A Head in the Hand is Worth... Something or the Other
Izolda looked down from her spot on the hill in disbelief. “You're telling me that you want me to go down there and fight that?” she asked.
“No, I'm telling you I want you to go down there and protect that town,” The Herald said in her ear. “One of the rulers of this land is already there, defending it against the threat it faces, so you will not have to do this alone.”
“That doesn't mean I have to like it,” she said, drawing her sword reluctantly. “And the rules still apply, I take it?”
“That is correct. As soon as the battle is finished, you must leave to avoid any... awkward questions,” The Herald answered. “Under absolutely no circumstances are you to allow yourself to fall into their hooves, is that clear?”
“Um... sure, I'm not sure why you would have to remind me of that point specifically. It's not like I'm going down there just to get... caught...” Izolda answered, but trailed off when she realized that The Herald had already left.
“Yeah, that's just fine! Abandon me! Make me look like I'm some crazy woman who just loves talking to herself. It's not like I'm not already questioning my sanity!” she yelled at her patron. If he had heard her from whatever plane he had vanished to, though, he certainly didn't show it.
“Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to it,” she grumbled as she stomped towards the town.
* * *
“Have at you, cur!” The annoying blue pony shouted as she swung her scythe at Sandman's chest. The scythe tore through his form, causing him to scream in pain as the scythe did far more than just part the sand that formed his body.
“How in the heck are you able to do that, lady?” Sandman asked as he caused a fountain of sand to erupt underneath where Moonbutt hovered. “I'm made of sand. A blade shouldn't come close to hurting- Ow! Quit it!”
Princess Luna, seeing through his attack, had quickly teleported to avoid his strike, appearing behind him to cut at his head and shoulders. “You have not earned the right to address me so informally!” The Princess said, taking another swipe at Sandman, who did his best to dodge. “As for how I am able to hurt you, would you really think that I would be stupid enough to tell you such a secret?”
She teleported around him a few more times, but got caught by a lucky blast from his arm, sending her reeling. “Look, lady, I don't want any trouble...” Sandman said as he disappeared into the sand at his feet.
“I do not believe you in the slightest!” Moonbutt said as she threw up a shield, blocking the torrent of sand that The Sandman threw at her as he reappeared. “You attack this town, with the specific intentions of destroying it! If that is not 'looking for trouble,' than I don't know what is!”
“Look lady, I scared off those ponies before I got started remodeling the place, so it isn't like I hurt anyone,” The Sandman said as he reached out and grabbed Moonbutt's bubble. “I just need it to be gone for a couple of weeks. They can come in and rebuild once I'm done!”
The Sandman then began to squeeze the bubble, attempting to make it break under the pressure and crush the pony within. He stopped, however, when a gigantic sword passed through his arms, disrupting his concentration over the sand that made up those limbs.
Sandman quickly turned his head toward the new threat, to see what appeared to be an armored, human knight wielding a quickly shrinking sword. “Leave, sand person, or face wrath of Knight of Dawn,” the female knight said in a heavy Russian accent.
“Well, that's rich, you expect me to be scared of- ghah!” Sandman started to say, but was interrupted as Princess Luna slashed him again with her scythe.
“You dropped your guard, you fiend!” Moonbutt said as she dashed forward, attempting to decapitate Sandman with her scythe. He dodged, of course, but as he did so, he caught an extending flaming sword through his chest, turning a small portion of him into glass.
“Well, ain't you going to be as annoying as anything,” Sandman grunted as he let his form flow into the sand of the land around Dodge Junction.
As he hid himself, though, he heard the voice of his master whispering in his ear. “The Lunar Princess will be too much for you to handle, you should retreat for now. However, before you go, you should take this rare opportunity to rid ourselves of the competition,” the voice told him.
“I gotcha covered, boss,” Sandman said.
* * *
“Do you think he left?” the oddly shaped knight asked.
“I think not, he has used this tactic many times before,” The Princess of the Night said as she rose higher into the sky. “He will lie low, then spring at you from the most troublesome of angles.”
“Understood. Will wait 'till appears, then,” the Knight of Dawn said, slinging her sword onto her shoulder.
The Night Princess's eyes twitched at the movement, but otherwise her concentration did not waver. “Why are you helping me, friend?” she asked the knight.
“Have sword, town in trouble,” the knight said in her strange, almost griffianic accent. “Cannot tell you anything more than that, break rules, in deep trouble.”
Princess Luna shook her head at that, and continued to scan the sands below with her eyes and magic. Yet, despite her best efforts, she could only detect hints and traces of The Sandman. Maybe he finally left...
As she thought this, though, she was interrupted by a loud, resounding thump, followed immediately by the sound of metal being twisted and crumpled. Luna quickly turned towards the sound, only to see a giant fist made out of sand where the Knight of Dawn was standing. Princess Luna howled in rage at that, charging at The Sandman, her scythe raised to take the monster down.
The fist rapidly lost its form, however, leaving behind a mound of sand through which a single, twisted gauntlet could be seen. “Okay, I'm leaving. Go ahead and keep your precious town, I give up. However, this is still a victory for me. One less contender I have to deal with,” Sandman said, his voice sounding as if he was getting progressively further away.
“No! Get back here and face me!” Luna shouted at the retreating golem.
The only answer she got, though, was the whistling of the wind.
* * *
Princess Luna stomped dejectedly through the halls of Canterlot Castle, a frown on her face and something tucked under her wing. She had sand in places that she'd rather not think about, to be honest. All she wanted to do at this point was to retreat to the royal baths, clean herself up, and crawl under her covers and stay there for the rest of the week.
She knew that she couldn't do that, though. The demands of jointly ruling a nation alone would have kept her from her bed. On top of that, there were these blasted things running amok in her kingdom, either causing trouble, or in rare cases, trying to prevent it.
She and her sister had been run ragged trying to head each one off, but they were only two mares, and could not hope to contain them by themselves. They could not leave the fighting to the Equestrian Royal Guard, either, since the powers that each of these strange beasts possessed ensured that they would remain uncontested by the majority of the Equestrian Armed Forces.
Only the most elite of her and her sister's troops could hope to stand up to these strange beasts, but they did not have the sufficient numbers needed to take on such a task. The most the Equestrian Royal Guard could hope to do at this point was to act as the royal sister's eyes and ears, letting them know when and where the fell beasts were striking.
As Princess Luna made her way through the halls, she spotted Celestia's personal steward heading in the opposite direction. “Hold, Sir Table!” Luna called out to him.
Time Table stopped at that, turning and greeting the Lunar Princess with a bow. “Good evening, My Princess, how did that business in Dodge Junction go?”
“Terrible,” Princess Luna said with a sigh. “I would speak with my sister as soon as possible. Do you know where she is? The guards at the gate only knew that she was here.”
“Why, yes. She had a run in with a nasty piece of work that called herself 'The Mistress of Darkness' down in Manehattan,” Time Table said as he rose from his bow. “Someone was wounded by this 'Mistress,' and your sister thought it best to bring him here to recuperate. She told me to direct you to her personal labs as soon as you arrived.”
Princess Luna just snorted at that. Anyone who had the audacity to take up that title clearly didn't know what they were getting themselves into. “I take it this 'Mistress' was defeated?” Princess Luna asked.
“You will have to ask your sister about that,” Time Table said with another bow. “She told me specifically that she wanted to be the one to tell you about what had happened. However, I will tell you this much: She was very excited about it, and had said that this will turn around the crisis that we are currently in.”
Princess Luna perked up at this. “Good news? After the elements were stolen, I could use some good news.”
At that, Princess Luna didn't waste any time, choosing to teleport to her sister's labs, rather than walk.
She was immediately greeted by the sight of her sister, dressed in a distinctly un-princessy lab coat as she carefully examined a small, bloody dagger. Off to one side was Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle, also dressed in a lab coat and busy examining what looked to be an ornate, snake themed spear.
Both immediately looked up at the sound of The Lunar Princess's arrival, though Twilight turned back to her work as soon as she realized who it was.
“Luna!” Princess Celestia said as she dashed over and gave her sister a hug. “How did your battle with The Sandman go?”
“It... could have gone better,” Princess Luna said as she opened her wing, and levitated the crumpled helmet she had tucked underneath onto Celestia's desk. “The fiend got away, but not before crushing one of the few benign beings who had come to aid me. I warded the area against his unique magical signature, so it should be a couple of weeks before he can make another attempt against Dodge Junction.”
Celestia looked troubled at this, while her student looked up from her studies in alarm. “That is... troubling,” Celestia said with a grimace. “I take it that this helmet belonged to the benign champion?”
“Wait, champion?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
“...no, helmet is champion,” The Knight of Dawn whispered, her voice sounding strained.
Celestia and Twilight both jumped at this, shock on their faces.
“Yes, I had the same reaction when I had learned that she survived the encounter,” Luna said with a tired smile.
“Goodness, are you alright?” Twilight asked quickly.
“...Have seen better days, but will be fine,” the knight said weakly. “Cannot die unless armor completely destroyed. Sandman merely crumpled. A little repair, some spitshine, will be up and kicking in no time.”
Twilight smiled at this, though she still looked up at Princess Luna in confusion. “Princess, this is just a helmet, where is the rest of her?”
Luna shook her head at that. “After I warded Dodge Junction against The Sandman's very... unique magical signature, I gathered The Knight's pieces and placed them in a crate,” Luna said, gesturing towards the sapient headgear. “The pieces seem to be warded against many schools of magic, including conjuration, so they could not be as easily moved as the helmet was. They are currently on a train, bound for Canterlot, and are guarded by some of my best Lunar Guards.”
Twilight smiled at that, then turned towards the helmet. “I'm glad you weren't completely destroyed, we could definitely use more good champions like yourself,” she said with a nod.
“Um... you not supposed to know I champion. How you know I champion?” The Knight asked, a little confused at what was happening.
“I would like to know that as well. What happened, Tia?” Princess Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Something unprecedented since this whole messy business began,” Celestia said, motioning for her sister to follow her to the next room.
Luna did as directed, until she was led to an observation room through which she could see a hospital bed. Upon the hospital bed lay an odd creature who bore a striking resemblance to a dragon in its late teen years. However, upon closer inspection, Princess Luna could tell that it wasn't a dragon, since its wings had yet to grow in.
“Is that... another one of those things?” Luna asked carefully.
“Yes, he surrendered to us,” Celestia answered.
“What?” Luna asked, turning quickly to face her sister.
“It's true,” Twilight assured The Night Princess. “Not only has he surrendered to us, but he has agreed to tell us everything he knows!”
“What has he said?” Princess Luna asked quickly.
“He is apparently something called a 'human.' Or, at least, he was,” Celestia said with a frown.
“I have never heard of such a creature,” Luna said as she gazed at the reptile.
“I would have been surprised if you had,” Celestia said. She then began to relate to her sister everything she had learned from the strange lizard, all while The Knight listened from the other room with growing apprehension.
* * *
The Herald just grinned at Desolation, his face positively beaming with smugness.
“I don't know why you're so happy. Your piece has been captured by the neutrals, and mine got away,” Desolation said with a frown.
“Yes, but those aren't neutrals anymore. Sure, they might not be under the guidance of any patron, but they know about the game, now. And that is helpful for my strategy,” The Herald said smugly.
Desolation took another look at the board, a questioning look in his eyes. “I don't see how this will help you. Your piece can't tell them anything they don't already know.”
“Yes, but now, because they know about the contest, she can ally herself with them,” Fate pointed out. “In fact, as soon as the other opposition players notice that not just one, but two other players have allied themselves with the neutrals, there will be more.”
“And I suppose you would join them as well?” Gorthok asked Fate.
Fate scratched underneath his chin a bit at this. “Now, why would I tell you what I'm planning on doing?”
Gorthok sat back at that, grumbling a little bit. “Good point.”
Desolation just frowned, however. “I still don't see how this helps you. Your piece was nearly destroyed in that encounter, while The Lady's is still recovering from having most of his soul torn from his body, then returned. It will take some time before the other interfering pieces will notice anything different. Also, if this was your plan from the beginning, why did you instruct your piece not to be captured?”
"I told her not to be captured, because at the time, The Lunar Princess did not know any of what The Lady's piece had told her sister. It would have technically been against the rules, and my piece would have been banned from the game," The Herald told the desert god. “As for how it helps me, well, you'll just have to see what the future holds, now won't you?”
Desolation just shook his head at that, frustration clear on his face. “I'm never going to understand how you think.”
“And that is why you will lose,” The Herald said with a smile.
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great chapter as usual
keep up the good work
I see you are on a roll here, not that I'm complaining.
God Games (literally here) are always better with alliances and backstabbing diplomacy
Well well well, Lady Luck, you have my applause. You tailored Ammon to be the biggest spanner in the game's works yet.
So, by this point, I'm guessing that while they're nasty to their enemies and other threats to ponykind, the Princesses are to their friends and close-knit allies the adorable squishy walking marshmallows from the show we all know and love?
here
Someone is enjoying his Pratchett, but that is ok since I enjoy my Pratchett as well.
Have a favorite and an upvote.
Now we know why he said:
"I count on it."
So hilarious, and so tactical...
Things are getting exciting!
5724580 You would be correct, sir.
This is, frankly, WAY better than Chessgame of the Gods. The reactions of the Equestrians and the disruption to their world are portrayed more realistically (for one thing they're treating it as a single, overarching national crisis rather than acting as if each incident were in some sort of strange bubble.) And the "champions" aren't a bunch of Mary Sues.
5732058 Man, that's just about as bad as my first paladin. I was an idiot, lost my paladinhood, then was told by the cleric that in order to get it back, I had to 'ride the wave'. We were on a boat at the time, so I naturally thought he meant literally ride the wave. I jumped into the ocean without a second thought, forgetting that I had heavy armor on, and promptly drowned.
Hey, I was ten at the time, sue me.
Anyway, let's just say that the barbarian that I made afterwards was much better.
5732426 5732636 Yeah, I know, but I still felt that those two things had to be said. I know quite a few people who would have thrown feminist hissy fits over what I did in that chapter, or disgust hissy fits over the other one.
Now, I have no problem over true feminists, don't get me wrong. Its good for women to want equal rights with men, and I'm all for that.
Its the ones that feel they have to belittle or tear down men in order to do that that I have trouble with.
5732863 Thank you! yeah, I try to avoid mary sues like the plague.
5733151 That would be a yes. Also, yes, that is The Lady from discworld. (RIP Terry Pratchett
)
Great
A multiplayer, wider version of Zelazny's The Game of Blood and Dust?
Wow! This is cool. Rarely in similar stories do we see the reactions of the gods. I like it.
Keep up the good work! :D
5734738 I've actually never read that one. Sorry.
5755089 Thank you! I'm glad you like it!
5755629 No worries, he will. It's just that something else came up, and he needed to set aside his own personal feelings to take care of it. Trust me, he's still upset about it.
Ooh, nice.
5755893 Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
5761384 When I wrote that, I was in full blown rant mode. I had been rejected for 'not having anything relating to mlp in it,' despite the clear fact that I did.
What really annoyed me about the whole thing, though, was the apparent double standard at work here. I could not get away with only a pony in the bathroom (despite the implications that that meant he had been sent to equestria), but this guy could get away with only a single mention of Twilight Sparkle's name. Not only that, but you could have replaced her with literally anything else, and it wouldn't change a thing. Not only that, but that story only had one chapter, then immediately went on permanent hiatus. So, yeah, that is apparently a thing now.
I know that the rule is that you need to have pony on submission, but I was furious, and when you're that mad, you tend to just type things, without regards to silly little things like facts.
5761785 I apologize, the name is actually pronounced "am-'un". It is hebrew in origin, so ask the hebrews why they pronounce it that way.
5761725
Really? You're not going to mention the dozens of stories that have been approved with under 1k words?
sorrowful loss
sunsets shimmer story
a berd in equestria
a new destiny
the very apple secret
normandy
running errands
...You know... none of these are the ones I was looking for. None of these are the ones that kept pissing me off when I saw them under recently approved on the front page, they have been removed. At one point half the damn list was under the 1k minimum. It all depends on how much the the Approver in question likes you.
5761823 See that is the way I was pronouncing it and the reason I was so confused at seeing "Ah-min". General "Hammond" without the 'h' or 'd'.
Please more!
6073208 Thanks, man! Already taken care of!
6078878 Yeah, this is definitely not canon, probably delta canon, since Celestia and Luna in the main game are players and have pawns
6088536 Why? when he said that he couldn't spot the movement of his foe, he meant that he thought that Ammon was dead. If he had spotted the movement, he would have frowned, because it meant that Ammon had gotten away.
so
... little slip up. in the beginning, izolda doesn't really speak with a russian accent
. this threw me off for a minute
, and at first I thought they weren't the same person
. probably should look into that
.
Otherwise, completely beastmode
! i am loving this
! i think i like it even more than the "What i've become" series!
(BLASPHEME!!
)
6089020 because i thought he meant that he was smiling because he was about to blast him again because he found him. i guess you just weren't very clear there.
6089218 She isn't speaking with her Russian accent because she's speaking in Russian. It just doesn't register because the scene is from her perspective, and she wouldn't point out that she's speaking in Russian. In fact, it wouldn't even register to her that she's speaking in Russian because it's her native tongue.
6089223 Nah, because he immediately said "I got you, you little-AUGH!"
6089421 which also could've been interpreted as "I got you now!". Whatever way you meant it, I interpreted it the way I did, and was therefore confused. It's a small thing and should be a small fix. Just add a little description, something small. It doesn't need to be super big revision.
Can't wait till Ammon and Knight meet. I hope they hate each other. It'll be so much fun if they hate each other
Ew. Ew. EW.
6272839
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"Ow. Ow. OW!"