Despite Rainbow’s unchecked ambition to conquering Twilight in chess, the latter was doing better than expected. Rainbow had made smooth manoeuvres with her knights, and, as a result, Twilight lost a bishop, a rook, and a few pawns—but that didn’t discourage Twilight in the least.
And to make things a little more worthwhile and interesting, Twilight and Rainbow made a deal. It turned out that Twilight had purchased a limited, collector’s edition of the new Daring Do novel, and the deal was, if Rainbow beat Twilight in a game of chess, it would be Rainbow’s forever. If the pegasus lost, however, she’d not only lose the limited edition, but she’d also have to spend more time at the library in keeping Twilight company during the weekends. Rainbow wasn’t opposed to the latter, but she was opposed to the former.
“Knight to E5,” Twilight said, using her magic to move the white piece. Her mind stopped to think about the move she had made. “Looks about right. Your turn, Rainbow Dash.”
“Oh, this’ll be easy,” Rainbow said, a cheeky smirk crossing her face. She hastily took hold of her knight, only to be stopped by Twilight’s magic.
“Rainbow Dash, stop rushing your moves. The point of chess is to challenge the mind by taking your time, but not too much time, and anticipating your opponent’s next move, which is why you have to make the correct move that’ll leave your opponent in a jam, and—”
“Twilight,” Rainbow said, “you worry too much. Like I said, chess is all about speed and knocking out as many pieces as you can as fast as you can.”
“No it isn’t. It’s about precision and—”
“Can I make my move?”
“Oh, sorry,” Twilight said, freeing Rainbow’s piece. “I won’t interfere with your ‘plan’. Keep playing.”
“I will.” Rainbow moved her black knight to B5. “Hehe, that’ll show her.”
“Show me what?”
“Uh, nothing. Did I say that aloud? Pretend like you didn’t hear anything.”
Twilight exhaled, then rolled her eyes. “Pawn to C4.”
“Oh, yeah, this one's a keeper.” Rainbow advanced her bishop to C4, essentially eliminating Twilight’s pawn. To Rainbow, it was a moment of prideless victory since she had conquered another piece from Twilight; but then she realized that it would come bite her in the backend if Twilight were smart enough, which she undoubtedly was.
“Knight to C4,” Twilight said, moving her knight to remove Rainbow’s bishop. After that, Twilight had a saucy smirk on her face. “What’d I tell you? You can’t be rushing moves like that.” A giggle escaped from Twilight.
“Hey, no fair,” Rainbow said.
“What are you saying, Rainbow Dash? That was a legit move. And a mistake on your part. Sorry.”
“Oh, you’re so gonna lose, Sparkle Butt!”
Twilight gasped. “You didn’t just call me that!”
“You bet I did. Now stop talking, you’re distracting me.”
For the next while, Rainbow had made some irrational, brash moves. While some did surprise Twilight, the results were inevitable, at least if Rainbow didn’t pause to consider her next few moves more carefully. She had lost both her beloved knights, a rook, two pawns, and her last bishop while Twilight had lost a knight, and two more pawns.
Still, even though Rainbow knew, to some extent, she was going to lose, so she found silly ways to stall herself from the humiliation of defeat.
“Queen to E3. Check!” Twilight said, her voice full of confident.
“Uh, king to D8,” Rainbow said, moving her king. “That should do it.”
“Are you sure about that, Rainbow? Bishop to—”
“Twilight! Look behind you! There’s a small swarm of bees.”
Twilight whipped her head around while saying, “What in Equestria are you talking about, Rainbow Dash?”
For the very little time Rainbow had, she switched around some pieces, albeit in a way that Twilight wouldn’t notice. Or so she hoped.
When Twilight turned back around, she saw a huge smile on Rainbow’s face. “What are you doing, Rainbow? You better not be messing around with the pieces.”
“Me? What? No. Never. I’d never cheat, Twilight. I swear!”
Twilight’s eyes were scrunching down, as if she were a detective suspicious of one’s motives. “I got my eye on you, Rainbow. Now where were we? My turn right? Queen to B6.”
When the piece landed on the B6 square, Rainbow bursted out in peals of laughter. “Oh, my gosh, Twilight. And you tell me not to rush. Pawn to B6.” Rainbow grabbed Twilight’s white queen. “Looks like like the Sparkle Butt doesn’t have a queen anymore.”
“What the…how is that possible? There was never a pawn there. Rainbow Dash, you did move around the pieces, didn’t you?”
“No way!” Rainbow failed the urge to smile widely as possible, only making her guilt more obvious. “Okay, maybe I moved one piece, but, still, you gotta give me some credit. You didn’t even notice the small change, and you’re the one who’s suppose to notice every little change in detail. Am I right or wrong?”
Twilight gritted her teeth. Truthfully, she was frustrated and angry with Rainbow. If steam were inside her right now, she’d be ready to burst, like a pipe. “Oh, you’re impossible, sometimes, Rainbow Dash.”
“Me? What about you and all the time you took at the beginning of our game? You took three minutes to make the first move. And you’re the one that said you shouldn’t take too much time in chess.”
“You shouldn’t, it’s just that—”
“Excuses, excuses, excuses,” Rainbow said. “Enough bickering, you gonna make the next move?”
“Argh. Fine. But I’m not taking my eye off of you, Lightning Butt. You’re. Going. Down.”
“Bring it.”
For the next ten minutes, Rainbow and Twilight were battling it out as if it were for their very lives, though the battle didn’t last long when Rainbow got a pawn to Twilight’s end of the board, promoting the pawn to a knight, based off Rainbow’s choice. “Oh, yeah, this is gonna be an easy win now.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. My rook will take it out as soon as it comes into play.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Rainbow said, scrunching her eyes.
“Try me.”
And so, Rainbow promoted her little pawn to a knight, only for it to be taken down by Twilight’s rook. The pegasus called out Twilight’s faux bluff. “Okay, so maybe you weren’t bluffing. Oh, man, this game just got ten times harder.”
“I told you, Rainbow Dash, I’m gonna win this one. Why don’t you give up?”
“Never!”
“Pawn to D2. Check!”
“Oh, no. King to B1.”
“Rook to B8.”
“King to A1.”
“Rook to A8.”
“King to B1.”
“Seriously?” Rainbow asked. “Is this how it’s gonna be now?”
“What else do you want me to do? You keep checking me. I have to do something.”
Rainbow sighed. “Queen to G6. Check. Again.”
“King to B2.”
“Rook to B8.”
“King to A1.”
“I got you now Sparkle Butt. Queen to B1. Checkmate.”
“Oh, Rainbow, when will you learn. Rook to B1.”
“What the. No way! I checkmated you!”
“No you didn’t. You forgot I had a rook on my side. Your fault.”
“Pawn to C2. I only have two pawns left, and I won’t have you take ’em,” Rainbow said.
“It’s not your pawns you should be worried about, it’s your king. Knight to C7. Check.”
“Uh, king to F8.”
“Knight to A8. I’ll just take that, thank you kindly.”
“What? You gotta be kidding me! Now I only have two pawns and a king? What am I supposed to do?”
“Plan your next move as carefully as possible, Rainbow Butt.”
“This game is far from over, Sparkle Butt, mark my words. Pawn to E2.”
Twilight started laughing. “Did you forget I have a pawn at your end? Pawn to C8. Time for queening.”
Rainbow cocked her head. “What now?”
“It’s when I promote my pawn to a queen.”
“Like ponyfeathers! That’s not a rule.”
“Yes, it is. If a pawn from the opposing side makes it to the other end, the player can promote it to be a queen, bishop, rook, or knight. Now, can I please have my queen back? You get to keep this pawn.,” Twilight said, her voice sounding alluring yet competitive.
“Fine.” Rainbow handed Twilight back here queen.
“Thanks. Your turn.”
“Pawn to—”
“Um, Rainbow, your king is in check.”
Rainbow’s face was almost the colour of a blood tomato. “Ugh, king to G7.”
“Knight to B6,” Twilight said.
“Pawn to G1. I call my queen!”
“Alright, Rainbow, here you go.”
“Thanks. Oh, and by the way, you’re king is in check.”
“Uh, right… King to E2.”
“Hehe, Queen to B1. I’ll take that rook of yours.”
“Queen to C2. Looks likes Rainbow Butt is all out of pawns.”
“And it looks like Sparkle Butt is about to be out of another queen. “Queen to B2.”
“What? No way. How did I make a mistake like that? I-I. That’s impossible!”
Rainbow started laughing. “And you said you’re the one who doesn’t rush their next move. Right…By the way, Twi, your king is in check.”
“King to E1,” Twilight said, her voice losing all confidence at the hope of winning.
“Queen to B1. Check, Twilight.”
Twilight let out a vexed sigh. “King to F2.”
“I gotcha now, Sparkle Butt! Queen to B7. Got your knight, and you’re in check again. Now all you have is your king.”
Truth be told, Twilight didn’t expect to lose to Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, especially since she was the one that said chess was all about speed and eliminating the nearest pieces. Turns out she wasn’t wrong about that. Twilight caved in all hope of winning, and knocked her king down with a hoof, before saying, “I forfeit. You win, Rainbow Dash. Either way it would’ve been a stalemate in the end.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, far past their sockets, and she launched herself in the air, after which she hoof pumped. “Aw, yeah, I beat Twilight Sparkle in chess! That means—”
“Yep, the novel is all yours, Rainbow, once it’s returned,” Twilight said as she hopped off the stool she was sitting on.
Spike came in. “What’s with all the noise in here?”
“Oh, nothing, I just beat the smartest pony I know in a game of chess. I think I deserve a medal for such a feat,” Rainbow said, a cocky grin crossing her face.
“Eh, it’s nothing special, really. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go help Rarity with something. Later.” Spike left.
“Uh, Twilight, what did he mean by ‘it’s nothing special really’?”
“Oh, nothing…just that I always lose to Spike.”