rump high up in the air. It was covered in a mixture of mud, sticks, and blood. I couldn't tell if the thing was even a pony. I couldn't even see its eyes. Cherry Cloud walked forwards and kicked the creature with her hoof.
It rolled over and made a pony-like squeak. It was laying on its side, and its head was pointed towards us.
"What is that thing?" Cherry asked.
The creature shook its head, and raised one of its forelegs. We tensed up, not knowing what would happen next. It swiped its arm over its face, removing a layer of the mud. It wasn't enough to get it all off though, so it tried again.
"Whatever it is, I don't think it wants to hurt us," I commented.
I walked forwards, and reached my hoof out to touch the thing's face. It froze and turned its face towards me or my general direction. I wiped my hoof over his face, removing most of the mud from his eyes. He opened them wide to reveal a pair of sapphire blue, pony eyes. He looked up at me, relieved that he could see. I continued to wipe off more of his face, revealing a silvery grey pelt. I helped the mud covered pony up, getting him to stand properly.
"He's okay, we just need to get him cleaned off," I told the group.
They dropped their belongings and started to help me clean the grey stallion off. We were able to get the outer layer of mud off of him, but he was still very dirty. We could see several cuts on his body, but none were too severe. We were able to find a couple of puddles in the ground left over from earlier that night. We got him to walk over to one, and we cleaned him off even more.
I couldn't help but wonder what happened to him though.
Jockey seemed relieved to see him. The stallion we had found was Silver Streak, a pony that was meant to be in the group with Jockey and Moon Breeze. He was obviously separated from them, either in the beginning or somewhere else in the last week.
"What happened to you anyway?" CR asked as he walked out of the puddle, as clean as he was going to get.
"Terrain Tactical happened," He responded.
Cherry Cloud raised an eyebrow. "What did he do?"
He flipped his blue mane, shaking some water droplets from it. "I don't know, but he's completely lost his mind."
"He probably thinks he's the last career left. Most of them get a little looney when they are," Cherry cloud added.
He shook his head. "No, He knew you were alive. He kept insisting that all of the ponies left were teaming up against him and using Cherry Cloud as bait. He was determined that everypony wanted to kill him."
"Well, even if that was true -- which it isn't -- that's a lot for him to make up in his head," I mentioned.
Cherry nodded in agreement. "As the games went on and the numbers lowered, he slowly became less of himself. He was more persistent to keep me safe and he wanted to do more things by himself."
"It sounds like he really is losing his mind," Code Red agreed. "I guess the games can do that to a pony though."
"When he was attacking me, he kept pausing and looking around at the trees and bushes like something was going to jump on him or something. He looked like a drug addict," Silver Streak said.
"Well, we should keep an eye out for him. He's an even bigger threat now that he's lost his mind." Cherry said sharply. "Come on, let's keep moving."
She picked up her bag and weapon, and we all did the same. We walked through the bushes, Silver Streak following us after a little hesitation. Cherry and I led the way, with the boys behind us.
The game has changed with this new information, and I couldn't tell how much it did.
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Well. That explains how you decided to deal with the massive group.
The others are going to wake up and find their main driving force gone. I don't think our heroes are in danger of being tracked by them.
Just a couple of things:
What exactly is jockey saying here? Because from the way it reads, it sounds like he's saying "It's okay, there's enough, we can take some."
Another thing that I can't call incorrect, but still irks me is:
In every other story I've read, it's spelt:
Couple of capitalisation issues that I picked up:
Unnecessary capitalised "A".
Nightmare Moon.
Really interested to see just where you'll take this whole story.
Will Terra abandon her friendships to win? Is this a revolution in the making? Will everypony die? Just what is Discord's role in these games? Will Terra ever forgive Circuit?
...
Well heck if I know. I'm not the Author.
Poet, out.
Yes Silverstreak made an apperance
! I can't wait for his epic battle!
Also I'm curious as to his previous battle with Terrain Tactical and Terrain's mind set. Seems to me that you have a plan in mind.
No deaths? Wow.
Code Red starting to get a bit edgy? Cool.
Terrain Tactical going mad?
FANTASTIC! Draaaamaaaa!!!
4556451 And this is why I love guys like you who help find errors that I miss
4557622 I've got my plans. There's still a way to go. I just wish more people would actually read it instead of glancing at the title then clicking the dislike button.
4556784 Yeah, No deaths was new.
4558875 I know. It gets really annoying when you put all your hard work into a story and nobody reads it just because there are a bunch more with the same sort of plot. WELL GUESS WHAT PEOPLE, some of us like to put effort into a stories so you should at least do the favor of reading them!
(
)
4558875 Dude... Let me be your editor. This is what I do. I get laptop access back in a week, and such I can edit stories in less than 15 minutes, depending on the length.
Seriously bro. I volunteeeeeeeeer.
4560202 well, I don't mind, but If you remember my summer plans Blog post, I did say that I am super busy this summer with a history class, drivers ED, and Summer Color Guard. If we can find time (and a shared media), I'll gladly have you as my editor
~ Sketch
4560987 Shared media?
I can use PMs, Google Doc, emails, whatever you want. I keep myself open.
And I guess I'm kind of busy as well. I'm going on a two week military simulation type thing, a two week trip to the US, I'm going to Galacon in Germany, BronyCAN in Vancouver, I'm getting my license, I'm participating in a massive BF4 tournament, which I will not share to keep my anonymity, and I'm taking a trip to Edmonton to tour the university I'm planning to apply to. Ever since the whole... Suicide thing... I've been working a lot harder.
4561041 Where are you going in the US?
4561408 Portland Oregon. My aunt lives there.
4561493 My aunt also lives in Oregon
and In a Portland Neighborhood too. That's weird. 
4561759 It'd be funny if we were somehow related... But unfortunately, it's impossible...
4561968 Hey, you never know, Stuff happens. Besides, both sides of my family are huge. And just because it's through an aunt doesn't mean that there isn't some other weird relationship out there, like fourth cousin twice removed or whatever
4562448 No... I mean my aunt only has one sibling.
My mom.
4563494 But did your aunt marry someone who had a sibling? Or maybe their parents had siblings? connections are weird.
Oh well. If we are we are, and if we aren't we aren't.
4563589 She's single...
And hey. I'll still gladly consider you family.
Cuz.
4563672
Errrrrrgh
More deat- wait...
Wait...
-Cyneryk
4575167