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.