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.
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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.