Taking Back Canterlot

by Coyote de La Mancha

Episode 12. Rainbooms: Let Her Go.

The biker rode along the street slowly, looking around himself as he did. The rainclouds were still thick above, but the streets were basically dry, and the breeze was crisp and cool. It was a good day to ride.

He wore his colors proudly. Black and gold riding leathers, dragons coiling around each other on the back of his jacket. Kanji on his sleeves and on his bike.

Granted, this wasn’t a wide patrol; he was well within Dragon Lord territory. But he was cautious, just the same. Word had come down that things were heating up, or at least would be soon. And every member had been warned: keep an eye out.

Still, there wasn’t much to watch in a fucking suburban neighborhood. Cars driving by, people walking – mostly old people and health nuts – and the occasional cop who knew better than to mess with the Lords.

Not that he had any beef with the cops, of course. Sure, they were supposed to be large and in charge.

Canterlot PD: Protect and Serve.

But everyone knew what the real score was. A few cops even waved as they passed, and he always waved back.

After all: in the end, they were on the same side.

Any children would be indoors, schooling online. It had been that way for the last few years, since the war. After all, what kind of ass hat would want their kid outside? That’s where the shooting was.

Once they hit eighteen, they could get a job, or go to college.

Or they could get jumped in, he thought with a grin. Get a real job, with a real life and real money.

He’d been eighteen himself when he’d had his wake-up call. He’d been driving his dad’s car, on his way to pay for his books... and then a stray bullet had shattered the rear window. Before he could even react, a second one had torn through the door frame right next to him, and a third had taken out his windshield and rear view mirror.

In an instant, it had been over. He hadn’t even realized when he’d screeched to a halt. He’d just known that he was stopped, white knuckles on the steering wheel, staring behind him at the yellow car that had just opened up into traffic.

Looking in front again, he’d seen the green Roosevelt Runabout they’d been shooting at, filled with corpses. Guns falling from their lifeless hands, the riders had obviously contributed to the crossfire.

He’d been stupid lucky to survive.

One of the Dragon Lords stepped out from the yellow car, started towards him. “Hey, man, you got a fucking problem?”

His head still ringing, he’d gotten out as well, said, “Yeah, I got a fucking problem. I’m lookin’ to sign up, and ain’t nobody jumped me in yet!”

The gangbanger had grinned. “Well, shit, can’t have that, can we? Hop in, we’ll see what you’re made of.”

A week later, he’d gotten his leathers, his bike, and the power to not only shoot back, but to call on his new heavily-armed family any time he needed to.

He wondered briefly how many kids might be watching him right now, their faces pressed against the one-way glass used in almost all homes, and revved his bike. Like the boss had always said, don’t just represent, represent to recruit.

He popped a wheelie, speeding down the lane and around the bend on one wheel.

“Dragon Lords rule!”

---

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she turned away from the living room window. “Fucking idiot.”

The trio had been with Rarity for four days now, and over time had acquired a good idea of the local sentry’s patterns. Twilight had pointed out that, lacking any good insight as to how much the gangs knew, it was wisest to assume they knew as much as the police. So, avoiding contact with any gangsters had become as important as avoiding the police themselves. Fortunately, the local soldier-on-guard was a creature of habit. Once they were ready to leave, avoiding him would be easy enough.

The rest of the city, however, was anyone’s guess.

“Have you contacted Zephyr yet?” Twilight asked, typing away on her laptop. “I’m not sure how safe it is to get his van back to him.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nah, I wouldn’t worry about it. He doesn’t need it, and he knew what he was getting into.”

“Okay, that works. Apple Bloom’s cleaning it now. If all goes well, I’ll handle transport to our new HQ in a few days. We can pick it up after things cool down a little.”

Rarity smiled as she descended the stairs. “Oh? You found a place already?”

Twilight nodded. “Well, we still have to secure it, but from what I can see that shouldn’t take much. It’s an older location, so most of the online sources won’t have it listed. And it’s underground, so I can access the power grid directly Which should put off the need to hack anything municipal for a while longer.”

Rainbow Dash frowned, puzzled. “Wait, since when did that become a problem?”

“Since I spent three years in a coma,” Twilight sighed. “Sure, I can still access pretty much anything. But access isn’t the problem, it’s getting tracked afterwards. And outside of what I designed myself, I still have a lot of catching up to do where security is concerned. I don’t even know if my old aliases are safe yet.”

“But, what about Pinkie?”

“That was just creating new accounts,” Twilight explained, waving the question away. “Ironically, setting up transportation or a new identity somewhere else is simple. But remember, Armor knows what I do, if not how I do it. Local systems are going to be monitored by someone he’s brought in. Someone looking for me, who knows what they’re doing.”

“Okay. So, how long before you’re back?”

Twilight considered.

“Probably a couple of weeks for basic stuff,” she decided. “But against Armor’s new talent? I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”

“Mmm. So, speaking of ‘couple of weeks,’ how’s your PT coming along?”

Twilight looked a little uncomfortable. “I seem to have stalled out, actually.”

“Nah, you’re probably just plateaued,” Rainbow smiled. “Keep at it for another few days, then take another day off. Don’t be too surprised if you sleep through it. Then, we reassess. Also, remember: we’re focusing on stamina more than strength. With what we’ll be doing, strength’ll come.”

Twilight flopped back onto the love seat. “Ugh!”

Rainbow nodded, tossing a bottle of water next to her. “Yep, I hear ya. Meanwhile, stay hydrated.”

“Better do as she says, dear,” Rarity smiled. “We hit the practice dummy in an hour.”

Even reclining, Twilight managed to slump. “Is it that time already?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Crap.”

“Indeed.”

“Yeah, you guys have fun,” Rainbow grinned. “I’m gonna help Bloomers with the van.”

And then she was gone, the door to the garage slowly swinging closed from the breeze of her passing.

Twilight took in a breath, held it.

Rarity looked at her curiously.

Twilight exhaled.

“Is something in particular troubling you, dear?” Rarity asked. “Or just everything in general?”

“It’s mostly everything,” Twilight sighed. “But well, frankly, I also feel like a heel, bringing all of our problems here. I mean, it’s been wonderful seeing you again. And you and Rainbow getting to see each other these past few days, that’s meant a lot. And, of course, there’s Apple Bloom...”

Rarity glanced at the garage door with a fond smile. “Yes, there certainly is. She’s become quite the young lady.”

“And I’m glad for all of that. I really am. It’s just...”

She gave a helpless, vague gesture, before finishing, “I feel like I’m crashing back into your life like a rhinoceros. Like I’m wrecking everything, and we just don’t know it yet.”

Rarity raised an amused eyebrow. “A rhinoceros. That seems... oddly specific.”

But Twilight was slumping down where she sat, her elbows on her knees. Looking up at Rarity miserably, she asked, “Am I, though? Am I just... smashing everything around me? Wrecking your life, all over again?”

Rarity seemed to consider this. Then, she asked, “Twilight, dear, would you join me in the kitchen, please?”

Twilight blinked. She started to ask something, but her friend was already vanishing through the kitchen door, and she scrambled to follow.

Rarity was waiting for her, as always the very picture of poise and grace.

“Twilight, we’ve been friends for some years now,” she said. “And you know I’ll never lie to you. But what I’m about to say, I need you to listen to, both carefully and completely. Can you do that?”

Twilight looked away, crossing her arms defensively.

“I guess,” she said.

“No,” Rarity corrected, gently grasping Twilight’s chin and turning her to face her. “That is not an acceptable response. You have a keen and analytical mind, darling. And I need you to use those qualities during this conversation, not berate yourself before we even start. Can you do that?”

Uncrossing her arms, Twilight leaned back on the stove behind her and nodded.

“Thank you,” Rarity said. “This is, I suspect, an important discussion we’re about to have. And it would wound me deeply if my words were misconstrued.”

“I understand,” Twilight said. “Just so long as you understand that if you need us to go, or even just me, there’s no blame and no resentment.”

Rarity smiled. “Oh, no, darling. it isn't that. It's just, well... you see that bottle of wine behind you?”

Twilight glanced at the stove, then the collection of wine bottles beside it. Two were for cooking, and a few they’d already sampled with some of their meals...

But then there was one, behind the others, in a cylindrical glass case. The case was thick, heavy glass, with ornate filigrees. The bottle’s label was unmarked green parchment, the glass itself was a dark violet.

“This one?”

“That one. It comes from a rather exclusive vineyard actually, back when the plinth was still operational, before that terrible ordeal with our school.”

Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. “I remember now! You’d asked Sunset and me to bring you back a bottle of pony wine!”

Considering the dust-covered glass, she added, “I'm surprised you never drank it. You seemed to be looking forward to it.”

“Well, you must remember, after all, that it was a much simpler time then. A much more innocent time. I was looking forward to graduation, we all were. And then Rainbow Dash was going to go off to law school and I would pursue my career in fashion with Carousel...”

Twilight winced. “Yeah.”

Rarity sighed sadly. “It all seems so far away now. But anyway, the point is that I was saving it for our graduation.”

She reached past Twilight and opened the glass case, picked up the bottle. Examined it in the light.

“But then the Sirens came back. And after that, when they destroyed our school and killed our friends, and everything else that happened, well, I set my sights on a higher goal. A different new beginning than graduation. Or, maybe just a different type of graduation. I honestly don't know anymore.”

There was the barest ghost of a smile as she added, “In any case. When you helped me fake my death, I made certain to keep the bottle with me.”

Carefully replacing the bottle, she continued, “I’ve been saving it ever since, for the day when all this nonsense would finally be behind us. Rainbow and I could start our new life together without the gangs, without the violence, without all of that... and just have our own life together.”

Twilight looked down. “Yeah, I can go.”

Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “Twilight Sparkle, you promised.”

Twilight looked back up, took in another long breath and released it. “Sorry.”

“That’s quite alright, you’re under tremendous stress. And in any case, while you’re being quite noble about this, that isn’t what I’m getting at.

“I don’t want you to leave, though I realize that eventually you must. Nor shall I ask you to abandon this crusade of yours, although I’ll admit that in my heart, I wish that you could. And I'm certainly never going to ask Rainbow Dash to leave you in your time of need.

“But I will ask you to make sure that you all survive this terrifying ordeal. Because I want to be able to share that bottle with all of you, hopefully someday soon, when we can all start new lives far away from any of this madness. Including Apple Bloom.”

Then, looking out the kitchen window, she crossed her arms, adding softly, “Perhaps especially Apple Bloom.”

Then, turning back to Twilight, she forced a smile, tossing her hair over one shoulder. “I'm sorry, darling. I feel as though I'm asking something of you that’s absolutely unfair.”

“No, Rarity,” Twilight replied. “There's nothing unfair about that. Although I think Apple Bloom may disagree.”

“That, my dear, is the burden of being a leader,” Rarity said. “Which, I will admit, is one of the reasons I've never wanted to be one, even if I had the right stuff. Yours is the responsibility, for good or for ill.”

Twilight looked down. “I never wanted that responsibility.”

Rarity placed a gentle hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

“No good leader ever does, my dear.”

Author's Note:

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Ending credits: Let Her Go, by Passenger.

Comments

[ghostcyclone02]

I haven't even started reading yet but this is gonna be Saints Row 2 but horsegirl flavoured isn't it

[ghostcyclone02]

Ohhh this is gooood shit, favourited

[ghostcyclone02]

Also, quick question- is there a prequel to this about the Siren Gang war or is there not because nobody played SR1?

[FanOfMostEverything]

Can't recall if the portal's been mentioned before, but the sirens taking it out definitely says something about their mindset. They were willing to settle for this world alone and burned any bridges that might provide their foes reinforcements... or they legitimately didn't know about the portal and ended up destroying their way home as collateral damage in the name of revenge.

In any case, the opening of the chapter shows their legacy. This town's a lot different from when the Rainbooms were in high school. I can only hope that kids will dare to venture outside when Twilight's done.

[Coyote de La Mancha]

11908405
There are no plans for a prequel, but not because so few people have played SR1.

To me, two of the three most interesting points about this story are first, how the hell did the Mane Seven - as I grew to know them from the animations - end up in this situation; and second, how do they handle being in this situation now?

But the third is the big one, for me: I love a good redemption arc. Especially when the characters are injured and flawed, and may or may not succeed.

So, I have no intention of writing the prequel story to this, preferring to simply allude to it and fill in gaps here and there. If someone else wants to, I have no objection. But I am more interested in writing the Equestria Girls’ struggle to rise up and heal from their past actions and experiences than writing their traumatic fall from being heroes and joyful musicians.

Kind of like if George Lucas had never made the prequels, I suppose, except that I’m really glad he made the prequels.

[Coyote de La Mancha]

11908585

...the sirens taking it out definitely says something about their mindset. They were willing to settle for this world alone and burned any bridges that might provide their foes reinforcements... or they legitimately didn't know about the portal and ended up destroying their way home as collateral damage in the name of revenge.

It’s the first one. Mad with power and ambition, the Sirens destroyed the school and plinth in order to both kill their old enemies and secure this world as being theirs and theirs alone.

I can only hope that kids will dare to venture outside when Twilight's done.

That’s the goal, which is why this will ideally be a revolution rather than just another turf war. Whether that distinction can be maintained, and the ultimate goal accomplished, remains to be seen.

[ghostcyclone02]

11910011
I meant it (nobody played sr1) more as a joke in this particular case but thanks for the insight into your process-

[Coyote de La Mancha]

11910046
Wups.

Well, I appreciate you not minding my answering with Maximum Verbosity. My brain kind of lives there.