24 Pieces of Paper
Rarity laid motionless on her bed, drifting off into a land where her wildest dreams could be fabricated from the slightest thought. Her eyelids drooped lazily on her face, her hoofs nestled in her comforter. Her expression was wiped clean of emotion, her wrinkles faded from her face, her tense forehead relieved of its sadness and stress. She looked more beautiful than ever, without the pressure of everyday life resting on her shoulders. All she had to worry about was letting goodhearted thoughts into her, and nightmares out. Her head laid heavily on her pillow, ears failing to twitch at even the loudest sound. That is, until she heard a scream.
"RARITY!"
The sound had more effect on the sleepy mare than even a grenade would if it hit her flat in the face. Immediately, her wrinkles reformed around her forehead, her muzzle tensing up in dismay. Despite the aching in her bones, she exploded from under the covers, drawing her attention to the sudden disturbance. The compass in Rarity's brain clearly pointed out the source of the sound, which dwelled downstairs near the washroom.
Before making a sprint for the hallway, Rarity took a glimpse of her nightstand's silver alarm clock. 2:24 A.M.. Who in Equestria would be awake at this time of night?! She reflexively expected an intruder, as most ponies would in this situation. Then again, she recalled locking all her doors the previous evening. Not only that, but why would a criminal scream her name? The thought dented her skull and twisted her thinking, so she eventually expelled it from her mind. Without a hint of what produced such a plead of high volume, she ventured through her bedroom entrance and galloped towards the stairs.
As she took easy steps down her common household staircase, she observed the scenery around her. Same pink and white walls, overhanging coatracks, and an enormous amount of picture frames that she could fill three laundry baskets with. However, in different lighting, the area appeared almost eery. The moon casted shadows across the light, airy walls, giving them a twisted appearance. Floorboards she swore she heard thousands of times a day creaked ominously in the threatening silence of midnight. Although she knew the frights were simply illusions casted by the evening night, she couldn't help but get slightly jumpy.
At last, her left hoof felt the first sign of a flat carpet, easing her tense thoughts and bringing back the calmness that developed from her slumber. Observing the overall appearance of the bottom floor, she immediately took note of the darkened hallway that stood between her and the washroom. However, an interfering detail of pink and purple broke up the eye-jarring colors and replaced them with something rather comforting, Unfortunately, Rarity was not bemused at the slightest. Not even considering the privacy of her neighbors, Rarity prepared for her raging torment that was destined to occur in the matter of minutes.
"SWEETIE BELLE!!!!" She screamed with great disapproval. She took note of the white figure that poked its head out of the doorway.
"Yes, Rarity?" She asked innocently, trying to sound as sweet as her name.
Rarity rolled her eyes. "WHY did you wake me up? What could POSSIBLY be more important than my beauty sleep?!"
Sweetie Belle lacked a valid answer, yet did her best to defend herself against yet again another one of her sister's silly scolding sessions. "Well, since tomorrow is the reaping, and your last one for that matter, I was immediately stuck with the possibility that I could make tomorrow special for you!" She said generously, her voice cracking several times. "At first I thought about making you breakfast in bed, but after last time, I realized that was a lost cause. Wondering what I could do, I finally decided that I would make you a pretty outfit to wear! I was on a roll for a long time, but now, I MAY have a problem..."
Rarity trotted down the empty hallway to the washroom, where she was suddenly overwhelmed by an array of colorful polka-dotted fabrics, all clinging to the walls like gum under a table. As she guided her eyes through the twists and turns made by the fabric, she immediately noticed that Sweetie was wrapped in a bundle of fabric, each strand choking her. However, she still had enough leeway to speak to Rarity. Good thing, too, because if she had gone over to the washroom and saw this mess in darkness, she may have fainted.
Rarity's eyes twitched. "What, WHAT DID YOU DO!!!!!"
"I was ONLY trying to help..." Sweetie Belle responded, but Rarity wouldn't take that overused excuse again. Ever.
"Give me a real answer, or I swear, I'M GOING TO PULL MY HAIR OUT!"
A noticable amount of tears spouted from the filly's tearducts. "I'm so sorry! Honestly, my only intentions were to make this day special, because if you weren't picked, then Pinkie could throw you a 'YAY, WE'RE FREE' party, and what not. This is the last year for you ever, and since the odds are normally in favor of our family, we're home free."
Oh, yay for us Rarity thought, presumably not caring. Her family was usually lucky at raffles, winning the Grand Galloping Gala Annual Raffle for a 2 week stay at the Canterlot Palace 3 years in a row. However, in these games, it wasn't exactly a treat to get chosen. With any luck, their names will not be attracted by the picker this year.
Using Cadence's breathing techniques, Rarity quickly calmed her heartbeat. At last, she spoke again, this time with a tone of defeat. "Oh, fine, you can keep making my dress," she chirped, watching life return to the little filly's imagination."But ONLY if you let me help you out. We can't have this happen again, or this room might as well have polkadots for wallpaper."
For a second Rarity felt normal. then, out of the blue, something engulfed her in a tight embrace. Looking down, it was none other than Sweetie Belle. "Oh, thank you thank you THANK YOU!" She screeched. "You and I are going to make the best dress ever! But you can only help me when I ask for it, OK?"
Rarity sighed. "Of course Sweetie," she said,"but first let's turn on all the lights. On the evening before the reaping, you're going to get jittery, and I'm scared out of my mind at the moment." As if written in book, Sweetie Belle obediently made her way to the nearest light switch, smiling comically.
Rarity watched the filly, weak and helpless,who was scared of her own shadow. Everyone loved her, even Opal better than herself. Sweetie picked out Opal, after all, but most pets tend to grow on whoever took care of them, yet all she got were cruel stares from the feline. She was a beautiful singer, able to make anypony smile with a single tune. She was probably the weakest of all ponies in Ponyville, but she chose not to think like so and be herself.
Yes, she has all the reasons in the world to smile, Rarity thought as she looked at the filly and then herself. I wish she could smile forever.
~~~
"RARITY! I NEED YOUR HELP NOW!"
Rarity woke up from her dazed state of unconsciousness, forgetting that she had a filly to help out. Sweetie Belle hadn't needed her help for an hour at the least, so she figured that taking an hour to regain much-needed sleep for the approaching day. Needless to say, her peace had snapped. However, after the previous torment from earlier that night, she wasn't willing to disturb her neighbors once more. "Um, yes Sweetie Belle," she said groggily. "What do you need?"
"I don't know how to sew my base fabric to other materials!" She croaked. "I already poked my hoof with the needle countless times. Can you do this section for me? Please?"
"Why not?" She asked knowingly."But can you do me a favor and tell me what time it is? We need to make sure we finish this dress in time to get cleaned up and go to town hall for the reaping. This may be your first one, but you know what happens when children are late." She motioned a gun going through her temple, a sight she surely did not want to see on Sweetie Belle.
"Sure thing!" Without question, the filly galloped to the kitchen, where a microwave clock was sure to exist.
Glad that she had privacy for a minute or two, Rarity let out a long breath and pondered deeply as she retrieved the needle and thread from the location Sweetie left it. Sweetie Belle. If she's chosen, despite her amazing running skills, would die in a heartbeat if she went to the worst possible competition in Equestria: The Hunger Games. Is it really worth calling a competition?
16 years ago, Canterlot citizens grew sick and tired of the way Celestia ruled, who dictated their every move without a care in the world. Recklessly, they and many others decided to rebel against Celestia. Even groups of people from places as far out as Saddle Arabia came to Canterlot to regain their rights. Unfortunately, not even tens of thousands of ponies could outnumber or overpower the alicorn that rose the sun everyday. Everypony, every living soul that tried to defy her, was eradicated .
Instead of killing everypony who would even think of standing up to Celestia, the royal court decided that they needed to kill off rebellion itself, not the ponies that had been contaminated by it. They thought of ways to demonstrate their power. At first, they thought of taking something everypony loves, and showing them that they could destroy it in a heartbeat if rebellion continued. Then again, holding something or somepony hostage probably wouldn't bode well with the citizens. What if, they thought, they weren't deliberately sacrificing something or somepony loved, but making it killed or destroyed by something out of the court's control? After hours of pondering possibilities, the court cam to a consensus.
Every year, 24 ponies from a randomly selected city between the ages of 6 and 17 will be hand-picked to fight to the death in an arena. Instead of the court killing them, these loved fillies and colts would kill each other, the court only responsible for the whole occurrence, everypony must watch so that the message is clearly portrayed to them, the citizens. However, the royal court could possibly just execute 24 people and have it at that, but Equestria is known as a place of harmony, and if the leader just kills off people, that wouldn't exactly be harmonious. Therefore, whoever is the last pony alive in the arena is titled a victor, and he and his city are spoiled with riches for all the trouble they went through.
The way these fillies and colts are chosen is through something called the reaping. All the names of ponies between the ages of 6 and 17 are placed in a big glass bowl that stands on the town hall stage. 24 names are randomly chosen from that jar, and if you're chosen, you are going to the slaughter house known as the games. You're called a tribute, as your contribution to the event is certainly a tribute. However, most ponies associate the word with corpse.
If you aren't chosen, you're home free! Most families celebrate with big Pinkie Pie sized parties. Until your city is reselected as the host city, you are technically safe from the horrors of the games. However, families that are chosen get to sit at home and mourn their eyeballs out, as their child is killed in an arena by people you used to know and love.
There are 24 pieces of paper, and 164,372 of us, Rarity thought. What are the odds?
Rarity was so deep in thought, that she nearly tore her skin off with the needle. Ever since she picked the tool up, there had been no progress from her on the mannequin. Luckily, she was a fast hoofed pony, and had sewn the garment milliseconds before the Sweetie Belle bounced in the room.
"Ooh, pretty!" She announced as the shiny gemstones on the garment sparkled her vision. "Thank you!" She looked at her sister, worn down from all her handiwork, barely standing up. "You get some shuteye, Rarity," she explained," You'll need it. I can finish this dress. I think....."
Refusing to ask Sweetie what "I think" meant, she walked down the hallway and began her long, grueling climb up the stairs. Despite the aching in her bones, her mind was wide awake. Thoughts of the Hunger Games fogged her mind continuously, even after she left the staircase and entered her bedroom. Without care, she lunged herself into her bed and allowed her eyelids to rest on top of her eyeballs. She blindly pulled the covers back over her torso, and fell into a pool of sweet unconsciousness. Sleep was good. Sleep was definitely what she needed........
~~~
The dress. was. hideous.
Rarity viewed herself in her full-length mirror, not even comprehending what was before her very eyes. There was a reason polkadots were not her thing, and despite her cutie mark being 3 diamonds, gemstones were not, either. The dress was loose on her upper half, and choked her bottom half. It looked as if the dress had been turned upside down, but Sweetie Belle had confirmed to her that it was fitted correctly. She stuck her tongue out in disgust, but slurped it back in when she heard familiar hoof steps galloping up the stairs.
Jumping into the hallway, she blocked the filly's path before she could pass. "No, you are NOT having candy right now. Do you really want to be late to the reaping?" There was a closet at the end of the hallway where all the sweets were held, but Sweetie Belle had no intention of letting a white door prevent her from having candy.
"Come on, please?" she begged. "What if I were chosen, you would regret not letting me have candy now, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, yes I would," Rarity admitted, defeated. "But don't overdo it. If you are chosen, you also don't want to throw up on the train."
"YAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!" she shouted, nearly making Rarity go deaf. A hefty weight lunged onto Rarity, causing her to come crashing to the ground. Her tailbone ached wildly, but she ignored the pain as best she could. She turned around, only to find that it was Sweetie Belle whom had knocked her over, and was now gorging herself with the finest candies she had ever purchased from Sugar Cube Corner. WIthin seconds, she could've sworn the closet was raided of it's chocolate covered sweets.
Rarity rolled her eyes, which had become fairly complicated judging by how many times she had done it that day. "Now Sweetie, I know you're having fun," She explained," But we REALLY need to go now. We honestly have twenty minutes to get checked in, and then get to the town square. Take some candy with you, OK?"
Sweetie Belle responded with a "yes," but it was barely intelligible since her mouth was filled with lemon flavored jawbreakers. Moving ever so swiftly, she retrieved saddlebags from her room, in which was conveniently located in the same hallway. Not a moment too soon, she returned to Rarity's side, and the two trotted down the stairs, into the outside world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity could already smell the hatred in the air when she and Sweetie Belle placed their hooves upon the paved dirt sidewalk. Everywhere you looked, ponies with strict, hollow faces walked silently over to the town hall, which was generally cheery on any other day but today. Some children, however, took note of Rarity's wardrobe and let out a slight chuckle.
Great, she thought, now I'm the laughingstock of Ponyville.
Walking around ever so stealthily were the Peacekeepers, whom took note of the filly's laughing and tossed him a strict face. Tears leaked from his eyelids, and he put his head down in fear of this threat. All of the peacekeepers wore white suits, and helmets that Sweetie Belle assumed were astronaut helmets. It was hard to determine anything about the personality of a peacekeeper, but all ponies knew one thing; they will step on anything and everything as long as it means these games go off without a hitch. Lost in the negativity of the moment, Rarity dazed off, only to notice that a peacekeeper was piercing her skull with a stare that would scare the feathers off of a pegasus. Not wanting to cause any commotion, the two left their current location and made their way towards town hall.
Despite the decorations, town hall looked drearier than ever. Not a single soul appeared to be smiling with all the thick hatred brewing in the air. The children whom where already checked in were herded into an area fenced off to the rest of the public. Their faces looked dead, matching those of fear and helplessness. Those who were waiting in line to get checked in didn't dare get out of the single file line, in fear that a peacekeeper would slice their head off. The only pony that appeared to be smiling was none other than the royal court's escort, Patricia Voodoo. Her name resembled her place perfectly, as she will do whatever the royal court asks her to do. At the moment, she was clearly trying to smile, but the rest of Ponyville didn't see what there was to smile about.
The closer Rarity got to the check in table, the more animosity that brewed in her mind. Luckily, once this whole event was over, she and Sweetie Belle could go home, maybe throw a party with Pinkie. For now, all she could do was wait, and watch a bee take pollen from a sunflower in the nearby patch. How lucky that creature was, not being forced into slaughter.
At last, the Rarity and Sweetie Belle had reached the check in desk. Unlike most check ins, the Hunger Games requires the fillies and colts to take a sample of blood so that they may confirm it is the pony at hand, and not somepony else who is filling in for the unwilling pony who doesn't want to risk competing in the games. The mare at the desk asked for her hoof, and Rarity outstretched it as directed. She gritted her teeth as the sample needle punctured her foreleg, leaving a small, un-noticable lump for most people. However, with a white coat, you might as well be shouting, "Everypony, look at my scarred foreleg!" Despite all the joys of having white coats, it s a curse as far as the Hunger Games go. The pain eased slightly as the needle was removed, and a speck of blood was placed in a book of all the names in Ponyville.
Sweetie Belle did not take this action well. Every time the needle came between 2 inches of her foreleg, she flinched hysterically and cried for the business pony to stop. This went on for at least five minutes, and when the mare began losing her patience, she simply jammed the needle in Sweetie's arm without her approval. When all things were said and done, Sweetie Belle galloped over, and choked Rarity with another tight hug.
"Rarity?" she sobbed wearily. " I was scared of a little needle. A NEEDLE! If I can't handle that, how can I handle the games?"
Rarity brushed her hoof threw the filly's name, calming her. her breathing was heavy ad her heartbeat was beating a mile a minute. Rarity reminisced with her first reaping, remembering how frightened she was. "First of all, darling, there is nothing to worry about. What are the odds that we are going to get chosen? You said it yourself. Second of all, even if you are picked, I have my faith in you. You are a strong, talented young filly, and you're also very fast. I'm sure you could win, if you tried your best. Just don't cry." The filly just sat there, sobbing into Rarity's fur, until a loud voice could be heard throughout the town hall.
Clearly, the event was starting.
"Now darling, the reaping is beginning, so I need you to go int the back with all the fillies your age and stay there until this event is over with. Go find Scootaloo and Applebloom, stay with them, and I promise everything will be alright." She kissed her sister's muzzle as a sign of love and protection, hoping that her sister would simply go to her section. Luckily, she was obedient, and went to see her friends.
Rarity took a deep breath as she slowly trotted over towards her age set's section, careful not to interrupt the event for the very few spectators who were actually listening to Patricia Voodoo's speech. She glanced down the expanse, happy to find that her five friends were bundled together in the middle of the expanse. She needed moral support, everypony did. Her friends were right for the job.
After what seemed like an eternity of explaining history that 90% of us witnessed in real life anyways, things finally started to take a turn on the excitement scale during the reaping. Good thing too, because Rainbow Dash nearly slept through the entire thing, and wasn't that excited.
Patricia walked over to the glass bowl, where the names of friends and family swam in circles inside the glass. "Now, it is time to choose 24 of you lovely citizens to come to Canterlot, and participate in the 17th annual Hunger Games!" A few cheers were heard from the crowd, but the selection of children remained silent as a rock, excluding an extremely bored Rainbow Dash. Without hesitation, Patricia reached her hoof inside the pool of slips, and pulled out a single, crippled piece of paper. She made powerful hoofsteps over to the microphone, and prepared to read the name imprinted into the paper. Her mouth made movements, sounds traveled over the crowd, and unsounding screams cloaked the audience...