A biomechanical being once said this, "You haven't truly lived until you have seen the world through the eyes of madness."
When you think of a person who for a better term is mentally insane, the first thing that may come to mind is someone in a straight jacket, who is laughing maniacally or spouting gibberish that makes no sense. And you would be right.
But just like how some words can have different definitions, there are other ways of defining insanity.
The Berserker class of Heroic Spirits are mad warriors and spirits of rage. Individuals who for the most part have lost almost all traces of their sanity in exchange for great power. The Cult of Chaos and the Cult of Discord (Or Discordian Cult for clarity) both include members who have questionable logic and even more questionable minds. But for the most part few of them would have members whose insanity can match the description of the Berserker class.
Currently two individuals were about to fight: Twilight Sparkle, apprentice of Nonsense and arguably the most powerful Chaos Sorcerer under Celestia's sun. And Sir Lancelot of the Lake, a Knight of the Round Table who served under King Arthur and esteemed as the greatest Knight to serve his king.
Twilight would fall under the description of "Chaotic Mad", someone who's insanity can be described as weird logic, questionable ideas and dialogue, and tendency to do crazy things. Lancelot's insanity stems from his greatest failure in life, being unable to save his king, so he fell into despair and escape through madness. Thus, when he became a Heroic Spirit, he met the qualifications to be summoned as a Berserker, and his alignment is called "Lawful Mad".
And now we shall see which one can best the other.
Inquisitor Trixie felt like she shouldn’t be surprised when she learned that once again Twilight wasn’t in her room again. The last time this happened it was paramount that they found her due to the wandering Discordian Cultists that were in Canterlot at the time, but Twilight had taken care of them herself. That being said she liked knowing where Twilight was so that she couldn’t get into anything that they may be cleaning up for a week.
“Trixie, you're getting frustrated again.”
It was times like these that she cursed Dot’s ability to sense emotions. The changeling had been trying to reign in her more unhinged traits, such as speaking in third person, but she did not need him to point out the obvious things.
“Of course I am frustrated! As if the attack on the castle and Princess Celestia wasn’t enough, a human somehow managed to get into the throne room and sit on Celestia’s throne!”
Dot knew what she was talking about. Just this morning, High Inquisitor Fervent informed the Inquisition of how a human in golden armor sat on Celestia's throne and told her off. Needless to say, an order was issued to find and bring this human to justice for his disrespect. Surprisingly, Fervent made it clear that he wanted him alive.
“Probably so he can kill him himself,” Dot thought.
“We need to find Twilight so we have all our assets should something happen. With all these events going on, I want to be ready for whatever comes next.”
“Trixie, what are you getting at?”
“Trixie is just saying, a human knight attacks the Princess and steals some powerful gems. Another human shows up in the throne room and from what High Inquisitor Fervent said, he told us to “Not interfere with what is coming”. If that isn’t a sign to some big endgame I don’t know what is.”
Now that Dot thought about it, Trixie did have a point. Evil forces and plans of world ending events were basically a normal thing in Equestria. That being said what could be about to happen was still up in the air.
“Well, I’ll say this. Whatever happens, we'll be ready for it!”
As if on cue, a explosion erupted from the ground beneath them and something came up from under the ground.
Trixie and Dot were only a few feet from the blast but Trixie put up a shield on instinct. Clearing away the dust with her magic, she couldn’t have guessed what she saw next.
A dark humanoid figure clad in dark armor stood with an peculiar looking sword on his back and another in his hands. The aura that emanated from him was one that felt like it was trying hiding its owner, so that no one would be about to gauge just what it was or how powerful.
However, it didn’t take Trixie long enough to realize that this was the so called “Black Knight” that everyone was talking about.
Another figure shot out of the hole and started down at the Knight. With several spears floating around in her telekinetic grasp, Twilight Sparkle looked at the Knight as a Predator would look at it’s prey.
“Impressive, I didn’t think you would survive that.” Twilight said.
A Few Minutes earlier.
Berserker would fight anyone, any day, due to the parameters of his class he could face most foes head on without any concern for his safety or others.
That being said, even with his Mad Enchantment, some semblance of his sanity that his master allowed to him told Berserker about how this situation was not going his way.
The unicorn in question was unique to say in terms of the opponents he had faced. From figures like the infamous “Bluebeard” AKA Gilles de Rais to the Pharaoh Ramesses II AKA Ozymandias of Egypt.
But this unicorn was fighting with a style that was keeping him on the defensive, not being able to go in for any attacks. She would throw several spears at him at once, but if he tried to grab them they would not become one of his Noble Phantasms as they would fly out of his hands before the his “Knight of Owner” could take effect.
He could not wield both the Infinity Blade and Arondight at the same time as holding his sword would cancel out his skill and not be able to use the Blade effectively. Plus the force this unicorn threw her spears would soon knock one of his weapons out of his hands.
“Wow, I guess when you fought Bloody you could match him well because your both well...Berserkers I guess.”
The Black Knight made no comment if he had one.
“But when you're fighting someone like me, it's not the same is it? You have to keep up with all my attacks.”
Twilight floated down to the ground and stayed her spears.
“Shame, I kind of wished you would give me a more fun challenge. Oh well.”
Twilight charged her spears with energy.
“I guess the satisfaction of getting payback for hurting BBBFF and Bloody will have to do.”
One of the Spears began shaking.
“Bye Bye.”
The Spear flew like a bullet at Berserker. While he managed to narrowly dodge it, but couldn’t have predicted it exploding behind him. This sent him flying a few feet, but he managed to get back up before the second was sent at him.
“I am at a disadvantage in a confined space. I cannot go into spirit form while holding the Infinity Blade. This unicorn will most likely try to stop any attempt of me trying to escape.”
Twilight grinned gleefully as she prepared to fire another spear.
“But-” Berserkers eyes looked upward to the ceiling. “If I can get her to make an exit for me...”
The chaos mage threw another spear as the Black Knight jumped onto the spiral structure that was in the center of the room.
“Trying to climb so you have a height advantage over me? That won’t work.”
The Knight continued to climb until he reached the top.
“But I will hoof it to you. The way you jumped shows you did not skip leg day, but neither did I!”
Twilight then removed both her hind legs and taped them to two of her spears with scotch tape and a little string. Aiming at her prey she aligned Berserker in her crosshairs and let them fly.
Berserker sheathed Arondight and waited for the spears to reach them. Ever the nimble one, he caught both spears in his hands and threw them up at the ceiling, creating a hole that led to the upper floor.
“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight them proceeded to launch her remaining spears as Berserker jumped into the newly made exit. Knowing full well that there was little room to dodge the incoming projectiles.
Present.
To think you would survive four explosions is neat, but if you think that being out here in the open is gonna help you it's only spelled your doom.
Looking behind Berserker, Twilight made eye connect with Trixie.
“Trixie.”
The Inquisitor regained her composure and came out of her slight shock.
“Twilight!?”
“Shouldn’t you be calling the rest of the guard by now?”
“Oh right!” Taking out a communication crystal, Trixie spoke into it.
“Attention all forces of Princess Celestia! The Black Knight has surfaced in Canterlot's upper districts, converge on my position! I repeat! The Black Knight has surfaced in the upper districts!”
“Good, now all I have to do is keep you occupied.”
Berserker took a battle stance, apparently not caring about the inevitable reinforcements.
“Now then,” Twilight aimed her spears at the Knight again. “Let's continue.”
The Entity watched through a familiar as the forces of the Sun Princess began to close in on the area Berserker was fighting the Chaos wielder. For the first time he saw that his Servant was in a tight spot.
“I could use a command seal to summon him back here, but that would leave the blade behind. And if it is brought to Celestia, she will put two and two together and realize what is going on.”
The unicorn Berserker was fighting, the Entity had done his research on. The most powerful chaos mage in Celestia’s ranks, with enough power to rival a Caster class servant or a demigod. Berserker has no flashy noble phantasms or skills he could use to gain an advantage. Essentially Berserker was less powerful and less equipped to keep up with her for long.
“I could use all my command seals to make him fight beyond his limits, but it won’t matter if that army shows up, they will wear him down before he kills them all.”
The army would soon descend upon Berserker. He had to make a decision now...
Berserker did a spin jump as he avoided two spears which sliced a lamppost from its place, dispelling Arondight. He picked up the poll and began using it as a weapon.
This proved to be effective as the poles length allowed him to keep the spears a more favorable distance from him. Yet it didn't allow him to land a solid blow on Twilight. The sorcerer threw another limb at him which exploded. Anticipating this, he took cover beneath the smoke and threw the pole straight at Twilight. The floating pony slightly dodged it, but not before it managed to graze her cheek.
“You almost scratched off my Sun tattoo. I'm gonna turn your intestines into jumping rope!”
Twilight spun her blades fast in a circular fashion. They almost looked like a giant buzz saw with the way she was using them. Drawing Arondight again, Berserker was once again pushed to the defensive as the spears kept banging off of the sword. Feeling like he was about to be forced again into a corner, the servant decided to try one more attempt to attacking.
The Knight swung his sword into the oncoming spears, holding them all for a second before grabbing them all and holding them in place.
“Hey! Those are mine!”
Twilight yanked the spears from Berserkers grasp, but before she could attack again. Using his quick speed, Berserker lunged at and grabbed Twilight by the neck, pinning her down to the ground.
“Heh, that was your last mistake.”
When the words left her mouth, several spears erupted from Berserkers chest, blood seeping from the wounds and dripping onto Twilight. The chaos mage could feel the grip loosen on her neck and the raging light coming from the eyes of the helmet go dim until they went out.
“Heh, got em.”
But before Twilight could Teleport out, she felt something grasp her horn, interrupting her spell. To her utter surprise, the glow in Berserkers eyes flared to life again, along with the grip on her neck tightening the noose.
“Wha...how...the?!”?
She tried to control the spears again so she could start stabbing his other body parts, but his grip on her horn prevented her from using her magic, she tried calling out to Trixie but his hand around her neck blocked her words.
For a rare moment in her chaotic life, Twilight was scared.
“Ack, help.”
Her vision soon became blurry.
“HEY!”
Berserker narrowly avoided a sword coming down on his neck as he jumped back, releasing his grip on Twilight. Now standing next to her was a white unicorn with a blue mane and tail, he looked at Beserker with murderous intent.
“I should be saying that I am going to kill you for putting even a finger on my sister,” Shining Armor said. “But that's a given!”
The servant soon saw that all round him, in the streets and in the air, ponies in celestial armor stood and flew with their weapons pointed at him. They looked like they would attack if he so much as blinked.
“You got nowhere to run, and don’t think that disappearing will work because our priestesses have put of a shield over the area that prevents teleportation.”
Berserker stood their for a moment. His face betraying no emotions. Not even when Twilight recalled her spears and letting more blood leak for his wounds.
“Guards, on my mark, put this monstrosity out of its misery.”
The forces of Celestia readied their weapons, and charged their spells all with the intent to kill.
“Ready, NOW!”
In a split second, several spells and muskets fired at their target, creating a large explosion that blanketed the area with smoke.
When the dust settled, all that was left was a large crater.
Shining Armor walked up to the hole in the ground, expecting to see what remained of one of Equestria’s most infamous recent threats. Instead all he found was a peculiar looking sword, as well as a few shards of armor that were slowly fading away into sparkling dust.
“Is he dead, Field Marshal?” Trixie asked.
Shining faced the Inquisitor with a peculiar look on his face. Then he pulled out a communication crystal.
“Shining Armor to all Sun Priestesses. Have their been any breaches in the barrier?”
“No sir, we have detected no attempts of teleportation that the shield stopped.”
“Well, I believe you have your answer Inquisitor Trixie. The Black Knight is no more.”
“So, this is all that was left?” Celestia asked.
The Sun Goddess held in her magical grasp the sword Shining Armor had recovered.
“Other than a few tiny pieces of armor. I would have saved them but they disappeared shortly after.” the Field Marshal grimaced.
“Given that the Black Knight was nothing more than a dark spirit, I would a assume that it would have faded back to whatever ethereal realm it came from.”
“I hope that realm is Tartarus. It deserves it for what it did to you and Twilight.”
“Anyway, you are dismissed Field Marshal. You have served Equestria well.”
“I live to serve you your majesty,” Shining Armor bowed, then left the throne room.
“Whelp I guess that settles that,” Chief said “No more Black Knight, no more troubles.”
“Not true,” Fervent spoke up. “That golden human, Gilgamesh was his name? He is still out there, and most also answer for the crime of disrespecting our glorious goddess.”
“Well, I’m not sure. From the way he talked he sounded as if he wasn’t gonna bother us again unless we interfered with something.”
As Fervent started to bicker once again, Celestia was deep in thought as she studied the sword.
“It seems it was trying to make off with this thing, but why?”
Bringing the sword closer, Celestia put a hoof on it, out of curiosity more than anything.
As soon as she did, she felt her a deadly aura emanate from it as if it was trying to take her life. For whatever reason, she traced the edge of the blade along her arm to see what would happen.
Drawing it back, Celestia winced from the pain. But at the same time, there was something awfully familiar about that pain, something, she had not felt since...
“Oh mother of me.”
Both Fervent and Chief stopped their argument once they saw the look on Celestia’s face.
“Princess, is something the matter?”
“I’m sorry Fervent, but I think I now know what is happening.”
“What do you mean?” Chief said “The guard killed the Black Knight. It's over.”
“On the contrary, the Black Knight may be only a prelude to what's to come.”
“What do you mean?”
A knock came from the door, before it flew open and in came one Sunset Shimmer and one Spike.
“Mom!”
“Sunset! Spike! What are you-”
“I’m sorry you majesty,” The guard standing outside the door said. “She insisted that she had to see you, and may have threatened to set me on fire if I didn’t.”
Celestia sighed, “It's fine. Sunset, what is it? We are in the middle of something important.”
“So is what I have to say mother. I know who and what the Black Knight is!”
Celestia’s eyes widened, before they began to narrow.
“And pray tell, how did you know of this?”
“I uh....may have or may not have, gone against you “advice” and did my own “investigating” about the Black Knight.”
Celestia’s expression remained neutral, before it turned into a small smile.
“Well, I should have known nothing would stop you from taking things into your own hooves, Sunset.”
The unicorn almost flashed a bit of embarrassment.
“Unfortunately, I’m afraid you're a little late to tell me this.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“The Black Knight is dead, destroyed not long ago by the guard.”
“Aww, come on.” Spike said, “You're telling me I drank that whole bottle of Death by Fire for nothing!?”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed again, “What?”
“Uh nothing,” Sunset said nervously “But seriously, he’s dead?”
“Yes, all that remained was this sword he was carrying.”
“So it's all over?”
“Actually Princess Sunset, your mother was just about to tell us something before you and your brother just burst in here.”
“Fervent, it's alright.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Sunset, Spike, sit down. It's time I told you all something that the gods face during the reign of Queen Majesty, something that they agreed never to speak of again.”
The Entity closed the wounds that Berserker had on his chest. He had already stabilized his spirit core before healing him and replenishing his mana.
“That was close. If I hadn’t used a command seal to get you out of there, you would have been back in the Throne of Heroes by now.”
Berserker grumbled something.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“They have the Infinity Blade master. Now the other gods will soon know that you are still alive.”
“Do not worry my servant. For I have some good news.”
“What?”
“I have at last regained my full power. The gems have done their work in helping me rapidly restore my energy. I can now break free of this earthly prison and take us home.”
“But what about the Blade? We cannot leave it with them.”
“Don’t not fret. We shall try once more to retrieve it before we go.”
“But Celestia’s allies will surely have it well guarded, and even if I get it, they will most likely send pursuers after me.”
“My familiars tell me that Celestia believes you to be dead. They will not be expecting you when you show up, even so I will provide a distraction so that you can get it easier. As for your potential pursuers, I believe someone else will take care of that...”
Sunset, Spike, Fervent and Chief sat at Celestia’s throne as the goddess began to tell a story she was sworn to keep secret.
“This is something that has never been recorded in any of Equestria’s history books, because the deities involved agreed never to speak of it again should some evil force use this power to defy the gods.”
Using her magic Celestia cast an image spell that displayed a peculiar scene.
“Long ago, the gods of this land were told of a great power that could destroy them all. This power would forever be known in myth and legend as Eternium, the steel that severs immortal ties.”
The ponies(and dragon) in the room all dropped their jaws. They had all heard of Eternium, but it was nothing more than a myth to scare the gods.
“Yes my ponies, Eternium is real. So to prevent this power from being used to destroy them, the gods came together to claim and if possible destroy this power before it could be used to destroy them.”
The image shifted to show the gods battling what appeared to be some kind of giant, but it was too blurry to clearly make out its features.
“They say that a giant stood in their way, but that they eventually defeated it and was never seen again. However they were never able to recover any of the Eternium it supposedly guarded.”
The imaged then faded away. But Celestia was not done.
“Shortly after, Queen Majesty would be overthrown. As all this took place during her war campaign against Rome as to ponify the human race.”
“But wait,” Sunset said. “If they never found the Eternium, then how do we know it exists?”
“Because Sunset,” Celestia held up the sword that was recovered. “This blade is made from Eternium.”
The group gave a collective shock again, then Fervent spoke up.
“Your majesty, are you sure about that?”
“Yes, cause I have encountered this stuff before, some 800 years ago during the final hunting of Nightmare Forces. It turns out they somehow got enough of the stuff to make an arrow that struck me in the side. I survived and had my mages observe the arrowhead, but it wasn’t until I showed it to Amaterasu that she identified it as Eternium.”
“But then, how does the Black Knight factor into all of this?” Spike asked.
“Well, Gilgamesh said that something was about to happen. I can only suspect that this sword is essential whatever it is.”
“Yeah, wait who’s Gilgamesh?”
“I’ll explain later, right now I have a few letters to write.”
Lighting Dust slept on a cloud, taking her “Well Deserved” nap.
She woke up and stretched her limbs. Her eyes still drowsy and ears still waking up as well. She looked to the North as she took in the large plain the separated Ponyville from Canterlot mountain.
*Low rumbling*
“Wow. What was that?”
*Low grumbling*
“Oh, it's me. Guess I better go find some grub.”
But as Lighting Dust flew away, she failed to notice that a few cracks had appeared in the ground...