Sunset Shimmer has taken a good, hard look in the mirror and admitted some of her more unattractive impulses. Having managed, against all odds, to win the friendship of her teammates Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, Sunset is determined to move forward and turn over a new leaf.
However, the equilibrium at Beacon Academy is disturbed by the arrival of Team RSPT (Rosepetal) from Atlas, led by Sunset's old nemesis Rainbow Dash, the Ace of Canterlot. Team RSPT's purpose is unclear, but might have something to do with quirky and eccentric Penny Polendina, who swiftly befriends Ruby and Pyrrha.
If the arrival of the Atlesians bothers Sunset it has an even more dramatic effect on quiet, studious Blake Belladonna, who seems appalled by the presence of a faunus in Atlesian uniform. Blake's reaction to Rainbow Dash sparks a conflict that reveals Blake's darkest secrets, and puts Team SAPR in the middle of a battle with the murderous White Fang and their terrifying leader, Adam Taurus.
SAPR: Volume 1.5 (RWBY/MLP/EqG)
- Thread starter ScipioSmith
- Start date
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Statistics (18 threadmarks, 110k words)
User Total ScipioSmith 18
Chapter 1: Mothers' Voices
Link to Volume 1
"So, how was dinner last night?" Yang asked, as the two teams sat down to breakfast. "Is that Benni Haven's place any good?"
"Oh, sure," Jaune said enthusiastically. "It's a great place. Much better than the food they serve here." He glanced over his shoulder, as if he were afraid that the cafeteria staff might overhear him.
"It was quite tasty, but I wouldn't want to go there too often," Pyrrha murmured. "It wasn't a menu replete with healthy options."
Yang chuckled. "Afraid of losing your figure, Pyrrha?"
"I try to keep my body in peak condition, for obvious reasons," Pyrrha replied.
"Okay, I was only kidding," Yang said. "No need to get all snappy with me."
"I'm sorry," Pyrrha apologised at once. "I didn't mean to be sharp; it's just-"
"You didn't; I'm just messing with you," Yang said quickly. "I'm sorry, but you just make it too easy."
Pyrrha's cheeks flushed just a touch of pink, and she bowed her head as she began to cut up her sausages.
"But I totally get it," Yang added. "We can't afford to pig out every night and be ready to fight monsters in the morning."
"Speak for yourself, leader," Nora said in a tone so self-satisfied it verged upon smug as she tucked her hands behind her head and smiled.
"I sometimes think," Ren said quietly, "that if scientists were to study the secrets of your inhuman metabolism, the resulting revelations would save many more lives than we will ever save in our lives as huntsmen."
Nora's laughter was her only reply.
"So you'd all recommend it, then?" Yang asked.
"Yep," Sunset said, before taking a bite out of her apple.
"I would," Ruby said. "The owner was really nice; she took this cool picture of us." She pulled out her scroll and found the picture in question at the top of her photo album: Team SAPR posed around the fake stuffed beowolf known as Fluffy. She showed it to Yang from across the table. "And she's going to put it up on the wall as well, with all of the other teams who've been in there over the years."
"That is pretty cool," Yang agreed. "So, what do you think guys? Perhaps we should swing by."
"It's worth a trip," Dove said.
"Oh, yeah, you've already been without us, haven't you?" Yang said, sounding agreeably put out by this fact.
"With his harem," Sunset added, a smirk crossing her face.
Now it was Dove's turn to go a little bit red in the face. "That is- how dare you?"
"How dare I?" Sunset repeated. "Are you listening to yourself right now?"
"Yeah, calm down, Dove; it's just a joke," Yang said.
"It's insulting to Lyra and Bon Bon," Dove declared. "I mean, how would you like it if I accused you all of being part of Jaune's harem?"
Pyrrha made a weird noise that Ruby couldn't really understand. Jaune started choking on a piece of black pudding, and Ruby and Pyrrha had to slap him on the back until it came flying out to land, unfortunately, in Ren's yoghurt; he pushed it aside with a look of disgust.
Sunset raised one eyebrow. "I'd say 'if you're trying to insult me, try harder'."
"What's so insulting about it?" Ruby asked. "I mean, if everyone's okay with it, then what's the problem?"
Dove looked at her as though she'd grown an extra head. "It's disgusting."
"It's unusual," Sunset accepted, "but don't call my partner disgusting."
"How did we end up having this conversation?" Jaune groaned.
"I don't know, but we're not having it any more," Yang said, slamming one hand down on the table hard enough to make plates and glasses wobble. "The subject matter is closed, okay?"
"Fine by me," Jaune said quickly. He cleared his throat. "So anyway, if you want to go to that restaurant, I'd recommend finding a quiet time. I bet that Mrs. Haven has a lot of stories to tell, when she isn't too busy running, about all the huntsmen who've come through there over the years."
The rest of breakfast passed pretty quietly, to the extent that Ruby was impatient for it to finish so that she could get Yang by herself and tell her about Mom's journal, which felt like it was burning a hole in the bookbag tucked underneath the bench.
By the time the two teams were both done and were filing out of the dining hall, she was unable to restrain her excitement any longer.
"Hey, Yang," cried Ruby. She just couldn't hold her tongue any longer; it was impossible. "Wait a second; I need to talk to you about something."
Yang stopped, half turning back towards Ruby. She looked a little concerned. Maybe she thought that there was something wrong. She glanced towards her teammates. "You guys go on ahead; I'll see you in class."
"And so will we," Sunset said. Unlike Team YRDN, the other members of Ruby's team knew what Ruby needed to talk to Yang about. "Don't be late."
"I won't," Ruby assured her team leader.
"We'll save you a seat," Jaune said, while Pyrrha contented herself with a warm smile that seemed to wish Ruby luck as the three sapphires and the three irons left the two sisters behind and continued on their way towards the first class of Wednesday: a two hour session of Modern History with Doctor Oobleck.
Yang and Ruby stood alone in a crowd, surrounded by members of other teams who moved around them as though the two were rocks in a sea of students on their way to class, until they managed to find a way through the press and away from the crowd. They walked through the courtyard, aimless but at the same time being drawn towards the statue that dominated the open space.
"Do you ever think that statue kind of looks like Mom?" Ruby asked.
"I'd never really thought about it," Yang admitted.
"I mean with the hood and everything," Ruby explained.
"Yeah, I get it now, but… I never would have thought of it myself," Yang replied. "I don't think it's actually a statue of Mom," she added, a touch of amusement entering her voice.
"I know," Ruby said wistfully. "It's just… fun to think it looks like her."
Yang smiled, just a little bit. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess you've got a point there." The faint smile remained on her face as she looked down at Ruby. "What's up, little sis?"
Ruby didn't reply straight away. Rather she opened up one of the zip pockets at the front of her bag and brought out the little black book that Sunset had given her, the black book with the rose picked out in white upon the cover.
"This… this is Mom's," Ruby said. "It's her diary, Yang."
Yang's eyes widened. "'Her…'" she stopped, staring down open-mouthed at the little book in Ruby's hands. "Ruby… where did you get this?"
Ruby hesitated for a moment. "Sunset gave it to me."
Yang frowned. "Sunset? Where did Sunset get our Mom's diary from?"
Ruby looked away. "Well, uh-"
"Ruby," Yang said, a touch of sternness entering her voice.
"I can't tell you," Ruby insisted. "I'm sorry, but if I told you… this has to say a secret, or else Sunset and Jaune could get into a lot of trouble. Sunset didn't have to give this to me, to both of us, but she did. Don't you think that matters a lot more than how she got it?"
Yang still didn't look entirely satisfied by this. "And you're sure that it's real?"
"Sunset wouldn't lie to me about something like this," Ruby declared.
Yang nodded. "No, no, I don't think she would. She's not perfect, but she's not that much of a… anyway, this is… this is incredible."
"I know, right?" Ruby cried. Dad… Dad didn't talk about Mom very much. Ruby guessed that it was too sad for him to think about her, even after all these years. Uncle Qrow had told them a few stories, but he was hardly ever around and even Uncle Qrow got pretty unhappy whenever he had to think about Mom for too long, so the two sisters had learnt not to bother him for too many stories as they got older. But now… now their mother was poised to speak to them both in her own words, to reveal her secrets, unfiltered by the memories of others.
The memories that Ruby didn't have. There were times when she envied Yang – although she tried not to show it – for having so many more memories of Summer Rose than Ruby did. Ruby had only vague images, a flash of white, laughter, a lovely voice singing her to sleep. Yang had real memories, even if she didn't have as many as she'd like, memories of 'supermom'. But now, they would both get to hear their mother speak.
"Have you looked at it?" Yang asked.
"No," Ruby replied. "I thought that this was something that we ought to do together."
Yang smiled, broadly this time, and brightly, as she first reached out to ruffle Ruby's hair and then pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," she said.
Ruby closed her eyes as he rested her head against Yang's chest. "For what?"
"For remembering that… that she was my mom, too," Yang said, gently stroking Ruby's head with one hand. "So, when do you want to do this?"
"How about now?" Ruby suggested eagerly.
Yang laughed. "I think we should probably get to class," she reminded Ruby. "How about after all our classes are done, we'll find somewhere private and see what Mom has to say?"
"The end of the day?" Ruby replied. "Come on, Yang, I don't know if I can wait that long."
She did manage to wait, just about, but there were times when it was a sore trial to Ruby. It was difficult to sit through Professor Oobleck whizzing through the Faunus Rights Revolutions or Professor Port telling another story about a hunt that he had been on, knowing that her mother's words were sitting in her bag, waiting for her. Several times, Sunset had to give her a nudge to remind her to pay attention because she was in danger of spacing out in front of the whole class. Fortunately, SAPR was still sitting at the back while they waited for Jaune to recover from his few weeks of near sleeplessness at the start of the semester, but even so, it could have been pretty embarrassing.
The day passed for Ruby with an aching slowness, as if she were mired in treacle as she drifted through class after class, sat nearly silent through lunch and dinner, waiting for the day to end and the evening to arrive. Then, when Jaune and Pyrrha left for Jaune's training, Ruby left Sunset alone in the dorm room while she met Yang outside, and together, they made their way back out into the courtyard.
It was deserted, with most of the students being shut up in the dorms working on their homework; the only company they had was a black bird in one of the nearby trees, which croaked at them as they crossed the empty space.
The two sisters sat down before the statue, with the snarling beowolf looming over them, and there, huddled together, they opened the diary and began to read.
Dear Diary,
I can't believe I finally made it to Beacon! After so long dreaming and waiting, I've finally made it. This is my dream come true.
Yang chuckled. "Looks like we weren't the only ones to really want to come here, huh?"
The raven in the trees croaked again.
Ruby barely heard it. She barely felt the wind blowing through her hair. She barely felt the unusual warmth for a spring evening. Her attention, as her gaze, was fixed upon the book open in her lap.
She smiled, a little sadly. "Yeah, I guess not."
Yang leaned down a little, so that they were eye to eye, and gave Ruby a squeeze on the shoulder. "You okay?"
"I…" Ruby hesitated. "I wish that she'd been able to tell us in person, you know? I wish that she'd been able to tell us what a great time she'd had at Beacon and that we'd really love it there and maybe not to worry too much about Professor Port or that… I wish she was here."
Yang frowned. "Yeah. You and me both, Rubes. Listen… if you don't want to-"
"No," Ruby said firmly. "No, I want to read this. I want to see what Mom has to say."
Yang looked at her for a moment, and then she nodded. "Okay."
Ruby looked back down at the diary.
Nothing much has happened yet, because I only arrived here today, but all the same: I finally made it to Beacon!
I know that my father doesn't see the point in me coming here. He thinks that I can already fight grimm perfectly well on my own, so why do I need to come to a school to spend four years learning what I already know?
"Grandpa has a point, I guess," Yang said. "I mean… it's only about halfway through the first semester, and we can already kill grimm. You wonder what the rest of the four years will be like."
I told Dad that I can't just rely on my eyes, and I suppose he must have accepted that, or he wouldn't have let me come here in the first place.
"Her eyes," Ruby asked, reading and re-reading that sentence over and over again as though, if she read it often enough, the words on the page in front of her would change into something that she could actually understand. "What does that mean? Eyes means… eyes, right?"
"I… think so," Yang said. She put her arms behind her head. "Dad's never talked about Mom's semblance that I can remember. Maybe it was to shoot lasers out of her eyes," Yang suggested. She grinned. "Or maybe she could kill grimm just by looking at them!"
Ruby giggled.
Yang laughed a little as well. "Or maybe she'll explain later if we keep going."
"Right," Ruby said, and read on.
What I didn't tell my father was that that's not the real reason I want to come here. Don't get me wrong, I want to fight the grimm. I want to show everyone that we're more than just cattle in a cage. I believe that if we work together, we can save the world, and take it back from all the monsters.
But that's not why I'm here. If I wanted to start fighting now, I could. Dad would probably be happier that way. Maybe other people would too.
I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to die if that's what it takes. But I want to be just a normal girl for a few years, to have friends and fun and be more than just a warrior.
This makes me sound so selfish, not to mention that I must sound as though I'm not taking this seriously. If someone reads this and thinks that I didn't deserve my place at Beacon, then so be it; you're wrong, I really want to be here.
I just want to live for a few years for myself as well.
"No, Mom, that's not selfish at all," Ruby murmured. For a moment, she thought of Pyrrha, the champion fighter who had never been… Ruby couldn't exactly say what it was that she had never been; she'd say that Pyrrha had never been a person, but if that were true, then what was she? It didn't really matter; the point was that reading Mom's words reminded her of her friend a little bit.
Mom got to live… for a while. Maybe Pyrrha will too. I hope so.
She kept reading.
I have to admit that I got a little lost getting off the airship. But it did mean that I met this really cute boy named Taiyang who helped me find the way to the amphitheatre. He's kind of a goofball, but I like him; he's a lot of fun. I'm not sure how good he is in a fight, but he got in here, so I suppose he can't be that bad.
"Is it me, or does it sound as though Mom had a crush on Dad from the moment they met?" Ruby asked, eagerness and amusement blending in her voice.
Yang looked a little… Ruby couldn't exactly say what Yang looked like, but not as enthusiastic as Ruby felt. She looked a little troubled, though Ruby couldn't work out what was wrong. "Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, it does."
Ruby tried to imagine her father was an adorable cute goofball… strangely enough, her imagining ended up looking a lot like Jaune.
Less strangely, she could imagine her Mom having a crush on a guy like that – and not just because she'd gone on to marry him; someone cute and funny and kind…
"Ruby?"
"Huh?"
"You spaced out for a second there."
Ruby laughed. "I, uh, I was just trying to imagine Dad the way that Mom just wrote about him."
"I can imagine it."
"Really?"
"Yup."
After he said a few words to everyone, Professor Ozpin took me aside. He's been so nice to me, and not just because I wouldn't be able to come here without his support. He's so considerate, he made sure that I was okay and that I wasn't feeling overwhelmed. Maybe it is because of my eyes a little, but it's still nice.
"Ugh, the eyes again," Ruby said with a scowl. "Come on, Mom, explain!"
Yang laughed. "She probably wasn't expecting this to be read by anyone who didn't know." Her face fell. "She probably thought she'd explain it herself."
"It must have been something really cool if Professor Ozpin was interested in it, right?" Ruby asked. "Maybe he could tell us."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Yang said. "He might want to know where you got the diary from."
"Oh, right, of course," Ruby murmured. She didn't want to know the truth so badly that she would drop her friends in it just to obtain the truth. "It is still only the second page, so maybe it comes up later?"
"We can hope."
Tomorrow is the Initiation, the final test before my time here really begins. I can't wait, but at the same time, I'm kind of nervous, because I don't really know a lot about how to do people at all. Coming from outside the Kingdoms,
"Mom grew up outside the kingdoms?" Yang asked. "Wow, that's… no wonder she was a badass even before she got to Beacon."
I don't really know how to get along with other people. But that's why I want to be here, so I can finally do all that stuff. And then I can go back to fighting.
So sure, I'm nervous. But at the same time, I can't wait to meet my new teammates.
And that was the end for that day and that page.
"Do you want to read the next day?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, you?"
"Let's do it."
Ruby flipped over the page.
Dear Diary,
I have a team! I'm the team leader!
Okay, so I should probably go back just a little bit.
Like I told you yesterday, I was as nervous as I was excited about the initiation today, but looking back, it was really cool. Professor Ozpin fired us all off a cliff and into the Emerald Forest, how cool is that?
Yang snorted. "She really was a supermom, wasn't she?"
The rules were that the first person we made eye contact with would be our partner for the next four years. I was a bit worried, because the first person I made contact with was this girl named Raven Branwen. She certainly knows how to fight, but she was also pretty cold and aloof and not really interested in making friends.
Ruby glanced at Yang to see how she was taking it. Yang's jaw was clenched, and her eyes looked as though they were beginning to be tinted with a touch of red, but she said nothing.
Ruby looked away from her and kept on going.
Fortunately, it wasn't too uncomfortable for too long because we quickly ran into Taiyang, that cute boy I met yesterday. He must have some kind of strength semblance, because he punched a beowolf's head clean off with his bare hands. He might not have any weapons, but he does know how to fight.
I've never really thought too much about destiny, but I think there must be the hand of fate at work here, because not only did we run into Taiyang, but his partner is Raven's brother Qrow. It's like there's a thread of fate binding us all together.
Qrow is really cool; we'd only met up for five minutes, and he was already flirting with me. He was just kidding, though; he's way out of my league.
Besides, I kind of prefer guys who are honest and don't put up a big front. Qrow's cool, but it's like he's trying a little too hard to be something he's not.
Raven, on the other hand, is the kind of person who you accept as they are or not at all. She doesn't say much, not even to Qrow, but she says even less to anyone else. I wonder if she's lonely? And whether she'd ever admit it if she was.
One thing's for sure: they both really know how to fight. Together, we're going to be an awesome team, I can feel it!
Oh, yeah, teams. I should probably go back to that. So, when we shot into the forest, Professor Ozpin told us we have to reach some ruins and retrieve what he called 'relics'. It was on the way there that Raven and I met up with Tai and Qrow. So we got to the ruins and we find these chess pieces, and Qrow and I each took a white knight. Then we had to get out of the forest again and we got attacked by some ursas.
This is the best part. Up until now, I hadn't been using my eyes, only my Solstice Rose, but there were just so many grimm, and we were already so tired that I had to use my eyes on them.
It tired me out. The guys had to carry me the rest of the way out of the forest, I was so exhausted my body just wouldn't move at all. I was worried. I was worried that they were going to think that I was weak or else that once they found out about my eyes they'd stop treating me like I was a normal person. I was afraid that I'd stop being Summer Rose and become a Silver-Eyed Warrior to them.
"A silver-eyed warrior," Ruby whispered. "What's that?"
"I don't know," Yang said. "A… warrior with silver eyes?"
"But I've got silver eyes, and I never did anything special with them," Ruby said.
"Yet," Yang commented.
Ruby started to shake her head, and then paused. "He mentioned it."
"Huh?"
"Professor Ozpin," Ruby explained. "When he came to see me after Sunset and I fought Torchwick, he noticed my eyes."
"You have silver eyes."
The two sisters looked at each other for a minute, neither one speaking. Professor Ozpin had taken an interest in Mom on account of her eyes, and now he had let Ruby into Beacon too after pointing out that she, too, had silver eyes.
That couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?
"What does it mean?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know," Yang replied. "Let's… let's just keep going, okay?
But everyone was really cool about it, even Raven. They were impressed, sure, but none of them treated me any differently.
Of course, I hardly knew them before they found out about this, I suppose what I'm trying to say is that they're treating me like a person. And Professor Ozpin says that using my eyes will get less tiring with training and practice, so that's good.
Together, we're Team STRQ, pronounced Stark, although Qrow won't stop saying he would prefer to pronounce it Strike, and I'm the leader. So, yeah, that happened.
I'm back to being nervous and excited at the same time. Excited, obviously, because this is so cool, and I feel like I have friends for the first time ever, and everything's going to be great, but nervous too.
Nervous because I'm responsible for Tai and Raven and Qrow, and if anything happens to them, then that's on me.
Still, I have three teammates now, and I think, I really believe, that they could become three friends. My first three friends.
And if we work together, I'm sure that everything is going to be okay.
"Aww," Ruby said. "That's really nice. And just how I feel about my team."
Yang chuckled, giving her a squeeze around the arm. "Do you want to keep going?"
"Sure!"
Dear Diary,
I don't think Raven likes me very much.
"Well that's a downer," Yang remarked. "Maybe we should have left it at the end of the last entry."
Maybe that's too hard on her. I get the feeling that she doesn't really 'like' anybody that much. It's strange watching the way she goes around the school: she acts as though she's better than everyone else here, but there's also this nervousness about her as though she's afraid of other people. I don't really get it.
Anyway, the point is that while she may not dislike me more than she dislikes anybody else, she doesn't seem to like me very much either. She thinks that she should have been made team leader instead of me, and she isn't shy about letting me know it. She told me straight that the only reason I was made team leader is because of my powers
"Ugh!" Ruby grunted. "Come on, Mom, details!"
"I'm picking up a lot of details," Yang muttered.
but that those powers aren't any substitute for knowledge and experience. You'd think she was a pro-huntsman or something. I asked her if she'd lived outside the kingdoms, like I had; that seemed to take her by surprise, I think she thought I was from Vale or something. She didn't answer my question, but I'm guessing that the answer is yes. I can't think why else she'd think that she was so much more qualified to lead than me.
Qrow told me not to sweat it. He said that his sister acts like this around everyone.
Anyway, we started classes today. Grimm Studies was our first lesson. Professor Brandy really knows what he's talking about, even if he does look as though he's about to drop dead at any moment. At one point, he had to go and lie down and Mister Port, the Teaching Assistant, had to take over. He's a little odd.
Yang chuckled. "Hey, Ruby, you wanna bet that Professor Port was the same then as he is now?"
"Nah, that's a sucker's bet," Ruby said. "Especially if you want me to take it."
I'm sure that he was – that he is – a great huntsman, but he told us more about himself than he ever said about the grimm.
The teacher in our combat class is barely older than me, or any of us, and of course, Raven asked her straight up why they should listen to anything that someone basically our age had to say. I was so embarrassed, I thought we were going to get detention or something.
But then Professor Goodwitch invited Raven up onto the stage and said that if she could beat her – if Raven could beat Professor Goodwitch – then she'd get a free pass from classes for the next four years and a top grade regardless. You should have seen the look on Raven's face; she was so smug you could tell she thought she had this. But then Professor Goodwitch totally kicked her ass, and it was so awesome! Okay, that sounded pretty mean, but honestly, Raven's so full of herself she deserved to be taken down a peg.
The look on her face when she got up after Professor Goodwitch threw her off the stage with her semblance was hilarious.
"That's where that came from?" Yang cried. "Raven started that tradition? Now I wish that I'd stepped up. Do you think Professor Goodwitch would fight me if I asked her to?"
"Why would you want to fight Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked. "No offence, but… you'd lose."
"Sure, but I could see how good I was compared to Raven at my age."
"I guess," Ruby said, with a little reluctance. She brightened up as she added, "If you do decide to go for it, I'll be rooting for you."
I suppose I should probably admit that the reason I might sound – okay, the reason I sound – as though I don't like Raven very much is that I was worried that what she said was right, that the only reason Professor Ozpin made me the leader of Team STRQ is that I have silver eyes. But Professor Ozpin said that that wasn't true; he told me that I could use my eyes in any capacity in the team, and I suppose he was right about that. He really made me feel better about myself and about being the leader of the team.
I think someone must have said something to Raven too, because she was trying to be nice tonight. Emphasis on 'trying,' I don't think she really knows how. But I'm going to give her a chance. She's pretty tough and pretty cool too; I'd like to be her friend.
I'd like her to think that I was worthy of being her friend.
"That seems like a good place to call it a night," Yang said, gently but firmly shutting the book.
"What?" Ruby asked. "Come on, Yang, we have plenty of time left to keep going."
"Plenty of time, maybe, but also plenty of homework," Yang reminded her. "And besides, there's more than enough time to read through everything even if we do take it slow. Savour it, you know."
"No," Ruby replied. "Don't you know what happens next, or about the Silver-Eyed Warriors? What Mom just described, it doesn't seem like a semblance to me. Does it seem like it to you?"
"I've never heard of a semblance that can tire you out when you use it once, but what else could it be?" Yang asked. "If it isn't a semblance, then what is it?"
"I don't know; that's why we have to keep going!"
"Which we will, later." Yang took a deep breath. "I just think that the last thing Mom would want is for you to neglect your own life chasing answers about her." She smiled. "Don't get so wrapped up in reading about Mom's time at Beacon that you forget that you're at Beacon, understand?"
"I guess," Ruby murmured. "Hey, Yang?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it okay if I talk to my team about this?" Ruby asked. "I mean, Sunset and Pyrrha are really smart, maybe they can… I don't know… work something out?"
Yang was silent for a moment. "If… if you want to tell them, then that's your choice. I can't tell you what to do any more."
Ruby bowed her head. "Yang?"
"Yeah, sis?"
"If Mom was here, do you think she'd be proud?"
"No, I don't think she'd be proud," Yang said. "I know it."
Jaune and Pyrrha took a break from sparring after Pyrrha had, even while holding back, handed Jaune his rear end with all the trimmings again.
Jaune tried not to feel impatient. He hadn't even picked up his ancestral sword before coming to Beacon, and it was only really a few days ago that he had begun training in earnest under Pyrrha's instruction. Meanwhile, she was a renowned tournament fighter who had never lost a fight in her entire life, so of course she was going to beat him. Winning wasn't the object, learning was.
But at the same time, he wouldn't have been human if he didn't feel even a little impatient.
They trained by the farm, a secluded and somewhat out of the way part of the school where only the chickens would see them or be disturbed them; the clucking of the birds formed an accompaniment to the ring of swords as they clashed under the moonlight.
As they had clashed, because now they were taking a break.
Jaune turned away from Pyrrha and took a few steps closer towards the chicken coop and the fence that he had repaired to keep at bay the foxes that he suspected were out here.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked anxiously. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he said quickly. "I was just… I was just thinking about Ruby, that's all. I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up without a mom, not having even memories of her." He remembered that Pyrrha had suffered much the same with her father. "I'm sorry, Pyrrha, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine," Pyrrha assured him. "I know you didn't intend to do harm, and to be honest… it is a wound that is present whether you mention it or not. In any case, I think that I am more fortunate than Ruby. I gather that her father is unwilling to talk of her mother."
Jaune nodded. "It must hurt too much."
"I don't deny that he has his reasons," Pyrrha said. "I merely mean that… talking about my father is not something that my mother has difficulty with."
Jaune turned back towards his partner. "It doesn't hurt her?"
"If it does, she wouldn't let it stop her, nor even let it show," Pyrrha replied. "My mother is…" She trailed off for a moment. "Poor Ruby," she murmured. "It must have been so hard for her."
"Poor Ruby," Jaune agreed. "I… I can hardly imagine how someone could go through that and come out the other side so… so good, you know?"
"She is a miracle," Pyrrha said. "I'm glad that she has the chance to find out the truth, or some truths at any rate. It was… a very kind thing that Sunset did for her. A wonderful thing."
"She deserves it," Jaune declared. "Like I said… growing up without a mom.... I can't imagine."
"You were close to your mother?" Pyrrha asked.
"I guess you could say that," Jaune replied. "Or you could say that my mom is the reason I'm here at Beacon without the faintest idea what I'm doing."
"I… must admit that I have been wondering," Pyrrha said gently, "why you never went to Combat School, if this was an ambition that you've held for a long time."
Jaune hesitated. His breath escaped him in a heavy exhalation.
"If you don't want to talk about it-" Pyrrha began.
"No, it's fine," Jaune informed her. Yet he hesitated again before he began to speak. "I have seven sisters. Six of them are older than me."
A smile brightened Pyrrha's face, and there was a little amusement in her voice as she said, "You were your mother's baby boy?"
"I was everybody's baby boy," Jaune informed her. "Even after my seventh sister Violet was born, it didn't stop me being treated like a baby; it just meant that now there were two of us. My Dad would sometimes acknowledge that I was growing up, but the way my sisters treated me, you'd have thought that I was an eternal toddler. And Mom… Mom liked to keep me close. And I don't mean to say that that was bad, or at least not all bad. She taught me how to cook."
"Really?" Pyrrha asked. "That is a talent you've been hiding these past four weeks?"
"Well, we do get all our meals provided if we want them," Jaune reminded her. "Although admittedly, they're not the best. I sometimes wonder if the standard of cafeteria food is supposed to push us to make our own meals so that we know how to survive in the wild."
"Or teach us how to go without food for the same purpose," Pyrrha suggested amusedly.
Jaune chuckled. "Maybe that, too. Anyway, I don't want to make myself out to be a great chef. I mean, I don't think I'm bad at it, but it's only rustic food."
"So?" Pyrrha asked. "I mean… obviously, I wouldn't want to force you, but…"
Jaune frowned. "You'd… like to try some of my cooking?"
Pyrrha's smile became a little nervous. "I… I think we all would, but only if you wouldn't mind."
Jaune looked away from her and toward the farm. He had come down here on their first Friday afternoon free, and he planned to come here again. It was good to remind himself sometimes that he did have talents, even if they weren't talents in the thing he actually wanted to do with his life. "I… I think I'd like that," he said. He smiled wistfully. "Like I said, it wasn't all bad. My mom taught me some things that stuck with me. But at the same time… she was just like my sisters; she couldn't see that I was growing up. When I told her that I wanted to go to Combat School, she told me not to be silly, that I was far too delicate for a rough place like that."
"That's clearly not true," Pyrrha said. "You have the heart of a huntsman; with proper training, I think you could have been at least as good as Cardin by now."
"I wish," Jaune said, not without a trace of bitterness, "but Mom didn't see it that way. And when I tried to talk to Dad about it, he just yelled at me for trying to play him and Mom off against one another. She'd made a decision, and that was final. So that was that."
"I… I see," Pyrrha murmured. "Parents… often think they know what's best for their children, and we are too young to argue the point."
Jaune nodded. "I… I never would have had the nerve to sneak away to Combat School and start learning. I wouldn't have been able to manage it."
"Indeed, most Combat Schools don't board their students," Pyrrha agreed. "I… I'm sorry that you didn't get the opportunity to pursue your ambitions sooner, but at the same time… I'm a little glad that it turned out this way."
"Glad?" Jaune repeated.
"Yes," Pyrrha murmured. "You see, if things had been different… we might not have ended up on the same team together, and I… well, I like having you as my partner."
"Really?" Jaune asked. "That's… thanks, Pyrrha. I like having you as my partner too."
Pyrrha beamed as brightly as the moon that shone above them. "We… we should probably stop wasting time and get back to it."
"Right," Jaune agreed, and drew his sword once more to resume the uneven contest.
Sunset sat at her desk. The dorm room was currently empty: Jaune and Pyrrha were training, while Ruby was with Yang, taking their first look inside their mother's journal.
Sunset's own journal sat on the desk, the emptiness of the room giving Sunset the confidence to set it out, secure in the knowledge that she would not be disturbed for a while.
Sunset looked down at the cover for a moment, her gaze lingering on the image of her cutie mark that embossed the brown cover. Her fingertips brushed against the red and golden sun before she flipped the book open to the first blank page.
There hadn't been any reply since Sunset's message of the night before. Sunset was getting a little irritated, to be honest. It had been a whole day, was that not long enough? If Celestia didn't want to have anything more to do with her, then that… well, it wasn't fine, but if she believed that Sunset's actions were beyond forgiveness, then she could at least say so instead of giving her the silent treatment like she was a little filly again.
And someone who called themselves the Princess of Friendship ought to have the decency to write back instead of just blanking Sunset out because she didn't want to give her bad news.
Sunset was scowling by the time she picked up her pen and began to scrawl in the journal.
You could at least write back you know, whatever the response is!
Nothing. There was no response. Not for a moment, and for longer. Sunset stared at the page, but it remained blank, with nothing but her own irate line scribbled across it.
And then, after a minute or so, words in answer began to appear beneath her accusatory opening.
Oh my gosh, Sunset! I'm really sorry, I should have gotten back in touch with you. It's just been so hectic around here that I didn't have a chance.
Sunset raised one eyebrow. Yeah, I'll bet.
It's true! Do you think that I'm lying to cover up the fact that I didn't want to reply?
The thought had crossed my mind.
It really has been incredibly busy around here the last day and night. What with the princesses disappearing
WHAT?
Sunset's free hand slammed into the desk with a thud as loud as a drumbeat as she sat bolt upright, cutting across Twilight's line with her demand for more information. A hundred scenarios whirled through Sunset's mind, each one worse than the last: Celestia kidnapped, Celestia trapped in Tartarus, Celestia in the grip of eldritch horrors the like of which would drive you mad to even conceive of their existence. Celestia gone, vanished without trace.
Celestia disappeared? What do you mean she disappeared? Then why are you wasting time writing to me instead of finding her? Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?
No. No, Celestia cannot be gone. Sunset's breathing was coming more quickly now, and through her mind pounded the last words that they had said to one another before Sunset had left, the last argument they had before Celestia had cast her out.
"You're not my mother, and I was a fool to ever forget that."
"It was your choice to make me love you, but it was my choice to believe you loved me in return."
That cannot be how we leave it. That cannot be how she remembers me. That can't be… can't be the last thing that we ever say to one another.
Sunset, calm down
Don't tell me to calm down when Celestia's in danger! If you won't do anything about it, then I'll just have to come and find her myself.
She wasn't sure how she would do that, but she would. Celestia needed her, and clearly, her new pupil was too useless or apathetic to be relied upon. Sunset hadn't kept track of the mirror's opening cycles, but she'd force it open if she had to; she'd pour every ounce of her magic into it until it opened up and made way for her. Of course, she'd have to get to Canterlot… Pyrrha was loaded, perhaps she'd be willing to lend Sunset enough money for an airfare.
She briefly considering asking Pyrrha to come with her, or maybe Ruby; if the situation was dangerous, then Sunset could do worse than have a superlative warrior backing her up… but how much of either of their combat prowess would survive the loss of two hands and the gaining of two extra legs was up in the air, not to mention the loss of aura. And besides, this wasn't their fight. This was Sunset's mentor, and it was her responsibility to help her out.
She was already starting to rise out of her seat when more words appeared in the book in front of her.
Celestia's fine! If you'd let me finish, I was going to say that Celestia and Luna disappeared for a while, and then plunder vines appeared and started choking the whole of Equestria, and that is why we've all been too busy to reply to you. However, there's no need for you to worry because it's all settled now. The princesses are fine, the plunder vines are gone, everything is back to normal now. You're right, I wouldn't be writing to you if we were still in the middle of a crisis. No offence, but I'd have more important matters to take care of.
Sunset stared down at the page for a moment, feeling like a bit of an idiot. Losing my mind like that without even waiting to find out what was really going on. Well, you could have told me all that.
I tried.
Although I must say that I'm touched by your concern, my little sunbeam.
Sunset stared at the words on the page. A shiver ran down her spine containing dread and anticipation in equal measure. Her hand trembled as she wrote. Princess Celestia?
It is good to hear from you again, Sunset Shimmer.
Weiss Schnee could have emptied all the ice dust that she could fit in her rapier over Sunset, and she would not have frozen her more completely than Sunset was frozen at the desk by the fact that her mentor, her teacher, her princess was on the other side of the magical journal.
She had wanted this; she was terrified of this.
She had asked for forgiveness, but now her heart quailed before finding out whether she had it or not.
She had faced grimm in great multitudes; she had faced down hardened criminals; she had risked her life in battle against both. Yet none of that frightened her so much as finding out whether she had, through her own faults and follies, wrung out every last drop of love and pity out of Celestia's heart until there was nothing left for her but anger.
Sunset? Are you still there?
She must be afraid I've run away again, as I did before. She hastily began to write. Yes. Yes, Princess, I'm here. How long
Sunset hesitated, wondering whether she really wanted to know.
have you been here?
Not long. Twilight happens to be in Canterlot assisting me with the aftermath of all this chaos, although it has all been taken care of now, aside from a few minor issues, which is why she had time to reply to you. I came in and asked if I might take over.
There was nothing else. Celestia had come to the end of her sentence, and yet, Sunset did not know how to reply. The things that had happened between them lay like a wall, keeping them more divided than space or the fact that they were in different worlds accessible only through magic.
What do I say? Where do I even begin?
I'm sorry.
Sunset's eyes widened in disbelief. This… what… she didn't understand it. She didn't understand it one bit. You're sorry? What do you have to be sorry about?
Everything. I did not do right by you, Sunset Shimmer.
No, Princess, no, you mustn't say that.
Sunset scrawled the words hastily, before Celestia could say too much. Had she been observing from afar, then she might have appreciated the irony in the situation, but she wasn't observing, she was involved, caught in the moment, and in the moment, she… she didn't want to hear this. She had accepted, or at least she was trying to accept, to at least some extent, that she had been a flawed pony, deeply, maybe even terribly flawed. She was trying to do better here in Remnant. She had asked for forgiveness, not for absolution.
She didn't need Celestia to take all the burdens of responsibility of herself. She didn't want that.
It was me, Princess, I failed you, I let you down
Please, Sunset, let me finish.
Even at this remove, Sunset could not help but look chastened at the rebuke. She could hear Celestia's voice saying it as though they were sharing the room.
Of course, Princess. I'm sorry.
There was a pause, probably while Celestia considered her response.
It is true that the destiny that I once hoped for for you was not one for which you were suited. But the fault is mine, for placing too great a burden of expectation upon your shoulders at too young an age. With the benefit of hindsight, I'm not sure that any filly's ego could have survived being told that they were expected to ascend. That yours was unequal to the challenge says less about your faults than about my own poor judgement.
Sunset could not quite keep the envy and, yes, the touch of bitterness out of her pen strokes as she wrote back. Twilight Sparkle's ego seems to have held up.
Twilight was completely ignorant of her destiny until she arrived at it. That was the lesson that you taught me: Twilight grew up knowing nothing of my hopes for her until she had achieved them.
Sunset could not help but let out a little chuckle. So what you're telling me, Princess, is that you failed with me and then learnt how to do it right the second time around.
Yes, you could say that. And all I can do now is apologise for my failings as a teacher.
Sunset sighed. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply once, in and out, and then again a second time. Then she began to write. You have no need to apologise to me, Princess Celestia. Not for that, at least. The truth is, I don't think it could have worked out anyway.
No? That was not your opinion when we last saw each other.
So, they had come to that at last. It was always inevitable. Celestia had been very kind in not bringing it up beforehand. But they couldn't avoid the circumstances of Sunset's departure – from Celestia's tutelage, from the palace, and from Equestria itself – any longer.
But Sunset found that she did want to avoid it, for at least a little while more.
My best friend is a girl named Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos.
Pyrrha Nikos?
Sunset frowned. Yes. Some of the names they use here would be familiar to you, but others are a little stranger.
Extraordinary, but not because the name is strange; rather, because it is familiar to me. I have in the guard a young unicorn by the name of Pyrrha Nikos.
Sunset's eyebrows rose. Really? That both does and doesn't surprise me, Princess Celestia. It doesn't because I've known for some time that there were those in this world who bore an uncanny resemblance to people who live in Equestria; why, in my previous school before coming to Beacon I'd already met the Twilight Sparkle of this world.
Indeed.
Yes. She hesitated about whether or not to admit the truth, before realising that Princess Celestia in her wisdom could probably divine it in any case. You might not be surprised to know that I didn't like her very much. But I am surprised to learn that a Pyrrha Nikos, though she exists, has found her way into your service; if there is any geographical correlation between our worlds, she ought to be a long way from home.
It is true that Pyrrha has travelled far, from the far south of Equestria. But she is brave and eager to serve. My captain has nothing but praise for her.
If she is anything like the Pyrrha of Remnant, that does not surprise me.
Is it not fascinating that it should be so? That our worlds should not only be linked, but that names and natures should occur in common on either side of the mirror? Twilight, I am sure, will be as amazed as I am. But you had a point to make, and I have distracted you from it. Please, Sunset, continue.
As I said, she's my best friend. You'd be amazed at how hard it was for me to admit that. Or perhaps you wouldn't. Perhaps it doesn't surprise you at all. Anyway, she's great. A great warrior. Superlative. Even with all the magic at my command, I can barely keep up with her, and if I didn't have magic, then she'd tear me apart without breaking a sweat like she does everybody else. And she's kind and beautiful, and she's always willing to help others. But she's lonely. Even though she's talented and lovely and kind, she doesn't have anyone she can open her heart to. Nobody told her that she was expected to ascend; there's no immortal teacher making plans for her that have made her proud, because like I said, she isn't proud at all. But the very fact of her skill sets her apart; the simple act of being her in all her glory raises her up so far that nobody can get close to her. With the best intentions, she doesn't have a friend in the world.
It sounds like she has you now.
Sunset cleared her throat, for all that Celestia couldn't see or hear it. Well, yes, and she has Jaune and Ruby as well – they're our teammates – I suppose what I meant was that she didn't have any. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that even if you'd told me nothing, it might not have made any difference. I still would have been mean and proud and vain and kind of awful, now that I look back, and I still would have been in that place as your student and so talented. Honestly, I'm not sure how Twilight Sparkle managed to make any friends when someone like Pyrrha couldn't manage it.
To be perfectly honest, I had to send Twilight away to Ponyville before she connected with anyone sufficiently deeply.
Oh, so that's what she's doing in a place like that. That explains it.
Could you please tell me more about her? And about Ruby and Jaune, your other friends?
Really? Why?
I'd like to know what kind of people your friends are. I'm curious to know who they are who were able to open up your heart.
Sunset blinked, she felt as though she had something caught in her eye. You still care?
I always cared about you, Sunset. You may not have believed it, but that does not make it any less true.
But everything that I said, everything that happened. I was afraid
Sunset hesitated a moment before she finished that sentence. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to forgive me.
There is nothing for me to forgive.
Nothing? Nothing at all?
You were angry, you had that right. But I was only ever afraid.
Afraid?
Afraid of what might happen to you in the world that lies beyond the mirror, afraid of what might happen to you, afraid, I must confess, of what your anger and impatience might drive you to become. But I had hope as well. I hoped, very much, that you might find your path. And it seems that you have done so.
I don't know about that, although I am trying. Princess, can I ask you a question?
Of course.
When I was studying under you, you made me believe - or at least you allowed me to believe - that I had a destiny. A great destiny. You made me believe it so much that I went all the way to another world looking for it. Was that a lie? Was it always a lie? Or is destiny like Pyrrha says: something that we control by our own actions, and I just messed up that badly?
She wanted to know, and yet, she didn't, but ultimately, Sunset knew that she had to ask. She would have no peace until she did.
She waited, expectant and afraid, for the answer.
I wish that I had an answer to give you, Sunset; I really do. But I do not. I believe in destiny. I have tried to build a society in which all ponies may fulfill their destinies, but mark that: they need help to fulfil them. Perhaps it is not so, perhaps destiny is fixed and immutable, but if that is the case, then what price any of our actions? Are we merely puppets, doing the bidding of some ineffable force?
I always thought you were the puppet master.
No, Sunset, I do not pull the strings, or at least, I try not to. I merely try to set the course so that the river may flow in the manner that is best for everybody. Of course, there is a possibility that you did not mention.
What's that, Princess?
That you have a destiny but I was mistaken about it where it lay. Not in Canterlot, but somewhere else. Sunset, are you happy where you are? Although there is no cause for you to return to rescue me, I want you to know that you will always be welcome in Equestria, should you decide that you want to come home.
You can't know how it feels for you to say that.
She barely knew how it felt for Celestia to say that, only that was she glad that Celestia had said it.
But I don't think I'm ready to come back yet. I'm not even sure I should be calling Equestria home. Back there, I only had you. Now
Sunset paused for a moment.
Maybe my destiny is here. Or maybe it isn't. But this world seems like it could use a hero, and my team needs me, and
Sunset, there is no shame in saying that you want to stay that you have found friends and a place to belong. If that is the case, I could not be happier.
Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. It's easier to be good when I'm with them.
They must be wonderful people.
They are. Pyrrha's just great, and Ruby's so sweet and brave, and even Jaune, I have to give Jaune credit for courage, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to do what he's done.
Tell me more. Tell me about your friends, tell me about the world you live in now, tell me about your life. Tell me everything, Sunset. I want to know what's become of you since you've been away.
Sunset sucked on the end of her pen and pondered for a moment. I hardly know where to start…
"So, how was dinner last night?" Yang asked, as the two teams sat down to breakfast. "Is that Benni Haven's place any good?"
"Oh, sure," Jaune said enthusiastically. "It's a great place. Much better than the food they serve here." He glanced over his shoulder, as if he were afraid that the cafeteria staff might overhear him.
"It was quite tasty, but I wouldn't want to go there too often," Pyrrha murmured. "It wasn't a menu replete with healthy options."
Yang chuckled. "Afraid of losing your figure, Pyrrha?"
"I try to keep my body in peak condition, for obvious reasons," Pyrrha replied.
"Okay, I was only kidding," Yang said. "No need to get all snappy with me."
"I'm sorry," Pyrrha apologised at once. "I didn't mean to be sharp; it's just-"
"You didn't; I'm just messing with you," Yang said quickly. "I'm sorry, but you just make it too easy."
Pyrrha's cheeks flushed just a touch of pink, and she bowed her head as she began to cut up her sausages.
"But I totally get it," Yang added. "We can't afford to pig out every night and be ready to fight monsters in the morning."
"Speak for yourself, leader," Nora said in a tone so self-satisfied it verged upon smug as she tucked her hands behind her head and smiled.
"I sometimes think," Ren said quietly, "that if scientists were to study the secrets of your inhuman metabolism, the resulting revelations would save many more lives than we will ever save in our lives as huntsmen."
Nora's laughter was her only reply.
"So you'd all recommend it, then?" Yang asked.
"Yep," Sunset said, before taking a bite out of her apple.
"I would," Ruby said. "The owner was really nice; she took this cool picture of us." She pulled out her scroll and found the picture in question at the top of her photo album: Team SAPR posed around the fake stuffed beowolf known as Fluffy. She showed it to Yang from across the table. "And she's going to put it up on the wall as well, with all of the other teams who've been in there over the years."
"That is pretty cool," Yang agreed. "So, what do you think guys? Perhaps we should swing by."
"It's worth a trip," Dove said.
"Oh, yeah, you've already been without us, haven't you?" Yang said, sounding agreeably put out by this fact.
"With his harem," Sunset added, a smirk crossing her face.
Now it was Dove's turn to go a little bit red in the face. "That is- how dare you?"
"How dare I?" Sunset repeated. "Are you listening to yourself right now?"
"Yeah, calm down, Dove; it's just a joke," Yang said.
"It's insulting to Lyra and Bon Bon," Dove declared. "I mean, how would you like it if I accused you all of being part of Jaune's harem?"
Pyrrha made a weird noise that Ruby couldn't really understand. Jaune started choking on a piece of black pudding, and Ruby and Pyrrha had to slap him on the back until it came flying out to land, unfortunately, in Ren's yoghurt; he pushed it aside with a look of disgust.
Sunset raised one eyebrow. "I'd say 'if you're trying to insult me, try harder'."
"What's so insulting about it?" Ruby asked. "I mean, if everyone's okay with it, then what's the problem?"
Dove looked at her as though she'd grown an extra head. "It's disgusting."
"It's unusual," Sunset accepted, "but don't call my partner disgusting."
"How did we end up having this conversation?" Jaune groaned.
"I don't know, but we're not having it any more," Yang said, slamming one hand down on the table hard enough to make plates and glasses wobble. "The subject matter is closed, okay?"
"Fine by me," Jaune said quickly. He cleared his throat. "So anyway, if you want to go to that restaurant, I'd recommend finding a quiet time. I bet that Mrs. Haven has a lot of stories to tell, when she isn't too busy running, about all the huntsmen who've come through there over the years."
The rest of breakfast passed pretty quietly, to the extent that Ruby was impatient for it to finish so that she could get Yang by herself and tell her about Mom's journal, which felt like it was burning a hole in the bookbag tucked underneath the bench.
By the time the two teams were both done and were filing out of the dining hall, she was unable to restrain her excitement any longer.
"Hey, Yang," cried Ruby. She just couldn't hold her tongue any longer; it was impossible. "Wait a second; I need to talk to you about something."
Yang stopped, half turning back towards Ruby. She looked a little concerned. Maybe she thought that there was something wrong. She glanced towards her teammates. "You guys go on ahead; I'll see you in class."
"And so will we," Sunset said. Unlike Team YRDN, the other members of Ruby's team knew what Ruby needed to talk to Yang about. "Don't be late."
"I won't," Ruby assured her team leader.
"We'll save you a seat," Jaune said, while Pyrrha contented herself with a warm smile that seemed to wish Ruby luck as the three sapphires and the three irons left the two sisters behind and continued on their way towards the first class of Wednesday: a two hour session of Modern History with Doctor Oobleck.
Yang and Ruby stood alone in a crowd, surrounded by members of other teams who moved around them as though the two were rocks in a sea of students on their way to class, until they managed to find a way through the press and away from the crowd. They walked through the courtyard, aimless but at the same time being drawn towards the statue that dominated the open space.
"Do you ever think that statue kind of looks like Mom?" Ruby asked.
"I'd never really thought about it," Yang admitted.
"I mean with the hood and everything," Ruby explained.
"Yeah, I get it now, but… I never would have thought of it myself," Yang replied. "I don't think it's actually a statue of Mom," she added, a touch of amusement entering her voice.
"I know," Ruby said wistfully. "It's just… fun to think it looks like her."
Yang smiled, just a little bit. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess you've got a point there." The faint smile remained on her face as she looked down at Ruby. "What's up, little sis?"
Ruby didn't reply straight away. Rather she opened up one of the zip pockets at the front of her bag and brought out the little black book that Sunset had given her, the black book with the rose picked out in white upon the cover.
"This… this is Mom's," Ruby said. "It's her diary, Yang."
Yang's eyes widened. "'Her…'" she stopped, staring down open-mouthed at the little book in Ruby's hands. "Ruby… where did you get this?"
Ruby hesitated for a moment. "Sunset gave it to me."
Yang frowned. "Sunset? Where did Sunset get our Mom's diary from?"
Ruby looked away. "Well, uh-"
"Ruby," Yang said, a touch of sternness entering her voice.
"I can't tell you," Ruby insisted. "I'm sorry, but if I told you… this has to say a secret, or else Sunset and Jaune could get into a lot of trouble. Sunset didn't have to give this to me, to both of us, but she did. Don't you think that matters a lot more than how she got it?"
Yang still didn't look entirely satisfied by this. "And you're sure that it's real?"
"Sunset wouldn't lie to me about something like this," Ruby declared.
Yang nodded. "No, no, I don't think she would. She's not perfect, but she's not that much of a… anyway, this is… this is incredible."
"I know, right?" Ruby cried. Dad… Dad didn't talk about Mom very much. Ruby guessed that it was too sad for him to think about her, even after all these years. Uncle Qrow had told them a few stories, but he was hardly ever around and even Uncle Qrow got pretty unhappy whenever he had to think about Mom for too long, so the two sisters had learnt not to bother him for too many stories as they got older. But now… now their mother was poised to speak to them both in her own words, to reveal her secrets, unfiltered by the memories of others.
The memories that Ruby didn't have. There were times when she envied Yang – although she tried not to show it – for having so many more memories of Summer Rose than Ruby did. Ruby had only vague images, a flash of white, laughter, a lovely voice singing her to sleep. Yang had real memories, even if she didn't have as many as she'd like, memories of 'supermom'. But now, they would both get to hear their mother speak.
"Have you looked at it?" Yang asked.
"No," Ruby replied. "I thought that this was something that we ought to do together."
Yang smiled, broadly this time, and brightly, as she first reached out to ruffle Ruby's hair and then pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," she said.
Ruby closed her eyes as he rested her head against Yang's chest. "For what?"
"For remembering that… that she was my mom, too," Yang said, gently stroking Ruby's head with one hand. "So, when do you want to do this?"
"How about now?" Ruby suggested eagerly.
Yang laughed. "I think we should probably get to class," she reminded Ruby. "How about after all our classes are done, we'll find somewhere private and see what Mom has to say?"
"The end of the day?" Ruby replied. "Come on, Yang, I don't know if I can wait that long."
She did manage to wait, just about, but there were times when it was a sore trial to Ruby. It was difficult to sit through Professor Oobleck whizzing through the Faunus Rights Revolutions or Professor Port telling another story about a hunt that he had been on, knowing that her mother's words were sitting in her bag, waiting for her. Several times, Sunset had to give her a nudge to remind her to pay attention because she was in danger of spacing out in front of the whole class. Fortunately, SAPR was still sitting at the back while they waited for Jaune to recover from his few weeks of near sleeplessness at the start of the semester, but even so, it could have been pretty embarrassing.
The day passed for Ruby with an aching slowness, as if she were mired in treacle as she drifted through class after class, sat nearly silent through lunch and dinner, waiting for the day to end and the evening to arrive. Then, when Jaune and Pyrrha left for Jaune's training, Ruby left Sunset alone in the dorm room while she met Yang outside, and together, they made their way back out into the courtyard.
It was deserted, with most of the students being shut up in the dorms working on their homework; the only company they had was a black bird in one of the nearby trees, which croaked at them as they crossed the empty space.
The two sisters sat down before the statue, with the snarling beowolf looming over them, and there, huddled together, they opened the diary and began to read.
Dear Diary,
I can't believe I finally made it to Beacon! After so long dreaming and waiting, I've finally made it. This is my dream come true.
Yang chuckled. "Looks like we weren't the only ones to really want to come here, huh?"
The raven in the trees croaked again.
Ruby barely heard it. She barely felt the wind blowing through her hair. She barely felt the unusual warmth for a spring evening. Her attention, as her gaze, was fixed upon the book open in her lap.
She smiled, a little sadly. "Yeah, I guess not."
Yang leaned down a little, so that they were eye to eye, and gave Ruby a squeeze on the shoulder. "You okay?"
"I…" Ruby hesitated. "I wish that she'd been able to tell us in person, you know? I wish that she'd been able to tell us what a great time she'd had at Beacon and that we'd really love it there and maybe not to worry too much about Professor Port or that… I wish she was here."
Yang frowned. "Yeah. You and me both, Rubes. Listen… if you don't want to-"
"No," Ruby said firmly. "No, I want to read this. I want to see what Mom has to say."
Yang looked at her for a moment, and then she nodded. "Okay."
Ruby looked back down at the diary.
Nothing much has happened yet, because I only arrived here today, but all the same: I finally made it to Beacon!
I know that my father doesn't see the point in me coming here. He thinks that I can already fight grimm perfectly well on my own, so why do I need to come to a school to spend four years learning what I already know?
"Grandpa has a point, I guess," Yang said. "I mean… it's only about halfway through the first semester, and we can already kill grimm. You wonder what the rest of the four years will be like."
I told Dad that I can't just rely on my eyes, and I suppose he must have accepted that, or he wouldn't have let me come here in the first place.
"Her eyes," Ruby asked, reading and re-reading that sentence over and over again as though, if she read it often enough, the words on the page in front of her would change into something that she could actually understand. "What does that mean? Eyes means… eyes, right?"
"I… think so," Yang said. She put her arms behind her head. "Dad's never talked about Mom's semblance that I can remember. Maybe it was to shoot lasers out of her eyes," Yang suggested. She grinned. "Or maybe she could kill grimm just by looking at them!"
Ruby giggled.
Yang laughed a little as well. "Or maybe she'll explain later if we keep going."
"Right," Ruby said, and read on.
What I didn't tell my father was that that's not the real reason I want to come here. Don't get me wrong, I want to fight the grimm. I want to show everyone that we're more than just cattle in a cage. I believe that if we work together, we can save the world, and take it back from all the monsters.
But that's not why I'm here. If I wanted to start fighting now, I could. Dad would probably be happier that way. Maybe other people would too.
I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to die if that's what it takes. But I want to be just a normal girl for a few years, to have friends and fun and be more than just a warrior.
This makes me sound so selfish, not to mention that I must sound as though I'm not taking this seriously. If someone reads this and thinks that I didn't deserve my place at Beacon, then so be it; you're wrong, I really want to be here.
I just want to live for a few years for myself as well.
"No, Mom, that's not selfish at all," Ruby murmured. For a moment, she thought of Pyrrha, the champion fighter who had never been… Ruby couldn't exactly say what it was that she had never been; she'd say that Pyrrha had never been a person, but if that were true, then what was she? It didn't really matter; the point was that reading Mom's words reminded her of her friend a little bit.
Mom got to live… for a while. Maybe Pyrrha will too. I hope so.
She kept reading.
I have to admit that I got a little lost getting off the airship. But it did mean that I met this really cute boy named Taiyang who helped me find the way to the amphitheatre. He's kind of a goofball, but I like him; he's a lot of fun. I'm not sure how good he is in a fight, but he got in here, so I suppose he can't be that bad.
"Is it me, or does it sound as though Mom had a crush on Dad from the moment they met?" Ruby asked, eagerness and amusement blending in her voice.
Yang looked a little… Ruby couldn't exactly say what Yang looked like, but not as enthusiastic as Ruby felt. She looked a little troubled, though Ruby couldn't work out what was wrong. "Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, it does."
Ruby tried to imagine her father was an adorable cute goofball… strangely enough, her imagining ended up looking a lot like Jaune.
Less strangely, she could imagine her Mom having a crush on a guy like that – and not just because she'd gone on to marry him; someone cute and funny and kind…
"Ruby?"
"Huh?"
"You spaced out for a second there."
Ruby laughed. "I, uh, I was just trying to imagine Dad the way that Mom just wrote about him."
"I can imagine it."
"Really?"
"Yup."
After he said a few words to everyone, Professor Ozpin took me aside. He's been so nice to me, and not just because I wouldn't be able to come here without his support. He's so considerate, he made sure that I was okay and that I wasn't feeling overwhelmed. Maybe it is because of my eyes a little, but it's still nice.
"Ugh, the eyes again," Ruby said with a scowl. "Come on, Mom, explain!"
Yang laughed. "She probably wasn't expecting this to be read by anyone who didn't know." Her face fell. "She probably thought she'd explain it herself."
"It must have been something really cool if Professor Ozpin was interested in it, right?" Ruby asked. "Maybe he could tell us."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Yang said. "He might want to know where you got the diary from."
"Oh, right, of course," Ruby murmured. She didn't want to know the truth so badly that she would drop her friends in it just to obtain the truth. "It is still only the second page, so maybe it comes up later?"
"We can hope."
Tomorrow is the Initiation, the final test before my time here really begins. I can't wait, but at the same time, I'm kind of nervous, because I don't really know a lot about how to do people at all. Coming from outside the Kingdoms,
"Mom grew up outside the kingdoms?" Yang asked. "Wow, that's… no wonder she was a badass even before she got to Beacon."
I don't really know how to get along with other people. But that's why I want to be here, so I can finally do all that stuff. And then I can go back to fighting.
So sure, I'm nervous. But at the same time, I can't wait to meet my new teammates.
And that was the end for that day and that page.
"Do you want to read the next day?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, you?"
"Let's do it."
Ruby flipped over the page.
Dear Diary,
I have a team! I'm the team leader!
Okay, so I should probably go back just a little bit.
Like I told you yesterday, I was as nervous as I was excited about the initiation today, but looking back, it was really cool. Professor Ozpin fired us all off a cliff and into the Emerald Forest, how cool is that?
Yang snorted. "She really was a supermom, wasn't she?"
The rules were that the first person we made eye contact with would be our partner for the next four years. I was a bit worried, because the first person I made contact with was this girl named Raven Branwen. She certainly knows how to fight, but she was also pretty cold and aloof and not really interested in making friends.
Ruby glanced at Yang to see how she was taking it. Yang's jaw was clenched, and her eyes looked as though they were beginning to be tinted with a touch of red, but she said nothing.
Ruby looked away from her and kept on going.
Fortunately, it wasn't too uncomfortable for too long because we quickly ran into Taiyang, that cute boy I met yesterday. He must have some kind of strength semblance, because he punched a beowolf's head clean off with his bare hands. He might not have any weapons, but he does know how to fight.
I've never really thought too much about destiny, but I think there must be the hand of fate at work here, because not only did we run into Taiyang, but his partner is Raven's brother Qrow. It's like there's a thread of fate binding us all together.
Qrow is really cool; we'd only met up for five minutes, and he was already flirting with me. He was just kidding, though; he's way out of my league.
Besides, I kind of prefer guys who are honest and don't put up a big front. Qrow's cool, but it's like he's trying a little too hard to be something he's not.
Raven, on the other hand, is the kind of person who you accept as they are or not at all. She doesn't say much, not even to Qrow, but she says even less to anyone else. I wonder if she's lonely? And whether she'd ever admit it if she was.
One thing's for sure: they both really know how to fight. Together, we're going to be an awesome team, I can feel it!
Oh, yeah, teams. I should probably go back to that. So, when we shot into the forest, Professor Ozpin told us we have to reach some ruins and retrieve what he called 'relics'. It was on the way there that Raven and I met up with Tai and Qrow. So we got to the ruins and we find these chess pieces, and Qrow and I each took a white knight. Then we had to get out of the forest again and we got attacked by some ursas.
This is the best part. Up until now, I hadn't been using my eyes, only my Solstice Rose, but there were just so many grimm, and we were already so tired that I had to use my eyes on them.
It tired me out. The guys had to carry me the rest of the way out of the forest, I was so exhausted my body just wouldn't move at all. I was worried. I was worried that they were going to think that I was weak or else that once they found out about my eyes they'd stop treating me like I was a normal person. I was afraid that I'd stop being Summer Rose and become a Silver-Eyed Warrior to them.
"A silver-eyed warrior," Ruby whispered. "What's that?"
"I don't know," Yang said. "A… warrior with silver eyes?"
"But I've got silver eyes, and I never did anything special with them," Ruby said.
"Yet," Yang commented.
Ruby started to shake her head, and then paused. "He mentioned it."
"Huh?"
"Professor Ozpin," Ruby explained. "When he came to see me after Sunset and I fought Torchwick, he noticed my eyes."
"You have silver eyes."
The two sisters looked at each other for a minute, neither one speaking. Professor Ozpin had taken an interest in Mom on account of her eyes, and now he had let Ruby into Beacon too after pointing out that she, too, had silver eyes.
That couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?
"What does it mean?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know," Yang replied. "Let's… let's just keep going, okay?
But everyone was really cool about it, even Raven. They were impressed, sure, but none of them treated me any differently.
Of course, I hardly knew them before they found out about this, I suppose what I'm trying to say is that they're treating me like a person. And Professor Ozpin says that using my eyes will get less tiring with training and practice, so that's good.
Together, we're Team STRQ, pronounced Stark, although Qrow won't stop saying he would prefer to pronounce it Strike, and I'm the leader. So, yeah, that happened.
I'm back to being nervous and excited at the same time. Excited, obviously, because this is so cool, and I feel like I have friends for the first time ever, and everything's going to be great, but nervous too.
Nervous because I'm responsible for Tai and Raven and Qrow, and if anything happens to them, then that's on me.
Still, I have three teammates now, and I think, I really believe, that they could become three friends. My first three friends.
And if we work together, I'm sure that everything is going to be okay.
"Aww," Ruby said. "That's really nice. And just how I feel about my team."
Yang chuckled, giving her a squeeze around the arm. "Do you want to keep going?"
"Sure!"
Dear Diary,
I don't think Raven likes me very much.
"Well that's a downer," Yang remarked. "Maybe we should have left it at the end of the last entry."
Maybe that's too hard on her. I get the feeling that she doesn't really 'like' anybody that much. It's strange watching the way she goes around the school: she acts as though she's better than everyone else here, but there's also this nervousness about her as though she's afraid of other people. I don't really get it.
Anyway, the point is that while she may not dislike me more than she dislikes anybody else, she doesn't seem to like me very much either. She thinks that she should have been made team leader instead of me, and she isn't shy about letting me know it. She told me straight that the only reason I was made team leader is because of my powers
"Ugh!" Ruby grunted. "Come on, Mom, details!"
"I'm picking up a lot of details," Yang muttered.
but that those powers aren't any substitute for knowledge and experience. You'd think she was a pro-huntsman or something. I asked her if she'd lived outside the kingdoms, like I had; that seemed to take her by surprise, I think she thought I was from Vale or something. She didn't answer my question, but I'm guessing that the answer is yes. I can't think why else she'd think that she was so much more qualified to lead than me.
Qrow told me not to sweat it. He said that his sister acts like this around everyone.
Anyway, we started classes today. Grimm Studies was our first lesson. Professor Brandy really knows what he's talking about, even if he does look as though he's about to drop dead at any moment. At one point, he had to go and lie down and Mister Port, the Teaching Assistant, had to take over. He's a little odd.
Yang chuckled. "Hey, Ruby, you wanna bet that Professor Port was the same then as he is now?"
"Nah, that's a sucker's bet," Ruby said. "Especially if you want me to take it."
I'm sure that he was – that he is – a great huntsman, but he told us more about himself than he ever said about the grimm.
The teacher in our combat class is barely older than me, or any of us, and of course, Raven asked her straight up why they should listen to anything that someone basically our age had to say. I was so embarrassed, I thought we were going to get detention or something.
But then Professor Goodwitch invited Raven up onto the stage and said that if she could beat her – if Raven could beat Professor Goodwitch – then she'd get a free pass from classes for the next four years and a top grade regardless. You should have seen the look on Raven's face; she was so smug you could tell she thought she had this. But then Professor Goodwitch totally kicked her ass, and it was so awesome! Okay, that sounded pretty mean, but honestly, Raven's so full of herself she deserved to be taken down a peg.
The look on her face when she got up after Professor Goodwitch threw her off the stage with her semblance was hilarious.
"That's where that came from?" Yang cried. "Raven started that tradition? Now I wish that I'd stepped up. Do you think Professor Goodwitch would fight me if I asked her to?"
"Why would you want to fight Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked. "No offence, but… you'd lose."
"Sure, but I could see how good I was compared to Raven at my age."
"I guess," Ruby said, with a little reluctance. She brightened up as she added, "If you do decide to go for it, I'll be rooting for you."
I suppose I should probably admit that the reason I might sound – okay, the reason I sound – as though I don't like Raven very much is that I was worried that what she said was right, that the only reason Professor Ozpin made me the leader of Team STRQ is that I have silver eyes. But Professor Ozpin said that that wasn't true; he told me that I could use my eyes in any capacity in the team, and I suppose he was right about that. He really made me feel better about myself and about being the leader of the team.
I think someone must have said something to Raven too, because she was trying to be nice tonight. Emphasis on 'trying,' I don't think she really knows how. But I'm going to give her a chance. She's pretty tough and pretty cool too; I'd like to be her friend.
I'd like her to think that I was worthy of being her friend.
"That seems like a good place to call it a night," Yang said, gently but firmly shutting the book.
"What?" Ruby asked. "Come on, Yang, we have plenty of time left to keep going."
"Plenty of time, maybe, but also plenty of homework," Yang reminded her. "And besides, there's more than enough time to read through everything even if we do take it slow. Savour it, you know."
"No," Ruby replied. "Don't you know what happens next, or about the Silver-Eyed Warriors? What Mom just described, it doesn't seem like a semblance to me. Does it seem like it to you?"
"I've never heard of a semblance that can tire you out when you use it once, but what else could it be?" Yang asked. "If it isn't a semblance, then what is it?"
"I don't know; that's why we have to keep going!"
"Which we will, later." Yang took a deep breath. "I just think that the last thing Mom would want is for you to neglect your own life chasing answers about her." She smiled. "Don't get so wrapped up in reading about Mom's time at Beacon that you forget that you're at Beacon, understand?"
"I guess," Ruby murmured. "Hey, Yang?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it okay if I talk to my team about this?" Ruby asked. "I mean, Sunset and Pyrrha are really smart, maybe they can… I don't know… work something out?"
Yang was silent for a moment. "If… if you want to tell them, then that's your choice. I can't tell you what to do any more."
Ruby bowed her head. "Yang?"
"Yeah, sis?"
"If Mom was here, do you think she'd be proud?"
"No, I don't think she'd be proud," Yang said. "I know it."
XxXxX
Jaune and Pyrrha took a break from sparring after Pyrrha had, even while holding back, handed Jaune his rear end with all the trimmings again.
Jaune tried not to feel impatient. He hadn't even picked up his ancestral sword before coming to Beacon, and it was only really a few days ago that he had begun training in earnest under Pyrrha's instruction. Meanwhile, she was a renowned tournament fighter who had never lost a fight in her entire life, so of course she was going to beat him. Winning wasn't the object, learning was.
But at the same time, he wouldn't have been human if he didn't feel even a little impatient.
They trained by the farm, a secluded and somewhat out of the way part of the school where only the chickens would see them or be disturbed them; the clucking of the birds formed an accompaniment to the ring of swords as they clashed under the moonlight.
As they had clashed, because now they were taking a break.
Jaune turned away from Pyrrha and took a few steps closer towards the chicken coop and the fence that he had repaired to keep at bay the foxes that he suspected were out here.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked anxiously. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he said quickly. "I was just… I was just thinking about Ruby, that's all. I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up without a mom, not having even memories of her." He remembered that Pyrrha had suffered much the same with her father. "I'm sorry, Pyrrha, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine," Pyrrha assured him. "I know you didn't intend to do harm, and to be honest… it is a wound that is present whether you mention it or not. In any case, I think that I am more fortunate than Ruby. I gather that her father is unwilling to talk of her mother."
Jaune nodded. "It must hurt too much."
"I don't deny that he has his reasons," Pyrrha said. "I merely mean that… talking about my father is not something that my mother has difficulty with."
Jaune turned back towards his partner. "It doesn't hurt her?"
"If it does, she wouldn't let it stop her, nor even let it show," Pyrrha replied. "My mother is…" She trailed off for a moment. "Poor Ruby," she murmured. "It must have been so hard for her."
"Poor Ruby," Jaune agreed. "I… I can hardly imagine how someone could go through that and come out the other side so… so good, you know?"
"She is a miracle," Pyrrha said. "I'm glad that she has the chance to find out the truth, or some truths at any rate. It was… a very kind thing that Sunset did for her. A wonderful thing."
"She deserves it," Jaune declared. "Like I said… growing up without a mom.... I can't imagine."
"You were close to your mother?" Pyrrha asked.
"I guess you could say that," Jaune replied. "Or you could say that my mom is the reason I'm here at Beacon without the faintest idea what I'm doing."
"I… must admit that I have been wondering," Pyrrha said gently, "why you never went to Combat School, if this was an ambition that you've held for a long time."
Jaune hesitated. His breath escaped him in a heavy exhalation.
"If you don't want to talk about it-" Pyrrha began.
"No, it's fine," Jaune informed her. Yet he hesitated again before he began to speak. "I have seven sisters. Six of them are older than me."
A smile brightened Pyrrha's face, and there was a little amusement in her voice as she said, "You were your mother's baby boy?"
"I was everybody's baby boy," Jaune informed her. "Even after my seventh sister Violet was born, it didn't stop me being treated like a baby; it just meant that now there were two of us. My Dad would sometimes acknowledge that I was growing up, but the way my sisters treated me, you'd have thought that I was an eternal toddler. And Mom… Mom liked to keep me close. And I don't mean to say that that was bad, or at least not all bad. She taught me how to cook."
"Really?" Pyrrha asked. "That is a talent you've been hiding these past four weeks?"
"Well, we do get all our meals provided if we want them," Jaune reminded her. "Although admittedly, they're not the best. I sometimes wonder if the standard of cafeteria food is supposed to push us to make our own meals so that we know how to survive in the wild."
"Or teach us how to go without food for the same purpose," Pyrrha suggested amusedly.
Jaune chuckled. "Maybe that, too. Anyway, I don't want to make myself out to be a great chef. I mean, I don't think I'm bad at it, but it's only rustic food."
"So?" Pyrrha asked. "I mean… obviously, I wouldn't want to force you, but…"
Jaune frowned. "You'd… like to try some of my cooking?"
Pyrrha's smile became a little nervous. "I… I think we all would, but only if you wouldn't mind."
Jaune looked away from her and toward the farm. He had come down here on their first Friday afternoon free, and he planned to come here again. It was good to remind himself sometimes that he did have talents, even if they weren't talents in the thing he actually wanted to do with his life. "I… I think I'd like that," he said. He smiled wistfully. "Like I said, it wasn't all bad. My mom taught me some things that stuck with me. But at the same time… she was just like my sisters; she couldn't see that I was growing up. When I told her that I wanted to go to Combat School, she told me not to be silly, that I was far too delicate for a rough place like that."
"That's clearly not true," Pyrrha said. "You have the heart of a huntsman; with proper training, I think you could have been at least as good as Cardin by now."
"I wish," Jaune said, not without a trace of bitterness, "but Mom didn't see it that way. And when I tried to talk to Dad about it, he just yelled at me for trying to play him and Mom off against one another. She'd made a decision, and that was final. So that was that."
"I… I see," Pyrrha murmured. "Parents… often think they know what's best for their children, and we are too young to argue the point."
Jaune nodded. "I… I never would have had the nerve to sneak away to Combat School and start learning. I wouldn't have been able to manage it."
"Indeed, most Combat Schools don't board their students," Pyrrha agreed. "I… I'm sorry that you didn't get the opportunity to pursue your ambitions sooner, but at the same time… I'm a little glad that it turned out this way."
"Glad?" Jaune repeated.
"Yes," Pyrrha murmured. "You see, if things had been different… we might not have ended up on the same team together, and I… well, I like having you as my partner."
"Really?" Jaune asked. "That's… thanks, Pyrrha. I like having you as my partner too."
Pyrrha beamed as brightly as the moon that shone above them. "We… we should probably stop wasting time and get back to it."
"Right," Jaune agreed, and drew his sword once more to resume the uneven contest.
XxXxX
Sunset sat at her desk. The dorm room was currently empty: Jaune and Pyrrha were training, while Ruby was with Yang, taking their first look inside their mother's journal.
Sunset's own journal sat on the desk, the emptiness of the room giving Sunset the confidence to set it out, secure in the knowledge that she would not be disturbed for a while.
Sunset looked down at the cover for a moment, her gaze lingering on the image of her cutie mark that embossed the brown cover. Her fingertips brushed against the red and golden sun before she flipped the book open to the first blank page.
There hadn't been any reply since Sunset's message of the night before. Sunset was getting a little irritated, to be honest. It had been a whole day, was that not long enough? If Celestia didn't want to have anything more to do with her, then that… well, it wasn't fine, but if she believed that Sunset's actions were beyond forgiveness, then she could at least say so instead of giving her the silent treatment like she was a little filly again.
And someone who called themselves the Princess of Friendship ought to have the decency to write back instead of just blanking Sunset out because she didn't want to give her bad news.
Sunset was scowling by the time she picked up her pen and began to scrawl in the journal.
You could at least write back you know, whatever the response is!
Nothing. There was no response. Not for a moment, and for longer. Sunset stared at the page, but it remained blank, with nothing but her own irate line scribbled across it.
And then, after a minute or so, words in answer began to appear beneath her accusatory opening.
Oh my gosh, Sunset! I'm really sorry, I should have gotten back in touch with you. It's just been so hectic around here that I didn't have a chance.
Sunset raised one eyebrow. Yeah, I'll bet.
It's true! Do you think that I'm lying to cover up the fact that I didn't want to reply?
The thought had crossed my mind.
It really has been incredibly busy around here the last day and night. What with the princesses disappearing
WHAT?
Sunset's free hand slammed into the desk with a thud as loud as a drumbeat as she sat bolt upright, cutting across Twilight's line with her demand for more information. A hundred scenarios whirled through Sunset's mind, each one worse than the last: Celestia kidnapped, Celestia trapped in Tartarus, Celestia in the grip of eldritch horrors the like of which would drive you mad to even conceive of their existence. Celestia gone, vanished without trace.
Celestia disappeared? What do you mean she disappeared? Then why are you wasting time writing to me instead of finding her? Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?
No. No, Celestia cannot be gone. Sunset's breathing was coming more quickly now, and through her mind pounded the last words that they had said to one another before Sunset had left, the last argument they had before Celestia had cast her out.
"You're not my mother, and I was a fool to ever forget that."
"It was your choice to make me love you, but it was my choice to believe you loved me in return."
That cannot be how we leave it. That cannot be how she remembers me. That can't be… can't be the last thing that we ever say to one another.
Sunset, calm down
Don't tell me to calm down when Celestia's in danger! If you won't do anything about it, then I'll just have to come and find her myself.
She wasn't sure how she would do that, but she would. Celestia needed her, and clearly, her new pupil was too useless or apathetic to be relied upon. Sunset hadn't kept track of the mirror's opening cycles, but she'd force it open if she had to; she'd pour every ounce of her magic into it until it opened up and made way for her. Of course, she'd have to get to Canterlot… Pyrrha was loaded, perhaps she'd be willing to lend Sunset enough money for an airfare.
She briefly considering asking Pyrrha to come with her, or maybe Ruby; if the situation was dangerous, then Sunset could do worse than have a superlative warrior backing her up… but how much of either of their combat prowess would survive the loss of two hands and the gaining of two extra legs was up in the air, not to mention the loss of aura. And besides, this wasn't their fight. This was Sunset's mentor, and it was her responsibility to help her out.
She was already starting to rise out of her seat when more words appeared in the book in front of her.
Celestia's fine! If you'd let me finish, I was going to say that Celestia and Luna disappeared for a while, and then plunder vines appeared and started choking the whole of Equestria, and that is why we've all been too busy to reply to you. However, there's no need for you to worry because it's all settled now. The princesses are fine, the plunder vines are gone, everything is back to normal now. You're right, I wouldn't be writing to you if we were still in the middle of a crisis. No offence, but I'd have more important matters to take care of.
Sunset stared down at the page for a moment, feeling like a bit of an idiot. Losing my mind like that without even waiting to find out what was really going on. Well, you could have told me all that.
I tried.
Although I must say that I'm touched by your concern, my little sunbeam.
Sunset stared at the words on the page. A shiver ran down her spine containing dread and anticipation in equal measure. Her hand trembled as she wrote. Princess Celestia?
It is good to hear from you again, Sunset Shimmer.
Weiss Schnee could have emptied all the ice dust that she could fit in her rapier over Sunset, and she would not have frozen her more completely than Sunset was frozen at the desk by the fact that her mentor, her teacher, her princess was on the other side of the magical journal.
She had wanted this; she was terrified of this.
She had asked for forgiveness, but now her heart quailed before finding out whether she had it or not.
She had faced grimm in great multitudes; she had faced down hardened criminals; she had risked her life in battle against both. Yet none of that frightened her so much as finding out whether she had, through her own faults and follies, wrung out every last drop of love and pity out of Celestia's heart until there was nothing left for her but anger.
Sunset? Are you still there?
She must be afraid I've run away again, as I did before. She hastily began to write. Yes. Yes, Princess, I'm here. How long
Sunset hesitated, wondering whether she really wanted to know.
have you been here?
Not long. Twilight happens to be in Canterlot assisting me with the aftermath of all this chaos, although it has all been taken care of now, aside from a few minor issues, which is why she had time to reply to you. I came in and asked if I might take over.
There was nothing else. Celestia had come to the end of her sentence, and yet, Sunset did not know how to reply. The things that had happened between them lay like a wall, keeping them more divided than space or the fact that they were in different worlds accessible only through magic.
What do I say? Where do I even begin?
I'm sorry.
Sunset's eyes widened in disbelief. This… what… she didn't understand it. She didn't understand it one bit. You're sorry? What do you have to be sorry about?
Everything. I did not do right by you, Sunset Shimmer.
No, Princess, no, you mustn't say that.
Sunset scrawled the words hastily, before Celestia could say too much. Had she been observing from afar, then she might have appreciated the irony in the situation, but she wasn't observing, she was involved, caught in the moment, and in the moment, she… she didn't want to hear this. She had accepted, or at least she was trying to accept, to at least some extent, that she had been a flawed pony, deeply, maybe even terribly flawed. She was trying to do better here in Remnant. She had asked for forgiveness, not for absolution.
She didn't need Celestia to take all the burdens of responsibility of herself. She didn't want that.
It was me, Princess, I failed you, I let you down
Please, Sunset, let me finish.
Even at this remove, Sunset could not help but look chastened at the rebuke. She could hear Celestia's voice saying it as though they were sharing the room.
Of course, Princess. I'm sorry.
There was a pause, probably while Celestia considered her response.
It is true that the destiny that I once hoped for for you was not one for which you were suited. But the fault is mine, for placing too great a burden of expectation upon your shoulders at too young an age. With the benefit of hindsight, I'm not sure that any filly's ego could have survived being told that they were expected to ascend. That yours was unequal to the challenge says less about your faults than about my own poor judgement.
Sunset could not quite keep the envy and, yes, the touch of bitterness out of her pen strokes as she wrote back. Twilight Sparkle's ego seems to have held up.
Twilight was completely ignorant of her destiny until she arrived at it. That was the lesson that you taught me: Twilight grew up knowing nothing of my hopes for her until she had achieved them.
Sunset could not help but let out a little chuckle. So what you're telling me, Princess, is that you failed with me and then learnt how to do it right the second time around.
Yes, you could say that. And all I can do now is apologise for my failings as a teacher.
Sunset sighed. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply once, in and out, and then again a second time. Then she began to write. You have no need to apologise to me, Princess Celestia. Not for that, at least. The truth is, I don't think it could have worked out anyway.
No? That was not your opinion when we last saw each other.
So, they had come to that at last. It was always inevitable. Celestia had been very kind in not bringing it up beforehand. But they couldn't avoid the circumstances of Sunset's departure – from Celestia's tutelage, from the palace, and from Equestria itself – any longer.
But Sunset found that she did want to avoid it, for at least a little while more.
My best friend is a girl named Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos.
Pyrrha Nikos?
Sunset frowned. Yes. Some of the names they use here would be familiar to you, but others are a little stranger.
Extraordinary, but not because the name is strange; rather, because it is familiar to me. I have in the guard a young unicorn by the name of Pyrrha Nikos.
Sunset's eyebrows rose. Really? That both does and doesn't surprise me, Princess Celestia. It doesn't because I've known for some time that there were those in this world who bore an uncanny resemblance to people who live in Equestria; why, in my previous school before coming to Beacon I'd already met the Twilight Sparkle of this world.
Indeed.
Yes. She hesitated about whether or not to admit the truth, before realising that Princess Celestia in her wisdom could probably divine it in any case. You might not be surprised to know that I didn't like her very much. But I am surprised to learn that a Pyrrha Nikos, though she exists, has found her way into your service; if there is any geographical correlation between our worlds, she ought to be a long way from home.
It is true that Pyrrha has travelled far, from the far south of Equestria. But she is brave and eager to serve. My captain has nothing but praise for her.
If she is anything like the Pyrrha of Remnant, that does not surprise me.
Is it not fascinating that it should be so? That our worlds should not only be linked, but that names and natures should occur in common on either side of the mirror? Twilight, I am sure, will be as amazed as I am. But you had a point to make, and I have distracted you from it. Please, Sunset, continue.
As I said, she's my best friend. You'd be amazed at how hard it was for me to admit that. Or perhaps you wouldn't. Perhaps it doesn't surprise you at all. Anyway, she's great. A great warrior. Superlative. Even with all the magic at my command, I can barely keep up with her, and if I didn't have magic, then she'd tear me apart without breaking a sweat like she does everybody else. And she's kind and beautiful, and she's always willing to help others. But she's lonely. Even though she's talented and lovely and kind, she doesn't have anyone she can open her heart to. Nobody told her that she was expected to ascend; there's no immortal teacher making plans for her that have made her proud, because like I said, she isn't proud at all. But the very fact of her skill sets her apart; the simple act of being her in all her glory raises her up so far that nobody can get close to her. With the best intentions, she doesn't have a friend in the world.
It sounds like she has you now.
Sunset cleared her throat, for all that Celestia couldn't see or hear it. Well, yes, and she has Jaune and Ruby as well – they're our teammates – I suppose what I meant was that she didn't have any. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that even if you'd told me nothing, it might not have made any difference. I still would have been mean and proud and vain and kind of awful, now that I look back, and I still would have been in that place as your student and so talented. Honestly, I'm not sure how Twilight Sparkle managed to make any friends when someone like Pyrrha couldn't manage it.
To be perfectly honest, I had to send Twilight away to Ponyville before she connected with anyone sufficiently deeply.
Oh, so that's what she's doing in a place like that. That explains it.
Could you please tell me more about her? And about Ruby and Jaune, your other friends?
Really? Why?
I'd like to know what kind of people your friends are. I'm curious to know who they are who were able to open up your heart.
Sunset blinked, she felt as though she had something caught in her eye. You still care?
I always cared about you, Sunset. You may not have believed it, but that does not make it any less true.
But everything that I said, everything that happened. I was afraid
Sunset hesitated a moment before she finished that sentence. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to forgive me.
There is nothing for me to forgive.
Nothing? Nothing at all?
You were angry, you had that right. But I was only ever afraid.
Afraid?
Afraid of what might happen to you in the world that lies beyond the mirror, afraid of what might happen to you, afraid, I must confess, of what your anger and impatience might drive you to become. But I had hope as well. I hoped, very much, that you might find your path. And it seems that you have done so.
I don't know about that, although I am trying. Princess, can I ask you a question?
Of course.
When I was studying under you, you made me believe - or at least you allowed me to believe - that I had a destiny. A great destiny. You made me believe it so much that I went all the way to another world looking for it. Was that a lie? Was it always a lie? Or is destiny like Pyrrha says: something that we control by our own actions, and I just messed up that badly?
She wanted to know, and yet, she didn't, but ultimately, Sunset knew that she had to ask. She would have no peace until she did.
She waited, expectant and afraid, for the answer.
I wish that I had an answer to give you, Sunset; I really do. But I do not. I believe in destiny. I have tried to build a society in which all ponies may fulfill their destinies, but mark that: they need help to fulfil them. Perhaps it is not so, perhaps destiny is fixed and immutable, but if that is the case, then what price any of our actions? Are we merely puppets, doing the bidding of some ineffable force?
I always thought you were the puppet master.
No, Sunset, I do not pull the strings, or at least, I try not to. I merely try to set the course so that the river may flow in the manner that is best for everybody. Of course, there is a possibility that you did not mention.
What's that, Princess?
That you have a destiny but I was mistaken about it where it lay. Not in Canterlot, but somewhere else. Sunset, are you happy where you are? Although there is no cause for you to return to rescue me, I want you to know that you will always be welcome in Equestria, should you decide that you want to come home.
You can't know how it feels for you to say that.
She barely knew how it felt for Celestia to say that, only that was she glad that Celestia had said it.
But I don't think I'm ready to come back yet. I'm not even sure I should be calling Equestria home. Back there, I only had you. Now
Sunset paused for a moment.
Maybe my destiny is here. Or maybe it isn't. But this world seems like it could use a hero, and my team needs me, and
Sunset, there is no shame in saying that you want to stay that you have found friends and a place to belong. If that is the case, I could not be happier.
Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. It's easier to be good when I'm with them.
They must be wonderful people.
They are. Pyrrha's just great, and Ruby's so sweet and brave, and even Jaune, I have to give Jaune credit for courage, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to do what he's done.
Tell me more. Tell me about your friends, tell me about the world you live in now, tell me about your life. Tell me everything, Sunset. I want to know what's become of you since you've been away.
Sunset sucked on the end of her pen and pondered for a moment. I hardly know where to start…
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Hey @ScipioSmith I was wondering, do you plan to later add the official SAPR fanarts over here as well?
I've tried, I can't the images to work, I'm getting errors.
Chapter 2 - The Hero with Silver Eyes
The Hero with Silver Eyes
Sunset leaned forwards, resting her elbows on her knees. "A silver-eyed warrior? That's what your mother called herself?"
"Yes," Ruby said, having told her teammates all about what she had learned as soon as Jaune and Pyrrha returned from their training. "She talked about her eyes a couple of times without explaining why, and then she called herself a Silver-Eyed Warrior, and she said that, during her initiation, she… she did something with her eyes and it killed a whole bunch of grimm."
"Could it be a semblance?" Pyrrha suggested, "a particularly powerful one, projected through the eyes?"
Ruby frowned. "Yang and I thought that as well, but it doesn't seem that way. I mean, what kind of semblance tires you out if you use it just once? What kind of semblance gives you a name like Silver-Eyed Warrior?" She hesitated. "I'm not crazy, right? There's something more to it? You agree with me, don't you?"
She wanted them to believe her. She wanted her teammates - her friends - to agree with her that there was something more to it than just a semblance, that there were things that it being a semblance couldn't explain.
She wanted them to believe her so that she could believe it herself.
The four members of team SAPR sat in their dorm room. Ruby was sitting on her bed, not far from the carving that Mom and Dad and their old team had made in the wall and the markings that her team had made just above it. Sunset and Jaune were sat on Pyrrha's bed next to hers, while Pyrrha herself had taken a chair.
All their eyes were fixed on Ruby.
Sunset clenched and unclenched her fists. "Doesn't your mother's journal tell you anything more?"
Ruby hesitated. "Well… we've only read the first two entries."
"You could read on."
Ruby shook her head. "Not without Yang; it wouldn't be right. And Yang… Yang wants to take it slow."
"But you want answers?"
Ruby nodded.
"Then keep reading, don't tell her, and act surprised when you go through it with her the second time."
"Sunset!" Ruby exclaimed.
"What?"
"Not cool!"
"I think that Ruby is hoping for some advice that doesn't involve lying to her sister," Pyrrha pointed out gently. She smiled at Ruby, with equal gentleness and a measure of encouragement that Ruby needed.
Sunset rolled her eyes. "I see. You want to do this the hard way."
"I am right, aren't I?" Ruby asked. "This sounds like more than just a semblance."
"It reminds me of something," Pyrrha murmured. She put her fingers to her chin and looked away, her brow furrowing in thought. "I just can't quite remember where."
"You've got a point that most semblances don't get you a proper noun," Sunset mused. "Not to mention the fact that semblances are unique, so there wouldn't be a plural anyway."
"Aren't some semblances hereditary?" Jaune asked. "I mean, Weiss-"
Sunset leaned just a little away from Jaune so that she could look at him sideways a little more effectively. "How do you know that?"
"I know things," Jaune replied, a little defensively.
"I mean, you're right, the Schnees have a hereditary semblance," Sunset said. "But even so, we don't go around calling them Glyph Warriors."
"The way that Mom described it, the way that she talked about it, it sounded like it was something people would know," Ruby said. "But I've never heard of it."
"Your mom did grow up outside the kingdoms," Jaune said. "She might not have had the best idea of what people in Vale would or wouldn't know."
"Maybe, I guess."
"From what you've described, it sounds as though she was worried that she would be treated differently from others, put upon a pedestal once her possession of… whatever it was, was discovered," Pyrrha said. "However, that could be… where do I remember that term?"
"Silver-eyed warriors," Sunset murmured. "I don't think I've ever heard of that. But you know what it does remind me of? The Warrior in the Woods, the first story in the book of fairy tales we're studying for Legends of Remnant."
"'I fell in love with her the moment I saw her silver eyes,'" Ruby murmured.
"Exactly," Sunset said firmly. "I have never seen anyone with eyes of silver before. Even when I was living… outside the kingdoms myself, I never met another living soul with silver eyes. At the time, that line struck me as odd, as though it was hinting at something more significant, and now, I'm sure of it."
"But the story didn't say anything about the Warrior in the Woods killing grimm with her eyes," Jaune said. He frowned. "Or did it, and I wasn't paying attention?"
"No, you're right," Sunset conceded. "The means by which the warrior protects the community are left ambiguous." She leaned forward, cupping her chin. "It's entirely possible that at the time the story was… told, elaborated, created, whatever word you want to use, knowledge of silver-eyed… what it is that silver eyes can do was so commonplace that it wasn't thought worth elaborating on. Once the audience heard 'silver eyes,' then it would all slot into place for them. Only now, we've lost the knowledge that would contextualise that detail. So we're left with the impression that he fell in love with her because she had pretty eyes."
"I think that's still the impression, even if her eyes had powers," Jaune said. "I mean… no one falls in love with someone because they have unique abilities, but beautiful eyes… yeah, I could see that."
"Gag me," Sunset muttered. "I don't suppose anyone knows of any other fairy stories that talk about silver eyes?"
"Of course!" Pyrrha cried. "That's it!"
Jaune looked up. "That's what?"
"Other fairy stories," Pyrrha said. "That's where I remember hearing about silver eyes." She twisted around in her chair, rocking it back on its hind legs as she reached for one of the books on her shelf. She grabbed an old volume, well cared for but starting to show its age nonetheless. As Pyrrha opened the book, and just before she put it down on her lap, Ruby caught a look at the cover – an illustration of a princess in a beautiful gown – and a look at the title: Fairy Tales for All Seasons.
"Never took you for a fan of fairy stories," Sunset observed. "I thought heroic epics were more your thing."
"I've had this book since I was a child," Pyrrha replied. She didn't look up; she kept leafing through the pages of the book. She was silent for a moment or two, her eyes scanning the pages as she flicked from one to the other. "Here we are: the story of the Dragon and the Two Sons." She glanced up at them. "Do you mind if I read it to you? It's probably better than me trying to summarise it."
Sunset shrugged. Jaune looked at Ruby. Ruby nodded. "Sure, go ahead Pyrrha."
"Very well," Pyrrha said. She cleared her throat softly, paused, and then began. "Once upon a time, in a kingdom now forgotten, there lived an old man who had two sons. The elder son was a strong young man, irresistible in a contest of strength or speed; the younger son did not seem particularly strong, nor particularly wise, but he had a good and humble heart, and he was always ready to help any soul in need. He had also been blessed at birth with eyes of silver, and many remarked on how unusual this was, and it was even said by some that this young man had been marked by fate to do great things."
"This sounds promising," Sunset said. "It sounds like even in the days when this story originated, people weren't sure anymore what it was that having silver eyes meant. This must be a more recent story than the Warrior in the Woods – which might be one reason why it isn't on the curriculum; it's not old enough to make the cut – and hopefully, it will go into some detail, since silver eyes have passed out of the realm of cultural currency."
"We can hope," Pyrrha said softly. "May I continue?"
"Sorry," Sunset said. "Be my guest."
Pyrrha nodded. "His brother, hearing this, was consumed with jealousy at the very idea that his humble brother might outshine him. And so he mocked his younger brother and laughed at the idea that he would ever achieve anything of note, and while he amused himself, he forced his brother to clean and cook and tend his house."
"He sounds like me," Sunset muttered.
Ruby tried to imagine Yang treating her that way, forcing Ruby to become her servant. Ruby! Wash my dress, I'm going clubbing tonight! Nah, she just couldn't see it.
"Meanwhile," Pyrrha continued, "a dragon had come to the kingdom and begun to lay waste to everything that lay in its path. It burned whole villages, devoured whole farms worth of livestock, and the people cried out to their king for protection, but all the King's knights could not stand before the dragon and its wrath.
Desperate, the King sent out word throughout his realm: that whosoever should kill the dragon would receive not only the hand in marriage of either his son or his daughter, as they should choose, but that they should succeed him as ruler of the entire kingdom when his time came."
Pyrrha went on, "When the brothers heard this news, the eldest was filled with excitement and declared that he would surely be the one to slay the dragon and win both the princess and the kingdom for himself. And so, his father sold all his belongings to buy a horse and armour for his son, who set out full of pride, confident in his strength and his skill.
"The elder son rode away, passing through a dark forest, along a winding trail up a steep mountainside, until he came to a deep, dark cave. And in that cave, he met the dragon.
"'So,' the dragon said. 'You have come to kill me? What makes you think you will succeed where all others have failed?'
"'I will surely triumph,' replied the eldest son. 'For you will not withstand my strength.'
"'Is that so?' said the dragon, and he smiled before he attacked. Though the elder son was strong and swift, and though the battle between them was long and hard, the first brother was no match for the power and ferocity of the dragon. The beast devoured him and turned his remains to ashes."
"I thought this was a kids' book," Sunset mumbled.
Ruby shushed her.
"The father of the two sons fell into despair, for he had lost not only his precious son, but also all that he owned providing for his doomed venture. And so, when the younger son declared that now he would seek out the dragon, his father begged him not to go. But the younger brother was determined. He could no longer stand by while people were killed and forced from their homes. He had to do something, no matter the risk.
"And so, with only a simple wooden staff to lean upon and a faithful dog to keep him company along the road, the younger son walked through the dark forest and along the winding trail up the steep mountainside until he came to a deep, dark cave. And in that cave, he found the dragon.
"'So," the dragon said. 'You have come to kill me? What makes you think you will succeed where all others have failed?'
"'I have no weapons,' the younger son said. 'I am not great in strength. But my heart is pure, and my intent is noble, and my virtue will be my sword and armour against your evil.'
"When he heard this, the dragon laughed, for he did not believe that a simple soul could stand before his strength, his malice, his will to destroy and to devour all things. And so, he leapt upon the young man and opened his mouth to swallow him whole. But as the dragon attacked, the younger son's silver eyes began to glow brightly. Ever brighter they glowed, until they outshone the moon itself, and the light from his silver eyes could be seen all across the unhappy kingdom. The dragon screamed, and for the first time, it knew fear, but it was too late.
"When the light from the young man's eyes died down, the dragon had been turned to stone.
"The King rejoiced that the threat to his kingdom had been ended, but the younger son refused any reward, saying that he had done only what was right and just, for which he deserved no special praise or honour. He asked only that his aged father be cared for, having lost all that he had.
"But the King recognised that here was a young man of especial promise, not only powerful but good and brave. He insisted that he should marry the princess and take his place at court as heir to the throne. The princess was beautiful and kind, and the young man was so good-natured that they were very happy together, and with the power of his eyes, the young man, who became known throughout the kingdom as the Hero with Silver Eyes, protected his realm from all evils for as long as he lived." Pyrrha shut the book, to indicate that the story was over.
"So, Ruby's mom could turn grimm into stone?" Jaune asked.
"Not necessarily," Pyrrha said. "It's a nice story, but it's still just a fairy-tale."
"But something's real," Ruby said. "My mom talks about it, a silver-eyed warrior? You agreed that it meant something."
"Some fairytales have a basis in fact," Sunset said softly. "Maybe… maybe there's something to it."
The four of them were silent for a moment.
It was Jaune who said what Ruby was thinking, and probably what Sunset and Pyrrha were thinking as well. "Do you think that Ruby could do that too? I mean, you've got silver eyes."
Ruby didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what she could possibly say in response to that. If her mom could do it, and it really did have something do with silver eyes, then maybe… she imagined herself briefly standing in front of a whole army of grimm, turning them to stone just by looking at them, while Yang and Pyrrha and Sunset and Jaune and Dad and Uncle Qrow and everybody just stood back and watched in awe. That would be pretty awesome. But then…
If Mom was that awesome, then why didn't she come home?
Ruby looked around the room. Jaune looked as overwhelmed as Ruby felt right about now, Pyrrha was looking at Ruby as though she was more concerned with her than with anything to do with silver eyed warriors or the like, and Sunset… Sunset looked intrigued, and a little bit greedy too. To be honest, there was a look in Sunset's eyes that kind of put Ruby in mind of the dragon in Pyrrha's story, smiling at the arrogance of the elder brother who thought he would kill it.
"Sunset?" Ruby asked.
Sunset's gaze flickered up to meet Ruby's eyes. Ruby's silver eyes.
"You have silver eyes."
There had to be something in it. Professor Ozpin had mentioned her eyes specifically, the same way that he'd taken an interest in Mom. It occurred to Ruby that maybe Professor Ozpin had left the diary for Sunset to find, trusting that they would follow the clues to solve the mystery. She couldn't exactly think why he would do such a thing, but it made a kind of sense in her head, although she didn't mention it out loud for fear that it would stop making so much sense once she actually told someone about it.
"How far," Sunset said, her voice surprisingly mild, "do you want to take this?"
"I want to find out the truth about my mom," Ruby replied.
"That's not what I asked," Sunset pressed. "If we find out what it means to be a Silver-Eyed Warrior, that will tell you everything you need to know about your mother, but is that it? If it turns out that you have this power too, do you want to know? Do you want to learn how to use it? Are you prepared to work to master it? How far do you want to take this?"
"Sunset, ease off," Jaune said. "You can't expect Ruby to make all of these decisions straight away. You sound like you're asking her to commit everything to… to whatever this is!"
"And if I am?" Sunset asked. "I committed everything to mastering my power when I was a lot younger than Ruby."
"So did I," Pyrrha said, with a voice touched by a sudden chill, "but it doesn't mean that Ruby has to repeat our mistake."
Sunset scowled, and then she looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry," she muttered. "I didn't mean to… I suppose I'd like to get something out of all this and to know that you're prepared to work towards that end."
"If it will help, I am."
"Ruby," Pyrrha said gently, "you don't have to commit to anything you don't want to."
"Maybe Mom didn't have a kind of power like the one in the fairytale," Ruby said. "Maybe being a silver-eyed warrior isn't all that big of a deal. But what if it is? What if… what if I could really help people, save them, like the younger son in the story? Then… then I should do it, shouldn't I? I mean… I kind of have to, don't I?"
Mom… I promise that I'll make you proud.
Sunset smiled and raised one hand into the air. "Who's up for a research project? All in favour of discovering the truth about silver-eyed warriors, helping Ruby answer her questions about her mother and unlocking a power able to defeat the grimm say 'aye.'"
Jaune raised his hand. "Uh, sure, yeah. I'll help you. I don't know how much I'll actually be able to help, but, sure, I'll do what I can, Ruby."
"Thanks, Jaune," Ruby said, favouring him a warm smile. "I really appreciate it."
"And me," Pyrrha said. "Count me in."
"Okay!" Ruby said, leaping up from her bed. "Let's do it!"
Sunset scowled. "None of you said 'aye.'"
Chapter 3 - Study Session
Study Session
As much as Sunset might have liked to have dived straight into researching Ruby's potential powers, there was just one problem standing in the way: this was a school, and they had quarter-term tests.
It was probably for the best that these weren't formal exams, with two notable exceptions. Professor Goodwitch had announced that she would be holding four on four tournament-style matches between teams that would determine not only the rankings of each team in terms of their performance, but would also serve as a test of the leadership of each team leader. Professor Port, although he was setting a written paper, had let it be known that he would also be conducting a practical test by dropping the students into the Emerald Forest to hunt down the roving remnants of the horde that the team leaders had shattered during a training mission the week earlier. For the rest, written papers had been assigned not in the formal exam style of everyone sitting in a hall, but more like extended homework: an essay or essays designed to cover everything taught in the first four weeks of the semester.
That was all for the best, because Sunset had no doubt at all that exam conditions would have led to an absolute bloodbath for Team SAPR.
As it was, things were unlikely to be brilliant. Sunset was, of course, acing all her academic subjects, and Pyrrha was as intelligent as she was strong as she was beautiful, and learned in lore besides; Sunset was only a little ashamed to admit that Pyrrha consistently scored higher than she did in Legends of Remnant. The other half of the team, on the other hand, was much more of a mixed bag. Ruby was definitely suffering from missing out on two years of her expected combat school education; she was foundering in History, Dust Science, and Plant Science, and even in those subjects where she had the knowledge – Grimm Studies and Legends of Remnant – she struggled to get that knowledge down on paper to the standard expected of a Beacon student. Jaune, country bumpkin that he was, still possessed a degree of knowledge in Plant Science and Fieldcraft gifted to him by his rustic upbringing, but three weeks of going practically without sleep had taken its toll even there, and he was still next to clueless in Grimm Studies, History, and Legends. In an exam setting, these inadequacies would have been brutally exposed, and worse, might have also exposed the fact that Sunset had spent most of the first quarter of the semester writing Jaune's essays for him in order to avoid getting into trouble. Sunset couldn't help but think that she would get into even more trouble if she were found to have been perpetuating several weeks' worth of cheating.
Thankfully, they were not required to sit a formal exam, and while Sunset had no expectation of great grades from Ruby and Jaune in the non-combat written essays – she expected the team to place highly in both the sparring and Grimm Studies practicals – it did at least afford the opportunity to… help out the underperforming members of the team.
And so, as much as Sunset would have liked to have gotten to grips with silver eyes and the exact nature of Ruby's powers, the next evening after dinner saw the team gathered in the library for the more prosaic purpose of getting a start on their quarter-term papers.
"Right," Sunset said, as they all sat down, "we'll start with history."
"Shouldn't we take a vote on where we start?" Jaune asked dispiritedly.
Sunset gave him an imperious gaze. "Why would we need a vote when we have a leader?"
"I thought you were being nice now," Jaune protested.
"My newfound kindness is manifesting itself in the fact that I'm not going to let you sink in these quarter-terms on your own," Sunset replied. "History, come on. We'll get to Plant Science in good time." It was, perhaps, a little selfish on her part to start with a subject that she liked and was good at, but so long as they covered the other subjects too, it didn't really matter. She wasn't looking forward to Plant Science; she could get the written word portions of the course done, but she kind of missed the days when a test involving a plant had just meant casting a spell on it to make it grow.
Jaune groaned, and Ruby looked a little dispirited too as they got out the history papers that Doctor Oobleck had set them. There were some short, source-based questions and an essay to cap the whole thing off.
"Why do we have to answer these questions about sources and bias?" Jaune griped. "It's not like we're here to learn how to become historians; even if we need to learn history-"
"It is important, Jaune," Pyrrha told him, slightly reproachfully. "If we don't understand where our world came from, then how can we safeguard it?"
"By killing monsters?" Jaune suggested.
"Being a huntsman is about so much more thank killing monsters," Blake Belladonna declared as she emerged from behind one of the nearby library shelves. She had a stack of books in her arms, hugged against her chest. "The world is bedevilled by so many more evils than just the creatures of grimm: inequality, prejudice, corruption; it's the duty of a huntsman to stand against these injustices, to be a light of hope in the world, to be-"
"A paragon of virtue," Pyrrha murmured.
Blake was silent for a moment. She nodded. "Exactly."
"Professor Ozpin said the same thing to me," Jaune admitted. "I just never thought that it meant studying history."
"Like Pyrrha said," Blake replied. "how can you defend the world if you don't understand how it came to be? And the answer to your earlier question is that Doctor Oobleck isn't trying to train a historian. He's trying to teach critical thinking: how to analyse evidence and make judgements based on that rational analysis. In the field, you may have to analyse witness statements and make estimates of the strength and location of the enemy, even base your decisions as to what to do next on that analysis."
"I, right," Jaune said. He looked across the table at Sunset. "Why couldn't you phrase it like that instead of just telling me to get my head down and do it?"
"Because… because you should just get down and do it because you've been told to," Sunset informed him sharply. "That's what school is." She turned on her chair, so that she had her back to Jaune and was facing Blake, who had just delivered the longest speech that Sunset had yet heard out of the taciturn, raven-haired girl. "Evening," Sunset said. "Are you here to study for quarter-terms as well?"
"Yes," Blake said, "I'm sorry if I disturbed you; I'll get out of your hair."
"It's fine," Ruby said. "Where's the rest of your team?"
"They… went to a movie with Dove from Team Iron," Blake admitted.
"You let them?" Sunset asked incredulously.
"Should I have stopped them?" Blake asked, equably but with a touch of puzzlement.
"Yes," Sunset declared. "And made them hit the books with you. You think Jaune wouldn't rather be at the movies?"
"Hey!" Jaune exclaimed. "I'm willing to work!"
"Good for you; it seems that's more than can be said for Team Bluebell or Dove," Sunset said. And for that matter, why is Yang letting him get away with this?
"I… don't really want to be the kind of leader who bullies their teammates," Blake said.
Sunset spluttered. "Excuse me, I do not bully my teammates. I… direct them, firmly but with an even hand, in the right direction. It's called leadership. You know what the right thing is - you're doing it yourself - and it's your job to communicate that to your-" Sunset stopped short of saying 'underlings,' "-to the others."
"Maybe Bluebell don't need to study so hard for quarter-terms because they know it all," Ruby suggested. "But... why didn't they ask you to go to the movie with them? That's pretty rude."
"And why would they ask Sky, I know he's their teammate but I haven't seem them hanging out with him be-" Sunset began, then stopped as she realised exactly why they had invited Sky. "Oh. Oh, Celestia."
"What's the matter?" Pyrrha asked in a puzzled voice.
"It's the harem joke I made; it's gotten under his skin so much that he invited a second guy to come along so it will look more respectable," Sunset said. She groaned. "That guy, honestly."
"Dove's pretty nice," Ruby said. "He gave me The Song of Olivia when he didn't have to."
"Maybe, but he's such a stuffed shirt," Sunset replied. "I mean… anyway."
Ruby frowned. "If they wanted a second boy, then why didn't he ask Ren?"
"Ren would have wanted to take Nora, if he wanted to go at all," Jaune said. "What movie did they go and see?"
"Uh," Blake looked as though she were trying to remember. "I think it was… Die Well on an Atlesian Cruiser?"
"No, that's what kind of a film it is, not the title," Sunset explained. "You see Die Well is a classic thriller starring Spruce Willis that spawned a host of copycats using the premise of a… you know what, it doesn't matter. What matters is… what matters is… where were we going with this?"
"Why didn't your team invite you to come to the movie with them?" Ruby asked again.
"I'm not much of a movie type," Blake said. "I've got enough studying to do to keep me occupied."
"Well, you're welcome to join us," Ruby declared. "Right, guys?"
"Of course," Pyrrha agreed. "The more the merrier, as they say."
"Sure," Sunset said, with less enthusiasm but not actual distaste.
Blake stared at them all, her expression inscrutable. "Thank you," she said quietly, before she walked around the library table to take the free seat next to Ruby, opposite Pyrrha. "So, you're starting with Modern History. Essay questions or sources?"
"Why don't we get the essay out of the way first, seeing as we're in the library?" Sunset said. "We can do the source questions back in the dorm room if need be, but we've got all the books here if we need them." That was why they had come to the library in the first place, after all.
Sunset glanced down at the paper in front of her. Doctor Oobleck had set two essay questions, of which they would need to answer both: How did the Four Kingdoms endeavour to ensure that there would not be another Great War and to what extent were their efforts successful? Why were the Four Kingdoms defeated in the Faunus Rights Revolution?
"That first question is easy, isn't it?" Jaune asked. "I mean, there hasn't been another Great War, so their efforts must have been successful."
"Not necessarily," Sunset and Blake both said at the same time. They both glanced at each other.
Blake gestured for Sunset to continue. "Please, don't let me interrupt. I'm only a guest here."
Sunset nodded. "So, what the question is getting at is, was it the efforts of the Four Kingdoms to prevent war that actually prevented war, or were there other factors that ensured the preservation of peace?"
Jaune stared at her. "Uh… can it be both?"
"It usually is, with these kinds of questions," Sunset said. "The important thing is how you get to the conclusion of both and build your argument to support it."
"As well as qualifying where the balance lies," Pyrrha added.
Jaune sighed. "This stuff makes my head hurt."
"Me too," Ruby groaned. "Is the other question any easier?"
"Possibly," Pyrrha said. She spoke quietly, although her voice nevertheless carried in the nearly silent library. "It seems to be mostly a question of facts, not interpretation."
"That's a matter for debate," Blake muttered.
Sunset looked across the table at her, eyes narrowing. "No," she said. "It isn't. The question is 'How did the kingdoms lose the war?' Introduction, fact, fact, fact, fact, conclusion."
"But the very wording of the questions is interpretive," Blake replied, with some heat entering her voice.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"I mean… how are you planning to answer this question?" Blake turned the question back on them.
"Mistralian generalship and the failure of the Fabian strategy, that's one paragraph," Sunset said. "Military weakness after the Great War, that's another paragraph. Paragraph three: Valish reluctance to get involved. Paragraph four: domestic unrest in Mantle."
"All human issues," Blake said. "You haven't even mentioned the faunus once in your entire argument. The question could have been phrased 'why did the faunus win the war?' or even 'why did the war end with the outcome that it did?' for neutrality, but instead, it has been worded in such a way as to allow you, to allow everyone, to treat one whole side in the war as if they had no agency at all in a war fought over the question of their freedom! I know that Doctor Oobleck means well and that he doesn't consider himself a bigot, but when he taught the Battle of Fort Castle he didn't even mention the name of Ares Claudandus once."
"Who?" Ruby asked.
"Exactly," Blake said. "He commanded the faunus armies throughout the war, including at Fort Castle, but he has been almost completely forgotten. Yes, General Lagune was foolish to attempt a night attack against the faunus, but he still might have succeeded if Claudandus hadn't had his forces standing by against such an eventuality. On the day before the battle, Claudandus sent two thousand troops under the command of his brother Apollo on a flank march, and it was those troops, emerging into the rear of Lagune's column, that caused irreversible panic to set in amongst the human forces, but who here knew that?"
"I did," Pyrrha said mildly.
Blake's eyebrows rose. "Then… you are an unusual human."
"I'm a human who has read Virgil," Pyrrha replied. "In Mistral, that would not be thought unusual. At least… not amongst certain circles. Ares Claudandus is fulsomely characterised there, if somewhat demonised at times, and his battle plans and strategies are recounted in detail."
Blake looked somewhat mollified to hear it. "I'm glad, I… I spent some time in Mistral when I was younger, but I never actually got around to reading Virgil; would you recommend it?"
"It depends on your tastes," Pyrrha replied. "What is your tolerance for heroic literature?"
Blake smiled, just a little. "I note that you said 'what is my tolerance' as if there is no way that I could enjoy it."
"I just meant," Pyrrha began, "that is, I didn't mean to imply that… it is something of an acquired taste if you are not a Mistralian raised upon the subject."
"Blake likes weird stories, don't you?" Ruby asked. "Like that story you were reading on the night before Initiation? The girl with two souls."
"With half a soul," Blake corrected her. "But I thought we were talking about history, not stories."
"Virgil writes in the style of a story, in many respects," Pyrrha said. "History as a tale of heroes and…"
"And villains?" Blake suggested.
"Yes," Pyrrha admitted. "Although the true villains of the tale are not the faunus, but the populist politicians who mishandle the war, while the heroes are the patricians who restore order to Mistral after the chaos of two military defeats."
"Your ancestor amongst them?" Sunset asked.
Pyrrha's entire face turned bright red. "I… I wish you hadn't mentioned that, Sunset," she murmured.
"Why not?" Sunset asked in genuine befuddlement. "You're not ashamed, are you?"
"No, I'm not ashamed," Pyrrha replied softly. "But… all the same, I wish you hadn't mentioned it."
"Mentioned… what?" Jaune said. "Pyrrha, what's Sunset talking about?"
Pyrrha bowed her head, looking down at the quarter-term paper and the books in front of her. "I… my great-great-grandfather was the third son of the Emperor of Mistral. He was the only one of the Imperial princes to survive the great war. I am descended from him, and from the Emperor who laid down his crown at the end of the war, and of all the Emperors and Empresses who ruled Mistral between that time and this. My mother… my mother is the legitimate claimant to the throne of Mistral." Pyrrha trembled just a little and stole sneaking glances towards Jaune and Ruby, as if she were trying to gauge their reaction without being too obvious about it.
Jaune's mouth was hanging open wide. Blake had leaned back in her chair as if she were seeing Pyrrha through fresh eyes. Ruby's eyes, meanwhile, were wide as saucers.
"Wow," Ruby said. "You're like an actual fairytale princess."
Pyrrha's laughter rang out clear and high across the library. Pyrrha laughed, and all the tension that had gathered around their table was blown away by it. Sunset wondered a little if that hadn't been the point of Ruby's intervention.
"Thank you, Ruby," Pyrrha said, as she got her laughter under control at least in part. "That's very kind of you to say, but I wouldn't be so presumptuous. It doesn't really mean anything now."
"So?" Sunset said. "If I was the heir to a throne, you wouldn't hear me shut up about it."
"That doesn't surprise me," Jaune muttered.
"Technically speaking, you can't be the heir to a throne that is empty," Pyrrha replied. "As I said, my mother is the legitimate claimant to the throne, but she does not exercise her claim. I'm just… Pyrrha Nikos."
Are you? Or do you just hope that that is all you'll be?
"Is that why you didn't say anything?" Jaune inquired. "On that first morning, when we went for a run, we talked about my family, and then before we could talk about yours, you decided that we were done for the morning, even though… even though you must have a few heroes in your family history. Probably more than me."
"Perhaps," Pyrrha allowed, although she made the concession in a tone so gentle that no one could think her proud for it. "I don't deny that I have… some ancestors whose deeds are well known, in Mistral, at least. And despite what you may think, Sunset, I am not ashamed of that; the examples of my line, their courage, their generosity, their nobility of spirit, teach me how to behave as a huntress and a warrior. But nor do I wish to be proud. So my name is Nikos; it is a good name, but it does not transform me into other than what I am."
"But... you said that your people believe – and the way that you said it means that you must believe it too – that we inherit strength from our ancestors," Jaune reminded her. "Doesn't that mean that you're stronger than any of us?"
"She is stronger than any of us," Sunset pointed out bluntly.
"Do you actually believe that?" Blake asked. "That's rather… old-fashioned and elitist, don't you think?"
"It can be used to justify elitism," Pyrrha allowed. "But in itself… none of us sprang sui generis into the world. We are all the product of those that came before us. Ruby's mother, Jaune's ancestors, my lineage, we are all strengthened by those who came before; their spirits walk beside us. The fact that my ancestors are better known, their deeds more well-recorded, than the lines of Jaune or Ruby or Sunset does not change the fact that there are lines and deeds and strength. Please, this is why I didn't want to bring it up; I didn't want you to… we are all huntsmen, or training to be huntsmen, to venture out into the world and do battle with the monsters that assail it. That is glory enough to dim the light of any crown in Remnant, and in that glory, we are all equal."
Jaune looked as though he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that, but at the same time, he nodded. "Okay, if it means that much to you, then we won't bring it up. Your secret is safe with us." He cracked a smile. "Except maybe for some fairytale princess jokes."
Pyrrha chuckled. "I suppose I'll have to accept that, then."
"Well, you are brave and strong and kind and… and, uh, and we should probably get back to these essays, shouldn't we?" Jaune suggested.
"Unless anyone else has any ancestral revelations they would like to share?" Blake asked amusedly.
"You know, you never talk about your parents," Jaune pointed out, looking at Sunset.
"That's because my parents are thoroughly uninteresting," Sunset declared. So uninteresting that I don't even know who they are. "And you are correct, Jaune Arc; we should get back to these essays."
"So, after what Blake said, are we allowed to write about why the faunus won the war instead?" Ruby asked. "It seems like the right thing to do."
"Do you think you can write about why the faunus won the war?" Sunset asked. "If you do, well, then I think Doctor Oobleck will appreciate that you put the extra effort in, but if you do it badly, then you'd be better off sticking with a more conventional approach."
"I'd like to try and do the right thing," Ruby insisted.
"I wasn't actually trying to bully anyone into risking their grades," Blake said. "I was only pointing out that the structure of the question is... problematic."
"But you also said huntresses need to stand up for what's right," Ruby replied. "And that doesn't just mean on the battlefield."
"I agree," Pyrrha said. "It might be quite stretching to take a different approach."
"Are you sure about this?" Jaune asked nervously.
"You slept through all the lessons, so it will be new information for you either way," Sunset informed him.
"That… is an excellent point," Jaune admitted.
What followed was a lot more stimulating than Sunset had honestly expected at the start of the evening, drawing heavily upon Virgil books eighty-five to ninety, as well as some more obscure works that Blake recommended and which they found in the history section of the library. It felt less like educating Ruby and Jaune and more like they were all learning something, even if it was just a new perspective that they hadn't considered before.
As Team SAPR gathered up their books and essays to return to the dorm room at the end of the session, Sunset lingered for a moment, looking at Blake, to address a question that had been scratching at the back of her mind.
"I am… a little grateful for the suggestion," Sunset said. "But can I ask what brought this on? Why do you care that the question is framed from a human perspective?"
Blake looked at Sunset. Her ivory skin seemed even fairer in the moonlight streaming in through the library windows, making her seem almost ethereal. "Do you think that it's impossible for humans to be allies of the faunus in their fight for equality?"
Sunset snorted. "In my experience, it's more common for humans who befriend faunus to convince them that there isn't any equality left to fight for." Rainbow Dash, for instance, spent all her time hanging out with five humans – and with the connections at the highest levels that she'd forged as a result of her friendship with Twilight Sparkle - to the extent you'd be forgiven for thinking that she'd forgotten she was a faunus at all. Certainly, she'd never seen them work for faunus rights, unless you counted that cringe-inducing stunt from Sunset's first year at Canterlot.
"In Atlas?" Blake asked. When Sunset nodded, Blake went on, "I had a faunus friend who lived in Atlas for a while; that happened to her as well, but then… something happened to remind her that she was still a faunus, and there was still a great divide between faunus and humanity. Something like that always happens."
"It didn't happen where I could see it," Sunset replied. "Just like I never saw a human working for the faunus cause."
"How closely were you looking?" Blake replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sunset demanded.
"Just that you don't strike me as someone particularly invested in the idea of solidarity," Blake pointed out.
Sunset let out a bark of laughter. "I suppose not. But you do, for a people not your own?"
"My parents were members of the White Fang, before Sienna Khan took over," Blake explained. "Humans were allowed to join in those days; not in positions of leadership, but as allies. Sienna Khan purged them from the movement as part of her shift towards a more… radical approach, but I still remember my parents taking me on rallies and marches when I was a child. Just because I'm not a victim of bigotry against the faunus doesn't mean that I don't recognise injustice when I see it… even if I don't always have the courage to act on what I see."
Chapter 4 - Everyone Should Learn How to Have Fun
Everyone Should Learn How to Have Fun
Ruby and Pyrrha walked down the street, and people made way for them. They made way for Pyrrha anyway. It was as though she had a kind of magnetism about her that caused them to part before her, like a ship ploughing through the ocean. She never had to struggle to force her way through the press of people, and neither did Ruby while she walked at Pyrrha's side.
People took pictures of Pyrrha as she walked by, and sometimes, those pictures included Ruby. It wouldn't have bothered her, the occasional flash in the eyes aside, but it did bother her that nobody seemed to care that it was, judging by the look on her face, clearly bothering Pyrrha.
After a couple of evenings spent working through the quarter-term papers – and with the promise of another evening of the same tonight and losing their Saturday morning to Professor Port's Grimm Studies practical – Sunset had agreed to let them have a break this Friday afternoon. For a definition of 'break' that meant that instead of working on quarter-terms, they were going to work on the mystery of silver eyes instead. Ruby had managed to beg enough spare time from Sunset to read through some more of her mother's journal entries with Yang, but they were entirely concerned with the minutia of Beacon life: classes and homework and complaints about the food. While it was fun to read about Mom going through the exact same things that Ruby and Yang were going through, and just as fun to read about the things that had been different at Beacon back in Mom and Dad's day, none of it was any help in solving the mystery that Summer Rose had so tantalisingly dangled before them.
So this afternoon, they had headed into Vale and, there, split up, Sunset taking Jaune, and Ruby going with Pyrrha. They were supposed to scour through Vale's bookshops looking for anything that might contain some information on silver eyes, like books on mythology that might reference other books which might have more information. At least, that was what Ruby thought Sunset had said, and Pyrrha seemed to understand it.
They were both armed and both dressed in their huntress outfits. Since their last trip into Vale, Ruby had taken to checking the news, and it seemed as though every few days, there was another report of a dust shop being robbed. Although the official line went that the perpetrators were unknown, Ruby was convinced that Roman Torchwick was behind it, just like on the night she and Sunset had met.
A part of her, one that she didn't really dare confess to either Sunset or Pyrrha, half hoped that they would stumble across another robbery in progress and get the chance to catch Torchwick for good this time. She didn't understand why Sunset wasn't keen; didn't she want to be a hero?
A scroll flashed in Ruby's face as someone took a picture of Pyrrha. Ruby blinked rapidly as green blobs floated in front of her eyes.
"Is this bothering you?" Pyrrha asked softly. "We could find a more… obscure route, if you'd like."
Ruby snorted. "Pfft. No, it's fine, really."
"Oh," Pyrrha said. "I see."
Ruby had the distinct impression that she had just said the wrong thing. "Uh… unless you want to take a different route?"
Pyrrha didn't break her stride, but Ruby got the sense that she was hesitating nonetheless. "I… I would certainly like to, but I'm afraid I don't know this city well enough to be sure of finding our way through the less travelled streets."
"Me neither," Ruby admitted. "I haven't actually been to Vale very often."
"Ah, I see," Pyrrha said. "May I ask you what it's like, living… not outside the kingdoms, but on the fringes of their reach and authority?"
Ruby shrugged. "There are grimm around, if that's what you mean. You have to be a little bit more careful than you do here. But I didn't mind. I always had Yang to watch over me, even when I was little. And… it was nice. Forests, open spaces. You can walk a little way in any direction from our house, and before very long, you'll come to some place where you can forget that there are any other people around, or in the whole world. It's so quiet; it's just you and the wildlife. There are rabbits living not far from home, and Zwei – that's our dog - chases them every chance he gets. It was really nice. Really, really nice. Here in Vale… I don't think there's anywhere quite the same."
"No," Pyrrha agreed. "I get the impression that there are no truly wild places in Vale proper. There are some open spaces - parks, that sort of thing - but they're all carefully cultivated, curated; any wildness that you might see there is just an illusion skilfully created by land management."
"Was it not like that where you grew up?"
"I grew up in the heart of Mistral," Pyrrha said. "It is… not a city exactly like this one. Aesthetically… a little more pleasing. The whole city is built around the highest peak in a series of mountains, a shining city on a hill set amidst peaks and troughs of verdant green. The mountains around are covered with grass, and in the valleys, there are farms and grazing fields stretching out in all directions, but in Mistral itself… all the buildings are white; they cover the slopes so that when you approach from a distance, it appears that they are rising like marble out of the mountain itself. I remember, when I was returning home from one of my tournaments, approaching Mistral by airship, everything coming into view more clearly the closer I got to home: the commercial and residential districts nestling at the foot of the mountain, and then the houses becoming larger and larger the higher up you climb, mansions belonging to old and wealthy families, until you come to the very peak, the pinnacle of the mountain and the great palace that sits atop it. It's used by the Council now, of course, but still a sight to behold, like a second peak erected atop the first, built astride a waterfall that flows down the mountain through the heart of the city. In a lot of ways, it is the heart of the city, and its life blood."
"It sounds beautiful."
"It is," Pyrrha agreed. "The white of man's creation and the green of nature blended together in perfect harmony. When the dawn light strikes…" She stopped, and a smile flitted across her face. "You should come and see it one day. I mean, if you'd like." Her eyes brightened. "In fact, you should all come, for Spring Break. I'll talk to my mother; I'm sure she won't object. We'll take an airship and fly through the clouds, and when they part before us, you'll see the whole of Mistral spread out before you, rising up to touch the sky. The view from a train is less impressive, but perhaps a little more imposing."
Ruby smiled. "I'd like that," she said, and not only because it made Pyrrha look so happy to hear it, but because she had made her home sound so beautiful that Ruby genuinely hoped to see it one day, and with her friend too. "You sound as if you really like it there."
"Mistral is my home," Pyrrha said. "I will fight for all of humanity, but Mistral will always have a claim upon my heart."
"Why did you leave?" Ruby asked. "I mean, you don't have to tell me, but… you seem to like it there so much that I wondered why you didn't go to Haven."
Pyrrha glanced down at the pavement over which they walked. "Mistral is a beautiful place, but I thought that a change of scenery might do me a little good." She fell silent, and they walked on in that way for a little while, with the sounds of the street ebbing and flowing around them as their shoes tapped upon the concrete slabs. Pyrrha gestured to a nearby bench, overlooking a small park where a few children were running under the supervision of their parents. "Would you mind if we sat down for a moment?"
"Uh, no, not at all," Ruby said.
The two of them sat down, and for a moment, neither of them said anything as the sounds of children playing and dogs barking reached their ears. A drone flew overhead, passing through the sky above them with a buzzing sound.
It was not the first drone that Ruby had noticed since they got into Vale today. "Have you noticed there seem to be a lot of drones this afternoon?"
"Yes, I had," Pyrrha said. "Perhaps the police are using them to keep an eye out for any more dust shop robberies."
"Perhaps," Ruby murmured and hoped that it was enough to get the job done. "There's going to start to be real trouble if someone doesn't put a stop to all this soon."
Pyrrha was silent for a moment. "You have the heart of a hero, but in this… we are only children, and if we are the only ones able to act in this matter, then… woe unto Vale that untried youths should be its hope. There must be others better able to address this crisis than ourselves."
"I hope so," Ruby replied. "But why should that mean that we shouldn't do anything?"
"Because we don't yet know what we ought to do," Pyrrha answered. "As capable as you are… there is a reason we must attend the Academy before we can become huntresses."
"I guess," Ruby muttered, not entirely convinced by this. She was distracted by noticing an ice cream cart not far away.
"Would you like some ice cream?"
"Hmm?" Pyrrha murmured.
"Ice cream," Ruby repeated, pointing at the cart.
"Um," Pyrrha hesitated, before her face brightened a little. "Alright. Let me just get out my-"
"Oh, no, I wasn't trying to-"
"I really don't mind-"
"No, it's fine, I can-"
"It will be my treat."
"You don't have to-"
It took a few minutes of this back and forth before they realised how stupid it was to sit there arguing over who would pay for a couple of ice cream cones, and both of them burst out laughing at the silliness of it.
"Shall we each just pay for ourselves?" Pyrrha suggested.
"That's probably the only way we'll agree on something," Ruby agreed.
Pyrrha got a simple two scoops of vanilla, while Ruby got one scoop each of chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla with a chocolate flake, strawberry sauce and a covering of multi-coloured sprinkles. Fortunately, nobody had taken their bench while they were away, and they were both able to return to it with their ice creams. Ruby began to devour hers greedily - and a little messily - while Pyrrha licked delicately at hers.
"So," Ruby said as she ate. "What did you want to talk about?"
Pyrrha produced a tissue from out of her sleeve and dabbed delicately at her ice cream stained lips. "I…" she looked troubled, her brow furrowed and her mouth set in a sort of frown. "I envy you, Ruby. I know that isn't very good of me, but… it's the truth. I envy that you have… such an open heart. It draws people towards you. It makes it easy for them to like you. I suppose I envy your ability to make friends so easily."
"I don't really make friends as easily as that," Ruby said as she felt her cheeks burn up a little.
"You do it far more easily than I do," Pyrrha replied. "And that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I understand that you want to learn more about your mother and your past - I would never discourage you from that - but this… I want to be sure that you understand what it might mean to go further than that. To go from understanding what it meant for your mother to be a silver-eyed warrior, if that is indeed the term, to seeking to become one yourself."
Ruby blinked. "You… you don't think I should do it? I mean, we still don't know what 'it' is or whether I could do… whatever 'it' is. But, if I could do it, whatever it is, then you don't think that I should?"
"I think that it isn't my choice to make," Pyrrha clarified. "Nor is it Sunset's. We cannot choose your destiny on your behalf, Ruby. And we shouldn't try. But you should see where the path leads before you set your feet upon it."
"I don't understand," Ruby said quietly. "Mom's power, the power of the silver eyes, she used it to destroy a whole bunch of grimm just by… just by looking at them, maybe. The hero in that storybook defeated a dragon that no one else could stand up to and saved an entire kingdom." She paused, and again, the question niggled at the back of her mind that if the power of the silver eyes was all that, if her mother had been all that, then why hadn't she come home? Had the power of the silver eyes grown in the telling, or had Mom in all her strength come up against some power mightier still? "If I can do that, if I can have that power then… don't I have to take it?" Mom had seen it so, judging by her early diary entries; if she had wanted a brief interlude of normalcy at Beacon, then she had nevertheless been prepared to devote the rest of her life to the struggle against the grimm.
Pyrrha looked away and gazed out across the park where the carefree children played. "Look at them," she murmured, as the wind rustled her long ponytail. "Do you think they realise that they are living in a fortress of humanity? A fortress under siege by incomprehensible evil?"
"Probably not," Ruby ventured. "And to be honest, I don't think that they should know that." She had found that out when her mother didn't come home and her Dad had sunk into a mire of grief. She wished she hadn't had to find out so early.
"No, you're quite right," Pyrrha said. "And many of them, most of them by far, will probably grow up never quite realising that. And yet, some of them may have the potential to become great huntsmen and huntresses, potential that they will never realise. They could risk their lives to defend humanity, but they never will, and there is no shame in that. To take upon one's own shoulders the burden of defending the world is a great weight… but it is a weight that must be freely chosen; it can never be imposed by others. Or at least, I don't think that it should."
"Sunset isn't imposing anything on me, if that's what you think."
"I know," Pyrrha said. "But I don't believe that Sunset understands… she sees a weapon, perhaps a very powerful one - and I admit that we have need of powerful weapons - but I want you to understand what it might cost you to follow this path to the end. You read your mother's diary entry; you know what she was afraid of once she revealed her power to others."
Ruby nodded. "She was afraid that they wouldn't see her as a person anymore."
"When you allow yourself to be placed upon a pedestal," Pyrrha said, "you lose all connection to the people who put you there in the first place. You may not want it, you might hate it, and you probably will, but… it will happen. Is that what you want, Ruby? Is that really the destiny you wish for yourself?"
Ruby tried to imagine it and struggled because her mind itself revolted against the very notion. She tried to imagine losing connection with Jaune, tried to imagine Yang holding her in such a state of awe that she ceased to see her as a little sister any more. She tried to imagine not being able to joke around with her friends, share hopes and fears, share everything that mattered. She tried to imagine it, and as hard as she might try, she couldn't. Even if she imagined everyone else in her life fading away into a fog of disconnectedness or falling down at her feet worshipping her silver eyes, her imagination always supplied Yang right beside her, ready to give her a noogie and embarrass her in front of everybody else while she wore that big-sister grin of hers.
She wouldn't ever have it any other way.
"No," she said. "That's not what I want. But I don't see that it has to be either."
"You may not be given a choice," Pyrrha said softly.
"We always have a choice," Ruby replied, "and it's never too late to make new choices. I can choose to find out about my mom, I can choose to find out whether I have the same power that she had, and I can choose to do all that and still have all my friends right beside me when I do it: Yang, Sunset, Jaune… and you, too. Pyrrha. You might think that you don't make friends very easily, but you have three already. And I don't plan on leaving you behind, not for a pair of silver eyes or for any destiny or… or for anything."
Pyrrha smiled fondly. "That's very kind of you to say, Ruby. But… I'm afraid… when you have a gift, I speak from experience when I say that the study of it consumes you all too easily until it's all that you have. You live it, you breathe it, and you go to bed and wake up again thinking about it. Until it's all that you are, and you have nothing else."
She bowed her head and sighed.
Ruby rested her hands on her knees, and leaned forwards so that she could look up into Pyrrha's face. "Pyrrha, when was the last time that you just had fun?"
Pyrrha was silent for a moment. "If I ever did, I think it must have been when I was very small."
Ruby's expression fell for a moment as she tried to contemplate what that must have been like before a wide smile like a particularly precocious puppy spread across her face. She leapt up from the bench and held out her hand. "Pyrrha, come with me."
Pyrrha looked up. "Where?"
"Not to some bookshop," Ruby declared. "We can do that some other time. Right now, I'm going to teach you how to cut loose. Everyone should learn how to have fun!"
Pyrrha hesitated for a moment.
"Come on," Ruby urged. "Don't you trust me?"
Pyrrha nodded, and she smiled slightly as she placed one hand into Ruby's outstretched palm.
Ruby's fingers closed around Pyrrha's hand as she pulled her up off the bench and began to drag her down the street. She wasn't quite using her semblance, but she was running pretty fast and yanking Pyrrha along behind her as she pounded down the pavement in search of something specific. She passed by shops that didn't interest her and shops that would have interested her if she hadn't been on a mission right now. She was looking for… she was looking for…
"Ruby," Pyrrha said, as she picked up her own pace to partially catch up with Ruby before her arm was pulled out of its socket. "Where are we going?"
"I'll know it when I see it," Ruby replied as she pulled Pyrrha to the right. There had to be something around here somewhere. "I'm about to show you a whole new world."
Ruby might not have been using her semblance, but she was possibly blurring the edges of it just a little bit. She was certainly running fast, even allowing for dragging Pyrrha - who was running herself in order to keep up - behind her. She was running so fast, in fact, that when a girl with orange hair ambled into the street right in front of her, there was no way that she could slow down in time.
"Look out!" Ruby yelled.
Chapter 5 - New Friends, Old Rivals
New Friends, Old Rivals
Sunset stood in Tukson's Book Trade with her arms folded across her chest, staring somewhat blankly at the section on Myths and Legends. So far, a study of the titles wasn't getting her very far.
"What do people have against happy endings?" Jaune asked, as he shut a book and placed it back on the shelf in the nearby fairytales section.
Sunset looked over and then actually wandered over to him. "Have you found something?"
"I've found reason to lose my faith in humanity," Jaune muttered. "Most of these books are just retellings of the old stories with extra sex and violence."
"Not useful to us," Sunset agreed, "but I'm sure that someone enjoys them."
"Someone must, there are so many," Jaune agreed. "But… okay, if you want to retell the story so that the dragon doesn't talk because it's a grimm, then fine. That even makes sense. But to have the younger son get eaten as well? What's the point in that? That last book? In its retelling of the story of the four seasons, the old man… you don't want to know what the old man does to the girls, and then at the end of the story, they get murdered by the people they try to help anyway! What kind of sick person comes up with stuff like that?"
"Let's leave the issue of your diminishing respect for your fellow men to one side for a second, shall we?" Sunset urged. "We'll meet up with Ruby and Pyrrha later, and they'll have you believing in the inherent goodness of humankind again in no time."
Jaune chuckled. "You know, you're joking… but you're also absolutely right."
"I am always absolutely right," Sunset informed him. "Except when I am not. I take it, then, that you haven't found anything useful."
"In fairness, it's kind of hard to tell what will be useful before you read it," Jaune explained.
"True," Sunset allowed. She turned away from Jaune and walked out of the little alcove to approach the counter. "Mister Tukson," she said, "I don't suppose you could recommend a good introduction to myths and legends?"
Mister Tukson leaned on the counter. "An introduction?"
"Something that gives a brief summary of all the notable stories, people, that sort of thing," Sunset explained. "Preferably something with a comprehensive glossary and a healthy reference section to direct further reading."
Tukson smiled. "This for your Legends of Remnant class?"
"Actually-" Jaune began.
"Exactly, it's for Legends of Remnant," Sunset agreed. "I didn't pay much attention to things like that when I was a child, and I'm paying for it now. I'd like something that can point me in the direction of where to start."
"Myths of the Four Kingdoms is a good place to start," Tukson said. "You should be able to find it on the shelf, along with a companion volume, Fairytales of the Four Kingdoms."
Sure enough, Sunset found them both on the shelf, both under Myths and Legends. She picked up Myths, a chunky hardback with a picture of a nearly naked man fighting a King Taijitsu on the cover, and flicked through it. Some of the entries were brief, but it had a glossary, and the entries, although sometimes very sparsely written, had copious footnotes and suggestions for further reading. Clearly, some consideration had been given to those hoping to use this as an academic starting point.
Sunset shut the book and plucked the companion volume off the shelf, stacking it on top of Myths in her hands. She returned to Tukson at the counter. "How about beyond the Four Kingdoms?" she asked, as she put the two books down.
Tukson looked thoughtful. "Let me take a look in the back," he said, before disappearing into the back room.
Jaune joined Sunset at the counter. "Why did you tell him that it was for class?"
"Should I have told him that we think our friend might have magic eyes?" Sunset demanded. "That isn't stuff you tell strangers. We don't know if we can trust him."
"He seems friendly enough," Jaune pointed out.
"I need him to be a lot more than friendly before I start telling him about silver eyes," Sunset growled.
The front door opened behind them as Blake Belladonna walked into the shop. "Oh, hello," she greeted them.
Sunset smirked as she turned around. "We have to stop meeting like this."
Blake didn't look very amused. "Is Tukson in the back?"
"He's just looking for something for us," Jaune explained.
Blake rolled her eyes. "He's going to get robbed one of these days."
"Luckily for him, the robbers seem more interested in dust shops than bookstores," Sunset replied.
"Hmm," Blake acknowledged. "I hope they identify who's responsible for that soon."
"And catch them," Jaune added.
"Of course," Blake murmured. "And catch them."
Tukson returned from out of the back room. "Here you go, Myths from Beyond the Kingdoms. It's not as comprehensive as the others for obvious reasons, but it's as good as the sources allow. Hey, Blake!"
"Hey, Tukson," Blake replied. "Has my order come in, yet?"
"I've got it in the back; just let me settle up here, and I'll fetch it for you."
"Please," Blake said. "I wouldn't want to keep Sunset and Jaune waiting."
Students were given a weekly stipend for school supplies and other essentials; it wasn't much – certainly not enough for Sunset to buy dust or anything like that – but it was enough to cover the cost of those three books. Tukson put them in a large paper bag with a string handle for her before Sunset and Jaune left the store.
"Let's see if Pyrrha and Ruby have had any luck," Sunset said, getting out her scroll with her free hand. "Maybe they want to grab a coffee or something."
"Sounds good to me," Jaune agreed.
As they walked away from the bookshop, Sunset opened up her scroll and called Pyrrha. By the look of what Sunset could see in the background once Pyrrha answered, they were outside and moving somewhere.
"Sunset," Pyrrha said, sounding a little nervous about something. "Hello again."
"Hey," Sunset said. "How are you two getting on?"
"Wait, that isn't Sunset Shimmer, is it?" asked another voice, momentarily unfamiliar; unfortunately, when that all-too-brief moment wore off, Sunset felt with a slight chilling feeling stealing over her that this voice was not actually unfamiliar to her at all. In fact, it was all too familiar in all the wrong ways.
No. No way can she be here. I got away, I was done with her, she cannot have followed me all the way to Vale; it isn't fair! Sunset's voice trembled with a touch of dread. "Is that… Rainbow Dash?"
Pyrrha opened her mouth a little, but before she could say anything else, the scroll was wrenched out of her hands to focus upon the all-too familiar face of Rainbow Dash. That ridiculous rainbow hair in its daredevil cut, those magenta eyes gleaming with mischief, that face, that cocky grin; Sunset would recognise them anywhere. Much as she might wish she didn't.
"Sunset Shimmer," Rainbow said sternly.
Sunset's jaw tightened. "Rainbow Dash." She struggled to keep a lid on the mounting anxiety that she felt rising within her breast because this could not be happening. This absolutely could not be happening! She had gotten away! She was free of Canterlot and Rainbow Dash and all of the rest of them and everything else besides! It was bad enough that Flash had followed her to Beacon, but at least he was keeping his mouth shut. What might Rainbow Dash say to Ruby and Pyrrha? I had a fresh start. She had not been known here at Beacon, but notwithstanding her desire for fame, that anonymity had served her well: her unjust reputation had not gone before her to poison the well in advance of her coming. If Rainbow Dash talked, if she lied to Pyrrha and Ruby, then it might all be lost. "What are you doing here?"
Rainbow looked a little shifty. "Hanging out."
"'Hanging out,'" Sunset repeated acidly. "With my teammates?"
"Hey, I didn't know you were the one putting the S in Sapphire until you called," Rainbow replied. "Small world, isn't it?"
"Too small by a long way if you're here," Sunset snapped. "Put Pyrrha back on." And stay away from my team! she wanted to add and only did not for fear that the prohibition would spur Rainbow to do the opposite just to spite her. "Pyrrha, where are you?"
"Uh, I'm not entirely sure. Let me see... Thirty-Second Avenue."
"Stay there and don't move; I'm coming to you," Sunset said.
"Sorry, we can't stop," Ruby cried. "We have to find Penny!"
Sunset's eyebrows rose. "And just who the hell is Penny?"
"There she is!" Ruby yelled from somewhere out of view of the scroll. "Penny, wait!"
"Gotta go," Rainbow Dash said. "Penny, stop right-"
"No, don't you dare hang up on-" Sunset yelled, stopping midway because, of course, Dash had hung up on her.
Sunset didn't know what was going on. She didn't know who Penny was or why Ruby and Pyrrha were looking for her. The only thing she knew was that there was no way she was leaving them alone with Rainbow Dash to turn them against her.
Sunset started to run. "Come on, Jaune, pick up the pace!"
"Why?" Jaune asked as he started to chase after her.
"We have to save the girls from a wicked faunus," Sunset declared. "And there's not a moment to lose."
XxXxX
"Look out!" Ruby yelled.
The other girl looked around in surprise, her mouth forming a startled O just as Ruby crashed into her. The two of them went sprawling to the pavement, though Ruby's aura prevented her from feeling more than a slight bump. Pyrrha leapt gracefully over the two fallen girls and hesitated in apparent confusion for half a moment before holding out a hand to help Ruby to her feet.
"Thanks," Ruby said, as she accepted Pyrrha's helping hand up. "Sorry about that, uh..."
She trailed off as she looked down at the victim of her reckless speed. Dressed in an old-fashioned blouse but in addition to modern overalls with neon green strips, the girl - who looked closer to Ruby's age than Pyrrha's - lay casually upon the pavement as though it were the most natural thing in the world to just lie on your back in the street. Even weirder, she was smiling, beaming even, without a hint of... well, without a hint of any of the things that you'd expect someone to feel after they'd just been knocked to the ground.
"Uh," Ruby murmured. She glanced at Pyrrha for help, but Pyrrha looked just as baffled by this as Ruby felt. "Sorry I ran into you."
The girl's smile remained fixed in place. "No problem. Judging by your cry of warning, it was an accident. Your momentum was too great to be arrested rapidly."
"Yeah," Ruby said. "I, uh, was going pretty fast." She laughed nervously. "So... do you... need a hand getting up?"
"No," the girl said, and she proved it by leaping to her feet in a single fluid motion. "But thank you for asking."
"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked solicitously.
"One hundred percent capacity!" the girl declared proudly.
"Ah," Pyrrha said, in a neutral tone. "I see."
A silence descended between them, an uncomfortable silence that Ruby filled before it could get any worse. "So, I'm Ruby."
"And my name is-" Pyrrha began.
"You're Pyrrha Nikos!" the other girl gasped.
Pyrrha immediately looked rather dispirited. Her head dipped noticeably. "Yes, uh, I am."
"I've studied your fights extensively!" the other girl declared. "It will be an honour to meet you in battle." She pumped her fist. "I promise, I won't hold back!"
"Really?" some of Pyrrha's disappointment at being recognised seemed to vanish instantly. There was a glint of anticipation in her eyes as she said, "I never hold back against an opponent in battle, uh," she paused, waiting for the other girl to give her name.
The other girl gasped again. "Oh, forgive me, where are my manners? My name is Penny Polendina, and it's a pleasure to meet both of you!" Penny chirped. "Are you a Beacon Academy student, Ruby?"
"Sure am," Ruby declared proudly. "Me and Pyrrha are teammates."
"Wonderful!" Penny cried. "So you will be competing in the tournament together?"
"If we're selected," Pyrrha said. "Which is probable, but you know what they say about counting chickens."
Penny blinked, cocking her head to one side. "No," she said. "What do chickens have to do with the combat tournament?"
"Well, um…" Pyrrha trailed off. "Nothing, I suppose."
"I am also here to compete in the tournament," Penny said. "Perhaps we will face each other in the colosseum!"
"Are you a student from one of the other schools?" Ruby asked. Every two years, the Vytal Festival was held to commemorate the end of the Great War and the beginning of the era of peace in which the whole world had basked for the past eighty years. The duties of hosting the prestigious event, which included parades, dances, and feasts and culminated in a combat tournament fought between representatives of the four huntsman academies, rotated between the four kingdoms, and this year, it was Vale which would have the honour. This meant that, for the second semester of the year, students from Atlas, Haven, and Shade would descend on Beacon as part of the celebration of unity and cultural understanding.
"Yes," Penny said. "I am from Atlas Academy!"
"Really?" Ruby hadn't thought that the Atlas students wouldn't arrive until after Spring Break. "That's cool. Is the rest of your team around here somewhere?"
"No," Penny said, and for once her voice lost a little of its enthusiasm. "They let me go off on my own." She hiccupped.
"You've been here in Vale before, then?" Pyrrha asked.
"No. This is my first time away from home. It's so exciting!"
"And your teammates just let you wander off by yourself?" Ruby asked. "Seems kind of mean."
"It is sometimes said that Atlas students lack a spirit of camaraderie," Pyrrha said softly. "Seeing one another only as teammates, not friends. It appears there may be some truth to it."
That didn't make it any better for poor Penny, all alone in a strange new place. Ruby frowned. Penny's team didn't sound like much of a team to her, and neither did any other Atlas team if this was how they all behaved. The first time in a new city should be a time for team bonding, hitting the streets together, trying the food, seeing what was what. Not ditching someone to do... whatever the rest of them were up to right now.
Ruby asked, "Do you know where you're going?"
Penny shook her head. "I am taking in the sights."
"Well… you're welcome to come along with us." Belatedly, she realised that Pyrrha might want a say in that decision, but the other girl didn't seem bothered by the impromptu invitation.
Penny's eyes widened. "Really? I can come with you... like friends?"
"Yeah," Ruby said. "Just like friends."
It shouldn't have been possible for Penny's smile to get any wider, but somehow, it did. "Sensational! Where are we going, new friends?"
"I was just about to take Pyrrha to-"
A drone flew overhead, passing over Ruby, Pyrrha, and Penny before coming to a dead stop and rotating in place. It was a square drone, black and squat and held in the air by four miniature VTOL engines, which were presently pointed towards the ground as the drone turned to face Penny. Ruby could see that it had a camera mounted in it.
Penny squeaked in alarm and immediately she started to run, darting underneath the drone and fleeing away down the street.
"Penny!" Ruby cried. "What are you-?"
The drone turned again, ignoring Ruby and Pyrrha as it began to follow Penny.
Ruby produced Crescent Rose, acting on instinct. Penny was afraid of the drone, Penny was running from it, and Penny seemed like a good person.
Which meant that the drone pursuing her was probably not operated by a good person.
Crescent Rose unfolded in all its glory with a series of mechanical clanks and hydraulic hisses. Ruby took aim and fired a single shot, striking the drone dead on and blowing it to literal smithereens which fell down to pavement with a clatter.
But Penny had already disappeared out of sight.
"We should go after her," Ruby said.
"I agree; she might be in trouble," Pyrrha replied. She reached for her scroll. "I'll call Sunset and-"
"Hey!" an angry female voice yelled as a rainbow blur barrelled around the corner and headed straight for them.
XxXxX
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight Sparkle's voice was high and anxious as it was conveyed into Rainbow Dash's ear via the earpiece she was wearing. "I just lost visual."
"What happened?" Rainbow demanded.
"Someone shot my drone out of the sky."
"You mean you don't know who?"
"I was focussed on Penny," Twilight explained. "I'm sorry, I-"
"It's fine, Twilight," Rainbow said. "Seventy-First Avenue?"
"Yes," Twilight replied.
"I'm almost there," Rainbow informed her. "Get the rest of the drones to converge on that area; she can't have gone far."
"What about the fact that someone just shot at one?"
Rainbow scowled. "I'll take care of it."
Twilight was silent for a moment. "Be careful."
Rainbow didn't reply; rather, she put on a burst of speed, leaving a rainbow trail behind her as she zipped through the crowd, darting nimbly around the slow-motion people moving all around her. It was as though the rest of the world was trapped in treacle and she was the only person who could move normally as she ran down the street and rounded the corner into the much emptier alleyway where Penny had last been seen.
Team RSPT, pronounced rosepetal, was not like other teams. It wasn't made up of four aspiring huntsmen or huntresses thrown together by fate to train in monster slaying. General Ironwood himself had put it together, deliberately and with thought, and each member had a purpose, a reason for being there.
The whole team was built around Penny. It was her team; she might not lead it, but she was the point of it, the star of the show, proof of a concept that would change the world. If she could actually focus and do as she was told and not get on unauthorised commercial flights to other kingdoms just because she felt like it, that is.
The rest of the team was there for Penny's sake: to support her, to watch over her, to make sure that she could and did achieve her potential, her destiny. Twilight Sparkle was there for Penny's tech support; she might not be a good huntress - or any kind of huntress at all, to be honest - but she was one of only two people besides Penny's father who could understand some of this unique equipment, let alone maintain it in the field.
Ciel Soleil was there to try and keep Penny in line, on mission, and reasonably focussed. She didn't always succeed – witness the fact that they had had to come to Vale to catch up with her - but not for lack of trying. She was also the team sniper for when they actually started to see combat.
And Rainbow Dash was there to keep all the rest alive. That was why her name came first; that was why she was the team leader: because if all else failed, if Penny didn't live up to her hype, if something went wrong, then Rainbow Dash would get them out. Whatever it took.
Of course, being team leader - and the muscle - also meant that now, Penny having escaped, it was Rainbow Dash who was out pounding the streets of Vale looking for her while Twilight searched the skies with drones from the relative safety of the airship and Ciel made that safety a little less relative by standing guard over her.
Rainbow Dash was not in the best of moods as she tracked the errant girl with help from Twilight's flock of aerial drones. She was an easygoing sort of girl, but she had her limits, and being forced to fly all the way to Vale to recover her truant teammate was pushing at them just a little bit. They weren't supposed to get here until Summer Semester when the rest of the Atlesian students arrived in Vale. Penny was supposed to be undergoing her socialising trials in Atlas. Rainbow and Twilight had volunteered their friends as the primary test subjects because their friends were the nicest bunch of people to ever live and thus perfect for giving Penny an easy lift into social interactions and because both Rainbow and Twilight trusted their friends with their lives.
Penny, however, had had other ideas for some reason, and she'd managed to book herself on a Valish skyliner headed for home. Since Ciel had explained that having said Valish skyliner overhauled by an Atlesian man-of-war, boarded by marines, and Penny dragged off the ship would be an act of piracy, there wasn't much to be done except for the rest of Team RSPT to follow her to Vale and bring her back quietly.
Not that Rainbow Dash was in quite the mood for quiet as she rounded the corner with a shout to confront the two people who had- wait, was that Pyrrha Nikos?
Rainbow skidded to a halt just a few feet away from Pyrrha and her companion with the big gunscythe that she had already begun to point in Rainbow's direction. Pyrrha herself had grabbed her spear from across her back and was brandishing it at Rainbow too. Rainbow herself was fully geared up: her wingpack, Wings of Harmony, was strapped on, her SMGs – Brutal Honesty and Plain Awesome – were at her hips, and her shotgun Unfailing Loyalty was slung across her back on top of her wings. But Rainbow didn't reach for any of her weapons, because none of them were really quiet, and she wasn't here to start fights, and – admitting that they'd only met once – she didn't think that Pyrrha Nikos was the kind of person to get involved in international espionage.
Plus, as much as it hurt so much to admit it that the words would never pass her lips aloud, she probably wouldn't actually win a fight against the Invincible Girl.
"Pyrrha Nikos, right?" Rainbow said, holding up her hands. "Do you remember me?"
Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. "You… you were at the charity function for the Asclepius Institute. No! You were at the hospital, visiting that adorable girl."
"I was at both, but yeah, we met at the hospital," Rainbow said. The Asclepius Institute was a private hospital that developed prosthetics for children from all over Remnant and gave them out for free and took care of all the physical therapy too. Rainbow's little sister – admittedly not biologically or legally, but in every other way that mattered – Scootaloo was one of their patients, and Pyrrha had come over to Atlas for a private fight with Shining Armour, the winner of the Atlesian regional tournament, with all ticket revenue going to raise money for the institute. And of course, she'd been given a tour beforehand with the press there, and that's where Rainbow had met her first, and the second time at the after party following the fight. "You told Scootaloo she could be whatever she wanted to be if she was willing to work at it."
"I said a few words," Pyrrha said.
"Good words, words that she doesn't hear often enough," Rainbow insisted. "It meant a lot for her to hear them from you."
"I… I'm glad," Pyrrha murmured. "It's… forgive me, but I can't recall…"
"Rainbow Dash," Rainbow supplied without malice. If she was a big shot celebrity, then she'd probably forget the names of people she only met once or twice as well. "Leader of Team Rosepetal of Atlas."
"This is my friend and teammate Ruby Rose," Pyrrha said. "We're both of Team Sapphire of Beacon."
"Okay," Rainbow said. "Now, Pyrrha, you seemed like a pretty cool person when we met last, so do you mind telling me what you're doing shooting my drone out of the sky?"
"Your drone!" Ruby exclaimed. "We were protecting Penny! Why are you chasing after her?"
"She did seem rather alarmed," Pyrrha added.
Rainbow sighed. "Penny… Penny is… playing truant," she said. "We weren't supposed to come to Vale this early, but she wanted to, and so, she snuck off on her own, and as her team leader it is my responsibility to bring her back home."
Ruby frowned. "That's not the way she said it."
This ought to be good. Rainbow folded her arms. "And what did Penny say?"
"She told us that her team weren't interested in hanging around with her, so you sent her to explore Vale by herself," Ruby replied.
"Penny told you that? Did she hiccup when she said it?" Rainbow asked.
The two of them looked at one another. "Yes."
"She does that when she lies; it's… like a nervous tic," Rainbow explained. "Listen, I really do need to find her: she's all alone in a brand new place, and she has no clue what she's doing. She might think she does, but she doesn't, and there are a lot of people who are worried sick about her. But, if you don't trust me, then you're welcome to come with: we'll all go find Penny together, and when we do, she'll admit that I don't mean her any harm." Rainbow hoped she would, anyway; if she decided to keep on telling lies, then this could get awkward fast.
"Penny... does seem a little naive," Pyrrha said softly. She glanced at Ruby. "And your brother is an Atlesian officer, if I recall-"
"Actually, that was my friend Twilight's brother, although I did live with them for a while," Rainbow corrected her.
"Even so, I should like to believe that you are a woman of your word," Pyrrha said. "So long as we accompany you, I see no reason to obstruct you."
Ruby's scythe folded into a more compact, stubby, carbine-like weapon. "Okay. But we'll be watching."
Rainbow snorted. "It's a pity that Penny won't get how lucky she is; in this whole city, she runs into two people who actually care what happens to a complete stranger."
"Do you find it so odd?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm not saying it's impossible," Rainbow replied. "Some of my best friends would care about a complete stranger if they ran into them like that. I'm just saying… not everybody would, and Penny could have been a lot less lucky in whom she ran into."
Ruby laughed nervously. "It wasn't exactly Penny who did the running."
Rainbow chuckled and tapped her ear piece. "Twilight, do you see anything?"
"Currently tracking her down Fortieth," Twilight replied. "What about the person who shot my drone?"
"It was a misunderstanding," Rainbow replied. "Keep me updated."
The three of them tracked Penny using Twilight's info... or rather, Rainbow tracked Penny using Twilight's info, and Ruby and Pyrrha followed along with her. Penny moved slowly, hampered by her unfamiliarity with Vale, and the trio were closing in on her latest position when Pyrrha's scroll started to buzz.
Pyrrha opened up her scroll and seemed to hesitate a little on seeing whoever it was on the other end. "Sunset. Hello again."
Sunset? No way. It can't be her, can it?
"Hey. Have you two had any luck so far?"
"Wait, that isn't Sunset Shimmer, is it?" Rainbow Dash asked as she plucked the scroll out of Pyrrha's hands and looked down onto the unmistakable face of Sunset Shimmer.
Wow. What did these two do in a previous life to get stuck with Sunset Shimmer... Sapphire; she's their team leader isn't she?
Boy, are these two unlucky.
For that matter, Rainbow Dash was inclined to consider herself a little unlucky herself. She'd hoped to never have to see Sunset Shimmer again after some of the stunts she'd tried to pull in Canterlot. Trying to turn her friends against one another wasn't something that Rainbow Dash forgave or forgot lightly; the fact that it hadn't worked didn't mitigate the fact that she had made the attempt. "Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset's jaw tightened. "Rainbow Dash."
No way that I can tell her about Penny. You didn't let Sunset Shimmer know anything about you if you could avoid it. Anything she did find out, she'd try and use against you. "Hanging out."
"'Hanging out,'" Sunset repeated acidly. "With my teammates?"
What, is somebody worried that I'll tell some stories? How much do your teammates know about you, I wonder. "Hey, I didn't know you were the one putting the S in Sapphire until you called," Rainbow replied. "Small world, isn't it?"
"Too small by a long way if you're here," Sunset said. "Put Pyrrha back on."
Rainbow wordlessly handed Pyrrha her scroll back.
"Pyrrha, where are you?"
"Uh, I'm not entirely sure. Let me see..." Pyrrha looked around for a street sign. "Thirty-Second Avenue."
"Stay there and don't move; I'm coming to you," Sunset said.
"Sorry, we can't stop," Ruby said. "We have to find Penny!"
"And just who the hell is Penny?" Sunset demanded, just as Ruby caught sight of Penny looking aimless outside the entrance to a big, glassy shopping plaza.
"There she is!" Ruby yelled, loudly enough to draw the attention of Penny herself. "Penny, wait!" Ruby cried as Penny turned to make another exit.
"Gotta go," Rainbow Dash said, reaching across to hang up on Sunset. "Penny, stop right there!"
Penny looked as though she didn't really want to wait for Rainbow Dash and the others to catch up to her, but a quick burst of semblance carried Rainbow and Ruby the remaining distance over to her, while Pyrrha was left to run to catch up.
"Penny, stop! Ruby cried. "You don't need to run away." She put a hand on Penny's shoulder. "It's going to be okay, I promise."
Rainbow Dash put her hands on her hips, and her pony ears flattened angrily against the top of her head. "In the first place, will you please tell these two that I am not the bad guy? In fact, why don't you just tell them who I am?"
Penny didn't look in the least bit ashamed of herself as she said, "You're Rainbow Dash, leader of Team Rosepetal."
"Uh-huh," Rainbow said. "And you're a member of Team Rosepetal, aren't you?"
"Certainly! I'm combat ready!"
"Then why were you running?" Pyrrha asked as she joined them.
Penny hesitated for a moment. She clasped her hands together in front of her. "Because… because Rainbow Dash is here to take me back now, aren't you?"
"Can you try not to sound as though I'm hauling you away to prison in front of the Beacon students?" Rainbow asked.
"But what if I don't want to go back?" Penny demanded. "What if I want to stay here, with my new friends Ruby and Pyrrha?" She grabbed the two of them and pulled them into neckholds that were probably supposed to be friendly hugs but which looked as though Penny was strangling the pair of them.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Penny, let them go."
"Why?"
"Because they're turning blue."
"Ah!" Penny exclaimed, releasing both of them. "I'm so sorry."
Pyrrha rubbed at her gorget with one hand. "It… that's quite alright, Penny. There's no harm done."
This is why you weren't ready to come to Vale yet. "Penny, just come with me; let me take you home."
"I don't want to go home!" Penny insisted. "I want to stay here! Why do I have to go back to Atlas?"
How am I supposed to explain socialising you in front of people who can't know what you are? "Because… you know why."
"Why can't I do that here?" Penny asked. "All my life, people have made my decisions for me. They've decided where I should go and who I should meet. My father, Mister Ironwood, they decided what I would do and who my teammates would be. And now, you and Ciel and Twilight are doing the exact same thing! You even decided who my friends were going to be! I made this choice, for myself. It's the only choice I've made in my life. Aren't I allowed to make one choice? I want… I want so much more than you've got planned."
"I knew letting Twilight show you that movie was a mistake," Rainbow muttered.
"Please, Rainbow Dash," Penny implored. She leaned forward, and seemed to make her eyes bigger as she did so. "Please. I've made a great start already."
Rainbow leaned back a little away from Penny. "It… it's not that simple, Penny; it…" Her scroll went off. Not only that, but it went off with a singular ring tone that meant that she was getting a call from none other than Pinkie Pie.
"Hold that thought for a second," Rainbow said, as she took a step back, turned away, and opened her scroll. "Pinkie, now isn't a great time-"
"Really? Because I think that now is the perfect time to remind you that sometimes, the best thing you can do is put a smile on someone's face," Pinkie declared, her big blue eyes staring up at Rainbow Dash from out of the scroll screen.
Rainbow frowned. "You called me just to tell me that?"
"I thought you might need to be reminded," Pinkie said.
"Really?" Rainbow asked. "What gave you that idea?"
"I just had a feeling," Pinkie explained.
"Do you have a feeling as to what I ought to do next?"
"You know what you ought to do next, silly," Pinkie cried. "You just need to have the courage to do it."
Rainbow stared down at her eccentric friend for just a moment. "Thanks, Pinkie."
"You're welcome!" Pinkie cried in a sing-song voice. "Speak to you soon!"
"I sure will," Rainbow promised as she snapped her scroll shut. She didn't put it away, though, but kept it in her hand as she turned back to Penny.
"I don't think that you ought to make Penny go anywhere she doesn't want to," Ruby declared. "You don't have the right."
"I do, actually," Rainbow insisted. "But I won't. I'm going to talk to the General and see if he'll let you stay in Vale for the rest of this semester."
Penny's eyes got even wider, which Rainbow wouldn't have thought was even possible; Twilight would know for sure, though. "Really? Oh, thank you, Rainbow-"
"But," Rainbow said quickly, "there are certain conditions. If we do this, then you have to do as I say from now on."
"I promise."
"No wandering off, no running away."
"I won't."
"And anything else that General Ironwood says, you have to do that, too," Rainbow added.
"No problem," Penny declared.
Rainbow sighed. "Would you two mind keeping Penny company? I need to make a couple of calls."
Pyrrha slipped her arm into Penny's crook. "We'd be delighted to, wouldn't we, Ruby?"
"Sure!" Ruby chirped eagerly. "Hey, Penny! If this is your first time in Vale, then that means you have to try some Valish cookies! They're the best! Come on, there's a store right over there."
"Don't wander too far," Rainbow called, as Ruby half-led, half-dragged Penny – and Pyrrha – towards a Loaded With Dough on the edge of the shopping plaza. Rainbow kept half an eye on them as she tapped her earpiece to open up communications. "Twilight, Ciel, are you there?"
"I'm right here," Twilight said.
"Ciel Soleil reading you loud and clear," Ciel declared. "Less clear are your immediate intentions."
"I can see that you've found Penny," Twilight said. "Why aren't you on your way back? And who are those… is that Pyrrha Nikos?"
"Yes, from the charity fight," Rainbow said. "And the other one is her teammate, Ruby Rose. Penny lucked out with the first people she met in Vale."
"Hmm," Ciel murmured, and Rainbow found that she could imagine Ciel running through the files. "Pyrrha Nikos, seventeen years old, born in Mistral where she lived her entire life to date, aside from periods domiciled in Argus corresponding to the terms of Sanctum Combat School. Enrolled at Beacon Academy at the beginning of this semester and was assigned to Team Sapphire."
"Twilight, is she reading, or does she have every student's records memorised?" Rainbow asked.
"She's not reading anything at all," Twilight said, sounding awed and afraid in equal measure.
"Ruby Rose," Ciel continued. "Fifteen-"
"Fifteen?" Rainbow repeated. "That can't be right, how can a fifteen year old-?"
"Enrolled at Beacon Academy through the personal recommendation of Professor Lyman Ozpin after two years of study at Signal Combat School," Ciel continued. "Hails from Patch, the location of her birth. Assigned to Team Sapphire." She paused. "I suppose I can understand your use of the term 'lucked out'. Pyrrha Nikos appears to be beyond reproach."
"And Ruby?"
"That remains to be seen," Ciel replied. "Or not, as you ought to be returning to the airship immediately."
"Actually," Rainbow said. "I was thinking that maybe we could stick around in Vale for a while."
Silence greeted this pronouncement.
"For what purpose?" Ciel asked in a chill voice.
"We can just as easily socialise Penny here as in Vale," Rainbow said. "She's already made two friends.
"This location is less easily regulated," Ciel pointed out.
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe the fact that Atlas was so regulated is why Penny ran away in the first place?" Rainbow suggested.
Ciel was silent for a moment. "The thought had occurred to me. It does not change the fact that we have our orders."
"Which I'm going to talk to the general about changing," Rainbow said.
"There are too many variables here," Ciel insisted. "For what reason do you wish to complicate our mission unnecessarily?"
"Because I think it will make Penny happy," Rainbow said.
Once more, Ciel fell silent. "Nevertheless," she said after a moment, "I would like it noted in the log that I objected to this."
"It will be noted," Rainbow agreed. "What about you, Twilight?"
"She… she looks happy," Twilight said. "I feel a little like a stalker, spying on her through a drone like this, but… she looks happy. If she'd rather stay here, then… why not? It's not like Vale is a warzone or anything."
"Exactly," Rainbow said. "It's a kingdom. It's at peace, just like Atlas." It wasn't even a bad place to be. It kind of reminded her of Canterlot in some ways, just more crowded. "Okay, I'll call General Ironwood."
"Good luck," Twilight said.
"Thanks, Twi."
"Rainbow Dash," Ciel said.
"Uh huh?"
"I disagree with this," Ciel informed Rainbow, "but your intent is noble, and that, I can respect."
"Um… thanks for that as well?" Rainbow said. She tapped her earpiece again to shut off comms with the airship before she opened up her scroll again and called General Ironwood himself.
It took a while before he answered. General Ironwood was a busy man, after all, not only Headmaster of Atlas Academy, but Commander in Chief of the Combined Atlesian Forces and holder of two seats on the Atlas Council. Nevertheless, however busy he was, he understood that Rainbow wouldn't call unless it was related to their mission, and so, eventually, his face appeared in Rainbow's scroll.
General Ironwood's look belied his name only in as much as he looked to have been fashioned not of metal or wood but stone, with chiselled cheeks and a firm jawline. He looked strong, as strong as Atlas itself, as strong as the military he commanded. Rainbow stood to attention as his eyes fell upon her through the screen.
"Cadet Leader Rainbow Dash reporting, sir!"
"At ease, Dash," General Ironwood replied. "Have you found Penny?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good work, Dash. I knew I could count on you. Come home immediately."
"Permission to speak, sir?" Rainbow asked.
General Ironwood paused. "Granted."
"I'd like to request permission to carry out observation trials here in Vale, sir."
General Ironwood looked a little puzzled and a little bemused. "Explain."
"Penny wants to be here, sir," Rainbow said. "She doesn't want to go back to Atlas. Plus, she's already made two… two friends here, Beacon students. I'm worried that if I try to make her come back to Atlas with me, then they'll give me trouble. It might cause an incident. Plus, even if I do take her back to Atlas, I think she'll sulk. She might even try and run away again."
General Ironwood's expression was inscrutable. "And you think observations can be carried out in Vale?"
"Twilight can make her observations and report her findings from here just as easily as from Atlas, sir," Rainbow pointed out, "and as I said, Penny will be more motivated to make an effort here."
"Assuming that she doesn't demand further concessions from you now that you've shown a willingness to cede ground."
"I know how to put my foot down, sir," Rainbow insisted. "And to speak freely, General, you were going to send us to Vale next semester anyway."
"After a period of determining if Penny could interact with others," General Ironwood reminded Dash. "These Beacon students, do you trust them?"
"I do, sir," Rainbow said. "I've met one of them - Pyrrha Nikos - before, and the other one, Ruby Rose, seems like a good kid. I'll vouch for them."
"Did you say Ruby Rose, Dash?"
Rainbow blinked. "Yes, sir. Do you know her?"
"I used to know her father; he's a good man," General Ironwood said. "Her uncle… means well, most of the time." General Ironwood looked at Rainbow Dash more intently. "Do you think they might discover Penny's secret?"
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen, sir."
"You'd better," General Ironwood said. "You realise that your reputation will be on the line if this goes south."
"Of course, sir."
"Why do you want this, Dash?"
"'Want' is a little strong, sir, but I'd rather be a team leader than a prison guard," Rainbow replied. "That's not what I came to Atlas for. Penny deserves some time to be a kid."
"You all do," General Ironwood said with a sigh. "More than you're allowed. Very well. Permission granted. I'll issue the new orders and speak to Ozpin about you moving into Beacon early. Very early."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Dash."
"I hope so too, sir."
General Ironwood looked for a moment as though he might smile. "Good luck out there. Ironwood out."
The scroll went blank. Rainbow shut it and put it away as she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding until she wasn't.
She attempted to appear insouciant as she wandered over to the cookie store, or rather to nearby it, where Penny was… eating? Rainbow wondered where she was putting those cookies and whether she, Rainbow, really wanted to know the answer.
They all looked at her as she approached. Penny had cookie crumbs round her mouth. "Well?" she asked.
"General Ironwood gave the okay," Rainbow said.
"YES!" Penny yelled, launching herself at Rainbow Dash in a flying tackle that knocked Rainbow down to the ground with a groan of pain. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash, thank you so much!"
"No problem," Rainbow groaned. She looked at Ruby Rose as she pried Penny off of her and picked herself up. Now that Ciel mentioned it, Ruby did look younger than seventeen.
"You know, you look a little young to be a Beacon student," Rainbow observed, only slightly disingenuously. She wanted to find out what Ruby's deal was; hopefully, it was more than just the fact that important people knew her dad.
"Yeah," Ruby admitted nervously. "I'm, uh, I'm actually only fifteen. Professor Ozpin… he, uh, he let me in early."
"Good for you," Rainbow said. "He must have had a reason for that."
"Oh, it wasn't much," Ruby replied. "I just stopped a few bad guys from robbing a dust shop."
Rainbow's eye twitched. 'A few bad guys'? 'Stopped a few bad guys'? I saved a member of the Atlesian Council and thwarted a major White Fang attack when I was fifteen, and nobody suggested that I should get into Atlas two years early!
You know, not that I'm jealous or anything.
I'm just… man, they're soft here in Vale.
"Okay," she said. "So, anyway, where are we going now?"
XxXxX
Sunset found them in an arcade not far from Thirty-Second Street.
Her brow was stained with sweat from a mixture of the running and the sense of nervousness that she'd felt tightening in her chest with every step she took, every moment that she spent away and they were with Rainbow Dash and Celestia only knew what she might tell them about Sunset and the things that she'd done. Her mind was filled with horrible visions as Ruby and Pyrrha rejected her for the horrors of her past as they refused to believe that she could change, would change, had changed.
I am not that which I was. But of course, Rainbow Dash wouldn't believe that - and to be somewhat fair, Sunset couldn't blame her too much for that - in fact, she couldn't even believe that Sunset was only as bad as she had been and not worse. Things that hadn't been Sunset's fault had gotten attached to her because she was a... because she had been an ass about whom people had learnt to assume the worst because it was frequently true. If Rainbow told Ruby and Pyrrha about the things that she had done, it would be bad enough, but if she told them about the things that she hadn't done, then... it scarcely bore thinking about.
But it was all that Sunset could think about as she ran through the streets, leaving Jaune trailing behind her as she searched frantically, desperately, for Ruby and Pyrrha.
And once you find them, then what? Are you going to beat Rainbow Dash into unconsciousness to stop her from talking? It was a tempting idea, but one likely to do more harm than good. The truth was that, even once she got there, then there was nothing Sunset could do to stop Rainbow Dash from spilling everything... nothing except witness the crash in person.
Or beg for mercy. That might be her only choice, the hardest choice of all: to humble herself before Rainbow Dash and cry forgiveness for all that she had done and hope the other faunus was generous enough to grant it, to plead to not have everything that she had so slowly and so painfully built up here ripped away from her in an instant.
I mean, it's not like I really did her any harm, or any of them. Yes, I was mean and vain and proud and... maybe a little cruel sometimes, but it's not like I did any lasting damage. They were all still friends when they graduated Canterlot; it's not like I broke up the band. And let's remember who the real victim was in all of the stuff that went down there.
Sunset scowled and shook her head. She couldn't think like that. She couldn't afford to think like that. Throwing herself a pity party wasn't likely to win her any favours from Rainbow Dash.
How I hate that girl. Sunset, who liked to think that she had mellowed lately, was surprised by the vituperative force of the feelings that still flowed through her when she thought about Rainbow, her smug smile, her cocky attitude. The way she acted as though she didn't even realise that she had pony ears, the way a world that never failed to remind Sunset she was a despised faunus seemed to treat the great Rainbow Dash like she was human.
The way that she was always surrounded by smiles and laughter. Sunset hadn't admitted that at the time, not even to herself; perhaps she hadn't even realised it. But now, with a clearer head and consequently clearer eye, she could concede that truth: even when she had most bitterly denied the worth of friends, she had been consumed with envy of those who had them when she did not.
And now, Rainbow Dash would take her friends away unless Sunset abased herself before her.
It was with her thoughts thus awhirl like a tornado that Sunset found them in an arcade not far from Thirty-Second Street. She panted for breath, and in the way of it, she felt the sweat running down her back all the more once she stopped running and started moving more slowly.
She spotted Pyrrha first. Even in this place of dim shadows illuminated more by the flashing screens of the games cabinets than the practically non-existent ambient lighting, Pyrrha's red hair and statuesque figure stood out. As Sunset made her way towards her, she was surprised to see that Pyrrha was playing a button-masher fighting game... with Rainbow Dash.
The Atlesian was not as tall as Pyrrha, being about of a height with Yang, maybe a little taller, but at the same time thinner than Yang was. She was a pony faunus with hair in all the colours of the rainbow which had supplied her name, cut short so that it fell down just below her shoulder. She was dressed in a blue sports jacket over a white T-shirt and a pair of dark blue pants with rainbow-coloured lighting bolts on them, and wearing some kind of bulky backpack with a shotgun slung over it. A pair of crimson goggles sat atop her head, above her magenta eyes. A pair of blue gloves covered her hands.
Ruby wasn't too far away. Sunset could spot her red cloak, playing one of those grimm shooters with the toy guns you pointed at the screen alongside a ginger-haired girl - maybe this Penny that they had been looking for earlier - with a bow in her hair.
Sunset was about to announce herself as she staggered with leaden feet towards them, but it was Jaune who spoke up first with an indignant declaration of, "You guys went to the arcade? Then why didn't you invite me?"
Everyone - everyone being the four people in this arcade who actually mattered - looked at him.
"Jaune!" Ruby cried enthusiastically. "Oh, sorry. It's just that it was kind of an impulse decision, and then we ran into Penny, and everything happened so fast after that that I just didn't think." She stopped for a second, only to gasp. "Oh, right! You don't know: Penny, Rainbow Dash, meet our friends Jaune Arc and Sunset Shimmer. Jaune, Sunset, this is Penny-"
"Hello, new friends!" Penny said, waving enthusiastically.
"And this is Rainbow Dash."
"Yo."
"Yo?" Jaune repeated. "Sunset said... I thought that you were in danger? Sunset said we had to rescue you from a wicked faunus."
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash protested. "I am not a wicked faunus. I am a wicked cool faunus." She smirked. "That said, I'm still kind of flattered, Sunset. I wouldn't have thought that you'd be so nice to me."
I bet you're just loving this, aren't you? "What can I say?" Sunset replied.
Rainbow Dash stared at Sunset coolly for a moment. "I'm going to get a soda," she said. "Hey, Jaune, why don't you take over here?"
"Uh, okay," Jaune said, taking Rainbow's place beside Pyrrha. "So, Pyrrha, I didn't know you were into this kind of thing."
"I'm not, really. This is my first time... anywhere like this."
"Really? You mean I might actually beat you at something?" Jaune said. "Or... maybe something less selfish. How have you never been to an arcade before?"
"She's had a poor, deprived childhood," Rainbow called as she headed towards the burger bar at the back of the arcade.
"That's why we're putting it right now," Ruby agreed.
Sunset didn't hear the rest of what might have passed between Jaune and Pyrrha, because she followed Rainbow Dash down towards the back of the arcade.
"Two sodas," Rainbow said, leaning on the desk.
"Generous," Sunset said.
Rainbow snorted. "Who says the other one is for you?"
Sunset didn't reply. She just stood there, and stared, and waited.
"Yeah, it's for you. I'm just that nice. Or Rarity has just rubbed off on me that much," Rainbow said. She drummed her fingers on the wooden bar and looked at Sunset out of the side of her eye. "They don't know what you are, do they?"
"'What I am'?" Sunset repeated. "And what am I?"
"You're the worst."
Sunset shuffled uncomfortably. "That Anon-a-Miss thing genuinely wasn't me. I swear on... I'll swear on anything you like."
"You could swear on anything you liked, and I wouldn't buy it," Rainbow replied. She glanced back up to where the others were engrossed. "What do you think they'd do if they heard some of the stories that I could tell them about you?"
"No," Sunset whispered. "Please, don't. I... I'm not the person that I was back then."
"Why should I believe that either?"
"Because they trust me?" Sunset offered. "Because they put up with me, maybe they even like me a little. If I were that bad, if I were as bad as I was back then, would they do that? Would they be able to do that? I've changed, Rainbow Dash, I promise, I sw- I've changed."
Rainbow cocked her head. "This matters to you, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it matters to me!" Sunset hissed. "You're talking about destroying the trust that my team has in me."
"The way that you tried to take away the trust my friends had in each other?" Rainbow demanded. "The way you tried to divide and rule at Canterlot?"
"I was an idiot!" Sunset cried. She would have grabbed Rainbow and shaken her if she hadn't thought it would be counterproductive. "I was stupid, and I didn't realise what it meant to be a faunus in Atlas and how it would all turn out, and I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry for what I did, for what I tried to do... to you and your friends and everyone, I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear? What do you want from me?"
"Maybe I want to know why you did it."
"Because I hated you!" Sunset said in a voice that was half-yell, half-whisper. "I hated the way that... I hated the way that when you were around, I couldn't just pretend that it was all about my ears and my tail, because that's what I told myself: 'it's not me, it's Atlas. It's not my fault that they don't see me in all my glory.' But then there was you: you can't do half of what I can, your semblance is just... all you can do is run fast, and you're just a faunus just like me, and yet... everyone thought you were so awesome. You were the star of the school, and you had friends. You had human friends who didn't give a damn about the extra ears." Sunset took a deep breath. "I'm not proud, but there it is. That's why I tried to... because I wanted to bring you down to the same level that I was stuck at, but that's not who I am anymore. Please, Rainbow Dash, I... I'm begging you. Don't take this away from me."
But Rainbow Dash's face was hard as stone, her eyes hostile and unyielding.
And then she started to laugh. "You should see the look on your face. Hah!"
Sunset's eyes widened in confusion. "You... what... huh?"
"I'm not going to tell them anything," Rainbow said.
"You're not?"
"I may not like you, but I'm not like you," Rainbow declared. "I'm not going to try and ruin your life just because I can. Plus, if it really matters that much to you, then maybe you have changed. Or else you'll blow it for yourself like you did at Canterlot."
"Don't remind me," Sunset growled. "So this... this was all about getting a rise out of me?"
"Pretty much."
"You are more evil than I could ever dream of being."
"Oh, come on! Pranks are good fun so long as the target can take it."
"I'll bear that in mind."
"Ooh, was that a threat?"
"Or perhaps I'll just share the pictures of that band you and your friends used to be in."
"Okay, first of all, we're still in a band: Rainbooms for life. Second, you can share whatever pictures you like, because we rocked that look."
"You certainly didn't rock the music."
"Now you're just showing that you have bad taste."
By the time they rejoined the others, Rainbow having decided it would be rude not to get everyone a drink, not to mention a tub of chips for sharing - "Don't worry," she said, although Sunset hadn't been. "Atlas is paying for all of this," whatever that meant - Pyrrha was laughing and Jaune was crowing.
"I did it!" he yelled. "I actually beat you! I don't believe it!"
"I don't believe it either," Sunset said. "What happened?"
"It turns out I'm terrible at this game," Pyrrha said, stifling her laughter behind one hand. "But it was such fun, can we go again?"
It turned out that Pyrrha was pretty terrible at button-mashers in general, if only because she couldn't seem to get the hang of the controls at all, no matter how they were spelled out for her. She did much, much better at shooters where she shot the plastic guns with the same unerring aim that she used when firing Miló... until she started to fall off in performance to the extent that Sunset wondered if she was deliberately throwing games so that people would want to keep playing against her. Not that Sunset was bothered by that; it left more space on the high score table for her.
"Do you have any idea," Pyrrha said to Ruby, as she stepped back from Alley Brawler to let Jaune go up against Rainbow Dash, "how refreshing it is to not have your opponent concede defeat to you before the fight has even begun? Thank you, Ruby; this was a wonderful idea."
"I'm glad you're having a good time," Ruby said. "I-"
"YES!" Sunset yelled, as she finally, finally, finally beat Penny at TurboRacer. The strange girl - so strange that Sunset wanted to know what was up with her - had reflexes that were uncannily fast; she'd claimed to have no more set foot in a place like this than Pyrrha, and yet, she picked up every game she turned her hand to with ridiculous ease. But none of that mattered because Sunset had beaten her, and it had only taken ten tries to do it, too! "I won!"
"You know," Rainbow said. "I think you might have actually gotten more competitive than you used to be." She grinned. "I like it. Bet I can beat your high score."
"Oh, it is so on."
By the time Rainbow and Penny left somewhat reluctantly, having gotten a call from someone named Ciel, the members of Team SAPR were about ready to head back to Beacon themselves. But even though they hadn't gotten any research done…
"Ruby," Sunset said. "Great job. Today... it was a good day."
"A very good day," Pyrrha agreed.
"A great day," Jaune said. "We should do it again some time."
"Maybe the other members of Rosepetal could join us?" Pyrrha suggested. "Did anybody get their scroll numbers?"
"I did," Ruby said. "And we could bring Iron, too."
Sunset didn't add anything to the growing discussion. The truth was that she could have lost every game, and it wouldn't really have made any difference. The moment that Rainbow Dash had revealed that she had no intention of badmouthing Sunset to her friends, the moment it turned out that she would be keeping her team after all... that, alone, was enough to make it a good day.
Chapter 6 - Rosepetals
Rosepetals
Spike barked.
Twilight looked down from the holographic display in front of her and smiled down at her pet as, with one hand, she scratched him behind the ears. "What's wrong, Spike? Are you hungry?"
Spike made a yelping, slightly moaning sound as he clambered up onto Twilight's lap.
"Oh, I see; you just want some attention," Twilight said fondly, and she kept on rubbing him even as, with her other hand, she continued to pull out bits and pieces from the blow-out hologram.
The Beacon dorm room was a little crowded, not least because all of Twilight's drones were taking up a lot of space on the floor, but no doubt, they would make do; the room seemed just a little bigger than the room that Rainbow and Applejack's old team had had at Atlas, and they had seemed to manage well enough.
Twilight Sparkle sat at one of the desks running along the wall, her computer set up to project a hologram of Penny's swords. She was a girl of average height but seemed smaller on account the slight and willowy nature of her frame. Her hair was midnight blue, streaked with purple and pink in a pair of stripes that ran from her bangs to the tip of her long high ponytail. Large square glasses sat on her face before her purple eyes. A pink waistcoat covered a blue sleeveless blouse with puffed shoulders and a high collar, while Spike, her dog, sat on top of her purple skirt, panting happily.
Behind Twilight, Ciel Soleil sat on her bed, reading a large and rather heavy-looking book on the history of the Mantle Navy during the Great War. Ciel was a little taller than Twilight and more muscular in the arms, even though most of said muscle was concealed beneath the fingerless opera-length black gloves she wore over her arms. Her skin was dark and her eyes a rich ocean blue, while her hair was black and cut short, stopping around the nape of her neck, although her bangs were long enough to nearly obscure the golden marking on her forehead. She wore a plain, white, short-sleeved blouse, a blue skirt with a golden hem, and a pair of high white boots that extended up past her knees. Her blue beret was sitting on the bed beside her. Occasionally, Ciel glanced at her watch and uttered a loud tut.
"I'm sure that they'll be back soon," Twilight said nervously.
"Indeed," Ciel said. "It might have been preferable if you had maintained drone surveillance."
"There was no need once Rainbow found her," Twilight said, "and, even leaving aside the fact that our permission to fly drones was for as little time possible to complete our mission, it would have felt like prying at that point."
"Observation of Penny's performance is your primary objective," Ciel pointed out.
"That doesn't mean I have to spy on her every moment," Twilight insisted. "Just so long as I can produce sufficient body of evidence to submit to the General for recommendation by the end of semester." Twilight pushed her glasses back up her nose. "I know… I know that this isn't what we planned," she said, "but General Ironwood approved this."
"I know," Ciel said. "And I will obey the orders of my commanding officer without hesitation or complaint." The words 'but that doesn't mean I have to like it' hung unspoken in the air.
Twilight's brow furrowed. "I think they're right. Rainbow Dash and General Ironwood. Penny… Penny deserves a chance to have a little fun and make friends."
"You and Rainbow Dash both vouched for the congeniality of your friends," Ciel reminded Twilight, "and having met them, I can understand why."
"Well, that's… thank you," Twilight said. "But the fact is that they're mine and Rainbow's friends, not Penny's. What right do we have to say 'these are your friends; I've chosen them for you because I approve of them'?"
"My parents approved of all my friends when I was a child," Ciel pointed out.
"Was that before or after you'd met them?"
"Before," Ciel said. "They introduced me to the children of fellow soldiers whom they knew and who knew them."
"That…" Twilight trailed off for a moment. "If my parents had done that, I never would have met Rainbow Dash, and if I hadn't met her, then… sometimes, you just have to take a chance, you know? Have a little faith?"
"Faith is rewarded," Ciel told her. "So is rigorous preparation."
Spike looked up, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, and barked happily at the door. He only barked at the door like that when one of Twilight's friends came around, and – notwithstanding the inexplicable abilities of Pinkie Pie – in this city, and this Academy, that could only be Rainbow Dash.
Sure enough, there was a knock at the door just a few seconds later.
Twilight was about to get up, but she was halted by a raised hand from Ciel.
"It's just Rainbow Dash," Twilight said.
"We'll see," Ciel said in a tone devoid of emotion. She put down her heavy book and got up, picking up the pistol that sat on the arm of her chair.
She loaded and cocked it as she walked towards the door.
Do we really need to be so paranoid? Yes, Penny's nature was a secret, but the four kingdoms were at peace, Vale and Atlas were allies, and this was Beacon Academy for crying out loud; Rainbow Dash wouldn't have suggested staying in Vale and General Ironwood wouldn't have agreed to it if this city was a dangerous place.
Ciel pressed herself against the wall and peered out of the peephole. She made a slightly exasperated noise as she opened the door to reveal Rainbow Dash and Penny.
"Hey," Rainbow said with a sheepish smile on her face. "We brought take-out." She raised a couple of plastic bags bulging with cardboard noodle boxes. Twilight could smell the Mistralian food from where she sat.
"Welcome back," Twilight said. "Are you guys okay?"
"We are in excellent condition!" Penny replied as she followed Rainbow inside.
Ciel shut the door behind them with just a little more force than was necessary. "You have been out of contact for three hours and forty-two minutes."
"Sometimes, I can't tell which one is the automaton," Rainbow muttered as she walked into the centre of the room and deposited the bags of food on the floor. "Hey, Twi. Hey there, Spike."
Spike barked and leapt off Twilight's lap to run to Rainbow Dash's feet. Rainbow grinned as she knelt down and rubbed his chin.
"Kinda makes me miss Tank, seeing the little guy like this," Rainbow murmured.
"I'm sure Pinkie's taking care of him," Twilight assured her.
"Yeah, if the alligator hasn't eaten him."
"Actually, at Gummy's size, his jaws don't have the strength to-"
"I'll take your word for it, Twi; you know math isn't my thing."
"Is that why you were out so late?" Ciel asked, folding her arms.
"We were out with my new friends!" Penny declared cheerfully.
"Indeed," Ciel said. "For a long time."
"Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose, right?" Twilight asked.
"That's right," Penny said. "Pyrrha's a lot less stern in person than she seems on the videos of her fights."
"That is because she was not in battle," Ciel suggested. "Combat requires focus, and focus often leads to a stern affect."
Rainbow rose to her feet. "We also met the other two members of Team Sapphire. Hey, Twilight, you'd never guess who their leader is."
Twilight blinked. It had to be someone that she and Rainbow both knew, or she wouldn't be bringing it up. Equally, it had to be someone she wouldn't necessarily expect to be in such a position. Who did they know who had gone to Beacon? "Flash Sentry?"
Rainbow shook her head. "Sunset Shimmer."
Twilight's eyebrows rose. "You ran into Sunset Shimmer?"
"Yup. Sunset Shimmer, leader of Team Sapphire."
"And you're both still in one piece?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow grinned. "She's actually kind of mellowed out since we last saw her."
Twilight frowned and couldn't keep the scepticism out of her voice. "Really?"
Rainbow shrugged. "Kind of."
Twilight would believe that when she saw it. She didn't have the best memories of Sunset Shimmer. She hadn't asked for Flash Sentry to ask her out – and she had said no, because she wasn't interested – but that hadn't stopped Sunset from acting like Twilight had set out to steal her boyfriend.
Ciel cleared her throat loudly. "What happened?"
Rainbow opened her mouth, but once again, Penny spoke before her. "We went to the arcade. It was a lot of fun! Ruby and I-"
"Penny," Rainbow said, gently but firmly, "I don't think Ciel wants a blow-by-blow account."
"An arcade?" Ciel repeated. "You took Penny to an arcade?"
"You say that like I took her to somewhere really immoral," Rainbow said. "What do you have against video games?"
Ciel stared at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash stared right back.
"I was right there; Penny was never in any danger," Rainbow said firmly.
"You exposed her to outsiders."
"Isn't that what we're supposed to be testing?"
Ciel was silent for a moment. "True," she admitted. "As much as I would have preferred to vet Penny's friends beforehand, your plan has merit. It will determine if Penny can interact with the general population."
"Exactly," Rainbow said. "Now, can we eat before the takeout gets cold?"
Ciel's glance at the food was barely noticeable, but Twilight noticed it regardless.
"Very well," she said.
XxXxX
Rainbow and Ciel were taking out the trash, which required both of them only insofar as they would only have to find the dumpster once, which left Twilight keeping an eye on Penny.
Well, she was sort of keeping an eye on her. She was also still working on the swords, even as she fed Spike a piece of chicken with one hand. He gobbled it up greedily and then nibbled playfully at Twilight's fingers. The tickling sensation made her chuckle a little.
"What are you doing, Twilight?" Penny asked.
"I'm trying to find a way to modify your swords," Twilight said, "so that you can control them without the need for wires."
"Why?" Penny asked curiously.
"Because the wires represent a vulnerability in your design," Twilight said. Doctor Polendina's original design had called for the blades to work on a drone model, powered independently and driven by signals from Penny's core processor. Unfortunately, they couldn't design a sword with a combination of independent power supply and signal receiver that remained compact enough to fit into Penny's backpack with the requisite number of other swords. Ideally, they wouldn't have moved to production until that issue had been sorted, but too much time and money had already been invested in Penny by that point to put everything on hold until they could resolve the issue, so they had moved to a wire-based control model. Hopefully, it would only be temporary if Twilight could find a way to miniaturise the necessary elements of the drone design. "And the goal of our engineering should be to eliminate vulnerabilities."
Penny was silent for a moment. "I thought I was designed to protect the vulnerable, not destroy them."
"Um, that's not quite what I meant by vulnerabilities, Penny," Twilight corrected.
"Oh."
"What I meant was," Twilight continued, as she frowned a little at the holographic display. "Is that we should always try and improve what we've made, to make it better. Does that make more sense?"
"So removing Floating Array's wires will make me better?"
"I think so, yes."
"Oh," Penny repeated. She glanced at the closed door. "Am I in trouble for what I did?"
Twilight shook her head. "I don't think it's possible for you to get into trouble, Penny."
"Even though I ran away?"
"Not even for that," Twilight said. "Allowances are made for your… you. But, uh, don't do it again, okay. The more you learn, the less allowances will be made for your inexperience."
"Oh," Penny said. "Twilight, can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Twilight replied.
"Oh."
Twilight waited a moment. "Sorry, that was… never mind. Yes, Penny, of course you can ask me a question."
"You and Rainbow Dash are friends, aren't you?"
Twilight nodded. "My best friend."
"How do you know?" Penny asked.
"Hmm?"
"How do you know that Rainbow Dash is really your friend?" Penny asked.
Twilight looked away from the hologram, and twisted round to look at Penny. The latter was sat on one of the four beds in the dorm room, her hands resting on her knees, her face illuminated with eager curiosity.
"Penny," Twilight asked, "what's this about?"
"I want to know," Penny said, "how you know that your friend is really your friend. And how you know that you are really their friend. You say that you and Rainbow Dash are friends, but how do you know?"
Twilight cringed a little and looked away from Penny as she absently reached up and started to play with one of the strands of her hair. Her fingertips brushed against her six-pointed star hairclip. "I… it took me some time to find the answer to that myself, Penny."
"But you did, didn't you?"
"Eventually," Twilight said softly. "When I was a child, it felt as though… I was searching for something more but with no idea of what it was. I aced tests, I was praised for my intelligence… but it wasn't enough. I wanted… I needed… more than that. It was as though… I had an emptiness inside me. A void that I couldn't fill, no matter how much I tried. It wasn't until I met my friends that I realised that they were what I'd been missing, that that was what I'd been searching for to fill that void." She chuckled. "I'm afraid this must all seem really unscientific, because it is. I can't tell you how I know that Rainbow Dash is my friend; I can't quantify it that way. I could tell you the things that Rainbow has done for me, the things that all of my friends have done for me, but that's not really it. It's something that I feel… in my soul. When I'm around my friends… everything feels better." She groaned. "I'm terrible at explaining this; I'm sorry. If Pinkie were here, then maybe-"
"No," Penny said. "That… I think I understand. So, Twilight, do you think that I could feel that too? Do you think that I could know that Ruby and Pyrrha are my friends?"
Twilight hesitated for a moment. "Yes," she said. "You have a soul, Penny. And if you have a soul, then you can feel in your soul. You're a person." A person that we built to fight grimm until you die or your parts give out, without ever once asking if that's what you wanted to do with your life. Suddenly, Twilight felt rather ill.
"Twilight?" Penny asked. "Is something wrong?"
Yes. I'm wrong. What we're doing is wrong. This whole situation is wrong! Twilight tried to keep her burgeoning sense of horror at what she had allowed herself to become a part of off her face. She needed to talk to someone about this, someone other than Penny. She needed – she wanted – Rainbow to tell her that they were not complicit in a monstrous act.
She turned off the hologram. She couldn't work on improving Penny's ability to destroy her enemies at this moment.
"I… I'm fine, Penny," she stammered. "I just, uh-"
The door opened, and Rainbow and Ciel came back.
Oh, thank goodness. Twilight put Spike down on the floor and got up. "Um, Ciel, can you take over watching Penny for a bit? I really need to talk to Rainbow Dash."
Ciel nodded. "Very well."
"Outside?" Rainbow suggested.
"Yeah," Twilight said with a nod of her head.
They left the dorm room, Rainbow closing the door behind them as they emerged into the deserted corridor. In time, this part of the campus would hold all of the visiting Atlas students, but right now, it was only them. As a consequence, it was quiet and rather dark. Twilight drifted to the other side of the corridor, clutching nervously at her skirt.
"What's up, Twi?" Rainbow asked solicitously.
Twilight pushed her glasses up her nose as she turned around to face her best and oldest friend. "I want you to tell me that we're not doing something awful."
"We're not doing something awful."
"Can you try and say it as though you mean it?"
Rainbow folded her arms. "What's this about, Twilight?"
"What do you think?" Twilight replied. "We've built a slave."
Rainbow frowned. "You're being a bit harsh, don't you think?"
"Penny doesn't get a choice in what she does or where she goes," Twilight said. "We tell her what to do, and we expect her to do it even if… how is that any different from the way that the faunus were treated before the Great War?"
"Nobody built the faunus; Penny was created for this," Rainbow said.
"Does that matter?"
"I don't know, does it?" Rainbow replied. "Our combat droids, they can think for themselves, right?"
"Kind of, on a simplistic level."
"You don't worry about them being slaves."
"A knight didn't just ask me what friendship was and how I knew that you and I were really friends," Twilight said.
"Penny asked you that?"
"Yes."
Rainbow's eyebrows rose. "Wow. Okay, now I see why you're a little… like this."
Twilight approached her friend. "Rainbow, what are we doing?"
"We're helping Penny find out what's worth fighting for," Rainbow said.
"Huh?" Twilight murmured.
Rainbow looked at Twilight over her shoulder. "Come on, Twilight; your father was a soldier, your brother is one, you know how this works. Nobody is born ready to die for Atlas. Except maybe Ciel." Rainbow grinned. "I wasn't the awesome soldier you see here before I met you. But after meeting you, after Shining Armour took me under his wing, introduced me to General Ironwood, I started to figure out what's worth fighting for, even dying for. We all have to find the answer to that by ourselves, and maybe Penny can do that here in Vale. And if she does, then it won't matter whether she has a choice in the matter or not, because once she starts to fight for something that she believes in, then she'll do it anyway."
XxXxX
Although the Great War was ultimately lost for Mantle and its allies on land, for the greatest part of the duration of the conflict, it was the oceans that caused the most sleepless nights for the King of Mantle and his councillors. At the beginning of the Great War, Mantle imported 80% of its annual food consumption, thirty million tons of shipping, most of it from Mistral. Defending the integrity of this supply line from Valish surface raiders and submarines was the most urgent task facing Mantle's Warfleet.
Penny started clicking her tongue.
Ciel lowered her book and looked at the girl on the bed next to hers. "Is something wrong, Penny?"
Penny looked at Ciel. "I am… I believe the word is 'bored.'"
"Really?" Ciel said dryly. Nevertheless, she put down her book. She had six little brothers, and she knew from experience that boredom only got worse, never better; attempting to ignore it was only storing up trouble for later. "Is there something that you would like to do?"
"I'd like to go and see Ruby and Pyrrha," Penny said. "They're in this school, aren't they?"
"They are," Ciel allowed, "but they are students, and as I understand, they have quarter-terms tests due next week. In fact, I believe they have a practical test tomorrow. Doubtless, they will wish to study, having wasted an afternoon."
"Wasted it with me?"
Ciel swung her legs off the bed and down onto the floor so that she was facing Penny. "That is not what I meant. Any frivolous activity, whether accompanied by you or not, could be considered wasteful in such circumstances."
Penny nodded, but she said, "But I miss them already."
"You are very young, Penny, and such feelings are natural - maybe even desirable - in a child," Ciel said, "but your new friends are older than you are, and as you grow up, you will learn that friendship does not give you the right to insert yourself into their life without consideration for what other demands they have upon their time."
"I see," Penny replied. "Except I don't."
"No, I don't expect you to at this stage," Ciel replied. "As I say, it is something you will learn as you grow up."
"I…" Penny hesitated. "But I'm still bored."
"In my house, if you said you were bored where my parents could hear you, then you were asking to be given a chore to do," Ciel declared.
"What kind of chores?" Penny asked.
"That depended upon where we were living at the time," Ciel said. "Although cleaning either our room or any other part of the house was a perennial favourite. When we lived in Vacuo, the porch had to be swept to keep the sand away. Someone had to walk the dog-"
"You have a dog?" Penny asked excitedly. "Like Spike?"
Spike barked excitedly.
Ciel smiled fondly. "Archie was a little larger than Spike; he was my father's dog. He had been the mascot of the Courageous before he got a little too old to be safe aboard ship, so my father took him in. He was a very friendly dog and always gentle around the younger children."
"Was?"
"He was an old dog," Ciel explained. "He died peacefully in his sleep and was buried with full military honours."
"Is Spike our mascot?" Penny asked.
Spike barked.
"Spike is Twilight's pet," Ciel corrected her. "Some teams of huntsmen use dogs to assist them in their operations, but Spike is not such an animal."
"Oh," Penny said. "So, when you are bored, you do chores?"
"Not since I left home, no," Ciel replied. "I have many things to occupy my hands and time. I study, maintain my weapons, read, make model ships-"
"So what can I do?" Penny inquired.
"What do you want to do?" Ciel turned the question back on her. "Besides spend more time with Ruby and Pyrrha?"
Penny thought about it for a moment. "Could we watch a little TV? I'm really enjoying that LovelyHearts show Twilight introduced me to."
Ciel's eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure that you deserve television after the way that you've behaved recently."
Penny pouted. "No fair, Ciel! I said I was sorry!"
"Hmm," Ciel murmured. "You can watch one hour of television, then you should do something productive."
"Okay," Penny conceded. "Are you going to watch with me? It's always better watching with friends."
Ciel was not such a fan of Twilight's magical girl cartoon, but she nevertheless said, "Yes, Penny, I'll watch it with you." She got up off her bed and took out the scroll.
The door opened, and Rainbow and Twilight came in.
"What's up?" Rainbow asked, as she closed the door behind her.
"We're about to watch some LovelyHearts," Penny declared.
"Great idea," Twilight said. "We can all watch it together."
"If you'd told me we were going to have a viewing party, I'd have picked up snacks," Rainbow said, as a smile played across her face.
Twilight was more familiar with the show in question, so she took over finding the right episode, while Ciel and Rainbow sat down on - in Ciel's case - or beside - in Rainbow's case - Penny's bed while she did so. Twilight was almost ready when there was another knock on the door.
Twilight opened it, revealing Beacon's Headmaster, Professor Ozpin, standing on the other side.
"Good evening, students," he said genially. "May I come in?"
"O-of course, sir," Twilight said, stepping back to admit him.
Ciel leapt to her feet as the headmaster crossed the threshold. "Officer on deck, ten-hut!"
Rainbow and even Penny got to their feet, slamming them into the floor as they stood to attention.
Professor Ozpin chuckled. "Please, there's no need for that; this isn't Atlas, and I'm not an officer."
"At ease," Rainbow commanded.
Ciel clasped her hands behind her back. "Permission to speak, sir?"
"Of course, Miss-"
"Soleil, sir, Ciel Soleil. Obviously, you are correct that this is not Atlas, but you are still our superior and deserve respect."
"I've always been of the opinion that respect should be earned, not blindly given," Professor Ozpin mused, "but I'm resigned to the fact that James and I fundamentally disagree on that."
Ciel would have frowned if it had been permitted. Is he attempting to imply that General Ironwood is not deserving of respect? Or simply that not all officers are?
"If it's any consolation, sir, we respect the office, not you," offered Penny cheerfully.
"Penny!" Ciel managed to bark, hiss, and snap, all at the same time.
Professor Ozpin, amazingly, did not seem offended. In fact, he chuckled. "Then I hope that I can become worthy of your respect, Miss Polendina."
"Is there anything we can do for you, sir?" Rainbow asked.
"On the contrary Miss… Dash, isn't it? Rainbow Dash."
"Yes sir."
"Indeed, James speaks very highly of you," Professor Ozpin said. "He speaks highly of all four of you, but especially you, Miss Dash. In any case, I wished to welcome you to Beacon Academy. Though you've arrived a little early, I hope you'll find your stay here productive and enjoyable."
"I'm sure we will, sir," Rainbow said.
"Thank you, sir, for lodging us so early in the year," Ciel added.
"Not at all, Miss Soleil. While I confess that I do find that Beacon becomes rather desolate during the years when the Vytal Festival is held in other kingdoms, I remain a great supporter of the system of each school playing host to students from the other academies and of the ideals that lie behind it. We are four kingdoms, true, but all part of one common humanity, and we must not lose sight of that fact."
"We do not, sir," Ciel declared. "After all, does not the power of Atlas embrace all our neighbours, warding them with our might and valour without ever asking for reward?"
"It might certainly be put that way," Professor Ozpin allowed. "Is there anything that I can do for you? Do you have everything you need?"
"We are a little short on school supplies, but we will remedy the situation before the resumption of classes on Monday," Ciel said. "We have our timetables, and maps of the school, and our scrolls have been registered to permit access to all relevant buildings."
"Excellent," Professor Ozpin said. "In which case, I'll leave you all to your evening. If you need any help, then I'm sure any of the staff or other students will be glad to assist you, and if they cannot give you what you need, then my door is open.
"Welcome to Beacon, Team Rosepetal. I hope you enjoy your stay."
Chapter 7 - Practical Test
Practical Test
"So," Yang said, as Team YRDN took their accustomed seats opposite Team SAPR, "are you guys looking forward to our first real grimm hunt?"
"Speak for yourself," Nora said. "Me and Ren have been hunting grimm for years."
"And I've fought grimm before too," Yang replied, seeming a little irked at having her experience questioned.
"Technically speaking, we've all fought grimm before," Sunset reminded them. "In the Initiation."
"Well, yeah, obviously, that's why I said 'official,'" Yang said, with an exasperated roll of her eyes. "We're Beacon students now, about to go out on a field mission. Are you really not in the least bit excited about all this?"
"I'm excited," Ruby piped up. "Team Sapphire on their first real mission!"
"Forever Fall doesn't count as a mission?" Jaune asked.
"Forever Fall was only about collecting sap from some trees," Ruby replied. "We weren't necessarily supposed to fight any grimm."
Sunset tucked her hands behind the back of her head. "Of course, Yang and I have already been on a mission to fight the grimm."
"Not with our teams," Yang reminded her. "Come on, are you not excited?"
"I am more concerned with passing the test," Sunset said. "Especially since Professor Port has been pretty cagey about what this test is going to involve."
"I think he's said a fair bit," Yang said. "I mean he told us we were going to get dropped into the Emerald Forest to take care of a whole bunch of grimm."
"Sure, but how is he going to measure our progress?" Sunset asked. "Does everyone pass if they survive? Do we get points for killing grimm, and if so, do we get different points depending on what kind of grimm we kill? How are we supposed to tailor our strategy if we don't know what the optimal outcome is?"
"Maybe that's why Professor Port has kept his mouth shut about it," Ruby suggested. "So that instead of trying to come up with the best strategy to pass the test, we just focus on killing the grimm."
Yang smirked. "That's a nice idea, but you might be giving Professor Port a little too much credit."
"Or you don't give him enough," Sunset countered.
Yang rolled her eyes. "You might think that you get something out of his lessons, but I'm sorry, if he wants me to think that he's a good teacher, he needs to teach in a way that we can all get something out of his lessons."
"Anyway," Nora said, "in answer to your first question, I am looking forward to this! It feels like too long since we had a chance to cut loose!"
"I'm just glad for the opportunity," Pyrrha said softly. "I must confess, it sometimes feels as though the practical elements of the curriculum focus far too heavily on fighting other people."
"At which you're top of the class," Sunset pointed out.
"It does seem just a little strange to complain about a task at which you excel," Ren pointed out.
"I'm not complaining," Pyrrha said quickly, "or at least, if it sounds as though I'm complaining, I apologise; it's just that… this may sound selfish, and perhaps it's just the fact that I already have a great deal of experience in single combat, but it is experience fighting the creatures of grimm that I lack, and I would prefer if the balance of practical study tilted a little more towards them."
"Put like that… I'm inclined to agree," Ren said. "Nora and I have more experience fighting grimm than other humans, but, for all that a trained huntsman may sometimes be the only people who can stand against a rogue huntsman, nevertheless I came here to learn to defend humanity against the grimm."
"That's why we all came here," Yang said. "To learn how to fight monsters. It was even the intro to Professor Port's class, but… yeah, I guess we really haven't done that much of that so far, have we?"
"Speaking for myself," Pyrrha said, "I'm grateful for this opportunity to correct my deficiency."
"So you are excited," Yang pressed.
"I'm eager to learn," Pyrrha replied. "I'm well aware that, for all my prowess in the sparring ring, when it comes to fighting grimm, I'm considerably behind Ruby."
"Didn't you tell me that most of the techniques for fighting people would work against grimm, too?" Jaune reminded her.
"Yeah," Ruby said. "You're going to do great, Pyrrha."
Pyrrha smiled at her. "I'm sure that we'll all do as well as necessary," she said, looking away from Ruby to glance at Jaune. "All of us."
Jaune took a deep breath. He was looking a little nervous, sitting at the end of the table, picking at his breakfast. "Yeah," he agreed, without much conviction or enthusiasm. "All of us."
"Ruby! Pyrrha!"
The heads of all four sapphires turned in the direction of the shout from… Penny?
Penny was standing at the cold counter, waving excitedly. Rainbow Dash was just a step behind, along with a girl that Sunset didn't recognise and… Twilight Sparkle.
Sunset's eyes narrowed. What is she doing here? Shouldn't she be in a science lab somewhere?
Team RSPT made their way over to the table currently occupied by SAPR and YRDN. They were all dressed in Atlesian whites: white shirts with grey waistcoats, white belts and grey ties. They all wore grey pleated skirts that stopped just above their knees, grey stockings and high black boots. Rainbow Dash was distinguished by a red aiguillette wound about her right shoulder.
"Penny!" Ruby cried. "What are you doing here?"
"We're going to be staying at Beacon!" Penny announced cheerfully as she practically ran towards the table.
"Penny," the girl whom Sunset didn't know, dark skinned and muscular, stopped her with a single word in a warning tone.
Penny halted and cleared her throat. "May I please sit with you?"
Yang shrugged, a grin that was both amused and bemused upon her face. "Be our guest."
"Wonderful!" Penny cried. "Thank you so much!"
"Here," Sunset said, shifting one place to the right. "Penny, you can sit there." She thought that Penny would want to talk to Ruby more than to her, and she had no desire to be talked past for the rest of the meal.
"Thank you, Sunset," Penny replied and sat down next to Ruby. "Good morning, Ruby. Good morning, Pyrrha. Good morning, everyone."
Pyrrha chuckled good-naturedly. "Good morning to you too, Penny."
"Penny," Ruby said, "why didn't you tell us that you were going to be staying at Beacon?"
"Why spoil the surprise?" Rainbow asked, with the biggest smirk on her face as she said, "What's up, Sunset?"
"Oh, nothing," Sunset said, through gritted teeth. "Nothing at all."
Twilight looked away. "Um, hello again, Sunset."
Sunset, too, looked away. "Twilight."
"So," Yang began awkwardly, "you must be the people that Ruby ran into yesterday."
"Yep," Rainbow said, pausing on her way to a seat to ruffle Ruby's hair. She sat down next to Sunset, sandwiching her in between Rainbow and Penny. "Rainbow Dash, leader of Team Rosepetal."
"Ciel Soleil," the dark skinned young woman declared, curtsying while still holding a breakfast tray with perfect poise. She was wearing white gloves over her hands, uniquely amongst her team. "It is a pleasure to meet you." Ciel sat down opposite Sunset.
"And I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight added, as she sat down next to Ciel.
"Ciel, Twilight," Penny said. "These are my new friends: Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, and-"
"Twilight and I have met already," Sunset said.
"Let it go," Rainbow muttered, in a voice that verged upon a growl.
Sunset glanced at her. "I have no idea what you mean."
"Yes, you do," Rainbow said. "Which is why I'm telling you to let it go. I'm not going to stand for it."
Sunset's eyebrows rose. "You're not going to stand for it?"
"That's right," Rainbow said. "You got a problem with that?"
Sunset stared at Rainbow. Rainbow stared right back at Sunset.
Sunset blinked first. "No," she muttered. She couldn't forgive Twilight for trying to steal her boyfriend – not when she could have pretty much had her pick from the whole school – but she didn't want to ask angering Rainbow Dash, not when she was in a position to do Sunset some real damage.
"So, anyway," Yang said. "I'm Yang; this is Nora, Ren, and Dove."
"Hey there!" Nora cried.
"Welcome," Ren said.
"It's a pleasure," Dove declared.
"So, Atlas students, huh?" Yang said. "What brings you four to Beacon?"
"We're here to fight in the tournament," Penny said.
"But the tournament isn't held until the end of the year," Ren pointed out, "and the students from the other schools don't usually arrive until the second semester."
"We're taking in the lay of the land," Rainbow said. She grinned. "We want to give ourselves the best chance of beating you losers come the tournament."
Yang gasped theatrically. "Oh, it is on," she declared. "I like you already, Rainbow Dash. I'm looking forward to seeing that bravado drain right out of you when we face each other in the sparring ring."
"I hear it's not the sparring ring you guys have to worry about today," Rainbow said.
"Indeed," Pyrrha said. "We were just discussing our Grimm Studies practical test before you arrived. We don't know much about it, other than that it will involve being inserted into the Emerald Forest to fight off the remains of a grimm horde."
"A grimm horde?" Rainbow repeated.
"That's right," Sunset said. "Me and a few of my fellow team leaders – but mostly me, obviously – stopped a level one horde heading straight to Vale. We killed the apex alpha beowolf, and the grimm have dispersed in the forest."
Yang grinned. "What my modest fellow team leader hasn't mentioned is that, first of all, the killing blow was a joint effort, and second of all, even if we hadn't stopped the horde, the destroyer in the skies waiting for it would have."
"If you really believe that, then why did you hunt it?" Ciel asked.
Yang frowned. "Because that was our mission," she said. "Do as much damage to the horde as possible before it hit the defences."
"It would have been wiser to have waited at the defences and taken advantage of the fire support," Ciel said.
Yang snorted. "That might be how you do things in Atlas, but here in Vale, we don't need a navy holding our hands in the field to get things done."
"Oh it is so on," Rainbow declared.
Twilight sighed. "And it's only our first morning here."
"I wish that we could join you for your exercise," Penny said, "but as we've only just arrived-"
"We'd love to join you, but if we did, there'd be no grimm left for the rest of you," Rainbow said.
"You just can't stop, can you?" Twilight said.
"Please ignore our team leader's ego," Ciel said. "We are looking forward to attending classes with you starting Monday."
"Ruby, Pyrrha," Penny said, "could we go back into Vale tomorrow and pick up some school supplies?"
"That would be helpful," Ciel said. "There is a great deal we require."
"I don't see a problem," Pyrrha said.
"Sunset, that's okay, isn't it?" Ruby asked.
"Sure," Sunset said. "Why not?"
"Wonderful!" Penny cried.
"So, Jaune," Twilight said. "Are you by any chance related to Aoko Arc?"
Jaune looked up, his eyes wide. "You know my sister?"
"Well… know her might be a bit much, but we've corresponded," Twilight explained. "Your sister has some fascinating ideas, things that even I hadn't thought of." She frowned. "It's funny, she never mentioned that you were a huntsman in training."
"Aoko… talks about me?" Jaune asked, sounding very surprised now.
"Yeah," Twilight said, "sometimes. Do you want me to let her know where you are?"
"No," Jaune said, a little louder than necessary. "That's, um, I mean… actually, if you could let her know that I'm okay, that would be great, thank you."
Twilight smiled at him. "No problem."
Sunset looked at Twilight. "You know, Twilight, I would not have expected to see you as part of a huntsman team."
Twilight laughed nervously. "Well, you know, change can be a good thing."
"And she must have gone to combat school if you knew each other, right?" Ruby said. "You were at Canterlot, like Lyra and Bon Bon?"
"Well, sort- oh, hey, Weiss!" Twilight cried, half rising from her seat as Team WWSR walked into the dining hall. Weiss glanced at her, but then focussed upon collecting her breakfast; rather, it was Flash who kept his eyes on Twilight as he, too, got his breakfast, and then the team made their way down the avenue between the two rows of tables.
Weiss stopped. "Twilight Sparkle, yes? We met at the Elevation Day Gala?"
Of course you did, Sunset thought grumpily.
"That's right," Twilight said. "You sang the national anthem very beautifully."
Weiss laughed bashfully. "Yes, well, it was Elevation Day, after all. But what are you doing here? And in an Atlas Academy uniform?"
Ciel got to her feet. "Our team is studying at Beacon this year with the aim of competing in the Vytal Festival. Ciel Soleil, Miss Schnee, at your service."
Weiss turned around to look at Ciel. "Ah, you must be the team leader."
"Actually," Rainbow said, getting to her feet in turn, "that would be me. Rainbow Dash, leader of Team Rosepetal. And this is the fourth member of our team, Penny Polendina."
Penny waved. "Hello, Weiss."
"Penny," Ciel said. "This is Weiss Schnee."
"Oh!" Penny gasped. "I'm sorry, Weiss- I mean, Miss Schnee."
Weiss didn't appear to notice Penny. She was too focussed on Rainbow Dash. A faint flush of pink rose to her cheeks. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"That's quite alright, Miss Schnee," Rainbow said, with a smile on her face. "Just a misunderstanding. And on behalf of my team, I'd just like to say that if there's anything that I or my team can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Finally, a faunus who knows her place," Cardin muttered, which made a muscle in Rainbow's face twitch, but she said nothing.
Weiss did not reply for a moment. "That's… very kind of you," Weiss said. "May we sit here?"
"Be our guest," Rainbow said, before she sat down.
Who are you, and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?
As the other members of Team WWSR sat down, Flash remained standing, facing Twilight. He held onto his breakfast tray with one hand as he chuckled and scratched awkwardly. "Twilight," he said. "Long time no see, huh?"
If he makes a move on her, I'm going to scratch someone's eyeballs out, Sunset thought.
"Hello again, Flash," Twilight murmured.
"Listen, Twilight," Flash said, "I don't know how you ended up here, but I'm sorry."
Sunset raised her head in surprise. Twilight looked pretty surprised herself.
"Sorry?" she said.
"For… hitting on you, back in Canterlot," Flash said. "I should have taken the hint that you weren't interested the first time. I've… seen from the outside how it looks, and it's not cool."
Jaune made a kind of groaning, mewling noise and turned away. Pyrrha gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
"Is there any chance," Flash went on, "that we could start over?"
"Of course," Twilight said, with a smile that was relieved, but not half as relieved as Sunset felt. "I'd be glad to."
"Great," Flash said. "That's a load off. Thanks, Twi."
"Happy to help," Twilight said. "Good luck out there in the forest today."
"For the past four weeks, we have been in continual practice," Weiss declared. "We have no need of luck. But your good wishes are appreciated nonetheless."
Team BLBL were the last to arrive, ambling into the breakfast hall and seeming surprised to find the first year table so full... and Team WWSR sitting there. Bon Bon and Lyra were especially surprised to see Rainbow Dash and Twilight.
"What's the Ace of Canterlot doing here?" Bon Bon asked. "And why are you sitting at the table with babies like us?"
"I'm… taking first year again," Rainbow admitted.
"'Again'?" Yang asked. "You're eighteen?"
Sky snorted. "What kind of an ace has to re-sit a year?"
"The kind whose team got caught in an ambush and only survived because of her," Lyra said acidly. "How's Applejack?"
"Oh, you know Applejack; she'll be fine," Rainbow said. "She's taking a break for this year: work at the farm, figure stuff out, spend time with her family, all that good old Applejack stuff. Maud's doing the same."
"That's great to hear," Lyra said. "I'm surprised you didn't want to take some time yourself."
"Pfft, no," Rainbow said. "What would I be doing if I wasn't kicking ass and saving the day?"
While they had been talking, Blake had been staring at Rainbow in amazement. It was weird, the way that she didn't seem able to tear her golden eyes away from Rainbow. It was almost as if…
Oh. Oh, right.
This could get awkward. Or it could get fun.
Rainbow noticed Blake staring. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"This is our team leader, Blake Belladonna," Lyra said.
"You're… a faunus," Blake murmured.
"Yeah," Rainbow said, some sharpness entering her voice.
"And… you're wearing an Atlas uniform?"
Twilight cringed. Ciel frowned a little.
"Uh-huh," Rainbow said. "Is that a problem?"
Blake seemed to abruptly realise what Rainbow was thinking. "Oh, no!" she said. "I would never… I was just surprised to see a faunus wearing the uniform of the kingdom whose military oppresses the faunus across Remnant."
The temperature around the table seemed to drop by several degrees. Twilight let out a squeak of dismay. Ciel's frown deepened. Flash winced. Lyra and Bon Bon seemed both to be holding their breath. Everyone else just stared at Blake like she'd grown a second head and it had declared its intention to destroy Beacon Academy.
Rainbow smiled. "You know what I was really hoping for when I woke up today? You know what I really thought would put the cherry on everything? Some clueless human calling me a sell-out. So thanks a lot; you've made my day."
Blake did not reply. She looked torn between outrage and apology, but in the end, she expressed neither. Although her head did bow a little as she walked away.
"That… was a little harsh," Lyra said, in a tone of gentle admonishment.
"And what she said was insulting," Rainbow snapped. "To me and to Atlas."
But what Weiss said wasn't? Sunset thought.
"Blake," Yang said. "None of us really know her that well, but she's not a bad person. In fact, she's really brave out in the field. I'm sure that she didn't mean to upset you."
Rainbow snorted but didn't reply.
The rest of the breakfast passed in relative quiet until it was time to head to the lockers and get geared up for their practical test.
"Good luck, Ruby!" Penny called. "Good luck, Pyrrha!"
Sunset coughed loudly into her hand.
Rainbow grinned. "The great Sunset Shimmer needs luck now?"
"Good luck, everyone," Penny corrected herself.
"If fortune is with us, then our valour will prevail," Pyrrha murmured.
The Beacon students left as a group and departed en masse towards the locker room, leaving the Atlas students behind, suddenly very bereft and all alone, watching.
XxXxX
Twilight watched them go: Penny's new friends, and her and Rainbow's old friends from Canterlot. And Sunset.
They'll be okay. It's not like Beacon would assign them a hopeless battle as a test.
"I'm glad nobody but Sunset found it surprising that you're a huntress student," Rainbow said. "Or passing for one. I guess that you could find Lyra being here just as surprising."
"She wants to help," Twilight said softly.
"Doesn't mean she's good at it," Rainbow replied.
"Not everyone can be you," Twilight reminded her, pushing her glasses a little further up her nose.
"Of course not," Rainbow said easily. "There's only one of me." She grinned, but only for a moment. "How does it feel to not have to worry about Flash?"
Twilight chuckled nervously. "It feels… it's a relief, I have to admit."
"What are you talking about?" Penny asked.
"Oh, nothing really," Twilight said quickly. "It's just that Flash was in the year below us at Canterlot, and, well, he found me… attractive."
"Well, you are attractive, Twilight," Penny said. "I think you're pretty."
Twilight blinked. "Um, that's, uh, that's nice, Penny, but I, uh, the point is that I wasn't interested, and he had a difficult time understanding that."
"He is handsome enough," Ciel commented. "Although persistence is a vice in these matters."
"He's a nice guy," Twilight said, "and I hope that he finds someone… someone he can be happy with. But that someone wasn't me. I'm glad that he can accept that." I wonder what caused him to realise that all of a sudden? She turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. "Did you have to be so… did you have to snap at Blake like that?"
"You heard what she said," Rainbow cried. "Should I have let that go?"
"We have to live here for the next year," Twilight reminded her, "and for the duration of this semester, it's not as if we can retreat into the bosom of the other Atlas students if we burn all our bridges here."
"I understand your concerns, but should we let the honour of Atlas be subject to slander?" Ciel demanded.
"I don't understand," Penny said. "What was it she said that was so terrible?"
Rainbow sighed, "There's nothing to understand, Penny; that girl was just an idiot." She got up and walked around the long table to sit down next to Twilight. Rainbow reached out and took Twilight's hands in her own. "Twi, you are my… you're my best friend, and I love you. But you will never understand this part of what it's like to be me." Her ears twitched. "You'll never have to put up with people asking you how you can wear the Atlas uniform, calling you a traitor to your people, saying that… that we can't really be friends because of what we are."
"I have had that, actually," Twilight whispered.
Rainbow's eyes widened. "Who? When?"
"Stupid people when you first moved in with us; it doesn't matter," Twilight said. "The point is that I do know what it's like to have our relationship questioned."
"Then you understand why I'm tired of it," Rainbow said. "I'm proud to wear this uniform, and I don't have to explain or justify that to anyone, human or faunus. And I know that you don't want me to start fights, and I get it… but I'm not going to let anyone insult Atlas, or the General, or you, or… I'll behave myself, so long as she does."
XxXxX
The freshman students – having gathered their weapons and, where necessary, their armour from the lockers – assembled in front of the skydocks, where several Bullheads were already waiting to transport them. They formed lines abreast by team, four teams to a line, and waited to hear just what was expected of them. Teams SAPR, YRDN, WWSR, and BLBL formed the first rank.
Professor Port was also waiting for them. "Good morning, students!" he declared. "It warms my heart to see you ready for action, bright-eyed and bushy tailed!" he chuckled, with a glance at Sunset.
Sunset laughed nervously as her tail brushed from side to side.
"As you may be aware," Professor Port continued, striding up and down the line of students, "fairly recently, a level one concentration of grimm was detected moving through the Emerald Forest in the direction of Vale. Fortunately, swift and valiant action by our team leaders led to the horde dispersing throughout the Emerald Forest. Of course, that still leaves the forest playing host to higher than usual numbers of grimm, and that is where you come in. You will board these Bullheads by teams and be transported into the forest where you will disembark by pairs."
"By pairs, sir?" Sunset asked.
"Indeed, Miss Shimmer, by partner pairs, in fact," Professor Port clarified. "You will disembark with Miss Rose, then Miss Nikos and Mister Arc. The exercise will last for four hours, and your objective is to kill as many grimm as possible in that time. I will observe your progress through the forest's security systems, rank each team based on their behaviour, and assign grades to each student and team accordingly."
Which you aren't going to tell us. It's just like Ruby said, isn't it?
"Now," Professor Port said, "when I call your team name, board the Bullhead directly in front of you. Team Wisteria."
Weiss led her team forward, where the four of them boarded the Bullhead on the left-hand skydock.
"Team Sapphire," Professor Port said, and the four sapphires stepped forward, climbing aboard the second Bullhead. The airship took off as soon as they were all aboard, gripping the loops that hung from the ceiling as they were born out off the cliffs and over the vast green expanse that was the forest.
Jaune kept a tight grip on the hilt of his sword with his other hand. His head was bowed, and his eyes were uncertain.
"What's wrong, Jaune?" Ruby asked. "Are you feeling airsick again?"
"Uh, no," Jaune said quickly. "That was just a… nothing's wrong," he added.
"We should try and find each other once we dropped off," Pyrrha suggested.
"If that's not the point of the test, Professor Port might penalise us for it," Sunset replied.
"We're in teams of four for a reason," Pyrrha retorted. "Just because we weren't instructed to link up doesn't mean that we shouldn't. Professor Port might consider it an obvious step."
"Or it might be a secret test," Ruby suggested. "Where we have to think of it on our own."
"I suppose that would fit with his opaque teaching style," Sunset muttered, "I suppose he didn't say not to, so, sure. Mark where we get off and try and make your way there. We'll try not to move too far."
The Bullhead descended over a small clearing, its engines rotating on the wing so that they were pointing downwards.
"Looks like this is where we get off," Sunset said.
"Good hunting," Pyrrha said.
Sunset grinned. "And the same to you," she said before leaping down out of the Bullhead. Her legs bent as she hit the ground, her hair dancing around her head as the airship's engines blew down upon her. Ruby landed beside her, Crescent Rose already extending in her hands as the Bullhead began to rise back into the sky and fly away to the north.
"I hope they're okay," Ruby said as the Bullhead passed out of sight, hidden by the thick trees that grew so high all around them.
"They'll be fine," Sunset replied. "It's Pyrrha."
"Pyrrha said she wasn't that experienced at fighting grimm," Ruby reminded her, "and Jaune seemed nervous."
"They'll be okay," Sunset told her. "Trust me, I've got a good sense of these things."
"Really?" Ruby asked, sounding a little sceptical.
"Yes, really," Sunset said, as she looked around the clearing. It was rather ordinary, an earthy, nearly grassless little opening in the forest, a spotlight of sunshine amidst the dark eaves of the densely packed wood, with the only notable feature being a large stone sitting in the middle of the clearing. Sunset took a step towards it and felt her foot scuff against something on the ground. It turned out to be a coin, an old one by the looks of it, given that it was in a pretty rough state with the edge having been worn away and chipped. That and the fact that coins weren't in much use any more.
"What's that?" Ruby asked.
"I'm not sure; I just found it on the ground," Sunset murmured, as she scooped the coin off the floor and held it up into the light.
It had a man's face on one side, a rather ordinary face, even allowing for the fact that this was an old coin and one couldn't expect a great likeness. His hair was a little untidier than Sunset would have expected, messy in a way that kind of reminded her of Jaune. Around the edge of the coin was inscribed the words 'Osgiliath Rex' and then something else that was partially lost by the fact that there were bits of the coin missing. Sunset turned it over. A woman's face lay on the obverse side, pretty perhaps, but it was hard to tell, with a more elegant hairstyle than that of the man. 'Sal' was the first word, cut off by a missing metal, followed by 'Regina'.
"Must be a relic from some old kingdom," Sunset said, as she put the coin into her pocket. Maybe she'd show it to Doctor Oobleck later and see if it meant something to him.
"So," Ruby said. "What do we do now?"
"Well, since we agreed to wait here for Jaune and Pyrrha, we can't go looking for grimm," Sunset said, as she unslung Sol Invictus from off her shoulder. "So we'd best see if we can't draw them here." She started to saunter towards the rock.
"How do you mean?"
Sunset sat down on the rock. "I mean that, since you wouldn't know a negative emotion if it bit you, I will sit here and brood on the injustices of the world until some monsters come to eat me."
"Hey, I have negative emotions," Ruby protested. "I'm not just some cartoon character or something."
"No," Sunset conceded, "but of the two of us, I think we both know who is better suited towards attracting grimm with sheer negativity."
Ruby walked towards her. "I don't know," she said. "You seem to be doing a lot better lately."
"Really?" Sunset asked.
Ruby nodded. "You've barely gotten angry at all in the last week."
Sunset snorted. "Well, I have you guys to thank for that," she said, reaching out to pull Ruby into a hug, holding the smaller girl close against her for a moment. "That and… anyway. I bet I can still get my brood on now that the girl who tried to steal my boyfriend is here."
Ruby frowned. "Who? You mean… Twilight Sparkle?"
"Uh huh," Sunset acknowledged. "Okay, she didn't exactly try to steal my boyfriend, but… after Flash broke up with me, he suddenly got interested in Twilight. And why wouldn't he? Pretty Twilight Sparkle, sweet Twilight Sparkle, Fall Formal Princess Twilight Sparkle, everyone's favourite bespectacled cutie pie Twilight Sparkle. Demure Twilight Sparkle who dressed like the Good Girl who gets the guy at the end in all those teen movies, while I… yeah, this. Twilight Sparkle who was so nice she'd stop in the corridor to help people gather up their books after I… I mean after some bad-tempered and malicious person had knocked them out of their hands."
"Sunset," Ruby said reproachfully.
"I'm not proud, but she didn't have to be so nice all the time," Sunset growled. "She was like you but worse. She and Rainbow Dash ruled the school with their little clique; everyone wanted to be Rainbow Dash, and everyone wanted to be Twilight's friend. And she was connected, too; her sister-in-law is on the Atlas Council, and that didn't hurt her status one bit." She sighed. "I thought I was free of all of them, and now, they're here."
"Yeah, but you've changed since you knew them last," Ruby reminded her. "So maybe you can start over. Maybe when we go back into Vale tomorrow, you can… I don't know, get to know them all over again."
"That's the other thing," Sunset muttered. "I don't get why they're here. Twilight Sparkle is not a huntress; she was taking the ancillary aura track."
"The what?"
"It's… Canterlot offered courses not specifically tailored to those wanting to move from Combat School to one of the four academies," Sunset explained. "I mean, it offered those as well, but it also offered other courses for people who wanted to learn how to use their aura, maybe unlock their semblance, but who didn't really intend to apply for Atlas or Beacon. Twilight was like that. She was always more a scientist than a huntress."
"People can change, like she said."
"Not that fast," Sunset countered thoughtfully. "Rainbow Dash, sure, but Twilight? And that thing about repeating a year, is that how it works? Something's going on with them."
"Hmm," Ruby murmured, her expression pensive. "I've got it! Ciel is an Atlesian robot, and Twilight is here to keep her maintained while they test her out!"
Sunset looked at her. "A robot?"
"A human robot. Or a cyborg. A full cyborgised human with a robotic body."
"You read too many comics," Sunset declared.
"Uh… maybe," Ruby conceded. "I'm just glad to have Penny here; she seems really nice."
"And that sort of attitude is precisely why you cannot attract grimm," Sunset said.
A growling sound drifted towards them from out of the forest nearby.
"I, on the other hand..." Sunset said, leaping down from off the rock.
Time to go to work.
XxXxX
Weiss leapt off a glyph, using it as a springboard as she soared through the air, rapier held before her. With the tip of her Myrtenaster, she impaled an ursa through the chest, using a blast of fire dust to finish it off.
She landed on the ground with perfect poise as the grimm disintegrated.
Behind her, Flash took the blow of the second ursa upon his shield, Rho Aias, before cutting off its other paw with a swing of his sword, Caliburn. The ursa moaned in pain, recoiling away from the young huntsman. Caliburn shifted from sword to spear in Flash's hands as he thrust it forwards into the ursa's chest, impaling the beast and driving it to the ground where it began to disintegrate into ashes.
"Nicely done," Weiss commented.
"Thanks," Flash said, a moment before a fusillade of shots from elsewhere in the forest split the air.
"We're not the only ones to have encountered the grimm," Weiss murmured, watching the birds scatter out of the trees.
"Sunset and Ruby," Flash said.
Weiss raised one eyebrow. "You're sure?"
"I've heard Sol Invictus enough to know what it sounds like," Flash replied.
"I suppose," Weiss murmured. "In which case, I have no doubt that those two will be fine."
"Yeah," Flash said, with some conviction in his voice. He was armoured in a fashion which made him look more Mistralian than Atlesian, clad in a gilded cuirass in the antique style called lorica segmentata, with a helmet, likewise gilded, with a blue crest rising above his head. His shield was a large round hoplon that covered his torso completely. Studded pteruges descended from below his waist to cover his incongruous jeans, over which he also wore a set of gilded greaves. The fact that he was wearing a thoroughly modern black jacket with red and white stripes on the arms over his old-fashioned armour provided a discordantly anachronistic note. "So, which way now?"
Weiss hesitated, uncertain. She thrust Myrtenaster into the sash at her waist and checked the map on her scroll. "We'll head west," she announced, "towards where we fought the grimm concentration and defeated it. Perhaps there are still grimm who didn't go very far."
"Fine by me," Flash said. As they began to walk, Weiss leading the way and Flash following behind her, Flash said, "I didn't know that you knew Twilight."
"We're not friends," Weiss explained quickly. "Although I think she might be a fan of my singing career. But we have met socially, from time to time. Her family is very well-connected."
"She seems to think of you as a friend," Flash pointed out.
"I get the impression that Twilight considers a great many people to be friends, whether they think of her in the same way or not," Weiss replied.
"Twilight… she does have an open heart," Flash said.
"Is that what attracted you to her?" Weiss asked.
Flash laughed nervously. "You… yeah, of course you heard that."
"If you wanted privacy, you should have made a token effort to secure some," Weiss said. "I must confess, I'm having trouble imagining you as Jaune Arc."
"Yeah," Flash groaned. "Not my greatest moment. I just… I really liked her. Or at least, I thought I did. She, and her friends, really helped me get it together after Sunset and I… and she was sweet and kind and… I thought there was something there. Turned out she was just being nice. Like you said, that's just the way Twilight is."
"Indeed," Weiss murmured, and for that, she couldn't help but envy the other girl.
It must be nice to make friends so easily.
XxXxX
"Of all the people to see around here," Lyra said, "Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle."
"I know, weird, right?" Bon Bon said. Weird… and a little troubling.
What were they doing here? What did they want? It was far too early for them to be here just for the Vytal Festival. The other Atlas students weren't going to be here until the next semester, so what were Dash and Twilight doing here?
Had General Ironwood sent them? Something to do with the dust robberies? It was hard to imagine that Ironwood would put Twilight in the line of fire like that, but she could see him using Rainbow Dash as his instrument very easily. Rainbow was always bragging about how close she was to the general, how she was his protégé. It would be just like her to volunteer for a dangerous mission just to impress him.
Or for the general to manipulate her into putting her life at risk to impress him. Doctor Watts said that was how the powerful maintained their grip, after all: they flattered the egos of good people like Rainbow Dash until they could bend them to their will, gaining useful pawns and eliminating sources of challenge.
But Twilight, though; Twilight wasn't a fighter. She was even less of one than Lyra was. So what was she doing here?
She is a scientist. Could it be something to do with Amber?
She would have to pass this information up the chain. If Atlas was onto them, then… then they might have to take steps.
Steps she didn't really want to think about.
Twilight, Rainbow, I'm sorry.
But you shouldn't have gotten involved in this.
XxXxX
Blake kicked the alpha creep up into the air, leaping after to slice its belly open with a slash from Gambol Shroud. She dropped back down again to see Sky burying his halberd in the skull of a common creep, the last of the pack that they had encountered.
"Thanks for doing most of the work," Sky said. "I'm not sure what I'd have done if I'd ended up with a less capable partner than you in Initiation."
"I'm sure you'd have managed," Blake said quietly, because it felt like the sort of thing that she ought to say in the circumstances. She switched Gambol Shroud from sword to pistol in her hand, holding it down by her side but ready to raise it at a moment's notice.
Sky rested his halberd on his shoulder. "I was surprised by what you said to that faunus. I mean, I was surprised that they let people like that into Atlas in the first place."
It's probably so they can point to her and the few other faunus they let in through the door and say 'see, we're not bigoted towards the faunus at all.' And then they can go on fighting the White Fang to defend the SDC and the corrupt status quo.
Everyone who had ever been a part of the White Fang knew that the Atlesian military was their true opponent. Better resourced than the Valish Defence Force; less corrupt than the Mistral Police Department; and, it had to be said, ably led by the ruthless General Ironwood, the Atlesian military acted as the enforcers of the Schnee Dust Company, the other half of the unholy alliance that kept the faunus in submission.
The idea that a faunus could willingly serve them…
"Blake?" Sky asked.
"Huh?" Blake murmured. "Sorry, I got lost in thought."
"I just asked, why did you say that?" Sky asked. "It didn't seem to do much except make them upset."
"I know," Blake said softly. It had been a mistake to be so blunt with them; of course a faunus surrounded by humans would react that way. Rainbow probably felt obliged to act that way or risk punishment. Or perhaps she had been conditioned to believe it.
Blake was reminded of what Sunset had said, about faunus who hung around with exclusively humans and started to believe they were human. More than that, she was reminded of Ilia and her stories about Crystal Prep Combat Academy in Atlas. Her old friend had shared some real stories with Blake about what it was like in 'the greatest kingdom,' about the casual cruelty of the humans who studied to become the oppressors of faunus-kind, of the verbal and physical abuse they unleashed to maintain order in their ranks and to keep any openly faunus student in her place.
What must Rainbow Dash have gone through? What might she be going through even now?
From Ilia, Blake's thoughts turned to Velvet Scarlatina, whom Blake had failed to help when she was obviously in need. It had fallen to Jaune Arc to step up and do the right thing, and he had shamed Blake by his actions. As far as she knew, the plight of the faunus meant nothing to him, and yet, his common decency had driven him to do more than her politics or her… personal interest in this matter.
I can't just hide in a dark hole and let the injustices of the world go on.
Blake would reach out to her more privately next time. She might not be able to reveal her secret to the Atlesian girl, but she was sure that it would be a comfort to her to know she had a friend at Beacon.
Someone who understood.
XxXxX
"Do you think they're okay?" Jaune asked as he and Pyrrha headed towards the sound of gunfire, the sharp crack of Sol Invictus and the deeper boom of Crescent Rose mingling as they echoed through the trees.
Pyrrha paused mid-stride, hesitating for a moment. "The gunshots are coming at intervals. They fire and then stop, and then after a little while, they start shooting again. That suggests that grimm are coming to them in staggered groups and that they are fighting them off one at a time."
"Right, that makes sense," Jaune said. "Hey, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder at him. "Yes, Jaune?"
"Thanks for giving me a real answer and not fobbing me off with some platitude about how strong Ruby and Sunset are," Jaune said. "I mean, they are strong, but… you know what I mean?"
Pyrrha nodded, even as she looked apologetic. "Yes, I know what you mean. And I'm sorry. I know that I haven't always been as helpful a partner as I could have been-"
"That wasn't what I've been trying to say; you've been great," Jaune said. "Not everyone would have supported me even after they found out… you know." Even now, he remained reluctant to share his secret out loud, even after it had lost the power to hurt him thanks to Sunset. "Not everyone would have given up their time to help me achieve my dream."
Pyrrha smiled. "I… I prefer not to think of it as a dream; rather… as a goal. Dreams are ephemeral, they crumble into dust when we awake, but your goal has survived contact with adversity, and you've shown you're willing to work towards it, to… to make it your destiny. I… I admire that about you." She paused. "And yet, I still owe you an apology for slipping too easily into meaningless cliché when we first met. I'm not particularly good at dealing with people."
"You've more than made up for it since," Jaune assured her. "Hey, Pyrrha? You know, in the Forever Fall, when you stood back and let me take on that beowolf? You said something, I can't quite remember what it was."
A flush of colour rose to Pyrrha's cheeks, even though Jaune wasn't sure why. "Oh, it was nothing important. Nothing at all, really."
"Okay," Jaune said. "This wasn't what I was about to ask anyway. I was going to ask? Could you stand back again today? At least a little. I know that you said that you need the practice against the grimm, but I'm not so sure, and to be honest, I think I need it more. I need to see how far I've come… and how far I have yet to go."
Pyrrha looked into his eyes. "I understand," she said, "but you mustn't expect me to let you fight an entire pack of beowolves by yourself."
"No," he agreed, with a slight laugh. He supposed that what kind of enemies she thought it was acceptable to let him face by himself was, in its own way, a sign of his progress.
Pyrrha smiled. "We should probably keep moving," she said.
"Right," he said, and indeed, they did keep moving, pushing through the forest towards the sound of the shots from Ruby and Sunset.
Until they heard another noise coming from much closer to home: rustling in the undergrowth, footsteps thumping and heavy breathing.
Pyrrha stepped into a guard, shield held before her and spear drawn back; she also glanced at him to see if he was ready.
Jaune couldn't have told her because he didn't know. He just knew that he couldn't hide behind Pyrrha for four years.
An ursa emerged from out of the trees, some of which it trampled down upon its way. It was not large enough to be an ursa major, or at least Jaune didn't think it was, but it was nevertheless a pretty decent size.
Pyrrha tensed, but despite that, she did not move. She trembled with suppressed energy, but she did not move.
Not even when the ursa looked at her.
Jaune banged his sword against his shield. "Over here, big guy! I'm your opponent!"
The ursa might or might not have understood him, but it heard the noise and turned to look at him.
It let out a low growl.
I can do this. I can totally do this.
Jaune rushed at the ursa with a roar, shield before him and sword raised. He attacked with his shield first, thrusting out with it to whack the ursa on the snout. It turned its head, growling in pain, and as it turned away, Jaune slashed downwards at its neck. It didn't quite land; he hadn't aimed right, and he had slashed at its shoulder instead, but Crocea Mors still cut deep into the monster's black fur.
The ursa's growl was louder this time, and it thrust its head forward like a battering ram, hoping to knock Jaune off his feet. Jaune took the blow upon his shield, and his stance was just about right enough that, although he wobbled, he was able to keep his feet.
That didn't last when the ursa lumbered forwards, using its whole body to knock Jaune back and onto his back. His sword slipped from his fingers.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried.
"Wait!" Jaune shouted imploringly. He could do this; she just had to trust him a little bit.
There was no shot from Miló. There was no flash of red as Pyrrha leapt to his rescue. That was a good sign, Jaune figured; it meant that she didn't think he was dead meat yet.
The ursa stepped on his chest with one paw, crushing his aura a little beneath the pressure, as it moved its bony head towards him, growling.
Jaune hit it with his shield gripped in both hands, swiping it right, then left, then thrusting it straight upwards to hammer the ursa from the sides of the face and on the snout, pounding on it until the snarling ursa reared up on its hind legs to get away from him. Jaune scrambled to his feet, grabbing his sword from up off the ground and thrusting it into the ursa's exposed chest. He twisted the blade, then drew it out, then slashed crosswise. He-
-got hit by a sideswipe from the ursa's paw that he hadn't been paying attention to, which knocked him sideways and sent him rolling across the ground.
Jaune rose to his feet with less dignity than Pyrrha would have managed, but he got on his feet regardless. The ursa roared at him, dropping back down onto all fours heavily enough to make the ground shake beneath it. It huffed and puffed.
Jaune waited, expectant.
The ursa charged. Jaune charged to meet it.
The ursa's mouth was open, and a roar escaped its throat as it lunged at him.
Jaune was nowhere near as light on his feet as Pyrrha; he lacked her grace in movement, but as he thrust out his shield towards the ursa, he was able to sidestep away from its maw, turning the blow away with his shield even as he struck downwards.
And this time, he found the neck.
His sword bit deep but did not sever the ursa's head. He had to hack at it two more times before the grimm dropped dead.
But it did die. Because he had killed it.
He… he had killed it! He would have whooped, but he was kind of tired.
He looked at Pyrrha, about to thank her for standing aside, when he saw her relax visibly now that the fight was over and he was out of danger.
She hadn't been certain, he realised; she hadn't been sure that he could do it.
But she had let him try anyway, because… because she understood that he needed to try.
I really did get lucky with you as my partner. Somehow, he doubted that Sunset would have been as understanding. He wasn't even certain Ruby would have been.
Of course, he'd know that he was making real progress when Pyrrha could stand back and let him fight without flinching.
And he'd get there, some day.
Chapter 8 - Return to Vale
Return to Vale
Team SAPR arrived at the skydock first and were waiting for the hourly skybus into Vale when Team RSPT arrived to join them.
"I'm sorry if we kept you waiting," Penny said. "Twilight had to check her checklist three times!"
"Organisation is very important, Penny," Twilight informed her.
"There's no need to apologise," Pyrrha said. "If anything, we were here early; the skybus isn't due for a little while longer."
"Oh, Jaune," Twilight said. "I, um, I spoke to your sister Aoko, and I mentioned that I'd seen you. It was… a little weird."
Jaune's eyes narrowed a little. "What did she say?"
"Um… that she's still waiting for those snacks."
Jaune rolled his eyes. "That doesn't surprise me."
Sunset frowned at the guns strapped to Rainbow's hips. "Are you bringing your weapons?"
"It's not Atlas, of course, I'm bringing my weapons," Rainbow said, managing to make Sunset sound like the idiot for not bringing her weapons. "You should be glad I didn't bring my Unfailing Loyalty."
Sunset frowned. "Is that the shotgun or the wings?"
"Unfailing Loyalty is the shotgun," Rainbow said, with a touch of exasperation. "The wings are called Wings of Harmony."
"Well, excuse me for not having the names of every weapon in your excessive loadout memorised," Sunset replied.
Rainbow grinned. "You can laugh, but when you've used up those six lousy shots in that gun of yours, I'll still have rounds to spare."
"Were those all of your weapons that you were wearing yesterday?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah," Rainbow said. "Why?"
"I couldn't help but notice that you don't have a close quarters option," Pyrrha said.
Rainbow held up her fists. "I got two close quarters options right here, Pyrrha."
"Oh, you're another true hand to hand fighter," Pyrrha declared. "You must be quite skilled in manipulating your aura."
Rainbow raised one eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"
"I presumed that you must use it to increase the potency of your strikes," Pyrrha replied. "Do you have some sort of burst or shock attack in which you direct your aura outwards and then expend it to create effects?"
Rainbow chuckled. "Come on, Pyrrha, you can't expect me to give away all my secrets."
Pyrrha laughed too. "Of course not, but equally, you can't deny me my observations."
"How many hand to hand fighters do you know, Pyrrha?" Penny asked. "From my study of your matches, I can only think of Arslan Altan."
"She is the only such competing at the highest level," Pyrrha agreed. "It's a rather difficult discipline to master; as I was saying to Rainbow Dash, it requires an extraordinary degree of aura control. Not everyone has the patience for it."
"That is not the actual reason why very few people practice it," Sunset argued. "The real reason is that it's a stupid way to fight. Why rely on your fists when you could have a weapon?"
"Yang fights with her fists," Ruby pointed out.
"Your sister has rocket shotguns strapped to her arms, that… that only half counts, at best. In fact, I'd say it counts about a third, maybe."
"I guess you've got a point," Ruby admitted, "and about the aura control too. Yang and I never really learnt much more than we needed to control our semblances. Learning to use Crescent Rose took up most of my time with Uncle Qrow."
"Hey," Sunset said. "At some point, you and Rainbow Dash should have a race. See which of your speed semblances is quicker."
Rainbow folded her arms with a very smug look on her face. "Setting your own teammate up to fail and succumb to disappointment. That's cold, Sunset, even for you."
Sunset's eyebrows climbed up her forehead. "Or maybe I just want to wipe that cocky look off your face, Dash." She leaned on the top of Ruby's head with one elbow. "Our Ruby has quite the turn of speed."
Rainbow continued to look supremely confident. "No offence, Ruby, I'm sure you're fast, but you're not Rainbow Dash fast."
"Oh, really?" Jaune declared. "Well maybe we should put that to the test." He hesitated. "I mean, if you're okay with that, Ruby?"
"Uh, sure," Ruby said. "I mean, it's all in good fun, right?"
"Yes, Ruby, it's all in good fun," Sunset agreed. "But for the honour of Team Sapphire, you'd better win."
"Sunset," Pyrrha murmured reproachfully.
Ciel sighed. "You are such children, arguing over who is the fastest." She paused. "That being said, if you intend to engage in this contest, then the pride of Atlas demands no less than victory."
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"So, Penny," Pyrrha said, "do you follow the Mistralian tournament circuit? I can't imagine that's particularly common in Atlas."
"Actually," Ciel began, "it is more common than-"
"Oh, no," Penny said. "My father and Mister Ironwood had me watch lots of fights by great fighters so I could build up an understanding of combat."
"Oh," Pyrrha said, sounding slightly surprised. "I… see."
Rainbow Dash was looking very uncomfortable about something. "Penny-"
"I have to say," Pyrrha continued, not realising that Rainbow had spoken, "without intending any disrespect to your father or… Mister Ironwood."
"General Ironwood," Ciel corrected, as if automatically.
"Yes," Pyrrha said, "I'm not sure that's the best way to train to fight. After a certain point, all you'll be learning is how a certain number of fighters, well, fight. The reason why we train instead of simply studying is so that we can develop our own styles."
"Really?" Penny asked, leaning forward. "Wait, does that mean that I've wasted my time?"
"Not necessarily," Pyrrha allowed. "There are some on the tournament circuit who believe in obsessively studying their opponents' previous matches so they can learn their movements; do you know Kurt the White Wolf?"
"I've only seen her fight you, and it wasn't that impressive," Penny said. "You beat her easily."
"It… was not my most difficult fight," Pyrrha acknowledged, "but that doesn't wholly invalidate the method."
"But it's not what you do?"
"No, I prefer to hone my skills in general; I think it makes them more applicable to the circumstances."
"So I should be doing that too?"
"We will not be throwing out your existing training programme upon the word of Pyrrha Nikos," Ciel said firmly. "No offence, Miss Nikos, but Penny's training regimen has been set by some of the top minds of Atlas."
"It wasn't my intent to interfere. I was only offering some advice," Pyrrha said, her voice devoid of offence. "Although, I find myself forced to ask, has your father any combat experience, Penny?"
"No, he's a scientist."
"Hmm," Pyrrha murmured.
"Let me guess," Sunset said, "your father is a well-connected scientist who decided to indulge his daughter's desire to become a huntress and pulled strings to get you on a team led by General Ironwood's attack dog so that you'd be safe long enough for you to realise that this isn't really what you want to do with your life?"
"I-"
"That will do, Penny," Ciel said calmly. "There is no need to answer such speculation."
"Also… attack dog?" Rainbow repeated.
"Would you rather I called you an attack horse?" Sunset replied.
"You know General Ironwood?" Ruby inquired.
Rainbow preened. "I don't like to brag-"
Sunset snorted.
"-but I'm kind of his protégé," Rainbow continued as though Sunset hadn't interrupted.
"And his babysitter, now," Sunset said. "And can I ask what was up with the way you were talking to Weiss at breakfast yesterday? No problem, Miss Schnee; anything I can do to help, Miss Schnee. And after she insulted you worse than Blake."
"She didn't insult me worse than Blake; she just made a mistake."
"She thought you couldn't be the leader of your team because you were faunus."
"Or because Ciel greeted her first," Twilight murmured.
"Well, I am the leader of my team, and you know what else I am?" Rainbow demanded. "Somebody who wants to get on in the military, and I'm not going to do that if Jacques Schnee asks General Ironwood to kick me out of the Academy because I made his little girl cry."
"I thought you and General Ironwood were so tight that he wouldn't do that to his protégé."
"No, he wouldn't, but nobody will want me in their unit when I graduate if the SDC has it out for me," Rainbow replied.
"Anyway," Jaune said loudly, "what are you guys hoping to get to in Vale?" His voice lowered. "Assuming we don't kill each other waiting for this bus."
"We have a list," Ciel said, producing said list from the blue purse worn over her shoulder – and which was open just long enough for Sunset to see she had a pistol in it. "We require books, stationary, ammunition for small arms and heavy weapons-"
"'Heavy weapons'?" Ruby repeated. "Which one of you uses a heavy weapon and what is it?"
"That would be me," Ciel answered. "I fight with an eighty caliber armour-piercing rifle."
"Eighty caliber!" Ruby gasped. "That must be even bigger than Crescent Rose!"
"Not having seen Crescent Rose, I cannot confirm," Ciel replied. "Distant Thunder is, however, a substantially-sized weapon."
"I can imagine," Ruby said. "I'd love to see it, can I see it? Can you penetrate a deathstalker's armour with a single shot? Can you bring down a goliath? What do you do when the enemy closes the range; does it turn into anything?"
"I see no harm in showing you," Ciel said. "In theory, yes, but it would depend upon the size of the deathstalker; likewise for the goliath. At close range, I have a short sword, although I must confess that I am only an indifferent swordsman. No, Distant Thunder does not turn into anything, although it is collapsible. And please remember to breathe."
Ruby giggled and snorted at the same time. "Sorry, I like meeting new weapons. Especially unique ones. Speaking of which, did you say you have wings, Rainbow Dash? As in, you can fly?"
"Yep," Rainbow said proudly.
"That is so cool," Ruby declared. "Did you make them yourself?"
"No, I could never do anything like that," Rainbow said. "Twilight made them for me."
"So cool!" Ruby cried. "And what about you, Penny, what weapon do you use?"
"Floating Array is a backpack containing a dozen swords on a wire guidance system," Penny announced mechanically. "The swords also reconfigure as laser carbines."
"So cool!" Ruby squealed.
"Ciel, why don't you finish off that list?" Rainbow suggested.
"Dust is our only other essential," Ciel announced. "However, we would be much obliged if we could also visit a hobby shop and a grocer's for our kitchenette."
"Yeah, we went shopping for kitchen supplies our first trip into Vale," Jaune informed them. "And I'm sure we can find a hobby shop too, although do you mind me asking why?"
"I make models," Ciel explained.
"Oh," Jaune said. "Cool."
The skybus arrived not long after, and they – the only students taking the bus at this hour – climbed aboard and took their red, comfortable seats on the airship as it lifted off the dock and glided over Vale.
The seats on the bus were arranged in rows of four, and Penny nabbed the seat between Ruby and Pyrrha, which – with Jaune sitting next to Pyrrha – left Sunset without much choice but to sit next to the rest of Team RSPT. She could have sat on her own, but that would have said more about her than about RSPT, and she wasn't about to give Rainbow and Twilight the satisfaction of making her act like a despised outcast. So she sat down at the end of the row, with Rainbow sitting on her left, and ignored all three of them.
Or at least she tried to.
"Sunset?" Twilight asked, in a quiet, almost tremulous voice.
Sunset's ears twitched in irritation as she glanced past Rainbow Dash to look at Twilight. "Yes?"
Twilight recoiled ever so slightly into her seat. "I just, uh… how are things between you and Flash these days?"
Sunset came very close to baring her teeth. "How do you think?"
"Oh," Twilight said. "It's just that… you seem to be doing a little better now, and I thought that maybe you two had… you know."
"I'm doing a little better?" Sunset repeated. "I'm a better person now." She paused daring Rainbow Dash to contradict her. "That doesn't mean that he is."
Twilight winced. "Flash… you know that there was never anything between us, right?"
Sunset's glance flickered between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Truth to tell, she had sometimes suspected that there might be something between those two, if only Twilight wasn't too, well, Twilight to do anything about it. "Maybe not," she replied. "But I remember whose side you were on."
It was a relief when the skybus docked outside Winchester Park and Sunset was able to get off and put some distance between herself and the Rosepetals by standing on the other side of her own team.
"So," Ruby said, as they left the skydock, Vale's skyline with its mixture of the antique and the hypermodern rising around them, "what do you guys want to see first?"
"Everything!" Penny declared.
Pyrrha chuckled. "That might be a little much for one day."
"We should attend to our necessities," Ciel said, "and then we will know how much time we have left over."
"That sounds fine, but why don't we get a cup of tea, first?" Pyrrha suggested. "Before we start walking up and down these streets."
Ciel checked her watch, but Rainbow answered before she could. "Yeah, that sounds fine. You guys know a good place?"
"Not exactly, but it shouldn't be hard to find somewhere," Ruby said. "There are tons of coffee places."
Indeed, as they ventured forth in search of refreshment, they saw no less than three coffee shops – all of them branches of the same chain, no less – on one street. It was a wonder that they all stayed open, and yet, all three of them seemed to be doing pretty good business, so clearly, the demand was there. They looked a little crowded to be sure of getting a table for eight, however, and so the search continued.
A large screen, elevated above the shops, ceased showing advertisements for the latest model scroll and started broadcasting a news bulletin.
"Good morning, Vale. I'm Lisa Lavender here with a news update," Lisa Lavender declared from out of the elevated screen. "Another dust shop was robbed last night after the premises had closed. The owner of The Dust Bucket discovered that the windows had been smashed when he went to open the store the next morning. The police would not confirm what was stolen but said no one was injured. The authorities are currently appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the robbery to please come forward. This marks the ninth robbery of a dust shop in just over a month since an attempted heist was foiled by a pair of concerned citizens."
Sunset grinned down at Ruby and gave her a brief squeeze on the shoulder as the younger, smaller girl smiled back at her.
Lisa Lavender continued, "First Councillor Novo Aris dismissed the idea that this was a crime wave, insisting that it was too early to speculate on whether a single criminal actor was responsible for crimes across the city of Vale and maintained that district aldermen and the VPD had adequate resources to keep their streets and communities safe. However, both opposition parties criticised the current Council for its stance on law and order."
"See?" Ruby demanded. "This is why we need to do something!"
"You heard what the First Councillor said, the VPD have adequate resources to handle this," Sunset replied.
"But they're not handling it!" Ruby retorted. "Novo is abandoning this city just like she abandoned the villages."
"What are you talking about?" Penny asked.
Sunset sighed. "Ruby wants to be a hero and stop the dust shop robberies."
"Don't say it like that," Ruby protested. "I don't want to do it for me or so that I can get on the news or something."
That would be the best reason to do it, Sunset thought. "No, you're right, your motives are… nobler than that." She paused for a moment. "You're still wrong, though."
"But we almost caught Torchwick the first time!" Ruby insisted. "With Jaune and Pyrrha too, I'm sure we'd get him."
Penny's face lit up. "Rainbow Dash, perhaps we could-"
"No," Ciel said, cutting her off. "We have no legal authority in the city, Penny, and neither your father nor General Ironwood would approve of you being put into live combat at this point. This is an internal Valish matter; even if Atlesian assistance were requested, it would be rendered by the proper authorities."
"So we should let our friends fight alone?" Penny said.
"Don't worry, Penny, your friends won't be fighting anyone," Sunset informed her.
"Why are you so against this?" Ruby demanded.
"Because we could get killed, or worse, expelled," Sunset replied.
"Or someone else could get hurt because we said it wasn't our problem," Ruby said.
"You put us all to shame with your courage and the nobility of your heart," Pyrrha said, "and if it were merely a case of opposing a villain, I would stand beside you without hesitation. But I fear it is not that simple. If these crimes are the work of a single mastermind, this Roman Torchwick whom you fought, or else an employer of his, then the fact that the police in so many districts have failed to apprehend him may be more than mere luck or skill on the part of these criminals. He may be buying the police."
"Buying them?" Ruby repeated. "Like, to let him get away with it? But… but they're the cops; they're sworn to uphold the law!"
Pyrrha sighed, and Sunset was sure that Pyrrha must be feeling – as Sunset was feeling – the weight of the reminder that Ruby, for all her skill, was still in some ways a child, with some traces of a child's naivete left. Pyrrha knelt down and put one hand upon Ruby's shoulder. "I do not know how it is in Vale, but in Mistral, alas, such things are far from uncommon. Not too many years ago, Lord Rutulus, the Commissioner of Police, the highest officer of the law in Mistral, was murdered by one of his own officers; it was widely thought that said officer had been paid by one of the criminal cartels."
"'Thought'?" Sunset said. "Didn't they catch the guy? Or were more crooked cops paid to let him get away."
"Perhaps they were, but he did not escape," Pyrrha replied. "The late commissioner's ward hunted down his killer, and many other men she must have at least suspected of having a hand in the murder. She killed them all. It was her duty to avenge a man who had been a father to her, and no charges were ever brought, but it meant he was not able to answer questions." Pyrrha fell silent for a moment. "The point is, I fear that if we took this step, we would be entering into a murky world for which our martial training has ill-prepared us." She paused again. "Nobody wants to see you shot in the back by someone you thought you could trust."
Twilight said, "There's a reason why police training, even elite police units where the members have their auras activated, go through quite different training to that of a huntsman. It's a very different set of skills, both to help you survive in a quite different world than the one that huntsmen are expected to inhabit and to help you investigate crimes and make criminal cases rather than just fight monsters or stop bad guys."
Ruby sighed disconsolately. "I just wish… I feel like we ought to be doing more to help."
"And we will help, plenty, once we graduate," Jaune said. "This… this stuff is for people who've completed their training."
Rainbow frowned. It looked as though she might agree with Ruby, but fortunately, she recognised Sunset's rights as team leader and said nothing.
They resumed their search for a café, stopping at a place called Alexandria Coffee. It had an old world feel to it, with heavy wooden countertops on which the cakes and pastries sat exposed to the air, a blackboard with the prices of drinks written in chalk upon it, and an incongruous-looking wooden puppet in the window. Inside, there were plenty of empty tables, but as the young huntsmen entered, Sunset was surprised to find that one of the tables was being occupied by Cardin Winchester.
Cardin Winchester accompanied by a girl his own age – or thereabouts - and two younger bird faunus with white wings emerging out of their backs.
The girl was pretty, some might have said even more than pretty, with sea-green hair cut to shoulder length down the side on which it fell across her face, while on the other side, it was brushed back behind her ear and fell down her shoulder and back almost to the waist. Her eyes were as blue as oceans, and a pink rose was woven into the hair just above her ear. She wore a gown of flowing turquoise, and a necklace of large pearls seemed tight around her neck.
Of the two faunus, one was a girl who looked a little younger than Ruby, and the other a boy yet younger still. The girl's hair was blue, mostly so pale that it verged on white, but intermittently streaked a little darker. It was arranged so that it formed a sort of crest in the centre of her head, leaving the left of her head and face bare, while it fell all down the right-hand side of her face and body. Her eyes were violet, and she wore a pink top with a Schnee snowflake picked out in silver upon it and a pair of dark blue jeans, while a purple gem of some description, an amethyst maybe, dangled from a string around her neck.
The boy was wearing a matching necklace. His hair and eyes alike were turquoise, and in the case of his hair cut short, if unevenly so. He was wearing a plain white shirt and dark grey pants.
"-can't believe you're on the same team as Weiss Schnee!" the faunus girl was saying as Sunset, her team, and RSPT walked into the coffee shop. The boy looked faintly bored, while the older girl was staring at Cardin in the way that Sunset imagined that it might have looked when she had had just stared at Flash sometimes, in the good days before things went wrong and she had just wanted to remind herself that, yeah, this guy was hers and he was great.
"I mean Weiss Schnee!" the faunus girl continued squealing. "Does she ever sing for you? What's she like? Is she as great as she seems? Oh, what am I saying, of course she is. Could you get me some of her hair? Actually, forget that last one, it's creepy."
"Yeah, yeah, enough about that," the boy said. "Tell us about all the monsters you've killed."
Cardin smiled proudly. "Well, only yesterday, I-"
"Cardin!" Jaune exclaimed as he followed Sunset through the door.
The smile fell off Cardin's face, which paled visibly. He stared at the newcomers to the coffee shop, his blue eyes widening. "Jaune!" he yelped. "Sunset!"
The girl in the turquoise dress, the one who had been staring at Cardin, rose quickly to her feet as she gasped in surprise. "Sunset?" she said, as she crossed the shop towards the two teams, and towards Sunset in particular. "Are you Sunset Shimmer?"
I would have thought I knew what he'd been saying about me, but now I'm not so sure. "Uh, yes, why-" The words were knocked out of Sunset as the girl threw her arms around Sunset, enveloping her in a soft embrace.
"Thank you," she cried, holding Sunset close. "Thank you for saving Cardy's life. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to him."
Did we just walk through a hidden portal into yet another dimension when I wasn't looking? Are we in opposite Remnant where Cardin is a stand-up guy? She glanced at her teammates for help; they all seemed just as lost as Sunset felt.
"You're… welcome?" Sunset ventured. "I mean, um," - she cleared her throat - "just another day in the life of a huntress in training."
The other girl released Sunset and stepped back. "Spoken with the modesty of a true hero," she said. "You're all so brave. I asked Cardy not to go to that school because I worry so much about him, but of course he's noble that he can't stay away. I don't know how you all do it, risking your lives against all those horrible monsters. I can't even imagine it."
"It isn't always easy," Ruby said, "but someone has to keep the world safe, and since we can do it, we owe it to the world to try."
The girl's blue eyes widened as she looked at Ruby. "You're so young," she gasped. She shook her head. "Excuse me, where are my manners? I'm Skystar Aris, and these are my cousins Silverstream and Terramar; it's an honour to meet all of you."
"Ruby Rose, it's nice to meet you."
"Pyrrha Nikos, the honour is ours."
"Jaune Arc," Jaune murmured, still sounding surprised by all this.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle; it's a pleasure."
"Ciel Soleil at your service, Miss Aris."
"I'm Rainbow Dash."
"And I'm Penny Polendina! Salutations!"
Skystar chuckled. "So are you all Beacon students like Cardy?"
"They are," Rainbow said, gesturing to the four sapphires. "My team are from Atlas; we're here for the Vytal Festival."
Skystar's eyes widened. "The Atlas students have arrived already? Why didn't anyone tell me you'd be getting here so early? I haven't even started planning the reception yet!"
"We're actually here very early, so there's no need to worry," Twilight said quickly. "Although, what was that about a party?"
"Oh, mother asked me, well, she kind of appointed me, but I was happy to do it, to be the Amity Princess of this year's Vytal Festival. I get to organise the parades and the dances and be the public face of Vale welcoming all our foreign visitors, so if you need anything, just let me know."
"Your mother," Sunset repeated. "Wait, Aris? Are you the First Councillor's daughter?"
"Well, yes," Skystar admitted. "But please, there's no need to make a big deal out of it." Skystar gasped. "Were you about to come in here? You should come and sit with us! Wouldn't that be fun, Cardy?"
Cardin had been catatonic with shock during the conversation, but now, he appeared to stir back to something approaching life once more. "Uh, I mean, uh, well… Sunset? Can I talk to you for a second? Outside?"
Sunset grinned. Oh, I'm going to enjoy this. "Sure you can, Cardy. Skystar, don't mind us; we'll be right back."
"Oh, of course," Skystar said, beaming brightly. "Have fun, Cardy."
"Sure," Cardin muttered, in the tone of a man going to his execution. As Skystar ushered the rest of the two teams to tables nearby – where they claimed their seats before heading up to the counter to get their drinks – Cardin made his way towards Sunset.
"Oh, Cardy?" Skystar said, in a sing-song voice.
Cardin turned towards her. "Yes, Sky?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Skystar asked, making her mouth seem very small for a moment.
Cardin hesitated for a moment, his bull neck turning red, before he took Skystar's face in his hands and kissed her. "Goodbye, for now."
"I miss you already," Skystar said.
"I miss you more," Cardin replied, as he and Sunset left the Alexandria and moved down the street so they were out of sight of the shop windows.
"So," Sunset said, as the door swung shut behind them. "What's up, Cardy?"
"Shut up," Cardin growled. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm not following you, if that's what you're worried about," Sunset replied. "You're not that important to me." She put her hands on her hips. "Skystar seems nice. I take it your parents arranged that with her mother."
"What, because I wouldn't have a shot on my own?"
"Well, you are kind of an ass," Sunset pointed out. "And can I ask: are you actually a racist, or do you just not like me?"
Cardin scowled. "You heard Skystar; they're her cousins," he explained. "Their mother is Skystar's aunt; she married a faunus, and those two kids are the result."
"I'm surprised you haven't tried to pull their wings off yet," Sunset observed.
"I wouldn't do that!" Cardin protested. "Skystar loves her cousins."
"And she has no idea who you really are, does she?"
Cardin's face turned purple. "Skystar knows exactly who I am."
"Oh, so the person I know from Beacon who bullies and abuses faunus, that's not the real you?" Sunset demanded. "You just pretend to be a bigoted jackass because it's funny? I'm guessing your girlfriend wouldn't see the amusing side." She took a step closer to Cardin. "I have to admit, I'm kind of impressed. I wouldn't have expected you to be able to hide your contempt."
"Silverstream and Terramar aren't like other faunus," Cardin protested.
"That's because you haven't taken the time to get to know any other faunus," Sunset snapped at him. "Of course they don't act like animals, because we're not animals. I should walk in there and tell the three of them just who and what you really are. See how interested Terramar is in hearing about your made-up exploits then."
Cardin swallowed. "You- you've got no proof."
"I can be pretty persuasive."
"No, you can't!" Cardin yelped. "Please, Sunset, you… you can't. Skystar… there's no way she'd choose me over her family. You can't tell."
"I should," Sunset said. "I think Skystar deserves to know that her prince charming is nothing but a bully."
"Please!" Cardin implored her. "Sunset, I'm begging you, I'll do anything!"
Sunset smiled wickedly. "Well, isn't this familiar?" she said. "I seem to recall that it wasn't too long ago that you had Jaune over a barrel because of a secret of his, or at least, you thought you did. Do you remember that, Cardy? Do you remember all the ways you took advantage of Jaune because you thought you had the right to play with my toys?"
Cardin swallowed again. His eyes were wide with panic. "I-I remember."
"Fortunately, I've become a little nicer since then," Sunset said. "Plus, I'm also smarter than you, so I don't need you to do my homework for me or anything like that. All I'm going to ask in return for your secret is that you be nice. That might be difficult for you, but I don't care. The moment I see you reverting back to type is the moment I'll get proof of it and see that proof gets back to the Amity Princess in there. So be nice and remember: I'm just like you, and you're just like me. Understand?"
Cardin nodded silently.
"Good boy," Sunset said. "Now, we should probably get back inside before Skystar starts to get ideas."
They went back in to find Twilight embroiled in an argument with Silverstream about whether Weiss Schnee's music was starting to sound overproduced.
"Listen to her early work, listen to 'Wings,'" Twilight insisted. "Watch some of her live performances where she's only being accompanied by a piano. There's a clarity to her voice, a purity of intent that's being drowned out by all the rock stylings that her record label is forcing her to incorporate."
"It's not the studio; it's the evolution of her style," Silverstream replied. "She's moving into a different genre, and it bangs! How can you not like 'This Will Be the Day'?"
"I don't dislike it," Twilight said. "I just think that Weiss' lyrics are clever and inventive and deserve to be appreciated as such without being drowned out by heavy drumbeats and guitar riffs."
Sunset let the discussion roll over her, feeling ever so slightly smug in the knowledge that whatever else happened, she had already done a good day's work.
Team SAPR arrived at the skydock first and were waiting for the hourly skybus into Vale when Team RSPT arrived to join them.
"I'm sorry if we kept you waiting," Penny said. "Twilight had to check her checklist three times!"
"Organisation is very important, Penny," Twilight informed her.
"There's no need to apologise," Pyrrha said. "If anything, we were here early; the skybus isn't due for a little while longer."
"Oh, Jaune," Twilight said. "I, um, I spoke to your sister Aoko, and I mentioned that I'd seen you. It was… a little weird."
Jaune's eyes narrowed a little. "What did she say?"
"Um… that she's still waiting for those snacks."
Jaune rolled his eyes. "That doesn't surprise me."
Sunset frowned at the guns strapped to Rainbow's hips. "Are you bringing your weapons?"
"It's not Atlas, of course, I'm bringing my weapons," Rainbow said, managing to make Sunset sound like the idiot for not bringing her weapons. "You should be glad I didn't bring my Unfailing Loyalty."
Sunset frowned. "Is that the shotgun or the wings?"
"Unfailing Loyalty is the shotgun," Rainbow said, with a touch of exasperation. "The wings are called Wings of Harmony."
"Well, excuse me for not having the names of every weapon in your excessive loadout memorised," Sunset replied.
Rainbow grinned. "You can laugh, but when you've used up those six lousy shots in that gun of yours, I'll still have rounds to spare."
"Were those all of your weapons that you were wearing yesterday?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah," Rainbow said. "Why?"
"I couldn't help but notice that you don't have a close quarters option," Pyrrha said.
Rainbow held up her fists. "I got two close quarters options right here, Pyrrha."
"Oh, you're another true hand to hand fighter," Pyrrha declared. "You must be quite skilled in manipulating your aura."
Rainbow raised one eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"
"I presumed that you must use it to increase the potency of your strikes," Pyrrha replied. "Do you have some sort of burst or shock attack in which you direct your aura outwards and then expend it to create effects?"
Rainbow chuckled. "Come on, Pyrrha, you can't expect me to give away all my secrets."
Pyrrha laughed too. "Of course not, but equally, you can't deny me my observations."
"How many hand to hand fighters do you know, Pyrrha?" Penny asked. "From my study of your matches, I can only think of Arslan Altan."
"She is the only such competing at the highest level," Pyrrha agreed. "It's a rather difficult discipline to master; as I was saying to Rainbow Dash, it requires an extraordinary degree of aura control. Not everyone has the patience for it."
"That is not the actual reason why very few people practice it," Sunset argued. "The real reason is that it's a stupid way to fight. Why rely on your fists when you could have a weapon?"
"Yang fights with her fists," Ruby pointed out.
"Your sister has rocket shotguns strapped to her arms, that… that only half counts, at best. In fact, I'd say it counts about a third, maybe."
"I guess you've got a point," Ruby admitted, "and about the aura control too. Yang and I never really learnt much more than we needed to control our semblances. Learning to use Crescent Rose took up most of my time with Uncle Qrow."
"Hey," Sunset said. "At some point, you and Rainbow Dash should have a race. See which of your speed semblances is quicker."
Rainbow folded her arms with a very smug look on her face. "Setting your own teammate up to fail and succumb to disappointment. That's cold, Sunset, even for you."
Sunset's eyebrows climbed up her forehead. "Or maybe I just want to wipe that cocky look off your face, Dash." She leaned on the top of Ruby's head with one elbow. "Our Ruby has quite the turn of speed."
Rainbow continued to look supremely confident. "No offence, Ruby, I'm sure you're fast, but you're not Rainbow Dash fast."
"Oh, really?" Jaune declared. "Well maybe we should put that to the test." He hesitated. "I mean, if you're okay with that, Ruby?"
"Uh, sure," Ruby said. "I mean, it's all in good fun, right?"
"Yes, Ruby, it's all in good fun," Sunset agreed. "But for the honour of Team Sapphire, you'd better win."
"Sunset," Pyrrha murmured reproachfully.
Ciel sighed. "You are such children, arguing over who is the fastest." She paused. "That being said, if you intend to engage in this contest, then the pride of Atlas demands no less than victory."
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"So, Penny," Pyrrha said, "do you follow the Mistralian tournament circuit? I can't imagine that's particularly common in Atlas."
"Actually," Ciel began, "it is more common than-"
"Oh, no," Penny said. "My father and Mister Ironwood had me watch lots of fights by great fighters so I could build up an understanding of combat."
"Oh," Pyrrha said, sounding slightly surprised. "I… see."
Rainbow Dash was looking very uncomfortable about something. "Penny-"
"I have to say," Pyrrha continued, not realising that Rainbow had spoken, "without intending any disrespect to your father or… Mister Ironwood."
"General Ironwood," Ciel corrected, as if automatically.
"Yes," Pyrrha said, "I'm not sure that's the best way to train to fight. After a certain point, all you'll be learning is how a certain number of fighters, well, fight. The reason why we train instead of simply studying is so that we can develop our own styles."
"Really?" Penny asked, leaning forward. "Wait, does that mean that I've wasted my time?"
"Not necessarily," Pyrrha allowed. "There are some on the tournament circuit who believe in obsessively studying their opponents' previous matches so they can learn their movements; do you know Kurt the White Wolf?"
"I've only seen her fight you, and it wasn't that impressive," Penny said. "You beat her easily."
"It… was not my most difficult fight," Pyrrha acknowledged, "but that doesn't wholly invalidate the method."
"But it's not what you do?"
"No, I prefer to hone my skills in general; I think it makes them more applicable to the circumstances."
"So I should be doing that too?"
"We will not be throwing out your existing training programme upon the word of Pyrrha Nikos," Ciel said firmly. "No offence, Miss Nikos, but Penny's training regimen has been set by some of the top minds of Atlas."
"It wasn't my intent to interfere. I was only offering some advice," Pyrrha said, her voice devoid of offence. "Although, I find myself forced to ask, has your father any combat experience, Penny?"
"No, he's a scientist."
"Hmm," Pyrrha murmured.
"Let me guess," Sunset said, "your father is a well-connected scientist who decided to indulge his daughter's desire to become a huntress and pulled strings to get you on a team led by General Ironwood's attack dog so that you'd be safe long enough for you to realise that this isn't really what you want to do with your life?"
"I-"
"That will do, Penny," Ciel said calmly. "There is no need to answer such speculation."
"Also… attack dog?" Rainbow repeated.
"Would you rather I called you an attack horse?" Sunset replied.
"You know General Ironwood?" Ruby inquired.
Rainbow preened. "I don't like to brag-"
Sunset snorted.
"-but I'm kind of his protégé," Rainbow continued as though Sunset hadn't interrupted.
"And his babysitter, now," Sunset said. "And can I ask what was up with the way you were talking to Weiss at breakfast yesterday? No problem, Miss Schnee; anything I can do to help, Miss Schnee. And after she insulted you worse than Blake."
"She didn't insult me worse than Blake; she just made a mistake."
"She thought you couldn't be the leader of your team because you were faunus."
"Or because Ciel greeted her first," Twilight murmured.
"Well, I am the leader of my team, and you know what else I am?" Rainbow demanded. "Somebody who wants to get on in the military, and I'm not going to do that if Jacques Schnee asks General Ironwood to kick me out of the Academy because I made his little girl cry."
"I thought you and General Ironwood were so tight that he wouldn't do that to his protégé."
"No, he wouldn't, but nobody will want me in their unit when I graduate if the SDC has it out for me," Rainbow replied.
"Anyway," Jaune said loudly, "what are you guys hoping to get to in Vale?" His voice lowered. "Assuming we don't kill each other waiting for this bus."
"We have a list," Ciel said, producing said list from the blue purse worn over her shoulder – and which was open just long enough for Sunset to see she had a pistol in it. "We require books, stationary, ammunition for small arms and heavy weapons-"
"'Heavy weapons'?" Ruby repeated. "Which one of you uses a heavy weapon and what is it?"
"That would be me," Ciel answered. "I fight with an eighty caliber armour-piercing rifle."
"Eighty caliber!" Ruby gasped. "That must be even bigger than Crescent Rose!"
"Not having seen Crescent Rose, I cannot confirm," Ciel replied. "Distant Thunder is, however, a substantially-sized weapon."
"I can imagine," Ruby said. "I'd love to see it, can I see it? Can you penetrate a deathstalker's armour with a single shot? Can you bring down a goliath? What do you do when the enemy closes the range; does it turn into anything?"
"I see no harm in showing you," Ciel said. "In theory, yes, but it would depend upon the size of the deathstalker; likewise for the goliath. At close range, I have a short sword, although I must confess that I am only an indifferent swordsman. No, Distant Thunder does not turn into anything, although it is collapsible. And please remember to breathe."
Ruby giggled and snorted at the same time. "Sorry, I like meeting new weapons. Especially unique ones. Speaking of which, did you say you have wings, Rainbow Dash? As in, you can fly?"
"Yep," Rainbow said proudly.
"That is so cool," Ruby declared. "Did you make them yourself?"
"No, I could never do anything like that," Rainbow said. "Twilight made them for me."
"So cool!" Ruby cried. "And what about you, Penny, what weapon do you use?"
"Floating Array is a backpack containing a dozen swords on a wire guidance system," Penny announced mechanically. "The swords also reconfigure as laser carbines."
"So cool!" Ruby squealed.
"Ciel, why don't you finish off that list?" Rainbow suggested.
"Dust is our only other essential," Ciel announced. "However, we would be much obliged if we could also visit a hobby shop and a grocer's for our kitchenette."
"Yeah, we went shopping for kitchen supplies our first trip into Vale," Jaune informed them. "And I'm sure we can find a hobby shop too, although do you mind me asking why?"
"I make models," Ciel explained.
"Oh," Jaune said. "Cool."
The skybus arrived not long after, and they – the only students taking the bus at this hour – climbed aboard and took their red, comfortable seats on the airship as it lifted off the dock and glided over Vale.
The seats on the bus were arranged in rows of four, and Penny nabbed the seat between Ruby and Pyrrha, which – with Jaune sitting next to Pyrrha – left Sunset without much choice but to sit next to the rest of Team RSPT. She could have sat on her own, but that would have said more about her than about RSPT, and she wasn't about to give Rainbow and Twilight the satisfaction of making her act like a despised outcast. So she sat down at the end of the row, with Rainbow sitting on her left, and ignored all three of them.
Or at least she tried to.
"Sunset?" Twilight asked, in a quiet, almost tremulous voice.
Sunset's ears twitched in irritation as she glanced past Rainbow Dash to look at Twilight. "Yes?"
Twilight recoiled ever so slightly into her seat. "I just, uh… how are things between you and Flash these days?"
Sunset came very close to baring her teeth. "How do you think?"
"Oh," Twilight said. "It's just that… you seem to be doing a little better now, and I thought that maybe you two had… you know."
"I'm doing a little better?" Sunset repeated. "I'm a better person now." She paused daring Rainbow Dash to contradict her. "That doesn't mean that he is."
Twilight winced. "Flash… you know that there was never anything between us, right?"
Sunset's glance flickered between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Truth to tell, she had sometimes suspected that there might be something between those two, if only Twilight wasn't too, well, Twilight to do anything about it. "Maybe not," she replied. "But I remember whose side you were on."
It was a relief when the skybus docked outside Winchester Park and Sunset was able to get off and put some distance between herself and the Rosepetals by standing on the other side of her own team.
"So," Ruby said, as they left the skydock, Vale's skyline with its mixture of the antique and the hypermodern rising around them, "what do you guys want to see first?"
"Everything!" Penny declared.
Pyrrha chuckled. "That might be a little much for one day."
"We should attend to our necessities," Ciel said, "and then we will know how much time we have left over."
"That sounds fine, but why don't we get a cup of tea, first?" Pyrrha suggested. "Before we start walking up and down these streets."
Ciel checked her watch, but Rainbow answered before she could. "Yeah, that sounds fine. You guys know a good place?"
"Not exactly, but it shouldn't be hard to find somewhere," Ruby said. "There are tons of coffee places."
Indeed, as they ventured forth in search of refreshment, they saw no less than three coffee shops – all of them branches of the same chain, no less – on one street. It was a wonder that they all stayed open, and yet, all three of them seemed to be doing pretty good business, so clearly, the demand was there. They looked a little crowded to be sure of getting a table for eight, however, and so the search continued.
A large screen, elevated above the shops, ceased showing advertisements for the latest model scroll and started broadcasting a news bulletin.
"Good morning, Vale. I'm Lisa Lavender here with a news update," Lisa Lavender declared from out of the elevated screen. "Another dust shop was robbed last night after the premises had closed. The owner of The Dust Bucket discovered that the windows had been smashed when he went to open the store the next morning. The police would not confirm what was stolen but said no one was injured. The authorities are currently appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the robbery to please come forward. This marks the ninth robbery of a dust shop in just over a month since an attempted heist was foiled by a pair of concerned citizens."
Sunset grinned down at Ruby and gave her a brief squeeze on the shoulder as the younger, smaller girl smiled back at her.
Lisa Lavender continued, "First Councillor Novo Aris dismissed the idea that this was a crime wave, insisting that it was too early to speculate on whether a single criminal actor was responsible for crimes across the city of Vale and maintained that district aldermen and the VPD had adequate resources to keep their streets and communities safe. However, both opposition parties criticised the current Council for its stance on law and order."
"See?" Ruby demanded. "This is why we need to do something!"
"You heard what the First Councillor said, the VPD have adequate resources to handle this," Sunset replied.
"But they're not handling it!" Ruby retorted. "Novo is abandoning this city just like she abandoned the villages."
"What are you talking about?" Penny asked.
Sunset sighed. "Ruby wants to be a hero and stop the dust shop robberies."
"Don't say it like that," Ruby protested. "I don't want to do it for me or so that I can get on the news or something."
That would be the best reason to do it, Sunset thought. "No, you're right, your motives are… nobler than that." She paused for a moment. "You're still wrong, though."
"But we almost caught Torchwick the first time!" Ruby insisted. "With Jaune and Pyrrha too, I'm sure we'd get him."
Penny's face lit up. "Rainbow Dash, perhaps we could-"
"No," Ciel said, cutting her off. "We have no legal authority in the city, Penny, and neither your father nor General Ironwood would approve of you being put into live combat at this point. This is an internal Valish matter; even if Atlesian assistance were requested, it would be rendered by the proper authorities."
"So we should let our friends fight alone?" Penny said.
"Don't worry, Penny, your friends won't be fighting anyone," Sunset informed her.
"Why are you so against this?" Ruby demanded.
"Because we could get killed, or worse, expelled," Sunset replied.
"Or someone else could get hurt because we said it wasn't our problem," Ruby said.
"You put us all to shame with your courage and the nobility of your heart," Pyrrha said, "and if it were merely a case of opposing a villain, I would stand beside you without hesitation. But I fear it is not that simple. If these crimes are the work of a single mastermind, this Roman Torchwick whom you fought, or else an employer of his, then the fact that the police in so many districts have failed to apprehend him may be more than mere luck or skill on the part of these criminals. He may be buying the police."
"Buying them?" Ruby repeated. "Like, to let him get away with it? But… but they're the cops; they're sworn to uphold the law!"
Pyrrha sighed, and Sunset was sure that Pyrrha must be feeling – as Sunset was feeling – the weight of the reminder that Ruby, for all her skill, was still in some ways a child, with some traces of a child's naivete left. Pyrrha knelt down and put one hand upon Ruby's shoulder. "I do not know how it is in Vale, but in Mistral, alas, such things are far from uncommon. Not too many years ago, Lord Rutulus, the Commissioner of Police, the highest officer of the law in Mistral, was murdered by one of his own officers; it was widely thought that said officer had been paid by one of the criminal cartels."
"'Thought'?" Sunset said. "Didn't they catch the guy? Or were more crooked cops paid to let him get away."
"Perhaps they were, but he did not escape," Pyrrha replied. "The late commissioner's ward hunted down his killer, and many other men she must have at least suspected of having a hand in the murder. She killed them all. It was her duty to avenge a man who had been a father to her, and no charges were ever brought, but it meant he was not able to answer questions." Pyrrha fell silent for a moment. "The point is, I fear that if we took this step, we would be entering into a murky world for which our martial training has ill-prepared us." She paused again. "Nobody wants to see you shot in the back by someone you thought you could trust."
Twilight said, "There's a reason why police training, even elite police units where the members have their auras activated, go through quite different training to that of a huntsman. It's a very different set of skills, both to help you survive in a quite different world than the one that huntsmen are expected to inhabit and to help you investigate crimes and make criminal cases rather than just fight monsters or stop bad guys."
Ruby sighed disconsolately. "I just wish… I feel like we ought to be doing more to help."
"And we will help, plenty, once we graduate," Jaune said. "This… this stuff is for people who've completed their training."
Rainbow frowned. It looked as though she might agree with Ruby, but fortunately, she recognised Sunset's rights as team leader and said nothing.
They resumed their search for a café, stopping at a place called Alexandria Coffee. It had an old world feel to it, with heavy wooden countertops on which the cakes and pastries sat exposed to the air, a blackboard with the prices of drinks written in chalk upon it, and an incongruous-looking wooden puppet in the window. Inside, there were plenty of empty tables, but as the young huntsmen entered, Sunset was surprised to find that one of the tables was being occupied by Cardin Winchester.
Cardin Winchester accompanied by a girl his own age – or thereabouts - and two younger bird faunus with white wings emerging out of their backs.
The girl was pretty, some might have said even more than pretty, with sea-green hair cut to shoulder length down the side on which it fell across her face, while on the other side, it was brushed back behind her ear and fell down her shoulder and back almost to the waist. Her eyes were as blue as oceans, and a pink rose was woven into the hair just above her ear. She wore a gown of flowing turquoise, and a necklace of large pearls seemed tight around her neck.
Of the two faunus, one was a girl who looked a little younger than Ruby, and the other a boy yet younger still. The girl's hair was blue, mostly so pale that it verged on white, but intermittently streaked a little darker. It was arranged so that it formed a sort of crest in the centre of her head, leaving the left of her head and face bare, while it fell all down the right-hand side of her face and body. Her eyes were violet, and she wore a pink top with a Schnee snowflake picked out in silver upon it and a pair of dark blue jeans, while a purple gem of some description, an amethyst maybe, dangled from a string around her neck.
The boy was wearing a matching necklace. His hair and eyes alike were turquoise, and in the case of his hair cut short, if unevenly so. He was wearing a plain white shirt and dark grey pants.
"-can't believe you're on the same team as Weiss Schnee!" the faunus girl was saying as Sunset, her team, and RSPT walked into the coffee shop. The boy looked faintly bored, while the older girl was staring at Cardin in the way that Sunset imagined that it might have looked when she had had just stared at Flash sometimes, in the good days before things went wrong and she had just wanted to remind herself that, yeah, this guy was hers and he was great.
"I mean Weiss Schnee!" the faunus girl continued squealing. "Does she ever sing for you? What's she like? Is she as great as she seems? Oh, what am I saying, of course she is. Could you get me some of her hair? Actually, forget that last one, it's creepy."
"Yeah, yeah, enough about that," the boy said. "Tell us about all the monsters you've killed."
Cardin smiled proudly. "Well, only yesterday, I-"
"Cardin!" Jaune exclaimed as he followed Sunset through the door.
The smile fell off Cardin's face, which paled visibly. He stared at the newcomers to the coffee shop, his blue eyes widening. "Jaune!" he yelped. "Sunset!"
The girl in the turquoise dress, the one who had been staring at Cardin, rose quickly to her feet as she gasped in surprise. "Sunset?" she said, as she crossed the shop towards the two teams, and towards Sunset in particular. "Are you Sunset Shimmer?"
I would have thought I knew what he'd been saying about me, but now I'm not so sure. "Uh, yes, why-" The words were knocked out of Sunset as the girl threw her arms around Sunset, enveloping her in a soft embrace.
"Thank you," she cried, holding Sunset close. "Thank you for saving Cardy's life. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to him."
Did we just walk through a hidden portal into yet another dimension when I wasn't looking? Are we in opposite Remnant where Cardin is a stand-up guy? She glanced at her teammates for help; they all seemed just as lost as Sunset felt.
"You're… welcome?" Sunset ventured. "I mean, um," - she cleared her throat - "just another day in the life of a huntress in training."
The other girl released Sunset and stepped back. "Spoken with the modesty of a true hero," she said. "You're all so brave. I asked Cardy not to go to that school because I worry so much about him, but of course he's noble that he can't stay away. I don't know how you all do it, risking your lives against all those horrible monsters. I can't even imagine it."
"It isn't always easy," Ruby said, "but someone has to keep the world safe, and since we can do it, we owe it to the world to try."
The girl's blue eyes widened as she looked at Ruby. "You're so young," she gasped. She shook her head. "Excuse me, where are my manners? I'm Skystar Aris, and these are my cousins Silverstream and Terramar; it's an honour to meet all of you."
"Ruby Rose, it's nice to meet you."
"Pyrrha Nikos, the honour is ours."
"Jaune Arc," Jaune murmured, still sounding surprised by all this.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle; it's a pleasure."
"Ciel Soleil at your service, Miss Aris."
"I'm Rainbow Dash."
"And I'm Penny Polendina! Salutations!"
Skystar chuckled. "So are you all Beacon students like Cardy?"
"They are," Rainbow said, gesturing to the four sapphires. "My team are from Atlas; we're here for the Vytal Festival."
Skystar's eyes widened. "The Atlas students have arrived already? Why didn't anyone tell me you'd be getting here so early? I haven't even started planning the reception yet!"
"We're actually here very early, so there's no need to worry," Twilight said quickly. "Although, what was that about a party?"
"Oh, mother asked me, well, she kind of appointed me, but I was happy to do it, to be the Amity Princess of this year's Vytal Festival. I get to organise the parades and the dances and be the public face of Vale welcoming all our foreign visitors, so if you need anything, just let me know."
"Your mother," Sunset repeated. "Wait, Aris? Are you the First Councillor's daughter?"
"Well, yes," Skystar admitted. "But please, there's no need to make a big deal out of it." Skystar gasped. "Were you about to come in here? You should come and sit with us! Wouldn't that be fun, Cardy?"
Cardin had been catatonic with shock during the conversation, but now, he appeared to stir back to something approaching life once more. "Uh, I mean, uh, well… Sunset? Can I talk to you for a second? Outside?"
Sunset grinned. Oh, I'm going to enjoy this. "Sure you can, Cardy. Skystar, don't mind us; we'll be right back."
"Oh, of course," Skystar said, beaming brightly. "Have fun, Cardy."
"Sure," Cardin muttered, in the tone of a man going to his execution. As Skystar ushered the rest of the two teams to tables nearby – where they claimed their seats before heading up to the counter to get their drinks – Cardin made his way towards Sunset.
"Oh, Cardy?" Skystar said, in a sing-song voice.
Cardin turned towards her. "Yes, Sky?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Skystar asked, making her mouth seem very small for a moment.
Cardin hesitated for a moment, his bull neck turning red, before he took Skystar's face in his hands and kissed her. "Goodbye, for now."
"I miss you already," Skystar said.
"I miss you more," Cardin replied, as he and Sunset left the Alexandria and moved down the street so they were out of sight of the shop windows.
"So," Sunset said, as the door swung shut behind them. "What's up, Cardy?"
"Shut up," Cardin growled. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm not following you, if that's what you're worried about," Sunset replied. "You're not that important to me." She put her hands on her hips. "Skystar seems nice. I take it your parents arranged that with her mother."
"What, because I wouldn't have a shot on my own?"
"Well, you are kind of an ass," Sunset pointed out. "And can I ask: are you actually a racist, or do you just not like me?"
Cardin scowled. "You heard Skystar; they're her cousins," he explained. "Their mother is Skystar's aunt; she married a faunus, and those two kids are the result."
"I'm surprised you haven't tried to pull their wings off yet," Sunset observed.
"I wouldn't do that!" Cardin protested. "Skystar loves her cousins."
"And she has no idea who you really are, does she?"
Cardin's face turned purple. "Skystar knows exactly who I am."
"Oh, so the person I know from Beacon who bullies and abuses faunus, that's not the real you?" Sunset demanded. "You just pretend to be a bigoted jackass because it's funny? I'm guessing your girlfriend wouldn't see the amusing side." She took a step closer to Cardin. "I have to admit, I'm kind of impressed. I wouldn't have expected you to be able to hide your contempt."
"Silverstream and Terramar aren't like other faunus," Cardin protested.
"That's because you haven't taken the time to get to know any other faunus," Sunset snapped at him. "Of course they don't act like animals, because we're not animals. I should walk in there and tell the three of them just who and what you really are. See how interested Terramar is in hearing about your made-up exploits then."
Cardin swallowed. "You- you've got no proof."
"I can be pretty persuasive."
"No, you can't!" Cardin yelped. "Please, Sunset, you… you can't. Skystar… there's no way she'd choose me over her family. You can't tell."
"I should," Sunset said. "I think Skystar deserves to know that her prince charming is nothing but a bully."
"Please!" Cardin implored her. "Sunset, I'm begging you, I'll do anything!"
Sunset smiled wickedly. "Well, isn't this familiar?" she said. "I seem to recall that it wasn't too long ago that you had Jaune over a barrel because of a secret of his, or at least, you thought you did. Do you remember that, Cardy? Do you remember all the ways you took advantage of Jaune because you thought you had the right to play with my toys?"
Cardin swallowed again. His eyes were wide with panic. "I-I remember."
"Fortunately, I've become a little nicer since then," Sunset said. "Plus, I'm also smarter than you, so I don't need you to do my homework for me or anything like that. All I'm going to ask in return for your secret is that you be nice. That might be difficult for you, but I don't care. The moment I see you reverting back to type is the moment I'll get proof of it and see that proof gets back to the Amity Princess in there. So be nice and remember: I'm just like you, and you're just like me. Understand?"
Cardin nodded silently.
"Good boy," Sunset said. "Now, we should probably get back inside before Skystar starts to get ideas."
They went back in to find Twilight embroiled in an argument with Silverstream about whether Weiss Schnee's music was starting to sound overproduced.
"Listen to her early work, listen to 'Wings,'" Twilight insisted. "Watch some of her live performances where she's only being accompanied by a piano. There's a clarity to her voice, a purity of intent that's being drowned out by all the rock stylings that her record label is forcing her to incorporate."
"It's not the studio; it's the evolution of her style," Silverstream replied. "She's moving into a different genre, and it bangs! How can you not like 'This Will Be the Day'?"
"I don't dislike it," Twilight said. "I just think that Weiss' lyrics are clever and inventive and deserve to be appreciated as such without being drowned out by heavy drumbeats and guitar riffs."
Sunset let the discussion roll over her, feeling ever so slightly smug in the knowledge that whatever else happened, she had already done a good day's work.
Chapter 9 - Rosepetals at Beacon
Rosepetals at Beacon
"Good morning, students!" Professor Port boomed jovially as the first years took their seats in the lecture hall. "And a warm welcome to Grimm Studies for our Atlesian guests!"
The four members of Team RSPT came to attention, or tried to in Twilight's case, on their way some seats above Team SAPR in the lecture theatre.
"Thank you, sir," Rainbow replied.
"Tell me, how is my old friend Major Kai these days?" Professor Port asked. "Does he still have the old trouble when the wind blows easterly?"
"Yes, sir."
Professor Port groaned. "Poor fellow. I shall send him some of that Valish brandy he liked so much to keep him warm at nights."
"I'm sure he will appreciate your generosity, sir," Ciel said.
"Least I can do for an excellent fellow; why he ran me a close race during the one on one rounds in the Vytal Festival… but perhaps that is a story better suited for another time. Now, let me see if I have your names right: Rainbow Dash, Ciel Soleil, Penny Polendina, and Twilight Sparkle, yes?"
"Yes, sir," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Excellent, excellent. Take your seats. As I was saying: good morning students and welcome back to another week here at Beacon. I'm sure you're all eager to receive the results of your practical tests from Saturday: the good news is that every student here passed!"
A mixture of sighs of relief and muffled exclamations of pride and pleasure rippled through the hall. Sunset, who had never had any doubts that they were going to make it, said nothing, but Jaune was one of those who looked infinitely relieved.
"That said," Professor Port continued, "not all of you did equally well." He gestured to the large stack of papers on his desk. "I have here your written essays and my observations on your practicals. Will all team leaders please come to my desk and collect your papers?"
Team SAPR sat at the front of the lecture hall, which meant that Sunset was able to reach Professor Port's desk ahead of anyone else and start searching for SAPR's results. Team BLBLs were at the top, and Sunset couldn't help but notice that they had scored a C plus, although there wasn't time to notice anything else without looking like she was prying into another team's affairs. Sunset set the BLBL results aside, to find YRDN's papers next in the pile which she handed to Yang, who was standing behind her waiting her turn.
"A minus!" Yang exclaimed. "Professor, what's the minus for?"
"Miss Valkyrie let those sulphur fish get far too close," Professor Port exclaimed. "Why, if it hadn't been for Mister Ren, she could have been in serious trouble."
Nora laughed nervously. "But they looked so cute," she explained. Ren sighed long-sufferingly.
Sunset moved the Team WWSR – who had gotten a flat B – to one side, to find the Team SAPR paper underneath.
She picked it up, staring at the grade written on the first page. "Professor," she said, "this says a B plus."
"Yes, Miss Shimmer; considering Mister Arc's performance, I'm afraid I couldn't grade you any higher. Mister Arc, you still have a lot of room for improvement."
"Yes, Professor," Jaune said. "I'm well aware."
Sunset pursed her lips and tried not to scowl as she made her way back to her seat. Jaune recoiled from her a little.
"I'm sorry," he offered.
"It's fine," Sunset sighed. It wasn't like he wasn't trying. She could yell at him some more, but it wouldn't make him work harder; it would just cause trouble. She wasn't happy about it, but it was what it was… unfortunately.
Maybe there's a spell to help him improve faster.
There probably is… but it would probably turn him evil or crazy or something. There's always a catch with these things.
"I expect you all to study the notes I've supplied in your own time," Professor Port said. "But now: a story. Twenty years ago, I was hunting dromedons on the outskirts of the western desert, when I…"
Sunset began taking notes. She wasn't surprised to see that most of the class were more interested in studying the results of their quarter-terms, but, well, if they ever came face to face with a dromedon, wouldn't they be sorry?
The sound of pens scratching on paper above made Sunset's ears twitch. She risked a glance upwards – fortunately, Professor Port tended to get a bit too caught up in his own stories to pay much attention to whether the students were paying attention – to look at the row above where Team RSPT were sitting. Rainbow Dash looked half-asleep, but both Ciel and Twilight looked to be taking copious notes. Penny looked unsure of what she was supposed to be doing.
As Sunset watched, Twilight stopped. She raised her hand. "Um, Professor Port?"
Professor Port stopped, appearing surprised to have been interrupted. "Uh, yes, Miss Sparkle?"
"Could you repeat that last part, please, sir? I didn't quite catch it for my notes."
"Of course, child," Professor Port said warmly. "I was saying that these particular dromedons, being old and wise, knew to stake out the watering hole and wait for travellers to be drawn to it."
"Right, thank you, sir," Twilight said, scribbling that last part down.
"Not at all, Miss Sparkle, not at all. Now, as I was saying: Prabakhara was a pukka fellow in many ways, but not particularly observant, and he went to the watering hole without detecting the presence of the grimm nearby. Of course, he had left his rifle back at camp, and so, I was woken by the most dreadful scream as he came running with the dromedons in hot pursuit. Several of my gun bearers quaked in fear, but I was not perturbed…"
"Ciel," Rainbow whispered, "are you writing down every single word?"
"Yes," Ciel hissed.
"Why?"
"Because I can't tell what's important."
Penny leaned down over the desk. "Ruby? Pyrrha? I don't understand."
"What don't you understand, Penny?" Ruby asked.
"What is Professor Port trying to tell us?"
"Nobody knows the answer to that, Penny," Ruby replied.
"Shhh!" went Sunset and Twilight, at the exact same time. The two of them looked at one another, and then looked away, in silent mutual agreement never to mention it.
Professor Port's class finished after an hour, and the first year students and their Atlesian guests proceeded to Modern History, where it was the turn of Doctor Oobleck to welcome the new Atlesian students.
"Remember!" he said. "Not much more than eighty years ago, it would have seemed incredible that four representatives of the Kingdom of Atlas should sit in a classroom in the Kingdom of Vale, proudly wearing their Atlesian uniforms. And not just because there wasn't a Kingdom of Atlas at the time! It may seem commonplace to you, who sit in teams drawn from across the kingdoms, but I want you all to bear in mind that in historical terms this state of affairs is nothing short of a miracle! Treasure it and treat it with the appropriate degree of care." Doctor Oobleck paused only for long enough to sip some of his coffee. "Now, let me just hand back your quarter term papers." Doctor Oobleck began to zip around the room, handing out the quarter term papers. "Excellent work as always, Miss Schnee. Miss Valkyrie, your essays are always entertaining, but please try and cultivate a more academic style of prose in future. Miss Heartstrings, I'm afraid this paper is simply not up to scratch. I must ask you to come in for a detention on Friday afternoon to retake it, along with Miss Belladonna."
"And that is why I made you come and study every night," Sunset declared.
"So that we wouldn't fail the paper or so you wouldn't get in trouble for us failing?" Jaune asked.
"Both, obviously," Sunset replied.
"That being said," Doctor Oobleck continued. "Team Sapphire!" he suddenly appeared in front of them. "I take it that you and Miss Belladonna worked on your papers together."
"We had a study session in the library with her, Doctor, but nobody copied anybody else's work if that's what you're implying," Sunset said. It would be the worst luck in the world to get accused of copying now, after four weeks of writing Jaune's essays for him with nobody noticing.
"Fear not, Miss Shimmer; I'm not accusing your team of anything," Doctor Oobleck assured her. "In fact, I commend each and every one of you for an innovative approach to the question on the Faunus Rights Revolution. That being said," he added, as he rapidly handed back their papers, "Mister Arc, Miss Rose, I can't help but feel you overreached yourselves in the attempt; you evinced a lack of grasp on the factual detail and might have been better served with a more basic approach grounded in the content of these lessons. Miss Shimmer, I applaud your ambition, but a team leader must be aware of the limitations of her teammates as well as their strengths."
Sunset bowed her head. "Yes sir."
"And Miss Belladonna, your efforts might have been better served assisting your own team, rather than Team Sapphire."
"Yes, Doctor," Blake murmured.
Ruby started to say something but was silenced by a nudge from Sunset.
"But it wasn't Blake's fault," Ruby protested, as Doctor Oobleck turned away. "Her team ditched her."
"So? It's still her fault," Sunset replied, in a low voice. "Do you think I would have let you go to the movies?"
"You let us go to the arcade," Ruby pointed out.
"After you'd done your essay," Sunset reminded her.
"With that out of the way," Doctor Oobleck said, returning to the front of the lecture theatre. "Actually, one last note, Team Rosepetal, I don't know how far you got in the curriculum before arriving from Atlas, but any gaps in your learning, I will expect you to catch up on your own; the class cannot wait for you."
"We understand, sir," Rainbow said.
"Good, good," Doctor Oobleck replied. "In any case, let us continue. When last we left off, the faunus had just defeated General Lagune's forces at the Battle of Fort Castle, what would prove to be the final battle of the war. General Lagune was captured, and the majority of his forces were killed. Who can tell me what happened next?"
To the raised hands of Sunset, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Sky were added those of Twilight and Ciel.
Doctor Oobleck appeared to ponder for a moment, before deciding to call upon one of the new girls. "Miss Sparkle?"
"A dispute arose in the faunus camp between those who wished to march on Mistral and sack the city and those who believed that the human kingdoms would now surely negotiate peace terms," Twilight said.
"Indeed, Miss Sparklee," Doctor Oobleck said. "Unfortunately, history shows that the conflict between those who wish to seek reconciliation with humanity and those who seek vengeance upon it has continued to divide the faunus from that day to this. One might even go further and say that the arguments that erupted in the faunus camp that night prefigured those which led to the transformation of the White Fang. As you all know, the city of Mistral was not put to the sword; Ares Claudandus elected to send General Lagune back to Mistral to deliver his peace terms. What happened next?"
Ciel, Sunset, Pyrrha, and Weiss raised their hands.
"Miss Nikos."
"General Lagune returned to Mistral to find it in a state of panic, desperately preparing to withstand a siege," Pyrrha replied. "The general himself… betrayed his faunus captors and his solemn word and advised the people to continue the war. However… he was overruled and outvoted, and envoys were sent back to the faunus camp to negotiate an armistice, until a formal treaty with all four kingdoms could be negotiated."
Sunset could not help but note that Pyrrha had omitted the role played by her own great-great-grandfather in those events. When General Lagune had addressed the people on the subject of resistance to the knife, it had been Prometheus Nikos who had bodily hurled him from the rostrum and then – after apologising for his lack of political decorum, having not yet become wholly used to popular government – urged the people to seek peace while there was still a chance to do so.
I suppose she doesn't want even more people to connect the surnames.
"Correct, Miss Nikos, and I think it is fair to say that that was a decision both correct and humane on the part of Mistral," Doctor Oobleck said. "The consequences of yet more war scarcely bear thinking about. An armistice was agreed, and subsequently, representatives of the four kingdoms met with High Leader Claudandus to negotiate the Fair and Equal Accords. Who can name one of the key articles of the accords?"
It was fair to say that Doctor Oobleck did not get a huge number of volunteers to answer the questions that he threw out to the class; as a rule, it was only Sunset, Pyrrha, Weiss, and sometimes Sky Lark who would raise their hand to invite the doctor's attention. Which wasn't to say that everyone in the class was ignorant; Sunset was convinced after their little study session that Blake knew a lot of this stuff but simply didn't wish to draw attention to herself by speaking up in class. In any case, it swiftly became clear that neither Twilight or Ciel had any trouble with inviting the attention of their teacher. By the end of the lesson, they had established themselves as being as knowledgeable as the brightest and best informed of the class, and moreso than most.
When History finished, it was time for all the students to head down to the amphitheatre, passing through the courtyard and circling around the statue of the huntsman and huntress that dominated it, before reaching the tall, circular building that served as the arena for combat and important school announcements alike.
Team SAPR had special treatment as far as the locker rooms were concerned. In respect of Ruby's youth and the fact that it was kind of skeezy to make a fifteen-year old girl get undressed and showered where a bunch of men of dubious character like Flash and Cardin could see her, Team SAPR had their lockers in a different part of the building, where harmless Jaune was the only boy in sight. Today, however, it became apparent that they weren't the only ones getting special privileges, as Team RSPT also headed to a different part of the vast and spacious locker rooms to change out of their Atlas uniforms.
"I wonder what's up with Rosepetal?" Jaune asked, as the four members of Team SAPR changed out of their school uniforms and into their battle attire. "I mean, when the rest of the students from the other schools arrive, they'll be getting changed in the first-year locker rooms, right?"
"It wouldn't surprise me if Twilight is self-conscious," Sunset mused, as she slid rounds into the chamber of Sol Invictus. "She is exactly the type to get flustered at the thought of the boys seeing her undressed."
"You say that as though it is a bad thing," Pyrrha replied in a reproachful tone. "I wouldn't have said anything under ordinary circumstances, but I was never thrilled by the idea of getting undressed and showered in front of all those boys. I don't blame Twilight for wanting to avoid that."
"You don't mind me being around here," Jaune pointed out. "I mean… not that I… there's a reason I'm all the way over here so that your locker doors are like screens, and in the shower-"
"I trust you, Jaune," Pyrrha said. "I know that you would never… take advantage in any way. Unfortunately, that's not something I can say about all of our classmates."
"If Ciel is a robot-" Ruby began.
"Ciel is not a robot," Sunset told her.
"Then she wouldn't want anybody to see her get changed because of her robo-joints," Ruby said.
"Ciel is not a robot," Sunset repeated.
"I haven't asked, but does anyone think that Penny seems rather young?" Pyrrha asked. "Closer to Ruby's age than ours. Might that have something to do with it? Perhaps Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch have learned from what happened with Ruby?"
"She hasn't mentioned her age," Sunset pointed out.
"She isn't obliged to," Pyrrha answered.
Sunset could concede that, and also agree with Pyrrha that Penny did have a very youthful affect and countenance. She did look closer to Ruby's age.
I wonder what she did to get the kind of special treatment that even Rainbow Dash couldn't get?
XxXxX
"So, Penny," Rainbow asked. "How are you finding Beacon so far?"
Penny blinked. "Everyone is very welcoming," she answered.
"The teachers have been welcoming. I'm not so sure about all the students," Rainbow muttered.
Penny tilted her head to one side. "Are you still upset about what Blake said?"
"Okay, anyone who is not a faunus needs to stop talking to me like I overreacted," Rainbow declared, pulling her Undying Loyalty out of the locker and slinging it across her back. "Telling me that because I'm a faunus I ought to be some White Fang thug is every bit as racist as… you know what, it's just racist, and I don't care if she meant well or not. I'm an Atlesian, and I will love my kingdom if I want to."
"Atlas is not perfect," Ciel admitted, "but we strive for perfection. Whilst others are content to dwell amidst the dirt, we rise toward heaven, with our hands outstretched."
Rainbow grinned. "You know, if you talked like that more often, fewer people would think you're a robot."
Ciel scowled. "You mock me."
"No," Rainbow said. "Not now, that was… that was nice. Like poetry, but not boring."
"Poetry is not boring," Twilight protested. "Only bad poetry is boring."
"Then why is so much poetry bad?" Rainbow replied. "The point is, Penny… the point is that I was right, and I didn't overreact at all. Now, are you ready?"
"Combat ready," Penny declared.
"Awesome," Rainbow said. "Ciel?"
Ciel slapped a magazine into her monster of a rifle before collapsing it down to a more manageable length. "Ready," she announced.
"You know if you get called out to fight, that thing is going to be a liability, right?"
"I am resigned to the fact that my sparring scores will be underwhelming," Ciel replied calmly.
"Twilight?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight was encased inside a suit of lavender armour, metal plates interlocking to create a sleek casing that embraced her completely without seeming bulky or cumbersome. The joints glowed faintly with the dust she was using to power the suit, and the weapons systems concealed within the chubby gauntlets that were the only chunky part of the whole design. The visor rose, revealing Twilight's face, glasses and all, underneath. "I still prefer to let my drones do the work, but I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I'll try not to let you down."
"You couldn't," Rainbow declared. "No matter what happens in there. Did you give her a name yet?"
"Not yet."
"Come on, Twi, everybody names their weapons," Rainbow said. "They form part of our legends."
"You sound almost Mistralian," Ciel observed.
"Like your rifle doesn't have a name," Rainbow replied. "Even Penny's swords have a name. Just give it some thought, Twilight, and don't wait too long. But for now, let's go and show them what Atlas is made of."
The amphitheatre at Beacon was… well, it was a lot less impressive than the high tech training facilities at Atlas, where hard light could create simulations of all different kinds of terrain – terrain that always looked like it was made out of blocks stacked on top of one another, admittedly – and the whole room was a playground, with the observation gallery separate. By contrast, Beacon was a lot more primitive, with just a sparring ring – and not even a particularly huge sparring ring – at the back of the room, with benches on the ground floor and a gallery up above to watch from.
Beacon had a reputation as the best of the four Academies, but so far, Rainbow wasn't really seeing it.
Team RSPT sat in the upper gallery, not far from Team SAPR.
A mature blonde wearing half-moon glasses and carrying a riding crop strode out and onto the stage, her heels clicking upon the floor. "For the benefit of the newcomers amongst us, my name is Glynda Goodwitch, and amongst other duties, I am the combat instructor here at Beacon. The presence of our guests from Atlas, the first but by no means the last students to be joining us from the other three academies, should serve as a reminder to you all that the Vytal Festival is not as far off as it might seem. Those of you who wish to compete in the combat tournament will be representing not only the Kingdom of Vale, but more importantly the honour of Beacon Academy.
"All of you have the potential to reach the point where you are ready to represent this prestigious institution in combat against representatives of Atlas, Haven, or Shade Academies. Some of you are there already; others of you still have some work to do before you get there. Regardless, whether you wish to compete in the combat tournament or not, I will not tolerate anything less than your best efforts.
"Team Rosepetal, I'm sorry to disappoint any of you who were hoping to show your prowess this morning, but as it is the beginning of the fifth week since the semester, we'll be taking a milestone of the progress so far of our existing students. Team Sapphire, Team Iron, please make your way up onto the stage."
"Good luck Ruby!" Penny cheered. "Good luck Pyrrha!"
"Penny," Ciel said, "curb your enthusiasm."
"Is it wrong to cheer for my friends?"
"It is improper to behave like a soccer fan on the terraces," Ciel declared. "The purpose of this battle is to educate, not entertain."
That was why Rainbow leaned forward as the two teams made their way up onto the stage. She thought she knew who the winner of this fight was going to be, but while she'd already seen Pyrrha and Sunset in action, she didn't know anything about what Ruby, Jaune, or any of Team YRDN were capable of.
Now would be a good time to find out, in case she had to go up against any of them later.
Perhaps she could also see what Ozpin had been thinking making Sunset Shimmer of all people a team leader.
The two teams went into huddles at opposite sides of the stage. Professor Goodwitch seemed content to give them a few moments to come up with a plan. Rainbow tried to figure out what they were each planning as she watched them. Nora was waving her hammer, and Yang was shaking her head. Rainbow couldn't guess what it amounted to.
"Three," Professor Goodwitch announced, informing them that their time was almost up. The two teams squared off against one another, weapons at the ready.
"Two," Professor Goodwitch continued. "One. Begin!"
Rainbow was not prepared for what happened next, as Sunset dropped her gun, flung out her hands dramatically in front of her and then started shooting laser beams out of her fingertips.
Rainbow's eyes widened. Since when did Sunset Shimmer have that kind of firepower? She'd always had an energy redirection semblance, but she fired out of the palm, and not very often at that. Rainbow had certainly never seen her lay down a barrage like the one that Sunset was bombarding Team YRDN with, blasting their side of the stage of smithereens as they tried to avoid the blasts that erupted from Sunset's fingers.
While they were distracted and pinned down, the other members of Team SAPR charged in: Ruby against Nora, Pyrrha against Yang, and for a moment, Jaune against both the YRDN boys, Dove and Ren, although Sunset stopped spamming her semblance once the risk of hitting her own teammates started, picked up her weapon and teleported to the other side of the stage?
What the-? Rainbow thought as she watched Sunset appear behind Dove in a burst of green light, blast him with a bolt from her palm, and then start trying to smack him with the butt of her rifle. Could she always do that?
Team SAPR didn't have it all their own way. Ren had Jaune completely outclassed, so much so that he was able to break off from Jaune and go to Dove's aid, putting Sunset on the back foot for a second so that Dove, in turn, could finish off Jaune. Of course, by this point, Ruby had tossed Nora out of the ring, and Yang was having no luck at all against Pyrrha, unable to land so much as a glancing blow. Pyrrha took her aura into the red just as Sunset and Ruby together finished off Dove and Ren.
"Yay," Penny said softly. "Is that better, Ciel?"
"Much better, Penny, thank you," Ciel replied.
Rainbow glanced at Twilight. "Did you ever see anything like that from Sunset before?"
Twilight shook her head. "Do you think she's gotten stronger?"
"Or she was always that strong," Rainbow muttered.
XxXxX
At lunch, Sunset moved for Penny again, and Rainbow took the opportunity to sit down beside her. "You're a bit of a dark horse, huh?"
"That's racist," Sunset answered evasively as she forked a few salad leaves into her mouth.
"I'm a faunus too; I can't be racist, remember?" Rainbow replied, picking up a chip off her plate and placing it in her mouth. She chewed on it for a moment. "Seriously, since when could you do all that laser stuff?"
"Since I realised that having people know what I could do and respect me for it was more important than the chance to catch them off guard when the chips were down," Sunset replied.
Rainbow frowned. "So… you could do that the entire time; you were just hiding it?"
"Yep."
"And now you've decided to stop hiding it?"
"Yep."
Rainbow paused for a moment. "Okay, you and me need to have a match sooner or later. Hopefully sooner."
Sunset grinned. "What's the matter, Rainbow Dash? Do you have something to prove all of a sudden?"
Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "It's stuff like this is why you stopped hiding, isn't it?"
"Absolutely," Sunset confirmed. "And it's totally worth it."
"So, Atlas kids," Yang began. "How are you enjoying Beacon so far?"
"Is Grimm Studies always like that, or was that a special show he put on for us?" Rainbow asked.
Yang winced. "It's pretty much always like that."
Rainbow groaned. "How have you gotten through four weeks of that?"
"Don't pay any attention to any of these people," Sunset said, gesturing to Yang's team and the remainder of her own. "None of them get it despite my attempts to explain it to them."
"Are you honestly attempting to maintain that Professor Port's teaching style is efficient?" Ciel demanded incredulously.
"I wouldn't go that far, no," Sunset admitted, "but I understand what he's aiming for: it's a parable style in which each story contains a number of lessons embedded within it. In this case, there was a lot of detail about how to fight dromedons if you were listening for it."
"I understand, and I think I even picked up on most of them," Twilight said, "but that doesn't change the fact that if he wanted to tell us about dromedons, he could just… talk about dromedons?"
"So, Nora," Rainbow said, "what did the professor mean about the sulphur fish?"
Nora's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. It was Ren who answered for her. "She tried to pet them."
Rainbow's eyebrows. "You tried to pet the sulphur fish?"
"They're so small!" Nora cried. "Like baby turtles!"
"Okay, that's a new one," Rainbow said.
"At least history was pretty cool," Twilight said.
"If you can keep up with what Doctor Oobleck's saying, maybe," Yang said.
"What about you, Penny?" Ruby said. "How are you finding Beacon?"
"Wonderful," Penny declared. "Especially getting to watch you all fight. You and Pyrrha and Sunset were all incredible."
"Penny," Pyrrha said, in a tone of mild reproach.
"What?"
"It's okay," Jaune said.
"You are improving, Jaune; you proved that on Saturday," Pyrrha told him. "Don't let yourself be disheartened by this, I beg you."
"I'm not," Jaune assured her. "But I don't need Penny – or anyone else – to pretend I'm better or stronger than I am."
Then what are you doing here? Rainbow thought. There was no shame in not being a huntsman. Four of Rainbow's best friends in the world weren't huntresses – and she counted Twilight in that number – and she would never think any the less of them for that nor allow anyone else to speak any the less of them for that. There was nothing wrong in admitting that you had different talents, different dreams, that you weren't cut out for this, or that you just didn't want to do it. Rarity could have been a decent huntress, but there was no shame in her saying that she'd rather devote her life to beauty. Yes, somebody had to do this job and man the barricades, but there would always be somebody who wanted to. Somebody like Rainbow Dash.
There was no shame in turning your back on this life and finding another path, but to continue on it even though you weren't suited? Rainbow couldn't say whether Jaune Arc was improving or not, but she could say already that he was the weak link of the team. And that… that was something to be ashamed of, because at the end of the day, this wasn't a game. Lives were at stake here.
And Rainbow was surprised, very surprised, that Sunset didn't seem to see that.
XxXxX
Rainbow and Twilight sat on the roof of the Beacon dorm rooms, their legs dangling over the side, kicking in the air.
It was the end of their first day at Beacon, and the sun was going down. It was a little cold. Winter was definitely on the way around here. Rainbow wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get some snow.
"It's weird that this place gets colder than Atlas, isn't it?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight shrugged. "It makes perfect sense," she said. "Thanks to the heating grid, Atlas is kept at a steady temperature higher than the surrounding tundra or the altitude would warrant in normal circumstances. Vale… doesn't have that."
"It still feels weird," Rainbow replied. She looked at Twilight, the breeze blowing gently through her hair, making her bangs flutter back and forth. "Are you ready?"
"Sure," Twilight said. "Go for it."
Rainbow got out her scroll, and held it up at arm's length while she and Twilight huddled close together so that both their faces appeared on the screen. Then she selected the call-group 'Spectacular Six'.
Twilight had turned off her scroll, so one of the five boxes that appeared on the screen was black, with an 'unable to connect' message, even as the other five squares that made up her screen were blue, connecting icons flashing white upon the background.
Rarity was the first to pick up, her hair in curlers as she sat in a pink fluffy nightgown. "Rainbow Dash! Twilight! How lovely to hear from you darlings, and about time, I daresay."
Twilight laughed nervously. "Sorry about that, Rarity. We should have called sooner."
"Oh, water under the bridge now, Twilight, pay it no mind at all," Rarity said. "I see that you're call-"
"Oh, hello girls," Fluttershy murmured as her face, half-hidden behind her long, lilac hair, appeared in another box on the screen.
Rainbow grinned. "Hey, Fluttershy, how's it going?"
"Alright," Fluttershy said. "Rarity's taking me to the release party for the new Shadow Spade mystery."
"Taking you or dragging you?" Rainbow asked.
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried. "I do not drag Fluttershy anywhere. I sometimes suggest that she might like to expand her horizons."
"I don't mind," Fluttershy said. "They're very cosy mysteries once you get past the rough exterior."
"Howdy, girls," Applejack said, as her face appeared on the screen. She was without her usual Stetson, instead wearing a scarf wrapped around her head. "Sorry I'm late; I was helping Big Macintosh repaint the barn." She frowned. "I ain't the last one here? Now where is-"
"I had to get my cakes out of the oven," Pinkie explained as her face appeared in the final box. "Hey Twilight, hey Rainbow Dash."
"Now how in tarnation did you-"
"It's a gift," Pinkie said.
"It's something else, I admit," Applejack said. "Now, where exactly are you two callin' from?"
"We're at Beacon Academy, in Vale," Twilight said.
"'Beacon'?" Applejack repeated. "And what in the cider cask are you doing there so early?"
"Well, the person we were sent to bring home from Vale didn't want to go, and so, we ended up staying here," Rainbow explained.
Pinkie beamed. "So you chose to make someone else smile."
Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we did. And… it felt good to do it too."
"So you're not coming home?" Fluttershy asked anxiously.
"Not for a while, no," Rainbow admitted. "Maybe for Spring Break, but maybe not. We'll see how it goes."
"Aww, it's a pity you're stuck in Vale," Pinkie said. "But hey! It could be worse: Twilight could have ditched us all to run away to Vacuo with the Shadowbolts."
Twilight frowned. "Why would I go to Vacuo with the Shadowbolts of all people?"
"I'm sure there's a world out there where it makes sense," Pinkie said.
Twilight glanced at Rainbow, who shrugged. Sometimes you just had to accept that Pinkie was… Pinkie.
"You two gonna be okay down there in Vale?" Applejack asked. "All by yourselves till the rest of the students show up?"
Rainbow put her free hand around Twilight's shoulder, hugging her close. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her."
"Yeah, you'd better," Applejack threatened good-naturedly.
"Applejack," Twilight protested.
"No offence, Twilight, but you ain't exactly the toughest nut in the… bag of nuts," Applejack countered.
"She'll be fine," Rainbow insisted. "I promise I won't let anything happen to Twilight." She hugged Twilight even closer to her. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you." Rainbow kissed her on the forehead. "Nothing at all." Twilight meant everything to all of them. Twilight was the one who had brought them all together at Canterlot and held them altogether afterwards. Twilight was a piece of all their hearts and held a piece of their hearts in turn. Twilight… Twilight was Rainbow's hope.
She'd die for her, if she had to.
"Enough of such gloomy talk," Rarity declared. "You should try and enjoy yourselves while you're in Vale. I understand that The Mistralian Opera Ghost just opened in the West End, and it's gotten such rave reviews, you really must try and see it."
"It also has the largest public zoo in all of Remnant," Fluttershy added.
"Uh, we'll bear both of those in mind, thanks," Rainbow said.
"If you could come home for spring vacation, that would be ideal, darlings," Rarity went on. "That way, I can tailor your dresses for the Vytal Festival parties; if not, I'll just have to rely on your measurements." Rarity's eyes widened. "That reminds me, I've heard that both Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos are attending Beacon this year."
"That's right," Twilight said. "We've met both of them; they're in our class."
"Really?" Rarity cried, her blue eyes sparkling. "Why, darling, you must ask them if I might do them the honour of making them gowns for the Vytal dance. With that kind of publicity, I'm sure to-"
"Rarity, we're not going to badger Weiss and Pyrrha into wearing your dresses," Rainbow said.
"I didn't ask you to badger anyone," Rarity protested, "but if you could mention that I am, as it were, fashionably-inclined, then perhaps show them a few examples of my works – ooh, I'll send you some of my best pictures."
"Hold on, now, Rarity," Applejack said. "Why don't we let them get a little more settled in, first?"
"Oh, oh yes, of course, darlings, wouldn't want to put any undue pressure on you, of course."
"We'll miss you both so much," Fluttershy said, "but we'll be waiting right here when you get back."
"And then we can all go to Sugarcube Corner and have sundaes, and you can catch up on everything you've missed, and then, you can tell us all about your adventures," Pinkie declared.
Rainbow's smile was broad and bright. "That sounds great, Pinkie; I'm looking forward to it already. You okay to keep looking after Tank for me?"
"Sure thing," Pinkie chirruped.
"And Applejack, Rarity, can you two look in on Scootaloo from time to time, make sure she's doing okay?"
"Of course, dear."
Applejack nodded. "You betcha. You're gonna call her, right?"
"Yeah, I'll do it now," Rainbow said. "Or when we're finished."
"We're really sorry about this," Twilight said. "It's just… duty calls, I guess."
"We understand," Applejack said. "We'll miss you, but we understand."
"We love you!" Pinkie cried.
"We love you too, Pinkie," Twilight said. "We love all of you."
A chorus of goodbyes echoed out of the scroll as, one by one, everyone hung up. The screen went dark as Rainbow looked at it.
"They'll be fine," Twilight said. "And so will we, and we'll be together again before you know it."
"I know," Rainbow replied. "Now I've gotta call Scootaloo."
"Right," Twilight murmured. "Do you want me to stay for that?"
Rainbow shook her head. "No, you go back to the dorm room. I'll be there before curfew."
Twilight stood up. "You know, I don't think they have a curfew here at Beacon."
Rainbow looked up at her. "Really?"
"No," Twilight said. "No curfew, no weekend passes; you just come and go as you please, so long as you show up to class."
Rainbow frowned. "That's a strange way to run an academy."
"It seems to work for them," Twilight replied. "I'll leave you to it. Good luck."
Rainbow snorted. "Thanks, Twi."
She turned away and listened to the sound of Twilight's footsteps on the roof, fading away as she descended the stairs.
Rainbow looked down at her scroll and sighed. "Hey, Scootaloo, I won't be around much for a while… just like your parents. I'm sorry, but I can't avoid it… again, just like your parents. Just like they say, anyway." She sighed again. Scootaloo's a good kid, she'll understand.
Doesn't mean she'll like it, though.
Nevertheless, she deserved to know. Rainbow called Scootaloo.
It was only a few seconds before Scootaloo's face appeared in the screen, her dark purple hair styled the same as Rainbow's, her pony ears pricked up happily. "Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow smiled. "Hey there, Scootaloo! How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm okay. Just chilling in my room. Auntie Lofty made cookies."
"Your aunt makes the best cookies," Rainbow Dash said. "But don't tell Pinkie I said that."
Scootaloo giggled. "Your secret's safe with me."
"That is why you're the best little sister I could hope for," Rainbow said. She hesitated. "Listen, Scootaloo… I'm calling because… because I'm not going to be around much this year. Not at all for a few months at least."
Scootaloo frowned. "Why? I thought you were going to come visit next weekend, and we were going to go camping."
"Yeah, I know, that was the plan," Rainbow admitted, "but… I'm in Vale now, and I'm going to be stuck here for a while. It's not great, but…"
"Duty calls," Scootaloo murmured.
"Yeah," Rainbow said unhappily. "I'll try and get back for Spring Break, but I don't know if I'll be able to."
"But why are you in Vale so early?" Scootaloo asked. "You said you didn't ship out until next semester."
"That… things change sometimes," Rainbow offered feebly. "I can't explain it - like 'can't explain because it's classified' kind of can't explain it - but I'll be back after the Vytal Festival at the latest! And then we can hang out and do all kinds of awesome stuff together before the next year starts."
"I've heard that before," Scootaloo muttered.
"Not from me," Rainbow said fiercely. "When I say I'm sorry, I mean it, and when I say that I'll make it up to you, I mean that too!" She exhaled heavily. "You know that I do this for you, right? It's a mean world out there, and someone has to defend it. And since… since that's something I can do, then I… then I gotta do it." It was the only thing that she could do. The only way that she could make herself useful to Twilight and the others. Gods knew they didn't need her for her brains or her creative talents. But she had two good hands and some talent with her aura, so… so she could keep them safe.
Them, and Scootaloo, and Ciel and Penny, and the whole of Atlas if she had to.
Because she was their protector, the strong one.
Scootaloo stared up at her from out of her scroll. "I know," she said quietly. "And I believe you."
"Great," Rainbow said, relief evident in her voice. "Because I will try and get back, and I will make it up to you. And hey, you'll never guess who's here at Beacon with me."
Scootaloo pondered. "Applejack?"
"No, Twilight, but that's not who I meant: Pyrrha Nikos."
Scootaloo gasped. "From the hospital?"
"Yeah, she remembered you," Rainbow said. It was kind of true. Close enough, and it seemed to make Scootaloo happy.
"Really?" she cried. "Do you think she'd mind if I recorded her a message or sent her an email or something?"
"I think she'd like that a lot," Rainbow said, "but I'll check to make sure and pass her address onto you."
"Thanks, Rainbow Dash; she's almost as cool as you are."
Rainbow chuckled. "Listen, you take care of yourself, okay, and your aunts too."
"I will. You're going to call again, right?"
"Every week, if I can," Rainbow replied. "Be good, and good luck out there."
"Speak to you soon, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cheered, as the call finished.
Rainbow stared down at the blank scroll in her hands for a moment before she put it away.
"Is that your sister?"
Rainbow looked around. Blake Belladonna was standing beside her, standing over her, looking down at her. Able to see her scroll.
Rainbow's lip curled in contempt. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long," Blake said. "I wasn't eavesdropping."
"What do you want?" Rainbow demanded.
"To talk to you," Blake said. She hesitated. "I'm… sorry that we got off on the wrong foot on Saturday. I didn't mean to offend you."
"How was I supposed to take it?" Rainbow snapped. She growled wordlessly and remembered that Blake had come up here to apologise. Twilight would want me to play nice. "Sit down," she gestured to the space on the rooftop beside her.
Blake sat down and looked out at the Vale CCT that rose up across the campus. "Quite a view from up here."
"It's not bad," Rainbow replied. "It's no Atlas, but it's not bad."
"Atlas," Blake murmured, "I've heard… it's beautiful."
"It's… sure, it's a nice place to look at," Rainbow acknowledged. "And on a clear day, if you get close to the city limits or the top of the academy tower, it feels like you can see the whole of Remnant from up there, but… it's the people that make it what it is. That make it the greatest place in the world."
Blake frowned.
Rainbow frowned right back at her. "What?"
"That's… not what I've heard," Blake replied. "Quite the opposite, actually."
Rainbow thought about what that meant. "You heard that the city is beautiful, but the people are… nice?"
"A little… less than nice," Blake admitted. "I… I had a friend, a faunus girl, a chameleon. She was born in Mantle, but her parents sent her to live in Atlas, and part time, she attended an exclusive prep school in Crystal City."
"Crystal City – you mean she went to Crystal Prep?" Rainbow asked.
"She said it was terrible."
"You're basing everything you know about big bad Atlas on the word of someone who went to Crystal Prep?" Rainbow sputtered in disbelief. "Of course she got the wrong idea, it… it was Crystal Prep!" She paused. "Are we talking about Ilia Amitola, here?"
Blake's eyes widened. "You know her?"
"She was a Crystal Prep Shadowbolt; I met her at the Friendship Games," Rainbow explained. "Until she stopped showing up. Word was that she suddenly got outed as a faunus, freaked out, and started attacking people."
"Her parents died!" Blake cried. "Of course she was upset."
"You're right, I shouldn't have said it like that," Rainbow conceded. "But the point is: she left on her own. Even though she'd broken the jaws of other students, Principal Cinch wasn't going to kick her out. That's the kind of school she went to, and that's why she thinks that way about Atlas. Now, if Ilia's parents had sent her to Canterlot-"
"Then she'd be like you?" Blake asked, her tone making it clear how unconvinced she was.
"I know that Atlas isn't perfect," Rainbow replied. "But I also know that it's getting better. Since Cadance got elected to the Council, she and General Ironwood have been pushing to… you know it's illegal to bar faunus from anywhere now? They got the law changed two years ago."
"Are you telling me that no faunus is ever refused service?" Blake replied.
"No, I'm not saying that; I'm saying things can change for the better, and they will, eventually."
"How long is 'eventually'?"
"I don't know, and why do you care?" Rainbow snapped. "What else can we do but keep pushing? Atlas isn't perfect, but it's full of good people. Good, beautiful people with hearts that could open for a Low Town punk like me. And they're pushing, for me, and when I'm C in C, I'll keep pushing too, for the people who'll come after."
Blake was silent for a moment. "You don't have to pretend to me."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your teammates aren't here right now; we're all alone," Blake said. "You don't have to pretend; you can be honest for the first time-"
"If you want me to throw you off this roof, you can just ask," Rainbow growled, cutting Blake off. She got to her feet, so that she was looking down on this meddling busybody who presumed to know her and to judge her friends. "You don't know me, you don't know my team, and you don't know my friends."
"I know they're all human," Blake replied, as she too rose to her feet. "Sunset told me as much. She didn't name you - it was before you got here - but the implication was clear."
"Sunset Shimmer doesn't know me either," Rainbow growled, "and frankly, she's not nearly as perceptive as she thinks she is."
"Do you feel like you're one of them?" Blake demanded.
"I am one of them, in every way that matters," Rainbow replied heatedly.
"Do you join in when they insult faunus, when they call them dirty or liars?"
"My friends don't say things like that, and neither do Ciel or Penny."
"You will never be one of them," Blake declared, her voice tremulous and trembling, "and there will come a moment when you realise that you never were."
"You think they're really your friends? Do you really believe that? Open your eyes, Dash, you'll never be nothing but a faunus to them!"
Rainbow bared her teeth, both at Blake and at the memory of Gilda's words, some of the last words that her old friend had ever spoken to her. She took a step forward. Blake retreated a step.
"I don't know who you think you are," Rainbow snarled, "but I don't need you to save me from the awful Atlesians who are… whatever you think they're doing to me. I've been saved already, and I don't need some human who had a faunus friend once and thinks that we should all join the White Fang because that's not profiling at all to tell me what to think. I know who cares about me. I know who's got my back. I don't need you to do what my friends never did and act like a racist who can't see beyond my ears. Now get out of my sight; we're done."
Blake hesitated, staring defiantly into Rainbow's face. She turned and walked away, her footsteps brisk as she departed from the roof.
Rainbow took a deep breath. And then another. Her shoulders heaved. It wasn't true, what Blake had said. It wasn't true any more than what Gilda had said was true.
Rainbow hoped it wasn't true.
A glow of light began to shine from beneath, beyond the edge of the rooftop. It was a white glyph, one of a series of glyphs which formed in the otherwise empty air, gleaming brightly even as the sky began to darken as the sun went down. Weiss Schnee lept deftly from glyph to glyph, a gleaming figure herself in her white bolero and glittering tiara, until she was standing in the air looking ever so slightly down upon Rainbow Dash.
"I wish," she said, "that people would learn that we can hear everything they say up here from our dorm room."
Rainbow Dash assumed an 'at ease' posture. "I apologise for disturbing you, Miss Schnee. It won't happen again."
Weiss sighed. "You don't need to do that."
"Do what, Miss Schnee?" Rainbow asked.
"Bow and scrape to my family name," Weiss informed her. "I'm not going to call my father and have him speak to General Ironwood just because you didn't offer to shine my shoes. I may be a Schnee, but more importantly, I'm a huntress in training and a student at this school. The expected courtesy from one student to another is all I ask."
Rainbow was silent for a moment. "Okay, Miss- Weiss. I didn't meant to-"
"You didn't," Weiss assured her. "Believe me, I understand why you did it."
Rainbow nodded. "Thank you," she said. She paused. "So, you heard everything, huh?"
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Flash called from down below.
Rainbow grinned. "Hey, Flash, how's it going?"
Flash hauled himself up onto the rooftop. "It's okay," he said. "Listen, don't pay attention to Blake. You're right; she doesn't know your friends, but I do. Just because I was wrong about Twilight doesn't mean I'm wrong when I say that those girls… there's no way that what you feel for one another isn't real. No way."
"I don't know what's gotten into Blake lately," Weiss declared. "She was always quiet and subdued, but she was also incredibly brave in the leadership field exercise. She never struck me as being the kind of person to interfere in other people's affairs or to be so militantly opposed to Atlas. I can't think what's caused this change."
"She thought she'd found someone who'd agree with her?" Rainbow suggested.
Weiss folded her arms. "Perhaps. It's… a little disappointing," she said. "I agree with you that Atlas isn't perfect, any more than the SDC is flawless, but as you put it, we have no choice but to keep pushing forward."
"Right," Rainbow said softly. "Listen, even if you are a student first and a Schnee second, you're still a daughter of Atlas, and so if there's anything that my team can help you with, you can still call on us to help you out. And that goes for you, too, Flash. There's… there's some old fancy words that General Ironwood said, began with a C."
"Civis Atlarus Sum?" Weiss suggested.
"Yeah, that's the one," Rainbow agreed. "Atlas has got you covered."
Weiss chuckled. "Good to know," she said. "Although I'm not sure how much of a huntress I'd be if I needed it."
"But if we do need it, we'll be glad to have it," Flash said.
"Quite," Weiss agreed. "And one more thing, Rainbow Dash: if your friend really wants to send me a dress, I'm certainly not about to refuse it."
Chapter 10 - Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
Blake Belladonna had never sought to be a saviour. She had never wanted to be celebrated for her role in events. Unlike Adam, she had no desire to be lionised as a paragon of her kind. She had been groomed for leadership, but if that task had fallen to her, she would – she hoped – have taken it up with all due humility, as a heavy burden to be dutifully shouldered, not a gilded crown to be eagerly snatched up.
All of which was to say that Rainbow Dash was quite wrong to attribute Blake's motives to some sort of saviour complex on Blake's part. Blake wanted to save people, yes, where they needed saving, but she had only ever fought because it was the right thing to do and because she had the strength to fight, not because she wanted to be celebrated for having fought. She wasn't trying to save Rainbow Dash to make herself feel better… or at least she wasn't doing it to make herself feel good. There was, perhaps, a nagging sense of guilt over those that she had left behind: Ilia, Strongheart… even Adam. She had left them all behind to sink deeper into the mire of bitterness, wrath, and the desire for revenge. She had sought to assuage that guilt by opening Rainbow's eyes more gently, rather than standing by and allowing her to suffer the more violent shock of the moment when the masks would fall and Rainbow would realise the fear and contempt in which she was held by her supposed friends.
Or perhaps… perhaps Blake was wrong. She was willing to concede that. Not being driven by any desire to puff up her own ego with accomplishments, she was willing to admit that Rainbow Dash might not need saving. Blake still wasn't sure how any faunus could be so blind or indifferent to the suffering of their people that they would willingly join the Atlesian military and become a party to that same suffering and oppression, but she could concede that Rainbow Dash's faith in her human friends might not be misplaced. Blake still thought Rainbow was quite wrong to serve Atlas, of course, and her faith in human politicians and authority figures to advance the cause was as naïve as her parents' belief in the power of non-violent protest, but she might not need rescuing in the way that Blake had first conceived of.
Rainbow Dash wasn't Ilia. She wasn't hiding what she was, passing for human amongst the humans. Sunset said that Rainbow had forgotten that she was a faunus, but… well, Sunset had her hangups, even as Blake did. Everyone was a product of their own past and saw the shadows of that past in the lives of others, whether they belonged there or not. Rainbow went openly as a faunus, which meant it was possible that those around her had accepted her as the same.
Rainbow wasn't Ilia, then, but someone who had imbibed the values of Atlas. That might arguably be worse. She would probably do more ill as a servant of Atlas and its malign influence upon the world than she would ever accomplish in the White Fang, even fallen as they were.
And yet there was not much Blake could do about it. Opening Rainbow's eyes to the evil of the Atlesian system would be much harder than opening them to the indifference of the humans around her might have been. Blake might know, in her gut, that Atlas was an oppressor of faunus, but it would be hard to get that across unless she intended to suddenly start bombarding Rainbow with facts about conditions in the Mantle mines.
Blake had left Adam behind because you couldn't help someone who didn't want to be helped, and there came a point at which you had to help yourself. She wanted to help Rainbow step out of the shadows, but she wasn't going to risk exposure for someone who seemed quite content in themselves and their cause, though it was the worst cause for which ever a faunus fought.
She would need to decide whether she wished to expend any further effort on the Atlesian faunus or not.
It was the day after her ill-fated attempt to talk to Rainbow Dash on the rooftop – regarding further interactions between them, there was also the question of whether or not Rainbow would allow her to say anything else – and Blake was sat high up near the back of the lecture theatre waiting for Professor Goodwitch to arrive for Leadership. She could see Rainbow Dash down below, sitting with Weiss Schnee. It made her feel a little ill, a faunus kowtowing to the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company like that. All that the SDC did, all that they took from the faunus, and still, people like Rainbow Dash were willing to forget it all in hopes of patronage and advantage.
Does she really believe that they'll ever make a faunus commander of the Atlesian military? That they'll ever give a faunus a seat on the Atlesian Council? How naïve can a person be?
"Good morning, students," Professor Goodwitch said as she strode into the hall, "I apologise for my tardiness." Her heels tapped upon the floor. She stopped, and turned to face the class. "Welcome to leadership, Miss Dash."
"Thank you, ma'am," Rainbow said, standing up.
Professor Goodwitch hesitated for a moment, and Blake thought she might protest the use of 'ma'am,' but she did not and merely gestured for Rainbow to take her seat again.
"Miss Dash," Professor Goodwitch continued, "what, in your opinion, makes a good leader?"
Rainbow replied at once. "A good team leader knows her teammates better than their mothers do and loves them as much."
"That is a very good answer from General Ironwood," Professor Goodwitch said. "I would rather hear what Rainbow Dash has to say."
Rainbow let out a slightly self-effacing laugh. "I guess… trust?"
"Would you care to elaborate?"
"Your team needs to trust you to have their backs when things get rough," Rainbow said. "Otherwise, you can't trust them to do the same."
"And where does the authority of a leader derive?"
"From the General," Rainbow said, "and from that trust. Once your teammates know they can trust you, they'll follow you anywhere."
"And how do you establish that trust?"
Rainbow said, "Well, I guess that's where General Ironwood ordering your teammates to obey you comes in, Professor."
"Indeed," Professor Goodwitch said, in that even tone she often used during Leadership class to mask her personal opinions on any given subject.
Trust, Blake mused. How can you completely trust Atlesians?
And how can you be sure that they trust you?
XxXxX
"Sunset?"
Sunset looked up from her Plant Science homework to see Blake Belladonna walking towards her. The moonlight streamed in through the library windows.
"Blake," Sunset said evenly.
"I went to your dorm room," Blake said. "Ruby and Yang were there; they told me you'd be here."
"They were right," Sunset replied. Pyrrha and Jaune were training, and Sunset had let Ruby and Yang have the dorm room to read some more of their mother's diary while she retired to the library to get a head start on this week's homework. Plant Science was her worst subject, and her least favourite. It was an effort to get through each essay.
Blake hovered at Sunset's table. "Can we talk?"
"We're talking now."
Blake stared down at Sunset, not rising to the bait.
Sunset sighed. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Rainbow Dash."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Did it not occur to you that I might have better things to do than talk about Rainbow Dash?"
"Please," Blake said. "I know that you went to combat school with her."
"So did Lyra and Bon Bon; why don't you talk to them?"
"Because you're a faunus," Blake said.
"Well that's… bluntly put," Sunset muttered. "Are you sure it's not because your team doesn't like you?"
Blake's eyebrows rose.
"Don't look at me like that; what do you expect me to say?" Sunset asked. "Your teammates avoid you more than mine avoided me when I was an incredibly avoidable person! They spend more time with Dove Bronzewing of Team Iron than they do with you."
"I'm not here to make friends," Blake murmured.
"Are you here to make an enemy of Rainbow Dash?" Sunset asked. "I don't know exactly what you said to her last night, but she was still spitting blood about it this morning. I didn't tell you that she acted like a human so that you could go and tell her that I said so."
Blake winced. "I didn't mean to get you in any trouble. What did she do?"
"Blustered at me," Sunset answered. "Which I could have handled except that she was doing it in front of my team. I had to apologise before they started to think I'd done something wrong. I don't like having to apologise."
"I hadn't noticed."
"If you want to be sarcastic, you can find someone else to talk to about Rainbow Dash," Sunset informed her.
"Sorry," Blake murmured. "Can I sit down?"
Sunset sighed deeply. "Sure. Why not?"
"Thank you," Blake said quietly, as she took the chair on Sunset's right, pulling it out and sitting on it. She crossed her legs and waited for Sunset to say something.
Sunset did not do so.
"Sunset?" Blake asked.
I'd rather be doing Plant Science, and that's saying something, Sunset thought. "What do you want to know?" she asked.
"What was it like to live in Atlas?" Blake asked.
"I never actually lived in Atlas," Sunset admitted, "I lived in Canterlot. I never even saw the city of Atlas."
"But what was it like in Canterlot?"
Sunset paused, thinking about it. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't tell what is my righteous anger and what is my folly," Sunset hissed at her. "Because I have sworn to reform myself, to live better, to be better than I was… and if I let my thoughts dwell upon Canterlot too much, I may forget why I made that vow."
Blake was silent for a moment. "I… I should probably tell you that you have a right to be angry-"
"Do I?" Sunset demanded. "Do I have the right to take that anger out on Ruby? On Pyrrha and Jaune, who have done me no harm? Do I have the right to let anger ruin my life as it has done these many years and leave me with nothing, nothing at all to show for it?" She shook her head. "I will not. I was blessed with teammates overflowing with compassion, and out of their compassion, they have raised me from the darkness. Perhaps there are things I could be angry about but… I dare not take the risk of plunging back into the depths."
Blake was silent for a moment. "I understand," she said. "That's what I was going to say: although I should say that you have a right to be angry, I understand why you don't want to give it purchase. I've seen anger, even righteous anger, anger for a cause that was indisputably right and just, corrupt good people, twist them until they… why do you think the White Fang gave in to violence? It wasn't just that they lost hope; it's that the anger in their souls became overwhelming. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have asked you that. I should have known better." She paused. "Do you want me to go?"
"I can talk about Rainbow Dash," Sunset said. "I think I can talk about Rainbow Dash."
Blake nodded. "Are you sure?"
Sunset also nodded, although it was a tight nod, as much a jerk of the head. "What do you want to know?"
"She is the faunus you were talking about, isn't she? The one who surrounds herself with humans?"
"She's the one," Sunset agreed.
Blake paused. "Can they be trusted? Her friends?"
"What do you mean by 'can they be trusted?'"
"I mean are they really her friends, or is this some sort of game to them?"
Sunset glanced at Blake, her eyebrows rising curiously. "Have you ever known any humans pull a long con like that? Come on, my boyfriend dumped me because I'm a faunus, and he's a bigot, and even I don't think he was playing with me for our whole relationship."
"I admit it sounds a little far fetched when you put it like that," Blake admitted. "So you think it's real, their friendship?"
"I think if anything is real in these four kingdoms, it's their friendship," Sunset replied. "That's what I envied about her, that she had such good friends, such loyal friends, such true friends, and they didn't even seem to care that she was a faunus."
"You're not doing so badly for friends yourself," Blake pointed out.
"That's why I said envied in the past tense," Sunset replied, "but yes, for whatever it's worth, I think they really care about her and her for them."
"Why?" Blake asked.
Sunset frowned. "Why what?"
"Why do they care about her, when she's a faunus? Why does she care about them when they're not?"
"Why do Pyrrha and Ruby give a damn about me? I don't know how the heart works," Sunset replied. "Call me… confused but grateful. As far as I'm concerned all of this stuff might as well be-"
"Magic?" Blake suggested.
If only you knew. I could understand magic. "Sure," Sunset grunted, "why not? Listen, I don't know Rainbow Dash's story. I was never even a hanger-on to their friend group. I was never close to any of the girls. They were already a clique by the time I arrived at Canterlot." She decided not to mention her failed attempts to break them up. "All I know is that Rainbow and Twilight are at the heart of it. They were friends before they met the others; together, they hold the rest of the group together, more or less. How did Flash put it? Ah, yes: 'Twilight is the heart of the group, and Rainbow is the soul.'"
"I see," Blake said quietly. "Why does she wear that uniform?"
"The Atlas uniform?" Sunset asked. "Why shouldn't she?"
"Because she's a faunus," Blake insisted. "Would you wear it?"
"I came to Beacon only partly because of what kind of a kingdom Atlas is," Sunset admitted, "and partly because I wanted to get away from my past and try for a fresh start where people like Rainbow Dash wouldn't recognise me. If I had been lauded and admired at Canterlot the way that Rainbow was lauded and admired, you bet your bottom lien I would have gone to Atlas."
"In spite of the way they treat the faunus?"
"Rainbow doesn't see it," Sunset informed her, ignoring the question as it applied to herself. "She soars too high for the suffering of the faunus on the ground to register. Listen, I told you that Twilight and Rainbow arrived at Canterlot together, that much was common knowledge even from people who didn't know anything other than that. Now, do you know that Twilight's father is a retired Colonel? That her sister-in-law sits on the Council? That General Ironwood is her godfather?"
Blake's eyes widened. "'Highly placed' seems like an understatement."
"And Rainbow is plugged in to all of that, through Twilight. Dash is General Ironwood's golden girl."
Blake leaned back in her seat. "No wonder she thinks she can fly all the way to the top," she murmured. "She is… not what I thought when I saw her in the cafeteria."
Sunset snorted. "She's a long way from Low Town, that's for sure."
"And yet she's still being used," Blake insisted. "Turned as a weapon against her own kind, made complicit in the sins of Atlas against the faunus."
"You mean against the White Fang?" Sunset asked. She didn't wait for a reply. "Let me ask you something: Why do you care so much? Why do you want to know about Rainbow Dash? Why do you give a damn whether she wears an Atlas uniform or not?"
"Because I thought she needed help," Blake said. "She reminded me of an old friend who I didn't help, and… I thought I could do better this time around." She got to her feet. "But Rainbow Dash isn't my friend, and although she still needs help – the Atlesians have got their hooks so deep into her that she believes that what she's doing is good and noble – it's not help that I can give. Thank you, Sunset. I'll let you get on with your work."
XxXxX
Blake left the library and was about to set off towards her dorm room when she found her route blocked by the diminutive figure of Weiss Schnee. In the dark of the night, the heiress was pure white, shining like a second moon descended from the heavens to better illuminate the world.
It was rather ironic, considering that her father's company routinely committed acts darker than any night. And yet, here and now, Weiss seemed completely removed from all of that. Out of darkness had sprung such beauty; it was also obscene that it should be so, an affront to justice.
Or perhaps it is perfectly just that she, who was not born guilty of her father's sins, shows in herself no trace of them.
Blake's brow furrowed. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Weiss put one hand on her hip. "I'm not sure. Perhaps there's something I can help you with."
"I doubt that," Blake murmured. "I'm not even sure why you'd think that."
"Yes, it can be odd when someone who doesn't even know you very well decides that there's something wrong with you and your life choices, isn't it?" Weiss replied. "Some people even find it annoying."
Blake looked away. "Are you here to tell me to stay away from Rainbow Dash?"
"I'm here to ask what's gotten into you," Weiss said. "I know that we don't know one another very well, and I admit that that may be in part my fault. I have been… a little distant from my fellow freshman."
Blake snorted. "So distant that, apparently, you haven't noticed that I'm not much of a social butterfly myself. Just because my team sometimes sits with Sapphire and Iron in the cafeteria doesn't mean I'm close to them."
"And yet you've fought with us," Weiss said. "You risked your own life to draw the grimm away so that Sunset, Yang, and I could finish the leader off. That was… very brave of you, and I don't think I ever thanked you for it."
"I didn't do it for your praise," Blake said, as she began to walk around Weiss and towards the dorm rooms.
"Have you hated Atlas all this time?" Weiss demanded of Blake's retreating back. "I'm trying to understand how you've suddenly gone from quiet to hostile."
Blake stopped. She looked back at the gleaming figure behind her. "I don't hate Atlas," she declared. "I hate the things that Atlas stands for, the institutions that Atlas upholds."
Weiss sniffed. "If you want to say 'the SDC' you can. I won't be offended." She paused. "I'm a little surprised that you'd care about offending me."
"I don't hate you, Weiss," Blake said, "and I'm not trying to go out of my way to be hostile. I just… I don't understand how she can wear that uniform and still look at herself in the mirror."
"She's a huntress in training, just like us," Weiss said.
"She's an Atlesian soldier!"
"So?" Weiss demanded. "You want to say that you hate the SDC, that's fine. I know what my father is. I know far better than you do, I'm sure. But the military is not the SDC."
"Yet it defends SDC facilities-"
"Of course they do, they're defending Atlas," Weiss replied. "That's like complaining that the Vale police enforce the law in Vale; it doesn't mean they endorse everything that goes on in Vale."
"Technological collaborations."
"From which the military benefits far more than the SDC; trust me, if my father could sever those ties, he would," Weiss said. "He only maintains that arrangement because it's politically necessary. I know there are those who say that the military are nothing more than enforcers for the SDC, but let me assure you, nothing could be further from the truth."
Blake was silent for a moment. "Your sister is a soldier, isn't she?"
Weiss nodded. "She's a Specialist."
"You didn't want to follow in her footsteps?"
The corner of Weiss' lip twitched upwards. "My father would never allow an Atlesian soldier to inherit his company. That should show you how he views the military. By becoming a huntress, I can fight for humanity and the honour of my family name while retaining my position as heiress and keeping the company out of… never mind. The point is that the huntsmen of Atlas are as upright and honourable as those trained at Beacon; none of them deserve to be castigated by you just because their jacket is white instead of black."
Blake was silent a moment. "Why… does it matter to you, what I say to this faunus who just happens to come from the same kingdom as you?"
"Why does it matter to you what this person you don't know chooses to do with her life?"
"Because I've known faunus from Atlas, and I had a hard time believing that Rainbow Dash could be sincere in her allegiance," Blake murmured. "I… might have been wrong about that." Now, while still believing that Rainbow was wrong in the flag to which she had pledged her life and honour, she could accept that she had done so earnestly.
"I was surprised to see Twilight and her team here," Weiss admitted. "Surprised enough to speak to my sister about it. She was… cagey about the details, but she confirmed that they're here with authorisation from General Ironwood, who holds Rainbow and Twilight in high esteem. With that kind of recommendation, I'm prepared to extend my trust."
"I'm a little surprised that you didn't know her already," Blake observed.
"I don't blame her for not wanting to attend those kinds of functions," Weiss said softly. "Atlas… isn't perfect. But those who serve and defend her shouldn't be condemned."
"Rainbow isn't going to have any more trouble from me," Blake assured her. "I'll leave her alone from now on."
"Or you could try getting to know her a little," Weiss suggested.
"Goodnight, Weiss," Blake said, resuming her journey back towards her dorm room.
She could accept that Rainbow did what she did for reasons that Rainbow believed in, but that didn't mean Blake had to like it.
Chapter 11 - Spa Day
Spa Day
"So, don't think me ungrateful, because I am very grateful," Sunset said, as she and Pyrrha walked down the Valish street, "but why did you decide to treat me to a day at the spa and the hair stylists?" She picked at the scraggly ends of her hair. "Apart from the fact that my hair needs it."
"Oh, no, that's not what I was trying to say at all," Pyrrha assured her. "Please, I never set out to…" She paused. "You're joking, aren't you?"
"In a sense, although my hair could do with a treatment, so thanks again," Sunset said.
Pyrrha looked away. "I need to get better at recognising that sort of thing."
"Nah, you're fine."
"How am I fine if I get embarrassed and afraid I've offended someone every time they make a joke in my presence?" Pyrrha asked.
"So long as we're not actually offended, it doesn't matter," Sunset told her, "and as for the flustered thing, well, that's just one of those things that make you adorable."
Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. "'Adorable'?"
"You are sometimes adorable," Sunset said. "Has no one ever told you that before?"
"No," Pyrrha said mildly. "No, they haven't."
"Doesn't mean it's not true," Sunset replied. "I mean, it's not always true. But when you're not beating people up in the sparring ring, then it can be true of you, just like it's true of Ruby."
"Yes, Ruby," Pyrrha murmured. "In any case, I suppose the answer to your original question is that I think this must be the sort of thing that is better with friends. Not that I've ever had the chance to find out." She bowed her head, as her face assumed a dejected expression.
"Oh come on!" Sunset cried. "How can you not realise how adorable you look when you make faces like that." She shook her head. "But thank you. I'm looking forward to this."
"I'm glad," Pyrrha said softly. "I'm rather looking forward to it myself; I hope this spa is as good as its reputation."
"That's right; you're as much of a stranger here as I am, aren't you?" Sunset said.
Pyrrha nodded. "I found this place through online reviews, but there's all sorts of conflicting information about whether you can trust such things. Hopefully, we can."
"And if they're not, well, how bad can it be?" Sunset asked. "What are they going to do, use the wrong sort of mud on our faces?"
"That could actually be quite embarrassing for us if they did," Pyrrha informed her.
Sunset's eyebrows rose. "You know, I wouldn't have figured you for the spa-going kind of girl."
Pyrrha laughed nervously. "As I said to Ruby when she was kind enough to compliment my hair: it takes a lot of work to look this good."
"I thought that just meant your makeup and eyeshadow and things," Sunset said. "I didn't think it meant… whatever is waiting for us in there."
"Have you never been to a spa before?"
"They've always been a bit out of my price range."
"Oh," Pyrrha murmured. "Well, if you enjoy it, then we can always come back. We could make a regular occurrence of it."
Sunset hesitated, torn between her desire and her sense that if she started accepting Pyrrha's charity, then she would be diminishing herself, humbling herself somehow. "Let's… let's just see how this goes, okay?"
"Of course," Pyrrha said softly.
The two of them fell silent, letting the hubbub of Vale pass over them as they walked along. Occasionally, Pyrrha got out her scroll to check that they were going in the right direction and changed said direction appropriately, but otherwise, they simply walked down the street, attracting some notice – it was Pyrrha, after all – but not responding to it.
"Does it really bother you?" Sunset asked.
"Excuse me?" Pyrrha replied.
"This," Sunset explained, waving one arm to encompass the people snapping pictures of Pyrrha on the street. "The whole circus."
Pyrrha glanced at the spectators and gawkers that it seemed she had been trying to ignore up until that point. "I… it isn't my favourite thing in the world," she murmured. She looked at Sunset. "Does that surprise you?"
"Honestly? Yeah," Sunset said. "I'd love it." She tucked her hands behind her head, her fingers pushing through her hair that was in such dire need of a treatment. "I did love it."
"'Did'?"
Sunset chuckled. "Don't get me wrong - I was never an international celebrity - but amongst my little corner of the world, I was a pretty well-known figure, if I do say so myself." Princess Celestia's personal student, the pony she was closest to in all Equestria. "I was… I was a little bit like Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle. I knew everyone who was anyone, and anyone who wanted to be someone had to know me. And they all really wanted to know me because they thought I could get them in good with my teacher."
"Does Rainbow Dash have to endure all that? And Twilight?"
"It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they did," Sunset declared. "Although, when I was at Canterlot, their friends were generally pretty good at making sure that nobody got that close to them with ill intentions."
"All the same, I imagine it was quite hard for them," Pyrrha said.
"Why?" Sunset asked.
"Did it really not trouble you to be surrounded by flatterers?" Pyrrha asked. "To have your relationship with your teacher reduced to nothing more than something to be exploited for the advantage of others?"
"I never did them any favours; I just liked to hold out the possibility that I might," Sunset replied. "I'd string them along for a bit, squeeze a few favours of my own out of them, move on. It was a good racket while it lasted."
Pyrrha gave Sunset a mildly disapproving look.
"What?"
"What did your teacher think about that?"
Sunset hesitated. "We never really talked about it… but she probably wasn't very happy."
"Do you think she knew?"
"Oh, she knew everything," Sunset replied. Except for the fact that I wasn't the pony she was looking for. "I… I'm not suggesting that you should take that approach, but at the same time, this isn't so bad! Fame, attention-"
"Attention bestowed as upon an object, not a person," Pyrrha added.
"Yeah, but you've got three friends at least now, and that's not counting Iron or Rosepetal," Sunset said. "So have your cake and eat it too; that's my advice."
Pyrrha frowned and didn't respond.
"Can I ask you something?" Sunset asked. "If this bothers you so much, why didn't you throw a couple of fights and diminish your mystique a little?"
"That… no, Sunset, I could never have done that," Pyrrha declared. She smiled slightly. "You aren't the only one who can be driven by pride at times."
Sunset chuckled. "Now that I understand perfectly."
Pyrrha's smile broadened, but only for a moment. "Do you know how Ruby's getting on with her mother's diary?"
"That's an abrupt change in conversation," Sunset remarked.
"I'm curious," Pyrrha murmured.
Sunset shrugged. "She's learning things about her mother, I'm sure," she said. "But if she's learning anything new about her eyes, then she hasn't mentioned it to me."
"I see," Pyrrha whispered.
Sunset frowned. "Is something up?"
"No."
"If there is you can say so."
"It's nothing at all, really," Pyrrha assured her. "I think we're almost there."
The spa in question was built in an old fashioned, slightly Mistralian style, like a public bath, with marble columns lining the exterior and creating a shadowed colonnade beneath which Sunset and Pyrrha passed before they reached the glass doors which opened for them automatically. A few people were sitting in the waiting room, lounging upon plush chairs, playing on their scrolls or reading magazines; quite a few of them were men, and from the way they were checking their watches, Sunset wondered if they were waiting to pick up their significant others.
Pyrrha walked up to the desk, Sunset following behind her. A woman in a blue blouse looked up at them as they approached.
"Hello," Pyrrha said. "I have an appointment for two in the name of Nikos?"
The eyes of the girl behind the desk widened just a little at that, but she maintained an otherwise professional demeanour as she typed the name into the computer. "Of course, Miss Nikos, welcome."
They were shown into a changing room with white tiles and lockers lining the walls, in which they both stripped out of their outfits and wrapped towels around themselves for modesty before heading into the sauna. Water was released at intervals upon the braziers of smouldering fire dust crystals that stood beside the door, filling the room up with steam.
Sunset sat upon a wooden bench, letting the steam soak into her pores. After mere moments she was already starting to relax.
She closed her eyes, and smiled. "I'm already glad you brought me here, Pyrrha, thank you."
"I'm glad," Pyrrha replied softly. "Sunset?"
"Mm-hmm?"
"Do you have any plans for spring vacation?"
"It's not even midway through the semester yet."
"I know," Pyrrha said. "But… I've always spoken to Ruby, and, well… I was wondering if you might all like to visit Mistral during the break. As my guests."
Sunset opened her eyes, which didn't make a great deal of difference because there was so much steam in the room that she couldn't see much of Pyrrha in any case. Mostly, what she could see was Pyrrha's vibrant red hair. "You want us all to come and stay with you over the vacation?"
"Only if you want to, of course," Pyrrha murmured.
Sunset paused. "Aren't we a little common for you?"
"Sunset!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "Are you implying that I'm the sort of person who would be friendly towards you all here at Beacon and then feign to be ashamed of you back home?"
"I suppose I did, didn't I?" Sunset admitted. "But that was… I'm sorry."
"That's alright," Pyrrha said quietly. "I suppose I'd be lying if I said I didn't understand what you meant, but I'm not ashamed of you or Ruby or Jaune. I… I'm glad and proud to call you all my friends, and as my friends… I'd like to share my home with you, a little."
"I get it," Sunset murmured. She hesitated. Princess Celestia used to worry that I didn't get invited to sleepovers, and now, I'm being invited to a whole different kingdom. It was… quite touching, really. "I've heard that Mistral's a nice place."
"I think it's beautiful," Pyrrha whispered. "And with so much to see and do."
"I'm sure," Sunset replied softly, "but I've also heard that… um…"
"Sunset?" Pyrrha asked.
Sunset had been about to mention the fact that Mistral had a reputation for faunus rights that was almost as bad as Atlas's. But she had survived Atlas, and it wasn't as if Vale was a shining beacon of equality for all of its pretensions. Screw it, I'm not going to live my life walking small and soft and letting the ignorant tell me where I can and cannot go. I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I do as I please, and I don't let anybody tell me 'no.' "I'm in," she said, "thank you, Pyrrha; this… it's the… this means a lot."
"It means a lot to me too," Pyrrha said, sounding slightly nervous now. "I hope… I mean I'm sure that you'll enjoy it. That you'll all enjoy it."
"Have you spoken to Jaune yet?"
"No," Pyrrha admitted. "I haven't actually asked my mother about it either. I'll speak to Jaune when we get back, and then… at some point… I'll ask my mother. I'm sure she won't refuse. She's probably quite keen to meet all of you."
"You mean to size us up?" Sunset asked.
"No!" Pyrrha said quickly. "Well, that is… please don't worry about it. And as you say, it's still quite a way off, yet."
"I'm not worried," Sunset said. She sighed deeply. "Worrying, in this place, seems excessively difficult."
XxXxX
"I guess you must feel like you got the short end of the stick, huh?" Jaune said as he wrestled the clucking, squawking chickens back inside the coop.
"No," Ruby said, in between giggling at his efforts. "Why would I think that?"
Jaune stopped and looked back at her. "Well, because Pyrrha and Sunset are off at the spa getting… whatever it is that girls do at a spa, and you're, well, you're stuck here with me."
"I'm not stuck with you, Jaune," Ruby declared reproachfully. "You're not my second choice. In fact, stop doing that!"
Jaune blinked. "Stop doing what?"
"That!" Ruby repeated, wagging her finger at him. "Stop talking about yourself like you're such a loser."
"Well-"
"Nope," Ruby said, before he could finish. "Jaune, do you know what the best advice I've ever gotten from Sunset is?"
Jaune shook his head. "No, what?"
"We get treated the way that we act like we deserve," Ruby told him. "She told me that after… I know what it's like to feel like you don't belong, like you're not wanted."
"But you're-"
"Two years younger than anyone else here," Ruby reminded him. "Sunset thinks that makes me a prodigy, but to a lot of people, it makes me someone who doesn't deserve to be here yet. What Sunset was trying to tell me, what I'm trying to tell you, is that you'll never belong here if you always act like you don't.
"I know it must feel like Pyrrha and I are smothering you when we tell you to believe in yourself… doesn't it?"
Jaune hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, it kinda does, sometimes."
"But that's not why we're telling you that," Ruby insisted. "It's because… why do you think that Sunset always carries herself like… like a queen? It's not because she believes in herself that much… or at least I don't think that's it, or at least I don't think that's it all the time. I think she does it because… because no matter what doubts she has she wants to act in such a way that nobody else has any reason to doubt her. Believing in yourself won't make you a better huntsman, but it might mean that other people stop treating you like you don't deserve to be here, and…" she trailed off into a mumbling so faint that Jaune couldn't make it out.
"What was that?" he asked.
"And," Ruby looked down, her fingers playing with the hem of her skirt, "and it would make me feel a lot better, too. I… I don't like it when you beat yourself up all the time."
Jaune hadn't considered that. He hadn't considered that he might have overshot the mark from self-deprecation a bit, not least from sheer repetition. "I'm sorry," he said, "I hadn't thought about that. I guess I'll try and keep a lid on it from now on."
Ruby smiled, her silver eyes gleaming. "Thanks, Jaune. Now, is there anything that I can actually help you with? I feel like I've been watching you work so far."
"We're back," Sunset called, as she and Pyrrha approached the farm.
"Hey!" Ruby cried. She frowned. "I thought you'd look different when you got back."
"What do you mean 'you thought'?" Sunset demanded, folding her arms. "We do look different. We look better than mortal man deserves." She smirked in Jaune's direction. "So avert your eyes, Jaune."
"Nope!" Ruby declared. "Jaune is going to carry himself with confidence from now on, aren't you, Jaune?"
"I, uh… yes!" Jaune said, in what he hoped was a firm, confident tone of voice. "Although, for what it's worth… you look good." He found himself looking a lot more at Pyrrha than at Sunset as he said that.
Pyrrha smiled. "Jaune, there's something that I'd like to ask you."
Jaune got up from on his knees. "Sure, you can ask me anything."
"I know it's quite early to think about the vacation," Pyrrha began, "and I'm sure that you already have plans, but if you didn't… then I was wondering if you might like to visit Mistral with me… and Ruby and Sunset of course," she added quickly, a slight flush colouring her cheeks. "I mean, if you'd like, of course."
Jaune was about to admit that he had been planning on doing nothing more than staying in school over the vacation, but then he remembered what Ruby had just said about confidence. "Sure," he said, "that sounds… really great."
"Wonderful!" Pyrrha cried, almost too enthusiastically. Her face became even redder than it had been before. "I mean, um, I'm very glad," she said. "I know it seems like a long way off, but I can hardly wait to host you all when the semester ends."
Chapter 12 - Exposed
Exposed
The first snows of winter lay upon the streets of Vale, a gentle dusting covered the slanted rooftops of the terraced avenues and crunched underneath the feet of Sunset and her fellow team leaders as they walked, led by Weiss, down those same streets.
Snow lay on the ground and on the rooftops, but in between, Vale was a riot of colour: balloons of blue, green, yellow and white rose in bunches, tied to lampposts, to window frames, to the signs of public houses, to anything that would restrain them as they reached eagerly up towards the sky. Bunting in those same four colours, the colours of the four kingdoms of Vale, Mistral, Vacuo and Atlas, hung across the roads down which the students walked, wafting gently back and forth as a chill wind blew between the buildings.
It was like this all the way to Beacon, balloons and bunting lining the way, along with banners reading 'Welcome to Vale' similarly strung between the buildings.
"Either the people of Vale became a hive-mind about this sort of thing," Yang observed, "or someone put all of this stuff up."
"That would be me," Skystar said, her voice carrying down the street from where she stood, supervising the raising of yet another 'Welcome to Vale' banner. She was dressed in a white winter coat, with a fur-lined collar, heavy boots, and thick-looking gloves enfolding her hands. Her turquoise hair was covered by a blue bobble hat that wobbled a little as she waved enthusiastically to the huntresses. "Hello!"
"Skystar," Weiss said enthusiastically, and her step quickened as she closed the distance between them, dancing amidst the crowds traversing the street and leaving Sunset, Yang, Blake, and Rainbow Dash to follow in her footsteps towards the First Councillor's daughter.
"Weiss," Skystar greeted, taking Weiss' hands in her own. "It's so good to see you again."
"Likewise," Weiss replied. "And how are Silverstream and Terramar?"
"Well, we finally managed to get Silverstream to take that top off that you signed for her," Skystar said, with laughter in her voice. "Her mother had to promise that your signature wouldn't come off in the wash."
"Of course not," Weiss declared. "That was special Schnee-branded waterproof ink, guaranteed to survive all washes of less than ninety degrees."
"That's what we said, but Silverstream still worried," Skystar said. "Thank you so much for agreeing to meet her; it's been the highlight of her year."
"Oh, it was nothing," Weiss said airily. "Always a pleasure to meet a fan. Especially one with such a talented voice of her own; has Silverstream ever considered going into the music business? Because if so, I could put her in touch with one or two people."
Skystar's eyes widened. "Really? You'd do that?" She squealed in delight as she flung her arms around Weiss. "Cardy never told me how generous you are! This is amazing!"
Weiss laughed uncomfortably. "It's nothing really. Certainly nothing compared to the amount of work that must have gone into all this."
Now it was Skystar's turn to laugh. "Oh, you know, I try my best. Everybody's worked so very hard on this."
"Um, Weiss?" Yang muttered. "Aren't you gonna introduce us to your pal?"
Weiss cleared her throat. "Of course, forgive me. Skystar, these are some of my fellow team leaders. Now, I believe you've already met Sunset and Rainbow Dash-"
"Hey there," Rainbow said.
"Hello again," Sunset added, in a fondly-meant imitation of Pyrrha's sing-song voice.
"Nice to see you again!" Skystar chirruped cheerily.
"So that leaves Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna," Weiss said.
"What's up?" Yang asked with a wave of one hand.
"Good afternoon," Blake said, inclining her head a little.
"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," Skystar declared. "Thank you so much for all your service."
Yang let out a little nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her head. "Come on, let's not go nuts about all this."
Weiss continued. "Everyone, this is Skystar Aris, daughter of First Councillor Novo Aris and Amity Princess of this year's Vytal Festival. She'll be the one responsible for representing Vale and for organising all of the festivities. The amount of planning and preparation that you're putting into all of this must be breathtaking."
"I have some help from my mom's people," Skystar admitted. "But yes, everyone's working so hard on a great programme that's going to blow everyone away. We're going to have dances, parades, open-air theatre… I just hope it's enough."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Rainbow declared breezily. "After all, it's only the tournament that anyone really cares about."
"Rainbow Dash!" hissed Weiss.
"I mean, uh, that other stuff sounds pretty cool as well," Rainbow added.
"I hope so," Skystar murmured wistfully. She took a step away from Weiss. "I mean, Atlas set a really high bar last time." She sighed. "The Amity Princess is more than just a crown. It's a promise to bring people together and never let anybody down."
If this was Equestria, she'd probably have started singing by now, Sunset thought. Thinking about it like that, she almost wished that Skystar would start singing. Sunset… kind of missed having the music and song all around like it was in Equestria.
Perhaps that explained the sudden urge she felt to tell Skystar 'you got this.'
"Well, if there's anything that I can do to help, you know that you only need to ask," Weiss offered.
"Oh, Weiss, that's so kind of you."
"Are these two old friends?" Blake asked.
"I don't think so," Sunset murmured. "Skystar is Cardin's girlfriend."
"Cardin has a girlfriend?" Yang exclaimed.
Skystar and Weiss both looked at her.
"Dude has good taste," Yang added, looking away.
"What really worries me is that the Vacuans are going to get bored," Skystar said. "I mean, they're arriving so early; nothing is scheduled to start until next semester!"
"They can make their own fun, like me and my team," Rainbow said.
"Wait wait wait wait," Yang demanded, holding up both hands. "Vacuans? You mean there are Shade students arriving here today?"
"That's what they tell me," Skystar confirmed. "Quite a shock, I have to say. Apparently, their ship is scheduled to dock some time today, so I'm making sure that everything is ready to welcome them."
"And when Skystar told me, I thought that, as representatives of Beacon Academy - and Atlas, I suppose - it was our duty to come down to the docks and join Skystar in extending our welcome to those poor unfortunates from the desert."
"'Poor unfortunates'?" Blake murmured.
"Why do they call it Shade Academy?" Rainbow asked.
Sunset, who knew what was coming, shook her head. Yang shrugged. "I don't know."
"Because everyone's always throwing Shade on it!" Rainbow declared. She was met by a stunned silence from Blake and Yang. "Okay, that joke absolutely kills it in Atlas."
"I'm sure it does," Blake muttered.
"I have to go now," Skystar said. "So much stuff still to do. Have a good day, everyone! And thanks again for everything, Weiss! Silverstream is going to be thrilled!"
"I'll be in touch!" Weiss called after her as Skystar dashed off. She turned around to see Sunset, with her arms folded, staring at her. "What?" Weiss demanded.
"That poor, naïve girl has no idea that you've manipulated her, does she?" Sunset asked.
Weiss gasped. "Excuse me? I have not manipulated anyone!"
"You've gotten her to give you inside track information on the Vytal Festival-"
"And in return, I'm giving her things that mean a great deal to her and her family," Weiss replied. "I wasn't lying about those industry contacts, for your information. I fully intend to put Silverstream in touch with my last producer. And if that means that I can-"
"Scope out the competition as they come in," Sunset said. She grinned. "Hey, I'm not criticising. I wish I had the connections to pull that off."
"It's called quid pro quo, and it keeps the world turning," Weiss said. "There is absolutely nothing shameful about it." She turned on her heel and stalked away, the snow crunching underneath her feet.
"I never said there was," Sunset said as she and the others followed.
Rainbow wrinkled her nose. "Is it me, or is anyone else getting a really bad smell of fish?"
"We are near the docks," Blake pointed out.
"Yeah, but come on," Rainbow moaned.
They reached the docks, which were currently looking pretty empty and vacant. Sunset had read that the docks of Vale had once been the busiest in the whole of Remnant, but now, most travel and transport was by air, and the shallow seas around Vale meant that the largest blue-water craft couldn't fit in the docks in any case, so the Valish wharfs were a mere shadow of their former glory, mostly tending to Vale's fishing fleet. Aside from those fishing vessels, there was only a single ship currently docked, a long cargo vessel of some kind with an empty deck. The five students wandered along the promenade, Sunset's finger tips scraping the cold iron of the railings separating them from a dip in the sea, until they heard a shout of "Stop that faunus!" coming from the ship.
They all turned, watching as a young man in a white shirt – that he had left unbuttoned – leapt from the ship to land with a roll upon the low wooden jetty below. He ran down the jetty, pursued by the cries of the sailors aboard ship, vaulting over the iron rails to mount the steps leading up from the docks onto the promenade, which he took three at a time.
His skin was a little tanned by the sun, and his blue jeans were ragged and torn, but his red vambraces and the staff he carried lightly in one hand looked well-maintained. His eyes were a clear blue, like a tropical ocean, and his unkempt hair was a sandy blond. A monkey tail swayed gently behind him. He ran up the steps and stopped, an easy grin coming to his face.
"Nice afternoon for a walk, huh?" he asked.
"Hey!" a couple of sailors had descended from the boat and were even now in pursuit. "Come back here, you no good stowaway."
"Or a run," the monkey faunus said. He winked at Blake and then took to his heels, disappearing around the corner and out of sight.
The sailors, by contrast, were visibly out of breath by the time they climbed the steps up onto the promenade.
"Why-" one of them gasped. "Why didn't you stop him?"
"Because I missed the part where that's my problem," Sunset replied.
"That no good filthy-"
Sunset folded her arms and looked at the man with a look that suggested he really didn't want to go there as her tail swished behind her. Even Rainbow Dash looked a little put out.
The sailor was not completely stupid. "Ah, forget it," he snapped, turning away and beginning to walk off in the opposite direction. "Damn stowaway."
Sunset turned her back on him. "Well, if the Shade students are coming today, they're not here right now, so why don't we get some coffee or something and see if they turn up later?"
"Sounds good to me," Yang said.
"Me too," Rainbow agreed.
"I suppose there's nothing else for it," Weiss said, slightly regretfully.
"Blake?" Sunset asked.
Blake looked a little spaced out, a touch of colour had risen to her cheeks, and her eyes were unfocussed.
Sunset smirked. "I see, you're one of those girls."
"One of what girls?" Weiss asked.
"Hopeless romantics," Sunset lied.
"What? No, that's not it at all, I just," Blake cried, recovering herself a little. "I mean, um, yeah, going for drinks sounds fine."
Sunset sniggered but didn't tease the poor girl any more as the party continued to drift across the promenade. Their progress was arrested when they came across a sight that put a bit of a dampener on Skystar's welcome preparations.
It was a dust shop, and like so many across the city, it had been robbed, and recently too. The yellow police tape across the shattered window was still fresh, and there was a small crowd watching the two detectives examining the crime scene.
Drawn by curiosity and with nothing better to do right now on their Friday afternoon with the Shade students nowhere in evidence, the five huntresses wandered towards the crime scene.
"What happened?" Yang asked.
One of the detectives, a heavyset man with a full beard, glanced at her. "Robbery, what does it look like?" he said. "Second dust shop hit this week."
"'This week'?" Sunset repeated. "They're getting faster." Perhaps Ruby was right; nobody seems to be doing anything about this.
"They left the money again," the other cop, younger and with messy dark hair, declared. "Just like all the rest. Gods damn pattern. Who needs this much dust?"
"An army?"
"You thinking the White Fang?"
"I'm thinking if this is part of some kind of crime wave, then it ain't our problem. Write it up, hand it off to Major Crimes, and let's go get a beer," the heavyset detective said, ducking under the police tape and wandering off, leaving his partner to run after him.
"Vale's Finest," Sunset muttered.
"Hmph," Weiss muttered. "The White Fang. Such an awful bunch of degenerates."
"What's your problem?" Blake demanded.
"Oh no," Sunset muttered, putting her head in her hands because she knew, she knew with absolute certainty that-
"What's her problem?" Rainbow snapped. "Weiss doesn't have a problem, she's talking perfect sense."
Blake began, "The White Fang are a misguided-"
"The White Fang," Rainbow interrupted, "are a terrorist group, they're a collection of scum and murderers-"
"They're fighting for the equality of the faunus!"
"Oh, come on!" Rainbow yelled. "I have put up with some crap out of you, but I'm about to reach my limit."
"Your limit?" Blake repeated. "Your limit?"
"I don't know where you get your ideas from, but you don't have any idea what you're talking about, you naïve... little girl!"
"'Naïve'?" Blake cried. "I'm naïve? You're the one who believes that your good friends on the Atlas Council are going to solve the problems of faunus rights! If you're so worried about the White Fang, then tell General Ironwood to stop throwing us chicken feed and start giving us equality and justice!"
Us? Sunset thought. Did she just say 'us'?
Rainbow didn't appear to notice; she was too angry to notice little details like that. She bared her teeth, growling as she stomped angrily towards Blake. "What did you say?"
"The methods of the White Fang may be a little extreme, but they wouldn't rob a dust shop in the middle of Vale," Blake declared. "The White Fang only attacks those who deserve it."
The White Fang killed Flash's father, Sunset thought. He had been… Flash hadn't explained everything, but he'd been some kind of pencil pusher for the military, procurement or something. He'd been in Crystal City to witness the testing of some new equipment, but the White Fang had bombed the R&D facility. Even if Flash is a bigot, he didn't deserve to lose his father. He might not have become a bigot if he hadn't; he was so kind otherwise. A kind boy who didn't deserve what the White Fang did to him.
Sunset was roused from her thoughts by the sound of a smack, as Rainbow's first slammed into Blake's jaw hard enough to knock the smaller girl to the ground.
"You little-" Rainbow snarled, and might have done more if Yang hadn't grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms from behind. "Let go of me, Yang!" Rainbow shouted as she struggled in vain against the embrace, her ears flat with fury against the top of her head. "I'm going to kick this punk's ass around the block!"
"Can't do that," Yang muttered, as she strained to hold Rainbow back.
Weiss looked very sorry that she had ever started this conversation. "Rainbow Dash, I'm not a fan of the White Fang either, but maybe we should try to calm down?"
"Scootaloo was nine years old!" Rainbow yelled. "So were Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Nine year old girls who loved their sisters and never hurt anybody in their lives and were excited to be flower girls! What had they done to deserve it, huh? What about Fluttershy, or Pinkie, or Rarity? What about Twilight? What had any of them done to deserve the White Fang trying to kill them? You look me in the eye and tell me why those kids deserved to die!"
"'Nine year old girls,'" Yang said. "What are you talking about?"
"The Canterlot Wedding," Weiss murmured.
"They didn't actually die," Sunset said. "But not for lack of trying from the White Fang, from what I heard."
"I…" Blake stammered, shaking her head even as she climbed to her feet off the ground. "Chrysalis was an extremist; she doesn't represent-"
"I never said anything about Chrysalis," Rainbow said, her voice cutting like a knife.
Blake's eyes widened. "Huh?"
If looks could kill, then Rainbow's glare would have already turned Blake to ashes. "The name of the White Fang commander wasn't released to the public in the wake of the incident. Which means there aren't too many ways that you could know that. Either someone with military clearance told you… or you're one of them."
For a moment, they were all still, a frozen tableaux, suspended on the edge of the precipice, like one of those cartoons where the cat hasn't realised there's no more cliff beneath his feet just yet.
Yang's grip on Rainbow Dash began to loosen as Yang herself looked completely befuddled.
Weiss took a step back, one hand reaching slowly towards Myrtenaster at her hip. "Blake? Is that true?"
Blake also took a step backwards. "It's not what you think. I… I…" She turned away, fleeing down the street in the direction of the promenade.
Rainbow broke free from Yang's restraint and started to pursue, her rainbow trailing out behind her- until she ran smack into the shield that Sunset had conjured all around her.
"Sunset!" Rainbow roared, rounding on her with fury in her eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Repaying a debt," Sunset said, as she stood with one hand raised, wreathed with green as she sustained the magical shield around Dash. She kept the Atlesian girl restrained until Blake had disappeared from sight, just as Blake had once led the grimm away so that Sunset and the others could reach their objective.
Only when Blake was away did Sunset drop the shield.
With a wordless growl, Rainbow closed the distance between the two of them in an instant, driving her fist into Sunset's gut hard enough to knock her to the ground. She clutched her stomach; she had felt that right through her aura.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Rainbow demanded.
Sunset was still clutching her stomach as she got up. "Saved you from doing something you'll regret."
"Give me a break!" Rainbow snapped. She pulled out her scroll and managed to dial despite the fact that her hands were shaking. "Ciel! Where's Twilight?"
"In the library, with Penny and the subordinate members of Team Sapphire."
"Secure her immediately, then arm yourself and head over to the CCT - with Twilight and Penny - and wait there until I arrive," Rainbow ordered. "Blake Belladonna is a White Fang infiltrator; you're to shoot on sight. I'll take responsibility."
"Understood," Ciel replied. "I'm on the move now."
"What… what just happened?" Yang murmured, shaking her head in disbelief.
And what's going to happen now? Sunset wondered.
Chapter 13 - Hunters, Searchers, Runaways
Hunters, Searchers, Runaways
"Twilight! No!"
"Applejack, get the door!"
"What are we going to do?"
"Rarity, put some pressure on that wound."
"Twilight, we need comms back online asap!"
"I'm trying my best!"
"I'm scared, Rainbow Dash."
"I promise you won't die."
Rainbow Dash scowled, and her hands clenched into fists as the elevator climbed up to the top of the tower. She didn't want these memories, she didn't want to think back to that day. But after what had happened with Blake, after finding out what Blake Belladonna really was, she just couldn't get it out of her head.
She didn't want these memories because she didn't want to remember what had really happened that day. When she wasn't really thinking about it she could play the whole thing off, play it cool, talk about how awesome she'd been and how she – with a little help from Twilight and their friends – had totally saved Cadance and Shining Armour from the White Fang. When she wasn't really thinking about it she could act like she'd kicked butt, and wonder to herself why she hadn't gotten the chance to go to the Academy two years early when she'd done something much more awesome than Ruby with her stopping three guys from robbing a dust shop.
But when Rainbow actually thought about it, as she was forced to think about it now, when she actually stopped to remember what it had really been like at ground zero of what they called the Canterlot Wedding, what Rainbow remembered wasn't how awesome she or anyone else had been. What she remembered was the fear. The fear in the eyes of Scootaloo as she confessed that she was afraid to die at the hands of those who called themselves her liberators. The fear as Vice-Principal Luna kept on bleeding out in spite of everything that Fluttershy or Rarity could do to stop it. The fear of everyone she cared about, dressed in their tattered, blood-stained wedding finery, all crammed into a side room in the registrar's office as the White Fang tried to break down the door and Twilight tried to rebuild a radio into a transmitter so they could get a distress signal out.
The fear of knowing that if Twilight hadn't managed to pull off a technological miracle and call in the cavalry then all the people she loved in the world would have died and there was nothing that Rainbow could have done to stop it… nothing except die with them.
"So, you had your first taste of action earlier than I would have liked," General Ironwood said, as he stood with his back to Rainbow Dash, looking out of the window as the White Fang captives were loaded up onto transports to take them to processing. His hands were clasped behind his back. "How was it?"
Rainbow sniffed. She wished that the General hadn't wanted to talk to her right now, she didn't really want him to see her like this. And yet, at the same time, she couldn't lie. Not to the general, not after all he'd done for her. Even if he thought that he'd made a mistake in backing a coward like her, he deserved to know the truth.
"I… I was scared, sir," she admitted, in a very quiet voice.
General Ironwood was silent for a moment. Rainbow could only imagine how disappointed he must be in her. "Scared of dying?"
"Scared of losing everything that matters, sir," Rainbow replied. "I… I don't know if I'm cut out for this after all, General."
"Because you have something to lose?" General Ironwood asked. He paused. "Tell me something, Rainbow Dash? If only those with nothing to lose went out to fight, what would they be fighting for?"
Rainbow blinked. "For the glory of Atlas, sir?"
General Ironwood sighed. "Glory is all very well, but it won't hold a man when the fear sets in, the fear like you felt today. Everyone has something lose, Rainbow Dash; it's just another way of saying you have something to protect."
"But… but I was scared, sir," Rainbow repeated. "You don't need a soldier who gets scared when the fighting starts."
General Ironwood turned around, and Rainbow Dash could see his face. It wasn't stern, as he'd imagined. Rather, as the General advanced upon her, casting a shadow over her, Rainbow almost thought that he looked sad.
She gasped as he wrapped his arms around her and clasped her to him, her head resting on his chest.
"The lives of your family were in danger today," General Ironwood said, his voice soft and tender. "I don't know a single man in this army who wouldn't be scared in a situation like that. But you kept your head, kept everyone alive in spite of your fear, even Luna. You're just a child, but you fought an adult's fight today; you should be proud of that, and tell your friends that they should be proud too."
"Y-yes, sir," Rainbow murmured. "Thank you, sir."
"There's no shame in being scared, Rainbow Dash," General Ironwood declared. "Only in letting the fear rule you."
General Ironwood had been kind about it at the time, but Rainbow thought that that was probably the reason why the General had kept Rainbow in combat school those extra two years instead of letting her in early like Professor Ozpin had done with Ruby. Rainbow had needed those two years to grow out of being scared, to arrive in Atlas purged of her weaknesses.
She wasn't scared now. She was angry.
The White Fang, here in Beacon! Right under Professor Ozpin's nose! Who knew what damage Blake had already done, how much poison she'd spread. There was no telling how many of the students she had already begun to radicalise.
"What are all these pamphlets, G?"
"They're the truth, Dash."
"The truth about what?"
"The truth about who is really running the world and how they're keeping us down. The truth about what we have to do to stop it! Open your eyes, Dash, we need to stand up and fight!"
Yeah, that stuff could be pretty enticing to the right sort of people. And the rot had had six weeks to spread.
That was why, having left her team downstairs in the CCT lobby, where the White Fang would have to be insane to try anything, she was on her way up to see Professor Ozpin.
Not the person she would have liked to be talking to at a time like this, but the person that she had to talk to.
Hopefully once she started to talk she could push a few of these memories to the back of her mind.
The doors to the elevator opened, and Rainbow Dash stepped out into the Headmaster's office. It was about the same size as General Ironwood's office back home in Atlas, maybe just a little smaller; like the General's office it offered a grand view of the campus down below and the city beyond, and like General Ironwood's office it was mostly empty. All of this space and it was going unused except for the desk. Rainbow wondered if there was some kind of rule that said that headmasters weren't allowed any possessions.
When I become Headmaster of Atlas, I'm going to put posters up on the walls, and a picture of my friends on my desk. And I'm going to have plants and I'm going to make the students water them for me.
Actually, that last one might be a security risk.
Rainbow put those thoughts aside as she advanced towards Professor Ozpin where he sat at his desk. She wished that she were back in Atlas for this. She would have known how to talk to General Ironwood, and more importantly she would have known that General Ironwood would listen to her, and take her seriously. She didn't know Professor Ozpin, and she wasn't sure what he'd do.
She stopped in front of his desk, hands clasped behind her back. Professor Ozpin looked up from his work, and affected to seem as though he had only just noticed her. "Ah, Miss Dash, yes. Now, what can I do for you?"
"Sir," Rainbow said. "I have reason to believe that Blake Belladonna is a White Fang agent."
"'Agent' implies that she has some ongoing relationship with the group, Miss Dash, my understanding is that she has left their ranks," Professor Ozpin replied.
Rainbow stared, stunned into silence. She couldn't have been more surprised if Pinkie had suddenly appeared in the headmaster's office to throw a party – and that would have been a welcome surprise, unlike what Rainbow was feeling right now. "You… you knew?"
"There is little that goes on at Beacon that escapes my notice, Miss Dash," Professor Ozpin replied blithely. "I am aware of many things, not all of which I choose to disclose to the students."
"You knew that she was White Fang and you let her in anyway?" Rainbow demanded.
"'Was', Miss Dash," Professor Ozpin said pointedly.
"With all due respect, sir-"
"When someone begins 'with all due respect' it is usually a sign they are about to be rather disrespectful," Ozpin observed wryly, a smile playing upon his features.
"You've been letting a terrorist stay in your school, sir," Rainbow snapped. "In the same school where my friend is!"
"Please do not suggest that I don't take the safety of every student at Beacon very seriously, Miss Dash," Professor Ozpin said, his voice acquiring a touch of steel to it. "There is nothing more important to me."
Rainbow swallowed. "You have a funny way of showing it, sir."
"Tell me, Miss Dash, what makes you think that Miss Belladonna is an active member of the White Fang?"
"She's defended their actions."
"Surely an infiltrator would be smarter than to give herself away so easily, dare I say childishly?" Professor Ozpin asked.
"People make mistakes, sir."
"Indeed they do," Professor Ozpin allowed. "Like so frightening people that they flee rather than defend themselves."
"I don't regret what I did when confronted with a terrorist, sir," Rainbow said staunchly. "Even if she only used to be a member of the White Fang, it's still bad enough. How could you let someone like that into Beacon?"
Professor Ozpin picked up a scroll of his desk and began to read from it. "Vandalism, shoplifting-"
"I was a kid, sir, the White Fang were still a peaceful protest group when I last broke the law," Rainbow said. "And I was never a terrorist."
"No, but the point remains the same," Professor Ozpin said. "I believe in the power of second chances, just as General Ironwood does."
"So you're going to do nothing?" Rainbow demanded, as she contemplated whether she could zoom around the headmaster's desk and hit him. Probably not, you didn't get made headmaster of a combat academy for nothing.
"If Miss Belladonna does not return for class on Monday morning then I shall be forced to do something," Professor Ozpin said, without explaining what that something might be. "Until then I do not see that there is anything I can, or should, do. Was there anything else you wished to discuss, Miss Dash?"
Rainbow scowled. "No sir."
XxXxX
Penny had been with Ruby, Pyrrha and Jaune when Ciel and Twilight had come to get her, so they too were waiting in the lobby of the CCT with Sunset, the remaining members of Team Rospetal, Yang and Weiss. They were drawing some attention, such a large gathering of students clustered together on the ground floor of the tower, not doing anything; but there was no rule forbidding them to be here, and so no one questioned them or told them to move on as they waited beside one of the green pools that lined the edges of the room.
Ruby glanced towards the elevators. "What do you think she's saying to Professor Ozpin?"
"I imagine she's telling him everything," Twilight replied.
"Everything that she suspects," Yang said pointedly.
"If it isn't true then why did Blake run?" Weiss asked. "If there was another explanation then why didn't she give it? Unfortunately, being a member of the White Fang… it makes perfect sense given Blake's pattern of behaviour since the Atlesians arrived."
"Once the Atlesian military arrived," Sunset corrected. "She was fine around you, and… okay, she didn't spend much time with Lyra and Bon Bon but they didn't really want to spend much time with her, either. I don't believe that she's some kind of spy in our midst."
Weiss frowned. "Why not?"
"Because she was really bad at it, if she was one," Sunset answered. "What kind of spy would be so obnoxious to the person she was supposed to be spying on. Maybe there is some connection between Blake and the White Fang but I don't think that she has a mask under her pillow."
"I don't know much about the White Fang," Jaune admitted. "But would it be so bad if-"
"Yes," Weiss cut him off stonily. "Yes, it would. If you don't know much about the White Fang then allow me to fill you in: the White Fang has robbed SDC cargo trains, sabotaged SDC facilities, kidnapped and murdered members of the board of my father's company. The war waged by the White Fang against my father has not improved his temperament these last five years." She shivered involuntarily, and turned away from the rest of them.
Ruby approached her, her footsteps light upon the floor of the lobby, and put one hand upon Weiss' shoulder.
"It's okay," she said. "You're safe here."
"Am I?" Weiss asked. "I trusted her."
"Maybe…" Ruby hesitated. "Maybe you were right?"
Weiss looked at her. "Excuse me?"
"I'm sure that the White Fang have done terrible things to you and your family," Ruby said, her voice gentle. "But that doesn't mean that Blake has done any of those things, and it doesn't mean that she deserves to be punished for her past. I don't know Blake very well, but I know that she's a huntsman of Beacon just like the rest of us. Doesn't that mean that we should give her the benefit of the doubt, at least listen to what she has to say?"
"Generously spoken," Pyrrha murmured. "Unfortunately the law is unlikely to display such nobility of spirit."
"Do we have to get the police involved?" Ruby asked. "Do we have to tell anyone?"
"Rainbow's up there right now, telling Professor Ozpin everything," Sunset reminded.
"Does she have to?" Penny asked.
"Yes," Ciel declared at once. "The White Fang are a proscribed organisation, banned in every kingdom, an organisation that aims at nothing less than the destruction of human society-"
"Do they?" Yang asked. "Or do they just want to be equal members of that society?"
"Weren't you listening to Weiss?" Twilight demanded. "The White Fang kill people, they kidnap people, and they don't care who they hurt in their struggle for 'justice'."
Yang pursed her lips. "You too, huh?"
Twilight inhaled through her nose. "Three years ago… my brother, Lieutenant Shining Armour, married newly-elected Councillor Cadenza. Only… it almost didn't turn out that way. A White Fang agent, with a very powerful semblance allowing her to take the form of another person, kidnapped Cadance and attempted to replace her, even going through with the wedding to my brother. If I hadn't noticed that something was off about her then the White Fang would have had an agent on the Council, able to dictate the policy of our kingdom." Twilight trembled, and Penny looked unusually solemn as she put her arms around the other girl. "And when I exposed her… they switched to Plan B: kill everyone, including my friends' little sisters who were there as flower girls.
"We weren't there to fight. We hadn't activated our auras, and before we could… they'd already wounded Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. We had no weapons but what we could seize from the White Fang attacking us. We ended up barricaded in a room barely big enough to fit us all, trying to get word out so that we could be rescued before… before they killed us all. No matter what the rest of you have gone through I don't think any of you have ever experienced anything like that before. No matter what the White Fang says about itself that is what the White Fang does. And that's why they have to be stopped." Twilight pinched her brow, as she pushed her glasses up her nose. "That being said… I am reluctant to condemn anyone without giving them a chance to defend themselves."
The elevator door opened, and Rainbow Dash stomped out, her footsteps like peals of thunder. She was wearing her wings across her back, with her autopistols at her hips and her shotgun slung across her back, and her magenta eyes were as hard as diamonds.
A scowl had settled upon her face as she reached the group.
"What's Professor Ozpin going to do?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing," Rainbow spat.
Twilight's eyes widened. "Nothing?"
"He knew," Rainbow declared. "He's know all along and he's not going to do anything about it because he believes in second chances."
"Maybe," Ruby ventured. "Maybe he has a point?"
Rainbow huffed, and seemed to pretend that she hadn't heard that. "Of course he knew. I should have known. Belladonna, she didn't even change her name!"
"So?" Yang asked. "It's just a name."
"Kali Belladonna is the wife of the Chieftain of Menagerie and former leader of the White Fang," Rainbow explained. "Every month or two she runs a lottery to help faunus from Atlas or Mistral move to Menagerie, all expenses paid. A couple of old friends of my parents won last year. I'm such a moron!"
"We should contact General Ironwood," Ciel said.
"No, we're not contacting the general," Rainbow replied.
Ciel frowned. "Is there a reason for not informing him of this?"
Rainbow licked her lips. "Because I'd rather ask forgiveness than permission."
"What do you mean, Rainbow Dash?" Penny asked.
"I mean we're going to find Blake Belladonna and bring her in," Rainbow declared. "One way, or another."
"For crying out loud," Sunset exclaimed. "You can't just-"
"That depends on her," Rainbow cut her off. "And what she does when we find her."
Sunset shook her head. "You won the wedding, in case you've forgotten. You don't need to fight that battle all over again."
Rainbow stared into Sunset's eyes. Her own eyes seemed devoid of compassion. "Penny, Ciel, you're with me," she said. "Twilight, you'll provide support with your drones from the dorm room. Weiss, I need to borrow Flash."
"Why?" Weiss asked cautiously.
"I need somebody I can trust to watch over Twilight, but I need Ciel and Penny at my side," Rainbow explained. "I know Flash, and I know I can rely on him."
"Weiss," Ruby murmured.
Weiss glanced at Ruby, before she nodded. "Very well. I'll call him."
"Rainbow Dash," Penny said softly. "Are you sure about this? It doesn't seem very-"
"I'm your team leader, Penny, and I'm giving you an order," Rainbow declared, not looking at her. "Are you going to obey that order?"
Penny hesitated, but stood to attention. "I'm ready to serve, as commanded."
The true face of Atlas, Sunset thought. She stepped forward, and took Rainbow by the arm. "Don't do this," she implored.
Rainbow glared at her for a moment, before she shook her arm free. "I'll do what I have to do," she insisted. The Atlesians departed, including Weiss; Rainbow's heavy footsteps drowned out the lighter tread of those around them.
"They're not serious, right?" Yang asked, and it took Sunset a moment to realise that she was looking to Sunset for reassurance. "She's not really going to…"
Sunset didn't reply. "Ruby, Pyrrha, Jaune, gear up and follow me."
"Where are we going?" Pyrrha asked.
"We're going to find Blake before the Atlesians do," Sunset informed them. "And then we're… we're going to figure out the next step as we go."
"Do you know where to look?" demanded Jaune.
"No," Sunset admitted. "But neither do they, so we're evenly matched in that." She paused. "I'm not going to make you come, even if I could; but Ruby's right, Blake is a Beacon huntress. And so I don't like the idea of just standing by and letting Atlas have her way with her. Because… because Professor Ozpin's right about second chances." See how well I'm learning, Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight? I'm almost a good person now.
"I'm in," Ruby said. "I mean… you are taking my suggestion, I can't really not go."
"I don't like the idea of abandoning a comrade," Pyrrha murmured. "And if we can spare Penny from having to do something she'll regret, that will also be welcome."
"I'm in to," Jaune added. He grinned. "I mean, I can't really step back now, can I? What am I going to do, sit in my room while you three search?" He paused. "Do you think… if we do find Blake… Rainbow seems pretty… obsessed. Do you think she-"
"I'm sure she wouldn't go so far," Pyrrha assured. "And… certainly Penny and Ciel would not."
"I'll search on Bumblebee," Yang said. "I can cover more ground that way than you guys can on foot."
"Are you going to be okay on your own?" Ruby asked, a little anxiously.
Yang grinned. "Give me some credit, sis, I'll be fine." Her tone became a little more serious as she said, "Good luck out there."
"Good luck to us," Sunset replied. "Not such good luck to them."
XxXxX
Flash stared at Rainbow in disbelief. "I… Blake is a member of the White Fang… I didn't know her but still… the fact that she could sit there, eating with us, and all the while… it's hard to believe."
"You'd better believe it, because I sure do," Rainbow said. "I'm going out to get her, with Ciel and Penny, I need you to stay here with Twilight while she provides back-up from here. I don't think Blake will come back here, but… I don't want to take any chances with Twi's safety, you understand?"
Flash nodded. He was already armed and armoured for battle, resplendent in his gleaming armour, with Caliburn at his waist and his shield slung across his back. "I understand. Especially after what happened."
After what happened. Rainbow clenched her hands into fists as she fought to push those memories away. Chrysalis had sworn revenge on Twilight as they were dragging her away, and although Atlas had locked her in a hole and then thrown away the key that didn't mean that she didn't have friends on the outside who wouldn't try to take revenge for her. Rainbow wished that Applejack were here; she would have taken Rarity at this point, for all that she recognised that Flash was an objectively better fighter than Rarity. But Rarity wasn't here, and neither was Applejack, and that meant that Rainbow would have to trust Flash.
He's from Canterlot, he's made of the right stuff.
"So, will you do it?" Rainbow asked.
Flash glanced away for a moment. "For a long time, all through Canterlot, I felt as though you were so far above me. You and Applejack in skills, Twilight in brains… I mean you are so far above. You were the ace of the whole school, and I was just… well, let's just say that General Ironwood was never going to give me one on one tuition." He grinned, if only for a moment. "But if there's more I can do than just cheer you on, if there's anything that I can do to help, then I'll do it. You can rely on me."
XxXxX
As flakes of snow began to gently fall, Blake drifted through the streets of Vale. Alone. Uncertain.
She should have known this day would come and yet she had not prepared for it. Not prepared for what she would do if her secret came out. She had focussed her mind and her ambitions upon becoming a huntress, as though a black bow would be enough to keep her secret for four years.
And now… now what? Where would she go? What would she do? What could she do?
Who was she now?
Why couldn't I have just kept my mouth shut?
"Hey there."
Blake looked up, startled. It was the boy from earlier, the… the rather cute boy from the boat. He was standing in front of her, holding a red umbrella over her head to shield her from the lightly falling snow, looking at her with concern.
"It… it's you," Blake murmured.
He smiled. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be left alone, with no place to go," he said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I… I really don't know," Blake admitted. "I don't really know if there's anything that anyone can do to help."
The boy's tail swished back and forth. "Will you at least let me try?"
Blake hesitated. She shouldn't involve him in her problems, she shouldn't drag anyone into affairs that could be trouble or even dangerous for him. But at the same time… at the same time she was tired of being alone. "I… I'd like that," she said. "I mean… I'd like if you… stayed with me, if that's okay."
He smiled. He had a very kind smile, open and honest. He had kind eyes too; they were blue, like Adam's eyes, but these eyes were kind, without a hint of cruelty or of cunning in them. "That's fine by me." He held out his hand. "I'm Sun."
"Blake," Blake said, and took his hand in hers.
XxXxX
Author's Note: Art by Rainbow Zebra
Chapter 14 - The Book Broker
The Book Broker
Sun – Sun Wukong, to give the full name that he had supplied to her – was holding the umbrella in the grip of his tail as he and Blake walked arm in arm down the street.
In spite of everything that had led up to this point, in spite of the fact that she might well be – probably was – a wanted fugitive, nevertheless, this… this was nice.
So nice that leaned into his arm, wrapping both her arms around his.
"This doesn't bother you, does it?" she asked softly.
"Uh, no," Sun said, though he sounded as though it surprised him. "So long as you're okay, I'm okay."
Blake smiled, if a little sadly. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had said something like that to her. She couldn't remember the last time that anyone had put her first, her wants and desires above all else. That sounded selfish, when put into words, but at the same time… after Rainbow Dash, after Sienna Khan, after Adam, why shouldn't she be glad that someone was willing to say to her 'so long as you're okay, I'm okay.'
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Hey," Sun said. "It's the least I could do."
Blake snorted. "The least you could do? Sun, you don't even know who I am."
"You don't know who I am," Sun replied. "But you trust me, right?"
He had her there. "I… I guess," Blake accepted. "I suppose… you've got one of those manners that says you can be trusted."
"And you've got one of those manners that says that you've got a lot going on and could use all the help you can get."
"That's… not entirely inaccurate," Blake admitted.
The air had warmed up a little, and the snow had turned to rain which pitter-pattered off the top of Sun's umbrella. One advantage of Blake leaning on Sun was that they were now close enough that said umbrella could cover them both without him having to get wet for her sake.
"So," Sun started, "why are we going to this bookshop?"
"The owner… is something of an old friend," Blake said carefully. "In fact, he's about the only person I know in this city. So, unless you have a place to stay for the night…"
Sun laughed nervously. "Uh, not exactly. I was kind of hoping that something would turn up. In my experience, it usually does." He paused. "And it did, because I met you, and you know someone who can put us up. See how that works?"
Blake smiled. "Is that really how you go through life?"
"Pretty much," Sun said. "'Footloose and fancy free,' is what my buddy Neptune calls it."
"That sounds about right."
"He also says I'm an idiot."
Blake chuckled, covering her mouth with her free hand. "He might have a point there too. But you're an idiot with a good heart, and that… I'm grateful for that." She paused. "Sun?"
"Yeah?"
"What brings you to Vale in the first place?"
"I'm here for the Vytal Festival," Sun said casually.
Blake looked at him. "You're a student?"
"Yup," Sun said. "Sun Wukong, leader of Team Sun of Haven."
Blake blinked. "Then what are you doing here so early? And stowed away aboard a cargo ship? And where is the rest of your team?"
"Well, we're a team from Haven, so I guess that they're still in Haven," Sun suggested. "As for the other two, well… it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"'Footloose and fancy free,'" Blake murmured.
Sun laughed. "That might be a little nicer than anything Neptune will have to say to me once the guys get here."
"I can understand why," Blake replied, "but, for whatever it's worth, I'm glad you came."
Sun didn't say anything for a moment or two. "It's worth a lot," he said.
They arrived at Tukson's Book Trade; the lights were off inside, and for a moment, Blake was worried that they had arrived too late and that Tukson had already locked up for the evening. But when she pushed against the door, she found that it opened for her, and she was able to step inside. Sun folded up the umbrella before following. A little bell over the door tinkled to announce their presence.
"I'm sorry, we're closed," Tukson's voice preceded him into the room. The doors from the back swung open as the man himself emerged. "I was just about to- Blake?"
"Hey," Blake said, her voice soft and a little melancholy. "I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, but..."
Tukson's expression dissolved into a look of sympathetic misery. "You're in some kind of trouble."
"I don't have anywhere else to go," Blake replied.
Tukson rested his hands upon the counter. A sigh fell from his lips. "Your secret got out, huh?"
Blake nodded. "I know that I'm asking a lot of you, and if you tell me to go, then I will, but-"
"No," Tukson said immediately. "No, Blake, I won't do that. Like you said, you've got nowhere else to go. I'm not about to throw you out into the rain like a stray." He glanced at Sun. "Who's this?"
"You've heard of the kindness of strangers," Blake presumed.
"I've heard about it," Tukson replied. "The same way I've heard about lost cities in the Vacuo desert."
The corners of Blake's lips twitched upwards for a moment. "He's the stranger."
"Pleasure to meet you... sir?" Sun ventured. To Blake, he whispered, "Is this your dad?"
Tukson snorted. "No, son, I'm not her father. Her father's much bigger and scarier than I am."
"Uh... good to know?"
Tukson shook his head. "You two head back, stay out of sight. I'll lock up and then... are you hungry?"
Blake's stomach answered for her, growling aggressively at the mention of hunger.
Tukson chuckled. "I'll fix up some supper, and we can talk."
"Thank you," Blake murmured. She repeated it, more loudly, "Thank you, so much."
"Don't mention it," Tukson said, waving away her gratitude with one hand. "People like us have to stick together, right?"
"I suppose," Blake said softly.
Tukson lifted up the slat on the left-hand side of the counter so that he could venture out into the main body of the store, while Blake and Sun could head the opposite way. As Sun got behind the counter, he stopped, staring at the double-barreled sawn-off shotgun underneath the register.
"Is it normal for bookstore owners to have guns in this town?" he asked.
"You've obviously never met a literature critic," Tukson replied breezily as he reached the front door and started locking up.
Blake led Sun through the double doors behind the counter, through the backroom crammed high with piles of books and cardboard boxes loaded with the same, and into Tukson's kitchen, where a little wooden table sat upon a black tiled floor, with an oven sat against the wall and an old fashioned kettle resting on the hob. Blake sat in the chair facing the door, leaving Sun to take the other chair with his back to said door. He rested his arms upon the table, looking at her, waiting for her to speak.
Blake didn't, not yet. First, she got out her scroll and checked her messages. She'd set her scroll to silent, so she hadn't seen the notifications. She had a few messages, although Blake was a little surprised that they had come from Sunset Shimmer.
Where are you?
Whatever your real story is, we can deal with it if we know where you are.
Ozpin knew who you were, in case you didn't know. He's on your side. Or apathetic, at least.
Rainbow Dash has made up her mind about you. She's looking for you, and she's going to kill you. Literally. As in with bullets. But we can protect you if we know where you are.
Blake put the scroll away without replying.
"Bad news?" Sun asked.
"Nothing I didn't know already," Blake replied softly. "Like you said, I'm in trouble."
"But... why?" Sun asked. "I mean, everything seemed fine when I saw you this morning."
They didn't know about my past this morning. Everything had seemed fine for Blake, just as everything had seemed fine for Ilia at her fancy Atlesian prep school… right up until it wasn't. Right until they found out who, and what, Ilia really was. Right until they found out what Blake really was. Perhaps… would it be the same in this case, too? Blake hesitated. She didn't know how Sun would feel about any of this; for all she knew, once she told him the truth, he would reject her, just like her Beacon classmates had.
A part of her mind pointed out that he was a faunus like her. A much bigger part of her mind pointed out that she had made the same mistake with Rainbow Dash, and now, the girl was trying to kill her. Sun could be exactly the same.
But she had trusted him this far, and he hadn't needed to be there for her; nobody had forced him to. Surely, he deserved to know why she was in trouble, especially if that trouble now meant there was an angry Atlesian huntress-in-training roaming Vale looking for her. And she hadn't been lying when she said that he seemed like a trustworthy person. "Sun," she said, "do you know anything about the White Fang?"
Sun snorted. "Come on, Blake, everyone's heard of the White Fang. Bunch of jackasses who use force to get whatever they want it."
"It wasn't like that," Blake protested. "At least... it wasn't supposed to be like that." She bowed her head and reached for the bow that rested on top of it. She pulled it off, revealing her feline ears underneath. "I was once a member of the White Fang."
She looked up. Sun, to his credit, didn't look horrified, or scared of her. He looked surprised, to be sure, but not as though he was only seeing her for the first time now.
"You were a member?" he said. "But... you're so young!"
Blake smiled, but only for a moment. "You could say that I was born into the White Fang. Of course, back then, it wasn't what it eventually became. The White Fang was founded after the revolution to be a force for equality between humans and faunus. It was open to anyone, of any race, with the only requirement being that they were passionate about justice. In that way, it was hoped that the White Fang would be a symbol of unity and peace." Blake frowned. "But despite having promised the faunus equality, many humans still considered the faunus to be lesser beings, undeserving of rights or justice." She looked at Sun. "You're from Haven, I can't believe you don't know what I'm talking about."
Sun shrugged. "It happens. Some things you can't change, so you'd better get used to them, right?"
"I refused to accept that," Blake declared. "I still refuse to accept that. The White Fang was founded upon a refusal to accept it. All through my childhood, and for many years before, the White Fang attempted to use peaceful measures to make our point. We rallied, we marched, we organised boycotts, and I was there for all of it... I was there as nothing changed. We might as well have been shouting into the darkness for all the good it was doing."
"So you stopped shouting... and started shooting," Sun said quietly.
"You could say that," Blake acknowledged. "Five years ago, my... our leader stepped down, and Sienna Khan took his place. She promised results, and she proposed to get those results through the use of violence. At first, it was just a matter of setting fire to businesses that refused to serve faunus, of hijacking cargo belonging to companies that exploited faunus labour... and it seemed to be working, at a cost. The four kingdoms declared the White Fang a terrorist group, the Atlesian military began to hunt us down like animals, but we were winning concessions at the same time. Companies and businesses we targeted cleaned up their acts, and it didn't matter that they were doing it out of fear; the list of organisations that defied the White Fang got smaller every month. But our methods got more extreme every year. Bombings, kidnapping and murder, acceptance of collateral damage... I told Rainbow Dash that the White Fang only went after those who deserved to be targeted, but the truth is, that hasn't been true for some time now, and I couldn't take it anymore. So I left, hiding my identity behind a black bow and dedicating myself to becoming a huntress, where I could use my skills in a more worthy cause."
"Until you got found out," Sun said.
Blake nodded slightly. "You can take the girl out of the White Fang, but you can't take away her instinct to defend them or her hostility to the Atlesian military." She frowned. "Tukson, how long are you going to stand out there listening? You already know this story."
"I just wanted to understand what you were telling the boy," Tukson said as he walked into the kitchen. Sun started to get up, but Tukson waved him down. "Keep your seat, it's fine." He walked over to the old kettle, picked it up and carried it to the sink, where he started to fill it with water. "You want some tea?"
"Thank you," Blake murmured.
"Sure," Sun said. He hesitated. "So... were you in the White Fang, too?"
Tukson turned the tap off. "You heard Blake; it wasn't always like this. I signed up for peaceful protests, but I was okay with breaking a few windows, setting fire to a few empty businesses. We were making our point, but nobody was getting hurt." He carried the kettle back to the hob, set it down, and lit the oven. A ring of blue flames appeared beneath the kettle as the fire dust powder began to burn. "But I wasn't much of a fighter, and when they started to hand out guns, I... slipped away. It was easier to leave at first; as things escalated, the High Leader was more understanding of those who didn't have the stomach to stick around. I was pretty much allowed to walk away. Blake..."
"It wasn't quite that simple for me," Blake murmured.
Tukson nodded. He left the kettle to get on with boiling as he opened up a cupboard and pulled out a trio of mugs, then went to another cupboard to retrieve a box of teabags. "I hope no one minds store brand, it's all I've got. So... they know about you at Beacon?"
"They know what I was," Blake agreed. "Some of them are looking for me. I should probably-"
"No, you don't have to leave," Tukson said. "Whatever comes, I can take it." The kettle began to boil, and Tukson turned his back upon the young huntsmen as he poured the tea. "But you do need to decide what you're going to do next."
"I hear Vacuo is nice... and remote," Blake muttered.
"It has its charms," Sun informed her. "It's got its share of flaws too, but at least folks don't seem to care if you're a faunus."
"That's... good to know," Blake said. "Although I'd rather not run away to Vacuo to hide."
Tukson poured the tea. "I know Blake takes milk but no sugar, but how about you, kid?"
"Two sugars, please."
As Tukson finished off the tea, he said, "You know, Blake... you could always-"
"No," Blake cut him off. "No, I can't go back there."
"Can't?" Tukson asked. "Or won't?"
"Some things can't be unsaid," Blake told him. "And I don't want to cause any more trouble for them. Not to mention, there's no way of knowing if they'd even want me back."
Tukson sighed. "You know they'd take you back in a heartbeat."
"No," Blake replied, her voice soft but unyielding. "I don't know that."
"What are you guys talking about?" Sun asked.
"Nothing," Blake said immediately, and she was thankful that that appeared to be enough for Sun to drop the subject. She paused. "Tukson, I know that you still have a few contacts in the White Fang... do you know anything about these robberies that have been going on in Vale?"
She waited for him to say that he did not, that he knew nothing, that none of his remaining White Fang contacts had even mentioned the issue to him. She waited for him to tell her that all the suspicions of Weiss and Rainbow Dash were groundless, driven by prejudice and groundless suspicion.
She waited, but as Tukson carried the mugs of tea over to the table and set them down in front of Blake and Sun with soft thuds, she could not help but note that his expression was grim. "You're not going to want to hear this," he said finally.
Blake's eyes widened. "It's true?"
"That's what I hear," Tukson said, leaning against his fridge as he sipped at his tea. "From what my sources tell me, it's the main focus of activity for the White Fang at the moment."
"Robbery?" Blake demanded. "How is robbing downtown dust shops going to lead to equality for the faunus?"
"Prejudiced dust shop owners?" Sun suggested.
"If that were the case, then they would have simply destroyed the shops," Blake replied. "The White Fang... we stole dust in the past, for obvious reasons, but the amount that's being stolen now, and in such a short amount of time... there must be enough dust to keep the Vale Chapter supplied for a year or more already."
"Maybe not," Tukson replied. "The other thing I hear is that recruitment efforts have been stepped up recently. A lot of new blood coming in."
"Why?" Blake asked. The White Fang had never emphasised raw numbers in the past; new recruits were brought in slowly, in recognition of the fact that they were likely to be of poor quality in a fight and that there weren't the resources to arm or train them. The White Fang operated using guerilla tactics, inflicting small but painful bites upon the mighty but ponderous Atlesian behemoth opposed to them; raiding parties were small, and the few new recruits around at any one time learnt by being surrounded by seasoned, capable operatives. A swollen chapter might explain the need for dust, but what would explain the need for manpower? What was Adam planning to do with a horde of ill-trained dross? It wasn't as if he could overthrow Vale by main force, and Adam was smart enough to know that. "What's going on?"
"I don't know; apparently, there's someone new calling the shots."
"Adam has been replaced?" Blake demanded.
"No," Tukson replied. "That would be too easy. He's still there, but there's somebody else above him, giving him his marching orders. Not the High Leader. Nobody that talks to me really knows who she is, just that she arrived not long after you left and that Adam takes his cue from her." Tukson paused. "They say she's human."
"That's impossible," Blake said. "Adam would never work with a human."
"I thought so too, but that's what I hear from people closer to it all than us," Tukson said. "I hear the old guard aren't happy about it. They don't have the men, yet, but-"
"Adam will kill them before they do," Blake whispered.
"Probably," Tukson admitted.
Blake bowed her head. "I still can't believe this. I know it's stupid, after the things that we... that the White Fang have already done, but... do you know where the next robbery is? Or when it is?"
"Why?"
"I need to see this for myself," Blake said, "before I can believe it."
"See for yourself or stop it?"
"Both, maybe," Blake admitted. "If you're right."
"Blake-" Tukson said.
"Don't try to dissuade me," Blake implored.
"Someone ought to," Tukson replied. "You know what you're walking into."
"And what should I do instead?" Blake demanded. "Run away again? Go to Vacuo? I can't keep running, I… have to make a stand for what I believe in, and what I believe is that the White Fang is going too far."
Tukson drank some more of his tea. "The word is there's an SDC freighter coming into port tomorrow. They must be experimenting with ships since the rail line keeps getting intercepted. The plain is to steal the containers from off the wharfside."
"From stores to shipping containers?" Sun said. "Someone wants a lot of dust."
"Tomorrow night?" asked Blake.
"Tomorrow night," agreed Tukson.
"I'll be there," Blake declared.
"And so will I," Sun added.
"Sun," Blake said, "you don't have to-"
"No, I don't," Sun agreed. "But I'm going to."
"Why?" Blake asked. "This could be dangerous. You could be hurt or-"
"So could you, and you're still doing it."
He was right of course. "I... I have to," Blake said. "This is my... this is something that I have to do."
"Then like I said before," Sun reminded her, "it seems like you could use all the help you can get."
XxXxX
Flash stood before the dorm room door – on the inside of the room, that is – with the tip of Caliburn resting on the floor while he held the spear shaft of the weapon's current mode in his hands. He looked grim and resolute and just a little ridiculous.
Twilight's eyes flickered to him from her computer. "You know, you can sit down."
"I'm not sure if Rainbow Dash would like that," Flash muttered.
Twilight smiled, if only a little. "I'm glad you're here, but honestly? I'm not expecting an attack. I very much doubt that Blake will come back here."
She pushed her chair back across the carpeted floor.
Flash looked at her. "I thought you were supposed to be piloting your drones."
"I have twenty drones in the air," Twilight informed him. "There's no way that I could pilot all of them at once, with any kind of interface. I'd need a supercomputer for a brain to coordinate even half as many objects in flight at once."
Flash grinned. "You mean you don't have a supercomputer for a brain?"
"Unfortunately not," Twilight replied. "So I've set the drones to fly on pre-programmed flight-paths and uploaded Blake's image into the recognition databases. As they fly, they're scanning every face using advanced recognition software. They'll alert me if they get a match, and I can assume direct control of that drone or any nearby."
"But until then… you wait?"
"I wait," Twilight said. She got up off her chair. "Will you please sit down? You can protect me just as easily without doing your best impression of a statue."
Flash laughed self-deprecatingly. "I guess you're right," he admitted as he retreated across the room and sat down on Penny's bed. He leaned Caliburn against the wall and took off his crested helmet, setting it down beside him. Flash ran one hand through his blue hair. "I still can't believe this is happening."
"Were you close?" Twilight asked.
"No," Flash said at once. "I don't think anyone was close to Blake. But at the same time… she was still one of us. A Beacon freshman. Bon Bon likes to say that even though we're on different teams, we're on the same team because we're all huntsmen of Beacon."
"That's… a very Atlesian attitude," Twilight murmured. "Which isn't too surprising, come to think, is it?"
"I guess not," Flash replied. "It hasn't taken in every quarter… particularly not in my team, I have to admit, but she's got a point. We're all at this school, we're all here to do the same job, to become the same thing. We ought to be able to trust each other without having to worry that someone is planning to stab us in the back and betray the cause we're fighting for."
"I know," Twilight murmured. "I know this can't be easy for you."
Flash shook his head. "This has nothing to do with me."
Twilight pursed her lips together. "Flash… it's okay to be angry or upset. Rainbow is very angry and very upset, and she… and we haven't suffered half as much at the hands of the White Fang as you have."
Flash looked up and into her eyes. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"What isn't?" Twilight asked.
"Trying to compare what I went through with what you went through as though we can establish a hierarchy of who has suffered most."
"Everyone lived," Twilight said softly. "My parents, my brother, my friends, Cadance. In the end I didn't lose anyone."
"And I wasn't scared out of my mind for me and everyone I cared about," Flash declared. "By the time I found out what I'd lost… it was already too late."
"Oh, Flash," Twilight murmured, as she crossed the room to sit down on the bed beside him. She put one arm around his shoulders and took his hand with the other. "I wish that there was something I could do to take that pain away from you."
"I'm fine."
"You don't have to pretend if you're not," Twilight insisted.
Flash looked at her. "You know… it's stuff like this that made me think you and I could be a thing."
Twilight gasped. "I'm just trying to be a good friend. That's all I was ever trying to be."
"I know," Flash said. "I mean I know that now. I just… it doesn't matter. And as for my father… I try and honour him by being a good man, someone that he could be proud of."
"I'm sure he would be proud of you," Twilight assured him.
"I'm not sure my mom feels the same way," Flash replied. "She thinks I'm being reckless."
"She's probably just scared to lose you."
"There's no probably about it; she told me so herself," Flash told her. "But I can't just hide myself away in an office somewhere in Atlas, I want to leave the world a better place than I found it."
"To be honest, a part of me would quite like to hide away in a lab in Atlas somewhere," Twilight admitted. "But… duty calls."
"For some," Flash said. "The reason I chose Beacon instead of Atlas is I knew that, at Atlas, my mom would pull strings to keep me out of harm's way."
"I'm not sure General Ironwood would allow that."
"I'm not sure he wouldn't either," Flash replied. "Remember, he doesn't know me like he knows you."
"It's because I know him that I know that he doesn't play those kinds of games," Twilight insisted. "But… you're happy here at Beacon, right?"
Flash nodded. "Yeah, I am."
"Then you made the right choice, and nothing else matters," Twilight said. She smiled. "Flash, can I ask you something completely irrelevant and possibly rather stupid?"
Flash shrugged. "I guess."
"Why do you wear your jacket over your armour?"
Flash stifled a laugh. "Really?"
"They hardly go together."
"My jacket has pockets for my stuff."
"Pyrrha wears pouches on her belt for that."
"I suppose," Flash said, more softly. He paused. "I got this jacket," he continued, after a moment, "at the same time that I bought Sunset her jacket." He smiled. "I remember, she was so happy about it. She loved it. She put it on and then danced all around the mall with this great big smile on her face and her arms spread out on either side of her like a little kid. It was the funniest thing… and it was also the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. I guess I wear this jacket… to remind me of that day. And of her."
"You still love her, don't you?"
"I think a part of me always will," Flash admitted.
"She seems a lot better now," Twilight said. "Have you ever thought about maybe-?"
"No," Flash said quickly. "She might be better now, but she's not the same. There's a part of me that will always love Sunset, but it's the Sunset that I knew back then. Whoever she becomes now, she'll never be that girl I knew again." He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I shouldn't dwell on the past."
"There's nothing wrong with remembering the good times," Twilight insisted. "As long as you don't let them stop you looking to the future."
There was a knock on the door. Spike, who had been dozing under the desk, opened his eyes and looked up, but did not bark.
Flash got to his feet, one hand reaching for Caliburn.
"Who is it?" Twilight called.
"It's Weiss," Weiss replied from the other side of the door. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," Twilight declared as she got up from the bed before Flash could stop her, then crossed the room in brisk strides to open the door. "Hey, Weiss."
"Hey, Twilight," Weiss said, without much enthusiasm. Twilight stepped aside, and Weiss glided in, closing the door behind her. She glanced around, catching sight of Spike on the floor. "And who is this?" she asked, her face lighting up as she knelt down, holding out her hands.
Twilight smiled. "That's Spike, my dog."
"Oh, he's a good boy. Yes, he is. Yes, you are! Come to Auntie Weiss, come on."
Spike barked as he jumped into Weiss' arms. She started scratching him behind the ears as she stood up. Noticing Twilight looking at her with a smile on her face, Weiss looked away. Her pale cheeks flushed a little. "Ahem. Is there any word?" Weiss asked.
"Not from Rainbow Dash, no," Twilight said. "And my drones haven't alerted me to anything either," she added, gesturing to her computer.
"I see," Weiss murmured. "I… don't know what to say to that."
"If she is a member of the White Fang-" Flash began.
"What if she's not?" Weiss asked. "What if she only was? She didn't exactly get a chance to explain herself before Rainbow started throwing punches."
Flash frowned. "Even if she only used to be a member of the White Fang, then…"
"Professor Ozpin seems to trust her," Weiss said. "And if we can't trust the headmaster, then who can we trust? Believe me, I know that the White Fang are dangerous, and that we have to fight them… but if Blake is… is hurt," she said, because she didn't want to admit the other possibility, "for no other reason than her past, doesn't that prove that everything the White Fang say is right?"
Twilight looked down at the floor. "Quite possibly."
"I like Rainbow Dash," Weiss said, "and I have a lot of respect for the Atlas forces… I just don't want to see someone I… could call a friend… kill another."
XxXxX
Twilight must have fallen asleep at some point, because she woke up with a start to find that it was morning. There was birdsong outside and light beginning to filter in through the crack in the curtains.
Twilight sat up; she had fallen asleep with her head resting on the desk. Her computer showed that all her drones were still in the air, and none of them had yet located any sign of Blake.
Which might not be a wholly bad thing, in the circumstances.
Twilight took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. "Flash, Weiss, why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, before letting loose with a leonine yawn as she looked around.
She swiftly discovered that the reason neither of them had woken her up was that they were both asleep themselves. They were both sat on the bed; there was just about room for them, although Flash's legs were falling down off it to the floor, leaning against one another. Weiss' head was resting upon Flash's shoulder; Flash's head was resting on top of Weiss'. It was… pretty cute, really. Made all the more so by the way that Spike, also sleeping, had climbed into Weiss' lap. One of her hands was resting on his back as though she had fallen asleep midway through stroking him.
Twilight smiled at them both and kept her footsteps very soft as she crossed the room to her own bed and cleaned her spectacles. As she wiped at the lenses, she thought about what Weiss had said, about proving the White Fang right in the way they treated Blake.
It wasn't something Twilight could really argue with.
Unfortunately, Twilight wasn't the person who most needed to be convinced.
Twilight understood why Rainbow felt the way she did, why she was driven to act the way she did. Twilight had been at the wedding too, after all; Twilight had looked Chrysalis in the eye; Twilight seemed to be the one towards whom Chrysalis bore the most malice. Twilight had been trapped in that room the same as the rest of them, anxious and fearful. It haunted her as much as it haunted Rainbow Dash; it haunted her so much that she had come very close to refusing this assignment because she really didn't want to be in the line of fire again. But… Twilight supposed that was the point; she could accept and admit to herself that she was, not a bookworm, but well-read at least, and a science nerd and that she would be better off in a lab somewhere safely out of the way. Twilight could accept that she had been scared out of her mind because… because she was the kind of person who was supposed to be scared. She was the kind of person who was supposed to be saved by heroes like Rainbow Dash. Rainbow couldn't accept it in the same way because that wasn't who Rainbow Dash was, that wasn't what Rainbow wanted to be thought of as: a fierce daughter of Atlas, a warrior, the bravest of the brave. And she was brave, the bravest person Twilight knew… and because she was brave, she couldn't forgive herself for the sin of having once felt fear.
Twilight put a comm device in her ear and kept her voice soft and quiet as she murmured. "Rainbow Dash."
The earpiece was connected to her scroll and began to call in obedience to Twilight's command. It was only a moment or two before Rainbow answered. "Morning, Twi."
"Morning," Twilight replied. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"No," Rainbow muttered.
Twilight winced. Rainbow… she had become a lot more of a morning person out of sheer necessity since Twilight had first met her - you couldn't survive in the Atlesian school system otherwise - but that didn't mean she was going to be at her best having gone without sleep. "So… you haven't found anything yet?"
"No," Rainbow growled. "Any luck from the air?"
"My drones haven't spotted her, I'm afraid."
"Too bad," Rainbow muttered. "How are things up there?"
Twilight looked again at the slumbering Flash and Weiss. "Weiss and Flash are sleeping propped up against one another, and it's adorable."
"Wake him up; he's supposed to be protecting you!" Rainbow snapped.
"Rainbow Dash," remonstrated Twilight. "You don't honestly think that Blake is going to show up here at Beacon, do you?"
"If she finds out the headmaster is on her side, she might."
"If she came back because the headmaster was on her side, she'd hardly risk that by attacking a fellow student," Twilight pointed out.
"She is not a student," Rainbow growled. "She's a terrorist, Twi, and you know that as well as I do."
"She was one, true," Twilight agreed. "Although that doesn't necessarily mean she did anything unforgivable."
Rainbow groaned. "Come on, Twi, not you too. You know what these people are like. You know what monsters they are, what they're capable of."
"Who's 'they', Rainbow Dash?"
"Don't give me that, Twilight, you know who I mean," Rainbow declared. "If it were Chrysalis out here, you wouldn't be getting cold feet; you'd be cheering me on."
"But it isn't Chrysalis," Twilight pointed out. "Blake isn't Chrysalis. Blake didn't try to abduct my sister-in-law, Blake didn't threaten Scootaloo, or any of the girls, or our friends. Blake… we don't know what Blake did, if she did anything."
"She was White Fang, I'm sure she did something," Rainbow muttered.
"Blake isn't Chrysalis," Twilight repeated. "Chrysalis is in solitary confinement in the most secure facility in Atlas." And I know that because I implanted a worm in the prison systems that will let me know the instant that changes. "You don't have to be afraid of her."
Rainbow was silent for a moment. "Is that what you think? You think that I'm scared of Chrysalis?"
"I think you feel like you've got something to prove," Twilight replied, keeping her voice down for the sake of Weiss and Flash. "But you don't. We all survived-"
"Thanks to you," Rainbow said. "You got word out."
"And you kept us alive long enough that I could," Twilight insisted. "You don't need to hunt down a Beacon student in order to prove… anything. You… you're my hero already."
"Oh, come on, Twilight, how am I supposed to stand my ground after you say something like that?"
Twilight giggled, albeit very quietly. "I don't want to see you become a killer," she murmured. "At least… not without much better reason than this."
There was no reply from the other end of the line. Only the sound of Rainbow's breathing in Twilight's earpiece told her that Rainbow Dash was still there.
"What do you want from me, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.
"I want…" Twilight hesitated. "I'd like you to give her a chance to show what she really is, and not just assume the worst."
Again, it took Rainbow a moment to answer. "Twilight… you're my hero too, you know that, right?"
"No, I didn't," Twilight said softly. "And I can't think why."
Rainbow sighed. "I'll explain in person; I'm not going to do it now. It's just… you always know what the right thing is."
"So… does that mean…?"
"It means… it means I'll think about it," Rainbow said, in a tone that made it clear that Twilight shouldn't try to push her any further on this.
Twilight wasn't inclined to try. She knew Rainbow well enough to know that Rainbow Dash promised to think about it, she had halfway to won already.
XxXxX
"Blake!" Ruby called as she cupped her hands around her mouth. "Blake!"
"You kids lose your dog or something?" asked the man behind the counter of the black coffee van.
"Something like that," Sunset muttered as she handed over the lien and then picked up their breakfast: four hot drinks balanced awkwardly in a cardboard tray in one hand and two paper bags in the other which rustled gently as she squeezed them. She picked them up and made her way quickly but carefully down the street to the corner where Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha were waiting.
"Blake!" Ruby yelled again, heedless of the stares she was getting from the small number of people out on the street this early.
"Okay," Sunset said, stifling a yawn as she approached her team. "In this bag, we have Jaune's bacon sandwich and Pyrrha's sausage and bacon sandwich."
"Thanks," Jaune said, plucking the bag out of her hands and opening it up. The paper rustled as Jaune reached in and pulled out a bun with a couple of strips of damp, greasy-looking bacon sandwiched between the bread. A drop of butter dripped back down into the bag, which was already damp with butter and grease.
Jaune handed the bag to Pyrrha as he bit into the sandwich.
"Can I ask," Sunset said, as Pyrrha pulled out her sandwich in turn, "first of all, where are you putting all of this greasy rubbish away, and secondly, how is it that you won't touch chocolate, but you'll gladly eat that?"
"Meat contains calories," Pyrrha explained. "I need the energy." She looked around. "Does anyone see a trash can- oh, there's one over there." She darted across the street, looking both ways as she went, and deposited the paper bag in the nearby bin before rejoining the team.
"And in this bag," Sunset said. "We have Ruby's chocolate flapjack-"
"Yeah." Ruby's hands reached for the bag avariciously.
"That's right, you can get yours," Sunset said, lowering the bag so that Ruby could extract her breakfast, leaving only Sunset's cinnamon whirl. The pastry was already starting to flake. "The drinks have our initials written on them so help yourselves."
They did just that, each selecting what they'd ordered – Pyrrha's chai tea, Jaune's latte, Ruby's hot chocolate – by the Pyrrha, Jaune and Ruby written on the cardboard cups. At this time in the morning, Sunset was glad for something hot down her throat. She stifled a yawn again as she stuffed her pastry into her mouth as quickly as possible, wiping the crumps away with the back of her hand. She crumpled up the paper bag and shoved it into her jacket pocket – she'd get rid of it later; she didn't feel like crossing the street to the bin right now – and began to sip on her mocha. It was hot. Scaldingly, gloriously hot. Just what she needed.
"We should go to Tukson's," Sunset said, as she lowered her cup and licked the mocha from around her lips.
"Why would Blake go to a bookstore?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know, why would Blake go anywhere?" Sunset snapped. She sighed. "Sorry… it's been a long night."
"It's been a long night for all of us," Pyrrha reminded her.
"I know, it doesn't mean that I'm not tired," Sunset replied. "The point is that we could wander around Vale from now until Monday morning and the start of class and never find Blake; this place is too big, and we don't know her that well. Tukson's is the only place in town we actually know that she goes, and she seems friendly with Mister Tukson. I don't know, and it doesn't make any sense to hide out at a bookshop, but does anyone else have any better ideas? Does anyone else have any ideas at all as to where else Blake might go?"
They answered through silence.
"Maybe… maybe we should talk to Team Bluebell?" Ruby suggested.
"You mean the team that we never see Blake with?" Sunset replied.
"That's a good point," Ruby conceded, in a soft and slightly reluctant tone.
"If we just keep pounding the pavements aimlessly, then Rosepetal are going to find her first," Sunset declared. "They've got Twilight's drones, after all."
"We could split up," Jaune said.
"Sunset's right; the city is too big," Pyrrha told him. "Even if we did split up, there would be too much ground to cover… and… if there is something going on… if the White Fang are involved… I don't like the idea of you encountering trouble by yourself. I'm sorry, but these people are killers, and you're still learning."
"You don't need to apologise, I get it," Jaune said. "I mean… when you let me fight that ursa in the forest… I was kind of glad that you were there in case I got into too much trouble."
"Splitting up is a bad idea," Sunset agreed.
"But we don't believe that Blake's dangerous," Ruby pointed out.
"It doesn't mean that nobody is," Sunset replied. "Look, we have nothing to lose by going to Tukson's; the time we'll spend heading there is no different than the time we'd spend going any other direction. But, again, if anyone has a better idea, I'm open to it."
"I think yours is the best idea that we could have," Pyrrha murmured. "But will the shop be open now?"
"If it isn't," Sunset said. "We'll just have to bang on the door."
They kept on calling for Blake – or rather Ruby, Pyrrha, and Jaune did; Sunset saved her breath, considering that Blake was unlikely to come when called as if she were the pet that the coffee vendor had taken her for – as they made their way to the bookstore. Along the way, they finished their drinks, throwing away and the cups by the time they arrived at Tukson's Book Trade. The early morning light made the gold leaf of the letters glint a little on the green sign as the four huntsmen crossed the quiet street to the store.
The door was open, fortunately, with no need for them to stand outside banging on the door. Rather, Sunset led the way inside to find that Mister Tukson was standing by the counter. He did a double-take at the sight of them, his eyes widening.
"You, uh, you kids are here early," he said, in a voice that was louder than it needed to be. "I don't usually get a lot of customers at this time in the morning."
"You must get a few," Sunset muttered as she advanced towards the counter. "Or why open so early?"
"Oh, you know, get a couple of early birds passing through," Mister Tukson replied. "So, what can I do for you kids?"
"Have you seen Blake?" Ruby asked. "We really need to find her?"
"Blake?" Tukson repeated, again in a louder voice that was necessary. "No, I haven't seen Blake, why?"
"She ran off," Jaune explained, "and we're trying to find her."
"You people have no filter, do you?" Sunset muttered.
"Ran off?" Tukson said. "Why?"
"We're not exactly sure," Pyrrha admitted. "We were hoping that, if we found her, she might explain her reasons to us."
"That seems fair enough," Tukson replied, "but why look for her here?"
"I'm afraid that this is the only place we could think to look," Pyrrha said apologetically. "It may seem absurd, but this is the only place we know she frequents."
"I wouldn't say that she frequents this place," Tukson said genially. "She's a good customer, but this is still only a bookshop. It's not like we're friends or anything."
"Then who are you yelling too?" Sunset demanded.
Tukson was silent for a moment. "Blake isn't here," he declared. "Feel free to browse, but if you've no intention of buying anything, then please leave; this is a shop, not a library."
Sunset leaned on the counter. "Blake!" she shouted. "We want to talk!"
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Tukson said.
"Or else what?" Sunset asked. "Are you going to call the police?"
Tukson didn't reply, which was all the answer that Sunset needed, even if it wasn't proof of anything.
"Please," Ruby said, "if Blake's in trouble, then we want to help her."
"Why?" Blake asked, pushing open the doors that led into the back room and striding out to stand by Tukson behind the counter. "Why should any of you care what happens to me?" Her bow was gone, revealing a pair of feline ears emerging from out of her wild black hair.
"Because you're in trouble," Ruby replied. "Because you need help."
"That doesn't mean you have to be the ones to help me," Blake said.
"Yes, it does," Ruby said. "Because we're huntsmen."
Blake stared at Ruby for a moment. "There aren't many people who could pull off saying that with a straight face," she observed. "From you, I almost believe it. But you still need to go."
"And leave you here?" Jaune asked.
"Yes," Blake said. "I'm not coming back to Beacon."
"Why not? Professor Ozpin already seems to know everything about your past," Pyrrha said quietly. "Far more than we do ourselves, to tell you the truth."
Blake snorted. "Did you come looking for me so that you could get my life story?"
"We came looking for you because Rainbow Dash thinks you're a rabid dog," Sunset said.
Blake was silent for a moment. "Maybe she's not entirely wrong," she murmured. "I was a member of the White Fang, and although my parents left when Sienna Khan became leader-"
"Because your parents were the previous leaders of the White Fang, right?" Jaune interrupted.
Blake's eyes narrowed. "How did you-"
"Rainbow recognised the name," Sunset said. "Belladonna. I'd say it was careless not to change it, but nobody recognised it except Rainbow Dash."
"It doesn't carry a lot of weight outside of Menagerie," Blake observed dryly.
The blond-haired monkey faunus from the docks emerged from out the back. "Your parents used to lead the White Fang? You didn't tell me that."
"It wasn't important," Blake said.
"Excuse me," Pyrrha murmured. "At the risk of sounding rude, who are you?"
"Everyone, this is Sun Wukong," Blake said. "Sun, this is Sunset Shimmer, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, and Ruby Rose, Team Sapphire of Beacon."
"'Sup?" Sun asked.
"''Sup'?" Sunset repeated incredulously. "You're hanging around with a guy who says 'sup'?"
"He… wants to help me," Blake declared. "When no one else did."
"We want to help you," Ruby said. "That's why we're here."
"So," Sunset said. "You're not only a criminal, but a runaway princess, too?"
Blake snorted. "I suppose you could put it like that. When my parents abandoned the cause, I stayed. I embraced Sienna Khan's more violent methods… until they became too violent. I wasn't prepared to indiscriminately kill people whose only crime was being passive participants in a system of oppression. It… it was a step too far for me."
"That's… nice to hear, Lady Blake," Pyrrha observed mildly, "but it doesn't explain why you came to Beacon."
"Because it wasn't enough to just slink into the shadows," Blake explained. "I had to do something. I had to make amends, in some way, if that makes any sense. I wanted to devote myself to the path of a huntress, to atone for my actions and… to continue to fight for justice and righteousness. Which is why I can't go back to Beacon with you."
"You'll be safer there than here," Jaune said. "Like Pyrrha said, Professor Ozpin knows everything, and there's no way that Rainbow Dash will try anything on the campus."
"No, she'll just call her good friend General Ironwood to pressure Professor Ozpin into having me arrested, and while she's waiting, she'll scream her head off about me to anyone who'll listen," Blake pointed out.
Sunset blinked. "That… yeah, that's a fair point. But-"
"Besides," Blake said, "Rainbow Dash isn't what I'm really worried about."
"She ought to be; they didn't call her the Ace of Canterlot for nothing," Sunset said.
Blake shook her head. "Unfortunately, she and Weiss aren't wrong about the dust robberies. The White Fang are behind them, and tonight, they're going to rob a large dust shipment just arrived from Atlas. Or they'll try. I'm going to the docks tonight to stop them."
"And I'm going with her," Sun said.
"And so am I," Ruby said.
"Wait, what?" Sunset cried. "No, you are not!"
"Why not?" Ruby demanded. "Are we supposed to let Blake go off and fight the White Fang by herself?" Ruby asked.
"Uh," Sun began.
"By herself, with Sun," Ruby corrected herself.
Sunset turned back to Blake. "Why are you going?"
"Because someone needs to stop them," Blake answered.
"Someone doesn't have to mean you."
"But it has to be someone, and who else is going to do it?" Blake asked of her. "Not you."
"Call the police; give them an anonymous tip."
"Even if they believe me, the police can't stand up to the White Fang," Blake insisted. "I know these people - I've fought with them - and I'm not going to send anyone else to their deaths fighting a battle they can't win."
"Except my team," Sunset said.
"I'm not asking you to come with me."
"Maybe not, but you're…" Sunset paused. "Do you really think you'll win?"
"I don't know," Blake answered honestly. "I only know that I have to try."
"And so do we," Ruby said. "Sunset… I know that you're worried, but we're huntsmen! We're supposed to accept risk, and if… if you can't accept that, then maybe you shouldn't be at Beacon. I mean, I'm not saying that I want you gone, I'm saying that… we know what's going on, we know who's behind it, we know where they're going to be… and we know what we have to do."
"Tell Professor Ozpin?" Jaune suggested.
"He might not believe me," Blake said. "I… I can't reveal how I know this, but I trust the source of my information."
Sunset inhaled through gritted teeth. "Do you have any idea what kind of opposition we're likely to run into?"
Blake shook her head. "No."
"But if we work together, I'm sure we can handle it," Ruby said.
"We are… not without skill," Pyrrha admitted, "and we are talking about a battle, not an investigation or anything of that sort."
Sunset looked at her. "Et tu, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha's cheeks flushed just a little. "I am afraid that… in this case, Ruby has a point. Knowing what we do, how can we in honour turn our backs and allow evil to run rampant? How can we turn away when lives are at stake?
"What lives?"
"The lives the White Fang will take when they deploy the stolen dust for whatever end they have in mind," Pyrrha said.
Sunset sighed. "Jaune?"
Jaune took a moment to collect himself. "I'm… I'm a little ashamed to admit it in front of you, but I'm nervous. I'm ashamed because you don't seem in the least bit afraid. But I won't leave you guys; if this is what we're doing, then I'm in. And… for what it's worth, I think you're right. This is the right thing to do."
It's the stupid thing to do, Sunset thought. She looked at Blake, a flash of irritation running through her. It appeared that her choices were to go along with this or else try and bully her team into leaving Blake to do this stupid thing by herself, and quite possibly get herself killed doing it. Her ears flattened to the top of her head in irritation. "Okay, I'm in."
"Yes!" Ruby cried. "This is the right thing, Sunset, and it's going to work out."
"I hope so," Sunset said.
"We're with you, Lady Blake," Pyrrha vowed, bowing as she said it.
"You don't have to keep calling me that," Blake said.
Pyrrha frowned. "Is your mother not the Lady of Menagerie, wife to its chieftain?"
"Yes," Blake admitted through gritted teeth. "But… Blake is fine, really." Her lips twitched upwards. "Unless you'd prefer me to start calling you 'Lady Pyrrha'?"
Pyrrha's cheeks reddened a touch. "No, I would rather you didn't… Blake," she said.
"Thank you," Blake said. "Not just for that, but… for everything. You don't have to do this."
Sunset snorted. "We both know that's not true. Now, since we've got all day, we might as well try and make a plan."
XxXxX
They had time before they ventured down to the docks to… to see if the White Fang had fallen so low or if Tukson was mistaken. They had time before they had to leave. Time to prepare. Time to plan. Time to call Yang and fill her in on what was going on and obtain her cooperation.
Time for Blake to brood and to decide that, when this battle was over, she would not return to Beacon. She didn't belong there, amongst people untainted by past crimes and ill-judged associations, unburdened by the weight of the things that they had done, the spectres of those they had hurt. She did not belong with Ruby who smiled so adorably, with Pyrrha who spoke so gently; she didn't belong with Sun who was so thoughtlessly noble in his impulses. She did not belong in such a company of budding heroes.
Darkness did not belong in the company of light. One stained and soiled as she was did not belong in the company of the spotless and the clean.
She didn't belong there. Probably, she had never belonged there… but it had been a pleasant illusion to sustain, while it lasted. While she lived, wherever she went next, she would treasure the memory of the acceptance that had been extended to Blake Belladonna, even if she had had to wear a bow to obtain it.
But it was time to wake up now. This was not for her.
Once the battle was concluded - if indeed there was a battle; they might waste their time down at the docks tonight - she would slip away. They would not notice she was gone for some time. Probably, they would not miss her when they did notice. She was not needed there.
The door to Tukson's guest bedroom - where Blake and Sun had spent the night, and where Blake was now - opened. Sunset Shimmer stood in the doorway
"There you are," Sunset said. "I want to talk."
XxXxX
Sunset felt like an imbecile for not having recognised the name of Belladonna. It wasn't as though it was a common name; Blake was the only Belladonna she knew. Sunset should have spotted this much sooner, and she shouldn't have needed Rainbow Dash to do it.
Of course, considering that if she had put the pieces together much sooner, she probably would have tried to blackmail the other girl or done something equally deplorable, then perhaps it was a good thing her mind had been working more slowly than it ought to have been.
"There you are," Sunset said, pushing open the door into the blandly-decorated and austerely-furnished guest room. "I want to talk."
Blake was sitting on the bed. She looked up and into Sunset's eyes. But, though she sat still and waited for Sunset to speak, it was a flighty sort of stillness that looked poised to break into renewed flight at any moment. Her golden eyes watched Sunset keenly, but also warily, as though Sunset Shimmer were as threatening to her as all the perils of the White Fang.
Perhaps I should be flattered.
"What do you want?" Blake asked cautiously.
Sunset shrugged. "Perhaps I just want to talk about what happens next."
"If I knew that myself, I might tell you," Blake said, with an emphasis on might that suggested it was unlikely.
"You're not planning on coming back to Beacon, then?" Sunset asked.
"I… I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Blake replied softly.
"Where are you going to go instead?"
"I… haven't figured that part out, yet," Blake admitted.
"Anywhere but here?"
Blake was silent for a moment. "Something like that."
Sunset snorted. "I know how that feels." In response to Blake's slightly quizzical look, Sunset smirked. "What, you think you're the first person to ever run away from home? How bad were things with your parents by the time you left?"
Blake's eyes widened, and she looked as though she was about to leap away.
Sunset raised one hand pacifically. "Relax, I didn't mean to scare you off. Unfortunately, your secret isn't much of a secret any more, but… for whatever it might be worth, I think that what remains of a secret is safe with Team Sapphire."
Blake stared at her. "You know, you're being unusually generous."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Listen, you've been far more anti-social than I have at this point, so why don't you cut me some slack. I'm trying to be a good person. Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"I won't be humble," Sunset said, "but I will seek for grace; and I'm trying to be nicer on my way to the top."
Blake raised one eyebrow. Sunset shrugged. "Look, you can't expect me to change everything about myself, or even want to."
"I suppose I can relate to that," Blake murmured.
Sunset took a step closer to her. "We're not all bad; there's no need to throw out our virtues along with our vices. Some parts of our vices can even make us virtuous, it could be argued."
Blake was silent for a moment. "What do you want, Sunset?"
"Perhaps I just want you to come back to Beacon when all this is over instead of running off to… anywhere but here."
"I can't go back," Blake replied. "You know the truth, you know that I have to leave."
"I don't know everything," Sunset said. She leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms. "Why did you stay on in the White Fang when your parents quit?"
Blake was silent for a moment. "You're from Atlas, aren't you?"
Sunset took pause. "I… I'm not technically from there, but… yes, I lived in Atlas for a few years."
"How many times were you stopped by the police, even though you'd done nothing wrong?"
Sunset scowled. These weren't memories she wished to bring to the forefront of her mind. "Five times."
"I suppose there were stores that wouldn't serve you."
"Of course there were," Sunset said irritably.
"And when they would let you in, I suppose you could feel them watching you, as if it was only a matter of time before you did something criminal."
"Yeah."
"That's why I stayed in the White Fang," Blake said. "I believed… I still believe in equality, in justice for our people. And it worked." She closed her eyes, and a look of anguish crossed her face. "What kind of world do we live in where our violent methods got more results than my father's peaceful protest ever did?"
"Transient results," Sunset replied. "Like… you can cup water in your hands for a moment, but it'll slip through your fingers again before too long."
Blake looked at her, silent, watching.
"You can scare a store-owner into serving faunus by smashing his windows or by burning down another no-faunus store across town," Sunset said. "But how many laws did your violence get on the books?" She frowned. "You asked me how many times I was stopped by the police? Two of those times they hauled me in, just like they hauled in every other faunus they could find in the aftermath of a White Fang incident. Stuffed us all in cells until Principal Celestia came to bail me out. You might have thought that you were getting somewhere, but from the outside… it didn't look that way."
"I know," Blake said. "I realised that," she added, her expression speaking of a melancholy upon the verge of despair. "I realised that we weren't really making a difference... at about the same time I realised that we were becoming more wicked than all but the worst of those we claimed to be fighting. At the same time I realised how monstrous he had become."
"He?"
"Adam," Blake said. "My… my mentor, my partner, my... he wasn't always… there was a time when he was the very best of us. The..."
"Paragon?" Sunset suggested.
Blake's eyes met Sunset's for a moment. "I suppose so. There was a time when… but then, he changed. The cruelty of the world… it made him cruel in turn. It made us all cruel."
Sunset stared down at Blake. "You don't have to go," she said.
"Yes, I do," Blake insisted.
"No, you don't," Sunset repeated. "In fact, I'll go even further: maybe you shouldn't." She sighed. "I don't know you. I don't know what you've done. But I know running. I'm a runner myself. We run and run, you and I, we run from our pasts and the mistakes that we've made, and we chase… I don't know; dreams, illusions, fantasies. But when we reach the place we were running to, then everything we thought that we might find there turns out to be ephemeral, phantasmal, never really there at all. And all the while, the things we ran from follow us, more persistently than any grimm. You can feel them, can't you, on the back of your neck? But we're both here. All our running has brought us to this place, this point. This destiny."
"I don't believe in fate."
"I do," Sunset insisted. "Long years ago, the sun and moon ordained these things; we are meant to be here, Blake Belladonna. Here is the place where our dreams can come true if we have the courage to reach for them."
Blake's face was unreadable. "You really do believe that, don't you?"
I'm seventeen years old, and I'm already on my very last shot, Sunset thought. I have to believe it. If I didn't... I'd despair. "Do you remember initiation?"
Blake blinked. "Yes," she said, in a tone that suggested she didn't immediately see the relevance.
"I chose the white knight piece; my team chose the white knights," Sunset said. "Do you know why?"
Blake shrugged. "Did you like the cute pony?"
As a cute pony herself, Sunset's eyes narrowed a little. "No, it's because the white knight is the hero, the shining figure that everyone looks up to, the one who leads the charge, the one who slays the dragon, the one who saves the world."
"And you think that's you?"
"It will be," Sunset said, in a voice that refused to admit doubt or entertain the possibility of failure. She had the undefeated Pyrrha Nikos of far-fame upon her right flank, she had the young hero Ruby Rose with silver eyes upon her left, what could they be but the heroes of this tale, the ones to take the lead against all darkness? It was no coincidence that brought the three of them together; they were meant to be the tip of the spear, and Sunset the very point. "I chose the white knight as a statement of intent," Sunset said. "I chose the white knight… and you chose the black."
"Don't read too much into it," Blake said. "I didn't have your statement of intent in mind."
"There is providence in things that we cannot consciously know," Sunset said. "Beacon, Vale, Remnant… they need a white knight, but they need a black knight too. Someone to fight from the shadows. And your secrets are safe with Sapphire, I guarantee it." Pyrrha was too honourable and Ruby too good-natured for either of them to go blabbing Blake's secrets once they understood that they were secret, and while Jaune might accidentally let it slip out of his mouth, Sunset was confident that they'd manage to stop him in time.
"And the rest?" Blake asked. "Rosepetal, Weiss, Yang?"
"I don't know," Sunset admitted. "But you'll never find out if you run the moment the fighting stops."
Blake looked down, squeezing and then unclenching her hands. "You've got a point," she conceded.
"Why did you come to Beacon?" Sunset asked.
"To become a huntress."
"Obviously, but it's not going to happen if you run," Sunset said. "Is there something you want to be a huntress for?"
Blake nodded. "To oppose the injustice of the world."
"Then come back to Beacon and do it," Sunset said. "Don't let them win."
"'They'?"
"Anyone who wants to tell you 'no,' to say you can't," Sunset said. "You can't give into them."
"And I won't," Blake declared. She rose to her feet. "I'll come back to Beacon with you, after the mission."
Sunset grinned. "I'm glad to hear it," she said. "After the mission."
After the mission.
Chapter 15 - Black and White
Black and White
Sunset frowned. "Are you… playing video games?"
Ruby's thumbs moved quickly across the screen of her scroll, tapping the surface lightly. "Yep."
Sunset threw up her hands in exasperation. "But… we're supposed to be on a mission! We are on a mission! The enemy might arrive at any moment!"
"But they're not here yet," Ruby pointed out.
"I know that, but…" Sunset clenched her jaw. "You're the one who wanted to stop these robberies; the least you could do is take it seriously!"
"I will take it seriously, once the bad guys show up," Ruby assured her. She looked up. "You don't like this, do you?"
Sunset's tail twitched. "Honestly, this feels like another 'ten out of ten for guts, five out of ten for sense' situation," she answered. "Actually, it's not even five out of ten for sense. Three out of ten, maybe. Only this time, the three of you have all been dragged into it too."
They were at the northern edge of the docks, taking cover behind a stack of SDC-branded shipping containers – handily colour-coded, in case anyone only wanted to steal fire dust or the like – while they waited for something to happen if it was going to. Pyrrha, Jaune, and Yang – Ruby's sister had joined them during the day and agreed to join this plan, though she thought it was almost as mad as Sunset did, and was compensating for Jaune's lack of a ranged weapon - were at the southern side of the dock, while Blake and Sun were to the west. If the White Fang arrived, they would catch the group from all three landward-facing sides.
That was the plan, anyway, and it was a plan that meant that the White Fang – if it was them, if they showed up – would have a hard time getting away overland once the trap was sprung. On the other hand, if they came by sea – if they had a boat of their own, say – then they would have an easy escape that way. Worse – and this was really making Sunset's hands itch – there was a chance that the enemy might run into any of the waiting pairs as they were entering the dock, and that might lead to some real problems.
Ruby put her scroll down. "Sunset… I get it. I've thought about what you were trying to tell me about the training mission, and I get it now. I didn't get it, because I was too annoyed that you and Pyrrha were treating me like a kid," she added, putting her hands on her hips. "But I get it."
"Do you?" Sunset asked. "So what do you get?"
"That it didn't matter if you and Yang and Weiss had failed to kill the apex alpha grimm," Ruby replied. "Because even if the whole horde had reached the defence lines, then the huntsmen and the Defence Forces and the Royal Navy would have stopped them before the grimm hurt anybody. What the other students did wasn't as smart, but it was the right call."
"'But'?" Sunset said, because she knew with absolute certainty that there was a but coming.
"But if that hadn't been the case, if there had been a village in the path of the horde, if this hadn't been a training mission but the real thing, then… then it would have been worth all of your lives to stop the horde. I'm not saying that because I want you to die but because… because some things are worth dying for," Ruby insisted. "And it's the same thing here; this isn't a training mission, this is real."
"And you really think that this is worth our lives?" Sunset replied. "This… dust? Money in the pocket of Weiss's father?"
"Weapons in the hands of the White Fang," Ruby pointed out. "We're still protecting the innocent, just… indirectly. Isn't that what we signed up for?"
"I signed up because I wanted to be famous," Sunset muttered.
"Well, then think how famous you'll be once we foil a massive dust robbery and catch the guys that nobody in the police could stop," Ruby countered cheerily.
Sunset snorted. "Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For not telling me that I'm a selfish jackass with the wrong motivations," Sunset replied.
"We've all got our reasons; the important thing is that we all do the right thing now that we're here," Ruby said. She fell silent for a moment, and the croaking of a corvid could be heard echoing across the night sky.
Ruby glanced towards the sound for a moment, before focussing her attention upon Sunset. She smiled. "Also, cheer up and try not to worry so much. Nobody's actually going to die today. So long as we all work together, we'll get through this and stop the bad guys for sure."
Sunset grinned. "Yeah, sure we will. So long as we work together." So long as the enemy gives us the chance to work together. "Hey, Ruby?"
"Yeah?"
"When all this is over, I'm going back to the dorm room, and I'm going to sleep until Monday morning," Sunset declared. "So don't wake me, okay?"
Ruby giggled. "I won't."
Sunset looked up. The sky was dark, and for all that it was getting dark pretty early nowadays, that didn't mean that they weren't well into night by now. It wasn't snowing, which was a good thing, and the moon – the clouds having cleared away – offered up a little light to see by, but nevertheless, it was dark and late.
The night air was quiet; not many people were about in this part of town at this hour, the workers at the docks having departed for home hours ago.
But then, the quiet of the air was disturbed by the whine of an engine, by the whining sound of many engines, the engines of the flock of Bullheads that flew over the dock from the east, sweeping their searchlights – two in the nose of each airship – over the deserted docks, the white beams passing over the containers of dust.
Some of the Bullheads hovered in the air; others continued to circle around the dockyard; some began to descend for a landing at the large, open eastern side of the dock where no containers had been placed.
The doors of the descending Bullheads, and of those airships hovering in place around the containers, opened up. Warriors began to disembark, warriors in black and white, armed with blades and axes and boxy Valish assault rifles, descending to the ground and beginning to spread out across the dock.
Many of them had faunus features visible, rabbit or pony or feline ears sticking out from holes in their black hoods, tails coming out of their pants; sometimes both. One man who did not have any visible faunus features was the man in the white suit who descended from one of the Bullheads, trifling with his cane as she strode down onto the dock.
"Roman Torchwick," Ruby hissed as she and Sunset peered around the edge of the shipping container.
"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves right now, so why don't you animals try picking up the pace a little?" he demanded.
Sunset took a deep breath. "Okay. Stick to the plan: we'll open fire to signal-"
"Brothers and sisters of the White Fang!" Blake's voice echoed across the dockyard.
"Or we could announce ourselves, I guess," Sunset muttered, resisting the urge to smack herself in the head.
XxXxX
Blake hadn't wanted to believe it. She had not thought that Tukson would lie to her, but at the same time, she hadn't wanted to believe that the White Fang were behind this. She hadn't wanted to believe that they would sink so low.Apparently, she had underestimated the extent to which her old comrades could descend.
"It's them, huh?" Sun asked softly.
Blake closed her eyes to block out the sight of the white grimm masks, the black hoods, the bloody wolf's-head emblem on the white jackets of the warriors. "Yes," she murmured. "It's them… but why are they doing this?" She opened her eyes and shook her head. It didn't matter why, not right now. Or at least, she could guess at the general reasons well enough to not have to worry about the specific ones. She could hear Adam's voice in her head, talking about the need to make humanity pay, to strike back, to make an impression that could not be ignored.
"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try picking up the pace a little?"
Blake's eyes widened. Her ears pricked up. Who was addressing the White Fang that way? It wasn't a voice she recognised; it didn't belong to Walter or Perry or Cotton or Gilda or anyone else whom Blake might have expected to be leading this raid in Adam's absence. Nor would anyone who had spent any amount of time with Adam still talk that way. In fact, she couldn't imagine anyone in the White Fang who talked that way.
The voice belonged to a human, a human whom Blake recognised from police reports: Roman Torchwick, one of the most notorious criminals in Vale, last seen attempting to rob a dust shop.
But what was he doing working with the White Fang? Or rather, what was the White Fang doing working with him? Had they truly fallen so far from the ideals of the movement that they would ally with a common thief to… to do what? To simply get rich?
Blake had rejected the extremism of the movement, but she still believed in the ideals that inspired it, that motivated it. She had left the White Fang because she wasn't willing to get so much blood on her hands, but what of the stains that were already there? She had fought, bled, killed, comforted others after they had killed, and all for what? For criminality? Was the White Fang nothing more than another gang?
As Blake thought this, she was moving, darting around the containers, leaving Sun behind, dashing out of cover and into the open space on the northern side of the docks to grab Roman Torchwick by the neck and put Gambol Shroud to his throat.
"Brothers and sisters of the White Fang!" she cried. "Why are you aiding this scum?"
The warriors of the White Fang stared at her, all of them turning towards her, guns trained on her, blades pointed towards her. Some, able to see her feline ears, did so less readily than others. None answered her.
"Blake?"
Blake's eyes flickered to her right. Perry stood there, lean and wiry, the moonlight glinting off his round spectacles, his katana gleaming like a streak of silver.
"Perry," she murmured. "It's been a while."
"Not long enough, some would say," this voice was deeper by far. Walter's voice.
The sound of shuffling footsteps alerted Blake to certain of the White Fang moving towards her, pushing through the ranks of their fellows. Walter, as large as a bear and corded with muscle, his face wholly concealed behind a mask; Cotton, her rabbit ears emerging from beneath her hood, wearing a pink cape over her white jacket; Skoll, his lupine tail shaking eagerly back and forth; Billie, who wore horns on her mask like Ilia. Not the discontented old guard that Tukson had spoken of, these were Adam's men, his officers. The size of this operation was apparent simply by the number of fighters involved, but the importance of it was clear by their presence.
"So, the gang is almost all here," Blake muttered. "Is Gilda going to leap out behind me?"
"I wish someone would," Torchwick growled.
"Quiet," Blake snarled.
"Gilda drew the short straw," Perry explained. "Someone has to stay behind and keep an eye on the shop."
"But what are the rest of you doing here?" Blake cried. "Why are you working with a common criminal, and a human criminal at that? A man who despises you?"
"Why are you holding a blade to his throat when you should be leading us?" Skoll demanded gruffly.
"I'm here to stop you," Blake said.
"Why?" asked Cotton. "For Vale's lien?"
"Because it's the right thing to do," Blake snapped. "How many people are you going to hurt with all this dust?"
"None who do not deserve to be harmed."
Blake shivered, despite herself. That voice had not come from Walter or Perry, nor from Skoll or Cotton or Billie either. He was here. She should have known that he would be here. She should have known that he would be here from the moment she spoke with Tukson.
Perhaps a part of her had known. Perhaps a part of her had wanted this, even as the rest of her dreaded it.
Adam strode out of the shadows. The Sword of the Faunus was tall, as tall as Cardin Winchester, and though he was not as broad in the shoulders, he carried himself with an air of strength that Cardin lacked. The smell of death clung to him like perfume. His mask was lined with streaks as red as blood, as though he had sliced a man's belly open and never bothered to clear up the splatter. For the rest, he was garbed all in black, even his hands concealed behind a pair of gloves. Black too, the scabbard of the sword he wore at his hip, though Blake knew well the blade beneath was crimson.
Adam Taurus, the White Fang's Lord of Battles, their champion and their great hope, Captain of the Vale Chapter… and the captain of Blake's heart, upon a time that seemed at once so near and yet so long ago.
He stopped about ten feet from her. Though his mask concealed his eyes – his good eye, and the one the SDC had ruined beyond repair – she could feel his stare upon her. She fought back against the urge of shiver in fear, as she had done when his black moods were on him.
"You should not have come here, Blake," he said, in a voice so gentle that it reminded her of when he had courted her, and she had thought him the most gallant of men. "This is no place for you."
"I had no choice," Blake declared.
"I suppose you thought not," Adam replied. "You could never stand idle, could you, Blake? That's one of the things I liked about you." He smiled, a smile that cut like a knife. "Kill the human, if you wish; I have no need of him."
"Hey!" Torchwick exclaimed.
"Isn't he your partner?" Blake demanded.
"My partner is the one who engaged his services," Adam said. "They find him amusing. But I doubt they would lose much sleep if he were to fall in battle."
"What's going on, Adam?" Blake asked. "Why do you need so much dust, why are you recruiting an army, why are you working with humans?"
"The world is changing, Blake," Adam declared. "The old ways of fighting are not enough, if they ever were. The world is changing, and much that seemed permanent and everlasting will be swept aside. I won't let the faunus or the White Fang be among them."
"'Swept aside'?" Blake repeated. "Adam… you're talking about-"
"Our oppressors," Adam said. "As I said, none will be harmed but those who deserve to be harmed."
The resonance of her own words to Rainbow Dash were bitter in Blake's memory. She thought of the tears in the Atlesian girl's eyes, the anger in her voice. "Children?" Blake asked. "Innocent-"
"Amongst those who profit from our oppression, there can be no innocents!" Adam roared, spittle flying from his mouth as his rage erupted from beneath his calm exterior. "Nor any neutrality when bigotry is the state of things!" He calmed himself with a visible effort, an effort that did not prevent his hands from shaking. "Blake," he growled. "I give you one last chance: come with me. Rejoin your family, in the place where you belong."
Blake shook her head. "I can't do that."
For a moment, Adam was still and silent. "Very well," he growled as he placed a quivering hand upon the hilt of Wilt. "Then you will suffer the fate of all traitors."
He drew his sword, the red blade shining.
There was the sharp crack of a rifle before a faunus of the White Fang dropped, aura broken but otherwise unharmed, like a sack of flour upon the concrete of the docks. There was another bang, a deeper, booming sound, and another of Adam's fighters was thrown across the yard.
Blake looked in the direction of the shots, looking north to where Sunset and Ruby had emerged from cover and were letting loose into the confused and chaotic mass of the White Fang. Pyrrha's rifle and Yang's gauntlets joined the fusillade as they, drawn by the sound of shooting, lent their weapons to the assault from the south.
There was a flash, and another bang much closer to home as Torchwick fired his cane – his cane was a gun? – down at their feet. Blake felt the heat pass over her, felt a slice of her aura torn away as she was tossed sideways, rolling to a crouch, Gambol Shroud still in her hands. She saw Torchwick picking himself up not far away.
"Leave her!" Adam bellowed. "Hunt the rest down from the skies, but Blake is mine!"
XxXxX
Sunset's eyes widened as the bull in black drew a tall, blood red sword from out of his scabbard."Let 'em have it, Ruby!" she yelled. She'd been willing to let things play out while it seemed as though Blake might have things under control – if she'd been White Fang, maybe she could talk them down or something; maybe she could talk them into their cells – but the guy drawing his sword had made it abundantly clear that she had lost whatever control she had possessed. There was neither need nor incentive to delay. Sunset raised Sol Invictus to her shoulder and opened fire. Her rifle cracked as fire exploded from the muzzle, and her target fell.
Ruby planted Crescent Rose into the ground, the scythe blade digging into the tarmac to act as a monopod. She, too, began to fire, tossing fighters of the White Fang backwards as her shots found their mark. The White Fang began to scatter in confusion, some throwing themselves to the ground, some darting for their Bullheads, others running this way and that as the shock of the ambush – a shock doubled once Pyrrha and Yang opened up on them from the other side.
Sunset spotted a big faunus with a chainsaw trying to restore order amongst the White Fang; she shot him, but his aura was tougher than the others, and her bullet barely seemed to faze him at all.
There was an explosion, and both Blake and Torchwick were thrown aside. The fellow with the red sword – the leader of the White Fang, clearly – brandished it wildly above his head.
Sunset took aim at him and fired.
He turned and deflected her shot aside with a swipe of his blade.
She could see the smirk on his face from here.
Cheek.
Before she could do much more than take umbrage at the nerve of him to be so skilled, Sunset was distracted by the fact that some of the White Fang had gotten themselves organised enough to return fire, the yellow tracer rounds spitting from their boxy rifles in her and Ruby's direction. Sunset threw out one hand, the green glow of magic engulfing it as she projected a shield in front of them against which the bullets slammed. Sunset could feel the echo of the impact reverberating through her arm.
"I think we need to move," Sunset muttered.
The sound of engine whine caused Sunset to look to the left. "Sunset!" she cried, aiming left and up. Crescent Rose barked once, then twice as Ruby opened fire on the pair of Bullheads bearing down upon them, but even the high-calibre sniper rifle did nothing against the skin of the airships.
Sunset threw out her other hand, conjuring a second shield to their left as the Bullheads each opened fire with a pair of machine guns mounted in the nose.
So many airships, and with guns on them? How did a terrorist group get their hands on all this stuff?
"We really need to move," Sunset declared, watching as one of the Bullheads flew straight into a drone that happened to be passing overhead. The larger airship smashed the smaller machine to pieces and continued on as though it wasn't even there. Her shield wavered from the impact of the heavy bullets. "Hold on, Ruby!"
"Wha-?" Ruby didn't have time to finish as Sunset dropped both shields, grabbed Ruby by the waist, and teleported away.
They reappeared only a short distance away, concealed from the airships – for now – by the labyrinthine corridors formed by the haphazard stacking of the dust containers. They were still on the north side of the dockyard, and they could hear the Bullhead engines as the White Fang airships kept up their search.
And they could hear the guns firing elsewhere in the dock.
"Jaune," Ruby murmured. "Pyrrha, Yang."
"Yeah," Sunset muttered, snapping Sol Invictus open so she could reload.
"We need to help them," Ruby cried.
"We need to reload and come up with a…" Sunset stopped as she abruptly realised where they were.
Thank you, Mister Schnee.
XxXxX
This, Pyrrha thought, is not going precisely to plan. It had started off reasonably enough. Sunset had given the signal by her fire, Pyrrha and Yang had emerged from out of cover to catch the White Fang – there were an awful lot of them, more than Blake had thought would be there – in a crossfire.
And then the Bullheads had started shooting back.
Pyrrha wasn't an expert on the White Fang, but she was reasonably sure that none of the news reports of their activities in Mistral had involved such large scale air cover. That was supposed to be Atlas's department.
Bullets slammed into the side of the dust container just behind them. Pyrrha leapt, and as she leapt, she turned and snapped off a shot at one of those that were shooting at her, getting her man before her feet touched the ground and she started running again. Yang stopped, shots bursting from her gauntlets as she let fly at the pursuing Bullheads, but she might as well have been spitting at them for all the good that it did.
Pyrrha contemplated trying to rip them out of the sky with her semblance, but unfortunately, while she was dealing with one, the other would have emptied its rounds into her, which was to say nothing of the White Fang fighters who, conversely, she possibly could have dealt with it if it weren't for the airships.
"Split up!" Yang yelled, turning to the right and darting into the maze of containers. One Bullhead broke off to pursue her, two more kept on the trail of Pyrrha and Jaune, who was running in front of her.
Bullets thudded into the concrete behind her, but Pyrrha was just a step ahead of them, her feet pounding as they drove her forwards.
Jaune tripped in front of her and went sprawling on the ground. Pyrrha stopped, turning at by like a bear defending her cub, and as the Bullheads bore down upon her, Pyrrha called upon her semblance.
Pyrrha's free hand became wreathed with black outline as she called upon Polarity, the power of magnetism which she kept hidden from the world – hidden even from her own teammates – and projected it out towards the nose of the lead Bullhead.
She didn't do much. She didn't tear the airship from the sky any more than she tore the weapons out of the hands of her opponents in the arena. Rather, just as in the arena, she gave the airship a little nudge.
The nose of the Bullhead was thrown off course, bullets missing Jaune and Pyrrha wildly as the airship jerked, forcing its fellow following just behind to swerve to avoid a collision – which they didn't quite avoid in any case, the two airships bumping into each other with a solid metallic thump.
Pyrrha turned her back on them as they recovered themselves, grabbing Jaune by the arm and pulling him to his feet, half-leading and half-dragging him along as they took cover amongst the shipping containers.
XxXxX
Twilight squeaked in alarm as the camera feed from her drone went black."Twilight?" Flash asked anxiously. "What's going on?"
"I found Blake… and lost a drone," Twilight muttered, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she vectored in several more drones towards the scene of the action. She tapped her earpiece once. "Rainbow Dash, I've found them!"
"Great job, Twi… wait, what do you mean you've found 'them'? Who are 'them'?"
"Blake and Team Sapphire," Twilight replied. "They're at the docks, fighting the White Fang."
"You mean Blake brought the White Fang, and they're fighting Team Sapphire?"
"No, I mean it looks as though Blake is fighting the White Fang alongside Team Sapphire," Twilight clarified.
"But…" Rainbow muttered. "Blake is the White Fang! What's going on over there?"
"How should I know?" snapped Twilight. She took a deep breath. "Sorry, I just…"
"It's okay."
"No, it isn't," Twilight replied. "Or at least it might not be. I lost my drone over the docks, but before it got taken out… Rainbow Dash, the White Fang are present in strength. Like, Canterlot Wedding strength. And they have a large number of Bullheads in the air too. They've got Team Sapphire on the run."
"Bullheads? Air support?" Rainbow said. "Vale," she huffed. "Don't worry, Twi, we'll show them the real meaning of air support. Get some more drones overhead, keep me posted, don't activate combat protocols until we arrive."
"Understood," Twilight said. "Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful out there," Twilight murmured. "I don't know what I'd… what I'd say to the girls if anything happened to you."
For a moment, the only sound that Twilight could hear was Rainbow's footsteps hammering on the pavement. "Don't worry, Twilight, this isn't going to be like last time. We're armed, we're ready for them, and we've got a guardian angel watching over us. I'll be fine."
"I believe you," Twilight whispered. "Good luck out there. Good luck to all of you."
"Copy that. Dash out."
Twilight tapped her earpiece, ending the connection... though, of course, Rainbow could reactivate it from her end at any time. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again as she got back to work, redirecting her drones to descend upon the dockyard and get some eyes on the fighting there.
"What would Team Sapphire be doing at the docks?" Weiss asked. "And fighting the White Fang?"
"From what I saw, there were a lot of SDC containers down at the yard," Twilight said. "Maybe they were trying to stop the White Fang from robbing them?"
"That's not their job," Flash muttered.
"They appear to have made it their job," Twilight replied.
Flash groaned. "Sunset, why do you always have to be so reckless?" he asked rhetorically. He paced up and down, turning rapidly upon his toes. "Twilight, how bad is it down there?"
"Pretty bad," Twilight admitted. "If the White Fang didn't have air support, that would be one thing, but as it is, there doesn't seem to be any way that-"
"I'm sorry, I have to go," Flash said, walking towards the door.
"Wait!" Weiss called. "Where-? Are you going down there?"
"In my car, I might be able to make it in time," Flash declared.
"In time for what?" Weiss demanded.
"I don't know," Flash admitted. "But I… whatever Sunset and I… I can't just let her die and do nothing."
"Of course not," Weiss murmured. "Then I'm coming with you."
Flash's blue eyes widened. "Weiss-"
"I'm a huntress, and I'll not leave fellow huntresses in jeopardy," Weiss declared. "Furthermore, as I am your team leader, either I go, or you don't." She tilted her chin upwards and looked down at him – somehow, Twilight wasn't quite sure how she was managing to do that – as if daring him to take issue with it.
Flash nodded. "I'll be glad to have you. Twilight, will you-?"
"I'll be fine," Twilight assured them. "Go."
"But we're not driving; it will take too long," Weiss said.
"Then how-"
"Do you remember what happened before our first Combat Class?" Weiss asked.
Flash's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious."
"I don't see any alternative," Weiss replied.
Flash hesitated for a moment. "Okay," he said. "Let's go."
"What are you guys-?" Twilight began.
"You don't want to know," Flash assured her, before they left.
Twilight Sparkle watched as they both disappeared out of the RSPT dorm room. She didn't know whether to wish them luck or hope that they arrived late. Hopefully, by the time they did get there, the situation in the air would be a little less hostile.
Of course, there was something else that she could do for everyone… even if they wouldn't necessarily appreciate it.
She picked up her scroll and called Professor Ozpin.
XxXxX
Now that her attention had been drawn towards the docks, Rainbow could see all of the Bullheads buzzing above it like angry wasps, searchlights blazing and machine guns firing. Rainbow couldn't help but wonder what the neighbours thought; it wasn't as if the area by the docks was completely deserted.Hiding under their beds, maybe.
"I don't understand how the White Fang have so many airships," Penny said, keeping pace with Rainbow Dash as the latter ran without the aid of her semblance, so as not to leave her teammates behind. "Aren't they supposed to be terrorists?"
"Valish sloppiness," Ciel declared. "Atlas would never allow so much dangerous hardware to fall into the wrong hands. Rainbow Dash, what is the plan?"
"You're going to get up onto high ground and signal the Gallant to clear the skies," Rainbow ordered. "Once that's done, we'll back up Team Sapphire and rout the enemy." She'd flesh out that last part once Twilight's drones started giving her a more detailed sitrep.
"Understood," Ciel acknowledged. "What do you mean to do about Belladonna?"
"I… I don't know yet," Rainbow admitted. "By the sounds of it, Blake is the least of our problems. Let's worry about her after we deal with the more obvious bad guys."
"A reasonable decision."
"Are you ready for this, Penny?" Rainbow asked, because this would be Penny's first time in a live fire situation.
"I'm combat ready."
"Penny," Rainbow said sharply. "Look at me." They kept running, even though their heads were turned towards one another, Penny's green eyes locked with Rainbow's magenta orbs. "This is serious. This isn't school or a training exercise or a tournament. This is life and death. Are you ready for this?"
Penny was silent for a moment. "How will I know if I'm ready?" she asked.
Well, Twi, I guess this is where we find out if Penny has a reason to fight. Rainbow's lip twitched. "You won't until you get in there. But don't worry too much. You'll be okay, so long as you do three things: keep an eye on your aura level, show no mercy, and remember what you're fighting for."
"I do," Penny declared. She hesitated. "Will we be in time to save our friends?"
Rainbow grinned. "Sure we will, Penny; heroes always arrive in the nick of time to save the day. And saving the day is just what Atlas does."
XxXxX
Torchwick laughed as Team SAPR and Yang were chased around the dockyard by the White Fang Bullheads, and by some of the White Fang fighters too, although most of them seemed preoccupied with trying to attach some of the big SDC dust containers to the unengaged airships.Blake watched as the battle – if you could call this uneven contest a battle – swirled around her, but touched her not.
It touched her not because Adam had commanded it so, and Adam was the lord of the Vale Chapter whom none dared defy.
Except that she had defied him, and now, he meant to make her rue it.
His smile was as sharp as his sword. "If you were counting on your friends to overwhelm me, I'm sorry to disappoint you. Although, I'm a little disappointed that you'd try. It's better this way. We should settle this alone."
"She's not alone!"
Oh no, Blake thought, as a banana sailed out of the dark to splatter across Adam's mask, blocking his eye slits. Adam cursed as Sun leapt down from on top of a container, one foot outstretched for a flying kick.
Adam stepped back, sensing the incoming assault even blinded, sidestepping nimbly so that Sun struck the unoccupied ground where Adam had been standing.
His back was to Adam.
"Sun!" Blake shrieked.
Adam slashed, his red blade streaking through the night. Sun leapt forwards, away from the blow, but not fast enough to completely avoid the stroke, as the impact sent him flying rolling across the ground.
Adam tore the banana from off his mask, casting it aside. An angry growl escaped his lips.
Blake lunged to her feet and charged at him, Gambol Shroud in one hand and her cleaver in the other, arms pounding as she closed the distance between them, slashing with her black blade.
Adam turned with preternatural swiftness, parrying with Blush, the scabbard of his sword, before slashing at her with Wilt. His blade passed through a clone as the real Blake made a spinning kick aimed at his side, but Adam twisted nimbly out of the way so that her foot passed through the empty air. He kicked upwards, connecting with her leg, knocking Blake off balance. He levelled Blush, which was also a gun, at her chest and fired. Blake winced in pain as she felt the barking blow hammer into her aura, knocking her backwards, first onto her back and then her front as she was tossed head over heels.
Sun charged, the staff in his hands spinning. It whirled in his grasp, a blur of motion, but Adam was just as swift, if not swifter still. Sun's staff struck again and again, and again and again, Adam parried with his blood red blade, blocking every blow. He looked almost bored as he endured Sun's fury, like a mountain enduring the futile hammering of the wind.
Blake regained her feet and went to Sun's aid, attacking Adam from behind, sword and cleaver alike both slashing through the air.
But Adam was the equal of both of them, the greatest warrior in the White Fang, perhaps one of the great warriors of the age. Maybe Pyrrha would have been a match for him, his speed, his strength, but Blake and Sun were not. Blake used her clones to nimbly move from one position to the next, to come at him from angles that he did not expect, but he always did seem to expect it, to be in position to parry her next stroke, to counter at the place where she would be, not where she had been. Sun whirled his staff from every direction, but no stroke landed.
Not only were they not making any impression upon Adam that Blake could tell, but she was finding it difficult to avoid his blows, to dodge or to parry. When their blades clashed, she could feel the force of his hideous strength jarring down her arm, making her aura tremble, and she was sure that he must be weakening Sun's aura at least a little too.
Sun's staff split in two, and then those two halves each split again into a pair of nunchucks, a pair of nunchucks with guns in them which Sun fired one, two, three, four into Adam's chest.
Or they were aimed at his chest. Adam's Wilt, his red sword, took the blows, and as Sun fired his four shots, the blade glowed brighter and brighter with a lava-like intensity.
Sun stared, boggling at the failure of his ace in the hole.
"Thank you," Adam said, before he raised Blush and shot Sun twice in the chest, blasting him backwards.
"Sun!" Blake cried, before Adam whirled on her and struck her across the side of the head with Blush, knocking her to the ground.
"You chose that!" Adam roared. "You chose that over me!"
Blake pushed herself to her knees. "It's not about that. Adam, you've let your hate consume you! Can't you see how much of a monster you've become?"
"Then I am a monster that men have made," Adam shouted. "A monument to all their sins. I am what happens when the underdog bites back. I may be a monster, Blake, but what about those who made me monstrous by wounding me… what about you?"
Blake could only stare up at him, wide-eyed, wondering what he meant to do to her.
"I should strip away everything you love," Adam murmured. "I should hunt down every last person you care about, until you are all alone and your heart has turned to ash and you will know the debt is paid. I loved you, once."
"I believed it so," Blake murmured.
"And I believed it of you, also, and was the more deceived," Adam replied. "And yet, out of love, I will spare you the suffering that you deserve." He raised his gleaming sword above his head. "I'll kill you now and end it quickly!"
A scarlet laser beam split the night sky, lancing into a Bullhead which exploded in a shower of molten fragments.
Blake's eyes widened, but Adam seemed undeterred.
The sword swept down.
A rainbow flashed before Blake's eyes.
The progress of the blade was arrested as it slammed into the gloved forearm of Rainbow Dash.
The Atlesian girl growled as she struggled against Adam's strength, her arm trembling just a little as the sword pressed down upon her.
Blake gasped. "Rainbow… Dash?"
Rainbow glanced over her shoulder, the intense look on her face replaced momentarily by a cocky grin.
Rainbow winked at her. "I'll be right with you," she said, before turning her attention to Adam once more. "I just gotta take out the trash, first."
XxXxX
Ciel Soleil climbed up the metal ladder that ran up the outside of the HM Customs office that sat upon the edge of the dockyards. It was a large building, which, when open, housed enough staff to process all the goods passing through the docks at maximum capacity and any duties that might accrue to them.Fortunately, it was unoccupied that night. The last thing the situation needed was for the White Fang to take hostages.
She climbed. The metal was cold against her fingers, as cold as the night itself. Her breath turned to a light mist as she climbed. It was cold here, but not as cold as the northern wastes where only the hardiest of flowers bloomed.
Ciel climbed, and as she climbed, she prayed.
Lady of the North, strengthen the arms of my Atlesian sisters, let their hearts be gold and their wits be sharp.
Lady of the North, strike confusion into the hearts of our enemies and bless us that we may confound their designs and thwart their plans against us.
Lady of the North, watch over us with thy benevolent grace.
Lady of the North, accept my offering of skill and valour and deeds done in the service of Atlas.
Not many people were religious these days, but Ciel Soleil was not most people; she had no doubt that there was some power watching over the great-hearted children of the north, guarding them, guiding them, urging them on to victory after victory.
She hoped the Lady would be pleased with the work they did tonight.
Ciel gained the roof of the customs building and crouched down as she crept across the flat roof until she was overlooking the dockyard.
She could see the Bullheads swarming overhead like angry wasps. Some of them were having dust containers attached to them, others were engaging targets on the ground – Team Sapphire, presumably. Ciel doubted they had the heavy weapons necessary to adequately engage airships.
She herself had such a weapon; Distant Thunder, which unfolded in her arms to its quite prodigious length, could easily penetrate the armour on a Bullhead. But that would draw attention to herself, and she didn't have the fast rate of fire to clear the skies swiftly.
No, they had another method in mind to deal with the impertinence of the White Fang.
It was time to remind these scoundrels who controlled the skies.
Ciel tapped her earpiece twice. One tap was for the Team RSPT private channel, two taps was for the Atlesian secure channel one. "This is Rosepetal Two to Gallant, requesting a fire mission. Verification Tango-Sierra-Alpha-Indigo-One-Seven-Two."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Verification accepted, Rosepetal Two. This is Gallant Actual, what do you need?"
"I'm at the Vale docks. There are multiple hostile airships engaging ground targets, danger close," Ciel said. "Requesting sky clearance."
Another pause. "Airships detected. IFFs show Valish civilian ID."
"Airships White Fang and hostile," Ciel declared. "Repeat, request sky clearance."
"Copy, Rosepetal Two, this is Gallant Fire Control. Tagging airships as hostiles. Locking main guns."
"Affirmative, Gallant," Ciel replied. "Fire at will."
The Gallant was an Atlesian Skylord-class air cruiser, currently stationed off the coast of Vale. It had flown Team RSPT – minus Penny – to Vale for her retrieval, and when the decision had been made that RSPT should stay in Vale, the Gallant had – with the full and express permission of the Vale Council – remained also. Because one never knew when the support of a man-of-war might come in handy, for extraction or, as now, for fire support.
It was but a moment later when the first scarlet laser beam from the Gallant's main battery pierced the darkness of the night to hit, with absolute precision, one of the White Fang Bullheads.
Another beam soon followed, and another Bullhead went up in flames. By now, the White Fang pilots were struggling to react... or more accurately, to evade the fire that was raining down on them from far beyond their range.
But they could not escape. Every laser beam hit home, and with every strike, another Bullhead fell.
XxXxX
Weiss kept her face straight as the locker shot through the skies of Vale at terrific speeds, covering the massive distance between Beacon and the docks with all due swiftness. Unfortunately, the distance was still great enough that they had several minutes between launching and arriving at the combat zone. Time enough for her to think of what she was going to do.Priority one was to assess the situation and identify the locations of both allies and enemies. Priority two was to link up with the closest allied forces and assist them as necessary, Priority three was to stop the White Fang in their tracks.
A shudder ran through the terrifyingly coffin-shaped locker. Weiss could feel her heart thudding in her chest even faster than it had before. What was happening? Did Winter feel like this at all?
Winter. She had to be like Winter. She was calm. She was grace. All the glories of the Schnee legacy resided in her spirit. She was all that was good in the world, and she would oppose all the evil in the world.
The locker rotated, and through the slits, she could see the lights of the city of Vale at night. Humanity, or at least a fourth of it, was laid out in front of her. All those glimmering lights that she had sworn to protect. At least, she had sworn to protect them in her mind and heart, but the official oaths at graduation would mean nothing if they weren't first made within.
The locker shifted into a sudden downward direction, and Weiss had barely enough time to realize that before her flying coffin slammed into the ground.
Somehow, through means she couldn't begin to understand at that moment, she had survived, and with only a minimal jolt as well. The locker door was stuck, and she could hear all manner of racket outside, so she threw an aura enhanced kick into the thin metal blocking her way. It dented, and she hit it again. It bent, and she hit it again. The door flew open, and she exited the locker to find that she had jumped feet first into hell.
There was sound and fury everywhere. The booming of firearms and the ringing of swords echoed throughout. One of the Bullheads that the White Fang had been using had been shot down, and in its burning fragments, she could see the corpse of a faunus laying in twain with a piece of shrapnel almost as big as Weiss herself embedded nearby as the clear culprit.
A logical part of Weiss's mind noted that this was good, as that was one less opponent to face. An emotional part of Weiss's mind noted that the poor unfortunate soul had raccoon ears, just like Laberna Seacole, and brought forth a dozen happy images of her nanny's smiling face as she told her that she would always love her no matter what. An instinctual part of Weiss's mind deflected an attack from a White Fang member with a lizard tail and a machete before stabbing back with a flurry of attacks that dropped his aura and knocked him to the ground.
Her opponent was down. Neutralized. Onto the next threat. Keep moving.
She found Flash within the next few seconds. Now she had to find the others. It was chaos around them, but they had to rise above it.
XxXxX
Sunset gritted her teeth as she hauled open the doors of the blue SDC-branded shipping container. The doors creaked and squealed against their hinges as she pulled them open, but they yielded before her, and the door opened to reveal, hidden in the darkness within, crates and crates – still branded with the Schnee snowflake, lest you forget – of ice dust."Alright," Sunset said gleefully. "I think we can work with this."
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ruby asked anxiously.
"It should work," Sunset said guardedly. "Plus… we can't shoot them down, my semblance isn't powerful enough to take them out, and while I could try just throwing the containers at them, I think this should work better. We don't have a lot of other options here." Plus, I always wanted to give dust a chance.
She glanced down at Ruby. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
Ruby shook her head. "No, you're right. This is the best plan we have, and I'll do what I can to make it work. Are you ready?"
"Not quite yet," Sunset said. Her hands glowed with magic, and the crates popped open, the lids falling open to reveal the ice blue powder within.
Sunset raised her hands, and the dust rose with it.
"Now I'm ready," Sunset said, striding back out of the container. "Let's go."
"Right," Ruby agreed, pointing Crescent Rose at the ground and firing, using the force of the recoil to carry her upwards and onto the roof of a nearby red shipping container.
She spun Crescent Rose in her hands, planting the scythe blade into the metal beneath her. "Hey!" she yelled, as she opened fire on the nearest Bullhead, the shot of her rifle barking in the night as the bullets struck futilely against the airship's skin.
The spotlight shone on Ruby Rose a moment before the Bullhead, like a shark, began to turn towards her. Its engines levelled horizontally as it closed in.
Ruby jumped, leaping off the container ahead of the bullets which spat from the machine guns to rip into the container's sheet metal.
Sunset raised her hands, and as she raised her hands, she threw with telekinesis all the ice dust at the Bullhead. It streamed out of the container in a pair of crystalline serpents, flowing through the air, moving greedily towards the Bullhead, surrounding it, engulfing it.
Sunset didn't use dust. The fact of the matter was that she couldn't afford it. But right now, she had all the dust in Remnant to play with, courtesy of the SDC, and she was looking forward to having some fun with it.
Starting right now.
A spark of magic leapt from the tip of Sunset's finger, flying through the chill night air to strike the cloud of dust that swirled about the Bullhead. A spark of magic to charge the dust and turn it all to ice, a great ball of ice from which the spikes shot outwards like a morningstar as the Bullhead was consumed by it.
"Yes!" Sunset yelled, pumping her fist as the Bullhead in its ball of ice dropped like a stone. "One down!" She held out her fist to Ruby. "Don't mess with us, right?"
"Yeah!" Ruby agreed gleefully as she bumped Sunset's fist.
A red laser beam, originating somewhere out to sea, emerged from out of dark to destroy a Bullhead in a single shot. Another followed, and then another, and two more Bullheads were turned to fireballs descending to the ground as more crimson laser beams erupted from over the ocean, targeting the Bullheads with precision even as they tried to evade the fire that had suddenly started tearing them apart.
"What is this?" Ruby muttered.
"It's covering fire from our support cruiser, the Gallant," Penny explained, as she vaulted over a green shipping container, arms spread out on either side of her, and landed gracefully on her feet. "It's stationed off shore and is going to clear the skies for us."
"Penny?" Ruby gasped.
"Hello, Ruby," Penny said cheerfully. "Are you hurt?"
"No, Penny, I'm-"
"Wonderful!" Penny cried, grabbing Ruby by the head and pulling her into a hug, pressing Ruby's face into her chest as she swayed gently back and forth. "I was so worried that we were going to be too late, but it's just like Rainbow Dash said: heroes arrive in the nick of time."
"I'll bet she said that," Sunset muttered.
"Excuse me: hello to you, too, Sunset."
"Hi, Penny," Sunset said. "Can you let Ruby go before she suffocates?"
Penny gasped. "I'm so sorry!" she cried as she released Ruby.
"It's okay, Penny," Ruby gasped, as she took a step back. "But what are you doing here?"
"Saving the day!" Penny declared, throwing a salute. "Because that is what Atlas does!"
"We definitely need to get you away from Rainbow Dash," Sunset said. "But maybe later; for now, since your friendly neighbourhood cruiser is clearing the skies, do you want to help us clear the ground?"
Penny beamed. "Absolutely."
XxXxX
The distinctive sounds of Yang's Ember Celica told Pyrrha that Yang had worked out the same thing as she had: with the White Fang's airships dropping like flies, courtesy of their unseen friend in high places, now was the time for a counterattack. It was true that the Bullheads had had them on the run, but now, this was becoming a straightforward contest on the ground, and on the ground, Pyrrha feared no enemy.Although she was a little concerned about Jaune in these conditions.
"Stay close to me," she urged him as she led the way, with him behind her, out of the warren of containers and into the wide open space on the north side of the docks near the customs office. There, she could see Rainbow Dash – Team Rosepetal was here – battling with a faunus with a crimson sword while Sun dragged Blake to safety. She could also see Yang, her hair ablaze, battling with numerous members of the White Fang, punching them clear across the docks with gauntlets barking.
Without wishing to demean Yang's skill, that told Pyrrha that their enemies were none too impressive. It made her feel better already.
She led the way into the fight, raising her voice in challenge so the White Fang would have someone besides Yang to focus on. It worked; her call was answered by a swarm of faunus in those white grimm masks, their faces hidden and their heads concealed, so that they almost looked like monsters rather than men.
But they were not monsters, and she had never lost a fight against a man yet.
Pyrrha met their charge, dashing towards them, her gilded armour gleaming in the moonlight, Akoúo̱ held before her and Miló in spear mode drawn back to strike. She struck one opponent square in the chest with her shield, knocking him backwards before turning out her toe, her spear lashing out to catch two enemies with it and toss them aside. An enemy slashed at her, but wildly, and she had no need of her semblance to evade the blow before sweeping his legs out from under him and slamming her shield into his face to knock him to the ground.
Bullets slammed into the ground near her feet. Pyrrha leapt aside, rolling to a stop, Miló transforming to rifle mode in her hands as she fired a shot to knock the White Fang rifleman off his feet. She threw her shield at a rabbit faunus charging towards her with an axe; no one seemed to notice when it flew back to her waiting arm after knocking the White Fang fighter out cold.
She glanced at Jaune; he was fending off a stag faunus with an impressive set of antlers but, it seemed, little knowledge of how to use the short, curved blade he was holding. Pyrrha was rapidly coming to the conclusion that these White Fang fighters were not particularly skilled.
She was distracted by another attempt to attack her, as two more fighters of the White Fang fell upon her before she dealt with them almost immediately, having the leisure to then watch as Jaune swept the blade out of the hand of his impressively-antlered opponent and batter him into submission with his shield.
He's doing so well.
Unfortunately, the next opponent who sought Jaune out did not seem to be so unskilled as the rest of this rabble, who were so useless that Pyrrha wondered why the White Fang had even brought them here. Jaune's next opponent held his katana in such a way as to suggest that he knew how to use it, and he moved in such a likewise fashion.
Pyrrha would let Jaune try his strength, but she would also intervene if she thought that an opponent was beyond him; she wasn't about to let him get hurt, or worse, because he had gotten in over his head.
It took her all of two strikes, in which Jaune's new opponent set him reeling backwards, trying desperately to parry, to decide that this was one of those moments.
Pyrrha ran towards the developing battle. A wolf faunus tried to bar her way, a knife in one hand and an axe in the other. His tail wagged back and forth eagerly as he slashed at her with the axe, trying to split her head in two as the knife darted towards her eyes. Pyrrha stepped back, and with a deft touch of polarity shifted the blow of the axe off course and away from her so that it passed down beside her and left her opponent's guard open. She drove her spear forward, Miló extending outwards by a foot with a bang to strike him in the chest and hurl him back. Pyrrha leapt over him, her feet pounding on the tarmac as she ran towards Jaune and his unequal battle.
Another fighter of the White Fang got in her way, a rabbit faunus with a pink cape that fluttered behind her as she swung at Pyrrha with a great stone hammer – a hammer with a gun on the other end which she fired as the hammer reversed itself. Fortunately, the barrel was made of metal, and Pyrrha was able to ensure it missed, even at such close range. The rabbit swung the hammer at her again, cracking the tarmac with the force of her impact. Pyrrha leapt onto the hammer, dashing up the shaft to kick her White Fang opponent in the face hard enough to make the other girl drop her weapon as she flew into the air.
Pyrrha was getting close to Jaune now. Her hand was wreathed in the darkness of her semblance as she turned the blows of the bespectacled swordsman's katana away from him, closing the distance and slamming her shield into the other man's head. He was knocked into the nearest shipping container so hard that the metal crumpled beneath the impact.
"Thanks for the assist," Jaune said nervously.
"It's alright. I'm sorry for leaving you alone; I should have stayed with you," Pyrrha said.
"It's okay. I'm sorry for slowing you down," Jaune replied. He looked anxiously at the three, somewhat skilled faunus who had all recovered themselves somewhat and were now closing in on Pyrrha and Jaune. "Are you going to be okay with this?"
Pyrrha gave a small smile. "Don't worry, Jaune. I've got this."
She attacked, her red sash flying behind her as she feinted towards the wolf faunus in the centre, jabbing with her spear before switching Miló from spear to sword form to round upon the swordsman with the katana. Their blades clashed once, twice, three times, crashing together before Pyrrha found an opening, dealing several swift slashing strokes across his chest to drive him back in disorder. The wolf faunus with the axe and the knife in his off-hand tried to come at her from the side, but Pyrrha nimbly dodged his downward stroke and threw Akoúo̱ straight into his face, hurling him backwards. Miló switched from sword to spear mode in Pyrrha's hands as she parried the hammer-blow of the caped rabbit faunus, turning the stroke aside and spinning, her flame-coloured hair whirling around her, to hit her opponent across the jaw with her spearbutt. Her opponent staggered. Pyrrha hit her again with the butt of the spear, beneath the jaw, lifting her up into the air. Pyrrha leapt upwards, higher than her foe, descending downwards upon her like a thunderbolt, driving Miló into the chest of her foe as she bore her enemy down with such force that the dockyard surface split beneath them.
Miló switched from spear to rifle mode as she shot the swordsman once to render him incapable.
Her last shot was for the wolf faunus, who tried to rise unsteadily to his feet as Akoúo̱ flew back into Pyrrha's hand.
Jaune gasped in awed admiration. "That was… awesome!"
Pyrrha felt a faint blush rising to her cheeks. He thinks I'm awesome. Success! "It's… all in a day's work, I suppose," she said modestly. "But the night's not over yet."
XxXxX
Ruby cut swathes through the White Fang, red rose petals trailing behind her as she scythed through their ranks. Penny's backpack opened up to reveal a dozen swords on wires which she wielded like drones, slicing through the masses of the White Fang to send them flying like bowling pins, or else, the swords collapsed into carbines from which green laser beams spat. Actual drones circled overhead, opening fire with small arms emerging from beneath their squat bodies. Green blasts similar to Penny's – only this time of magic, not lasers – flew from the palms and fingers of Sunset Shimmer, landing like grenades amongst the enemy, kicking up dust and fragments of concrete. And that was before Sunset decided to open up another container of actual dust – fire dust this time – and start getting some use out of it before the SDC decided to charge. She twirled in place, scattering the fire dust in lines with her telekinesis, activating it with her magic to set off smoky explosions to hurl the White Fang into confusion, or else, she tossed crystals into their masses wherever they tried to gather in a group and then setting it off like a bomb.I wish I could use dust more often, Sunset thought.
These White Fang fighters were really no good at all, and some of them seem to know that, because as they were assailed by Ruby's speeding scythe, Penny's striking swords, Sunset's magic and… appropriated dust, more and more of them began to break for the few surviving Bullheads which began to lift off, leaving the precious dust behind, dodging – or trying to dodge – the laser fire of the Gallant as they made a break for freedom and an escape from the trap in which they had been caught.
Roman Torchwick was one of them. Sunset could see him walking away. Walking, not running, as though he had some kind of regard for his dignity as a master criminal. He was walking towards a Bullhead, and as much as he might deserve to get blown to smithereens by a shot from an Altesian laser cannon, as Sunset watched one Bullhead make it out of the line of fire through skilful manoeuvring and some very good luck, she didn't really want to take the risk.
She watched which Bullhead he was heading for, and as he climbed inside, she teleported.
Sunset appeared in a crack and a burst of green light right in front of him, Sol Invictus pointed in his face.
"Going somewhere?" she asked, before she shot him twice in the chest and blasted him clean out of the bullhead to skid along the ground.
Torchwick reached for his cane, but Sunset hit it with a blast of magic to send it skittering away from him as he strode across the dockyard to plant her foot upon his chest and her gun and bayonet in his face.
"I don't see your little friend around anywhere," Sunset observed.
"An absence I am beginning to regret," Torchwick muttered. "I don't suppose I can tempt you to switch sides with some talk of injustice against the faunus?"
"Not a chance," Sunset said. The White Fang had done nothing but make her life harder by giving people a reason to be racist; she wasn't about to start doing them any favours now.
"Figures," Torchwick moaned. "Still, it was worth a shot, right?"
"Shut up," Sunset snapped.
"So, what's the plan?" Torchwick asked. "You've caught me, and now what?"
"Now, in case you hadn't noticed, my friends are currently kicking the ass of your minions."
"Sure they are, but then what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to club you into unconsciousness if you don't shut up!"
"Sunset, he's coming at you!"
XxXxX
Rainbow felt the pressure of the sword upon her arm. She could feel it cutting through her aura. She didn't know how this guy was doing it, but if she hadn't concentrated her aura to her forearm, then he might have taken her hand off.As it was, she'd stopped the blow, and she still had some aura left, so that was a win.
Now she just had to win the fight.
"You won't regret this, sir."
Rainbow cocked her head slightly. Red hair, red sword… was this Adam Taurus? Wanted for just about everything in every kingdom Adam Taurus.
I guess this is my lucky day.
I'm glad Twilight's not here.
Adam's face contorted with irritation. "And who the hell are you?"
"Rainbow Dash, Atlas Academy," Rainbow declared proudly.
Adam bared his teeth. "A faunus betraying-"
"If you finish that sentence, I'll blow your kneecaps off on principle," Rainbow growled.
Adam exhaled through his nostrils. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
Rainbow smirked. "Neither do you, buddy."
"Then show me, dog of the Atlesian military!" Adam snarled, stepping back and drawing back his sword for a slashing stroke.
Rainbow didn't give him the chance. She activated her semblance and instantly the whole world was plunged into syrup. She could see Adam's sword descending, but slowly, oh so slowly. Too slowly. A rainbow glowed around Dash, and trailed behind her as she closed the distance faster than his eyes could follow, slamming her fists into his gut once, twice, three times until he was doubled over, winded, and she swung a right hook for his jaw.
Adam caught the blow with his black gloved hand. He slashed at Rainbow with his sword. Rainbow caught the blow in her left hand, feeling her aura drop as a result. The two struggled against each other, grappling, their hands locked. Rainbow kicked off the ground, slamming her forehead into Adam's mask. He recoiled, releasing her.
Rainbow flew upwards, a short jet burst from the engine of the Wings of Harmony carrying her upwards, spinning over Adam's head as she drew her SMGs, Brutal Honesty in her left hand and Plain Awesome on her right, and as her arc carried her above and behind him, Rainbow spun in the air and opened up on Adam Taurus.
Perhaps some of her bullets hit home; it was hard to tell because he turned so fast, his red sword whirling through the air, tracing blood red lines in the darkness as he deflected her shots.
He raised his gun at her, and Rainbow's Wings of Harmony unfurled to carry her up into the air as his shot passed beneath her feet.
"Kill this traitor to our race!" Adam bellowed at the few men he had left.
They might have been borderline incompetent, they might have been mostly taken out by Team SAPR, by Penny, or by Ciel, who was sniping them from the roof of the Customs building with a gun that was much bigger than she needed, but the few fighters that the White Fang had left had guts. They didn't hesitate to raise their rifles into the air and start shooting, tracer rounds leaping into the sky.
Rainbow grinned, despite the severity of the situation. She was glad the White Fang had given her a chance to fly. She soared in a circle, wings outstretched, jinking first to the left and then to the right, diving down and then rising up, firing with both guns all the while, strafing the ground-bound fighters who tried to shoot up at her until all the ones with guns were down on the ground and most of the ones with blades as well.
Her pistols were empty, so Rainbow holstered them both and dropped to the ground, kicking a couple of guys with swords they looked as though they couldn't use in the face as she did so. Rainbow drew her shotgun, Unfailing Loyalty, over her shoulder and pumped it just as the White Fang attacked her. She shot one guy in the chest, pumped her shotgun, hit another guy in the face with the stock, then clubbed a third with the barrel. She held Unfailing Loyalty in one hand as she shot someone else with it, then backhanded a fifth guy into insensibility
She pumped her shotgun again as she faced Adam.
They called him the Sword of the Faunus, but Rainbow Dash remembered something that the General had told her once: when she went to war, she was more than just a huntress, more than just an Atlesian soldier; she was Atlas itself, the embodiment of the Kingdom at war. So he could be the Sword of the Faunus, although he'd never done anything for this faunus; he could be the sword of those that would have him, because Rainbow Dash was the gauntlet of Atlas, part of the armour of Atlas. The strength of the north kingdom flowed through her veins, and nothing would stop her.
Only the revving of a chainsaw alerted Rainbow Dash to the attempt to blindside her by a guy who was as big as General Ironwood and just as surprisingly fast, for all that he was lumbered with, well, a clumsy chainsaw for a weapon. He was nevertheless able to drive Rainbow back as he brandished it like a burning brand in the face of an animal.
"Adam, go!" he bellowed. "Get out of here!"
Adam didn't argue; he began to run for one of the last waiting Bullheads that might get him away.
Or they might get him killed, but Rainbow didn't want to take the chance. She shot the big guy in the chest with Unfailing Loyalty; amazingly, he took it without much fuss, barely taking half a step backwards before he slashed at her with his chainsaw again. Rainbow retreated, jogging back a few steps before she rushed forwards. She fired again, and once again, the big guy took the shell to the chest and barely flinched from it.
He swung his chainsaw. Rainbow ducked beneath the swing, pirouetting around the guy to lash out with one foot, kicking him in the back of the knee. That did something; he dropped to one knee with a groan of pain as Rainbow shot him again, knocking him onto his side.
"Protect Adam!" he cried.
Rainbow heard the crunch of footsteps on the tarmac surface of the dockyard. Two White Fang fighters with blades gleaming charged at her. Unfailing Loyalty barked once, hurling one of her enemies backwards. Rainbow pumped the shotgun and fired again, taking care of the second guy, but by the time she'd done that, the big guy with the chainsaw was on his feet again.
And all her guns were out of ammo.
Dammit!
The big guy swung his chainsaw. Rainbow avoided the clumsy blow easily and punched him square in the chest.
And as she punched, she used the last of her aura for an aura boom, the power of her soul erupting out of her in a blast, accompanied by a sound like thunder, a blast which sent the big guy and his chainsaw flying into a dust container so hard that metal crumpled underneath him.
But he had beaten her nonetheless, because now, her aura was gone.
And Adam had nearly reached the Bullhead.
XxXxX
Precognition on!Ciel's eyes glowed a more intense than usual shade of blue as she activated her semblance. She hadn't needed it so far, but as Adam Taurus made his escape, she might need it now.
She could see him. She could see not only where Adam was but also where he was going. She could see the echo of his future self running ahead of him, she could mark how he tried to dodge any fire with his movements, and despite his best efforts, she knew exactly where to hit him.
She aimed for where he would be by the time Distant Thunder's round had travelled through the air and fired.
Distant Thunder roared. An armour-piercing round travelled through the air, bearing straight for the location of Adam Taurus as he stepped into the line of fire.
And parried the shot. His red sword cut through the air, sliced into the bullet and a round that should have knocked the blade out of his hand if not shattered it into pieces… it was if she'd shot a pea-shooter at him. His sword glowed a smouldering shade of red.
Ciel ejected the cartridge, which slammed into the rooftop beside her. She released the breach, chambering a new round. She aimed again. Lady of the North, let me strike true. She fired again. Distant Thunder bellowed to the heavens once again.
And once again, Adam's sword cut through the air and sliced away her shot as the blade glowed redder still.
What manner of demon is this?
It almost seemed to Ciel that he was smiling at her as he resumed his journey towards the Bullhead.
XxXxX
"Sunset, he's coming at you!" Rainbow yelled.Sunset kept one foot planted on Torchwick's chest as she aimed Sol Invictus at the faunus with the red sword, the one who had started his fight when he drew his blade on Blake.
She fired. Once, twice, three times until the chamber of Sol Invictus were empty, and Adam's sword only seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter with every shot that seemed attracted to the blade instead of the man who wielded it. Green laser bolts leapt from Penny's cut down weapons, but he parried them to, the blasts being absorbed by that blood red sword.
Sunset slung her rifle onto her shoulder and threw out both her palms, a beam of magic lancing out to fly… into that sword which drank it all so greedily, which ate her power as though its appetite was bottomless, which consumed it all as though it were some living blade, some artefact of magic forged and wound about with spells to guard its master well.
And as Sunset's magic sputtered and died, the sword began to glow a bright and shining crimson.
And not just the blade; the red hair of her enemy now burned like fire, and the lines upon his mask, they glowed like hot coals.
Sunset had the feeling that she had screwed up.
She wasn't entirely sure what she'd done or if there was any way she could have seen it coming, but she guessed he wasn't lighting up like that to attract a mate.
And then he smiled at her the way that a shark might smile at a minnow or a cat at a mouse, and Sunset knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had screwed up.
And then he charged.
Sunset had known fear before. The first time that she'd ever seen a grimm, she had been terrified. She'd been afraid every time she had to walk home in the dark and there had been any human men close by. But nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to how afraid she felt in that moment as her whole world turned as red as blood, save for the man who came to kill her. Everything slowed, everything but the man with the sword himself, rendered as dark as death against the crimson that had consumed the world, bearing down upon her swifter than he had ever moved before.
Sunset was rooted to the spot. She couldn't move, couldn't defend herself; she could only watch with mounting terror as he descended upon her and know, know with absolute certainty, that her blood would soon be used to paint the world as red as it now seemed to her.
"Sunset, no!" Ruby cried, as she struck Sunset in a burst of rose petals, pushing her out of Adam's path.
She was not quite fast enough - or Adam was too fast, and his semblance made others too slow - to get fully out of the way herself.
Ruby shrieked in pain, her voice as high as a whistle as the red sword clove through her semblance and sliced through her side.
Ruby struck the ground with a solid thump, her lifeblood pooling around her.
Already, her skin was starting to pale, and the rose petals that now fell to the ground around her were all wilted.
"RUBY!"
XxXxX
Adam leapt aboard the Bullhead as it took off, rising into the air and heading out towards the sea.Ciel tapped her earpiece twice. "Rosepetal Two to Gallant, requesting fire on a priority target."
"This is Gallant fire control, main guns are still recharging after the last fire cycle."
"Understood," Ciel growled. She raised Distant Thunder to her shoulder, aimed down the scope, and fired.
The first shot hit the engine on the port side of the airship. It began to burn, and the airship wobbled unsteadily as it flew out across the water.
Her second shot punched through the fuselage. So did her third.
Ciel's semblance showed her the future echo of Adam leaping from the airship before he leapt. She fired again.
And as he fell, he did not parry.
He spun in the air, pinwheeling, arms and legs outstretched.
And then he hit the water, moments before the airship with its burning engine struck the water too.
And then there was no sign of him.
XxXxX
Author's Note: Credit to Cody Fett for writing the scene with Weiss in the locker.
Chapter 16 - Worth
Worth
The battle was over. Sun, Weiss, and Flash were keeping watch over Torchwick and the White Fang prisoners, covered by Ciel. The scream of police sirens could be heard in the distance, getting closer.
And Ruby… Ruby was dying.
Sunset, Pyrrha, Jaune, Yang, Penny, they were all gathered around Ruby, kneeling beside or standing over her, casting their long shadows over her pale form as her blood lapped at their knees or at the edges of their shoes. Sunset's whole body shivered with fury, while Yang cradled Ruby's head in her hands and looked as though she was trying to find the words to speak but could not muster them. Pyrrha's mouth was an O of trembling disbelief, while Penny's hands were clasped over her heart.
"Please, no," Pyrrha whispered.
"Is… is Ruby…?" Penny asked. She looked around, as if she was hoping that one of her teammates would explain this to her in a way that made sense. But Ciel was still up on the roof, and Rainbow Dash had disappeared, and there was no one to make sense of this for her. Just Ruby, bleeding in front of her.
"She's going to be fine!" Yang insisted, then looked back down at her sister. "You hear me, Ruby?" she asked quietly. "You're going to be fine."
Jaune knelt by Ruby's side, across from Yang. Tears filled his blue eyes, making it difficult for him to see. He wiped furiously with the back of his hand, but the tears always returned as soon as he stopped wiping.
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! Why was Ruby about to… why had Ruby been injured like this? Why was Ruby the one who was suffering? Why was she the one about to leave the team behind, when she was so brave and… so nice and so…
Why was Ruby leaving them, when someone as useless as him was still right here?
"Jaune?"
Jaune gasped. That was Ruby's voice, faint and quiet and softer than it ever was before, but it was still Ruby's voice. He wiped his eyes free of tears again, and he could see that she…she was smiling at him. It was the strangest thing. The stupidest, weirdest… sweetest thing. Ruby was… but she didn't care. She only cared that he was upset, and so she smiled.
"Don't cry, Jaune," she whispered. "It's alright."
"No, no, it isn't!" Jaune yelled. "This isn't fair! It isn't right!"
Ruby's smile didn't falter, not for a moment. "Don't cry," she repeated. "Please don't cry. You're so much cuter when you're smiling." She blinked, and Jaune could see that there were tears in her eyes too, water welling in those silver eyes that burned so brightly. "Smile for me, Jaune. Smile… and help me to be brave."
Jaune tried to smile. He really did; he tried to honour her request. But his friend was dying in front of him, and he couldn't help her, and he couldn't save her, and he couldn't help her to be brave when he couldn't even be brave himself. He tried to smile, but it probably came out as more of a grimace.
Nevertheless, Ruby said, "That's better. Thank you, Jaune."
"Ruby, I-"
"Is everyone here?"
Pyrrha gently reached out to take her hand. She seemed to be the only one who could muster speech. "We're here, Ruby: me and Jaune and Sunset and Yang, and even Penny. We're all right here."
"Good," Ruby murmured. "Then… I can-"
"No!" Jaune yelled. "You… you can't just leave yet, you have to hold on."
"I… I don't know if I…"
"You have to!" Jaune repeated, shouting even louder now. "You have to," he repeated with a sob, a childlike sob that begged for the reassurance of an adult to tell him that everything would be alright, that Ruby would be back on her feet and fighting fit by the next chapter.
Yang looked as though she had wept all of the tears out of herself, leaving only dry sobs behind. "It's okay, Ruby," she whispered, stroking her little sister's hair. "It's going to be okay. I'm right here. We're all right here. If it hurts… if it hurts, then close your eyes, and when you wake up… when you wake up, everything will be better." She began to hum, a soft lullaby, a sound of peace and tranquility that seemed almost offensively out of place with everything that was going on here.
Jaune had thought that if they only lived like the heroes from the books and from comics, then they could become just like them, that even if life and the real world weren't fairytales maybe, if you acted as though they were, you could make the world that way, at least a little bit. But this was surely the part of the story where a kid would say 'shut the book now, Mom; we don't want to read any more. Shut the book, but tell us that it all works out okay in the end.'
But Jaune couldn't shut the book because this was his life, his life and his friend, and he couldn't do anything about it! He was a useless, pathetic, pointless loser!
"I'm sorry," he sobbed, closing his eyes and clenching them tight shut.
Sunset had seen it. Sunset had tried in an imperfect way to confront him with the truth, but even she had backpedalled on it in the end, even she had decided that being nice to him was better than being right, even she had decided to humour his incompetence in the name of his ambitions. And this was the result. Perhaps… maybe if Ruby had had a fourth teammate who actually knew what he was doing, then she wouldn't be…
Maybe a better man, a real hero, would have saved her.
"Please, Ruby," Jaune begged, clutching her hand as though he could physically hold her back from death. "Please, you… you can't go, you have to stay here, with us. Please, Ruby, just hang on!"
As he spoke, as he begged, as he pleaded, Jaune felt a tingling sensation in his hands, a feeling like water was running down them; not like sweat, more like he was a skin filled with water that was slowly draining out of him and into another vessel, as though the great bowl of his own power was emptying out to fill another cup beneath.
"Jaune," Pyrrha whispered, awe-struck.
Jaune opened his eyes. He could see that around his hands, a silver light glowed, rippling and running like the water that he felt inside of him, and it was flowing over Ruby, gradually enveloping her like a cocoon, covering her wounded side, her whole body. And, as Jaune watched with eyes wide and drying out of tears, the dolorous blow that had been dealt to Ruby began to heal, closing up before his very gaze.
Then she gasped and began to twitch and jerk and writhe.
"What's happening?" Jaune demanded.
"Don't stop!" Pyrrha cried. "You're stimulating her aura to heal her body; it might be painful, but it's what she needs." She looked up at him. "I think… you've just unlocked your semblance, Jaune."
Jaune boggled. A day ago, even a few moments ago, and he would have been ecstatic at the news, but now… now all he could think of was the girl in front of him and whether she would live.
"So… Ruby's going to be okay?"
"If you keep doing what you're doing, she'll be absolutely fine," Pyrrha said, "but we need to hold her down, keep her from moving."
They all helped: Yang, Sunset, even Penny; they grabbed Ruby by the shoulders and the feet and held her in place as Jaune's… as Jaune's semblance did its work. The silver waves of his semblance continued to wash over her like the gentle and renewing waves of some mystical sea.
"Hold on, Ruby," he whispered. "Just hold on."
XxXxX
Rainbow had Brutal Honesty in one hand as she scanned the waterfront.
Her goggles were down over her eyes, the HUD that Twilight had built into them giving her not only better night vision than she would have otherwise enjoyed but also a range of scanning options.
Unfortunately, none of those scanning options were revealing any sign of Adam Taurus to her.
"If you didn't find the body," Blake muttered, "then I'm afraid there's a good chance he's still alive."
Rainbow growled. "Hopefully, he just sunk. Maybe the police can dredge the harbour or something."
"Perhaps," Blake said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. She glanced at Rainbow Dash. "It looks like Ruby's going to be okay."
Rainbow's eyebrows rose. "Okay?"
"It seems that Jaune just found his semblance," Blake explained. "It seems to be stimulating her aura."
Rainbow frowned. "I've known people who didn't complete the full course at Combat School who still found their semblances, so what took him so long?"
Blake shrugged. "I don't know. Some people are just late bloomers, I guess." She paused. "I don't suppose it matters. All that matters is that he found it now, and Ruby's going to be okay."
"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "That is what matters. A kid like that… she'll be a credit to this kingdom once she grows up."
Blake sniffed. "She's already a credit to this kingdom, don't you think?"
"I suppose. She'll be even more of one later," Rainbow said. "You really think he's not dead?"
"I don't want to assume he is only to have him turn up on my doorstep later," Blake said darkly.
"I guess not," Rainbow agreed. "I'll get him next time."
Blake glanced at Rainbow.
"What?" Rainbow demanded. "You think I can't do it?"
"I think… I think you shouldn't have burned so much of your aura saving me," Blake declared. "I've never seen anyone take a hit from Moonslice before. By all rights, you should have ended up like Ruby."
"I'm three years older than Ruby, and I've been taught by General Ironwood himself. I'd be ashamed if I didn't have a few extra tricks up my sleeve."
Blake was silent for a moment. "I'm guessing you concentrated your aura to your forearm, enabling you to take the blow without your aura breaking. A gutsy move, but it must have drained you down into the yellow, if not the red."
"And yet, I would have kicked his ass if that big guy hadn't gotten in my way."
Blake didn't dispute that. "You would have won regardless if you'd-"
"Let him cut you up like he almost did Ruby?"
Blake shrugged. "I thought you wanted me dead, too."
"I thought… I was…" Rainbow holstered her weapon. "I was scared."
Blake blinked. "Of me?"
"I've been burned by White Fang infiltrators in the past," Rainbow said defensively. "But… I shouldn't have let it get to me. Like Twilight reminded me, you're not Chrysalis. You're not even White Fang any more, are you?"
"No," Blake murmured. "Not anymore. Not that that erases what I did when I was part of the White Fang." She folded her arms. "So… why did you save me?"
"Because you would have died if I hadn't."
"So?" Blake asked. "What does that matter to you?"
Rainbow shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. She scuffed her feet back and forth along the dock. "I… I have some really great friends," she said. "I have a friend who can take a piece of cloth and turn it into something really beautiful like magic; I've got a friend who could take the most down on his luck guy you ever met off the street and put a smile on his face because she's just… I can't even describe what she's got about her; I've got a friend who could charm birds out of the trees, literally. And Twilight's smart and sweet, and Applejack is like a big sister to the whole world, and I… I'm not like them. I can't make beautiful things, I can't make people smile, I'm not kind or generous or smart. But I can do this. I can go toe to toe with monsters like Adam Taurus, and I can protect people who are in danger. And so I'll do it. I'll fight for Atlas, the flag, and the things that Applejack can do with apples."
Blake's eyebrows rose.
"Try one of her creations, and you'll agree they're worth fighting for," Rainbow assured her.
Blake hesitated for a moment, before the briefest hint of a smile crossed her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "If you hadn't shown up… I led everyone into danger, but you saved us all."
"That's what Atlas is here for," Rainbow assured her. "Say, I think it's about my turn to ask you a really insulting question for a change."
"Go on," Blake agreed gloomily.
"Why did a girl with a stick up her ass about faunus rights leave the White Fang in the first place?"
Blake glared at her.
"I warned you it was an insulting question," Rainbow said.
Blake frowned. "Because… because it was getting to the point where I couldn't excuse the attempted murder of nine-year old flower girls as the work of a bad apple like Chrysalis. It was… it was becoming what we were all about, and I… I couldn't live with it. I couldn't live with myself if I lived with it. So I left."
"And came to Beacon."
Blake nodded. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Did bugging me about my allegiance seem like a good idea at the time, too?" Rainbow demanded.
Blake winced. "I thought you were-"
"A sellout?"
"Yes," Blake admitted. "And a corporate enforcer for the SDC."
"Well, I'm not," Rainbow declared.
Blake glanced at the SDC shipping containers.
"Hey, you're the one who came here to save the SDC's stuff; I was here saving your butt," Rainbow insisted. "We fight for the right thing. For truth, justice, and the Atlesian way."
"Everyone thinks their cause is the right one," Blake said.
"In Atlas's case, it's true," Rainbow insisted.
Blake didn't reply immediately. "So… what now?"
"Now?"
"What are you going to do with me?" Blake clarified.
Rainbow fell silent. "You know that Professor Ozpin knows all about you, right?"
Blake nodded. "So I've been told."
"Then… who am I to contradict the commander of this post?" Rainbow asked. "And besides… I hear your parents are really good people, my folks on Menagerie-"
"Your parents live in Menagerie?" Blake asked.
"Yes, where there is no CCT, and I am very glad of the fact," Rainbow said shamelessly. "But they write to me, and they say your parents are great. And like Applejack says: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You can go back to Beacon, and my team won't say a word about it. Your secret's safe with us."
Blake inhaled deeply. "Thank you, again," she murmured. She pulled out a length of black ribbon and began to tie her bow around her head, covering her feline ears.
"Darling," Rainbow drawled in her best approximation – which was to say, a terrible one – of Rarity's voice. "Haven't you heard? Bows are so last season!"
Blake stared at her.
Rainbow grinned.
Blake said nothing as she turned away. Sun was waiting for her, standing in the shadow of one of the nearest container units, close enough to be there but not close enough to be spying on anyone.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm… a little better, now," Blake said with a glance at Rainbow Dash.
Sun nodded. "That's good to hear," he said. "So, what's the plan now?"
"The plan… the plan is that I go back to Beacon," Blake said. "And you come too and explain to Professor Ozpin just what a lone Haven student is doing here so soon in the year and see what he decides to do with you."
"That doesn't seem like much of a reward," Sun pointed out.
Blake smiled with one corner of her mouth. "How about it if I tell you that I hope you stick around?"
Sun beamed like his namesake. "Well that… yeah, that was worth all of this."
XxXxX
Ruby sat up. Thanks to Jaune, there was no longer any sign of the wound that had been dealt to her, save only for a tear on her outfit from beneath which her pale skin could be seen.
But it was skin intact, without so much as a scar visible.
And she was sitting up, looking slightly sheepish as though she were ashamed of all the attention that she had been receiving.
"Ruby," Penny said curiously. "How do you feel?"
Ruby touched her side. "It feels… okay, actually," she said. "I'm sorry to cause so much fuss for everyone."
"'So much fuss'?" Sunset repeated incredulously. "How… how can you be so... you?"
"I've… had a lot of practice?" Ruby suggested.
"You…" Sunset clutched at her chest as nervous laughter rolled out of her, shaking her whole body on the way out of her mouth.
"You're okay," Jaune whispered exhaustedly. "You're okay."
"I guess I am," Ruby said. "Thanks to you, Jaune."
"Thanks to…" Jaune trailed off. It seemed to dawn on him for the first time just what he had done, that he alone had been responsible for Ruby's deliverance. Pyrrha's smile mingled gratitude and pride as she reached out and took him by the hand.
Sunset took a more direct approach to showing her gratitude, grabbing him by the face with both hands and planting a kiss upon his lips.
"Don't expect that to happen very often, but you earned that on this occasion," she told him, as he stared at her with his eyes boggling.
"Okay," Jaune murmured. "But… maybe next time, give me a warning first?"
Yang had her arms wrapped around Ruby's shoulders. "I think I'll pass on the 'thank you' kiss, if that's okay with you… but thanks. If there's ever anything you need, you only have to ask."
Jaune's face was lighting up bright red. "I, uh, I'll try and keep that in mind."
Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. "I… Ruby, I'm sorry. I should have been… you shouldn't have need to… next time, I-"
Her words were cut off by the feeling of arms around her. At first, she thought it was Ruby, having broken free from Yang's embrace, giving her another hug, but when she opened her eyes, she saw that it was not just a hug but a group hug, Ruby on her left and Jaune on her right and Pyrrha embracing the both of them from her place opposite Sunset.
Ruby smiled. "You know, it's not complete if you don't raise your arms too."
Sunset hesitated for a moment, still half at a loss as to what had brought this on, before she raised her arms to embrace Ruby on one side and Jaune on the other. She could feel Jaune's armour plate under her arm, and her hand snaked through Ruby's short, soft hair.
Her arms crossed over Pyrrha's headed the other way. She could feel Pyrrha's vambraces pressing against her sleeve.
It was…nice. Surprisingly nice, with their backs bent and their foreheads nearly touching and the warm of their arms upon her as they were joined together like ouroboros. It was nice.
It was something she wanted to protect.
I'll get stronger from here on out. I will strengthen myself in every way and I won't be afraid again.
And I'll take that red sword to prove it.
And I'll protect my team. This won't happen again.
"We made it," Ruby said. "We're all here, and we're all okay. We survived."
"You say that like it's a win," Sunset said.
"Sometimes, survival is a victory," Jaune pontificated. "I mean, look at mankind, right? We survive the grimm, and we call that winning."
"Considering the circumstances," Pyrrha said, "that we are all still here is nothing to be ashamed of, even if we did require Atlesian assistance."
Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. "We're going to get that guy one day, I promise."
"Sure we will," Ruby said. "But we'll do it together. Because we're Team Sapphire, and they made a big mistake when they messed with us!"
Sunset smirked. "Team Sapphire; yeah, they won't know what hit them."
"Team Sapphire," Pyrrha said softly. "I'm very proud to call each of you my teammates."
"Team Sapphire," Jaune said. "You guys are awesome."
"You're not so bad yourself, Jaune," Ruby reminded him.
"Yeah, with your new semblance, you're a real asset now," Sunset declared. She locked eyes with each of them in turn: first Jaune, then Ruby, and finally Pyrrha last of all and for the longest time.
We're a team. My team. Team Sapphire.
And we're going straight to the top.
All of us, because I don't think I could do it without them.
"We're going to do great things, the four of us," Sunset said. "I guarantee it." She blinked. "Speaking of Atlesian assistance, Penny, where is the rest of your team?"
"Ciel is still on overwatch, but I think Rainbow Dash went to see if that man was dead," Penny said simply. "There she is now, with Blake!"
Sunset's gaze followed Penny's eagerly pointing finger. Sure enough, there were Rainbow and Blake, with Sun coming over to join them both as they head towards the other huntsmen.
"Hey, guys," Rainbow said. "I hear Ruby had a miraculous recovery."
"Thanks to Jaune, yeah," Ruby agreed. She smiled. "Thanks for having our backs."
"That's the job," Rainbow said. She smirked. "Rescuing the helpless."
"Take that back this instant!" Sunset snapped. "Egotistical little…"
"Don't get mad just 'cause you know I'm right," Rainbow said. "I bet our use of air support doesn't seem so stupid now either, does it?"
Yang rolled her eyes. "Nobody likes the person who says 'I told you so.'"
"Yeah, but I love myself, so that's what counts," Rainbow replied.
"I'm sorry I got you into this," Blake murmured. "Ruby, I should never have-"
"It's fine," Ruby assured her. "Like Rainbow just said, it's the job."
"But it wasn't the job; it was my problem," Blake insisted.
"It was a huntsman problem, and we're all huntsmen," Ruby said. "And no one was hurt – not for long – and we stopped the bad guys, so we're all good. Nobody's going to tell on you." She paused. "We're not going to tell, are we?"
"Of course not," Pyrrha murmured. "That would be very unkind in the circumstances."
"I can't say that I'll be able to call you a friend after what I've learned," Weiss said as she wandered over to join them. "No offence."
Blake looked away. "None taken. I understand your reluctance."
"But I am still willing to call you a fellow huntress-in-training," Weiss added. "Although… young man, aren't you the stowaway from the boat?"
Sun chuckled nervously, as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm also a Haven student, if that helps."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "It appears they'll take anyone in the academies these days."
"Don't sweat it, Blake; we all have a right to a past," Yang said. "And… we all have a right to leave that past behind and do better."
Blake looked down. "I… I don't know what I've done to deserve such generosity," she admitted.
"Nobody knows," Rainbow said. "That's why they call it generosity."
Blake smiled, if but for a brief moment. "I… I promise I won't cause any of you so much trouble in future."
The sirens screamed as a host of police calls rolled into the docks, lights flashing brightly blue and red atop them.
Professor Goodwitch climbed out of the first car as it rolled to a halt. To say that she looked unimpressed would be an understatement.
"Well, that's good," Sunset said, "because it looks like we're in more than enough trouble for one semester."
Chapter 17 - The Man in the Emerald Tower
The Man in the Emerald Tower
"-completely unnecessary, not to mention reckless and unauthorised!" Professor Goodwitch snapped as she paced up and down across the amphitheatre.
Apparently, they were not important enough to be worth the Headmaster's time to deal with directly.
"Professor, we had intelligence of an imminent robbery," Blake tried to explain.
"Then you should have passed this on to the relevant authorities, Miss Belladonna," Professor Goodwitch said.
"The relevant authorities haven't been doing anything, Professor Goodwitch," Ruby protested. "Someone had to do something!"
"You are not a huntress yet, Miss Rose," Professor Goodwitch snapped, "and as I understand it, it was the only sudden manifestation of Mister Arc's semblance that prevented you from ending up as a headstone on the cliff beside your mother."
"That's out of line, Professor!" Yang shouted.
"No, Miss Xiao Long, putting yourselves in jeopardy as you did was out of line," Professor Goodwitch declared. "I wonder what your father would say about your conduct in all of this?"
Ruby squeaked in alarm. Yang took an involuntary step back.
"And no, that is not an empty threat on my part," Professor Goodwitch declared. "Perhaps you'll listen to Tai when he tells you that a huntsman must exercise wisdom in equal measure with their valour. A huntsman who doesn't recognise his own limitations will only be another death to add to the list of those they failed to save." Her tone softened. "One of your number almost died tonight," she reminded them. "Any one of you could have joined them. Confidence is one thing, but none of you are invincible, not even you, Miss Nikos."
"I'm well aware, Professor," Pyrrha said.
"Or you, Miss Dash," Professor Goodwitch added. "Perhaps General Ironwood should have spent a little less time training you to fight and a little more time teaching you to think." Her eyes swept across the entire group. "Mister Wukong, your status has yet to be determined, but there is sufficient room for you to stay at Beacon while Professor Ozpin and Professor Lionheart discuss your future. However, while you are at this school, you will follow all of the rules of Beacon and conduct yourself in such a manner consistent with the reputation of Haven Academy. Including following the law."
"Yes ma'am!" Sun yelped.
"Miss Belladonna," Professor Goodwitch continued, "may I ask why you felt the need to precipitate this entire affair by disappearing? You behaved as though you were in trouble when you were not… and could have gotten yourself into serious actual trouble."
Blake glanced at Rainbow Dash, but said, "I have no excuse, Professor."
Professor Goodwitch drew in a deep breath. "Miss Dash. Attacking a fellow student, unilaterally deciding to hunt down a fellow student in spite of Professor Ozpin making himself perfectly clear to you that Miss Belladonna was welcome here, calling in fire from an Atlesian warship over Valish soil. You should think yourself lucky that you didn't cause an international incident! You may rest assured that General Ironwood will be hearing all about this in due course; I am sure that this is not what he expects of his students."
Rainbow Dash paled visibly.
"Miss Schnee, Mister Sentry, you may go," Professor Goodwitch said.
"Professor?" Weiss asked, seeming to not understand what she had just heard.
"As you did not set out to engage in a battle, but only acted upon impulse to defend the lives of your fellow students, you will not be receiving any punishment on this occasion," Professor Goodwitch informed them. "Which is more than I can say for the rest of you."
XxXxX
It would have been easy for Weiss and Flash to head straight back to their dorm room, since they were getting away without any punishment for their actions. Weiss, however, did not go back to her dorm room. She lingered outside of the amphitheatre in the chill of the night - or the early morning now, she supposed - waiting.
"Weiss?" Flash asked, turning back towards her when he realised that she wasn't following. "Is something wrong?"
Weiss clasped her hands together behind her as she waited. "No," she said softly. "Not wrong, at least I don't think so. I just need to have a quick word with Blake."
"Right," Flash murmured, taking a step closer towards her. "What kind of word?"
"Not the hostile kind," Weiss replied. "Just… the curious kind." She paused for a moment. "It doesn't bother you? What she used to be?"
Flash was silent for a moment. "I… would be lying if I said that it didn't bother me at all," he admitted. "The White Fang have done some terrible things, and she used to be one of them. But that's the point, isn't it: she used to be. Just like we humans used to keep faunus as slaves, and still… I guess what I'm trying to say is that if Blake can forgive us for that, then I can try and forgive her for what she was before."
Weiss looked up at him. The moonlight fell upon his face, giving his skin a fairer aspect than normal; it made the blue of his eyes stand out all the more. "You're a very good man, Flash Sentry."
He looked away in embarrassment. "Well, I don't have it in me to be a great man, so I suppose I ought to try being a very good one if I can."
"You shouldn't undersell yourself."
"A great man," Flash said seriously, "would have taken that hit instead of Ruby."
Weiss' brow furrowed. "You can't blame yourself for that; nobody was fast enough to get in the way of that attack except Ruby-"
"And that's what makes her great," Flash declared, "and me not."
Weiss could concede the point of Ruby's exceptional ability without simultaneously accepting any denigration of Flash by comparison, but before she could say anything to that effect, Blake emerged from out of the amphitheatre.
Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Weiss and Flash. "Is… something wrong?"
"I hope not," Weiss said. She hesitated for a moment. "I'm aware that what I'm about to ask might be difficult for you… and I suppose if you tell me to butt out, then there's nothing I can do about it, but I'm hoping that you will tell me… a trainload of dust was stolen not long before the beginning of the semester. Do you know anything about that?"
Blake was silent for a moment. "I ought to," she admitted. "I helped to steal it."
Weiss was very still, even as her insides roiled as though she'd eaten something that had disagreed with her. "I see."
"It was my last mission with the White Fang," Blake continued. "It was… my chance to get away from Adam and the rest. Free transport, you could say."
"So it was you who severed the engine from the cargo cars?" Weiss demanded.
"Yes," Blake said.
"And if you hadn't?"
Blake's gaze flickered down to the ground. "Adam would have blown the engine."
"I see," Weiss whispered. She smiled. "Thank you."
Blake blinked in surprise. "You're… thanking me?" she gasped. "But I… all that dust-"
"All those lives," Weiss countered. "Worth so much more."
XxXxX
Professor Ozpin sipped from his mug of cocoa as he watched, for the third time tonight, the footage of the first-year students and their battle at the docks.
Considering the circumstances, they had all performed most admirably. Although he would have to thank James for the invaluable contribution of his forces. And won't he enjoy hearing that? James was a good man, and not given to the sin of personal pride, but when it came to pride in his military and his students… it could get just a little much, sometimes.
However, it could not be denied that, absent the Atlesian intervention, things would have gone much worse than they had. They had been staring down defeat and possibly the loss of some very promising young people, and instead, they had won a victory. He wasn't going to deny that fact merely to avoid swelling James' ego.
In any event, there were more important matters to consider. With the touch of a button, Ozpin switched from the live feed images to a message from his agent in the field: Ruby's uncle, Qrow Branwen.
It was very simple: Queen has pawns.
Indeed she does. Ozpin sighed. They – the first-years – had removed a few hostile pawns from the board tonight, but how many more of them had yet to be dealt with before they confronted the serious pieces, the knights and rooks?
Still, tonight was a victory. Considering the other ways in which it could have ended, this was a definite success.
And yet, it was a victory that should not have been, a battle that need never have been fought.
He had not intended to cast the children into the war so soon. He had wished – he had hoped – to preserve their innocence a little while longer.
It appeared that, gallant as they were, they were determined to force their way into the story, one way or another.
If they will insist on joining the battle, then I may have to reveal to them the true shape of the battlefield.
He had known – or at least strongly suspected – that this moment would come, for one of them at least, but he had hoped it would not come so soon.
It still need not, not yet. One incident, the scope of which they were as yet unaware of, did not necessitate such a step.
And yet, it showed that step might one day be necessary.
At least those students had, tonight, given him cause to think that his instincts about them had been right.
If he had to involve them in his affairs, he would at least be involving the right people.
The elevator doors opened, and Glynda walked into his office. Her heels clicked on the stone floor as she strode towards his desk.
"Ah, Glynda," he said, gesturing to the other coffee mug. "Would you care to join me?"
"No, thank you," Glynda replied. "It's a little late, and I'd like to get some sleep tonight. Or rather, this morning."
"Suit yourself," Ozpin said genially, taking another sip of the hot cocoa. "Are the students all in bed?"
"They are," Glynda declared. "Or in their dorm rooms at least. I gave Mister Wukong a room to himself for now."
"And you've informed them all of their punishments?"
"Detentions on both days of the weekend, for the next three weekends, starting next week," Glynda replied. She pushed her glasses up her nose. "I think that something should have been done to punish Miss Schnee and Mister Sentry. The fact that they left Beacon – in lockers no less – was reckless in the extreme, and the situation they walked into was dangerous."
"And yet, the fact that they were motivated to go gives me hope," Ozpin said.
"There are proper authorities, Professor-"
"Yes, I am sure it would have been the right course of action for Miss Schnee to have stayed to do what Miss Sparkle did and informed me of what was going on," Ozpin replied, cutting her off before she could finish. "Just as it would have been the correct course of action for Miss Belladonna to pass her information onto the police. And yet…"
"And yet, Professor?"
"If humanity has a chance to survive, it is not because of armies or ships or dust munitions but because of the bonds of friendship that inspired Miss Schnee and Mister Sentry to risk their lives for their comrades, that inspired Team Sapphire to stand by Miss Belladonna, that allowed Mister Arc to discover his semblance tonight to save a dear friend. The ties that bind us together are our greatest asset against the darkness."
"I understand," Glynda said, although judging by the slight impatience slipping into her voice, she didn't understand as well as he might have liked. "But these are still children."
"I'm well aware of that, and there are even times when it is good to see them behaving like children," Ozpin agreed, "but there are also times when it is good to see what kind of fine adults our children will become with our assistance." He refilled his cocoa mug from the porcelain pot. "She's coming for us, Glynda; the days of childhood may end all too soon." He smiled. "You should be proud; they all performed admirably. You've taught them well, I see."
"You can't distract me with flattery."
"Nor would I ever seek to do so," Ozpin reassured her. "A major quantity of dust was not stolen, and our students have been buoyed in confidence by a small victory. Tonight… has been a good night."
"Mhm," Glynda murmured. "And what about Miss Nikos? Do you plan to tell her?"
"Not yet."
"Her performance in battle is exemplary," Glynda said. "Honestly, I don't feel as though she's learning anything in my sparring class. She's as ready as she'll ever be."
"I'm sure she is," Ozpin said. Just as he was sure that Miss Shimmer was ready to look behind the curtain and find out some of the truth that he and his inner circle kept concealed from the world. "But, as you said, they are still children, and there is still time for them to enjoy a little more childhood yet."
How much time exactly, he couldn't say, not with the mysterious Black Queen on the move, but considering the burden that he meant to place upon Miss Nikos' shoulders… he was willing to give her what little time he could.
XxXxX
"Three weekends of detention!" Sunset snapped as she slammed the door behind her.
"It could have been worse," Pyrrha murmured apologetically.
"Not much worse," Sunset growled. "Three weekends," she added, her voice dropping to more of an angry mutter. She stalked across the bedroom and sat down heavily upon her bed.
"Hey, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, his voice gentle and a little uncertain.
Pyrrha undid her ponytail. Her long red hair fell down behind her, spread out across her back. "Yes, Jaune?"
"I wanted to ask you something, about tonight," Jaune said. "How… how did you do that thing with the Bullhead?"
Pyrrha hesitated for a moment. "Oh. Yes. That… I suppose I should have told you all much sooner… force of habit I suppose. That was my semblance."
"Your semblance?" Ruby repeated. "I don't think I've ever seen you use your semblance before. I wasn't sure whether you had one, but I didn't want to mention it."
"Nobody's sure if Pyrrha has a semblance," Sunset said. "It's the most common point of speculation on the fan boards."
"Well, I do have a semblance, and you have seen me use it, even if you didn't realise it," Pyrrha said. "My semblance is Polarity. I control magnetism. I can move metal, like the Bullhead tonight."
"Or like the weapons that never seem to hit you," Sunset murmured.
Pyrrha smiled sheepishly. "Well… a lot of that is plain skill, if I do say so myself," she replied. "But, yes, occasionally, I divert my opponent's weapon away, just give it a little nudge. That's why I keep my semblance a secret: it's my trump card against a skillful opponent. That's why… as I said, I should have told you. I'm not just used to telling anyone."
"Understandable," Jaune said. "Habits are hard to break."
"And we're not going to tell anyone, right?" Ruby asked.
"Of course not," Sunset said. "Your advantage is our advantage too… plus, you know, we're a team and would never betray your confidence."
"Thank you," Pyrrha murmured. "It… it feels good to be able to trust someone with this."
"You can trust us with anything," Ruby declared. "Any time. Because we're your friends."
"Friends, teammates," Sunset said. "Fellow condemned prisoners."
"It isn't that bad," Ruby insisted.
"Three weekends of detention is quite bad enough," Sunset replied. "You know what the worst part is? The worst part is that I'm pretty sure that Professor Ozpin set this whole thing up."
The other three members of her team stared at her as though she were insane.
"Uh, Sunset?" Jaune asked. "You want to run that by us again?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense!" Sunset declared. "He knew about Blake's past, clearly he likes having a former White Fang agent in the school-"
"Are you sure he doesn't just want to give her a second chance?" Ruby suggested. "You know… like he said?"
"He knew that she had run off, and yet, he didn't really do anything either to find her or to stop Rainbow Dash," Sunset reminded them. "I think he was counting on us doing what we did. I think he set up this situation so that we would be at the docks to stop the White Fang."
"Sunset, that…" Jaune shook his head. "That's… why would he do something like that?"
"Because that's what people like him do," Sunset replied. Even Princess Celestia was not above manipulating her students and meddling in their lives; she had admitted as much to Sunset. She manipulated Twilight to get what she wanted out of her; the fact that she was doing so with good intentions didn't get away from that.
And as for Professor Ozpin's intent… Sunset wasn't so sure that his motives were benign. He'd nearly gotten Ruby killed tonight through his machinations; she couldn't forgive that.
"Professor Ozpin is a hero," Pyrrha protested. "His deeds in the field-"
"Don't make him trustworthy," Sunset said.
"Nor do your groundless suppositions make him malign," Pyrrha pointed out.
"The fact that he knew about Blake is not a supposition; it comes from the man's own lips."
"Maybe, but, well… none of the rest does," Ruby said.
"True, that he concealed Blake's heritage," Pyrrha agreed. "But he has concealed mine, too. Neither Jaune nor Ruby knew how nobly born I was until I revealed it. Do you think that Professor Lionheart at Haven would have been so generous? Professor Ozpin respects the privacy of his students; it is nothing more or less than that."
"My mom and dad both knew Professor Ozpin," Ruby added, "and not even Mom's journal says anything bad about him."
"Yet," Sunset said. She sighed and flopped back onto her bed. "I don't want to argue about this right now. Or rather, I'm too tired to argue about this right now. But I don't trust him."
And I'm not sure I ever can.
XxXxX
Most of the animals had been carted off to their cages in police vans, but Roman Torchwick was being conveyed in a black and white squad car which he had to himself. Well, aside from the officers up front, of course: Sergeant Alan Johnson was heavyset, with a moustache and a receding hairline; Officer Rusty Brown had freckles on his face and copper-coloured hair.
Torchwick glanced at the brown paper bag sitting on the seat next to him. Since he hadn't been invited to open it yet, he didn't. He was a thief, but that didn't mean that he had no manners.
He stretched a little on the seat, wriggling his hands in spite of the cuffs on his wrists. "So, tell me something, Al, how are the kids? How's Marie?"
"Oh, Marie's doing great," Al replied cheerfully from the driver's seat. "She made you a pastrami sandwich; it's in that bag next to you."
Torchwick groaned with anticipation. "Pastrami!" he declared as he grabbed the bag with both bound hands. The brown paper rustled as he extracted the sandwich, which was slathered in mayonnaise between the two halves of the thick, seeded bap. Lettuce crunched as he bit into it. He could feel the tomato on his tongue. And the meat! Marie Johnson always made the best sandwiches.
"Now that is delicious," Torchwick declared. "Your wife is a saint, Al, I hope you realise that."
"Oh, trust me, Mister Torchwick, I know what a lucky guy I am. A great wife, two awesome kids, and a nice house uptown. I couldn't have done it without you, Mister Torchwick."
"Oh, I'm sure you'd have managed the wife and kids part fine, although I'll take some credit for the house," Torchwick agreed.
"So where can we drop you, Mister Torchwick?" Rusty asked.
"Oh… under this bridge, I think," Roman said. "We can get out and wait without being seen."
"You got it, Mister Torchwick," Al said, as he pulled the squad car over underneath a roaring overpass, where traffic rumbled overhead and the bridge cast a shadow over them.
Rusty and Al got out, and Al opened the door for Torchwick to do likewise. He clambered out, still finishing off his pastrami sandwich. In between mouthfuls, he walked away from the car and said, "Best stand well back, fellas. I'd hate to see you get hurt."
The two cops followed him away from their car, even though they both looked puzzled. "Hurt by what?" Rusty asked nervously.
"Oh, you know," Torchwick said as a black armoured truck appeared out of nowhere, rippling into existence as the concealment faded, to ram the squad car from behind, tail-ending it so hard that it flipped over onto its roof with a sickening crunching sound and the shattering of all the windows. "That."
The door of the truck opened, and Neo leapt down, beaming broadly.
"Hey, Neo," Torchwick said. "Nice of you not to leave me hanging."
Neo signed exasperatedly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know I should have taken you with me on the job. I just wanted to give you the night off."
Neo signed some more.
"Okay, so this isn't exactly a night off for you, but it's not my fault!" Torchwick said defensively. "I didn't know those kids were going to show up again."
Neo rolled her eyes. She glanced at Al and signed a brief greeting to him.
"Nice to see you too, Neo," Al said. "Here, Mister Torchwick, let's just get these cuffs off you." He fished the keys off his belt and unlocked Torchwick's restraints. As they clattered to the ground, Torchwick felt the strength of his aura returning to him.
Al took a step back. "Make it look good, okay, Mister Torchwick?"
"Sure thing, Al," Torchwick said. "I'm sorry about this." He decked his tame cop – one of them – across the jaw hard enough that he went down like a sack of potatoes. A similar blow took care of Rusty the same way.
"And with the money we're paying to that guy in IA, nobody should look too closely at what happened here," Torchwick declared. He sighed. "Although it's not the cops that worried me."
Neo signed.
"Yeah, her," Torchwick agreed. "She's not going to be happy we didn't get any dust."
Neo signed.
"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to throw the White Fang under a bus," Torchwick replied. "But we can worry about that later. Right now, do you want to get some ice cream?"
XxXxX
"Where did you go, Blake?" Lyra asked. "I mean, you just disappeared Friday afternoon after going out with the team leaders – who wouldn't say what had happened to you – and then you come back now? I thought you might be dead!"
"I knew that you weren't dead," Bon Bon said.
"I thought that you might have been abducted by a Vacuo slaver and sold into the harem of a sheik!"
Blake narrowed her eyes. "Lyra, I like a good bodice ripper as much as the next girl – you, in this case, apparently – but those stories aren't real life."
"I've been trying to tell her that for years," Bon Bon muttered.
"So what did happen?" Lyra demanded. "Were you in an accident and suffered amnesia?"
"No."
"Were you betrayed by all your fellow team leaders who tried to kill you?"
"Not exactly, and where are you getting these ideas from?" Blake demanded.
"Leaving aside the fantasy world of Lyra Heartstrings," Sky said, "where did you go, Blake? Where have you been?"
Before Blake could answer, there was a tap on the window. Coming from outside.
Sky frowned as he opened the curtains, then recoiled with a gasp from the sight he saw on the other side of the window.
It was Sun, waving with his tail as he clung to the window frame.
"Sun!" Blake cried.
"You know this monkey?" Bon Bon asked.
"He's not a monkey," Blake said.
"No, he's a shirtless man," Lyra declared. "With abs."
Blake rolled her eyes as she leapt over Sky's bed and opened the window. "Sun, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know," Sun said. "Just wanted to see how you were."
"And you didn't come to the door like a normal person because...?"
"Because I wasn't sure if I was confined to my room or not?" Sun said.
"That… is not a completely invalid point," Blake conceded. She sighed as she stepped back. "Come inside."
"Thanks," Sun said, leaping through the open window frame. "Hey, guys, what's up?"
"Sun, this is my team: Sky, Lyra, and Bon Bon. Everyone, this is Sun; he's been helping me."
"So you were with this glorious specimen of masculinity since last night?" Lyra asked, in a tone that suggested no further explanation would be necessary. "No wonder you didn't come home."
"Lyra," Bon Bon whined.
"What? Just because I've committed to an oyster doesn't mean I can't admire a snail!"
"It's not what you think," Blake snapped. "Sun was helping me fight the White Fang."
The room fell silent.
"The… White Fang?" Sky repeated.
"We caught them trying to rob a large dust shipment down by the docks," Blake explained. "Sun and I, Team Sapphire, Team Rosepetal, Weiss and Flash of Team Wisteria, we fought them, and we stopped them."
"But why?" Bon Bon asked.
"Because… because it seemed like a good idea at the time," Blake admitted awkwardly.
"Never mind about the White Fang, what about Sun?" Lyra demanded. "How did you two meet? Who are you? What's your favourite-?"
"I need to talk to you outside," Blake said firmly. "Outside the door," she clarified.
"Right, sure," Sun said, allowing Blake to lead him outside the dorm room, where she shut the door firmly behind them both.
"She's… lively," Sun said.
"You have no idea what you let me in for."
"Sorry about that," Sun said. "I just wanted… to make sure you were okay."
Blake looked up at him, into those guileless blue eyes. "You're a really sweet guy, you know that?"
Sun grinned. "I mean… I know that you weren't totally sure about coming back here, so-"
"It's fine," Blake assured him. "I'll make it work. But… thanks for checking up on me." She stood on tiptoes to give him a light kiss upon the cheek. "Goodnight, Sun."
Sun stood still for a moment, his mouth slightly open. "I, um, hey! I know that, uh, we're not exactly having weekends for the next few weeks, but once we do, I thought that it might be cool to go someplace together. Someplace… not violent."
Blake stood at the door, and turned to face. "Sun… did you just ask me out?"
Sun hesitated. "I… guess so?"
Blake hesitated. She wasn't sure if she was ready for another relationship, after Adam and everything… but at the same time, how would she know if she was ready, unless she tried?
She couldn't let the fear of Adam, the memories of what had happened between them, dominate her entire life. If she was going to move forward, then she had to, well, move forward.
And he did have very kind eyes.
"Okay," she said.
Sun's eyes widened. "Okay?"
"Yes," Blake said. "Why don't we talk about it more… when we get our weekends back?"
"Sounds good to me!" Sun said loudly. "I mean it sounds great! I, uh, good night."
Blake smiled. "Good night."
She opened the door and stepped into the dorm room. She heard him shout 'Yes!' just before the door closed.
XxXxX
"You went out and fought the White Fang?" Nora demanded, hands upon her hips. "Without us?" She snorted out of her nostrils like a bull.
Yang raised her hands pacifically. "It's not like I was leaving you out on purpose; it was just-"
"Oh, really?" Nora replied. "So you're saying that you had no time to call at all during the time you were gone?"
"Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it was a little on purpose," Yang conceded.
"I'm not sure what's worse," Dove muttered. "That you went into battle, putting your life in danger… or that you did so without us."
"Duh!" Nora cried. "It's the second one, obviously!"
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I agree with Nora," Ren murmured.
"Hey! You agree with me on lots of things," Nora squawked.
"Rarely when you're in a mood like this," Ren pointed out.
Nora hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that's a good point."
"If there was one person I thought might be on my side," Yang muttered.
Ren rose from his bed, where he had been sitting. "Yang, what were you doing down at the docks tonight?"
Yang was quiet for a moment. "I… I can't say."
"Can't?" Nora demanded. "Or won't?"
"Both, but mostly can't," Yang replied. "It's to do with… it's just not my secret to share. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it was important and that we did a lot of good tonight. If we hadn't been there, then… some very bad things could have happened."
"Trust," Dove said, exhaling slowly. "I've trusted people when they left me behind before; it didn't exactly go well then."
"But you can trust me," Yang insisted. "I'm not leaving you behind; I went out, and then I came back."
"But it becomes harder to trust you when you do untrustworthy things," Dove declared.
"We want to trust you, Yang," Ren said, "but-"
"But trust is a two way street, you know!" Nora reminded her. "We're supposed to be a team, Team Iron! How can we trust you when you didn't trust us to have your back?"
Yang's brow furrowed. What Nora was saying wasn't wrong, but all the same… "It was pretty rough out there for a while. I didn't want to put you guys in danger."
"We're huntsmen, Yang, not your baby sister!" Nora snapped.
"Ruby almost died tonight!" Yang yelled back at her, her eyes flashing red for a moment.
Nora gasped, recoiling a little, her hands flying to her mouth. Dove's eyes, normally lidded as if he were half-asleep, snapped open. Ren's discomfort was harder to determine, but even his stoic countenance seemed to become a little less so at the news.
"'Almost'?" Dove asked as he followed Ren in getting to his feet. His voice was hoarse. "Almost died? How… how is she?"
"She's okay," Yang whispered. "She… Ruby's going to be okay. Jaune saved her."
"Jaune?" Dove repeated. "How?"
Yang snorted. "He found his semblance. Lucky break for us, I guess."
Dove looked away. "That… that's good to hear. Ruby… your sister is a gem, Yang. It would be a terrible thing if…"
"I know," Yang whispered. "Believe me, I know."
"We're sorry," Ren said. "And glad, if you understand."
Yang nodded. "Yeah, I get it. So you see-"
"I understand," Ren said. "But, without wishing to brag, Nora and I have seen more danger than anyone at this school, at least in our year."
"And while I can't say the same, I would rather have been in danger than find out that I had been sitting idle while Ruby had a brush with death," Dove said.
"Sharing is caring, Yang," Nora said. "Are we a team or not?"
"Yeah, we are," Yang replied. "We're a team. Team Iron. I'm sorry, all of you. I promise, I won't leave you behind again."
XxXxX
The moon shone down upon the coast as the waves lapped against the shore.
It was a beach, a common, ordinary-looking beach - not a particularly pleasant-looking beach, scrub plants growing amongst the sand - but it was an ordinary beach with nothing untoward about it.
A beach towards which a dark shape was approaching through the water.
Adam Taurus gasped for breath as he breached the waves and crawled onto the sand, lying there for a moment as he breathed in and out.
A crab approached his prone and motionless form, pincers snapping. His hand snapped out and grabbed the creature, crushing its shell beneath his fingers.
Adam knelt upright, scooping the raw crab meat out of the broken shell and stuffing it into his mouth, chewing quickly. All that swimming had left him with a powerful appetite, and he still had many miles to go before he reached the safety of Camp Freedom.
He wondered how many of his comrades had made it out. Walter, his strong right arm, was either dead or captured; in fact, of his lieutenants, the only one he had not seen fall was Billie. If she had made it out, then she and Gilda would be the only two he could rely on. Certainly, he could not trust any of the so-called old guard, those who had been there when Adam had taken up the leadership of the Vale Chapter. They had opposed him at every turn, never more vociferously than now. He wouldn't be surprised if some of them hadn't sold him out in an attempt to get him killed.
Well, he would deal with them in time. Just as he would deal with Blake and that damned Atlesian race traitor with the rainbow hair!
He would deal with all of them. Anyone who stood in his way would fall.
And his people would survive.
His scroll started to buzz. He didn't think it was possible; he had thought the device must have broken for sure after so long in the water, but apparently not. Apparently it still worked.
Apparently Atlesian technology – built as it was upon the backs of an army of faunus slaves – was as good as they said it was.
He pulled out the device. Perhaps if it was Gilda calling from Camp Freedom, she could send an airship to pick him up.
It was not Gilda; instead, a sultrier voice by far emerged from the device. "I hear you had a bad night."
Adam scowled. How did she know that already? "Who told you that?"
"I'm told," she said, not saying by who, "that the children who bested you are crowing over their victory."
Adam bared his teeth, for all that she couldn't see it. "Their turn will come, and so will my time."
"I hope so. As you so astutely pointed out, I could have gone to a number of people with my offer -: mercenaries, renegade huntsmen - but I chose you, Adam Taurus. I chose you because I thought you had the skills as a warlord and strategist to command my army and deliver me the victory that we both desire. I'd hate to think that I made a mistake."
"I will do this!" Adam snarled. "This is just a temporary setback! Everything will be in place by the time you arrive from Mistral."
"I'm delighted to hear it. The world is on the verge of a great change, Adam; a new order is rising. The White Fang can be a part of that new order, if you serve me well. Serve me poorly, and…" She let him think on that as she ended their conversation.
Adam growled wordlessly, crushing the scroll in the palm of his hand and throwing it back into the sea. He would kill anyone else who dared speak to him in such a way, even the High Leader herself. But the witch had power, power that he had seen for himself in all its terrifying glory, and she was earnestly desirous to overthrow the corrupt system of the world that kept his people chained in bondage. She offered him the best chance the White Fang would ever have to achieve victory and the destruction of all their foes.
For such a prize, he would endure much more than her proud and supercilious attitude.
But that didn't mean he couldn't be annoyed by it every so often.
Adam took a deep breath and studied the stars above him. Yes… yes, he thought he knew where he was; that meant…
Adam breathed in again and began the long walk home.
XxXxX
The sun had risen, but for Professor Ozpin, there was none of the feeling of a new day. He hadn't slept since the old one; sleep was a luxury for a man in his position at the best of times, and the business at the docks last night had kept him more than usually preoccupied.
He had reached a temporary end to his labours, but that state of temporariness was likely to be so fleeting that he knew there was no point attempting to go to bed or even leaving his office. Rather, he was using the brief moment when nothing pressed upon him to watch a news bulletin in which – as one might have expected – the robbery of last night – or early this morning – figured prominently.
Currently, the screen was dominated by the face of Sir Orange Peel, baronet, leader of the Liberal Conservative party, vociferously denouncing the soft line of the current Council makeup on law and order.
"Nobody is more glad than I am that Pyrrha Nikos and the Atlesian forces happened to be there last night. Nobody is more glad than I am that so many of these animals are off the streets. But let me be frank and explicit: the fact that an Atlesian warship needed to fire its guns over Valish soil last night, the fact that so many of these terrorist scum are roaming the streets, is a clear indictment of Novo Aris and in the years of police cuts over which she has presided-"
The image faded, replaced by an incoming call indicator from no less than First Councillor Aris herself.
Ozpin rubbed his eyes for a moment and sipped some cocoa – he had only recently made a fresh pot, for which he was very thankful – before he accepted the call.
The face of the First Councillor appeared on his screen. She looked… vexed.
"First Councillor," Ozpin said politely. "What an unexpected pleasure."
Novo sighed. "You're not fool enough to have not expected this, Ozpin. Do you mind telling me what your students were doing running around fighting the White Fang in the middle of the night?"
"I… had some intelligence that there might be an attempt to rob the dust shipment at the docks last night," Ozpin lied. If he told the truth, that he hadn't known what the students were up to until the shooting had started, then he would have made himself look foolish and possibly gotten the children into trouble. "I wasn't sure that it would amount to anything, so I had a few my students check it out."
"And you decided to do this instead of using any professional huntsmen because-?"
"As I said, Madame Councillor, I wasn't sure that it would amount to anything," Ozpin replied.
Nova stared at him evenly. "I see," she said in a voice that gave very little indication either way of whether she believed him or not. "I'd like to have the students come down to Parliament for a photo opportunity."
"I'm afraid not, Madame Councillor," Ozpin said.
Novo's eyebrows rose. "When I said that I would like it, Ozpin, I was being courteous."
"And I must courteously decline your courteous request, Madame Councillor," Ozpin replied. "My students are not publicity props for your re-election campaign."
"Nor are they soldiers in your private army, but you seem to have no difficulty using them as such," Novo said sharply. She leaned forwards. "Ozpin, these dust robberies were becoming embarrassing enough already, but with what happened at the docks, it's become impossible for me to sweep it under the rug as a local issue for police and aldermen. I'm sure you've been watching the news."
"I have," Ozpin admitted.
"They're going to hammer me on this from the right, unless I can get a handle on it," Novo said.
"Nevertheless, I cannot allow you to use my students in such a fashion," Ozpin said. "In order to retain the trust of the whole kingdom, Beacon must be above politics."
Novo sighed. "If I have to, I'll just go to the students and ask them directly."
"And Miss Nikos will refuse on the principle that she is not here to court publicity, Miss Rose will refuse because she dislikes your stance on security, and Mister Arc will, in all likelihood, refuse out of solidarity, if nothing else, although I must concede that you will probably get Miss Shimmer down to Parliament, and Miss Dash of the Atlesian Team Rosepetal. You may even be able to secure the presence of Miss Schnee. But do you really think that parading three Atlesians in front of the cameras will demonstrate that you are on top of things?"
Novo put her head in her hands, if only for a moment. "You do realise that of my two opponents in this election, one of them wants to cut the defence budget to the bone, and the other wants to expel foreigners, right? Surely you can see that I am the best pair of hands for Vale at this time."
"Nevertheless, Madame Councillor, I will have to work with whoever triumphs in the forthcoming elections."
"Including me," Novo reminded him. It was her turn to rub her eyes. "I'm announcing the formation of an inter-agency task force to coordinate the response to these robberies and the White Fang going forwards; can I announce that you've accepted an appointment as the head of the task force? All information about this crime wave will hit your desk, and you can respond as appropriate. People trust you, and they'll feel better knowing that you're on the case."
"I must-"
"Work with whoever wins the election, yes, you said," Novo muttered. "But there's a difference between endorsing my campaign and working to protect the kingdom from subversive elements within the walls. Surely you can't object to working for the good of Vale?"
She had him there. Quite frankly, this was the last thing that he needed, but at the same time, she'd put him in a position where it was very difficult to refuse. Somebody needed to put a stop to all of these robberies, and there was very little more important than preventing the spread of panic amongst the populace.
He bowed his head. "I am at the service of the Council, and of Vale."
"Thank you," Novo said. "I'll brief the press shortly." It was her turn to rub her eyes. "There is also the question of the Atlesian involvement in all this. When the Council granted permission for the Atlesians to station a single cruiser off the coast of Vale and fly some unmanned drones over our skies for a limited period, I didn't envisage Atlesian forces getting into fights on Valish soil, still less calling in fire support from that same cruiser!"
"What did you imagine they were going to do with a warship, Madame Councillor?"
"I am not in the mood for wit, Ozpin," Novo growled at him. "Did you decide to get the Atlesians involved in this?"
"Yes," Ozpin lied. "They have a level of skill and experience that I thought would be an asset in support of my own students."
Novo's eyebrows rose. "And here I thought you didn't like the Atlesian military."
"They have their uses," Ozpin murmured.
"I'm sure, but in the future, try and let me know before you make foreign policy decisions; it gives me more time to come up with explanations for them," Novo said.
"I'll try and bear that in mind, Madame Councillor."
"You'd better," Novo said. "You might have to work with whoever sits in this chair… but whoever sits in this chair doesn't necessarily have to work with you."
"I'll bear that in mind, too, Madame Councillor."
"I'm glad to hear it. And Ozpin?"
"Yes, Madame Councillor?"
"Pass on my congratulations to your students," she said. "They did very well out there."
XxXxX
They would be having detentions for the next three weekends – wasn't that going to be fun? – but Professor Goodwitch had taken pity on the fact that they'd been out all night and allowed them the chance to sleep in this Sunday. Sunset had planned to take full advantage of her largesse – she would start her new and more rigorous training regiment tomorrow – and was consequently a little annoyed to hear a knock on the dorm room door.
"Ruby," she groaned, "you didn't invite your sister round, did you?"
"No," Ruby replied plaintively. "I think she's planning to sleep in, too."
"Ugh," Sunset groaned, sitting up in bed. There was another knock at the door. Sunset scowled as she swung her legs out of bed and padded over to the door, opening it.
Rainbow and Blake stood on the other side.
"Have you heard the news?" Rainbow demanded. "Pyrrha Nikos foiled a dust robbery at the dockyard!"
Sunset smirked. She was aware of the fact that the media had given Pyrrha and the Gallant almost all the credit, with her companions barely mentioned, if at all. "That must be killing you, mustn't it?"
"Oh, please, like it isn't eating you just as bad."
"Not at all," Sunset lied. "I have achieved a state of calm about the whole thing."
"Really?"
"Yes, really," Sunset insisted. "Now is that all?"
"Unfortunately not," Blake replied gloomily. "Can we come in?"
Sunset huffed, but stepped back from the door. "Sure, sure, come on in."
Rainbow led the way, Blake following.
"Hey guys," Rainbow said. She snorted at Jaune. "Nice onesie."
Jaune raised the sheets up a little to conceal more of the blue onesie from view.
"Hello again," Pyrrha said wearily. "I'm very sorry about the way that last night was covered. I never meant to-"
"Yeah, I get it," Rainbow said, raising one hand. "I don't like it, but I'm not going to get mad at you about it."
"Very big of you to come down here and tell us," Sunset muttered.
"How's Penny?" Ruby asked.
"She's doing okay; she'll be fine," Rainbow said.
"So… what are you guys doing here?" Jaune inquired.
"Professor Goodwitch just gave me some disturbing news," Blake said. "Roman Torchwick escaped from police custody last night."
"What?" Ruby cried. "How could they just let him get away? We caught him! How they could just… let him go?"
"The police car taking him to jail was ambushed, and he was freed," Blake explained. "The two officers escorting him were injured but left alive."
"Oh," Ruby murmured. "Well… that's good news. At least no one died."
"That's one way of looking at it," Sunset muttered. "I suppose we'll just have to catch him again when he surfaces. If he surfaces."
"I think he will," Blake said. "You see, that's not all."
"The VPD divers just finished searching the harbour," Rainbow said. "No trace of Adam Taurus."
Sunset's eyes widened. "You mean… he's still out there?" The memory of that red sword, of the sky turning the colour of blood, of everything being turned to pure fear pumped into her veins, flashed before her eyes.
"Unfortunately," Blake murmured. "And if I know Adam, we haven't seen the last of him."
Pyrrha frowned. "Meaning that, whatever is going on here in Vale, whatever we stumbled into last night-"
"It's not over yet," Sunset concluded.
"It might even be… just getting started," Jaune muttered.
"Well… what if it is?" Ruby asked. "Whatever's going on, whatever comes next, we'll face it together, right?"
Pyrrha nodded firmly. "Together," she agreed.
"Together," declared Jaune.
Rainbow flashed a thumbs up. "Together. Team Rosepetal will be there every step of the way. Any time, any place."
Blake looked down at the floor. She hugged one arm with her other hand. "Together," she whispered, without much enthusiasm.
Sunset looked around the room: the runaway princess with whom she could identify, the old school rival who was both every bit as bad as Sunset remembered and yet much more tolerable, and her teammates. Her friends. The people who had accepted her and raised her up.
She would stand with them, against whatever the wind next blew their way.
"Together."
Sequel Link
The sequel fic, SAPR: Interlude 1, has commenced and can be found here.
Team SAPR - Sunset Shimmer, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose - have survived their first semester at Beacon Academy; literally, in the case of Ruby. Now, Pyrrha has invited her new friends and teammates to spend the spring vacation with her, in the grand old city of Mistral. Having spent her whole life set apart from others, oppressed by her prodigious talent and illustrious ancestry, Pyrrha can hardly wait to share her home and culture with those close to her. Indeed, such is Pyrrha's reputation that the whole team soon find themselves introduced to some of the movers and shakers of Mistral, including Professor Lionheart, Headmaster of Haven, and his prized student Cinder Fall.
However, Pyrrha has not reckoned with her proud and formidable mother, who may not share Pyrrha's indulgence towards her teammates and has plans for Pyrrha that may run counter to her own, especially when it comes to Pyrrha's interest in Jaune.
Meanwhile, all is not well in Mistral, and with the kingdom's huntsmen stretched to breaking point Pyrrha is given an offer that her sense of duty may not allow her to refuse - for all that it may tear her away from Jaune and her friends forever.
Team SAPR - Sunset Shimmer, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose - have survived their first semester at Beacon Academy; literally, in the case of Ruby. Now, Pyrrha has invited her new friends and teammates to spend the spring vacation with her, in the grand old city of Mistral. Having spent her whole life set apart from others, oppressed by her prodigious talent and illustrious ancestry, Pyrrha can hardly wait to share her home and culture with those close to her. Indeed, such is Pyrrha's reputation that the whole team soon find themselves introduced to some of the movers and shakers of Mistral, including Professor Lionheart, Headmaster of Haven, and his prized student Cinder Fall.
However, Pyrrha has not reckoned with her proud and formidable mother, who may not share Pyrrha's indulgence towards her teammates and has plans for Pyrrha that may run counter to her own, especially when it comes to Pyrrha's interest in Jaune.
Meanwhile, all is not well in Mistral, and with the kingdom's huntsmen stretched to breaking point Pyrrha is given an offer that her sense of duty may not allow her to refuse - for all that it may tear her away from Jaune and her friends forever.