The chess games before this one felt like I had been facing toddlers and I had just switched to facing a grandmaster. I had to be sure to think through each move even thinking more long term rather than short term like I had with the others. I had forced Starswirl in full retreat during the end part game, I had made sure to keep him on the edge. Almost every other turn we were trading pieces it was hard tell who was winning from the outside.

Though I was starting to make the old man sloppy, he was getting nervous I was playing fast and strong handed, I could swear I heard his teeth grinding when I had took his final knight. I was down to one knight, the queen and king, and a pawn, while he was down to two pawn, a mage, and his king. I was making him over think my moves, though I had him cornered he has very few moves that could get him out of the position. Through the game he had been overprotective of his queen having sacrificed many pieces before I had took it. I had lost one knight and my mages to take the piece, but he sacrificed half his pawns and his other mage.

Though I would say it was a gain since he had lost his rooks or as they called them by their old name towers. I’m close though I saw a path that he could still pull out a victory though he most likely hadn’t noticed. While moving his remaining mage would leave his king more opened he could take my knight and make my life difficult and he would reverse the tables on me.

Doing my best to keep my face straight as he made the worse move that he could he tried to move his king back away into the further corner of the board. I had moved my queen to the back row before saying in a calm voice that I had kept since we had began. “Check.” I had him trapped and he saw it from then on it was nothing more than a matter of time.

After ten minutes of cat and mouse having lost all other pieces I had corned his king with my knight and queen. So I had declared, “Check and mate old timer, seems you just have been dulling over time if you were sharp to start with.” I said teasingly as I stood up the old unicorn still sitting there in a state of shock of having lost.

I had went and claimed my bag of Bits as the two guards had walked over and helped the stunned Starswirl to his feet walking him off to the carriage parked not too far away from the crowd.

The guards had whispered into Starswirl’s ear, “Sir, isn’t that creature that beat you the one the princesses are looking for shouldn’t we try and arrest him?”

This had snapped Starswirl out of his trance before replying. “While it might be the creature that the princesses told us about we are not in Equestria and have no power over it here.”

“For now we shall keep this creature in mind but not tell the princesses they might act rashly and we need no more trouble than we already have.” Starswirl had told the guards who nodded as they helped him into the carriage.

While this was half truth the real reason was Starswirl was furious he had been beaten by this creature in a game of skill. He would refuse to let this go without paying him back, but for now he will plot and wait for he finally had someone who may prove to be worth his time. The princesses were his students he knew all their flaws and their strengths, while this one was an unknown and proven so far to be at least as intelligent as himself. Though he would find the creature’s weaknesses one way or another.

I had made my way back to the blacksmith so I could stash away my winning from the small tournament. I had a reasonable size of income now, the main problem was I still had to find the Chaos Emeralds which were for all he knew scattered all over the world.

So I know what the first thing I needed to make, the Tornado, the problem was I was going to have to modify it. Since there was no way to get fuel I would either have to somehow make a steam powered plane, or have it run on the Chaos Emerald’s energy. For now I needed to wait till winter time when the shop had the least business because of the temperature usually made forging weapons difficult, since the cold could make them brittle. So back to routine till the first snow falls.

Meanwhile in Crystal Empire

Things had started getting out of hand ever since the formation of Equestria where ‘equality’ was being promised to all tribes. The Empire was having a shortage of food as most of the Earth pony population had left to go there the few that were left were not being able to make enough food. The unicorn nobles were trying their hardest to make runes that were to help the crystal berries grow faster but they were nowhere near as strong as Earth pony magic.

The unicorns were getting desperate to find a way to increase the growth of food for the Empire, not only cause of the shortage of food. Though by a force of her hand, Princess Platinum had promised the position of her husband or advisor, if female, to who ever found a fix for the problem no questions asked.

One of the young lower rank nobles, he was a disgrace for his family having never found his talent, he had saw this as his chance to help change the Empire for the best not just the best of the nobles. Thinking it would be best for him to test his ideas outside of the shield which was barely working as of now it was now a shell of it’s former glory. It had became as thin as a sheet of paper looking like it could be broken through with the simplest of hits.

The young noble had traveled out only ten feet from the shield before he noticed a large hole in the snow, it was already starting to fill back up. Though curiosity had gotten the best of of the grey unicorn, he had started digging through the snow till he found a large purple gem that could barely fit in his hand. This could be just what the Empi-, he was looking for to help achieve his goals, unknown to him his bright green eyes slowly turned red.

Deep in the badlands.

The species in this barren land had had it hard though one species had came out ahead having been able to feed on magic itself without draining the amount of magic in the air around it. Though when the large grey gem had smashed into the front of their home, most of them trying to avoid the foul smelling gem.

Though the leader of the species could not let such a horrid gem stay near her people. So with a stroke of what some would say bravery but others would say ignorance had grabbed a hold of the grey gem to toss it. The reaction to the species as a whole was nearly instant the screams of the strong species echoed through the barren land. As they were changed by the gem to a species that craved the one thing they thought they could never have from another species, love.

Within the Everfree forest.

Under the two newly crowned princesses’ nose was the finale bright green emerald embedded within a large old tree near the middle of the forest. The emerald had started pulsing sending energy through the tree to the root the continued spreading throughout the forest. The sound of howling started up as the creatures of wood had been empowered their eyes shining now bright green.

The forest was under new management, it was just the old management just hadn’t found out yet the forest darkening as even the manticores started traveling in groups as the new change swept through the forest. The forest weather starting to rebel against the pegasi who tried to destroy it or move it and the ground resisted the the Earth ponies trying to grow the plants faster.

Inside of the vault of Equestria.

There sat buried deep into the back of the vault sat the three gems, the two smaller ones set in large metal boxes chained closed. While the large green emerald was chained to the floor surrounded with trap runes, all from the small shock runes to the magic sapping runes. In the room a very familiar laugh started echoing in the room, as the emerald glowed lighting up the dark vault.

A voice echoed in the vault, “It seems three have fallen to corrupt, but there is one who holds out against the unknown corrupt. But the first one that should have fallen has been accepted as their wielder. Oh, this might just be an interesting time even without me physically present!”

As the laugh soon went silent the light in the vault had faded the only shine left was the original light green glow. Discord still in control even within the Master Emerald watching through his gems to see what chaos had followed them. His only regret was that he couldn't have a cup of cotton candy and popped paper to watch this with.

Author's Note

I'm hoping I didn't overplay my hand here, most of this chapter was for later ones. I might even have some side chapters on the changes going on with the others holding the Chaos Emeralds. If any of you see any mistakes I might have made just point them out and I'll fix it, also sorry it took so long to make this chapter. I might have procrastinated a lot replaying games and things like that.