[Midday]
(Hallway)

Walking through the campus hallway, Sweetie Belle and Saber can see various NPCs, who appear as busy students, among the masters. Not only do the NPCs look slightly different, but but Sweetie Belle felt like their behavior seems a little...off. Maybe it’s their lack of a soul she thought. To them, this battle is just a string of data variables. Within a small group of gathered Masters, one person stands out like a sore thumb, mostly due to his bright orange uniform.

“Oh, it’s you.” The boy said as he walks up towards Sweetie Belle and Saber. “You’re the girl everyone has been talking about around campus.”

“Um, yes I am. Who are you?” Sweetie Belle asked as she felt the boy lift her hand towards her lips.

"Leonardo B. Harwey. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you my fair lady.” Leo said as he kissed her hand, causing Sweetie Belle’s face to blush red.

“Oh brother, talk about chivalry in nutshell.” Saber thought as she rolled her eyes at Leo’s performance.

“N-Not to be rude or anything, but who’s that colt standing behind you?”

“Colt…Oh, Gawain? Ah, how forgetful of me.” Leo said as he walked over to his Servant clad in armor. “Gawain. Introduce yourself.”

“I am his servant, Gawain. I am pleased to met you, and hope you will be a worthy foe.” Gawain said nodding in greeting as an enigmatic smile forms on his lips.

“As much as I would like to talk with you more, I must make my leave now. I hope to see you again. Please fight with honor and pride.” With a polite bow, Leo and his Servant turn and depart, leaving Sweetie Belle somewhat dumbfounded.

“Well that was….weird. I wonder why he had to leave so soon?”

“Might be because he knew I knew about his servant.” Saber said as she leaned against the hallway wall. “Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table that was mentioned in the Legends of King Arthur. Or in this case King Arturia. It’s said that his prowess rivaled that of me and his holy sword was equal in power to Excalibur. It’s obvious that he’s a Saber-class Servant like myself.”

“You really know a lot about Servants like him. Have you been reading up on them while I was away?” Saber was about to reply, only for Rin to interrupt her by walking up next to them.

“Leo…?! I knew one of the Harways would be here, but the scion of the family himself.” Rin said appearing next to Sweetie Belle. “The power of the Holy Grail...I guess the plutocrats of Europe see a threat in the SE.RA.PH. But still, to risk him...Oh well, what was borrowed on Earth will repaid in Heaven… Things just got more interesting, although my powers as a magus are far superior to his!”

“I get the feeling that Leo person has little concern for folks like us.” Sweetie Belle said as she notice Rin not noticing her and Saber. Without so much as saying hi, the now fired-up Rin almost seems to stomp away.

“I’ll have to spend some time looking into Gawain’s background later on when we hit the library.” Saber said as she looked over at Sweetie Belle. “For now let’s just get something to eat before your class starts up again.

"I still don’t see why I need to do all this school stuff. I’m already going to school back in equestria.”

“Knowing more about this war and human culture wouldn’t hurt. Now come on, let’s head down to the commissary to eat.”

[Evening]

“Ah, a pleasant evening to you.” Rin said as she caught the attention of Sweetie Belle and Saber making their way down the stairs. “I trust you’re doing well, all things considered. You will never catch even a glimpse of victory if you insist on always running away.”

“Hey, we haven’t been running away from anypony.” Sweetie Belle said, glaring at the human.

“So you retreating from Shinji two days ago wasn’t you running away?” Rin said as Sweetie Belle looked away. “Running away won’t solve anything. However, facing a foe you know nothing about is lunacy. In this war, information is everything. To defeat your opponent, learn all you can about them. Their class, skills, even their history. The more info you have, the easier it will be to create a plan and predict your opponent’s actions.”

“Rin does make a valid point. We don’t want to go into battle without know what we are facing. That’s just begging for trouble in itself.” Saber said.

“For now, why don’t you go to the library? There’s a treasure trove of information there.”

“Well we where to go to find information, but why are you telling us this?” Sweetie Belle asked, only for Rin to brush her hair back with her hand.

“No reason, really. I just have a feeling that you’ll somehow come out on top. Matou is an idiot, but he has won before. It’ll make things easier if he gets defeated early on. Anyway, do your best.” With that Rin walked up the stairs heading to the rooftop.

“Are all humans like her sometime?”

“Yeah, but I guess she can be useful. Plus she seems to be helping you a lot, so we might as well take any advises she can give us.” Saber said as she made herself invisible. “Now let’s head over to the library and get some information.” Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement as she made her way down the hall and to the entrance of the campus library. As she open the door to the library, she notice as unpleasant familiar person standing in front of her.

“Hey, look who the cat dragged in. I never expected to run into you. Oh, who am I kidding?! Ha ha, I’m just messing with you.” Shinji said as he messed up Sweetie Belle’s mane. “The Library is the best place to find info. I know all about you, so I expect you to go all out against me.”

“Believe me, I won’t hold anything back.” The filly said as she batted Shinji’s hand away.

“But enough about me. It looks like you’re having a hell of a time finding the book you want. Unfortunately for you, I’ve thoughtfully taken every book about my Servant and hid them!”

“What! Why would you do something like that?”

“I thought you’d have more fun this way. I hid everything somewhere in the Arena. I wonder if a weaksauce Master like you will be able to find them. By the way, what does your Servant want in return for helping you? Money, right? I knew it!”

“Motherfucker, I’m going to enjoy kicking your ass at the end of the week.”Saber mumbled as she glared at the scrawny human.

“Do your best...while you still can. Hahahahahaha!” Shinji said as he walked past Sweetie Belle. “Whelp, see you around. Good luck. I hope you’ll put up a little more of a fight the next time we meet in the arena. You’re starting to bore me!”

“Arrogant asshole. Now we have to head to the arena to find the books he hidden.” Saber said, appearing next to Sweetie Belle. “And here I thought this would be easy. No choice but to head for the arena to get what we need.”

“*Sigh*I’m starting to wish this war was over soon.” Sweetie Belle said as she leaves the Library and heads downstairs to the first floor. As the duo were making their way to the arena, they notice another familiar voice from behind them.

“Greeting my child, I heard you already have a cipher key...excellent. You’ll get the other one at this rate.” Kotomine said with a melancholy smile on his face. “The second floor is where you’ll find the secondary trigger.”

“The second floor is available?”

“Not yet, but you should get a message saying that the second floor will be available. Once you hear that, you should be able to go to the new floor. But before I forget, have you set foot in the chapel yet? The system’s jurisdiction doesn’t penetrate that far, but...you can strengthen your Servant there.”

“Is that true Saber?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking up at her Servant.

“Father Kotomine never lies when it comes to stuff like this.” Saber said before looking up at Kotomine. “Thanks for the helpful info.”

“I’ve said my piece, Go and slaughter to your heart’s content.” Kotomine said as he went back to standing in the middle of the hallway.

“Is he always like that?

“From time to time he can be, but for now we have a new objective. First we go to the chapel, then to the arena.” Saber said as she lead Sweetie Belle down the fall. “The chapel is down the hall though the double doors.”

(Chapel)

Sweetie Belle pushed open the heavy door to the chapel as she and Saber went inside, where it was dark and eerily silent. There was no one in the pews. As they get used to the dim light, a flash of colors hurt their eyes. As their vision came back, two women appeared in front of them. One had red long hair wearing a black hoodie and white jeans, while the other had blue hair wearing a purple dress shirt and dress pants.

“Hey there, welcome to the chapel. My name is Aoka Aozaki, and the girl next to me is Touko Aozaki. You’re here to perform an Alteration of the Soul?” The red haired lady said looking at Sweetie Belle.

“Ah you must be the new Master that everyone’s been talking about.” said Touko, looking at Sweetie Belle out of curiosity. “I must say, it’s quite interesting to see something that you would see on a children’s cartoon show to be in this place. Well whatever, welcome to the Eden of the East. I assume you’re here for an Alteration of the Soul?

“What’s a Alteration of the Soul?”

“You don’t know what the Alteration of the Soul is, but you came here anyway? Amateur.” Aoka said with an annoyed look on her face.

“Alternation of the Soul? What is it, you ask? Hmm...Simply put, you link your soul to your Servant’s. When a Master’s rank increases, we can strengthen the link. That’s done by hacking into each soul and choosing what to improve.”

“So you can alter a pony’s soul that easily?

“Well, it’s like my sister said. My job is to perform Alterations made possible by various events. You get the gist of it, right? If you want to do an Alteration of the Soul, let me know. As for that creature over there, she’s totally useless, like 8-track tapes or the C:/ prompt.”

“And you’re lower than dirt. Don’t screw up or the Moon Cell will come down on you...again.” Touko said with a smirk on her face.

“Gah! How many time do I have to tell you that the Master was at fault...that time! They specifically told me to do quasi-legal Alterations, so I added a few...extra skills.”

“Laugh now, but it wouldn’t be funny to the one who lost because of your towering incompetence. Listen well, girl. If you value your life, do not put any trust in that -thing’s- abilities. If I were you, I’d stick to regaining the spiritual statuses your Servant may have lost.”

“Whatever you prick. Anyway, what do you say we try Alternation right now?” The red hair asked, only for Sweetie Belle nodding yes. “Alrighty then. Let’s alter your souls.” She said, pulling up a screen in front of Sweetie Belle. “Just select the ones that you want to increase, and I’ll do my magic.”

“Hm….” Sweetie Belle thought for a moment before pressing on the screen. “I guess I can increase her strength and defense ability. And it couldn’t hurt to have a little bit of luck on your side…Okay I am finish.” She said handed the screen to Aoka.

Strength: 22 E
Defense: 20 E
Agility: 19 E
Magic: 13 E
Luck: 19 E

[Next Skill]
[10/10] Veil of light

“Okay, just have your servant step into the cube on the table, and we can get started.” Sweetie Belle motion Saber to stand on top of the table where the cube was. From what she could tell, it felt like she was floating in mid air once the cube surrounded her. With just a press of a few buttons, the cube began to glow as the room was filled with a blinding light causing Sweetie belle to cover her eyes. Seconds later the light faded away as it revealed Saber float back down onto the table. “There we go, done.”

“How are you feeling Saber?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“A lot stronger than how I was during the beginning of the week.” Saber said as she clutched her hand. “I even got some of my powers back.”

“The power of being able to Alter a soul between a Master and Servant. That’s Alternation of the Soul for yeah in a nutshell.” Aoka said, smiling at the unicorn and Servant. “If you need your souls Alternated, just stop by the chapel and I’ll work my magic.”

“We will, thanks for the help Ms. Aoka.”

"Please, call me Aoka kid.” She said as she watch Sweetie Belle and her Servant walked out of the Chapel. As the duo left the chapel, they walked upon a scene that involved Shinji causing what they could guess trouble with a old man.

"A chapel is for quiet reflection. I do not know who your god is, but you should know that much.” The old man said as Shinji rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, my bad! I’m an atheist...swear to god!”

“...Hmph. I have always believed that the japanese were polite. I guess I was misled. Leave this place at once. The gates of heaven will remain closed to the unbeliever. It appears that in your haste to learn how to fight, you forgot to learn dignity and respect.” With that, the old man walked pass Sweetie Belle and Saber and returned back inside the chapel.

“I really hate old geezers like you, always talking down on me! When it comes time to fight, you can bet your ass I’ll be teaching you a thing or two!” Shinji said as he walked off back into the school.

“You think that guy wouldn’t cause trouble as much. But then again with an attitude/personality like that, I’m not surprise no one hasn’t punched him in the face yet.” Saber said as she felt Sweetie Belle pull on her dress.

“Who’s god?” She asked, which caused Saber to be surprised by the young filly’s question.

“Do you want the long version or the short version of that question?”

“Something tells me that I should go with the short question, so I’ll go with the short answer to my question.”

“Think of god as like Celestia only different.”

“How different?”

“Well he did created us humans, which pretty much makes him our heavenly father in heaven. Not only that but he did created the universe that Caster, Gilgamesh, and I used to live in….sorry it’s kinda hard to make it short when I have to leave out a few details in answering your question. Tell you what after we’re done with the holy grail war, then I’ll explain the whole biblical understand of what the old man was talking about. Deal?”

“Deal.” Sweetie Belle said as she heard her terminal beeping. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled it out as the saw something written on it.

: : The second cipher key has been generated on the second floor. : :

“Looks like the second key is made.” The unicorn said as she place the terminal back into her pocket. “How many days do have before the fight with Shinji?”

“Two days left. Which means we’ll have to get the cipher key either today or tomorrow. I would suggest we get it today so we can get it out of the way.”

“Alright, then let’s head off to the arena. We can get the the key and the books that Shinji hid in the arena.”

[Greed and Lust combine to burst into Brilliance. And lead onward to the sepulcher of the sea.]

“Dear Celestia! Look at this place!” Sweetie Belle said as she eyed the new arena floor. “It’s like we’re underwater.”

“That the holy grail war for yeah. They always keep things interesting.” Saber said as she drew out her sword. “I sense an unpleasant aura. They must be lurking somewhere nearby. It’d be a catastrophe if they attack us from behind while we return to the campus. We should head-on now.”

“We still need to locate the books that Shinji hid before he suspect what we’re up to.”

“Smart plan.” The servant said as she took the lead. “Just stay behind me Master, and I’ll take care of dealing with the enemies.” She said as she and Sweetie Belle began their search through the second floor of the arena. During their search for the key and books, they came across a wall that was blocking their path to the rest of the arena. “Dammit, something tells me that Shinji placed this here just the screw around with us.”

“There must be a switch or something near by? Let’s look around and see if we can find one.” Sweetie Belle said as she notice a strange looking crystal standing on a pedestal a few feet away from them. “Hey, there something over there. It might me the switch to get us through.” She said as she quickly ran over to the switch, only to top as she see an enemy program in shape of a blocky snake appeared near it.

“Um, Saber!” The young filly yelled as she backed away from the Viper.

“I got it.” Saber said as she batted the Viper back with the butt of her sword. As Saber took up a fighting stance, the Viper soon recovered as it start to charge toward them. Saber blocked the oncoming attack by parrying it’s charge attack, and counters with a straight jab to it’s body follow with an upwards vertical slash to it’s face. The Viper quickly backed up away from the Servant as it start to move around in a circle at top speed heading toward her. Saber quickly ducked out of the way as she slid behind it hoping to attack from behind. Only for the Viper to return and hit her in the back, causing her to be pushed forwards and hit the wall face first.

“You okay Saber?”

“Yeah, just didn’t expect for it to hit me from behind like that.” She said, pulling herself up from the wall as she looked back at the enemy program. The Viper began its spinning attack again as it headed towards Saber. Saber ready her sword as she waited for the right moment to counter it’s attack as her sword began to glow. As the program came close enough to Saber, the Servant quickly spun around to perform an upwards slash causing the Viper to stagger back. In its stun state, Saber quickly jumped into the air and brought her sword down cutting the Viper in two as it disappeared into ones and zeros.

“Nice work Saber.” Sweetie Belle said as she moved over to the switch and touched it. Upon touching the switch, the path that was blocked was unblocked.

“Next time don’t rush off like that. I prefer not to have you die on me before we can get out of this place.

“Right, sorry about that.”

“Just stay behind me and don’t wander off like that. Come on, let’s go find the book that idiot hid inside here.” Saber said as she took the lead and head down further into the arena. As they continue their way deep into the arena, they took notice of their surroundings. Mostly because from what they could tell, it looked like they were underwater.

“This feels weird.” Sweetie Belle said as looked at the fish swimming through the arena floors and walls. “It’s like we’re underwater, but we’re not.”

“Well this was made by the Holy Grail, or in other words The Moon Cell.”

“Moon Cell also called the Holy Grail, Eye of God, and Divine Automatic Recording Device is a massive collection of photonic crystals within the moon that comprises a giant supercomputer of sorts. This great mineral vein is located within an extremely large hole comparable to a several-kilometer-wide crack boring through the moon itself. The diameter of the crystals themselves reaches up to thirty kilometers. It seems that, apart from its surface portions, the moon itself is made up of these photonic crystals. The Moon Cell was discovered by the Western European Conglomerate, who decided to call it the "Holy Grail" because of its reality-changing power. The time of its initial operation is unknown, but an estimate based on radioactive carbon dating of approximates the moon to have been formed 4.55 billion years ago, while the photonic crystals were created 4.6 billion years ago. Indeed, it is the oldest entity in the Solar System, and it has been observing the Earth since its birth. Photonic crystals are crystals that, on a microscopic level, regularly alternates between layers of high and low. In this way-.”

“Saber!” Sweetie Belle yelled as her Servant paused during her lecture of the Moon Cell. “Can you please just give it in a more understandable term so I can understand?”

“Um...long story short we’re pretty much in a world made by the Moon Cells seeing how they can change reality.”

“Thank you. For now on when it comes to stuff like this, you’ll sum it up in a few words or less.”

“I can only try.”

“I’ll take it as a yes?”

“.....More or less.” Saber said as she continued walking down the arena floor, only to stop as she sees a hidden passageway. “Master, there is a suspicious hidden passageway here. What do you say we see where it leads, shall we?”

“Lead the way Saber.” Sweetie Belle said as she followed her Servant down the hidden passageway. As they walked down the hidden passage, they come across a platform with an orange digital cube floating in the middle of it.

“This seems like a place that Shinji would hide something valuable in here.”

“Like what?”

“Anything really. It could be where he hid the books about his Servant. I highly recommend you open that box immediately.” Saber suggested as the young filly placed a hand on the box. Upon doing so, a somewhat faded journal appeared in front of.

“Hey, this is the book that Shinji was so desperate to keep hidden from us.”

“It’s a diary.”

“How do you know?”

“Because it says diary written on the sheaves of parchment.” Saber said pointing at the word diary on it.

“Oh….” Sweetie Belle’s face blushed red as she began to read the faded journal. “Look at this thing. This journal pretty much has everything written about his Servant. The name of her ship, The Golden Hind, names of several islands, and hijacking ships...Pipsqueak might like her seeing how he’s been acting like a pirate ever since Nightmare Night.”

“Without a doubt, this must be connected to that Servant in some way. It’s a pity her true name isn’t legible, but this book should prove a useful clue as to her identity.

“Damn! I didn’t expect you to find it so easily, freak.” Shinji said, catching Sweetie Belle and Saber off guard for a moment. “And I went through all of the trouble of bringing it down here...Oh well, I’ll just have to take it back now.”

“Well look who finally comes out of his hole. Been awhile since we’ve seen you Shinji.” Saber said as she readies her sword.[

“Heh! You must be getting really desperate if you’re searching for it in a place like this! Anyway, too bad for you. You came all this way just for me to take that book away from you.”

“You think we’re going to just hand over the book to you. Not a chance.” Sweetie Belle said as she held the journal close to herself.

“Well then I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way then. Servant, you know what to do.” Shinji said as he order Rider to fire at Sweetie Belle. Only for Saber to move in front of the filly and deflected the bullets away or back at Rider.

“Oh, someone has improved since the last time we fought. What happen to your little friend that appeared last time to save you?” Rider asked as she blocked Saber’s sword with her gun as she charged at her.

“Like I would tell you anything.” Saber lifted up her foot as she pushed Rider away from her, and dashed towards her ready to strike at her chest. Rider quickly moved out of the way as a cannon shape door opened up from where she moved, and fired a cannon ball at the knight. The blast made contact with her as she was slightly sent flying backwards a bit before using her sword the stop her from falling back.

“Still angry about before huh? Nothing against you or anything, but I was just following orders. You know how the whole Master and Servant thing goes seeing how you have that kid as a Master.”

“I have nothing against you either, but your Master is a dick on so many levels.”

“You have no idea.”

“Hey! I’m right here you know!?” Shinji yelled with an annoyed look on his face. “Hurry up and take care of her so we can leave!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m working on is Master.” Rider said, rolling her eyes as she aim at Saber and begun to fire at her again. Saber quickly rolled out of the way as she ran towards while deflecting the bullets that were fired at her. As soon as she was close to the pirate, Saber sword began to glow bright as a veil of light surrounded the sword as she brought it up and slashed upwards on Rider’s chest. This caused Rider to stagger back and counter with a shot to Saber’s right shoulder.

“What are you doing!? I paid you to fight them and get that book back! Not screw around with them and finish the damn job!” Shinji yelled as Rider rolled her eyes and continues to fire at Saber. Only for the knight to either dodge or deflect Rider’s bullets. Closing the distance between her and Rider, Saber's sword light up again as she took as counter stance. Before Saber could counter with an attack, the same loud air horn sound echoed into the arena causing them both to stop their attacks. But not before Saber landed a surprise sucker punch to Rider’s face. “N-No way...how can you two be this strong in less than two days?”

“While you were off goofing around, we been training in the arena and looking up information on your Servant.” Sweetie Belle said giving off a triumphant pose. “We won’t lose to somepony like you who looks down on others.”

“D-Don’t start getting cocky now freak! You’re lucky the SE.RA.PH is watching. I’ll be victorious in the end!” Shinji said as he and his Servant exit the arena via teleport crystal.

“Eat me don’t forget to write loser.” Saber said as she waved good-bye to Shinji. “Thanks to that battle I’ve reached a number of conclusions.”

“Really? What are they?”

“First of all, that item relating to our enemy’s Servant is definitely a ship’s log. Secondly, based on the ship’s battery she had just revealed.”

“You mean that cannon that appeared out of that door thing?”

“Yep that’s it. If her prowess with vehicles is to is so advanced, then it means that without a doubt she is a Rider.”

Matrix Level: 3
Enemy Servant Information Obtained!

“Now that we’ve obtained the book that idiot man-child tried to hide, we can leave this place without any problem. Should we go after the trigger key now or go after it tomorrow?”

“Let’s get the key now so we won’t have to worry about it tomorrow. Something tells me that Shinji might have something planned for us tomorrow if we go into the arena to get the key.”

“Fair enough.” Saber said as she took the lead again. “Let’s go.”