//------------------------------//
// Part VI 
// Story: Cold Rain 
// by MDNGHTRDHTLN 
//------------------------------//

	It wasn’t too late. It couldn’t be.
I ran down the apartment stairs as fast as I could. When I reached the bottom, I saw Pinkie. She was walking towards her car.
“Pinkie!” I called out to her. She turned around.
“What the fuck do you want, huh? What do you want from me? Why do you still want to be my friend? Huh? Come on, give me a fucking answer!”
“I’m sorry, Pinkie. It’s just this place is really getting to me. Please, don’t go.”
“This place got to me too! Why the fuck do you think I like to drink?”
“Pinkie, please! You have to understand! I don’t get this place! I’ve never been here before! Please, give me a chance! Please!” I was crying now, but I hardly noticed.
She looked at me, her blue eyes piercing my soul. “Twilight, I…” Tears were streaming down her face. “I…I…you’re right. I guess I’m just scared, Twilight. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, and I just…why didn’t the princess tell you about this thing?”
Why didn’t the Princess tell me about this thing?
“I don’t know, Pinkie. I don’t know. Are you okay, Pinkie?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I think I’m okay.”
I smiled at her. “Come on inside. It’s dark and cold out here.”
“Okay.”
We walked towards the door. Rainbow Dash held open the door for us as we walked inside. The cigarette she had apparently started smoking was glowing, dropping hot red embers on the cracked ground of the parking garage.
We reached the apartment. Pinkie headed straight for her room. “I gotta get some damn sleep. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Pinkie,” we all said. It was a bit strange, all of us saying the same thing. Fluttershy went towards the couch.
That reminds me, I never explained what had happened with Fluttershy after we saved her from Tim. We had taken her back to the apartment, and Rainbow Dash had arranged for her to stay with us for a while until we found her somewhere better to stay. Rainbow Dash had found her another mattress and blanket, and she seemed to be enjoying the company of her friends for the time being.
“Twilight? Rainbow Dash?” she called.
“Yeah, Fluttershy?” Dash responded.
“I…I think I’m going to move back in with Tim tomorrow. Well, later today, I guess.”
“WHAT?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “That motherfucker beat you like a dog, and you’re just going to go back to him and take it? Fluttershy, it’s dangerous.”
“Rainbow Dash, I can make it work. It’s nothing a little kindness can’t fix. Just let me try, okay?”
“Fluttershy, I don’t want you to get hurt. I just…god damn it, why do things have to be so fucking hard?”
Fluttershy looked hard a Rainbow Dash. “Just let me try, okay?”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine. But if that sick fuck so much as lays a finger on you, you call me. Got it?” Fluttershy nodded in response.
“Thank you so much for understanding, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy went back to her mattress, a wide smile on her face.
“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash looked at me. “Did I just… did I just give my friend up to a sick fuck who beats her up for fun?”
I looked at her. “Dash, Fluttershy has a knack for calming down violent souls. Remember that one time the Princess asked Fluttershy to rehabilitate Discord?”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” She got up and started to walk towards her bed. “Goodnight, Twilight. Sleep well. We’re going to see Rarity and Applejack again. All six of us.”
That was the best news I had heard all day. “Alright, then,” I said. “Good night, Rainbow Dash.”
“Night, Twilight.”
That night, I had a nightmare. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie were all dead. They were lying on the floor, blood all over the floor and surrounding areas. There was a small note on the floor next to their cold, dead, lifeless bodies. It read, “THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FUCK WITH HIGHER POWERS THAN YOURSELF. LET THIS BE A LESSON FOR YOU.” It was written in blood. But this was the worst part about the whole thing.
On the bottom right hand corner of the note was the Royal Seal.