SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Photo with an F (New)

Photo with an F

As they emerged from the amphitheatre, the sun falling upon their faces once again, they were soon met by the remainder of Rainbow’s friends heading their way.

“Hey, you guys!” Pinkie cried, waving enthusiastically. “Did you get everything done?”

“I think so, yeah,” Rainbow replied.

“Great!” Pinkie cried. “Then that means we’ve got time to have some fun in the fairgrounds before Trixie’s match, right?”

“Blake and I want to watch Weiss’ match,” Rainbow said, “but yeah, apart from the details, sure, we’ve got time.”

“Awesome!” Pinkie yelled. “Because I spy with my little eye,” — she leaned forwards getting closer to Rainbow Dash as her voice acquired a sing-song cadence — “something beginning with F.”

Rainbow blinked. “F … F … fairgrounds?”

“Well, yes, that would be a right answer, but no!” Pinkie cried. “Photo Booth!”

“'Photo Booth' starts with a P, Pinkie,” Twilight murmured.

“This one doesn’t!” Pinkie declared. “These particular photo booths spell 'photo' with an F, presumably for copyright reasons, but more importantly: you all know what this means, right?”

“Uh … no,” Blake murmured. “No, I don’t.”

Pinkie gasped. “Blake doesn’t know about the photo booth!”

“She’ll pick it up pretty fast,” Rainbow replied, putting an arm around Blake’s shoulders and using it to forcefully steer her along. “Lead the way, Pinkie!”

Sun trailed after them, uninvited, but no one objected to his presence.

“'Lead the way'?” Blake repeated. “Lead the way where, where are you taking me?”

“We’re going to a photo booth that spells 'photo' with an F, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Pinkie just finished tellin’ us so.”

“Okay, but why?”

“To take silly group pictures,” Fluttershy said, as though it was obvious.

“Hope you’ve got some good funny faces,” Rainbow said.

“I think Blake’s normal stern expression would work rather well as a counterpoint,” Rarity suggested. “Unless you want to join in more conventionally, of course.”

“It’s a tradition,” Twilight explained. “Every time we go to a fair, we always get silly pictures in the photo booth if they have one. It wouldn’t be a fair without it.”

“Silly group photos?” Blake repeated. “How old are you people?”

“We’re between seventeen and nineteen, but you can deduct ten off that to get our mental age sometimes,” Rainbow said as she pulled Blake along as part of the group, all of them following where Pinkie Pie led.

“It’s a tradition!” Twilight insisted. “It’s something fun to remember that we were all there and what a great time we had.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Blake murmured. “Are you sure that you want to include me in this? Are you sure that you wouldn’t—?”

“No, we wouldn’t,” Rainbow insisted. “You’re a part of this group now, and you’re going to be in our photos.”

“One of us!” Pinkie chanted. “One of us!”

A chuckle escaped Blake’s lips. “I … I’m flattered, really.”

“Ah don’t know about no flatterin’ thing,” Applejack said, “but with luck, it’ll be a little fun.”

“I’m sure it…” Blake faltered. “Wait, where are the kids?”

“My sister Maud is taking care of them for just a little bit,” Pinkie explained.

At that point, the Atlesian group disappeared into the crowd, the sounds of their voices lost amidst the general hubbub, the sight of them disappearing as people moved back and forth all around them.

“Is it really tradition?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Sunset informed her. She folded her arms. “You know … I should probably have some mocking or cutting remark right now, but the truth is … I was always kind of jealous about this stupid thing that they did all the time … and the fact that they had each other to do it with.” She turned to the others. “So do you guys want to go and get silly photos?” She paused. “Um, not you, Ciel, I—”

“I am not part of your group, of course,” Ciel said. “In any case, I have plans to meet up with Neon and her teammates, so I will leave you to your pleasures. Penny. Amber.”

“Perhaps we could meet up again later?” Amber suggested. “After you’re finished with your other friends?”

Ciel paused for a moment. “I would like that,” she said softly, curtsying briefly to Amber before she, too, set off, her skirt bouncing just a little with her steps, the hem rising and falling in small degrees.

That left the members of Team SAPR, and Penny, and Amber.

Sunset felt a little guilty, watching Ciel go off on her own, but at the same time … it wasn’t as though they were close, was it? Possibly, she could have handled things a little better, but Rainbow hadn’t felt the need to bring her along, so why should she?

And besides, it would have been patronising to have offered to include her just because she seemed lonely.

And it wasn’t as though she didn’t have other friends.

Sunset clasped her hands together. “So: group photos, how about it?”

“I’m not really sure what it is,” Amber murmured.

“We all cram into a space that’s really too small for us and make faces for a camera,” Sunset explained, “and that camera takes pictures of us.”

“Oh,” Amber said. She smiled. “Oh, well, when you put it like that, it sounds rather fun.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Penny added, clapping her hands together eagerly.

“It will certainly be a novel experience,” Pyrrha said softly.

“Really?” Jaune asked.

Pyrrha glanced at him. “You’ve done this before?”

“Yeah, when I was a kid with my sisters,” Jaune said. “Okay, now we have to do this.”

“Why not, right?” Ruby asked. “Come on, let’s go.”

“If we can find the place,” Sunset said. “In hindsight, we probably should have been quicker off the mark in following Pinkie and the others.”

Nevertheless, she had seen the direction in which Pinkie had been leading them, and so, the six of them set off in that same direction, moving as fast as they could through the crowds that pressed so thickly all around them, plotting a course through the clumps of friends, the family groups, the big and bulky mobility aids on chairs or spider-like legs who moved brief distances, then stopped as the crowd closed in around them and made it impossible to move forward. As Sunset pushed on, trying to see over the heads of the crowd, looking up at the signs for this or that fairground stall, she felt a hand grasp hers tightly.

As Sunset looked back, she saw that it was Amber’s hand.

“I … I’d rather not lose you,” Amber explained apologetically. She glanced left and then right, at the people pressing close all around, and Sunset felt her hand trembling even as she could see her whole body moving thus. “I didn’t realise there were going to be quite so many people here. I … I’d rather not get lost.”

That was no idle worry. Looking behind her Sunset could see — or perhaps it was better to say that she could not see — that they had lost both Ruby and Penny, and it was only the tallness of Pyrrha and Jaune that meant she could still see them, the gleam of Pyrrha’s circlet beneath her red hair and Jaune’s blond mop giving them away.

Sunset smiled as she closed her fingers around Amber’s hand. “It’s okay,” she said. “We don’t have to do this, you know. We can go back to the dorm room for a bit, maybe—”

“No, no, I want to have some fun,” Amber insisted. “I just … I didn’t realise that fun came with so many other people around.”

“It’s an unfortunate hazard,” Sunset murmured. “Hey, Ruby! Penny! Where are you?”

“We’re here,” came Penny’s voice in reply, although it was yet unmatched by any sign of Penny’s face, or any other part of Penny for that matter. “We’re here, we just—” Penny squeezed through a momentary gap in the crowd, leading Ruby by the sleeve. “And here we are!”

“And so are we,” Pyrrha announced, as she and Jaune rejoined them also. “I hadn’t thought it was possible, but this may be even more crowded than FightFan Expo. Or perhaps I simply didn’t notice because I wasn’t really part of the crowd.” She took a look around. “To be frank, I think that these fairgrounds and the arena could both do with some stewards.”

“We’ve got the Atlesian troops and robots for security,” Ruby pointed out.

“Yes, but can you ask a robot for directions?” Pyrrha replied. “Would you want to approach an Atlesian soldier if … if you had a problem?”

“I suppose it would depend on your problem,” Penny said.

“Yes,” Pyrrha said. “Yes, I think you’re right about that, Penny.”

Amber looked away, her head snapping around to the right. “Do you hear that?” she asked.

Sunset’s brow furrowed. “Hear what?”

“A child,” Amber said. “I can hear a child crying. It’s this way.” She began to pull on Sunset’s hand as she sought to lead the way, pushing into the swirling, bustling crowds. “Excuse me? Excuse me, thank you; can we just get through? Thank you very much.”

Sunset couldn’t hear what Amber heard, but she didn’t let go of Amber’s hand; she allowed herself to be pulled along as Amber now led the way, let the others follow after without prompting.

She couldn’t hear … wait. Wait, she could hear something; it wasn’t exactly easy to make out with so many other sounds, but she could hear something that might be a child crying. She marvelled that Amber had been able to make it out so clearly.

Nevertheless, Amber had heard right; as Sunset followed her through the crowd, she could see the crying child now: a little boy in a sailor suit with blond curls surrounding a chubby face which had not yet escaped its baby fat. Cheeks and eyes alike were red from weeping as sniffling sounds escaped from his trembling lips.

“Oh no,” Amber cried as she swooped down to kneel beside him. She smiled slightly, in a manner which offered encouragement without seeming to make light of the boy’s present troubles. “What’s the matter, little man? Why are you crying?”

The little boy shuffled his feet a little bit. “M-mummy says not to talk to strangers,” he mumbled.

“I’m sure that’s very good advice,” Amber said, her voice calm, soft, with a slightly breathless intonation that made Sunset think of lullabies and bedtime stories. She leaned a little closer to him as the others caught up with them. “My name is Amber Briarrose, and these are my friends, Sunset Shimmer, Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Ruby Rose, and Penny Polendina. You might have seen Penny fight earlier today, did you?”

The little boy looked up at Penny.

Penny waved. “Salutations.”

The little boy nodded. “I remember. You were on the screen.”

“There,” Amber said. “You see? We’re not strangers anymore. So you can tell us what’s wrong, and maybe we can help you?”

The little boy hesitated a second, and then another. “Mummy was talking to someone, and I got really bored, and then I let go of my balloon by accident, and then I chased it, but I couldn’t catch it, and then when I looked around, I couldn’t see Mummy anymore, and I don’t know where she is!” His lip trembled, and then a wordless wail passed between them.

“Oh, dear,” Amber murmured. “Now, now, don’t cry. It will be alright.” She looked up at the others. “Does anybody have a pocket handkerchief? And could I borrow it?”

“Here,” Sunset said, pulling one out of her pants pocket.

“Thank you,” Amber said, taking the handkerchief and beginning to wipe away the tears from the boy’s face with it. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. My friends and I are going to help you find your way back to your mother.”

“We are?” Penny asked.

“Well, we can’t just leave him here, can we?” Amber replied.

“No, no, we can’t,” Ruby agreed. “Although … I’m not sure what we ought to do to actually help.”

“Some stewards would be of great help in this situation,” Pyrrha murmured.

“We have fought our way through Mountain Glenn twice; I am sure that reuniting mother and child is not beyond our wit and talents,” Sunset declared. “That said…” She joined Amber in kneeling down in front of the child. “What’s your mother’s name, kiddo? What’s your name, for that matter?”

“I’m Hans.”

“Nice to meet you, Hans,” Sunset said. “What’s your mom’s name?”

“Mummy.”

“Right,” Sunset muttered. “Of course it is.” She paused for a moment, looking around at her friends and teammates for some ideas.

“You’d think there’d be some rules for this sort of thing,” Jaune observed.

“Maybe we’re supposed to figure it out for ourselves,” Ruby suggested. “It’s like a test from Professor Ozpin. I mean, Sunset’s right; we should be able to figure this stuff out.”

“Kind of rough on Hans there,” Jaune said. “I mean, he never asked to be part of any test.”

“Jaune, let’s focus, okay?” Sunset asked in a tone that was almost imploring. She stood up, and cupped her hands together to shout through them like a bullhorn. “Has anyone lost a little boy named Hans? Has anyone got a son, Hans, that they can’t find? Because we’ve got him here!”

Nobody answered. Nobody even seemed to notice, except for a few people who looked at Sunset as though she was acting in some way strangely. Otherwise, the hustle and bustle of the fairgrounds continued on as normal, men and women and children heading this way and that, squeezing past one another, swirling in crowds, moving according to routes and conventions no less real for being unmarked and unspoken.

“Why don’t we go and look for your mother?” Pyrrha suggested, and now it was her turn to get down on the ground, her knees bending so far that you could see the boot underneath her greaves and cuisses as they came away from one another. “I’ll lift you up above the crowd, and if you see her, then you can shout to her — and to us.”

“That sounds like a very good idea,” Amber said.

Hans hesitated. “Mummy says I’m not supposed to go with strangers either.”

“Well, you’ve already talked to them, so what’s one more step?” asked Sunset.

“Sunset,” Pyrrha said reproachfully.

“I understand,” Amber said. She reached out and brushed her fingertips against Hans’ chubby cheek. “There are a lot of people out there who are scary and dangerous, and it’s good that your mother wants to keep you safe and away from them all.” The smile returned to her face. “But my friends are some of the nicest people in the whole world, and I promise that you’ll be perfectly safe with them.”

Sunset felt her cheeks heat up a little bit and saw that sensation mirrored in the blush colouring Pyrrha’s face.

“Okay,” Hans said. “Thank you.”

“All part of what it means to be a huntress,” Pyrrha said as she picked Hans up and placed him on her shoulders, holding onto his little legs with both hands. “Now, hold onto my hair and don’t let go.”

Hans dug his little fingers into her hair, clinging onto Pyrrha as though she were a horse, and as Pyrrha rose, she lifted him up into the air until he was higher than Sunset, higher than Jaune even; he was set higher and loftier than all of them.

“Do you remember where your mom was when you ran off?” Ruby asked. “Because that might be a good place to start.”

“Do you think she’ll still be there?” asked Penny.

“No, she’ll be looking for her son,” Ruby said, “but she’ll have started there and probably won’t have gone very far.”

“It was…” Hans started, and then trailed off. “I don’t remember.”

“Never mind,” Amber consoled. “We’ll make do. Just keep looking and don’t be afraid to say anything.”

With the added height advantage that being sat on Pyrrha’s shoulders gave him, the crowd no longer presented much of an obstacle to Hans, and as they worked their way through the crowd, it didn’t take him long to … well, the first time turned out to be someone whose hair made her look like his mom from the back, but the second time, it actually was his mother, who was effusively grateful to them for reuniting her with her boy.

“Thank you all, thank you so much,” she said.

“Yes, thank you,” Hans added.

“Not another word!” the woman snapped, as — carrying him — she turned away. “What were you thinking, running off like that? I should take you straight home this instant!”

“But Mummy—”

“Don’t you ‘but Mummy’ me, young man!”

Sunset snorted as she folded her arms. “Another successful mission.”

“It actually is, kind of,” Penny said. “You know that in Atlas, one of the missions available to huntsmen is to escort children to school?”

“Seriously?” Ruby asked. “Like … to school-school? Not to combat school, or—”

“No, these are … I don’t know how small exactly, but they’re very small children,” Penny said. “And it’s not a rare occurrence either, I think they hire a huntsman to do it every day.”

“Have you done it?” asked Ruby.

“Oh, no, of course not,” Penny said. “That’s a job for qualified huntsmen.”

“Is this one of those things where the parents have more money than they know what to do with?” suggested Sunset. “So they’re hiring a huntsman to walk their children to school?”

“I don’t think they have too much money in Mantle,” Penny replied.

“In Mantle?” Sunset repeated. “That is … in Mantle, really?”

“They probably just want their kids to be safe,” Jaune said.

“Safe from what?” Sunset asked.

“Bad drivers?” suggested Jaune. “Anyway, I bet if you look at the job board here in Vale or in Mistral, you’ll find the exact same thing. Atlas isn’t that different from everywhere else. People love their kids and want them to be safe everywhere. It just … I don’t know, the word hasn’t gotten around like it seems to have in Atlas.”

“Leaving all of that aside,” Sunset said, “how did you hear that little boy? I’ve got four ears, and I couldn’t say that I heard him.”

Amber shrugged. “Maybe … your four ears aren’t very good?” she suggested, smiling slightly.

Sunset’s eyebrows rose unamusedly.

“I don’t know,” Amber said. “I just … I heard him, I … I heard him. I can’t explain why I could hear him when you couldn’t, but to me, it was as clear as a bell.”

“For which I am sure he is very grateful,” Pyrrha said.

“Maybe not when his mom gets through with him,” Ruby muttered.

“Amber!” the shout from Dove interrupted them before anyone could say anything else; he emerged sideways from out of the crowd. “I didn’t realise you were finished with Professor Ozpin.”

“Yes, for a little while, I’m sorry,” Amber said, taking a step forward to kiss Dove on the cheek. “I just got a little caught up in things. But now you’re here, you can come with us to take photographs. Can’t he?” she asked, looking at Sunset.

“Unless anyone has any objections,” Sunset said, because there were very few grounds to exclude Dove without also excluding Amber, and Sunset had no desire to be seen as churlish in what was, after all, supposed to be a bit of fun.

And Dove … was a pretty decent guy, wasn’t he, really? Amber loved him, and he seemed reasonably worthy of her love. Why not let him be in their photos, if Amber was? In days to come, when he and Amber both had disappeared off into hiding, they might look back at their photographs and their memories and miss him as much as they missed her.

“It’s fine by me,” said Ruby.

And so, no one else having any objections either, and nobody having changed their minds upon the subject, they resumed their journey towards the photo booth that couldn’t spell. Amber took Sunset’s hand once more, even as she held Dove’s hand with her other, and thus, they made their way through the crowds until they came to the booth that spelled ‘photo’ with an F. As in, the only name that they could come up with for a photo booth was ‘Photo Booth’, which then had to changed to ‘Foto Booth’.

For copyright reasons.

Regardless, there were two booths, both of them rather flimsy-looking cubicles with walls that looked barely thicker than cardboard and beige curtains covering the entrances, but both of them looking reassuringly like they could fit a decent number of people. Sun was loitering outside of one of them, his tail twitching back and forth.

"Hey, Sun," Ruby said. "Whatcha doin' out there?"

"Wouldn't they let you in with the rest of them?" asked Sunset.

"It wouldn't have been right," Sun replied. "I mean, the rest of them don't really know me, and I'd only get in the way. But Blake and I are going to get our own pictures later, so it's all good."

"Maybe I should—" Dove began.

"It's fine, Dove, you're fine; if it wasn't, we would have told you so by now," Sunset assured him. To Sun, she said, "I'm a little surprised they're still in there, to be honest."

From inside one of the photo booths, there came a shrieking sound that sounded like a mingling of Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy's voices, followed by a succession of solid thumps.

"I think they're finding it a bit of a tight squeeze in there," Sun said.

"Will we be alright?" asked Penny, sounding a trifle anxious.

"Yeah," Sunset said. "Yeah, we'll be fine."

"Well," Pyrrha murmured, gently placing a hand on Amber's shoulder.

Ah, right, yes. Sunset felt a twinge of shame for having forgotten. "If you'd rather go somewhere else, then there is a lot of other things that we can enjoy while we're—"

"I'd like to try this," Amber said. "I … I don't know if … once we get inside, I'll let you know if I can manage. I…" She smiled. "I'd like something to remember you all by, too."

Sunset nodded. "Alright then," she said. "Let's get in there before someone snatches the booth out from under us.

One of the minor benefits of being Vytal Festival contestants was that the fairground activities — although not the food — were free, presumably on the grounds that there wouldn't be all of this hoopla without them, or perhaps taking pity on the students who might not have very much money. Either way, all Sunset had to do was hold up her scroll to a little reader beside the curtained-off entrance to the booth, and a beeping sound and the flash of a green light provided her cue to go on in.

The back wall of the booth was a sort of turquoise, slightly heavier on the green than the blue, and sat in the middle of the booth was something that resembled a table more than a bench, with more space at the back than would be required for someone to sit on it, even sitting all the way back with their knees on the wood.

Ruby, Penny, Amber, and Dove sat down at the front, while Sunset, Pyrrha, and Jaune knelt down on their knees behind them, not set too high above the others while still being visible over their heads. As they took their places, they could hear the voices of the Atlesians in the next booth.

"Okay," Twilight said, "Pinkie, get down from the ceiling for a second; Applejack, you and Rarity—"

"Should one of us be on the ceiling?" asked Penny.

"I wouldn't advise it, since none of us are Pinkie Pie," Sunset said. "Just … everyone do something fun."

"Can … can we do something sweet, first?" asked Amber tentatively. "I … I want to remember this."

There was a moment of silence as Pyrrha snaked her arms around Jaune and Sunset's shoulders. "I think that we can manage something sweet," she said.

Both Sunset and Jaune reached up and placed a hand on top of one of Pyrrha's; Penny tried to put her arm around Ruby but succeeded in getting her in a headlock instead, although Ruby didn't look too discomfited by it and joined Penny in giving a peace sign to the camera.

Amber leaned on Penny's shoulder, even as she reached out and took Dove's hand — both of his hands, in fact, the two enfolding hers; she blinked rapidly, almost as though she were trying to blink back tears.

"Amber," Sunset murmured. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Amber said quickly. "Yes, everything's fine, I just … I wish … I'm really very happy right now."

There was a bright flash of light as the first picture was taken.

"Aww," Ruby said. "We're happy too, Amber."

"Yep," Sunset said. She paused for a moment. "Hey, Pyrrha, I'm sorry about this."

"Sorry about wah!" Pyrrha cried, as Sunset grabbed her by the arm and the sash and, arms straining, pitched her forwards, half-tossing her into Penny and Ruby.

There was a bright flash of light as the image froze on Pyrrha, arms flailing, face a mask of surprise, while Penny and Ruby were thrown forwards, Jaune was caught by an errant kick from Pyrrha's boots, and Dove pulled Amber out of the way.

Pyrrha, Penny, and Ruby landed in a heap on the floor in front of the table. Pyrrha, her hair looking slightly more frazzled than it had been a moment earlier, sat up and gave Sunset something of a glare with her green eyes.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked.

"Not necessary, no," Sunset allowed. With one hand she gestured to the screen. "But worthwhile, I hope you will agree."

Pyrrha's mouth twisted into something like a pout as she glanced towards the screen, which yet preserved the image of herself in her astonishment.

"Startlement can be amusing, I suppose," she allowed, before she held out her hand towards Sunset.

Sunset just had time to notice the black outline around her glove before she was hoisted into the air by her cuirass, gripped in an invisible hand which, unlike Penny, she had not the power to get out of.

The camera captured her in mid-flight, suspended like a flying character in a play as though the Atlesians in the next booth were hauling her up with wires.

The next shot captured Sunset falling as Pyrrha dropped her down onto the wooden table.

The next shot after that captured Sunset's laughter.

She gave a thumbs-up to Pyrrha. "Perfect."

Pyrrha's eyebrows rose. "Really? I … I'm happy to oblige."

Sunset rolled onto her side, propping up her head on her elbow as she offered a sultry look, or at least what she imagined a sultry look, straight to the camera.

Her face was hidden behind that of Penny as she popped up in front of her.

"Oh," Penny said. "Sorry, Sunset."

"Don't worry, Penny," Sunset said, ruffling Penny's hair with one hand. "That was perfect too."

After that, smaller numbers of the group took the booth for themselves for a picture or two: Jaune and Pyrrha made a heart with their hands; Sunset and Pyrrha stood back to back; Amber and Dove spent so long in there together that Sunset got a little worried, only to pull back the curtain and find them making out alone; Penny had a photo with Ruby, then Pyrrha, then Sunset each in turn.

Once they had all the pictures they wanted — and possibly more pictures of Amber and Dove kissing than anyone but them needed — Ruby's stomach began to growl.

"Good point," Sunset said. "We should look for something to eat."

That proved to be easier said than done. Well, to be fair, finding somewhere selling food was quite easy; there were lots of places across the fairgrounds that were selling anything from noodles to burgers to waffles to macaroni, and while a lot of options tended towards the meaty, it would have been unfair to say that there was nothing for the palates of Sunset or Amber. No, the issue was not availability, rather a combination of queuing up — there were long lines everywhere — and seats, or the lack thereof.

The large crowds that made navigating the fairgrounds a tricky prospect meant that the designated seating area in the southeast corner of the fairground was completely full up, every seat sat on, every table surrounded by faces of all ages, and people without seats surrounding the area like predators watching the herds, pacing back and forth as they waited for seats and tables to become available. No sooner did one group rise than someone would snatch up the table in an instant, with barely seconds passing without chairs occupied.

"That doesn't bode well," Jaune murmured.

They wandered up to Benni Haven's, only to find the situation was no better there, every single one of the tables and chairs that she had put outside being now taken up and people obviously waiting for them to become vacant.

Sunset sighed. "How do we feel about grabbing take-out and … taking it back to our room?"

"Do we have any other options?" asked Ruby.

"There's the rooftop," Jaune suggested. "The view is better from up there than from the dorm room."

Sunset considered that. "You've got a point about that. Any objections?"

Amber shook her head. "That sounds fine."

So they picked up something — noodles, with various additions or none at all, served by an old guy with a strangely familiar face — and made the short trek up the various staircases of the dorm room, feeling the heat of the cardboard noodle boxes in their hands, until Sunset opened the door and led the way out onto the rooftop.

Only when she got there did she find that Team WWSR had beaten them to it.

Cardin was squatting on one of the pipes that ran along the back wall, Russel was sat cross-legged on the roof itself nearby, Flash was leaning against the wall on the other side of the door, while Weiss had made a makeshift chair for herself out of a pale white glyph and was sitting on it suspended about level with Flash's face, her legs dangling.

"Oh," Sunset murmured. "I didn't expect to find you guys here."

"In spite of the fact that many people seem to have difficulty remembering this, this is the rooftop above our dorm room," Weiss replied, a touch of asperity entering her voice. "We have as much right to be here as anyone, and more than most." She paused a moment. "That being said, there's plenty of room if you'd like to join us."

"Are you sure?" asked Ruby, peeking around Sunset. "We don't want to disturb you."

"It's fine," Weiss assured them. "There's nothing that we need our privacy for."

"Thank you," Sunset murmured as she walked forward, sidling around Weiss and her glyph and approaching the edge of the roof, the others following on behind her.

"Yes, thank you, Weiss," Penny said. "It's very kind of you."

"No, it isn't," Weiss said. "But at the same time … I appreciate the compliment, today of all days."

Sunset frowned, wondering just what she meant by that and wondering whether Weiss would appreciate being asked. Instead, turning to face Weiss and the rest of Team WWSR, she said, "So, you guys couldn't find anywhere to sit and eat either?"

"You could say that," Weiss murmured.

"Yeah, you could say that," Russel said, almost smirking. "You could also say that we're hiding."

"'Hiding'?" Jaune repeated. "Hiding from what?"

Russel's eyebrows climbed so high that it was only his lack of hair that prevented them from disappearing out of sight. "Really, mate? Really?"

Jaune looked at Weiss. "Oh! Oh, yeah, right."

"What is it?" asked Amber.

"It doesn't matter," Sunset told her.

"My father … became rather embarrassed recently," Weiss explained. "Some of his employees turned out to have been behaving poorly, and he was blamed for it. And, as his daughter, I have been blamed by some also. Hence we dine on the rooftop, which is out of bounds to visitors."

"But … everyone will see you once the match starts," Penny pointed out. "Won't they?"

"One would hope so," Weiss murmured, "but when the match starts, I will be able to defend myself, in a sense at least; I will let my actions speak for me, in ways that words never could."

Penny blinked. "But nothing that you can do in the tournament will make any difference to anything about your father, or the Schnee Dust Company," she said. "I … I don't understand."

"You understand well enough, I think," Weiss said. "I cannot hope to launder the reputation of my father or his company by my victories, by the victories I hope to win, but if I can win some glory for myself, then there may be those who will be able to overlook the name I could not choose in favour of the deeds they have seen me do."

"Glory in arms wipes away many sins," Pyrrha murmured. "Especially those sins that were not of one’s own choosing."

"It isn't only Weiss who could do with that," Cardin muttered. "We could all use a little sprinkling of tournament glory to season our reputations right now."

"Speak for yourself," Russel said. "Nobody thinks anything bad about me except because I'm associated with you three racists."

"Russel," Weiss said. "Don't."

"I was only joking."

"And it wasn't funny," Weiss said. "Don't."

"Unfortunately," Flash said, "he's not exactly wrong."

"Weiss, I can understand for all that it isn't right," Sunset said, "but the Cardin stuff? Water under the bridge at this point, surely?"

Cardin shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. The point is, it would be nice to have something to point to instead of that when people talk about this team."

"Indeed," Weiss murmured. "This team does not enjoy the exalted reputation of Team Sapphire; we will not walk into the arena trailing clouds of glory in our wake. We…" She trailed off, and fell silent. "Do any of you ever think about the road not taken?"

Pyrrha took a step to one side. "How do you mean?"

"I mean," Weiss said, and then fell momentarily silent as she chewed upon some fries. Only after she had swallowed did she resume speaking, "I mean, think back to Initiation—"

"That seems a really long time ago," Ruby said.

"Indeed," Weiss murmured. "Indeed. So much has happened since then, and yet … when we look back, we can recall our plans, yes? Those of us who had plans, who knew which partners we wanted, and perhaps what teams?" She looked at Pyrrha. "I suppose it will come as no surprise to you to learn that I was set on you being my partner, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha smiled slightly. "Yes, I rather gathered that."

"And I still maintain that we would have made a very good team," Weiss said. "But, at the same time, I am glad that I have not soiled your reputation by association with my … current troubles. You deserve … you don't deserve that."

"Perhaps more to the point," Pyrrha replied, "I think you'd have to concede that we have both been very fortunate in the partners that fate chose for us."

"'Fate'?" Ruby said. "We found Jaune pinned to a tree with your weapon."

The eyes of Team WWSR — and Penny, to whom all this was also new — turned to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha's face began to redden somewhat. "Well … my sense of destiny allows me a degree of freedom of choice. I am neither bound nor wholly beholden to random acts of chance."

Cardin snorted. "You should try that excuse next time you get caught cheating."

"Pyrrha doesn't cheat," Sunset said.

"Except in matters of the heart, it would seem," Weiss said softly, a smile playing across her pale lips.

Pyrrha's face remained as red as it had been before. "I … it all worked out well in the end, did it not?"

"Oh, I'm not judging you," Weiss assured her. "You knew what you wanted, and you pursued it; who can fault you for that? However, it does make speculating on what might have been a little pointless."

“It’s pointless because there is so much that could have changed, so many decisions, so many chances that we had to do things differently,” Sunset said, “that trying to work out what might have happened is … anything might have happened.”

And, in some cases, if you wonder too hard, then you might not like the answer that looks back at you.

“Sometimes,” Ruby murmured. “Sometimes, it’s better not to know, not to think about it, just … accept what is. Sometimes … sometimes, it’s better that way.”

Sunset raised one eyebrow. Something we agree on; that’s surprising enough, but if we agree for the same reasons, I’ll be very surprised indeed.

Weiss sighed. “You’re both right, of course. All we can really do is face the world and the future that lies before us. Still … I would have said that there was a certain irony in the fact that I wanted to be Pyrrha’s partner, Jaune wanted to be my partner, and in the end, we neither got the partner that we wanted, but … well, once I found out that Pyrrha had arranged everything—”

“I did nothing of the sort,” Pyrrha insisted.

“No, no, you simply…” Weiss paused. “I suppose I simply wondered, because, as I was about to say, Team Wisteria does not enjoy the sort of reputation that Team Sapphire possesses, if you and I had been partners, then we would share a reputation, for good or ill, but as it is … nothing comes before us into the arena, I fear, but the odium of our unfortunate connections, the slanders that we do not deserve but have built up around us nonetheless by association. That … it’s not good, obviously, but at the same time … if there is anywhere we can give good account of ourselves and win a positive reputation in our own right, unconnected to our names, our pasts, what nonsense we’ve become associated with … if there is anywhere, then it is the Amity Colosseum, no? Here, we may show that we are more than names.”

“If we wish,” Pyrrha said.

Weiss nodded her head, conceding the point. “Yes, if we wish.”

Pyrrha smiled. “You are confident, then?” she asked. “I daresay you would not speak so if you did not believe that you could win at least the first round.”

“Team Indigo aren’t that tough,” Cardin said.

“You shouldn’t be overconfident,” Dove warned.

“I’m not overconfident,” Cardin replied. “They’re the ones who are probably overconfident because, like Weiss says, we haven’t got a reputation except a bad one. Nobody thinks that we’re any good, that we have it together. And those Indigo girls are full of themselves anyway; they’ll think they have this in the bag, and they’ll make mistakes because of it.”

“That is the hope,” Weiss said. “Otherwise … as we proved at the Last Shot, Team Wisteria is not the mess that it once was. We will prove it again, before the eyes of Remnant.”

Pyrrha nodded. “In Mistral, it is said that that which we inherit, in accomplishment or virtue, will be coated over by our own deeds for good or ill; only by doing nothing will you preserve the gold, or coal, exactly as it was bequeathed to you.”

“Whatever I may do,” Weiss said. “Whatever the outcome of this tournament, whatever happens to me, to all of us, in future, one thing I certainly do not intend to do is nothing at all.” She paused. “Since fate, and you, saw to it that we cannot be teammates, then we must be rivals, for this tournament at least.” She lifted her chin up, so that she almost seemed to be looking down at Pyrrha in spite of the fact that, even elevated as Weiss was, Pyrrha was still the taller. “Look for me in the final rounds.”

Pyrrha took a step towards her. “I will,” she said. “And I will look forward to it.”

Comments

[Stet709]

“It actually is, kind of,” Penny said. “You know that in Atlas, one of the missions available to huntsmen is to escort children to school?”

Ha, I love the callback to Volume 7 and the mission Jaune signed up for, the one that got him the attention of the moms.

For Wisteria, it ain't easy being Beacon's C-team

[Mastermind4892]

This was so wholesome, so beautiful, so full of life’s simple pleasures. And the simplest pleasures are the best in the world.

Why do we fight? To protect home and family. The true question is… what is worth fighting for?