• Published 31st Aug 2018
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SAPR - Scipio Smith



Sunset, Jaune, Pyrrha and Ruby are Team SAPR, and together they fight to defeat the malice of Salem, uncover the truth about Ruby's past and fill the emptiness within their souls.

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Conversation with the Principal (New)

Conversation with the Principal

Rainbow Dash had never been in the staffroom at Canterlot Combat School before. This was not the circumstance under which she’d envisaged that she would get to see inside of the staffroom.

It was not as nice as she would have expected.

It wasn’t bad, by any means; it was a comfortable kind of room, with a cool blue wallpaper on the walls and soft chairs in a variety of colours — Principal Celestia was sitting on a green one and Vice Principal Luna a blue one, while Rainbow, Blake, and Penny were all together on a beige settee, with Penny in the middle — and the light green carpet didn’t look too worn down. On the other hand, it was not exactly the retreat of luxury that Rainbow might have been expecting. Where was the snooker table? And why was the coffee machine kind of … average?

“Because this is a school, Rainbow Dash,” Vice Principal Luna reminded her. “Any budget should be spent on the students first, staff second.”

Rainbow winced. “Was it that obvious, ma’am?”

“A little,” Vice Principal Luna said, although she smiled as she said it to show that she bore no malice. She and Principal Celestia were both wearing trouser suits, neither of them armoured for the hunt, with Principal Celestia wearing a gold jacket over her white and purple blouse and purple pants, while Vice Principal Luna wore a blue jacket over a lavender blouse and dark blue trousers.

Rainbow drank some of the average quality mocha from out of the machine, the little polythene cup compressing between her fingers just a tiny bit. “So … you know about the portal. You’ve always known, haven’t you?”

“We would be poor guardians of it if we did not,” Vice Principal Luna declared.

“Obviously, as Principal and Vice Principal, our foremost responsibility is the education of the students,” Principal Celestia said, “but one of our secondary duties, along with the defence of Canterlot, is to monitor the portal through to Equestria and ensure that nobody goes through it.”

“You failed,” Penny pointed out.

“Penny!” Rainbow hissed.

Principal Celestia smiled. “It’s quite alright, Rainbow Dash. Miss … Polendina, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Penny said. “Penny Polendina, at your service.”

Principal Celestia nodded. “Miss Polendina is correct. We were remiss in our duties.”

“Although in our defence, the portal is not supposed to be active at the moment,” Vice Principal Luna added. “The portal only activates for three days every thirty moons, and it is ten moons still until it is next due to open.”

Rainbow glanced at Blake and Penny. She opened her mouth, but then stopped herself, and then said, “How much do you know about what lies on the other side of that portal?”

“Not as much as you who have just been there, I’m sure,” Vice Principal Luna murmured.

“We know that it leads to a place called Equestria,” Principal Celestia said, “inhabited by creatures who resemble ponies, although they are a sentient race capable of speech and intelligent thought.”

“They don’t really,” Blake said. “Resemble ponies, I mean. From what I could tell, the equine similarities are very vague.”

“Really?” Vice Principal Luna asked. “You see? That was not something we knew.”

“But they do call themselves ponies,” Rainbow said. “And they, the ponies, managed to work out a way to activate the portal outside of that thirty moon period.”

“They did? Fascinating,” Principal Celestia said, leaning forward a little. “They did this with some of their magic, I suppose?”

“You know about that too?” Rainbow asked.

“One can hardly be set to guard a magic portal without being told that it is magic,” Principal Celestia pointed out. “Although I don’t understand why the ponies of Equestria would want the ability to activate the portal at will.”

“Basically … so that we could visit,” Blake said.

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna glanced at one another.

“A great honour was done to you, then,” Vice Principal Luna declared.

“We’re very aware,” Blake said.

“Although it begs the question,” Vice Principal Luna went on, “of how you three knew about the portal.”

Rainbow felt her mouth go dry. Just because they knew about the portal didn’t mean that they knew about Sunset, and she wasn’t about to drop Sunset in it by identifying her to people who didn’t know and who might do … she didn’t know what they would do if they found out that Sunset was from Equestria; that was why she didn’t want to say anything.

“Was it Sunset Shimmer who told you?” Principal Celestia asked.

Rainbow let out a gasp.

“No,” Penny said, before hiccupping. She clasped her hands to her mouth.

Principal Celestia chuckled. “We would be very poor guardians indeed if we did not know that someone had come through the portal from Equestria into our world, no?”

“You knew that too?” Rainbow cried. “All this time? All the time she was here?”

“How do you think she was able to attend Combat School?” Principal Celestia asked. “As a visitor from Equestria, she had no papers, no identification, nothing.”

“I…” Rainbow trailed off. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it.”

“We arranged for them,” Principal Celestia said. “Discreetly, of course.”

“You arranged for them,” Vice Principal Luna said. “Don’t share the credit, Celestia … or the blame.”

“'Blame'?” Principal Celestia repeated. “And what blame would that be, sister? From what I understand, Sunset Shimmer has done rather well for herself at Beacon, just as I thought she would.”

“My sister has a soft spot for hopeless cases,” Vice Principal Luna said.

“Sunset’s not so hopeless anymore,” Blake pointed out. “Her team is favourite to win the Vytal Festival.”

“Hang on, hang on; I can’t let that stand,” Rainbow said. “Penny is going to win the Vytal Festival this year.”

Penny shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I’ll try my best, but I’m just not on the same level as Pyrrha.”

“Which proves my point,” Vice Principal Luna said. “The possible victory of Sunset Shimmer’s team, much though it may be expected, is due to her teammate, not to her.”

“But even so,” Blake began. Her eyes narrowed. “Do you have money riding on this or something?”

“No, just bragging rights,” Principal Celestia said. “An admission that she’s wrong is harder to pry out of Luna than any amount of lien.”

Vice Principal Luna huffed. “I will admit that I’m wrong when I see some evidence of it,” she said. “But leave that for now; the fact remains that we have always known that Sunset Shimmer came from Equestria originally.”

“And yet you allowed her to attend combat school?” Blake said. “Why?”

“Why not, if she wished to do so?” Principal Celestia replied. “And besides, where better to keep an eye on a stranger from another world than at our school?”

“One thing I don’t understand,” Penny said, “is why the portal is being kept a secret.”

“Many things are kept secret,” Vice Principal Luna said. “For many different reasons.”

“But why this secret?” Penny demanded. “For what reason?”

“Was it for the protection of Equestria?” Blake suggested.

Penny looked at her. “What do you mean, Blake?”

“You saw what it was like, Penny,” Blake said. “You saw how peaceful Equestria was, how peaceful all the ponies living there were. You heard what Twilight said, about peace and tranquillity twenty-two twenty-sixths of the time.”

“Very specific,” Vice Principal Luna murmured.

“I know,” Blake said in reply, before returning her attention to Penny. “The point is that Equestria is a peaceful land, much less prepared for conflict than we are here in Remnant; that was clear enough just from one day spent there. If grimm were to get through the portal, then the bloodshed could be terrible before they were brought down, and while that is unlikely … we are not always a peaceful people. The history of my race and our subjugation proves that, and so does the colonisation of Vacuo. Imagine if the people of the past, less enlightened in their attitudes, less tolerant of difference, had known about Equestria. Is there any doubt they would have invaded for their magic, for their natural resources?”

“You really think so?” Penny asked.

“I don’t see how it can be doubted,” Blake replied, a touch of sadness in her voice.

“But people aren’t like that anymore, are they?” said Penny.

“That’s right,” Rainbow said. “We’ve … evolved since then, but … the thing about secrets, Penny, is that after a certain point, it’s hard to stop keeping them, even if the reason you started keeping the secret doesn’t apply anymore. Not least because, after that certain point, it becomes less about the original secret and more about admitting that you’ve been lying for all this time.”

“And, while Miss Belladonna raises a good point, that is not the only reason for secrecy,” Vice Principal Luna added.

Blake’s eyebrows rose. “There’s more?”

“Relations between Remnant and Equestria have never been normalised,” Vice Principal Luna said. “And so, contact between our worlds has consisted of individual travellers — small groups, at best — crossing from one world to the other. It is a sad fact that most of those who have crossed from Equestria to Remnant have been … unsavoury, at best.”

Penny frowned. “You mean like Sunset was when Rainbow Dash knew her?”

“We mean evil, Miss Polendina,” Principal Celestia said.

Penny blinked. “'Evil'? But there is no evil in Equestria!”

“Twenty-two twenty-sixths of the time,” Blake murmured.

“It is hard to piece together, and something that perhaps Miss Shimmer could shed more light on,” Vice Principal Luna said, “but as far as can be determined, it seems that Equestria would send their monsters and their villains here to Remnant, as an alternative to dealing with them themselves.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Penny said. “They didn’t seem like the sort of people who would do things like that.”

“Remember what Princess Celestia said,” Blake reminded her. “The Equestria that we saw was the work of many hooves over many generations; it’s possible that this was the practice of an older, less savoury, less advanced Equestria.”

“It does appear to have tailed off over time,” Principal Celestia said. “Miss Shimmer was the first to come from Equestria in quite some time, and she … look how far she has come.” She smiled. “All of which is a very long way of saying that I hope that we can count on your discretion with regards to the portal and what lies on the other side of it.”

“It’s Sunset’s secret to tell, not ours,” Blake declared. “If she wants to reveal it, she can, but we won’t do so on her behalf.”

“Very good,” Principal Celestia said. “That, I think, is the most that we can ask of you. Are you planning to fly back to Atlas tonight? It’s getting late.”

Rainbow drained the remainder of her mocha. “I’ll be fine, ma’am,” she assured them both. “There’s nothing like a trip to another world to invigorate you and leave you pumped up.”

Principal Celestia laughed. “Be careful then, and fly safely.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Rainbow said, as she got to her feet.

“One more question, if I may, ma’am,” Blake said, as she remained seated. “You said that you had been set to guard this portal? Set by whom?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified, Miss Belladonna,” Principal Celestia declared. “I’m sorry.”


The staffroom door swung shut as the last of the three young huntresses took their leave.

Celestia and Luna sat quietly, waiting for the three to make their way a little way beyond the door, down the corridor leading to the exit.

“We were fortunate,” Celestia said.

“'Fortunate'?” Luna asked. “The Equestrians can now open the confounded portal whenever they wish, making our task harder, and you call that fortunate?”

“No, I call it fortunate that they opened the portal for Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said. “We can count upon her discretion, and although I don’t know Miss Belladonna or Miss Polendina … I have a good feeling about them both.”

“You are not alone in that,” Luna replied. “Ozpin and James both trust them, so we should be able to trust them also.”

“One of these days, you’ll have to tell me how you know that,” Celestia said, glancing at her younger sister out of the corners of her cerise eyes.

Luna smirked. “The Lady moves in mysterious ways,” she said.

“Speaking of which,” Celestia said, “you didn’t mention—”

“No,” Luna said. “I didn’t.”

“I know you didn’t,” Celestia pointed out. “I was just curious if there was a reason why.”

“It wasn’t relevant,” Luna said. “Was it? And they clearly haven’t been informed of everything by James. If he doesn’t wish them to know about that, then who am I to reveal that information?”

“And yet you gave Rainbow Dash that book,” Celestia murmured.

“'Book'?” Luna asked. “What book is that, sister? I’ve no idea what you are referring to.”

In Search of the Lady of the North?” Celestia prompted. “I know that it’s missing from our library, and although I don’t have your sources of knowledge, I think that you gave it to Rainbow Dash when she was last here. Although I’m not entirely sure why.”

“I thought she might get something out of it,” Luna said mildly. “And her teammate Miss Soleil certainly would. She, for one, deserves to know, and so does Rainbow Dash.”

“What happened to it not being your place to reveal that information?”

“I have revealed nothing,” Luna declared. “If Rainbow Dash chooses to read a certain book and draw certain conclusions, then what fault is that of mine?”

Celestia shook her head. “You have grown tricky, and a little rebellious.”

“I went to Beacon to become a huntress,” Luna declared. “I wished to become an adventurer, to travel the world protecting the innocent, punishing the guilty, righting wrongs and bringing hope. Instead—”

“You are a guardian,” Celestia said. “You protect the world by protecting your secrets … and your powers.”

“I did not seek to become a guardian,” Luna insisted. “I wish these powers had never come to me, to chain me here and bind me to this place. Quite frankly, Celestia, I feel I am owed a little rebellion from time to time.”


The city of Atlas rose high above the earth, and Atlas Academy rose high above the rest of Atlas. Higher than the houses of the great, higher than Schnee Manor, higher than any other building in the whole of Remnant rose the great tower of glass and steel. Atop it, out on the roof, one could see the whole of Atlas spread out beneath you — at least Blake assumed that you could in the daytime, when the sun would illuminate everything it touched. Now, at night, she could only see the lights down below, and they seemed dim and distant and illuminated very little; it was as if she was looking out not at a city but at a field of stars in the darkness, or perhaps a mirror to the night sky above them.

Here on the roof, it was cold; the warmth of the heating grid struggled to reach so high up, and so, Blake shivered a little.

It was enough to make her wonder what Rainbow Dash was doing up here.

Yet, here she stood, standing on the very edge of the roof, with only a shining metal rail and a thin sheet of plexiglass between her and a very long drop, standing with her arms folded, looking out across the city at night.

“You look as if you’re posing for a photoshoot,” Blake observed as she shut the door leading inside — the door she’d just come out of — behind her.

Rainbow glanced over her shoulder at Blake, her face looking almost as if it might crack up for a moment, but it did not. “I’m just … thinking,” she said.

“What about?” Blake asked.

Rainbow didn’t answer, but said, “What are you doing up here?”

“Looking for you,” Blake replied. “I’m surprised you’re not trying to get at least a little sleep.”

“I’m still a little wired,” Rainbow said. “Either it’s what happened today or the caffeine or both. I don’t think I can sleep just yet.”

“You could go down to your room and hang out with Penny,” Blake suggested. “Since she doesn’t sleep either.”

“If you think that I should go to bed, why haven’t you headed back to Fluttershy’s place and gone to bed yourself?” Rainbow asked.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Blake said, walking lightly across the rooftop to where Rainbow stood. She did not join her at the very edge, but rather, stayed a few steps behind, her view obscured but her risk of falling along with it. She half turned away from Rainbow, presenting her side to Rainbow’s back. “I … I wanted to talk about today.”

Rainbow was silent for a moment. “It was quite a place, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Blake agreed. “I’m … pretty jealous.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow repeated. “Me too.”

Blake looked at her. “Really?”

Again, Rainbow looked back at Blake. “Yeah!” she declared, as though it should have been obvious that she would feel that way. “A world with no grimm, no Salem, no ever-present threat to guard against; who wouldn’t want that? If I…” She trailed off as she looked away from Blake, turning her gaze once more outwards across the illuminated darkness.

“If I had one wish,” she said, “if the skies opened and the voice of that God of Light Professor Ozpin talked about came down and said ‘you can have one wish, any wish you like,’ then I’d wish for a world where Scootaloo and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and kids like them could just be kids, you know? Where Scootaloo wouldn’t need a scooter that turns into a gun, or Apple Bloom wouldn’t have to worry if her sister isn’t going to come home one day, where nobody would have to be scared of the grimm. Where people can just live. A world like they have.”

“Is that why you were acting weird today?”

Rainbow turned around. “You thought I was acting weird?”

“A little bit,” Blake said. “Sometimes.”

Rainbow snorted. “I was … I was prepared for Sunset to have exaggerated,” she said. “But when we got into that throne room, and we saw — you saw — those stained glass windows of Princess Twilight, I thought ‘here we go, this place is no different from us after all.’ And then … when Princess Twilight explained it, when she talked about that night on the hillside watching the shooting stars.” Rainbow glanced away. “She’s right, you know. That stuff … it means more than all the rest of it.”

“I’m sure it does,” Blake murmured. “I mean, by the time I graduate, what am I more likely to remember, some grade I got, some mission I went on … or sharing a meal in the Team Sapphire dorm room?”

“Exactly,” Rainbow said, and for a moment a smile illuminated her face. “And we’ll make plenty more memories just like that up here in Atlas next year, better ones!”

Blake smiled. “Sure we will.”

Rainbow nodded, but the smile faded from her face. She blinked, and Blake almost thought that there were tears gathering in her eyes. “I … I’m eighteen years old,” Rainbow said. “And I’ve already buried one … one comrade, and I’ve seen another lose his leg. This life … I really, really envy them that they don’t have to go through that.”

Blake glanced down at the blue tiles of the roof. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “Maybe you could have asked about them.”

“What do you mean?”

“You could have asked Princess Twilight; maybe she could have found out about the other them, the other versions of your friends.”

Rainbow shook her head. “I’m glad that finding out about the other you, and the other Adam, brought you some … I’m glad that it made you happy,” she said. “But I … I can’t think what good it would do me. He’s still dead, the one I knew, and it wouldn’t make me feel any better to know that in some other world, there’s another version of him that’s doing good, living his best life. It would just make me feel … I wish we could have what they have.” She paused for a moment. “There is one question I regret not asking.”

Blake took a step closer to her. “What’s that?”

“If they know of any way to kill an immortal,” Rainbow said softly. “I mean, they have people there who can’t die — Princess Celestia is one of them, apparently — so maybe they know of something that can be done, some weapon or magic that Sunset could—”

“I think if there were such a thing, then Sunset would know it, and if she didn’t know it but thought that her teacher might, then she would ask them,” Blake pointed out.

Rainbow scowled. “You’re probably right.”

“So why didn’t you ask, if you wanted to?”

“I didn’t want to bring down the mood,” Rainbow replied. “It didn’t seem … in that world that was so peaceful, it didn’t seem right to talk about death. It would have felt wrong, disrespectful.”

“I understand what you mean,” Blake murmured. “It wouldn’t have felt right, to have brought talk of war to Equestria. It would have felt like bringing war itself.” She walked to the rails and rested her arms upon them. “Although,” she went on, “while I understand your point, I’d settle for having their racial harmony.”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, a nice and easy goal for you.”

Blake chuckled. “Many hooves and many years, but it got done.” She looked at Rainbow Dash. “It got done. And who knows, maybe there is a way? Maybe we don’t have to kill Salem; maybe we can lock her in an inescapable cage or … I don’t know, something. Or maybe the sky will open, and the God of Light will come down to give you that one wish.”

Rainbow grinned. “Many years,” she murmured. “And many hooves.”

“But worth it,” Blake said, holding out one balled up fist.

Rainbow bumped it with her knuckles. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Totally worth it.”

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