Twilight sat comfortably on her throne, levitating a goblet of dark wine just within her reach. She glanced beneath her at the map of Equestria, lavender flags dotting almost all regions of interest.

She sipped the wine and declared, “Just as I planned. My opponents lie vanquished and my forces control every corner of Equestria."

But she was not alone. Opposite of her stood Rainbow Dash, her wing outstretched in defiance. She raised her hoof and yelled "I won't let you win."

Twilight gently raised her hoof to cover her mouth and smugly laughed. "You won't let me? Oh, dear Dash, you were invaluable pawn in my grand scheme. You made my victory possible to begin with.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash back-paddled without thinking. “No, you are just trying to mess with my head! Your mind games won’t work on me!”

Twilight closed her eyes and sniffed the rich aroma of her bitter drink. “It was far too easy to ignite rivalry between you and Applejack. A simple observation here, a snide remark there. And when fighting started neither was willing to stop, that is until you won.”

“Did you enjoy it, Rainbow?” Twilight asked. “Did you enjoy beating your rival?”

For a moment Rainbow Dash averted her glare. It did feel good at the time to prove her awesomness. But the feeling faded quickly, being replaced by the bitterness of the current situation.

Satisfied with reaction, Twilight continued with gloating.“And we can’t forget our darling Rarity. So trusting, so naive. She earnestly believed that our discreet alliance would protect her from you, seeing you as the bigger threat. A mistake on her part, one she won’t be repeating any time soon. All of you danced like puppets on my strings."

Twilight continued to gloat, "The hard part was getting rid of Pinkie. She was a wild card, so naturally she had to go first. I was almost stopped but in the end I prevailed before any of you were any wiser.

“And then there was Fluttershy..."

Rainbow roared, “Don’t you dare!”

Twilight casually waved her hoof. “Please, I didn’t need to do anything. She wasn’t even a player.”

Enraged, Dash flapped her wings. "That's it! You are going down right now!"

"You forget Rainbow, it is still my turn. It is my attack that will decide your fate. So say your prayers and roll your dice. It is your last stand."

Rainbow grabbed her dice with her wings. She blew on them and tossed them as hard as she could. Her heat pumping faster and faster as dice slowly lost momentum. And then they stopped. "Hah! Two fives! Beat that!"

Twilight casually rolled her dice and she received two sixes. "I win."

Rainbow Dash flipped the friendship table and stomped out. Right before she left through the door she faced Twilight and said, "Risk is a dumb game anyway."

In sweet silence, Twilight sipped her wine. "And at the end, I remain alone and victorious. For I am the princess of games."