A Gift of Kindness (New)
A Gift of Kindness
“Rosepetal Four to Rosepetal Lead, do you-?”
Rainbow snatched the handset off the wall of the Skyray. “I hear you, Twilight; I’m right here.”
Twilight sighed with relief on the other end of the line, “Thank goodness,” she said. “I was starting to think that I’d never get through to you.”
Rainbow leaned back in the pilot’s seat. “I, on the other hand, had every faith in you.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying!” Rainbow insisted. “I am every bit as honest as Applejack… most of the time.”
Twilight snorted.
“Seriously,” Rainbow told her, “I knew that you’d find a way.” She smiled, for all that Twilight couldn’t see it. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Except I’m not here, am I?” Twilight said, and Rainbow was glad that she didn’t hear any resentment or self-recrimination in Twilight’s voice, just a simple statement of the facts.
“Well, you told me Midnight was based on your brain using fancy science, right?” Rainbow asked.
“I flash-cloned my neural pathways as a map for Midnight’s processors, yes,” Twilight agreed.
“And Midnight’s here,” Rainbow pointed out. “So, in a way, you’re here too. And, now that we can talk to one another, you’re kind of here in a different way. And when your drones show up-”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Twilight acknowledged. “I’m not going to say that I wish I was in the city with you, because to be honest, I don’t, and if I did, I’d be an idiot, but I am glad that I get to support you in some way. In a way, I get to have your back for once.”
Rainbow snorted. “You’ve always had my back, Twi, one way or another. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, you know that.”
“Yeah, I gave you a chance to die for Atlas,” Twilight declared. “Go me.”
Rainbow chuckled, even though it really wasn’t very funny. “Well, it beats dying for the SDC.” Or getting branded on the face by the SDC. She still hadn’t heard anything from Cadance about that; she had no doubt that Cadance was looking into it – she wouldn’t lie to Rainbow, promise action and then sit on it – but there were a lot of demands on a Councillor’s time, and it was probably hard to drill through the layers of SDC money to get to the truth.
Twilight sighed. “You know, when you say things like that… it kind of makes it seem as though Blake has a good point.”
“Blake… Blake had bad methods,” Rainbow said. “She had really, really bad methods, but she always had a point, and she always had her heart in the right place. If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t have wasted my time on her.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Twilight replied. “I mean… how can you justify a system where the only options open to you are both life-threatening, either in the military or working for Jacques Schnee?”
“Because it’s the only one we’ve got,” Rainbow said. “This isn’t a video game where we get to start over and make better choices on the tech tree.”
“I think you mean the Decision Tree,” Twilight said. “Technically speaking, I think we’ve made the right choices at every turn.”
“Come on, Twilight, you know I didn’t have the patience to play that game; I can’t remember exactly what everything in it was called,” Rainbow said. “The point is… yeah, it’s not perfect, but we’re kind of stuck with it, and so, perhaps we should try and make it better from where it is instead of burning it all down to be sure of getting rid of the bad stuff. It’s not like Salem’s going to give us the chance to rebuild.”
“No,” Twilight murmured. “No, I guess not.”
“I think Blake gets that now,” Rainbow said, tilting her head back to look up at the stars out of the cockpit window. “And because she gets it… I think she’ll do great things for Atlas some day.”
“You’re that confident, huh?”
“I’m reeling her in,” Rainbow declared. “Little by little. Sunset can growl about it all she likes, but she’s not even trying to fight back; she’s just fuming about it. She hasn’t even tried to sell Beacon or Vale to Blake the way that I’ve been pushing Atlas.”
“You sound like the guy you bought The Bus off of.”
“Hey!” Rainbow cried. “In the…” She laughed. “You know, I don’t know whether to say that The Bus turned out fine in the end or that Atlas isn’t a heap of junk. The point is… she’s going to be great.”
Twilight was silent for a moment. “Rainbow Dash, you know that-”
“Enough about me, Twi, how are you doing out there?”
“Fine,” Twilight assured her. “The food’s not great-”
“It never is,” Rainbow interjected.
“-but there are no signs of any grimm.”
“And Team Tsunami?”
“They’re as kind and considerate as you’d expect.”
“Has Tempest given you trouble?” Rainbow asked.
“No!” Twilight said firmly. “She’s just… she’s a little… intense.”
“That’s one word for it,” Rainbow muttered. “Did Trixie tell you the story about the time she took down that ursa major?”
“Yes,” Twilight admitted. “But it is a good story.”
“I know,” Rainbow replied. “So… you’re okay?”
“I should be the one asking you that,” Twilight said. “Hey, Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever heard of something called 'Winter Maiden'?”
Rainbow frowned. “No. What is it?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “Starlight dropped the name but didn’t give any details. I thought you might know. I thought it might be some kind of military secret.”
“Does sound like it could be a codename, but you’re the one who worked on Penny.”
“I can assure you, Penny is not Winter Maiden,” Twilight said. “We never used a codename like that for her when we were working on her. So it’s nothing you know about?”
“Like I said, you’d know more about weapons projects than I do.”
“It doesn’t sound like the name of a weapon, more like a… VIP or something.”
“Starlight didn’t give you anything else?”
“No,” Twilight said. “I think… it was like she hoped it was connected to what we’re doing here. She suspects something is going on.”
“Something is going on,” Rainbow said. “We just can’t tell her what it is.”
“Mhmm,” Twilight acknowledged. “So, how are you? How’s… that place you’re in?”
“We haven’t really scoped it out yet; we only just landed and found a place to settle down for the night,” Rainbow explained. “But it’s… not a pretty sight.”
“No,” Twilight murmured. “No, I don’t suppose it is. So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“With the help of your drones, we’ll search for a way underground that isn’t guarded by the White Fang or close to any grimm we’d have to fight our way through,” Rainbow said. “We don’t want to waste time fighting our way through them, and the noise might give us away.”
“Do you really think they don’t know you’re here?”
“They haven’t attacked us so far,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Cinder invited you to come,” Twilight reminded her. “She wants you here.”
“Wanting us here isn’t the same as knowing we’re here,” Rainbow said. “We stand a better chance of beating this trap if she doesn’t know that we’re in it.”
“And… if she does know?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow paused. “Then we’d better be tougher than anyone or anything that she has on her side. Anyway, now that we know we can talk, we should both get some sleep; I’ll contact you again in the morning when we’re ready to move out.”
“Wait!” Twilight cried, “before you go, we should link your scroll to my Skyray so that I can contact you on the move.”
“Right,” Rainbow agreed. “Talk me through it.”
“Get your scroll out,” Twilight said.
“Done,” Rainbow said, getting her scroll out.
“Now, adjust the frequency-”
“How?”
“Select point to point mode-”
“What?”
Twilight sighed. “No wonder it took so long to find the right frequency. Okay, start at the very beginning. Do you at least know how to open your settings?”
It took longer than maybe it should have done for Twilight to teach Rainbow how to switch the settings on her scroll around so that she could reach Twi and TTSS’s Skyray even without a CCT relay in the area, but eventually, they managed it, meaning that come morning, Twilight could coordinate her drone searches from the safety of the distant airship with Rainbow and her team on the ground. Only then, with that done, did Rainbow and Twilight bid one another goodnight and end the call.
Rainbow sat for a moment in the pilot’s seat, looking up out of the cockpit window at the stars.
They might be in a dead city, they might have ruins and worse than ruins all around them, but the stars sure were pretty tonight.
It kind of reminded Rainbow of Canterlot; Twilight said it was because there were fewer streetlights, so you could see the stars better. That… well, it was kind of grim when you thought about why there were no streetlights here in Mountain Glenn, but even so… the stars sure were pretty.
Rainbow sighed and stood up and was about to leave the airship and rejoin the others in the house when her scroll started to buzz.
It was Fluttershy.
Rainbow swallowed as her throat dried up. Her stomach froze. Her hand began to shake as she moved towards the button that would answer the call.
She could barely bring herself to touch it. She forced herself to do so anyway.
“Cinder,” she growled.
“Not this time,” the voice of Adam Taurus issued out of Rainbow’s device.
Fluttershy looked up as the door into the room creaked open. For a moment, she expected Gilda come visiting again. A smile began to form upon her face.
Until he stepped in, and the smile died upon her face.
She hadn’t gotten his name, but it was clear that he was Gilda’s superior in the White Fang.
It was also clear that he was a scary person. He scared her, at least, though she tried her best not to seem afraid. She tried not to flinch or cower. She tried to be brave, like Applejack. Applejack didn’t flinch; Applejack didn’t whimper; Applejack looked at this man, who was so tall and so powerful, squarely in the face.
He ignored her. His attention, as best as she could tell, what with the mask covering his face and hiding his eyes, was all on Fluttershy.
He smirked. “Your outfit is ridiculous,” he observed, with mockery in his voice.
Fluttershy was wearing a butter yellow dress that descended down to a little above her ankles; the skirt had a modest-sized bustle protruding out the back – less noticeable now that she was sitting down, admittedly – and folded, almost ruffled layers of fabric descending the front in a U shape, with hints of white petticoat protruding out from underneath. Knee-length pantalettes embraced her legs, while her feet were clad in white boots, with black soles, toes, and heels. The shoulders of her blouse were puffed, and the sleeves descended down to just below her elbows, leaving her forearms bare down to the wrist, where her hands were enclosed within a pair of white gloves. There was a green cravat tied around her neck which was getting ever so slightly uncomfortable. She had possessed a safari hat with a green band around it, but someone had taken that away. She hoped they enjoyed it, whoever they were.
“My friend Rarity made it for me,” Fluttershy replied. She hadn’t felt comfortable telling Rarity that it was… well, just a little bit much, and maybe not the most practical outfit. Rarity had spent so long on it, after all, and tried her best.
He snorted. “Then your friend is a fool, and you are one too for indulging her.”
“My friend is very generous,” Fluttershy insisted. “Although that might not be something that you understand.”
“Perhaps not,” he allowed. “I have not received much in the way of generosity.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Applejack muttered.
Now he looked at Applejack, and his whole body seemed to stiffen as he crossed the room towards her, looking down upon her, looming over her. In the little light that existed in the room, he cast a shadow over Applejack.
One hand balled into a fist.
“Don’t!” Fluttershy cried. “Please, don’t!”
He glanced at her over his shoulder, but said nothing. To Applejack, he said, “You’re a huntress, aren’t you?”
Applejack licked her lips. “Eeyup.”
“Then there is no reason why I shouldn’t kill you, is there?”
“Please-” Fluttershy began.
“Fluttershy,” Applejack said. “Easy now.”
“Answer the question,” he demanded.
“Nope,” Applejack replied. “'Cept that if you meant to kill me, I reckon you’d have done it already.”
“Perhaps I only needed you alive as bait for your friends?” he suggested.
“Maybe,” Applejack allowed. “But they ain’t here yet, are they?”
“They’re in the city,” he declared, making Fluttershy gasp.
They came? But I told them not to! I said not to do it! Why would they come anyway?
“But they ain’t down here yet, are they?” Applejack replied.
Whatever he might have said in response to that was interrupted by the door flying open as Gilda burst in.
“Boss!” she yelled, before she came to a stop inside the room, her golden eyes glancing across Applejack, Fluttershy, and her boss.
He half-turned towards her. “Yes, Gilda?”
Gilda paused. She rested one hand upon the open door. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Nothing that concerns you,” he said.
Gilda shrugged. “If there’s nothing going on, then it doesn’t matter if I stay, does it?”
He stared at her – or Fluttershy thought he did; again, it was hard to tell with the mask – for a moment. “Do I have to give you an order, Gilda?”
“Might be best if you didn’t, boss, then I don’t have to disobey it.”
“You would disobey me?”
Gilda grinned. “We’re all a bunch of rebels here, boss; it’s a hard habit to kick.”
He sniffed. “Gag this one,” he commanded. “I have no interest in what an Atlesian huntress has to say.”
Gilda hesitated for a moment. A frown creased her brow. But she muttered, “Sure thing, boss,” and as he walked away from Applejack, Gilda approached her in turn.
“Sorry about this,” she whispered to Applejack, but she gagged her all the same. Applejack didn’t protest it; she didn’t make a sound as Gilda put the gag in her mouth and tied it. She just kept watching him as he circled Fluttershy like a shark.
“My name is Adam Taurus,” he declared. “Have you heard of me?”
“No,” Fluttershy said softly. “Should I?”
“I am the most feared commander of the White Fang,” he boasted. “I am the Sword of the Faunus, the champion of my people, the destined instrument of our liberation. I am a wanted man in all four kingdoms-”
“But I still haven’t heard of you,” Fluttershy apologised. It was a different White Fang commander who gave her nightmares; despite their current predicament, Adam Taurus still didn’t frighten her as much as Chrysalis did.
Adam grunted. “You heard me say that your friend Rainbow Dash is in the city above us. Do you hope that she will try and rescue you?”
“No,” Fluttershy said.
Adam stopped. “'No'?” he repeated in a tone of surprise. “You don’t wish to be rescued?”
“I don’t want my friend to get hurt or worse for my sake,” Fluttershy replied.
“Your friend,” Adam said. “Your faunus friend, isn’t it her job to die for you?”
“Of course not!” Fluttershy cried. “Because she’s my friend, whether she’s a faunus or not, and if anything happened to her because of me, I… I don’t want anything to happen to her because of me. Is that so hard for you to believe, don’t you have any friends of your own? Don’t you have anyone that you care about?”
“I had someone I cared for very much,” Adam growled. “Someone who meant everything to me, someone I thought that I could trust, someone who promised to stay by my side, no matter what!”
“What happened to them?” asked Fluttershy, in a voice that surprised herself with how calm it sounded.
“Your good friend Rainbow Dash happened,” Adam snarled. “Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer, they took her away from me!”
“I see,” Fluttershy murmured. “Is that why you’re here? To kill me, so that Rainbow Dash will know how you feel?”
Gilda tensed visibly. “Boss-”
“Quiet!” Adam snapped, not turning his gaze away from Fluttershy for a moment. “You sound very calm for someone who might soon be dead. Do you not care whether you live or die?”
“I care,” Fluttershy murmured. “But I’d rather die than ask my friends to die for me.”
“How very un-Atlesian of you,” Adam muttered. “Your whole damn kingdom is built upon asking my people to die for you.” He paused. “What is your name?”
“Fluttershy Breeze,” Fluttershy whispered.
“And what are you doing here, Fluttershy?” Adam asked. “What are you doing here, in that ridiculous outfit, you who are no huntress but might perhaps be braver than any huntsman I have ever met?”
“I… I was walking across rural Vale,” Fluttershy admitted. In this place, in front of these people, saying it out loud… it seemed rather ridiculous, really. A silly thing to do in this day and age, and a rather selfish way of putting Applejack in danger. “I wanted to study all the different animals and birds that live beyond the cities.”
Adam was silent for a moment. “Birds,” he said, his tone hard to read. “You were captured studying birds.”
“Yes,” Fluttershy said. “Partly.”
Again, it took Adam a few moments to respond. “You like birds?”
Fluttershy nodded. “My semblance lets me talk to them.”
“Really?” Adam asked, and he sounded genuinely curious now, almost enthusiastic. “What does that sound like? Do you hear them as you hear me?”
“Not really,” Fluttershy said. “With my ears, I still hear the same thing that you hear: tweeting and cheeping and chirruping. It’s just that I can understand what they mean by it, in my… in my soul, I suppose you’d say, since it’s my semblance.”
“Yes,” Adam murmured. “Yes, that does make sense. As you say, it is your semblance.” He turned away from her and walked towards the door, still open from Gilda’s entrance. He closed it with surprising gentleness. “You’re very fortunate in such a power.”
“I think so,” Fluttershy said, concealing her surprise that he thought so too.
Adam sighed, a surprising sound to hear coming from him. “When I was a boy, I used to love birds,” he said. “I think it started with canaries that we used to see if the mines were safe to go down. A lot of them died down there… but then a lot of us died down there as well, and while they lived… I was fascinated by their colours, how bright they were, how prettily they sang. Our world was dull and dark, I was born in the darkness, I lived in shadow, everything around us was rock and stone, but in that dull and darkness, those canaries shone, and amongst the sounds of picks and shovels and the grinding of engines, their song… it was the sound of angels. I very much wish that I could have understood what they were saying.”
“I’m not sure you do,” Fluttershy said. “If you understood, it might not seem so angelic.”
Adam chuckled. “No,” he agreed. “Perhaps not.” He fell silent for a moment. “And then, when I left the mines, I would look up at the sky and the birds that streaked across it: house sparrows and great fat pigeons that used to follow you around hoping that you would drop some food for them; magpies, parakeets that had escaped from their cages and houses and become wild… and free. They were the ones that I loved best of all. Because of the colours and-”
“Because they were free,” Fluttershy murmured.
“Indeed,” Adam said. “They could go wherever they wanted to, and no one could stop them.”
“When did you stop?” Fluttershy asked gently. “When did you stop loving the sight of birds?”
Adam raised one hand to his face, removing his mask. He half-turned towards her, presenting his profile to her, showing her that half his face had been ruined by a brand that had seared his skin and ruined his eye. A brand of the letters SDC, seared into his flesh.
Fluttershy gasped. Applejack’s eyes widened. Gilda looked as though she was biting back a curse.
“I stopped,” Adam said, “when the SDC reminded me that I was nothing like a bird, neither free, nor able to go where I willed, let alone do as I please.”
Fluttershy stared at his ruined face, his scar in the form of those unmistakable letters. “I… I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Who… who did that to you?”
Adam put his mask back on. “Her name was… I forget exactly what her name was. Fern, I think. Calli Fern. Something like that. But who she was is less important than what she was: an employee of the Schnee Dust Company. It was the company that branded me, not the woman who wielded the brand.”
“Why?” Fluttershy asked. “Why would they-?”
“Because with wealth comes power,” Adam said. “And the powerful can do as they please, and none may gainsay them. In this world, there is but one law: the strong do as they wish, and the weak suffer what they must.”
“But the strong don’t have to make the weak suffer,” Gilda spoke up. “They can choose to, but it’s just that: a choice.”
“Gilda says that you are an innocent,” Adam said. “I didn’t believe there was such a thing, but now… now I think you might be.”
“So were you,” Fluttershy said. She smiled. “I wish that Cinder hadn’t left my sketchbooks behind when she captured us; I think you might have enjoyed the drawings.”
“You… are a very unusual human,” Adam said.
“I don’t think so,” Fluttershy replied. “I just think you haven’t met the right sort of humans yet.”
“You give your race too much credit,” Adam muttered. Once more, he fell momentarily silent. “Gilda, give me Fluttershy’s scroll. I want to speak to Rainbow Dash.”
And I thought this couldn’t get any worse. “Adam.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Adam spat, filling the words of her name with loathing. “Is Blake with you?”
“Not right now,” Rainbow said. “She’s somewhere on the campus, probably in her dorm room.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Adam growled. “I know that you’re here in Mountain Glenn; not only were you expected, but you were seen. Next time you lie to me… you don’t deserve what I’m about to do for you. Fortunately, I’m not doing it for you.”
“What are you talking about?” Rainbow demanded.
Adam took a moment to reply. “You stole something from me,” he said.
“Blake doesn’t belong to you,” Rainbow replied. “Blake doesn’t belong to anybody.”
“Blake is mine, and you stole her from me!” Adam snarled. He took a deep breath. “And for that, I will kill you. You and Sunset Shimmer both, and as for Blake, I will…” Rainbow could hear him take another deep breath on the other end of the line. “But this isn’t about you or Sunset or Blake. This is about Fluttershy. I’m going to give her back to you.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. 'Give her back'? Could it really…? “What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Adam asked. “As Gilda has kept trying to tell me, the girl is no part of this. Your other friend is a huntress, her plight is part of the fortunes of war, and we have treated her as well as any of our fighters who fall into your Atlesian hands. But Fluttershy… if this city is to become our battlefield, then there is no reason why she should be caught up in the struggle.”
Rainbow was stunned into silence. Shock had robbed her tongue of power of speech. What was she supposed to say to this? Adam was actually letting her go? They were really letting Fluttershy go?
“Fluttershy, Applejack, are you there?” she called into her scroll.
There was a wordless mumbling, followed by Fluttershy saying, “I’m here, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow closed her eyes. “Great to hear your voice, Fluttershy. I wish I could hear yours too, Applejack.” Her own voice shook. “How are you doing down there?”
“I’m not sure that I should leave Applejack behind,” Fluttershy murmured.
“Yes, yes, you absolutely should,” Rainbow insisted firmly. It was… kind of rough on Applejack, but as much as she might not want to credit him with a good point, Adam was right: Applejack was a huntress; this was the kind of thing that went with territory. None of this went with Fluttershy’s territory.
More to the point, Fluttershy clearly believed that Adam was on the level about letting her go. She hadn’t tried to warn Rainbow that it was a trap.
That didn’t mean that it wasn’t a trap, but it was something.
Applejack mumbled.
“Was that a yes?” Rainbow asked.
More mumbling, with an ascentive tone.
“I’m going to get you out of there, Applejack,” Rainbow promised. “Just hold tight for just a little longer.”
“Bold words,” Adam said. “I won’t let her go so easily.”
Rainbow might have made some crack about how she had kicked Adam’s ass every time they’d met, and the last time, he had literally run away rather than face her. But she didn’t want to annoy him right now, not when she was about to get Fluttershy back safe and sound. “So,” she said. “How are we going to do this?”
“Come to the location that I send to you, alone and unarmed, and I will set Fluttershy free. Don’t worry about the grimm, the area that I’ve chosen is free of them.”
Rainbow had not, in fact, been worried about the grimm; they’d specifically chosen a landing site that was also free from grimm activity, which was more concentrated in other sectors of the city closer to the centre. Nevertheless, for other reasons, she frowned. “'Alone and unarmed'? How do I know that it’s not a trap?”
“You don’t,” Adam admitted. “But you’ll forgive me if I don’t trust an armed Atlesian soldier to take your friend and walk away.”
“You think that I’d start a fight with Fluttershy there?”
“You’re a traitor to your race and a dog of the Atlesian military,” Adam declared. “How am I to know what you’d do?”
“How do you know that I’ll come alone then?” Rainbow asked. “What if I don’t?”
“Then you’ll have to live with the fact that you, one of the Atlas elite, one of the chosen, had less honour than a terrorist,” Adam spat. “Also, I won’t be unarmed.”
“So what you’re saying is that I have to trust you, but you’re expecting me to betray you?”
“As I said, I’ve been taught the folly of trusting Atlesians. So, do we have a deal?”
Rainbow closed her eyes. She didn’t know Fluttershy’s parents as well as she knew Twilight’s folks, but she’d met them a few times, usually when they invited Rainbow for lunch. Mr. Breeze had worked on the heating grid until he took early retirement to concentrate on his geology hobby. He cultivated a resemblance to Jacques Schnee, to try to give himself an air of authority and dignity, but the effect was kind of ruined by the fact that he wore sweaters that were too big for him and, well, the fact that he was just as quiet and timid as Fluttershy, maybe even moreso. Mrs. Breeze was a gardener and a classy lady; she always had a string of pearls around her neck, kind of like Twi’s mom. They didn’t deserve to lose their daughter, their pride and joy, not when she hadn’t volunteered to get involved in any of this. Her brother, admittedly, was… not Rainbow’s favourite person in the whole of Remnant, but for all his faults, he loved his sister, and he didn’t deserve to lose her.
Fluttershy didn’t deserve to die. Fluttershy… Fluttershy was someone who deserved to survive.
So there was no question of Rainbow going down there. The only question was whether or not she was going to go down there alone or not.
She probably ought to bring her team and take Adam Taurus out of the equation for good.
But there was a chance that Fluttershy might get caught in the crossfire. And besides, Adam was right: if she did that, then she’d be the sneaky bastard, and he’d be the righteous and upstanding one.
There’s no way that’s going to happen.
Going there alone wasn’t smart, but it was the right thing to do, and that was more important. The Atlesian forces were not the smartest, they weren’t the most cunning, they didn’t win by brains or wisdom; they won by being brave and tough and reliable.
They fought for truth, justice, and the Atlesian way, and the Atlesian way didn’t include letting terrorists have the moral high ground.
Besides, like she’d said to Pyrrha once, she always had two weapons on the ends of her arms.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said firmly. “Yeah, we have a deal.”
Gilda hastened to get the restraints off Fluttershy. Her hands trembled. She fumbled and then cursed herself for fumbling. She couldn’t slip up; she had to get this done, and quickly too.
She felt as though she was in a dream, and if she didn’t get Fluttershy out and into Rainbow’s arms by the time she woke up, then… then she would wake up, and everything would be as it was before.
“Is something wrong, Gilda?” Adam asked, with a hint of mockery in his tone.
Gilda unfastened Fluttershy from her bonds. “Nothing wrong, boss,” she said, as she stood up. “For the first time in a while, I can say that nothing is wrong.”
If she’d been able to see Adam’s eyes – his eye; gods, Gilda had never guessed what was under his mask. You’d never guess to see him fight that he couldn’t see to his right – it would have been narrowed, she was sure. “Don’t push your luck, Gilda,” he informed her flatly.
Gilda didn’t reply for a moment. She was… Adam had given her a lot of things to think about. Starting with that eye. Gods, that eye. She had never guessed, although perhaps she should have. Contrary to what a lot of humans believed, the White Fang - at least the ones who had been in for a while; the new recruits seemed a lot more fond of walking around with their masks on all the time, although Gilda suspected they were taking their cue from Adam in that regard – didn’t spend a lot of time with their masks on. Gilda basically never wore hers; she could barely see a thing out of those eye slits, and it gave her a skin rash every damn time. Strongheart didn’t put hers on too often either. Most wore it more often than that, but basically only for raids, and even then, sometimes not, like if it was dark or they were hitting an unmanned installation. But Adam… Adam wore his like it was fused to his face. Pretty much the only person who had seen what he looked like without the mask was Blake, at least in the Vale Chapter.
Until now. Now, Gilda had seen, and now, Gilda saw why he didn’t show it to anyone else. Yes, it wasn’t his fault, yes, it was a sign of what they were fighting for, but… you couldn’t just take pride in your scars just because you ought to be able to. Just because they didn’t make you weak didn’t mean that you didn’t feel weak or fear that others would think you weak.
The scar on his face was a side of Adam she had never seen before.
So, for that matter, was letting Fluttershy go.
It was a mercy that she wouldn’t have expected him to show, even before Cinder came into their world. To be honest, she doubted that even Blake could have moved him in this way, but somehow, Fluttershy had… Gilda wasn’t sure what Fluttershy had done. She would have said ‘charmed him,’ but that… that sounded too close to what Cinder had done to him, was doing to him; Fluttershy hadn’t manipulated him; she had just… beaten him. Gotten what she wanted.
It was amazing, Gilda thought, what a little kindness could do.
It was almost enough to make her wish that Fluttershy could stick around to keep doing whatever it was that she had done, because Gilda found that she liked this new Adam, who talked wistfully of his youth and how he had watched the flight of birds, better than the Adam whose leadership they had enjoyed lately, the one who had so lost hope of victory that he was willing to throw away lives by the score in the hope of a glorious defeat, the one who is in thrall to Cinder Fall, the one who didn’t listen to her, didn’t listen to anyone.
This Adam… this Adam was more like the one that she had followed into battle, the one that she could continue to follow.
If only he would stay. Somehow, Gilda wasn’t sure he would.
Gilda grinned. “You know me, boss, I’m old school White Fang. I’m not used to having nothing but my luck to push.”
Adam snorted. “Don’t mistake my intent; this is not your victory.”
“It’s not my loss either.”
“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked.
“Gilda,” Adam declared, “is hoping to use this as a wedge, to turn me against Cinder and her plans.”
“She doesn’t seem very kind,” Fluttershy murmured.
“That’s 'cause she’s not,” Gilda muttered.
“But she is powerful,” Adam said. “More powerful than you can understand. Let me give you some advice, Fluttershy: run away. When I let you go, run, run away from Vale, run all the way to Atlas, but don’t even stop there, run away until you find some dark secluded place beyond the kingdoms where no one will ever find you. Cinder… Cinder is not just a woman; Cinder is the harbinger.”
“'The harbinger'?” Fluttershy repeated. “The harbinger of what?”
“The bitter wind that has no beginning and no ending,” Adam replied. “Your friend Rainbow Dash can’t stop it. General Ironwood and all his armies can’t stop it. And any who try to stand in its path will be swept away. So run.”
Fluttershy bowed her head. “I can’t do that,” she murmured. “Even though I’m not… I can’t… I won’t give up all hope like that.”
“'Hope'?” Adam repeated. “What hope?”
“The hope… the hope that no matter how dark the night is, my friends will find a way to shine a light,” Fluttershy replied, looking up once more.
“A light,” Adam mused. “Yes, I suppose I hope for that as well. I hope to light the spark that will become a flame of revolution. And I hope the fire will spare you when the time comes. Now come; it’s time to go.”
Fluttershy glanced at Applejack.
Applejack nodded eagerly, murmuring something incomprehensible.
“All right,” she said, “let’s go.”
Rainbow wasn’t wearing the Wings of Harmony, but she did have her machine pistols worn at her belt, and so she took said belt off and draped it across the pilot’s seat with the guns still in their holsters.
She briefly reached out and removed Plain Awesome from its holster, and under the interior lights, she looked at the inscription on the frame.
‘With Gratitude, C, 21 April 2118’
Rainbow looked at it, reading it once, and then reading it over again. A slight smile played across her face for a moment as she put the gun back. As she did so, her eyes fell on the photos pinned to the dashboard.
She leaned forward and plucked the photograph of her friends from their time at combat school. She held it up, studying it more closely, taking in all of their faces, younger then, but still recognisable.
Her gaze lingered upon Fluttershy’s face, her fair, kind face.
Silently, Rainbow raised the photograph to her lips and kissed it.
Then she let it fall to the floor, floating lazily down like a dying leaf dropped from the tree; it was still falling as Rainbow opened the door and leapt down from the airship.
The house was dark. Penny might still be awake, and someone was on sentry above, but there was no one who would obviously notice Rainbow slipping away.
She looked up. The stars were beautiful tonight.
A sigh escaped from Rainbow’s lips as she started to walk towards the broken wall marking out the edge of the garden.
“Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow stopped. She glanced over her shoulder as Midnight emerged out of the house and into the garden.
“I didn’t see you there,” she said.
“It’s dark,” Midnight pointed out. “And you aren’t wearing your goggles.”
No, Rainbow wasn’t. Regardless of whether or not they counted as weapons, she didn’t want to give Adam an excuse to change his mind; just because he seemed accommodating at the moment didn’t mean that it was going to last.
“Midnight,” she said, “if I’m not back in two hours, you’re to notify Ciel that she has command of Team Rosepetal until relieved, that she is to post me missing in action and proceed with the mission as planned with no attempt at recovery.”
“Wherever you’re going,” Midnight said, sounding like Twilight and yet not, “you assume there’s a possibility you might not come back.”
“That’s right,” Rainbow admitted. “There’s a chance that I might not come back.”
“I’m not sure I can let you go, Rainbow Dash.”
“There’s also a chance that I might come back with Fluttershy safe and sound,” Rainbow added.
Green light flickered across Midnight’s face-plate. “Then good luck out there,” she said.
Rainbow snorted. “I knew that you had favourites,” she muttered. She raised her voice to say, “Don’t tell anyone that I’ve gone for two hours.”
“What if they ask?” asked Midnight.
“Tell them you’re not authorised to say,” Rainbow replied. “That’s an order, understood?”
Midnight’s head bobbed up and down, hissing mechanically as it did so.
“Great,” Rainbow said, and then paused, unsure of what exactly you were supposed to say to a computer system occupying the body of an android. Goodbye? Thanks? See you around?
“Would you like me to take a message for Twilight Sparkle?” Midnight suggested.
Rainbow blinked. “No,” she said. “If I come back, I come back, and if I don’t… General Ironwood has a video that I recorded; it… it says…” Rainbow thrust her hands into her pockets. “She’ll find out what it says,” she said, and then turned and walked away without another word.
Midnight did not call after her, did not try to stop her from leaving, did not, as far as Rainbow could tell, do anything, except perhaps watch Rainbow go as she disappeared into the darkness of the dead city, out of sight.
Rainbow walked through the streets, taking no care to hide herself, moving down the middle of the road in a way that she wouldn’t have done in Canterlot or Atlas – or anywhere that there might have been traffic, to be honest – but which had more in common with such safe places than it did with the way she would normally have moved in the field.
Rainbow walked, checking her scroll every now and then to make sure that she was going in the right direction – before they left, Twilight had uploaded all the schematics of the city to their devices, and done… something that would let them act as trackers, despite the spotty link to the CCT network. It was helping Rainbow find her way right now, and that was the important thing.
She walked to the location that Adam had given her, as casually as if she were on a stroll. She did not run. She didn’t use her semblance. She didn’t want to be perceived as aggressive, in case Adam thought she was being aggressive… and Fluttershy paid the price for what he thought was Rainbow’s treachery.
She couldn’t take the risk, just like she couldn’t take the risk of hiding a gun anywhere on her person.
And so she walked, and as she walked through the silent streets of the silent city, Rainbow began to sing softly to herself, her voice the only sound in all these dark and desolate structures all around.
First you see me, riding on a sonic boom,
Got my guitar, shredding up the latest tune,
There is nothing you can do to beat me,
I’m so good that you can’t defeat me.”
Rainbow laughed at that, half wistful and half bitter, before she went on.
“Yeah, I’m awesome, take caution,
Watch out for me, I’m awesome as I wanna be,
Yeah, I’m awesome, take caution,
Watch out for me, I’m-”
“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Adam’s voice cut through the darkness. “I didn’t really think you’d come alone.”
Rainbow Dash stopped. She couldn’t see Adam. She couldn’t see Fluttershy either. It was too dark, and as a pony faunus, she didn’t have the night vision that Blake was blessed with.
The most she could make out were shapes in the darkness, vague forms moving before her, patches of darkness deeper than the rest, shadows in the moonlight.
“If you didn’t think that I’d show up, why did you ask me here?” she asked the dark.
“Because your friend is an innocent in our quarrel who deserves to escape it intact,” Adam allowed. “That doesn’t mean I expected an Atlesian soldier to keep her word.”
“You haven’t met the right Atlesian soldiers,” Rainbow muttered. Or perhaps you didn’t give them a chance to keep their word before you killed them. “Fluttershy? Are you there?”
“Yes!” Fluttershy cried. “Yes, I’m here, Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow let out a sigh of relief, mixed with a touch of laughter in her voice. A smile spread across her face. “So, how are we going to do this?”
A light illuminated the darkness, the red glow of a fire dust crystal held in Gilda’s hand, and by the red light, Rainbow could see Adam and Gilda – and Fluttershy, held lightly in Gilda’s arms.
“Hey there, Dashie,” Gilda said, a grin on her face.
Rainbow folded her arms. “Nice to see you again, G.”
“Don’t give me that ‘nice to see you again, G.’ I know that you never told your friends about me!” Gilda snapped. “What, were you ashamed of me or something?”
Rainbow hesitated for a moment. Her face fell. “Yeah,” she confessed. “Yeah, I was. I didn’t… I didn’t want people to think about me as… I was ashamed of Low Town, my parents, all of it. I didn’t want people to think of me that way.”
Gilda snorted. “Stuck up, jerk.”
“Hey, the last time we met…” Rainbow paused. “The last time we met, you tried to kill me, and the time before that, you didn’t exactly want to be friends either!”
“You stormed out, not me!” Gilda replied.
“Because of what you said!”
Adam growled wordlessly.
“Right, sorry, boss,” Gilda murmured. She bit her lip. “I’m sorry about what I said. I guess I was kind of a jerk too.”
“I guess you’re making up for it now,” Rainbow replied.
Fluttershy sighed. “Can’t you just admit that you’re still friends? Isn’t it exhausting to pretend?”
“We are still on opposite sides of this war,” Adam declared. “We are still divided upon the only question that matters: are we free, or are we slaves? Rainbow Dash is still a servant of the great oppressor, someone who has taken up arms to keep our race in bondage.”
He grabbed the fire dust crystal and threw it so that it landed in the road between the two of them.
“And I will kill you for what you have done to Blake,” he vowed. “She is mine, and I will not forgive you for laying hands on her. But that will come in the morning. Tonight, take Fluttershy and keep her safe.” To Fluttershy, he added, “Go to her.”
Gilda released her, and Fluttershy ran. She ran with that ridiculous skirt – with the best will in the world, there was a reason why Rainbow hadn’t let Rarity make her an outfit; she was better off sticking to high fashion – rustling and billowing around her as she ran, her boots tapping on the road as she ran straight into Rainbow’s arms, which closed protectively around her.
Fluttershy’s whole body trembled. “Rainbow Dash,” she murmured.
Rainbow held her close, leaning down so that their cheeks were pressed against each other. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “You’re safe now.” She looked at Adam and Gilda, still illuminated by the fire dust crystal. “Thank you,” she said.
“This isn’t for you,” Adam told her.
“Thanks anyway,” Rainbow replied.
Adam grunted, and began to turn away.
Before he could, a green light appeared overhead, like a flare but longer lasting, lighting up the entire street, overpowering the modest glow of the fire dust crystal, illuminating everything with a sickly green glow.
Adam’s mouth opened and began to form a question, but before he could make so much as a sound, he was struck in the chest by a burst of green energy that flew from behind Rainbow Dash to knock him off his feet and to the ground.
“What the-?” Gilda’s swords leapt from their scabbards into her hands. “You tricked us!”
“No,” Sunset declared as she teleported in front of Rainbow and Fluttershy with an audible crack and a burst of green light. “But more fool her, and more fool you as well.”
Adam picked himself up off the ground. “Sunset Shimmer.”
“Adam Taurus,” Sunset growled, practically snarled. Her ears were pressed down into her fiery hair, her breathing was heavy, and her whole body seemed to tremble as she raised her arms up on either side of her. Spears of magic began to appear above her head. “Rainbow, I’d apologise for using you, but, well, I’m not sorry at all. Take Fluttershy and get out of here.”
“No!” Fluttershy cried. “Sunset, you can’t-!”
“Adam Taurus is an enemy of Team Sapphire!” Sunset declared. “And I mean to see if his blood is red like roses!”
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I suspect that is the difference between Adam and Cinder, despite how similar they are. Adam wants a better world... and that better world should have kindness in it. In contrast, Cinder doesn't want a better world; She doesn't want to necessarily the exploitation as much as she desires to be the one doing the exploiting.
It rather adds to the tragedy of Adam. When his face was branded it left a wound on his mind and soul and, as is often the case for injuries that aren't treated, they were allowed to become infected and fester. What we saw this chapter was the ghost of the Adam before the rot had a chance to truly sink in and turn him into the 'blade of the Faunus' or Cinder's puppet.
Nice dig at RWBY canon there, I think we all wish volume 8 went very differently at this point. Who but best main 6 to get through to Adam, as she works her magic again here. Flutters is just too precious for her own good.
Gilda, i like you, and i know i will say this a lot of times in the future.
This is very telling, it might meant than Adam doesn't give the same impression of madness as Chrysalis, although this is also obviously because Chrysalis did harmed her and her friends, so there is a difference.
Is he doing a deadpan tone ?
I like how Adam gave this semi-innocent and peaceful feeling, this is the first time i had ever seen a Adam Taurus like that.
This is really sad.
I think i like this Adam and then i was finding some strange innocence and peace because for a moment, he was less the warrior of the White Fang, instead the moment was showing the young boy with hope of peace and freedom.
I hope the revelation of the name of the one having done this will not turn the Atlas storyline into a "good system with rotten elements", because honestly i see the system as more of "a rotten one with some good persons" and if it were the opposate, it would just absolve a great deal of Atlas population and governement of the fault, which i think is bad because honestly, if it wasn't a "rotten system with few bads" it would be incoherent with the fact than Atlas is widely known for being bad with the Faunus and being problematic.
I think than Fluttershy (and by extension, although not wanted, Gilda and Applejack) is the first person to whom Adam was so honest, he really needed to talk i think, this is really sweet, and this is one of the rare times when "the power of friendship and kindness" isn't annoying me in some ways.
I think this is both a "the strong aren't inherently evil" (strong in this case a figure of speech for the Atlesians) and a critic of Atlas and it's People as saying "you must be really messed up and cruel for doing this" which fit Glynda loathing Atlas while not being a bad person or a extremist.
Well, if the pony one can befriend the incarnation of Chaos, then the human one gaining Adam mercy and potentially friendship in the future make sense.
Honestly, i hope Adam will survive and be friend with Fluttershy, not friend with Sunset and co or the Rainbooms, and i doubt he would ever not hate Atlas, just, being friend with fluttershy, because she is the only person who reminded him of a potential good in him.
If Cinder is allowed a redemption, than Adam deserve it too.
And this is why Fluttershy is awesome
And this is why so many Faunus see you as a atlesian dog.
Should i remind you than you starting being ashamed of where you came from and of her was before that ? In this context of "Gilda is mad because you were ashamed of her" it doesn't count since it was the case before.
Seeing Adam being honorable is so weird.
This is the first time i absolutely agree with Adser assessement of Sunset being a hot headed fool causing unnecessary problems.
Also, bad pun
This fight will, i think, be the first time with Sunset truly being out for blood, she will fight for kill, to hurt, and, it is the first time i am not that glad of the idea of her being bloodthirsty.
I give a 10 out of 10.
10937121
I wouldn't say that Adam wants a better world. He wants revenge, and the power to never be hurt again, it's simply that the Faunus are the ones that helped him when he was at his lowest and the source of his power. That is why Adam is so quick to turn on the Faunus that stop supporting him, since if they aren't willing to be his strength then they do not deserve to live in his world.
Cinder on the other hand actively despises having to rely on other people, since she sees it as a weakness that kept her under the Kommenos tyranny until she was willing to take matters under her own hand. She wants to rule alone because she has no-one to rule with. If Adam lost the support of the Faunus then he would act exactly the same as Cinder, willing to burn it all.
10937193
I also liked to see this side of Adam a lot, even if I don't think he will be redeemed. Not because he doesn't deserve the chance or has no-one to give it to him (Fluttershy is amazing), but simply because he isn't willing to take the offered hand. At the end of the day, you can't save people from themselves, you can just offer your support.
And about Sunset... I agree with the sentiment of "fuck being honorable, lives are at stake", but I really hope that she has more of a plan that just charging in and hoping things are different now. I still wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't have backup or even a strategy, for all her smarts Sunset still has the long term planning ability of a goldfish when her emotions get in the way.
10937252
I would expect him to accept her helping hand, simply because she seem to be the only person he felt good innocent feelings toward .
He want Blake as his thing, he see Gilda as a unruly second and only allow her to act out a bit because he would loath to act like a master with a servant or slave and i am sure than a part of him agree with her, he fear Cinder and her side and so serve as her attack hound and he want to overthrow Sienna or at least force her to follow his vision.
But Fluttershy ? He had listen to her, and her innocence, her kindness had make him being more kind with her than he is with his more trusted Faunus.
Hence why i see him having a redemption, at least surrender if she ask to.
Cinder too is in canon someone who wouldn't take the offered hand, she is far worst than him.
And Cinder using them so much might very well be the thing pushing him to accept a proposition from Fluttershy to surrender.
Adam had a far worst life than Cinder (wether in canon or in this story, although her life in SAPR was worse than in canon) and yet, he still could had change for a while when he was in the White fang, simply, with only Ghira as the one opposing his brutal actions, and doing it the wrong way (by condemning him instead of offering to talk, being grateful for Adam will to help but sad than Adam felt the need to kill) this had pushed him as the crazy asshole than he is in canon.
Fluttershy, you magnificent beautiful creature! First Discord, and now Adam Taurus! You are truly one of a kind!
10937263
The thing is, accepting her hand not only means letting Fluttershy help him (I can see that happening) it also means letting go of his current path and regretting his actions, and that is the thing I don't see happening.
The only reason Cinder accepts Sunset later is because her conviction to do the things she was doing was based on her own ego, which got blasted again and again until she was left with no desire to keep going.
Adam conviction is associated with the Faunus plight, which makes it much more sturdy. He wont stop, and he would need to stop before he can accept any helping hand.
10937436
I like to think than it could happens at the very end.
I really hope Adam will reform in some way, to me, he have the right to despise the States of Remnant, however, not let his hate guide him.
Because this Adam, i want him to survive and become better.
10937801
Well, try to keep the answer on the good part, it is confusing as Hell when the answer isn't on the good chapter.
And also, Emerald can't fool so many persons like that without draining most of her aura, and once the illusion would be touched by a attack, it would be understand than no, there is no one there, which would just anger Adam toward Emerald and as such Cinder.
The only time she did a illusion affecting many persons was due to the emotional effects of thinking Cinder is dead, and she had faint due to it.
Sunset, you idiot..... I understand why she did that, but she is still an idiot
Well... I've never cared about Adam, not here, not in the show. Maybe I am an entitled bitch, but he is too far gone from the faunus cause towards revenge. Yeah, the possibility of his redemption is there, but I can't say I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, sounds hypocritical from someone who was all aboard Cinder's redemption, but hey, I am still just a person with favorites)
Took me a second to figure out the reference, but I can totally see Rarity dressing Fluttershy up like Jane Porter
-Facepalms- Dammit Sunset! You better not cause Fluttershy to get caught in the crossfire, or Rainbow will chase you to the end of Remnant.
Sunset you were training your semblance with Pyrrha, how did you get there!?
It's nice to see that he's got at least a splinter of honor and mercy.
You know, this chapter really is a microcosm of just about every theme of Book 1 of SAPR.
Within the good that is Sunset Shimmer, there is a blackness; hubris, greed, pride.
Even within the pitch-black kind of Cinder or Adam, they cannot help themselves from showing specks of positive potential, be it mercy or respect.
All their little points, from Adam’s surprise benevolence to Sunset’s abuse of it, highlight exactly the kind of writing I wish RWBY proper would bother to.
I really do love that Shy’s kindness was able to reach Adam. I doubt she would have been able to completely reform him even without Sunset using Rainbow as a way to kill him. It shows Shy’s kindness can reach even the worst people and maybe in a different timeline Shy met Adam before he started his crusade she could have turn him to a different path.
Sunset being here shows she is a hypocrite. Not liking Dash wanting to kill Cinder and wanting to save her, but taking advantage of the little bit of goodwill Adam has just to get another chance at killing him. I do wonder what would happen if Cinder almost/did kill Ruby or Pyrrha during her escape. Would Sunset still want to save her or would she still go on a warpath against her? What would Cinder’s reaction to Sunset trying to kill her. I guess she’d be fine with fighting against someone who she finds worthy to fight.