I walked out of the doorway that Mother made and saw the familiar trees of the Everfree. I smiled at the sight of them as I felt Sylph nudge up to me. I scratch behind her ear as I heard the others.

“Whoa… it’s so… colourful!” Ruby said as she looked at one of the trees as if it was an interesting weapon.

“Very colourful.” Weiss said as she looked around.

“It’s really colourful that…” Yang stopped for a moment before looking at me. “I can’t even come up with a pun.”

I laughed as Blake, Indigo, and Oni came through. I looked around for a moment before looking at them.

“Welcome to the Everfree forest!” I said to them. Indigo chuckled at this, earning a roll of the eyes from me.

“The Everfree… is everything here always free?” Yang asked. I simply shrugged as I spun on my heel.

“Anyway, we should be close to-”

“Ponies!” Ruby said as she bolted off into the forest before I got to finish.

“The… village…” I finished as I let out a sigh.

“Ah Ruby, never one to sit still.” Was all Yang said before we started to follow her. As luck should have it she went the right way towards the village, only to crash into one of the stalls.

“Ow~...” she said as we got to her. Some of the village folks came around to see if she was alright. Blake took a look around at everyone here.

“A little surprised?” I asked her.

“Just a little. Never really think there’s any other Faunus other than Remnant.” she replied. I smiled at her as Yang pulled Ruby out of the smashed up cart. The owner of the cart has a few choice words for Ruby, mostly to watch where she’s going.

“Well… I’m just going to go check up on a friend of mind, be back soon.” I said as I looked over at Indigo. “If you ask around someone will point you to Zecora.”

“Alright.” He said, looking at the abundance of fuanus people walking about. “This’ll be quick… hopefully.” He said to himself, walking off with Blake in tow. She stopped beside and glanced at me before saying.

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” She said with a smile. I gave her a thumbs up before heading out to find Tak. The first place I went to was his family’s farm.

“Hello?! Anyone here?” I called out.

“What brings here to my farm, miss?” From the corner of the nearby barn, came the tall horse faunus that was Tak’s father.

“Oh, just seeing if Tak’s around.” I told him. “Also how have you’ve been?” He looked at me confusedly for a minute or two before his confusion was replaced with realization.

“Oh it’s you!” He exclaimed happily. “I’ve been good. I’ve had to work double to keep Tak from overworking himself but I don’t mind.” He said.

‘Two peas in a pod…’ I thought before speaking. “Well at least Tak is keeping himself busy work… again, do you know where I can find him?” I asked.

“Last I saw, he was meditating near the house.” He answered, pointing towards the rather large home in the distance.

“I see, thanks sir.” I thanked him. He nodded with a smile before returning to work. I went up to the large house and started to look around for Tak. I soon found him by a tree meditating like his father has said he would be.

He wore the very same attire he had when we first met, this time without the bandage wrapping around his midsection. I stood a little away from him as he meditated waiting for a good chance to get his attention. After a few minutes he let out a breath and opened his eyes.

“Hello~.” I said in a cheery tone. He let a surprised yelp, quickly hopping to his feet.

“Who’s there!?” He said in a panicked tone. My ears flatten at this as I heard it.

“It’s me, your friend Viri.” I told him. He calmed down a bit after hearing this “I’m getting a bad habit of scaring you aren’t I?”

“I’m blind, my hearing is heightened more than a normal fuanus’.” He said, rubbing his ears a bit as he did.

“Ah… sorry.” I said to him as I shifted a bit. “So uh, how have you been?” He sat back down with his legs crossed before answering.

“Good… better even. Zecora was right, I really needed to take some time off for myself.” He said, sighing happily as he laid down onto the grass. “I still helped around with the construction effort.” He added.

“Cool, how’s that coming along?” I asked, walking over and sitting down beside him. He sat up, looking excited as he did.

“Oh yeah, it’s done.” He said with a wide grin. This made me smile.

“That’s fantastic!” I said happily. “I got to ask, did you all come up with a name for the place?”

“Zecora thought on calling it Forever Free Academy.” He said, still smiling.

“Huh… it kinda fits.” I said as I tilted my head. “Oh by the way, other then the three professors already here I brought another one to come help.” He tilted his head at this. “He’s one one of my professors of the school I used to go to. The man is a little odd and went through a lot but he’s a great teacher.”

“And he want to help us? Why?” He asked, curious to know.

“He likes teaching.” I told him with a shrug, even though he couldn’t see it. “Also maybe the idea of teaching a whole class on how to be Huntsman would give him a challenge.”

Before Tak could say something I saw a flash of red rose petals went past us, earning the attention of both of us as Ruby stopped.

“There you are!” she said happily. This earned a jolt from Tak as Ruby continued. “We met with this Zecora you told us about and she has a cool mohawk and staff, even through it’s just a staff, and said the school looks like an old castle which is going to be cool and-” I stopped her from talking by covering her mouth. I looked at Tak who was wide eyed.

“Yeah, this is also one of my friends Ruby Rose.” I told him as I lowered my hand.

“Hello!” she greeted. Tak slowly waved at her, stunned by her sudden appearance.

“U-um, h-hello.” He said with a bit of a stutter. Oh great, he’s shy again.

“Ruby this is my friend Tak.” I told her. She smiled and offer her hand to him.

“Hi Tak.” she said. Tak simply stared off into space as Ruby looked over at me.

“Uhh, he’s blind.” I explained.

“Ohh…” she looked at him for a moment. “Are you like some really awesome monk guy with kung fu moves?”

“Kung what?” He asked in confusion, not really knowing what she meant.

“You know, cool punches and kicks and…” she soon started to odd and funny stances. “Waaah, oohh, hiia!”

I started to laugh at this before leaning into Tak. “She’s a great friend to have if you can handle the childish nature she has.” That got a laugh out from him.

“She sounds like she can be a handful at times.” He said just low enough for Ruby not to hear.

“Sometimes, but that makes it fun.” I chuckled as Ruby noticed us talking.

“Did I miss something?” Ruby asked.

“Nah, you didn’t miss much.” I told her.

“Oh, okay!” she said before continuing. “Also Indigo talked to Zecora and I believe everything has been sorted.”

“Great.” I turned to Tak and said. “Ya want to see the rest of my friends and your new professor?”

“S-sure.” He said, a nervous smile forming. I rolled my eyes as the three of us headed back after convincing Ruby not to ‘dash’ us over there. When we got there I saw the others along with Zecora talking to Indigo.

“Hey everyone.” I greeted them as I gestured to Tak. “I like you all to meet Tak. Tak these are the rest of my friends; Yang.”

“Sup.” Yang said with a wave of her prosthetic arm.

“Weiss.” I said, gesturing at the Ice Queen herself.
“A pleasure to meet you.” Weiss greeted with small bow, to which Tak returned in kind.

“And Blake.” I then gestured towards Blake as she stood beside Indigo. Blake smiled and said.

“Hi.” Blake finished greeting after the rest. Tak simply waved at them as I got the attention of Indigo.

“And this is Professor Indigo.” I introduce him. Indigo walked up to the bat faunus, making Tak take a step back in fear.

“So you’re Tak?” Indigo asked, arms crossed and a brow raised. Tak nod hesitantly. “Zecora was just telling me all about you and frankly, I find it hard to believe.” Tak’s ears flattened atop his head after hearing his words. I frowned at this as the others looked at one another.

“Hey, be nice.” Blake said firmly. Indigo said nothing to her as he stared Tak down.

“Being a Huntsmen mean you will put your own life at risk for the safety of other, are you willing to that?” Indigo asked Tak. The bat faunus didn’t waste time in answering.

“Yes.” Tak said, his shyness having disappeared and replaced with determination.

“Would you sacrifice yourself if it meant everyone you know, love and care about would live on?” Indigo asked Tak once again.

“Yes.” Tak once again answered without a second thought.

“If it wasn’t for Tak Sylph wouldn’t be here.” I added. The fox grimm in question came over and nuzzled Tak’s leg a bit. He jumped a bit but smiled as he scratched behind her ear.

“What drives you to want to become a Huntsman?” Indigo asked after Tak stopped scratching Sylph.

“I want to help those in need.” Tak answered with dull gaze landing on Indigo. The latter smirked before patting his shoulder.

“You remind me of myself when I was younger.” Indigo said with a smirk. “Alright, I’ll teach him.” He said, turning around to face smiling Zecora. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“A man with a missing arm teaching one that doesn’t rely on sight. Kindred spirits perhaps?” she said. Tak blinked, not knowing what was going on while Indigo simply chuckled.

“I see potential for something great in him.” Indigo said, walking back to Blake. She smiled at him as I nudged Tak.

“Welcome to the group Tak.” I told him with a smile. He smiled back shyly but I could tell he was excited inside. Just then a loud bell started to ring and the Faunus around us started to quickly move.

“What’s going on?” Ruby asked.

“No time, Tak a little help.” Zecora asked him. With a nod the two of them led us to a building where the two of them pulled a lever and a rod emerged from the building.

“Viri, what gives?” Yang asked me.

“I don’t know.” I answered before Zecora turned to us.

“Thundermore.” she only said as we all heard a loud screeching sound. We looked up just to see a giant Nevermore flying over us.

“HOLY BIRDY!” Ruby yelled. I nodded as I saw lightning coming off it. With a flap of it’s wings that sounded like thunder lightning shot out of it. We watched as each bolt went to the rods and went down it. This went on for five minutes before the Nevermore, or Thundermore, flew off. With that the rods went down into the building.

“I think that’s a good charge.” Zecora said with a smile.

“Uhhh, question; what happened?” Weiss asked.

“A Thundermore passing, they have lightening stored in them and they discharge it as they fly. We use lightning rods to store that lightning for power.” Zecora explained.

“How… did the Village get this advance?” I asked. Zecora turned to me and smiled.

“Other Faunus villages were kind enough to share their secrets with us.” she answered. Tak walked up beside Zecora, having already put away the lightning rod.

“The rod is safely secured, ma’am.” He said, bowing as he did.

“Thank you Tak, as always.” she said with a chuckle. She turned the rest of us. “If you all are going to attend the school then you all better be at the opening ceremony in…” she leaned over to look up at the sun for a moment. “Two hours. I do hope we’ll see you.” she turned to Indigo. “If you’re going to be teaching, I suggest you go talk to the other three teachers so you get to know them better.” Indigo nodded before looking at Tak.

“See ya soon, kid.” He said with a wave as he left. Tak smiled, having met someone willing to help in the school.

“So… what do we do for two hours?” Blake asked.

“Play games?” Ruby suggested. This caused Yang to smile.

“Ohhh, I know the perfect game~.” Yang said. I made an odd look when Yang started to pull out the game.

We stood outside in front of the newly rebuilt castle that was now Forever Free Academy. I saw there was about fifty or so others around us. Mostly everyone in our group were excited, while others…

“It happens every time!” Ruby cried as she hugged Weiss.

“That game is taxing on one’s mental and emotional self.” Weiss cried out as well.

“This… all from a strategy card game…” I commented to Tak. He simply shrugs, not really understand their distraught.

“I simply let one of them win.” Blake said right as the speakers came on. Yes there’s speakers, who knew?

“Greetings everyone. Some may know me but to others I am Zecora, the leader of the Village of Everfree and the new Headmaster of Forever Free Academy. All I can say to you all is that I believe this is the first step to a greater future for all of us.” she announced. Everyone around us started to clap as we joined in. “Joining us are four well trained Professors that will teach you the basics of becoming Huntsman and Huntress’. They will give a short speech on who they are and what you’ll expect they will teach you.”

This caused some Faunus to muttered to themselves before quieting down from a hand from Zecora. “First is Flae Hai.” Everyone clapped as the short red haired Faunus wearing his brown coat and black shirt and baggy pants. He now had a bit of a goatee and wore glasses.

“Thank you, now I did make a speech for this but I was told that I had to keep this short.” he said which made everyone laugh. He tilted his head and frowned. “That wasn’t a joke, but as you all know I’m Flae Hai, a scholar of Grimm, Dust, and now the Staubgrimm.”

“The what?” Yang asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” I told her as Flae continued.

“When you all come to my class I expect you all to take notes and listen, I rarely repeat myself.” he said before looking at everyone. “That is all, good day.”

With that he walked off and Zecora came up. “Thank you Professor Flae. Now next is Xan Long, a woman from far from the sea that came to this land to see what it has to hold. I believe she will learn this from all of you as well.”

I saw Xan walking over to Zecora with a smile. She wore a lovely blue coloured robes with her hair pulled back. She turned to us with a smile.

“Greetings everyone, as some of you know I’m Xan Long. From my home I was a well trained warrior that learned many different styles of combat. From melee to range and even to some dust use.” she turned her head a bit. “Though I believe one other would be better to learn from when it comes to Dust. But in any case I will bring what I know to you all that wished to learn.”

Another round of applause as Xan walked off and Zecora came back. “The next professor is a man that came high up from the mountains but as I found out some months back that he came farther off. I wish to introduce Rom Thorkelsson.” there was applause that slowly died out as Rom walked towards Zecora. From where I stood he looks imposing. He simply wore a green shirt and jeans as he looked at all of us.

“I’ll make this short, I’m here to teach you how to survive and maintain your weapon.” he began. “You may have teammates with you but your weapon is your closest ally. With that said I’ll make sure that each and everyone of you have a weapon they can trust, I know you all can since you’re going to build it.”

Everyone muttered for a bit as Ruby simply got really excited about this. This got me to chuckle. Rom looked over at Zecora with a flat look. “Can I go?”

“Yes Professor Rom, you can go.” Zecora said.

“Just Rom.” he said as left the stage.

“Now for our last professor, he has just arrived just some time ago but I believe he has seen much than I, I wish to introduce Indigo Parker.” Zecora announced. Everyone turned and saw Indigo walked towards her. I heard a number of them talking about him and said they haven’t seen him before. There were talks about his missing arm but that was drone out as Indigo looked out over us.

“I’m going to cut to the chase. I don’t just teach how to coordinate with one another or preach about battle tactics, I aim to test the survivability, adaptability and quick thinking of each and everyone of you.” Indigo said with a serious tone, earning the murmurs from the crowd. “I aim to make the next best generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses, capable fighters willing to put their lives on the line for safety of others…” He stopped, looking off into the crowd before sighing and saying. “Yeah, that’s all I got. I really didn’t have time to make a speech.” He said with a shrug and walking off the stage. Zecora walked back up with a smile on her face.

“Well, I believe we all will have interesting events with the years to come. Now this is the end of the ceremony and you all are allowed to go explore the castle and it’s grounds as well talk to your professors if you wish to. This week shall be getting everything started but for the next week…” she gave us a throaty laugh. “Get ready for your training.”

With that said everyone started to move towards the castle and/or to the professors. Team RWBY, Tak and I went over to see how Indigo is doing.

“So, what do you think of the challenge of teaching these people?” I asked him.

“I’ve taught you and RWBY.” He said in a deadpanned tone. I stared at him before looking back to the others.

“Can’t say that it’s going to be easy or hard…” Weiss said.

“Keep in mind that we also all did a sparring match against Indigo and yet we didn’t lay a hit on him.” Blake said before looking at Indigo. “You also own me a dinner.”

“Haven’t forgotten about it yet, hon.” Indigo said with a chuckle. She smiled as the rest of us rolled our eyes.

“Well I don’t know about you but I’m going to go look around in the school.” Weiss said before heading off.

“Alright, while she’s going to go do that I’m going to take a nap.” Yang said before walking off as well. This leaves me, Tak, Ruby, Blake and Indigo. Though I believe both Indigo and Blake will head off somewhere soon together which leaves me, Ruby, and Tak.

“What are you going to do Tak?” I asked him.

“I’m not sure, maybe I’ll see if dad has any work needing to be done.” Tak said with a shrug. I rolled my eyes as I watched him head back to the village and Indigo and Blake headed off towards one of the other professors as they were calling for Indi as well as a grumpy Yang, leaving me and Ruby alone.

“So… what do you want to do?” I asked.

“Uhh, want to hang out?” she asked. I simply shrug and smiled.

“Sure.” with that the two of us walked in a random direction. “So what’s so great about this game you four played?”

“Oh well it’s called Remnant the game. It’s a really fun game about…” with that the two of us talked about the game that, for some reason, made both Weiss and Ruby cry over.

“Can you believe it Shy! A school for Huntsman that are Faunus!” A young woman said to her friend. She had short multicolored hair that of a rainbow and white skin. She wore a blue tank top with a rainbow lightning bolt on it and some black shorts. On her back were a pair of brown wings with the tips of her feathers a different colour of the rainbow as well.

“Umm, that’s great but… why did you bring me with you Skyler?” the other asked. She was a pegasus mare with yellow fur and a pink mane that covers one of her eyes. She wore a green sweater and blue long skirt. She shifted a bit as she looked around. “Also we shouldn’t even be here.”

“First off; I had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming this, and second; you need to relax, this many Faunus in one place from the Everfree shouldn’t draw any attention of the Grimm.” Skyler explained. This didn’t calm the shy pony. The Faunus on the other hand looked over and her smile grew. “Finally, a chance of becoming a Huntress.”

“Just like the Wonderbolts?” the shy pony asked with a smile.

“Yeah!” Skyler said as she pump up her chest with pride. “Think about it; me, the first Faunus to join the Wonderbolts! It’s going to be awesome!”

This sorta drew attention of some Faunus that were nearby with how excited she was. Skyler covered her mouth before the two ducked under a bush as two Faunus came over.

“You hear something?” a male Faunus asked.

“Kinda, maybe it was someone else?” a female Faunus said.

“Maybe. Hey did you get a look at Professor Indigo? I wonder how he lost his arm?” the male asked curiously.

“I don’t know, and I don’t really want to ask. Do you think he can be a Huntsman with one arm?” the female asked, earning a shrug from her companion.

“From how he talked and presented himself, I think so. Besides, Tak is taking classes and he’s blind.” The two women in the bush listened to the two faunus walking off before peeking out.

“Indigo huh? The guy with no arm.” Skyler muttered to herself.

“Umm, can we go now?” the shy pony asked to her friend.

“Huh? Oh right, sorry Fluttershy.” Skyler said before the two of them snuck off back to town.

Author's Notes:

Just as a note I posted this on my phone.

Welcome to Forever Free Academy! It's not as big as other schools but it has a lot of heart!

Next Chapter is going to be interesting since we're hitting Season One of MLP... After a lot of chapters later xD

Skyler the Faunus = Rainbow Dash