Fate/New Earth

Night had almost fallen by the time everything was ready. The amber glow of sunset created a beautiful scene as ponies everywhere sat down to dinner with their families and long shadows overtook Canterlot city. In the shadow of the royal palace, standing in one of the gardens situated on the very edge of the cliff the city stood upon, were thirteen figures gathered around four magic circles drawn in the center of the garden. Princesses Celestia and Luna stood near the edge, their horns aglow as the elder sister lowered the sun so the younger’s moon could grace the sky in its stead. Off to the side, Captain Shining Armor stood with his wife and daughter, their looks of determination on their faces as they discussed what was about to happen. Pinkie Pie had enlisted the help of Rarity and Starlight in helping her set up party tables for their soon-to-be new friends, while Spike sat off to the side admiring the relics and Fluttershy playfully chased various critters around the garden. Twilight Sparkle sat near the four circles with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, a book held open in her telekinetic grip as she explained the magic of the servants to them.

“Like I said earlier, our magic circuits aren’t what’s used to actually summon the servants; that’s the Grail’s job. Instead, our manna is used to give the servant a physical body, and then used to anchor them to this world and supply the servant’s own magic.”

“What’s a magic circuit?” Rainbow asked.

“Magic circuits are something that every creature has, in some form or another. They run through the muscles and bones, and they’re what stores and conducts magic, though how that magic manifests depends on the kind of creature. Modern scientists and magicians refer to them as manna veins, but this book calls them magic circuits.”

Rainbow nodded, though she only really understood a little of what Twilight had just said.

Applejack cleared her throat. “So what yer sayin’ is that, while the servant goes out and does the actual fightin’, they’re usin’ our magic ta do it?”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “Our magic allows them to keep their body ad stay strong. That really is the simplest way of putting it.”

AJ shrugged. “Good ‘nuf fer me.”

Rainbow jumped into the air, hovering above them on her back. “I wonder what servants are like?”

Twilight flipped a few pages over. “Well, each servant is unique, but it does say here that there are seven different types of servants, classified by their weapon, skills, or combat style. There’s the Saber, the Lancer, and the Archer, who are grouped together as being the three most powerful classes. The other four are the Rider, Assassin, Caster, and Berserker.”

“Awesome! I hope I get the assassin! That would be so cool!”

Twilight chuckled. “Personally, I’m hoping that I can summon the Caster servant. I think I would be able to work best if my servant was an expert in magic.”

“Of course you would, Twily.” Shining was laughing as he and Cadence trotted over, Flurry Heart giggling happily on her daddy’s back. “Though as long as we’re playing that game, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for me to say that I’m going for the Saber.”

“Um, hate ta burst yer bubble, Shinin’,” Applejack smirked, “But yer cata-thingy is a spear, not a sword.”

They all laughed as Shining harumphed and walked away, before Twilight turned to Applejack. “What about you, AJ? Are you hoping for any particular servant?”

“Naw,” the farmer waved. “Ah can probably work with whatever ah get, so long as they ain’t a hothead.”

Another round of laughs was shared among the group as the royal sisters approached. By this time, the sun and moon had been settled into their new positions, and everything was finally ready.

“Well then, my little ponies, I think it’s time.”

“Ooooh!” Starlight squealed. “I’m so excited! I’ve always wanted to see real circle magic!”

Everypony laughed as Spike brought over the relics. Shining handing little Flurry Heart to her mother and took his broken spear before taking his place in front of one of the circles. Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash quickly did the same, placing the catalysts at the center of the intricate eight-point star. Each of them stood in front of their own summoning circle, facing the center, Twilight facing her brother, and Rainbow facing Applejack.

“Remember,” Luna warned, “If anything goes wrong during the ritual, it could result in anything from damaging your servant to killing you, so be sure to give this all of your focus.”

If that was supposed to be inspirational, it failed. Twilight could feel her nerves riling up as she eyed the pocket watch, which now seemed to have an air of foreboding about it. Spike, sensing her distress, reached up and put a claw on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” he assured her, “You’ve got this.” He then retreated, standing next to the others, who were gathered under a “Welcome Back From the Dead!” banner. Twilight took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then released it, determination flashing in her eyes.

“Let’s do this.”

“Good lu~ck!” Pinkie sang.

The four masters looked each other in the eyes, one last time, before closing them and extending their hooves toward the artifacts. It felt weird to Twilight to not charge her horn while performing magic, instead relying on the circle to do the work for her. The marks of their hooves began to glow brightly, as did the circles themselves, as they began to recite the ritual together.

“For the elements, silver and iron;
The foundation of stone and the archduke of pacts.
And, for our great master Faust.
Close the four gates, come forth from the crown,
And follow the forked road leading to the kingdom.
Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Repeat five times, but when each is filled,
Destroy it! Set.”

The circles changed when they said this, the glow changing from a gentle green to a noble red as a gentle breeze began to pick up and sparks began to fly up from the ground around the circles. Still, the masters continued, their voices rising and the magic intensifying with each phrase.

“Heed my words:
My will creates your body,
And your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail’s call, and obey my will and reason,
Then answer me!”

The wind began to circle the gardens with more strength, blowing everypony’s manes this way and that. They could practically taste the magic charge in the air. Starlight stood in awe of the raw power being displayed. Still, the chant continued.

“I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world;
That I shall defeat all evil in the world!
Seventh heaven clad in the great words of power,
From the binding circle, thou, guardian of the scales!”

Lightning crashed overhead as an explosion of wind and raw magic erupted from the center of the group with a blinding flash, sending everypony stumbling backward. The masters themselves, having been unprepared and standing closest to the blast, were thrown backward, landing at the hooves of the others. Everypony’s manes were a mess, they couldn’t see past the spots in their eyes, and their mouths tasted like metal. However, when the spots faded from their vision and the smoke cleared away, they each looked up and gasped at what they saw.

Four new figures knelt on the ground where the circles used to be. They were obviously human, but that wasn’t really a surprise considering the relics they used were from a time before ponies. They knelt with their heads bowed, giving the appearance of loyal servants, before standing and facing them. The first, standing closest to them was a young man wearing bronze and leather armor. His shaggy black hair hung in his face, almost attractively so, but did nothing to hide his eyes, sparkling green as the sea.

Behind him stood a woman in a flowing dress. The only armor she wore was a steel cuirass fastened over a mail shirt, the sleeves of which hung loosely around her elbows. The inside of her left forearm was covered with some kind of leather cuff. Her hair flowed over her shoulders, framing a fair face with gorgeous blue eyes and full red lips.

To the sides, where Shining and Twilight had been standing, were two more men, though one looked more like a boy. In Shining’s place stood a tall and muscular man with tousled but handsome blonde hair. His outfit itself was fairly unremarkable, just a black wetsuit with silver shoulders and a padded grey chest, but the way it hugged his form, accenting every bulging muscle, combined with a ruggedly beautiful face and mischievous eyes, was enough to make women swoon, which Rarity actually did. On the other side of the group, in Twilight’s place, stood a rather short boy who looked to still be in his teen years. His hair, which was braided down his back, was a darker blonde than the man on the left. He wore a black silk suit with a red coat and white gloves, covering every inch of his body from the neck down, and a silver chain glinted at his hip.

The man in the bronze armor came up to them, the other three following behind him.

“We are the servants summoned by your call.” He looked around for a second, taking in both the group of servants and the rather large group of ponies in front of him, a rather confused look on his previously serious face. “Judging by the fact that we were all summoned together, I’m guessing we’re supposed to be allies?”

“Gee, wonder what gave it away?” The boy in the suit apparently had a fairly sarcastic personality.

The man in the armor ignored him, looking down at the four ponies still lying at the hooves of the others. “Um, which one of you is my master? I wasn’t able to get a good look at you before you went flying off.”

“None of us were.” The woman stated plainly.

Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash quickly got up. “I’m your master.” She puffed up her chest and stood as tall and proud as she could, though she still only came up to his chest.

The man smirked. “A pegasus, huh? I think I can live with that.”

Twilight got back to her hooves, approaching the boy in the suit. That chain on his hip looked a lot like the pocket watch catalyst she had chosen. “You must be my servant.”

“Only if you’re my master.” He laughed.

Shining was the next to approach his servant, the gorgeous man. He held out his hoof, which the man bent down to shake. “I’m Captain Shining Armor, your master.”

Mr. Handsome also smirked. Jeez, were all of these servants snarky? “I’d tell you my name, but revealing that around other servants wouldn’t be very smart, now would it? For now, I’ll go by Lancer.”

“Y’all go by yer class instead of yer name?” Applejack asked. “Why’s that?”

“I’ll explain it to you later, Master.” The woman walked up to her, holding out a hand. “Archer.”

“Applejack.”

Rainbow eyed her servant. “Are you the assassin?”

His eyebrows shot up? “You were hoping for the assassin? Sorry to disappoint, but I’m the Saber.”

“The Saber? I got the strongest servant! That’s so cool! I’m Rainbow Dash!”

He let loose a laugh and reached out to ruffle her mane. “Of course you are!”

“Ahem.” The sound of Princess Celestia clearing her throat drew everyone’s attention. “Greetings, servants. My name is Celestia, Princess of Equestria. The four of you have been summoned by very close friends of mine to work together to ensure Equestria’s safety in this Holy Grail War.” She smiled gently. “With so many strong servants on our side, our victory is all but assured.”

Princess Luna stepped up next to her sister. “We understand that masters and servants have much to discuss with each other, so private rooms have been arranged for each of you, to ensure that any secrets you might have are kept safe.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Archer bowed, “We appreciate your hospitality.” There was a slight accent to her voice, but Applejack couldn’t place it.

“But first,” everyone suddenly found themselves chewing on a cupcake and steamers exploded into the air. “Welcome back from the dead!”