//------------------------------// // Desperate Gambits // Story: Cozy Glow: FIENDship is Magic // by RainbowDoubleDash //------------------------------// Today The kick from the filly did absolutely nothing to Lord Tirek, of course, except to make him grin somewhat as he drew back up to his full height, eyes never breaking contact with the filly as he crossed his arms and considered her. He wasn’t very familiar with how ponies aged, but if forced to guess he’d say she was probably about ten years old at most. There was another pony next to her, Tirek realized after a moment – a brown pegasus pony stallion, an adult with a knight chess piece cutie mark. He, if anything, looked even more terrified than the filly. “Now how did Discord miss you two?” Tirek asked. The two pegasi tried to flee at Tirek’s words, the stallion grabbing the filly and beating his wings. But Tirek only snapped his fingers, encasing the two of them in a bubble which he then levitated before him. “Answer me,” Tirek demanded, “how did you escape Discord’s magic?” The filly and stallion looked between each other, before the stallion finally spoke up. “I…I h-have no idea! I…w-we were just in the park, and…and please…please, please, please don’t hurt us!” Tirek stroked his beard as he regarded the two, trying to put things together. What had Discord claimed? Every adult pony in the city had been brought to the park…but what about the ponies already in the park? Tirek let out a small groan, rubbing his eyes. Discord had not considered that, most likely, which also meant that there were probably dozens, if not more, ponies who had been in the park and subsequently escaped into the city. Once the Lord of Chaos got back from his short break, Tirek would have to – diplomatically – explain his screw up and get it corrected. They might even have to go back to previous settlements to see if they’d missed anypony there, too… “P-please, mister…” the filly finally spoke up, “wh-what are you going to do to us?” Tirek peeked out over his hand at the filly. She was standing in the bubble, looking at him with huge eyes and a quivering lip. “I’m ever so small,” she continued, “a-and I don’t think I’d make a very good meal!” Tirek grinned, showing off his fangs. The filly yelped and stumbled away as best she could in the bubble. The stallion, meanwhile, mostly just quivered in place, curled up. “I-I’ll give you anything you want!” the stallion exclaimed. “P-pay anything! Bits? You want bits? I’m the richest…I mean, I have access to a lot of money! And it can all be yours, every last jangle!” Tirek felt his eyes fluttering at that. Money? Was this stallion trying to bribe him? Why did he think that would work? “I have no interest in your petty currency,” Tirek said, setting the bubble on the ground, although he didn’t pop it yet. He looked back to the filly. “As it happens, little foal, I also have no interest in you.” “’Cause I’m cute?” the filly asked. The centaur wasn’t sure why she was asking; he would have assumed she’d just take her good fortune. The novelty of it amused him enough that he pressed on, shaking his head. “Because you’re young,” he said, and waved a hand at her hindquarters, “and don’t even have a cutie mark yet. It takes magic to take magic. I would have to consume more magic than I would gain to take what you have.” Tirek flashed his fangs again as he looked to the stallion. “Your father, however – ” “Uncle Royal Fork is not my daddy!” the filly exclaimed. Tirek folded one hand behind his back and put the other to his chest as he mockingly bowed. “My apologies, little filly, for the presumption. The point is your uncle is a strong and healthy stallion…if not particularly brave.” He eyed the stallion, apparently named Royal Fork. “Not that any amount of bravery would matter.” Royal Fork looked on the verge of passing out. Tirek stroked his beard again as he considered the terrified pair, and looked around the plaza he was in. While he’d knocked over one chess table and all its pieces, the others remained intact. Draining this stallion would be easy enough, something he could do on a whim. He also wasn’t in any particular rush: he was certain he already had the power needed to engage and defeat Celestia and Luna, possibly even that third alicorn, Mi Amore Cadenza. More to the point, if the three were going to try anything, they surely would have by now. And if Discord was taking a break, then why shouldn’t he? Tirek turned from the two, picking a table at random. With a wave of his hand and a bit of telekinesis, he re-arranged the pieces on the board and beside it, setting them up into their starting positions. “Chess originates among the centaurs, you know,” he said, “and it has been a very long time since I’ve played.” He glanced over his shoulder at Royal Fork, looking to his cutie mark. “I’m guessing you’ve at least dabbled.” Royal Fork was frozen, not understanding what was going on. Tirek shrugged to himself, picking a side – white – and walking over to its side of the table, sitting down at it. He snapped his fingers, and the bubble around the two ponies disappeared. They at least knew better than to try and flee. “How about a wager?” Tirek asked. “If I win, pony, then I take your magic. If you win, then you and your niece get to go.” Royal Fork’s mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. The filly, meanwhile, eyed Tirek. “Promise?” She asked. “Of course.” “Pinkie Promise?” Tirek raised a brow. He looked to the smallest fingers on his hands. The hands that the filly, being a pony, didn’t have. “What?” The filly rolled her eyes, and started doing some kind of dance. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She sang. “You can’t break a Pinkie Promise.” Tirek crossed his arms. “I am not doing that ridiculous routine. My word should be enough on its own. Besides…the way I see it, your uncle doesn’t have much of a choice, does he?” Royal Fork shivered, which at least let Tirek know that he hadn’t slipped into catatonia. He slowly made his way forward to the chess board, sitting down opposite Tirek without ever really taking his eyes off of him, and he didn’t so much sit as fall down before the black pieces. His niece approached at a moderately steadier pace. The stallion audibly swallowed. “I…I’m really more of a hobbyist…” “Not to worry,” said Tirek, “so am I.” Which was the truth, as Tirek had only ever really played chess against two opponents: his brother Scorpan, and himself while in Tartaros. Of course he had a thousand years of practice against himself. It would be amusing to see if that counted for anything. “Now then,” Tirek said, grasping his queen’s knight and moving it, then waving his finger at the stallion. “Your move. Oh, and so that you don’t draw this out…we’ll have one minute to consider our moves. Any longer, and that player forfeits their match.” Royal Fork stared at the board, his eyes wide and barely focused. “Ten seconds,” the filly announced. That made the stallion jump, and he looked at her. “Cozy!” He hissed. The filly – apparently named Cozy – looked back. “It’s important, Uncle Fork!” she insisted. “Fifteen seconds now.” “Thank you, Cozy,” Tirek said. “Sound off every fifteen, if you wouldn’t mind.” Royal Fork had his eyes back on the board, visibly sweating now. After thirty seconds, he finally made his move, putting his hoof down on his king’s rook’s pawn and moving it forward…two spaces. Tirek growled. “Is that mark on your flank just for show?” he demanded. “Do you even know how to play?” Royal Fork sputtered. “I’m sorry!” he called out. “D…do you want me to make a different move, or – I th-thought you’d want me to really try…p-please, if this is just you t-torturing me then just g-get it over with – ” “What I want is an honest game against an opponent who knows the rules.” Cozy’s brow was furrowed at the exchange, but then she perked up. “Oh!” She exclaimed, making a T-shape with her hooves. “Time out! Um…mister, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” Tirek glared down at her. “Older than your princesses,” he said at length, deciding to indulge her. “Golly! You look great! But anyway, I see the problem. The rules of chess have changed a whole lot!” Her wings started beating as she flew over to a nearby table, then brought back chess pieces from it. She began laying them out. “The pawn can move two spaces on its opening move, and when it reaches the eighth rank it can be promoted to any piece instead of just a counselor. The rook, knight, and king move the same. The bishop moves diagonally any number of spaces instead of just two, and it doesn’t jump. The counselor is the queen now. Instead of moving one space diagonally, it can move any number of spaces in any direction!” Cozy tapped her hoof to her mouth. “Oh! Also there’s a new rule called castling that you can do once per game. If the king and the rook haven’t moved and there’s no pieces between them, then the king can move two spaces towards the rook, and the rook moves to the space the king moved through, like so.” She demonstrated the move. Tirek stared. Her explanation was too rapid, sure, and confident to be a lie, particularly this early in the game after just a single move each. A thousand years had drastically changed the landscape and cities of Equestria, after all, so why not the rules of games? He ran his fingers through his beard as he considered. “So the game,” he said at length, “is much faster in the opening, with pieces advancing so much more aggressively.” “Mm-hmm,” Cozy agreed. “This way the first part of the game isn’t just setting up formations.” “B-but we can play the old way!” Royal Fork spoke up quickly, reaching out to his pawn. “I’ll just…” Tirek held up a hand, palm out. He was genuinely surprised Royal Fork didn’t leap out of his pelt from the action. “No,” Tirek said, “No, I will abide this. The extra challenge should be interesting…and I suspect you could use the advantage.” Cozy glanced up to Tirek, then over to her uncle. “Okay, then!” she said, making the T-shape with her hooves again. “Time in! It’s your move, mister.” “Tirek, little filly,” the centaur said, “My name is Lord Tirek. And very well…” He grinned to Royal Fork, flashing his fangs once more. “Let the game begin, then.” It continued to be miraculous that the stallion didn’t pass out.