A Lot to Catch up On: Part Two
A Lot to Catch Up On, Part Two
The Skyray was still a way off from landing, but nonetheless, Cinder stood before the open doorway, the doorway that she had opened, looking out across the night sky.
By now, they were on approach to Atlas, and the first rays of dawn were beginning to peek tentatively over the mountains that surrounded the valley, but around them, the sky remained yet dark; it was still possible to see the stars set in the inky blackness like diamonds woven in the hair of some dark-haired beauty, and the moon and all its fragments gleamed silver yet overhead.
And into this darkness, Cinder looked, standing at the edge of the Skyray, with one hand resting upon the rail that ran above the doorway. A chill wind blew into the transport from outside and ran through her hair as it did so, making it stream out beside her like the banner of an army.
Sunset got up from her seat, leaving Cardin and Penny behind as she briskly crossed the Skyray to join Cinder at the door. She was not so eager to stand upon the very edge as Cinder seemed to be, but of the two of them, Sunset had a much better chance of surviving the fall, and so she stood there regardless, by Cinder’s side — the right-hand side, the side that didn’t involve having Cinder’s hair blown into her face — and looked at her.
“Is everything okay?”
Cinder didn’t look at her. She looked out, and down a little towards Atlas.
The shining kingdom was below them now; the airship was banking around as it made its final approach towards the city. Sunset had never seen it from this position before. It was not her first visit. Although she had spent most of her time in Canterlot, the city in the clouds was not completely new to her; she had visited here with Flash more than once while they were dating. And yet, she had never seen it like this. She had never joined Flash on the observation deck of any airship that had ferried them from Canterlot to Atlas, though he had asked her to, begged her to, more than once. She had been too cool for such things, plus she hadn’t wanted to run into Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle there, and so she had always refused, claiming to have better things to do … until he stopped asking.
She had spent time here, but she had never seen it from the air. Her curiosity had never been aroused. She had not wanted to see marvels that she could not possess for herself. She hadn’t wanted to see anything that would make her admit that these humans could create something to rival the Canterlot of Equestria.
It did not rival Canterlot, in her opinion; it didn’t even rival Cloudsdale, the more obvious comparison due to its airborne nature. It was too … modern, for her tastes; even from the air, that much was obvious to her — the fact that it was floating in the sky was a little bit of a giveaway there. The towers that gleamed under the moonlight were steel and glass, not stone or cloud; the lights shone too brightly from the power running through them, and when she had visited Atlas, Sunset had always found it both too bright and too noisy. It had always put her in mind of Manehattan, a place that Sunset had never cared for — visiting it with Princess Celestia had given her headaches, and not just from the atrocious accents of the inhabitants, but also from how terribly parvenu it was.
In Sunset’s opinion, it was very fitting that Jacques Schnee, who had married into the fortune of a self-made man having been left nothing by his own father, should call the kingdom of Atlas home, because Atlas as a kingdom was the very epitome of nouveau riche. It was brash, it was coarse, it wore its hat in the parlour, and it never tired of boasting about how successful it was — why, did you hear, I bought three railroads yesterday! It lacked the air of class and dignity that wafted up from Mistral’s streets, borne out of old antiquity; Atlas, as opposed to Mantle, was less than four-score years old, but the future belonged to them, and you had best not forget it.
The floating city was surrounded by warships; Sunset had never seen so many warships before, never in all her visits to Atlas proper. Truth to tell, she hadn’t even known that there were so many ships at Ironwood’s command. Some of them patrolled, moving in circles or in carefully prescribed patterns around the city and the valley that surrounded it, moving like animals patrolling their territory, sniffing out signs of intruders. Others, the majority as far as Sunset could tell, remained stationary, hovering in place like towers of defence.
And that was before one got into the actual towers of defence, which were quite new; Sunset didn’t recall them being here before. It was like small fragments of rock had been dug out of the earth and levitated up around the great chunk of rock upon which Atlas stood, forming a six-pointed star around it, and on those six small rocky mounds had been erected great guns, and bristling lesser weapons besides.
“I’ve never seen this,” Cinder murmured, without looking away.
“Cinder?”
“Atlas,” Cinder explained, her eyes still fixed upon the place itself. “I’ve never seen it.” She paused for a moment. Her voice was soft and filled with melancholy. “My mother died for this place, and I have never laid eyes on it before.”
Sunset’s brow furrowed. “And?” she asked. “What does it look like to your fresh eyes?”
“Rock and steel,” Cinder murmured. “Not worth a life.”
“It was for the lives that teem upon it that your mother died, not rock and steel,” Sunset said softly.
“And yet she died nevertheless,” Cinder replied. Her chest rose and fell. A sigh passed between her lips. “This city haunted my dreams,” she declared. “I never saw it, but nevertheless, it floated over me while I slept: the kingdom that took my mother away from me.”
Sunset reached out and tentatively placed a hand on Cinder’s shoulder. “Your mother was very brave.”
“I know,” Cinder said. “Yet I would rather have had a living mother than a brave one.”
Sunset nodded at that. “Are you … are you going to be okay? Being here, is it going to be … are you going to be okay?”
Now, at last, Cinder looked away from Atlas where it gleamed beneath them. The silvery moonlight shone upon her face, rendering her ethereal, a beauty fashioned out of starlight.
A smile crossed her painted lips before she leaned forward and kissed Sunset on the cheek.
“I still owe you a real kiss, but now doesn’t seem the time,” Cinder said, a little mirth returning to her voice. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass Penny, after all.” She chuckled at herself. “I’ll be fine. Atlas holds no terrors for me, nor does anyone who lives there.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Sunset said.
“But thank you, regardless,” Cinder murmured. She turned her gaze outwards once more. “I am not an expert, I admit, but I think that might be the whole Atlesian fleet down there.”
“All of it?” Sunset asked.
“Perhaps not every last ship,” Cinder conceded. “But I find it hard to believe that there can be many left once all those there are subtracted from the total.”
“Hmm,” Sunset murmured. She started to count them all. “I suppose … where else should the Atlesian fleet be except Atlas?”
“Protecting the world, as they so often say they will?” Cinder suggested.
“That assumes the rest of the world wants their protection,” Sunset said.
“They haven’t always waited for permission, have they?” Cinder asked. “Did Vale want Atlesian protection?”
“It was glad of it in the end, and gave its permission.”
“Grudgingly.”
“What’s your point?” Sunset asked.
Now it was Cinder’s turn to frown. “You know as well as I do that fear can make a person do many things, even things of which they are not proud … things which their nobler natures would despise, things that make them sick to their stomachs … things of which they are ashamed, and yet which they see no way of avoiding.”
Sunset’s free hand curled up, as though she were holding a trigger. “You are correct, but what of it?”
“What is this but the actions of a fearful man?” Cinder asked quietly. “One who has gathered all his armies and his weapons around him so that they can keep him safe—”
“Keep Atlas safe,” Sunset countered. “Keep the people safe.”
Cinder was silent for a moment. “What if he won’t help you?” she asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper. “What if he won’t help Ruby?”
Sunset was silent for a moment. “Would it bother you, if he did not?”
Cinder took a moment of her own to reply. “I…” One corner of her lips twitched. “I know that she matters to you, in spite of everything that she’s done.”
Sunset wrinkled her nose. Her brow furrowed for the briefest span of time. “What she did—”
“Cruelty,” Cinder pronounced. “There is no other word.”
“She was in pain.”
“And she inflicted that pain on you in turn,” Cinder said. “Just as Phoebe inflicted upon me every humiliation that Pyrrha dealt her.”
“Ruby is not your stepsister!” Sunset hissed. “I—”
“Deserved it?” Cinder suggested. “Many who suffer come to believe it so.”
“I am not having this discussion,” Sunset said firmly. “Not with you, not with anyone else. Ruby is … you’re wrong.”
Cinder stared down at her, her face expressionless and, in its lack of expression, inscrutable. “For what she has done, a part of me would like to leave her to rot in Freeport and never look back, nor speak of her again,” she admitted. “Being who I am, and what I have been, I cannot be wholly without sympathy for someone who has turned to anger after loss; indeed, I would ordinarily say it is far better to be angry about such things than to be sad, and to admit the anger and to use it … save for what she did with the anger that she felt, and against whom she turned it. But I ask, primarily, because you care, because you have come here to seek help for Ruby. And so I ask again: what will you do if General Ironwood will give you no aid?”
“Why would he summon me here in such haste if he wasn’t willing to help?” Sunset asked in reply.
“The fact that he’s willing to hear you out doesn’t mean that he’ll be willing to do anything for Ruby or her new subjects in Freeport. What if he is too afraid to part with his ships or his forces?”
Sunset grinned. “Then I’ll lift his spirits with my Princess of Hope powers until he is willing to do whatever it takes to help Ruby.”
Cinder raised one eyebrow.
“I’m serious,” Sunset said. “Well, somewhat serious; this crown has to be good for something, don’t you think?” She paused. “You’re right, of course; fear drives us to ill choices, but it is my charge to dispel such fear, to banish darkness from the hearts of men.”
“Loftily spoken,” Cinder purred. The smirk that appeared on her face lit up her eyes. “Some might call it pretentious.”
“More pretentious than calling myself ‘Princess of Hope’?”
Cinder snorted. “Good point. Are you actually going to name yourself that?”
“No,” Sunset said. “I thought I’d just act like it.”
“Because it sounds pretentious?”
“Because I don’t need people to call me princess,” Sunset replied. “I just need them to be better, so we can save the world.”
“Have you had any ideas on that front yet?”
“No more than before.”
“Are you going to mention telling the world about Salem to Ironwood?”
“That depends,” Sunset murmured. “It might be better to wait until we find Ozpin and see what he thinks.”
“I can guess,” Cinder replied. “I doubt he’ll be amenable to the notion.”
“Perhaps not, but do I want to seem like I’m sneaking around behind his back?” Sunset asked. “What do you think of the idea?”
“I think it’s a risk,” Cinder said. “If you tell people about the existence of the Maidens, for one, there will be those — like me — who covet the power that they possess; there will be those — like Lionheart — who will align with Salem out of a sense of their own preservation. People will be scared, as you well know, or you wouldn’t feel the need to bolster the defences with Atlesian support.”
“But will not others rise to the occasion?” Sunset asked. “Like Jaune?”
“'Jaune'?” Cinder repeated.
“You don’t think Jaune rose to the occasion?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t use Pyrrha or Ruby as an example.”
“Pyrrha is the Pride and Glory of Mistral reborn; Ruby has the eyes of a warrior endowed from the gods themselves,” Sunset reminded her. “Everyone expects people like that to rise to the occasion of such times as these, but Jaune is just a man, from whom nothing was expected—”
“And from whom nothing was given.”
“Cinder! That was uncalled for.”
“You must let me have a little fun, Sunset.”
Sunset harrumphed. “My point is,” she declared, “that if he can do it, why not others? Perhaps that is where we should place our hope?”
“I thought that was you?”
Sunset snorted. “I need to have a quick word with Ciel.”
Cinder glanced to where Ciel sat beside Thunderlane in the Skyray’s cockpit. “I’m not sure she likes you.”
“It doesn’t matter; I still need a word with her,” Sunset said.
“Don’t worry; you can leave me alone,” Cinder promised. “I’m not going to throw myself out of the airship the moment you turn away.”
“That wasn’t what I thought,” Sunset assured her.
“No?” Cinder asked. “Well, I’m sure you’re glad to know it anyway.”
Sunset took a step back and then turned away. As she entered the cockpit, she glanced back to see that Cinder had her eyes once more fixed upon Atlas.
May you have sweeter dreams from now on.
Sunset stepped the rest of the way into the cockpit, resting one hand upon the back of Ciel’s chair. “We’re not going to have any more trouble, are we?”
Ciel looked up at her. “Meaning?”
“I mean nobody’s going to try and arrest Cinder on the docking pad,” Sunset said sharply. “Or me, for that matter.”
Ciel took a deep breath. “No,” she said. “Once we land, you will be met on the docking pad and escorted into the General’s presence to give your report.”
Sunset nodded. That was good enough for her; she and Ciel might not have had the opportunity to become close that she had had with the other Rosepetals, but she trusted that the straight-laced Atlesian was a woman of her word and not the sort who would lead her into a trap.
“Will I find out what’s going on here, as well?”
“That depends,” Ciel said. “I cannot say what General Ironwood will choose to disclose to you.”
Sunset did not reply directly to that, but rather said, “Those floating islands are new. So is this build-up, for that matter.”
“With the CCT down, it would be impossible to coordinate our forces across distant stations,” Ciel explained. “Gathering the fleet in one place until worldwide communication is restored is the sound strategy.”
“Perhaps,” Sunset conceded. “If worldwide communication is ever going to be restored.”
Ciel smiled slightly. “I will let Blake tell you about that.”
Sunset raised one eyebrow. “And the big guns?”
“Each one should be able to take out a dragon,” Ciel said. “Theoretically. For obvious reasons, they haven’t been tested.”
“Why don’t you just mount them on ships?” Sunset asked. “Or on Atlas itself, for that matter?”
“The islands are more mobile,” Thunderlane said. “They can shift around to cover whatever direction the enemy is coming from; mounted on Atlas itself, they’d be restricted in their fields of fire.”
“Not to mention the question of room,” Ciel added.
Sunset nodded. That made sense. “And ships?”
There was no response from either of them, which made Sunset think that more of these great guns were being put on ships, but that neither of them wanted to admit it to her because it was ‘classified information’ until such time as the behemoths themselves actually took to the skies. Well, let them keep their secrets then; after all, they had put Sunset’s mind at rest, giving good reasons for General Ironwood’s actions that militated against Cinder’s assertion that he was acting out of fear.
Of course, one could be afraid and still make strategic sense. Which would win out when Sunset spoke to him?
Right will win out. I will make sure of it.
If Cinder was right, this would be her first test in Remnant. Her first trial as the Princess of Hope, her first chance to earn the title that the Crusaders had bestowed upon her. Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia, Ruby, they all said that it suited her, that it was appropriate for her actions, but now … now, having come back to Remnant with a crown invisible burning upon her brow, now was the time to prove it. To prove herself.
Now was the time to see what a Princess of Hope could do.
Perhaps. It might be that she would arrive at General Ironwood’s office to find him genial and confident and full of enthusiasm, as bushy-tailed as any faunus was and eager to do all that it took to support the world.
It might be that he had all matters well in hand and required no assistance from her.
That would be good. That would be all for the best. That would be in everyone’s interests.
That would postpone her trial to a later date, and there was a part of Sunset that would rather get it over with.
She would see soon enough.
The Skyray began its final descent, swooping down upon Atlas like an owl returning to the nest after a successful hunt, a vole or field mouse clutched in its talons. Down upon the city, the airship descended, passing between the patrolling airships with their blinking lights, diving down towards Atlas Academy. Sunset had never been there, not even for an open day — she had always known that her destiny did not lie there — but there was no mistaking it: the highest tower in Atlas, rising up out of the very centre of the city, the monument to Atlesian greatness, to prowess technological and martial, erupting out of the ground like a lance seeking to pierce the heavens.
There was not much in the way of visible grounds; Sunset guessed that, unlike Beacon, everything was contained within a single building. That probably saved everyone a lot of walking — although it also probably meant a lot of time spent in elevator rides.
The fact that there was so little in the way of academy grounds meant that the docking pad on which Thunderlane descended was hard by the tower itself, overshadowed by it in a quite literal sense. Nevertheless, the neon blue lights that surrounded the docking pad illuminated not only the launchpad itself but also the reception committee that awaited them there. As the airship flew lower and lower, as they got closer and closer to the ground, Sunset could make out Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Blake … and Sun and Lady Nikos?
Sunset tightened her grip on the overhead rail as she leaned out of the airship for a better view. Lady Nikos? Was it … yes, it really was her; there was no mistaking it, not even from this height. Lady Nikos, Pyrrha’s mother, standing there at the edge of the docking pad looking up at her and the Skyray.
What was she doing here? Would there be news of Mistral as well as Atlas?
Had something happened to Pyrrha while Sunset frolicked in Equestria?
As soon as Thunderlane set the Skyray down upon the docking pad, Sunset leapt down out of it, without waiting for the ramp to descend, and ran across the black surface, the neon lights shining into her face, towards where Lady Nikos stood.
“My lady!” she cried as she came to a ragged halt before Pyrrha’s mother. Hastily, Sunset bowed her head. “My lady, what brings you so far north? Pyrrha, is she—?”
“Alive,” Lady Nikos declared. “And well. Thanks in no small part to you, Miss Shimmer.” A smile tugged at the edges of her mouth. “It is good to see you again.”
A sigh of relief escaped from Sunset’s lips. “I am as glad to see you once more, my lady, as I am glad to hear the news you bear, although in truth I deserve—”
“My thanks,” Lady Nikos repeated. “Pyrrha has told me everything.”
Sunset’s eyes widened. “'Everything'?” she repeated.
“All things, all that Professor Ozpin kept from so many, but confided in Pyrrha — and in you.”
Sunset swallowed. “I apologise for what must seem like deception—”
“I do not say this to rebuke you for what you did not say,” Lady Nikos informed her. “Any more than I rebuked Pyrrha for her silence. While I am not happy to learn that I have lived my life blindfolded and half asleep, that fault lies with Ozpin, not with you; you did not err by keeping his confidence as he requested. No, I say this not to rebuke you, but…” She trailed off.
Sunset frowned a little. “My lady, if it is too much to speak of—”
“I told you once, Miss Shimmer, that I gave strength to Mistral and kept none for myself,” Lady Nikos reminded her. “I suppose that Ozpin did her a kind of honour in choosing her, and yet, when I think of my only child, the last of my line, set in that dread machine … I owe you a debt, Miss Shimmer, one I fear that I cannot repay.”
“My Lady,” Sunset said. She fell to one knee, even as she reached up and grasped with one hand the hilt of Soteria. “Any debt was paid in advance when you bestowed this blade upon me. All I have done is as you bade me do, as a bearer of this blade should do with pride.”
“Rise, Miss … Rise, Sunset Shimmer; you have no need to bow to me.”
Sunset looked up. Sunset? Sunset Shimmer? Had Lady Nikos called her by her name?
“You do more honour to that sword,” Lady Nikos went on, “than was done to you by the gifting of it. Up, and on your feet.”
Sunset rose, slowly, but she rose up nevertheless.
Lady Nikos took a step closer to her and kissed her twice, once on each cheek; her lips were a little cracked and dry, but gentle nevertheless; Sunset did not flinch from the touch. Rather, the beginnings of a smile formed upon her face. “My lady, I—”
“Thank you, Sunset,” Lady Nikos repeated. “Blessed was the day when Pyrrha found your company.”
The smile spread across Sunset’s face. “I was the more blessed, my lady, by far.”
“Sunset.”
Sunset turned aside at the sound of Blake’s voice. Blake was dressed in what looked a lot like an Atlas Academy uniform, save that her waistcoat and skirt were black instead of grey, and she had augmented it with a long white duster that descended down to her ankles. Rainbow Dash stood half a step behind her and to the side, wearing a short white jacket unbuttoned over a blue waistcoat, a white shirt with the colour unbuttoned, and a short skirt of thick white and magenta stripes. 
“Blake,” Sunset said. “Or should that be Lieutenant Belladonna?”
“It’s just Specialist, actually,” Blake replied.
Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “They haven’t promoted you yet? I’m disappointed.”
Blake rolled her eyes, although one corner of her lip twitched upwards. “'Blake' will be fine.”
Rainbow grinned. “You can call me Specialist Dash if you want to.”
Sunset grinned right back at her. “No thanks, I think I’ll pass on that.”
She stood aside from Lady Nikos as the two of them approached, clearing space to embrace the two of them, wrapping her arms around their necks and pulling them in, even as she felt their hands upon her back.
“It’s good to see you again,” she whispered. “It is so, so good to see you again.” She felt her arms, and her legs, going weak with relief. This felt good. This felt so very good. This felt … this felt safe. Not because it was Atlas, not because of all the ships flying or hovering around, but because of them. Because of Blake, because of Dash, because they were here, and even if danger was too, then they were there to face it with her.
Atlas was not home, but nevertheless, at this moment, it was somewhere she was glad to be.
“I’ve missed you, too,” Blake said. “But Sunset, what are you doing here? How did you get here, and—?”
“What is she doing here?” Rainbow demanded.
Sunset was not confused as to who Rainbow was referring to. She released Rainbow and Blake, and stepped back, looking over her shoulder to see that Cinder and Cardin were now approaching across the docking pad, escorted by Ciel and Penny.
“I told you she was coming,” Ciel pointed out.
“I hoped you were kidding,” Rainbow growled.
“I am not your enemy, Rainbow Dash,” Cinder said calmly.
“You sure as hell aren’t my friend,” Rainbow snapped.
“Rainbow,” Sunset said sharply, “calm down—”
“I haven’t blown her face off yet, which means this is me being calm,” Rainbow replied. “She kidnapped Fluttershy, in case you’ve forgotten, and she tried to kill Twilight! She went to plant a virus in the CCT, and while she was there, she tried to kill Twilight! So forgive me if I don’t feel like taking my eyes off her.”
Sunset opened her mouth to defend Cinder, but was forestalled by Cinder herself, who said, “It’s alright, Sunset; I have no need of a defender.”
She stepped forwards, casting a shadow across the docking platform. “If all you do is watch me like a hawk, I might have cause to call that kindness, for I have given you cause for worse.”
Her eyes glanced away from Rainbow to Applejack, who stood with her hands clenched into fists, and Blake. “Wrongs have I done you all, by kidnap, by kidnap of friends, or by violence against other friends … or by corruption of those who once were dear to you, upon a time. And for those wrongs, you have my sorrow; I cry your pardon.”
She turned away from the Atlesians and wheeled to face Lady Nikos, bowing her head. “But greater pardon yet do I cry of you, my lady, for I have greater cause, to my mind if not the minds of others. Evil be on them who evil thinks, it is said, and evil indeed did I think of Pyrrha; I wished her ill and plotted to encompass her death, though she had done me no mortal wrong and bore me no enmity, Well, no enmity that I had not deserved of her through my own actions. I hated her and was the cause of many ills that caused her grief, and by my actions, I have caused her to be placed in the path of many perils. To all these sins do I confess to you and offer myself up for your punishment.”
She bent her back, and as she bowed forward, her long black hair fell across her face, exposing her neck. Under the moonlight, it seemed pale as she bared it to Lady Nikos.
Sunset said nothing; Cinder had made clear that she did not wish for Sunset to speak on her behalf, and she would respect that, despite her nerves. Lady Nikos had, as Cinder herself had admitted, no cause to love Cinder or bear her any affection or mercy. What might she do, when approached in the old Mistralian way? Might she not respond in the ancient Mistralian fashion?
Lady Nikos stared down at Cinder, her green eyes so sharp that they looked as though they might grow talons. “Pyrrha has told me much of you, Cinder Fall,” she declared. “You have done even more than you have spoken of.”
“Touching not on Pyrrha, my lady.”
“When you set the grimm swarming down that tunnel, did that not touch on Pyrrha?” Lady Nikos demanded. “For that matter, did it not touch on Sunset also, when you forced her to choose between a city and my daughter’s life?”
“Sunset has forgiven me these things.”
“Yet I may yet bear malice on her behalf,” Lady Nikos declared. Once more, she took pause. “And yet Pyrrha has also told me that you fought alongside her and saved her life in the battle for the relic.”
Cinder was silent for a moment. “I did, my lady.”
“And yet you did not mention it.”
“I will bow, my lady, and beg your pardon for my offences,” Cinder said, “but I will not clasp your knees and plead all manner of mitigations in desperate hope to lessen your enmity. My pride will countenance the first, but not the second.”
“And yet, it mitigates the offence, regardless of your pride,” Lady Nikos said. She raised her stick and struck Cinder on the back of the head hard enough to knock her to the ground. “And with that, the remainder of the debt is paid,” she said. She placed the tip of her stick back on the ground again. “Thank you, Miss Fall; your actions are appreciated.”
Cinder groaned. “The praise of my lady gladdens my heart,” she muttered, as she climbed to her feet. “Your strength is not so diminished as your looks might make it seem,” she added.
“Flattery will do you no favours, Miss Fall,” Lady Nikos replied, her voice stern.
Cinder’s lip twitched. “I would not dream even to attempt it, my lady.”
“Hey, Sun,” Sunset said, waving one hand to him. “Sorry, you must have thought we were ignoring you.”
“It’s okay,” Sun assured her. “Glad to see that you’re still in one piece.”
“Not for lack of trying,” Cinder said under her breath.
Cardin cleared his throat. “Speaking of feeling ignored.”
“Sorry,” Blake said. “It’s just—”
“Don’t worry, it’s fine, I get it,” Cardin assured her. “I just wanted to remind you that I was here.”
“I’m sure that Weiss and Flash will be happy to see you,” Blake said. “If you have time to see them, that is.”
“I don’t know—” Cardin began.
“Oh, come on!” Sunset cried. “We just spent days indulging my desires; we can afford to let you catch up with your teammates.”
A smile spread across Cardin’s face. “Great! How are they doing?”
“We should probably let them tell you,” Blake said.
“But … they’re dating,” Rainbow said, with an apologetic glance at Sunset.
Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
Rainbow folded her arms. “What do you think I’m looking at you like that for?”
Sunset let out a laugh. “I,” she said, “am nothing but happy for the both of them.”
It surprised even her how true that was. There was no wrath in her heart; there was no anger towards Weiss, no malice towards Flash, no jealousy or sorrow. There had been something between them from the moment that they had been placed on the same team together; that had been plain to see. So plain, in fact, that it had aroused Sunset’s jealousy, and sadness, and anger, and all else that had roiled and rolled inside of her. But that was all behind her now. She had put it behind her at the dance, accepted she had no claim on Flash; they had ended things, and ended them as well as any couple could end such things.
And besides, it wasn’t as if his was the only heart to have gone on since they had seen each other last. It would be a grave insult to Cinder — who seemed to be making a point of ostentatiously not watching Sunset’s reaction — if she still carried any sort of torch for Flash.
Let them be happy. She was … he deserved a girl like her.
“We should take them to the General,” Ciel noted. “I understand the desire to catch up, but he is waiting to see them, is he not?”
“Nice to see you too, Ciel,” Rainbow said. “And you, Penny! Sorry to not say that earlier!”
“I understand,” Penny said. “But please don’t make a habit of it.”
Rainbow smiled. “But, yeah, Ciel’s right. Come on, you three; follow us.”
The Atlesians fell in around them, surrounding Sunset and her companions as they walked off the docking pad towards the great tower that was Atlas Academy. Blake led the way, with Rainbow and Applejack flanking the trio, and Ciel and Penny bringing up the rear.
In case Sunset or Cinder were tempted to try something, presumably.
She supposed she couldn’t blame them too much, as irksome as it was to bear.
At least Lady Nikos seemed to have no fear of them; she walked beside them as though they were all trusted friends and allies.
Sunset stepped closer to Cinder, so that she could whisper to her, “I didn’t expect you to take that tack with Lady Nikos.”
Cinder chuckled lightly. “I am more Mistralian than you are,” she pointed out, “why should it surprise you that I can act Mistralian and use the courtesies of that ancient kingdom?”
“It doesn’t surprise me that you can; it only surprises me that you did,” Sunset replied.
“Are we not all square now?” Cinder asked. “I would rather take a single blow to the head than have to endure constant glances and glares and suspicion. It is all done now; I do not believe that it will trouble us further. From now on, Lady Nikos will judge me by what I do, not by what I have done.”
“How sure were you that would happen?”
Cinder’s lips twitched upwards. “Mostly sure,” she said.
The lobby immediately beyond the entrance to the academy was austere, and grey, and almost barren in its emptiness; it was occupied only by two armed guards and a young officer, sitting behind a desk, who looked up at the group as they came in but did not challenge them. Neither did the guards, who got out of the way and allowed Blake to push the button to summon the elevator.
It came at once, the lift doors opening silently to reveal enough space for all of them to get in at once.
It was amazing how incredibly spacious it was, considering how cramped the elevators at Beacon had been, despite the fact that Beacon had objectively more space — far, far more space — to play around with.
Perhaps that was the point. Perhaps it was all flummery, but it was good that they didn’t have to split up, that they could share the ride without being pressed together like tinned beans.
The rear of the lift was glass, as was the central shaft up which they rose, so that, if Sunset turned around, she could see out across Atlas, the rest of the city growing smaller and smaller beneath them as they ascended heavenwards, all the myriad lights twinkling beneath them like reflections of the stars above.
“So, Blake,” Sunset said, to break the silence that had descended, “how are you finding life in the Atlesian military?”
Blake looked at her over her shoulder. “I wake up each day with a sense of purpose.”
Sunset smiled. “Do you also go to bed with a feeling of accomplishment?”
“Not every day,” Blake conceded. “But enough.”
“I’m glad.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Sunset insisted. “There’s nothing better than to find your place, is there?”
“I can think of one thing,” Blake replied.
“What?”
“Making a difference,” Blake explained. “Put the two together … it’s hard to beat.”
Sunset nodded. “So how come they made you specialists?”
“I think they figured that, after all we’d been through in the Battle of Vale, there wasn’t a lot of point in sending us back to classes,” Rainbow explained. “Plus … we could use the manpower right now.”
“What can we expect in there?” Cinder asked.
Rainbow glared at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, how is General Ironwood?” Cinder explained. “How is he … handling all of this?”
“He’s the General,” Rainbow declared. “He’s handling it the way he always handles everything: resolutely, and without flinching.”
Cinder, these were probably the worst people to ask about that, Sunset thought.
She did not believe that General Ironwood had done it on purpose — although he might have; she wouldn’t claim to know him very well, but he didn’t seem the type, and none of his actions seemed overtly designed to achieve this effect — but he had, without meaning to, cultivated a certain image amongst his students. They believed in him, they thought that he could do no wrong, they were as loyal to him as any Mistralian nobleman’s retainers ever were in the tales of old, and that loyalty might blind even intelligent people like Blake to what was really going on.
I suppose I shall see what’s really going on in just a moment.
“So, Cardin,” Rainbow said. “I hear you’re a specialist, too. A Valish specialist, anyway.”
“I’m a captain, actually,” Cardin replied, not without some smugness.
Rainbow snorted. “If you're a captain, are your lieutenants out of diapers yet?”
“Yes,” Cardin replied. “Although some of them still have spots.”
Rainbow chuckled. “Well, don’t expect any salutes from us.”
“Really?” Blake asked.
“Yeah, really. Why would we salute him?” Rainbow asked.
“Thanks a lot,” Cardin muttered.
“He is a superior officer,” Blake pointed out.
“No offence, but Cardin is not our superior,” Rainbow replied. “The fact that he is a captain while we have had to start at the bottom is proof that he is not our superior. Again, no offence.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m just not going to salute a bad copy,” Rainbow said.
“What’s it like in Vale?” Blake asked.
“Shaken,” Sunset said. “Frightened.”
“Alive,” Cardin added. “Getting by. Safe, for now, and isn’t that what really matters?”
“I suppose so,” Penny said. “But it’s better not to be afraid.”
“Only if there is nothing to be afraid of,” said Cinder.
The door to the elevator opened, and a short walk through corridors decorated prominently with the Atlesian symbol — white upon the blue carpet — brought them to General Ironwood’s office. And what an office it was! It was incredible in its spaciousness, and surprising at least in the ornateness of its design. Six proud columns, illuminated top and bottom with lights of cool blue neon, lined each wall, while on the curved ceiling above had been painted the stars, linked by white lines adjoining them, so that said sloping ceiling almost resembled the firmament that ringed Remnant and marked the outer limits of the use of dust. The alcoves between the columns were filled with bookshelves, while on the floor were painted more heavenly bodies: constellations picked out in clouds of golden light and their courses across the sky laid out. The moon, of course, was depicted as the Atlesian emblem, gleaming silver in the centre of the room, dominant.
As Sunset and the others stepped out of the elevator, she saw two small statuettes of warriors in antique armour bearing spears standing on either side of the doors.
The back of the room was fully taken up with a semicircle of panes of glass, out of which it was as possible to see out across Atlas as it had been back in the elevator. Sunset supposed that if you were going to build high, you might as well enjoy the view; and perhaps it gave General Ironwood some comfort to look outside and see the vast force that he had assembled at his command.
Or perhaps it gave him pause to think that it was still not enough.
General Ironwood himself sat behind a metal desk at the far side of the room, just before his windows. On one side of him stood a woman in a white uniform, who bore some resemblance to Weiss Schnee. Did she have a sister? Sunset didn’t recall having ever heard her mentioned. No doubt they would be introduced to one another soon. Twilight Sparkle stood beside her, and she smiled at Sunset as she came in, even as she seemed to shrink away from Cinder.
On the other side of General Ironwood — standing a little further away from him than the unnamed officer or Twilight — was a girl closer to Sunset’s own age, dressed in a black bodysuit with pink highlights over some kind of mesh armour, her black hair held back by a pink bandana. She was not quite leaning against the wall of General Ironwood’s office, but she did appear to be standing as far away from him as she could possibly manage.
Her arms were folded, and she had a scowl upon her face.
The Atlesian huntresses — including Penny — stopped and came to attention, saluting General Ironwood.
“Reporting as ordered, sir,” Ciel declared, “with Sunset Shimmer, Cinder Fall, and Captain Winchester.”
General Ironwood rose ponderously to his feet. To Sunset’s eyes, his movements seemed slow. Nevertheless, he returned the salute. “At ease, all of you. And thank you, Soleil. Penny, I’m sorry to cut your tour short like this.”
“It’s alright, sir,” Penny said. “I think this might be more important.”
General Ironwood chuckled softly. “Yes, you might be right. Still, many things are of import to Atlas right now, we’ll have you back on the road — or in the sky — again soon enough.”
He paused for a moment. “Miss Shimmer, I didn’t expect to see you here.” His tone became noticeably chillier as he added. “And I certainly didn’t expect to see you in my office, Miss Fall.”
“The feeling is mutual, General,” Cinder said. “There was a time when the only reason I could imagine myself being in your office was to kill you.”
“What Cinder is trying to say,” Sunset said quickly, “is thank you, sir, for agreeing to see us.”
“In light of what Soleil told me, I could hardly refuse,” General Ironwood said.
“You could have,” the girl in the black and pink declared, “and very easily. What is there to be learned from the likes of these?”
Cinder took a step forward, then another, then another; the chinks of her glass slippers upon the floor of the office was the only sound.
“It seems that you have the advantage of us,” she said, “Miss—”
“This is Aska Koryu, a huntress,” General Ironwood said. “And this is Major Winter Schnee, my adjutant. You know Twilight Sparkle already, of course.”
Cinder glanced at her. “There’s no need to be afraid, Twilight; I only hurt those who deserve it now.” Her gaze returned to Aska. She smiled slightly as she added, “Of course, having just said that means that I must show you some forbearance and restrict myself to asking why you are here? Whatever I was or am, I have some notoriety in this, but the name of Aska Koryu means nothing to me.”
“Then I’ve done my job well,” Aska said..
“Aska is here at my invitation,” General Ironwood declared. “And as a member of the Myrmidons.”
“'The Myrmidons'?” Sunset asked.
“A company of warriors, raised by Pyrrha to defend Mistral,” Lady Nikos explained.
Sunset looked at her, her eyebrows rising and her equine ears pricking up. “Pyrrha … Pyrrha has raised a company of warriors?”
“Uh-huh,” Sun said. “There’s Jaune, obviously, he’s our strategist, and Pyrrha’s our leader, then there’s Neptune and Scarlet and Sage; Ren and Nora, Arslan—”
“I don’t think we need the whole roster right now,” Blake murmured.
Sun laughed nervously. “Right,” he acknowledged. “Sorry.”
“All those names belong to students,” Cinder observed. “Or has Mistral, too, graduated all of its students to fill the void left by—?”
“By you?” Rainbow suggested.
“That was Tyrian’s plan, not mine,” Cinder said. “To find the Spring Maiden was his charge. Yes, I dealt with Lionheart, I needed his help to become accredited with a student — also, can you imagine dealing with Tyrian on a regular basis? — but all the information went to him, and he and Hazel did the killings. The very idea of murdering all the huntsmen in Mistral has his bloody fingerprints all over it.”
“General Ironwood,” Lady Nikos said, “may I have your leave to speak of Mistral and ask you to hold your patience just a little longer?”
“Please,” General Ironwood said softly, as he resumed his seat. “Be my guest.”
“Thank you, General,” Lady Nikos said. She walked forwards, her stick tapping on the floor, then turned around to face Sunset and the others. “All is not well in Mistral,” she said, “and has not been well for some time. The Council was frightened by events at Vale, and that fear left it paralysed with indecision — an indecision that was maintained by some powerful men in Mistral, who thought to use the chaos to advance their own interests ahead of the good of the kingdom.
“Worse, the weakness of the Council drew bandits out into the open, attacking small towns and villages which had no one to protect them, while the spread of panic caused a spate of grimm attacks to which the Council offered no response. It was for this reason that Pyrrha was driven to act: if no one else would defend the kingdom and its outlying settlements, she would.”
Sunset smiled. “Your news surprised me at first, my lady, but now that you explain, I find myself wondering how I could have expected anything else.”
“Indeed,” Lady Nikos said proudly. “Pyrrha has assembled mostly students, I concede, although there are some gladiators from the Colosseum also. All told, there are some thirty warriors at her command, and they have done good service protecting the villages that surround Mistral from bandits and from grimm alike.”
“Action worthy of her noble ancestors,” Sunset murmured.
“The comparison has been made,” Lady Nikos said. “Both by those who rightly acclaim Pyrrha and her companions for their valour, and for being the only true hearts in Mistral willing to defend the people when they are in need, and by those who are made envious of that same acclaim that daily heaps upon my daughter and her friends.”
“If others are jealous at the credit that accrues to Pyrrha for defending Mistral, then perhaps they, too, should get out and defend Mistral?” Sunset suggested acidly. “That way, some credit might accrue to them also.”
“It has been raised as a solution,” Lady Nikos said dryly. “But for some time, fear of what Pyrrha might do — fear that she might use her popularity with the people to seize the throne that once belonged to our family — only caused the Council to hoard its strength yet closer around itself, lest they be defenceless against a coup.”
“Nobody who knows Pyrrha would believe that she would do such a thing,” Sunset said. “In nothing save the use of her semblance is she capable of that kind of subtlety, for one thing. I say that with love, you understand.”
“I know, Miss Shimmer, and I do not dispute it,” Lady Nikos said. “Fortunately, some more sensible voices have prevailed of late, and Pyrrha and the Myrmidons have joined a leaguer under the Lady Terri-Belle, Warden of the White Tower, to defend the kingdom, joining the Council’s own huntsman and other companies raised by noble families.”
“May I inquire, my lady, as to the bad news?” Cinder asked. “Forgive me, but events have made me wary of good fortune.”
“I fear your wariness is wise, Miss Fall,” Lady Nikos replied. “Although some of the bad news is sweetened with a little good. In order to protect the more remote regions, farther from Mistral and harder to reach, much of our territory has been given out in fiefs to bandit tribes.”
“The lords of Mistral throw their people to the wolves,” Cinder muttered. “The world may change, it seems, but the conduct of the powerful does not. You know, things like this are why I wanted to destroy the world.”
“I thought that was because you were a selfish, power-hungry bitch,” Rainbow muttered.
Cinder chuckled. “Well,” she said. “That too.”
“Not all the lords of Mistral were consulted,” Lady Nikos said sharply. “Amongst the bandits who have taken slices of our land to rule on behalf of the Council—”
“In the same way that a wolf devours the flock on behalf of the shepherd, no doubt,” said Cinder.
Lady Nikos continued, “—are the Branwen tribe, amongst whom is the Spring Maiden, long lost … and Miss Rose’s elder sister, Yang Xiao Long.”
“Yang?” Sunset gasped. “Yang … Yang’s alive?” She blinked rapidly.
“But she died!” Penny exclaimed. “In the battle, she didn’t answer, and nobody could see her—”
“Her mother took her,” Sun explained, his voice hardening. “She kidnapped her right out of the middle of the battle and let everyone think that she’d died in the fighting.”
“Let Ruby think that she had died in the fighting,” Sunset growled.
She turned away from Lady Nikos, her ears drooping down atop her head, descending into her hair. Her hands clenched, and then unclenched again. She scarcely knew whether to rage or to rejoice. Anger and jubilation warred in her heart. On the one hand, what Raven had done to Yang — what she had done to Ruby — was absolutely despicable, to let Ruby and her father believe that their sister and daughter had perished, to let them grieve … Sunset thought back to the way that they had been when she had visited them on Patch. To have inflicted that misery upon the family was unforgivable, and Sunset was not minded to forgive it.
On the other hand, on the wonderful other hand … just wait until Ruby heard about this!
“My lady,” Sunset said, wheeling to face Lady Nikos once more, “where is Yang now? Is she with Pyrrha and Jaune and the others?”
“Pyrrha offered her shelter, of course,” Lady Nikos said, “but Miss Xiao Long would not avail herself of it. She claimed that Pyrrha’s strength could not protect her, and that she could influence these brigands towards a more righteous path from inside their camp.”
“That sounds very noble of her,” Penny said.
“That sounds stupid of her, Penny,” Sunset said sharply.
“Is it so?” Cinder asked softly.
Sunset knew why Cinder had asked this, and yet, she looked into Cinder’s eyes and said, “They kidnapped her. They kidnapped her and let her family believe her dead. She owes them no loyalty.”
“It does not seem that loyalty enters into the equation,” Cinder said. “My lady, is there any reason she cannot be rescued?”
“They have the Spring Maiden,” Ciel reminded her.
“Maidens are not omnipotent, nor are they invincible,” Cinder declared. “I defeated a Maiden with no magic of my own, and all I needed was three allies and a plan; Pyrrha is the Fall Maiden, with thirty swords at her command—”
“And the Branwen tribe have taken the Council’s writ; they are servants of Mistral now,” Lady Nikos said. “To fall upon them, even in a righteous cause, would be to move against the Council itself and to become, in the eyes of the people, all that Pyrrha’s critics have accused her of. Pyrrha cannot take such a step, not even for Miss Rose’s sister.”
“So Yang and the Spring Maiden remain in the hands of a pack of murdering scumbags,” Cardin spat. “Great. Who knows about the Spring Maiden?”
“Only a small number of the Myrmidons, for now, we believe,” Lady Nikos said. “Which is all to the good.”
Sunset ran both hands through her fiery hair. “Is there worse news to come, my lady?”
“It looks like Salem broke Chrysalis out of prison, and now, she works for her,” Rainbow said.
“'Chrysalis'?” Cinder asked.
“White Fang, has a semblance that lets her shapeshift into other people,” Rainbow said. “Smart, cunning, dangerous.”
Sunset let out a sigh. “And Salem has sent her to Mistral?”
“And a man named Doctor Watts,” Lady Nikos said. “We believe that they have murdered one of the Mistralian councillors, Lady Ming, and that this Chrysalis has taken her place. Unfortunately, our attempts to prove it failed. We also know that Doctor Watts has poisoned the sister of a powerful nobleman, Turnus Rutulus, and is using this to force his compliance and that of his forces.”
“Turnus Rutulus is here in Atlas, right now,” General Ironwood added. “He claims that he is on a diplomatic mission from the Council; naturally, we believe that he is also here on orders from Watts, although we haven’t been able to find out what his mission might be. We’re trying to keep him under observation, but his countermeasures have proven frustratingly effective so far.”
“I take it throwing him in a hole until he’s ready to talk is not an option either?” Cinder asked.
“He’s an accredited diplomat,” General Ironwood said. “So no.”
“And he is a good man,” Lady Nikos said. “A good man forced into a truly unenviable position. He deserves our pity when we cannot aid him, and all the aid that we dare give; certainly, he does not deserve to be treated like a common criminal.”
“If I may, my lady, might I suggest that many common criminals are likewise good men forced into truly unenviable positions?” Cinder said. “How many of them receive the courtesy and consideration being extended to Lord Rutulus? How many of them receive pity where they cannot be aided, and extended all the aid that you dare give?”
“What does it matter?” Aska demanded.
“It will matter a great deal if Mistral falls because it was necessary to handle a lord with kid gloves,” Cinder said. “It matters, because if Salem wins this war, it will be in no small part because the conduct of the wealthy and the powerful — and the way that these kingdoms are created to serve them and protect their interests — built up so much rage among the powerless and the dispossessed that they would gladly eat raw all the eminent men of Mistral and of Atlas too, even to the point of joining Salem for the meal she offers. Where do you think I came from, or Adam Taurus, or this Chrysalis? Do you think your enemies spring out of the ground for no reason?”
“We’re working to fix things—” Blake began.
“Then I suggest you work a little faster,” Cinder said.
Sunset broke the silence that followed Cinder’s words. “And what, in all of this, brings you to Atlas, my lady?”
“To ask for help, on Pyrrha’s behalf,” Lady Nikos replied. “Since she could not come here to plead her case directly, she sent me.”
“I see,” Sunset said softly. “And is any help … to be forthcoming?”
“We’re the help,” Rainbow said.
“I’ve ordered Dash to put together a team to go to Mistral and assist Miss Nikos in any way possible,” General Ironwood confirmed.
One squad? That is all the help that he can spare?
Or was it simply all the help he was willing to spare? Either way … yes, he was spending his most trusted huntress, and yes, there were issues of secrecy to consider, but at the same time, to draw in all his horns thus and spare only the bare minimum to lend assistance to Mistral when it was clear now that Salem’s next stroke would fall there, not on Atlas?
Perhaps Cinder had been onto something.
Or perhaps the Princess of Hope should try and be hopeful, and not be too pessimistic.
“You’re welcome to come with us,” Blake said, confirming that, at the very least, General Ironwood was taking this sufficiently seriously to spend both his best people.
“I’m sure that we will meet in Mistral,” Sunset said, “but my business must take me to Shion first.”
“'Shion'?” General Ironwood said. “Is that where Ozpin is?"
Sunset felt her eyebrows rise, considering the gathered group. While it was clear Ironwood and Pyrrha had placed their trust in all who were present, this was a deeper secret than most, one that had not been shared with Ciel or Penny until it had spilled from her own lips.
“Yes,” Sunset answered.
For a moment, General Ironwood looked as though he might sag, as though his perfect composure and ramrod back would bend or break, but he did not, and they did not; he remained sitting perfectly upright, as stiff as a staff, as he said, “How do you know?”
Sunset hesitated for a moment. “Amber told me.”
“Amber?” Rainbow repeated. “Amber’s dead.”
“Hence she can know things that we, living, do not,” Sunset said. “She came to me in a dream and told me where to find Professor Ozpin, begged me to find him and protect him.”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you didn’t just eat some cheese?”
Sunset rolled her own eyes in exasperation. “Is it really any stranger than any of the rest of this?” she demanded.
“No,” Rainbow admitted. “No, I guess it isn’t.”
“I believe her,” Sunset declared. “I trust what she is telling me, and I trust that I need to go to Shion.”
“And if you’re wrong?” Blake asked. “If Professor Ozpin isn’t there?”
Sunset shrugged. “Then I will go on to Mistral, chastened by the experience. What else can I do but that?”
General Ironwood stroked his chin reflectively. “Dash, perhaps you should go to Shion as well; if Ozpin is there, then he needs to be protected until he can be brought to a safe haven. Miss Shimmer, I don’t suppose that Amber gave you any details about his new host.”
“I’m afraid not, sir,” Sunset admitted. “I’m hoping that he’ll reveal himself to me. I hope he doesn’t think so ill of me that he feels the need to hide.”
“Early in the merge, the new host’s access to Ozpin’s memories are limited; he might not recognise you right away,” General Ironwood warned her.
“Understood, sir, but I’m sure I can find him,” Sunset said. “As for the assistance of your team … not that I wouldn’t be glad of the help, but I don’t know how long it will take to get from Shion to Mistral even once we’ve found the professor; I wouldn’t want Pyrrha to be without assistance for so long.”
“I agree, sir,” Dash added. “I think it makes more sense to split our forces, leave Sunset to handle Professor Ozpin while my team goes on ahead to set up in Mistral.”
General Ironwood shook his head. “No. Ozpin’s safety is our highest priority. I’m not going to abandon him to…” He looked at Sunset, and then he looked at Cinder. “I won’t abandon him. Find Ozpin, and get him on an airship back to Atlas before you proceed with the rest of your mission.”
“To Atlas?” Lady Nikos said. “General, Pyrrha would value Ozpin’s council in Mistral.”
“Mistral is not safe, my lady, by your own admission,” General Ironwood replied. “Salem’s agents have already begun to work, spreading their influence throughout the city. To put Oz in the front line while he is still adjusting to a new host … no, it’s too risky. I won’t lose him again, I won’t … this time, I’ll protect him. Do you understand, Dash?”
“Yes, sir,” Rainbow said, her voice unflinching.
General Ironwood nodded. “Now, Miss Shimmer, why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here?”
Now was the moment. Now they were come to it.
Sunset advanced towards General Ironwood, where he stood behind his desk.
“I’m here to ask for your help, sir,” she began.
Stats
Page generated in 0.041 seconds
Total duration
1,011 users online
1,397,307 hits today, 1,996,409 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
The room is going to blow up... On rose petals
You can still see elements of the farce that they turned Ironwood into in canon, but no. I don't think he'll nearly be as bad. Not to say that I believe his desire to 'protect' Ozpin is without it's own less than selfless motivations, but still. It's tactically sound, even if it's unlikely to actually happen that way.
I guess it will be more telling to see Ironwood's reaction when they don't throw him on a ship north right away.
Then there's the 4 sentient grim and the other one to worry about.... so many new enemies.
I'm seeing a few elements of the canon Ironwood beginning to show. The fear and stress he holds deep down. Either way, I hope there will be the chance for an actual conversation between Ironwood and Ozpin again, good as Oscar was at it. That kind of conversation could have done wonders to soothe Ironwood's worries.
Nevertheless, Sunset Shimmer has finally returned to the fold. Now, the real mission can at last resume once again! We can finally get stuff done. Friends... let us away!
Edit: Also, I'm so glad to finally see Lady Nikkos' words and thoughts about Sunset since the Breach! I've been wanting to hear her words on that for years now! Thank you!
We're getting pretty close to Ruby discovering her sister was alive all along. That ought to be a fun conversation.
Ironwood is still my favorite character in RWBY, even after the character assassination they did to him.
But SAPR Ironwood is different enough, where he still has flaws, but is a good man at heart trying to make the best of a bad situation. Though we have to see how he reacts to Sunset's proposal.
11140856
Well....... Freehold does sound like another alternative plan to work alongside the Menagerie plan he, Cadence and Kali have discussed in secret in SAPR Vol. 3 to break the SDC's Dust monopoly as it's a major source of Remnant's social troubles that Salem is exploiting. Plus, I've wondered before if Freehold might be something to help with Mantle's problems....... especially if it's Mantle's people directly negotiating with Freehold and Freehold keeps tight control over the mining and land rights to keep it out of SDC's meddling.
11141028
There are a few problems with your suggestion that Estmoreland and Freeport (not Freehold) go to the people of Mantle.
1) Estmoreland needs more than just mining skills. They need equipment, infrastructure, and transportation, which means starting capital and business contacts. The people of Mantle cannot provide any of that.
2) "The people of Mantle" are not an organization one can negotiate with. One could theoretically recruit individuals from Mantle, but that would require a recruiting network in Mantle, which no one in Estmoreland has.
3) The closest thing we know of that Mantle has to an organization one could negotiate with is Robyn Hill's Happy Huntresses, and on top of her and Ironwood's dislike and distrust of each other (why would Ironwood direct Sunset to her, and why would Hill trust anyone Ironwood did send to her?), mass emigration from Mantle kind of runs directly counter to her position to improve things in Mantle (after all, it was mass emigration from Mantle that led to Mantle's downfall in the first place).
11141149
Mass emigration is impossible since Freeport isn't exactly a vacation spot and would be unable to deal with such an increase of people, but the concept of working overseas and sending back money is extremely common in developing countries and makes for a good chunk of the economy. Experienced workers being paid a premium for their work in Freeport and sending the cash back to Mantle would improve things there considerably, as you would have more money and less people.
That said, while Freeport directly coordinating with Mantle is inviable that is not what they are doing, they are going to Ironwood first and he has the contacts and resources to make it work. If I remember correctly the Crystal Empire equivalent in Remnant was a mining colony that transitioned to development, so they should still have traces of the administration structure needed to run a mine.
With that, you have everything you need. Freeport has the resources, Mantle has the workers, Cadance has the administration and Ironwood has the money.
11141183
Relying on remittances as an incentive means delaying until the CCT Tower in Menagerie is up and running, because you can't send money back if you have no means of sending it. It also makes Mantle's economy more dependent on some far off upstart barbarian kingdom, which is not necessarily going to play well in Mantle.
Just how long ago did Crystal City transition away from mining? Unless it was very recently, why would there be any traces of the mining administration structure remaining? They are businesses, and businesses don't last very long by maintaining infrastructure that goes unused unless there's a government contract paying for it.
Yes, Freeport has the resources.
Yes, Mantle has the workers ... in theory. Again, emigration is what caused Mantle's downfall, so the people still living there haven't emigrated already for a reason, either because they don't want to (hometown loyalty can be incredibly irrational) or because they can't afford to (probably most, honestly), but I don't think we actually know the proportions between them or where the skill sets are divided between those reasons for not already emigrating.
But I really must question the assumption of Cadance having the administration. Even if it does still exist, just how much influence or control does she personally have in Crystal City, anyway?
And any serious money Ironwood has access to depends on either the rest of the Atlesian Council's approval (which is hardly guaranteed, especially with so many Atlesian resources committed to Menagerie) or tapping into whatever discretionary funds -- if any -- might exist in the military budget that's flexible enough to use for something like this. And given Penny's war bond tour, it seems unlikely to me that the military has any funds that aren't already earmarked.
Also, Sunset is asking for a lot more than it might sound like. Consider, for example, the fact that any Atlesian forces sent to help with security would be completely cut off from home until the new CCT Tower is up and running. So whatever force goes needs to be able to operate completely independently for weeks or months: no refueling, no repairs, no resupply of ammunition or any other consumables that can't be locally sourced (from a kingdom that, so far as I can recall, doesn't exactly have an excess of food production, let alone any actual industrial manufacture), no replenishment of replacement parts, no reinforcements or replacement personnel, no communications, nothing but what can be sourced locally.
That's a pretty big ask, and that's if Atlas is even still capable of doing this, which, considering the losses they suffered at the Battle of Vale, is ... questionable, at best.
11141773
You don't need the CCT tower to transfer the money. Freeport isn't integrated to any financial system or even use the same money that the rest of Remnant, so any deposit made to the workers would only be accessible to their families in Mantle anyway. If it was Freeport the ones paying the salaries then it would be an issue, but they are not.
Paying the workers in cash would be pointless since they wouldn't be able to use the money in Freeport, so the work deal should have this in consideration. Most of the workers of Mantle would be really happy with the idea of working in Freeport mines with their basic necessities already covered (so better than working in Mantle already) while they can look forward to a small fortune and a happy family once they go back home.
Unless the transition of Crystal City was over a lifetime ago then the people and documentation of the processes are still there. The knowledge is the important part, not the physical infrastructure, and even if now they are doing something else it is really easy to get people willing to get back into the old work when you dangle a big enough incentive, and the Freeport mines are a MASSIVE opportunity. After all that is how Nicholas Schnee started.
Emigration by itself is not a problem, the problem is the reduction of economic potential that the reduction of workers brings. A problem that wouldn't exist in this case since, as I said above, the workers going to Freeport would mean a LOT of money for Mantle. You are also overestimating the amount of people moving, the mines would be in their infancy and only the workers themselves would go, in numbers that wouldn't be big enough to make a real dent in the population of an entire city.
Cadance influence over Crystal City is irrelevant, she just needs the contacts, which she definitely has already. This is an opportunity, she just needs to tell the people that could be interested in it.
The deal with Freeport would be an incredible investment, far better than the one with Menagerie, and so it would have the council jumping on it. Freeport is desperate for the dust and they are aware that they don't have much bargaining power (not even counting that Ruby is looking at this for a purely defensive viewpoint), so the proposal is taking this in consideration.
Having access to a entire untapped mine of dust for just a cut of the product (not even money, Freeport doesn't have a use for it) would be seen in Atlas as a deal almost too good to be true.
The defensive consideration would also be much lower, since Freeport would be taking the bulk of that duty. The amount of firepower needed to defend the mines would be much lower that the current work in Menagerie (where the population is known to be hostile towards Atlas) and there is no mayor issue with just sending ships between Atlas and Freeport. yes, the lack of CCT means that they don't have instant communications, but they don't need them.
If anything, the bigger political issue is that it would make the investment in Menagerie seem as a hasty waste of resources, since they would have been able to obtain a far better deal if they had waited a bit more.
Everyone saying RWBY character assassinated Ironwood as if the first thing he did in the show wasn't going behind Ozpin's back and sending a literal fleet to Vale. That is just as stupid and heavy handed as the stuff he did near the beginning of the Atlas arc.
11142732
When people refer to people butchering Ironwood, I am assuming most refer to the stuff that happened in Volume 8. Where the writers realized they had accidently made Ironwood VERY likeable and reasonable in Volume 7. So they had to turn him into a mustache twirling villain in the most ham fisted way possible.
So we get him randomly executing a council member. Threatening to bomb Mantle. Etc. Because he needed to be the bad guy.
11143736
Eh, even those actions are still in line with Ironwood mentality, he was always willing to do what needed to be done for the "greater good" while also lacking the social ability to understand why people would disagree with his interpretation of such thing.
Of course, you would need to push him to the absolute extreme to get even close to that, but I can see a situation where he, feeling betrayed by everyone he ever considered close, with his world falling to pieces and with an imminent threat that he can't deal with because everyone else keep screwing over what has to be done, would take such actions.
My main issue with book 8 writing is that they got him to that point by skipping a lot of steps and having everyone do some really, REALLY stupid things. That is still bad writing, but it's not the personality replacement that some people imply.
11145467
I think we mean similar things but with different phrasing, they turned Ironwood into a villain with the subtlety of a brick through a window. They could have gotten there organically, but instead they just skipped right to tin pot dictator with no steps in between.
From my perspective, Team RWBY are the villains of Volumes 7 & 8 because everything they did just made the situation worse or didn't help at all. My personal favorite is calling Ironwood a liar when they had been lying to him from their first meeting with him even though he himself was cards on the table honest with them.
11149756
That is a way of spinning it to exonerate Sunset. But at the end of the day, what her guilt is from is the knowledge that she CHOSE to do it. She put her friends over the lives of the people in Vale that she was supposed to protect.
So while you could use that spin to make the public believe her if not innocent, a victim of circumstances, it wouldn't change Sunset's mind.
By the way, now that Sunset Shimmer has been renewed in both purpose and resolve, does that mean she'll finally get a new post-Beacon outfit like everyone else? (Forgive me if I've missed that she already has)
My personal favorite is her Festival outfit.
pbs.twimg.com/media/ELivwiyWoAAWQhe.jpg
11150819
She has, she's wearing the Friendship games outfit:
pinclipart.com/picdir/middle/380-3800627_sunset-shimmer-sunset-shimmer-friendship-games-vector-clipart.png
11151493
Oh. Okay, to be honest, that's the outfit I thought Sunset was wearing since Volume 1.
11151590
She's always worn pants under her skir, but during the Beacon Arc she wore the Equestria girls purple top with her cutie mark on it and the orange and purple skirt:
m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vJtM+LiAL._AC_SL1000_.jpg
11154189
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
*flies away*