Chapter 1: Welcome to the Holy Grail War Day 1
- awakening/binary pony heaven
The mare of the everyday slough off.
A war between magi.
The wheel of fate turns.
Weak one, temper your sword.
and defend the value of your life.
1st week
The first selection
Combatants Remaining: 128
(Morning)
"Ugh.....my head....what the hell hit me?"
Anna awoke to find herself inside a small room that looked like a room that resembles a school, and judging by the looks of it she can tell that it was ment to be for either High school or Elementary school students. Anna tried to pull herself up from the floor, but was having a bit a trouble getting up due to the pain she felt all over her body. "Man why do I feel like I fell off of something?" She mutterd to herself. "Oh well might as well wait a few so the pain can subside." A few hours have passed as she decided to try and pick herself up again. So far waiting did paid off as she was about to get herself up, and look over herself for any injuries. Upon looking at herself Anna was wearing shining silvery armor, with an old styled dress made from old fashioned blue cloth. Stuck in her side was her sword encased in a blue & yellow sheath.
Just as she finish inspecting herself she decided to scan the room to see if anyone else was inside the room. To her surprise she saw someone sitting in a desk with her head down on the desk. "Huh guess I'm not the only one here?" Anna waked towards the person sleeping at the desk, as she made it to the desk she began to lightly tap the girls shoulder to wake her up. "Hey kid you ok?" There was no response.
"Hey come on kid can you hear me?" Still no response. "Really?," *Sigh* "Welp time for plan B." Anna walked over to the teachers desk and pulled out a paper bag. "If this doesn't wake her up, then I'll just have to shake her like a rag doll." Anna started to blow air into the paper bag to the point where it was full of air. She lowered the bag near the little girls head and slammed it in her hand. *BOOM!!!*
"GAH!" Said the little girl as she fell out of her seat and onto the floor. "Ow! Who the hay did that?"
"That would be me kid," Said Anna still holding the remains of the paper bag. "Sorry had to wake you up some how."
"Well you could of just tap me on the shoulder at least?"
"I did, but you fell back to sleep so I used the old paper bag trick."
"Still you could of......Wait where are we, and who or what are you?" Asked the girl with lavender hair.
"Well to answer your first question we are in a classroom of some sort, and to your second question my name is Anna Rosencaster and I'm........huh."
"What's wrong?" Asked the girl with lavender hair.
".....I can't remember anything else really, only my name and some basic stuff." Explained Anna.
"Do you have amnesia or something?"
"Maybe but I"ll worry about that later, until then care to tell me who you are kid?"
"Oh my name is Sweetie Belle." She said extending her hand towards Anna. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Rosencaster."
"Please call me Anna." She in turn extended her hand and shook Sweetie Belle's hand. "So care to tell me how you got here?"
Sweetie Belle paused for a moment to think of a response to Anna's question. "I don't really know myself. One minute I fell asleep in class during Ms.Cherliee's lecture, and the next minute I know I was woken up by you in a empty classroom."
"Great guess were both in this weird empty classroom with no knowledge of how we got here." Anna thought to herself. "Ok kid how about we go exploring then? No use in just sit here and wait for something to happen right?"
Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement with what Anna said, and got up from her seat. "You think we're the only one's here?"
"Maybe but we won't know until we find out." Anna & Sweetie Belle made their way to the door of the class. Sweetie Belle reached for the door handle to open it, but to her surprise it didn't move. "Huh? Why isn't the knob moving?" She said putting more force on the door knob.
"Let me try if you don't mind?" Asked Anna, as Sweetie Belle let go of the knob. Anna tried to turn the door knob herself, but the knob wouldn't move or turn even the slightest. "Well that's odd, why is the door lock? Shouldn't the lock be on the inside then the outside?"
"That's because I'm the one preventing you from going outside of the room."
Anna & Sweetie Belle were taken by surprise by the mysterious voice in the room they were in, as they looked around to see where the voice was coming from. "Did you here that?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah but where did it come from that's the question?" Replied Anna.
"Oh were are my manners let me introduce myself." A flash of light filled the room as the due cover their eye from the brightness of the light. As the light started to fade away there was a women sitting onto of the teachers desk. The women was wearing the same kind of clothing and armor as Anna, only that the clothing under the armor is navy blue then royal blue.
"My name is Joan of Arc, but I perfer it if you call me Ruler if that's to much trouble." Asked Ruler.
"Ok "Ruler" care to explain why you're keeping the door closed on us?" Asked Anna.
"Well that's because I'm here to Welcome you both to the Holy Grail War silly." She replied.
"The Holy Grail what?"Said Sweetie Belle.
"The Holy Grail War duh, I mean really haven't you two heard about it?" Anna & Sweetie Belle looked at each other then back at Ruler shaking there heads no. "Ugh great I was hoping to make this introduction short, sweet, and simple, but it looks like I have to explain it to you both." *Ahem* Ruler pulled out a book that says "Holy Grail War rules for dummies." "Welcome new master and new servant to the Holy Grail War. Here you will be fighting other masters in the to obtain the the most powerful object that all humans crave for, the holy grail."
"What's so special about this "Holy grail?" Asked Anna.
"I'm getting to that hold on," Turns to the next page in the book. "The Holy Grail if you were to get it at the end of this war, will grant you one and only one wish.' Turns the page again. "In order to obtain said grail you must defeat and win all 7 rounds each week."
"Really that it? Well that shouldn't be that hard right?" Said Anna.
"If you had experience in a war yeah, but seeing how you two are new I kinda have my doubts." Both Anna & Sweetie Belle looked at Ruler with annoyed/angry look on their faces. "What? I'm just saying."
"Just continue reading the rules please." Said Anna. "Cause I doubt you want to get your ass handed to you by knight like me, and a girl with a horn on her head?"
"Good point I'll keep reading." She said while turning the next page in her book. "Anyway, during each week you will have 7 days to prepare yourself before the fight. Which means you'll have to train your asses of, gather info on your opponent, plan out your battle tactics, and gather two trigger cards each week before the match."
"Trigger code cards? What are those?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"They are what you need in order to enter the coliseum at the end of the week for you match," Said Ruler. "but just because your following the rules your opponent won't."
"What do you mean, doesn't everypony follow the rules?"
"Those with honor yes, but there will be others who will do whatever it takes to win the war."
"Don't you ever punish the cheaters or something?" Asked Anna.
"It's a war/tournament sweetie the rules I'm telling are the only rules that we have, well that and don't cheat the SE.RE.PH system."
"What were to happen if somepony did?"
Ruler shivered at what happen the last time some one was foolish enough to cheat the SE.RE.PH system. "Let's just say it didn't end well for that said person." There was an awkward silence in the room, until Anna spoke up.
"So anything else we need to know?"
"Well besides the basic stuff, the room that you two are in is your room of operation/sleeping quarters. There's a church outside next to the nurses room where you can increase your servant states, and there's also a store where you can by food, items, and gear for healing, support, and offense magic to help your servant in battle or in the up coming match." Ruler put away the rule book for dummies, and pulled out a bow with a ribbon on it. "Here's your house warming gift."
Items inside:
Portable Terminal
Ether Shard x 10
Remedy x 5
Fortune key
Raises Servant's luck
Phoenix Scarf
Slightly heals Servant's HP
20,000 Funds
Holy Grail War rules for dummies
"Wow all this for us?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"Yep normally I wouldn't do this for humans, but seeing how your a the first pony to ever attended the holy grail war. I'll bend the rules a bit seeing how it mostly applies to humans."
"Wait she's a pony? I thought she was some kid with skin condition or something?" She said to herself.
"Welp seeing how I'm done explaining the important rules, and what the war is about."
"More like gave us the half ass version of the rules." Anna muttered under her breath.
"I'm gonna go watch the match from the side lines, hope you do well in the first match at the end of the week you two." With that she vanish in to data bits.
"Great looks like the only way out of this war is to the last one standing." She said walking towards the door again to open it. "Oh well we might as well see who we are gonna fight, you coming Sweetie Belle or should I say Master?" Said Anna making Sweetie belle chuckle a bit.
"H-Hey wait up don't leave me behind." Sweetie Belle said following Anna from behind.
(Midday hallway)
When the duo walked outside into the hallway, they were met with many combatants walking throughout the hallway. Some were either the same height as Anna or taller then her. Sweetie belle was examining some of the combatants outfits, most of them have the same color uniform as the other or some wore a different color but still look the same kind of uniform. As the two of them walked down the hallway some of the combatants were looking at Sweetie Belle and Anna, mostly Sweetie Belle due to the fact that she was a walking talking pony that you see on a TV show.
"Everyponies looking at us." Whispered Sweetie Belle.
"Well it could be cause your a pony and all. She whisper back. "Plus your there's the fact that your the only pony in this school."
"Still I don't like the looks they're giving me."
"Hey don't worry, if someone tries to attack you or do something to hurt you I'll protect you."
"Really?"
*"Really. Now come on let's go exploring shall we?" As the two were about to explore the campus of the school they were in. A loud electronic beeping sound was coming from Sweetie Belle's coat pocket. It seem to be the Portable Terminal that she stashed into her pocket. When she removed it from her pocket she could see words displayed on the screen.*
: : The Next combatants will be
announced on the second floor
bulletin board.
"Combatant Announcement?" Said Sweetie Belle wondering what it means.
"It means who we're gonna battle one-on-one with." Said Anna. "Didn't think we would be given one that quickly."
"I Really don't understand this whole holy grail war thing, but we gotta go to the second floor to see who we are up against." Said Sweetie Belle as she grabbed Anna's arm to drag her along. As the two made to the bulletin board they looked to see if they could find Sweetie Belle's name on it. In a matter of seconds they found her name and the opponent she was up against.
Master: Shinji Matou
Battlefield: First Chimeric Lunar Sea
"So...you're suppose to be my first opponent? A fucking pony from a childs TV show?" Said the voice beside them. As the two look to there left they saw a boy with blue wavy hair wearing tan color clothing coming towards them.
"I'm surprised that a technicolor pony like yourself could even manage to qualify. But I guess here, all things are possible. Hey, you might even be the most powerful magus here.
"Um I'm a unicorn not a magus."
"Tsk whatever freak, we're on a different level even though we're different species. But still, I should congratulate you."
"Congratulate me on what?" Sweetie belle asked.
"Being mediocre has its advantages. You get all of these handicaps and whatnot. Keep in mind that this tournament is all about true strength, so don't get too overconfident. And the people who're running this are geniuses. Just look how intense the first round is. Come on, I mean forcing people to give up friendships in order to win? That's pretty insane."
"Why would somepony want to give up friendship for a stupid grail?"
"Because they want the grail to grant there wishes. Oh what a cruel mistress fate can be, right? Even me, the strongest master here, is pained by this." After that little outburst, Shinji puts on a plastic smile he kneels down and pats Sweetie Belle on her shoulder. "Well, let's keep things clean, ok? It's should be a good fight. After all, you're a master too. When we see each other again I won't hold anything back even if you are a little pony. With that Shinji Matou walked off.
"I have to fight him and his servant?" Said Sweetie Belle.
"Seems like it, it's not like we could back out or refuse to fight him. Other wise we would be killed as the rules stated." Said Anna pulling out a min version of the rules book of the holy grail war. "Right here says we have to fight and win all seven rounds in order to leave this place."
"B-But I never killed a pony before, nor could I."
"Well technically they're not ponies they're humans. Also if we don't you won't be able to go home, plus I really don't want to die in this place without knowing who I am really."
No matter how many times Sweetie Belle repeats herself, the meaning of those word "kill" fail to register into her brain. *"Do I have to kill this Shinji person, when I don't even have a clue as to why Anna & I are here?" She thought. *"This whole situation is like a nightmare, if that Shinji fella is making light of the situation, why do I feel like I'm trapped in tartarus."**
(Evening)
As Anna & Sweetie Belle were making there way down stairs after exploring the school campus, they were interrupted by a man with dark brown, wearing a navy dark blue coat. Under neath it was a black shirt with a mix of red at the bottom of his shirt.
"Ah, you must be the pony everyone was talking about." He said kneeling down to her height, "It's odd really I never imagine the holy grail to allow someone like you to enter, but then again anything is possible here."
"Um care to tell us who the hell are you pal?" Asked Anna.
"Oh where are my manners," The man stood up and gave the two girls a bow. "My name if Father Kotomine I'll be telling you some things about the arena before you two in."
"Ok? I guess we could use all the help we could get." Said Anna.
"Earlier, the computer registered that your Primary Trigger has been generated, did it not?" Sweetie Belle pulled out her portable terminal to see the screen saying what Kotomine said. "I'll take that as a yes? Anyway Two Triggers must be retrieved by the end of each week, if you mean to participate in the tournament."
"We know, Ruler told us about that." Said Sweetie Belle.
"OK good know to lay some ground rules about the arena. Combat between masters is prohibited in the arena and on campus at all times.It for some reason a fight occurs, the system will shut it down within a few 3 to 4 minutes. As a penalty, the status of any master caught fighting on campus will be downgraded." After a few minutes of talking Kotomine walks off to the church outside near the garden. As the duo were half way near the arena, they were again stopped by their opponent Shinji.
"Sweetie Belle, going to get the trigger? Well, it sucks to be you. I'm going in right now, too. A little freak like you won't be able to find it, but good luck anyway! Hahaha!" With that Shinji walks of towards the arena leaving two very pissed of girls ready to kill.
"Why that little prick! We can't let the jerk get away with that little insult!" Yelled Anna with he sword in hand.
"Are all people like this or is it just him?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"I hope not cause if they are all jerk the heads will roll." She said sheathing her sword. "If we meet him in the arena I will thoroughly beat some sense into him."
"Let's head off to the arena you need to get some training in before the end of the week."
"That and get the trigger cards so we can fight Shinji as well." Said Anna.
(inside the arena)
Arena Level 04
First Chimeric Lunar Sea
Greed and Lust coming to burst into brilliance,
And lead onward to the sepulcher of the sea.
Upon entering the arena, Anna & Sweetie Belle we're expecting some kind of huge room full of monsters. Well it wasn't far off from what they expect, instead it the arena was like a maze that you would see inside of a video game most likely.
"We better proceed with caution Sweetie Belle, something tells me that little slime ball of a master and his servant are somewhere nearby." Anna said putting a hand on her sword.
"You sure their still her, they could of gotten their trigger cards and left?" Said Sweetie Belle.
"I doubt that, but hey this would be a perfect time to gather some information on him and what his servant is like."
(one long boring exploring/training later)
As the duo continue their training/exploring throughout the arena.They came a cross a certain little master blocking their path preventing them from moving forwards. As Anna & Sweetie Belle walked up towards him, his servant appeared next to him. The servant had redish pink hair, on her face was a huge scar that started from the top right corner of her face, and ends at the lower left of her cheek. The servant was also dressed like a female pirate that you would read about in a history book during the pirate era.
"Oh great it's the little weasel," Anna said sarcastically. "I was hoping that you actually got in this stupid maze of a arena."
"Your late Sweetie Belle, while you were crawling along like the disgusting slug you are I obtained the Trigger!" Said Shinji show them his prime trigger card. Anna & Sweetie Belle were surprised at how fast Shinji was able to get his trigger card in less then a few hours. "Hahahah, what's with that look? Your skills are pathetic compared to mine, but then again I'm up against a little child....unicorn....whatever the fuck you are."
"I am not a little foal you big meanie, I'm 18 years-old and I don't need to be treated like a little foal just because of my height." Said Sweetie Belle with a annoyed/angry look on her face.
"Whatever freak, anyway before I lose track let me introduce my servant who I'm gonna win with." He said point his thumb up towards the women in red. "But if you can't even get your cipher keys, you might as well accept you game over right here and now!" Shinji turn to face his servant to give her an order. "Seriously, feel free to turn her into a bullet-ridden corpse whenever you feel like it!"
"Ok, but are you sure you're done gloating? I found myself enjoying your meaningless chatter." Said the women in red. "As you can see, when it comes to talking to others, my master is a total social retard, right? Seeing him actually having a conversation with you, I thought we could settle this peacefully."
Sweetie Belle & Anna chuckled a bit from what the women said about her master, which made shinji face turn bright red in both embarrassment and anger.
"W-Where in the hell do you get off analyzing me?! She is my enemy! Will you hurry up and main her already?!"
"Look at the tough guy! I have to admit I admire the fact that you're evil enough to give this.....um question what are you?"
"I'm a pony." Sweetie Belle answered.
"Ok this "pony" a beat down. The darkness of your grubby little soul is impressive, Shinji. Oh yes, I expect a generous reward later!"
Youtube Video
(Music starts)
"Wait I never fought a fight before, can't we work some thing out?" Asked Anna.
"Too late stupid, let's see how strong you are if you can beat me when day 7 comes." Said Shinji as he pointed a finger at Sweetie Belle. "Fill that pony thing with holes!" Sweetie Belle saw Rider pull out her twin pistols and fired them at her. Due to fear and panic Sweetie Belle could move out of the way in time to avoid, so she closed her eyes and waited for the impact of the two bullets to hit her.
Just as rider fired two rounds at Sweetie Belle, Anna stood in front of her deflecting the bullets with her gauntlet. Sweetie Belle open her eyes to wonder why the bullets didn't hit her, to her surprise Anna was standing in from of her. "Weather or not I know how to fight, there's no way I'll allow you to attack my friend." Anna said as she charged at rider bringing her sword up above her head. Just as she was about to bring her sword down upon rider, rider shot a bullet into Anna's stomach causing her to halt for a moment and miss rider. Rider was about to fire another bullet at Anna, until her instincts told her to jump into the air.
Anna jumped into the air avoiding rider's barrage of bullets as instructed, while in the air she unsheath her sword and brought it up above her head to bring it down upon rider. Rider saw the attack coming and dodged left to avoid the blade as the sword hit the ground. Anna looked to her left as she saw Riders pistol near her head. "Nice try Saber, but your skills are nothing compare to mine."
"Oh this is gonna hurt alot."
As Rider was about to pull the trigger on her gun a loud siren noise was heard. (Music ends it's short fight I know but I'm save the longer fights for day 7)
"Crap....It's looks like the SE.RA.PH has its eye on us. Oh well, there's no need to take her out right now any." Said Shinji ordering rider to pull back. "You know, I like seeing you grovel in the dirt like trash. Beg hard enough and I might make you my underling." Both Anna's and Sweetie belle's faces turned red with anger with what Shinji said. "Who knows....I might even share some of the prize money with you two. Hahahahaha!" With that the weasel of a master shinji and his servant rider disappeared from the arena, leaving behind a somewhat scared unicorn and a pissed off bruised Saber.
"Ugh....Here I though this would be at least an easy fight, but damn this might be harder then we thought." Anna said picking herself up from the ground.
"You ok?" Asked Sweetie Belle walking over towards her servant.
"Yeah I'm fine thou my pride on the other hand is a different story, what about you?"
"A little scared, but mostly angry at that Shinji person for what he said." Sweetie Belle pulling out a ether shard to use on her servant. "Sorry that I didn't help you out during the fight."
"Don't worry about it, we pretty much got some info on him and his servant now." She said with a smile on her face.
"What do you mean?"
"Dumbass mic gee foolhardy showed us how powerful he is, if his servant uses projectile weapons it's possible that her class might be an archer."
"You sure?" Asked Sweetie Belle."
"I'm not 100% sure, but for now let's just head back to our room for the time being."
(Night inside HQ)
"This is just weird." Said Sweetie Bell pushing a few desk near the window.
"What's weird?"
"Sleeping inside of a classroom let alone a school." She said while pushing some more desk.
"This coming from the talking magical unicorn." Anna said while looking through the supply closet in the room they're in. "I mean think about it, were stuck in a digital world full of people that want to kill each other for this holy grail thing. I have little to no memory of who I am, or at least what I am? And to make matters worst we have to kill are opponents in order move to the next round."
"Not to mention we only have 7 days to prepare ourselves to fight Shinji and his servant Rider."
"Fan fucking tastic we get to fight against the weasel of a master, and his servant of the freaking 7 seas." Anna said sarcastically as she flopped down to the ground. "Ugh this freaking sucks."
"Hey now don't be like it could've been worst." Sweetie said patting her on the head. "At least we have some info on his servant." She said pulling out her portable terminal.
"Well at least something is better then nothing I guess."
"Let's get some rest in the mean time, look I even made a bed for use to sleep in." Sweetie Belle pointed towards the make shift bed she made out of the desk she pushed near the window.
"Guess when your in a school you don't get that much materials for a comfortable bed." Anna mentally said to herself. "Don't suppose you can make a pillow out of thin air?"
Sweetie Belle's horn started to glow as two pillows appeared out of thin air and into her hands. "Does that answer your question?"
"Pretty much yeah thanks." Anna grabbed one of the pillow from Sweetie Belle, and layed down on the bed made of desk along with her Master next to her.
"Welp good night Anna."
"Yeah good night."
(End of Day 1)
Chapter 2: Welcome to the Holy Grail War Day 2
(Morning)
Everything was quiet inside the classroom, no loud sounds, no alarms going off for the next class to start, and no loud voices were heard in the hallway. If it wasn't for the fact that Anna & Sweetie Belle were stuck in this war, this would be a perfect day to sleep in late. But of course fate is a cruel mistress as they were pretty much stuck in this war until they win/survive all 7 rounds. As the virtual sun began to rise over the campus, beams of light hit Anna's face causing her to open her eyes.
"Well that's one way to wake up I guess?" She mentally said as she turned her attention towards Sweetie Belle. "Hey kid rise and shine." Anna said while lightly tapping her shoulder.
"Ugh....but Rarity I don't want to go to school today......All the other ponies will make fun of me." Sweetie Belle said in a half walk half sleep status.
"I don't know weather to find this funny, cute, or both. She mentally said again. Normally she would let her little master sleep, but unfortunately she couldn't due to the fact that they only have 6 days left before round 1 start. So just like how they met the other day, Anna walked over to the teacher's desk and pulled out a paper bag and filled it with air. As she walked over to Sweetie Belle she put the bag near her head, and slammed it on the desk causing her to fall of the desk.
"Ow what the hay was that for!?" Said Sweetie Belle rubbing her head after falling off the desk.
"Again you wouldn't wake so I did the paper bag thing again. So far I think this is more affective then tapping you on the shoulder."
".....I'm gonna ignore that for now, anyway what time is it anyway?"
Anna pointed towards the clock over the teachers desk. "It 9:00 am, this would be when school starts if we were in a real school that is."
"Oh your right," Sweetie Belle said rubbing her eyes trying to whip the sleep from her eyes. "I take it that last night wasn't a dream then?"
"fraid not were stuck in this stupid place, though I have to say this place is kinda cool if you take away the fact that were in a war."
"Yeah but I prefer to get out of here asap." Sweetie Belle crawled from off the desk, and began to walk towards the door. "Mind if we go the the rooftop of this school? I need some air and this "classroom" isn't much helpful." Anna nodded as she got off the bed made of desk, and walk beside Sweetie Belle as they walk to the rooftop of the campus.
(Rooftop)
"Wow! look at the sky." Sweetie Belle said point at the sky. Anna looked up to see the number filled sky, she was surprised at first but then again they are in a virtual world after all so this didn't surprise her that much. Unlike Sweetie Belle who was taking picture of the sky along with virtual sun. "Man the folk back at home won't believe this when I show them this." While Sweetie Belle continue to take her pictures of the sky, Anna notice someone near the steps of the rooftop.
"Hey Sweetie Belle there's someone else up here." She said point at the girl in red.
Sweetie Belle focus her attention to the girl Anna pointed at. To what she could tell the girl hair was black with two pigtails on her head. She was also wearing a red long sleeve shirt with a white cross sign on her chest, a black skirt with long black leather heel boots that reached almost all the way up her leg.
"Ugh I've investigated this school from top to bottom, but there's nothing unique about it." Said the mysterious girl as she pats the walls and floors murmuring something to herself. Just as she finish murmuring to herself she turn around to see a creature with a horn on her head.
"....Huh? Hey, you over there." She said as she walked over towards Sweetie Belle & Anna. "Yeah, you. Hmm, I haven't checked the NPCs out much yet. And I never seen a NPC like you before." She paused for a moment thinking of something to do to Sweetie Belle. "Aha, I know a simple way. Don't you move." Unexpectedly, the girls fingers reach and touched Sweetie Belles cheek. Sweetie Belle blushed when this happen, she wanted to speak but could help but feel lost in the feeling of the girls thin, delicate fingers touching her face.
"Wow so this is what lyra means about hoomans hands being soft."
"What the hell is she doing?" Anna mentally said to herself, wondering what the mysterious girl was doing to Sweetie Belle.
"Imagine that. You're warm, though you shouldn't be....Huh? That's weird, seeing a red cheek flush like that......." The girls face was just three centimeters away from the ponies nose. Sweetie Belles heart raced at the closeness. "Interesting. Even though you don't look like a human, you're more well-built than I had expected. You look and feel real. Maybe more real than most....what ever you are." The girl turned around to hear laughter coming from behind her. "Hey, what are you laughing at? It's to our advantage to look into everything, even the NPCs
"Um who do you think she's talking to?" Asked Sweetie Belle whispering to Anna.
"My guess would have to be her servant. Anna whispered back.
"But her servant is invisible, can all servants do that?"
"Maybe only certain servants can do that, I don't know."
The mysterious girl turn around to get a good hard look at Sweetie Belle. "Huh? Wait your telling me She's a master too? No...A master should be more....well like a human not.....question what are you if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm a unicorn pony." Sweetie Belle answered with a smile on her face.
"You mean like an actual talking pony that you see from a tv show!?"
"This is the second time somepony said that." Sweetie Belle nodded to the girls question.
"W-Wait. That means when I felt up-." At mid sentence both Sweetie Belle & the girl blushed. "Ugh, How embarrassing...." The girl then turn her attention to her invisible servant who was laughing behind her. "Shut up! I can make mistakes too, you know! Don't call me a pervert!"
"Something tells me she was addressing an off-color comment from her servant." Anna said to herself.
"It could have been my imagination. Or a hacker-such a detailed NPC would rarely exist otherwise." She said as she now turn attention back on Sweetie Belle & Anna. "Anyway, you're to blame for being confusing."
"How is it my fault you can't tell the difference between hoomans and ponies?"
"First of all it's pronounce "humans", and second Your too bland to be anything but an NPC. "I mean really despite you looking like something from a kids show, how can something like you have Saber as your servant." She said pointing at Anna. "Ugh this is such a pain, does the holy grail war allow anyone or anything to enter?" With that she begins to walk back towards the stairs.
"Um if you don't mind me asking, what is your name lady?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"My name is Rin Tohsaka, and that's all you need to know." She said still not looking at her. "Now please leave me alone." With that the duo walked off back down stairs into the hallway of the campus.
"Well that was.....interesting?" Said Anna.
"Yeah if you count having some random human touching your face?" Said Sweetie Belle "You think we have to fight her?"
"Maybe later on down the line yes, but not right know." Anna patted Sweetie Belle on the head. "For now let's just focus on our match coming up."
"Yeah your right let's-." Before Sweetie Belle could finish her sentence she heard a growling sound coming from both her's and Anna's stomach.
"L-let's get something to eat before we do anything else."
"Yeah let's."
(2 hours later)
"Well that could of gone better." Said Sweetie Belle riding on Anna's shoulders.
"Oh come on it wasn't that bad in there."
"Unless you count the fact that the human over the counter kept on hugging me like a stuffed animal."
"Well can you blame her, you are a talking pony that most humans see on tv."
"I guess but still don't let that happen again please."
"Fine I promise, but I been meaning to ask you something."
"What's that?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"What are you planing on doing once we win the holy grail war?"
Sweetie Belle pause for a moment to think of an answer to Anna's question. "Hm....Well I know that ruler lady said that she'll send us home after we win, so I guess using the wish to go home is out. I could always wish for you memories to come back?"
"Yeah but what if I get them back during the fights?"
"Hm guess that's out then huh? Oh how about I wish to have a cutie mark?"
"Cutie what?" Asked Anna as she stopped in the middle of the hallway.
"A cutie mark, it's a sign of what your special talent is. Doesn't everypony have a cutie mark here?"
"Humans don't have these things called "A cutie mark."
"WHAT!!! Then how do you know what your special talent is?"
"Heck if I know, we just find something that interest us and see how it goes from there."
"......You humans are weird."
"This coming from a technicolor pony who let their cutie mark chose their life."
".....Touche." Sweetie Belle looked up in front of her to see Shinji in the hallway talking to a fellow master. "Look over there isn't it that Shinji?"
"It seems so, and he seem to be engaging in some sort of dispute." Anna replied as she pulled Sweetie Belle from off her shoulder. "This would be a perfect time to get some more info on him before the fight."
"You sure he won't notice us sneaking on him?"
"Well it's not like he can do anything outside the arena."
"Good point come on let listen." Sweetie Belle & Anna were able to track down Shinji. To what they could see from the corner of the hallway they were hiding behind, he was talking to someone.
"Have you been inside of the arena yet?" Asked Shinji. "Interesting place, isn't it? I thought it was amazing at first, but it's really pretty primitive. It's like an ocean pulled from a story. I even saw a master who managed to summon Armstrong." He said chuckling a bit. "Sorry, I was just messing with you. I dig the sea theme. Overall the game's pretty well done."
"What's this?" Said Rin. "You actually managed to summon a decent Servant, then. Asia's premiere hacker, Shinji Matou?"
"You know, I may have had to take crap from you in the past, but this time the winner is me! With her armada to back me up, I'm invincible. Nothing you can do will be able to even touch me.
Armada, what's that?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"It means a fleet of warships." Anna replied.
"Oho, you must be pretty confident to give out information about your servant to an enemy, Matou." Shinji's face goes bright red as he suddenly relizes how big of a mistake he just made.
"Wow that was pretty stupid of him."
"Even my friend Scootaloo can keep a secret better the him."
"Err...y-yeah. Yeah, that's right! One-sided fights bore me, so think of this as a gift!"
"Liar!!!" Anna & Sweetie Belle Mentally said to themselves.
"B-But is it really?! I might just be lying. You might want to forget what I said."
"That is true. A single word would never expose a servant's true name, after all. However, a class that controls an armada and is tied to a ship will thin out the candidates some. How will she attack? Bombardment, or a frontal assault? It'll definitely be physical in nature."
"Gah....!"
"Well, I guess the only thing left for me to do is prepare a great many physical barriers." Shinji's face goes from bright red to a terrifying shade of blue right before Anna's & Sweetie Belles eyes. Once you learn something about an enemy servant, you can begin to make plans to defeat them. If both sides are strong, but only one side plans, the results of the battle would be obvious.
"Guess Twilight was right, knowledge is power." Whispered Sweetie Belle Still listening to the conversation going on between the two master's.
"Oh, one more thing. I wonder if the Invincible Armada might be relevant to anything...I mean, others will start making references to that, right? Won't that jus piss off your servant?"
MATRIX LEVEL: 2
"Hm, so his servant has an invincible armada on her side. We better get our keycard and train during the next few days." Whispered Anna.
"W-Well...whatever. Knowledge means nothing if you can't do anything with it. There's a good chance that you and I will never have to face each other." With that final pathetic attempt at a comeback, Shinji turns and stars walking away heading in the direction of Sweetie Belle & Anna.
"You....!" He yelled.
"Us." The duo replied with a innocent look on their face as if they did nothing at all.
"You weren't there the entire time, were you? WERE YOU?!"
"Um......no." Said Anna.
"H-Heh...Well, it's not like you can stop the Invincible Arm-Err...I mean my servant..."
"Wanna bet pal, cause with the info we have on your servant will be a match for you on day seven." Replied Anna shacking her fist at Shinji.
"Whatever...my victory is all but assured. Catch you later. Oh, and try not to disappoint me." Shinji said before walking off. Their attention were now focus on Rin Tousaka who was also leaving as well. *Sigh* "It seems that there are a great many masters who don't understand the stakes involved."
"Well that was something." Said Anna looking at Sweetie Belle. "But at least we got some info on his servant."
"Yeah I guess, but what did Rin mean about the stakes involved?"
"It means not everyone can grasp the power of information. Said the mysterious voice. "Though difficult, it is vital that you scour the arena and the campus for valuable information."
"Oh great it's you." Said the knight with a deadpanned tone in her voice. "What do you wan know?"
"What? Can i check on my new combatants in this war." The duo said nothing, but had deadpanned expressions on their faces. "Hay I'm just the girl that watches over the war & and stuff don't give me that look."
"Just tell us why your here."
"Just over heard the conversation that was going on, but what that girl said is true. Everyone think this is a game, but when the first round is over that's when the realization hits them.....hard."
"How long has this war been going on?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
Pretty much for a long time. Can't really remember the real date of it, but I joined after my death in 1431."
"Wow you must be really old if your here now."
I'm going to ignore that comment, but anyway before I go I just wanted to say good job on gathering info on your opponent. Keep this up and you'll win this war and claim the grail for yourselves."
"Wait a minute before you go could you tell me why I don't have memories of my past?"
"Really you still haven't gotten your memories back?" Anna nodded no to her question. "Huh it should of come back yesterday, oh well I'm sure when the war is over you'll get them back later." With that the voice of the ruler disappeared.
"Pft some help she is, you think she would've give us a hint or something about this war and stuff."
"Yeah but then again if she did that for us, then she would of done it for the rest of the humans here."
"Good point." Anna said picking up her sword. "Anyway let's head to the arena and get our first trigger card."
"I'll meet you at the entrance, i need to go to the library and look up some info on the Invincible Armada.
[Evening]
(Arena floor 1)
"So any idea of what this Invincible Armada is?" Asked Anna as she killed one of the monsters in the arena.
"Hm says here in this book that the invincible armada was a name given to the Spanish Navy during the Age of Exploration.With over 100 thousand-ton ships and 65,000 crew members, it's almost subjugated all of Engmane."
"Don't you mean England?" She asked while killing another digital monster.
"Well that how we say it in my world." Anna rolled her eyes due to the pony pun. "Anyway as I was saying though the might of its navy, Mane was seen as the -kingdom on which the sun will never set."
"That's it, some help the library was."
"Well I did ask some about a servant wields dual pistols. So far she gave two names."
"Billy the Kid & Calamity Jane."
"How did you know that? I didn't even get the chance to say them."
"Well his servant doesn't look much like an old west outlaw. Plus I told you before I only know the basic stuff of human history."
"Well if that's true then what in Celestia's name could Shinji's servant identity be?"
"Don't know but for now let just get the stupid trigger card and head back to our room." Said Anna as she and Sweetie Belle walked deeper into the arena. As they made it to the end of the maze like arena they say a floating cube in the middle of the room it was in.
"Hey look it's the Trigger card!" Said the excited white unicorn.
"And it seems to be guarded by that thing." Anna pointed at bee like monster hovering around the entrance of the room where the Trigger card is.
"Ew is that bee?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"Huh guess the monsters here resemble certain animals and insects in the human world?" Anna said as she drew her sword. "Let take care of it and get our trigger card." With that Anna charged at the bee like monster without hesitation.
Youtube Video
(music start)
Anna attack the Crix with a vertical slash causing it to stagger backwards a bit before recovering. The Crix counters with his stinger, but was blocked by the Sabers sword and she Immediately counterattack with a straight thrust of her sword. Still trying to recover from her attack Anna saw this moment to attack with a horizontal slash to the left, one to the right, and a vertical slash down. EXTRA TURN Anna leaped into the air and brought down her sword onto the Crix when she saw another opportunity to strike.
Sweetie Belle was amazed at how Anna was able fight. During that time she was pretty much recording the fight mostly cause her friend Scootaloo would enjoy watching this, and mostly cause of proof that she was in a different world that was at war with each other for the holy grail. "Man the girls back home are gonna be surprise when they see this." She said still recording the fight. "I wonder if anypony knows that I'm gone?" Before she was lost in her thoughts, Sweetie Belle was brought back to reality by a digital crashing sound.
Anna was still fighting the Crix without even beating a sweat. As the Crix was a bought to attack, Anna dodge it by moving to the left. She then attack it with a vertical slash again, followed by two straight thrust jabs. The Crix then charged at the Saber with it's stinger, but was parried away by her sword and counter with a spinning vertical slash. With that the monster like bee started to fall to the ground, and slowly disappear.
(music ends)
"*Huff Huff*Well that's that's then." Said the knight trying to caught her breath.
"Wow that was amazing!" Said the excited young unicorn. "Have if you were in my world and became part of the royal guards, you would put Twilight's brother to shame."
"I don't know who these royal guards are, but something tells me that your right." Anna drew her sword back into her sheath, and started to walk towards the floating cube in the middle of the room. "Before we leave I think we should take the trigger card with us." Sweetie Belle walked over to the cube and touched it, when she did the cube open up to reveal the trigger card needed for the final round at the end of the week.
"Ok we got our first trigger card, now all we need is the second one and will be ready to fight in the finals."
"Indeed but I think we should head towards the church tomorrow."
"Why's that?"
"Something tells me that we should, plus with all these SP points we have it'll pretty much help me in a fight."
"I guess your right, not to mention that Kotomine fella said that the church could help us in Alteration of the soul"
"What's that?" Asked Anna.
"Don't know, but will find out tomorrow for now let's leave." With that the due walked on the glowing pad in front of then, and teleport out of the arena.
