As the morning sun rose from the horizon, it pierced the oval windows of Carousel Boutique, striking a unicorn filly's eyes and forcing her from slumber. Sweetie Belle stirred, yawned, and glanced around the fashion store, hoping for some confirmation that the whole ordeal was over. Perhaps her sister making breakfast in the kitchen? A ceremony celebrating the overthrow of The Mare? A parade being held in the honor of whoever managed to bring her down?
She found no such indication. She sighed and decided to flop back down onto the couch she had been sleeping on. She recalled her unease at using a bed at the Boutique while Rarity wasn't around, even if it was the guest one she commonly slept in. Face-down on the plush purple pillow, she decided to make a plan for the day. That's probably what Rarity would do if she were here.
Let's see, she thought, I should start by getting something to eat. I haven't really felt hungry since yesterday, though... No, I have to eat, even if I don't want to. What does Rarity keep in her kitchen? I think I remember seeing some carrots in there. Oh, but will she get angry with me if I eat them? But there's no telling how long she'll be gone, and I don't want them to go bad... "Ugh, even initiating is difficult without a sufficient baseline to begin with." Sweetie Belle rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
It had been a day since this whole debacle started. One day since Rarity and the other element bearers disappeared, and one day since Princess Celestia was blown to smithereens by a seemingly harmless fruit. Sweetie Belle didn't even want to imagine the kind of large-scale turmoil this would cause once word got out. Princess Celestia had been the only princess in Equestria for about a thousand years, and the main despot to turn to when something went awry. Now that she was gone...
At least there's still Princess Luna, Sweetie Belle noted, easing some of her concerns. But still, this is a serious matter. Even with the other princess taking over, Equestria will most likely be under some extreme strain. I hope her Majesty can handle it all... Abandoning her attempt to make a plan, the filly decided to get up off of the couch and trot to the kitchen in the unlikely event that she'd find her appetite return. Much to her expectations, the vicinity to the food did not make her tummy rumble. Her head started hurting, however. She rubbed it, but it did little to ease the ache.
Her parents had left her at the Boutique in her sister's care for the week while they took a trip to Manehatten. 'The big city's no place for a filly,' they had told her. She rolled her eyes at the irony. Depending on how long it took the news of Celestia's death to get there, she suspected they would return sooner or later. She did not just want to sit around and wait for them, though; she felt the need to keep herself busy. After seeing Scootaloo off yesterday, she had cleaned the entire Boutique from top to bottom. Except for Rarity's "Inspiration Room" of course. She had learned enough about messing with that room from the last time she tried to be helpful...
Rarity had scolded her rather harshly that day. All Sweetie Belle wanted to do was help, but instead she only made things worse. Fortunately, the two had managed to come to peace with each other before things got too sour, but some of Rarity's behaviors still confounded her little sister. Sweetie Belle then came to the realization that many of her activities while at the Boutique involved Rarity one way or the other. Whether it was watching her sew, being a guinea pig for the many filly-sized dresses she'd make, or just being together, Rarity was always the center of Sweetie Belle's attention. Now that her sister wasn't there, Sweetie Belle felt as though it was more than just Rarity's presence that was missing.
I wonder how Scootaloo is progressing? From what we have observed, her success is… statistically unlikely. But aside from Princess Luna, whose sister was no match for The Mare, and with the Elements of Harmony rendered useless, I do not see any other recourse. No other pony is willing to even approach the gate to The Mare's realm, let alone walk into it and emerge victorious. She tapped her chin with her hoof.
"There's got to be something we can do, isn't there?" she wondered aloud. "I'd better go check on Apple Bloom and see how her and the rest of her family are holding up without Applejack. At least they have each other left..." She walked towards the exit and opened the door. The morning was still young, but if she knew the Apple family like she thought she did, they would have been up long before her.
---
As Sweetie Belle approached Sweet Apple Acres, she caught a whiff of something on the air. Her face scrunched and distorted as she quickly tried to cover her nose, but alas, the damage was done. Her head spinning, she kept going, despite her better judgement. Besides, Apple Bloom could be in trouble and that's the last thing Sweetie Belle wanted. Pushing through the stench, she continued to the front door and knocked.
She was met with silence.
"No…" she felt her heart rate begin to rise as she rushed for the backyard. Once there, she screeched to a halt and let out a large sigh of relief. There they were: the Apple family gathered around a giant stewing pot sitting on a sizable campfire. As Sweetie Belle breathed in again, she was given a painful reminder of the putrid air around her. Her resulting coughing fit roused the Apples' attention.
"Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom called out, making her way over to her friend.
Cough! Cough! "Ugh… Apple Bloom," Sweetie sputtered. "I'm so glad you're all right, but… what is that smell!?" It took everything she had to not gag continuously. She then noticed a clothespin on Apple Bloom's nose. Looking up, she saw the rest of the Apples wore similar ones.
"It's those stinkin' giant fruits!" Apple Bloom responded, furrowing her brow. "They're turnin' all our apple trees into cherry trees! And you can bet every one of 'em's ready to fall on ya if ya take one little step towards 'em…"
"That's terrib-" cough! Cough! Hack! Sweetie wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. The stench was making her headache worse on top of it all.
"Oh! Sorry!" Apple Bloom rushed into the kitchen and brought out another clothespin. "Here ya go. It doesn't do awful much, but it helps."
"Thanks," Sweetie said, clipping it onto her nose. Apple Bloom was right; it didn't help much, but at the very least it took the edge off. "By the way," her gaze turned to the rest of the Apples, as well as another pony she didn't know. "What are you all doing back here?"
"C'mon, I'll show ya," Apple Bloom gestured to the group and trotted back to it. Sweetie followed. "Ya see, we don't really know much about cherries, 'specially giant ones. So we brought in some help from Cherry Hill Ranch over in Dodge Junction. Sweetie Belle, I'd like you to meet Cherry Jubilee!"
Cherry Jubilee was an off-white earth pony with a red mane done up to look like a bonnet, but with a ponytail hanging off. With a cutie mark of a couple of cherries and a beauty mark on her face, she smiled warmly at Sweetie Belle. "Now who is this pretty little filly?" she asked, voice slightly altered by the clothespin she shared with the rest of those present.
"I'm Sweetie Belle," the young unicorn answered simply. "It's good to meet you, Ms. Jubilee."
"Land sakes, darlin', no need to be so formal! Cherry Jubilee or just 'Cherry' is fine, and it's so good to meetcha as well! When I heard there was trouble brewin' in Ponyville that had to do with cherries, I just couldn't help myself but to come and see what's goin' on!"
"Have you figured anything out about the cherries, Ms... er, Cherry Jubilee?"
"I do believe I have. Turns out, these cherries aren't all that dangerous after all!" Cherry Jubilee raised her head and chuckled a bit.
Sweetie Belle stomped the ground. "What? Just yesterday one of those things made Princess Celestia herself explode! How can you say they're not dangerous!?"
"Oh my, I'm sorry youngin, I should have been more clear. Y'see, the cherries, as they are naturally, are of course as hazardous as you say. However, I've come to believe that this isn't because they're that way all the time! There's something about 'em that makes 'em that way!"
"I'm afraid I don't follow..."
Cherry Jubilee led Sweetie Belle to the stewing pot, the source of the horrid stench. "Take a peek!" Sweetie looked inside to see the fruity abominations within. They were bouncing along with the current in the pot, and didn't move an inch. The water, she noticed, was a putrid shade of purple.
"If my theory is correct," the cherry expert began, "then a few more hours of boilin' 'em and these cherries'll be as sweet and delicious as any ol' normal ones!"
"So boiling them supposedly makes them less dangerous..." Sweetie thought aloud. "Fascinating. How did you come to this conclusion?"
"They're poisonous!" Cherry Jubilee said happily.
---
Scootaloo positioned herself on top of her scooter as she fell, ready for the impact the ground would inevitably bring. She did recall the holes in this place being rather large though. She wondered how long it was going to be before she hit bottom.
With her recent victory over Count Dracula, she was pumped! She was ready for anything! She was stoked to get this adventure on the road! She was… getting kind of cold what with the long fall and all.
"Starting to get tired of all these holes," she grumbled. "I mean seriously, if this is going to happen every time I-" The wind rushing up past her suddenly stopped as she felt herself touch ground slowly. "Oh. All right, it's about time! Now where do I…?" Scootaloo looked around, seeing only darkness on every side with no sign of her original destination. "Hey! What gives here!? I was supposed to be back in the first area!"
"That would be ME, runt!" the voice of The Mare echoed around her.
"Woah! You!" Scootaloo readied her hooves on the two buttons mounted on her scooter, preparing to fire at the first sign of movement.
"Yeah, me!"
"What do you want!? You gonna try to take me on right here, right now? Well, bring it on! I'm ready for you! Show yourself and we'll get this party started!"
"Oh, you know, I just thought I'd check in on the up and coming smear on my carpet. Want to make sure you're going to match the rug I have now, ha!" The voice came from Scootaloo's right. She quickly fired in that direction, the shining bolts of light doing very little to illuminate her surroundings. Either way, it didn't look like she hit anything.
"Oh come on! Get out here and fight me like a mare!" Scootaloo shot around wildly, making equally useless bolts fly out in every direction.
"I'm not actually there, stupid," The Mare retorted. "Besides, I'm not just a mare - I'm THE Mare! I just don't feel like coming out and seeing your sorry face personally just yet. It's WAY more fun watching you bumble about my world trying to collect those units. Nah, in the meantime, I'll be sitting pretty in my fortress."
"You coward!" Scootaloo spat. "Staying locked up inside your fortress while sending out ponies like Cherrylee and Nightmare Moon to do your dirty work… I bet you can't even fight!"
"Three-hundred and seventy-eight," The Mare said.
"Huh?" Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
"That's the three-hundreth and seventy-eighth time I've been called a coward. I had to write it down. Sorry, what were you saying? I had a nasty bunch of dumb-filly-being-too-big-for-her-britches in my ear!" The Mare cackled.
"Ugh! Did you start talking to me just to insult me!?"
"Nope! I also wanted to see what I was up against. Normally I don't really give two feathers if somepony beats up the first two of my unit holders, but I've known that Dracula guy for a while and he doesn't go full sausage on just anypony. Granted, that trick with the sausage has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever seen him do, but hey, the rest of his tricks were epic enough!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome, aren't I?" Scootaloo said, puffing out her chest.
"Meh. Your score for that guy was a little low, I've seen better. Though he didn't kill you himself, so that added a few. Hard to find good help these days. He was getting a little old, too. Bet he smelled really stale!"
"I couldn't tell through all the fire! Also, you're keeping score!? What is wrong with you? Princess Celestia was right: This is all just some crazy game to you, isn't it?"
"What, you think that toying with ponies and watching them die horribly while I sit back and watch in uncontrollable laughter is a game to me? Well… you're RIGHT! It's hilarious! I've never had so much fun in my entire life! It's the absolute best, are you kidding? You should try it some time," she added, giggling darkly.
"No way!" Scootaloo shouted. "I'm coming to kick your sorry flank off your throne and put things right!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," The Mare responded absently. "That's what they all say. Until I grind their bones to paste! Then use that paste to stick pictures of me grinding their bones to paste on my wall. If any of them were breathing anymore, I'm sure they'd find it amazingly humorous."
"You're so messed up!…" Scootaloo felt herself take a step back.
"Hoo boy, that's a common one, let's see…" Scootaloo heard the sound of paper being flipped over, like a notepad or a large book. "Yeah, I knew it! Four-thousand eight-hundred and fifty-five times!" The Mare released an impressive yawn. "You know, over the course of thirteen centuries, you'd think ponies would come up with some pretty creative insults. You'd be wrong!"
The orange filly rolled her eyes and sighed. "So why are you talking to me? I've got things to do. Like beat you just like I beat Dracula! Cherrylee was weird, and Nightmare Moon was lonely, but you? You're…" Scootaloo stopped herself. "Forget it, you'll just write it down or something. Get to the point!"
"Hahaha, the 'point,' huh? Whatever you say! I'll be looking forward to watching you find the next unit. Try to keep it interesting, would ya, Filly? Oh, and by the way… I'm getting kind of tired of you taking the easy way out of things."
"EASY!?" Scootaloo spat. "I've lost track of how much stuff has killed me! Have you even been paying attention!?"
"Ha! Aww, so widdle Filly thinks she's rough and tumble just because she's died a bunch? Don't make me laugh! Let me draw the curtain back for you, kid: Cherrylee was stupid, Nightmare Moon ended up going crazy and helping you out, and Dracula was waaaaaay too arrogant, disarming all those traps that I so carefully and lovingly placed just for you! Trust me, chump, you've been hitting Easy Street all over the place!"
Scootaloo opened her mouth to retort, but, pondering The Mare's words for a few moments, shut it again. As much as she hated to admit it… The Mare was right.
"So, to fix this problem, I dusted off an old relic of mine!" The Mare continued. "I have this button labeled 'Hard Mode.' Gee, I wonder what happens if I press it?" Scootaloo heard a loud BEEP! "Oops! Hoof must've slipped! See ya later, loser!" The Mare gave one final round of laughter before her voice faded away.
"Wait, what!?" Scootaloo's eyes went wide. "What do you mean 'Hard Mode?' It gets harder than this!? Hey! HEY! ANSWER ME!" But The Mare did not respond. "Argh! Whatever! Let's just get going." She scooted along, mumbling some choice words for if she met The Mare again. No… not if… when. Yeah, that was her story, and she was sticking to it.
---
The image of Scootaloo in the crystal ball faded. Twilight Sparkle heard loud creaking coming from the chair that The Mare laid back on.
"So!" The Mare turned around to face Twilight. "What didja think? Little runt doesn't even stand a chance, does she? Not like her size even matters!"
Twilight clenched her teeth. What's Scootaloo doing here!? Her heart began to race as she thought of how a little filly, even one as rambunctious as Scootaloo, could have even survived up until this point.
"Yo! Purple unicorn star thing! You deaf or something?" She banged a hoof on the metal that surrounded Twilight, causing a rattling sound to echo through the room.
Twilight covered her ears as they rang. "No! I just… have other things on my mind."
"Ugh, you're so boring! Why'd you have to be so boring!?" The Mare turned back to the crystal ball. "What else is going on…?" She waved a hoof lazily in front of the glowing sphere propped up before her. The image twisted until it formed a concise shape. A yellow and pink shape.
"Flutter-!" Twilight gasped and put a hoof over her mouth.
"Hahaha, found another one, did I?" The Mare chuckled. "Wonder how much she's worth? From the way she's shivering, I'd guess not too much. Still! A score's a score!"
Twilight sighed and wondered how this situation could have gotten so utterly hopeless so quickly. She glanced at her cage, if one could even call it that. The bars were almost comically spaced apart as to allow free access to the outside. All she'd have to do is walk through. She hadn't dared, however, seeing as how the first time she tried, spikes seemed to fly from every direction at her, nearly impaling her from all conceivable angles. She had learned to stay put since then. Teleporting was out of the question as well, as she had no idea where she was, or what would be waiting for her at her destination.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked The Mare.
"Oh jeez, you're even more boring than I thought. I actually stopped keeping track of how many times I've been asked that one. You wanna know why I do this? Why I wanna have deadly spikes and cherries fill Equestria and turn it into a land of death?" She came uncomfortably close to the cage. "Well?"
Twilight gulped. "Y…Yes. I want to know why. Why you insist on tearing the world apart!"
"All right, purple unicorn star thingy… I'll tell you why." Her face inched closer to Twilight's.
"What is it?" Twilight stood firm, The Mare's nose almost touching hers.
The Mare flashed a devious grin. "BECAUSE IT'S FUUUUUUUN!!!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Twilight shambled her way towards the other end of the cage, nearly keeling over with pain. She clutched her skull with both front hooves, trying to get her ears to stop ringing, and also to get The Mare's hideous laughter out of her head.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" The Mare said, coming down again from her laughing fit. "You totally fell for it! That was the best! You were all 'oooooh, look at me, I'm so brave, standing my ground against the big bad meanie The Mare!' Priceless!"
"Ugh… do you ever take anything seriously?" Twilight managed to say over the pounding in her ears.
"Sure I do!" The Mare proudly lifted her nose up in the air.
"Name one thing…"
"One thing I take seriously? Fine! Games!" she answered without hesitation.
"I should have known," Twilight said, monotone. "Games, huh?"
"Games and winning them!" The Mare added, lying back in the chair she was in before.
"Naturally." Twilight found that her hearing was more or less back to normal.
"Good thing, too," The Mare took a cup from the table in front of her and drank deeply from it. "Otherwise, somepony might take away my title! Can't have that, can we?"
"Oh no," Twilight mumbled sarcastically, "can't have that… wait…" something clicked in the unicorn's head. "So you're saying that, if somepony beat you in a game, you'd have to give up being The Mare?"
"Yup!"
"No strings attached?"
"Nope!
"It's that simple?"
The Mare belched. "If you consider beating me in a game simple, that is."
Twilight's head raced with the new possibilities. There was a way! She could save Equestria! All she had to do was beat The Mare in some sort of game…
"Does it… matter what kind of game?" she asked. The more she knew, the better.
"Let's see," The Mare scratched behind her ear. "The game has to have rules. You can't win in something stupid like a 'best smarty-pants purple unicorn thingy' contest."
"That makes sense. Also, my name's Twilight Spa-"
"Don't care! You are forever engraved into my mind as 'smarty-pants purple unicorn thingy.'"
Twilight took a deep breath. She couldn't let The Mare get to her any more than she had already. "Is there any other rule I should be made aware of?"
"Huh? Wait, wait, you think YOU can beat ME? Ha! That's the most hilarious thing I've heard in a loooong time! There's no way a boring wad of dullness like you has a chance against me!"
"Is that a hint of hesitation I hear? Don't think you can beat me?" Twilight grinned.
"This is TOO good!" The Mare began laughing again. "All right, I take back what I said about you being boring! What's your special talent? Comedy? You're absolute GOLD!"
Twilight cleared her throat and waited for The Mare to stop her insane laughter. "Ahem. I, Twilight Spa… fine… 'smarty-pants purple unicorn thingy' hereby challenge you, The Mare, for your title, throne, and power."
"Heh," The Mare wiped the tears from her eyes. "You're actually serious about this aren't you?"
'Smarty-pants purple unicorn thingy' nodded.
"Well then! I guess I have a title to defend, then! What's your game, O' Puny One?"
"Have you ever played... chess?" Twilight asked.
"Never heard of it," The Mare replied. "It's sounds really boring."
"Far from it!" Twilight retorted. "It's one of the most engaging and skillful games in all of Equestria! It involves thinking about each of your moves carefully and considering what your opponent might do afterwards, not to mention what you'll do after that… it's a wonderful test of intelligence and tact!"
"Yeah. Like I said: boooooooooooriiiiiiiiing!" The Mare turned in her creaky chair, glancing back at the crystal ball.
"Do you refuse my challenge? That means you forfeit and I win!" Twilight didn't actually know if that was the case. She stared at the back of The Mare's head, waiting, hoping for a response. The Mare drunk deeply from her beverage, but said nothing.
"Did you… hear me?" Twilight asked eventually.
"You'll need to tell me the rules," The Mare said, not turning back. "Also, is there some sort of board involved? Or a wheel, or a pair of dice?"
Twilight's heart lifted. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. She'd been playing chess for most other life, and The Mare had never even heard of it until a few minutes ago!
"Yo! Talkin' to you!"
"Oh! Yes! I mean, yes, there's a board and pieces involved, but that's all. I have a complete set in my house! I could just go and…" she risked placing a hoof outside of her cage. She immediately withdrew it as a spike launched itself towards where it had been.
"I don't think so!" The Mare turned back around. "You're not leaving this place, got it? So get comfy."
"So then how are you supposed to accept my challenge? You can't just conjure a chess board out of thin air, can you?" Twilight huffed.
"Nope! But… I have a better idea! I'll go get it for you!" The Mare's chair creaked loudly as she rose from her sitting position. Standing up to her full height, Twilight had to crane her neck to maintain visual contact with The Mare's eyes.
"You'll… go get it?" Twilight repeated, heart dropping into her stomach. "But it's in Ponyville."
"Exactly! I figure it's about time I visit my future stomping grounds. So!" The Mare leaned down to face Twilight once more, "Where do you live?" She grinned, visibly unable to contain her giggling.
This is not good. I can't tell her where I live! Spike's still there! He'd be in such danger, not to mention what might happen to the rest of the town… I can't do that. Ears drooping, Twilight lied herself down on the cold metal floor.
"Something wrong, Miss Defiant-pants?" The Mare snickered.
"N… Never mind…" Twilight couldn't allow such a thing, even if it meant a chance at victory. The town and the ponies who lived there meant far too much to risk their lives.
"Not gonna tell me, huh?" The Mare raised her head once more and turned as though to sit back down, but stopped half way. "Then I guess I'll just have to find it myself!"
"What!?" Twilight gasped, shooting straight to her hooves once more.
"I wonder where you put the board? Now that I've heard about this 'chess' thing, I'm really curious! I bet you put it under somepony's floorboards, right? Those are great for hiding stuff! Or maybe you had somepony swallow it to keep it safe! Oh, don't worry, I'll be sure to check every single place I can think of!"
"No… no no no!" Twilight cried. She's going to go anyway! What have I done!?
"Then where is it?" The Mare flashed a toothy smile.
"It's…" There wasn't anything to be done about it now. This was her only chance. "It's in the Golden Oaks Library, upstairs in my room, under my bed. It's the giant building that's made out of a tree. Just… promise me you won't kill anypony."
"Hmm… I don't know, it's kind of my thing."
"I won't teach you the rules otherwise!"
The Mare sighed and pouted slightly. "Pfft, fine. I won't kill any pony."
"Phew…" Twilight sighed.
"Under one condition."
Twilight was pretty sure if her heart could sink any lower, it'd be flopping around on the floor. "What condition?"
"Her," The Mare pointed at the silhouette of Fluttershy in the crystal ball. "I wanna know where she lives, too. That's all."
"What? Why would you need to know that?"
"Does it matter? My carnage hoof is getting twitchy! Spit it out!"
Twilight didn't like the sound of this… but there wasn't much she could do about it. "She lives in a cottage near the forest, just past the stream."
"All I needed to know! One chess game, coming up!" With that, The Mare started galloping down the hallway, Twilight's cage rattling with every drop of her hooves.
Twilight was alone. 'What have I done?' she thought.