Confidence (New)
Confidence
There was a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Rainbow said as she got up off the bed and strode across the dorm room. She grabbed the door handle in one hand and pulled the door open.
Penny stood on the other side of the door, alone.
“Hey, Penny,” Rainbow said, leaning sideways a little bit to look around Penny for any evidence of Ruby — or anyone else, for that matter. “No Ruby with you?”
“Uh … no,” Penny murmured. “No, she’s gone back to her — to the dorm room. Um…” She pressed her forefingers together. “Can I come in?”
Rainbow took a step back. “It’s still your room, Penny; you can come in if you want to.”
“Well, actually…” Penny started, but then trailed off, walking in without saying anything. Shutting the door without saying anything too, and doing so quietly, as if she was trying not to make a noise.
“Good evening, Penny,” Ciel said. “We were not expecting you.”
“How did it go?” asked Blake. “With Professor Ozpin.”
“Is Sunset coming back?” asked Rainbow Dash. The best that could be hoped for, in Rainbow’s opinion, was for Professor Ozpin to give Ruby a talking to and set her straight about all of this; since he had known all about what Sunset had done and decided to give her a pass on it, that shouldn’t be that hard.
What Sunset had done … what Sunset had done…
“I … sir, I wasn’t … the grimm, there were … I wasn’t fast enough. I’m sorry, sir.”
“You did your best, Dash. Everyone knows that. I know that.”
If I’d done my best, sir, he’d still be here.
There was nothing glorious about dying. You could stick someone’s picture up on These Are My Jewels until it fell off or turned to mush or blew away in the wind; you could remember them for as long as your memory lasted; you could hold their memories close, but they were still gone, and their loss … their loss was still a tragedy. There were times when Rainbow didn’t understand how someone who had lost their mother so young couldn’t get that.
Rainbow could tell herself that there were things that she would die for, if pushed to it; she would die for Blake, for Twilight, for Applejack or Pinkie or Fluttershy or Rarity; she would die for Ciel if she had to, and as awful as it was to admit it, if that train had been rattling down the line towards Atlas, she probably would have taken a much dimmer view of Sunset’s actions because Atlas was home and heart, while Vale was … not those things, but even with that list, she wouldn’t go looking for ways to sacrifice herself because, like she’d told Sunset, you could only give your life once, so you had an obligation to make it count because you weren’t going to get a do-over if it turned out that you’d wasted your sacrifice.
If Cinder had let the grimm eat all of them before she blew up the mine anyway, then they’d all feel pretty stupid in the next life, wouldn’t they?
And someone would have had to tell Apple Bloom that she was never going to see her big sister again.
Like I had to tell the General that I was too late to save his son. The look in his eyes, that was … she would never forget that look, the way that his eyes had darkened visibly before her own, the way the light had left them.
She was so, so very glad that Apple Bloom hadn’t had to go through that; she was more glad than … than she could say.
What Sunset had done … okay, maybe they had responsibilities to the people of Vale, but what about their responsibilities to the people that they had led into that situation, that incredibly messed-up situation? Especially when Vale had General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin looking out for it, the only people who Applejack and Blake and Pyrrha and Jaune and, yes, Ruby had had looking out for them down in that tunnel were Sunset and Rainbow Dash.
What Sunset had done … okay, Ruby, you win, pulling the trigger herself was not the best thing that Sunset could have done. She ought to have called Cinder’s bluff and made her pull the trigger herself, get the blood on her hands. But at the same time, Rainbow didn’t think that Sunset needed to regret it the way that she did, and she didn’t like the way that Ruby just declared it to be the worst thing ever in that tone that brooked no argument.
What Sunset had done, she had done for the sake of her team, she had done for the sake of the people that she loved, and she had done it all, moreover, because she was scared, because she was in a situation that she hadn’t wanted to be in in the first place, and Cinder yammering away in her ears probably hadn’t helped either.
Sunset had made a mistake. There, Rainbow had said it, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t an even bigger mistake to do what Ruby had done all on her high horse, full of self-righteousness, and kick Sunset out over that mistake because nobody good would ever do anything like that.
Like good people never made mistakes.
Like the best people never made mistakes.
It wasn’t a reason to throw them out on their ear afterwards. And Sunset … Team Sapphire, or whatever it ended up being called next, was better off with Sunset as some part of it than not. Whatever mistakes she had made, Rainbow believed that.
What Ruby had done was a loss to her team, and if Professor Ozpin made her see that — or at least accept it — then so much the better, as far as Rainbow Dash was concerned.
“Rainbow Dash?” Penny asked. “Are you okay?”
“What?” Sorry,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “Was I thinking too much?” She grinned. “First time for everything, right?”
Penny cocked her head to one side. “Are you okay?”
“I … no, not really,” Rainbow admitted. “This whole business with Sunset, it’s … it’s got me thinking about stuff. Some stuff that I would rather not think about.”
“What kind of stuff?” asked Penny.
“I don’t think—” Blake began.
“A death,” Rainbow said, her voice turning a little hoarse. “A … friend. Before your time.” She frowned. “Penny, will you make me a promise? I know that I don’t have any claim on you, none of us do, I know that we aren’t your real friends, but … please. For … Please. Promise me something.”
Penny cocked her head to one side. “What?”
“There’s nothing grand and glorious about death, Penny,” Rainbow declared. “And don’t let Ruby convince you otherwise.” She paused for a moment. “When it’s an hour to play and the last man in, the last man fights to win the game regardless, and that’s how the schoolboy rallies the ranks, when Atlas is far off, and honour is a word. So fight to win and fight to live. Promise me that, Penny, you won’t just give up and decide that it’s nobler or braver or anything else to quit. Promise me, Penny, that you’ll fight to live, even if that means living to fight another day rather than going out in a blaze of glory. Because it won’t be glorious, not really, especially not for the people you leave behind.”
“I … I don’t know what you’re asking me,” Penny replied. “I won’t abandon my friends—”
“I’m not asking you to do that!” Rainbow said. “It’s partly for your friends that I’m asking this, just … before you lie down and die, at least promise me that you’ll think about everything else that you could do instead; that’s all I’m really asking for.”
“Oh,” Penny said. “Well, of course I can promise you that, that’s easy!”
“I hope so,” Rainbow muttered. “But, anyway, leaving that aside, how did it go?”
Penny’s face fell. “Sunset isn’t coming back.”
“That was always an unlikely outcome,” Ciel said. “Leaving aside whether it was desirable.”
“I mean, Professor Ozpin knew what she’d done, and he was fine with her sticking around,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Did he say why he’d done that?” Blake asked. “Let Sunset stay, I mean.”
“He had a few reasons,” Penny said. “He said that he thought that Sunset would do more good here at Beacon than anywhere else.”
“That’s what I said!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Did he mention Amber?”
“Yes, he did,” Penny replied.
“Right?” Rainbow cried. “Team Sapphire, and all of us, are better off with Sunset inside the tent instead of … wherever she ends up.”
“Six people in Vale are not better off,” Ciel pointed out.
“I never said she didn’t make any mistakes,” Rainbow replied. “But just because someone has made a mistake doesn’t mean that they aren’t good and useful to have around. And besides, you saw how Sunset was; does that seem like the kind of person who would do the same thing over again?”
Ciel hesitated for a moment. “How did General Ironwood take it, when he discovered the truth?”
“I don’t really know,” Penny admitted. “He didn’t show much of a reaction. He just kind of stood there. But he stopped Ruby when she started to make the same point to Professor Ozpin over again. He said that she was almost showing disrespect.”
“I see,” Ciel murmured. “Doubtless, it is the general’s respect for Professor Ozpin that prevents him from expressing a view. What is done is done, after all, and wringing of hands and verbal rebukes will not change anything.”
“You could say the same thing about Sunset,” Rainbow pointed out.
“There is a difference between keeping quiet about something that another has done and actually doing the thing,” replied Ciel. “One must allow others their opinions, after all; Professor Ozpin has his view, shared by you, that Sunset’s utility in the fight against Salem is worth covering up her actions. That is … a view, I suppose. On a strict judgement of utility, severed from all other considerations, I would be hard put to disagree, although I would rather not sever the moral considerations completely.”
“Ruby’s uncle says he sometimes has to work with criminals,” Penny said. “Murderers and thieves, in Mistral and the like.”
“That would explain why he is dressed like one,” Ciel muttered. “Nevertheless, I would prefer to have some standards. My point is, whether or not the business should have been concealed by those who knew of it is a question over which I can concede that people may reasonably disagree. The doing of the business itself, I am afraid is not.”
She paused. “Nevertheless, I am not blind to your concerns. I fear that, in Sunset’s absence, Team Sapphire may prove more fragile than it might seem.”
“That partly depends on whether they stay at three people,” Rainbow said. “Pyrrha’s great, and Ruby’s a good shot, and Jaune has that semblance … but he’s also not that great in a fight, even with that new sword and all the work that Pyrrha’s put into him, so … they could do with a fourth person.”
She looked at Penny. As much as Sunset’s departure was to be regretted, there was at least one way in which it solved the problem of what Penny would do at Beacon next year. After all, everyone had been thinking about how it would be great if Penny could join Team SAPR with her friends, and now, there was a spot available.
I’m sure Sunset wouldn’t mind. She’d probably mind a lot less than anyone else who might take her place.
“Did they say anything about the future of the team?” asked Twilight.
Penny nodded. “They … Professor Ozpin asked me to join Team … Team Sapphire, seeing as I’m going to transfer to Beacon anyway.”
“Result!” Rainbow said. “Congratulations, Penny.”
Penny looked up at her. “Should I be happy?”
“Maybe not, in the circumstances,” Rainbow admitted. “But, you know, you can still admit that this is a good thing for you. This means that you won’t have to worry about making new friends, about being put into a team that doesn’t get you or appreciate you. You’ll be in the bosom of the people who love you best of all.”
“But I didn’t want it like this!” Penny cried.
Rainbow put a hand on Penny’s shoulder. “I get that, Penny, believe me. We all get that. But we aren’t always fortunate enough to get exactly what we want in precisely the way we want it, so it’s important to remember the bits of good luck that we have; otherwise, you just end up getting overwhelmed by all the bad.”
“But maybe don’t seem too pleased in the circumstances,” Blake murmured. “So, who’s going to be the leader of this team? Is it Ruby, as she thought, or is it Pyrrha?”
“It…” Penny bowed her head. “It’s me.”
“It’s you?” Rainbow repeated. “S—” She bit that back before she could actually say it, because judging by the way that Penny was standing there and hanging her head like a tired out old horse, she hadn’t come here in order to be put down on her fitness for leadership. And, you know, why not Penny? Maybe she wasn’t everyone’s idea of what a leader should be, but neither was Trixie, and she was a pretty good team leader.
The one thing that concerned Rainbow Dash about Penny’s ability to lead the team was whether or not she could fake it. Penny, bless her, wore her heart on her sleeve, which wasn’t a bad thing by any means, but as leader that was something she couldn’t always afford.
Could she put it away?
Time would tell, Rainbow supposed. At the very least, she ought to be given the chance.
Rainbow grinned. “Why didn’t you say so earlier, Penny? Congratulations!” She put her hands on her hips. “How does it feel?”
“Terrifying,” Penny said. “Professor Ozpin said that I’d do fine, and I promised him that I’d do my best, but … I don’t know the first thing about being a leader! And Professor Ozpin said that was fine because I’m here at a school to learn—”
“A very valid point.”
“But what if we have to go on a mission, like to Mountain Glenn or something?” Penny asked. “What if I have to actually step up?” She paused. “That’s why I came here, to see you. I … I was hoping that you could give me some advice.”
“Well, every leader is different, Penny,” Rainbow said. “That’s lesson number one.” She held up one finger of her right hand. “You won’t be a good leader if you just try and copy someone else, even a successful leader, because part of being a good leader is using what makes you you and making it work for you. Yes, even though there is an element of faking it — which we’ll get to in a second — you can’t be too obvious a fake, or everyone will see through it, and nobody will take you seriously. You have to find a style that feels like an extension of your personality.”
Penny blinked. “But what does that mean?”
“It means that you are friendly, outgoing, and kind-hearted,” Ciel said. “And your leadership should seek to reflect and make use of those qualities, not hide them.”
“Exactly; if you tried to act like a hard-ass in front of Ruby or Pyrrha or Jaune, it would be ridiculous, not least because they know that isn’t you,” Rainbow said. “Luckily, you’re already their friend, so you’ve got that covered, and you don’t need to stop being their friend just because you’re their leader, you … leadership needs to be believed, that’s the most important thing. Ninety percent of leadership is convincing other people: that you know what you’re doing, that their lives are safe in your hands, that you know how to win, how to get to where you need to go. And to be convincing, it needs to feel like it came from you.”
“But what about strategy, and—?”
“That’s lesson number two,” Rainbow said, adding a second finger. “Don’t feel like you have to do everything yourself; you have a team so that you can rely on them and use their strengths as well as your own. If there’s someone on your team who is a good strategist, use that, use Pyrrha to take the lead in battle while you support from the mid-range, use Ruby to scout ahead. Or don’t; you’re the leader, so you can make your own judgement about who is best placed where, but the point is that you don’t need to know everything; you just need to know who can do what.
“Which brings us to lesson number three,” Rainbow went on, raising the third finger on her hand. “Confidence. You can’t be nervous, you can’t be afraid … okay, let me unpack that one a little bit more; you can acknowledge that things are tough. In fact, it’s essential that you do acknowledge it when things are tough, because — and this goes back to lesson one again — if you pretend like everything is cool and it’s all going to be a breeze, then you’ll just come over like you’re full of it when the going gets tough, and nobody will take you seriously. That’s why part two of every speech has to be about how things aren’t that great.”
“Really?”
“Yes, every speech has to have five paragraphs saying pretty much the same thing in the same order,” Rainbow informed her. “They’re kind of boring … but it’s been that way for like a thousand years or more, so I guess there’s a good reason why it hasn’t changed in all that time. Anyway, the point is, while you have to acknowledge that things are rough, you also have to — you absolutely have to — make sure that everyone knows that they’re going to get through this. Because you have the plan. Because you have advantages.”
“What if we don’t—?”
“If you don’t have some advantages, Penny, you shouldn’t be fighting,” Rainbow said. “Call that lesson number four. You should always know how and why you are going to win a fight, and then your job as leader is to make sure your team knows it too. So, no offence, no more of this slumping your shoulders and clasping your hands together stuff.” She clasped Penny by the shoulders. “But really, being a leader isn’t all that hard. Just keep your chin up, and it’ll all be fine. You’ll do great, I promise.”
Confidence.
Confidence.
Rainbow's words rang in Penny's ears as she walked down the corridor towards the Team SA—
Towards her dorm room. Her dorm room. She was a part of Team SAPR now.
She was the leader of Team SAPR.
To be a part of this team was a dream come true.
To lead it was the last thing she wanted.
And she wasn't even allowed to say so because a good leader was confident.
Most of the time, anyway.
It probably wouldn't be a good start if she went into the dorm room and started moaning or moping or … other things that might or might not start with an M.
Confidence.
But confidence in what?
Even the dream of her joining Team SAPR had been … well, the fact that it wasn't really Team SAPR anyway kind of put a damper on things. Maybe the name would change — Penny supposed that it would have to, although even to think about it at this point felt wrong, felt wrong on a deep, endoskeletal level, as though she were in a rush to jump into Sunset's grave and she wasn't even dead — but even if it didn't, it still wouldn't be quite the same team that Penny had dreamed of joining.
Not without Sunset.
Yes, she had done a bad thing, but all the same … she was Penny's friend. And Penny would miss her.
Perhaps they would see each other again. Penny hoped so, although Ruby probably wouldn't feel the same way.
In the meantime…
In the meantime, Penny was supposed to lead Sunset's team.
With confidence, if she could find any.
She had to find some. She had to do her best; she had to do better than her best, she had to do a good job, not only for Ruby and Jaune and Pyrrha, but also for Sunset too.
Sunset would want her friends to be in safe hands.
Penny remembered Mountain Glenn; she remembered when they had still been above ground, before they had descended down into the dark; in particular, Penny remembered the way that Sunset had gone down the line, with a few words for everyone to make them feel better. It seemed that Sunset hadn't been feeling that great herself, considering what she had done afterwards, but all the same, she had made everyone else feel better, including Penny herself.
Now, it was Penny's job to make everyone feel better.
She just had to find the words.
Penny thrust her shoulders back — maybe a little too far back; it felt as though she was about to fall over — as she approached the door.
Her door.
She could do this. She could do this for Sunset and everyone else. She had found her freedom, and her Freedom; she had done everything that she had ever wanted to. She could do this too.
Confidence.
Father, I may not be showing off everything that I can do in the Colosseum the way you wanted, but if I can make a success of this, if I can do this the way that Professor Ozpin thinks I can, then … that’ll be worth more to me.
And maybe, if you find out about it, it’ll mean something to you too.
It would definitely mean something to Dad. He would be overjoyed when she told him about it; it was a pity that she didn’t have time to call him and tell him, but she didn’t. She’d already delayed enough by going to talk to Rainbow Dash. If she waited any longer, then they might start to think she was scared.
It was the same reason she couldn’t call Sunset — that, and she might be driving and Penny didn’t want to cause an accident.
No, she couldn’t stand here — or anywhere else, for that matter — calling other people to tell them the good news or getting their advice on how to do this.
She just had to do it.
With confidence.
What would Sunset do?
No … what will I do?
Penny opened the door and stepped into the— into her dorm room.
Everyone else was already there; her friends were already there, her teammates were already there, her … the members of her team were already there.
And Amber, of course.
And Dove too. Penny hadn’t been sure whether he would still be here or not. She didn’t mind Dove, not by any means; he seemed like a perfectly nice young man, and Amber clearly liked him a lot — in some ways, he reminded her of Jaune, and not just because they were both blond with blue eyes, although there was that too — but at the same time, Penny couldn’t really that she knew him very well.
He was around, but she didn’t feel uncomfortable having him around, but at the same time, this might have been a little easier without him here.
But she wasn’t going to ask him to go; that wouldn’t have been very nice.
Amber was sitting on Sunset’s bed, holding onto Sunset’s stuffed unicorn — Amber’s stuffed unicorn now, the same way that Sunset’s team was now Penny’s team — with both arms, while Dove sat next to her, one arm around her shoulders. Pyrrha and Jaune were sat much the same way, only without the stuffed unicorn; Pyrrha was resting her head on Jaune’s shoulder. Ruby was sat in the window seat, except that she got up when Penny came in.
Everyone looked at her as the door shut behind her.
Confidence.
“Salutations,” Penny said, because Rainbow had told her that it was best to be herself — well, sort of, mostly; it seemed like it kind of depended; she had to fake it a little bit but not be too fake, and so … salutations.
She couldn’t quite say it with her usual enthusiasm, however; that wouldn’t have felt right, and she couldn’t have managed it anyway.
It was hard work being a leader, wasn’t it? Even a word was a hard choice.
Don’t hesitate. Don’t hesitate. Get it all out in one go. “I don’t know if you’ve heard—”
“Ruby told us,” Jaune said. “You’re the new team leader now, right?”
“That’s right,” Penny said. “Professor Ozpin has asked me to lead Team— to lead this team. F—” She stopped herself from saying ‘for now, anyway.’ That might not have seemed very confident.
Pyrrha raised her head off Jaune’s shoulder. “I suppose … it feels as though congratulations are in order, and yet, at the same time, it does not … if it does not upset you to say so.”
Penny smiled, but only a little bit. “I understand, Pyrrha.” She did what she’d seen Pyrrha do on TV once, which was to speak kind of slowly so that she had more time to think about what she was going to say before she said it without actually seeming to need to stop and think. Penny had thought that was pretty clever at the time, and it would certainly come in handy now. “There was a time, until very, very recently, when I would have loved to have been a part of this team. I still do love the fact that I get to be a part of this team. Ever since I met the three of you — Ruby, Pyrrha, Jaune — you’ve all been so kind to me. You’ve offered me nothing but kindness, respect, and friendship. To be honest, you were the main reason why I wanted to come to Beacon in the first place. I didn’t want to go back to Atlas and be without you, even though I didn’t know exactly where in this school I’d end up. The idea that I’d end up here, with you, it would have seemed like the most amazing thing in the world.
“It still is amazing. But things are different now. Things are different, and I’m not going to pretend that they’re not. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t miss Sunset, and I’m sure that some of you miss her as well, because Sunset was all of our friend, or at least, I think she tried to be.
“I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to take Sunset’s place, I didn’t want to be the leader of this team. But Professor Ozpin has asked me to be your leader, and I know that if we work together, if we work as hard as you’ve all worked up until now, then we can still be the great team that Team Sapphire was before.”
Now Penny paused; she had to pause for a second because even speaking slowly, she’d run out of things to say. No, wait, no, she hadn’t! No, there was something else.
“I know that none of you asked for me to be your leader,” Penny said, “but now that I am your leader, if you’ll follow me, I promise that I’ll give one hundred percent — which is the maximum that you can give, in spite of the way people talk about a hundred and ten percent, by the way — to serving you and to being the team leader that you deserve. Because you guys are all amazing. You’re the most precious people in the whole world to me.”
“Don’t say that,” Ruby said sharply.
Penny blinked. She’d been hoping for a more supportive reaction, to be honest. “Huh?”
“Don’t say that,” Ruby repeated. “Sunset … Sunset thought that, and it led her astray. The people come first, and the mission, not us.”
Penny didn’t say anything to that. She felt as though she should, she almost felt as though … she felt a little bit annoyed that Ruby had said that, to be honest. She supposed that she could understand why, but it also felt as though Ruby was deliberately challenging her. No, no, Ruby wouldn’t do that, would she? Not after what she’d said in the elevator; she’d seemed so supportive.
So why was she trying to cut Penny down now?
Probably, she wasn’t; probably, she was just afraid that Penny would end up making the same mistakes that Sunset did.
That didn’t mean that it helped Penny to say it like that.
Penny knew, or thought she knew, that she needed to say something, to reply to Ruby, but … but she couldn’t think. What was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to take back what she’d said? But what would it mean if she did?
Pyrrha got to her feet, with one hand smoothing out her sash. “I…” She glanced at Ruby. “I accept your words in the spirit in which they were intended, Penny,” she said. “Good words, and gracious.” She paused for a second. “It is a weighty promise that you have just made to us.”
“I’m not Sunset,” Penny said. “You can speak normally to me if you want to.”
Pyrrha laughed, and as she laughed, she covered her mouth with one hand. “Forgive me, Penny. It’s just that there are times when it is very easy to slip into a higher register. Nevertheless … that is quite a promise.”
“I wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t mean to keep it,” Penny said.
Pyrrha nodded. “Then I, in turn, promise that while you remain our leader, I will follow you and fight at your command, with all the strength that is at mine.”
She put her right over her heart and bowed from the waist, her ponytail falling down over her shoulder to touch the floor.
Penny stared. Pyrrha was bowing to her. Pyrrha was bowing to her. Pyrrha was bowing to her?
“Thank you,” she whispered. Then she realised that a leader probably shouldn’t whisper, and so, she raised her voice to say, “Let’s do our best together.”
Jaune smiled. “Glad to have you onboard, Penny,” he said. “Welcome to Team Sa—” He stopped. “That’s a good point. What are we calling ourselves now? Team—”
“Papyrus?” suggested Pyrrha.
“I was going to say Paper, but sure, I guess that would work too,” Jaune said. “P-A-P-R, right?”
“A direct substitution makes sense,” Pyrrha murmured. “Although there are alternatives … P-R-A-N for … prawn or praline.” She looked at Penny. “Unless Professor Ozpin has already chosen a new name for us.”
“No,” Penny said, “he didn’t, and I don’t think that we should change the name. At least not yet. I suppose that we’ll have to change it eventually, but I’m in no rush. I wanted to be a part of Team Sapphire, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to be a part of Team Sapphire, at least for a little while.”
Jaune frowned. “But it doesn’t have your name in it.”
“There are two Ps in Sapphire, aren’t there?” Penny asked. “Or am I misspelling?”
“No, you aren’t,” Pyrrha said. “But as the leader—”
“Does it matter?” Penny asked. “Is it really that important? Is it really the most important thing going on right now?” She paused. “It’s like Ciel’s holy book sort of says: the rules were made for us; we weren’t made for the rules. We can change them if we want to. We don’t have to be bound by people telling us that this is the way things are, and the way they are is the way they have to be. If we did, then I wouldn’t be here at all to be your leader, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion. So, please, let’s just stay Team Sapphire, with two Ps, for now. I don’t want to feel like I’ve just stepped into Sunset’s shoes. I don’t want to feel like we’re throwing her away and forgetting about her.”
Ruby snorted. “Maybe we—”
“Ruby?” Penny asked, guessing what Ruby was about to say, but needing her to say it anyway if Penny — or anyone else, for that matter — was to answer.
Ruby glanced at Penny, out of the sides of her eyes, not looking directly at her. She looked out of the window. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Are you sure?” Penny asked, taking a step forward. “You can say it, if you want to.”
“I know,” Ruby said softly. “But I don’t. It’s fine. Team Sapphire is … a fine name. It’s our name, no matter what … if that’s what you want to stick with for now, then that’s fine by me.”
“If that is your wish, then we have no grounds to make objections,” Pyrrha said. “I suppose it will make things easier on Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck tomorrow, and…”
Penny looked at her. “And what?”
Pyrrha blinked, and glanced downwards. “I suppose that these … that the allegations made against Sunset—”
“They’re true,” Ruby pointed out.
“Not as far as the rest of Vale is concerned, and must be concerned, no?” Pyrrha asked. “Sunset may be gone, but we must not concede that there was any truth in the words that drove her off, or … Professor Ozpin may escape without censure, his involvement being unknown, but First Councillor Emerald will be destroyed by this unless we all agree that all is false and groundless, no?”
“No, you’re right,” Ruby said, sounding a little bit like she was going to sigh, only she didn’t. “I get that. That’s why sending Sunset away was all I did, although even that might be too much for … was Rainbow right? Will people believe that Sunset’s guilty because she’s gone?”
“Does the answer change anything?” asked Jaune.
“The answer means that we should probably try and get ahead of it, think of something to explain why Sunset isn’t here right now,” Ruby said.
“She’s … disappeared on solo missions before,” Jaune pointed out.
Ruby looked at him. “So we lie to everyone?”
“Aren’t we talking about how best we can lie to everyone?” Jaune replied. “About what Sunset did, about what the First Councillor knew? Hasn’t he been lying to everyone, and we’ve accepted that it’s for the best for Vale if nobody realises it? What’s one more lie on top of that? Sunset’s gone on a mission, she had to go, and then … maybe Ozpin will come up with something, but if he doesn’t, then we can say that Sunset … decided that being a huntress wasn’t right for her after all, and she dropped out of school. That happens sometimes, right? I don’t know, but it feels like it must.”
“It is not unheard of,” Pyrrha murmured. “It feels like a calumny on Sunset, but—”
“Less than she deserves,” Ruby declared.
Pyrrha didn’t say anything, but Penny thought that a part of her wanted to.
“If … if Sunset is only gone on a mission,” Dove said, speaking for the first time since Penny came in. “How are you going to explain Penny as the team leader?”
“You don’t have to explain it,” Penny said. “It can be our little secret for now. I hang out with you guys a lot anyway, so seeing me with you won’t surprise anyone, and there’ll be no need for a team leader in the next couple of days anyway.”
“We hope, at least,” said Pyrrha. “But are you sure about this? Hiding, lying?”
“It wouldn’t be my first time,” Penny reminded her, smiling a little. “Although I’m still not very good at actually lying, so if you could just not bring it up or get people to talk about something else, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Very well,” Pyrrha murmured. “If you’re sure about this.”
“Thanks, Penny,” Ruby said. “I can’t imagine it’s as easy as you’re making it sound, but … thanks. It’ll be a big help.”
“I understand,” Penny said. “All of this is pretty complicated right now.”
“And unfair on everyone,” Amber said quietly.
“Everyone’s doing the best that they can,” Penny said. “That’s all that we can do right now: do our best and cheer for Pyrrha in the tournament tomorrow.”
Pyrrha sighed. “The tournament. It seems so far away now. Far away and unimportant.”
“I guess,” Penny admitted. “But I’d still really like to see you win.”
Pyrrha smiled. “Is that so? Then I will do my best not to disappoint you.”
“In which case, perhaps you’d better get some rest,” Jaune suggested. “Perhaps we’d all better get some rest; it’s been a long night.”
“That’s a good idea,” Ruby agreed. “Things will look … I don’t know if they’ll look brighter in the morning, but they couldn’t look worse than they do right now.”
“Uh … speaking of sleep,” Dove said. “I talked to Jaune earlier, and he agreed that I could spend the night here … when it seemed as though there was going to be a bed free.”
It took Penny a second to work out what he meant. “Oh, don’t worry; that’ll be fine,” she said. “You can still spend the night here; I don’t need to sleep.”
Dove frowned. “You … don’t need to sleep? At all?”
“No,” Penny said. “But don’t worry about that either; I won’t disturb anyone. I can be perfectly silent when necessary.”
Dove blinked. “I … I don’t understand.”
“There are things about me that you don’t know, you and Amber,” Penny explained, “but if I’m going to be the leader of Team Sapphire, since I am the leader of Team Sapphire, perhaps you should know so that there aren’t so many secrets between us: I’m a robot created by Atlesian scientists.”
“A robot?” Dove repeated.
“What’s a robot?” asked Amber.
“You know,” Dove said. “The metal men on guard in the grounds outside?”
“The white ones?” Amber asked. “That make those stompy noises when they walk?”
“Yes,” Dove said. “That’s right.”
“But Penny doesn’t look anything like them,” Amber said.
“There’s more than one type of robot,” Ruby pointed out.
“But they’re machines, aren’t they?” Amber said. “They aren’t people, they’re just … things! Penny has a semblance.”
“Because I am a person,” Penny said. “I’m a person and a robot too.”
“But robots aren’t people,” Amber replied. “So how can you be a person and a robot?”
“Because I am?” Penny guessed.
It was a harder question to answer than it seemed, especially if you started with the assumptions that robots couldn’t be people. Which seemed a little … unkind, although Penny knew that Amber didn’t actually mean any unkindness by it. She supposed that Amber hadn’t really come across any robots at all until very recently, growing up so far from Atlas.
“I have wires inside of me instead of blood vessels,” she went on. “I have a metal endoskeleton instead of bones. But I also have aura and a semblance, and I feel…” Penny hesitated, which she knew that she shouldn’t do as a leader but also couldn’t help herself. “I feel everything. I feel the touch of a hand in mine; I feel the touch of the wind against my cheek, the fall of rain running through my hair and down my forehead. I feel the warmth of a hug from a friend, the warmth I feel towards all my friends, the love I feel towards them, because I feel love; I feel it inside every part of me. And if that’s not enough to make me a person, then … I don’t know what is.”
Amber got up off the bed. “I didn’t mean to offend you,” she said.
“You didn’t,” Penny said, although she couldn’t stop herself from hiccupping after she said it. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”
“All the same, I’m sorry,” Amber said. “You are a person. A person who doesn’t need to sleep, apparently.”
“Nope!” Penny declared. “Because my batteries can be recharged from the mains. So you can keep Sunset’s bed, and Dove can take … Sunset’s other bed, and I’ll be fine.” She looked around the room. “I hope we’ll all be fine, whatever the future holds for us.”
And that includes you, too, Sunset.
Good luck, wherever you are, and wherever you go.
“You know,” Jaune said, “things might be kind of complicated at the moment, but there is one thing that Penny can do right now.”
“One thing?” Penny asked. “What’s that?”
“You can put your initial on the wall with the rest of ours,” Jaune said. “I mean, Blake did, and she wasn’t even a real member of the team. So how about it? You want to stick a P up there?”
“Would I?” Penny cried. “Yes! Yes, I would; I absolutely would.”
To join Team SAPR was a dream come true for her, but it was a dream that wasn’t exactly turning out quite the way that she had dreamt it.
But this? This one part of her dream? This one part, tonight, could still come true.
And on a night that had turned very complicated, that was enough for her.
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And here we go... Starting already, are we, Ruby?
This is not going to bode well...
What Penny could do is secretly call Sunset if she needs leadership advice. Heck, she's kinda taking cues from Sunset already, thinking of what Sunset did at Mountain Glen before the Breach. (Makes senses she'd think of Sunset's round of inspirational words considering it was the beginning of their friendship)
Secretly, because Ruby wouldn't want Penny taking advice from Sunset, let alone associate with her.
Fearlessness makes for great heroes, but for poor leaders.
Ruby, I swear. I wanted to slap the MONKEY MESS out of you! You are seriously pissing me off right now!
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I would say that Ruby needs a smack to the back of the head... but considering that Amber is going to betray them all because of Ruby's hard line bullshit...
I kind of want Amber or Dove to live long enough to tell what had happened and why, solely so that Ruby gets to see what her zealously held convictions had wrought.
Because I fully believe that Tempest intends to murder Amber and Bon Bon once she's got her hands on the crown, regardless of whatever promises Salem has made. Officially, if Salem even bothers to ask, Tempest killed Amber because with Cinder dead and the fall maiden restored, Amber had a last second change of heart and that couldn't be allowed. Plus with the Fall Maiden now in Salem's service, she's got a ringer to help bring the other maidens into line.
Unofficially, Amber is the worst kind of person in Tempest's eyes. Someone who has been given unconditional love and support and literally been given world changing power despite having done nothing to deserve it. Flaying Amber to death in front of the broken body of Dove in order to make damn sure that the last thing she's thinking about when she dies is Tempest Storm would be one of the greatest experiences of Tempest's life, even without the maiden power she would likely get from it.
As for Bonbon... The traitor to Salem and Watts has been an annoying thorn in her side for far to long.
I don't believe Tempest has anything against Dove himself, but his loyalty and protectiveness towards Amber means that he will need to be dealt with.
Lyra might actually survive this, provided that Bonbon doesn't bring her to hand over the crown. Honestly Tempest might not remember Lyra exists.
Honestly as Cinder is the dark mirror of Pyrrha/Sunset, Tempest is the dark mirror of Ruby.
I find funny how the last 10ish chapters all happened in a single day, lmao. And by the way things are, Cinder will be on custody just a single night if the Fall is to happen the next day as Tempest said. Rainbow is the one that has the best head on the game and is the one that gave the best analysis on Sunset’s situation; bravo Rainbow, you are much better here than in the OG. Rainbow and Sunset friendship is a very heartwarming part of the Rewrite that makes Rosepetal and Sapphire feel much connected and together as a team. And I would love to see a battle of team SAPPR in the future maybe during the Fall? I don’t know, but having the 5 of them fighting together would make the new team official.
I miss the Wednesday chapters because of how hyped I am to read the next chapter! Oh, how I would die for 3 chapters a week...
I am loving how Volume 3 is moving along, and I expect that the next 2 chapters are Sunset talking to Skystar and Lady Nikos maybe a third one to finish Sunset journey through her worst night ever. Then afterwards will have the next day, all the buzz up from Sunset being gone, the last fights on the Tournament, The Fall and I am pretty sure that Amber’s betrayal may happen during the Fall this time instead of before it as in the original chapters, I wonder how that will change it...
You really have me tuning in every Monday and Friday just refreshing this page untill the story updates, the wait almost physically hurts and when it comes Im left with the feeling that it was over to quick and not enough.. Huh thats what addiction feels like.
Regardless we can't wait for this shit to get thrown in Rubys face as well as a chapter full of loving support for Sunset from Miss Nikos, Professor Ozpin, Rainbow and her friends as well as anyone else I might be forgetting. I mean sure, at the end of the day Sunset made a mistake. Ozpin made a bigger mistake by leaving this to children, Ironwood is right, bring in Schnee and a battalion of combat droids.
Rainbow, sweetie, I never thought I'd say that, but I love you
These leader rules were great, Penny encouragement was great, just, sheff's kiss. I just love this version of Rainbow so much you guys
Ruby....... Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby...... I just.... Really wanna slap you right now. Just, shut up you ungrateful piece of dog shit, I am starting to regret that you got out of the breach alive, cus you living, unlike the others, haven't contributed to anything positive at all
Penny, my sweet child, I believe in you, you can do it! I hope you will ask for Sunset's advice in the future, I'm pretty sure she will be a good help (even though she might be devastated to be replaced so fast, but it is you, so not that much. And most important thing - I feel that Penny will grow to be very.... disappointed I guess, in Ruby in the future, cus the bitch just itching to fight (and its a fight she will not win, Penny is leages stronger) Just.... Penny should listen to that voice, that tells her to tell Ruby to go and f*ck herself more often
Great chapter, as always
Slap Ruby with that knowledge, I beg you, she is just too stupid to get it
Ruby in a nutshell this arc
I wanna strangle you
I reeealy wanna strangle you, just go jump from the beacon tower, would you
I am so angry at you right now, it might give me a tumor
SHE SAVED YOUR UNGRATEFUL ASS YOU FREAKING CUNTY LITTLE SHIT
I am sorry for all of my comments, rereading the chapter and gotta vent a bit
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Well, Sunset did remark that it would be too late to call upon Lady Nikos that night so she'll probably see her in the morning after either staying in a hotel or possibly staying with Skystar maybe? She might have a bit of a chat with Goodwitch before or after she sees Lady Nikos.
But yeah crazy how much has gone on in such a short time.
I was so close! Glad to see that Jaune still has a good head on his shoulders, that'll come in handy to help Penny strategize.
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Tempest has probably suffered more on Remnant than Equestria, being labeled an outcast for both her faunus heritage and her 'scars'. She probably not only resents Amber for having everything she was denied, but also people like Ruby. Ruby is not a racist, but she is just as instantaneously and uncompromisingly judgemental of certain categories of people.
And we've seen that Tempest does like to gloat once victory is hers. As she's done with Princess Twilight.
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Personally, I hope the first version of SAPR where Yang was believed to be "killed" by the Grimm and Ruby surviving is retained in the SAPR Rewrite. That felt like a good "bloody reality check" for Ruby, more so as it involved her sister which makes it personal and serious enough to ram that reality through her zealotry.
BTW, what does everyone think about Jaunne's home town/village, Alba Longa, becoming that sanctuary for Amber, Dove.... and maybe even Bon Bon and Lyra?
Something about Alba Longa made me think about their talks about just fleeing from the world and finding a quiet place.
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Actually yeah, except the bitch is Rwby
Ok, now that I've read through the latest chapter, i think i have a fair ground to review it a little bit.
The main problem of this fic is that the characters no not improve in terms of combat power, except Jaune. Jaune is the only one who we actually see train to become better. I haven't seen another character train or do anything to improve their battle capacity. They all feel stagnated. All the characters are basically the same as in the begging of the story, and that is a bad thing. You don't even need to show how they are training, just the mention is enough, but we don't even have that. Sunset for example has the same spells, she doesn't have new ones. All she can do is shoot lasers, telekinesis, teleport, night vision and create shields. That's all she can use in battle. But come on, are you actually telling me that Sunset, the prodigy, the personal student of Celestia, the second most powerful unicorn in equestria (first is Starlight) only knows six spells that she can use in combat? Body reinforcement, elemental magic, recovery magic, illusions and so many more, you tell me that she can do only six spells? You even said it yourself that Sunset knew almost every spell before she left. And let's not forget that she was Celestia's student, so that means that Sunset was taught more combat magic then the rest, considering that she was going be the next princess. Hell, she can't even have a one on one fight widout someone interfering. For example, in the battle with Trixie, She could have defeated Trixie herself, but no, Pyrrha just had to intervene. And that's not the only time this happened. Every time it happened, it felt like Sunset couldn't win without help, and that sucks. Except in the battle with Adam, there i could understand.
My second problem with this fic is that, the author does not push the characters to their limits, i think that happened only twice, and it wasn't much anyway. I mean, my god, i know that you want it to be somewhat realistic, but, have them go beyond their limits sometimes. Take inspiration from shounen manga and anime or something. Have them fight even when they are almost at death's door. Have Sunset use her magic past the maximum capacity and grow stronger as a result, have Pyrrha use her semblance to the maximum extreme. Have Sunset standing and fighting when she can beraly stand at all, have her push her body to the extreme. Have her use the last of her strength and then some to stand in front of her enemies and protect someone, almost at death door but still standing and fighting. Ok maybe not in that, but you get the point. Look at Asta from black clover how he's always pushing himself to the limits, look at Naruto, look at Luffy. Have them do that.
My third complaint was that Sunset herself feels like a background character in her own story, but this complaint has become null as of this point. Now Sunset feels like the main character, well of the the main characters. I'm so glad you've seen trough this mistake and fixed it.
Now, let's talk story. I do like it. I actually do like it. Good world building, one of the best if I'm being honest. Only two people have you beaten in this aspect. The author of Fallout girls and the author of The secrets of Equestria. You looked at the show and said "I can do better" and you did. You did so much better. The story itself is actually engaging and the characters are built pretty good, not good, but pretty good. Some more then others, but overall, good character development for them. Like, Ciel and Jaune have the best stories out of all the other ones, and that's a little bit of a problem, because the main storyline is supposed to be the best, but i do still enjoyed it. Overall, i don't have that much more to say, the story is really good, i still think that you've made the best decision in not killing Pyrrha, the characters are good, even tho they seem and are stagnated and don't really grow stronger. Like, the best part in this story that I've seen untill now is when Dove fought those grims and at the end he shouted "King of the hill!". He pushed himself to the limit and then some and came out on top.
As a conclusion, I'd say this is the forth best fic I've read. Good world building, good storyline, good character (except Rwby apparently, and i must say, you've done a very good job at making me hate her) and let's not forget the art that you commissioned and will no doubt continue to do so. The art is one of the best parts in this. The characters can still be improved, not in character development but in how they grow stronger, especially Sunset.
If my previous comments have been mean and unsportsmanlike then i do apologize, it was meant as a critique. I do hope you remember some of the things I've said in the future. Especially in regards to Power levels and how they grow stronger...And Sunset's massively miniscule magic arsenal.
Ruby's right, the people do come first.
And the huntsman are people too.
She didn't think about that did she?
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Oh no, huntsmen are the disposable people, they don't matter.
Something I just remembered? Ruby, in her current state of mind, is incapable of using her silver eyes. They are charged and activated by your love of the people you care for, and the desire to protect them.
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Rainbow is great here. Glad she was able to offer a counter to Ruby's BS.
And I agree about Ruby's contributions. I commented a chapter or two ago, that Ruby honestly feels unnecessary at this point. Anything that remains good about her is covered by multiple other characters. Penny would be a great replacement and Ruby could f**k off out of this fic.
Given how Ruby is portrayed, I don't think Beacon really has anything to offer her. She could just leave and go wander the lands killing Grimm like a terminator. Not like we need the Silver Eyes since it was shown that Salem can just take a blast and nothing happened. As for super grimm, Penny's super laser could work or maybe Jaune could finally learn that flying Aura slash and then Amp it up into Getsuga Tensho.
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I mean, as Ozpin says earlier on, Beacon isn’t there to teach the students on how to fight, but to institute the values of a Huntress, Ruby is the one that most need to have her unreasonable values challenged, so she’s the one that most need Beacon on the team; and I’m pretty sure she will live to regret her decisions this night when her actions will have a lot of consequences, mainly, Amber betrayal.
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Shit the bed that is an amazing point
I must say I find it interesting the flaming wall against Ruby right now. Even in the previous version of the fic people were upset by her and I must be honest I just don’t get it.
She’s in the wrong, yeah.
She’s being very stubborn and foolhardy, yes.
It is highly consistent with her character and development, also yes.
It’s not sudden. She is proving to be a character with a flaw that will further serve the story, other characters in the story, and most importantly, her own growth and development in the story.
Part of me thinks people don’t like witnessing all the things that are leading to a train wreck we know is coming, but I don’t know.
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I think people are just frustrated with Ruby because of her holy-than-thou attitude.
But I do agree that the hate for her is becoming a little too extreme, I think the way she acted is because she felt betrayed by Sunset. Ruby is still 15, and had two very important people she idolized in her life: her mom and Sunset. She idolized her mother's sacrifice because it was easier for her that her mother died a hero for a good cause than the alternative that she left Ruby alone by dying for no good reason, also, throughout the story, Ruby became very close with Sunset, as Sunset was the only one that never talked down to Ruby and consoled her when Ruby's heart was broken because of Jaune.
Ruby ended up putting Sunset on a pedestal of equal measure to her mother's, and started to compare the two of them, because Summer was Ruby's first hero, and so Sunset, her new hero, had to be put at the same standard as her mother. So, the fact that Sunset ended up doing something wrong that killed innocent civilians and lied to her about it for months ends up breaking Ruby's heart, and so she lashes out. The realization that one of her heroes is human, kind of puts Ruby's own vision of her mother on a series of doubts and it breaks her heart.
So yeah, people are being too hard on Ruby and too emotionally invested in Sunset to try and think from Ruby's perspective. Regardless, neither Ruby nor Sunset is innocent in this situation; Sunset killed six people, intending it or not, and Ruby elevated the situation out of proportion and caused Amber's betrayal to become inevitable.
TL;DR: Ruby did something bad, but it's because she is still a child, and her trauma and coping mechanisms idolized Sunset to be a perfect hero like she did with Summer.
*This was a reply to AngelicTitan that got uploaded to the General Comments(?), rather than this chapter specific comment thread. Wanted my thoughts to be know but not bother Titan again*
I don't think Beacon is going to change Ruby's mind about her ideas of what a huntress is. A while back, the characters were talking about how most teams don't stick together after graduation. So I think we can take this to mean Beacon doesn't extoll comradery and ,dare I say, friendship. Not truly, if most just go solo after academy. You would think after Raven abandoning them and Summer dying, that Qrow would be all about loyalty and being there for your team and would pass that on to Ruby.
While I am looking forward to Ruby facing Consequences, I can't say I'm a big fan of this form of character development for someone who's supposed to be one of our heroes( side characters like Cardin, sure). One of the reasons this Sunset is such a great character is that her change wasn't due to one big event, but a gradual change by many smaller events building up.
You would think that everything Sunset has done for Ruby would earn Sunset a little good will. But no, Ruby only wants to Shame!🔔 Sunset. At this point only a Big Event would work on Ruby and it wouldn't change her so much as shatter her.
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The reason why it went to the General comment section is that you need to be in the chapter itself for it to register on the chapter, so if you responded on the main SAPR page, it went to the newest chapter (which is from the old version, still)
It may not work for Ruby, but it did work for the rest of SAPR. It was coming to Beacon and meeting her teammates that softened up Sunset and made her a good person instead of the selfish arrogant and self-centered bitch she was throughout the entirety of Canterlot. Jaune gained confidence, a girlfriend, and friends while also finding a way to craft his own journey outside of his family's shadow. And Pyrrha was able to be just a normal girl, make meaningful connections, and live the fairytale romance that she so deserved. Beacon helped 3/4 of the SAPR team, and now it's time for Ruby to change, or else she will never be able to live on and will die a pointless death like her mother.
I made a comment earlier about how we are being too harsh on Ruby and it goes on into why she did what she did to Sunset, but I don't think that a gradual change can work with this version of Ruby; RWBY's Ruby was trust onto a position of leadership and even then didn't change that much until the later seasons, SAPR's Ruby was much more comfortable on the side, with her views and morality unquestioned as her reaction to Cinder being the Fall Maiden proves; she is trapped into her mindset, and so late into the story, a big event breaking her black-and-white view of the world is needed. It isn't as sudden as we can see how the events are making Ruby question her actions and her attitude to Penny as "Confidence" shows. It may be that she will have a gradual change of views but she will stubbornly refuse to change until it inevitably blows up on her face with (what I assume) is Amber's betrayal.
PS.: This is the comment that I explain Ruby's mentality and what made her act so harshly to Sunset:
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