In one of the quietest corners of the Canterlot High library, the two greatest minds of the school were duking it out in one of the oldest and most respected contests in the world; Chess. Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, each one sizing up the other, and each one planning move after move after move before their opponent had even done anything. But, despite this competition between them, there was an air of enjoyment about it. To the two girls, this right here was fun, and that was exactly how they liked it. A nice little quiet moment playing a game they loved while spending time with a dear and close friend. Eventually, it was the turn of the former Crystal Prep girl to finally move one of her pieces, and she did so by choosing her Rook, moving it forward and expertly capturing one of Sunset's Pawns. The Equestrian nodded to this, acknowledging the fine move her foe had made, but then, developed into a knowing smirk. For as she reached forward, she took hold of her Knight, and with one move, removed the offending Rook from the board. Twilight, for her part, merely giggled to this.

"Well done, Sunset."

Chuckling to herself, Sunset leaned back into her chair slightly.

"I've been playing games like these for a long time, Twilight. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Nodding back to her, Twilight glanced down at the board.

"You know...you could always join the chess club if you're that into it."

To that, Sunset shook her head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I prefer just doing it as a side-thing. Something to do every once in a while with friends."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Well...with a friend anyway."

Leaning forward again, Sunset smiled, letting out a brief sigh.

"Yeah...the other girls all have other things they'd prefer doing. Chess isn't really their cup of tea, and that's fine."

Her smile widened as she regarded Twilight in earnest.

"Besides...I have you here, right?"

Returning the smile, Twilight nodded.

"Yes you do."

And with that, the spectacled girl took hold of her Queen, and thus used it to remove the very knight that had thwarted her Rook a few moments ago, leading to another chortle on the part of Sunset.

"Not bad, not bad."

A smirk crossed her face soon afterwards.

"But be careful, Twilight. The Queen may be the most powerful piece on the board, but you don't want to use her too much."

To this, Twilight matched that smirk.

"Oh, I don't plan on throwing her away anytime soon, Sunset."

They stared intently at one another for a while, and then, they burst out laughing. The "seriousness" of the moment was gone, replaced instead by the simple fact that they were just having a good time here. But, their laughter had proved to be just a touch too loud, as the irritated face of Cheerilee soon emerged from around the bookcase they'd been playing by.

"Shhhh!"

Slightly embarrassed, the two girls gave her apologetic looks, to which Cheerilee nodded, at which point she once more retreated behind the bookcase, leading to looks of amusement on the part of the two players.

"So...was this the kind of thing you used to play in your spare time? Back in Equestria?"

Moving another piece, Sunset gave a nod to that.

"It was. Besides painting, chess was something I was always interested in. A game of tactics and strategy, having to think and predict of what your opponent might do when you made your move."

Looking to the pieces on the board, a nostalgic smile came to the ex-unicorn at that.

"Most of the other students never really played with me all that much...but Princess Celestia did."

Twilight looked to her with interest.

"Was she good?"

Thinking on that, Sunset looked to her with a knowing smile.

"Oh yes...she was very good."

Leaning back slightly, Sunset crossed one leg over the other, thinking on those far-off memories.

"She was the one other chess-player I ever faced who ever gave me any trouble. I always thought I was good...and then a day would come when I'd face her...and all of a sudden, I realised just how much I had to learn."

Another chuckle escaped her.

"I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. She taught me how to play the game after all."

Leaning forward, Twilight showed more interest than before in the story being told to her.

"Well, wouldn't that mean you knew how she played?"

Though Sunset nodded to that, it wasn't long before her prior smirk returned to her.

"She did...but the thing about Princess Celestia is...she never taught you everything. At least, not all at once. Oh sure, she'd show me the basics, but other lessons were always introduced later, with each game we played. No matter how much we competed, she always had the upper hoof. And even when I thought I had learned all I could about the game, she always had a trick up her sleeve."

Twilight blinked.

"...Does...does that expression even work when we're talking about ponies?"

Sunset once more opened her mouth to speak, only to suddenly be hit with the realisation of what her friend had just said to her. So, after tapping her chin with her finger for a bit, she shrugged her shoulders.

"You know what...I'm actually not sure."

She smiled again to her friend.

"Funny how those things go, isn't it?"

They shared a laugh together, and for a time, they said nothing afterwards. Instead, they simply contented themselves with their game, with each turn taking far longer than most students would give. After a while, however, there came a time when both of them only had about three pieces each on the board, at which point Twilight looked up to her colleague.

"This has been a pretty good game, Sunset."

The Equestrian nodded.

"It has. Although..."

A knowing look came to her.

"It might take a turn for the worst for you, Twilight."

Though confused, Twilight looked again to the board, adjusting her glasses slightly. And that was when she saw it. Sunset was right. There was indeed an opening for her to make her move and declare a Checkmate. Victory was in the bag for her, and the move hadn't even been made yet. But, while Twilight was nervous about this, she soon saw, to her surprise, that Sunset picked up her King, and promptly took him off the board.

"I concede," Sunset announced.

Though taken aback by this, Twilight eventually managed to get some words out.

"Um...what?"

Chuckling, Sunset folded her arms and shrugged her shoulders.

"What? We were in this for the fun, remember?"

A few moments passed, and Twilight, having now worked past the relief of having avoided defeat in this, nodded in acknowledgement of that, smiling fondly to her friend.

"Yeah...it was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

Sunset nodded back, and then, to her slight surprise, found Twilight giving the board a quick glance before raising an eyebrow to her.

"But for the record...I probably could've figured a way out of that."

Sunset stared at her friend, and then put on yet another smirk.

"You just keep telling yourself that, Twilight."