SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Shadow Over Proceedings (New)

Shadow Over Proceedings

“So, today’s the day, huh?” Sunburst said. “Do you think Rainbow Dash will be able to pull it off, go all the way? Or maybe even Neon?”

“How do you know it will be Neon Katt?” asked Starlight. “I mean, they might pick their team leader to go through to the one on one round.”

Sunburst shook his head. “Neon is the one with the most talent on Team Funky; they’d be smart to send her through.”

“That doesn’t mean they’ll do it,” Starlight pointed out.

“Maybe not,” Sunburst admitted. “But I also overheard her other two teammates talking about how Neon was going to go through to the one-on-one.”

“Oh, well that does suggest that it’ll be her,” Starlight admitted.

The four members of Team TTSS were in their dorm room. Trixie had just come out of the bathroom, the last of them to enter and thus the last to leave, and was currently clasping her starry cape around her neck and shoulders as a unique addition to the Atlas uniform that they were all wearing. Sunburst was sitting on his bed, while Starlight was on her feet, standing in the middle of the dorm room, arms folded.

Tempest was, like Sunburst, sat on her bed at the far end of the room, looking down at her scroll.

“Personally, I don’t think that she’ll go all the way,” Starlight went on. “Neon isn’t bad, don’t get me wrong, but she’s not all that great, and there are some good fighters — or at least, there’ll probably be some other good fighters in the mix — and I’m not sure that she has what it takes to get past them.”

Trixie looked at her, her cape swirling around her. “There are probably some other good fighters in the mix?”

“We don’t know who’s going to be representing all the teams, do we?” Starlight replied.

“No,” Sunburst admitted. “But do you think any of the possible choices could be bad?”

Starlight hesitated for a moment. “Flash Sentry,” she said. “I know that he’s Rainbow’s friend from combat school—”

“And Trixie’s too,” Trixie reminded her. “Flash isn’t bad.”

“He’s not all that great, either,” Starlight said. “They’d be better off sending Weiss to the one-on-one round.”

“Better off for who?” asked Sunburst. “It might not be better off for Weiss to walk into that arena again and get booed and jeered at.”

“She didn’t mind it so much that it kept her away from the two-on-two,” Starlight pointed out. “Admittedly, I don’t know Weiss Schnee … at all, but I know that Blake and Rainbow like her, and I don’t think they would if she didn’t have the guts to face the crowd in spite of their reception. Besides which, as much as it might seem like the whole world hates her and her family, that’s not actually true. The people who do hate her are making the most noise right now, but there are other people who…” She sighed. “I bet there are people who think that her family knew all about those camps, and they should be loud and proud about it; it’s just they daren’t say anything right away.”

“They want the Schnees to be loud and proud, but they’re silent,” Trixie muttered. “Ironic. Hopefully, Weiss Schnee wouldn’t want that kind of support.”

“No, I’m just saying that just because the crowd sounds hostile doesn’t mean that it is,” Starlight replied.

“But what about it, if they’re too afraid or too ashamed to make some noise?” asked Trixie. “It doesn’t matter what the crowd feels; it matters what the crowd says. Is Weiss Schnee, or anyone competing in the final round, supposed to work out what the crowd is really feeling? The only thing that they’ll know is what they can hear, and what they hear is what the crowd feels, to all intents and purposes. Anything else is just … if the crowd didn’t cheer for your act, you’re just kidding yourself if you say that a silent majority thought it was great.” She coughed. “Not that the Grrrrrreat and Powerrrrrful Trrrrrrixie has ever had a problem with a silent crowd, obviously; Trrrrrrixie gets them on their feet, every single time.”

Starlight smiled. “Of course you do,” she said. “You’re great.” The smile stayed on her face. “Anyway, to answer Sunburst’s original question, or the half that I didn’t answer before: Rainbow might go all the way, or she might not; it depends on who she gets drawn up against. Just like it was for us, if we’d been drawn against some of the Shade or Haven teams that were up yesterday, then Trixie would be one of those appearing in the finals today; it was only bad luck that we got Sunset and Pyrrha the way we did. If Rainbow’s first fight is against Pyrrha Nikos, then with all love and respect for Rainbow, she’ll be out. Against some other opponents, she stands a much better chance. It’s the luck of the draw.”

“You don’t think Rainbow can beat Pyrrha?” Sunburst asked.

“If Starlight couldn’t defeat Pyrrha Nikos, then there’s no way that Rainbow Dash will be able to do it,” declared Trixie.

Starlight shook her head slightly. “What do you think?” she asked Sunburst. “You’ve watched her fight; what’s your read on her?”

Sunburst cupped his chin with one hand. “Rainbow has speed on her side,” he murmured. “But in the tight quarters that the final rounds take place in, I’m not sure how much good that will do her. You’re probably right, but not definitely. Despite her name, no one is invincible.”

“I suppose we’ll see about that, won’t we?” asked Starlight. “It would be good to see Rainbow fly the flag for Atlas all the way.”

“If it matters,” Tempest remarked, from the end of the room.

The other three members of the team looked at her, Sunburst shuffling around on his bed.

“'If it matters'?” Trixie repeated, her voice rising in pitch like the squawk of a parrot. “'If it matters'? Of course it matters; it’s the Vytal Tournament, why wouldn’t it matter?”

Tempest looked up from her scroll, turning her neck to look at the three of them. “Because I’ve just read something pretty interesting on the news. It seems that Dash’s Beacon friend Sunset Shimmer has been a bit of a naughty girl.”

Trixie frowned. “What do you mean, 'naughty'?”

“It says here,” Tempest said, “that she caused the Breach at the end of the last semester; she’s the one who let the grimm into Vale.”

“What?” Starlight demanded. That didn’t sound like Sunset, or at least, it didn’t sound like the Sunset that she and Trixie had worked with in Arcadia Lake. Admittedly, that had been after the Breach, but still, the Sunset that they’d worked with had tried to save Arcadia Lake; why would she have bothered to do that if she’d been planning on destroying Vale? If she was like Eve, or like the Cinder Fall, then … why bother?

It just didn’t make any sense to her.

“I’m just telling you what I’m reading,” Tempest said.

“Reading where?” Starlight stalked across the room and plucked Tempest’s scroll out of her hands.

“Hey!”

“Valish News Network,” Starlight read from off Tempest’s screen. “Okay, let’s see … they captured Cinder Fall! You could have opened with that.”

“Who did?” asked Trixie.

“Sunset and her team, and Penny Polendina from Team Rosepetal,” Starlight said. “It said they did it last night; she was … out on the street at the carnival?”

“The wanted criminal went to the carnival?” Sunburst asked.

“Everyone needs to relax and unwind sometimes, it seems,” Trixie muttered.

“Even so!” Sunburst said. “But they took her out.”

“Apparently,” Starlight said. “There was a fight, but judging by these pictures … and this video.” She tapped the screen to play the clip, but didn’t turn the sound on. “Yeah, Sunset projected a shield around the fight to protect bystanders.”

“Nice,” Trixie said. She frowned. “But it was only Penny Polendina from Team Rosepetal? No one else.”

“It doesn’t mention Rainbow or Ciel Soleil or even Blake,” Starlight said. “I guess they weren’t there. You know how Penny Polendina’s practically half Beacon already, and she’s transferring here next year. She must have been hanging out with her friends.”

Trixie shrugged. “So what’s this about Sunset causing the Breach?”

“Scroll down,” instructed Tempest.

Starlight did as she was bade, scrolling down the screen to read further. She blinked. “So, someone anonymously sent in an email that they had hacked out of the Amity Princess’ deleted emails—”

“They can do that?” squawked Sunburst. “I thought they were deleted!”

“Apparently not,” Trixie said. “What do you have in your deleted emails, Sunburst?”

“Nothing,” Sunburst said, and now, it was the turn of his voice to rise. “I certainly don’t have a lot of angry replies to my mom that I didn’t have the guts to send to her when she pestered me about my career plans.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Honestly, in a few years, you’re going to be a commissioned officer with the Atlesian military; what more does your mom want?”

“I think what she really wants is for me to have an office job with the SDC,” Sunburst replied. “Or at least she did, before all this. She kept asking me if I’d had the chance to ingratiate myself with Weiss Schnee yet.”

“Did you even try to ingratiate yourself with Weiss Schnee?”

“No, of course not,” Sunburst said. “I’m not that kind of person … and even if I was that kind of person, I still wouldn’t have had the guts to actually do it.”

“What does it say about Sunset?” pressed Trixie. “What was in this email from the Amity Princess? What does the Amity Princess have to do with anything?”

“The Amity Princess for this festival is Skystar Aris; she’s the daughter of … her mother was the First Councillor of Vale,” Sunburst explained. “She got forced out after the Breach.”

“So she’s bitter,” Trixie said flatly.

“According to this,” Starlight said, “the email states that the Amity Princess, Skystar Aris, overheard her mother and the Valish Councillor Aspen Emerald talking to Sunset about what she’d done, or Sunset confessing to it and them agreeing to cover it up.”

Starlight scrolled further down — only to find that there wasn’t much further to scroll. “That’s it?” she said, turning to face Tempest, tossing her scroll back to her. Tempest caught it in one hand.

“That’s it?” Starlight repeated. “There’s no other evidence, nothing, it’s just … that?”

“You don’t believe it?” asked Tempest.

“I can barely work out what I’m being asked to believe,” Starlight said.

“That Sunset Shimmer, forced to choose between the lives of her friends or the security of Vale, chose her friends and was willing to sacrifice the city of Vale for their sake,” Tempest said.

“You got that from that write-up?” Starlight asked. “No, I don’t believe that, it doesn’t track with me, and if you wanted to get me to believe it, you’d need more than someone slipping a letter under the door. There’s nothing there. It’s fake news.”

“There is the email,” Tempest pointed out.

Starlight’s eyes narrowed. “Does it matter to you that I believe this?”

Tempest was silent for a moment. “I just think that they wouldn’t be reporting on it if there wasn’t some chance that it was true.”

“If it’s true, then we’ll find out eventually,” Trixie said. “Until then, I’m not going to start suspecting our friend, a fellow Canterlot Girl, someone that Trixie has fought alongside, because of a few words written by some Valish journalist. No, that will not be happening.”

“I wonder who’d do something like that?” Starlight murmured. “Who would create that fake email and send it to the press?”

“Assuming that it is a fake,” Tempest said.

“Either way, I find their motives more interesting than the story itself,” Starlight murmured.

“Greatness attracts envy, as the Grrrreat and Powerrrrful Trrrriixie knows only too well,” Trixie said. “Perhaps someone saw a faunus victorious in the tournament yesterday and thought that she needed to be cut down to size?”

“Kind of extreme, don’t you think?” asked Sunburst.

“But the Valish Councillor is a faunus too, and the Aris family has faunus relatives, I think,” Starlight said. “So it might be racism.”

“Whatever the motive, it’s nonsense up until it isn’t, which Trixie doesn’t think is very likely,” Trixie said. “If Sunset is arrested, then Trixie will, with the greatest reluctance, admit that she was wrong, but unless that happens, we are not in the business of suspecting our allies or our friends. Is that clear?”

“No,” Tempest said bluntly. “What are you asking me to do?”

“I’m ordering you to be a little less…” Trixie waved her hand up and down in Tempest’s direction. “You. I’m telling you not to make any snide remarks about this when you see Sunset or Rainbow Dash or Blake or anyone else.”

Tempest smirked and threw Trixie a salute that Starlight couldn’t help but feel had a rather mocking quality about it. “Yes, ma’am.”

There was a series of very heavy knocks upon the door.

“I’ll get it,” Starlight said, and once more made her way across the room to open the door.

General Ironwood stood on the other side; Starlight had to look up after being initially confronted with the sight of his chest.

“Sir!” Starlight barked, taking a step backwards. “Officer on deck, ten-hut!”

Sunburst and Tempest both leapt to their feet as Trixie slammed her heels together, her hands going to her sides as all four members of Team TTSS sprang to attention.

“At ease,” General Ironwood said as he strode inside.

The four members of Team TTSS relaxed their posture appropriately, spacing their feet out and clasping their hands together behind their backs.

“To what do we owe the pleasure, sir?” Trixie asked.

Starlight was wondering that as well; if General Ironwood was going to pay a visit to any team this morning, he would have expected it to be RSPT or FNKI, to give Rainbow or Neon — or both of them — a pep talk ahead of the final rounds. Instead, he was here for them, even though they’d been defeated and had become irrelevant to the tournament. Which meant that he was here for something else. But what?

General Ironwood also had his hands clasped together. He looked around the room — no, he was looking around at the team — as he strode into the centre of the room.

His eyes seemed to linger on Tempest for a moment longer than on anyone else.

“Shadow, Flare,” he said, “dismissed. Close the door on your way out.”

“Uh, yes, yes sir,” Sunburst said, as he began to march to the still-open doorway. Tempest did likewise, with a sideways glance at General Ironwood.

The door shut behind them with a thud.

Whatever it is, it’s for me and Trixie, not Sunburst or Tempest.

Something … secret, then? Starlight, at least, was privy to some of General Ironwood’s secrets, as much as she wished that she wasn’t, but Trixie? Were they about to be made privy to some of them?

Or was this just a job that General Ironwood had for just the two of them?

Whatever it was, Starlight was starting to wish that General Ironwood hadn’t decided to pay them a visit. She didn’t like this, and not just because she wasn’t as fond of General Ironwood as some of her fellow students were. She didn’t want to be … involved in anything right now; she wanted to cheer on Rainbow Dash in the final rounds, that was all.

She suspected that that wasn’t going to be all by the time that General Ironwood was through with them.

Neither she, nor Trixie, said anything. They stood silently at ease, waiting for General Ironwood to divulge his intentions.

“I … understand that you fought well yesterday,” General Ironwood said. “I hope that you don’t feel too disappointed by your loss.”

“A little, sir,” Trixie said.

“'A little'? That’s only natural,” General Ironwood assured her. “But don’t take it too much to heart. You’re good students and a good team; I wouldn’t want you to lose sight of that.”

Trixie raised her chin a little. “Never, sir.”

A smile tugged at the corners of General Ironwood’s lips. “I’m glad to hear it, Lulamoon. Glad to see that chin up too.”

“Thank you, sir.”

General Ironwood looked at Starlight. “And you, Glimmer? How are you taking it?”

“We gave it our best shot, sir,” Starlight said, not quite looking at General Ironwood. “We were unfortunate to draw a pair who outmatched us. But I think that says more about them than it does about us.”

General Ironwood nodded. “True enough. That’s a good attitude to have, Glimmer.”

“Sir,” Starlight said softly.

General Ironwood went quiet. He almost looked as if he was going to frown, although he didn’t. Still, he did pause for a few seconds.

“I’m afraid there is no easy way to say this,” he admitted. “Have you two noticed anything unusual or suspicious about Shadow recently?”

Starlight couldn’t keep her eyebrows from rising. Unusual or suspicious? Tempest?

What in Remnant’s going on?

Trixie licked her lips. “General … would you mind explaining yourself a little more? I mean … Trixie knows that some people might call things that Trrrrixie does unusual, even if they weren’t suspicious.”

“I’m not asking about personal habits,” General Ironwood said. “Unless you’ve noticed Shadow becoming unusually secretive lately? Does she sneak out often, disappear without explanation, conceal her activities from you?”

“Yes,” Starlight said softly. “Yes, sir, she has, sometimes; around the time of the bombing at the Mistralian Embassy, Tempest disappeared for a couple of days, didn’t show up.”

“Did she say where she’d been when she came back?” General Ironwood asked.

“She told Trixie that she was going to enjoy her Valish liberty, before we went back to Atlas and curfew, sir,” Trixie said. “That was before she left.”

“I see,” General Ironwood murmured. “And you allowed that?”

Trixie hesitated for a moment. “When in Vale, sir?”

“Hmm,” General Ironwood said, without revealing what he thought of that. “Anything else? Has she been spending a lot of time with Bonnie Bonaventure of Beacon’s Team Bluebell?”

“Bon Bon?” Trixie said. “Sir, what’s this about ?”

“Answer the question please, Lulamoon,” General Ironwood. “Or you, Glimmer. Has Shadow been spending a lot of time with Miss Bonaventure?”

“'A lot'?” Trixie asked. “I’ve seen them together a couple of times, but not a lot. General—”

“I know,” General Ironwood said. “I know, this looks as suspicious as anything that I’m asking you about, me barging in here asking questions about one of your teammates. I know that your instinct, your training, as a team leader, is to cover for your teammate.”

“Yes, sir,” Trixie said. “Trixie won’t pretend that Tempest and I are best friends, but she is on my team, so I’d like to know why you’re asking me to throw her under a bus.”

“I’m not asking you to condemn Shadow, I’m not looking for evidence against her,” General Ironwood said, “but accusations have been made against Shadow which I cannot in good conscience ignore or dismiss, as much as I might want to.”

“'Accusations'?” Starlight repeated.

“I’m afraid the details are classified,” General Ironwood said. “Suffice to say that, as much as my instinct, my training, as yours, is to defend my people, as much as I would hate to believe that anyone wearing the white of Atlas would betray their comrades, recent revelations have forced me to admit that we may have one or two rotten apples within the ranks. And I can’t ignore the possibility that Shadow might be one of those rotten apples.” He paused. “And so I’m afraid I have a job for you two. It’s one you won’t like, and I’m afraid it’s one that will give you scant reward, but it is one that may be necessary, and it’s a task that I cannot let go undone. I need you to monitor Shadow for at least the next couple of days, don’t leave her unattended; don’t worry about making her suspicious, that’s not important, what’s important is—”

“That she doesn’t have space to do anything unobserved, sir?” Starlight asked.

General Ironwood nodded. “Precisely, Glimmer.”

Starlight pursed her lips together. It was safe to say that, just like Trixie, she wasn’t the biggest fan of Tempest Shadow: she was aloof, smug, and … Starlight mentally searched for ways to express this without sounding terrible even in the confines of her own head; she was aware that people like Tempest, who had lost limbs and needed prosthetics as a result, sometimes suffered discrimination or prejudice because of it. It was one of those things you couldn’t be unaware of, like bigotry against the faunus; it wasn’t right, but it happened sometimes. But there were times when it seemed as though Tempest wasn’t going to wait around for the actual bigotry; she was just going to assume it had already happened and take action against people for it.

Suffice to say that she wasn’t the most likeable person that Starlight had ever met.

But she was still Starlight’s teammate, and for all her faults, they had fought together, and Starlight didn’t want to suspect her of … well, it didn’t help that General Ironwood was being very vague about what it was that he suspected Tempest of. Accusations had been made against her, by who?

By Cinder Fall? That would explain the timing; Team SAPR had caught Cinder last night, and she’d started singing. She’d fingered Tempest, and probably Bon Bon too, judging by what General Ironwood had said, as … something; grimm cultists or some such. Bad news, in any case. She’d named them, and General Ironwood didn’t feel as if he could ignore it.

The worst part was that he was right: it couldn’t be ignored. Yes, they couldn’t and shouldn’t lock Tempest up on the word of some little villain, but as much as Starlight didn’t want it to be true, if it were true, and they ignored it, then … then they wouldn’t be the ones facing the consequences.

“Understood, sir,” Trixie said, in a rather glum, rather quiet voice.

“Thank you, Lulamoon,” General Ironwood said quietly. “I appreciate that. I hope it will turn out to be unnecessary, but if it isn’t—”

“Then what, sir?” asked Starlight.

General Ironwood looked down at her. “Then stop her,” he said softly. His voice rose a little as he said, “That’s all.”

Starlight and Trixie both stood to attention. “Sir.”

General Ironwood turned away and walked to the door. He left it open behind him as he walked out.

Starlight looked at Trixie. She opened her mouth—

“Can we come back in?” asked Sunburst from outside.

Starlight closed her mouth again.

“Yes,” Trixie said. “It’s fine.”

Sunburst led the way in, followed by Tempest, who shut the door behind her.

She glanced between Trixie and Starlight.

“Anything we should know about?” she asked.

“If there was, you would have been in the room to hear about it,” Trixie replied.

Tempest smiled, or maybe she smirked; it was hard to tell. “Of course.”

Starlight found she couldn’t take her eyes off Tempest, because that was what they’d just been ordered to do, keep an eye on Tempest, but also because … that was the worst thing about suspicion, wasn’t it? Like a cancer, it was hard to get rid of once it was there.

What do they think you’ve done, Tempest?

Or what do they think you’re going to do?

---

“A grimm attack?” Rainbow asked. “There’s going to be a grimm attack?”

“Possibly, if what Cinder said is true,” General Ironwood said. “For obvious reasons, no one’s sure of how much of what she said ought to be believed. But I’ve taken precautions, both against the grimm and against any potential … action from the Valish.”

“What about Tempest Shadow?” asked Blake. “Or Bon Bon, for that matter?”

Rainbow, Blake, Ciel, and Twilight were lined up in a row, facing General Ironwood, who had just finished explaining to them what Cinder had told Sunset and Pyrrha, before the whole ‘Sunset caused the Breach’ thing kicked off and caused Ruby to kick Sunset out and generally just drove everything else out of everyone else’s mind for a little while.

It was like General Ironwood had said: the question was how much of what Cinder had said ought to be believed. After all, it was Cinder saying it.

Some of it, like the grimm attack, they lost nothing by preparing for, especially since the grimm were actually sitting right there and, while it wouldn’t be complete unheard of for them to sit on the outskirts growling and making noises only to turn around and slink off again — they’d done just that to all those little Valish villages, after all — it also wouldn’t be very surprising for them to have another go at Vale, and the General didn’t lose anything by preparing for that.

And as for the idea that there was some kind of magical creature from Equestria who was making everyone hate Atlas — and the faunus — well, that … that was one of those things that you wouldn’t say unless it was true because it just sounded so out there otherwise; I mean, who’d come up with something like that?

Apart from anything else, how would Cinder know about Equestria if Salem hadn’t come into contact with some Equestrian monsters? Sunset had never mentioned telling her.

So, yeah, Rainbow could buy that, and she was open to the idea that the grimm were about to attack because that was what they did; for the rest, though? She didn’t know this Professor Lionheart, at all, but Tempest and Bon Bon?

How well did she know Tempest Shadow? Not well, not nearly as well as she knew Trixie or Starlight. If Cinder had named either of them, then Rainbow would have known straight away that she was full of it, but Tempest?

Not everyone who wore an Atlesian uniform was a saint, unfortunately; if Phoebe could hide her evil in a cloud of boot polish and deafen the whimpering of her victims with the noisy clicking of her heels and the thump of her feet slamming into the floor, then why not Tempest?

It wasn’t unfortunate, it was really unfortunate, but you couldn’t say that anybody was above suspicion just because they wore the whites.

So maybe Cinder was right about Tempest; not right, maybe she was telling the truth about Tempest. But Bon Bon? Bon Bon, really?

“There’s no way that Bon Bon could be mixed up in this,” Rainbow muttered.

“She tried to frame me for assaulting her and Cardin so that I’d get expelled,” Blake reminded her.

“Which was a jerk move on her part, but it doesn’t make her evil,” Rainbow pointed out. “Or is Cardin working for Salem too?”

“Okay, that’s a fair point,” Blake replied. “But … why are you so sure that Bon Bon can’t be involved?”

“Because I’ve known her for years; we were at combat school together.”

“And how well do you really know her after all these years?” asked Ciel softly.

Rainbow’s mouth opened, but no words emerged. “That … okay,” she admitted. “But—”

“But we know her well enough that she doesn’t seem to be capable of … of working with Salem,” Twilight said. “She was never cruel, never … has she been that good of an actor this whole time, to have fooled everyone? Cinder was new to Haven, nobody knew where she was, and she couldn’t keep up the charade for a whole year, but Bon Bon has been doing it for five years now? And would Salem really recruit someone that young?”

“Not to mention the fact that…” Rainbow hesitated. “I mean, in the nicest possible way—”

“She’s not that good?” Blake suggested.

“Yes, exactly,” Rainbow said. “With Cinder, you can see why Salem would want her: she’s pretty hard core; it took the whole of Team Sapphire and Penny to bring her down. Tempest … didn’t do so well against Cinder, but why would she even try if she was working with her—?”

“Perhaps they are not working together?” offered Ciel. “Perhaps Cinder’s willingness to expose her comrades indicates some rift in Salem’s camp? Perhaps Salem is simply one of those who believes that pitting your subordinates against one another in a tooth and claw battle for supremacy produces better results than cooperation and coordination?”

“Maybe,” Rainbow agreed. “But anyway, even Tempest, I guess I could see it, but Bon Bon? Again, in the nicest possible way—”

“You know she’s not actually here to hear this, right?” interjected Twilight.

“Yeah, but still,” Rainbow said. “Why? What does she bring that would be worth having?”

“Miss Bonaventure is Ozpin’s concern, as his student,” General Ironwood said. “He can deal with her, or not, as he wishes. As for Shadow, I’ve ordered Lulamoon and Glimmer to monitor her activities for the time being, make sure that she doesn’t do anything untoward.”

“And is there anything that we can do, sir?” asked Blake. “About … any of this?”

“There’s no need to involve yourself with Shadow,” General Ironwood declared. “And there’s nothing that you can do about the Valish, but in the event that there is a grimm attack, then Dash, Belladonna, Soleil, I want you to get Lady Belladonna and escort her to safety aboard my ship. Councillor Cadenza has her own security detail, but as far as I’m aware, Lady Belladonna is here alone, isn’t that right, Belladonna?”

“Yes, sir, it is,” said Blake.

“Are you going to be watching the finals with your mother in Councillor Cadenza’s box?” asked General Ironwood.

“I wasn’t—”

“Do it,” General Ironwood said. “And see if you can wrangle Soleil an invitation up there as well; if not—”

“I can lurk around the vicinity if need be, sir,” Ciel said.

“Councillor Cadenza’s security detail might have something to say about that,” General Ironwood muttered. “Dash, if … if you have bad luck out there today, make your way up there as well.”

“Understood, sir,” Rainbow said. “I’ll fly my airship up to the Colosseum so we can fly Lady Belladonna out if we have to, instead of relying on a Skybus.”

“The Skybuses that everyone else will be using,” Blake murmured.

“Everyone else isn’t a VIP,” Rainbow said.

“Even so—”

“We can’t afford to lose the High Chieftainness of Menagerie,” the General said firmly. “It’s bad enough that we have to worry about the Valish, without one of the most prominent faunus on Remnant getting eaten by a nevermore on our watch. Stay with your mother, and if need be, get her out. Do you think she’ll accept sanctuary aboard an Atlesian cruiser?”

“Yes, sir, I think she will,” Blake said. “Frankly, I’m more worried that she’ll insist that I stay there with her.”

“If that’s what it takes, do it,” said General Ironwood.

“Sir!” Blake gasped. “I … with all due respect, I don’t want to sit around aboard the Valiant while everyone else is fighting against the grimm.”

“Believe me, Belladonna, I can think of many better uses for your talents,” General Ironwood assured her,“but when high ranking officials and diplomats are involved, sometimes, we have to compromise against our instincts. If you want to rise in rank in the service, you’ll need to learn to sometimes do things you don’t like in order to keep the politicians happy.”

“I … suppose so, sir,” Blake huffed. “I just wish that it wouldn’t start before I’ve actually joined the service, or even the academy.”

General Ironwood chuckled softly. “Trust me, Belladonna, there’ll be plenty more opportunities to display your valour to come, and that’s even if your mother behaves as you’re afraid she will. She might surprise you and let you re-enter the fray.”

“You’re right, sir, that would be surprising,” Blake muttered dryly.

“I know that Councillor Cadance has her own security detail, sir,” Rainbow said. “But it would be easy for me to fly them both out to the Valiant, since they’ll both be coming from the same place.”

General Ironwood nodded. “If it comes to that, do it. Twilight, I’d like you to stick close to Councillor Cadenza today as well.”

“Yes, General,” Twilight murmured. “So the tournament is still going ahead?”

“We can’t call it off, Twilight,” General Ironwood said. “Not without risking a panic, and not without tipping our hand to the Valish. I’m afraid that we have to let this play out, and if Cinder is lying, then we won’t have cancelled one of the biggest events of the year for nothing. But I’m increasing security on the arena and the grounds of Beacon: I’m positioning the Resolution and the Gallant in close proximity to the arena and the school, all forces are on standby for an attack, and … we’re ready for this. If the grimm attack, they won’t take us by surprise.”

“What about the Siren, sir, this … magical monster?” asked Rainbow Dash. “The one that’s the reason we have to worry about the Valish, that’s the reason why the faunus have to tiptoe around. What are we going to do about that?”

General Ironwood sighed. “I’m honestly not sure, Dash. I don’t know who we could put up against a creature like that who wouldn’t be vulnerable to their powers. Ozpin had hope that Miss Shimmer would be able to handle it with the help of her team, but now … Ozpin still intends to reach out to her, but there’s a question mark over whether she’ll do it or not.”

“I don’t think that Sunset will turn down a request like that; it’s not who she is,” Rainbow replied. “But even if she does, that doesn’t mean that we have to do nothing.”

“Ideally, we wouldn’t, but there’s no point in throwing men into battle who’d just get … whatever it is this creature does. We don’t have enough of an idea of its strengths, its vulnerabilities, to know how to stop it. Even if we could find it, rushing in might simply be handing it more weapons to use against us.” General Ironwood paused. “Oz is going to speak to Miss Shimmer about this, and if her own team won’t back her up, then—”

“She can count on us, sir,” Blake said.

“I’ll be sure to tell Ozpin that,” said General Ironwood. “But for now, Belladonna, Soleil, focus on Lady Belladonna as your top priority. And Dash, for now, your priority is the tournament itself. Put on a good show to distract the crowd from all their worries. That’s the point, after all, and never more apposite than in a situation like this.”

Rainbow’s back straightened. “Yes, sir. I won’t let Atlas down, sir.”

“I know,” General Ironwood said. Again, he took a breath. “I know that this isn’t the best news, and I’m sorry that the last day of the tournament can’t only be about that, but don’t worry too much. We’re doing everything we can. That will be all for now.”

“Yes, sir,” Rainbow said.

General Ironwood walked to the door, opening it. He paused in the doorway, giving Rainbow Dash one last look. “Good luck out there, Dash.”

“Yes, sir!” Rainbow said as General Ironwood shut the door behind him.

A moment of silence followed as the sound of the door closing faded.

Rainbow unclasped her hands from behind her back and let them fall to her side. “A grimm attack, huh?”

“Not exactly unexpected, once one learns that the grimm are already close by,” Ciel observed. “I would call it the most believable part of Cinder’s so-called information.”

“You think the rest isn’t true?”

“It may be,” Ciel allowed. “Or it may not. We cannot say for certain, since Cinder has provided no proof, but equally, we have not looked to convict or vindicate Tempest Shadow or Bon Bon. It is all up in the air. That is why General Ironwood must take precautions in regards to Tempest, as much as in regard to Lady Belladonna’s safety.”

Rainbow glanced at Blake. “Perhaps you should just tell your mom to stay in her hotel.”

“Would she be safer in her hotel, in the middle of a city that might turn hostile, than in the Amity Colosseum surrounded by young huntsmen and huntresses, and with me right there beside her?” Blake asked. “And Sun, too, for that matter.”

“That … is a very good point,” Rainbow admitted. She had been thinking about suggesting that Applejack should keep the others away — there was nothing confidential about saying ‘there are a lot of grimm sat outside Vale, and we’re worried that they might attack’ for the safety of the kids, but Blake did make a very good point.

“All the same,” she said, getting out her scroll, “I’m gonna call Applejack, see if she brought One in a Thousand with her, just in case.”

“That might make the others a little suspicious,” Blake said.

“She can tell them why she’s carrying it, if she likes,” Rainbow replied as she opened up her scroll.

It only took a few flicks with one finger to find Applejack’s number and a single push of a button to call it.

And it only took a couple of seconds after that for Applejack to answer.

“Mornin’, Rainbow Dash,” she said, interrupting herself halfway through for a pretty darn impressive yawn. “What can I do you for?”

“Morning, Applejack,” Rainbow said. “Did you bring your gun with you?”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed just a little bit. “Why?”

“Because there are a lot of grimm sat on their butts outside the Green Line,” Rainbow said. “Now, do you have One in a Thousand or not?”

“Yeah, Ah’ve got it,” Applejack said. “How many grimm are we talkin’ about?”

“Maybe you should bring it with you to today’s matches,” Rainbow said.

“How many grimm are we talkin’ about?” Applejack repeated.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath in. “A lot,” she admitted.

“And you’re worried they might attack?” Applejack asked.

“The General’s worried about it,” Rainbow said. “He’s got the troops on the front line standing by, the airships, the cruisers, all prepped and ready for him. Sure, maybe they’ll go away, but you know as well as I do that sometimes — a lot of the time — they don’t go away; they go for the throat.”

“And Ah know that we could start bombin’ them right now before they do—”

“In Atlas, sure,” Rainbow said. “But this is Vale; the General’s hands are tied by … politics.” Politics and a magical monster stirring up hate against us. “We have to wait for them to come to us.”

Applejack frowned. “I ain’t heard anything about no grimm until now.”

“I think they’re keeping it covered up so people don’t panic,” Rainbow said.

Applejack huffed. “Panic, panic, panic; you know, sometimes, Ah wish that the high and mighty would stop trying to keep everyone calm by lyin’ to ‘em and start trustin’ folks to be responsible with the truth! 'Don’t wanna cause a panic!' You know, one of these days, what’ll cause a real panic around here is once people work out that they’re being lied to all the live-long day like little kids bein’ told about the Great Seedlin’! It’s enough to make a girl believe in conspiracy theories.”

Twilight chuckled. “Enough for someone who doesn’t have her feet on the ground the way that you do, maybe.”

“Hey, Twilight!” Applejack called. “So you’re here too, huh?”

“And Blake,” Rainbow said.

“Good morning,” Blake said, her voice rising a little bit. “I hope that we didn’t wake you up.”

“Nah, you’re all good, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “And I appreciate you lettin’ me know. Are you sure it’s gonna be safe up on that Amity Arena?”

“Applejack, believe me, if I thought that it would be safer for you to shelter in place, then I would tell you to do just that,” Rainbow said, “but Blake has pointed out — and she’s putting her own mother on the line to prove it — that you’ll be safer in the Colosseum than you will be down in Vale.”

“Is that right, Blake?” Applejack asked.

“Yes,” Blake said as Rainbow turned in place, lifting her scroll upwards so that Applejack could see Blake and Twilight as well as Rainbow Dash herself. “General Ironwood is increasing security in the arena itself and at Beacon against the risk, including two cruisers in close proximity, and I’ll be in Cadance’s box with you and everyone else and Shining Armor, and probably Sun and Ciel as well. And … if there is an attack on Vale, and things get chaotic, then with all of the anti-Atlas and anti-faunus sentiment going around in the city, things could get ugly in the chaos.”

Applejack scratched her head, running her fingers through her straw-coloured hair. “Yeah, I guess you got some good points about that. What about you, Twilight, what are you doin’?”

“I’ll be in the box with Cadance,” Twilight said. “And you, hopefully.”

“Well, if you’re gonna be there, Ah guess Ah can’t stay away, can Ah?” Applejack said. “But what you’re sayin’ is that the arena is safe, but you want to bring mah gun anyway?”

“What I’m saying,” Rainbow replied, “is that the Amity Arena might be the safest place in Vale … but that if you bring your gun with you today, it will be that extra little bit even safer.”

Comments

[Stet709]

“If it’s true, then we’ll find out eventually,” Trixie said. “Until then, I’m not going to start suspecting our friend, a fellow Canterlot Girl, someone that Trixie has fought alongside, because of a few words written by some Valish journalist. No, that will not be happening.”

I may not be the biggest fan of Trixie in FiM proper, but I am liking her here in SAPR.

“She can count on us, sir,” Blake said.

Attagirl, Blake. I figured Rosepetal (well at least Rainbow and Blake anyway...) wouldn't leave Sunset hangin'
Now if only Sunset wasn't supposedly going away on a mission...

[AngelicTitan]

So Tempest is being observed and I am sniffing a Trixie & Starlight vs Tempest fight soon! It’s interesting how things are working towards the last day of the tournament and it seems like things will start to go into high drive now. Excited to see how things will work on the next chapters!

[Mastermind4892]

Applejack huffed. “Panic, panic, panic; you know, sometimes, Ah wish that the high and mighty would stop trying to keep everyone calm by lyin’ to ‘em and start trustin’ folks to be responsible with the truth! 'Don’t wanna cause a panic!' You know, one of these days, what’ll cause a real panic around here is once people work out that they’re being lied to all the live-long day like little kids bein’ told about the Great Seedlin’! It’s enough to make a girl believe in conspiracy theories.”

You've always been one of my favorites Applejack. But while your Element is Honesty, this is not one of the times it works. There's no such thing as a wisdom that can be applied universally and without compromise, and those that do often lead to dogma (Ruby is just a more recent example). We saw the panic people got into over Covid, and the Grimm are far deadlier than a flu virus. This is Remnant, a world where keeping the truth secret is well justified. Telling the public about the real danger would do more than just disrupt society's infrastructure, it would increase the negative feelings which would draw the Grimm in, like hanging a giant neon sign over people's head screaming "ALL YOU CAN EAT BAFE." On this planet, we have only four major cities and a global population of less than one billion. Transparency is a luxury when we are far closer to extinction than the lies we tell ourselves.

11766985
It also says a lot that General Ironwood didn't even question Blake and Rosepetal's willingness to work with Sunset. That speaks volumes on the General's stance towards our favorite Equestrian.

[Stet709]

11767118
Indeed
If you think about it, Ironwood trusts Ozpin, and Ozpin trusts Sunset, so Ironwood might trust Ozpin's judgement on Sunset as well.
Plus, maybe there's some sympathy from Ironwood we haven't heard yet (If there was, I've forgotten it)

[Mastermind4892]

11767143
For one, it's stated in an early chapter that Ironwood first chose Rainbow Dash as team leader to look after Penny (the expensive Atlesian prototype) and Twilight (great inventor and relative to Councilwoman Cadence) because he knew Dash was the type to disobey orders to get her team home.

Second, there was a conversation he shared with Blake soon after the Breach, where he recalled a Mistrialian student he once had. This student evacuated a lot of civilians but refused to retreat himself as part of Mistral pride and glory. He posthumously commended the man for his valor, but Ironwood also expressed that was when he grew a distaste for soldiers and huntsmen too eager to die for glory or ideals, not to mention how they could've gone on to save more lives had they lived. He called it a waste.

The way I see it, the only reason Ozpin and thus Ironwood 'agreed' with Ruby banishing Sunset is because, like it or not, Sunset has lost the trust of her team. A team that doesn't trust is no team at all.

[Stet709]

11767156
Funny you should mention that first example because I did come across that on a recent reread, specifically Ironwood commends Dash for keeping Twilight and the rest of her team safe when Cinder attacked the CCT, despite the fact that Cinder got away.
I also recall him thanking Sunset for protecting Twilight on the train despite Adam getting away.