*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..."