//------------------------------//
// Pyrrha's Limit (Rewritten) 
// Story: SAPR 
// by Scipio Smith 
//------------------------------//


Pyrrha’s Limit


The book in Sunset's bag vibrated.
Sunset ignored it and tried to concentrate on the book that she was actually reading, a bestiarium of grimm common to Sanus for Professor Port's class. But the journal in her bag just kept on vibrating, humming like a scroll signalling that she had texts and every bit as irritating. It would stop for a bit, and then it would start up again.
Sunset was not hiding. She was simply sitting in a very secluded part of the library where no one else could find her, which was completely different. It had been a day since she blew up at Pyrrha, and somehow, everyone knew that she, a mere faunus, had dared to mouth off to the great Pyrrha Nikos. Sunset was inclined to blame Yang Xiao Long and her team for spreading the word around. Ruby had already admitted to going to talk to Yang about what had happened, and with the way Dove couldn't keep his eyes off her faunus features, Sunset wouldn't put it past him to have set out to ruin her and get revenge for the way that Sunset had beaten him in sparring class.
To say that the reaction to Sunset's behaviour had not been kind to her was an understatement. The whole of Beacon seemed to have taken sides, and they had not sided with Sunset. Today, it had been her turn to be followed by whispers including the words ‘impudent,’ ‘impertinent’ and the ever popular 'who does she think she is?' Sunset had even been asked that to her face at breakfast by Cardin Winchester, who had loomed over her while his henchman Russell hovered nearby.
Sunset was eating alone; she thought it was probably best for everyone, and in any case, there was no requirement for a leader to eat with their subordinates. Celestia didn't dine with her guards after all.
So she ate, in silence and alone, and tried to ignore Cardin's shadow blocking out the light and his obnoxious voice.
Cardin growled. "Hey!" he snapped, pulling on Sunset's tail hard enough to make her wince in pain. "I'm talking to you, pony!"
Sunset looked up at him, a look of cold contempt upon her face. "Don't do that again."
"You should watch your tone, pony."
"I'm sure you'd prefer me to call you sir or boss or master, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen."
"Who do you think you are?" Cardin demanded. "To talk to humans that way, to talk to your betters that way?"
"I'm Sunset Shimmer," Sunset said simply. "I don't have any betters."
Cardin's face twisted into a scowl. "Listen, pony-"
"Call me pony one more time, I dare you."
Cardin was silent for a moment. He stared at her, a smirk disfiguring his features. "Pony."
Sunset smirked, and with a touch of telekinesis, she hurled Cardin clean across the dining hall. He soared across the cafeteria with a cry of alarm, landing on an empty table recently vacated by Team BLBL. The table broke under his impact.
Silence descended over the cafeteria. Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha were all staring at her, Flash had his head in his hands, Yang was grinning, and Russell looked as though he was about to wet himself. Weiss's eyes narrowed as she gazed at Sunset.
Sunset looked around the room, locking gazes with all of those who stared at her, all of these little people who wanted to put a collar on her because they couldn't stand the fact that she dared things they couldn't dream of.
I know you all, Sunset thought. I know you all, and I have your measure too. With a snort of disdain, she turned to stalk from the hall.
"Sunset," Pyrrha called, half-rising from her seat, "I neither intended nor asked for this. I give you my word."
Sunset looked at her. She looked apologetic, but that neither proved nor signified anything. And besides, it didn't really matter whether she had intended it to happen or not. It had happened.
Sunset didn't bother to dignify Pyrrha's mealy-mouthed apology with a response, but turned and walked away without another word.
She left the dining hall and passed into the courtyard, where the fountain babbled away around the statue of the heroic huntsman and huntress. Sunset paused a moment, looking up at the two warriors, and tried to pay no attention to the hostile stares she was getting.
I bet you two wouldn't have bothered saving the world if you'd had to put up with my tribulations.
"Discrimination is a terrible thing. I regret that we cannot make swifter progress in eliminating it from our society," Professor Ozpin said. Sunset turned to see that he had somehow snuck up behind her unnoticed. He leaned upon his cane and sipped cocoa out of a mug bearing the double-axe emblem of Beacon  Academy. "That being said, I cannot approve of the employment of unregulated violence against fellow students."
Sunset threw back her head. "You can punish me if you want to, Professor, but you won't make me apologise."
"Hmm," Professor Ozpin murmured. "Miss Shimmer, I won't pretend to understand what you're going through, but will you permit me to give you a piece of advice?"
"If you like, Professor," Sunset said idly. People had tried to give her advice before. Princess Celestia had tried very often. It had never been of as much help to her as they seemed to think it should.
"You have been blessed with the leadership of an extraordinary team, Miss Shimmer. I believe that if you can work together, you can accomplish great things, both here and beyond the walls of this institution. You yourself have the makings of a fine team leader. It would be a terrible shame if so much potential were to go waste over a petty argument."
Sunset was silent for a moment. "You were right, Professor: you don't understand what I'm going through."
With classes done, Sunset had retreated into the library to gain some respite from all of the hostility. She didn't like to think of it as hiding, and she certainly didn't like to think of it as having crumbled, but... look, she was willing to put up with a lot of crap to get what she wanted, but Sunset didn't see that she should have to, especially after going through Canterlot already.
Sunset sat on the floor of the library, with her back to the wall, her body concealed between two tall shelves, and read the bestiarium as she tried to ignore the buzzing of the magical journal in her bag.
"Shut up," Sunset growled at the book.
The journal buzzed again.
Sunset scowled and exhaled loudly. "Fine! Okay, you win." She snapped shut the book of grimm and pulled out the journal. Her name, and variations on 'are you there?' took up most of a page.
 What? Sunset scrawled angrily onto the page. She thought it was Princess Twilight Sparkle writing; she thought that she could still have recognised Celestia's writing if her old teacher had deigned to descend from her lofty detachment to speak to Sunset, but to be perfectly honest, she probably would have responded the same way to either of them at this point.
 Great, you're here.
It's Twilight Sparkle, isn't it? She wrote, just to confirm who she was speaking to.
Hello again.
 What do you want?
 What time is it where you are?
Sunset stared at the inane and nonsensical words that had appeared on the page before her. Have you seriously been bugging me all day so that you can find out what time of day it is? Seriously?
 No, I want to talk. There was a pause between the first sentence and the next, as though Twilight were pondering what ought to come next. But I would also like to know if our worlds are chronologically in parallel or on some kind of time differential.
Sunset stared at the page. A noise that was one part snort and one part despairing groan escaped her lips. I've been replaced by a nerd. Celestia replaced me with a giant dork. Sadly, that fit with what she knew about the Atlesian Twilight Sparkle, who merited that description all too well.
 I am not a dork. I'm intellectually curious.
Sunset smirked, for all that Twilight couldn't see it. Yeah, sure. For what it's worth, I'm intellectually curious too. She took out her scroll long enough to check the time. It's eighteen-hundred.
 Okay, it's five in the afternoon where I am.
Where are you?
 Ponyville, it's a little town outside of
 What time zone?
 Canterlot Mean Time.
Sunset checked her scroll again.  Where I am now is one hour ahead of the time zone in this world's Canterlot.
So we are in parallel based on the location of the mirror! That is so cool!
 Nerd.
 Hey.
I never said it was an insult, you have to own what you got. I've always been curious about that myself, but I didn't have any way of checking. Sunset paused, and her pen hovered over the page. Now, what do you really want, and why are you being so persistent about it?
 I want to talk.
 Why?
 Because Princess Celestia told me who you were, and I want to help you.
Sunset's face crumpled into a scowl. I don't need your help.
 I disagree.
 Oh, you do, do you? What makes you think you know anything about me?
Because you told me a lot about yourself when you didn't know I was there.
Sunset smacked her hand into her face. Yes, she had; of course she had. She cursed under her breath. She'd told Twilight... not everything, but more than enough.
 That still doesn't mean you know me. She wrote, not really believing it herself. And besides, you should worry more about yourself than trying to play therapist to me.
 What's that supposed to mean?
 Do you trust Celestia?
 Of course.
Don't. She lies, she uses ponies, manipulates them to get what she wants. She used me
Let me stop you right there before you waste any more effort. This isn't going to work.
Sunset's eyes narrowed. I don't know what you mean.
 Yes, you do. And it won't work. I trust Princess Celestia completely.
So did I, once, Sunset thought. She scribbled in the diary. You're a fool then. You're a fool, and you're just a replacement me! You'll only ever be Celestia's second choice, and you'll never have the kind of connection that we had! Sunset believed that. Sunset had to believe that for the sake of her sanity and her self-respect. Bad enough that she could be replaced at all, but to be replaced in Celestia's love, in the heart of her affections... it would be too much. Her heart would not withstand it.
Celestia asked me to tell you that she's sorry, for everything she said and didn't say.
Is she too good to write to me herself?
 I think that talking to you is something that I have to do.
 Because you're the Princess of Friendship?
You know, I can feel the contempt dripping off your pen, but yes, because I am the princess of friendship.
If you live where I do, then you'd think it was stupid too. Almost as bad as the princess of love.
 You knew Cadence?
I did. It's no surprise to me that you knew her too. Is she married to your brother?
 Yes, but how could you possibly know that?
My guesses are very good and usually right. Sunset smirked as an idea came to her. Yes, this will mess with her head a little bit. For instance, you have five friends: Pinkie Pie, who is annoying; Rarity, who is stuck up and prissy; Applejack, who has no defining qualities; Fluttershy, who is a coward; and Rainbow Dash, who thinks she’s absolutely marvellous.
Twilight took a moment to respond.It is uncanny that you know their names - although I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for it that you’re keeping to yourself for unscrupulous reasons - but you’re absolutely wrong about everything else. Pinkie isn’t annoying; she’s the sweetest pony I’ve ever met, and she tries every day to make the world a happier place; Rarity is generous to a fault and will always go the extra mile to help others; Applejack has a strong back and a strong heart to match, you can alway rely on her to help you in a pinch; Fluttershy is mild and gentle, but her courageous spirit always shows through in an emergency; and as for Rainbow Dash, if I was in trouble, there’s nobody I’d rather have by my side.
Sunset huffed.  I feel like those are matters of differing interpretation rather than incorrect facts. How do you become a princess of friendship anyway?
Well, it's kind of a funny story, but the short version is that I completed Starswirl the Bearded's unfinished spell and
 You what?
 It was on my second try.
Sunset stared at the book. Twilight had completed Starswirl's spell? It didn't matter that Sunset couldn't see what that had to do with friendship, because it was... as much as Sunset might not like to admit it, it was impressive stuff. Sunset... it was like pulling teeth from her mind to concede this, but she wasn't sure that she would have been able to do that. Sunset had been hailed as the most gifted unicorn since Starswirl, but Twight Sparkle... might be better.
Just admitting that filled Sunset with resentment, but also with a kind of curiosity that prevented her from simply slamming the book shut. If Twilight had been here in Remnant, then Sunset would have despaired of yet more talented rivals, but Twilight was in Equestria, the land Sunset had left behind. She could not impede Sunset's chances here.
And Sunset had been starved not only of the company of other Equestrians but also of an intellectual equal. And in truth, it was... flattering, to be sought out thus by someone of Twilight Sparkle's position and status, to be thought sufficiently important to be worth whatever it was that Twilight sought to accomplish. After years of being dismissed and trampled on, it was like rain upon parched flowers.
And, who knew? Twilight might not prove so immune to Sunset's corruptions as she believed.
I concede, you interest me, Twilight Sparkle. We should talk again. But when I choose, not you. Don't contact me again, I'll write you when it's safe to do so.
 Agreed.
Sunset smiled. At present, she would take whatever power she could get in their relationship Good. Then it's settled. Goodbye for now, Princess. She shut the book, with just a little more force than strictly necessary.



Pyrrha Nikos did not consider herself a short-tempered individual. Quite the opposite, in fact; she strove to be patient to a fault, as meek and mild as any gentle dove. She was not unconscious of the fact that she had been born to great wealth, to what was still in Mistral considered noble birth, that she had been immensely privileged in her life and upbringing; it behooved her in consequence to act with grace and kindness, qualities which she ventured to say suited her natural inclinations better in any case.
She was a Nikos. The hopes of Mistral rested on her shoulders, or so they said, even if they said so more in flattery than truth. No one wanted to see their idol do anything but smile. At the publicity events and the fan expos, at the parties of the great and good, Pyrrha had trained herself – and been trained by her mother – to stand silent, a smiling statue or a doll, to present if not pleasure then at least a calm serenity pleasing to the eye of others. She could put on a calm face as the world passed by around her, seeing her but not understanding her, vaunting her image and caring nothing for the soul beneath. With all due modesty, she was almost as calm as she pretended to be almost constantly for the world. It was generally melancholy and nothing stronger that touched her like a sudden frost upon a rose.
All of which was to concede it was quite an achievement on the part of Sunset Shimmer that she was managing to fray Pyrrha's nerves the way she was.
It wasn't just that she had gotten a stronger reaction out of Pyrrha than any other hand in quite some time. It wasn't even what she'd said to get that reaction, ignorant and pig-headed though Sunset's words had been. It was the fact that Sunset wouldn't let it go. It was as though she was constitutionally incapable of admitting that she was wrong, even if she could only assert that she was correct with no proof at all.
It was rather disappointing that her team leader was turning out to be as loud-mouthed and boorish in her own way as Cardin Winchester, but Pyrrha had not intended for word of their argument to spread all around the school like this. She hadn't appealed for gallant knights to defend her from the ogreish Sunset. She certainly hadn't asked anyone to steal one of Sunset's tops from the laundry room and use it for something absolutely disgusting, but when Sunset had stormed into the dorm room brandishing her top with that sticky white stain upon it, there could be no doubt whom she held responsible.
Pyrrha was getting a little tired of it. She had come to Beacon to escape her pedestal, but leaving aside the fact that she had largely failed to do so, she hadn't come here in order to be sneered at, glared at, muttered about, or generally blamed for things that were not her fault.
The atmosphere in the dorm room tonight, for example, was terrible. Sunset seemed to have a dark cloud hovering around her shoulders blacker than her jacket. It felt as though she had turned the floor to glass, and the slightest thing would set her off again.
Pyrrha pursed her lips together. It wasn't fair, the way that Sunset was behaving. It wasn't fair on her, and it wasn't fair on Ruby or Jaune either, both of whom looked as though they had been dropped into the middle of a minefield with no map of the way out, if such a thing existed.
Pyrrha put her Legends of Remnant homework to one side and cleared her throat. "Sunset?"
Sunset ignored her. She was acting as though she was working, but considering that Sunset got better grades than Pyrrha did, Pyrrha couldn't believe that Sunset was actually still doing Doctor Oobleck's essay. She was just behaving childishly by ignoring Pyrrha.
"Sunset," Pyrrha repeated, louder and a little more firmly this time. Ruby and Jaune both looked up and towards her.
Sunset sighed. "What?" she demanded.
"Would you mind stepping outside with me for a moment?" Pyrrha asked. "We can talk without disturbing Ruby and Jaune."
Sunset stared at her for a moment, with a face like stone. "I have nothing to say." She turned her back ostentatiously.
"Sunset, please," Pyrrha urged her.
"Just because I am a faunus, does not mean that you may bend me to your will," Sunset declared. "I have said no!"
"No one in this room has a problem with you being a faunus," Pyrrha replied. "My problem is wholly with your conduct of late."
"Sunset," Ruby said, "Pyrrha didn't mean for any of this to happen. I don't know who decided to spread the word like this, but I didn't mean it! None of us did, and Pyrrha especially."
Sunset's lips curled into a contemptuous sneer. "So you expect me to believe... what? That, completely unprompted, the entire academy decided to rise up in your defence?"
"That is the truth, as far as I know," Pyrrha replied softly.
Sunset snorted. "I don't believe you."
"Are you calling me a liar?" Pyrrha demanded, shock evident in her tone.
Sunset sneered. "I'm sorry, did I offend your Mistralian honour?"
"As a matter of fact, you did," Pyrrha replied, her voice brittle. "And common courtesy besides."
"Too bad for you this isn't Mistral," Sunset said.
"Nor is it Atlas," Pyrrha declared, "and I am not a robot to obey commands without a care for how I am regarded by she who seeks to give them. When… when you are ready to apologise, I will listen."
"You'll wait a long time," Sunset growled, "for I have nothing to apologise for."
Pyrrha said nothing further to Sunset. There was nothing further to be said. She glanced apologetically at Jaune and Ruby. "Excuse me," she said, as she strode out of the room.
She spent the rest of the evening in the library, returning to the dorm only to sleep; she and Sunset said not a word to one another as they undressed for bed, and the atmosphere in the room was nauseating.
The next morning, Pyrrha went to see Professor Goodwitch and asked her about team reassignments.
Professor Goodwitch stared at her over the top of her spectacles. "May I ask why you wish to be moved, Miss Nikos?"
"I... I'm afraid that Sunset and I have had an irreconcilable difference of opinion, Professor."
Professor Goodwitch was silent for a moment. "Teams, once formed, are very rarely altered, Miss Nikos, and certainly not because of mere arguments between members."
"There's nothing mere about this, ma'am," Pyrrha replied. She would not fight for a leader she held in contempt. For her destiny, she was willing to endure much, bear much, suffer much, but not follow someone who despised her and thought her capable of such behaviour as Sunset had accused her of.
But it was hard to explain that to Professor Goodwitch, or to anyone really, without sounding melodramatic. Sunset had been right about that, at least: Mistralian concepts of honour did not carry quite the same weight in the Kingdom of Vale.
"That, Miss Nikos, remains to be seen, by me," Professor Goodwitch replied. "Good day, Miss Nikos."
"Professor, I apologise for disturbing you," Pyrrha said, as she bowed her head respectfully. She turned on her heel, and walked out of the office.
Unfortunately, Ruby was waiting for her outside.
"You wanted to leave us?" Ruby asked, looking as stricken and betrayed as she sounded.
Pyrrha winced. "No, Ruby, I-"
"She wasn't trying to leave," Sunset sneered, and Pyrrha saw her half-hidden around the corner. She was leaning against the wall with her arms folded. "She was trying to get rid of me, weren't you?"
Pyrrha didn't dignify that with a response. She turned away without another word and walked away.



Professor Goodwitch's voice was crisp and clear, cutting across the casual chatter in the amphitheatre. "The match will be Team Sapphire versus Team Iron. Please make your way to the arena." 
Pyrrha was on her feet at once, making her way quickly up onto the stage. Ruby and Jaune followed, and Sunset joined them from a different part of the hall. 
Sunset could see their opponents making their way up onto the stage together. They were huddled close, whispering amongst themselves. Yang Xiao-Long, easily identified by her hair shining like a beacon in the dimly lit space, was pointing at Team SAPR, gesticulating with one hand. 
Sunset ran through the options in her head. Team YRDN was tough; in fact they probably had the most punch of any of the first year teams, possessing the two strongest first years and Dove Bronzewing, who was probably the strongest boy in the year. On the other hand, when it came to speed they only had Lie Ren, and he wasn't anywhere close to Ruby or Pyrrha. So, she would send Pyrrha forward to interrupt whatever strategy they where cooking up over there, while Sunset and Ruby provided covering fire. Once they'd used up their shots, Ruby would back up Pyrrha in close quarters while Sunset provided support with magic. Jaune she would use as a speed bump to keep either Yang or Nora just for a bit with his absurd quantities of aura. That should give Pyrrha and Ruby time to mop up the rest of the opposition with Sunset's help.
"Okay," Sunset said. "Here's what we're going to do."
Pyrrha frowned, and took a step forward away from Sunset.
"Oh, great, real mature," Sunset muttered. "Pyrrha!"
“If you have no regard for me,” Pyrrha declared, in a withering tone. “Then why should I have any regard for you?”
"Guys, I have an idea-" Jaune began.
“Because I’m your leader!” Sunset snapped. “So you look at me when I’m talking to you and you pay attention!”
Jaune said, "I was thinking that-"
"Jaune's trying to say something,” Ruby added helpfully.
Sunset paid neither of them any mind. In her wrath, her attention was wholly focussed upon Pyrrha. "You are the most spoiled, ungrateful, stubborn brat that I have-"
"Guys!" Jaune yelled. "Listen, we-"
"Begin!" Professor Goodwitch declared.
Nora Valkyrie grinned, and with a mighty swing she... hit Yang with her hammer?
Sunset gaped in astonishment. She was still gaping, her amazement only deepening as it became clear that this had been absolutely deliberate.
Yang descended like a comet from the heavens, trailing fire in her wake. She was grinning like a maniac, and a wild warrior's laugh issued from her lips as she ploughed into Jaune, bearing him backwards with a squawk of pained alarm. Yang yelled as she started to pummel him, both fists flying as explosions issued from her gauntlets. Jaune, staggered, taken by surprise and, honestly, no great shakes to begin with, was unable to do more than soak it up as his aura level started to slowly descend.
Thank you for accommodating my plan, Yang. Sunset grinned. YRDN had taken the initiative but there was still all to fight for. "Pyrrha, get up there and hit them! Ruby-"
They both ignored her, choosing to go to Jaune's aid instead. They converged on Yang from opposite directions, scythe and sword alike shining under the spotlights focussed on the stage. 
It might not have been so bad except Ruby was also blocking Sunset's shots.
A grenade flew through the air, trailing pink smoke behind it, before landing in front of Ruby and exploding in a blast of even more pink. Ruby was knocked backwards, her aura dropping but remaining in the green even as she was tossed across the stage. 
The next moment Ren was on top of her, Stormflowers blazing.
Nora fired another grenade, this time at Pyrrha, who deftly knocked it aside with her shield; in the time it took her to do that Nora had already begun to charge, hammer drawn back for a mighty swing. She, too, was beaming wildly as though this was the most fun she'd ever had in her life.
A series of sharp bangs reminded Sunset that she wasn't a bystander in this fight. Dove had levelled his gunblade at her and was firing a stream of shots in her direction. Sunset threw up a shield, too late to stop the first few rounds biting off a chunk of her aura. 
Dove stopped shooting when it became clear that his shots weren't getting through her shield. He regarded her warily.
Sunset, on the other hand, regarded him with contempt. Sure, he was probably the best boy but she’d already beaten him once and she’d-
"Dove!" Nora yelled.
Dove and Sunset both looked around. Nora was struggling against Pyrrha's superior speed, unable to land the solid hits she needed even as Pyrrha tore off chunks of her aura like a beowolf tearing off chunks of flesh. Pyrrha really was somewhere between magnificent and uncanny; even when Nora appeared to have her dead to rights she just seemed to avoid the hits.
Dove didn't spare Sunset a second glance as he ran to her aid. 
It took Sunset a split second to decide not to follow. Instead, she crossed the short distance to where Ren was trying to handle Ruby with limited success. His aura was in the yellow already, and albeit Ruby's was too, but Ren didn’t have the excuse of having been hit with a grenade. Ruby flitted around him in rose petals bursts, the sharp crack Crescent Rose echoing in the hall.
Sunset took a more direct approach: she closed the distance with Ren, shot him twice at point blank range, and swung the butt of Sol Invictus at his face.
"Ruby, help Jaune!" Sunset yelled before the blow connected. At least Ruby listened to her this time.
Ren rolled with the blow, and as he rolled he grabbed the butt of Sunset's gun and used it to pull her forward, throwing her to the ground before him with a yelp. Sunset winced as Ren shot her in the face, chipping rapidly away at her aura. Sunset growled as she raised one hand and a blast of green energy erupted from her palm, striking Ren in the chest and hurling him back across the stage. A buzzer sounded, and then another. A glance at the board told Sunset that Jaune and Ren were both out. Dove was duelling Pyrrha, their blades clashing furiously in motions faster than Sunset's eyes could follow. Dove was almost fast enough to keep up with the Invincible Girl... but almost didn't quite cut it and his aura was dropping as Pyrrha chipped away at it. Ruby was having less luck against Yang while Nora... Nora was charging straight towards Sunset with absolute murder in her eyes.
Sunset shot from the hip, emptying all four remaining chambers in quick succession. It didn't stop Nora, and Sunset couldn't check the board to see how much aura she had left. Sunset started to raise a shield, but Nora's hammer went through it like glass and struck Sunset square on the midriff.
Sunset had a feeling of being compressed and deformed as the world whirled around her, before she was dumped on the floor with a painful smack on the face. A buzzer confirmed what she already knew: her aura was in the red.
Sunset didn't know exactly what was up with Ruby: either Yang knew her moves too well, or it was messing with her head to try and fight her big sister, but either way a fight that should have been easy for her was going very badly. It wasn't long before she was eliminated.
It was three against one at that point, but that one was Pyrrha Nikos.  Perhaps if they'd all been starting with their aura intact they would have been a match for her, but all their auras were some level of frayed and yellow, while hers was nearly intact. Though the three remaining members of YRDN attacked together, though they were coordinated and cohesive, they simply weren't a match for Pyrrha's speed and shining sword. One by one she took them down and left them prone and beaten at her feet.
"Team Sapphire wins," Professor Goodwitch's tone was, as always, professional and without even the suggestion of favouritism, but she didn't sound particularly pleased with the result. Sunset could understand why: this wasn't a victory for Team Sapphire, who by all measures had been out thought and out fought, but for Pyrrha Nikos. Team YRDN deserved the victory, and had missed only by dint of having the bad luck to go up against the Princess Without a Crown.
Sunset's face burned with humiliation as she lined up alongside her team mates. If she'd just been given a chance to explain her plan then they could have won in a deserving fashion. As it was, today would simply serve to burnish up the legend of Pyrrha, the legend that she didn't even want.
"Team Iron," Goodwitch said. "Although I wouldn't personally recommend your choice of opening gambit-" Yang and Nora both grinned, the former sheepishly and the latter unapologetically. "You exhibited forethought and teamwork. That said, by leaving your strongest opponent to last you ran the risk of not having enough aura left, as proved to be the case. Team Sapphire," Goodwitch's stern gaze swept over them. "You were fortunate."
Sunset's jaw clenched with frustration.
"That's all we have time for," Goodwitch continued. "Class dismissed.



Sunset felt almost as though she was getting a divorce, and she and Pyrrha were stuck sharing the house while they worked out custody of the kids: their over-achieving daughter and disappointing son.
They had managed, without saying a word to one another, to work out a system of alternating who could spend time in the dorm room and who had to find somewhere else to be. Nights were about as fun all around as root canal surgery, but there was no getting around it, since there was nowhere else that either of them could sleep.
 You could try apologising and putting this whole thing behind you.
Sunset made a face at the diary, open on the table in front of her, which contained elements of scowl, sneer, grimace and snarl. I've done nothing that I should apologise for.
 You called Pyrrha a liar.
 Because she lied to me!
 What if she didn't?
 I'm the victim here! Whose side are you on anyway?
Sunset, I don't doubt that a lot of what you've told me about the world you've found yourself in is accurate
 Only a lot?
But have you ever considered that your problems are not entirely the result of prejudice?
Sunset squinted suspiciously down at the page. What are you saying?
 That even by your own account, you've behaved pretty obnoxiously.
Sunset stared down at the words. They were wrong. They were ridiculous. They were absurd. She wasn't the one who had roused the whole academy in anger, she wasn't the one who had tried to get the team arrangements altered, she wasn't the one who had flaunted her ungrateful nature in Sunset's face.
Shut up. Do you not see where I am coming from with this? How would you like it if someone else had something that you wanted badly, desperately, more than anything else in the world, and this other person that has this incredible thing didn't appreciate it at all? Wouldn't that make you so mad?
Maybe, although when my friend Rarity was in a similar position, she did her best to be a good and supportive friend to Fluttershy in spite of her jealousy.
Pyrrha isn't my friend, so why should I be supportive?
Because she's done nothing wrong. This is your problem, not hers.
And we're done. I'm not going to sit here and be insulted like that. Goodnight, Princess. Sunset slammed the book shut.
She was wrong. Princess Twilight Sparkle was absolutely wrong. This wasn't her problem, she was reacting perfectly normally; it was Pyrrha who... Pyrrha was the one who ought to apologise. Sunset had nothing to apologise for.
Sunset was too proud to apologise, even if she was in the wrong.
Especially if she was in the wrong.



Sunset had been surprised by the lack of anyone else on the way to Leadership class, and she was even more surprised to walk into the lecture theatre to find that it was completely empty, save for herself and Professor Goodwitch, who was waiting there for her.
"I informed the other team leaders that this class had been cancelled, Miss Shimmer," Professor Goodwitch explained. "I thought that you might prefer a private talk to the embarrassment of being lectured in front of your peers."
Sunset felt her face start to burn with embarrassment regardless. "I have to say, Professor, the fact that I'm the only one you think needs instructing in leadership is embarrassing enough."
"And yet I would hope that you retain enough self-awareness to recognise why you are here," Professor Goodwitch said. "Your fellow team leaders are, as yet, far from perfect, but at the same time, none of them has had a member of their team come to me requesting reassignment."
"That's not my fault, Professor."
"Miss Nikos seems to feel otherwise."
Sunset's jaw clenched. Her ears flattened down on top of her head. "I am not the monster here, Professor."
"No one has called you a monster, Miss Shimmer."
"I have suffered worse than Pyrrha Nikos could dream of," Sunset declared. "If she had to live in my boots for a week, that haughty, fragile spirit of hers would snap in two! Yet because I am a faunus, I must bear it all, shames and slights and calumnies heaped upon my head as high as the mountains that border on this kingdom!" Her tail curled upwards on itself, as if she was seeking to hide it from the eyes of men. "And yet, the moment I say to Pyrrha Nikos that she lies, I so offend the character of this great child of honour, this most vaunted champion, that I have done so foul offence that only abasement on my knees may wash it out. No! No, Professor, I will not bear it, it is not just."
"No one is asking you to get on your knees, Miss Shimmer," Professor Goodwitch observed mildly. "Only to apologise for words which hurt your teammate."
"Why?" Sunset demanded. "Once more, Professor, I ask you why I should apologise for milder words than many levelled against me?"
"And once more I ask you, Miss Shimmer, as I did in your first lesson with me, why should your teammates obey you?"
"Because I am their leader," Sunset said at once, "I was chosen and appointed to lead them."
"But these are not Atlesian robots; Miss Shimmer, they are young men and women," Professor Goodwitch reminded her. "They have their faults and foibles, their limits of what they can and will tolerate. Strange as it may seem from the outside, nevertheless, a good leader must know the people who serve beneath her: what motivates them and what holds them back. A good leader must learn to work with the natures of their teammates, not attempt to ride roughshod over them."
"Why must I sacrifice my pride for the sake of hers?" Sunset demanded.
"Because you are the leader, Miss Shimmer," Professor Goodwitch said mildly. "And leadership is about far more than giving orders and taking credit. Consider this.  Those who, to use your own words, heaped all those shames and slights and calumnies upon you, if one of them had been made your leader, would you follow them?"
I know how to lead, I've seen it done.
Even if I haven't exactly been leading as I saw the princess lead.
"Your team has already demonstrated that it can work well together," Professor Goodwitch continued, "and you have demonstrated that you can behave as a leader ought. It would be a shame to waste a promising start as a result of words spoken in anger."
Sunset was silent for a moment. "Is that all, Professor?"
Goodwitch stared into Sunset's eyes. "That's all for now, Miss Shimmer."
Sunset turned away. Professor Goodwitch meant well, but she didn't understand. Sunset couldn't apologise, not even if it was her fault.
Especially if it was her fault.