//------------------------------// // An Old Pawn // Story: An Iron Pawn // by Eathlome //------------------------------// An Iron Pawn ~An Old Pawn~ I glanced back over his shoulder, and saw her. 'Damn, she's still following me.' Now most guys would be thrilled to have a girl following them around, in fact I normally would, but not in this case. For two reasons actually: 1. This girl was very young, probably around 8 or 9. 2. I'm pretty sure she wasn't human. OK so the second one doesn't sound very likely, but I've experienced some crazy things, so I couldn't completely count it out. Anyways, my day was going fairly well. I had just got out of exams and was heading back home, free from worry and stress. That's when I had noticed her. I'd been walking for about half an hour, and she was still following me. When I finally get back home I couldn't see her any more, which would be a good thing, right? WRONG! So I go inside and head up to my room. Once I close the door I let out a sigh. "So what do you want?" The reply I get is a combination squeak/gasp. I turn around to face the young girl sitting on my bed. "Well?" I wasn't really in the mood for this kind of thing, I just wanted to relax. "Um... Well... I was ... er ... kind of ... wonderi-" The girl cut off abruptly with a small yelp, as I pushed my face right next to hers. "Hmmm...You're not Skadi, nor Eris, nor any other goddess I've met before." Yeah, that's right, I've met some goddesses. "I-I'm not-" "Oh, don't lie, I've noticed you tailing me since I got out of school, and since the only ones who would be really interested in me are deities, you've got to be one. So who are you?" "I-I'm Coralis." "Alright Coralis ... actually I'm just going to call you Cora." Coralis opened her mouth to object, but I quickly cut her off. "No, that's what I'm calling you. Now Cora, why are you in my house?" Coralis straightened up a bit at this point and tried to put on an air of confidence. "What would you say if I cou... no wait that's not right ..." "..." "..." "..." "OK, I've got this," Coralis cleared her throat, "So how long have you watched My Little Pony?" Now this really through me for a loop, it wasn't what a god or goddess would normally ask you. Normally it would be something like 'What is it that you desire over all else?' or 'If you do this for me, an eternity in paradise is yours. Wouldn't you like that?' "Well, I started about halfway through season 2. It's a pretty good show." Coralis gave me a small grin. You know, the kind that makes you want to slowly back out of the room. "What would you say if I could send you to Equest-" "HOLD IT!" Coralis looked a bit confused about my sudden outburst, and she stopped talking. "Is this where you're supposed to trick me into saying yes, then use me as a pawn in a giant game?" Coralis gaped at me, "How-" "Do you really not know who I am?" I stared at her in disbelief, "I've been in five of the damn things already, I know how it works." Coralis let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, because I have no idea what to do." A fairly long awkward silence followed. "So, Coralis. Can you tell me how old you are?" "Well, I'm not really sure ... I've been around pretty much since the beginning." "How about how long you've been active? You know, not sleeping or imprisoned?" "Oh, then 257 years." "Ugh. SO let me get this straight. You are incredibly old, but have only been active for a quarter of a millennium. Also, you've never been in one of these games before?" "That's about right." I thought about it for a moment. "How did you end up in this? I mean there have got to be a huge number of deities in this, and, no offense, but you're really weak." Coralis harrumphed. "You try sleeping for 8000 years, and we'll see how strong you are." "Point taken. But that still doesn't expl..." I trailed off at this point, I'm fairly sure I just figured out what she was planning. "This is a power grab, isn't it? Let all the big players fight it out with their pieces, let them whittle each other down, then you come in with a powerful piece at your disposal, and you put them all in checkmate." There was a moment of silence after I had finished my tirade. I was still stunned about the maneuver she planned on using, mostly because it was riskier than Odin's Gambit. Coralis, on the other hand was looking very worried, probably because I figured out her scheme so quickly. "Alright, I'm in." Coralis gave me a look of surprise. "Really?" "Yeah, sure. I haven't been in a game for a while. Actually I didn't think I'd ever get to be in another one, after the last two." "Why? What happened?" I glanced over at Coralis, she looked slightly nervous. I was a bit nervous too. "Er...What have you heard about Mu and Atlantis?" Coralis thought for a moment before responding, "Never heard of them. Why?" "If anyone ever tells you about them, it wasn't my fault. Honest." "OK then..." I stood up and stretched. "So, are you ready to do this?" Coralis looked up at me with a blank look on her face, before she remembered what she was doing. "Oh, yes! So the first thing I do is...uh..." I gave a small sigh and helped her out. "My body." "Body?" "Well I can't do any good like this!" I gestured to my body, which was actually fairly in shape with some toned muscles, "I know that every other god and goddess playing will be beefing up their pieces, trying to gain any advantage they can. And anyways I'm fairly certain that there are no Humans in Equestria." "Oh, right." Coralis closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "Done! What's next?" Coralis slightly sagged, clearly she had expended a great deal of power on my body. I hope it's awesome. "Alright, wait a second," I sat down in a chair, and relaxed against the back, "Alright, send me to Equestria." "Wait. Don't you want me to tell you the rules?" "You can't," I grinned, "It's against the rules." Coralis rolled her eyes, and started towards me. I quickly shouted out, "No hitting! Just snap your fingers or clap your hands or something." Coralis gave a little pout, and rolled her shoulders, before bringing her hands together in a sharp clap. My vision slowly faded to black, and I suddenly had a thought. 'Damnit, I totally forgot to ask what she's the goddess of!' A/N Alright, I'm sure many of you have been reading the Chess Game of the Gods collection, well so have I. The thing that I noticed is that no one has any idea of what there getting into. I also noticed that the Game Masters were pretty much all trolling bastards. I figured that this probably isn't the first time that a group of deities get together and decided to screw around with mortals, so I made my character a 'repeat player' of sorts. Additionally I decided to alter the relation of game master to piece, in this story. This is because I thought that it would be fairly funny having the rolls reversed, the player being the more knowledgeable of the two. Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this, and that f you spot anything that needs to be fixed, just let me know. Also, as always I accept all comments and criticism. If you don't like the story let me know why to see if I can fix it. Oh, and special thanks to Zombie_Lizard for helping me name Cora. ~Eathlome