Unforeseen Consequences - Thorax and chess

“I still don’t understand why the hay we couldn’t wait until tomorrow to do this, the bugs aren’t coming until Friday and I have to wake up early because I gotta train and then go to school”
>The moon was high up in the sky, illuminating the empty streets of the crystal empire. Its magnificent castle stood up in the distance, the air was chill, much colder than Canterlot, even when it was snowing when you left your home city.
>That said, it wasn’t THAT cold, or at least it probably isn’t since you could hear few crickets and nocturnal birds playing their song in the distance.
>”My child, you know very well that the threat of the changelings must be dealt with in the fastest way possible”
>You weren’t alone of course; your mom Luna was accompanying you while your mom Celestia stayed in Canterlot so she could come up with a plan to capture the changeling's platoon and Chrysalis.
>Not that you couldn’t do that either, really, you’re awesome, but your moms were 100% right in saying that this kind of stuff needed more experience, and boy, do they have plenty of that.
“Yeah, I get that part, what I don’t get is why my mom couldn’t simply send a letter and call it a day”
>”Because, these are important affairs that cannot be explained with written words”
“Okay, but why did I have to come?”
>”You are friends with that changeling who goes by the name of Thorax. It is your duty to explain to him the situation, he needs to understand the importance of his role without having a mental breakdown.”
>If anything, that’s the biggest reason why you didn’t protest… much about coming to the Crystal Empire at this hour. You wanted to make sure that Thorax would be fine after he hears the news… and because you wanted to see how your future niece is doing.

>Also… because you wanted to see the Crystal Heart again. You didn’t know why, but you got this sudden urge to be close to that magical artifact, and as weird and lame as it sounds, you wanted to tell it about what happened today, about your realization.
>”That’s cool, super cool, a top notch story if you ask me, but I think you missed an itty bitty detail: why did I have to come too?!”
>Oh, yeah! Eris also joined you in this improvised trip. It wasn’t because she actually wanted to come, though. A quick letter from your mom Celestia to Fluttershy was more than enough for Discord to send her in the act.
>”To put it bluntly, Miss Eris, you are the fastest method of transport in all of Equestria, we need to get back to Canterlot as soon as our meeting with Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor ends.” Your mom Luna held up her head in a regal way “My child needs to rest before his daily routine”
>”You think I’m your pack mule or something?!” Eris narrowed her eyes at your mom Luna “Lemme tell you something! You may be a princess of whatever, but I’m a spirit of chaos! I do what I want when I want, and that means I’m…”
>”Going to deal with my older sister’s wrath if you keep on with this childish tantrum” Your mom gave Eris a gentle smile “And I am fairly sure that you do not want for that to happen again, am I wrong, Miss Eris?”
>Yeah, when Eris got teleported into the castle and was told about her new “assignment” she wasn’t exactly happy with that. Eris tried to use her chaos magic on your mom Celestia and … that didn’t go too well for her.
>Eris’s eyes became wide open, then, she looked away and crossed her arms “Whatever, it’s not like I had anything fun planned for tonight anyway, not when that purple princess is staying with the other crazy laser mare, seriously, what’s up with her? I knew she was good but... geez, the things she did, it was like that mare knew everything I was gonna throw at her”

>Thanks to the brief period when she got chaos magic, your mom Celestia now can predict every single move that the draconequuses will make and react accordingly to that. It would be scary if it wasn’t so awesome!
>You have to admit something else… Eris’ reaction by your mom’s new ability is something that you will laugh until you grow as old her.
>”That is Celie for you” Your mom shrugged “One of my older sister’s biggest strengths is the fact that while she is a harmonious soul, Celie has had an element of unpredictability since she was a filly” She then gently stroke your mane “My child here can testify for that”
“I… kinda… getting to know my mom when she was a filly surely was… eh, how do I put it? It was something else and let’s leave it like that”
>”Oh, yeaaah! My old man kind of told me about that whole thing, but you guys know how he can be; my daddy-o always misses the juicy parts, so…” Eris chuckled as she gave you an almost malicious smirk “why don’t you fill the gaps for him, eh dork?”
“Eh… I rather not…”
>Eris hovered to where you were and started to coil around you ”But why not? Did something big happen? Something that maaaayyybe you messed up?”
“S-Shut up! Nothing happened alright?! Y-you are just making up things!”
>”Oh, really? Now that’s something!” Eris giggled and pinched your cheek “IF what you’re saying is the truth, then pray tell, my little dork, why would you be blushing as hard as you are right now? Eh, lover boy?”
>You flinched when Eris called you by that name and stopped dead in your tracks. Then you looked at your mom with puppy eyes and pleaded for her help.
“Moooom! Eris is bothering me!”
>Your hopes of your mom shutting Eris up were shattered when you saw her laughing “I can see that, my child and…” she snickered “Oh! I must apologize, my child, I am not laughing at you, it is just…”

>Your mom burst into laughter again and after she took a deep breath to calm herself down, she finally spoke again “Woo! I was running out of air back there!”
“Yeah…”
>You grumbled and gave your mom an annoyed look
“Really funny from you mom”
>”Oh, my child, I swear, sometimes you make me feel as if I was dealing with another Celie” Your mom gave you a gentle smile “As I said, my laughter wasn’t directed at you, I simply found the whole situation to be adorable”
“M-Mom! I’m not adorable! I’m…”
>You teleported away from Eris’ embrace and appeared in front of your mom. You raised your leg up to a bend and put up a cocky pose.
“I’m absolutely awesome!”
>”You mean WE are awesome” Eris intervened as she held you in her arms and nudged your mane “Dontcha forget about your big sis when you say stuff like that”
“Oh, yeah! Sure, Eris, I’ll concede you that you’re pretty good too… just not as good as me”
>”In your dreams, dork!” Eris nudged your mane a bit harder “You still have a long, long, looooooong way to go if ya want to be as cool as…” A couple of shades appeared on her along with a black leather jacket “Eris!” she said with a cool grin
>You gave her a little smirk as you rolled your eyes
“Really? Because I thought… Jolly! Is that my mom Celestia that I see over there?!”
>”What?!” Eris’ outfit held you tighter as she looked nervously at every direction “D-Don’t try anything funny on me you crazy laser mare! I have a dork and I ain’t afraid of using him as a pony shield!”
>You started laughing and reached your hoof towards Eris’ face, booping her muzzle with it
“…Gotcha”
>Eris groaned and narrowed her eyes at you, but she quickly forgot about that when your mom Luna started to laugh again.
>You tilted your head in confusion and finally decided to ask
“Mom, it’s not that I don’t like to see you laughing, because trust me, seeing you happy it’s one of those things that I love the most, but… y’know, I gotta ask… why are you laughing so much?”

>”Because…” Your mom giggled as she walked past you and Eris “You two made me remember how Celie and I used to be when we were fillies, well…” She shrugged “After the events of today, I suppose that there is no need to go into details about our youth, isn’t that right, mmm, how did my filly version like to call you? Ah! Now I remember! Mister Goggles Colt!”
“Heh… not gonna lie to you Mom, I actually liked that nickname...unlike lover boy… Oh! Speaking of your filly version, what did you think of Cherrywood? She’s pretty awesome, right?”
>”Huh… so my old man was saying the truth about that whole thing… geez, should have joined him on this one” Eris shrugged “Oh, well! Guess he’s not as senile as I thought”
>”You really did miss some fun moments, and that includes the part when my my older sister in her filly form found herself unable to resist the charms of my child” Your mom chuckled “As for me… I am sorry, my little star, but you are not my type. I’m sure that we would have been best friends though”
“Wha-? Mooooooom!”
>”Ooooh!” Eris raised her eyebrows and gave you a playful smile “So the dork’s cuteness finally backfired! Pffft! Hahahaha! Really?! Tell me more!”
>You let out a groan of frustration… dang, Eris wasn’t going to stop until you told her, was she?
“Fiiiiiiiine!”
>You took a deep breath and started to retell the adventure
“You see Eris, after trying some weird and ancient spell, my moms got transformed into fillies and their memories about their adult lives were completely wiped, then… the young version of my mom Celestia got the hots for me… which was weird, then Discord got involved and somehow made the situation even worse
>”Of course he did…” Eris rolled her eyes

“B-but! He just did it because he wanted to teach me a lesson, and I did learn it! I mean there even was a psychedelic light show after I realized what the lesson was! Then stuff went back to normal. There, you happy?”
>”Nope!” Eris shook her head
“Aw come on! What else do you want?!”
>”I want to know all the juicy details, what did the filly crazy laser mane did? What did YOU do when that happened? How did the little dudette take that whole mess? C’mon dork! tell your sister Eris E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!”
>”That is more or less how things occurred, true, my child omitted a few details, like my younger self, making friends with the little Cherrywood and that is where I answer your question, my child”
>Your mom gave you a smile “I was enamored by her personality, and the fact that somepony like her is your special somepony makes my heart sing in joy” Your mom Luna giggled “I already can’t wait for the wedding”
“T-the wedding? Mom, d-don’t you think that you’re thinking too far ahead? I-I mean, we are too young and… ahm… we have had only one date and…”
>”You already had a date?!” Your mom Luna gasped “My child, why did you never mention that?”
“W-Well, it happened a couple days ago, when you were out doing your royal business in kicking flanks, and…”
>”And it was my ideaaaa~!” Eris interrupted you with a sing-songy tone “I could tell ya everything if you want…and Dontcha worry, unlike the dork here” Eris held you a bit tighter “I will tell ya everythiiiiing~!”
>”That would be spectacular! I want to hear every single detail about my little star’s first date!” Your mom quickly stomped her hooves on the ground “Eeeeee! Once our meeting with Cadence it’s over, what do you say if you tell us everything over a delicious cup of tea?”
>”I’m more of a coffee girl but…” Eris shrugged “Sure! I bet Candy-Candy will love to hear my little story again!”

>”We have a deal then!” Your mom Luna nodded as she gave a big, big smile to Eris
>After that, it didn’t take long for the three to reach the castle grounds. Sadly, just like the last time, you didn’t have any time to inspect the crystal heart thanks to Eris holding you the entire time, but that odd feeling of warm and attachment towards the heart was still there.
>No guard stopped you from entering the castle; they simply saluted your mom and told you that Cadence and Shining Armor were waiting for your group in their throne room, and yeah… they glanced at Eris with bubbly eyes.
>When you arrived at the throne room, you saw Cadence resting on her throne while Shining Armor and Thorax who was in his colt form were playing a game of chess on the far right end of the throne room.
>”Good evening, Princess Cadence” Your mom spoke in a formal tone as she took a step forward “I’m deeply sorry for disturbing you at this hour, I fully realize how tired you must be thanks to your duties as the ruler of the Crystal Empire, but there are important matters that cannot be put aside for a different time.”
>”Auntie Luna, please” Cadence let out a small laughter as she waved her hoof “You don’t need to be so formal with me, really, you’re not bothering anypony. I’m really happy that you decided to drop by, especially when you brought my favorite cousin and draconequus with you”
>Cadence smiled at you and Eris as she happily waved her hoof “Hi guys! Good to see you again!”
“Hi, Cadence! How are my best cousin and my soon-to-be-born favorite niece doing?”
>”…Nephew…”You heard Shining Armor murmuring to himself, neither you nor Cadence cared to correct him, all of those bets that he will invariably lose will do that job in a much effective way than you ever could.

>”Oh, we have been doing great!” Cadence waved her hoof dismissively “Thorax has kept us and everypony he’s met entertained with all the whacky stories he tells… hng…” Cadence flinched for a moment and rubbed her belly “There, there, my little baby, your uncle Anon is here” She then looked at you with a tender smile “She gets all excited when you’re around, must be all that love that you carry”
>”Cadence, I must beg you to pardon my attitude but I have to admit” Your mom finally broke her regal attitude and excitedly stomped her hooves on the ground “I cannot wait to meet your baby!”
>”Yeah, we’re in the same boat here…” Cadence looked at her belly with a motherly smile “She’s supposed to be born this week or the next one, hope all of you can be here to meet her… and that goes for you too Eri-Eri, I just know that my daughter will find a friend in you just like I have”
>”And I just know that she will be as good lookin’ as her cutie-pie mom” Eris gently placed you on the floor and hovered to Cadence ”Wassup Candy-Candy, I see that you went with that double diamond tiara that I told ya. Gotta say, it really goes perfectly with your mane”
>”I know, right! Thanks for the tip Eri-Eri, tomorrow I will try that mane-style that you told me about!” Cadence clapped her hooves together before shooting a glare at Shining Armor “It’s good that at least somepony noticed it”
>”Err…” Shining Armor instantly dropped his game, looked at every direction and chuckled nervously “I-I did notice, it’s just that… eh… I got busy with some stuff and…” he dropped his head and sighed “Sorry, that was a lie and I was being a jerk… you really do look great, Cadence. You always do”
>”Awwww!” Cadence was instantly won over by those words “I was just being silly! I could never be mad at you, my knight in shining armor”

>”And I could never stop loving you, my Candy-Kisses…” Shining Armor walked at Cadence and gave her a tender kiss. Then, he turned to you and rubbed the back of his neck “Oh yeah… sorry for not greeting ya. Good evening, Princess Luna” He saluted your mom “And hiya there little bro, good to have you back”
“Thanks, bro! Eh… sorry for bothering you this late, I know how busy you are and that all of you probably want to hit the sack but… uh… Mom? Why don’t you take it from here?”
>Your mom Luna nodded “Thanks for the cordial welcome, I wish that this meeting could be under different circumstances” She then placed her hoof on her forehead and sighed “Sadly, and as you may already know, we have important subjects to discuss, subjects that relate to him” Your mom pointed to Thorax who was deeply concentrated in his game of chess
>”Yeah, we got my Auntie Celestia’s letter… and I admit that I never expected to hear news about the changelings, at least not this soon” Cadence dropped her ears in disappointed, then she turned to Thorax “What do you say Thorax, are you ready to hear what my auntie and my cousin has to say about your kin?”
>Thorax didn’t respond to Cadence’s question. The guy’s attention was entirely on the chess board. Cadence tilted her head “Uh… Thorax?”
>”Heh” Shining Armor rolled his eyes and gently shook his head “Seems like the little guy is too busy trying to deal with my perfect game…” he shrugged “Can’t blame the dude, I’m the captain of the guard after all, the stuff I know about strategies is too much for someponies”
>That comment did make you and your mom Luna to raise an eyebrow. Your mom then got closer to you and whispered into your ear “Just for this occasion, my child, I will not complain if you show Captain Armor your… colorful personality. That is to say, go there and make your mother proud”

>A cocky grin started to appear on your face as you whispered back to her
“Don’t worry mom, I won’t let you down”
>You turned to Shining Armor and with an arrogance look on your face, you decided to help your friend to win this match.
“Oh really, mate? Then I guess that you won’t mind if I give some advice to Thorax there”
>”Pfft!” Shining Armor waved his hoof dismissively “I mean, you can try, but I’m telling ya this because I like you, don’t get your hopes too high, little bro”
>Actually, and despite Shining Armor’s borderline annoying over-confidence, you were excited about trying your skills in chess against his.
>Shining Armor IS the captain of the crystal guard and used to have the same position with the royal guard. That meant that he must be a military genius, and the prospect to see what kind of strategies Shining Armor used was something that sent chills down your spine, and mate, these were the good kind of chills.
>Of course, you didn’t want him to get the slightest idea about how you were truly feeling, so you hid your excitement behind a cocky grin
“Then, since I already have your permission, I’ll go and help my friend.”
>”Anon, maybe…” Cadence tried to intervene but was stopped by Eris who murmured something into her ear, making Cadence giggle and drop any attempt to stop you.
>Eris motioned your mom to come closer, then, she traced a circle with her paw, making a bunch of candies and popcorn to appear for the three gals who were now watching you closely, waiting to see what you were going to do.
>You walked to Thorax and if anything, you have to admit that the guy at the very least was clearly doing his best to win the match.
>You even found funny that despite the fact that you were now right behind him, Thorax didn’t seem to notice your presence. You gently rolled your eyes, leaned forward and looked at the chessboard.

>It didn’t take you more than a simple glance to realize a disappointing truth… both Shining Armor and Thorax sucked at chess, like, they sucked hard. You lamented the fact that this wasn’t an official match; otherwise, you were sure that you could set the record for the fastest victory in chess.
>Seriously, words aren’t enough to describe how lame Shining Armor’s game was. Oh, well, you can always play with your mom Celestia.
>You shook your head and whispered into your friend’s ear
“Thorax, if you want to win this match, you just need to follow my instructions. Move the Rook all the way to his side of the board and take his knight down”
>”But Anon, if I do that, then my bishop will be… wait a minute…” Thorax quickly turned to you, his eyes were beaming with joy “Anon?!”
>You nodded
“The one and only, my man! Now, I couldn’t help but to notice that you’re having trouble with this game of chess, so I decided to help you out…”
>You pointed at the board
“Now, I know that this move would look risky at first, but you do trust me, right?”
> Thorax nodded frantically ”O-Of course I trust you! You’re my best friend!”
“Then please, do the move I just told you. I assure you, my man, this is the only way for you to achieve victory”
>”Okay…” Thorax nodded again and moved the chess piece like you told him
>Shining Armor approached the board and let out a chuckle ”Alright, then I’ll just do…” His horn lit up and using his magic, Shining Amor moved one of his front row pawns, taking out Thorax’s Rook “This! Hah! Should have thought your move a little better, little bro!”
>The fact that Shining Armor fell into your obvious set up would be actually comical if it wasn’t so sad. Really, what you did was simply a low-tier bait.
>”Anon?” Thorax asked you with a fearful voice “H-He took our rook and our defense with it! w-what do we do now?”

“We win. Thorax, move your Knight and take down that bishop”
>”O-Okay!” Thorax followed your instruction and then looked at you “N-Now what?”
>”I take down your knight!” Shining Armor quickly moved his Queen to the center of the board and took down your poor knight, poor guy, he’ll be missed “C’mon little bro! I know you can do better”
>You didn’t answer or even looked at him since your disappointment in his ability with chess somehow achieved a new low. Instead, you calmly gave Thorax a new instruction
“Thorax, my man, he already lost, move your own bishop, here…”
>When you pointed at a tile on the board, Thorax immediately moved the piece there and took down one of the front row pawns.
“Good, now we put Shining on check AND limited all his options”
>”What?!” Shining Armor quickly shook his head and moved his King out of danger “T-There, now everything should be fine”
>You shook your head and readjusted your little glasses
“Not even in your wildest dreams, Thorax would you be so kind as to move your Queen to this tile?”
>”S-Sure” Thorax nodded “Yeah…” He rubbed his chin and then looked at you with a surprised expression “Anon, am I wrong in thinking that we won?”
>You nodded
“Nope”
>You turned to Shining Armor and gave him a little smirk
“You just got a check and mate… mate”
>”Impossible…none of my buddies has ever beaten me in chess, not even Flash… I… I want a rematch!” Shining Armor quickly replied, clearly humiliated by his defeat
>Hmmm, you have to admit that you would simply love to crush his friends in chess too if anything to have some easy practice before you try your luck with your mom Celestia again.
>Sadly, you had more important things to do.
“Well mate, if there’s time and if my mom allows me, maybe I can teach you later how a real chess strategy looks like, but now if you excuse me.”
>You looked at your mom and Cadence

“Do you mind if I take Thorax with me? I want to explain him the situation in private”
>Your mom and Cadence looked at each other and then at you. “Take all the time you need, my child. If you need anything, I will be here explaining everything to Cadence and Captain Armor”
>”And don’t worry dork, if buggy here gets a little whacky” Eris narrowed her eyes at Thorad and hit her paw with her talons “I’ll know it”
“Thanks, mom and…uhh… thanks, Eris? I mean, it’s Thorax we’re talking about, everything will be fine, so don’t worry”
>”Yeah…” Eris gave Thorax an “I’m watching you” look “It better be fine”
>You turned to your friend and motioned him to follow you out of the throne room which he quickly did thanks to Eris’ threatening glares…
>As you walked out of the room, you shook your head and sighed.
“Alright, Thorax…”
>After you exited the throne room and closed the doors behind you, you saw your friend patiently waiting for you, holding a big smile on his face. “Hey Anon, I know that you have something important to tell me, but… I-I forgot to tell you something back there, and is very important too! I… think so at least”
“Then, Thorax my man, I’m all ears”
>”Alright! I’m sure you are going to love this!” Thorax quickly nodded and a blue flame engulfed him, revealing his changeling form, and... Sweet heavens! “TA-DA!” Thorax said with excitement as he gave you a joyful smile “What do you think, Anon? Uh… Anon? You alright?”
“I…I don’t know what to say…”
>You truly didn’t, what you saw right in front of you was Thorax the changeling, but unlike the rest of his kin, he didn’t have holes in his legs anymore and his wings were all sparkly. Heck, maybe your eyes were tricking you, but you swore that Thorax was shining with a subtle light.
>What the hay happened during the day you didn’t see him?!