Rainbow Dash meets Ruby Rose

by Maxes Altho - NavyBrony

Chapters

C2 - Meeting the Team
C3 - Duel of Awesome
C5 - Fangs
C6 - The Tournament, and What Happened After
C1 - A Fateful Encounter
C4 - In Which Rainbow Dash Jumps off a Cliff

C2 - Meeting the Team

Beep.

Oh, my furry head.

Beep.

Mph. Alarm clock. Go ‘way. I don’t have cloud duty today.

Beep.

Alright, Scoots. Cut it out.

Beep.

That’s it!

I shoot up, slapping in the direction of the most annoying thing ever. My hand, however, impacts a hard surface instead of my… hand?

I look down. Turns out it wasn't a dream. I really was chased by demons from Tartarus through a forest on a world unknown to ponies in not my pony body. There was me, I kicked major plot, and two others…

I look around, my heart still tight in my chest. I seem to be in a hospital; the beeping is coming from a heart monitor. The last time I remember being in a hospital was… trying to break into the hospital to steal the first Daring Do book because I was afraid of looking like an egghead. Not my best moment.

To my left is a small table, which I had slapped. To my other sits Red. She appears to be asleep, and looks like she hasn't left my side since she and White obviously brought me here.

“Well, look who’s finally awake,” a voice sounds from across the room, causing me to jump. There’s another girl in the room, half hidden by shadows. She has a bow, colored black, and is in what looks like a maid outfit but made to kick plot. She looks mysterious, and hot. She has a book in her face, only revealing piercing yellow eyes looking straight at me.

“Uhh, hi. Wh-where am I?”

“You are currently in a hospital room at Beacon Academy, located in Vale. Ruby and Weiss found you in the Forever Fall forest, being chased by a pack of Grimm. They told you to run, but you stayed and helped fight them off. You fainted after the battle. Did you really kill an Alpha Beowulf singlehandedly?”

My brain melted about halfway through her explanation. “What? What’s Beacon? Where’s Vale? Who? Oh Goddesses, did I actually kill something?” I feel sick.

“Hey, no throwing up. I may be a Huntress-in-Training, but I can’t stand seeing someone get sick like that,” the girl, Black I’ll call her, snaps a bit of sense into me. I take a deep calming breath, and try again.

“Okay. Obviously I’m not in danger here, I would be in cuffs if I was in trouble, so let’s start with the most pressing question: Where am I?”

Black puts down the book. “Like I said before, you are currently in the infirmary at Beacon Academy.”

“And what’s that?”

Black looks at me like I have a screw loose. “You… you seriously don’t know about Beacon? It’s only the most prestigious academy in the kingdom for training Huntsmen and Huntresses to fight off the evils of the world.”

“So, you’re a Huntress, then? And by ‘evils of the world’, you mean those things that attacked me?”

“Well, a Huntress-in-Training. My team and I are currently students here. And yes, we protect the innocent from the Grimm, like those monsters.”

Red begins to stir beside me. Her eyes open sleepily, but she jerks to attention when she sees I’m awake.

“Blake! You were supposed to tell me when she woke up! Now I don’t know if she said anything important!”

Blake (not Black) smirked. “She hasn’t said anything much yet, and she woke up not five minutes before you, Ruby. You haven’t missed anything. She’s apparently confused about a lot of things.”

Suddenly, my vision is filled with silver eyes. “Wow. You’re pretty. Did you really take down an Alpha Beowulf on your own? Who are you? What’s your team? I haven’t seen you around Beacon. Are you here for the tournament? What’s your weapon? I didn’t see much of it during the fight. What were you doing-”

“Ruby!” She makes a sound like a dog whimper, and sits back in her chair. I mouth a silent thank you to Blake. “Can’t you see you’re just scaring her?”

“It’s alright Blake. I’ve dealt with worse from some of my other friends, it was just really sudden. To answer your questions, Ruby, the first one we’ll get back to, my name is Rainbow Dash, I don’t know what you mean by ‘team’, I’m not from around here, I don’t know anything about a tournament, I’m not sure about my ‘weapon’, I didn’t see much of it during the fight either, and I was in the forest, trying to find myself when those things attacked me. Now,” I stretch out a little, “What’s so important about me-ahem-killing one of those things. Beowulfs, you called them? You and your friend were killing a lot more just fine.”

“It’s not that you killed one, it’s that you killed an Alpha. Usually, even a fully-trained Huntsman would appreciate backup when engaging one. According to Weiss, you moved like a professional. Where did you get your training?” Blake said matter-of-factly. She reminds me of Twilight, how she always takes everything way too seriously.

“I really don’t know. I woke up this morning in that forest, no idea how I got here, with only these clothes and my guns on me. Speaking of which, where are they?”

Blake motions to a table beside her. Inside a small case, I can see a glimpse of metal. I look between them. Obviously, they aren't going to help me up, so I help myself. I wobble a bit (stupid legs, falling asleep at the worst stupid times), and make my way over. As I approach, I notice my holsters are in the case too. With practiced precision, I whip my jacket off, pull the harness on, and cinch it down, then put my jacket back on. All in all, it takes about five seconds. Again, no idea how I know how to do that, it just came naturally.

I then pick up the guns, spinning them. I’m about to put them in the holsters, when something makes me pause. Under my cutie mark, there are now two words, one on each gun. One says Rain, and the other says Boom. Rain. Boom. Where have I heard that before? Suddenly, a memory rushes up. I (as a Pegasus) was the first pony in a very long time to pull off a Sonic Rainboom. It was the best moment of my life, and the day I got my cutie mark for my blazing speed.

Then, another memory comes, and I fall into darkness.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Rainbow?”

“Heck yeah! Anyways, it was your turn last time.”

“That was different! She knew what was happening, and knew I was the only one who could fix it!”

“Yeah, yeah. Egghead stuff. So, is it almost ready?”

“Rainbow, I’m still not sure about this. We really have no idea what this place will be like! It could have monsters, or the ponies there could all be cannibals, or it could have no oxygen whatsoever!”

“Pff. I’m Rainbow Dash. I can handle monsters and cannibal ponies all day! ... Although, if there’s no oxygen, that could be kinda bad for my health, right?”

“Extremely.”

“So what’s the catch?”

“You are insufferable sometimes, you know that, right?”

“And you’re just an egghead.”

“Alright, it’s opening. Remember, we won’t be able to get you out, or come in, until the conditions are right, so don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Come on, Twi, you know me. I don’t do stupid.”

Blackness.

I come to slowly. I’m back in the bed, and this time there are four people looking at me. I recognize Blake, Ruby, and the white one from the forest. The last one is glaring at me from the end of the bed with deep purple eyes, unruly yellow hair cascading down her back. She’s in some kind of gangster getup, with a large jacket fastened against her chest, skirt, and metal yellow wristbands on her arms. Oh yes, I can tell the two of us are going to get along fabulously.

“Man, I’ve gotta stop blacking out.” With that, all suddenly refocus on me. Ruby looks about to say something, but White beats her to the punch.

“Who are you, and what were you thinking—“

“Picking a fight with a fifteen-foot tall monster and winning, something your friends have said is extremely difficult to do? Yeah, I don’t know. It just … happened.”

That shuts Ms. Queeny-meany up, and Ruby looks to be holding back a smirk. She recomposes herself, shoots White a glare, then turns back to me.

“Well, Rainbow Dash, now that you’re awake and the gang’s all here, I guess we can do some introductions. I’m Ruby Rose, that’s Blake Belladonna, but you already knew that. Ms. Prissy-britches over there is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee fortune. And this,” she puts an arm around Yellow, “Is my big sister Yang Xiao Long. Yang, Weiss, meet Rainbow Dash.”

“’Sup.” Yang replies, but I can tell there’s still something on her mind. Weiss just blows me off completely.

“So, why did you black out this time?” Blake asks. She sounds worried. Heck, I’m worried.

“I don’t know. I remembered something, a friend and I, and something about an experiment. I seems similar to another experiment my friend tried a while ago, but for the life of me, I can’t remember! This sucks!” I hang my head in my hands.

“Come on, Rainbow, it’s not that bad. You’ll get those memories back eventually. Until then, do you want to go get dinner? You weren’t actually hurt in the forest, you’re just in here for an obviously nonexistent concussion.”

I think about it for a moment, but my stomach answers for me. “I’ll take that as a yes. Alright, Team RWBY, Operation Rainbow Dinner is a go!” Ruby dashes out of the room, pulling me with her. I think I’m going to like it here.

As the group leaves the room in search of the dinner hall, two figures look down on them from an observation window.

“Are you sure it’s wise to just let her roam around like this?”

“Only time will tell.”

“And if it turns out she is a spy for the White Fang?”

“Then we have one of the most capable teams in Beacon to subdue her.”

“I still find it unwise you told Ms. Xiao Long about our suspicions. What if she acts on it?”

“Glynda, you know as well as I do that there are only two ways this will resolve itself: either Ms. Xiao Long acts on it, and it is revealed Ms. Dash works for the White Fang. She is captured, and summarily interrogated.”

“And the second?”

“Ms. Xiao Long acts on it, and Ms. Dash is not a spy. She is allowed to continue on with her life. Put more faith in Yang, Glynda. I told her, and not the others, because she is the most protective of the team. Ruby is too inquisitive, she would let something slip prematurely. Ms. Schnee would report anything and everything to us, and make it painfully obvious in doing so, thus revealing our hand. Blake… Blake would slit Ms. Dash’s throat in her sleep if she thought the White Fang had infiltrated the school. I trust Yang to act only when the moment is right.”

“And so we just give her unfettered access to everything?”

“Good heavens no. Sign her up with student-level access, and block anything of strategic importance. She will not attend classes, unless she so chooses. Also, set her up in the empty room next to Team RWBY’s. It will put my heart a bit more at ease if they are nearby should she try anything.”

“Very well. Will that be all, Ozpin?”

“Yes. And, Glynda… thank you for being discreet about this.”

“Like you said, only time will tell if we made the right choice. Good night, Oz.”

“And you as well, Glynda.”

C3 - Duel of Awesome

It’s been one week since I was unceremoniously dropped into the world called Remnant. I’ve got my own room right next to Team RWBY’s, I can go pretty much anywhere I want, do anything I want. Ruby introduced me to a lot of her friends, including Team JNPR (pronounced Juniper, like the tree), or as I like to call them, the Spike, Pinkie Pie, Luna, and Fluttershy of this world, and Sun Wukong. I got a little freaked out when I saw he had a tail, but then Ruby was able to explain the whole ‘Faunus’ thing to me. See, there’s this small group of the population that have some amount of animal in their DNA. This allows for advantages such as more dexterity, in the case of Sun, to better hearing, like another Faunus, Velvet.

I’ve been able to see RWBY practice, and is it awesome! In addition to Ruby’s scythe, Crescent Rose (it’s also a fully customizable, high-impact sniper rifle), and Weiss’ sword Myrtenaster (a rapier, she calls it), Blake has Gambol Shroud, a pistol and short sword that is connected to Blake by a ribbon, which allows her to spin it around her like a ballet dancer (Hey, just because I’m so awesome doesn’t mean I don’t have a softer side.). Yang… Yang seemed almost afraid of letting me see her fight. However, I did get a little peek. Those wristbands I had noticed? They turn into full-blown gauntlets able to fire off rockets and shots with ease, depending on the ammo.

I also got to try out my weapons, much to Ruby’s delight. I found that the ammo is from something called Dust, which is used in everything, from ammo for weapons to power for the city lights. In Weiss’ case, it allows her to power her sword in different ways, from making it as strong as titanium to freezing whatever strikes it. Oh, yeah, those arm braces I wear? Turns out they are used in ammo storage. I’ve got at least a half-dozen different kinds of ammo in them, from regular shots to fire and explosive. When it changes to the halberd, I can fire off the head like I did against the Beowulf. It uses some of the ammo that was already in the guns, and the Dust creates a new head after I fire it. Super awesome.

I couldn’t be more miserable.

Don’t get me wrong, Ruby, Blake, and Jaune are great friends, Nora is just as crazy as Pinkie, and I even got Weiss to open up to me a little. But Yang just remains so distant, like she’s afraid I’m gonna leap out of my chair and eat her if she takes her focus away for one second.

I miss my real friends. Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, I even miss Rarity. I’m getting THAT desperate.

I just can’t seem to always get a straight answer out of my friends here. They’ll answer some questions just fine, like what Dust is and what Faunus are, but when I ask a question like “How many students are currently at Beacon?” and “What are the teachers like?”, Yang uneasily slides the conversation to a different topic.

It’s also frustrating that I can’t get the hang of the whole ‘Internet’ thing. See, they have a worldwide means of communication and information-gathering. If Twi knew about that, she’d lock herself in her room for the rest of her life, trying to get all the info into her eggheaded brain. I can access anything on the history of the world just fine, but when I try and find specifics, like what Vale did during the brief war with the Faunus, it comes up blank. I know the information is there, I’ve seen some other students with it, but for me, nothing. Just blanks, or maybe… is it blocked? Is there stuff they don’t want me seeing?

Well, if I was in their place, with something unknown somehow transported to Equestria, I’d rather they didn’t find out about how Hearth’s Warming Eve is really about the wars between the three pony races, or that Princess Celestia banished her sister to the moon.

The more I tried to find, the shiftier Yang got. One of us was going to break soon, and the aftermath wasn’t going to be pretty.

It happened a week later.

The nine of us (me, RWBY, and JNPR) were at lunch. Nora had somehow roped me into a competition to see how many pancakes we could stuff into our mouths at one time. Thankfully, there was also a wide selection of no-meat foods (Hey, I may be able to process meat now, but there is no way I’m eating something that used to breathe) I could choose from, but pancakes were high in demand.

Everyone was chowing down. Everyone except Yang. She kept leering at me, hard enough I’m sure I would burst into flames, if I was paying attention. I was currently busy trying to beat Nora’s two-pancake lead. Ruby looks between the two of us, sighs, and sets down her fork.

“Yang, what’s wrong?”

That seems to snap her out of the death glare. “Oh, nothing sis.”

Ruby looks worried. “No, it’s not nothing. You haven’t touched your food, and you keep giving Rainbow these weird looks. Any time she’s asked us a question in the last few days, you look like you’re going to jump out of your skin. So, oh sister of mine, let me ask again: what’s wrong?”

The dam bursts. “What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG? SHE’S what’s wrong!” I glance up, having finally fit a sixth pancake into my mouth. She’s pointing at me.

“Whuh?” I swallow some of the pancake. Nora may have won this round, but this is far more important. “What did I do?”

I notice out of the corner of my eye, one of the teachers, Professor Goodwitch if I remember, looking in our direction. Crap.

“EVERYTHING! Haven’t any of you noticed, she’s been here for two weeks and we don’t know anything about her? Ruby, what are her parents like?”

“Uh…”

“Blake! What did she do before we found her in the woods?”

“I… I don’t think she said…”

“Exactly! We don’t know anything. For all we know, she could be a spy!”

Okay, that’s it. No more Ms. Nice girl. “Hey! Stop talking about me as if I wasn’t here!”

“Why? We barely know you! We don’t know where you’re from, you don’t have a team, you just stuck yourself onto ours! And, you have the combat prowess of a third-year, at least. Well, I want answers!”

“I want answers too! I want to know about this world, but you keep stopping me! Every time I try to ask a question, you send it someplace else! Why?”

“Ladies, calm yourselves!” I look up to see Professor Goodwitch looming over the table. Man, for a kinda short lady, she has a heck of a presence. “Now, I believe there is a more civil way to settle this instead of shouting over meals. You could duel it out, and the loser answers any question the winner chooses.”

Yang gets a sinister gleam in her eyes. “Alright. Sound good to you, Rainbow?”

No, this is not alright. I’ve never seen a duel, I don’t know how it goes, but I’ll be damned if I back out of a challenge. “I accept. I Pinkie Promise to answer any question you have if I lose. However, you also have to Pinkie Promise to do the same.”

“Pinkie Promise? What’s that?” Ruby pipes up. Oh, right, no Pinkie Pie in this world.

“Oh, it’s basically an unbreakable promise. Here, I’ll take you through it,” and so I coach Yang, and the rest of RWBY, on the complexities of the Pinkie Promise.

After the motions are complete, Blake speaks. “So, this promise. What happens if someone does manage to break it?”

“Well, the last time someone broke a Pinkie Promise, I’m just glad the town was left standing afterwards.”

They all give each other uneasy glances as I grin. Let that image simmer in their minds.

“Oh Goddesses, what am I doing, Ruby?” I’m in one of the locker rooms just before my duel with Yang, and I’m freaking the buck out.

“You’re about to duel my sister, that’s what you’re doing.”

“But why? I don’t even know what a duel is!”

Weiss speaks up. “In an official duel, both sides use their weapons and Auras to wear down their opponent as best they can. No blood shall be shed; it is supposed to be a clean competition. The duel is over when one competitor cannot remain standing or gives up.”

“Okay, that makes sense, but what about this?” I change my guns to the halberd and motion at the head. "If I attack her with that, I’ll take her bucking head off!”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Ruby says. “The head is powered by the Dust ammo in your weapon. Here, try these.” She tosses a few clips of dull grey ammo into my lap. I open the compartment in the shaft (allows me to reload no matter what form), and replace the normal rounds for the grey ones. Immediately, the head becomes dulled. The spike and blade are still sharp, but nowhere near sharp enough to pierce skin. Could bruise a bone, but not draw blood.

“Wow. What are these?”

“Concussive rounds. Gives your opponent a nasty shock, but 100% nonlethal. A Schnee Company exclusive.” There goes Weiss, becoming all self-important again. I had heard about the Schnee Company a little bit. They make Dust for just about everything, from vehicles to lights to weapons. Especially weapons.

“Don’t worry, the rounds are standard. Both competitors must use them, or they are disqualified from the match.”

“Okay. Any hints on how to take your sister?”

“Sorry, rules. You go in with only the knowledge you had. I will give you one thing though: you’ve made a terrible mistake, going up against Yang.”

“Why?” The feeling of dread gets stronger.

“Yang and Pyrrha are tied for undefeated duelists. They. Never. Lose. They even have an understanding to not face each other, because it would end in tarnishing one’s record.”

I nod, then another thing she said hits me. “What the buck is an Aura?”

They look at me like I’ve got both ears on one side of my head, and my nose where one ear used to be. Eventually, Weiss recovers. “Let me correct that: you’ve made a grave mistake challenging Yang.”

“Can we postpone the match while one of us tries to find someone to teach her?”

Weiss glances outside. “Afraid not. The crowd is in a frenzy out there. Okay, quick version: an Aura is the manifestation of one’s soul.”

“A whoozi-whatzit?”

“Argh! Okay, imagine this: you have your body, and then you have your soul. Following me so far?”

“Yeah.”

“An Aura is what happens when when you will your soul to become an outwards force. For instance, during our initiation, Ren used his Aura to defend himself from a King Taijitu by willing his Aura to become a shield. Do you understand that?”

It takes me a moment, but I get it. “It’s like a force field!”

Weiss smirks. “Yeah, if you want to put it like that.”

Meanwhile, in the gathering crowd, Pyrrha gets an uneasy feeling. Jaune notices the look of concern on her face.

“Hey, Pyrrha, something wrong?”

“No, it’s just, I just got the strangest sense of déjà vu…”

Meanwhile, back in the locker room, I seem to have gotten my runaway mind under control.

“So, how do I use my Aura?”

“That’s just it!” Weiss cries. “It takes months to learn how to use it! Some people have the ability to unlock another’s Aura, but it’s a very rare skill.”

“Can one of you do it?”

“No!”

“So, on a scale of one to ten, how screwed am I?”

Weiss makes a face. “About six feet under.”

Luna buck me in the gloryhole with her ever-loving moon…

I hear fanfare sound outside. Well, time to go meet my Creator.

Ruby and Weiss walk with me to the door. As they turn to go to the stands, they give me some final words of encouragement.

Ruby: “Good luck.”

Weiss: “It was nice knowing you.”

Words to die by.

As I enter the arena, I can almost hear music playing. It’s dark, brooding, and perfectly matches the mood of someone about to die. The arena itself is perfectly circular, about thirty feet across. Large enough to give room, but not too much to give ranged opponents complete control. My opponent already waits on her designated spot. I approach, and stand on mine.

Professor Goodwitch stands on a referee dais near the stands. “Rainbow Dash. I assume Ms. Rose and Ms. Schnee have briefed you on the rules?”

I nod. “Yes ma’am. The goal is to incapacitate your opponent, or wear her down until she can no longer stand. No bloodshed is allowed. Nonlethal rounds only.”

She seems pleased. “Good. It seems we are ready to begin.” Suddenly, her voice booms across the arena. “This is the duel of Yang Xiao Long versus Rainbow Dash. Ms. Xiao Long, are you ready?”

Yang loads her gauntlets and stands at the ready, bouncing. “Ready!”

“Ms. Dash, are you ready?”

I change to the halberd, spin it to the resting position (straight up behind my foot), and nod. “Let’s do this.”

“BEGIN!”

In a flash, Yang is right above me. I yelp, and catapult backwards, just in time. As her fist hits where I was, she creates a small shockwave on the ground. I back up a bit more, and as she stands, I start firing blades. Head after head whizzes towards her, and she dodges every bucking one of them. As she moves closer, still dodging blades, time slows a bit. I see how she is moving. She moves like one of those old-fashioned boxers you see at carnivals, fists up, feet never in one place, shuffling ever closer to her target.

Click.

Oh, horsefeathers. I’m out. As I try and reload, a fist connects with my shoulder. I hear a bang, and I fly backwards into a wall. I somehow stay on my feet. Even more amazing, my shoulder isn’t dead. Hurts like one of AJ’s bucks, but still usable. I use the distance she put between us to switch back to guns and reload. Then I fire every bullet I loaded at Yang.

I hear multiple bangs, and I realize she is knocking every shot I make out of the air with her own. A large cloud of smoke appears between us. I know she’s going to try something. I go halberd, and move to the side. Sure enough, she flies through the smoke, and at where I was a moment ago. She realizes too late, and I use the moment to trip her up with the shaft, sending her directly into the spot she sent me into.

She gets up as I back off towards the center, and do I see a hint of red in her eyes? I don’t even have time to file that thought away before she’s on top of me. I’m using my halberd to block her fists from impacting, and I lose myself to the moment. The crowd falls away, Goodwitch falls away, even the ground fades as my focus becomes only Yang.

However, our defenses aren’t perfect. I take a couple shots to the chest, while I end up giving her legs some nasty welts. Then, she tries to go for my face. I lift to block, and then I realize she was waiting for that. She reaches with an open hand, takes the shaft in hand, and uses it to flip herself over me. Then, just as suddenly, my halberd’s shaft is against my neck, forcing me to my knees. She’s choking me out with my own weapon! As spots appear before my eyes, I hear her speak.

“Do you yield?”

“No.” I gasp back.

“What was that?” the shaft presses tighter.

“I said… Rainbow…Dash…NEVER…QUITS!” A pulse rips through the air, throwing Yang off of me. I use the moment to whip my halberd around and strike at her.

I stand and turn around, trying to catch my breath. Yang is about ten feet away, kneeling. She’s not looking at me. I look between us, and see a strand of golden hair on the ground.

I look up, and Yang’s eyes go blood red.

I’m bucked.

I come to in the infirmary. My first thought was heaven, but heaven probably doesn’t smell like antiseptics and make me feel like I was AJ’s practice dummy for a day. I sit up, or at least try to. My body seems to have turned against me. I groan softly. Suddenly, Ruby and Weiss are hanging over me.

“Hey, take it easy. You survived, but don’t expect to fight Yang and come away without a few nasty bumps.”

“Or in your case, one giant nasty bump all over your body.” This earns Weiss an elbow from Ruby.

I try to talk again. “Did… did I lose?”

Ruby and Weiss exchange a glance. What? I’s obvious I didn’t win. I sure don’t feel like I won.

“You might want to see this,” Ruby places her datapad in front of me. Of course, she recorded the whole thing.

I gingerly take it, and start the playback. I fast forward through the beginning, but resume it when Yang gets me in the choke. It looks like we’re saying something, but from this distance, it’s impossible to make out. Then, a cyan blue wave comes from my body, pushing Yang back and even affecting the spectators.

“You used your Aura,” Ruby squeaks. Holy buck, that’s what it looks like? Man, I must be stronger than I thought to have made a shockwave that big!

I resume the video, and see me and Yang face off.

“What happened? A moment later, everything went crazy.”

I try to remember. “I… I think I got some of her hair on the way down.”

“Oh, that explains it. She’s super protective of her hair. Later, ask her why she literally blew up an Ursa during initiation.”

Sure enough, everything goes to Tartarus. Suddenly, me and Yang are nothing but blurs. I try to slow the video down, but its playing at normal speed. What I do see is shocking. Yang obviously isn’t holding back; she’s attacking me with everything she’s got. Amazingly, I am taking all of it. I’m blocking, parrying, dodging, pulling off moves I never thought possible. About five percent of our shots connect. I see one of us stumble, but turn it into the next move. This continues for a solid minute before we finally break apart. I’m leaning on my halberd, breathing heavily. I’m covered I bruises, and my wrist looks bad. I glance down; sure enough, it’s in a cast. Yang has her hands on her knees, and is favoring one foot. We take another step towards each other, when the unthinkable happens.

We both fall.

Not a bit of hesitation, not a ‘one of us fell, and then the other’ situation, but at the same exact bucking time, we fell to the dirt. The crowd erupts. Goodwitch is calling for medics, and Ruby, Blake, and Weiss are trying to get down to the field. With that, the video ends. I’m speechless.

“Wow… I… uh…”

“You fought me to a standstill.” The curtain to the side pulls back to reveal Yang, her foot in a cast similar to my wrist. She has just as many bruises and welts as I do, at least, what I can see. “We tied. That’s never happened before, not in the history of Beacon.” She tries to laugh, but clutches her chest in pain. “That stick of yours packs a wallop.”

“So do your fists. Man, a tie? Makes me remember when my friend and I raced each other in the Running of the Leaves a year back.”

“What, you tied for first?”

“No. We tried so hard to trip the other up, we ended up tying for last.” I chuckle at that, and fare a bit better than Yang. As my laughing gives way to a fit of coughing, the room goes quiet once more. Then, Blake speaks up.

“So, since you tied, who honors their Promise?”

I look to Yang. “I think we should both do it. I’ll tell you about my past, and you stop laying into me for every little thing. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Okay. Can it wait until we’re out of the infirmary? I’ve already spent enough time here as it is.”

“Double deal.” Yang giggles, and I fall back to sleep.

C5 - Fangs

A week later, and Twilight is getting anxious. According to her numbers (and charts, and graphs, and calculations, and blah blah blah), we should have been able to open a portal back to Equestria by now.

Oh, wait. I know my fans are clamoring like “Wait, what? How can Twi do that? What happened?” Hang on, I’ll get to that.

After the events of the Battle of the Ruin, as my friends and I came to call it, we were whisked away back to the infirmary (ugh.). After some light patching up, Professor Goodwitch stormed in and gave my ears a good thrashing, something about “How could you go into the forest during mating season” and “What in the world were you thinking” and (to Ruby) “Why didn’t you stop her?”. Then, something clicked, and she was back to some semblance of order. She then congratulated me on rescuing three trapped souls in the middle of the wilderness.

I managed to convince her to register my friends as my team, under the name “Team Harmony”. She got all of them datapads, then left. They didn’t know what to do with the things. We got Twilight to Pinkie Promise to only spend one hour a day using it before we told her what it did. Now, whenever she’s not looking back over her numbers she’s gazing longingly at her pad, knowing she already spent enough time on the Internet today, but wanting just five more minutes.

We got introductions out of the way fast, and the story of my time here out even faster. Twi’s explanation, however, was anything but.

“You remember when Celestia sent me to that other world to stop Sunset Shimmer, right? When I got back, that started turning the wheels in my head. What if there are other worlds out there? Ones that aren’t like Equis, where all of us (not counting you guys, Ruby) exist, but are somehow different, like the world Sunset was banished to, where everypony was a human. I set up shop in my basement, and set to work. I was able to create a machine, the D-Hopper Mk. 1 (stands for Dimension Hopper, since I wasn't looking for similar worlds), and worked on the calculations in secret.”

"Why?"

I stepped in. "You didn't want the Princess to find out and shut you down, right? You know the dangers of messing with alternate anythings! Remember when-"

"Yes, I remember when we went to that other world and almost destroyed both it and Equis, or 'Issues #17-20' like Pinkie says. But this was different! No alternates of any of us that could cause a catastrophic collapse! Instead of alternate universes, located on the same plane, I went for alternate dimensions, on completely different planes."

I give her that look that people seem fond of giving me. She sighs, and facepalms. "Look at it like this. You see this graph?" As she draws one on a piece of paper. "I considered our Equis to be at the origin of our plane. I branched out, trying to find a world completely unlike ours. However, somewhere along the way, I realized I was looking on the same plane the entire time. I had to think in terms of a third planar dimension, the distance between planes." She adds another set of lines, and suddenly it’s a three-dimensional graph. She starts adding dots all over.

"With the introduction of this new dimension into the calculations, I could have the D-Hopper ignore the first two sets of information completely, and focus solely on the third. I eventually found a world where I could create a portal to." She makes a large X on a certain point.

"And that's when I found out, and wanted to go through, right?"

"Yes. You really did suffer memory loss? Hmm, I didn't, so it must have been some cosmical interference. You went in, and caused about half the systems to short out. When I rebuilt, I built in an extra number of safeguards. I reopened the portal, but you weren't there. I got scared, told the girls, and we planned to go after you. Now, I realized this other world might not have the technology to locate another dimension on another plane of existence, so I built this.” She pulls a large boxy thing out of her pocket. It’s covered in dials, sensors, and other technomagical stuff. "This is the D-Relay. When I press this big red button, it should connect to the D-Hopper and create a wormhole back.” She looks around sheepishly. "However, it takes a while to charge up, and it has to be in the right place. Seeing as how one place is obviously a hundred feet in the air over a monster infested forest, we should try to find another location."

So, we were stuck. It was a fun week though. We got to sightsee around Vale, meet a lot of people (Fluttershy latched onto Sun immediately, something about him being part animal), and got to see all the people from the other three Kingdoms coming to Vale for the tournament in a couple of weeks. We even got to spar with RWBY and JNPR a little. Fluttershy was afraid of hurting someone, but then we showed her the concussive rounds, and, promising they wouldn’t leave permanent damage, got her to join in. Man, if I thought fighting Yang alone was tough, fighting the whole team, even with my own, was brutal. They had coordination that would rival the Wonderbolts, and they’re a first-year team! Thankfully, it gave the others some time to sharpen their skills. We didn’t know how long we were going to be here, so might as well know how to fight.

I also showed off my new glowy wings to Ruby and the gang. They told me (after picking their jaws up off the ground) that I must have unlocked my Semblance when I fell. They explained to me that, like an Aura, everyone has a Semblance that helps them. Weiss can create glyphs, Ruby can reach extreme speeds, Blake can leave a shadowy clone behind her, and Yang has her rage. I experienced that first-hand when I dueled her; she explained that the more hits she takes, the stronger and faster she gets. No wonder she can’t be beat!

So, that about brings us up to now. Twilight hasn’t found the spot where, her words exactly, “The cosmical forces have converged into a focal point unto which we can teleport back to our point of origin.” I thought maybe a round of shopping downtown with the ‘team’ would help ease her nerves, and give her a chance to try some locations outside of Beacon.

We visit the market, some clothing stores, back alleys (Twi’s idea), and are on our way to a humble little store by the name of From Dust ‘til Dawn, a Dust store Ruby highly recommends, when I hear a voice down a side alley.

“Hey! Hey you, with the colored hair!”

I look. There’s a guy standing there, beckoning us over. I fall for the bait. “Buddy, this hair ain’t colored. It’s all natural.”

He chuckles. Not a warm laugh, but one with a hint of… unease? Malice? I can’t put my finger on it. “Yeah, kinda figured. Aren’t you the one who almost defeated Yang Xiao Long?”

“What of it?”

“So your friends must be the ones who fell into the woods a week back.”

Now I’m getting uneasy. Nobody knew that except us, RWBY, Ozpin, Goodwitch, and the Watcher who first spotted them. The story we went with is that I’m a new student from a small village outside the Kingdom, who was scoping out Beacon, then brought my team in to learn at the school.

“How do you know that, bub?”

“Oh, I think you’ll find we know a lot of things, Ms. Not-from-this-world.” I suddenly realize he’s been leading us farther into the alley, away from the main road. I turn around to get out, but pull up short. Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy are on the ground, unconscious. Three hooded figures stand over them, masks covering their faces. I pull Rain to engage when a cloth slaps itself over my mouth and nose. I start to feel lightheaded. As the darkness takes me, I have time for one last thought. If I ever find this guy again, I’m gonna shove my boot so far up his ass he’ll taste leather.

I come to with a pounding headache. Man, I have gotta stop blacking out. I open my eyes and look around. Hey, why are there chairs on the ceiling? Why is the door so high up on the wall? Why can I see spots and taste the color yellow?

Turns out, I’m hanging upside down by a chain attached to the real ceiling in a room with no windows, no nothing except a chair and a door. All the blood in my body is rushing to my head, which explains the loopiness and the headache. I yell until my throat goes dry, shouting obscenities, lawyers, and the need to go pee.

Seeing as nobody comes through the door, I slowly swing myself up, and try to figure out how to undo the chain around me feet.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

My concentration is broken, and I flop back down. Standing in the doorway, smug grin on his face (The kind that you want to slug off him the first chance you get), is the same guy from the alley. He’s cleaned up a little, with a casual suit and a shirt underneath, with a symbol of a red bear’s head on top of three red jagged claw marks.

My heart hits my throat. White Fang. He notices my gaze fixed on his chest.

“Ah, so you’ve heard of us?” His voice is slimy, like the Flim Flam Brothers. He walks in and sits on the chair. “That’ll make this a bit easier.” He clears his throat.

“Rainbow Dash. Dropped out of nowhere about a month and a half ago. Made friends with Team RWBY after saving them from a Grimm ambush. Incredible combat prowess. You fought Yang Xiao Long to a standstill during a duel, something that has never been done. About a week ago, we received a report of three others blinking into existence in the Emerald Forest. You retrieved them, and you have been living at Beacon since under the designation ‘Team Harmony’.”

I’m starting to get pissed. How does he know all of this? “Listen, bub—”

“Please, call me Oberon. I have a feeling we will become quite good friends.”

“Okay, Oberon. How do you know about me and my friends, why did you capture us, and how soon until you let me down so I can settle a bet with myself?”

He laughs, his voice full of malice. “One, a gentleman never reveals his sources. Three, likely never. Two, I was hoping you could tell me where you four came from.”

“Why?”

“Well, if you and your friends are any indication, you all possess a degree of ability far beyond anyone your age should have. Wherever you are from must train warriors from the moment they’re born. We, the White Fang, just want to know where you are from so we can ah, appropriate this knowledge for ourselves.”

“Not happening buddy.”

“Ah, I’m afraid you misunderstand me,” Oberon stands and walks over to me, a datapad in his hand. “If you do not provide the required information,” he presses some buttons, and a video feed comes up, “I’m afraid I cannot control what my associates are going to do to your pink-haired friend.” He shows me the video, and my heart stops.

On the pad, Fluttershy is tied to a chair in the middle of a dark room, with only a single bare lightbulb hanging overhead. She is blindfolded and gagged, but conscious, given the wriggling she is doing.

“Now, my associates and I realize she is a Faunus, and we would so hate to injure a fellow Child of Nature, but if you do not comply, they will begin pulling her wings off her back, one feather at a time. We have your other friends in similar situations,” he says as he flips to two more video feeds. Twilight and AJ are also bound and gagged. “I think we will start with their fingers. Now, Ms. Dash,” he leans close, with a shit-eating grin, “will you tell us what we want to know?”

I headbutt him in the nose.

As he staggers away, clutching at his broken nose, I begin to speak, my rage boiling. “You capture us, tie us up, and threaten to torture us. You want me to give away my home. You, buddy, have made a grave, grave mistake if you think I’m going to let you take Equestria!” Crap.

“Equestria? Interesting. I don’t think that village is on our maps.”

Oh, well. Might as well go all the way. The dam holding my fury breaks. I laugh. “You won’t find it on any maps of Remnant. Equestria isn’t even on Remnant. My friends and I are the protectors of our world.” I will my wings to start growing. “We are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful magical tools on our planet. I just so happen to be the Element of Loyalty. Do you know what Loyalty is, Oberon? It means never giving up on your friends, no matter what. You will never hurt them, never break them, not even lay a finger on them. You know why?” With that, my wings are fully grown. I flap once, hard. The chain snaps like paper, and I twist around to land on my feet. I turn my stare onto him. He’s backed into a corner, eyes wild.

“What the hell are you?”

As I approach, I grin. “Buddy, I am your worst motherbucking nightmare.”

Team RWBY was flying low over the city, along with ships containing Team JNPR and a few teachers. When Rainbow didn’t come back that night, Ruby got worried. Rainbow could be a little late, but they learned the hard way that Twilight keeps schedule. If there was any deviation, she would have called to note it.

As they flew over the residential section, Ruby’s pad started ringing. She pulled it out, and Rainbow was calling her! She answered as fast as she could.

“Rainbow? Where are you? We were so worried!”

“We’re in some kind of industrial area. I’ll send up a Hail Mary. You might want to bring some backup though; we sorta just took out an entire White Fang base.”

“WHAT?”

“Yeah, they captured us. Get your butt over here. These guys won’t stay unconscious forever.”

“O-okay. The closest ship is JNPR’s. I’ll call them and tell them to watch for it. Rainbow, we were worried sick.”

“Us too, Ruby. Us too.”

After knocking Oberon unconscious (I wasn’t going to leave him there, where he could get away), I quickly found the rooms with my friends. They weren’t expecting an attack from within, so I got the drop on any guards posted around their doors. After freeing them, we found the armory and retrieved our weapons. We had to do a bit more searching, and fighting, to find where they had taken the D-Relay. I explained to the girls on the way out that the White Fang wanted the location of Equestria so they could get warriors just as strong as us. We had a momentary laugh at that. I mean, come on! The closest thing Equestria’s had to a war in the past thousand years was the whole Appaloosian/Buffalo thing, and that was fought with pies.

Once outside, we ran into a whole mess of White Fang. We went to town on them. Afterwards, I called Ruby, then sent up my Hail Mary. A few minutes later, a ship swooped down, and Team JNPR, along with Goodwitch and another professor, exited and took control of the situation. Another few minutes later, and the place was swarming with cops, and Ruby arrived.

What the cops said wasn’t encouraging. Apparently, the White Fang had been rebuilding its forces in Vale. They had a crap ton of weapons, several giant mechs, and more than enough men to use it all. Also, Oberon is a light sleeper, because he somehow slipped out before the cops showed up.

As I relay the story to RWBY, Goodwitch approaches. “I feel that I must congratulate you girls. Not only did you uncover a new White Fang plot, but you singlehandedly made sure it never came to light. It is unfortunate their leader got away, but with your description of him, Ms. Dash, should he ever appear, we will apprehend him. And, in regards to the security breach, our systems are being looked over with a fine-toothed comb, and Watcher Jones is under investigation.”

I feel so relieved. “Good. The sooner we can put that scumbag away, the better.”

Applejack tilts her hat. “So, what now?”

Ruby shoots her hand into the air, waving it excitedly. I call on her.

“How about some rest? It’s been a long day. The tournament starts the day after tomorrow, and we’re in it. Would you guys like to come watch?”

I grin. “Sure. It’s a date.”

We board the ships, and set off for Beacon.

C6 - The Tournament, and What Happened After

The streets are empty. No businesses open, no people roaming the city. If it wasn’t for how clean everything is, one might mistake it for a ghost city.

However, if one were to look up, to the plateau overlooking the city, a grand citadel sits. If the wind is blowing right, and you stay very still, you might hear a sound like distant thunder, though the sky is perfectly clear.

As you approach the plateau, you might see several ships ferrying people to and from the plateau. As you board the thunder rises in volume.

When you arrive at the citadel, you are directed by armed guards in suits of robotic armor to an enormous building, the roar growing with every step. Upon entering, the roar reaches its crescendo. The building is set up like a sports stadium; row upon row of stands, filling fast, surround a large field. In fact, calling it a sports stadium is closer to the truth than you might believe.

Welcome to the Tournament of the Kingdoms.

Here, Teams from all four Academies from all four Kingdoms of Remnant, Vale, Vacuo, Atlas, and Mistral gather to test their strength against each other. They do it to reinforce the bonds of the Kingdoms, and keep the peace between them.

I’m not the center of attention here, and loving every minute of it. Me, Twi, AJ, and Fluttershy are seated in the front row, where we can see every bucking second of the action. We cheer on every match, but double our efforts whenever RWBY, JNPR, or another team from Vale takes the field.

Epic Awesomeness. That is the only words I can use to describe the Tournament. Let’s see, there are four brackets, which house the different years of students. That way, a first-year team doesn’t go up against a fourth-year, and be slaughtered. It is official dueling rules, no maiming, no dismemberment, no permanent disfiguration, concussive/nonlethal rounds only. Single elimination. One week of pure, unadulterated awesome.

“Oh my Goddesses, did you see that last guy’s moves?” I’m leaning back in my seat, basking in the afterglow of the spectator adrenaline rush. “He moved so fast! And his weapon! I didn’t ever think I’d see a guy turn a nail gun into such a beast!”

Surprisingly Fluttershy chimes in. “I know! Such power… I’d like to face him, see how I would compare, that is, if he doesn’t mind.” Twilight and Applejack share a semi-worried look between them.

“I’m thinkin’ we’ve been here a tad too long, Twi.”

“Me too, AJ. But, I’m having no luck with the Relay. There’s been times when I think we’re getting close but then it just goes away.”

It’s the last day of the Tournament. Eight teams remain; no wonder there, RWBY still stands. JNPR got knocked out on Day Three. Jaune slipped up bad, Ren ran out of steam, and Pyrrha and Nora couldn’t make up the difference against the team from Mistral. RWBY had a few troubles too; a team from Vacuo almost got the better of them, and Team CRDL (Cardinal, all the members are named like birds, go figure) from Beacon went after our friends with a vengeance. If it wasn’t for Yang and her Rage, they might have bested them.

“So, who’re Ruby and Team up against?”

Twilight frowns in concentration. “A team from Atlas. Supposedly, their Headmaster, Ironwood, hand-picked this team when they came to his school. He favors prowess and cunning above all else; obviously, that will translate into this team.”

Whatever else she says is cut off as the announcer steps up to his podium. “Welcome one and all, to the final day of the Tournament of the Kingdoms! Are you all ready to see some action?”

The crowd roars. This’ll be a fight for the century!

“Yang slides up to the punch, but her opponent blocks! He readies his weapon, and…Oh! Blindsided by Ruby! Full-impact round in the chest! He’s down, folks! KO! Team RWBY has won!”

The crowd erupts, us cheering twice as hard. Twi wasn’t kidding. Right out of the gates, they had RWBY on the ropes. It wasn’t until Yang got in a position to handle two at once that Ruby and Weiss were able to take one down. Blake went down, but Yang made up for it by punching out one of her opponents. Then Weiss hit the dirt. Ruby was able to hold one off, while Yang fought the other guy into submission, then went to support Ruby. It’s absolutely fair to gang up, but you have to do it carefully, or you risk hurting your fellow teammate.

Wow. I’m almost unconscious from the sheer awesome, and that was only the first match of four for the day! You know, them being first-years, they got the first match, then the seconds, thirds, and finishing up the tournament with the epic battle of the fourth-years.

There was one more day dedicated to the awards ceremony. Not only were there awards for the four teams on top, there’s also awards for stuff like ‘Most Decisive Victory’, ‘Most Improved from Years Previous’ (for second- through fourth- years only), and a whole bunch of others.

All that was left to do was wait.

The awards ceremony is just as grand as the competition itself. Entertainment, speeches from the four Headmasters, and the presenting of awards. However, there is one part in particular I’m waiting for. A certain final showing of arms.

As the last of the awards are handed out, the announcer steps up to the podium one last time. “Now that the awards are out of the way, are there any out there who thinks they can take on the champions of this year’s Tournament? This isn’t for the glory, but the prestige and skill.”

I look at the others, and nod. We had discussed this the previous night with Goodwitch, and she assured us it is legal. We stand. “We, Team Harmony of Beacon, hereby challenge Team RWBY to a show of skill on the battlefield.”

The whole crowd gasps. Even Ruby looks shocked, but that quickly gives way to a look of grim determination. She steps up before the rest can recover. “We accept.”

Five minutes later, the field is cleared. Only eight stand: us and Team RWBY, weapons at the ready. We’re loaded down with various nonlethal rounds, from the basic concussive to stranger stuff like sludge rockets for Fluttershy. I glance at my team. “Remember girls, the deal is to knock out or render unconscious. No actually hurting them, Fluttershy.”

She hefts her morning star, the spikes reduced to half-inch high nubs. “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. I know the rules.”

The announcer speaks. “Team RWBY, are you ready?” A shout answers him. He nods.

“Team Harmony, are you ready?” We respond with our own roar.

“BEGIN!”

In an instant, I’m flying up and unloading specialty flashbang rounds at RWBY. Like the name suggests, they go flash, then bang, disorienting your opponents. Fluttershy’s darted back, almost to the wall, and is firing anything and everything at them. Yang becomes preoccupied with shooting down her shots. Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss try to get the upper hand on Twi and AJ, but they are holding them back, barely.

Then, I hear a shot, and suddenly, Ruby is flying at me, cape streaming in the wind. I block Crescent Rose with my arm guards, and drop like a rock to the ground. I hear another shot, and I glance up. Ruby has used Crescent Rose as a platform, and used her gun to give her more speed. She collides with me, dragging us both down to the ground at a fairly unsafe speed.

In an instant, a slab of earth worms its way between us, and forces Ruby off of me. Thank you, Twi. I use it as a launching pad, and redirect my attention at Blake. Twi starts forming the stone into walls she launches at a still-airborne Ruby, thankful I took a bit of pressure off her. As I bring Rainboom down on Blake, I spare a glance at the others. AJ is dueling Yang, but losing ground. The heavy axe can’t keep up with her lightning-fast punches. Fluttershy is trying to assist, but is held back by a line of Weiss’ glyphs. Every time she tries to move through them, they bounce her back like a rubber ball. Weiss is charging some kind of glyph. I can’t let her finish.

I slam down on Blake, and she dissipates. Crap, a Shadow! I have just enough time to go guns and fire a spray at Weiss, breaking her concentration, before something slams into my back, forcing me to the ground. I turn the blow into a somersault, and come up facing Yang. Her eyes are red, and she has that smirk on her face. I charge.

We trade blows, her trying to land a hit, me blocking with my braces and firing at her point-blank when I get a chance. This goes on for about ten seconds when I sense something behind me. I block, spin, and give Blake a face full of sludge-shot. From somewhere, Twi hardens the sludge. Then, still fighting off Yang, I jump, and kick the sludge covering Blake’s face. It shatters, and the force of my kick sends her against the far wall.

I hear AJ shout, and a quick glance confirms. She got caught in the middle off one of Weiss’ glyph traps, and Weiss beat her into submission, the axe lying some distance away, edge-first in the dirt.

I block the next hit, but come up blocking air. I see Yang a few yards away, trying to get to Twi, her hair smoldering, Twi forming earthen spears to fling at the approaching brawler. Weiss is after Flutters again, but her rockets are giving her a run for her money. So where’s—

Pain explodes across my chest, and I fall to my back. One of my ribs must be cracked; I can barely breathe. I look, and Ruby is halfway across the field, barrel smoking. Suddenly, the entire back wall is covered in dust, and Ruby is on the other side of the field fighting Fluttershy. I hear the “Eep!” as she changes to the morning star, and takes all focus off of Weiss. She starts charging another glyph, and my only thought is, have to stop her. I aim at her sword, and suddenly, it is covered in sludge from tip to her hand. I smile, knowing I bought them a little time, and let the darkness take me.

I come to still laying in the dirt. A hand is above me, and I take it. As I pull myself up, chest still in pain, I see none of my friends fared much better. Weiss’ hand is still stuck to her sword, Blake is stumbling a little, leaning on AJ for support, who’s looking much the same. Ruby has traces of earth from Twi’s magic all over her. Yang still looks the same as she always does, but I can see she doesn’t have the bounce in her step, and she’s breathing heavily. Twi…

Twilight’s looking at the D-Relay with a mixture of surprise, shock, and realization. As she rushes over, I have to ask the question.

“So, how did we do?”

Ruby is beaming. “Amazing! You guys still lost, but it was close. After I hit you, and you took Weiss out by making her unable to wield, Fluttershy and Twilight put up a valiant effort, but nobody can stop the sisters!” And then she high-fives Yang.

“Guys! Look at this!” Twilight’s finally close enough for us to hear. The D-Relay is going crazy.

“What does tha’ mean, Sugarcube?”

“This spot is the epicenter of a mass multi-dimensional anomaly!”

I stare. “Huh?”

Twilight groans. “This is exactly the spot we’ve been looking for! I can open a portal and get us home!” We all perk up at that.

However, Ruby looks disappointed. “You’re finally going home? We won’t see you after this?”

I embrace her. “I think so, Ruby. These past few weeks have been some of the most fun in my life! But, as soon as we get home, Twilight’s going to send a letter to Princess Celestia, and dismantle the D-Hopper.” I hear Twi start to protest. “No, Twi. We got lucky this time. You found a non-hostile world, and we still almost gave up the secret to finding Equis. We’re the protectors, Twilight. Sometimes, that means giving up what we want for the good of our world.”

She’s not happy, but complies, then powers up the Relay. A shimmering portal appears in front of us. I vaguely notice the crowd is on its feet, watching in wonder.

Fluttershy and AJ are the first through the portal, with Twilight not far behind. Before I can step through, however, Yang stops me. She pulls me into a bone-crushing hug, then lays something around my neck. I look, and it’s the award for winning the Tournament.

“Yang, I-I can’t accept this.”

“Sure you can. Just think of it as a reminder of all you did here.”

I nod, and, tears streaming from my eyes, I step into the portal. Equestria, here we come.

A light flickers on in a small room.

Out of the shadows steps a figure. He is clean-shaven with a casual business suit on. He carries a folder, which he hands to the other figure in the room.

“I take it you had a chance to look at our friend’s device?”

“Yes, sir. However, we weren’t able to run many tests before the attack.”

“This folder contains all we were able to get out of our friends before their escape, including a couple rough blueprints on the device. Do you think you could find a way to reverse-engineer it?”

“It’ll take time, sir, but my boys are the best. We’ll have some projections for you by the end of the week.”

“Good.” Oberon chuckles. “Rainbow Dash, you may have been able to best me, but mark my words, I am a man who always gets what he wants.” He turns and leaves the room.

“And what I want… is Equestria.”

C1 - A Fateful Encounter

Oww, my head. What did Pinkie do to me last night?

I felt hard ground under my back.

Okay, not in my comfy cloud bed sleeping off a hangover. Wonderful. Okay, body part check time. Head? Hurts, so check. Lungs, heart? I’m breathing, and obviously not dead. Check. Feet, toes? They’re wiggling, so ch—wait, feet? TOES?

My eyes snap open. It’s bright, so I have to squint. I sit up, using my hands to shield my eyes from the light… wait, what? Hands?

I force my eyes open this time. Sure enough, I seem to have been turned into a Lyra drawing. I seem to know what every part of this body is, even though I barely remember any of Lyra’s stuff. Hey, I’m not an egghead like Twi.

Speaking of Twi, didn’t she go on some grand adventure in another world, one where she said she looked like I do now? Something with a high school, one of Princess Celestia’s old students, and a kick-ass fight. I mostly remembered the kick-ass fight.

I take a look around, still sitting on my butt. No school nearby, no people, no anything. Nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. I’m definitely not wherever Twilight went. Bo-ring.

Or was it? Since I’m not where Twilight went, I’m the first pony to ever be here. This could be majorly awesome!

Well, actually, I’m not a pony anymore, am I? I’m a… I don’t know. I have two hands, arms, legs that go into a pair of knee-high boots. My hair is as it’s always been, short, unkempt, tri-color goodness. The boots are thick, with large soles. It looks like I can kick major butt with them. I’ve got a jacket with a shirt underneath, and pants. I’ve never been one for frilly-frou-frou stuff like Rarity, but this outfit of mine just screams “AWESOME!”

Huh, what else? I’ve got some kind of arm braces on; they’re hard, but still flexible. I search my jacket, and find a harness of some kind under it. It goes right up against my arms, tight so it won’t move around when I walk. I don’t have wings any more, which is a bummer, but it doesn’t seem like this body is built for it anyways.

Speaking of walking, it’s about time I try to. I push myself up unsteadily, wobbling a bit as I stand to full height. But, it seems my body already knows how to do all that stuff; it’s as simple as thinking of putting one hoof in front of the other.

I start walking around the clearing, taking in the atmosphere. Totally riveting. Then I notice a pair of objects on the ground. They are almost identical, wood parts, some metal bits at the end. I pick them up, and notice my cutie mark embedded in the wood of both. Wait, not wood; it’s actually more metal. I spin them around experimentally, instinctively, and shove them into two special slots in the harness. Whoa. How did I know how to do that? These things are obviously mine, but I’ve never seen them before in my life!

Oh well. I won’t get answers just standing in this clearing all day. I pick a direction and start walking. I only get a few feet into the trees when I hear a rustling from the other side of the clearing.

“Um, h-hello?” My voice comes out weak, like Fluttershy on a good day. I put on my game face, and try again.

“Hey! Get out here and show your face! I need some answers!” A low rumbling answers me, and a pair… no, several pairs of glowing red eyes peer out at me from the brush.

Oh, buck me with the moon…

“Isn’t this just such a wonderful day?” Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY and ever-present optimist, skipped along through the trees, the rest of her team in tow.

“Ruby, will you stop? We’re on a serious mission here!” That would be Weiss, daughter of some bigwig and always the pessimist. Ruby slides to a stop.

“Oh yeah, the mission…” she turns back, a sheepish look on her face. “What was the mission again?”

As Weiss goes to begin bashing her head against the nearest tree, muttering something about such a kid and why is she the leader again, Blake steps forward, no-nonsense as always.

“Some local townsfolk have reported increasing numbers of Grimm in the area. Professor Ozpin sent us here to find the Grimm, and convince them to be someplace else.”

“Yeah, because that’s a load of fun,” Yang mutters. As the team’s heavy hitter and Ruby’s big half-sister, she had a pressing need to always be in the action.

“Oh, lighten up, sis. You heard Ozpin. We needed a break after the stuff with the White Fang, so for our first ever solo mission,” Ruby begins salivating a little, “We get dealt a nice simple Grimm cleanup. We’ve already found their tracks; it shouldn’t be much longer before we find the den and can get to work.”

Yang sighs. “Okay. I just hope that—“

“HELP! OH MY BUCKING GODDESSES SOMEBODY BUCKING HELP MEEEE!” The scream echoes through the forest, feminine in nature.

Blake gasps. “There isn’t supposed to be anyone in this area!”

Ruby turns to the group, a mix of giddiness and determination in her eyes. “Alright. Blake, Yang, keep following these tracks. They’ll lead us to the nest. Keep your guard up; that scream will likely attract more Grimm. Weiss, you and I are going to save that girl.”

Oh buck, oh buck, oh buck, I swear I’ll never prank anypony ever again just get me out of this bucking nightmare!

I tear through the trees, the Hounds of Tartarus hot on my trail. I’ve found, quite on accident, that this new body of mine is incredibly athletic. Like, more than me as a pony athletic. I’ve been able to keep ahead of these abominations for at least the past five minutes at a dead sprint.

I burst through the trees into another Luna-damned clearing… and trip on a rock. I go sprawling, landing flat on my back. It’s a good thing I don’t have any wings, or I would’ve broken one for sure. As I sit up, I turn, and get my first good look at whatever’s been chasing me.

It’s large and black, with a row of viciously sharp teeth. How do I know about the teeth? Well, it’s snarling at me, like that Ursa Minor did just before Twilight put it to sleep. It’s got either a skull or—gulp—part of it’s skull sticking out of it’s head, with more bones sticking out of the arms, legs and back, sharp as razors. All in all, really bucking scary. What makes it worse, is that he brought some friends. As they stalk out of the bushes, my mind makes a connection between them and Timberwolves back in Equestria. If Timberwolves were ten foot tall death machines ready to tear me to shreds, then yeah, just the same.

As the leader approaches, claws and fangs ready to end my currently pitiful existence, I hear a sound, like a small cannon going off. A moment later, the thing’s head explodes. No, literally explodes. Goopy bits fly everywhere, some even landing on me.

I whip my head around, trying to find the source of my salvation, when two figures leap out of the trees and land between me and the creatures. One could mistake them for sisters at first glance; one in a red skirt, the other in white. However, a second look shows me they are anything but. The red one is small, with black hair and is looking back at me with concern, and with big silvery eyes. She has a short cape and hood on her outfit, also red. The white one is taller, with perfect poise and a long white ponytail running down most of her back. She keeps her attention on the creatures.

Although, what they look like is no match for what they are carrying. The white one has what looks like a small sword in her grip, narrowing down to a deadly point at one end, with a spinning barrel of colored notches on the other. I am sure there is more to that than meets the eye. Then I look over at the red one, and my jaw drops. She has a giant, red, honest-to-bucking-goodness scythe planted tip first in the ground, pointed at the demons. Both carry these weapons with such skill and grace, it seems like they had spent their whole lives using them. It takes me a moment to realize the red one is talking to me.

“—at are you doing here? Run! We’ll deal with these monsters!”

“Wh-what?” I stammer out.

“Just run! Get out of here!” Lady, you don’t need to tell me twice. I’m off the ground in an instant, booking it for the other side of the clearing where they came from. Just in time, too. I hear a howl (Huh. Closer to Timberwolves than I thought.), and the pack attacks. I stop at the edge and look back, hoping that they weren’t skewered by the monsters. Again, my jaw drops. Instead of just one, there are now six bodies lying limply on the ground, which seems to have only made the others mad. They charge at the two.

I cringe, waiting for their deaths, but am met with an amazing sight. The two are flying through the air, cutting the wolves down left and right. White seems to be skating on nothing as she lops their heads off. Red is moving so fast, she is almost a blur, cape flowing in the wind.

However, for every one they cut down, another two take their place. They are becoming quickly overwhelmed. I have to do something. I can’t very well be the Element of Loyalty if I don’t help those who saved my life! I focus on the word Loyalty, and something clicks. My mind clears, my body working on overdrive of its own accord. I calmly walk towards the fray.

I pull my two tools out of the harness, spin them, and level them at the closest creature. Guns, my mind fills in the blanks. Rain. Boom. My fingers instinctually find certain notches, covered by thin loops of metal. Triggers. I pull the notches. I feel, rather than see, two bursts of energy leap from the guns and into the beast. Death. The beast howls, then slumps to the ground.

The other beasts take notice. A few disengage from Red and White and converge on me. I take them down with as much ease as I did the first. A smile tugs at my lips. Then, an even deeper roar sounds behind me. I roll, and come up with both barrels pointing at the largest of the creatures. At least fifteen feet tall, with row upon row of spines jutting out of the arms. Change. I throw one of my guns into the air, spinning as I narrowly avoid a blow from its claws. As my gun comes back down, I lift up the other, and they click together at the handles. Then, the most amazingly awesome thing ever happens.

I feel them grow longer in my grip. Handles become a shaft, seven feet long and dully gleaming. I spin it above my head and come to rest with one end pointed at the beast. At this end is a spike, much like the spears Celestia’s guard uses, but very, very different. Instead of just a spike, a sharp curved blade is also affixed to the end of the staff, just below the spike, making the end into one long piece of metal. Halberd. I spin it again, and it just feels right. It comes to rest against my back leg, spike pointed straight at the sky. I beckon to the alpha beast.

“You want some of this, big boy? Come get it.” It howls in response, and I pause, concerned. Am I really trying to kill a sentient creature? Then it charges at me, and every thought is pushed from my head. I use the position of the halberd to flip myself backwards, knocking its chin on the way down. I come up, again with the pointy end facing the alpha. Parry. I knock its claw away. This continues for about ten seconds, though for me, it feels like a lifetime. Dodge, duck, parry, duck, hit, annoy. I am waiting for the opening. Suddenly, there it is. He lunges at me, both arms open wide, cutting off any means of escape. Strike. Instead of trying to run, I step into the embrace. As I step, the spike comes up. I skewer the brain of the alpha, and as I do, my hand locates a small button on the shaft. Fire. I press the button, and to my surprise, the end, spike, blade, and all shoots out of the shaft, landing embedded in the thing’s head some few feet behind me.

As I come up for air, I glance around and find Red and White dispatched the rest of the creatures while I was fighting the alpha. Return. My hands find two smaller buttons on the shaft, and it breaks apart and spins down to become my guns once again. As I fit them back into the harness (Holster.), I turn to face the two. White is looking severely pissed off, while Red is watching me like I just pulled off the coolest stunt ever. I raise a hand to greet them.

“See girls? I’m just that awe—“

Suddenly, all the adrenaline leaves my body, and I slump into darkness.

C4 - In Which Rainbow Dash Jumps off a Cliff

A few days later, we were released from the infirmary. Yang still walked with a slight limp, but was unnoticeable unless you actually paid attention. My wrist was still in a brace, but as long as I didn’t do anything drastic it would be off in a couple days.

Ruby told me all about the rumors going through the school, and I noticed a lot of the students looking at me with awe, or maybe anger. Supposedly, depending on who you ask, I either cheated, or somehow poisoned Yang so she wouldn’t win. People just don’t seem to grasp the concept that I’m just that awesome, I don’t need to cheat. There was also the debate as to if Yang’s title of ‘co-undefeated duelist’ was still valid, since it was a tie. I’d just as soon let her keep the title; I know what it’s like to be on top, then take a harsh fall.

We’re sitting at the edge of one of the helipads (They have flying machines too! Who knew?), overlooking Vale. I know that if there ever was a time for ‘the talk’, it was now. I clear my throat.

“Before you guys start hammering me with questions, I gotta know: Why were you so distant from me, Yang? You never even tried to get to know me.”

Yang balls her fists, then unclenches with a sigh. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but you earned my respect on the dueling field. Professor Ozpin had… suspicions you were a spy for the White Fang.”

Ah. Suddenly, some pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Ruby told me about their interactions with the terrorist group, how they had been stealing Dust, and then used the Dust to draw a massive amount of Grimm into the city.

“Really? That’s it?”

“Well, yeah. There were too many unknowns with you, you know? You were found in a sealed-off area of Forever Fall, one where only we were, you obviously have training, and you saved Ruby and Weiss from Grimm you might have led to them in the first place. Ozpin had his suspicions about you, and told me. Something about, ‘I would know what to do’. But come on, it’s not that bad. At least he didn’t think you were an alien from space or something.” They all laugh at that. I try to get caught up in the mirth, but fall flat.

“Heh, yeah… see, about that…” they all turn to me. “I’m going to need you guys to trust me on this, okay? I Pinkie Promise you what I am about to say is one hundred percent true. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” They look worried. By invoking the Pinkie Promise, I now can’t lie to them. Here goes nothing.

“My name is Rainbow Dash, and I am not a human. I’m really a Pegasus from a country called Equestria…”

I talk for hours. Once I started, I just couldn’t stop until I got everything out. I was afraid they’d think I was crazy, throw me in the loony bin if they knew about my true past. By the looks they’re giving me as I tell them about my pony friends, I decide, to Tartarus with all that. Real friends wouldn’t care if I was some evil tentacled creature from the Plane of Misery (Which, Twi assures me, is a real thing), they’d accept me for who I was. As I end, talking about how we saved the Crystal Empire from Sombra I look up, fully expecting betrayal, hate, anger…

Instead, I get a hug. I can’t speak, can’t even move.

“Why? You’re supposed to hate me! I kept all this from you, and all I want is to go home! I took advantage of your kindness!”

“Rainbow…” Ruby breaks from the hug to look me in the eye. “Why would we hate you? You never meant to hurt us, right?”

“Never!”

“And you didn’t try to become friends with us to attack us, or anyone else we love, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Then why would we hate you?”

That does it. I collapse into her arms. Hey, I didn’t cry. Rainbow Dash is too cool to cry. I might have sweated from my eyes a little, but I didn’t cry.

Afterwards, I finally bring myself up. The others are closer now, comforting.

“So, you really saved your world three times?”

“Well, me and my friends.”

“Using some ancient artifacts with way more power than anything else your world has. Wow.”

Blake finally speaks. “So, you said you want to go home? Why haven’t you yet?”

“I don’t know how. I was telling you the truth before. I woke up in a clearing in Forever Fall, no knowledge of how. Remember when I told you about that memory I had in the infirmary, the one with Twilight and me, and her experiment? That’s the only thing I remember about it.”

This goes on for a while, them asking for clarification on some part of my story, and me answering as best as I could.

Eventually, though, the good times ended with a gust. Specifically, a gust from one of the flying machines. We scamper off the pad, and as it touches down, a flustered young guy jumps out and streaks for the main building. We manage to get his attention.

“Hey…gotta… Ozpin… forest… people…”

“Calm down. Take a breath,” Blake puts a hand on his shoulder, and the effect is immediate. He stops mumbling nonsense, stands straight, and regains control. “Now, what happened? There aren’t any scheduled landings today.”

“Uh, yeah. Watcher Jones. I patrol the outskirts of Vale, making sure no Grimm try to find their way to the city. I was flying over the Emerald Forest, and my sensors picked up some energy fluctuations. I took my bird over, just in time to see three people literally blink into existence in front of me and fall into the forest. I’ve gotta take this footage to Professor Ozpin; he’ll send a team to retrieve them.”

I step forward. “Can I see the footage, Johannes?”

“My name is Jones, but sure. Hey, aren’t you the one who almost took down Yang Xiao…Long…” he finally notices the others. As he starts sputtering gibberish again, I look at the datapad. It has the video, as well as a readout of his sensors. Those I ignore.

The video shows a sprawling forest. Then, the sensors go crazy. The video turns around, and sure enough, three figures are suddenly falling through the air. It’s hard to tell from the distance, but one has short hair, another long blonde, and a third has very long soft pink hair flying behind her as they fall. My throat catches. I know that hair. Fluttershy! I give the pad back, and look him straight in the eye. “Where did they fall?”

“I have the coordinates, but I think the closest landmark is the ruins.”

“Where our initiation took place? Good times, good times,” Ruby says.

I heard nothing beyond ‘ruins’. My focus is dead-set on finding my friends. “Ruby, you and the team get this guy to Ozpin. I’ve gotta get to the forest.”

The others look at me like I’m made of chowder. I’m getting used to that look, but it still grates me the wrong way. “What?”

“Uh, Rainbow… It’s Grimm mating season. Nobody is allowed outside the city unless they have Huntsmen with them. Even then, it’s really dangerous; the Grimm are extremely territorial right now. The mission we found you on? That was one of the last approved by Ozpin until the season is over.”

Do you think that’ll stop me? My friends just dropped out of nowhere looking for me! Now you tell me they’re in one of the most dangerous places ever?” I walk towards the edge of the helipad.

Ruby tries to stop me, but stops short, registering the word ‘friends’. “Rainbow, just… don’t do anything stupid.”

I glance back, and give her my ‘baby, I’m awesome’ grin. “Ruby, I’m Rainbow Dash. I don’t do stupid.” I then make the absolutely stupid decision of jumping off the platform.

The others see me go, slack jawed. “Uhh, your friend knows she can’t fly, right?”

“Shut up, Johannes.”

I realize about a hundred feet down how stupid a choice I made.

Okay, I’ll just spread my wings and… wait, I don’t have wings. I’m a human! Oh buck oh crap oh shit oh Goddesses oh damn oh stupid oh HELP!

I’m now about two hundred feet from becoming a rainbow-colored splotch on the street below, and falling fast. Think. Why would I jump off a ledge? My brain wasn’t working, that’s for sure.

One fifty.

Maybe if I try my Aura thing again, I can at least become a recognizable splotch.

One hundred.

Okay, focus. What did it the first time? Panic situation? Check. Threat of death? Check.

Fifty.

Wait, not death, threat of losing. I have everything to lose here, so focus.

Twenty five.

Suddenly, the wind shifts from blowing my face upwards to nothing. I chance opening my eyes, and find, miraculously, I’m not dead! I’m floating about twenty feet above the street. No splat on the ground, so how…?

I look to the sides, and I see wings. Two big, beautiful cyan wings sticking straight out of my back! I think about going higher, and the wings flap in response. I grin. Let’s see what these bad boys can do. I point myself in the direction of the Emerald Forest, and zoom off.

It takes about fifteen minutes to get to the edge of the forest. I could have gotten here sooner, but I was pulling off moves I haven’t used since my days in Flight School. I land, and they fold behind my back and disappear. I get worried, and think about them again. They reappear. Good, seems I can call them when I want.

Now, if memory serves, I’m on the ledge that Ruby and them started their initiation by literally being dumped into the forest below. They said the ruins were straight north from here. Seeing as I don’t want to attract too much attention from the nasty beasties, I leap down the cliff, and take off running.

A few minutes later, I am really regretting that decision. Up in the air, I could probably take down everything except the giant Nevermores with ease. Down here, I have to deal with Ursa, Beowulf packs, Boarbatusks, and Taijitu, all extremely aggressive, and all extremely pissed off a human is interrupting their mating season. I don’t stop moving, even as I am putting bullets into everything that looks at me funny.

Eventually, I reach a small clearing. Not the one my friends are in, but one with dozens of Beowulfs. They get up, and start stalking towards me.

Oh buck this. I summon my wings, and take to the air. Some of the Beowulfs try to knock me down, but I shove them away with the halberd.

With wings beating furiously, I book it in the direction of the ruins.

Turns out, they landed around the ruins. A lone Beowulf is sniffing around their bodies, so I put a bullet through it’s skull from twenty feet up. Poor sucker never saw me coming. I land, and inspect my friends.

All of them are in human form, obviously, but don’t seem to be hurt at all. There’s Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Let’s see, Twilight has a short cape with a star field pattern, and the quintessential schoolgirl outfit. She has a pair of boxy glasses that frame her cute face and make her look more mature. Near her feet is a stick, about the length of my forearm, crowned with a star like her cutie mark.

Applejack looks like a cowgirl. She kept the hat somehow, with a plaid shirt and knee-length cutoff jeans. I can see a hint of something like chainmail underneath (Hey, I was in the hospital a few days. I did a little research into weapons and armor. Ruby provided most of the books.). Her weapon looks like a shotgun meant to fire rounds at a constant speed, without need for reloading. A combat shotgun, I remember. Her belt probably contains all the ammo she’ll need.

Fluttershy has a yellow hoodie, meant to probably hide her face. She has a combat skirt under it, and wings coming out of her back…what?

Sure enough, she has a small pair of wings sticking out of her back. Not part of the hoodie, but literally a part of her. Definitely not large enough to achieve flight (she always did hate flying), but she could use them for some extra speed. In this world, she’s a Faunus. Her weapon… I gasp. She has a morning star, three and a half feet of handle, capped by a ball the size of my shoulder covered in spikes. Extremely deadly against anything without armor, anything with light armor, and enough force to dent platemail. I shudder to think what the other form of either of their weapons are.

Turns out, I don’t have to wait long. Twilight is the first to stir and, as she gains consciousness, goes through the exact same motions I did. She feels the ground under her, sits up, shields her eyes, looks closely at her hands, then at the rest of herself. Simultaneously, I hear rustling in the bushes around the clearing. We’re about to have company, fast. I pull one gun in preparation.

“Twilight, you need to get up now.”

She whips her head around to me. “R-Rainbow Dash? Is it really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Help me get the others into the ruins.”

She slowly stands. “Rainbow, where have you been? We’ve been worried sick! You weren’t there when we opened the portal last week, and I didn’t like the thought of going into a strange land alone so I—“

As she talks (Oh goddesses, how I’ve missed her voice!) I notice a Beowulf come out of the bushes behind her. Looks related to the one who was sniffing them earlier. As it rises to charge, I take command.

“TWILIGHT! GET DOWN!” She drops like a bullet, covering her head as I put one in the Beowulf’s. She looks at the beast, then back at me worriedly.

“R-R-Rainbow? Did you really just… kill that?”

The rustling intensifies. “Yeah, and there’s more on the way. Grab that,” I motion to the stick, “it’s important to you somehow.”

As she gingerly reaches for it, the others wake up. Exact same deal, except Fluttershy doesn’t even try to get up until I reach for her. I get them to pick up their weapons and move into the ruins. I take up a lookout position, watching for more Grimm. “Okay, we have about thirty seconds before we’re attacked. We’re surrounded, but help is on the way. If you have a question, now is the time to ask.”

Twi goes first. “Where are we?”

“In some ruins in the middle of a forest smack dab in the center of mating season for the local beasts. They’re pissed, and out for our blood. Next.”

Fluttershy goes next. “Wh-what are those things?” I look where she’s pointing, and crap. The Beowulf are advancing towards the ruins. I put a couple shots their way, and they back off a bit.

“Those are Grimm. I know what you’re thinking, Flutters. These creatures have no soul; they want nothing more than to tear us limb from limb. We’re gonna have to fight them. Show no mercy.”

Applejack works up the courage to ask, “what have ya’ll been doin’ here these past few weeks?”

I smile. “I found some people, made some friends. Those friends are on their way here, but we have to hold the Grimm off until then. Can you do that?”

“Sugarcube, I don’t even know wha’ tha heck this thing even is!” She points her shotgun at me. I quickly bat it away.

“Don’t point that end at any of us. Do this: we’re about to be attacked. Focus on your Element. I don’t know how, but it helped me control my weapons when I needed to.”

AJ closes her eyes and concentrates. When she open them, there is a steely glint in her eyes. She spins her gun by the trigger guard with one finger, then grabs the stock with her other hand and pumps the barrel. “Let’s do this.” Suddenly, her eyes go wide, she adjusts the gun, and fires. I look behind me, and a Beowulf stands there, a new hole in its belly. I look back, and Applejack looks like she’s going to be sick.

“Hey!” I get her attention. “It’s us or them. Here they come!” Sure enough, the other Beowulf took notice and are now charging the ruins. Me and AJ fire again and again, taking the beasts down, but more keep coming, much more than that first day. I hear a roar, and a few Ursa join the charge. I turn to Twilight.

“Twi!” she looks scared out of her mind. “You’re the Element of Magic. Obviously, you have magic ability here. Use it.”

“I don’t know how! Also, I don’t think I can bring myself to hit another creature, even if it is mindless.”

An idea comes to my mind. “Focus on what you want to do, and move that focus through the stick in your hand. I think it’s a wand; it works like your horn in Equestria.” She nods, then concentrates. She waves her wand, and a wall of earth erupts between us and the approaching Grimm on one side. With another wave, the wall slams backwards into the trees, leaving a score of dazed and broken Grimm.

“Yeah, that’s it! Get creative; there’s this one lady here able to make storms out of nothing. She has talent, but you are Magic itself. If it can be thought, you can do it.” She nods, grinning, then turns towards the Grimm. Suddenly, the slope leading to the ruins turns to sludge, trapping the Grimm, then ice.

I hear a screech from above. Shit, even the Nevermore are after us! A trio sweep towards Applejack, and she lets them. As they get closer, she takes her gun by the barrel. As it comes up, it elongates into a four foot handle. The handle of the shotgun is replaced with a wickedly sharp edge. She hangs it on her shoulder, then sweeps it forward like a baseball bat. Six Nevermore halves fall at her feet. A lumber axe, of course. She’s a farmer for trees!

I turn back to the fight, nodding appreciatively. While I’ve been distracted, the Grimm have gotten close enough to try and attack. I change to halberd, and begin some good old-fashioned hand-to-hand. As I slice off an Ursa’s arm at the shoulder, I spare a glance back at Fluttershy. She’s curled up in a corner, weeping, trying to block out the fight, her morning star a few feet from her.

“Fluttershy!” she looks up, her eyes red and puffy. I parry another Ursa’s claws. “You have to help! We’ll die otherwise!”

“B-but I d-don’t want to hurt another animal!”

“Fluttershy, it’s us or—” at that moment, the Ursa’s paw connects. I fly backwards into a pillar. I’m dazed, and as I look up, the Ursa looms over, ready to end my life. Suddenly, its paw is nothing but a mangled mess. I look, and there’s Fluttershy, a look of pure rage on her face and a bloody morning star in her hand. She marches in front of the Ursa, and grabs its other paw.

“Nobody,” she heaves upwards.

“Hurts,” the Ursa goes into the air.

“MY FRIENDS!” She places the morning star on her shoulder, and it transforms into a motherbucking rocket launcher! She fires, and the Ursa becomes gooey bits raining down on us. “If you don’t mind,” she says to nothing in particular. She reaches out a hand to me, and I take it. She pulls me up (Man, she’s a lot stronger than she looks), and the battle resumes in earnest.

With the four of us working together, we quickly turn the tide. No Grimm enter the ruins. I can almost taste the feelings of support I am getting from my friends. Your team, a voice niggles the back of my brain. Yeah, I guess we are a team, aren’t we?

Explosions, shots, and magic blasts echo across the forest. I’m having a ball until my pocket starts vibrating. I tell the others to take over, and duck into the center of the ruin. I pull my datapad out of my pocket. On it is a picture of Ruby. The first day I was out of the hospital, I was assigned one by Professor Goodwitch. It works as an access to the Internet, map, vitals checker, and phone. Ruby’s calling me. I answer.

“Rainbow? How are you—Never mind. Where are you? We can hear the battle from here, but we can’t see anything!”

“Wait, where are you guys?”

“In a ship flying over the forest. Turns out that guy’s coordinates were a piece of crap. Can you send a signal?”

“Give me a minute.” I check my ammo reserves, praying I still have some-Yes!

“Okay, I’m sending up a Hail Mary. You better hurry though, we’re starting to run dry.” I load Rain, and aim it at the sky. I fire and the explosive shot streaks into the air, exploding about fifty feet up. I do this several times, until I’m sure Ruby’s seen it. Sure enough, a ship flies low overhead a moment later. Team RWBY leaps out, and suddenly the Grimm turn to piecemeal. I rush over to the girls as the ship lands near the ruin.

“Okay girls, that’s our ride. They’ll cover us. Move!” We make a mad dash for the ship.

As we run, more Grimm fall around us. We near the ship, and as the last of us board, I yell to RWBY, “Go!” In an instant, they’re back on the ship and the pilot is taking off. Ruby, Yang and Blake start firing, keeping the Nevermore off the ship. As their shots slowly fade, I look us over. Besides the impact from the Ursa, and a few scattered claw marks from the Nevermore, we’re good. I turn to say something, but stop when my three friends all slump to the floor, the adrenaline rushing from their bodies. I look at Team RWBY apologetically.

“I guess introductions can wait until later.”

Post A/N: I stand by my thoughts that Flutters is truly the strongest of the Six. I mean, in the show, who else could wrestle a fully-grown grizzly bear into submission without magic? The weapon? She’s obviously the most protective of the group, as seen when she overcomes her fear of dragons to stare one down when her friends fail, and apply the same Stare to face down a cockatrice to save the family of her friends. So, it makes sense she would be the heavy artillery of the group.