The overseers slammed the doors opened and threw me onto the stage. I had never seen it before. It was astonishingly gruesome. Blood stained walls, bones sticking from the stage floor. It was no carnival, but a sacrificial arena. I looked up to see my fellow colleagues going through dangerous, and sometimes, death ensuring, obstacles or tasks. The pegasi had their wings clamped down when they walked the tight ropes, the animal handlers had no protection or leashes, no tools in which to keep order. It didn’t seem normal. Perhaps they lied to us about the twenty year cycle before, maybe it was just one cycle, and then we’re all diverted here for an end. Taskmaster Un’s machines had been brought out, spikes everywhere. One of the animal handlers walked into a bear trap when backing away from his manticore. He screamed, but not for long, as the manticore would soon find another treat after him. I looked towards the blasphemous crowd, they were less than Baltimare, but the audience was all star ponies. The flecks of purple reflected so well together that you wouldn’t have seen an audience from afar, just a wall pattern. They were protected by some form of forcefield magic.

I walked forward into the stage, going slow in order to keep away the raging manticore’s attention. One of the pegasi fell from a tower, dying instantly as he met the ground. The animals found their new treat. I didn’t see any magic users yet. I seemed to be the only unicorn out here. I looked up again to see who was left on the towers, very few. There was a large cage up on the roof. It looked like a torch to light the place up, but I knew well what it was. Perhaps it was some kind of oil bomb, or a phoenix, either way, it was the finishing act. I looked for protection, finding that the many rocky structures on the floor of the stage would do little against the manticore. Still, they would make for a best bet. I ran for one as he still fed upon his treat. He had been starved, clearly, as he ate the bones with him, even the mask too.

The other stage entrances opened up, revealing cages. More animals arrived. There was a small, wild dragon walking on four legs, and restless wings. Another was a beast I had never seen before, it illuminated slightly, and was monstrous in detail. The thing looked as if a creature of slime and sut, moving illogically. It was living tar. The manticore had poked his head back up, finishing his snack. Few ponies were left on the stage floor. The dragon took for the towers. The other two stalked around. Nopony was trying to take control anymore. Their training was nonexistent in this moment. The tar monster devoured, or dissolved a pony before my eyes. He screamed until his mouth was covered. I ran behind a new rock foundation. I tried to close my eyes and forget what was happening. It was silly for me to think hiding would do any good. The creatures would eventually find me and end my life. I didn’t expect any of this when they took me away. I had hoped that I could have a chance to change all this, but instead, I would be silenced in a roaring applause.

After a while, there were only about five of us left. The dragon was still up in the towers. When I opened my eyes, the tar monster was gone, but in his place, the manticore. I yelled as he came near me, tears rolling down my face. This was it, my ending. He got closer to me, and I crawled as far as I could into the chasm of the rock formation. I started throwing pebbles at him, but it did no good. There was a large cracking sound from behind me, I couldn’t tell what it was. As the manticore pushed his opened mouth at me one final time, the tar monster found itself out of ponies, but craving manticore. It had grabbed the foot of the manticore, distracting it from me. I ran as it started consuming the beast. As I came around the backside of my former fortress, I could see the cause of the cracking noise. The dragon’s weight and damage to one of the towers had become too much. It was breaking, and in one final second, it began to fall near my direction. I ducked as it fell. I heard a scream as a pony was crushed by its effect. The dragon, out of victims, landed itself near me. The tar monster would soon be after me too. The rocks would hold no protection from it. I ran up the fallen tower out of instincts. The dragon followed, and I started tearing off wood from the tower to throw at it. Once again, not helpful. When the tar monster came for me, it went after the dragon too. The two battled, unlike the manticore, who could do nothing. The dragon reigned fire on the tar, slowing it down as it came upon the dragon. They struggled together for a bit, and I ran towards the tip of the structure for a safe distance from the flames. The tar monster began to harden, dying from the heat. The dragon was stuck within it as he died, unable to move his legs, nor his neck. It could not break free. I was safe.

I turned towards the crowd, being one of the ponies last standing, as I could see another still breathing, coming out from under a rock. I looked at them all, giving them each a stare. The Preceptor was in the crowd, and he stared back, defeated. The Taskmasters surrounded him, silent, just as he was. It was an awkward moment for them, as for the first time, they were no longer gods. It was in this moment that I put my hoof to my mask and painfully tugged it off, tearing the last few threads out with it. Blood dripped out the seems as my mask finally came off.

One of the Taskmasters came forward, it was Fera, the youngest and supportive of them all. She lit up her horn. I didn’t understand what she meant with this. The sound of metal gears moving came from above. The finale was here. I looked up towards the fiery abyss, to see nothing but smoke fall. When it touched the ground, nightmares formed. Appearing before me, a shadow, the shadow of a pony. It had no mask, no face, nothing but darkness beyond black. It stared at me, and I, it. The wraith seemed unfurled, peaceful, and friendly. I was scared. There had been nothing like this before. As it came towards me, my vision faded. I grew tired, ready to sleep for a thousand years, if possible. Everything around me went silent and blinding. This was my end.

Author's Note

Woohoo!
Now you can wait for the sequel if I ever actually start writing it.