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"So how was your first week?" asked the white stallion sitting across from him.

Dashing Javelin, or just Dash, swallowed a mouthful of lunch he'd been chewing before trying to answer. "Not bad. It was a bit more boring than I expected."

The other pony, Sturdy Ore, laughed once. "Don't get too complacent there boy!" He laughed again. "We've always got to be ready for trouble. Though it's rare, a threat could come busting down our door at any moment."

Dash nodded seriously. He knew what he signed up for when he joined the Guard. "Don't worry. I'll be ready."

Sturdy huffed proudly. "Good. So what are you going to do tomorrow?" he asked conversationally.

The younger pony shrugged. "Nothing this weekend. I've got Chess duty. Whatever that is."

The older stallion blinked. Then slapped himself. "Of course. Rookies always get assigned to Chess duty their first week."

"What is it?" Dash asked with a confused shake of his head. "I've never played chess and it wasn't part of boot camp."

Sturdy sighed. "Look, I can't give you all the details," he began apologetically. "Just... here's what you need to know. Every Saturday, the Princesses sit down for a very long game of chess. Several actually. Like a mini tournament. They play it over and over all day. It's a tradition."

Dash blinked. "Soooooo what? I'm on guard duty for this?"

The older pony moaned in frustration. "No. It's more than just guard duty."

The rookie growled. "Then what is it? What am I supposed to do?"

"Just report to room 315, the conference room on the 3rd floor, before 8 o'clock. There'll be roll-call and the Princesses themselves will hunt you down if you try to skip it," he warned while pointing a threatening hoof at him.

"Okay," Dash droned leadingly. "Is that it?"

"That's it," Sturdy nodded sagely. "You really don't have to do anything but be there. The Princesses will take care of the rest. It's a good thing you didn't plan on doing anything tomorrow, Chess duty can go as late as midnight and you're not allowed to leave until the game is over."

The younger pony groaned. "Really? That sucks."

"Look on the bright side," the veteran snorted. "You only have to do it once every three months or so. We're all on a cycle you see."

Dash grumbled and went back to his meal, annoyed but also curious what tomorrow would bring.

The next day began just as Sturdy had told him. With Dash and what must have been at least two dozen other guards crowding into the large conference room. Thankfully, the table that was supposed to fill most of the space was missing so they could spread out a little. Though in its place was a much smaller table with only two chairs. And a vacant chessboard waiting to be used. The Princesses hadn't even setup their pieces yet.

After waiting around for a few minutes, because they'd pretty much all shown up early, roll-call began.

With Celestia herself reading names off a levitating page.

Everypony was present. The solar princess smiled at that. Then she offered them a quick speech. It was nothing special. Just the basic "thank you for doing your duty and showing up" kind of ramble. Finally, it was time to get started.

Dash began to sweat. Wait, the Princesses hadn't explained anything. What was he supposed to do? Why were the two of them, Celestia and Luna, standing in front of the collected guards prepping a spell? The young stallion looked to the more experienced ponies to either side of him for a hint. Yet all he saw were grimaces or cold faced resignation. What did that mean? What was he supposed to do?!

There was a flash of light as the Princesses completed their spell. At once Dash knew something was wrong. His body was frozen. Had he been petrified? No, transformed. The only thing he could move was his eyes, so he looked down and stared. He was now made from a single piece of what appeared to be stone. His body was just a bunch of hard angles and flat surfaces. He was like a statue.

The ground beneath him rumbled, but before he could search for the source his attention was captured by the statue in front of him. Or should he say the line of statues. Then he looked, as best he could, to either side. There were yet more in both directions. And the surface they stood on was checkered like some kind of fancy kitchen.

Or like a chessboard.

On a hunch, Dash gazed skyward to the giant form of Princess Luna who sat behind a line of black pony-like figures with a smug expression aimed across the table.

"Are you ready?" the dark mare taunted playfully.

Then, from somewhere high above and behind Dash, came a sly response. "Always."

That's when the game began with the princesses using the transformed ponies as their units. Casually picking them up and moving them as they engaged in their battle of wits. It also wasn't long before Dash discovered he had become one of the white knights.

At least he wasn't a boring piece like a pawn...

Author's Note

This nonsense was inspired by: https://derpibooru.org/images/3416085?q=chess