“You are here,” a voice proclaimed, loud and coarse.

I froze, my ears perking up.

I glanced around the pitch-black room, the door creaking behind me. Gulping, I gingerly crept into the ethereal darkness from the comfort of the lit hallway, the sound of groaning floorboards accompanying my every step.

Light flashed in my eyes. Gritting my teeth, I shot a foreleg up to my face. After rubbing my eyes, I stared through the afterimages clouding my vision to familiarise myself with this strange room.

There wasn’t much to familiarise with the now-illuminated room. The room was as devoid of furniture as what the darkness prior had seemed to suggest, save for a single wooden table and chair. Although the walls were stained and the floorboards were worn, the same couldn’t be said about the two lonely pieces of furniture.

The table was elegantly crafted, finished with lacquered surfaces and a scrupulously polished marble top. A complementary chessboard stood idly on the table, its exquisite marble and basalt pieces arranged orderly for a new game. An empty chair sat next to the table, its gilded surfaces reflecting magnificently in the abundance of light.

“Sometimes you have to look back before you can move forward.”

I sighed, before turning to face a cloaked equine figure. “What’s with th-”

“Why bask in the glory of light if we do not appreciate the darkness?” The figure tilted its head slightly, its bulging hood sliding back. What was it thinking?

“My services would be useless if they were kept in the darkness,” I spat at the unknown figure. “Shed light on them, however...”

The figure chuckled, before turning to face the battered door next to it. For several long moments of contemplation, it stared at the splintering door, the rusty hinges and the tainted doorknob.

I snorted. “Please stop beating around the bush.”

The cloaked pony stepped towards me, its head turning to where each hoof landed, each step careful, deliberate and almost meticulous. “They say money can buy anything in this world,” the figure preached, reaching into the confines of its cloak to produce a massive pouch of bits. I stared at the figure with widening eyes as it continued, “I believe this is sufficient for your services.” It then tossed the pouch onto the floor, causing the many gold coins within it to spill out in a series of clanks.
My eyes glimmered.

I rushed towards the pile, grabbing a coin between my teeth. Saliva seeped out of my mouth as I tried biting into the coin with my teeth to no avail, the bitter taste of circulation also alluding to its authenticity.

“They are genuine to what you think they are.”

I dropped the coin, letting it fall to the floor with a satisfying, high-pitched clink. “Of course.”

Even if its expression was concealed by that cloak, I could still see the figure smiling silently behind its veil. “Excellent.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the sight of the figure’s forehoof rising to the air cut me off. “Take what shimmers on the floor. Take them to bring yourself up to the task I will ask of you. Do it to the best of your ability.”

“Of course...of course.” I hastily reached out with my hooves to seize the abundance of gold coins on the floor, pushing them into the bulging pouch that once contained them. After pocketing the massive fortune into my saddlebags, I realised that the figure was no longer in front of me, its hoofsteps echoing from behind me. “So, what do you have in mind?”

“Do you believe in friendship?”

I blinked. “Well, of course. With Princess Twilight, everypony”—I shook my head—“almost everypony has benefited from her lessons of fri-”

“I see,” the figure sharply interjected, its interruption more pronounced than I had anticipated. “Come here.”

After a beat, I trotted over to the figure when he took a seat, staring into what I thought was the rough location of its eyes. “Excuse me? May I ask...who ar-”

The figure slammed its hooves onto the table. I jerked back, my eyes widening to the size of saucers. “My existence is not one for you to deliberate over. More salient is the task at hoof.”

I didn’t move. “What are your plans?”

The figure reached into its cloak and placed a rolled-up parchment on the table next to the chess board, the paper’s crisp evident from the rustle it made. The figure then looked up and stared at me through its black hood. “Take this.”

I breathed an air of relief. I inched forward and slid the scroll off the polished marble surface to collect it. Throwing it onto the floorboards, I dragged the scroll open with my hooves to decipher its contents.

“Do you play?” the figure inquired, interrupting my reading. I glanced up, finding the figure gesturing to the chessboard.

I exhaled. I turned my attention to the chessboard, admiring the brilliant craftsmareship of the pieces. “Sorry, I’ve never played it before.” I sighed, shaking my head. Without taking much notice, I returned to the instructions stipulated in the parchment, noting every single detail.

I fidgeted. “You want me to head to Ponyville?”

“In chess, every move has to be calculated. To calculate, preparation is key,” the figure continued—what a helpful answer. “Only then will victory be secure...”

“Yes, and you know that it takes at least five days to get to Ponyville from here, right?” My eyes narrowed. “Your calcul-”

“Normally.” The figure dragged a pawn two spaces forward on the board to command the centre of the battlefield. “But this is your first game, after all.”

“What do you mean?” How I wished that my contact would stop talking in senseless riddles...

“Let the game begin.”

With that, a flash of maroon light enveloped my senses. The now-familiar room warped into floating blurred shapes. For a second, I thought I saw the faint outlines of several rural houses.

Maroon gave way to blinding white.

Three days later…

“SURPRISE!”

The collective exclamation of five ponies shouting in unison swept Rainbow Dash’s mane backward. Her jaw hanging from her mouth, Rainbow stood on the doormat of Sugarcube Corner, the last of many multi-coloured streamers and confetti pelting the ground and her mane.

She was greeted by the smiles of all of her friends decked out with colourful paper party hats. A psychedelic bonanza of balloons, banners, and streamers covered the confectionary.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” her friends exclaimed before blowing their party horns.

Pinkie Pie zipped over to the door. “Happy birthday Dashie! I knew it was your birthday today, so I made this super awesome special surprise birthday party for you! I also invited Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, Rarity”—Pinkie Pie sucked in a water tower’s worth of air—“and Fluttershy here. I even organised this party here so that you totally definitely would not suspect a thing! This is gonna be the best birthday party EVER!” In a flurry, Pinkie pulled a peculiar periwinkle party hat from her puffy mane and put it onto Rainbow’s head.

Rainbow’s eyes twinkled. “Omigosh! Wow! Yo-”

“Of course, silly. I even baked a super special cake for you!” Pinkie bounced back to reveal a huge cake behind her, tipped lavishly with white frosting as another round of confetti flared out. “Now, COME ON! LET’S PARTY!”

Rainbow glided towards the towering cake that stood in the middle of the confectionery, taking a whiff of the sugary sweet aroma. “Wow…”

“Happy birthday, Rainbow!” Rarity trotted towards the mouth-watering cake. “Isn’t this marvellous, darling?”

“Well, yeah!” Rainbow feasted her eyes on the delicacy, her tongue dripping with saliva. “But wait, where’s Spike?”

“Oh, unfortunately Spike had to remain in Canterlot for royal duties,” Twilight called out. “Anyways, sorry that I couldn’t come to visit you all in Ponyville more often.”

Fluttershy slid herself over. “Umm...actually, didn’t you visit us last week for the Council of Friendship?”

“Yes, but that’s in Canterlot, not Ponyville.” Twilight sighed. “The last time we held the Council of Friendship in Ponyville with Starlight...it was moons ago.”

“It’s okay,” Starlight responded. “I’ve been really busy with managing the school too.”

“Yeah! Don’t worry, Twi. I’m sure you and Spike can spare some time to come visit.” Rainbow glanced back at Twilight. “Anyways, thanks for coming!”

Twilight smiled. “No problem, but why are we all standing around the cake like this instead of eating it?”

“Yeah,” Applejack marvelled at the decadent cake as Rainbow darted around the circular oak table that held the cake. “Ah mean, we can always start the party with some cake.”

Pinkie squeed. “Oooo! You can’t resist the cake, can you? I’m so glad you want to try it, because I totally spent the last seven hours planning, preparing, layering, baking and setting it!” She slid over, a lit match, somehow strung onto her mane, to light the candles dotting the surface of the cake.

“Okay everypony!” Pinkie swung her forehooves like a conductor of an orchestra. “A one and a two and a…”

“Happy birthday to you…happy birthday to you…” Rainbow’s eyes glistened as she listened to her friends singing and tapping their forehooves in rhythm. “Happy birthday to Rain-bow...happy birthday to you!”

Yet another round of confetti erupted throughout the room as Rainbow closed her eyes tightly. After a moment, she opened her eyes slowly and blew out all the candles on the cake in a single breath.

The confectionery erupted in a cacophony of hoof-stomping and cheers as Rainbow gripped the knife in front of her with her teeth. A single slice revealed the many rainbow layers of sponge cake hidden beneath the thick white frosting. “Awe-some!”

“Woohoo!” Pinkie jumped up and down. “Try it, try it!”

Rainbow beamed before taking a voracious bite of the slice, Pinkie’s eyes tracing her every move. “Mmm!” Rainbow licked off the frosting on her lips. “De-licious, Pinkie! Come everypony, let’s eat!”

As her friends eagerly came forward, Rainbow’s mouth grabbed the knife on the table to dish out a slice to each of her friends…

...before her knife clattered onto the table…

...before her eyes rolled back into her head…

...before she fell to the ground with a thud.

Author's Note

It's been a while since I've written a story. I've been focusing on reviews in the Reviewers' Mansion in the past 5 months, but I recently had an idea that I could not resist. So, here it is! Hope you enjoy!