Chapter 1: Intro

This is a story in which the bonds of friendship are torn asunder. The moral of the story is that the cost to open a portal to Equestria is simply too much for any brony.

After the fifth Holy Grail war it was thought that that Holy Grail had been dismantled for good, but little did anyone know that due to the meteoric rise in popularity of a certain little girls cartoon, the Grail would persist, but would move to a new location. This new grail is more limited than the Holy Grail of Fuyuki, however. Instead of any wish, it can only grant one: to let one person be transported to Equestria to live out the rest of their days in friendship and harmony. And no longer was the Grail connected to the heroes of the world. Instead, the Grail could only summon 7 ponies, and only once. There would be no Seventh Holy Grail War.

Truly the Grail is more limited in scope now. But the passions of bronies are more than enough to fill the Grail in pursuit of that one wish.

***

In the city of Vancouver, Leth stood up from his work. On the floor of his hotel room he finished painting the summoning circle. Several weeks prior, hundreds of bronies the world over had dreamt the instructions to draw the circle, and the incantation to summon the pony most aligned to themselves. Then, for the rest of the night, those bronies had dreamt of slaughter and blood and murder; brutal nightmares detailing the battle royale necessary to grant every brony's one wish: to live in Equestria.

Most bronies couldn't stomach the brutality of their dreams, and so had not traveled to Vancouver to seek their fortunes. Some, though, had posted their dream online and inspired the braver bronies to travel to Vancouver to risk their lives in pursuit of the Dream. Leth had been one of those who read of the Dream online.

Leth pondered just what the fuck he was doing for a minute, gazing at the arcs and lines of the summoning circle. He'd left his cozy basement to come to this foreign land in pursuit of an impossible dream, one that more than likely couldn't be fulfilled anyway. After seeing it spammed on 4chan's /mlp/ board for weeks, he had finally read about the Dream and was unable to get it out of his mind since. The allure was simply too great to pass up. But...

Putting that out of his mind, he girded his loins and prepared for the incantation. He checked the time and was sure to account for Daylight Savings Time. As the clock reached exactly midnight, he began to speak the new words of power that would summon his Servant for the upcoming battle. That is, if this wasn't some stupid meme hoax.

For just a moment, as he sang the song of summoning, he thought he could smell fresh spring air...

(song)
MY LITTLE PONY
DA DADADA DA DA
MY LITTLE PONY
FRRIIEEENNDDDDD

And then the power went out in the whole hotel. "Shit" swore Leth. "Can't see anything. Where's the window..." As he moved toward the window he managed to take one step before bumping into something soft at waist height.

"Oof. What..." Before Leth could finish his thought the hotel's power came back on. Good old Canadian engineering. And suddenly he was looking down into a quiet yellow pony's eyes.

"Are... you my master?" She broke his gaze as she said this, mumbling at the end. Leth stared at her for a full minute, before remembering to breathe. The whole time she just looked at the floor, occasionally sneaking peaks at the strapping young man towering over her.

"Ah, I guess. I didn't think that would actually work." Leth took a step back and sat on the bed, causing the springs to squeak a bit. Things were now suddenly much more complicated than explaining to the hotel manager why he'd felt the need to paint on the hotel room floor. There were secrets to keep, and a war to win.

"Master." The yellow pegasus gathered her nerve and forced herself to look Leth in the eye. "My name is Saber. And I'll be fighting for you in this Holy Grail War."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Leth sighed. "So you say your name is Saber?" He had to be sure. If she knew, if she knew what she would be doing over the next two weeks, he was prepared to drop out of the War right now and pretend nothing had happened.

"Yes, you can call me Saber. I've been summoned to fight in the Holy Grail War as the Saber class Servant. I don't currently remember my life outside the War, but I've been promised that my wish will be fulfilled if I win."

Again, Leth sighed. "Alright then. Saber. You can take the bed for tonight and I'll just sleep in the chair." He got up, walked past Saber, and sat down in the chair.

"Oh, Master, you don't have to do that, I can just sleep on the floor. Or even better, I should secure the hotel in case there are other Servants nearby."

"Don't worry about it, F- Saber. Nothing's going to happen tonight. Just, take the bed. I have some thinking to do."

Saber reluctantly hopped onto the bed, uncomfortable with the idea of forcing her Master to spend the night in the chair, yet unwilling to contradict his wishes. She settled in for the night, pulling the covers over her flank with her teeth. “Goodnight, my Master” she said as Leth reached over to turn off the lights.

“Goodnight... Saber”

***

On the other side of the city !SMILe stood on the rooftop, gazing out at the lights of the city spread before him. Although his face was covered in shadow, one could just make out a smirk on his handsome face. He bent down and put the finishing touches on his own summoning circle. As he did, he missed the lights of one hotel flicker out.

“Yes...” !SMILe muttered as he straightened his back, turning away from the circle and towards the city. “Time to smile smile smile...”

He took a deep breath and

MY LITTLE PONY
DA DADADA DA DA
MY LITTLE PONY
FRRIIEEENNDDDDD

The song of summoning echoed over the city, fading into the normal noises of Vancouver. As the last echoes died, !SMILe heard a snicker behind him.

“Hahaha, are you my Master?”

He turned to look at the bouncing pink pony before him. She could barely contain her energy as she bounced up and down inside the summoning circle.

!SMILe smiled at that. “Yeah, I guess I am. And you are?”

“I'm Archer. Let's get this party started!”

Peals of laughter echoed over the city as Master and Servant formally sealed their contract.

***

“No, Master, please! Stop!”

There was nowhere left to back away to for the white pony as her back bumped against the wall. She flinched at her master's rage.

“RIDER! How could you be RIDER! That is the LAST Servant I wanted to summon! Why are YOU Rider?!” The angry man continued to throw anything in his reach about the room. Chairs, boxes of DVDs, figurines, anything he was strong enough to lift.

She yelped as the corner of a book hit her in the head. She was more confused and scared than worried for her physical well-being. After introducing herself to her Master and revealing her class for the upcoming Grail War, her Master had flown into a rage.

“You've ruined EVERYTHING! I'll never win the Grail with RIDER. I'll be lucky if you don't get me killed! Dammit!”

The poor Servant started to shiver as her Master burned through his rage. It would be a long Grail War for Rider.