The Match

Hi all, and thanks for reading. Just a feeler story, so please let me know what you think.

Inside you'll find:

Slight PinkieDash

Slight Sparity

OCxTwilight

She sat perfectly still, her eyes fixed on the board in front of her. She could feel the beads of sweat forming on her forehead, almost as if her concentration was beginning to overheat her brain. Her eyes shifted left. Then right. Left again. To his pieces, then to hers. Left. Right. Up to his pieces, then back to hers. Her mind was usually bogged down with the sheer number of possibilities, but not this time. She mapped each move out three steps ahead, predetermining the long-lasting consequences of her potential actions.

At long last, she shifted her body as she lifted her hoof from where it rested. Everypony held their breath, following her hoof as it glided gracefully over the board. It hovered momentarily, ambiguously suspended above her remaining pieces as she took one last moment to consider what may happen. Nodding to herself in agreement, she carefully lowered her hoof, placing it on her last knight. Everyponies eyes widened as she plucked it from its resting place and placed it firmly onto a new square.

She took a final look at the new placement on the board without lifting her hoof, considering what all it may mean. Her heart suddenly began racing as she noticed pieces she could have sworn weren’t there before. So many recalculations, so many new potential outcomes. Her eyes shifted left and right and up and down, moving faster and faster as the sweat began dripping down her cheeks. The pressure built higher and higher, becoming too much for the young mare. With a loud sigh she lifted the piece into the air once again and placed it back into its former home.

“Oh just do something already!” Rainbow Dash pleaded as she jumped into the air, ending the heavy silence, “I’m not getting any young—woah!”

Applejack gave her tail a firm yank, pulling her back into her seat. “Be quiet,” she hissed, “Don’t mess with ‘er concentration, just look at how focused she is!”

“It’s just sooo boring,” Rainbow Dash replied, her voice now hushed to a whisper.

“I think this is very exciting,” Fluttershy added while watching intently, “I’ve never seen him so worried before. I think Twilight may actually have a chance!”

Sure enough, Sam’s brow had been furrowed for the past few moves. It was a look of concern that was uncharacteristic of the dark blue pegasus, especially during a game of chess. It was also the very reason that Twilight was so much more focused; she had spotted his change in demeanor and sought to take full advantage of any upper hoof she may have, even if she wasn’t aware of what it was just yet.

“Come on, Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie Pie said as she draped an arm around the cyan pegasus’s neck, “I don’t even know what’s going on but it’s always fun to root for your friends!” She waved a small flag with a picture of Twilight’s head in the center.

Pinkie’s vote was all it took for Rainbow Dash. She crossed her arms and sat with a look of discontent despite the fact that she was rather enjoying Pinkie’s attention, and not to mention the arm that was still draped around her. She would never say it, but as long as Pinkie Pie was present it was hard for her to be unhappy.

“I must say I agree with Fluttershy,” Rarity chimed in, “I really should get back to the boutique but this is far too suspenseful to pull myself away from.”

It all started as a simple challenge, as it always did. Twilight had been studying ever since Sam had moved to Ponyville and every day she would challenge him to another match. They would sit down outside the café, order a few cups of cider and lay out the board. More often than not it was over long before an audience could accumulate, and every time Twilight would humbly admit defeat. There was a time or two previously that the match would last long into the afternoon, drawing a small crowd of passerby’s and a couple of their friends should they be in town.

This was one of those instances; all of the Elements of Harmony were present for this match for the first time. Applejack had been present since the beginning of the match, having already been in the café making a delivery. Fluttershy and Rarity had stopped by shortly afterward to enjoy some cider and talk gossip. Rainbow Dash had been working when she noticed the five of them and stopped to investigate. Pinkie Pie was the last to arrive, although she was the only one who had intended to spectate from the beginning. She had planned to arrive before the match started but had to take some time to finish her Twilight flag.

And now here they sat, anxiously awaiting the next move. Twilight had barely noticed any of the commotion around her; she was “in the zone” as one of her books had phrased it. In fact she had noticed herself utilizing much of the terminology she was learning from her books; she recognized things like backwards pawns, forks and lufts all the time. She had even taken to annunciating “J’Adoube” when fixing pieces on her board. It was impossible to deny that she was really enjoying learning about the game. It was also really hard to deny that she had taken the game up with ulterior motives, although deny it she would.

After an excruciatingly long 30 seconds, she picked her knight up once more, this time placing it in a different square. She once again held her hoof in place, double and triple checking herself. With great anxiety (and much to Rainbow Dash’s relief) she lifted her hoof, finalizing her move. Fluttershy clopped a few times as Pinkie waved her Twilight flag around, helping to reassure Twilight of her choice.

The celebrations were short-lived as all eyes now turned to Sam. His face was still ever-so-slightly scrunched, giving him the look of uncertainty – or was that worry? With a chance to spectate once again as she awaited Sam’s move, Twilight contemplated all possible meanings of his current countenance. In the end it didn’t matter which way she sliced it, the look had to mean something was bothering him, and she only hoped it meant she was proving to be a challenge.

With no warning he lifted a hoof, grabbing a bishop and advancing it across nearly the entire board. Twilight’s eyes widened with worry when she realized she hadn’t even considered this move in her strategies.

“Check,” he called out calmly. His face never changed, his brow never shifted. It was clear he had the upper hoof now, why would he still be so worried? Perhaps he was taking a risk? It was unlikely, considering the initiative he was taking.

Either way Twilight was now very worried, and it was much more visible than Sam’s. She began feeling bogged down again as all of the moves she tried to plan began melding with one another. Much of what she had learned began slipping from her memory as she tried to recall it, only adding to the panic she was beginning to feel. The victory that seemed so close only two moves ago was rapidly leaving her sights as the weight of defeat once again began crushing down on her.

Just as it all seemed like too much, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Rainbow Dash. She was floating just off the ground with a cup of cider in each hoof. Twilight glanced at the cups, only now realizing how parched she was. Rainbow Dash held one out to her and she accepted it with a smile.

“Thanks, RD.”

“No problem, pal. I’d get thirsty too from all that thinking.”

Twilight glanced around at all of her friends present. She felt a wave of happiness as she remembered that win or lose they were there to root her on, and that no matter what they would always be there to help her along.

She looked back to the chess board and then up to Sam. He looked up from the board, exchanging glances with her, and then he smiled. It was that soft, warm smile that she liked more and more each day. In a way it reminded her of all her other friends, giving her a feeling of home that she felt whenever they were around.

With her mind cleared, her panic gone and her thirst quenched, she turned to the game board again. She began to make a mental list of her current choices. She knew she was in check and that her first priority was to protect her king. The first thing was to consider which spaces she might move him to.

With only a few seconds’ consideration, she looked back up to Sam. He had resumed reading the board, his face once again giving the impression that he was in some sort of quandary. She smiled and shook her head, still unable to figure him out. Perhaps it was part of his plan all along?

With great humility as always, she gently tapped the back of her king, knocking it over on the board and admitting defeat.

“But Twilight,” Fluttershy gasped, “You haven’t lost yet! It’s only check, right?”

“Yeah, what gives,” Rainbow Dash asked, “You’ve still got him shaking in his boots!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Twilight said, pointing her hoof to the board, “I’m only in check this turn, but I can’t move my King anywhere safely. The only way to protect him this turn is to sacrifice my rook. As soon as he takes it, that’s checkmate.” Everypony examined the chess board, quickly confirming Twilight’s story.

“Well ah’ll be,” Applejack said, “He sure fooled me.”

“I wasn’t really trying to fool anypony, although I can see why you may have thought so,” Sam said as he approached the group.

“Wait…you mean you really were worried?” Twilight asked, “But why? I’m pretty sure you knew you had me beat a long time ago.”

“I’ll admit I had a few chances to speed things up, but I didn’t want to.”

“You know you don’t have to go easy on me,” Twilight said, feeling a bit of guilt.

“I know I don’t, I just didn’t want the game to end so soon.” He looked over to Twilight and smiled again, only this time Twilight was sure she saw something else.

Was that a wink? She replayed the moment in her head a few times. It was wasn’t it? No, probably not, he probably just had something in his eye, she assured herself, But what if he didn’t? She began to feel flustered again, only there were no books to recall on this particular subject. Luckily nopony noticed her cheeks beginning to glow red.

“But wait a second!” Pinkie cried, “I don’t get it! I mean, I don’t get this game at all really but if you didn’t think you were going to lose then why was your face all ‘Hhmm…’” Pinkie did her best impression of Sam’s worried face and hit the nail right on the head.

“Oh that?” Sam replied, “It’s just that I haven’t seen Jax or Spike all day. Didn’t they say they were going to go get some food?”

As if waiting for his queue, Jax came gliding down from the sky with Spike riding shotgun. Jax had a basket in each
claw and Spike had a large back thrown over his shoulder.

“Sorry we took so long, guys,” Spike said as he hopped to the ground, “we had only planned to get some food for the four of us, so when we saw everyone here we went back into town to stock up for a picnic.”

“A picnic sounds lovely,” Rarity said, “I suppose I can afford to take one day off.” Spike beamed with pride at the fact that Rarity had liked his idea so much, even if he hadn’t done it just for her.

Everypony helped to unpack and set the food for the picnic, filling Spike and Jax in on the details of the match before the conversations turned to small talk and laughter.

“Twilight?” Sam beckoned quietly.

She turned, already mesmerized by his emerald eyes. “Yes?”

He leaned in close and left a soft kiss on her cheek. “How about tomorrow, we just take a walk?”

Her lips curled back into a smile, forming little dimples underneath her eyes. “Yes!” She yelped, much louder than she
had anticipated. To her relief nopony took notice of her foolishness. Nopony except for Sam, of course. “I mean, I would love to,” she said in a much softer tone.

As she sat, overjoyed at such a wonderful day, one thought persisted in her mind.

I knew that was a wink!

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