A Game of Chess

The time was eight-thirty at night.

Three-and-a-half hours until Wendigo attacked.

Checkmate sat in one of the four corners of the grand hall, along with Spike and Fluttershy. Pinkie was dancing with an intensity that could only be described as "impossible", and Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity were off making sure that the three kids were safe. Twilight herself was talking with Celestia back in the throne room, and Luna was enjoying the festivities as well through her own dancing.

Although Checkmate's companions were not very good conversationalists, that hardly mattered to him. Spike looked was anxiously glancing around every five minutes or so, and Fluttershy had placed herself in such a position that talking was out of the question, her face even more terrified than Spike's.

"Honestly," he muttered, "it's at times like this that I wish Rolan was around..."

The windigo had gone off to guard the perimeter of the castle, watching it carefully so that Wendigo would not pass unknown. The last thing they needed was for him to show up early or, even worse (due to the building anxiety), late.

"Why the long face, Checkie?" Pinkie asked, bouncing over. "C'mon, dance! We've still got a few hours before that mean guy comes along!"

"I'm good, thanks," Checkmate replied. "I've never been too much of a dancer."

Pinkie shrugged. "Eh, suit yourself," she said, and bounced away again. "I'll be back to ask you later if you get in the mood, 'kay?"

Checkmate looked out a nearby window.

Three-and-a-half hours left...

Time passed quickly for Checkmate. He had nothing better do, after all, except wait for Wendigo to show up. So, as Octavia and Vinyl played various songs and the ponies around him of their anticipation for the Midnight Dance, he did nothing but listen, quietly.

Before he knew what had happened, three hours had already passed.

Checkmate sighed, and stood up from the table. Spike had already gone off to meet Twilight, and Fluttershy was nearly underneath the table, her eyes darting back-and-forth.

Sometimes, Checkmate worried that the mare was going to terrify herself to death.

Still, he had not spoken to anypony all night, save for Pinkie, who'd come over to ask him to dance once every ten minutes or so. He was beginning to grow anxious, however, and felt himself touching the Glacius at his side nearly once every five minutes or so.

Checkmate could not deny that he was absolutely terrified for what was to come.

Thirty minutes remained...

Thirty minutes had passed, just as quickly as they'd come.

By this point, all the ponies involved in the operation - himself, Twilight, Rainbow, Luna, Celestia, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Spike, Applejack, Discord, and even Rolan - were sitting, gathered in the grand hall. Few ponies questioned why so many important ponies were all together, strangely enough, but passed them odd looks as they walked by. The strange group had actually joined together only a few minutes before, with little conversation between them, but that hardly mattered; they were not at the dance to talk, after all.

The three fillies, on the other hoof, were off a good distance away speaking idly of their time.

"Time's up," Rolan muttered. "Be on your guard, everypony."

"Right," Checkmate replied. "All of you... this is our time. Come on, let's do this."

Just as he finished speaking, cracks appeared on a nearby window, and the air became cold. Several ponies began to shiver, and hugged their bodies for warmth.

Then, at that moment, a voice resounded about the room.

"Princess Celestia," it said, "I see that you're... enjoying the festivities, eh?"

The ponies glanced about themselves in confusion and fear, some pulling their friends towards them to keep them from running off.

"Oh, that's right..." The voice said. "I almost forgot to show myself."

The air in the middle of the room converged, as a massive creature - the build of a stallion but the size of Celestia herself - appeared.

Discord stepped forward, waving cheerfully. "Hey there, Wendy!" he said, grinning. "How've you been?"

The windigo's eyes flashed. "Oh, I've been absolutely fine, Discord," his voice was thick with sarcasm, and a wolfish grin crept across his face. "I've just been... exterminating those who I find irksome. For example, certain gods who don't know when to shut up."

The draconequus stepped back, looking afraid. Not nervous, but afraid. Terrified, even.

"W-well," he said, "in that case, I certainly wouldn't want to annoy you..."

A shudder ran down Checkmate's spine. Discord, the god of chaos, was terrified of Wendigo.

"Wendigo!" Celestia growled, accusingly, stepping forward to take Discord's previous position. "What could you possibly want here?!"

By this point, Checkmate had already snuck around the figure, to an area where he could not be seen, and readied his blade.

"Nothing much," replied the windigo, the smile having dropped from his face. "You see, an annoying little brat decided to... run away from Darkfrost. He was well known around the Hellgate Mines as a murderer, and I can't allow such a pony to be freed, you know."

Checkmate froze. A murderer... he'd been called a murderer...

The blood... The knife... The flesh...

All of this - the images that he'd so tried to forget - began to resurface, and he shuddered in reply. No, he could not think about that, now! This was too important.

"A murderer?" Celestia asked, cocking her head slightly. "Pray tell, who did he kill?"

"That's not important," sneered Wendigo. "I'm just here to ensure that he brings no... harm to Equestria. You understand, I'm sure?"

"And if I refuse?" asked the princess.

"Then your head will come with me instead," replied Wendigo, smirking. "Although, I don't think that you'd have the courage to refuse me, anyway... Ah, that reminds me: how fares your brother?" The smirk had grown so much that there was nothing but cruelty and pure sadistic glee in Wendigo's eyes.

Celestia froze. "You know exactly how he 'fares'," she hissed.

Checkmate held the blade out, pointing it directly at Wendigo's back. Just one stab, while Celestia distracted him, would stop him.

"Of course I do," said the king of Darkfrost, "but that hardly matters now, eh...?"

Checkmate ran up behind him, and leapt into the air, only for Wendigo to spin at the last second and block the strike with Conviction.

"- Eh, Checkmate?!" he laughed at this. "Did you really think that a preemptive strike would work against me? You're nothing but an idiotic little fool."

"How did you know?!" Checkmate growled.

"It should be obvious," replied Wendigo. "I have ears after all, and running produces such a lovely sound... You truly must be a worthless fool to think that you could get away with attacking me from behind while running."

"Better than being a heartless bastard," Checkmate struck on the last word, attacking from below.

Again, of course, the attack was blocked. "Ha, how foolish!" Wendigo said. "I mean, really? Is this the absolute best strategy you could come up with? Trying to stab me when my back was turned?"

The center of the room was completely open, now, with all of the ponies save for Checkmate and Wendigo pressing themselves up against the walls.

The former placed himself into a fighting stance, moving towards the ground and placing his feet in such a way that he could not be moved.

The latter, on the other hoof, did none of this, and instead lunged forwards to attack Checkmate.

"Ha! Another block?" he asked. "Is that all you can do? How... disappointing."

"You want a strike?" Checkmate asked, eyes gleaming. "Then here you go!"

The windigo dodged the attack, instead spinning to add an extra amount of power to his next slash. The attack came from above, and Checkmate sidestepped it with an odd grace before thrusting the Glacius towards Wendigo. The latter brought Conviction forward, the tips of the two swords meeting and generating sparks that burned the carpet slightly.

"Ha! You really are pretty good when you put your effort in," Wendigo said, slashing diagonally, "but I'm afraid that this fight'll end just like last time - you, on the ground, with a sword in your back!"

"Never!" Checkmate dodged this next blow. "Because you forget what happened last time, don't you? I didn't die, as evidenced by me being here!"

Out of the corner of his eye, as the two fought, Checkmate could see Rolan out in the audience, watching, along with Celestia, Luna, Discord, Twilight, and the others. Their mouths were agape in awe of the ability shown by both sides. Rolan, however, had a dagger in his hoof, and was staring intently towards Wendigo as if seeking an opening. Checkmate allowed himself a small smile at that.

"Wipe that grin off your worthless face!" growled Wendigo. "C'mon! I didn't come all the way to Equestria just so that some little, worthless brat would die immediately! Give me a challenge, and focus on the battle!"

The blades crossed perfectly, both sides attacking, dodging, and blocking at the perfect times. And yet, even through this, Wendigo was still not satisfied? Well, then, he would just have to unleash all of his power.

Checkmate struck again, this time with more force, and dodged another one of Wendigo's attacks, slashing immediately as he escaped yet another. The blade was instantly stopped, again, but he pushed it forward still. The two weapons - the dagger and the sword - were shoved into each other, towards their enemies.

At last, Checkmate, with one final, powerful burst, shoved Conviction back completely, opening up a hole in Wendigo's defense.

"Wh- How...?!" Wendigo gasped, his guard broken.

Checkmate reared back, pulling the Glacius up, and stabbed it towards the windigo's chest, only for the latter to roll out of the way.

"Excellent!" Wendigo laughed. "Your technique is quite good for a worthless brat. Now, here's another test for you: let's see how long you last when these ponies know the truth!"

"What do you mean?" Checkmate asked. "What could you possibly...?"

"Well, allow me to tell you ponies of a creature called Khaza, friend of the worthless brat I'm fighting now," started Wendigo, his eyes flashing. "She was a unicorn from Darkfrost, a creature who had nopony that cared about her. Rightly so, for she was very dangerous. Her magic was immense and her power was superb, but she had a very violent temper."

"Wendigo! Stop!" Checkmate shouted, but his hooves had been frozen to the ground.

"Only one pony in all of Darkfrost bothered to try and help her. His name? Checkmate Vigarde. The same pony who's trying so foolishly to kill me, here. Now, Checkmate and Khaza were close... Oh, they were excellent friends, and I couldn't have that. Not in a land so filled with hatred as Darkfrost." His mouth curled into a cruel smirk. "So I manipulated the worthless little filly one day, eight years ago; I had her slaughter Checkmate's family. And it was beautiful, the effects of that choice... You remember, I'm sure, Checkmate?"

"Wendigo... Don't..." Checkmate gasped.

"Yes," the windigo's eyes were filled with malice. "The colt walked in on his so-called friend with a knife in her hoof, and his family members's corpses, everywhere... There was much blood covering everything..."

Several ponies in the crowd shivered, and Luna's eyes widened in realization.

Wendigo laughed, then, loud and long. "So naturally, Checkmate, not seeing her face and giving her no time to react, ran towards her... and he stabbed her. Right between her eyes."

The gasp from the crowd was immense, and Checkmate could feel tears in his own eyes as the memories resurfaced.

The blood on the ground... The knife in his hoof... Her flesh, pierced...

"So you see, now?" asked the windigo. "That, dear Celestia, is why Checkmate Vigarde is a threat. He killed his closest friend with a dagger... and then he ran before his punishment could be exacted. Certainly, he is somewhat justified for his actions, but murder is still murder, and the brat would have died for her own crimes without Checkmate's intervention. But, instead, he took justice into his own hooves, and ran as a refugee. A pity..."

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're wrong," Luna said, stepping forward.

"Whatever do you mean, Luna?" Wendigo asked, coldly. "Checkmate Vigarde killed his best friend in retaliation for her killing his family. Plain and simple."

"There is only one problem with that," replied the princess of the night. "It's not plain and simple."

"Why not?" Wendigo asked.

"Because," Luna started, "I met this 'Khaza' last night... and she was alive and well."

"That's impossible..." hissed Wendigo. "She couldn't have been real! She was in Checkmate's dream, so how could she have possibly been alive?"

"I never said it was a dream," Luna said, coldly. "I simply said that I met her. So, if I might say, did General Deun. And don't try to claim that he told you about it, either, because you know what?"

"Wh-what?!"

"There's a certain spell that tells me whether or not a pony is real or an illusion. That 'dream' was real."

"Deun never told me you casted a spell like that!" Wendigo growled, stepping back. "So how could you possibly know that the Khaza in Checkmate's dream was...?!" His eyes widened in realization of what he'd just admitted to. "No...!"

Luna smirked. "I didn't. You just told me. For the second time in just a few minutes, you let me - and everypony in this room, for that matter - in on an important matter. So Khaza is alive, Checkmate never killed her, and you just lost your only possible reason that Celestia would give you this stallion."

Checkmate's eyes widened. "Wait... So I didn't actually...?"

Wendigo started to laugh, then. It was slow and quiet, at first, but gradually gained in pitch and speed until the entire room was filled with it. "So what?!" he shouted, smirking. "It hardly matters, anyway. The brat lives. Again, so what? It hardly makes a difference. You see, Checkmate, your guilt weighed you down for years, when she's been alive all along. So show yourself, Khaza! Show Checkmate something that could easily have been explained eight years ago! Show him what you've been doing while he tortures himself over your 'death'!"

You'd like that, wouldn't you, you bastard?

Checkmate stared down in surprise. The Glacius was glowing a strange bluish silver.

"Of course I would! I'm sure Checkmate would as well, don't you think? To know that you've been faking your death, just because you didn't want me to find him." Wendigo's smirk covered his whole face. "So c'mon out of that damned shell of yours. Show us all just what makes the Glacius, a sword able to cut windigoes, possible to do so when only immortals, windigoes, sleipnirs, and some other legendary creatures are able to that!"

The Glacius flew from Checkmate's side, hovering in the air for just a moment before it began to reshape itself. The blade became a torso, the hilt split into two legs, and the tip became two more legs and a head.

The end result was another windigo, smaller than Rolan, who stared up at Wendigo with fire in its eyes.

"So?" it asked, its voice feminine, "what do you think, Wendigo? Is this exactly what you've wanted?!"

"A pleasure to see you once more," replied the cruel windigo, "Khaza."