Ultimate Sacrifices

by WriterWings

Chapter 1: Golden Opportunities

CLOUDSDALE, 15 DAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

“Checkmate! Good game, Crystal,” the sky-blue pegasus colt grinned triumphantly, as he shook hooves with his friend to seal his victory. “Wanna rematch?”

Crystal Truth smiled, gazing at the tiny pieces on the chessboard in front of them. Before her, her king lay hopelessly trapped, her opponent’s queen, knight and bishop precisely aimed towards her kingdom’s downfall. Her carefully strategised position had been precariously crumbling away since move 17.

“Maybe next time, Magnum,” the filly replied, standing up to heave her heavy saddlebag onto her flank. “It’s getting late, and I’m gonna need all the energy I can get for tomorrow!”

Magnum Knight’s face lit up with excitement. “The Equestrian Annual Chess Tournament,” he sighed. “I can’t believe Cloudsdale’s finally hosting it this year!”

Crystal nodded in agreement. “And if anypony’s gonna win it, it’ll be you for sure!” She grinned. “This year, Cloudsdale’s chess team will finally taste sweet, sweet victory.” She glanced up at the sky, where Princess Luna’s radiant moon shimmered silently in the evening void. “Gotta dash. See you tomorrow!”

“See you!” Magnum waved his front hoof, as Crystal took off to the skies as fast as her pink pegasus wings could take her. Which, granted, wasn’t very fast, she admitted to herself. Luckily, she only lived a short while away, and she was sure she could make the trip before it got too dark.

Soaring through the clouds, she could just make out the glowing lights of the homes below, shining like tiny fireflies resting peacefully on the ground. Of course, she had never been down there before. She had always been told it was far too dangerous for a young filly like her to visit — what if she accidentally crash-landed on the way down? What if her wings weren’t strong enough to fly back up to Cloudsdale? It’s much safer up here, she reminded herself for what seemed like the billionth time.

But still, sometimes… sometimes she wondered what it would be like to live down there. She had heard stories about what was down below — the thick trees, the fragrant flowers… even the elegant architecture! She had to see all of it for herself; she knew there had to be more to her life than dull old Cloudsdale. She dipped below the fluffy layer of clouds, craning her neck to get a closer look…

CRACK! A deafening rumble of thunder shook her out of her daydream, a fork of white lightning slicing through the cool air, just missing her left wing. An inch closer and her wing would have disintegrated into a fine dust. “Above the clouds it is,” she muttered to herself, as she flew off into the distance, leaving behind her hopes and dreams for another day.

---

MANEHATTAN, 15 DAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

“…and now, just a tiny bit more frosting!”

“Uh, Cookie, don’t you think that’s a little bit too much frosting?”

Cookie Krumbs laughed at her friend’s remark. “Oh, Lilac, as if there’s such a thing as too much frosting!” Swirling patterns of frosting as she spoke, she added the final touches to her delicious masterpiece. She stepped back to gaze in awe at the fruits of her labour.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She sighed, drooling dreamily at her creation.

Lilac Fields rolled her eyes. “It’s a tall cake. Can we go now? I need to finish my Equestrian History homework.” She gestured towards the bakery entrance with one hoof. “It’s not like the bakery closed a whole hour ago or anything,” she added sarcastically.

“Fine,” Cookie groaned. “But…” She turned to her exquisite four-layer chocolate cake, which was at least twice her size. “I’m probably gonna need a little help carrying this back home.”

Slowly but surely, they manoeuvred the cake out of the kitchen and out of the bakery, onto the busy streets of Manehattan. As they balanced the towering cake on their shoulders, they watched as ponies bustled to and fro, busily complaining to each other about the weather as horse-drawn carriages kicked up plumes of dust as they zoomed rapidly through the crowds. Meanwhile, the pungent stench of mouldy hayburgers left on the sidewalk wafted through the evening air, complimented by the sour fragrance of stale cider.

Nopony had the time to pay any attention to the two young fillies carrying the gargantuan baked dessert. But it was just as well, and they were both so used to it that it didn’t really matter anymore. Though they were both true Manehattanites at heart — they were outcasts in this big, cold, city; they were mere strangers in their own home.

They waded through the sea of ponies in silence, a bubble of peace in comparison to the chaotic noises around them. Glancing at each other, they grimaced. If only they could get away from all of this… this city full of stress, full of noise, full of anxiety. Deep, deep down in their hearts, they knew there was so much more beyond Manehattan — but for now, all they could do was wait. After all, they still had each other — and a giant chocolate cake.

---

CANTERLOT, 15 DAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

“Can you believe Princess Celestia is planning to raise taxes by 5%?”

“I know, preposterous, isn’t it? And only for members of nobility too! How unfair!”

Twinkle Iridescent rolled her eyes at her parents’ comments. Her younger brother, Yonder Infinity, followed suit. Being the children of two very important Equestrian nobles, family dinners were always only complaints regarding politics.

“Almost as unfair as the fact that she chose to subsidise the production of apple cider, rather than fund the Annual Equestrian Garden Party! Why would she choose to do such a ridiculous thing? Now, if I were in charge —”

Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah… Increase the social event budget by 20%… blah, blah, blah. Sometimes, Twinkle wished she there was a ‘fast-forward’ time spell she could learn — that way, the unicorn filly wouldn’t have to sit through all of these boring conversations.

Yonder wasn’t faring particularly well, either. The quiet colt was playing with his food as usual, poking at his spaghetti with a polished silver fork that was probably worth more than Twinkle’s entire book collection put together. Probably belonged to her great-great-times a billion-grandmother or something, she muttered under her breath.

She rarely said it aloud, but she hated it here. Not her parents — she loved them to the ends of the universe! — but she hated living in a world where everypony’s social status depended on how many bits you were worth, or how much property you owned. And she definitely hated the fact that after all the pampering that came with being a child of nobility, she and Yonder never had the time to make any friends.

She had heard countless stories about friendship, of course. That alicorn princess, Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship. Now that was somepony she really wanted to be like.

She wished she could go somewhere else. Anywhere, really, so long as everypony could live together in harmony, in friendship — rather than be judged by society. But where? She had never stepped a hoof out of Canterlot before, not even when her father went out on business…

“…to Ponyville?” Her mother’s voice tuned back into her daydreaming mind, like turning up the volume on an old radio.

Twinkle blinked.

“Wait. What?”

“How would you two like to go on a trip to Ponyville? I heard it’s nice there this time of the year. Think of it as an early holiday!”

“Besides, I’m due for a meeting with their mayor,” their father added. “Perhaps you two could roam around the town for a bit!”

“Wouldn’t that be fun?” smiled their mother.

Twinkle grinned. She couldn’t believe her ears. Ponyville, she thought to herself. Not a bad idea.

---

CLOUDSDALE, 14 DAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

“And after all of that, I only got 4^th place,” Magnum pouted.

Crystal patted him on the back sympathetically. “Hey, 4^th place is pretty good. You’re the only foal who made it into the quarter-finals!”

They glanced back at the winners’ podium, where three stallions in expensive-looking suits were waving to the crowd, carrying huge cheques in their hooves. Paparazzi ponies swarmed the hall, snapping photographs left and right as they went.

“Besides,” Crystal added, “I came in, what — 64^th place?”

Magnum wasn’t listening. Instead, his wide eyes were glued to something across the room — or rather, somepony.

“Uh, Magnum? What are you —”

Magnum broke into a huge smile. “Crystal! Is that… is that…?!?” His voice trailed away, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Crystal squinted at the other end of the hall. “That’s… that’s Passed Pawn. He’s —”

“Only the best chess player ever to grace the history of Equestria!” Magnum almost squealed. “Legend has it, he once defeated 50 ponies simultaneously — blindfolded!” He gasped. “He’s coming this way! Quick, act natural!”

Crystal facehooved. Magnum grinned cheesily as Passed Pawn approached them, followed by a stream of eager reporters.

“Ah, you must be Magnum Knight.” Passed Pawn extended a hoof for Magnum to shake, which he took nervously. “You played very well today, especially for somepony your age.”

“T-th-thanks, sir!” Magnum stammered in reply.

“Now, my manager and I were just thinking; how would you like to join our team for the Equestrian Chess World Cup? It’ll be held in two weeks time, in my hometown, Ponyville, and —”

“YES!” Magnum replied, a little too loudly, causing ponies to glance awkwardly in his direction. “I mean, yes! That would be the opportunity of a lifetime!”

“Well, I’m glad you’ve accepted our offer! We’ll be sure to contact your parents about this,” Passed Pawn smiled, before trotting away, as reporters continued to trail behind him enthusiastically.

Crystal beamed at Magnum, who was shaking with joy. “Whoa… Ponyville, huh? You’re gonna have to tell me all about it when you get back. I’ve never been on the ground before, and —”

“I won’t have to!” Magnum grinned. “Because I’m taking you with me!”

---

MANEHATTAN, 14 DAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

“Lilac! LILAC! Guess what?” Cookie leapt up and down in front of her friend’s house in excitement, waving an envelope in her hooves until Lilac finally trotted outside sleepily.

“It’s so early,” Lilac yawned. “What’s up?”

“I got the letter from the baking academy! I’ve been accepted, Lilac! We can finally leave this dusty old city!”

Lilac raised a hoof in contemplation. “...you mean you get to finally leave this dusty old city. I’m still here, remember?”

“Well, I’m not making the trip alone!” Cookie reminded her. “And there’ll be plenty of time to explore the town while we’re there!”

Lilac thought for moment. It did seem like a good idea. And exploring the town would be pretty fun…

“Where is the baking academy, again?” Lilac inquired.

“Only the friendliest place in all of Equestria!” Cookie squealed.

“Ponyville!”

Comments

[Mad Sadie]

Great first chapter, can't wait to read more!