//------------------------------//
// Saber  
// Story: Fate/World 
// by donceluzza 
//------------------------------//

Dear Twilight Sparkle

I recall that you once asked me about the nature if the Alicorns. At the time I probably didn’t answer you, but in light of upcoming events, I believe I owe you an explanation. Below, I have compiled my recollections of the events that transpired nearly three thousand years ago that led to me and my sister becoming who we are today. I would like to warn you ahead of time that what happened was violent as it was a very different time. I debated about leaving out the more violent aspects to my past, but found that this would only serve to sugarcoat the truth, something I do not wish to do. So without further ado, allow me to tell you the story of the Holy Grail War, and my partner Saber.

“It’s far too cold this winter.” I spoke through chattering teeth.

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t excuse you from your duties, in fact that simply makes them more important, or do you want the rest of us to freeze?” my mother said in a harsh, uncaring tone. My mother was an older unicorn mare, a light blue coat and a darker shade for her mane, and on her face she always wore a pair of reading glasses.   

“Fine, I’ll chop the bloody trees down.”

“Celestia, we have taught you numerous times how a proper noble member of the Eclipse household should speak.” she yelled.

“Can you really call me a ‘noble member’ of the house when I’m essentially unpaid help?”

“Celestia!”

“Fine, I shall cut the trees to make lumber and fetch father the animal he wanted.” I said through a smile just as fake as my ‘noble’ tone.

“Much better, now go and hurry up. You should be finished with your chores by supper.” My mother didn’t seem to notice my blatant sarcasm as she settled back into reading by the fire. 

Resisting the urge to knock her book into the fire, on accident of course, I walked back outside. I wasn’t joking; the winter’s chill was far too biting. It must have been at least thirty degrees colder than it normally would be so early into winter. Our house, the house of the noble Eclipse family, stood tall and proud against the countryside we built it on. The house was made of hardened cobblestone; the stones were colored dark black so that the house stood out against the hills and forest around it during the day. But at night the house almost seemed to disappear against the starry sky. 

I also wasn’t kidding about essentially being a member of the help either. While my younger sister was reading ancient equine dialects, I was plowing the fields. Whilst my sister was learning the proper way to curtsy in the presence of nobility, I was chopping down wood for the fire. My sister would learn to sing while I would learn to keep my bloody mouth shut when company was around. Despite this, my dear mother would still try and give me something close to the same education that my dear sister got. 

Despite all this, I still loved my dear sister Luna. I would take Fathers insults and mothers condensation if it meant that she was happy. Keeping this in mind, I worked my way down to a collection of oak trees that was close to our property. Father was very particular about what kind of trees he wanted as decoration and what he wanted for the firewood. Already there was my trusty axe, that I often called Schism, set into a tree stump. Grasping her in my mouth, I set upon the nearest tree with a vengeance. I forgot every single bloody rule about how to ‘properly’ chop down a tree, I just attacked it. Finally the tree fell to the ground with a large concussive slam, scaring away the woodland animals nearby. 

“Sister, tis far too cold. You should be back inside.” a small voice called.

That voice belonged to my sister Luna, “Luna, what are you doing back out here? Isn’t this normally when you have your, oh what are they called ‘linguini classes’?” I wasn’t stupid mind you. I knew what they were, but it was always fun to let Luna explain it. She was proud of her education. 

“Linguistics, Tia. My Linguistics classes.” She laughed as she huddled up against me for warmth, “And for some reason, mother said that they were cancelled today and that I just need to get some bedrest as tonight I have to do something for father.” She beamed proudly at the announcement. Unlike me, the tasks Father designated for her were usually dignified, almost princess like, such as meetings or dinner parties. While of course anything that Father told me to do was something he didn’t want to pay the help to do around the house.

“Ooo, Father wants your help with something, I wonder what it could possibly be.” I put a hoof to my chin in a mock expression of deep thought. Luna simply giggled as I went back to demolishing the tree in front of me.

“Tia, why don’t you use your magic to use the axe?” 

I stared at the axe in my mouth then up at the horn on my head and scoffed. “I think it lacks a certain… physicality that helps put some force into each swing so that the wood comes apart easier and cleaner.” I smiled a little as Luna ate up my blatant lies and just shrugged and snuggled back up against me for warmth. 

While I was born a unicorn, I didn’t use my magic very often. Part of it was the fact that I wasn’t taught magic when I was young, another piece of education that my sister had that I did not. Thus when I did use my magic it tended to have far less… finesse than when my sister would use the same spell. My sister’s teacher in the art of magic was the great Clover the Clever, the apprentice of the even greater Starswirl the Bearded. My instructor on the art of magic was an old war veteran that we had enlisted as a gardener. I’m not badmouthing my old friend as he did teach me quite a lot about magic. He taught me various ways to set an opponent on fire in the heat of combat. He taught me CQC when he had the time, and I learned numerous spells for enchanting weapons, which was one of the reasons why my old axe survived for so long. But my sister was taught grace and poise with her magic, she was someone who could raise the moon and the stars; she would be in charge of something that required precision and study. I was more of a sun pony. Something big and requiring a single movement of one big enormous thing. 

The other reason was that my family was ashamed of me and my magic to a certain extent. My family was always skilled in darker magic. Not outright evil magic, but dark. They praised the phases of the moon and worshipped the stars, while they also shunned the day and the sun. I was born with skill in light and fire based magic, the opposite of the dark and ice-based magic that my family was well known for possessing. This is, of course, the reason that my family almost immediately had another child following my birth, to try for the daughter that could carry on the name of the Eclipse family. 
“Tia, are you ok?” I snapped out of my reverie and looked back at my hooves where my little sister was still snuggling for warmth. “It’s really cold out here; I think we should go inside.”

I smirked, “So the ice mage is cold huh?” I pressed my face against Luna’s “Wittle Woona wants to go back inside under her blanket.” I used my magic to float Luna off the ground in place and rock her back and forth, “Rock a bye Woona.”
“Stop calling me that. I’m not little anymore, Tia.”

“Enough.” A voice called to the two of us, a gruff and throaty voice. 

I dropped Luna from my magic and looked over to see my father standing nearby wearing a thick robe and an even thicker scowl. “Hello Father.” I said silently, making sure not to make eye contact. 

Luna jumped up from the pile of snow that she fell in and looked back at our father. “Father, it’s far too cold out. Tell Tia to go back inside and cut more firewood tomorrow, please.” Luna said this while standing boldly upright with a commanding tone in her voice.

There were sometimes where I cursed my sister’s kind heart. “I’m fine, really Luna, I’ll be fine…”

“Is that so?” My father glared in my direction, “It’s too cold outside? I hadn’t noticed.”

“No it really isn’t; that’s just Luna’s opinion. You know she’s just a kid, take what she says with a grain of salt and all that.” I smiled lightly at my father hoping to perhaps save myself from his oncoming wrath. 

His eyes narrowed in my direction, “Luna go back inside. You must have your bedrest for the ceremony tonight.” Luna’s eyes gleamed as she trotted back to the house, stupidly believing that she had won the argument. As she got out of sight his deep blue eyes narrowed in my direction once again. “Too cold? Barely nippy weather for a proper Eclipse.”

I gulped, if I didn’t choose my next words very carefully I would risk fathers hoof. “Oh yeah, it’s just fine, balmy almost.” 

“I never said it was hot you stupid girl; simply that it wasn’t ‘too cold’ to use your words.” Venom oozed from every word he spoke, yet his tone never shifted. My father was a calm unicorn stallion. Even when he insulted or hurt me, his tone never shifted. His coat was a dark brown and his mane a dark blue. He was strong, well built, and smart, needless to say that he was considered a ‘true noble’ by the rest of Equestria. 

“I merely voiced my concerns. I’m chopping down the bloody wood.” I realized my mistake far too late though as he struck me with his hoof.

“I believe that your mother had warned you about your little language problem many times before, Celestia.” That last word he spoke as though it were the name of a griffon he had killed, like saying the name itself was giving the creature more respect than it deserved.  

“I apologize father, but I mean it. I’m chopping the wood right now.” I gestured to the fallen tree that I had been chopping at. Father started looking over the fallen tree like he was a teacher inspecting a school report. Upon finding the tree cut to his liking he looked back at me.

“You do realize that your language wasn’t the only mistake you made tonight.” I shook my head nervously, “You questioned your sister, claimed that she was ‘just a child’.” I mentally facehoofed at the mistake, Father treated her like a gift from the eternal herd itself, even if what she said was wrong, I was to accept it as fact until she changed her mind. 

“I’m sorry, Father.” I bowed and stared at the ground hoping that if I couldn’t see him he would leave me alone. “It won’t happen again.”

Suddenly the air around me became cold, well colder, and only continued to freeze. The hairs on my coat became coated in ice as my father spoke, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, child.” The temperature receded, I had never been so happy for the weather to be at zero degrees. “This will be fine for today, get some sleep. Even you should be present for the ceremony tonight.”

“What ceremony?” I looked back at my father, a dangerous glint in my eye.

“Tonight your sister will become far greater than a simple unicorn; tonight she rises to godhood.” Father’s words sent shivers down my spine. He smiled and began walking away back to the house. I waited for a while, not wishing to be near my father for the walk home. Him coming dangerously close to freezing me to death wasn’t exactly something that I could imagine talking about on the way home. I sat in the stillness of the winter chill for a few minutes before heading back to the house. 

The day became night without further incident and the family was woken up and led to the basement for the ceremony. Luna was dancing feverishly around as she excitedly gabbed about the possibilities for the ceremony. “What do you think the ceremony is about, Tia?” She said looking to me expectedly. 

I sighed, “Something to amplify your magic maybe?” I was grasping straws. Father had never really been one to be cryptic. Usually when he wanted something he would say so. And whenever anything involved Luna, he would be very explicit to make sure that everything would go according to plan. But before I went to bed, I asked the help at the house what ‘the ceremony’ was and none of them knew either. Not a single pony in my house knew what this would entail except my father and mother. 

My father was almost smiling as he led the company down the stairs into the basement. I cannot stress how strange it was to see my old man with a spring in his step. My mother was clinging to him like they were a pair of newlyweds in the first weeks of marriage. I sidled up to my magic teacher; Floral was his name, to ask if he knew anything. “Can’t say that I understand any of this bloody pomp and circumstance, Tia. It could be a bucking birthday party for all I bloody know” was his response. My mentor’s harsh language had something of a calming effect on me; it was the closest to a lullaby I ever knew. Finally, father led us to the basement where I finally saw the pieces of this ‘ceremony’. 

In the center of the room was a large symbol etched onto the floor in what seemed like blood. All around, candles were lit and spread along the circle; incense filled the room with smoke and fragrance. The members of the help were shocked at the display; all I could do was stare. Father led Luna near the circle and mother began chanting some sort of spell. Suddenly one of the ponies that manned the watchtowers above the house ran in. “Sir we are under attack, some sort of creature.”

My mother didn’t stop chanting but my father’s face turned from one of possible happiness to visible fear. “The war has begun. Quickly, Luna.” He held a blade in his magic and pulled Luna forcibly closer to him, “You shall be our champion, little Luna.” 

“Stop.” I knocked the knife from his magic, cutting myself in the process. “What do you mean ‘war’, what do you mean by ‘champion’?” My father, beginning to lose his considerable patience punched me in my face.

“I do not have time to explain minor details to you child, Luna must become our champion in the Holy Grail War, and she will become a god.”

“What do you mean? She’s a child she can’t fight a war.” 

“She will fight what she needs to, the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.”

“Surely someone else, someone older, can fight your bloody war for you.” 

“Celestia!”

“Oh what is my bucking language unbefitting a ‘proper lady’, well too bad. What is this bloody Holy Grail War?”

My father looked as though he would show an emotion in my direction for once in his life, unfortunately that emotion looked to be anger. “This war is the most important thing in all of our recorded history child; it is through the Holy Grail that the eternal ruler of Equestria will be chosen.” He paused to look at Luna, “One who will become immortal and rule Equestria forever.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she hid behind my back, “No, I don't want to keep living after all of you die. Please daddy stop, I don't want to be immortal.”

My father looked at her with a crazed look in his eyes, “You must. It’s your purpose, the reason that we raised you. Your fate is to rule the world, Luna.” He picked up the knife off of the ground, “Now come here child, we need only draw a drop of blood to complete the seal.”  

A group of four guards crept up behind me and Luna grabbing at her, “No, stop I don’t want to be immortal. Help me Tia.” 
Floral stepped up and stood defiantly before my father, “Stop this Eclipse, you’re hurting your own bucking child. Surely there could be someone else, someone who wants this curse that you wish for.”

“It is not a curse, tis a gift.” He looked to my sister once again, “Now come to me child, please; that monster outside needs to be fought and you still haven’t received your servant.” 

I dug my hooves into the ground, causing pain in my hoof and reminding me of the cut I got from batting away father’s knife. I gave a sharp glance to Floral and wrapped my unharmed hoof around Luna. “You aren’t gonna bloody touch her.” Father’s slight glare turned into genuine anger as he motioned for the guards to attack me. Just then mother finished her chant. I reared up and bucked one of the guards whilst Floral blasted the other two with a flame wave. I pushed Luna to the side and dove for the circle, “I’ll fight, I’ll fight to protect my little sister.” I raised my bloodied hoof above the circle, words filled my head and my heart as I spoke them, “Become my blade, cut through my enemies, be the sword who wins this war.” With those words, I stamped my bloody hoof down onto the circle, completing the ritual. 

The world around me seemed to slow. My mother stood back, a look of horror adorned her face. The guards behind me were now back up and were rushing towards me. My mentor, Floral, lay on the ground, a spear of ice jutting out of his skull. My father wore a look of both absolute horror and terrifying anger, shattering his normally cool-headed demeanor. My sister’s face was the worst however. She was scared, really scared, scared of immortality because of the loneliness it would bring. She would live eternally with all of Equestria as the only family she would know. She would lose all of us; she would live while we would die. I decided that this was wrong. That she wouldn’t be the one who would be lonely throughout time and space. She was too good for that, someone needed to be with her, help her when she was feeling lonely. I decided, against the normal rules of the Holy Grail War, that the two of us would rule together. I think that part of my reasoning was that I perceived my sister as more regal than I ever could be, a true Queen or a Princess. But she needed someone to be there for her, and that someone was going to be me. 

As the world seemingly unfroze, I looked around to see my fathers guards dead. At first I thought that I was dreamed that four of my fathers best guards were killed in seconds. Next to them, wielding two curved blood-covered swords was a tall creature. That thing was bipedal and wore a long brown hooded robe that covered him entirely. The creature pulled back his hood revealing a mess of long black hair and eyes red as rubies. The male looked to my sister and bowed slightly, causing her to faint. He then looked to me; his ruby eyes glistened as a smile drew across his lips. 

“Are you the one who summoned me?” he asked. 

I could barely form the words to respond. Here was a creature of ancient lore and mythology standing in my basement. Not only that, but I was the one who brought him here, and if my father’s wording was correct, he now served me.
“I will ask again since you seemed not to hear me. Are you my master?” This time he pointed one of his curved blades at me. 

“Yes, yes I did. I am your master, Celestia.” I stood tall and proud as I said this, causing my father to become angrier, which only caused me more glee. I looked to the only remaining guard who was cowering behind the help in the back of the room. “You said that there was a creature outside guardsman, does this creature.” I motioned to my new servant, “remind you of it.” The guard nodded and motioned for the two of us to follow him. “Well then it appears the first battle of this ‘Holy Grail War’ is upon us, what shall I call you, servant.” 

My new servant smiled as scraped his blades together, “You may call me Saber, dear Celestia.” He began to follow the guard upstairs. I scooped up the unconscious body of Luna, placing her on my back and turned to my father. “We’ll have words about you killing my friend later father, but for now I believe that I have your home to save.” My mother collapsed on the ground as my father’s dark brown coat gleamed a bright shade of red.   

I followed the guard outside, to where I was greeted with another strange sight. The creature before me seemed human like my servant but at the same time he was quite different. In place of a head on his shoulders was a bright orange pumpkin with two curved eyeholes and a wiry mouthpiece, but behind those holes wasn’t a normal head. He wore a long black coat that covered his entire body and he rode upon a creature that also resembled a larger pony. But the large pony he rode upon was also black in coat and his eyes burned an insidious black, radiating smoke outwards. 

While this sight frightened the guard and me, my servant seemed rather amused. “The Rider is our first opponent, an interesting matchup.” He twirled his blades in his hands, attracting the attention of the Rider. Behind the Rider was a small earth pony filly with an orange coat and a small carrot for a cutie mark. One of the filly’s eyes was malformed, its forehead skin covering the eye. And on that spot where the eye should be was a strange red mark made of three small arrows. 
The filly stared in my direction with a sad expression on her face. A sad lump formed in my throat at the sight of a child preparing to fight me. It hurts to know that my family wasn’t the only family that decided to try and bring a child into this war. The Rider turned towards my servant and me. 

“So one of the masters finally shows themselves; my master’s family said that there would be one here, but they did not say that the servant would be a Saber class.”

‘A Saber class? That’s his name though.’ I stood my ground staring back at the ominous Rider. 
My servant simply chuckled and readied his blades, “You would perform a sneak attack against the family of a master; clearly you lack honor, Rider.” Saber rushed towards the ghastly Rider, jumping into the air and slashing his blades. Rider pulled a large serrated blade from his black jacket and used it to block Saber’s strike. Saber landed on the ground and turned, slashing along the body of Rider’s mount. The large pony screamed in pain as it disappeared in a thick cloud of black smoke. “Now we’re on even ground.”

The Rider cackled as he swung his huge blade at Saber who blocked his strike. “I had heard that Saber’s were supposed to fight fair.”

Saber swung his blades one at a time repeatedly at Rider, “You had the poor luck of facing a Saber who cares more for winning than he does honor.” He continued to swing his blades in arcing and twirling motions at Rider who blocked almost every strike. The strikes that did land didn’t even seem to phase the monster as he took each graze and cut in stride, almost as if he wasn’t even cut. 

“Saber, cut him again!” I screamed.

“You make it sound simple dear master.” He was on the defensive now as Rider swung his massive knife repeatedly one time after the other. I looked back to the filly that was now being flanked by several unicorn archers. “Master if you wouldn’t mind please take care of the archers, I’m a tad busy.” 

“Alright, just cut the bastard when I’m close enough to see.” I turned my attention back to the archers and charged my horn. I thought back to when Floral would tell me stories of wartime and the proper spell for dispersing several enemies at once. I charged a huge fireball and hurled it towards the archers. Despite the impending doom, they didn’t dodge, rather they dove in front of the earth pony filly to protect her. The fire engulfed them, burning them to death. Their screams alerted Rider who turned his attention back to me. 

He broke off from his fight with Saber and charged in my direction, “To attack a defenseless master in such a way, you two really are a perfect pair.” He lifted his huge blade and readied it above his head. As he brought it down ready to slice me in two Saber ducked underneath the two of us. He blocked the strike with one of his blades while the other cut a small ways into Rider’s side. 

“This close enough, master?” He joked. 

“Perfect." It had seemed that despite Saber's blade clearly damaging hitting him, it hadn't damaged him. The wound was smoking the same black smoke as the large ponies eyes. Using my magic, I realized that something was protecting the Rider from Saber’s attacks. “He’s got some kind of barrier protecting him.” I yelled.

The earth pony filly gasped and Rider chuckled, “Well they may be dishonorable attempted child-killers, but they are smart.” He jumped back readying his blade once again. “So now you see that I have you dead to rights, Saber.”

“How exactly?” My servant spoke while sheathing one of his blades.

“You cannot cut me, death is my friend and my shield, so you cannot pierce me.”

Saber smiled, “Physical attacks may not pierce you but I never said that I was restricted to my blades.”

The Rider seemed startled and backed away, “You would unleash your Noble Phantasm?”

Saber laughed, “No, I have other ways of dealing with an opponent I cannot cut.” He raised his free hand and spoke, “The dark does not side with one man.” A swirl of dark energy covered his hand as he shot it in Rider’s direction. 

Rider blocked the blast with his blade, but didn’t manage to block the next blast, which landed square in his chest knocking him back. Saber prepared another blast of dark magic, but this time drew his blade with the magic-covered hand, surrounding his blades instead. 

“A Saber who wields magic?” The Rider righted himself and prepared his blade. “An enigmatic foe, I would say that I’m impressed but this battle still isn’t over.”

Saber twirled his blades again, this time with the dark swirls making arcs in the air. “I would hope not dear Rider.” The two began to circle each other as a voice called out from the direction of the filly. 

“Rider, we should leave.” The little filly was now shaking, “We need to learn more about them; without the name we won’t know how to fight them.” The Rider looked in our direction and grumbled as he ran to meet back with his master. 

“We’ll retreat for now Eclipse.”

“NO” I shouted, “You attack my home, my family, coming here for some stupid war to kill my damn sister. Oh no, we are taking you down…”

“We should allow them to retreat, master.” Saber spoke up, having already sheathed his blades. 

“WHAT, whose side are you on, Saber?”

“While I applaud your bloodlust, master Celestia the same detriment for which they are retreating affects us.” I looked at Saber quizzically causing him to roll his eyes, “We also do not know the true name of this Rider class. Without that information, we don’t know what his Noble Phantasm is nor how to combat it, nor any other nasty surprises that he may have in store for us, aside from that near imperviousness thing.”

I clenched my teeth in anger. The entire point of this war was to kill other ponies, and here one was, at my doorstep trying to retreat after wrecking my home. And my servant, one who is supposed to serve me unconditionally, refuses to kill her!
“If you truly wish for me to face them, master, then you will be forced to use a Command Seal.” Saber looked to me with a daring glint in his eyes. Clearly, whatever he was talking about would be bad. I didn’t have to know what a ‘Command Seal’ was to know that if he wanted me to use one for a simple order it would be bad. “Good, then we shall allow your retreat for now Rider, on one condition.”

The Rider clenched his hands together, squeezing the blade in his hand. “What would that be, Saber?”

“Tell me the name of your master.” Saber declared.

“My name is Carrot Field, so can we leave without incident now?” The child responded. 

“Well considering the fact that I killed your escort, it wouldn’t be quite fair to send my troops after you now, would it.” I said, a hint of superiority creeping into my voice. 

Saber smiled in my direction, “My master speaks the truth, we shall allow you to leave without her forces giving chase.” 

Rider grumbled as the little filly tapped her hoof on his jacket. “Come on, we shouldn’t have rushed in without any knowledge of the opponent to begin with.” The Rider looked down to his master. She was pleading to leave, she was genuinely scared, anyone could see that. 

The Rider waved his free hand, conjuring that large shadow pony from nothing.
“We shall leave for now.” He hopped on his mount, grabbing the little filly and placing her on the mount as well. “We shall finish this battle later, Saber.” With that he galloped off into the distance leaving the flaming bodies of their escort behind. 

“If the name of this Rider is so important, why not ask what that was?” I asked.

“Because that’s something that they would not give, no matter the circumstances; they would rather run and risk another confrontation if it meant protecting his true name.”

“A name is really that devastating?” He looked at me again with that same look of disbelief when I was confused as to why their handicap was ours. Saber stared into my eyes, “What, I’m asking a bloody question.”

“You don’t know much about the Holy Grail War do you?” He struck gold with that one, “Tell me, do you know what a Command Seal or a Noble Phantasm is?” I shook my head he sighed, “How in the hell did you summon me without even basic knowledge of the war?”

“Because she didn’t.” I turned to find my father standing behind me with my mother by his side, and the remaining guards of our house, nearly sixty-five of them. “I did the summoning ritual with my wife, you were meant for my other daughter.” Saber looked at the unconscious Luna on my back. 

“I was meant for a child that fainted upon my arrival?” My father nodded solemnly, “frankly you should be thanking miss Celestia if that’s the case, at least she has combat experience and no qualms about murdering people.”

“NO.” my father shouted, “Luna was meant for the throne of Equestria and that bastard child of mine screwed it up.” My father’s normally calm light blue eyes teemed with anger. He started for me, growing angrier and louder with each step. “Now Celestia, you will use one of your Command Seals to give control of Saber to your younger sister. And then you will be hung for your insolence.” Just as my father came within hoofs length of me, a blade found its way to his throat. “You would threaten me, Servant?”

“I would threaten anyone who threatens my master. Since you summoned me, you must know a great deal about the war and its servants.” My father nodded, “Well then I shouldn’t have to explain that I do not follow the rules of any nobleman in this land, only my masters.” He looked to me, “And if my master wished for her parents deaths, then I would have no choice but to comply.” 

My mother gasped, the guards readied their weapons, and they slowly started to approach us. My father spoke, unhindered by the blade at his throat, “She WILL use a command seal to transfer her control of you to Luna, or I will kill her.” 

“You aren’t making a very good case for me to not slash your throat, Sir.” He nodded at me, “Its your call Celestia. Know that even if you transfer your power I will protect you from him, as a final gift for your performance during the previous fight.” 

I laughed, “My performance? I did nothing, you were the one who took on Rider.”

“You were the one who noticed his protection and killed those guardsmen. With proper knowledge of the Holy Grail War you would be a fantastic participant.”

I gulped and looked to the sleeping form of Luna on my back. She was an innocent child, not a soldier in some war. But still he was asking me to kill my family, could I do that? “Well I cannot, as a noble lady, ask my servant to kill my mother and father.” My mother breathed a sigh of relief and the guards backed away a little. “But as Celestia, the child my family didn’t want, I would say that if my servant was to kill my parents, I wouldn’t hold it against him.” With that, my servant smiled and slit my fathers throat.   

My mother screamed as Saber charged at her, his blades slashing through her throat. The guards began to charge him as he looked to me and said, “Master, witness the power of a devil.”

As he said that my servant began tearing into the pile of guardsman attacking him. He would turn and twirl like a tornado. He would block with one sword and slash with the other. He would use his superior height to kick another pony in the throat while he slashed at two other throats. At the end of the battle of sixty-five well-trained, well-armed, and armored pony guards versus one human man whose only armor was a long robe, he stood unharmed and they lay dead. I could barely believe my eyes, my entire household was slain in what seemed like only a moment. I could only gawk at the sight.

“While I appreciate your clear appreciation of my little workout here, Celestia, we should leave. If others know of your household then we should head on the road.”

“I think we should burn the house to the ground.” He looked to me quizzically, “If any others come here they’ll be thrown off by the completely destroyed house.” 

Saber smiled at me, “I told you that you would make a good master.” 

“Yeah but I still don’t know all that much.” 

Saber sheathed his blades and sat in the bloodied snow, “Well I suppose I should start at the servants; there are seven of us during the Holy Grail War, Rider, Archer, Berserker, Caster, Assassin, Lancer, and of course your humble Saber.” 

“So I only have to kill six ponies and you have to kill six weirdoes huh? Seems far too easy to be worth offering immortality for.”

“There may only be seven servants, but we are the strongest men, women, ponies, what have you, in all the world.” 

“This is related to that whole name thing, isn’t it?”

“Yes, we are characters from your literature, we are figures from your history and mine, we are the monsters you tell your children about at night, and we are given even more power than we had in life.”

“The Noble Phantasm, right?”

“Sort of. The Noble Phantasm is the symbol of our fame, what made us famous or infamous amongst the annals of history.” 

“And that’s why he was confused as to why you would use it so early, it would give away your name.”

“Hence why I didn’t use it.”

“And why we’d be screwed up a creek if he used his and we weren’t prepared.”

He chuckled, “For a supposed ‘noble lady’, you certainly have a colorful vocabulary.”

I scoffed, “Well despite what my parents wanted all the other families to think, I was essentially just the help.” The thought struck me and I ran back inside and down the stairs back to the basement. Still lying in a heap on the floor was my friend and mentor, Floral. 

“A friend of yours?” I nodded, “Killed by your father?” I nodded again, tears welling in my eyes. He placed his hand on my head, “I can understand dying to protect those you love; he died braver than most Noble Souls I’ve met.” 

I stood up from the ground, still fighting back the tears. I looked over to Saber. At my full height, I was about up to his ribcage. Perhaps it was his height that initially made me feel like he was safe; as though he could always protect Luna and I because he was big and strong. “Alright, I’ll grab some food and other sundries, take Luna off my back and take her into the forest near my house, I’ll meet you there soon.” He nodded and lifted Luna gently off my back and cradled her in his arms. 

“Alright, though I won’t go too far. I’m supposed to stay nearby to you.” With that he left, and as soon as he did the tears came. I must have lain over the body of Floral and the other help for a few minutes crying my heart out at them. They were my real parents, my real mother who would help me when I fell, and my real father who would teach me how to act. 

Eventually, I recomposed myself and set about gathering materials. I grabbed sleeping bags, bags of food, and clothes to keep Luna warm. I also raided father’s books for anything that may be useful combating the servants of the Holy Grail War. I found a few books of ancient mythology and one book that was a guide to the Holy Grail War, probably father’s introduction to it. Once I had finished collecting our survival materials I brought them outside and started my attack on my childhood home. 

I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t cathartic to blast the house my father spent so long building to the ground. To destroy the towers where my friends would guard. To blast into smithereens the living quarters they were stuck in. Demolish the kitchens they slaved in. It felt good. It was revenge of the pettiest kind, but it felt good. I sat there watching my home burn under my assault, and after a while Saber crept up behind me.

“I found a cave just a ways up, Luna’s sleeping there soundly now.” I just nodded, not once letting my eyes wander from the flames. “Tomorrow I’ll tell you anything you want to know about the Holy Grail War, and Luna as well.” Again I simply nodded. “I would say that I wish I knew how you felt master, but the truth is I cannot imagine burying my past as thoroughly as you’re doing now.”

“It was his fault, all his fault.” All I could think about was how much I hated my father, how much I still hated him. Even after witnessing his death and destroying the house he had worked so hard to build, I still hated him. “I’ll win, and I’ll rule Equestria alongside my sister with fairness and kindness. I won’t let what happened to me happen to anyone else.”

“It’s good to have a goal in mind, masters with a reason to fight are more likely to win the Holy Grail War.” He motioned towards the forest, “Come on, you need your sleep.”

“We’ll guard the cave in shifts.”

“No, I’m fine I can sleep later, you and your sister are the important ones here.” I looked straight at him, and realized there was no use arguing the point. I nodded and followed him into the woods

The cave was wet and cold. It was dark and probably filled with horrid animals just waiting to gobble us up. I won’t lie; I liked it. It felt like an adventure, like the ones in storybooks that I used to read Luna before she could read them herself. I lied down next to Luna and Saber stood guard at the entrance. He just sat there, his swords in his hands. 

“What kind of swords are those anyway?” He perked up before laughing to himself. “What?”

“They’re sabers.” I started laughing right along with him. “A Saber who wields sabers.” 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Alright, go to sleep Master Celestia. Tomorrow we’ll begin the Holy Grail War.”

As I drifted off to sleep. I thought back to Rider and his child of a master. They were all I knew about the Holy Grail War. “Yeah, and we’ll win it too.”