The Princesses Gambit

by Scotishbro

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, Sad
Length: 3581

Rarity reminisces over an old friend of hers with Twilight during a game of chess

Rarity reminisces over an old friend of hers with Twilight during a game of chess.

Published 2022-03-14 21:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-03-14 21:20:01 UTC

A Gentlecolt's Game

“Oh, Twilight, I’m really going to miss this place. Just so many memories!”

Rarity and the aforementioned Princess Twilight Sparkle had been moving boxes out of the Carousel Boutique, for the alabaster unicorn was moving away to live in Canterlot. It was a hard endeavor, one filled with many stops to cry over an old set of needles or one of the many failed art experiments made by Sweetie Belle. Twilight was getting a bit fed up by the whole ordeal, but continued reminding herself that she felt the exact same way about leaving Ponyville not to many years ago.

Rarity dropped to the floor, ruining her 5 minute old make-up job with a fresh batch of tears. Holding out a messy sheet of paper with many a gem hastily (and quite uncaringly) glued to it. She wailed, “Sweetie made this when she was nine. Nine!”

Twilight, who had removed her royal garb to be on the same level as her friend, simply levitated the art out of her incapacitated friends hooves. She gave a warm smile to her quite downtrodden friend. “Rarity, at this rate, we will never get this done.”

Rarity rolled over on her back to face her friend. She was not a pretty crier. “But darling, that’s the point!”

“Oh, brother.” Twilight let her wings droop to the ground in defeat. When Rarity had her sights on something, few things could prevent her from getting it. Simply put, they were at an impasse. Then she remembered a little box she had found in the attic, and marking it down as Box #62.3. The fire of inspiration burned behind her eyes. Maybe it could help her longtime companion come out of the blues? Pulling her head and wings up, Twilight professed her epiphany to her friend.

“Rarity, how about a game?” She said proudly.

Rarity rolled back onto her hooves, but stayed on the floor, glancing up at Twilight incredulously. “My friend would never pass up the opportunity to sort things all by her lonesome. Who are you and what did you do with the real Twilight Sparkle?

The mare in question just giggled a bit. “It’s me, Rarity, I swear.”

“Pinkie Pie Promise.”

She let out a sigh, grinning ear to ear. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The motions complete, Twilight gave a stern look. Rarity, you’re not wrong. Under normal circumstances, this would be a dream. But my friend is in pain, and as the Princess of Friendship, it is my job to help her.”

Rarity jumped to her hooves, the opportunity to delay her inevitable departure putting a spring in her step. She wiped the ruined base from under her eyes with a nearby cloth and gave a firm hug to her friend in thanks. “But whatever are you talking of, darling? You know I don’t keep games in this household.”

“But you do!” Twilight had a sparkle in her eyes as she scooped up Rarity in her magic, rushing up the stairs and into the attic. It was a dark, dank and dusty compartment, half empty from the boxes that had stayed there for Celestia knows how long. Utilizing a modified version of the all-powerful Dewey Decimal system and a few notes, finding the box was a breeze. It was an old thing, the letters on the front barely legible. Only one word could be read, it being plastered in a huge font that stretched the length of the cardboard container.

CHESS!

Twilight presented the classic to Rarity, which summoned a hearty laugh out of the unicorn who was still in suspense. “Chess? Darling, you don’t really think you can beat me, do you?”

“Oh? You have experience?”

Shaking a bit too free herself from Twilight’s magical grasp, Rarity puffed up her chest and fixed her mane with her hoof.

“Four time Ponyville Grand Master, no doubt. Thought it might have been my talent before I received my cutie mark.”

“Ooh!” Twilight prances about the small space in excitement. “I can’t wait!”

“Then we shan’t! En garde, Twilight!”

Rarity levitated a box over to a dimly lit portion of the attic that rested behind a window that had been perked open earlier. She popped the Chess set open in an explosion of dust, setting the masterfully crafted thin plastic pieces and odd pebbles onto the elegantly constructed cardboard Chessboard, along with the finely produced clanky timer.

“Voila!” Rarity exclaimed in perfect bucking Italics. “Take your seat of doom over there, dear Twilight.”

Twilight chortled. “A bit cocky, are we?”

“Only as much as I am sure I am going to win, darling.”

“Bet.”

The two sat opposite each other, each forehoove taking a place at the corners of the makeshift cardboard box table.

“So. Who’s going to play white?” Rarity asked rhetorically.

“I seem to be all out of Bits, dear friend.” Twilight replied in faux-intimidation.

Rarity smiled. “Then the honor of moving first shall be mine! Pawn to F-3!”

Twilight smiled harder. “Pawn to E-6!”

“Ha! You fool!” Knight to C-3!”

Twilight started laughing, for she had just won. “Princess to H-4! Check!”

“Oh! Uh, Pawn to G-3!”

“Princess to G-3, Checkmate!”

Rarity blew a few raspberries before settling on an agape mouth. “You… you ruffian! I ask, nay, demand a rematch!”

“As you wish.” Twilight responded ever so coyly.

It was at that moment Twilight noticed how worn down the Chess set was. It wasn’t old age either. Old age doesn’t cause tape and missing pieces replaced with wood circles and rocks to appear.

“This set… you used it a lot?”

Rarity’s demeanor took a stark decline, nearly returning to the unintelligible state from hours previous. “Yes, quite a bit in fact. This was my favorite set. All the others were given away long ago when I got my cutie mark and moved on from the game.”

“Oh, Rarity, I didn’t mean to bring back old memories like that. Here, let me just put this all away…” Twilight moved as if to take the set from Rarity’s view, but the unicorn stopped her.

“No, Twilight. Can I… can we talk about it?”

“But of course, Rarity. I’m all ears.” Twilight reassured her friend, putting a hoof on the pained pony’s shoulder.

“It was, oh, four years before the Rainboom?…”

—

I was walking down near the park with a few friends I had at the time when I noticed an old stallion sitting all forlorn-like at one of the tables alone. I simply couldn’t just let him be! The Element of Generosity peaking its head out early? Heh, just me being me, I guess…

“Hold on, girls. I’ll catch up with you later.” Rarity had left the company of her friends in favor of this old unicorn stallion. She didn’t known who he was, but she felt compelled to see him nevertheless. She pulled her small self up to the vacant seat on the other side of the table, which had a tacky black and white checkered pattern she had never seen before, many tiny pieces on stone scattered about on the spaces.

“Sir?”

The old pony stirred to life, smiling as his gaze fell upon the tiny filly. “H-hey there, youngster, what brings you ‘round these parts?”

“Well, I saw you sitting there, all lonely. I couldn’t just leave you here with nopony to talk to!”

“Heh, well that was awfully nice of you. Normally, ma’ wife would be here, playin a bit o’ chess wit’ me.”

“Where is she?” Rarity asked daftly, not picking up on the hint.

The stallions expression took on a somber tone. “Well, she… uh… passed away last spring.”

Rarity facehoofed mentally. “I’m so sorry sir. Uh, uuh…” Rarity tried to think of something that could cheer up the elder, settling on a play of familiarity. “What if I played Chess with you instead?”

The old unicorn let out a laugh. “Well, Melody would probably lay a good one into me if I didn’t teach a youngster the ol’ black n’ white for her. Here, take this piece here, it’s called a Pawn…”

—

“He taught me, sometimes halfway to an aneurysm because of my incompetence, how to play Chess.” Rarity pulled up one of the Pawns with her magic, resting it in one of her hooves. “Said I was one of the best he ever played against. Court’s still up as to whether that was true or him just being nice.”

Twilight had moved over to Rarity’s side to give her hugs. “Well, whether that’s true or not, he obviously meant a lot to you.”

“He did.” She let out a pained sigh. “I came back every day to see him, even took time out of my schedule just to visit him at the park…

—

“… and that’s the Princesses’ Gambit. It’s a fun move, a good start, for sure. Though, be careful. Yer’ opponent could take advantage of yer’ new weakness.”

“Wow! That’s… complicated.”

“Only a bit, but I’m sure I could teach you more about it. Fer instance, the Black Bishop is now a bit restricted in his movement, givin’ ya don’t take the Pawn. Most of the game is, at that point, getting the middle of the board cleared up. It’s quite the setup, I must say!”

“But what if I take the Pawn?”

“Thats the cool part. If ya’ do, ya’ give yer’ opponent a good line t’ set up their Princess, Bishop’s, n’ Knights!”

“Dang! Thats mean!”

“Sure is. But that’s Chess!”

Rarity remembered something she had set up with Mayor Mare. “Oh, guess what?”

The older pony raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“So, with help from the mayor, I got a Chess Tournament set up!”

The old unicorns eyes lit up as bright as Rarity’s when he heard the news. “Thats great! When’ll it be?”

Rarity smiled at the approval. “A few days from now. She said everypony in the town would be there!”

“Hehe, that’s great, youngster!”

“Yeah!”

—

“He always told me the best way through life was through calculated actions and a bit of luck. Guess that was the Chess master in him talking.”

“He sounded like a smart stallion indeed.”

“He was. I wonder what he would think of me today? Moving to Canterlot to be a true fashionista? Being one of Equestria’s saviors? What would he think indeed?” Rarity pondered aloud.

“I think he would be proud of what you have accomplished, Rarity.” The unicorn smiled at that.

“I would think so.”

“So your the founder of the annual Chess Tournament in town?”

“Yes, although I don’t usually go around talking about it to much.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I, uh… it’s complicated.”

“Rarity, I’m the sole ruler of Equestria, have read nearly every book in existence a solid 3 and a half times, and have raised a dragon from birth. I live complicated.”

“Very well, dear friend. I shall explain…”

—

The first three tournaments were a complete mop. The other opponents didn’t stand a chance against me. Evidently, a years head start will do that. Nevertheless, the old coot still wanted to reward me. He gave me the chess set you see here after the second year…

“Look, I won again!” Rarity held the small plaque recognizing her victory up close so the older pony could read it.

“Second Annual Ponyville Grand Chess Master Tournament First Place Winner! Now isn’t that just great, girly?”

Rarity squeaked a bit. “Yes!”

“Well, to commemorate this momentous occasion, I have a gift for you, youngster.” The stallion pulled a paper bag from beside his chair and deposited its contents onto the chess table. It was an oblong box with a single word imprinted in a large, fanciful font.

CHESS!

“Your very own chess set.”

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Thank you!” Rarity jumped circles around the table, giving the old pony a great hug whenever she could.

—

“My parents had bought me many a chess set from craftsmen in and beyond Equestria, but none of those were as important as this one.” She sighed. “It’s… all I have left of him, Twilight.”

“But Rarity, that can’t be true!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“Look, his legacy effects you even now, Rarity. You will always have him in your heart, and that’s for sure.”

This time, Rarity gave Twilight a hug, squeezing a bit to hard. Twilight didn’t mind though, for her friend needed this. But after being released from Rarity’s steel grip, Twilight noticed something.

“That doesn’t exactly explain why, Rarity.”

“Well, there’s no time like the present, eh? It was the day I got my cutie mark, Twilight. The day of the Rainboom.”

—

The day I got my cutie mark was… bittersweet, for lack of a better term. The day previous, I had won the 4th Annual Chess Tournament and was riding high on bravado. The first thing I remember doing was rushing straight to the park to show my old friend, but he wasn’t anywhere to be found…

“Where are you, you old coot?” Rarity glanced around the park, but there was nopony around save a few mares that happened to be walking by at the moment.

Better than nothing. She galloped up to the pair, not even bothering to wipe the sweat forming on her brow. “Ma’am, Do you know where the old stallion who usually sits over there is?”

The expression on the two mare’s faces inspired dread in Rarity’s mind.

“Little girl… he, uh… Help me out here, will you?” The first mare nudged the second, desperation in her eyes.

“He, uh, is in the hospital, honey. Sorry.” The mares bolted, leaving Rarity alone in the park, stunned.

I had never really dealt with such things, Twilight. I was quite the sheltered child when it came to such things, and I didn’t go purposely snooping around for them either. Despite that, I convinced my parents to allow me to go see him, probably spurred by the fact I was practically drowning in my own tears in worry up to that point…

“Thank you, Nurse Redheart.”

“Oh, just do be quiet for him, Rarity.”

“I will, I promise.”

The filly pushed open the creaky door, revealing her friend. He had been hooked up to countless machines, all in an effort to keep him alive. The very sight produced more tears from Rarity, rushing up to him in a maelstrom of tears and worry.

The action awoke the sleeping elder. “Oh, hey there youngster! Wasn’t expecting any visitors.”

Rarity gained a bit of a cross expression at the thought. “Why wouldn’t they? You deserve all of Equestria! There ought to be a line to see you!”

“Hehe, I couldn’t do that to anypony, youngster. I’m guessing your here because you noticed I wasn’t at the park, huh?”

“And who wouldn’t? You and have been going there for the past 4 years, after all.”

“Hmm. I guess we have.”

Rarity remembered why she had rushed so quickly to see the old stallion in the first place. “I got my cutie mark! Look!” The filly presented the mark, the three little cyan gems being a shine of color on the otherwise drab grey room. “I think it’s for gem finding, but I’m still not 100% on that. What do you think?”

He smiled gently. “I think it’s beautiful, and elegant. Much like yourself.”

“Oh please, it’s only the coat color, darling.”

“Darling?” The stallion laughed a bit then, turning into a cough near the end. “Darling. Thats a word I haven’t heard in a long while.” The sickly fellow sat back in his bed, looking out the lone window. “Leave me, ‘darling’. I need to be alone.”

Rarity jumped up on the bed. “But whatever for? I can’t just leave you like this!”

Ignoring the demand, the older unicorn soldiered on. “What was it the nurse called ya’? Rarity?”

It had occurred to Rarity that they had never exchanged their names. A bit odd, considering how long they had known each other, but she reasoned that they never really needed to know each others names. ‘Old coot’ and ‘Youngster’ sufficed.

“Y-yes, that’s my name.” Rarity’s voice started to tremble.

“How… accurate. Ya’ know, that’s just the kind of name I would expect out of you, young- I mean Rarity. Not to many ponies would even bother giving an old stallion like me a chance at friendship. Thank you.”

“You speak as though th-this is our last time together!”

“Rarity, do ya’ still have that set I gave ya’ a few years back?”

“Why, yes, of course I do. I always keep it around.”

“Pull it out. I want to play a game with ya’.”

Rarity did so, meticulously setting each piece out on the worn-out board. Over the years of constant use, she had lost a few pieces, so some had been replaced by a few odd pebbles and chunks of wood. When all was done, Rarity set the board on the bed so her sickly friend could play.

“I see you have been using it quite a bit.”

“Yes, it is useful to be able to play at any time.” Rarity enveloped a pawn in her magic. “Pawn to D-4”

The stallion smiled, knowing exactly what the filly was doing, but not letting her know. “Pawn to D-5”

Rarity reciprocated the smile “Pawn to C-4. Princesses Gambit.”

“So it is, Rarity. So it is. Pawn to E-5.”

“Hmm. Bishop to E-3.”

“Pawn takes Pawn on C-4. I accept your Gambit.”

“Drat. Princess to A-4. Check.”

“Bishop to D-7.”

“Knight to C-3.”

“Bishop takes Queen on A-4.”

Rarity chortled. “Ha! You have fallen into my trap! Knight takes Bishop on A-4!”

“Really? Hehe, alright. Pawn takes Pawn on D-4.”

“Bishop takes Pawn on D-4!”

“Princess takes Bishop on D-4.”

“My my! Knight to F-3!”

“Bishop to B-4. Check.”

“Devious. Simply devious. Knight to D-2.”

“Princess takes Knight on D-2. Checkmate.”

Young Rarity broke out in tears.

“Oh my, Rarity. Ya seem to have started wellin’ up on me. What seem to be the problem?”

Through a torrent of tears, Rarity mumbled “You aren’t coming back to the park, are you?”

“Oh, come here.” The old coot pulled the sniffling mess into a much needed hug. “I’ll be… fine, Rarity.”

“Really?”

“Yes, truly. Now, it’s getting late, I’m sure your parents are worried sick. Don’t want to keep them waiting now, do you?.”

Rarity composed herself, pulling her mane back and wiping away a few tears. “No, I guess I shouldn’t.”

I knew in my heart he was lying, but that childish heart in me also yelled otherwise. Alas, fiery emotions and kind words cannot delay the inevitable. He died that evening, Twilight. Nopony except me and my parents came to his funeral. I guess I know why he always stayed in the park, looking at everypony else, for he had nopony else. He was a good pony, and deserved better than what he got.

—

“This board means the world to me, Twilight. But when he died, so did my ambition to play chess. Every time I played, I thought of him, and how he wasn’t there to see it. Thats why I stopped, that’s why this board was locked up in my attic.” Rarity shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. “Forgive an old mare for blabbering on about ancient history, Twilight.”

Twilight shook her head as well. “Not at all, Rarity. I care to deeply about you to mind at all.” Twilight dwelled on the unicorns words. “Hey! I’m as old as you are!”

Rarity giggled. “Of course, darling, but you are also immortal. Age doesn’t work the same way for you.”

“Touché.”

Rarity got up on her hooves and let out a deep breath. “Alright, Twilight. I’m ready. Let’s get this done before I start telling you about the lampshade hanging over there.”

—

When all was said and done, Rarity did a check of her old home for anything that might have accidentally left behind before coming up to the attic. There, sat where they had left it, was the Chess set, still on Checkmate from their game hours previous.

Twilight must have left this here. Not like her to leave things 1/432nds done, mind you!

She started to pack up the set and once completed, headed down to the now-empty first floor where a thought crossed her mind. Pulling out a pen, she took the bottom of the Chess set box and wrote in her finest calligraphy.

Dear new owners,

What you hold in your hooves (Or claws) right now is a very important Chess set. Old, worn out, and decrepit by every sense of the word, but important. When I was a little filly, Chess was a very important thing to me. This set came from a dear old friend of mine who wanted to teach a younger generation how to play a wonderful thing such as it. Now, in my old age (Not as old, though) I seek to achieve that same goal. Please, take good care of this set, and you will forever have my greatest appreciation.

Sincerely, Rarity.

Rarity set the chess box onto a nearby stool, hoping her wish to come true. She stepped to the door and opened it, glancing back at the box. “Au revoir, old friend,” Rarity said in near-perfect Prench as she shut the door behind her. “Au revoir.”