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.