Penny wasn't really looking forward to Professor Schnee's class. While the title of it certainly sounded fascinating in theory, the truth of the matter was that she still didn't have a semblance of her own. She liked combat and tactics, but what was she supposed to do if she wasn't even able to conjure a power on the spot?

Amity Colosseum felt like such a strange place when there was no audience or decorations. Now it was little more than just a wide-open plane for everyone to stand on. At Professor Schnee's insistence, everyone had changed into their combat attire, and despite being a class about fighting, they were all weaponless. Everyone stood around chatting idly until Winter arrived, clearing her throat to catch their attention. "Hello everyone. Thank you for joining me here. It's an honor to work with such a fine group of hunters in training. This class is going to be focused on training you to be more efficient in combat – working on your skills with weapons, semblances, forming battle plans, and more. My first goal is making sure that everyone feels comfortable with their abilities. Your semblance is a part of you, and you can't reliably depend on it if you're wasting all your energy summoning it once or twice. It should feel as natural as swinging a sword or dodging an attack. Everyone pair up with a student from a different team and engage each other in hand-to-hand combat, focusing on using your semblance – while simultaneously studying your opponent to find their strengths and weaknesses."

Everyone began pairing up, but Penny couldn't shake her nerves. She approached Winter cautiously and gave her best smile. "Um, Professor? Should I sit this portion of the class out? I could go cheer on the rest of my team, perhaps."

Winter shook her head and matched her with an equally warm smile. "There's no need, Penny. You'll be working with me. Ciel? Go form a triplet with two other students." Her partner nodded and went off to join Ruby and Pyrrha, leaving the two of them alone now. "I have been properly filled in by the scientists at Atlas. According to them, the idea that you have both an aura and a semblance is plausible but unlikely. I am now dedicated to proving them wrong, so today we're going to have a friendly fight with the assumption that you most definitely do have one."

With little warning, Winter assumed a combat stance. Penny squeaked and hurried to take one of her own. She was not nearly so certain as her instructor. "But... what if they are right?"

The older woman shrugged and leapt in for a series of blows while Penny deflected them skillfully. "What if the engine holding Vytal in the sky should break, and we all plummet into the city below? What if Cinder should suddenly return and threaten to kill us all? What if Grimm should swarm the city again? If you wade into the 'what ifs' you might get caught up and carried out to sea. Stay in the here and now. And don't worry about going easy on me..." she said before launching a flurry of kicks in Penny's direction, then putting some distance between the two of them with a glyph. Just as fluidly, she backflipped onto another glyph, and Penny could tell that her teacher was coming in for a hard hit.

What happened next was hard for Penny to really describe, as several things occurred in quick succession. She felt a tugging at her fingertips, which was a sensation normally reserved for when she drew her swords. But rather than her back, the tiny threads were extending out toward the series of glyphs that Winter was summoning. Penny instinctually twitched a finger and suddenly the glowing circle turned a shade of green. She knew without knowing that it was no longer Professor Schnee's. That glyph belonged to her. Intuitively, she ramped up its power output and watched with great fascination as Winter's foot hit the mark and immediately launched her much farther forward than she had expected. Penny gave another tug, putting the glyph in her path and dropping its power into the negative, effectively reversing the professor's acceleration and sending her head over heels.

Winter only barely managed to flip herself around to land on her feet. But the change in velocity had been enough to make her slide back several more feet, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Most everyone in the class had turned to see what could make the flawless Ice Queen lose her composure for even a second. She stood and brushed herself off, looking around at all of them with a huff. "Back to practicing!" She walked over to Penny, staring her up and down in silence. "My glyphs are never sloppy. What did you do?"

Penny took a few steps back, uncertain if Winter's face was displaying pride or anger. "I-I do not know! My body just... responded! Like it already knew what to do! I did not hurt you, did I?"

Winter seemed to suddenly remember that she could be overly militaristic, and her face softened slightly. "Why don't we try that again? Whatever your power might be, it may require a... more gentle touch to avoid causing serious injury. Do not worry about me, I can handle myself."

So they started over. It was difficult for Penny at first, reminding her of the way it felt when she first started using her swords. She would drop them, or get tangled up in her own threads. It took time and patience to learn how to swing them around herself or to form her laser barrage attack. She knew this would take time too, and having proper support made her feel a lot better. But hijacking Winter's glyphs wasn't always a perfect process. Sometimes she would intend to make one dissipate and instead she would merely reposition it. At one point, she accidentally caused one to rotate ninety degrees, launching Professor Schnee off to the side with a shocked look on her face. It had technically been a successful move, just not the one she wanted.

Despite the warning they'd received to get back to work, soon the others all gathered around to watch the fight as it played out over and over again through each new iteration. Penny swelled with pride to hear them cheer for her as she altered another panel to shoot Winter up into the air instead of straight at her, then conjured one of her own instead of merely stealing it, to shoot her back to the ground. She had managed to land safely, but she was starting to look winded. "Hah... Very good, Ms. Polendina. Now the tricky part begins. Your semblance is directly tied to the semblance of others. It will take a great deal of trial and error to see what you can and cannot do. Ruby Rose?"

Ruby stepped forward with a hand raised. "Here, Ma'am."

"I believe there may be benefits to Penny's semblance as well. Penny, you are going to help Ruby move faster and more accurately. Does that sound like something you might be able to do?"

Penny bounced excitedly. "I'll do my best!"

She waited patiently as Ruby steadied herself, and then disappeared in a cloud of leaves. For some reason, the incident with Cinder and the Maiden had altered her semblance slightly, adding fall leaves to her rose petal streak. As she zipped around the gathered crowd in a circle, Penny concentrated on her friend, feeling that little spark of hope when Ruby's whirling cape suddenly began dropping bright, green leaves and cherry blossoms instead. With a cry of delight, the young huntress became even more of a blur as her path continued to circle up high over everyone's heads until she peaked directly above them in a large burst of leaves and petals, falling back down and right into Penny's arms with a bright giggle. "That was amazing! I was like... pshoom nyoom nyoowwww! You're so cool, Penny!" She set her down only for Ruby to pull her into an incredibly tight hug.

As much as Professor Schnee was intent on keeping class time focused on more useful lessons, things eventually devolved into all of Penny's friends eagerly calling out "Me next! Me next!" and begging her to try augmenting or diminishing their semblances. She used one of Blake's stone doubles to trip her up. She reversed Pyrrha's polarity to give herself added momentum for an attack. Emerald could create much more intense illusions without feeling like her head was going to explode. Neopolitan's illusory creations became much more solid and did not immediately shatter. Ciel could stop someone almost entirely rather than merely slowing them down. Marigold's forcefield was almost invincible, even in the face of a mighty blow from Nora's hammer.

It may not have been the most perfect classtime for their teacher, but it was exactly what Penny needed.


Penny's positivity didn't last forever, though. In light of her success and also to act as a formal welcome to team CPNE, everyone pitched in to throw a pizza party in the common room. It was really fun for a while, but something kept eating at the android. It was hard to think properly, much less to actually enjoy herself.

So Penny disappeared and ended up finding herself on the roof. Unsure exactly why, she sat down at the edge and stared up at the stars above, hoping she might find a moment's peace or an answer to why she didn't feel as excited a she should have. The silence helped, but it came without answers.

The door behind her opened, someone approaching her where she sat. Penny wasn't certain who she had expected, but it definitely wasn't MRPN captain Marigold. She smiled weakly and nodded her head.

"Do you mind if join you? I always get a little worn out at parties, even small ones."

Penny nodded again, making some space for her on the ledge. "Please, be my guest."

Rather than saying anything, Marigold simply sat there with her and the two of them shared the beautiful silence of the night together for a while. It was nearly three minutes before her temporary companion spoke. "I've always been pretty self-conscious of my semblance. It's super inconsistent and I can only ever make it work when I'm in serious trouble. Today was the first time I ever felt like I had a handle on it. Because of you. I felt powerful, really powerful. And I wanted to thank you for that."

Penny brightened up a little to know that she'd actually helped someone, especially by using her semblance. "It was my pleasure! I greatly enjoy having a semblance that can be so useful for so many people. Is that why you came to find me?"

"Actually... You seemed kinda down, and then just disappeared... Is everything okay?"

Penny searched for words that might make sense of her feelings. "Marigold, do you ever feel... less-than?"

Her brow furrowed slightly and she stared at Penny, deep in concentration. "Well of course. I mean, that's pretty common for girls like me."

"Like you? Why you specifically?"

A series of other emotions washed over Marigold's face that Penny did not know how to interpret. The only one that seemed familiar was a kind of dawning realization at the end. "Of course, you probably never heard... When I came to Beacon, my name was Jaune. And as far as everyone was concerned, I was a boy. But I knew that wasn't right, and so I... stopped being a boy. And now I have medication and new clothes and I'm growing out my hair. And most of my friends are happy for me. But other people will never be alright with me. If I were to be 99% girl, they would think that remaining one percent I haven't changed still makes me a boy – my broad shoulders or my voice or whatever. It's not always easy, but I have to remind myself that those people don't matter. What matters is me, and my happiness, and my friends." She chuckled and leaned over to nudge into her. "Sorry, I hope some of that rambling did the trick."

It had hardly even occurred to Penny that Marigold might have been transgender, but then her experiences in life were so limited sometimes. It changed little. And that realization brought back a memory from months before. "I remember telling Ruby once that I was not a real girl. And she was so very nice and understanding. And she told me that I actually was, simply by virtue of who I am. I suppose she must have told you the same." The two shared a laugh in honor of their enthusiastic friend. "Still, my position is not exactly like yours. I am attempting to reconcile the possibility that I am a 'real girl' but still an android at the same time."

"I still have a lot to learn, but Ren knows way more about this kinda stuff. Sometimes, people aren't male or female. They're something else entirely. And if that can be said about anyone... Well, Penny, you're definitely something else. You're special. And pretty cool. So maybe it's okay if you don't know. Perhaps just being amazing can be good enough for now?"

Penny latched onto Marigold suddenly, squeezing her in a vice hug. "Thank you, Marigold Arc. I suppose this makes us even."