Interlude 11-1
Wind howled across the deck of the ship, but it was the Servant, Assassin, that made a chill run up Rarity’s spine. Before he’d been a formless voice from the dark. Now, as he discarded his cloak into the gale, she put a face to her fear. So to speak.
Any facial features other than his mop of short purple hair were obscured by a mask. It resembled a bleached skull and was held in place by metal rings sunk deep into the flesh, possibly strait through the bone, taking dedication to accessories beyond the pale. The Servant’s clothes were light. His feet were wrapped in rags, and his leggings were loose and tied with a simple chord of rope. He wore a sleeveless longcoat which showed off his thin but muscular frame and a scarf wrapped around his neck. It struck Rarity as clothing suited to a desert, except everything was dyed black as tar. But then again, so was his skin.
Assassin offered a polite nod as he glided around the mast, ignoring the wounded Berserker. “Rider, despite my disappointment I must still offer respect. Only a few hours since you decided to take our game seriously and you manipulated two Masters, recruited one of the most dangerous Servants as an ally, left him wounded while he penned an enemy into a trap-”
“And I got you to come out into the open. Not exactly your favored ground,” Rider interrupted, keeping her pistols locked on target as she smirked.
Assassin tilted his head at that comment. “Interesting. I saw two Masters in the open, one of their protectors wounded, and assumed your overzealous pursuit of Saber had created an opportunity to strike. Was this only an elaborate ruse to lure me out?”
“Well… no. I didn’t know Berserker’s identity, so I didn’t know his Noble Phantasm would injure him. But I did want to get you to stop skulking in the shadows as soon as possible after our discussion. Usually if I make a big enough splash things end up going my way.”
The sound of snickering filled Rarity’s ears, and it soon bloomed into resounding laughter. Assassin doubled over, slapping his knee at Rider’s words. “I owe you an apology Rider! My disappointment was not warranted. In you, the Grail has provided the perfect opponent for this simple teacher. God is good.”
Berserker’s labored breathing and moans of pain went silent. “God is good, you say? I know that blessing…” Steel joints groaned with outrage as the Black Knight forced himself to his feet. He shoved Trixie out of his way and stalked toward Assassin, taking step after agonizing step heedless of his wound.
“Saracen. SARACEN! My king, do you see this? Across worlds and history, a hero born from our ancient enemy reveals himself! My oath to you, my king… THIS TIME I WON’T FAIL! THIS TIME I’LL-“
Assassin did not turn his eyes from Rider, but his arm shot backwards at an impossible angle with impossible speed. The appendage looked boneless as it bent in three places to slip through Berserker’s guard. Fingers cleaved strait through Berserker’s breastplate at the thickest point, and blood oozed out around them, a slow drip of red highlighting black-on-black.
Berserker stopped cold, and then Assassin said a single word: “Zabaniya!”
Berserker’s scream echoed through the Everfree Forest. He fell to his knees, and his arms shot back as if trying to pull free from his torso. Blood spurted like a geyser from the holes in his chest as he stumbled back from Assassin’s hand, and even more started to ooze from between his armor plates. He lost all control of his body, falling to the deck of the ship and seizing, crimson pooling around him like a lake. Rarity could only stare in shock until he collapsed.
“Berserker!” Trixie rushed to her Servant’s side, trying to rouse him by shaking him and calling him insulting names. She paid no heed as red soaked into her coat, her tail, even the hem of her cape.
Assassin’s lack of reaction made it clear Berserker was never a threat. His only care for his victim came in the form of an off-handed comment. “He survived. Battle Continuation, perhaps? Miscalculation.”
Rider whispered instructions to Rarity, her smile never leaving her lips. “Madam, if you jump the railing to port, you’ll find a longboat waiting for you. Take Trixie along.”
Rarity managed to keep her voice from shaking as she answered, “I can’t just leave you here with that thing! And what about Twilight?”
“We have to forget about Twilight for the moment. Saber and Berserker’s army will fight it out, hopefully they can take him without our help. But I can’t face Assassin with you here. He is a Servant specialized in the murder of Masters. If he gets past my guard for even a moment, he’ll slaughter you both.”
Rarity swallowed a lump in her throat. There was no arguing with that. “Can you defeat him, Rider?”
It seemed impossible, but her smirk actually grew wider. “My dear, just who the hell do you think you’re asking?”
Despite herself, Rarity smirked back. Then she screamed as loud as she could, “TRIXIE! JUMP LEFT! NOW!”
Rider discharged both her pistols the moment her Master moved. Rarity didn’t look to see if they hit their mark, but two more shots rang out as she jumped over the rail hundreds of feet above the ground… and fell safely into the waiting boat. She breathed a sigh of relief, but it was cut short when she was rocked by the landing of a familiar metal bulk. Trixie arrived a moment later, and the tiny vessel began to move away from Rider’s flagship.
“What are you doing? Why didn’t you have him return to his spirit form instead of tossing him in here?” Rarity demanded.
Trixie bristled at the question. “He can’t, you idiot! He’s unconscious! Trixie couldn’t leave him for that boneface to deliver the coop day grass!”
“First off, it’s coup-de-grace. Secondly, you could have been killed rescuing that maniac! You should have just forced him back into spirit form with a Command Spell if you were that desperate.”
“O… obviously the Great and Powerful Trixie has a more refined sense of strategy than you. Command Spells are priceless resources! Such a small risk to preserve one would be well worth it to any REAL competitor!” She shut her eyes and pointed her snout in the air, a gesture of contempt Rarity vowed to never allow herself to use again.
Rarity turned back to Rider’s ship. A cloud of gun smoke obscured the duel, but she still heard intermittent shots. She wondered how Rider was faring until the cloud reflected a flash of violet light, reminding her there was another battle raging.
Above the eerie host summoned by Berserker, Rarity saw a familiar figure on the roof of the tallest tower. That figure sent another flash, a beam of arcane energy, slicing downward into the mass of spiritual soldiers. It carved into them like a knife, blasting many into nothingness.
Rarity jerked the longboat’s rudder. As she hoped, the craft responded and changed its course. Trixie demanded an explanation, and Rarity gave one. “We can still do what we came here to do! We’re going to save Twilight, no matter what it takes!”
Interlude Out
***
An endless sea of sub-humanity filled the castle courtyard. The ghostly army was all tattered cloaks and rusty blades, any semblance of glory long since faded. Their flesh was pale and rotting on their bones, and their dead eyes and slack jaws were at odds with the purpose driving their limbs.
The courtyard of the castle was full of them. Only a small spot of ground was untouched by the dead, a spot where any spirit who appeared perished in an instant. The army of Oliphant mindlessly rushed into that breach again and again. They ignored the fallen just as they ignored the flash of tempered bronze.
Saber sliced through spectral metal and flesh as if they were nothing, ending wave after wave of soldiers. Each spirit he brought down vanished in a cloud of ashes, never so much as touching him. The gulf of power between a mere wraith and a Heroic Spirit was obvious. Saber’s blade sang through the battle lines, striking heads from shoulders, digging deep into bellies, piercing hearts and brains… yet they pressed forward, heedless of the danger, and in doing so became a force to be feared even by a hero.
Saber’s sword could not be in every place at once. Through sheer attrition Berserker’s troops caught him off guard. A dagger swept near his eye, a club aimed for his ribs, hands tried to grasp his wrists, and he avoided them all. But his defensive efforts left him open. When his blade was locked in mid-parry with three blades aimed for his heart, three more struck at his back. Nothing could escape such an attack.
But Saber spun free without as much as a scrape! He broke through the line, took new ground and cleared it of enemies with one mighty cleave, restarting the flow of battle from square one. Regardless of numbers, regardless of tactics, they could not pin him down. From her previous analysis, Twilight knew this was one of his Personal Skills. Disengage: The ability to break free of any combat, no matter how intense, and escape to safety. It was a useful talent for a man facing an army.
From her perch on the top of the tallest tower, Twilight Sparkle watched her Servant fight. He moved through the creatures inch by inch, dodging and carving and disengaging. The whole mass of evil flowed like water, parting before him and flowing back in his wake. He rode the wave of ghostly soldiers like one of the great ships surrounding the castle would have ridden a squall, always a moment from destruction but glorious in its element.
Twilight felt like she should be awestruck, but all she could do was worry. She knew Saber was a shadow of his full strength. She’d seen him move much faster on fresh legs, seen his sword a hundred times more elegant in his proper hand. Only the enemy’s weakness was keeping him alive, and as he expended more and more energy the gap in power would inevitably close. But then, that was why she was up there.
Saber’s plan was simple enough. The ghosts were brainless, able only to single-mindedly pursue their target. If Saber went below and fought them directly, Twilight would be completely safe, and his Geras Apthiton would make him effectively invincible against such weak opponents. But in his current state any progress in thinning their numbers would be slow. It could take days to defeat them all. Twilight's magical energy would be required to maintain a Noble Phantasm for so long, and even a Master like her would eventually run out, leaving Saber to vanish into nothingness.
However, if he limited himself to basic melee, with no Noble Phantasms or mana intensive skills, he could rely his own mana reserve through the battle. Twilight could then use all her magical energy for attacking, and with the power at her disposal eliminate dozens with every blast. He would line up the horde like an undead shooting gallery, and Twilight would mow them down en masse.
There were risks. He would be exposed to Rider, Berserker and the guns of the ships without his Noble Phantasm’s protection. But if they stayed hidden they would simply be found and overrun.
As Saber had explained his idea, Twilight remembered her vision of Hector’s betrayal, of trust on the battlefield leading to his demise. She couldn’t help but ask the question. “Can you trust me to help?”
Saber’s reply had been simple, and offered with a smile. “I chose to help prepare you for battle. Now I choose to trust that you are ready. Regardless of outcome, I won’t regret my choices.” He’d paused for about half a second, and then added “I hope you can say the same.”
Twilight’s beam scorched the air. The scent of ozone was dizzying, and the strain of another massive spell made her legs weak. Dozens of ghosts were destroyed by the light. The spot she’d cleared was refilled before her next blast was ready.
She was trying to empty the ocean a spoonful at a time. But progress was progress, and she estimated she was taking out around fifty for every one of Saber's. All she had to do was hold out and the plan WOULD work.
She fired again, and more ghosts disappeared. She’d already used more magic blasting than she’d used to summon Saber, defeat the Ursa Minor, and duel against the Alicorn Amulet combined. But Twilight couldn’t think about that. She refused to dwell on the paltry risk of her overuse of magic. Compared to Saber’s risk, it was nothing.
Twilight attacked, and felt one of her knees give out. She felt awful. Every muscle burned, her skin was so hot she wished she could take it off. The night wind did nothing to cool her, and she wasn’t sure if it was because the magic was shielding her from it, or making her entire body go numb. But she had to keep fighting. She had to help Saber. He’d trusted her, and he was the only one she could trust.
“TWILIGHT!”
Turning around was agony, but she had to confirm she wasn’t imagining it. To her dismay, the voice was real. “Rarity.”
Her friend looked almost angelic on the far side of the tower. Her face was all concern and love, her pure white coat reflected the moonlight, and the summer wind flowed elegantly through her mane and tail. In spite of everything, seeing Rarity made her feel happy. The pain and fear didn’t seem so bad when her friend was standing right there in front of her.
But her head knew better. You can’t afford to waste time on this, you have a battle to fight, her head told her. Don’t think about your friendship, don’t think about your feelings. Solve the problem.
“Oh Twilight, darling, you look awful. I…” She took a step forward, and Twilight lowered her head and scrapped the ground with her hoof. Rarity was… she wouldn’t think ‘an enemy.’ But she accepted ‘a danger.’ Fire wasn’t malicious either.
Rarity froze, but she kept talking. “Twilight, please. You have to know we’re not here to hurt you. We only want you to be safe. If Saber is gone you won’t have to worry about the Grail War anymore!”
The ‘we,’ caught Twilights ear, and she peeked over Rarity’s shoulder. Behind her was a boat of all things, and in that boat was Trixie… and Berserker! Rarity saw where her eyes went, and started to shout “Wait, you don’t-“
Twilight turned and rushed toward the edge of the tower. There were several lower roofs she could jump to safely. From there, she would teleport inside the castle and… suddenly she lost all equilibrium. She’d been suspended about a foot off the ground by a too-familiar glow.
She looked back over her shoulder. Rarity’s horn was lit, her levitation spell forcibly preventing Twilight’s escape. Her face looked like she couldn’t believe she’d done it. “Twilight, I…”
“Not smart.”
***
Interlude 11-2
Six shots. Eight shots. Ten shots. Rider pulled more and more flintlocks from nothing and discarded them just as quickly. The powder smoke was dense, but no impediment to her eyes. She could see that every shot was on its mark. She could also see every projectile stop dead in its path and hover around her target.
"That's no Magecraft. Telekinesis isn’t a common gift. You must be proud." She kept her voice taunting and mirthful.
Assassin laughed and let the lead balls fall. “I was worried blocking firearms would be more difficult. Their shots are small and quick.”
"Still, one can't help but wonder just how robust that ability is."
"Feel free to test me."
Rider surged forward, two fresh guns in hand. She unloaded both barrels, and both bullets stuck in the air. She threw one empty gun, aiming to crack Assassin's skull, but he swatted the improvised projectile away and met her charge with a curved dagger.
Rider flipped the second empty gun and swung it like a truncheon, clashing wood against iron. A new weapon appeared in her free hand, a boot knife, and she thrust for Assassin's throat. Her opponent caught the blade using a hidden weapon of his own, something between a brass knuckle and an animal's claw that easily trapped it.
They stood deadlocked for a moment, and Assassin tilted his head. "You're not very strong, are you? Saber or Lancer would have tossed me like a child's toy if I locked arms with them."
Rider smirked, hiding the strain as she tried to break through his grip. "Well, officers try to avoid manual labor. But who needs strength when you can just fight dirty?"
She lashed out with her boot and swept Assassin's leg, throwing him off-balance. She ripped the dagger from his hand, tossing away her empty flintlock so that it could be replaced with one loaded and primed. Assassin's masked face and empty eyes betrayed nothing, but Rider knew she had him.
The problem was Assassin's reflexes were too honed. He controlled his stumbling, changing his stance to regain balance. But she was too close, and had anticipated his recovery. At the moment he found his footing and reached for another knife, Rider was there. Her gun barrel pressed against his temple.
"Cheers." She fired. His arms went limp.
Rider clicked her tongue in annoyance. "That's hardly fair." Pulling back her gun, she was treated to the sight of a musketball snuggled up against Assassin's skin.
"If it makes you feel better, that took a considerable effort." His voice sounded strained, and this close she noticed excess sweat coating his body. "It's unfortunate I won't get to see your next tactic."
Assassin's arm struck and his fingers easily pierced her coat, digging into her abdomen. Rider coughed and felt a trickle of blood escape her lips. "Zabaniya!"
Rider dropped her weapons to the deck. She stared at Assassin's face and wondered what that mask was hiding. She breathed in the scent of black powder as the cloud around the deck dispersed. Time passed.
Cautiously, Assassin withdrew his hand, leaving a few shallow wounds to stain Rider's jacket. He stepped back, his body language radiating uncertainty.
"So, about that next tactic..." Rider grinned her nastiest grin as the last vestige of smoke vanished and two ships rose up on either side of the deck.
Cannon ports opened along both hulls, and a dozen culverins braced up on the boards. They sighted on the boarder who had been so brazen as to sneak onto their admiral's flagship. Rider raised her hand into the air. "Do you think these will be as easy to stop as the pistol shot?"
"Miscalculation..." Assassin ran for the ship's bow, turning his back on his target. Rider dropped her hand and the two ships opened fire, their round shot whistling as it lanced through the air.
Assassin dived right through the storm of metal, keeping as low as he could at full sprint and dodging wildly. His agility served him well, and ball after ball missed it's mark, hitting nothing but the ship on the opposite side.
Growing irritated by the inept aim, Rider snapped her fingers and a trio of black and gold cannons appeared around her head along with two fresh pistols. She took aim on the fleeing shadow. "Watch a real marksman, you cross-eyed deck apes!"
She squeezed both triggers and all three cannons unleashed hell. Assassin had just reached the bow, and with one fluid motion he jumped off, turned in mid-air and raised his hands. As one, the three iron balls came to an instant halt. But just before gravity took hold the two smaller projectiles zipped past their frozen brothers and sunk deep into their target's chest. He cried out as he fell from sight.
Rider rushed onto the prow with two new guns and aimed down at the trees, but Assassin had vanished. She sighed in annoyance, then suddenly remembered the pain of her wounded belly, wincing and letting out a groan.
She addressed the empty ship. "Leftenant, you have the deck. I'll be in sickbay. This wound needs to be medicated immediately. Heavily medicated."
Interlude Out
***
“Not smart.”
A simple surge of magic, and Twilight’s counterspell negated Rarity’s levitation. Then she went on offense, sending a wave of magic through the air. Rarity couldn’t react, and a simple Push spell struck her. It was just enough force to knock her off her hooves, no worse than she'd experienced from Pinkie Pie’s flying hugs. Still, the pained sound she made on impact made Twilight hate herself.
Undeterred by her emotions, she cast the spell again. She had to make sure Rarity wouldn’t block her escape, and another little nudge would make sure she got the message.
But this time Rarity was ready. She dodged the spell and was back on her hooves in an instant, then conjured a rather pathetic forcefield. “You have to stop Twilight! We can talk this out!”
“If you wanted to talk maybe you shouldn’t have come bearing cannonballs!” Twilight shaped her magic into a hammer and slammed Rarity’s shield, shattering it like glass. Her friend winced in pain, and a dark part of Twilight felt good that Rarity knew a tiny part of her suffering. She sent another Push spell, knocked Rarity over again, then darted for the roof’s edge.
Just before she could jump, a bolt of magic zapped a nearby pile of rubble. It moved to surround her, then transmogrified into an elaborately designed birdcage. Giving a furious snort, Twilight turned back to Rarity, who seemed proud of her trap’s fashionable look.
Twilight pulsed out power in every direction at once, exploding the jail into particles of sand. “You need to stop right now, Rarity. This isn’t a game. You’re no match for me in magic. Let me go right now, before you force me to do something drastic!”
Rarity bit her lip, but stood firm despite Twilight’s threat. “You don’t have to run Twilight! Trixie isn’t your enemy, and Berserker isn’t even conscious! Look, this all spiraled out of control. I did want to get rid of Saber. I thought it would be better for you to be out of the fighting. But Rider manipulated us into this confrontation! I should have never agreed to it, but we wanted to help you so badly! I was just afraid you wouldn’t listen to reason. But we can work though this together! I believe in our friendship!”
Every word sounded so pure and right, and they only made Twilight angrier. The feelings she had locked away that first night in the library were boiling, thoughts she’s refused to think fighting to come out. She felt power flowing through her body, and started to prepare something far less gentle than a Push spell.
Rarity shielded her eyes from the intensity, but managed to cast a spell of her own before Twilight’s was finished. At first nothing happened, and then world became a black void.
Twilight was confused until the darkness was broken by a flash of light, and then another, and then a hundred. Camera flashes. Neon spotlights traced through the black, music began to play, and an empty stage appeared in the gloom. Twilight couldn’t help but admire her friend’s ingenuity. The last time she’d seen this spell it had been a parlor trick, but this was a serious illusion, completely enclosing the tower and confounding all her senses.
“It’s going to take more than a fashion show for you to keep me here Rarity!” Twilight shouted. She started preparing a more potent counterspell, but Rarity’s voice wafted out from nowhere.
“Twilight, let me help you! Can’t you see you’re not yourself?”
Twilight laughed bitterly. “That’s rich coming from you. You betrayed your Element of Harmony to be part of this war!” The lock on her heart was breaking. The feelings she’d hidden from herself seeped through the cracks. She hoped Rarity would stop, she didn’t want to let it out.
She rushed her magic, but her friend kept talking. “Betrayed my Element? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb! How exactly does the Element of Generosity justify taking part in a battle to the death?!”
“Ruler told me this was a game, Twilight! Until I saw what happened at the clearing I thought-“
Twilight couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “You were at the clearing?! You saw someone trying to murder me and just WATCHED?!”
“N-no! Twilight, I was the one who-“
“SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!” Twilight never finished her counterspell, her fury sending her back to using energy beams. She shot them in every direction at random, trying to blast her way free, not caring anymore for anypony’s safety, including her own. She might have kept blasting forever if her legs weren’t swept out from under her.
Rarity’s illusion faded back to the starry night sky, and Twilight found she’d been hog-tied. A rope enchanted with a periwinkle aura squeezed her ankles as the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped to Rarity’s side. Twilight prepared a spell to slice the rope to ribbons… only for a second rope to spring like a striking snake from under Trixie’s robe and wrap up her horn, snuffing her magic like a candle. Twilight was helpless.
“Twilight, Ruler lied to me! She said that Masters didn’t have to hurt each other to win! She told me I’d be like a coach or a spectator, not a combatant! And when I saw the truth in that clearing, I was the one who drove Archer away! I used one of my Command Spells to force Rider to rescue you!” Rarity showed her hoof to Twilight, once again revealing that one of the three marks of the magical brand was faded and smudged.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks you should know, Ruler fed her almost the exact same story. She said the Holy Grail War was a friendly competition, a way to prove Trixie is the most superior spellcaster in all of Equestria without doing harm. She knew Trixie still craved to prove her superiority, but also that Trixie was hesitant about anything that might cause trouble after... previous mistakes. Ruler sold the Grail War to Trixie as something no more dangerous than a contact sport. Trixie isn’t after you for some evil revenge scheme. And she’s certainly not after Fluttershy!”
It made plenty of sense. Twilight harbored many suspicions about Ruler. It was believable that Rarity and Trixie had been manipulated into joining the war, been given different information than Twilight about the war’s nature, been told whatever they needed to hear so they would summon their Servants. It was possible Twilight had jumped to conclusions assuming that Trixie was out for revenge, and she had never wanted to presume the worst about Rarity.
But the problem was she couldn’t trust a word they said, and for the first time she let herself fully contemplate why. The final barrier in her head broke down, and that unforgivable thing she’d hidden from became clear.
Magical power erupted. Rarity and Trixie were thrown off their hooves and tumbled back across the tower, coming to rest at their little boat. The ropes that had bound Twilight were gone, vaporized in an instant. Her eyes were consumed by a blank white glow as she hovered in the air, magic crackling across her body in wild arcs. The energy inside her was greater than ever before, and Twilight knew that she was exceeding her maximum. But she didn’t care.
“You’re both LIARS! You expect me to just believe whatever you tell me, but every step of the way you’ve betrayed me! Rarity brought her Servant into my home! Trixie attacked me in the woods! And then you both came here together to kill my Servant, and you want me to just take you at your WORD that it was a big misunderstanding?!”
“Twilight, I-“
“ENOUGH! You think you can just explain away everything, convince me that it was all a mistake. But you can’t hide from what you did. Berserker nearly killed Fluttershy and all her animals with those exploding rocks, and even if I believed that she wasn't the target that still makes Trixie reckless and a danger to everypony!”
She set her eyes squarely on her friend. “But you Rarity, you’re much worse than her. You committed the worst sin possible! You knew the Grail War was dangerous, you KNEW that lives were at risk! And you WILLINGLY dragged Spike right into the middle of it!”
Rarity looked like she’d taken a knife through the heart, but Twilight was just warming up. “You exploited his little crush on you and put him in deadly danger by taking him out with you to the gem fields! You saw what Archer did; you KNEW one of the teams was targeting Masters! If you’d been attacked HE would have been in the crossfire between two Servants! And for what, so you could bring home a cart full of dress decorations?!"
There it was. The accusation she’d buried, the horror she’d refused to contemplate, the ultimate betrayal. There was no ignoring it, no letting bygones be bygones. A life had hung on the balance. Spike's life. She delivered the final blow. "SPIKE COULD HAVE DIED RARITY! WERE YOU TOO CARELESS TO EVEN CONSIDER THAT? OR DID YOU JUST NOT CARE?”
Twilight hovered there, damning the two ponies before her, daring them to try and defend their actions. Neither one looked up for a long time. Then Rarity stepped forward.
“You’re right Twilight. I put Spike in life-threatening peril. Regardless of any other factors, that’s the hard truth. You have every reason to hate me for that alone. I’ve failed you as a friend.” Rarity still wasn’t looking up, but Twilight could see tears dripping down onto the cold castle stones. “All this time I wanted to help you, but I hurt you much more badly than Archer did. It’s not his fault you’re acting this way, it’s mine. I’m the one that made you afraid for your loved ones, made you lash out at everyone trying to protect them. So I’m willing to suffer whatever consequence you see fit.”
Power hummed through Twilight’s entire being. Rarity was still crying, her shoulders shaking with sobs she was fighting to keep silent. She couldn't deny it, she wanted to hurt Rarity. A primal instinct inside her screamed that her friend should face a horrible punishment for what she’d done.
Revenge was the proper course according to her instincts. Revenge would send a message to the world that her family was never to be touched. Let Trixie go and tell everypony what you did to Rarity. Let every Master and every Servant see that even a friend wasn't safe if they threatened those she cared for most. Show them all her wrath, let THEM live in fear.
But through those sick, animal thoughts, something gave her pause. Just a few simple words: Regardless of the outcome, I won’t regret my choices. I hope you can say the same.
Despite her exhaustion, for the first time in days she felt her thoughts become whole. She wasn’t suppressing anything, wasn’t bottling up part of her brain to keep painful reality out. She didn’t need to run only on instinct alone, she could allow herself to process, allow herself to see more than the simple facts. And as she did, Saber’s words repeated. I won't regret my choices. I hope you can say the same.
“Rarity… if you were going to make an excuse for yourself… what would it be?” she finally asked.
Rarity still didn’t look up, but she spoke. “When I first summoned Rider, there was a Servant watching me. A Servant named Assassin. He scared me so badly even though he left without causing trouble... but then Rider told me she was a privateer. From then on she would only fight if I paid her a fee! I went around town to every store and bought out their gems, but it wasn’t enough. Then I ripped all the gems out of my dresses, and it still wasn’t enough! The only way was to get Spike to help me dig up more.”
Twilight wasn’t impressed by Rarity's story of looking to save her own skin, but she wasn’t finished. “I told her I could get her more with Spike’s help, but she told me I didn’t have enough to pay for protection while we worked. So I told her to forget about me and just protect Spike! She said that since he's small she could give me a discount. So-”
Twilight froze. “Wait. Protect Spike? As in, only Spike?”
Rarity finally looked up, her mascara ruined by tears. “I know Twilight, it wasn’t nearly good enough! There was no guarantee Rider could keep him safe just because she wasn’t protecting me! I was so stupid! But I thought that if something happened I could at least give myself up, give Rider time to run away with him. I was so selfish to delude myself like that! I… I just couldn’t think of any other way to get the gems! I’m a horrible pony! I betrayed my Element of Harmony, just like you said!”
As Rarity flogged herself with guilt Twilight felt the overcharged magic drain out of her, leaving her empty and bone tired. Spike had still been in danger, it was true. But not only had Rarity been aware of that fact all along, she had taken enormous risks to protect him.
Even if Rider was telling the truth and she wouldn’t fight without being paid, Rarity still had the Command Spells. She could have made her Servant provide protection. By paying Rider to only protect Spike she’d willingly given up that option, surrendering her only means of defense for somepony else. On top of that, she’d been ready to give herself up for execution if it meant Spike was even the smallest bit safer.
Spike was virtually a younger brother to Twilight. She would give anything including her life for him. But she could not claim she had never once put Spike in harm’s way.
She thought back to their recent battle in the Crystal Empire, and King Sombra. There came a moment when lives were at stake but Twilight was powerless. In that moment, she’d been forced to rely on Spike, leaving him to face incalculable peril without protection. Now, with her mind clear, she asked herself the question she should have had the courage to ask days ago: Was what Rarity did so much worse?
The scenarios weren’t exactly the same, and for all his puppy love Rarity was not Spike's family, which made a big difference. But Rarity was one of her closest friends in the world, and she had made dire assumptions about her motives and feelings. If he were here now and had all the facts she did, how would Spike judge Rarity’s choices? Or for that matter, Twilight’s choices?
"How did we get here?" Twilight asked nobody in particular.
Trixie volunteered an answer. “I think we all tried to do the right thing. Maybe we should have just been smart enough to question our own decisions as much as we were questioning everpony else's.”
Twilight made a derisive noise. She tried to think of something clever or poignant to say, then gave up and pulled herself back onto her hooves. "If you'll excuse me, Saber still needs my help."
Through all the drama on that little rooftop, the turmoil of the battle below had never paused. She could feel Saber's concern through their link. He had never stopped fighting and slaying the mindless beasts, but it seemed as though their numbers had not thinned in the slightest. No matter how tired she was, she knew that they needed to keep to their original plan, and not stop until every spirit was gone even if it took all night.
She lit up her horn, selected a target... and the purple glow was joined by two shades of blue.
Rarity and Trixie stood side-by-side with Twilight, charging their own magic and taking aim. Rarity's running, stained mascara didn't stop her from giving Twilight an encouraging wink. Trixie offered a smug look and said, "Trixie WILL be keeping score Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight fought back tears of her own as she said, "On three, girls. One! Tw-"
The army vanished. No warning, no grand pyrotechnic display. They simply faded out of existence. Saber stood alone and dumbfounded in the courtyard. Before she could even be bewildered, Twilight heard a very grumpy voice mumble, "Stupid nag. Changes her whole damn mind while a man's sleeping..."
Trixie rushed to Berserker's side, asking him a dozen questions about his health and pounding on his armor angrily with her hooves. For the first time Twilight noticed that the other pony was covered in brown and red stains. "Did he just...?"
Rarity nodded. "You really can't predict a madman I suppose. By the way, unless I’m mistaking the sensation, Rider is intoxicating herself. Which means our little battle is officially over."
Twilight only had one response to that. "So... now what?"
***
Interlude 11-3
Arturia Pendragon, the Servant Ruler, stood up in a small forest clearing, stretching her legs from the meditative pose she'd held for several hours. Then she frowned. Despite everything that had transpired, Saber, Rider, Berserker and Assassin had ALL left the battle alive. It was not a welcome ending, because it meant that she would hear-
"Ooh, poor Ruler. All your little plans for naught. Or is this how you wanted things to play out? A Worthy of Chivalry must appreciate all the love and understanding and mutual respect on display. It's so sickeningly honorable."
The voice of a woman came from a tiny globe of light, which danced lazily around Riler's head. The sound was like rich, red wine. It was sour, intoxicating, and filled one with the desire to open their lips and drink in every drop. The voice of temptation itself.
Ruler put on her best glare. "Caster, I told you not to disturb me again."
"It's time for you to reconsider my request," the voice said.
"No, it isn't," Ruler replied.
"You are deluding yourself. Those three are all close friends and all distrust you. They won't fight again."
"Their Servants won't permit them to reject the war."
Caster laughed. "You know better than that. Rider doesn't care about the Grail. Berserker can't tell memory from reality. And Saber is quickly coming to care more about his Master than his wish."
Ruler crossed her arms. "Then you and the others will have to find a way to overcome all three. On your own."
The voice laughed again. "Very well then, waste time and ignore the obvious problem. It’s what you’re best at, isn’t it, King of Knights?" The light winked out and the intruder's presence vanished.
Ruler returned to her knees, thinking of happier times when she'd knelt on polished wooden floors waiting for a home-cooked breakfast. She assured herself there was no problem. Even if Rider, Berserker and Saber all ceased their participation in the war, they could not bring it to a decisive halt. She still had Command Spells she could use to force them to fight, and they still had enemies that could defeat them, even as a team. The Grail War was not in danger. She would not take sides to see her task fulfilled, especially not with Caster.
At least, not yet.
Interlude Out