Tragedy's Finale, A Stickman's Adventures 10th Anniversary Friendship Letter

(How about we do a new story? This one has a sense of mystery and, as the title suggests, tragedy. This one is set in present day, after the events of Operation: Final Battle 6. So basically we're seeing Stickman as his sentient reign self in story form for the first time here. The story? Well... Let's set the scene. Sentient Reign Stickman and his friends happen upon a mysterious theater in Equestria that's been seeing disappearances of ponies for the past few... months. However, once they step inside, not everything's as it seems. Will they escape this horror show of theatre? Or will they be cast into the role... for their lives? Find out in this new story, Tragedy's End! Oh by the way, when I mention Stickman, I'm going to mean his Sentient Reign Self, as the present time in this story is still having Prime Stickman rejuvenate in the pencil sword. Enjoy! -Stickman) CHAPTER ONE: CASTING CALL Stickman and his friends hear of reports of a mysterious new theater in Equestria. Ponies and creatures go in... and never return back out. Stickman and his friends went to investigate, as this was a cause for alarm for our heroes. The theater was just like any other theater. Theater masks in the form of pony faces sat on the entrance to the theater. "Tickets for five?" A nearby voice said. Stickman and his friends jumped back. Stickman took out the Nataruk and drew back it's "bowstring", forming a sentient arrow. Jewel lit her wing on fire, Skye and Skystar wielded their keyblades, and Yinu spawned her Keytar keyblade, ready for war. "Tickets for five?" the voice said again. The voice was coming from the ticket counter. We became at ease and went to the ticket counter. "Y...yes." Stickman said. Since he was a bird, he handed some bits to Skystar who placed them on the counter. "No bits required." The voice said as 5 tickets slid toward the group. Stickman flew up and grabbed them. "Thank you. Please enjoy the show." The voice said as the entrance doors opened. They went through, and stepped into the void. Once inside, the door closed, enveloping darkness around the five. Ropes came down from upward and suddenly grabbed Jewel, Skye, Skystar, and Yinu. "No!" Stickman said as he slinged quick shot arrows from the Nataruk at the ropes, hoping to snap them. They missed, and Stickman's friends got dragged into the darkness, leaving him all alone. "Nooo!" Stickman yelled into the void. "Please take your seats. The show is about to begin!" A announcer said. A spotlight shone on a single theater seat, and Stickman took his seat, suspicious of what's going on. The show was about to begin. CHAPTER TWO: A TRAGIC FATE, SCENE 1 Spotlights shone upon a stage. Curtains rose, and it then showed Stickman's friends in new outfits. Something was... off about them, though. Stickman noticed that Jewel was in a cage, a thing Stickman knew she wouldn't like, since she likes to be free. Skye had her goggles, pup-pack, and sweater removed and was in a princess outfit, much like one of her Halloween outfits. Skystar was more an angler-fish-like appearance, clearly being forced into her seapony form. She looked horrifying. Yinu had a peasant's outfit on instead of her pianist outfit. Something was clearly off here, but it's not like Stickman had much of a choice. He had to sit through a theater play. "Ladies and gentlemen, birds and creatures of all ages, we bring to you a story of tragic tales, a story of adventure, and a story like no other!" The announcer said. Stickman sat back in his seat, unable to do anything. He sat through a play where Yinu had heard of a destiny where she was to save a princess with the help of her trusty bird, which was Jewel. The princess was being kidnapped by an evil sea creature, which was Skystar. Sounded familiar to what Stickman and his friends go through sometimes. As the scenes drag on, Stickman noticed that his friends weren't acting like their usual selves, but he chalked it up to stage fright. He knew what he saw though when they entered the theater. However... When Yinu and Jewel reached Skystar and Skye, it was too late. Skystar chomped down on Skye, having her fall limp. Strangely enough though, there was no blood coming out of her. "How is this happening... There should be blood coming out of her... not like it matters though." Stickman said, confused. Lights went dark, and it was time for play two. CHAPTER THREE: A TRAGIC FATE, SCENE 2 Spotlights shone upon the stage once more. The curtains rose, and it had Skystar dressed up as Prime Stickman, golden hair and all. It seemed like a nice tribute, to which Stickman smiled at. Jewel was dressed up as The Darkitect, even had all the glowing maelstrom on her and all. Stickman liked the attention to detail. Skye and Yinu were dressed up as Jewel and Skystar. It seems that this play was recreating the first Operation: Final Battle, an event which Sentient Reign Stickman never went through, which he was excited to see. It all went downhill very quickly, however. Halfway through their "Battle", Jewel sent out some maelstromic fire aimed at Skye, to which Skye yelped in pain. Play yelp, of course... or so it seemed to Stickman. "Stickman", or, Skystar, rushed over to help "Jewel". However, Jewel took aim at Skystar, and launched a portal underneath Skystar. Skystar sunk into the portal, and it looked like all was lost. Stickman started to get concerned now. This wasn't how it was supposed to go according to the archives... He had to get to the bottom of this. After the curtains fell, he snuck backstage. It was time to get to the bottom of this. CHAPTER FOUR: BACKSTAGE ACCESS Once he went into the door leading to the backstage, he took out the Roztu and wielded it, in case something might happen. He noticed the stage master's room and poked inside. There was no one in there. Something really was off now. "Please proceed back to the theater area. You are not allowed back here." An announcer said above what seemed to be an endless void. "I'm not going to watch any more of your plays! My friends are trapped here!" Stickman said as he pointed out the Roztu toward the upward void. The announcer said the same thing again, but Stickman ignored it. He made his way further into the backstage. Something had to be done. "And just what do you think you're doing back here?" A voice said. It came from in front of him. A cloaked figure stood in front of Stickman, who was holding out the Roztu, pointed at the cloaked figure. "I want my friends back!" Stickman said. "Hmm. Interesting. You have a fighting spirit. You'll be perfect for my next play!" The cloaked figure said as it launched out ropes aimed at Stickman. Stickman sliced the ropes, and the ropes retracted back into the cloaked figure. The figure then retreated to the catwalk. "Grr... Thinking you can skip out on this play, huh? You were meant to star, Stickman... Meant to star in my play!" The figure said. Stickman flew up to the catwalk and pursued the figure. CHAPTER FIVE: THE FINAL BOW The figure wasn't giving up chase as Stickman pursued it. It then stopped and turned toward Stickman. The cloak blew enough to reveal that the figure was none other than a unicorn... but not just any unicorn. It appeared to have wooden-like structures. "Who are you?" Stickman said as he took out the Nataruk, and aimed it at the figure. "I go by many names. You could see me as a tragedy. You could see me as a comedy. But to me... I am the Stagemaster. I was destined for greatness, and you shall not rob me of it!" The Stagemaster said. Stickman kept his aim true. "What have you done with all the ponies that went into your theater?!" Stickman said. "Why... they're all right here!" The Stagemaster said as spotlights shone upon hollowed out puppets of ponies. It was quite the creepy sight. He then noticed his friends struggling against the ropes' control. "Let them go. Now!" Stickman said as he continued to aim down the Stagemaster. "Now why would I do that when I can have the performance of a life time?" The Stagemaster said. The Stagemaster then pulled down Jewel and started puppeteering her. "Isn't this your sister, Stickman?" The Stagemaster said. Jewel was clearly struggling, but couldn't do much of anything. "Attack, my puppet!" The Stagemaster said as Jewel proceeded to attack Stickman. With grace and skill, Stickman managed to avoid Jewel's magic while snapping the ropes holding her against her will. This seemed to snap her back to normal. "S...Stickman? What... how was the play?" Jewel said. "Horrible. Stunk." Stickman jokingly said as the two birds faced down the Stagemaster. "So this is the creep that tried to control me?" Jewel said as an icicle formed in her wings. "Careful, sis, these ponies are still alive. We need to set them free!" Stickman said. Jewel nodded and got to work, first freeing their friends. They then got to work freeing the puppet ponies. "No, no, no! This isn't supposed to happen!" The Stagemaster said as he tried to control Stickman's friends again. Jewel burned the ropes away that were heading towards them. "No!" The Stagemaster said. He then turned his attention to Stickman. "Show's over, Stagemaster." Stickman said as he let loose a sentient arrow, hitting the Stagemaster, knocking him out. As he was knocked out, the hollowed ponies turned back to normal. The theater started to shake. "C'mon, let's get out of here!" Stickman said as he put the Nataruk back on his back. The five then guided all the ponies out of the theater. "You haven't seen the last of me!" The Stagemaster said as he got up. EPILOGUE: CLOSING CURTAINS Stickman and his friends made it out just as the theater collapsed in on itself. The lost ponies were free, and so were Stickman's friends! "Oh thank Celestia that's over." Skystar said as she stretched. "I didn't really wanna be a puppet in a play anymore." Yinu said as she brushed her hair back to her normal hairstyle. "Heh, I guess you could say theater is your specialties, though." Stickman said. "Yeah... but not when you're forced to do theater." Jewel said, laughing. Stickman then looked at the ruins of the theater. "I can't shake the feeling we haven't seen the last of the Stagemaster." Stickman said. "Well, whenever he decides to come out of retirement, we'll be ready to face him." Skye said. Elsewhere, The Stagemaster was already plotting his revenge against the heroes. "You ruined my play... you ruined everything, Stickman... And now... you will be facing an encore here real soon..." The Stagemaster said. He then laughed evilly. THE END!