The next day, things were a lot more tense. There wasn’t going to be another carnival for a few days. The Taskmaster wasn’t pleased with the performances. We weren’t awoken by the buzzer, nor by the yelling of an Overseer, but instead by the crack of a whip. He came into the room, ready to lash a few for their failure to entertain.

“Everypony up!” he screamed, cracking his whip once more. “Last night’s performance was complete and utterly made of shite!” Taskmaster pointed towards the smallest unicorn filly from my row. “You, get up here!” She walked to him, shaking, terrified of the imminent actions. “This is what will happen if you smirk off on your duties!” He struck down on her, smiting her in the face with his whip. Her mask shattered in many places, stabbing her with shrapnel. Blood spurted from her head. She shrieked in pain, only provoking him more than before. One lash, two lash, three lash, four, all until she was on the ground, blinded and useless. It was a gory sight, but the worst part was the look on the Taskmaster. I couldn’t see past his mask to see his facial expression, but there was something telling me he enjoyed it. It wasn’t as much joy as anything else, it was less, it was a chill expression, a calm one, a terrible one for this situation. He felt no guilt, never did, how far could he hurt us before he feels again for his fellow kind?

She laid there, almost lifeless, after many lashes, it was impressive how much she had taken, but not something I wished to compete with. Blood trickled down her body, forming a pool around her. She was as good as dead. He yelled at us to get to work, forcing us to leave our sister unattended, not like all of us would if an option were given anyways. I wondered what I had missed that she had done, or failed to do, that caused such an outburst. Maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to visit the door today, but what comes from a good idea that doesn’t end out to be bad? I fought myself over this decision for the entire shower. Some of us were more still than usual. More statue than ever, if that was possible, and apparently it was.

She never entered the locker room. None of us had any idea of her condition. I worried for that stranger, who I had known for years, but never really known. The ability to converse made into a curse. Such a wonderful ability, priced so high, and punished so heavy.

I mostly kept towards my usual grounds for the rest of the day. #20429 kept trying to be flirty with me, due to that regretful kiss I gave him the night before. He was so touchy, even though he knew if they saw us over-communicating with each other that horrible things would happen, he kept trying. I tried to hint him to bug off, but he wouldn’t. What have I done?

The entertainers worked very hard today, practicing to right whatever wrongs they had done yesterday. Nopony wanted to end up like that filly, as punishments were surely to get worse. How bad were the punishments for the older performers? They must be good after so many years, but to be flawless in this damaged society seems impossible.

As I looked back towards the door, nothing different appeared since yesterday. It was the same old door, not even a star pony was guarding the tent that housed it. #20429 mentioned that he wanted to go inside of it, to meet the pony inside the odd room. I kept telling him no, kept telling him that I wouldn’t go with him, at least not today, not after what happened to the filly. Still he kept on, no matter how many times I rejected to go with him today, whether it be to the room, or somewhere else, he persisted. It was annoying, not the kind of annoying to be cute or to get your attention, just the kind that eventually made you give in, the kind that made you like them a little less just for doing it. In truth, I wanted to as much as him, probably more, but he was scared to go alone, I was scared to be caught, and those two reasons are very different, just like those who possess the reasoning behind it. It was just to be impressive for him, he didn’t care about the punishment, as long as he got to live a little more there was no punishment enough to stop him. I was jealous of this, even if it was stupidity.

We never went into the room. The star ponies came and got us, sent us to lunch, and again, we kept whispering, and when we got the feeling that they were listening, we stopped whispering and talked with our food. He stopped talking about the door, and more about me and him, us. It was a subject I wasn’t the most comfortable with, since he expected so much, he expected we were something, but we weren’t. It was only a kiss. I wanted nothing from him, at least nothing like he did, it wasn’t allowed, it wouldn’t be possible.

The star ponies entered the room every now and then, even though they were already watching us. Maybe it was just a ruse and that there were no cameras on us or maybe they had to be sure of something that the camera couldn’t focus on. One of them came in with a notepad, writing something down, like he was observing us for something more. Most of us kept our heads down, like we were supposed to, but it never felt right.

When they directed us towards our beds, there were changes to the room. Subtle ones, the floor had been washed, the first time it ever had been during our stay. It was frightening, they didn’t like change, what could be provoking it? The Taskmaster came into the room, he didn’t say nothing, just walked in for a second and left. This would go on for the next few weeks, high security, total fear, lashes everyday, and most importantly, curiosity.

Author's Note

I'm not to proud on how I ended this chapter, but I wanted to get it out of the way for the next.