//------------------------------//
// Episode 11. Rainbooms: Voice of Reason. 
// Story: Taking Back Canterlot 
// by Coyote de La Mancha 
//------------------------------//

On most any map in the country, Interstate 435 all but defined the city of Canterlot. Colloquially known simply as the Loop, the highway ran an almost circular course around most of the city. A massive ouroboros of concrete and steel, it encased almost every neighborhood, district, and property the city had to offer, linking to every other highway in the city.
Some of the more recent developments, mostly a few high-income neighborhoods (such as the Rainbooms’ first safehouse) and some industrial complexes, were either just outside the highway or lay partially beneath its overpasses. To the highway’s west lay beaches and beachfront properties, piers, and of course Port Canterlot itself. As the years rolled on, railways and streets would continue to branch out, spiderlike, to the north, south, and east... but they would always do so in the shadow of I-435.
It was the perfect way to continually drive with a brilliant view, without ever leaving the city. At nighttime, when the skies were clear and the city lights were ablaze, it was almost like driving through a galaxy of neon stars. More than one teenage road trip or low-income date had consisted, over the generations, of simply driving on I-435 for hours on end, perpetually uninterrupted by any hint of roundabouts, stop signs, or traffic lights.
So it was that, eight days after Twilight’s night off from her training regimen, the three Rainbooms found themselves circling the city along with several hundred other vehicles. Some getting onto the old highway, some turning off, some staying on for the ride. All of them equally anonymous, in a constant interplay of motion.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight knew the Loop like an old friend. But Apple Bloom’s teen years had been cut short by tragedy, and Twilight wasn’t up to multitasking just yet. So, on this overcast night, it was Rainbow Dash who drove. Bloom rode shotgun. And Twilight lay in the back of Zephyr’s windowless van, dialing the latest burner phone while lightning flashed threateningly in the distance.
“Commissioner Armor, please,” she said. “Yes, I can hold.”
Only a few seconds later, her brother’s voice came over the phone.
“This is Armor.”
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Twilight.” His voice lowered dangerously when he said her name.
“Yeah. I figured you’d be tracing anything to your cell. I mean, sure, you’ll trace this too... but it’ll take longer.”
“On my office phone?”
Twilight smiled. “No way you wouldn’t be living in your office. And I’m not going to waste my time arguing details over your building’s archaic communications system, BBBFF.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Silence.
Finally, Twilight spoke again, her voice cracking slightly.
“I won’t.”
“I—” The apology started automatically, but Armor forced it back down, covering it with, “...thought you were done talking with me.”
“I... look, I know I said a lot of things—”
“No, you were very clear,” he snarled. In a way, he found himself almost glad for the hurt, the anger. It made everything easier. “I’m the enemy, remember, Twilight? And you’re the conqueror.”
“Shining, please, I’m so sorry—”
“It’s too late for that, Twilight! You’ve made your choice, all of you have!”
“If you would only listen—” 
“No, you listen. Because everything we had – friends, family, everything – you burned beyond all recognition when you became a murderer!” 
Twilight couldn’t speak. The words thundered in her mind, we acted in self-defense, they killed our friends, we were trying to save the city, we were trying to survive...
But her throat was closed. All she could do was shake her head, tears running freely, as her brother’s voice pierced through the van’s interior:
“This is the price you pay for being a criminal, Twilight! The price we all pay when we live in a society with laws, and then break those laws! So now you can either turn yourselves in, or you can reap the fucking consequences!”
There was a crackling sound as Twilight twisted the flip phone apart. Apple Bloom held her hand out and Twilight passed the pieces forward, and without a word Bloom rolled down her window and dropped the fragments out onto the highway at 65mph.
Rainbow Dash glanced back. “Twilight, we clear?”
Still wordless, Twilight nodded.
Apple Bloom glanced back as well. “Twi...?”
But Twilight could only hold up a hand, shaking her head in silence. 
Both other women looked forward again.
Rainbow nodded, saying, “Okay. We’ll be at the turn off in...” She paused, then said, “You know what? Let’s call it an hour.”
Apple Bloom nodded, leaning back a little. “Yeah,” she said in a deliberately casual tone. “Hour sounds good.”
The exit came and went shortly thereafter. The two ladies in front stayed facing forward, sharing the occasional small talk. Pretending they couldn’t hear. Granting what small privacy they could to the friend who lay behind them, vainly trying to control her tears.
It had been well over an hour by the time Rainbow Dash finally took them off the Loop, and by that time Twilight had regained her composure. By the time the van pulled into the house’s driveway, her face was dry, and she was talking again.
By the time Rarity saw her, Twilight was managing something she hoped resembled a smile. 





The rain was falling steadily as the van approached the house, perfectly masking the sound of the garage door rolling up. Rainbow Dash killed the lights as she turned into the driveway, the better to avoid waking any neighbors. The door slid down again as the van stopped and Rainbow killed the motor.
All three women exited the vehicle, Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom heading to the back while Twilight went to the door leading to the kitchen. It opened as she reached for the knob.
Rarity opened the door with the beginnings of a greeting, which immediately dissolved into Oh, my poor Twilight, come in at once! as she dragged her friend across the threshold and into her embrace.
The other two women glanced up just in time to see her get yoinked into the house and the door slam behind her. They exchanged a grin, and then got down to unpacking.
It was good to be home.





The four women were seated around an antique tea set, Twilight and Apple Bloom on stuffed chairs and Rarity and Rainbow Dash cuddled together on the love seat. There were cucumber sandwiches, scones, biscuits – British and colonial – as well as ham sandwiches, mayo, mustard, catsup, and French fries.
While everyone assembled generally agreed that tea made everything better, Rainbow Dash had never been a fan of what she liked to call ‘tiny food.’ Apple Bloom, however, had joyfully exclaimed Are we havin’ tea? We’re havin’ tea! at the sight of the table set, eliciting a delighted grin from her hostess.
The tea itself was a blend of echinacea, valerian, and peppermint that Rarity had found to be especially useful in times of stress. And at the moment, Twilight couldn’t agree more. They’d spent the last few hours explaining all that had happened since Twilight and Apple Bloom had escaped from prison, and Twilight was glad to have reached the end of it.
“Well, I’m glad you finally made your way here,” Rarity smiled, passing Twilight the sugar bowl. “I know you’re in a hurry, and I appreciate that. But please, stay as long as you need. It’s the least we can do.”
“I don’t want to cause you guys more problems—” Twilight began.
“Please, darling, don’t be ridiculous,” Rarity cut her off fondly. “You know perfectly well that you’re more than welcome here, regardless of circumstances.”
“And you’re not just dropping me off on your way somewhere else, either,” Rainbow Dash added. “We’re staying here until we get a new place, and then we’re moving there.”
Apple Bloom considered the two of them. “So, Rarity... are you joinin’ in, then? With the revolution, an’ whatnot?”
Rarity shook her head as she refilled her teacup.
“No, dear, combat is simply not my forte,” she said. 
Apple Bloom paused munching her cucumber sammich and gave her a quizzical look.
Rarity smiled. “Oh, I grant you I know a little. I taught you girls, after all, back when you were the CMC. But when it comes to the unpleasantness that you ladies have in your future, well, frankly I just don’t have the instinct for it.” 
Looking down, she added, “Nor the heart, truth be known.”
Rainbow Dash squeezed her hand reassuringly, and Rarity gave her a smile of gratitude.
“Sorry,” Apple Bloom said, looking down. “Didn’t mean t’bring up bad memories.”
“Not you fault, dear,” Rarity assured her. “Now, who would like some more tea?”





Thunder shook the house in its fury as Apple Bloom stared at the ceiling, gasping, trying to control her breath.
Next to her, Twilight was dead asleep, predictably exhausted. And for a while, Apple Bloom had slept too. But then she’d jackknifed awake, same as usual. 
No, not quite the same. Things were better now, she had to admit. Way better. She’d finally stopped waking up coughing, choking on her own bile. But the nightmares were still there, regardless of everything else.
She sighed. Her heart wasn’t trying to kick its way out of her chest anymore, and she already felt basically okay. The dream’s images were already fading from her mind. But there was no way she was sleeping again anytime soon.
Welp, time fer snacks, she thought as she rolled to her feet. Maybe there’s ice cream.
Twilight didn’t move as Apple Bloom padded her way to the door and down the stairs. Sure, one of them could have crashed on the couch. But that would have still meant no privacy for whoever did, plus for whoever got up before them. 
Which looked like it had been the right move, since the kitchen light was on.
Rainbow Dash glanced over to Apple Bloom as she entered, one hand still on the freezer door she’d just closed.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Better’n before. You?”
“Now that I’m here?” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Man, everything’s better. Ice cream?”
“Oh, God. Gimme.”
Rainbow Dash opened the freezer again, tossed a small carton of mint chocolate chip to Bloom, fishing out an identical carton of rocky road for herself. For a while, they ate in companionable silence, rain lashing against the window as they did. Eventually, Apple Bloom sighed, looking at the now half-empty carton.
“She would’ve had apple cinnamon,” she said softly.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, AJ had specific tastes.”
“You ain’t just a’woofin’. I mean, I like apples an’ all, but... damn.”
“Yep.”
Apple Bloom put her ice cream down, looked at the window over the twin sinks, into the storm beyond.
“I remember, back when Sunset was still around,” She said. “We were talkin’ ‘bout the dearly departed, an’ whatnot? She said that back where she came from, some folks held that sometimes, the winds you felt? They were the souls of family, tryin’ ta help.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows went up. “Really.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Yep. Those that were good, well, they were the breezes that tried to warm the living, to comfort and guide them. Or sometimes, maybe ended up bein’ the coolin’ breeze on a hot summer day. The one that helped a body calm down right after a fight, or maybe even avoid one.
“Then, there were the mean folks. The hot winds in summer, or the ones that bit and cut in winter an’ fall. The worst became wind spirits that just wanted to freeze the living to death. Spirits so evil that laughter an’ love hurt ‘em, and so laughter was the only way to keep ‘em away.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah. So I told her ‘bout us Apples. How we rested in the apple trees on our land, lookin’ over future generations as they grew. I figured she’d laugh, but she jus’ nodded, said it made a lot of sense. Meant a lot to me, back then.”
She walked over to where she’d been sitting, put her hands on the back of her chair. “Now the farm’s gone. Trees’re gone. Burnt right down t’the bone.”
“You think Applejack...?”
Apple Bloom shrugged, pulled the chair into reverse and sat down. “Heck, I dunno. But... when me an’ Twilight were bustin’ outta that place, I thought I felt... I dunno,” she said again, shaking her head. 
“There was this one feller. His gun had jammed, and I had ‘im dead to rights. I was thinkin’, one less screw in the world, an’ I was gonna fire...”
Rainbow Dash cocked her head. “But?”
Apple Boom looked down, almost embarrassed. “But there was this wind just then. A warm breeze, for all that it was comin’ off the water. An’ for a minute, I thought... I thought I smelled apples.
“And... I let him go. At the time, I didn’t even know why. I just... all of a sudden, the hate was gone. For just a minute. It wasn’t until later on, after we had a room an’ time to think, that I remembered that stuff Sunny’d told me.”
She looked back at her friend, expecting a look of incredulity, maybe even a laugh. Instead, Rainbow Dash was simply nodding.
“It makes sense,” she said again. “I mean, hell, look at us. I can outrun a jet. Twilight can move things with her mind. We fought the Sirens from legend, and traveled to other worlds.”
Looking contemplative, she scooped up another spoonful, adding, “So, you say that souls are a thing, Iiiiii’m not gonna argue.”
They shared a smile, and for a little while they just enjoyed ice cream together. Eventually, Apple Bloom cleared her throat.
“I got an awkward question.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “I got an awkward answer. Want to see if they match?”
Rainbow’s levity vanished as Apple Bloom put her ice cream down, rested her chin on her crossed arms against the chair’s back. Then Bloom stood, just long enough to turn the chair around and sit again. 
Finally, reluctantly, she made herself speak.
“Sweetie’s anniversary is comin’ up soon.”
Rainbow put her own carton down. “Yeah.”
Bloom sighed, looking down. “I know. But... the rest of us, Scoots an’ me, we never knew what happened. Y’all had us split up an’ hiding by then. Me at Manehattan with my cousins, them at wherever they were. An’ thinkin’ about Rarity tonight, an’ then ‘bout AJ...”
Rainbow looked like she’d just bitten into something sour. 
Apple Bloom quickly added, “An’ if you can’t talk about it, I get it, I just...” 
Her voice trailed off, and she stared into her empty cardboard carton. She only looked up again when she felt Rainbow’s hand gently touch her shoulder.
“I can talk about it,” the older woman said. “It’s just... hard.”
“I don’t wanna make you—”
“No, it’s not like that,” Rainbow Dash interrupted gently. 
She sighed, rising. She gathered their empty cartons and dropped them in the trash, the spoons clattering into the sink. She stood, her back to Apple Bloom, both hands on the twin sinks. 
Her voice was quiet when she finally said, “There was a point when we were fighting the Sirens... that... Sunset thought we needed someone... on the inside.”
Apple Bloom stared. “A spy?”
“Yeah. A mole. Someone they’d never suspect.”
“But... undercover folks die,” Bloom protested. “Like, a lot.”
Rainbow Dash sighed again, looking out into the pouring rain. “Yeah.”
Apple Bloom paled. For a minute or so, there was only silence between them. Then, quietly, she asked, “Sweetie Belle?”
Rainbow Dash said nothing. She looked down, away, anywhere but at her friend.
Apple Bloom felt herself slump against the table. Arms around her head, protectively, eyes closed.
“I never knew,” she whispered. “I figured, with everything gettin’ so bad, she just, you know. Wrong place, wrong time. And instead, Sunset... sacrificed her.”
Rainbow Dash sat beside her, put an arm around her shoulders.
“No. No, there’s no way that’s what happened. I don’t think Sunset even asked her. But we were at Rarity’s place when Sunny brought it up. I think Sweetie Belle overheard us talking, and just... went.” 
Reluctantly, she added, “I mean, I can’t swear for sure. The school had just been blown up, and none of us were thinking straight. But I can’t believe Sunset would have set her up like that.”
“She still went, though.”
“Yeah. Later that day, she was just gone. And next thing we knew, she was inside Sonata’s gang, sending us intel.”
Apple Bloom’s hands balled into fists.
“Twilight wanted her out, like yesterday,” Rainbow went on. “But the Sirens’ gangs always stayed in housing projects they controlled. And with no way to contact her first, and with at least some of them knowing who her sister was...”
“Tryin’ ta get her out coulda gotten her killed,” Bloom finished softly.
“Yeah. That was Sunset’s argument.” 
Rainbow Dash looked out at the nighttime storm, quietly adding. “I remember her and Twilight fighting about it. Like, serious screaming matches. I’d never heard of them doing that before.”
“Sweetie Belle was still alive way after the school, though,” Apple Bloom protested. “I got letters.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “She was good. Better than any kid her age should have been. And what she got for us really helped. Without her, I think we’d’ve lost the war.”
“An’ I never knew,” Apple Bloom whispered.
“None of you were supposed to be involved at all,” Rainbow pointed out. “Not in the gang war, not in anything. We hid you for a reason. The only reason you even got those letters was her guessing where you’d be. Plus, Sunset figured the fewer people knew, the better chance she had. That was the one thing she and Twilight did agree on. Then, after she died, everything happened so fast...”
“How’d she die?”
Rainbow Dash looked at her for a moment, measuring. Then:
“Sonata figured her out. She locked her in a car trunk, sent it into the water. She drowned.” 
Apple Bloom closed her eyes and shuddered.
Rainbow Dash squeezed her shoulders, adding, “Sunset blamed Twilight, and Twilight blamed Sunset. But Rarity blames herself. For not stopping her, for not saving her, you name it.
“After that, Rarity was really messed up,” Rainbow said sadly. “She’s better now, but back then, well, she was really wrecked.”
“I ‘magine.”
“Yeah. But the point is, her concentration was gone. She almost died, just because her head wasn’t in the game. And that led to the only other thing that Twi and Sunset both agreed on. Rarity got benched.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom nodded, sitting up at last. “I can see that. All a’that. An’... I guess Rarity’s still hurtin’, too.”
“Little bit, yeah.”
Apple Bloom sighed. “Hell. I just wish I’d known earlier. Keep me from rubbin’ salt in it.”
“Well, if it helps, I’m pretty sure you’re cool,” Rainbow smiled. “She’s had a few years to heal. And like you said, you didn’t know.”
The younger woman fell silent again. Rainbow waited, arm still around her, unhurried. Eventually, Apple Bloom spoke again.
“How’d she know?”
“Sonata?”
“Yeah.”
Rainbow Dash grimaced. “We’re not sure. Twilight had gone to pull Sweetie out, and afterwards Sunset blamed her. Twilight said they’d already made her, and blamed Sunset.”
“Which was it?”
“Dunno. But Twilight was in the trunk with her when she died.”
Apple Bloom stared at her, horrified.
“Yeah,” Rainbow nodded. “Sonata sealed them both into the trunk with a magic sigil or something. Twilight tried to get them both out in time, but...”
She made a helpless gesture and fell silent.
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Jesus. How do you come back from that?”
“I dunno, but she did. She and Sunset had one last fight, and then they were done. Sunny left. Sonata’s gang was the last one, so we finished chewing our way up their chain of command, found her... and dealt with her.”
“Wish I coulda been there.”
“No, you don’t.”
Apple Bloom opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again.
“You’re right,” she said. “I don’t.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes against the memories. “The Dazzlers, the Blaze, and the Dusk. One gang for each Siren. I don’t even know how many people we...”
She fell silent, and now Apple Bloom wrapped her arms around her.
“I’m sorry,” Bloom said. “That was a god-damned stupid thing to say.”
“No, I get it,” Rainbow sighed into Apple Bloom’s shoulder. “Funny thing was, Sonata was the hardest.” 
“How come?”
“She didn’t... I mean, when Adagio went out, she went out fighting. Mystic blasts, rockets, you name it,” Rainbow explained. “She didn’t want to be taken alive. Aria ended up unarmed, magic powers exhausted, hanging off a window ledge... and she just spat at us. Dared us to do our worst. 
“But Sonata? Fuck, man. She just... cried.”
Apple Bloom blinked. “She... what?”
“Yeah. Sonata cried. Begged us not to hurt her. Said it wasn’t her fault, that the magic made her do it.”
“And?’
Rainbow Dash untangled herself from her friend. Rose to her feet. 
“We were all kind of crazy then,” she said quietly.
Quickly, Apple Bloom stood as well, pressed her forehead gently against her friend’s.
“That’s why we’re gonna be better than we’ve been!” she swore. “We’re gonna look out for each other! We’re gonna keep each other from gettin’ crazy again! All of us!”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as she grinned despite herself.
“Oh, you’re gonna keep me sane? Man, you are a dreamer.”
Apple Bloom laughed. “I promised, didn’t I? ‘Sides,” she added, dropping into song, “y’know I ain’t the only one...”
Rainbow Dash chuckled.
Bloom gave her a quizzical smile. “What?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just, you know... you don’t usually find walruses this far south.”
Apple Bloom winked. “Goo goo a’joob, y’all.” 
There was a brief pause, and they both broke into laughter.
Rainbow Dash held up a fist, still smiling. And, still smiling, Apple Bloom bumped it with her own. 
Outside, the thunder rumbled distantly, dawn just starting to break between the clouds. 
Silently, they embraced again, and then each made her way back to bed.