The Spark

by Sketch-Pad

First published 27th of February, 2015

Somehow, I managed to escape the Hunger Games. But just as I hoped the fighting was over, I realized that it was just beginning.

Terra has managed to survive the Hunger Games along with a few of her newly found friends. But instead of being met with a welcoming home in their old districts, they are pushed strait into preparing for a war that could change the Nation for once and for all.

I - The Welcome

I was in another world. The world I was being put into was so vastly different than the one I was in before. I had gotten so used to just trying to get through my day with my brothers and my friends, and then I was forced into the game where I physically had to fight for my own life. It wasn't entirely bad - no - I had somehow managed to make 4 very good friends. These friends; Jockey, Code Red, Cherry Cloud, and Gaelan, were friends who had followed me throughout the games and stayed by my side. They protected me with their life as I had protected them with my own. We had each thrown away everything that we had, everything that we loved, just in an attempt to survive. That sacrifice is what sealed us into the fate that we were in now. Together we would be the light to lead the rebellion, with me as the spark to light and to lead them.

As the ship I had been placed on began to slow its momentum, I attempted to mentally prepare myself for what was to come. I didn't know what I would be met with. It could be anywhere from a world of poverty to a world of luxury, maybe even a mixture of both. I could be met with everyone in the rebellion, or maybe just a few people. Thunder Runner - the stallion who had left my side a few moments earlier, said that he had to go and stand guard. I did not know what for, but the thought of him having to stand guard just for exit got me a little riled up. Was something bad going to happen, or did they think that they would need to protect us from the herds of people trying to greet us? I didn't really know, but then again I didn't really care.

I made my way towards the exit of the craft, hanging my head a little bit. I honestly didn't want to encounter more ponies, especially if they were all going to treat me like a celebrity. I just wanted to go back home and lay in my bed and for my family to tell me that it was okay. Tell me that everything was fine and that everything would be. Just go back to that simple life in District Six.

I reached the exit of the ship where the others were standing, waiting for me. Gaelan was awake, along with Code Red. They smiled at me, and I gave them a weak smile back. Looking them over I saw that Gaelan was the happier of the two. He had a burning determination in his eyes that I had not seen before. His emerald colored eyes glimmered with hope and relief. He was different - prouder and more confident. I didn't know how he was so, but it made me a little glad to see that he had adapted to this situation. I sort of wanted to do the same, but at the same time, I didn't. I spotted Cherry laying on a hospital bed and was being pushed by the nurse pony, Tender Blaze Beats. Jockey was walking next to her, his eyes droopy and tired like he had woken up only a few moments ago. He looked at all us warily and gave us all a weak smile. He probably had other things on his mind than us. I wanted to give him a hug, both for his own sake as well as mine, but this didn't really seem like the right place to do so.

We watched the exit door swing downwards towards a grey, metallic-looking floor. I stared at it and then was pressured into walking out on it. The was led out of the ship by a few guards that walked in front of us and behind us. Princess Luna was no where to be seen, but the other ponies on the ship were there, walking off of the aircraft with us. The exit could only really fit 2 ponies at a time, so I found my place walking next to Code Red in silence. In fact, everything around us was quiet - other than the clicking of our hooves against the ground and one squeaky wheel that Cherry's hospital bed had.

There were about 12 other guards stationed around the exit of the ship, each one clothed in a sleek, shimmering violet armor. I spotted Thunder Runner among the group, though his eyes only glanced at me. I knew he was keeping his post as any good soldier should. I sighed and continued to follow the ponies in front of me. Everything seemed so simple. . . Until a certain pony, I did not know popped up in my face.

The male earth pony's pelt was a greyish red, from what I could see. His brown mane was curled and all over the place and reminded me a lot of cotton candy. His nose had bumped against mine and had truthfully startled me. I didn't even know where he had come from. He began to ramble loudly in front of me, his cake-smelling breath blowing in my face.

"Welcome-to-the-Crystal-Empire!-My-name-is-Cheesecake-the-best-party-pony-you-will-find-today! My-parents-were-probably-better-when-they-were-my-age-but-the-war-and-everything-changed-that. I-really-really-really-wanted-to-throw-you-a-party-but-Cadence-and-Twilight-told-me-that-I-shouldn't-because-you-would-be-tired-and-wanting-to-rest-after-you-guys-came-back-from-the-arena-but-I-couldn't-help-not-doing-something-to-welcome-you-guys-after-all-you-are-all-that-anypony-talks-about-any-more! So-here-you-guys-go!" He threw a ball of confetti into the air, an unrealistic smile on his face as he took a large breath.

"Wait a minute is that what think it is?" He was talking slower now, which was a relief. He inched closer to my right hind leg. "It IS! You're like me!" He shifted his weight and I saw that he had dark orange spots on his flank and posterior. I blinked at them hastily and then glanced over at my shoulder at my own back right leg. I had dark, auburn colored spots up my own back leg. "I haven't seen anyone match me other than Princess Luna, but that doesn't really count. This is so cool! I can finally have a spot-buddie! Can I touch it?" Without thinking, he reached for my leg with a huge smile on his face.

At this moment he was no longer a stranger, but somepony who was seeking to kill me. Somepony who was my enemy, not my friend or an acquaintance. In a single second, I was teleported back into the Hunger Games arena, placed only moments away from death. In a reaction speed that greatly exceeded his, I twisted my lower half away from him and brought my upper half over, swinging them towards his face in one solid punch. I watched him stagger back and forth and then plant his rump firmly on the ground. Blood began to trickle from his nose, falling over his lips and down his chin. I stared at the stallion ready to strike again if need be. And then I realized that he was not an enemy.

As he stared at me wide-eyed, I wanted to disappear. And yet I knew that what had been done could not have been undone. I quickly lowered my ears as a single sigh escaped my lips. I glanced around the room at the 2 lines of guards who had shifted their weight in my general direction, prepared to restrain me if any further actions called for it. My eyes furrowed together in what I hoped was an apologetic look as looked straight down at the floor. My head did not quite lower, for part of me knew that even if I had done so it would not hide the fact that I had just punched this stallion who meant absolutely no harm to me.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but the stallion spoke first.

"Wow! Now I see why everypony was so fascinated with you!" He commented with an innocent smile on his face. How could he just stay positive like that?

"But I-"were the only words to escape my mouth before I was cut off.

"Don't worry about it. A little bit of P.T.S.D. is expected after everything you have been through. It's normal and after a little bit of therapy you should be fine," came a mare's voice from somewhere near me.

I looked around to spot a new, mare that had appeared, walking down the two rows of guards. Sun formed wrinkles were visible at the corners and under her eyes, making her rose-colored irises come across far more intimidating. Her pale blue pelt had small flecks of silver towards her muzzle which gave a hint that this was indeed a pony of older age. Her mane was cut shorter like a military pony, but still had a band which provided a little bit of feminine quality. Her mane was also lightly tinted grey but was somehow streaked with the bright colors of the rainbow. The silver jacket she wore was decorated in several shiny, gleaming medals along with five golden stars that lined her collar. She was obviously a mare of high rank, and her presence made me uneasy.

"At ease," She commanded in a flat voice. All of the guards moved back into their original positions without a second thought, though they all still had their hooves placed near their spears as they stood upright, pointing straight into the air.

She looked me up and down with her pink colored eyes, studying me, I suppose. It made me uncomfortable. "You're it? You're really the mare who is supposed to save us all?" She blinked at me with what seemed like displeased eyed. "Oh well, I've seen ponies in far worse shape then you and I've still managed to shape them into something. You should probably be an easy nut to crack, especially after seeing what you did to Cheesecake over there."

I stared at the mare, not daring to move. Why did I find her so unnerving? Just the sight of her made me feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it was her status?

"You don't have to act so scared of me you know, you can relax here," She murmured. It helped, but not by much. "My name is Rainbow Dash, by the way, but I will be addressed as Major, or sir unless I have stated otherwise." She gave me a sly little smirk that sent chills running up my back and made the hair on the nape of my neck stand on end. "I think you are going to have a good time here, Terra."

I blinked at the mare a final time before she shouted, making me jump a little bit.

"Privates Thunder Runner and Shock Blitz!"

The pale grey stallion that I met earlier quickly walked up to her, along with a second pale blue stallion that looked to be about the same age as he was.

"You two shall guard the party as they are taken to their dormitories. I am trusting that you two will be responsible for this task. Dismissed."

The two stallions made their way towards me but passed by me without a word. I glanced at them briefly but was quickly rushed forwards down the aisle, Rainbow Dash leading as the group point. I glanced shyly over at Code Red, who gave me a small shrug. He probably had thoughts on this situation, but he wasn't going to share them anytime soon.

Rainbow Dash left the group and put us into the hooves of a small earth pony mare who went by the name of Spinner. She guided us towards our dorms, occasionally talking about the building we walked through. I did not give her the attention she probably deserved, for I was just staring at the floor the entire time. The only thing I noticed was that Cherry was taken away towards what Spinner said was the Hospital Wing, and Gaelan had tagged along for his own personal reasons.

We rode an elevator up about 5 stories or that brought us to a balcony-like hallway. One side was entirely a railing, the other, a hallway lined with doors. It was at this moment that I realized how big this place was.

As I looked over the balcony, I saw that the enormous room was a giant rectangle, larger than any building I had ever seen. The bottom level had open doorways that no doubt led to other larger rooms. The next four floors were similar to the one we were on, lined with a balcony and a crystal fence that stood a few feet in front of the line of doors. The balcony levels wrapped all around the enormous room, connected to each other like the sides of a picture frame. Bright blue crystal pillars sprouted from the floor and grew next to the balconies, straight up towards the ceiling, forming into a beautiful arch. There, six large, crystal chandeliers hung from the crevice of the arch, each one a different color and pattern.

The first was a bright red, jagged and bold like the thunder and lightning from a terrible storm. It shone brightly and at times light would reflect off-of pieces so suddenly and quickly it seemed to resemble lightning itself. The second was softer and more delicate looking and reminded me of butterflies. It softly glittered with pink, almost as if it did not wish to outshine the other five chandeliers that it hung next to. The next was a bright, sky-blue, bubbly and loud, and weaved full of swirls. It looked as if someone had spent hours blowing balloons and bubble-gum bubbles and had woven them onto the strings of delicate glass and crystal. The light that shone from it reflected as if it was a disco ball, and there was something about it that just made me want to smile. The fourth was simple and shaped out of an orange colored crystal. It was twisted together like the branches of a tree, each just as strong and sturdy as the branch next to it. The light that shone from this particular chandelier was solid and consistent to the point where I thought it might never go out. The fifth was far more elegant than the rest, as it glimmered and gleamed more than some of the capital outfits I had seen. The purple crystals that hung sparkled and shone more brightly than diamonds. The delicate weaving of the chandelier represented fabric and fashion in a sense, but despite its almost overwhelming beauty, it shone to the point that was just before too much. The sixth and final chandelier was simplistic but glimmered brightly. The pinkish-purple crystal formation that hung looked like a mixture of all of the other five combined - bubbly but gentle, loud and bold but subtle and sturdy, glimmering and graceful all at the same time.

Overall, this room reminded me of a colony of ants that had made their anthill out of a crystal. As I looked down at the white floor, I spotted various different groups of ponies, some who were chattering amongst their friend groups in random parts of the room, others walked from one room to another carelessly. I spotted a few unicorns practicing spells with each other, as well as a few other ponies practicing their combat skills. And to add to the list, there were several Pegasai that fluttered around the open air, stopping and talking to one another on occasion as they flew around. This place looked like a true community, mixed with every race of pony without any thought about who was the next to them or who they were. No one looked as if they were worried about their next meal or their house, no - everypony looked happy. It was almost too good to be true.

Spinner pulled my attention away from the large room and towards the blue and purple balcony we were walking on. She stopped Code Red at the First door and handed him a Key to his room, telling him that his family might be awaiting him inside. This thought quickly perked up the grey stallion and he opened his door with a smile on his face that I had not seen since he was with his marefriend. He rushed into his room and then closed the white door behind him. Shortly following were the sounds of muffled joy filled screams and sobs. His family was in there alright.

We continued to walk past 3 more doors until Jockey was stopped. He looked warily at the other small mare, hesitant to walk into the room after he was given the key. He was trembling a slight amount, and if he was not a unicorn I don't think he would have been able to open his door. He opened the door slowly, and after a few steps inside his room did I hear the somewhat familiar voice of his Mother calling out his name. I had met her once before the games had started. The door closed behind him just as the sounds of sobs began to echo through the door.

I was next. I was nervous - who would be awaiting me inside? My brothers and my mother? Or I dare to think about my colt friend? what if they weren't in the room at all, roaming around and mingling among the diverse community? Spinner gave me the key and I took it up with a simple levitation spell, floating it next to me in a purple aura that I was familiar with. I brought it down to the doorknob and I stared at it, my heart pounding in my chest. Spinner had left my side and walked back the way we came, but the two stallions who had escorted us were still waiting next to me. I closed my eyes and inserted the key. I twisted it slowly, hearing the gears inside of the lock turning and clicking. I sighed and turned the doorknob. The door opened slowly, and I began to take steps inside. I pulled the key out of the lock and carefully shut the door, my back towards the hallway that led to a living room area.

I sighed again and turned to walk down the white, crystal hallway. Golden lanterns lined the walls and provided a soft light to the room. I strode slowly down towards the hallway, the only sound was my breathing and the clicking of my hooves on the floor. Was no pony home? The living room was brighter than the dimly lit hallway. A large circular sofa had been placed in the center of the room, facing a wall that was similar to the one in the hotel I had stayed at only a few months ago. It was perfectly flat and I knew that it doubled as a television. I stared at it for a few moments, trying to empty my mind of all thoughts.

There was a small area that had been closed off as a kitchen, though there was no fridge or a stove, only fancy marble countertops and a sink. There was a small dining area that was complete with six chairs. I walked towards the area, circling the table and viewing the bouquet of lilies that rested in the center of the table. I walked out of the kitchen and towards another hallway that had 4 doors. The first, on the left, led to a bathroom that was larger than I was expecting. It was far greater than the one at my old home. The other three doors led to bedrooms. One was fairly large and filled with 2 medium sized beds, one of which was messy and the other that was nicely cared for. I figured that this must be where my two brothers were staying. The second was roomy and contained evidence that it had been slept in, so I figured that it had been used by my mother. The third was completely untouched and I figured that it was my own room. The sheets were a silvery green color that reminded me of glossy swamp water. The walls were a light brown crystal, making the room feel more cave and forest like, which I didn't mind. The furniture was made out of a similar stone, but was in a darker hue. The lights were friendly and cozy, and made the room tie together.

I shuddered when I glanced to the top of my dresser, where three different photos stood, framed. The first was one that was in my old home, so I knew it well. It was of my family a few days after my father had left. My mother was standing in the back, a sad little smile on her face. The smile that told so much pain and loneliness. My youngest brother, Flashlight, was cheery and squirming next to her, somewhat reluctant to take the photo. My Older brother stood next to him, trying to wrangle him as best as he could, a frustrated smile on his face as he was laughing. And then there was me, sitting in the front, staring straight at the camera that was taking the picture. There was a tiny smile on my face, but I looked like I didn't want to be there. My youthful eyes were filled with hatred - a hatred that was so directed at my father. I sort of wished that I could have gotten my act together for the picture, as it would have made this moment feel . . . different. The second picture was one of me and Circuit. He was giving me a kiss on my cheek as my face was scrunched up and red from the shock. The picture made my heart ache, as the love we had for each other was so special and so precious. He understood me like no pony else, and I sort of wanted him here to hug me and tell me that it would be okay. I wanted to tell him that I was sorry. And yet, he wasn't here. He might even be dead.

The third and final picture caught me off guard, for it was a picture of me and my father. We were embraced in a tight hug, and it was in that picture that I had never looked happier. I stared at that picture, furrowing my eyes together in an intense stare as if I was trying to set the thing of fire. It probably would have if I wanted it to, but a voice met my ears. The voice froze me solid and I dared not move. For it was a voice that I had not heard in years, but even though It had been unheard for so long I knew exactly who it was. I didn't know what to do. If I should scream or run or ignore him.

"Terra? Terra North? Is that really you?"

I didn't want to answer. I couldn't. My throat tightened up and I couldn't speak. I didn't even turn to face the stallion whom I knew was standing in the hallway.

"Terra. . . You. . ."

His voice sounded sad, and it was painful to listen to. I bit my lip as a single tear managed to escape my eye. I was trembling again. I didn't know what to do. In fact, I didn't want to do anything. How could I? How could I talk to my Father again after everything he had done?

II - Just a Little Time, Please

I stood there, shaking. Shaking in the new room that was now my own. Still, it felt like a cage. This house had no windows - no - the entire building was completely underground. Where could I go? Or did I even want to move? I was cornered in by this stranger. By my father.

"Terra, talk to me -" He began to plead. I could hear him move towards me.

My lip trembled. "D-Don't," was the only word I could muster.

"I haven't seen you in such a long time and you won't even look at me?" His voice was soft but stern. A voice that only a father could create.

"No. . . just. . . don't. . ." I muttered. He needed to get out. I wanted to close the door, lock it, and then proceed to hide somewhere. Under the bed, in my dresser, I didn't really care where.

"I just-" He tried to protest.

"Leave me."

He paused. I heard his footsteps shift backward out of the door, and with a soft click, the door was closed. I shuddered and tried to refrain myself from screaming. Or kicking something. I didn't know what I wanted to do. Everything was so strange to me here - so new, and here comes my father. I haven't had any time to grow accustomed to this new world and he just shows up and clearly wants to act like nothing happened. But nothing didn't happen. He left us - left me - all those years ago and just didn't tell us why. Why? Why did he do it?

I was shaking far too much now, it probably wasn't normal. I squinted my eyes as silent tears began to pour down from my face. My ears flattened against my head and I let out a loud, hate-filled scream towards the ceiling. The lights in my room flickered and the ground beneath my hooves trembled along with my body. I screamed until I was out of breath, and then I let myself grow limp. I let my body collapse onto the floor as the realm of darkness crept up on me again. The cold, crystal floor was some how comforting to me. I turned myself towards my bed as my body lay on the ground and decided to crawl under it. I dragged myself along the floor until I was fully under the bed, curling myself into a fetal-like position.

I needed to hug something. Using my magic I pulled a larger pillow down from the top of the bed around the side and into my forelegs. I squeezed the thing tightly against myself as more silent tears fell down my face. I tried to distract myself from the thoughts of what had just happened. Where did I put the key I had used? Oh yeah, I had put it on the dining room table. I think. I shuttered again. Did that key work on my door? Could I lock it? I don't think so.

I lay under my bed for what felt like a very long time, just hugging the pillow that was now covered in tears. I didn't know if it was hours or even a few days, but from time to time there were several knocks on my door that I ignored. I didn't really know who it was nor did I care. I didn't have a desire to talk to anyone right now and I just needed time to myself.

At one point or another, I decided that I probably needed to get out from underneath my bed and see others. As much as I didn't want to talk, I did want to see my family again. Rather reluctantly I began to untwist the pretzel shape I had twisted myself into and crawl out from underneath the bed. I pulled out the pillow along with me and placed it back onto my untouched bed. Sighing, I realized that what I really wanted to do was just take a shower. I haven't been cleaned in such a long time, I probably really needed it.

I stretched my stiff legs and slowly opened my door, trying to be as quiet as I could. I walked the short distance to the bathroom door, until the sound of my younger brother's voice caught my ears, stopping me in my tracks. It was coming from the living area. I couldn't help but listen to the conversation that was going on.

"Mom, when are we going to see Terra? She's been in her room ever since she arrived," Flashlight said with a saddened tone.

"Your sister has been through a lot. She just needs some time to herself," I heard my mother say.

"But it's been three days, isn't that enough time?" He asked.

"I don't know if there will ever be enough time for her, Flash. She's healing, and healing just takes time."

I sighed for several reasons. I didn't like to cause my family heartache. On top of that, staying alone under a bed for three days, barely sleeping and not eating has just drained so much energy out of me. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that I'm conscious. Shaking my head lightly as my ears lowered, I strode quietly into the bathroom and turned on the bathroom light with a soft click. I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, looking at my messy teal and green mane. It was greasy and still filled with sweat, tangled and utterly out of control. Dark circles lingered around my weary looking eyes, my eyelids drooping from a lack of sleep. My face was still red from all of my crying, and there were faint streaks down my face from the many tears I had cried. My pelt itself was much darker than I recalled it being, and I questioned if it was dirt or just from the amount of sun I had received. For all, I knew I might have just forgotten what exactly I looked like after not seeing myself for such a long time.

I turned away from the mirror and walked towards the stone shower, sliding open the glass door that stood in front of it. My hooves clicked against the stone floor as I stepped inside. I turned on the shower and allowed the sudden cold water to hit my face. It was a nice way to bring me back to my senses. I let the water run through my mane, over my face and down my neck as it slowly changed from cold to warm water. I stood there for a while, staring at the floor as I watched brown water flow from my legs towards the drain. The steam that rose around me helped my muscles relax. I finally decided to grab the soap bar and wash myself, running the large green tablet all over myself to wash away any more dirt that the water alone had missed. After that was done I used the shampoo that was on a shelf in the shower, and spent many minutes scrubbing the sweat and grime out of my mane and tail. And after I felt that I was clean enough, I just stayed in the shower a little longer, as if I was trying to wash my negative thoughts down the drain along with the soap suds and shampoo bubbles.

I removed myself from the shower and grabbed a white towel that was hanging on a rack on the wall, and used it dry my self as best as I could. Rubbing my mane vigorously trying to remove as much moisture as I could with a second towel, I made I may back to the now fogged covered mirror. Releasing the towel and tossing it into a small laundry basket in the corner, I quickly rummaged though the drawers of the vanity to locate a hairbrush and a comb. I spent several moments running the comb through my mane and tail before I applied the pressure of the brush.

The fog of the mirror was mostly gone now - and I could see myself again. My mane was neater and softer looking that it did an hour before and I looked healthier, brighter, happier almost. My pelt had returned to its normal golden color and the dark circles around my eyes didn't look as dark. I found it sort of amazing that just a simple shower had transformed my so much.

But now it was time to see my family. I wanted to see my mother and brothers, but not my father. I walked out of the bathroom slowly, turning off the light and closing the door behind me. I stared for a moment at the door to my bedroom, contemplating whether I should just walk back inside and stay in my room for who knows how long again. It would be easy, wouldn't it? It was only a few feet away. But no, I knew that I would have to talk to others sooner or later. I want to get this over with. After all, they were my family, weren't they? They surely would stand there for me - with me - no matter what. I stared at the hallway and began to walk down it, trying to remind myself that I just needed to breathe, mainly because I knew that if I didn't my mind would be racing with the thoughts about what I would tell them if anything.

I reached the living room area and stared at the family of four that was sitting in the living room, all watching the television screen together. I swished my tail side to side awkwardly as I opened my mouth with a desire to speak, but no sound escaped. I watched as my older brother rose from his spot on the sofa and walked around the couch, probably heading towards the kitchen or the bathroom. He walked without care until he spotted me. He stared at me, his mouth slightly parted with his purple eyes wider than normal. My family was starting to notice his body language and realize that something was up. They looked at him and then looked at me. My heart skipped a beat as my younger brother called my name.

I watched him as he bounced off of the couch and ran towards me, a smile on his face. He reached forwards without fear and hugged my torso. I smiled at him as his hug squeezed my legs. I looked at my older brother who was now starting to smile. He moved towards me and joined the hug. His muscular forelegs rapped gently around my body in a loving way. I knew he missed me. I knew they both did. My mother was next to move towards me, the same painful looking smile that was identical to the one in the photograph on her face as she reached towards me to join the growing group hug. I stood there, my family hugging me from all sides, warming me with the love they sent me through the simple touch of their hooves.

They finally pulled away, and when they did, my older brother was the first to talk, "We're very glad to see you again."

"Yeah, we didn't know if-" Flashlight started.

"You have clearly changed so much since our goodbyes-" Said my mother.

"Have you grown taller?"

"You look stronger!"

"It looked like your mane is longer now too."

All three of them began to make random observations about me, almost to the point where it was a little too much. They kept talking about whatever jumped into their head, for the most part. Sometimes pointing out my skills they saw on TV, asking me what it was like when I did something, even just saying that my actions looked cool. But all they really wanted to know was if I was okay. That after everything I had been through, I was just alive. I needed their reassurance because with it I reassured myself. I had survived the Hunger Games, so why couldn't I survive this new battle I had been given? But then again, this new battle was so different from the last. . .

"It really is nice to see you, Terra," came my father's voice, interrupting my thoughts and the voices of my family.

I lowered my ears and looked past my family's faces and towards the couches, staring at my father. The light brown stallion with bright blue eyes and the green mane that I was so familiar with many years ago. I stared at him, my heart pounding in my chest as I was filled with mixed feelings. I wanted to stay away from this older stallion who had left me so many years ago, but even if I could it could not change the fact that he was my father and I did love him once. I wanted to form words, but I didn't know which ones to use or how.

"Y-yeah," was the only thing I managed to say.

My voice made my father smile - a smile that was like a knife through my chest. He still cared for me and I could tell that he desperately wanted to go back to the life we used to have. The life where I was his little princess. And he knew that we both knew it couldn't happen. He moved towards me slowly, and as he strode closer I spotted streaks on his now wrinkled cheeks. He brought his hoof up to my mane and gently brushed my forelock away from my eyes. His lip trembled as he began to speak again.

"I've watched you grow into such a strong mare from so far away and now I can finally see you . . . you're just as beautiful as the day I left."

I carefully moved my head away from his hoof as I spoke softly," Th-hanks, I guess, but If you don't mind I would like to eat some food. . . It's been so long since I've had a decent meal. . ."

My mother nodded as she perked up her ears. "Yes, we typically have a limit on what we are allowed to eat, but the tributes are able to eat as much as they would like this week. We should be able to get you some food fairly easily. Not only that but the doctors would like to check up on you as well when you were available."

I nodded. I didn't really want to talk.

"Oh yeah! Your friends are doing pretty well!" Flashlight blurted out. "That one blue griffon, Gaelan was his name I think, has something really cool I think you should see!"

I perked my ears at the mention of my friends. How were they adjusting to this new world? Hopefully, it was far better than I was. I wanted to see them again. I could probably talk to Cherry about my problems if I decided that I needed to. Mare to mare talk was always good and even if the words said aloud didn't help solve a problem, often times just thinking alone during the conversation would help sort things out. I flicked my tail as I sighed and I looked at my mother, wanting to go to where-ever the food was.

"I'm sure your brothers can lead you to the cafeteria. Your father and I have some. . . talking to do," My mother stated with a flat smile.

With her vocal command, my brothers were practically rushing me out of the room and towards the doorway, leaving my mother and father alone in the room. I glanced back at them with weary eyes, almost as if I was protective of my mom or hesitant to just be left with my brothers. But in spite of my pleading look, the door in front of us opened and I was gently pushed outside and into the crystal hallway, which I had seen for the first time only a few days ago. I had barely gotten over the obstacle of greeting my family and more importantly my father, but I was going to be faced with many more and far more difficult ones in the future. All I hoped was that this day would carry only a few of them.

As we made our way down towards the bottom floor, many ponies I passed were giving me curious looks. Those who traveled in groups gave whispers to the ponies that they walked next to. I could not tell if all of the attention was positive or negative. And I didn't know if I wanted to know. We reached the bottom floor of what I decided to call the Great Hall and followed my brothers as we walked toward a hallway on the side. we had just reached the doorway when we were stopped by a particular lime green pegasai.

"Terra!" Cherry Cloud called out to me. She jumped towards me and hugged me tightly, wrapping her forelegs around my body. I jumped a little bit, but she was a pony I knew and a pony I could trust. I happily hugged her back. "I'm glad to see that you are doing okay!"

I smiled at her as we pulled away from the hug, "More or less. I'm not utterly terrible, but I suppose it could be worse."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," She glanced at me up and down sighing. She looked different, but I couldn't pinpoint why. "Say, have you seen Gaelan yet?"

I shook my head, "No, but you're they second pony to tell me that he has something really cool I should see."

"Yes! I can't believe what the hospital gave him. . . It was just so nice!"

"I really want to see this now," I added with a smile.

"Knowing him, we'll probably run into him at the cafeteria," She added with a playful smile. "He really does love to mingle."

My older brother cleared his throat to gain our attention as Cherry and I began to make our way in the direction we had been in before. "Well, I see that you are in good hooves now. I have some training that I was requested to do, so I will see you later. Flashlight," He turned to face my younger brother, "Don't stay too long. Remember that TBB offered to teach you a few things. You shouldn't leave her waiting."

My younger brother nodded.

The three of us walked into the cafeteria - a room significantly larger than I thought it was going to be. The walls were a welcoming yellow crystal, and the ceiling was covered in tiny lights that sparkled and filled the room with the perfect amount of light and raised to provide enough room for probably two ponies to stand on top of one another. The room was filled with many round, blue tables that each had a golden logo in the center. From what I saw each one was different, but I didn't know if they had any meaning. One side of the room had a food bar that appeared to be made completely out of crystal. There were a few ponies who stood behind the bar, moving food around and adding more to racks almost as fast as it disappeared. The smell of the room made my stomach roar to life - it needed the food my nose had detected. Cherry laughed at me, remarking that she had heard my stomach roar even over the soft clamor in the room. The room was only about a quarter filled. Different groups sat at different tables and there were a few ponies sitting at tables alone as they read a book or were occupied with another activity.

We moved across the room swiftly, desperately reaching the bar as fast as I could without running. I quickly grabbed a tray at the end of the line and began to slide it down the bar, grabbing whatever appealed to my eye. Two different sandwiches, a rather large bowl of soup, a bag of haychips, an apple and a pear, and some type of fancy dessert that had oats in it along with a large bottle of apple cider. Cherry had only grabbed a bowl about half the size of the one I grabbed. Flashlight was just walking next to us most of the time and only grabbed a smaller sized apple. I didn't care what they took - I needed food.

Just as I was about to walk away from the bar, I glanced at one of the mares behind it who was chuckling at me. She had an orange pelt and a blonde mane that was pulled back into a braided bun. Her skin was clearly sun-kissed as it still managed to maintain it's many freckles even under her sun formed wrinkles. She was fairly large for a mare, especially one who might work behind a counter all the time. She seemed to ripple with muscles, which for her estimated age was quite impressive. The thing that caught me off guard was her left hind leg - it was clearly prosthetic. It twisted with gears and shiny metals as she moved, but she moved with it with such ease you would have figured that she had been born with it. You probably wouldn't have even noticed her slight limp if you weren't looking for it. She spoke to us with a country accent, slightly rasped due to her older age.

"I don't know if you'll be able to keep all o' that down, sugarcube. Mah family's food has been known to fill ponies up pretty fast. If ya can, then hat's off to ya," She said with a smile.

I smiled back at the friendly mare and gave her a polite "Thank you" as I turned away and we made our way towards the nearest table so I could quickly scarf down my food. As soon as I had set my tray down and planted my rump into one of the blue crystal chairs, I began to eat. Everything tasted so wonderfully, It was true, but I was focused more on filling my stomach than how it tasted. I had eaten one of my sandwiches, all of my soup and the pear before Cherry had even finisher her soup.

"Woah, Cherry, You better tell your friend here to slow down," Came a masculine voice from somewhere around the table.

I looked around as I swallowed the bite of food that was in my mouth, and spotted a slightly familiar pale blue pegasus stallion. His mane was two different shades of darker blue and has small streaks of a soft yellow and orange. His eyes were bright and rose-colored - the same color as the mare I had met a few days prior, that Rainbow Dash. He smiled at me and then plopped down into the seat next to Cherry. I looked at Cherry who was now staring straight at her food with a weird look in her eyes. A look that almost every mare can pick out when she sees it. As I stared at her, a single thought popped into my mind: How much did I miss while I was hiding in my room?

Author's Notes:

Oh my gosh, my writing towards the end actually made me hungry.

But yeah! Hi guys! I'm still alive!! I was just on a bit of a break after finishing my previous story - you probably know how it goes. If you've followed me, then I greatly thank you and you get a Cookie! :3

III - Growing Accustomed

After a while Flashlight grew bored and left the three of us to talk at the table. After talking for a while I learned that the stallion who had set Cherry off was named Shock Blitz, and he was the son of Rainbow Dash. Shortly after he talked about his heritage, he said that he didn't like talking about his relationship with his mother and while he didn't say exactly why; he only mentioned that it had to do with his father and another mare. He talked about his role in the Wonderbolt Airforce and how he helped rescued Cherry, myself, and the others from the arena. He seemed quite proud of himself for doing so and he listed a few other accomplishments of his, though I was a little too busy eating to listen. After a while Blitz left to attend some training, leaving Cherry and me to talk.

I planned on asking Cherry about him

"So, are you and him a thing?" I asked as soon as Blitz had left the dining hall.

She coughed abruptly, her chair teetering underneath her. I was surprised she didn't fall over.

"M-Me and him? W-what? N-No of c-course not!" She stammered as her face flushed face bright red. "A-a handsome, s-strong stallion like that and an ordinary little mare like me c-could never work out," Her voice calmed down, but it was still quite obvious to me that she had feelings for the stallion.

I laughed at her, "You're hopeless."

"H-hey! It's not my fault! He flirts with me!" She added scrunching up her nose.

"In that case, you should say something to him," I teased her, though I was being genuine at the same time.

"Well, I thought about it, but it's not that simple. He has a little bit of a fan group . . . and I would just seem like every other ordinary mare to him," She sighed, flicking her ear as the redness in her face slowly began to fade.

"Then you will just have to show him that you are no ordinary mare, right?" I added.

She smiled. "Thanks, Terra." I smiled back at her.

The two of us took the garbage from our meals and tossed it into a garbage can by the door, and then made our way back out into the great hall. A few more ponies had gathered around the room, especially a few younger foals. I was watching a small pale pink unicorn playing with a slightly older tan colored mare with a long blonde mane, large smiles on both of their faces. This did seem like a perfect sanctuary in the chaos that was our world; one where families could grow and live as if everything was perfect. I almost believed it until I remembered the Games I had been in a few weeks ago. I shuddered.

Cherry noticed. "Still not quite used to this place yet, huh?" She sighed. "I know. It seems so perfect, but I wonder how many of them know exactly what is going on outside of this shelter?" I looked at her and based on her reaction I figured that I had a depressing look on my face. "Come on, don't make that face. I'm sorry I mentioned it. Everything should be fine."

I opened my mouth to say something else, but I shook my head, forgetting what I wanted to say. Instead, I asked a question. "I think I remember somepony saying that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see the nurse or go to the infirmary or something?"

Cherry nodded. "Sure, I can take you there."

We walked towards another door on the other side of the hall, this one opening to a spiral staircase that went down a few floors. We finally came to a part of the building that replicated a hospital. Or at least what I imagined a hospital should look like. The hospital in my old district was small and not as pristine looking as this one. There was a front desk with a pair of ponies sitting at it, and they appeared to be twins. They were older and most of their colors had faded, but they still looked healthy and happy. Off to the side, there was a long, straight hallway with staggered doors lining each side. The hall went down quite a ways before it divided into two, and I guessed that each hallway led to more rooms. Almost everything was carved out of clean white crystal, and wasn't as edgy as the rest of the building. A few boring painting hung on a few spots of the walls paired with supposed inspirational quotes like "Keep smiling" and little things like that. Round, hazy white lights were hung up and down the hall, emanating a very soft buzzing sound.

The two twins looked at us with happy smiles. The blue mare with a pink mane spoke first. "Good afternoon Cherry! I see you have brought Terra down here for a change," She looked me up and down over the desk.

The pink mare with the blue mane spoke second. "Yes, we were wondering when you might show. Nurse Red Heart will probably see you now. I believe her meeting with Sweetie Belle is finished."

Her sister nodded, and then Cherry asked a question, "Is Gaelan also down here?"

The blue mare nodded. "Yes, of course, here on another checkup, it seems," she said, glancing through a few pieces of paperwork on her desk. "He's in room 057 if you wish to see him."

Cherry smiled. "Thank you! Terra, when you are done, you should meet me down there. He'll be happy to see you," She said, before happily trotting down the hall.

"Well okay but-" I was confused that this was going on so quickly. I had just gotten down there.

I glanced back at the two mares, one of whom was speaking again. "Red Heart will be in room 034, down the hall on your right. Thank you and have a nice day."

I blinked at them and then began to walk down the long hallway. It was eerie, and once I had gotten myself a fair distance away from the desk, the hallway just seemed longer. The walls seemed closer and the faint buzzing of the lights seemed to become louder the farther away I was from the two twins. What were their names? I don't think the told me. I don't remember seeing a name tag either. Or two. Goodness, my head was hurting now. Was I dehydrated or was I just losing my mind? I didn't like this hallway. I wanted to run back to the comfort of my bed in my room. Even though it wasn't technically mine.

Where was I going again? My hooves were just going through their motions, clicking on the stone. Stone. Like the cave where Code Red and his mare friend found me. What was her name? I don't remember either. It was too long ago. And she died. Probably because I left the group chasing after that stallion. Or whatever. What room was the mare in again? 034? Where am I now? Am I even going the right way? That door's number read 022, and that one read 023. I must be going the right way. But haven't I thought that before? I don't know.

Come on Terra, focus. You can do this. 027. . . 028. . . You're almost there. There won't be any surprises. 030. . . 031. . . It should be this one. Right here. The number on the door says so. But are those voices inside? Were the mares at the desk confused? Wrong? What are those voices saying? I pressed my ear up to the door to try to listen.

"But Red, this shouldn't happen! At my age, this could only cause some health complications for me! What if I die? What if it does? I'm forty-five! A mare at that age should not be expecting a foal! I was never even able to get pregnant until now! I thought I would never have one!" She was squeaking a lot as she was talking.

"Sweetie Belle, please. I know you are scared but we have great doctors here who have successfully delivered foals before and they have never lost one. You will be fine."

"But none of them were as old as I was!"

"You will be alright. Just calm down and take a deep breath. You need to keep a straight head in this."

"But Red I-"

"Please. Besides, If you have tried to have a foal before I'm sure the father will be delighted to hear about this regardless of your age."

"The father." She sounded mortified.

There was a pause before the voice I had begun to assume was Nurse Red Heart spoke again.

"Yes?"

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no! I don't know who the father is. I mean I'm married to Button Mash and I have slept with him recently, as most married couples often do, but I've also gotten close to. . . to. . . Her father. And that is what worries me. What would she do if she found out? What would everyone else do if they found out? I could not only ruin my relationship but hers as well!"

"Sweetie Belle, are you talking about Terra's father?"

My eyes widened and my heart tightened in my chest. For a split second, I thought that I might pass out. Who was this mare? How did she know my father? Did she really sleep with him? Ew. Is she going to have his foal? Double ew. Will I have a step-sibling? I wouldn't hate it, but goodness I hope not.

"Shhh, you never know who could be listening!" She paused again before talking a little quieter. "But yes. So many ponies warned me when I helped him escape his district several years ago that this could happen. That a mare like me could develop feelings for him and cause conflict in my own personal life. But I didn't listen, and I should have. I thought that I would be fine. Goodness, I really do hope this foal is Button's. Because if it isn't, my life is going to get a whole lot harder."

"Sweetie Belle, you will be fine. Whatever happens, there will still be ponies who will love and care for you and your new foal when it arrives. You've developed enough friends to last two lifetimes."

"May I leave?"

"Well, I guess so, Yes. Please visit again soon. And if not as a patient, then as a friend."

I quickly backed away from the door, holding my breath a little, and lifted my hoof to sort of pretend that I was about to knock. They didn't need to know I had heard what they had just said. Goodness knows what might have happened if they did know.

The door opened, and the mare in front of me froze in her tracks, her eyes wide. She looked me up and down, and I did the same to her. She was a white mare who did look like she was in her 40s as she had stated through the wall. Her pink and purple mane was long and curled but swept back out of her face, exposing the faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and around the corners of her mouth. Her white pelt was well cared for and shimmered almost like snow, and even her mane only had a few streaks of silver in it. Her eyes were a soft green, and her eyelashes coated with a thin layering of mascara and her eyelids lightly shimmered. She was a very pretty mare, even for her own age.

She blinked at me, then slid out of the doorway and began to walk quickly down the hallway. I watched her for a few moments before I made my way into the room.

The room wasn't anything special, but then again I wasn't expecting much either. The white stone made up everything again, and there was a fairly large bench on one side of the room with an actually comfortable looking purple cushion resting on it. A few random posters hung around the room, similar to the ones in the hallway. A small counter and a few cabinets were tucked away in one corner of the room, and a white mare with a pink mane was lingering next to it.

I cleared my throat, and she spoke in a soft voice, but it was the kind of voice that came from the person you wouldn't want to make angry. "Good afternoon Terra. I was beginning to wonder when you were going to stop by for visit." She paused and with a flick of her ear she gestured to the bench. "You can take a seat. This is going to just be like a physical check-up and I will ask you a few questions. Nothing too complicated."

Overall, it seemed like a regular doctors appointment, but she was pressing for solid answers and clearly wanted me to be more specific. She checked pretty much every inch of my body for any stress or pain or injury, having me stretch and move my joints around as much as any average pony should be able to. She checked the crack in my hoof and remarked that it appeared to be healing well and then prescribed an ointment to apply to it daily to help speed the healing. She asked me a few questions about what I did when I had arrived, who I talked to and where I had been. How I felt emotionally and any thoughts I had. I answered truthfully, but I was a little vague on purpose. She eventually stated that it appeared that I was suffering from some PTSD and that I probably need some therapy and medicine as well. Great. Other than that, I was fine and that I should come back if anything changes or if I needed anything else. I said I probably would but I don't know if I was telling the truth. And then I left.

I walked down the hallway and decided that I wasn't a bad idea to see if I could visit Gaelan. What room was he in again? 057? That sounded right. I made my way down the hallway, passing a mare with a small foal walking at her side. She smiled at me and I nodded back. I heard the small foal whisper something to his mother, no doubt about me. And she whispered something back. I didn't know what it was, and I didn't care. My hooves clicked on the floor again. The lights faintly buzzed. This place seemed more and more depressing the longer I walked down that hallway alone.

Thankfully I reached door 057. The door was open a crack, so I pushed it open rather easily with a tap of my hoof. I watched it swing open, and was a little surprised to see that the room was a lot different than the one I had been in. The entire floor was a purple mattress and the room itself seemed quite larger than the room I had been in. One wall was covered in a mixture of counters and cabinets, and a bench was tucked away in another corner of the room. I stepped inside, letting my hoof sink into the thin, plastic-y mattress.

As soon as I had done so, my name was called by a familiar voice, pulling my attention towards the pale blue griffon who was laying on the ground, with a pony doing something to his wings. Wings. Wait a second, he has two wings now? But he had only one a while ago. I looked closer as I made my way over to Gaelan and spotted that the new wing that had been attached to him was fake. It was made of a mixture of what looked like metal and some kind of soft looking plastic, but all in all, it looked just like his other wing. It had even been styled and looked like it had feathers in it. I don't know if it worked and if he could fly again, but the fact that he had two wings again made my heart leap and spread a smile across my face. He looked happy too, and so did Cherry who was tucked away in the corner watching him.

"Gaelan, you have a wing now. . . two wings! That's fantastic!" I said.

His smile broadened. "I know, isn't it great! I had no idea that this could happen. Now I actually might have the possibility of flying again. I can be a pegasus again."

"How long have you had it?" I asked curiously.

Cherry looked over at me as Gaelan answered. "Well, it's been on and off since we got here. Trying new things here and then, making sure it's perfect for me. This is the third one they have tried and it feels like it might be the best one so far."

"Well that's good, is it comfortable, any irritation anywhere?" The pony mending to his wings asked quietly.

"No. It feels just like my other wing, same weight, and everything," he responded before looking back at me.

"How does it work though?" Cherry asked. "It looks like a wing alright but surely it doesn't have any nerves or anything in it."

The doctor smiled. "It's a combination of unique unicorn science and magic. I can't quite explain what they do, but whatever they do it is amazing and it works. Currently we are trying to find the perfect wing to match his own as close as possible but still remain comfortable. Once we find it, he will undergo some surgery to have it attached permanently and then he will undergo therapy to adjust to it again."

"Have you done stuff like this before?" I asked.

"Yes, several times and with quite a few different circumstances. We've performed this on two pegasai before and have done similar things to other ponies. Why even Apple Jack had her hind legs replaced after she lost them. In fact, it was her that inspired Princess Twilight to search for something she could do for her friend. Without her incident, we would not have the science we have and the ability to cure as we do. It's remarkable, really."

"Well, that's pretty cool," Cherry said. I wasn't sure if she was being sincere or sarcastic.

"By the way Terra, I am glad to see you. I heard you locked yourself in your room after you arrived so I was wondering when I would see you again," Gaelan mentioned, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Things are. . . different here. I needed some time to myself," I responded, my body reacting in a way to almost make me feel smaller.

"Oh yeah, after everything we have been through that's probably normal. Jockey hasn't left his apartment yet and no one has seen Code Red. I was asleep for such a long while when I came in. I only began to socialize because I needed to walk around a bit. Sleeping for as long as I did leave me really stiff," Cherry explained.

"When was the last time anyone had seen Code Red?" I asked, a little concerned.

"It sounded like when he was brought to his apartment. No pony saw him walk out after he went in, but his family said he wasn't in there. I haven't even since him since we escaped the arena. I'm worried about him," Cherry continued.

"Well I understand your concern for your friend, but it sounds like he just needs some time. He will come out when he is ready, as did all of you did," The doctor in the room commented."

I sighed. "It would be one thing if we knew where he was, but we don't."

---

After chatting with them for a while longer I made my way back to my apartment by myself. I walked in silence, staring blankly down at the floor. I heard whispers around me as I walked, but I paid them no heed. A few greeted me, including the stallion I had met on the first day, Cheesecake, and I only nodded in reply and walked past him. I stood alone in the elevator as it rose, a few flashbacks coming back into my head from the hotel I stayed at before the games. I shuddered and was thankful when the doors finally opened on my floor. I walked out quickly, and then made my way down towards my apartment.

I had almost reached it when I stopped in front of another door. I looked it up and down and instinctively knew that it was Code Red's family's apartment. Or maybe I just counted down from my own apartment and remembered that this is where it was. I don't know, maybe both. I knocked on the door, not really knowing what specifically I was doing but following a sort of gut feeling that I had in my stomach.

A few moments later a small black colored pony opened the door, smiling but confused. She was aged and her mane had grown silver. The wings at her side fidgeted as she spoke in a soft, delicate voice.

"Oh, Terra, hello. How can I help you?"

"Hello, ma'am. Is Code Red here?"

She frowned, her face instantly showing that she was upset. "No. We were told he had come to our apartment but I have not seen him. I don't know where he is."

"Oh okay, thank you anyways. I'm sorry." I had begun to back away from the door as she begun to close it, but my gut feeling hit me again. Why? "Actually, and this might be an odd request, but may I see the room that would have been his?"

She blinked at me, her blue eyes a little wide. "Well, sure, I suppose," She replied, opening the door back up again and moving aside to let me in.

She closed the door behind us and then begun to walk down the hallway. The apartment was similar to my own, but the decorations and the layout of the furniture was a little different. Overall the size was the same and the rooms were in the same location and the same shape. She guided me towards a bedroom and then opened the door smoothly. She glanced at me, and then turned around and left, muttering softly that she would be in the living room if I needed something and that I was free to look around. I didn't really know why she seemed so comfortable with a pony who was like a stranger to her walk around her house, but I decided to leave her be as I made my way into his room. Almost everything seemed untouched, the more I looked at things. The cabinets and dressers were not opened at all and the chairs had not been sat in. But surely he had been here.

I made my way over to his bed, and tried to look at it closely. The pillows on the bed seemed. . . off. They had been placed nicely and looked as if it had been there for a while. But they were the slightest bit off center, it seemed. Or perhaps whoever set the bed did a poor job at it. But I looked closer at the pillows and noticed something else. They had been laid on. I gently stroked my hoof over them, feeling the lumps of the fabric and the cushioning inside. It had been bothered and someone had slept on this pillow. It did not feel like a fresh new pillow. I don't know what that had to do with anything and for all I knew, I might just be losing my mind, but even if there was no proof I knew he had been in this room. I could feel it.

I looked around the room, trying to find something else. Anything. And I did. There was a vent in the corner of the room, near the floor, tucked behind the chair. I moved it aside, carefully, trying not to make any noise or scratch up the floor, so I could get a closer look at the vent. It looked like it had not been touched since it's installation. But I wonder. Using my magic, I carefully unscrewed the bolts at the corners and placed them aside, then removed the vent cover. It was certainly large enough for a pony to fit inside. I wasn't that large and Code Red was about my size so he could surely fit in here.

I took a breath and squeezed my way inside. Goodness, I am crazy. Imagine how this would look, just popping up to a friends house, who isn't home, and crawling inside his vent. Yeah, that's crazy. Laying on my stomach, I inched my way farther into the venting system, eventually lighting my horn so I could see better. I reached a larger duct vent that a pony could stand up in, but it went vertically instead of horizontally. There was enough room for a determined pegasus to fly. I thought about calling out, but for all, I knew there could be other vents connected to this and if I yelled surely it would freak ponies out if they heard voices coming from the air vent. But then again, I might not know if he was in there or not if I didn't. And I probably couldn't climb up easily. I didn't see any ladder.

I tried to think. I was in a vent so it made it a little difficult. I wish I could fly. That would be nice. Or even just float I guess? Were there any floating spells? I wonder. Maybe I could try? I don't know if I knew what I was doing. I was just going with it. Holding my breath and closing my eyes, my horn began to glow brighter, flickering like a candle in the wind. I tried to imagine myself floating, feeling as light as a feather, drifting around like I was in out space. Could I do that?

A few moments passed and nothing happened. I sighed and gave up. I had no idea what I was doing, so I suppose I have to find a way to climb up. If I went high enough up, surely there would be an air pocket or something? I just hoped that I didn't hurt myself. I reached for the other side of the vent with my hoof, then twisted myself to put my back against it. I looked up, then placed my hooves against the other side of the air duct. Carefully, I moved my hooves up and against it, sliding my back farther up until I was was no longer touching the bottom vent. I moved my hooves and then I moved my back, continuing in that pattern until I was comfortable and developed a rhythm. I did that for a while and eventually developed beads of sweat on my back and my forehead. Finally, I spotted a light above me, one that was natural and not pony made. Was it sunlight? I kind of hope so. I haven't seen natural light in what feels like forever. Even the sun in the arena was fake.

Seeing the light made me excited and I picked up speed. It proved a little difficult since my back was sticking to the vent because of my sweat, but I was determined.

I finally reached the top of the vent, and there was a small space at the top where a pony or two could sit. There was a panel that was open, similar to the one I had removed to get into the system. Beyond it, I could see the orange, red, and golden rays of light that emit only from a sunset. It made me smile. Natural sun, and the first sunset I had seen in such a long time.

But there was something else I saw that made me sigh with relief. It was Code Red. He was staring at me, his eyes droopy and sad, but trying to give me a confused look. His red mane was messy and he looked skinny, so I figured that the had not left this spot. I didn't blame him though, I didn't leave my spot either. His body was twisted towards the vent opening, which made me guess that he had watched the world outside while he was up here. His glasses had developed a small crack in them and were now dirty. I could tell that he had not been taking this new world well.

"T-Terra? You're . . . but. . . how did you find me?"

I smiled, shifting my way to sit across from him the tight space. Our legs hit each other, but I didn't care, and I don't think he noticed. "Considering you do a very good job at hiding yourself when you want to be hidden, it wasn't easy. I just followed my gut."

He scoffed, turning his head to look out the vent. "No one knows me that well. So the fact that you did that really is surprising," he said softly. His voice cracked, and I could tell that he had not talked for quite some time and he had probably been crying or sobbing to himself. It made me want to hug him.

"Well, I might not know everything about you, but you're my friend. And I care about you. Sometimes caring about somepony is all that is needed," I added.

He looked back at me, his eyes still sad. His lip trembled, trying to find something to say, and he couldn't. Instead, his face scrunched up and he closed his eyes and silent tears fell from his face. My heart ached and I didn't quite know what to do, but I was going to sit there with him until he felt better.

"I'm sorry," he managed to say, "I just wish that my mare friend could have been here to see this. She would have loved this place and we would have been happy here. She would have loved seeing all of the technology and interacting with it. . ." He sobbed. "And her family could have lived here too. . . it would have been such a better life for them, for her. . . " He hugged himself and rested his head on the vent. "A-and who knows, maybe one day she and I could have. . .we could have. . . we. . ." He broke down and started crying again. I shifted over to sit next to him, gently leaning up against him so he knew that I was there for him.

"I know. It's okay," I whispered.

"I don't think I will have that again with anypony else. . . the feelings that I felt for her," He started again. "I was sort of fine for a while. I thought of her a lot after she-" he paused, " a-and I never cried about her since then until I got here. So much reminds me of her, and I don't know what to do or how to handle this. . . I want to go home but I don't think it would be better," He sighed, trying to calm himself down. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear this," He muttered.

"No, no. It's alright," I explained, trying my best to sympathize with him. "Like I said I know how you feel. I was under my bed for about three days and I didn't come out. I didn't quite know why but I was there. And while I was there I found myself missing my colt friend. I kind broke up with him before I left the games, but I knew that I would feel safe with him. . . but he's not here and I don't think I will ever see him again," I sighed and closed my eyes. "And it's a little painful. I miss him."

We sat there in silence for a while after our brief discussion, both of us just sort of thinking and trying to clear out our heads. I was trying to let him clear his and finish his crying. We watched the sunset through the cracks of the vent, and slowly watched the moon rise until it was high up in the sky. It really was nice seeing the natural sky again, even if the image was a little obscured. I think it was good for us to have somepony else to relate to, even just a little bit. Our situations weren't quite the same but we both sort of had similar pain. Even if we weren't talking any more it was nice to not have to sit alone for a while. I began to wonder if somepony noticed that I was missing from his room and I wonder if they had noticed the vent. They would want me to show up soon and they probably would freak out a little bit if they figured out I was in the venting system.

Code Red eventually confessed that he thought it was time for him to come out of the vent. He acknowledged that he had been here for quite some time and that he probably should take a shower and find something to eat. I agreed and he smiled at me. He finally smiled.

"Thank you, Terra, by the way," he said before we started to make our way down the vent. "It's really nice of you to come looking for me, and I don't know if I would have come back if you didn't."

I smiled at him. "Of course. I am your friend, and as your friend, I will be here to help you whenever you need it. After all, this place is going to take a while to get used to. Having friends at our sides will surely make it easier."

Author's Notes:

Lots-o-stuff in this chapter.

Yeah, there is going to be quite a bit of shipped couples in this story, so if some of the pairings bother you, then I apologize. I'm also hoping to include a few cannon characters from the show; you may have recognized AJ last chapter and a few others in this chapter as well.

Also, my sincerest apologies for taking so long to work on this and post it. I Hit a writing block for a little bit an then school was throwing bucket loads of work at me. And then I got sick. Well it is posted now and I do hope it is worth the long wait.

IV - It's a Start

After Code Red and I had made our way out of the vent, we gave each other a more proper front hug and he thanked me again. He walked me out of his room and towards his living area, where his mother was sitting, curled up on the couch. She stared at him for a moment, then glanced at me, and then looked back at him again. She burst into tears, And bounced off of her couch and jumped on her son, wrapping her hooves around him. I smiled at them, starting to back away so I could leave them be to settle down.

Before I was able to leave his mother stopped me, insisting that she could never make up for what I did and that I would always be welcome around her house. She gave me a tight hug before returning to hug Code Red again. As she did this, I took it upon myself to leave their room, closing the door quietly behind me with a single click as I left their apartment.

After leaving their apartment I walked down towards my own, walking inside after using the key. The complex was fairly dark, so I figured that everyone had gone to bed. It was quite late into the evening and I figured that it was well past midnight. I lit my horn dimly, providing me with enough light to see only about another body length in front of me. I walked towards my room, glancing up at a clock hanging in the hallway as I did so. The time read about 2:10 in the morning. I kept walking past the clock, sliding into my room quietly.

I closed the door behind me and rested my rump against the door as I glanced around my room again, this time in the dark. I sighed and turned off the light from my horn, my eyes fixated on my bed. I took a few steps towards it before I jumped onto it, then wiggled my way inside of the blankets, wrapping them around me tightly using my magic. I pulled the sheets out from the ends of the bed to wrap myself like a burrito, feeling snug and warm and personally, I felt quite safe. I pulled the sheets over my head, but not before sliding two pillows towards me. I used one to rest my head upon, and the other to wrap my forelegs around and hug against myself tightly.

I closed my eyes in my dark nest, quickly allowing sleep to capture me and my thoughts.

---

When my eyes opened, I didn't know where I was. Everything was black; in fact, it was darker than the world I had left behind. I was standing and I felt very much wide awake. So then why couldn't I see anything?

That suddenly changed when there was a large flash from somewhere in the darkness, filling everything with light. I looked away and closed my eyes as the warmth from the light reached me for a few moments, and once it left me I slowly blinked my eyes opened. I looked at the direction that the light had come from, still finding it there, but now it appeared that the light had turned into a round, orange, white, and yellow glowing orb. Its light did not spread too far, but it was strong enough for myself to view my body. The small orb hovered in front of me, and as it drew closer to my face I could see that it was no larger than my hoof.

The orb hovered in front of my face for a few seconds, before it circled around my head and then around my body. I watched it as best as I could, but it began to move away from me as I smiled at it. Furrowing my eyebrows I took a step towards the orb, which proceeded to move away from me. Being given the hunch that I needed to follow it, I took more steps towards, it and found that it kept about the same distance away from me as I moved towards it.

I followed the orb curiously, watching it flicker and emanate a very faint mist as I continued to walk. My hooves made no noise as I walked in the darkness, and I could hear no other noise. I did not know how long I followed the orb, but at a certain point it froze and stopped in front of me. It flickered, and then suddenly it vanished into the darkness. What was this? Was I just dreaming? As suddenly as it disappeared, I found the invisible ground beneath me disappear. I began to fall into nothingness, my mane whipping around my face as I fell, head first, straight down. The orb appeared again, though this time next to me. I glanced at it as we accelerated downwards, watching as it left a trail of white mist behind it.

"Terra," I heard an echo-y voice say from around me. In fact, it sounded like it came from within my head. "Terra North," It said again. It came from a mare, but she sounded older and quite regal. I had no idea who it was.

I glanced at the orb again and watched as it began to stretch itself out, turning itself into a new shape. I could feel my eyes grow wide as it continued to change, finally setting on the shape of a large mare. The figure was still glowing white so I could not make out any of the details, however, two large white wings grew from the back of the mare, stretching out before they gave a large flap. This action launched the white mare forwards, allowing me to spot its long, white horn on its forehead. It flew itself in front of me, before stopping far in front of me. The mare faced herself towards me, hovering as I still continued to launch towards her. She spread her wings out in front of me and created a large, bright light that was as warm and as radiant as the sun. This light engulfed me, surrounded me and gave me a large hug. I could feel its heat all over my skin, through my mane and filling me from inside.

The light soon faded away, and I find myself laying back on my bed, wrapped in my blanket. I groaned, burying my face into the pillow I held. It was a dream alright, but it was so odd. It felt too real. And who was that mare that I saw? She was certainty nopony that I knew.

Fumbling around my bed I knew that it was most likely morning and time for breakfast. I attempted to remove myself from my bed, but I ended up rolling out of it, twisted in my blanket and crashing onto the floor with a loud thud. I moaned again, flailing my legs around to free myself from the blanket. I lay on the ground, my legs in the air and curved over my body. I rolled on to my side and stood up. I shook my mane and lazily made my way towards the bathroom to locate a brush with a desire to somewhat attempt to make my mane look at least a little less wild. Once I was satisfied with my mane I left the bathroom and glanced at my mother who was saying something to my dad.

My eyebrows lowered once I had laid eyes on him and I looked away towards the door.

"I'm going to the cafeteria for breakfast," I muttered.

"Oh, alright. We were planning on heading down there once your brothers woke up. We should be there soon," My mother replied.

"You can wait if you would like or we can meet you down there," My father added.

I glared at him, "That's okay. I'll probably just sit with my friends," I turned my back to him and began to make my way towards the door. I heard my Father stutter, and shortly after he did so my mother whispered something to him. I flicked my ear in annoyance and promptly left the apartment.

I made my way down to the cafeteria in near silence, slightly unsure of exactly where I was going. Down the elevator and through the great hall, and it should be this room right here. Nope, that is not the cafeteria. Just in front of the doorway, it smelled too much like sweat. So that must mean the cafeteria was right here? Yes! I strode inside with a little uneasy smile, hunting for my friends. Where were they? I spotted Cherry eating alone in the corner, her cheeks bright red and her eyes fluttering back and forth, glancing around the rest of the room uneasily. I couldn't help but smile as I made my way over to her. She obviously didn't see me coming, because she jumped when I spoke to her.

"Cherry, what on earth are you doing?"

She stared at me. "Oh nothing, nothing at all, I was just enjoying my meal. You know, eating." She spoke quickly and then forced a smile.

"Cherry, come on I know you better than that," I told her. "What's going on?"

She let out a very heavy sigh and stared at her tray of food that had barely been touched. "Well, you know the stallion that I introduced you to the other day? Shock Blitz? Well, he uh," She paused, her face turning pink again as she tried to fight a smile. "He offered to help me train."

"Oh really? So you two are dating now?" I teased.

"No, no, no, I don't think so, he can't like me. . . I think he's just being nice. Besides he has loads of other mares chasing after him. If you watched the room when he came into the room, almost every mare stops and watches him. Surely I don't stand out enough for him to take an interest in me."

"Well, you never know. Colts have very interesting ways of thinking."

She laughed. "I suppose so. But at the same time, I don't want to grow attached to him, especially if he doesn't grow attached to me."

I gave her a reassuring smile. "Cherry, he has clearly developed some sort of attachment to you already! From what I've seen he hangs around you more than I've seen him hang around any other mare. Just give him a chance. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I could die."

I stared at her, furrowing my eyebrows at her. Once I processed what she said, I couldn't help but start laughing. She echoed my laughter until we grew sore. I sighed and left to go and get some food for myself. I grabbed less food than I did the first time I was in the cafeteria, but all the same, It was probably still a lot of food. The orange pony I saw mentioned something about having to be given rations starting in a few days. Something about not eating too much and leaving enough for everypony. I grabbed an apple and a large bowl of hot oats, as well as a few other greens. When I returned to the table, Code Red had made an appearance and was chatting with Cherry. It sounded like they were chatting about Code Red's adventures in the vent.

"What, you really found a way to crawl into the vent system?" Cherry asked.

"Well, yeah. When I'm upset I can get pretty determined," He said with a little smile.

Cherry nodded, "Yeah, I can see you being that type of pony."

Code Red lowered his head at his comment but lifted his head again once he noticed me. "I probably wouldn't have come out if Terra hadn't gone inside after me and found me," He said with another little smile.

Cherry turned her head towards me, a goofy look on her face. "How did you know he was in the vent anyways?"

I shrugged. "I saw him go into his apartment so I knew he was there. I eventually asked his mother if I could just see his room and sure enough, there were little signs that he had been in his room," I laughed and looked back at Code Red, "You sure know how to hide your tracks."

He smiled, a little color in his face.

"After looking around the room I spotted the vent. I didn't know if you had actually gone inside, but I figured I should take a chance. So I crawled up and found him."

Cherry had a large smile on her face. It was actually a little scary. "That's actually a little cute if you ask me," She said, which made me furrow my brow and blush at the same time. Code Red was a great stallion, but I didn't like him in a romantic way. He was just a friend. "But Code Red, I am very glad to know that you're safe. Actually, you should probably go and get some food if you've been in there for a few days."

Code Red nodded, and then made his way towards the food line. I looked back at Cherry with a smile.

"You know, who I haven't seen yet?" I mentioned.

"Who else is there?"

"Jockey. You know, the green stallion with a silver mane from my district?"

She blushed, "Oh, oops."

"He went into his room, and I know his family saw him, but I don't know what happened after that."

"Well if his family saw him he probably shouldn't hide for too long," Cherry remarked.

"Sure, but I saw my dad and I hid under my bed for three days," I added.

"Yeah, that's probably different though. You have a rocky relationship with him."

I laughed. "Yeah, that's true."

Code Red returned carrying a large tray of food on his back. I helped him move his food onto the table as he took a seat. After he did so, the three of us sat there eating, chatting about random little things like the shape of this room. We talked a lot about the place that we were in, actually, wondering where in Equestria we were and how they made something this big and weren't noticed by Discord or his troops. At one point Shock Blitz came by and had a conversation with Cherry, where Code Red and I just sat there watching them with little grins on our faces. As soon as her love interest left, she noticed and became as red as a tomato. Or a cherry, in her case.

We had long finished our meal when we decided to get up from our seats. Cherry and I decided that we wanted to go and see if we could find Jockey. Code Red said that he wanted to go and say hi to Gaelan and then explore. We let him leave after placing our dishes in the dishes cart.

Cherry and I made our way up to his room fairly quietly. A few people waved hello at Cherry, and she smiled and greeted everyone who did. We made it to Jockey's door and I gave it a good knock. No answer. Cherry knocked. No answer. We looked at each other with confused looks. Was there really nopony home? Maybe the door was unlocked? Using my magic I turned the doorknob and sure enough, the room was left unlocked. Cherry and I strode into his apartment, which to our surprise carried a faint fragrance of vanilla. We stopped in the living room, staring at the scene before us.

Jockey sat on his sofa, his back turned towards us, facing the wall that also doubled as a television. Both of his ears were pointed straight towards it, his body in high attention mode. The footage on the screen only added to the creepiness. It was split into screens of twelve, and on closer inspection, it was one for each district. Small numbers were in the upper left corner of each one. Why was he watching each district? I looked closer. District one, nine, and ten were calm. Almost all of the others were chaotic. Ponies were fighting with peacekeepers and the places were a mess. Houses were broken or crumbling, or at least more than they were otherwise. Some had become simple piles of rubble. Ponies that had been pushing Peacekeepers to hard were becoming beaten or overwhelmed. There were fires, there was determination, there was fear. The ones that were difficult to watch were districts three, seven, and twelve. But the one in the worst state, was no doubt, District Six.

I watched my district with a heavy heart, seeing ponies I knew running, fighting, and standing up to the many peacekeepers that were there. And in the center of it all was a pony I started to despise. She was commanding the troops, covered in gleaming silver armor. Other guards stood next to her, killing any pony easily who dared to get close to her. Standing there, in the center of it all, was Moon Breeze.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't bear it. Why was she doing this? Did Discord brainwash her? Something wasn't right.

"Terra," I heard a new voice appear from behind me. I lowered my ears and turned to see who it was. To my surprise, it was Princess Luna. "I was told that I would find you here."

She walked up to stand next to me, looking at the screens with almost no emotion. "I did not wish for you to learn about it this way, but it appears that there was nothing I could do to prevent it."

"What is this?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"The princesses and I asked Jockey shortly after his arrival if he would be willing to monitor the districts. He agreed to it. We asked him to study the peacekeepers and their war generals, to look for weak spots. It was difficult for him at first, of course, but I have rarely seen a stallion as strong as he is."

"Is his mom okay with this?" Cherry asked.

"Of course. We wanted to check with her first before we asked him," Luna responded. "I wish to speak to you two privately, please. Follow me."

Luna turned and walked towards the door, Cherry close on her tail. I turned and glanced back at Jockey, my chest tightening. Was he really as strong as Luna said he was? Or was he hiding his pain? Cherry called out to me from the door. I flicked my ear at her, moving up behind the couch and giving the green stallion a hug from behind. He flinched, but he quickly relaxed. I could feel every muscle in his body lighten up. I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't know what. The only thing that came out was "I'm sorry." He lifted his hoof up and gently placed it over mine, exhaling. I hugged him a little tighter before letting him go and returning to Cherry and Luna.

Cherry walked close to me, watching me with sad eyes. I wondered if we were both thinking the same thing. I wondered if we both knew that this place would not all be smiles and laughter for long.

---

Luna led us down to the first floor, and through a corridor, I had not seen before. It led to a round room, where a round table stood in the center. Around this table sat 10 chairs, each tall and made of a shining crystal I hadn't seen before. There were several other ponies in the room. A pink, purple, and gold alicorn sat in one of the chairs, chatting with a much younger pale pink alicorn that was leaning excitedly on the side of the chair. A second lilac and purple unicorn stood, chatting with a familiar face in the corner. It was my half Changeling stylist, Glimmer. A second, half Changeling pony was next to her, this one much larger and male. He was pale green with two horns next to his ears. His mane was a dark purple, shaped like a mohawk with the dragonfly-wing pattern with a tail to match. There was the same bug-like shell that lined his torso, but he had large, almost butterfly-like wings that extended from behind his shoulders. The gems that lined his chest were a soft purple, and his eyes gleamed with a sky blue hue. It made me wonder if the two of them were related. Rainbow Dash and a stallion I hadn't seen were sitting on opposite ends of the table. Rainbow Dash was giving the stallion evil looks.

Princess Luna cleared her throat and all of the ponies turned to face us, except for Dash. Glimmer smiled and trotted over to say hello to me and let me know that we would talk later. The other Changeling pony walked away with her down the hallway, practically joined at the hip. The pale pink alicorn whispered something to the older alicorn it was next to, and the mare nodded and told her to run off and play with her friends. She stopped and said goodbye to Princess Luna, hugging her foreleg happily.

Luna walked and sat down in the largest chair, The pink alicorn on her right and the purple alicorn taking her place to the left of her. There were five total empty seats.

"Where is Shining Armor?" Princess Luna asked. "He was planning on being here for this."

"Oh, he went to give a special lesson to the Unicorn Academy. He's trying to teach the Star Level his shield spell," The pink alicorn responded. "If he finishes early he might show up towards the end."

"Very well," She nodded and turned to face the Cherry and me, who were still staring at the three alicorns in front of us. "You two may take a seat," She said with a little friendly smile.

"I-I thought there were four alicorns," Cherry mentioned. The ponies all looked at each other before the purple one began to speak.

"There used to be, four, yes. Princess Celestia was the fourth and was seen as the leader of the group. It was her idea to move as many ponies as they could into the Crystal Empire and build this facility. She did everything she could to protect the ponies of her nation. She fought with Discord, sacrificing her life on the front lines. She knew the risks. She was leading a small group into the capitol, attempting to finish Discord off and take back her kingdom when she died. Apple Jack was with her, and she said that she died by the claws of Discord. During that battle, most of the group was killed, and Apple Jack eventually lost her hind legs because of it. Celestia gave her last breath so the rest of her party could escape," The purple princess lowered her ears and sighed.

Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on the purple pony's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," the purple pony muttered, dropping her head.

Princess Luna cleared her throat again. "Yes, it's still sad to think of, even after all these years," She sighed. "Well, hopefully, we will not have to endure something like that again." She tried to lighten the mood by starting with introductions. "You've met Rainbow Dash, over there, and to my right is Princess Twilight Sparkle. You've met myself, but to my left is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence, for short. Her husband, Shining Armor, is not here at the moment. And lastly, there is Soarin, second in command to Rainbow Dash. We are the highest members of this facility, and we have brought you here to ask for your aid."

Princess Twilight began to speak, pulling up a list from somewhere under the table. "Cherry Cloud, we would like to train you to be a flight officer. In this position, you will help strategize in battles and will be trained in all forms of combat. You may be asked to lead troops into battle from time to time. You seemed to qualify best for this job."

"That's... That's amazing!" Cherry replied.

Twilight continued to speak. "Shock Blitz has been asked to be your personal mentor with your combat skills. Other officers like Rainbow Dash and Soarin, will train you to have the mind of a fighter and a strategist." She turned to face me," Terra North, we would like you to be the face of the operations. This means that you will be the voice to the districts and you will rally them to fight our cause. You will also be trained in various fields of combat, but not as many as Cherry Cloud. Can you do that?"

I looked down at the table. Could I? Why did it have to be me? "Why does it have to be me?" I asked. "What about the other ponies from the games that are here? Gaelan or Code Red?"

"Code Red will meet with us at a later time. We have plans for him to help with weaponry and technology. His mind will prove most useful to us there. Gaelan will be spending most of his time in recovery for at least a month, learning how to adapt to flying with his new wing. Therefore we are going to ask him to help out in the medical bay. He may accompany infield missions as a medic."

"But," I tried to start.

"You are the only person who can do this. You are the best person for this job," Princess Cadence began to speak. "You turned off the arena. You wore the cutie mark of Twilight Sparkle throughout the duration of the games. A mark that was hidden for years but the sight of it brought back hope. The whole nation has seen you, Terra, and the whole Nation already looks up to you. You have demonstrated that you understand the elements of harmony; kindness, laughter, loyalty, honesty, generosity, and magic. The ponies of the districts have seen this too. If you do this you could light the fire that will finally burn down the capitol. With you, we could finally take down Discord and return home,"

"All you need is my face?" I asked shyly.

"Sort of. We can tell you what to say and how to act, but to a certain degree this whole operation could depend on you," Princess Luna added.

"That's a lot of pressure when you put it like that!" Cherry shouted, standing out of her chair. "We just got out of the games less than a week ago. That's a lot to ask of her." She looked at me, as I had sunken low into my chair, my head dropped and my ears lowered, like I was hiding. "Even if it's true and she is the only one who can do something like that, it seems like more than you're asking of any of us."

"It is. It's a difficult position, but if any pony could do it, Terra can. Because if she can't, we don't know what we can do," Twilight added.

"Twilight! Don't force her into the position. She needs to decide for herself if this is something she can do or not. A decision that big may take a few days, maybe weeks," Cadence jumped in, defending me.

"Well, sure, but if she takes too long we may lose our opportunity to act. We need to move as soon as we can while the embers from the games are still hot."

They two alicorns began to argue back and forth over the table. It was loud and troubling. Cadence was correct; Twilight made it sound like I had no other choice. If I said no, thousands of ponies could die and Discord's terrible rule will still reign. But if I said yes, I could die, or I could get ponies killed anyway. I don't know how to lead, I don't know if I could do it. It's too much pressure. I could feel tears bubble up in my eyes. I didn't want to cry. Why was I crying?

"SILENCE!" Luna shouted, the walls shaking slightly as her voice boomed throughout the room. Every pony froze and everything was silent. You could hear no heartbeat, nopony breathing. It was almost eerie. "Terra?" she asked in a calm, soft voice.

I looked up at her reluctantly, small tears in my eyes.

"You two may leave. Terra, please take your time on your decision. If you do decide you cannot bear this burden, we will come up with another plan. it's not the end of the world. Regardless, I hope you would consider both options heavily."

With that, I stood out of my chair and sped walked out of the room. I hung my head low, trying to hide the tears that were attempting to force their way out. Once I had left the hallway and reached the main hall, I broke into a gallop towards the elevator. I ran inside moments before it closed, finding myself inside with another pony. The pony was the same one that was talking with Princess Cadence earlier.

"Miss Terra? Are you alright?" She asked in a sweet, calm voice.

"I'm fine," I shakily muttered.

"Well, I don't think you are if you're crying." She walked up to me and I could feel her give me a small hug. "Whatever is wrong, I'm sure you will figure it out. You're amazing and powerful and smart. You can do it."

"How...How do you know?" I asked, turning my head to look at her.

"My mommy talks about you all the time. She says that you could save us all one day if you wanted to. I've also seen videos of you fighting in those games that I'm technically not supposed to watch," She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Don't tell, Daddy says I'm too young to watch them."

"Your secret's safe with me," I said softly. I reached my floor and went to get out of the elevator. Just after I left, I stopped to ask her one last question. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Flurry Heart!"

And with that, the doors closed and the elevator continued up a floor.

I blinked at the door, then made my way into my apartment and under my bed. I took all of the pillows on my bed with me, laying on them and hugging them. I curled up under there again, hiding my face in the pillow and sobbing. I wanted someone just to hold me, and I didn't think I was close enough for anyone. I haven't been held by my mom in ages and I could talk to my older brother but he couldn't hold me. My friends would listen, but going to any of the guys might seem awkward. Cherry was an option, sure, but the longer I sat the more I realized I missed only one stallion.

I missed my old coltfriend, Circuit.

Author's Notes:

Yes, I'm alive.

V - On One Condition

I stayed under my bed for a few hours, trying to figure out if I wanted to bottle in my emotions or tip the bottle over and let them all flow out. At one point I got out of my bed and roamed around my room. I looked around at everything, and wanted to try to find something to occupy myself. There was no paper in my room, and hardly any interesting clothes in my dresser, so I didn't have much to do. I began to move my furniture around. I began to try different places for the bed, as well as the dresser and the two chairs that were also in my room. I moved them into a dozen different places. I think if I knew an anti-gravity spell, there probably would have been more upside down. Eventually, I grew too bored and too tired to keep moving, and I think my room was the exact same way as it started. I'm not sure.

It was at this moment when an old memory hit me. It was with Circuit. We had done something similar with his room; we decided to redecorate and we spent a few hours trying to move his furniture around only to fail and end up right where we started. Once we realized this was the case, we laughed and laughed, and then laughed some more. And then his mother came up to check on us and only confirm that it had ended the way it started. Which ultimately made us laugh even more. Once we were all laughed out, we decided to get some ice cream and hang out in his room. It was the first time I ended up spending the night in his room. I had stayed over at his house before that, but I was never allowed to sleep in his room.

Remembering this memory, I shuddered and hugged myself with one foreleg. It seemed like there was nothing that I could do about this. Or was there? I began to think. Perhaps there was a way for me to see Circuit again. I could say yes to the job that was asked of me, but perhaps I could say that if they could promise that I would see him again, or we would at least try to bring him to me. Was that possible? Was this asking too much? Could they even do it?

I exhaled, feeling my body shaking slightly. There was only one way I could find out.

I made my way out of my room, not exactly sure where to go or what to do. I knew what I had to do, but I was nervous. I needed to calm myself down first. I found myself in the bathroom again, taking a hot steaming shower. There was something relaxing about that; letting the water run over my body and wipe away the filth that I had picked up from sweat and dirt. Allowing the hot steam to relax my muscles and clean my pores. Having soap to freshen me up and make me smell nice. All of it helped to calm me down.

I cleaned my face of any makeup and towel-dried my mane and tail, then ran a brush through them. I tossed my mane around, losing any loose drops of water and made my way out of the bathroom.

I stood in my living room, though I guess it wasn't really my living room, just the one my family was given. Standing in the room I saw my father standing in the middle, his eyes flickering back and forth as he read a piece of paper that he was levitating with his magic. I blinked at him and sighed quietly. He looked up at me and folded the paper into thirds, tucking it away somewhere. He sighed and spoke.

"Terra, I wanted to talk to you," he started.

"What is there to talk about?" I asked, a little sharply.

"Well, for starters, how have you been? What do you think of this facility?" He seemed to be speaking shyly.

I glanced around the room, trying not to look at him. "I suppose it's nice. But I miss seeing the sun and moon."

I think he nodded. "I know, it's a hard adjustment, but you'll grow used to it." He started to move towards me.

I hunched up my shoulders, "But what if I don't want to get used to it?" I replied loudly.

"Terra, you can't think you'd be able to return to your district, do you?" He asked sternly.

"I don't know, but I want things to go back to the way they were before. I want to be with Circuit and have that party to celebrate not being reaped like he promised, and just have had to endure the games like I did every year. I miss our little house, even though it wasn't perfect it was still nice and it was home to us. I want to have never been reaped, and I wouldn't have everypony asking me to do all of these things. I wish I hadn't become a symbol for thousands of ponies I don't even know!"

I turned away from him and dropped my head, feeling my face scrunch up and my eyes start to water.

"Terra, I'm sorry. But we started all of this to try to return things to the way they were before the districts even existed. We want to live in a world that is better than the one you grew up in. I know you don't understand it, but it really is for the best," he tried to explain.

I exhaled and lifted my head, fighting the tears. I turned to face him, shouting a little bit. "How would you know what is best for me!? You left my life when I was just a filly! You know nothing about me!"

"I know what is best for you because like it or not I am still your father!" he shouted back.

"Father!? You don't know the meaning of the word! Even though you left you could have at least written letters!" I was yelling even louder.

"I did write! But I wrote only to your mother because you and your brothers weren't old enough to know what was going on! You were too young to know that I left you all to come here and work for the princesses!"

"Oh, of course, that was the only reason. You left us to sleep with another mare!"

I bit my lip and stared at him, wide-eyed. I just realized what I said I wanted to take it back. I started to move my hooves backward, away from him. He didn't know that I had overheard the mare talking about being pregnant. How I had overheard her saying that it might even be his. He had no idea that I was aware of his relationship with Sweetie Belle.

"Terra, what are you talking about?" He asked, staring at me with a face that scared me.

"You know what I'm talking about. Now if you excuse me, I have to go."

I turned and trotted to the door, closing it quickly behind me as I left. I heard him shout after me, but I didn't want to listen to him. I couldn't face him. I had a feeling that every time we talked something bad would happen. I lifted my head, trying to look confident. I didn't know if I moved for others and to not let them worry about me, or if I just wanted to tell myself that I was confident. I didn't really know. maybe it was a little of both.

Regardless, I made my way into the elevator, where I was met with a surprise with the door opened. It was Thunder Runner, standing alone in the elevator talking to himself. He was carrying a small bouquet of flowers of some kind, but I didn't know if they were real or not. They seemed to be really pretty though, and they gleamed and sparkled like rubies and sapphires. Once the young stallion spotted me he blushed furiously, his face turning as red as some of the flowers in the bouquet.

"Terra!" He called, his voice shaking. He took a step or two backward, making room for me to enter the elevator. "I-I thought you would still be in your room."

I looked at him, "I kind of thought that I would be too. But I can't hide in there forever." He nodded, and he seemed to be nervous. "Who are the flowers for?" I asked.

He stuttered and shifted the flowers behind him and mostly out of my sight. "Wh-What flowers? I see no flowers!"

I gave him a little look as I pressed the button for the first floor. "Come on Thunder, I saw them when I walked in."

He sighed and looked up at me shyly. "Th-they were meant for you. I figured that you should have someone there to comfort you, o-or at least show some support. You seemed to be struggling, from what I've heard."

I blushed at him."Th-they're for me?" I asked as he extended the bouquet towards me. "I-I appreciate the gesture and your intentions, but you really didn't have to do this much for me," I said, growing more and more flustered.

He was really sweet and very likable, but now wasn't really a good time for me to try to sprout a new relationship, especially a romantic one. I accepted the bouquet with a shy smile as I could feel the heat growing in my cheeks. The elevator slowed down as we reached the first floor.

"Will I see you around more?" He asked.

"I do believe so, if things go according to plan," I replied.

He smiled brightly and his eyes shimmered with happiness. "Great! I'll see you around Terra!" He called as I left the elevator.

I bit my lip, not really sure what just happened. I stared at the flowers I had received, giving them a little sniff. They smelled quite lovely and reminded me of my home. I could almost imagine the few grassy areas that our district had, and the few flowers that would show up during the warmer seasons that everypony would watch and care for. I exhaled, carrying the flowers close to me as I made my way towards the meeting room.

I was in the center of the hall when somepony called out to me. It was Glimmer.

"Terra!" She called as she trotted towards me, the other Changeling-pony close behind her. "We didn't get a chance to talk last time I saw you. I wanted to introduce you to my twin brother, Clavus."

I lowered my ears and glanced at him. "Oh, hello," I said shyly.

"He stayed here in the Crystal Empire while I was in Equestria," Glimmer said with a reassuring smile.

"I'm very glad to meet you," Clavus said, extending one of his hooves. I met him with my own gently. "I've heard so much about you from my sister."

"Really? What did she say about me?" I asked curiously, glancing at my former designer.

"Oh, nothing negative. She said that you showed a lot of potential while she decorated you for the games. She was certainly rooting for you, and I can see why."

I blushed a little bit, flattered by the two of them.

"Clavus, why don't you tell her what you do here?" Glimmer mentioned.

"Oh, that's right. I'm on a line of exterior defense with my father and a few others. It's a very boring job and all I do is monitor exterior cameras on the outside of the facility. I'm on break right now."

"Who's your father?" I asked.

"His name is actually Tylus," Glimmer Started. He's this regal beautiful purple and green Changeling, just like us! He blends in and can hide pretty well under the snow. How he does it I have no idea, even as a changeling. Though I suppose Clavus and I could probably survive the cold too. But he stands guard outside and is our first line of defense if we are ever attacked. He was trained under the changeling defense General, Pharynx. He's one of the best on the guard." Glimmer was talking, and her eyes lit up and glimmered. I can see where she got her name.

"Our mother would be proud of all that he does for us," Scale added. "But she died giving birth to us. I was always told that a body as beautiful as hers wasn't meant to carry twins."

I lowered my ears and looked at the older twins. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Thank you though. I was given her talents of sewing and fashion and he was given her keen eye for detail. In a way, she still lives on, just in us." The two ponies smiled at me.

"Well, I better be going. I have something to take care of," I added after a pause of silence.

"Alright. I hope to see you around Terra!" Glimmer called as the two of them walked off into a different hallway.

I proceeded to make my way towards the meeting room, trying to avoid any more unnecessary conversations. This was taking me a lot longer than I wanted it to. Watching my hooves click on the shiny ground, I eventually strode through the doorway without another interruption. However, once I had entered the room, I overheard Jockey's voice talking. I stopped in the hallway and listened.

"The troops are growing smaller. I think they are planning something big," He was saying.

"Are you sure they haven't just grown tired? Perhaps some of the ponies have started taking their lives?" Princess Cadence asked.

"No, the troops they have in the districts are some of the best I've seen, but there aren't that many of them. I've come to speculate that they are training their other troops."

"This is very concerning information, especially if it proceeds to become true," I heard Luna say.

"What about district six? Is it still under seize by Moon Breeze?" Cadence asked.

"I'm afraid so. District six is the only one that has not seen the changes that the other districts have. In fact, I think they may have even increased their troop count."

"Hmm. It may be that we really do need Terra North's aid then. I don't believe she will have a choice. She is the only thing that we can use to fight against Moon Breeze. If the districts see her rallying behind Discord, it extinguishes some of the fire that we need to take him down," Luna continued.

"But-" Cadence started.

"I'm sorry Cadence. But we have no choice if we want to succeed," Luna responded.

"Jockey, you are free to return to your duties," Cadence told him.

"Thank you, princess," He said. I think he may have bowed his head.

"Oh, and could you tell Terra to come in on your way out?" Luna asked.

I blushed. How did she know that I was there? Jockey walked towards me, and I walked past him shyly. His gaze flickered over me in the dim lighting and I looked over his face. He looked sad and tired. I wanted to give him another hug. I think that I would go and see him after I talked about this. He didn't deserve to be alone, even if he was busy. He was also from my district, even if he hadn't lived there for very long. Maybe we could find something to talk about.

I walked into the room slowly, glancing at the three princesses in front of me. There were pieces of paper and scrolls scattered across the table in front of them. I sat down at the table opposite from them, my ears facing them eagerly.

"Terra. Did you wish to speak with us about something?" Princess Luna asked.

"Y-Yes, actually. I've been considering your proposition. My eyes flickered back and forth between the three mares. "And I've decided to agree. I will do it."

Princess Twilight smiled brightly as she begun to speak quickly. "That's fantastic! I'll be sure to have Rainbow Dash sign you up for combat training, and of course, you'll be placed into the Unicorn Magic Academy." She pulled up scrolls and began to shuffle through them, a quill moving around and writing on them." I suspect that you'll be in the Moon level. You know, wait, I actually suspect that your magic skills are better off at the Star level! You've shown so many talents in the games, you just need a little refinement and endurance building. I'm certainly looking forward to working with yo-"

"But," I said, cutting her off. She stared at me. "If I am going to do this, then you have to promise me that you will find my coltfriend in District six and bring him to me."

"Your coltfriend?" Princess Cadence started. "But from what I heard, you and he had a fight before you left the district. Are you sure that you want us to bring him to you?"

I nodded. "Yes. I miss him and I need him. I apologized to him on television and I'm hoping he heard me. I just miss him, and I feel really bad about how things ended."

Princess Cadence gave me a heartwarming smile. "Okay. We will do what we can. We were considering sending a few scouts into the districts to analyze the situation up close. It shouldn't be too difficult to turn it into a rescue op. Is there anything else that you want us to do for you?"

I thought for a moment. The only other thing I wanted was for my father to leave my family's apartment. Could they do something with that?

"Is there anything you can do about housing? Like, can you remove someone from the apartment I stay in?" I asked.

The princesses looked at each other. "There isn't too much we can do unless there is a conflict," Princess Cadence explained.

"But, there is. My father and I don't get along at all."

"Does he physically hurt you?" Twilight asked.

"Well, no."

"What about locking you up? Tying you down?" She continued.

"No."

"Any sexual abuse?"

"No, no."

"And neglect?"

"Well, he left us for almost ten years and never told us anything. I would call that neglect."

"Well, I'm sure you've figured out that he left you to come here and work for a better life for you. Unless he is doing any of the other things I listed in a severe way, there is nothing we can do," Twilight said. "I'm sorry."

"Not even if he's had an affair with a mare that isn't my mother?" I asked sharply.

"I'm afraid not. Something like that isn't our concern. We typically don't interfere with ponies' personal lives unless they are an endangerment to this facility and its inhabitants. If they came to us personally then we might be of service, but something like that might have to go to one of the counselors in the medical wing," Princess Cadence explained. "But if anything changes, please let us know."

I nodded, a little disappointed.

Luna spoke up. "If that is all that you ask of us, we will have a schedule created for you and sent to your room. We will start your training and hopefully, shoot a promo at some point later this week The promo that will be shot will be a way for the nation to know that you are alive. Our tech specialists will be able to hack the capitol's system and project it to every television set throughout the country. After some training, you will probably be taken into one of the calmer districts to speak your mind and help and show that you are there to help. You will help our cause so much Terra, and we are delighted that you are willing to help our cause," Princess Luna explained. "You are dismissed."

I left the room feeling ever so slightly more confident. There was a chance that I could see Circuit again. It was all I was thinking about. It was like someone had taken a large stone off my back. And it felt amazing.

Feeling happier, I decided to make my way into the cafeteria and check the time. It was about 7 at night. Seeing this, I wondered if Jockey had gotten food. He seemed so into his job that he might be the type to forget to take care of himself. I persuaded the pony behind the counter that I was trying to bring some food for a friend. She accepted with a wary eye as she gave me the dinner for the night, pasta with veggie-sauce and hay-clumps. I took the two bowls, and my flowers from earlier, with me up into the elevator and into Jockey's room.

When I had arrived, his room was in the same condition as it was before. The door was easy to open, and he was sitting on the couch, staring at the large TV screen, with each district displayed in its own small square. None of the districts were calm and peaceful anymore. Things did seem worse. Some of the districts were calmer than others, yes, but there was at least a little rebellion within each of the districts.

I looked away from the screen, and down at Jockey who didn't seem to notice me. I left my flowers on one of the room's counters and brought the two trays of food towards the coffee table in front of the couch. I set them atop it, talking to him calmly.

"Jockey, I brought you food. I thought you needed it."

He flicked his ear as a response.

"You really should eat. I know you're busy but maybe you could take a break?"

Still an ear flick.

I sat down in front of him, my face in front of his. I looked into his eyes, seeing the dark red circles under them formed due to lack of sleep. I frowned and lifted my hooves up to hold his face.

"Jockey?"

He blinked. His eyelids flickered, and then he looked away from the screen. He looked straight into my eyes, with his shining blue eyes.

"Terra?"

I smiled and nodded. "It's me."

"Why are you here? Did something happen?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You've been stuck in this room for so long. I was worried about you and I wanted to make sure you had something to eat."

He smiled at me, and it felt amazing to see him smile. I hadn't seen it in so long. "Thank you", he said. "You're are such an amazing friend."

I smiled back. "You should eat while it's still warm. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Not at all."

We sat there eating, quietly a little bit, with the television off, until he got some sauce on the end of his muzzle. I found it pretty funny, so I teased him a little bit. He laughed and rubbed some sauce on my face. This warmed us up to each other, and we found ourselves chatting a lot more than we were before. We talked about this facility, and about Cherry and Code Red, and about District Six. I really needed this talk, after talking to him. I felt a lot better in doing so.

Eventually, we finished our meals and he decided to take a shower. I cleaned up and ran the dishes back down to the cafeteria, and returned to find him still in the shower. I found a blanket that I used to snuggle up with on his couch, and soon enough he returned, looking clean and fresh and happier. He sat down next to me, and we talked some more. We talked and laughed and talked and laughed some more. We vented about things we needed to vent about, and I was actually surprised to find that he was experiencing some issues here, including his Mother always working and him working tirelessly. There were other ponies who did the job with him in other parts of the facility, but the princesses wanted a new pair of eyes on the screens. I told him about my family issues and we comforted each other.

Eventually, we grew tired. I found myself leaning against him, breathing slowly. He didn't seem to mind, in fact, I think he was the one to wrap the blanket around us. Regardless, I was happy. We had made each other happy. For the first time since I arrived, I felt safe, loved, joyful. I felt like this place might actually not be so bad. That maybe, just maybe, with some nurturing, this place might be able to become my home.