Twilight was sweating as she stared down at the sigils. Everything was in place. Everything was in order. She just had to do one thing and the spell would be done. Yet she stalled. Her body shook slightly as she raised her hand. Why did she do that, she wondered.
It was the chirping. When she had told herself it would be easy, she believed it to be true. She had read all about it in her books. The creatures before her weren’t alive. Not in any true sense. They were mimics. Non-living material given the simulation of life. Yes they were ‘organic’ but not truly alive by the consensus of the magical community.
Yet as she looked at the small chicks chirping, she couldn’t help but freeze. This wasn’t how she pictured this moment. Nor could she just quickly kill them and be done with it. They looked so lively. Just like the real thing. It unnerved her. It made her feel sick. Did she actually think this was a good idea? What was wrong with her?
“You know you don’t have to do this,” Spike spoke up. “I told you this was a bad idea.”
Twilight huffed, “Okay, I’ll give you this one. I just want to complete it in case I messed up a mage’s hard work but…”
“You can’t do it,” Spike nodded. “No shame in it, Twi. How about we just go get some shut eye. It’ll help get your mind off of this.”
“Yeah,” Twilight scratched her head. It was getting dark out. She still had to find Sunset and confront her, “You’re right. I’ll tuck Assassin into bed and then go after Sunset.”
Twilight and Spike turned to leave and just as the exited the shack they both heard the sound of something slicing flesh and chicken shrieks cut short. They quickly rushed back inside to find a smiling Assassin and several dead chicks.
“We’re helping!” Assassin cheered.
Twilight just stared at Assassin with her mouth agape.
Spike facepalmed, “I should have seen this coming.” He shook Twilight’s leg, snapping her out of her stupor.
Twilight shook her head and glared at Assassin, “Assassin! What did you do?”
Assassin frowned, “Mommy wanted to complete her spell but was having trouble. We wanted to help so mommy would smile and give us headpats. We like it when mommy does that.”
Twilight let out a sigh, “Yes, but I’ve told you before. I don’t like it when you kill things. Yes, I was talking about people but you shouldn’t just kill other animals too.”
Assassin blinked in confusion, “But that’s what we’re good at, mommy. We kill. That’s why we’re here.”
“No,” Twilight said firmly before kneeling in front of her. “You’re here because I got curious about this world’s magic. I brought you here because of that. Granted I didn’t know you would be the result, but I honestly… couldn’t be happier to have more family.” She reached out and hugged Assassin, “I want you to be happy Assassin. You can’t do that if you kill things all the time.”
Assassin hugged her back, “But-”
“No buts,” Twilight rubbed her head. “You’re a ‘Sparkle’ now so that means you have to abide by my rules. So I want to see more smiles and less killing.” She idly noted how the magic flashed slightly, signifying the spell was complete. Now someone just needed to activate it. At least something good came from this.
Spike’s ears perked up, “Someone’s coming.”
Twilight’s eyes widened, “Okay, Assassin. I want you to come with me but keep to the shadows.”
“Okay mommy,” Assassin smiled up at her.”
“And remember,” Twilight booped Assassin’s nose. “No killing. Spike, distract them until I get back.” With that said, she teleported away.
___________________________________________________________________________
Sunset couldn’t help but pace the room. Caster knew why she was doing it. The crown was still on her mind. In all honesty, Caster couldn’t care less about it. Once they won the war, they could wish for anything they wanted. Sunset could have all the power she could ever dream of. Yet it seemed she was still hung up on getting it through a magical artifact like the crown. From what she heard, it was powerful but no Holy Grail.
Caster was currently kneeling before a small table, drinking a bit of tea. “Are you done yet?”
“No,” Sunset raised a finger to silence her. “How about we put up a spell. A sort of barrier. One that could detect Equestrian magic.”
“Won’t that ‘Twilight’ girl set it off every time she arrives?” Caster opted. “Since she is also here for the crown-”
“Then we’ll see two signatures,” Sunset cut her off, stopping to stare at her. “One for her. One for the thief. Unless Twilight catches the thief first.” She stomped her foot, “Gah. I hate this. I hate waiting. I should be out there finding it and showing Celestia what she messed up.”
“And you’ll have your revenge,” Caster said before going silence. Screams of her past demons started to rear themselves in the back of your mind. “But you probably won’t enjoy it.”
“Pfft, says you.” Sunset smirked. “I am going to enjoy breaking Twilight and rubbing it into my old mentor’s face. Oh it’s going to be marvelous.”
Caster opened up her mouth to respond before she paused and stood up, “Someone’s entered my boundary field.”
Sunset paused and stared at her, “Really? This soon? I was about to get some shut eye.” She grumbled.
“Master,” Caster sighed. “Take this seriously.”
“Oh I am,” a ball of fire appeared in Sunset’s right hand. “I want to make whoever came here pay. Hopefully we’ll knock out one servant if we’re really lucky.”
Caster just hoped it wasn’t one of the knight classes. Assassin wouldn’t give itself away like this and Lancer and Saber would be resistant or even immune to many of her magical attacks if she was unlucky. The rest were ‘possibilities’. Oh sure, her master was strong enough to give her energy to be a top tier servant but she did not have the optimism of her master. The battle with Lancer beforehand was too close.
Walking out into the woods was a dangerous idea. Normally Sunset would cast an invisibility spell, but those weren’t the most ideal. They needed absolute concentration and best used when standing still. No. She wanted to attract whoever was trespassing and deal with them swiftly. Then they stopped, each one preparing to blast the immediate area to bits.
“Come out, whoever you are!” Sunset yelled into the forest. “I know you’re there. No sense in hiding anymore.”
A moment passed and there was silence.
Caster frowned and gave a small sigh. She lifted a hand and brought it down, firing a bolt of energy into the forest. Immediately, she heard someone yelp.
Sunset quirked an eyebrow, “You knew they were there?”
“Lucky guess,” Caster responded.
It was none other than Twilight Sparkle who stepped forward. She glared at Sunset, “I’m here for the crown.”
“And I don’t have it, you idiot.” Sunset scowled. “If I did, I’d have already marched back to Equestria as an alicorn. You would know that if you had any brains, but I guess they let anyone be an alicorn these days.”
“You don’t have it?” Twilight scrunched up her face in confusion. “Then how did you lose it?”
“I’m not telling you,” Sunset said. “I’m not an idiot like some people. Now leave or I’ll make you leave.”
“Master,” Caster glanced at Twilight’s hand. “She has as a servant.”
Sunset glanced down before groaning, “You even forgot to wear gloves to hide your markings?” Sunset pulled up her own gloved hand. “How stupid can you get?”
“What this?” Twilight pulled up her hand. “Oh I got this when I summoned Assassin.”
“You even told me what servant you have!” Sunset threw up her arms in exasperation. “Don’t you know anything about the Holy Grail War?”
“... The what?”
Sunset pinched her nose, “Look, why don’t you take your servant and go back to Equestria and sit this one out.”
“Master, I could just kill her now and we would be one step closer to victory.” Caster piped up.
“WHAT?!!” Twilight shouted, taking a step back in utter horror.
“We agree on not killing any of the masters,” Sunset stomped her foot. “Do not force me to Command Seal you on this, Caster. I don’t need to waste one already.”
Caster inclined her head, “If that’s the case.” She pulled up a strange, purple dagger. “I could simply steal her servant.”
“You can do that?”
Caster shrugged, “Apparently. I’ve never tried it before but this should sever her connection to Assassin. We have enough energy to supply Assassin ourselves.”
Sunset stroked her chin before nodding, “Alright, having two servants is a plus in my book.”
Caster grinned maliciously, “Don’t worry, Twilight Sparkle. This will only hurt for a second-Gods damnit!” She stumbled to the side as a small knife pierced her shoulder. Sunset caught her before she could fall.
Assassin appeared beside Twilight, “Don’t touch my mommy.”
“Assassin,” Twilight hissed. “I told you to stay hidden.”
“But they were going to hurt mommy,” Assassin smiled. “Don’t worry. I didn’t kill her.” She held up another knife, “Can I stab the other person, mommy?”
“No more stabbing,” Twilight snatched the knife from her hands.
Sunset glared at her, “What the hay, Twilight? I thought a princess was better than this. Using a child in a war.”
“I don’t know what war you’re talking about,” Twilight sighed in agitation. “And I’m not sending Assassin to fight.”
“She’s a servant,” Sunset seethed. “They were born to fight and you happened to pick a little kid to do your dirty work for you. I wonder how you’ll feel when she kills someone under your watch. I’m sure Princess Celestia will be delighted to know what you’ve done.”
Twilight’s eyes widened, “I am not putting anyone in harm’s way. I just want the crown.”
“You aren’t getting anything from me,” Sunset raised a hand, causing energy to flow around it. “Not the crown and certainly not the grail. Now leave.”
“Master,” Caster grunted as she tore the knife from her body. “I can take her. She’s not a strong servant.”
“Do you want to kill a child?”
Caster flinched, “No, but-”
“Then shut it,” Sunset snapped. “Get out of here. Now, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight gulped and teleported herself and Assassin away.
Sunset sighed. This was worse than expected. Now they had to kill a child… She couldn’t do that. No Equestrian would do that. What was wrong with this world? It was messed up in every single way. No child should be forced to fight and kill. She looked to Caster, “Come on. We’ll heal that wound in no time.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Twilight felt sick when she got back to the shack. A war? Assassin was a fighter but… okay she was definitely made to fight. There was still good in her. For Pete’s sake, she was a child. She would never send her out to kill. Never. Even then… the thought of losing her, even if she just met her, made her feel sick. She squeezed Assassin’s little hand, “You aren’t dying on me, Assassin. We’ll make it through this alive. I promise you that.”
Assassin looked up at her, “Mommy will protect us?”
Twilight smiled, “Of course I will. Now let’s get you to bed before Shirou gets suspicious.”
“Too late,” Shirou’s voice came from behind her.
Twilight gulped as she turned around. She saw Spike in Shirou’s arms, looking nervous with a stern Shirou Emiya staring her down. She laughed nervously, “Hey, Shirou…”
“We need to talk,” Shirou said, brokering no disagreements on that.