> Through The Rift
>  by BombShelter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Starting Anew
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*6 Months Later* *June 3*

I can't believe it has been six months since Star was born. I actually got to see her take her first steps at just two months old! Rainbow was right, ponies really do mature faster than humans. She has still yet to say her first words, but that is to be expected. I mean, c'mon, she isn't even a year old.

With high-school over, I'm finally a free adult, able to do whatever I want! While that might sound fun, it really isn't. I've found myself getting bored when I'm not around Rainbow or Star. To make things worse, Alex and Skyler are going to college next year, and that means I won't be able to see them as much as I used to. Luckily, they are going to a college in the city, so it isn't like they are completely leaving my life, just taking a step back I guess.

I'm currently laying down on my bed, waiting for Rainbow to get out of the shower. I hold Star above my head, watching her flap her tiny wings and giggling. A smile creeps across my face, and I start laughing as well. She loves when I hold her up in the air. I guess it's just instinct for her to want to fly. Rainbow told me she should be able to before she turns one. Or at least, that's how she was. While she can't talk yet, she can obviously think for herself to some extent. She knew Rainbow was her mother by instinct, and she quickly learned that I was daddy. I pull her down to my chest, and she hops around on my chest, her hooves pushing down on my ribs. Thankfully, pegasi are really light, so it doesn't hurt at all. She turns to look at me with her big emerald green eyes. My heart just melts when she sticks her tongue out at me, the same thing Rainbow has always done. I wonder when she picked that up?

"You two having fun?" Rainbow says as she walks out of the bathroom. Her mane is practically hanging down in her face, and her coat is a darker blue, having been turned that color by the water. Reminds me of Star since her coat is a darker shade of cyan than Rainbow's.

"You bet. I love playing with her." I say with a smile as I lift her back into the air. She starts giggling again, her wings spreading out to the sides, trying to keep her airborne. Little does she know that my hand is what is keeping her up. My smile grows bigger as her mouth opens.

"F-Fly!" She stutters out. My mouth shoots open, and I look over at Rainbow who has moved the hair out of her face. She looks back with a wide open grin. We both start laughing and I pull star down into a hug.

"Just like your mother!" I say with a laugh. She really must be Rainbow's daughter. Rainbow flaps her wings, and flies on over to the bed. She pushes her muzzle against Star's head, and Star lets out a coo. Too. Much. Cute. If I die right now, tell the police I had a heart attack from emotional overload.

"She reminds me of you y'know." Rainbow says as she looks up at me.

"Me? She's practically you Rainbow. She doesn't even look remotely like me. All I did was provide the... ahem, y'know." I say awkwardly as I shrug. I run a hand through Star's rainbow mane, and she quickly falls asleep. I smile and pick her up, moving her over to her crib on the other side of the room. I tuck her under a small blanket, and Rainbow and I leave the room to let her sleep.

"She reminds me of you because of how sweet you are." Rainbow says as she blushes. She really hates being all mushy and sappy, but she lets it slip out sometimes.

"Me? Sweet? You gotta be kidding Rainbow. I've killed five people, maybe even more if those two car crashes killed anyone. I also shot Jack in the leg, shot a manticore in the eye, and God knows what I've done in my past that I regret."

"You're forgetting the other side of you Matt. That's your protective side, but you also have a gentle, kind side. That's the side you just showed back there with Star Gaze."

"Heh, I guess you're right Rainbow. Anyway, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Do you know how to make pancakes?"

"Rainbow, I've made pancakes for you several time before, why would you even ask that." I say as I ruffle her hair. She laughs at her forgetfulness, and I get out the ingredients to make breakfast. It takes a few minutes, but I'm able to make a few pancakes. I fill a bottle with milk, and put it in the microwave to warm it up. Star got her milk from Rainbow in ways I won't go into detail about. Now she drinks from a bottle, which I feel more comfortable watching. While it warms up, I go back upstairs to get Star. I walk into the bedroom to find her leaning up against the side of the crib, her forelegs on the edge for support. Her head pokes out, and she giggles when I walk in.

"Alright you, lets go get some breakfast." I say with a grin as I pick her up under her forelegs, basically her armpits. She giggles and kicks her back legs. I hold her against my chest with one arm as I make my way back downstairs. I see Rainbow at the table waiting for her breakfast. It's still weird to see her without that big lump on her stomach. I guess it'll take some time to get used to that again. At least now I get to hold that lump in my arms.

"Here's the princess." I say as I put Star down on top of the table. She wanders around aimlessly as Rainbow watches her, making sure that she doesn't fall off. I take the milk bottle out of the microwave and place it down on the table.

"Want me to feed her?" Rainbow asks with a smile on her face. Still weird to look at her and think, "Hey she's a mother!" She still looks like the same old Rainbow I knew so long ago.

"Yeah, I gotta get the mail."

I walk outside, and the warm morning air hits me. I take in a deep breath, and my senses finally wake up. I wave to one of my neighbors as he mows his lawn. He waves back with a friendly smile as I walk out to the mailbox. I expect to find a bunch of bills and advertisements, which I do, but am surprised by one letter.

"Rainbow." I say as I walk back into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Rainbow looks up from Star who is leaning against her with the bottle in her mouth.

"We... have a situation..."




"Washington D.C.?" Alex says with a confused look. I met up with Alex and Skyler for lunch, along with Rainbow so I could discuss something with all of them. I left Star at my parent's house so somebody could watch her while we got down to business.

"Yeah, it said something about a national crisis or something. Didn't go into detail really. They sent me some plane tickets though. They want me at the White House in three days."

"Are you sure they aren't just trying to get Rainbow, or even Star again?" Skyler says as she takes a sip of her drink.

"Positive. The government already assured me that Rainbow was safe. Besides, she's an official citizen of the United States. They can't touch her now, not legally anyway."

"What about Star, is she safe Matt?" Rainbow looks up at me with a worried look.

"We're both citizens of the United States, that means, by law, Star is also a citizen. She doesn't have to take a test like you did. She's safe just like you are." Rainbow lets out a sigh of relief as I explain how our country works.

"So, you're gonna go?" Alex says with one eyebrow raised.

"I guess I have to. You don't tell the government no."

"And who are you going with?"

"They sent me only one ticket, but I could just buy more for a different flight." I say casually. "I don't suppose you would all like to go?"

"Going to the capital? Hell yeah I wanna go!" Alex has always been a real history nerd, he just doesn't like to show it a lot. No wonder he wants to go so badly.

"Alright, I'll buy four tickets for a flight to Washington tomorrow. We'll head out on Friday."

"Good thing they sent you this during the summer, or else they wouldn't be able to go." Rainbow points out. She's right, they probably would both be too busy with college to really go with us. I could use the backup and support anyway. Never know if they might try to pull something with Rainbow.

"I guess we can leave Star with my parents and Emily for a day or two." I say as I fish out the cash to pay for lunch.

"Sounds like a plan." Skyler says as we all stand up. Once we get to the parking lot, we split up and go our separate ways. I bought a new truck recently so we could take Star to the store or other places. We just couldn't do that on a motorcycle. We hop into the truck and make our way to my parent's house to pick up Star.

"Are you sure about this?" Rainbow says questionably.

"Yeah, they said something about a crisis. I don't think they're lying either. I say we check it out, see just what is going on."

If there truly is something bad happening, and they need ME for it, then it cannot be something good. It has to be related to magic or something.

I just hope I can live up to their expectations. If I can't, who knows what will happen.

We arrive at my parent's house about five minutes later. We park in the driveway, and make our way to the front door. I take out my own key to unlock it, and make my way inside.

"Hello Matt." My mom says with a smile as she cleans some dishes. "Looking for Star?"

"Yeah, where is she?"

"Upstairs with Emily. She really loves that foal."

"Thanks mom. Say, I'll be out of town for... business, for a couple of days starting Friday. Can you watch Star for me while I'm gone?"

"Of course! I'm sure Emily would be very excited to watch her!"

"Thanks mom!" I say as I lead Rainbow up the stairs. We enter Emily's room to find her brushing Star's hair like she's some kind of doll.

"Aren't you a little old to do that?" I say as I walk in. My voice startles Emily, and she jumps a little. Star runs over to Rainbow and basically wraps herself around Rainbow's leg.

"I thought her hair was too messy." Emily says with a smile.

"Have you seen Rainbow's hair? It looks like somebody put a leaf blower right up against it." Emily and I laugh at my joke. Rainbow just gives me a deadpan stares. She ruffles up Star's mane to make it match her own.

"Aw man! I worked on that for like, ten minutes!" Emily says, a smile still on her face.

"Emily, I got a surprise for you." I say as I kneel down next to her. For a twelve year old, she's still pretty short. "Wanna watch Star for a couple of days while we go out of town?"

"Yes! I'll be the best big sister!" She says excitedly.

"Alright, I'll bring her over on Friday. I'll see you then!" I save as the three of us exit the room. We make our way back out to the truck, and I buckle Rainbow in. There isn't a car seat big enough for Star, so Rainbow just holds her tightly against her chest. Not the safest way to do it, but really our only option.

"Alright... lets go pack." I sigh, not from frustration, but just from anticipation. Whatever the fucking government needs ME for, can't be good.

I'll do what I can to make sure my family is safe.
> Washington D.C.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Fuck fuck fuck." I mumble to myself as I fidget in my plane seat. Skyler and Rainbow go the seats in the row across from Alex and I.

"What's up with you? You've been swearing to yourself since we took off." Alex whispers to me.

"I'm nervous! The government wants to see ME personally Alex! The only reason they would want that is because of something related to magic and/or Rainbow! Nothing good could come from this!"

"Chill out dude. I've seen what you can do. You're a fighter, and you never quit. Whatever this is, you'll overcome it, I guarantee it."

"Still, just the fact that the government is getting back into my life again... it just makes me want to break something."

"We'll just see what happens when we get there." Alex leans back and closes his eyes as he puts on a pair of headphones. I pull out my cellphone, and begin to scan the internet for anything that might be helpful. I browse through what feels like hundreds of news articles, but nothing really comes up that would pertain to my current situation.

I open up my photo gallery and stare down at a picture of Star sleeping in Rainbow's lap. I let the memories and emotions flow through my veins to try to calm my nerves. I look over at Rainbow, who is talking to Skyler, and try my best to stay positive. I decide to lean back and take a nap. The stress leaves my body as I slowly drift off into another unseen realm.




"We're here dude." Alex shoves me awake as I feel the plane hitting the ground below us. I pear out the window to see we're currently landing. I check my watch and see it's only about noon. We left really early from Jacksonville, so it looks like we still have all of today to settle into the city. I don't have to be at the White House until tomorrow. I stretch my sore muscles, and let out a yawn as I glance over at Rainbow. Both girls are asleep, and Rainbow's wings are fully spread, almost suffocating Skyler with her feathers hovering just inches from her nose. Alex throws a wadded up paper ball at the two, and they jerk awake as it hits them.

"W-What?" Rainbow stutters, her voice cracking. "Oh Celestia, I've never slept while flying before." She says as she stretches her legs. She pulls her wings back down to her side, and almost hops out of her seat before Skyler stops her.

"Can't get up until we come to a stop. Rules are rules."

"Oh, okay."

Once the plane has stopped, we grab our bags and make our way into the busy airport. Rainbow gets stares from just about everybody here. Back in Jacksonville, nobody really stared at Rainbow anymore since they were pretty used to her walking and flying around. Here, however, nobody has seen Rainbow in person. This is a whole new experience for them.

"I don't like this." Rainbow says quietly as she presses up against my leg. We all try to walk around Rainbow, keeping her in the middle so it is harder for people to see her. We only brought backpacks since we would only be here for a couple of days. Rainbow doesn't wear clothes, so thankfully she didn't have to bring a bag. Because of this, we're able to skip over the baggage claim. We make our way through the airport, and while the other three are taking in the sights, I'm still contemplating just why we're here. It would have been nice if they gave me some more details in the letter, but I can see why they didn't. If they did, somebody else could have accidentally gotten the letter, and then a government secret would be revealed to someone who had no business knowing about it.

"Okay, the hotel isn't too far from here, so I think we should just walk. I only brought two thousand dollars to spend, so I'm not wasting it on an overpriced taxi just to walk down the street."

"Sounds like a plan. I can wait to just get in there and take a nap." Alex says as we start walking. I had already called ahead to a hotel, and they had some opens rooms we could use. I got the nicest one I could, and was glad to find it was completely open with no reservations.

"So, what are you guys doing tomorrow?" I ask the other three as we make our way down the busy sidewalk.

"I thought we would just explore the city, see the sights. Maybe we could go to the Lincoln Memorial." Skyler says as she reads through a brochure.

"What about you Rainbow?"

"What? Are you kidding? I'm going with you Matt." She says like she always thought she would be going with me. The letter asked for me, and only me, and I'd rather not drag her into this. I just wanted this to be a simple vacation for my friends while I did some business.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. If you don't let me, I'll just follow you anyway." She says with a cocky grin. I clench my hands into fists as I know arguing with her is pointless.

"Fine, but if you get hurt or in trouble, I will never forgive you." I say as I pull out my phone to check where we are on the map. Just a couple more blocks until we reach the hotel.

Ten minutes of walking later, and we arrive at a large fancy structure. We look up at the massive building, and enter into the lobby. The woman behind the counter in the lobby gives us a smile and a wave as we walk in.

"Reservation for Matthew Green." I say as I lean my arms on the counter. She looks down at her computer before looking back up to me. She hands me an envelope with two room keys in it. I hand one to Alex, and thank the woman as we make our way over to the elevators. We have a room on the top floor, which is awesome since I love heights. When we get into the elevator, I press the top button, and the doors close before us. I sigh as I lean against the back of the elevator, and rub my eyes to try to relieve myself of some of my stress.

"You really need to calm down Matt. You're gonna kill yourself with stress." Skyler says as she puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I'm trying my best to stay positive. I'm just worried that something bad is gonna happen."

"Even if worse comes to worse, you can handle it Matt. We got your back." Alex says as he slaps a hand on my back.

"We won't leave your side, because you never left us." Rainbow says quietly as she hovers next to me. I look into her magenta eyes, and the next thing I know, our lips have met, and a good chunk of my stress is gone.

"Gees, get a room." Alex says with a chuckle. Rainbow blushes as she pulls back and gives us a nervous smile.

"Technically, we ARE getting a room." I joke, finally able to with some of my stress gone. Sadly, I can feel it slowly creeping back into my mind. When the doors open, we walk into an empty, clean hallway. Our room is about three doors down, and I stick the key into the electric lock. The door unlocks with a click, and I push it open to reveal a room that could rival my house. Two master bedrooms, and huge kitchen, three bathrooms, and a giant window that has a view of the entire city. Gotta thank Twilight for the bits, I would be broke without them.

"Ohhh shit! This is some Beverly Hills type shit!" Alex says as he tosses his backpack onto a couch across the room. We both head to our respective rooms to unpack the small amount of belongings we have. Alex and Skyler go to the left, and Rainbow and I take the room on the right. I take off my backpack, which is now feeling really heavy from carrying it all day, and place it down on the bed. I take out my clothes, and fold them into ta pile before placing them on the floor in the corner of the room. I pull out my phone charger and plug it into the wall. Might need that later. Rainbow bounces slightly on the bed, obviously getting bored already. She has the attention span of a goldfish I swear.

"So, what are we gonna do tonight?" Rainbow says as she continues to bounce ever so slightly.

"Hell if I know. I only planned out tomorrow, I have no idea what to do today." I look down at my watch to see that it is only one thirty in the afternoon. I look up at the large flat screen, and reach over and grab the remote. I flip on the TV, and the news comes on. I watch it for a second, something about the sky or something in China. I didn't really pay attention. I flip the channel over to a movie, and fall face-first on the bed. I sink into the mattress, and let out a muffled sigh. I need to do something fun to get the stress out of my system.

"We could go get lunch." Rainbow suggests.

"Not hungry." I mumble into the mattress.

"Go exploring?"

"Been here before, already explored."

"Go swimming in the hotel pool?"

"There's a pool?" I ask, pushing myself off the mattress and rolling onto my back.

"Yeah, there was a sign in the lobby. It said the pool was to the left of where we came in. I think it said indoors too."

"Hm... I guess we could do that. I did bring swim shorts out of habit, and I think Alex and Skyler did too. Yeah, I guess we should go swim for a while. Who knows, it could be fun." Rainbow perks up, a smile spreading across her muzzle as she sees that I've perked up some. "Okay, go into the living room or something while I change.

"I just had your baby and I can't be in the room while you change?"

"Whatever floats your boat." I say with a shrug as I fish my swim shorts out of the pile of clothes. I throw my shorts and boxers off before slipping into my swim suit. I tie the string in the front to tighten them, and turn around. Rainbow refuses to make eye contact with me, and her wings are completely extended. I roll my eyes and slap one of her wings as I walk by. She lets out a yelp, and I walk out into the living room. I peek into Alex and Skyler's room, and see them still unpacking.

"Wanna go swimming guys?" I ask as I poke my head into the room.

"Yeah! We'll change and be in there in a minute." Alex says. I nod and close their door to give them their privacy. I turn around to see Rainbow coming out of our room, trying to push her wings down with a hoof. I roll my eyes again, and grab both of her wings. I force them back down to her sides before going over and grabbing my phone and one of the room keys. I put them in my pockets, and walk on over to the kitchen. I get a glass out of a cabinet, and fill it with water from the sink. I take a long sip from the glass, and set it down on the counter.

"Okay, we're ready!" Skyler says happily as she walks into the living room. Alex follows behind her, both in bathing suits. We all walk over to the front door, and make our way downstairs to the pool.

Once we reach the lobby, we grab some towels from a basket before walking over to the pool. We open the door that leads to the facility, and the air becomes extremely humid around us. In front of us is a large pool and a hot tub over to the side. Thankfully, nobody else is in the pool, so that means we can be alone for a while. I don't like swimming with other people unless I know them, so this is a good thing.

Alex and I empty our pockets onto a round table in the corner, then drape our towels over some chairs. I run over to the deep side of the pool and drive head-first into the water. The feeling of floating overtakes my system, and I start making my way back up to the surface. I wipe the water out of my eyes, only to see a blue blur jumping in from behind me. Next thing I know, I'm underwater again, and something furry is clinging onto my back. I push my way back up and take in a deep breath. I see Alex and Skyler in the water laughing their asses off. I turn around to see a cyan pegasus on my back, laughing up a storm. I grab her off my back, and hold her tightly against my chest. She looks up at me with those big magenta eyes.

"You fucked up now." I press her face into my chest, and I take a deep breath before forcing myself under the water. Rainbow struggles around for a few seconds, not having taken a breath, and I come back up to the surface. She takes a deep breath, and punches my shoulder which actually kinda hurts.

"Not... cool..." She says through heavy breaths, though she's still smiling.

We spend the next three hours just fucking around in the pool, and thankfully nobody ever came in and interrupted us. When we get out, it is freezing in the room, so we head on over to the hot tub. We all get in, and Alex and I wrap our arm's around the shoulder's of our respective girlfriends. I mess around with Rainbow's tail under the water, and it twitches every time I touch it. She looks up at me, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. I realize my hand is pretty close to uh... her... y'know. I quickly move my hand up to her shoulder, and I swear I hear her whisper, "Darn it." Maybe it was just my imagination.

"Feeling better yet?" Alex says as he directs his line of vision over to me. I think back on my day, and realize that I actually haven't thought about going to the White House tomorrow at all.

"Actually, yeah, I am. You guys really know how to cheer me up. I have no idea how you do it." I say with a smile as I start playing with Rainbow's ear. I have this weird habit where I constantly need to be doing something with my hands, where it be twirling a pen, or tapping my finger on a table, or maybe even playing around with Rainbow's ear. Should probably try to get that under control.

"Glad we could help." Rainbow says as she pushes up into my side, her eyes closing and a smile forming in the process. Her wet fur practically sticks to my chest, but there's not much I can do about it, even though it irritates my skin a little. We sit in silence for a while, watching the sun set through the giant window that shows the city. The warm water helps some to calm my nerves, but I can't help but wonder what is going to happen tomorrow. I force the thoughts out of my head as I step out of the water. Everyone else follows behind me, and we head over to the towels. Just as we're starting to dry off, Rainbow shakes herself like a dog and gets all of us even more wet. We give her deadpan stares, having to start over on drying ourselves off.

"Oh, heh, sorry." Rainbow says with an embarrassed grin. Once I'm dried, I reach down and dry Rainbow off quickly. She protests of course, but I do it anyway.

Once we get up to the room, the sun is just starting to vanish over the horizon, and the sky is a reddish orange in color. We head to our own rooms, and change back into dry clothes. It feels good to be back into my warm clothes. I fall back on the bed, my arms and legs spread out like a giant X. The thoughts quickly flood back into my mind as I become bored quickly. I grunt, and throw myself off the bed. I throw on a zip-on jacket, and make my way out of the bedroom without zipping it up. The two sides of the jacket flap behind me as I walk, and I make my way to the front door, not even realizing I didn't tell Rainbow where I was going. I make my way out into the hallway, and find a fire exit. I open the door, thankfully not setting off an alarm, and look around the make sure I'm alone before making my way inside. I head up the stairs that apparently open up to the roof. I open the door, and I'm hit with a somewhat cool wind that whips my hair around wildly. The sky is pitch black, and dotted with millions of tiny stars. The city is lit up in front of me, and I feel like I could see for miles. I make my way over to the edge of the building, and prop my foot up on the ledge at the very edge of the building. I cross my arms on top of my knee, and look out over the city.

I can see the White House lit up in the distance, and I let out a sigh that is carried away by the rushing wind. My jacket flaps behind me violently as I stare at the scenery before me. I hear the somewhat muffled clip clop sound behind me that I know all too well.

"You followed me?" I ask, my eyes still locked on to the beautiful city before me.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. I just didn't see you behind me at all..." I look down at my sneakers and let out a sigh.

"Still worried about tomorrow?"

"What do you think? I don't even know why I'm here, and the only thing I DO know is that there is some kind of imminent crisis coming. Why would they need me to stop it? I can't even protect myself, how am I supposed to protect an entire country?"

"By being the same Matt that I fell in love with." Rainbow looks up at me with those big amazing eyes. "I know you Matt, better than you know yourself. Being scared of the unknown isn't going to get you anywhere. You taught me to face my fears when I thought I was on Earth alone. I want to teach you not to be scared of what you can't see. You need to stop Matt. I-"

I reach down and grab Rainbow mid-sentence. I bring her up to my face, and my lips meet hers as the wind whips through our hair and my clothes. Rainbow stops trying to talk, and her words turn into moans as we stand there on that roof. Rainbow pulls away for a second, looking me directly in the eyes.

"Y'know... I can help get rid of that stress..." She says as she places a leg on my stomach. I know all too well what she meant by that.

"I love Star, but I don't want another kid." I say awkwardly as I continue to hold her.

"That can only happen if I'm in heat. So... wanna?" I look out over the city one more time, then back at Rainbow. I give her a smile before carrying her back into the stairwell. Fuck my stress, I'm gonna spend the night with the girl I love.
> Imminent Threat 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun's morning light bursts in through the windows. I groan as it hits my still closed eyelids, and I try to hide myself under the covers of my bed. Leave it to my damn phone's alarm to go off only a minute later. Oh how I wan't to hit the snooze button so bad. I force myself to crawl out of bed, and I reach over to my phone to turn it off. Once the alarm is off, I unplug it from it's charger, and place it inside the pocket of my shorts. Well, I would have if I was wearing shorts. I look down to see, well, myself. No clothes other than a wrinkled up t-shirt on my chest. As I rub my eyes, memories of the previous night start to flash through my mind, playing out in detail more than I wished to remember. I look over at Rainbow, who seemed to have a pretty damn good time, and shake my head with a small smile as I slip on a pair of boxers. I put on my jeans, and this time I successfully place my phone into my pocket.

I pick up a pillow, and throw it at the cyan mare who apparently was able to sleep through my annoying as hell alarm. The pillow hits her back, yet all she does is grunt in her sleep before grabbing the pillow like a teddy bear. I roll my eyes as I walk around the bed until I am right next to her. I place my finger in my mouth, then pull it out before sticking it directly in Rainbow's ear, and I show no mercy.

She jumps out with a shriek that probably woke up half of Washington, and she hovers a good ten feet above me trying to catch her breath and keeping her heart from exploding.

"D-Don't do that! Not cool Matt!" She says, her face turning a deep red. I laugh at her wordlessly as I open the bedroom door. I walk out into the living room, and make my way over to the kitchen. I open the fridge, only to find we have absolutely nothing. I sigh and head over to the sink where I can get the only thing possible right now. A glass of tap water. I swish the water around my mouth, trying to get rid of the dry feeling in my throat.

"Morning..." Alex says with a yawn as he stumbles out of his room. I look up at him, my vision still blurry, and try to give a legitimate smile. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah... you could say that." I say with a shrug as I go for round two on the glass of water.

"I could tell. Rainbow's pretty loud y'know." He says with a smile that makes me want to punch him so bad. I can practically feel my face turning the deepest shade of red. I almost drop the glass on the floor as my head shoots up to look at him directly.

"I-I..." I stutter out.

"Hah! Don't worry man. I'll keep your little secret. Skyler was already asleep when you, um, y'know..." He says, still smiling smugly. I shake my head as a small smile creeps across my face, even though I didn't want it to. Skyler and Rainbow both make their way into the living room a few minutes later, and you can tell they've both taken showers by their wet hair.

"Hey guys..." I say with a sad tone. I swirl around the water in my glass, looking down at my reflection in the drink.

"You still upset Matt?" Skyler asks as she sits down on the couch in the living room.

"Ugh, no! I'm stressed out again!" While Rainbow did help me to completely forget about what would happen today by doing what she did last night, it's all coming back to me now. It seems that only my friends can help me to forget.

"Ugh, Rainbow Dash to the rescue." Rainbow says as she rolls her eyes. In the blink of an eye, she is right in front of me with her lip pressed firmly against mine. I don't object, as I'll do anything to relieve my stress at this point.

After a while, I head into the bathroom, as it is almost time to get going. I'm supposed to be at the White House in a couple hours. I start up a warm shower, and sit on the sink while I wait for the water to heat up. I hear soft knocking on the door, and since I haven't taken my clothes off yet, open it up all the way. There's Rainbow sitting there with her big magenta eyes looking up at me.

"Can I come in?" She says quietly. I look back at the shower for a minute before turning back to her and nodding my head. I close the door behind her as she comes in. I start to take my shirt off as she sits down in front of the door. I sigh as I stare down at my feet after crumbling my shirt up into a ball and throwing it onto the sink. I really shouldn't let this get to me so much. It might not even be all that serious. For all I know, they just want to ask me some questions.

"Alex said I shouldn't leave your side until you're finished today, and I agreed with him. I think you need me right now." She says as she puts a hoof up against my hip. I look down to her and actually manage to smile as I run a hand through her hair. I look over to the water, and if the steam means anything, I know that it is pretty hot now.

"Can you wait outside for a minute?" I ask as I point over to the door.

"Nope, gotta stay right next to you. At. All. Times."

"So that means you plan to..." I glance back over at the shower.

"Yep, and you aren't going to stop me either." She says with a grin. I hold up my hands in defeat, and begin to take off my jeans and boxers. We step into the shower, Rainbow barely able to get in with her wings spread out all the way. Why does she do that whenever we're together like this?

"Why are your wings out?" I ask as I run my hands through my hair, trying to each strand covered in shampoo. She looks up at me, blushing deeply.

"Oh, um... it's nothing." She says as she rubs the back of her head.

"No, I've seen you do it before, and you've never been able to put them down on your own, I always have to do it for you, what's up with that? Do pegasus wings just tense up from time to time?"

"No! It only happens when... we get, um, excited..." She trails off quietly. I look down at myself, realizing what she means by that. Hm, so when she gets aroused, her wings spread out uncontrollably? Noted. This could come in handy in the future.

I continue to wash my hair, trying my best not to face Rainbow. I catch her looking up at me every now and then, but whenever she makes eye contact, she looks away quickly. Seriously Rainbow? We JUST did that last night and you're already ready for round two? Ugh, this girl...

"Ugh, c'mere..." I say as I pick her up and I sit down on a little bench inside the fancy shower. "Round two?" She nods at me, blushing. I roll my eyes and plant my lips on hers, and it all goes from there. I needed some stress relief anyway.




"Alright, well that was fun and all, but we need to go now." I say to Rainbow as I pick up my phone off the bed where I left it before getting in the shower.

"Y-Yeah, probably a good idea." Rainbow says, still panting heavily. I look out into the living room and tell Skyler and Alex that we're heading out. They nod and wave as we exit the hotel room. We walk down the empty hallway, making our way over to the elevator. When we reach it, I press the button to call the elevator down to us. When it arrives, we step inside and head down to the lobby.

"You're pretty good at that." Rainbow says without making eye contact after the doors close. I look down at her and roll my eyes while smiling. I ruffle her hair up a bit before stepping out of the elevator. Once we leave the lobby, we start heading towards the large white building in the distance. We get more stares as we make our way down the street, but we try our best to avoid them. We eventually make it to the White House, and I walk up to the front gate where a guard tries to stop me.

"Sir, you can't go pass this point. Tours don't start until two." He says as he holds out a hand to me. He notices Rainbow next to me, and lowers his sunglasses to get a better look at her. "Wait, are you Matthew Green?" He asks, his voice still holding a professional tone. I pull out my drivers license and show it to him. He leans in to get a closer look before saying something into a small radio in his pocket. A few seconds later, the gate opens, and we're taken down a path that leads directly into the White House. Once we're inside, I look around, taking in a deep breath as I take in the surroundings. I've been to Washington before, but I've never been inside the White House!

"Wow, real fancy in here." Rainbow says, though she doesn't actually seem all that impressed. She's never really been one to appreciate true beauty. An agent pops out from around a corner, and confronts me personally. He leads me to what I guess is a giant meeting room. I gulp in anticipation as I put my hand on the door to open it. Well, here goes nothing. Rainbow and I both almost scream out when we see what is inside. 

I was completely anticipating to see a bunch of agents, maybe even the president, but boy was I shocked to see Celestia and Rainbow's five friends! What the hell!?

Rainbow runs over to her friends, all of them gathering in a group hug. We haven't seen any of them in months, so I can see why she would be excited. Just why the fuck are they here!? I look around the rest of the room, spotting some government officials look at the group of friends with annoyed expression, probably just wanting to get down to business. I walk over and take a seat between Celestia and Twilight, with Rainbow sitting a couple of chairs down between what looks like a general and Applejack. I look over to my left, and look Celestia directly in the eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here!? You really trust these guys?" I whisper to her.

"I opened a portal to your world using the same spell I gave to you, and brought along the other Elements. The subject of the matter involves me, as well as your own government." She says in a professional voice. I look at her with a confused look, but can't say anything else when one of the agents in the room stands up and points to a giant screen in the wall.

"We're here today to discuss the anomalies appearing both on Earth and... was it Equestria?" Celestia nods, and the agent regains his composure. "As you can see, a rift in space has been reported to have appeared in the sky about three days ago, and we have traced it down to a single source." He shows a picture of the sky, and there, between some clouds, is what looks like a huge rip in reality itself. Wait, was this that thing on the news that I ignored earlier? I look at the bottom of the picture to see that it is indeed a picture of the sky over Shanghai.

The screen changes to a picture of me!

"This man is the direct cause of this rift, as well as the one that appeared in the other world, Equestria. His actions have led to these anomalies." Every head in the room shoots over in my direction, and I try to disappear in my chair.

"How is this his fault!?" Rainbow yells out as she hits a hoof against the table.

"Because of this." The slide changes to a picture of Rainbow and I standing in front of one of my portals. It looks like a picture that was taken from quite a distance. Were they spying on me too?

"These portals have had a heavy impact on the fabric of time and space itself. The more portals that are activated, the more stress is applied to the fabric." The picture changes to one of Ponyville. In the sky is another rift that looks just like the one over China. My mouth gapes open as I stare at the picture in front of me. If you look closely inside the rift, you can see Shanghai on the other side. I stand up and walk over to the giant monitor, and point a finger at the rift.

"Why can you see China in this one?" I ask, my finger still aimed at the photo. The agent switches back to the photo of the rift in Shanghai. I look closely at it, and see that an image of Ponyville can be seen inside of it.

"Both of our worlds are starting to merge into one." Celestia says from behind me.

"What does that even mean!?"

"It means, that new rifts will continue to open in both of our worlds as long as one is opened. If we want to stop this, we need to close every portal in both worlds. Once they are closed, they shouldn't reopen unless the portal spell is used again. However, I believe that if we leave too many of them opened, our worlds could merge into one."

"What would happen if they merged?" I ask nervously.

"They would be destroyed instantly, along with anything on them." She says with a serious tone. My heart drops, and I can feel my eyes almost close as I come close to passing out.

"H-How are we supposed to close them?" I ask, looking back up at the picture of Shanghai.

"With this." Celestia opens a bag on the floor, and levitates a small blue cube about the size of a baseball over to me. I grab it out of the air and turn it around in my hand. It just looks like a blue crystal, why would this be able to close a rift?

"Okay, what the hell does this do?" I ask.

"It is the only thing in either of our worlds with the power to close the rifts. While nopony is sure where it came from, it was found in the Everfree Forest about three months ago. From what we have learned about the cube, it can basically manipulate time and space, which, in theory, should allow you to close the rifts. I sure hope it can, because if it can't then we're seriously in trouble." Twilight explains in a professional manner.

"So, I guess I understood like half of that, but why exactly am I here again?" I ask, still confused as to why I'm involved in this. I get it, I caused this, but why should I have to stop it?

"The portals that caused these rifts were directly linked to you Matthew." Celestia says. "Because of this, the rifts that have appeared in both of our worlds are also directly connected to you, and only you. Think of the rifts as giant portals that only you can control. They will only respond to any magic that comes directly from you. While we could use the cube to open or close our own rifts, the ones caused by your portals are still directly connected to what is essentially your life force."

"Okay, I think I understood about three of those words, but I think I get it. The rifts essentially came from spells that I cast, therefore only I can reverse them?"

"Correct. The first time you used that portal spell Matthew, it created a magical core inside of you that humans do not posses naturally. I failed to inform you that your device is not what casts the portal spell, but is instead more of a medium for the spell to travel through. The real spell comes from your magical core Matthew. THAT is why only you can close the rifts caused by YOUR spells."

I sigh and rub my eyes as I lean against the giant screen. Okay, so I'm the direct cause of what could become Armageddon, and now I'm the only one who can prevent it from happening? To only make matters worse, I can't use the portal app anymore, which sucks since I've gotten used to traveling around with it.

"So, I can't use the portal application anymore?"

"I'm afraid not, however, you can use that cube to open and close your own rifts at will. It is essentially a simplified version of the portal spell. There is one downside to it. While you can use it to travel between Earth and Equestria, it cannot open a rift that leads to another spot on the same planet. That alone is what caused the rifts in the first place. Traveling between worlds have no effect on the fabric of space time, however, traveling to different locations on the same planet will just cause more rifts. Also, the rifts must be closed here, on Earth, as that is where they originated from." Celestia says with an unreadable expression. "I wish I had never created that spell..."

"It's not your fault, it's mine. I'll fix this Celestia, I promise." I say, filled with new found confidence. What's the one thing keeping me going at this point? The will to keep my family and friends alive. I promised that I would keep Rainbow and Star safe no matter what, and I plan to do so.

"Alright, if that is all, we need you to go now Mr. Green." A man, who appears to be a general, says to me. He walks over to me and hands me what looks like a passport, and what appears to be a plane ticket to China.

"Do I have to go now?" I ask as I look down at the ticket. I look over at Rainbow, not wanting to leave her alone. I guess she could just come with me, but do I want to risk her getting attacked in another country?

"We recommend getting on the next available flight." The general says as he places a rough hand on my shoulder. He looks me directly in the eyes after taking off his glasses. "Godspeed." I nod nervously as my hand begins to shake. I slowly walk out of the meeting room, and make my way back outside. Rainbow meets up with me, and starts hovering next to me in silence.

"You okay Matt?" She asks with a worried tone.

"No! I just found out that I've pretty much fucked over seven billion people, and who knows how many ponies! I'm such a fucking idiot!" I say as I punch a wall. Good thing these things are thick, or I probably would have punched a hole in the wall.

"You're not an idiot! You didn't know this would happen!" Rainbow tries to comfort me. I sigh and try not to let a flood of tears escape from my eyes. I grit my teeth and lean against a wall. This can't be happening.

"I-Its... my... fault." I say quietly as I start to sob into my hand. Rainbow wraps herself around my back, and tries to comfort me the best she can. I grab her off my back and hold her against my chest. I bend my head down and sob into her back, matting her fur together with my tears. "I'm so sorry Rainbow..."

"I-I know." She says through a sniffle. "Now, lets get to... wherever China is." She says calmly. I let out a couple of sniffles and rub my eyes. I look at her, her beautiful hair falling down in her face. She reminds me of Star back home, and I'm filled with a new fuel. That fuel is the fact that if I fail to do this, my entire family will suffer because of my actions.

"Alright, lets fucking do this."
> China - Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Seriously!? You're just gonna ditch us?" Alex says in confusion as I pack up my bag. I sigh and rub my eyes before pulling out my wallet.

"Here's eight hundred dollars, use it to get home or whatever. I'll get some more out to pay for Rainbow's plane ticket." I explain. Alex and Skyler stare down at the money in my hand before reluctantly taking it.

"Why can't we just go with you?" Skyler asks calmly.

"You don't have passports." I say as I hold up the passport that somehow already had all my information in it. I swear, these government guys stalked me more than I cared to know.

"What about Rainbow!?" Alex says as he points to Rainbow on the couch behind her. She looks up at us after hearing her name.

"She doesn't need a passport, she isn't a human. Even if she did, she would just be able to fly away if anything went down. Look, I don't want to just ditch you guys, I really don't, but I HAVE to do this before it's too late. Both of our worlds are in jeopardy here!" My voice starts to rise in either annoyance or nervousness, can't really tell at this point.

Skyler suddenly lunges forward and wraps her arms around my neck. Alex comes over and sighs before placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, if we can't convince you to take us, then I guess this is goodbye for now. Good luck man, go save our world!" Alex says with a reassuring voice. I give him a weak smile as Rainbow walks over to us. After Skyler lets me go, I sling my backpack over my shoulder, and Rainbow and I head for the front door. I wave to my two friends, as this may be the last time I see them for a good week or two. I just hope this isn't the last time...

"So... where exactly is China?" Rainbow asks as we make our way out onto the street. The afternoon air feels cool on my skin, despite it being the middle of summer. I take in a deep breath before letting out a long, deep sigh.

"It's pretty much on the complete other side of the planet. It'll take us hours to get there even by plane. Then we have to travel from Beijing to Shanghai which could take who knows how long. I just hope we can get there in time before another rift opens."

"Yeah, how does that work exactly?"

"The longer that rift in Shanghai is open, the better the chances of another one opening get. The general gave me this device before we left." I pull out a watch and wrap it around my wrist. Before we left the White House, that guy came running out with this watch-like device that goes far beyond any technology I've ever seen. Leave it to the government to hide something like this.

I press a small button on the side of the watch, and a projection of the entire planet floats inches above the watch. The entire hologram consists of different shades of blue, and is about the size of a basketball, maybe a bit bigger. I place my finger on the projection, and swipe it to the right. The planet spins, and I tap it to make it stop once it shows China. Above where Shanghai is located, we can see a red dot that indicates a rift has appeared there. Oh how I love this kind of technology, even if the end of the world has to happen for me to get my hands on it. I press the button again, and the projection gets practically sucked back into the watch.

"That's amazing! So we can see where any rifts are on the entire planet?"

"That's about right, and if another one opens, an alarm should go off telling us the location. However, if we can close this one soon enough, we might not have any more to worry about." I say with a smile, trying to reassure myself.

"I wouldn't push your luck Matt, you've seen how that worked out for you in the past. Stuff doesn't seem to go your way most of the time." Rainbow says with a smirk as we begin to near the airport.

"We'll just have to see about that."

We enter the airport, where we have to wait in line for what feels like hours for a plane ticket to Beijing. I have no idea how I'm gonna get to Shanghai once we get there, but that's a bridge I'll just have to cross when we get there. I mean, it's not like I have any of their currency, so how am I supposed to travel? Damn Rainbow has it easy just being able to fly anywhere at the speed of sound. I wish I could do the same.

I rotate the small cube around in my pocket, thinking about how I'm supposed to close a giant rift in the sky. Do I just aim it at the rift and yell "Abra Cadabra!", or do I have to get close to it? Who the hell knows, yet another bridge I'll cross when I get to it. Finally we get our plane tickets, and now all we have to do is wait until our plane is ready to be boarded. Rainbow and I sit down in the middle of a row of seats in front of the terminal. I pull out my phone, deciding to do some research on Beijing and Shanghai. My heart drops when I see that the distance between the two cities is over eight hundred miles! How the fuck do I travel that far before another rift opens!?

"Rainbow, have you ever carried someone on your back while flying?"

"Um, no? Why?"

"Just thinking of ideas of how we're going to get to Shanghai once we land. It's over eight hundred miles between the two cities, and I have no clue how we'll travel that far without any currency."

"You have plenty of money Matt..."

"No, I have American dollars, but those are only worth something here. They don't mean shit in China. I've never had to change my currency before, so I have no idea how to go about doing that."

"Well, how are you going to buy a plane ticket back if you can't spend any money over there?"

"I bought a round-class trip. So I already have the tickets to come back. It's a matter of getting to Shanghai that I'm worried about."

"Now boarding, flight 815." I hear over the intercom that is pretty close to us. I check my ticket to see that that is our flight, and I grab my bag and head for the terminal gates. I show the lady working there our tickets, and she lets us through with a smile. Of course, she gives Rainbow a curious look, but doesn't say anything about it. We head to our seats near the front of the plane, and we both plop down with a sigh. I got the window seat thankfully, as I love watching the clouds pass beneath us when we're in the air.

Alright, this is an overnight flight, so that should give me plenty of time to think about... Oh shoot, I never told my parents I was going to another country on the other side of the planet. Good thing I can still use my phone while we're on the ground. I call my parent's house, and after it rings for a few seconds, my mother picks up.

"Hello Matt! How's your trip?"

"Oh, it's um... good, real good. Hey listen mom, can you watch Star for another week or two? I'm... going to be in Shanghai for a while."

"As in Shanghai, China? Why on Earth do you need to go to China Matthew?"

"I just have some business to clear up. Nothing too important." I lie through my teeth. "But can you just watch Star for a little longer?"

"Oh of course! Emily just loves her you know. They've been sleeping together every night. Emily holds her like a teddy bear or a doll, and it is just the most adorable thing ever!" I picture the scene in my head, and it makes a new smile form on my face.

"Sounds great mom! You gotta send me a picture the next time they do that. Listen, I gotta go, we're about to take off. Love ya!" I hang up abruptly as I hear the pilot come on over the intercom. He gives the routine safety bit before the plane finally starts to move along the runway. I look over at Rainbow who seems to be bored already. Maybe I can entertain her.

"Hey Rainbow, you like books right?" I say as I reach a hand into my backpack.

"W-What? Um, I mean, only Daring Do because she's cool! Any other books are for eggheads."

"So you don't wanna read one of my favorite books of all time?" I say as I pull out one of the books I brought along with me on the trip. I brought them for this very situation where I might have gotten bored.

"...What's it called?"

"Treasure Island. It's about this kid who finds himself on board a pirate ship, and he goes on this adventure to find this treasure... I bet you'll love it, it's sorta like Daring Do in a way, what with the adventures and everything." Rainbow eyes the book curiously, obviously not wanted to give in to the temptation. She groans to herself as she reaches over and grabs the hardback book out of my hands.

"Fine, but if I don't like it, you owe me big time!"

"Alright alright, trust me, you'll love it." Rainbow starts the book, and I place on a pair of headphones as I wait to use my electronics again. Once we get to the point where we are allowed to, I pull out my phone and plug the headphones in. It doesn't take long before I fall asleep to the calming music.




I wake a while later, and check my new watch to see the time. We left at about three in the afternoon, and it is now around eight in the evening. I look out the window to see the beautiful night sky. We're gonna land in Los Angeles pretty soon to switch flights. I look to my right to see Rainbow asleep as well, the book I had given her open on top of her chest. From what I can see, she is on about page fifty, so I guess she actually liked it.

Once we land, we stretch our sore muscles as we exit the plane. The Los Angeles airport is way busier that I imagined. We have to literally push our way through crowds just to get to our next flight. We get there about twenty minutes before the boarding time, and decide to get some late night dinner. By dinner, I mean a Big Mac from McDonald's, and a simple salad for Rainbow. We sit down in front of the terminal gates, and eat quietly as we wait. Being on the other side of the country, nobody here has seen Rainbow before. You wouldn't believe how many pictures we took with complete strangers in a matter of ten minutes!

Once all of that nonsense cools down, I check my watch to see that the plane is gonna run late if we don't board in the next few minutes. I guess they were taking a little too long to fuel up or something. I'm about to place my headphones on, but a guy comes and sits next to me.

"Ugh, you waiting for this flight too?" He asks with a sigh as he leans his head back to look at the ceiling. He looks to be about my age, maybe nineteen or twenty.

"Yeah, a real pain in the ass if you ask me. Wouldn't it be easier if we all had these?" I lean back to reveal Rainbow next to me. I grab the tip of her wing by a feather, not wanting to touch the actual appendage in public. I found just touching her feathers does nothing to her.

"No way, is that the alien I've heard about on the news?"

"Yep, the one and only!" Rainbow says as she puts a hoof to her chest. "Name's Rainbow Dash." She sticks out a hoof, and the guy shakes it. I extend my hand to him.

"Matthew Green, or just Matt works too." I say with a smile. I shake his hand, and he returns the smile.

"Cedrick, nice to meet you Matt. What takes you to China?"

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret." I look around before pulling out small blue cube. I have to come up with a name for this damn thing. "I'm gonna close that rift that appeared over Shanghai."

"No way, that thing on the news?"

"Yep, the world is seriously in trouble if we don't get that thing patched up." Rainbow says as she leans forward to look around me.

"How exactly are you gonna do that? Not like you can control time and space itself!" I toss the cube up in the air, and catch it again. As soon as it makes contact with my hand, I shoot my fist forward and a lightning bolt shoots out of the cube. A more haggard version of a portal opens up on the wall of ahead of us that leads into the middle of Ponyville, keeping in mind that portals between worlds have no effect on the rifts.

"That's amazing! What else can that thing do?" Cedrick asks, a now curious look on his face. I close the portal and turn to face him.

"Not sure, but I guess I'll find out soon enough huh?"

"Yeah... looks like our flight is ready." He says as he stands up.

"Hey yeah, I forgot to ask, what are you going to Beijing for?"

"Got an awesome internship there at this game company. I'm so excited for it."

"That sounds awesome! I've been playing games since I was little, who knows, maybe you'll make the next big title!"

"Here's hoping! I'll see you around Matt, you're a cool guy. You too Rainbow Dash." We both wave to Cedrick, but I turn around and catch him before he can head back to his seat.

"Hey, let me get your number, maybe you can help me out when we get to Beijing."

"Alright, here it is." He holds out his phone, and I copy down the phone number. Cedrick just might be my ticket to Shanghai.

"Thanks man, I might have to ask you a favor when we get to China, that cool with you?"

"Yeah, I could probably help you out." The pilot comes over the intercom telling us all to sit down. He nods and waves with a smile as he heads to his seat in the back. Rainbow and I sit down in our seats, and thankfully I get the window seat again. As we take off, I watch the ground slowly disappears below us. I lean back and close my eyes with a tired sigh. Should probably get some more sleep.

That is my last thought before I drift off to into a dreamless slumber.

Off to China we go!
> China - Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One in the morning, and the only thing to do is either listen to the same music over and over, or stare at the Pacific ocean far below us. I sigh out of stress as I lean back and rub my eyes, unable to sleep at all. Still another several hours before we even get close to landing. I thought I would love flying for this long, but I'm really starting to wish I hadn't had to take this trip. I look over to my right to see Rainbow quietly sleeping, her mouth hanging slightly open. It makes me smile to see her so peaceful, yet I'm jealous at her lack of stress.

I slip my jacket off and drape it over Rainbow, and she grabs it in her sleep, wrapping herself up in it. I almost chuckle just at the sight of it. I think about maybe going back and talking to Cedrick to relieve me of my boredom, but chances are that he's probably asleep live every other passenger on this hell of a flight. I'm literally the only person I can see that isn't sleeping. What the hell brain, can't I have just a few hours of peace? Is that so much to ask?

I decide that listening to the same songs I've heard hundreds of times, and pull out my phone. I plug in my headphones, making sure to stay quiet in the process so I don't wake up Rainbow. That is how I spend the next two hellish hours of my life.


 

At about three thirty in the morning, Rainbow finally wakes up, meaning I'll finally have something to do.

"Are we there yet?" She asks, obviously very tired. She rubs her eyes and does this adorable little yawn.

"Nope, still a good five or six hours... So get comfortable."

"Ugh... I'm not even tired anymore, what do I do now?" I would tell her to finish Treasure Island, but then I wouldn't have anything to do again, and I don't exactly want that in my life right now. I decide to turn on my watch's hologram, and spin around the projected globe to see if any new rifts have opened. And of course they haven't, as I haven't gotten an alert yet.

"Why me?" I mumble to myself.

"What do you mean?" Rainbow asks, her eyes still half closed from sleep.

"I mean... I'm nineteen Rainbow, barely out of highschool, and already I'm a father, basically an agent in the field, and all while trying my best to protect you... It just seems like too much to handle sometimes. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever have a normal life again..."

"Are you saying you were happier before we met?"

"What!? No! I'd go through everything all over again just for you. I'm glad that you came into my life. I'm just saying I could really do without the whole end of the world thing..."

"Oh, I guess I can see your point there... Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm also glad we met, but I sometimes wonder how my life would have turned out if I hadn't jumped in front of Twilight that day. Was that really almost two years ago?"

"Yeah... Heh, think about that. I probably would have fallen in love with Twilight instead of you if you hadn't jumped in front of her like that."

"And Star wouldn't exists would she?"

"Yep, that's the butterfly effect for you..."

"The what effect?"

"The butterfly effect. Basically it's the concept that small events, can have big effects. Think about it, that one little event of you taking the hit for Twilight led to both of us meeting, Star being born, and so much more, and it all started with one little action."

"Wow, that's really deep if you think about it..."

"You bet it is. The butterfly effect is all around us. Another example is the fact that Twilight forcibly brought you back to Equestria. If she hadn't done that, I wouldn't have come after you, then I wouldn't need a way home, Celestia never would have given me the portal spell, and the rifts never would have opened. That's why I always make decisions carefully, and always think of what negative effects each of my choices could have on the future."

"Well, lets hope nothing negative happens for a while..." Rainbow says as she snuggles up against my arm. She falls asleep just moments later. With her close to me, I'm finally able to drift away in a peaceful slumber.




"Hey, Matt, we're landing in like five minutes." Rainbow shakes me awake, much to my objection. I crack my eyes open, only for them to be filled with sunlight streaming in from the window. I can feel the plane slightly tilting towards the ground, so I figure I should probably get my shit together before we come to a stop. I gotta remember to catch Cedrick on the way out.

I stretch to the best of my ability, the tight space between the wall, the seat, and Rainbow limiting my movements. I lean over and quickly give Rainbow a morning kiss on the tip of her muzzle. Her face scrunches up, and she almost sneezes in response. I check my watch to see it is eight in the morning, right on schedule.

Once we land, I get to stand up finally and stretch my muscles to their fullest. Rainbow does the same, and everyone stares at her when she starts hovering in the middle of the aisle. I quickly grab her out of the air and hold her to my chest, hoping everyone will stop staring if she isn't flying.

"What? Never seen a blue pegasus before?" I scoff in a sarcastic attitude. Everyone slowly turns away, going back to their own business. I place Rainbow on the ground, and she goes right back to stretching. As I'm grabbing my bag out of the small space above us, someone bumps into my back.

"Oh, sorry abou- Oh, sup Matt?" Cedrick says as he backs up a little to give me room to reach my bag.

"Hey man, you sore as all hell too?" I say as I'm still trying to get the knots out of my back and neck. Really painful little things.

"Duh, who isn't? even Rainbow seems to be as cramped as the rest of us, and she's half our size. They really gotta improve these plane seats."

"Yeah they do. Hey, listen, I know it's a lot to ask, but can you at least help me out of the airport? I need to get to Shanghai as soon as possible, and I have no idea how to get there, but I figures escaping the airport is step one."

"I can do more than that. I've already got an apartment here, since this is my second year back."

"You were here last year? I was under the impression that you were new around here."

"Nah, I lived here last summer, so I already know my way around pretty well. I think I can help you get to Shanghai."

"That would be a miracle Cedrick, I don't think I can thank you enough."

"Don't sweat it! I'd do it for anyone. Now lets go before the terminal gets back up with passengers."

We make our way out into the airport, and I can already tell that it is MUCH different than the one in Los Angeles. First of all, I can't read most of the signs scattered throughout the place, and everyone looks so much different. I'm used to seeing people in stupid clothing, sagging their pants or some dumb shit. Everyone here, however, looks more refined and composed compared to us. It does make me feel a little more comfortable being with someone who can speak English and at least read Chinese. Cedrick explained to me that while he isn't fluent in Chinese by any standards, he can read it pretty well. With that ability, he is able to lead us out of the airport.

"Where to now?" I look out at the streets and buildings off in the distance. It really is a beautiful city. I can see why he would like living here.

"My apartment is about ten miles north of here. We could walk if you want, but I'd prefer a cab." So, we wait for a few minutes before a cab pulls up to us. It is pretty weird to see the driver on the right side of the car, but what do you expect in another country?

We hop into the cab, just happy to finally be off that God forsaken plane. I stare out the window while Cedrick and Rainbow talk about something that I start to tune out after a few minutes. I try to relax by just watching the new city pass by as we make our way down the highway. Everything looks so different, yet so similar to cities in the United States.

"The sound barrier? No way, I refuse to believe it." I hear Cedrick say as my senses come back to me. I turn my head to see them arguing over the fact that Rainbow can break the sound barrier. I remember thinking the exact same thing before watching her practically telling physics to go fuck itself.

"No, she really did it. I saw her do it myself. Take a look." I take out my phone and open up the camera roll. I find that video I took of Rainbow breaking the sound barrier, and show it to Cedrick.

"That's totally edited." He says with a laugh as he rubs the back of his head in disbelief. Again, I had acted the same way.

"Nope, I actually did that! Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?" Rainbow says as she rubs her hooves against her eyes. We all laugh, and continue to tell stories until we reach the apartment.

"Welp, this is my place." Cedrick says as he gets out and move the the back of the taxi. He gets his suitcase out of the trunk, and closes it before meeting us on the sidewalk. He pays the taxi driver with the foreign currency. I think they're called Yuan or something like that. Once the taxi leaves us, we enter into the apartment complex.

"Well, this is it!" He says as he leads us into the apartment. Nothing amazing, but definitely not bad by any standards. A normal one bedroom apartment with a large kitchen, and living room and a bathroom. Looks like he wasn't lying about being here last year. The entire place is already well furnished, minus the lack of food.

"Nice pad Ced!" I say as I set my backpack down next to the door.

"Thanks. So, what is it that you needed help with exactly?" He says as he sits down on a big couch in the living room and sighs a sigh of relief.

"We need to get to Shanghai as soon as possible to close that rift. I don't have any kind of Chinese currency, so unless I can get some, I'm practically broke. I have no idea where to even go to exchange my money."

"I can help with that." He opens his wallet and pull out a wad of cash. He hands it to me with a smile. "I have some leftover money from the plane tickets. I have plenty to spare. Besides, you need it more. This is about four hundred dollars if you convert it. This should get you to Shanghai by train." I look at the money, dumbfounded by his generosity. I can't just take this and not repay him.

"I-I'm grateful, really! But this is just too much! I can't just take four hundred dollars from you without paying you back!"

"Hey, you said you were gonna save the world and all right? You proved that with that little cube thing you have. Save all of our asses, and I'll consider us even." He says with a smile.

"That's... wow Cedrick. I really can't thank you enough." I say as I slowly pocket the money. This is one of the greatest gifts I've ever gotten.

"Don't mention it! Like I said, I got plenty to go around."

"We... should probably get going then. Time waits for no man..." I say with a sigh as I check my watch. Still only the one rift over Shanghai.

"Already? Well, I can understand the rush. Godspeed you guys, go save the planet!" Cedrick says with a wave as I go to collect my stuff.

"Thanks so much Cedrick for the money! I'll make sure to stop by once I close that rift. We'll celebrate our victory!" I say as I stand in the now open doorway.

"Looking forward to it! Text me if you need any help or get lost in the city or something!"

"I will, thanks again! C'ya around!" Rainbow and I make our way back out onto the street, now filled with a new found confidence. This might actually be easier than I thought.

"By train? Won't that take forever?" Rainbow asks as I open up my phone to try to find the closest train station. Looks like there is one about three miles from here, about an hour's walk. 

"They have bullet trains here Rainbow!" I say as my memory of the country starts coming back to me. "They go so fast that everything you pass by looks like a blur! It would only take a few hours to travel the eight hundred miles to Shanghai! We can actually do this if we hurry!"

Rainbow and I break into a full out sprint towards the nearest train station. Of course, she is way faster than me, so it's more of a jog for her. This is really looking up for me. I don't see how things go wr-

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Rainbow and I come to a sudden stop, my sneakers screeching against the pavement as I slide across it to slow myself down. Was that my watch? I press the little button on the watch and start to spin the globe around.

"Oh no... no no no!" I grab a fistful of my hair in my hand as I about rip it out of my skull in both anger and fear.

"What happened Matt!?" Rainbow says, worry filling her voice.

"T-Two new rifts..."

"What!? Where?"

"Tokyo and..." I start to stutter my words.

"Matt? Where is the second one!?"

"J-Jacksonville..."
> China - Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you still pissed that he left us behind?" Skyler says to me as we make our way out of the airport.

"Look, I get why he left without us, but c'mon, we're his best friends! He took Rainbow, so why not us?" I say as I kick a rock on the ground. We start to head for my car. Matt left us in Washington about a day ago, and now we're back in Jacksonville.

"He probably took Rainbow just because she didn't need a passport, at least, I don't think she does... Either way, I'm sure he is more than capable of handling this Alex. You just gotta have some faith in him."

"Yeah I know... It's just that we've always done everything together since we were kids. Ah, forget it, it doesn't really matter anyways..."

"Yeah, let's just forget about the whole thing and try to enjoy ourselves. Wanna go see a movie?"

"Sure thing. I see my car up ahead." We walk over to the large parking area, and hop into my car. Luckily we're close to the exit already, so it shouldn't take too long to find my way out of here.

Once we make it onto the highway, I'm blasting music through the radio. Skyler seems to enjoy it so a degree, but I really love this song.

"Alex..." Skyler says quietly. I almost didn't hear her.

"Yeah?" Skyler doesn't respond verbally, but instead reaches over and turns down the radio until the music can no longer be heard.

"So you... head like a ripping sound?" Skyler says with a confused look on her face. I listen carefully, but before I can hear anything, every car in front of us comes skidding to a stop, some spinning around and almost crashing into me. Now, mind you that this is the highway, so we're talking hundreds of cars all stopping and spinning out.

Once I come to a stop, I hop out of the car and start yelling in confusion. I'm about to chew the guy out that almost crashed into me, but I'm interrupted by what sounds like a huge explosion. The entire sky lights up, and it becomes so bright that I have to fall to my knees and cover my eyes with my hands. Everyone around me is screaming, and it has to be one of the most terrifying things I've ever gone through.

The light finally dissipates about forty seconds later, and is replaced by what sounds like a muffled vacuum. It isn't loud by any means, but it is audible even with everyone screaming. I open my eyes to see people yelling and pointing at the sky. I look over to see Skyler on her back, propping her chest up with her arms putting her at a slightly elevated angle. She is staring with her mouth hanging open at the sky. I slowly turn my head to see something that I will never forget.

It looks like reality itself has torn apart. Inside the giant rip is what appears to be some giant forest, yet I'm not too sure what it is that I'm looking at yet. I only know one person who might have a clue what is going on. I yank my phone out of my pocket as fast as humanly possible, and call the one man on this green earth who might have the slightest idea of what just happened.




*Riiiiing*... *Riiiiiing*

I continue to stare at the hologram even as I reach for my phone in my pocket. Who is calling me? Is this my family or something? My family... are they in any danger because of the new rift?

"Hello?" I say quickly as I drop my wrist down and the hologram fades away into nothing. I put the call on speaker so Rainbow can hear as well.

"Matt! Something just... I don't know, blew up in the sky! You gotta know what this is, this ain't natural man!"

"Calm down Alex! It's a rift that leads into Equestria. It shouldn't pose a threat by itself as far as I know, but if it starts pulling stuff towards it like a vacuum, you call me the second you notice, got it!? If that starts to happen, you get my family, Skyler, and anyone else you can fit in your car, and you get as far as you can from the fucking city!"

"A vacuum!? Are you serious man? This is some supernatural shit! And why would it start sucking stuff into it!?"

"Because it is trying to connect our world with Rainbow's world! If stuff starts to fly up to it like it's getting sucked in, that means that the rift is starting to mend the gab between both worlds. If you evacuate and leave the city, don't you dare leave Star behind. You get her, and Emily out of the area that is being affected, or I will fucking kill you personally!" I hang up abruptly as I continue my full on sprint towards the train station. If I can close the rift in Shanghai, then the ones in Jacksonville and Tokyo shouldn't start acting like vacuums.

"That was kinda rude Matt." Rainbow says as we sit down on the bullet train. I tap my foot against the ground at an extremely fast pace, just wishing the damn thing would move forward already.

"What was rude?"

"You told Alex you were gonna kill him!"

"Only if anything happens to Star! I'm not letting my daughter get hurt because of his ignorance!"

"Matt, you really need to calm down. This is really starting to get to you. Just relax, there's nothing you can do until we reach Shanghai."

"I want to relax Rainbow! I really do! My body just won't let me."

"Then maybe mine can." Rainbow jumps off her seat and lands on my lap. She quickly wraps her forelegs around my neck and pulls me into a passionate kiss. She tastes spicy, like a pepper, but not enough to where it burns, but the good kind of spicy. It dawns on me at this moment that we are literally the only two on the entire train minus the conductor. Could it be that nobody wants to travel to Shanghai because of the rift? It relieves me to some extent that nobody is around to see us. While I don't mind the quick kiss or hug in public, this was far beyond anything like that. This is something you only do in private.

Rainbow starts to moan as she tries to push against my lips even harder. I don't object until we get to the point where the back of my head is being smashed into the window behind me. I start to laugh into her lips as I try to push myself back up into a sitting position. We must have been going at it for a good twenty minutes before we both ran out of breath. I pull away from her slightly, and I stare into her big magenta eyes as she sits there on my lap, her forelegs still around my shoulders. Her hair is completely messed up, more than usual. She lets out a little chuckle as I brush the hair out of her face.

"Feel better?" She says with a tone of voice that I've only heard once or twice before. It was the same tone she used whiled in heat, as well as on Valentines day last year. Both times she used it, we ended up a little closer than we normally are if you catch my drift. Now that is something that you don't do on a train, regardless of the lack of people. I quickly lift her up and place her down on the seat next to me, though I almost don't fit in my own seat with her wings fully extended and jabbing into my side. I grab both wings in my hands, causing Rainbow to gasp and blush. I forcibly push them back down to her sides, which seems to work.

"Sorry, just kinda... got into the moment." Rainbow says with a nervous chuckle as her blush grows even deeper.

"Maybe if we weren't on a train I would have gone along with it." I say with my first genuine laugh since arriving here. "Anyway, you really did help with my stress. I feel like a new man!"

"G-Good to know! Can I um..." Rainbow looks down at my lap, then back up at my eyes, then my lap again. Eh, why not. I pat my lap and Rainbow jumps onto it like a cat. She curls up on my lap, the front half of her on my legs, and the rest of her hanging off onto the seat to my left. She lets out a little yawn that almost gives me a heart attack from how adorable it is. She falls asleep in a matter of minutes.

I sigh and lean my head back against the seat. I stare up at the roof of the train, and smile my first real smile in what feels like weeks. It isn't long before I drift off to sleep.




"Mom! What was that!" I yell as I hurry down the stairs with Star in my arms. I almost trip on the way down, but luckily I don't. I find the front door of the house open, and run outside. The entire neighborhood seems to have heard the explosion that shook the house violently.I remember the really bright light that I had seen come through my window. I had covered myself and Star with a blanket so it wouldn't hurt our eyes. I see mom and dad out in the street, looking up at the sky. My mom is screaming, and I can see why once I look up as well.

It looks like somebody unzipped the sky, and I can see what looks like a giant forest inside of the tear. What is that thing? Star makes a sad moaning sound and buries her head into my shoulder. I guess all the screaming is scaring her. The poor thing is only six months old, this is probably a lot for a baby to handle. I clutch her to my chest tightly as I run over to my parents.

"Emily! Get back inside!" My dad says as he sees me running up to them. I come to a stop, and look back up at the sky one more time. That thing is pretty scary... I nod and run back inside. I think of Matt and Rainbow, and hope that they'll be okay wherever they are. I run back into my bedroom and hide under the quilts of my bed. Star starts to cry a little, and I spend the next hour trying to calm her down.

Matt... please come back soon.




I open my eyes slowly, only for them to be filled with a bright light. I remember that we're still on the train, and it is the middle of the day. I stretch my wings out as I yawn and try not to wake Matt up. I look up to see him still sound asleep. I smile as I slowly climb off his lap and make my way over to the window on the other side of the train. My hooves are really loud inside of the metal train, and since nobody is here, it just makes the echoing sound that much louder.

I look out the window, but all I can see is a blur of colors flying past us. It reminds me of when I fly really fast, and it gives me the urge to start flying. Too bad I'm still inside this train. I sigh as I trot back over to where Matt is still sleeping. I sit down next to him and nudge my head into his arm. It comforts me whenever I'm pressed up against him like this, but I would never tell him that. Don't want him to think I'm going soft on him.

"Hm? Oh, you're up." Matt says before he yawns and stretches. He rubs his eyes and looks down at me. I try to make myself look good for him by sitting up straight and making my eyes look directly into his. I know he likes to look at them, and I don't mind as long as it makes him happy. He leans down and taps the tip of my muzzle which makes my face scrunch up in reaction to it. I let out a small sneeze to which he starts laughing at.

"That was adorable." He says as he brushes his hand through my mane. I look at him with an annoyed look. He knows that I hate it when anyone calls me adorable or cute. I just don't think it's true. I try to look good for Matt, and he tells me that I'm beautiful the way I am, but when I look in the mirror, I just don't feel the same way. He really deserves someone better than me. I don't know how I got so lucky as to snag him.

"Was not..." I say as I rub my nose with a hoof. I brush some of the hair out of my face before looking back up at him. What now? Instincts take over as I jump back up on his lap and press my face into his. Thankfully he doesn't object, and starts pressing back into my muzzle. I don't know why I did it, but I'm glad I did. Maybe he had a little stress left that I could help relieve.




I pull away from Rainbow as I look down at her. That was the second time today that she has done that. Maybe she has a lot of piled up stress as well. I could see why, what with her daughter trapped under some rift in the sky that could kill her and my entire family at any second. Great, now I'm thinking of the worst case scenarios. Way to go brain! Way to fuck things up!

We spend the next couple of hours in silence as I simply hold Rainbow in my arms. We haven't been alone together in months, so it is good to finally be able to enjoy her company without anyone interrupting us.

The train comes a screeching stop as we arrive at the station. We stand at the doors until they open, and walk out in the big room on the other side. The train station here is a huge indoor complex with rails that lead into the actual building. So essentially the trains ride through the complex whenever they pass through.

Something seems very out of place though. Or should I say, the lack of something. There are zero people in the entire complex save for the very few people running the place, and even they look like they would much rather be somewhere else. It is almost eerie as Rainbow and I walk to the other side of the building. Once we exit, we make our way out onto the streets.

The city looks beautiful, and I can already see the rift a little bit in the distance over the central part of the city where all the skyscrapers are. The same thing is happening out here. No cars, no people, no nothing. The city hasn't been evacuated, and I can tell that by the fact that people were still at the train station. No, everybody was probably hiding in their homes, or ditched the city by themselves. As we silently walk down the streets, I get that feeling that somebody is watching you.

I spin around only to see a gun pointed right at my face.
> The First Step
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My heart stops, and my hands shoot up into the air. My mouth gapes open as I stare down the barrel of a semi-auto pistol. The man behind the trigger has a black mask over his face, but I can tell by his skin color that he is a native here. He must be a criminal. With everyone indoors and hiding away, its only common sense that criminals would be running loose. Where the hell are the police? Or even the military!?

The man yells at me in Chinese, so of course I have no idea what he is saying. I get the general idea though when he points the gun at my pocket. I nod and gulp as I slowly reach one hand down towards my wallet. I guess I'll give him the Yuan I have left and... wait, where did Rainbow go?

Before I can pull my wallet out, a blue blur tackles the man from the side. A bullet fires from the gun, and a sharp pain shoots through my left shoulder. I let out a grunt as I grit my teeth together. I look down at my shirt to see that it is now soaked in my own blood. I try not to scream as I stumble backwards. Once I regain my balance, I see the man has overtaken Rainbow, and is now on top of her. Now, I know for a fact just how strong Rainbow is, but this guy is buff as hell. He pulls a knife out from nowhere and hovers it above Rainbow's face. He jabs it down at her, only for it to get caught on her hoof. I remember the time we swapped bodies. There are no pain receptors in Rainbow's hooves, so she should be fine as long as it stays there. I can tell though that her strength won't hold out much longer, and if that knife slips off her hoof...

I look down at my feet to see the gun had slid out of the man's hand. My eyes light up and my mouth hangs open. I gotta do it to save Rainbow, I have to! I promised to never do it again, but I don't have a choice!

I stumble over to the gun and pick it up with my right arm. I'm still able to work my left arm, and I place both hands around the grip. My hands shake as I aim the gun at the man who has no idea I am right behind him. Rainbow lets out a cry as the knife gets even closer to her throat. I close one eye and aim down the sights.

"God forgive me..." I mumble as I pull the trigger. A cloud of red mist explodes above Rainbow as the man's head explodes. The body rolls off of her body, and she rolls away from it quickly. She breathes heavily as she watches the man's blood drip down her face. Her entire face and chest are spotted with a crimson red. I almost drop the gun as my hands continue to shake.

Why? Why did I do it again? I could have just shot his arm or something, why did I go for the head? Why?

I drop to my knees, the gun still in my hand. I start to sob as I close my eyes and press my chin into my chest. I really am a killer...

A few minutes go by before a warm mass presses up against my chest. I feel two limbs wrap around my back, each ending with a hard substance. I feel wet, warm droplets of liquid dropping onto the back of my shirt. I don't know if it's blood or tears, but I don't really care anymore. I throw the gun down a couple of inches to my right and grab onto the pegasus in front of me, ignoring the pain in my shoulder.

"A-Are you okay?" Rainbow says through a sniffle as she continues to embrace me. "You got shot..."

"I'm fine... it only grazed me... Are you okay Rainbow?"

"Just... shaken up a little. I've never been good around blood." She chokes out. "You... killed him."

"I'm so sorry Rainbow. I just reacted, and images of you dying flashed through my mind, and I wasn't gonna let that happen. I didn't wanna do it Rainbow I swear!"

"No... i-its fine... You protected me Matt. Thank you." Her embrace only tightens as we begin to sob over the traumatizing experience. I snap back to my senses when I remember the rift above us.

"Guess I should close that thing huh?" I say as I wipe the tears from her face as she looks at me. I try to smile, though she can probably tell the smile is fake.

"Yeah... wouldn't want any more to open."

I nod as I stand up, pocketing the gun. Never know if I'll need it again. I check my shoulder over, wincing in pain when I try to lift my arm up too high. I take my belt off an tie it tightly around the side of the wound. It stops bleeding a minute or two later, but it still hurts like hell. It was a small caliber bullet, so thankfully it didn't do all that much damage. Plus the fact that it only skimmed across the top of my shoulder helps a little.

Rainbow and I leave the body behind, hoping the police will just take care of it. I don't want to be around when they show up. Taking the gun is probably a good idea since it has my fingerprints on it.

We sprint down the vacant highway, swerving around abandoned or crashed cars. It looks like the apocalypse happened here, and I guess it kinda did. It's gonna take forever to get the the main part of the city where the rift is at this rate.

"We need to steal a car..." I say as we approach a car that has the driver's side door open. It's still weird to see it on the right side of the vehicle.

"We can't just steal a car Matt! That belongs to someone!" Rainbow says, her fur still clumped together with blood and sweat. I take off my jacket and begin trying to scrub the stick liquid out of her fur.

"We have to if we want to get to that rift before sundown. Look, these are all abandoned anyway. Chances are, nobody is coming back for them any time soon. Besides, what's one car when the entire world is at stake here?"

"I guess you're right... it just feels wrong though..." Rainbow mumbles as I finish cleaning her up. I sigh in disgust as I look at the now ruined white hoodie. I throw it aside and watch as it blows over the side of the bridge we are currently standing on. Man, I really like that jacket. Oh well, I can always get another I guess.

"C'mon, get in." I say as I open the passenger door on the left. Rainbow hops in and sighs as she leans back on the seat. I run around the back and head for the driver's side. The gun and my phone clank together in my pocket rather loudly on the empty, silent highway. I find the keys to the car on the floor near the pedals, and pick them up. I look over to my shoulder one more time, and cringe as I see the blood there. I'll need to get that fixed up pretty soon.

I jam the keys into the ignition, and a few tries later, the engine roars to life. I smack the dashboard and smile a little at my luck. We now have a functional car. Maybe we'll actually make it in time!




I stare out the window of the car as we slowly make our way into the city. I think about the events we just went through not long ago. I can't believe Matt would just throw away his morals like that just to save me. I know how bad he feels about that, as well as what he did that time he got kidnapped. I really don't blame him. I probably would have done the same thing if that guy had a knife right over Matt's throat. Well, if I had fingers to pull the trigger that is.

I sigh as I look down at my hooves. There are still small traces of the man's blood on them, as well as on my forelegs. I've never been a big fan of blood, and it always made me feel sick to my stomach. I was also completely against killing of any kind, though I don't really feel any malice towards Matt. Maybe because I knew he regretted it, or maybe it was because he did it to save me. I don't know, if anything I love him even more now. He proved to me that he's willing to set aside what he believes in just to save my sorry flank.

He really is caring, I know that. I'm glad I have him around. I'd be dead without him.

I look over at him, but he doesn't seem to notice my stare. A small smile makes it's way across my face. Yeah, I really do love him, no matter what he does. There is nothing he could do to make me stop loving him, not even shooting a man at point blank.

"Why are you staring at me?" Matt says as he glances down at me before looking back at the road.

"Oh, um. No reason! Just thinking y'know. I really do appreciate what you did back there, even if you do regret it. You saved me Matt, and I think that justifies what you did."

"I don't know..." He says with a sigh. "I could have just shot him in the leg, or maybe in the arm. I didn't have to kill him, it was just reflex to aim for his head. Rainbow, I can't stop replaying that scene in my head. It's already starting to haunt me..."

"Matt, please don't go all depressed on me again. I wan't you to be happy. Thing of the good that came out of it!"

"Like what!? The fact that someone is now dead, and there blood is on my hands, literally!?"

"No! The fact that Star still has a mother!" I yell in annoyance. He stops talking, the anger leaving his face rather quickly. Ha, got him there.

"I... But, I killed..." He stutters out.

"Who gives a buck!? That guy deserved it, he was basically a murdered! Think about it, what if he got away alive? He would have just moved on to some other innocent civilian and attacked him! Come on Matt, you're a hero, MY hero!" My eyes start to water as I clutch my hooves over my heart. I look deep into his eyes, watching the gears in his head turn. The car suddenly comes to a screeching stop.




I press my foot down on the breaks as hard as I can. The rubber of the tires screech across the pavement as we come to a sliding stop. I'm surprised I didn't throw the engine out. I look down at Rainbow, replaying her words in my head. She called me her hero... Is that really what I am to her? And was she right about me potentially saving somebody else who would have been attacked later on?

"Butterfly effect, Matt" Rainbow says with a small smile as she looks up at me with those big magenta eyes. She just used that against me didn't she? She has a point though. If I didn't stop that guy like I did, he could have gotten away just to go attack someone else. What if they died because I hadn't shot the guy? Then that innocent person's blood would be on my hands. There's the butterfly effect again.

"Y-You're right Rainbow, I'm sorry for freaking out. Maybe I really did do the right thing."

"I never said it was the right thing to do, killing is horrible no matter what the situation is. However, it was definitely your best option. I'm glad you protected me Matt. You're my hero." Rainbow says as she jumps over and plants a kiss on my lips. There's that spicy taste again. God do I love it, and her.

We continue driving into the city, having to move slowly to make our way around abandoned cars. This is still ten times faster than walking though.

"There it is!" Rainbow says as we stop directly below the rift. I can't even see any people in this part of the city. Back on the outskirts of town, I was able to spot people peeking out windows or cars, but here, there is nobody. Not even criminals are running around wildly. The silence is just too eerie for me. Let's get this thing closed.

I hop out of the car, and open the door for Rainbow. We both stare up at the giant rift, wondering just what the hell I'm supposed to do.

"Maybe if I just stand up here..." I climb on top of the car and fish the cube out of my pocket. I spin it around in my hands a couple of times before looking back up at the rift. I let out a sigh before mumbling, "Now or never..."

I lift the cube into the sky, and imagine the rift being mended back together. Immediately, a blue lightning bolt shoots out of the cube, and heads straight for the rift. My entire body starts to glow, and I feel my feet leave the car below me. I look down to see the car and Rainbow about ten feet below me. I feel my hair standing up completely as if gravity has been turned off for me. I look up to see the lighting bolt separate into two different bolts. They both head for the two sides of the rift, and once they make contact, start moving towards the middle. Wherever the lighting passes over, turns back into normal sky. Its closing! Its actually closing!

I can hear Rainbow hooping and hollering from below me as I watch the rift close. I get one last glimpse of Equestria through the portal, and then, its all over. The rift is gone completely, and the sky has returned to normal! Then gravity takes hold of me again as the magic around me dissipates. I fall a good ten feet before landing on top of the car, my back denting the roof.

"OHMYGOSH! Are you okay Matt?" Rainbow says as she flies up onto the roof. Despite the pain in my shoulder, and the dull throbbing in my back, I laugh in response as I look up at the clear sky. I did it! I did it! Now I know I'm actually capable of stopping all of this!

"I'm better than okay!" I yell in excitement as I grab Rainbow and hold her to my chest. She gasps in surprise, but soon starts laughing with me. We roll around a little on top of that car, laughing away our stress.

"We're gonna be okay Rainbow! We're gonna be okay!"

Now we just need to get to Tokyo and Florida, and maybe this nightmare can end.

So Tokyo, look out, Matthew Green is about to fight back.
> Tokyo Drift
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm just trying to help you assholes!" I yell behind me as I take a sharp turn around a corner at speeds that would kill me if I crashed. A bullet flies past me, almost clipping my leg. A dull pain shoots through my shoulder as I think back to how I got shot a week ago. Good thing I was able to get that patched up, also that there was an English speaking doctor in Beijing.

"Matt! Go through there!" Rainbow points to an alley ahead of us at the end of the street. I rev the engine and speed up even more as we near the opening. The sports bike we had stolen was a hell of a speed demon. Too bad the guys we took it from weren't all that thrilled that we took their bike. I mean, I was gonna give it back! I just needed to get to the rift as quickly as possible! With another rift opening up in Paris yesterday, I was not about to take any chances. Time is a precious resource now, and it is not something we can just waste.

A van swerves out of nowhere from around the corner, blocking off the entrance to the alley. My eyes shoot open, and I quickly turn the handlebars to make the bike take an extremely sharp turn around the corner, almost crashing into the side of a giant building. The night sky shines down on us, but the street lights and headlights from other cars really help me to see where I'm going.

"Shit, that was close!" I yell back to Rainbow as we speed down the highway, going well over a hundred miles per hour. I just need to reach the main part of the city, and I should be able to close the rift and get the fuck out of Dodge. Good thing the government can practically whip up passports for me whenever I need to travel to a new country. Now what I don't understand is why I can't get a fucking military escort! United Nations can go suck a fat one if they think this is just some game.

"Matt! Bucking shoot them already!" Rainbow yells as she taps the side of my jeans. I had picked up a small, five-shot revolver from one of the guys who tried to stop us while stealing the bike. Why did I steal the bike instead of getting a taxi? Because... well... I'm broke to make a long story short, and with three rifts open, they were starting to cause some chaos back in the States. The rift over Jacksonville has actually grown slightly according to Alex, and there seem to be strange updrafts of wind constantly throughout the day, everyday. That can only mean one thing. So yeah, I stole a bike from some Japanese gang. I'm not proud of it, and I may be starting to regret it, but give me some slack!

"I'm not gonna shoot them Rainbow!"

"It's them or us! Eventually one of those bullets is going to hit either us or the tire. You don't have to kill them, just shoot their tires out or something!"

"Rainbow..." I mumble loudly, keeping my eyes on the road ahead of me. The two black vans behind us are surprisingly fast and are able to almost match my speed, though they do lag behind a bit.

"Matt!"

"Fine!" I pull out the revolver and pull back the hammer. I aim behind me, sparing a glance back before looking back at the road ahead of me. I keep repeating this process or aiming, driving, aiming, driving, for about twenty seconds before the sights of the gun are pointed at the front tire of one of the vans.

"Cover your ears!" I yell at Rainbow. Her ears droop against her head, and she shuts her eyes as hard as she can. I pull the trigger, and the gun explodes as my arm shoots up into the air from the recoil. Missed. I fire another shot, this time hitting my intended target. The bullet shreads the rubber on the front left tire of the van closest to us. The car spins around wildly before coming to a skidding stop. It doesn't proceed to follow us, as the van has crashed into the median of the road. I look behind me to see three men jump out of the car, yelling at us furiously. Good, I didn't kill them. That's one good thing to happen today.

"There's still one more!" Rainbow yells. This van is bigger, and there seems to be only two people in this one, and one has his own gun pointed right at us. I recognize the driver as the one who I stole this gun from. He had attacked us while I tried to hot wire the motorcycle. I had kicked him down, even though I was in the wrong. Then he had pulled the gun out on me, but I had kicked it out of his hands before he could even pull the trigger. Guess he had some friends nearby.

The man on the passenger's side leans out the window, aiming a pistol at us. I can't tell if he has it aimed at Rainbow, me, or the bike's tires. Even if he only hits the wheels, at this speed, we'd probably die just from falling off.

I hold the gun behind me, aiming the barrel in the general direction of the van. I fire off two shots, missing both times. One bullet left, gotta make it count. The man shoots at us a couple of times, missing us and the tires, but hitting the metal part of the bike a couple of times. One bullet hits the gas tank, and I shut my eyes closed, expecting it to blow up. Instead, nothing seemed to happen. I look down to see that the bullet hadn't exactly pierced a hole in the tank, but had instead ripped the side of it open, just barely missing the explosive liquid inside of it.

"Fuck off already!" I yell as I point back and fire my last bullet. It misses the front tires, but somehow takes out the back right one. They swerve the same way the first van did, and crash into the median once again. I'm about to cheer when I see the end of this long highway coming up ahead of us. I look down to see gas quickly pouring out of the bike. I turn the handlebars completely to the left, causing the bike to begin sliding sideways. The rubber on the wheels makes an obnoxious screeching sound against the pavement, and I can smell burning rubber. We quickly slow down from a hundred miles per hours to nothing in a matter of seconds, somehow managing not to fly off. We hop off the bike, and quickly run over to the side of the road to avoid getting run over by other cars.

We fall on our back in the grass just off the side of the highway near the exit that leads into the central part of Tokyo. We pant heavily as the adrenaline rushes through our veins.

"Well... that was fun." I say with a little chuckle, just happy to be alive, and also the fact that I hadn't killed anyone. "I can't believe you, Mrs. Anit-Violence, would tell me to shoot a gun at someone."

"I'm... not against... violence..." Rainbow says through heavy breaths. "I'm against killing. That wasn't killing."

"Whatever keeps you safe, I'll do it." I say with a smile as I quickly kiss her lips. She returns it, grunting happily as she presses up into me. I pull back a minute later, and look up at the night sky. The rift above us and to the left a bit, shines down on us, casting an eerie bluish-green light. I have to be directly under the rift for this to work, so we still have about a mile run back into the city before I can do anything about it. Unlike Shanghai, people aren't hiding from the rift. In fact, people seem to be going about their daily routines as if nothing had happened.

"Lets get going, we have a good mile or two before we reach the rift." I say as I stand up. I hold out a hand, and grab Rainbow hoof to help her stand. She gives me a confident smile before nodding. We sprint into the beautiful city that is Tokyo, Japan.


 

"We're... almost... there." I pant as we enter the city. Despite being in pretty good shape, running two miles down the side of a highway isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. Rainbow doesn't even seem close to being tired. Damn her pony endurance. I swear, it's like she has cheat codes for life that I can't use. Totally not fair.

We reach a large intersection where four roads meet. I run down the sidewalk on the north side, heading for the middle of the intersection where we will be directly under the rift. Citizens yell at us in Japanese, and even some English as I almost push them aside trying to get through the large crowd of people still out on the streets.

Rainbow and I run out into the intersection, and every car around us stops and starts honking. People even get out of their cars and start yelling at us to move. I slide to a stop and pull the cube out of my pocket, aiming it up at the sky. The cube lights up, and my body is covered in a blue aura of magic. I begin levitating up off the ground, and reach the point of about ten feet in the air. Lighting shoots out of the cube as I imagine the rift closing in my head. Wow, this magic stuff is actually pretty easy. Not sure why Twilight spent her whole life studying it if I can just pick it up in two week's time.

The lighting bolt once again separates into two different streams, each heading for the two ends of the rift. Once everyone sees this, they stop honking, yelling, and moving in general. I look around me to see everyone either gaping in disbelief, or recording this whole thing on their cell phones. By the end of all this, I'm going to be world famous because of people like this.

I look down to Rainbow below me, and give her a confident smile and a thumbs up. The rift closes above me, and I begin falling towards the street. This time, I know to expect it. My knees buckle under me as my legs hit the ground. I roll forward one or twice before coming to a stop on one knee. Now if something were to explode behind me, I would look so badass right now.

A warm mass presses up against my back, and I almost turn back and kiss who I expect to be Rainbow. Boy was I surprised to find a little Japanese girl hugging me around my back. Everyone around us starts cheering and rushing towards me. Soon an entire mob has formed around me with people cheering and hugging me. Good to see some people are still grateful for what I do. A mother soon comes and grabs the little girl off my back, and apologizes for letting her do that. I tell her it was no problem, thankful that she could speak English. Rainbow emerges from the crowd, and this time I get the kiss I was hoping for.




"So we're going home finally?" Rainbow says with a yawn as we sit in the busy airport. I look down at the two tickets in my hands. Two tickets to Los Angeles where we will catch a connecting flight back to Florida. I sigh and lean back with a smile.

"Yep, just gotta close that rift there, and we should be in the clear for a while. Maybe we'll take a little break while we're there to check in with Star. We can't stay too long though, still gotta close that rift in Paris."

"Ah man... Where's Paris Matt?" Rainbow asks as she looks up at me with a curious gaze.

"France. It's across the Atlantic Ocean, so the flight shouldn't be AS long as the one to Beijing." I say as I ruffle her mane. "Remember where I said Europe was?" Rainbow nods as she recalls the one time I tried to explain Earth's geography to her. All she really learned were the oceans and continents, but that seemed good enough for her. "Well, it's near the southern part of the continent, actually kind of close to Africa."

"Oh, I think I know where that is." Rainbow says as I watch her eyes. I can see the gears grinding in her head as she tries to recreate the map in her head. I scoot closer to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders. She nudges her head into my side and lets out a relieved sigh. "I can't wait to see Star again." She says quietly. A smile forms on my face as I think of the little filly. I feels like years since I've seen her. I hope she's okay with Emily.

We still have about two hours before our flight boards, so it doesn't surprise me when I feel Rainbow snoring next to me. I smile as I lightly brush my fingers through the feathers on her wings on her back. She lets out a little moan in her sleep, and a smile grows on her face as well. I feel my eyes becoming heavier as I lean my head on top of her's.

With her silky mane as a pillow, it doesn't take long for me to drift away into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.
> Home Is Where The Heart Is
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Alex*

"I can't believe they've been gone for over a week." I mumble to Skyler as I slightly bounce on my feet while holding Star in my arms. We're waiting at the airport for Matt and Rainbow to return home, even if it is only for a couple of days. Apparently they have to head out to Paris pretty soon to take care of another rift.

"I know right? I wonder what kind of adventures and stuff they went on without us." Skyler says as she looks around the terminal, hoping our friends will walk out soon. Matt's family is here too, and they brought Star with them, who I am now holding. I have never held her before, and I gotta say, I love it. I smile and look down at her in my arms before tickling her stomach with my index finger.

Emily must have really had some sort of educational impact on Star, because I've heard her say a couple of words since we picked her up. I guess she had been teaching her stuff this whole time without any of us knowing. She knows I think four words now, but she still can't make a full sentence. Emily said she has heard Star say, "rain", "dad", "mommy", and "fly". I wonder where she got THOSE words from. Sarcasm is a beautiful thing.

Star grabs my finger by wrapping her little forelegs around it and hugging it rather tightly. Even for a baby, she's really strong like Rainbow is. She has grown a bit since December. She is about a foot tall when standing up, and about ten or eleven inches long, also while standing. A really small little thing that makes your heart melt just by looking at her.

We all look up as we hear the sound of automatic doors open, and people start to pour out of the terminal.




*Matt* *2 Minutes Earlier*

"Oh thank God we finally landed!" I say rather loudly as the plane slowly rolls to a stop. We've been flying for almost a day straight if you don't count the short stop in Los Angeles. It feels so good to be home after traveling across the country, AND across the world for a good two weeks almost. I killed someone, shot out some tires, saved the world almost, and became a national hero in Japan! Talk about a busy life.

"I want to see Star so bad!" Rainbow says as she flies around in tiny circles in the cabin of the plane. I grab her out of the air and place her on the ground while laughing at her.

"So do I Rainbow, but calm down!" I say with a chuckle as I take my backpack down from the overhead compartment. I throw it on before zipping up my jacket and getting ready to exit. I wait for the terminal the clear out before following that large crowd into the airport. I don't know how to describe it, but it just feels like home the second we step out.

"Matt!" Suddenly I'm tackled to the ground by something small. I land on my back with a thud, and open my eyes to see a bunch of long blonde hair in my face.

"Wassup Em?" I say with a smile as I hug her. She lets out a laugh as she returns the gesture. I look over at Rainbow who is staring ahead of us. Emily rolls off of me, and I get into a sitting position. I see Alex, Skyler, my family, and Star ahead of us. Alex smiles at me and places Star down on the ground. She recognizes Rainbow and I, and begins a clumsy run towards us.

"Mommy!" Star jumps at Rainbow, who grabs her up in her forelegs before hugging her against her chest. I scoot over to the two, and see tears streaking down Rainbow's face.

"She... called me mommy..." Rainbow chokes out before hugging Star even tighter. I wrap my arms around the front of Rainbow as I get onto my knees. With Star between us, I finally feel like a family again. I never want to leave her again, but I know that I will soon, and that really bothers me.

I somehow manage to get Rainbow to part with Star for a second, and pick her up in my arms. I fully stand up and hold her high above my head with both hands. She does the little thing she loves to do where she spreads her wings out and pushes her forelegs forward like Rainbow does when she flies.

Star giggles as I spin around in a circle, and I can already feel people staring at us. I don't know if it is because maybe news about what I did spread already, or the fact that I'm spinning around with a baby pegasus in my hands.

Once I'm done with that, I get hugged by another figure with blonde hair, though this one isn't has small.

"Hey Skyler." I say with a smile as I return the gesture. She releases me and back up a little and she gives me a relieved smile.

"I'm glad you were able to do whatever it was that you did." She says as Alex approaches us. My parents are too busy welcoming back Rainbow, and trying to get Emily to stop hugging her so much. I hold Star against my chest, her head peaking out over my shoulder while I talk to my friends.

"I had to... do some things to do it, but I'd say it was probably worth it."

"Maybe you can fix our little problem then?" Alex says as he leads us over to the giant window that shows the runways of the airports. In the distance, over the city, is the giant rift that had appeared not too long ago. This was the third one to appear out of the four that have opened.

"I think I could take a shot at it." I say with a cocky smirk as I shift Star to my other arm.

"Good, because it started to create updrafts, and I was getting ready to evacuate the city like you said, then it just stopped about a day ago."

"Probably because I closed the rift in Tokyo..." I mumble as I continue to look at the threatening looking rift in the sky. This one shows what looks like the Everfree inside it. Lets just hope nothing tries to go through there and ends up in our world...

"You went to Tokyo!?" Skyler says with a surprised tone.

"Yeah, and I almost died in the process. Apparently I'm really good at shooting guns from a motorcycle while going a hundreds miles an hour down a highway."

"That sounds a little far fetched." Alex says with a chuckle.

"I think a fu-" I catch myself when I remember Star is right here, picking up everything I say. "I mean, I think a rift in the sky is probably more far fetched than a near death experience in Japan."

"I suppose that's true." Alex says as he rolls his eyes with a smile. He pats my shoulder once with his hand before he and Skyler start walking back towards Rainbow and my family. I continue watching the rift out of the giant window, mindlessly stroking Star's back with my hand. I don't have to worry about touching her wings like I do with Rainbow, as she hasn't reached what is basically pony puberty yet. Rainbow said that shouldn't happen for quite a while.

I pull her away from my chest a little so I can see her emerald green eyes. I smile, and she copies me. I press my nose up against the tip of her muzzle, and she lets out a little giggle. I remind myself that this is the thing I'm fighting for, and that if I lose, this is what is at risk.

I am not about to let that happen.




"Alright! Lets do this!" I yell as we approach the rift. Skyler, Rainbow, and I, are running through the city, trying to find somewhere that we can access the rift. We found a park near the middle of the city that has a clear shot of the entire rift. With all of the buildings around, it was pretty hard to find a spot where I could see the entire rift from one area.

I pull the cube out from my pocket, and hold my hand out to the side to let Rainbow and Skyler know to stop running. I hear them slowing down behind me as I run into the middle of the park. I jump onto a bench, using it as leverage to jump up into the air. The cube activates as soon as I aim it at the rift. I start floating up, already high in the air from my jump. The now familiar blue aura of the cube's magic surrounds me, and electricity starts to spark from the cube. A bolt of lighting shoots from the cube, and everybody around me starts to back up either in fear or caution on of the unknown. It isn't every day you see a guy start floating up and shooting lightning out of a blue cube.

I smile and start laughing as I watch the rift slowly start to mend back together, revealing a clear blue sky where it once stood. As the last bit of the rift starts to close, I look down to see a news crew filming me. At this point in time, I no longer really care if people see me doing stuff. I used to want my life to be as private as possible, but once I saw that wasn't really possible, I came to accept the fact that Rainbow, Star, and I are basically celebrities. I guess now I'm a hero in the world's eyes as well. While I'd rather not take credit for this, as I'm basically the one who caused it all in the first place, I have to admit that I'd rather take gratitude over hate any day.

I feel the magic start to fade away from me as the rift closes completely. I begin my fall to the ground, bracing myself for the landing. When I hit the ground, I use my rolling technique to keep myself from breaking anything. The only pain I feel is a dull pain in my ankles and knees, but that's to be expected when you fall fifteen feet onto concrete.

I stand up and whip my head to the side to move my bangs out of my face. I smile and hold up the cube, and everybody that is around us starts cheering wildly, even the news crew. 

Rainbow and Skyler run up to me, and Skyler embraces me rather tightly.

"That was amazing!" She yells as people start to gather around us. I smile and toss the cube up and down a couple of times before shoving back into my pocket. It feels good knowing that I'm helping millions of people by doing this, even if I'm the one who put them in danger in the first place. I don't want fame, or money, or recognition, I just want to fix my mistake and to keep my family safe.

"Sir! Can we have an interview please!" A news reports yells at me from over the cheers of the crowd. I hold up a hand and nod with a smile, showing I'd rather not talk about what just happens. This is still supposed to be a government secret remember? I can't let people know this is magic, so I'll just let them believe it is some futuristic technology instead, which is what most people assume it is at this point.

That's one rift down, one to go. I just hope I can get to it before a new one opens. Knowing my luck, it won't be that easy.




"We haven't done this is forever." Rainbow says as we lay on top of the roof of our house. We used to do this every so often, but now we have a new addition to the star watching gang. I hold Star against my chest as she stares curiously at me. She sticks out a tiny hoof and pokes my nose, causing Rainbow and I to start laughing.

"I missed doing stuff like this." I say with a sigh as I begin running my fingers through Star's rainbow colored mane. I'm really glad she didn't get my boring brown hair, but got Rainbow's instead. "Sometimes I wonder how much longer we'll be able to do these things."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... something could happen to one of us Rainbow. I could get killed or something, and then you and Star would be alone in a world where you don't fit in. What would you do then?"

"Matt..."

"I'm serious, if something happens to me, I want you to go back to Equestria with Star, and never come back. If I'm not here to keep you safe... I don't even want to think about what would happen. I've been living every day for the past few weeks wondering if they were my last. Every day I would wake up in fear, wondering if that would be the last time I would see you." My eyes start to water up. I guess Star knows what that means by instinct, and she starts nuzzling my neck with her face. Rainbow does the same thing to my side.

"I won't let anything happen to you Matt. Never." Rainbow whispers as we look back up at the night sky.

"Same here Rainbow... same here..."
> Taking Flight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No..." I mumble as I feel a hoof shaking me. I try to roll over and squeeze my eyes shut, but the hoof is persistent on trying to wake me up. I let out a sigh and a grunt before slapping the hoof away with my elbow.

"Matt... Its your turn!" Rainbow hisses at me quietly. I try to shake her off of me, but she continues shaking me over and over again.

"Fucking... fine..." I mumble as I basically roll off the bed. My blurry eyes read the digital clock next to my bed which lets me know it is only two thirty in the morning. Great, just great. I wouldn't do this for anyone else...

I walk across the room, and rub my eyes as I approach the small crib in the corner. I lean against the side of it, looking down at the little filly that is staring back up at me with wide emerald green eyes. Six, almost seven months old and I still have to get up in the middle of the night to feed her.

"Alright ya little brat." I say with a chuckle as I pick her up. "You hungry?" Star lets out a little coo and leans onto my chest, almost falling asleep again. I start walking out of the room, feeling jealous of Rainbow for getting to sleep some more. Of course, I can hear her laughing from under the covers as I walk out of the room. Heartless pony... Whatever, I get to spend some time with the cutest thing on the planet.

I carry Star down the stairs, trying to stay as quiet as possible to keep her from waking up too much. It is much easier to handle her when she is tired like this.

I approach the kitchen, remembering the time that Jack broke in and tried to fucking murder me. I wonder what ever happened to that guy? Probably rotting away in prison with an asshole three times as big as when he arrived. Wow, my brain makes some messed up jokes at two in the morning I tell ya what.

I sling Star over my shoulder so I have one free arm, and use it to open the refrigerator. I look around for her milk bottle, and find it already full from earlier. Good thing I plan ahead. I reach in and grab the bottle, the cold air surrounding my arm helping to wake me up a little. I start humming a little song that my mom used to sing to me. I place the bottle in the microwave, and let that go for about twenty seconds before removing the bottle.

"Here comes the airplane..." I say with a dumb laugh, my tiredness still controlling half my brain. Star opens her eyes slowly, but perks up when she sees the bottle. She opens her mouth slightly, and begins drinking from the bottle, taking it in her hooves. I'm glad she can hold it herself, as I remember my arm getting tired from holding the bottle while she drank.

I smile as I slowly bounce up and down on the balls of my feet, looking out the back door at the large pool. I should teach Star how to swim some time. Come to think of it, I should probably teach her how to fly. Rainbow said she was able to at least hover at about seven or eight months old, so I think Star should be able to do the same considering she might have inherited Rainbow's skill at flying.

Star stops drinking, and she looks up at me with those big green eyes. I smile and place the bottle down on the counter as I shift her back into both arms. Her smile starts to fade, and is replaced with a frown. I don't really know why, but I try to comfort her. She starts crying a little, and I start to do whatever I can to comfort her.

"Hey, hey, hey. Shhhh." I whisper as I place my lips on top of her head. I start rocking her slowly, heading back for the bedroom. "Do you want mommy now?" I say to her as we begin walking up the stairs.

"Mommy..." She mumbles before burying her face into my chest. Welp, looks like I solved that mystery. I feel like she likes Rainbow more than me sometimes, and it actually kind of upsets me. I mean, I can see why seeing as how Rainbow is her species and I'm not, but I'm still the father dammit. I think we should get some bonding time at some point tomorrow. Yeah... I think I'll take Star to the park for some father daughter bonding time.

"Rainbow, wakey wakey." I say as I start shaking Rainbow awake.

"Wha...?" She mumbles before sitting up to look at me. Her hair is completely covering her face which makes me laugh as she tries to shake it away to see me.

"Somebody wants to sleep with mommy." I say quietly as I pass Star over to Rainbow. She takes her in her forelegs, and I walk around to the other side of the bed. I fall onto it, my back sinking into the soft mattress. I sigh as I pull the covers back over myself, glad to be back in bed. The last thing I really notice before drifting off, is Rainbow singing quietly to Star.

Then everything fades away.




Alright, time to start the day. I hop out of bed, seeing that Rainbow and Star are already up and gone. I pull on some jeans and a white t-shirt after stripping out of my pajamas, and head out into the lobby of my house. I jog into the kitchen, ready to start what I hope will be an amazing day.

I enter the kitchen to see Rainbow holding a bottle up to Star's mouth. Man, that little filly can just drink and eat all day. I smile as I open up the fridge and open up a carton of orange juice. Rainbow looks awake and happy, but her mane is an absolute mess, more than usual that is.

"Fly through a tornado or something Rainbow?" I say with a smirk as I sip on a glass of orange juice, the citrus helping to wake me up.

"What do you mean?" She says as she looks up from Star to meet my eyes. I pull out my phone an quickly open the front camera, and I point it at her. She squints and looks at the screen before letting out a little gasp and reaching a hoof up to her hair. "Oh Celestia... I don't usually care about my appearance, but this... Just no..." She says as she cringes at her reflection. "Here, take care of Star while I fix this up." I take Star out of Rainbow's forelegs, and sit down in a chair. I lean back and hold Star up, watching her flare her wings out like she's flying. Today, I'm gonna teach her how to do the real thing. 

Rainbow comes back down a few minutes later while I'm playing with Star. Her mane is back to it's natural wind blown style. The same style I fell in love with. I smile at her, and she returns the gesture as she sees Star with her wings out. I keep making these little plane noises that make her giggle and laugh while pretending to fly. It fills my heart with pure joy every time she smiles.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Rainbow says as she sits down in the chair across from me.

"I thought I'd take Star to the park for a while. Just the two of us for some bonding time." I say with a grin as I place Star down on the table. She sits down on her haunches and starts playing with a spoon in front of her while Rainbow and I talk.

"Oh really? I thought you two were as close as possible at this point."

"I did too. Then she started crying for you even though I was literally holding her right then and there. I thought maybe she liked you more, and I guess that kind of upset me." I explain to Rainbow.

"That isn't true." Rainbow says as she glances over to Star. "She likes you just as much as me Matt."

"Even if that's true, I still want to take her to the park for a while, just the two of us. You can have like a little you day with the house to yourself if you want. I'm not trying to blow you off or anything, I just kinda wanna spend some alone time with her. You understand right?"

"Of course I do! Whatever makes you happy." She says as she ruffles Star's mane with a hoof. "I think I'm gonna go take a hot shower, you two have fun." Rainbow gets up and heads for the stairs. I smile as I pick up Star and carry her over to the front door. I slip on my sneakers before yelling up to Rainbow.

"Okay, going out now!" I yell up to her. I walk out of the house, Star in hand, and begin walking towards the park. I'd take the car, but the park is literally down the street from our house.

As I walk down the street, I get some waves and smiles from some of my neighbors, to which I happily return. Even if it is the middle of summer, the morning air feels cool against my skin, especially with the gentle breeze blowing against us.

"Wanna fly Star?" I say in a slightly higher pitched voice than usual.

"Fly!" She says with a smile as she throws her hooves up in the air. Aaand there goes my heart again. This filly will be the death of me I swear.

We reach the park, only to find that there is almost nobody here right now other than a couple of families. Looks like a pretty clear day too, low humidity, gentle breeze, and perfect temperature.

"Alright Star, ready to do this?" I say as I place Star down gently on the grass. She starts running towards the middle of the park, and I stay at a light jog to keep up with her. She's a pony, so even at this age, she's pretty damn fast. She stops in a big opening with a bunch of grass around us. No trees to block us, and nobody too close to distract me or Star.

"Wanna learn to fly?" I say as I get down on a knee and start running a hand through Star's mane.

"Fly daddy!" She says excitedly as she spreads out her wings. Seriously though, can you have a heart attack from cuteness overloads?

"Alright now, just start doing this." I take the tips of her wings between my fingers and start moving them up and down in the same fashion I've seen Rainbow move hers. I'm no flying expert, but I've seen Rainbow fly enough to know how it generally works.

I sit down on the grass as I start watching Star make her first attempts at flying. I let her instincts take over as I stop helping her. She tries to jump into the air and then start flapping, but barely makes it a couple inches off the ground before falling. I cheer her on like a dad teaching his kid how to ride a bike. Well, I guess that's sort of what I'm doing in a way.

Star tries a different technique of running and flapping her wings at the same time, though it doesn't work the way she planned. She does manage to stay in the air for maybe a second, but she ends up falling on her face and crying. I stand up and run over to her, placing a hand on her back as she wipes her eyes with a hoof.

"C'mon you got this!" I say as I help her back up. "How about just going straight up? Just flap, like this." She probably didn't understand half those words, but its worth a shot. I show her how to flap her wings in a steady pattern, then sit back and let her try it. I pull out my phone and begin recording in case this is her first flight. I don't want Rainbow to miss it.

Star grunts as she starts flapping her wings really fast. "Slow down a little." I say to her calmly. She slows her pace a little, and slowly but surely starts to lift off the ground.

"C'mon..." I mumble to myself as I point the phone at her, recording the whole thing. She makes it about two feet in the air, and she is able to actually stay at that altitude. She looks over at me and starts giggling. I start to laugh in happiness to as I get onto my knees.

"Fly to daddy!" I say as I wave hand towards me. She's hesitant at first, but slowly starts to move forward while keeping her current altitude. She lets out some little grunts to show she's getting tired, but when she makes it to me, I hold out one hand and grab her out of the air, holding her to my chest.

"She did it!" I say excitedly as I flip the phone around and aim it at both of us, essentially taking a video selfie. "Did you see that Rainbow!?" I say with a smile as I point the phone down at my chest where Star is. She looks up at the camera and giggles.

"Mommy!" She says happily at the mention of Rainbow's name. I end the video there, sliding the phone back into my pocket. I fall on my back, holding Star above me. She did it! I couldn't be more proud. I pull her down to my chest, and she rests her head on my neck. I close my eyes, but a quiet voice catches me by surprise.

"Love daddy..."
> The Day Before
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One more day. That's all the time I get to spend with my daughter before leaving for Paris, the city of love. I better enjoy it while I can.

I think these thoughts as Star piggybacks on my shoulders, giggling and laughing away as I jog down the sidewalk. I just taught her how to fly about an hour or two ago, and it was the best feeling I've ever had watching her achieve such a huge life goal. We never go past maybe a couple of feet in the air, but with the basics down, she'll be breaking sound barriers in no time!

"Take me down to the paradise city..." I mumble to myself as I play out a song in my head, trying my best to keep Star balanced on my back. "Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty..." Hey is that Skyler and Alex?

"Guys!" I wave the two down as I approach them, slowing down to a walking speed. They notice me and turn in my direction with smiles on their faces. "What are you guys doing here?" I say as I come to a stop, catching my breath.

"Oh, we're just walking over to the movie theater to catch this new action movie. I guess you could call it a date." Skyler says as she wraps an arm around Alex's shoulder.

"Oh yeah? That so? Sounds like fun. I just taught this little guy, er, filly, how to fly!" I say proudly as I reach up an start scratching Star's head with my index finger. She starts giggling and tries to grab my finger in her hooves, but I keep moving it just out of her reach. Skyler lets out a "Dawww." And I let Star catch my finger. She hugs it tightly, and I start to pull away as it kinda hurts. Man, this kid is strong!

"So, this some kind of father daughter bonding time?" Alex says with a smirk as he walks up to me and starts playing with Star on my back. I guess she's used to uncle Alex playing with her by now as she doesn't freak out at all. She usually gets really shy or nervous around new people.

"Yeah, just thought I'd take her out for a while. Rainbow is at home doing God knows what, but I think she was okay with us leaving her for the day." I explain as I take Star off my back and hold her in my arms against my chest, her fur keeping me warm against the cool breeze. "Anyway, I'll leave you two to do whatever, c'ya around!" I say as I break into a jog again.

Now, where would be a good place to go to have to fun with Star? What can I do that would be fun for me, as well as a baby pegasus? Oh, wait, duh! We have a big ass pool in the backyard! Just because Rainbow is home doesn't mean we can't go out back alone for a while. I do a one-eighty and begin jogging back towards the house.

"Wanna learn how to swim?" I say with a smile as I look at Star in my arms. She looks up at me, and tries to copy the word swim but ends up saying complete gibberish. Maybe talking should be next on the agenda. As of now, she only knows five, maybe six words at most. At least, I haven't heard her say anything else other than that.

The cool wind whips against my face, making it sting a little. Thankfully just the very presence of Star seems to radiate a warm, happy feeling through my system. I look down at her again, still in disbelief of how lucky I am just to even know her.

The large house comes into view as I turn a corner, and I slow my jog down to a walk so I can catch my breath before actually entering. I swat the bangs off my forehead, pushing them to the side so they won't fall in my eyes. Really gotta get this cut.

"Rainbow! I'm back!" I yell as I open the door before closing it behind me. The warm air inside the house feels amazing, and I take in a deep breath as I close my eyes to officially relax myself.

"Matt!" Rainbow practically flies down the stairs before embracing me in a hug, squishing Star between us. "How was it?" She asks excitedly.

"Amazing! You gotta check this out!" I place Star down, as she runs off to the living room. She should be fine by herself in there for a minute. I pull out my phone and open up the photo gallery. I show some pictures that I took of us at the park, which make Rainbow smile. What comes next excites me beyond comprehension to show Rainbow.

"Here's your daughter taking flight for the first time." I say as I play the video in front of Rainbow. Her eyes shoot open before it even starts, and her focus goes completely onto the phone screen as the video plays out. It shows Star getting off the ground for the first time, and well as her flying slowly towards the camera.

"Did you see that Rainbow!?" The Matt in the video says with a huge grin. I look down at Rainbow to see her still staring at the screen, her mouth hanging open. The video ends, and the room goes silent as I pocket the phone. 

"My Star... she flew!?" She says as she snaps back to reality.

"Yep! I made sure to get it on film so you wouldn't miss it. I hope you aren't upset that you weren't there in person."

"Are you kidding!? How could I be mad! My baby just flew Matt! That's like, this ultimate goal for any pegasus!" Rainbow says happily with tears in her eyes. She runs off to the living room, and I follow behind her a couple of seconds later. I guess flying for a pegasus is like a human's first steps. Very important.

I enter the room to see Rainbow hugging Star on the floor, both of them laughing as they hug each other. Rainbow places Star down and backs up a few feet before sitting down on her haunches. I catch from behind them, leaning against the top of the sofa.

"Fly for mommy!" Rainbow says in a higher pitched voice than usual. That's how she usually talks to Star, and it seems to be pretty effective at getting her attention. Star looks at her with a confused expression for a second, so I begin to help out a little. Without Rainbow noticing, I start slapping my arms at Star, trying to remind her what to do.

Out of nowhere Star stands up and starts flapping her wings, fast at first, but quickly slowing down her pace. Her face scrunches up as she lifts herself off the ground. She giggles once she is about a foot off the ground, and slowly starts to head towards Rainbow. Rainbow squeals excitedly like a kid in a candy shop, placing her hooves up to her mouth. She catches Star in front of her and hugs her to her chest, both of them laughing.

"Ain't that something..." I say with a smile from behind the sofa. Rainbow looks at me, her face upside down from laying on her back, and gives me the biggest, most legitimate smile I've ever seen on her. It warms my heart to see everyone so happy, especially know we'll be torn apart again come tomorrow. Damn these rifts!

"Hey, I want to go teach Star how to swim. Can you keep her company while I go change?" I ask Rainbow as I point my thumb back towards the stairs. She nods, her smile still present, and I jog up to the bedroom. I put on a thin t-shirt, one I don't mind getting wet, and I slip on a pair of swim trunks. After fixing my hair in the mirror, I make my way back downstairs where I find Rainbow getting something out of the fridge, and Star sitting in front of the sliding glass door that leads to the pool in the backyard.

"Ready?" I say happily as I pick her up under her forelegs. Our pool does have a deep end, but on one side, there is a pretty shallow part that only measures about a foot. This is where you'd normally walk into the pool, but it is shallow enough for Star to swim in.

I open up the glass door, the cool air coming into the house. I carry Star out onto the patio, and I place her down a few feet from the edge of the pool. I turn around to close the door, but when I turn back around, Star is gone.

"Star? Star Gaze?" I say as I spin around looking for her. I feel a mass hit my back rather suddenly, and look up to see two emerald green eyes looking down at me. She's getting pretty damn good at this whole flying thing. I laugh as I reach up and pull her off my head, holding her over my shoulder as I approach the pool. I kneel down, and I place her right on the edge. Now, she's taken baths before, but she has never been out her by the pool, so I have no idea how she will react to water.

"Alright, you wanna swim?" I say as I place a hand on her back. She looks down at the water curiously, and slowly brings a hoof up before lowering it down towards the pool. The second the hoof makes contact, she pulls it back, not out of fear, but out of curiosity of watching the water rippling around the point of impact from her hoof.

"Daddy?" She says as she looks behind her to see me. I smile back at her, trying to assure her that the water is safe. She looks back down at the pool before jumping in completely. Okay, did not expect her to do that! Now, remember, Star is only about a foot tall, MAYBE eleven inches, so she basically goes completely under even at this shallow point.

"Agh! Star!" I quickly reach into the pool to grab the panicking pegasus. I pull out of the water while she starts to gag and cough on pool water. I pull her up to my chest, letting her cry into me. She hugs my neck tightly as she starts to sob into my t-shirt. Good job Matt, she's probably afraid of water now. I pat her on the back as I rock back and forth, and it seems to calm her down to some extent. Okay, maybe swimming can happen some other time.

I carry Star back inside once she's stopped crying, and place her down on the table in the kitchen. I grab a towel and wrap her up in it, not wanting her to get cold. I rub the towel along her fur, causing it to puff out from the static electricity. I lean down at kiss the top of her head, and she smiles a little which helps to relieve me of my worry. Good thing Rainbow didn't see any of that, or I'd be on the couch tonight for sure.

I pick Star up, still wrapped in the towel, and sit down on the sofa in the living room. I turn the TV on and it by luck starts playing MLP. I don't notice it at first, but when I hear Rainbow's voice, I expect to see Rainbow standing next to me. I look up, and I do see Rainbow, but it isn't the same one that I know and love.

"Oh... just the show." I say with a chuckle. "Look, its mommy! Or a different version anyway." I say as I position Star so see can see the television. She smiles and tries to reach out to the image of Rainbow on the screen.

"Mommy!" She says happily. Okay, don't want her getting too attached to a fake version of her own mother.

"Rainbow! Come on down here!" I say loudly towards the stairs. A minute later I hear the clip clop of hooves on the stairs. Rainbow appears next to the sofa before jumping up on it. She leans against me with a smile, and she leans over to nuzzle Star's head. It feels good to sit down as a family like this, and I really feel like I bonded with Star today! Even if it did have a couple of bumps along the way.

I lean back with a sigh as I take in the moment of being surrounded by the ones I love, my family.
> Crushed Hope (End of Arc 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I already miss her..." I sigh as I watch the plane start to take off. The ground starts to become smaller and smaller before my eyes as we begin ascending into the air.

"I do too... I really wish she could come with us, or that we could have just stayed home..." Rainbow mumbles from next to me.

"You could have stayed at home with Star y'know. Nobody is forcing you to come with me."

"Why would I just ditch you like that? I know Star is safe with your family, but I don't know if you'll be okay. What if you got hurt while I was just sitting at home doing nothing when I could have been there for you. I'd never forgive myself."

"I'm glad you feel like that, and I feel the same way. I'd rather you just stay home where it is safe... But I'm glad you're here to keep me company. I'd probably go insane being alone on these annoyingly long flights. So I guess I'm kinda torn about whether or not you should come with me. Really, I just want to protect you, that's all."

"Well then you can protect me in Paris... Say, didn't you call it the city of love earlier?"

"What? Oh yeah, Paris. Yeah, a lot of people call in the city of love because it is one of the most romantic cities in the world. A lot of couples go there just to see the Eiffel Tower which is this huge metal tower that its hundreds of feet tall. You can go all the way to the top, and at night, you can see the entire city which is absolutely beautiful.

"How beautiful we talkin'?"

"As beautiful as you." I say with a dorky grin as I tap the tip of Rainbow's muzzle. She rolls her eyes and smiles at my corny compliment. She leans up against my side and rests her head against my shoulder.

"You're just saying that."

"Why would I lie about that?" I say as I wrap an arm around her shoulders. I lean my head by and close my eyes hoping to catch some Z's during the flight.

"Well, I am pretty awesome, but I wouldn't go as far as saying beautiful..."

"Are you doing this again? You have the biggest ego EVER, yet you can't take a compliment about your appearance. C'mon Rainbow, stop beating yourself up."

"O-Okay... Thanks by the way." She says with a blush as her ears flatten against her head. I smile and ruffle her hair before leaning back again and closing my eyes. With the warm, furry figure pressed up into my side, it doesn't take long to drift off to sleep.




"Son of a... bitch..." I whisper to myself as I slowly open my eyes. What was I thinking trying to sleep like that? My entire neck feels like it just got punched several thousand times by body builder. Dammit this hurts like crap.

I start rubbing my neck with a hand, and look out the window to my left. It appears to be night time, and I can only see water below us, so I assume we're somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean still. My watch confirms my suspicions about the time, letting me know it is three in the morning. I can't believe we left so late at night. That means we've only been on the plane for about three hours.

I look down at Rainbow to see her curled up in her seat like a cat, her tail wrapped around her body like a blanket. I smile at the adorable sight, and quickly snap a picture with my phone to hold against her later. She hates any kind of pictures that make her look girly or cute, so I can totally use this to my advantage later.

She softly snores as she starts kicking a hoof in her sleep. I wonder if ponies are like dogs where they kick in their sleep if they're dreaming about running. I guess I'll have to ask when she wakes up what she was dreaming about.

I pull out my phone again and decide to browse the internet for a while. I actually planned ahead for once and learned how to get my currency changed, so now I won't be broke once we get to Paris. I REALLY wish I had done this when I was in Asia for like a week. Maybe this time I won't have to steal a sports bike and get shot at my a bunch of thugs.

I open up my messaging app and decide to start texting some friends just to pass the time. I need SOMEONE to talk to, and with Rainbow and most of the passengers sleeping, I can't really do that. Back in the states, if I did my math correctly, it should only be about eleven, maybe twelve at night. I'd assume most of my friends are still up since it is summer time.

Boy was I wrong. After texting four different people, none responded. Great, now what? I only have Rainbow to talk to and she's completely knocked out! I'm way to sore to go back to sleep, and I'm sick and tired of listening to the same songs on my phone over and over.

Wait, duh! I have a book in my backpack. I reach down and pull out a book I had been dying to read for a while now. I wish I'd thought of this earlier. I lose track of time quickly as I lose myself in the amazing book. It has been out for years, how have I never read it?

"Mmmmph, wha?" Rainbow mumbles from next to me. Her stirring awake caused me to snap back to reality. When I look up, my eyes are assaulted with sunlight. What the fuck? I glance down at my watch to see it is already eight in the morning, and I was almost done with my book. Damn, I really lose track of time when I can get into a book. It's why I always loved reading. It always allowed me to escape into another world for a while and get away from the stress filled life in reality.

"Looks who finally woke up. You slept through almost the entire flight." I say with a smile as I scratch a finger behind Rainbow's ear. It flicks around wildly as I do so, causing her to wake up faster.

"What's that book about?" She says with bloodshot, half closed eyes. Yikes, somebody is NOT a morning person, er, pony.

"Oh, like, these twenty-four kids get thrown into this arena, and they basically fight it out to the death. The main character sacrificed herself so her sister wouldn't have to go in. Really good book, don't know how I've gone this long without reading it!"

"Sounds... egg-heady." She says as she stretches her wings and legs. I have to lean up against the wall to keep from getting smacked in the face by a wing.

"You're just saying that because it isn't Daring what's her face."

"Daring Do." She says in a monotone voice. "And that is totally different from one of your normal nerdy books."

"I beg to differ, you liked Treasure Island didn't you?"

"Well... yeah, but, it wasn't THAT good."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I'm gonna finish this book. There's only four tributes left, and I gotta know what happens!"




"Ah, Paris! The city of love!" I say as I close my eyes and take in a deep breath of the city's air as we exit the airport. I haven't stopped stretching since getting off of that hellish plane. I used to love flying, but now I'm really starting to hate it with a passion.

"I can't wait to see-" Rainbow starts, but gets cut off.

*Riiiiing* *Riiiiing*

"Hold on, let me answer that." I say as I pull out my phone. I look at the caller ID to see that Alex is calling me.

"Yes?" I say calmly as I answer the phone.

"M-Matt? Oh God dude..." He sounds out of breath like he's either nervous or tired, maybe both.

"Whoa, Alex, calm down. What's up?"

"So, like, I was passing by your house, your parent's house that is. Dude, the door was broken down and one of the windows was shattered." My heart stops in my chest and I feel sweat already pouring out of every pore of my body.

"I went in, and I found your parents tied up in the closet upstairs, both were knocked out. I searched the rest of the house... but Matt."

"Y-Yeah?"

"Emily and Star, they were gone."

*END OF ARC 1*
> Missing (Arc 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello? Matt?" Alex's voice comes through the phone, but my brain doesn't really seem to receive the message. I stare off into the distance, my eyes widening as much as physically possible. My hand starts to twitch, and the phone slips out of my hand. I hear it clatter against the ground, yet don't even move my eyes to look down at it.

"Matt! Dammit..." I hear Alex mumble through the device. The beeping sound that signifies the call ended plays, letting me know Alex must have hung up. He probably thought we lost connection.

"Matt? Hey, snap out of it!" A blue face suddenly appears in my vision and I stumble backwards while blinking rapidly, allowing my senses to bring me back to reality. "What just happened to you? It looked like you just went into some trance, then you dropped your phone. Are you alright?"

"S-Star... My sister." I mumble just barely loud enough for Rainbow to hear me. I fall backwards, landing on my ass and curling up into a fetal position. Tears start pouring from my eyes as I close my eyes and bury my face into my arms.

"W-What about them!?"

"They... I don't know! They're gone!" I yell through tears as I look up at Rainbow who is now standing in front of me. Her eyes widen and her mouth gapes open slightly as realization sets in. "Alex said someone broke in, and that neither of them were in the house..." Rainbow's eyes suddenly become glossy, and before I know it, her fur on her face is matted down with tears. I reach out and hold her against my chest, squeezing her between my legs and torso. We sit there and let it all out in front of the airport, leaning up against a wall on the sidewalk.

"We... need to find them. Now!" Rainbow yells as she looks up at me. I wipe my eyes and nod before standing up, Rainbow still in my arms. I toss her forward gently and she starts hovering in the air. We both look up at the rift over the city, and I pull out my cube. Maybe the spell will reach from here. I really don't feel like walking right now.

I raise the cube in the air, and the magical aura begins to surround me. As the magic lifts me off the ground, I lower my head and squeeze my eyes shut as another wave of tears takes me over. I can hear the lighting above me closing the rift, but it doesn't seem to register in my mind. I almost forget about my fall, and I land on the ground with a thud as I forget to roll. I lay on my back, watching the now clear sky.

That was it... the last rift. The world is finally safe again, but at what cost? I may have just lost my sister and daughter, and God knows what is happening to them right now.

I realize something. They didn't just disappear, no, somebody took them. My grief now turns to a raging fury as I stand to my feet. Rainbow walks up slowly behind me, still trying to dry her own tears. I turn to face her, and she stops in her tracks, giving me an unreadable look. I guess she saw the burning fire in my eyes. I can feel the rage starting to overtake my mind, and I try my best to calm myself down.

I'll kill them... I'll kill whoever did this. Nobody messes with my family.


 

*Alex*

"Sir, I already told you that I didn't see anything." I say to the cop as he writes down some notes on a notepad. I look behind him to see Matt's parents being wheeled into an ambulance, both of them still unconscious. I sigh as I look down and rub a hand through my hair. I had been on my way to pick Skyler up for a date, and I just so happened to be passing by the Green's house. I had noticed that the door was practically broken in half, and one of the windows had shattered. This was obviously a break-in, and from what I could tell, there was more than one person responsible.

"Alright, alright. Thank's for calling us kid. You may have saved these people's lives, they were bleeding pretty heavily from those gashes on their heads." The officer says as he places a hand on my shoulder. I look up at him, meeting his gaze. I'm glad I came around when I did, but I still don't know why this happened.

I wonder if someone broke in just looking for valuables... No, they wouldn't do that in the middle of they day knowing that people were still in the house. This was a kidnapping mission. Somebody actually came looking for either Emily or Star, maybe even both. I could see why somebody might want Star, she is an alien after all, but why Emily? God, I loved that kid as much as Matt did. Hell, she felt like another sister to me. I'd known her since she was born, and I'd always felt like a brother to her.

Then there's Star. I haven't spent much time around her since Matt never really takes her out of the house that much, but that little kid always made me feel happy just at the sight of her. Who the fuck would mess with two kids? They're both like family to me! This is my problem now too, not just Matt's. I'm going to help as much as I can, and nothing is going to stop me.

I watch as the cop cars and ambulance pull away down the street. The wind blows through my hair, and I look up at the night sky. It's pretty late here, so that means it is probably early morning for Matt. I still don't know what happened when I called him. I just told him about the news and the next thing I heard after that was what sounding like plastic clattering on the ground, then it went silent, so I decided to hand up thinking we lost connection.

That call was about four hours ago, and I've been sitting here in front of Matt's house talking to cops ever since then. I'd assume Matt and Rainbow are both on their way back to the states by now, so I should probably be expecting them at the airport soon. I guess I should probably meet them there if I want to be involved in this.

I stand up slowly, taking one last look back at the Green's house. I'd kinda grown up here in a way, even if it wasn't actually my house. I'd known Matt since we were five, and I would come over here almost every day after school until middleschool started. Man, those were the days when everything was so much simpler. Now I'm trying to solve the mystery of who kidnapped my best friend's daughter, who is a blue pegasus, and his sister!

I start to walk towards my car as the cool night wind whips against my hair and clothes. I don't dare to look back again, knowing the sight of the wrecked house would only bring me more grief and anger. I wonder how Matt is holding up. This really must be taking a toll on him. I know my friend, and there's one thing about him that worries me. It is really hard to make Matt angry, but when it does happen, you don't want to be anywhere near him. He can really go off if he gets pissed enough, and considering recent events, I don't think he will be in the best of moods.

I start the engine to my car, staring at the road ahead of me being lit up my moonlight and the few lights along the sides of the streets. This is going to be a long night of waiting at the airport for Matt to come home. I sigh as I begin driving towards the giant city in the distance.

Star, Emily, wherever you are, please be safe, for Matt's sake.




*Emily*

My head feels all fuzzy, and I can't really remember anything. The last thing that I do remember is sitting in my room, and I was playing with Star... then I heard this loud cracking sound from downstairs. I remember hearing my mother screaming, then my dad yelled something. Everything went quiet after that. I had hid under my bed with Star, scared of what might be happening downstairs.

These guys, there were three of them, they started walking up the stairs. I could hear their footsteps even though I could tell they were trying to be quiet. My door had opened, and I could see these black shoes making their way inside. They laughed, saying they knew I was under the bed. I hugged Star against my chest, trying to keep her from crying. It was so scary that I almost cried myself. But I knew I had to be strong, and I had to be brave.

They grabbed my leg, and started pulling be out from under the bed. I looked up, but I couldn't see their faces. They were covered with these black masks. I don't know who they were or what they wanted, so I instead tried to kick at them. All they did was laugh at me before hitting me in the head with something. And that is the last thing I can really remember.

Now, when I try to open my eyes, I can't see anything. I can feel some kind of fabric on my face, so I assume I'm blindfolded right now. My head still hurts from whatever they hit me with, and I start to grunt as I realize my hands are tied down to the back of what feels like a metal chair.

"Hey! What's going on!" I yell as I try to break free of my bindings. My struggle gets me nowhere, and I end up sighing as I give up.

"Mommy!" I hear from across the room. I know that voice all too well.

"Star!? Star are you okay!?" I yell as I begin to struggle again. I hear footsteps enter the room, and realize that they are coming way too fast to be just one person. Some of the steps stop, and only one continues to walk towards me. I can practically feel the presence of somebody in front of me, and I stop trying to break free.

"Well well well... Emily Green, I don't think we've met before." A voice says before the blindfold is ripped off my face. "You probably don't know me, but I know about you and your little friend over there all too well." He points to Star who is curled up in a metal crate on a table across the room. I look around and see that I am in some kind of abandoned building. Come to think of it, I think this was the old bank on the edge of town that had been abandoned for years. Now it is just a wrecked structure on the edge of town that serves little to no purpose.

"What do you want? Who are you!?" I yell angrily, trying to sound as tough as I can. The man begins to laugh as he bends down and placed his hand on his knees. He looks me right in the eyes, and I can already see the evil in his eyes.

"Allow me to introduce myself..." He says with a creepy grin.

"My name is Jack."
> My Little Army
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Alex*

I pace back and forth as the morning sunlight streams in through the large window. I watch the planes outside, waiting for the one containing my best friend and his girlfriend. Their daughter was kidnapped last night, along with Matt's sister, Emily. I have no idea what happened to them, as there were no clues left behind by the intruders. Not even the police were able to find anything significant.

I sigh as I stop walking and sit down in a chair near the terminal that Matt should be exiting from. I texted him earlier to meet me at the airport here in Jacksonville, and he told me to wait at this exact terminal. His plane should have already landed, which means he'll be here any minute now. I really don't feel like confronting him right now, as I'm sure his rage is burning with a fire that hell itself cannot contain. Rainbow on the other hand, well, I'm not sure how she'll be. Obviously she'll be upset, but her personality can be the polar opposite of Matt's at times, while other times it is identical to his.

I pull out my phone, and send Skyler a text telling her that she should stay out of this. I told her about the break in a while ago, and she had insisted on getting involved. I wasn't about to let that happen, because I'd rather not have her getting hurt by whoever the hell did this. I think Matt can handle himself without us, but I'm still going to try to get him through this. After all, I'm the only one who has seen the crime scene, so I know more about this than he does.

I look up from my phone as I hear a hissing sound like air escaping through a crack. The terminal doors start to open, and the first thing I see is figure running full speed out of the terminal with a smaller blue figure clinging onto his back.




*Matt*

I push through the crowd of people, not really caring that they are yelling at me for almost knocking them over. Rainbow clings onto my back so she doesn't lose me as I force my way into the terminal. Once I am in the front of the crowd, I break into a full sprint towards the doors that lead to the airport. Alex better fucking be here like he said he would, or else.

The terminal doors slide open with a hissing sound, and I make my way out into the airport. My nerves calm down slightly when I see that I am finally home. I'm no longer raging, though I am still pretty upset. During the plane ride, my anger slowly changed from fury to anxiety. I almost had a mental breakdown half way through the flight, and Rainbow had to calm me down by wrapping herself around me for nearly and hour. She had been taking the news just as bad as I had. She was in tears for most of the flight, and was constantly asking me questions about if they would be alright, or where they were. Stuff that I couldn't answer.

"Alex!" I yell out in relief when I see my friend waiting for me. He looks up and sprints over to me. I run into him at full speed, ending with us in an embrace. I start to feel the tears again, and I just hold onto him tighter. Despite us being best friends for years, we'd never really hugged like this for years. I guess it just wasn't a think that guys did very often, but I think right now is an appropriate moment.

"Oh God, Matt, I'm so sorry dude." He says as I push myself away. I stumble backwards, and Alex stoops to one knee to embrace Rainbow who begins to sob into his shoulder.

"It isn't your fault, you couldn't have known the break in would happen. Come on, let's get back to the house to look for any clues." I say as Rainbow steps back towards me. She looks up at me with glossy eyes, and it almost makes me break down again. I can't though, I have to be strong if I'm going to do this. Alex nods and we begin running towards the parking lot.

"Did you check the security footage?" I ask as we get into the car. I get into the back with Rainbow, leaving the passenger seat vacant. I don't want her to sit alone right now, and quite frankly, I don't want to either. I hold her against my side as we pull out onto the street.

"Dude, you have security cameras? Why didn't you ever tell me this!? Even the police didn't find anything like that, how well hidden are they?" Alex says with a confused tone.

"They're really small, top of the line type stuff. They aren't meant to be seen. I can check the footage from the computer in my dad's office on the second floor. Maybe that can tell us something about what happened." I explain as I rub a hand up and down Rainbow's back. She's been awful silent since we got off the plane, I hope she's okay.

"Alright, sounds like a plan."

"Wait, Alex, stop by my house first, I need to get something from my room." I say as an idea pops into my head.

"Um, alright then." Alex takes the turn onto the street that contains my own house on it. We pull up in the driveway, and I quickly jump out of the car. I pull out my key, and unlock the front door to the house that I hadn't seen in what felt like forever. I sprint upstairs, almost breaking through the door to the bedroom. I stick a hand under the pillow to find my dad's fully loaded pistol right where I left it. Never know when I might need something like this.

I make my way back outside, stuffing the pistol into my pants, my shirt covering up the grip. I don't have a gun holster, so this will have to do for now.

"What were you getting?" Rainbow says quietly as I sit back down next to her. She looks so devastated right now that it just makes the fury build back up inside of me. I have to learn how to control that before I do something that I might end up regretting. I lift up my shirt, revealing the gun's grip sticking out of the top of my pants. She gasps at the sight, but nods, understanding why I might want it.

Alex starts to drive down the road again. The silence is deafening, so I decide to get some kind of conversation going. We end up talking about the rifts I had been closing until we are able to get to my old house. My heart stops when I see the broken door and window on the front.

Rainbow and I jump out of the car and begin running towards the house, adrenaline pumping through our bodies. Alex catches up to us as we stand in the doorway, taking in the inside of the house. Some furniture is knocked over, and it looks like there was a brutal fight down here. Maybe my dad was able to take on a couple of the guys before they overtook him. That's the only real idea that pops into my head. Still doesn't explain the broken window though.

"So, where's your dad's office?" Alex asks as he catches his breath. I nod towards the stairs, and we begin to make our ascent to the second floor. My legs are killing me after going through all this, but I manage to push on anyway. I need to find out what happened.




*Rainbow*

I still can't believe this happened. My heart just feels so... empty. I don't even know where to start on finding either of them. Emily was a good friend to me, but she wasn't my sister, so I just didn't feel the same way about her as Matt does. However, Star is a totally different story. That is my daughter, and I carried her for eleven months, I am not about to just let some creeps take her away from me. But I feel so useless. My whole life I've depended on my speed and strength, but that doesn't really help right now. What we need right now is Matt's street smarts to figure out what is going on. I just wish I could help some more. My friends would probably know what to do... Wait a second.

"Matt?" I say as I look up to see Matt and Alex on the stairs ahead of me. They stop and turn to look at me. "Could you open a portal to Equestria for me? I need to... do something." I say quietly as I kick the stair with a hoof. Matt gives me a curious, yet worried look, but pulls out the blue cube anyway. A mini rift opens up on the wall next to me leading to Twilight's library. I jump through, ready to set my plan into action.




*Matt*

"Okay, let's see what happened here." I say as I sit down in front of my dad's computer. We can hear the sound that the rift is making from the staircase since I left it open for Rainbow to come back through. She didn't say what she was doing or where she was going, but I trust her to do what she feels is important.

I login to my dad's computer, and the desktop pops up. I search the screen for a minute, looking for the application that controls the security cameras. Once I've found it, I click on it and wait for it to open up. I lean back in the chair and half sigh, half groan as I cover my eyes with my hands. I feel Alex's hand on my shoulder, and look up at him. He gives me a reassuring smile that helps to calm my nerves ever so slightly.

I look back to the computer, and the application has now opened. I lean in to use the mouse as I begin to search for the footage from last night. Alex leans over me, trying to get a closer look at the footage.

"Alright, I found it." I say as I open the file from last night. The video starts to play, and we watch in silence at the horror unfold before us. The footage shows three men breaking through my window, and then my parents jumping off the couch at the sight of them. My mother grabs a decorative rock off the table in front of her, and chucks it at one of the men. He dodges it, and the rock smashes through the window behind him. Well that explains the shattered glass in my yard.

They quickly overtake my mom, but my dad is able to take one on before his two friends overtake him as well. With both of them knocked out, and tie them up with some rope and chuck them into a closet. I switch cameras to show Emily's room, and my heart breaks when I see the men standing there laughing at her bed where I assume she is hiding. I see a small rainbow colored tail sticking out from under it right before the three men drag Emily out by her leg. She yells something at them before they hit her right in the head with a fist. My blood begins to boil as I see a small stream of blood pouring down her face as she lays on the ground unconscious. Star stares at Emily before trying to nuzzle up against her. One of them men bends down and grab Star by a wing, making her scream. I grit my teeth and I feel my knuckles turning white as I grip onto the armrests of my chair.

"Wait, Matt, back it up." Alex says as he points to the screen. I break out of my rage induced trance, and back the video up a few seconds. "Wait... There! Pause it!" I quickly hit the pause button, and stare at the screen. The footage is kinda fuzzy so I don't see what Alex is point at at first. Then I see it.

"Oh God... those jackets." I say as I cover my mouth with a hand. I squint to see it better, but I can see the small symbol of a bloody knife on one of the men's jackets. No fucking way, I thought they were gone, or at least decided to leave me alone! My blood begins to boil again as I stand up so fast that my chair falls over backwards. I'm about to storm out of the room when I hear the clip clop of hooves outside the office door. It swings open, and Rainbow appears with a smirk. What is she up to?

I can still hear the clip clopping of hooves from behind her, though she isn't even moving. Did she do what I think she did?

"Rainbow, did you bring your friends into this?" I say as I back up a few steps, putting the chair back up on it's legs.

"No," She says with her smirk still present. Her five friends appear behind her, all of them wearing angry expressions on their faces. Just what did she tell them?

"I brought an army." 
> Plans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Whoa..." Alex mumbles as he slowly approaches Rainbow and the other ponies. I continue looking at them, noticing all of their expressions. Rainbow looks cocky and hopeful with that smirk of hers, but the other five of her friends look so pissed, almost like they're about to explode. I'm gonna go out on a whim here and guess that Rainbow rallied them together and told them about what happened to Star.

"I take it you're all here to help out?" I say as I lean against the wall and cross my arms, glaring at them from the corners of my eyes.

"You know we are. Rainbow is like family to all of us, and nopony messes with our family." Twilight says as she steps past Rainbow and into the room. I give her a smile, glad that I've got some more support on the matter. It feels good knowing I have all of these friends to back me up.

"So, uh, what is the plan exactly? We don't even know where to start really." Alex says from across the room where he is standing next to Applejack. They seemed to really get along last time they saw each other, so I guess they're closer friends than I thought.

"I say we search the city until we find Star and Matt's sister, then take them back from whoever took them." Twilight says as she walks in a circle to talk to all of us.

"That sounds like a good idea, but I just don't think we should do that today, probably tomorrow. I still need to sort some things out before we form some big search party." I say as I sit back down in front of the computer. "Alex, can you take everyone downstairs while I look at this some more? Help yourself to anything in the kitchen." I say as I wave over my shoulder while looking at the computer.

"Got it, okay guys, lets go think things out downstairs." Alex says as they all leave the room.

"Not you Rainbow, c'mere." I say as I turn around and wave for her to come back into the room. She trots over to me, and I can tell that she seems much more hopeful now. Too bad what I'm about to show her will probably crush that happiness. But she deserves to see the security footage as much as I do. She jumps up onto my lap, and I wrap an arm around her chest as I start the video from the point where they first broke in.

She gasps a little seeing my parents get the shit beat out of them, but when the scene where Emily and Star are attacked comes on, she about loses it. She actually lets out this little growl when they hit Emily, but it is when Star gets involved that she flips out. I almost close my eyes to skip the scene, but I watch it anyway. One of the men picks Star up by her wing, and she starts to scream and kick at the guy's hand. I know how sensitive pegasus wings are, so I know that must hurt like a bitch to be completely lifted off the ground by just one wing.

"NO!" Rainbow almost tackles the monitor, but I hold her back against my chest. It takes both arms and all of my strength to contain her, but eventually she falls limp in my arms. She turns around and buries her face into my shirt, which quickly becomes soaked with tears.

"Shhh, Rainbow calm down, c'mon." I say as I rub my hand down the back of her neck, smoothing out her hair. I try to hold in my own tears as I do so. I watch the screen which now shows an empty room. I reach a hand over to the mouse, and fast forward about half an hour, and stop when another figure enters the room. Alex.

I watch as Alex looks around the room, holding his hands on top of his head before pulling out his phone. This must have been when he called me while I was in Paris. To think, he was just half an hour later, thirty minutes. If he had been driving by just thirty minutes earlier, he could have done something to help. Maybe it is for the best though, he could have gotten hurt if he messed up.

"W-We have to find them Matt, we have to!" Rainbow's muffled scream vibrates through my torso as she somehow grabs my shirt with her hooves. I pick her up, wanting to get downstairs with the others, but also knowing she wasn't about to let go of me any time soon. I push the office door open with my shoulder, and begin walking downstairs.

I slowly walk around the corner, and into the living room where I find Alex and the five other ponies sitting around discussing this and that. I cough rather loudly to get everyone's attention. They all stop talking, and even begin to tear up when they see Rainbow still practically screaming into my chest. I even see Pinkie try to blow her nose on Alex's sleeve, and he almost slaps her in response. Ah Alex, never change.

"Oh, I can't..." Fluttershy shoots off the couch pretty quickly, and the next thing I know, she is hovering behind Rainbow, hugging her around her chest. I place Rainbow on the floor, and she buries her face in hooves. All of the other ponies in the room surround her, ending in a giant group hug as Alex and I stand back and watch.

"Dude... I never cry, but this?" Alex chokes out. I place a hand on his shoulder and try to give a reassuring smile.

"We can do this man. Look, we have six other friends helping us, and two of them are super strong, three can fly, and two can use magic. Then there is us. We're both really smart, we know this city like the back of our hands, plus, we have this." I say as I lift my shirt to reveal the gun. Alex wipes one eye with a thumb before looking up and smiling.

"Yeah, you're right. The eight of us are an unstoppable team! We can totally do this." Alex says as he pats me on the back.

"Alex..." I sigh out.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks... for being here. I really couldn't have done this without you, and if you hadn't driven by when you did, I'd still probably be in Paris, unaware that my sister and daughter were missing. You're the best friend I could ask for."

"Oh God... Oh damn it, c'mere!" Alex says as we embrace in what I refer to as a "bro hug", which lasts about four seconds.

"O-Okay, what now?" I hear from across the room. I look up to see Rainbow staring at me with bloodshot, red eyes. Still breaks my heart any time I see her like this.

"Alright, everyone sit down, and I'll formulate a plan." I say as I sit down on the couch. There is one couch, which can sit three, and two chairs in the room, so three of us will have to sit on the ground.

I sit in the middle of the couch with Rainbow to my left, and Twilight to my right. Rarity takes a chair, and so does Fluttershy. Alex, Pinkie, and Applejack sit on the floor.

Alright, so, I say we split up while searching, obviously this will be a lot faster and easier than searching as one large group. Now, there are eight of us, so I think we should split up into groups of two." I explain as I lean forward and fold my hands on my lap.

"So four teams of two?" Rarity asks.

"Yes, and I think I already know what the groups should be." I say as I place a hand on Rainbow's back.

"And those would be?..." Alex says while spinning his hand in a circle.

"First, I want some eyes in the sky. Rainbow and Fluttershy, you two will take the to the skies over the city, scouting out anything that might lead us to some answers." Rainbow looks up at me, somewhat shocked that I wouldn't take her with me. "Okay, next, I want Rarity and Pinkie to search the north west part of town, Applejack and Alex, take the north east side of town, and Twilight and I will take the entirety of the south side. Any questions?"

"Yeah, why can't I go with you? Twilight can fly too." Rainbow says as she looks up at me. I knew she would ask that. 

"Because, no offense to Twilight, but you are such a better flier. I need you in the skies, your eyes and flying skills are just to valuable. Trust me, if I could fly, I'd go with you, but right now, I really need you in the sky." I explain to Rainbow. She sighs, but nods in understanding.

At this point, the only group I am worried about is Rarity and Pinkie. The air team will be fine in the sky, nobody can really get to them there. Applejack will be safe with Alex, and Twilight will be okay with me, but those two have no human escorts, any neither can fly. I'm sure they can take care of themselves, or at least I hope they can.

"Alright, so now what?" Alex asks.

"Good question... Okay, I say we go home now, rest up, and prepare to search tomorrow. I can take probably four of you guys home with me, two of you will have to go with Alex." I say as I begin to stand up.

"Okay, who's going with you?" Twilight asks from behind me.

"Well, obviously Rainbow. I guess I'll take you, Rarity and Applejack." I list off the other names randomly, not really caring who comes with me other than Rainbow.

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow then." Alex says as he walks past me, slapping a hand on my shoulder. "C'mon you two, let me show you around my place." Alex says as he leads Fluttershy and Pinkie out the front door.

The five of us left in the room gather ourselves up, and head outside a couple of minutes later. Having left my truck at home, we have to walk home. That reminds me, I left my motorcycle at the airport... Oh well, I can pick it up later.

We all walk down the sidewalk with me leading in the front.

"Wow, this world is... beautiful. I've only seen your capital, but these houses look so nice." Twilight observes as we walk down the sidewalk.

"Oh yeah, I forgot this was your first time really seeing my world other than the White House. Well then, welcome to the shit hole that I have come to know as Earth." I say as I raise my hands up above my head. Still not feeling to happy right now, so my response probably came across pretty rude.

We continue walking, the four mares behind me making conversation. I walk alone in front of them, keeping my hands in my pockets while looking down at the ground it front of me. I almost walk past my house because I wasn't paying attention, but thankfully Rainbow flies in front of me and stops me. We walk up to the front door, and I fish the key out of my pocket. I say one last thing before turning the key and opening the front door.

"Get settled in guys, you're in this for the long haul."
> Searching
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Emily*

The room is dark and somewhat cold. I'm alone in here, and God knows how long it'll be before I see the sun again, if I ever see it. They took Star away a while ago, and they haven't returned since then. I'm starving, but that isn't really my biggest problem right now. My wrists are on fire from rubbing against the rope holding me to the chair.

I don't know who this Jack guy is, but I've heard Matt talking about him before, and from what I remember, he isn't really a nice guy.

I watch a pipe on the ceiling as water droplets drip down to the floor below. I wonder if this really is that old bank downtown. It may be some warehouse... Wait, warehouse!? Didn't Matt get taken to a warehouse about a year or so ago when those guys kidnapped him? Oh no, this isn't good. If I remember correctly, he said he was taken to Georgia, which means... Oh Matt, I'm so sorry I couldn't stop them. I tried I really did.

Please forgive me... Please save me...




*Rainbow*

I sigh as I close my eyes, trying to fight back the tears. The wind does help calm me down a little, but I can't help but worry. My little Star is missing, and I have no idea where she is. All I know if that the gang that attacked Matt multiple times, is responsible. Why did this have to happen? She didn't do anything, and neither did Emily. They should have taken me instead! Why Star!?

"Rainbow Dash?" A quiet voice squeaks out from beside me. I shake my head and look over at Fluttershy flying next to me.

"Oh, sorry... I was just thinking about stuff."

"Oh, okay..." She says timidly. "Are you okay Rainbow? You seem even worse today than you did yesterday."

"N-No, I'm not" I choke out as I feel the tears starting to flow. I stop flying forward and begin to hover in place, a good thousand or so feet above the city. "I'm so scared Fluttershy, I don't know what to do."

"Oh, Rainbow, don't cry! You'll make me-" I cut her off as I wrap my legs around her chest. She squeaks in surprise, but returns the gesture.

"I'm... sorry." I manage to squeak out before another wave of tears overtakes me.

"Its okay to cry Rainbow. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"P-Please, promise me we'll find them..." I say as I sniff and wipe my eyes. Fluttershy's eyes are glossed over, showing she is about to start sobbing too.

"We will Rainbow, I know we will..."




*Matt*

"Do you have any leads on the kidnappers?" Twilight asks from the passenger seat of my truck. I take my eyes off the highway for half a second to look at her before looking back at the road.

"Not really. The only thing I know right now is who did it, but I can't exactly track them down because I don't know any of their names... Except for one guy."

"Oh? What was his name? Maybe we can use it to track him down, then he'll lead us to the rest of them!"

"I wish it were that easy Twilight. No, the only guy I know who is affiliated with that gang is a guy named Jack Harris. A real piece of shit who only cares about himself. He won't be much help though, he's behind bars for attempted murder." I say as I sigh and shake my head slightly. The one time I actually need Jack, and he's nowhere to be found.

"Oh, well then I guess you're right, we really don't know anything then." Twilight says as she leans back against the seat.

"Okay, lets get out and walk, I'm sick of driving." I say as I pull into a parking lot. We have the south side of town to search through, but I can't do all of that from the highway. Time to do some exploring on foot. I help Twilight out of the car, and we begin to walk down the sidewalk. This part of town isn't as large and populated as the downtown area, but it is a really nice area.

"So, while we walk, lets talk about some stuff, catch up as friends." Twilight says, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"Alright, shoot." I say as I snap my fingers. I place my hands in my pockets as we continue to walk, drawing in a ton of stares. Nobody has seen Twilight before, but given the fact that Rainbow is pretty much a celebrity by now, I have no idea why people would be freaking out over a new pony. Its not like you haven't seen one of these before guys, c'mon.

"Is Rainbow... doing okay? I mean, before the whole foalnapping thing. Has she been happy here?"

"Well, I think so. If not, then she is an extremely good actress. Honestly, I can't even express how happy I've been myself, before all the rift and kidnapping stuff, and I know she felt the same way. Shes just under a lot of stress lately, so I don't blame you for thinking she wasn't happy here. But believe me when I say, she was the happiest girl... or pony, I've ever met until this all went down."

"Glad to hear it. I was worried she might eventually get uncomfortable here and come back to Equestria. I'm glad that hasn't happened, because that would mean she left you, and I just can't imagine you and her being apart." Twilight says with a smile as I look down at her. I return the gesture, glad to see Twilight is alright with Rainbow staying here on Earth.

"So, Twilight, how has Equestria been without Rainbow? Any big battles, or epic adventures that she has missed out on?"

"Hmm... Not really, now that you mention it. There has been the occasional monster or two that sneaked into town, but we were able to handle it, no problem. The weather team got kinda wonky without her, but they're managing none the less."

"Good to see her leaving didn't have too much of a negative effect on you guys. I'd hate to be the reason Equestria went to shit because Rainbow refused to go back."

"Same here. I still miss her, we all do, but we realized that this is her home now, and by the looks of it, it always will be."

"I wouldn't say that Twilight. The future is still unwritten for both of us. Our lives from hereon out are blank slates. I always say that home is where the heart is, and I still stick to that. Wherever Rainbow is, that is my home, and I'm sure that she feels the same way." I say as I smile to myself.

"That's really sweet Matt. I didn't expect something so deep and romantic coming from you Mr. Tough Guy." Twilight says with a chuckle.

"Hey, I can be the most romantic guy ever!" I say proudly as I point a thumb at my chest.

"You can also be really stubborn." Twilight retorts with yet another laugh.

"What? Who told you that? I'm not... stubborn." I say as I blush and run the back of my head.

"Rainbow tells me all about you whenever we actually see each other, Matt. You're the only thing she ever talks about. You know that, right?"

"I... didn't think she really cared enough to spend all of her time with her friends, who she rarely sees, just talking about me. Why would she do that when you guys almost never see each other?"

"Because, Matt, she loves you more than you realize. Sure, I bet it started out as a simple crush, but I can tell now that she has a burning passion for you. You should have seen her before she ever met you, she was... different to say the least."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean... Well, she never really talked about her past much, but when she did, it would always bring her to tears. Has she ever told you about her past Matt?"

"There was this one time... Yeah, I remember now. She told me she was an orphan, and that the other kids would make fun of her because of it, not to mention the bullying about her mane and voice."

"Orphan!? She never told me that much! I can't believe she wouldn't tell me! I thought we were best friends..." Twilight's ears droop against the side of her head as our walking slows down slightly.

"Well, to be fair, she didn't even want to tell me that much. I kinda forced it out of her. She had a full mental breakdown on my chest just thinking about her past. Did she ever tell you that she was told she'd never find love?"

"Yeah, I think she mentioned that, Matt. It is just sick to think that somebody would even say that to her. Rainbow is just too innocent, and friendly, and kind, and-"

"I get the point Twilight." I say as I smile and hold a hand out to her. "I can't stand to even think about somebody hurting Rainbow like that, and it sickens me to know it actually happened to her, and as a filly no less!

"I know... Well, we should probably get back to looking for clues." Twilight says as we quicken our pace some more.

"Yeah, lets go!" I say as we begin to run into our section of the city.




*Alex*

"Are you sure that this will actually help at all?" Applejack says as she looks up at me from the passenger's seat.

"Oh of course it will! If anybody has and kind of records on this guy, it'll be the police."

"You never really said what we were even trying to do, Alex. Why are we going to the prison again? It seems pretty out of the way."

"Because, Mrs. Applejack, I know the gang that kidnapped Star and Emily, and I also happen to know a member of said gang who just so happens to be spending time behind bars as we speak."

"Oh really? What's this varmint's name?"

"Jack Harris, biggest douchebag in the world. Word has it that he tried to not only bully Rainbow and Matt, but even attempted to murder Matt at one point."

"What!? You're kiddin'!"

"Wish I was Applejack, wish I was. But according to Matt, this gang has made his life a living hell. They kidnapped him, put him in the hospital and I had to give him a blood transfusion, they tried to murder him twice, and then kidnapped his sister and daughter. I'd say he isn't very friendly with these guys."

"That sounds horrible! I can't imagine mah sister gettin' taken like that. He must be so angry and upset."

"You know it. When I first saw him after I told him the news, I could see a literal fire burning in his eyes. That guy is really protective of his family, and I don't blame him."

"I know how he feels. Ah'm pretty protective of mah family as well. Ain't no way I'd let anypony lay a hoof on any of them."

"Star and Emily are like family to me, so I can see where you're coming from... Hey, we're here." I say as I pull into a parking spot. Time to go talk to the police.




*Matt* *10 Minutes Later*

"Still nothing!" I say in frustration as I rub my hands down my face. "I don't even know what we're looking for Twilight, what is the point of this!"

"Relax already! We'll find something eventually, we have to."

"I don't know where to sta-" *RIIIING*

"What's that ringing noise?" Twilight says as her ears perk up and she spins around, looking for the source of the ringing.

"My phone, let me answer it... Oh, its Alex, I wonder is he found anything." I answer the call and hold the phone up the my ear. "Hello?"

"Matt? Got some news, and it is NOT good!" Alex says in a somewhat panicked voice.

"Holy shit Alex, whenever you call, it is bad news, you gotta stop... ugh, what is it this time?"

"Its about Jack."

"Yeah, what about him?" I say, my heart skipping a beat and my eyes widening.

"He's not in jail, he's been bailed out!"
> Lockdown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Who bailed Jack out of prison?" I ask in a serious tone as I lean against the large desk in front of me. Alex, Twilight, and Applejack stand behind me, watching curiously. Twilight rubs her right foreleg with her left, and it is totally my fault. I lost it after Alex gave me the news over the phone, and I attacked her out of anger. Thank God I was only able to land one blow on her before she caught me in her magic. I spent the entire ride over here apologizing.

"All we have on record is some guy named Greg Thomas. Know him?" The officer says as he hands me a record that shows who bailed Jack out of jail.

"Can't say I do..." I mumble as I rub my forehead and place the record back on the officer's desk. "Thanks anyway..." I sigh and walk past my friends, making my way back into the parking lot in front of the police station.

"Matt! Hey, wait up." Twilight runs up next to me as Alex and Applejack split away towards their car.

"What Twilight?" I say, somewhat annoyed and angry. I don't even look down at her as I continue walking towards my truck with my hands in my pockets.

"Just... sorry."

"Sorry? For what? I should be sorry Twilight, I hit fucking hit you for no reason."

"What? No, not that. I mean I'm sorry that this is happening to you. I can't even imagine..." Twilight sighs and looks down at the ground, obviously somewhat upset. I'm actually glad she is, it shows that she really does care.

"Oh, yeah... It really does suck. I'm so glad you guys were here for Rainbow and I. I don't even know what we'd do without all of you."

"Glad to hear that Matt, I really am."




*Rainbow*

"Rainbow, please slow down! I-I can't keep up like this!" Fluttershy yells behind me. I grunt and come to a stop so she can catch up.

"C'mon Fluttershy! I can't just fly around at the speed of a snail and expect to find my daughter and boyfriend's sister!"

"Tha-That doesn't mean I can go as fast as you! Please just slow down and take a break. You really need one, you look awful. No offense."

"What? What is that supposed to mean!?"

"Your mane is going in every direction, your eyes are bloodshot, your feathers are ruffled, and you're just so... angry." She says to me firmly. I sigh and look at the ground below us before gliding over to the top of a building.

"I'm sorry Flutteryshy... I'm a real mess, I know that, but I just can't stop worrying. I have to be angry or else I'll just... start to..." I start to choke on my words as I feel something warm running down the front of my face. I taste something salty as tears begin seeping into my muzzle.

"Oh, Rainbow!" Fluttershy hugs me from the side. We sit the on the building, me crying like a foal, and Fluttershy holding me like one. I'm such a useless, weak idiot. I can't even find my own daughter!

"D-Damn... it." I say oh so quietly as I punch the roof as hard as I can with a hoof. I try not to swear, but when you live with Matt, well, it slips out at times like these.

"Shhh, calm down Rainbow."

"I'm such a failure... I-I can't even do anything without Matt. I need him to find Star, he has to do it Fluttershy!" I yell at her as I stare into her eyes. I see many things, compassion, fear, sadness, you name it.

"You aren't a failure. You're THE Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria, Element of Loyalty, best marefriend a guy could ask for! Matt needs you right now Rainbow, you can't give up like this."

"Wow, I never expected something so... I just didn't expect something like that from you Fluttershy."

"Oh, was it too much?"

"Nah, you're cool. C'mon... lets start searching again."




*Matt*

"So, Twilight, I think we could both really use a break." I say as I pull into a parking lot. "How about some lunch?"

"That sounds amazing!" Twilight says as she basically claps her hooves together. "I've been wondering what human cuisine was like!"

"Well, you're gonna like this place. I went on my first, but unofficial date, here with Rainbow. We weren't exactly going out at the time, but we were here alone, so I guess it counts."

"Well, lets head into... Uncle Luigi's?" She says as she squints to read the sign on the outside of the cafe.

"Yep, my home away from home!"

"I thought Equestria was your home away from home. You did stay there for two months last summer."

"Okay then, my third home." I say with a chuckle as we walk inside. We sit down at a booth and order our drinks.

"This isn't a date right?" Twilight says as she sips on her drink.

"What? No way! I'd never cheat on Rainbow."

"I'm just pullin' your chain Matt. Gotcha though!" We both laugh lightly as we wait for the pizza to come.

"Alright, so, I know we're supposed to be taking a break, but I've been thinking..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, what if we aren't looking in the correct spots?"

"What do you mean by that? We have the entire city under surveillance. What is there to miss?"

"No, that's not what I mean. I know that we're searching the entirety of Jacksonville, but that's just my point. What I'm saying is, what if they aren't in the city at all?"

"Like... another city?"

"Not necessarily... I know this warehouse, about fifty miles from here. I was held there by the same gang that took Emily and Star. I'd bet my life that we might at least find a clue there, if not Star and Emily themselves."

"So, we've been looking the wrong place all along?"

"Maybe, maybe not. The point is, it couldn't hurt to check. I say we all get together tomorrow and head out there to check it out. I can hold all of us in the truck, although some will have to sit in the bed in the back. The eight of us will head north and try to find that warehouse again."

"That... actually doesn't sound like that bad of a plan. I say we do it." Twilight says with a confident smile as our pizza comes. We eat in silence, only exchanging a few words throughout lunch. We're both probably too busy thinking about what to do.

"Alright, guess we should go find the others." I say as I wipe my hands off and drop some money on the table.

"Yeah, lets head out." I help Twilight out of her seat, and we walk towards the door, waving at the owner as we do so.

"So, I guess we should-" I get cut off by the sounds of sirens and tires screeching.

"Whoa, what the-" Twilight says before a bunch of people begin running at us.

"Are those... policemen?" I say quietly.

"GET ON THE GROUND!" They yell, pointing guns at me, and even at Twilight. I don't argue, even though I have no idea what is going on. I drop to my knees and place my hands behind my head, sweat already dripping down my face.

"Matthew Green, you are under arrest!"
> Wanted
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What!? What the fuck did I do!?" I yell in defense as I hold my hands behind my back, still on my knees.

"Hey, quit it!" Twilight grunts as two of the officers hold her back.

"Matthew Green, you are under arrest for suspicions of terrorist activity. You were reported by a Mr. Jack Harris." One officer says to me.

"What!? Are you fucking kidding me? All I've done is protect this country and the rest of the world! Do you even know who I am!?"

"Hey! Ow, that hurt!" Twilight says as a man tries to cuff her. Seriously? Is she guilty by association now? It hurts to see a friend struggling, so I do the only thing I really can do at the moment.

"Hey!" I yell, anger in my voice. "Stop!" 

Then I feel it. A sudden wave of energy erupting from my body, and everything stops. I can see a faint blue glow shining through the fabric of my pocket, and reach in and pull out the cube Celestia gave me. I can feel it's magic coursing through me, but that can't be right, I'm not casting a spell.

I look up, and see that absolutely nothing is moving, and it is deathly silent. It is so quiet, that all I can hear is a loud ringing in my ears. I could probably hear a pin drop in China. I slowly stand to my feet, looking around me. Did... I just stop time?

"This cube has the magic to control time and space" Celestia's words flash through my mind. All this time, and I never even thought about the time part of that explanation, just the space part. I can't think about that now, I can feel the energy quickly draining from me, so I know this spell won't last forever.

I rush over to Twilight, and pick her up. She feels as stiff as a statue made of solid rock. I toss her over my shoulder and run as fast as I can down the street. There's no way I'm going to take my truck, they could probably trace that thing so easily, that I'd be dead in a heart beat.

I sprint down the vacant street, staring at birds, planes, leaves, and other things just floating immobile in the air. It amazes me, actually, that this kind of power exists. Not only that, but I can control it. This... could actually be VERY useful in the future.

"So, I can stop and start time at will... Fucking A." I say with a confident grin. I spend the next ten minutes running until I finally run out of energy, and everything falls back into motion.

Twilight falls limp across my shoulder, and looks around quickly, whipping her head around violently.

"W-What? Where am I?" She says, obviously confused.

"Welcome back my purple friend, you okay?" I ask, making sure that spell didn't have any negative side effects. I'm a good mile away from the police now, so I slow down to catch my breath.

"Y-Yeah, but weren't we just-"

"Getting arrested in a parking lot? Yeah, well I got some news for ya. Apparently, if I yell 'stop' while I have the cube, I can stop time around me. I carried you away so that we wouldn't get our asses thrown in jail."

"T-Time? You actually stopped time? I don't believe it, only Starswirl was able to master that, and even then he could only control it for a few seconds!"

"Well, Star-what's-his-face, obviously didn't have this thingy." I say as I pull out the cube. It glows faintly, signaling that it is recharging, or is it that I'm recharging? Fuck, I don't understand any of this magic bullshit.

"That's... amazing! Not even I can do that sort of magic!"

"Well, now's no time to be getting all excited Twilight, the cops are still after me because of that asshole Jack."

"Yeah, what did they mean by terrorist activity?"

"Hell if I know. All I know is, Jack called in and reported me, and because of all the terrorist activity in the country over the past few years, it doesn't surprise me that they wouldn't go to check it out without any further proof. I don't blame them actually, I can see why they'd respond like that without any proof."

"Well, what now? You're wanted by the police Matt, and apparently, so am I."

"Now? We head to Georgia. We get to the warehouse, save my family if they're there, and... well, the police thing is a bridge we'll cross when we get to it. Trust me Twilight, I got this under control."




*Emily*

That jerk Jack has been holding me here for what feels like years. My clothes are dirty, my hair is all clumped together, I'm starving because they barely feed me, and they keep bullying Star. All the time, they come in and pull on her feathers, or tell her that her parents are dead, and it is driving me crazy.

The worst part is, there is nothing I can do. This chair is bolted to the ground, and my wrists are being rubbed raw by these ropes. I can barely sleep at all, which is really messing with my brain. I can't think clearly, which isn't helping the situation at all. All I can think about is food, Matt, and Star.

At night, all I can think about is Matt bursting through the door and untying me. But every night, nothing happens. All I can hear is Star whimpering from her cage across the room. Sometimes she cries for Rainbow or Matt, and it just makes me want to get out of here even more. At this point, I think they're using Star to torture me.

It smells like rusty metal, smoke, and death in here, and it is driving me crazy. What I wouldn't give to see the sun again, or to just run and run and run...

Sometimes I think I can hear the men talking about me, or Matt, or Star, or even Rainbow. I've seen the men, there's at least twenty, if not more. I don't know how I'll ever get out of here, if I even do. This might be the last place I ever see. Oh God, what if I never see Matt again? What if I never see the sky, or my parents, or anything ever again?

I start to cry silently as I stare down at my dirty legs. My tears fall onto them, creating a clean path through the dirt. My hair hangs down and sticks to my face, and I can't even brush it off with my hand. I feel like some caged animal just waiting to die. I'm about to lose it if something doesn't happen soon. I can't hold it in any longer. I scream the words at the top of my lungs, which hurts my throat to no end.

"Matt! PLEASE SAVE ME!"




*Matt*

We met at Alex's house around midnight. I've been hiding from the police all day, but now, its time to move out. I can't stay here any longer, we have to get to Georgia. Alex borrowed Trevor's truck, and we're gathering supplies to bring with us. Food, water, Alex bought some ammo for the gun which thankfully the police didn't find. All in all, I'd say we're ready to go.

Alex is driving, and five of the ponies are riding inside the truck with him. Rainbow and I as laying in the back of the truck, staring up at the stars. I feel the engine rumble, and we pull out onto the street. The sky seems motionless as we watch it, though I can see houses and trees passing by. Rainbow lets out a sigh, and I turn to face her.

"You okay Rainbow?"

"What? Oh, yea... I'm good." She gives me a fake smile.

"No, you aren't. I know you Rainbow Dash, I can read you like a book. Something is bothering you. Is it Star and Emily, because I promise we'll find them."

"Well, that's part of it. Mostly, I'm worried about you. The police are after you, what are you going to do Matt?"

"Well, I'll find Emily and Star, probably come back and plead innocent, and hope for the best. I'll be find Rainbow, just worry about yourself, worrying about me will only stress you out."

"...Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"...Can you... hold me?" She says as we lay there on our backs. I stares at the stars for another moment, then reach over and pull her onto my chest. She buries her face into my shirt, and I pull her towards me. Her forelegs wrap around the sides of my torso, and she lets out a sigh. I expect tears, but none come. Instead, I get only a face full of Rainbow as she press her lips up against mine. It takes me by shock at first, but I let my head fall, and let her go at it. After all, the worst has yet to come, might as well enjoy ourselves while we still can.

We lay there, hidden by the darkness of night, probably somewhere on the highway by now. I should be thinking about Rainbow right now, but despite the current situation, all I can think about is one thing, and one thing only.

I am going to kill Jack Harris.
> Sick
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Who needs to shit?" Alex says through the open window. Even Rainbow and I heard him loud and clear. We've made it about twenty miles, it is one in the morning, and we are in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere at some shady rest stop that looks like it is straight out of a horror movie.

"This is the shadiest piece of shit excuse for a rest stop I have ever seen." I say as I lean over the side of the bed of the truck. Alex sticks his head out the window to look at me.

"Well we're going in, so enjoy your stomach cramps and whatnot." He says as he hops out of the truck. Only Fluttershy and Rarity stay behind in the truck, as well as Rainbow and I in the back.

Rainbow is somewhere between being awake and being asleep, as she keeps trying to talk to me, only to pass out in the middle of a sentence. I can feel her breathing softly on the side of my neck as lay back down.

"M-Matt?" Rainbow mumbles, her eyes still closed.

"What's up?"

"I'm cold." I'm not even sure if she is awake right now or talking in her sleep.

"You have fur, Rainbow, and its only line fifty degrees out here. Are you feeling okay?"

"I-I think so. But its really cold Matt." I place a hand on Rainbow's back, and feel her shivering. Not even I'm cold, and I'm just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I spread apart the fur on her face, and place a finger on the exposed skin.

"Oh God, you're on fire Rainbow."

"It doesn't feel like it." She says sarcastically.

"Here, I'm gonna go get you some water." I hop over the side of the truck, my feet landing loudly on the pavement below. I walk around to the passenger side, and open the door of the back seat. I find Rarity and Fluttershy conversing, and snap my fingers to get their attention.

"Oh, hello Matthew." Rarity says as she turns to face me.

"Hey, um, can one of you pass me a water bottle? I think Rainbow is coming down with something." I say as I lean against the open door.

"Oh dear, should I look at her?" Fluttershy asks.

"I think I got it, but thanks." Rarity levitates a bottle from a backpack, and I snatch it out of the air. I nod and smile at the two before closing the door and walking back to the bed of the truck. I hop in, causing the entire vehicle to bounce. Rainbow lets out and moan and grabs her head with her hooves.

"Ugh, that smarts, a lot." Rainbow grunts as sit down next to her.

"Here, drink up."

"Not thirsty." She says as she finally opens her eyes. In the faint moonlight, I can see that they are pretty red.

"Hey, you listen to me Rainbow, drink this or I'll make you drink it."

"F-Fine." I uncap the bottle and hand it to Rainbow. She somehow manages to grip it in her hooves, and slowly drinks from it. She sits up, leaning against my side so that she is facing towards the side of the truck. I can only see the left side of her face, but she doesn't look all that comfortable.

"Maybe we should take you back-"

"No!" She yells. She grunts and hold her head again, dropping the bottle. "I'm not going back now. I- Ow. Have to find Star, Emily too."

"But you're sick Rainbow, I don't-"

"I'm not going back Matt!"

"Fine, but you're going to do EVERYTHING I tell you, and you won't argue with me. I know how to take care of you, but I can't do that if you just fight against me."

"Alright I get it... Ugh, I feel so..."

"C'mere." I pull Rainbow around from my side, and sit her down on my lap, her back pressing into my chest. I wrap my arms around her chest, and she leans her head back against the base of my neck. I rest my chin on top of her head and lean back against the truck. 

I can here Alex and the others walking back and getting into the truck. The engine starts, making Rainbow groan again, and the truck begins to move. Rainbow is practically dripping in sweat, though she insists that she is freezing. If I try to warm her up by holding her close to me, she complains that shes too hot.

"Get some rest Rainbow, you're gonna need it..."




*Rainbow*

I feel like complete and utter garbage. I remember falling asleep against Matt soon after we left, then I woke up about an hour later feeling like this. My body aches, I'm freezing, and there's nothing I can do about it. I guess I caught something. I had no idea I could catch human sicknesses, learn something new every day.

I lean back against Matt's chest, trying to get to sleep. I can tell he's already drifted off by his soft snoring from behind me.

All I can try to do now if get some rest, yet that is the only thing I can't do. And to make matters worse, I'm stressing out about Star and Emily again. What if something bad happens to them? What is they aren't even... they could be dead for all I know!

I can feel tears starting to form in my eyes, which only makes them burn more than they already do. I try not to wake Matt up, but I manage to do just that, probably because his chin was resting right on top of my head.

"Y-You okay?" He mumbles, obviously still tired.

"I'm... fine." The last word comes out in more of a squeak, and I end up full sobbing into his arm.

"No, you aren't. You're stressed out again Rainbow, you need to... I don't know, find your happy place. Think of something positive and exciting, like flying, or winning something. You like those things right?"

"Well yeah, but I can't do that knowing my baby is out there, possibly dead! Matt, I-" I stop when I feel a sudden feeling shoot through my body, more specifically my wings. I look back a little to see Matt's hands gripping each wing, his fingers rubbing against the sensitive joints. I let out a stuttered sigh, and a good chunk of my stress just flies out the window.

"Just chill out Rainbow, relax. I'm as worried as you are, but I can't let it overtake me, and neither can you. We're in this together, and if one of us falls, we both go down. I can't be losing you now Rainbow, we're so close I can taste it. Just hang in there." I don't even hear half of his words because I'm trying to ignore the growing heat down below.

No! Rainbow, c'mon girl, get your mind out of the gutters. Now's not the time for that, you're in a truck for Celestia's sake! But he's just so comforting, and my wings... this is all too much, I'm gonna lose it if he keeps doing this. I want him to stop. I don't want him to stop. I finally feel relaxed, I don't want it to end, not yet.




*Matt*

I rub my fingers around the joints in her wings, trying to calm her down. This has worked before, so I really hope it works now, even when she's sick.

I sit there, rubbing her wings for about five minutes before I feel something wet seeping through my pants, causing them to stick to my leg. Alright, that's enough Rainbow. I take my hands off her wings and pick her up, spinning her around to face me. I hug her against my chest, letting her head hang over my shoulder.

Maybe I shouldn't have tried to massage her like that, because she keeps trying to subtly grind herself against my leg. Whatever, she isn't complaining anymore, so I guess it isn't that bad.

And believe it or not, that's what I fall asleep to.


 

I open my eyes, quickly shutting them again. The sun hurts to look at, so I have to slowly crack my eyelids open to see. Once my eyes finally adjust, I look around to see where we are.

We're parked in a gas station parking lot. That's right, Alex apparently thought it would be a good idea to park at some run down gas station, when two of us are in the back, completely exposed! What if we had ended up doing... well, you know what, last night and fell asleep like that? We'd be in the open like that! What the hell Alex!

I look down to my right to see Rainbow sprawled out, sound asleep. I spread her fur apart again, touching her exposed skin with a finger. Even hotter than earlier, and still sweating. I pull out my phone to see it is about seven in the morning. Good, plenty of time to get where I want to go. I'm not going right to the warehouse, oh no, I have other plans in mind.

I bang my fist against the back window, and watching everyone inside jump. They all sit up and look at me with mixtures of annoyed, angry, and confused expressions. I jut my thumb towards the side of the truck, indicating I want Alex to get out. I hop out of the truck, and wait for him to get out of the driver's seat.

"What the hell man? We were still sleeping." Alex says groggily.

"Oh! Excuse me sir, but did you forget about the two of us in the back!? What were you thinking? What is one of those gang members happen to be passing by, and they saw Rainbow and I just chilling there in the back? They could have killed us so easily!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Alex holds up his hands in defense. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"Rainbow's sick, and we need to get somewhere fast. She doesn't look too good right now."

"What? Really? Is there a hospital around here?"

"No, but I do know this one place where she can get some actual attention." I spend the next five minutes giving Alex directions before jumping back into the bed of the truck. I wipe the sweat from Rainbow's face with my t-shirt, stroking her mane in the process. Hurry up Alex, she needs help fast.

The engine starts up, and we begin to head back onto the road. After a few minutes, Alex turns off onto a side road that turns into a dirt path. If I remember correctly, there should be... Yeah, there it is! Woo, score one for Matt's memory!

The truck shakes and bumps around violently on the uneven road, causing Rainbow to start groaning again. She grits her teeth, and holds her hooves to her head. I pick her up in my arms as we come to a stop in front of a wood cabin.

We park, and I jump out of the truck, Rainbow barely conscious in my arms. I run up to the front door, using my foot to knock. I wait for a minute or two, Alex and the others standing a little distance behind me. The door creaks open, and I see someone I haven't seen in forever. The face of the man who saved my ass over a year ago. The man who reunited me with Rainbow and my family.

"Hey Mr. Brown, remember me?" 
> Sanctuary
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What the-" Mr. Brown, also known as Colton, gasps as he eyes Rainbow in my arms. He snaps out of it long enough to look me in the eyes. "Wait... I remember you. Matthew was it? How are you boy?" He says with a friendly smile.

"I'm fine, been better. But its not me that I'm worried about." I say as I push Rainbow a little in his direction, indicating that I'm talking about her. He looks down at her, leaning down to get a better look at her.

"What is this creature? I've never seen anything like it!" He says as he readjusts his glasses. Figures he hasn't heard about Rainbow on the news, they don't even have a television, much less internet.

"Look, I'll explain more later, but she needs help. She's really sick Mr. Brown, can you look at her?"

"I could give it a shot. Shouldn't be too hard right?"

"I don't know, she's never been sick before, so I'm not really sure what to do."

Well, come on in then son, get comfortable." He says as he steps aside for us to enter. As I walk in, I can hear him gasp quietly from behind me. "Oh, I see you brought friends."

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot about them." I say with an embarrassed half smile. "That isn't a problem is it? Because they can just stay outside if it is."

"Hey!" Alex yells from outside.

"Its no problem, really! You're all welcome in my home."

I small at Mr. Brown, and head for the living room. I still remember the layout fairly well, so it doesn't take long to find it. Gees for a family of three, this cabin is pretty damn big.

I lay Rainbow down on the couch, covering her halfway with a blanket that was draped over the top. I get down on a knee and feel her forehead again, my finger burning at the touch. I can't tell if she's gotten worse or not, but she definitely needs medical attention, and quickly. I grab a hoof in both hands and touch it to my forehead. My eyes burn, but I'm able to hold in my tears. I need her now more than ever, and she isn't even able to stay awake long enough to talk to me, much less help me find Star and Emily.

"Matt!?" I shrill voice calls out from behind the couch. I look up and over the top of the sofa, and spot Alice, the daughter, looking at me with a surprised, yet excited expression. "Is that really you?"

"Nice to see I'm remembered." I say as I stand up, wiping the moisture off of my eyelashes. She runs over to me, and I catch her in an embrace. "Still as friendly and hyper as ever I see." I say as I pat her on the back.

"Well yeah, I haven't seen you in a year! So, what's up with you? Why are you here?" She asks as she brushes a strip of blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Well, look for yourself." I say as I wave a hand towards the couch. She gives me a curious glance before walking around to the side of the couch. She lets out a gasp when she sees Rainbow laying there on the bed. I take a moment to look past her to see Alex and the others talking to Mr. Brown outside.

"It... what... what is it?" She stutters as she looks back up at me. "It looks like a blue horse."

"Well, kinda. I'd say you're half right. This is Rainbow Dash, and she is a pegasus." I explain to her, leaving out the part that she's my girlfriend. I have no idea how she'd react to that.

"She's... adorable!" She squeals out as she kneels down next to Rainbow. "Is she sleeping?"

"I guess. She's really sick, that's why I brought her here. Your dad said he'd take a look at her, but if he can't do anything... Well, I'm not sure what to do then."

"Don't worry, my dad knows a lot about animals, he'll fix her up real nice." She says with a confident smile.

"Good to kno-" I'm cut off by the sound of someone approaching from behind me.

"Well I don't believe my eyes. Matthew Green, is that you?" A familiar voice calls out from behind me. I turn around to see yet another familiar face.

"John! What's up man!" I say as I approach him. He shakes my hand rather firmly, actually causing a dull pain to shoot through it.

"Didn't reckon I'd ever see you again." He says as he tips his hat towards me. "What brings you out to these parts?"

"My friend, she's sick." I say as I lead him over to the couch where Alice is still kneeling next to Rainbow. John looks at her, then at me, then at Rainbow again.

"I... What am I looking at?"

"That's Rainbow Dash. my gir- I mean, best friend." I say as we both kneel down next to Alice. We all stare at the unconscious pegasus for a good five minutes before we hear another sound coming from the doorway. Mr. Brown and the others all walk in, causing Alice and John to gasp at the sight at five conscious ponies.

"So... cute." Alice mumbles quietly, her mouth hanging open. John just stares, probably in shock. Can't say I blame him, I did the same thing when I first saw Rainbow.

Half an hour later, and we were all acquainted, and spread around the house. Everyone was off doing their own thing, whether that was exploring or napping or eating. Me? I was still in the living room, alone with Mr. Brown, Twilight, and the unconscious Rainbow.

"Got anything yet?" I ask as I lean on the top of the couch from behind it. Twilight looks up at me with a worried and tired look.

"Well, I might not be right, but I think I know what's wrong with her." Twilight says with a sigh.

"And that is?"

"Pegasitis." She says with a serious tone. I can't help but laugh at the funny sounding name. Who comes up with shit like this?

"Pega-what-now?" I say, trying my best to hold in my inevitable laughter, despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Pegasitis, a disease that only pegasi and catch. I know, I know, the name sounds really dumb, but that's what it has always been called."

"How did she get it though? She's been on here, on Earth, for months and she has been fine. Hell, the last time she was even in Equestria was when she gave birth!"

"She's a mother?" Mr. Brown asks. I just nod in response, still not wanting to blow my cover.

"The disease isn't contagious, it is something that just... develops from the inside." Twilight tries to explain.

"Like a cancer?" I say, worry in my voice. What if this is something terminal?

"I'm not sure what that is, but, I guess so." Alright, pony cancer is not a thing, good to know. "It is treatable, but the ingredients for the cure can't be found here, and if they can, most aren't readily available."

"And what will happen if we don't make this cure?" I ask, rubbing my hands together nervously. I didn't even notice that they were covered in sweat.

In response, Twilight doesn't even respond verbally, but I can understand what she is trying to say by her eyes.

"Oh..." I mumble as I stumble backwards. I lean against a wall with one hand, the other one on my forehead. Mr. Brown and Twilight walk over to me, and the former places his hand on my shoulder.

"You alright son?" He says sympathetically.

"Y-Yeah, I just... need some air." I say as I run outside. I almost truck Alex and Applejack as I run outside into the backyard. I run, and I run, vanishing into the thick forest. After ten minutes, I come to a stop, dropping to my knees. I'm about to scream when I hear a dull thud sound in the distance. The sound repeats several times.

I stand to my feat, wiping the tears and sweat from my face. I listen closely, following the sound. Thankfully, I was born with incredible hearing and sight. Of course, to compensate for that, my sense of smell was horrible. At least I wasn't smell right now.

I jog into a clearing, and the sound becomes much louder and clearer. I spot John, standing there with a rifle pointed at a fence with a bunch of cans lined up. Target shooting, just the thing for a guy like this to be doing.

"Howdy." I say as I approach. I guess he could hear the distress in my voice, because he takes out his ear plugs and places his rifle on the ground.

"Matt? Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I need to explain why I'm really out here." I say as I stop in front of him. He crosses his arms and looks at me, indicating that he's listening.

"Well yeah, I figured there must be some other reason for you coming all the way out here. Nobody sane would come all this way just for medical attention."

"You're right about that one. The real reason I came out here... I'm on a rescue mission John."

"Rescue? Rescue who?"

"My sister and... Rainbow's daughter. They were kidnapped a few days ago, and I have reason to believe they are being held in that same warehouse that I escaped from over a year ago."

"Kidnappers? Well ain't that somethin'. Why would someone do such a thing?"

"Revenge probably. I killed five men that day that I escaped. Little did I know that they were part of some gang that roamed the streets of Jacksonville. God knows how big their gang is, there could be hundreds for all I know. There's this guy, Jack. I went to highschool with him. Turns out he's a part of said gang, and I think he's the one responsible for the kidnappings."

John whistles and flick his hat up, allowing me to see his face a little better. He reaches down and picks up the rifle. After checking that the safety was on, he tosses it to me. Shocked, I fumble it around before gripping it firmly.

"Ever fired a rifle before?"

"No, just pistols." I respond, still wondering what he's getting at.

"Well you're gonna learn. A pistol ain't gonna do nuthin' for you at a distance. You gotta learn how to use this."

"Why?"

"Because, Matt, family is the most important thing in life. I don't know what I'd do if someone took Alice. You want your family back? Learn to shoot."

"Okay, what do you want me to use this for?" I have a good idea at this point what he wants me to do. A devious smirk spreads across his face, as well a mine.

"This here rifle? It'll be the thing that kills that sum a' bitch."
> Setting Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright... lets go through this one more time. Shoulder rifle, lift, aim down sights, finger on trigger... pull.

My shoulder jerks back, and my ears ring at the bullet pierces the air. I watch it fly through the air, my mind allowing me to almost see it in slow motion. It leaves a gaping hole in the side of a paint can, as well as causing said can to fly backwards a good ten feet.

"Nice shot!" John says as he pats my shoulder with a hand. "Almost as good as your's truly." He says with a chuckle.

"Hey, I wouldn't speak so soon. I'm an excellent shooter." I say proudly with a thumb pointed to my chest.

"Maybe with a pistol, but with a rifle... Well, you're not bad to say the least." We both laugh softly before the crunching of leaves and sticks snaps us back to our senses. I bring up the rifle out of reflex, but John pushes it down when he sees who is approaching us.

"Twilight? Why are you out here?" I say with a sigh as I look down, realizing I almost shot my friend.

"Um, I have some news? You want the good or the bad first?"

"I'm gonna go with good." I say as I hand the rifle back to John. I take a few steps toward Twilight before looking down at her.

"Well, Rainbow is awake, though she's still pretty out of it."

"That's great!"

"Well, it would be, but..."

"But what?"

"Well, you should probably see for yourself." Twilight says as she begins to trot back towards the cabin. I wave for John to follow, and the three of us make our way back to the cabin. It takes about five minutes at our pace, but we make it without breaking much of a sweat. I open the back door and rush inside towards the living room.

I come to a stop when I see everyone huddled around the couch, noticing some of their expressions. Some are of worry, some confusion, and come I can't even make out. I push my way towards the couch before kneeling down in front of it.

"Rainbow! You're awake! I'm so glad..." I say as I bury my face into the fur on her chest.

"Um... thanks?" She says weakly. "Just one question, well two really."

"Shoot." I say with joyful tears in my eyes.

"Why are you hugging me, and who the hay are you?"

I drop backwards like a sack of bricks. I feel something catch me, and turn my head ever so slightly to see Applejack with a foreleg wrapped around my back, keeping me from completely falling over. I sit there on my knees, staring wide eyed at Rainbow, my jaw hanging open. All sound seems to fade into the distance before becoming an inaudible mumble. All I can hear is the loud heartbeat pulsing through my ears.

"Matt? Matt!" I blink twice before seeing Alex kneeling right in front of me. "You good?"

"She... doesn't know me?" I ask, a single tear streaking down the side of my face.

"She doesn't know any of us... well, most of us."

"What do you mean most of us?"

"I think I can explain." Twilight says as she walks up to us. "Her sickness is just getting worse guys, this is a side effect of the illness. Good news is, we can cure it if he hurry. Bad news, we have to go to Equestria to make said cure."

"Okay, but what about her memory?"

"I studied this sickness, along with many other pony illnesses. I read that this is one of the most common side effects, partial memory loss. Think of her memory as a sheet of paper, and a bunch of holes are being cut out of it. That's what is happening to her. When Alex said she doesn't remember most of us, he wasn't bluffing. She seems to remember, oddly enough, only Alice, Rarity, and Applejack." Twilight explains in her scholarly voice.

"Why them though? Shouldn't she remember me? I mean... if she doesn't that means... she doesn't love me anymore..." I whisper the last part under my breath so quietly, I'm surprised that I even heard it.

"It isn't like she chose to remember them specifically, that's just how it happened. I'm sorry Matt, but unless we get that cure, we're never going to have the same Rainbow back... Of course, that won't matter since she'll..." Twilight starts to tear up, but I understand where she was going with that statement. She means that if Rainbow doesn't get that cure soon, she's going to die.

"Then we're getting that fucking cure." I say with a hint of anger in my voice. I pull the blue cube, which I decided to call the "Key" since it basically unlocks rifts and whatnot, and toss it into the air once. I catch the Key with my left hand, and shoot it forward towards an empty wall. A crack of lighting echoes through the cabin, and the room lights up with an energetic, electric blue glow.

"I'm getting that cure, and nothing is stopping me." I say firmly as I walk towards the rift. Twilight walks up next to me, and it appears she is coming with me. Very well, she probably knows a hell of a lot more than I do about this. "Anyone else?" I ask as I look over my shoulder.

"Count me in!" Alice says with a determined smile as she runs up next to us.

"I suppose I shall go too. I'd do anything for Rainbow Dash." Rarity says as she walks up next to us.

"Me too." Alex says as he walks forward. I place hand on his chest and push him back towards Rainbow, who has once again passed out.

"No, you're staying with her. I trust you with my life Alex, so I'm trusting you with her's too. You keep her comfortable, you watch her 24/7, and you don't let anything happen to her, got it?"

"I-I guess so. Yeah, I'll watch her Matt."

"Good. Twilight, how long will this take?" I ask as we prepare to enter the portal.

"No idea Matt. It could take a few minutes to a few days because I'm not sure what ingredients I do or don't have."

"Alrighty then... Lets get a move on." I say to the two mares and Alice. We begin walking forward, but I'm stopped by a voice suddenly speaking up.

"Take this." John says as he tosses me the rifle. I catch it, and strap in around my back. He tosses me a couple of extra clips, and I stuff them into my back pockets. "Keep my sister safe. You never know what you'll run into."

"I promise." I say with a confident nod. I turn around to see the other three have already vanished into the portal. I step forward, taking one last look at Rainbow. "I love you." I whisper to myself before I'm engulfed in a white light.

As quickly as it came, the light vanishes, and I open my eyes to find myself standing in the middle of Twilight's library. I sigh as I close the portal behind me, and walk over to a table where the other three have gathered together. I stand still as Twilight levitates random books and boxes around her.

"Alright, found it." She says as one of the books lands on the table.

"Whoa... Magic, I never thought I'd see that." Alice says with a smirk.

"You'll get used to it. This world is pretty fucked up, try not to let it get to you." I say with a confident smile, trying to reassure myself that everything will be alright.

"It is not! Magic makes complete and logical sense. You just aren't smart enough to get it." Twilight says as she begins to flip through the book.

"Oh, wait, what is this I hear?" I say as I lean against the table with both hands. "You think you're smarter than me?"

"I-I think so." Twilight says with a sheepish smile.

"Just ignore her Matt, she does this all the time when she gets into her studies." Rarity says with a smile as she rolls her eyes.

"ANYWAY!" Twilight yells as she blushes in embarrassment. "Here's the recipe for the cure." I grab the book off of the table, and begin to read through the list.

"Pegasus feather, three drops of rain water, pinch of cloud, cup of liquid rainbow, Pneuma flower... Twilight, what the fuck is this? This doesn't sound like any kind of cure I've ever heard of. This doesn't make any sense!" I didn't even bother to read the rest of the ingredients. 

"Of course it does! It has to have worked to be in this book! Again, things work differently here than they do on Earth, Matt. You'll just have to get used to it."

"Fine, lets just make this damned thing anyway. First up, pegasus feather."

"OW!" Twilight yelps as she jumps back a little. I start laughing as I look over to see Alice with a purple feather in her hand. She hands it to me, and I place it on the table.

"Nice one Alice." I say as I give her a high-five. Even Rarity is laughing it up with us. Twilight is just giving us a deadpan stare.

"Always on top of things." She says as she crosses her arms and continues to smile.

"Alright, three drops of rain." I say as I turn around. To my misfortune, I find that it isn't even raining outside. I begin to walk towards the door, and the rest of the group follows behind me.

"Wow, this town is beautiful!" Alice says as she spreads her arms out and takes in a deep breath. "And the air is so clean!"

"Yeah, too bad it isn't a rainy day out here, or that Rainbow isn't here. If she was, she could just make it rain." I say as I look up at the sky.

"Wait, really? She can do that?" Alice asks. Rarity pipes up before I can even answer the question.

"All pegasi can control the weather here. Rainbow Dash is the head of the weather team in Ponyville, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see her make a storm all by herself." Rarity explains.

"Wow, that's incredible! Too bad we don't have... a... pegasus." A smirk grows across her face, as well as mine and Rarity's. We all turn towards Twilight, and she gives us confused looks before catching on.

"Whoa, hey, I'm no pegasus. Just because I have wings, doesn't mean I know anything about weather. I was born a unicorn for crying out loud!"

"But you're THE Twilight Sparkle, you know everything." I say as I walk up to her. I pick her up off the ground, and look up at the sky. Spotting a cloud not too far away, my smirk grows even larger. "Now, learn how to make it rain." I chuck Twilight, who is surprisingly light, towards said cloud. Her instincts kick in, and she begins hovering a few feet above us, causing us all to laugh.

"Not. Funny." She says with a deadpan stare. We keep laughing, and eventually she gives up and flies up to the cloud with a sigh. We look up to see her pushing back towards the ground, then lands on top of it when it is only a couple of feet above the grass.

"Alright, make it rain." I say as I watch from a few feet away.

"But I don't know how."

"From what I've seen, Rainbow would jump on the cloud, and it would just start pouring. Try that." I suggest as I watch Twilight stare down at the cloud.

"Worth a shot." She mumbles before barely jumping into the air.

"What the fuck was that? You made it like, two inches off the cloud. You have to full on jump Twilight. Oh, also, Alice, could you go inside a get a glass so we can collect the water?"

"Sure thing." Alice disappears into the library, and I turn back around to see Twilight still attempting to make rain come out of the cloud.

"Come on!" She says in frustration. I kneel down and laugh when I see a single droplet of water splash onto the ground. Good thing we only need three drops. Actually, this could work in our favor. Alice comes back out with a glass, and I hold it under the middle of the cloud.

"Alright, just do that three more times Twilight."

"Ugh, fine! Only for Rainbow!" Twilight grunts as she begins jumping again. Two minutes and three droplets later, we had the required amount. Twilight found a cork for the bottle, and used that to keep the water in, saying it would evaporate it we didn't do so.

"Okay, next?" Rarity asks as I put the bottle next to the feather. I open the book up, and look for the next ingredient.

"A pinch of cloud... Whatever that means." I say in a confused tone. "Can you just rip off parts of clouds?"

"Apparently." Twilight says as she places a tuft of the cloud we used earlier on the table. "I remembered you read that off a while ago, so I saved a piece of it. Don't touch it though, or it'll disintegrate because only pegasi, and I guess alicorns can touch them."

"We know how clouds work Twilight, better than you do apparently." Her ears flatter against her head, and she gives me an annoyed look to which I reply with a chuckle.

"Liquid rainbow? The hell is that?" I ask, very confused.

"Have you not seen Rainbow's house dear?" Rarity asks.

"Yeah, the place is just overflowing with the stuff." Twilight adds on.

"Well yeah I've seen pictures of it." I say, remembering seeing said house on the show a while back. "Never seen it myself though, so I wouldn't know what that stuff is. Well, if its in her house, then Twilight, this is up to you again seeing as you're the only one who can fly."

"Ugh! I have to do everything!" She complains as she walks out the front door. "I'll be back in a minute!" She says before grabbing another bottle and flying off. The door slams shut behind her, and I pick the book up again.

"Rarity, what's a Pneuma Flower?" I ask as I look the picture of it in the book. On the page next to the ingredients, is a picture of a nicely drawn flower labeled "Pneuma Flower".

"I've heard of it, but I couldn't really tell you about it." She says with a shrug. "You should probably ask Twilight when she gets ba-"

"I'm... back!" Twilight huffs out. She looks extremely out of breath.

"That didn't take long." I say as I check my nonexistent watch. "You were gone for like, thirty seconds."

"Well, Rainbow's house... was right above the library. I guess the... wind pushed it here." Twilight says, still trying to catch her breath. "I flew as fast as I could too."

"Well, thanks then." I say as I take the bottle of liquid rainbow from her. I place it next to the other items, then proceed to show Twilight the picture of the flower. "Know what this is?"

"Pneuma Flower!? D-Do we really need that?" She says, sounding somewhat alarmed.

"Yeah, it is a main ingredient after all. Why, is that a problem?"

"Is that contraption of yours loaded Matt?"

"My gun? Yeah, why?"

"Because we're going to need it. We're going to the very heart of the Everfree itself."
> Standing Firm (End of Arc 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, so do we have everything now?" I ask as I stare at the list of ingredients for Rainbow's cure. I look up from the list, eyeing the multitude of items laying on the table before me.

"Everything except for that flower." Twilight says as she rubs her chin with a hoof. I sigh as I stuff the list into my pocket, simultaneously pulling out my pistol with the other hand. I check the magazine, finding it to be full. Twilight said we'd be heading into the Everfree Forest, which is apparently the most dangerous place on Equis. I do remember that manticore that attacked us when I first came to Equestria. I ended up killing with a bow, but not before it could get a good hit in on Rainbow. Boy, was that a frightening experience.

"When should we head out?" I ask as I hold the pistol down by my side, making sure the safety is on.

"Tomorrow. It is far too late to be heading out right now, we'd be in for a lot of trouble is we left now. First thing in the morning, we'll move on out." Twilight replies. I nod and place my pistol down on the table and take the rifle off of my back. I aim down the scope, making sure that it is lined up correctly before walking upstairs. I didn't even bother to say where I was going.

"Um, where are you going darling?" Rarity asks. I turn around to see the three girls looking at me. I sigh, look down at my rifle, then back up at them.

"I'm going to the balcony to scout out the forest. I want to have a good idea of what exactly I'm walking into. I'll be back in a little bit." And with that, I turn around and continue walking upstairs. I make it into Twilight's room where I then make my way up to the balcony. I walk out, and the cool evening air hits me in the face, the wind rather strong come to think of it.

I shoulder my rifle as I stand against the fence at the edge of the balcony. I look through the scope, glad that it zooms in rather well. It really is a good substitute for binoculars, though I could really use a pair right about now.

I slowly turn in a semi-circle, scouting out the area around me, mainly the Everfree Forest. I sigh as I lower the rifle, realizing that I'll be going into that hell hole come tomorrow. I swear, I wouldn't do this for anyone other than my family.

I place the rifle on the ground, leaning it against the fence, and lean against it as I stare out at the beautiful sunset over the horizon. The entire town lights up in a bright orange hue, making it look even more beautiful than it normally does.

"Hey." I calm, somewhat quiet voice calls from behind me. I turn around to see Alice, her hair blowing in the wind behind her. A small smile forms on my face, and I scoot over some so she can lean on the fence next to me. She accepts, and a few seconds later, she is standing right next to me, taking in the amazing view as well.

"Do you... ever get scared?" I ask as I turn my head, the wind causing my bangs to slap me in the face.

"Depends. John is usually so protective of me that I have nothing to really be scared of. So, it really depends what you mean by scared."

"I mean... Have you ever been scared for someone else. Someone you love?"

"I... Yeah, I have. My mother got sick when I was just ten. I watch her for a month as she just got worse and worse. John and I tried everything, but there was just... nothing we could do. She died after about a month, and it really broke us. Individually, we fell, but as a family, we really came together. John became the real leader of the family, though dad still likes to thing that he's in charge. I guess... that's the only real time I've been truly scared." Alice tells her story as I look into her eyes, seeing that it is painful for her to recall. I drape an arm around her shoulder, and pull her into my side as I place my vision back onto the sunset in the distance.

We stand there in silence for a good long while until Alice finally speaks up again, asking, "Matt, do you love her?"

"Who?" I ask, though I know exactly who she is talking about.

"Rainbow, duh. I saw the way you looked at her, the way you worried about her. Trust me, I can spot love from a mile a mile away."

"I... Well, yeah, I do. Is that weird?" I ask as I rub the back of my head.

"I don't think so. It's definitely different." She says with a light laugh. "Love comes in many forms though."

"Heh, yeah, that it does."




*John*

"So, Alex, why'd you leave Rainbow back there? You said you were going to watch her 24/7." I ask as we walk down the road.

"I needed some fresh air. Trust me, I wouldn't have left if your dad and the others weren't there. I just really needed to out for a little bit, I just felt a little cramped back there." Alex says as he stretches his arms by holding them above his head.

"Well we've already walked two miles, and we still haven't found anything." I say as I shine my flashlight into the trees next to us. We headed out about an hour or so to see if we could find any clues at to where this so called "gang" might be.

"It has to be around here somewhere, it isn't like an entire warehouse can just get up at walk away."

"What exactly are we up against again? Matt said it was some gang, but he didn't really go into details."

"No idea honestly. I just know about this one guy, Jack, who is a part of said gang. Y'know, Matt said he was wandering through the forest for a  good four or five days, I doubt this place would just be a mile or two from your place." Alex says rather quietly.

"He could have been walking in circles. These here woods are pretty dense, so it wouldn't be surprising for city folk like him to get lost."

"Ha, city folk, sure." Alex chuckles.

"What's so funny?"

"You obviously don't know Matt, the dude loves being outdoors. We used to go camping in the summers when we were kids, and that was when he always seemed to most alive to me. Hell, the guy even has his own island with a cabin that he built himself."

"No kiddin'?"

"Yeah, too bad he doesn't use it anym-"

"Shhh, get down!" I whisper as I grab Alex and pull him down into a bush. We lay down on our stomachs, and I listen in as carefully as possible.

"I don't hear anyth-"

"Alex, shut up!" I whisper through my gritted teeth. My chin hovers just inches from the dirt, my arms barely supporting me.

"How's the girl doing?" A voice says it grows closer towards us, coming from the direction we were walking in.

"Which one, the fucked up horse thing or the actual girl?" Another one asks.

"The girl, his sister you dumbass." A third voice. They group comes into view, but I can only see parts of them through the leaves and branches of the bush.

"Always crying out for her brother and shit. Really annoying. If she keeps it up, I might have to introduce her to my friend." One of them holds up a gun, and they all start laughing. It makes my blood start to boil as anger fills my mind. I don't know Matt well, but he's friend, and when I make a friend, I consider them family, and nobody messes with my family.

"Maybe we should just, y'know, let them go now Jack." A fourth one says. From what I can see, there's only four of them. Wait, Jack, isn't that the guy that Matt and Alex have been talking about?

"Are you turnin' on us Trent?" The guy I assume is this Jack character says.

"I'm just say-"

"You were just saying what? Y'know, I don't like traitors Trent." I hear the sound of a gun cocking, then the explosion of a bullet being fired, followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground. The guy's face lands right in front of us, not even two feet away, his lifeless eyes staring directly at Alex and I.

The three make a ninety degree turn, and head into the forest on the other side of the road, leaving the body to rot. We wait a few minutes to make sure they are gone, then slowly make our way out of the bushes.

"Holy shit man, holy shit." Alex says quietly as he places his hands on his head. I kneel down next to the guy, placing a hand on his chest. I shine my flashlight on him, and his blood shines in the light.

"Right in the stomach, man." I say as I sigh and close my eyes. "Alright, we can use this I guess."

"Use it!? Use it how, this guy is dead John!"

"I know I know. Look, we can take his clothes, then one of us will be able to sneak into the warehouse unnoticed. My dad can patch up the hole in the jacket, and then we'll be good to go." I explain. I notice something shining in his pocket, and pull out a glock. Alright, we could probably use this too. The more weapons, the better.

"So what about the body? We can't just leave it here after taking the clothes. If one of those guys finds it, they'll know somebody was here.

"We... We bury it, or burn it, something. Besides, it ain't right to just leave a body like this, no matter who they are."

I grab the feet, and Alex grabs the arms. We spend the next four hours carrying the heavy body back to the house. The entire time, I was checking every direction, making sure we weren't being followed. We stopped about a hundred feet from the house, and I sent Alex to get two shovels. While he was doing that, I decided to check the pockets of the guy that we had just carried.

"Phone, knife... wallet." I open the wallet, and pull out the guy's ID. Trent Warren, only twenty years old. What a way to go, shot by your own gang member.

"Hey, got the shovels." Alex walks up behind me, tossing a shovel in my direction.

"Thanks, lets get this guy underground." I'm about to stick the shovel into the ground when I hear something.

"Did you hear that?" Alex says as he looks around. I nod, listening for the sound again.

"H-Hey... you..." We look down, and our mouths drop open in complete and utter shock. My words come out in nothing more than a whisper carried in the wind.

"Oh my God... He's still alive..."

*End of Arc 2*
> Dead Man Walking
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*John*

"Holy shit, he's alive!" Alex gasps as he drops his shovel.

"Y-You... gotta help..." The man, now known as Trent, says as he gasps for air. His head falls, and his eyes close. I kneel down next to him, placing my hand on his chest.

"He's still alive, barely, but alive. Looks like he blacked out again."

"What the hell are we gonna do with him?" Alex asks as he looks up at me, fear present in his eyes.

"Help me get him inside, we'll discuss this later."




*Matt* *4 Hours Later*

"Fuck off..." I mumble as I squeeze my eyes shut.

"We need to get going Matt, come on!" Twilight whispers loudly into my ear.

"No, screw off."

"If you don't get up, Rainbow is just going to get even worse." She says in a monotone voice, reminding me just where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing. I shoot off the couch like a bullet, grabbing Twilight as I pass her by. She lets out a yelp, and I place her down at the table across the room where all of our supplies currently lay.

"Are the others awake yet?" I ask as I look over the supplies.

"Yeah, they're in the kitchen eating breakfast, do you want anything?"

"No thanks Twi, I'm just gonna get my stuff ready. You guys meet me at the forest when you're done."

"Y-You're going out there alone?"

"Don't flip out on me Twilight, I'm just gonna be by the entrance. Now go on, go eat or whatever." I say as I start packing up. Twilight leaves the room, and I start gathering my belongings which include the rifle, pistol, ammo, and a kitchen knife that I may or may not have stolen from Twilight's kitchen. It isn't much, but better than nothing.

I walk over to the door and push it open, and I'm welcomed by a fresh morning breeze. I take in a deep breath as I begin walking towards the edge of the forest.

As I walk, I keep letting my mind drift to Rainbow and all of the possible outcomes. Hell, for all I know she's already dead and I wasn't there to say goodbye, not that she'd remember me anyway.

I kick a rock in frustration at that very fact. I get it, she's sick and all, but how the hell do you just forget someone you love? It would take a hell of a lot more than some virus to make me ever forget her, or any of my family for that matter.

It gets to the point where I'm actually mad at Rainbow herself for forgetting me. I know it isn't her fault, but I can't help but blame her for this. Before my thoughts overtake me anymore, I reach the edge of the forest. The morning sun shines brightly through the branches and leaves, and it helps me to take my mind off of the current situation at hand.

I lean back against a tree, letting out a sigh as I close my eyes and cross my arms. I bob my head up and down, imagining a song in my head when I hear footsteps approaching. I open one eye to see Alice, followed by Twilight and Rarity, walking up towards me with determined looks on their faces. A smirk cross my face as they approach, and without even saying a word, we enter the hell known as the Everfree Forest.




*AppleJack* *4 Hours ago*

"How ya doin' Rainbow?" I ask as I sit next to her on the floor. I reach a hoof up and brush the hair out of her face while she continues to lay motionless on the couch.

"I'm... fine." She moans with her eyes closed. "Thanks for... taking care of me AJ, not that I need it."

"Ah'm just glad you're still with us." I mumble with a tear in my eye. Gosh darn it Matt, you better hurry up. I look out the window to see it is still the middle of the night, and John and Alex still haven't returned.

"Are those two guys back yet?" Rainbow asks weakly.

"Nah, they're still out there lookin' for Star."

"Who's Star again? You all keep mentioning her name, but I have no idea who it is that you're talking about.

"Star is your daughter Rainbow. C'mon, you HAVE to at least remember her!"

"Can't say I do AJ, I only know you, Rarity, and Alice. I don't know any of these other ponies or people."

"Not even Matt?" It hurts me to know he's out there, somewhere in Equestria doing who knows what to get that cure for her, and she doesn't even remember him.

"Especially him. Is that the guy who hugged me? You all keep mentioning him like every ten seconds, and I'm tired of hearing about him constantly."

"M-Matt is yer coltfriend Rainbow." I say as a single tears streams down the side of my face before dropping onto the wood floor below.

"Hah, like I'd ever date a human. I'm only into other colts AJ, you and I both know that."

"But that isn't true Rainbow! You fell in love with him, and I know that deep down, you still do, you just don't know it!"

"DAD!" A voice yells from the doorway. I turn around quickly to see John and Alex coming in through the door carrying... oh Celestia, is that...

"Oh stars John, what happened!?" I ask as I trot over to the two who are carrying what appears to be a body.

"J-Jack... shot him... needs help." Alex gasps between breaths. I put my head under the fellow to support his middle, and we carry him to the bedroom down the hall. We place him down on John's bed, and John leaves the room to go find his dad who last I saw was asleep upstairs.

"What the hay happened Alex?" I ask as I prop myself up on the side of the bed using my forehooves.

"We were walking down the trail when John pulled me down into this bush. I didn't see them at the time, but four of the gang members were heading right towards us. Thank God they didn't see us. Anyway, one of them was saying something about how he thought they should release Star and Emily, and then Jack said he was traitor and shot him in the stomach. I can't believe he isn't dead yet, he's lost so much blood you could fill another person with it twice over."

"That's pushin' it a little if ya ask me." I respond as I watch Alex take his jacket off and push it down on the man's stomach, probably trying to stop the bleeding.

"The bullet must have missed any major organs or arteries or whatever, because if it didn't, he would have been dead a long time ago." Alex explains to me. John re-enters the room with his dad, Flutteryshy, and Pinkie Pie, all of whom look worried.

"Let me see him." Mr. Brown says as he walk towards the bed. I walk back a few steps, and he places what looks like a first-aid kit next to the bed. "Ugh, this is one nasty wound here. Could you all please clear out for a little while?" He asks as he turns to look at us. We all nod and make our ways out of the room. We all split up again, John going upstairs with Pinkie and Fluttershy, and Alex following me back to where Rainbow is resting.

"How is she?" Alex asks, trying to change the subject as we sit down on the floor next to Rainbow.

"Hangin' in there, but her memory is still pretty messed up right now. I sure hope this cure thing that Twilight knows about will fix her up."

"Yeah, it kinda sucks that she doesn't remember most of us, especially Matt. The poor guy, that look on his face when she didn't remember him was just haunting. He looked like he'd been shot right in the chest."

"I know what ya mean. I guess the only silver lining is that she still remembers a couple of us."

We sit in silence, watching the sleeping Rainbow. Her breaths come out staggered, and her fur is matted down with sweat.

"Um, Applejack?" Alex whispers, his voice shaking a little.

"Yeah?" I respond as I look up from the floor to meet his eyes.

"Has Rainbow always been that... colorless?" I look back at Rainbow to see what he's talking about, and my jaw drops at what I see. Instead of her normal, colorful color scheme, she looks almost as if she is in black and white.

"N-No!" I say, worry rising in my voice.

"What... does it mean when a pony loses their color?"

"Well it could mean a couple of things... but only one really works in this situation."

"And that is?"

"A pony can lose their color when they're... about to die..."




*Matt*

"Fucking run!" I yell, my vocal cords burning from overuse. We all sprint across the large opening in the forest as three wolves chase us with bloodlust. Well, I say wolves, but they're more like living trees. I think Twilight called them timberwolves? Something like that.

"Matt!" Shoot them!" Alice cries out as one gets extremely close to us. I come to a sliding stop, letting the girls keep running past me. I really hope these things aren't immune to bullets. I quickly take my pistol out of my pocket, firing two shots at the closest wolf which drops like a log. Heh, log.

"Look out!" I hear Twilight scream from behind me. I turn around from reflex, only to be tackled to the ground. I look back up to see burning green eyes just inches from my face. I guess by instinct my arm shot up, and is the only thing holding it's mouth back from eating me alive.

I'm about to just give up when the wolf is surrounded by a purple aura, and it flies off of me. I spin around to see Twilight's horn lighting up the same color, and a smile of gratitude spreads across my face. That is, until I watch Rarity get tackled by the third wolf. Alice and I run towards her while Twilight takes out the second one.

"Hey, let her go!" Alice screams as she starts beating on the side of it. No! Alice you idiot, you don't have a weapon! Too late. I watch as a paw comes up and swipes at Alice, sending her back a good five or six feet. She hits the ground with a scream, causing my blood to boil.

"Big mistake motherfucker." I whisper to the wolf before firing three rounds into it's head, causing it to fall off of Rarity. Said pony gets up, wrapping herself around my leg and shaking violently, probably in shock. I turn to see Twilight finishing the last timberwolf off by smashing it's head with a rock. Damn Twilight, I didn't know you had it in you!

"Oh shit, Alice!" I say as I run over to Alice after forcing Rarity to let go of my leg. I stop next to her, seeing that she is now on her knees gripping her left arm with her right hand. I can see a little blood trickling through the cracks between her fingers.

"Let me see it." Twilight says as she walks up to us.

"N-No, I'm fine, really."

"C'mon, you're worse than Dash. Just let us see it." I say as I try to pull her hand away from the wound.

"Ugh, fine..." She lets her hand drop, and we all cringe at the sight.

"Well... it isn't as bad as I thought." I say as I pull off my jacket. I sigh as I place it on the ground, pulling out my knife. Damn, I loved this jacket. I cut off a sleeve, then tie it around Alice's arm, turning it into a tourniquet. I use the rest of the jacket to clean off any excess blood, then give it to her to keep it pressed against the wound.

"It isn't top notch medical treatment, but it is all we can really do right now." I explain as I help Alice up. "Do you want me to send you back to Earth?"

"N-No! I want to help Rainbow as much as you do, and I'm not turning back now."

"Okay... but if you start to feel worse, I'm sending you back, regardless of what you want." I respond as we begin walking again. I turn around after a minute, looking around for everyone, only to see them still in the clearing behind me.

"Guys? You coming?"

"Nope." Twilight says with a smile as she trots into a different direction.

"W-What? What the fuck Twilight?" I ask, my voice rising in pitch as I begin walking back towards them. "Why not!?"

"Because, we already found the Pneuma flower!" She points at a rock on the opposite side of the clearing, and BAM! There it is, a large white flower growing on top of it. Not gonna question how this is possible as it is on a rock, but y'know, magic, so... fuck logic.




*John* *1 Hour Later*

"C'mon, just drink it." I try to coax the rainbow maned mare to drink the water, but she just won't do it.

"Maybe Applejack should do it, y'know, since she's the only one she remembers." Alex suggests.

"I guess we could try th-" I'm interrupted by a loud crackling sound, followed by a bright flash of light. I look behind us to see Matt and the others standing there with tired, but confident looks on their faces. If I can read expressions, that tells me that they were successful and HOLY SHIT ALICE!

"We made it!" Matt says victoriously as I he takes a small bottle out of his pocket containing a bright pink liquid. I guess that's the cure? Nevermind that, Alice is hurt!




*Matt*

I can't believe it, we actually made the cure before it was too late, or I hope that it isn't anyway. Rainbow looks horrible, all of her color is gone, and she looks on the brink of passing out again. Her fur and mane are matted together with sweat, and her breaths are coming out extremely short and sharp. I'm about to go to her when something passes by me at an incredible speed, bumping into my shoulder. I turn around to see it was John.

"Dude, what happened to her!?" He asks loudly, losing his southern accent for a second.

"Wolf attack... don't ask." I say with a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, we fixed her up, just need to wash the wound so it doesn't get infected."

"You promised to protect her."

"I did what I could John, can you really ask for more than that?"

"Yes!"

"John! It was my fault! Stop blaming him." Alice says, sticking up for me.

"I hate to break up the reunion, but we got a dying pegasus over here!" Alex yells from behind the couch with an annoyed expression.

"Right!" I quickly throw down everything other than the cure, and run over to Rainbow on the couch. "I'm here now Rainbow, I got the cure." No response. "Rainbow? Rainbow!" I grab her hoof in my free hand, squeezing it hard. I pop the cork off of the bottle, and reach up and open her mouth. I pour the liquid in, and take a step back.

It starts at the bottoms of her back hooves. The grey-ish blue fur starts to glow, turning back to a bright cyan color. A ripple effect starts to spread up her body, slowly changing her colors back to normal.

"Oh my God... its working." I say as I fall to one knee, placing a hand on it, putting the other on on Rainbow's side. The ripple washes over my hand, completely ignoring it as if it wasn't even there.

Two minutes pass by before it finishes. I place my hand on Rainbow's chest, and it starts to rise and fall at a normal pace. "Oh thank God..." I say as tears start to stream down my face. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look up to see Alex smiling at me. I look back down to see two magenta eyes looking back at me.

"M-Matt? Where... Wait, I remember... Matt I remember!" Rainbow sits up rather quickly, pulling me into a tight embrace. "I remember you all!"

Cheers fill the room, and I hear Twilight sigh in relief, then hitting the floor, probably passing out.

"Guys..." Nobody seemed to notice the yellow pegasus across the room.

"Guys..." Everyone was still cheering for us, and I was still crying into Rainbow's side.

"GUYS!" The room goes silent, and all eyes turn to Fluttershy.

"What's up?" Alex asks as he walks over to her, though I'm just shocked she can actually yell.

"Its Trent, he's awake."



> Unlikely Ally
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Who's Trent?" I ask, now standing with Rainbow wrapped up in my arms.

"Some guy we found out down the path a ways. Shot in the gut but some guy, Alex and I watched it all go down." John explains. Mr. Brown comes from the same room that Fluttershy just came from, carrying a first-aid kit and a needle and thread. I guess he stitched the guy up or something.

"Shot!? By who?"

"I think you know him as Jack, or at least, that's what Alex here told me."

"J-Jack!?" Rainbow says, her head turning around to face everyone, and her ears perking straight up.

"Yup, saw it with my own two eyes. Pulled out a gun and shot this Trent guy right in the stomach." Alex says as he walks towards the room, waving for us to follow him. I carry Rainbow with me towards the room, not really knowing what I was going to see. Boy, did my blood start to boil when I say that emblem on the guy's jacket laying on the bed next to him.

"You son of a bitch!" I drop Rainbow by reflex, charging at the guy. The only thing that keeps me from beating his face in is John and Alex holding me back by my arms. "I ought to kill you!"

"Hey, you didn't say he was with that bucking gang!" Rainbow yells as she trots over to the guy's bed. This Trent guy just stares at us with a very confused expression.

"That's exactly why we didn't!" John says as he points a finger at me. "Because this would have happened."

"Hey, I'm sorry that I got mad that this fucker kidnapped my sister and daughter!" I yell in defense as John and Alex finally let me go.

"Daughter? Wait, you said they took your sister and RAINBOW'S daughter. Does that mean that... Oh my God..." John trails off. Welp, there goes my big mouth revealing secrets again. Great, just fucking great.

"Yeah, so what?" I say, slightly annoyed at his response.

"Dude, you screwed a horse?" He says as he places his hands on his head.

"HEY!" Rainbow yells angrily. "What does THAT mean?"

"I'm just saying! Its kinda weird!" John protests.

"Why? Because I'm not some pretty little human girl!? I'm not some animal you know!" Oh boy, this is really starting to go downhill now. I should probably break this up.

"Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty. Now, can we stop fighting and actually explain to me what the fuck is going on? Who's this Trent guy?" I ask as I get in between the two.

"You know I'm awake right?" Trent says, pushing himself up into a sitting position on the bed, which only causes him to grunt in what I'm assuming is pain.

"Tell me everything you know." I say as I approach him, my hand on the knife still in my pocket.

"Okay okay, about what!?"

"About my family!" I nearly whisper.

"They're holding them at the old warehouse about two miles from here, give or take. I don't know why though, they never really told me!" He says, holding his hands up in defense.

"Why the hay are you being so... cooperative?" Applejack asks from across the room. "Aren't ya supposed to be like... our enemy?"

"Well yeah, I guess that what my ROLE is, but I gave up on that idea a while ago. Is it okay if I tell my story?" Trent asks.

"Get on with it." I say as I lean against the end of the bed. Trent lets out a sigh and begins to explain his backstory.

"Alright, well, it all started when I was seventeen. My parents died in a car crash during my junior year, and it really broke me. I ended up losing my home because I wasn't able to keep up with bills and the such. I went broke and dropped out of school. I was homeless for two months before I met this guy, he said he could use someone like me in his organization. So, I accepted his invitation, and the next thing I knew, I was robbing and doing petty crimes with these guys. They called themselves the Daggers. About four or five months later, this guy, Jack, joined the gang. Dude was really tough, and gained the respect of everyone in the gang through brute force and cruelty. The day came when he talked all of us into kidnapping these two kids. He said someone in their family had killed some of our other members, and that he had hurt Jack directly. I think he wanted to hold them for ransom for something, but I think he's only using them to lure the guy, who I assume is you, out to the warehouse. I drew the line at hurting other people, and believed that we should let the two go. I guess Jack didn't like that idea, and he assumed the best option was to shoot me before I let the two go free while nobody was looking. So, that's all I really know. I swear, I never wanted to hurt your family!"

"...Would you be willing to help us?" I ask as I walk away from the bed, staring out of the window at the morning sky outside.

"Matt! Are you crazy? This guy is with the Daggers, we can't trust him!" Rainbow protests.

"...Can we trust you?" I ask the guy, not even turning around while ignoring Rainbow's remarks.

"Yeah, I quit that fucking gang. No way in hell would I ever agree with the shit that they're doing." Trent says from behind me.

"Alex?" I ask, seeking his approval.

"Well, Jack did shoot him, that's gotta mean something right?"

"Yeah, I think he's on our side." John adds on. "Jack wouldn't shoot him without a reason right?"

"You're all insane!" Rainbow continues to protests. She hovers over next to me, and I turn slightly to look her in the eyes. "Matt, c'mon, he took our daughter and your sister! You can't b-" I grab Rainbow out of the air, hugging her against my chest tightly.

"Rainbow, I'm tired of running from everything that looks dangerous. Sometimes you have to take risks, and this guy could really help us. Look, if he does for some reason turn on us, don't think I won't hesitate to blow his head off." I whisper into her ear.

"J-Just promise me nothing will happen. I'm tired of everyone getting sick or hurt or worse." She whispers softly back to me.

"I promise Rainbow, everything will be fine." I say as I place her on the ground and wave for her to follow me. I walk out of the room, walking past everyone in silence. I make my way out back, and start searching around for the one thing I want to find.

"Why are we out here?" She asks me as we start to walk a small ways into the woods.

"You ever killed someone Rainbow?"

"What kind of question is that? And no, I haven't"

"Would you be willing to do it for Star or Emily, maybe even me."

"To protect you? Of course I would. I wouldn't enjoy it, but I wouldn't hesitate. Why are you asking me this?"

"Because..." I say as I approach the target range that John set up earlier. "I'm gonna teach you how to use a gun."

"A gun? Matt, you realize I can't pull the trigger right? I have hooves." She says as she gives me a deadpan stare.

"Not necessarily." I respond as I get down on a knee. I grab on of her hooves, and bring it up between our faces. "See how the edge juts out a little here? If you angle it right, you could probably pull the trigger with it. I've seen how you can bend your hoof ankle thingy, and I think you could probably manipulate it to wrap around the grip. Of course, you'd have to be standing on your back hooves or flying, but we can always work that out. Also, you probably won't be able to hold a rifle, but we'll see about that later."

"So you expect me to be able to fire a pistol? Seriously Matt, are you on something right now? Even I know what I am or am not capable of."

"Well apparently you don't, because I believe in you, and if you believe in yourself, you can do anything." I say as I pat her shoulder. I pull out the pistol, and pop out the magazine. I empty completely, then take the bullet out of the chamber. I place the ammo in my pocket, and hold out the gun in Rainbow's direction.

"You sure about this Matt?" Rainbow asks with a questioning look. I respond at first with a confident smirk, then verbally.

"Hell yeah, besides, it'll look totally badass."
> Shoot To Kill
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Soooo, how is this going to work again?" Rainbow asks as she eyes the gun in my hand.

"Well first of all, would you be more comfortable firing while flying or standing on your back legs?"

"Is there anything that would like, knock me off balance?"

"Recoil. Whenever you fire the gun, it pushes back against you, Newton's law and blah blah blah. Basically it kicks back."

"Then I want to stand on my hind hooves. If I'm flying, I need to be able to keep myself balanced or I'll probably crash."

"Alright then. First things first I guess. Go on up." I say as I wave my hand in an upward motion. Rainbow looks down hesitantly before kicking up her forelegs, flailing around a bit, then balancing on her back legs. Never have I ever seen her standing like this, and I gotta say, seeing her standing at a solid five feet tall looks really strange.

"I-I don't know how long I can really hold this." She says as she sways back and forth. I walk up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her balanced.

"I'll support you until you feel comfortable, alright?"

"F-Fine... But just so you know, I wouldn't let anyone else touch or help me like this." She mumbles, her independent attitude showing. That's always been a big problem from her, never accepting help from others.

"Alright, so, do you think you can hold the gun? You should only need one hoof to hold it. You can probably do so by wrapping your ankle joint around the grip tightly. Usually a pistol like this is held with two hands, but you need your entire other hoof to fire. Luckily, you're probably much stronger than any normal human, so you should be able to handle the recoil." I explain as I hold the gun in front of her.

"So... just take this?" She asks as she takes the gun out of my hand. I have one bullet loaded in so that in the case the gun goes flying from her hooves, a second bullet won't be able to be fired if the gun misfired.

"Yep, then wrap your hoof around... yeah like that. Now, hold it up in front of you." I move my hand from her shoulder to her chest, now able to support her better with both hands free. I hold her almost in a hugging position to keep her standing upright.

"Now what? How do I fire it?"

"First, take the safety off by flicking that little switch on the side." Rainbow obeys, and turns the safety off with a simple flick of the hoof. "Now, see how there are these little, I don't know what they're called, indicators? Anyway, those things on top are called the sights, just look through them, and line up your target with the one in the middle at the end of the barrel. Once it is lined up, pull the trigger. I want you to hit that paint can on the fence right there." I point to a large, empty paint can sitting on the fence, and pat her chest once to let her know she is free to fire. "Oh, also, be careful with the sound. Guns are really loud, and from what I remember from that time we body swapped, your ears are really sensitive."

"Yeah yeah, I got this!" She says confidently. She holds the gun out in front of her, one eye closed to look through the sights. She uses her free hoof the pull the trigger, using the very edge of her hoof to pull the trigger back. Thankfully the trigger on this particular gun doesn't have much resistance to it.

*BANG*

A shot rings through the air, causing me to shut my eyes and pull my head back out of reaction, not to mention the ringing in my eyes. Damn, I'm such an idiot for not bringing ear protection. Rainbow, though her ears are pressed flatly against her head, just stares at the paint can which now lies on the ground with a gaping hole in it. Her mouth hangs slightly open, and the only sound I can hear is the ringing in my ears, and Rainbow breathing heavily.

"Rainbow, you good?" I ask as I pat her chest, rubbing my hand through her fur in a circular motion to try and bring her back to her senses. When that doesn't work, I try again. "Rainbow? You there?"

"That..." She mumbles under her breath. "Was..." A little louder now. "AWESOME!" She yells as she throws her forelegs into the air, the gun still wrapped up in one of her ankle joints. She does a 180, and looks me in the eyes before embracing me rather tightly. "Why didn't I do this sooner!?"

"Can't... breathe!" I gasp out as I try to pry her off of me.

"Oh, sorry!" She says with a sheepish smile as she pulls back. "It's just that, I haven't done anything so amazing in like, forever! I thought I was becoming soft from you and Star, but it looks like the ol' Rainbow's still got it!" She says as she points a hoof at herself.

"You calling me soft?" I say with a smirk. "I'm the guy who taught you how to use that damn thing, not to mention I'm thousands of times better than you at it."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." She says with a confident smile. "Load me up." She says as she tosses me the gun, causing me to wince a little before remembering that it is empty.

"You're getting good at standing on two fee- er, hooves like that Rainbow. Isn't that uncomfortable?" I ask as I load some more ammo into the gun.

"Heck yeah it is!" She says with a laugh. "But it's nice actually being on eye level with you without flying. I've never really seen you from this angle before."

"Same to you. Y'know, you ponies look strangely more like humans than actual horses, I notice that now that you're standing like us. Honestly, if you had hands and feet, weren't blue, and didn't have wings, I'd probably mistake you for one of us." I say with a slight smirk.

"Still 100% pegasus over here." She says as she points a hoof at herself. "Whether you like it or not." In response I just laugh to myself before loading the magazine back into the gun and handing it back to her with the safety on.

For the next twenty minutes, I teach Rainbow more about guns, sharing what little knowledge I have on the subject. Of course, she called me an egghead when I started to explain how chemical reactions made the gunshots possible and such, saying that I was being too much like Twilight by going too deep into detail. Hey, you can't blame a guy for liking his science right?

"That was really fun." Rainbow says happily as she hovers beside me as we walk back towards the house.

"Well, sure, shooting at targets is fun and all." I say with a sigh as I run my hand through my hair. "The thing is, will you be ready to aim it at someone, a living person?" I ask as I look into her eyes with a stern look. Her happiness quickly fades away after hearing my question, and she looks solemnly at the ground.

"W-Well... that depends. We're talking about the... what were they called? Daggers? We're talking about them right?"

"Yeah. Would you be willing to, y'know... pull the trigger if and when the time comes? To protect Star, or Emily, or even me?"

"Of course I would! I'm the literal element of loyalty if you forgot." She says with a serious tone.

"You say that. I told myself that once as well. It's really easy to say you could do it, but you'll never know until you're actually in the situation where it might be necessary. See, when I was a kid, I was really protective of my family, like I am now. I always visioned myself as being a hero, telling myself that I'd shoot someone without hesitating if they threatened me or my family. Of course, that's only what I though because I was never actually in that situation. Well, when I got kidnapped, I finally figured out how I'd respond to something like that. I wasn't like most people Rainbow. A lot of people, though they think they would, wouldn't have pulled the trigger, but I did. And you know what the scary part is? I didn't even hesitate to do it. Hell, I didn't even think about it until it was all over. Do you know why I'm telling you all of this?"

"Because you want me to be ready?"

"Because I want you to know your limits. If you just run in thinking you're invincible, you might not make it back out. You may think you could pull the trigger, but in reality, you might not, and that could really get you in trouble."

"I-I know... But trust me Matt, I can do it, I really can. I'm not proud of it, but I think I could pull the trigger." She says with a confident smile.

"C'mere." I say calmly as I grab her out of the air and pull her into an embrace. "My little girl's grown up." I say with a chuckle.

"I am NOT your little girl." She says as she smacks me in the back with a hoof.

"Keep telling yourself that shorty." I say as I put her back on the ground and begin walking again.

"And I'm not short! You're just freakishly tall!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I say as I wave a hand over my shoulder.

"You sure don't at all." I come to a stop, and turn around to see a smug little grin on her face. "I mean, you snore SOOOO loudly." She says as she rolls her eyes for emphasis.

"Yeah? It's even harder to sleep next to a pegasus who can't keep her wings tucked by her sides." I retort with my own grin.

"H-Hey, that's a little personal Matt. You know I... have my problems when I'm that close to you." She says as a hint of red adorns her cheeks.

"Seriously, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in heat 24/7, I swear." I say as I turn and begin walking again. Really, I only turned around so she wouldn't see me trying to not laugh hysterically.

"MATTHEW GREEN!" She yells. I don't even have to turn around to know I need to start running. Of course, a pegasus that can go 0-60 in less than a second is going to catch up to me. The air is knocked out of my lungs. I end up falling flat on my back just outside of the cabin.

"I suppose you want an apology." I say with a sheepish grin. I stare up at her, her magenta eyes burning with either rage or embarrassment, maybe a hint of both. She even snorts like a horse, a little steam coming from her nose in the cool evening air.

"Yeah I do! You know I can't control that kind of stuff!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Allow me to make it up." I say as I pull her down onto my chest, causing her to yelp as she is taken off guard. While she still wants to see made, she obviously forgot about all of that when her lips met mine. The moment is ruined of course when somebody walks out of the back door.

"Aw, what the fuck!?" I hear John yell out. I quickly open my eyes, and pull my face away from Rainbow's. Of course, when she sees John, she blushes deeply from embarrassment. "Seriously Matt, what's with the horse fetish?"

"I'm not a horse! Why does everyone keep saying that!?"

"Why did you come out here exactly John? Do you need something?" I ask, ignoring his outburst and Rainbow's comment.

"Yeah pony boy. We're packing up to head out soon." He says. For the first time, I notice the shotgun in his hands. Hm, I didn't know he even had that. Guess it isn't weird for a country guy like him. He probably uses it for hunting.

"Oh yeah?" I say as I run my hand through Rainbow's hair absentmindedly. 

"Yep." He says as he pumps the shotgun. His eyes narrow, and his lips form into a sly, mischievous grin. "Gonna teach that son of bitch Jack a lesson."
> Once And For All
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I want you all to listen up, and listen up good." I say firmly as I stand in front of the large group of my acquired friends, both human and pony. Tonight is the night that it all goes down, and let me just put in on the record that my blood is pumping so fast I can feel my body literally shaking from the sheer force of it all. Everyone is present except for Mr. Brown, who is somewhere upstairs, probably sleeping or something. Otherwise, pretty much everyone up to this point is here with me, and they all have determined looks on their faced.

"Tonight, we don't just take back our friends, we aren't just taking back some innocent kids. No, tonight, we take back OUR family! We are all in this together, and we're going to do everything in our power to free our family!" I say with a loud, yet stern voice as I pace in front of the group. "Now, as you probably expected, I want all of you to come with me, and that means ALL of you! However, once we reach the warehouse, we will split up. Some of you will wait outside as backup, while the rest of us go inside. I'm doing this only because I feel like those staying outside are not really fighters, no offense to them. So, the only ones that will do in with me are Alex, John, Rainbow, and Twilight. The rest of you are going to stay outside, keeping an eye out for any stray gang members that may be lurking around. Alice, you're going to have Alex's cell, and you'll call me if you see anyone that might spot us before we can get inside. That's really all there is to it. Oh, and John and Alex, you'll be using these." I toss each of them a loaded pistol, of course, with the safety on. "I'll be using this." I say as I pat the rifle on my back. "Rainbow, we'll see if we can get you a gun when we get there, and Twilight, I trust that we can rely on your magic as both a weapon, and a defensive mechanism. Alright, any questions?"

"Yeah, can we get going already!? I'm going to jump out of my skin if we wait around any longer Matt!" Rainbow complains as she flies in small circles around me.

"Alright, alright. Lets get out of here. We have a family to save!" With that, everyone cheers and pumps assorted limbs into the air. We run out of the front door, and out into the cool night air. We could have taken the trucks, but we'd be seen from a mile away. So, while running may take a while, it is so much safer than driving.

I can tell it is taking Rainbow everything in her to keep from just zooming off without us, but thankfully, she doesn't. She hovers next to me as I jog down the empty quite street, the only sounds being us breathing softly, our footsteps, and Rainbow's wings flapping. I look over at her, and she looks at me. I expect to see anger, maybe nervousness in her eyes, but instead, all I see is desperation. I nod at her, already knowing what she is thinking. She nods back, and we continue making our way down the road before coming to a stop about ten minutes later to take a breather.

"Why are we stopping!?" Rainbow hisses out in a loud whisper.

"Because... we're humans... we don't have your stamina." Alex huffs out as he bends down, placing his hands on his knees. I'm definitely not any better off than him, because my lungs are on fire as well. John seems to be little better than us, only resting his hands behind his head, taking in long, steady breaths. It isn't much of a surprise that someone like him would be in pretty good shape.

"And it doesn't help with this thing on my back." I grunt as I point a thumb back at the rifle strapped over my shoulder. "These things are kinda heavy to lug around while running."

"Yeah yeah, complain later guys. Night won't last forever, and we really need to get there before sunrise. We have a couple hours at best, and it'll take almost that long to get there, so we need to get moving like, now." John states as he looks up at the sky.

"He's right, we really need to get moving guys." Twilight says as she starts moving forward again. Even though I know they're right, I can't help but look back at Alex and sighing as we continue forwards again. This is just like gym class all over again. Strength? Got that. Speed? Got that too. But stamina? Ah hell no! That's one thing I have always lacked and could never seem to increase.

"You know, if we weren't running into hell itself, I'd say this view is pretty damn beautiful." I say between breaths as I continue to jog forward, looking up at the night sky through the tall trees around us.

"It is, isn't it?" Rainbow responds as she flies next to me. "Makes ya just want to keep flying up and up until you can just... touch it." She says rather quietly as she eyes the sky.

"Have you ever done that before?" I ask.

"What? Touching the sky?"

"Well, not literally of course." I say with a small grin. "I mean, have you ever just kept flying up and up until you couldn't anymore? Just to see what it was like?"

"Yeah, I have plenty of times, and let me tell you, it is the best feeling in the world! You can just see everything around for miles and miles, and you can even see the planet curving over the horizon!"

"That sounds beautiful. I'd love to see that one day... Too bad I can't fly huh?" I say with a light chuckle.

"Maybe, somehow, we can get you up there." She responds with a little smile.

"Boy, that would be amazing huh? Just you and me, up in the clouds, watching the sun set over the horizon, nobody around to bother us... Gees, you're getting me all worked up over something that'll never happen." I say as I elbow her in the side, almost knocking her off her flight path.

"Hey, never say never Matt. Anything's possible, you're the one who told me that."

"I did, didn't I? Alright, how about after all of this, we try to live out that dream in any way possible?"

"Heh, deal." She says as she holds out a hoof at me. I make a fist and bump it.

We keep running through the darkness, the only light coming from the moon and stars. Thank God we have John with us, or we would have been lost a long time ago, even though this is just one long straight path.

"There." John says quietly as he points into the distance. "We should split up here guys before we get too close." He says as we come to a stop. Alex hands Alice his phone, and tells her how to unlock it before walking over to our group, the ones who will infiltrate the warehouse. The backup/lookout group hides off to the side in the thick vegetation of the forest.

"So, what's the plan genius?" Alex asks as he nudges me in the side. "You're the only one who has seen this place before, what do you remember?"

"Well, first off, it is huge, like HUGE. There are a ton of rooms, and I was just lucky enough to find my way out because I was in the main area, the loading docks I think. Anyway, that place will probably be heavily guarded, not to mention how exposed we would be just walking into the front entrance. There's the roof, but only Rainbow and Twilight would be able to get up there, the three of us would be left on the ground, so that's out of the picture... There's most likely a back door, which would probably be our best option." I explain everything as we slowly approach the back of the warehouse through the forest, hoping not to be seen.

"And what if there's a guard at the back door?" Alex whispers.

"Then we... y'know, deal with him." I say quietly as I hold the rifle out in front of me.

"Hell no. We don't have silencers, and if we tried to use a knife, we wouldn't be able to get close enough to take the guy out before he shot us or alarmed someone." Alex responds.

"Ahem." John coughs. We all look over at him to see him pointing directly as Twilight's head. "Magic. She does magic right? We can probably use that to our advantage. Maybe she can teleport us in or something?"

"Teleport? No, can't do that. Not only would it take a ton of energy to get us all inside, I can't do it since I don't exactly know what the inside looks like. I have to visualize the destination before I can teleport there. However, I could use my magic to maybe drop something on the guy?" Twilight suggests as we get ever so close, close enough to spot a back door with a single guard keeping watch.

"Yeah, like a rock or something." Rainbow whispers, now landing so she won't be seen. God, she better stay low, or we'll be seen for sure. Doesn't matter how dark it is, that mane is just too colorful and bright to not be spotted.

"Or just hit him with this." Alex says as he tosses his pistol over to Twilight. She catches it in her magic before it can hit the ground.

"But you just said it would be too loud, so why-"

"He's not saying to fire it Twilight, he's saying the hit the guy with it. A pistol whip." I explain as we crouch down in a bush just on the edge of the forest. There is about twenty maybe thirty feet of open area between us and guard.

"Oh, okay. So just... side of the head or what?"

"Yeah, side of the head. Right here, really hard." I say pointing to my temple. Twilight nods and gulps before levitating the gun towards the guy, taking a path around him so he doesn't notice.

The poor guy barely noticed the floating gun next to him before it knocked him out cold. We all rush out, and press up against the wall of the building, Alex recollecting his gun. I take my rifle off my back, and hold it out in front of me. I took the scope off earlier, as it would have no use in close range combat, leaving me with the standard sights of the rifle. I check the ammo, making sure it is full before nodding and holding up three fingers. I start counting down, and when I get to zero, I place my hand on the door knob. I let out one big sigh, and twist, expecting it to be locked for some reason. To my surprise, it is open, and an alarm didn't go off, at least, not one we could hear. Twilight and Rainbow begin hovering, as their hooves would be too loud on the concrete surface below them. The three of us humans tip toe quietly, trying to make little to no sound as we make our way through the complex.

I hold up a hand when we reach a corner, telling everyone else to stop. I can hear voices around the corner, and I stick my head out to take a peak. What I see makes my heart stop.

Jack, and like, ten other guys standing around Star and Emily, the former in some cage, and the latter tied to a rusty old chair. They seem to be mocking her or something, can't really tell from here. Whatever is happening, it is making my blood boil

"Um... Matt." Alex squeaks out from behind me.

"Shhh." I whisper back to him, keeping my eyes on the scene in front of me.

"Matt..." He says again, fear in his voice.

"What!?" I hiss back at him, still not turning around.

"Sooo, remember how we left Mr. Brown at home... and how we brought everyone with us..." He whispers, his voice cracking.

"Yeah, so?"

"We may have left Trent behind..."

"What?" I turn around, and see why he had suddenly gotten a tone of fear in his voice. There, behind him, with his own glock pointed at his head, was Trent with and evil little smirk on his face, one hand on his stomach where the bullet hit him. "Oh... shit." I mumble as my shoulder slump. Alex has his hands in the air, and John has his gun pointed at Trent.

"Don't!" He whispers at Trent. If you shoot, this guy dies, and your cover is blown, and you wouldn't want that would you?" He says, a look of insanity in his eyes.

"I thought you were on our side!" Rainbow grunts as she hovers next to Twilight, both of them with their forelegs in the air.

"Really? You fucking fell for that? Are you that stupid!?" He laughs out insanely. "Don't tell me you think that we didn't see you on the road last night! Getting shot was my idea you idiots! A way to get inside, a way to let the rest of our group knowing that you were coming! Oh, and don't worry about your pops John, he's in a better place now! I took care of him myself!" Now he's yelling. Of course, this doesn't help him at all, as it makes him close his eyes and lose focus for just less than a second. And that was all the time John needed.

*BANG*

It happened in slow motion. The bullet leaving his gun. His head exploding like a balloon. His blood splattering against the wall. His body going limp on the ground.

"Get them!" I hear Jack himself yelling from the main room around the corner. He must have seen us before the gun even went off. Fuck, this is just what we were trying to avoid, an all out battle.

"Matt!" I hear Emily yell out as we all run into the room. John, Alex and I all cock our guns and aim them at the group before seeing just what was going on.

"I wouldn't do that Matty boy." Jack says with an evil grin as he points a pistol at Emily's head, causing her to squirm around against he bindings. "I've got your precious little sister Matty, what are gonna do? Shoot me? Because you know what'll happen if you do."

"Jack, just let her go man, she's just a kid!" I grunt, my gun still pointed at him. Alex and John as slowly rotating, keeping the rest of the gang members in their sights. Rainbow and Twilight are hovering beside us, though nobody seems to notice the faint glowing of Twilight's horn nor the small glow of light behind Emily where her hands are tied up.

"Just a kid huh? Now Matt, you know I wouldn't let that keep me from s-" Jack gets cut off as Emily jumps out of her chair, and biting down hard on Jack's arm, the same one holding the gun. He screams and the gun fires, hitting another gang member directly in the back of the head.

"NOW!" I yell as I start unloading into the group. The lighting is horrible though, throwing off everyone's aim. Rainbow and Twilight melee brawl with those without guns, while the rest of us take cover around the sides of walls, peeking out every now and then to take shots at the gang members. Jack storms over to the cage with Star in it, and makes a mad dash for the exit, passing by Emily who ducks to avoid flying bullets as she runs over to where I'm taking cover.

"Matt!" She yells out as she wraps herself around my waist.

"Oh God, Emily." I choke out, dropping my gun, hoping that John and Alex can hold the others off for a minute. "I missed you." I say quietly as I embrace her against my chest.

"Star, Matt you have to go get her!" She says pointing a finger towards where Jack ran off.

"Oh, right! I'm on i-"

"AGH!" A scratchy, familiar voice yells out from the room where shots are still being fired. I step out from around the corner to see nine bodies on the ground, and one still standing, smoke trailing from the barrel of his gun. I swipe my head to the left, and see Twilight on the ground holding a blue figure with a red path on it's leg.

"DAMMIT!" I yell as I fire three rounds into the last guy standing. "Rainbow!" I slide on my knees, and stop next to her and Twilight. I almost push Twilight so hard that she falls backwards so that I can get a look at Rainbow. What I see both relieves and angers me. Anger because she got shot, but relief that it only hit her in the leg.

"I-I'm fine. G-Go get Star." She mumbles out, trying to force a smile.

"But Rainbow, you-"

"I said get her! We didn't come all this way just to let Jack get away with her again!" She barks out at me. I stutter a little before standing and nodding.

"I'll take care of her. Go!" Twilight demands as she points a hoof towards where Jack ran off to.

"Matt, I'm going with you." Alex says as he runs up next to me, along with John and Emily.

"Me too!" Emily pipes up in a determined voice.

"No! You all stay here!" I say firmly as I take off towards the door that Jack disappeared behind. I expected it to lead outside, but instead found myself in a stairwell. I follow the stairs up about three stories before reaching a single door at the top. I force it open with my shoulder, and point my rifle around as I find myself on the roof of the structure.

"Where the hell is it!?" I hear Jack yell out from the other side of the roof. He's standing at the edge, looking for something in the sky.

"Jack!" I yell as I point the rifle at him, slowly walking in his direction, no fear in my system since I know he dropped his gun back downstairs.

"Wha? Oh son of a bitch, you're still alive!?" He yells out over the wind.

"Yeah, and I want my daughter back!"

"Well, I was supposed to meet a guy up here with a chopper, but it seems that he was a no show. Too bad, I could have made big bucks off this little shit head." He says as he grab Star out of the cage, throwing the hunk of metal over the side of the roof. "So go ahead, shoot, but I'll take the little horse thing with me." He says as the wind blows his hair around violently.

"Just fucking put her down you asshole!" I yell back as I keep my rifle aimed at him.

"I don't think so. You ruined my life, you know that Green? Breaking my nose was one thing, but then you went and completely fucked up my arm! I had scholarships Green! I was gonna go pro, and you ruined that! You ruined my life! Everything I've done, is all because of you, you! YOU! THAT'S WHY I'M GONNA TAKE WHAT YOU LO-"

*BANG*

Jack somehow manages to not fall backwards after the bullet enters his chest. The only thing is, I never pulled the trigger.

*BANG* BANG*

Two more shots ring through the night air, causing my ears to ring from the sound. I turn my head around, and see a shaking Emily holding Jack's gun, which is spewing out smoke from the barrel.

"E-Em?" I whisper quietly before looking back at Jack. He gives me a confused look, then one final desperate look of hate.

Then he falls.

"Star!" I drop the rifle and run over to the edge, expecting to see two crushed figures on the ground. Before I can even reach the edge, a small figure emerges from the side, flapping it's little wings furiously.

"D-Daddy!" She whimpers as she lands on the metal roof.

"Oh God... oh God... Star..." I whisper as I drop to my knees, grabbing her up in my hands. "I-I guess he didn't know daddy taught you how to do that huh?" I whispers through my tears. I feel something embrace me from the back, and see Emily with tears on her face.

"I- We found you guys. We fucking did it..." I cry out, not even caring what I say around the two. We hold each other tightly, Emily and I crying in relief, and Star crying in what I guess is fear. They both feel so skinny and thin, like they haven't been fed in forever.

The metal door to the stairwell slams open, and everyone runs out towards us, except for Rainbow who is riding on Alex's back.

"Where is he!?" John asks as he points his gun around, looking for Jack.

"T-Take a look..." I whisper as I point to the edge. We all crawl to the edge, looking down at the ground where a bloody, mangled corpse lay in the grass.

"He's..." Rainbow chokes out before seeing Star in my arms. "Oh Celestia!" She jumps off Alex's back, crying out a little when she lands on her bad leg which is now patched up with what looks like part of John's jacket.

I hold between us as Rainbow embraces the both of us, and soon, everyone but John joins in. I look up at him, and give him a smile, waving for him to walk over to us to join in.

"C'mon, this is your family too. One big, weird family." I say with a smile as a few more tears make their way down my face.

"Ah... fuck it." He says as he pocket his gun and gets down on his knees to join in on the embrace. After a few minutes, I reach down and pull out my phone, and call Alice who responds almost immediately.

"Matt!? Are you okay?" She asks, sounding somewhat worried.

"Y-Yeah Alice, mission accomplished." I sigh out in relief before remembering what Trent said about her and John's father. "But... I have some bad news..." I say solemnly as I look up at John who begins to tear up at the mention of it, as he already knows what I was talking about.

"What!? Is everyone okay?"

"I'll explain in person, it'll be better that way... Hang in the Alice, we're on our way back..." 




*5 Hours Later*

The only sound is that of shovels breaking through the dirt as Alice, John, Alex, and I dig out a hole in the backyard of the Brown residence. The seven ponies and Emily watch in sadness as we lower the body, covered in a white sheet, into the hole in the ground. John makes a cross symbol across his face and chest with his hand before getting down on his knees and peering into the hole. Alice kneels down next to him, and they both start to sob as they embrace. Rainbow, who is now patched up, flies over to me, embracing me in a tight embrace, her own warm tears soaking my shirt. I hold her tightly against me, letting my own tears flow out of sadness from the loss of the man who saved not only my life, but Rainbow's as well.

"Say hey to mom for me..." I hear John whisper as he wipes his hand across the dirt around the edges of the hole. This only causes Alice to sob even harder, but it seems to calm John down some.

"I'm sick of it Rainbow." I mumble into her ear as I pat the side of my pants, feeling the cube in my pocket.

"Sick of... what?"

"This world. This messed up, crazy world." I say as I let her go, letting her hover in front of me.

"I am too, but it's our home Matt."

"No, its my home. Your home is in Equestria..." I say as I put my hand on her shoulder.

"A-Are you saying I should-"

"Yes, I want you to go back with Star."

"But, Matt-"

"And I'm going with you."

"W-What?"

"Like I said, I'm sick of all the violence, and corruption, and death that just plagues the entire planet. I want to go back with you Rainbow. We can start over there, a whole new life together with Star."

"Lets go it! I'm all for it Matt, as long as you're there with me!"

"Alright then Rainbow, lets go home and pack, then start our new lives together. Lets begin a new adventure, as a family."




*Epilogue*

In the end, everyone was reunited, with the loss of Colton Brown, and man that everyone would remember in their hearts for the rest of their lives.

Emily went back to living with her parents after they were released from the hospital. There, she led a pretty normal life, making plenty of friends, and even a very special friend by the name of Henry.

Alex returned to Jacksonville where he and Skyler attended college together. They continued to love each other to death, and there were even rumors floating around about a proposal coming soon.

John and Alice, though devastated by the loss of their father, continued to live in their cabin in the woods of Georgia. They both take care of the house, pay the bills, and keep an eye out for any more gang members that may still be lurking around.

The ponies that accompanied the gang of friends all returned to Ponyville where they continued living out their normal lives as if nothing had really happened. However, some were still obviously affected by the events that transcended back on Earth.

As for Matthew, Rainbow, and Star, they all said goodbye to Earth for good after returning home from Georgia. They packed and said their goodbyes before heading out to start their new lives. Matt had to practically pry Emily off of him when he said he was leaving, and the same went for his mother. His father wasn't excited about it either, but had faith in his son that he was making the right decision.

The three made their way into Equestria, saying goodbye to Earth one last time. The only time they would ever come back would be on important holidays or birthdays. Matt was realized as a national hero by Celestia herself for closing the rifts that threatened both worlds. He was even offered a place to stay in the castle for his works, but he turned it down in the end.

Matt and Rainbow ended up buying a small, cozy cabin at the edge of Ponyville, Rainbow selling her old house so they could afford it. Shortly after moving in, Matthew finally felt like he was at home, truly, at home.

It had been a crazy two and half years since meeting Rainbow, and he didn't regret anything. He'd go through it all again if it meant getting to this point. He was finally satisfied with his life, for the first time in forever. This was the thing he was looking for all along, the same thing we all look for in life, just someone to hold and love us. That was exactly what he found.




"I love you ya know." I whisper into Rainbow's ear as I hold her against my chest as we lay back on the roof of our cabin, looking up at the Equestrian night sky.

"Oh trust me, I know." She giggles back to him.

"Its funny really when you think about it."

"What is?"

"Us! I mean, a human, like me, and a pegasus like you, actually fell in love? What are the odds?"

"They seem pretty high to me, and I guess we have Discord to thank for that."

"Huh, yeah, I guess this is all his doing isn't it? Well damn, I gotta thank that guy if I ever see him."

"Me too. At first, I was so upset that he did what he did by sending me to Earth. But now? Now I couldn't be more grateful, because I never would have found you."

"And I never would have found you." I say as I touch my lips gently against her's.

"Love ya you dorky human." She giggles softly as she rubs her nose against mine.

"Love ya too Rainbow... love you too..."

*THE END*

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.” 
― Bob Marley

**SEQUEL NOW OUT!**
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/331345/falling-stars#comment/7271235