A Game of Chess

The room was completely silent. Nopony made even the slightest sound as Khaza, the strange windigo, stared down Wendigo with eyes of fire, and as Checkmate stood, confused, yet happy, amongst it all.

Finally, Wendigo broke the silence. "So, I see that you're doing well for yourself, eh?" he asked, smirking, as usual. "How's it been cracking Checkmate's heart open and filling it with salt?"

"You shut your mouth," growled Khaza. "I didn't do it to hurt him!"

"Oh, but you did hurt him," Wendigo's said, laughing. "Don't you get it yet? You did this protect him, yet it only sewed the seeds of despair and doubt into his heart. Seeds of pain and suffering. I hope you understand that, because you're nothing but a fool."

Khaza's eyes glimmered. "I hurt him? I wasn't the one who commanded a child to slay his family, you bastard!"

"I'm not sure if any of you understand what that word means," mused Wendigo. "However, you were the one who went through with the action, no? You had every opportunity to disobey me."

"Really?" she growled in reply. The two were circling each other like lions, waiting for the chance to pounce. "You would have killed them yourself and made them into a part of the Zephyr, and you would have laughed while doing it. You're nothing but a sadist."

The look in Wendigo's eyes changed. "Is that really what you think?" he asked, quietly, and his eyes changed back. "Because if so, then you're a smart little brat! Either way, Checkmate's family would have died; You're a hero, Khaza, for giving them a gateway to the next life... and in a way that made your only friend think you to be a monster, and he to be a murderer, too. You've grown up so fast."

"You monster," hissed Checkmate, and the two windigoes stared at him surprise. "You made me suffer for eight damned years... And Khaza, as well... We all suffered... and all because of you!"

"Anything else to add that is entirely obvious?" asked Wendigo, absentmindedly.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Checkmate screamed.

"I get that a lot. Nopony has yet to actually follow through on that promise."

Khaza smirked. "Well then, we'll be the first!"

"Please," Wendigo laughed. "You and that brat? You can't fight me together. The Glacius is the only weapon that can touch me, save for another windigo's weapon, the Ignis, or another one of - Argh! What?!"

"Sorry," said Rolan, grinning, holding his dagger deep into Wendigo's back. "I couldn't let you two have all the fun, you know."

"Rolan!" Khaza was grinning. "Good to see you again. At least you've not changed."

"Of course not," mused the former king, pulling the blade loose. "However, Wendigo here certainly has. Don't you agree, old friend?"

"Don't call me your friend," hissed Wendigo, as he gasped with pain, clutching at the stab wound. "I have no friends."

"You certainly used to," mused Rolan, coldly. "2,500 years ago you did, at least... Although, to be fair, that was before you went and usurped my throne. You were certainly much friendlier, then. Tell me, what happened?"

"Shut up," growled Wendigo. "I... Nothing has... SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!"

"This bastard's insane..." muttered Khaza. She turned to Checkmate. "Well, shall we?"

"Kill Wendigo?" asked Checkmate. "We've only just met again, but I suppose that we can catch up later."

Rolan stepped up beside them. "See?" he said. "We're one big, happy family again, so let's celebrate." He held the dagger out, still slick with Wendigo's blood.

"Good idea," replied Checkmate. He turned towards the audience. "Any complaints on this matter?"

There was no reply except for a rigorous shaking of heads side-to-side.

"Good," repeated Checkmate. "Alright, then. You both ready for this?"

"Of course," Khaza said. "I've been waiting for decades to fight this guy."

"Likewise," said Rolan. "C'mon. We may as well get this over with."

By this point, Wendigo had regained his composure, and stood tall. His eyes narrowed on the three creatures before him, and he let out a bark of anger.

"Bah!" He shouted. "Do you brats honestly think that you can defeat me?! Please... I'm immortal. Nothing can kill me."

Checkmate could've sworn that Wendigo muttered something immediately afterwords, but didn't pay much mind to it. "Immortal?" he asked, coldly. "Nothing's immortal, Wendigo. Not you, not me, and not even the alicorns here. Immortality does not exist."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you...?" murmured the windigo, before he threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, well. Maybe I can die. Maybe I can, but so what? That doesn't necessarily mean that I will, at least not yet. You, on the other hoof... Oh, you will die, Checkmate. Here, this damned night, in this damned palace!" He ran his tongue over the outside of his mouth. "And it shall be my blade that does you in! And finally, I will ensure that you as well, Khaza... That you actually stay dead!"

Checkmate felt a chill run down his spine at that, the wound on his back slightly aching from the threats. Certainly, he was not afraid of Wendigo face-to-face - the windigo was dangerous, yes, but he knew Wendigo well enough not to be afraid of any empty threats - but this didn't so much scare him as it did horrify him.

The realization hit him immediately. Khaza...

The windigo turned towards him, knowingly. "Yeah," she murmured. "This is going to be impossible like this... So, I may as well just give you the honor of killing this bastard."

Her body began to shift, then, as it warped back into the Glacius, landing on the ground in front of Checkmate. The stallion reached down and picked it up, staring at it for just a second before turning towards Wendigo.

"Well," he said, coldly. "Now that we have that out of the way -" his eyes blazed "- shall we dance?"

"Ha!" Wendigo laughed. "Very well. We'll end this accursed facade here... With your blood, and the blood of the foolish former king, painting the carpet crimson!" His eyes flashed towards the group of Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, and the ponies acting as accompaniment, who had been awaiting the entire gala to show off their song. "Now!" he shouted at them. "Start the music!"

The four exchanged nervous looks, before Octavia nodded to Vinyl. The white unicorn stepped up to her microphone, her sunglasses now over her eyes.

"Um..." She started, shifting nervously. "My name is... uh... Vinyl Scratch, DJ Pon-3 to my fans... -" the mare gulped, seeing Wendigo's eyes, and began to talk quickly "- and, uh, tonight we'll be playing our song for the Winter Gala's famous Midnight Dance. This year... we... um, opted for a less traditional piece... so..."

"Get on with it," Rolan said, calmly. "We just wanna kill Wendigo already."

"Right..." Vinyl said, gulping again. Clearly, what she'd earlier - that nothing fazed her - was not true.

Octavia took over use of the microphone. "Tonight we shall be playing a piece that involves two normally conflicting instruments for a quicker, more dramatic song. I hope you all" - she glared at Wendigo - "enjoy it. Sit back against the walls so that you don't die and enjoy Invitation to Madness by the famed composer, Nobuo Uemaretsu."

Instantly, the look on Vinyl's face became one of pure excitement. "Hit it!" she shouted, holding up the electric guitar via magic.

The drummer, a stallion around Vinyl's age, sighed, magically raised two drumsticks up, and began the song.

"Invitation to Madness?" mused Rolan, holding up the dagger. "How very appropriate."

Wendigo laughed. "Indeed," he said, smirking. "Just as appropriate as how you will die here."

The windigo lunged towards them, as Rolan and Checkmate quickly dodged out of the way. Wendigo turned and struck at Checkmate, who blocked the attack as Rolan struck out at their foe from behind.

The windigo immediately blocked the former king's attack, leaping to the side in order avoid another strike from Checkmate, leaving the two ponies standing in front of Wendigo, again, their blades drawn.

"Intriguing," mused the tyrant. "I never imagined that you two would work so well together. Oh, well, it hardly matters."

He lunged again, this time focusing all of his efforts on Checkmate. The stallion dodged all of his blows with the same grace he'd shown earlier, but looked to be losing his energy as he did so.

Rolan, seeing this, struck out, again, at Wendigo from behind, as the tyrant flipped backwards over the former king, again putting himself in a position so that the two were in front of him.

He laughed, and lunged once more. This time, however, he attacked Checkmate's ally, focusing his efforts on Rolan instead of Checkmate Vigarde, and placed all of his power behind his blade. The earth pony attacked Wendigo, but this time, rather than from behind, he slashed towards the tyrant's side.

In reply to this, the windigo leapt back, before striking out at the stallion before the attack could land, cutting slightly into the cloak and drawing blood from his flesh beneath it. Wendigo stood, then, with the two in front of him, as he had before.

Checkmate was clutching at the wound, having collapsed to the ground. It wasn't a massive cut, but it still ached like hell, "Dammit," he hissed, angrily. "What is this...?"

"I've been doing the exact same thing every time," Wendigo answered, absentmindedly. "After all, the trick to fighting two at once is always to keep them both in front of you, after all."

"Of course," growled Rolan, helping Checkmate back to his hooves. "Lunging, jumping back... You're trying to expend all of our energy! Well, now I'm afraid that isn't going to work anymore."

Wendigo laughed. "What does it matter, honestly?" he asked. "I could kill you both in an instant if I wanted to."

Then why don't you? Khaza's voice asked. You have every opportunity to, but you're not.

"Because," the windigo said, coldly. "I have no reason to."

"What...?" Rolan asked. "What do you mean?"

"Please," Wendigo said. "Look at Checkmate, will you?"

The stallion was having trouble just standing. The gash on his side, while not deep, made it painful just to be still, and he felt his legs almost collapsing underneath him.

Until, of course, they actually did, sending him to the ground.

"Checkmate!" cried Rolan, rushing over to his friend's side.

Wendigo shook his head. "Don't you see?" he asked. "Checkmate is wounded. As in, to put it mildly, he can hardly stand. Even I would not fight an enemy who can't hold a weapon."

"Really?" hissed Checkmate, as he struggled to his hooves. "Y-you... You have no honor at all!"

"Perhaps," replied their enemy, calmly, "but what fun is there in fighting a foe who can't even hold a sword without falling? You're strong, certainly, but not so strong as to avoid pain itself."

He turned, as if to leave, as Rolan rushed up behind him. "Wait!" he called.

Wendigo stopped. "What is it?" he asked, his voice still surprisingly calm.

"Tell me this, Wendigo," Rolan said. "If you just want us dead, then why? Why aren't you just killing us?"

"Why do you long to know?" asked the windigo, not looking back.

"Just a bit of curiosity," replied Rolan.

The tyrant turned back towards him, wearing his smirk once more. "Let me tell you, then, Rolan. You see... to me, this is all but a game."

"A... a game?!" growled Checkmate, clutching at his wound. "What do you mean?!"

Wendigo laughed. "This is all but a simple game, for me. A game of chess, if you will. And, like every game, the players cannot participate if unable to do so... no matter the reason, be it pain or death. No... you both? You two shall live, yes... to see another day, for I still have need of you." He turned away, again. "Checkmate Vigarde, while you may be powerful, you have yet to know the true strength that you can convey. Come and meet me in Darkfrost again, once you have acquired the Ignis, and once you have unlocked your true potential. That is, of course -" his eyes glimmered "- if you aren't killed by Deun and his forces, first."

And then, before their eyes, the tyrant king vanished from sight, converging with the air around him, and leaving the room wreathed in silence.