Fate/Extra: Equestria

Week Two

What an...Odd Glorious Morning

[Day Four]
Morning

My eyes shot open upon feeling the dream ending as I frantically flailed around in the makeshift bed. Looking around I could see that I was in the private room, which was a good sign seeing how I’m not hallucinating...as much as I was when I was poisoned by the archer. Still, my body feels like lead and I can’t move as much as I normally do.

“Guess the poison is stuck in my body like Saber said. I better get to the nurse’s office-” Just as I reach out to pull the covers off of me, I notice that the color of my arms were glowing green, well the magic circuits that were inside me were glowing green and purple. I blinked in surprise as I quickly pulled the covers off to see that my entire body was covered in magic circuits. “Oh dear...please let there be no horns growing out of my head.” I slowly reached for the top of my head, only to sigh in relief that I still had pony ears and my unicorn horn. Looking behind myself, I can see that I still have my tail and wings still on me...just covered in magic circuits...Yeah I got to go to the nurse’s office. Before I could do anything, I heard the door to the room open as Saber entered with a bag of food in her hands.

“Hey! Egghead! It’s time to wake…” Just as Saber looked upon me, her eyes widened as she dropped the bags she was carrying onto the ground. “Wow...didn’t think the poison would do this to your body....”

“...Nice to see you’re as blunt as always.” I said while struggling to get out of bed. “At least you brought me something to eat this morning.”

“Well seeing how we need to get the poison out of your system, you’re going to be at the nurse’s office for a while. So I figured I'll get you some food to last through the day.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” I said while staggering to my feet and began to make my way over to the nurse’s office...though I can hear Saber making snickering sounds from behind me. That might be due to the way I’m walking because of the poison. I turned my attention to her who quickly looked off to the side, but I can see a smile on her face. “You're a jerk sometimes. You know that?”

“I know, and I’m not sorry about it in the slightest.”

(Nurse’s Office)

Getting to the nurse’s office was a pain. Mainly because of the poison that was still inside my body...which might explain why it felt like I was dying in the dream I had last night. But thank goodness that the archer didn’t try and attack me while I was in the hallway, otherwise I would possibly be dead.

“This is taxine, a toxin from the yew tree. It’s quite a terrifying natural poison.” Sakura said while showing me a bottle of the sickly greenish purple substance. “I don’t know much of it I can treat with my abilities, but I’ll do what I can. But you can’t let this happen to you again. You only have one body, okay? Treat it well.” She said while administering a detox treatment to me on the bed in her office. Bits of digital like squares appeared around my body as I felt myself feeling a bit better.

“What about the magic circuits? Surely this isn’t a normal thing that they’re glowing like this?”

“I’m afraid that I don’t know how to fix that problem. Maybe if the poison leaves your body, then it should go back to normal. Sorry, but given the fact that you’re not human and have more magic circuits within your body, It’s kinda hard to get the right readings on what’s wrong with you.” She said before walking off. Guess it would make sense. I’m not human so it would be hard for her to figure out what the problem is with me. Maybe this world is causing the sudden change happening to my body? While I dwell on that thought, the doors to the nurse’s office open, admitting a surprise visitor. I turn my attention towards the door as my eyes widen upon seeing Dan Blackmore entering the room along with his Servant appearing next to him.

The unexpected caller is my enemy Master. I tried to ready myself, but I couldn’t say anything due to the fear I was feeling from seeing the archer and from the poison sapping away most of my strength. However, his actions greatly betray my expectations.

“You got some nerve showing your face here you bastards.” Saber appeared next to me as she glared daggers at the two. “What? Here to try to attack while she’s down?”

“I’ve destroyed the Noble Phantasm, the source of the poisoned arrows. Their effects should dissipate.” He said while bowing his head before me. “Plese, accept this token of my apology, if only to humor me.” Saber and I looked at each other with shocked expressions on our faces before looking back at Dan and Archer...Wait, what does this man standing by my bed mean that he disabled his servant’s Noble Phantasm? “And, Archer. I’m disappointed in your use of underhanded tactics without my permission. To break the sovereign rules of the battlefield is to sunder the fabric of your character. This war is between individuals, not countries. There is no longer any need to resort to savagery.”

A quiet confession. There’s something unshakable about the conviction underlying those solemn words...Looks like Saber was wrong about Dan being dishonorable.

“Archer. Your Master, Dan Blackmore, commands you with the force of a command seal. I hereby prohibit any attacks on enemy Masters with your Yew Bow while on campus.”

“What!? Are you crazy, boss…!? I thought you wanted this to be an easy win!” He said as I noticed Dan’s hand glowing for a moment.

“Of course. And I will not lose. My victory is the natural outcome of the situation. However, Archer, I speak only to my own resolve. My fight and yours are separate. There are circumstances in which we may not win. My victory is not the same as yours.” he said as Archer glared at him silently before disappearing. The Command Seals. The three absolute commands that a Master may give their Servant. Astonishingly, this old knight in front of me just used one of his Command Seals to force his own Servant to fight fairly. “Please understand that my Servant acted improperly and against my deepest wishes. I intend to grasp victory only on the battlefield proper. I hope you can forgive this incident. Especially given how the poison turned you into what you are.” That said, Dan turns around and walks off.

Matrix Level Two: Obtained!

“Hmph, I guess I’ll have to retract what I said last night. This man is worthy of the title of knight. Compared to me, he proved his honor by apologizing with a command seal, and revealing the name of his Servant’s noble Phantasm...Which explains the color of the poison that Sakura pulled out from your body.” Saber said as I looked over at her. “The Yew Bow. The wood used to make the yew bow was taken from a specific tree located in a specific forest that a man used as his base of operations. The bow has the power to identify and amplify any impurities both physically and mental, causing them to explode with incredible force.” She said as I quickly pulled out a notepad to write this down so I can put it on my terminal for later.

“The Yew Trees have many mystical and religious connections attributed to them by Celtic beliefs, and the act of making a bow from the wood of a yew was seen as a contract to “Become one with the Forest.” It was also believed the yew trees served as signposts for the deceased to guide them to the afterlife. It was this connection between the yew and death that caused the man to remark he wanted to be buried where his final arrow fell. To nobody’s surprise, it landed at the foot of the yew tree where he first got the wood to make his bow...really wish I knew that guy’s name from what father told me once.”

“....How am I not dead if that’s the case!?”

“Well it could be the fact that we’re in a digital world, or the fact that you’re a human-like animal.” Saber said as she shrugs. “Or it could be your weird amazing luck that you have in surviving this long.”

“Some help that is.” I said before slumping back into the bed I was in.

“What do you want from me? I’m not a nerd with all the answers that you need like you are. I prefer to kill first and ask questions later.”

“Makes me wonder how you ended up as a heroic spirit.” I said before an electronic chiming sound came from my terminal. I reached into my pocket to pull it out to see words appearing on it.

:: The secondary cipher key has been generated ::

The second Trigger has appeared. Guess I’ll need to find it first before the Elimination Battle begins. Better head to the arena while I still can. Just as I was about to pull myself out of the bed, I felt Saber place a hand on my chest, and pushed me down onto the bed with little to no effort.

“Much as I want you to be up and going. Right now, your body needs to recover from being poisoned from Archer’s poison.”

“But-”

“No butts, butts are for sitting. And your fatass needs to sit down and relax for the time being. We’ll go to the arena when you’re well rested.” Saber said as she walked over to the doors that led outside of the room. “And to make sure you don’t try anything, I’ll be right here keeping an eye on you.”

“....Fine....Thanks.”

“No problem, egghead.”

“How long are you going to keep calling me that?”

“Until you give me a reason to acknowledge you as a master. At this point you have part of my respect after the first round. Now rest up until the afternoon.”

[Afternoon]
[Hallway]

“Okay, so we have some information on Dan’s Servant. Thanks to your knowledge about the poison of where he got it from, we only need one more piece of information before we figure out who he is. Still a shame that you don’t know his real name even though you know about the weapon he’s using.”

“Yeah, sorry. Father told me about his name one time, but I wasn’t paying much attention seeing how it didn’t seem like it was important to me during that time.”

“Really helpful on that part Saber.” I said in a sarcastic tone which caused her to flip me off with her middle finger. “Rani might help out with that lack of information on your part, but we’ll have to wait until the fifth day so she can read the stars to figure out something.”

“Star readers in a nutshell. They’re good at gathering information, but it takes a hell of a time for them to get it due to the star of said person they’re looking for.” Saber said as we made our way over to the arena, only for her to pause in the middle of the hallway. I raised an eyebrow at her as to why she stopped, only for her to point a finger down the hallway. Looking over to where she was pointing at, I saw my homeroom teacher Taiga looking around trying to find something or somepony. When she made eye contact with me, she smiles and quickly rushes over to me.

“Ah there you are my favorite student! Were you able to get the persimmon?” She asked as I presented her said box of persimmon as they appeared out of ones and zeros next to her. “Ah, my persimmons! So it was in your Arena after all! Thank you so much for getting it for me!” She said with a grin on her face. “Heh heh! I can finally share this with everyone. Oh, I just remembered something.”

Upon hearing this, she turns her attention towards me as she dawns an innocent expression on her face...I get the feeling I’m going to be her little errand pony.

“Twilight, a student asked me for help, but you’d do a better job. So could you help me instead? I promise that I’ll give you a reward later on~.”

“Sure, why not? Not like I have anything better to do.”

“You’re a lifesaver! It seems one of the girls dropped her glasses in the Arena. She said they dropped to the bottom of the arena’s second floor, but she isn’t sure. It’d be great if you could poke around the second floor of your arena as well. She lost them on the second floor. Please try to find them sometime during the second round. Thanks!” She said before grabbing the box of persimmons and headed off to the second floor.

“You’re too nice for your own good. You know that, right?” Saber said as I rolled my eyes to her comment.

“Can’t really deny something like this. Do you know how hard it must be to not be able to read without their glasses? This is something I must do for them.”

“For one nerd to another, right?”

“....Let’s just go to the arena before I do something I’m going to regret later on.” I said as Saber vanished from my side as I resumed my walk to the arena.