A Game of Chess

Twilight stood in the library, packing her small bag with only the barest necessities: Some food (just in case), water, and several small books, just to pass the time.

She glanced about her, at library, the place that she'd called "home" for more than three years. Certainly, she left it often, and she spent time away from it for several days at a time when she did, but this time felt... different. It almost felt like, after this journey, everything would somehow change. Twilight wasn't sure whether it was because of the danger that the quest provided, or perhaps just the thought of her being away from the place, built into a tree, for what would probably amount to around two weeks.

Dejectedly, she looked over at Spike, who seemed to sleep peacefully in the night, and turned back to her packing.

As she did so, however, the door burst open, and Spike nearly flew from his bed to the floor.

"Twiley!" A familiar voice shouted, "what the heck is going on, here?!"

Twilight instinctively spun around quickly, facing the one who shouted, "Shiny!" she said, running over to her brother. "Why are you here in Ponyville?"

"Because of this," Shining Armor said, throwing a newspaper down at her hooves.

Twilight leaned in to read it. "'Windigoes Attack the Winter Gala: The Evil Spirits From the Old Days Threaten All of Equestria'," she blanched. "Wait... How did this reach the Crystal Empire so fast?"

"Luck," her brother said, through grit teeth. "When did you plan on telling me this?"

"I didn't..." Twilight said, her face falling. "I mean... I didn't want to worry you..."

Shining's eyes softened. "I know," he replied, "but that doesn't change the fact that you're going on some dangerous journey to stop this guy."

"It wouldn't be the first time," Twilight said, smiling ruefully. "But wait... How did you know that I'm trying to stop Wendigo?"

The stallion sighed. "Princess Celestia told Cadance and I everything, Twiley. She wants us to put up a shield over the Crystal Empire until you all get back."

"I'm sorry," said the mare. "I mean, I didn't know anything about this until just a couple of days ago, and now I'm going off with all of my friends on yet another journey to stop some evil mastermind from destroying the world."

"How many is that, now?" deadpanned Spike. "Five? Yeah, that sounds about right... Anyway, don't feel bad, Shining. She didn't invite me either."

"It's too dangerous for a baby dragon!" Twilight interjected. "I mean, we're going to a place called the 'Desert of Death'."

"And it's not too dangerous for you and your friends because...?" Spike started, looking for an answer.

"Because I'm an alicorn," said Twilight. "I can't die out there in the desert, you know."

"And what about the others?" asked Shining. "What about your friends? They're not alicorns."

Twilight sighed. "Yes, I know that..." she murmured, "but we all know the risks that we have to take for this. They're all great at dealing with this stuff by now."

"Then let me help!" Spike said. "If you're not worried about your friends, then what about me?! I'm more than capable of taking care of myself!"

"Spike..." Twilight started, gently.

The baby dragon scoffed. "Whatever," he muttered. "I'm going back to bed. You can do whatever you want, alright? I'll see you when you get back from your escapade."

"You'll see me tomorrow!" Twilight urged. "I'm not leaving for another twenty-four hours!"

Spike simply looked back at her. "You know what? I'm not even sure if I want to see you before you go." He stalked off, muttering to himself as he stepped over to his bed and lay down.

Shining sighed. "I'm sorry about that," he said, sheepishly, "but he does have a point, you know. You shouldn't worry about him that much. And, as for myself, I'm sure that you can do this. You're stronger than most members of the royal guard here in Equestria, Twiley." He ruffled her mane, playfully, "Just promise me this, alright? Just come back safely."

Twilight nodded, already feeling tears in her eyes. "I... I'll make sure of it," she said, proudly. "I'll bring us all home safely. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, myself -" she bit down on her lower lip "- and... and Checkmate, as well."

"Checkmate?" asked Shining. "He's the stallion from the headlines, right? The one who fought Wendigo last night... I just hope that he knows what he's doing with that weapon."

"Why?" asked Twilight, curiously.

"Because," stated the unicorn, "a sword isn't like magic. In all of its forms, a sword is designed to bring death. A weapon like that can be used to bring good... but it can be used for evil, as well, if it falls into the wrong hooves."

"Right..." Twilight murmured. "I guess that I'll see you tomorrow, then... Right?"

Shining nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you then... G'night, Twiley. I hope that your journey is as much as a success as you do."

And then, Shining Armor let himself out of the library, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts.

Rainbow Dash lay in her bed, everything packed already, and having already spoken to Scootaloo (who enthusiastically nodded her head and said, "Uh-huh," to just about everything she was told). She was entirely prepared to go on this journey, but she wasn't exactly sure just what Princess Celestia had in mind for them.

After all, she figured, maybe Twilight could be of some assistance, but what about her? What could she possibly do in a desert where the wind was as strong as the princesses claimed? What could the others do, even?

Rainbow shook her head, clearing herself of these thoughts. What help would she be if she doubted her own abilities? She'd be no help to them, and with the power that Wendigo displayed, they would need all of the help that she could offer.

The pegasus stretched out in her bed. She knew her own abilities, her strengths, and, yes, even her weaknesses, but she could not allow those to cripple her out in the desert.

No, if anything, Rainbow would just have to be even stronger than ever. For her friends - no, all of Equestria. She would have to break her own limits, shatter them, and cast them into the wind, and allow herself to take up the mantle that she always knew she held. The mantle of loyalty.

And she knew, for a fact, that she could do just that.

Giving herself this little pep-talk (if one could call it that), Rainbow Dash fell into an uneasy slumber, somewhat nervous for the activities of the next day.

"C'mon, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle whined. The young filly was absolutely, impossibly indignant. She absolutely refused to listen to reason, even as Rarity attempted to coerce her sister to do just that.

"Sweetie Belle," she said, calmly, although she felt close to snapping under the weight of her sister's protests, "you must realize that this journey is dangerous, horrific, and, most of all, disgusting! We'll be crossing a desert, with all of that sand and grit, and that is absolutely no place for a filly like yourself!"

The filly in question rolled her eyes at this remark. "Really?" she asked, deadpan. "I'm surprised that you aren't complaining about how badly your mane will be messed up with all of the 'sand and grit'!" For these last words, she took on a mocking portrayal of Rarity's voice. "I mean, you're just gonna end up complaining all about it, aren't you?"

The older unicorn flushed. "Wh- How dare you accuse me of something like that!" she coughed, regaining her composure. "I am a delicate, kind young mare, you know. However, I'm willing to get myself a bit dirty for the sake of my friends."

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes once more (honestly, Rarity had to admit, she was beginning to become quite good at that). "Yeah, Checkmate Vigarde," she muttered, "the stallion who you've only known for one week. Are you sure that it's a good idea to just... go off on a journey with him?"

Rarity scoffed at this. "Oh, come now, Sweetie Belle," she said, "the others and I only knew Twilight for one day before we went off on a journey with her, and nothing went wrong, then."

"Yes, nothing," Sweetie muttered, and she sighed. "You also went on a quest that only lasted a few hours."

"Hmph. And we've known Checkmate for a week, for a quest that should only be about a week long," replied the unicorn. "I don't quite understand what your point is."

The younger unicorn, once again, rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder whether or not I'm the sanest pony around here..."

"Well, that's absolutely ridiculous," Rarity said, incredulously. "After all, we both know that Twilight is clearly the sanest pony in the entire town."

Sweetie Belle shuddered, visibly afraid. "Well, that's certainly a good sign, considering what she did that one time with the Smarty-Pants doll..."

"We all have bad days," the older sister mused. "I mean, even I've had my share of freak-outs, calm and composed as I am."

"Calm and composed," said Sweetie. "Although I kinda think that Khaza has less freak-outs than you..."

Rarity's ears perked up at this. "Wait, what was that?" she asked, her voice sounding as if it were going to crack. "I could have sworn that you just said something about Khaza."

The younger unicorn blanched. "Erm... Well, based on how she reacted to Wendigo last night during the gala... I-I just assumed that..."

"O-oh," Rarity mentally kicked herself. Of course Sweetie Belle would know just who Khaza was, given that she was at the gala just the other night. For a second, she had been nervous that the filly had heard their conversation back at the royal palace, but she realized just how stupid such an idea as that was.

"Right," she said. "My apologies, dear, I just assumed for a second that you had... ahem..." She coughed.

"Ahem, yes, on to other matters," Rarity said, changing the subject, and turning away from her sister. "Yes, I must take care of who you will be staying with while I'm gone... Mother and Father are in Manehatten... Hmm... I wonder if Applejack's family will be free for the next week or so... I'll have to ask them tomorrow."

Sweetie Belle let out a sigh. "But... what if you don't make it back?"

Rarity stopped. For the first time that night, her hooves began to shake, as the reality of the question came crashing down on her like a tidal wave.

What if she didn't make it back? What if she and the others were killed by Wendigo, or the sleipnirs, or the general (his name had slipped her mind)?

But still, she had to be strong, for her sister, and for her friends, so Rarity turned back towards Sweetie Belle.

"Don't you worry, dear," she said, soothingly. "I promise you that I shall return."

It was as if Fluttershy was living in a nightmare.

The buttercream pegasus was glancing about herself, hurriedly, making sure that everything was perfect. Her animals all needed at least two weeks-worth of food (just in case the trip went over, although she gave them three just to be sure), and they all needed to be completely ready for when she departed.

Her bags lay, packed, on the couch of her cottage, and she was now tending to the last animal: Angel. Although she loved the small rabbit dearly, Fluttershy found herself becoming extremely stressed due to his demands.

First, and foremost, was getting him somewhere to stay. After the fiasco with Spike just a bit earlier in the year, the pegasus knew that she had to find somewhere else to keep the bunny. Certainly, the dragon had done an excellent job with her pet, but Spike seemed nearly dead by the time they'd arrived home. That had only been a day, and this was to be a week or two, so Fluttershy knew that she needed somewhere else to send the rabbit to.

At last, after almost half-an-hour of searching (which was spent going over several areas in Ponyville), Fluttershy had at last come to the decision to have Angel spend the time that she was on this journey at Sweet Apple Acres. After all, Granny Smith, Big McIntosh, and Apple Bloom, she was sure, could easily take care of one rabbit - even Angel - while she was gone.

So, after spending another hour writing up instructions for them to follow (all of which were very specific), Fluttershy allowed herself to collapse back onto her bed, for her eyes to close, and for a well-deserved rest to take hold of her.

Pinkie had everything she could possibly need. Naturally, she had packed several necessary items, such as water, extra food, and, of course, her party cannon. One couldn't have a party without it, after all, and she planned to introduce the sleipnirs to the joys of a Pinkie Pie Party (and, of course, the windigoes, once they beat that jerk-face Wendigo).

The earth pony had been entirely ready to go, in fact, for the past several hours, and had given the Cakes her pet alligator, Gummy, to look after for while she was away in the Desert of Death (honestly, that place sounded like it could use a party or two).

But even she needed rest, although she still felt ecstatic for the journey ahead. Was she afraid of Wendigo? Certainly, but that only made sense. After all, even Discord had shown fear around the windigo. However, that only made the prospect of the journey more exciting for her. The thought of being able to make any more ponies happy - to help them and make them smile with joy - was something that justified any amount of danger that she could possibly expose herself to.

Pinkie's only hope was that her friends could take the pain that inevitably would come with this journey, but she'd spent enough time with them to know that they most certainly could.

And the party, she decided, would be the best that she'd ever thrown.

The party that they would celebrate after vanquishing Wendigo, and after they saved Darkfrost from his tyranny.

"C'mon, Applejack!" whined Apple Bloom, her eyes wide. "Can't Ah come along with y'all on this journey?"

"For the eighth time, no!" Applejack reprimanded. She loved her sister, dearly, but the young earth pony was starting to get on her nerves.

"B-but Rarity's goin' on it! An' Fluttershy! An' Twilight, an' -"

"No!" Applejack's patience was nearly broken at this point. "It's too dangerous fer you ta come with us!"

"B-but..." her sister had taken upon herself the famed "puppy-dog-eyes" look, as if to guilt Applejack into taking her along.

The elder sister grimaced. "Ah said 'no'!" She shouted, angrily. "Don't'cha get jus' how dangerous this is gonna be? I ain't gonna risk yer life jus' cause ya wanna get yer cutie mark!"

"B-b-"

"No!"

At last, Apple Bloom began to saunter off, muttering to herself as she did so.

"Sometimes, Ah jus' don't know what Ah'm gonna do with that kid..." muttered Applejack, shaking her head. "Ya feel the same, I reckon?" She turned towards Big Mac.

"Eeyup," her brother replied, his voice as deadpan as ever.

"Yeah, sometimes..." she shook her head. "I trust ya ta keep a close watch on this place while Ah'm gone?"

Big Mac smirked, slightly. "Eeyup," he said, again, "but yer gonna have a bit more ta do when ya get back."

Applejack winced. "Right, right..." she muttered. "Guess that savin' the world don't account fer me missin' my chores, huh?"

"Eenope."

"Oh, well," sighed Applejack, dejectedly. "Guess Ah'll just have ta do alla yer work fer a bit."

Big Mac shot her a confused look. "I ain't gonna quit workin' jus' 'cause you ain't been here a while. Ah'm jus' sayin' that our sister's gonna be a hoofful fer ya once ya get back. Ah'll cover yer work until then."

"Oh, thanks fer that..." Applejack rubbed the back of her head with her hoof.

"No problem," her brother replied. "Jus' make sure that, when ya come back, ta tell me all about it. Ah'm a bit interested in what ya'll're gonna do, and Ah'm sure that ya'll can stop Wendigo."

Applejack smiled, and hugged him.

She made a mental note to do just that when she returned.

Checkmate Vigarde stood, in his room, speaking with Khaza. He was almost completely packed, but needed a few more necessities before he would be entirely done.

"Hey, Khaza?" he asked, not looking back at her as he packed, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure," replied his friend, "ask away."

Checkmate stopped packing, and looked over towards her. "Why did you choose me, of all ponies, to wield you as the Glacius?"

Khaza cocked her head, slightly. "I don't quite understand," she mused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Checkmate replied, "I'm not especially strong, and even after all these years, my technique is still somewhat sloppy. I don't really have anything too noteworthy about my skill with a blade, is what I mean to say."

"I didn't pick you because of your skill," said Khaza. "I picked you because I trusted you."

"The pony who jammed a knife between your eyes?" deadpanned Checkmate.

"Yep," Khaza replied, brightly, "but that's not what I meant."

She turned away, looking out a nearby window. "I mean... when we first met, all those years ago, I was an outcast. Wendigo had forced me to take the form of a unicorn so that nopony could discover that I was actually the Glacius. That's not even beginning to mention the fact that my own magic, enhanced because of my standing, kept the other ponies terrified of me, so nopony even seemed to acknowledge my existence. I'd just about lost all hope, and that..."

She paused, and smiled. "That... is when I met you."

"Are you saying that the only reason that you trusted me enough to let me wield you as the Glacius," Checkmate said, "is because... I was nice to you?"

"It does sound rather cliché when you put it like that, but... yes, I guess," Khaza admitted. "You were the first non-windigo to accept me - and to befriend me, at that - and I loved the fact that you did, despite everypony else being afraid of me. In a way, what you did touched me more than anything else that anypony has ever done for me."

"So, what you're saying is that anypony, so long as they'd befriended you, would have been trusted enough to use the Glacius?" asked Checkmate.

"Maybe," Khaza said, "although I'm not sure. What I can say for a fact, though, is that you've certainly used it much better than most other ponies back in Darkfrost would have. Most of them would've just gone running up to Wendigo and stabbed away at him, getting themselves killed. You, on the other hoof, thought this all out, and spent much of your time just researching the Glacius and training yourself to become stronger."

"Please," scoffed the earth pony, "you make me sound like a genius."

"You're not?" asked Khaza, looking over at him with surprise. "You always seemed to be."

Checkmate shrugged. "I'm not a genius," he said, "but I'm not a fool, either."

He turned back, and started to pack again, making sure to put his copy - or rather, Twilight's copy - of the Adventurer's Bestiary into the bag. He was almost certain that a book such as that would be useful to them on their journey.

"I think you're wrong on that matter," Khaza mused. "I think that you are a genius. Maybe not on the same level as Twilight, but you're certainly quite good at dealing with situations."

Checkmate turned back towards her. "I stabbed you," he said, slowly, "between the eyes. With a knife. I don't think that I'm that good at dealing with situations, Khaza."

The windigo shrugged. "Say what you will," she said, "but I've seen you in action, Check, and let me tell you that you are good at dealing with most dangerous situations."

Checkmate scoffed, but said nothing.

"You know, like the time that you took down that treant out in the Emerald Jungle while suspended from those vines? Or the time you fought off that dragon with your hooves literally tied behind your back? Yeah, I think that you're a genius, Check. A tactical genius. A strategist, if you will."

Checkmate simply shook his head, and turned back towards his bags to continue packing.

Khaza rolled her eyes. "Alright," she said, "be that way. I'm just telling you what I've seen you do. You can claim you're not strong, or not smart, or too hasty all you like, but I know what I've seen."

The earth pony sighed, but continued to pack, trying to ignore the windigo.

"After all, Check," she mused, leaning in to add to the effect. "I was there with you the whole time."

"Will you stop this?" Checkmate asked, turning towards her, again. "I know what it is that I've done, Khaza, it's -" he shook his head, and sighed, again "- just because I got lucky a few times doesn't mean that I'm any of those things. I only beat that dragon because he looked away at a crucial moment, and I was able to send him flying away with pure luck. I only stopped that treant because it cut the vines over me when I ducked, and I was freed, and able to cut it down. And, of course, I was only able to escape from Darkfrost because of pure luck."

The smallest ghost of a smile formed on Khaza's muzzle. "Really?" she asked. "I wasn't aware of that. I thought that the one who saved you from Wendigo..."

Checkmate's eyes widened in realization. The sword... He'd found the Glacius at his side after he'd awoken from Wendigo's assault. But that meant...

"You... you saved me from Wendigo?" he asked.

"Of course!" said Khaza, grinning. "I managed to get him away from you after you passed out, I turned into the Glacius, and the rest is history."

"How'd you get him to stop attacking me?" asked Checkmate, cocking his head slightly.

"Simple," Khaza's teeth were showing. "I told him to leave you alone, and he did."

Checkmate stopped, his eyes widening. "Wait... was it anything like what happened last night?"

"Exactly like that, actually," said Khaza. "Wendigo's been prone to doing that a lot, lately -" she shook her head "- but that hardly matters, right? All that matters is that you got out of there alive, and now we're all about to embark on this quest to find the Ignis and end Wendigo's pathetic life, once and for all!"

"Do you know who the spirit of the Ignis is?" asked the stallion, curiously.

"... Yes," said Khaza, after a moment's hesitation. "She and I are old friends... being that we've both known each other for several hundred years. She's rather nice, especially for a sleipnir."

"Well, that'll at least make things a bit easier on us, then," mused Checkmate. "Theoretically speaking, you should be able to convince her to come with us, provided that the sleipnirs hand the Ignis over without a fight..."

"Yeah," the windigo replied, "it would be... except for the fact that I can't exactly show my face in the home of the sleipnirs."

"Why not?" asked Checkmate, although he already knew the answer.

"Because, Checkmate," said Khaza, "I'm a windigo, and our kind and sleipnirs aren't exactly known for getting along very well. Certainly, it's nothing major - there haven't been any wars, yet - but we're still too opposing factions."

The windigo sighed. "If I show my face in the home of the sleipnirs, to put it simply... Well, I'm not sure if we'd all get out of there alive."