SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Forever Fall (Rewritten)

"Nora!" Yang yelled. "Will you stop eating all of the red sap?"
There was a red ring all around Nora's mouth which, combined with the expression of mischievous innocence upon her face, made her look much younger than she really was. "Aw, come on!” she protested. “It's not like there isn't plenty to go around!"
She had a point there; it wasn't as if they were on a mission to drain the forest dry, only to collect one jar of sap per student. Considering that it wasn't exactly hard to extract the sap, Sunset had to wonder why they needed until four o'clock to complete the task.
Possibly because it was expected that someone would eat all the sap and make the job take much longer than it ought to.
They were in the Forever Fall forest, so-called for the obvious reason that it was always fall, never spring or summer or winter. Within the boundaries of this vast forest, the leaves were always red, and yet, they never fell; the grass was equally crimson, as though it had been stained with the blood of countless enemies. Sunset had yet to read an explanation as to why it should be so, and yet, it reminded her a little of the Everfree Forest back home: a place where the normal rules did not apply, a little world entire unto itself.
A place where outsiders ventured at their peril.
Although it lay upon the edge of Vale, its boundaries running up against the city itself and stretching through the Valish hinterland all the way to the mountains, nevertheless, the Forever Fall was home to many creatures of grimm, creatures which, it seemed, were as affected by the strangeness of the forest as the trees, for they did not leave it. They did not – and had not, it seemed – erupted from the Forever Fall to menace Vale and all who lived there. The grimm of the Forever Fall were a threat, but only to those who entered their domain. That was why, in order to supply Professor Peach with the red sap that could be obtained only from the unusual trees that grew within this scarlet wood, the first year’s huntsmen in training had been dispatched on another training mission to brave the perils and retrieve the prize. Each student had to collect one jar of the stuff, but extra credit would be given to those who collected more.
Sunset had just finished filling her second jar of sap and hesitated, her eyes lingering upon the reddish-purple substance in the jar. Nora had consumed two whole jars of the stuff so far, so there had to be something pretty moreish about it, right? Gingerly, Sunset dipped her finger into the jar and pulled it out covered in sticky sap which she then licked off.
Sunset's face contorted with disgust. Too sweet! Far too sweet, sickly so! She spat on the ground at her feet, hacking up every trace of the saccharine substance out of her mouth that she could. "How do you stand this stuff?"
"Red sap is supposed to be used sparingly, as a natural sweetener accompanying certain sour dishes," Ren declared. He looked at Nora out of the side of his eyes. "You're not supposed to gulp it down by the jarful."
Nora sniggered self-deprecatingly.
"It's also used in medicine to mask fouler tastes," Ren went on.
Sunset's eyebrows rose a little. "You know a lot of things."
Ren shrugged. "Cooking is a hobby of mine."
"And the medicine thing?"
"It's always good to know when an ingredient has properties beyond the flavoursome."
"I guess," Sunset relented, as she scooped just a little more sap out of the hollow of the nearby tree and filled up her second jar, screwing on the lid tight. While the entire freshman class was participating in this trip, their teams spread out across the forest, four teams – SAPR, YRDN, WWSR, and BLBL – had found themselves sticking pretty close together, with the notable exception of Cardin, who had wandered off somewhere by himself. The other fifteen huntsmen were working together. Well, sort of working, anyway; Jaune had started having an allergic reaction to the sap, so Sunset had set him to sparring with Pyrrha while she and Ruby filled up team SAPR's jars; meanwhile, Nora was eating more sap than she was collecting, Russell was dozing under the shade of one particularly tall and broad tree, and Lyra - draped in her cloak of many colours and wearing a broad hat with a peacock-feather plume - was sat on the stump of a fallen tree, playing a soft air upon her golden harp.
With ample time to complete a simple task, with neither sight nor sound of the creatures of grimm that supposedly infested the unchanging forest, an air of gentle conviviality had settled over the extended group. Thoughts of peace soothed Sunset's soul, and the soft and almost melancholy music of the harp carried her thoughts away from northern Vale and homewards to Equestria. Equestria that had been so full of music, where joyous song had been ever-present in the world. Where it needed no extraordinary setting or occasion to open your mouth and start singing; quite the opposite in fact, it was more as though you went through life waiting for an excuse to break out into song. Sunset had forgotten how much she'd missed that, in this tuneless and quite often joyless world of Remnant. She'd forgotten how much she'd missed being able to walk down the street belting your heart out and not have people stare at you like you were nuts. She had forgotten... but the scoring of her soul by that harp had brought it flooding back to her.
"Sunset?" Ruby's voice, gentle and concerned, interrupted her thoughts. "Are you okay? You looked kinda spaced out there?"
Sunset smiled thinly. "I'm fine," she said. "I was just… the harp is making me a little homesick.”
Ruby smiled. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? She plays really well.”
She’s a better musician than she is a huntress, Sunset thought. “Even… even back home, she’d be acknowledged as having a lot of talent.”
“They like music where you came from?” Ruby asked. “You said… you come from outside the kingdoms before you came to Atlas, didn’t you?”
“Yes and yes,” Sunset replied. “In… in my home, we loved music. There was so much music that… that there were times when it would seem to just spring out of thin air, sounds and sweet airs that gave delight and hurt not. And singing! We loved to sing, when the music began to play, we could hardly help ourselves.”
Ruby smiled. “Can you sing?”
“‘Can I sing’?” Sunset repeated. “Can I sing? Yes I can sing. I can sing as well as I do everything else, I’ll have you know.” She paused. “My teacher and I… we used to sing together all the time. Sometimes, I would sing for her, to cheer when she seemed sad or lonely; sometimes, she would sing to me when I felt low. And sometimes, we would sing together, to greet the sun in the morning or bid it farewell in the evening.” She frowned. Now that she had spoken of it… the memories returned quickly, so many memories and so happy. Too happy. That was why she’d shut them away in the first place.
“Sunset?” Ruby prodded in worry. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel even worse.”
“You didn’t,” Sunset assured her quickly.
Ruby frowned. “I think I kinda did.”
Ruby was not wrong there; she had made her feel worse, homesick and sick at heart. But Sunset didn’t want to just tell her that; it would have felt unfair on her, and so, Sunset smiled, as best she could, and said, “I… I’ve got to go.”
“Go where?” Ruby asked. “Do you want me to come with you? Or we could all go?”
“No,” Sunset insisted, quickly but not – she hoped – unkindly. “I’d just like to be alone for a little while. I’ll be back soon,”
She turned around and wandered off, leaving her team and all of the teams behind as she walked through the lush red forest. Crimson leaves, fallen from the trees above, crunched beneath her boots as she walked. Birds chirruped above her head. The forest was full of noise, but none of it belonged to the creatures of grimm; even as the soothing music of Lyra's harp faded, Forever Fall was full of soothing sounds. It was not the ever-present music of Equestria, but it was, nonetheless, a pleasant balm for her soul.
Sunset walked until she could no longer see or hear her teammates. Since she had only walked straight ahead since leaving them, she was confident in her ability to find them again by simply turning around and heading back the way that she had come; not to mention, she still had her scroll. In a clearing, she stopped and waited and tried to clear her head of all her thoughts of home and Princess Celestia.
Something flew past Sunset's head, missing her by an inch and shattering against the nearest tree.
Sunset opened her eyes to see that the offending object was a jar. A jar of red sap, a little bit of which had spattered onto her jacket and top.
Sunset stared at the stains for a moment. "I hope you realise this needs dry-cleaning," she growled. "And someone's going to be paying for that, but it won't be me." She looked around the woods, seeing nothing but the scarlet trees all around her. "Come out! Show yourself!"

Pyrrha reached out with Miló to tap Crocea Mors; the two blades touched only gently, but it was sufficient to produce a ringing sound. "Jaune," she said. "Pay attention."
Jaune had been momentarily distracted by Sunset's departure; Pyrrha was a little curious about that herself, but she had a job to do – start Jaune's training – and that was what she was going to focus on.
"Right," Jaune acknowledged. "Sorry."
"It's alright," Pyrrha said, smiling gently. "Now, are you ready to go again?"
"I…" Jaune hesitated glancing away towards the other nearby students.
Pyrrha pursed her lips together. It was a little awkward doing this with an audience, but at the same time it was an ideal opportunity for them to get in some training. "Don't worry about them," she said softly. "Focus on me, or you'll never hold me off."
Jaune laughed nervously. "I won't-"
"Don't," she stopped him before he could finish. "If you don't believe you can win, you never will," Pyrrha informed him firmly. That was part of the reason for Pyrrha's own remarkable run of success: yes, she was very talented, and yes, she had a very useful semblance, but there had also come a point at which most people had just stopped believing that it was possible to defeat her. Very few of her tournament opponents continued to step into the arena hoping for victory over Pyrrha Nikos; most of them sought nothing more than honourable defeat, not realising that such attitudes made defeat even more certain than the difference in their skill at arms. "Now, are you ready?"
Jaune nodded and settled into the stance that had been the first thing she showed him: shield up, sword raised in a high guard, feet well spaced and ready to step forward into the attack. "Ready."
And Pyrrha went for him.
She held back. She held back a great deal, because Jaune would learn nothing from being pounded into the ground by the Invincible Girl in all her glory. She moved slowly and struck with less power behind her blows than she would have if she'd been fighting seriously. Yet, she still fought, because Jaune would learn even less from simply being allowed to win, nor would he thank her for it.
Pyrrha attacked, and Jaune stepped forward to meet her. Their shields clashed with a ringing thud that overwhelmed Lyra's music. Jaune's weakness was not his physical strength; a youth of labour had given him muscle enough. While he might lack the raw power of a beast like Cardin Winchester, he was strong enough that he would prevail in a contest of raw strength against her. But no battle was simply a contest of raw strength.
Pyrrha retreated three paces, crushing the red grass underfoot. Jaune pursued her, but as he advanced, his shield shifted from in front of him to by his side, leaving his chest exposed. Jaune swung at her, a savage downward cut; Pyrrha let the blow fall and then turned it aside with Akoúo̱, letting Crocea Mors skitter off the surface of her shield, leaving Jaune exposed to Pyrrha's thrust with Miló that struck him on the breastplate. Pyrrha must have overdone it a little, for without meaning to, she hit him hard enough to knock him backwards onto the ground.
"I'm sorry," she exclaimed, as Russell sniggered. "I must have gotten carried away."
"It's fine," Jaune muttered, as he picked himself up off the ground. "So, what did I do wrong?"
"You came here in the first place!" Russell shouted.
"Ignore him," Pyrrha said, as Jaune's head dipped a little in embarrassment.
Dove had been sitting on the tangled roots of one of the red trees; now, he got up and walked over to where Lyra sat, playing her harp. He drew his sword. "Lyra, as lovely as the music is, why don't you leave it for now, and we can practice while we have the time."
Lyra looked up at him. "Here? Now?"
"Why not?" Dove asked. "You want to catch up, don't you?"
Lyra glanced at Pyrrha. "Oh, yes, of course." She scrambled to her feet, putting her harp away in a bag that she slung across her back, before she produced her falcate from out beneath her cloak.
Pyrrha shot a grateful look at Dove, who nodded respectfully before he and Lyra began to spar. Pyrrha returned her attention to Jaune, "To answer your question," she said, "you let your shield fall to your side. If you had kept it held before you, then you could have taken the blow of my spear and turned it away."
"But if I had kept my shield in front of me, then you wouldn't have attacked that way, would you?" Jaune pointed out.
"No," Pyrrha admitted. "I would have planned my moves based on what you were doing, and what I thought you would do in response to my movements. In time, you'll be able to do the same, but for now, let's focus on the basics."
"Of course," Jaune agreed.
They resumed sparring, and it no longer looked so odd with Dove and Lyra also training not far away. They sparred in short bursts, and after each brief bout, Pyrrha pointed out to Jaune what he could or should have done differently, where he could improve his stance, make his movements more fluid.
As they took a break, Jaune asked her, "So, how long did it take you to become so good?"
Pyrrha hesitated.
Jaune's face fell. "I'm not going to like the answer, am I?"
"I've been training for twelve years," Pyrrha admitted. "Although I might have plateaued two years ago." She hadn't noticed herself getting significantly better since she was Ruby's age.
"So that's only ten years," Jaune murmured. "Great."
"It's not as bad as it sounds; you mustn't be discouraged," Pyrrha urged. "Remember, I've been training my whole life to fight people."
"Aren't you training me to fight people?" Jaune asked.
"I suppose so," Pyrrha admitted. "Since I can't grow claws and turn into a beowolf. But the same basic lessons apply: keep your shield up and before you, how to stand and move and strike, these lessons will help you kill grimm just as readily." She paused. "I've been told that my father used to say that ordinary citizens fear the grimm for their ferocity, but that huntsman fear them only for their numbers."
Jaune frowned. "You've been told?"
Pyrrha glanced down at the red grass beneath her booted feet. "He… passed away when I was young, before we could talk of such things. Before I left for Beacon, my mother told me that he would say that."
"Pyrrha," Jaune said softly, "you never mentioned that before."
"When would I have brought it up?" Pyrrha replied.
"I don't know," Jaune confessed. "But, I'm sorry."
"He gave his life defending the kingdoms of humanity," Pyrrha declared. "There is no shame in that, and much honour. The point is, individually, the average creature of grimm is far less dangerous than any student you'll encounter in Professor Goodwitch's sparring class. One on one, it won't take you anything like as long to become proficient against them."
Jaune nodded. "One on one… but the grimm aren't alone."
"Neither are you," Pyrrha reminded him.
They both turned as they heard the sound of gunshots coming from the south, the direction in which Sunset had set off, alone.

"Russell," Weiss said, one hand resting on her hip. "Where's Cardin?"
.Russell sat up, and looked up at her. "How should I know?"
"Because you're his partner," Weiss reminded him.
"And you're his team leader, so you tell me where he is," Russell replied.
Weiss scowled slightly. Unfortunately, Russell wasn't wrong: she had lost Cardin, and that was her responsibility. She didn't know where he had decided to slope off to, but he was going to be in big trouble when he got back.
Of course, she was going to be in big trouble if he didn't turn up before it was time to go. She had already turned up to an empty classroom to receive a personal and private Leadership lesson from Professor Goodwitch, focussing upon the need to take responsibility for all her teammates, not just the ones that she got on with. It was a reproof that she had deserved; she was being outshone as a leader by Sunset Shimmer, of all people. And yet she wasn’t sure what she ought to do about it; it was much easier to know what she should be doing than it was to do it.
All of which could, to some extent at least, wait until after she had found him.
"He's not answering his scroll," Flash said, as he folded up the device and put it away.
"Can we track it?" Weiss suggested.
"In theory, sure," Flash replied. "But I'm no Twilight Sparkle; I wouldn't even know where to start."
Russell made a kind of self-satisfied coughing noise.
Weiss rounded on him. "Are you saying that you can track someone's scroll?"
Russell smirked at her. "What's the matter, Princess, you find it hard to believe that I've got skills?"
"No offence," Weiss said, "but you don't look much like the sort of person who has received a technical education."
The smirk remained on Russell's face. "Before I came to Beacon, I graduated from the Academy of Real Life, where I studied all kinds of things." He got out his scroll. "This might take a little bit."
Birds were scattered from the trees by the sound of gunfire.
Flash turned in the direction of the sound. "That sounds like Sunset's rifle."

Cardin stepped out from behind a tree and into Sunset's view.
"You," Sunset said in a voice that was half a growl and half a sigh of resignation.
Cardin's lip curled into a sneer. "You think you're so smart, don't you?"
"I am that smart, as it happens," Sunset replied. "While you... what was your plan with that jar anyway?"
Cardin bared his teeth as his fists clenched in frustration. "Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?" he snarled as he stomped towards her. "Just who do you think you are?"
"I'm Sunset Shimmer."
"You say that name as though it's supposed to mean something."
"Give it time," Sunset said. "Someday, being able to say you knew me will be the high watermark of your loser life."
"Shut up!" Cardin roared as he continued to advance upon her.
Sunset raised her hands, and both of them glowed green with magic. "You really want to do this, Cardin?"
"I said SHUT UP!" Cardin bellowed, brandishing his mace before him. "You think that you're so big, huh? You think that you're so great because you lucked out with your semblance? What did someone like you do to deserve power like that? Why should a gift so rare belong to you and not to me?" He was screaming so loudly now that he had to pant for breath in between sentences. "I am Cardin Winchester! Heir to the Winchester line! My great-great-grandfather fought at the right hand of the Last King! I am the heir to greatness! I deserve greatness!" he shook his head, and it almost looked as though there were tears in his blue eyes. "But you... you... faunus! You filthy animal! You… and Arc... taking everything... all the things that I deserve! Why? WHY?"
Sunset retreated backwards a step, treading the leaves into the ground beneath her. He's me, she realised, with a sickening abruptness. I'm being yelled at by myself. She didn't want to recognise herself in Cardin Winchester, in his broiling mass of frustrated entitlement and unfocused rage. She didn't want to see herself in a man like him. She didn't want to see her flaws reflected back at her in someone that she hated... but as he yelled and screamed... it was unavoidable.
"Who are you, anyway? You're just some stupid pegasus from the middle of nowhere! Who do you think you are to usurp my destiny away from me!" So she had yelled at Cadance, the Princess of Love, expelling her rage and frustration from her throat like mucus, spraying it upon the mare who had the nerve to be all that Sunset had wished to be, to become what Sunset desired to but could not become. To take all the things that should have belonged to Sunset Shimmer. Now she was the target of the rage of someone else, and no amount of special pleading - but Cardin's just an arrogant, entitled ass, I really was that talented, that special, that deserving - could conceal the similarity.
This probably wasn't what Twilight Sparkle had in mind when she told Sunset to try understanding Cardin, and Sunset would be lying if she said that it was something she wanted to do or that these feelings were ones that she wanted to admit. But as Cardin stood before her with his mace trembling in his hands… she could not deny it to herself.
"What gives you the right?" Cardin demanded. "Why you and not me?"
"Why you and not me?"
"Why her, Princess Celestia... why not me?"
"When will I be ready?"
"You're lying! You're wrong! I do have a destiny, and if you won't help me find it, then I'll go out there and seize it myself."
Arrogant, entitled, envious, monstrously unpleasant. In Cardin's rage were all her sins remembered.
She hated him and pitied him; as she hated and pitied herself.
Should she apologise? Had she wronged him? His failings were not of her making but... amongst all that she had done, were wrongs to Cardin Winchester amongst them?
There were those from whom she ought to seek forgiveness, but Cardin? Her pride revolted at the idea of bending before him, being what he was and having done what he had done.
And what of what I have done?
"The fault is not in the world but in ourselves," she murmured.
Cardin blinked. "What?"
"I am not holding you back," Sunset explained. "Pyrrha isn't holding me back, Ruby isn't holding me back, Cadance- no one holds us back but us. If we have been deceived, it's by our blindness to our natures. If we have been restrained, it is by our unworthy hearts. But we can change, Cardin. Our hearts can mend, our souls can grow. I have to believe that we need not be these small and ugly things forever, or else... destiny is not beyond us if only we can... there are lights that we can follow."
Ruby, Pyrrha, even Jaune. They could show her the way, and she could follow it. She would reform herself. She would not remain a faunus Cardin forever. She would not let the chip upon her shoulder crush her beneath its weight, squeezing out all ambition and hope for advancement.
She would do better. She had to do better. Or she would end up confronting Pyrrha in the woods, trembling with rage as tears grew in her eyes, demanding a reckoning for the difference in their fortunes.
Forever Fall may be eternally unchanging, but we need not be the same.
I hope.
Judging by the way that his face twisted into a rictus of hostility, Cardin didn't find this as much cause for optimism as Sunset did. "What are you even talking about? Of course you're holding me back! This is all your fault! But I'm going to teach you a lesson, you little pony!"
He raised his mace, but before he could do more, he was interrupted by a series of growls from behind and around him as a pack of beowolves emerged into view in a horse-shoe surrounding the young huntsman and huntress.
Negative emotions. Crap, we drew them right to us!
Sunset gingerly - cautiously - unslung Sol Invictus from where it hung on her shoulder. She moved slowly, counting the grimm around her as she did so. Twenty, including an old and truly vicious-looking alpha.
Crap.
Her finger found the trigger of the rifle.
Cardin let out an angry roar and struck the ground with his mace as though he would shatter it. The ground exploded in fire, scattering the autumn leaves into the air in a trail racing away from the mace and towards one of the beowolves. The grimm leapt aside, and the others howled as they leapt for Cardin.
He was still howling out his anger as he struck one of them across the mask in mid-flight, killing it instantly. But then the rest of them were on him.
For a moment, Cardin stood before the fury of the pack, his powerful form rising above the black mass that raged around him like a stormy sea, but then, they bore him down, and he was buried beneath the mass of grimm.
Sunset froze. A part of her wanted to run, to flee, to get out while she still could... to leave Cardin Winchester to die.
He wouldn't hesitate to leave me behind if our places were reversed.
Yeah, but he isn't Remnant's greatest hero, is he?
If you wanted to be admired and respected across the world, then at some point, you had to do something vaguely admirable or respectable. If you wanted your glory to shine bright as the sun at noon, then you had to do something by some measure glorious. To demand, as she had done, the rewards of greatness by virtue of her desire for them... how had that worked out for her so far?
She didn't have to like Cardin. She didn't like Cardin. She didn't have to understand him or befriend him or anything like that. But she did have to save him.
Forever Fall may be unchanging, but we need not be.
Our hearts can change.
Sunset raised Sol Invictus to her shoulder.
BANG!
Birds scattered from the trees as Sunset fired, the crack of her rifle echoing through the forest. A beowolf was hurled backwards by her shot.
BANG!
Sunset advanced on the pack of beowolves tearing at Cardin, firing as she went. Three shots, four, more beowolves fell, five shots, and another one bit the dust with its head blow off, six shots, and she had wounded the alpha. And she had no more bullets left.
Sunset roared in anger as she charged, her bayonet gleaming. She didn't dare use her magic yet, not with the beowolves all so close to Cardin; all of her powerful attacks would hurt him too, and he probably didn't have much aura left.
She did use a touch of telekinesis to pick up one young, immature beowolf and throw it off him and into the nearest tree, but for the rest, she relied upon her weapons. She twirled her rifle in her hands like a spear; she wielded butt and bayonet in equal measure as she tore into the grimm like a fox amongst the chickens. Sunset impaled one; she clubbed another so hard that its mask cracked and the creature recoiled with a howl of pain. She planted herself athwart Cardin - he was still conscious but didn't really look up to contributing to his own defence at all - and as the beowolves gathered all around her, Sunset slung her rifle over her shoulder and gathered her magic to her hands.
The beowolves advanced cautiously as a series of low growls rose up from every throat. Then, at a barked command from the alpha, they surged forward like a black and bone-masked tide against Sunset Shimmer.
Magic flew from her fingertips in miniature bolts of green energy, erupting in all directions, striking at her enemies all around her. Sunset turned this way and that, blasting at the beowolves who lunged at her. None of them struck her, they did not bear her down, but some of them got close enough to tear chunks off her aura before a blast from her magic sent them flying. She lost track of how many there were, how many she had killed and turned to dust; they were a mass, a broiling mass of darkness beyond counting, snarling at her, lunging at her, always absorbing her attacks. She was killing them, she would swear to that, but there were so many, and they kept on bringing her aura down.
And then the alpha beowolf lumbered forward. Its huge spikes of bleached bone rippled with the movement of its muscles. Three shots from Crescent Rose slammed into the alpha's chest, putting it on its back and putting it down. Pyrrha burst in amongst the beowolves like a light to burn away the darkness; her red hair and red sash both flew behind her as she slashed out with her shining spear. Flash's gunblade flared, while Weiss glided in upon a line of glyphs, conjuring ice from the tip of her sword.
The beowolves howling turned to cries of pain, but SAPR and WWSR cut them down all the same.
They cut them down until only one remained, snarling and growling as it squared off against Jaune.
Ruby took aim with Crescent Rose.
"Wait!" Pyrrha cried, holding up one hand. Her whole body looked taut; she was a coiled spring preventing herself from exploding only by great effort, and it was by a similar effort that she kept her voice calm as she added, "Let the prince win his spurs."
Sunset wasn't entirely sure what Jaune had done to warrant being called a prince, but she did as Pyrrha bade them all and held off. Of course, if the beowolf turned the tables on Jaune, then she knew that Pyrrha would be the first one to rush to aid, probably faster even than Ruby, but for now, the other huntsmen waited and watched as Jaune and the last beowolf faced one another.
Jaune didn't take his eyes off the creature as they circled one another. He kept his shield up, covering his chest, and held his sword over it ready to thrust out.
The beowolf charged, howling. Jaune rushed to meet it with a shout that was angry and afraid in equal measure. He drove forward with his shield, slamming into the beowolf as it came, pushing it back as the creature of grimm scrabbled at and around the shield with its claws. Jaune thrust with his sword, striking the beowolf's bony mask. The beowolf recoiled. Jaune started forward, then visibly checked himself as his shield began to fall to his side. The beowolf charged again. Jaune cut off its head in a single clean stroke.
As the grimm turned to ash, Jaune almost looked as though he couldn't believe that he'd done it. He stared at his own sword in disbelief, as Pyrrha looked at him with equal parts relief and delight visible upon her face.
"Are you okay, Sunset?" Ruby asked. "We heard the shooting and came to check on you."
"I'm glad you did," Sunset murmured. She cast her eyes over Pyrrha, Ruby, even Jaune; then she looked at Weiss, whose own gaze flickered between Sunset and the prone Cardin on his back on the ground. Sunset nodded. "Thank you."
Weiss' look was prim and her posture stern as she walked forward. "I should thank you for saving my teammate," she said.
Sunset moved away a little, so that she wasn't straddling Cardin like a mother bear any more. "It... it was the right thing to do," she said quietly.
Weiss' eyes widened. It was only slight, but Sunset noticed it. "You..." she began, and then stopped for a moment. Then, after another moment, she held out one hand. "You know, if you ever want to switch teams, you'll be welcome."
Sunset's eyebrows rose. She grinned as she took Weiss' hand. "Nah, you ever get bored, you can replace Jaune on my team."
"Hey!" Jaune cried.
Sunset laughed and found that Weiss was laughing too, the both of them covering their mouths with their free hands as they squeezed their clasped hands with... a surprising affection, really.
She... she wasn't really a bad person, Weiss Schnee. In her own way, she'd just paid Sunset a great compliment.
Sunset was still going to beat her in every class, of course.
She glanced at Flash as she let go of Weiss' hand. Him… him, she still wasn’t sure about. Him, she could not yet forgive. What he had done to her, and for what cause… for all her faults, she hadn’t deserved that.
She couldn’t forgive him… but she could refrain from sneering at him or yelling at him or doing anything to ruin the moment.
Not now. Not here. Not, amongst other things, in front of Cardin, who was being helped to his feet by Russell. He looked shaken, and he didn't look at Sunset.
Dare I hope that there'll be no more trouble out of him?
"Thanks," Sunset repeated. "To all of you."

A squadron of Bullheads carried the first year teams back to Beacon, their engines whining as they flew south over Forever Fall.
The Team SAPR Bullhead was on the right flank of the formation, and Sunset looked out of the open right hatch at the open sky and the scarlet forest passing rapidly beneath them. The wind danced through her hair, pushing it this way and that. She tightened her grip on the ceiling strap, just a little.
"So… listen," she said, having to raise her voice more than she would have liked in order to be heard above the sound of the Bullhead's engines and the wind through the plane. She fell silent for a moment, watching the unchanging forest going by beneath her.
I am not Forever Fall. I can change… and I think I must.
She looked up, away from the forest and at her team. She had their attention at least. All three of them were looking at her with some degree of anxiety and curiosity mingled together.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Silence greeted this concession.
"Uh… okay," Jaune said.
"Sorry for what?" Ruby asked.
Sunset smiled wryly. "How about we say 'for everything' and spare me the humiliation of having to make a list?"
"That's… rather remarkably generous of you," Pyrrha said.
Sunset snorted. "I can't guarantee that it will be a permanent change, but I'll do my best."
"Uh… you are Sunset Shimmer, right?" Jaune said.
"Yes, of course I'm Sunset Shimmer."
"You weren't replaced by a shapeshifting grimm or something when you were alone in the forest so that you could infiltrate Beacon?" Jaune followed up.
Sunset looked at him. "I'm not a changeling, I just had… I suppose you could say that I had an epiphany."
Ruby's eyes widened. "You mean there really are shapeshifting grimm?"
"Not as far as I know."
"But you just called them changelings!"
Me and my big mouth. "I just meant… if there were such a thing… which there aren't… then… changelings would be a good name for them, don't you think? Look, I'm trying to apologise for being a jerk here, so can we get back to that?"
Ruby giggled. "You're changing back already."
Sunset was silent for a moment, then she let out a sound that was part sigh, part laugh. "You guys… I don't know what I'd do without you."
"In a good way?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah, pretty much," Sunset replied. "I guess… what I'm trying to say… ugh, I'm really not good at this… I don't want to end up like Cardin. I don't want to be a bitter failure hating and blaming everyone… although I've kind of been that already, but… the point is…" I should have asked Twilight for advice on how to do this properly. "Pyrrha, I'm really sorry; the fact that you have what I want is not on you, and I… I'm going to get there and be twice as famous as you are, ten times! But I don't need to-"
"I understand," Pyrrha said softly. "Thank you, Sunset. It's very much appreciated."
"Not as much as I appreciate the save," Sunset said. "Just… in the future, if I'm becoming too much of a jerk… if I'm getting too awful… stop me."
"How?" Jaune asked.
Sunset shrugged. "I have faith in you to figure it out." She looked out the hatch again, if only for a moment. "Hey, what do you guys think about going out for dinner tonight?"

Ruby, Pyrrha, and Jaune were all waiting for Sunset outside of the dorm rooms. Their expressions were a little anxious, as if they were afraid that Sunset might have gone back to the way she was during the period she'd been away from them.
As if? That's probably exactly what they're worried about.
Sunset slipped her hands into her jacket pockets as she walked towards them. In her right pocket, she could feel Summer Rose's journal. She would have to give that to Ruby at some point, and soon, too. There wasn't much reason for holding onto it, nor many excuses she could give for still holding onto it. Except for the fact that she'd rather give it to Ruby in private than where anyone, or even Jaune and Pyrrha, could see and hear.
"Shall we get going?"
"Sure," Ruby said. "Lead the way."
Sunset did not, in fact, lead the way - they walked side by side in a line, with Sunset in the middle, Ruby on her left, and Jaune and Pyrrha on her right - but she did kind of steer the group along the right paths out of the campus and down the gravel path towards the old hunting lodge. The red lights of the Benni Haven's sign gleamed in the darkness like a lighthouse Beacon drawing them safely in.
"So, what made you want to eat here tonight?" Jaune asked.
"Because... I just thought it would be nice," Sunset admitted. "Something new for a new start, that sort of thing."
"But you have been here before, haven't you?" Pyrrha inquired, slightly anxiously.
"Yes, and yes, it won't poison anybody," Sunset assured her. "I haven't had a full meal here, but what I had was nice. I'm sure that you'll all like it. At least I hope we will."
Ruby chuckled. "It looks just like our house," she observed, as they approached the restaurant. "If someone had stuck a big red sign on it, anyway."
Sunset put one arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Who knows, maybe when your father gets a little older, this will be something for him to consider."
Ruby snorted. "I think home is a little far out of the way for people to come and eat. I can't think who'd wander into the middle of nowhere just to get dinner."
Sunset looked down at her. "The middle of nowhere?" she repeated. "You mean you don't even live in a village?"
"No," Ruby said, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. "It's just me, Dad, Yang, and Zwei. That's our dog."
"That sounds... really dangerous," remarked Jaune.
"I agree," Pyrrha murmured. "Towns and villages are vulnerable enough to the grimm, but to live all on your own... you must be very brave." She paused. "But then, I suppose we knew that already."
"We don't actually get bothered by that many grimm," Ruby informed them. "I mean, there was the time I was walking back from... the time that I was walking back home, and I got attacked by like a hundred beowolves-"
"A hundred?" Jaune squawked.
"It was a lot," Ruby said. "But I was just bang bang! And then I was like hwa! And I was able to take care of them before Yang showed up. There was also the time that an ursa showed up after I knocked myself out running into a tree, but Yang was able to handle that just fine on her own."
Sunset stared down at Ruby. "Did both those things actually happen?"
"Yeah," Ruby said, in a voice that was half admission and half protest.
"Remind me never to visit your house."
"That's only two times!"
"For most people, that would be quite enough," Pyrrha reminded her.
"I think we don't attract so many grimm because we live on our own," Ruby declared. "We all get along so well that there's no negative energy to draw them in."
"Only you could get away with saying something like that, Ruby Rose," Sunset said, as they reached the door to Benni Haven's with its nine panes of glass. Light shone from inside the establishment, spilling out into the darkness of the night beyond.
Sunset opened the door and led her team into the restaurant. The night air had a cool and bracing edge to it, but inside Benni's was warm and inviting, helped by the fire raging brightly within the stone fireplace. Sunset couldn't see any other first year teams she recognised in here, but it was a lot more crowded than it had been the last time Sunset had visited.
"What a charming establishment," Pyrrha said, as she, the last person in, closed the door behind them all.
"Outside looked like your house, Ruby, but the inside reminds me of back home," Jaune said quietly.
Benni Haven herself was cleaning a table towards the back of the restaurant, but as soon as she saw the four new arrivals, she stuffed her cloth into the pocket of her apron and strode between the tables towards them. "Hey, Sunset Shimmer, welcome back!" she cried. "And I see you brought your whole team with you this time. Eating in or taking out?"
"Eating in," Sunset replied. "If you can fit us in."
"Oh, sure, don't worry about it," Benni said, as she reached the four of them. "Welcome to Benni Haven's, Team Sapphire. I'm Benni, and it's always great to meet the new students."
Pyrrha bowed her head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am; thank you for having us."
Benni grinned. "You gotta love the Mistral students; they open their mouths once, and you can tell straightaway where they come from." As a slight blush of embarrassment rose to Pyrrha's cheeks, Benni continued, "I know Sunset, but what about the rest of you?"
"Jaune Arc."
"Pyrrha Nikos," Pyrrha added softly.
"And I'm Ruby Rose," Ruby said brightly.
Benni stared at her. "Ruby Rose," she repeated. "You any relation to Summer Rose?"
Ruby's eyes widened. "You knew my mom?"
Benni nodded. "She was the year above me at Beacon. Even before they saved the day at Ozpin's Stand, we were all in awe of Team Stark, but your mom was always willing to help a freshman out if they needed it. Not like her snooty partner. How's your mom doing?"
Ruby's chin dipped. "She... Mom, uh..."
"Ah," Benni said, understanding at once. "Yeah, isn't that always the way? I'm sorry to hear that, Ruby Rose. Your mother was good people."
"Is it?" Jaune asked. "Always the way, I mean?"
Benni was silent for a moment. "Come here, kid, and take a look at this." She stepped around Fluffy the Beowolf and gestured to the wall of pictures that hung just beyond him, the large picture of Benni's own team that dominated the wall but also the row upon row of smaller framed photographs that surrounded it. All the smiling young huntsmen and huntresses posed around Fluffy, some of them treating it like the fifth member of their team, others acting as though they had killed it. "Some of those kids are still at Beacon," Bennie explained, "but of those that aren't... do you think every one of those faces is still here?"
Jaune's eyes widened. He stared at all the photographs, but did not reply. He just stared at them all, as if he was trying to commit them to memory.
"Those smiles won't last forever," Benni said, a hint of regret creeping into her voice. "So treasure them while they last." Her voice perked up a little. "Hey, do you guys want to have your picture taken? Still plenty of room on the wall?"
"Maybe after we've eaten," Sunset said.
"Right, sure, the table," Benni replied, as though she'd forgotten. "Follow me."
She led them to a table by the fireplace, not far from the spot she'd been cleaning when they came in. Jaune lingered, still looking at the photographs upon the walls and only hastened to join the others when Pyrrha called to him. The fire felt particularly warm here, and Sunset took off her jacket as a result. Benni set four menus in front of them and promised to be back soon.
Pyrrha opened the menu, her green eyes scanning the choices. "A lot of this looks slightly unhealthy."
"Oh, indulge yourself for once," Sunset urged. "It's not like I'm suggesting we eat here every night."
"This is traditional Valish food, Pyrrha," Ruby told her. "Everything comes with fries."
Pyrrha smiled. "Oh, really? Well, then I suppose I'm obligated to try it in order to get the real experience of living in another kingdom."
"Ooh, they have a cookie sundae!" Ruby cried.
"You can't skip straight to dessert," Sunset said.
"Aww!"
"Jaune? Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked. "Jaune?"
Jaune who had been looking a little distant, visibly recovered himself. "What? Oh, yeah. Uh, I think I'll have the Huntsman's Chicken, that sounds nice."
"The Huntsman's Chicken for the Chicken Huntsman," Ruby quipped.
"I asked you never to repeat that!"
Sunset grinned. "What's this now?"
"It's nothing," Jaune said quickly. "Nothing at all... compared to the story of how Ruby was able to knock herself out running into a tree."
"Oh, that's just mean, Jaune!" Ruby cried.
They had a good time that night. Sunset hoped they did, and she thought they did, judging by how much laughter there was from their table. She, certainly, had a good time that night as they talked and laughed, and at the end of the night, they had a picture taken by Benni of themselves posed around the beowolf by the door. Sunset and Ruby stood in front of the beast, Sunset bent down with her arms wrapped around Ruby's shoulders and her chin resting on to the top of Ruby's head while Fluffy loomed over the pair of them; Jaune and Pyrrha stood on either side of the creature, Jaune with one hand resting on it while Pyrrha clasped her hands together in front of her. Benni set a copy to each of their scrolls and promised to stick the photo up on the wall by the next time they paid a visit. Yes, Sunset had a good time that night, but at the same time... at the same time, she had such a good time that it made her sad, if that made any sense. It made her sad because all of this could have been hers years ago if she'd only been willing to make the effort. All that time despising Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash for the time and attention they lavished on their weak and unworthy friends, and now... now, she understood it a little better. She felt as though she had wasted so much time.
But on the other hoof, if she hadn't, then she might not have had this team and these friends.
So maybe, just maybe, it had all worked out for the best.

After dinner, there was still time for Jaune and Pyrrha to do a little more training, and so, while Ruby and Sunset headed back to the dorm room the two of them remained, lingering by the garages in a somewhat secluded spot, while the stars and the emerald lights of the tower gleamed above their heads.
But Jaune seemed distracted, unfocussed, and Pyrrha eventually had to stop and ask, “Jaune? What’s the matter?”
Jaune’s hands fell down by his sides, bearing his sword and shield with them. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Pyrrha’s brow furrowed. “About what?”
“Your father, Ruby’s mom,” Jaune said. “What Mrs Haven said about all these teams with their photograph on the wall. Do you think it’s true, what she said?”
Pyrrha was silent for a moment. If Sunset were here, she would perhaps say that we are too skilled to suffer such a fate. But Jaune wouldn’t want me to patronise him with a lie, even if it is kindly meant. “I… I’m going to be honest with you, Jaune. There is a good chance that one of us, at least one of us, may die in the field. My father, Ruby’s mother, they didn’t meet that fate because they were incompetent or even unlucky, but because… because that is a possible fate for any huntsman.”
“You say that so… calmly,” Jaune murmured. “I don’t… the way you sound now, the way that Ruby sounded when she was talking about Sunset’s mission in the forest, how can you both accept this so easily? So readily?”
“Ruby is far more ready than I,” Pyrrha said. “I… it is, perhaps, a little hypocritical of me, but it concerns me. Yes, death is a hazard we all must face, but she is so young. There are times when I think Professor Ozpin should not have admitted her to Beacon.”
“She’s good enough,” Jaune pointed out.
“But still so young,” Pyrrha replied. “Could she not have been allowed two more years or childhood yet?”
“I think, if you asked her, she’d tell you that she didn’t want it,” Jaune suggested.
“She seems eager to shoulder the burdens to the world,” Pyrrha agreed, albeit in a soft tone touched with a hint of sadness, “but that does not mean that she should have to.” She fell silent for a moment. “Of course, none of this answers your question, does it? I cannot speak for why Ruby is willing to risk her life upon the hazards of the battlefield, save that she has a fearless heart and a will to use her strength for the good of the world. For myself, I do not desire my life to end, but if that is my fate… then so be it.”
Jaune laughed bitterly. “No offence, Pyrrha, but your explanation doesn’t explain anything. Perhaps, instead of teaching me how to fight, I should ask you to teach me to be as brave as you instead.”
“It has nothing to do with courage,” Pyrrha replied. “I am sure that, when the moment comes, you would not hesitate to hurl your body into the breach if that was the only way to save a life.”
Jaune did not reply to that. “I guess… it didn’t really hit me until today… this isn’t a glorious line of work, is it?”
“No,” Pyrrha agreed. “And it is a dangerous one. Does that… does that worry you?”
“Yes,” Jaune admitted, his voice small and very quiet. “But not enough to make me change my mind.”
“No?” Pyrrha asked.
“You and Ruby, even Sunset,” Jaune said. “You’ve taken a chance on me, you’re willing to fight alongside me… how can I do any less? If you’re willing to risk your life with me, then I’ll risk mine with you.” He smiled. “And maybe, together, it won’t come to that.”
He is so brave, Pyrrha thought. And braver still for being so inexperienced and unskilled compared to the rest of us. It was… very admirable. “Yes,” she agreed. “With good fortune, it shall be so.”

“Ruby,” Sunset said, as she patted a spot on the bed beside her. “Sit down here a second, while Jaune and Pyrrha are out.”
Ruby looked a little puzzled, but she did as Sunset asked, and sat herself down on the bed next to Sunset.
Sunset hesitated. “I could do with some advice,” she admitted.
“From me?”
Sunset smiled at her. “You… you have such a good heart I’m hoping you’ll know what I should do. Because I don’t.”
Ruby still looked a little bemused by this, but she nodded anyway. “I’ll help you out if I can. What’s up?”
"I... I kind of want to write to someone... but I don’t know if I should."
"Who do you want to write to?"
"Someone from back home," Sunset said. "And... my old teacher, kind of. We didn't... part on the best of terms, but now... I'd like to hear from her again, but I don't know if..."
"You were close?" Ruby said.
Sunset nodded. "She pretty much raised me. She did raise me. And then I threw it all back in her face."
"So?" Ruby asked. "It doesn't mean that she stopped loving you."
"That's the thing," Sunset said. "I don't know if she ever did love me, or if she just... I don't know."
"But you loved her, right?"
Sunset hesitated before she nodded. "Yeah. The difference is that she deserved to be loved."
"Sometimes, giving other people a chance means giving yourself a chance as well," Ruby postulated. "You're not a bad person, Sunset, and although I don't know this teacher of yours, if you cared about her so much, then she can't be a bad person either. So why don't you just give it a try, because if you don't, then all that you'll do is regret it."
Sunset looked down at her. "You're very wise for such a little kid." She reached into the pocket of her jacket. “I… I have something for you,” she said quietly, as she pulled out the little black book with the rose painted on the cover. Summer Rose’s journal. She… Sunset wasn’t quite sure what else to say about it really, so she simply placed it on Ruby’s lap and let it lie there, the rose facing upwards towards them both. “This… I think it belongs to you.”
Ruby did not respond. She stared at the book for a moment, one pale hand reaching gingerly to touch the cover. Ruby’s fingers traced the rose painted in white upon the black, before she gingerly flipped the journal open. A gasp escaped her lips. When she looked back up at Sunset, her eyes were wide. “Is this… Mom? Sunset how did you… is this real?”
"It's real," Sunset said. "It's real," she repeated. "I can attest to that. And... it’s your mother’s.”
If Ruby's eyes went any wider than they would consume her entire face. Her mouth hung open, contorting into various shapes as it framed words that did not come. "How?"
"You know Jaune's transcripts?" Sunset said. "The ones that got lost? Yeah, they got lost because I... trespassed slightly in the archives and removed them." That reminded her; she should probably burn those or something. She shouldn't keep them in case they tempted her to bad habits. "And then... while I was there, I decided to look at my records, and while I was looking, I found your mother's box, and... that was in there. I haven't looked at it. Well, I stopped as soon as I realised what it was. I don't know anything."
Ruby stared up at her for a moment, and then a moment longer. Her eyes began to fill with tears. And then she flung her arms around Sunset's neck and squeezed her tight into a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered into one of Sunset's ears.
Sunset was stiff, startled into statuesque rigidity. People didn't hug Sunset Shimmer. She hadn't gotten a hug in... since Flash broke up with her, at least. And even then, they’d… kind of stopped hugging at some point, even though Sunset couldn’t exactly remember when. Regardless, it had been a long time since anyone embraced her the way that Ruby was doing now.
And to be honest, it wasn't half bad.
Slowly, gently, gingerly, Sunset put one arm around Ruby's shoulder. "It was nothing, really. I was just passing through."
Ruby refused to let her go. "Mom," she murmured. "There's so much that I don't know, and Dad won't tell me and nor will Uncle Qrow, and I know that they're not telling me stuff! And I think... I think that Beacon might have something to do with it, but I don't know what I just... thank you."
"I hope you find the answers," Sunset said. "But, even if you don't... I hope that you know your mom a little better by the time you're through." Sunset hadn't known her mother either; she'd died bringing Sunset into the world. Princess Celestia had been the closest that Sunset had ever known to... she pushed that thought aside; that confusion was a large part of how she'd ended up this way in the first place. If her mother had left Sunset some way of knowing her, even after she was gone, then maybe…
She hoped that Ruby got something out of it.
A smile was still playing across Ruby's face as she said, “Hey, Sunset? Can I ask you something, even though it’s going to sound stupid?”
“That depends on how stupid it is,” Sunset replied.
“Would you… would you sing for me?”
Sunset blinked. That was not what she had been expecting. “Why?”
“Because you said you could,” Ruby said. “And I’d like to hear it. I’d like to hear a song from where you come from.”
“That… is not going to happen,” Sunset replied. “We have no songs… those songs are a little too raw for me.” She paused. “But I will sing you something, if you like. A song I heard in Atlas, it’s… it’s quite appropriate.”
“Okay,” Ruby said softly, as she snuggled in closer to Sunset, as though she were trying to burrow her way into Sunset’s jacket.
Sunset smiled at this, and shook her head. Her tail twitched gently on the bed as she cleared her throat, and began to sing.

And so, Sunset sang, a song that Sunset had always liked but never really understood until this moment, when she felt… when she felt as though it were about her more than anyone else.
Ruby was asleep by the time Sunset was finished, her eyes closed and her breathing gentle as she lay pressed against Sunset.
Sunset chuckled softly. “Sweet dreams, Ruby Rose.” She kept one arm around Ruby and used telekinesis to pull the journal out from underneath the bed, open it up, and place it on her lap. It rested there, fortunately needing no second hand to balance it, as Sunset used more magic to grab a pen.
A pen which hovered over the page uncertainly. Where did she even start? How should she begin?
How could she say all that needed to be said?
And how would Celestia react to it?
In the end, there was only one way to find out.
Sunset began to scribble across the journal page.
Dear Princess Twilight
You have been telling me that I should try and understand Cardin Winchester. I didn't want to. I still don't want to. But unfortunately for me, I do understand him a little better now, and in understanding him, I better understand myself.
It sucks. Mostly because I do.
Sunset paused for a moment, pondering how she could best proceed.
I don't know what to do now. I don't want to continue being what I am, but I'm not sure that I know how to be anything else. I'm worried that I can't be anything else. I feel like I might need your help. You said yourself that's what you do, right? You help people like me?
What do I do? How do I do it?
How do I become better than I am?
All my life, I've wanted power. I've wanted glory. I wanted to ascend, to shine, to be admired and adored. I wanted to be the hero. I still want that. I still want all those things. But I also want
I also always wanted
I want to be
I don't know if I can be
I don't know if I deserve to be
Are you really going to make me say it?
I need help.
I need your help.
Twilight Sparkle, will you do me a favour?
Will you tell Celestia
Sunset stopped, wondering just what she could or felt comfortable with asking Twilight to tell Celestia
Will you please tell Celestia how sorry I am?