Author's Notes:

For those who'd spent the last fortnight and a half dwelling in and, of course on this story so far, aside from large word count amongst other errors, let's start off by apologizing for not updating as consistently as possible before; nevertheless, I'm taking the time to remedy the ever present problems long enough to finish it on a high note and perhaps give this another go so until then, I have one thing to say to y'all: see ya later.

Anyways, this chapter, yet another proper finish to the sudden fire and flames from long ago and I mean no exaggeration whatsoever as usual, will now be taking place at night as usual to help set up a contrast and, by far a pattern too: a difficult task to accomplish in the lost time spent writing on my own, it will be to serve as a contrast and pattern with a rise of more tender feelings permeating throughout; besides, this one is going to be shorter than the others not only as a breather from the disarray from the day earlier but also in preparation for the next day.

For those wondering what Day Four will be bringing, as much as I have no need for spoiling the plot onward, let's just say it will be, and I quote A Clockwork Orange's Alex, "the real weepy and like tragic part of the story beginning, O my brothers and only friends." Until then, sweet dreams and goodnight sugarbitches.

The skies were now darkened up once more, only this time the light emanating from the moon and stars became completely obscured by a large squall line of clouds. Traveling across the log horizons of the much dulled firmament were but brief flashes of electricity, quickly slithering about like some venomous snakes from the distant past. A roll of thunder quickly crackling the sound barrier soon simply served as a call sign to herald in the silent voice known as downpour to fall onto the solid earth below them. The soil and flora that painted the earth had become moistened by the pitter patter of such minute droplets being pulled down by the gravitational pull from their homes. The invisible environment was already settled in by the lacking of some directional knowledge, save for an occasional cluster of some fireflies which were bending in the wind. To say that loneliness was currently filling the dead air would be an understatement had there been even a single grain of truth been planted before the time no less.

Out the many places where the rain had begun to fall, there had lain one piece of landscape that stood out in the distance while providing clue to a certain stationary location. Some of the small splashes being quickly dissolved into the abyssal darkness only proved that not every single one of their respective targets had touched terra firma. Without a doubt, the bolts of lightning that illuminated the dark clouds were reflected by the surface below it while splashing the rest against the pitch perfect darkness.

“This way, the cave is just nearby; pick up the pace…!” a voice shouted in the distances before subsiding into the ambiance within seconds as the rain poured, the source belonging to Rainbow herself alongside two other females following after: Pinkie was found to be carrying Fluttershy along for the trek. Of the three mare whom were traversing about the way currently, only the cyan pegasus held up her blanket while the pink pony had a large leaf shielding against the downpour; of course, the third member of the small party was showing signs of slacking about. Nevertheless, their hooves trampled about the damp soil as the dirt that crawled halfway up to their cannons were being quickly washed away as of the moment.

As Pinkie held Fluttershy close by, a sneeze blurted out from the lips of the latter, followed after by weak mumbling, “Rainbow… why…?”

“Stay with me, Fluttershy; we’re not going to be sleeping in the rain tonight…” the pink pony whispered as she dragged her friend quickly about, “I’m sorry for letting this happen…”

“We’ll camp in here tonight; besides, I’d rather avoid the cloud to ground lightning at all costs,” Rainbow stated as they came across a cave nearby their sights, the rumbles of rolling thunderclaps above permeating throughout their very ears. The three mares all had quickly entered the premises as another flash of lightning illuminated the entire environment they've briefly watched the scene unfold in due time. Soon, the amount of precipitation started to shrink into a merely somewhat intermittent drizzle all at once.

The cyan pegasus watched intently as her butterscotch counterpart was being settled down onto the ground gently; slowly, the former began to lower the blanket to her waist line, covering up the adjacent user’s uncovered coat and scars. Calmly but quickly, Rainbow began to wring the comforter within her grasp as water poured onto the dirt beneath at once, being amassed and collected into the folds upon tightening reins. The cyan pegasus suddenly stretched out the textile back to its own form, save for the residing moisture that clung onto the surface.

As Rainbow began to smooth out the fibers of the blanket, a makeshift halter top in Pinkie’s hand was spotted by as the owner spoke softly, “here, take it; I don’t want you to get sick…”

“Wha… you want me to wear the skimpy rags…?” the cyan pegasus stuttered, bearing witness to the pink pony’s newly completed form of dishabille up in front, “but aren’t you gonna–––”

“Don’t worry about it; at this rate, I don’t even deserve these now after what you been through…” Pinkie interrupted, placing the clothing on Rainbow’s shoulder without a care of their current state.

A tear started to form from the corner of the pink pony’s eye, prompting the cyan pegasus to sigh, “you don’t have to go and make a big deal out of it; I can take of myself though I can't say the same for Fluttershy here: hadn’t spoken a single word ever since we ran away this morning yet I never figured that someone like herself would lose a home this sort of way.”

“It’s not just that, Dashie: I'd just killed someone…!” Pinkie choked out for Rainbow to hear, “there's absolutely no telling if he's not the only one who died at my grasp today…!”

“Now, you’re just exaggerating as usual: there’s no way an earth pony like you could’ve done something like it; besides, he’s just another dead caribou joining the others the day before…!” the cyan pegasus grunted, locking eyes with the pink pony as lightning had struck in the distance.

Nevertheless, Pinkie averted her gaze and said, “it’s more than that: the moment I had seen you again yesterday, I felt truly happy about that once more but then I noticed how much you changed since that day, how you got angry at me because of the fact that all I’m wearing now is this collar, just like the one Fluttershy also has and it scared me silent throughout most of the night; even worse, when these unicorns were hurting you the same way their friend did to Applejack last night, I heard voices inside my head mixing with your screams calling for me to stop them from. And then, I screamed loudly and watched the guy burst into flames up in front of us; she ended up getting hurt trying to get away from him so that she wouldn’t catch fire alongside him.”

“Whoa, how in Equestria does last night’s struggle should have anything to do with this morning’s convoluted mess, let alone make any sense at all?!” Rainbow interrupted within a heartbeat placing the blanket around her shoulder, “it would sound like something that Twilight would investigate, not that it matters now after what I've heard and seen…”

“I don’t know; I know I’ve gotten crazier but I think it had something to do with what Adam had said the day before yesterday: something about power, I remember…” the pink pony said slowly.

The cyan pegasus backed away slowly and picked up her sweater before whispering about, “I don’t get you; what could you be honestly talking about…?”

“Yesterday, I was sweating profusely and it felt like the world was spinning all around me with some red orbs thrown into the mix; at first, I was fine but then there was a voice coming from nowhere…” Pinkie answered Rainbow, “then when we'd found Fluttershy, I’d heard her voice saying awful things that made me cry and all, about how her cells were speaking as if they were her real thoughts compared to how happy she was before that animal died…”

“Now you’re freaking me out more than before here Pinks: one minute you were standing around like a weeping angel, next you were as happy as a lap dog; this isn’t like you at all…” the cyan pegasus exhaled as she looked at Fluttershy sitting around a few feet behind them.

The pink pony joined in to find that the butterscotch pegasus holding her hands over both eyes and replied, “neither is the real me pleasuring other people’s pets nor killing people indiscriminately; even so, the Fluttershy I know of wouldn’t have done the things that I did, especially after what we'd seen and been through…”

“I know that, Pinkie, none of us would; but, we gotta focus in on what to do now instead…” Rainbow said, grabbing ahold of her friend’s attention as the rain kept on pouring downward, “Applejack’s up in buffalo country so returning to Sweet Apple Acres’ outta the question and there’s no way we ain’t gonna travel outside in the storm; we’ll just have to stay here for the night.”

“But who's gonna make sure that they wouldn’t find us…?” Pinkie asked as thunder rumbled.

The cyan pegasus placed the comforter upon Fluttershy and answered, “in this weather, why would they? Just leave everything to me; you two need your strength more for tomorrow morning anyway so go on and get some sleep…”

“What about you, Dashie; what will you do…?” the pink pony said as the butterscotch pegasus was slowly left alone but remained still anyways, “how will you handle the whole thing…? Your wings are–––”

“None of your concern at all; just stay outta my way, okay?” Rainbow interjected before putting the sweater back over the body while sitting down. Pinkie leaned over a wall as the two friends were well into her sights as such, all in the same position but in different directions and emotions that she shared. Today had started with a bang but not in the same way as the day before yesterday let alone last night; of course, the rain served as a contrast to the past thereof. The pink pony looked away from the pegasi pair and slither downward as her eyes blinked slowly before yawning. Soon, Pinkie snored silently as the sights of both Rainbow and Fluttershy subsided into the darkness, along with the cave’s entrance and the stormy weather in the very background.