Practical Test (New)
Practical Test
“So,” Yang said, as Team YRDN took their accustomed seats opposite Team SAPR, “are you guys looking forward to our first real grimm hunt?”
“Speak for yourself,” Nora said. “Me and Ren have been hunting grimm for years.”
“And I’ve fought grimm before too,” Yang replied, seeming a little irked at having her experience questioned.
“Technically speaking, we’ve all fought grimm before,” Sunset reminded them. “In the Initiation.”
“Well, yeah, obviously, that’s why I said ‘official,’” Yang said, with an exasperated roll of her eyes. “We’re Beacon students now, about to go out on a field mission. Are you really not in the least bit excited about all this?”
“I’m excited,” Ruby piped up. “Team Sapphire on their first real mission!”
“Forever Fall doesn’t count as a mission?” Jaune asked.
“Forever Fall was only about collecting sap from some trees,” Ruby replied. “We weren’t necessarily supposed to fight any grimm.”
Sunset tucked her hands behind the back of her head. “Of course, Yang and I have already been on a mission to fight the grimm.”
“Not with our teams,” Yang reminded her. “Come on, are you not excited?”
“I am more concerned with passing the test,” Sunset said. “Especially since Professor Port has been pretty cagey about what this test is going to involve.”
“I think he’s said a fair bit,” Yang said. “I mean he told us we were going to get dropped into the Emerald Forest to take care of a whole bunch of grimm.”
“Sure, but how is he going to measure our progress?” Sunset asked. “Does everyone pass if they survive? Do we get points for killing grimm, and if so, do we get different points depending on what kind of grimm we kill? How are we supposed to tailor our strategy if we don’t know what the optimal outcome is?”
“Maybe that’s why Professor Port has kept his mouth shut about it,” Ruby suggested. “So that instead of trying to come up with the best strategy to pass the test, we just focus on killing the grimm.”
Yang smirked. “That’s a nice idea, but you might be giving Professor Port a little too much credit.”
“Or you don’t give him enough,” Sunset countered.
Yang rolled her eyes. “You might think that you get something out of his lessons, but I’m sorry, if he wants me to think that he’s a good teacher, he needs to teach in a way that we can all get something out of his lessons.”
“Anyway,” Nora said, “in answer to your first question, I am looking forward to this! It feels like too long since we had a chance to cut loose!”
“I’m just glad for the opportunity,” Pyrrha said softly. “I must confess, it sometimes feels as though the practical elements of the curriculum focus far too heavily on fighting other people.”
“At which you’re top of the class,” Sunset pointed out.
“It does seem just a little strange to complain about a task at which you excel,” Ren pointed out.
“I’m not complaining,” Pyrrha said quickly, “or at least, if it sounds as though I’m complaining, I apologise; it’s just that… this may sound selfish, and perhaps it’s just the fact that I already have a great deal of experience in single combat, but it is experience fighting the creatures of grimm that I lack, and I would prefer if the balance of practical study tilted a little more towards them.”
“Put like that… I’m inclined to agree,” Ren said. “Nora and I have more experience fighting grimm than other humans, but, for all that a trained huntsman may sometimes be the only people who can stand against a rogue huntsman, nevertheless I came here to learn to defend humanity against the grimm.”
“That’s why we all came here,” Yang said. “To learn how to fight monsters. It was even the intro to Professor Port’s class, but… yeah, I guess we really haven’t done that much of that so far, have we?”
“Speaking for myself,” Pyrrha said, “I’m grateful for this opportunity to correct my deficiency.”
“So you are excited,” Yang pressed.
“I’m eager to learn,” Pyrrha replied. “I’m well aware that, for all my prowess in the sparring ring, when it comes to fighting grimm, I’m considerably behind Ruby.”
“Didn’t you tell me that most of the techniques for fighting people would work against grimm, too?” Jaune reminded her.
“Yeah,” Ruby said. “You’re going to do great, Pyrrha.”
Pyrrha smiled at her. “I’m sure that we’ll all do as well as necessary,” she said, looking away from Ruby to glance at Jaune. “All of us.”
Jaune took a deep breath. He was looking a little nervous, sitting at the end of the table, picking at his breakfast. “Yeah,” he agreed, without much conviction or enthusiasm. “All of us.”
“Ruby! Pyrrha!”
The heads of all four sapphires turned in the direction of the shout from… Penny?
Penny was standing at the cold counter, waving excitedly. Rainbow Dash was just a step behind, along with a girl that Sunset didn’t recognise and… Twilight Sparkle.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. What is she doing here? Shouldn’t she be in a science lab somewhere?
Team RSPT made their way over to the table currently occupied by SAPR and YRDN. They were all dressed in Atlesian whites: white shirts with grey waistcoats, white belts and grey ties. They all wore grey pleated skirts that stopped just above their knees, grey stockings and high black boots. Rainbow Dash was distinguished by a red aiguillette wound about her right shoulder.
“Penny!” Ruby cried. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re going to be staying at Beacon!” Penny announced cheerfully as she practically ran towards the table.
“Penny,” the girl whom Sunset didn’t know, dark skinned and muscular, stopped her with a single word in a warning tone.
Penny halted and cleared her throat. “May I please sit with you?”
Yang shrugged, a grin that was both amused and bemused upon her face. “Be our guest.”
“Wonderful!” Penny cried. “Thank you so much!”
“Here,” Sunset said, shifting one place to the right. “Penny, you can sit there.” She thought that Penny would want to talk to Ruby more than to her, and she had no desire to be talked past for the rest of the meal.
“Thank you, Sunset,” Penny replied and sat down next to Ruby. “Good morning, Ruby. Good morning, Pyrrha. Good morning, everyone.”
Pyrrha chuckled good-naturedly. “Good morning to you too, Penny.”
“Penny,” Ruby said, “why didn’t you tell us that you were going to be staying at Beacon?”
“Why spoil the surprise?” Rainbow asked, with the biggest smirk on her face as she said, “What’s up, Sunset?”
“Oh, nothing,” Sunset said, through gritted teeth. “Nothing at all.”
Twilight looked away. “Um, hello again, Sunset.”
Sunset, too, looked away. “Twilight.”
“So,” Yang began awkwardly, “you must be the people that Ruby ran into yesterday.”
“Yep,” Rainbow said, pausing on her way to a seat to ruffle Ruby’s hair. She sat down next to Sunset, sandwiching her in between Rainbow and Penny. “Rainbow Dash, leader of Team Rosepetal.”
“Ciel Soleil,” the dark skinned young woman declared, curtsying while still holding a breakfast tray with perfect poise. She was wearing white gloves over her hands, uniquely amongst her team. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” Ciel sat down opposite Sunset.
“And I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight added, as she sat down next to Ciel.
“Ciel, Twilight,” Penny said. “These are my new friends: Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, and-”
“Twilight and I have met already,” Sunset said.
“Let it go,” Rainbow muttered, in a voice that verged upon a growl.
Sunset glanced at her. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Yes, you do,” Rainbow said. “Which is why I’m telling you to let it go. I’m not going to stand for it.”
Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “You’re not going to stand for it?”
“That’s right,” Rainbow said. “You got a problem with that?”
Sunset stared at Rainbow. Rainbow stared right back at Sunset.
Sunset blinked first. “No,” she muttered. She couldn’t forgive Twilight for trying to steal her boyfriend – not when she could have pretty much had her pick from the whole school – but she didn’t want to ask angering Rainbow Dash, not when she was in a position to do Sunset some real damage.
“So, anyway,” Yang said. “I’m Yang; this is Nora, Ren, and Dove.”
“Hey there!” Nora cried.
“Welcome,” Ren said.
“It’s a pleasure,” Dove declared.
“So, Atlas students, huh?” Yang said. “What brings you four to Beacon?”
“We’re here to fight in the tournament,” Penny said.
“But the tournament isn’t held until the end of the year,” Ren pointed out, “and the students from the other schools don’t usually arrive until the second semester.”
“We’re taking in the lay of the land,” Rainbow said. She grinned. “We want to give ourselves the best chance of beating you losers come the tournament.”
Yang gasped theatrically. “Oh, it is on,” she declared. “I like you already, Rainbow Dash. I’m looking forward to seeing that bravado drain right out of you when we face each other in the sparring ring.”
“I hear it’s not the sparring ring you guys have to worry about today,” Rainbow said.
“Indeed,” Pyrrha said. “We were just discussing our Grimm Studies practical test before you arrived. We don’t know much about it, other than that it will involve being inserted into the Emerald Forest to fight off the remains of a grimm horde.”
“A grimm horde?” Rainbow repeated.
“That’s right,” Sunset said. “Me and a few of my fellow team leaders – but mostly me, obviously – stopped a level one horde heading straight to Vale. We killed the apex alpha beowolf, and the grimm have dispersed in the forest.”
Yang grinned. “What my modest fellow team leader hasn’t mentioned is that, first of all, the killing blow was a joint effort, and second of all, even if we hadn’t stopped the horde, the destroyer in the skies waiting for it would have.”
“If you really believe that, then why did you hunt it?” Ciel asked.
Yang frowned. “Because that was our mission,” she said. “Do as much damage to the horde as possible before it hit the defences.”
“It would have been wiser to have waited at the defences and taken advantage of the fire support,” Ciel said.
Yang snorted. “That might be how you do things in Atlas, but here in Vale, we don’t need a navy holding our hands in the field to get things done.”
“Oh it is so on,” Rainbow declared.
Twilight sighed. “And it’s only our first morning here.”
“I wish that we could join you for your exercise,” Penny said, “but as we’ve only just arrived-”
“We’d love to join you, but if we did, there’d be no grimm left for the rest of you,” Rainbow said.
“You just can’t stop, can you?” Twilight said.
“Please ignore our team leader’s ego,” Ciel said. “We are looking forward to attending classes with you starting Monday.”
“Ruby, Pyrrha,” Penny said, “could we go back into Vale tomorrow and pick up some school supplies?”
“That would be helpful,” Ciel said. “There is a great deal we require.”
“I don’t see a problem,” Pyrrha said.
“Sunset, that’s okay, isn’t it?” Ruby asked.
“Sure,” Sunset said. “Why not?”
“Wonderful!” Penny cried.
“So, Jaune,” Twilight said. “Are you by any chance related to Aoko Arc?”
Jaune looked up, his eyes wide. “You know my sister?”
“Well… know her might be a bit much, but we’ve corresponded,” Twilight explained. “Your sister has some fascinating ideas, things that even I hadn’t thought of.” She frowned. “It’s funny, she never mentioned that you were a huntsman in training.”
“Aoko… talks about me?” Jaune asked, sounding very surprised now.
“Yeah,” Twilight said, “sometimes. Do you want me to let her know where you are?”
“No,” Jaune said, a little louder than necessary. “That’s, um, I mean… actually, if you could let her know that I’m okay, that would be great, thank you.”
Twilight smiled at him. “No problem.”
Sunset looked at Twilight. “You know, Twilight, I would not have expected to see you as part of a huntsman team.”
Twilight laughed nervously. “Well, you know, change can be a good thing.”
“And she must have gone to combat school if you knew each other, right?” Ruby said. “You were at Canterlot, like Lyra and Bon Bon?”
“Well, sort- oh, hey, Weiss!” Twilight cried, half rising from her seat as Team WWSR walked into the dining hall. Weiss glanced at her, but then focussed upon collecting her breakfast; rather, it was Flash who kept his eyes on Twilight as he, too, got his breakfast, and then the team made their way down the avenue between the two rows of tables.
Weiss stopped. “Twilight Sparkle, yes? We met at the Elevation Day Gala?”
Of course you did, Sunset thought grumpily.
“That’s right,” Twilight said. “You sang the national anthem very beautifully.”
Weiss laughed bashfully. “Yes, well, it was Elevation Day, after all. But what are you doing here? And in an Atlas Academy uniform?”
Ciel got to her feet. “Our team is studying at Beacon this year with the aim of competing in the Vytal Festival. Ciel Soleil, Miss Schnee, at your service.”
Weiss turned around to look at Ciel. “Ah, you must be the team leader.”
“Actually,” Rainbow said, getting to her feet in turn, “that would be me. Rainbow Dash, leader of Team Rosepetal. And this is the fourth member of our team, Penny Polendina.”
Penny waved. “Hello, Weiss.”
“Penny,” Ciel said. “This is Weiss Schnee.”
“Oh!” Penny gasped. “I’m sorry, Weiss- I mean, Miss Schnee.”
Weiss didn’t appear to notice Penny. She was too focussed on Rainbow Dash. A faint flush of pink rose to her cheeks. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“That’s quite alright, Miss Schnee,” Rainbow said, with a smile on her face. “Just a misunderstanding. And on behalf of my team, I’d just like to say that if there’s anything that I or my team can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Finally, a faunus who knows her place,” Cardin muttered, which made a muscle in Rainbow’s face twitch, but she said nothing.
Weiss did not reply for a moment. “That’s… very kind of you,” Weiss said. “May we sit here?”
“Be our guest,” Rainbow said, before she sat down.
Who are you, and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?
As the other members of Team WWSR sat down, Flash remained standing, facing Twilight. He held onto his breakfast tray with one hand as he chuckled and scratched awkwardly. “Twilight,” he said. “Long time no see, huh?”
If he makes a move on her, I’m going to scratch someone’s eyeballs out, Sunset thought.
“Hello again, Flash,” Twilight murmured.
“Listen, Twilight,” Flash said, “I don’t know how you ended up here, but I’m sorry.”
Sunset raised her head in surprise. Twilight looked pretty surprised herself.
“Sorry?” she said.
“For… hitting on you, back in Canterlot,” Flash said. “I should have taken the hint that you weren’t interested the first time. I’ve… seen from the outside how it looks, and it’s not cool.”
Jaune made a kind of groaning, mewling noise and turned away. Pyrrha gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“Is there any chance,” Flash went on, “that we could start over?”
“Of course,” Twilight said, with a smile that was relieved, but not half as relieved as Sunset felt. “I’d be glad to.”
“Great,” Flash said. “That’s a load off. Thanks, Twi.”
“Happy to help,” Twilight said. “Good luck out there in the forest today.”
“For the past four weeks, we have been in continual practice,” Weiss declared. “We have no need of luck. But your good wishes are appreciated nonetheless.”
Team BLBL were the last to arrive, ambling into the breakfast hall and seeming surprised to find the first year table so full... and Team WWSR sitting there. Bon Bon and Lyra were especially surprised to see Rainbow Dash and Twilight.
“What’s the Ace of Canterlot doing here?” Bon Bon asked. “And why are you sitting at the table with babies like us?”
“I’m… taking first year again,” Rainbow admitted.
“'Again'?” Yang asked. “You’re eighteen?”
Sky snorted. “What kind of an ace has to re-sit a year?”
“The kind whose team got caught in an ambush and only survived because of her,” Lyra said acidly. “How’s Applejack?”
“Oh, you know Applejack; she’ll be fine,” Rainbow said. “She’s taking a break for this year: work at the farm, figure stuff out, spend time with her family, all that good old Applejack stuff. Maud’s doing the same.”
“That’s great to hear,” Lyra said. “I’m surprised you didn’t want to take some time yourself.”
“Pfft, no,” Rainbow said. “What would I be doing if I wasn’t kicking ass and saving the day?”
While they had been talking, Blake had been staring at Rainbow in amazement. It was weird, the way that she didn’t seem able to tear her golden eyes away from Rainbow. It was almost as if…
Oh. Oh, right.
This could get awkward.Or it could get fun.
Rainbow noticed Blake staring. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“This is our team leader, Blake Belladonna,” Lyra said.
“You’re… a faunus,” Blake murmured.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said, some sharpness entering her voice.
“And… you’re wearing an Atlas uniform?”
Twilight cringed. Ciel frowned a little.
“Uh-huh,” Rainbow said. “Is that a problem?”
Blake seemed to abruptly realise what Rainbow was thinking. “Oh, no!” she said. “I would never… I was just surprised to see a faunus wearing the uniform of the kingdom whose military oppresses the faunus across Remnant.”
The temperature around the table seemed to drop by several degrees. Twilight let out a squeak of dismay. Ciel’s frown deepened. Flash winced. Lyra and Bon Bon seemed both to be holding their breath. Everyone else just stared at Blake like she’d grown a second head and it had declared its intention to destroy Beacon Academy.
Rainbow smiled. “You know what I was really hoping for when I woke up today? You know what I really thought would put the cherry on everything? Some clueless human calling me a sell-out. So thanks a lot; you’ve made my day.”
Blake did not reply. She looked torn between outrage and apology, but in the end, she expressed neither. Although her head did bow a little as she walked away.
“That… was a little harsh,” Lyra said, in a tone of gentle admonishment.
“And what she said was insulting,” Rainbow snapped. “To me and to Atlas.”
But what Weiss said wasn’t? Sunset thought.
“Blake,” Yang said. “None of us really know her that well, but she’s not a bad person. In fact, she’s really brave out in the field. I’m sure that she didn’t mean to upset you.”
Rainbow snorted but didn’t reply.
The rest of the breakfast passed in relative quiet until it was time to head to the lockers and get geared up for their practical test.
“Good luck, Ruby!” Penny called. “Good luck, Pyrrha!”
Sunset coughed loudly into her hand.
Rainbow grinned. “The great Sunset Shimmer needs luck now?”
“Good luck, everyone,” Penny corrected herself.
“If fortune is with us, then our valour will prevail,” Pyrrha murmured.
The Beacon students left as a group and departed en masse towards the locker room, leaving the Atlas students behind, suddenly very bereft and all alone, watching.
Twilight watched them go: Penny’s new friends, and her and Rainbow’s old friends from Canterlot. And Sunset.
They’ll be okay. It’s not like Beacon would assign them a hopeless battle as a test.
“I’m glad nobody but Sunset found it surprising that you’re a huntress student,” Rainbow said. “Or passing for one. I guess that you could find Lyra being here just as surprising.”
“She wants to help,” Twilight said softly.
“Doesn’t mean she’s good at it,” Rainbow replied.
“Not everyone can be you,” Twilight reminded her, pushing her glasses a little further up her nose.
“Of course not,” Rainbow said easily. “There’s only one of me.” She grinned, but only for a moment. “How does it feel to not have to worry about Flash?”
Twilight chuckled nervously. “It feels… it’s a relief, I have to admit.”
“What are you talking about?” Penny asked.
“Oh, nothing really,” Twilight said quickly. “It’s just that Flash was in the year below us at Canterlot, and, well, he found me… attractive.”
“Well, you are attractive, Twilight,” Penny said. “I think you’re pretty.”
Twilight blinked. “Um, that’s, uh, that’s nice, Penny, but I, uh, the point is that I wasn’t interested, and he had a difficult time understanding that.”
“He is handsome enough,” Ciel commented. “Although persistence is a vice in these matters.”
“He’s a nice guy,” Twilight said, “and I hope that he finds someone… someone he can be happy with. But that someone wasn’t me. I’m glad that he can accept that.” I wonder what caused him to realise that all of a sudden? She turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “Did you have to be so… did you have to snap at Blake like that?”
“You heard what she said,” Rainbow cried. “Should I have let that go?”
“We have to live here for the next year,” Twilight reminded her, “and for the duration of this semester, it’s not as if we can retreat into the bosom of the other Atlas students if we burn all our bridges here.”
“I understand your concerns, but should we let the honour of Atlas be subject to slander?” Ciel demanded.
“I don’t understand,” Penny said. “What was it she said that was so terrible?”
Rainbow sighed, “There’s nothing to understand, Penny; that girl was just an idiot.” She got up and walked around the long table to sit down next to Twilight. Rainbow reached out and took Twilight’s hands in her own. “Twi, you are my… you’re my best friend, and I love you. But you will never understand this part of what it’s like to be me.” Her ears twitched. “You’ll never have to put up with people asking you how you can wear the Atlas uniform, calling you a traitor to your people, saying that… that we can’t really be friends because of what we are.”
“I have had that, actually,” Twilight whispered.
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Who? When?”
“Stupid people when you first moved in with us; it doesn’t matter,” Twilight said. “The point is that I do know what it’s like to have our relationship questioned.”
“Then you understand why I’m tired of it,” Rainbow said. “I’m proud to wear this uniform, and I don’t have to explain or justify that to anyone, human or faunus. And I know that you don’t want me to start fights, and I get it… but I’m not going to let anyone insult Atlas, or the General, or you, or… I’ll behave myself, so long as she does.”
The freshman students – having gathered their weapons and, where necessary, their armour from the lockers – assembled in front of the skydocks, where several Bullheads were already waiting to transport them. They formed lines abreast by team, four teams to a line, and waited to hear just what was expected of them. Teams SAPR, YRDN, WWSR, and BLBL formed the first rank.
Professor Port was also waiting for them. “Good morning, students!” he declared. “It warms my heart to see you ready for action, bright-eyed and bushy tailed!” he chuckled, with a glance at Sunset.
Sunset laughed nervously as her tail brushed from side to side.
“As you may be aware,” ProfessorPort continued, striding up and down the line of students, “fairly recently, a level one concentration of grimm was detected moving through the Emerald Forest in the direction of Vale. Fortunately, swift and valiant action by our team leaders led to the horde dispersing throughout the Emerald Forest. Of course, that still leaves the forest playing host to higher than usual numbers of grimm, and that is where you come in. You will board these Bullheads by teams and be transported into the forest where you will disembark by pairs.”
“By pairs, sir?” Sunset asked.
“Indeed, Miss Shimmer, by partner pairs, in fact,” Professor Port clarified. “You will disembark with Miss Rose, then Miss Nikos and Mister Arc. The exercise will last for four hours, and your objective is to kill as many grimm as possible in that time. I will observe your progress through the forest’s security systems, rank each team based on their behaviour, and assign grades to each student and team accordingly.”
Which you aren’t going to tell us. It’s just like Ruby said, isn’t it?
“Now,” Professor Port said, “when I call your team name, board the Bullhead directly in front of you. Team Wisteria.”
Weiss led her team forward, where the four of them boarded the Bullhead on the left-hand skydock.
“Team Sapphire,” Professor Port said, and the four sapphires stepped forward, climbing aboard the second Bullhead. The airship took off as soon as they were all aboard, gripping the loops that hung from the ceiling as they were born out off the cliffs and over the vast green expanse that was the forest.
Jaune kept a tight grip on the hilt of his sword with his other hand. His head was bowed, and his eyes were uncertain.
“What’s wrong, Jaune?” Ruby asked. “Are you feeling airsick again?”
“Uh, no,” Jaune said quickly. “That was just a… nothing’s wrong,” he added.
“We should try and find each other once we dropped off,” Pyrrha suggested.
“If that’s not the point of the test, Professor Port might penalise us for it,” Sunset replied.
“We’re in teams of four for a reason,” Pyrrha retorted. “Just because we weren’t instructed to link up doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t. Professor Port might consider it an obvious step.”
“Or it might be a secret test,” Ruby suggested. “Where we have to think of it on our own.”
“I suppose that would fit with his opaque teaching style,” Sunset muttered, “I suppose he didn’t say not to, so, sure. Mark where we get off and try and make your way there. We’ll try not to move too far.”
The Bullhead descended over a small clearing, its engines rotating on the wing so that they were pointing downwards.
“Looks like this is where we get off,” Sunset said.
“Good hunting,” Pyrrha said.
Sunset grinned. “And the same to you,” she said before leaping down out of the Bullhead. Her legs bent as she hit the ground, her hair dancing around her head as the airship’s engines blew down upon her. Ruby landed beside her, Crescent Rose already extending in her hands as the Bullhead began to rise back into the sky and fly away to the north.
“I hope they’re okay,” Ruby said as the Bullhead passed out of sight, hidden by the thick trees that grew so high all around them.
“They’ll be fine,” Sunset replied. “It’s Pyrrha.”
“Pyrrha said she wasn’t that experienced at fighting grimm,” Ruby reminded her, “and Jaune seemed nervous.”
“They’ll be okay,” Sunset told her. “Trust me, I’ve got a good sense of these things.”
“Really?” Ruby asked, sounding a little sceptical.
“Yes, really,” Sunset said, as she looked around the clearing. It was rather ordinary, an earthy, nearly grassless little opening in the forest, a spotlight of sunshine amidst the dark eaves of the densely packed wood, with the only notable feature being a large stone sitting in the middle of the clearing. Sunset took a step towards it and felt her foot scuff against something on the ground. It turned out to be a coin, an old one by the looks of it, given that it was in a pretty rough state with the edge having been worn away and chipped. That and the fact that coins weren’t in much use any more.
“What’s that?” Ruby asked.
“I’m not sure; I just found it on the ground,” Sunset murmured, as she scooped the coin off the floor and held it up into the light.
It had a man’s face on one side, a rather ordinary face, even allowing for the fact that this was an old coin and one couldn’t expect a great likeness. His hair was a little untidier than Sunset would have expected, messy in a way that kind of reminded her of Jaune. Around the edge of the coin was inscribed the words ‘Osgiliath Rex’ and then something else that was partially lost by the fact that there were bits of the coin missing. Sunset turned it over. A woman’s face lay on the obverse side, pretty perhaps, but it was hard to tell, with a more elegant hairstyle than that of the man. ‘Sal’ was the first word, cut off by a missing metal, followed by ‘Regina’.
“Must be a relic from some old kingdom,” Sunset said, as she put the coin into her pocket. Maybe she’d show it to Doctor Oobleck later and see if it meant something to him.
“So,” Ruby said. “What do we do now?”
“Well, since we agreed to wait here for Jaune and Pyrrha, we can’t go looking for grimm,” Sunset said, as she unslung Sol Invictus from off her shoulder. “So we’d best see if we can’t draw them here.” She started to saunter towards the rock.
“How do you mean?”
Sunset sat down on the rock. “I mean that, since you wouldn’t know a negative emotion if it bit you, I will sit here and brood on the injustices of the world until some monsters come to eat me.”
“Hey, I have negative emotions,” Ruby protested. “I’m not just some cartoon character or something.”
“No,” Sunset conceded, “but of the two of us, I think we both know who is better suited towards attracting grimm with sheer negativity.”
Ruby walked towards her. “I don’t know,” she said. “You seem to be doing a lot better lately.”
“Really?” Sunset asked.
Ruby nodded. “You’ve barely gotten angry at all in the last week.”
Sunset snorted. “Well, I have you guys to thank for that,” she said, reaching out to pull Ruby into a hug, holding the smaller girl close against her for a moment. “That and… anyway. I bet I can still get my brood on now that the girl who tried to steal my boyfriend is here.”
Ruby frowned. “Who? You mean… Twilight Sparkle?”
“Uh huh,” Sunset acknowledged. “Okay, she didn’t exactly try to steal my boyfriend, but… after Flash broke up with me, he suddenly got interested in Twilight. And why wouldn’t he? Pretty Twilight Sparkle, sweet Twilight Sparkle, Fall Formal Princess Twilight Sparkle, everyone’s favourite bespectacled cutie pie Twilight Sparkle. Demure Twilight Sparkle who dressed like the Good Girl who gets the guy at the end in all those teen movies, while I… yeah, this. Twilight Sparkle who was so nice she’d stop in the corridor to help people gather up their books after I… I mean after some bad-tempered and malicious person had knocked them out of their hands.”
“Sunset,” Ruby said reproachfully.
“I’m not proud, but she didn’t have to be so nice all the time,” Sunset growled. “She was like you but worse. She and Rainbow Dash ruled the school with their little clique; everyone wanted to be Rainbow Dash, and everyone wanted to be Twilight’s friend. And she was connected, too; her sister-in-law is on the Atlas Council, and that didn’t hurt her status one bit.” She sighed. “I thought I was free of all of them, and now, they’re here.”
“Yeah, but you’ve changed since you knew them last,” Ruby reminded her. “So maybe you can start over. Maybe when we go back into Vale tomorrow, you can… I don’t know, get to know them all over again.”
“That’s the other thing,” Sunset muttered. “I don’t get why they’re here. Twilight Sparkle is not a huntress; she was taking the ancillary aura track.”
“The what?”
“It’s… Canterlot offered courses not specifically tailored to those wanting to move from Combat School to one of the four academies,” Sunset explained. “I mean, it offered those as well, but it also offered other courses for people who wanted to learn how to use their aura, maybe unlock their semblance, but who didn’t really intend to apply for Atlas or Beacon. Twilight was like that. She was always more a scientist than a huntress.”
“People can change, like she said.”
“Not that fast,” Sunset countered thoughtfully. “Rainbow Dash, sure, but Twilight? And that thing about repeating a year, is that how it works? Something’s going on with them.”
“Hmm,” Ruby murmured, her expression pensive. “I’ve got it! Ciel is an Atlesian robot, and Twilight is here to keep her maintained while they test her out!”
Sunset looked at her. “A robot?”
“A human robot. Or a cyborg. A full cyborgised human with a robotic body.”
“You read too many comics,” Sunset declared.
“Uh… maybe,” Ruby conceded. “I’m just glad to have Penny here; she seems really nice.”
“And that sort of attitude is precisely why you cannot attract grimm,” Sunset said.
A growling sound drifted towards them from out of the forest nearby.
“I, on the other hand...” Sunset said, leaping down from off the rock.
Time to go to work.
Weiss leapt off a glyph, using it as a springboard as she soared through the air, rapier held before her. With the tip of her Myrtenaster, she impaled an ursa through the chest, using a blast of fire dust to finish it off.
She landed on the ground with perfect poise as the grimm disintegrated.
Behind her, Flash took the blow of the second ursa upon his shield, Rho Aias, before cutting off its other paw with a swing of his sword, Caliburn. The ursa moaned in pain, recoiling away from the young huntsman. Caliburn shifted from sword to spear in Flash’s hands as he thrust it forwards into the ursa’s chest, impaling the beast and driving it to the ground where it began to disintegrate into ashes.
“Nicely done,” Weiss commented.
“Thanks,” Flash said, a moment before a fusillade of shots from elsewhere in the forest split the air.
“We’re not the only ones to have encountered the grimm,” Weiss murmured, watching the birds scatter out of the trees.
“Sunset and Ruby,” Flash said.
Weiss raised one eyebrow. “You’re sure?”
“I’ve heard Sol Invictus enough to know what it sounds like,” Flash replied.
“I suppose,” Weiss murmured. “In which case, I have no doubt that those two will be fine.”
“Yeah,” Flash said, with some conviction in his voice. He was armoured in a fashion which made him look more Mistralian than Atlesian, clad in a gilded cuirass in the antique style called lorica segmentata, with a helmet, likewise gilded, with a blue crest rising above his head. His shield was a large round hoplon that covered his torso completely. Studded pteruges descended from below his waist to cover his incongruous jeans, over which he also wore a set of gilded greaves. The fact that he was wearing a thoroughly modern black jacket with red and white stripes on the arms over his old-fashioned armour provided a discordantly anachronistic note. “So, which way now?”
Weiss hesitated, uncertain. She thrust Myrtenaster into the sash at her waist and checked the map on her scroll. “We’ll head west,” she announced, “towards where we fought the grimm concentration and defeated it. Perhaps there are still grimm who didn’t go very far.”
“Fine by me,” Flash said. As they began to walk, Weiss leading the way and Flash following behind her, Flash said, “I didn’t know that you knew Twilight.”
“We’re not friends,” Weiss explained quickly. “Although I think she might be a fan of my singing career. But we have met socially, from time to time. Her family is very well-connected.”
“She seems to think of you as a friend,” Flash pointed out.
“I get the impression that Twilight considers a great many people to be friends, whether they think of her in the same way or not,” Weiss replied.
“Twilight… she does have an open heart,” Flash said.
“Is that what attracted you to her?” Weiss asked.
Flash laughed nervously. “You… yeah, of course you heard that.”
“If you wanted privacy, you should have made a token effort to secure some,” Weiss said. “I must confess, I’m having trouble imagining you as Jaune Arc.”
“Yeah,” Flash groaned. “Not my greatest moment. I just… I really liked her. Or at least, I thought I did. She, and her friends, really helped me get it together after Sunset and I… and she was sweet and kind and… I thought there was something there. Turned out she was just being nice. Like you said, that’s just the way Twilight is.”
“Indeed,” Weiss murmured, and for that, she couldn’t help but envy the other girl.
It must be nice to make friends so easily.
“Of all the people to see around here,” Lyra said, “Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.”
“I know, weird, right?” Bon Bon said. Weird… and a little troubling.
What were they doing here? What did they want? It was far too early for them to be here just for the Vytal Festival. The other Atlas students weren’t going to be here until the next semester, so what were Dash and Twilight doing here?
Had General Ironwood sent them? Something to do with the dust robberies? It was hard to imagine that Ironwood would put Twilight in the line of fire like that, but she could see him using Rainbow Dash as his instrument very easily. Rainbow was always bragging about how close she was to the general, how she was his protégé. It would be just like her to volunteer for a dangerous mission just to impress him.
Or for the general to manipulate her into putting her life at risk to impress him. Doctor Watts said that was how the powerful maintained their grip, after all: they flattered the egos of good people like Rainbow Dash until they could bend them to their will, gaining useful pawns and eliminating sources of challenge.
But Twilight, though; Twilight wasn’t a fighter. She was even less of one than Lyra was. So what was she doing here?
She is a scientist. Could it be something to do with Amber?
She would have to pass this information up the chain. If Atlas was onto them, then… then they might have to take steps.
Steps she didn’t really want to think about.
Twilight, Rainbow, I’m sorry.
But you shouldn’t have gotten involved in this.
Blake kicked the alpha creep up into the air, leaping after to slice its belly open with a slash from Gambol Shroud. She dropped back down again to see Sky burying his halberd in the skull of a common creep, the last of the pack that they had encountered.
“Thanks for doing most of the work,” Sky said. “I’m not sure what I’d have done if I’d ended up with a less capable partner than you in Initiation.”
“I’m sure you’d have managed,” Blake said quietly, because it felt like the sort of thing that she ought to say in the circumstances. She switched Gambol Shroud from sword to pistol in her hand, holding it down by her side but ready to raise it at a moment’s notice.
Sky rested his halberd on his shoulder. “I was surprised by what you said to that faunus. I mean, I was surprised that they let people like that into Atlas in the first place.”
It’s probably so they can point to her and the few other faunus they let in through the door and say ‘see, we’re not bigoted towards the faunus at all.’ And then they can go on fighting the White Fang to defend the SDC and the corrupt status quo.
Everyone who had ever been a part of the White Fang knew that the Atlesian military was their true opponent. Better resourced than the Valish Defence Force; less corrupt than the Mistral Police Department; and, it had to be said, ably led by the ruthless General Ironwood, the Atlesian military acted as the enforcers of the Schnee Dust Company, the other half of the unholy alliance that kept the faunus in submission.
The idea that a faunus could willingly serve them…
“Blake?” Sky asked.
“Huh?” Blake murmured. “Sorry, I got lost in thought.”
“I just asked, why did you say that?” Sky asked. “It didn’t seem to do much except make them upset.”
“I know,” Blake said softly. It had been a mistake to be so blunt with them; of course a faunus surrounded by humans would react that way. Rainbow probably felt obliged to act that way or risk punishment. Or perhaps she had been conditioned to believe it.
Blake was reminded of what Sunset had said, about faunus who hung around with exclusively humans and started to believe they were human. More than that, she was reminded of Ilia and her stories about Crystal Prep Combat Academy in Atlas. Her old friend had shared some real stories with Blake about what it was like in ‘the greatest kingdom,’ about the casual cruelty of the humans who studied to become the oppressors of faunus-kind, of the verbal and physical abuse they unleashed to maintain order in their ranks and to keep any openly faunus student in her place.
What must Rainbow Dash have gone through? What might she be going through even now?
From Ilia, Blake’s thoughts turned to Velvet Scarlatina, whom Blake had failed to help when she was obviously in need. It had fallen to Jaune Arc to step up and do the right thing, and he had shamed Blake by his actions. As far as she knew, the plight of the faunus meant nothing to him, and yet, his common decency had driven him to do more than her politics or her… personal interest in this matter.
I can’t just hide in a dark hole and let the injustices of the world go on.
Blake would reach out to her more privately next time. She might not be able to reveal her secret to the Atlesian girl, but she was sure that it would be a comfort to her to know she had a friend at Beacon.
Someone who understood.
“Do you think they’re okay?” Jaune asked as he and Pyrrha headed towards the sound of gunfire, the sharp crack of Sol Invictus and the deeper boom of Crescent Rose mingling as they echoed through the trees.
Pyrrha paused mid-stride, hesitating for a moment. “The gunshots are coming at intervals. They fire and then stop, and then after a little while, they start shooting again. That suggests that grimm are coming to them in staggered groups and that they are fighting them off one at a time.”
“Right, that makes sense,” Jaune said. “Hey, Pyrrha?”
Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder at him. “Yes, Jaune?”
“Thanks for giving me a real answer and not fobbing me off with some platitude about how strong Ruby and Sunset are,” Jaune said. “I mean, they are strong, but… you know what I mean?”
Pyrrha nodded, even as she looked apologetic. “Yes, I know what you mean. And I’m sorry. I know that I haven’t always been as helpful a partner as I could have been-”
“That wasn’t what I’ve been trying to say; you’ve been great,” Jaune said. “Not everyone would have supported me even after they found out… you know.” Even now, he remained reluctant to share his secret out loud, even after it had lost the power to hurt him thanks to Sunset. “Not everyone would have given up their time to help me achieve my dream.”
Pyrrha smiled. “I… I prefer not to think of it as a dream; rather… as a goal. Dreams are ephemeral, they crumble into dust when we awake, but your goal has survived contact with adversity, and you’ve shown you’re willing to work towards it, to… to make it your destiny. I… I admire that about you.” She paused. “And yet, I still owe you an apology for slipping too easily into meaningless cliché when we first met. I’m not particularly good at dealing with people.”
“You’ve more than made up for it since,” Jaune assured her. “Hey, Pyrrha? You know, in the Forever Fall, when you stood back and let me take on that beowolf? You said something, I can’t quite remember what it was.”
A flush of colour rose to Pyrrha’s cheeks, even though Jaune wasn’t sure why. “Oh, it was nothing important. Nothing at all, really.”
“Okay,” Jaune said. “This wasn’t what I was about to ask anyway. I was going to ask? Could you stand back again today? At least a little. I know that you said that you need the practice against the grimm, but I’m not so sure, and to be honest, I think I need it more. I need to see how far I’ve come… and how far I have yet to go.”
Pyrrha looked into his eyes. “I understand,” she said, “but you mustn’t expect me to let you fight an entire pack of beowolves by yourself.”
“No,” he agreed, with a slight laugh. He supposed that what kind of enemies she thought it was acceptable to let him face by himself was, in its own way, a sign of his progress.
Pyrrha smiled. “We should probably keep moving,” she said.
“Right,” he said, and indeed, they did keep moving, pushing through the forest towards the sound of the shots from Ruby and Sunset.
Until they heard another noise coming from much closer to home: rustling in the undergrowth, footsteps thumping and heavy breathing.
Pyrrha stepped into a guard, shield held before her and spear drawn back; she also glanced at him to see if he was ready.
Jaune couldn’t have told her because he didn’t know. He just knew that he couldn’t hide behind Pyrrha for four years.
An ursa emerged from out of the trees, some of which it trampled down upon its way. It was not large enough to be an ursa major, or at least Jaune didn’t think it was, but it was nevertheless a pretty decent size.
Pyrrha tensed, but despite that, she did not move. She trembled with suppressed energy, but she did not move.
Not even when the ursa looked at her.
Jaune banged his sword against his shield. “Over here, big guy! I’m your opponent!”
The ursa might or might not have understood him, but it heard the noise and turned to look at him.
It let out a low growl.
I can do this. I can totally do this.
Jaune rushed at the ursa with a roar, shield before him and sword raised. He attacked with his shield first, thrusting out with it to whack the ursa on the snout. It turned its head, growling in pain, and as it turned away, Jaune slashed downwards at its neck. It didn’t quite land; he hadn’t aimed right, and he had slashed at its shoulder instead, but Crocea Mors still cut deep into the monster’s black fur.
The ursa’s growl was louder this time, and it thrust its head forward like a battering ram, hoping to knock Jaune off his feet. Jaune took the blow upon his shield, and his stance was just about right enough that, although he wobbled, he was able to keep his feet.
That didn’t last when the ursa lumbered forwards, using its whole body to knock Jaune back and onto his back. His sword slipped from his fingers.
“Jaune!” Pyrrha cried.
“Wait!” Jaune shouted imploringly. He could do this; she just had to trust him a little bit.
There was no shot from Miló. There was no flash of red as Pyrrha leapt to his rescue. That was a good sign, Jaune figured; it meant that she didn’t think he was dead meat yet.
The ursa stepped on his chest with one paw, crushing his aura a little beneath the pressure, as it moved its bony head towards him, growling.
Jaune hit it with his shield gripped in both hands, swiping it right, then left, then thrusting it straight upwards to hammer the ursa from the sides of the face and on the snout, pounding on it until the snarling ursa reared up on its hind legs to get away from him. Jaune scrambled to his feet, grabbing his sword from up off the ground and thrusting it into the ursa’s exposed chest. He twisted the blade, then drew it out, then slashed crosswise. He-
-got hit by a sideswipe from the ursa’s paw that he hadn’t been paying attention to, which knocked him sideways and sent him rolling across the ground.
Jaune rose to his feet with less dignity than Pyrrha would have managed, but he got on his feet regardless. The ursa roared at him, dropping back down onto all fours heavily enough to make the ground shake beneath it. It huffed and puffed.
Jaune waited, expectant.
The ursa charged. Jaune charged to meet it.
The ursa’s mouth was open, and a roar escaped its throat as it lunged at him.
Jaune was nowhere near as light on his feet as Pyrrha; he lacked her grace in movement, but as he thrust out his shield towards the ursa, he was able to sidestep away from its maw, turning the blow away with his shield even as he struck downwards.
And this time, he found the neck.
His sword bit deep but did not sever the ursa’s head. He had to hack at it two more times before the grimm dropped dead.
But it did die. Because he had killed it.
He… he had killed it! He would have whooped, but he was kind of tired.
He looked at Pyrrha, about to thank her for standing aside, when he saw her relax visibly now that the fight was over and he was out of danger.
She hadn’t been certain, he realised; she hadn’t been sure that he could do it.
But she had let him try anyway, because… because she understood that he needed to try.
I really did get lucky with you as my partner. Somehow, he doubted that Sunset would have been as understanding. He wasn’t even certain Ruby would have been.
Of course, he’d know that he was making real progress when Pyrrha could stand back and let him fight without flinching.
And he’d get there, some day.
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I think if she meant insult anyone it's Atlas, not you.
She's so close to the truth, it's just a wrongperson she'd pointed out. Although, it's an understable mistake. Between Penny and Ciel the latter is more mechanical inpersonality.
10409305
She's kind of implying that Rainbow Dash is a race traitor for siding with 'the oppressors'. And besides, Rainbow is the sort of person who take an insult to Atlas personally.
It is wonderful to see SAPR adopting a "Technically True-The Best Kind of True!" attitude. Also, great to see a page from StS where everyone comes so close to the truth but comes to hilariously so close conclusions from not having the whole picture.
Boy Blake is going to eat her words later. Ruby's guess about Ciel being the robot was pretty funny
This popped up in the middle of a reread and I thought I was going insane, Chapter 132 Return to the City of the Dead, Chapter 133 The Enemy of my Enemy (displaying Return to the City of the Dead), Chapter 134 The Enemy of my Enemy. Really confusing.
10409678
Oh goodness no, She’ll have to do a 3-course meal with them.
10409305
Oh, it was 101% directed to Rainbow Stashe, let us be reminded that this is just outta the fang, not Rubyfied B. B. Belladonna, she can’t but default to White Fang’s indoctrination, as she hasn’t been shown the better world. Both She and Mis Sneeze are prejudiced bigots
On my first read through of this and enjoying it so far. Kind of weird at times to see comments on the rewrite chapters that have either moved or been expunged, but that's the cost for coming so late I guess.
One thing I particularly enjoyed was
How great is Dr. Watts' indoctrination when Bonnie can see the manipulations on others and still not realize that same thing has been done to her. [Overwatch Moria Emote: Brilliant]
I guess it's going to be a few more chapter ahead when everyone realizes Blake is a faunus. Rainbow Dash has no idea to whom she's technically speaking with.
No you didn't
I love everything about this addition, i can already tell how much depth will be added to everyone!
Hold up... Does that make Flash a year younger than the Mane 6 of Remnant? And would that mean by extension, Sunset is as well, considering she's a first year? That... does not seem right. I always pictured her at least the same age or older than the Humane 6 in EqG.
(Unless Sunset held off for a year...)