Episode 1: The Summoning of the Seven

Fate/Lunaverse

Episode 1: The Summoning of the Seven

Princess Luna Equestris, Sovereign of the Three Tribes, Ruler of Equestria, Custodian of the Night, and a number of other titles that sounded impressive on paper, was restless.

It was getting close to morning and she was standing upon one of the many balconies that spread across the Canterlot Palace, one of the highest available. Soon it’d be time to raise the sun, and much like had been the case for every day since the Longest Night Celebration and the return of…the mare that had once been her sister, Luna felt a stab of trepidation. Corona’s power had been damaged badly by her brush with the Elements of Harmony and the sun was still Luna’s to take hold off, but how long before Luna would feel another pony tugging upon the sun other than herself? How many more days would it be until, when Luna began to guide that fiery orb into the sky, that she’d feel the influence of Corona directing it instead?

Pushing the thought away from the forefront of her mind she began to reach out with the core of her power, the ancient magic that suffused every facet of her being, and felt out the waiting presence of that massive golden orb of flame. To move the sun was no simple feat. It was never truly hers, even after her sister’s fall, and while she had long since become accustomed to the of taking hold of and coaxing the sun to rise and fall in its proper cycle it never ceased to feel somewhat…wrong.

No matter how many times I do this I will be reminded of the fact that somepony else should be standing here, performing this act, bringing forth light, warmth, and hope to the ponies of Equestria…

And that pony was no more. Consumed by malice, madness, avarice, and an overpowering need to control. A thousand years may have been sufficient for Luna to come to accept what had happened, but forgiving herself for allowing it to come to pass? That might take another thousand years…or two.

Luna refocused her attention on the sun. It was being somewhat stubborn this morning. It felt like her power was slipping along the orb’s essence, rather than taking a proper, firm hold of it. For a second Luna felt a rising fear that this was the day she’d been dreading since Corona’s return, that the alicorn of fire and madness had regained her power sooner than expected and was taking the sun once more for herself…but no, Luna didn’t sense any other presence but her own attempting to take hold of the sun. What was going on?

A pulse of magic, deep rooted into her soul, screamed through her like a twisted, sickened heartbeat. It caused Luna to stagger, though she kept her footing and shook herself. What was-

The pulse came again, twice as strong, and pounding through her heart, soul, and mind like a wave of noxious shadows. For a moment confusion clambered through Luna, but the mind of a eons old alicorn is a disciplined thing; she reigned in her confusion and even while the third, then fourth pulse of dark, sickening magic coursed through her she mentally went over a checklist of possible things it could be.

It was coming from something that was inside her, but also she sensed a connection to something vast and distant…the magic pulse was coming from an outside place but it was connected to something rooted at the core of her own magic. That removed a lot of possibilities from the list.

By the fifth pulse the magic had changed. Rather than just a buildup of raw, corrupting magic slamming through her body it was now starting to pool and take shape. Luna could see motes of black and violet rimmed magical energy coalescing into the air around her, and traces of similar magic forming a large and grand circle of symbols on the balcony she stood upon. Symbols she recognized. Symbols she hadn’t seen for…how long ago was it? Beyond the point where Luna could even grace with a number within a millennia of accuracy. But she knew them. Knew what they meant. Knew now exactly what was about to happen and that at this very moment Celest…no, Corona would be experiencing the very same events.

It had been so long ago, from such a time where the two sisters were still in many ways just children playing with their powers, but at the dangerous moment where they were just getting to the point where the childish games they used to play for decades on end had lost their appeal. She and Celestia had wanted to try a different kind of game back then. Innocence plus god-like power plus an adolescent willingness to ignore signs of danger was not a good combination. There were times Luna theorized the reason neither she or her sister had been able to conventionally bear foals was because the world would be torn asunder by too many alicorns running around with no regard for what their power could do. Much as she and Celestia hadn’t understood what their power could do, what it could create when combined as one.

They’d created something, eons ago, an artifact. They made it just to see if they could, to see what would happen if they poured all of their magic into forging one item of power. They’d never tried to create anything together like it before, and at the time it was such an exciting endeavor just to see how far they could push their magic; to really try to find their limits. Well…they had. The item that was born from that experiment was in no way normal. It took the form of a chalice, but that was just a physical shape, it wasn’t in any way the true nature of Grail.

Luna felt the ritual taking place around her begin to reach its culmination. She tried to fight back against the magic, to do anything to even slightly disrupt the strands of power flowing into the world around her, but there was little she could do. The magic wasn’t just the outside influence of the Grail, it was Luna’s own magic that was helping it, coaxed by the rules of the eons old pact formed to at once seal away the thing she and Celestia had made but also aid in the conditions of its return.

Still, there was always the slight chance that, if she and Corona fought back against the ritual at the same time then just maybe they could disrupt what was about to happen. By now the magic was visible as a growing dark and violet aura that was covering both Luna and the balcony she stood upon, also causing a rumble to reach all through the castle and the city of Canterlot itself. Several members of her Night Guard had already arrived on the scene, but a single command from Luna for them to stay back was enough for them to keep their distance. They recognized powerful magic when they saw it and if their Princess commanded they stay away, they would obey.

As the shaking intensified and the large magic circle she was now standing at the center off began to pour out light like an upward charging waterfall Luna could feel among the torrent of energies…her sister. She felt Corona’s magic suffused with the magic of the ritual. The heated energy was tearing and roiling around, fighting against the ritual every inch of the way and Luna could almost feel out the righteous indignation of Cornoa as her power was being made to bend to the will of the ritual just like Luna’s was.

Then the magic reached its peak, an overwhelming tide of power rushing through Luna and exploding upwards in a physical pillar of violet rimmed black energy that pierced through the mild cloud cover of the pre-dawn sky. At the same time, in the distant north horizon, another pillar of energy shot upwards, one of red rimmed white light. The two pillars of energy curved through the sky, distorting the atmosphere as they went, until the two beams collided at a space above the inner sea that was to the west. There the two beams, light and dark, swirled around one another and blended together to form a massive sphere of light rimmed with flickers of flame light black…that then collapsed in on itself until it became a single small pin prick of energy that descended into the water.

At the end of it Luna was left amid a few lingering arcs of magical energy as the circle of symbols faded away. However the midnight blue alicorn’s right foreleg as now covered in blood red symbols of the same manner, and she could feel pulsing in her aura, in time with her own heartbeat, the sensation of ‘it’, the Grail. It wasn’t free. Wouldn’t be until the culmination of the pact, if thing went the way the Grail desired. Luna knew the terms of the pact bound her from interfering directly, and restricted what she could do indirectly…but she wasn’t going to let this proceed without doing something.

“My Princess, are you…alright?” asked one of the Night Guard, a pegasus who’d kept clear of the balcony but had strayed closer than most the others.

Luna controlled her features, not showing any of the anxiousness or fear that she was feeling, instead projecting the confidence and calm a ruler ought to.

“I am as well as I must be to do what needs to be done. First and foremost ensure that this incident has caused no damage to the city and that our populace is safe. Send for Shining Armor, and tell him to meet with me in the throne room immediately.”

She would need to organize the Royal Guard to begin a search as soon as possible. Somewhere in Equestria seven ponies would be bearing markings similar to the ones that now covered her leg. She imagined Corona bore similar markings on her left foreleg. Luna wondered, if only for an instant, if this event might help break through Corona’s madness, somehow reach some part of her mind that still cared about the ponies of Equestria…

…Luna didn’t dare let that hope distract her from her duty. Civilians all across the land would have seen that light show. She’d need to release a formal statement to try and assuage any fears that might be spreading through the populace…but right at this very moment the battle might already be starting. She’d need to act fast.

As of this moment, the Second Grail War had begun.

----------

Just a short time ago…

Trixe was not a morning pony. She liked her luxuries. Sleep being one of the top luxuries she enjoyed indulging in. But sometimes the demands of a Representative of the Night Court overrode the desire to sleep in. She had to purchase an alarm clock just for the purpose of getting up early this morning.

It was so early the sun hadn’t even been risen yet while she showered, too tired to even get much into singing as she did so. Levitating a brush to start straightening her mane and tail after drying off Trixie stumbled, eyes half open, into her office. It was exceedingly inconvenient by she, as Ponyville’s Representative to the Night Court, had to draft and personally send the acknowledging letter of Ponyville’s selection for that month’s water transfer to Cloudsdale. She’d have Pokey do this but he’d taken a week vacation to take care of a ‘family matter’, which he hadn’t really elaborated on, but given he’d actually gone above and beyond the call of duty lately Trixie allowed him the week off.

Which unfortunately meant being up at this unpleasant hour to mail paperwork.

The paperwork she needed was already on the table. She’d gotten it sorted last night to make sure she didn’t have to waste any time. Just go to the post office, drop of the papers, go home, climb back into bed. She snatched up the envelope and threw on her signature purple magician hat and cape and headed out.

Ponyville’s post office wasn’t a long walk, and it was a mild night. Trixie figured the sun would be getting raised by Luna any minute, though there wasn’t any indication of pre-dawn light yet. Ponyville was quiet, only a few vendors getting their stalls set up in the market square for those early bird shoppers, Carrot Top among them. Trixie tiredly waved at the carrot farmer in the distance, who spotted her and returned the wave.

Yawning Trixie got to the post office, which was alright lit up with the morning shift getting ready to start the day’s deliveries. There was a drop box for mail like what Trixie was sending, but she felt a sudden whim to pop in and see if Ditzy was working today, so Trixie walked through the front doors. Inside Silver Script was speaking with Ditzy Doo, both of them looking up as Trixie entered.

“Ah, Miss Trixie!” Silver Script looked a tad bemused to see her, “Have to admit I never thought I’d see you trotting through our doors this early. This some kind of emergency?”

“Morning Trixie,” Ditzy said with a happy smile. She was already suited up in her blue post worker’s outfit, mail bag slung on her back, “how can Equestria’s best postal office help you?”

Ditzy was rather chipper, though Trixie imagined that might be because the gray pegasus mare was used to being up at this hour. Trixie tried to match her friend’s smile though it was probably a wan ghostly imitation of the one Ditzy had on. She levitated up the envelope.

“No emergency, just the official confirmation being sent back to Cloudsdale that yes, they can feel free to drain our water reservoir to make clouds,” Trixie said, yawning again.

“Oh, that,” Silver Script shook his head with a light laugh, “Always a fun week for us pegasi. Wonder if Rainbow Dash will put us all through the paces like last time?” he stretched his wings, “Mare’s got a lot of enthusiasm. Maybe a little too much.”

“I think it’s fun,” said Ditzy, “It’s not often all of Ponyville’s pegasi get together.”

“Yeah, well, you all have fun, I’ll be rooting comfortably from the sidelines,” Trixie said, rather glad that unicorns didn’t have any odd get-together obligations that forced them into a week of sudden extreme exercise to create tornado. She wondered if, in Equestria’s long history, if anypony had thought of a more…well…efficient way to get the water to Cloudsdale’s factories. Like regular shipments via sky carts?

Ditzy chuckled as she took the envelope and moved it to the proper bin in the office, “Trixie, while you’re here I might as well tell you I’m going to be working a double shift today, so I won’t be able to make it to ‘game night’ this time.”

Trixie nodded in understanding. The game night idea was a relatively new addition to her weekly schedule anyway, so a few hiccups was to be expected, and Trixie understood Ditzy walked a financial tightrope, so the pegasus needed to grab what hours she could.

“That’s fine, we’ll miss you, but-“

She didn’t get to finish her sentence as an intense feeling that was almost pain, but was more like an unimaginable heat on her right hoof caused her to gasp and nearly fall down. At the same time Ditzy let out a squeal and hit the floor from where she’d been previously floating, her left wing getting shrouded in a blood red glow. Trixie saw that her own right hoof was glowing in a similar fashion.

“W-what’s going on!?” Ditzy said in clear shock and fear, her usually drifting eye now focused on her glowing wing.

Trixie lit up her horn, channeling a magic sight spell so she could try and figure out what was going on with her hoof and Ditzy’s wing…and in doing so she felt the blood drain from her face. There was magic, foreign magic, seeping into her body from an outside source. She could see the crimson tendrils snaking in from the walls and stabbing into her and Ditzy, not just at the points where they were glowing, but all over.

“I…I…” she didn’t know what this was, the magic didn’t correspond to any kind of school or type she was familiar with, and it felt…dark, and powerful, “I don’t know!”

She found she could stand, and Silver Script was helping Ditzy up, though he was eyeing his employee’s glowing wing warily, “Ditzy, something’s appearing on your wing.”

“What?” Ditzy turned her head and stared as strange sharp arcane markings began to form along the feathers of her wing, crawling up it like a growth.

Trixie noticed the same thing was happening with her right hoof, only the markings were…much smaller, a three part runic pattern that formed on the front of her hoof that was the color of blood. She gulped, because the magic sight was showing her that these red tendrils of magic were coming from outside, and were starting to coalesce.

Without a word Trixie went outside, not sure at all what was going on, but wanting to find out.

The red tendrils of magic were gathering at two points on either side of Ponyville’s town square, forming into pools of magic that were getting larger and more intense by the second. Trixie noticed that there was a separate number of magic tendrils that were flowing towards the north end of Ponyville, somewhere up in the sky. The few ponies who were setting up their stalls in the market were now all gathering together, many of them pointing to the north as well. At first Trixie wondered if the red tendrils were visible to ponies without magic sight active, but then she realized those ponies weren’t looking at the tendrils, which while strong were still probably invisible to normal pony eyes, but instead were looking towards the distant Canterhorn Mountain and the barley discernible view of Canterlot.

Trixie felt her mouth drop. There was a pillar of black and violet rimmed magic firing into the sky from Canterlot, arcing through the air, impossibly fast, streaking to the southwest. With her magic sight active she was almost blinded by the amount of magic in that bolt of black energy that tore across the skyline. She fell back on her haunches, the now tingly feeling her hoof forgotton.

It was only when Ditzy came up to her, followed by Carrot Top, that Trixie was able to break out of her stupor. Carrot Top was looking between her two friends with a serious and confused look, one hoof hesitantly poking Trixie.

“Trixie? Trixie are you alright? What’s going on?”

Ditzy was looking at her wing as if it were a strange animal that’d grown out of her side, the entire limb now looking like it was covered in oddly symmetrical wounds, though that was just due to the fact that the symbols covering her wing were the same blood red as the ones on Trixie’s hoof.

“I don’t know what’s happening.” Trixie admitted fearfully, “I’ve never seen or even heard of magic like this!”

“You don’t think its Corona, do you?” Ditzy asked nervously.

Trixie briefly considered it, but shook her head, “I don’t think so. This may be flashy enough for her, but if she were trying some kind of attack then I don’t think she’d do it without bringing the sun into the sky. You know, so all could see her ‘glory’ or some such.”

She pointed up at the still black night. Which wasn’t a good sign. If Princess Luna was alright, then wouldn’t the sun be up by now? Well, she was probably fine, Trixie mentally amended, but was probably too busy dealing with whatever emergency this was to raise the sun right now. Which wasn’t a good sign, either way.

“We should get everypony together,” Carrot Top said, “I could go get them, meet you two at Trixie’s place?”

Trixie was about to say that that sounded fine, but there was a number of yelps and shouts nearby and she looked over at the commotion. She hadn’t been paying attention to the two pools of magic energy that had formed in town square, and now noticed that they’d visibly taken the shape of two massive magical circles, lined with symbols similar to the ones she and Ditzy now bore. These magic circles had to be visible to normal pony sight because the market ponies were backing away from them, and they circles were casting a crimson glow over the square.

As Trixie watched, those circles of magic flared brightly and she felt the runes on her right hoof tingle. Something was emerging from the circles, raising up as if being pulled by a levitating force.

From one circle a massive creature rose that it took Trixie a second to realize was a griffin. The feather’s of the griffin’s eagle head were a stark white, tipped with a crest of larger feathers that were a darker snowcap gray. The lion body of the griffin was thick with muscles beyond the normal lithe form of a griffin, the coat of coppery red fur. The griffin was a male, Trixie though, and was wearing a suit of archaic iron gray armor, segmented bands of metal cover the chest, back, and flanks of the creature and tooled with intricate designs of that looked like vast mountainscape. Most notable were the griffin’s gauntlets, huge affairs with metal shod claws as large as swords, and which glowed with a fierce orange light.

The griffin opened its eyes, which were two pools of pure orange fire, and threw its head back, screeching a roar that sent a primal fear straight into Trixie, and just about every other pony in earshot. It was the screeching hunting call of a pure predator that elicited in Trixie ancient engrained pony instincts to run and hide from the thing that would eat her.

The only reason she didn’t run was that she was equally transfixed by the other form that had emerged from the circle opposite the griffin’s.

This was a pony, a unicorn mare with a brilliant white coat and shining golden mane of hair, carefully arranged in an intricate bun against the back of her head. She stood tall and proud in gleaming gold armor, with a cerulean blue knight’s surcoat draped over her chest and back. Her shining blue eyes were taking in the scene around her with a calm, proud gaze. At her side was a sword sheathed in a scabbard the same shining gold as her armor. Her cutie mark was covered by her armor.

There was a second of silence as ponies stared at the strange scene…then utter chaos as the griffin screeched again and leaped at the unicorn in gold armor. Ponies scattered, screaming, Trixie and her friends starred.

The griffin’s gauntlets slashed in at the unicorn mare, leaving trails of fire in the air as the gauntlets lit up. The unicorn for her part frowned and with grace and speed Trixie had only seen in the best of the Royal Guard drew her sword with a blue glow of her magic and brought the blade up in a sweeping arc into the gauntlet’s path.

The resulting clash was with force beyond the means of mortal muscle power, creating a shockwave that Trixie could feel from dozens of yards away. She saw the ground indenting from beneath the clawed feet and hooves of the two combatants. The unicorn mare jumped away, her sword flashing through the air next to her as she charged in to swipe at the griffin, shouting of all things, “Have at thee cur! Thy lack of manners in failing to introduce thyself properly before blades cross shows you for a cad!”

…What?

“Trixie, we should go,” said Carrot Top next to her, “We don’t want to be anywhere near this.”

The unicorn’s attack didn’t deter the griffin in the slightest and it slashes wildly at the golden armored mare as her own blade sided across his dark iron armor, sending a shower of sparks and a small spray of crimson blood across the grass. The unicorn, shocked at the enemy ignoring her attack, had to roll away to avoid those flaming claws slashing her side. Instead the claws went right through one of the market carts, demolishing it. Carrot Top groaned.

“That was your cart, wasn’t it?” asked Trixie.

“Never mind, we just need to go! Find the others-“

“What’s going on!?” Raindrops smashed into the ground next to Trixie, Carrot Top, and Ditzy, her wings still flapping as she looked at the scene before them.

“There’s a lot of noise for a weekday morning,” Cheerilee said as she trotted up from the direction of the schoolhouse, “I was trying to get today’s lesson prepare…oh, well, I suppose that would explain all the screaming.”

“Hey guys!” Lyra was last to arrive, looking a little haggard, “Tell me, is it possible for our town to go a week without some crisis occurring?”

“I think this goes way beyond Ponyville,” said Trixie, mesmerized by the battle taking place in the town square.

The griffin had chased the unicorn mare across several more stalls, sending them flying every which way as it slashed again and again with its massive gauntlets at the nimble mare. She moved like liquid silver, never in the same place for more than a split second. Her sword, a strange, crystalline clear broadsword with a gold hilt, wove through the air under her blue aura of magic, stabbing and cutting at her relentless opponent. Each time the griffin ignored the attacks, taking the wounds on its armor as if they meant nothing. If anything each wound seemed to spur the griffin onward and Trixie could see a dark orange glow emanating from the wounds, like flickering fire.

The mare made a leap that would have been physically impossible for the best of mortal pony athletes and jumped on top of the town hall. The griffin spread its wings and barreled up the town hall after her, dragging its gauntlets through the building as it did so and cutting a massive gouge in the side of the structure.

“Okay, those two need to be stopped, otherwise we’re going to need a new town,” said Raindrops, frowning and flexed her wings.

Trixie looked at her in shock, “Are you out of your little pony mind!? Those two are not normal! Just charging in there could get you hurt, or worse!”

“We have to do something,” said Lyra, “Raindrops is right, we don’t’ do something, then Ponyville won’t be standing for long.”

“Maybe we can lead them away somehow?” suggested Ditzy, still giving her red rune shrouded wing nervous looks with one of her eyes while the other wandered.

“How? We don’t know who they are, where they came from, or what any of this is about!” said Carrot Top, “Not like we can just ask them nicely to leave.”

“We could always ask them not nicely,” suggested Cheerilee.

“ Wouldn’t recommend that civilians,” said a deep baritone, commanding voice above them.

Trixie looked, as did her friends, to see two pegasi flying in the air above them.

One was Rainbow Dash, looking like she’d recently woken up, mane disheveled, and giving the pegasus stallion next to her a somewhat annoyed look before she saw the fight taking place on top of the town hall, to which she pointed, “Whoa! You weren’t actually kidding! There really is a fight going on. Hey! They’re messing up my town. We gotta stop them!”

As Rainbow Dash tried to bolt off the other pegasus snatched her tail with his teeth and pulled her back with surprising strength, giving the rainbow speedster a small smack on top of her head.

“Not so fast solider! Engaging the enemy without a tactical plan is guaranteed to fail. Private Dash, you are to stand to until otherwise directed.”

“Hey old guy, don’t go bossin’ me around! You’re the one that called me your Master, so what gives with the orders?”

“Hmph, I may be a Servant, and you may be my Master, but by the chain of military command I am still your superior officers Private Dash.”

“I didn’t agree to enter your Grand Pegaus Army anyway!”’

“Didn’t have to. Conscripted you. As Commander of the Grand Pegasus Army of Pegasopolis I can conscript any civilian as I see fit into the glorious ranks of my military.”

The pegasus stallion who was arguing with Rainbow Dash was a sooty black, with a mane and tail of gray and dark blue. His eyes were amber, flashing with pride. His armor was simple studded leather and he wore a helmet that styled his mane into a straight mohawk. His cutie mark was exposed, a blue swirling cloud with rain sheeting out from beneath it. He carried a large steel spear with a long leaf shaped blade. Hanging from the spear was a banner, one that held a series of white stars on a dark blue field, the emblem of a pony’s head flanked by wide flared light blue pegasus wings.

“Rainbow Dash, who the heck is that guy?” Raindrops asked, glaring up, “What’s he jabbering about!?”

As Raindrops asked Trixie finally noticed that the cyan pegasus mare had a trio of crimson arcane symbols on her chest, not unlike the ones on her hoof or Ditzy’s wing. A pattern was starting to form in Trixie’s mind. Three mares with weird runes appearing on them…three new arrivals, none of which seemed like they belonged in Ponyville. Two of them had been clearly summoned. Trixie suddenly didn’t doubt this new pegasus had also come from a magical circle.

“This joker?” Rainbow Dash jabbed a hoof at the pegasus stallion, “He says he’s some big shot pegasus army guy. Just came out of nowhere, gave me this crazy speech about being a Servant and me being a Master, wasn’t paying much attention to it, then drags me over her saying he’d show me proof he was right.”

There was a crashing sound from behind them and Trixie looked, suppressing a wince as the griffin, still chasing the unicorn mare, had smashed right through the top of the town hall and fallen inside. The unicorn mare hopped right in after the griffin and before long they could all hear the sound of smashing walls and furniture from inside the town hall. Ivory Scroll was not going to be happy.

“I am no joker, Private! I am Commander Hurricane, leader of Pegasopolis. Or I will be again, once we win this war and get our wish!”

“Okay…crazy much?” Lyra make a little ‘coo-coo’ circling gesture with her hoof at her head, “Anypony else following this?”

Cheerilee was looking thoughtful, and Trixie noted she had been looking at the runes on Trixie’s hoof and Ditzy’s wing, not to mention the ones on Rainbow Dash, “Right now I’m going to say everything seems a tad crazy. But Commander Hurricane is a name I recognize. He was the leader of the pegasi tribes during the time of unification.”

The self-proclaimed Commander Hurricane snorted, “Not the brightest time in my military career, but good to know my name’s survived to this era. Now then, I’m noticing we have a couple of other Master’s down there in the crowd.”

He pointed his spear at Trixie, then at Ditzy. The two exchanged glances. Trixie looked up, “Masters?”

“Oh yes, probably tied to those two Servants dueling it out over there. Which is unfortunate for them, because they’re so busy with each other I don’t think they’ve noticed me. Which, consequently, leaves the two of you quite vulnerable!”

He began to spin his banner spear around in his hooves in an expert fashion few ponies without a great deal of hoof practice could manage. Rainbow Dash looked shocked as he pointed the spear once more at Trixie, clearly ready to charge.

“The heck you doing man!? You said we were coming here for a fight, but I figured that it was to stop those jerks over there from smashing up Ponyville!”

“We are here for a fight Private Dash. Those Servants are distracted, leaving their Masters out in the open. This is the perfect shot to take two Masters out at once and make taking the Grail that much simpler. Tactics, Private; take advantage of every opening your opponent gives you!”

With shocking speed Commander Hurricane shot down at Trixie and she recoiled, instinctively turning herself invisible and throwing herself to the side. She felt the spear tip glance past her, cutting her flank, and she cried out.

Raindrops all but roared, “You crazy jerk!” and dove at the armored pegasus hoof first, throwing a punch at him. He spun his spear around and blocked the punch with the haft, grinning in approval.

“Good spirit on you, civilian. You’d make a fine addition to the Grand Pegasus Army! Consider joining?”

“I’ll considering breaking your face in. Trixie, you alright!?”

Trixie didn’t answer, not because she didn’t want to let her friend know she was okay, but because she didn’t want this insane and armed pegasus figuring out where she was. Her other friends had leapt into action, forming a circle around Commander Hurricane. Lyra had summoned her lyre to her hooves with a soft glow of her own magic. Cheerilee and Carrot Top were standing shoulder to shoulder, hooves stamping in readiness to charge. Ditzy flexed her wings, ready to jump in as well.

Commander Hurricane grinned in a cocksure manner, pushing on his spear and spinning it, planting the back end into the ground.

“Bravery is commendable in anypony, even more so in prospective conscripts. You mares might give me a little workout.”

“Oh we’ll do more than that,” said Lyra, hooves ready on her lyre, “Nopony hurts our friends or threatens them. Not even if they’re some old legend come to life!”

“Hm, legend, huh? I like the sound of that. Familiar with my legend, then?” Commander Hurricane said with his cocky smile not going anywerhe.

“I’m a storyteller, so I know more than a few about Commander Hurricane. Not saying I believe that’s who you are, but I know the tales,” admitted Lyra.

“I don’t care who he is,” growled Raindrops, “He’s backing off. Now.”

“No can do ladies. Not while two Masters are here just so open for my spear to skewer!” Commander Hurricane said and with speed like a flash of a shooting star dove at Ditzy.

None of the Elements of Harmony had the natural speed or reflexes to stop that spear thrust.

A certain rainbow colored pony did, however, and she zipped right down and kicked the spear aside before it would’ve have went through Ditzy Doo’s throat.

Commander Hurricane grunted in annoyance, “Private, you’re in some serious need of some disciplinary measures.”

“Can it old guy, you’re the Servant here! So here’s my first order as your Master. Come help me stop those jerks from smashing up more of my Ponyville! You got all that?”

Commander Hurricane met her eyes for a second, then cracked a wide grin, “Oh, I think you and me are going to get along just fine, Private. Alright, fine, let’s do this!”

And just like that the two pegasi were off towards the town center, leaving Trixie to slowly drop her invisibility and look at her side. A light cut, but it was bleeding quite a bit. She wasn’t really used to seeing her own blood, and she gulped.

“Wow…this is turning into one crazy night…” said Cheerilee as she came up and started examining the wound, “I got a first aid kit at the school.”

“Its fine, I’ll be fine. We…we should make sure Ponyville is evacuated, then I need to get in contact with the Princess-“

The wall on the bottom floor of the town hall exploded before she finished her sentence. The griffin barreled out of the hole, now trading blows with both the white unicorn mare and the flitting about Commander Hurricane. Rainbow Dash was in the mix as well but she got batted aside rather quickly by a backpaw from the griffin, which then resumed trading blows with the two ponies. The three wheeled about in a brazen, fast storm of thrusting spears, spinning blade, and slashing gauntlets. Entire swaths of the ground were ripped apart by the clash.

Commander Hurricane’s spear thrust at the unicorn mare, who swatted the thrust aside with her blade.

“Thy weapon marks thee as a Lancer. Well met, I am Sungleam of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard. To whom does my honor grace with the clash of my blade?”

“My, aren’t we the fancy one? Commander Hurricane, Grand Pegasus Army, little lady. And keep the honor, I’m after victory! Going to guess you’re…a Saber?”

“Hmph, perhaps,” Sungleam ducked aside as the griffin pounced between them, whriling about and slashing with both gauntlets at the ponies, “A discussion for another time, mayhaps? This brutish thug is no doubt a Berserker. We shall fail to have ourselves a proper duel while trifling with this savage!”

Commander Hurricane glanced over to where Rainbow Dash had fallen against one of the broken walls of the town hall, looking unconscious from the blow she’d taken from the griffin.

“I usually don’t like to engage then retreat, but since my Master doesn’t seem quite up to speed on how this Grail War is going to work, maybe we ought to call it for now? We can have ourselves that duel later, when we don’t got the big growly bird here in the way.”

This was all said while blocking a vicious series of slashes from the griffin, its body now covered in flames that seemed to come from its own seeping blood from the wounds it’d taken from Sungleam. Sungleam herself jumped back, looking towards Trixie, and said “We have an accord then,” she bowed at Commander Hurricane, “Until our next meeting, may thy spear remain sharp!”

Like that she was off in a mighty leap, bounding across the distance to Trixie just as Commander Hurricane broke away from the griffin and flew with equal speed towards Rainbow Dash, scooping up the unconscious pegasus and flying off into the sky. The griffin roared at his retreating form, but didn’t pursue. Instead he turned his head towards the Elements of Harmony.

However there were only five of them there now. With speed that none of the others could react to Sungleam had jumped in, snatched up a confused Trixie in a wreath of golden telekinesis, and jumped away with such speed that the wind force made Trixie have to hold onto her hat to keep it on her head.

----------

Trixie was yelling for the unicorn to stop, throat almost hoarse, before Sungleam did instead stop her speedy, bounding gallop. Trixie was dropped gently to the ground and, dizzy, she looked around to see they were several miles from Ponyville. Sungleam had taken them into some of the foothills to the north of the town and they were now standing under the branches of small copse of trees.

“I…what…who are you!? What. Is. Going. On!?”

Trixie wasn’t feeling patient or articulate at the moment as she yelled at the golden clad unicorn before her, who was sheathing her blade and smoothing out her surcoat.

“First I must ask a question of thee…er…you. My apologies. Knowledge of this era still settles in my mind, including proper speech. But I must ask you this question, and I must have your answer; are you my Master?”

Trixie blinked. Was she her what now? Yet even as she felt the confusion, it began to fade from her mind, as if being washed away by a heavy rain. Her right hoof pulsed. She looked at the runes on her hoof; three blade like shapes arranged in a star burst pattern. Somehow these runes felt…connected, to the mare, Sungleam. Trixie could almost feel a link between her and the other unicorn, as if her own aura of magic was pulsing in turn with Sungleam’s own aura.

“I…” she began to say that she had no idea what Sungleam was talking about but then, as if driven by a deeper force than her own logic, said “Yes.”

Sungleam smiled, a small, barely visible expression, and nodded her head, “Then I am your Servant. My name is Sungleam, but you may also call me Saber, for that is the class I was given by the Grail upon being summoned into this world. The Pact is formed between us, and until our deaths or victory is achieved in the Grail War, I shall be your blade.”

“That’s…er…nice. Now, how about you start from the beginning, with answering my previous question. What the buck is going on!?”

----------

“Inexcusable!”

Zecora hid her discomfort and a healthy dose of fear behind a stoic mask as her Goddess, the Sun Incarnate (she refused to think of her by the short-sighted pony’s term ‘Tyrant Sun’), Corona was throwing a…tantrum.

“This shall not stand!” the brilliant white alicorn decreed loudly as she flared her massive wings and kicked at an offending golden statue of herself that was sitting next to her throne. The statue reverberated with the kick, but was otherwise unaffected. Which was unusual, given Zecora had seen her Goddess’ physical might crush rock into powder before…but then Corona seemed somewhat…diminished, since being wracked by that odd event of magic that had struck her this morning.

An event which was clearly tied to the ‘stallion’ standing next to Zecora.

“Seriously? Is this supposed to be one of the Princess’ that took down Tirek? She’s acting like a foal whose toy was taken away.”

“SILENCE!” Corona rounded upon the stallion, face a twisted mask of rage, which was somewhat ruined by her tone which was borderline whining, “I am Celestia! You’re sovereign and only ruler! Insult me and you shall feel the full wrath of the Sun, specter of the past!”

“Mayhaps we should cool our heads,” Zecora said, “And focus on what we must now do, instead?”

The stallion next to her chuckled, which was odd given he lacked a head to do so with. Yet his smooth, twanging voice could be heard clearly, and Zecora thought she might’ve seen a faint smoky outline of a horse’s head cracking a wise grim at her. He wasn’t all that tall, but was incredible lithe. His body was a dark gray, covered in tattered black leggings and a cloak that twisted and flowed like a shadow around his body. A thin haired black tail flicked and wished behind him, and Zecora couldn’t tell if he had a cutie mark or not, his hide seeming to shift with unusual inner shadows. But perhaps more disturbing was the head, or lack thereof. At the base of the neck there was nothing, just an empty space, where occasionally that smoke like black aura formed a faintly head like shape, but never for more than a second.

“Hey,” said the Headless Horse with a small shrug, “I’m all for getting down to business. You’re the one who wanted to ‘confer’ with your crazy boss here, Master. We can go and get down to killing whenever you’re done playing doormat for the whining alicorn.”

“I said CEASE YOUR INSULTS KNAVE!”

Corona lowered her horn and Zecora flinched, wanting to back away but holding to her inner discipline. A jet of flame shot forth from the horn, but Zecora noted it was significantly less than what she’d seen Corona produce before, even after being weakened by the Elements of Harmony. Whatever that magic ritual had been that had shot that pillar of light straight through the roof of their hidden mountain fortress, it had weakened Corona even further.

The Headless Horse vanished down into the stone floor as the flames passed over, his form going opaque like a gray cloud. When the fire passed he floated back up, sighing, “Touchy aren’t we, Princess? Fine, fine, I’ll spare you’re sensitive self-esteem. Seriously though, can me and my Master here get going? I’m itching to get things going.”

“Your haste is ill placed,” Zecora said, frowning at him, “From what you have said this ‘Grail War’ is not a race! We must plan and take things slow, lest our impatience lay our efforts low.”

The Headless Horse’s shoulders slumped, as I hanging his non-existent head, “You’re going to keep that rhyming thing up the whole time, aren’t you?

“How I speak is of no concern, only that for now my advise you do not spurn. These marks,” she touched a hoof to her left shoulder where a swirling red eye series of symbols had appeared on her, “you say between us form a Pact, so through that bond I ask you behave with some tact.”

“Right, so rhyming isn’t going anywhere, got it. So then, oh great Master, what’s our first move?”

Zecora looked to Corona at that, looking pensive, “Great Goddess of the Eternal Sun, I ask you now what you think must be done?”

Corona’s nostrils flared, stamping a hoof and slowly returning to her golden throne, the massive edifice made to resemble a huge effigy of Corona herself holding up the sun. Zecora’s eyes slowly trailed to the thick, twisting series of magical crimson runes that were now covering the white alicorn’s right leg. They’d appeared there just after the explosion of magical energy from the ritual that had struck Corona, and Zecora was still too nervous to really press the Sun Incarnate for information on what this was all about…

…mainly because Corona had started having a violent episode of lighting half of her throne room on fire immediately afterward, ranting about how the ‘time wasn’t right’ and she ‘would not allow this violation’ and those were the more coherent sentences.

“What shall be done,” Corona intoned with some recovering of her regal bearing “Is that you, my servant, shall make use of this…tool,” she waved a hoof vaguely at the Headless Horse, “To find and destroy the others who bear markings as you now do. You shall do this, and when you finish the last of your opponents…I shall take care of the rest.”

----------

Notary suppressed a small yawn. Normally morning was the time for the Night Court to be wrapping up its business for the night and many nobles and hence their immediate aides and employees would be turning in for the day. However the castle had been stirring well beyond its normal time to be quieting down due to the…events an hour or so ago.

Notary hadn’t seen anything with her own eyes, she’d been taking care of some important paperwork to finalize an ‘employee transfer’. She’d merely heard about the incredible magic display. If she wasn’t one to generally stay calm and focused on her work she’d be more worried, but she still had decided to stop by Greengrass’ office to check in on him. If he didn’t already know what was going on he’d probably appreciate an update, and she’d taken the time to query a few of her contacts on the way to his office to get as full a picture of events as possible.

When she got to the door to Duke Greengrass’ office she’d raised a hoof to knock, but paused, head tilting slightly, an ear flicking. Was that a…mare’s voice?

“Ooooh, don’t be like that! We’re meant to be-“

Next was Greengrass’ voice, sounding quite…exasperated, even panicking. Which was not a tone Notary was used to hearing in her employer’s tone.

“No, stop that, stop that right this moment! I demand you explain who you are!”

Again the mare’s voice, a high lilting sound like a flute, “But Greeeeny, I already told you! I’m you’re Servant, you’re devoted, lovely, very, very eager Servant.”

“That doesn’t explain anything. And I said stop doing that…that thing with your hooves!” Greengrass was clearly tryingto control himself.

Notary briefly considered walking away. What Duke Greengrass decided to do in the privacy of his own office was rally none of her business. However he sounded more distressed than anything else. Getting some guards might be an option…but if this was somehow tied into the Duke’s private business or private matters he’d likely not appreciate getting the authorities involved. With a sigh, she pushed open the doors.

Duke Greengrass was sitting behind his desk, red tail flicking irritably and his face screwed up in a look of extreme distraction and possible horror. He was leaning back away from a peasus mare who’d all but draped herself on the desk, idly tracing a hoof over his chest, which he kept trying to move away from. She was a deep rose coloring, with a straight and well groomed blond mane. She was thin and well shaped, like a professional model, and her vermillion eyes had a twinkle to them as they looked at Greengrass…a look Greengrass was not sharing. The strange mare wore a light, form fitting white dress, embroidered with rose patterns, and was cut to expose her cutie mark of a golden bow with a heart-tipped arrow.

Greengrass, upon Notary entering, looked up and his eyes widened, “Notary, close the door, quickly!”

Notary did so, looking bemused, an expression that deepened when she noticed the pegasus mare glaring pure daggers at her.

“Greeny-poo, whose this mare?” asked the pegasus.

Greengrass grit his teeth, letting in and out a slow breath, “She is supposed to be here, unlike you. Notary is a very valued assistant to my work. And my name is Greengrass…what was you’re name again?”

The pegasus sniffed, adjusting her position on the desk so she was all but laying on her back as she traced a faint heart shape in the air with one dainty hoof, “You’re words wound me so my dear heart. I told you my name is Viola! You’re humble, willing Servant.”

“Viola, yes. In any case, Notary I am very glad you’ve arrived. It seems I have a…” he gestured with a hoof at the pink pegasus on his desk, “…situation on my hooves.”

“I see,” said Notary, raising the small stack of papers she’d brought with her, “Should I put on hold your other business for the day, sir?”

Viola started rubbing a hoof again on Greengrass’ chest, puffing out an indignant huff, “I’d say he should. We have so much to do together…” she glared back at Notary, “Alone.”

Greengrass was seeming to do a better job controlling himself with Notary present and gave the pegasus mare a calm, collected look, carefully nudging her hoof away with one of his own. Notary couldn’t help but notice the rose-like crimson runes glowing on the front of his left hoof. She recalled one of the Night Guard she’d managed to speak to before coming here had mentioned, in a quiet whisper, that he’d heard that similar runes had appeared on Princess Luna.

“Viola, I am open to hearing the details concerning this ‘Grail War’ you mentioned before, but I require Notary’s presence and also require that you keep your hooves to yourself.”

Viola pursed her lips, huffing again as she rolled off the desk with an oddly…flexible twist of her legs and strutted around so that she was firmly between Greengrass and Notary.

“Oh fine then! Business before pleasure. I’ll start from the top. I, Viola Rosa, have been summoned into this era by the power of an artifact called the Grail, to be a Servant to my Master in a battle between six other chosen Masters and their Servants. With me so far? Yes? Now then-“

----------

“-the Grail War is something I, unfortunately cannot interfere with,” said Luna solemnly to Shining Armor, eyes downcast.

Shining Armor had rarely seen the Princess look so…burdened. He’d seen her tired, even melancholy. He’d served as Captain of the Royal Guard long enough to know that the living Goddess of the moon was still a flesh and blood pony, mighty alicorn or not. Yet now her posture was drained, and her brow creased with worry he hadn’t seen since Corona first returned from her banishment in the sun.

His eyes trailed the blood red runes of magic coursing up and down her leg. Runes that were quite similar to the mystical swirls of crimson he knew covered the left half of his face now.

“My Princess,” he said, maintaining a formal tone, belying, hopefully, not too much of his unease, “Why are you unable to do anything? Surely having seven…figures from history have it out in some battle royale around Equestria is something to be avoided!”

“Do understand my eager young knight,” said the mare who was standing next to him, “This is not the Princess’ choice. She is bound by magic as ancient as she and her sister, magic that cannot be opposed through sheer force.”

Shining Armor glanced sidelong at the mare. She was a unicorn of incredible beauty and carried herself with a royal stance, head straight, chin up, shoulders squared. She was a light gray in coat color, with a near impossibly long and silky smooth mane and tail of light violet on one half, and cherry blue on the other. Her magenta eyes swam with pride and knowledge and confidence and her face held a coy smile as she looked at him. Her cutie mark was like a heart shaped purple necklace with a single blue gemstone clasped at the bottom. She wore a regal purple cloak trimmed in white fur with purple wave like patterns upon it. On her head, just behind her horn, sat a platinum crown studded with purple gems.

“I don’t understand how that can be,” said Shining Armor, “In fact, I still don’t understand what this Grail War is!”

“It is a…old mistake come to unceremoniously bite me and my mad sister in our flanks,” said Luna flatly, “No doubt Corona has had her power drained by the ritual, as mine was. She is now bound by the same Pact, to not directly interfere in the battle between Masters and Servants. As for the Grail…it is an artifact. An item forged by two foalish alicorn sisters who were too young in the world to realize what damage their power could cause if combined frivolously. My sister and I forged the Grail in a foal’s game of seeing just how much power we could put into a single object. It was done for…fun.”

The Princess of the Night hung her head, “The Grail, at first, seemed a miraculous thing. It could grant the heart’s desire of those that drank from its waters. It soon…changed, however. It became corrupted, and the miracles it granted turned wrong, twisted. The Grail gained a mind of its own and it sought to manifest itself in the world more directly, bringing its corruption to the land and living things around it. My sister and I were forced to resort to magic older and more potent than our own to defeat the Grail.”

“The Elements of Harmony?”

Luna shook her head, “This was so long ago it was before we even knew of the Elements of Harmony. No, this was a different power, one we had stumbled across in our journeys to lands beyond the continent you know as Equestria. The magic of the Pact. A way to create primal binding promise through fundamental magic runes of creation. Runes you see upon my leg, and upon your own body as well, Shining Armor.”

“Princess Luna,” said the gray unicorn mare, “While the history lesson may be good for giving my young Master context, perhaps we can summarize faster? The other Servants may be coming into conflict with each other as we speak and time is of the essence.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Princess Luna’s features, “You’re much the same as remember Princess Platinum. Very well, a quicker summary. The Pact was used to seal the Grail away, but Pact magic requires a balance to be struck in its use. The Grail would be sealed, but only if it would be given a chance to return. The method of this return would be a battle between summoned beings from the realm of death and myth. Seven Servants to fight beside seven Masters. The resulting battle would determine if the Grail would indeed return.”

Shining Armor had to shake his head a bit, trying to take this in, “I still don’t understand. How does this…battle give this thing a chance to return from wherever it was banished to?”

“That I do not know,” Luna admitted, her expression somber once more, “Only that when a victor in the Grail War is decided, the Grail will appear from whence it was banished, and it will be the choice of the victor…what will happen after.”

“Which is why it is imperative that we ensure we are the ones to win, my knight,” said Princess Platinum, lifting her head high, “Only we who feel the burden of duty to the citizens of Equestria can be trusted with the task of ensuring the Grail does not bring harm to it. That, and have our wish granted.”

“Wish granted…?” even Luna seemed surprised by this.

Princess Platinum coughed politely, “Oh, yes, well, we Servants were granted knowledge with our summoning through the Grail’s power, and part of that knowledge is knowing that the victors of the Grail War will be granted a wish to be fulfilled. It is possible this wish ties into whether or not the Grail fully manifests in the world again.”

Even while all of Shining Armor’s numerous instinctive warning bells starting ringing at those words, he couldn’t deny a part of him also immediately thought of his sister, Twilight Sparkle. She’d been missing for far too long, and his worry about her, his desire to see his sister again and know she was alright, was a powerful desire. If the Grail could grant any wish…

“Twily…” he murmured.

----------

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Really!? Any wish we want? That’s amazing! That kind of magic is very rare. And you said the Princess’ made this Grail? Fascinating! I wonder if that means they too could grant wishes? Do you think it’s because they combined powers to make it?”

Twilight Sparkle was bouncing about excitedly around her small camp in the middle of the forest by a small pond. As she did so she noticed her flectiong in the pond and curiously poked her head over it, “Wow, these look nothing like any ancient runic text I’ve seen! And I’ve seen a lot of ancient text! They’re not Andalantian, or Ibixian.”

She was referring to the swirl of curved crimson runes that were now covering the right side of her face. She put a hoof to them, poking at her face experimentally, “So these are ‘Command Seals’?”

The pony she was speaking to was an old unicorn stallion with a dark gray coat and frizzy white mane and tail, a similar long swirling beard dropping from his kindly old face. He was sitting back on his haunches, his cloak of blue shades marked with symbols of the crescent moon and stars marking it covering his back. He wore a tall wizard’s hat of similar shades of blue, dark blue with a single light blue band near the brim, covered along that brim with golden bells. The cloak was held on with a gold collar with a sapphire stone.

This elderly stallion watched Twilight Sparkle with kind gold eyes and when he spoke it was with a patient understanding, “Indeed I did young lady. The Command Seals are magical links between our magical essences. My body, made up of phantasmic metaphysical particles, is directly tied to your magic. I have my own supply of mana, but it is supplemented through the Command Seals by your own magical energies. Furthermore the Command Seals act as a sort of control device and utility tool; allowing you to give me instructions I cannot disobey, or the ability to summon me over a great distance, were we to be separated.”

“That’s amazing! How did they end up on me though? Oh I have so many questions! I mean, you really are Starswirl the Bearded!? I want to ask you so many things!”

“Such as?”

Twilight Sparkles eyes were wide with pure academic euphoria, “Everything!”

Starswirl nodded slowly, smiling patiently, “Well, as it happens young lady I do not feel we should be in any rush to get into the nitty-gritty of this unfortunate affair we’ve both been pulled into, so by all means, ask away. I’ll answer as best I can.”

As it turned out Starswirl the Bearded was going to slightly regret saying that, as it would be literally hours before the energetic and enthusiastic young unicorn mare before him even relented for a moment. Yet even as she asked an endless supply of questions ranging from the many spells he’d invented to the nature of the Grail War, Starswirl became gradually more comfortable.

“So the classes the Grail War uses for these Servants are; Archer, Beserker, Assassin, Rider, Lancer, Caster, and…Saber?” Twilight Sparkle confirmed from her latest bout of questions.

“Correct. I am of the Caster class; my specialty is using my mana to create any number of spells, much as any unicorn would, but those spells are…augmented because I essentially have two pools of mana to draw from, my own and yours.”

“That’s perfect!” cried Twilight happily grinning, “We’ll have no trouble then with the other Servants.”

“So you truly wish to fight in this Grail War?” Starswirl asked, “I thought perhaps you might be upset being dragged into such an unpleasant affair.”

Twilight cocked her head, putting a hoof to her chin, looking thoughtful, “Well I’m not keen on the idea of all this fighting, but with the magic you and I have I don’t doubt we can win without having to hurt anypony. Besides from what you’re saying it’d be pretty bad if the wrong kind of pony won and got a wish from the Grail. I mean, who knows what kind of damage could be done if some crazy-pony” she waved her hooves around her head and made google eyes to emphasize her point, “won and made a silly wish like ruling to world or something. Better I win and make sure the wish is used for a good cause!”

“Hm, a good cause. May I ask then, what you would wish for, if you were to win the Grail?”

Twilight crossed her hooves, sitting back as her eyes closed in consideration, “Hmmm…to be honest? I don’t know. I want to learn magic. I’ve always wanted to learn everything I could about magic. As long as I can do that, there isn’t much else I really want…except…”

“Except?”

“…There’s a pony who…who I want to prove something to. I need to prove to her what real magic is. I don’t think I need the Grail for that, but maybe having a chance to go back and do a certain thing over again; do it the right way. Maybe that’s what I’d want.”

“I see. Well then young lady, I will be happy to serve you during this difficult time ahead of us. I think you and I shall have much to learn from each other.”

Twilight blushed, waving a hoof, “As if there’s anything I could teach a living legend of magic like Starswirl the Bearded.”

“Oh, on the contrary, there’s always something new to learn, Twilight Sparkle. I look forward to both teaching you, and learning from you in turn.”

----------

Ponyville had quieted down somewhat. Lyra was with Bon Bon, the pair working with Carrot Top and a number of other ponies to clean up the market square. Raindrops was still out flying, searching for Trixie. Cheerilee had returned to the school long enough to post a sign that classes were canceled for the day before going to the town hall to help Ivory Scroll with coordinating the clean-up efforts, and generally fill in the mayor on what had happened…and why there was a giant armored griffin sleeping outside Ditzy Doo’s house.

Ditzy Doo poked her head out the door, her eyes managing to focus on the griffin for a moment before one of them slide off to the side.

It was just too…too strange. As soon as Trixie had been carted off by that weird golden armored unicorn the griffin had took to flight to chase them.

On impulse Ditzy had thrown her way in its path, holding her hooves out, determined to try and stop the rampaging beast.

To her shock and the surprise of her fellow Element the griffin had halted mid-flight directly in front of Ditzy. She’d gulped, shaking, but meeting the griffin’s unnaturally glowing eyes with her own firm stare.

“Stop this…please. Nopony needs to be hurt. Just stop,” she’d said, trying to get through the griffin, unnerved by the way its body burned with fire, the way its gauntlets glowed as if heated by inner fires.

And the griffin had stopped. It breathed heavily, and as Ditzy had watched its wounds had healed as if under a healing spell, the fires around its body fading away. The griffin had slowly floated to the ground and Ditzy had followed. The griffin didn’t speak, didn’t seem to be able to, but he had lowered his head to her, as if kneeling.

That had been that. The griffin had simply followed Ditzy around, growling at anypony else that got too close until Ditzy scolded it and the griffin, with an indignant ruffle of its feathers, went silent.

Ditzy had been about to name the griffin ‘Grumpy’ when Lyra, examining the griffin’s armor, had brought up, “These markings, these look like they’re from the old Griffin Empire. The one that existed before it got broken up into all those smaller countries that make up the Griffin Kingdoms.”

“That’s great, but does anypony have any idea why this big fellow is following around Ditzy like a lost puppy?” Cheerilee had asked.

“Probably the same reason that unicorn carried of Trixie,” Carrot Top had said, “We really need to get word to the Princess somehow, find out what’s going on.”

“In any case, I remember these symbols from a picture I saw. A portrait that was next to a ballad I studied in college,” said Lyra, “I think this is the armor worn by Yuri, the last Emperor of all the Griffs.”

“What, like this guy’s wearing a replica?” asked Carrot Top.

“Or maybe he really is the Emperor?” asked Cheerilee, not entirely seriously.

Ditzy had taken the information in stride, “Sounds better than Grumpy I think. Yuri it is.”

She’d returned first to the post office, to see if Silver Script had returned and still needed mail delivered. Mail carriers code didn’t really cover what’d happed that morning, but she didn’t feel right leaving her boss hanging. Silver Script had been more than a little relieved to see Ditzy was unhurt, but understandably freaked a bit by the griffin following her around. Given the circumstances Silver Script gave Ditzy the day off, but assured her it would be a paid vacation.

So Ditzy Doo had gone home, telling her friends that as soon as they knew what was going on to feel free to let her know, but she wanted to spend time with her daughter Dinky and relax. She was worried about Trixie, though. But given the aggressive griffin following her she wasn’t comfortable to go searching with Raindrops. No telling what Yuri might do. For now he just seemed content to sleep outside her house…but she kept checking to make sure he was still there and not doing anything…destructive.

“He’s a really pretty griffin,” said Dinky as she poked her head out next to her mother.

“He’s really angry all the time though,” said Ditzy, frowning, “He did so much damage to town hall, and he could’ve hurt somepony.”

“Why’s he following you around momma? He’s not a new pet, right?”

“Griffin’s aren’t pets honey. I don’t know why he’s following me, but I think it has something to do with these,” she wiggled her rune covered wing.

“Oh, those funny symbols?” Dinky frowned at them, “Do they hurt?”

Ditzy smiled at her daughter and put a hoof around the tiny unicorn filly, “No dear, they feel fine. I just have this…feeling that they’re why Yuri is here. Come on now, my friends will figure out what this is all about and then they’ll tell me. But for now, it’s muffin baking time!”

Dinky shouted her full hearted approval of that idea and they both went back inside. Whatever crazy magical events were occurring, whatever crisis had fallen upon her and her friends, Ditzy Doo wasn’t going to let herself worry. She’d take these precious moments with her daughter as they came and let the future sort itself out later; she had no other wish to fulfill.

Outside her door the huge griffin called Yuri snorted and shifted, not asleep as one might think, but deadly alert for any danger that would approach his Master.

----------

Trixie finished penning the letter and dropped it into her hat, sending it away to Princess Luna’s desk.

“Princess Luna,” said Sungleam speculatively, “I admit I have a hard time imagining her ruling the nation. She was so reclusive, so shy. The Night Court was all but empty in my day. Celestia was a far more suitable ruler.”

“Well, a lot has changed since your day,” said Trixie, “Princess Luna has protected and guided Equestria for a thousand years since Corona fell to madness.”

“That name does not suit nor match the wisdom and kindness of her highness. I still do not quite believe this story of her fall. She went mad, simply as a result of too much time defending the realm? I simply do not, as the modern phrase would be, ‘buy that’. The Princess wouldn’t have fallen without some outside influence.”

“Believe what you want, but she did. I’ve seen the final result with my own eyes. Not a pretty sight,” Trixie said, then stretched her aching hooves, “In any case, we should return to Ponyville. I need to regroup with my friends and await the Princess’ instructions. Surely she must have an idea of how to put a stop to all this Grail War insanity.”

“That would not be wise,” said Sungleam, coming around to Trixie’s front and gesturing at the distant town, “I still sense that Berserker is there. His bloodlust is…palpable, even to a class like mine that does not specialize in sensory powers. And no doubt Lancer remains close, waiting for a chance to strike again. We should find a place more defensible and work out as strategy for winning the war.”

Trixie frowned, “ I don’t care about winning this dumb war. I care about my friends. I left them there, and I’ve seen Raindrops flying around, probably looking for me. I want them to know I’m alright before I do anything else.”

“If we go to that town, I assure you Berserker will attack us. It’d cause more danger to the residents. Your friends are safer if we remain away for now.”

Trixie put a hoof to her face, tired of the argument, “Then you stay here! I’ll go alone.”

“Unwise, Berserker may still attack, and Lancer would take-“

“I’m not just letting my friend’s think I’m missing. Now you said these Command Seals can be used to issue you orders. Do I have to resort to that?”

Sungleam’s expression soured, and she turned away, closing her eyes, “That would be foolish to waste one of your three Command Seals on such a pointless order. I shall…comply willingly for now. I must protect my Master, after all, no matter how stubborn or foolish she is.”

“Good Servant. Now let’s go,” Trixie straightened out he that and began the long trot back to Ponyville.

However just as she started to trot she noticed a strange smokey gray mist covering the ground at her hooves. She barely had a second to react and was shoved aside by Sungleam as a flash of metal flew up from the ground, a dagger that would have stabbed right into Trixie's chin if she hadn't been moved aside.

Sungleam drew her crystal clear sword and took up a fighting stance as a voice laughed, the smoke like mist thickening around them.

"Whoo, heh, fast reflexes there. Color me impressed. Fancy armor too, nice sword. Let me guess, Saber?"

Sungleam scoffed, "And from you're cowardly attack and the fact you haven't shown yourself let me guess, Assassin?"

"Correctomundo. Now then, that was just me giving you and your master a friendly hello," from several meters behind Trixie a shadowy form emerged, the Headless Horse rising up and over a dozen gleaming daggers appearing floating in the air at his side.

"But with intro's out of the way how about we get down to the real business at hoof, eh?"

Trixie turned just in time to see the daggers flash at her face.

Episode 2: The Breaking Storm

View Online

Episode 2: The Breaking Storm

Trixie threw herself to the smoke shrouded ground, the daggers flashing over her head like a flock of deadly birds, one of them actually cutting of strands of her silver mane from how close it came to hitting her. She immediately channeled an invisibility spell, rolling away from where she’d ducked.

The enemy Servant, Assassin apparently if Sungleam’s assessment was correct, had already sunk back down into the dense opaque blanket of smoke covering the ground, a light and throaty chuckle emanating from his non-existent throat as he did so.

Sungleam had already drawn her sword in an eyeblink and had stamped forward, swimming and narrowly missing the retreating form of Assassin. The white unicorn reared up, eyes shining with indignant rage, “Coward. I realize thy class refutes any semblance of honor, yet I cannot forgive such craven tactics! Show thyself!”

Once again the shadowy stallion’s voice echoed seemingly from everywhere and nowhere at once, and Trixie found herself getting just as irritated as Sungleam was at his mocking and snarky chuckle.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t know we’d agreed to play fair during this war. Wait, are wars supposed to be fair? Must’ve missed the point when murder somehow became something you can slap a tag like ‘honor’ on and make it better than what it is.”

As soon as he was done talking Trixie heard a strange wooden creaking sound, and when she glanced at the misty ground she saw what looked to be black tree branches snaking and winding their up from the mist. The branches were gnarled, dark things, marked by sharp almost spike-like sub-branches. They wrapped around Sungleam’s legs, the sharpened tips of the branches trying to dig in past her armor. Sungleam scowled.

“Is this the extent of what you can offer me, Assassin? Trickery and twigs!? You are not worthy to face a knight such as myself!”

She slashed at the branches with her blade, slicing through them with apparent ease, but more just came up, forcing her to leap away. Trixie was relatively safe, still invisible, but she was nervously shuffling around, trying to figure out just what kind of magic was being used here. This headless stallion, his unusual body aside, was just flowing in and out of this smoke like he was a ghost. She knew there were spells that could produce similar effects, but to do so while at the same time conjuring numerous daggers to throw telekinetically, while also summoning branches to try and immobilize his opponent…even the best of unicorn spellcasters would have trouble doing all of that at once!

As Sungleam had landed more branches had tried to grab at her and she slashed them with a single sweep of her blade, her ire rising, “How long will you play this game? Come out here and fight me!”

Trixie wanted to shout at her Servant. This was clearly a mind game that this stallion was using to rile his opponent up and get her to leave herself open. Trixie didn’t even have to be a master tactician to grasp that! Yet Sungleam was getting quite worked up, nostrils flaring as she slashed again and again at the seemingly endless supply of sharp black branches that rose up from the mist to try and grasp and stab at her.

Sungleam was so wrapped up with the branches she wasn’t seeing the daggers forming in the air behind her, and only Trixie, who’d been watching for danger or any sign of the stallion appearing, saw them in time to shout a warning.

Sungleam wheeled about as the daggers flew, but they didn’t’ fly at her, they came at Trixie, who’d given away her position when she’d shouted her warning. Trixie gasped and threw herself to the side, but one of the daggers managed to slice past her left foreleg and she cried out at the explosive pain, losing concentration on her invisibility spell. The instant she hit the ground black branches rose up around her, about to encase her.

Sungleam moved with incredible speed, there in a golden flash, sword cutting aside the branches and Trixie felt herself being lifted into the air in a gold wreath of levitation magic.

“H-hey!” she stammered, but before she could say more Sungleam gave her a sharp look.

“If you cannot fight, then flee the battlefield until I am done dealing with this petty thug, Master!”

Trixie felt herself being accelerated way at high speed, flying well beyond the shroud of mist covering the ground that Assassin was fighting from. She landed a little roughly when Sungleam’s telekinesis let go and she had to quickly brush herself off and retrieve her hat. Trixie felt a tad irked at being tossed aside like that, but the logical part of her mind was telling her Sungleam had the right idea. Trixie wouldn’t be much help in a direct fight. Indirectly, however? Trixie quickly wove her invisibility once more, wincing past the pain of the deep cut on her leg. Trixie and pain did not mix. Still she vanished once more and she hobbled a little away from where she’d been thrown. It’d been pretty clear the enemy Servant had been after her more than her own Servant, so she wanted to keep her presence hidden.

But if this Assassin Servant is here, then his Master has to be around somewhere…right?

She didn’t know for sure. She and Sungleam had only had enough time to have the basics of this Grail War explained to her. She had no idea of a Servant could fight and function without their Master around. Sungleam had said she could draw mana from Trixie if needed to fuel her abilities, though what those abilities were Sungleam hadn’t gotten into. Still, she could search. If the Servant was getting mana from the Master that might leave a trail…

Trixie concentrated on activating her magic sight while keeping her invisibility spell up while she continued to hear the clashing clamor of the two Servants fighting.

----------

Sungleam grimaced in annoyance as yet another set of daggers materialized and flew at her, black branches from the ground rising up to try to immobilize her at the same time. She spun on her hooves, dancing away from the branches as she wove her sword in a blazing fast pattern, deflecting the daggers. She couldn’t help but notice by now the blades in question were small, jagged affairs, with a pale blue cast to them. They didn’t look like they were made of steel. If her magic perception was high enough she might be able to discern what they were made from but she was only capable enough to sense the basic presence of mana within a close vicinity, usually enough to feel out where other Servants were…but that sense was useless against an Assassin class with their ability to conceal their presence completely.

The Assassin’s method of attack was unusual though. The knowledge engrained in her mind from the Grail told her that a Heroic Spirit summoned into the Assassin class usually didn’t possess numerous forms of attack; they relied on the ability to stay hidden to strike and defeat stronger Servants. This ability to summon this mist, with its grasping branches and flying daggers, this was a ability more like what she’d expect out of a Caster or Archer…

She was also confused as to why this farce was continuing. While annoying the branches and daggers were hardly proving her much difficulty.

“This is pointless Assassin!” she growled as she sliced away more branches, “Cease this embarrassment at once or I will cease it for you!”

Again that irritatingly mocking and joking voice sang from everywhere and nowhere, “Yeesh, you take yourself way to seriously Saber. You want to end our tete a tete? Go ahead and try. Might be hard if you can’t find me, though.”

Sungleam smirked, holding her head high. By now, between the time it’d taken her to speak with her Master and for this charlatan to show up the early morning dark had turned to a late dawn. The sun was in the sky now and she felt confident she could end this quickly with one swipe of her Noble Phantasm’s full strength. She didn’t need to see Assassin if she incinerated the entire area, after all.

“Very well then, you shall regret your blasé attitude shortly! You desire to feel the full force of my blade, Assassin!? So be it!”

She jumped upwards, landing and balancing lightly upon one of the upper branches of a nearby tree, well above the smoke shrouded ground. She floated her blade above her head and let its crystal clear edge catch the morning light. At once the sword began to gleam with the sunlight, as if the sword was drinking in the rays of that golden orb in the sky. Which it was. The light and heat of the sun was being absorbed into her sword, gradually converting into energy that she was mixing with her mana. She briefly considered pulling additional mana from her Master, just to ensure she’d unleash her sword at full power…but that probably wouldn’t be needed. She could scorch enough ground as it was to surely catch Assassin, wherever he was hiding himself.

“You’ll find that even you’re skill in obfuscation cannot hide you from the cleansing light of the sun! It matters not what hole you tuck your knavish tail in, once my sword absorbs enough of the sun’s rays, this battlefield will be wiped clean of your filth!”

The blade pulsed with ever greater intensity, becoming like a small shard of the sun itself within a few seconds. This was nowhere near the full capacity of her Noble Phantasm, but Sungleam imagined it would be sufficient. She was about to swing her sword, about to bring forth righteous fury and the power of the sun itself to bear on this discourteous thug, when the smoke on the ground wafted away rapidly as if under a harsh wind. Sungleam’s eyes narrowed as in seconds the smoke was gone and the area was clear as if it had never been there. At first she didn’t believe Assassin had actually retreated from their fight, but after a minute of failing to sense even the remotest trace of the other Servants presence it seemed to her he had indeed run away. With a scoffing huff of air she lowered her blade, which ceased to glow.

“Coward…” she spat.

Then she looked around, raising an eyebrow.

Where had her Master gotten off to?

----------

Trixie was quite pleased with herself. She hadn’t been able to find any kind of magic strand that looked like it was connecting this Servant with his Master, but she had been able to stumble across a clearing where she found someone hiding who, Trixie was sure, had to be connected to this. Luck was a skill, too, right?

The zebra mare had been trying to hide in the bushes one end of the clearing, but black and white wasn’t much camouflage in bright green scenery. And Zecora wasn’t all that good at hiding, for a zebra who’d been spending so much time lately in hiding with her so-called sun goddess. Trixie had been debating just how to go about taking Zecora down, perhaps with a sleeping spell, or go even simpler and levitate a stick to clock her upside the head with, when the shadowy form of the headless stallion rose from the ground next to Zecora. Trixie hunkered down, still invisible. She doubted this Servant had beaten her own, and could still feel the connection to Sungleam. So why…?

“You return just as I have instructed,” said the zebra, “Now tell me what you’ve learned so our strategy may be constructed.”

“You’re really stretching it on the rhymes there, boss. Would’ve preferred it if you’d just given me the all clear to finish her off. We’re showing a lot of our own cards here too, you know. You’re lucky I can partially manifest my Noble Phantasm without having to bring out the whole thing. By the way, you holding up alright? You ain’t a unicorn, so you’re mana reserves gotta be feeling some strain.”

“You’re assessment is noted but unnecessarily sour. Our goal here was to learn of our enemy’s power. You could have been destroyed if I had allowed you to stay, we must now meditate on what we’ve seen so we may claim victory another day.”

“Yeah, yeah ,yeah, I hear you. We going to pull this intel gathering mission on the big guy in town too?” asked Assassin, sounding supremely bored with the proceedings.

Zecora waved a hoof, “The risk in facing that one is too great. To learn more of him I feel we should wait. The war we fight has only just begun, rest assured my Servant you will have your chance to have your fun. Likely if we stick to the shadows and observe, our enemies will fight amongst themselves and our strength we may conserve.”

“Okay I got to ask this boss, because I know it must’ve come up at some point in your never ending rhyming life. Have you ever found a word that rhymes with orange?”

“I avoid all talk of that wretched fruit, for its name for rhyming does not suit.”

“Right, new life goal before the Grail War ends; get you to say the word orange to see if you really can find a rhyme for it.”

Zecora didn’t respond to that beyond giving a slightly annoyed huff as she turned and began to stride deeper into the trees. Trixie briefly debated trying to follow them to find out where they might be going, but given she had no way of knowing the full extent of that Assassin Servant’s abilities she couldn’t guarantee her ability to remain undetected. So she waited until well after they were gone before silently creeping back towards where she’d left Sungleam.

The golden and blue clad unicorn mare was pacing impatiently at the site of her skirmish with Assassin, and when Trixie unveiled her invisibility spell Sungleam looked to her and looked to be about to sigh in relief, then instead held it back and gave Trixie a hard look.

“You were gone for far too long Master! What were you doing?”

“Getting some information,” said Trixie, eyes narrowing slightly, “Which is apparently what that other Servant was doing as well. He wanted to see what kind of abilities you have. What did you show him?”

“I…didn’t display too much,” said Sungleam, suddenly looking self conscious, “I perhaps may have boasted as to the power of my Noble Phantasm. But that is only to be considered natural and expected! I must take pride in the gifts I possess in battle and not hold them back!”

“Except that I’m starting to understand that in this ridiculous war information is going to be our key to winning. We don’t want to show our cards,” Trixie said with a flash of annoyance, “This isn’t some honor duel! I find this ‘Grail War’ utterly ridiculous but I don’t plan on dying for it! That means if you have to fight you don’t go exposing your abilities unless you’re certain you can finish off your opponent. At least we saw quite a bit of what Assassin can do as well, so guess it was an even trade. Slippery jerk, certainly earns that title, class, whatever it is he’s got.”

“Class. Our Heroic Spirits were summoned into…receptacles, is you will, that shape our abilities around our class,” Sungleam said, looking uncomfortable with discussing the matter.

Trixie really wished somepony would’ve been smart enough and considerate enough to write a manual for this cursed Grail War, because it seemed every minute she was hearing terms that made no sense.

“What exactly makes for a Heroic Spirit anyway? I’d hardly call that Assassin ‘heroic’ by any definition I know of,” Trixie said with a soft scowl. Not that she didn’t appreciate the practicality of the kind of skills Assassin possessed it was hard to feel much respect for somepony that’d nearly killed her. Really soured Trixie’s mood, near death experiences. Speaking of which, her leg still hurt rather sharply. She’d need to drop by Ponyville’s hospital to get it looked at, assuming they didn’t get attacked by that griffin.

Sungleam still had that look of discomfort as they began walking towards Ponyville and she began to explain, “It is…complicated. I shall summarize as best I can, for simplicity’s sake. A Heroic Spirit is one whose deeds in life echo through history with resonance and power. For every soul that remembers the name and deeds of that Heroic Spirit it creates a stronger chance for the soul of that Heroic Spirit to be…kept, within a special place in creation. It is from that place the Grail drew the souls to fill the receptacles for the classes that would in turn form us, the Servants. There is…far more to it than that simple explanation, but essentially we Heroic Spirits are such because of our role in history. Our Noble Phantasms, the items and powers we wield, are echoes of our myths, manifested physically.”

That was the simple explanation? Trixie frowned, ears flattening as she lowered her head, “Right, so you’re supposed to be some famous knight? I’ve never heard of you myself.”

“Hmph, probably due to some foolish spreading of misinformation by your Princess Luna. Why should she allow records of those who served her elder sister to remain, showing Celestia’s greater moments and glory?”

Trixie rolled her eyes, “Luna doesn’t, at least to my knowledge, hide or remove historical records from the time of her sister’s rule. It’s just few ponies want to know about that time. It’s an unpleasant reminder of Corona. Most ponies don’t want to be reminded of the crazy sun alicorn who was trapped in the sun, oh and is now loose and the biggest threat to Equestria’s safety!”

“She is not a threat!” shouted Sungleam, then seemed to realize her outburst and coughed politely, “What I mean to say is, it is entirely possible that Celestia is merely confused and can be guided back from the brink of her…condition. Certainly Princess Luna would not give up on her sister so readily?”

“I don’t think this conversation needs to continue,” muttered Trixie, “If you ever meet Corona, you’ll see for yourself just how idealistically naïve you’re being. Anyway, my original point in asking about you was I wanted to know just what you did in the past that made you famous? Not a history buff, but I need to know more about you if I’m going to work with you more effectively.”

Sungleam for a second seemed to preen under the attention before blinking and taking on a more dignified stance, head held high as she began to speak with a proud tone, “As well you should wish to know more about me, my Master! My exploits made me famous throughout the realm! Few were the foals who did not hear of the Shining Knight, the Blade of the Sun, the Righteous and Resplendent Sungleam!”

Trixie had to pause and give her Servant a slow sidelong look. Sungleam’s bearing was uncomfortably…familiar. Sungleam continued, completely unaware or uncaring of the look her Master was giving her.

“My story is one any commoner could look up to, for I came from common stock myself. As a foal my love of the sun was surpassed only by my desire to battle injustice and evil! My family was part of a frontier community constantly beset upon by monsters from the northern mountains, and even the occasional incursion by griffins! I witnessed the suffering of my fellow villagers and could not stop the fires burning within my heart! At the age of twelve I defended my village from a pack of viscous feral fruit bats with nothing more than my mother’s pitchfork. ‘Twas then I earned my cutie mark, “ Sungleam gazed fondly upon the spot on her flank where her cutie mark would be seen if not hidden by her armor, “A burning blade imposed over the very sun itself. Never was I happier to know my purpose in life was to be a sword to burn away evil.”

“Viscous…fruit bats…?” Trixie said, as if saying the words aloud would let them make more sense. It didn’t.

“Verily!” confirmed Sungleam, “But the first of my exploits! Soon my burning desire to defend the realm propelled me to journey across the land, seeking injustices to make right! I confronted everything from bandits to bog hydras in my never ending quest to protect Equestria from harm. It wasn’t long before my actions drew the attention of one whose desire to see Equestria prosper surpassed even my own; Princess Celestia herself!”

The armored white unicorn’s eyes flashed with nostalgic bliss and Trixie quirked an eyebrow, wondering if Sungleam was done talking or if she was just lost in memory. She’d been about to wave a hoof in front of her Servant’s face before Sungleam seemed to shake off her daze and continued, voice reverent, “Words utterly fail me to tell you what it was like to be approached by the Princess herself, to be praised for my efforts to protect her little ponies…and to be offered an opportunity to join her Royal Guard. That was the day my life truly began. As a Royal Guard I utterly threw myself into the task of safeguarding the realm, fully empowered by the blessings of my Princess to bring the light of her justice to any corner of Equestria that was threatened by darkness!”

“Alright, alirght, I get it,” said Trixie, “So is that where you got all those titles form, serving Corona-“

“Princess Celestia.”

“You know what I mean. So it was serving…her…that earned you fame?”

“It was how my name became widely known, yes. It was only a year before my service placed me above all others as Captain of her Royal Guard, and Princess Celestia bestowed on me a unique honor…” her gaze turned to her now sheathed blade, “Until then the Princess rewarded service with praise and promotion…but I was the first to receive such a blessed gift as this sword, forged by Celestia’s own unrivaled magic to be a weapon that in my possession would allow me to truly function as her Sword. I was never prouder than I was on the day she bestowed Radiance to my unworthy hooves.”

Trixie eyed the sword curiosity. Ponyville loomed ahead, the town quiet and Trixie didn’t see much activity. Ponies must be hiding indoors, for the most part, and Trixie could hardly blame them given the morning’s events.

“What exactly does this sword do, other than look like it’d break if you hit it with a rock?”

Sungleam snorted, “Do not jest, Master. Radiance may look like delicate crystal, but its blade is stronger than any mortal forged steel. While its keen edge is capable of rendering even dragonscale as little more than paper before its sharpness, its true power lies in the very light of the sun itself. As long as it is exposed to the sun’s rays it may take that light into itself and turn it into cleansing fire. If it absorbs enough light from the sun at its zenith then nothing can stand against its might; a true anit-fortress class Noble Phantasm worthy of its name!”

Trixie frowned, “So…at night, it’s pretty much useless?”

Sungleam nearly stumbled, gawking at Trixie, “W-what? No, I mean, yes, but…well, why would I do battle at night, where the warm light of Celestia’s sun cannot see me glorify her name through my actions?”

“Oh, I’m sure our opponents in this Grail War are going to be obliging and only attack us during the day,” Trixie said, rolling her eyes, “For such a supposedly powerful weapon it has a pretty glaring weakness if you can’t use it at full power unless it’s in the middle of the day. Still, at least I know this now instead of latter, so I can figure out some kind of plan to work around that issue.”

Sungleam snorted, “Hmph, well your role as my Master is to formulate strategy. As long as you do not slink to using cowardly tactics I shall not complain.”

Trixie blanched. ‘Cowardly’ tactics was a concept up to interpretation, and honestly Trixie was planning to avoid as much fair fighting as possible. She still didn’t quite grasp what the Grail War was truly about but she had no intention of dying, or allowing any harm to come to her friends or to Ponyville. If she had to use some underhoofed tactics to give herself an advantage then she wouldn’t hesitate on that front, and Sungleam was going to have to learn to deal with that. Thinking about the matter as a whole, though, made Trixie wonder about something…

“Sungleam, tell me, just how were the Masters for this war chosen?”

“Pardon? The Grail chooses the Masters, from what I understand.”

“Alright, but how does it choose? Why were I and my friend Ditzy chosen? And Rainbow Dash? Really? Then there’s the fact that that crazy zebra Zecora was also chosen-

“Zecora?”

Trixie sighed, “Right, forgot to tell you, I recognized Assassin’s Master. She’s a zebra named Zecora who has caused me and my friends no shortage of headaches. She’s a minion of Corona.”

“Celes-“ Sungleam began to correct and Trixie rounded on the unicorn knight.

“Look blast you her name is Corona, whether you like it or not! She’s not the Princess you served! She’s an insane, violent, and dangerous alicorn with not a shred of whatever nobility she supposedly had in your time! When she returned she foalnapped almost all of Ponyville’s foals and threatened them with death if her mad demands for obedience were not met! Her only desire is to control Equestria as her personal play thing and doesn’t care who she hurts to achieve that!”

Sungleam’s jaw was clenched tightly at Trixie’s outburst, blue eyes narrowed, “Master, out of respect for the pact between us and our mutual goal of winning the Grail War I will ignore the insults you sling against my Princess, and I will keep my peace for now so we may focus on the matter at hoof…but you cannot convince me that there is nothing of my Princess left in this ‘Corona’ you speak of. The Celestia I knew held a will inside her stronger than any I’ve ever known and her kindness was such that she even saw fit to forgive…” she trailed off, shaking her head, “It matters not. I will not abandon my faith in her. Whatever darkness has cloaked her mind, it is but a shadow to be cleared. Beneath those dark clouds, I swear to you, the sun shall shine again.”

Trixie sighed, figuring that was the best she was going to get out of Sungleam for now. They’d just reached the outskirts of Ponyville when a jasmine form slammed into the road before them, panting heavily.

“Raindrops?” Trixie asked.

“Where have you been!? I’ve been trying to find you all morning since you got nabbed by…” Raindrops paused, looking at Sungleam, eyes narrowing dangerously, “By this unicorn. Are you all right Trixie…Whatthe!? You’re bleeding!? What did she do to you!?”

Raindrops looked ready to pounce on Sungleam, but Trixie stepped between them. The pain in her leg had become a dull ache by now and she put on as reassuring a smile as she could manage, “Its okay Raindrops. I’ll…explain everything on the way to the hospital. First though, where is everypony else? Is Ditzy okay? And that griffin…is it still in town?”

Raindrops hardly seemed relaxed by Trixie’s assurance that Sungleam wasn’t a threat, giving the gold clad unicorn mare a suspicious stare before answering Trixie’s questions.

“Ditzy’s fine, far as I can tell. She’s at her home. Yuri, uh, that’s what they’re calling the griffin, is just sort of…hanging around her. Its creepy. As for everypony else; Carrot Top was cleaning up her stall last I saw, Lyra’s with Bon Bon helping me look for you, and Cheerilee was helping Ivory Scroll keep Ponyville calm until we could get some kind of official word on what’s happening…” Raindrops paused, then sighed, “So what’s happening?”

Trixie gave Sungleam a sidelong glance, which her Servant returned with a small elegant shrug.

“I doubt I could get through explaining this twice without suffering some kind of mental damage, so let’s get our friends together, preferably at the hospital, and after the exceedingly painful laceration on my leg and flank are treated, I’ll try to bring everypony up to speed. Assuming a giant flaming griffin doesn’t try to kill me first.”

“If that barbaric cur tries anything I swear on the sun itself he shall nary lay a claw upon you,” said Sungleam with confidence.

Raindrops raised an eyebrow, “Is she for real?”

Sungleam snorted as Trixie said, “She is. Obsession with Corona aside she’s saved my life once already, and seems to be my…proxy, I guess, for this fight that’s started.”

“Why are you suddenly involved in this though? And Ditzy too?”

“Like I said, I’ll explain everything I know at the hospital. Now let’s get going before-“

A predator shriek cut through the air, making Trixie wince and Raindrops to flutter her wings as she took to the air. Sungleam drew her blade in her field of magic and took on a hard look.

“I told you Master that coming near to the town would only aggravate Berserker. A battle is all but unavoidable where his class is concerned; nothing but bestial instinct and rage drives him. You should find somewhere to hide until I’ve dealt with the brute!”

Trixie groaned, “You two are not fighting in Ponyville! Ugh…if we can’t get to the hospital we need to at least get to my house before getting out of here.”

“You’re home? Why? Is there something of key strategic or tactical importance there, Master?” asked Sungleam.

Trixie nodded, “Yes, there is something there that’s absolutely critical to my ability to deal with this situation!”

Raindrops had a deadpan expression on her face as she said, “You’re going after your alcohol aren’t you?”

“…How did you guess?”

----------

Ditzy Doo didn’t know why she felt so tired, given she’d gotten plenty of sleep the previous night. Maybe the excitement of events plus the mental stress of worrying about what might be happening to Trixie right now was draining her of her usual energy. While baking muffins with Dinky had been a calming and joyful way to spend the morning Ditzy couldn’t help but keep casting glances at the odd blood red markings covering her wing. They certainly looked off putting, like twisting vines, wrapped in three distinct clusters extending from the base of her wing all the way to the tip. She could almost feel a…pulse, faint but resonant, stemming from the markings. To worry about things that couldn’t be changed wasn’t Ditzy Doo’s style, but these markings, and what they might mean, worried her.

It was hard to stay worried though, when she was spending time with her daughter. Dinky Doo was practicing her levitation magic with one of the banana nut muffins sitting on their small dining table, still fresh baked. Ditzy watched while happily munching a muffin of her own as Dinky’s eyes squinted in concentration on the muffin floating before her as it inched towards her eagerly awaiting mouth. The little unicorn filly almost had her delicious prize in range for optimal eating operations when a loud screech from outside the door broke her concentration, causing the muffin to drop to the ground and Ditzy to fly up in a start, nearly bumping her head on the ceiling.

“Aawwww,” Dinky cried in disappointment, then quickly snatched up the muffin anyway declaring “Ten second rule!”

Ditzy was too startled by the eagle-like shriek to even admonish Dinky for eating something off the ground (though Ditzy couldn’t deny she’d occasionally used the ‘ten second’ rule herself, especially when it came to muffins). She flew over to the window and looked out, pressing one eye practically against the glass.

Yuri had been, last she seen, simply laying curled beside her front door like some massive feathered guard dog. Now the goliath of a griffin was up on his clawed feet, wings flared, those massive and ornate gauntlets on his fore arms already emanating a intense orange glow. His eyes were glowing orbs of angry fire orange and were glaring off at something in the distance that Ditzy couldn’t see from her angle. Yuri was already flapping his massive wings and taking to the air and Ditzy found herself quickly flying herself towards the door, quickly saying to Dinky, “Stay inside muffin! Mommy has to take care of something!”

“Mommy? Is our big bird friend angry at something?”

“I don’t know sweetie, just stay in the house. I’ll be right back!”

Flying out her door Ditzy was just in time to see Yuri accelerating up into the air and start hurtling towards the edge of town at an alarmingly fast speed for his size. Ditzy was hardly the fastest pegasus in Ponyville, though she had a good amount of endurance due to the long hours she worked as a mailmare. As such she had to flap her wings doubly fast just to keep Yuri in view, let alone catch up to him. She gulped in panting breaths of air as her heart did its best impression of a hyperactive tap-dancer in her chest. She couldn’t let him hurt anypony!

They were just at the edge of Ponyville when she saw Yuri suddenly go into a steep dive, wings snapping against his side, gauntleted claws outstretched as he let out another terrifyingly sharp cry that hurt Ditzy’s ears. To her horror she saw that what Yuri was diving towards were her own friends, Trixie and Raindrops, who were talking into town alongside that strange golden clad unicorn who’d appeared alongside Yuri before. The unicorn already had her crystalline blade drawn and was poised in a fighting stance, ready to receive Yuri’s dive, while Trixie was diving for a nearby bush, Raindrops looking ready to jump between Trixie and the griffin if need be.

“Stop it!” Ditzy yelled, also diving, however impossible it would seem that she’d intercept in time.

The mare in gold armor waited until the last moment, until it seemed she was sure Yuri’s target was indeed her, before deftly leaping to the side as the huge griffin slammed down with both gauntlets on the ground she’d just occupied. A shower of dirt exploded into the air from the impact, leaving a small crater in the ground. Raindrops was thrown back by the force, though she was on her hooves again in an instant.

“Great, here we go again,” she muttered, looking at the bush next to her, “Trixie, you okay?”

Trixie’s head and hat poked out of the top of the bush, “Well I’m injured and still sober, so we’re going to go with ‘not really’.”

Yuri shook himself, dirt that had cascade down on him from the impact crater he’d made coming off him like a shower as he fixed his glare upon the waiting Sungleam, issuing forth a low rumbling growl that carried the promise of excessive violence. Sungleam faced the griffin which outsized her two times over with head held high and her own eyes flashing in challenge.

Just as the two burst forward to meet each other a gray form landed between them, hoof outstretched and crying at the top of her lungs, “Waaaaait!”

Firey gauntlet halted in mid-air just inches from Ditzy Doo, and similarly Sungleam’s clear blade paused in mid-swing less than a hoof’s length away from the mailmare. Yuri was paused like a puppet whose puppeteer had forgotten what the next part of the performance was, the griffin looking down at the little gray pegasus with heavy, growling breaths.

Sungleam had her eyes boring into the griffin still, her entire body still tensed to strike.

“Ummm…Y-Yuri, no fighting, understand?” said Ditzy, nervously at first, her legs feeling weak, but she managed to put more strength into her voice as she noticed that the griffin was giving her his undivided attention, “Going around attacking poor ponies for no reason is not how a guest in Ponyville acts mister! So…so, uh, you’d just better calm down, or I’ll give you the sternest talking-to you’ve ever had!”

The griffin blinked, blazing eyes staring straight into Ditzy’s and she gulped, but matched Yuri’s smoldering fury with her own determined gaze. Yuri shrieked in her face, blowing her mane back and causing her lips to flap about under the volume, but the griffin lowered his gauntlet and sat back on his haunches. Ditzy had to take a moment, heart still hammering in fear, to realize the monstrously huge griffin had backed down.

The unicorn mare didn’t become any less tense, however, keeping her sword drawn and floating by her side.

Trixie was the first to speak in the following silence, “Okay, so, Ditzy, good job there. Sungleam, I think you can put away your sword for now. Don’t want to make the very large and aggressive predatory half bird half lion any more agitated, yes?”

Sungleam hesitated only a moment before sheathing her sword with a huff, “This is most…unpleasant a situation. By rights I should not have a reason to hold back in dealing with this barbarian.”

“Hold back?” Ditzy said confused, and feeling an odd anger sparking in her that she didn’t like the feel of, “Hold back!? You shouldn’t even consider fighting at all! This is a peaceful town of good ponies, not some battleground for…for…whatever dumb reason your fighting over is! My friend Carrot Top had her food stall ruined by you two, and the town hall is a mess! What possible reason do you have to try and fight each other anyway?”

“Ditzy, I can explain, but…um, could really use alcohol, medical attention, and everypony else present for the exposition dump,” said Trixie, clambering out of the bush, limping slightly as her leaping in there in the first place had aggravated the wound on her leg.

Ditzy found herself rounding on Trixie, almost ready to yell at her too, before she stopped herself, blinking her walled eyes in confusion. Why was so suddenly so angry? Admittedly it’d been a very odd and stressful morning, but…this kind of snappish anger wasn’t her. Embarrassed she softened her expression and her tone.

“O…okay, I can go get the others and meet you at the hospital,” she looked up at Yuri, “Are you going to behave mister?”

The griffin growled what might’ve been an accent, but it was hard to tell. He wasn’t making any further aggressive moves but his black feathers were practically brislting with barely restrained violence. Ditzy could almost imagine being able to taste the rage boiling inside him, felt its rumble in her own heart like it was her own. She shook her head. She must be more tired than she thought.

----------

Later at the Ponyville General Hospital Trixie was resting in a medical bed, the cut on her flank from Commander Hurricane’s spear and the stab wound from that dagger of Assassin’s both bandaged up. She wanted to have a bottle of brandy or bourbon on hoof, but the doctor had steadfastly refused to allow it, to which Trixie sulked, hooves crossed over her chest.

Around her were her dear friends, her fellow bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Raindrops was near the bed, not at all being subtle about the fact that she was placing herself between Trixie and the door, as outside Yuri was curled up in the hallway, having followed Ditzy like a dutiful trained guard. Cheerilee was giving Sungleam curious looks from across the room where she stood by the widow, while Sungleam herself was flanking Trixie’s bed with Raindrops. Carrot Top sat in a guest chair by the door, fidgeting nervously as she looked between Trixie and Ditzy. Ditzy was also close to the door, just so she could keep an eye on Yuri. Finally Lyra was leaning against the foot of Trixie’s bed, by far the most energetic and optimistic looking of the bunch in the room.

Trixie had just finished her explanation of the Grail War, at least in as much as Sungleam had explained it to her. Most of her friends were stunned into silence, or in Ditzy’s case filled with no small amount of nervousness. Trixie sympathized, as she was less than thrilled with the circumstances as well.

Lyra was the only one who seemed upbeat about the whole thing.

“So we literally have figures from history made flesh walking around, poised to get locked in epic battle with each other for control of some stupid-powerful wish granting artifact? Seriously if ponies lives weren’t in danger my little inner bard would be doing cartwheels right now.”

“This is serious Lyra,” Raindrops said, “Trixie and Ditzy shouldn’t have to be forced into this!”

“I know that. I’m not any happier than you are about my friends getting mixed up in this, but I can’t help it if I’m a smidge excited at the notion that mythic figures I’ve learned so many stories about are actually going to be fighting each other in the flesh. Seriously I had debates in college about who would win a fight, Starswirl the Bearded or Red Magician. I wonder who else is going to show up! There’s seven Servants total, right?”

“That’s what Sungleam said,” Trixie nodded.

“It’s true,” Sungleam confirmed, “Besides myself and Berserker there should be five other Servants.”

“But why Trixie and Ditzy?” asked Carrot Top, “Raindrops has a point, why are they being forced to fight as these…Masters?”

“Yes,” said Trixie, “I tried to ask that before, but you never did give me an answer.”

Sungleam looked at the other ponies in the room with an air of calm as she said, “I was given knowledge of the Grail War’s structure and rules, of the history of this time and its culture, but the reasons behind the choosing of the Masters is not among that collection of knowledge. All I know is that it was the Grail itself that chose you, Trixie Lulamoon, and you Ditzy Doo. Specifically. No Master is chosen at random. But the reasons, I must confess, I simply don’t know.”

“Well that’s an ominous thought isn’t it?” commented Cheerilee, “Makes one think this Grail may well have a nefarious purpose behind the ponies it chose. It can’t be coincidence that three of these seven Masters just happened to be living here in Ponyville, after all.”

“So is there any way for them to back out of this?” asked Raindrops, concern mixed with hope in her voice, “Can Trixie and Ditzy just throw in the towel if they don’t want to fight?”

There was a hesitant pause from Sungleam before she said, “If they truly desired to…surrender, then truthfully all they would need to do is use one of their Command Seals to order their Servants to take their own lives.”

That left a heavy, cold silence in the room for a few seconds before Ditzy said, “I…couldn’t do that. I’d never do that.”

Trixie could only nod in agreement, “That’d leave a poor taste in my mouth as well. Besides all doing that would accomplish is make it easier for any of the other Masters to win the Grail. Not sure I’m at all comfortable with the notion of some pony I don’t know getting their hooves on a limitless wish.”

“Lyra, you’re the mythical lore expert around here,” said Carrot Top, “Has there ever been any hint or mention of this Grail in history?”

The mint unicorn shook her head briskly, “None. Not like what’s been described anyway. Sure there are a few tales and stories that involve magical chalices’ or goblets, but nothing even remotely close to an artifact that can bring back ancient heroes and grants wishes.”

Trixie wasn’t surprised by that. From what Sungleam had explained this Grail was so old that it likely predated written records, and she didn’t imagine either Princess Luna, or Celestia back when she was even remotely sane, would want to encourage any tales told of what essentially constituted a failed experiment.

“All of this conversation aside,” said Sungleam, “We should be preparing for our next move, Master. We know Assassin is in the area, but I can’t pinpoint his location due to his ability to conceal his mana. However, there are still two other Servants in the vicinity that we can deal with in the meantime!”

Trixie frowned, “We’re not fighting…uh…Yuri, was it?”

Ditzy nodded solemly, giving Sungleam a wary look, “That’s what Lyra called him.”

“Well, he’s wearing armor that matches descriptions for the last Emperor of all the Griffs, so I just called it as I saw it.”

Sungleam looked towards the wall of the room, as if she could see through it to the huge griffin laying in the hallway beyond, “So that is who he is? I confess I know little of the details of his reign, other than it was not a pleasant regime. Tell me, noble bard, what do the legends say of him?”

Lyra blinked at the mare, “Uh, well, he-“

She was suddenly cut off by Trixie, “Lyra, you don’t have to answer that. Sungleam, we’re not fighting the griffin. Period.”

“Master I must protest. He is an enemy. The fact that his Master is a friend of yours does not change that. In fact, if you are so concerned with your friend not participating further in the Grail War does it not make sense to eliminate her Servant first and take her out of the running, as it were?”

“Hate to say it,” Raindrops spoke up, “But she’s got a point. Ditzy doesn’t belong mixed up in something like this, and it doesn’t sound like the Masters have to…to die in this war, just the Servants. So maybe-“

“Who says I don’t want to fight?” said Ditzy suddenly, an odd sharp heat entering her tone as she looked at Raindrops.

The other pegasus looked at Ditzy in surprise, a small flash of shock in her eyes, “I-, well, I mean Ditzy…you don’t want to do this do you!? What if something happened to you? What about your daughter?”

“You think I don’t know what I’d be risking? I know. Nothing is more important to me than Dinky. Nothing…” Ditzy said, not entirely sure why she was so heated up but it was there, a burning little fire in her gut at the mention of just…quitting the Grail War. Ditzy tried to lock down that feeling, figure out why it was there. Why was she suddenly so hot to participate in this war?

…Dinky. Ditzy blinked, realizing that the moment she’d heard just what the Grail could give to the winner of the war, Ditzy had found she had a strong desire to see this through to the end. Because with any wish at her disposal she could give Dinky so much more than she currently had. It wasn’t that Ditzy was dissatisfied with her life…but she knew her daughter deserved so much more than what the hard working mailmare could currently give. To have a chance at acquiring any wish, was Ditzy now willing to risk her life in this bizarre war?

There was more to it than that though. No amount of possible future financial security for her and Dinky would warrant possibly leaving Dinky an orphan if the worst came to pass. Something else drove Ditzy’s desire to fight, and she thought it had to do with Yuri. For all his seemingly mindless fury Ditzy sensed a…a near overwhelming sadness emanating from the black feathered griffin.

Ditzy looked at Sungleam, avoiding Raindrop’s worried gaze, “You said the Grail can grant any wish, right? So that means you Servants also have a wish that you want the Grail to fulfill, right?”

“…That’s correct. No Heroic Spirit would be summoned who didn’t have a strong desire for a wish to be granted.”

“So Yuri has something he desperately wants the Grail to give him then. And unlike any other Servant he’s…he’s not even able to tell us what it is he wants. He’s just lost in his anger, and I’m the only one who can help him.”

“Ditzy…” Trixie began but Ditzy raised a hoof.

“I’m sorry Trixie. I don’t want to hurt anypony. Never that. But there’s no rule that says I have to hurt anypony in this Grail War besides the other Servants, who are all fighting by choice. So I…I want to help Yuri win. I’m not backing out of this.”

Trixie considered this, looking at her hooves crossed in front of her as she was lost in thought. Before she could really get her thoughts organized Cheerilee spoke up.

“Think we’re getting too gloomy in here,” said the magenta earth pony with a firm stomp of a hoof, “I think this calls for some lunch! Not hospital food either, I’ll go get something and bring it back here. Any requests? I’m buying.”

“Could go for some sweet tarts from Sugar Cube Corner,” said Carrot Top, then hastily added at a look from Lyra, “Or something from Bon Bon’s place.”

“More in the mood for some hay fries,” Trixie said, realizing that breakfast had been skipped over.

“My knowledge of this era states that there is something called a ‘hay milkshake’ that I am curious to try,” said Sungleam, earning a few looks towards the mare, whose white coat tinged a tad red as she added, “We did not have such things in my time…”

Cheerilee smiled, “Oh, you’ll love them. Alright, let me get something to write on and I’ll just take down everypony’s orders-“

She was interrupted by a cracking peal of thunder from outside, loud enough to rattle the windows. Trixie stared in muted surprise at the sight of sudden heavy falling rain from outside the window, and Raindrops went over and looked out. Trixie saw her pegasus friend mouthing an expletive query under her breath.

Sungleam’s expression had instantly turned steely and a low growl from the hallway indicated Yuri was agitated as well.

“Raindrops, what is it?” asked Trixie.

“A storm,” Raindrops replied with a heavy frown, “But its concentrated in one area, like somepony’s got a full weather team creating the thing. Pretty sure we don’t got this scheduled for today though…so I’m guessing that means…”

“A Servant,” Trixie said dryly, “And with a flashy storm like that I give you three guesses as to whose making it. Commander Hurricane is either calling us out, or Rainbow Dash has convinced him to take over her job as weather manager.”

“Wouldn’t put it past her if she had,” said Raindrops sardonically, though her tone softened as she wondered, “But I don’t think she’s keen on this fight either. She was trying to protect Ponyville before…and that storm, its localized real close to Fluttershy’s house. I can’t see Rainbow Dash being hot for a fight if her friend is close by.”

“Well whatever the case, it’s clear Hurricane’s doing something,” said Trixie, trying to decide what an ancient pegasus military leader would be trying to do by forming a big storm on the edge of Ponyville.

“Calling us to battle,” Sungleam said, and was already heading for the door out as she said it.

Trixie grunting a little as she hopped out of bed to follow, “Wait, you’re not going to just charge in there are you?”

“This is clearly a challenge!” said Sungleam, “As a knight how could I refuse such an obvious and direct declaration of intent? Are we to while away our time snacking and chatting while a battle awaits us?”

“You were all hot to have a milkshake two seconds ago,” said Raindrops, “Besides isn’t Trixie your Master? Don’t you have to do what she says?”

The golden clad mare tossed her head, a few of strands of her blonde mane coming loose of her otherwise neat bun, “Her role as my Master isn’t to simply give me orders! She is a…a…partner, of sorts. A comrade. And comrades should support each other in battle, not hold one another back! I cannot win this Grail War if my Master doesn’t seek battle!”

“If we have to fight, that’s one thing, but walking into an possible trap with no idea of a plan is a level of stupidity I’m not keen on ‘supporting’,” said Trixie as she took off the hospital gown and started to float on her cape and hat, which had been sitting on a table by the bed.

A screech from the hallway followed by the sound of a door being torn off its hinges caused Ditzy to shudder and look out into the hallway, the gray pegasus shouting, “Yuri! Wait!”

Sungleam glanced at Ditzy, then turned to Trixie, “What will it be, my Master? If you insist on waiting, I shall wait, much as I detest the notion of not answering a challenge. However Berserker will not allow any such challenge to pass, and I doubt even your kind friend will be able to stop him this time. You may let her and her Servant battle alone…or you can send me to aid them.”

“Weren’t you just talking about fighting Yuri a second ago?” asked Lyra.

“Eventually I will have to cross blades with all of the enemy Servants, to guarantee victory for me and my Master,” said Sungleam with steel in her voice, “But I can accept a temporary alliance if it puts my Master’s mind at ease somewhat.”

There was a moment of tension as all the ponies looked to Trixie, save for Ditzy who was standing out in the hallway, hesitating between wanting to stay with her friends, or chase after the large enraged griffin she was starting to feel truly needed the help and kindness of somepony like her to guide him. Trixie felt all those eyes on her, looking between her friends. She saw no lack of nervousness and fear mixed in among them, and shared those same feelings. They’d faced the wrath of Corona together, however. How much worse could this Grail War be?

“Cheerilee, Carrot Top, I want you two to gather up the Elements of Harmony. I have no idea what they may or may not do if we have to try using them, but they’re the only ace up our sleeves we have right now.”

“Elements of Harmony…” Sungleam frowned, “What purpose could those serve?”

“Well, last time they did mare-smack a crazy sun goddess so hard that it turned her mane pink,” mentioned Cheerilee.

“I would feel better if we had them,” said Carrot Top, “It’s not like I can do much else to help.”

Raindrops bumped the earth pony mare with a hoof, “Hey, don’t shortchange yourself, we can all help Trixie and Ditzy win this thing, somehow.”

Carrot Top smiled wanly, but nodded, “I know. Just not sure how I’m going to help yet.”

“For now just help Cheerliee get the Elements,” said Trixie, “Raindrops, Lyra, you’ll come with me and Ditzy.”

Lyra nodded, and Raindrops rubbed her hooves together.

“Oh yes, I’m looking forward to getting back at that jerk Hurricane for trying to hurt you and Ditzy!”

“Not that I’m complaining Trixie, but what do you need me there for?” asked Lyra, “I’ll go of course, but I’m worried about Bon Bon.”

“You’re the only one here besides Cheerilee who has a background in history,” said Trixie, “And you’re more knowledgeable about the kind of ponies we’re dealing with. Myths and legends and all that. If Commander Hurricane has a weakness to exploit, you’re likely to know what it is. At the very least you might know what his strengths are, what tactics he was known to use, or what powers he might have. Like this storm, any idea what’s up with that?”

“He’s a pegasus, so it might just be he’s skilled in weather control,” said Lyra with a pondering expression, “Just, you know, amped up by being a Servant. Um, that is how Servants work, right?”

Sungleam, clearly impatient from the way she was stamping at the ground with her hooves, nodded curtly at the bard, “Yes, more or less. Our powers are…exaggerated and enhanced from what they were in mortal life. Hurricane may well be making this storm under his own power without having to use his Noble Phantasm.”

“Do we have to keep talking about all this!?” Ditzy said, wings flapping, eyes a tad bloodshot even as one of them was sliding up to look at the ceiling, “Can we go now?”

Trixie looked at her friend, surprised at the anger in the gray pegasus mare’s voice. She almost sounded like Raindrops when she got in a bad mood. Ditzy’s whole frame was shaking, and it didn’t seem to be from fear or nervousness, and Trixie could see Ditzy was barely controlling herself. What was going on? Ditzy almost seemed to be in pain.

“Ditzy, are you alright?”

“I will be as soon as we leave to go help Yuri. He’s all alone right now. I’m going now, even if none of you are following,” with that Ditzy was off, passing by a very confused looking doctor and a few scared nurses that had come to see what the commotion was about.

The doctor entered the room, nervously looking around, eyes lingering on Sungleam’s armored form for a moment before he looked to Trixie.

“M-Miss Lulamoon? I was just coming to see that your injuries were taking to the treatment well…um…and to inform you that mayor Ivory Scroll wishes to speak with you concerning…events…”

“Tell her she’ll have to wait for a full explanation. I have pressing matters to tend to,” Trixie said as she trotted by, “Also, tell her to keep all of Ponyville’s citizens indoors, unless they’re one of the Element bearers, in which case they’re acting on my instructions as the Night Court’s Representative.”

“Miss Lulamoon I can’t recommend your release from the hospital until I can be sure your injuries are-“

Sungleam cut him off, “Your concern is unneeded, good healer. The battlefield calls to us and we cannot ignore its clarion ring to glory!”

The doctor just starred at her in dumbfounded shock as Trixie gave him an apologetic nod and strode out, Sungleam following. Trixie’s friends weren’t far behind, Cheerilee smiling to the doctor, “Just shaping into one of those days, isn’t it?”

----------

Rainbow Dash was not a happy mare, and wasn’t making any secret of it, shouting even over the sound of the rain and thunder.

“I told you that if we had to do this, to do it somewhere else! Fluttershy hate’s thunder! Quite frankly I’m not fond of it either!”

She was managing to keep pace with Commander Hurricane amid the fierce weather, still having a hard believing one pegasus had managed to create such a storm so quickly. It wasn’t simply weather control, though, near as Rainbow could tell. This had something to do with that flag, the one Hurricane had called the Banner of Pegasopolis. Hurricane had planted the banner in the ground just outside Fluttershy’s house, having said something about it being able to ‘recreate past battlefield conditions’, whatever that was supposed to mean. Half of what this crazy stallion jabbered about made no sense to the cyan weather manager of Ponyville.

Rainbow kicked herself mentally for the dozenth time for even bringing Commander Hurricane to Fluttershy’s place. Rainbow had just been worried about her friend, and had wanted somepony to talk to about all this crazy stuff that was happening. She’d tried to insist Hurricane stay outside, but the brash pegasus had marched right into Fluttershy’s house when the reclusive mare had barely opened the door.

Rainbow Dash had had to forcibly drag him out while Fluttershy had had a panic attack thinking somepony was trying to rob her.

“Stop complaining Private Dash, this is fundamental psychological reinforcement! A solider always fights better when defending home ground! Your friend will be fine, as long as we win, see? Doesn’t having the very sanctity of hearth and home on the line ignite a fire in your heart to drive the enemy from your land!? Of course it does! Every red blooded pegasus is born with the instincts of a warrior! Even that little pink manned waif of a mare has the heritage of Pegasopolis buried somewhere inside her.”

“Buddy, I’m am this close to knocking your block off myself! I will if you dis my girl Fluttershy again! Besides why are we trying to draw those other Servants here anyway!? I thought you were all about ‘tactics and ‘strategy’ and ‘blah blah blah’?”

“This is my strategy Private!” Hurricane said, doing one more loop through the gathered storm clouds, forming them into a thick sheet of black lightning heavy clouds. He ran a hoof over his mohawk and gave a satisfied nod, “You see Private Dash, drawing the enemy to fight on ground you’ve prepared yourself to grant you maximum advantage is a fundamental of tactics! As for the grander strategy…well I won’t try to overload your young mind with the nuisances just yet. Suffice to say I know what I’m doing. This shall be just like the routing of the earth pony barbarians at the Battle of Black Fords!”

With that Hurricane flew down and landed in front of Fluttershy’s house, the heavy rain already overflowing the small stream that passed by the animal caretaker’s abode. Rainbow Dash landed right next to him, her face still a mirrored visage of the storm breaking above them. Hurricane all but ignored her glaring as he retrieved his spear with the banner flapping attached to it. Rainbow Dash noticed the banner had a faint white glow about it.

“What is that thing doing anyway?” she asked, still glaring.

“All of my past glories, all of my victories, and even some of my more noble defeats, were witnessed by this one banner, Private Dash,” Commander Hurricane said with fondness as he held the banner and spear aloft, “Those battlefields are forever etched into the banner’s memory. It holds the power to draw out the conditions of those battlefields and force them into this world, like a spear piercing into a body! This storm is the same storm that aided my army in routing Chief Quakehoof and his barbarian horde hundreds of years ago! It will help us now in battling the Servants that are no doubt on their way as we speak.”

Rainbow Dash snorted, “I don’t get it, and I still don’t get why we have to fight here, right in Fluttershy’s front yard!”

Rainbow cast a worried look at the house, its lights out, its front door locked tight. She knew Fluttershy was still in there, no doubt huddled under the biggest table she could find. It enraged Rainbow, thinking her friend had to go through this because of this hard headed stallion. Thing was though, she sort of understood that this was the point. Hurricane wanted her pissed, so she’d fight all the harder against the enemy.

It’d help, though, if Rainbow understood what this Grail War was really about. She didn’t understand anything Commander Hurricane had tried to explain about the artifact and its ability to grant wishes. Rainbow Dash didn’t want any wish granted. Why wasn’t the Princess doing anything about this anyway? Shouldn’t this be the kind of thing Princess Luna should step in and stop? It was a lot for her to take in and she just wanted to go back to taking a nap and worrying about next week’s weather schedule.

“Aside from the benefit of providing a incentive for your increased performance the topography is also to our advantage,” explained Hurricane, “This marshy area is easily flooded, and any land bound enemy will have their mobility reduced. There’s an easy route of retreat to the nearby Everfree Forest if things go poorly, and since you raised such a stink over fighting in town it has the benefit of being far enough away that worrying about civilian casualties is limited.”

“Except for Fluttershy!”

“I said limited, not gone. Remember Private Dash, incentive to fight hard. Ah, and here comes the enemy vanguard now!”

Rainbow Dash turned and looked, squinting through the thick rain. In the air, approaching fast, was a black and red figure, sporting a large wingspan. She recognized it quickly as the same huge dark griffin that she’d seen in Ponyville. She grit her teeth. That monster…she couldn’t let it anywhere near Fluttershy. She found herself growling under her breath, tensing her legs and flexing her wings.

Next to her Commander Hurricane grinned widely and brandished his spear, “That’s the spirit Private Dash! Now then, let’s go meet the charge! To battle, to the glory of Pegasopolis!”

“Stuff it, old man! I’m not doing this for glory…”

Though she couldn’t deny, even in her anger, something inside her felt…thrilled. This was going to be more intense than any race she’d ever participated in.

And unbeknownst to either pegasus or the approaching griffin, there was a shadowy, headless form in the shadows of the nearby tree line, watching the proceedings with keen interest alongside a equally well hidden zebra.

----------

Canterlot was a city in a state of partially subdued panic. Many of its citizens were eager to know what mystical event had occurred in their fair city that morning and were nervous beyond measure at the very limited information released from the palace. The Princess of the Night, Luna Equestris, had stated that the phenomenon seen that morning was the result of a magical ritual she had participated in and that its enacting was in no way a threat to the safety of Equestria. She failed to specific what the ritual was, or what it had been for, however, so speculations ran rampant.

Most of Canterlot was trying to go about its daily business, though the air was thick with tension.

So there were a few citizens out in their posh high society clothes to witness the sudden violet flash of light as two unicorns appeared on one of Canterlot’s many streets. One was a purple unicorn mare whose form was partially covered by a dirty brown cloak that obscured her cutie mark and most of her her mane, save a few dark violet and pink streaked tresses. The other was an elderly bearded gray unicorn stallion who would have looked sage and wise if not for his outfit, the magician’s hat and cloak bedeck in bells.

Twilight Sparkle looked about quickly, gasping that she’d missed her target.

“Oh no, this isn’t the Royal Library! It’s been so long I must have missed too much detail for the spell to take us there directly. How could I screw up a teleportation spell so badly?”

“Its nothing to beat yourself up over my dear Twilight,” said Starswirl kindly, “It is truly amazing you managed such a long distance teleport with even this degree of accuracy. I’ll admit I was almost worried we might end up spliced into a tree.”

“Yes, being a tree would be bad,” said Twilight, examining their surroundings, checking the street signs, and ignoring the Canterlot citizens giving them weird looks, “I think we’re not too far off though. Hm, I was hoping just to make this quick. Walking around Canterlot is not the best idea for me at the moment.”

“Truly? I was rather hoping we could take some time to see the sights. It’s been a long time since I was last able to enjoy the feeling of a bustling city.”

“But don’t you already have knowledge of this era ingrained in your mind from the Grail?” asked Twilight as they began to trot quickly down the road.

“My dear Twilight, second-hoof knowledge is no substitute for the actual experience,” said Starswirl with a small, gentle smile, “Merely reading about a city tells you nothing more than dry facts. You have to walk its streets, smell its smells, taste its foods, speak with its ponies, to truly know it. This is applicable to all magic as well.”

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, cocking her head as her mind processed this. She didn’t want to call out her Servant on being vague, but to her the advice did sound…impractical.

“But you learn magic by reading books, I’m not sure how that can be considered ‘second-hoof’ knowledge.”

“It is true that the theories of magic, its forms and methods, can be very thoroughly described and taught through the medium of the written word. In fact I’d say that is the best way to ensure the knowledge of magic is retained and taught through the ages. But reading of a spell is just the first step, my dear Twilight. Even performing the spell is but another step on a longer road to understanding it. Creating magic is…hm, how shall I put this? It is a living process.”

“Living process?”

“Quite so. Each creature grows as it lives and experiences new things, adding that experience to the whole of the world as it goes through all stages of life, and eventually has the final experience; that of death. Magic is very much the same. A spell is conceived inside you, given birth through your expression, grows through its application, and eventually dies as its purpose is fulfilled. Every time you cast a spell, even the same one, is a new life, a new form brought into the world. Knowing that spell, it is the process of feeing its life every time you cast your magic into the world. A living, breathing process that helps you grow as well as you go through your own cycle of life.”

It sounded all rather philosophical to Twilight, who while having a certain amount of respect for those intellectual pursuits, preferred the notion of solid, hard facts over such musings. She couldn’t entirely dismiss what Starswirl the Bearded was saying, however it might not quite make sense to her. After all, this was Starswirl the Bearded! He invented over three hundred spells over the course of his career and was the most prominent conjurer of his age. It was hard just to dismiss what he was saying as the ramblings of an old unicorn.

“I’ll…think about what you’ve said, but for now let’s just focus on getting to the Royal Library. Its dangerous for me to be here, but I think the risk will be worth it if we can find the spells I’m looking for.”

“You mentioned danger before, may I ask why coming here would be troublesome for you? I do not wish to pry, but I can’t help but notice,” Starswirl paused, and then nodded at her cloak, “Most unusual choice in garb, given the splendors of the city we’ve come to.”

“I…” Twilight, glanced around, making sure nopony was in earshot, “I’m…wanted.”

“Hm?”

“By the authorities.”

“…I see.”

“…”

“…You’re not going to ask why?”

“Do you wish to tell me?”

“Not…really…”

“Then I shall not ask.”

Twilight found herself saying softly, “Thank you.”

Starswirl smiled at her, “Think nothing of it my dear. I know well what it is like to have secrets. You need never fear my judgment, dear Twilight. Whatever you have done to warrant this trouble, I see in you a good and bright soul.”

Twilight chuckled slightly, shaking her head, “Its not like it was even my fault…well…mostly.”

Suddenly Starswirl halted, putting his hoof out, barring Twilight. She gave him an odd look. They’d reached a park that Twilight knew if they cut across they’d reach the gates of the Royal Library right next to the palace. The area was mostly empty, no parents out playing with their foals today, perhaps due to the mystical events of that morning causing most parents to want to keep their foals indoors. Twilight didn’t see anypony around, but Starswirl’s kindly demeanor had hardened to a stoic mask as he looked at the park with squinted eyes.

“Starswirl?”

“Stand back my dear…we are not alone here.”

Twilight was about to ask what when suddenly there was a twang in the air like a snapping string. Starswirl moved with speed his old frail form didn’t seem to allow, yet he was in front of her in an instant, his horn aglow with yellow light. In a split second a golden bowl-shaped shield sprang to being before them and Twilight saw a pink, glowing arrow snap off the shield. She hadn’t even seen where the arrow had come from!

“What’s happening Starswirl!?”

“It seems our arrival has not gone unnoticed,” Starswirl said as he extended his shield to cover them, his eyes casting about the park, “That attack was from a Servant, and I do not doubt from the form it has taken that we are dealing with a member of the Archer class. Prepare yourself young Twilight Sparkle, it seems our first battle is upon us far sooner than I would have preferred.”

Twilight merely nodded, gulping, but steeling herself, “I…I’m ready. What do I do?”

“Just keep your mind clear, so I may draw upon your mana if needed. Do not try anything without my say so. Please. Archer’s specialize in long range attacks. One mistake and you will be lost to me.”

As if to punctuate and emphasize his statement another pink arrow slammed into his shield, causing it to ripple for a second like water with a stone cast into it. Twilight blinked as she noticed an odd pink gas seeming to fill the air as the pink arrow shattered like glass upon impact. What was that? More importantly, where had it come from!? She couldn't see anypony around!

Starswirl sighed as the glow around his horn intensified, "We may be in for a rather difficult fight, my dear Twilight. But have faith. I shall not allow such a brilliant light such as yours fade away this day, or any other!"

Twilight could only nod her head, somehow...warmed by the fire appearing in Starswirl's eyes, the eyes of a much younger stallion than what she'd seen before.

----------

Greengrass was nestled in a comfortable perch on a balcony some distance from the park, but with an excellent view of not only the park but much of Canterlot’s main thoroughfares. He had a pair of small binoculars from which he could view events as they unfolded. Next to him Notary was holding her ear to a small glowing gem.

“She’s made contact with the Servant Master pair, sir,” Notary reported, and frowned “She’s engaged…without permission.”

“Yes, well, she’s an overeager sort, isn’t she?” said Greengrass, looking through the binoculars, wondering who the young mare in the brown cloak was, clearly the Master, and not the Servant, if judging by the way the old bearded unicorn was the one creating the shield, “Tell Viola that she is to test them, but keep things…clean for now. I want that Master positively identified, and quickly.”

“Yes sir,” Notary said and relayed the instructions through the gem to Viola. Greengrass didn’t hear the reply but judging from Notary’s grimace he imagined Viola was being as volatile towards his assistant as ever. He sighed, wondering why, if he was fated to be dragged into this most bizarre of battles, that he had to be saddled with such a difficult Servant. She’d made three more attempts to become…ugh..intimate with him before the morning alone was done. He’d only managed to get her out of his hair by convincing her to perform this preliminary search of Canterlot for other potential Masters and Servants. Seemed to make sense to make sure his own back yard was clear of weeds first, before moving on to anything else.

He was genuinely surprised when Viola had reported sensing a Servant’s presence. Apparently the Archer class was exceptionally good at such perceptive powers, and it was turning out to his advange. Perhaps he would be the one to draw first blood in this Grail War. While he had no interest in the nitty gritty violence that would ensue…he couldn’t deny that he liked the notion of winning. Indeed, having any wish he desired granted, that would certainly accelerate his timetable in regards to the Night Court.

“Let the game begin,” he said to himself as he continued to observe the park, licking his lips.

Episode 3: Battle is Joined

View Online

Episode 3: Battle is Joined

Shining Armor double checked the straps of his violet and gold trimmed plate mail, a squire assisting him with the final steps of getting his armor on. The midday sunlight filtered into the guard captain’s quarters through an open window that Princess Platinum looked out with a serene, scrutinizing gaze. Her half violet, half cherry blue mane flowed at a soft breeze wafting through the window, stirring her thick regal cloak.

“Remarkable, really,” the ages old unicorn Princess said, her rich regal tone musing “Never did I imagine the awkward alliance forged between myself, that hot-head Hurricane, and the ridiculous Pudding Head would in time lead to... well... this.”

“What are you talking about?” Shining Armor asked, a little irritably, as he waved off the squire, a young green pegasus mare named Springrain. She fluttered away, wide eyes staring only briefly at the living legend in the room, before hurrying out the door.

Princess Platinum watched the squire go with a small smirk, then turned her attention to Shining Armor, walking towards him with that same straight shouldered proud poise she’d maintained since she’d first appeared before him. Shining Armor was still in a slight state of mental shock about it all, honestly. You just didn’t have millenia dead Princesses popping out of magical circles every day. Or any day. Except today apparently.

“Merely that its a pleasant surprise that the Three Tribes actually remained... together, for all this time,” she said, “There was a time when such unity of spirit among ponies was but a foal’s dream. I confess when I parted from this world a part of my heart feared the alliance of tribes I helped forge would one day fail. At times, its good to be wrong about something.”

“You didn’t expect the peace between ponies to last?” Shining Armor asked, finding the notion strange coming from one of the founders of the united kingdom that grew into the Equestria he knew.

Princess Platinum’s laugh was like the clink of glass on glass, “I must remind myself that all most ponies in this day and age know of my time are Hearth’s Warming Eve tales, most of which are either horrible abridged, or quite exaggerated. Suffice to say my noble knight and Master, is that a long history of prejudice and mistrust between the Three Tribes didn’t simply go away overnight. I confess I passed from this world with a certain cynicism that all my hard work would be for naught, that perhaps I was mistaken to trust in the other tribes when perhaps I should have looked after my own... but as I said it is at times good to be wrong. Now, are you done dressing up for our outing?”

Shining Armor felt his mane bristling a bit at that, even as he put on his helmet. The helmet was of an old design dating from the very era of Princess Platinum, though it was of pegasus origins with the slit in the top to allow the mane to pass through, with a enchantment that automatically swept the mane up into a mohawk favored by pegasi warriors of those ancient times. Shining Armor wasn’t fond of the style, but it was traditional. He frowned as Princess Platinum looked him over with that coy smile of hers that was uncomfortably similar to Cadence's.

He wondered if Princess Luna had informed the Princess of Cavallia of what was occurring here? While this Grail War constituted in his mind a matter of national security that should probably not be allowed to get out to the neighboring kingdoms, Cadence was the only other alicorn in the world besides Luna and... Corona. While Luna had assured him that Corona’s power had to be similarly drained by the Grail as part of the ritual that brought the Servants to the real world, he wouldn’t put it past the mad sun alicorn to attempt something under these circumstances. Cadence may well be able to function as a deterrent... though he felt guilty thinking of her in such a pragmatic fashion. He put the thought out of his head, figuring Luna would decide when or if Equestria’s neighbor and its own alicorn Princess needed to know about what was happening.

“I’m not ‘dressing up’,” he told Platinum firmly, “And this is no ‘outing’ either. I’m fully mobilizing the Royal Guard to perform a sweep of Canterlot and begin to deploy to all of our major settlements.”

“Won’t that cause quite the stir? Such shows of force will rile the populace, not to mention make your bordering nations look on with rapt curiosity,” Princess Platinum said without clearly indicating whether she approved or not, just having that faint coy smile still on her lips.

“There’s no time to handle this delicately,” Shining Armor said, tone grave, “There could be battles already taking place between the other Masters and Servants. Battles that could have innocent bystanders as casualties. Swift action is needed. It may cause some unrest with the civilian population, but that’s a small price to pay to get the ball rolling and find out where the other Servants are and subdue them. The sooner this war can be put to an end, the better.”

“On that count you’ll find no argument from me, yet I can’t help but think you’re not quite grasping the nature of Servants,” Platinum said, and with speed that shocked Shining Armor one of her forehooves snapped up and poked him in the chest. The strength of it forced the stallion to backpedal all the way into the wall, slamming into it with enough force to cause the bookshelf next to him to fall over.

“W-what was that for!?” he asked, rubbing his chest, and noticing the chest plate of his armor was dented.

Princess Platinum was looking at him with her coy smile gone as she rubbed the hoof she’d poked him with on her chest and examined it as if seeing if she’d chipped anything.

“If I’d wanted to hurt you, my noble Master, I could have. That armor you spent ten minutes getting into is pointless. As is deploying your entire Royal Guard. If you try to use them to subdue a Servant all you will accomplish is getting good and loyal soldiers killed.”

Shining Armor frowned at her and suppressed an urge to yell, instead keeping his voice calm and professional. He was duly appointed Captain of the Royal Guard, after all, and had not gotten the position by letting his emotions control his actions.

“You didn’t have to make your point by treating me like a hacky sack. In fact you could have voiced this opinion earlier.”

“I could have, but I want to see what manner of stallion has garnered the title Captain of the Royal Guard. How he reacts, and how he plans things out. You know even before the coming of the alicorns we Princesses of the Unicorn Tribe had our Royal Guard, with only the most capable chosen to be its Captain?”

“I was,” Shining Armor said with a guarded tone, “Learning some history was part of my education even before joining the Royal Guard, and since I’d always had my sights set on it I made it a point to learn as much as possible about the Royal Guard’s specific history. That includes what little there is to know about the Royal Guard that served you in your era.”

“Good, so you won’t hold it against me if I feel the need to test you on occasion,” Princess Platinum said with her relaxed smile returning, “I only accept the very best as my Captain. While I don’t doubt Princess Luna’s faith in you to give you the appointment, I must judge you by my own standards, you understand?”

He did. He didn’t like it, however. Was judging his capabilities really important next to the much more immediate matter of protecting Equestria and its citizens from harm? He looked down at his dented armor, then at the tall and regal unicorn princess who was watching him expectantly.

“Test me however you like, as long as you don’t interfere with me doing my job,” he said with as much respect as he could muster while still holding his ground, which seemed to please Platinum as she nodded with a graceful tilt of her head, “In any case if deploying the entire Royal Guard is out of the question, I still need to send out squads to try and comb the larger settlements for signs of the other Servants. I’ll tell my ponies not to engage, just to observe and report. We’ll need a way to quickly get to any location we find these Servants at though...”

“Oh, no worries there,” Princes Platinum said, hiding her face with one hoof as she laughed, “When it comes to getting around you’ll find no better Servant to be at your disposal than I.”

“Which reminds me, you haven’t told me much about what you can do,” Shining Armor said, “If we’re fighting together it’d be helpful to know just what I can expect from you.”

“What? And ruin all the surprise? Suffice to say, my noble Master, that as a Rider there are none that can match the speed I can unleash upon the battlefield, and no battlefield I cannot reach in good time.”

Shining Armor was about to make an off-hoof remark about how all well and good it was to listen to her boast, he’d prefer to know specifics, but the sound of a distant explosion reached his ears. In an instant he was at the window, looking out across the spires of Canterlot. The explosion had sounded like it’d come from not too far away, to the west and south where Shining Armor knew there was a upper-class residential district not far from the palace’s outermost wing, the one containing the Royal Library.

Between the high arches of elegant noble manors, amid the greenery of one of the area’s many parks, Shining Armor saw a column of smoke rising to mar the otherwise pleasant mid-day skyline.

He turned to look back at Platinum, who’s coy smile had been replaced by an expression of seriousness that he was pleased to see.

“You ready to put those words of yours to the test?” he asked.

Platinum nodded, “With pleasure. Just remember, Master, what I did to that armor of yours with a flick of my hoof. You are the Master, I am the Servant. When this dance begins, allow me to lead.”

----------

Greengrass sighed. Heavily.

Next to him Notary coughed politely, the white earth pony mare standing next to the Duke with a rigid posture as she looked at the column of smoke rising from the park.

“Shall I tell Miss Rosa to disengage, sir?” Notary asked.

“It would seem that giving Viola Rosa orders, period, is something of a waste of time,” Duke Greengrass said with annoyance etched in his voice.

“Unless of course I feel like using one of these,” he added, examining the curved red runes of his Command Seals. He then rubbed his chin with a hoof, looking through his binoculars once more at the park where all the excitement was taking place.

“That said, this can be to our advantage. I’ll allow Viola to play a little longer. Once I’m satisfied we’ve learned all we can from this incident I’ll have her withdraw... one way or another.”

He just hoped his erstwhile Servant could deal with the consequences of her own frivolity.

----------

Several minutes earlier...

Twilight Sparkle gulped and tried to keep her breathing relaxed despite the way her heart was hammering away in her chest. She looked left and right but just couldn’t see hide nor hair of this opponent who was firing upon her and Starswirl. It seemed the faintly glowing pink arrows were coming from. She was getting uneasy about the pink gas that emanated from each arrow after it shattered upon Starswirl’s barrier.

“Twilight my dear, I apologize to impose upon your skills, but would you be able to teleport us above the park? Say, fifty feet above the very center?” Starswirl the Bearded asked with a calm, gentle tone that belied the concentration brimming from his elderly features. His horn was encased in a golden glow that matched the bowl shaped shield that was guarding them both from the arrows that pecked at them from seemingly random angles.

Twilight looked up into the air, judging the distance. It’d be easy for her to do such a short distance teleport, but...

“We’ll end up in mid-air, won’t we? I know a flight spell but it takes time to cast-”

“No need to be worried my dear, I’ll take care of that,” Starswirl said with a confident, small smile, his eyes brimming with an energy that Twilight couldn’t help but feel bleed into her as well and she found herself smiling back.

“Alright, here we go then,” she said, licking her lips and her horn lighting up with a deep lavender glow.

There was a flash of light and a familiar sense of vertigo and displacement. For a moment she felt nothing underneath her hooves, which cause a second of panic, before she felt herself landing on something solid and smooth. When her vision cleared she found that while she had teleported herself and Starswirl to the exact position he’d designated, a good fifty feet above the very center of the park, he’d created another shield. This one was much larger however, a huge bowl of golden energy that encased an area Twilight estimated was a good half of the park’s total diameter. And she and Starswirl were standing right atop it.

“This barrier is impressive,” she said, “Though I think my brother can make a much larger one...”

“Oh-ho? Well, I admit I’m hardly putting my full effort into it, but I think I’d much like to meet this brother of yours if he’s so skilled in barriers. In any case, let’s see if we’ve netted our adversary,” Starswirl said while looking down at the area of park encased underneath his shield.

Twilight watched as his horn’s glow fluctuated and the shield they stood upon began to slowly contract, getting smaller and smaller.

“I see!” Twilight snapped, “You’re going to force the other Servant to expose themsevles or get crushed!”

“Simple, but effective,” Starswirl said, “You’ll find, my dear, that simple plans tend to yeild the highest chance of success.”

“Unless those plans are based on faulty assumptions,” said a female voice from above and behind them and Twilight barely turned her head in time to catch a glimpse of a pink form shooting by through the sky before she felt her body fall and something zip right over the space her head had just occupied.

She screamed as her body went into free-fall, Starswirl having apparently dispelled his shield. A good thing, actually, as she say the streak of the arrow that had nearly taken her head off. If she hadn’t fallen, she’d be dead. The shock of that realization broke past her fear of falling and she concentrated on her horn, erecting her own spherical barrier of violet energy around her and Starswirl, who’d also fallen as he’d dispelled his shield.

While she couldn’t fly with her barrier, she and Starswirl had their descent arrested by the barrier as it floated, much like a bubble, back to the ground.

“W-where did she go?” Twilight asked, looking around frantically while Starswirl frowned.

“She’s faster than I expected,” Starswirl muttered, then shook his head, “Remain calm, my dear, she’s just trying to confuse us.”

“And its soooo easy too!” said that same perky female voice and Twilight shuddered in effort as a trio of pink arrows slammed into her barrier as a form streaked overhead. This time Twilight got a decent look at the opposing Servant.

A pegasus mare, a rose colored coat contrasting with a long blond mane and tail. That was about all Twilight could make out before the pegasus flew out of sight with amazing speed. Strange, Twilight didn’t see her carrying any kind of weapon.

Starswirl in the meantime had an overlay of magic emanating from his horn, “Hold your shield a moment longer, if you could, Twilight.”

“Y-yes!” she said, and poured more of her not-inconsiderable magic into the sphere of protective energy around her and Starswirl, trusting in her Servant’s plan, whatever it may be.

“Ooooh, what are you going to try next? This is so much fun!” cried the pegasus mare from somewhere to Twilight’s left. She winced as more arrows exploded into her shield, releasing more of that pink gas. What was that stuff? The park was getting positively filled with it by now.

“Starswirl, do you have any idea what this pink cloud is?” she asked.

“I have a notion or two,” the stallion admitted, “But testing any of my theories would require time we currently lack. Now then-” his golden eyes narrowed in focus and the magic around his horn flared with light.

Abruptly a latticework of light, formed of dozens upon dozens of interlocking cords forged of intense yellow light, sprung into being from a point directly above Twilight’s shield. The network of light spread horizontally out in a growing disc that wove around the trees of the park. In seconds the entire park was covered by this glowing, dense net of glowing light strands. Twilight looked at the arrow with eyes wide with fascination and her mouth opening to make a small ‘oooh’ of awed delight. It wasn’t often Twilight Sparkle got to behold magic she’d never seen before! If only she had a notebook and quill with her! What school was this from? What did it do? The thirst to know almost made her forget she still had to maintain the shield spell, though the barrages of arrows had stopped the moment Starswirl had cast his spell.

“Oh ho, what’s this?” cooed the chiming voice of that pegasus mare, who for just a moment alighted upon the top boughs of one of the park trees to peer curiously at Twilight and Starswirl. Twilight tried to take in as many details of this Servant as possible while she was standing still. Despite the way she’d been flying about at such high speed her mane and tail remained immaculately well groomed, not a single bond strand out of place. Her body was lithe and tall, not unlike an alicorns but nowhere near the same intimidating size, and her form was lean without a single ounce of excess fat to be seen. The cutie mark of an golden bow with a heart tipped arrow adorned her flank. Still no weapon to be seen.

“Its a very pretty light show, but what is it meant to do?” the pegasus mare asked with a quizzical look on her face as she looked at the glowing array of light.

Starswirl, horn still alight, watched the mare with a slight narrowing to his eyes, “Nothing spectacular I’m afraid. You see I never was one for the flash, bang, boom favored by the more evocative of my colleagues. You were fast enough to evade being entrapped in my barrier, so I think it best to reduce that attribute of yours.”

The large circular latticework of light flared dully as it activated and Twilight noted the gaps between the lattice filling in with a translucent haze as the magic in the large area spell turned on. Twilight didn’t feel anything but the effect on the pegasus mare was immediate. She stumbled with a sharp, feminine yelp, and began to flap her wings rapidly to keep from fall as the branch she was on broke and slammed downard with speed far in excess of what it should have. The pegasus let out a very unlady-like curse as her wings beat furiously seemingly just to stabilize in the air.

What in the world...? Oh! Ooooh! Twilight Sparkle’s features split into a wide grin as she realized what the spell was doing.

“Gravity! It creates an increased field of gravity! Oh, and it only emanates upwards from the spell field itself, so we’re not affected as well! Brilliant! I saw a reverse gravity spell used once, but never got a chance to study it! When we win can I study this spell?”

“Hey!” cried the pegasus mare, “Counting me out a little early, aren’t we?”

Starswirl looked up at the other Servant who was furiously flapping her wings just to keep herself aloft under the increased gravity his spell had created, and his eyes narrowed as he noticed she was actually gaining some altitude even with the spell.

“Say what you will, but with your reduced mobility I don’t foresee you evading this...”

Starswirl’s horn flared once more and this time two smaller bowl-shaped fields of force appeared in the air on either side of the pegasus mare, poised to clap down over her like two halves of a sphere. As the barriers closed in on her the pegasus mare snorted derisively and tucked her wings in, letting the increased gravity take over and pull her towards the ground. The barriers snapped closed on empty air, but just as quickly separated as Starswirl narrowed his eyes in focus.

“She’s a nimble one, isn’t she?”

Twilight frowned, eyes narrowing as she wondered at something, “Starswirl, why are you trying to catch her anyway? Why not blast her with an Evocation spell?”

Starswirl got an odd look on his features, a faint crease to his brow and a tightening around the corners of his lips, “To defeat her utterly I’d need to use spells that are too powerful.”

“Too powerful?” Twilight looked confused as she followed the movements of the pegasus mare. As she was falling, the peagsus’ wings became a hummingbird-like blur. She arrested her plummet and pulled into a remarkably graceful and level flight towards the edge of the park; albeit a slow one in which Starswirl’s barriers would be able to catch up to her.

“Yes, too powerful, my dear,” Starswirl explained as he directed his barriers try and snap down around the pegasus mare, who each time managed to twist or dive out of the way of the bowl shaped fields of light, despite her reduced speed from the gravity spell, “I could not guarantee that no bystanders would be injured in the resulting blasts. This method is safer.”

“I don’t understand. There are few ponies around, and logically speaking the percentile chance of somepony getting hurt is-” Twilight began but Starswirl cut her off.

“Even a 1% chance is too high, my dear,” was all he said, and it wasn’t in an angry tone or anything... but Twilight did hear a hint of disappointment in his words that made her chest tighten a bit like the few times in school where she made a mistake in a test or essay. Rare that they ever happened, but when they did they left her feeling like she couldn’t breathe right. She swallowed and didn’t question Starswirl, instead focusing her attention on the pegasus mare.

Twilight's head tilted a little as she noticed something odd. Little flecks of red were flying off the mare’s wings like a small, misty shower. What was... Twilight blinked as she realized that she was seeing tiny droplets of blood. That didn’t make sense. Twilight didn’t recall seeing the mare get injured at all, and the droplets seemed to be coming from her wings.

“An older stallion ought to know not to be so forceful with trying to pick up a mare,” the pegasus taunted as she turned around in mid-flight, “Besides, you already have such a cute little Master, you cradle robber you!”

Twilight heard Starswirl made a small irritated sound, though she wasn’t sure why he’d be angry. It seemed a silly taunt to her. Who stole cradles anyway? Didn’t robbers usually steal things more valuable than that?

The two bowl shaped barriers were getting closer and closer to ensnaring the mare, but she seemed unconcerned as she continued her backwards flight. Something detached from her wings, larger than those little flecks of blood, and Twilight frowned as she noticed that they were feathers. Feathers that were flying towards her and Starswirl like arrows... wait, did those feathers just transform into arrows!? Surprising as that was it didn’t bother Twilight too much so much as intrigue her as to how it was being done. After all her own shield had been more than enough to deflect those arrows so far... huh, that looked like fire. Yup, those arrows had just ignited. Odd, as if fire would add any...

Twilight had a split second to glance at all the pink gas surrounding her and Starswirl. Another split second for her prodigious, and oft paranoid mind to theorize a very unpleasant hypothesis.

“Starswirl! Reinforce my shield!”

To Starswirl’s credit he didn’t hesitate, didn’t question her, or give her a confused look. He just acted, adding his own magic to her shield and infusing the lavender sphere with a flowing wave of his own golden magic. To do so he had to drop both his gravity spell and the barriers he’d been using to try and capture the pegasus, pouring all his concentration into boosting Twilight’s shield.

A good thing too, because the moment the flaming arrows hit the pink cloud around them the entire world turned into a bright orange flash and thunderous noise that drowned out Twilight’ senses. She felt the strain on her shield, even with Starswirl’s assistance.

Flames roared around the shield for several seconds before clearing enough for Twilight to see that the park was now devastated. Trees were wreathed in fire, the ground scored black. Coils of black smoke rolled into the sky. Twilight blinked at it all, almost too shocked to remember to keep her shield going. Suddenly Starswirl’s concerns over bystanders made a horrible sense to her.

“This is... if there had been anypony...”

She couldn’t believe she’d been suggesting using similar force just moments earlier. What if there had been ponies wandering into the park? In fact, there wasn’t any proof there wasn’t any poor bystanders who entered to park to see what all the commotion was about! There could be injured ponies out there right now! Horrified, Twilight nearly dropped her shield to go rushing out to check for any injured civilians but she felt a stern hoof on her shoulder.

“Steady, my dear, we can’t afford to lose our heads,” he said, voice level, but his eyes had a kind, sympathetic sheen to them, “However we must end this battle soon, either by fleeing, or defeating our opponent, or the chances of innocents getting injured will rise dramatically.”

Twilight clenched her teeth, unsure of herself, “We... the Royal Library. There are spells in there that I could use to... to make winning this war much easier...”

It’d seemed such an important thing, too, just a few minutes ago. She’d always wanted to get her hooves on some of the books in the Royal Library, a place she’d never gotten to look into even with her father being a viceroy. She knew that inside some of those restricted materials would be spells the likes of which she’d never seen. Even now, just thinking about it, she could feel a hungry voice at the very core of her being that said ‘I have to see those spells! I need more knowledge!’ Magic was Twilight Sparkle’s life. Pursuing knowledge of magic, or the world itself, was as necessary a thing for her as food and water was to everypony else.

And with a powerful Servant like Starswirl the Bearded at her side she was sure she could finally break the wards on the restricted areas of the Royal Library and get her hooves on books she’d wanted to read since she was a little foal looking up in awe at the library’s ancient doors. Sure, it’d help her win this Grail War, but honestly it’d just been an excuse to go after some rare books she desperately wanted...

… but was that want worth the possibility of innocent ponies getting hurt?

Twilight thought back to that incident in Ponyville, the one that’d caused her to be on the lamb in the first place. While a part of her still very much blamed Trixie Lulamoon for being such a horrible magic fraud, Twilight knew she should never have lost control like she had and brought that Ursa Minor into Ponyville. It’d been a sudden, desperate act, the kind of thing she was prone to under extreme pressure. It’d risked ponies lives, for what Twilight had to admit to herself was a... rather foalish reason.

Was she going to put more ponies lives at risk, just for the chance at more personal gain?

But... the books! Those rare, magical books! I’ll never get another chance like this!

For a moment indecision tore at the young unicorn’s heart; a desire for knowledge and learning more magic warring with the realization that her actions could easily have horrible consequences if things went poorly.

I want those books... I need those books... the... the chances of anypony getting hurt besides myself and Starswirl are... acceptably low... right? Divide by radius of the combat zone, factor for morning population traffic, carry the 3... only a 21% chance somepony will get... hurt... only... 21%...

She shook her head violently from side to side and groaned, “Starswirl, I’m going to try teleporting us again. Can you hold the shield up on your own while I do that?”

“Yes, my dear, but may I ask where you are teleporting us?” the aged wizard asked with a note of concern in his tone.

Twilight closed her eyes.

“... out of the city, before anypony gets hurt,” she said in barely a whisper, head hung low.

She looked up as Starswirl patted her on the shoulder, and his small smile was hard to read, but she thought perhaps it had a hint of pride in it.

As she began to gather the magical energy in her horn to teleport, envisioning her camp in the wilderness of the Everfree, she heard that blasted pegasus mare’s voice again.

“Wow, Casters are tough nuts to crack I see. I was sure that explosion would be enough to finish you! I was so looking forward to giving my cuddily-wuddily Greeny-schnoks the wonderful gift of your charred corpses! Oh well, second times the charm!”

The pegasus rocketed overhead, sending down another barrage of arrows formed from the blood soaked feathers of her wings. Twilight still had no idea what that was about, though she’d no small number of books on the kinds of magic other ponies could use. While she was still learning the rules on how Servants actually worked she didn’t think this pegasus was using any kind of unique Servant power. This seemed more like... alchemy. No time to ponder it though, the pink gas from the arrows breaking on Starswirl’s shield was starting to form again.

Twilight was about to cast her teleport when a massive wind, like a hurricane force gust, billowed through the entire park, swirling away the gas, and clouds of ash from the burned trees.

Distracted, Twilight could only stare wide eyed as something huge flew over the park, flapping wings wide as houses, feathers a bright burnished bronze color covering its massive avian form.

“Oh my gosh! Is that a... a.... ?”

----------

“A Thunderbird?” Shining Armor asked in incredulous disbelief at the creature currently under his hooves.

He and Princess Platinum were standing upon a partially enclosed platform, like that of a chariot, that was attached to the back of the majestic bird’s neck by thick and elegant straps of dyed purple leather. The bird itself was easily a hundred feet from beak to tail-feather, with three times that in wingspan. Its chest and back were armored in smooth interlocked silver plates, the chestguard embedded with gemstones the color of the night sky. Upon the bird’s head was a curved, form fitting helmet.

“Impressed?” asked Platinum, leaning upon the front lip of the chariot with her forelegs while cradling a smooth, white leather whip between her hooves, “Just wait until you see what my pet can do. Come, Eclair, show our noble Master what the meaning of haste is."

Princess Platinum raised her whip in a fine wreath of dark violet magic and cracked it in the air. She didn't strike the Thunderbird, but the creature instantly reacted to the sound of the whip. With a single heaving flap of its wings it demonstrated just how it earned its name, a thunderous boom of sound and wind echoing across the Canterlot rooftops. Shining Armor had to grip the edges of the chariot with his forelegs to keep stable as the wind blasted by his head, the bird moving with ridiculous speed across the city towards the burning park.

Even so he had to ask.

“Eclair?”

Princess Platinum, somehow balancing with perfect grace without having to grab onto anything, laughed.

“Oh, as if you’ve never had a pet you gave an adorable name to.”

“None that where the size of a small manorhouse that I summoned out of a giant silver gate I conjured from thin air by cracking a whip, also conjured from thin air,” the stallion replied dryly, “What was that anyway?”

“The Royal Menagerie,” Platinum replied with a prideful quirk of her lips, “My Noble Phantasm. All my life I collected exotic, beautiful, and most importantly, deadly creatures. Some were easy to train. Others-” she stretched her whip, giving it a loving look that made Shining Armor raise an eyebrow, “-were more fun.”

Before Shining Armor could comment on that, however, they were at the scene of the explosion. The black screen of smoke billowed away almost instantaneously under the heavy wing beats of Eclair, the Thunderbird hovering above the park. Shining Armor pushed all idle thoughts to the back of his mind and slipped into the calm mindset of a Captain of the Royal Guard, assessing the situation quickly.

On the outskirts of the bark ponies were gathering in small groups, the few brave, curious, or foolhardy enough to be drawn by the explosion and smoke rather than flee from it. The arrival of a gigantic bird probably wasn’t going to help with the bystanders, likely to only draw more of a crowd. The park itself still had a number of trees still standing, but they were blackened things with tufts of orange flame still licking along their branches. The rest was a dark ash covered expanse with barely any patches of green still remaining.

In the center of it all was a translucent golden orb of energy Shining Armor instantly recognized as a shield spell. Two unicorns stood within it, one an older looking unicorn with a white beard and wearing a dark blue wizard hat and cloak, of the kind Shining Armor considered rather out of style... especially with all the bells. The outfit had a unpleasant familiar look to the outfit of certain unicorn mare Shining Armor couldn’t think about without a certain twitch of annoyance. The other unicorn in the shield Shining Armor couldn’t get a clear look at, but he thought she was a mare from the frame. She was wearing a brown cloak and hood, so he couldn’t get a clear look at her face until she looked up at the Thunderbird-

-Lavender coat, with a darker violet mane streaked with a band of pink. Wide violet eyes, the kind that’d had always looked up at him with in the past with happiness, but it had been a long time since he’d seen that spark. Even though the cloak was hiding her cutie mark, Shining Armor didn’t need to see it to know who this was.

“TWILY!”

Before Shining Armor was even fully cognisant of what he was doing he found himself leaping off the chariot on the back of Eclair, hearing the gasp of surprise from Princess Platinum as only an afterthought as he fell through the air towards the ground where his sister was! Shining Armor’s horn glowed as he wove a spell around himself, mid-fall. He was a master of barrier spells, able to weave dozens of different types of magical defenses. Creating a single disc-shaped plane of force to land on and slow his descent to a non-bonebreaking level was a simple task.

Landing on the ground he began a straight gallop towards his sister, who was still staring at him with wide eyes. He noted her horn was glowing, but it was if she forgot she was casting a spell, the energies still there but incomplete. She was backing away from him, but she soon was bumping into the back of the shield she was encased in. Next to her the elderly unicorn was looking between her and Shining Armor with confusion that was soon dawning into understanding.

Shining Armor was almost to the shield when Twilight seemed to snap out of her stupor and suddenly shouted, “Shining! Stay back! She’ll shoot you!”

Huh?

Shining Armor halted his gallop, finally aware of another presence nearby. He turned to see a pink streak of color fly into view; a pegasus mare who was laughing as she flew straight towards him.

“Lucky! I’m so lucky! Another Master in my sights. Oh and he’s a nice cut of colt, isn’t he? Not as good as my Greeny, but you’ll make for a good pawn.”

The mare abruptly halted in mid-air and flapped her wings at him, feathers detaching and flying forward at him, transmuting into arrows mid-flight. Shining Armor began to erect a barrier but realized he wouldn’t have time. A huge wing suddenly snapped down between him and the arrows and he heard an enraged screech from Eclair as the Thunderbird landed between him and the pegasus mare.

Atop the Thunderbird Princess Platinum scoffed, “While I know my Master makes such a tempting target I’d appreciate it if you didn’t just ignore me, Archer!”

The pegasus mare shot up into the air, still laughing, “I don’t have any eye for old, withered nags with no fashion sense. What is that gaudy thing on your head?”

“Gaudy!? Hmph, I suppose I can’t expect a low-born harlot to recognize true elegance when it is right before her oversized snout. Eclair, remove this eye sore from my presence at once!”

Upon Princess Platinum’s command the Thunderbird let loose a powerful hunting cry that made the windows of nearby buildings rattle and crack, and it aimed its beak at the flittering form of the pink pegasus. There was a crackle of energy at the tip of the bird’s beak, a pale blue orb forming for an instant before bursting into a snaking line of lightning that roared across the battlefield.

The pegasus mare with incredible agility twisted in the air, rolling around the line of lightning, which continued on and ripped across the front of the building across the way from the park, blasting apart masonry upon impact.

“Ha! You are old, aren’t you? Can’t even aim properly. And I am not low born! I am a Princess!” shouted the pegasus mare as she flew high into the air, then with rapid wingbeats sent a rain of feather arrows down towards the Thunderbird and Princess Platinum.

“A Princess? Don’t flatter yourself darling,” said Platinum as Eclair rose into the air and with one powerful sweep of its wings created a wall of wind that deflected the rain of arrows, sending them scattered all over the area, “It takes more than a pretty face and a slapped on title to make a proper Princess. It takes nobility of spirit. Something you clearly lack.”

The pegasus mare let out a rather unladylike snarl, “Oh. It. Is. On! We’ll see how ‘noble’ you are when I’ve turned you into my personal little serving mare. You’ll lay down in the muck just so I can use you as a stepping stone to avoid getting mud on my hooves! You’ll worship my every word, my every breath! You-”

The pegasus mare pasued mid-rant, frowning, “What? But I’m in the middle of something! Oooh, Greeeenyyy, I don’t want to stop playing! And this ugly nag is making fun of me! But I don’t wanna! I want to make these ponies pay for insulting me! Mmmmmm, Greeny-pumpkin please let me finish them off! Ugh! FINE! But you get to sleep on the couch tonight!”

Like a shot the pegasus mare zipped away. As she did so Princess Platinum scoffed and cracked her whip, “Don’t let her escape, Eclair. She can’t outrun your wings, my pet!”

However just as the Thunderbird rose to give chase there was a shout from below from Shining Armor.

“Wait, stay put Princess.”

“What? Why!? That little trollip is going to get away.”

“If you chase her you’ll end up in more heavily populated areas of the city. Too high a risk of civilian casualties,” said the stallion. He hadn’t broken eye contact with his sister, who was starting to compose herself but was still clearly shaken by his presence. Shining Armor had not missed the red runic markings on the right side of her face, exact mirrors to the runes on the left side of his own. He felt sick to his stomach, realizing what that meant.

Princess Platinum sighed, running a hoof over her mane as she had Eclair land in the park. By now the pegasus mare was well out of sight, having fled completely from the scene.

Shining Armor now focused all his attention on Twilight, though he tripped a little over his words, wanting to say so many things to her and not even knowing where to start, “Twily, its... I’m glad you're safe, mom and dad are really worried about you-”

“Stop, Shining, just... stop. I can’t do this. Not here,” his sister said, fear and pain straining her voice. Her eyes slowly went from wide eyed panic to a simple, sad droop, though she looked at his face with a slight tilt of her head, “Those marks. You’re a Master too?”

“Looks that way,” he said, “Twily, you have to come with me to see the Princess. Right now that business in Ponyville doesn't matter. If you’re a part of the Grail War you’re best bet is to turn yourself in and let us sort this all out. You’ll be safe that way.”

“I can’t do that! I can’t. Not yet. There are things I still have to do, and I... I want to win the Grail War!”

“Twily that’s crazy. You’ve seen what kind of damage these Servants can do! You want to participate in a fight like that? You’re not a soldier, or even a violent pony. This isn’t the place for you!” he argued, voice getting a little heated. Why was his sister being so stubborn!?

“I blieve my young Master has expressed her desires clearly enough,” said the elderly unicorn, his horn still glowing fiercely to maintain the shield around him and Twilight, “And I can tell you’re presence is upsetting her. Perhaps we should have this discussion another time.”

“Who are you anyway?” Shining Armor asked, eying the other stallion suspiciously.

Princess Platinum elegantly balanced herself along Eclair’s wing as the Thunderbird lowered the wing like a platform to the ground and she walked along it to dismount the bird. With her head held high but with a familiar smile on her face she approached the group and said, “That would be Starswirl the Bearded, Master. Its been some time Starswirl. You seem to be in good health.”

Starswirl looked over at the Princess, and closed his eyes, “Princess Platinum. I’m surprised. I never thought you would be among the ones summoned by the Grail.”

“Oh, and why is that? Am I not ‘heroic’ enough to qualify?” Platinum said with a mock tone of hurtful feelings, putting a hoof to her chest, “And here I thought you held me in such high esteem.”

“Perhaps, once. I seem to recall you and I having something of a disagreement over the social order unicorns should have in the society we attempted to build. I remember certain words being exchanged between us...and certain spells.”

“Yes, well, a matter of the past now. Equestria turned out better than I ever expected it would, without unicorn leadership. I admit I was... wrong, to think as I did.”

Starswirl’s eyes widened slightly, “Alright, who are you and what did you do with Princess Platinum?”

“Hah, very well, I also admit that, while wrong, I’m still somewhat loath to say the words. In any case, we seem to be at an impasse. We are two Servants in the Grail War, yet our Masters seem more interested in discussing a family dispute rather than combating each other. Whatever shall we do, Starswirl?”

Shining Armor looked sharply at Platinum, “Sorry, but I haven’t seen my sister in months! I don’t care that she’s a Master, I’m not fighting her. She’s coming home with me and we’re sorting this out with Princess Luna.”

“I’m not going brother. I’m sorry,” Twilight said, her horn’s glow intensifying as she brought together the energies she’d been holding in place the entire time, “Tell mom and dad that I’m... I’m fine, and I’ll come home when this is all over.”

“Twilight, wait!” Shining said, not even using his nickname for her as he tried to erect a barrier of his own around both her and Starswirl in hopes of blocking what he knew was going to be a teleport spell. However as he did so Starswirl himself cast another spell while holding his shield in place, a counterspell that halted Shining Armor’s barrier in its tracks.

Shining Armor could only look on as his sister, face still crestfallen, vanished along with her Servant in a violet flash of light.

----------

Duke Greengrass let out a long, slow breath as he lowered his binoculars and hoofed them over to Notary, who was silent and watching her employer with unreadable blue eyes. The silence hung between the two of them for a moment before Greengrass finally broke it.

“That was bracing.”

“...”

“I think I like this new game, though I wish I had more pieces on the board. The one I’ve been given is rather unwieldy.”

“...Permission to speak freely?”

“Notary, you should know by now that you needn’t ask that,” said Greengrass, turning from the balcony and heading into the penthouse suite he’d rented under a pseudonym for the purpose of observing his Servant’s ‘scouting mission’. Notary followed him, the pale coated earth pony mare adjusting her glasses with one hoof.

“I think that we should consider laying low for awhile,” she said, choosing her words, “It’s rather clear your Servant is too bombastic to keep reigned in easily, and honestly Canterlot is not a suitable location for having battles like what we just witnessed.”

Duke Greengrass considered this, never one to dismiss the opinions of his most trusted and valuable assistant.

“I agree that any further conflicts in the city should be avoided. I didn’t realize just how much damage these Servants can do when they fight. We’ll set a more appropriate stage for our next move, which should be easier now that we know the identities of two of our competing Masters. Heh, who would have guessed that the children of viceroy Nightlight would both be involved? That can’t be a coincidence.”

Notary couldn’t comment much on that. She had to admit to herself that this Grail War was a concept utterly beyond her depth of understanding. That was why she was worried. This was no game of politics or intrigue, no affair of shady dealings and plots against other nobles of the Night Court. This was clearly a battle between magical forces well beyond the ken of normal ponies. Notary trusted the ability of her employer. She wouldn’t have willingly worked for Greengrass for so long if she didn’t have faith in the young noble’s skills. Yet this was clearly not a game; or at least not one in which Greengrass had any familiarity.

One wrong move and it wasn’t simply their political careers that were at stake. It was their very lives. Notary wanted to make sure Duke Greengrass understood the severity of that fact. She was willing to continue supporting him, to walk along this dangerous path, but she needed to know he was taking this seriously.

“Coincidence or not,” she said, “If the children of a viceroy are both Masters then the risks involved with fighting them have increased drastically.”

Greengrass chuckled dismissively, “Since when has risk ever daunted me?”

“There’s a distinct difference between the risks of our dealings in the Night Court and... this. Putting the citizens of Canterlot at risk, possibly injuring members of a prominent noble family, one of which is Captain of the Royal Guard, if the Princess learned of these acts a lifetime in prison would be the most favorable outcome for us. Which is of course assuming we are not killed ourselves in the fighting.”

She watched Greengrass as the brown stallion paced slowly around the hotel suite, getting a bottle of wine from the drink cabinet by the bed and pouring himself a glass.

“Notary, I consider you by far my most capable and valuable employee. Your judgement and quick thinking has helped me innumerable times during my rise to the position of Duke. So, among all those I have on my payroll, you have earned more consideration and leeway than I’d grant any other servant.”

He took a long sip of the wine, a darker red than his mane, and seemed almost apprehensive at his next words, “If you’d like to take a vacation then you have my leave to do so.”

Notary didn’t widen her eyes or show any other sign of her surprise other than to take in a small, sharp breath, “That will not be necessary.”

“Are you certain? I’m giving you a chance, Notary, to be elsewhere while I pursue this course. I would prefer you to do so, if you are not completely confident in supporting me in this endeavour.”

Notary shook her head, “I am quite confident in you Lord Greengrass, I merely wanted you to understand the extent of what is on the line. That’s all. I’ve come with you this far, I’d not walk away from you now. This is not like dealing with the Night Court, however. We’re... perhaps slightly in over our heads.”

“You’re scared,” Greengrass stated, simply, pouring another glass of wine and indicated Notary should take it. She did so, after a moment hesitation. The glasses were designed to be easily balanced on a hoof.

“You’re not?” she asked, taking a little more than a sip of the rich wine.

Again that chuckle of his, “I’m far too excited to be scared. Mostly. Never imagined such power to be displayed by anything short of an alicorn like the Princess...” he smiled “To think I have that power at my disposal, and that if I win this Grail War I’ll have even more. Yes, Notary, the risks are high. This is a high stakes game. With equally high rewards for the victors.”

“Greeeeny-cuddles!” called a chiming voice that was equal parts playful and petulant from the balcony.

Greengrass frowned, and Notary thought the Duke may have shuddered slightly, as he turned to greet the returning Viola Rosa. Viola tucked her wings in as she landed lightly on the balcony and strutted into the suite, flanks swaying, and giving Notary a brief glare before turning all her attention upon Greengrass.

“Greeny, why did you tell me to stop playing? There were two Servants and Masters out there for me to have fun with! I could have taken out two of our competitors at once!” she stomped a dainty hoof for emphasis, while flicking her wings a bit. Notary noticed the small stains of red on the pink pegasus’ wings, and she had to adjust her glasses to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Was that blood on her feathers? It was, and it was... apparently absorbing into Viola’s body until the blood was gone and it left her wings pristine and clean.

“Or you could have been defeated if those two Servants worked together,” said Greengrass slowly, with deliberate patience, “The point of your excursion was to gather information, no more. As it happens you succeeded.”

“Pfft, I’m still mad at you,” Viola said, then eyed Notary, “What is she doing following us around anyway?”

“She’s my assistant,” Greengrass deadpanned, “She assists me. I thought we were very clear on this point earlier.”

Viola whinnied in annoyance as she tossed her head, flipping her mane with a hoof, “Maybe before you had me around, but I don’t see what you need her for now that you have a Servant such as myself. I can do anything that mare can do, plus quite a bit more.”

Notary remained quiet, not out of fear, but out of having no intention of inciting any further issues with her employer’s Servant. Besides, Notary didn’t consider Viola’s insults worth her attention. They were irritating, certainly, but that was it.

Greengrass was less inclined to be quiet, “Viola, enough. Notary is helping me in her own manner and shall not be dismissed,” he gave Notary a brief side-long glance, “If she wishes to depart it will only be by her own choice.”

Viola looked like she was about to protest but Greengrass cut her off, “The subject is closed. Now let’s move on to matters of actual importance, shall we? We have plans to make.”

----------

Twilight Sparkle stared at her reflection in the pond by her camp, ears drooped to the sides of her head. She raised a hoof to her face, seeing her reflection mirror the movement as she rubbed the red runes on her face.

Starswirl’s kindly visage appeared in the reflective pool next to her, and she sensed the old wizard laying down next to her. He didn’t speak, he just sat by her side, giving silent support, letting her move at her own pace.

“I made a mistake, not too long ago,” she said, eventually, “You know about the Elements of Harmony, right? Most powerful and amazing magic known to ponykind? Well, certain mares became bearers to those Elements recently. I was so excited when I learned of it. To think there was a mare out there who embodied the Element of Magic itself... well, how could I not want to meet her? To learn from her? To witness what had to be the greatest magician of the age in action?”

She lowered her head, smacking the pool of water, breaking up her reflection, “She wasn’t anything like I thought she’d be. She was... was... augh I still get mad thinking about her! All flash and smoke and no real magic to her!”

Twilight heaved in and out a few heavy breaths, Starswirl still silently by her side, but the old unicorn was looking at her with his kind gold eyes, listening to all she had to say... just letting her get it all out.

“I thought I’d prove myself right by showing her how strong my magic was. I didn’t mean for everything to get out hoof but... it did. An Ursa Minor was involved, and a lot of property damage. When it was all over I ran away.”

She laid her head down at the edge of the pond, huffing, “It was all so... so stupid of me! And her! I don’t know how things just went so wrong so fast. I just let that mare get under my hide so much and wasn’t thinking straight, then got scared of the consequences and just fled from everything. One mistake, in instant of not using my head, and I’m stuck as a wanted criminal! My family, I’ve just become an embarrassment to them...”

“That stallion, from the park, he was your brother I presume?” asked Starswirl.

Twilight nodded, sniffing, blinking away the wetness building in her eyes, “Y-yes. Haven’t seen him in so long, just written, and haven’t done much of that before... the Ponyville thing. I miss him. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until just now. I miss mom and dad too. Starswirl I-”

She shook her head and made a small, annoyed sound, “Augh, I shouldn’t be like this! I need to focus. Need to think about important things, like winning this Grail War.”

“My dear, you’re worried about family, and upset about possibly hurting them. That is and important matter. One on a magnitude far higher than this silly Grail.”

“Starswirl, how can you say that? Isn’t your whole purpose for being here to win the war and get a wish granted?”

The elderly unicorn stroked his beard with a kindly smile, then put a hoof on her shoulder, “Twilight Sparkle, my only wish right now is to see those tears in your eyes never be shed. I think you’re a bright, brave, and caring young pony. Your past mistakes should be important to you, so you can learn from them, not lament that they were made. Even the Princess’ were not without their failings.”

Twilight wiped her eyes, giving the moistness on the coat of her foreleg a brief, confused look, “I wasn’t about to cry, was I? Weird.”

“Hardly weird, my dear. You should pay closer attention to your emotions.”

Twilight shrugged, “It's just chemical reactions in the brain, Starswirl. I’ll be fine, I just need to take some time to collect my thoughts. Absorb and structure everything I’ve learned today, then organize a proper response.”

She looked hesitant, raising a hoof towards Starswirl, before lowering it slowly and looking away, “Thank you though, for listening. I won’t break down like that again.”

Starswirl the Bearded had an odd look, eyes slightly closed, ears flicking, looking at her for a long moment before releasing a sigh, “Of course, my dear Twilight. Whenever you need an ear, I’ll gladly listen.”

“Good. Now then, I think we should make a proper checklist of actions to take in order to bring this war to a close; starting with my brother!”

“Starting with him?”

Twilight nodded, energy and vigor returning to her features as her mind’s gears turned, her focus on the problem at hoof pushing aside the emotions and worries that had been bubbling to the surface, “Yes, I have no intention of letting my brother get himself hurt in this war, so my top priority should be defeating his Servant! That way he’ll be out of the running and won’t have to fight any further. We can’t fight in the city, that much is obvious now, so it’ll just be a matter of luring him out to the right place...”

----------

Trixie was gasping heavily for breath, legs burning from the gallop all the way from the hospital to the cottage of Fluttershy, which was on the outskirts of Ponyville, not far from the border to the Everfree Forest. Beside her were her friends Lyra, and Raindrops, both easily keeping pace with her. By now Cheerilee and Carrot Top would be gathering the Elements of Harmony from their various abodes, and hopefully be able to catch up at Fluttershy’s cottage soon. Not that Trixie was entirely sure what affect if any the Elements might have against a Servant, but she wanted them on hoof anyway. The artifacts had cleaned Corona’s clock effectively enough, so Trixie figured they had to do something against Commander Hurricane.

And if they don’t no big deal, Trixie, its just you and your friend’s lives you’re risking.

Part of her heavy breathing wasn’t just from being a little out of shape. There was a healthy dose of fear there. Aside from facing Corona not too long ago Trixie had rarely been in life threatening situations. Worse, she was still getting used to having, well, friends in her life. Ponies she cared about other than herself. Trixie was trying hard not to think about what might happen to them... especially Ditzy. Something was clearly off with the mailmare.

“S-Sungleam,” Trixie said between breaths to the other unicorn mare, who was easily keeping next to Trixie, “Does...*huff*...does being a *huff*... Master have any... *huff*... side effects?”

“Besides the Servant being able to draw mana from our Masters? Not for most circumstances, but you’re concerned about your friend, Berserker’s Master, correct?”

“Her name is Ditzy,” said Lyra, not nearly as out of breath as Trixie.

“Miss Ditzy then,” corrected Sungleam, “I was hesitant to tell you this, Master. I don’t want you distracted.”

“If there’s something *huff*... wrong with her... *huff*... tell me,” Trixie said, feeling a spike of cold in her chest at her Servant’s words.

Sungleam eyed Trixie sidelong, face like a stoic statue, voice level, “Berserker’s drain mana from their Masters at a far greater rate than any other Servant class, to the point where the drain can be fatal. It is part of the price of their unrivaled physical might. Also, in sever case, the madness of the Berserker can infect the Master.”

“You were planning on telling us this when!?” Raindrops burst out, the pegasus flying just a little off the ground alongside them, eyes narrowly glaring at Sungleam.

“I thought to mention this once this battle was concluded,” the knightly unicorn said, “As I said I did not want my Master distracted.”

“One of our friends might be going insane and dying because that griffin is draining her of... of whatever mana is, and you didn’t think it was something we needed to know right away?” Raindrops asked with a growing fury in her tone, a vein pulsing on her brow.

“Mana...*huff*... basic term for... *huff* magical energy...*huff*... found in world... *huff*... technical term for... *huff* magic in ponies... is *huff* is prana... I think...” said Trixie, but she was slowing down, almost to a canter as she tried to catch her breath.

Sungleam stopped, as did Lyra and Raindrops. Trixie looked at Sungleam with a sharp gaze, saying after she got a few proper lungfuls of air, “Sungleam, before we go further, one major rule; no information held back. You know something, you share it. Immediately. Understood?”

Sungleam frowned, “If I did that right now we’d be standing here for some time. I understand your worry for your friend Master. Right now she’s in danger. If I know something of critical importance I’ll tell you, but longer explanations should wait. We’re wasting precious seconds right now as it is.”

They were already being pelted by the thick blanket of rain from the storm that had rapidly gathered, and Trixie estimated it wasn’t much further to Fluttershy’s cottage. She couldn’t see Ditzy or the huge form of the griffin, Yuri, and feared what might be happening right now with them. She gulped, putting a hoof to her hat.

“Fair point,” Trixie said, and resumed galloping, ignoring the stitch in her side. Why was it whenever she exerted herself and tried to rest, that that was when the stitch appeared? Wasn’t fair.

The path they were on was turning into a muddy slurry, and Trixie nearly splattered herself several times when the thick muck started sucking at her hooves, but she kept her speed up and soon enough the cottage came into view. It was a humble two floored abode covered in greenery and if it weren’t for the heavy rain flooding the creek nearby creek almost to the point of overtaking the bridge that spanned it the place would look rather nice.

There were no lights on inside and the door was firmly shut. Not surprising. Trixie could imagine Fluttershy was curled into a tight ball in the most soundproof portion of the cottage she could find. Not that Trixie blamed the pegasus for that; Trixie wouldn’t be out here either if it wasn’t a matter of life and death for her and her friends. However it was all levels of not safe here, even inside the cottage.

“Raindrops, Lyra, can you see about getting Fluttershy out of here?” Trixie said, pointing a hoof at the cottage while looking up into the storm, trying to see anything through the rain, “I’m having bad visions of a giant griffin crashing into her place, or it getting hit by lightning and spontaneously combusting. I am not trusting my luck today.”

“Right,” said Raindrops, “What if she says no?”

“Convince her.”

Raindrops raised an eyebrow. Trixie sighed.

“Convince her gently.”

Raindrops and Lyra exchanged a look and both nodded to Trixie, heading off to the cottage.

A crack of thunder echoed and the clouds above were painted white with lightning. Trixie made out just for an instant forms darting amid the gray, one of them glowing bright and orange like fire. That had to be Yuri. Somewhere up there was Ditzy Doo, and also Rainbow Dash. Trixie might not have been anything resembling friends with the weather manager of Ponyville, but she wasn’t eager to see anypony get hurt over this.

“Master,” said Sungleam, “I can sense both Lancer and Berserker’s mana. With your leave I can engage Lancer, though I must state that I am not comfortable engaging him while he must also battle Berserker. It will not be a proper and honorable duel.”

“Doesn’t matter if its proper or not,” said Trixie, “We got to stop this as fast as we can, so if that means you got to shelve the honor, then that’s what you do.”

Sungleam grimaced, though she tried to hide it under a veneer of stoic and dignified calm, “I... understand, Master, but do not expect me to relish this.”

Trixie then realized something, and pointed a hoof upwards, “Good, but out of curiosity how are you planning on getting up there?”

Sungleam was looking up into the sky, blue eyes flicking back and forth as if capable of piercing through the gray to clearly see what was happening up there. She didn’t look away as she responded to Trixie calmly, “I am a unicorn, and a Knight of the Realm. In my service to Princess Celestia I was required to face numerous foes; not all of which kept themselves landlocked for my convenience. The Princess in her wisdom taught me a spell to rectify that problem.”

In a wash of light the gold armor she wore faded away from her body like chips of ice melting into the air, leaving her wearing just her royal blue surcoat. Sungleam’s horn was bathed in a golden glow and Trixie felt air rush past her along the ground, noticing that there was an almost invisible aura of shifting air currents now wreathing Sungleam’s legs.

Trixie cast her own spell, her eyes shrouded in light as he used her magic sight. She saw a intricate weave of golden magical threads tied around Sungleam’s hooves and legs, a Transmutation spell by the look of it, with ties to the element of air.

“Air Walk,” Sungleam explained, “I can move upon the air as if it were solid ground.”

“It looks like an upscaled cloud walking spell,” Trixie commented, “What happened to your armor?”

“My armor is formed from my mana. I just freed that mana up to help power Air Walk, and increase my mobility.”

Trixie cringed when she heard the sound of wood breaking by Fluttershy’s cottage. Apparently the door had been locked and knocking had (unsurprisingly) yielded no response. Raindrops had forced the door, the jasmine pegasus tense and her shoulders slightly slumped in guilt as she did so. Trixie hoped they’d be able to get Fluttershy out without too much trouble.

Returning her attention to Sungleam, seeing the white unicorn watching her expectantly, Trixie nodded, “Go. Watch for Ditzy up there. When my friends get here with the Elements, tell her to get down here. Better yet, tell her to get down here anyway, but if she’s being stubborn, just do what you can to keep her safe.”

“I will try. What of Lancer’s Master?” Sungleam asked.

“Don’t hurt her if you can avoid it. Just focus on Hurricane,” Trixie said, then after a second added, “Be careful.”

Sungleam seemed a little confused at the word of caution, but nodded once respectfully, and then with a hard burst of air jumped straight up. Trixie watched as the other unicorn’s hooves seemed to find traction on the air and with another powerful leap Sungleam was rocketing upwards into the storm, blade floating at her side and leaving a golden trail in its wake.

Trixie remained where she was, anxious and wishing Carrot Top and Cheerilee would arrive soon. In the meantime the only thing she could think to do was to check and see how Raindrops and Lyra were doing handling Fluttershy. For the moment the fighting itself was beyond her ability to influence.

She paused, ears flicking back and forth, just before she got to the door to the cottage, which was hanging loosely one one hinge, the other broken clean off. Trixie didn’t hear anything beyond the roaring wind and pelting rain upon the ground, but she had a cold itching feeling of being watched.

Who could...? Oh, oh it better not be that headless one! We do not need this right now!

Trixie might have been leaping to conclusions, but paranoia seemed to her like a healthy thing to have in abundance for the duration of the Grail War. With her Servant up above fighting she realized she was rather vulnerable.

She was distracted by the sound of another crash from inside the cottage, this time sounding like a table breaking. Shaking off the jittery feeling Trixie took a deep breath and went inside.

----------

Commander Hurricane, or rather Supreme Air Commander Hurricane (if you wanted to get technical about it), was thoroughly enjoying himself. So far his battle plan was coming together nicely, with only a few minor hiccups. Said minor hiccups being that this griffin was proving remarkably tenacious, and a better flyer than any simple minded cat brained flying chicken had any right to be!

Hurricane didn’t recall any of the griffin’s from his time being able to make such sharp turns while being battered about by wind force this strong. What kind of wingpower was this Berserker packing? Surely not enough to math a purebreed pegasus, obviously, but it was impressive to see the black feathered griffin keeping pace with him through every sharp turn, every dive, every rapid climb Hurricane made.

No sign of my Master or that gray pegasus. Pfft, probably can barely fly in this little squall. Pegasi these days, barely a shadow of our proper glory. That’s what we get for interbreeding with earth ponies and unicorns for so many generations.

Hurricane cast a glance behind him, chiseled features cracking a confident smile even as he saw the dark form of Berserker hurling through the air not far behind him, the burly griffin crashing through the dense storm clouds without any effort.

“I’ve never been bested in the sky, barbarian king! I hope you’ve enjoyed the gentle breeze we have going, because that’s about to change!”

In an instant he turned, strong wings banking hard and practically on the point of a pin to send himself flying right back towards the approaching griffin. Hurricane heard Berserker’s enraged screech and grinned. In his wings was not just the rapid pulse of his blood and the feeling of the wind rippling over his feathers, but the tingling buzz of his pegasi magic. Hurricane let that magic flow out of his wings and into the air currents of the storm. Quickly a cone of intense swirling wind, like a vertical tornado, formed behind him as he dove straight for Berserker.

The griffin lashed out viciously with his clawed gauntlets as the two passed each other, Hurricane expertly rolling and deflecting the attack with his spear. The blow as jarring, regardless, the raw strength of Berserker enough to rattle Hurricane to his very bones and send him spinning away. However Hurricane recovered quickly, just in time to see the cyclone of air he’d created slam into the griffin.

Berserker roared as the powerful wind currents buffeted him, twisting him in the air. However he kept steady with several strong flaps of his wide black feathered wings, blazing orange eyes scanning around for his prey, claws flexing in eagerness. Berserker growled as he noticed the clouds around him thickening in a circle.

Hurricane had not been still while Berserker had been recovering from the cyclone. He had started to rapidly circle the griffin, gathering the charged dark gray clouds until Berserker was all but surrounded by a sphere of them. Hurricane licked his lips as he spun his spear in what was probably an entirely unnecessary flourish before slamming the spearhead into the storm clouds. With a sound akin the world shattering an entire barrage of lightning bolts stabbed from the clouds, filling the sphere with lances of electricity and creating a flash of light so bright it cut through all the darkness of the storm to be seen all the way from Ponyville.

“Hahah! Now that maneuver is what we pegasi of Pegasopolis called the Skylord’s Judgment! For all that strength a Berserker has the mindless brute power of a barbarian is no match for a well laid tactical gambit!”

Mid-tirade a smoking dark form burst out of the sphere of clouds and slammed right into Hurricane. The breath burst from his lungs and he felt a rib crack under the force of the blow. Berserker’s armored form had caught Hurricane in the gut with a shoulder, and tried to bring his sharp gauntlets to bear on the pegasus, but Hurricane was fast to react. He shoved the butt of his spear into the griffin’s gut and then kicked sharply with his hind legs, pushing himself away before Berserker could get a grip on him. A gauntlet claw, now burning with intense heat and glowing a bright fire orange, still swiped close to Hurricane’s face and would have blinded him if not for his helmet catching the blow.

Hurricane rapidly dove, doing his best to put some distance between himself and Berserker. The griffin gave a sharp hunting cry and dove after Hurricane, and the pegasus chuckled to himself even past the pain in his chest.

“So this barbarian won’t be brought low quite so easily? Excellent, a challenge it is then!”

Now if he only knew where his erstwhile Master was.

Right on the heels of that thought there was a prismatic bolt of color that shot out from the surrounding clouds that smacked into Berserker and kept flying right on by, not doing much more than ratting the griffin and causing him to screech in anger, but distracting him enough that Hurricane could get some space between them.

He couldn’t quite keep a grin from getting onto his face. He had his Master pegged as a brash and somewhat dim witted sort, but perhaps she did have some cunning to her. At the very least it was apparent she’d learned from her last encounter with Berserker to not just charge straight in. Using the cloud cover and her inherent speed played to her strengths as a pegasus and it was refreshing to see. Also, that kind of speed was impressive. Perhaps the bloodlines of Pegasopolis weren’t so thin in the modern age after all.

Taking advantage of Berserker’s distraction Hurricane pulled out of his dive and rushed back upwards in a hard climb. The banner of Pegasopolis rippled in the hard wind as he struck out with his spear, jabbing the point at one of the junctures of Berserker’s shoulder armor. The griffin didn’t even try to evade, taking the wound and the burning aura around him intensifying with the wound as he opened his beak and snapped at the flying by pegasus.

Hurricane frowned. Having taken that many bolts of lightning and getting stabbed, most would be showing signs of slowing down. Berserker wasn’t even breathing hard as he flapped his wings with enough force to disperse the surrounding clouds and resume the chase, gauntlets burning bright in his wake.

“Hey! What are you doing!?” came the voice of Rainbow Dash, the cyan mare darting by him, “I totally got that guy to give you an opening and you didn’t take advantage of it?”

“Private Dash, I did spear the enemy quite thoroughly in case you didn’t notice! This barbarian birdbrain just doesn’t seem to care much about injury. This is a battle of attrition, in which we must bring down this beast with patience and a thousand spear thrusts!”

Rainbow Dash’s magenta eyes rolled as her wings buzzed at a hummingbird’s speed as she kept easy pace with Hurricane despite the heavy winds and the sharp climb, “We don’t have time for that! Fluttershy’s cottage might get flooded, and I think I saw that mailmare somewhere up here. Gotta finish this before somepony gets hurt bad, so we’re going to take this guy down with one hit”

Hurricane scoffed, but it there was a certain amused mirth to it. This mare had spirit to go with her talent. Given time he was sure he could mold her into a fitting Master for Servant of his caliber.

“Ha, well Private, do tell of your glorious tactic for accomplishing such a feat as to defeat a Berserker in one blow!”

Rainbow Dash gave a daredevil grin, “You ever hear of a stunt called the Sonic Rainboom?”

Commander Hurricane's stormy eyes blinked rapidly, almost forgetting the giant exceedingly angry griffin currently hot and his and his Master's tail.

"I... may have," was his Master better informed about his abilities than he thought? He had tried for decades to perfect the maneuver, never quite getting there. Never quite reaching that seemingly unattainable height of speed and flight prowess... but he knew it had to be possible. That barrier could be broken, and only a pegasi, a true heir of the sky, could achieve that incredible dream.

Rainbow Dash's grin only deepened, "You're looking at the mare whose going to pull it off."

----------

Ditzy struggled in the storm, her wings flapping furiously in the harsh winds and rain as she tried to keep pace with the fight without getting caught up in it. She could feel him; Yuri. It was like his heartbeat was a burning inferno she was attached to. It was painful, a crawling fire that wove through her veins with each pulse of her and the griffin's heartbeats.

She somehow knew that, as painful as this was for her, whatever Yuri was feeling had to be much, much worse.

I can't let him do this alone. Nopony, noone, should have to bear pain like this by themselves. I don't want to fight... I don't want to hurt anypony. I want to help him though. Trixie too. Can't let any of my friends be hurt.

Ditzy was a fairly intelligent mare. She was limited in what she could do, as a normal pony. Fighting a Servant was out of the question. But she couldn’t just let him fight alone either. She wasn’t sure what she could do yet, but she hoped to spot an opportunity to do... anything, really. Even keeping Yuri in sight was hard and if not for an odd innate sense of where the griffin was she’d have lost him in this storm. As it was she could barely make out Yuri’s dark feathered form hurtling upwards in pursuit of the two pegasi; the one with the spear dangling that long banner flying next to the rainbow tailed form that had to be Rainbow Dash.

Maybe if I can catch her I can make her order her Servant to surrender? What reason does Rainbow Dash have to want to fight in this war anyway?

Ditzy pursed her lips, not sure how she’d even catch the cyan pegasus, let alone force her to surrender. Rainbow Dash was aptly named, and Ditzy would need to take her by surprise to have a fair chance of subduing the other Master.

The pegasus who’d called himself Commander Hurricane seemed to be following Rainbow Dash now, who was apparently climbing all the way above the storm that Hurricane had summoned. Yuri, his body glowing an intense fiery orange, his gauntlets most intense of all, was chasing close behind them. Ditzy forced her wings to move faster, grunting in pain at the exertion beyond what she ever needed to as a mailmare.

Suddenly there was a form rushing past her and halting directly in front of Ditzy, forcing her to screech to a halt in mid-air, hovering as the fast winds blew her mane into her face. Shaking her head she looked to see who was in her path and blinked.

“Huh? S-Sungleam? How are are you-”

“No time for explanations, Master of Berserker. My own Master bids me to implore you to return to the ground. Your friends will soon gather the Elements of Harmony and will need your presence.”

Ditzy frowned, her wandering eye still managing to catch the barest glimpse of Yuri chasing Rainbow Dash and her Servant out of the storm.

“I don’t know what the Elements will do,” said Ditzy, “But its not like we can hit anything all the way up here. Yuri needs my help anyway!”

“Commendable dedication to your Servant, but ultimately pointless. There is nothing you can do here. I shall deal with Lancer myself, and would prefer it if you called Berserker away...” the unicorn’s blue eyes narrowed slightly, “Assuming your control over him remains strong.”

Something in the other mare’s tone bothered Ditzy, “You want to fight that Hurricane guy by yourself?”

“Verily. I desire an honest duel between my blade and his spear. Difficult while your Servant runs wild across the battlefield. Make no mistake, I shall deal with Berserker when the time comes, also in a proper duel.”

Ditzy shook her head, “I... I don’t think I can just call him off. Yuri wants to fight. I don’t know how but I can feel it. He won’t hurt ponies if I tell him not to, but when he’s like this I feel like... like I’d be insulting him if I told him to stop. This war is his to fight, and while I have no idea what being a Master might mean, I feel like its my job to be there next to him every step of the way!”

With that said Sungleam just met her eyes, not even blinking at Ditzy’s wandering eye.

“Very well. I shall respect that spirit of yours... and shall stay my blade from your Servant until we’ve dealt with Lancer. But you should still return to the surface. That is the best way in which you can help him.”

Ditzy glanced down, and after a moment of hesitation nodded.

“Okay,” she said, then focused her eyes so both met Sungleam’s solidly, “You’d better keep your word.”

“On my honor as a knight. Now go.”

----------

Trixie glanced left, then right, unnerved by how dark it seemed inside the cottage. Sure the storm was cutting off most the sunlight, but the interior of Fluttershy’s cottage was almost pitch black.

“Raindrops? Lyra?” she called, taking a few careful steps in, feeling her mane prickle.

She created some light at the tip of her horn, seeing the bottom floor was mostly a well ordered living room with a number of birdhouses dangling from the ceiling, a birdcage in one corner across from an oddly shaped fireplace. There was a staircase to Trixie’s left heading up, and she heard the crash of something glass breaking up there.

There was also a coppery scent in the air she didn’t recognize at first, but only because she’d so rarely ever smelled blood in her lifetime that it took her a moment to realize what it was.

Fear spiked through her and she wrapped herself in invisibility and sound dampening before she rushed up the stairs. Reaching the bedroom at the top of the stairs Trixie halted, eyes dilating at the scene.

The room was a mess, the bed overturned, a nearby night stand smashed. Against the wall both Raindrops and Lyra were pinned by all too familiar black branches that seemed to grow from the shadows themselves. Both were alive, but their limbs were held fast by the branches, and pierced in places that dripped red with blood.

They were still struggling, Raindrops growling as she pulled at the branches, while Lyra had clearly summoned her lyre to try using it on the one responsible for this, though the lyre in question had been similarly pinned to the wall by a series of daggers, several of the strings cut.

“Well darlin’, I heard you downstairs, and I know you can pull that disappearing act. Little something you and I have in common,” said Assassin, “So I’m just going to assume you’re listening, and enjoying the show.”

He was standing, his shadowy form next to a cowering butter yellow mare with a long pink mane who was curled into a ball on the floor. Assassin had several more daggers floating beside him, and the floor was covered in that opaque fog that appeared to be his trademark.

“Now, how about we play a ga-”

“Hey flankhole!” growled Raindrops, “Quit monologuing and get these twigs off me! I’m going to knock your jaw clean offaaaargh!”

One of the branches had twisted in her arm and Assassin sighed, “Geez, lady, keep it down! Can’t you see you’re scaring the fragile one here?”

“Raindrops!” Lyra cried, “You... you okay?”

“Urrrgh...yeah, had, had splinters that were worse than this. You?”

“More pissed he damaged my lyre. Restringing it can be a pain. Aarrg...you know, comparatively speaking.”

Trixie was both horrified and furious. She had to get them all out of here and away from this psychopath! Fluttershy was making small squeaking noises, but thankfully wasn’t injured. But what could she do? The moment she revealed her location she didn’t doubt those daggers would perforate her thoroughly. She could try any number of illusions and flashy fireworks to distract him, but she couldn’t guarantee getting everypony away safely with just the moment of distraction that would provide. Finally, even if she decided to get the drop on him and attack, she doubted she could knock out a Servant with one hit.

Trixie gulped, holding up the hoof with the red runic Command Seals.

If she used one to summon Sungleam to her, she didn’t doubt her Servant could take Assassin down quickly, but that would pull Sungleam away from the fight with Hurricane.

What do I do?

“Anywhos, assuming the peanut gallery is done commenting,” Assassin said, gesturing a hoof at Lyra and Raindrops and even more blackened branches grew from the fog and shadows to gag the two mares, “Do I really gotta explain how this is going to work? I mean, it should be pretty obvious. Should I try the old ‘count to ten’ thing? I really don’t want to go the whole tacky route of threatening to start removing limbs. For one, I’m not a trained surgeon, so honestly if I got to take one of your friend’s legs off, that’s going to be a death sentence with how much I suck with anatomy. Seriously, could get messy. Messier.”

“...please stop...”

The tiny squeaking voice was from Fluttershy. Assassin, not having a really discernible head, still seemed to look down at the mare at his hooves.

“What was that darlin’, didn’t quite catch that.”

“...stop...”

Assassin gave the mare a simple nudge with his hoof, which caused her to make a tiny sound and curl up even more. The shadowy stallion groaned.

“You know I ain’t stopping you from leaving. I’m only after Saber’s Master, and I got her friends as hostages to make sure she doesn’t waltz off with her disappearing act like last time. You I got no issue with, so feel free to skedaddle.”

Trixie was very slowly edging around the wall towards her friends, trusting her sound dampening spell to keep her movement hidden, but she silently urged Fluttershy to take the offer and run. Trixie might not have been all that familiar with or even fond of the reclusive mare, but nopony deserved to have their home invaded like this and ponies hurt in front of them.

But Fluttershy didn’t run, instead slowly raising her head and looking up at the dark figure looming over her. There were tears in her eyes, and her fear was apparent, but somehow Fluttershy was finding the strength to speak.

“I... I... said stop...” she gulped, “They haven’t...h-haven't done anything... to you. You have no... no reason to be so... mean to these ponies!”

Trixie blinked? Had Fluttershy just... raised her voice? She was almost to Lyra and Raindrops now and looked closely at the branches covering them, and the way the branches seemed to rise from both any patches of shadow, which the room had aplenty, or the fog covering the floor. If she got rid of the shadows with a light spell would that dispel the branches? She didn’t have any other ideas, other than summoning Sungleam.

Meanwhile Fluttershy and Assassin were matching looks, the Servant’s headless form still displaying a faint shadowy head-like shape that was cocked to one side in confusion. Flutterhy was still shaking like a leaf on the floor, but she hadn’t looked away from Asssassin.

“Excuse me darlin’, but you got no clue what’s going on here or what’s at stake. I got no issue sacrificing a few bystanders to get at Saber’s Master. Besides, they stepped into this mess of their own free will, I ain’t-”

“You don’t have to h-hurt them!” Fluttershy cried, “This is too cruel! Wh-what could possibly make... make anypony do something this horrible!?”

“Horrible? Darlin’ if you knew a fraction of what real cruelty was you’d understand I’m taking it easy on these ponies... ugh, what’s with you all in the modern age? Like you’ve forgotten what Tirek did to this land. Things been so peaceful for so long all the suffering we went through back in the day has just been up and forgotten? Darlin’, I’m a bloody saint compared to Tirek’s Cabal! You want to know what they did to ponies that refuted the rule of their dark lord? Huh!? I could show you... I saw it, felt it, and did it myself...”

Trixie didn’t know what he was going on about but was glad Assassin was distracted. It let her briefly touch a hoof to both Raindrops and Lyra, giving them both a comforting pat so they knew she was there. Both of her friends were smart enough not to say anything or give any indication they knew she was there beyond Raindrops visibly calming and Lyra smiling slightly. Trixie gulped. Her friends were in clear pain but were being braver than she would be if their situations were flipped.

Downstairs she heard two voices speak up.

“Hello!? Anypony home!?” said Carrot Top.

“Trixie! Lyra! Raindrops! You in here!?” said Cheerilee.

Trixie felt the blood drain from her face. She’d forgotten those two were on their way here with the Elements of Harmony.

No time to think, have to act now!

Hoping against all odds this would work, Trixie Lulamoon charged up her horn and set off the brightest, loudest fireworks of illusion she could conjure.

Episode 4: The Black Forest

View Online

Chapter 4: The Black Forest

In the skies of Equestria, above a flowing sea of dark clouds that churned and thundered, the air was split apart by a burst of force, followed by the echoing ring of steel on steel. Again and again small wisps of free floating clouds flowed apart from the force of two weapons colliding. In the cerulean sky above to the black sea of cloud below two forms split apart, smashed together, and split apart again only to galvanize towards one another in another clash of power in a dizzying dance through the air.

Commander Hurricane was covered in wounds; most minor, a few more severe. His spear spun in his hooves, his wings a blurring buzz as he shot from one spot to the next, lashing out with his weapon in a frantic barrage at his relentless foe. Berserker lacked Hurricane’s nimble movements and instead flew with monstrous and unending drive at his pegasi opponent. For every wound Hurricane bore upon his hide the massive griffin bore similar stabs, his feathers and lion’s coat running red with blood. Yet for every drop of blood spilled Berserker's power only seemed to increase, his blows landing with greater force and ferocity, and his huge clawed gauntlets blazed with a fire as intense as the sun above them.

For every strike the griffin landed he received two or three blows from Hurricane’s speedy assault, yet every blow of Berserker’s gauntlets sent Hurricane reeling and desperately avoiding receiving a telling hit. A single hit caught on the haft of his speer still blasted Hurricane away as if he’d been struck by a runaway carriage, and rattled the Lancer-class Servant to his very bones.

“By the very thunders of the tempest you are no brute to take lightly!” Hurricane said, smiling wide even as blood dripped down his forehead and off his chin, “Had I a full squadron of my finest Sky Blades at my side I would take to the fight with caution! Haha, if only we had foes like you to threaten our borders during those wretchedly boring times of peace, then Pegasopolis would have remained in glory and the pegasi would still be a race of warriors... not foals playing at racing games and air shows!”

The griffin had no reply, Berserker only desiring the destruction of the enemy Servant before him, a screech of rage upon his beak. Commander Hurricane sighed inwardly, wishing he had an opponent who could at least appreciate the value of some discourse during a duel. Like that fine looking knight, Saber. There was a mare Hurricane felt he could sink his teeth into for a proper clash. She was a little primp and proper for his taste, but he sensed steel underneath all that glitz and glamor. She might even understand why Hurricane despaired at the state of his race in the modern age.

His Master had droned on at some length about these ‘Wonderbolts’ and Hurricane could only scoff at the notion of the ‘best fliers in Equestria’ being used for nothing more than stage performance, races, and ways to sell toys to foals. It was enough to make him want to weep, were he not so infuriated. Well, Hurricane intended fully to demonstrate to his tribe what a pegasi warrior was, and once winning the Grail he would have his wish granted. Pegasopolis would rise again!

Berserker dove in, gauntlets crashing down together in an overhead slash that could easily have taken Hurricane’s head off had he not deftly rolled aside. Berserker’s tail flicked, having anticipated the dodge, and even the small appendage struck like a heavy whip cord, lashing through Hurricane’s leather armor and tearing a painful, bloody welt along his flank. In response Hurricane lashed out with his spear, catching the griffin underneath one of the armor planes above his hind leg’s knee. Blood flowed, followed by a spurt of orange fire, as if the blood of Berserker itself was igniting.

With a powerful flap of his wide wings, Berserker immediately reversed his course, flipping over to face Hurricane again, and cut the air with his gauntlets, trying to split the pegasus down the middle of his barrel. Hurricane countered with his own powerful blast of wings. His might not have been as large as the griffin’s, but his wings were that of a pegasus both trained and bred for war and with experience over the winds few could match. The air burst from those wings sent Berserker off course and allowed Hurricane to get a little breathing distance.

Hurricane briefly scanned the sky above. It was nearly time. Berserker was entirely focused upon him now. His distraction was complete. Hurricane saw it briefly, just a small speck upon the light of the sun. He smiled.

Well, Private Dash, let us see if you have the pinions to back up your boast. Show me the pegasi are not all a race of weak foals suckling at the teats of the other tribes!

As Berserker recovered from the wind buffet Hurricane had delivered the griffin let out a piercing cry and like a flaming comet came hurting at the Lancer Servant once again. Hurricane, smiling beneath his helmet, sent his wings into a buzzing blur and shot straight up into the sky. Berserker followed, climbing after Hurricane with his own steady, potent wing flaps that seemed to send him springing up further with each thrust like he’d bounced off a trampoline. Even with Hurricane’s impressive speed he was only just keeping ahead of the raging griffin.

Up and up they went, ascending into the expanse ocean of pure blue sky, the sun a shining sentinel bearing watch to the chase. A blinding beacon that made it impossible for either Servant to see very clearly. Just as Hurricane and Rainbow Dash had planned.

Now the question was, could Rainbow Dash deliver on her word and perform a feat of aerial prowess only Hurricane himself had ever attempted, and had never accomplished?

----------

Rainbow Dash saw them coming, Hurricane and that huge griffin clad in dark armor. The griffin was surrounded by a fiery orange aura and even from this distance Rainbow could see the twin gleam of Berserker’s eyes, like some fabled demon of Tartarus. Beneath them was the swirling dark chaos of the storm Hurricane had summoned with his banner... and somewhere beneath that, Fluttershy.

Fluttershy. Please, be okay. I’ll put an end to this, and go straight to you. I won’t leave you hangin’.

Rainbow Dash gulped, feeling a unwelcome watery sensation in her gut. How many times had she, in her secret times spent training herself for the Wonderbolts, attempted that legendary maneuver known as the Sonic Rainboom? It was a myth. A myth that she was certain that, once, she performed. As a foal, no less. But nopony had ever confirmed that had been a Sonic Rainboom. Most, aside from a number of her own fellow flight school foals, had even seen it happen when she’d raced to protect Fluttershy’s honor. Rainbow Dash could remember that feeling of unrivaled speed... but never once since then had she been able to replicate the effect, and it was to the point that even she doubted it’d been anything other than a fluke, perhaps not actually the mythical move only hypothesized by aerial physicists.

She wasn’t a quitter though. She knew she could do this! Well, she hoped she could. Maybe...

It’d help if she didn’t realize that, if she failed this time, the stakes were a lot higher than just a bruised body and pride. Even her brash mind understood that making a mistake here could lead to death. It was sobering, and put the pressure on her like the young cyan pegasus had never felt before. A part of her wanted to go find the nearest cloud to hide in and curl up shaking. This part, however, was pushed aside by the knowledge that the best friend she’d ever had was in danger. Rainbow Dash had to win this, to protect Fluttershy.

“I did this once, to keep Flutters safe,” Rainbow told herself as she gulped, seeing Hurricane and Berserker getting closer, “I can do it again!”

Sucking in a heavy lung full of air, knowing full well she would be going too fast to easily take another while trying to do this, Rainbow twisted her body into a wind up position, and with the same speed of the bolt of lightning from her cutie mark she rocketed downwards. The sun was at her back and warmed her despite the wind shear flowing over her as she tore downwards. The light from the sun would be blocking any clear view of her from the ascending Servants, but Hurricane had assured her he’d be able to get out of the way in time. She just had to trust the old bird knew what he was talking about, because at this point Rainbow wasn’t sure how easily she could stop herself if she wanted to.

Wind pushed at her face and stung her eyes, tears from the exposure already trailing from the corners of her magenta orbs and her lips flapping around as her teeth stayed tightly clenched. Faster and faster she forced her wings to push herself into greater acceleration. Before long she felt it... that familiar push against her forehooves. She didn’t quite understand the science behind what the ‘sound barrier’ was, but she knew it was a very stubborn thing that stood between her and going even faster! The swifter she descended the harder this elastic, imperceptible wall pushed back! Rainbow could feel the familiar point she’d reached so many times before, where she could almost push through the growing tension in that barrier, when it began to stretch and narrow, conforming around her forehooves, so close to shattering before her.

Every time she’d reached this point she’d tried to push through, only for that tension to suddenly snap against her and send her flinging like a rubber band through the air, inevitably leading to a painful crash. Again, time after time, she’d earned a pile of bruises and twisted limbs trying to get past this limit.

Was she really not fast enough? Did she not want it enough? Was she just... not good enough?

Hurricane was directly ahead. His eyes pierced into hers and the dark coated pegasus wore a hard, challenging look, as if he was daring her to fail in front of him. Behind him the massive form of Berserker loomed, the griffin’s wide wings spread like the thunderhead of a storm, fire wreathing his body.

Rainbow Dash felt the barrier begin to snap back, her speed flagging.

An image of Fluttershy, alone in her cabin, the waters from the storm rising around her, trapping her, drowning her, flashed through Rainbow’s mind. Her magenta eyes narrowed.

NO!

Rainbow shook her head, letting out a deep guttural growl from the pit of her stomach, and attacked the barrier in front of her. Her wings beat so fast they transformed into a pure blue haze. The barrier wrapped around her. Streams of energy, like tiny cracks of lightning, flared around the conical shape that had formed before her as she stretched the barrier out and then-

All was sound, light, and rainbows. A thunderous, magnificent crack that shattered through the sky. Rainbow didn’t feel anything other than the pure speed as she instantly went past Hurricane, who had thrown himself to the side at the last possible millisecond.

She impacted with Berserker right into the griffin’s gut, the iron plates of the Servant’s armor denting inward under her hooves. She felt her bones break, yet there was no pain, just pure adrenaline based elation as she became a rainbow colored streak of brilliant light shoving Berserker down to earth.

Before they reached the top of the storm Rainbow’s body finally realized how much excruciating pain it was in and Rainbow gasped, flinching away and in that second she lost her incredible speed. She fell away from Berserker, who continued to fall as well, too stunned by the impact of the Sonic Rainboom to recover.

Rainbow Dash drew in sharp breaths as she struggled to keep herself aloft. Her forehooves were nothing but pain. She’d broken a leg or two before from accidents during her self-training sessions, so she was all too familiar with the sensations and could guess she’d at least fractured a bone in both of her forelegs. Fire lanced through her lungs with each breath and she thought she must have broken a few ribs from the impact with Berserker.

“N...not...ugh...my brightest...idea...” she said to herself, wincing, “S-still...awesome...though...”

She faltered in flight, nearly dropping from the sky, but a pair of strong hooves appeared under her, holding her up. Rainbow Dash looked back to see a huge grinning Commander Hurricane looking at her with a gleam in his eyes.

“Magnificent! Beyond words! Private Dash, you are in order for a field promotion after such a brilliant display! I may have to consider revising my opinion of the state of my race, if they can still produce fliers like you.”

Rainbow Dash, despite grievous pain, still glowed a little under the praise, “Yeah, well, I am, ugh, pretty amazing... ow... “

“Sounds like you need a breather, soldier. Can you still fly?”

“Tch, course I can. Just a fracture or two. Wings are fine.”

Commander Hurricane let go of her as she flapped her wings and hovered in the air. He held his spear aloft, turning his gaze towards the still falling Berserker.

“Let me take things from here, Private. You find a spot to catch your breath. I’ll finish this barbarian swine off!”

“Y-yeah...” Rainbow Dash said, feeling the pain more keenly now, and a greater wave of exhaustion from exerting herself so much, “I’ll just over by that cloud... give a yell if you need me.”

---------

Sungleam burst from the top of the hurricane and into the bright sunny sky above. For a moment she could only smile at the dome of blue above and the shining star that warmed that eternal sky. Never did the sun fail to bring a warm glow to her heart, even in these dark times where its proper guardian and embodiment was shrouded in shadow.

My Princess, your sun remains beautiful, and your land one of light, even if your heart is clouded. I swear on my honor as your knight I shall restore you.

She didn’t allow her focus to waver long and quickly took stock of the situation. She saw Berserker’s form, falling away from a band of rainbow light that soon faded and resolved into a small cyan pegasus that Sungleam easily recognized by the prismatic mane as Lancer’s Master. The pegasus mare was flying in a slow, wobbling manner and was clearly badly injured. Berserker himself looked stunned, not quite recovered from the blow he’d taken, and Sungleam saw a dark shape bolting downward at the griffin. Lancer.

Sungleam understood Berserker would not be able to recover in time to defend himself from Lancer’s descending spear.

Her Air Walk hardened the air under her hooves as if it were as firm as the earth itself and the blue and gold clad knight wasted not a second in burst forth in a full gallop across the sky. She closed the distance between herself and Lancer in a matter of seconds, just as the banner of Pegasopolis fluttered along the length of the spear that was inches from piercing Berserker’s exposed throat.

Radiance caught the sunlight as it wove in and intercepted the spear in a shower of gold sparks. Lancer looked at her and his eyes shone brightly as he twirled his body, wings flaring. He spun his spear, using his body’s unique aerial momentum to spin the shaft around and slash at Sungleam from a angle completely opposite of its previous trajectory. Sungleam spun on her hooves, the air groaning around her hooves as it hardened to give her purchase as she turned away from the blow and parried it, the spear head skidding along the surface of her sword and the two weapons locking together, each Servant’s face inches from the other.

“Good of you to join us, knight of the sun,” Commander Hurricane said, “Though you just interfered with a clean kill. I thought knights had rules about interrupting the duels of others?”

Sungleam wrinkled her nose, pushing off with her blade and flipped back from the pegasus, “This is no duel, Commander Hurricane, but a battlefield. I am bid by my Master to aid Berserker, and will abide that wish. If you desire single combat, I would suggest quitting the field until such a time that we can meet blade to spear at a proper time and place.”

“Hah! I see your arrogance is in full peak. Trying to insult me by telling me to run with my tail tucked between my legs like a beaten dog!? Do not take a warrior of Pegasopolis lightly!”

Hurricane flew in at her, leading with his spear. A trio of fast thrusts put Sungleam briefly on the defensive, sword and spear glancing off each other. Each thrust was faster than most pony’s eyes could track, but Sungleam kept her calm center, her magic weaving Radiance through the air with the surgical skill of a dressmaker sewing gowns for a gala. After she turned his third thrust aside she flashed in with a blinding swing of her blade, looking to move inside his defense.

Commander Hurricane flowed away from the bright crystalline edge with grace and speed of an experienced soldier, avoiding the sharp blade, but he felt the power humming in the unicorn’s sword. Like a piece of liquid sun, a beam of light caught on Sungleam’s sword and shot out, striking like another blade, and the beam of intensified sunlight burned past Hurricane’s left shoulder. The leather armor of his shoulder pauldron was charred, the hide beneath it scored red. Commander Hurricane gave Sungleam an appraising look as the unicorn stood back.

She held Radiance firmly before her, the sword of crystalline edge seeming to drink in the light of the sun, the blade becoming like a shard of living sunlight. Sungleam had a small, confident smile on her face. She was bathed in the luminous golden light of the sun and seemed to shine like a beacon.

“You’re wounded and winded, Commander, and with the sun rising in the sky my power is near its peak. A contest between us now would not be fair, nor satisfying, I suspect, for either of us. If you continue to engage, I will do what I must and hold nothing back in dispatching you, as my Master has commanded of me. However, retreat and I shall not pursue you. In fact, name a time and place, and I shall give you my word of honor as a knight that I shall meet you there for the duel we both desire.”

The stormy gray pegasus let out long, bellowing laugh, wiping blood from his brow, “I understand honor well enough, knight, do not lecture me on it! You wound my pride more than my body with your words.”

Sungleam tensed, ready to resume her attack, “So you shall not quit the field?”

Commander Hurricane’s eyes flicked towards a nearby cloud, one where Sungleam could see the cyan figure of Lancer’s Master could be seen, the pegasus mare having landed there and seemingly collapsed upon the white wisp of cloud. He grunted, heaving out a sigh, “I didn’t say that. It stings my pride to the core of me to take quarter, but the smart military leader knows when to fall back. I shall take your offer, and name my place for our duel. Are you familiar with the Valley of Dreams?”

Sungleam blinked, unable to hide her surprise, “I am... I do know it, yes.”

Command Hurricane placed his spear over his shoulder, the banner of Pegasopolis snapping in a warm breeze that blew by both ponies, “Let us give ourselves two days. At dawn of the third day I will meet you on the fields of the Valley of Dreams, and we shall have ourselves a battle worthy of both our memories! No tricks, no interference, we shall both enter that sparkling valley, but only one of us shall set hoof outside it come the end of that day! On my own honor as Supreme Air Commander Hurricane I swear it as oath!”

Sungleam dipped her head in a bow and spun her blade around, sheathing it at her side, “The third dawn it shall be then. Do not be dispatched by another Servant before then.”

“Ha! You are in greater danger of that than I, knight of the sun! Be careful, I am likely to be the only one you’ll face who respects your excessive brand of honor,” Commander Hurricane said with a somewhat exaggerated bow that Sungleam thought was perhaps a tad mocking, but she held herself with dignity. The pegasus flew over to where Sungleam saw the cloud Lancer’s wounded Master had landed on, the young cyan mare laying there, barely conscious. Sungleam felt a sense of respect for Lancer’s Master as Hurricane put the wounded mare on his back and flew away to the north. Not many ponies could have wounded a Servant, let alone a Berserker. Sungleam did not know what manner of pegasi magic allowed for that marvelous prismatic display of speed, but she made a mental note to be prepared for it when she faced Hurricane at the Valley of Dreams...

Sungleam frowned.

Could it be simple coincidence that he’d chose that place for our duel? He could not know about my history, could he? His time was before my own, and I doubt he could have learned about me from any other source. My Princess is disliked by the ponies of this age, and records of her servants, of the good times, would be scant I imagine. So why did he choose that place? Coincidence, it must be.

A piercing shriek cut through the air and Sungleam turned to see Berserker rising from the stormcloud, which was starting to gradually dissipate with Commander Hurricane no longer maintaining it. The hulking dark griffin saw her, and Sungleam steadied herself, eyeing Berserker as he ascended towards her. His body was still cloaked in a fire orange aura, his gauntlets blazing bright. Had the battle madness a hold on him strong enough that he’d seek her blood?

Sungleam tensed, ready to dodge, but Berserker flew right past her. He whipped his head left and right, scanning the skies. Sungleam realized the griffin was searching for his quarry. Commander Hurricane, however, had proven a speedy flier and had vanished amid a distant cloudbank by now.

“Your foe has escaped you for today, Berserker,” Sungleam said, not even sure he could understand her. From the fierce glare he sent her way he could simply be reacting to her voice, rather than the words. He slowly turned to face her, a rumbling hiss on his beak. Sungleam readied herself.

“Our Masters do not desire we fight, but if you attack, I shall respond in kind,” she warned.

Her warning may as well have been spoken to a rabid dog. Enraged beyond any kind of clear thought by the battle lust from his clash with Lancer, Berserker could not differentiate between the essence of one Servant or another. To his rage soaked senses, the pony before him was no different than the pony he’d just been fighting. His gauntlets burned brightly with his the fire of his blood. The need to rend flesh was in his every pore, agonizingly unfulfilled.

As Berserker reached up, spreading his black wings wide, Sungleam sighed and raised her blade, “So be it! I’ll apologize to your Master afterwards, but I shall hold nothing back!”

----------

Trixie wove her light spell with multiple extra weaves to enhance its raw brightness, pushing it into a raw elemental burst of pure white that filled the upper room of Fluttershy’s home. At the same time she reached out with telekinesis and grabbed the timid mare of the house, feeling out the pegasus’ position with her own eyes closed to keep them from being blinded as she ducked down instinctively. This while also maintaining her invisibility. Her horn sent spikes of pain into her forehead in protest of this dangerous multi-spell weaving, but Trixie had no choice but to push this.

“Flaming pits!” she heard Assassin bark in annoyance.

Trixie felt something sharp dart by her check and the thunk of the object embedding in the wood of the wall behind her. Unfortunately she also heard Raindrops grunt in pain and Trixie felt a shock of fear at the thought of her friend being wounded. She had no time to check anything though, as she could only act fast with the brief moment of distraction her flare spell had given her. She hurled Fluttershy towards the stairs out, knowing the mare probably wouldn’t flee on her own and needed to be taken out of harm’s way. A little bounce down the stairs would be better than being left behind with a nut case like Assassin.

At the same time Trixie glanced to see that Lyra and Raindrops had collapsed on the floor, the strange black branches that Assassin summoned having been cut off from their source when Trixie’s spell lit up the room. Good, so she had at least one halfway useful weapon to use against him.

“Run!” Trixie shouted, pushing her friends towards the stairs. As they stumbled that way Trixie screamed in pain as something sharp dug into her hindquarters. She was pulled forcibly to the floor and she lost concentration on her invisibility, appearing with her hat having fallen off her head and slowly drift down the stairs.

“There you are,” growled Assassin, and Trixie looked back to see that he’d instantly summoned more branches from the mist covered floor the moment Trixie’s flare spell had ended. The branches dug into her left hind leg, and Trixie was for a second too shocked by the pain of the sharp wood pushing past muscel to think straight, let alone scream.

Instead of running, like Trixie hoped they would, Lyra and Raindrops threw themselves at Assassin, despite their own wounds. The nimble shadow covered Servant danced away from a wild buck from Lyra, and a flying kick from Raindrops. Raindrops ended up smashing into one of Fluttershy’s cabinets, breaking it apart. Lyra backed up and with a golden glow around her horn brought her lyre up. Assassin laughed.

“What are you planning to do with that? Play a sonnet? Strings are broken, darlin’.”

Lyra narrowed her eyes, and the lyre flew in a harsh arc at Assassin, who ducked away from the instrument trying to bash his head in.

Meanwhile Trixie tried moving her legs but found the branches dug in deeper as she groaned. Down the stairs she could see a horrified Fluttershy sitting there, looking up at her, clearly torn between an instinct to run, and a desire to help another pony in pain. Trixie looked at her, ready to yell at the pegasus to run, but she then saw the forms of Cheerilee and Carrot Top appear at the foot of the stairs.

“Trixie! We brought the- oh moon’s tears,” Cheerilee gasped, seeing Trixie up the stairs, “Carrot Top, get Fluttershy out of here.”

The schoolteacher’s face went firm as she charged up the stairs, completely against Trixie’s pleas to the contrary, while Carrot Top put hooves around Fluttershy and started pulling the mare away. Trixie noticed Carrot Top was wearing a pair of saddlebags bulging with what was probably the Elements of Harmony.

As Cheerilee got up the stairs to her Raindrops had recovered from where she’d landed and sprung at Assassin again, complimenting Lyra’s flying lyre with a few hard and fast hoof jabs. Assassin wove around them with unnatural speed and flexibility, and countered with a half dozen black branches that sprung up and darted at the two mares.

Trixie, despite the pain running through her, charged her horn with another light spell as Cheerilee knelt next to her, ready to drag Trixie out of harm’s way.

Assassin was faster to react, the shadowy black mist where his head should be briefly condensing into an almost-silhouette of a stallion’s head as it looked at Trixie.

“Oh you’re not doing that again, darlin’, sorry.”

Trixie couldn’t keep a yell from pulling its way out of her throat as the branches that were in her leg shifted, gripping in bursts of intense pain, and Trixie was suddenly hefted up into the air.

“Let’s take this outside, what do you all say?” Assassin asked in a tone that suggested he wasn’t really asking as he flung Trixie through the second story window with enough force to eject the showmare out like a sling stone.

Trixie heard her friends shouting her name, but that was it as a sense of vertigo took over as she spun through the rain filled air.

Should have just stayed in bed this morning, Trixie managed to think before gravity did its thing and slammed her into the wet, slick ground, knocking the air out of her and brusing her to the bones. The storm above had slackened its downpour, but by now the water was more than fetlock deep surrounding the cottage, and Trixie coughed and sputtered as some water got into her throat after she landed face first from her fall.

Struggling to her hooves, dazed, and unable to put much weight on her left hind leg, Trixie turned towards the cottage only to see a flickering shadow flow out of the window and make its way over to her. The gray mist that was Assassin’s formed over the water soaked earth and the black stallion rose from it like the wraith he was.

“Hey there darlin,” he said, and Trixie could hear the smile in his voice, “Gotta say I admire the gusto you got, but more than that, I’m thankful for just how ludicrously stupid you are.”

He chuckled, “I mean, seriously, what makes you think you’re a match for a Servant on your lonesome, hmm? Or even with your whole band of merry foals? All you’ve done is toss your life away, and made my job that much easier.”

Trixie, despite the sudden mortal fear gripping her, stood her ground, desperately trying to think while not giving this so-called pony the satisfaction of seeing her fear. Much. The shaking legs she was having a hard time controlling.

“You’re just not worth my Servant’s time,” Trixie taunted, “If you think I’m impressed with the little love taps you’ve given me, you’re far more the foal than I!”

She hoped he could be baited into a boasting contest, because she sorely needed time to try and formulate some kind of strategy to survive this. Her fear wasn’t just for herself, she was doubly worried about her friends. Assassin wasn’t drawn in, however, as he just have a simple snort and over a dozen thick black branches rose from the mist like dark, jagged spears. They bent and twisted, pointed ends poised at Trixie, like snakes scenting a tasty mouse.

“Ponies like you, darlin’, all boast and no bite, wouldn’t of lasted a day where I came from. I’m going to prove that pink haired mare wrong and show just what a nice fella I am by making this quick, even though I’d like nothing more than to make you appreciate what real pain is,” Assassin drawled, and the branches tensed, then snapped forward at Trixie.

Trixie tried to get another light spell going, but it was clear she wouldn’t be able to cast it before she’d be impaled from multiple sides. She closed her eyes, wincing at the thought that she’d failed her friends... only to hear Assassin grunt in pain. She opened her eyes to see the branches had fallen to the ground, and Assassin had been pushed to the ground as well, a very pissed off, snarling gray pegasus on top of him.

“YOU WILL NOT HURT HER!” Ditzy Doo roared with a fury Trixie had only ever heard matched when Dinky had been threatened by mobsters. Ditzy’s eyes were dilated to almost be completely black, and there was a near froth at the Element of Kindness’s lips as she raised both her fore hooves and brought them crashing down at the stunned Assassin.

Assassin sank into the ground, vanishing into his mist as Ditzy’s hooves smashed into the ground he’d just occupied with enough force to do Raindrops proud. Ditzy’s nostrils flared, practical steam coming out of them as she glared around, looking for her target.

Trixie was stunned, for a second, but quickly recovered her senses, “Ditzy! Be careful, he can attack with those branches even if you can’t see him!”

Trixie gasped as she saw a branch launch up from the mist and impale one of Ditzy’s wings, the left one, the one without the Command Seals on it. Trixie was even more shocked, however, when Ditzy completely ignored the wound and with an animal snarl turned around and bit the branch off.

Throwing off her surprise Trixie got her concentration back and cast a light spell, modifying this one to not only be as bright as she could make it, but to keep it continuous. She tied off the magical strands and let the glowing white orb hang in the air, bathing the field behind Fluttershy’s cottage with a luminous haze. The branches that had been raising from the mist shrank away from the light, the shadows that gave them substance falling apart under the light.

“Where is he!?” Ditzy shouted, looking around. Trixie gave her friend a worried look.

“Hiding. Ditzy, your wing-”

“I’m fine. Trixie, did he hurt you? I’ll tear him apart if he’s hurt any of my friends!”

Around the corner of Fluttershy’s cottage Trixie could see the rest of her friends galloping. Well, hobbling quickly. Lyra and Raindrops had both suffered wounds similar to Trixie, and Cheerilee and Carrot Top were keeping pace so as to not outrun the wounded pair. Fluttershy was behind them, poking her head fearfully around the corner of her home to look wide eyed at the unfolding events.

Trixie, warily looking around for Assassin, went to stand by Ditzy as the others ran up. She didn’t see Assassin anywhere, but his mist still blanketed the ground. He was here. Watching. Waiting. She was uncertain of how long her light spell would work against his branches, and she suspected he had plenty of other means of attack, remembering the strange knives he’d used in his skirmish with Sungleam. Trixie suspected Assassin was just reassessing the situation due to Ditzy’s sudden arrival. He’d strike soon, which meant Trixie and her friends would need to act fast.

“Everypony okay?” asked Carrot Top first as the rest of the Element bearers joined Trixie and Ditzy. The carrot farmer looked worriedly at her friends, wincing at Ditzy’s stabbed wing. She quickly got into saddlebag, “Ditzy, I should take a look at that wing. I should have a salve in here.”

“I said I’m fine!” snapped Ditzy, shaking her head, putting a hoof to it. The gray pegasus rubbed her temple, as if she was in pain, to which Carrot Top gave her a worried look and came over while pulling a salve out of her saddlebag.

“Ditzy, you’re hurt, let me help,” Carrot Top said gently, examining Ditzy’s wound as the pegasus groaned, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, I just... can’t think straight. Feel fuzzy in my head, ” Ditzy said, voice wavering.

Cheerilee was looking around cautiously, eyeing the fog covering the deep water.

“Not to make light of things, but maybe we should find somewhere else to be that’s not covered in creepy fog, before we get too chatty with each other?”

“No argument here,” said Raindrops.

“Carrot Top, Cheerilee, did you bring the Elements?” asked Trixie, looking around for her hat and frowning as she found it, the purple magician hat a tad beaten and worn, with a little tear in it, probably from going through Fluttershy’s window. Trixie put it on her head with a snort. Now she had to make Assassin pay! Nopony messed with the hat!

Cheerilee nodded, “Got them right here in my bags.”

“Give them out. We’ll use them if Assassin shows his face again, but for now, we get out of here with Fluttershy,” Trixie said. The yellow pegasus mare in question had slowly come up with shaking steps, nervousness pouring off of her.

“I-I-I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t l-leave! My chickens, in the coop, they might get hurt by this weather.”

The Elements of Harmony were being given out, each of their bearers putting them on as Trixie gave Fluttershy a sympathetic look, “Your chickens can take care of themselves. You’re in more danger than they are.”

“W-why does that pony want to hurt all of us!? Who is he?”

“Look,” Trixie said, taking a deep breath, “I’d explain, but he could attack any second. We’re leaving, now.”

Fluttershy gulped, looking like she was torn between having a nervous breakdown, and wanting to argue for going to protect her animals. Trixie had to admit she was a little surprised the pegasus mare was holding up so well, given circumstances. Suddenly the rain started to slacken, and Trixie looked up, noticing the clouds above slowly clearing. Did that mean Sungleam had beaten Lancer? Trixie couldn’t be sure, but she decided to take the storm slacking off as a good sign.

Fluttershy still was casting quick, shaking glances towards her cottage and its chicken coop, and jumped when a yellow hoof touched her shoulder. Carrot Top gave Fluttershy an apologetic look, but smiled comfortingly, “It’ll be okay Fluttershy. Please, trust us.”

“Al-alright,” Fluttershy said, and with their Elements of Harmony now firmly secured on their necks, or in Trixie’s case on her head, the group began to head for the bridge across the overflowing river.

Trixie took the lead, her nerves on a razor’s edge. Where was Assassin? Why hadn’t he attacked them again? Fear for her friends also gripped her. Lyra and Raindrops both still sported wounds that ran with blood, and Trixie had no idea how to go about helping Ditzy. The pegasus’ bond with Berserker was already having a detrimental affect on her, and Trixie couldn’t imagine what Ditzy must have been going through. Just looking at her dear friend’s face, the Element of Kindness’ eyes bloodshot and dilated, her ears flat against her head, teeth barred as if intending to snap Assassin’s non-existent head off the moment he appeared... it unnerved Trixie to her core.

When the group reached the bridge Trixie began across at a fast trot. However just as she reached the halfway point, the gray mist curled over the lips of the bridge and rolled over it. Trixie skidded to a halt and immediately started to cast a light spell, but was quickly shoved aside as somepony shouted “Look out!”

Trixie hit the ground with a grunt of pain, her own wounded body not keen on being shoved around, but she was more worried by the cry of pain she heard and the thud of another pony next to her. Trixie looked over, eyes widening in shock to see Fluttershy shuddering on the bridge, her flank bleeding from where it’d been cut by the sharp branches that’d shot out from the mist. They would’ve speared Trixie straight through before she could get her light spell off if Fluttershy hadn’t pushed her aside.

“Fluttershy!” Carrot Top cried out, rushing to the fallen pegasus’ side, while Trixie’s friends gathered around both her and Fluttershy, forming a shield of bodies.

Assassin’s voice reached them as the shadowy stallion formed at the far end of the bridge, “Alright, this is getting downright ridiculous! Only want to kill two of you but the rest of you crazy ponies just want to keep getting in the way. I’m trying to play it nice with you all, but-”

He couldn’t finish his rant, as he had two pissed off pegasi, Ditzy and Raindrops, flying at him full bore, hooves both delivering hefty haymakers to the Servant’s chest. The smokey form of Assassin flew back, but elegantly flipped in the air and landed, the stallion drawing in a sharp breath before he coughed.

“...Ow...”

Trixie stood, looking at Carrot Top and Fluttershy, “Is she okay?”

Carrot Top looked up, first glaring daggers at Assassin, then giving Trixie a nod, “She will be, the wounds aren’t deep.”

The carrot farmer had pulled out some healing supplies from her saddlebags, starting to patch the lacerations on Fluttershy’s flank while the wounded pegasus shook her head and, to Carrot Top’s surprised look, actually stood up.

“Wh... what is wrong with you!?” Fluttershy shouted at Assassin, legs shaking as she took a few steps forward. Everypony else was so shocked at seeing the usually demure mare raising her voice that none of them reacted at first. Fluttershy was shaking, to be sure, like the proverbial leaf in a storm, and she looked just as terrified as she was angry, but there was an outrage in her feature’s that Trixie had never imagined seeing in the mare.

“You just can’t... can’t go around trying to kill anypony you like! What gives you the right ot hurt others like its nothing!?”

Assassin actually took a step back, as if she’d slapped him, “Darlin’, you don’t got a clue what you’re talking about. You just don’t got a clue. Just like she didn’t... aargh, I don’t know why I’m arguing with you! Just keep your damn head down and stay out of the way, otherwise I can’t guarantee you won’t be joining these other mares in getting diced to ribbons!”

There was a sound like freezing over glass, and Trixie saw several knives appear in the air around Assassin, floating as if under a telekinetic field. These knives grew larger as ice formed around them, seemingly from nowhere, six in total. Assassin, despite the blackness where his head should be, seemed to ease into a stance that suggested his smile.

“Only got the six knives, but they’ll do for the lot of you! Can’t dispel these with light, huh, you magic hack!?”

The knives shot forward, first targeting Raindrops and Ditzy who were still in front of the group, spinning through the air. Raindrops threw herself to the side, not very fast, but still quite agile due to her martial arts training. Ditzy was slower, but her flight movements erratic. A knife each flew after the pair, while the rest homed in on Trixie and the other Element bearers.

Cheerilee hopped on top of the railing of the bridge, balancing with remarkable grace as she reached into her mane and flicked something out into her mouth. A small switchblade, definitely not standard teacher’s gear, but she used it to parry the iced knife that came for her, at least once, though the knife spun fast and cut a shallow gash on her shoulder.

Lyra had been focusing on restringing her lyre, her magical aura covering the instrument as she’d used a mending spell Trixie knew was a fairly low level but useful cantrip. With her instrument freshly repaired, the bard stood on her hind legs and brought the lyre close to her chest, strumming the re-tuned strings with her hooves. Her magic amplified the sound, creating small wave of sonic force that pushed back not only the knife that’d been coming for her, but the one that’d been aimed at Carrot Top as well. Carrot Top gave Lyra a nod of thanks and reached into her saddlebags, pulling out a small clay jar that smelled faintly sulfuric. Trixie didn’t know what it was, but was aware that her friend had something of a hobby in regards to herb gathering and brewing little alchemic remedies.

The carrot farmer tossed the clay jar into the air, spun around,and with one hindleg bucked the jar at Assassin. The Servant gave the jar a wide berth, nimbly leaping aside, but when the jar hit the ground nearby it still burst into a wide cloud of smoke that quickly obscured him.

Trixie had avoided the knife coming her way by crafting an illusion of other identical knives right next to it, which as she hoped threw off Assassin’s aim and confused him enough for her to dodge aside. Now that he was covered in smoke that blocked his view of her and her friends the ice knives started to spin around more randomly.

“Everypony, get into position!” she called, throwing up another illusion, her horn blazing blue as she crafted a complex mirror illusion in front of the bridge between her friends and Assassin’s position.

Fluttershy, having apparently used up what courage she’d managed to muster, had taken several steps back during the fight, taking in deep breaths and clenching her teeth in panic. Trixie couldn’t guess what Fluttershy might’ve been thinking, trying to shout down Assassin, but she was thankful that the mare had done as much as she had. Trixie made a mental note to thank the Fluttershy later for saving her life, assuming they managed to get out of this.

In the meantime her friends took their places beside her, Raindrops and Ditzy landing to her left, while Lyra, Cheerilee, and Carrot Top lined up to her right. Trixie shared a look between her friends. They hadn’t used the Elements of Harmony since Corona. She had no idea if they’d really work against somepony like Assassin, or even if they’d activate at all. The only alternative though, was summoning Saber, and Trixie wanted to avoid that if she could help it. She only had the three Command Seals, after all, and had no way of knowing how many she’d need before the end of this war was over.

Any doubt that the Elements wouldn’t react to the needs of their bearer’s was cast aside as the bright necklaces in the shapes of their bearer’s cutie marks began to glow. Unlike when she’d been part of the Elements being used against Corona, this time Trixie distinctly felt the pulses of ancient world-binding magic flowing from the artifacts her friend’s work and through the ornate tiara on her head. It was like being placed inside a huge flowing current larger than an ocean, and warm as a cozy fire. However, something felt... off, to Trixie. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on what, but something about the magic flowing through her from the Elements that seemed strange. It was the same way she could feel out a crowd before a show; sensing the general buzz to see if it’d be a tough crowd or not. For some reason she was getting the uneasy feeling she got when she knew she was about to face a very tough crowd; and they’d brought the tomatoes.

Assassin flowed out of the bank of smoke like a leaping wraith.

“Going to need more than a little smoke to get away... from... me?” Assassin looked at the six mares glowing brightly with magic from the Elements they bore, their bodies starting to float up into the air as bands of brilliant rainbow color began to swirl around them, and grunted, “Well, that’s discouraging.”

As if to experiment, a half dozen black branches shot from the mist around his hooves, joined by his six ice knives, all flashing in at the ponies who were even now surrounded by a tornado of prismatic magical energy. The branches all but fell apart under the light, and the ice melted away from the six knives, revealed as ruby set stilettos as the ice fell away from them. Assassin grunted, the six stilettos flying back to him and settling into their sheaths in a bandolier along his chest, all but invisible under the black smoke covering his form... but the growing rainbow light was starting to reveal parts of his body, the thin emaciated black coat, so much so that it showed ribs, and the part of his neck that had clearly been severed by some large blade where his head would be. Only a black ghostly image of a head was present, giving an annoyed look at the light in front of him.

“So,this is the power of Harmony or whatever? Very pretty,” Assassin’s voice turned into a growl, “Go! Buck! Yourself! Where were you three thousand years ago, huh!? Too tired to show up and find six morons to stick pretty jewelry on!? I knew a perfect candidate, too. Yeah, she was a real decent sort. Kind, generous, honest, all that jazz you’re supposed to represent! But did you save her!? Did you spring out with all that rainbow goodness when she needed you!? NO! She burned, believing in the goodness of ponies to the end... and still burned!”

Assassin reared up, kicking his forelegs, “Bring it on, Elements!”

He then slammed his forelegs onto the ground just as the rainbow beam leapt up from the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, curving in an arc towards him. When Assassin’s hooves hit the ground, a mist as black as the aura surrounding him erupted up like the bubbling mess of a boiling over teapot. It spiraled up, thick and coiling like a solid mass, and the rainbow beam slammed straight into it in a blazing flash of light.

Trixie felt the magic of the Elements surging through her as she floated in mid-air, a small stone in a massive river that flowed from the pores of the world’s foundation. Then she felt it again. That odd feeling of... wrongness. Something was wrong. She knew it, and her eyes were drawn, almost of their own accord, towards her companions. There were worries looks on the faces of her friends. Raindrops eyes were drawn in tense confusion, Cheerilee’s head slightly cocked, Carrot Top biting her lower lip, and Lyra baring her teeth in gritted concentration. All faces showing confusion, that they sensed something off... all except for Ditzy Doo.

Lips turned up in a snarl, eyes wide and shot through with red veins, pupils wide and black, the gray pegasus was staring straight at where Assassin’s black pillar of mist was clashing with the rainbow energy of the Elements. Trixie could hear the mare growling like a caged animal, her whole body shaking violently.

“D-Ditzy...” Trixe said, having a hard time getting words out amid the rainbow torrent that still surrounded her and her friends, feeling a drain on her completely unlike the way the Elements had felt the first time she and her friends had used them.

“Something’s wrong, I can feel it,” said Lyra, “Something’s wrong with the Elements!”

Carrot Top shook her head, “What could be wrong? There’s no way this guy could be messing with the Elements, right!?”

“It’s not him,” Trixie shouted, “It’s us!”

The flow of intense prismatic magic that coursed between the six Element Bearers and Assassin abruptly cut off at that moment, snapping out of existence in a shower of multi-colored sparks. Trixie and her friends were left panting on the bridge, exhausted. The Elements remained on their bearers, bright and ornate as ever, and Trixie could sense the waiting magic inside the artifacts. The Element’s weren’t broken, and Assassin certainly hadn’t been strong enough to counter that kind of primordial power. It was simply that the needed virtues to activate the Elements were not all gathered.

“Alright,” said Cheerilee, picking herself up and rubbing the side of her neck with an audible pop, “What just happened? I’m no expert, but I’m quite certain that wasn’t as effective as the last time we did this.”

“Yeah, what gives!?” shouted Raindrops, her wings twitching and her stance ready to pounce back into the fight.

Trixie looked towards Ditzy Doo, suspecting she knew what went wrong. An Element of Harmony needed to be able to recognize its virtue represented in its bearer, using that bearer as a conduit for that Element’s power. Right now, Trixie wasn’t sure the Element of Kindness could recognize Ditzy Doo. The gray pegasus looked as confused as the rest of Trixie’s friends, but also incredibly angry, practically steaming at the nostrils. The twisting, sharp magical symbols of her Command Seals on her wing were pulsing red. Her yellow eyes were, to Trixie’s surprise, both fixed at one point, glaring at where Assassin was.

Trixie had not forgotten that they were still in a deadly fight, and looked towards where she’d last seen the enemy Servant. Where the shadowy stallion had been standing was now something Trixie had not been expecting. A tree stood from the ground Assassin had occupied. Its bark was black as jet and its leafless branches were like a thick, black spider web that jutted from the trunk in a jagged tangle.

“Where did that jerk go!?” shouted Ditzy, stomping a hoof, “I’m going to break his everything!”

Carrot Top gave Ditzy a worried look, “Ditzy, calm down, it’ll be okay.”

“NO! Its not okay! He’s hurt all of you! He tried to kill Trixie! He has to pay!”

Raindrops licked her lips, “Y’know, not that I don’t share the sentiments, but did we... win, or what? Did the Elements turn him into a tree or something?”

Cheerilee shook her head, “That would be a little weird, even for the way things tend to go for us. No, my mane’s twitching too much. Feels like we’re being watched,” her green eyes narrowed and as if Trixie herself had pulled a magic trick the magenta schoolteacher had her switchblade back in her mouth, “This isn’t over.”

Before Trixie could wonder how Cheerilee talked so clearly with a weapon clenched in her teeth there was a dry, resonate chuckle.

“Heh, heh, heh... don’t know if that was all the Elements had to throw at me or if you folks are just having some ‘technical difficulties’, but whatever, looks like you girls don’t have any more cards to play.”

“Just shut your trap and come out!” shouted Raindrops, flying up and readying her hooves to strike, “We’ll show you what we still got!”

Carrot Top had gone over to Fluttershy, who’d curled up and covered her head with her hooves when the Elements had been going, and whispered gently to the pegasus, “Fluttershy, can you fly?”

“Um... I... uh... maybe?” Fluttershy said.

“Then go, please,” said Carrot Top, “Fly to safety.”

Fluttershy shook her head, pink mane covering her eyes, “No, I couldn’t... what if something bad happened to all of you?”

“We’ll be fine,” Carrot Top assured Fluttershy, giving the other mare a quick, comforting nuzzle, “None of us want you getting hurt, so it’d be better if you got away while we take care of this jerk.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble sweetheart,” said Assassin, his form still hidden, but his voice clear, “But nopony’s going anywhere. Boss lady gave me permission to go all out if I felt the need, and you know what, I’m thinking this calls for laying all my own cards on the table.”

His voice suddenly changed, seeming to reverberate with the very air as he began to speak with an intonation that reminded Trixie of the chants some unicorn magics uses in rare rituals. But... Assassin wasn’t a unicorn, was he?

“Fire consumes, I tried and failed

Let there be no doubt, evil prevailed!”

The entire area began to become bathed in a shadowy cast, as if the clearing sky above was just a memory. Trixie could feel the air becoming cold, pin prick needles of frost on her fur.

“Her flames have died, left naught a spark

So I sacrifice myself to the lifeless dark!”

Inky blackness began to spread from the tree, like a painter drawing a brush across the terrain. Trixie and her friends backed away, only to find more such darkness flowing towards them from the opposite side of the bridge, as if everything was being drawn into shadow. Shapes began to emerge from the darkness, rising around them thick and close, yet towering like blade covered sentinels; trees. Black trees, hundreds of them.

“The hour has come, the bell has tolled

Shelter your weak, your young, and your old

Tonight death comes, for richest and poorest

For all who dare enter, the cursed Black Forest!”

Trixie’s horn was still lit up with pale blue light, yet even that felt insignificant against the canopy of sharp, black branches that closed over the sky like the jaws of a hungry beast, dropping her and her friends into darkness, as Assassin’s laughter echoed from the shadows. Trixie’s hooves felt abruptly cold and she looked down to see that, all around them, was a thick blanket of white snow, stretching through the seeming infinite forest. Around her the other Element bearers looked around. The air was disturbingly still, and carried a heavy, otherworldly feel that made Trixie’s fur tingle.

“Trixie, what is this?” asked Raindrops, her eyes narrow with focus as she held her hooves up in a ready stance, “Is this magic, or what?”

Trixie shook her head, “I have no idea! I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

“Must have something to do with him being a Servant,” said Cheerilee, glancing at Lyra, “Any ideas, o’ lore filled bard?”

Lyra gulped, holding her lyre tightly in her gold magical field, “I... I can’t be sure, but I think I have an idea. That rhyme he chanted, it sounded familiar. I know I’ve heard it before. Give me a minute, I’ll try to remember.”

“Oh,” said Assassin’s voice from the shrouded boughs of the forest, “You mares don’t have a minute. In fact-”

There was a sound like the snapping of air, followed by a painful cry that caused everypony to look towards Lyra. The mint unicorn held a look of faint surprise on her face as she looked at her chest, where a black, spear-like branch from a nearby tree had thrust straight into her fur, causing the mint color to start running a darker red with blood.

“-you don’t have any time left at all.”

The branch pulled itself out forcefully, bringing with it a trail of blood that arced through the air. Lyra stood there for a second, making a small “oh” sound before collapsing to the snowy ground.

----------

Sungleam spun away from Berserker’s claws, grunting as one of the blazing talons cut through her golden armor, both slicing and burning her hide underneath with white hot metal. So far she’d been fighting defensively, sweeping Radiance in wide arcs, the crystalline blade keeping most of Berserker’s strikes from landing. Most of them. She’d taken a few slashes already, and it was getting harder to keep the griffin at bay. Despite Berserker’s wounds from his clash with Lancer and Rainbow Dash, he wasn’t slowed in the least. Quite the opposite, Berserker’s injuries appeared to fuel his prodigious power and the fires burning around and inside his body. Even Berseker’s blood fell from him not in red rivulets, but in blazing droplets like molten lava.

Sungleam had been taking the measure of Berserker’s fighting style, and soon realized that for all his seemingly mindless ferocity the griffin was not without skill. He fought with a lot of aggression, with little to no sense of defense, but it was a skilled attack. His relentless blows were not just meant to destroy his enemies, but left little room for counter attack. It reminded Sungleam of swimming against a raging river, a constant deluge of force that threatened to sweep one away completely.

But there is no river that cannot be crossed! Berserk possesses the greatest raw strength of the Servants, but his is a strength that can be surmounted through perseverance! Celestia, I pray, grant your humble servant the clarity of your light, so I might stay the course against this brute!

More than simple prayer, she knew Celestia’s sun was empowering Radiance with every passing moment. All she had to do was survive Berserker’s powerful claws long enough for her blade’s power to reach it’s peak. Then she felt confident she could put an end to this battle. With Lancer having quit the field, and Assassin still somewhere below, there would be none around to witness her unleash the full brunt of her Noble Phantasm. While that was disappointing in some way to her mind, that wished others to witness the power of Celestia’s sun unleashed, it was tactically more mindful to ensure no other Servants or Masters saw just how potent Radiance truly was when its full might was brought to bear.

Even in life, she had only ever unleashed Celestia’s most beautifully crafted blade on one other occasion, and that... had left a scar upon the earth that to this day others called the Valley of Dreams. She wondered if Lancer had known that, when he’d chosen that location for their duel. The site of both triumph and failure for Sungleam, Knight of the Sun.

“It is good we fight in the sky, Berserker,” Sungleam said, parrying a flaming claw, the blazing orange and red gauntlet clashing with the golden shining sword, “Up this high, I need not fear repeating my earlier mistakes. There is nopony up here to be harmed by the full might of my blade, save for you!”

She felt it, the singing purity of the magic inside Radiance, resonating with the rays of the sun above her. It was almost there. Just another minute and she could utilize it, the power of Celestia’s holy sun. Soon she’d-

Sungleam felt an intense pulse of magic. It coursed through every mote of her spirit, pulling at her instantly.

Her Master had used a Command Seal to summon her. Even if Sungleam had wanted to, she could not have resisted its call. In a flash she turned, pulled through a portal of magical sigils that etched themselves into the air behind her, a conduit that would take her to her Master. She heard Berserker's roar of frustration echo behind her.

--------

“LYRA!”

Carrot Top was first to their fallen friend, holding Lyra and immediately moving to check her wound. Lyra was coughing, curled up in a ball in the snow, blood staining her white powder. Carrot Top, face ashen, knelt down to get a closer look at the wound, wincing at the blood that was being coughed up from her friend. Her hooves were shaking, Carrot Top’s eyes wavering in focus as she tried to speak, “I-I, oh Luna, oh no... her lung... I think it’s- no, no, no, how do I fix this?”

“Carrot Top, get out of the way!” Cheerilee said, bouncing into the carrot farmer, just in time to push Carrot Top aside as more black branches flowed in like spears, stabbing the snow where she’d just been.

Trixie saw that all the branches among the forest surrounding them were quivering as if under a harsh wind, but she felt nothing. The air was still. The entire forest was sickeningly alive, moving on its own.

“You monster! I’m going to rip you apart!” Ditzy shouted, her voice so far away from her normal cheerful tone that Trixie wouldn’t have thought it could have been the same mare speaking if she wasn’t watching Ditzy fly up into the air and start smashing at the nearest branches.

“Ditzy, calm down! Get back down here!” shouted Trixie, fearful of Ditzy getting stabbed through by all the branches surrounding her now.

“I got her,” said Raindrops, flying up to try and pull the other pegasus back down. Just as Raindrops flew up, the boughs of the trees quivered, a rustling like the groaning of ocean waves as dozens of branch points turned and aimed at both pegasi like arrows.

We’re going to die, Trixie thought, watching the branches shoot forward, senses slowing time as she raised her hoof etched with the blood red Command Seals, Have to. No choice.. She had no conscious idea of what to do, but instinct took over, a sense of knowledge that she couldn’t remember learning, in the same way one never really remembers the exact moment they learned to walk.

“Come forth; Saber!”

A section of the runes upon her hoof flared a bright crimson, then vanished. At that same moment a circular pattern of arcane script burst to life in the air before her, layers of magical runes rapidly forming around one another. From this circle a pony shape leapt forward and in an instant jumped into the air. A brilliant gold brand of light illuminated everything and Trixie clearly saw Sungleam now, her blue knight’s surcoat flapping in the air as she rushed the branches about to impale Ditzy and Raindrops. Her blade was what was giving off that bright light, and it cut a shining path through the air and severed dozens of branches simultaneously, leaving a golden arc in its wake.

Sungleam landed in the snow, skidding a few yards and turning to brandish her blade as she called out, “Master, I’ve come! Why did you not call me sooner if you were in such danger!?”

“I didn’t realize how bad things were until just now!” Trixie shouted back, “Can you keep Assassin busy? We have to get Lyra out of here and back to Ponyville!”

Sungleam glanced around, spinning and slashing her sword against another set of stabbing branches, some as thick as her legs. Her blue eyes darted left and right, and the white unicorn grit her teeth as she saw the injured and bleeding out form of Lyra, Carrot Top desperately trying to apply bandages to her fallen friend.

“Impossible,” Sungleam said, “You could not get her safely away from this place. I do not know how, but Assassin has somehow created this place. It is cut off from the natural world. It will only fade if we defeat him!”

“Ha!” laughed Assassin’s voice from everywhere and nowhere, “Right first try. Guess you might have a brain inside that skull after all; not just a lot of hot air about honor. The Black Forest is my power, and my curse. A Noble Phantasm that projects my cursed tie to this forest into the real world. Anywhere you go, you’ll just find yourself lost deeper in my forest!”

A groaning sound issues from the shadows, a wash of wails and deathly screams. Sungleams eyes narrowed, “A... Reality Marble? No. An Assassin class couldn’t produce such High Thaumaturgy.”

“I couldn’t, no,” said Assassin, “But the one who cursed me to reside in this forest for eternity could. All I do is supply the mana for the Black Forest to manifest.”

“I don’t care what this place is, seems like all you can do is still hide,” muttered Raindrops, who was restraining Ditzy, who was practically frothing at the mouth trying to pull herself from the other pegasus’ grip, “Couldn’t handle us nearly kicking your tail in a fair fight so you pull this cheap trick? Ugh, Ditzy, stop it! We’ll get him, but you gotta keep your head on straight!”

It was a little strange hearing that from Raindrops, but it was just a testament to how much Ditzy had lost it that Raindrops was being the voice of reason here. Trixie couldn’t blame Ditzy though. She wanted to stomp Assassin into the ground for what he’d done to Lyra. The thought of possibly losing one of her friends terrified Trixie, and she covered that fear best she could with the knowledge that she and her friends were together. They’d pull through, somehow.

“Sungleam, can you figure out where Assassin is hiding?” Trixie asked as she ducked, a branch nearly taking her in the throat as she rolled away. She quickly cloaked herself in invisibility, moving to cover Cheerilee, Carrot Top, and Lyra with similar magic. Raindrops and Ditzy were being protected by Sungleam, the knight slashing away branches as they came. There were far more branches now that they were in this Black Forest than Assassin had been able to summon before, and they were larger. Sungleam was keeping them back, but with each second it seemed the trees were closing in around them, more and more of their spidery dark branches aiming for Trixie and her friends.

Trixie also noticed the fog rolling between the trees, the same mist Assassin had used before, only now filling the forest like smoke from a rolling fire.

“Not precisely, not yet,” said Sungleam with a look of sourness on her features, but then she smiled, “However, that is not to say I cannot flush him out. Radiance has drunk in enough of Celestia’s holy rays that I can use a portion of it’s power. Not its full force, but enough that as long as I aim in roughly the right direction, Assassin will not be able to evade!”

“Not giving you that chance darlin’!” said Assassin, the trees of the forest seeming to move, as if the air itself was being warped like an image bent by glass. The trees packed in together, like a wall of black spears. As one over a hundred sharp branches shot out at Sungleam, the air filled with the twisted sound of bending wood.

Sungleam met the onslaught head on. The golden clad knight charged into the midst of the stabbing branches, her sword flashing faster and faster in a continuous weave of slashes that sent branches flying about; severed. Even so, there were just so many branches, and more stabbing in from the trees along Sungleam’s flanks, that she wasn’t able to completely keep up, several branches getting through her guard. These either skidded off her armor, or cut small gashes along her exposed parts, one cutting along her brow and causing blood to seep down her face.

“Should we be helping?” asked Raindrops.

“By doing what?” asked Trixie, glancing at Ditzy, who was breathing heavily, apparently trying to calm herself down, with Raindrops still holding her, “We can’t use the Elements. Even if Ditzy wasn’t freaking out, Lyra’s...”

“I know! I know, blast it, but we have to do something!” countered Raindrops, eyes fierce.

“I’m... sorry everypony,” said Ditzy past clenched teeth, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“It’s your connection to Berserker,” said Trixie, “It’s affecting you with the same madness he has.”

Ditzy drew in deep breaths, nodding her head, “Okay, okay, I’ll... try to keep calm. Should I try summoning him, like you did with Sungleam?”

“Can you control him?” asked Cheerilee.

“I... don’t know,” Ditzy admitted, hanging her head.

“It’s alright Ditzy, just try to keep your cool, and we’ll deal with this jerk with what we’ve got,” said Raindrops.

“Lyra, stop trying to move, save your strength,” said Carrot Top suddenly, and Trixie looked in that direction. Even though she’d turned her friends invisible, the spell allowed her to see them, and she could see Lyra trying to raise her head and speak, even though that was causing a fit of coughing and blood.

Trixie hurried over while Carrot Top tried to keep Lyra to stay still, but the mint unicorn pushed Carrot Top back.

“Tr.. Trixie... “ Lyra fixed Trixie with an intense look, “Know who... I know... Assassin. Old foal’s rhyme. Headless... Headless Horse! Based on,” a fit of coughing, Trixie felt blood land on her cheeks, “Based on even older... story.”

“Lyra, it’s okay, you don’t need to tell us,” said Trixie, “Just stop trying to speak and concentrate on not dying. Please.”

Lyra shook her head, “No. Listen. There’s a... old legend of the Black Forest... its ghost. Story talks about... a bandit beheaded... head nailed to the forest’s one... white tree. The head... ghost is always trying to find it, before the sun... sun rises. Find the head. Might be his only... weakness...”

Lyra curled up, coughing more, and Carrot Top, tears welling up in her eyes, pulled some herbs from her saddlebags, along with a small clay mixing kit, “I can’t do anything more for her. We have to get her to Ponyville hospital, now!”

“She said find the head right? On a white tree?” said Cheerilee, searchingly gazing about the rest of the forest while Sungleam still tried to slice through the flurry of branches not more than a ten yards away, “While Trixie’s Servant is fighting him, I say we spread out and try to find it!”

Trixie nodded, trying to keep her own tears from shedding, “Y-yes! Right then! We start looking for the head. Carrot Top, stay with Lyra. My invisibility spell will last a little longer, even if I’m not there to maintain it. Everypony else, spread out. When you find the head, give a shout.”

“W-what about me?” said a timid voice, and Trixie blinked, for the first time noticing Fluttershy was there was well. The demure butter colored pegasus had remained all but plastered to the ground since they arrived, but now she stood, looking terrified, but oddly determined to help.

“Stay with Carrot Top,” Trixie said, “Don’t do anything to put yourself in danger.”

“Oh... okay...”

With that Trixie, Cheerliee, Ditzy, and Raindrops split up, heading in different directions to look for anything that might be the Headless Horse’s head.

----------

Fluttershy was used to being scared of things. It was pretty much her normal response to just about anything startling or remotely intimidating. However her friend Rainbow Dash, along with her newer friends Carrot Top and Trixie, had been working hard to help her overcome her natural timidness and learn to deal with both other ponies and just life in general. She’d been feeling more confident in herself lately, and even enjoyed going to the spa with Carrot Top and Trixie.

None of that could possibly have prepared her for what was happening, however. It was terrifying beyond imagining; a black cloaked stallion with mysterious powers invading her home, horribly hurting ponies in front of her, and just... all the noise and violence! It was taking every ounce of self control Fluttershy had just to keep from hyperventilating and passing out in the snow. She didn’t want to be useless though! Trixie and the others were trying their hardest to fight back... though granted it was that gold clad unicorn mare with the glowing sword that was doing most the fighting.

The air was splitting with loud cracks of sound every time that mare swung her blade, cutting through the seemingly unending storm of sharp tree branches trying to skewer her. Fluttershy could see the knightly mare leaping about the forest with incredible speed, staying one step ahead of the hundreds of branches snaking after her, like a flying storm of living serpents.

All the while the black stallion, Assassin, laughed, and Lyra kept coughing on the floor. Fluttershy gulped. What could she do!? She couldn’t fight! She didn’t know any medicine beyond how to take care of her animal friends! She wasn’t brave like Rainbow Dash! What was she supposed to do?

“Heh,” Assassin’s voice echoed, “Getting tired yet, Saber? You were just boasting that your sword could take me out if you just aimed at me, but you have no idea where I am do you? This whole forest is a part of me. I could be anywhere in here, and you can’t sense a damn thing. That’s what it was like three thousand years ago too. Tirek’s forces could never find me inside this forest. I could kill them with impunity, from the shadows. I was a ghost. A terror. The dreaded Legates of Tirek’s Cabal would piss their tails at the thought of coming into the Black Forest!”

Sungleam’s focus on the branches was such that for a moment she didn’t see the six ice covered stiletto’s flying at her from behind. Only at the last second did Fluttershy see the sparkling weapons and shouted out a warning, “Behind you!”

Sungleam turned just in time to twist away from the stiletto’s, flipping away from the six flying weapons while still slashing with her blade to keep the grasping branches from her.

“Uh-oh, seems like I’ve forgotten somepony,” said Assassin’s voice, and suddenly Fluttershy felt rough, dark branches wrapping around her body. With a squeak of fear, Fluttershy was lifted high into the air, her wings flapping quickly but unable to break her free as branches wrapped around each of her legs, and then bound her wings to her side.

“Now why are you getting all worked up darlin’?” asked Assassin’s voice, “If you just sit still and let me kill these others, I won’t harm one hair on your pink mane.”

One of the branch’s points prodded at Fluttershy’s throat threateningly, and a shout came from below.

“Let her go!” Carrot Top yelled, Trixie’s invisibility spell running out and Carrot Top winking into sight, face drawn up tight in anger, “She’s got nothing to do with this!”

Assassin’s derisive snort echoed in Fluttershy’s ears, “Why are you ponies so bloody stupid? Didn’t that blue moron tell you to stay with your friend? Now guess what? You’re out in the open!”

Carrot Top yelped as a few larger branches from the tree nearest to her slammed down, like giant clubs. She barely avoided being pulverized by the branches, scrambling away and poking her muzzle into her saddlebags as she did so. Carrot Top pulled out a glass flask, one she hastily threw at the tree with a toss of her head. The flask shattered on the tree and burst into fire, bathing everything in a flickering yellow glow.

“I’m not going to watch you terrorize a friend of mine!” Carrot Top shouted, “I don’t care how powerful you Servants are! You have no right to hurt whoever you want!”

Fluttershy pulled at the branches holding her, watching Carrot Top with wide, frightened eyes, “Carrot Top, r-run! I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“This is making me sick. All of you need a wake up call! You should be listening to the little missy here and running, carrot farmer! Your little alchemic tricks aren’t a threat, and all you’re going to do is ensure your friend here gets to see me gut you,” Assassin said as three more trees seemed to loom over Carrot Top, branches, dozens upon dozens, tensing to stab through the earth pony mare from all sides.

Carrot Top looked around fearfully, but with determination in her eyes, refusing to abandon Fluttershy.

“It doesn’t matter what you say! I’d give my life to save a friend, to save anypony! Especially from a creep like you!”

“Hmph, have it your way darlin’,” Assassin’s voice said, with a resigned sigh, and the branches all shot forward, converging on Carrot Top.

“No!”

Fluttershy’s cry echoed sharply through the forest. The branches of the trees quivered. The area was silent for a moment, save for the now distant sounds of Sungleam still fighting other parts of the forest a ways off. All of the branches that had been zeroing in on Carrot Top had stopped, the dozens of sharp points hovering inches from the mare’s hide.

Fluttershy was breathing heavy, straining against the branches holding her. Assassin’s disembodied voice grunted, as if in pain.

“Ugh.. damn it all... why does she keep doing that?”

The branches pulled away from Carrot Top, leaving the carrot farmer sweating. The branches holding Fluttershy slowly turned her around, so she was facing the tree she was closests to. From inside that tree, the darkened, smokey form of Assassin’s upper body emerged. The black void where his head would be peered close at Fluttershy.

“You. What’s with you? Why do you keep... reminding me of her? Your looks, your voice, they’re all wrong! You don’t look anything like her but every time you open that muzzle of yours you remind me of her! It’s really annoying!”

“I... I... don’t know what you mean. Remind you of who?” Fluttershy said, fearful at the shadow covered stallion that was so close to her.

“Just a friend. A dead friend,” said Assassin, venom in his voice, “Dead because she was far too kind and trusting of other ponies. In this era, she’d have fit right in with you sugar coated nit-wits. Always helping, never asking a dang thing in return for doing anything for others.”

“Oh... I’m sorry to hear that. She sounds like she was a very nice pony,” said Fluttershy.

“She was. She spent her whole life helping the ponies of our home village. Wasn’t a single pony in that village that didn’t owe her a dozen times over for curing ailments, setting broken bones, and helping mothers bring their foals into the world. You’d think after all she did for them, it wouldn’t even be a question; anypony in that village should’ve been willing to give their life up for her, just like your friend was willing to for you.”

Fluttershy stayed silent, not sure how to respond to the amount of bitterness and anger boiling over in Assassin’s voice. Below, Carrot Top watched in anger, trying to think of some way to help. But if she shouted for the others, Assassin would likely just finish what he’d tried to do moments ago.

Carrot Top also had to consider Lyra’s condition. She’d bandaged and applied a healing salve to the wound Assassin had made, but Carrot Top was certain that Lyra’s left lung had gotten punctured. Not a large puncture, otherwise she’d have drowned in blood without there being much any of them could do about it, but it was imperative Lyra be taken to someplace with actual healing magic. Carrot Top couldn’t think of what to do, other than to wait for an opening to throw her last remaining flask of flames.

“Can you guess the ending to this story yet, darlin’?” Assassin asked Fluttershy, one of his ice covered stiletto’s appearing next to him, “Go ahead. Guess.”

Fluttershy shook her head, “I... I don’t know.”

“The practice of magic was forbidden by Tirek’s Cabal. Anypony caught using any kind of magic; they’d be burned at the stake. My friend knew this, kept her horn in check, didn’t use magic... except once. One time an idiot colt got himself so badly hurt that old herbal remedies wouldn’t cut it. He should have known better than to try and stop a Legate from having their fun with the villagers, but he just couldn’t leave well enough alone, got himself stabbed clean through. Would’ve died. Should have died. But no, my friend couldn’t let that dumb colt die. Used magic to heal him, right in front of the Legates faces! Tried to escape, and that fool colt gets away into the forest... but not her. Colt snuck back to the village just in time to see the Legates lighting the fire.”

Assassin laughed, a dead, dry sound, filled with bile, “Nopony did a thing. Two hundred villagers, and two Legates. They could have stopped it. But they didn’t. Even when the mare who’d taken care of them for years started to scream. They just watched.”

Fluttershy looked at him, eyes softening, “That’s terrible. I’m sorry that something like that happened.”

“Hmph, I’m not telling you this for sympathy darlin’. I’m telling you, so you understand. I’m not trying to be cruel here, but this is a war, and I got to take out my Master’s enemies. If I win, I got a shot at changing things.”

“B-but you can’t kill other ponies to do that. That’s wrong, in every way! Wouldn’t your friend hate what you’re doing!?”

“Knowing her, yeah, she’d chew me out something fierce. Don’t care. I’ll gladly take all the lectures she wants to give me, long as I change history so she’s around to yell at me. For that, ain’t nothing I won’t do!”

The coiled branches clutching Fluttershy suddenly pulled her away from Assassin, roughly tossing her to the ground roughly. Carrot Top ran to her, as Fluttershy pulled herself up and looked at Assassin as he retreated into the tree. The reason for his sudden move became obvious as Sungleam appeared, rushing towards the tree with her sword swinging towards where Assassin had just been. Radiance impacted the tree, stripping bark and cutting cleanly through the trunk, causing the blackened, leafless form to fall.

“Blast! Almost had him! This ruffian did not hurt any of you did he?” asked the knight as she turned on her hooves, deflecting one of the ice encased stilettos that had been chasing her.

“We’re okay,” said Carrot Top.

“Good. Stay back! I’ll have this matter sorted out properly soon!”

“Oh come off it lady!” scoffed Assassin, voice disembodied again now that he was back to hiding, “All you’ve been doing is running since your blue bimbo of a Master summoned you into my forest. Doesn’t matter how many branches or trees you cut down, this place is all but infinite!”

As if to emphasize his point a swarm of branches, his six stilettos mixed in among them, rushed Sungleam from all sides, even twisting and turning around to come at her from above. Sungleam’s sword began to spin like a buzz saw, whipping around her in Sungleam’s bright telekinetic glow so fast it was like she was surrounded by a force field.

“So confident, Assassin, but I’ve figured you out! You’re not near so clever at hide and seek as you think!”

“Please, what’s there to figure out!? I’m insubstantial. I can sit pretty wherever I want, and you can’t sense my energy. Assassin class, remember? All I have to do is keep the pressure up, and you’ll tire out.”

“You’re forgetting Assassin, insubstantial or not, a Servant can still be targeted with an attack that affects both the physical and spiritual realm. You’re still there, watching, hiding. More to the point, cur, you can’t direct what you can’t see. The entire time you were speaking with the young pegasus here you never let me get out of your peripheral vision, your branches always chasing me back towards this clearing! You have to see what your targeting, insubstantial or not!”

Sungleam coiled her legs and then leapt straight up into the air, clearing her path amid the stabbing branches with one solid strike, “Which means I can read the angle of your attacks and determine roughly where you’d have to be in order to direct them! I don’t need accuracy, just a rough direction, remember!?”

Sungleam smirked, “Enjoy this taste of my Noble Phantasm’s strength! Radiance!”

The white unicorn was still hanging in mid-air from her jump, and pulled her sword back, the golden light coiling inside it with a buzz as if it was a living thing. Then with her magical aura flaring, Sungleam thrust the point of her blade forward with a single fast movement. There was a flare of light and from the tip of the sword a blinding light shone forth. The air was suddenly filled with blistering heat and for a moment it was as if someone had opened up a door to the sun. A thin bar of gold fire, no thicker than a pony’s leg, flew down and struck the ground, flash melting snow as it went. It cut a brilliant line of fire through the forest, cutting down trees by the score and leaving a trail of steam as it melted away the snow for hundreds of yards.

Trees fell left and right with splintering cracks. From behind one of them a form shimmered into view; Assassin’s cloaked form. His right side was burned visibly, despite the shadows covering him, and his was dripping blood onto the snow from the burned through hole in his side.

“Gggh... you... you uppity... nag.”

Sungleam brought her sword up, which was now no longer glowing, having gone back to a crystalline sheen, but with no hint of the gold light it’d been containing earlier.

“Accept defeat, Assassin! This match is decided!”

Assassin’s form shuddered as he chuckled, and his stilettos floated beside him, the blades coating over with more ice until they were more shaped like daggers. Despite his wounds, and the way he staggered, his voice seemed unconcerned.

“Wouldn’t be counting your bits yet darlin’, I ain’t done in quite yet.”

Sungleam blew out a snort, “Then allow me to remove all doubt!”

The gleaming gold-clad unicorn brandished her blade once more, and hooves pounding on the air, she charged her adversary. Assassin’s ice daggers flew at her, while at the same time every tree Sungleam passed fired out branches like blackened cracks across a plane of ice. Sungleam wove through the attacks, spinning on her hooves, which still danced on the air due to her Air Walk spell. Radiance, even without the power of sunlight within it, was still deadly sharp and cut a path of freedom before the charging unicorn. One ice covered dagger slashed past her cheek, opening a welt of blood. Another she deflected away from her throat. One dagger she missed and cringed as it stabbed into an unarmored joint below her front left knee, but still she charged on.

Finally she broke through to Assassin himself, who had not, for some reason, tried to hiding himself. Sungleam assumed his own injuries were severe enough that he was slowed, and panicked. Given his lack of features she couldn’t see his smirk as her blade slammed straight into his chest to the hilt.

“There... it is finished,” Sungleam said. Assassin’s response, however, was a low, dry laugh.

“Finished? Be nice if it was, darlin’, but you remember what I said about this place being my curse?”

As he spoke, branches quivered among the trees and shot out again. Sungleam leapt back, assuming a defensive posture as she ripped her sword from Assassin’s chest, and blinked as she saw the branches stab into him instead of her. He laughed, though pain wracked his voice, as the branches wriggled into his shadowed body, distorting it, malforming it.

“Tirek... heh... wanted me to suffer forever,” Assassin said as his body was pulled to pieces by the branches, “So I can’t... die in here. The same Black Forest I used as my... sanctuary to hunt his Legates... now my cursed prison.”

Slowly each piece of Assassin’s body that had been speared upon a different branch turned to thick smoke, and with wet tearing noises reformed into the complete form of the stallion, still sans his head, before Sungleam. He bowed, mockingly.

“You see darlin’? I can’t die in this place, save for one loophole. I’ve mastered the curse enough to use the Black Forest as a part of my own body, turned it into a weapon. Nothing near as powerful as your fancy blade there, I admit. If this curse was broken, you’d have me beat proper... but as long as we’re in here and nopony’s found my head, I can just wear you down...”

He paused, “Come to think of it, where’d them Element girls get off to anyway?”

----------

Trixie was infinitely glad of her magic sight spell, which had allowed her to keep herself oriented in this seemingly endless forest. Sungleam was a practical beacon in the gloom, so Trixie could keep a solid grasp of where she was in relation to the fight as she searched for that white tree Lyra mentioned.

She worried about how her friends were doing, however. Every passing minute sent rivulets of worry into her stomach. How much time did Lyra have before that terrible would become fatal? Was Ditzy’s condition worsening to the point she couldn’t control herself? Were her friends getting lost in the forest, hunted down one by one by Assassin?

No, no, no, not going to freak out. Just find tree, find head, and... do something with it.

Trixie frantically looked around her, eyes squinting. How hard could a white tree be to find in an entirely black forest anyway!? Unless Lyra was wrong, perhaps got the details of her legends mixed up? No, if Lyra was sure the legend of the Headless Horse was tied to an older tale of a bandit being executed in this forest, then Trixie trusted her friend’s knowledge.

Rushing by more trees, keeping a wary eye out for any sign that those horrible, twisted branches might make a move, Trixie paused as she saw a brilliant flash of light coming from where she knew Sungleam and Assassin were fighting. Trixie backed up as a bar of white fire flew across the forest, slicing through trees as it went, crossing Trixie’s path a few dozen yards ahead.

“...Whoa...” Trixie blinked, then grinned, “Heheh, that’s far more in line with what I’d call a legendary hero’s power than just waving a sword around. Of course my Servant could perform such impressive and dazzling displays! Hm, perhaps the fight is over from that?”

She looked around, but found that the forest was dark and looming as ever, and her ears twitched, “Or perhaps not... huh?”

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning, Trixie blinked at what looked like a passing figment of a pony deeper in the forest. Was that a... mare? Trixie, cautiously trotted forward. Again she saw the pony ahead, going around a bend in a forest path and Trixie narrowed her eyes, pursuing.

Catching sight of the mare one more time, Trixe got the impression of a slim framed mare, a ghostly white hide, a wispy tail and mane that was a pale blue...

“Trixie!”

“AH!”

“...Trixie? You okay?”

Ditzy Doo flapped her wings up to Trixie’s level, who had leaped up into the branches of the nearest tree. Ditzy, looked sheepish, and strained, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to yell. I’m having trouble controlling my volume. Still, you know, angry.”

“...I’m fine. Thanks for asking,” Trixie said as she extricated herself with as much dignity as possible from the tree.

“Good. Were you following that mare too?”

“Ghostly, white, keeps staying just ahead of view?” Trixie asked, and Ditzy nodded, snorting.

“Was really starting to get on my nerves, too. Kept seeing her with one eye, and couldn’t get any closer,” Ditzy said, voice dropping to a lower tone of controlled anger. With each flap of her wings the red runes on her wing left a faintly glowing trail of light in the air.

“Same here,” said Trixie, “I don’t know who it is, but its the only thing we’ve run into so far-”

“Hey guys! You see a mare pass by here!?” Raindrops yelled, falling from the sky and landing solidly, then cocked her head, “You okay, Trixie?”

Trixie, who had jumped into Ditzy’s hooves, glanced between her two friends and with a dignified cough, climbed down from Ditzy and said, “Yes, I am. Perfectly fine. Now, yes, we have seen a mare pass by here and...” she hesitated, looking around suspiciously, “We should see if we can pick up her trail-”

“She went this way!” said Cheerilee loudly right behind Trixie, who to her credit only jumped slightly and glared back at Cheerilee’s grinning visage.

“You did that on purpose!” Trixie accused.

Cheerilee smiled innocently, “Maybe. In any case, I just saw this ghostly white mare going this way,” she pointed with a hoof, “I think she’s trying to lead us somewhere.”

Everypony looked and indeed Cheerilee was right, that white mare with the wispy blue mane was standing in the path, looking at them with pale violet eyes. She was a unicorn, and Trixie could see now she wore a frayed brown cloak. The mare looked at them solemnly and backed up, seeming to vanish like a mist under a soft wind.

“Hey! Wait up!” shouted Ditzy as she flew forward, “You got some questions to answer!”

The others chased after Ditzy, and soon the four mares found themselves standing in a small clearing, a ring of blackened trees standing like a line of sentinels around a single other tree in the center of the clearing. This tree looked like the same kind as the others, but its bark was white as the snow that covered the ground, and its branches were not twisted, but rather flowed together in a firm canopy covered in bright green leaves.

“Where did she go? Anypony see her?” asked Raindrops, flying up.

Trixie trotted forward, warily, “I’m finding this just a tad too convenient for my tastes. This has to be some kind of trap.”

“I don’t think it is,” said Ditzy, “There have been too many chances to kill us already for this to be a trap.”

“Don’t suppose anypony knows what this is?” Raindrops asked, flying down towards something the group hadn’t seen until they’d all entered the clearing, a small stump of another tree in front of the white one, with a basket in front of it.

“Oh... that’s a... well,” Cheerilee gulped, “Some societies, when executing criminals, used beheading as a method. Tree stumps were commonly used to... well, place the neck of the victim, with a basket to catch the head.”

Raindrops made a face, flying a few feet away from the stump, “That’d explain the stain... ugh... at least Equestria has hanging.”

“Not sure that’s any better, really,” said Cheerilee, then glanced at the other ponies, “Shall I take a look in the basket?”

“I’ll do it,” said Trixie, taking in a sharp breath, “Everypony just keep an eye out for danger. I still don’t trust this.”

Trixie took slow, tentative steps towards the basket at the foot of the stump. Like Raindrops had said, there was an unpleasant dark stain on the old wood, invoking images in Trixie’s head she’d have preferred to instantly forget. Taking a deep breath Trixie took a peek inside the basket.

“Empty?” she said, bemused.

“Trixie!” Raindrops said, pointing, and Trixie looked up to see the translucent white visage of the ghost unicorn staring at her from less than a hoof length away.

“Gah!” Trixie stepped back, and the ghostly unicorn looked at her with a glance both quizzical, and sad. Trixie grimaced, adjusting her stance to appear more confident, “I mean, ‘Ahah!’, we’ve found you... you... um... whoever you are!”

The unicorn smiled, only a faint, small expression, and closed her eyes. Her form shimmered, turning into swirls of white mist that flowed around the tree and concentrated into a previously unseen hollow in the bark, where an object gleamed.

Trixie approached it, gulping, and lit up the hollow with her horn. Inside was a pony’s skull, old, and yellowed. As Trixie levitated it out of the hollow, and as she did so she heard a voice speak softly in her ear, a mare’s kind, pleading voice.

”Make him whole... only then can... his suffering end... tell him... it wasn’t his fault... and that I’m waiting for him...”

Trixie looked around, but only saw her friends bewildered expressions looking at her, the white ghost nowhere to be seen. Regardless, Trixie nodded, and whispered, “Fair enough; I will.”

“What’re you saying there Trixie?” asked Cheerilee.

“Nothing,” said Trixie, levitating the skull in front of her, “We got what we came for... so any ideas what we do with it?”

“Smash it?” suggested Raindrops.

“I second that plan,” said Ditzy, hovering near the skull and smacking her hooves together, unnerving Trixie. She much preferred the calm and kind Ditzy, who wasn’t prone to violence. Ditzy seemed to notice Trixie’s unease and gave her friend an ashamed look, rubbing her arms and taking control of herself with visible effort.

Cheerilee sighed, “Lyra didn’t tell us anything specific. Maybe we should head back and see if she knows.”

“Are you crazy Cheerilee?” said Ditzy, “She could barely talk before!”

“I’m just saying that smashing the skull might beat Assassin, or it might unleash his ‘true form’,” Cheerilee said, making quotation marks with her hooves, “We really have no way of knowing for sure. Trixie, you might have to make the call here, because we probably don’t have much time, either way.”

Trixie nodded, tension coiling through her whole body. She had to make a decision. Lyra’s life hung on a thin thread. Trixie looked at the skull, recalling what the ghost had said.

“I’m going to take the skull into the fight. I think I need to reunite the head with the body.”

“That’s going to be dangerous,” said Raindrops, “He could easily kill you before you got close.”

“Let me do it,” said Ditzy, “I... I can’t take the idea of any more of my friends getting hurt.”

Cheerilee frowned, “I could probably do it too. I’m pretty nimble.”

Trixie shook her head, “Sorry girls, but this is something I’d rather do myself. Besides,” she cloaked herself in invisibility, “Don’t forget who I am. Trixie is never without a few cards to play.”

----------

Sungleam felt her concentration matched only by her growing annoyance with this uncouth, filthy, completely honorless cur! Her stamina was remaining strong, though after so much non-stop fighting she could feel herself starting to breathe hard. Her reserves of mana were gradually draining as she used it to repair rents in her armor and to continue to maintain manifesting Radiance. However, Assassin appeared to be slowing somewhat as well.

“Hm,” she said as she batted aside a few spearing branches that tried to take her by surprise from below, sprouting out of the ground like deadly weeds, “You know what I think, low-class brute?”

“Oh do tell, I’m dying to hear your opinion,” said Assassin, pressing his attack. He hadn’t gone back to hiding, instead wielding his daggers and directing his forest while keeping Sungleam in line of sight, following her, but falling back any time she tried to charge him.

“I think you’re all bluster, no bite. Even if this forest keeps you alive no matter how you are harmed, the mana drain of maintaining this place must be horrendous.”

“I told you, you stuck up mare, this Reality Marble ain’t my doing. Tirek himself cast this spell, put it on me like a curse. Its more like a fake Reality Marble made by that demon than anything I could’ve cast myself!”

“Yes, yes,” Sungleam said dismissively, frowning as she deflected a dagger, only to have her flank cut by a pair of stabbing branches she barely dodged aside, “But you said yourself you mastered this curse and made it your own power. I may not be the most well versed in spell lore but even I know that wouldn’t be possible without simulating the same arcane matrix created by the spell you’re trying to subsume. You’d have to at least produce something close to a Reality Marble yourself to control this curse; like putting strings on a puppet. The energy needed to create those strings must be... substantial.”

“Ugh, whatever, I still got enough mana to keep this up long enough to pin your sorry flank to the ground!” Assassin said, leaping up into a tree to Sungleam’s right and gesturing with a hoof.

Entire trees bent and coiled, spinning around Sungleam like a prison, and branches aligned themselves like the spikes of a tortuous iron maiden, leaving only a thin funnel above that was clear. That spot was soon filled by Assassin’s glittering stilettos.

“Sure maintaining control of the forest is taxing, but darlin’, this pain ain’t nothing compared to what I’ve already endured. That’s why me and my Master can win the Holy Grail. We both know pain better than anypony else. Without that, you rubes are just playing at a game. Now die!”

Sungleam’s eyes turned to blue slits as she levitated Radiance to her mouth and gripped it like an earth pony or pegasus would. She coiled her legs as the daggers descended and the branches from all around shot towards her. In a glittering shimmer her golden armor vanished, and her blade suddenly gained a golden glow once more. With a bursting jump that cratered the ground beneath her, Sungleam went straight up at astounding speed, spinning her body like a top, blade cutting a carving path before her. Branches shattered, and the six daggers smashed towards her in mid-air, half of them being severed and spun away, while the others embedded themselves in her shoulders and leg. Regardless she kept going and blew right through the top of the dome of sharp wood and adjusted her movement in the air, bursting instead towards Assassin.

Assassin barely had a second to react, and threw himself from the tree as Sungleam cut a glittering arc through both tree and the shadowy stallion. The tree creaked and began to tumble as the wounded Assassin hit the snowy ground and bounced a few times before hitting up against another tree.

Sungleam landed before him, now only wearing her blue knight’s garb, torn and bleeding, and mare’s face a hard mask of concentration. She spat out her sword and levitated it up against Assassin’s breast as she slowly walked towards him.

“Heh...” Assassin laughed, “I’ll give you this; Saber-class Servants really aren’t a joke. Talk about overpowered. Let me guess, dropped the armor to free up mana to briefly power up that sword of yours?”

“I... need not... reveal all my... tricks to a.... ruffian like you...” Sungleam said between labored breaths.

“Yeah, but that stunt definitely took a lot out of you, and for what? Stab me in the heart again? The Black Forest will just tear me apart and rebuild me. Face it, you can’t win. Maybe if your sword had been at full strength when you unleashed that light show earlier, that might’ve done the trick, but you got nothing left. It’s over.”

“Quite right, it is,” said a confident voice next to him, and Trixie appeared from thin air with a smirk on her face, “Bonjour mon amie, I have a little gift for you.”

“Master?” Sungleam seemed just as surprised as Assassin to see Trixie there, and blinked at the sight of the skull Trixie floated out from beneath her cloak and tossed straight at Assassin.

“What the-!? Wait! Where did you find this!?” Assassin cried out as the skull touched his body. The moment the skull touched his shadow wreathed hide, the object halted, shadows flowing around it as it seemed to absorb into his body. As that happened there was a faint wave of motion over the shadows covering his body, like a wind blowing over ground fog. The black shadows fell away from Assassin in strips, fading away to reveal his real body underneath. Only now his head was intact on top of his emaciated, thin body, that of a young, weary unicorn stallion with sagging dark fur and a dark brown mane, scraggy and unkempt. He wore a tattered gray cloak, lined with belts with knife sheaths. His eyes were as brown as his mane and were glaring at Trixie as he tried to clamber to his hooves, but his entire body now seemed weak as a newborn’s, legs shaking.

“Why you unimaginable nag! How did you... this skull should have been impossible to find without knowing exactly which path to take. You couldn’t have stumbled across it!”

Trixie shook her head, “I didn’t. My friends and I were led.”

Assassin faltered, nearly dropping to one knee, “Led...? By who? There’s nopony else here. Just me. I’ve always been alone in here!”

Trixie flinched at the pain in in his voice, hoarse and raw from centuries of build up, and she shook her head, “I don’t know who she is. But she did have a message for you; it wasn’t your fault, and she’s waiting for you.”

Assassin stared at Trixie, ignoring the sword Sungleam had pressed against his chest still, and his expression slowly went slack, “That so...? Let me guess, skinny white unicorn gal, ‘bout yay high, prettiest blue mane you ever did see?”

Trixie blanched, “Well, I don’t know about how pretty her mane was, but, yes.”

Assassin let out a heavy sigh, “Don’t bloody believe this... if she was here the whole time why didn’t she just tell me herself?”

“Maybe she can’t?” Trixie suggested, “She was barely able to tell me. I don’t think she has a lot of, er, presence here, really.”

Assassin huffed out a whinny of half bitterness, half acceptance, “Just like her; can’t stop trying to help, even when it costs her. Dammit all! It’s too little too late for this kind of thing! If I could’ve forgiven myself I would’ve done so.”

“Master, what is this knave raving about?” asked Sungleam, not taking her eyes off of Assassin or dropping her guard for an instant. Before Trixie could answer Assassin spat at Sungleam.

“Ain’t none of your business, wannabe knight! Look, you got me dead to rights now, so how about you spare me any more of having to listen to your sanctimonious voice and just end this already!”

Sungleam glanced at Trixie, seeking permission. Trixie felt a freezing feeling creep down her spine. So... this was it. The core of the Grail War. Servants, in the end, had to slay the other Servants. It was all well and good to have that knowledge in a practical sense, a whole different matter to be facing the stark reality of it. Trixie looked at Assassin, searching his features. She could see the acceptance in his eyes. He knew he was finished, and oddly, didn’t seem frightened. Trixie had to remind herself he was, technically, already dead, just a spirit returned to temporary life by the Grail for this exact purpose. It wasn’t really like... killing somepony, right? Trixie felt a sudden need to run. She didn’t want to be the one having to make this choice. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly quite dry. Sungleam sensed Trixie’s hesitance and sighed, saying nothing, but decision hardening in her own eyes.

“Assassin, are you prepared?” the knight asked the bandit.

He just nodded, eyes matching the knight’s gaze. Sungleam returned the nod, and before Trixie could say anything, Sungleam’s blade flashed forward. There was barely a sound as the sword sunk into the stallion’s chest, but there was an exclamation from nearby.

“N-no...”

It was Fluttershy, the butter colored pegasus mare having just come upon the scene.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing here, where’s Carrot Top?” asked Trixie.

“I...I wanted to try to help. Carrot Top is looking after your unicorn friend,” Fluttershy’s voice was barely above a whisper as she took a few shaking steps forward towards the stabbed through form of Assassin, “I-I didn’t want to see anypony else get hurt. I thought I could talk you all out of this. But... but I’m too late...”

Sungleam, a somber but hard look on her features, pulled her blade free and Assassin’s legs gave out, the thin stallion dropping on his side without any effort. Sungleam stepped back, cleaning off her sword and sheathing it, standing beside Trixie, her expression unchanging as Fluttershy ran up to Assassin. Trixie, for her part, didn’t trust Assassin not to try any last second vengeance and kept her horn warmed up, just in case.

As Fluttershy hesitantly knelt next to Assassin, whose blood was pooling beneath him, the hollow cheeked unicorn blew out a sigh and his eyes flicked over to her, “Don’t figure why’re so upset, darlin’... did nothing but terrify you and act the right proper bastard towards you. Figure you’d be jumping up and down, now that I’m out of the picture.”

Fluttershy shook her head, “I never want to see ponies hurting each other. Why would you be the exception?”

Assassin shook his head, his body beginning to shimmer all over, little white motes of light flowing off of him. At the same time there was a sound like breaking glass and entire swaths of the Black Forest cracked and floated away like shards of disintegrating ice. Assassin raised a shaking hoof and poked Fluttershy in the chest, even as the hoof started to vanish into glints of light.

“I wanted... to see her again... more than anything that was... my wish... even if I couldn’t change... fate...”

“I’m think, no, I’m sure you’ll see her again,” said Fluttershy, “You didn’t have to change the past. She’d never of blamed you, not somepony as kind as you described. I bet she’ll be... be right there, the moment you...”

Fluttershy couldn’t finish the sentence, having a hard enough time holding back tears.

As his body swirled away into vanishing motes of white, like swirling snow, he smiled, and gave one last chuckle, “You’re not her... but you got her... kindness. Don’t lose... it... ever...”

Then he was gone, and the Black Forest with him, the Reality Marble collapsing around Trixie, Fluttershy, and Sungleam like the last melting icicles of winter under the spring sun. Revealed around them now was the bridge and river by Fluttershy’s cottage, and a bright blue sky above, a swirl of white and gray clouds floating above all that remained of Commander Hurricane’s storm.

“Trixie!”

Raindrops, Cheerilee, Carrot Top, and Ditzy were there as well, all looking a little confused to be outside and in sunlight all of a sudden. Lyra was laying nearby, still badly wounded. Trixie shook herself from her stupor fast, glancing at Carrot Top, who was the one who’d shouted her name.

“Carrot Top, what’s Lyra’s condition?”

The carrot farmer visibly took control of herself and quickly checked their friend, and Trixie could see Carrot Top’s feature’s pale even before she said, “N-not good. She’s cold and sweating, and her breathing is getting shallow!”

Trixie didn’t need to hear anymore, she looked to Sungleam, who was standing by dutifully.

“Sungleam, take Lyra to Ponyville Hospital with all haste!”

The knightly mare bowed once and immediately went to Lyra, levitating the mint unicorn up gently in her gold aura, and then instantly started to leap through the air back towards Ponyville with a speed that none of the normal ponies there could have matched.

“Trixie, is Ponyville Hospital going to be able to help Lyra?” Raindrops asked, worry passing over her face like a dark shadow.

Trixie removed her hat and gave it a small wave, “If not, I’m going to be contacting Princess Luna to request her help. We’ll get the best healers from Canterlot here inside the hour! I am NOT losing any friends today!”

Raindrops nodded in agreement. A high pitched cry pierced the sky and Cheerilee pointed up, “Um, girls, we have incoming. Big and beaky.”

Ditzy flew up just as Berserker was flying down towards them, and the gray pegasus practically had to slam herself into the griffin to keep him from landing among her pony friends and going on a rampage.

“No! Bad Yuri! I know you want to rip things apart. I feel the same way, but we’re done today! Understand!? Done!”

“Trixie,” whispered Cheerilee in the magician’s ear, “What are we going to do about Ditzy?”

“I’m going to ask Luna if there’s anything she knows of that can help her with this whole... Berserker problem,” said Trixie, eyes pensive, “We need to get her back to normal so we can use the Elements. Not to mention just for Ditzy’s well being.”

“Alright, just as long as we got plans being planned in that regard,” said Cheerilee.

Meanwhile Fluttershy hadn’t moved from where she’d been kneeling from the spot Assassin had faded away from. Carrot Top slowly trotted up to the pegasus, nuzzling her softly.

“Fluttershy, we should get going. I... well I’d like it if you stayed at my place tonight, just to give the water time to receed here, and to give you a chance to recover from everything, okay?”

Fluttershy made a small, squeaking response that might have been an affirmation, but it was hard to tell. Either way Fluttershy allowed Carrot Top to help her up and lead her along with the others as they left the scene of the Grail Wars first real battle, and first casualties.

----------

Zecora watched the Element bearers and the butter colored pegasus depart the scene with the gray pegaus coaxing along her irrate griffin Servant. Zecora had already concluded that her own Servant had been defeated entirely, not simply from his lack of presence, but by the fact that her red Command Seals had faded away from her body.

“A disappointing result, and most perturbing. Our most magnificent ruler will find this result quite disturbing,” the zebra muttered to herself as she swiftly and quietly flowed back into the forest, as easily blending into the narrow trails between the trees as a native creature. Everfree Forest was near and she intended to go there to think carefully about her next move.

Zecora was not eager to return to Corona’s volcano hideout. For one, it was quite distant, and it was no small trek to make simply to report her failure. If she did not bring something of value back it would be difficult to spin this failure as anything positive or useful. Of course Zecora had not been all that eager to participate in this Grail War to begin with and so was not that upset with the death of her Servant. He’d been kind of annoying, anyway. Besides, this had nothing to do with the prophecies concerning the return of the Tyrant Sun or the role Zecora knew she was to play in upcoming events. It was just a strange mystical disturbance in the flow of events, one that Zecora would be all too happy to see pass so that she could focus her energies on the more important matter of seeing Corona, or rather Celestia, rethroned.

Yet it was unlikely Corona would see things in such a light, and so Zecora decided she would not be returning quite yet. She’d retreat to Everfree and consider her options, and see if perhaps, even in defeat, she could find a way to ensure that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony did not come out ahead in this war either...

-----------

“Oh, this is perfect! Yes, yes, and if my calculations are correct, and why wouldn’t they be, we can take my brother by complete surprise here and all but guarantee a victory as long as we use this location!”
Twilight Sparkle beamed at Starswirl as she stood on the crumbling stone balcony of the ancient castle. The fallen castle’s moss strewn buttresses and ramparts spread out around her and Starswirl, the pair standing upon a balcony halfway up the central tower, or what had once been a tower but was now more a broken, jagged pillar of stone half its former size. Next to Twilight, Starswirl looked out over their prospective battlefield with a tired, solem gaze.

“Are you certain you wish to do this, Twilight?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she returned the query, giving the elderly unicorn at her side a sidelong look, smiling despite her raised eyebrow, “You’ve agreed with me that this is a good spot to take on a Rider-class Servant, and I’m pretty sure between the two of us and with the element of surprise we can defeat my brother quickly.”

“That’s not what I mean, my dear,” Starswirl said, a heavy note to his voice, “Even if the battle goes exactly as planned.... it still may not be a simple thing, to clash arms against family.”

“Oh, but I’m doing this for my family!” Twilight declared firmly, a fire of determination lighting up in her eyes, “I can’t let Shiny take this on. He’s strong and capable, sure, but from what you’ve told me there are too many dishonest, sneaky sorts likely to fight in this war. He’s too... straightforward to be suited for this kind of thing. Really, me fighting him first is the best case scenario, as he’ll be fighting somepony who honestly cares about his well being and isn’t going to try to hurt him. After all, all we need to do is take his Servant out, or make him submit and give up his Command Seals. Either way, he’ll be safe.”

“And you are certain he’ll come?”

Twilight’s eyes went a little downcast, “He will. After all, like you said, we’re family. He’ll want to protect me just as much as I want to protect him. Once he reads that letter, and knows I’m waiting for him... well, trust me, Shiny will come.”

----------

Greengrass finished the last bit on a tax reform proposal for one of the towns inside his province. Even with the recent excitement in his life he still had a presence as a Duke to maintain. He’s spent most the day since that incredible first display of Servants battling in Canterlot going about his normal business, albeit doing what most of the Night Court was doing in the state of crisis the city was in. Many nobles were concerned over what was happening and how tight lipped Princess Luna was being about the whole affair. The Princess of the Night had only informed her Night Court that a magical event had occurred that had generated ponies of no small power that would be seeking to fight one another; but not the reasons why. She certainly did not mention any concept like Servants and Masters. Greengrass had been wearing long sleeved clothing, suits that hide the crimson runes on his left leg. For now nopony had taken notice of any unusual behavior from him and he intended to keep it that way.

Most of his fellow Night Court nobles had been working in their own areas to quell the unrest of their citizens and prepare to deal with the possibility of dangerous battles between potent ponies taking place in their holdings. Greengrass didn’t suspect the Servants would spread out that far. If three had shown in Canterlot, it was likely this city, and any nearby areas, would be the main battlefield.

“Notary, please see to it these documents reach the proper ponies,” he said, handing off the sheaf of recently drawn up and stamped papers to his assistant.

“Of course sir,” the white earth pony said, easily balancing the papers into a briefcase she picked up and headed for the door with. Greengrass hid a small smile, pleased she’d decided to stay, and that she was maintaining her professional calm, all things considered.

As Notary opened the door a pink sauntering pegasus mare walked in, brushing past Notary a little harder than was needed. Notary paid Viola no mind and left with a solid canter, while Viola skipped towards Greengrass’ desk with a wide smile.

“Greeeeeny pumpkin, you won’t guess at all what I found!”

Greengrass held back a sigh and adjusted the way he sat at his desk, leaning back and steeping his hooves before him, “Viola, I thought I said not to use my front door.”

“Oh there wasn’t anypony out there to see me. Remember, I’m the one with the super-sharp senses. Not even the Princess herself could sneak past my eyes. Mmm, now...” she slide around to the side of his chair and purred into his ear, licking it suddenly, which caused him to grimace and wheel his chair back, “Aww... you’re so tense Greeny-kins. And here I thought you’d like to see what tasty tid-bit I found while I was out scouting. You know, like you told me too?”

Greengrass controlled his urge to reprimand his Sevrant’s forward manner. He had told her to go scouting, though that was more as a way to get her out of his mane than out of any real expectation that she’d discover anything useful. He imagined Twilight Sparkle would go to ground for awhile, and at the moment he had no interest in engaging the Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard and his Servant in a fight. He fixed Viola with a plain stare and said, “Very well, what, exactly, have you managed to discover?”

Viola gave him that thin, predatory grin that made his spine shiver, slide close to him, and said, “Not until you give me something nice in return. Just a... hint of your affection, my lovey-dovey tubby-bear.”

Greengrass gulped as her wings flowed around his head, each wing’s tip softly brushing his cheek, then carefully, gently tracing down his neck. He was caught between wanting to run away and... well... actually kind of finding this contact pleasant. Damn her, she was rather attractive. He was not in the mood to be fooled with, toyed with! Greengrass was nopony’s toy! He sucked in and let out a slow breath, “Show me what you have, first, and I’ll decide if its worthy of... a token of my affection.”

Viola pursed her lips sourly, but her wing flicked and a letter opened in front of Greengrass’s muzzle, “I found this while keeping an eye on that Royal Guard Captain’s estate. Just popped out of thin air, poof! Now I know you told me not to expose myself, but I just couldn’t keep my curiosity in check! I swooped right on down and snatched it up, before that dunderhead of a Royal Guard came by. I doubt his Servant could sense me either.”

Greengrass was only half paying attention to her, reading the letter. Slowly his lips curled back in a hungry smile. Viola looked at him around the letter, eyes waggiling and her face suggestive, “Well honey-bun, did I do good?”

Greengrass, without as much reservation as he would’ve expected from himself, lifted his hoof with his Command Seals and gently patted Viola along her cheek, enjoying it even when she purred and rubbed into the gesture.

“Yes, my Servant, you’ve done very well indeed.”

Author's Notes:

So... yeah... it's been over half a year since I've updated this story. I truly, sincerely apologize to those of you still interesting in this little Lunaverse based mashup with Typemoon's Fate series that I've taken so long to get another chapter up. I wanted to finish Hero of Oaton, and focus some on my FoE stuff, and kind of let this fic fall by the wayside in the meantime. Hopefully this chapter at least provides a decent amount of entertaining to make up for the long wait, and shows I still very much intend to see this story through to the end.

In any case, this chapter did have some tough parts to write, despite it being essentially one long battle with Assassin. Typemoon's world is a hard place to understand even when having its own wiki present to fully delve into. Just trying to decide of Assassin's Noble Phantasm qualified as actually being a Reality Marble or not gave my brain a full week of pause, then deciding how he managed to control it. Even so I'm a little iffy on how I decided to let the battle end, but ultimately it felt like the right way to go. I could've dragged it out more, but I wanted this chapter to not get much beyond 20k, and think it worked for what I wanted.

Here's hoping it won't take even half as long for me to get the next chapter out. Fingers crossed!

Episode 5: Between Battlefields

View Online

Episode 5: Between Battlefields

Trixie backpedalled until her back hit the cold wall of the hospital room, waving one hoof in front of her rapidly to ward off the impending doom storming towards her.

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen! Calm down, Bon Bon!”

In front of Trixie the creme colored confectionist was advancing upon Trixie with what could only be described as ‘furious murder’ in her eyes. Every step of Bon Bon’s hooves was punctuated by a snort of steam from her nostrils and a further grinding of her teeth as she glared utter death at the Night Court Representative. Bon-Bon’s voice was a barely controlled growl.

“Lyra... My Lyra... you nearly got her killed!”

Before Bon Bon could get another step towards Trixie, Raindrops and Carrot Top interposed themselves between the two, the former stiff and ready to hold Bon Bon down, the later holding a hoof up and trying to put on a disarming look.

“Its not Trixie’s fault, Bon Bon,” said Carrot Top, “We all chose to go out there, even though we knew it’d be dangerous. You can’t blame Trixie for that!”

“I can, and I am!” said Bon Bon fiercely, tears brimming in her glaring eyes, “Because none of you will even tell me how it happened! How!? How did Lyra get hurt!? Why is she hospitalized with a pierced lung!?”

Raindrops sighed, giving Trixie a helpless and questioning, and Trixie felt a vice of guilt grip her. They’d gotten to the hospital well behind Sungleam, whose raw speed had managed to get Lyra to the medical help she desperately needed faster than anypony else could have. However, that meant that in the time it’d taken Trixie and the others to gallop back into Ponyville from Fluttershy’s cottage word had gotten to Bon-Bon about Lyra’s condition.

The confectionist had met them in the hospital lobby, apparently having just spoken with the doctors about Lyra’s condition, and understandable was... less than thrilled. Part of the problem was that nopony had really given her a clear explanation for how Lyra had been injured, as Trixie and the others had agreed not to reveal any details unless absolutely necessary. The last thing Trixie wanted was more ponies getting mixed up in the Grail War, and until she spoke with Princess Luna directly, she felt a need to keep as much of this under wraps as possible.

That was somewhat difficult already, given just about everypony in Ponyville saw the magical event that’d started this series of events, the initial skirmish between Sungleam, Lancer, and Berserker, and the fact that the large, dangerous looking griffin had been staying outside Ditzy’s home above the post office for most of the morning. By this point it wasn’t much of a secret that Trixie and the other Element bearers were involved in whatever was going on, so many Ponyvillians were watching them curiously as they ran back into Ponyville, with Fluttershy in tow, and Trixie had needed to deflect questions from mayor Ivory Scroll as they’d run to the hospital.

Now Bon Bon looked like she wasn’t going to stop trying to turn Trixie’s head into a wall decoration until she got answers, and Trixie, honestly, couldn’t blame the mare. Trixie never had a marefriend, or any kind of real relationship, but she could easily enough imagine what Bon-Bon had to be feeling. Mostly because Bon Bon was openly furious.

Trixie swallowed, taking a deep breath, and slowly stepped away from the wall, meeting Bon Bon’s stare with some difficulty, and giving a nod to Raindrops and Carrot Top, “Its alright you two, I think... at least we can try to explain to Bon Bon what’s happening. Um, Sungleam, you can come out now.”

Sungleam appeared from thin air, her form materializing in a wash of glittering motes of light until the stark white unicorn knight was standing beside Bon Bon, her gold armor and blue surcoat forming upon her an instant after her body did. Bon Bon jumped at the sudden, magical appearance of this strange, armored mare. Sungleam merely bowed her head to Bon Bon.

“Before anything else is said,” Sungleam said solemnly, eyes locked on Bon Bon, “Please accept my most sincere regrets and apologies for the state your beloved has fallen to. Though I have slain the one responsible already, the fact remains that I had crossed blades with the cur earlier, and had I managed to stop him then, none of this would have befallen.”

“W...wha...?” Bon Bon just seemed bewildered. Trixie couldn’t really blame her, it wasn’t like one saw ponies pop out of thin air every day, even in Ponyville. Sungleam had been hiding in a dematerialized state, to preserve mana, and to keep Berserker from getting more agitated. Ditzy had taken the griffin back to their home to keep him calm, but Sungleam’s presence made that difficult. If she dematerialized, it seemed to take the edge off the griffin, though Trixie wasn’t happy with Ditzy being alone with him. So she’d sent Cheerilee to keep an eye on Ditzy, while they checked up on Lyra.

Sungleam sighed, eyes downcast as she knelt before Bon-Bon, “Your anger should be directed upon me, not my master.”

“Trixie,” Bon Bon stepped back from Sungleam, anger somewhat forgotten under the unusual circumstances, “Who is this?”

Trixie took a deep breath, “Okay, here’s the abridged version...”

----------

Trixie returned to her home feeling dead tired, both inside and out. Raindrops was running interference with the mayor, trying to assuage concern over the day’s events. Carrot Top had taken Fluttershy to her farm, the pegasus mare in need of a place to rest until her own cottage was a little less flooded. Cheerilee was still with Ditzy at the post office, and would let Trixie knew if there were any new developments with Berserker. Lyra was in stable condition, though was still unconscious and bedridden at the hospital, with Bon Bon staying by her side, unsurprisingly. Bon Bon had listened to Trixie’s explanation of events, and afterward had rather numbly accepted it all with the look of a mare who had been told the sun and moon had exchanged places. Trixie had seen looks like that on ponies after Corona’s return, and understood it. Even in a world like this, and a town as prone to unusual happenings as Ponyville, there were still limits on what a pony could take without getting a little shell shocked from it.

Regardless of that, for the moment, at least, there was no immediate crisis. Aside from the distinct possibility of being attacked by another Servant at any moment. While Assassin was defeated, and Berserker seemed to be under control for the time being, that still left four rival Servants out there that could crop up at any time. Sungleam had assured Trixie that Commander Hurricane would not be a problem for the immediate future; that they’d agreed to a duel in several days. Trixie hadn’t been all that happy to hear that.

“If he was weakened from fighting with Berserker you should have just finished him off,” Trixie muttered to her Servant as she flopped down on her couch, too tired to even think of ascending the stairs to her bed, and not really planning on going to sleep anyway. She still had to write to Luna, to get some idea of what her Princess knew of all this, and what could be done about it. Trixie had a fantasy in her head of another Servant appearing to challenge her, only to get swarmed by a few hundred (or thousand) Night Guard. Unlikely, and Trixie belatedly had to admit to herself it’d be too dangerous for the Night Guard to actually fight a Servant, but it was a nice fantasy.

Sungleam nickered lightly as she trotted to the side of the couch, looking down at Trixie, “Master, I must abide by some standards of chivalry, no matter your disapproval of such things. I swore oaths when I accepted my knighthood, and I live by them. Did live by them. Even in death, my oaths must still hold, otherwise what good were they to begin with? Lancer... it would not have been proper to slay him there, so weakened. It would have flown in the face of all honor. Had he pressed his attack, I would have responded in kind, but as it happened, he was willing to retreat.”

“Of course he was,” Trixie huffed, all but throwing her hat at Sungleam, the hat flopping to the floor as she threw it there in frustration, “He took advantage of your stupid honor, so he could get out of there and heal up! Now he’ll be even tougher to beat because he’ll have time to plan out a strategy to beat us!”

“We, too, shall have time to plan, master,” said Sungleam, voice tense and tight with anger, her eyes flashing with fumigating rage, “And do not insult my honor. My master you may be, but there are limits to the insults I will bear. Now, there is something else we must discuss before we enter battle again.”

“Oh, what’s that? I’m exhausted, can this wait?”

“No,” said Sungleam firmly, “I must say this now, and you must listen.”

“Ugh, fine. What is it?” Trixie turned onto her back, trying to get comfortable on the couch, and looking up at Sungleam with her hooves crossed over her chest and her hindlegs crossed, partially out of modestly, partially so she could tap one on the arm of the couch in impatience.

“From now on, it is my highest recommendation that you do not involve your friends in future battles,” said Sungleam bluntly.

Trixie frowned, a stab of guilt shooting through her as she thought of Lyra, “You do realize I don’t command them, right? I can’t stop them if they decide to get involved.”

Sungleam matched Trixie’s frown with one of her own, “That is not true in the least. You are a Representative of this... Night Court of Luna,” the way Sungleam said it suggested she thought very little of the idea of a ‘Night Court’ at all, “You could request a decree from Luna for them to stay out of this affair.”

“Even if I did, I doubt that’d stop them. My friends can be pretty persistent,” Trixie pointed out, though she couldn’t deny that Sungleam had a solid point. She could ask Luna to intervene. It might even work.

“Master, did you not see what happened with Assassin? The six of you were utterly outmatched!” Sungleam said with a firm stamp of her hoof, golden tail flicking behind her irritably.

Trixie found herself tightening her hooves around herself in frustration, “We... held out, until I had to call you.”

Sungleam shook her head, “Had Assassin been fighting even remotely seriously against you, at the very least Lyra Heartstrings would be dead now, instead of just in the hospital.”

“You don’t know th-”

Sungleam stamped her hoof once more and this time the floorboards beneath it shattered like glass, and Trixie was knocked off the couch by the rolling impact that shook the entire Residency. Dumped on the floor, with many more cracked floorboards and more than a few tipped shelves, Trixie turned over to glare up at Sungleam, but the mare’s form was glowing gold with magical energy and spoke before Trixie could with a voice of assured command that resonated off the walls.

“Mortals are no match for Servants. Not without a great deal of magical power of their own to even the odds. Assassin’s abilities would have allowed him to strike any of you dead with ease at any point during that ‘battle’. The only reason I can think of that any of you still draw breath after confronting him is that he, for reasons I cannot guess at, was holding back against you. He pierced Lyra’s lung, instead of her heart, or brain, or any other vital organ that would have killed her instantly. He struck with weak attacks, meant to wound, rather than kill. He tried to intimidate you into submission, rather than destroy you outright, even when he had you in the grip of his Noble Phantasm! The fact remains that all six of you should be dead right now.”

Trixie had to control her breathing to keep from sounding like a bellows as she climbed to her hooves, eyes fixed on Sungleam, “You think I don’t know that!? Do you believe I wanted my friends to be in that kind of danger!? That I want to be in that kind of danger!? What do you want me to do about it?”

“It’s simple, master. You forbid them from joining us in battle, and you allow me to do as a Servant is meant to; fight these fights for you. You are the master, I the Servant. You are to give the orders, I am to wield the blade. I am your Saber! Use me thusly! Others are not needed for this fight, and if they continue to interfere, I assure you that your friends will die. We cannot count on the other Servants to have Assassin’s... hang ups, whatever they were.”

Trixie, still breathing hard as her tightly bottled emotions started to leak out, sat back on her haunches, hanging her head, “What about Ditzy? Even if I somehow convinced the others to stay out of this, which I’m not at all certain I could, I doubt I’d be able to do the same with her.”

Trixie gulped, not wanting to break down in front of Sungleam, but it was hard to keep her composure now that the full weight of the day’s events could sink in, ”I could have lost any of them today. I don’t know what I’d do if Lyra had...”

She trailed off, embarrassed. Trixie wasn’t used to her emotions getting the better of her composure. The last time she remembered breaking down at all had been in front of Luna after the whole mess with the ice palace. Trixie took a deep breath, slowly shaking her head, and then taking another slow breath, until she felt able to look Sungleam in the eye again. She expected to see the knightly mare glaring at her with more anger and challenge, but instead Sungleam’s blue eyes had softened, and she even looked a little embarrassed herself, looking away from Trixie, turning her head to look at the wall.

“I apologize. I was not trying to suggest you did not care for your friend’s well being. Will your friends truly not listen to reason? At all?”

Trixie bit her lip, wondering herself. She felt certain that her friends would want to keep helping her, even with the danger, even if Trixie asked them to stay out of it. That was just the way they were. Despite the danger, and her fears, Trixie wasn’t certain she wanted them to stay away. For all her fears, Trixie understood how much stronger she was with her friends. Far more than the magic of the Elements Trixie valued the more essential strength that simply being beside her friends gave her. Could she even do this, without them? Could she afford to do this with them? An image of Lyra popped intro Trixie’s mind, of a black branch stabbing into that mint coat, and red blood pooling in the snow beneath Lyra’s fallen form. Trixie gulped, shaking her head.

No, as strong as she was beside her friends, Sungleam had the right of it. She couldn’t risk them in the fights to come.

“I don’t know if they will, but I’ll try,” Trixie said, her stance growing more resolute by the second as she trotted over towards her office, “Maybe you’re right, and Luna can convince them if I can’t. As for Ditzy, I don’t know how she’d react if we tried to take out Berserker, but I can’t let that griffin’s bond with her drain her dry or drive her crazy! Our best bet is to end this war fast by keeping to teaming up with her and Berserker to wipe out the other Servants. That means finding them as soon as we can.”

Sungleam followed Trixie into her office, where Trixie went to her desk and got out a scroll and quill pen. With fast levitation she dipped the pen in an ink well, which had fallen over from Sungleam’s hoof stamp, and had stained part of the desk. Trixie ignored the mess and got writing. Sungleam’s ears twitched as she looked at the state of the room, with stacks of scrolls toppled and the ink staining the desk.

“I must apologize again, I didn’t mean to actually cause such a mess of your house, master. I shall work on cleaning it immediately, if you wish.”

“That’s fine,” Trixie said, focused on the scroll before her, “This house goes through a disaster at least once or twice a week. I know ponies in town who are experts at fixing things up, from windows to floors. I’ll have them come in tomorrow to get this place sorted. We’re going to be busy.”

Sungleam came up beside Trixie, glancing at the scroll, “What are you writing?”

“This is a letter to the Princess,” Trixie said, her pace of writing increasing, the quill pen dancing over the page, “It might be the middle of the day but I don’t doubt she’s awake. Surprised she hasn’t gotten in touch with me, given the big magic light show that heralded you Servants showing up, but maybe she’s got her hooves full. Regardless, this will get her attention; given I’m informing her of what’s happened here in Ponyville. I’m going to ask her to house my friends and I in Canterlot for now, it’ll be safer there I think, and to bring me up to date on anything she knows about the Grail War.”

Trixie paused, frowning.

“At least I hope Canterlot will be safer...”

----------

Princess Luna felt the beginnings of a severe headache. She was used to dealing with high pressure situations; it was impossible not to be after the length of time she’d lived. That still didn’t make her immune to the stress at all, and after the sixth time she’d had to explain to her assembled Night Court that the present emergency was not some ploy by Corona and that Canterlot wasn’t actually under attack she was starting to feel the effects of lack of sleep combined with a hefty helping of frustration.

Her little ponies were scared and she couldn’t blame them. What had happened in that park... Luna shook her head. It’d been a very lucky thing nopony had been in the park at the time, but there had been more than enough idle passers by that the battle between Servants had been witnessed. Now rumor was filling the streets, and before long there would be panic unless matters were taken in hoof. That was what she’d been stuck discussing with the Night Court, organizing efforts to keep the populace calm.

In the meantime the Night Guard had been redoubling their efforts to search the city, through Luna doubted they’d turn up anything. Shining Armor had brought her up to speed on events. She felt a surge of sympathy for the stallion. He’d been an exemplary example of his profession, despite his sister being a fugitive and his family under such duress over it. He’d found her, but hardly in a proper reunion.

Luna suppressed a sad sigh. Shining Armor’s emotional state aside Luna was interested in the fact that Twilight Sparkle’s Servant was none other than Starswirl the Bearded himself. Luna’s memories of the prodigious wizard were fond ones. A soft, simmering anger built in her and her steps became a touch harder as she entered her small, cozy meeting room.

The Grail, the thrice-damned Grail. Creating that thing had been just another mistake in a long list, and Luna knew she shouldn’t beat herself up over it, that doing so would accomplish little. Still, it was hard not to feel a growing rage that a mistake made literally so long ago she could barely remember it was now threatening the lives of the ponies she’d dedicated her life to safeguard and guide.

Sister, does this penetrate your madness? Does the severity of the calamity our past error has brought on our little ponies ignite your anger the same as it does mine?

A pointless thought, she supposed. Corona, undoubtable aware of events, was as drained of her power as Luna was. It was strange, feeling so... normal. She suspected that at the moment she was no stronger than an above average unicorn in terms of magic, and while she still had some physical superiority it was nowhere near the strength she had prior to the Grail’s stirring.

Moving across her sparsely decorated meeting room, which doubled as a study when she wanted somewhere quiet to get some rare paperwork done or perhaps some reading, Luna took a seat behind her desk and floated out a quill and scroll. She floated up a pair of red rimmed glasses and perched them eloquently upon her snout as she readied the quill in her magic. The glasses were not a necessity, but rather a small, personal affection. A long ago lover had once told her, when she’d tried the pair on during an impulse, that they looked good on her. She’d kept the pair of glasses for the many centuries since, and wore them when she read or wrote alone, just as a fond reminder of the past. Before she could even dip the quill in the ink pot there was a blue puff of smoke by her desk, in a special drawer reserved for a specific purpose.

“Well, that’s convenient,” she said aloud, smiling slightly as she set aside the quill and opened up the drawer. Inside was a letter, freshly written, and there was only one pony it could be from.

Luna had been just about to write her apprentice to bring Trixie Lulamoon up to speed on evens. She’d intended to assure Trixie and her friends that the magical energies seen that morning were not some new attack by Corona, and that they should remain calm and stay in Ponyville for the time being. Luna had no intention of calling on the Element Bearers to try and confront any Servants or their Masters. For all of Trixie and her friend’s resourcefulness they were not trained to deal with the likes of Servants. Not that anypony in Equestria really was.

All thoughts of what she was going to write to Trixie fled Luna’s mind, however, as she read the letter from her apprentice. With every line read Luna felt her heart sink and an uneasiness grip her.

Curse the Grail, for dragging them into this, she thought, eyes re-reading the elegantly scrawled words once more, just to confirm them, Two of the Bearers, Masters. At least they’ve survived, though to think they’ve already beaten one of Servants.

Despite a sick, sad feeling at the thought of Trixie and the other Element Bearers being forced into such a deadly battle without any warning, after all they’d already gone through for Equestria, Luna was impressed they’d come through that first battle not only victorious, but mostly unscathed. Except for Lyra. Luna frowned, reading the description of the musician's injury. The hospital in Ponyville was quite good, given the size of the small town, but Luna more than understood Trixie’s desire to have her friend moved to the Royal Palace. Between the Royal physicians and Luna’s own skill in healing magic, Lyra would stand a much better chance of recovery. Even drained as she was Luna felt confident she could do much for Lyra’s condition.

Having Trixie and Ditzy both in Canterlot could prove the best course, despite potential dangers. It meant, in essence, that Luna would have three Masters and their respective Servants under one roof, but generally loyal to her. Shining Armor, Trixie, and Ditzy could coordinate efforts locate and defeat the other Servants, and once that was done, have a simple, formalized battle between their own Servants to determine a final victor. After that...

After that what? Luna asked herself sourly, teeth bared at some unseen foe, The Grail set this up when my sister and I sealed it, created this scenario where it could revive itself. What will happen when the last Servant falls, and the Grail manifests in this world once again? Will it truly grant the victor any wish they desire? Possiblly... it was powerful enough to alter the world around it. But its malice. It’s hatred. The Grail should never be allowed to exist in our world again.

Luna shook her head, But how I can stop it?

She was distracted from her thoughts by a knock on her door. Quirking an eyebrow, not expecting a visitor, Luna tensed and said, “Enter.”

She relaxed when she saw the familiar face of Shining Armor enter her room with a respectful bow, but clear agitation brimming in every inch of the young, muscular guard captain’s frame. Behind him strode Princess Platinum, as graceful and regal in her movements as ever Luna had seen her, through Luna noted a hint of annoyance in the mare’s otherwise composed visage.

“Princess,” Shining Armor said with another bow as he reached her desk, “I apologize for disturbing you but I didn’t think this could wait.”

“It could have,” said Platinum off-hoofedly, taking in the sight of Luna’s meeting room with a discerning eye, finally resting on Luna, “Cozy. Oh, I like the glasses. They suit you.”

Luna suppressed a huff, taking the glasses off and pointedly setting them on her desk before folding her hooves on the desk in front of her, “What is it, Shining Armor, that you feel could not wait?”

He glanced nervously at Princess Platinum, who didn’t do more than just close her eyes and give him a slight nod, to which he then used his magic to levitate out a note that had been tucked behind his armor’s breastplate and floated it over to Luna. Luna took the note and scanned it quickly. It was a brief note:

BBBFF-

I’m at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Come with just yourself and your Servant, at sunrise tomorrow. If anypony else is with you I will vanish, and you’ll not see me again until this is all over. I’m sorry this is how we had to see each other again. Waiting for you.

-Your LSBFF

Luna did sigh then, setting the note down and looking at Shining Armor with sympathy, “She means to fight you.”

Shining Armor, doing a remarkable job keeping his own composure, nodded once, “Yes.”

“And you intend to walk into this obvious trap?” Luna queried, already knowing the answer, but needing to hear him say it just the same.

“I wouldn’t call it a trap,” he said defensively, “Twily is making this an open challenge. Like our flash test contests as kids,” at Luna’s questioning look he added, “We quizzed each other when we were younger. Twily isn’t making this a trap or ambush; its going to be an open contest.”

“Are you certain of this?” Luna asked, “She’s been on the run for months now. Why would she put that at risk by fighting the Captain of my Royal Guard in open battle without stacking the deck against him?”

“I don’t doubt she’s chosen her location to suit her and her Servant,” said Shining Armor, some heat crawling into his voice as he met Luna’s gaze, “But Twily, I trust she’s on the level here. She wants to put an end to this as much as I do. So I intend to go there and do exactly that!”

Luna nodded, looking over at Princess Platinum, “And you mean to just take your Servant with you. You’re asking that I neither interfere nor send anypony else to assist you.”

“Please,” he said, uncharacteristically emotional as he swallowed and bowed his head once again, “Please let me settle this matter with my sister myself, Princess. I promise you I and Platinum will emerge victorious, and I’ll bring Twily home.”

He didn’t notice Princess Platinum rolling her eyes slightly, but Luna did not.

“Do you have a differing opinion on this matter, Princess Platinum?” Luna asked.

Shining Armor stiffened slightly, glancing at his Servant, who didn’t wilt under the look of the guard captain or Luna. Instead she held her head high and spoke with firm confidence flowing from her words.

“I believe engaging in a fight upon ground of our foe’s choosing is the height of foalish behavior. Here in Canterlot we hold the advantage of home territory. Further, we know for certain there is at least one more active Servant and Master still in the city. If we depart to participate in this battle with my Master’s sibling we’ll only be giving up our home court advantage and exposing ourselves to an attack by the other Master and Servant.”

She gave Shining Armor an imperious look, through one that was not without some small, soft fondness, “Your eagerness is understandable, and a good quality for a stallion to have, but now is not the time to go chasing after your sister. It is not to our advantage.”

Shining Armor pressed his lips together in a tight frown, voice strained as he said, “And what advantage to do we just sitting around here? I fail to see this ‘home court’ advantage you’re talking about! If anything we should be looking to take this battles outside the city! The ponies of Canterlot are in danger the longer we stay here.”

“Not at all,” Princess Platinum shot back, “The fight in the park was unfortunate, but under most circumstances we can easily control where a battle takes place. I’m not speaking of the city itself when I talk about advantage of home territory. I speak of the mountain. I know the mountains around here intimately, as they were my favorite place to take my pets for walks.”

Shining Armor could only imagine what kind of ‘pets’ Princess Platinum was talking about. After seeing the Thunderbird Eclair in action he was curious at what other beasts his Rider-class Servant might have hidden in her Menagerie. He was also seeing what she meant and had to admit that she had some small point.

“What you’re saying is that if we fight a Servant in the mountain peaks around Canterlot,” he said, “You know all the right places to set up ambushes, or mislead an opponent, and we can put anypony we fight at a disadvantage as a result.”

She nodded, “Exactly. All we need do is wait for any fool Master to challenge us again, and simply lead them on a merry chase around the mountains, dispatching them at our leisure. This includes your sister. She can’t wait in the forest forever. If she wishes to win the Grail War she’ll have to come to us.”

“Or attack another Master,” Shining Armor said, and frowned, “Or another Master will attack her.”

His head shook, fear for Twilight overriding any other thoughts, “No, Platinum, no. I’m not waiting. Twily is in over her head! I have to take her out of the running now before somepony else finds her! We have no idea who the other Masters are and any of them might attack her and... and...”

He shuddered, the thought of his sister’s life in danger making him want to buck something through the face. He couldn’t get the image of his sister’s burned, lifeless body out of his mind. If he and Platinum had not arrived to stop that fight in the park, could that other Servant had killed his sister? No! He wouldn’t let that happen. He would defeat Twilight himself, and return her to Canterlot, to her family, no matter what it took!

A comforting hoof landed on his shoulder and Shining Armor looked up to see Luna had come around to him, putting a hoof around his withers, an understanding wisp of a smile on her face.

“It will be alright, Shining Armor, I have faith that you can bring your sister safely home. Also, to allay some of your fears, I now know who most of the remaining Masters are.”

She quickly explained what was in Trixie’s letter. Shining Armor’s expression went from surprised to thoughtful as he furrowed his brow and said, “Its great that they defeated one of the Servants, but your apprentice didn’t mention anything about this Assassin’s Master. Could they still be a threat?”

Princess Platinum was quick to answer, “Unlikely, but possible. Without a Servant the Master loses their most potent weapon, but that isn’t to say they can’t still become a Master again. If another Servant loses their Master they can still remain in the physical world briefly, and in that time that Servant might be able to make a Pact with another Master, such as the one that was in control of Assassin.”

Shining Armor grunted, “Great, so while we’re down one Servant, its still possible the Master that got away could still be a problem. Aside from that, are you going to allow the Element Bearers to come to Canterlot, Princess?”

Luna nodded, “I believe Trixie is right that it would be for the best.”

“Then what about this other Master native to Ponyville? Rainbow Dash?”

“My hope was that, as a loyal citizen of Equestria, I could convince her to come to Canterlot as well,” said Luna, “I was hesitant to task the Night Guard with tracking her down to request her and her Servant come to Canterlot, but also thought it might be better if I approached her myself. She’s already engaged in battle with other Masters, suggesting to me she knows what the prize of the Grail War is, but perhaps she doesn’t know how serious the situation is and is just going along with the flow. I admit I know nothing of her, and Trixie doesn’t seem to know her well either, as she only stated in her letter that Rainbow Dash seemed to just be reacting to things and getting pulled along with her Servant.”

“That’s not unexpected,” said Platinum with a small smirk, “Commander Hurricane has a rather forceful personality. It wouldn’t be entirely out of the question to assume that he is the one truly in charge of that pair, depending on just how good this Rainbow Dash is. You can’t assume, Princess Luna, if you approach them that it will be Rainbow Dash you’ll need to convince to cooperate.”

“Getting them all here,” Shining Armor said, still looking thoughtful, “What will be the next step after that?”

Luna shook her head, “We can worry about that once that is done. My hope is to resolve this conflict as calmly and bloodlessly as possible. I have... things I must look into, concerning the Grail. I fear that it may be the last thing we want; the Masters and Servants fighting this out to the end.”

At Shining Armor’s questioning look, a look Princess Platinum shared as she gave Luna a quizzical cock of her head, and Luna just returned their looks with a reassuring smile, “Do not concern yourselves with it, at least not yet. Concentrate instead on your coming confrontation. The castle I shared with...” she paused, a flash of pain drifting across her eyes, “my sister, is not the most stable place; hardly a location safe for battle. Perhaps that is part of Twilight Sparkle’s plan. Regardless, be careful, and alert, but trust that I have every confidence you will succeed.”

----------

Rainbow Dash awoke to find that she couldn’t move her legs or wings. Immediately a sense of panic hit her at the sensation of being restrained and without thinking she shook her whole body around in an attempt to free herself before she even took stock of her surroundings.

When she felt herself tilt over and hit soft, wet ground pain exploded in her fore hooves, and she cried out. This prompted the sound of a door opening and Rainbow Dash blinked as light flooded into the previously darkened area, revealing that she was inside what looked like a hospital room. She’d just, in her struggles, forced the bed to fall over while she was still strapped to it. A orange coated pony, a unicorn stallion, had come in at the noise, wearing a doctor’s coat and stethoscope. He looked at her with alarm, quickly trotting over.

“Miss Dash! You must not move in your condition!”

“W-where am I!?” Rainbow asked, trying to take calming breaths to slow her heart and also work past the pain shooting through her limbs.

“Cloudsdale Memorial Hospital,” the doctor pony replied, voice kind as he approached and knelt by her, his horn lighting up lime green as he looked her over, “Hmm, well it doesn’t seem like you’ve made things worse. With your permission I’ll lift you back onto the bed.”

Rainbow cringed a bit at the thought of moving around more. Her fore legs were completely covered in casts, her wings and hind legs also bandaged and binded to the bed she’d tried to flop out of. A headache pounded at her and she felt like her muscles had decided to check out entirely.

“Yeah, its cool,” she said, gradually recalling recent events as the doctor’s magic gently lifted her and the bed, righting the bed and laying her back in it. At a slight grunt of pain from her the doctor’s magic shifted slightly and she felt a cool wash of relief pass over her body, like suddenly getting dipped in a pleasantly cool stream.

“Panacea’s Pain Popping Dweomer,” the doctor explained at her confused look, “It’ll last long enough for you to get back to sleep. You need rest to properly recover from your ordeal.”

“Not sleepy,” Rainbow said curtly, looking around. The hospital room was small, with just her bed in it, a health monitor nearby beeping away irritatingly, and a single window with the curtains drawn, blocking the sun, “How did I get here?”

“Your big brother brought you in,” the doctor replied, “Flew you in about eight hours ago, after your flight training accident. Do you remember anything about that?”

Rainbow Dash had to work hard to keep her face from twisting up in confusion and just look pondering. Big brother? Flight training accident? Rainbow gradually connected the dots in her head as the doctor watched her expectantly. She threw on a forced smile.

“Ooooooh, my big brother! Of course, he’s such a nice guy! Totally always there for me, yup. And man o’ man, talk about a rough landing. But, y’know, gotta train hard if I’m ever going to be a Wonderbolt. A few tough spills are nothing big!” she said, not certain if she was laying it on too thick or not but the doctor seemed to accept her words with a nod.

“Um, where is my big bro?” she asked.

“Right here, my dearest of dear little sisters!” came Commander Hurricane’s voice as he marched through the doorway. Rainbow blinked at him. He wasn’t wearing his leather armor or helmet, but instead had on a bright pink and yellow shirt with the words “BBBFF’ stitched across the breast, sunglasses, and a ball cap with the Cloudsdale Tempests hoofball team logo on it.

He went right up to the side of her bed, grinning and giving her head a hearty pat, “Feeling any better yet, my impressively durable sister? Why I bet you’re practically ready to jump out of that bed already!”

Well, that was partially true. Rainbow Dash had zero interest in staying in bed, but even she had to admit that she wasn’t feeling like flying a marathon race, or even walking down the street for that matter. Before she could voice her opinion on the matter, however, the doctor interjected, face frowning with professional politeness.

“I’m afraid that would be out of the question. Miss Dash has suffered severe fractures in both of her forelimbs, pulled and torn muscles nearly all over her body, not to mention has a minor concussion. She won’t be leaving this hospital for at least a week.”

“Yes, of course,” said Hurricane with a nod of agreement, “No doubt under your careful ministrations she’ll make a full recovery in record time! Truly you are a credit to your profession, Doctor Weathervane. Have you considered military service? The Grand Army could’ve used more dedicated field medics, especially during the long siege of Amethyst Keep. Many a noble pegasus soldier was lost over that long, arduous campaign.”

At the doctor’s tilted head and utterly baffled look Rainbow Dash quickly said, “Heheh, oh bro, don’t joke around with the doc. Man, my brother, he’s a real egghead when it comes military history,” she gave Hurricane a meaningful glare.

He blinked at her, then glanced at Doctor Weathervane, “Yes, military history... because it happened in the past. And I wasn’t there. At all.”

The doctor stared at them for a few seconds before shaking his head and saying, “At any rate, if you two would like to visit then that is perfectly fine, just do not allow Miss Dash to strain herself physically.”

He gave Hurricane a hard look, “Doctor’s orders, do I make myself clear?”

Hurricane nodded and saluted, hoof to chest, “Of course. A doctor in his hospital is akin to a captain aboard his ship. I understand perfectly.”

With a final strange look at the two ‘siblings’ Doctor Weathervane left to give them their privacy. Rainbow Dash visibly relaxed once he was gone, but wasn’t able to enjoy the soft feeling of the bed for long as Commander Hurricane turned and gave her a hearty clap on her shoulder that made her eyes shoot wide with pain.

“Well then Private Dash, I must congratulate you. While I might give a few pointers here and there I’d say our first battle together was quite successful!”

Rainbow Dash ignored his compliment, her face going deadly serious, “I don’t care about that, is Fluttershy okay? Did you see what happened to her?”

“I did manage to do a brief recon after I got you situated here,” Commander Hurricane said, “The house of a one Miss Fluttershy suffered some structural damage, but nothing serious. The mare in question was not present at her home, but after a brief flyby of Ponyville’s outskirts I confirmed her location, presently staying at a carrot farm near the edge of town.”

“Carrot farm... must be CT, looking after Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said to herself, nodding slowly. She’d always been extremely protective of Fluttershy, and wanted to immediately go check on her friend, but she figured she could at least trust Carrot Top to take good care of Fluttershy for now. The friendship between the earth pony farmer and sky pegasus was new and shaky, but Rainbow Dash was just glad somepony else was there to look out for Fluttershy in a pinch.

Even if Carrot Top couldn’t pull off a Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash figured she was alright, as far as earth ponies went.

Her eyes snapped even wider as she recalled what had happened, and nearly leapt from the bed again, only held back by the pain swimming through her body. But she didn’t care. She did it!

“The Sonic Rainboom! Aw yeah! I pulled it off! Hah! Take that all you doubting nags in flight school! You’re awesome neighborhood Rainbow Dash has made the impossible possible!”

She twitched in pain as her little impromptu dance in bed pulled at a few of her aforementioned torn muscles and she sighed.

“...Ow...”

Hurricane laughed, taking his sunglasses off and setting them aside, “You’ve certainly put your body through the wringer soldier! Take pride in your battered body, Private! Its proof of your dedication and strength!”

“Yeah... I guess, ugh, wish I could heal up faster through. I got no intention of sitting in this bed for a whole week. Screw that! Anyway, what’s the score? We get the griffin, or what?”

A grim look came over Commander Hurricane’s features as he paced around to the front of her bed, “Unfortunately interference from Saber kept me from finishing off Berserker. However the battle wasn’t all for naught. It seems Assassin has fallen during that engagement.”

Rainbow Dash’s face screwed up in thought, “Assassin? Uh... did we meet that guy? I don’t remember anypony like that.”

“No, and we’re both better off for it I think,” said Hurricane, his nose crinkling, “I have little stomach for the type. They have their purpose in politics but not in warfare. Pfah! The entire Grail War is better for not having to deal with the likes of an Assassin anymore. One less enemy we need concern ourselves with when we do battle with Saber and her master.”

“Saber?” Rainbow Dash’s brow wrinkled in thought as she rubbed at her head, “I’m getting confused, which one’s that again?”

“The magnificent knightly white mare in gold armor who was doing battle with Berserker when we first arrived in Ponyville,” Hurricane said, licking his lips, “Yes, I can hardly contain my eagerness to throw my full strength against a worthy opponent like her. The clash will be one for the historians to pen in epic tomes for uncounted generations henceforth to read!”

“Uhhh... sure, whatever you say, big guy,” Rainbow Dash said, carefully and slowly testing her limbs and wings, frowning, “Sooooo, we getting out of here or what?”

Commander Hurricane chuckled heartily at her, “What about the doctor’s orders?”

Rainbow Dash gave him a deadpan look, snorted, and proceeded to pull herself out of the hospital bed. She winced, visibly in pain, but grit her teeth and looked at Commander Hurricane with challenge flaring in her magenta eyes, “I’ll heal as we walk, but I ain’t staying in here! First stop, my house! We need to get a few things. Second stop; food. I’m starving.”

“Getting comfortable giving orders to your superior officer aren’t you?” Hurricane said, but was smiling in satisfaction as he said it, “I’ll ignore the insubordinate attitude for now. Can you fly?”

Rainbow Dash tested her wings again, biting her lip past the pain, “Maybe?”

“No need to push it, Private,” Hurricane said as he strode over to the room’s window and pushed it open, spreading his wings, “Climb on. I’ll carry you until your better rested.”

Rainbow Dash sighed, slowly hobbling over to him, “Rather fly myself. Hey, next time I plan to do ram into something at faster than the speed of sound could you remind me to put on some protective gear first? I mean, that was reckless, even by my own standards.”

“Ah, but that recklessness is special in this age,” Commander Hurricane said as she climbed onto his back and he flew out through the window, quickly taking them away from the Cloudsdale hospital. He took them on a fast, winding path between several of Cloudsdale’s larger cloud built buildings in what was the active commercial center of the city. There were plenty of other pegasi flying about, but few that gave them more than a passing glance as Hurricane and Rainbow Dash flew by.

“Look at it all,” Commander Hurricane’s voice edged with bitterness, “This whole city.”

Rainbow Dash glanced about, unsure just what was ruffling his feathers. She saw nothing out of the ordinary. Some families eating at a outdoor fast food joint, the usual pack of foal flying around playing tag while parents yelled at them to be careful. Across the way a small strip mall was packed with shoppers. The streets, all made of shaped cloud just like the buildings, were pretty packed with pegasi, the after work traffic rush.

All in all just another normal afternoon in Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash had seen a hundred like it growing up here before moving to Ponyville. She really didn’t see what had Hurricane’s tail in a bunch.

“Yeah, its a city. Like Manehattan, but in the sky. What about it?”

Commander Hurricane sighed, flying on, “It’s painful to witness what’s become of the daughters and sons of Pegasopolis. I doubt a one of these pegasi could hold the right end of a spear if their lives were being threatened! Its so peaceful and quiet here I can’t imagine anypony here has so much as had a single day of mandatory military training!”

“Yeah, its almost like there hasn’t been any real serious wars in a thousand years or so,” muttered Rainbow Dash, wishing she could just fly on her own right now. She hated having to rely on others for simple things, even more so when that thing was something she was good at and enjoyed. Part of her mind was working out just how to perform the Sonic Rainboom again, but in a way that wouldn’t screw up her body like this. She was pretty sure if she timed it right she could hit her enemy with the shockwave alone, without having to ram anything with her body.

“A shame,” Hurricane was saying, “A little war is healthy for a nation. No conflict simply breeds complacency, to the point that when a war does occur its citizens are unprepared for what must be done to protect their way of life.”

“Alright, that’s it!” Rainbow Dash grunted as she rolled off Hurricane’s back and spread her injured wings, groaning in pain as she painfully flapped to the cloud street and started hobbling along on her own. They’d reached one of the boardwalks that circled the edge of Cloudsdale itself, the vast sky open on Rainbow Dashes left, and the city on her right as she found a bench to sit down on.

Commander Hurricane landed next to her, his brow furrowed, “What’s wrong Private Dash?”

“Nothing!” she said irritably, “I’m just tired of listening to you bellyache about the way things are! Like war is such a great thing. It’s all you ever talk about!”

“Of course,” Hurricane said, standing upright and thrusting his chest out, “I was born and raised in the greatest military this world has ever seen! I was taught to love my regiment more than my blood family, and to care for my armor and spear more than any lover I might take to my bed! I killed my first enemy on the battlefield before I earned my cutie mark, and saw my first friend die on that very same battlefield. By the time I was the age you are now I was commanding my own regiment, winning victories for the glory of Pegasoplolis against every enemy that dared challenge us! I saw, through battle after battle, the pegasi soar higher and higher, until we were the undisputed greatest race upon the face of the world!”

“Uh-huh, until a case of bad weather kicks all of you down a few dozen pegs and got you working together with the unicorns and earth ponies, kind of making the whole wars for glory kind of pointless,” Rainbow Dash said dryly, starting to massage the soreness in her wings.

At Commander Hurricane’s silence Rainbow Dash glanced up, seeing him staring into the city interior, jaw clenched tightly. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but decided to let him simmer while she continued to check herself and evaluate her injuries. She had to grudgingly admit that doctor Weathervane was probably right, without the help of magic or something else it’d be at least a week before she was back to a hundred percent. However, like she discovered of most of the medical profession, he was also just playing it on the safe side. After moving around for a bit and being able to feel out her wounds she was confident she could get about alright. She’d bounce back, Rainbow Dash was sure of it.

Glancing up she said, “Hey, you gonna be spacin’ out there all day, big guy? C’mon, I wasn’t trying to get you all mopy!”

Commander Hurricane blinked, turning his head towards her as if surprised she was there, “Huh? Hmph, I am not ‘spaced’ out’ Private Dash! A commander must at times dig deep into his consciousness to contemplate the nuances of intense strategy! I don’t have the mental energy to waste moping! And what would I be moping about?”

“Fine, have it your way,” Rainbow Dash said with a small shrug, slowly flapping her wings and getting a bit of lift out of them, “I just don’t want to hear any more complaints about the pegasi, or war, or anything to do with Pegasopolis. I’m enforcing a strict ‘no complaining’ policy in this team!”

Commander Hurricane huffed out a small laugh and flew up, quickly getting Rainbow Dash under him and onto his back before she could do more than go “Uwah!” and hold on. She glared at him as he flew off back towards Ponyville and her house, but held onto him and let him carry her, not really eager to strain her wings yet anyway. Hurricane grinned back at her and winked.

“No complaining, understood ma’am! I suppose you’ve earned a little respect after all you’ve done so far. I’ll follow your orders for now, as you’re so far the only pegasus I’ve met in this age who reminds me of the ambition and fire that drove the souls of the pegasi from my era.”

Rainbow Dash blew out a sigh, “Guess that’s the best I’m gonna get out of you, isn’t it? Hey, what’s our next move anyway? Who we going after next?”

“Ha, your blood is getting heated up isn’t it? Battered and busted and you’re already thinking about our next fight. I’ve already decided our next opponent and the battlefield we’ll face her upon,” Commander Hurricane declared, vibrant eagerness in his voice, his wings beating all the faster in his clear excitement, “Three days from now we shall do battle with Saber and her master in the Valley of Dreams!”

A faint look of surprise crossed Rainbow Dash’s face, not so much at the choice of opponent as Hurricane seemed to have some kind of fixation on this Saber, but more at the choice of location. Rainbow Dash was was familiar with the Valley of Dreams. It had a certain special memory for her. Just thinking about the place brought the familiar chant to her mind.

Junior Speedsters are our lives, skybound soars and daring dives...

The valley was a beautiful place, and was the location of the flight camp Rainbow Dash had attended as a filly. The flight camp had been set up there specifically because the natural terrain there was more than just one simple valley, but rather a complex maze of steep foothills, with river canyons and waterfalls interspersed with dense forests and sudden sharp cliffs. The combination of mists from the waterfalls and twisting hilly topography made the place a natural obstacle course for fliers learning how to properly maneuver and navigate, and learn the most important basic rule of flying; keeping aware of your surroundings.

“I don’t get it,” she said, “Why fight there? And why three days? Why not tomorrow?”

“There are a large number of reasons, but they can all be condensed down to one, single point, Private Dash,” Commander Hurricane said, “In battle, seek every advantage. Saber wants a ‘fair fight’ between us, and so I shall give her such. However, by choosing the battlefield I have, the deck becomes stacked in our favor. No trickery to it, really, she must know I’d choose a place to fight that suits me.”

“But again, why that valley? I mean, it’s a pain to fly around in there, that’s the whole point of putting a flight camp there! I got lost, like a hundred times trying to navigate that place!”

“Ah, but that was when you were still learning,” Commander Hurricane said with a sly twist of his lips, “As it happens, even in my time that valley was used to train young fliers. Including myself. I imagine we both know the ins and outs of the Valley of Dreams like the feathers of our own wings now.”

The lights turned on in Rainbow Dash’s head, “Oh, I get it! For us, the place is gonna feel like home, but for anypony trying to fight us in there...”

Commander Hurricane grinned widely, “It shall be like fighting in the pit of Tartarus itself.”

----------

Duke Greengrass had to do a double take behind him as he exited the central meeting chamber of the Night Court after rather unproductive and mind numbingly drool conference concerning the current state of confusion in the city of Canterlot. There were still quite a lot of ponies inquiring into the “attack” in the park, sightings of the giant bird flying around the city, and rumors further afield of similar unusual events happening in Ponyville.

Ponyville... Greengrass couldn’t imagine why he found that so surprising.

Less so now, as double taking, eyes wide, he saw Trixie Lulamoon trotting by alongside Princess Luna, with another pony in tow that he didn’t recognize. A white mare, with a mane of golden hair woven in a tight bun reminiscent of Notary’s practical manestyle. Or greater note was the ornate golden armor the mare wore and elegant knightly surcoat of deep blue, with a scabbarded sword resting at her side that didn’t at all look ornamental.

Nopony wears gold. Not to that extent, and certainly not in this day and age. Greengrass’s mind turned, rapidly putting puzzle pieces together. The biggest piece was the sight of the unnatural red runic symbols etched onto Trixie Lulamoon’s right hoof, the mirror opposite of the runes on his left, which he’d been keeping hidden by developing a sudden taste in wearing knee-high black leather boots.

Trixie paused, noticing his stare, and for a second the azure unicorn halted to stare back at him. Princess Luna paused as well, as did the white, golden clad mare with the sword. Greengrass quickly composed himself and smiled politely, nodding his head as he approached.

“Good day your majesty,” he said with a bow, “And to you, Representative Lulamoon. A pleasure to see one of the Element Bearers visiting our humble capital. And... I don’t believe I’d had the pleasure of meeting your lovely companion?”

He bowed to the white mare as well, who was giving him a strange look. He recalled seeing that look on the face of several of the Night Guard when they’d had occasion to speak with him. As if they could sense something off about him. The way a dog senses a scent they don’t like but can’t pinpoint the source of. Greengrass always associated that look with ponies that took themselves far too seriously and were too honest for their own good, or the good of others.

He also got the impression this mare had pride so strong that she’d try to move the moon if you told her you thought she couldn’t.

“Duke Greengrass,” Princess Luna said with a slight incline of her head, “My apprentice and I have important matters to attend to, so you’ll please forgive if we must be informal here. This mare is a special associate of mine whom I’ve asked to assist me on a matter of some importance. However introductions must wait until our business is concluded, I’m certain you’ll understand.”

“Of course, of course, and I apologize for holding you up, I just couldn’t help but say hello,” Greengrass said, eyeing Trixie and her gold clad companion, “I really couldn’t. After all, Trixie, you’ve done so much for Equestria, how could I not at least thank you for your efforts?”

Efforts he was certain had nothing to do with any talent or ability on Trixie Lulamoon’s part. The mare was as incompetent as they came. It was a borderline disaster that this mare had access to Equestria’s single line of defense against the threat of Corona, and Greengrass from his limited experience with her and her reputation thought she was nothing more than an obstacle he needed to remove as soon as possible.

And now she was a master in the Grail War. That couldn’t have pleased Greengrass more. His smile was actually rather genuine, if not for the reasons of being glad to see Trixie. No, he was instead happy because with Trixie being a master, he had a perfect scenario in which he could feel free to crush this impudent waste of a mare. More to the point, knowing her general incompetence meant she’d likely not pose a significant threat to his own victory. Other masters could be a threat either by being potentially skilled, like with Shining Armor or Twilight Sparkle, or by remaining unknown factors like the remaining masters he didn’t know the identity of yet. With Trixie, however, he knew what to expect... and was unconcerned.

Her Servant on the other hoof, might prove a dangerous unknown element. Viola had already proven to him quite clearly that Servants were not at all the same as their masters. Trixie might have been a useless waste of space, but he couldn’t count on the same being true of her Servant. Looking at the mare, however, he sensed that the same crippling pride was there that held Trixie back from whatever minimal capability she might’ve otherwise possessed.

Defeating these two should not be difficult. The only problem is with them being so close to the Princess I may not be able to make a move against them quickly. I don’t doubt running to the side of her beloved, overprotective mentor was Lulamoon’s first instinct. No doubt she’s in over her head and for once knows it, so is going to hide behind the Princess for this whole affair. Fine by me. I’ll deal with the rest of the competition, then finish her off once she’s the only one left.

As he was thinking Trixie had giving him the barest of polite nods, a far cry from the deep bow of respect a Representative should give a Duke of the Night Court, and said, “Thank you, your grace. My friends and I have only done what any loyal citizen of Equestria would have done in our place. But it is good to know the Night Court appreciates what we do and is willing to let us do it without... interference.”

Greengrass smiled through clenched teeth. He was not a violent pony, but Trixie Lulamoon brought out something in him that made him want to choke her.

“Of course, and we can only hope you’ll continue to perform as competently as you always have.”

That got a satisfying eyebrow twitch from her, at least. Princess Luna sighed. It was the kind of sigh a pony doesn’t want to hear from an eons old alicorn Princess. Duke Greengrass bowed politely again, “By your leave, your majesty.”

He almost phrased it as a question. Princess Luna nodded and waved a hoof in dismissal, and Greengass beat a hasty retreat down the hall, only glancing once over his shoulder to watch Princess Luna, Trixie, and the white mare vanish down one of the many corridors leading to the throne room.

He sighed, shaking his head and composing his thoughts. He’d concern himself with the aggravating Lulamoon later. Right now he had a pair of Sparkles to deal with. Both the captain of the Royal Guard and his errant fugitive sister would be at the Castle of the Two Sisters at the dawn of the next day. He had to ensure he was prepared with a plan to take down both of them, as he doubted such an opportunity would present itself again.

Leaving the grand hallways of the central palace he made his way across the open courtyard, passing a line of hastily marking Royal Guard returning through the main gates from the city proper. He noted the nervous gait to the guards, not quite as composed as the Night Guard stationed inside the palace. He imagined it was because these ponies weren’t used to being on high alert, and there was a strong fear of the possibility of a strike by Corona in the near future.

That same nervous fear had been filling the Night Court itself, and the recent meetings had been little more than nobles fearfully complaining about the situation and proposing useless motions to consolidate their own holdings and increase protection in their own provinces. Fisher was particularly aggressive in his assertions that if the capital itself was under threat then certainly there was no harm in increasing security measures all across the nation. Nevermind that doing so would likely only induce unrest at best, panic at worst. Everypony was already on edge about the situation with Luna’s mad sister being loose from her sunny prison, what would ponies start to think if large numbers of Royal Guard started to mobilize in every major city?

Greengrass shook his head at the foalish notion. A bunch of alarmists and greed driven old codgers, that was what the Night Court was! Trampling all over his garden! His Equestria. Well, not his yet, but someday. Sooner, perhaps, rather than later. Hopefully before it could be ruined by the Night Court’s inability to run a nation without dragging it through the dirt, or Princess Luna’s general apathy allowed that travesty to occur. Or before Corona got her strength back from her previous run in with the Elements of Harmony and burned the nation to a cinder.

His hope had been to get the Elements under his hoof and the Night Court similarly in line sometime before the year was out, but with the advent of the current situation with this Grail, well, ambitions had certainly shifted. If he had the Grail’s power at his disposal he wouldn’t need the Elements. Or the Night Court. Or Luna.

The Grail could grant any wish? Perhaps, then, it was time for there to be another alicorn to take the stage in Equestria, one stronger than either Princess Luna, or the mad Corona?

Well, no reason to get ahead of myself with dreams of grandeur. I haven’t won this yet, and even if I do, I’m not sure horns and wings suit me. Perhaps the power of the Grail is being exaggerated by my Servant. It must have limits on what it can do, otherwise it wouldn’t need to go through this silly war ritual to manifest itself in the first place. Ah, but it would be amusing, to see the look on Princess Luna’s face if I strode into her throne room freshly ascended to alicorn status. Ha, it’d certainly change the tune of the likes of Puissance! Always hard to sound smug when talking to living, breathing, deity... hmm, but it would make the game a little boring if all the cards were in my hoof like that.

Putting those notions of the future aside he arrived at his manor estate. His was at the very border between the castle grounds and the noble district, conveniently situated as to have a brief, pleasant walk between the palace and home. It was a sign of power and influence to own one of the closest manors to the palace gates, and he had a certain pride in the fact he’d outbid the competition for it. Granted, part of that was because he’d also bribed the auctioneer to hold the auction a day earlier than announced, as to avoid competing against the wealthier nobles, but a win was a win no matter how it was achieved.

The majority of his servant staff was currently on “vacation” as per his “request”. He didn’t really want too many extra eyes around his manor while Viola was around. She was more or less obedient but was certainly a volatile and unpredictable sort. Greengrass grimaced in irritation and a little bit of proper regret as he thought about one of his maids; a competent and effective cleaning mare who he considered an able housekeeper. Viola had blinded the poor mare when the maid had supposedly “oggled” Greengrass. A silly notion, and irrelevant even if the maid had looked at Greengrass in such a way. He had no interest in such things, but wouldn’t have taken it personally if one or two of his servants did. Viola, however, had acted rashly. Created a mess Greengrass had needed to act swiftly to clean up.

The maid was alive, thank the moon. Viola had only taken one eye, cut right out with her wing, of all things. Greengrass had personally seen to the maid’s medical care via his most trusted and skilled physician he had on call. He paid both the doctor and the maid a significant pile of bits to keep quiet about the event and was even having a specialist in regenerative magics brought in all the way from Baltimare to see to the maid’s recovery.

He still had not decided upon a proper punishment for Viola’s outburst, but thus far had spent the day away from her, ordering her to patrol the city perimeter and to not speak with him until he gave her permission to speak. He wasn’t certain how far he could press the unstable mare, but he had to establish what would and would not be tolerated, and injuring members of his valued staff for inconsequential reasons was crossing a line he would never accept from anypony.

This was the reason Viola was silent as the manor itself as she manifested from thin air by his side as he crossed his well maintained front lawn to his front doors. Her elegant form was drooped like a dejected foal and her ears flat against the side of her head. Her lips were pursed impudently, as if she still couldn’t believe he wasn’t speaking to her or allow her to speak to him. She had a way of slightly stamping her hooves as she walked, giving little scuffs to the paved walkway.

As he entered the manor she followed, cheeks puffed slightly as if she could barely contains herself from speaking. He just glanced at her briefly, eyes hard, and then proceeded towards his personal study, where he’d told Notary to meet him once the night began.

Inside his study, which was really more like a sizeable library, with two stories worth of shelves packed tightly with numerous tomes and texts of a wide range of subjects, he saw Notary right where he expected her to be. The white earth pony mare was by the large circular dark oak table that dominated the center of the study, several large books laid out on the table before her along with a wide vellum parchment several hooflengths wide spread out and held in place by a few lit candlestands.

“Notary, has your search gone well?” he asked as he approached.

Notary, sparing only a brief glance at the seemingly ready to explode Viola, nodded her head, “Yes, quite fruitful I should say.”

She indicated he take a look at the parchment with her hoof, and he did so, walking up to the table and letting his eyes gaze over what was on the old, worn vellum. It was a map, showing the interiors of a large, sprawling building. A castle.

“The Castle of the Two Sisters,” Notary said, “It was difficult to find a complete map of the location, but the old archives are quite thorough. Even Luna’s attempts to remove all traces of her time with her sister did not quite reach every corner of the Canterlot Archives formidable stores and I was able to secure this copy. It is, I must tell you sir, unlikely this map represents the current state of the castle.”

“Of course, of course,” Greengrass said, waving a hoof dismissively, “I wouldn’t have expected that. A thousand years of disrepair will do that. Still, this should help us in getting a general idea of what to expect when we get there, and plan accordingly. Twilight Sparkle has already had time to familiarize herself with the battlefield she’s chosen. At least now we have the opportunity to do the same.”

“With the sun setting it won’t be long before Shining Armor and his Servant depart,” Notary said, “Our window of opportunity is going to be a small one, sir.”

“True, but I can glean what I need quickly from this,” Greengrass said, already working to memorize aspects of the map before him and finding some very useful things, “Hmm... oooh? Oh ho! Ha! Princess Luna, you really are a foal at heart, aren’t you?”

“Sir?” Notary asked, curious. Greengrass smiled, pointing out several sections of the map that had some oddly placed corridors and notations.

“It seems our Princess of the Night had a fondness for pranks,” Greengrass said in a satisfied tone, “This castle is positively covered in little hidey holes, secret passages, and trap doors. Even if the castle is crumbled and damaged I am willing to bet many of these may still be intact. More importantly, I doubt Twilight Sparkle has found many, if any, of these secret passages.”

Notary took a closer look at the map, her eyes roving over the lines. Greengrass knew he was good at memorizing things, but his was a foal’s skill compared to Notary’s incredible capacity for recalling information. It was one of her many talents that he prized in her, his most trusted and capable employee. He really had lost count of the number of times her skills had served him well. If it had been Notary that had been injured, rather than a maid a few months on the job... well Greengrass wasn’t entirely certain what he would have done.

It was an odd sense of vulnerability, actually. He found he was actually worried that Viola might hurt Notary. He pushed the notion aside, perhaps with more vehemence than was needed. He’d never allow Notary to come to harm in such a manner. She was too valuable. Too... indispensable. Not irreplaceable of course. Nopony was irreplaceable. But Notary deserved a level of consideration above and beyond any of his other servants, given the amount of aid she rendered to him. Only a complete fool wouldn’t seek to protect such a valuable asset.

That was the only reason, he was sure, for the unusual and downright uncomfortable feeling of worry that took root in his gut when he saw the way Viola was silently glaring at Notary as he spoke with her, and not with Viola.

Perhaps it was time he lifted his ban on speaking to her, before she got more volatile.

“Viola,” he said sharply, drawing a startled look from her, “From what distance can you make effective use of your powers?”

Viola’s look of simmering rage from moments ago was instantly replaced by bubbling playfulness as she licked her lips and grinned openly at him, “Oh Greeny pumpkin, I’m an Archer. Distance is inconsequential to me! I could hit the teensy little eye of a flying sparrow from a mile away if I wanted to. Why, are you planning something deliciously nasty for that crusty old fart and his little purple whorse? It better be something good, I don’t want them to go quickly. after humiliating me they deserved to hurt.”

Greengrass held back his urge to groan and kept a level tone, though he caught the way Notary rolled her eyes and had a poorly concealed look of disgust on her face.

“My plan is still forming, Viola, but knowing your range of accuracy will help it take shape. Ideally we can take care of both Sparkles and their Servants without them ever getting a chance to counterattack. I doubt sniping from long range will work, the Everfree is too dense a forest and they will likely be fighting inside the ruins of the castle itself. You won’t get a clear shot. However other opportunities can be created, if we’re clever and creative. If we’re lucky, they’ll defeat each other without us having to do anything ourselves.”

Viola huffed, her impressive wingspan flaring, and she tossed her head, whipping her blonde mane about as she stamped a hoof, “I don’t want them to take each other out! I want to do it myself! I want to make that stiff, impotent old geezer pay for insulting me! I want to rip the insipid smile off of that arrogate nag who calls herself a Princess! It won’t be any fun if it’s not me that does them in! They need to know I beat them! That I win! ME!”

“This isn’t a game,” Notary snapped, “You will not endanger lord Greengrass with any foolish actions. You will do as he says, when he says it.”

Viola’s eyes locked onto Notary like those of a hawk’s about to swoop in on a particular bold and quite foolhardy mouse, and even got so far as to take a menacing step towards the other mare, but Greengrass was between them in an instant. Through Viola was easily taller than the brown earth pony stallion, he managed to stretch up on his legs and get a commanding glare into her face.

“Viola, you have already disappointed me once with behavior unbecoming of my Servant. Do not. Disappoint me. Again.”

While his words were coldly resolute, he punctuated them by raising a hoof to Viola’s cheek and forcing her to look at his eyes. He understood that touch was one of this mare’s weaknesses. She responded more to physical actions than words. If he was going to keep her in control he needed to do more than just threaten her verbally. As awkward as it was, he had to take a different approach with this dangerous Servant of his.

“If you perform well, and behave yourself, I shall be more than willing to deliver rewards fitting a loyal and obedient Servant,” he said, running his hoof down her cheek and underneath her chin, eliciting a soft sigh from her. Her wings stayed outstretched, but rather than fully out and threatening, they fell to a more relaxed state. She wasn’t even glancing Notary’s way now, which was partially the intent on Greengrass’ part. He wasn’t all that interested in “rewarding” Viola just to get her to cooperate, but he had to bring the mare to heel somehow, and this seemed to work. Distasteful as it was. Mostly. She was rather soft. Psychotic, though, which did ruin some of the appeal.

“Oooh, Greeny, my kuddly wuddly little bed bear, keep that up and I’ll happily listen to whatever you have to say. But I do want to play with the old sorcerer and his pet master. I get bored if I have to sit and watch.”

She’d leaned into his touch, and he, reluctantly, continued to stroke her chin and neck to keep her pacificed. He glanced at Notary, who was giving him a look of carefully schooled neutrality. Anypony looking at her would think she was a white marble statue. Greengrass knew Notary well enough to understand she wasn’t comfortable with the situation. He gave her a small nod of dismissal; saying without words that she was free to go until he called upon her again.

Before she left she mouthed the words, ‘watch your back’, and she turned and left without saying a thing. Once again he was struck by how grateful he was to have somepony like her in his employ, and wished he had a better way to compensate her for her efforts rather than the slim protection of running interference between her and Viola.

“Do not worry, Viola,” he said to his Servant, “It seems we both enjoy participating in the game personally. I sincerely doubt that before this matter is finished you won’t have your chance to play in your own, unique way.”

He took his hoof away and fixed her with a hard look, “If you do as I say.”

----------

Canterlot was now bathed in the light of Luna’s moon, the city sounding remarkable quiet and subdued to Trixie, who was used to the city coming to life in the night in a way few cities did. It was like the ponies of Canterlot were all holding their breaths to see what might happen next, what manner of threat had arrived in their fair capital.

After some discussion with her friends Trixie hadn’t had too much trouble convincing them to at least come with her to Canterlot. Obligations like jobs could be put on hold temporarily, and nopony could argue Lyra would recover better under the care of Canterlot’s best doctors and with the attention of the Princess herself. Luna had personally seen to transporting Lyra safely to Canterlot, using her magic to make the trip as safe and comfortable for the wounded mare as possible, and bringing Bon Bon along for the teleport. Trixie and the others had proceeded to Canterlot via train after wrapping up loose ends in Ponyville. Fluttershy would stay at Carrot Top’s farm, with the intent to return to her cottage the next morning, Carrot Top herself staying with the pegasus until then and she would join Trixie and the others at Canterlot later. So Trixie, Raindrops, Ditzy, and Cheerilee had ridden the train, with the addition of Dinky, whom Ditzy refused to leave behind for obvious reasons, and Berserker... who Ditzy seemed to have control of for now, but had certainly caused some stir until Ditzy convinced the griffin to dematerialize the same way Sungleam could, entering a spirit form to stay hidden. The griffin hadn’t liked it from the rumbling growl he’d given but Ditzy’s firm insistence had won through.

Once arriving in Canterlot they were met with a small escort of Royal Guard and Night Guard both, who showed the mares to the palace. Trixie had watched her friends get situated in guest quarters first before joining Luna in the throne room. Bon Bon would be staying with Lyra at the Royal Canterlot Hospital, where a squad of Night Guard also stood careful watch over the fallen Element of Loyalty. Ditzy let Berserker rematerialize once they were safe inside their guest quarters, and last Trixie had seen of the giant griffin he’d been curled up at the foot of Dinky Doo’s bed like Cerberus himself at the gates of Tartarus. Trixie hoped Ditzy could keep the griffin under control. A rampage through the castle was not something she wanted to deal with right now.

Through the day’s events had left her with a wavering appetite Trixie had eaten her fill quickly, sharing a meal with the Princess in the throne room itself. The day had been grueling to say the least and it’d felt good to finally be able to relax a bit. More than that, it was good just to be in Luna’s presence. Even the most outrageous of situations seemed less daunting when one was sharing space with a alicorn who’d lived for thousands of years and controlled the movements of the sun and moon.

Still, the Grail War was pretty outrageous, as events went, and Trixie was less than thrilled to learn Luna’s part in it all.

“So let me get this straight,” she said, finishing off a scone and washing it down with a huge gulp of mulberry wine, “You and Corona, being whacky wild teenage alicorns, decided to rub horns and just pump all of your power into one sun-damned cup, and didn’t even start to think something was wrong with it until it started eating ponies souls!?”

Luna took in a deep breath, sipping some spiced tea, before saying, “That is an entirely abbreviated way of putting it, but... yes, basically. The Grail at first granted wishes, and made ponies happy. We thought we’d made something wonderful. We didn’t realize the problem until the Grail was already corrupted beyond fixing.”

“Yeah, yeah I get that, but how?” Trixie waved her hooves about over her head frantically, “How did it get all messed up? And why am I now stuck in a historical figures battle royale!? I came here hoping you’d have answers that’d clear things up, not make it all sound more convoluted and weird!”

“The short answer is; I don’t know,” Luna said levelly, setting her tea down and giving Trixie a sympathetic smile, “‘Tia and I never figured out just what corrupted the Grail. Perhaps it started corrupt to begin with and was just able to hide its nature from us until it’d already consumed many victims. As for the reason behind the Grail War, well, that’s more the Pact Magic Celestia and I used to seal the Grail away, I would think.”

“Uh-huh, okay, great, so what’s Pact Magic?” Trixie asked, propping her chin on a hoof and taking another long pull of win, using her magic to refill the glass, much to a disapproving look from Luna.

Screw your disapproval, Trixie thought, You owe me half the booze in Equestria for getting me and my friends mixed up in your old dirty laundry. After the day I had, you’re lucky I’m only taking one bottle.

“Pact Magic is... how do I put this? It is one of the fundamental magics of the world,” Luna said, eyes going distant, almost glassy. Trixie had seen the look before on her ancient mentor. It was a look that said Luna’s mind was going back to years so long gone that Trixie’s mind would have difficulty fathoming how one could even have the barest glimmer of memory. Many ponies thought Luna was just a few thousand years old. Trixie knew, or at least seriously suspected, Luna’s age could be measured in five or six digits instead of four.

“There was a time when magic was more powerful in the world than it is today, if you can imagine that, Trixie,” Luna said solemnly, “A time when magic could shape continents. Where ideas and form were one and the same. When dreams walked as reality. Trixie, you possess a primal connection to the Element of Magic, and you’ve felt what that kind of power is like, if only in passing as the Element used you as a conduit. Imagine, for a moment, that the magic of the Elements was just one expression of power from an age that was rife with hundreds of such powers. Pact Magic is such a power, such a magic.”

“Wait wait wait, you’re saying its a form of magic on par with the Elements of Harmony?” Trixie asked incredulously.

“On par is the wrong phrase, the wrong way, to think about it. It is magic from the same... nature, as the Elements of Harmony. Rather than magic that manipulates the laws of the world, it is magic that created the laws of a world. Specifically Pact Magic is the fundamental magic of forming a contract. You might even consider it the manifestation of the concept of contracts, of binding agreements.”

Trixie took a second to wrap her head around that, and wasn’t entirely sure she did, opting instead to drink more wine, enjoying the warm buzz. “How did you and Corona get your hooves on this Pact Magic, and if you knew how to use it back then, why don’t you use it now? Corona could’ve used it against my friends and me during the Longest Night Celebration, right?.”

Luna shook her head, “You assume we had anything close to a full understanding and command of Pact Magic. We didn’t. Trixie, it is a very long story you’re asking me to abridge for you. ‘Tia and I didn’t discover Pact Magic in a day, when the Grail abruptly and suddenly turned evil. This was a series of events that spanned several centuries. The Grail gradually became corrupt and dark, slowly started to consume the good hearts of the ponies that worshiped it as a holy artifact. ‘Tia and I fought a war against the Grail and its corrupted servants, and it was from that war that the technique of summoning Servants was created. When we discovered we couldn’t destroy the Grail with our own power we had to seek other options. It took over a hundred years of research and delving to glean the barest concepts of what Pact Magic was and how we might use it to bind the Grail. Another century just to piece together one spell of binding to use against the Grail. Pact Magic is very specific, Trixie. One spell only applies to one circumstance or situation, with specific and set limits on what manner of contract is formed.”

Luna stood and slowly walked towards one of the stained glass windows of the throne room, one that depicted an image of the sun and moon both under the control of a caricature of the dusky blue alicorn.

“The casting of that spell took all that my sister and I had, and left us drained and weak for decades afterward. Even then, the spell we managed required, by its nature, certain stipulations. It’s a contract after all, it requires stipulations and conditions. The Grail would be sealed in a void beyond our world, but only for a set span of time. Then, it would be allowed one opportunity to return.”

Trixie groaned, rubbing her head, “Right, right, and that’s this stupid Grail War. Why do we have to fight it, again?”

“Because, regardless of what the result of the Grail’s return is,” said Sungleam, who’d been silently standing like a sentinel by the throne, watching Luna and Trixie dine and talk until now, “We Servants will be compelled to fight. Berserker is merely the most extreme example, but all of us will feel the need to battle one another. Even if you ordered me not to do battle indefinitely, master, it wouldn’t matter. The compulsion will only get worse the longer time goes on.”

Trixie pursed her lips, almost pouting, “So, what? We just play this out until one of us, and I use the term loosely, “win” the Grail War. Then this horribly evil and powerful artifact shows up and resumes its soul eating buffet. I’m not seeing the incentive here to keep fighting. Even if it does grant a wish it doesn’t sound like the results going to be all that beneficial when coming from a source of incomprehensible evil.”

“The Grail still grants wishes, that much is true,” Luna said, “It never ceased doing so, even when it turned ponies into... things best left undescribed as a result. The reason it had so many followers even in its evil was that it was so free in granting others power, even at terrible price.”

“The wish the Grail grants is genuine,” Sungleam said, “That much I know. The rules of the Pact placed upon the Grail forces it to do so for the victor of the Grail War. Afterward, the Grail will be free to do as it pleases, but before that, it must grant the victorious master and Servant whatever their heart desires. Regardless, I would still fight in this war. The Grail will manifest itself, no matter which of us win. But if the right pony wins, we will be in the best position to destroy the Grail, which is my true aim in this.”

“Destroy it?” Trixie asked, pointing at Luna, “Luna just said she and Celestia combined couldn’t pull that off. What exactly would we do to it?”

Sungleam held her head higher, smiling confidently, “Does my master not recall she is part of a power older and stronger than the Grail?”

Luna nodded, sharing the knight’s smile, “Indeed, your Servant has hit upon the idea I intended to put to you, Trixie, regardless of who wins the Grail War, the Grail will appear in this world, and attempt to use its power to resume harming the people of this world. Back then Celestia and I lacked the power to stop it, not until we resorted to a primal power like Pact Magic. But now we have the Elements of Harmony. They, I’m certain, can destroy the Grail.”

Trixie hung her head, running a hoof over her mane, “Great plan, except right now my friends and I can’t use the Elements. Ditzy, remember?”

“I do,” Luna said with a solemn nod, “We can only seek a way to restore the Element of Kindness to her proper state of mind before the Grail War ends. If you defeat her Berserker Servant that alone may do the trick.”

“I agree,” said Sungleam, eagerly stepping forward, “Allow me to battle Berserker! In defeating her Servant, young Miss Ditzy Doo will be free from the maddening influence of her connection to him.”

Trixie was hesitant. While the logic of that plan was sound, she didn’t think Ditzy would take it very well. So far she’d shown nothing but sympathy for the hulking griffin. Trixie was sure Ditzy would fight back, hard, perhaps as bad as she had when those foolish gangsters had foalnapped Dinky. A fight with Berserker and Ditzy would be... ugly. Trixie knew it. And wanted to put it off as long as possible.

She felt a soft nuzzle on her cheek and blinked, looking up at Luna as the alicorn drapped a wing over her, and spoke in a gentle whisper, “It shall be alright, Trixie. I shall see to assisting Ditzy Doo in other ways first. Friends should not be forced to battle like this any more than family should. For now, you can put these heavy thoughts aside. Here in Canterlot you are as safe as I can make you, and your friend’s needs shall be attended.”

“I know,” Trixie said with a grateful sigh, “I know. Just... been a day. Been one, really, long, eventful day.”

“Then sleep, my little pony,” Luna said, pushing Trixie along with a wing, “Sleep, and I promise you this night will be a good, restful slumber.”

Trixie nodded, “Don’t have to tell me twice to hit the hay. How about you Sungleam? Do Servants even sleep?”

Sungleam smiled slightly, through Trixie could tell the knight was still tense from the way her ears stayed sto still and perked, like a watchdog listening for intruders, “We can go a long time without sleep, but our bodies do benefit from rest. I shall join you soon, master, but with your permission, and with the leave of her majesty, I would like to stay and speak with you Princess Luna, if only briefly?”

Luna gave Sungleam a curious glance but smiled warmly, “I do not mind at all. Trixie?”

Trixie waved a hoof, “I think I can make it to my room alive. Knock yourself out Sungleam. Just don’t keep the Princess up all night. Poor mare needs her beauty sleep too. You’d never know it by looking at her but she can’t maintain that complexion and luminous mane if she misses too much shut eye. You ever seen an alicorn with bed-head? Not a pretty sight-hey!”

She nimbly dodged the seat cushion of the throne which Luna had flung her way, the alicorn imperiously snorting as she said, “Oh begone already you slanderous mare! I’ll have you know I maintain this beauty naturally, and I do not get ‘bed-head’!”

“Sure, sure, good night Princess Bed-Head.”

“I can inject nightmares into your brain.”

“Point taken. Good night.”

“Good night, Trixie.”

More than anything the incredulous look of utter bemusement on Sungleam’s face was totally worth it in Trixie’s mind as she chuckled, striding out of the throne room.

----------

Sungleam took a calming breath once her master was out of sight. She could still feel Trixie’s presence through their bond, and her senses remained alert to that sensation. The moment she felt any kind of distress from Trixie she’d immediately move to assist, and she didn’t really like letting her master walk alone anywhere, but she couldn’t ignore an opportunity to speak to Luna personally. Alone. Trixie wouldn’t understand.

“So, Dame Sungleam, what did you wish to speak to me about?” Princess Luna asked, adopting a more formal tone and manner, far more guarded than the openness and affection displayed towards Trixie just a minute earlier. Sungleam steadied herself, doing her best to meet the Princess of the Night’s gaze.

“Princess Luna, I apologize if this is being too forward, but I can seek answers from no other on this matter,” Sungleam said in a tone that almost wavered as anxiousness threatened to creep out into her voice, “I must ask... Princess Celestia... is she truly as gone from the grace she once possessed as the legends of this era claim?”

At Luna’s long, painfully drawn out silence Sungleam pressed on, “I only ask because I feel I must, if I can, help my Princess! I am sworn to her, Princess Luna! She is my... everything. If there is anything I might do to bring Princess Celestia back from the brink of whatever darkness clouds her, I will do it! So tell me, please, I beseech thee, is Princess Celestia beyond the grasp of those who’d seek to help her?”

Luna’s eyes were unblinking blue pools, like a still lake, and Sungleam started to fear she’d gone to far as to ask this of the Princess, but at last Luna closed her eyes with a pained tightness around the edges of her features. When she spoke it was with a voice of calm, trembling with a hint of pain both old and new.

“The Elements of Harmony themselves could not cure my sister of her madness. My words have not reached her. I do not know, Knight of the Sun, what might reach my sister. If indeed, she even is my sister any longer. There are traces of Celestia hidden beneath the wrathful flames of Corona... but what, if any, chance there is of her recovering who she was in the past, I cannot say.”

“Surely there must be something that can be done?” Sungleam said.

“If there is, I do not know what it may be,” Luna said, shaking her head, looking at Sungleam with a sympathetic gaze, “The Princess you swore yourself to may never be as she was, and I cannot risk the well being of the ponies both Celestia and I swore our own lives to protect on the small chance she could be saved. When the time comes for me to face Corona again, the Elements of Harmony as well, it will come once more to banishment, I fear.”

“There must be another option,” Sungleam insisted, “Perhaps the Grail-”

“No. Not the Grail. Even if it is compelled by the Pact to grant a wish, I would not trust it to cure my sister of her madness,” Luna said with stone firmness, “Put that notion from your mind, Dame Sungleam.”

Sungleam stiffened her posture, “The Grail may be evil, but its power is unquestionable. It could work.”

“You will not use the Grail’s power,” Luna said, taking a single step forward that held the threat and command of all the ancient alicorn’s royal authority could produce, the single echo of her hoof striking the throne room floor sounding louder than a dragon’s roar, “If you and Trixie win, the Grail’s wish should not be used. Our sole purpose should be to use the Elements of Harmony on the manifested Grail and destroying it. Do you understand me?”

Sungleam’s response was not immediate, but she did, slowly, bow her head, though her expression was locked in a steely grimace, “As you command. I am sworn to Princess Celestia, but as a Knight of Equestria I must recognize your command, Princess.”

The words were said stiffly, as if each one had needed to be dragged from Sungleam’s lips. Princess Luna nodded once, curtly.

“That is settled then. Was there anything else you wished to ask me, Dame Sungleam?”

“No. You answered what I wished. I shall take my leave, and see to guarding my master for the night.”

“Do so,” Luna said with her expression softening, “Sungleam, I do thank you, for all you’ve done for Trixie thus far. Please, continue to protect her and her friends. She shall need all the strength you can grant her in the battles to come. She is not a pony suited to the battlefield, and I cannot stress enough to you to be watchful of her. Trixie is... important to me.”

Sungleam’s own stiff postured relaxed, and with the issue of Celestia put on the shelf for now she could at least give Luna a more genuine smile as she said, “You need not fear on that count, your majesty. I shall serve my master with the devotion of a knight, and see her through this storm until the end. I give you my solemn oath.”

“An oath I know I can trust. I remember you, Sungleam, from those days you served my sister. She spoke of you...” Luna paused, looking away, “She always spoke of you fondly. Your death pained her greatly.”

Sungleam felt her mouth dry, and a quaver pass through her, as she suddenly found the floor very interesting, “Is that so? I had wished to tell her how sorry I was, for... for disobeying her that day. For not heeding her counsel. I felt it right, but I did not want to cause her such pain.”

“You did what you felt you must. I do not think Celestia was truly angry at you for what you did, but more that she was angry at herself for not being able to protect her little ponies. Or you.”

Sungleam shook her head, “She should not place that burden of protecting others solely upon her own shoulders. The purpose of a knight is to share the weight of protecting the realm with the ruler. It is an ideal worth the risk to our lives. I paid a price I was well aware that I might one day pay when I swore my knightly oaths. I do not regret that.”

“But Celestia did,” Luna said, “She regretted the death of every pony under her rule, but I know yours was particularly hard for her. She had high hopes for the life you would live, and to see you fall, while still so young...”

Sungleam took that with a somber silence, giving Luna a final, grateful bow before she departed the throne room, dematerializing and entering her spirit form, her physical form vanishing in a mist of gold motes of light. Sungleam noticed Luna was still watching her, even in her insubstantial form, the alicorn’s senses attuned to magic in ways few other beings were. Sungleam quickly departed the throne room, going through the walls and ceiling, using her insubstantial state to quickly catch up to where she sensed Trixie to be.

----------

The guest rooms of the castle were as luxurious as some of the most expensive hotels in Equestria, and Trixie certainly enjoyed the notion of wrapping herself up in the fluffy, giant bed that awaited her. Her friends were sharing what was basically one massive apartment, with multiple bedrooms connection to a central lounge.

Trixie found that Cheerilee and Raindrops were both still awake in the lounge when she arrived, the former reclining on the soft rug before a massive fireplace where a toasty fire was currently burning, and the later pacing back and forth between a pair of couches.

“Hey there,” Cheerilee said, perking up at Trixie’s entry, “Things go well with Luna?”

“Where’s your Servant?” Raindrops asked, wings twitching.

“Talking with Luna went about as well as I expected. We’re going to sit on things for a bit, before planning our next move. Right now Captain Shining Armor has an issue with his sister to deal with, and Luna doesn’t want us doing anything until that’s resolved. Can’t say I disagree, as I’m dead tired. Now, Sungleam, I don’t know, she wanted to talk with Luna alone.”

Raindrops frowned, “Not safe walking around with her near you Trixie. You need to be more careful.”

“Relax Raindrops, we’re as safe as we can be here in the palace. Luna herself is here, and the place is crawling with Night Guard. Besides, Ditzy’s got her Servant. Doubt he’d let anything sneak up on us,” Trixie said, falling into one of the couches, as willing to sleep there as anywhere else.

Cheerilee coughed, “Yeah, uh, about that, Raindrops, you want to tell her or should I?”

Trixie groaned, rolling over on the cough and throwing her hooves out, “Tell me what!? No! Don’t wanna hear it! Trixie is going to bed! All disasters can wait until morning!”

“Its not a disaster,” Raindrops said, “Ditzy just took her griffin for a walk.”

“A walk?” Trixie asked slowly, looking at the jasmine pegasus mare with an exasperated rise in her voice.

“Apparently the Incredible Griff caught a whiff of something he didn’t like, and Ditzy decided to take for a flight around the block,” Cheerilee said with a shrug, “That was about twenty minutes ago and they’re not back yet.”

Trixie closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, suddenly wishing she’d brought along another bottle of mulberry wine, or perhaps something stronger, “Well, that’s not necessarily bad. The Night Guard and Royal Guard know to give Berserker his space, and Ditzy’s about as safe as she can be with him next to her. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

She paused, frowning, looking around. Raindrops gave her a curious look.

“What?”

“Nothing, just... the way I said that I kind of expected there to be an ominous explosion or scream in the distance to punctuated it. Just the way my luck’s been today.”

“I think you’ve used up your bad luck for the day,” said Cheerilee, and moved her tail to reveal a bottle of wine she had concealed under it, “Anyway, snagged this from the kitchen earlier. Want to share it, and then proceed to crash?”

Trixie smiled, “Cheerilee, you are a goddess among mares.”

“I try. Raindrops?”

“You two have fun with the drinks, I think I’m just going to go back to impotently pacing.”

Trixie looked at Raindrops, waving a hoof towards one of the bedrooms, “You ought to rest too.”

“I will. Just can’t while I’m this tightly wound. Was thinking of exercising some to let off steam but...” she trailed off, looking embarrassed, “Kind of feels weird to do that in a room this nice.”

“Pfft, who cares? Move some furniture and go to town,” said Cheerilee, “Nopony’s going to judge you for scuffing the floor up a bit.”

Raindrops paused, looking thoughtful, then with a small shrug she moved over to start pulling one of the couches up against a wall to make some space while Cheerilee and Trixie poured drinks for themselves. As Raindrops started to do some wing-ups, Trixie let herself sink back into the couch, feeling relaxed.

For once, it seemed like nothing was going to go wrong.

She almost fell asleep by the time she heard the distant but distinct sound of an explosion, and the windows of the apartment rattled a second later. Trixie, who had put a pillow over her face to block out the light from the fire, groaned and threw the pillow as she rose.

“C’est vraiment des conneries!” she spat, “Now what!?”

Cheerilee was already at the window, with Raindrops nearby, standing tense and at the ready as if expecting a threat to appear right then and there in their room.

“Can’t see very well,” said Cheerilee, “But it looks like a fire among the noble estates just outside the castle grounds. Can’t make anything else out.”

“Master!” Sungleam appeared, manifesting in a shimmer of gold light next to Trixie.

“Sungleam, do you know what’s happening,” Trixie asked as she staggered off the couch.

“Not precisely,” Sungleam said, looking towards the window, “I sense Berserker’s mana, but that’s only because his is so strong. He must be fighting another Servant, however, as nothing else would set him off.”

Trixie ignored the sudden headache stabbing into her head, “Alright, Cheerilee, Raindrops, stay here and keep an eye on Dinky. Sungleam, let’s get going.”

“Wait!” Raindrops said, stepping in front of Trixie, “One of us should go with you.”

“Sorry Raindrops, but not this time,” Trixie said, brushing past the pegasus, “I can’t risk any of you out there.”

“Trixie,” said Cheerilee, “Maybe you should bring Raindrops at least...”

“Its not a debate,” said Raindrops, “I’m coming with you.”

Trixie halted, Raindrops still between her and the door. From one of the rooms she heard Dinky Doo suddenly speak.

“What’s going on? Where's momma? Where’s Mister Yuri?”

All the mares in the room turned to look at Dinky standing in the open doorway to her room, looking sleepy and confused. Trixie looked back at Raindrops, her face flushed.

“Raindrops, please, stay here with Dinky. I’ll go take care of things.”

Raindrops frowned deeply, and Trixie could hear muscles tightening in the pegasus all through her body, “Trixie... I... can’t let you go alone.”

Trixie slowly hung her head, then turned her eyes to Sungleam, communicating her intent with a simple look. “Sungleam, be gentle with her.”

“As you command, my master,” Sungleam said, and just as Raindrops was tilting her head in confusion, Sungleam shot forward, slamming a hoof into Raindrop’s chest with just enough force to knock the air out of the pegasus mare and stun her without doing any real harm.

Raindrops fell to her knees, gasping for breath, and Dinky let out a frightened squeak that made Trixie wince. Cheerilee just stared at her and Trixie fixed the schoolteacher with a look, “Cheerilee, please, watch over them. I’ll be back soon with Ditzy. I promise.”

With that Trixie strode out of the room with Sungleam at her side, wishing for all the world she could apologize to Raindrops, but knowing that she couldn’t have allowed the pegasus to follow her. As much as she hated it, in the battles of the Grail War, Trixie was starting to understand she had to fight them without those she cared about most by her side.

Even if, somewhere deep inside her, she felt like there was something horribly wrong with that thought.