Scholar Arc
Month 2, Day 6
"The black clad knight let his gaze wander over the battlefield, all around him was chaos. So much so, that it was getting difficult to differentiate between friend and foe. Various explosive spells detonated across the battlefield, kicking up dust and dirt, making visibility poor. His watchful eyes searched for any meaningful sign of movement amidst the chaos, when he spotted his next target.”
“A lone enemy footsoldier carefully advanced through the billowing dirt and debris, keeping an eye out for enemies. He hadn't yet spotted the knight to his right, his dark armor allowing him to blend into his surroundings. Not allowing his newly found adversary any time to react, the knight sprinted towards him, closing the gap between them with a mighty leap, ending the pawn's life instantly by driving his spear through his unprotected neck."
Amber made some weird sounds that should probably have been an explosion as Atlas’s black knight took out one of Amethyst's pawns.
"You know, if you're bored you could find somebody else to play something with, instead of narrating our every move," Atlas said as he waited for Amethyst's next move in their game of chess.
"I don't know," Amber thought out loud. "This is pretty entertaining."
"For you maybe," Amethyst grumbled as he moved his bishop along the board, threatening one of Atlas's towers by doing so.
The three were currently in the recreational room of their dorm, having retreated there to relax after a long day of studying. At first, it was only Atlas and Amethyst who had decided to engage in a game of chess, until Amber plopped down next to them, seemingly bored.
Since the two of them didn't want to let their game end in a draw, Amber had to wait for them to finish, which seemed to bore her even more. As both players took a their time to think over their moves, it left Amber with ample time to narrate the whole thing.
While Atlas found it quite amusing how intricate the story had become at this point, Amethyst was obviously bothered by it. A fact which he brought up every so often, claiming it disturbed his concentration.
"Aw come on!" Amber whined. "You guys have been playing for almost half an hour now, it's not my fault you guys are so slow."
"Just go play something else while we finish this," Amethyst almost begged. "Please?"
"Well, I for one, find her story quite amusing," Atlas retorted as he moved his tower out of the way. "Especially the part about how your queen was betrayed by a simple citizen seeking an audience."
Atlas smirked at Amethyst who shot him an annoyed look back. Due to a stupid mistake, Amethyst lost his queen to one of Atlas's pawns early on in the game. Something that Atlas found highly amusing, therefore he rubbed it in his face every chance he got.
"I'm still going to beat you, though," Amethyst said, moving his own tower to a seemingly random spot on the board. "Even without my Queen."
The smirk on Amethyst's face told Atlas all he needed to know. He had something planned, possibly derived from one or two of Atlas's most logical next moves.
Shaking his head slightly, Atlas did what Amethyst would least expect. Currently, no pieces of his were in immediate danger, so he simply moved his King one field forward.
"What?" Amethyst cried out with a frown on his face. "Why would you move your King in this situation? That doesn't make any sense!"
"Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" Atlas replied, a smirk on his face. "After all, if the King doesn't lead, why should his troops follow him?
"Chess isn't about politics Atlas! It's about strategy!" Amethyst said, his jimmies clearly rustled.
"Amber seems to agree with me," Atlas mentioned offhandedly while pointing in her general direction.
"Yeah, that move really boosted your army's morale! I'm sure they'll fight even more fervently to protect their kingdom now!" Amber cheered.
Amethyst put his head between his hooves in frustration, peeking through the gap to observe the board. He remained silent, contemplating his next move as Amber started to tell a heart moving story about one of Atlas's pawns who had almost lost hope at this point but joined the battle with renewed vigor as he saw his King charge straight at the enemy forces.
As time went on without a decision from the purple unicorn, Amber's story got increasingly more ridiculous. During Amethyst’s attempts to shut her ramblings out, he spotted something which Atlas seemed to have missed when he previously moved his king just to make a point. He grabbed his white knight and moved him into position.
"Check," Amethyst announced happily after making his move.
Atlas just gave him an unamused glance while he moved in his Queen from the side to eliminate Amethyst's knight.
"Checkmate," Atlas replied, letting Amethyst know that he fucked up.
Atlas enjoyed watching Amethyst going through the stages of loss while Amber fiercely continued to retell her impromptu story.
At first, he furrowed his brows in denial, trying to figure out what just happened. His eyes scanned the board for where he went wrong until he realized how hard he was played.
"WHAT?" Amethyst shouted, clearly upset.
Anger, most likely at himself for not having seen the obvious ploy of the enemy commander.
"That was unfair!" Amethyst spat. "Amber was talking the whole time, that was psychological warfare by an outside force! I demand a rematch!"
Bargaining. It seemed like a sound argument at first glance, albeit, it was flawed.
"I was subject to the same conditions, your point is moot," Atlas calmly stated.
"But... But... I'm the best at chess around here," Amethyst whined as he plopped back into his chair, defeated. "It can't be..."
Atlas raised a brow at Amethyst; in his opinion he was clearly overreacting, it was just a game of chess after all. As Atlas had found out pretty early on during the match, ponies didn't really use too many advanced tactics. If he had to guess, it was probably because the game was invented only recently, around a hundred years ago. Since Atlas used to play chess quite often with his friends or occasionally online when he was bored, he considered himself to be quite good at it.
"Hey, don't worry," Atlas said. "There's always someone better than you, and don't worry, if it’s about magic, you're definitely better than me."
"Heh, I guess you're right."
Atlas watched as Amethyst's expression changed from one of defeat to one of acceptance. Apparently, Amethyst became used to the idea of being the best at almost everything, since he was one of the best students, and blessed with a magic affinity.
"Now, why don't we go do something where Amber can participate instead of distracting us?" Atlas suggested with a chuckle.
"Sure, let's go put back that chess game first, though," Amethyst replied as he got up.
The pieces magically floated into a little sack which came with the wooden playing field. They shared a laugh at Amber, which was still enthusiastically telling her tale, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.
"...as the queen stood above the enemy's king, staring down at him with cold eyes.
‘Why... Why does it have to end this way? I loved you! But you betrayed us! And for what? For some petty ideals?’ The queen asked, her halberd inches before his neck.
'You'll never understand!' the king replied. 'Your ways are old and destructive! At this rate, you're going to turn the kingdom into dust!'
'You were supposed to lead our nations to prosperity! Not destroy it by waging war!' The queen shouted, stray tears running down her face."
Amber was so into her story, she continued acting out the parts of all the characters, drawing quite a few eyes from nearby ponies. When switching between positions she noticed her two new friends walking away from their table. Apparently, they were finally done.
"Hey, guys! Wait for me!" Amber called out to them, a smile spreading on her face.
---------------------------------------------
Atlas turned in bed, rolling onto his back. After an exciting evening full of fun and games with his friends, they had retreated to their respective rooms. The only light in the room was the moon outside, illuminating the room with it's soft glow.
Amethyst had fallen asleep almost as soon as he'd made contact with the bed, leaving Atlas to his own devices. He was currently lying in bed, in his hoof resting the pendant he’d got from White Mallow a while back.
He lifted it above himself, letting the moonlight wash over the rune that was etched into the stone. The piece of jewelry taunted him with his very existence. When he got back the day he received it, he showed it to Amethyst to see if he’d ever heard about anything similar.
Amethyst flat out told him that nothing like this existed. For one, the idea of using runes was ridiculous, since one could just imbue an object directly with magic to achieve the same effect. Probably with even greater efficiency.
Also, the history of magic was apparently documented painstakingly. If there was such a thing as runic magic, you'd learn about it in magical history class.
Afterwards, Atlas did some research on his own by reading various books in the library, even going so far as asking some teachers about it. But every time he asked, the same answers presented themselves to him.
'There is no such thing' and 'That old stallion was probably just fibbing you.'
Atlas believed the old stallion, though it was just too much of a coincidence for something from his own world to just appear here for no reason. The fact that no one else seemed to know anything about this pointed to the fact that this was intentionally placed here by someone.
He was aware that this could just be a trap set specifically for him by the Greek Pantheon, but he assumed that if it was, it would have already gone off in his face when he got it.
It was then that he decided he was going to find out what this was all about. No matter how much research it would take him, he'd get to the bottom of this.
All students were to take up a specialization once they got into second grade, and he fully intended to make runic magic his. He'd probably get laughed at, at first, but once he produced results they'd have no chance but to acknowledge it. Maybe they'd even fund an expedition to the ruins where this pendant was found.
Atlas smiled as he tapped the offending rock with his free hoof, the piece starting to rotate slowly in his grasp. He sighed as he levitated it back to it's proper place on his desk, snuggling back into his covers.
Yes, he was sure that this was what he wanted to do. But those were things he'd worry about in the future. For now, learning some more magic and making friends was in order. He'd just have to take things one step at a time.
One step at a time.
Hmmm...
They ARE The Elements themselves?
I'm almost positive I'm looking too much into this, but I feel sure that these lines are going to be important at some point.
So Atlas represented the old ways, going by what the story Amber wove, which Amethyst's nation was more progressive?
Well, considering Atlas is digging into rune magic, something apparently so old everyone claims it doesn't exist, it's not inaccurate...
I know you’re joking about including this but I’m tempted to egg you on in the hopes you’ll not see reason and end up including it in a fit of insanity.
https://youtu.be/DxYyHHR0Q1c
so...
whats with that "NET!" thing you put in the postscript??
Yay! More Slice-of-Life!
I love your world!
NOW LOOK AT THIS THROW
THAT I JUST NET
WHEN I SAY FOUND
BE READY TO GO
if you included Robbie Rotten lines into the story, no one would judge you
The jimmies have been rustled.
I am now expecting a side arc of Jerry
The way the chapter was written, I feel that Atlas interest in rune magic comes out of nowhere and I don't "feel" how his interest for it grown in a genuine manner. Still, I don't know if it is intensional, of you to real or not of his friends impending deaths that will catalyzes his resolve to defeat the gods is a good. Of course, I am assuming that you are not intensionally trying to mislead the readers on your par so I won't presume too much what will happen next. I am happy that you will making a final shout out to his friends, I hope that that they will have to chance to galvanize into the elements they are supposed to represent. I wander if, the adventure Atlas is going to go on, will have something to do with the Tree of Harmony. Can't wait to see what will come next.
7738875
7738871
THROW IT ON ME NOT HIM.
7738437 welcome, I hope I can keep it :D
7738436 That's actually a star wars reference in disguise... so yeah, you're reading too much into it
7738497 Refer to the above ^^
7738518 It's actually a code word for something else entirely. I just wanted to disguise the actual enemy X because I didn't want to spoiler you guys. Giant Enemy Crabs are pretty interesting though... hmmm...
7738820 well, glorious memes of course 7738871 <--- This guy gets it! (As does 7738966 )
7738821 changed, thanks ;D
7738849 Thanks man, I appreciate it!
7738875 maybe next year... around April... or not...
7738877
Terribly sorry, but I can't make much sense of that sentence. It's less of a final shoutout, than just some added content. They'll be around for some time to come, don't worry. It's not like I'm gonna blow through this arc with incredibly hihg speed. What exactly do you find unsatisfying with his resolve to research runes? I'd love to hear your input.
7738985
ahhh ... welp i know not of that meme
i don't really do social media
i mean i own a facebook page that i visit once in a blue moon aside from that tho i got nada
Yay!
I wonder.... What if the Greek Pantheon is not the only set of gods? And perhaps this "prison" has much more depth than any of us realize.
There are some myths that suggest Hermes actually visited Asgard.... And traded with the Aesir. Granted the myths merely describe a messenger who is light on his feet (and a couple other things I can't fully recall)
So what if in this story, both pantheons exist (and possibly more). What if this runic magic comes from them? Perhaps this world was created by multiple pantheons working together?
Internet!
I normally hate time skips. But this has so much setup that its good in my book.
Shah mat.
Topical. It would be amusing if this turned out to be foreshadowing about Little Miss Princess' dad.
And so black knight captures a black pawn...
You just couldn't help yourself, could you?
7740131 NO! WRONG MEME!
7740058
7740294
7741104 I don't know... it just kinda happened ^^
7740418 Are you trying to say: Schach Matt?
7742113
Well, if I was correct, use the true myths not the marvel bastardization of marvel.
7742046 or..?
7742455 so many nets...
7742046 I do thank you though;
Sent me on a merry jaunt across youtube with the weird shit Lazytown has to offer
7742113
No, it's just a joke about the supposed origins of chess. It is said that chess is originally a Persian game, with the exclamation "checkmate" echoing the Farsi phrase "shah mat," "the king is dead." Just a funny thought, what Shah of theirs may died a century ago that they already have a fully functional chess game with recognizable phrases out of it.
7742617 One of us! One of us!
7742735 Well, TIL, I guess :D
NO DON'T TOUCH THAT!
7738985 Dark souls 3 giant crabs are Terrifying especially when you first encounter them
7738985
Sorry for the delay of my reply, I was busy these last few days. For my unsatisfactory about Atlas interest in runes is that I don't see what he finds interesting in them in the first place, sense it is not even tough or known among the unicorn, and the old earth didn't do much of an exposition at all to him to explain what it is to grave Atlas (and the readers) specially interest or explaine what potential he sees in using that sort of magic over regular unicorn magic. I am guessing that rune magic is probably the sort of program code that the Olympian gods use to create that world, and I am guessing that that is what Atlas might see that and thing he can turn it against them in someway, but there is nothing in the story that would collaborate with my assumptions on the matter.
NOW NET THIS NET THAT I JUST NET. WHEN I NET NET BE READY TO NET. NOW NEW
NET IT AT NET NOT NET!
Did you... did you just make a Code Geass reference?
7740058
Or, potentially, this is all a lie, and Equestria existed long beforehand; the Olympians just decided to use it as a trap, and are either too stupid, arrogant or prideful to realize that they didn't create it at all. Their trap could be simply skeins of containment magic wrapped around that particular universe, which would rather upset the local deities. Other pantheons may be working at cross-purposes to the Olympians, here.
That's pretty normal for any chess without timer.
8087489
Especially when the match is between two experienced chess players, I once played a game of chess with my mother that quite literally took a month for us to get a quarter of the way through! Granted we were attempting to break the world record for longest single game of chess at the time, unfortunately after that point she beet me within the next week, but it was still a rather intense game that one couldn't tell who had who on the defensive up until the final day, where she proceeded to take out every single piece I had left on the board before cornering my queen and causing me to admit defeat!
~-RED ALERT! Rustled Jimmies detected! Activating Anti-Rustle precautions!-~
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/897/107/373.png
CONGRATULATIONS YOU PLAYED YOURSELF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd9muK2M36c
For you and me:)
Ah episode 3
10265103
You were supposed to destroy the sith! Not join them!
:)
1.d4|d5; 2.Kd3#.
Also, the GIANT ENEMY SPIDER too, with some others. So full of references, in addition to interesting story.