SAPR

by Scipio Smith

The Lost Heir (New)

The Lost Heir

"I guarantee," Pyrrha said, "once it's done, you'll be glad you came."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Jaune murmured. "It's just that I've never been to a spa before."

"You're not going to get all macho on us, are you?" Sunset asked.

"No," Jaune replied quickly. "It's just not something that I ever thought about doing or going to."

"Well, Pyrrha's right," Sunset said. "Once all your treatments are complete, you will feel like a new person. And look like one too."

With the battle done, the three of them had headed down into Vale for the remainder of the afternoon, with Pyrrha having invited Jaune to join herself and Sunset at the spa. Ruby had been invited too but had begged off, claiming that she had stuff to take care of.

Sunset wasn't sure what that stuff was, but if Ruby didn't want to come, then no one was going to force her to. As much as the benefits of a spa day – or spa afternoon – were incredibly therapeutic in her opinion, it wasn't to everyone's taste.

If Ruby had other plans that suited her better, then fair enough.

A few people took pictures of them as they passed by; actually, no, that was not correct: people took pictures of Pyrrha, which may or may not have caught Jaune or Sunset in the frame.

Thinking about it some more, Sunset considered that some of them might be trying to get pictures of Jaune too, if only because – what with the fact that they were holding hands as they walked – it was pretty clear that he was Pyrrha's boyfriend. There was probably a market for that kind of thing in… in the kind of places that Sunset had used to break up Cardin's relationship with Skystar.

The thought made her feel a little bit ill, a cramping feeling in her stomach that she wished she could be rid of.

Unfortunately, she thought it likely that only making amends could permanently erase these feelings.

"Sunset?" Pyrrha asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Sunset said quickly. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, what with, well-" – a flash went off in Sunset's face, causing her to blink rapidly – "-that?"

"It's just that you looked a little upset for a moment," Pyrrha murmured. "As for the other, I'm sorry; I'm afraid it's an occupational hazard of being seen with me."

"Would you like me to take care of it?" Sunset asked. "Like I did in Mistral," she added, lest Jaune get the wrong idea about what she intended as she held up her hand, the green glow of magic covering her skin as she gathered power in her palm.

Pyrrha hesitated. "That would be lovely," she conceded, "but if nobody noticed me, I'm not sure how we'd get into the spa."

Sunset laughed as the magic dissipated in her hand. "True enough," she agreed. "I'm afraid you have to suffer for our sakes."

Pyrrha smiled. "Having someone whom I can suffer for makes it worthwhile," she murmured.

Nevertheless, Sunset and Jaune attempted to block lines of sight to her with their bodies as they made their way down the street.

"Don't you think it's weird," Sunset said, "how sometimes you get these people lying in wait for you, and other times it's like you're anonymous? It's as if someone is tipping them off about your whereabouts, but only some of the time."

"Perhaps someone is," Pyrrha suggested. "Or people are, at least; some journals will pay for that kind of information. It's easy money, I suppose."

"Fine, but who knew who'd say anything?" Sunset asked. Ruby, she discounted instantly; she would never do something like this, but then, who else? Could someone have bugged their room? But who? They didn't play host to the sort of students who would do something like that, so then could it be a cleaner? They might be looking for some extra lien, and it would explain why only Pyrrha's movements that were discussed in the dorm room were known.

I'll have a look when we get back.

Really, like I didn't have enough to worry about with-

It occurred to Sunset that if there was a listening device in the dorm room, then it would have picked up her conversation with Jaune in which she had tacitly admitted to being Anon-a-Miss and having screwed over Cardin.

Well, that could be… bad.

Unfortunately, there was little to be done about it now; the recording would already be in the hands of… whoever's hands it was meant to land with, and no amount of searching the room would stop it at this point.

And besides, rushing back to the dorm room would only tell Pyrrha that she had something to hide.

Relax, even if they did hear that, nobody cares about you.

Yeah, that makes me feel a lot better.

Sunset glanced at Pyrrha, squeezing Jaune's hand tightly as she adopted a composed, nigh-expressionless look for the cameras; her face was so fixed that she almost seemed more doll than human.

Is that really what I want?

Yes, yes it is.

Jaune also noticed Pyrrha's discomfiture; he could hardly have failed to do so, considering that it was his hand that she was clamped onto, and there was a definite air of hoping to change the subject in his voice as he said, "So, Sunset, all that worrying about the fight for nothing, huh?"

Sunset chuckled. "I wouldn't say for nothing," she relied. "If I hadn't worried about it at all, then I wouldn't have put enough thought into it to come up with that plan."

"It was an innovative approach to take," Pyrrha said softly. "I don't think that anyone was expecting it. You've never used your, uh, semblance, quite like that before."

Sunset shrugged. "And a good thing too, or he might have seen it coming."

"But why not?" Jaune asked. "In a real fight-"

"In a real fight, I can't win by ring out," Sunset reminded him. "I would have needed more than that to get his aura in the red, and I'd need more than that in a real fight too."

"Okay, but it has to be better than letting Adam Taurus stab you to get a hit on him," Jaune replied.

"Well… okay, you might have a point there," Sunset conceded.

"It does seem strange to utilise a technique that keeps you out of harm's way in a sparring match and not in a battle," Pyrrha agreed. "Our enemies outside the school are far more dangerous than those within. For the most part," she added quietly.

Sunset's eyebrows rose. "'For the most part'?"

"Oh, it's probably nothing," Pyrrha said, "but Phoebe can be very tenacious."

Sunset snorted. "That only matters if she's any good. I've seen no sign of that so far."

Pyrrha did not reply; perhaps she didn't want to insult a competitor, no matter how much they might deserve it. All she said was, "I'm just not sure this is over, as much as I would like it to be."

"What's she going to do, find someone else to take me on?" Sunset demanded. "At some point, that starts to look a bit ridiculous, don't you think? And even if she does, I'll take them on and beat them, just like I did today."

"I'm glad to see that it hasn't puffed your ego up at all," Jaune remarked.

"You like me because I'm full of myself," Sunset replied. "It's an inseparable part of my charm."

"'Inseparable' is one word for it," Jaune muttered.

By this point, they had arrived at the antique-styled spa and passed between the Mistralian columns and under the shadowed colonnade before they reached the glass doors which swung open automatically to admit them. Sunset hung back a little to let Jaune and Pyrrha go in first, and she was the last one to pass the doors and walk into the lobby. Soft ambient music was playing in the lobby, and the air conditioning meant that it was pleasantly cooler in here than in the street outside.

And Rainbow Dash was there, sitting on one of the comfy chairs, dressed in a dark purple bathrobe with a fluffy white collar and cuffs, with tortoise slippers on her feet, a soft smile upon her face as she leafed through a magazine.

Sunset stared at her. Her eyes widened. Her eyebrows rose. Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash? "Rainbow Dash?!"

"Gah!" Rainbow cried, almost leaping out of her seat as the magazine fell from her hands. "Sunset! Jaune, Pyrrha, aha, what, uh, what are you guys doing here?"

"The same thing as you, I guess," Jaune suggested. "I can't imagine there's much choice of stuff to do in a spa."

"Are you kidding, there's tons of stuff that you can do here," Rainbow exclaimed. "I mean, uh, not that I'd know much about that, because, you know, all of that frou-frou stuff isn't my kind of thing at all, aha, no sir. I'm just here to get a deep tissue sports massage."

At that moment, Twilight came out of the bathroom, wearing a light blue dressing gown with her cutie mark – okay, so it wasn't her cutie mark, but Sunset caught herself thinking of them that way sometimes – of the six-pointed star embroidered on the breast. "Oh, hey, you guys; are you here to get pampered pedicures, too?"

Sunset folded her arms. "'Pampered pedicures'?" she repeated, eyes fixed squarely upon Rainbow Dash. Perhaps she ought to have been more circumspect, considering that Rainbow Dash had been avoiding her for a little bit, and the last time they had spoken, they had not left things upon the very best terms, but come on, when was she ever going to get a chance like this again to needle the proud hero of the north? It was just too good to resist.

Rainbow's face fell. A sigh fell from her lips. "Well… just because a girl is an awesome daredevil doesn't mean that she can't take care of herself. And besides, one of the things that Atlas is fighting for is so people can enjoy the finer things in life."

"Really?" Sunset said. "That's what Atlas is fighting for? Spa days?"

"It's part of a long list of things that Atlas is fighting for, yes," Rainbow said, with a straight face and an utterly sincere tone.

Pyrrha covered her mouth with one hand as she chuckled. "You don't need to convince us, Rainbow Dash."

"I need to convince her," Rainbow said, pointing at Sunset.

"No, you don't," Sunset replied. "I'm just not going to let you live it down."

Rainbow huffed.

Twilight giggled. "You don't mind if we join you, do you?"

"Not at all," Pyrrha declared. "We'd be delighted."

And so, after changing into their robes – and in the process, reminding Sunset why Ruby probably wouldn’t have enjoyed a trip here – they passed through the sweltering of the steam room, then to the mud baths, then on to the actual baths, before having their faces covered in green paste with cucumbers over their eyes, at which point, someone Sunset couldn’t see played the xylophone upon her back while she lay on her front.

And then, when all of that was done, Sunset was able to lie on her back while the cream they had smeared all over her face worked its magic upon her pores and wrinkles.

Jaune sighed. “You guys were right; this really is relaxing.”

“Sometimes, it’s good to just be able to forget your troubles for a little while,” Pyrrha whispered contentedly.

“You got a lot of troubles to forget?” Rainbow asked.

Pyrrha was silent for a moment. “No, thank goodness.”

They sat together in companionable silence for a little while, or at least it probably seemed companionable to other people, but, with her teasing out of the way, Sunset began to find herself waiting for the other shoe to drop. Rainbow Dash, after all, knew the same thing that Jaune knew, and unlike Jaune, she had no reason to keep it to herself any longer.

She sighed. Well, she had no desire to spend all day – all spa day, no less; this was supposed to be relaxing! – waiting for Rainbow to do the dirty on her. Waiting for Rainbow to reveal her sins. Waiting for Rainbow to do something that was in between betrayal and justice, or perhaps both at the same time. Waiting for Rainbow to say something; let’s put it like that.

She didn’t want to spend all day waiting, and so she said, “So, Rainbow Dash, what do you think about that leak, huh?”

Twilight made a sound as though she was about to choke on one of her cucumber slices, but didn’t actually say anything.

“Sunset, do we have to talk about that?” Pyrrha asked wearily. “We’re supposed to be forgetting our troubles. I hardly think that is the sort of thing that Rainbow wants to be reminded of.”

“Yeah,” Jaune agreed. “It doesn’t really seem like the sort of thing you’d want to talk about either.”

“It’s fine,” Rainbow said. “I mean, sorry if you guys don’t want to talk about it, but I won’t be long. What do I think about the leak and all that other stuff…?” Rainbow exhaled loudly. “They had it coming.”

Sunset would have blinked if she didn’t have cucumbers over her eyes. “That’s it?”

“What do you want me to say?” Rainbow demanded. “Were there better ways of handling it? Probably. But so what? Like Applejack always says ‘Once the cider’s been made, ain’t no use sayin’ you want apple pie.’”

“When has Applejack ever said that?” Twilight asked.

“Applejack says stuff like that all the time!”

“I’m going to tell her you said that,” Twilight informed her.

“The point is, there are a few things where I draw the line and saying you want to wipe out the faunus is one of them,” Rainbow declared. “Sure, it’s not great that Flash and those guys are involved, but… when I think about what she said, I want to break every bone in Bon Bon’s body. Because it’s not just me; it’s Scootaloo, and it’s why Gilda joined the White Fang, and why Adam… sorry, guys, you don’t want to hear this.”

“No,” Pyrrha murmured. “Please, don’t stop on our account.”

Rainbow was quiet for a moment. “None of you guys will get this, because most of you are human, and Sunset doesn’t give a damn… but there are times when I wonder… how can I be on the right side when people like Bon Bon are on the same side as me?”

“Because people like Twilight and Applejack are also on the same side as you,” Sunset declared.

Rainbow was silent for a moment. “Well when you put it like that, it sounds obvious,” she muttered. She laughed, even if it did sound just a little forced. “Sorry. I didn’t meanmind to bring down the mood.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Sunset said. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No,” Rainbow said curtly. “You shouldn’t have.”

Silence descended upon the group once again, broken by a nervous-sounding Twilight asking, “So, aha, didn’t Ruby want to come with you?”

“No,” Sunset replied. “She had other plans. Didn’t Ciel want to come with you? This seems like her thing.”

“I get what you mean,” Rainbow answered, “but someone has to keep an eye on Penny.”

“And rank has its privileges,” Sunset murmured.

“Don’t say it like that!” Rainbow snapped. “Ciel volunteered; she’s teaching Penny how to dance.”

“Oh, how lovely,” Pyrrha declared. “Is she excited?”

“You bet,” Rainbow said. “I hope she can calm down long enough to actually learn something.”

“She’ll be fine,” Twilight insisted. “Ciel is a very patient teacher. Where Penny’s concerned, anyway. It comes with being a big sister, I guess.”

“I don’t know; not every big sister ever is patient and understanding of their little… siblings,” Jaune said. “Penny’s lucky to have someone like Ciel.”

“We’re lucky to have Penny,” Twilight said. “She… she’s going to be something one of these days. Oh, which reminds me, Pyrrha, Penny was hoping that she could sit in on your training with Jaune tomorrow.”

“'Sit in'?” Pyrrha repeated.

“She just wants to watch,” Twilight explained. “She doesn’t expect you to actually teach her anything; she just wants to see how you do it.”

“Although she wouldn’t say no to tuition either,” Rainbow added. “It’s driving her nuts that Professor Goodwitch won’t call her up to fight you in combat class.”

“Yes,” Pyrrha murmured. “I can’t say that I hadn’t noticed that.”

Rainbow laughed. “Mind you,” she said, “considering who you are, it’s not surprising that there’s a line all the way around the block who wants to have a crack at you, and the professor has to be fair about this stuff, I guess.”

“There’s a line?” Pyrrha asked, her voice surprised. “To fight me?”

“Well, yeah,” Rainbow said, as though that should have been obvious. “What, did you think everyone was running scared because you’re the Invincible Girl of Mistral?”

Pyrrha was silent for a moment. “Some do find my reputation intimidating,” she pointed out.

“Come on, Pyrrha, give us some credit,” Rainbow cried. “For some people, sure, the fact that you’ve never lost is going to be a downer, but for some of us, it just makes us even more stoked to take you on. Who wouldn’t want to be the first one to win against the great Pyrrha Nikos, right, Sunset?”

Sunset snorted. “I wouldn’t have said no to the honour,” she said, understating just how badly she had wanted it at the time. “That being said, Dash, you’re a fool if you think that you can succeed where I failed.”

Rainbow scoffed. “Oh, you think you’re so much better than I am just because you’re flashing your magic all over the place all of a sudden?”

Sunset thought about it for a second. “Yep.”

“Hmph. Enjoy it while it lasts, because you’re on my list as well.”

“Your list?”

“My list of awesome fights I want before the year ends,” Rainbow explained. “You and me, head to head. I gotta say, I wish that you’d been this honest about how strong you are when you were at Canterlot.”

“Why, would you have respected me more?”

“Yep,” Rainbow replied.

“That was a pretty great fight today,” Twilight added, “but neither of us were really able to work out what it was you were fighting about. Why did Bolin challenge you to duel?”

“Because someone was paying him,” Jaune explained.

“Someone paid him?” Twilight repeated. “Someone paid him to challenge Sunset to a duel?”

“Indeed,” Pyrrha murmured.

“That doesn’t sound very honourable.”

“No,” Pyrrha conceded sadly. “It was not.”

“But why?” Twilight asked. “Why would anyone want to pay someone else to fight a duel?”

“Because they were afraid to face Sunset themselves, I bet,” Rainbow answered.

“I think so too,” Sunset said. “What do you know about a third-year student named Phoebe Kommenos?”

Rainbow groaned.

“That bad, huh?” Jaune asked.

“Let me see,” Rainbow growled. “She’s rich, so she walks around like she owns the place, and she can be generous to her ‘friends’ as well, so she walks around like she owns the place surrounded by a crew of lackeys who laugh at her bad jokes and sneer at the people she doesn’t like, and that seems to be pretty much everybody. She treats her partner like a servant, she looks at me like I smell bad, and she isn’t even that good! She’s a rotten team leader and a pretty bad huntress, too.”

“Then how did she make team leader?” Jaune asked. “General Ironwood must have chosen her.”

“Maybe the great General Ironwood gets it wrong sometimes,” Sunset suggested.

“Her teammates… they let her walk on them,” Rainbow said. “So it seems like she’s a natural leader because she can make other people do as she says. That, and… well… she puts on a good face for the faculty: good grades, always well turned out, always polite, helpful. The professors think she’s great because they never see the same side of her that she shows to us students.

“We’ve never been in the same year, so I don’t have too much to do with her, thank the gods. Are you mixed up with her somehow?”

“The short version,” Sunset said, “is that my sword used to belong to her great-great-uncle, who died in the Great War fighting for the Emperor of Mistral, Pyrrha’s ancestor. Pyrrha’s family took the sword as a memento of a valiant retainer of their house, but Phoebe says the sword should belong to her as the descendant of the dead man.”

“I… can see where she’s coming from,” Twilight said softly, “but it seems like a very trivial thing to get upset about at this distance from the event itself.”

“So she set Bolin up to fight you for it?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah.”

“You’re not going to want to hear this,” Rainbow went on, “but maybe you should just give her the sword.”

“What?” Sunset said, her body shooting bolt upright as she ripped a cucumber slice off one eye so that she could glare at Rainbow, for all that Dash couldn’t see her because she hadn’t taken her cucumbers off. “Seriously?”

“It would get her off your back,” Rainbow said.

“At what cost?” Sunset demanded. “My pride? My dignity? My sacred honour? That sword was given to me by Pyrrha’s mother, by Lady Nikos, the rightful Empress of Mistral. I should be shamed if I broke faith with her and cast aside the token of her trust in me.”

“You’ve read too many old books, if you can talk like that so easily,” Twilight murmured.

Sunset ignored that. “The point is that I would insult someone whom I respect and who respects me, what is more, if I surrender that sword, and even if that weren’t the case, I’m not going to be bullied by some gender swapped Cardin.”

“I can respect that,” Rainbow admitted. “But… I’m still not sure it’s worth the effort and the trouble over a sword. Give it to her already, and you look generous.”

“And I am sure that that kind of attitude would carry you all the way to the top in Atlas,” Sunset said sarcastically, “but I could care less about getting on in the world, certainly not at the cost of my self-respect. I'm not going to humble myself in front of her to make my life a little easier any more than because Phoebe’s ancestors fought in the Great War. And if she wants to start something, I'll take her on." She replaced the cucumber slices on her eyes as she leaned back on the recliner. "On a lighter note, and hopefully to bring the mood back," she said, "Pyrrha, I think your mother is starting to come around to the idea of you and Jaune."

Pyrrha's tone was less enthusiastic than Sunset would have liked. "Is that so?"

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that that isn't the point," Pyrrha declared. "I don't need my mother to approve of my boyfriend; I don't need her permission to date Jaune, and I don't want her permission; I want and need her to accept my choices in my own life! Is that so very much to ask?"

"What if it is?" Sunset demanded. "Are you going to freeze her out until she comes to you on bended knee? I know that's not going to happen, and you know that isn't going to happen; your mother has too much pride for that. But for what it's worth, I really think she's trying to meet you halfway on this." She hesitated. "I've never liked the fact that you've fallen out with your mother, but I could understand why you were upset. But now… she's making a concession to you; don't you think the time has come when you might deign to be magnanimous?"

Pyrrha did not reply; instead, it was Jaune who said, "Pyrrha, maybe you should think about it."

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, surprised.

"Pyrrha," Jaune said, his voice as soft as the spring breeze, "the fact that you were willing to turn your back upon your mom for my sake… it humbles me, it really does. Choosing me over your family… it makes me feel so, so lucky and so, so small at the same time. But I don't want to be the reason why you don't have a relationship with your mom, and I don't want to be the reason you can't go home again, especially since I know what your home and your name and all the rest of it means to you. I don't want to force you to make that choice-"

"You're not."

"And I don't want you to start regretting the choice you made in ten years and start to blame me for it," Jaune continued.

Pyrrha was silent a moment. "Ten years," she murmured. "You… you think we'll still be together in ten years?"

"Well, maybe," Jaune said. "If we're both still alive."

Pyrrha let out a sort of giddy giggling chuckle. Sunset would have rolled her eyes if they hadn't been closed against the cucumber juice.

"You don't have to do what I say," Jaune said, "but if you want to hear Sunset out… it can't hurt, right?"

Once more, a silence fell upon the group, broken by Pyrrha asking, "What did my mother say?"

Sunset chuckled. "She wants me to find out about Jaune's pedigree and report back to her."

"My pedigree?" Jaune asked. "You mean like a Labrador or something?"

"Well, you have got that soft, floppy blond hair," Sunset said. "But no, she means your ancestors. Lady Nikos is hoping-"

"That you turn out to have a noble descent," Pyrrha interrupted. "Isn't it enough that you are brave and kind? Isn't it enough that I care about you, and that… that you care about me?"

"I kind of hope so, since I don't think I've got any noble ancestors," Jaune admitted. "My dad was a huntsman, but he retired to raise a family. My mom's side of the family are all farmers, just like… well, just like most people from where I come from. Alba Longa isn't a place where you find fancy people."

"Are you sure about that?" Sunset asked. "Because backwater farming communities seem like just the sort of place where you might find, oh, I don't know, the lost heir to the throne of Vale."

"What?!" Jaune exclaimed. "Uh, Sunset, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about faking it so that you can appease Lady Nikos and get her to give her blessing to your being with Pyrrha obviously," Sunset replied.

"Giving away her sword is something that you would never even contemplate because you respect Pyrrha's mother so much," Twilight said, "but lying to her, oh, that's fine."

"It's not lying-" Sunset began.

"You're suggesting telling her things that aren't true; that is exactly lying," Twilight declared.

"Also known as storytelling," Sunset pointed out.

"Or fraud," Twilight said dryly.

"It would only be fraud if Jaune were trying to get something out of it," Sunset said. "But he's not; he doesn't want land or money, still less to actually take the throne; we just want to persuade one proud woman that this young man is worthy of her daughter."

"It should not require deception to persuade her of that," Pyrrha muttered.

"Yes, well, I'm sorry that your mother does not respect your romantic autonomy, but I am trying to do the best I can as both your friend and Lady Nikos' trusted woman," Sunset declared. "I know that you're upset, and I will even go so far as to say you've a right to be angry, but I don't like having to tell your mother that you still aren't ready to speak to her yet; it upsets her, and it makes me look bad. This is an opportunity for reconciliation, so will you please just consider it instead of standing upon your pride just because you're not getting everything that you want?"

Pyrrha sighed. "Twilight's right; it is lying to her; how can I reconcile with my mother through deception?"

"And how are you going to convince anybody that I'm the rightful heir to the throne of Vale?" Jaune demanded.

"Simple," Sunset said, "I'm going to use your sword."

"My sword?" Jaune repeated.

"Crocea Mors," Sunset explained, "is not only the name of your sword, but also the name of the sword wielded by Jaune of Gaunt, Duke of Westmorland, who was the fourth son of King Edward Farstrider, the first king of a united Vale."

"Hey, that's the guy from Ruby's story, right?" Rainbow said. "The Song of Olivia? She was in love with him, but he had to marry someone else because she wasn't good enough for him."

"Correct," Sunset said, "and it is precisely to avoid such a situation that we are going to fake Jaune's degree. Now, as I was saying, this Jaune of Gaunt helped expand his father's kingdom by leading the second expedition over the mountains and into the eastern lands beyond-"

"What happened to the first expedition?" Twilight asked.

"Between the grimm and the barbarians, they found it too hard going and had to turn back," Rainbow said. "They were almost home when the rearguard was attacked making its way up to the mountain pass; that's when Olivia died. Ruby's right; it is a really cool story."

"But Gaunt did what his father could not and claimed all the lands from the mountains to the sea," Sunset said. "He held it for a while, but the lands were lost when, after his death, his son marched west to take the throne of Vale for himself. His line held the throne, then lost it, then took it back and held it while the line lasted, but as far as I can make out-"

"How do you know so much about the Valish royal family?" Jaune asked.

"Because Cinder and I are going to see a couple of the Richard plays in the park tomorrow, and I wanted to know the history in case I couldn't keep up with the language," Sunset explained. "The point is that, as far as I can tell, the kings of Vale made a habit of bestowing Crocea Mors upon younger children of their family, but those cadet branches always failed, and the sword ended up back with the main royal line. Until it didn't. The last person known to bear the sword was Harry, Duke of Alexandria, who renounced his titles, lands, and claims in order to marry someone unsuitable."

"She wasn't good enough for his family?" Pyrrha asked.

"She was a Mantleite, a divorcee, an actress, and a faunus, so no, not really," Sunset replied. "They disappeared into obscurity to escape from the press, which is where the sword vanishes as well."

"It's a pity that they had to flee and hide, but on the other hand, I can't help but feel that they were very fortunate to be able to do so," Pyrrha murmured. "They had one another, after all. I hope they were able to make a happy life together."

"The point is, who is to say that those ten generations do not lead to Alba Longa and Jaune Arc?" Sunset asked. "Who is to say that we can't suggest they did?"

"You do realise that if the Duke of Alexandria renounced his titles, lands, and claims, then Jaune would not, in fact, be the heir to the throne, even if he really was a descendant," Twilight pointed out.

"That would matter if he were claiming the throne," Sunset allowed, "but the important point for Lady Nikos' benefit is that Jaune is of royal blood and a gentleman of the most august and venerable ancestry. With the throne defunct, the fact that Jaune cannot claim it is irrelevant; in terms of blood and descent and noble pedigree, he is nearly on a level with Pyrrha herself."

"You're starting to talk about this like you've already forgotten it's fake," Jaune said.

"I prefer to think of it as a story rather than a falsehood," Sunset replied. "It's not like you're lying to get Pyrrha to like you; she already does. It isn't even as though you're lying to get Lady Nikos to like you, because I honestly don't think she ever will. This is a matter of allowing Lady Nikos to save face both with Pyrrha and with high society. Now, is a little white lie really so high a price to pay for that?"

"I…" Pyrrha hesitated. "I will think about it," she said, in a tone that strongly suggested to Sunset that the answer would be 'no.' "Anyway," she went on, "Rainbow Dash, you were asking about Penny coming to watch our training tomorrow night? I'm afraid we got a little sidetracked. Personally, I wouldn't have any objections-"

"Me neither," Jaune added.

"But I'm afraid that Jaune and I don't train on a Saturday night because-"

"Oh, right, yeah, you have special lessons with Professor Goodwitch, don't you?" Rainbow asked.

"Yang and I, yes," Pyrrha confirmed. "But how did you know?"

"Atlesian intelligence is second to none," Rainbow declared.

"Ruby told you, didn't she?" Sunset guessed.

"Ruby told Penny," Twilight corrected. "And Penny became very jealous of Yang."

"Well, Professor Goodwitch let me and Blake watch the first session; maybe she'd let Penny come along on Saturday night?" Jaune suggested.

"You and Blake are Beacon students," Twilight pointed out. "For now, at least, in Blake's case."

"Yeah, but Jaune's right; there's no harm in showing up to see what she says," Rainbow said. "And besides, if it was about training up a Beacon winner for the Vytal Festival or something, then she'd be teaching Weiss too, so that they had more options. If she's focussing on Pyrrha and Yang, it's because they're the best. Well, Penny could be the best even if she isn't yet, so… why not?"

"Okay, but maybe you should actually ask Professor Goodwitch first before you just show up at the amphitheatre door," said Twilight.

"You're probably right," Rainbow conceded. "As usual."

Sunset lay back, and pondered exactly why Professor Goodwitch was giving private tuition to the two most talented students in the year, instead of those who might actually need it more.

Perhaps Professor Ozpin was involved. He could have put her up to it to hide his secrets, after all. Perhaps… perhaps Sunset had been wrong, and his interest was not in Ruby – that would explain why he had made no moves to enlighten her upon the subject of her Silver Eyes, as he had her mother – perhaps it was Pyrrha and Yang who interested him.

Could he mean for either Pyrrha or Yang to be his prophet? Surely, Merida could not be so old.

And if that is his intention, what can I do about it?

Do I have the right to do anything about it?

Possibly not. Probably not, in fact. While Sunset was certain that Ruby would hate the confined lifestyle which she believed Ozpin's magical girls were inured in, she was less certain about Pyrrha. It would mean giving up her destiny, to be sure, turning her back on saving the world… but Pyrrha's sense of duty was not as monofocussed as Ruby's own: many kings and princes had done their duty without venturing out onto the front lines of battle, and Pyrrha was sufficiently steeped in history and lore to know that. To keep great power out of the hands of evil might be thought an honourable charge, and if it meant toiling in obscurity, well… as Pyrrha herself had so recently said, she might think herself fortunate to be able to disappear with Jaune into hiding, free to live and love with no one to trouble them.

How exactly you would hide the Princess Without a Crown was something else, for surely Mistral would search for her. You could fake her death, but then…

Sunset was forcefully struck by the thought of Lady Nikos, receiving the sword and circlet of her 'late daughter,' hanging her death mask on the wall for however long the mother might outlive the child. Whatever the state of relations between Pyrrha and her mother now, Sunset was in no doubt that grief would fill up the house of the absent girl if Pyrrha were to perish or be thought to have perished. Philosophy would offer no consolation; the brave words of heroes long past would seem hollow in the extreme. Lady Nikos would be broken by these calamities: the extinction, as she would think, of her ancient line; the fall of her house; the death of her sweet child.

She loved her daughter and would remember it before the end.

Too cruel; too, too cruel.

Sunset forced her mind away from such things; this was no proper place for them. She was here to relax – they were all here to relax – and there had been too much serious talk already.

She twisted her body in place, searching as she lay for greater comfort, and tried to take her mind off of it all.

In this, she was less than wholly successful.

Comments

[Kiue Jin]

Is it going to turn out that Jaune actually has a distant connection to Vale former royal throne? Because to be fair, weirder things have happened.

[LostUmbrella]

10730464
If Crocea Mors is actually the sword of the king of Vale from Olivia's Song then an historian might be able to recognise or at least date it, giving Sunset's tale credence.

[Fhaolan]

10730561
We might be running into a 'Ship of Theseus' issue here. A sword being preserved unused (like Sunset's sword) can last ten generations or more, but one that is in active use for that time (Such as being used by Jaune's grandfather and prior generations as their huntsman weapon) is going to need a lot of maintenance. Enough that what Jaune has may not be recognizable anymore as the original. Of course, maybe it wasn't constantly used, that's an assumption on my part.

Also... given how Aura works in this world, there may be something more metaphysical than physical that can be done with artifact identification. :)

[JMP]

...yeah I'm with Pyrrha on this. Sunset's definitely trying to help, but this is her usual brand of "help". At least she's actually asking before doing. It's up to Lady Nikos to decide if her pride or her relationship with her daughter is worth more.

[MSie95]

Rainbow was quiet for a moment. “None of you guys will get this, because most of you are human, and Sunset doesn’t give a damn… but there are times when I wonder… how can I be on the right side when people like Bon Bon are on the same side as me?”

I don't know. It seems pretty easy to understand. For anyone with ounce of empathy or ability to imagine oneself in someone's else shoes. And I believe it was worth to ask the question.

“Because people like Twilight and Applejack are also on the same side as you,” Sunset declared.

Surprisingly kind (and wise) of Sunset to point it out. Though she might just be pointing out her teammates.

“You’ve read too many old books, if you can talk like that so easily,” Twilight murmured.

Heh, tell me about it. She loves the purple prose. Where did she developed that habit?

[Adser]

10730812
I would disagree for multiple reasons.

1) The favor is mainly for Lady Nikos, she is the one who wants to reconcile the most, and Sunset is being quite open about it.

2) This is an issue that Pyrrha and Jaune will have to deal with eventually if they don't want to end up miserable for the rest of their lives, either because they have to leave the place they love behind (Pyrrha if they never go back to Mistral) or because they will be frowned upon and mistreated all the time (Jaune if they go to Mistral). Mistral is really proud of it's history and lineage, that is part of the reason why Pyrrha loves the city to begin with, but sadly that comes with positives and negatives.

The only way for Mistral to accept Jaune, even if only a bit, is by either getting an impressive achievement as a fighter (hard one to do), changing the entirety of Mistral culture (HAHA, not happening), or finding some form of noble blood that Mistral will recognize (the option Lady Nikos is taking right now).

I also think that they are overreacting to say it is a lie. To think that they could possibly fool Lady Nikos about Jaune lineage is laughable, she would be able to notice immediately if there is no direct proof, yet she wouldn't care because the point is not to make a bid for an inexistent throne, the point is to give Jaune some form of history that, while it may not be possible to prove, it also would be impossible to DISprove.

Lady Nikos has shown that while she is extremely prideful, she puts actions over blood any day (we can see it both in her treatment of Sunset and in the fact that his husband wasn't nobility, or at least nowhere near her level), and she is reluctantly accepting Pyrrha choice step by step, yet figuring out Jaune family history would go a long way in making the situation easier, both with Lady Nikos and with Mistral in general.

[Mastermind4892]

“You’re not going to want to hear this,” Rainbow went on, “but maybe you should just give her the sword.”

Really, Rainbow Dash? You speak of this far too lightly, after General Ironwood placed his faith in you and gave you a uniform and a place at his school. You of all people should understand that kind of Loyalty.

[Scipio Smith]

10732235
I don't know 'you shouldn't fight over material possessions because at the end of the day it's our friendships that give life meaning' seems like a pretty MLP message to me.

[Mastermind4892]

10732413

I agree with that sentiment but all forms of morals and wisdom have a time and place. No wisdom can be universally applied to all circumstances, and must then apply a more appropriate lesson.

A gift should not be given away lightly, just to make your own life more convenient. Certainly not when said gift is a show of faith from another of how much they believe in you. Rainbow Dash is fiercely loyal to Ironwood because of his example and because he gave her so much. Especially when people like that do it in spite of how unpopular it may be to others, like Ironwood showing favor to a Faunus, or Lady Nikkos rebuking Lady Ming and thus getting uninvited to future parties.

To do so is to reciprocate Loyalty and appreciation to another’s Generosity. Lady Nikkos gave Sunset the sword to protect her daughter, to show that she is trusting her to protect what was most precious to her in the world. Did Ironwood not give Rainbow Dash her Atlesian uniform and a scholarship at his school for similar reasons? To protect Twilight and Penny, and to fight Salem? Who is Rainbow Dash to suggest giving something like that up to satisfy a bigoted bully like Phoebe?

[Mastermind4892]

10732413
And doesn’t Rainbow Dash also hate Robyn Hill for the same kind of thing she just suggested to Sunset?

[RDDash]

If Sunset payed attention to the fairy tales she would have taken a note to The Infinite Man.

[Adser]

10732235
I took it mostly as Rainbow showing again her total lack of empathy and thinking about the situation.

In paper then yeah, getting into a lot of trouble because of a weapon makes no sense, if you remove the emotional aspect from the equation. And the kind of pride and honor that Sunset talks of is not one that Rainbow understands, at least not in those words, so she doesn't get it and isn't interested in ever getting it.

There is also proof that Rainbow has internalized the "lower your head and take it" mentality, as shown in her talks with both Blake and Sunset about being the target of racists.

[Mastermind4892]

10733916
Very true! Rainbow Dash has consistently proven to be the least empathetic and the least self-aware. Applejack has chided and snapped at her more than a few times on the show for her thickheadedness.

[Animatorsnake]

While Sunset is planning to make Jaune to be this descendant of a great lineage, unbeknowst to her, Jaune is secretly a descendant of the Last King of Vale! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!

[Pensive]

"Are you sure about that?" Sunset asked. "Because backwater farming communities seem like just the sort of place where you might find, oh, I don't know, the lost heir to the throne of Vale."

cough cough