The Game

Sterling woke in the waiting room.

Tan walls, a grey carpet floor, and a smooth cement ceiling. This is the room that contestants chosen for the games, well, waited. It wasn't anything special, it was just there. Waiting to be waited in.

The grey stallion looked around at the bland features of the room and sighed, "Well, at least I don't have to sit in a cubicle and stare at a screen all day", up until that moment, Sterling Stonesong had worked in Manehatten as a... Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really remember what he was doing. All he remembered doing was sitting in a little grey compartment doing what his employer told him to do... Strange.

Suddenly Sterling was in a forest.

"Welcome To The Games Contestant! I Am The Game Master!"

Looking around, Sterling saw nopony, then he realized that the words were coming from everywhere, as if the trees that surrounded him had decided to inform him of this fact.

"You Are Currently Standing In The Arena! Where You Will Live Until The Game Has Ended! Any Attempt To Exit The Games Will Result In Your Immediate Death!"

Th e booming voice paused and Sterling was left to look around at the trees, only to be scared nearly out of his coat as the voice returned, louder and more commanding than ever, "One More Thing, The Rules!", a ten second silence graced the woods, "THERE ARE NO RULES!!! Good Luck Contestant!"

Sterling waited cautiously for the voice to return, and then finding that this time it was gone for good he picked a random direction and set off, wondering what could possibly happen in his now slightly more interesting life next.

The light grey unicorn slowly walked through the forest, watching the canopy closely. Something was following him.

The whatever-it-was in the trees moved around with amazing agility, only providing Sterling with a flash of blue on the leafy green background.

Then Sterling wasn't on the ground anymore, he was flying. He screamed as his body was thrown from the forest and into a clearing. He landed with a thump and a grunt, thankful that the long grass in the field seemed to have broken his fall. The flash of blue was circling around him, revealing an icy blue pegasus with a frosty mane. It  leaped for him and missed as Sterling took a little longer that expected to get up, leaving the pegasus to fly over his head and crouch as if ready to spring again. Sterling noticed a hunting knife, hanging in a sheath on it's upper foreleg. The grey unicorn's horn glowed with a soft blue light that enveloped the knife and before the pegasus knew what was happening, the tables had turned and Sterling had the knife.

And was trying extremely hard to get the leather casing off.

He heard the pegasus grunt as he tried not to laugh and then fail miserably, "Bwa Ha Ha! Ya almos' got me 'ere mate! Although ya might want'a draw the blade an' not the sheath", Sterling's face turned a bright shade of red as the rival survivor continued to laugh.

"Well- I-If you didn't scare me then maybe I wouldn't have made that mistake!", and then suddenly the frosty pegasus was deadly serious, "You boy, must be new round here, 'cause ery'one who's anyone knows that if ya don't make an attack right, and in mah case by surprise, it'll kill ya", finishing with a scowl, the pegasus turned away, "This time, I'll lecha offa t' chain for free", he turned and spread his sky-blue wings to their full extent, "But nex' time. I'll just hafta' kill ya"

Then he took off into the sky, leaving Sterling with the knife as he dashed over the trees.

Things were going to be a little different from then on.

Sterling trotted quickly through the forest, looking over his shoulder frequently. After his first experience with that blue pegasus, he didn't want anypony sneaking up on him again. He walked for what seemed like hours and soon he was dragging his hooves in exhaustion. "Argh... Why did they pick me out of everypony else to participate in this horrible excuse for entertainment" ,Sterling grumbled to himself as he noticed that the sunlight was now fading from the trees in the canopy.

Then sleep crossed his mind, where was he going to rest? The grey unicorn stopped in his tracks as a scream penetrated the twilight.

"contestant number twenty three has been eliminated" ,a strangely calm voice reverberated throughout the forest. As Sterling stared wildly in the direction of the scream, yeah, maybe sleep could wait a little longer.

Then, more shouting, closer. Sterling started slowly walking backwards, eyes darting between the trees in the ever fading light.

"LOOK OUT!!" ,a feminine voice yelled through the dim light just as an enormous manticore burst through the woods, knocking over a few trees in its's wake. It let out a loud angry roar as it spotted Sterling, and leaped onto its easily boulder-sized paws. Sterling fell over in his attempt to get away and cowered on the forest floor waiting for the end to come. "don't move" ,a soft voice sounded next to Sterling's ear. He slowly opened his eyes, only to shut them again as the manticore bounded towards him.

A yell was heard and a hand yanked Sterling's knife right out of the sheathe before following the hands owner, a teenage human with pale-blond hair, ran straight at the giant monster. "Wait! NO!" ,was all Sterling managed to get out before he was shocked to silence. The girl, only carrying the dull knife simply slid between the manticore's front legs, grabbing it's lion tail on the other side. Shs swung up onto its back and stabbed the knife repeatedly into the back of the manticore's neck. Resulting in a whimper from the beast and sending it crashing to the ground.

She hopped down from the dead creature's back and walked over to Sterling, seeing her hands coated in the red that was manticore blood she whimpered before tossing back Sterling's knife, "Eew, it's all over me!" ,it was only on her hands.

Sterling wiped the knife in the grass before putting it back in its sheathe and staring up at the girl, "Umm, thanks?" ,he said as he watched as the human stooped to wipe her hands on the grass. She was wearing a green tank top with a white blouse tied around her waist, a green skirt flowed down to her ankles, where it was slightly frayed and torn from life in the games.

"Oh, don't mention it. Anything for a little company. All the other people in these woods have been real meanies!" ,she finished her statement by crossing her arms and letting out a small hmph. Sterling glanced around in the darkness of night, "Well, I guess having someone else around wouldn't hurt. I mean we could watch each other's back's. Right?". As soon as he said it Sterling received a pat on the head, like he was some sort of dog, "I think that's a good idea..." ,she paused, as if waiting for something and the grey pony sighed, "My name it Sterling" ,getting a smile as the human stuck out her hand, "Nice to meet you Sterling, I'm Amy. Finally someone to talk to, I've been dying for some company".

Sterling followed Amy for a few minutes, letting her lead him to... Wherever they were going. Althought he should've been suspicious, Amy was the nicest one he had met so far.

Presently they reached a rocky slope at the edge of the forest, a small cave that Amy had found sat on a little ridge on the slope, making it almost impossible to see from below. A single tree grew to the side of the opening, its roots making a column that rose on the wall, as if it was keeping the ceiling from falling in on itself, a pleasant thought for Sterling. Amy told Sterling that she had found it awhile ago and liked it since it wasn't muddy like outside. "Well its better than being monster food" ,the thought of being eaten while asleep just plain freaked Sterling out. He watched as Amy settled down on a sandy patch of the cave floor, he soon heard her soft snores fill the room. He turned and looked out at the entrance of the cave, the moonlight shining from the night sky.

Maybe he could get the hang of this survival-games kind of life.