"Matt!" Alex runs up to me where I'm currently on the floor. I pull away from Rainbow for a second to look up at Alex and Skyler running towards me.

"Guys!" I yell as I quickly jump up and embrace the two. "Holy shit, I didn't think I'd ever see you guys again!"

"What happened to you?" Skyler asks as we pull away. They both look at my bloody and dirty clothes and face.

"A lot of shit. I'll explain everything later... Let's just say I took a little trip."

My parents and Emily soon follow and we all embrace in a big group hug. The rest of my family and friends attending also come up to me and are equally shocked that I'm actually here.

"Matt... were you just kissing her?" My mother asks as she looks over at Rainbow.

"Oh, uh, I..."

"I'm proud of you." She quickly says back to me.

"Really? It doesn't weird you out?"

"Of course not. You're my son, I could never be ashamed of you. Besides, Rainbow is a nice girl, I'm sure you'll make her very happy."

Rainbow runs up behind me and jumps on my back. I hold her back legs by my waist and hold her as if I were giving her a piggy back ride.

"I want to know everything that happened." She whispers in my ear.

"Okay, but only in private." I respond as I walk outside into the warm sunlight. I carry her to the truck and open the passenger side for her. I wave to my family and tell them that I'll meet them at home.

"Okay, now will you tell me. Please?"

"Fine, alright..." I sigh as I remember the past few days. "But you aren't going to like it."

"I don't care. I want to know."

"Alright... I stopped at a gas station to put more fuel in my truck. I went inside to buy a drink, but when I came out... These three guys grabbed me and knocked me unconscious. I woke up in a warehouse up north about fifty miles away. I... escaped, but I had to do some terrible things Rainbow..."

"L-Like what?"

"I... killed them all..."

"Y-You..."

"Let me finish. They were going to hold me there until I gave them what they wanted. If I didn't do anything, I would have died there Rainbow."

"What did they want from you?"

"...They wanted you."

"Me!? This all happened because of me!" She starts to break down into tears again.

"They... wanted to sell you for money. I didn't tell them anything. I did what I had to do to protect you."

"I-I think I understand. How did you get back here?"

"I had to survive in the woods for four days. Eventually I came across a cabin where I met a nice family. They took me in and cleaned me up a little. They also gave me some food and water, as well as place to sleep. One of them drove me back into town not long ago. I drove to the funeral home as fast as I could."

"You have no idea what it was like when you never came back. I thought you might have just... left me." A tear slowly streams down her face.

"Hey, look at me." I stop at a red light. I put my hand under her chin and make her look directly at me. "I will never leave you. If there's one thing that describes me, it's loyalty."

"What a coincidence..." She chuckles under her breath. "Please, promise me that no matter what, you'll stay by me. Never leave me again."

"I promise." I say as I wipe the corners of her eyes. I ruffle her mane up and she laughs lightly. "I fought life and limb just to see you again."

"You don't know how much that means to me..."

I pull into the driveway, and my parents pull in not long after. We all walk inside together, finally reunited. Emily and my mom won't stop asking me questions about what happened. My father is just glad that I made it back in one piece. I explain what happened, but I leave out the details about what I did to escape. I can't let anyone else know about that. Not yet.

"Oh... son of a bitch." I sigh in relief as the hot water pours down on me. This has to be the best shower I've ever taken. I watch as the water below me turns a dark brown as the dried blood and dirt washes off of my skin.

"Do you need help?" Rainbow mutters from the other side of the shower curtain. I can't see her directly, but I know she's waiting on the other side. I tried to get her to leave the bathroom as I don't feel comfortable taking a shower with her in the room. She insisted on staying, and I only let her stay because I know how worried she was that I went missing.

"I'm fine. Just relaxing... Damn this is nice."

"Can I get anything for you?"

"Rainbow, I know I've been missing for a week, but you're being just a tad bit clingy."

"I'm sorry... I just don't want to lose you again. I feel like if you go out of my sight, you'll just vanish."

"I'm not going anywhere Rainbow. That's a promise." The water suddenly stops as I turn the handle. I grab a towel and wrap in around my waste. I step out of the shower where I see Rainbow with a sad expression, her ears drooping down.

"There, now I'm free for the rest of the day. I'm all yours." I say as I slip on a clean t-shirt. Rainbow's expression turns to one of joy at my words. She must have really been traumatized by this whole thing. Maybe even more than I am.

"Can we go to lunch? Just us?" She asks as I pick up a pair of shorts.

"Yeah, I suppose we could do that." I say as I pick up my boxers. "Can you turn around for a second?"

"Yeah."

I slip on my boxers quickly, then my shorts. "Alright, turn."

Rainbow looks back at me with a smile. It feels nice to be clean after living in the wilderness for a week.

"I want to go to that barbecue place that Alex mentioned. Is that okay with you?" I ask as we walk downstairs.

"I would normally says no, but it is your birthday... so fine."

"Yes! Thanks Rainbow. Don't worry they have salads there too. I'll buy you one of those."

"Oh, really? Okay, that's not so bad then."

"Dad! We're going to lunch. I'll be back in a little while, for real this time." I yell as I open the front door.

We walk to my truck which only reminds me of the whole incident again. I try to shake it off so I can focus on the here and now. I buckle Rainbow into the seat, then start the engine.

"You're not small..." Rainbow mumbles under her breath.

"Wait, what!? You looked!? I told you to turn around!"

"Just for a second! It's only fair since you've seen my..." She points down but doesn't finish her sentence.

"Well we're even then... Just don't pull that again." I laugh. I want to be mad, but I just can't get angry at her. She's too innocent looking to yell at.

"So, you're eighteen today right?"

"Yep, and I'm one of the oldest kids in my grade. I'm a junior, but I'm supposed to be a senior. I started school a year later than most kids."

"I don't know what any of that means, but happy birthday."

"When's your birthday Rainbow?"

"I don't know your months, but it's the eighth day of the fourth month. I'll be nineteen then."

"Wait, you're older than me?"

"Looks like it!" She laughs. "Does that bother you?"

"No not really. I just thought you were younger than me."

"We're practically the same age. A few months is nothing."

"I suppose you're correct about that." I say as I pull into a parking spot. "Ready to be surrounded by a ton of different meats?" I say with an evil smirk as I open the door for Rainbow.

"Not really... Just don't put it up in my face. I hate it when you do that."

"I love doing that. You're cute when you're angry. You're like a little fluffy ball of rage."

"I am not cute!"

"Yeah you are, and yelling isn't helping your cause at all."

"Welcome to Sonny's!" A woman greets us as we enter. "How many today?"

"Just two." I say as I hold up two fingers. She looks at Rainbow behind me and lets out a little gasp.

"Oh, pardon me. I didn't expect to see any celebrities today." She says which only boosts Rainbow's ego even more. She leads us to a booth and hands us two menus. "What would you like to drink?"

"Um, I'll have a sweet tea. Rainbow?" I look over at Rainbow who looks like she doesn't know what to say.

"Um, I'll have that too." Rainbow says as she looks up at the waitress.

"Have you ever had sweet tea before?" I ask as the waitress walks away.

"Nope, just normal hot tea."

"Well, it's the best drink in the south. If you live in the south, you're raised to love tea."

"How do you afford all of this?" Rainbow asks as she looks down at the menu.

"I had a job during the summer. I saved a lot of the money to use during the school year. My parents also give me some cash to buy gas for my car. I use anything left over from that as well for lunch and other things."

"Oh, okay then... This all looks disgusting..." Rainbow gags as she reads through the menu.

"How the fuck do you live with these?" I say, completely changing the subject. I pick up one of her hooves in my hand.

"Well I was born with them... We usually pick stuff up with our mouths. I can pick up bigger stuff with them, but they aren't like your hands."

"Yep, these are REALLY useful." I brag as I wiggle my fingers around.

"I feel useless when you have to do everything for me. Everything here is designed to be used with hands. I feel like I can't do anything by myself here."

"Well, that's what I'm here for. I like helping you do stuff."

"Really? I thought you'd feel like I'm just slowing you down."

"Rainbow, you already know that I don't see you as a burden. I like you for you. I wouldn't change you even if I could."

Another waitress comes back with our drinks and asks for our orders. Rainbow gets a simple little salad, and I order a smoked turkey sandwich.

"Isn't this the best thing ever?" I say as I take a sip of my tea.

"It's amazing!" Rainbow's already drained half of her glass which is pretty big.

"Right? I always get tea at pretty much every restaurant I go to."

We chat for a while as we wait for our lunches. After a few minutes have passed, two girls, both look to be about my age, run up to our table.

"Oh my gosh!" One of them squeals.

"Um, hey?" I say awkwardly as they look at both of us.

"You're Matthew Green right?" One of them asks.

"That's correct."

"And this is..." The other one gapes.

"Rainbow Dash. The one and only." Rainbow brags as she puts a hoof on her chest and spreads out her wings.

"Can we get a picture with you guys!?"

"Sure, why not?" I say as I stand up. Rainbow gets up from the other side of the booth. The girls stand together, with me on their left and Rainbow above and behind us hovering. They snap the picture and squeal again in that high pitched scream that girls like to do when they're excited.

"It's so cool to meet a celebrity in person. Thanks for the picture!" They wave as they exit the restaurant.

"They seemed nice." I say as I sit back down.

"Yeah, I love it when people recognize me and don't freak out in a bad way." Rainbow retorts as she sits down across from me.

"Y'know, for a pony, you sit down an awful lot like a person." I say as I notice how she's sitting just like I am. "Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"Not really. This is how I always sit unless I'm on the ground." I have noticed that before. On the ground or on a flat surface, she sits on her haunches like you'd expect her to.

"So, can you stand on just two legs?" I ask, my curiosity starting to get the best of me.

"I can stand on my back legs, but I can't walk like that or I'll lose my balance. What's with your sudden interest with my body?"

"Oh, just curious. I like to know everything about everything around me. I guess you could say I'm good at observing the little things. I also find it fascinating to compare our similarities and differences."

"Like how I have hooves and you have hands?"

"Exactly like that. The more I can learn about the world around me, the more prepared I am for any given situation."

"You're such an egghead Matt. You remind me of one of my friends." Rainbow smirks as she chews on her straw.

"Maybe I am, but I'm proud of it. Hey, while we're on the subject, why not learn more about each other?"

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

"How about... Do you have any special talents? Other than flying in general."

"Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow says with a cocky smirk.

"You mean sonic boom? Like breaking the sound barrier?"

"No, I mean Rainboom, as in breaking the sound barrier and creating a giant rainbow."

"Bullshit, there's no way you can break the sound barrier, much less create a rainbow from it. Rainbows are formed by light particles bending, not the sound barrier breaking."

"Well, you obviously haven't seen me do it then. How about I show you later?"

"Alright you're on."

"Good, now how about you? Anything special you can do?"

"Uh, I can survive in a forest for almost a week by myself. Does that count?"

"I suppose it does." Rainbow laughs, her voice cracking.

"I like when you do that." I say as I point at her.

"Do what?"

"Your voice, it cracks a lot. I like it. It makes you... well, you."

"Really? You like my voice?"

"Yeah, it's unique."

"Wow, everyone always laughed at my voice until I met my friends. They always laughed at me when it cracked like that..."

"Like I said earlier, I like everything about you, even your flaws."

"Thanks Matt..."

"There is ONE thing that I still don't believe."

"What's that?"

"Your fucking hair. I STILL call bullshit on that being natural. You had to have dyed it!"

"It's not dyed! It's completely real."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Your snoring doesn't help..."

"What was that Rainbow? If I remember correctly you sound like a broken motor."

We tease each other until our food finally comes about ten minutes later.

"I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again, that's gross Matt..." She says as I take the first bite of my sandwich.

"It's fucking good. Here, try it." I say as I rip off a piece of turkey.

"If I try it, will you stop shoving it in my face all the time?"

"Promise."

"Fine..." She opens her mouth and I toss the piece of turkey in. Her eyes widen and she immediately spits it out onto a napkin. "I can't do it! It's too gross!"

"Whatever, you're missing out." I say as I continue with my sandwich. Rainbow eats her salad by just stuffing her face into it. I laugh at her for it, and she explains that it's how she's always eaten and that it was normal in her world.

"Twenty dollars? Damn that's not that bad." I say as I pick up the bill.

"I've been meaning to ask, how does money work here?"

"Well it's different all around the world, but in this country, we have coins and bills. Each bill has a number on it which represents how many dollars it's worth." I pull out a twenty and show it to her. "This is worth twenty dollars, see the twenty in the corner?"

"Oh yeah, that makes sense."

"What's your currency like?" I ask as I clip the money to the bill.

"We have these gold coins called bits."

"How big are these bits?"

"A little smaller than my hoof." She says as she holds out one of her hooves.

"What!? Are they pure gold!?" I yell as I get a little too excited.

"Yeah, why?"

"Rainbow! Do you know how much just one of those would be worth here!"

"Uh, no?"

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars!"

"Wait wait wait. Why is that?"

"Gold is a rare metal here, just a small amount is worth thousands of dollars!"

"Whoa, really? Gold is pretty common in Equestria."

"Too bad we don't have one of those bits. We'd be rich."

"I don't need money, I have you." Rainbow says as we stand up.

"Do you know how sappy that sounded?" I laugh as we head for the cash register.

"It just slipped out! I can't help it if I like you."

"Aw, is the sappy pony embarrassed?"

"I am not sappy!"

"Whatever you say Rainbow Sap."

"That was terrible, and you should feel ashamed." Rainbow says as I pay the cashier.

"Okay, I'll give you that one." I say as we walk out into the autumn sun.

"Hey, let's go to a park or something so I can show you my Rainboom!"

"Sounds good!"

I hop into the car and give Rainbow a warm smiles after buckling her in. We just stare at each other, then laugh lightly.

"What are you doing?" Rainbow says through a soft laugh.

"Just remembering how lucky I am to have you around." Once the words leave my mouth, Rainbow hits the button to release her buckle. She quickly leans over to me and closes her eyes. I lean towards her and place my lips on hers.

I feel like the luckiest man on earth.