[Night]
(Private Room)

“You sure Saber is going to be okay?” Sweetie Belle asked as she placed a pillow under the Servant’s head and a cover over her body.

“She just needs some rest and time to heal, she’ll be right as rain after this,” Jace answered with a chuckle. “I always wanted to say that.”

“.......That was a corny thing to say…..” Jace rolled his eyes at her as he went to a table. With a wave of his hand, a few crystals the size of a one's hand appeared.

“Mind helping me with something,” He asked as Sweetie Belle walked over to assist Jace in whatever he’s doing.

“What’s with the weird crystals?” She asked. Jace pushed three of the four over to one side, picked up one, and handed it to the young unicorn. He then sat down in a chair with his back to her.

“Those are healing crystals, kinda like those gum drops from before but a bit more stronger, the three are for Saber if she needs them but the one you have is for me. I took some damage in that last fight.” He said as Sweetie Belle was going to asks him something, but stopped as he pull the back of his shirt up. She saw that he had scars and bruises on his body along with one long bloody scar that stood out. He looked over to her with a raised eyebrow. “Not afraid of a little blood are you?”

“I’ve seen worse from Scootaloo.” Sweetie Belle said as she walked up towards the human. “So how does this crystal thing work?”

“It’s like washing someone's back, just rub in the area where the wound is it the crystal will do the rest.” Jace explained. Sweetie Belle simply shrugged as she did just that, and saw the crystal glow as the wound begin to close.

“Huh, well that was anti-climatic.”

“When you see what I seen, everything is anti-climatic but dang that pirate can seriously do a number on one person even with a shield and armor.”

“Well she is a legendary spirit after all.” Saber said as she turned her head to the direction of Sweetie Bell and Jace.

“Good to see you awake, how’s your dirt nap?” He asked with a grin.

“I got shot by a fucking pirate and blown in the face by a cannon…..if I wanted to deal with something like that, I would’ve had Caster do that to me.” Saber answered as she leaned her head on the pillow her head was on. “At least I know what her possible class is.”

“A pirate class,” Jace said with a big grin as he stood up.

“......You really should head over to the library to get a good info on what the holy grail war is.” Saber said as she was about to rectify the human, only for her to notice something glowing under his shirt. “What’s with the glowing coming from under your shirt?”

Jace blinked at her as he looked down to see what she was talking about. He pulled out a necklace as It had a dog tag, a blue gem that was glowing, and a stone. “It’s a necklace if you are wondering. If you don’t know what that is then you must’ve hit your head hard when you fell.”

Sweetie got a closer look at it and saw that the stone had markings on it. “What do the marking on the stone say?”

Jace looked at her for a moment. His expression changed from a goof ball to more of a loving parent one. “It says ‘Daddy’ it was a gift from my daughter.”

“You’re a father?” Saber asked. “Never expect you to be one.”

“I been many things over my time and I doubt that it’s going to stop,” He said with a sigh as he fiddles with the blue gem. “So much has happened over the last year.”

“Welcome to the club.” Saber said as she turned around to get adjusted in her makeshift bed. “Not to ruined this moment or anything, but we need to get some sleep for tomorrow. We need to get back into the arena for one of the Primary Cipher Keys.”

Jace looked at her for a moment and headed to the door. “You two can do that, I’m going to take your advise and do some research.”

“Fair warning, the library does have info on certain things, but knowing the grail he might have taken certain books involving the servant we fought.”

“Information about anything can be useful even it it’s something small.” Jace said as he walked out of the door and closing it.

“I’m hoping he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m sure he won’t.” Sweetie Belle said as she snuggled underneath the cover and moved next to Saber. “For now, let’s just rest and get the other key in the morning.” The Unicorn said as she closed her eye along with Saber.

“Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn out bad.”

[Morning]
(Library)

Inside the library, Jace was sitting at a table with a mountain of books around him as he continued to read one of them. He didn’t know how long he was doing this or that it was morning.

“Well someone’s been studying on this world’s history.” Ruler said as she appeared next to the human.

“I used to love history class when I was growing up.” Jace said without looking at her.

“Oh? So you’re a history nerd. Nothing wrong with that or anything, but I doubt it’ll do you any good due to the time limit on you.”

Jace simply closed the book and set it on the big pile next to him and grabbed another. “I doubt that, like you said I’m looking up this world's history it's quite fascinating really.”

“That’s the Holy Grail War for yeah. All who enter it dies and the last one standing claims the holy grail for his or her own wish.”

“Looks like it, guessing you were part of it at one point?” Jace asked.

“Only when someone broke the rules, but other then that I just an overseer that keep the war going as smoothly as possible.” Ruler said as she walked around him. “Just a heads up, you’re gonna have to leave this evening. The limit for one displaced to be in this war varies from person to person.”

“Thanks for the heads up, I just finished the last book.” Jasc said as he closed the book and set it down on the stack of books. Pulling himself up from the chair he was sitting in, he began to stretch a bit before looking at Ruler. “So are you here to say that or is there something else you wanted to add?”

“Well that and to give you some info to pass on to Saber and Sweetie Belle on the servant you got your asses handed to you yesterday.”

“Interesting, and that info would be…”

“All I can say is that she’s known for her dual wielding pistols, and was the most famous explorer throughout the seas.”

“Guess your not going to give out the name, that would be to easy for you.”

“It’s war human. Nothing is ever easy.”

“Oh well, just a thought anyway.” Jace snapped his fingers as all the books disappeared from the table and back on the bookshelves. “Let’s get this show on the road. Let’s see how that spoiled brat and pirate lady do for round two.”

“We’ll see about that.” Ruler said as she disappeared from his sigh before saying one last thing. “Sweetie Belle and Saber are in the commissary downstairs.”

Jace started walking towards where the others are. As he did, he thought on what Ruler said. “The most famous explorer throughout the seas huh, that rings a bell but what was the name, wait was there female explorers back then?”
[Midday]
(Commissary)

“So that’s all Ruler said?” Saber asked as she handed Sweetie Belle her food. Jace nodded as he bit into his sandwich.

“Yup, that’s it. Have any ideas of who she is because I should know it but can’t place my finger on it.”

“If I had more info then I might be able to, but for now all I can say is that she might be either a rider or an archer seeing how she’s using pistols as a weapon."

“I have no idea what a rider is but it sounds like she should have something to ride on, but archer might be it…” Jace frowned a bit and leaned forward. “Ugh, this is going to bug me, I know the name but which one was a female explorer?”

“I doubt she’s an archer seeing how archers use bows for weapons than pistols.”

“And I’m guessing there’s no sharpshooter, so that leaves the rider. I wonder if she rides a pirate ship then?” Jace wondered.

“Possibly, but we can’t assume too much with little information we have at the moment.”

“So what’s the plan for dealing with her? What do we know about how she fights?”

“So far she uses a mix of artillery and close to mid range base like attacks

“She’s also fast too. Normally to deal with someone with range you get up close and and hit them fast so they don’t have any time to attack, but she seems to do fine up close.” Jace added as he took a sip from his apple juice.

“Then she must be a rider if that’s the case. Archers are somewhat good at close range, but their hand-to-hand combat skills are pretty slow depending on the hero that are summoned in said class.”

“So that means we have to deal with her from long range or some other way, so any ideas?” Jace asked.

“As my friend Caster would say and I quote “Eh, will wing it and see how things goes when we cross that bridge.” Saber said trying to mimic Caster’s voice.

“So we’re improvising from here? Great, that most of my plans other than blowing them up.” Jace said.

“Isn’t that a bad thing to have a plan like that?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No.” Jace answered.

“It’s how you do it is what would be bad if it turns out badly.” Saber added as she summoned her sword into her hand, only for it to be invisible.

“I got some ideas in mind but one involves goblins and the other grease.” Jace said.

Saber and Sweetie Belle looked at him with deadpanned expression. “Should I be worry about this plan of yours?” Saber asked.

“No, one is a swarm plan and the other is to make movement restricted.”

“It could work the next time we face her, but I doubt it’ll be today seeing how they already got their key and have no reason to go back in there.”

“The only reason I can think of is that they want to taunt us some more. Which if they do, then I really want to punch that spoiled brat in the face.” Jace commented as he crossed his arms.

“You’re not the only one that wants to do that.” Saber said looked at her sword. “If it wasn’t for this place limiting my strength then I would mop the floor with him.”

“I know the feeling,” Jace said. He held up his left hand with his gauntlet which showed five gems that are some what dim. “I can feel the power is there, but I can’t tap into it which limits to what I can do. I can’t even ascend to my other forms.”

“And I’m starting to miss looking at my sword…..stupid noble phantasm making it invisible.”

“Right then, guess we have to push on with what we got.” Jace said as he finished his drink and stood up. “Well better not delay this anymore.”

“Let’s head over to the arena and get the first Primary CIpher Key.” Saber said as she and Sweetie Belle stood up. “Lord know I don’t want to wait any longer for that prick to try something stupid.”

[Evening]
(Arena)

“Okay, Shinji and his servant shouldn’t be here seeing how they already have his Primary cipher key. So we should be able to find ours without any problems whatsoever.” Saber said as she readies her sword.

“Why did you go and say that, now something will go wrong.” Jace groaned.

“Whatever, just keep a look out for the key.”

“Just saying, so what does this key look like?”

“It’s pretty much like a keycard, only inside a digital cub.” Saber answered as she took lead and lead Sweetie Belle and Jace into the arena.

“Well then let's go find a cube then.”

“Be careful not to get caught off guard by the enemy programs, they can hurt like hell if they hit you.”

“Fun but quick question, what do they even look like? I haven't seen them yesterday.” Jace asked.

“They kinda look like this.” Sweetie Belle said as she pulled out her terminal to show Jace.

“Everything here looks like something from Tron.” Jace said as they continued walking.

Saber looked over at Jace to see that his gauntlet sparked a bit and his form shifted. “Care to explain what’s going on with you now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your gauntlet sparked and your form shifted a bit.” Saber explained.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Jace said as he lowered his arm as they continue on. After going around a few corners Jace’s gauntlet sparked a few times again, this time Jace saw this and kept checking it to see what's going on.

Sweetie Belle saw this going on as she watched Jace’s form changed from time to time. Some parts changed like his right arm turned into a clawed gauntlet, his clothes changed to some heavy clothing and holding some sort of spear.

“Now do you see what I was talking about?” Saber asked.

“Yeah, these sparks are concerning I’ll check them out when I get back.” Jace said.

“Just make sure it doesn’t become a problem. I prefer not to carry any dead weight.”

“Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine, do you drink sugar rainbows and own small cute kittens?” Jace said earning him a glare from Saber and Sweetie Belle.

“That’s offensive to ponies. We don’t drink sugar rainbows. We drink milkshakes and some of us own different pets.” Sweetie Belle commented as Jace looked at her for a moment then looked away before muttering something under his breath.

“I heard that smartass.” Saber said as she smacked Jace upside his head. “And watch your language, we have a under age minor in this group remember?”

“I didn’t say anything that’s offensive and I don’t think Sweetie Belle works in a mine.” Jace said with a grin.

“Minor you idiot not miner….” Saber looked next to Jace as she notice an enemy program heading towards them. “How good are you with bees?” She said point behind him as an enemy program appeared behind him.

Jace looked at the program as lightning started to course up his arms. “This will be good.” He said as he hit the ground with his fist.

“I don’t think hitting the ground is going to do anything seeing how the Crix is flying in the air.” Saber said.

Jace looked over to her with a smile and puts his hand to his ear. “Well tell me what’s that sound then?” Jace asked.

Saber and Sweetie Belle looked at one another and were about to say something until they heard the sound of buzzing. They looked over and saw some sort of cloud coming towards them.

“Saber, Sweetie Belle, I like you two to met a Jag wasp Swarm, not very tough alone but in a swarm they can tear through pretty much anything in the matter of seconds. Oh and they are really hungry.” He said as the swarm overtook the Crix.

“You do know this thing is made out ones and zeros right?” Sweetie Belle asked as Jace looked at the two of them then back at the swarm. He then saw that the Crix was flying out of the swarm with little damage done to it. Rolling his eyes, Jace snapped his fingers as a lightning bolt shot out to try to hit the Crix. Only for it to dodge out of the way and try and attack him with its stinger. Saber brought up her sword as she used to block the Crix’s attack and push it back.

“Remember, your power are limited as long as you’re in this place.” Sweetie Belle said.

Jace looked at the unicorn for a moment, then back at his gauntlet with a frown. While he was tinking with it, Saber began to fight with the Crix.

“What did I said about being dead weight?” Saber said as she quickly parried the stinger from the Crix, and countered with a vertical slash to the Crix’s body. This caused the Crix to staggering back as it quickly recovered, and began a rapid sting attack toward the Servant.

“Heads up!” Jace yelled causing Saber moved to the side as a bolt of magic shot pasted her and hit the Crix’s wing. Saber looked back and saw that Jace was holding some sort of gun that he was frowning at and muttering something at it.

“You could’ve done this sooner you know?” Saber said as she quickly moved back in front of Jace and Sweetie Belle.

Jace didn’t say anything as he opened his gun and put something into it and closed it. He looked up at the Crix and shot at it as it dodge the bullet without any effort.

Saber looked back at Jace and saw him smiling. “What are you smiling about?” Saber asked.

Jace pointed at the Crix which was trying to stay up with its damaged wing. “Trackers, do as much as any other bullet but it’s really hard for it to miss.” Jace explained as Saber quickly charge at the Crix to deliver the killing blow. Bringing her sword up, Saber brought it down onto the program as she sliced it into as it faded into dust.

“Well that was something.” Sweetie Belle said as she notice a green floating cube behind where the Crix was. “Hey, there’s the Primary Cipher Key!”

“That was easy…” Jace said as he put more bullets into his gun. “Too easy.”

“Well this is only the first week and the first floor of the arena, so stuff like this is going to be easy until the second floor.” Saber said as she walked over to the cube to open it, and grabbed the key from inside it.

“Well my time is up.” Jace said as he made his gun disappeared and looked at the two of them. “Hope you win this thing and if you see that jackass again can you do me a favor and punch him in the face for me.”

“We will. Thanks for the assistance Jace.” Saber said as Sweetie Belle hopped onto Saber’s shoulders. “If you need our assistance, give us a call.” She said as she handed Jace a keychain with a toy replica of her sword on it.

Jace looked at it for a moment then put it into his pocket. “Well see ya.” He said as he walked down the hallway as he turned to dust.

“That guy was weird.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Weird but helpful in a way. So what now?”

“Let’s head back. We got what we came for, so there’s not really anything else to get from here for the time being.”

“Yeah, let’s head back.” Sweetie Belle said as they headed towards the arena exit.