appletastic | perfect as apple pie

It was so weird.

She had to keep reminding herself it was safe. Safe. Had it really been a whole year that she'd been having to watch what she said, wonder about looking over her shoulder, watching the time tick by? There were places to lose yourself if you were a kid, sure, but Mindy wasn't that kind of kid. She'd been a mentor. It was dates for Sponsors and tributes and watching the games unfolding with one bloody death after another and another, but they were nothing, were they? They weren't real, TRUE death, just temporary death. Real death meant no coming back. Real death meant being the example, having everyone watch your every move and praying it would be quick.

Mindy ducked her head, scratching with her...hoof. Right. Yeah, remember that.

"Uh, whatever you have AJ. I have no right to be picky."

Edited 2015-01-13 06:40 (UTC)

"Aww, don't you worry! I've known a fussy eater or few in my day. I can please anypony, guaranteed!"

Applejack quickly returned with some apple cider, hearty bread, and her best salad. Dessert would definitely come later. "I've missed you something fierce. You look so pale---eat up!"

"Do I?" She looked at herself, ponefied. It was weird of course, but still nowhere near as strange as not being in that place anymore. It had just become the only world she knew after awhile: it'd been stupid even thinking of New York when there was the Capitol and their rules and the distraction of the training room. Getting strong had become a mantra: hell, she could see it even in her new, small pony body she was pretty buff.

"T-thanks," she said quietly, nibbling some of the bread, then hitting the Cider. "You always did make the best apple cider. Also, apparently I like my greens way more now. Who knew, right?"

She was trying to sound casual. How well it was working, well, that was another story.

"You'll get used to the pony diet in no time," Applejack promised. "Helps if you put some effort into making things taste good too."

Especially the apple fritter. Oh yes, she could still make apple fritter with the best of them. She smiled...but then that brought her back to Mindy, who still looked like she could use a friend. "I know you were in an awful place. And maybe Ponyville's not as much better as it should be...but you've got a friend here. Right here," she whispered, pointing to herself.

Edited 2015-01-14 01:28 (UTC)

"Yeah," Mindy muttered, eating the food slowly, almost tentatively. A part of her didn't know why she was doing this: after all, she had been able to eat pretty freely on Panem. Of course, that was on the back of laborers in the other Districts, and that had certainly not made eating food a pleasant experience. The more she thought about what those other people were going through, the more depressed she got, being in a place like this.

"It was..." She was at a loss for words, then shook her head. "It was a place they probably thought I was useful to be. You see a lot of things in a place like that. Stuff I won't fill your head with. It's too weird, in a way, of being here now. I feel more like I deserved to be in a place like that."

At the mention of friend, Mindy's heart felt heavy. That word had started to become a curse these days. She consented to eating the fritter.

That just made her heart break more. She didn't know the full story---only that it was nasty, even nastier than the war from before.

"Nopony deserves to get hurt like that," Applejack shook her head. "You're always welcome with me, hon."

"Dunno about that," Mindy said quietly, eating a little more, because the memories started to come back, right back to the Arena she WON. "If you feel accomplished doing the one thing you never would have done before, you're a pretty scummy person, AJ. Like I said, I won't fill your head with some of the stuff I did, but let's say I didn't have to think about it until now."

She nibbled the apple fritter. "I think I fit just right there. Some people didn't. They left without blood on their hands."

"Blood on their..."

Right. Hands. Human hooves. Applejack hadn't had to think about those for a while. But what worried her even more was the other thing.

"They made you do downright despicable things?" she asked sadly. There was no blame there, only sorrow.

"I'm not innocent AJ," Mindy said immediately. No, there was no hiding what she'd done. "There's always a choice, and truth is I could have just stayed, floundered, died and then be brought back all over again. No, I wanted to win, and so I did, even if I took a few down."

It didn't matter that they were brought back to life, or even that her dad appeared to tell her that she did what she had to. She'd known what she was fighting for, and there was nothing good about what happened there. Enough nightmares about it had reminded her that much.

"Think I been payin' for it ever since too, now that I think about it. Maybe that was why so many of my friends were taken away."

"But you wouldn't just kill folks...for fun?"

No, that couldn't be it. Not Mindy, not for no reason. Right? She sucked hard on her teeth, worried.

"No, not for fun," Mindy said, making a face. "I'm not a psycho! When I had to kill, it was stopping the kind of people who got away with that stuff. For this...it was different. I had to kill them to get out of the Games. It's...ok, look. Do you really want to know?"

She was asking honestly. She wouldn't go further if Applejack opted out.

Applejack needed a moment to be sure. She loved Mindy and wanted to believe her, wanted to trust her...wanted to know. So she steeled herself and nodded.

"Yeah, I do."

Mindy sighed. It was still hard to believe she wasn't THERE anymore. It had been her life for a full year but somehow it felt longer than that. No more plots to think about, no more looking over her shoulder, no more people she had to appease.

Of course, that meant that she had to remember everything too.

"Where I was, it was this place called the Games. They're advanced back there, more so then here, so all the stuff you do they can see on a big screen, you know? So what they did is they'd have us all be in this huge arenas, with all these cameras around to watch us. A whole bunch of us, from different worlds and stuff. We had to survive in this arena, and they'd put all these obstacles: poisoned food, traps, fire, that kinda stuff. But to win the game? There could only be one, so...you either killed people, or were killed, or you tried to avoid death long enough. When you died, if they felt like it, they brought you back. So my first Arena, I died. My second...I didn't. I kept going. Had to...had to take out a few people. Once you win the Arena, you don't have to go back through it all again."

She lowered her eyes. "You know. If you can take some lives and not die."

Applejack could almost hear everything she believed in breaking around her. She shuddered, long and deep. To force these kids to kill or be killed? It was beyond cruel, enough that her temper would be flaring if she wasn't so upset.

"But why? What's the point of dumping you all in there? It's---it's the worst darn idea I've ever heard."

"I don't think I could agree with you on anything more," Mindy said with a bitter laugh. "I mean, its one thing to kill to stop criminals, but this...this was just killing for entertainment even if you could bring people back. Oh, but most of them were adults. There were some kids too...those usually don't last, or do, depending on how keen you are to kill a kid. Most probably hoped some other kid killed them, or one of the things in the Arena. They weren't always so lucky though, I can tell you that."

"Nopony should...by Celestia, how could such a horrible thing happen?" Applejack sounded utterly heartbroken. She rolled from her spot on the couch and yanked Mindy into a rough hug.

"That'll never happen here, I can promise you that. We're about friendship here, nothing else."

"Yeah, you tend to stop asking yourself that after you've been there long enough: then it just sorta becomes a 'wonder what's gonna happen to me next' kinda thing. Sad, but what are you gonna do? So. You make connections. You play games. You train your ass off. You...well, you try to get as close to happy as you can get."

Which was just funny enough that she laughed slightly, nudging AJ. "The messed up thing is? Now that I'm here, I'm just suspicious, like I'm waiting for some death pony to come out of nowhere that I have to rescue you from. Messed up, huh?"

Applejack whimpered, shaking her head. "Actually you're kinda right about that. There is a death pony...but she just sucks people in their bubble and slowly sucks their souls instead of making them kill each other. But we're fighting her, I swear we're throwing everything we've got at her."

She really didn't want to lose anypony else to the darkness, not now.

Mindy looked thoughtful about that. "You know, that sounds screwed up, but I don't think its as bad as that place I was in. And then there was...those few days when they caught me looking for places to talk without guards in earshot, but right when someone killed one of their officers. Those few days were torture."

No, literally. That was literally what went down, torture.

Applejack was about at her limit. She just trembled and clung on some more.

"Gosh, Mindy...I'm just so glad you're out of there. We'll treat you right this time---anything you need, you've got it. Extra dessert? Spa day? The library? I'll get it."

It was so weird being asked what she wanted. Too weird, really. But you know what? Maybe she could just use that.

"Uh," she said quietly. "A spa day sounds nice. They have one in the Capitol, but since I know the luxury I have is owed to them putting me and my tributes in Death matches, one guilty free...would be nice?"

Applejack nodded, her mind made up. "Then come on! There's this great hot spring that opened up not too long ago. Everypony goes there to take a load off their mind."

She gathered up some towels and supplies, then stretched and headed for the door. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Mindy said, who was all too ready to put some of her sordid past behind her-or at least not talk about it anymore. "Lead the way."

As they walked, she paused a moment. "You sure you OK with this? From what I remembered, going to a Spa was never really one of your things, was it AJ?"

"Rarity has a way of talking me into things," she winked. "Besides, I can deal for one day if it's for you."

She gently nudged her friend and led the way, thankfully finding a private pool for the two of them. "Here. Settle in, why don't you unwind a bit?"

Applejack certainly was. It was hot and inviting, and it didn't hurt that it smelled nice.

"Rarity, huh?" Mindy said, cracking a smile. "If she's anything like my stylist Oceana, trust me, I totally get it. Wouldn't even be wearing half my outfits if she didn't put her own personal touch on 'em."

But it hurt less NOT to think about the Arena right now, honestly. She was already starting to ease into the pool, though her obviously being unsteady as a pony had her falling in. A moment later she was up, spitting and flailing.

"Holy spit, how do you even do that with these hooves?!"

She'd taken in the beauty of the spa once she got over her soaking.

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