Chapter three. Chess.
Both, Luna and John stood in awe while hearing the voice in the outside of the room.
"Umm... who did you say it was?" John asked curiously to Luna.
"It's my sister. I have to hide you somewhere!" Luna was frenetic, trying to find one place to hide him.
Luna inspected many places. The bathroom? No. What if she had to use the bathroom?... The balcony? No. The moon provided a very descent amount of light. He'd be discovered in a few seconds... the wardrobe?
...
"PERFECT!" Luna shouted as she turned to bite John's shirt and drag him to the wardrobe.
"HEY- WHA-" John's protest was cut out by the wardrobe's doors closing in front of him.
As he felt the doors closing, he also felt a sharp thing that pierced his arm. In that moment, he started to feel dizzy and confused. As he felt his body became numb, many questions came to him.
Why was Luna so nervous about her sister seeing him? Why the nervousness even to the point where she stopped her medieval language, as her typical "we" or "us"... even the "thou"?
Luna, after hiding John in the wardrobe went quickly to the door. She took a few moments to compose herself before opening.
"Good evening, dearest elder sister. What is the reason to come to us in such a rush?" Luna asked, trying her best to hide her nervousness.
"Good evening, again. Luna, let me in." Celestia ordered coldly to her.
"Why does thou demand that in-"
"Let. Me. In." Celestia ordered once again.
This time, Luna step aside and allowed her the entrance. At that moment, Luna started to feel even more anxious than before. And Celestia noted it.
"Dear sister. I sensed something in here. Something... strange."
"What is that thing thou noted?"
"I don't know. I..."
Suddenly, Celestia stopped talking and her horn lit up. Almost instantly, she turned away and looked to the wardrobe.
"There. I can feel it again."
Celestia started to walk toward the wardrobe. She was about to open it, when Luna step in front of her.
"THOU CAN NOT SEE IN THERE!" Luna said seemingly nervous.
"Let me see it. I sense something strange in there."
"NO!- I mean... Our royal wardrobe has not been... arranged... properly."
Celestia looked at her, seemingly annoyed.
"Luna. What are you hiding from me?"
Luna was taken by surprise. She tried to avoid the eye contact. Therefore, she moved from where she was.
"Nothing. We aren't hiding anything from thou. We just-"
"Then, you're not going to offend if i see in." Celestia said while opening the door.
"NOO!"
Celestia opened the wardrobe, just to step back when a black pony fell from the inside. Both sisters stood in awe. Celestia because she didn't knew who this pony was or how he got to Luna's wardrobe.
Luna, by the other hand, was wondering why there was a pony in her wardrobe. She put in there a human.
John felt the pain in his new body. As he hit in his chin, he got disoriented only a few seconds. At the other side of the room, there was a mirror, in which, he saw his new self.
He was a black pony with a brown mane. Instead of hands, he had hooves.
He was stunned by the vision. However, something caught his attention. The two mares in front of him.
One was white with a rainbow-like mane. John guessed by what Luna said that she was her sister.
He turned to see Luna, who was extremely anxious. Her hooves were shaking. She was even sweating.
He took a few moments to gather the enough strength to stand.
"Oh, mon dieu Princess! I thought that you said that we would be totally alone!"
Celestia turned to Luna again. This time, she was confused.
Luna wasn't better than her, as she was still shaking and sweating. She turned to her sister just to give an awkward answer.
"I-I-I... I-I..." As she tried her best to speak, she couldn't.
Celestia turned her head toward her sister, then back to the black stallion. After that, a devilish grin was formed in her face.
"Oh, Luna. I didn't knew you were finally dating." Celestia said while empathizing the "finally".
"I-I..."
"Youg highness! I must stand in here and say to you that we age not dating. I am hege as a pofessional chess instugteg." John said in a perfect Equestrian French accent.
Celestia turned again to him. She eyed him meticulously.
However, Lady Luck was at his side, while he was wearing a cutie mark of a chess Knight. In the other side of the room, there was a chess board.
And, even better, was the fact that Luna never learned how to play chess. She even asked her sister to teach her how to play. However, Celestia never had time for her.
Celestia smiled at her sister.
"Oh. I see you got somepony to teach you about this game."
"... Oh, yes, dear sister. I asked him to come here to teach me how to play."
Celestia smirked while looking at John.
"What is you name, gentle pony?"
John obviously saw that Luna didn't wanted her sister to discover there was a human in the room. As he remembered his colors, he said the first thing that came to him.
"Black... Black Knight."
Celestia smirked even more at the name of the stallion. She guessed that his name came from his fur color and his special talent.
"Well, mister Black. How good are you at chess?" Celestia asked him with a grin forming in his face.
"Well... I don't like to talk about my abilities, but... i defend myself."
"Okay, mister chess master. Shall we?" Celestia said while levitating the chess to him.
John looked at her. Just one thought came to him.
"White ones versus the Black ones." He stated at the obvious colors of the two of them.
"Seems reasonable." Celestia confirmed. "You the black ones, I suppose?"
"Ladies figst, milady." John pointed to the white ones.
In the center of the room was a small table with two chairs next to it. On the table was the Chess, already positioned to the battle.
Celestia took her position in front of Black. Her first move was taking a pawn and moving it one space forward. Black copied the movement. His movements were slightly dumb.
"I can see you like to imitate the movements." Celestia said while moving a bishop forward.
"No. It's just that it seems like the most logical option." Black said while moving a knight forward, putting it next to the end of the board.
Celestia moved another pawn two spaces ahead, making way for the Rook to go out.
"Hm. You like frontal attack. Right, your highness?" Black said while moving the pawn next to the Queen one space forward
"If you can make the right strategy, then it can be quite accurate."
Luna watched as the battle raced on. After two hours, Celestia and John still were battling fiercely against each other. However, John was in a serious disadvantage, for he only counted with his King, his Queen, two Pawns and one Knight.
Celestia, however, still had most of her pawns, one Bishop, her Two Rooks, her Queen and her King hadn't change position.
"Why, mister Black. You don't seem to be quite good on this." Celestia said while moving a pawn even nearer to the final lane.
"Well, it's not done until it's done."
"Yes. You are right. However, I must ask... how do you plan to win this one?" Celestia said, showing a true curiosity.
Black merely stood in there, while watching intently the board. Suddenly, he stood up and watched Celestia closely.
"... I give you one movement to sugendeg." Black said to Celestia, while seeing serious about it.
Celestia only watched him, while Black stood in there. Suddenly, she started to laugh. Barely audible.
"... I think you didn't hear what I said. The possibilities of you winning against me are minimal! And you say that I must surrender?"
"... That is, unless you don't want to suffeg a painful defeat, you highness."
Celestia moved her Pawn to the final line.
"I transform it into a Queen." She said.
Immediately, the board obeyed her. The Pawn shined until it was a Queen.
Black eyed her. After several moments, he made his move.
He moved his Queen toward a point where it was facing directly the King. Celestia's eyes became tiny just by seeing the movement.
In the instant she moved the Pawn, the path was clear for him to pierce through her defenses, fooling all her pieces. Her pyramid-like formation provided the right entrance for her Queen to enter.
And she couldn't catch his Queen, because his Knight was protecting her.
Having that movement, she saw the truth.
"... Check... Mate..." She said while seeing the board.
Her newly acquired Queen became a Pawn again, signal that the game was finished.
Black smiled at her.
"... Well... you can't say that i didn't waned you, Highness."
Celestia merely stood in there while seeing the board.
"Nopony... ever... beat me... at this..."
"I suppose, you highness, that thege is always a figst time."
Celestia didn't said a thing. She just stood in there. Black made a sign to Luna.
"Well, Highness. I must be on my way. Luna might want to start learning this."
Still with the sounds of hoofsteps getting away, Celestia just sat in there while trying to rationalize what just happened. Was this pony more intelligent than her? And if he was... how?
While they were in the hallway, Luna was eyeing closely this "Black", as John named himself.
John realized this and turned to her.
"So..."
"... I have three questions. May I?"
"... Yeah. Go ahead."
"First one. Why are you a pony?"
"Don't know. When you got me into your wardrobe I felt a sharp thing in my arm."
Luna turned his sight to one of his hooves. In there, she saw a small earring.
"That's my mother's earring."
John turned to see his leg.
"Wha- How did this got here?"
John turned to see Luna. She was blushing, but not from anything else but rage. Her eyes, like two powerful flames gazing at him, confirmed his suspicions.
In a calmed pace, he turned his head to his leg and took out the sharp part of the object.
"There. Sorry about that." John said while giving Luna the earring.
Luna didn't did anything but staring at him. John was wondering why she was like that.
Suddenly, Luna bit his shirt and dragged him to a near room.
"HEY-WHA-" John felt certain Deja-vu after being locked again in a dark room. However, he noted something weird.
Luna pulled him from his shirt. And when he was a pony he was completely naked.
That could only mean one thing.
"You're a human, again." Luna made the observation in the dark.
"Yeah. It was that thing. Now that I realize, when I was in your wardrobe, I felt a sharp thing stitching in my arm. And next thing I knew was... I was a pony."
Luna nodded. She saw it. In the moment he took out the earring, he became human again.
"Well... that answers my first question." Luna said while stitching again the earring into John's ear.
"OUCH! Tell me when you're going to do something like that, please!"
John couldn't see how happened. However, he felt his body transforming again.
"Now, to my second question..." Luna stated while opening the door.
"Go ahead..."
"How were you able to defeat my sister? For as long as I know, she was truly the best tactician in the land. Everypony who dared to challenge her finished in a dramatic defeat."
"Well... I don't know. It was just like... seeing what she wanted moments before it happened."
"That means you can see the future?"
"I think you already know the answer to that."
"... 'I don't know'..." Luna stated, obviously annoyed.
"Now, for the third question..." John stated.
Luna blushed before asking.
"Do you think that... you could... teach me? How to play Chess?"