Twilight Sparkle rushed about her castle, grabbing various things and unceremoniously, yet somehow with uncanny organization, shoving them into her saddlebags until they no longer closed. Spike had received a letter from the princess less than an hour ago with an urgent message that said that a royal escort was on its way, and that she and her friends needed to come to the palace immediately, and Twilight had instantly gone into panic mode, running around her castle as she was now packing anything she thought they might need as her friends sat on their thrones and watched.

“Let’s see, I’ve got a copy of our friendship journal, my list of potential friendship problem scenarios, quills, parchment, five extra bottles of ink, just in case, Starswirl’s journal—”

“Twilight, dear.” Rarity interrupted, trotting over to the crazed mare. “You don’t even know what you’re packing for. It is quite possible that you won’t even need any of those things.”

“Besides,” Rainbow added, now hovering next to the window. “The royal chariot just landed outside.”

Twilight’s face instantly paled as she gasped and rushed outside, saddlebags in tow. Her friends groaned at her antics, except for Pinkie, who giggled, and followed close behind her.

Bloodbeak strode briskly down the lane carpeted with straw. To any passerby, he was just another griffon in a town of griffons. Heck, even to his neighbors, he was nothing more than another face. That was the way things were in Griffonstone. Every griff looked out for only themselves, with the exception of those two females who had decided to try and make friends with anyone they came into contact with. No, griffons didn’t have friends. Bloodbeak knew this. He knew that nobody cared about him, just as he didn’t care about them. There was only one thing he cared about; one thing he craved.

Power.

Bloodbeak came from the line of the kings, the line of Boreas himself. All these pathetic excuses for griffons should be bowing to him, and yet they continued on their way as if he didn’t even exist. However, that was all about to change.

He came to the edge of town, continuing past the gates and a little ways down the mountain until he reached a small cabin built into the side of the mountain. Inside, all the furniture had been shoved aside and a large figure drawn on the floor. That power he had felt roll over him earlier was unmistakable, it had to be the ancient ritual spoken of in only the most ancient of histories. Knowledge of such things was extremely privileged, he himself only knowing of it because of his noble, if inactive, bloodline. Someone had set off the ancient magic, and now he was going to answer the call.

He wasted no time, striding to the center of the figure and removed a bracelet from around his claw, placing it in the center. The bracelet was a family heirloom, passed from parent to child, along with the story of an empire long past. On it was strung a single bead, made from some kind of metal that was once extremely valuable but no longer existed, but had survived thousands of years without rust. It would make the perfect center piece.

Stepping back, he held out his talons and began the incantation as the marks on his claw bathed his grinning face in red light.

Celestia watched as the chariot she had sent to Ponyville touched down in the Palace courtyard, only to stumble as another wave of magic crashed into her.

Another master has answered the call. We have to act quickly.

No sooner had she thought this than her faithful student crashed through the door with her friends, causing the large hall to echo with the sound of slamming doors.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Twilight exclaimed, rushing up to the Princess. She had a bit of a crazed look in her eyes, which Celestia recognized only too well, and was carrying a pair of bulging saddlebags. “You didn’t say what the emergency was, so I packed everything I thought we might need…”

“Twilight.”

Twilight instantly went silent, an effect only Celestia was able to have on her. She smiled at the young mare. By this point, the other six ponies, plus Spike, had all gathered around her. They all looked like they had questions they wanted to ask, but she held up a hoof to cut them off before they could voice them.

“Please, all of you follow me.” She stood and made her way out of the room. “All of your questions will be answered shortly.”

“I called you here,” she began as they travelled through the halls, “Because I believe that Equestria, and possibly the rest of the world, could be in danger.”

“Just tell us what’s going on and we’ll take care of it! I’m sure we can handle it!” Rainbow boasted.

Celestia laughed and shook her head. “Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash, this problem cannot be solved with the magic of friendship. The power that rises against us now is far older and more powerful than even the Elements of Harmony.” The suddenly grave tone in her voiced left the impression of ancient knowledge, showing the princess’s many years.

Twilight’s jaw hit the floor. “But the Elements of Harmony are the most powerful magic in existence!”

“According to common knowledge, yes. There are many things which you do not know, Twilight.

“To begin, it’s important that you understand that the Earth is far older than anypony knows, thousands of years older than even myself. In its long history, it has seen the rise and fall of many civilizations, some built around mythology, others around science. Some were just and fair, while some were nothing more than barbaric. The world continued in this fashion for millennia before ponykind even came to be.”

“There were other civilizations before ponies?” Starlight marveled.

Celestia nodded. “Ponykind is only about three thousand years old. This world belonged to humans before us, and more powerful beings before them, each of them leaving their marks, some very literally.” She waited until the mumbling died down before continuing. “Several of these ancient groups possessed magic of their own, though for many it was much more…primal…than our own. Most of the knowledge of these practices has unfortunately been lost to history, but some still exists, most of it guarded carefully by my sister and I, though some records likely remain undiscovered in the world.”

Applejack stepped up next to her. “This is all fascinatin’ Princess, but what it got to do with y’all bringin’ us here?”

Celestia stopped them in front of a door at the end of one of the hallways. “Because, Applejack, I believe that somepony has gotten their hooves on an ancient and dangerous ritual.”

Another shock of magic washed over her, though she kept her footing. The third master had claimed their place. She was running out of time. Forcing herself to focus, she pushed into the room, the others following right on her tail. Inside, they were greeted by—

“Shining Armor?” Twilight ran into the room to hug her brother, who was setting a large crate down on the floor. “What are you doing here?” She laughed.

Shining laughed with her as he ruffled Twilight’s mane. “I was here on business when Princess Celestia asked for my help with some kind of national emergency, though I don’t know much more than you do. Actually, I’ve just spent the last hour bringing this stuff down here.”

Taking his words as a cue, they all looked around the room, slightly confused. Boxes and shelves had been filled with seemingly random stuff. Most of it looked like everyday objects: a purple suit jacket, a leaf shaped pin, a blue shield with an elaborate crest, even a rock with a slit in the top. Ordinary knick-knacks everywhere they looked. The only things that really stood out to them was that it all looked very old, and most of it was most certainly not made with ponies in mind.

“Ooooh!” Pinkie Pie squealed. “What is all this stuff?”

Celestia chuckled. “Luna and I have a hobby of collecting relics from before the pony era. These are but a small sample of our collection, but I believe that they may have some kind of power within them, perhaps enough to act as a catalyst.”

“A catalyst?” Twilight sounded confused. “Catalyst for what?”

The princess sighed. She couldn’t beat around the bush any longer. She calmed herself and looked to the ponies (and dragon) around her. “The ritual that has been initiated, from what I can tell from the histories, is called a Holy Grail War.”

“A w-war?” Fluttershy hid behind her mane.

Celestia nodded, moving to comfort the timid pony before continuing. “The Holy Grail War,” she began, “Is an ancient ritual in which seven participants battle against each other for possession of the Holy Grail, an artifact of immense magical power said to be able to grant any wish, but only to a single victor. To do this, each participant, known as masters, summons what’s known as a servant to battle with. A servant,” she cut off Twilight’s unspoken question, “Is the spirit of a hero from the past, present, or, in one case, even the future, given a physical body and anchored to this world by the magic of its master. Servants are extremely powerful, and act as the actual fighters in the war while the masters supply them with power and work with them to form strategies. The master who can triumph over the other servants and claim the grail shall have both their wish and that of their servant granted.”

Shining Armor, who had been listening silently, volunteered a question. “Your highness, you said the Holy Grail can grant any wish. Does that include evil wishes?” The princess only nodded. Shining took a moment to think of his wife and daughter, and that was all it took. He snapped to attention. “Princess Celestia, if you would allow it, I would like to volunteer my services for the good of Equestria as a master in this war.”

The princess smiled sadly. “Very well, Shining Armor, I accept your offer.” She turned to the girls. “Two of the seven servants had already been summoned before you arrived, and the third by the time we reached this room. With Captain Armor now claiming the position of the fourth master, that leaves three masters still to be chosen. I hate to ask this of you, but it is important to make sure that as many masters as possible are ponies I know I can trust, so would any of you be willing to participate as masters in this Holy Grail War on behalf of Equestria?”

In the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash landed before the princess on bended knee, followed after only a moment by Applejack. Not really any surprise there. Twilight looked around to see if any of her other friends were thinking of volunteering. Fluttershy was hiding in a corner, Pinkie Pie’s mane had deflated somewhat, and Rarity and Starlight both had nervous expressions on their faces, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Also as expected. She took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out before walking up next to the others.

“We’ll do it, Princess. We’ll fight for Equestria.”

The princess looked at them with tears in her eyes. In many ways, these mares had come to be like her own daughters. She hated to put them through this, but she also knew there was nopony she could trust more. She spread her wings and wrapped the three of them in a tight hug for a moment, before releasing them and looking over her four champions and the four remaining ponies. “There may only be a single victor, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help each other. Watch each other’s backs for me, work together. And girls,” she turned to those who had chosen not to participate. “They are going to need your support in this as well.”

“You can count on us, Princess.” Starlight smiled.

Celestia returned the smile before addressing the four new masters. “Everything in this room should be able to act as a catalyst, so you’re free to use whichever you like. Just be careful. We have no way of knowing which heroes will be summoned by which artifacts, so you’ll be making a blind guess as to what kind of servant you’ll end up with. When you’ve chosen, meet me in my study, and I will help you prepare for the summoning ritual.” With that, she bid them good luck and took her leave.

The eight of them wasted no time and set about looking through the various objects in the room, none of them really knowing what they were looking for. Rarity seemed more interested in looking through any of the clothes in the room, coming up with things like an old fedora hat or a pair of ladybug patterned earrings. Fluttershy cried over a large lion skin while Pinkie played with some kind of red and white ball. Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor were mainly looking through what few weapons there were while Twilight and Starlight were using their horns to look for anything that might have some kind of powerful magic. Applejack, in the meantime, appeared to have simply grabbed the closest object, an old and cracked horn, and was now standing off to the side, staring at her hoof, which made Twilight curious.

“Applejack? What are you doing?”

The farmer looked up at them before looking back to the horn and shrugging. “Well, the princess did say that we don’t know what any of these’ll do, so ah figured ah wouldn’t accomplish anythin’ by bein’ picky. Take a look at this though.” She held up her hoof again, showing off an intricate series of red marks. The other masters looked at their hooves to find similar patterns, while the others still had blank hooves.

“Maybe it’s a mark of participation?” Starlight theorized.

“Whatever it is,” Rainbow grunted, “I’m sure the princess will know. Right now, we need to focus on this. I’ve looked through all of these,” she threw a bundle of weapons onto the ground, “but none of them really scream ‘awesome.’”

Shining Armor moved toward the pile of weapons, picking up the first one he reached. It looked like the top portion of some kind of spear, though it looked like it had once had several points. He studied it for a second, then nodded in approval. “This works.”

Rainbow huffed. “Maybe there’s an awesome sword or someth—hey, what’s this?” She reached into a nearby chest before pulling out a string of clay beads with intricate paintings on them. “These look like something from Daring Do!”

Twilight tried to turn to get a better look, but ended up lifting her head into a shelf, sending it falling to the ground. Several objects scattered around her hooves. Rainbow’s beads already forgotten, she curiously ignited her horn and felt a slight feedback from a silver pocket watch. The magic was weak and it felt funny, but she decided it was good enough for her.

“Well then, I think that’s all of us.” She stated excitedly. “Let’s get back to the princess.”

“A broken horn, a watch, half a spear, and a string of beads.” Celestia observed her champions, each having presented their chosen relic. She smiled. “These should do splendidly. Well done, my little ponies.”

Twilight beamed at the praise while Rainbow Dash flipped into the air with a hoof pump. Applejack and Shining Armor simply smiled as the princess pulled a large, leather-bound tome from a shelf across the room. They were in the princess’s private study, though the room was easily large enough to accommodate all nine of them comfortably. The princess sat behind her desk, the four masters stood before her, and the remaining four ponies sat in lounge chairs placed around the room.

She set the book on the desk amongst the relics and opened it to a particular page. From what Applejack could see from where she was standing, it looked like the passage detailed some kind of magic ritual. A large space on one of the pages was taken up by a detailed diagram of a magic circle. From a nearby chair, Starlight could also see the circle drawn on the page and felt her heart start beating faster. She had seen similar diagrams before, in books early ancient pony magic, but nopony used magic circles anymore, relying in stead on incantations or pulling spells from memory. To get the chance to see circle magic firsthoof…this was so exciting!

Celestia turned the book around so that the ponies in front of her could see it. “This is the ritual for summoning a heroic spirit. The incantation itself is actually fairly simply, and luckily, you don’t even have to understand what it is you’re saying, so long as you recite it correctly. The magic circle, however, must be drawn exactly, or the spell could backfire and kill you.”

Their eyes widened at the prospect, except for Twilight, who was used to such risks from experimenting with similarly dangerous spells, but their resolve remained, and they began to read over the spell, muttering as they read.

“It’s a good thing we don’t have to understand any of this.” Rainbow stated flatly. “Because I don’t.”

Applejacked looked up at the princess. “Princess, are ya sure me an’ Dash’ll be able to do this? We don’t got no magic like Twi or Shining.”

Celestia chuckled in response. “Oh, but you do, Applejack. Every creature in Equestria has their own kind of magic, and this spell doesn’t distinguish one kind from another. Your earth pony magic will be enough to sustain your servant.”

Applejack didn’t look convinced, but the princess had never given them reason not to trust her, so she decided to believe what she said.

Twilight pointed to a spot on the page. “It says here that we aren’t even the ones who actually summon the spirit. According to this, the caster just provides an anchor for the servant to latch on to once they manifest. The circle provides a conduit for the magic and the incantation maintains the spell, but the actual summoning is performed by the grail itself.”

Applejack blinked. “Say what now?”

“Don’t worry about it AJ.” Rainbow interrupted. “As long as we do this right, it won’t matter.”

“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight called. The pony in question instantly showed up next to her. “You might want to get a party ready. We’re about to make some new friends.”

“YAY!!”

Author's Note

Hey everypony,

Alright guys, chapter two. We've got five new masters introduced here, bringing us up to six known master and one still a mystery. We've also seen six out of the seven catalysts as well, so I'm curious to see what guesses you guys might have as to who our servants are going to be. I'll give you a hint: they're all fictional characters, so none of them are actual historical figures.

That's all for now, guys. Let me know what y'all think so far.

~Moon Guard