Week One

The Princess and The Servant

Part One

1. awakening/binary pony heaven

The mare of the everyday sloughs 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: 999-128

Twilight’s eyes open as she finds herself laying in the middle of a burning city that was once known as Canterlot. She tried to pull herself up, but her body felt heavy. Tried as she did it felt like someone or something was keeping her down on the ground against her will. She lifts her head up a bit to see if that was the case, only to notice the giant blood leaking hole on her abdomen. The alicorn soon placed her head back down as she noticed a strange shadowy figure standing over her with visible tears running down it’s face, and falling onto Twilight’s face. As she felt the tears hit her face, she couldn't help but cry along with the shadowy figure as she soon heard a voice echo throughout the burning city she was in.

The Sky Burns

Houses and Homes Collapse into ruin.

Ponies fall to the ground.

Roads come to an end.

The Conflict started here.

In this small peaceful city.

With this, the world that was will be restored.

It is here that I alone had survived

Don’t remember/Never forget.

Oblivion is salvation and sin.

Never forget.

I was born from Destiny

this must be a nightmare.

This had to be somewhere;

it could be anywhere,

these events that occurred in

the true memories of foalhood.

A torrent of blood flows from my wound,

and a voice resonating with bitter

resentment can be heard.

Lives fade away without a thought.

My friends, family, strangers: All gone.

Soldiers with swords,

families trying to hold together,

A grotesque struggle to the last,

until a gentle peace descends

as death comes to claim them.

-I have no regrets for what I’ve done.

The question of “why?”

never left me.

Even with the divide between

conflict and catastrophe, why

did such a tragedy occur?

No, more importantly-

why has this world been turned

into tartarus on Equis?

As the mare continued to wonder what this dream is all about, she soon took notice to the flames covering the city started to slowly die down. Looking up at the sky, she felt raindrops hitting her as it began to rain down upon her and the ruined city.

A gentle rain begins to fall.

All things once living fade away,

leaving only me and the shadow behind.

Amidst the helplessness and

despair, I feel their soul’s last

feelings are of rage and regret

The rain wets their cheeks as

their eyes close one last time,

dying forgotten and alone.

Seeing this, I felt tears roll down my face

and smiled upon what I have been shown.

If I can live again,

I will definitely-

But there are no second chances.

And before long, the rain has

cleansed the scorched earth.

A blinding light fills the area she was in as she quickly closed her eyes to protect her eyes from being blinded from the light engulfing her and the shadow.

Never forget.

I was born from Destiny

What that means-

Somehow, please do not forget me.

[Day One: Morning]

[Nurse's Office]

I felt something warm hit my face as I slowly began to open my eyes and started to rub them so my vision could start to clear up. What was I dreaming? Was it a dream? It didn’t feel like a dream given how twisted and distorted it was. It felt like it was...real. To see if it was a dream, I pulled the covers from the bed I was in off of me to see if there was a hole in my abdomen. I let out a sigh of relief as there wasn’t any hole or injuries of any kind. With that aside, I finally took notice to the room I was in. Judging by the way the room looks and how they’re medical supplies in here. This must be a nurse’s office.….No. This nurse’s office feels different then the one I know...At least...I think I know what a nurse’s office looks like. It’s similar, but off, somehow.

“So you’re finally awake. I was beginning to think I needed to get a bucket of cold water to wake you up.” I hear a rather tomboyish voice in the room as I began to look around to see where it came from. Once I looked to my left, I let out a small yelp and jumped a bit upon seeing the being behind the source of the mysterious voice.

“It was kinda boring seeing you unconscious like that. The only thing I could do was just watch you as you slept like a baby.” She said before glancing at me up and down. “Never thought I would have a mythical beast as my master. But hey, who am I to complain about it. I’ve seen weirder things then this.” She was...watching me while I was asleep...I don’t know if I should feel creeped out by this or impressed that she didn’t go stir crazy from watching over me like some kind of knight or something. It’s weird. This being looks like a human, but she’s giving off a strong presence of something abnormal. I continued to stare at the human cladded in armor for a bit before she looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I looked away with a blush on my cheeks.

“You’re a weird one aren’t you? Well it doesn’t matter. Let me be the first to welcome you to the Holy Grail War horse girl!” She said as I stared back at her with a confused expression on her face. She takes notice to this as she scratches the back of her head. “Hey, you are fully aware of what the Holy Grail War is, right?”

“Holy Grail War?”

“You don’t know anything about the Holy Grail War!? Why the hell would you enter something that you know nothing of in the first place!?”

“I….don’t know to be honest.” I said as I lean back in the bed I’m in. It’s weird, how did I end up in this place to begin with? I tried my best to remember anything that could give me a clue as to how I ended up here, but all I can remember is my name...everything else is just a blurry haze.

“Do you atleast have a name ya nerd?” The armor clad woman asked as I nodded.

“T-Twilight Sparkle.” I answered as I noticed the woman staring at me for a moment before looking away and...is she laughing? “A-Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah….Yeah….just...give me a sec to...um...get my thoughts straight.” She said while still trying not to laugh. She turned her attention back onto me with a smirk on her face. “While pitiful, I’m pretty sure ignorance is not a sin. I will inform you in layman's terms. Okay, so the Holy Grail is said to have held the blood of a savior and has the power to grant wishes. The original has been lost to time and all that remains are counterfeits. Honestly it doesn’t really matter to me to some degree. The Holy Grail for which you are fighting for is a different object altogether.”

“Wait so I’m in a war to get the holy grail to obtain a wish?” I asked as thewoman nodded.

“Glad to see you’re catching on what I’m saying. Early on, the Holy Grail War was the name given to the ceremony magi held to gain the Grail. In truth, it was a bloody melee from which the sole survivor would be granted the Holy Grail. In simple terms, the tournament you’re now in is an approximation of the original Holy Grail War. Now new magi have emerged in a time in which thaumaturgy has all but faded away.”

“Me, a magi? Although I can hardly believe that I am one, I’m having a hard time believing that I am one.” I said as I moved over to the edge of the bed I was in. “I mean, I don’t even know who you are and you’re telling me something that I should already know by now.” The woman paused as she looked at me with an suspicious expression on her face as I blinked at her. “Is something the matter?”

“Geez, I drew the short straw with you huh horse.” I feel like I should be offended by that statement. “You’re hopeless. To make a long story short weather you know this or not. Here, to win is to live; to lose is to die. There is only one way to avoid death.” She said before leaning against a wall with her arms folded. “The rules are simple. Two magi are assigned to fight each other using their Servants as weapons.”

“Servants?” I asked as she pointed to herself as an example...I get the feeling that she’s not the type that does well at explaining things.

“We Servants are the only line of defense from when fighting other master’s Servants. The Magus who loses to their opponent is stripped of both their Command Seals and their life.” As if I was going to ask her what she means by command seals, she pointed a finger towards my left hand. My eyes are drawn to my left hand where I’ve been marked with three strange symbols. I ran a finger along the symbols as they quickly began to glow for a second before returning to normal. “You will face a series of battles before you reach the Holy Grail. But the details really don't matter. The only thing that you must do is win. Simple, isn’t it?”

“I doubt it’s that simple. But I’ll take your word for it seeing how you know a lot more than I do.”

“Hey I’m giving you some of the basics of how this war works. As long as you understand the basics, that’s enough for now...Please tell me you know what a Servant is?”

“I want to say yes...but that would be lying.” I said, which caused her to facepalm and sigh in annoyance.

“Is there anything that you do know!?” Oh no, she’s angry. Quick! Think of something nice to say to her!

“Um...I do know that you have nice sturdy armor?” I said with an awkward smile on my face. To my surprise her attitude changed as a smile appeared on her face from what I said...I’m not complaining, just roll with it Twilight.

“Geez, something must have happen to you if you can’t remember any of the stuff I’m saying.” The Servant said as she continued on explaining. “Servants are legendary Souls called from the past to help Masters win in the Holy Grail War. Only those whose deeds are acknowledged long after their deaths become Legendary Souls. The Servants recreated here by the Holy Grail are drawn from those whose legends endured. Servants are basically soldiers, there to guide and protect the magus who summoned them.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense when you think about it. Is there some kind of category for Servants? I mean judging by the way you look, you look like you’re a knight of some sorts?”

“For a girl with no memory of her life, you sure are a smart horse.”

“Can you please stop calling me a horse? It sounds a bit...insensitive to be called that.” I said as she place a hand to her chin.

“Okay, how about pony then. Does that sound like an okay thing to call you?” Well it doesn’t feel offensive, so I guess that’d be okay….for now. I simply nodded to her question as she smiled again with a nod. “Okay pony. To answer your question, yes. Servants are divided into seven classes. Originally, the classes of Legendary Souls were hidden, but things have changed over time.” She said before walking in front of me with her sword in hand. “Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Caster, and Assassin.”

“Okay, I take it by the sword you’re of the saber class Servant?”

“Correct egghead.” She answered with smug smirk on her face. “It is said that those of the Saber class are far superior to other Servants. I must say. Even though your a egghead, you’re doing well in the whole listening and asking decent short questions. I can sense some kind of potential in you...even though you are a humanoid like pony creature.” ….I’ll take that as a compliment. “Now then, from this day forward, you may refer to me as Saber.”

“Is that your real name?”

“No, it’s just something so that the other master won’t figure out my true name and look up information of my true identity. A Master who knows my true identity spells trouble for me and my Master. Which is you by the way. So for safety reasons I won’t tell you my name...unless you beg for it that is~” Saber...this woman’s personality is going to be difficult to deal with, but she seems like decent person to have as an ally….I think?

“I take it you won’t tell me your real name anytime soon?”

“I will share my name once I have learned a little more about you.” Well it was worth a shot to ask. “I can understand your unease at knowing nothing at all. But rest assured, I will tell you later on. For now let’s focus on the holy grail war. Basically all I know is that it grants wishes and creates Servants using famous figures from human history.” Saber said as a confident grin appeared on her face. “With your brains and me being the mightiest of Legendary Souls by your side, the Holy Grail will be ours! Ah man, I’m getting so excited just thinking about winning this war!”

“Um...that’s good I guess.” I’m not going to lie, all this information that Saber told me about is...a bit confusing and unsettling for the most part. Holy Grail War, Legendary Souls, The Grail. What am I even doing here to begin with. More importantly...who am I if I’m being perfectly being honest about it? I don’t remember anything other then my name and some basic stuff about...weird pony stuff. But other then that, I don’t remember anything else. Just as I was beginning to lose myself into my own thought, I felt something hard hit my head as I let out a yelp of pain.

“Oi! Are you even paying attention egghead?”

“What the hey was that for!?” I yelled, rubbing my head from what I can guess was her fist hitting the top part of my head. “Don’t you know hitting somepony on the head is dangerous!?”

“You were staring off into the distance and ignoring me when i was calling out your name. Why wouldn’t I hit you on the head like….wait did you say somepony?”

“Yeah I did, why?” I asked as she stared at me with a deadpan expression on her face. “Um...did I say something wrong?” Saber didn’t say anything other then flick me on the nose as I yelped again and covered my nose from the pain.

“It’s pronounced somebody, not somepony. You say puns like that every time, and I will flick your nose each time until you learn not to do that.” Who does this jerk think she is treating me like I’m some kind of young foal. I have half a mind to….well I don’t know what I could do to her, but I’m sure I’ll think of something. All I can do now is simply nod before seeing a smirk appear on her face as she patted me on the head. “Good, now with that taken care of. It’s time for us to have a look around the battleground.”

With that, my Servant disappears from my sight, but I can feel her presence nearby. This must be a means for Servants to stay out of sight when they’re not needed so their identity can’t be compromised. But how can somepony guess who they are just by their appearance is beyond me. Just as I go to stand up from the bed I was in, the door to the room I’m in opens. I look over to the doorway to see a girl with long purple hair enter into the room as she smiled upon seeing me standing up.

“Ah, you’re finally awake? I’m so relieved.” She said before walking over towards me as she eyes me up and down. “You don’t seem to have any injuries from where we found you, so feel free to leave when you feel like it. But before you do that, you might want to put on some clothes before you leave.” I raised an eyebrow to this as I looked over at my reflexion in the window behind me. My eyes widen to the sudden realization of this as I quickly grabbed the cover of the bed I was in and used it as a means to cover my...exposed body. The girl that said this giggled at my reaction as she walked over to the closet in the room and reached in to hand me a set of clothes to put on. All the while I can hear Saber laughing at me in the background.

“T-Thanks for the pair of clothes….um.”

“Sakura Matou. And you’re welcome.” She said as I began to quickly put on the spare set of clothes she gave me. “If you haven’t noticed by now. Your memories should be restored by the SE.RA.PH. So do not worry. Any magi that seek the Holy Grail have their memories suppressed and are given false ones of that of an average high school student. Only Masters who managed to recover themselves are allowed to enter the main tournament.” She said as I pause upon hearing her say that and looked over at her. “Now that you have regained your memories, please try to review them to make sure they’re complete.”

That would makes sense as to why I can’t remember anything from my past other then my name...But if that was the case, then why haven’t my memories return yet? Outside of my name, I can’t recall anything of my past. This isn’t good, not good at all if I cannot remember a single thing that happened to me before then! I shook my head to get my thoughts straight as I asked.

“What if your memory isn’t restored? Because I can’t remember anything about my past, nor anything else besides some basic knowledge that’s common to me.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot help you with that. I, Sakura Matou, am just a custodial AI.”

“.....You’re a what?”

“An AI. Artificial intelligence is what the term AI means. All I can do is heal people when they’re sick, injured, or if they need a med kit to help treat their wounds themselves. If you don’t have your memories back, then there might have been a glitch with SE.RA.PH. that might have caused this.” So in short, she can’t help me get my memories back from this SE.RA.PH. person, and I’m going into battle with little to nothing on me….this is not helping my boost of confidence any better then how it is now. “But I can give you something that might be able to help you in the tournament.” Sakura said as she reached into her pocket to pull out a strange light blue object and handed it over to me as I just finish putting my clothes on.

“What is that?” I asked as I hesitantly took the strange object into my hands and began to look it over. Once I tapped on it a bit, the object quickly expanded as I gasped in surprise.

“It’s your portable terminal. As a participant, you should pay attention to any messages that appear on your terminal. This can also be used to store information on the Masters and their Servants for when you have to fight them.” She said before going back to her desk. “Do your best in the Tournament ma’am. And I hope you come out on top.” All I could do was nod as I make my way out of the nurse’s office and into the hallway.

“Well she may not have been able to help me get my memories back, but at least she gave me something to help me hold on to information. I said before pressing the portable terminal as it return to being a small rectangular object and I placed it into my pants pocket. Once I placed the terminal into my pocket, my stomach began to growl. Guess I haven’t eaten anything in quite some time if I’m getting hungry.

“Getting hungry I take it?” Saber asked as she appeared beside me as I nodded with a blush on my face. “Wouldn’t be surprised, you have been sleeping for the past twelve hours or so.” Well that answered one of my questions. “Let’s get you something to eat before we have a look around the school.”

“Do you know where we can find some food in this place?” I asked as she points a finger towards the staircase off in the distance.

“There’s a cafe down those stairs in the school commissary. They should be able to give you something to eat...I mean if they look by your horse like features that is.” Saber said before disappearing in a flash. I nodded as I begin to make my way to the stairs and headed downstairs to the commissary. Once I step foot into the room, the room quickly fell silent as I saw what I can guess were the combatants of the holy grail war looking at me. “Wow, never expected for this to happen. Guess this is going to be a normal thing for you until they can look passed the fact you’re a talking mythical creature.”

“Well don’t I feel special.” I let out a sigh as I began to make my way over to the female student behind the counter off in front of me. Once I got there, I noticed she was busy doing something seeing how her back was turned to me as I tried to get her attention. “Um, excuse me ma’am. Is this the place to get something to eat?”

“Yep, we sell both foods and items for you and your-” Once she turned around, her eyes widen in shock upon seeing me. I gave off an awkward wave along with a smile, as I tried my best not to be threatening or anything to that matter. To my surprise she dawned on a rather excited expression on her face as I notice her taking a step back and lunge herself at me. I let out a loud scream as I felt her tackle me to the ground and begins to...cuddle me and pinch my cheeks. All the while my Servant pretty much laughs at my expense from seeing this human hugging me like I was her pet or something.

“OMG! You are so adorable! Is that a cosplay you’re wearing!? OMG that would be so cool if it was!” The human said as I tried my best to push her face away from mine as I tried to answer her question.

“I...don’t know what cosplay is, but no. This is what I look like.” I answered as her hugging strength increased even more. For a human, she has such amazing strength! “S-Saber….help me please!” I yelled as I could feel the air in my lungs being pushed out from my body. “Dear Faust! I can’t breathe!” Just as I said that, I felt the human’s grip lessen up as I notice Saber appearing with the human in her hand and away from me.

“Please try not to hurt my master. I kinda need her if I’m gonna win the Holy Grail War.” She said before placing her behind the counter she lunged from. The human let out a gasp as she bowed her head toward us.

“I am so, so sorry about that. It’s just that your master looked like something I would see in a manga and I couldn’t help but do that to her. I hope you can forgive me for doing that madam?”

“Just....ask before doing something like that again please?” I said as I took deep breaths while pulling and brushing myself off. “Anyway, is this the place where I can get something to eat?”

“Indeed it is.” The human said before pointing to a sign behind herself. “In hell, money conquers all, welcome to the Tsukumihara Academy Commissary! How can I help you two today?”

“My Master here requires food. Do you have anything that might be suitable for a horse.” Saber said as I glared at her. “I mean, for a pony….a talking pony with wings and a horn on her head.” I simply snorted in annoyance before looking over at the human girl who was reaching for something in the display case.

“Well, the only thing I have available for food would be Yakisoba Bread and Curry Bread.” She said before showing me what they look like. “They may look weird looking, but they do taste good with a drink to go along with it. And it’s made fresh so you don’t have to worry about coming here and getting it when it’s cold.”

“Perfect, then she’ll take those.” Saber said as the human handed them over to me.

“You’re just going to give me these just like that? Don’t I have to pay for them or something?” It would be rude if I were to just take them without having to pay her back for it.

“Oh don’t worry about paying. Think of this as an apology for tackling you like that. Plus I get the feeling that you’re a new master in the holy grail wars right?” She asked as I simply nodded. “I figured seeing how I’ve never seen someone like you before. I kinda thought you were a Servant given the way you look. But when I saw that you had a Servant of your own, I guess I was mistaken for assuming that.”

“Oh, well thanks for the food I guess?” It feels kinda weird that I would let somepony give me something for free. But if she’s okay with this, then I shouldn’t be complaining about it.

“You’re welcome! Be sure to come by my shop if you need some more food or supplies to help you in battle~” I nodded before waving good-bye to the human as I head up the stairs.

“That was weird and bizzare on so many levels of weirdness.” I said as I started to pull the wrapping off of the Curry Bread as I continued to walk up the stairs unknowingly.

“Well you can’t blame her for doing that.” Saber said as she made herself invisible while following after me. “Girls like that will find someone like you adorable to the point where they will do that. So be prepare to see that happening a lot depending on who the person is.”

“She could’ve at least asked before doing that to me. I mean really, hasn't anypony heard of personal space?” I said before feeling Saber flick my nose before I took a bite out of the curry bread. I glanced over to her with a glare as I rubbed my nose.

“Like I said, I’ll keep doing that until you break that nasty habit of saying horse puns.” I’m starting to have second thoughts of having her as a partner right now.

“Before I say anything that I might regret saying later on. Is there a place where I can eat in peace without humans looking at me?” I said as I walked by some of the students in the hallway looking at me as if I was a target for something or somepony.

“The rooftop should be an okay place to eat. Just continue up the stairs and you should be there.” Saber said as I gave her a small smile before heading upstairs to the rooftop.

Author's Note

What Twilight Looks like.