• Published 31st Aug 2018
  • 20,313 Views, 8,843 Comments

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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Maiden Guard (New)

Maiden Guard

Amber stopped, looking down at her hands even as she clasped them together for a moment, then started fussing with the golden band upon her wrist.

Ruby and Dove, walking on either side of her — it was a little awkward that someone had to go with Amber to be introduced to Dove’s friends, but of the four members of Team SAPR, it was only really Ruby who could claim any connection to the members of Team BLBL, even if that connection was to Dove, not to Lyra or Bon Bon; it was still better than the way that they hated Sunset — stopped.

“Amber?” Ruby asked. “Is everything okay?”

Amber didn’t answer her. She just kept on playing with her bracelet.

“Hey,” Ruby said softly, reaching out to touch Amber’s arm. “Amber?”

“Amber,” Dove said also, putting his arms around and on her shoulders. “Amber, what’s wrong?”

Amber looked at him. “These are your friends,” she said. “They supported you for a year, while you thought I was … when you didn’t know where I was. What if they don’t like me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous; they’ll love you.”

“What if they don’t?” Amber asked.

“You won’t know if you don’t meet them,” Ruby pointed out. “I guess I can understand why you’re nervous, since Dove is so close to them and they’re his teammates, but … meeting new people can be tough, but if you don’t do it, then you’ll never meet anybody. Everyone is new to you at some time or other. Yesterday … was it really only yesterday?”

Amber thought for a moment. A little giggle escaped. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I think it was.”

“Huh,” Ruby said. “Long day, wasn’t it?”

“Longer for you, I think,” Amber replied.

“Longest for Sunset,” Ruby replied. “Anyway, the point is … the point is that, yesterday, we were strangers to you; you didn’t know Sunset, or Pyrrha, any of us. But now you’re good friends with both of them.” A year ago, I didn’t know Sunset or Pyrrha, and now they love me so much they fight with me all the time, and I love them even when they’re making me mad.

After all, if she didn’t care what they thought, then … well, she wouldn’t care what they thought, would she? It was only upsetting because it mattered to her, just like if they didn’t care about Ruby, then they’d let her do whatever she wanted, no matter how dangerous they thought it was.

While I…

If I didn’t care about Pyrrha at all, I wouldn’t have hit uncle Qrow.

I wouldn’t have felt bad about the way that I…

I do care. I just care about other stuff as well. More, maybe. Because there are things that are … more important.

That was the crux of it. Ruby had the impression that Pyrrha and Sunset viewed themselves as the collective Rolands to her Olivia, talking her out of throwing her life away in a pointless battle.

Ruby, on the other hand, sometimes thought that Pyrrha could play the Olivia perfectly well herself, while Sunset…

Sunset had a touch of the Percy about her. No, no, that was not quite right; Sunset wouldn’t put her own desires above the kingdom, she wouldn’t make love to the prince and put the whole kingdom at risk because she couldn’t control her own passions.

No, Sunset would come across Percy and Tristan making love and quietly shut the door and say nothing about it to anyone because they were in love, and they were her friends, and what was more important than that?

The kingdom, the kingdom was more important than that, and the alliances the king had made with his son’s hand in marriage.

But that was all just a little bit beside the point; the point was … well, the point was that Sunset and Pyrrha didn’t aggravate her out of dislike, still less from sheer indifference, but out of care, and it was because she cared in turn that Ruby was irritated by them; they would have been a lot easier to ignore otherwise.

And the fact that she hadn’t rushed to save Pyrrha’s life no matter the cost or consequence, didn’t mean that there was no care in her heart — it was simply one of many cares, and being numerous, it fell to her to sort and to consider them by magnitude of consequence.

Hopefully, Amber’s new relationships would be a lot less complicated, but the real point was that simply because they were new now was no sign that they could not grow and blossom in the time that Professor Ozpin meant to allow her.

“Now, you don’t know Lyra or Bon Bon,” Ruby went on, hoping that Amber hadn’t noticed the pause, “but who knows how close you’ll feel about them tonight?”

Amber looked down at Ruby, in a literal sense. “You … you’re right, of course. I mean, even Dove was a stranger to me, once upon a time.” She smiled. “There was a time we hadn’t even met in dreams.”

Ruby frowned. “'Met in dreams' … is that your semblance, Dove? That would explain why I’ve never seen it.”

Dove chuckled. “No, that isn’t my semblance. That’s just an expression. It’s something that I heard Amber singing when I first met her, when the sound of her voice drew me to her: I know you—”

“I walked with you once upon a dream,” Amber murmured.

“You … heard her singing?” Ruby asked.

Dove nodded. “I was hunting in the woods — for game, not for grimm; I used to set snares for rabbits and bring them home for mother to cook for supper, with herbs and a few nice potatoes. Anyway, I was in the woods, and I heard this voice, this sweet voice, the most lovely voice that I had ever heard or will ever hear.” Amber smiled to hear that and leaned into Dove, resting her back against his chest, reaching up to take his hand and arm. “I heard her singing there, and I … I knew I had to find her, the owner of that sweet voice.”

"Huh. That…"

Honestly, what impressed Ruby the most was the way that Dove was able to say all that with a straight face and not a trace of embarrassment. She wasn't sure that Jaune would have been able to do that. Also, it was pretty cute, in a sappy way. It made her smile, anyway.

"That's sweet." She looked at Amber. "Was it?"

"Honestly, it was a little startling at first," Amber confessed. "But Dove was so gentle and so charming that … yes. Yes, it became very sweet, very quickly."

"Aww," Ruby said. "It's great that you were able to find one another again." Which you wouldn't have, if it wasn't for Sunset.

That … that was something else. Ruby had called Sunset weak, unable to face up to hard decisions, to the tough choices that a huntress sometimes needed to make. And that was … well, it wasn't entirely wrong, was it? Sunset didn't like making tough choices; she played it safe, and she kicked her cans down the road if at all possible in the hope that something would turn up between now and then that would make her life easier. And she had saved Amber. She had saved Amber … because of that. Because she wasn't willing to confront the hard choice.

Ruby, confronted with the apparent necessity of Pyrrha's sacrifice, had balked at the idea of forcing Pyrrha to give up her life even for the sake of the world; she had — through Penny’s sage counsel — accepted that it had to be Pyrrha’s decision, of Pyrrha’s will, but she would not have thought … she would not have considered that it might be possible to overthrow the grim equation with which they had been confronted: Pyrrha’s life, or the loss of the Maiden’s power whole and entire.

It was Sunset, unable to accept the hard choice, unwilling to make it herself or allow it to be made by others, who had saved Amber's life, who had made it so that she and Dove could be reunited, could smile and kiss and tell the sappy story of how they met.

Ruby would have … well, it was not clear what would have happened if Pyrrha had gotten into that machine; possibly, Amber would have lived in Pyrrha’s body, having taken it over. But equally, Amber might well have died.

Instead, she had her life.

The life of a girl who had not chosen this, who had not sought out danger, a girl who was loving and beloved, a girl who was … who had been in need of salvation and now was in need of protection. Was that a life to throw away?

I guess … I guess the answer is that sometimes there is another way, and you just have to be willing to think.

Maybe that’s as important as being ready to die, is being able to think about how not to.

"Ruby?" Amber asked. "Is everything alright?"

"What?"

"You seem … a little sad," Amber said, bending down a little so that she was closer to Ruby's face. "Is everything alright? Is there anything that I can do to—?"

"Everything's fine," Ruby said quickly. "Everything is, really, it's fine; you don't need to worry about me." She took a step back, casting around for a change in subject. "So, Dove, what is your semblance, or have you not found it yet?"

"Oh, no, I know what it is," Dove replied. "It's not just not very useful in Professor Goodwitch's class, at least not in a one on one fight."

"But it is in a team fight?" asked Ruby.

"I hope so," Dove said. "My semblance … I create images of myself, not clones, or at least I don't think of them as clones; they're more like … statues of me, or images, like I said, and I create them in front of people that I care about, and each one absorbs a hit from an enemy, and then it's gone." He paused. "I haven't worked out a name for it."

"Can I see it?" Ruby asked. "In action, I mean?" She walked a little bit away from them. "Can you create one of these images in front of Amber? We all know you care about her, after all. Or does she actually need to be in danger?"

"No, I can do it," Dove said. "If you don't mind?"

"No," Amber murmured. "Not at all. It isn't dangerous, is it?"

"No."

"Then I'd like to see your semblance, too," Amber said.

Dove smiled slightly. "Well, alright then, if you both insist."

His body seemed to glow for a moment, a bright light shining out of him as if his aura had only just been activated — maybe it had; it wasn't as though it was strictly needed around the school, although personally, Ruby couldn't see any advantage to deactivating your aura ever; you might as well just go around with it always on; it wasn't like there were any disadvantages — before it faded, and he went back to normal. But, even as the light faded from Dove, a truly shining Dove, a still and silent Dove as bright as starlight, a radiant Dove who looked as though he were made of some strange combination of marble and glass, who seemed to be either or both gleaming or glowing, from an external or internal light, this vision of Dove appeared before Amber, between her and Ruby, sword not drawn but body placed between beloved Amber and any who would do her harm.

"That," Ruby murmured. "That's really pretty, apart from anything else. That's much prettier than Blake's clones."

"Perhaps a bit less useful," Dove murmured.

"I wouldn't say that; don't sell yourself short," Ruby replied. "I mean, they basically do the same thing; they take hits. Speaking of which, can't you use this on yourself?"

"As I said, it's only on people that I care about," said Dove.

"But don't you care about yourself?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, but…" Dove paused. "What would be the point? It uses aura to create these images, so what's the difference between taking a blow to my aura or spending aura to create something to take the hit?"

"Well," Ruby said, "how much of your aura does it take to create one of these?"

"I can make fourteen of them in all," Dove said. "Trying to make a fifteenth breaks my aura."

"Okay, so that's…" Ruby did the maths in her head. "Seven percent of your aura for each one? I think that's about right. Anyway, does it absorb any attack? Has any blow or anything gone through one of these and kept on coming?"

"Not that I know of?"

"Well, then let's say that an attack was coming at you that would take off ten percent of your aura," Ruby suggested, "It would make more sense to create an image with seven percent of your aura and have that take the blow instead, wouldn't it?"

"I hadn't thought of it like that," Dove said softly. "But I suppose that makes sense."

"And have you thought about augmenting them with dust, the way Blake does?" Ruby went on.

"No, I hadn't thought of that either."

"You should definitely try that," Ruby insisted. "I'm not sure how it would work, or if you could actually do it, but you should try it, absolutely, because if it does work, it'll be a big help."

Amber giggled, covering her mouth with one hand.

Ruby chuckled. "Sorry, I can get a little carried away."

"Don't apologise," Amber told her. "It's good that Dove has someone he can talk about this sort of thing with. I mean, after all—"

"He can't talk to you," Ruby murmured.

"I … don't really want to," Amber said. "I learned how to fight because I was made to, but … but I don't really want to … the fact that you all seem to find it so much fun, that you want to fight in a tournament even when you don't have to fight is … I don't understand it."

"I get what you mean; it is kind of pointless," Ruby said. "But it means that we get to have a festival where everyone comes together to celebrate, so that's worth it in my book. If it was me, though, I probably wouldn't bother with the tournament; it's just that it means a lot to Sunset and Pyrrha, so I'll do my part in the first round and then let them have their fun in the two-on-two rounds."

She paused a moment. "But, anyway, if you don't want to talk about this stuff, then we won't. We're supposed to be going to Team Bluebell's room anyway."

She started to turn away, then stopped. "But Dove?"

"Yes?"

"Shining Armour," Ruby said, "that's the name of your semblance."

Dove hesitated for a moment, before a smile blossomed upon his round face. "Well, if you say so, then how can I object?"

They resumed walking, and soon, they stood in front of Team BLBL's dorm room, the room that Dove now shared with Lyra and Bon Bon.

"Would you mind waiting outside for a moment, with Ruby?" Dove asked. "I'll leave the door open, I just … this is sort of … I just need to have a quick word with them first?"

"All right," Amber said, smiling. "But don't be too long, I don't want to be standing out here all day."

"I'll be quick, I promise," Dove said, kissing her on the cheek before he fished his scroll out of a pouch on his belt and used it to open up the dorm room door.

Ruby, stood behind Amber as they waited outside, couldn't see exactly what was going on in the dorm room, but she could hear everything that was going on, mostly because no one was making any effort to keep their voices down.

"Well, look who's back," Lyra said.

"Good morning, Lyra," said Dove.

"You have to wish us a good morning now because you got up and snuck out before we were awake," Bon Bon remarked.

"If you can sleep through me getting showered and dressed, may I suggest that that's as much a you problem as it is a me problem," Dove said dryly.

"No, the fact that you felt the need to slip out without saying a word is definitely a you problem," Bon Bon replied. "Where have you been?"

"You've got that smell on you again," Lyra declared. "Did you sneak out early to meet up with Pyrrha before Jaune was up?"

What smell? Pyrrha? What are they talking about? Ruby wondered. She sniffed the air. There was a smell, but it wasn't coming from Dove; it was closer, coming from—

Amber using Pyrrha's shampoo! Their hair smells the same!

Even so, to think that Pyrrha would cheat on Jaune, really?

"Nothing is going on between me and Pyrrha, and can you both be quiet for a moment?" Dove demanded. "There is … there is someone who I would like you to meet. And someone who wants to meet you, although she might not after hearing the way that you've been carrying on. Lyra, Bon Bon, meet Amber."

Amber stepped delicately into the room, her hips swaying as she put one foot directly in front of the other, her heel almost touching the toe of the foot before it. The light glimmered off her shoulder pauldron and her armoured boots. She held one hand out by her side and the other poised above her heart as she curtsied.

"Good morning," she said. "It's wonderful to meet you both."

Dove gestured to her, a beaming smile upon his face. Ruby lingered in the doorway, waiting.

Lyra and Bon Bon, sitting side by side on one of the closer beds, were silent. The whole dorm room was silent, waiting just as Ruby herself was waiting.

Waiting for them to say something.

Their eyes were wide. Lyra's mouth was open.

"Amber," she repeated. "You … your Amber?"

Dove let out a little laugh. "I'm not sure I ought to say that."

Amber reached out, and took his hand. "You can, if you want to."

Dove bowed his head for a moment. "Then yes," he said, "my Amber."

"The Amber who was supposed to meet you here at Beacon?" asked Lyra.

"The very same," Dove said. "She has … we've found each other again, at last."

"Gods," Bon Bon whispered.

"That…" Lyra trailed off for a moment, looking to Bon Bon, and then back at Amber and Dove. She began to laugh, a joyous, gasping laugh as though she were short of breath before the laughter had even begun. She clapped her hands, clad in her riding gloves, together delightedly. "That's great! That's incredible!" She leapt up off the bed, her white cape flapping up above her shoulders and flying behind her. "That is … you must be the happiest guy in Remnant right now."

"It…" Dove looked away. "It feels that way, a little bit. I … there are times when I can't believe that Amber's real, that she's standing here, that she's holding my hand; and then there's another part of me that believes and feels like singing in consequence."

"Well if that's what you want, then don't let us stop you," Lyra said. "We're Canterlot Girls, after all; we're used to musical interludes. Does this mean we're about to see a happier, less brooding you?"

"You … might?" Dove ventured. "I don't feel like brooding at the moment. I can't think what I'd have to really brood about."

"You know, I can't imagine what that might be like, but I'm dying to see it," Lyra said. She turned back to Amber. "And Amber!"

"Yes?"

"Amber!"

"Yes?"

"Amber, it is so good to finally meet you!" Lyra cried as Ruby discreetly shut the door behind her, something she possibly should have done sooner.

Lyra went on, "Dove has told us so much about you, I feel like I know you already, but also, I can't wait to really get to know you. I want us to become best friends and…" She sniffed. "Wait a second, that smell—"

"Yes," Dove said, firmly and not without some relish. "Yes, that is what you smelled on me last night and just now; it was Amber that you smelled, not Pyrrha, and I will take my apology now, if you don't mind."

Lyra sputtered indignantly. "Well, why didn't you just say something last night?!"

"And possibly more to the point," Bon Bon said, rising to her feet more slowly than Lyra had done. "How? How is Amber here? I mean it's wonderful to meet you, and Dove seems happy, but … you were supposed to meet Dove here almost a year ago when school began. Where have you been? And why is Ruby here? Hi, Ruby, not that we don't want you here, but it is a bit strange."

"Honestly, it feels a little strange being here," Ruby remarked. "Like I'm intruding."

Bon Bon didn't remind Ruby that the door was behind her if she felt that way, but she did look at it over Ruby's head.

Dove put one hand around Amber's waist and drew her in closer to him. "That question … it isn't—"

"I was attacked," Amber said, bowing her head. "On my way … here. I was attacked, and I … I've been asleep for the past year, that's why Dove couldn't find me."

"'Asleep'?" Bon Bon repeated.

"In a coma," Ruby clarified.

"Oh," Lyra said. "Oh, honey, that … that must be where—" She started to reach out for Amber's face, and the scars that Cinder had left her there, but then she thought better of it and pulled her arm back. "Oh, honey," she repeated. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what … you must be so … I'm sorry. But … at least you're awake now, right?"

Amber smiled at her. "Yes," she said. "Yes, at least I'm awake now. I'm awake, and I'm here, and…"

"But … we checked the hospitals," Bon Bon pointed out. "We went to King's Hospital, Limehouse for serious grimm injuries, the district hospitals, we went everywhere, and we couldn't find any record of Amber as a past or present patient."

"Amber … wasn't in hospital," Dove admitted. "Ozpin was keeping her under personal observation."

Bon Bon frowned. "'Personal observation'?"

"Bon Bon," Lyra said, "we don't need to talk about this right now—"

"Amber … Amber…" Ruby began, stammering a little. She kind of wished that Sunset was here instead of her right now; Sunset was better at lying than she was. "Amber is…" How close to the truth can I get without telling them anything? She began to speak slowly, leaving extra-long pauses between words to give herself more time to think. "Amber is Professor Ozpin's niece, and he was worried that that was why she'd been attacked and that whoever attacked her would try again, which is why I'm here to protect her."

Bon Bon looked at her. "Professor Ozpin's niece? You're Professor Ozpin's niece?"

Amber nodded mutely.

"You didn't tell us that Amber was Professor Ozpin's niece!" Bon Bon reminded Dove.

"I didn't know," Dove said.

"How could you not know?"

"Bon Bon—" Lyra said.

"And you said you went to Professor Ozpin, and he—"

"He lied to me," Dove said, "because he didn't trust me, so he didn't want me to know the truth about Amber."

There was a moment of silence in the dorm room that was broken by Lyra saying, "What an ass."

Amber covered her mouth with one hand as she laughed. "Yes," she said, her shoulders shaking, "yes, Lyra, he is."

Bon Bon began, "But—"

"Bon Bon, enough with the questions," Lyra said. "Amber just got here, she's been through a lot, she doesn't have to … let's just be happy for Dove, okay? This … this is the best thing that has happened to this team all year. So let's just be happy, yeah? Why not?"

Bon Bon hesitated for a moment. "Why … why not, indeed." She smiled. "Congratulations, Dove, this … this is a miracle. Lyra's right, it really is the best, it … I'm sorry, Amber, I shouldn't have…" She shook her head. "We never actually introduced ourselves, did we? This is Lyra Heartstrings, and I am Bonnie Bonaventure, but you can call me Bon Bon. Please call me Bon Bon; it's so much easier." She held out her hand. "It's nice, no, it's wonderful, to meet you at last."

Amber took a step away from Dove and reached out to put her hands on Lyra and on Bon Bon's shoulders. "I … I wasn't here when I was supposed to be," she said, "and that wasn't my fault, but all the same, I wasn't here, and Dove didn't know where I was, and … and I've heard that you two were there for him more than anyone else. I've heard that the two of you have helped him so much this year, and for that, I will always be so very grateful. Thank you. Thank you so much, for everything."

Lyra grinned. "Well, you know, what are friends for? Besides, Dove's helped us out a lot as well."

"He's been there for us too, definitely," Bon Bon added. "We've been through some tough times of our own, and Dove…" She looked away, wiping at her eyes with one. "You're a lucky girl, you know that?"

Amber nodded. "Yes. Yes, I know that very well."

"Come here, Dove!" Lyra cried, throwing out her arm. "Bring it in!"

Dove approached, and Lyra grabbed him, pulling him and Amber and Bon Bon into a wrenching hug, Lyra's arms enfolding them as much as she was able, the arms of Dove and Bon Bon intertwining with her own, all of them embracing Amber.

Ruby smiled as she watched. If any team deserved some good luck after what they'd been through, it was Team Bluebell. Sure, Bon Bon had made some mistakes around Blake, but losing Sky, and … they deserved a break, and it looked like they were happy enough for Dove that it almost seemed as if they'd gotten one at last.

"This," Lyra said, "is going to be the start of something wonderful, I can feel it."

She took a step back, out of the group hug. "We should celebrate!" she cried. "We should … we could go into Vale, or—"

"I'm, I mean we're already going into Vale," Amber murmured. "With Pyrrha and Sunset and Ruby and Jaune. It's for Pyrrha's birthday."

"Oh," Lyra said, sounding a little down to hear it. "Well, that's okay, we'll come with you!"

"We will?" asked Bon Bon.

"Sure we will," Lyra said. "Why not?"

"Because it's for Pyrrha's birthday, and we aren't Pyrrha's friends?"

"Neither is Dove," Lyra pointed out. "It's not like we're crashing dinner for two or anything; it'll be fine." She looked at Ruby. "Won't it, Ruby?"

Ruby stared for a moment, a rictus smile spreading across her face. "Uh … of course!" she declared. "The more the merrier!"


“'The more the merrier'?” Sunset repeated. “Really?”

Ruby was back in the SAPR dorm room; Amber was in the bathroom, freshening up with the help of Ciel; all four members of Team SAPR were in the main room, waiting for her to be done.

Ruby shrugged. “I … what was I supposed to say?”

“You could have said no,” Sunset suggested.

“And why would Ruby have done that?” Pyrrha asked. “This … this is a good thing.”

“It is?” Sunset asked sceptically.

“Yes,” Pyrrha insisted. “Nobody really believes that this is about my birthday—”

“It is a bit,” Jaune said.

“This is about Amber,” Pyrrha went on, ignoring Jaune for once. “This is about her happiness, her … having a nice time. If that means spending time with Dove’s friends as well as with us, then so be it. It’s probably good that she get to know them. After all, they are Dove’s friends.”

Sunset sighed. “I … I suppose so,” she muttered. “I just … yeah, okay, let’s take them with us. It’ll reduce the number of things that we can talk about even more—”

“I don’t think Amber would really want to talk about Maidens in any event,” Pyrrha said. “Do any of us want to talk about Maidens?”

“Not really,” Ruby said.

“No,” Jaune added.

“Fine, fine, you make excellent points,” Sunset conceded, settling down onto the camp bed where she was sleeping for the moment. She looked up at Pyrrha. “So, what do you want to do today?”

“That’s not for me to decide,” Pyrrha responded.

“It’s a little for you to decide,” Jaune said, “At least. You should have told us. You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jaune smiled. “You should have told me for you; it’s your birthday, you’re the one who missed out.

“On what?” Pyrrha asked him. “It was hardly the right time for … anything, was it? And besides, I really don’t want a fuss; I had enough fuss made of me for the first—”

“Except you didn’t,” Jaune said, “did you?”

Pyrrha hesitated for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Those balls in the ballroom, those parties that your mom threw,” Jaune said. “They weren’t for you, were they?”

Pyrrha glanced down for a moment. “They were in my honour.”

“But not for you,” Jaune repeated, holding out one hand to her from where he sat on his bed.

A soft, close-mouthed smile played across Pyrrha’s face as she took a step closer towards him, reaching out and taking his hand in hers. “Today isn’t for me either,” she said softly. “And whether or not you are right—”

“Which I am,” Jaune said.

Pyrrha chuckled. “You think you know so much, don’t you?”

“I think I’ve seen enough,” Jaune said. “I think you’ve told me enough. And if I’m wrong, then tell me so.”

Pyrrha said nothing, except to say, “This is Amber’s day. I want her to enjoy herself.”

Ruby smiled. “You like her, don’t you?”

“She is somewhat after my own heart,” Pyrrha admitted. “But I should hope to have some empathy for anyone in her position, be she ever so much or so little like myself, someone who has suffered, who has lost time, and who now finds herself in a strange place, surrounded by unfamiliar people.” She frowned. “I do hope that she’s alright.”

“She’ll be okay,” Sunset assured her.

“Can you be certain of that?” asked Pyrrha.

“Everything that you just said can be managed,” Sunset declared. “Well, certainly, finding yourself in a strange place surrounded by strangers … you can adjust to that. You learn the sort of place you’re in, the people that surround you, eventually, you start to feel at home. Even the worst can manage that, and Amber … Amber is far from the worst. And she has Dove.”

“And us,” Ruby added.

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed, nodding. “And us, for now.”

“For now,” Ruby repeated. “Where do you think they’ll go? Amber and Dove? Where do you think that Professor Ozpin will send them?”

“Are we certain that Ozpin will keep his word and allow Dove to go with her?” asked Pyrrha.

“Yes,” Sunset said firmly. “Yes, I am very sure. I would stake my … I would stake anything on it. He will not separate them. I … I wish that you would not—”

“I know that you trust him,” Pyrrha murmured. “But I … it comes harder to me now.”

“You were prepared to do as he asked,” Sunset reminded her, “to throw your life away at his asking—”

“Because of need,” Pyrrha said, “because there was so much at stake and such dire consequences, either for the world or for whoever else he turned to if I refused, but … Ozpin has the right to ask me to give up my soul for the sake of the world; he does not have the right to expect me to look on him with fondness afterwards, especially … with what we have learned of Amber, it becomes harder, not easier, to regard him with the trust and esteem in which I once held him. I regret that he no longer seems the man I thought he was.”

“I’m a little surprised that you trust him, Sunset, to be honest,” Jaune added.

Sunset rested her elbows upon her knees, clasping her gloved hands together. “I … I know that even the most beloved mentor can make mistakes, mistakes that can turn you against them, for a time. But I also know that, if you bear malice for those mistakes, if you attribute malice to what was well-meaning effort, if you turn your back on those who have your best interests at heart, then … you hurt yourself as much or more than you hurt them.”

“No offence, Sunset, but Ozpin isn’t your princess back home,” Jaune said, swinging his legs off the bed so that he could sit up instead of lying on the mattress. “Princess … Celia?”

“Celestia.”

“Right, Princess Celestia never asked you to get into a machine that would suck out another person’s magic and combine it with yours, did she?”

Sunset shuddered a little. “No,” she muttered. “No, she didn’t.”

“Then it’s not the same,” Jaune said. “What Ozpin was going to do to Pyrrha was … how are we supposed to trust him with our lives when he was willing to throw Pyrrha’s life away?”

Sunset’s brow furrowed. “I … I do not take that lightly,” she said. “I do not esteem Pyrrha’s life little, that … does that need to be said?”

“No,” Pyrrha said. “No, of course not. You … without you, I would not be here, any more than Amber would be.”

Sunset looked into Pyrrha’s eyes, and it seemed to Pyrrha almost that there was a surfeit of gratitude there, as though Sunset had feared — a sudden fear, perhaps, but no less fearful for it — that Pyrrha might doubt it, might think that her sympathy for Ozpin meant some callousness towards Pyrrha and her fate.

Pyrrha knew better than that. She would always know better than that. Sunset … would always have her back. Her sympathy for Ozpin would not change that.

“I am glad to hear it,” Sunset murmured. Her body sagged forwards a little. “And yet … what he asked of you, he did not ask lightly.”

“And yet he asked it nevertheless,” Pyrrha murmured.

“Yes,” Sunset whispered. “Yes, he did. And so I will not try to persuade you to see him by a different light, but for myself … Princess Celestia trusts him. And I … I think … I think he is in a difficult position, and I think that Amber would benefit from … reconciling with him.”

“She doesn’t seem to think so,” Ruby remarked.

Sunset looked at her. “And what do you think, Ruby? About Professor Ozpin?”

Ruby was silent for a moment. “I … I don’t think that he took it lightly, what he asked of Pyrrha. If he did, then he wouldn’t have cared when Sunset had another idea, but he did. I think that he really couldn’t see another way; I think that he was doing what he thought was right, for the greater of Vale, of Remnant. He’s … Rainbow Dash told me once that they have to trust General Ironwood because he can see the whole board, and they can’t. I’m not sure that’s right, I think that abdicates responsibility, but I think Professor Ozpin is trying to look at the whole board and make the best calls he can. That’s not to say that he gets them right all the time, but he has good intentions.”

“I would say that sounds fair enough,” Sunset replied. “You know I think that hiding the Maidens is a bad thing—”

“Although on that point…” Pyrrha murmured, “does not the fate of Amber suggest that there are good reasons why it is so?”

“Is not Amber better protected by us than she was by secrecy?” Sunset replied.

“Amber … Amber’s very nice and sweet,” Ruby said, “but I’m not sure that she could ever really inspire anyone. I just … she doesn’t seem the type, if you get what I mean?”

“Well, hmm, you … might have a point there,” Sunset murmured. “But, as to your original question … I have no doubt that Dove will go with Amber wherever she goes, but where that will be … I can’t say.”

“There must be somewhere she can hide,” Jaune said. “Vale’s a big country.”

“But now that Salem knows what she looks like, she’ll have to stay pretty isolated,” Ruby replied. “So it will be good that Dove’s with her; he can buy the groceries and stuff and bring them back to wherever they’re staying; Amber doesn’t have to leave the house.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a life,” Jaune said.

No, indeed. A circumscribed life, a little life, a half life. A life bound within a walnut shell. A life trapped by your own gift, by that which ought to have been a great blessing upon you.

No wonder Sunset thinks it such a crime to hide the Maidens away; that this is the life they are condemned to is indeed a terrible thing, although in Amber’s case, I am not sure what help there is for it.

“You’re right, of course,” Pyrrha murmured. “Wherever she goes, Amber will be … trapped, set apart from the world by her gifts, by that which ought to make her celebrated. I fear that there is nothing we can do about that.”

“What about taking her to Mistral, as you promised?” Sunset asked.

“A promise I will keep,” Pyrrha declared. “I will take her to Mistral, with all of you if you will come, and then show her the delights of my home, but … but I cannot keep her in my house forever and keep her out of Ozpin’s reach at the same time as protecting her from Cinder and any others Salem might send. At some point … at some point, she will have to hide, and when she does … when she does, I fear her world will become a small thing indeed, with only Dove to brighten it. And so I think it is incumbent on us to make these days here the most pleasant for Amber that we can, to bring joy and sunshine into her life, while we may.”

Sunset smiled, and so did Ruby, and when Pyrrha looked at Jaune, she found that he was smiling too.

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “Yeah, that’s something we can do, while we have the chance.”

There was a knock on the door.

Sunset got up off the camp bed, her hand glowing green as she telekinetically turned the door handle and opened the door.

Rainbow Dash stood on the other side of the door, her wings strapped across her chest, her guns in the holsters at their hips.

“Hey, guys,” she said, glancing around the room. “Not done yet then.”

“Not yet, no,” Sunset replied.

“I thought not,” Rainbow said. “Rarity wouldn’t be ready yet.” She stepped inside the door room. “How did Lyra and Bon Bon take it?”

“Well,” Ruby replied. “Very well, they … they looked at Amber like she was a miracle.”

“And if ever a team deserved a miracle,” Pyrrha murmured.

Rainbow glanced at her but didn’t say anything. She returned her attention to Sunset. “Are you sure that this is a good idea? Taking Amber into Vale?”

“You don’t think Cinder’s going to be hiding behind a post box in the city, do you?” Sunset asked.

“She’s more likely to be there than she is to be here at Beacon,” Rainbow pointed out.

“Of course she is, but that would mean keeping Amber trapped here at school,” Sunset said. “As Ruby pointed out, she’d miss all the fun bits of the Vytal Festival — especially since she’s not interested in the combat tournament. And even if you ignore the Vytal Festival, then … it’s no life having to huddle up here, is it? As your General Ironwood seemed to point out to Professor Ozpin when we discussed it with them all this morning.”

“Really?” Rainbow asked. “He did?”

“It seemed that way,” Sunset said. “He intervened at just the right moment.”

Rainbow blinked. “Huh. I guess he took what we said when talking about Penny to heart. Good for him. And good for Amber too, I suppose, if the General says it okay—”

“And so does Professor Ozpin; it’s all been cleared,” said Sunset. “Something else you should know: Lyra and Bon-Bon are coming with us too.”

Rainbow grinned. “Lyra invited herself, didn’t she?”

“How did you know?” Ruby asked.

“Because I know her,” Rainbow said. “Good luck, but it doesn’t really change much from our perspective: Penny is going to be with you, Ciel and Blake will be keeping you covered from high vantage points, and I’ll be up in the air with The Bus; if things get hairy, I’ll give you a rapid extraction.”

“Wouldn’t Blake be better off down on the street with the rest of us?” asked Ruby.

“Ciel needs a spotter,” Rainbow said. “I don’t want her to be on her own. And besides, there’s going to be the four of you and Penny and Team Bluebell; you should be able to manage without Blake until I can pick you up.”

“I wasn’t saying that we needed her,” Ruby protested. “Just talking about where she could do the most good.”

“I’m sure Blake will swing into action if we need her,” Sunset said. “Literally. Is Twilight going to be in the airship with you?”

“No, Twilight is going to be observing everything with drones from the safety of the dorm room,” Rainbow corrected. “Midnight is going to be my co-pilot.”

“A computer program?”

“A smart computer program,” Rainbow corrected. “Trust me, it’s the right call. Twilight can help while staying out of harm’s way, and anyway, I’ll still be in the cockpit.”

“And this is all just a precautionary measure,” Sunset added. “We aren’t actually expecting any trouble.”

“Not for you guys, you’re not Atlesians,” Rainbow said. “So whatever’s going on in Vale isn’t going to bother you, hopefully.” She paused for a moment. “What’s she like?”

“Gentle and kind,” Pyrrha said. “As you saw at breakfast.”

“Yeah, yeah, I suppose I did,” Rainbow said quietly. “Going through what she did, and she can still smile.”

“She’s got something to smile about,” Sunset pointed out.

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. “Yeah, I guess she has. And you’re going to protect that smile, right?”

“We are,” Sunset confirmed. “We all are.”

Rainbow nodded. “When Ciel is done in there with Amber, tell her to meet me and Blake at The Bus; I’ll drop them off and then take up a holding pattern until you’re back at Beacon — or unless you need me, which you hopefully won’t.”

“But if we do, we’ll shout for you,” Sunset replied.

“Right,” Rainbow said. She held out one hand. “Good luck out there.”

Sunset took her hand, clasping it tight. “As you say, hopefully we won’t need it.”

Rainbow nodded again, then turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Do you think that’s necessary?” asked Ruby. “Getting the Atlesians involved?”

“I would rather waste the time of Rainbow, Blake, Ciel, and Twilight,” Sunset said, “than get Amber hurt. It probably will be a waste of their time, but … if not—”

“Then we will be glad of Rainbow’s airship, no doubt,” Pyrrha said. “Shall we tell Amber about this?”

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Sunset replied. “We don’t want to scare her, after all.”

“No,” Pyrrha murmured. “No, of course we don’t.”

The bathroom door opened, and Amber emerged hesitantly, her steps slow and a little cautious, fussing with the bracelet on her wrist.

“How … how do I look?” she asked.

“You look lovely,” Pyrrha said, because Ciel had done a splendid job when given the time to do it with no interruptions: she had practically covered Amber’s scars to the point where they could scarcely be seen, and even then when you knew to look for them, Pyrrha doubted that casual observers would notice them at all. Not only that, but Ciel had given her a circle of green eyeshadow, more prominent above her eye but by no means invisible beneath it, which made her eyes glow like a goddess, the light, amber brown of her eyes rendered especially luminous by the green that surrounded it. Amber’s eyelashes looked a little longer than Pyrrha remembered, which made her wonder if Ciel had put any extensions in, and her skin had a glossy shine to it, most prominently upon her cheeks, which had a slight touch of pink about them besides, but by no means absent elsewhere upon her face, which suited her very well. She gleamed in the light that fell upon her; how much more so would she gleam in sunlight once they got her into Vale?

“You really do look beautiful,” Pyrrha added.

“It’s pretty,” Ruby said.

“You look great,” said Jaune.

“Good job, Ciel,” Sunset said.

“Yes, yes, she did do wonderfully, didn’t she?” Amber asked. “I mean, if you’re sure that it’s all right.”

“It is,” Pyrrha said. “Dove will be delighted, I’m sure.”

“Oh, I do hope so,” Amber replied. “Thank you, Ciel, I … thank you.”

“It is nice to know that if my career in the military were to end prematurely, I would have a future career as a beautician,” Ciel said, dryly but not without a touch of bitterness in her voice.

Is she upset about something?

Not upset enough to stop her from coming here to do us this service, clearly.

I’m afraid that if she is upset, we must leave it to Rainbow Dash to address, rather than addressing it ourselves.

“In all sincerity,” Ciel went on, some more warmth entering her voice, “I am most glad that you approve of the outcome. It was a pleasure to assist you in this.”

“You’re very kind to say so, but I don’t see how it can really have been a pleasure,” Amber replied. “Coming here to help someone else with their makeup.”

“It was no trouble,” Ciel assured her. “It was … a very pleasant distraction.”

“I’ll try and remember the things you said you were doing,” Amber said. “I don’t want to have to keep dragging you down here.”

“No!” Ciel said, with a little more force that was strictly necessary. “I mean, um … you must do whatever you think is best for you of course, but … I will always be ready to assist you, if you have need of it.” She looked away from Amber, clutching her makeup bag closer to her, looking very diffident and uncertain. “I … I should go. If you will excuse me, Amber, everyone.”

She squeezed past Amber and then hurried out, moving at a rapid double-quick pace, not looking at anyone on her way out. She didn’t even shut the door properly on her way out; it was left ajar, and Sunset had to shut it.

Before she did, they could hear her rapid footsteps moving away.

“Did I say something wrong?” Amber asked.

“No,” Pyrrha assured her. “No, Amber, that … whatever that was was not about you.”

“Oh, I see,” Amber murmured. “Except I don’t. I’m glad that I didn’t upset her, but I wonder what was wrong with her.”

“Perhaps you can ask her when you see her next,” Sunset suggested.

“Perhaps,” Amber said softly. “I hope she’s alright; she was very nice to me to help me like this. Everyone’s been so nice to me. It’s … is all the world so full of kindness?”

“Not all full,” Pyrrha said, “but there is more kindness in the world than there are murderers and thieves.”

“But in these walls, even in this very room, you have met some of the kindest hearts that you will ever meet in Remnant,” Sunset added.

Amber smiled. “I know it to be true. Brave new world.” To Pyrrha, she said, “Are you … are you going out dressed like that?”

Pyrrha was wearing her huntress attire. “Yes,” Pyrrha said. “Why?”

“I thought you might want to dress up, since it’s your belated birthday,” Amber replied. “Not that what you're wearing isn’t pretty, but…”

Pyrrha chuckled. “I understand,” she assured Amber, “and under different circumstances, I might wear a dress or something else, but I must be armed and well-prepared, we all must, in case…”

Amber swallowed. “In case … in case she is there? In case she comes for me?” She took a step back, and her whole body began to tremble.

“It’s not likely,” Sunset assured her. “In fact, it is incredibly unlikely. But as Pyrrha says, we have to be prepared; after all, Professor Ozpin has charged us with your safekeeping: the protection of that which is most precious to him in all of Remnant.”

Pyrrha had some doubts that that could be true; surely, if Amber was the most precious thing to Ozpin in all the world, he would not have wanted to treat her soul thus, but her focus was more on Amber than on Sunset’s laying it on a little thick.

Amber nodded, but by the way that she was breathing, the way that she reached out for the frame of the bathroom door as though she feared she might fall, it seemed that she was not entirely convinced by it.

Pyrrha and Sunset both moved towards her.

You were right not to tell her about the Atlesians, Sunset.

“It will be alright, Amber,” Pyrrha whispered.

“We swear to protect you,” Sunset said. “I didn’t wake you up just to let harm come to you now.”

Amber’s gaze flickered between them. “It … it will be safe?”

“It will be safe,” Pyrrha said. “Safe with us, Sunset and I, Ruby and Jaune, and Dove besides, and Lyra and Bon Bon too. We will keep you safe.”

“We are your Maiden Guard, on this day and in the days to come,” Sunset said. “You may depend on us.”

“I … I trust you both,” Amber said. “I trust all of you, but … especially you.” She reached for them, and both Pyrrha and Sunset took her hands in theirs.

Amber closed her eyes. “You must think I’m very foolish.”

“Not at all,” Pyrrha assured her. “After what you’ve been through, it is natural to be afraid. But you are not alone, nor unprotected.”

Amber nodded. “No,” she whispered. “No, I’m not. I’m with you.”

There was another knock at the dorm room.

“That will be Dove, most likely,” Sunset said. “Are you ready to see him? Are you ready to go?”

Amber hesitated for a moment, before she let go of the hands of Pyrrha and Sunset and straightened herself, petting her hair with both hands.

She took a deep breath. “Do I still look alright?”

“Better than alright,” said Pyrrha. “Like a vision.”

This time it was Ruby who opened the door, to reveal Dove, dressed in his school uniform but with his sword at his hip, his shoes, by the look of them, freshly polished, and a blue half cape stretched somewhat awkwardly across his shoulders.

“Dove!” Amber cried. “You look very dashing.”

“And you have grown no less beautiful since I saw you last,” Dove said, striding into the room and cupping Amber’s chin with his fingers as he gave her a gentle kiss upon the lips. “Are we ready to go?”

Amber glanced at Pyrrha. Pyrrha gave a shrug, meaning to suggest that it was Amber’s decision.

“Yes,” Amber said. “Yes, I’m ready. Let’s go.”


“Thanks for agreeing to help us out with this,” Rainbow said, as she strapped herself into the pilot’s seat of her airship.

“You’re welcome, Rainbow Dash,” Midnight said, her voice emerging out of somewhere from the mouthless android body that she was piloting.

“Well, thank you as well, Midnight,” Rainbow muttered, “but I was actually talking to Blake.”

“I see,” sniffed Midnight. “It’s nice to know that my hard work is appreciated.”

“Come on, it’s not like you have anything better to do,” Rainbow declared.

“Don’t I?”

“No!” Rainbow said firmly. She paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing. “Do you?”

“I will have you know that I could be busy solving the mysteries of the universe right now,” Midnight declared. “Instead, I’m here, preparing to help babysit some girl.”

“Okay, in the first place, Amber is not just some girl; she’s the Fall Maiden, that makes her important,” Rainbow said. “And in the second place…” It occurred to her that this had kind of been the problem with Penny. It wasn’t exactly the same thing — Midnight wasn’t really alive; she was making a good job of acting like she was — but it was kind of the same thing, or close enough to make Rainbow pause. If General Ironwood could learn better, then so could she. She had to, if any good was to come from all this. “You know what, I’m sorry. You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to be. Go … solve the mysteries of the universe, whatever that means.”

Midnight was silent for a moment. The android body leaned back in the chair. “I don’t think I will,” she said.

Rainbow blinked. “You won’t?”

“I’d rather hang out with you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Then … then why—”

“I don’t want to be taken for granted, that’s all,” Midnight said airily.

Rainbow stared at her. “You are the weirdest computer I have ever met,” she said.

Midnight folded her android arms across her chest. “Why thank you, Rainbow Dash; you always say the nicest things.”

Rainbow continued staring at her. “You … you know what, fine, you have a right to make fun of me. Midnight?”

“Yes, Dash?”

“Can you put a face on that or something?” Rainbow asked, pointing with one finger towards the android faceplate, which was blank impenetrable black. “It’s a little weird talking to … that. It’s even weirder having it talk back.”

“There isn’t the functionality to project a face onto the face plate,” Midnight replied. “Which suggests it has been somewhat unfortunately named. However—” She unfolded her arms, holding up the palm of her right hand, the palm onto which Rainbow could see now had been added a little holoprojector, a projector which glowed blue as a miniature hologram of Midnight appeared above it. She shook her long hair free. “Whew, good to be out of that suit. How’s this? Better?”

Rainbow nodded. “Much better, yeah, thanks. You look like someone I can hold an actual conversation with.”

“You mean that I’ll be harder to ignore?”

“Much harder,” Rainbow answered. “But right now, Blake really does deserve some thanks too for coming out here and giving up her time.”

Rainbow looked over her shoulder, half turning in her seat to look behind her into the main body of the airship. The doors were open, letting the sunlight in from beyond to shine on Blake, making her white tunic seem brighter beneath her black waistcoat.

Blake was smiling with amusement, presumably at Midnight, and her voice was light as she said, “It’s not a problem. In fact I daresay it’s the least I signed up for when you told me about everything and I agreed to work for the General and Professor Ozpin.”

“'The General'?” Midnight repeated.

“Midnight?” Blake asked.

“You called General Ironwood ‘the General,’” Midnight pointed out.

Blake was silent for a second. Then a little kind of amused huff came out of her mouth. “I guess I did. Is that bad?”

“No,” Rainbow said. “Just one more sign you’re becoming one of us.”

“Like the victim of a zombie bite,” Midnight said.

“Hey!” Rainbow snapped. “Whose side are you on?”

“Never fear, Rainbow Dash; that was just a joke,” Midnight assured her.

“It better be,” Rainbow muttered.

“Anyway,” Blake said, raising her voice just a little bit, “the progress of my assimilation aside, since I’m involved in this, it wouldn’t exactly be right to beg off when everyone else is doing their part—”

“If by ‘doing their part,’ you mean enjoying a nice day out with all their friends,” Midnight pointed out.

Blake ignored her. “And besides, it’s not as though I had anything better to do today.”

“You didn’t fancy watching Sun qualify for the Vytal Festival, then?”

Blake frowned slightly. “To be honest … I’m a little worried that he won’t. Team Sun feels … a little divided.”

“I wish I could say I was surprised,” Rainbow said, “but I’m not. But I also think you should have more faith.”

“Good teamwork can overcome individual skill,” Blake pointed out, “and individual skills can be undermined by poor teamwork.”

“Yeah, but there are eight spots, and even with their problems, I can’t think of eight teams better than Team Sun,” Rainbow replied. “Haven doesn’t have that many stars.” She paused for a moment. “It’s Ditzy that I feel sorry for.”

“'Ditzy'?” Blake said. “Is she the one who fought Pyrrha?”

“That’s right, Ditzy Doo,” Rainbow said. “Another Canterlot alumnus. She and her team went on a mission; apparently, her team leader went crazy, killed her other two teammates, and ran off. Ditzy’s the last one standing.”

“Gods,” Blake murmured. “Is she okay?”

“Ditzy always seems like she’s okay,” Rainbow said. “But … I don’t see how anyone could be okay after that; I mean … you don’t have to love your teammates to feel something when two of them aren’t there any more, and it’s the fault of your own team leader. I feel like I should … I want to do something for her; I just don’t know what. We went to the same combat school, but I don’t actually know her very well.”

“Maybe just getting to know her would be a good place to start?” suggested Blake. “She could probably use a friend, especially if she’s in a … if she left her own kingdom to go to Haven Academy, she might not know a lot of the other Haven students. I’m sure she’ll appreciate any support she can get.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow murmured. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She fell silent for a moment, looking away from Blake, and away from Midnight too, looking out of the cockpit window, out across the skies and the towers of Vale and the Atlesian warships gliding by or holding position like huge airborne fortresses.

“You know, they’re really lucky,” she said. “They’re so lucky I’m kind of jealous.”

“Of Ditzy?” Midnight asked.

“Of Amber,” Blake said, walking into the cockpit. “And Dove.”

“And Blake gets it,” Rainbow said, the words coming out like a sigh. “They get … I know that she wasn’t actually dead, but she was in a coma for a year, and she might as well have been dead as far as he was concerned; she was dying, for sure, but now … now, she’s back. Now, they get a second chance. Lyra and Bon won’t get that. Ditzy won’t get that.” I won’t get that, and neither will Aska, or the General. “I hope they appreciate how lucky they are.”

“They certainly seemed to,” Blake pointed out.

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. “Yeah, they did, didn’t they?”

“You didn’t answer Rainbow’s question,” Midnight pointed out.

“Huh?”

“You didn’t answer if you wanted to go and watch Sun qualify,” Midnight said. “Or fail to qualify, as you fear.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a closed door event,” Blake said. “No spectators.”

“Would you watch if you could?” Rainbow asked. “If you didn’t have to be here?”

“I might,” Blake murmured. She smiled. “Or I might like to be pleasantly surprised. To be honest … whatever the result, I doubt he’ll be able to keep it a secret from me. So, if we celebrate tonight, you’ll have a hint as to who's in the Vytal Tournament.”

“Are you going to celebrate with him if he gets in?”

“I think I owe him that,” Blake said. “Don’t you?”

“You don’t owe him anything,” Rainbow replied. “What do you want?”

“I want to have some fun with a nice guy,” Blake said. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing; it’s a fine thing,” Rainbow said. “It just had to be what you wanted, that’s all.”

“And what he wanted,” Blake murmured. “I hope that he’s doing what he wants, and not what he thinks I want.”

“I don’t think that it’s just about you,” Rainbow replied. “I think this SDC stuff, it … it lit a fire under him. Got him thinking.”

“It wasn’t only that which got him thinking,” Blake pointed out.

Rainbow grinned. “I just … gave him a bit of a pointer in the right direction. I knew that you couldn’t stop moving, and that you were just going to walk further and further away from him if he stood still. So I told him to make a move. I didn’t tell him where to go; he came up with that all on his own.”

“We’re not moving to the same place,” Blake said softly.

“No,” Rainbow admitted. “But you’re both moving, and your paths are close enough that you can reach out to one another.”

Blake smiled. “Yes,” she agreed. “Yes, we can.” She put a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

“All part of the service,” Rainbow said.

Ciel leapt into the airship, Distant Thunder — collapsed down to a manageable length — slung over her shoulder. “I hope I have not kept you waiting.”

“Nope, the Skybus only just left,” Rainbow said, pushing the button to close the doors. As they slid shut, she asked. “How’s Amber?”

“She is in good spirits,” Ciel replied.

“Yeah?”

“Indeed,” Ciel said.

“That’s … you gotta admire that,” Rainbow said. “Still being able to smile after what she’s been through.”

“It helps that she has Dove,” Blake said. “But she seems to be getting on well with Team Sapphire as well.”

“It does not surprise me,” Ciel said, from behind them. “She is … very likeable.”

“Is that why you don’t mind going over there to do her makeup?” Rainbow asked.

“Someone must,” Ciel said. “Someone close to her complexion, which requires a different approach than Pyrrha knows. Unless you have some beauty secrets you have given no sign of.”

“Yeah, no,” Rainbow said. “On the rare occasions when that kind of thing is necessary, Rarity takes care of it.”

“Would she rather you learned how to do it yourself?” asked Blake.

“I don’t think so, the amount she seems to enjoy doing it to me, I mean for me,” Rainbow replied, quickly correcting herself.

“That does not surprise me,” Ciel said softly. “If one is so inclined, it can be … quite pleasant. To help Amber thus and to have her appreciate my assistance, it is … perhaps it is selfish to admit that I hope she does not learn how to pretty herself just yet.”

Rainbow had a feeling that she knew what this was really about. She unbuckled her seat — they had time; Team SAPR and Amber and the rest wouldn’t be landing in Vale for a little bit — and got up. Blake made way for her, and Rainbow squeezed past her before walking to the hatchway separating the cockpit from the fuselage.

Ciel sat on one of the seats near the cockpit, her hands clasped together in her lap, her head down.

“I’d ask if you were okay,” Rainbow said, “but I can guess the answer.”

Ciel hesitated. “I’m fine,” she whispered.

“I don’t believe you,” Rainbow said flatly.

Ciel glanced up at her but didn’t say anything. She looked away again. “We should go,” she said, quietly and stiffly.

Rainbow’s response to that was to go and sit down beside her on the bench between the cockpit and the door, their shoulders almost touching.

Rainbow didn’t look at Ciel; she kept her eyes ahead of her, at the grey metal door on the other side of the airship.

Without looking, she reached out and took Ciel’s hand.

“You’ve done the right thing,” she said. “You don’t also need to be okay with it, at least not with me. Because I’m your team leader, and while I haven’t been the best team leader, I am still your team leader, and that means that you don’t have to be good or strong or virtuous or stoic or anything else. You want to let it out, here’s the place.”

Now, Rainbow looked at Ciel. Ciel was still for a second, and silent too. She raised her head. And then her whole body shuddered, and she made a sort of choking sound.

She did not cry, but she sounded a little choked up, her voice getting kind of hoarse.

“Neon thinks that Penny is ungrateful,” she said. “She calls her a word that I shall not repeat, and I … I know that it is not so, but … but I feel it too. In my heart. Lady forgive me, I feel it too. And so, to have the opportunity to help Amber, to have someone who appreciates my help … it brings me joy for itself, and for the joy that it brings to Amber, but it also brings me sadness, for what I wanted but was denied. I … I am foolish.”

“No,” Rainbow said. “No, you’re not; you’re just … human after all. Making mistakes. Feeling things that aren’t always what people looking at us from the outside might call ‘good.’ But it doesn’t make you a bad person. Penny … you tried harder for Penny, did more for her, than me or Twilight; of the three of us, you are the one who least deserves the blame, and if anyone deserves any credit out of this, it’s you — which my final report will reflect, if that matters to you at all — and I’m sorry that Penny can’t see that yet. Hopefully, she will, one day.” She paused. “But until then … or whatever happens … it’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be angry.”

“What good will that do?”

“You won’t explode from trying to hold it in,” Rainbow told her. “The fact that Penny can’t see how you loved her doesn’t mean you didn’t.”

Ciel closed her eyes. “That … may be as you say,” she murmured. “And I thank you for it, truly, but … but for now, we have a job to do, do we not?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “Yeah, we do.”

“Then we should go to it, should we not?” asked Ciel.

Rainbow looked into Ciel’s eyes. “Are you good?”

“Duty will be a balm to all my heartache,” Ciel said. “And I would not see Amber come to harm because I was moping like some … someone who wallows in heartache. Let us go. We have a Maiden to guard.”

Rainbow nodded and started to get up, but as she rose, she put a hand on Ciel’s knee. “If you ever want to talk about it, you know where I sleep,” she said. Then, only then, she returned to the cockpit and strapped herself back in.

“Control, this is Atlas Echo Three-Oh-Three requesting permission to take off, disembark passengers in Vale and then assume holding pattern delta-nine as specified in my flight plan request.”

“Copy that, Echo Three-Oh-Three, permission granted.”

“Roger that, Control,” Rainbow said, as she guided her airship up off the docking pad and into the air, following the Skybus with Amber and the rest aboard on the way to Vale.


Tempest Shadow watched the Skybus head out in the direction of Vale, carrying with it the Fall Maiden, Amber, along with Team SAPR, Penny Polendina … and Sweetie Drops.

Sweetie, and Lyra Heartstrings, and Dove Bronzewing.

That was surprising. Team SAPR, Penny, they were in the know, they were Ozpin’s agents, it was to be expected that they would be set to guard the Fall Maiden. It was a little more surprising that the Fall Maiden would be allowed to venture into Vale, but leave that for now. That was not important.

What was important was the proximity of Bon Bon — or Sweetie Drops, whichever name you preferred — to the Maiden.

How had she managed it? How had she managed it for her whole team? Why had Ozpin decided to trust them?

It was certainly fortuitous, so fortuitous that Tempest almost wanted to distrust it.

Almost because, in trusting it, it offered the opportunity for this to be far, far easier than she had thought.

She turned away, her mind awhirl with possibilities.

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