Checkmate

Synth looked at his surroundings. His vision was blurry and he had to squint to see anything. When he squinted, he could see stone walls. He stopped squinting and rubbed his eyes. He heard a noise and turned around quickly. When he looked up, his vision was clear and there was a door in front of him. It looked familiar at first, but he ignored that fact.

Synth reached over and pushed open the door. It creaked as it opened up and he could see the interior. It was the same room where the Elements of Harmony were previously, but it looked newer. Like this was a flashback from when they were first put there.

Synth stepped inside, and noticed the lack of shadows. When he approached the stone holding the Elements, there was a breaking sound. Synth looked down to see a crack spreading across the ground. He moved out of the way before it could go under him. Suddenly the stone where the Elements were broke. Shattered pieces fell onto the floor.

Synth avoided the crack as he walked over to inspect them. The crack suddenly stopped at a wall. It rumbled as the crack expanded and engulfed the broken Elements. Synth didn’t know what to do. This was obviously a dream, and he knew that. For some reason, he couldn’t control anything though.

Synth thought of the only thing he could do. He was going to wake himself up. He walked to the edge of the crevice and jumped in. He felt himself falling fast. When he looked down, all he saw was a dark nothingness. He closed his eyes and waited for the shock to wake himself up.

Suddenly, he hit the bottom. His hooves collided first with the ground. Normally, a dream injury would feel like nothing. That or the injury could hurt even though nothing happened. He felt the impact as he was met with the cold stone floor. He rolled himself off the ground to rest his injured hooves. He looked up to face where he’d just come from and blinked.

Synth blinked a few times before looking around again. The ceiling was stone and the crevice he fell into was gone. The room he was in looked just like the one he left. Suddenly, the pain in his hooves was gone. He got onto his hooves and looked around to see everything exactly the same as before. The stone Elements were on the stone centerpiece again.

Synth looked around and tapped the floor a few times. When he made sure everything was normal, he took a step forward. Nothing happened. He took another step and then another. Nothing was happening and the ground was perfectly fine. When he was close enough to touch them, he reached out. Suddenly he felt the vibrations again. This time, he was too close to move as the crevice engulfed him again.

Synth fell and landed in the same predicament as the time before. He opened his eyes and looked around to find the same room everywhere he looked. He waited until his hooves were feeling better before he stood up. Deciding he’d get to the bottom of it, he walked around the perimeter of the room. Nothing seemed wrong as he finished his rotation.

Synth sprinted towards the middle and leaped towards the Elements. The crack came out and barely missed him as he landed on the Elements. He looked down to see the entire floor of the room gone. The area around him was darkness. The Elements looked like they were about to break. He picked them up slowly, and looked around again.

Synth grinned as he saw the distance between him and the walls. He picked out a spot that looked closer than the others, and prepared to jump. He pushed off with his hind hooves and felt himself launch towards the wall. When he was close, he activated his magic. His goal was to make a Traction spell to stick onto the wall long enough to get to the exit.

He was about halfway there, when he noticed he couldn’t use his magic. That was all he was thinking about as he fell into the void below. He let go of the Elements and felt them fly away from him. He noticed them shatter and looked directly up as he fell. When he hit the bottom, his back got the full impact. He felt his bones break and had to struggle to breath.

He waited for what felt like forever until he felt the pain subside. He sat up and inspected his surroundings. He was in the same room. He felt a little anger in him as he sat down and thought about what to do next. He listened around him and realized it was quiet. It was too quiet for his liking.

“Shade?” Synth asked remembering the voice that normally occupied his head.

Synth received no reply and waited a few moments before thinking back to the situation at hand. He looked around the room and could not find anything that could hint as to what he could possibly do. (This is like a level in a video game where you don’t know what to do, and you walk around every inch of the map looking for any clues that could help you. Then when you find the answer, you usually facepalm.)

Synth couldn’t think of anything else to do. He stood up and looked towards the door. He sighed as he walked over. He approached the doors and looked over his shoulders expecting something to stop him. He didn’t see anything different, so he opened them up slowly and looked outside. The forest was still as dark and gloomy as ever.

“Rage Quit,” Synth said as he stepped out of the building.

Suddenly he felt the floor under him give way and he fell forward into a dark void. It was different this time though. Instead of looking up to see the sky leaving him, he found the ground approaching. He couldn’t comprehend this; he had looked clearly into the sky when he fell, so why did he see the ground? He got his answer when he landed and noticed the shadows in the corners of the room before feeling the pain in his hooves.

“Look who decided to drop in?” Shade said from his seat in the corner of the room. He was sitting in a red velvet couch reading a book. The cover was blank, but the size of it was huge.

“That’s not funny,” Synth said as he felt his hooves recovering.

“You get to tell your little jokes, so I want a chance to tell my own,” Shade said closing the book and tossing it aside.

“What are you doing here?” Synth asked ignoring his last comment.

“You’re the one who decided to drop by,” Shade said standing up.

“Again, not funny,” Synth said getting up himself.

“Whatever you say, but some people fall over dead for stuff like that,” Shade said as he walked over.

“Just stop,” Synth said as he rotated his hooves trying to get a tingling sensation out of them.

“That’s not what your mom-,” Shade started before he was interrupted.

“I get it; you have your own jokes. Just try not to spit them out every sentence, it gets old,” Synth said annoyed at Shade’s childish joke.

“Alright, I get it. I’ll just drop a one-liner whenever it seems fit,” Shade grinned.

“Okay so let me ask again, why are you here?” Synth asked.

“I only wanted to ask something,” Shade said looking a little hurt.

“Okay, so what is it? Are you going to ask if I’ll let you have fun? The answer is still no,” Synth said.

“Oh Nothing like that, I was just interested in what I saw earlier,” Shade said as his horn glowed.

“What did you see?” Synth asked trying to think of what Shade could have seen that would have sparked his interest.

“Let me show you,” Shade said.

The magic in his horn enveloped the whole room. The walls were covered in his magic. When he sent out a pulse of energy, the walls began to change. Instead of the normal stone walls, they transformed into something that Synth had seen in the Canterlot Throne Room. With pillars on the sides, and the floor being marble, he felt like he was in the Throne Room.

“And now the main attraction,” Shade said as he sent out another burst of magic.

The area where the thrones would normally be was different. It was expanded about twice its size and easily covered most of the room. The thrones were removed and the flooring was changed. It had a checkered pattern of black and white. When Shade finished, Synth was left gaping at the difference Shade had made. Shade was grinning at Synth’s dumbstruck look.

“Environmental Takeover, you should learn to do it. It can be quite handy, if you know how to use it,” Shade said as he walked over to one side of the checkered board. “So how about it? Are you up for a little chess?” Shade said as Synth’s eyes widened in recognition.

“Chess, why would you want to play chess?” Synth asked as he walked over to the other side of the board.

“I don’t like you thinking you’re all big and mighty because you’ve only had one loss, technically I haven’t lost yet,” Shade said as his horn glowed. The chess board was lit up and the two rows of tiles closest to Shade started to glow a black hue.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you haven’t played before. We don’t know how good you are…” Synth said and then raised his eyebrows at Shade’s direction.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything. Just so you know, you get to choose your game pieces. Just pretend like the creature is right there with you,” Shade said. He stopped and started to think hard about something.

Synth was confused but tried it. He focused on the tiles in the front row. There were eight of them, and he knew of eight pieces that would work there. He felt some of his magic flow freely as the shapes began to take form in front of him. The figures howled when Synth finished. He looked to how he did. They looked exactly like the Canis Minors he planned to summon, only about half as big. They barely fit on their squares as they looked forward.

He turned towards the empty spots to the left of where his king would be. He pictured his friends he’d made since coming to Canterlot. The three Shadow Guards appeared in their positions. Silver was his bishop, because he thought of him as a healer. Slash would be the knight because he sounded like he would be useful in combat. Split was the rook because he didn’t look like he had a limit in how much magic he could do, and rooks could go any amount in vertical or horizontal directions.

Synth looked towards the other side, next to where his queen would go. He thought of the others he met in Canterlot. The three that appeared were the Dawn Guards he met recently. Nova was the second knight because he was pretty strong for a unicorn. Streak was the rook because he was fast and could fit that position well. That left Comet as the bishop, one of the pieces he hated the most. He was alright with Silver being the bishop, because he would just picture Silver as good and not at all sadistic like Comet.

That left Synth with two unused positions, the king and the queen. He looked back over the board as he considered who could be the queen. He had somepony in mind and just when he was about to use his magic, someone broke his train of thought.

“That is interesting; we are intrigued by thy choices.” Synth turned around to face Luna who was behind him. “Although, the Dawn Guards were a complete surprise,” Luna said looking over the board.

“Luna? What are you doing here?” Synth asked as she studied the board.

“We are here to be the queen. Thou do not think we will just watch this, do thee? We will gladly assist thee in this game of intellects. Shade will not stand a chance when we play,” Luna said as she smiled and activated her magic. A smaller figure of her appeared on the board where the queen would be.

“So, I guess I need a king now. Who should I pick?” Synth asked as he tried to think of who would make a good king candidate.

“Well that is obvious, is it not?” Luna said as her horn glowed again.

Synth watched as he saw a smaller figure of himself appear on the king’s square. He smiled at the thought. He could never handle a position in power, much less a king. He looked to the rest of the board, satisfied with the result. His eyes trailed over to Shade’s side, where he noticed Shade’s pieces.

The King was Shade, (obviously) and the queen was the colt from his nightmares. His rooks were Ursa Minors. The knights were Manticore’s, and the Bishops were two weird looking colts. One was a dark yellow with a brown unkempt mane. The other was a dark grey with a light blue long mane. He looked neater than the other, and Synth had a thought that they looked like opposites. The pawns were Timberwolves, and contrasted with the light blue look of the Canis Minors.

“Well, are we ready to start?” Synth heard the voice and looked up to surprisingly see Split. He was sitting next to Shade who was grinning.

“Split? What are you doing here?” Synth asked Split.

“It’s only fair that if you get some assistance, I should get some too,” Shade said gesturing to Luna.

“He is right. It would only be fair,” Luna said.

Synth nodded, fair is fair. Something still bothered him though.

“Why Split then? No offense Split, just asking is all,” Synth asked making sure Split didn’t get the wrong idea.

“None taken, I was kind of thinking the same thing… So Shade, why me?” Split asked Shade who was sitting next to him mumbling to himself.

“Oh no reason… just that you already know about me. Also, you kind of are the most strategic person Synth knows,” Shade responded not looking away from the board.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. But to make this fair, I won’t hold back Synth. Get ready to get your mind blown,” Split said as he also looked down towards the board. Split whispered something to Shade’s ear and they both nodded.

Synth leaned over and whispered in Luna’s ear. “How does Split know about Shade?” Synth asked Luna.

“He asked about it when he felt something different about thee. It was the day after he first trained thee. He said he felt something most disturbing while he was with thee, so we let him in on the secret. But why are we continuing to speak like this anyway?” Luna said whispering back into Synth’s ear.

“I don’t know, but it makes me feel like I have a strategy,” Synth said whispering into Luna’s ear.

“We do not believe that will help in the future, it is a false boost.” Luna said whispering into his ear. “But we can see why this makes thou feel better. It is quite delightful,” Luna said smiling.

Synth grinned, “We can totally take them, because I have my friends on my side,” Synth said as he looked down towards his troops.

“Then shall we begin?” Luna asked.

Synth nodded. He caught a glance from Shade. Shade raised his head and coughed. He turned towards Split and whispered something before turning back to Synth.

“You get the first move. I think it’s only fair because I challenged you,” Shade said. Synth nodded. That was fair, and if there was something that Shade did well, it was being fair.

“Okay then, how do I tell them where to go?” Synth asked.

“Tell them…” Shade said.

“Uh, you… go over there,” Synth said. He motioned with his hoof two squares in front of the designated Canis Minor.

The Canis Minor looked to Synth and where he was pointing, before taking his steps onto the square. Shade didn’t waste time as he moved his Manticore in front of his pawns. Synth sent the Canis Minors forward, some going two squares forward while others only went one. Immediately Synth noticed that Shade sent out his best troops first. He only moved the Timberwolves to make room for the weird ponies and the Ursa Minor.

Synth kept his Canis Minors into positions where there was always something guarding them. Soon, he realized that Shade wasn’t going in without a strategy. Shade sent his Manticore after one of the Canis Minors. Instead of his piece disappearing, there was an animated battle that came with the showdown. The Manticore pounced on the Canis Minor. The Canis Minor didn’t have time to react as his face was slashed apart.

Synth felt his stomach churn. There was blood on the spot underneath where the Manticore now stood. His Canis Minor’s body disappearing slowly.

“Well, how do you like the special effects?” Shade asked. Synth looked up to see him grinning. Split however, was looking a little green. Luna wasn’t looking at the board anymore. She had her head lowered.

“Lovely…” Synth said frowning.

“Well, it’s your move…” Shade said motioning to Synth.

Synth inspected the board. He had Silver guarding that pawn, and he wanted revenge. He sent Silver after the Manticore; he didn’t realize what he did though. When Silver approached the Manticore, he shot it with a magic burst from his horn. Immediately, the Manticore fell and Silver took the spot he was standing on.

Synth grinned, until he saw Shade’s next turn. Shade sent the yellow pony towards Silver. He used his magic, and a hole appeared under Silver. Silver was about to fall in, until he managed to grab the edge. The yellow pony walked over to where he was dangling. He stepped his hoof on Silver’s, and Silver let go. He fell into the hole that quickly closed up again. The yellow pony walked onto the spot where Silver was.

“No, Silver!” Synth yelled towards the board.

“He can’t hear you,” Shade said.

“Shut up; you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Synth asked.

“No, not at all. I don’t know why you’d think that…” Shade said whistling. “Anyways, it’s your turn.

“Huh…” Synth grunted looking at the board. Luna nudged him.

“If we may be of assistance…” Luna said.

“By all means,” Synth motioned for Luna to go ahead.

Luna moved Comet ahead, and Synth saw what she was going for. Luna grinned.

“Tis Check, Shade,” Luna said.

“Nice, I wouldn’t have seen that,” Synth said.

“Impressive, I guess you aren’t as dim witted as I thought,” Shade said not showing any emotion anymore. It looked like he was maintaining a poker face, so that Synth couldn’t see what he was planning.

Shade moved his Timber ahead one square to be in the direction of Comet’s path. He looked to Synth for him to take his turn.

“Why didn’t you move your king?” Synth asked.

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out,” Shade said.

Synth sighed, getting anything out of Shade was impossible. Synth looked back towards the board. His Canis Minors were already halfway through the battle field, and his stronger pieces were slowly making their moves. Shade’s pieces were the exact opposite, his Timberwolves were barely moved at all, and his stronger pieces were placed defensively on the sides of the board.

Synth moved Comet away from the Ursa that looked like he was eyeing Comet. Shade moved without having to think about it. He used the same Ursa to land directly next to Comet. Synth moved Comet even closer to his stronger pieces; he didn’t notice that Comet was guarding one of his further advanced pawns.

Shade took the advantage and led his Ursa onto the side of the Canis Minor. The Ursa took one swipe at his face, and the Canis Minor’s body went limp. Synth gasped when the trail of blood from the attack landed on other tiles as well.

“Did you see that? That’s the beginning of your downfall,” Shade said. Split wasn’t even smiling; he was looking at the spot where the Ursa Minor was now standing. The body of the Canis Minor was slowly disappearing.

“I think you’re the only one enjoying this…” Synth said, and sure enough, Luna wasn’t looking very blue anymore. She had a green tinge on her cheek.

“Well some ponies have a different sense of humor, don’t you think?” Shade asked.

Synth shook his head and looked back at the board. He decided that it was time to send out some aggression. He moved Nova ahead to get the Ursa the next turn. Once again, he failed to notice the two pawns that Nova was protecting.

Shade sent the yellow pony to attack another of Synth’s Canis Minors. He ran forward, his horn aglow with energy. Instead of casting a spell though, he charged the Canis Minor. When the Canis Minor leaped at the approaching enemy, he slid underneath. As the Canis Minor passed right above, the yellow pony plunged his horn into the belly of the beast. He activated his magic and the Canis Minor exploded. His insides suddenly stained the battlefield.

“Oh my…” Luna gasped as the blood covered the entire middle section of the battlefield.

“How’s that for humor?” Shade asked, his poker face almost breaking from the smile about to appear on his face.

Split was turned around and Synth could hear him puking. Synth would have puked too, but he needed to concentrate on the game. He calculated on what to do next, every time he tried to fight back, he only managed to get his allies killed. He looked to Shade’s positioning. It was still the same, even after he sent out his troops.

Synth studied the board a little bit more, and found an idea spring to mind. He made sure that he could pull it off before he moved the second vulnerable Canis Minor ahead another square. It was at the middle of the field, and it was targeted by two different pieces of Shade’s. Although, he had another Canis Minor there to guard it if Shade did try to attack.

Synth awaited Shade’s next move, it came quick, faster than Synth would have liked. Shade moved his Ursa Minor onto the spot where the Canis Minor was. Just like last time, The Ursa quickly killed the Canis Minor before it could see what was coming. The Ursa took the Canis Minor’s spot, and Synth sighed. He hoped that Shade wouldn’t be that cold hearted, but that was too much to ask of Shade.

Synth used his Canis Minor to attack the Ursa Minor that was directly diagonal of it. The Canis Minor pounced on the Ursa’s back, and dug its teeth into its head before it could fight back. The Ursa let out a loud roar as it tried to cover up the blood flow. The Canis Minor barely avoided a swipe from the Ursa. The Ursa fell to the ground with a thud.

Synth didn’t have time to cheer, because Shade already sent out his next attack. The same Canis Minor that killed the Ursa Minor was now in trouble. The grey pony was headed towards it. The Canis Minor tried to dodge the attack, but the grey pony landed a hard hit to the jaw. The Canis Minor stumbled back, and in that time the grey pony landed a chop to the Canis Minor’s throat.

The Canis Minor went down, and just when the Ursa’s body faded away, so did the Canis Minor’s. Synth looked over the board again. He couldn’t stand to watch the bloodshed, but he wanted to beat Shade that badly. He saw that he had no other piece guarding that spot, so now there was a grey pony really close to his king.

Split whispered something into Shade’s ears. Shade nodded before looking at Synth.

“It’s your move,” Shade said.

“And I plan to make it count,” Synth said as he decided on his next move.

His main priority was the grey pony that was close, but at the same time, all of his troops were either guarding each other, or too far out of reach. He looked back to Shade’s formation and couldn’t help but feel another idea appear.

“I hope this works…” Synth whispered to himself. He moved Slash into the middle of the battlefield, and awaited Shade’s reaction.

Shade didn’t react the way Synth wanted. He completely ignored Slash, and instead moved the grey pony into a position to check Synth.

“Check,” Shade said without emotion.

Synth noticed that Nova was in the prime position to capture the attacking grey pony. He sent out Nova towards the grey pony. Nova charged in and flipped the grey pony onto his back. Then, he cast a spell and the grey pony disappeared into nothing.

“Damn, that was a nice spell,” Shade said looking at the Nova piece.

“Whatever, it’s your move,” Synth said.

“If you’re in such a hurry to lose…” Shade said. Now Shade moved a Manticore that Synth forgot to keep track of, onto the spot Nova was now on.

The Manticore charged Nova, and Nova couldn’t react. The stinger pierced his chest, and the rest of him was ripped to shreds by the Manticore’s talons. He heard Split throw up again, and Luna was nowhere to be seen. Synth saw the body of Nova disappear, and he felt like he couldn’t hold back the puke anymore.

He leaned over and puked for a good minute. He felt lightheaded, and had to use a lot of effort so he wouldn’t fall over. When he managed to get his body back under control, his eyes landed on Shade’s pieces again. Something about them looked different now. He could see how they were placed. The few Timberwolves that were moved were in the open. While the sides were heavily covered by Shade’s remaining troops.

Synth couldn’t believe it; Shade was using the perfect tactic to beat Synth. Synth would always find a way around the enemy’s troops and then attack from an angle, but Shade made sure he couldn’t do that. While Synth would never go down the middle either, he was being forced to. Synth remembered who he was dealing with. Shade was him in a manner of speaking, so of course he would know his strategy.

Synth had another idea, but this time he hoped it wouldn’t end as bad, or as fast as the other ideas. He made sure that as many Canis Minors were open as he possible could. Every turn, he’d move his stronger pieces and leave his Canis Minors alone. He felt bad, but it was the only way not to let Shade win. Every time Synth opened up a Canis Minor, Shade would take advantage and attack.

Synth was quickly left to his last Canis Minor in the middle of the board. The rest of his troops were lined up the way he wanted them. It was like a royal escort, he had every piece of his surrounding his king and queen in the middle of the board. If Shade was going to make him go down the middle, he’d go down his own way.

Shade’s poker face was gone. He looked confused, and the fact that Synth was smiling added to that. Synth had much less pieces that Shade, especially if you included Shade’s Timberwolves at his back. Synth was down to his last troops which included Streak and Slash, as well as Split and most importantly Luna.

It was Shade’s turn, and he did something that Synth didn’t expect. He moved his Timberwolves forward. Synth slowly inched his way across the board, using his outside troops to guard each other, and most importantly the King. When Synth was halfway across the board, Shade had his Timberwolves in a line blocking Synth’s path.

“Are thou sure that was the best idea?” Luna whispered, appearing next to him.

“Yeah, now there’s only one word that can finish my plan,” Synth said grinning.

“And what is that?” Luna asked.

“Charge…” Synth whispered as he made the first move onto Shade’s formation of Timberwolves.

“I would close your eyes if I were you…” Synth said as his attack started a chain reaction.

Shade’s pieces on the sides suddenly joined the battle, and it was like watching a war movie. As soon as Synth made a move, Shade would send his own troop to attack Synth’s forces. On a few occasions, Synth managed to get a check on Shade. Shade would counter by getting Synth in Guard.

When Shade’s Timberwolves were halfway gone, Synth sent Luna to get the one in the back. Luna’s piece cast a spell that temporarily blocked Synth’s view. When he looked next, he saw the Timber wolf’s body disassemble and then disappear.

“It looks like we’re at a standoff…” Shade said.

Synth didn’t understand, until he saw that Shade’s queen was two blocks forward, and one to the right. One wrong move and Synth would of lost his queen. That was the last thing he wanted, so when Shade took Split Synth realized he was in trouble. Synth was down to his last piece except for Luna who was stuck in her situation. Synth only had a Canis Minor, and it was one block away from Shade’s side.

He was lucky he wasn’t in check, so he moved the Canis Minor into Shade’s starter side. Shade didn’t even flinch as the Canis Minor turned into smoke that reformed into another Luna.

“Guard,” Synth said looking to see Shade’s queen was only a few blocks from his new queen. He cursed himself for not seeing it earlier. Shade could easily take his queen.

Shade moved the yellow pony to be directly next to Shade’s queen. Synth knew it was a mistake if he tried to capture it, he’d lose his queen. Instead, he moved his king one space to the right, to avoid anything that the Ursa Minor might try. Then the realization hit him. Shade still had an Ursa Minor, and it hadn’t moved yet.

Shade’s poker face was completely gone, as he grinned widely.

“Would you mind if I told you a story…? It’ll be quick,” Shade asked, his grin not leaving his face.

“Go ahead…” Synth answered, hoping Shade was going somewhere with this.

“Okay I will. You see, chess is based off of a real war. It demonstrates the strategy of military leaders, and it’s focused on the griffon and pony war long ago. There was a special rule included though, and it changed the game forever. Long ago, a griffon king feared that the approaching army would get him. So he devised a plan, which was so brilliant it was stupid.” Shade said and then continued a little louder.
“He dressed up his servant to look like a king, and then he wore the clothes of a peasant. He left the castle and took his troops with him. When the enemy came, they killed the fake king and didn’t realize the real king escaped. So the king gathered up his troops and killed the enemy while they were celebrating. They were too drunk to defend themselves, so the king got his revenge. When the sun rose the next day, the king felt so badly about what he did to his servant, he committed suicide. They later added a new move to the chess game. It was a risky but rewarding move that most do not use, for a reason.” Shade finished.

Synth gulped, Shade couldn’t be referring to… “You can’t mean…” Synth was about to say, and then he remembered that Shade was his enemy right now.

“Yes, you’re correct. It’s the same move I’m about to beat you with right now.” Shade said.

Synth could only watch as the Ursa Minor walked towards the left side of Shade’s board. Shade’s king piece also walked, but to the right. Synth sighed, this was it.

“Checkmate,” Shade said triumphantly.

“Good Game…” Synth said for good sportsmanship.

“What do thou mean? The rules state the king may not move more than one square. Tis Cheating!” Luna said from her spot next to Synth.

“Actually, this is that special move Shade just told you about. It’s when the king gets to move more than once. It’s called Castling,” Split said. He was smiling, but just barely.

“What?” Luna asked rhetorically. She looked over the board to see what just happened.

Every side of Synth’s king was blocked. On the left were the queen and the yellow pony. On the right were a Manticore and a Timberwolf. Forward and backwards was blocked by the Ursa Minor that was now directly in front of Synth’s king. The Castling sealed the deal to Synth’s loss.

Luna was still looking over the board as Synth walked around the board to inspect the board from every angle. If it wasn’t for the blood, it would have looked pretty cool. Miniature figures moving on their own that followed your commands. Synth noticed Split come next to him.

“Okay, I admit that I didn’t even see what Shade was planning until he told us that story,” Split said.

“Yeah me either, I was too busy trying to avoid losing my queen,” Synth said looking back at the board to see Luna was still there.

“It was a good game, but I think I should get some rest now. Even though we’re only here spiritually, I had some physical effects too,” Split said and Synth remembered how they both threw up.

“I guess I should get some sleep too, I have a big training session tomorrow,” Synth said yawning.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell the others about Shade. I can tell he’s not completely bad, but the less people that know him, the better,” Split said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Synth said and he saw Shade coming up to them.

“You fell for it, but you did get me in check a few times so I have to compliment you on that,” Shade said, his smile now normal and smaller than before.

“Thanks, but I still lost,” Synth said.

“I know, and if this was a real war, you’d be dead,” Shade said casually.

Split slowly walked away and he noticed him disappear. Synth sighed.

“You know, you can be good if you just tried. You were so close,” Synth said.

“I just wanted you to think I was good for a second, so that the rest of what I had to say would make a bigger impact. See, you have to think even when you’re not playing chess,” Shade said pointing to his head.

“Okay… well I’ll just be getting back to my sleep now…” Synth said slowly backing away. He noticed Luna who turned into smoke and disappeared.

“Just don’t forget what was said here, I think you might think about this again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to clean up…” Shade said making himself a mop and taking it to the bloodstained battlefield.

“Okay… I don’t think I could forget this place if I tried…” Synth whispered as he closed his eyes and activated his magic to disrupt the energy flow again.

Author's Notes:

... please stop reading?