Cold Harbour
Cold Harbour seemed a very miserable place.
The Skyray came in from the south, passing over a thin metal wall that formed the barrier between the town and the outside world, a barrier that was topped with an allure patrolled by a few Atlesian soldiers and dotted with twin gun turrets, some pointing outwards across the flat and featureless landscape surrounding the settlement, while others pointed upwards towards the sky. There didn’t seem to be any difference in the type of gun, so Blake, looking out of the cockpit window, guessed that they were dual-purpose and capable of serving a conventional or anti-air role. The land all around Cold Harbour was green but uncultivated, with no farms or orchards or estates in evidence; it had been thus, ever since they had cleared this part of the Forever Fall Forest, but upon occasion, they had caught sight of a herd of sheep or goats below, kept together by attentive hounds lest they wander off into the woods. Grimm would not harm them there, but real wolves would, without doubt, and bears too, if the grimm hadn’t killed them all in clashes over territory. Blake was reminded of Ruby’s book, The Song of Olivia, and how the heroine’s journey had begun when she had wandered into the woods in search of a lost lamb and found a grimm – and a wizard – instead.
It was more pleasant to think of such things than to pay attention to the town in front of her. There were gates set in the metal rampart that could be opened to allow trains to come in or out or closed if any grimm wandered too near. There were eight sets of railway tracks all coming from the same direction – there must have been times, even if it was not so now, when a great quantity of cargo travelled south from Cold Harbour to Vale – the docks, too, were large enough to suggest that this was, or had been, a prosperous port, for they were wide enough to accommodate the largest of cargo vessels, and two great ships were berthed there, being attended to by cranes which hauled containers off the decks of one ship, and reached deep into the belly of another. Yet the wealth of Cold Harbour was clearly not staying in Cold Harbour, but passing through the port and down the rails or overseas to line the pockets of men like Jacques Schnee far away; aside from a few large and spacious official-looking buildings, the ordinary houses of the workers seemed small, and cramped, and not all that well-built: rows of crumbling brick terraces sat jammed together beside the railway tracks, sitting upon streets too narrow for cars to traverse. The thoroughfares between the docks and the rail yards were wide enough to accommodate the largest of transport, but the common labourers had to walk. There were some larger houses on the other side of town, the largest of which even had their own gardens; Blake guessed that they belonged to the management and perhaps to the civilian authorities who oversaw Cold Harbour.
The sea was dark, so dark that anything could have been moving within its depths and Blake would not have seen it, yet no defences pointed out to sea and no craft patrolled it.
It was getting dark in the sky too; the sun was beginning to set beneath the mountains to the east, and the shadows were lengthening with every passing moment.
Rainbow set the Skyray down behind the Atlesian military base, one of the more impressive structures in the town, with walls that were clad in a white material with a ridged structure to it. The flags of Atlas and Vale fluttered together on the roof in the chill wind that assailed them as soon as the door upon the right-hand side of the airship opened to let them out. It was not a high wind, but it blew through Blake’s long, black hair nevertheless, and nipped at her face with the frigidness of it. A few other Skyrays and Skygraspers lay parked upon the landing ground, while soldiers patrolled, traces of blue upon their uniforms visible beneath their armour. As Blake, Sun, and the Atlesians dismounted, a couple of technicians in white uniforms headed towards the craft.
This was not Rainbow Dash’s own Skyray, but a standard model that had been assigned to her for this mission. The nature of their return to Vale meant the airship would be left here, perhaps to be flown back or possibly used for other purposes, and so, everyone grabbed all of their gear as they headed out, leaving the craft behind.
Rainbow Dash led them across the landing area, up a set of metal steps to a set of automatic doors that slid open before them, revealing a plain, white, well-lit lobby where two guards watched them carefully, and a burly rabbit faunus sergeant, his black hair rising in tufts between his lapine ears, sat behind a desk.
He looked up as the young huntsmen approached.
Rainbow stopped in front of the desk and produced her scroll. “Cadet Rainbow Dash, leader of Team Rosepetal; we’d like to speak to the commanding officer.”
The sergeant looked at the information on Rainbow’s scroll. “Right. Captain Sandleford is expecting you. Follow me.”
He got up from behind the desk – he was bigger than Blake had expected, almost as big as Woundwort – and led the six students down a long, white, sterile corridor, around one corner and then another, past what looked like a cafeteria of some kind, and finally into a moderate-sized office where a young man with hazel-brown hair, dressed in the whites of an Atlesian officer, was leaning over a table with a map of the region spread out across it.
The sergeant walked into the office and stood to attention. “Cadet Rainbow Dash and Team Rosepetal to see you, sir.”
The officer looked up. He had sharp features, high cheekbones, and eyes that matched his hair. “Ah! Capital! First class, thank you, Colour.” He walked around the table towards the students, specifically towards Rainbow Dash. “Now, judging by the look of you, I’d guess that you are Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow stood to attention. “Yes, sir. Cadet Rainbow Dash reporting. These are my team: Cadets Ciel Soleil, Penny Polendina, and Twilight Sparkle, also Blake Belladonna and Sun Wukong.”
“Splendid. Good show; Captain Hazel Sandleford at your service, and you’ve already met Colour Sergeant Blackberry, without whom absolutely nothing would get done around here, isn’t that right, Sergeant?”
The sergeant – Colour Sergeant, which Blake guessed was better than an ordinary sergeant - kept a politic silence, except to say, “Sir,” in a tone which could have meant absolutely everything – or nothing at all.
“General Ironwood sent word that you’d be coming,” Captain Sandleford said. “I must say, when I was assigned to this post, I never imagined there would come a time when the General would be just down the railway line with half the fleet.” His eyes swept over them. “What do you think is going to happen down there in Vale?”
“Nothing, sir, if we can help it,” Rainbow said.
Captain Sandleford let out a bark of laughter. “Yes, indeed. Good show, good show. Yes, I’m aware that you have other business to attend to, but I’m told that you’re also here to take care of my little problem with the grimm. Would you like some coffee?” he asked abruptly, gesturing to a machine in a little alcove in the wall. “I’m afraid it’s only instant, but you probably had a long journey getting here.”
“Thank you, sir,” Ciel said. “I will take care of it. And one for yourself?”
“Much obliged, Cadet-”
“Soleil, sir, Ciel Soleil.”
Captain Sandleford nodded. “Thank you, Cadet Soleil.”
“Colour Sergeant?”
“No, thanks, Cadet.”
Ciel started to approach the machine. She looked over her shoulder. “Everyone?”
“Thank you,” Blake murmured.
“Me too, thanks,” Twilight agreed.
“No, thank you,” Penny said.
“I’m okay,” Sun replied.
“No thanks,” Rainbow said.
“Very well,” Ciel said, as she crossed the remaining distance to the machine.
“You said ‘your problem,’” Blake said, returning her attention to the captain. “Does that mean you’re the one who requested a Search and Destroy mission? Uh, sir.”
Captain Sandleford looked at her. “The Mayor of Cold Harbour doesn’t believe that the grimm pose any threat to the town itself and, therefore, hiring a huntsman is a waste of lien. I disagree.”
“You think that the grimm might break through the walls, sir?” Rainbow said. “How many of them are there?”
“You misunderstand me,” Captain Sandleford said, returning to his map and gesturing for them all to come closer. They did, and there, they paused for a moment as Ciel worked the white plastic coffee machine, until after a few moments, she returned with several disposable cups, which she handed to the captain and the students. Blake sipped hers. The taste was… not brilliant, but it was warm and wet, and that was enough after a flight lasting all day. She probably wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Captain Sandleford blew on his coffee before he drank it. “As I was saying,” he said, “you misunderstand. I don’t believe the grimm are going to break through the walls and destroy Cold Harbour. If I did, I wouldn’t have simply put up a job on the board; I’d be screaming to the General for reinforcements.” He smiled. “We’re not excessively well-garrisoned here; I command a company of riflemen and an artillery company to man the turrets, but those turrets should be sufficient to take anything short of a large horde that comes sniffing around here. But I don’t have the strength to project force beyond the walls, which is the issue. There are always a few grimm around, but recently…” – he drank some more coffee – “recently, a group of families left the town. Labourers, for the most part, from the docks and the railyards, and their families; a few clerks and the like.” He looked up at Blake, and then at Sun. “All faunus. I’m afraid they felt… underappreciated. I can’t say I blame them. All the support staff here on the base are paid a fair wage for their labour, but I can’t say that all the companies based here do the same. In any event, these fellows left, and they are camped a few miles to the south east, in this hollow here.” He pointed to a point on the map, what looked like a valley in some woods nearby the town. “There’s a spring there, so they have fresh water, and I suppose they must be foraging for food. I’m not sure what they intend to do next, but I’m worried the grimm will get them before they make up their minds.” He paused. “Sentries on the wall heard shooting last night. I led out a patrol in the morning and found a local shepherd and his three sons dead. I tried to persuade the faunus to come back inside the walls, but they refused. If you could deal with the grimm, then they’d be much safer, and I’d rest much easier.”
“We’ll head out first thing in the morning and take care of it, sir,” Rainbow said.
“Splendid,” Captain Sandleford said. “Colour Sergeant Blackberry will show you to your billet. Dismissed.”
Rainbow saluted. “Thank you, sir.”
“Follow me, cadets,” said Colour Blackberry before he led them to a plain and unadorned room with eight bunk beds, all made up ready for them.
“Showers are three doors to the right, the mess is just down the hall,” he explained, “and there should still be some hot meals left if you get in there quick.”
“Thank you, Colour Sergeant,” Rainbow said.
"Sergeant, uh, Colour Sergeant," Blake said. "Can I ask you something… why does Captain Sandleford care about a group of faunus who have already walked away from this town?"
Colour Sergeant Blackberry's eyes flickered up to take in Blake's feline ears. "I know what you were probably expecting, and there's some in this army who would have lived down to 'em, but the captain is an officer and a gentleman; he cares about fellows for more than he gets out of them."
"I… see," Blake murmured.
The Colour Sergeant nodded. "Captain Sandleford has requested a specialist be assigned to the base three times already; never gets any response. I suppose we aren't important enough, but I'm glad we've got you for a few days, at least."
"We'll take care of it, Colour," Rainbow declared. "You can count on us."
Colour Sergeant Blackberry smiled before taking his leave.
Blake's left hand went to her other arm, feeling the cold of her silver armband beneath her fingers. "I… am glad you were wrong," she said, with a glance at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow grinned. "I'm glad I was wrong too," she replied.
"You were surprised by the character of the commanding officer?" Ciel demanded. "Both of you?"
"Not surprised, exactly," Rainbow said. "It was more like…. I was prepared for the worst."
"What do you mean?" Penny asked.
Rainbow winced. "I was afraid that… I thought it was possible that the commanding officer might be…"
"Racist," Blake said flatly.
"I was trying to put it tactfully!"
"And I was being honest," Blake replied.
Penny frowned. "I don't understand," she murmured. "Why would anyone want to be cruel to people like Rainbow Dash when they're such good people? It doesn't make any sense."
"No, it doesn't, Penny; that's why it's so…" Rainbow trailed off. "What's that word beginning with 'I'?"
"'Invidious'?" Twilight suggested.
"Probably."
"It's because we're different, Penny," Blake said, even as she wondered how Penny – how anyone – could possibly be so sheltered and naïve that they didn't understand this yet. "We're different from them, and it makes them uncomfortable, and so, they'd like to see us gone because they think it will make them feel more comfortable."
Penny bowed her head. "So… people hate things that are different from them."
"Some do," Ciel admitted, "but few in number, thankfully. Atlas, admittedly, has a reputation for… possessing such people in greater than usual numbers, perhaps even for producing them. Like much else that is said abroad of Atlas it does disservice to the many good and valiant servants of our kingdom who have nothing but goodwill for all the folk of Remnant who have been placed in our charge."
"Anyway," Rainbow said, "it's been a long day, a long flight; why don't we get something to eat while it's still warm?"
"You go," Penny said, turning away. "I'm not hungry."
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked.
"Yes," Penny said firmly, taking a step away from the others. "You go on."
"Penny, are you okay?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm fine!" Penny declared, in the petulant tone of one who is not fine but doesn't want to admit what the problem is. She covered her mouth as a hiccup escaped her.
Rainbow frowned. "Ciel, take Blake and Sun down to the mess hall. Bring us back some sandwiches when you're done."
Ciel hesitated for a moment. "Very well," she said. "Both of you, please follow me. And don't get lost."
Twilight watched as Penny slumped down upon one of the bottom bunks of the beds that filled up the room. Her hands were clasped together on her lap, and her head was bowed.
Twilight walked around the bed and sat down beside her. Penny didn’t look up or react to her presence at all.
Rainbow stood over her, one arm leaning against the grey metallic bed frame.
“Penny,” Twilight said gently. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Penny said before she hiccupped.
“Penny,” Rainbow said reproachfully.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Penny insisted.
“Tough.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight hissed.
“What?” Rainbow demanded. “Penny, we’re not leaving this room until you tell us what’s up.”
“Why?” Penny asked. “Why do you care?”
Twilight placed one hand on Penny’s shoulder. “Because we care about you, Penny.”
“Why?” Penny repeated.
Twilight frowned. “Why… do we care?”
Penny glanced at her, her head nodding a sharp, jerky motion. “I’m not like you,” she admitted, her voice quiet and soft and childlike. “Doesn’t that mean… do I make you uncomfortable?”
“Oh, gods, is this about what Blake said?” Rainbow cried.
“Blake said that people hate things that aren’t like them.”
“Don’t listen to Blake!” Rainbow snapped. “Blake’s an idiot!”
“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Twilight asked.
“If I were to make a list of all the dumb things Blake has done, we’d be here all night,” Rainbow replied.
“I suppose… she has made a lot of unwise choices.”
“And she can’t open her mouth without sticking her boot in it,” Rainbow added. “I like that girl in spite of herself, but she’s got a lot to learn.” She knelt down on the ground so that she was beneath Penny looking up into her face. “Just like you, Penny; you’ve got to learn when to not take any notice of people.”
“But if Blake was lying, or if she was wrong, then why do people hate the faunus?” Penny asked.
Rainbow’s jaw twisted, her mouth lapping over her bottom teeth. “Blake… wasn’t wrong, exactly; it’s just that… if you listen to her, you’d think that things are a lot worse than they are, that a lot more people feel that way than actually do.”
“Most people across Remnant are accepting of diversity,” Twilight added. “Like me and Rainbow Dash, and the rest of our friends; we’re human, and Rainbow Dash is a faunus, but it doesn’t stop us from loving her as one of us, as the soul of all of us.” She smiled gently and placed an arm around Penny, drawing her into an embrace. “Now, why don’t you say what’s really bothering you?”
Penny placed her hands on Twilight’s arm. “Don’t you know?”
“I think so,” Twilight admitted, “but it’s important to confess our fears before we can face them, and if we confess them to our friends, then they can help us move forward.”
“Friends,” Penny murmured. “How do I know that my friends… that Ruby and Pyrrha… how do I know that they’ll accept me if they find out what I am? How do I know that they won’t… what if I make them uncomfortable?”
“You won’t,” Twilight reassured.
“But how do I know I won’t?” Penny demanded.
“You don’t,” Rainbow said bluntly. “You can’t be sure in advance, not unless your semblance is to read minds. When I first went to Canterlot, I had no idea how anyone was going to react to a faunus. The only person I knew that I could rely on was Twilight. But I had to walk in there anyway and trust that things would be okay, because if you wait until you know for sure that everything will work out, then you’d be too scared to do anything.”
“Which isn’t to say,” Twilight added pointedly, in case Rainbow scared Penny, “that everything is a complete flip of the coin or a toss of the dice. Penny, how would you describe Ruby and Pyrrha? Not in terms of how they fight or what weapons they use, but just in what kind of people they are.”
“Kind,” Penny said. “The kind of people they are is kind.”
“And because they’re kind, I think it’s likely that they’ll accept you,” Twilight said. “Ruby and Pyrrha like you for who you are, and I can’t believe that they’re the kind of people who would change their minds about that just because they found out what you are.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “I mean, they manage to be friends with Sunset, and she’s not just a faunus but a-“
“Rainbow Dash!”
“What?”
“Not the time!” Twilight hissed.
Rainbow chuckled awkwardly. “Right. Sorry. The point is… the point is that you’re right, Penny, and so is Twilight. Ruby and Pyrrha are both good people, kind people; when I met Pyrrha a couple of years ago, at that charity thing, she didn’t say a thing about the fact that I was a faunus, and she was really cool to Scootaloo too, even though she’s a faunus. Although we haven’t known them very long, I haven’t heard either of them say anything bad about anyone because of their race, and I don’t think they’d suddenly reveal that they hate robots or anything like that. I mean who hates robots but not faunus?”
“But Rainbow is also right, you can’t be sure,” Twilight said, “but because it’s so unlikely, I think you should tell them both; I’m afraid you’ll just worry about it until you do and find out for certain that there was never anything to worry about.”
“What?” Rainbow cried in a startled, strangled voice.
Penny looked up at Twilight, her green eyes. “You think I should tell them?”
“I do,” Twilight replied. “I think they can be trusted to keep a secret just as they can be trusted to stay true to you after they learn the truth.”
“Aha, Twilight,” Rainbow said, getting to her feet. “Can I talk to you for a second? Outside, maybe?”
Twilight pursed her lips. She knew what Rainbow wanted to discuss, but at the same time, she also knew that the course she was advocating was the right one, and she would not be moved on this. “Wait here, Penny,” she said, pulling away from her teammate, even as she gave her one last pat on the shoulder. “We’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Penny said, much of her usual good cheer returned to her voice. “And thank you, Twilight. You’ve been a big help.”
“Don’t thank her too much yet,” Rainbow muttered before she stalked out of the room and into the corridor outside. Twilight was left to follow, her steps pitter-pattering on the floor as she tried to keep up with Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow looked up and down the corridor, checking that there was no one around to overhear them, before she rounded on Twilight. “What were you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that the best way for Penny to get past this is for her to clear the air with her friends, be accepted, and understand that Blake was wrong.”
“In a perfect world, maybe, but she can’t just tell people the truth!”
“Why not?”
“Because we don’t have clearance to let her!”
“That’s not our decision to make, or even General Ironwood’s,” Twilight declared. “Nobody owns Penny.”
Rainbow shifted uncomfortably. “Technically… Atlas… kinda does.”
“Rainbow Danger Dash,” Twilight declared, tilting her chin up so that she appeared to be looking down upon the other girl. “Please tell me I did not just hear you say that. If you meant that then… we talked about this! Penny’s a person, not a knight!”
“I know, but she’s also-“
“She’s a girl,” Twilight said. “She’s a little girl who has been encouraged to worry that the only friends she’s ever had in her life will turn against her once they find out her secret. Do you really want that to be bothering her for months? For longer? No, Rainbow Dash, it’s not right to keep her troubled like that, not when the solution is right in front of us.”
Rainbow sighed. “I don’t know, Twilight; they haven’t been cleared to know that yet, and…”
“Come on, Rainbow; even if this wasn’t bothering Penny… imagine having to go through your whole life hiding the truth from your friends, unsure of whether or not they’d accept you if they knew, like that poor girl from Crystal Prep. Think of what that did to her and then think of the same thing happening to Penny.” Twilight made her eyes swell up a little and trembled her lip adorably. “Please, Rainbow Dash.”
“Don’t make that face at me, Twi; it’s manipulative as anything,” Rainbow snapped.
Twilight continued making that face and clasped her hands together above her chest.
“Ugh! Okay, okay, I’ll speak to General Ironwood and persuade him to clear it,” Rainbow said. “Just… stop, okay. My heart can only take so much of how cute you are.”
“Yes!” Twilight cried.
“But you,” Rainbow added as she got out her scroll, “are going to stay right here and talk to General Ironwood with me.”
“Okay,” Twilight said without hesitation. Because she was right, and she knew that she was right about this, and General Ironwood would see that she was right as well. “I’m ready, and I’m right here.”
Rainbow opened up her scroll and selected General Ironwood from her list of contacts.
It did not take quite as long as Twilight had expected for his face to appear in the screen. “Dash, Twilight,” he greeted them in an even tone. “You made it to Cold Harbour safely?”
“Yes, sir,” Rainbow said. “I apologise for disturbing you.”
“You weren’t interrupting anything in particular,” General Ironwood replied. “The paperwork can wait for a minute. Is something wrong?”
“No, sir,” Rainbow said. “It’s just that… well…”
“Spit it out, Dash.”
“Yes, sir,” Rainbow said. She glanced at Twilight. “Twilight has something that she would like to say.”
“Dash,” General Ironwood said, his voice acquiring a touch of sternness. “My patience has limits.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” Rainbow said hastily. “Um… we’d like permission to give Penny permission to tell her friends… about her true nature.”
General Ironwood’s face was expressionless. “Why?” he asked.
“Because our new auxiliary accidentally put into Penny’s head that people hate and distrust people who aren’t like them,” Rainbow muttered.
General Ironwood did not bother to restrain the sigh that escaped him. “I see. How bad is it?”
“We’ve calmed her down, sir, but it’s still bothering her,” Twilight said.
General Ironwood’s brow furrowed a little. “And how do you think they’ll react?”
“I think they’re good people, sir,” Rainbow said.
“I think they’ll accept Penny in spite of her differences,” Twilight added. “They accepted Blake even after they found out that she’d been lying to them about her nature; I can’t see them turning their back on Penny just because she’d been ordered to keep a secret.”
“Can’t you just tell her that?” General Ironwood asked.
“General… sir… with… it doesn’t quite work that way,” Rainbow admitted. “It’s… it’s hard to explain because you’re not… you’ve never…”
“You think that nobody ever looked at me strangely after my surgeries, Dash?” General Ironwood asked.
He had not spoken angrily or impatiently; his question was calmly phrased, if bluntly so, but nonetheless, it stunned the both of them into silence. They had known – everyone knew – that General Ironwood possessed cybernetics as extensive as any man in Atlas, and more than most, perhaps more than anyone. But Twilight had never considered, in all the time that General Ironwood had been a feature of her life, that they might have ever caused him difficulties, still less discrimination.
But… the General suffered severe burns rescuing cadets from a fire on the Enterprise. He saved thirteen lives. Who could find fault with him for that?
“You were a hero, sir,” Rainbow protested, clearly of like mind with Twilight.
“I became more machine than man, in the eyes of some,” General Ironwood replied dispassionately.
“That’s terrible!” Twilight cried.
“I’m not telling you this for sympathy, Twilight, just to inform you that I do have some understanding of what you’re talking about,” General Ironwood declared. “You like to think you know how people will react, but you can’t be sure.” He paused. “You realise that if Penny’s friends react badly to the truth, then the situation will be exacerbated.”
“Yes, sir,” Dash conceded, “but we’re…” – she glanced at Twilight – “fairly certain things will be okay.”
“It will be good for Penny to be able to confide in people, General,” Twilight said. “People of her choosing, people that she trusts.”
“As long as she doesn’t trust too many people,” General Ironwood reminded them. “But… as long as the information is restricted to Team Sapphire, then I suppose that shouldn’t present too much of a problem.”
For a moment, Rainbow and Twilight were silent. “Really?” Twilight asked.
“Really,” General Ironwood confirmed.
Rainbow grinned. “Thank you, sir.”
“As long as it helps Penny,” General Ironwood said. “Now, if there’s nothing else, the paperwork is calling.”
“Goodnight, sir.”
“Goodnight, Dash. Twilight.”
“Goodnight, General,” Twilight said, as he hung up. She looked at Rainbow and smiled.
Rainbow’s lips twitched. “Hey, Twilight.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks, for pushing me to do the right thing,” Rainbow said.
“Any time,” Twilight said softly.
“Every time,” Rainbow corrected. “Now come on, let’s give her the good news.”
She turned on her heel and made her way back to their room, Twilight once more following behind her. Penny was sitting on the bed where they had left her, but as they returned, she looked up, expectant.
“You can tell them,” Rainbow said, “and you’ll see that Blake doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
Penny’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash, and you, Twilight. But… are you sure that it will be alright? Are you sure that they’ll accept me?”
“If they don’t,” Rainbow said, “then they never deserved you in the first place.”
Blake, Ciel, and Sun reached the white, undecorated, nearly empty mess while there was still some hot food available, fortunately for them. Said hot meal turned out to be fish and chips, which was not bad exactly, but, well, Blake might have preferred the fish without all of the slightly greasy batter covering it up. Sun didn't seem to mind, however; he wolfed it down with aplomb, even if, in the process, he earned himself a couple of dirty looks from Ciel.
For that matter, Blake caught the other girl sending some of those her way too.
“Is there a problem?” Blake demanded, putting down her fork with a clatter.
Ciel finished chewing on a steak fry. She swallowed, waited a moment, set down her knife and fork properly by the sides of her plate and only then did she begin to speak. “You,” she said, looking at Sun, “have demonstrated a blatant disregard for rules, an absence of sensibility concerning your position and the responsibilities conferred thereon, not to mention the breathtaking arrogance required to simply insert yourself into a military operation in such a fashion.” She exhaled in a huff.
“And you,” she added, turning her attention on Blake. “You upset Penny,” she declared, somehow managing to make it sound worse than all the things she had accused Sun of.
“I… upset?” Blake murmured. It was obvious, put like that, but at the same time, she flinched from hearing herself described as the cause of Penny’s hurt feelings. “I didn’t mean to.”
“But you did,” Ciel replied sharply.
“Perhaps, and I’m sorry for that, but how?”
“Because you talk too much,” Ciel snapped. “What in Remnant possessed you to tell Penny that it is inevitable that people shall be made uncomfortable by those who are not as they are, as though it were some natural law laid down by the Lady which cannot be escaped?”
“I’m not sure who the Lady is, but broadly, that has been my experience,” Blake said.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, don’t give me that nonsense!” Ciel cried.
“'Nonsense'?” Blake repeated.
“I have no doubt that you have suffered at the hands of humans,” Ciel conceded.
“How very generous of you to allow me the suffering I have experienced,” Blake growled.
“But you have been supported by Team Sapphire to the point of being welcomed into their bedroom – into the bed of their team leader no less!” Ciel declared. She stopped abruptly. “I mean… that is to say… ahem. You take my meaning, I hope, and comprehend that I meant nothing juvenile by it.”
“More importantly, Sunset is also a faunus,” Blake reminded her.
“But the other three members of Team Sapphire are not, and this fact has not produced some feud borne out of race, any more than Rainbow Dash and I are at odds over anything more than my occasional disagreement with her leadership decisions,” Ciel said. “For that matter, you spoke on the theme of inevitable prejudice mere moments after leaving the presence of the commanding officer here who had just astonished you and Rainbow Dash with his tolerance!”
Blake’s ears drooped. “Well… when you put it like that… but I still don’t see what this has to do with Penny.”
The blue-eyed young huntress student was silent for a moment. Her expression softened, but Blake guessed that this was due to thoughts of Penny rather than to any sudden softening towards Blake on Ciel’s part. “Penny… is different,” she said, speaking slowly and softly and rather cautiously. “That fact cannot have escaped your notice.”
“No,” Blake admitted, matching the softness of Ciel’s tone. What would have been the point in denying? It would have seemed patronising and possibly made Ciel angrier. In the same way, she felt that asking Ciel to clarify what was different about Penny would only have invited a rebuke, not to mention the hypocrisy of trying to pry into Penny’s secrets when she had tried so hard to hide her own.
“Her father is one of the brightest minds in Atlas,” Ciel explained. “Of the men who might be said or have been said to be his equal, one is dead and the other wastes his talents in a clinic in Mantle. Penny’s father, meanwhile, is a titan of our science, a man of true eminence and all the prestige and privilege that accompanies such. Penny’s... condition… has made him… very protective of his daughter. As your friend Sunset Shimmer correctly surmised, Penny was assigned to a team led by General Ironwood’s prized student in order that she might be… protected, if necessary; also as your friend surmised, this was done at her father’s instigation; his influence extends that far. As a result, Penny… had no friends before arriving at Beacon.”
“What about you three?” Sun asked.
“Weren’t you listening?” Ciel demanded. “Rainbow, Twilight, and I were thrust upon Penny, not by the luck of the initiation but by General Ironwood and Doctor Polendina. Penny… I hope that she likes us, as we are fond of her, but I fear she cannot quite forget that we are an imposition on her liberty. Ruby and Pyrrha are the friends she chose. The friends whom you have made her fear will turn their backs upon her if they should learn… the truth.”
“Which is?” inquired Sun.
Ciel regarded him with magisterial disdain. “Never you mind.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Blake protested. “As you said, it’s obvious that Penny is… a little odd, and that hasn’t stopped Ruby or Pyrrha from accepting her.” For that matter, both Ruby and Pyrrha might be referred to as ‘different’ themselves.
“Penny’s… condition… goes beyond behaviour,” Ciel admitted. “It goes deeper than you know. Deeper than I intend to say, but suffice to say that, for all her naivety in certain ways, Penny is never unconscious of the things that set her apart from her friends. And now you have as good as told her that once those differences become more apparent, Ruby and Pyrrha will turn their backs upon her in disgust.”
“That’s absurd,” Blake objected. “Ruby and Pyrrha would never… their hearts are too open and full of kindness for that.”
“Then why did you make it sound inevitable?” Ciel demanded frostily.
“I… because… I was an idiot,” Blake admitted, her ears drooping so far they were practically flat. She bowed her head. “I’m sorry, I… I should apologise, explain myself.”
“Don’t you think you’ve said enough?” Ciel asked.
Blake flinched from the rebuke because she knew that she deserved it. “This is my fault; I have to do something to try and make it right,” she said, even as she rose from her seat and began to walk away.
She felt Ciel’s eyes upon her all the way out of the mess hall.
“You didn’t have to be so hard on her,” Sun pointed out as Blake walked away.
Ciel blinked. “Perhaps not,” she admitted. “But as I said, we are all fond of Penny.”
“I get that,” Sun replied, “but all the same, you didn’t have to be so hard on her.”
“Blake has a habit of opening her mouth and then sticking her boot into it,” Ciel declared. “Perhaps a touch of censure will encourage her to think before she speaks.”
Sun scowled. “You don’t like her, do you?”
“I am not particularly enamoured of either of you at present.”
“Sure, you said so, but it’s more than that, isn’t it?” Sun said. “It’s more than just that she upset Penny.”
Ciel was silent for a moment. “I don’t know what she’s fighting for,” she said. “I’m not sure even she knows what she’s fighting for.”
“Do you have to know what someone’s fighting for before you like them?”
“It helps,” Ciel said, “but it is not the only criteria. I know exactly what you’re fighting for, and it only increases my misgivings towards you.”
“If this is about me stowing away-”
“That is the least of it,” Ciel said, cutting him off.
Sun frowned. “Then what’s the most of it?”
Ciel breathed in deeply. “I do not always agree with Rainbow Dash, but I would put my life in her hands; I do put my life in her hands, as she and Penny and Twilight put their lives in mine. As we will all be putting our lives in your hands when we fight together tomorrow and after.” She paused. “But you have shown that your hands are only for one single person.”
Sun’s eyes widened. “You can’t think that I’d-”
“Your teammates have placed their lives in your hands, and you have dropped them all to come here.”
“My team is perfectly safe at Beacon!” Sun protested.
“Should I take on faith that you would not have left them in more uncertain circumstances to pursue Blake?”
“I wouldn’t put anyone in danger that way,” Sun insisted. “I’m not… sure, Blake means more to me than my team does, even Neptune; I admit that. I never asked to be made Team Leader, I even asked Professor Lionheart to give it to someone else, but…”
“But you’re still their leader,” Ciel reminded him, “and you abandoned them. A team that has no bonds tying it together will not stand in battle, at least not in a battle where the outcome is in any way doubtful. That is why we must trust one another. How am I supposed to trust you to fight by my side when you have proven that there is only one person here you actually care about?"
Sun didn't – couldn't – meet her gaze. He looked away. "Well… when you put it like that… it doesn't look so great, I guess."
"No," Ciel muttered. "It does not."
Blake walked back into the bedroom they had been assigned to see Penny sitting on one of the bottom bunks, reading the book of fairy tales that they had been assigned for class. Rainbow was on the top bunk, bouncing a ball off the wall and back into her hand, while Twilight was, like Penny, reading – a Daring Do novel, in her case.
Rainbow looked up as Blake came in. “Did you bring us something to eat?”
“Uh, no, I didn’t,” Blake murmured. “I’m sorry, but there might still be some fish and chips left?” She didn’t bother waiting for Rainbow to reply, but knelt down beside Penny’s bunk. “Penny… I wanted to say how sorry I am. The things I did… I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Penny said quietly, before she hiccuped.
Blake frowned. “Penny… Ciel explained to me that sometimes you feel… different from other people. Don’t worry, she didn’t say why,” she added, as Penny and Twilight both looked up from their books to stare at her, and Rainbow abruptly stopped throwing her ball off the wall. “But she said that… that I might have worried you. It wasn’t my intent.” She took a deep breath. “I was… mistaken. Ciel helped me realise exactly how mistaken I was. I was speaking… I was saying the words that I had been taught to say, taught to believe, when I was in the White Fang.”
“But you don’t believe them any more?” Penny asked. “Then why did you say them?”
“That’s a good question, Penny,” Blake said with a slight touch of self-deprecating laughter in her voice. “I could probably do with taking a second to think before I speak sometimes.” She sat down on the edge of Penny’s bunk, twisting her body around to look at the other girl who seemed so much younger than any other girl at Beacon, save perhaps for Ruby. “There are times when I still believe it,” she admitted, “but the truth is that, since I came to Beacon… yes, there are times when I’ve seen humans picking on faunus or showing fear or hatred towards them, but I’ve also seen so many instances of humans and faunus getting along, forming friendships, trusting one another with their lives. Like Sunset and Ruby, Sunset and all of her team; like Rainbow and her friends… if friendship can transcend race, then I’m sure whatever it is you feel…” Blake stopped; it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to say anything that would diminish whatever it was Penny felt set her apart from others. “And for what it’s worth, I think that of all the friends you could have made at Beacon, Ruby and Pyrrha are the two… I don’t think you could do anything short of an act of true evil that would cause them to turn away from you.” She smiled. “And even then, they’d probably forgive you if you were sorry about it.”
Penny smiled, softly and just a little sadly too. “I hope so,” she whispered.
Blake hesitated. “Penny… why do you keep reading that book? Are you struggling in class?”
“No,” Penny said, before she hiccuped again. “Well, yes, I am, but that’s not why I’m reading it. Or maybe it is.”
“What do you mean?”
Penny hesitated. “I… I love the story of the Shallow Sea so much… but I don’t know why. I like these stories, but I feel as though I don’t really understand them.”
“You can’t explain them,” Blake corrected her, “but you do understand, or else, you wouldn’t love them. These stories… they speak to our hearts before they speak to our heads. The Shallow Sea… I remember my mother telling me that story before I went to sleep. I must admit, it’s not my favourite,” – as a child she had liked it well enough, but as she got older, she had begun to find it more and more problematic, for all the reasons why it was falling out of favour amongst the faunus – “but I think I can see why it appeals to you.”
Penny looked at her, green eyes wide with curiosity. “Why?”
“Because it’s about being seen,” Blake explained, “for who you really are.”