A Second Chance

Chapter 3. Checkmate’s Reckoning

That night all was silent and peaceful, everypony was sleeping and all was still. the only thing that stirred was a lone shadowy figure. the figure silently began to make its way to a rundown factory at the edge of Canterlot. once it got to the door it turned to check for any pursuers, and seeing that the coast was clear, quickly disappeared into the empty building. once inside the figure flinched as the sound of a familiar voice spoke behind him.

“Thou art late.” the voice said coolly as the figure closed the door.

“Forgive me, Princess Luna, but my wife took quite some time before she fell asleep.” the shadowy figure said walking into the light to reveal that he is Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. “I have to say, you’ve picked a very out-of-the-way spot to house our little get-together.” he said, walking around to get a good view of his surroundings.

“Yes it is,” Luna said with little emotion, “This is where we plotted against our sister 1000 years ago. we thought it fitting to plot the demise of another here.” she said as if she was having a flashback.

“Yes, well, shall we get down to business then?” Shining Armor said after a short moment, “I would like to be done before dawn.”

“all in good time, but we must be careful,” Luna said in warning. “This magic is very delicate. if even one thing goes wrong we will lose control, and that can spell disaster for everypony. for this we need think of our opponent’s strengths and most importantly his weaknesses.”

“and when we do, we can physically manifest these correct?” Shining Armor asked.

“correct, so we may begin.” Luna said facing him, “but remember the purpose of thine test, is to determine his intent, no more.

shining nodded his assent.

“good.” the princess stated “then we may begin.”

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The soft light of dawn shown through Checkmate’s window. normally this would have woken Checkmate up immediately, but today he had decided to get an early start on the day. he had been awake for quite some time,working on experimental potions and studying their effects. one, If poured on a plant, made it grow exponentially. and another, if ingested, would completely knock out the user for a full week, another if sprayed onto bare skin could produce random color change.suddenly an alarm clock began blaring in unison with 12 others, Startling Checkmate so much that he accidentally mixed tow highly volatile chemicals that created a small explosion that covered his face in a sticky black ash. Groaning in protest Checkmate looked at the closest clock and then jumped up in alarm “CRABAPPLES, THE FIRST DAY OF MY NEW JOB AND I’M LATE!” he hastily threw his failed experiment away, wiping his face of the black ash as he galloped out the door, headed for the daily court in Canterlot.Tho it wasn’t his first time in the royal palace, it felt like a labyrinth to him. After a good five minutes of ducking in and out of doors Checkmate was finally able to find the Daily Court where he would be stationed to oversee the training of Twilight’s Royal Guard, which at the moment only consisted of her friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

the room was fairly small, compared to what Checkmate had imagined, consisting of a couple matts where two ponies could practice their grappling skills, a bucking bag, and high above them were five to six large bronze rings that could be rearranged with the flick of a switch, for aerial maneuvers. When Checkmate looked he was that Rainbow and Applejack were standing in the center of the room talking to each other and hadn’t noticed him walk in.

“Alright you two front and center!” Checkmate exclaimed making the two mares jump in surprise. they quickly recovered and trotted and stood at attention in front of Checkmate. after a moment of silence Checkmate looked over Applejack and Rainbow Dash, his eyes cold and judgemental. “So, this is what I have to work with?” Checkmate said finally, “A silly farm mare that probably couldn’t even protect her crops from a couple of fruit bats, and a Wonderbolts fangirl that doesn't stand a chance in the real world? were in more desperate conditions than I thought.”

“Woah, now hold on there, them’s fightin’ words” Applejack said taking a step forward as if challenging Checkmate. “Are’ you mocking’ us?”

“Who, Me? no no no no.” He said innocently, but after a short pause added, “yeah I am.”

“Hey, Who are you to judge us like that!?” Rainbow said defensively, “I bet we are the best guards you had ever seen.”

“Oh please, you two couldn’t protect an apple from a worm.” he said dismissing the two mares “I bet I could take you both and not have to throw a single punch or use any of my magic.” Checkmate said egging them on. “So i tell you what, If you can stop me before i get to the bucking bag at the other end of the court I’ll admit you are worthy guards, if not you two will shut your yaps and let me do my job, Deal?” the two mares looked at each other and nodded silently. “Good, now go take your positions.” in a matter of seconds Applejack and Rainbow Dash had ran over and taken defensive positions.

Once they were ready Checkmate charged at them and as soon as he started running so did the two mares. as expected Rainbow was the first to get to him, using her wings to gain speed. Checkmate took the challenge head on, and with precise timing, he slipped under her and vaulted over Applejack sending both barreling behind him. Soon he was standing next to the bucking bag.

“Tisk, Tisk, Tisk. And here I thought you could prove me wrong.” Checkmate said mockingly, “Wait, no, i knew you couldn't. You know why? It’s because you are too headstrong.” he said angrily, “Now for your impotence, 500 LAPS AROUND THE COURT FOR BOTH OF YOU, and no wings, If i even suspect that you were flying, the laps restart and double. NOW GET GOING!!!” Checkmate stood there watching the two run in circles, and after about two hours they had finished. Both were gasping for air and Applejack had completely collapsed. “Well you two took up all the time I had scheduled for the day, but I hope that you learned something.” he said looking down on the pair. and with that he turned around and exited the room and began walking to the train station, where he would get on a train to the Crystal Empire. once there he would be assisting Twilight, Cadence, and Shining Armor with the preparations for the Equestria Games.Once he arrived at the Crystal Palace he was greeted to the sight of Cadence and Shining Armor talking to some unicorn colt that seemed to made out of crystals, taking notes on what they were saying.

Soon Twilight trotted up to him “Oh good you're here, I was wondering when you would show up.” she said playfully. “we’re having some difficulty getting the preparations set to accommodate the massive amounts of ponies that should be arriving when the games finally open up.”

“So what seems the problem?” Checkmate said, still mildly annoyed with the events that took place back at Canterlot Palace.

“Well first of all, all of the hotels and extra rooms in the castle have already been booked, and there are still requests flooding in.” Shining Armor said glaring at Checkmate, after dismissing the crystallized pony, “and secondly what is HE doing here?” he said looking at Twilight and gesturing towards Checkmate.

“He is my advisor, he obligated to accompany me in any political escapades i am involved in,” she said calmly, “And on top of that, I asked him to.” with that said she turned to Checkmate, “Do you have any ideas that could help solve this problem?”

Checkmate thought for a while looking around. “Well the only thing i can think of at the moment is to expand into the frozen wasteland that surrounds this place,” he said “not only would it provide more living space, but could also bring more people to your growing kingdom, after the games are over.” and as he was explaining the Cadence started nodding and looking around as if imagining the possibilities.

“That couldn't possibly work,” Shining Armor said defiantly, “ The game are only a month away, we just can’t build that many new hotels in that little of a time frame.”

“who said that they had to be hotels. you can build lots of smaller houses, It would accomplish the same amount of living space, and take less time.” Checkmate reasoned. With little effort, and some help from Twilight and Cadence, Checkmate was able to persuade Shining Armor into accepting his idea, “O.K. now that we have that settled, is there anything else that could use my attention?”

“well,” Cadence began as a crystallized mailpony walked up. using her magic, she levitated a scroll and unrolled it, and when she did Checkmates jaw dropped when the scroll was revealed to be as long as an entire city block. “I hope this isn’t asking too much from you, but we could really use the help.” she said, smiling sweetly.

After looking over the fairly long scroll, Checkmate rolled it back up and placed it in his saddle bag. “It will take some time, but I think I can come up with a plan for a good portion of these by the end of the week.” he said with confidence. Cadence smiled warmly and turned around to continue her royal duties with Twilight right beside her. Shining Armor stayed behind long enough to glare at Checkmate before he turned and fell in line beside his wife.

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the sun had set by the time Checkmate returned to his room back in Canterlot. It was only day one, and already, he had had enough of Shining Armor. Everything Shining Armor did pissed Checkmate off, and visa-versa. Checkmate was trying his best to be helpful and clean the slate between them, I guess if you almost get someones wife killed, you tend to hold a grudge. Checkmate thought to himself as he sat down to look over the scroll where he spent most of night trying to solve as many of the problems that Princess Cadance had presented him.

after hours of thought Checkmate slipped off into an exhausted sleep, only to be rudely awakened by his alarm clock moments later. Groaning Checkmate got up and looked at the clock, “PONY FEATHERS, I’M GOING TO BE LATE AGAIN!!” he quickly stuffed everything into his saddle bags and darted out the door, and again got lost in the labyrinth that are the halls of Canterlot Palace.

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In the Daily Court Rainbow Dash and Applejack were just milling around talking about their day and such when suddenly the doors were flung open and two powerful blasts of magic smashed against the floor creating a sickly haze that completely blocked their sight, and making it impossible to see two inches past their muzzle.

“What in tarnation is this stuff?” Applejack managed to say through coughing fits. suddenly an eerie laughter could be heard echoing through the haze. “Who-who’s there?”

“How should I know,” Rainbow Dash responded, “But let me clear up this smoke.” Rainbow jumped into the air to spread her wings and vortex all the smoke away, but crashed to the ground “Hey, what gives?! Why do my wings feel so heavy?”

Checkmate’s laughter echoed through the smoke, “As a member of Twilight’s guard you may not always be able to see your target. This is your next test, find me before the smoke clears, or run 600 laps.” He said with a hint of malevolence that sent a shiver up both mares’ spine. The two fumbled around in the haze, constantly bumping into each other and their surroundings, and occasionally pouncing on each other thinking the other was Checkmate. “Don’t trust your eyes, expand your senses. Hear my hoofsteps, Smell the aroma of the ink from my quills, Feel my presents.” he said circling the mares like a buzzard.

The pair had become still, their eyes closed and ears open, trying to detect the slightest hint of movement. suddenly both Rainbow and Applejack launched themselves forward and landed on something solid, forcing it to the ground and pinning it. “HA, got ya!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in triumph as the smoke began to fade. soon a slow, rhythmic ploding could be heard several feet behind.

“Congratulations girls, you caught Fluttershy.” Checkmate said lightly stomping on the floor, his face unamused and slightly disappointed.

The two mares got off of of Fluttershy and Applejack helped her up. “Gosh, were mighty sorry sugarcube, we thought you were Checkmate tryn’ to sneak up on us.” she apologised

“Wh-why would you think that?” Fluttershy stammered, obviously shaken up by the sudden ambush. Rainbow Dash began explaining that Checkmate had been trying to teach them to not just rely on their eyes, but use their other senses instead. “Oh, o.k.” Fluttershy said looking at the ground.

“I’m terribly sorry that you got mixed up in all of this,” Checkmate said to Fluttershy as he escorted her out of the room, “And if there is anything I can do to make it up, just let me know.” Fluttershy just nodded and left. As she did Checkmate turned around to look at his two students. “Well, I think its safe to say that you have the basis of the technique,” he began making the two mares stand a bit taller, “but you still failed to capture me, so I’ll cut the punishment in half, 300 laps around the court, GO!” groaning the two mares began their run of shame. when they had finished Checkmate told Rainbow that, to hone in her skills, she needed Scootaloo or some other pegasus to blindfold her. “once blindfolded, I want you to try and sense where the clouds are, and try clearing them if you can.” he told a similar thing to Applejack. “I want you to have Big Mac, or Apple Bloom, to do the same and try maneuvering through your apple orchard, have them put some obstacles in your way to, if you can handle it that is.” and with that they left.

This is how the rest of Checkmate's week went. He would get lost in the halls of Canterlot Palace. Then training began, everyday it was a new lesson, which Checkmate was positive they were not grasping the concept, which would always end in the two mares havering to run laps. Next he would venture to the Crystal Empire to assist Cadence and Shining Armor with the preparations for the Games, but no matter what he proposed, Shining Armor would do everything in his power to shoot it down. It always took Twilight and Cadence to reason with him. When they did Shining Armor would give Checkmate a death glare. By the end of the day Checkmate would be exhausted but, due to his commitment, he would have to stay up and solve the issues concerning the games, and each night he would only get roughly two hours of sleep. Until one fateful day.

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Checkmate had just fallen asleep, out of exhaustion, when suddenly the room shook violently, waking him up, and sending bits of the roof falling to the floor. Checkmate threw on his uniform and threw open the door to see a hoard of Celestia's royal guard rushing down the hall towards the front gates with Rainbow Dash and Applejack close behind them.

"What's going on here," Checkmate demanded, stopping Rainbow Dash in her tracks, "why is everyone running around like a headless chicken?"

"The Place is being attacked by some sort of monster, and it's destroying everything!" She said urgently.

Checkmate paused for a moment, thinking, "O.K. You and Applejack go and see if you can assist the other guards, I'm going to check on Twilight" he said rushing towards Twilights royal chambers. He had to push his way through the oncoming horde of guards, but he eventually made his way to Twilight's room, and burst through the door. "Your highness, are you alright?" He said, worried.

Twilight was staring out of a window of her room, "I'm fine," she said turning around to face Checkmate, “What's going on? Why have all the guards been assembled?” she said with worry.

“There’s some sort of monster attacking the palace,” Checkmate said, “you must evacuate. I sent Rainbow Dash and Applejack to help the other guards hold off the beast, but we need to leave now because i have a bad feeling that it’s not going to end well.” he said urging her to flee.

As Twilight began walking towards the captain of her guard, one of the walls exploded, sending them cartwheeling away from each other. Checkmate was slammed into a bookshelf where an avalanche of books and scrolls cascaded down on top of him. Twilight was smacked into a wall, and looked on in horror as the dust settled revealing a giant, and disfigured, hand reach through the freshly destroyed wall.

The hand was about 3 ponies long and looked as if it had been submerged in a pot of boiling water for too long, its rotting flesh hanging on in tatters, revealing patches of bone. the hand had five bony fingers, and each had 2 foot talons at the tip. It reached in and headed for Twilight, grabbing her by one of her hind legs, and no matter how hard she struggled, Twilight couldn’t break free. Soon the beast began slowly dragging the screaming Princess out the gaping hole in the wall as Checkmate pulled himself out of the pile of books.

“Checkmate, help me!” She said, doing her best to fight against the backwards force of the hand. “My magic’s not working!” she added with small sparks began leaping from her horn.

Checkmate also tried to cast a spell of his own, but he found that he too was having trouble using his magic. he then ran up to the hand and slammed into it, in effort to weaken it just enough to have twilight wiggle free. when he had impacted the hand an inpony wail was heard, making the palace shudder. soon another hand burst through the wall, hitting Checkmate with such force that it sent him sailing across the room.

Checkmate was dazed and his vision was blurred, making it look like the room was spinning. he only had enough strength to reach into his saddlebag and throw a vial of clear liquid at one of the hands, causing it to shatter on impact, covering it in the strange potion. Checkmate watched helplessly as Twilight was dragged out of the room, and see a blurred outline of the monster get a proper grip on the princess as it leaped off the tower and took to the air flying towards a mountain range in the distance, and as it did, Checkmate’s vision darkened as he blacked out.

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Checkmate awoke in the palace infirmary, with all of Twilight’s friends around him. Immediately he sat up and leaped out of bed, “how long has it been?” he demanded, taking the others by surprise, “How long has it been!?” he repeated, rage and worry in his voice.

“Since what?” Rainbow responded with confusion.

“Since Twilight was abducted.” Checkmate said angrily.

“Well, gosh that was yesterday.” Applejack said plainly “But what’s that got to do with anything?” she added questioningly.

“Good the potion would not have evaporated yet,” Checkmate muttered to himself unbinding the bandages around his head “we need to go and get her.” he added quickly, discarding the bandages.

“What in the name of Celestia is he going on about?” Rarity said, “You don’t meen Twilight do you?” she gasped and added “You just simply can’t, especially not in the condition that you are in.”

“Don’t tell me what to do” he snapped before wincing as pain shot through his body. Realizing that she was right Checkmate limped over to his saddlebag and began rummaging through it. soon he levitated a test tube with a fizzing yellow liquid in it, unpluged the cork, and downed the entire vial. “There, that should do it.” he said discarding the empty tube. “Now come on, we’re losing time.”

“now hold ye’r horses,” Applejack said “Rarity just said that you were in no fit condition to-” she began before Checkmate shouldered past her

“I just drank a potion that instantly heals any, and all, injuries.” he said, “But only temporarily, thats why we have to hurry.”

“If what you say is true, and you can travel, we still have no way of knowing where that beast took her.” Rarity said with concern.

sighing in annoyance, Checkmate stopped and looked directly at the fashionista

“Just before i blacked out, I managed to throw a special potion on one of the beast’s hands.” Checkmate explained, “It produces an invisible smoke trail that i can track using my magic. the trail disappears two days after it’s initial useage, so again, we need to hurry” he said rushing out the door only to stop again. “Oh, and Pinkie, we’re going to need your balloon”

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Back in Twilight’s chambers, the group gathered around as Checkmate concentrated and shot a beam into the air. this beem instantly hit an invisible cloud and lit it up a bright green, and the more magic he poured into the cloud, the longer the trail became. “so I reckon that thing took her that way?” Applejack asked.

“Yup,” Checkmate responded, “So, Pinkie, did you bring your balloon like I ask- where is she” Checkmate said in confusion. last time he saw her, she had been right behind him. When he turned around he was shocked to see that Pinkie was in the balloon, and was floating it right in front of the hole on the wall, “How did she get it to inflate so fast, and where was she storing it?!” Checkmate asked bewildered.

the group began to walk towards the giant balloon, and as she passed Rainbow whispered into Checkmate’s ear, “don’t think about it too much, it will preserve your sanity” she said taking to the air. five of the ponies were in the balloon while Rainbow Dash flew ahead, pulling it along. after 15 minutes of flying the group had reached a mountain range, and once they got close enough, the trail ended suddenly.

“What happened to the trail,” Fluttershy said shrinking back in fear.

“well, normally I would say ‘thats not a good sign’ but considering that this monster has the ability to filter all magic, it means that we are close.” he explained.

"Oo-ooh, what's that!" Pinkie Pie giggled while rhythmically hopping in place, "It looks sooo, pretty!"

everypony turned their heads to look at what Pinkie was blabbering about when they saw a giant purple fireball hurtling towards them. The group only saw the projectile for a split-second before it slammed into the balloon, puncturing it. the impact shook the basket and threw the passengers around. the mystic looking fire soon engulfed the entire balloon, making it plimit downwards, dragging Rainbow down with it.

"Applejack, Throw another rope around Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy then tie the other end around you, Rarity and Pinkie Pie." Checkmate said, barking out orders. once they had done what she was told Checkmate threw a small bottle with blue liquid on the three mares inside the basket, and threw red liquid on Fluttershy "Now go!"

"But what about-" Rarity began only to be silenced as Checkmate yelled.

"GO!" he exclaimed. with that the two pegasi took off, taking the trio of mares with them, leaving Checkmate alone in the plummeting hot air balloon. seconds before the balloon collided with the ground, Checkmate drank a suspicious looking grey liquid. The balloon smashed into the ground with such force that it created a crater in the ground and sent a plume of smoke high into the air.

the five ponies landed next to the wreckage and began to look for Checkmate, but found nothing.

"Wh-where his he" Fluttershy said in distress.

"I don't know sugarcube." Applejack said doing her best to console her distressed friend.

"Look!" Rainbow said flying over to where Checkmate's saddle bag lay in tatters under a pile of flames. the group crowded around the fire their heads bowed in respect.

"What in the name of Celestia are you five doing?" a disembodied voice spoke. the group of mares looked around in confusion. suddenly the smoke rising from the fire began to morph and take the shape of Checkmate, his ghostly form swaying in the wind.

“Ooooh, it’s Checkmate’s ghost!” Pinkie said sweeping her hoof through the smoky Checkmate, “Are you here to reveal your final wishes?”

“Will you stop that, I’m not dead!” he said shooing away Pinkie Pie as he gradually become solid.

“How did you do that, darling?” Rarity said trotting up to him, “I thought you said that our magic won’t be working because of the beast?”

Checkmate began explaining that the potions he used weren’t infused with magic, but were made with his understanding of biology. “if you make them right you would be able to manipulate, ANYTHING, to your will. it is why Rainbow and Fluttershy were able to hold you three without straining themselves.” he said, “Sadly, due to me becoming smoke, my saddlebag fell and the impact seemed to have obliterated all of my other potions.” he said walking a leaning over the tattered saddlebag. “But now is not the time, nor place, to mourn. Twilight is in danger and needs our help, and were running out of time” he said dismissing the mess, “Now i am sure that the beast has taken her to the top of the mountain, and were on a short time schedule so lets get going.”

the ponies nodded in agreement and began the long, and tedious, trek up the mountain. the mountain was decently sized, and working some quick numbers in his head based on what he could see, Checkmate figured that it was roughly 2,000 feet tall, but the higher they traveled, Checkmate realized that there was a thought nagging at the back of his mind, quiet at first, but becoming very prominent the longer they went.

why are you putting yourself through all of this, it would be much easier to give up and announce her dead. what are you trying to prove? she wronged you, you don't have to go and almost die trying to save an ungrateful princess that has only driven you to exhaustion since you started working under her. and what does she do in return, nothing, not even a single ‘thank you for all of your hard work’.

“Checkmate watch out!” Applejack’s said, her voice piercing Checkmate’s thoughts. soon after her sudden warning, a purple fireball exploded in front of him sending flying backwards, and almost sent him spinning off the face of a 900 foot cliff. as the dust settled the trail had been completely decimated, cutting him off from the others. “Y'all alright Checkmate!” Applejack yelled over the gap.

“Yeah, i’m fine.” he said shaking his head as to try and clear it. he couldn't believe that he had been distracted for such a long period of time. you would think i would have been able to see a giant purple fireball he thought to himself.

“stay right there,” Rainbow said, coiling back to take to the sky, “I’m going to come and get you.”

“No, it will waste time, you guys continue down that way and i’ll double back and see if i can find another way up.” he said “I’ll meet you at the top.” with that he turned and began his long trek up a different path. wondering on this path brought more thoughts to him,

she has had this coming for awhile, just walk away, no pony will know. it will be our little secret. the voice cooed seductively

after, what seemed like an eternity, Checkmate heard an ear piercing scream, and, instantly he knew who it was, Twilight. without a moments hesitation, Checkmate raced up the trail, with only Twilight's agonizingly painful screams as his guide. these screams led him upwards, as he expected, towards the peak of the mountain, and as he got closer to the source of the screams, the darker the voice at the back of his mind became.

yes, she is finally getting her dues, I just wish it was me doing it! Hopefully theres blood, pools of it. the voice would continue.

Finally he had reached the pinnacle of the mountain, his mind warn from the constant bombardment of the voice, and his body, from charging up the mountain.

the screams had been silent for the better part of a minute when Checkmate came to the overhang that the beast had forcibly brought her, and the first thing he saw was a mass of purple that lay motionless on the cold stone ground, blood pooling in the floor due to a nasty cut she had sustained over her right eye. he immediately darted over to her side. her injuries were worse than he had originally thought, for starters, one of the alcorn's wings were bent at an odd and painful looking angle, and she was covered in blood. he bent down to inspect the injured princess, prodding her side, to see if he could get any kind of response from her to confirm that she was still alive

Sure enough her eyes fluttered weakly open, one eye only half open because of the pain she was in. "Checkmate, you came?" she began weakly, "I was sure the injuries you must have sustained would have left you bedridden for months." she said in confusion.

"It takes more than a few cuts and bruises to keep me down," he said in jest, "but right now we are going to get you out of here, and fast so the doctors can begin tending to your wounds." he said seriously, trying to help the princess up.

Wincing with every movement Twilight collapsed. "It's no use, the extent of my wounds are too severe. It's going to take-" she began, but was interrupted as her eyes widened in fear.

the voice in Checkmate's head began laughing , but Checkmate soon realized that the voice was emanating from behind him. Checkmate spun around and became face to face with the beast.

the thing was repulsive its legs resembled those of a dragon, but they were scared with large sections of scales missing exposing the muscles and bone underneath. It looked like it hadn't been fed in years, with all of it's ribs showing. its shoulders were broad and muscular, and had two pairs of arms. the main two being longer and coming out of the shoulders as usual, but the other two were smaller and seemed to protrude from the rib cage. Its face seemed to resemble a bat that had flown through a fire. parts of its flesh completely missing on one side of its face, revealing the bone beneath. Its teeth sharp as razors and his fangs like menacing sickles. it's wings too resembled those of a bat, but were scared with holes. Checkmate considered it a miracle that it had been able to fly here at all. on top of it all, the monster stood a good 30 feet tall, making it easy for Checkmate to imagine the beats climbing the palace and doing the damage that it had.

When Checkmate turned around the beast began charging at the two ponies, swatting Checkmate aside with it's main right hand sending him cartwheeling away, and scooping Twilight up with it's second left, and Twilight screamed in agony as the beast gripped tighter. The beast howled it's approval of the pain with a screech that shook the mountain.

Checkmate sluggishly stood up, and began shaking his head to clear it after being hit with such a massive chunk of bony flesh. once Checkmate’s vision had cleared, a dark shadow fell across the punie colt as the monster raised one of its boulder sized fists and began to arch downwards. Checkmate was only just able to fling himself out of the impact zone of the incoming threat, which landed with a satisfying *thud* and caused a spider web like scar on the ground where it had impacted.

Checkmate scrambled to this hooves and desperately began scanning his surroundings for anything that he could use as a weapon against his opponent, but to his despair he found nothing. The ledge on which they were located was unusually barren and flat, no decently sized rocks, no sticks, not even any discarded bones from previous meals. Just a cliff with a 1,900 foot drop that lead straight down, to certain death. Seconds later another massive fist came crashing to the ground, leaving another spider web fracture on the stone floor as Checkmate, expertly dodged.

As he dodged each blow Checkmate began running multiple outcomes in his head, If I can shoot a powerful enough beem, i might be able to loosen the beast’s grip on Twilight, after a brief moment of thought Checkmate rejected the notion, No, that won’t work, the monster has some sort of magical field that suppresses other magic. Maybe i can-

“Checkmate LOOK OUT!” Twilight’s terrified wail broke his concentration, and was hammered by a powerful strike to his side that sent him skidding to the edge of the cliff.

Checkmate was in terrible pain as he struggled to stand. The beast roared in approval of the fight, it’s, maniacal, toothy grin sent a shiver up Checkmate’s spine. He felt helpless. without any of his potions, magic, or even any time to think, he could do nothing.

Twilight wasn’t any better off. The constant pressure of being trapped in the beast’s clutches was crushing her, making everything sore and her breath labored. The most that she could do was let out a choked scream, or some other piece of advice to try and assisting her rescuer. “Make a left-no no no, MY left. Now a hang a right!”

An abnormally large sized dragon’s foot came crashing down just inches away from the colt that was scrambling around the beast’s legs, as Checkmate skidded to a halt. “Stop trying to help me!” Checkmate screamed angrily at the captured princess. Immediately after shouting at Twilight as sharp pain convulsed through him. His potion that had healed him had worn off. No, not now he thought. shortly after he was punted across the overhang and into the wall on the far end.

upon impact a mind numbing crunch emanated from Checkmate’s ribcage and a spray of blood erupted from his mouth as he fell to the ground. Checkmate’s senses were beginning to dull and darken as the laughter began again, softly at first but growing in intensity at the back of his mind. then a voice came through. Dark and menacing, like the wind just before a thunderstorm.

how does it feel? It began, knowing that everything that you have worked so hard for, is in the mercy of somepony else’s hooves? being helpless to do nothing to stop it. the voice said echoing around in Checkmate’s head.

Slowly, the bloodied Checkmate began to get up, one eye wincing, while the other was fixed on the towering beast.

“Checkmate, just go! it’s hopeless!” Twilight’s plee rang out, “If you don’t you’re going to end up dead!”

“NO! it is my sworn duty to protect you!” Checkmate spat, “If I can’t save you myself, I can hold it off for long enough for others to be able to come and help at the cost of my life, so be it.”

The beast just let out a deep and menacing laugh. Those others you’re so desperately waiting for, aren't going to come. There on a track that leads to a dead end and there is no way that they will be able to come to her rescue. It convulsed with laughter, and consequently, began crushed Twilight in it’s grip.

After a good minute that might as well be torture, those awful screams finally subsided. Probably because she blacked out, but still, they ended.

You seem like a decent pony, so I’ll make you a deal. leave now, and I won’t kill you, only the princess.

Checkmate was caught off guard by this. why is this thing giving me a chance to run. he thought. he looked back at the trail that had brought him up this way longingly. It would be easy for him to just abandon her and save himself, even in his weakened state; a simple dash, and a quick roll is all it would take for him to get out of there and let Twilight fend for herself.

She wronged you Checkmate. She took away your chance of a better life for you and your family. The beasts voice echoed in his head.

“Yes, but she gave me the opportunity to have all that again once she made me part of her royal court.” Checkmate reasoned., “she made up for it.”

Yes, but you know, deep down in your heart that, if she hadn’t taken the test that day, YOU would have been Celestia’s prized student. YOU would have been the Element of Magic. YOU would have become an Alicorn Prince. Not Twilight. Don’t you want your revenge?

The Beast had brought up some valid points that Checkmate had overlooked. He was conflicted, His mind kept telling him to stay and protect Twilight, but his emotions were telling him to leave and forget Twilight. He had never been in this kind of situation before. What to do.

Things would have been so much simpler had she just not showed up.

Checkmate was on the floor now, his head in his hooves, and his eyes shut. He was doing everything in his power to rationalize this situation, but the monster kept pushing, and the more it did the more conflicted he became.

You may think you have changed but deep down, you still can’t forgive her. you are the same pony you were before any of this happened, and you will never change.

Checkmate’s eyes slowly opened, and he looked up, realizing there was no way out of this situation. “You’re right I haven’t changed.” he said menacingly, “I’m the same stubborn, cold, calculating pony I was before.” he continued, “But these ponies have influenced my outlook on the world, I no longer have the need to desire to kill Twilight, AND I WILL NOT HAVE MY LOYALTIES QUESTIONED BY A, WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE!”

Checkmate channeled all of his anger into his horn. this sudden surge of energy seemed to have created a small hole in the beast’s aura, but Checkmate could feel it regenerating, whatever he was going to do he’d better do it fast. Without thinking he charged the beast, cloaking himself in his magic.

the beast was taken aback by this sudden change, and started to back up, but was stopped because it was at the ledge. It then spread its wings, and with a single flap, took to the air and hovered just over the edge.

“You’re not getting away that easily!” Checkmate exclaimed. Using his magic as a propulsion boost, Checkmate launched himself, essentially becoming a pony rocket, at the fleeing beast, and slammed horn first into it’s chest.

The impact made the beast let out a screech of pain as it throw it’s arms out and released Twilight from it’s clutches, effectively ‘lobbing’ her safely back on the ledge.

For Checkmate, on the other hoof, time seemed to slow. the flailing arms of the beast seemed to sway like tree limbs on a peaceful night, that is, until one of them caught Checkmate and sent him into the cliff wall. upon impact all he could hear was the sound of crunching bones and Twilight’s distant scream of shock only mere moments before everything went black.

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“We’ve been walking on this road forever, and my hooves are killing me” Rarity complained, “and for what, a dead end?”

“Well then lets back track, there has to be a way up to the top, come’ on ya’ll.” Applejack encouraged, “we can’t give up on Twi’” at that moment an ear splitting screech pierced the air and the beast they have been chasing dropped from the sky, right passed the group of traveling ponies, followed shortly after by a dark grey colt, with a mane as black as midnight with a single emerald green streak. “What in tarnation was that?” Applejack said in shock.

“I think that was Checkmate.” Rainbow Dash said, equally stunned at what just unfolded “I’m going after him.” she said and launched herself off the edge and dove after Checkmate.

Using her wings she gained speed and began to, slowly, catch up to the two plummeting lifeforms. she was within reaching distance of Checkmate when a purple fireball erupted from the beast’s mouth and grazed against the left wing of Rainbow Dash, and crashed into the mountain. in effort to stop herself from losing control Rainbow Dash pulled up and landed safely on a ledge, seconds before large sections of the mountain broke off and began trailing after Checkmate and the Beast.

The rainbow colored pony looked over the edge and was just able to see the beast and Checkmate get crushed by the boulders that had fallen off the mountain.

panic surged through the mare, "Ohmygosh,Ohmygosh,Ohmygosh,Ohmygosh she said in panicked succession as she began running down the path down the mountain, putting all her strength into running to Checkmate's aid. It took a while, but the mare found her way down the mountain that didn't risk using her injured wings.

once she did, she saw where the rocks had landed. they were stacked in a huge pile about 30 feet high, with one mutilated hand of the beast sticking out, that twitched occasionally, and a massive pool of blood emanating from the underneath the rocks. she frantically began scouring the bloody rubble for any sign of the colt. she searched for the better part of an hour before her other friends came down the path, with an Injured Twilight draped over Applejack like a curtain.

"Come on girls, Checkmate's trapped, you have to help me find him." Rainbow pleaded pushing some of the pony sized rocks with quite some difficulty. the other 4 ponies joined in attempt to find Checkmate, but it was all for naught. there was simply too many rocks, and even in death the beast radiated it’s magic dispelling aura.

the search into the wee hours of the night and by that time Twilight had awoken, but was in no fit condition to do any heavy lifting. everypony was exhausted after what events had unfolded, it wasn’t until Applejack decided to call it quits did everypony begin to pack up and go home. Rainbow Dash was the last to give up the search, mainly because she felt responsible for his death, but even she had to take into realization that Checkmate was gone.

Chapter 3: Checkmate’s Reckoning, End