Twilight finds herself in the Moon Holy Grail War. Will she be able to survive it long enough to get back to her home?
Waking up in a strange virtual world with no recollection of her past. Twilight is forced to fight for survival in a war she does not understand for a prize beyond value; the opportunity to have one's wish granted. With only a being called a "Servant" by her side she will have to face both friends and foes in battles to the death in order to not only gain possession of the Holy Grail, but also to find the most important question of all. Who is she? And where did she come from?
1st week The First Selection Combatants Remaining: 999-128
Twilight’s eyes slowly open as she finds herself lying in the middle of a burning city that was once known as Canterlot. She tried her best to pull herself up, but her body felt heavy. Tried as she did it felt like someone or something was keeping her down on the ground against her will. She lifts her head a bit to see if that was the case, only to notice the giant blood-leaking hole on her abdomen. The unicorn soon placed her head back down as she noticed a strange shadowy figure standing over her with visible tears running down its face, and falling onto Twilight’s face. As she felt the tears hit her face, she couldn't help but cry along with the shadowy figure.
The Sky Burns
Houses and Homes Collapse into ruin.
Ponies fall to the ground.
Roads come to an end.
The Conflict started here.
In this small peaceful city.
With this, the world that was will be restored.
It is here that I alone survived and died
Don’t remember/Never forget.
Oblivion is salvation and sin.
Never forget.
I was born from Destiny
This must be a nightmare.
This had to be somewhere;
it could be anywhere,
these events that occurred in
the true memories of foal hood.
A torrent of blood flows from my wound,
and a voice resonating with bitter
resentment can be heard.
Lives fade away without a thought.
My friends, family, and strangers: All gone.
Soldiers with swords,
families trying to hold together,
A grotesque struggle to the last,
until a gentle peace descends
as death comes to claim them.
-I have no regrets about what I’ve done.
The question of “why?”
never left me.
Even with the divide between
conflict and catastrophe, why
Did such a tragedy occur?
No, more importantly-
why has this world been turned
into Tartarus on Equis?
The mare wondered what this dream was about. She took notice of the flames covering the city slowly dying down after she heard the sound of thunder. Looking up at the sky, she saw clouds forming above her as it began to rain down upon her and the ruined city.
A gentle rain begins to fall.
All things once living fade away,
leaving only me and the shadow behind.
Amidst the helplessness and
despair, I feel their soul’s last
feelings are of rage and regret
The rain wets their cheeks as
their eyes close one last time,
dying forgotten and alone.
Seeing this, I felt tears roll down my face
and smiled upon what I have been shown.
If I can live again,
I will definitely-
But there are no second chances.
And before long, the rain has
cleansed the scorched land.
As the unicorn continued to stare at the cloud-covered sky, a blinding light filled the area she was in. She quickly closes her eyes to protect herself from being blinded by the light as it engulfed her and the shadow.
Never forget.
I was born from Destiny
What that means
Somehow, please do not forget me.
[Day One: Morning]
[Nurse's Office]
Twilight felt something warm hit her face as she was asleep. She slowly began to open her as her blurred vision started to clear up. Upon waking up, she found herself in some kind of office that you would see in a school or hospital. The unicorn blinked in surprise at finding herself in a place like this. The unicorn quickly remembered the dream she had as she quickly pulled herself up and took the covers off herself to see if she had a hole in her abdomen. To her relief, she didn’t have a hole in her abdomen or anywhere else on her body. With the thought of her being injured taken care of, she started to scan the room. So far this was the nurse’s office…but something feels…off about it.
“I see you’re finally awake. As to be expected from a member of the Fang clan.” said a regal and elegant voice. Twilight was startled by the voice in the room. She started to scan the room to find out where it came from.
“W-who’s there? S-Show yourself?” Twilight asked as the source of the voice made itself visible to her. The unicorn’s eyes widened upon seeing a woman with long silver-white hair wearing black, sickly blue, and white armor robe-like dress, and a spear-like staff in her hand.
“I was beginning to worry that I would have to get the nurse to use smelling salt to walk you up. Nevertheless, it’s good to see that you’re awake.” The woman said as she looked at Twilight up and down. “Hard to believe I would be summoned by a fairy from the Fang clan. Nevertheless, with you as my master.” She said while smiling at Twilight with confidence. Though that seems to vanish upon asking Twilight a question. “You are fully aware of what the Holy Grail War is…right?”
“Holy Grail War?” Twilight asked as she tilted her head in confusion.
“You…don’t know about the holy grail war? Why would you join something that you do not know of?” She asked while placing a hand on her chin. “Unless you were tricked into joining the war?”
“Um…I honestly don’t know how I ended up here. Nor do I know much of who I am.” Twilight said, which took the servant by surprise.
“Do you…at least know your name?”
“T-Twilight Sparkle.” The unicorn said as she noticed the knight blinking at her. “Is something wrong?”
“An odd name for..a fairy. At least I think you're a fairy.” The woman said while eyeing Twilight up and down.
“Unicorn actually…” Twilight said which caused the woman to blink in slight surprise by hearing this.
“Right…while regrettable that you lost your memories during the migration to the Mooncell, ignorance is not something that I will tolerate or let slide. So, I will inform you about what you’re in right now.”
“And that would be?”
“Right now, you are in the Holy Grail War. A war in which many mages fight tooth and nail for the wish-granting Holy Grail.”
“Wait, so I’m in a war to get the holy grail to obtain a wish?” Twilight asked as thewoman nodded.
“That is correct. Early on, The Holy Grail War was the name given to the ceremony magi held to gain the Grail. In truth, the war was a bloody fight from which the sole survivor would be granted the Holy Grail. To make it sound a bit easy to understand, the war you’re in now is an approximation of the original Holy Grail War, just in a tournament-style war where when you win your first match, you move on to the next one.”
“I’m…finding this hard to believe,” Twilight said as she moved to the edge of the bed. “Well more confusing to be honest. I mean, I don’t even know who you are, and yet you’re telling me I’m your master? You can see why I’m a bit suspicious about why I should listen to you or believe what you’re saying.”
“I can understand you not believing what I’m saying seeing how we just met. But what I’m saying is the truth. You and I are currently stuck here in this place, like it or not. In this war, to win is to live; to lose is to die. There is only one way to avoid death, and that is to fight.” The woman said as she folded her arms. “The rules are simple, two mages are assigned to fight each other with their Servants. The person who defeats the other master’s servant wins the fight.”
“Servants?” Twilight asked as the woman pointed to herself as an example
“We Servants are the only line of defense when fighting other master’s Servants. The Mage who loses to their opponent is stripped of both their Command Seals and their life.” The servant said as she pointed at Twilight’s right hand. Looking down, she noticed the command seal on her hand as it let off a quick glow the moment Twilight touched it. “You will face a series of battles before you reach the Holy Grail. I’d go into details about it, but I think getting hands-on experience might do you better than a long detailed explanation. All you need to know is that you must win if you want to escape this place. It’s pretty simple, no?”
“I…don’t think that it’s simple…this is a bit confusing.”
“Hm, do you at least know what a Servant is?” The woman asked as Twilight shook her head. “I see…seems your memory loss is that bad if you don’t know the basics of Servants and Masters. Something must have happened during the transfer with your mind not being able to come to the Mooncell. Nevertheless, I will inform you about what a Servant is.” She said before presenting herself to Twilight. “Servants are legendary souls called from the past to help Masters win in the Holy Grail War. Only those whose deeds are acknowledged long after their deaths become legendary souls. The Servants recreated here by the holy grail are drawn from those legends that endured. We are soldiers, here to guide and protect our master who summoned us.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense when you think about it. Is there some kind of category for Servants? Like do they rank from power, speed, or endurance?” Twilight asked as the woman watched the unicorn rambling on.
“Hm, had you not told me you were a unicorn, I would’ve assumed you were a fairy from the Fang Clan.”
“Fang clan? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked as the servant reached for a mirror to show the unicorn her reflection. From what the unicorn could see, she had brown skin, dark purple hair with a light purple highlight in the middle of her bangs, a unicorn horn, a tail, and horse ears.
“The Fang Clan of Britain had similar animalistic features as you do. Only a bit different that a lot of them had fur covering their body. Except for Barghest. Though given how you said you were a unicorn from some kind of…lostbelt where humans have fused with mythical creatures.”
“I’m…pretty sure I’m not like that…At least I think I’m not. Maybe just refer to me as a pony and leave it at that…okay?”
“Suppose it’s better to think you’re yaga than a fairy. Back to what I was saying. To answer your question, yes. Servants are divided into seven classes. Originally, the classes of Legendary Souls were hidden, but things have changed over time.” She said before walking in front of Twilight. “Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Caster, and Assassin.”
“Okay, I take it with the spear in your hand, I can assume you're from the lancer class?”
“You would think that, but no.” She answered before taking a seat on the bed Twilight was on. “For some reason, I was summoned as a berserker.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what sort of class is the berserker class?”
“In the short term. The mad warrior class of heroic spirits. Those who are summoned into the class trade their sanity for a large boost in power, though sometimes depending on the servant, they can still obtain their sanity. This class is usually for magi who have summoned a heroic spirit with insufficient abilities and attributes. And given how you have no memories of who you are, I can assume that you fall under that category and why I was summoned as a berserker instead of a caster or lancer class servant.” She said before looking over herself. “Or wear armor that belongs to a Saber. Lancer, or Archer class…For the time being, you will refer to my class name, Berserker.”
“Is that your real name?”
“No, it’s just something so that the other masters won’t figure out my true name or look up information about my true identity. A Master who knows their opponent's true identity spells trouble for you and me. So for safety reasons and until I can trust you, I won’t tell you my name.”
“I suppose that’s understandable.”
“I will share my name once I have learned a little more about you. I can understand your unease at knowing nothing at all. But rest assured, I will tell you later on. For now, let’s focus on the holy grail war.” Berserker said as a confident smile appeared on her face. “Keep in mind. You may be my master, but I am a Queen. I expect you to be in perfect condition, so we’ll be training both physically and magically given how you’re a reservoir of magical energy.”
“Um...that’s good I guess,” Twilight said before mulling over the situation in her head. “I’m not going to lie, all this information that Berserker told me about is...a bit confusing and unsettling for the most part. Holy Grail War, Servants, The Grail. What am I even doing here, to begin with? More importantly...who am I if I’m being perfectly honest about it? I don’t remember anything other than my name and some basic stuff about...weird pony stuff. But other than that, I don’t remember anything else-” Just as she was beginning to lose herself in her thoughts, she felt something hard hit her head and let out a yelp of pain.
“Pay attention, my new subject.”
“What the hay was that for!?” Twilight yelled while rubbing the top of her head. “Don’t you know hitting somepony on the head is dangerous!?”
“You were staring off into the distance and ignoring me when I was calling out your name. Hitting you would get you out of your…wait did you say somepony?”
“Yeah, I did, why?” Twilight asked as Berserker stared at the unicorn with a deadpan expression on her face. “Um...did I say something wrong?” She asked before feeling the servant move closer to her face and flicking Twilight on the nose, causing her to yelp again and cover her nose.
“It’s pronounced somebody, not somepony. You say puns like that every time, and I will flick your nose each time until you learn not to do that.”
“You can’t just do that, who do you think you are?”
“Your queen, who will be educating you on human knowledge,” Berserker said with a smirk on her face. “Do you understand?” She asked as Twilight slowly nodded. “Good, now with that taken care of. It’s time for us to have a look around the battleground. This is so we can know where we’re going and where we need to go or spy on our opponent if needed.” With that, Berserker made herself disappear, but Twilight could feel her presence nearby. The unicorn could only assume that this is how servants stay out of sight from other people and possibly other servants. Just as Twilight was about to stand up from the bed she was in, the door to the room opened. The unicorn looked over to the doorway to see a girl with long purple hair enter the room and smiled upon seeing Twilight standing up.
“Ah, you’re finally awake? I’m so relieved.” She said before walking over towards Twilight she eyed her up and down. “You don’t seem to have any injuries from where I found you, so feel free to leave when you feel like it. But before you do that, you might want to put on some clothes before you leave.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at this as she looked over at the reflection in the window beside her. Her eyes widened at the sudden realization of being naked as she quickly grabbed the covers of the bed and used them as a means to cover her exposed body. The girl that said this giggled at the unicorn’s reaction as she walked over to the closet in the room and reached in to hand me a set of clothes to put on. All the while, Twilight can hear Berserker laughing at her in the background.
“T-Thanks for the pair of clothes….um.”
“Sakura Matou. And you’re welcome.” She said while Twilight quickly put on the spare set of clothes she gave her. “If you haven’t noticed by now. Your memories should be restored by the SE.RA.PH. So do not worry. Any magi that seek the Holy Grail have their memories suppressed and are given false ones of that of an average high school student. Only Masters who managed to recover themselves are allowed to enter the main tournament.” She said as Twilight paused upon hearing her say that and looked over at her. “Now that you have regained your memories, please try to review them to make sure they’re complete.”
“That would explain why I can’t remember anything from my past other than my name...But if that was the case, then why haven’t my memories returned yet? Outside of my name, I can’t recall anything of my past. This isn’t good, not good at all if I cannot remember a single thing that happened to me before then!” Twilight shook her head to get her thoughts straight before asking Sakura a question.
“What if your memory isn’t restored? Because I can’t remember anything about my past, nor anything else besides some basic knowledge that’s common to me.”
“I’m sorry, but I cannot help you with that. I, Sakura Matou, am just a custodial AI.”
“.....You’re a what?”
“An AI. Artificial intelligence is what the term AI means. All I can do is heal people when they’re sick, injured, or if they need a medkit to help treat their wounds themselves. If you don’t have your memories back, then there might have been a glitch with SE.RA.PH. that might have caused this. But I can give you something that might be able to help you in the tournament,” Sakura said as she reached into her pocket to pull out a strange light blue object and handed it over to Twilight who finished putting her clothes on.
“What is that?” Twilight asked as she hesitantly took the strange object into her hands and began to look it over. Once she tapped on it a bit, the object quickly expanded as the unicorn gasped in surprise.
“It’s your portable terminal. As a participant, you should pay attention to any messages that appear on your terminal. This can also be used to store information on the Masters and their Servants for when you have to fight them.” Sakura said before going back to her desk. “Do your best in the Tournament ma’am. And I hope you come out on top.” Twilight could only nod as she made her way out of the nurse’s office and into the hallway.
“Well she may not have been able to help me get my memories back, but at least she gave me something to help me hold on to information,” Twilight said before pressing the portable terminal as it returned to being a small rectangular object and placed it into her pocket. Once she placed the terminal into her pocket, her stomach began to growl. “Guess I haven’t eaten anything in quite some time.”
“Getting hungry I take it?” Berserker asked as she appeared beside Twilight she nodded with a blush on her face. “Wouldn’t be surprised, you have been sleeping for the past twelve hours or so. Let’s get you something to eat before we have a look around the school.”
“Do you know where we can find some food in this place?” Twilight asked as Berserker pointed a finger toward the staircase in the distance.
“There’s a cafe down those stairs in the school commissary from what I overheard from some people walking down the hallway. The people there should be able to give you something to eat...I mean if they don't mind looking at your pony-like features.” Berserker said before disappearing in a flash. Twilight nodded as she began to make her way to the stairs and headed downstairs to the commissary. Once she stepped a foot into the room, the room quickly fell silent as she saw the combatants of the holy grail war looking at her. “Huh, you know I should’ve taken into account that most humans would be surprised to see a talking mythical creature enter the commissary. Guess this is going to be a normal thing for you until they can look past the fact you’re a horse.”
“Well, don’t I feel special,” Twilight said before sighing and making her way over to the female student behind the counter in front of me. Once she got there, she noticed that the human was busy doing something so she cleared her throat to get her attention. “Um, excuse me, ma’am. Is this the place to get something to eat?”
“Yep, we sell both foods and items for you and your-” Once she turned around, her eyes widened in shock upon seeing Twilight. Twilight gave off an awkward wave along with a smile, as she tried her best not to be threatening or anything for that matter.
“Oh, my, god! That outfit is so amazing! What kind of code or hack did you use to make yourself look like this!?” She asked while touching Twilight’s face to get a better view of it. “It’s so well detailed to the point where it’s real.”
“I...don’t know what you mean by that, but this is real, no hacking or codes of any kind,” Twilight answered as she tried to pull her head out of the human’s grip. “B-Berserker…help me please?” She asked before feeling the human’s grip lessen as Berserker casually used her strength to release her grip on Twilight’s face.
“Please try not to hurt my subject. I kinda need her if I’m gonna win the Holy Grail War.” She said before placing the human behind the counter via magic.
“I am so, so sorry about that. It’s just that your master looked like something I would see in a manga and I couldn’t help but do that to her. I hope you can forgive me for doing that madam?”
“Just....ask before doing something like that again please?” Twilight said as cracked her neck a bit. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is my…um…Servant, Berserker.”
“Pleasure to meet you both. The name’s Heather, let me be the first to welcome you both to the Holy Grail War.”
“Um, thanks. Anyway, is this the place where I can get something to eat?”
“Indeed it is,” Heather said before pointing to a sign behind herself. “In hell, money conquers all, welcome to the Tsukumihara Academy Commissary! How can I help you two today?”
“My subject here requires food. Do you have anything that might be suitable for a horse?” Berserker asked as Twilight deadpan at her. “I mean, for a pony….a talking unicorn pony hybrid.” She said, which caused Twilight to snort in annoyance before looking over at the human girl who was reaching for something in the display case.
“Well, the only thing I have available for food would be Yakisoba Bread and Curry Bread.” She said before showing them what they look like. “They may look weird looking, but they do taste good with a drink to go along with it. And it’s made fresh so you don’t have to worry about coming here and getting it when it’s cold.”
“Perfect, then she’ll take those,” Berserker said as the human handed them over to Twilight.
“You’re just going to give me these just like that? Don’t I have to pay for them or something? It would be rude if I were to just take them without having to pay you back for them.”
“Oh don’t worry about paying. Think of this as an apology for touching you like that. Plus I get the feeling that you’re a new master in the holy grail wars right?” Heather asked as Twilight nodded. “I figured seeing how I’ve never seen someone like you before. I kinda thought you were a Servant given the way you look. But when I saw that you had a Servant of your own, I guess I was mistaken for assuming that.”
“Oh, well thanks for the food I guess? It feels kinda weird that I don’t have to pay for this, but if you’re okay with this, then I shouldn’t be complaining about it. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome! Be sure to come by my shop if you need some more food or supplies to help you in battle~” She said as Twilight nodded before waving goodbye to the human while headed up the stairs.
“That was weird and bizarre on so many levels of weirdness,” Twilight said as she started to pull the wrapping off of the Curry Bread.
“Well, you can’t blame her for doing that,” Berserker said as she made herself invisible while following Twilight. “Girls like that will find someone like you adorable to the point where they will touch you like that. So be prepared to see that happening a lot depending on who the person is.”
“She could’ve at least asked before doing that to me. I mean really, hasn't anypony heard of personal space?” Twilight said before feeling Berserker flick her nose before taking a bite out of the curry bread causing her to yelp.
“As I said, I’ll keep doing that until you break that nasty habit of saying horse puns.”
“...I’m starting to have second thoughts about having you as a partner right now,” Twilight said while rubbing her nose from the pain she felt from the flick. “Before I say anything that I might regret saying later on. Is there a place where I can eat in peace without humans looking at me?” Twilight asked as she walked by some of the students in the hallway looking at her as if she was a target for something or someone.
“The rooftop should be an okay place to eat. Just continue up the stairs and you should be there.” Berserker said as Twilight headed upstairs to the rooftop.
Chapter Two: The Princess and The Servant Part Two
“Berserker, do you know what SE.RA.PH. is?” Twilight asked as Berserker made herself visible next to her.
“SE.RA.PH. is an artificial environment within the Moon Cell we’re in right now,” Berserker said as she pointed at the sky. “SE.RA.PH. is pretty much responsible for the summoning of Servants during the Holy Grail War we’re in. It also restricts the exit until the tournament participants are reduced to one, as per the Moon Cell’s rules.” She said, scratching the back of her head in annoyance. “I find it quite annoying that my powers are reduced by half. If I had my full power at my disposal, I would have taken over the mooncell in less than a day or two. Though I suppose if I did that, then I would quickly lose interest in it.”
“This place has a library, right? Would it have more information about this SE.RA.PH. system or more importantly, the Mooncell itself?”
“It does, but it doesn’t go into that much detail about the Mooncell or SE.RA.PH. Only just the basic information.”
“Okay, I guess that’s a good place to start. Thanks, Berserker.” With that, the servant disappears into bits of ones and zeros as they make it to the roof. The moment Twilight opened the door, she quickly closed her eyes due to the digital sun and from being inside the school for quite some time. Once her eyes were adjusted to the light, her vision began to become clearer as she noticed a girl with long black pigtails wearing a red long-sleeve shirt with a white cross on the front, a black skirt, and a pair of long black thigh-high shoes searching around the area as if trying to find whatever it is that she lost.
“I’ve investigated this school from top to bottom, but there’s nothing unique about it.” The girl said, murmuring something to herself as she patted the walls and floors of the rooftop.
“Is she trying to look for something?” Twilight thought as she watched the girl out of curiosity. It was only when the girl noticed Twilight was when she turned her focus off the wall and onto the humanoid pony girl.
“Hey, you over there.”
“Y-Yes?” Twilight asked as she noticed the girl walking up to her.
“Yeah, you. Hmm, I haven’t checked the NPCs out much yet.” She said before looking at Twilight up and down as a grin appeared on the human’s face. “Aha, I know a simple way. Don’t you move.” Unexpectedly, her fingers reach out and touch Twilight’s cheek. To the pony’s surprise, the human’s fingers felt so soft and delicate. Then again, humans don’t have hair on their bodies, so it shouldn’t be a surprise for her. “Imagine that. You’re warm and surprisingly soft, though you shouldn’t be.” She said while noticing Twilight blushing even more. “Huh? That’s weird, seeing a red cheek flush like that…” Her face was just three centimeters from the tip of Twilight’s nose. She could feel her own heart racing from the closeness of this human invading her personal space. To make matters even more awkward, she felt the human doing a pat-down from her shoulder to her stomach. A normal person would quickly stop this from happening, but given the slightly harsh gaze she was receiving from the human, she didn’t want to risk getting into a slight altercation with her.
“Interesting. You’re more well-built than I had expected. You look and feel real given how you look like something from an anime show or manga. Maybe more real than most people.” She said before looking behind herself, scowling. “Hey, what are you laughing at? It’s to our advantage to look into everything, even the NPCs.”
“I can only assume that she’s talking to her servant given how she’s talking to someone behind her.” Twilight thought.
“Huh? Is she a Master too? No...A Master should be more...W-Wait. That means when I felt up-” A blush appeared on the girl’s face as she slowly looked over at Twilight who had a sheepish smile on her face. “Ugh, how embarrassing.” She said before turning back to her Servant due to him laughing at her. “Shut up! I can make mistakes too, you know! Don’t call me a pervert! It could have been my imagination. Or a hacker-such a detailed NPC would rarely exist otherwise.” She said before turning her attention back to Twilight. “Anyway, you’re to blame for looking like something out of the ordinary! How can a creature like you become a master?”
“Okay, I take offense to being called a creature. I’m a pony. PONY.” Twilight said, pointing at her ears, horn, and tail. “Also, how is it my fault that you couldn’t tell the difference between a pony and an NPC...speaking of. What is an NPC?”
“It’s short for non-playable characters. Think of them as data with the same level of human intelligence but a bit different. Some can communicate with you, while others are kind of in their own little world programmed by SE.RA.PH.” Berserker said as she whispered it into Twilight’s ear.
“I-I don’t know, it just is!” The girl said before pointing a finger at my face. “I mean, look at yourself. A sweater shirt, lab coat, black pants with boots, and bags under your eyes. I mean really. Were the prelims too boring to jog your memories?” She asked which caused Twilight to look off to the side while chuckling awkwardly.
“I…wouldn’t know. Considering how I don’t have any memories containing that.”
“Uh...No way. Your memories still haven’t returned? That’s...really not good. Once you enter the Holy Grail War, the only way out is to win. Leaving prematurely isn’t allowed. Even without memories, or previous battle experience, you still have to fight.” She said before looking at Twilight again as she shrugged. “Oh well. It doesn’t matter. You’ll be defeated in the Holy Grail War soon enough.”
“I get the feeling this girl’s going to be an oddity during the coming trials ahead…I’m hoping I don’t have to fight here in the upcoming fight.” With that, the girl returned to her investigation of the rooftop. Before the humanoid mare could say anything, she soon felt Berserker’s presence behind her as she placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder.
“As expected from Rin Tohsaka. Though she does pique my interest as a fellow mage, she will be an interesting foe to face, should we have to fight her in the tournament.” “How did you know her name?” Twilight asked as she made her way to the other side of the roof away from Rin.
“I overheard some of the students talking about how they find Rin so beautiful. I don’t see the appeal to what they’re talking about. But given the features that they were talking about, I can see why a lot of people find her attractive. Even you when she felt you up like that find her attractive~”
“T-That’s a lie and you know it you jerk!” Twilight yelled before covering her mouth due to how loud she was. She quickly looked over at Rin to see if she heard her. To her surprise, she appeared to not have heard her when she said that. Twilight sighed in relief before looking over at Berserker with a glare as she snickered.
“Oh relax. I’m just messing with you.” She said before patting me on the head. “But in all seriousness. What she said were fighting words. When we meet her in battle, I will give my answer to her and her Servant.”
“I’m kinda hoping we don’t, but we’ll have to worry about that later,” Twilight said before hearing her stomach growling. “Right now, I need to eat something before I pass out.”
“Yes, yes, go on. Eat while I keep watch over our opponent so they don’t try anything suspicious.” Berserker said as she made herself disappear and Twilight moved over to the side of the rooftop to eat in peace.
[Evening]
During the morning and midday of school. Twilight spent most of her time brushing up on some human culture, history, literature, and miscellaneous stuff in the library. Despite having the feeling that some of the students were secretly looking at her from either behind their books or the bookshelves, she felt a bit relaxed and comfortable within that library. It did sorta help calm down a bit from not letting the fact of the holy grail war get to her, but that still didn’t help her to remember who she was.
“There has to be a way to regain my memories somehow. Maybe the person by the name Father Kotomine could shine some light on this problem.” Twilight thought as she made her way down the hallway of the school. While walking down the hallway lost in her thoughts of how, she accidentally bumped into someone, which brought her back from her train of thought. Looking up she saw a man with brown short hair who was wearing a uniform that was close to the pastor of a thing the humans called a church.
“Congratulations. You have been deemed worthy to be a participant in the Holy Grail War.” The man said as he bowed to Twilight. “You may call me Father Kotomine. I am an NPC assigned the task of supervising the Holy Grail War. As of today you and your fellow magi have been given the honor of fighting in the Arena up ahead.”
“Arena?”
“This war is run as an elimination tournament, with the Grail being awarded to the Last person standing. In other words, the participating Masters will kill each other until there is only one person left. Simple enough to understand, yes? Even a complete idiot should be able to understand the rules.” He said before chuckling a bit. “Masters get a six-day preparation period before Elimination Battles, which occur on the seventh day. I’d advise you to use the time given to devise the most efficient means of slaughtering your foe. On the seventh day, you and your foe will fight. The winner lives, and the loser is...deleted.“
“...By deleted…you mean dead…right?” Twilight asked as Kotomine nodded.
“If you wish to make a query, speak now. The right to ask about the rules is given to all.”
“Who will be my first opponent in the first round?”
“You have not yet been informed of your first-round opponent?” He asked as I nodded. “Hmm...Wait just a moment…” He said before pulling up a digital screen and beginning to type on it. “...Strange. There seems to be a system error. I will locate your opponent by tomorrow, but for now, you can relax until then.”
“Okay, suppose that’s a good thing to relax a bit.” She said before turning around and was about to leave, only to stop upon hearing him call out her name.
“One last thing before you go. Masters that continue to advance will be given a private room.” He said before handing a card with the letter TS on it. “Your room will be located in classroom 2-B. Please use this card and enter it into your terminal so that you can access your room.”
“Huh, didn’t know we could get private rooms,” Twilight said as she placed the card into her portable terminal. Within a matter of seconds, the card vanished as it gave off a small chime indicating that it was integrated into her terminal.
“Well, the time for conversation has come to an end. The door at the end of the hallway behind you will lead you to the Arena. For today, concentrate on becoming accustomed to the inner workings of the Arena. Good luck.” With that, Kotomine makes his leave as Berserker makes herself visible for Twilight.
“Perfect, this will be a golden opportunity to see the inner workings of this mooncell’s version of a battle arena,” Berserker said as she summoned her spear-like staff into her hand. “It would be nice if this place didn’t restrict my strength, but nothing can be gained without putting in the work.”
“You’re saying that like you've been in a Holy Grail War before,”
“I wouldn’t say I’ve been in a Holy Grail War before, but I have had my fair share of combat and wars. Now come along, subject. Let’s go to the arena and see what it looks like.” Berserker said as she motioned for Twilight to follow after her.
[Arena]
[First Chimeric Lunar Sea]
[Greed and Lust combine to burst into Brilliance]
[And lead onward to sepulcher of the sea.]
Words could not describe how Twilight felt when they entered the Arena. It was a mix between godstruck, fearful, amazed, and shocked by how this place could exist. This place looked like they were inside a thing called a video game that the humanoid pony looked up at the library. The weird glowing circuit lines off in the distance and the solid visible see-through floors and walls, this was making her feel all sorts of excitement inside…yet she didn’t know why she felt this way.
“So this is the Mooncell’s Arena. I’m a bit disappointed by this. I was expecting more than something so…bland and simple.” Berserker said before noticing Twilight taking a step forward.
“Are you kidding me!? Look at this place!” Twilight yelled as she spun around in excitement. “How can you not find this place amazing!? We’re in a digital place where it should be impossible for something like this to exist! Can you imagine how anypony would feel if they could study something like this-” Before the mare could finish, she felt Berserker flick her nose as she quickly covered her nose due to the pain she felt.
“You keep saying those improper puns that are horse related, I’ll keep flicking or hitting you on the nose or head,” Berserker said before moving in front of Twilight. “Now please focus. This may be a free day for you, but this will be a test to see what my limitations are in a fight.” She said before noticing some enemies wandering around in the distance. “In this place, we’re allowed to do battles whenever we feel the need to fight and train. Enemy Programs created by SE.RA.PH roams this place and will attack us on the spot. So long as you stay close to me, I’ll keep you protected, but this is for the first round. Afterward, I will be putting you through the wringer and training you to be a proper master/knight of my caliber. So don’t mistake my kindness as a weakness.”
“Thanks for the boost in confidence.” Twilight thought but nodded regardless.
“Since this will be our first time in battle, let’s just deal with the square-looking enemies here today.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to handle them? I mean, I know you can handle yourself on your own, but you seem to be taking this kind of casually like there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Your worry is considered, but worry not of me,” Berserker said before noticing a cube-like enemy off in the distance from them. A smirk appeared on her face as she lifted her spear-like staff and thrust it into some kind of portal of shorts. Within a matter of seconds, a spear made out of her magic appeared out of nowhere and impaled itself into the top part of the cube’s head as it instantly vanished into ashes. “I can manage for myself despite being a Berserker class servant. You should have some faith in me.”
“It’s kinda hard to do that when you keep saying sly remarks like that. But I guess I have no choice in the matter seeing how I’m stuck in this place until we can win this war.” Twilight said as she noticed Berserker motioning for the pony to follow her. As they continued to make their way through the beginning part of the Arena, Twilight noticed three cube-like enemies stretching themselves like springs coming around the corner. Upon seeing her and Berserker, they began to charge at them with the intent to kill.
“Try not to think of it like that,” Berserker said before changing her weapon out with a sword and slicing the air in front of herself. Within a matter of seconds, one of the cubes was sliced in two as it fell to the ground and turned to digital ashes. “Suppose that’s the limit to how many I can take down from a distance.” She said before transforming her sword into an ax and quickly dodging the oncoming spin attack by the two cubes.
Off to the side, she quickly launched herself at the cubes with her ax raised, brought it down upon the second cube, and cut it in two. She quickly spun around like a spinning top as she tried to cleave the other enemy program in two, but missed as the cube quickly dodged it and tried to counter with a spinning attack of its own. The servant quickly brought the shaft part of her weapon up to block the oncoming attack. Once it makes contact with her weapon, she quickly parries the attack and counters with a quick upward slash causing the cube to collide with the arena ceiling and then the floor.
“Hm, supposed being a berserker class isn’t so bad,” Berserker said before turning her back on the cube she knocked down and focused on Twilight. “Never been the type to fight in close range, using magic from a distance to take out my enemies is more of my specialties. Less of a pain and time-consuming.”
“...I…Don’t know what to say other than I am amazed at how fast you were.” Twilight said as she examined Berserker up and down. “Are all servants able to perform feats like you just did?”
“More or less, though they can do more, were it not for this weakening us.” She said before making her weapon vanish. “But I’ll manage for the both of us.” Just as she turned her back onto the cube, Twilight took notice of the creature slowly pulling itself up. The humanoid pony’s eyes widened upon seeing this as she saw the cube launching itself at Berserker.
“Look out behind you!” Twilight yelled as she quickly tackled Berserker to the ground as the cube collided with the arena wall. The cube staggered from the impact before looking over at them and attempting to attack them, only for pale blue-colored spikes to appear from out of its body. Twilight blinked in surprise at this as she looked over at Berserker, who was glaring daggers at the enemy program.
“You dare,” Berserker said before carefully pulling Twilight off and teleporting in front of the cube. The moment she was within range, she grabbed the cube by the string part of its body and began to violently slam it against the walls of the arena. “You dare attack me while my back is turned, force my subject to risk her life for mine, and have the gull to think you can just attack us again!?” She yelled before slamming the cube onto the ground and proceeded to stomp on it with a sadistic grin on her face.
“Um…I think that’s…enough?” Twilight said as she watched the cube turn into dust within a matter of seconds.
“I’ll say when it has enough!” Berserker yelled before feeling Twilight pulling on her shoulder.
“I’m saying that because there’s nothing left of it.” She said as Berserker looked down to see the cube reduced to nothingness.
“Ah…I see…” She said before quickly turning away from Twilight for a good few seconds before her grin was replaced with a warm smile. “W-Well, I suppose I should thank you for risking your life for me…even though it wasn’t needed, and I could easily dodge it without any problems whatsoever.”
“...Are you okay?” I asked as she simply nodded.
“Of course I’m fine. Just a slight moment of anger is all.” She said before wiping the dust off her boot. “Pay it no mind. Just…be more careful from now on.”
“I’ll try…but I make no promises.” Twilight answered.
“Good, now come along. We have more exploring to do before we head back.”
[Night]
(Private Room)
After a few hours in the Arena, the duo decided to make their way back to the private room given to them by Father Kotomine. Once they entered the room, Twilight was kinda disappointed at the fact that there wasn’t much in the room. Then again, they were inside of a school, so having something like a bed or a place to sleep was out of the question. The idea to make a makeshift bed out of the desk was something that Twilight was about to do, but it was soon interrupted by Berserker as she tapped the bottom part of her staff against the ground. A burst of light filled the room as Twilight quickly covered her eyes. Within a matter of seconds, she could feel the light fading away as she opened her eyes. To her surprise, the room looked more like a modern/medieval-themed bedroom than a classroom.
“Wow, I didn’t know you could do something like this.”
“The perks of having territory creation. Though I can’t spread it throughout the school, this room will work as a workshop/bedroom for us to sleep in. Consider it as a thank you for what you did in the arena.”
“Oh, um, thank you?” Twilight said as she made her way over to the large bed in the middle of the room. “This is surprisingly comfortable.”
“Of course, it’s supposed to be comfortable. It’s made out of the finest material within the lostb-” Berserker paused upon catching herself in the mistake she almost made. She cleared her throat for a moment before continuing. “Within the mooncell. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I hate to admit it, but because of this place and your loss of memories of being a mage. We’re at a serious disadvantage. If it wasn’t noticed in the Arena today.”
“I kinda figured it'd be the case...I mean I’m still trying to get the hang of this warfighting thing. Sorry for not being that helpful to you.”
“It’s not your fault. This sort of thing happens, although a bit different than expected. But it’s no excuse for us. I have slight faith that we’ll be able to make it through the week.”
“Do…you have that much faith in me?” Twilight asked as Berserker waved her hand to the side a bit.
“Not so much, but I have a feeling there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye. Especially given how much mana you’re giving off that could rival that of a caster class servant.”
“Should…I take that as a compliment?”
“Take it however you want. Tomorrow we’ll make another effort to explore the Arena, just to see what it has to offer.” She said before walking over to the closet of the room and tossing over a blanket and pillow perfectly right beside Twilight. “It’s a trivial matter. As long as you have me, we’ll keep going.”
“I suppose she’s right. Today was just a preview of what to expect in this war. Tomorrow is when the real thing will happen. There are a lot of questions that I need to have answered, and this place might be the key to getting them back…I hope.” Twilight thought before looking over at Berserker with a nod.
“Nice to see that you understand the situation. Do try not to disappoint me, subject.” Berserker said before vanishing into bits of ones and zeros. With her gone, Twilight let out a small yawn as she was about to reach for the pillow and blanket but soon fell to her side due to how fatigued her body was. She pondered how this would be possible, considering how she didn’t feel tired during their exploration of the arena. But all that could wait once she woke up, for now, she let herself fall into slumber as her vision faded into darkness.
