Part 5
It's now Monday morning and we've all regrouped at the library once more. Twilight and her friends are here as well as Princess Luna and Discord. And then there's me of course, Spike.
“Are you sure you're alright, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna still sounds worried. Can't fault her for that. I was pretty upset myself, when I put Twilight to bed last night. I've never seen her defeated so completely.
“I'm fine, really. So please stop worrying about me.” That's what she says, but I know her better than that. I've lived with her as long as I can remember and I pick up on the little things. For example there's the fact that she made her bed by hoof this morning instead of just tucking in the sheet via magic like normal. She must still be low on energy. That Asia girl said that she couldn't replace her stamina. Well, at least Twilight doesn't seem to be hurt. I guess our opponents aren't really bad people, despite the fact they're devils.
“What exactly are we waiting around for?” Applejack asks. “Shouldn't we be training or something? The Rating Game's on Sunday, so we've got less than a week to prepare.”
“Patience, Applejack,” Discord says. “At this point you don't even have an idea of what you're up against. You gotta understand the game, before you can play it.”
I still don't really trust him, neither does anypony else for that matter. But the fact remains that we're stuck with him and to his credit, it seemed like he was genuinely trying to help Twilight win yesterday.
“Ah, there he is!” Discord snaps his talon and our front door vanishes in a puff of smoke. On the other side stands a rather silly looking Azazel, his fist raised to a knock.
“I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”
“Not at all. Please come inside. My home is your home.”
“Actually this is my home,” Twilight says with a frown, “and I expect you to replace that door, Discord.”
Azazel enters and puts the ornate case he was carrying down on the table. Then he takes out a leather-bound book. “This is the official rulebook for the Rating Game.”
“Oh, I'll take that.” Naturally Twilight would say that. She's already grasped the book with her magic and is leafing through the pages at a rapid pace. How can she even read that fast?
“Right,” Azazel continues. “Sirzechs and Celestia agreed on a simple match, so feel free to ignore the parts about specialized matches like the Dice Figure or Scramble Flag. But I didn't come here to give you that book. This is why I'm here.” He unclasps two hooks on the case and opens the lid.
I can hear Rarity gasp. “They're magnificent!”
“And they look delicious,” I add, my mouth watering. There are sixteen intricately carved figures made out of what appears to be flawless rubies.
“These are the Evil Pieces. Each one of you will need to take at least one in order to participate in the Game. Are you at all familiar with the game Chess?”
“I am,” Twilight says. “Though I'm not very good at it. I can hardly find opponents to play.” Yeah, she's tried to teach us before, from an old book of course. Rainbow, Pinkie and myself could never bring up the patience to actually learn it. Applejack and Rarity are too busy with their jobs. Only Fluttershy plays on occasion as far as I'm aware. But at the very least we're all marginally familiar with the rules.
“I know it as well,” Luna says. “Though I haven't played a decent match in over a thousand years.”
“That's alright,” Azazel says. “At least it saves me some explanation. Basically by taking possession of one of the pieces, you'll acquire the skills that go along with it. The [King] is the centerpiece. If for whatever reason the [King] retires, your entire team will lose the match. So make sure to protect them well. The [Queen] is the second strongest and the only other one of a kind in the game. That piece combines all the strengths of [Bishop]s, [Rook]s and [Knight]s. The [Bishop] excels in the use of magic, the [Knight] piece is valued by those who favour speed and agility and the [Rook] has overwhelming attack and defensive power. Finally there's the [Pawn]. It's inferior to any other piece by itself, but if a [Pawn] makes their way to the enemy base, they can gain a [Promotion], which enables them to upgrade to any other piece in the Game other than [King].”
Azazel clears his throat. That was a long explanation. In a rare example of Discord being considerate, he summons a glass of chocolate milk for the Fallen Angel Governer. That impression only lasts until Azazel sneezes, however. He did something to it, didn't he?
So these are the Evil Pieces, huh? Come to think of it, the other team all introduced themselves by both name and position. I had no idea of what this was all about until now, but it's starting to make sense.
“Hmm, [Promotion], huh?” Twilight mumbles to herself, still looking through the rulebook .
“I know what you're thinking, Twilight Sparkle,” Discord says. “But you can't just teleport to the enemy base. Teleportation magic is forbidden during a Rating Game.”
“WHAT? But that's my best spell!”
Azazel smiles. “Sorry. But all devils can use magic circles to teleport. If it was allowed during the Game, it would make the [Promotion] pointless. Every [Pawn] in the Game would just rush to the enemy base at the start of a match.”
Twilight sighs. “I guess that makes sense.”
He picks up one of the figures and holds it in front of him. “Before all the others can function, the [King] piece of the set will have to be activated. So, Princess Luna, shall we?”
“Hold on a minute,” Twilight says, holding out a hoof. “Wouldn't we turn into devils ourselves, if we used those?”
“Under normal circumstances, yes. High-class devils like Rias and Sirzechs can use the Evil Pieces to reincarnate humans or other beings as their servants. But that particular feature has been disabled in this set. You'll still be ponies and very much alive.”
“Can they be removed?” Luna asks.
“Of course. One of the goals of this Rating Game is to see how the technology can be adapted to other races. I'll extract them again after the match, so the data can be studied by the Grigori.”
“So what yer saying is that we all are basically gonna be used fer guinea pigs, is that it?” Applejack points out flatly.
“Ow, I'd love to be a guinea pig,” Pinkie pipes up enthusiastically. “They're so cute with their twitchy little noses and high-pitched squeaks. Don't you think so, Fluttershy?”
“Uhm, maybe?”
“It's perfectly safe,” Azazel assures us.
“Very well,” Luna agrees finally. “Go ahead.”
Azazel holds the piece up to her chest and then it begins glowing a dark hue of red and floating above his palm. Slowly it hovers towards the Princess of the Night and effortlessly enters her body. After it can no longer be seen, she brings a hoof up to her chest.
“How do you feel?” Twilight asks with a peculiar mixture of worry and curiosity.
“The same as before. How do we know, if it worked properly?”
Azazel shrugs. “It wouldn't have gone in otherwise.” He picks up the next piece. “Have you considered who should be your [Queen]?”
Luna nods and gives Twilight a meaningful glance. “Yes, I have the candidate right here.”
Twilight gulps. “Are you sure about this? I didn't exactly do well yesterday. Maybe I would be better off as a [Bishop].”
“I do not believe so, Twilight Sparkle. You are the most powerful, the Element of Magic and a Princess of Equestria.” She narrows her eyes at Discord. “Or does our advisor object?”
“Doesn't matter. With or without that piece, she's not even in the same league as the enemy [Queen].”
“Hey!” Seeing Twilight's sad look, I try to defend her. But I'm generally being ignored as Discord gets right up in her face.
“That doesn't change the fact that you're the only option, Princess. So stop sulking and take the position already. Then you can go out and take your revenge.”
“But,” Twilight's lip is trembling. “You just said … “
“I said you were weaker than her. What of it? That doesn't mean you can't defeat her.” Now I'm perplexed. Since nopony else seems to get his meaning, he explains further. “Do you want to know why you lost? You let her goad you into direct confrontation. She's the daughter of Barakiel and a reincarnated devil. There's no way you can defeat her with raw power.”
“Then how?”
“You're nowhere close to my power level either, but you managed to defeat me, didn't you? While she's powerful, she only knows a handful of spells. Your greatest weapon is your arsenal. If used right, you can beat any magic user and had you continued to listen to me yesterday, you would have won then.”
Twilight then looks at us. “You're right. I've fought and beaten strong opponents before, but not alone. Only with the help of my friends.”
Discord smiles and takes the [Queen] piece. “Which is why you're the perfect second-in-command. Lulu realized that right away. She's gonna need your help to effectively coordinate your friends. You're a natural leader, Twilight.”
I can't believe my ears. Is this Discord actually being nice to Twilight? She looks at Luna, who nods, and then takes a deep breath. “Alright. Let's do this.” The piece glows red and bonds with Twilight. Yeah, there's no doubt in any of our minds that she is the only choice to be our [Queen].
“Let's move on then, shall we?” Azazel picks up a [Knight] piece.
There's a rush of air, a rainbow coloured flash and a cyan pegasus mare is standing in front of him with a big grin. “So this thing is gonna make me even faster?”
Discord rolls his eyes. “Well, there's no doubt she's the fastest annoying thing in all of Equestria.”
“Yeah, it's a no-brainer,” Twilight agrees, ignoring the insult against her friend, maybe because she knows it's not exactly untrue. “Also the book says that [Knight]s are usually skilled with weapons and Dash did some jousting, while we were in the Crystal Empire.”
“I couldn't agree more,” Princess Luna says. “Rainbow Dash, you shall be our [Knight].” After receiving the piece, it takes our combined words to stop her from dashing out and testing how much faster she can go now. “Now about the second [Knight] piece … “
Looks like Princess Luna is really thinking hard about which piece will suit our respective abilities the best. I kinda want that second [Knight] piece. My gaze drifts over to the most beautiful pony in the world. I could be Rarity's true knight. I would let nothing happen to her.
“Fluttershy can be really fast, if she wants to be,” Rainbow says, not noticing that her friend has gone pale at the compliment. It really doesn't look like she wants to be on the front lines or maybe it's just bad memories from her jousting matches against Rainbow.
“It would make sense to give it to another pegasus,” Luna muses.
“Hang on.” Discord picks up an entirely different piece from the set with his tail and dangles it in front of Fluttershy. “I believe this is our best option.”
“A [Bishop]?” Twilight asks in confusion. “But that doesn't make any sense. That piece enhances magic. It would be wasted on Fluttershy.”
“That may be so,” Discord agrees. “But can you really see her charging in as a [Knight] or getting up close and personal with the opponent as a [Rook]?”
“Well, … I suppose not.”
“This isn't my idea, by the way. It appears Celestia has some special plans for her and pegasi do possess a small amount of magic they use to control the weather.”
“So Tia wants to give her special training?” Luna doesn't look very happy about that. Celestia can be so unpredictable that even her sister can't make sense of her.
“Uhmm,” Fluttershy looks like she wants to say something. “What do you think about this, personally I mean?”
Discord shrugs. “Honestly I have no idea what she's up to. But her cryptic instructions do have a way of turning out for the best. She was right about you being able to reform me, wasn't she?”
Fluttershy nods slowly. “And I don't want to hurt anypony. Maybe this is the right piece for me. If you agree with Celestia, then I trust you.”
Discord looks over at Luna, who shrugs with an air of 'If it's Tia, she's gonna have it her way anyway.' Almost gently Discord pushes the [Bishop] against Fluttershy's chest until it embeds itself within her. Then he pokes her in the ribs with a wink. “Don't tell Celestia what I said about her. It'll only go to her head.”
Fluttershy giggles in response.
“I suppose the other [Bishop] should go to the remaining unicorn in the group,” Twilight points out.
“Agreed,” Luna says.
Rarity steps up to the plate. “I'll do my best.”
Discord grunts. “Maybe a [Rook] would be better for you.”
“And, pray tell, what is that supposed to mean?” Rarity looks so gorgeous, when she puffs up her cheeks like that.
“Oh, please. I've seen you drop-kick poor Applejack, when she laid a hoof on your precious Tom.”
Rarity blushes at that and averts her eyes. “We agreed never to talk about that again.”
“What spells DO you know, anyway?”
“Well, there's my gem finding spell and I've gotten a pretty good grasp on levitation over the years. I do manipulate multiple delicate objects on a daily basis, after all. … That's about it.”
Discord face-palms. “Oh, I wish Jean-Luc was here. He's better at this than I am. Listen carefully. Devils are vulnerable to light attacks. Even if it's just a basic one, you will have to learn at least one offensive spell until the Game.”
“Don't worry,” Twilight says confidently. “I can teach her.”
“Oh well,” Discord mumbles as Rarity receives her piece. “At least it might confuse the enemy. [Bishop]s are usually support types and easily targeted. We might be able to get some advantage out of her knowledge in hand-to-hoof combat as it were.”
Applejack is another no-brainer. There's no pony that can buck like her. So it's decided that she is to be our first [Rook].
“What about Pinkie Pie?” Luna asks.
Twilight frowns and scratches her head. She's actually looking to Discord for advice. “Any thoughts?”
The draconequus shrugs. “Might as well give her the other [Rook] piece. I don't think there's any conventional tactics we can apply to her.”
Where Applejack received her piece with quiet dignity, Pinkie Pie grins at hers as it hovers in front of her and then she snaps her jaws once and gulps it down.
“PINKIE!” Twilight yells. “You weren't supposed to EAT it!”
“Why? It was yummy!” She jerks once and then lets out a burp that they probably heard in the Griffon Mountains.
Luna gives Twilight, who is rubbing her temples with one hoof, a perplexed look. “Don't question it. It's Pinkie Pie.”
“Well,” Azazel says a little unsure. “I suppose it works as long as it goes inside.”
“Which means there is only one left,” Luna says.
Awesome! There's still one knight piece. I get to be Rarity's knight. I'll stay close to her and protect her. Then Discord looks me right in the face and dashes my hopes. “[Pawn].” One word. That's all he says.
“What? But I wanna be a [Knight]!”
“Wouldn't it make sense? It is the better piece.” Thanks, Twilight. I can always count on you.
Even Luna nods her agreement. “That would be the better option.”
But Discord shakes his head. “Even if I were to agree with you, which I don't, it wouldn't work. Right, Azazel?”
The Fallen Angel Governor nods. “He's a dragon. The piece used must be equivalent of the potential strength.”
I blink in confusion. “So you're saying I'm too strong to be a [Knight]?”
They both look at each other and then Azazel continues. “Well, not exactly. But you could be as strong. All the pieces have numeric values to them as well. [Pawn] is 1, [Bishop] and [Knight] are 3 and a [Rook] is 5. As a dragon your value is almost certainly higher than 5.”
“But [Pawn] has the lowest value,” I protest.
“Not necessarily, Spike,” Twilight informs me, her nose buried inside the rulebook. “According to this, you can take on several pieces at once as long as they're the same. So if you were to absorb all eight [Pawn] pieces, that would bring your total value to eight as well.”
Azazel nods. “That's how it worked out with Ise, since he has a Sacred Gear that is connected to one of the Two Heavenly Dragons.”
Is that so? So that guy used up several of the Evil Pieces. Azazel then walks over to me and places all the [Pawn] pieces in front of me. For some reason all but one begin to glow. “Seven it is,” he says.
“There's no choice then,” Luna points out. “The only other piece he could have taken would have been [Queen], but that belongs to Twilight already.”
So in a way I'm ranked third in power after the two princesses. But that doesn't make me feel any better. “But I don't want to be a [Pawn],” I say feebly, trying not to cry.
Everypony is quiet for a moment. Then Princess Luna walks up to me and gently raises my chin with her hoof, so I'm looking her straight in the eye. “Don't be upset, dear Spike. It is but a name. I value your contribution just as much as any of the others.”
“Yeah,” Twilight says with a smile, standing next to her. “You're not just a number or a game piece. You're our friend and that won't change.”
I start thinking of how afraid I was Twilight was gonna change after becoming a princess. But she really didn't. Despite the new title she was still Twilight and whatever piece I get, I'm still gonna be Spike to them.
“Thanks. I feel a little bit better now. But I guess the enemy's [Pawn] will be stronger than me.”
Unexpectedly it's Rarity who starts working the numbers. “They only said it was potential strength. I know for a fact that you are better than that evil, little man who destroys clothes.”
“Why is that?”
Then my heart almost stops as she rubs her cheek against mine. “Because you have the most gentle and generous heart of any dragon I know. You'll always be special because of that. Don't you remember? You're my hero, Spikey-Wikey.”
Balling my claws into fists, I make up my mind. “Right. I'll be the best [Pawn] I can be then. Go ahead.”
Just like I thought. It's a little unnerving, when Twilight hovers the pieces in my direction and they enter my body without so much as a sound. I pat my chest, when they're gone. I can't feel a thing. “Dude, that's creepy.”
“What about the remaining two pieces then, Azazel-sensei?” Princess Luna asks.
He returns them back into the case. “Nothing. They'll just remain inactive. Rias isn't using a full set either. She still has one [Rook] piece left over with a value of 5. With your leftover [Knight] and [Pawn] that makes 4, so it more or less evens out. You did a good job selecting your pieces. Now then, I'll take my leave. I'll need to prepare my team for the match as well.” He gives a curt nod to Discord and then exits out the door.
“Maybe we shouldn't have discussed our tactics quite so openly in front of him,” Twilight points out. “He'll definitely report back to his team.”
But Luna calmly shakes her head. “It's alright, Twilight Sparkle. They have made no secret of their pieces, when we first met and when you lay unconscious, they didn't have to reveal the healing power of their [Bishop], but they did anyway. Fair is fair.”
“Besides,” Discord chirps in. “I've done my share of recon as well. I'm fully aware of their powers. Now,” he says and once again dons his sports outfit. “We have less than a week. With my training you're sure to win.”