//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: The White Fang // Story: Equestria’s White Fang // by Garnet Naturea //------------------------------// Huntsman House Ruby POV It took a couple of hours and several redesigns, but we finally finished the blueprints for Rainbow’s weapons. We haven’t decided on a name yet but I could tell that the pegasus was thinking hard about what they would be. I check the clock and see that it is almost five o’clock. So we have been at this for nearly four hours! “Woah, I didn’t think we would spend this much time on this.” I say, getting the others to turn to the clock and see the time. “Geez! I am really glad I had the day off otherwise I could have gotten into trouble.” Rainbow says, standing and stretching. I think this is the longest time she has spent in one spot since I have met her. “Hey, wasn’t Penny’s patrol supposed to finish at one?” Oscar questions and I go over to the fridge where we have a patrol schedule Pyrrha made and see he is right. “Yeah, she was. Maybe she got caught up with some friends?” I say with a raised brow. Rainbow and Oscar just shrug at the idea when we hear the door open and Pyrrha walking in with her bag full of papers. “Oh! Hey Ruby. What’s going on?” She questions, going into the living room. “Well Rainbow here wants to be a huntress so we have spent most of the afternoon making designs for her weapon.” I say, handing her the blueprints. She looks the weapon designs over and nods. “This is a good design, and it just feels like something Rainbow would use.” She says before looking around a bit. “Wait, where is Adam and Penny?” “We’re not sure. Adam was the one who gathered us but he left soon after we started designing the weapons, and Penny hasn’t come back from her patrol yet.” Oscar says. Pyrrha puts a hand on her chin in thought. “Curious.” “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am going to head back to my place. Thanks for the help Ruby, maybe we can start making my weapons later.” Rainbow says before flying out the window. What is it with that pegasus and not using doors? That is the third time I have seen her leave or enter a place through a window. “Hmm, I wonder where Adam and Penny are?” I question aloud. The others wonder as well, not thinking of where they could be. The others think about it as well as they can’t think of where they could be. I suddenly get a weird feeling and head out the door, the others following behind me when some kind of a portal appears in front of the house. It isn’t like a Grimm portal or the teleporter we went through, so I have no idea what could be coming through it. Without warning I burst to Penny’s room and grab my scythe, coming back a second later. The others tense up as we can barely see the outline of two people coming through the portal. We stay on guard as they begin to take form and I notice the one in the back seemed to stop for a second. Before long I can make out the first person and I drop my guard at who it is. “Penny?” I question as my friend steps out of the portal, seeing all of us in front of her. “Hey guys, what are you up to?” She asks with a innocent tilt of the head. I just look to her for a second before putting my weapon away. “Well, we were wondering where you and Adam were when this portal opened up. Since we didn’t know what it was we were getting ready for a fight.” I explain, Penny nodding. Before she can talk though, the second person who I recognize as Adam walks out, the portal closing behind him. I go slightly wide-eyed as I see his jacket and parts of his shirt are torn to shreds, looking like sword slashes as opposed to claw marks. “Jeez! What happened to you Adam?” I ask as I look him over. He gains a slightly sheepish expression and rubs the back of his head. “Hehe, had a bit of a sparring match that went a little too far. A new friend of mine, Edward, needed to blow off some steam so we ended up fighting for a couple hours. He is one hell of a fighter so we both ended up getting shredded.” He says with a grin. Penny just sighs and rolls her eyes at this. I find it odd how expressive Penny has become as of late, especially towards Adam. “Yes well, we also got some pretty interesting upgrades.” Penny says, Adam nodding with a smirk. “Well, how about you two come in and you can tell us about it.” Pyrrha suggests. The duo nod and quickly enter the house, Adam running upstairs and changing his shirt. “So, Adam got summoned by another Displaced and I decided to tag along. I was curious about visiting other worlds, and the world we went to was defiantly different that this one.” Penny says, taking a seat at the table as Adam comes down with a new shirt on and his shredded jacket and shirt in his hands. “Man, Rarity is going to kill me.” He mumbles, placing his clothes on the back of his chair. “Do you have any material? We could probably patch it up here, that way Rarity won’t try to make you model for a dozen suits.” Oscar says, laughing slightly at the thought. I have to admit, that is a legitimate threat from Rarity. She may be a genius when it comes to clothing, but she is almost sadistic when she has a model. Adam places a hand on his chin in thought, before glancing at Penny and his eyes seem to light up. “Actually, this could be a good trial run for Penny’s new power. Hold on a sec.” he stands and rushes down to the workshop in the basement. I raise a brow at Penny, who is looking at her hands in thought. After about a minute, Adam came back with some red and black cloth. He quickly clears the table, and places his jacket and shirt on the table, placing the cloth over the areas that are shredded. “Alright, looks like that’s it. Penny?” I step over to Penny as she walks to the table and take a deep breath. She seems to think about something before raising and clapping her hands, odd green sparks coming out of them. She places her hands on the jacket and shirt, and we all watch in shock as they begins to spark with green electricity and glow. Pyrrha, Oscar and I have to look away as the glow becomes more intense, before it fades after a couple seconds. All of us look at the clothes on the table, and are shocked as we see the areas on Adam’s shirt and jacket look good as new, the cloths he brought up earlier gone. “What.” I ask in confusion. Adam just smiles and places his jacket back on, testing the movement of the arms with no clear change in material. “Alright. Good as new. Nice job Penny.” Adam says with a smile, and I notice Penny blushing and playing with her hair for some reason. I look to Pyrrha with a raised brow, but she was just grinning at Penny and Adam. Penny coughs into her hand after a second and hold her hand out to me. “Ruby, can I borrow Cresent Rose for a second?” I raise a brow but nod and hand over my weapon to Penny, who places it on the table and claps her hands again. The table glows again and once the glow fades, my face splits into a stunned smile. My baby, Cresent Rose....she looks brand new! I squee loudly and pick up my girl, looking her over with a smile. All the scratches, the chips of metal and paint, everything is gone and she looks like she did when I first arrived at Beacon. “Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods!” I repeat as I hug my weapon to my chest, smiling wide. I could hear the others laughing, but I didn’t care. I look to Penny, who is sweating slightly and rush over, hugging her tight. “Thank you Penny!” “N-no problem....Ruby.” she struggles to say. I laugh a little and let her go, Penny almost falling over. “So, what exactly was that? What that your Semblance?” Oscar questions. “Nope. That was a power called Alchemy. My friend, Edward, gave Penny the ability to use it as a thanks for our sparring match.” Adam says, walking to the kitchen and turning the kettle on. “And he also gave Adam the ability to increase certain aspects of his, like speed and strength, with his magic as opposed to his aura.” Penny says, taking a seat on the couch. “Cool!” I say before heading upstairs and putting Cresent Rose away. “You know, now I am a little jealous you got summoned.” I hear Pyrrha say as I make my way back down. “Yeah well, its all part of being a Displaced I guess. I am just glad I didn’t get summoned during a fight or something. That would have been awkward.” Adam says with a laugh. I just grin and head back down to the workshop to work on Rainbow’s weapon. I hope the pegasus doesn’t mind me getting a head start on it. Adam POV Four Days Later... I glance out the window of the train as I see Canterlot coming up fast. After Penny and I got back from Ed’s world, we started practicing with the new abilities we got, Penny hoping learning Alchemy would unlock her Semblance, but so far, no dice. Using magical strength enhancements were pretty easy for me once I remembered to retract my aura from around where I am focusing. That is the only downside, once I cover it with my magic, it is vulnerable as it is unguarded by my aura. After practicing for a few days, I sent a letter to the princesses, requesting a personal audience. I was thinking it was about time I start up the White Fang here in Equestria, but instead of being a militia of misguided faunus, I wanted it to be a squad of the royal guard. After I sent the letter, I told the others of my plan. While Rainbow, Ozpin, and Penny were all for it, Qrow, Oscar, Pyrrha and Ruby were not all that thrilled with the idea before I explained that it would be nothing like from Remnant. While they accepted to wear their own Grimm masks since they are part sunglasses, they still had the negative stigma of the White Fang in general, especially Ruby and Pyrrha. I couldn’t blame them though, especially with what happened back in Remnant. So it was just me, Penny, Qrow and Rainbow on the way to Canterlot while the others stayed back in Ponyville. Apparently Ruby was going to start forging Rainbow’s weapon at the local blacksmiths, while Pyrrha and Oscar have some lessons to teach back at the school. “Oh man, I am so excited. Do you think that the princesses would let me join as a member of the White Fang?” Rainbow questions. “I think you would. I have been practicing with my aura, so I can see how yours is. After the training we have been doing, your aura has ‘stabalized’ as it were. You were super sporadic and hotheaded before. Now you should be able to use your aura with some practice. Being a member of the White Fang however, we would first need permission to actually form the squad in the first place.” I explain, taking my earbuds out and putting them away as we near the station. “Are you sure you still want to call it the White Fang though. It is clear you and the squad are completely different from Remnant, so why would you refer to them as the White Fang?” Qrow asks. “Well, it is mostly for making a point. The White Fang of Remnant was led astray from what they were supposed to be after Sienna Khan took over from Blake’s dad, Ghira. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that the White Fang was supposed to be both an organization for peace, and an organization for protection. They were supposed to show humans that the faunus are equal to them, and also to provide protection to the faunus that are being persecuted. After Ghira stepped down and Sienna took over, things changed. Things that were once peaceful and respectful, like protests, became violent and fearful. It didn’t help the fact that their methods worked for the most part, the faunus were being treated as equals. But not out of respect, but out of fear. Here in Equestria, I am the only faunus thus far, and from what I can tell, none of you or I have been persecuted by the ponies. So I think the White Fang would do well to be a squad of the royal guard as opposed to a militia-like organization. It will make sure they have respect of soldier as opposed to a bunch of misguided and mistreated faunus.” The group slowly nod as the train pulls up to the station, all slightly less uncertain than before. Once we left the train station, we headed down the Main Street towards the castle. I was mentally preparing my arguments and points about making the squad, when I am interrupted by a familiar voice. “Why, Sir Taurus! Welcome back to Canterlot!” Turning around, I see a duo of ponies coming out of a little cafe. They were instantly familiar to all of us, being two of the most famous residents of Canterlot. Fancy Pant and his wife Fleur De Lis. “Fancy, Fleur. Good to see you two again.” I say, walking up with a bow. “Likewise my young friend.” The stallion glances past me at my group. “And I see you did not come alone today. Good to see you all again, Miss Dash, Miss Polendina, Sir Branwen.” “Salutations Sir Fancy and Lady Fleur.” Penny says with her own small curtsy. “Hey there Fancy, Fleur. Nice to meet you in person.” Qrow says with a grin. I am really glad he isn’t drunk right now. “The pleasures all ours.” Fleur says with a smile. “So Adam, what are you doing back in Canterlot? I would have assumed you were busy hunting down the....Grimm was it?” “Actually, after the almost attack on Appleoosa, things have been rather quiet, so I have come by to talk to the princesses about a way to help make sure the ponies can defend themselves against the creatures of Grimm. I can’t get into any details for political safety and not to get your hopes up, but I think the princesses will approve of the plan.” I explain, keeping an eye out for any prying eyes or ears. “I see. Well, best not to keep you occupied. Good luck my friend, hopefully things go well.” Fancy says, patting my shoulder. “Thanks Fancy. If you two ever find yourselves in Ponyville, feel free to pop by our place for some tea or something.” I say with a smile, the others rolling their eyes at the stereotypical offer. “Of course Adam, it was nice to see you all again. Have a good day.” With that, the duo head down the road, likely to their home, while our group head towards to the castle again. “Well they were nice.” Rainbow says suddenly. “Yeah, Fancy and Fleur were some of the more resepected members of the nobility since they see the ‘commoners’ as just as important, if not moreso, than the other members of the nobility.” I explain. Qrow nods after a second with an appreciative smirk. It didn’t take us long to reach the castle gates, and talk to the guards about our appointment. We were actually just in time for lunch apparently, so the duo of guards led us to the dinning hall where Celestia and Luna were. I am honestly surprised that Luna is awake, but I did say in my letter that my idea would help against the Grimm. It only took about five minutes before our group arrives at the dinning hall, the doors opening to reveal both princesses at the table, small talking with one another. “What do you think his idea is sister? Do you think he will teach us how to craft firearms?” I hear Luna question. I admit that was an idea, but maybe not for now. “Perhaps he is going to teach our guard how to utilize their aura.” Celestia suggests before looking to the door and seeing my group. “Ah! Perfect timing. Welcome back to Canterlot everyone.” “Thank you Princess. It’s nice to be back.” Qrow says, walking towards an empty seat, followed by Penny and Rainbow. “Salutations Luna and Celestia!” “Hey Princesses.” “Hey Celestia, Luna. Thanks for agreeing to meet with us.” I say, taking my own seat between Penny and Luna. Celestia claps her hands and a royal waitress comes out and takes our orders before rushing to the kitchen. “So, how have things been in Ponyville? I heard from Twilight and Ruby that you and Penny were ‘summoned’, whatever that means.” Celestia questions. “Yeah. I got called to another world and Penny decided to tag along. To make a long story short, there are others like me, called Displaced, who are sent to their own versions of Equestria and are able to summon other Displaced if they have the proper token.” I explain, taking out the pocket watch and necklace I got from Ed. “Remarkable. So, what was it thou did in this alternate Equestria?” Luna asks with a hint of excitement. “Eh, not much. Got summoned by a guy named Edward Elric and we had a sparring match like you and I did Luna. Though he is way stronger than me. The dude wasn’t even winded before I got knocked out.” I say with a slight laugh, Penny barely holding in a giggle. “Wait, you got knocked out?! Now I wished I stayed at your place longer to get the full story.” Rainbow says with a pout, crossing her arms. “Sorry RD, snooze you lose.” I say with a smirk. A second later the doors open up and a couple carts with food are wheeled in and each of us get our lunch. Once all our food was placed in front of us, and we had a few bites, Celestia decided to get right to the point. “So Adam. What was it you had planned to help fight against the Grimm?” I take another bite of my sandwich and swallow before turning to her. “Well, with your permission, I would like to recreate the White Fang here in Equestria.” “White Fang? I have heard you mention it during your dreams, but what exactly was it?” Luna questions. “The White Fang was an organization made to promote peace and equality between the Faunus, my species, and humans, Qrow and Penny’s species. Unfortunately, it didn’t work all that well back in Remnant. To make a long story short, some humans still saw themselves as the superior species and the Faunus as nothing but animals or even slaves.” The princesses were angered, I could tell, about the last part. I raise my hand and scoot an inch closer to Penny to stop the alicorns from interrupting. “The White Fang of Remnant was created to be the forefront of faunus equality and protection, but some people are too stubborn. I am sure you two have met your fair share of adamant politicians and nobles who would not step down from their views or positions.” The duo nod and barely take note of my proximity to the former android. “Well, things went south for the White Fang of Remnant, for a lack of a better term. Their old leader, Ghira Belladona, stepped down, and the next leader, Sienna Khan, had a more violent approach to respect. She changed the White Fang from a peaceful organization, into a militia and even terrorists band of faunus. The sad part is it worked to a degree. Faunus were being seen as equals to a degree, but it wouldn’t last the long term.” I trail off remembering one thing that pissed me off, especially now. “He also made it all the worse for Ruby and her team.” I mutter with venom, the ponies raising their brows while Penny and Qrow frown, the former placing her hand overtop mine. “He?” Celestia finally questions. “Adam Taurus.” Penny, Qrow and I say in unison. The trio raise a brow again before Rainbow’s eyes light up. “Oh, you mean the original Adam Taurus from Remnant.” She explains, earning a nod from the three of us. “The other Adam is a real peice of work. As Blake put it and as I have said before, that guy is basically the embodiment of the word Spite. He wouldn’t accept equality, saw himself and the other Faunus as above humans, and was one of the people responsible for the fall of Beacon.” I explain with barely restrained anger. The ponies all frown at the thought, before Luna clears her throat. “Well, that explains Pyrrha and Ruby’s less than hospitable introductions to you. But, I just have to ask, what did the other Adam do to make Ruby and her team so miserable?” She questions. I was really hoping she wouldn’t ask that. “You want the long version or the short version?” Qrow questions, taking a swig of his flask. “We’ll take the short version for now.” Celestia answers. “Short version, Adam and Blake used to be partners when they were part of the White Fang, but Blake didn’t agree with his extremist ideals, and left. Adam became obsessed with getting revenge on her, and when they met during the Fall of Beacon, he vowed to destroy everything Blake loved. He started with Ruby’s older sister, Yang.” The ponies tense up as they seem to get the implications. “Yang tried to protect Blake, but Adam beat her in one hit and cut off her right arm.” The ponies gasp, the severity not lost on them. I meanwhile have my hands shaking in anger. Even if I dressed as him at the convention, I hated that bastard for everything he has done. Maybe it is my own sense of self-righteousness, but he is the perfect example of what not to become when looking for peace in my eyes. “Wow. Just....wow. That is messed up.” Rainbow states bluntly, earning a nod from everyone at the table. “And almost everyone would agree with you on that Rainbow. I only got a small amount of information about the other Adam before I died, so I am mostly going off Ruby, Pyrrha and Adam’s descriptions and experiences.” Penny says, taking a sip of her water. It was as I was thinking about what he did that something I was honestly scared of began to happen again. The visions. I had been getting them every now and then, and most of have been mundane, weapons training, meditation, raid plans. But every now and then, more dangerous ones pop up. The fire around me in the cafeteria. A human beneath my boot. A Grimm trying to ambush me, and being swatted away like a bug. Blake’s pleading and yells of pain. Yang’s scream of rage. The moment our sword sliced- “Adam?” I blink several times as I realized I had been slowly tensing like I was about to get into a fight to the point the leather of my gloves make audible stretching noises and my breath had become rapid and heated. I was only brought out of it through Penny’s hand on mine and her voice. “S-sorry.” I say quietly, trying to take my hand back. But Penny just holds onto it tighter. “More visions?” She questions. I just nod slowly, Penny moving her hand from my hand to my shoulder. She and Qrow are the only ones who knew about my visions of the other Adam’s memories. At least they were. “Visions?” Luna questions. I just sigh and take a sip of my water. “You remember how this isn’t my original form, right?” The three mares nod. “Well, right before our duel Luna, I had a couple of visions of some things I have never been through before. It turns out, as a Displaced, I also have some of the memories of the one I turned into.” The trio raise their brow a moment before thinking about it. “So, you have flashbacks about things the Remnant’s Adam went through?” Celestia questions, earning a nod from me. “Yeah, sometimes at random, sometime during things like meditation. Or....whenever I am talking about events from Remnant. Like right now.” I say the last part softly as the events play out in my head again. I grit my teeth in anger at his sadistic joy from taking Yang’s arm. Of how blind he was to what he was doing, merely doing it to hurt Blake. “That must be tough, remembering and living through events through the eyes of the one who caused it.” Rainbow mutters to herself, but we all heard her. “Yeah, it is rough. Luckily I have yet to have any visions of some more, explicit things Adam might have done.” I mutter. While I doubt he would go that far, there is no real way to know how far that bastard has gone. There was a bit of silence that followed afterwards, the six of us not really sure how to continue, before Celestia clears her throat. “Well, it seems we have gotten slightly off topic. Back to it I suppose. You said you wanted to create the White Fang here in Equestria, what would that entail, exactly?” She questions. I internally smile as she managed to move the conversation to something less depressing. “Well, to start off, the first part would be selecting the members of the Fang, which would be more like a specialized unit for dealing with Grimm. From there, they will be trained in aura useage from myself and my friends, and then potentially, weapons forging. While it is fine to go with the basics, the reason huntsman and huntresses work so well, is their surprising and somewhat unorthodox weapons.” I point to Qrow for example. “Take Qrow’s weapon, Harbinger. Normally it looks like a large sword with gears in it that can shift into a shotgun. But, with some movements, he can shift it into a large scythe much like Ruby’s Cresent Rose, allowing for farther reach than its sword form.” The huntsman stands and shifts his weapon into scythe form for emphasis. “I see. And if our forces have access to weapons that can change form like that...” Luna begins. “Then they would have a much better chance against the Grimm, as well as being more used to daily combat.” I finish. “I see. So, who would be in charge of the squadron then?” Celestia questions. I smile sheepishly and rub my head. “Well, I was thinking I could. I may be young, but with both my knowledge of combat from my past as well as Adam’s, added to training with Ruby, Penny, Qrow, Ozpin and Pyrrha, I think I can handle training and directing some soldiers. I can tell you right now, most of them will be young, and inexperienced. So mostly privates as they will be easiest to teach. Plus my dad used to be a marine, so I have at least some experience with working with soldiers. ” I state. “What’s a marine?” Penny questions. “Basically they’re one of the special forces from my world. Remember, Earth doesn’t have Grimm or faunus, so most of the conflicts we deal with are from other humans. He was deployed in a desert country call Afghanistan for a couple years where he was forced to deal with some deadly terrorist nearly daily before he became a reservist and met my mom. He wouldn’t share much about his experiences until after I was sixteen unfortunately. But he did let me tag along when he went to train some new recruits when I was younger.” I explain with a thoughtful smile, one that threated to lower into a frown as I thought about my family back on earth. I have little doubt mom, my sisters Sarah and Maria and my little brother Tai are worried sick about me. I know dad would at least have faith in my survival. That guy could get nominated for an award for having faith in others. I am quickly brought out of my thoughts as I hear Luna humming at my proposition, before turning to her sister and lighting their horns. I guess they are having a telepathic conversation or something. After a minute of silent deliberation, they seem to come to a decision. “Very well. We will allow you to create the White Fang here in Equestria. However, I believe it would be best for you to show us what you can do in terms of leading a squadron before the selections process....Captain.” Luna finished with a smirk. The four of us lean back slightly from her last word. “Captain? Wouldn’t I just get placed with a rank of drill sergeant or something instead of such a high ranking position?” I question, Qrow and Penny nodding along while Rainbow just looks confused. “Ordinarily, but it is custom in Equestria for independent, separate divisions of the royal guards to be lead by one who has the rank of captain at the lowest. The solar guard are currently led by Captain Iron Frost, the night guards are currently led by Captain Midnight Blossom, and the Wonderbolts are led by Commander Spitfire.” Celestia explains. “So the White Fang division would have to be led by Captain Adam Taurus, as opposed to, say, Lieutenant Adam Taurus.” Rainbow summarized. “Correct Loyalty, I mean Rainbow Dash.” Luna says, catching herself. “Luckily, with our duel and your success in Appleloosa, I have little doubt many would argue with you instant promotion to such a high ranking position, as well as your creation of the division in general.” I nod after a second and take a breath. I smile up to the royal sister with a determined glint in my eye. “Well, let’s get started.”