Swift Reprisal (Rewritten)
Swift Reprisal
“Blake left?” Rainbow asked. “Where?”
“I don’t know,” Sun admitted, “but it’s gotta have something to do with the White Fang, right? I mean, why else would she sneak off in the middle of the party like this?”
Rainbow considered that. She didn’t really know Blake well enough to say what other things she might have going on that would lead her to do this, but she felt like most of those other things wouldn’t much interest Sunset Shimmer. If this was something they were doing together, it had to concern both of them, and that… maybe it wasn’t the White Fang… but it might be.
You could have just told General Ironwood what you know, but that would be too easy.
Why do you not trust us yet? Why is it so hard for everyone to accept that we’re the good guys?
She and Sun stood close to the skydocks, removed from the party that was still going on in the courtyard outside. Rainbow said, “And you’re telling me this because-”
“Because she and Sunset left on the ugliest motorbike I’ve ever seen,” Sun reminded her. “I can’t follow them on foot, and I thought you might have, like an airship or something.”
“Do you think all Atlas students have their own airships? Or even all teams?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, I do have my own airship, but if I wasn’t so awesome, you’d be out of luck.”
“I’m talking to you because you’re awesome,” Sun told her. “Neither Blake nor I could catch a break against that Adam creep, but you had him on the ropes. You and Pyrrha are the best fighters I know, but Pyrrha… well, Pyrrha doesn’t have her own airship to start with, but also, Pyrrha… Pyrrha’s really nice and all, but I think she’d tell the professors. I want to save Blake, not get her in trouble.”
Rainbow folded her arms. “You realise that I’m going to tell General Ironwood about this, right?” If I don’t tell him after what happened last time, he’ll hang me from the highest yardarm in the fleet.
“Yeah, the General guy, sure,” Sun said, “but he’s not Blake’s headmaster, so it doesn’t matter what he knows.”
I’ve known Pinkie for five years, and this guy still makes no sense to me.
“I don’t… whatever,” Rainbow said. I’ll ask General Ironwood to keep this under his hat, or at least not tell Professor Ozpin. “You know, Blake might not like that you did this.”
“Fine,” Sun replied. “I’d rather lose her because she broke up with me than because someone put her in the ground.”
Rainbow nodded. “I get that. Okay. Get your weapons, I’ll talk to the General and get Ciel, and then we’ll head out.”
“Is the last of your little rats taken care of?”
Adam scowled. “No,” he admitted.
The voice on the other end of the scroll sighed. “Adam, Adam, Adam; this pattern of failure is becoming rather disappointing. If this goes on, I might have to wonder if your reputation isn’t a little overstated.”
Adam squeezed his scroll almost, but not quite, hard enough to damage it. “It wasn’t my fault.”
“Then whose fault was it? Was one bookshop owner tougher than you anticipated?”
“Blake was there,” Adam growled. “And another girl, a pony faunus with hair like fire.”
“Sunset Shimmer,” the voice on the other end of the scroll whispered. “Is she still alive?”
“Blake?”
“Sunset.”
“They both are,” Adam admitted in a sour and snarling tone. “Before Torchwick could finish either of them, even more of their friends showed up: Blake’s new beau-” – how those words irked him to say, how he yearned to cut off that insolent boy’s hands to teach him the penalty for thievery and trespass. Blake’s alabaster skin was for Adam’s hands alone to touch; like a princess of old, she belonged to the king. There had been times when it had taken all of Adam’s self-restraint not to put out people’s eyes just for looking at her loveliness, the thought that another man might have laid his hands upon her… – “-and the Atlesian race traitor from the docks.”
“Sun Wukong and Rainbow Dash. That’s unfortunate. There’s not much that we can do about the two of them, but I think that Miss Belladonna has meddled in our affairs for long enough.”
“Blake is mine!” Adam snapped. “Her life is mine to take, if I choose. She does not belong to you; you cannot choose her fate.”
“Oh relax, Adam,” the voice on the other end of the scroll sounded rather weary now. “I’m not proposing to kill her, just get her out of our way.”
“How?”
“By having a good citizen expose the dastardly terrorist in our midst, obviously.”
Tukson had been taken to hospital – with an Atlesian guard detail – and a search of the surrounding areas had unfortunately revealed no trace of the getaway vehicle used by Adam and Torchwick.
And Rainbow Dash’s custom Skyray soared back to Beacon.
The interior of the airship was quiet; honestly – and for once – Rainbow was glad of that. She wasn’t in the mood to talk much right now.
Nobody seemed in the mood to talk much. Ciel never seemed in the mood, or at least, it might have been nicer to say that she was always in the mood for some quiet or could appreciate the value of it anyway.
Blake was in a mood. That was obvious from the way that she was glaring at Sun; judging by the look in her eyes, there wasn’t going to be much gratitude from her for saving her life. Rainbow couldn’t help but wonder if she really understood that she would have died without what he’d done or if she just didn’t care.
Sun was well aware that Blake was upset with him, and he was not quite meeting her eyes. Poor guy looked as though he wanted to sink into the floor.
As for Sunset… it was hard for Rainbow to say what Sunset was thinking. She was staring at the floor like she was trying to burn holes in it with laser eyes.
Is she thinking about the brand, too?
Rainbow couldn’t get her own mind off that brand. Those three letters burned into Adam’s skin. Sure, he was a terrorist wanted in all four kingdoms, but at the same time, he couldn’t have actually gotten branded then, could he? If he’d been caught at any point, he would have been handed over to the proper authorities, wouldn’t he?
Why did he get the brand at all?
Was it just because he was a faunus?
Rainbow looked down at her reflection in the blue screens that filled up the Skyray’s cockpit; for a moment, she saw nothing but her face, unusually stern, but then the next moment, she saw one side of her face ruined, one eye gone, her face branded with the letters “SDC.”
Rainbow winced and flinched away from it; thankfully, she didn’t disturb the airship, which continued on its present course.
“You don’t understand what it’s like down here, Dash! You spent so long up in the clouds, you think you’re one of them!”
Could that have been me? Is that what I would have become, if it weren’t for my friends?
If it weren’t for Twilight?
Nobody said anything as they passed through the clouds; the emerald lights that gleamed at the top of Beacon Tower shone like a lighthouse beacon to guide them home. Rainbow steered her airship around it. Since they couldn’t have one of Beacon’s skydocks permanently occupied by a single airship, Rainbow had gotten permission to land her ship behind the school, in the long expanse of open ground between the school and the cliffs. Rainbow landed there, setting the Skyray down gently on the grass.
Blake, her arms crossed, turned towards one of the side doors and waited for it to open.
It didn’t.
Rainbow took off her helmet and got up out of her seat. “We’re not quite done yet,” she said as she stood at the cockpit entrance, one elbow resting on her chair. Ciel remained seated, looking forward, not really a part of this conversation.
Blake glanced at Rainbow out of the corner of her eyes. “Do you need something?”
“A little gratitude might be nice,” Rainbow snapped. She bit her lip. “I mean-”
“Thanks,” Sunset said quietly, as her tail swished back and forth behind her. “If you hadn’t shown up… things could have been bad.”
“You don’t know that for-”
“Blake,” Sunset interrupted her. “Come on, just drop it, okay? Torchwick was about to blow your head off, and Adam… I’m still not on his level yet.”
Blake didn’t reply, although she did look down at her own feet, so maybe she got it and just didn’t want to admit it. Rainbow could understand that. It wasn’t always easy to admit that you were wrong. Sometimes, you just had to do it, but that didn’t actually make it easy.
“Why?” she asked quietly. “Why did you come after us?”
“Because I think you could help us if you could get that stick out of your rear end and accept our help,” Rainbow declared. “Because letting you die just because you don’t like Atlas doesn’t sit right with me.” She paused. “General Ironwood knows about this; he arranged to have backup on station, and he’s put guards on your friend in the hospital… but he isn’t going to tell Professor Ozpin what you two were up to tonight.”
“Wow, you’re really determined to put us in your debt, aren’t you?” Sunset said.
“You want to consider yourself in my debt, go ahead,” Rainbow grunted.
Sunset frowned. “And it really got to you, didn’t it?”
“What did?”
“The lack of inner-city parking,” Sunset snapped. “What do you think?”
Rainbow’s hands clenched into fists. So, they were going to talk about that. Of course they were going to talk about that. That was the main reason why Rainbow hadn’t opened the doors yet.
She kept her eyes on Blake. “You didn’t mention the brand on his face.”
“Should I have?” Blake asked.
“You wasted so much breath trying to convince me that Atlas was bad, and you didn’t once mention the fact that the SDC branded the face of someone you used to know?” Rainbow demanded.
“What would you have said if I had told you?” Blake replied.
“I…” Rainbow paused. “I might not have believed it without proof,” she admitted.
“And now?” Blake asked. “Now that you’ve seen it?”
Rainbow looked away, a scowl disfiguring her features. “The SDC isn’t Atlas,” she declared. “It certainly isn’t the military.”
“But it does wield power,” Blake said. “In Atlas more than anywhere else.”
“There’s no way that it can be legal,” Sunset said. “It isn’t legal to do that, not for corporations; not even the kingdoms themselves punish people that way.”
Blake laughed bitterly. “So what if it’s illegal? Do you think anybody is going to challenge the SDC on behalf of a few faunus?”
“Yes,” Rainbow said with an absolute certitude which she did not entirely feel. I hope so, anyway. She hesitated. “Do you know how he got it?”
Blake hesitated. “Adam’s past was a mystery, even to me. I knew that he had been branded; he showed it to me – on the clear understanding that I wouldn’t tell anyone else – but he never explained how he got it or… anything about himself before he joined the White Fang.” She paused. “Does it matter?”
“It might help work out where it’s happening,” Rainbow muttered.
“Who would do something like that?” Sun asked. “I mean… what’s the point?”
“It’s about power,” Blake growled. “Whoever did this… they did it because they can. They did it to show that they can.”
Rainbow frowned. Her ears twitched. “Whatever. I don’t suppose you’ll change your mind now about cooperating with us?”
“I hope so,” Sunset muttered.
“I… I’ll think about it,” Blake said softly.
“Blake!” Sunset groaned.
“If we had been just a second later-” Rainbow began.
“I said I’ll think about it, and I meant it!” Blake cut her off. “I’m not just saying that I’ll think about it so that I can come back later and tell you no. I… I admit that there is something to be gained-”
“You can take Atlesian help, or you can do this on your own,” Sunset declared. “I’m done.”
Blake whirled to look at her, her tangled black hair flying around her. “Sunset!”
“Torchwick had you!” Sunset snarled. “Just like Adam had me, bang to rights. We’re not Jaune’s comic book superheroes, Blake! We’re not going to save the world all by ourselves! Now you may not enjoy living, but I do!”
“Is that what you think this is about?” Blake cried. “Do you think that I’m trying to get myself killed?”
“I don’t know, are you?”
“I’m trying to help!”
“You’re trying to make yourself feel better!”
“Maybe I am,” Blake admitted, her voice loud and high. Her breathing was ragged. “Maybe I am,” she repeated, quieter this time. “But I… I’ve done things that I need to make up for. That I have to; nobody else can atone for them on my behalf.”
“How do you balance your desire to do penance with the ill behalf from the inefficiency of your attempts to do so?” Ciel demanded. She got out of her seat and came to stand by Rainbow Dash. “Perhaps you should help us defeat the immediate threat and then worry about how you will square your past associations?”
Blake didn’t reply, and Rainbow took pity on her and opened the door to let her out. She didn’t thank Rainbow for that, any more than she had thanked Rainbow for rescue; she just leapt out and presumably started walking back to Beacon. Sun followed, calling her name.
Sunset lingered for a moment, both hands upon the handles of that ugly bike of hers. “Thanks,” she said quietly.
Rainbow nodded stiffly. “Any time.”
“I hope not,” Sunset muttered. “That would be unbearable. I’d have to throw myself off the cliff.” She winced. She glanced at Rainbow and then looked away. Her ears flattened into her fiery hair. “Listen, Rainbow… don‘t sweat it, okay?”
Rainbow’s brow furrowed. “Sweat what?” she asked, although she could have guessed the answer already.
“What happened to that guy down some SDC mine,” Sunset said. She reached up and scratched the back of her head. “You’re still an incredibly lucky faunus,” she said.
Yeah, ain’t that the truth. “I know,” Rainbow said, a little defensively.
Sunset hesitated, but must have decided against saying anything else, because she took her bike and left, wheeling it out of the airship and out towards the garages.
Rainbow lingered in the Skyray. She walked out into the passenger section, one fist resting on the wall.
“Rainbow Dash,” Ciel murmured.
Rainbow looked over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Do not draw too many comparisons based on your race,” Ciel advised her. “While we have had our disagreements, and I sometimes find you a little heedless and headstrong… that does not change the fact that you are an honourable soldier of Atlas, a flower of the north as hardy as any… and more beautiful than most. You are not a terrorist.”
“No, I’m not,” Rainbow replied. But I might have ended up down a mine if things had gone a little differently. It wasn’t as though work had been abundant in Low Town. Rainbow might well have ended up, as so many did, heading for the nearest mine where they were always hiring new labourers.
And there… people might have taken a different view of ‘headstrong and heedless’.
“You go on ahead,” she told Ciel. “I’ll catch up.”
Ciel hesitated for a moment. “Are you certain?”
“Yes,” Rainbow replied. “I’m sure.”
“Very well,” Ciel said. Rainbow heard her footsteps upon the metal of the airship as she exited.
Rainbow was left alone, with her thoughts and the memory of that brand. The letters “SDC.”
“You’re just a token faunus to them!”
That’s not true. They’re my friends, they wouldn’t… they rescued me. If it wasn’t for them, I… I would…
I’d be just like him.
One of Rainbow’s eyes closed involuntarily, and for a moment, Rainbow thought that she couldn’t open it again: it was fused shut, burned shut; she was blinded there forever-
Yes I do,
It fills my heart with sunshine all the while,
Yes it does,
Rainbow’s eye opened. She blinked rapidly and breathed in and out pretty rapidly too as her scroll continued to ring.
'Cause all I really need’s a smile, smile, smile,
From these happy friends of mine,
Rainbow pulled out her scroll with one trembling hand. She opened it up and answered it.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie cried, her beaming image appearing on the screen.
“Hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow said softly. “You… you got me at just the right time.”
Pinkie’s smile became a little gentler, almost kind of sad. “Yeah, funny how that happens, huh?” She laughed nervously. “Listen, Rainbow Dash… you know that if you’re ever in any trouble, you can always talk to me, right? Whatever it takes to put a smile back on that face.”
Rainbow chuckled. “You’re doing a pretty good job already, Pinkie.”
“I’m glad,” Pinkie murmured. “I just… Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah?”
Pinkie blinked. “You know that we all love you, right? You’re a part of all of us.”
Rainbow stared down at her friend, her silly, cake-baking, party-planning friend. “I know, Pinkie.”
“Promise you won’t forget,” Pinkie said.
“I promise.”
“Do you Pinkie promise?”
Rainbow grinned. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She paused. “Hey, Pinkie?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Pinkie made a squeaking sound as she smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“Blake!” Sun called, as he chased after her. “Blake, wait up!”
Blake ignored him. She strode purposefully across the grass towards Beacon. Towards her dorm, her bed, and a door that she could put between herself and Sun.
“Blake!” Sun yelled again. “Will you just listen to me?” He reached out and put one hand on her arm.
Blake used a clone to get away from him, the Blake he had laid a hand on disappearing in a puff of smoke before the real Blake appeared a couple of feet away from him.
“Go away, Sun!” she snapped. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
Sun stared at her. “Well… you know… our dorms are kind of in the same general direction, so…”
Blake huffed and turned away from him again and resumed her stomping march back to school.
“I’m not going to apologise,” Sun called to her retreating back. “I know that what I did wasn’t what you wanted… but I’m not going to say sorry for caring about you.”
Blake stopped. “You say that you care about me, but you don’t care about my wishes,” she declared, glaring at him over her shoulder.
Sun’s expression was anguished, his mouth open, his eyebrows arching upwards as if they were trying to form a triangle. He held out his hands towards her. “I saw you leave,” he admitted, “with Sunset, on her bike. I thought… I was worried.”
“I could have handled it,” Blake insisted.
“No, you couldn’t!” Sunset shouted from behind Sun as she dragged her bike along the grass.
Blake rolled her eyes. “I didn’t want you anywhere near me tonight,” she told Sun, “and you should have respected that.”
“And I would, most of the time,” Sun replied defensively. “Like… if you wanted to go out with the girls and… do girls' night stuff, then I would absolutely stay away.”
Blake stared at him for a moment. “'Girls' night stuff'?”
“Neptune says that what goes on there is a mystery that only women should understand,” Sun informed her.
“Mm-hmm,” Blake murmured. “Regardless of Neptune’s opinion on lady’s night, you haven’t exactly been the best at staying away from me.”
“I… can get that,” Sun conceded. “But… look, I’m sorry. I’ve just never been with an amazing girl like you before – well, I’ve never really been with a girl before, but anyway – and you laughed when Sunset threw me across the café that one time, so I thought you enjoyed when I just showed up, and I did it because I wanted to make you happy, so if you don’t like it, then you should have said something, and I would have stopped. But this… this is different. When I saw you leave with Sunset, I thought that you might get in trouble, and… and I couldn’t just let you go on your own – or with just Sunset – like that. I had to try and help you. Because I care about you, and I’m not going to apologise for that, and… and you can’t ask me to stop. It’s not fair.”
“'It’s not fair'?” Blake repeated.
“Yeah,” Sun agreed. “Come on, who does that?”
Blake looked away from him. A sudden night breeze ran through the air, blowing her wild tangle of black hair into her face. Blake raised one hand to brush it aside. “What you did… it was very sweet,” she whispered, “but the fact remains that I didn’t want you anywhere near me tonight.”
“Why not?” Sun asked. “Why is it so bad to have people who care about you?”
“Because Adam will kill you!” Blake cried. “He’ll hunt you down in some dark place where there is no help, and then he’ll cut you down.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re mine!” Blake yelled. “You’re mine, and I’m yours where I used to be his, and he won’t… he won’t be able to abide that; he’ll… he’ll…” She sniffed, and as her vision blurred, she realised that she was crying.
“I should never have had anything to do with you,” she sobbed.
She felt a pair of strong arms enfolding her and a solid chest pressing against her own.
“Blake,” Sun whispered into her ear, “there’s still so much that I don’t know about you. It feels like I barely know you at all. But that’s fine. You don’t want to tell me, you want to keep your secrets, that’s your choice. But whether or not I stand by your side… that’s my choice.”
Blake closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean into his embrace. “Sun, I-”
“Hey, stop that,” Sunset snapped. “It’s bad enough having to watch Jaune and Pyrrha having more fun than me without having to put up with it from the two of you as well.”
Blake smiled and wiped at her eyes with the back of one hand as Sun released her, and she retreated back a step. “Thank you, Sunset,” she said. “I… thank you, for coming with me.”
Sunset stared at her. “This is the part where I’m supposed to be gracious and say ‘any time’; but… no, that’s not happening. I know the arguments, and I know the things that you said to convince me that someone has to do something are just as valid as when you talked me into this… but we are not enough for this.”
Blake pursed her lips together. Sunset… uncomfortably, she had a point. They had barely held their own against Adam and Torchwick; how would they have fared against the White Fang as a whole? She felt foolish, quixotically so, and yet… the alternative of trusting General Ironwood and the Atlesian forces…
Rainbow and her team might be good people, but that didn’t mean that all of Atlas was as trustworthy as she was.
“What about your own headmaster?” Sun queried. “If you don’t want to tell that general, why not Professor Ozpin? He seems pretty cool.”
“No,” Sunset said immediately. “We are not telling Professor Ozpin anything.”
Blake blinked. “You don’t trust Professor Ozpin?”
“No, I don’t,” Sunset declared. “I think he manipulates people into doing what he wants. I think he arranged the whole fight at the docks where Ruby got hurt.”
“That… doesn’t make much sense.”
“He knew who you were,” Sunset reminded her. “He could have found out Rainbow’s history with the White Fang; he allowed them to come to Beacon anyway to arrange a confrontation that would lead us to the docks.”
“That… sounds like the kind of thing that should have a wall and some red string to go along with it,” Sun said apologetically.
It makes my fears about Atlas seem grounded, Blake thought. But at the same time, having been so stubborn with Sunset about Atlas, she could hardly deny Sunset any right to her own concerns, regardless of how frivolous they seemed to her. After all, it was clear that Sunset thought Blake’s concerns were pretty ridiculous.
“Okay,” she said. “No Professor Ozpin. As for Atlas… I meant what I said. I’ll think about it.”
Sunset slipped back into her dorm room as quietly as she could. It was pretty late; everyone else was probably-
"Sunset?"
Sunset stood still and silent for a moment. "Ruby?" She whispered. "You're still up?"
"We all are," Ruby said plaintively. "We waited up for you."
Sunset turned on the lights. They were all awake, just as Ruby had said, and they were all looking right at her.
"You didn't need to stay up," Sunset said. “I told Pyrrha that you didn’t need to stay up.” Sure, I told her sarcastically, but that was only because I didn’t think that she might actually do it.
Jaune groaned. "Now you tell us," he said, before he stifled a truly leonine yawn behind one hand.
The corners of Sunset's lips twitched upwards just a little. "I'm pretty sure that I told Pyrrha before I left, actually, but-"
"We were worried about you," Ruby cut her off. “We wanted to make sure that you got home safely.”
"Thanks, but you didn't need to do that either," Sunset said. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
Ruby got up off her bed. "Where did you go, Sunset?"
"I can't say."
"Why not? If you're in some kind of trouble, then maybe we can-"
"If I was in trouble, you guys would be the first to find out about it," Sunset replied. "Probably, maybe. Look, I'm not in any trouble myself, but a friend..." Sunset paused, debating with herself whether Blake's situation counted as her being in trouble or not. Or whether Blake was actually her friend or not. She felt a kind of kinship with the runaway princess, but that didn’t mean that she actually liked Blake; she was so self-righteous, and unlike Pyrrha and Ruby, she didn’t sugar it with any great degree of charm. "I'm helping… someone deal with some of her stuff, but I can't tell you any more than that because it's not my stuff. But... I've suggested that we might need a little more help so...you might find out what's going on pretty soon." Not, of course, because they would be getting involved, but Sunset was sure Team RSPT wouldn’t keep it to themselves. She wasn’t sure Penny had the ability to keep things to herself even if she wanted to.
"As much as we wouldn't want you to betray anyone’s trust," Pyrrha said carefully, "the fact that you might need our help isn't all that reassuring. It suggests that your secret might be a little dangerous."
"It is," Sunset conceded candidly. "So if you just don't want to know, now's the time to say so, and I won't involve you further."
"On the contrary, if you and your friend are putting yourselves in harm’s way, then the sooner you involve the rest of us, the better," Pyrrha countered.
"Yeah!" Ruby cried. "We're a team and that means that we oughtta stick together. So tell this friend of yours to hurry up and bring us in so we can whup butt! Isn't that right, Jaune? Jaune?"
Jaune snored, prompting Ruby to look fondly exasperated, while Pyrrha simply looked fond.
"I guess it is time for bed," Ruby said, a moment before she joined in the yawning herself.
"Will there be more late nights like this?" Pyrrha asked.
"I don't know," Sunset admitted, "but I certainly hope not." She sat down on her bed, making no move to get undressed and change into her pyjamas. She just clasped her hands together and looked down at them. She wasn’t really looking; she was… she was thinking of that mark on Adam’s face.
Does Weiss know that’s what her family does?
Perhaps she and Flash are made for one another.
“Sunset?”
Sunset looked up to find Ruby staring at her from across the room.
“Are you okay?” Ruby asked anxiously. “Only, you seem… kind of not okay?”
Sunset’s gaze flickered between Ruby and Pyrrha, both of whom were looking back at her.
She wasn’t about to tell them about the brand. There was nothing they could do about it, and really… why should they know? Why should it disturb their lives of joy and happiness? Why should they be troubled by such things as this?
“I’m fine, Ruby, really,” Sunset assured her.
Although I might need to have a talk with Weiss about this.
Rainbow leaned on the sink. She reached down and held her hands underneath the tap, letting the water pool there before she splashed it on her face. She looked up and into the mirror.
For a moment, her face stared back at her. Then it was Adam’s face she saw looking back at her. Then her own face, but marred with that SDC brand.
It was a fate that could have been hers. It was a fate that, perhaps, she had deserved. She was just a faunus, after all, just a punk from Low Town underneath Atlas. She was just a thug with a talent for punching things. She didn’t deserve General Ironwood’s patronage, the friendship of Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy; she didn’t deserve Twilight.
I’m so blessed.
“Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow looked around, to see Twilight standing in the bathroom doorway, dressed in her light blue pyjamas with the little stars of white and pink upon them; she had her glasses on, but her hair was down, understandably. Rainbow thought it made her look cuter than when she bound it up.
Rainbow forced a smile onto her face. “Hey, Twi. Did I wake you?”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight reassured her. “Are you okay?”
Rainbow hesitated for a moment, silently looking at her, then she crossed the bathroom in a couple of quick strides and wrapped her arms around Twilight, pressing the other girl close against her, resting her chin on the top of Twilight’s head.
“R-Rainbow Dash?” Twilight whispered in surprise.
Rainbow put one hand on Twilight’s head, stroking her hair gently. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Twilight was silent for a moment. “For what?”
“For saving me,” Rainbow replied. “Without you, I… I wouldn’t be me without you. You know I love you, right, Twi?”
Twilight put her arms around Rainbow’s waist. “You’re my best friend too, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow closed her eyes as a wry smile spread across her face. “I know,” she whispered as she kissed the top of Twilight’s head. “My light Twilight.”
Twilight giggled softly.
Rainbow let her go. “I have to step out for a second, okay?”
Twilight looked up at her, blinking. “Why?”
“I just need to make a quick call.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“It’s kind of urgent,” Rainbow insisted, albeit quietly. “I just… trust me, okay Twilight?”
“Sure,” Twilight replied, nodding her head. “Always.”
Rainbow tiptoed through the dorm room where Ciel was asleep already – she had the ability to go out like a light whenever her head hit the sack and to go from slumber to one hundred percent in a split second; Rainbow was jealous – and Penny was in power-saving mode, her head bowed and her eyes flickering. She opened the door as quietly as she could and closed it just as quietly.
She leaned against the door, one hand going up to feel at her face. With her other hand – it trembled a little – she got out her scroll.
She opened it up and hesitated for a moment.
“So what if it’s illegal? Do you think anybody is going to challenge the SDC on behalf of a few faunus?”
She will. She’ll listen.
Rainbow called Cadance.
The scroll rang. And rang. And rang. It was the middle of the night – or the very early morning, rather – but Rainbow was still starting to get a little impatient by the time that Cadance’s face appeared on the screen. Her hair was a lot more dishevelled than Rainbow was used to seeing, and she had a pink silk nightgown on with a light blue sleep mask pushed up onto the top of her head. She blinked and frowned a little. “Rainbow Dash?”
“I’m sorry to wake you, ma’am,” Rainbow began.
Cadance blinked rapidly a few more times. “Is everything okay?” she asked anxiously. “Is Twilight-?”
“Twilight’s fine, ma’am, and so am I,” Rainbow assured her. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something else.”
Cadance’s eyes narrowed. “In the middle of the night.”
“I’m sorry, but yes,” Rainbow replied. “I… got into a fight with a member of the White Fang tonight.”
Cadance said nothing, waiting for Rainbow to continue.
“His face…” Rainbow hesitated, but then pressed on, knowing that she couldn’t keep Cadance waiting too long. “It had been branded, by the SDC.”
Cadance frowned. “'Branded'?”
“They’d burned the letters ‘SDC’ onto his face, ma’am,” Rainbow explained.
Cadance’s eyes widened. “My gods,” she murmured, her mouth forming an O.
“That’s… that’s not legal, is it?” Rainbow asked, unable to keep the anxiety out of her voice.
“No, it most certainly is not,” Cadance declared, her voice hardening. “I don’t suppose you have any information about who this faunus was or where they were branded.”
“Uh… it was Adam Taurus, ma’am,” Rainbow admitted.
Cadance stared at her. “You fought Adam Taurus?” she demanded.
“Twilight was nowhere near the fight; she was-”
“I’m not worried about Twilight; I’m worried about you,” Cadance informed her.
“I can handle Adam Taurus, ma’am, even if he is wanted on three continents,” Rainbow declared. “Or at least, I thought I could, until…”
“No one would ever have allowed that to happen to you,” Cadance insisted, seeming to sense where she was coming from. “Not Twilight, not any of your friends, not me, either.”
“But if I’d never met Twilight…” Rainbow trailed off for a moment. “Is there something that you can do about this?”
“I don’t know,” Cadance admitted, “but I do know that I’m going to try my hardest. It won’t be easy without details, but I’ll find out what’s going on… starting in the morning.”
Rainbow smiled. “Yeah. Ma’am?”
“Yes?”
“Are you sure about this?” Rainbow asked. “It’s the SDC, and-”
“Fiat justitia, ruat caelum,” Cadance told her.
Rainbow frowned. “I don’t know what that means, ma’am.”
“'Let justice be done, though the heavens fall,'” Cadance translated. “The SDC doesn’t get to break the law just because it has money. Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash; I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Rainbow’s whole body sagged with relief. You see, Blake? This is what Atlas is all about. I told you that someone would do something. “Thank you, ma’am, this means a lot. And now I’ll let you get back to bed. Sorry for disturbing you.”
Cadance smiled. “It’s no trouble at all, Rainbow Dash. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, ma’am.”
Classes resumed the next day. The timetable had changed a little since last semester – for example, to accommodate the new etiquette class that was mandatory for Atlesians and voluntary for everyone else – but the week still began with Grimm Studies with Professor Port.
The lecture theatre was a lot more crowded now than it had been during the first semester; all of what had seemed to be redundant space where the students could spread out as they liked was crammed with students from Haven, Atlas, and Shade Academies all sitting cheek by jowl with the Beacon students. Cinder, anchoring the left flank of her team CLEM just as Sunset held the right of Team SAPR, was pressed up against Sunset, their bodies squeezing together as though they were dance partners.
Cinder gave Sunset a smirking glance as the latter tried to find enough space to start writing her notes.
“To our Beacon students, welcome back to another semester!” Professor Port declared. “I hope you all found your vacation restful and recharging but remembered to stay vigilant against the creatures of grimm that infest our world! To all our guests from the other three academies, welcome! My name is Professor Port, and I will be taking over where your regular instructors left off in arming you against the many perils that infest the lands beyond the kingdoms. We are sitting in a fortress, but outside, it is growing dark, and one day, it will be up to you to spread the light and to defend it.” He paused for a moment. “Miss Shimmer, will you please come to the front of the class please?”
The classroom was silent. Sunset’s ears pricked up in surprise. Nevertheless, she stood up and – with Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ruby moving out for her – she was able to get out of the row of seats and make her way down the steps to the front of the classroom.
“Now,” Professor Port continued, “I understand that Team Sapphire had a little adventure during their vacation.”
Ah, so that’s what this is about. Sunset smiled. “Yes, sir, we fought a karkadann just outside of Mistral.” She glanced at Cinder. “Alongside Cinder Fall of Team Clementine of Haven.”
“A karkadann,” Professor Port said, his voice swelling with admiration. “Very impressive, Miss Shimmer. Well, since your team has been on an independent hunt, why don’t you tell the rest of the class, then we can discuss it while I, with the benefit of my experience, guide you on how to approach such a savage beast should you encounter one again.” Professor Port took a step back. “The floor is yours, Miss Shimmer.”
Sunset liked to think that Professor Port had summoned her, rather than Ruby, Jaune, or Pyrrha, not only because she was the team leader but also because she was the one least likely to suffer from stage fright. In fact, she didn’t suffer from it at all. The eyes of the entire class were upon her, and she was troubled by it not at all.
It was rather thrilling, to be honest.
One semester down, and we’re already building a reputation.
By our second year, we’ll be like Team CFVY but twice as huge. Everyone is going to be looking up to us.
Sunset cleared her throat. “We were dropped off by an airship at the sight of the most recent attack by the grimm, the identity of which we did not yet know-”
“Hey,” one of the Haven students – a girl with dusky skin and an untidy mane of pale hair – interrupted.
“Please raise your hand to ask a question, Miss-“
“Altan, Arslan Altan, Professor,” Arslan said. She raised her hand.
Professor Port nodded. “Go ahead, Miss Altan.”
Arslan’s face was disfigured by a frown. “Why was your team given the job of hunting down this grimm?” she demanded. “Was it because you had Pyrrha Nikos on your team?”
Sunset chewed on her lip. “Pyrrha… was asked to take on the job,” she admitted, through gritted teeth. “The rest of the team decided to accompany her because we are her team, and we weren’t about to let her fight some dangerous grimm on her own.”
“Of course not,” Professor Port agreed. “Any other decision would have been thoroughly unworthy of Beacon students.”
Sun’s blue-haired teammate Neptune raised his hand. “Uh, I’m sure it would, Professor, but I think what Arslan was trying to ask was why students were given this assignment? Shouldn’t this sort of thing have been handled by a pro huntsman?”
“There weren’t any,” Sunset replied. “In the whole city, there was only my team, and Cinder.”
“There was me,” Arslan declared. “I was in Mistral during the vacation, and nobody asked me to hunt down any grimm.”
“Well, you’re not Pyrrha Nikos, are you?” Sunset asked, ignoring the frantic but frankly indecipherable signals that Pyrrha was making as she waved her hands up and down to Sunset. Was she telling Sunset to calm down? Sunset was just having some fun.
Pyrrha put her head in her hands as Arslan made a rumbling noise in the bottom of her throat as though she was trying to avoid venting her spleen.
“It seems to me that this discussion is not germane to the class at hand,” Professor Port declared. “Please, Miss Shimmer, continue.”
Sunset smirked at Arslan, then resumed. “We arrived at the scene of the attack and-”
She was interrupted again, this time by the doors into the classroom opening.
A dozen people strode in, led by a horse faunus woman with long brown hair and a tail to match, dressed in a dark blue pantsuit and a white blouse. She was followed by a rather grave-looking Professor Ozpin, a rough-and-ready looking fellow with stubble on his cheeks and a halberd in his hands who was almost certainly a licensed huntsman, and perhaps a dozen officers of the VPD in full tactical loadout, their faces hidden behind their helmets and masks.
“Professor Ozpin?” Professor Port asked. “What is going on here?”
“Good morning, Professor. My name is Lieutenant Martinez,” the woman in the pantsuit announced in a broad accent replete with elongated vowels, “and I have a warrant for the arrest of Blake Belladonna; I’m told she’s in this class.”
They know. I don’t know how, but they know. Someone tipped off the authorities.
“Miss Belladonna?” Professor Port repeated. “On what charge?”
Sunset's scroll buzzed. So did everyone else's scroll in the classroom. Sunset answered, for all that she was standing in front of a cop, the headmaster, and a class full of students. Everybody looked at their scrolls. They all wanted to see what was so important that they’d all gotten pinged at once.
It was a video, a video showing footage of Blake robbing a train in the Forever Fall forest, destroying Atlesian security droids alongside… Sunset's chest seemed to constrict around her lungs as she saw who Blake was fighting alongside in this video.
Adam Taurus.
'What kind of monster have you been living with these past months?' asked the video as more footage flashed up.
“On charges of terrorism, destruction of property, and membership in an illegal organisation,” Lieutenant Martinez said, clearly annoyed at the interruption and nature thereof, “namely, the White Fang.”
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It's funny how both Ren and Yang are not on that list. Yang especially, given just how OP her Semblance can be.
Now see, I highly doubt that the charges will stick. ESPECIALLY with the number of witnesses that saw her actively fighting the White Fang that one night. INCLUDING A GROUP FROM ATLAS.
9339375
Yeah, no. With how Atlas behave with Faunus and the White Fang, I bet they would be the first to accuse her. They would put her behind bars and extract information out of her by any means necessary with the benediction of Ironwood to boot.
9339417
You forget, the LEADER of the Atlas team that saw Blake fight against the White Fang IS A FAUNUS. And already knows from Sunset that one of Sunset's friends is ex-White Fang. Rainbow will put 2 & 2 together, she's not stupid.
*your
That dash might be in the wrong spot.
*was
That reveal at the end is a very crafty move on Cinder's part. And, I might add, a clever way of departing from the show since this AU is so different. I appreciate that you haven't just re-skinnned the original plot with new characters, but have made it your own.
9339426
No, that dash is in the right spot. That is the end dash of the second pair.
9339424
I do think Rainbow have enought honnor for that, but her presence in the fight was unofficial because she was running an illegal operation on Vale soils. On top of that, this is the Vale PD who is doing the investigation so Atlas have no say in the matter beside maybe that some of the crimes involve Atlas or Schnee Dust Compagnie properties.
Even worst, this is military hardware they lost, so they cant risk a leak to the public that a terrorist cell in now armed with the latest technology available or the embarassement? At best, Rainbow could talk favorably in Blake favor at her court hearing and her supperior would want Blake in their custody and might even try to bully Vale into it like a good militaristic totalitarian nation they are. For them Might make right and being able to torture Blake for information would be too sweet of a deal for them.
Plus, if Ironwood discover that Ospin knew, it could push them even further appart on their view on how to run things.
Sunset, get word to Rainbow Dash immediately, and let her know that Blake is the trusted source of information. And Loyal Rainbow Dash can then explain that Blake Belladonna is a protected Confidential Informant, especially since the last chapter shows how determined they are to have any leads at all on these robberies. I'm sure that Ozpin will step in as well to vouch for her, especially after her invaluable role in the other students rescuing SAPR, but it doesn't hurt to reinforce Blake with a second security blanket
No way that local Vale police would be aware of who is a protected Atlas informant.
Herm... Blake is, in fact, a former member and she did help steal from that train as shown in the Black trailer. At the same time, she left, is actively fighting against them, helped save Weiss and, most importantly, is the daughter of Ghira Belladonna Chieftain of Menagerie.
She should have some kind of protection from her family, unless they really want to start a war with Menagerie right now.
Also, Oz is going to stand up for her. Sunset is going to try, Rainbow might as well. Weiss is going to be the big one though. If she tosses her weight behind Blake this is going to go away, though Weiss herself might have to face Jacques earlier than anyone wants.
9339440
Atlas ISN'T a totalitarian nation. They have a council, just like Vale. And they don't torture people. There are no scenes or proof in the show that Atlas has ever tortured someone for information. Your theory about what they'll do is a worst case that would have several characters acting severely OOC.
And concerning Ironwood and Ozpin? Ironwood couldn't care less that one of Ozpin's students is ex-White Fang. Actions speak louder than words, and the only thing Ironwood would know about her is ex-White Fang, which isn't an immediate nail in the coffin. Ironwood is above all a FAIR man. He won't condemn Blake without allowing herself to prove her innocence. And there likely won't be a trial at all, as she hasn't actually been charged with anything yet.Notice that the VPD never explicitly said she was in White Fang, only that they wanted to question her concerning the series of train robberies. Again, you are assuming a worst case that has been shown in both canon and this story to be OOC for many.
9339453
9339468
These points are vary accurate and incredibly valid.
9339477
9339468
9339440
Another important detail?
Rainbow Dash and her team are going to want to know where that security footage came from. Security footage from a train of the Atlas military. Who is it that possesses such vital footage that Atlas personnel are missing?
Why is Jaune on this list? He can heal people with his Aura, yeah, but his combat skill is nothing to worry about for Cinder.
now, Blake, you shouldn't assume things. Sunset does appreciate her team.
9339514
his semblance doesn't heal it amplifies other people's aura and his own.
Jaune Arc's Semblance allows him to amplify his own Aura or that of others. In "Forever Fall, Pt.2", when Cardin Winchester attempts to punch Jaune in the face, there is a bright flash of light, and Jaune appears to have taken no damage. Cardin, however, holds his hand in pain. Monty Oum said it was a first hint toward his Semblance, and Miles called this "a super strong Aura block to Cardin", having amplified it.[17] In "Vault of the Spring Maiden", Jaune's Semblance activates for the first time while trying to save the life of a dying Weiss, closing her fatal wound. In "Downfall", further details of his Semblance are elaborated upon, and it is revealed that he can amplify others' Aura by transferring some of his own, not worrying about running out due to his substantially large reserves.
in short, he can make your Aura heal better and take way more damage and even refill someone who is running low.
that he seemed so incapable of getting over is ex
It was enough only thing she'd learned in that house that she enjoyed
We don't need any more stores robbing
while you’re methods are a little too obvious for this
“All we have to do is be good citizens, and alert the authorities to the murderous terrorist hiding in plain sight.
and if that wasn’t a real kid that what was the limit
but he set her into battle anyways
And wasn’t that crime? Neo didn’t have a friend
that he wa leaving his doubts and misgivings behind
if you And your friend are putting yourselves
1. His.
2. The.
3. Robbed.
4. Your.
5. Forgot your closing quotation mark.
6. Then.
7. Sent.
8. And wasn't that a crime.
9. Was.
10. Extra capitalisation.
This story, in spite of all of the grammatical and spelling short comings, has captivated me. You, dear author, have done something that most cross over fics haven't done.
You've made the story you're own.
You keep the characters, and central theme of the story true to in cannon believable, but unlike many who follow a style that feels like it cheats, you don't.
Wish i could explain it better, but it's emotional justification, so the words are hard to articulate.
Either way, well done.
Dammit Joel...
9339495
I bet Twilight is already trying to trace who sent the message to everyone.
9339747
Ha, you beat me to it! I was going to say that in a review for the next chapter if it came up!
9339770
images3.memedroid.com/images/UPLOADED207/59457013365a4.jpeg
9339816
That... is golden!
I know the everyone thinks Cinder’s move is a good one, but if she just used the super control virus to make all the scrolls display her message or this incident leads to the virus being useless, man Salem is going to be PISSED. Congrats Cinder, you just blew your super secret weapon to attack ONE opponent.
9339578
Though I still don't think that he is much of a threat in terms of combat. The first goal in battle should always be to take out the ones who can support and heal the others first, makes things much easier in the long-run. But I don't think that they will catch Jaune alone anyway, his teammates will most likely always be at his side.
Point, I forgot about the amplify ability.
Still, thanks for the reminder.
"It was enough only thing she'd learned in that house that she enjoyed."
Not only does this show what Cinder has been through, but it gives so much to the character to Cinder. Great job to Cinder, I cannot wait for the Season 4 for this version the the character. Keep goin for the character. Keep in and stay golden ^^
Huh. So that's who the L stands for.
Uh-oh...
9340154
No problem.
i think cinder has him on the list because while he's no problem right now, he will be in the future because he can buff himself with his semblance and it would be better to take him out before he gets strong.
Man, Cinder seems unable to not twirl her mustache around sunset. that line about power in the shadows and "showing the whole world her power" is so vaguely evil i'm surprised she wasn't cackling at the end. the rest of the chapter was great as usual but Cinder's... I guess honesty for lack if a better term, around sunset is both inconsistent with her character, and makes me wonder how she hasn't set off every one in beacons alarm bells for "this chick be evil",
love the end there with Blake. It always struck me as odd that Cinder never tried to remove her by simply getting her arrested. in cannon it would even have likely resulted in Wiess being removed from Beacon and team RWBY fading as a threat as its down to two members.
9340861
One of the things that really frustrated me the first time I watched RWBY was the way that, with the exception of that one brief scene in the CCT, the villains and the protagonists never confront one another (Torchwick doesn't count, he's a misdirect to distract the audience), or even seem aware of one another; RWBY are ignorant of Cinder's existence and Cinder only deigns to notice Pyrrha, not any of the RWBY girls. However, the more I think about it the more I think there's a subversive point being made there about heroes, villains, stories and what kind of show this is.
That being said, since my thematic preferences are almost diametrically opposite I decided that I wanted the heroes and the villain to interact more often and for Cinder to take SAPR and their allies seriously as a threat from the word go.
9340952
I can't agree more. while I would never see her going all out to destroy them, Cinder seems enough of a control freak to ensure that any threats to her plan, no matter how small are dealt with. she doesn't make a move against Yang until near the very end, and while it also works to her advantage (takes yang and by extension team rwby out of the fight, while also ratcheting up paranoia and discord among the people) it still seems odd that she felt the need to have Emerald infiltrate (which we never saw how that happened) their group which shows that she thought of them as a threat, but didn't feel the need to move against them.
I will say in this case thanks to sunset having magic that's going to get her attention a lot more. after all a big question is how sunset even has magic.
9341095
9340952
I always thought much the same thing. If anything, I'm sure Cinder looked into Ruby, especially after the Volume 2 finale. The Dust robbery, the dock fight, the Paladin, the CCT tower and then Mount Glenn. That was the fifth time this silver-eyed girl interfered, and the third time she ran right into Cinder.
As for the rest of Cinder's team, I can't wait to see Rainbow and Lightning butt heads! I wonder if they even already have a history? And as for Emerald, she's always been immensely irritated by Team RWBY's cheerfulness, and that sentiment won't be any different for the majority of SAPR. But for the fourth member, I bet Emerald is green with envy (just like her namesake) for how much geniuine interest and attention Cinder is giving Sunset.
Just binged the whole story. Really enjoying it so far. Looking forward to more.
So basically Cinder sent everyone the Black trailer
9339429
"He said that he cared about her her, but he set her into battle anyways."
It's either in the wrong spot, or the first "her" shouldn't be there. Either way it's incorrect.
.... I disagree that Neo looks thirteen (yeah she's young looking, but like, early-mid 20s young, not teenager young) but this is an AU so I guess I can ignore it?
Why are Jaune and Nora on Cinder's list? Jaune's come a long way, but he's not a threat to Cinder's plans. And Nora is just plain out of the way.
9507260
On Jaune: if you're going to kill the entire rest of the team you might as well kill all of them; more to the point, it makes sense if you can to kill Jaune first before he can use his semblance to buff Ruby or Pyrrha when it comes to face them.
On Nora: when I wrote this I thought she was stronger than Yang, and the physically strongest first year. I was probably wrong about both of those.
Hu.. Mercury can do illusions? who knew.
What an interesting turn of events. I feel anxiety building up!
The envy of the masses: someone who can fall asleep upon hitting the bed. And Sunset didn't even mention his pajamas this time! You're doing so well! (I'm sure she'd get me back for such condescension, but the thought's worth the laugh.) And of course, more contrasting SAPR to herself by Blake. Less "lucky" Sunset, more "walk back from F-ing it up and its working out" Sunset. She has a team, but does she lead it? (well, we get the answer to that pretty quick)
While not at all an important detail in an of itself, I like the phraseology of the observation. Its this sort of tidbit that offers insights to both Sunset and Pyrrah (and Jaune).
Bring Back the Beast of a Motorcycle! Wait... yes, you already have, if I remember right. I always get Shadow the Hedgehog vibes from it for some reason.
And six months later, Jacques Schnee is running for a seat on the Atlas Council.
Was Sunset asking a question there?
Yup, probably.
Feels like everytime someone from Atlas about to make deeper conclusions, something interupts them or they change the subject. Sure it's about things they don't want to talk or think about but still. Or maybe i'ts just me, I'm just after the "Concert" chapter.
Dang it Sunset! You ruined beautiful.
Problem with almost every big organisation, isn't it? You know it the best, Blake.
Harsh in the context.
So... are they a thing? Kind of hoped for SunsetxSci-twi, no matter how implausible. Man, I'm such a sucker for that ship. Sorry.
“I’m not worried about Twilight; I’m worried about you,” Cadance informed her.
Awww
Every nation or leader stand for something right. Be it they really believe that or it's joust for PR. There is Cadence and Ironwood but they can still be outnumbered. Dash likes to think that a group of people can represent the whole nation.
And this, this right here, is why I like Sun.
oh no, is this where the whole conscripted into the atlas milatay thing comes in?
Excuse fucking moi?