Chapter 14: The Element of Honesty
The four ponies had been returned to their original forms, Twilight was bouncing on her hooves, “A new kind of magic, completely unknown to Equestrians! To any creatures on this planet! Imagine the possibilities, all the ways this ability will revolutionize Equestria!”
Discord smirked, “Now… Before I can send you off on your way, you’ll be needing some protection,” He snapped his fingers and three boxes appeared on the ground, “You, my little Twilight, won’t be needing one, but the others will.”
He snapped his fingers and various schematics appeared in folders atop each box, the cutie marks of the respective ponies painted on the folders covers. “What are these?” Spitfire asked.
“Weapon schematics, based on those used in Remnant, Twilight should be able to assemble them.” Twilight was hopping in joy again, and Spitfire was staring at the papers intently.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“Once you’ve made those fancy pointy-sticks and explosion-controllers, come back, and bring your dragon-servant,” Discord finished before he disappeared.
Ozpin walked into the dark room, illuminated only by the single lamp on the ceiling, and behind the table sat four faunus girls… He knew right away that these must be the four both Night Lark and Taiyang mentioned, he had plenty of experience sensing the auras of others, and these four had a lot of it. One gave off the air of annoyance, although he wasn’t quite sure what exactly it was directed at, perhaps it wasn’t even directed, she just seemed generally annoyed with everything at the moment.
One of them, the one with the pink and purple hair, was studying him as much as he was studying her, a perceptive one indeed, he almost felt as if she could sense his aura, but brushed that off… Only those with actual magic could sense the auras of others without direct contact.
There was another who seemed generally disinterested and unapologetic as if she didn’t even really understand where she was or why she was here and gave off an air of smug arrogance that he had seen drag numerous huntsmen and huntresses to their deaths… He would need to teach her some respect and caution if he was going to make any use out of her as a warrior…
Then there was the one with the red hair… She was glaring at him and glaring hard, she wore a harsh cold stare that put Glynda’s to shame, a look of open hostility on her features, she gave off an air of aggression, at him in particular, and in the first time in a very long time, he felt a little perturbed. He would need to tread carefully around this one.
“Hello,” He began, the redhead just glared a little harder, but at least he caught the attention of the purple-haired and pink-haired girls. “It sounds like you girls had an… Exciting, evening.”
“I guess you can say that,” The redhead retorted.
“I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced, what are your girls’ names?”
“Sweetie Belle.”
“Scootaloo.”
“Diamond Tiara.”
Ozpin raised his eyebrows as the red-haired one just shook her head, “I ain’t telling you my name until you tell me yours, and what exactly you are doing down here, with us.”
The one introduced as Diamond Tiara turned her head and growled at the girl, “Bloom… Don’t antagonize him.” Then, the redhead turned her gaze on the girl, who quickly shut her mouth.
Ozpin gave a friendly chuckle, then his expression turned a little sterner… This girl did not like him, and Ozpin didn’t know why, he needed to figure out that reason before he ruined his reputation with the future huntresses. “I’m sure you already know who I am…” That earned a series of head-shakes… “Professor Ozpin,” He continued, that earned looks of confusion, and more glaring from the redhead, certainly not the reaction he expected, “I’m the headmaster of Beacon Academy.”
“The monster-hunting school Ruby was talking about?” Diamond commented.
“I suppose you could call us that.”
“Rather fortuitous then,” Sweetie returned, “We were hoping to join this year.”
“I can see why, you certainly have talent.”
“Thanks, teacher-man,” Scootaloo replied.
He turned to the redhead, “Your name?”
“Apple Bloom,” She said, bitterly.
Ozpin pulled out his scroll and loaded the security camera footage from the street, as well as the video Glynda took of their fight with the criminal and his fiery companion. “So, where did four girls like yourselves learn how to do this?”
Apple Bloom growled and bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something… Ozpin wondered what had merited that reaction, or if the girl was just naturally angry… Or perhaps defensive, and wanted to protect her comrades, that could be a valuable trait. He would need to figure out exactly what it was.
‘Oh, Ruby taught us!” Scootaloo said, proudly.
“I thought as much…” He smiled, “I’ve already talked with the young miss Rose, and I believe she’s easily skilled enough to attend Beacon this year, with her sister.”
“If you’ve already talked with Ruby, why even ask us in the first place, I’m sure you asked her about us, so what’s with a question you already know the answer of?” Bloom said, defensively.
“I simply wanted to confirm for myself, it’s best to be thorough.”
“Will we still be able to take that test and get into Beacon?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t be able to… You did well today, and you have some very impressive semblances, particularly yours, Sweetie Belle… Energy manipulation abilities are rare indeed,” The girl blushed a bit, and Ozpin hoped he had made a good impression on the others, even if Bloom didn’t seem to trust him, “Though, I do have a few questions for you first, normally they would be asked before you take the entrance exam, but I’d like to take this chance to ask them for myself.”
“Just ask then,” Diamond commented.
Ozpin nodded, “You’re names are, unique, where exactly did you come from?”
Apple Bloom had to bite back a reply, then Diamond spoke up, “Ponyville… A small village to the south, as you might have already suspected, there was a grimm attack and we were forced to abandon the settlement… It was all faunus like us, fairly remote and isolated, to protect us from the grimm, and I’m sure we aren’t the only survivors.”
Ozpin nodded, he had already gotten most of that from Ruby, but he was happy to know. “Do you have any family?”
Diamond continued, “Sweetie Belle’s sister is Rarity Belle, there’s Apple Bloom’s sister Applejack, and Scootaloo’s sister Rainbow Dash… Our parents were all taken by the grimm, and I don’t have any surviving family.”
Ozpin nodded, he had expected them not to have much family, large groups didn’t survive for long outside the kingdoms, but he was happy to know that they had siblings who, judging from the way they talked about them, sounded as if they were still alive. Part of him wondered if their shared past would help them get along with those two from Mistral, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie… He knew they had similar experiences.
“Those were the only important questions... “ He continued, “I believe that is all, remember that the airship for Beacon will depart in two days, do not be late.” He got up and moved to the door, then paused, “Oh, and a word of advice,” He said, leaning back toward the girls. Sweetie Belle’s ears perked up, “You should all choose the white queen pieces.”
Dear Princess Celestia: I have made several interesting discoveries… Upon going to the Wonderbolt HQ for various personal reasons, myself, Rarity Crumbles von Belle, Rainbow Hothoof Dash, and Spitfire Flare Thundershrike, we were approached by Discord, who revealed numerous things regarding the planet that the fillies have been transported to.
Its name is Remnant and it is populated by creatures known as Humans and Faunus. Attached to this letter is a vague sketch I’ve created based on memory, I only saw the female of the species, so I am unable to provide an example of a male of the species, but I’d assume them to be rather similar. They are bipedal, featuring clawed hands and feet, small heads in comparison to the rest of the body, with noticeably smaller ears on the sides of their head, no snout, merely a mouth embedded into the head and a protruding nose, utters on their upper chests, and no fur asides from on the tops of their heads, much like a pony’s mane.
The humans possess no inherent magical ability other than a previously unknown use of magic they refer to as Aura. Aura cannot be used to cast spells like unicorn magic, and instead behaves like the passive abilities demonstrated by earth pony magic… It shields their bodies from harm, and even untrained, can at least stop what would normally be a fatal blow, this comes at the cost of human bodies being far more susceptible to damage than a pony’s body, once they run out of aura, similar to a unicorn overtaxing their magic, they must spend a period of rest before they can use it again… Other uses of aura include augmenting the height they can jump, augmenting their speed, and an ability known as the Semblance.
Semblances seem remarkably similar to a pony’s cutie mark, and generally, are manifested as magical abilities a person can draw upon that are unique to them, much like Fluttershy’s magical stare, and the Apple family’s ability to detect dishonesty.
Discord also provided us with schematics for weapons based on those used in Remnant to defend themselves against monsters. Attached are copies I’ve made of the schematics, I believe the ponies working for the Royal Guard and Wonderbolts would like to take a look at them and design mass-production models, as they are clearly superior to the arms we currently possess, as to be expected from a world where monster-attacks are commonplace.
I am currently assembling Rainbow Dash’s weapon, substituting the dust crystals this device requires, apparently a resource exclusive to Remnant, with the magical gemstones I have stored for experimentation. I feel that we will need to step up gem production if the technology used on Remnant is any indication.
I will be going to this world with Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Rarity, I’ll be bringing Spike with me so I can give you updates on my findings. Your faithful student: Twilight Sparkle.
As the fillies left the building, Diamond turned to Apple Bloom, “Why were you so aggressive with that man, he’s the one who decided if we can go to Beacon or not!”
“I don’t trust him, he’s a liar,” Bloom replied.
“How do you know that?” Diamond said.
“She’s the sister of Applejack, the Element of Honesty,” Sweetie replied as if the answer was as obvious as why ponies need to breathe.
“Yeah, if Bloom says someone isn’t to be trusted, you know it.” Scootaloo replied, “He seemed nice enough, if a little suspicious of us.”
“He had some serious power, he’s at least as strong as Twilight,” Sweetie continued, “And it wasn’t just his aura, he felt magical, actually magical, like he was a fellow unicorn.”
“Whatever he was, he certainly wasn’t honest, he felt all kinds of creepy and deceitful,” Bloom replied.
“He’s still the headmaster, so I won’t have you going around challenging him like that,” Diamond stated
“If what Apple Bloom says is true, then keep an eye on that man,” Sweetie replied, “And don’t trust anything he says… It doesn’t mean that you can’t like him, we should at least pretend, but if Apple Bloom says someone’s a liar, then they’re up to no good.”
"Plus, did you notice how he had been spying on us, he had that whole fight right there on the scroll of his!" Bloom almost yelled.
“Yeah, as nice as he was, I’m with Apple Bloom, she says someone’s a liar, I’m not believing them,” Scootaloo continued.
They had made their way outside, Ozpin and Glynda had stayed behind in the room they had been interrogated in. Ruby was waiting for them at the front door of the Vale Police Department. “So, how did it go with Ozpin?” Ruby asked, “I’m getting to go to Beacon this year!” She hopped in joy.
“So are we,” Sweetie Said, “I guess that means you’ll show us to the airship docks in two days,”
“I can’t wait!” Scootaloo hopped into the air.
Apple Bloom walked up to Ruby and whispered into her ear, “I don’t trust that man, and I don’t think you should either.”
“It’s fine, he can be a little creepy and distant at times, but he’s the headmaster of Beacon, one of the youngest headmasters to achieve the title! You can’t get a position like that without being totally awesome and a hero!”
“It’s just a warning,” Apple Bloom said… “But if he starts doing anything shady, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
When they finally got back to the house on Patch, it was approaching midnight. Tai was worried, but after Ruby explained the night’s events, backed up by stories from the other fillies, he couldn’t help but smile approvingly at the girls. But, with all the events that transpired throughout the day, the only thing they wanted to do was sleep, and so Ruby departed to her room, meanwhile the fillies all piled into bed.
All except for Sweetie Belle, her mind was racing, recounting the day’s events, the robbery, the fiery woman who had clearly used magic, actual magic, not dust, not aura, not semblance, but an actual magical ability in that fight, Professor Ozpin and his magical ability, and the way Apple Bloom, the sister of Applejack, Element of Honesty, didn’t trust him… She didn’t sleep, she couldn’t with everything coursing through her mind, particularly that warning Ozpin gave her, about choosing the white queen piece…
That must be a hint of some kind for whatever their entrance exam was going to be, that was the only logical explanation Sweetie could come up with… She sighed, well, now was as good of a time as any, and so she pulled a book she had kept hidden from the others under the bed, a book of spells, given to her by discord. She flipped to the first page, the Light spell.
On one page was the description of the spell, its name, and a history of the spell and its uses, all things she didn’t need to know right now… Instead, her eyes were drawn to the image drawn on the other page, a visualisation of the spell matrix, a circle with all sorts of lines and arcane patterns, one which you formed into your mind and poured your power through, allowing the spell to be cast. She cupped her hands together, focused on the matrix, and summoned a tiny point of light in her grip, bearly a glow stronger than a firefly, but a glow nonetheless…
She would have poured more power into the spell, but didn’t want to wake the others… Encouraged by this success, she flipped the page and inspected the next spell matrix, a spell to temporarily cure motion-sickness, and the next, and the next.
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And the 50th like is mine! You're welcome!
9956468
I guess that means you get the next chapter tomorrow!
Okay, I gotta call bullshit on this, even Applejack's popular, but fictional, lie-detecting powers require the other person to actually lie first. You can't have her be angry at Oz being deceptive when he isn't actually being deceptive.
9956505
True, I'll give you that one.
9956520
Oops :/
To expand a bit on my previous criticism:
I get that you want them to have an antagonistic relationship with Ozpin but as it is it just feels really forced like you want them to be antagonistic so they just are even though he hasn't actually done anything to earn their ire. It's okay to start them off as neutral, trusting him as much as any person in authority (seriously why does every fanfiction go "oh this person is in authority so I'm gonna automatically be disrespectful because screw authority!") but not be interested in being best friends with him.
There are zero reasons for their first meeting with Ozpin to be any more than a first meeting, neither good nor bad. If you want them to be upset at him being deceptive how about actually have Ozpin be deceptive. Have the girls ask him questions about magic and have Ozpin give them the run-around, of course even then it wouldn't justify Applebloom coming across as a bitch but it would at least give a reason for them to be wary of him.
9956505
Yeah, I thought that everyone was a bit hard on Oz here; he hasn't actually done anything yet but they're acting like he shot Winona in front of them.
9956602
Yeah, I'll tone it down a bit in future chapters.
She's gonna hate herself in the morning...
9956505
Agreed. but only 50%
9956602
True, as I said earlier, Oz isn't that bad, he could be bad, but not that bad... sure, AB could feel the foot thick overcoat of lies and misdirections Oz has done through the Aegies, but in the end there was no reason to be AJ levels of a bitch yet.
9956602
now now, let us not involve Winonna in this mess... Opalescence is OK though...
PLEASE have Sweetness cast that spell on Jaune in secret. As a survivor of Explosive vomiting (once in junior high I had my cereal with raw milk, ended up barfing up from a 2nd floor, it was embarrassing.) I can tell you "Vomit boy" is something not even the PunMistress deserves to be saddled with.
Other than AppleBloom being Borderline Applejack in terms of being a bitch, it was so fun...!
9956594
Which is even more strange in case of ponies considering that their authoruty tend to be a rather decent peo... ponies.
9956594
On one hand I see your argument on the other I feel like the fact that ozpin is basically always wearing a mask is a good enough reason to make with good intuition not trusting of him as for the whole why does everyone hate Authority thing a lot of the time in stories the authority is genuinely incompetent in one way or another to allow for the heroes to save the day
9978300
True but my point is they don't know he's being disingenuous or that he's wearing a mask. Applebloom just says he is and the girls accept it because her sister is the Element of Honesty. What kind of bullshit power is that? Lie detecting usually requires some kind of lie to occur to actually work it doesn't just tell you "oh this person is dishonest" despite the fact that he has yet to be dishonest in any way towards them or even near them. There needs to be some kind of basis for their feelings towards him it can't just be "just because".
Trust half of what you see and none of what you hear.
Just why would you do that? Now, they're going to be the most exotic group of faunus on Remnant.