I laughed when my name was called. Oh, the people throughout the Districts would think I was just putting on a good show, making light of the hell I was being thrown back into. No, I laughed because the Capital was finally being honest with me. I had never left the Games.

        My name is Finnick Odair and I’m just another one of the Capital’s toys.

        I’ve been a toy since my name was called ten years ago. I still remember standing in front of my District, my friends, and my family and knowing it’d never be the same even if I came back home. I remember looking out into the sea before I tasted grape. I drank the stuff myself. I didn’t need Peacekeepers to force it on me.

        I was glad I’d gotten wings that time. They could move similar to hands. I honed my new body in the Training Center and taught it to act like my true form. I may have been turned into the Capital’s mutt, but if I was gonna go out, I’d at least die like a man, not the green winged horse they’d turned me into. Maybe it was that confidence that earned me a high score with the Gamemakers.

        That confidence carried over to the Games as well. Gifts came down like rain on me. I was worth more dead than alive, at least until my true gift came. I still remember the trident and the parachute it came in. All the other Careers had looked at me with my wing wrapped around the weapon. The thing about pony eyes is they make your emotions so much easier to read. Fear. Jealousy. Anger. Death. I saw it all in their eyes when I got my weapon. I ended our alliance that night.

        The rest of those Games passed by in a blur. I became something far worse than any hovercraft could be. My shadow was the last thing many other Tributes saw before my weapon found them. Perhaps it was the way I flew into the others that made the sponsors so happy.

        It came down to just me and the girl from three. She was luckier than even I was. She’d gotten a horn. Horns are the rarest things one can get from the Reaping. They practically defeat the point of taking away our hands, even more than wings. The girl had gone one step beyond hands though. Wherever she went, power followed. A zone of electricity and death accompanied her.

        If I’d been truly converted, like the people in the Capital, I could have bent the electricity around myself. However, that wasn’t the case. Instead, I had to dodge the lightning she sent at me. The trident became a weakness rather than an advantage. It siphoned parts of the bolts off and singed my wing. I broke my leg when I hit the ground, the only true injury I ever got in those Games.

        I’m sure if I’d stayed in the air, I wouldn’t have been the victor that day. The girl saw me fall and thought she had won. All she needed was one more shot and it’d be done. I saw her face and knew I’d be winning that day. She had the look of someone escaping from a dark pit and seeing light. She thought she was done. I launched my trident at her. Her own lightning brought her down along with my trident. She fell and then I closed my eyes.

        I had my hands back when awoke again. There were praises thrown on me, awards given, kisses blown. I should have taken more note of the kisses. At first things were quiet. My new house was okay. I didn’t spend much time in it.

I prefered the sea, I always prefered the sea. I could swim deep into it and disappear as far as it took me... at least until I ran into the mutts. There were no fences in the sea, only the mutts. Giant fish with endless rows of teeth and eyes that stared out into nothing. However, swim one finger out of District lines and their eyes became sharp and golden. The teeth would be on you in a second.

When I didn’t swim, I just sat by the beach, making my knots. Knots always helped. I’d finished one that only I could untie the day I’d come back to my house to find the door ajar. He’d been waiting for me. Blood was on his breath and eyes were like a snake’s. I’d had my rest and now it was time to resume being a Tribute for my District. Snow tapped the vial down on the table. He said I’d like life in the Capital even more than life in the Victor’s Village. His smile was much too big for his face.

How many times did I shift between human and mutt? No, that’s all I’ve been since I was reaped: a mutt. Sometimes, my admirers gave me a horn, wings, or nothing at all. They wanted to see how different things were between men and ponies. I wanted to hear what they knew. My memory became more important than my body. My brain held all the secrets the Capital was willing to give me. I was a toy, but at least I was a toy with dirt.

I should have used those secrets to help Annie. I could have pulled strings, untied knots, maybe even arranged an accident to get her out of her Games. I’d helped her through the hooves. I’d taught her everything I knew, but she wasn’t a fighter. Once more, pony eyes were like an open book into someone’s soul, and her soul had no malice in it.

That’s why I broke the dam in her Games. She had lost so much already. Her fellow tribute had been a good kid and hadn’t deserved the death he got. She hadn’t deserved to see his head get thrown off. It broke her. She wasn’t going to make it if things continued. I knew ponies could swim. She’d done it in the Training Center and was probably what she did in front of the Gamemakers. It cost me a lot of secrets, but I brought the dam down and killed everyone else. I was a victor of two Hunger Games. I don’t know if I’ll be a three time victor.

        Things are different though. I’m not converted at the Reaping and neither is Mags. Mags... bless whatever sponsor gave me her. She’s going to die because of me. All because I saved Annie. The Games haven’t begun and I’ve already got one kill over the other Tributes.

        The other tributes fill my mind as we head back to the Capital. The only reason I was even in my District was for the Reaping. I’d have been going back no matter what. Only now, I go to kill friends rather than get more secrets.

        One name in particular sticks out to me among the Tributes: Katniss Everdeen. The Mare on Fire. I chuckled a little thinking of her and her District. She and old Haymitch are the only Tributes to ever tick the Capital off. I smiled when I heard whispers of them, of the insurrections and riots they caused. They weren’t toys, they were thorns in the Capital’s side. I liked the Mare on Fire. Shame I might be her killer.

        We were all still human for the opening Ceremonies. Haymitch had talked to all of us at this point. Well, all of us that he trusted. We were gonna play a game within the Games. We just had to keep the Mare on Fire and her friend alive. I made light talk with her, joked about how I was on all fours last time I was paraded around. I showed off my costume, nothing more than simple net made to looked like clothing. She hated me instantly.

        I made up for it with the knots though. It was weird being human and showing her how to do the knots with my mouth. It made me feel even more like a toy. Why didn’t they just convert us already? At least I got a little onto her good side. Mags was the real saving grace though. The Mare on Fire would have put an arrow in my back the instant the Games started if it wasn’t for her.

        Now I was in the launch room. I flexed my fingers to make sure I still had them. I was even in a uniform for the Games. It felt odd to be clothed while the Games were just on the other side of the tube. Were they really going to keep us human for these Games? So much else had changed, why not?

I stepped forward into the tube. It didn’t go up. But I smelled it though, an all too familiar smell. The smell of the sea. That explains the uniforms, they’re like the life-jackets of District 4. Wait, the tube still isn’t moving? Why...

Pain stabs through my feet. The circulation goes off to them and the nerves go wild. I want to fall to my side, but the tube is too small. Instead, I slam against the glass. I look down and see a green substance pulping up through the ground.

I wince and pull up my right leg. It’s gone pure white and looks like a deformed lump. Bastards! They never were gonna let us stay human! No, they’ll toss us into the fray without even knowing what our bodies will be like. “Damn them!” I cuss, but no one can hear me.

The goop continues to rise. The lower half of my legs are numb and on fire at the same time. I notice that whatever concoction they’ve given me is eating away the uniform. Figures it was just for show. Everything is for show.

I’m not going slowly. I clasp my hands down. They protest as they begin to go white and deform as well. I take a whiff of the stuff before I drink it down. It reminds me so much of the sea. I just want to escape into it and swim away. The taste of seaweed fills my mouth.

I... I’m swimming. I really am swimming. I feel the currents around me and become a part of them. This isn’t like anything I’ve done before. It’s not just that I’m in the water, I am the water.

I stop following with the current for a second, but still move with it. I’m not really here. This is what you see when you drink. I’m all too familiar with conversion dreams. A brief glimpse at a strange world and then you fade back to reality... back to the Games.

Something pushes me forward. I look around and see shapes in the current. At first they look like fish, but they’re oriented wrong for swimming. Their bodies are vertical rather than horizontal. Fins protrude out their side while their tails curl at their theirs. I look at the one closest to me to get a better idea of what it is.

I instantly wished I hadn’t looked. The body is strange, but the head is familiar. I’ve see that head before, it’s of a tribute. My tribute. The other shapes focus now. They’re all my tributes.

I scream, but only bubbles come out. I’m not drowning though. I just continue to move along the current. I want out. This is some sick joke by the Capital. Some new torture involving tracker jacket venom. I still remember shuddering at the tales I heard about that.

The creatures look at my outburst of bubbles. Then they advance. “Get back!” I want to yell, but only more bubbles escape. I know why they’re here. They’ve come to drag me down, take me to the same graves I sent them too. Fine, I deserve as much.

When they have me surrounded, they look at me and tilt their heads, as if they don’t know what to do next. “Don’t drag it out!” More bubbles from my mouth. “Do it!” They part and a single one of them advances on me. Her dark mane flows in the sea and her eyes sparkle like emeralds.  

No! They didn’t! I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all for bringing Annie down here! Screw Haymitch’s plan, screw Katniss! Screw the Games! I’ll get out and wring Snow’s fat neck! He—

Annie brings her fins around me. When I looked down I only see her grasping the sea. I have no true form here. She looks up at me. I hate pony eyes so much. Love encompasses every inch of hers. She opens her mouth and somehow a short tune comes out. “Shoo be doo...”

Everything goes white.

        I can feel cold metal touching me. The scent of the the sea still lingers in the air. Water mixes in with the remnants of the tube below me. I feel a breeze against my bare skin. I can’t breath.

        I suck in the salty air, but I still can’t breath. I realize I’m on my side. Maybe the water is poisonous. It was at the last Quarter Quell. I push myself to get away from it, but my hooves slide on the thin disk I’m on. Then I realize I don’t have hooves at all. I have fins. I’ve been turned into the thing of my nightmare.

        This isn’t what was supposed to happen. I flail around and try to get into the water, that’s what the Gamemakers must want. I catch sight of other fins and a silver mane. Mags. She must have figured it out faster than I did. I need to get into the water. The last thing I see before the splash is a pony with a brown mane and a mockingjay on her flank. They took Katniss’s horn away this time.

        The water is just like my dream. I can breath again. I’m at home in the current and I lose myself for a second. Then I remember the Games and the Cornucopia. I need a weapon. Who knows what else the Capital has changed.

 I see boxes floating around a large shadow above me. I surge through the water and grab at them. In my rush to open them, one of the boxes’ contents jabs at my side and draws a little blood. I still smile. I got my trident back. Then I hear a whiz behind me.

A knife nearly takes my head off. I spin around and hurtle my weapon through the water at the knife’s owner. It finds its mark and a pegasus sinks into the sea. I go to get my trident. I need it. It comes back to me, coated in sea foam that disappears as soon as the trident is within my grasp. I glance up and see the tip of a horn. I’ve never seen anything like this in all the Games I’ve watched.

The water reverberates with sound. Some Tributes are flailing, while others somehow float. I notice a few still have their uniforms on, but they’ve shifted to accommodate their new forms. For a second, I think how odd it is to actually see Tributes clothed, but then I remember the Cornucopia. I need more than just a weapon.

I swim closer with my trident clenched in my teeth. I know how horns work, but it’s been awhile since I’ve had one. If only they’d converted us at the Reaping.

Something flashes to my left. It’s the tribute from District Five. He doesn’t see me in the water. He sees Katniss though. She’s already got herself a bow, but she doesn’t know how to use it without a horn. My trident finds its mark in the Tribute’s back. Katniss stares as I pull the trident back toward me.

 She’s managed to get the bow strung now. I could take her out with the trident. We each raise our weapons, but then I lower mine. I still have a promise to keep with Haymitch. Now will she shoot me or not?

“This is your battlefield,” she says as she lowers her bow. “Allies?”

“Allies.” I pause for a second. I can talk. I’m not gasping for breath. I glance down and see gills extend out of my neck. Something black lands near the edge of the beach the Cornucopia rests on. Katniss nods to me. I lift the item up with my horn and examine it. It’s similar to uniform I had on in the launch center, only made for a pony. The ends are already filled out though. A silver collar runs around one end of it. I notice that the bottom half of the uniform is much thicker than the rest of it.

“That’s probably for you,” she says and then continues to rifle through the supplies.

I examine it a little more and the slip it on. Something clicks and I feel a jab of pain in my tail where my legs used to be. I sink below the waves. It was booby trapped. I’m underwater again and I can’t breath this time. I need to get back up, back to the surface. My brain screams to kick to the surface. It shouldn’t even be a thought, I’ve been doing it all my life. Now I can’t. I’m going to-

I break through the surface. I feel the sea churning a little below me. I sink again. I push back up to the surface. Then I see the uniform is moving, keeping me afloat. I have my legs back. Katniss has stopped getting supplies and looks at me. For once, I can’t read a pony’s eyes. “Not a trap?”

“I don’t think so.” I’m breathing through my mouth again. I feel a slight hum against my neck. I notice that the silver collar of the uniform is glowing a little. I swim forward and touch the land. Even though hooves mute your touch, they don’t completely take away that sense. However, now the sand felt very far away. I stumble and hit the beach. Sand gets in my face and mane. I really want to lie down.

I can’t though, we’ve got supplies to get.

“There’s a problem,” Katniss says as she lets loose a wild arrow into the sea. I don’t see who she’s aiming for. “There’s only weapons here.”

“Get what you can and get out.” I’m still trying to steady myself. I’m used to being on all fours, but not having them be robotic. I take some shaky steps forward and grab a few knives. I look over at Katniss who’s got another bow slung through her uniform now. I notice that that belt the bow sticks out of wasn’t on either of my uniforms. “Let’s move.”

She doesn’t immediately respond to me. She instead glaces out into the sea. Is it an enemy? No, everyone else is descending from different directions on the supplies. Then I see her focus, a yellow pony, with an equally blond mane. Peeta looks the same as he did in his last Games. I hear a splash and see her going out to him. She’s having trouble swimming with the bows. I focus and tug on her shoulder a little with my horn. “I’ll get him.”

She plods back onto the beach and takes the weapons off. In turn, I go into the water and release myself from the uniform. I throw it at her feet along with my trident. “Cover me.”

I speed off. I was only in the contraption for a few minutes at most, but it was the most restricted I’d ever felt. Now I was close to my natural form. I didn’t even look like a typical Tribute and this was the most human I’d ever felt in the past ten years. I pause when I see another shape in the water. I’ll have to fight them with my tail and mouth. All my weapons are back with Katniss.

“Shoo be do,” it sings under the water. My heart stops, Annie was just in my dream, she’s not really here. My gills move again when I see the creature’s silver mane. It’s Mags. Even as a half-fish half-pony, I can still see the age in her. Aside from the silver mane, her coat and scales are gray. Our bodies are truly strange now. With pony and fish mixing almost seamlessly. The Capital has been working on this for a while. I never heard a word of it.

Mags continues bobbing around in the water, singing her odd song. I give her a smile and then dart off. I reach Peeta almost instantly. My appearance must give him a fright, cause as soon as I pop out of the water he falls into it. He becomes a blur of splashes and hooves. I rush over and try to get him, but his hooves connect with me. I fire my horn up and manage to lift him back onto the circle. He takes ragged breaths and then looks over at me. “T-thanks.”

“Come on, your wife’s waiting.” I use my horn as a faux finger to point back over to the center island. Mags is now swimming over there too. Then I see more flailing in the water, along with sparks from a horn. Beetee. District Three works with electronics, of course they wouldn’t know how to deal with water. He’s still flailing. He should have sunk by now. Then I notice that his waist is disproportionate to the rest of his body. Another new conversion type? No, I focus and notice his belt is glowing like my collar did.

I turn up to Peeta. “Mess with your belt.”

“What?”

“Just mess with it a little and then get in! It’s a floatation device!” He fiddles around with it and then I see it glow and inflate. “Lets go.”

He jumps in and still flails, but not as badly. I tug him along back to the center island. I look up at Katniss. “Can you get my stuff?”

She nods, shoves everything into her belt and then jumps in. She figured out the belt as well. All four of us move out of the slaughter. Eventually we reach another beach. Peeta and Katniss climb onto the sand and rest there. The swimming has taken a lot out of them. I look over at Mags and float the uniform over to her. “You take it.”

She only shakes her head. “Mags, come on. I can manage the water, but you’ll get tired soon. Take it.” I nearly smother her with the device. She still shakes her head. “Fine,” I sigh.

I pull on the the uniform and feel it lock onto my tail again. At least this time, I don’t nearly drown myself. I look over at Mags just bobbing along in the water. “Don’t think you’re staying here.”

I crawl over to land and look at Peeta and Katniss. Haymitch was right, they do put on a good act when they need to. I focus back on Mags and light her and my horn up with sea foam. I pull her closer and drape her over my back. I take water out with her and surround her neck with it. She’ll be able to breath as long as I’m keeping my horn going, but she’ll need to go back in the water when I sleep.

Katniss gets up and trots over. “Welcome to the 75th Hunger Games.”

“May the odds be ever in our favor.” I give her the grin I’ve practiced over and over again. For a second, I’m back to be the Capital’s toy. I’m just putting on a good show for the cameras. Then I realize while my form is different, it’s still a pony. I always hate that about conversions, they give me the oddest cravings. “They didn’t even give us sugar cubes did they?”

---

A/N Yeah, I kinda read all the book in Late May/ June. Then the TCB event came along and everything sort of clicked together for me. Consider this just a rough sketch of an idea for now, but there are other stories I have the require priority... for now. Happy Hunger Games!