Battle in the Arena (Rewritten)
Battle in the Arena
Weiss licked her lips. "This certainly puts winning or losing into perspective, doesn't it?"
Pyrrha did not respond. Not because Weiss was wrong — she was absolutely right, with no grounds on which she could be reasonably disagreed with — but because, well, because there were no grounds on which she could be disagreed with.
Just being here, which had half seemed the centre of the world mere moments ago, now seemed a worthless place, a place of no consequence, a place which she was quite anxious to be out of and away from.
As she recovered her weapons, Pyrrha wanted nothing more than to be out of here, away from here, somewhere of more use and utility, wherever that might be.
The rising of the platform seemed so achingly slow, grindingly slow, a painful and protracted drag holding her in this pointless place where she could do nothing.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Professor Port called to the crowd. "Please remain calm—"
A nevermore detached itself from the swirling mass of grimm that swooped above the arena, visible as they passed above the hole in the ceiling. This particular grimm blocked out that hole as it descended on it, landing on top of the forcefield that was supposed to keep stray fire in. Now it was the only thing keeping the grimm out.
Professor Port's call for calm fell on deaf ears; Pyrrha could hear the cries of alarm from the crowd above them, and she could see movement in the stands like the waves of the roiling sea as people began to struggle for the exits.
Pyrrha thought of her mother, neither able to flee swiftly nor well suited for a panicked crush of people. She thought of little Soojin Wong, too, who had already had a bad experience in that regard, an experience that would be as nothing compared to this.
And she was down here and could do nothing. Could this platform rise no faster?
The nevermore began to assail the barrier, its immense bone beak descending to slam down into the barrier.
A series of blue-green ripples spread out across the shield from the point of impact.
Pyrrha switched Miló into rifle mode as she heard the cries of alarm grow louder.
The nevermore's beak rose and fell in a succession of sharp pecking motions, each one causing more ripples across the barrier than the one before.
"That barrier isn't designed for this," Weiss said, her tone grave. "It won't hold."
Pyrrha reloaded, discharging the magazine she had expended and pulling a fresh one out of a pouch on her belt. It fit into Miló so flawlessly that, once in place, it could not be seen.
"How's your au—?" she began, turning to Weiss, then stopped as her mind caught up with her mouth and she realised what a ludicrous question that was. How was Weiss' aura? She knew what state Weiss' aura was in; it was in the red, thanks to her.
That no longer seemed such a good thing as once it had.
The fact that the platform had almost returned to its level, that soon, the rest of the arena surface would re-emerge back into place, was the bright spot in all this.
Pyrrha turned away from Weiss, looking up at the nevermore as it assaulted the barrier. Her sash swirled lazily around her leg as she turned.
"Head for the tunnel as soon as you can," Pyrrha instructed. "I'll get its attention and draw it down to me." She put Miló to her shoulder. The moment the nevermore broke through the barrier, she would shoot it. That should hopefully be enough to have it focussing on her and ignoring the spectators in the stands, not to mention Weiss.
There was a moment in which Weiss said nothing, and the only sound was the broiling alarm of the crowd above.
Then Weiss spoke, in a voice that was thick with indignation. "You want me to run away?”
Pyrrha winced slightly. “Your aura is—”
“I’m well aware of the state of my aura, thank you very much!” Weiss snapped. “But whether I have full aura, low aura, or no aura at all, I will not tuck my tail between my legs and scurry off into a dark tunnel like some … some beetle! I am a huntress and a Schnee and…” — her voice dropped — “and a brave girl, I hope. I will not run.”
“Very well,” Pyrrha murmured. “I cry your pardon.”
The nevermore’s beak slammed down into the shield once more.
“Again, your words hit harder than your blows,” Weiss muttered.
“I did not mean to insult your courage,” Pyrrha explained, not taking her eyes off the grimm. “But to die in battle might be thought cause for sorrow; to die on television where the whole world can see it might be said to do more harm than good.”
The nevermore’s beak descended like a hammer upon fresh-forged steel.
“Well,” Weiss said softly, “then it is a good thing that I’ve no intention of dying, isn’t it?”
The nevermore’s beak struck the shield, the shield that shattered, leaving the nevermore standing on thin air now, no barrier between it and Pyrrha and Weiss.
No barrier, more importantly, between the spectators in the stands and the grimm, for all the barriers had failed at once; like the CCT, once failed one, so failed all.
The nevermore shrieked in triumph. Its high-pitched keening cry was answered by the roar of Miló as Pyrrha fired her first shot.
“Here I am!” Pyrrha yelled, in a manner that would have seemed melodramatic in other circumstances. “Come and get me!”
Weiss fired too, blasts of dust leaping from her slender rapier, although she used none of her glyphs — yet — probably because she had not the aura for them.
They were not needed to get the nevermore’s attention; it shrieked against as it hung suspended in the air, wings beating. It flapped its wings more violently, as though it were trying to slam them together, and a host of black feathers fell like hailstones down from the sky towards Pyrrha and Weiss where they stood upon the battlefield.
Pyrrha leapt aside, trusting in Weiss to do the same, clearing the central hexagon and raising Akoúo̱ in one hand above her head as she rolled across the metal struts and the white surface, across the lantern symbol of Haven Academy, her sash trailing after her as, all around, the feathers slammed down onto the floor, piercing the metal until the arena was a forest of feathers, all sticking upright like trees.
The nevermore descended, maw opened gaping wide.
A rainbow comet shot out from one side of the stands to collide with the grimm in mid-air.
"What in the Lady's grace?" Neon gasped as the Atlesians saw the missile explode above the Colosseum, just visible from their perspective through the gap in the ceiling.
All their eyes, young and old alike, turned in that direction. Weiss and Pyrrha were both forgotten in favour of the Skydarts and Skyhawks that they could see duelling with nevermores on the skies over the arena.
Right in the skies over the arena.
So, this was happening. Just like Cinder had said it would, just like the general had been worried it would, the grimm were coming for them.
Made you wonder what else Cinder had been telling the truth about.
Rainbow spared a little worry for Trixie and Starlight, before reminding herself that even if Tempest was a traitor — and she might be; Rainbow couldn't say for sure she wasn't — she'd have to go some to be the equal of Trixie and Starlight combined, both of them on their guard against her.
Things might look bleak, but those were the moments when you could rely on Trixie the most.
And things weren't even that bleak yet.
"What's goin' on up there?" asked Apple Bloom, shrinking back in her seat a little.
"It's gonna be okay, kids," Rainbow assured her. Her gaze fell on Scootaloo. "It's going to be okay." Scootaloo's aunts might not agree with her when they all got back to Canterlot, but Rainbow believed it.
Yes, the presence of grimm over the arena wasn't wonderful, and there was likely to be some hard fighting ahead, but just because it might be hard didn't mean they couldn't handle it, and for right now specifically, the Atlesian forces would take the skies around the arena back, she was certain of it.
Air power was a key ingredient of Atlesian advantage over the grimm; they weren't going to lose it.
Blake rose from her seat. "We need to move," she declared. "Mom, come on."
"No, not yet," Rainbow said. "Ma'am, Cadance, it's best if you stay where you are for now."
Blake frowned. "But our orders—"
"Our orders are to keep your mom and the Councillor safe," Rainbow said. "But there are more grimm out there than there are in here, so we're better off sitting tight for now until our airships have cleared the skies." She paused. "Twilight, call the General and confirm that. I want to keep my hands free."
She didn't say — she didn't need to say — why she wanted to keep her hands free.
Neon's eyes narrowed. "Did you know this was coming?"
"No one can know with complete accuracy the mind of the grimm," Ciel murmured.
"But you thought this might happen," Neon retorted. "There were orders in place for if it did—"
"The grimm outside Vale aren't exactly hiding," Rainbow pointed out. "Of course General Ironwood thought about what to do if they attacked."
"But we didn't think they'd be opening their attack here," Twilight added as she got out her scroll. "It does change the context of—"
A nevermore broke off from the aerial battle raging above — and probably all around — them, dropping down onto the hard light barrier that closed off the arena from above.
As the grimm began to attack the barrier, pecking relentlessly at it with its beak, Sweetie Belle whimpered and clutched Rarity's arm with both hands.
"It's going to be okay," Rainbow insisted. "This is … remember Cadance's wedding? Remember how, even though that was kind if hairy and a little bit scary for a minute, it all worked out in the end? We all came out smiling?" She smiled now. "Well, it's going to be like that, and hopefully not even as scary, because we don't even have to call for help this time; all the backup we need is right outside."
Hopefully, none of them remembered the fact that Vice Principal Luna had gotten run through with her aura down when Chrysalis first took them by surprise and it had been a lowkey miracle that she’d pulled through okay.
By the way that one hand went to her neck, Twilight remembered at least one other detail about that day, but she also remembered — she had to remember — that Chrysalis had dropped her before anything happened after Rainbow socked her on the jaw.
And they all remembered that they had, just as Rainbow had reminded the girls, come out smiling: they had held the wedding that evening aboard the Valiant, General Ironwood officiating by the power vested in him as a flag officer aboard ship, and yeah, their dresses were a little tatty, and some of their more elaborate hairdos had gotten kind of messed up, and sure, the whole thing could have been a lot more photogenic than it ended up being, but so what? It was a great night all the same, after they’d passed through the trials and the troubles to the starlight beyond. And it would be just the same here; maybe they wouldn’t have this all wrapped up and squared away in time for the planned fireworks and Pyrrha’s victory celebration, but there would be a brighter day to come, she was certain of it.
A brighter day for all of them.
They just had a few grimm to take care of first.
"Everyone, please get or keep your heads down," Ciel requested as she swung Distant Thunder's large barrel around and up towards the nevermore.
Applejack was also taking aim, her rifle at her shoulder.
"Don't shoot," Rainbow said. "You'll draw its attention towards us, and we don't want that." Not with the kids here, not to mention Cadance and Lady Belladonna, she could have added but had no need to. "I've got a better idea." She walked to the edge of the box, in front of everyone else, vaulting up so that she was crouched on the edge of the railing, one arm out, the fingertips of her other hand resting lightly upon the cool metal. "Rarity, once the shields drop, can you put up a barrier in front of the stands on the far side of the arena, opposite me?"
"How big a barrier do you want, darling?" Rarity asked.
"As big as you can give me," Rainbow replied, looking back at Rarity over her shoulder.
"I see," Rarity murmured. "Or at least, I think I do." A slight smile played across her painted lips, despite the situation. "I'll do my best, dear."
She got up; her left hand fussed with the chunky golden bracelet around her right wrist. She took a couple of steps forward, high heels clicking on the metal floor of the box as she moved to stand beside Rainbow Dash.
The nevermore's beak slammed down, breaking the shield. There was a ripple of green light in front of Rainbow and the others as all the barriers separating the crowd from the arena dropped at once. A roar of fright went up from the crowd, which had been panicking already in spite of Professor Port telling everybody to stay calm.
If Rainbow hadn't known more about what was going on, she wouldn't have been feeling very calm either.
She wasn't very calm now. She wasn't scared, but her heart was beating faster nonetheless.
Rarity flung out her hands, and a wall of barriers, flat hexagonal diamond-shaped panels that glowed a bright and brilliant blue, began to appear on the other side of the arena from Rainbow Dash. This was Rarity's semblance; she could create these constructs with her aura. She could control the size of them, and if they were close enough, then she could move them with her hands, and the best part was they didn't even cost her a lot of aura. That was how Rarity was able to make so many of them now, a regular beehive of the almost honeycomb-shaped diamonds growing out from a central point to cover off more of the stands on the far side.
Because of the noise of the crowd, the sound of the gunshot was overwhelmed; Rainbow only just heard it. It hadn't come from Applejack, and it certainly hadn't come from Ciel; it had come from Pyrrha down below.
Evidently, she wanted to get the grimm's attention.
Thank you, Pyrrha.
The nevermore shrieked in outrage, unleashing a storm of feathers down on Pyrrha and Weiss — why didn't Weiss retreat, she didn't have enough aura left to stand fast for a fight like this? — which didn't look as though it hit either of them; Pyrrha dived out of the way and kept on dodging, while Weiss burned some more of her aura on protective glyphs.
What are you still doing down there, Weiss? Now, Rainbow was starting to get a little scared.
The nevermore howled as it descended, tucking its wings in as it dove through the hole in the centre of the ceiling. Its mouth was gaping wide open, and its eyes were fixed on Pyrrha and Weiss.
Perfect.
The nevermore swooped down, passing in front of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow leapt, the Wings of Harmony unfurling, a rainbow trail flying out behind her as she kicked with aura and semblance off her precarious perch and soared across the empty air. Her aura had come back a bit during the gap between her semifinal match and now — certainly, she was in a better state to face the nevermore than she had been to face Weiss — and she put some of that regenerated aura into the blow as she threw a punch at the giant grimm. She hit it in the neck, just behind the bony skull with its swirling red and orange patterns. She didn't hit it hard enough to kill it, but she did hit it hard enough to knock it off course, sending it flying sideways across the arena, into the honeycomb of barriers that Rainbow had had Rarity throw up. The nevermore crashed into the barricade with a cry of pain and anger as one wing was crushed between its body and Rarity's shields.
Rainbow didn't give it a chance to recover. She grabbed the nevermore, reaching out as far as she could as though she were trying to wrap her arms around the flier's neck; she couldn't reach, she knew she couldn't reach, the grimm was too big for that, but she was able to get a ways at least, pressing her body up against the nevermore, digging her fingers past the feathers and into the oily, greasy skin beneath. It was slippery and hard to find a purchase, Rainbow's hands threatened to slide away; she could feel the nevermore's feathers, as sharp as knives or razor blades, cutting at her aura wherever they came into contact, but Rainbow persisted, gouging into the grimm with her bare hands until she was confident that she had a tight hold.
The nevermore thrashed, shaking its neck from side to side, trying to crane its head around to bite Rainbow Dash, but Rainbow was too close to the head, only just behind it; the nevermore could see her with one baleful red eye, but it couldn't reach her with its beak.
Rainbow smirked, and her Wings of Harmony began to blast downwards, the jetpack firing at full throttle.
The nevermore began to descend, pulled down by the force of Rainbow's jetpack. The grimm cried out, straining and squirming in Rainbow's grasp, flapping the one wing that it could still move, flailing with talons and beak alike in a frantic, futile effort to get at Rainbow Dash.
It slid down Rarity's barrier.
The nevermore pushed itself away from the diamonds, flapping both wings as it tried to pull itself up, shaking like a wet dog to throw Rainbow Dash off and away. Rainbow clung on, tightening her grip into the slick and oily darkness of the grimm, her jetpack burning white hot.
The grimm and the huntress hung in place for a moment, wings warring against wings, black feathers against fire and metal, primal savagery and eldritch strength pushing against Atlesian technology and Twilight's ingenuity.
The Wings of Harmony won out as, suddenly, the nevermore's strength seemed to depart, and the two were plummeting headlong like lightning down towards the arena floor.
"Out of the way!" Rainbow shouted, in case Weiss or Pyrrha had missed what was going on.
The nevermore shrieked in alarm.
Rainbow drove it head-first into the centre of the battlefield, the grimm's cry cut off as it landed with a crunch. Its neck twisted, head bent at an awkward angle to its body; its wings and talon twitched, it might not have been dead yet.
Pyrrha clearly wasn't in the mood to wait and see. She charged in, sash and hair both streaming out after her, the light of the spotlights reflecting off her gilded armour as she thrust her spear into the nevermore between Rainbow's shoulder and the creature's skull.
The nevermore began to turn to ashes, or had it started to slowly turn just before Pyrrha had driven her spear home?
Either way, it was dead now, and Rainbow had to get off, or she'd drop through the air where it used to be. She leapt off the decaying remains, kicking a feather aside where it threatened to obstruct her, turning her face upwards towards the gap in the ceiling.
There were no more grimm coming that way — yet.
The griffons snapped and snarled as they descended through the opening down into the arena.
Glad I didn’t say that out loud.
The roar of Distant Thunder, louder than the crowd which was trying to get out of the stands, echoed off the sides of the arena as a griffon disappeared in a puff of smoke and ashes. Rainbow could understand why Ciel had taken the shot: instead of one nevermore, it was a lot of griffons, and they might spread out all over the place if they were left unchecked.
“Weiss, take cover!” Rainbow cried as she kicked off the ground.
“Why does everyone keep telling me that?” Weiss demanded, and maybe she said something else, but if she did, then her words were snatched away, and Rainbow didn’t hear them.
Because Rainbow was already off and up, shooting towards the flock of griffons — she counted about twenty of them, well, nineteen — pouring in from outside. They had birdlike heads, smaller than the nevermore’s but no less sharp, and long and spindly front legs ending in long bone claws like knives. Their bodies were a little thicker behind the legs, ending in strong, muscular-looking hind legs and a tail that was tipped with little bone spikes like a mace.
As they dropped in through the opening in the roof, they were already starting to spread out.
Rainbow drew her machine pistols from their holsters, Plane Awesome and Brutal Honesty blazing in her hands as she fired almost at random, switching between targets with each burst, not trying to kill any one grimm but trying to get all of them to focus upon her rather than the people in the stands.
The griffons hissed angrily as they began to round on her, moving like a single creature made up of a lot of different parts, every griffon moving as one to surround Rainbow Dash.
Distant Thunder roared again, and another griffon was obliterated into ash and lingering smoke.
And from down on the ground, green lasers leapt up, slicing into the densely packed flock, lighting up the darkness. The lasers pulsed rapidly, beams firing one after the other in quick succession, piercing into the grimm.
The grimm that turned away from Rainbow Dash and began to dive down towards the floor of the arena, where Penny stood.
When the grimm started flying about the arena, when they could see them flying overhead, fighting with the Atlesian airships, Penny hadn’t known what to do.
She knew that, as the new leader of Team SAPR, she probably ought to know what to do; she had a sneaking and sinking suspicion that Sunset would have known what to do, and she was certain that Ruby would have known what to do … but that didn’t actually help her to work out what to do; it only made her feel worse for the indecision.
She wasn’t sure what was next.
Yes, they’d known that the grimm might attack, Cinder had told Sunset and Pyrrha that there was an attack coming, along with some other things, but now it seemed that the attack had started … or had it? Well, there were grimm flying around, so that meant that it had probably started, but what if it was only here? And Penny couldn’t fly, and neither could Jaune or Pyrrha, so what were they supposed to do about it?
Maybe she could stand on the promenade and shoot at them from a distance.
Although if she did that, then she might hit an airship.
Being a team leader was not easy. Not easy at all. What should she do? What was she supposed to do?
I’m supposed to keep calm and not let on that I don’t know what my next move is.
Yes. Yes, that was it. That was the starting point. She didn’t know what Sunset would do in this situation, but she remembered the way that Sunset had gone down the line in Mountain Glenn, trying to make everyone feel better.
“Don’t tell anyone, but neither am I.”
Maybe Penny couldn’t make anyone feel better like that, Jaune or Pyrrha, and she didn’t know what to say to make Ruby feel better, but she could at least not lose her head just because things were happening. She had to keep … maybe not keep calm, but she had to look like she was keeping calm, or else other people would panic too.
And people were starting to panic already; she could hear them behind her, and when she turned around, she could see the people in the stands, the people who’d been celebrating Pyrrha’s spectacular victory just a few moments ago, rushing to try and get out.
Get out…
Penny’s eyes widened, because she knew what the next step was now. If the grimm were attacking, then it was their job to get back to Beacon and protect Amber, in case someone tried to use the confusion to get to her.
Penny stood up, because everything was clear now. They were going to go down, get Pyrrha, then get on a skybus down to Beacon and link up with Ruby and Amber and Dove. And then … and then they would keep her safe. Maybe Professor Ozpin would have a plan as to how best to do that, but if not, then Penny would just … perhaps she should get Amber up onto one of General Ironwood’s ships, that would be safe.
Except maybe from the flying grimm.
That could wait until later, anyway; for now, she knew what she needed to do.
What her team needed to do.
“Jaune,” Penny said, turning to face him, “come with me, we need to—”
The nevermore dropped down onto the hard-light barrier, attacking it with its beak, trying to break through to get into the colosseum below.
With Pyrrha and Weiss Schnee right below.
And just like that, the plan changed.
“Come on, Jaune!” Penny cried, not bothering to look if he was following her as she ran for the stairs; she didn’t need to look, Jaune would follow her. He would want to get to Pyrrha just as much as she did.
Because that part of the plan hadn’t changed. They were still going to get to Pyrrha, and then they were going to help her fight.
Penny ran for the stairs, and then down then, her feet rattling the metal, clattering on it; she ran so fast that she almost tripped over as she ran, but she didn’t mind; it wasn’t as though it would have hurt her.
She wasn’t just anxious for Pyrrha — she didn’t know how long that barrier would hold against the nevermore — and she didn’t just want to get to her in time. There was another, maybe a little more selfish reason for hurrying, and that was that she was sure that any second now, one of the Haven students, maybe Arslan Altan, or that Medea girl from Team JAMM, was going to shout ‘to the princess!’ and they would all rush down the stairs and down the corridor and into the arena to help her out.
She thought that they’d do that because … because they were the Haven students, because they were the Mistral students, and they’d all read that book where everyone was kind of mean and awful to one another.
Except, skipping around a bit because she wasn’t enjoying it very much, Penny had come across the part where the Mistralians broke the truce in a doomed attempt to save Juturna — she’d liked that part, although she already knew that Juturna died, which took some of the ‘punch the air’ feeling out of it — and with the way that all the Mistralians seemed to love that book, and Pyrrha, she thought that something like that might happen any second now.
Which was good, of course, the more the merrier, but she was Pyrrha’s friend, and she was Pyrrha’s new team leader and, if she let Arslan or Medea or any of the other Haven students get there before her and Jaune, then … then it would be really embarrassing.
It was as if she could hear Sunset whispering in her ear, telling her to uphold the honour of Team SAPR and show who Pyrrha’s real friends were.
And so she ran, trusting to Jaune to follow her; she ran down the stairs and down the dark corridor, following the turns as her footsteps hammered on the floor until she burst out of the corridor and into the light.
Just in time to see Pyrrha stab the nevermore in the neck and kill it.
Penny wasn’t entirely sure how it had gotten down there, but she’d bet that Rainbow Dash — who jumped off the nevermore before its body could disappear — had something to do with it.
It was a little bit deflating, to be honest.
Although she was glad that Pyrrha — and everyone else — was okay, of course.
But she wouldn’t have minded the chance to save the day. Or at least save Pyrrha.
Nevertheless, hiding some of her feelings as a team leader should, Penny started towards them.
It was then that more grimm started to drop in through the hole in the ceiling: griffons this time, a lot of griffons, and there were still a lot of griffons even after Ciel had shot one of them.
Rainbow Dash took to the skies to fight them, shouting something to Weiss which Weiss didn’t seem very happy about — something about hiding? Yes, Weiss, Rainbow could be a little controlling, and it did get annoying sometimes; you had to try and remember that she meant well — as she did so, although she didn’t stick around to hear Weiss’ irritated response. No, Rainbow soared upwards, her wings outspread.
She did look wonderful when she was in the air, even when she was shooting at a swarm of grimm, firing randomly—
No, not firing randomly. She was firing at a lot of different targets, but that wasn’t the same thing as spraying bullets. Every shot was on target; it was just that the targets kept changing.
She was trying to draw the grimm onto her.
I might have a better idea, Penny thought, as her back opened up and Floating Array popped out. She could feel her swords, connected to her through the wires that plugged into her spine, and it only took a thought for them to form up like Atlesian airships, floating in a halo around her, pointing towards the griffons that were beginning to turn on Rainbow Dash.
Another thought, and every sword of Floating Array snapped in half, folding to unveil the lasers that were their alternate modes.
Penny didn’t need to do anything but think to start shooting. The green lasers lanced up from her carbines. Like Rainbow Dash, she targeted a lot of different grimm; thanks to her advanced targeting system, she could fix every laser on a different griffon without any strain whatsoever.
Luckily, griffons weren’t that big, so she didn’t need to concentrate her fire the way she would have if this had been a giant nevermore.
Her lasers fired, and the beams punctured the griffons, knocking them back up into the sky, piercing their black bodies and turning them to smoke.
Ciel was firing too — Penny could hear the loud sound of Distant Thunder — but it seemed to be Penny’s lasers that were aggravating the grimm more, maybe because they could see where her lasers were coming from.
They could see her, and they growled at her as they swooped down towards her, ignoring Rainbow Dash.
Well, the one that Rainbow grabbed around the neck and held in a headlong while it struggled and shot it until it died wasn’t ignoring Rainbow Dash, but the rest of them that were headed straight for Penny, they ignored her.
Sometimes, grimm had very short attention spans.
She’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel like she had the same problem sometimes.
But her lasers kept shooting, in spite of other things that she might be noticing at the time, they kept on firing at the grimm even while they dropped down towards her. The griffons were getting better at dodging her fire now that they knew it was coming, especially when they swerved towards the stands where she didn’t want to shoot in case she actually hit anyone, but even so, she still managed to get a couple more hits. One glanced off a griffon’s bony skull — maybe there were advantages to concentrating her fire — but another laser beam penetrated a griffon’s chest and killed it stone dead.
Are you still watching this, Father? You wanted me to show what I could do in front of Remnant, and here I am.
The weapons of Floating Array snapped back from carbines into swords as the griffons got closer. Penny focussed now, focussing upon the griffon that survived that shot from her lasers — not that she was upset about it or anything — as she swept her arm in a wide arm in front of her.
It didn’t actually do anything, but it looked good, and if there was one thing that Penny had learned from Pyrrha, it was that there was nothing wrong with a little bit of showing off if you could get away with it.
Penny hoped very much that she could get away with it.
She swept her arms out in front of her, and as she did so, more or less in sync, her swords swept around in a wave, a wave that cut through the air before they slammed in rapid succession into that offending griffon. The grimm howled as one after another the swords cut through its belly, slicing up until the griffon was cut in two, and both halves turning to ashes as they fell down to the ground.
The griffons that had scattered in the face of her lasers now regrouped, flocking together just like they had around Rainbow Dash, flying back and forth in front of her, moving so close together that she could hardly, that she couldn’t make out the individual griffons, just a mass of black bodies, feathers, and the occasional flash of a white bone … something.
It was like a cloud moving towards her. Moving to surround her.
Penny drew back her swords, bringing one hand up and back level with her face as though she were holding a sword, even as Floating Array reformed the ring around her head and body.
Penny thrust her arm out as though she were making a palm strike, and her swords thrust out too, all of them straight ahead, driving into the black mass.
They wouldn’t be so easy to lose track of once she wounded them.
She was right about that, mostly; every griffon that she’d hit cried out in pain, and they split off from the group, each of them going their own way, trying to get away.
No. Not trying to get away; they were trying to pull on Penny’s swords, and the wires that led back to her!
Penny yanked her swords back, no fancy moving her hands this time, just drawing her swords out of the bodies of the grimm before she got pulled anywhere. The blades of Floating Array slid free, but one griffon turned quickly, grabbing the sword with claws and beak, biting down upon the flat of the sword, fighting with her for control of it.
Penny sent her other swords flying towards the grimm, piercing the griffon from all directions, but even as those other swords rammed home to end the griffon’s life, two more griffons had grabbed hold of the wire that bound the blade to her.
Penny was yanked off balance, but even as she stumbled forwards, she counterattacked, her free swords lashing out. The griffons let go, but more griffons were close by, very close, flocking all around.
Penny spun, and her swords spun with her, a wheel of swords standing guard between her and the grimm.
The grimm that flew around her in a black mass, wings beating, beaks snapping, low growls ripping from their throats. They surrounded her, but they didn’t get close. They couldn’t get close; Floating Array was keeping them at bay. Her swords circled around her, slicing into this griffon or that, and though they didn’t kill any of them, none of them got close to her either.
Pyrrha charged into their midst, her gold armour and fluttering red sash burning brightly in the middle of the black of the grimm as she cut into them. Her spear moved so fast that Penny couldn’t keep track of it with her optic sensors.
Rainbow dropped in as well, literally, dropping out of the sky to drive a griffon into the ground with both feet. And even Jaune rushed forward, his arm glowing as he concentrated his aura, strengthening himself to slice off a griffon’s head in a single blow.
“For Mistral!” Arslan cried as she led the Haven students out of the tunnel, spilling out onto the battlefield in a wild charge with swords and bows or simply bare fists, slamming into the griffons from the flank. Team YRBN were with them too — all except Blake — and Weiss’ teammates, and Penny was surprised to see Shade’s Team UMBR with them as well. They swept into the diminished number of griffons, breaking the dense formation of swirling grimm, splitting the griffons off into a series of individuals that could be dealt with by the huntresses and huntsmen.
“I think I might keep this one, Ren!” Nora yelled as she hopped onto a griffon’s back, swinging her hammer around over her head with wild abandon as it tried to throw her off.
Yang killed it, flowing fluidly around its snapping beak before landing a one-two punch, her gauntlets firing, to blow its head clean off. “Focus, Nora,” she remonstrated.
“Killjoy,” Nora muttered as she leapt off the grimm’s decaying remains.
A griffon clawed at Jaune’s shield; Jaune held that shield in front of him, letting the claws of the griffon rake across it, while he thrust with his sword out from behind it towards the grimm. The griffon retreated, hopping back and forth in front of Jaune, snapping its beak.
Jaune stepped forward to pursue.
The griffon turned around, its tail with those spikes of bone lashing out along the ground to hit Jaune’s legs hard enough to cut them out from under him. Jaune squawked in alarm as he tumbled onto the floor.
The griffon gave a triumphant-sounding snarl as it rounded on him.
Miló flew through the air from Pyrrha’s hand to bury itself in the griffon’s neck. The grimm started, jerked its head up, its whole body going rigid as it toppled over onto its side, smoke rising from its body.
“Jaune,” Pyrrha began, moving towards him, “are you—?” She was cut off when the grimm attacked her, rearing up onto its strong hind legs before descending on Pyrrha, talons flashing.
Pyrrha took the blow on her own shield, knees bending, her whole posture dropping as the griffon bore down on her with all its strength and all its weight, clawing at the edge of her shield as it tried to rip Akoúo̱ away from her.
Penny saw Pyrrha grit her teeth before she rose up suddenly, legs straightening, throwing her arms up, pushing the griffon back upwards so that it almost fell over onto its back.
It didn’t, quite, but there was a second when it was precariously balanced, claws flailing, before it landed right way — or wrong way from the perspective of killing it — on the ground, snapping its beak at Pyrrha.
It turned and tried to whip its tail towards her. Pyrrha leapt up, letting the spike tail pass underneath — but when she landed, she stepped on the tail, pinning it down before landing a spinning kick on the griffon’s face with her other foot, hard enough to crack its bone mask.
Then she finished the job, cutting its head off with a swing of her shield.
So cool, Penny thought.
Everywhere, the griffons were being taken down. Medea’s semblance of skeletons mobbed one of them, swords rising and falling in their bony hands; Lavinia Andronicus pulled the wing off another before her brother burned it with his flamethrowers; Cardin bludgeoned one to death with his mace; Neptune drove his polearm into a griffon’s chest before unleashing a wave of lighting dust that rippled up and down the grimm’s body.
Weiss cried out in alarm.
To say that Weiss had been annoyed had been an understatement.
Who were they, either of them, to tell her to retreat, to take cover, to hide, to run away? Who were they, indeed, to give commands to her, and such humiliating commands at that? Why, Pyrrha was a person barely connected with her, while Rainbow Dash … okay, she and Rainbow were friends, and so Rainbow was entitled to a degree of meddling in her affairs, but all the same, Weiss was angry enough at present to almost forget that they were friends. Hide indeed, take cover indeed, turn your back on the grimm indeed, arrogant presumption!
The fact that they meant well did not excuse them, nor did it douse the flames of her upset. She was, as she had said to Pyrrha, a huntress, and though she had lost the final match, she nevertheless had a reputation to uphold on behalf of the Schnee name — and let’s face it, the Schnee name could do with being upheld at the moment, what with the way that it had been so much-maligned lately — and her fleeing while Pyrrha stayed and fought, or while Rainbow fought, or while seemingly everybody fought the grimm except her was not going to do the family name much good, was it?
No, no, she would not run. She would not turn her back, she would not retreat one step, no matter the state of her aura.
Such had been her feelings, strong feelings indeed, as the shield fell, as the nevermore descended, as Rainbow having killed the nevermore shot back up into the sky with only a parting imprecation to her to be somewhere else. She was neither coward nor child! She would fight!
But now, as her aura broke, she felt that she had perhaps a little more understanding of their point of view.
Perhaps I rely too heavily on my semblance.
The griffon that had just slashed her last black glyph to ribbons cocked its head to one side, as though it were surprised by the sudden lack of an obstacle between it and its target.
Weiss did not tremble. If this was her moment, then she would not die showing fear. She had stayed and fought to do credit to the Schnee name, and she would continue to do so, even unto death.
Her back was straight, her head was high, and Myrtenaster was still in her hand, the slender blade pointed at the grimm.
And after all, just because she was out of aura didn’t mean that she was out of options.
She had fire dust loaded into Myrtenaster’s cylinder.
Weiss fired, a blast of fire dust leaping from her sword to hit the griffon in the face. The grimm squawked, recoiling.
Weiss moved, darting around the griffon to get around and hit it in the flank, then when it reacted, she would—
She would not move fast enough without her aura or her glyphs. Her movements were too slow, and the griffon’s tail caught her, lashing out to strike her on the knee, the spikes of bone sinking into her unprotected flesh.
Weiss cried out. She shrieked in pain and felt even more pain as she tumbled to the floor, hands scraping on the surface of the arena. Her leg — the griffon had hit her once, but her knee, her leg, was now hitting her over and over and over again, each pulse of pain resounding up and down her body. There were holes in her skin, the griffon had left puncture marks in her leg, her leg that … it was as if the entire rest of her body had gone numb, and all she could feel was her leg and, to a lesser extent, her hands and her thigh where she had fallen.
She could only feel where it hurt. Those parts of her body cried out to her like children crying out for mother; they were all that she could feel.
All she could feel was the pain.
The pain … and maybe a touch of fear.
The griffon stared down at her, its expression inscrutable.
That’s good. I would hate to be killed by something that looked like it was enjoying itself.
The griffon clacked its beak and trilled like a bird.
Weiss tried to push herself to her feet, but she ended up crying out again as her leg gave way beneath her and dumped her back down onto the ground. Was it broken? Was she that fragile without her aura?
But she could still raise her head; she could do that at least.
She would not die looking afraid.
She just wished that her expression wasn’t distorted by the pain.
She really just wished that she had more aura.
The griffon drew its head back. It lunged forward.
A hook, a black hook on a black ribbon, buried itself in the griffon’s neck. The griffon shrieked as it was yanked backwards, talons flailing.
Blake. Blake was holding the other end of the ribbon, pulling against the grimm with both hands. She was standing on a flat, blue diamond, along with Rainbow Dash’s friend Rarity, who had an épée in one hand.
Her other hand, she raised towards Weiss, and another diamond appeared between Weiss and the struggling griffon.
The struggling griffon that was hit in the side by a metal disc flung at great force, then another, then a third. The struggling griffon that was knocked onto its side, mewling and moaning and kicking with its legs.
Sabine Silverband approached it, not sparing so much as a glance for Weiss, her eyes were firmly fixed upon the grimm.
She planted one foot upon its neck and raised the hand on which was strapped the gauntlet that fired her metal discs.
She fired one more, and the grimm was done. It began to turn to ashes before Weiss’ eyes.
Weiss swallowed; she felt that she was in too much pain to feel too much relief, but she felt some relief, at least.
Albeit a little embarrassment, too, to owe her life to Sabine Silverband.
And to Blake and Rarity as well, but she didn’t actually mind that, but Sabine?
Still, she ought to acknowledge it. She needed to acknowledge it, or else … or else, she would be an awfully churlish person, wouldn’t she?
“Tha—” Weiss began.
Sabine held up one finger to her, as though she were shushing a child. She glanced at Weiss, but then looked away again as though she physically could not bear to let her eyes linger too long upon the Schnee heiress.
“Not a word,” Sabine said, calmly enough but firmly too. “Not one word.” She turned away and began to stalk off. “Reynard!” she snapped. “Get over here!”
“Weiss!” Flash cried as he rushed through the griffon that he’d just impaled as it was still dissolving to reach her side. Rho Aias hit the floor with a heavy clatter as he knelt by her side. “Are you—? Sorry, of course you’re not. How bad is it?”
“It hurts,” Weiss winced, through gritted teeth. “Whether that means it’s actually that bad … I’m not a doctor. But I did struggle to stand up just a moment ago.”
“Jaune!” Flash shouted. “Jaune, we need you!” He looked around — for Jaune, presumably — before returning his gaze and all of his attention to her. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t—”
“There to save me?” Weiss finished for him. “As a huntress and your team leader, I don’t—”
Flash’s eyebrows rose sceptically.
Weiss pouted. “Alright, in this specific instance, I did, but as a rule—”
“As a rule, you’d have more aura than that when the fight began,” Blake declared as she and Rarity approached. “Why didn’t you retreat, after that beating you took from Pyrrha?”
If I still had my aura, I would use my semblance on someone, Weiss thought. “Because I have my pride,” she declared in turn.
“Pride,” Blake murmured, and Weiss had the impression that it was only the fact that they were in the middle of a battle that was preventing her from giving Weiss a lecture on what pride was worth in situations like this.
Actually, the battle was coming to an end now, the griffons all slain, but nevertheless, Blake refrained from giving the lecture, for which Weiss was very grateful.
She was not in the mood right now, for obvious reasons.
“Jaune!” Flash called again.
Jaune came, and with him came Pyrrha, and it seemed as though everyone else came too, everybody converging on her to gawk at her in her infirmity.
Or more likely, they just wanted to see what was wrong in case they could help.
But that didn’t mean that Weiss wanted them to see her; she didn’t want them standing around her like this, forming a ring around her, looking down on her.
She was glad to be alive, but this was a little bit humiliating.
Flash shuffled away as Jaune knelt down beside her. Weiss found herself very glad that he no longer showed any interest in her at all; the idea of him holding this over her was absolutely mortifying. Luckily, he had grown out of that by now. He barely even looked at her as he brought his hands over her injured leg.
Considering the way that everyone else was staring at her, as if they were trying to work out what the matter was, Jaune’s focus on her wound was rather relaxing.
His hands began to glow golden, a shimmering light engulfing them and then spreading to Weiss, covering her wound, covering her leg, covering her whole body. It felt gentle, calming. It felt like a shower that was neither too warm nor too cold, but neither deserved the tepid and uninviting name of lukewarm. She could feel a tickling upon her skin, a feeling like—
A sharp and unpleasant feeling as her leg began to knit itself back together, her wounds closing up. Weiss knew that that was her own aura doing that, not Jaune; Jaune was only giving her her own aura back. But she winced nonetheless.
Jaune ignored that, just as he ignored everything else, focussing upon his task and on his semblance. It was working, Weiss could feel that it was working, she could feel her strength coming back, her aura. She shifted her hand a little upon the floor, conjuring a minute black glyph.
Jaune stood up, the light fading from his hands. “All done,” he said. “How do you feel?”
“Better,” Weiss said as she got to her feet without assistance. “Much better.” She paused for a moment. “I suppose the obvious question is ‘what now?’”
“Rainbow Dash,” Blake said, looking towards the other Atlesian huntress. “We heard from General Ironwood, and you’re right, the evacuation is being held back until the grimm have been defeated.”
“Held back?” cried … one of the Haven students; Weiss believed that he was one of Blake’s boyfriend’s teammates; he had pink hair and a red jacket worn across one arm like a pelisse. “What do you mean 'held back'? Is he just going to leave us here?”
“What’s the alternative?” demanded Rainbow Dash. “You think those griffons are it? Look up!” She pointed upwards, and as though she’d planned it that way, everyone could see an Atlesian airship fly overhead, firing its laser at an unseen target. “The sky outside is full of grimm; you want to take your chances in a Skybus? You want to take everyone’s chances? No, we—” She stopped, looking around.
It took Weiss a moment to notice what Rainbow was looking around at: there were more Haven students here than anyone else; they had come to the aid of their Princess Without a Crown and left the students of all the other academies looking as though they were letting their side down a little.
Rainbow sucked in a deep breath, and shouted, “ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS! EVERYONE WHO'S WILLING TO FIGHT, GET DOWN HERE NOW!” She fell silent for a second. “EXCEPT FOR YOU, CIEL, STAY WHERE YOU ARE.” She lowered her voice. “Blake, where’s Sun?”
“I…” Blake hesitated. “I left him with my mother and the others, to help keep them safe.”
“Right,” Rainbow murmured. “Well, I’m sure he knows to stay up there too. And Applejack.” She frowned. “Rarity, what are you—?”
“I always thought that I’d have made a rather good huntress, if I’d committed the time and energy to it, darling,” Rarity drawled. “I thought that someone might appreciate the assistance.” She smiled in Weiss’ direction.
Weiss wasn’t sure what to do or say in response to that, but felt that courtesy would serve her better than most other things, and so she inclined her head in Rarity’s direction.
There was a moment when nothing happened, and it even seemed that, aside from those already here, nobody was going to answer Rainbow’s call. Then students, some in their battle gear, some — particularly amongst the Atlas students — in their school uniforms, some in casual t-shirts and jeans and jackets, began to emerge out of the tunnels, or else they simply leapt over the sides of the stands and dropped into the arena.
And as they did so, lockers began to rain down out of the sky — gods alone knew what the Atlesian pilots suddenly made of the intrusion into their airspace in the midst of battle like this — falling through the gap in the ceiling to slam down into the arena floor, surrounding the students already gathered.
The lockers popped open, and students scrambled to snatch up their weapons before they joined the throng that was gathering around Weiss.
Or around Rainbow Dash now, seeing as she now stood in the centre of the huddle, while Weiss and Flash had retreated back to at least something like the anonymity of being part of the group.
There were still, as far as Weiss could make out, very few Shade students. But at least there were as many Beacon and Atlas students now relative to the Haven students. Neither academy had any reason to be ashamed of its numbers any longer; there were Team CFVY, the second years, and Team ONYX whom Team WWSR had defeated during Last Shot, and Team GRAY who had been Team SAPR’s opponents in that same event; there was Team FNKI, who looked a little surprised to see Neon Katt, all the surviving members of Team PSTL, and other teams Weiss vaguely recognised from the tournament, or only from when their names had been announced for the tournament.
They all stood, armed and ready, even if — like Weiss — they weren’t entirely sure what they were ready for. What was going on here? Why were the grimm suddenly attacking Amity like this, what had brought it on?
What was going on elsewhere? Was Beacon under attack? All of Vale? What was happening?
Rainbow stood in the middle of it all, turning in place, looking over all the gathered students of all the schools.
“Blake,” she said, “what’s our sitrep?”
“There are still a lot of grimm in the skies around the arena, but so far, that’s the only place they are,” Blake said. “There have been no attacks on Beacon or on the Green Line. This is the only place that interests them.”
“Thank you, Blake,” Rainbow said, speaking loudly so that her voice would carry. “What that means is that we’re not going to be evacuating just yet. Everyone, including us, is safer here than they would be trying to fly down to Beacon; yes, Beacon is safe, and so is Vale, but the sky isn’t — not yet. Our airships, Atlesian airships, will clear the skies — you can see a little of them doing it if you look up — but they aren’t done yet. So we have to stay here, but we also have to make sure that no grimm get on here and—”
“Who put you in charge?” demanded Coco Adel, the leader of Team CFVY. She shuffled forward half a step. “You’re just a first-year; why should we listen to you?”
“Should we follow you instead?” demanded Sabine. “Someone whose team got taken out by one huntress?”
Medea said. “While I might not have phrased the question so bluntly, we have with us a—”
“I have no problem following Rainbow Dash’s lead in this situation,” Pyrrha said quickly. “I have learnt to trust her judgement, and I am prepared to do so again. We would all be advised to do the same.”
Medea bowed her head. “Then we shall.”
“Good for you,” Coco said. “But that doesn’t mean that we all need to fall in line behind Atlas, or behind—”
“Guys, guys, come on,” Yang said, cutting Coco off. “I know that not all of you know Rainbow Dash, and I know that not all of you have the warmest feelings about Atlas right now, but what’s important here isn’t comparing the size of our weapons or who gets to be the leader, it’s about keeping people safe until the air battle is over and everyone can evacuate. So, since Rainbow seems to actually have a plan to do that, then I say we give her a chance and hear her out. Go for it, Rainbow Dash.”
“Thanks, Yang,” Rainbow said. “There are two points of entry the grimm could use: one is right here, the other is the promenade; they could land on the docking platforms and come inside that way, so we need to defend both of them, and we need to keep people away from the docking pads, make sure they know that help isn’t coming until our airships have cleared the skies. So, Team Sapphire, can you hold the arena if any more grimm come through here? I’ll loan you Penny from Team Rosepetal to help you out. And you’ll also have fire support from Ciel up top.”
More team swapping? Weiss thought. I suppose it makes sense, given how much time Penny spends with them.
But with Penny and Ciel both supporting Team SAPR, and Twilight Sparkle nowhere to be seen, that leaves just Rainbow Dash flying the flag for Team RSPT, doesn’t it?
“Team,” Rainbow paused for a moment, “Team Wisteria, Team Funky, Team Auburn, and Team Umber, you’re in reserve with me and Blake and Rarity; we’ll go wherever there is an emergency, like a flying column. Everyone else … there are sixteen docking pads; that’s sixteen entrances onto the arena, eight on the main level, eight on the second level. What we’re going to do is divide them equally between schools; Atlas will take the north quadrant, Beacon the south quadrant, Haven the east, and Shade the west—”
“Are there enough Shade students for that?” asked Neon. “I don’t see many of them around.”
“They are probably waiting to evacuate,” Umber admitted. “But once they learn that there is no evacuation coming, they will fight. We always do, when our backs are against the wall.”
“Good,” Rainbow said. “The lower level entrances are smaller, so fourth-year students can defend them alone, first-, second-, and third-years will be on the upper level.” She paused. “There shouldn’t be too much trouble; our airships will stop most, maybe even all, of the grimm before they can land if they even want to. But if they try, then we’ll be ready, and we’ll be there to keep people calm while they wait.” She folded her arms. “So what do you think? Or shall we take a vote on how to lead us?”
“I have already stated my willingness,” Pyrrha murmured. “I think we can defend this place, with Ciel’s help. And Penny’s,” she added quickly.
“It seems a reasonable plan,” Weiss said. I hope I should be honoured by you putting Team WWSR in your reserve, and this isn’t an attempt to keep me out of the fighting.
“Perhaps rather than everyone saying whether they agree or not, are there any objections?” Blake asked.
“None from us,” Neon said swiftly, before any other Atlas student could respond.
No one else said anything.
Rainbow drew in another breath, and Weiss thought that she saw her swallow.
“Okay then,” she said. “Stay in touch, call on me if you need backup, and good luck. Let’s go!”
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9881267
Is a twelve level Grim attack if the kids don't fight they would be lucky to get alive. Mountain Glem was level 14.
That being said, funny how Science Twilight group got together while Sunset just... stays in jail.
9881322
She won't, I promise. Just trust me a little while longer.
Hmm, I am really starting to wonder how is Cinder going to get involved.
I am not worried about Sunset since she is going to be involved in the WF prison break want it or not, but Cinder is in a completely separate part of Beacon and with no side interested in getting her out. Too far from the fight to wake up from unintended damage, too busy for any of the defenders to wake her up and she is no longer on Salem side, so there is no reason for them to search for her (for anything other than outright killing her).
*Whew* One step at a time. The collesium is saved; that's one crisis averted. Now onto the next.
When your back's to the wall, don't run from it... USE IT. This battle is far from over! To the last plane, to the last bullet, to the last minute, to the last man... WE FIGHT!
9881351
The Albinocorn's story? Yeah, that could be pretty heavy; in fact I think that was a lot heavier in terms of everyone turning against Sunset than anything that I've written.
And I'm sorry that there's nothing else in the story aside from Sunset to really interest you; and I can't really blame you for that considering that I stopped watching RWBY in volume 4 because there was nothing to interest me without Pyrrha around, but...I have a plan for when and how Sunset is going to rejoin the fight and I'm afraid that it isn't going to be next chapter or even the chapter after that. What I can promise is that when she does rejoin the battle I will do my level best to make it worth the wait in terms of Sunny awesomeness.
9881366
And now i want to write omake "Duel of Immortals" about Sunset of Life fighting Sonata of Conflict in the sky above crushing hordes of Grim and Hunters. Magic rays flying everywhere, human/faunus shadows replaced by siren and alicorn ones, blood of immortals falling to the ground from wounds, all such things...
But i don't have time for that omake
9881377
You're just greedy. Enjoy Her Imperial Majesty Nikos, her boy toy, the Red Ruby Rodent, PL and the Humane 66...
Then rejoice as the Heiress of them suns makes her triumphant, glorious return to annihilate every plan Salem, Amber, sonata and anything else has...
I’m hoping theres a point in these battles, a point Ruby has to face. She and she alone is given a choice, a situation where she has to choose who lives and who dies. A group of civilians, or her friends, one would surely die, and she has the power to save one and only one group, and I want her to choke. To realize that the choice subset made was not black and white, and when faced with the same, whether to sacrifice yang or to save nameless civilians. She freezes up, and then sunset ports in and saves the civvies, allowing Ruby to be selfish and save her sister with plausible deniability.
Just a dream but i really want Ruby to be served her slice of humble pie and for sunset to be vindicated
9881466
So, you want a CHILD to SUFFER for her CHILDISH ideals?
How old are you? 12? 13? I ask because that's what you seem to be displaying as your age.
This said, the Red Ruby Rodent NEEDS to realize that as a huntress, f*yay*! As a human being, regardless of what Universe you live in, there's going to always be moments and choices that are impossible to win.
9881452
Sounds interesting...
Okay, im happy we got to see what Sunset was up to, it'll hold me up for now. This was an exciting chapter, can't wait to see Sunset kick-ass.
9881466
I feel like if Sunset were to be vindicated about her choice on the train it would undo her character progression. Kinda would make the whole part about caring for other people, that she expressed in Two Conversations chapter, a bit pointless.
9881466
9881479
Again, sorry, but It seems someone with higher credentials than any of us wants to pipe in.
OK, I get it, youkids feel that the Red Ruby Rodent -More on the nickname later- is being a brat or worse for denying the worth on Sunset's coice, but in the end, you don't know her. You know what you've seen of both RWBY and its supplemental materials and SAPR, you've seen, at least a year or even less of ruby's 13?15? years of life, and rarely any of the portrayalals show the real Ruby.
Ruby is HURTING she has been since Summer Rose died, her world is HELL, a hell she faces with a mask of fake happiness, and the knowledge of "Summer's Truth". The Knowledge than the duty of any huntsman is to prioritize humanity over the individual. that was what young Ruby learned and had engraved on her soul. Sunset's imposible choice had her reject "Summer's Truth", that's why Ruby's so hurt, so again (well, first time in my case, but whatever) I ask you... DO YOU WANT A KID TO SUFER EVEN MORE BECAUSE OF THE LESONS HER DEAR DEAD MOTHER IMPARTED ON HER? honestly, one of the first things I did upon joining the RWBY universe was to get a read on the main cast, and let me tell you, they are suffering beyond what should be humanly possible, each and every one of them, but Ruby the most, both because SHE'S STILL A KID and because SHE'S A KID WHO LOST HER MOTHER WHEN SHE WAS AN EVEN YOUNGER KID, that's why one of the first thing I did was to call her the nickname most of us had for her, to show her a bit of real happiness, because I, no WE ALL KNEW Team RWBY's road is one of superhuman pain and misery, that's also one of the reasons for Ozpin pushing for more kids stuff on beacon... it's not to satisfy a bunch of heartless vouyerists that think they can judge others from the comfort of their own, cushy, with few problems, internet rich lives, but to give humanity's warriors a chance to have fun before embarking on their heavy task.
I don't remember who, but someone said that "Ruby was imposing her beliefs on the orther Huntsman trainees" in the escorting chapter... boy that's another can of worms of the hideous nature.
for me, Ruby was just reminding them why the *yay* are they on their combat schools, but I doubt whatever said the line above can recognize that even if it beat it senseless with a baseball bat...!
Again, sorry for letting him speak through me, but I do like agreeing with myself, a lot...
9881856
Again, he felt he had to give his two cents and honestyly, aftwer watching him into Remnant, all 57 attempts of Saving Private Nikos included I felt I had to let him.
yes, That's the way Remnant is, But we aren't on Remnant, and as he said, we live mostly cushy lives, so we shouldn't as humane human beings wish ill to another sentient being.
But I, and he agree that the Red Ruby Rodent should cut Sunset some slack, but she won't, because as he said, it contradicts Summer Rose, after all Why didn't Summer chose to pull out from the mission instead of dying to get back to TaiYaRu? she pretty much could have, and if she couldn't... Why should Ruby let Sunset do that? and let's not talk about stealing the choice of Martyrdom from Ruby, Jaune and Phyrra's hands? Sunset was so Selfish!
I apologize if you felt insulted by what that other version of me said. his life has been marginally less cushy than my own (hey! At least I've not died enough times to warrant having a cloning system on standby...), so I can't judge him by my own standards but I apologize anyways...
9881882
We're talking about Renmant here! the world abandoned by their Gods because one insufferable TWAT didn't want to mourn her boy toy and begged to have him revived... only for him to realize it was wrong and killing himself before being revived a second time after the twat did what twats do...
"Bad Outcomes" is the default setting
Oh, lookie there: suddenly "no one can force you (the students) to fight" but Sunset Shimmer goes to prison and faces the death penalty because she didn't sacrifice herself in that train.
And no one can see the obvious inconsistencies here, eh?
That's why I said the whole contrived sunset-goes-to-prison episode is complete bullshit and damages an otherwise ok story.
Ciel and Ruby were working off each other surprisingly well in this chapter. I hope we get to see more of them in the future. I mean, snipers are supposed to work in two person teams, after all.
9881928
It's not the need of the learning I'm whining about, but the execution of the lesson that you are clamoring for, because in Remnant even the "good outcome" is bad.
Another chapter down, and another closer to the release of the phoenix. In other news, the friendship group has saved the Floating Arena of Friendship, metal birds have both made it to safety and fell in burning balls of fire, and the young will protect the weak.
9881909
Because the Huntsman academies don't run on conscription?
Going on a mission is optional, but once you go then you are supposed to see it until the end. Ironwood explicitly tells them that this is their last chance to get out if they don't want to fight.
While I also agree that Sunset took the best option she had, it doesn't change the fact that they way she did it was outright sabotage or the fact that the populace of Vale would be screaming for her blood for what she did.
9882029
Just because HRH Sunny Bunny is keepin' 'em Alive doesn't mean Remnant is a land of Chocolate Feat. Milk.
There's no right solution here, like with a certain train wreck
Hmmm, Atlas doesn't seem to be properly prepared to deal with flying Grimm. That should be key to their doctrine considering once they have air superiority their Air Cruisers can rain ordnance down on the Grimm that can't fly. Should make holding the lines a sure thing...
And what will happen with Sunset in prison? Things keep getting more and more... interesting.
9882116
and therin lies the impossibility of the choice, R3 need to learn, but learning on remnant will lead to thousands of dead, or at least 13
Ok Alfonso... you need to chill
Now that thats out of the way, yes Ruby is a child, but she can no longer be treated as one by virtue of the profession shes in and at operating at the level she has, and this is important, chosen to be at. She needs to learn that the world does not operate on black and white logic, bottom line. She has be harsh to the point of cruelty towards Sunset for her decision to save her life and the lives of basically everyone in their group. We see it in this chapter, she rushes headfirst into danger without thinking, without heeding the advise and warnings of others. Her mistake almost hot her and everyone else on the team killed. And even still she didn’t have even a semblance of self awareness about this fact.
It was, frankly, a mistake for her to be admitted despite her incredible natural talent to beacon. She is not emotionally mature enough to make educated hard decisions with regards to life and death. One who does not value their life, is unfit to safeguard the lives of others.
As for my previous post, that was a cool thematically appropriate scene i wanted to see because it would demonstrate to Ruby that her self destructive worldview, and thats what it is, is neither healthy nor rational.
Also i have no idea why you keep babbling about some ruby red rodent or whatever Is that supposed to be a reference to something?
9881983
Every single character (apart from Cinder) thought Sunset was "guilty".
And not because of the circumstances but because of bad writing.
9882079
And now you are desperately grasping for straws to make this matter coherent in your mind.
Just face it: The author wanted a bit of drama and so he contrived a reason for Sunset to be "rightly" put in jail, no matter what.
The problem is not that she is being put in jail - the Problem is that every protagonist thinks she belongs there.
Those guys barely agree on anything without talking it through in detail, but this one issue is for some unfathomable reason clear: Sunset is guilty.
Well Scipio, I’ve been reading the story for a while on stops and starts and all I have to say is that I think this is still the best RwBY X MLP crossover in the fandom because you know your story and regardless of what I or anybody else thinks would work better for the story.... I want to read what you think would work best before passing any judgement.
I am also eagerly anticipating what you are writing next. It sounds like it’s going to be good
9882593
Because she is guilty. She actively enabled a breach of the city's defenses such that Grimm would be able to flood in behind the walls. That's not only treason, it's something that in the world of Remnant would be pretty hard to top in terms of unconscionable crimes. I mean, there's only five places on the planet where sapient life is relatively safe, and part of the mythology of their society is that these cities are defended from the the Grimm on the outside, so causing a breach of those defenses would be a cultural shock and offense that would make events like 9/11 seem little different from jaywalking by comparison.
And it's not like Sunset had any altruistic "I must save my team, so I must do this or we'll all die!" thing in mind either when she destroyed those controls either. I re-read that sequence recently, and it is extremely explicit that when Sunset destroyed those controls she thought that she was condemning millions of people to die but that she didn't care one iota because it gave SAPR (exclusively them, even RSPT was left out) slightly better odds at surviving the encounter. It was only after the fact that she come up with the logic that she had to do it or they would all die, and she also manipulated encounters with her fellows to make it so that they believed they were partially responsible and would keep the secret as well.
Sunset knows all of that though, and that is not only why she plead guilty, but it's also why she reflected once she had time to think that what she did was truly monstrous. Because it was. It was a wicked and evil act without justification, and it was something that had to come out eventually because Sunset as a character developed such that she could no longer stand that others should suffer for her sins.
All of which is why Sunset turning herself in and pleading guilty was not only the right thing to do, but it was the crowning highlight of her entire character arc. In that moment she ceased to be the villain from the start of the series and became a true heroine. I can not fathom why anyone would want to take such gallant beauty from her.
9882994
Nonsense.
You make it sound like she initiated the attack. You must have confused her with Cinder, it seems.
Quite the opposite, her fact finding mission warned the kingdom from an imminent devastating attack and because of that, a whole bloody army surrounded a single point of entry.
Even if team SAPR wouldn't have fought in the battle themselves, the prepared defenses should have easily defended that attack.
9883146
Indeed. Problem is that she is judjed by:
1) Oh so noble chibi-huntress Ruby Rose
2) Faunus-hating civilian court wanting to express their fear from no-victim high-fright attack
Surprisingly enougth - current assault is exactly what court, Ruby and Sunset herself needs to understand, that Breach was not a crime, but actually heroicall success of Sunset. Because this is what grim horde is.
9882593
9883146
Sunset put herself in jail (she didn't even give the prosecution a chance to provide a position beyond initial charges). Penny says she'd rather Sunset not have done that. Rainbow Dash admits she'd have done the same if Twilight was on the train. Pyrrah has offered to break her out (particularly if handed a death sentence). Yang offered to let her escape while turning her in after her confession.
What story are you reading?
Additionally, with regards to the mission: if that is all their mission was, why get on the train? There was a tacit acceptance of the risks (Sunset and Rainbow Dash both knew this, at least) by the team at large. By reaching the end of the train with the controls, Sunset was at that point the deciding factor in whatever happened next. She chose to fry the controls, it was her choice and she now chooses to come to terms with it. She did not cause the breach, that indeed was Cinder and the WF, but she did choose not to stop it, and thus bears culpability for it, and the consequences.
Or do you not agree that Sunset is responsible for saving her friends? Because that is a primary consequence of her choice.
9882994
Cody, we're in agreement regarding her reasoning being monstrous, but arguing based on criminal status for Remnant, at best, has it's issues.
Lets grant that Sunset Shimmer is guilty of "unconscionable treason." Then: we have Rainbow Dash admitting she'd have done the same if Twilight was on board, Pyrrah offers to supersede the law of Vale in the event Sunset gets the death penalty, and Yang doesn't even wait and offers Sunset the chance to escape right off the bat. One of these is simply an understanding, sure, but there's two accounts of absolute monsters willing to put their personal friendships above an unconscionably treasonous criminal. And can you imagine what kind of international conflict might come between Vale and Mistral if Pyrrah did so? What would Atlas do, or be forced to do? How many indirect deaths would such a decision have as consequence? Or is that not worth considering because they're not involved in the decision itself?
It doesn't take the politics and culture of Remnant to show what Sunset did was, at best, selfish.
Lets I have eight friends held hostage in a city, in different buildings, as well as myself. I'm told they won't be killed by their captors if I launch ten small nuclear missiles at the city, the same city they're being held in. The city might be able to shoot down the missiles, but I know that some of them are likely to die anyway from the missiles or from the fallout. So: I can either not launch the missiles, and bear responsibility for not saving my friends, or I can gamble their lives and the rest of the city knowing that there's a good chance there's going to be significant casualties unless we get lucky.
Sunset launched those warheads,
believing full wellwhile her friends might die anyways(by her own analysis), and got incredibly lucky that Ruby pulled a miracle out of her... eyes. That's why she's monstrous, no matter the world you put the scenario in. Remnant only having five major kingdoms/cities just makes it worse (and the law would just obfuscate that).Of course, I say all this and then I admit I'd still do the same or similar, just with different rationale. James T Kirk v. Kobayashi Maru.
Edit: was not able to find where she described her analysis that they might die anyways, so I striked the comments.
9882593
Some basic understanding of duty and why the military do what they do is grasping at straws?
Your point on the message that I answered to was that it was hypocritical of Ozpin and Ironwood to give the students a chance to get out of the fight, without considering the fact that they are running a military force by voluntary inscription. On it you have the chance to leave or not accept a mission, but once you do then you are not supposed to turn back. This, as most things in life, has a practical reason.
Forcing people to fight means that you have fighters that do not want to be there and are usually thinking of getting out, meaning that they are less effective, are horrible for morale and can attempt to run away at the worst time, forcing you to waste resources into keeping them in place and making them a liability on most modern fighting forces (this is pointed out in the chapter).
On the other hand, if you have no consequences from getting cold feet during a mission then you end with the most dangerous problems you had if you forced them to fight from the beginning, desertion in the field can lose wars. So you are left with a system that expects commitment from you, if you are going on a mission you are going to do your damn best to finish that mission.
By the way, the consequence of either refusing or leaving a fight in a conscription is a bullet in the back, especially on the most dire of situations where you really cant take the risk of people leaving. After all, the easiest and cheapest way of making people risk their lives for you is by making a refusal even riskier.
On the other hand, if your issue is that "every protagonist thinks she belongs in jail" then:
1) That is untrue. Blake is understanding, Rainbow and Twilight admit to themselves that they would have done the same if put on that situation and Yang is outright grateful. That is 4 out of 9 that are on Sunset side, and with Penny on the fence.
2) The ones adamant that she goes to jail are Ruby, Pyrrha and Ciel, the ones that have always been about saving the innocent and doing your mission no matter the cost to yourself. They would never accept saving the team as an excuse for endangering the city.
3) Everyone acts like what Sunset did was wrong because it is a textbook example of it being wrong. If you ask in a test "should you put in risk the city to save your team" then the expected correct answer is "no".
You can argue about her motivation, how she made it, the actual danger or how practical her actions were (I personally say that from a tactical standpoint letting the train get to the city was the best option) and actually that is what we have all been doing in this comment section since it happened, but that doesn't change the fact that from a white and black, pure textbook, point of view what she did was the wrong decision.
The fact that the textbook answer is not really standing up to reality and that the team, even Ruby and Pyrrha, are being left with a bitter taste in their mouth is a show of actual character development.
9884402
1) I like to keep terminology consistent. I'd use different verbiage perhaps, but monster is monster.
2) Humans are monsters, or more accurately, humans can be monsters. Humans can be monsters one minute, then benevolent the next. We're not logical, nor are we consistent. Frankly, I don't think she made a monstrous decision. If we're using my terminology, I think she made an all-too-human one,
if bordering on selfish given her own analysis.3) You're endorsing a decision where
Sunset admittedher friends might still have died(by her own admission), as well as many others, over a decision that is the very idea behind huntresses.4) I'm endorsing a decision where
Sunset admittedher friends might still have died(by her own admission), as well as many others, over a decision that is the very idea behind huntresses.Yes, I'd make a similar decision to Sunset, just for different reasons.
Edit: added strikethrough regarding "by her own admission." I would have sworn she commented on that, but apparently not that I can tell, upon going back to the chapter.
Well, apparently a lot of readers either fail or refuse to understand very simple fact - Walls does not equal to Defences. Walls of Vale are part of defences of Vale. Large part, sure. But actually far from most important one with how many grim are capable of flight. In current chapter grim are demonstrating this little fact perfectly.
Did Sunset's descision cause breach of walls? Yes. Did Sunset's descision cause breach of defences? No.
Second fact nearly everybody forgets is that leader for that mission was not Sunset. It was Glynda Goodwitch. And she was the one to make descision that informing general Ironwood that he has to prepare for grim is more important than stopping the train. Hell, I even wrote Omake about what happens if judge Winchester does his job right and gets to prosecute one responcible for Breach happening harshly. You know what happens? Executed professor Goodwitch. Not Sunset Shimmer, Glynda Goodwitch.
9884376
Whatever the characters do after the guilt finally settled in: No one acknowledged that the choice Sunset had to make was an impossible one. Her whole team and everyone in the room goes rarrr-to-jail-with-her. No one goes thank-you-for-saving-me. That thought didn't even enter their minds. And we know it because we can look it up. Even Dash is glad to be alive and still goes rarrr-traitor!!-jail. This is simply unbelievable in characters who are supposed to share a bond of friendship like they are.
This is simply bad writing.
9884397
Sunset is not in the military. And besides, she fulfilled her duty ten times over by warning the city of an attack and enabled an easy defense of an otherwise lethal invasion.
And most importantly: Even the author writes, that Beacon students can't be forced to fight the monsters attacking the city. Phyrra has to shame them into fighting.
This is simply inconsistent.
Like I said before: The author needed Sunset to go to jail but couldn't come up with a good reason.
9885101
So, basically any story, that you don't like, is "simple bad writing."?
Mmmk
9887076
exactly. everything I don't like is wrong.
It doesn't have anything to do with character breaks or inconsistencies.
Congratulations for succinctly wrapping everything up.
9887124
OkaYyyy budyyy
9881909
Didn't you say you were done with this story, like, 10 chapters ago?
Thus part here really bugged me. Feels to heavy-handed. Plus would either Equestria or Remnant have a concept for "crown of thorns" when neither has been exposed to christianity?
Good to see she can admit it.
And it's ruined.
So great seeing girls working together. Still shame Sunset isn't closer to them. Don't know it bugs me so much. I guess after seeing them together in the Show and so many fanfics it feels weird when she's not part of the group or in the process to join them. Anyway, sorry for my whining about it.
The colosseum is, for the moment, secure. Now the students of all four academies are rallying! This is it, everyone! Everything you've been training for! Everything that so much renewed character development in this rewrite has led to! Fight well and true! Show the world what happens when the warriors of the Four Kingdoms stand, strong united!
The black edge approaches. But the true warriors (except Ruby) still stand at the ready! We will not surrender our post, our comrades, or this city! I BID YOU STAND, WARRIORS OF REMNANT!
Huh... first rewritten chapter in a while...
Anywho...
Weiss, have you ever heard the expression "pride comes before the fall"?
I love how Penny's bit emphasizes that, even though Sunset is away, her influence still remains.
And kudos to Rarity getting in on the action.
I recall in the original that because of the Battle of Vale, she opted to take up her rapier again post-V3 and improve her swordsmanship, possibly even going the huntress route (though the original stopped before any development on that)
Wow, it’s been a while since we got a Rewritten Chapter instead of a new one, I almost forgot that we don’t get notifications for those, lmao.
The chapter is better than the previous one; I loved how all the students started to fight the Grimm the money they realized what was happening, and I loved Penny’s focus in her actions, it was awesome seeing her destroying so much Grimm, and Rainbow Dash stepping up is also perfect. I’m very excited to the rest of the Battle, and how it will continue on from here.
Sometimes you don't need a fancy, complicated plan. Sometimes you just need a basic, solid one. Even more so when you're working with elements you don't really know all that well.
That being said, the rallying does reveal a difference in culture between the various schools and kingdoms. Namely due to the fact that Shade Huntsmen seem to prefer picking and choosing their battles rather then rush to the aid of others.
Rainbow is such a well written character. Seeing her take charge of the situation just like Ironwood would it's so fucking badass. She took one look at the situation and said "A'ight, time to step up my game" and boom, she is now the commander. But when are we going to see more of Sunset? I kind of want to see what she is doing and if she is going to fight Sonata or not. God, i wish for a one vs one between these two. Sonata saying something like "You can't defeat me, I'm juiced up on maximum power" and then Sunset would be like "Nah, I'd win".