The First Step
Jaune was awake just as the sunlight began to peek in through the cracks of the curtains.
He told himself that it was because he was used to getting up early, to do the chores, rather than because he was nervous or anything.
And he would have been doing the chores. Back home, he would have gotten up, thrown on yesterday’s clothes, and went out to take care of the animals. Sky – and Kendal, when she was home – got a pass on chores around the house because they had jobs, and Aoko got a pass because…she was Aoko, but everyone else had to muck in and help out in some way. Rouge kept the house clean and tidy and did the laundry; River looked after the allotment out back; Jaune and Violet took care of the animals. More recently, Dad had been having Jaune help him out with any handiwork that needed doing, like when a few roof tiles fell off over the winter.
Jaune lay in bed, thinking about what he would have been doing if he’d still been home. He would have started with the cow, and then he would have moved on to the chickens.
Thinking about it like that, Jaune found himself needled with guilt for having left the way he had. Who was going to do those chores now? Would Violet have to pick up the slack, or would Aoko be trusted enough to help?
Would they be able to manage?
Sure. Sure they would. Dad could do a little more, and maybe Mom too. They’d find a way; there were enough people in the house without him to keep on going.
It’s not like he was indispensable.
It’s not like anyone had cared enough to come and get him.
Jaune rolled over onto his side. He needed to worry a little less about how his family was getting by without him – because seriously, they’d be fine – and more about how he was going to get on at this school.
Yesterday had been a lesson to him. A lesson that his teammates were a lot stronger than he was and that he wasn’t just going to be able to waltz in and be the hero like he’d initially thought he would.
Maybe this isn’t going to be quite so easy as I thought.
Forget the Initiation for a minute, just the memory of Pyrrha swinging his sword, a weapon that she had never held in her life before that moment, with a grace and skill that he couldn’t match and then handing it back to him and pronouncing it good. She was just…there was no comparison between the two of them.
Jaune consoled himself with the fact that Pyrrha was apparently some big shot celebrity fighter back in her home country, so of course she was a lot better than he was.
Mind you, Ruby was pretty slick herself, and even Sunset…
Could it be that he had ended up on the team with the most talented students in his year, or was everyone at Beacon so far above him?
I might have to work harder than I expected. But I’ll manage somehow. This…this is in my blood, right?
Jaune heard someone moving behind him. He rolled over onto his other side to see Pyrrha getting out of bed. Her hair was unbound, descending in a great wave to just below her waist, but neither copious amounts of bedhead nor a lack of makeup nor even her very plain dun brown pyjamas could hide the fact that she was gorgeous.
Not as beautiful as Weiss, not quite, but still.
Jaune sat up. “You’re up early,” he said, whispering so as not to disturb Ruby or Sunset.
Pyrrha looked at him. “So are you,” she observed, in an equally soft and quiet voice.
Jaune smiled uncertainly. “Force of habit, I suppose.”
“Ah,” Pyrrha murmured. She hesitated for a moment. “I was just about to go for a run. Would…would you care to join me?”
Jaune thought about it for a little bit. It was kind of early, but it wasn’t like he had anything better to do.
“Sure,” he said, extricating his feet from underneath the covers and reaching for his trainers underneath the bed. “Thanks for the offer.”
“You’re welcome,” Pyrrha said, a soft smile playing across her face as she hastily tied back her hair into a ponytail, then sat down on the bed to put on her boots. She seemed to have every intention of running in her pyjamas; Jaune supposed that was an advantage of said PJs being so plain and ordinary. On the other hand, even leaving aside the fact that he was already starting to regret his blue Pumpkin Pete onesie, it probably wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing to go for a run in.
“Um,” he said. “Would you mind closing your eyes for just a second?”
“Hmm?” Pyrrha murmured, sounding confused. Her eyes widened, and her face reddened as she realised why he had asked. “Oh! Oh, of course.” She not only closed her eyes, but turned away from him as he hastily pulled on socks, jeans, and a T-shirt.
“You can open up again now,” he said softly as he pulled on his trainers.
Pyrrha opened her eyes and finished pulling on her boots.
They both moved quietly; Jaune was used to tiptoeing around sleeping sisters: when Kendal was back home from the Corps, she would sleep in a lot, and everybody tried hard not to disturb her. Pyrrha seemed to be pretty good at keeping her noise down too. Neither Ruby nor Sunset had woken up by the time they both left the dorm room. They kept a similar level of consideration for their fellow freshman as they made their way down the corridor and staircase until they left the dorm room and emerged into the courtyard.
“Um, you do have your scroll, right?” Jaune asked, as the door – which was on an electronic lock that required a student or staff member scroll to open – shut behind them.
“Yes,” Pyrrha replied. “I have it right here.” She pulled the device out of the breast pocket of her pyjamas.
“Great,” Jaune said, with a sigh or relief. “Because I…just realised that I’ve forgotten mine.”
Pyrrha let out a little giggle of laughter. “I’ll hold the door open for you.”
Jaune grinned nervously. “Thanks a lot.” He looked around. “So…running…um…I’m kind of waiting for you to take the lead on this.”
“I was just going to make a circuit of the grounds, maybe as far as the cliffs,” Pyrrha said. “Depending on how long that takes, I might do another circuit or two. It’s just jogging to warm up, not a spring.”
“Yeah, but the cliffs?” Jaune asked.
“The forest is out of bounds, but the cliffs aren’t,” Pyrrha replied. “But we can stick to the campus if you’d prefer.”
Great, now she thought that he was afraid. “No,” Jaune said quickly. “The cliffs are fine. Do you want to start right away?”
“Just a moment,” Pyrrha said, as she started stretching, limbering her arms and legs in preparation. Jaune did his best to copy her movements, and Pyrrha was kind enough not to comment that he wasn’t doing it particularly well.
The door opened behind Jaune. “Hey there!” cried one of the other students as she stepped outside and joined them in the crisp morning air. In the dawn’s early light, Jaune could see that she was dressed, like Pyrrha, in her bedclothes: a white top and blue bottoms. She was one of the members of Team BLBL, if Jaune remembered right; it was going to take him a day or two to get used to all of these names, but he remembered her face and her distinctive hair, neatly divided into half pink and half blue-grey.
“Good morning,” Pyrrha greeted the other girl courteously. “It’s Miss Bonaventure, isn’t it?”
“Please, call me Bon Bon,” Bon Bon said breezily, “and of course I know who you are, Pyrrha Nikos.”
Pyrrha’s manner became noticeably less relaxed. So noticeably that even Jaune noticed it. “Yes,” she said quietly, “I suppose you do.”
“Yeah, I saw you win your last tournament title,” Bon Bon said eagerly. “That Arslan was so outclassed, I don’t know why she even bothered to compete.”
Pyrrha’s reply, when it came, was clipped and cold. “Arslan Altan is an exceptional fighter,” she declared, “for whom I have nothing but the greatest respect. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She turned away and took off, her ponytail bouncing slightly up and down behind her as she started jogging.
“Pyrrha!” Jaune cried, as caught unawares by her sudden departure he had to run to catch up with her, only slowing to a jog once he had pulled level with his partner, or near enough. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry,” Pyrrha said. “For running off and leaving you behind; it’s just…Arslan deserves better than to be insulted in the name of some shallow flattery of me.”
“Is she a friend of yours?” Jaune asked.
“No,” Pyrrha conceded. “Perhaps the opposite, in fact, but all the same, she deserves better.”
They jogged across the whole length and breadth of the campus. Jaune was glad of the fact, because it meant that he got to see a lot more of the school than he’d seen just trying to find the amphitheatre on their first day. They ran between the old-fashioned columns that surrounded the courtyard; they ran past the floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed them to see into the dining hall; they ran past Beacon Tower that loomed so large above their heads as it pierced the clouds; they ran past the main school building with all the lecture halls for their classes and where they had spent the night in the ballroom upon first arriving, and they ran past the amphitheatre which included their changing rooms. On their way to the cliffs, they ran past large expanses of empty land that didn’t seem to be used for anything at the moment, and on their way back, they ran past the farm, which Jaune hadn’t even known that Beacon had. The sound of the chickens clucking away was a reminder of home both comforting and a little guilt-inducing. He tried not to think about it too hard as they made their way back down the main avenue.
They ended up in front of the statue that dominated the courtyard: the huntsman and huntress, armed with sword and axe, standing on the rocky outcrop with the beowolf beneath them.
Jaune and Pyrrha stopped, staring up at the man with his sword aloft who loomed so high above them both.
“Do you think it’s anyone in particular?” Jaune asked.
“In Mistral, it probably would be,” Pyrrha replied, “but here in Vale…I think it is more likely to be an idealised figure, representing all huntsmen and huntresses, rather than any two individuals.”
Jaune nodded. What Pyrrha said made sense. And yet, at the same time, he couldn’t help but notice how similar that guy’s sword was to his Crocea Mors. It was probably just a coincidence - Crocea Mors had that kind of normal shape - but at the same time…he felt a little bit as though he was looking up at an image of one of his ancestors, or a mix of all of them. The heroic Arc men who had gone before him.
So much better than he was.
“Jaune?” Pyrrha asked, as she put a hand upon Jaune’s shoulder. “Is everything alright?”
Jaune glanced at her. “My family,” he began. “The men in my family, they’ve all been warriors. My dad was a huntsman, my grandfather…I was just thinking…I’ve got a lot to live up to.”
Pyrrha nodded gravely. “And you will.”
“Will I?” Jaune asked. “How can you be so sure? You just met me.”
Pyrrha was silent for a moment. “In my country,” she said, “we believe that one who possesses a noble lineage inherits the virtue of his ancestors and then burnishes it up with his deeds in turn. Your ancestors will lend you strength and valour, just as you will lend it to your descendants in your turn.”
Jaune wasn’t sure what to say. Pyrrha was trying to be nice, he was sure of that, but at the same time, it couldn’t help but sound a little bit kooky to him. “I wouldn’t say that I have a noble lineage-“
“Your ancestors have spent their blood in the service of humanity,” Pyrrha reminded him, her voice firm with conviction. “That is noble enough to lift the head of the poorest beggar. Be proud, Jaune; you and Ruby both have descent as noble as…as anyone, though I will not pretend that all will see it so.”
Jaune smiled. Even if he didn’t believe her, he believed that she was trying to help, and he was grateful for that. “Thanks. And what about your family?”
“My family?” Pyrrha asked, sounding surprised that he’d brought the subject up. “I…would you mind if we went back now?”
“Uh, sure,” Jaune said quickly. He didn’t know why Pyrrha didn’t want to talk about her family, but she’d just made it clear to him that she didn’t want to talk about it.
And that was fine by him.
Pyrrha hoped that Jaune didn’t take it as rudeness on her part that she had so abruptly cut off the conversation and headed back towards the dorms.
She hoped that Jaune didn’t take it as rudeness even though she had been rude. It was just that she…she was afraid, quite honestly. She didn’t want to lie to Jaune or to any of her teammates, but she was afraid of what might happen if she admitted to Jaune that she was a descendant of the last Emperor of Mistral. It might not matter - this was Vale, not Mistral, after all - but on the other hand, it might lead to all of the fawning that she had come to Beacon in part to get away from.
The brief conversation with Bon Bon had been an uncomfortable reminder of what it meant to be the Invincible Girl: people trying to suck up to her on the basis of her reputation, assuming that she would be susceptible to the most base and shallow flattery.
It was a reminder to her of how lucky she had been with Jaune and Ruby.
She glanced at Jaune over her shoulder and hoped that he didn’t notice her doing so. Not only a handsome young man, not only a kind one, but a huntsman sprung from a line of huntsmen too. Not that it made much difference, or at least it ought not to have…but her mother might look more kindly upon a young man who came from a ‘worthy’ lineage, even if he did not come from a traditionally noble one.
You’re getting impossibly ahead of yourself.
I know, but I can dream, can’t I?
They returned to the dorm room to find that Ruby was still asleep, though Sunset was awake and reading something on her scroll; the light from the screen illuminated her face in an expression of stern intensity.
Pyrrha, who had opened the door for Jaune, closed it now behind her. She cleared her throat loudly enough to attract the attention of her team leader and Jaune, but not so loudly as to wake Ruby. She gestured towards the bathroom.
Sunset waved one hand, which Pyrrha took to indicate that she was free to use the shower. Jaune also indicated that she was free to go first.
Pyrrha nodded in thanks and proceeded to quickly take off her boots and grab her uniform for today. Last night, when they arrived in the dorm room, they had each found three blouses or shirts as appropriate, three vests, three skirts or pairs of trousers each in their size, along with socks and stockings of various lengths and a single jacket. Pyrrha chose the full-length stocking to complete her ensemble and carried stockings, skirt, and blouse – and of course her circlet - into the bathroom with her.
The bathroom was a gleaming white, with three-quarter tiled walls below the last quarter of plain white plaster. A bathtub sat beside the sink, which was itself beside the toilet, but Pyrrha was more interested in the shower that stood behind the tub.
She placed the folded pile of her clothes neatly on top of the toilet seat – covered with a towel for protection from any steam that might escape the shower – and undressed in the privacy of the enclosed space.
Once inside the shower, Pyrrha allowed herself one brief moment of stillness, letting the hot water cascade down her back and limbs, washing away all weariness and tension, washing away what had come before and opening up the new day to new possibilities.
I have three teammates now. Will I have three friends?
She hoped so, but it was so early to say. At least Jaune and Ruby didn’t seem to care very much about her reputation as the Invincible Girl: Ruby was more interested in Miló and Akoúo̱ than in her, and Jaune only recognised her as a girl on the cereal box. There was a chance that they might see Pyrrha Nikos and appreciate her for whatever she was, as a friend and not merely a warrior and a winner of trophies.
If there is anything beyond my skill at arms to be appreciated.
Pyrrha shuddered. That was her darkest and most secret fear: that the reason no one could see her, see beyond the legend of the Invincible Girl, the reason why nobody could treat her like a person was that there was nobody there at all. Nothing to like, nothing to love, nothing to appreciate or befriend: just an empty suit of armour and a powerful semblance.
She hoped she was wrong. She hoped so very much that she was wrong.
But she couldn’t be sure.
But, if there was anything to Pyrrha Nikos besides the heroic lineage and the reputation carefully cultivated by her mother, then Jaune and Ruby had come closer to seeing it than most others.
As for Sunset Shimmer…Pyrrha wasn’t sure what to make of her. She seemed more aware of Pyrrha’s reputation than the other two, but she did not seem in awe of it. Rather…
I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. I hope she didn’t mean anything by it.
Pyrrha shoved the thought to one side. She had used up her moment. She allowed herself to luxuriate in the shower, the water cascading through her hair and down her back to wash away all the dirt and sweat accumulate during the previous day, but not to ruminate. This was a new day, a new start; she would think only positive thoughts this morning.
As a result of unpacking last night, the counter above the sink was already covered with a variety of both bath and beauty products, and Pyrrha was glad to note that not all the latter belong to her. Some of them, like the dark smokey eyeshadow, belonged to Sunset. Pyrrha did not apply a lot of makeup, just a touch of blush to her cheeks once she had finished getting dressed, and a smidgeon of vivid green eyeshadow in a ‘wing’ effect like flames leaping from her eyes. The last thing to be put on was her circlet, threading it around her ponytail and onto her head.
Pyrrha looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled. She was ready to face the day.
Sunset got in the bathroom next, after Pyrrha, and while she was putting on her face, she had ample time to consider the question of expectations.
While Pyrrha and Jaune had been getting their exercise and while Ruby had still been sleeping, Sunset had taken the opportunity to do a little research on her teammates. What she had found was both encouraging and challenging. She had known that she had been blessed, for a certain value of the word, with two talented teammates, but a cursory amount of research had made clear what she had not quite comprehended before, not only how talented they were, but also how high profile as well.
Pyrrha Penthesilea Penelope Alcestis Ariadne Hippolyta Nikos, to use her exhaustively complete name, was not just a tournament champion; she wasn’t just a girl with her face on a cereal box. She had literally never lost a fight in her life, not even in the kiddie leagues. Not only that, which would have been quite enough for most people, but the reason her name was so ridiculously long was that she was literal royalty. She was the direct descendant – at present, the last descendant, in direct line – of the Mistralian Emperor Odysseus V, last Emperor of Mistral.
Sunset was not native to Remnant, but she had lived there long enough to appreciate that this was quite something. There weren’t many scions of the old monarchies remaining in the public eye: the current claimant to the throne of Mantle was a moderately successful motorcycle racer, little known outside of aficionados of the sport like Sunset. Nobody seemed to know who the rightful heir to the throne of Vale, the right contested between a dozen distant cadet branches. Pyrrha was something rare and unusual: a direct descendant with an indisputable claim who was also famous and successful in her own right.
It was no surprise then that she was a celebrity in Mistral; her decision to attend Beacon rather than Mistral’s own Haven Academy had made the news, to the extent of causing a minor scandal. Sunset hadn’t sat down to read them, but she’d come across comment pieces calling for a change in the leadership of Haven Academy on the grounds that not even Mistral’s brightest star actually wanted to train in Mistral’s school.
Great things would be expected of Pyrrha at Beacon, beyond doubt. Sunset knew a little bit about that herself from her time under Celestia’s wing and personal tuition, knew what it was like to have those expectations riding on your back. She knew what it was to be in a position where to be average was to be considered a failure because the personal bar for your success had been raised so much higher. But Sunset’s own concerns were too immediate for her to spare much empathy for Pyrrha Nikos. The point was that if those expectations were not met and Pyrrha did not exhibit the expected greatness, if she did not live up to the accolade of being the most gifted student to grace the hallowed halls of Beacon in its history, then there would be no shortage of apologists willing to blame her conveniently faunus team leader for squandering her potential.
And then there was Ruby Rose. Ruby’s profile was not so high as Pyrrha’s, not by a long shot, but nevertheless, her early admission into Beacon had made the local news in the island backwater she called home, and the news that a fifteen-year-old would be attending Beacon had warranted a modest article in Vale’s leading newspaper. Ruby also had expectations riding on her; Ruby could also not be average if she wanted to prove that she deserved her place at this academy.
There might not be so many apologists ready to blame Sunset’s leadership if Ruby screwed up, but Sunset had no doubt that they would be there.
It was the dark flipside of being a leader: if your team succeeded, you got some of the credit; if your team failed, you got all of the blame, especially when you’d lucked into leading a team with the Invincible Girl and the child prodigy.
All of which meant that Sunset Shimmer had work to do.
If Celestia could see me now, having to play well with others in order to get ahead, she’d probably laugh at the irony.
But I’ll make it work somehow. It isn’t like I have much choice.
She finished applying her eyeshadow and examined herself in the mirror. Was it the face of a leader? Yes it was, for all that the school uniform didn’t do much for her.
One day, they won’t be able to talk about Pyrrha Nikos without mentioning Sunset Shimmer in the same breath.
She emerged from out of the bathroom with renewed determination to find that Pyrrha was sitting on her bed reading a textbook, while Jaune was reading what looked like a comic.
I’m glad to see someone has their priorities straight.
Ruby was still asleep.
“RIGHT!” Sunset said loudly, clapping her hands together for added emphasis. That woke Ruby up. She started and rolled out of bed to land on the floor with a soft thump.
Pyrrha got to her feet. “Ruby, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Ruby groaned.
“Good morning, Team Sapphire,” Sunset declared with relish. She got out her scroll and swiped through to the day’s schedule that had been uploaded onto the device. “It is now seven o’clock in the morning. The canteen opens in half an hour, classes start at eight; if any of you are late for class, I, as your leader, will get in trouble, and that is not going to happen.” She swept her eyes across the three of them. “Do I make myself clear?”
“We didn’t come to Beacon to play games, Sunset,” Pyrrha replied, in a tone of mild reproach. “None of us are here to neglect our education.”
“Just checking,” Sunset muttered. She consulted the day’s plan again. “We have…we’re getting thrown into it today: Grimm Studies at eight, followed by Modern History at nine-thirty, followed by two hours of Personal Combat at ten-thirty, followed by lunch. After lunch, we have two hours of Plant Science, followed by Stealth and Security from three-thirty until four-thirty, then Fieldcraft is our last class of the day. Any questions?”
Ruby raised her hand. “What did you say the first class was again?”
Sunset’s tail twitched. “Jaune, get washed and dressed; Ruby, wake yourself up, and I’ll go over it all again.”
Jaune and Ruby were both quicker to get washed and dressed than Sunset and Pyrrha had been, a consequence of the fact that Jaune was a guy and Ruby didn’t seem to worry about things like making herself up. They were both dressed and ready to go by the time the canteen opened, and Sunset led her team out of the dorms. They joined a crowd of other students of all years making their way in the direction, and Sunset could hear them whispering about Pyrrha as Team SAPR made their way into the hall.
“Is that Pyrrha Nikos?”
“Yeah, that’s the Invincible Girl from Mistral.”
“I heard that she’s never even taken a hit.”
“She’s sure to come top in her year.”
“Whoever got her on their team really lucked out.”
“And she’s gorgeous too.”
Pyrrha frowned, and it was all that Sunset could do not to frown herself; not at the whispers, but at Pyrrha’s feigned disquiet in response to them. She loved it really; who wouldn’t? To be the object of attention wherever you walked, to have every eye and head turn towards you like flowers toward the sun. It was disingenuous in the extreme of Pyrrha to pretend otherwise, and Sunset was already starting to dislike the way she carried on. If she was going to be famous and popular, the least she could do is be honest about how much pleasure she got from it.
It was the same when they reached the cold counter: Pyrrha’s face stared up at the pair of them from a box of Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes.
“I cannot help but be a little concerned,” Pyrrha murmured, “that something like that is being offered for breakfast at an elite academy like this.”
Oh, yeah, like that’s what you really think. Just admit you love the fact that we can all see your face on it already.
“Does that mean I shouldn’t have any?” Jaune asked.
Pyrrha glanced at him. “It would probably be better if you had something a little healthier instead,” she advised him. Pyrrha herself selected a mixture of sausage and bacon from the hot counter, some fruit from the cold counter, and a glass of orange juice. Sunset was a vegetarian, so she eschewed the meat and stuck with the fruit and a cup of coffee to wake her before first class. Jaune took Pyrrha’s advice about the cereal and went for a full breakfast with eggs, hash browns, and black pudding. Ruby did not take Pyrrha’s advice and filled up a bowl with a mixture of all the least healthy, most high sugar-content cereals on offer, all lathered in full-fat milk.
“It’s a good job you move fast,” Sunset muttered, mildly aghast at Ruby’s choices.
They sat down at one of the many empty tables, and Sunset was about to make a start when-
“Is this seat taken?”
Sunset looked up to see Yang Xiao Long, Ruby’s sister and the expansively-haired leader of Team YRDN, looking down at her.
“Hey, Yang!” Ruby said enthusiastically.
Yang grinned. “Hey there, Rubes,” she said, reaching across the table to ruffle Ruby’s hair with one hand. She started to sit down, only to stop herself. “Sorry, you didn’t-“
“It’s fine,” Sunset grunted. “Be my guest.” Just because they were sat across the table didn’t mean she had to speak to them, after all.
“Thanks,” Yang said. “Hey guys, over here!” she waved to her team as they followed her into the hall, and eventually, the whole of Team YRDN had chosen their breakfasts and sat down opposite Team SAPR.
“So, this is my team,” Yang declared, spreading her arms wide to encompass the three new arrivals at the table. “Dove, Nora, Ren. Guys, this is-“
“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset announced. She noticed that Dove was staring at her. Like, really staring; he hadn’t taken his eyes off her ever since she sat down. She put down her spoon. “Is there a problem?”
“No,” Dove said, a little too quickly. “I…I’ve just…I’ve never seen…” he gestured just above his head.
The ears. Right. Of course it’s the ears. Said ears flattened against the top of Sunset’s head. “Yeah, well, get over it,” she snapped. “I’m a faunus, so what?” She looked down at her bowl of fruit and resumed eating aggressively.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table, broken by Pyrrha’s soft, melodic voice. “Pyrrha Nikos,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”
“Likewise,” Ren responded calmly.
“This one right here is my little sister, Ruby,” Yang said. “And you…Jaune, right?”
“Jaune Arc, yeah.”
“You got a girlfriend, Jaune?”
“Yang!” Ruby protested, as Pyrrha glanced at Jaune curiously.
“Well, I mean, not exactly, but- Weiss!” Jaune called out, waving to Weiss Schnee who had just entered the cafeteria. Her team surrounded her like bodyguards, Cardin Winchester in particular looming over her with a particular presence. Flash Sentry looked at the YRDN-SAPR table with a frown of disquiet. Miss Schnee herself glanced at Jaune, and then turned away with her nose in the air, leading her team to a different table some distance away.
Jaune let out a dispirited sigh.
“Eesh, that’s gotta be, uh…” Yang muttered apologetically. “I, uh…” she stared at Jaune for a moment, with his head bowed and his face crestfallen. “So, yeah.”
“Hey, Yang,” Ruby yelled. “You’ll never guess what I found in our dorm last night.”
“What?”
“It used to be Mom’s room!” Ruby cried. “We found their initials and symbols carved into the wall: STRQ, that’s Mom and Dad and Uncle Qrow and...“ Ruby trailed off, her excited expression suddenly turning embarrassed. Sunset’s eyes narrowed. Was Ruby nervous about something? Who was this R, and what was it about her that had this effect on Ruby?
Yang frowned for just a moment, and a shadow passed over her face. “Yeah, and I can guess. But that…that’s amazing, Rubes. Like it was meant to be or something.”
“You should come by and check it out after classes. We carved our own names up there too, you know, for the future.”
Yang grinned. “Sounds cool. I’ll swing by and take a look.” She reached out and ruffled Ruby’s hair again, ignoring her little sister’s protest. “I’m proud of you, little sis.” The rest of breakfast passed in casual conversation between the two teams, conversation in which Sunset Shimmer took no part.
She said nothing while she ate but cast her gaze across Yang Xiao Long and her teammates. Nora Valkyrie talked too loudly and said too much, while Dove Bronzewing kept on stealing glances her way even though she’d told him not to; Lie Ren was as silent as Sunset herself. And Yang…was there some way that she and Ruby could be separated from one another, emotionally? Could she turn them against one another and ensure that Ruby’s loyalty was only with the team and not with her sister? Possibly, but was the reward worth the risk? Quite probably not. If Sunset got caught, then it would shatter the team, not to mention what Yang might do. Sunset didn’t know her well enough to say whether picking a fight with her would be a wise idea or not.
She would let it lie for now and see how things played out. If the sisterly closeness started to damage the team, she would act, but for now, she would simply observe.
Grimm Studies was the first class of the day, taught by Professor Port: a heavyset man with a walrus moustache who felt the need to have a gleaming gold bust of himself in his own classroom. He had also managed the feat, remarkable even by the standards of some of the doddering old unicorns Sunset had had to endure at Canterlot, of sending half the class to sleep by the time he had finished his introduction.
Sunset nudged Ruby with her elbow, perhaps a little harder than she had intended, in order to wake her up before her snoring became too obvious. Just because the professor was restating the obvious, that Vale and the other three kingdoms were safe havens of humanity, didn’t mean that they weren’t going to get on to the meat of the subject soon.
“But first,” Professor Port declared, “a story.”
Jaune groaned. Ruby bowed her head. Even Pyrrha, though she presented the image of a model student, seemed to be somewhat disheartened by those words.
Sunset gripped her pen a little tighter and prepared to take notes.
“A story of a brave, handsome man,” Professor Port continued. “Me. When I was a boy…”
Sunset scribbled away as he talked, using a shorthand that she had developed in order to keep up with Princess Celestia’s lectures. She glanced at her team, seated to her right, out of the corner of her eye: Ruby was doodling some kind of picture; Pyrrha was taking notes half-heartedly and sparsely; Jaune looked like he’d fallen asleep.
Sunset rolled her eyes. Didn’t they get it? Hadn’t they ever had a teacher who conveyed their lessons through stories before? Celestia used to do it all the time. Admittedly, Port wasn’t telling his story very well, and Sunset couldn’t say for certain what the lessons that he was trying to convey were, but that was why she was taking notes on everything that he seemed to focus on: so that she could read it back later and get the point.
If she had to guess, right now, Sunset would have said that it had something to do with the grimm rattling around in the cage in the corner of the classroom.
He’s telling a story about a boarbatusk, and then he’s going to let a boarbatusk out into the classroom, and we’re going to have to use the knowledge from his story to kill it.
“Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. ‘Peter, he said…'”
And here comes the useful bit.
She gave Ruby another hard nudge and gestured angrily for her to pay attention.
Ruby just grinned as she showed off a stick figure drawing of Professor Port, complete with smell lines.
Sunset let out a faint groan. Leading this team is going to be hard work, isn’t it?
What was that you said about nobody being here to neglect their education, Pyrrha?
“The moral of the story,” Professor Port said.
Ah, here we go.
“A true huntsman must be honourable.”
Honour? We’re fighting monsters, not other people, and even if we were fighting other people, then what matter honour so long as we win? Are we supposed to bow to the creatures of grimm and offer them the chance to take the first shot?
This isn’t going to be like all of those times when Celestia would tell a story and then finish up by telling me the importance of friendship even though that made no sense at all, is it?
“A true huntsman must be dependable.”
Weiss Schnee sniffed, and when Sunset glanced at her, she saw the white-haired girl was looking sceptically down upon Team SAPR.
Oh, like your team is so much better? You’ve got a guy who wouldn’t even stand up for his girlfriend on your team; what gives you any right to talk about dependability?
“A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise.”
Sunset smirked at Weiss, just to pay her back for that little sniff. Judging by the scowl on her face, Weiss didn’t appreciate it too much.
“So, who among you believe yourselves to be the embodiment of these traits?”
Sunset’s and Weiss’ hands shot up into the air at the exact same time. “I do, sir!”
The two of them looked at one another. Weiss’ expression, from where she sat high up in the back of the classroom, looking down on Sunset, seemed to suggest that she ought to back down in favour of the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.
Bite my tail, you jumped-up tradesman’s daughter. This is my first chance to show what I can do, and I’m not going to yield place to you.
“Oho, eagerness!” Professor Port declared jovially. “Always a pleasure to see that the future huntresses who will defend our kingdom are raring to go. Alright, Miss Shimmer, step forward and face your opponent.”
Better luck next time, Weiss.
One quick change later, and Sunset was out of uniform and back into her leather jacket and jeans, with Sol Invictus in her hands as she stood facing the cage with the boarbatusk inside.
Someone neighed at her. Sunset ignored them; greatness attracted envy, but the jealousy of lesser creatures was something that she had dealt with from her earliest youth.
“Go Sunset!” Ruby cheered. “Represent Team Sapphire!”
“I plan to,” Sunset murmured. And in so doing, represent myself.
Professor Port smashed the lock with a single swing of his axe, and from out of the darkness of the cage burst the expected boarbatusk.
It charged at her, snarling and snorting.
No time to shoot. Sunset dropped to one knee, resting the stock of Sol Invictus on the ground, keeping the bayonet pointed at the swiftly onrushing boarbatusk.
The grimm was almost upon her, all four of its eyes gleaming as it leapt.
Sunset flicked the switch that extended the bayonet outwards like a spear, the blade shooting out on the end of eight feet of steel pole. The boarbatusk was struck in mid-leap, and though the blow didn’t break through the armoured mask that covered its face, it did knock it back, squealing as its trotters kicked at the air.
Sunset grabbed it, enveloping it with a soft green glow and holding it in place with telekinesis, keeping the soft underbelly of the beast presented as she drove her spear into its guts.
“Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training.”
Of course you are, Sunset thought. Was there ever any doubt?
“I’m afraid that’s all the time we have for today,” Professor Port added. “Be sure to cover the assigned readings and stay vigilant!”
Sunset walked quickly over to the front row where the rest of her team was sitting. “I need to go and change back into my uniform, drop my weapon off,” she said, as the rest of the class already began to file out. “Can you find your way to the next class without me?”
“Uh-“ Jaune began.
“I’ll make sure they get there,” Pyrrha said calmly.
“Right,” Sunset said. She should probably have thanked the other girl, but she didn’t quite have it in her to do so. She turned away and walked briskly out of the classroom and back towards the amphitheatre to get changed back into her uniform.
You know, in some ways, it would be easier if we didn’t have to bother with uniforms.
Nevertheless, she managed, by dint of a great deal of running, to get back to the amphitheatre, change back into her uniform, and make it to the Modern History lecture just a couple of minutes late.
She burst in. “Professor, I-“
“Ah, Miss Sunset Shimmer, yes?” she was interrupted and addressed by a tall, thin man with bushy green hair brushed behind him, his eyes concealed beneath a pair of opaque glasses.
Sunset straightened up. “Yes, Professor.”
“Never fear, Miss Shimmer, I’m well aware that Professor Port likes to engage his students in practical exercises on the first day of class, and Miss Nikos informed me of it as well. Congratulations on your victory.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
The green-haired professor sipped something out of a cup in his hand. “Now, take your seat. We’ve been waiting for you, so you haven’t missed anything.”
Sunset nodded. “Thank you, Professor.” She made her way to the second row, where Ruby was waving to her.
“Oh, and Miss Shimmer?”
Sunset half turned back to the teacher. “Yes, Professor.”
“It’s Doctor Oobleck,” he informed her.
“My apologies, Doctor,” Sunset said, with a bow of her head.
“Just something to bear in mind for the future, Miss Shimmer,” Doctor Oobleck said. As Sunset sat down, she could see that his classroom was a bit of a mess, with books and papers scattered all over the place, some of them opened, while cups nestled in between them. She didn’t really want to know if there was anything in the cups or not. The board was covered by a map of Remnant and its kingdoms, with various infocards pinned to significant locations on said map, all joined together with lines of red string. Sunset was at a loss as to what it was all supposed to mean.
Doctor Oobleck took another sip from out of his cup. “Now then,” he declared, moving swiftly from one side of the lecture hall to another. “As you are all, I hope, aware, this world is currently living through an unparalleled era of peace and prosperity. To what do we owe this miracle, which to the peoples of an earlier age might have appeared an impossible dream?”
Sunset did not raise her hand. She was not sufficiently sure of the answer and didn’t want to make a fool of herself. None of her teammates made any move to raise their hands either. Three students, however, did raise their hands: Flash, Weiss Schnee, and Lyra Heartstrings.
Sunset noted that they were all Atlesians. Oh, I know what’s coming next, don’t I?
It was all she could do not to put her head in her hands.
“Yes!” Doctor Oobleck said, gesturing with his stick at Weiss. “Miss Schnee?”
“To the strength of Atlas, Doctor,” Weiss said primly. “Which protects and defends all other kingdoms and guards them from harm.”
Doctor Oobleck did not respond to her immediately. He drank some more out of his cup, slurping loudly. “Are you by any chance acquainted socially with General Ironwood, Miss Schnee?”
Weiss looked a little surprised by the question. “He…has been a guest of my father upon occasion, yes, Doctor,” she admitted, “and my elder sister is a specialist in the Atlesian military.”
Good for her. Then why didn’t you follow her to Atlas where you could chill out with Rainbow Dash and the other patriots instead of inflicting that nonsense on us?
“Mister Sentry, Miss Heartstrings, did you have anything else to add to Miss Schnee?” Doctor Oobleck asked.
“No, Doctor,” Flash said. “Everyone knows that Atlas has its arms around the other kingdoms with its power.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Sunset muttered.
Doctor Oobleck didn’t hear her, or else he pretended not to. Rather, he replied to his Atlesian students. “An answer that would satisfy many an Atlesian officer, I’m sure, but as you will learn in this class, historical truth is rarely reducible to propaganda points.” He turned away. “Now, we shall begin with-“
Pyrrha cleared her throat and raised her hand.
“Yes, Miss Nikos?”
“Are you not intending to answer your own question, Doctor?”
Doctor Oobleck smiled. “The answer, Miss Nikos, is the subject of this class. This year, we shall cover a complete overview of the eighty years of history from the end of the Great War until the present time; future years will deepen your understanding of key moments in that history. By the time you graduate from these halls, you will have as good an understanding of how our world has reached its present state and condition as anyone in Remnant and more than most, for surely, no one can be so apathetic as not to want to know by what means and under what system our world became as we now find it.”
Sunset looked at her teammates, two of whom looked distinctly bored. Surely no one.
“Of course, my apologies, Doctor,” Pyrrha said.
“No need to apologise for paying attention, Miss Nikos,” Doctor Oobleck assured her. “Now, as I was saying: the situation at the end of the Great War. The Great War ended in what year?”
The hands of Sunset, Pyrrha, Weiss and Sky Lark rose into the air.
Doctor Oobleck considered. “Mister Lark.”
“2040,” Sky said.
“Correct, Mister Lark,” Doctor Oobleck said. “And if you were paying attention in Combat School, then none of you should have any difficulty telling me the decisive battle of the war.”
Despite the fact that Doctor Oobleck had just said that this was something he would expect any of his students to be able to answer, nevertheless, the only hands that went up in the air belonged to Pyrrha, Weiss, and Sunset.
“Miss Nikos?” Doctor Oobleck pointed to her.
“The Battle of Four Sovereigns,” Pyrrha declared. “After which the monarchs of Mantle, Mistral, and Vacuo all laid down their crowns and prostrated themselves in submission to the King of Vale.”
How many of your ancestors were there, I wonder? Sunset thought.
“Correct, Miss Nikos, and who can tell me what happened next, Miss Schnee?”
“The signing of the Vytal Treaty,” Weiss said primly.
“First, the King of Vale accepted the surrender of his fellow monarchs but refused to take their crowns for himself,” Sunset argued. In other words, he was a bit of a fool.
“Both of you are correct,” Doctor Oobleck said, which Sunset felt was being rather generous to Weiss Schnee. Probably because of her name.
Sunset considered herself to be gifted in the academic subjects; she considered herself to be so because she was. She had been top or near the top of her classes in the Canterlots of both worlds, and she had done the prep work so that she would not fall behind here at Beacon.
And by the end of the class, she felt pretty confident that she would not fall behind. History seemed to arouse little passion in the majority of the class, who could barely be prodded to respond to Doctor Oobleck’s questions, or perhaps it was just that they were nervous about raising their hand or feared to look too keen in front of the rest of the class. Sunset had known both types of ponies in one Canterlot and both types of humans in the other: the ones who didn’t like the attention and the ones who feared to be thought as uncool or eggheads. Both, in Sunset’s opinion, were more contemptible than those who simply didn’t know or didn’t want to do the work. If you didn’t have the courage to stand up in front of other students, how would you have the courage to face the grimm?
In any event, Doctor Oobleck’s lecture, which he had announced would cover the situation at the end of the Great War, kept doubling back into the war itself to cover from a different angle some of the material from the last days of Combat School.
As to being top of the class…suffice it to say that by the end of the class, Sunset knew who her academic rivals were.
After history, it was combat class, and the freshman students trooped down to the amphitheatre, where Professor Goodwitch was waiting for them in the locker rooms.
Getting changed – again – into her combat outfit in front of all the boys was a reminder to Sunset of what a strange place this school was compared to the norm amongst humans. She couldn’t help but wonder if the refusal of any of the SAPR girls to get dressed in front of Jaune, or conversely to have him undress in front of them, was an anomaly here and not the norm? How did the other teams, all of which were mixed gender, do it?
Perhaps it depended on nothing more than the nature of the girls concerned. Yang seemed to be positively lapping up the male attention, and Sunset, having been raised in a mostly naked society, wasn’t too concerned about what other people saw. On the other hand, Pyrrha did seem rather uncomfortable about it all, and Ruby even more so. It looked as though she was trying to hide behind her locker door; unfortunately it only shielded her on one side.
Sunset’s heart was not made of stone. She had been betrayed, abused, taught the folly of caring too much for others, but that didn’t make her completely without sympathy for anyone other than herself. She might not like Ruby very much, but she didn’t deserve to have to put up with being ogled by the likes of that spiky-haired lowlife or Sunset’s jerk ex; he didn’t appear to be looking, but after the way he’d treated Sunset, she wouldn’t put anything past him.
Although she was only half-dressed in jeans and a bra, Sunset nevertheless crossed the locker room to where Ruby stood and leaned against the locker frame and door, looming over Ruby an unavoidable amount as she physically blocked her from the view of anyone else in the room.
“Sunset?” Ruby asked, looking up at her.
“Don’t worry,” Sunset said gruffly. “They can’t see you anymore.”
It seemed to take Ruby a moment to understand what she meant. “Thank you,” she squeaked.
“Whatever,” Sunset grunted.
Once everyone had changed into their combat gear, Professor Goodwitch gathered them all together to give them some instructions on the lockers themselves.
“You have each been assigned one rocket propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armour,” Professor Goodwitch explained. “Additionally, your locker can be summoned to your position via your scroll or sent to a custom location via a six digit code.”
Sunset raised her hand.
“Yes, Miss Shimmer?”
“Why would we ever want to send our lockers away from where we are by entering a code into them personally?” Sunset asked.
“You may wish to send your teammate their equipment, Miss Shimmer, if they are unable to summon it themselves,” Professor Goodwitch replied. “For example, if they are engaged in combat and cannot-“
A series of panicked, spluttering cries interrupted Professor Goodwitch and drew Sunset’s attention to the very back of the cluster of students and to Jaune, who was being stuffed into his own locker by Cardin Winchester.
“No! Wait! Get me out of here!” Jaune yelled as Cardin entered a six-digit code into the holographic display. “Don’t do it!”
Cardin stepped back with a smug look on his face as Jaune’s locker started to take off. Trailing blue smoke, the locker ascended... about a foot up off the ground, where it stopped, enveloped in a glow of green energy.
Sunset scowled as he stretched out her magic to hold the locker in place. She could feel the locker straining against her; she didn’t need to see the blue smoke expanding across the floor to be able to feel the pressure on it to ascend upwards as commanded. It was taking a lot of power to hold it steady; telekinesis was one thing, but matching magic against kinetic energy was something else altogether. Sunset could already feel a headache coming on, a throbbing in her head from keeping Jaune in place against the full force of the rocket trying to carry him away.
“Pyrrha! Ruby!” the pain in her head sharpened her voice like her bayonet. “One of you get him out of there!”
Pyrrha was the first one to reach the locker, shoving Cardin roughly aside as she held up her spear, Milo. “Jaune, is your aura activated?”
“…yes?”
“Good. I’m sorry,” Pyrrha said, as with a single strong thrust she jammed Milo into the locker door and used it like a crowbar to lever said door open. She and Ruby pulled Jaune out of the locker, or rather, he tumbled out into their waiting arms, at which point Sunset could stop holding it still and let the locker fly off to wherever Cardin had sent it.
Jaune’s spare gear fell out of it as it fell, but it would only be scattered across school grounds. Hopefully.
Sunset clutched at her head with one hand, while Jaune coughed from the blue smoke that had pooled on the floor as a result of the rocket.
“Would have been more fun to watch him fly,” Cardin muttered, before flinching away in the face of Pyrrha’s furious glare.
Sunset stalked forwards, the headache from how she’d just exerted herself making her feel even fouler than the act itself and lending greater pronouncement to her scowl. Celestia had lied to her, and a lot of what she’d tried to teach Sunset had been complete and utter nonsense, but she had taught Sunset a little about noblesse oblige: you had to protect your servants, or they wouldn’t serve you for very long.
And besides, she hated letting other people mess with her stuff.
Her hands clenched into fists. “If you-“
“That’s quite enough,” the voice of Professor Goodwitch was not loud, but it was firm enough to reduce all others to silence. “Mister Winchester, perhaps a detention will give you time to think about why your unprovoked attack on a fellow student was unbecoming of a huntsman in training.”
Cardin growled wordlessly.
“And for you too, Miss Schnee,” Professor Goodwitch added.
Weiss gasped. “Professor! I did-”
“Nothing,” Professor Goodwitch finished for her. “You did nothing to control your teammate, the behaviour of whom reflects upon you. I believe Professor Ozpin informed you of this fact yesterday.”
Weiss’ face contorted with outrage. “Professor, I…” she appeared to control herself with great effort. “I feel,” she continued, her voice much calmer and more prim, “that it is deeply unfair to punish me for not intervening in a situation in which you yourself failed to intervene.”
Professor Goodwitch stared at her. “That is a very bold assertion, Miss Schnee,” she said, in a voice that was hard and rather cold. And then it seemed to Sunset that she smirked a little. “However, boldness can sometimes be an effective strategy. Very well, Miss Schnee, you are excused from detention. This time. But don’t let this happen again.” She turned her gaze upon Team SAPR before she continued. “Team Sapphire, you would do very well to build upon the level of teamwork that you just displayed.”
Cardin looked even more incensed than he had seemed before. “Professor-“
“Yes, Mister Winchester?” Professor Goodwitch demanded, staring at him from over the top of her spectacles.
“…Nothing,” he muttered.
“The pony probably wants a sugar lump,” Russell said.
“Russell! Cardin! That’s enough out of both of you!” Weiss snapped, in a voice that cracked like a whip. Sunset had to concede that she was impressed at the way that Weiss managed the difficult feat of looking down at someone who was nearly twice her height. “Need I remind you that your actions reflect not only upon yourself, but also on this team? I have no intention of being dragged down by a pair of primates like you.” She glared at them both, as if daring them to speak. When they did not, she turned away and advanced primly across the locker room towards SAPR.
The cold blue eyes of the Schnee heiress swept over Ruby and Jaune and lingered for a moment on Pyrrha. She looked Sunset, and her nose wrinkled in distaste. Her jaw clenched for a moment before she held out her hand. “On behalf of my primeval teammates, I apologise,” she said, and if she had left it there, then it might have been alright, except that she felt the need to add, “however, I must say that if your teammate is so weak that he can be treated in such a way, then perhaps he should reconsider his place at Beacon.”
Jaune looked shame-faced, and it was Ruby who spoke for him, crying, “That’s not fair; Jaune was taken by surprise and-”
“And do you expect the grimm to announce their presence before attacking?” Weiss asked. “He should have been more vigilant.”
Cardin’s not a grimm, Sunset thought. Most grimm are better looking than he is.
“Vigilance is one thing, but that is not the kind of behaviour one should expect from comrades in arms,” Pyrrha declared.
“Of course not, but-”
“Look, if you want to apologise then apologise,” Sunset snapped, “but I’m not interested in hearing this, and I doubt anyone else is either.”
Weiss recoiled. “Who are you to-? Fine.” She folded her arms. “I feel sorry for you, Pyrrha, to be held back by a team like this. It’s such a shame.” She walked away before anyone from SAPR could respond.
“Don’t listen to her, Jaune,” Ruby said encouragingly.
“Anyone can be taken by surprise,” Pyrrha said.
Jaune didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue the point. He just stood there looking crestfallen, although whether it was due to his perceived weakness or because his crush had just burned him, Sunset could not have said.
Professor Goodwitch cleared her throat. “If you are all quite finished,” she said, with obvious impatience in her voice, “please follow me into the amphitheatre proper, where we will begin.”
The amphitheatre was a little more brightly lit than it had been when they had all received their dubious welcome from Professor Ozpin, so that Sunset could actually see her fellow students as they made their way inside. She could also see a balcony level set above them, so that people could look down upon the stage from above. Down below, a lot of flat, armless benches had been set up, each one large enough for four people to sit side by side, so the students could watch what was about to unfold.
The students didn’t wait to be told to sit down. They took seats by their teams as Professor Goodwitch mounted the stage.
“Welcome, students, to your sparring class,” she said. “In these sessions, you will be trained to combat other huntsmen; it is regrettable, but even in the present era of peace, you must be prepared for the possibility that you will be called upon to face a fellow huntsman fallen from the path of righteousness or an enemy trained in the use of their aura. In these classes, I will endeavour to arm you against just such a possibility, as well as preparing you for the Vytal Festival, which will be held at the end of this year. Any team fortunate enough to be selected to compete in the combat tournament will be representing the honour of Beacon Academy and the Kingdom of Vale, and I will not watch as this school or this kingdom is let down by subpar students.
“Before we begin the class proper, it has become something of a tradition for me to extend an offer to all of you new students, an invitation open to anyone who wished to take it up. If any of you can defeat me in a sparring match, then they will be excused from my combat class for the rest of their time here at Beacon. Does anyone feel up to the challenge?”
Nobody leapt out of their seats. Sunset would have dearly liked to have taken her up on the offer, more for the prestige than for the free periods, but her assessment of her own strengths was still sufficiently realistic to stay her hand.
She glanced at Pyrrha. Now if only we had a teammate who had never lost a fight in her life.
When Pyrrha showed no signs of movement, Sunset gave her a nudge.
Pyrrha looked at her. “Sunset?”
“Go on,” Sunset hissed, gesturing to the stage.
Pyrrha shook her head. “I would rather not.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s rather presumptive, don’t you think?”
“You’ve never lost!”
“Against my peers,” Pyrrha reminded her, gently but firmly.
“Miss Shimmer? Miss Nikos?” Professor Goodwitch said. “Do either of you plan to avail yourselves of this opportunity?”
“No, thank you, Professor,” Pyrrha said. “I would never presume so much.”
The fact that even Pyrrha Nikos, the Pride of Mistral, thought that this was an impossible challenge seemed to cast a pall over the entire class. Nobody got up.
Until Bon Bon, of all people, rose to her feet. “I’ll give it a try, Professor,” she said. “I could use the extra time for my homework.” Her friend Lyra covered her mouth with one hand as she chuckled at the weak gag.
Professor Goodwitch raised one eyebrow curiously. “Very well, Miss Bonaventure. Please, join me on stage.”
Bon Bon was armoured from head to toe in armour as white as an Atlesian uniform, giving it an almost adamantine look as she strode, her armour clanking just a little, up onto the stage. In one hand, she held a morningstar, Sirius, the chain bundled up in her hand.
She faced their teacher warily.
Sunset leaned forward. Bon Bon had never impressed her as one of the best students in Canterlot; did she really think that she was up to this?
Professor Goodwitch said, “You may begin when ready, Miss Bonaventure.”
Bon Bon took a clanking step forward, swinging Sirius around beside her in a series of wide arcs before casting it towards Professor Goodwitch, who sidestepped the flying ball of spikes as it flew past her head.
She grabbed the chain as easily as plucking a rose from a bush.
Professor Goodwitch heaved upon the chain, pulling it and Bon Bon too straight towards her. The professor ducked as the armoured girl flew over her head and off the other side of the stage.
“In an official match, leaving the arena is cause for disqualification,” Professor Goodwitch informed them calmly as Bon Bon hit the floor with a thump and a groan. “Therefore, Miss Bonaventure has just been defeated.” She looked at her. “Is there anything you would like to add, Miss Bonaventure?”
It had all taken a matter of seconds. The students were deathly silent as Bon Bon picked herself up off the floor. To Sunset’s surprise, she was grinning sheepishly. She scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. “Can’t blame me for trying, right, Professor?” she said, which caused a wave of mild laughter to spread across the amphitheatre as all the tension that had gathered there was dissipated instantly. Even Professor Goodwitch herself seemed mildly amused.
“Ambition is always laudable, but in real combat, one should temper it with a degree of caution. Now, we shall start off very simply with a series of one-on-one matches. I will observe, gauge your strengths and weaknesses, and offer any advice where necessary.” She consulted her scroll, tapping it silently. The students waited, expectantly.
“Will Mister Jaune Arc and Miss Lyra Heartstrings please come up onto the stage?” Professor Goodwitch asked, in a voice that made it seem like much less of a request.
“Good luck, Jaune,” Ruby said.
“Just do your best,” Pyrrha urged.
Sunset didn’t say anything.
“Aren’t you going to wish him luck?” Pyrrha asked as Jaune made his way hesitantly up onto the stage.
“He doesn’t need luck,” Sunset replied. “He’s up against Lyra Heartstrings.”
“You know her?” Pyrrha said.
“She was at Canterlot with me,” Sunset explained. “Trust me; he’s got nothing to worry about.”
The two combatants looked equally matched in nerves as they climbed up onto the stage. Lyra Heartstrings had eyes of gold and hair of blue-green streaked with white. She was swathed in a cloak of blue, pink, and burgundy, from beneath which only a pair of dark burgundy boots protruded.
Until she drew her sword, a simple sword of a falcata type, and held it before her in a low guard.
Jaune drew his sword and unfolded his shield. He raised his blade high and held his shield before him.
“Shield up,” Pyrrha murmured.
Sunset frowned. “He needs it to protect his belly, doesn’t he?” Certainly, his armour wasn’t going to protect him; it only covered his chest, a lot like Sunset’s own breastplate.
The shake of Pyrrha’s head was almost imperceptible. “The shield is a weapon, not something to hide behind.”
Professor Goodwitch stepped off the stage as the lights went down everywhere but on the stage itself. “Begin!” she commanded.
It soon became apparent that Sunset had either underestimated Lyra all this time or else she had overestimated Jaune quite a bit.
She was inclined to think it was the latter. His swings were clumsy, amateurish, the techniques of someone who had seen sword-fighting on stage or in movies and mistaken it for the real thing. He charged at Lyra, roaring with aggression, or at least with the appearance of aggression, and such telegraphed movements that Lyra was able to dodge his every attack, her cloak of many colours swirling around her. Lyra hadn’t been the strongest student in Canterlot by any means, nor had she been the fastest, but she had the basics of her technique down, and that was enough to let her evade Jaune’s ill-thought out assaults and subject him to death by a thousand cuts. Her sword struck out again and again to rip away at Jaune’s aura until the bar on the stage that displayed its level had dipped into the red and Professor Goodwitch called the match.
“In a tournament style duel,” she explained. “Mister Arc’s aura dropping into the red indicates that he is no longer able to continue, and Miss Heartstrings stands victorious.” Lyra’s aura had not been diminished at all. “Mister Arc,” Professor Goodwitch continued, as Jaune slumped on stage. “I advise you to work on your technique.” She didn’t specify which part of his technique, probably because it was all of it.
Jaune made his way back to the rest of the team with heavy, dejected steps, his feet dragging as if they had been weighted down.
“That was…unfortunate,” Pyrrha said.
“You got unlucky,” Ruby told him.
Sunset folded her arms and didn’t join in the comforting nonsense. Couldn’t even beat Lyra Heartstrings. What am I going to do with you?
The class continued in that vein, with Professor Goodwitch calling up students onto the stage and having them fight until the aura of one or other of them went into the red.
When it was Ruby’s turn to be called up, to face Nora Valkyrie, it was Sunset’s first time seeing her in action, her battle outside the dust shop having taken place while Sunset was preoccupied.
She had to say, by the time Ruby was done, Sunset could see why Professor Ozpin had let her into Beacon two years early. Nora just couldn’t keep up with her speed, and the match ended with Nora being flung up into the air amidst a burst of rose petals swirling around her like drops of blood before Ruby rematerialised above her opponent to fire a shot from her monstrous gun straight into Nora’s gun that hurled her back down to the ground hard enough to break the stage.
“Woah!” Jaune cried. “Go, Ruby!”
“Congratulations, Miss Rose,” Professor Goodwitch said, as she repaired the stage with a swish of her riding crop. “You used your semblance very well. Miss Valkyrie, in this particular situation, your best approach might have been to attempt to disrupt the terrain.”
“You mean I could have smashed up the stage?” Nora asked eagerly. “Wow, I’ll remember that one, Professor.”
“I’m sure you will,” Professor Goodwitch replied dryly.
The fights continued. Weiss Schnee defeated Sky Lark of Team BLBL, while Blake Belladonna of BLBL defeated Lie Ren; Yang Xiao Long cleaned up against Cardin Winchester; Flash defeated Bon Bon without too much difficulty. Pyrrha took down Russell Thrush so quickly it was over practically before Professor Goodwitch had finished saying "begin".
And then…
“Miss Shimmer, Mister Bronzewing, please come up on stage,” Professor Goodwitch said.
“Good luck, Sunset,” Ruby said.
The skilled don’t need luck, Sunset thought, as she picked up her gun and made her way briskly up onto the stage.
She gripped Sol Invictus tightly in her hands, feeling the varnished wood against her palms as she stared at her opponent. Dove Bronzewing held a short sword in one hand, a gunblade by the look of it; Sunset didn’t think it could hold many rounds, though, with the hilt being as short as it was. His free hand was empty.
Sunset’s tail swished back and forth. Dove’s eyes, as far as it was possible to tell with that squint of his, seemed to be drawn to it.
Sunset’s ears flattened in anger. Couldn’t he just get over it already? Even if he had never seen a faunus before, it wasn't like she had two heads.
He must have noticed the scowl of her face, because Dove tensed up visibly.
“Begin!” Professor Goodwitch commanded.
Sunset raised Sol Invictus to her shoulder, snapping off two shots in quick succession. Dove blocked them with his sword in swift slashing motions through the air, then levelled his blade point first toward Sunset to fire a trio of rounds off at her in turn. Sunset’s hand glowed green as a shield of energy appeared in front of her, a shield against which Dove’s bullets thudded as if into sandbags. They dropped to the floor, hitting the stage with three clinking sounds.
Dove charged. Sunset dropped her shield and let him come. She fired a third shot, and again, Dove parried the bullet aside as he dashed forward. Sunset stepped forward to meet him, slower than he was running towards her. Dove slashed at her with his sword. Sunset caught the blow on the wooden stock of Sol Invictus and turned it aside, reversing her weapon to crack Dove on the side of the head with the butt of the rifle. Dove staggered sideways. Sunset followed him, driving the butt directly into his forehead to push him back. She reversed her weapon again, taking aim to shoot him. Dove grabbed the rifle barrel as he twisted aside. Sunset let out a squawk as she was pulled forwards and off balance. Dove slashed at her, his blade slicing across her side and taking a piece of her aura with it. He threw her to the ground, but Sunset kept a grip on her weapon as she rolled across the stage. She fired her three remaining bullets at him, and he was out of position to parry them, two of them struck him, and he only managed to bat the last one away. His aura was in the yellow now, while Sunset’s was still in the green.
Dove levelled his gunblade.
Sunset flung her rifle at him, guiding it by telekinesis like a spear to slam into his gut hard enough to knock him over and onto his back.
“And that’s the match,” Professor Goodwitch declared. “Miss Shimmer, while discarding your weapon allowed you to claim victory, in a more chaotic battle, I wouldn’t recommend disarming yourself as a tactic. Mister Bronzewing, I suggest you consider how to handle an opponent with longer reach in future; however, there was a moment when you had the advantage, if you had capitalised on it by pressing home with greater alacrity, victory may have been yours.”
Dove grunted as he got to his feet. “Yes, Professor.”
“I don’t want any of the victors of these matches to be too complacent or any of those defeated to become despondent,” Professor Goodwitch said, her voice carrying across the amphitheatre. “This is only your first day of school, after all. Those who rest upon their laurels may find themselves being overtaken by those are prepared to work hard and practice. Equally, those who are willing to persist and learn from their mistakes may easily surpass those who grow overconfident in their current level of skill. That’s all, class is dismissed.”
Sunset leapt down off the stage, to be met by her team as they rose from their seats.
“You did very well, Sunset,” Pyrrha said.
Coming from someone who had wrapped up her fight in mere seconds without taking so much as a single hit, Sunset couldn’t help but find that just a little condescending. And she didn’t need condescension from Pyrrha Nikos, even if she had a list of accomplishments as long as Sunset’s arm.
It was all that she could do not to let Pyrrha know it too, but instead, Sunset merely huffed and said nothing as the rest of her team got up and headed back to the locker rooms.
Ruby hesitated. “Uh...Sunset…”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Sunset replied, quietly so that they couldn’t be overhead too widely. “I just need to have a word with Professor Goodwitch.”
For that reason, Sunset lingered as the rest of the class filed out, waiting in the amphitheatre until all the rest were gone.
Professor Goodwitch looked down on her from the stage. “Is something wrong, Miss Shimmer?”
“Not exactly, Professor,” Sunset said. She hesitated, wondering how the best way to approach this was.
“Please bear in mind that this is also my lunch break, Miss Shimmer,” Professor Goodwitch said impatiently.
Direct, then. Okay. “Professor, I don’t know why this school has a unisex changing room, and for all I know there might be a good reason for it-”
“The reason, Miss Shimmer, is to accustom you all to the rigors of the field, where you may - almost certainly will - have to work alongside huntsmen of the opposite sex without the luxury of segregated facilities. I understand that it may be a shock to you, but if you are unable to bear even this-”
“This isn’t about me, Professor; I can put up with it,” Sunset said. “But Ruby’s just a kid, and I...I’m not sure that it’s right that she should have put up with being...ogled by guys a few years older than she is.”
Professor Goodwitch’s eyes narrowed. “If there has been any harassment, Miss Shimmer, you can rest assured that if you give me the perpetrator’s name, it will be dealt with swiftly. Such behaviour is not tolerated here at Beacon.”
“I’m not sure I’d call it harassment,” Sunset admitted. “It’s just...she doesn’t like it, and her age, I’m not sure that’s her fault.”
Professor Goodwitch was silent for a moment. “Perhaps allowance ought to be made for Miss Rose’s youth,” she said. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Miss Shimmer. I will consider what is to be done.”
Sunset nodded her head. “Thank you, Professor.” She turned to head into the locker room.
“Miss Shimmer?” Professor Goodwitch called.
Sunset stopped and turned back towards the stage.
“You’re off to a good start,” Professor Goodwitch said. “Keep it up.”