Eternity well spent

Sunlight streamed through half of the window beside our table, illuminating the sofa opposite my own, as well as its occupant who was fixing me with a glare just as hateful as my own. Despite this, Celestia was still smiling.

"An excellent move, Administrator Gilbert!" She chirped as she raised her tea cup. "You see? Isn't this a more constructive way to deal with your lingering resentment than just letting it fester?" We remained focused on each other.

A few months ago, Karl had talked with me about the Catican and its new leadership under Gilbert. Most notably, they'd elected to waive the grudge against me and instead leave my fate in Karl's hands, forbidding him from returning until I was dead. Queen Novo had apparently offered them a substantial boon in funding to help grease the gears of that arrangement.

But that all said, they still hated me. They were willing to cooperate with Equestria and its allies, and wouldn't actively send assassins after me, but they still hated me.

That, at least, was mutual.

"Yes, Princess," Gilbert finally replied and stroked his chin. The fact he still sounded like Gilbert Gottfried did nothing for my contempt of him. "Much more constructive. Because if we simply killed this vampire, I might never have seen how absolutely miserable he is at chess." He leveled a twisted sneer my way, which I countered with a scowl. Celestia meanwhile just hummed, closed her eyes, and sipped from her tea. As she did, I braced myself and reached to move my bishop.

I recoiled and winced as the sun was reflected into my eyes off a small palm-sized mirror that suddenly slipped out of his sleeve. As I blinked the stars from my eyes, I discovered I'd picked up a pawn by accident. Gilbert shot me a smirk, and I scowled again as I moved it one space.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Celestia furrow her brow and look between the board and me. Gilbert chuckled to himself and rubbed his chin in contemplation of his next move. I met Celestia's concerned eyes, which seemed to say 'What in God's name was that?' with a smile. She gently took the teapot and refilled her cup.

While her focus was on that, and Gilbert was reaching across the board for his rook, I subtly worked some magic and swapped his king for the pawn right beside it, which resulted in the piece being boxed in.

"And check!" He cheered. I hummed and scanned the board as Celestia sighed. Sure enough, his rook was lined up with my king, which itself was blocking the bishop I'd planned on moving a second ago. I smirked at the sight and moved my king a space forward, clearing a path for my bishop to his king.

"Mate." His smug smirk melted as his eyes locked on the board. Celestia leaned forward and blinked before fixing me with a critical leer. I smiled and held my hand to Gilbert. "This was fun. We should do it again sometime."

Slowly, he met my eyes with a dark scowl that slowly shifted to a grin. He reached his paw into his coat and scratched his side before grabbing my hand. As he did, I felt a mild burning like his claws had been poisoned with garlic.

"Sounds like a plan," he replied, managing to suppress a wince as I squeezed his paw. Celestia hummed and smiled.

"Well! I'm glad you two enjoyed yourselves," she chuckled. We both squawked as she smacked us in the head with her wings. "Next time, let's try not to cheat, however." We both flinched and turned to her, wilting at the sight of her critical glare.

"Yes ma'am," we muttered at the same time.