Harris and Ryan drove along the road to the northern end of Thailand, where they planned to cross the border into Cambodia. They had decided this time to plan their way through. Trying to force their way into Thailand hadn’t worked very well.

Ryan had beaten and killed a border guard to get through, and something told him that wouldn’t fly again. “We can’t just keep doing that.” Harris had told him. “It won’t keep working.” It almost hadn’t the first time. They were shot at on the road.

“I know.” Ryan replied. “I’m sure we can think of something.”

As they drove north, Ryan was keeping a close eye out for any government or shady looking cars. In their first day in Thailand, they had seen several. “Just keep cool.” Discord warned the boys. Ryan was doubtful.

“They’re probably looking for a couple of white guys in a Malaysian van. Why would they not stop us?” he wondered. The car they passed didn’t stop them, but the driver eyed them suspiciously.

Ryan noticed this, as he was driving and Harris was sleeping in the back. He yelled back, “Wake up, Harris.” Harris jolted up from his place. “I think we may have company in a second.” Ryan looked in his mirror. Sure enough, the car had U-turned and was following close behind. Ryan slammed on the gas. The car did the same. He scowled. “Harris, I think you should get up here and drive.” Ryan announced. He heard frantic movement behind him and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Just don’t kill anyone, this time.” Harris ordered. Ryan got up, and the car started to slow down.

“I’ll do my best not to.” Harris gave him a disbelieving look and they switched places.

Ryan made his way to the back of the van. Out the small back window, he could see the car that was tailing them. “So, I can’t kill them, but I need to stop them.” He looked to his right. The fire extinguisher was still with him. “I think I know what to do.” He picked up the fire extinguisher and looked back out the door. The other driver was reading the licence plate on the van, while the other guy was loading a pistol. “Eat steel.” Ryan said. He kicked open the back door and tossed the extinguisher into the air. He didn’t see the expressions of the men as it came crashing into the windshield. Their car skidded to a halt. As the boys drove away, Ryan looked back hard. The two men were getting out of the car. “I told you I’d try.” Ryan yelled back to Harris as he closed the door. Harris sighed in relief.

“I’m glad you were careful.” he said.

Ryan took a seat in the passenger side of the van. “Yeah, well, I just want Discord to stick with us.” he said. Harris looked over at him funny.

“What?” he asked. Ryan shrugged.

“Yeah. After that last guy, he said he wouldn’t help us if I did it on purpose.” He shrugged again. “We’ll be needing him.” Harris looked back to the road. Ryan hadn’t been careful because he cared.

“He just wants Discord’s help.” he thought.

Ryan took a sip from his water. “Why the hell should I care about these guys?” he wondered. “I’m trying to do something important, and they’re getting in the way.” He swallowed. “I just got lucky that neither of them were killed. I wasn’t aiming... maybe I should next time. Just to be safe.” Concluding on that, he looked out his window. Outside, there was a beautiful countryside, with jungle visible in the distance and some mountains within them. “If only we weren’t here for what we’re here for.” Ryan commented. Harris looked over, puzzled. “Maybe I’ll come back here someday... for the scenery.” Harris’ mouth fell very slightly open. He hadn’t expected Ryan to say anything like that. It was the first really human trait he had exhibited in a while.

“There may be hope for you yet.” he thought happily.

Discord had been listening to everything, including their thoughts. “There just might be hope for you, Ryan.” he said. “There just might be.” He had been growing bored with just flying above the van all the time, so he descended onto the roof of it. He stuck his head through. “Hellooooo!” he said in an exaggerated tone. Harris was startled and hit the acceleration a bit. The car lurched forward.

“Don’t do that!” he yelled. Discord chuckled.

“Sorry.” he said. Whether or not he was serious was hard to tell.

Ryan hadn’t seen him in a while, so he thought he would take advantage of the opportunity. “Hey, I’d like the use of my weapons back, thanks.” he said aggressively. Discord rolled his eyes.

“Do you promise to ONLY use them on the bad guys?” he asked. It wasn’t much of a request; it was a demand. Ryan sighed.

“Yes.” With a smile, Discord snapped his fingers.

“There.” Ryan went to pull out the M1911, and felt immense satisfaction when it came out.

“Good.” he said, putting it back.

Discord entered the van and sat in the back. In order to fit, he sized himself to be roughly equal to Ryan and Harris. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

Harris clicked his tongue. “I got squat.” he said. Discord let his disappointment show.

“Come on, Harris, I expect more of you!” Harris’ head drooped a bit at hearing this. Discord turned to Ryan. “How about you?” he asked. Ryan turned around to face the Spirit of Chaos.

“First priority; get to Bangkok. It’s the only city I know in this country, so I see it as the only option.” Discord nodded.

“Do go on.” he said. Ryan turned to face the road.

“From there, we’ll ditch the van, since it’s being tracked. We’ll get a new set of wheels, and we’ll drive to Kompong Chnnang. From there, we head north to their compound, where we’ll kill our guy.” Discord smiled and nodded; it was simple, but very flexible. He thought about the end, but something was slipping his mind.

“Who’s the target, again?” he asked. Harris was about to turn and answer when Ryan beat him to it.

“Everyone.” he said darkly. Discord leaned back a bit, and Harris looked at his friend and swallowed. “Narendra and his little minions all have to go.” Ryan turned back to Discord. “Or they’ll keep doing what they’re doing.”

Discord thought about it for a moment. While killing everyone was a lot, certainly, it wasn’t exactly unreasonable to him. “Alright, then.” he said. This prompted Harris to turn and look at him. He shrugged. “Gotta do something to protect the innocent.” Harris turned and looked down the road.

The future wasn’t looking good to him.

**********************************************************************************

Luna had been spending the last couple of days doing nothing but work regarding the events to the south. As much as she wanted to get away from it and go see Ryan, she couldn’t afford to potentially let Discord cause trouble.

The reports she had been receiving were disturbing. But it wasn’t because they were showing that Discord was there. It was because they were showing that he wasn’t. She had withheld the information from her sister in part because she didn’t believe it, and also because she didn’t want to trouble Celestia. But today, she had had enough, and wanted to be done.

She made her way to the throne room at a deliberate pace, Starstep and two other guards accompanying her. It wasn’t so much for her protection as for that of what she was carrying; the information regarding the situation. She hadn’t been hesitant when Starstep requested more guards for this. “Of course,” she had said. “I understand.” Starstep personally selected the two who were there.

Luna approached the door, and the guards moved their spears out of the way for her. Once she passed, the spears closed again. “I’ll return soon.” she said. The three guards all saluted, and the two new ones departed. Starstep waited outside. “I hope it’s not too long.” Luna thought. She entered the throne room.

Luna looked around as she walked into the room. To her left and right, there were guards lined up, as if preparing for another invasion of the city. They sat on their haunches, stoic in expression and stone-like in body. “I wonder what they’re expecting?” she wondered. She walked forward to her sister.

“What have your stallions found?” Celestia asked. Luna removed the folder from its place under her wing and floated it over to her sister.

“Strange.” was all she said.

Celestia opened the file. “What..?” she said. Luna opened her mouth to respond. “How could he not be there?” Celestia said, frustrated. “Where is he?” She dropped the reports on the ground before her and stood up. She paced around. “Where could he have gone?” she said to herself. Luna stepped forward, picking up the papers.

“My scouts say that there is no sign of him there. Not even his magic.” She neatly placed the reports back under her wing. “Could he simply not want to make trouble?” Luna had to entertain the possibility.

“No.” Celestia responded curtly. Luna stood where she was. “He’s evil. Evil beings don’t just stop doing evil. They need something else to stop them.” She looked back at Luna, whose face drooped.

Celestia realized that what she just did was out of line. She walked up to her sister. “I know he’s out there.” she said, trying to distract her sister. It worked; she looked up. “We just need to find him.” Luna nodded.

“I’m certain we will, sister.” She turned and started walking away. “We will.”

Upon exiting, she met up with Starstep and started to walk back to what was now noth their chambers. Starstep had been sleeping on the floor near the fireplace, while Luna kept her bed. In the last couple of days, she and him hadn’t spoken much, except for official business regarding “the situation”. He had provided much valuable insight, and she was glad to have him around. He was valuable in more ways than just as a guard.

They walked back to their chambers at a slow, deliberate pace. There were few staffers around, given what was happening. They were given some time off. The few who were there always bowed when Luna approached. “Your highness.” they would say. She couldn’t care less about formalities right now.

The duo arrived at their chambers and Starstep went in first. His old training had been kicking in lately, and his priority was Luna’s safety. “Clear.” he announced from inside. Luna sauntered in.

The room was an absolute mess; books everywhere, papers, pens, ink canisters; it was like a tornado hit the room. Starstep was already cleaning up when Luna walked in. “Don’t.” she ordered. He stopped. “I can get it.” Her horn glowing a a dark navy blue, the same colored aura covered everything and organized it in no time.

“I’m glad you can do that.” Starstep commented, sounding slightly exhausted. He plopped himself by the fireplace and laid down. “It means more time to just lay down.” Luna chuckled a bit inside, but maintained a simple smile.

“It does.” She walked over and joined him.

Rather than sit in front of him, she sat beside him. It had been too long since she played her games with him. “What can I do from here?” she wondered. She could already see Starstep’s trepidations showing. Smiling, she knew just what to do. She yawned and extended her wing to cover her guard, letting it droop slowly back down onto him. Not to be outdone, Starstep yawned and leaned on her. Seeing that this wasn’t going to work, Luna thought about her next move. “Hmm. I wonder...” She adjusted herself to get her head underneath his, where she felt him leaning on her again. She nuzzled into his chest. “It’s nice to feel safe.” she said. Starstep didn’t react. She wasn’t about to lose this battle. “To have such a kind, brave... strong warrior...” She felt him shift a bit, as if to get more comfortable. She smiled to herself...

*snort* came from his mouth. Luna’s eyes shot open. “Blahb, *ahck, ahck, ahck*”. came next. Luna used her magic to move her head and look. He was asleep.

“What, the..?” She scowled. He hadn’t heard a word of any of what she was saying! “You got off this time,” she warned the sleeping stallion. “but, next time, I will get you.” She floated a pillow over and rested her guard’s head upon it. Looking outside, she noticed that the sun was being pulled down to the horizon. Her heart skipped a beat, as she realized what she was supposed to be doing.

She was about to get up and sprint to the balcony when Celestia mentally contacted her. “You need not worry; you have worked hard lately as it is. I can do this for you.” Luna stopped and sighed. It was a happy sigh, though.

“Thank you.” she thought to her sister. She got a glad feeling back from her sister, and walked over to her bed. She looked over at Starstep one more time; he had a stupid smile stretched across his face like a nylon sock. “I wonder what you’re dreaming...” she wondered. But she decided against going into his dreams; she was too tired herself.

As she went to bed, she had no idea that nylon socks were actually a part of her guard’s dream.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna awoke slowly the next morning; it was the best sleep she had gotten in days, and she was reluctant to let it go. Even as the ruler of the night, she was not very good about staying awake late at night.

She looked over at the fireplace; there was no one there. Starstep must have gotten up earlier and gone outside for his guard duty. She got up and went to the door. From the other side, she could hear light humming. Cracking it open, she took a look outside. Starstep stood there, eyes closed, humming a little tune. It sounded like “Hush, Now, Quiet Now”. He must have still been sleepy. Luna smiled mischievously. “I may have missed you last night, but I’ll get you now.” she thought. She creaked the door open a little bit more, silently creeping up behind the unsuspecting guard. She got into position to pounce.

Suddenly, Starstep turned around and jumped at her. Luna yelped, not foreseeing this turn of events. Before she could react, Starstep had her pinned to the ground under him. “Even as the ruler of the night,” he said, a playful smile across his face. “you can’t sneak very well.” Luna pouted. She could sneak pretty well, if she wanted to.

“You just got lucky.” she said. Starstep laughed. Looking away from his face, Luna noticed a pair of guards walking down the hall, one pointing at her and Starstep. She got a big grin on her face; she could defeat her guard yet. “Well,” she said, putting her hoof to Starstep’s chest, who just looked down at her with a quizzical expression. “what’re you gonna do now, brave hero?” she purred.

Starstep’s face instantly flushed red. He opened his mouth to speak when he heard from behind, “Nnnnnnnnnice.” He spun around, pupils dilated at the site of his fellow guards. As they passed, one looked at Starstep and nodded his approval.

With Starstep speechless, Luna giggled uncontrollably below him. She had won yet again. “Always.” Starstep said, still barely coherent. “Always, you manage it somehow.” He looked back down at the princess below him. She had her hooves at her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles; it was adorable.

“I have a talent for it.” She booped his nose. “I also have you to practice on.”

Starstep was determined to turn this back around, even if he was the only one who would know about it. His mind raced, trying to think of something. “Lightbulb!” he shouted. Luna looked up at him, confusion evident in her countenance. He put his hooves around her, eliciting a panicked response from his princess.

“Hey!” she yelled. Starstep flew up into the air with her in tow.

“Come, my princess!” he said. “Let us see what propositions the day has in store.” He flew Luna back into the room. She looked at him unjadedly. “I do wonder what the day will have in store.” Starstep flew over to the bed and landed on it. He put on his best Blueblood-creeper face. “Today is a day for spelunking, I think!” he shouted. Luna smiled; then she narrowed her eyes and started to speak. “Spelunkin-” She realized the double entendre. Her face turned to a dark purple, the red flush combining with the dark blue of her coat. Starstep, satisfied at his work, stepped off the bed and walked toward the library. “I assure you,” he began as he sauntered away. “my gear is some of the strongest in the world.” He smiled immensely to himself as he walked away, the sound of his princess trying to stammer out a response fading away with distance.

Luna just sat on her bed, unable to fully comprehend what just happened. She had tried to respond, but nothing coherent was able to come out. All she could manage was, “Huh?” It took her several minutes of sitting in disbelief to finally regain her composure. She took in several deep breaths and then let them out slowly. “Just breath in deep.” she told herself. Even if no one saw it, it was easily the most embarrassing moment she had ever suffered.

Unfortunately, Starstep was within earshot when she said it. “Deeper is better!” he shouted. Luna’s entire body changed hue this time. Unable to control herself, she launched herself from her bed.

“You!” she shouted. She bounded into the library; no one was there. A door slammed shut on the other side. Running around, she saw that her bathroom door was closed. She shot over to it and knocked hard on the door. “Come on out here.” she said.

Starstep replied, “I’d, rather not.” Luna scowled.

“Then I’m coming in.” She didn’t know what she was going to do when she got in there, but she did know that she wanted to get her hooves on her guard.

“No, wait-!” he shouted as Luna used her magic to go through the door. She was about to start yelling when she noticed Starstep squatting.

“What..?” she began.

Before she could even formulate the idea of what he was doing, he said, “Takin’ a dump.” Luna’s expression went from embarrassed anger to pure embarrassment. She flew out of the room.

“Augh!”

She ran back to her bed and got under the covers. Ten minutes later, Starstep returned and saw the mound. “Oh, I’ve got you now...” he said. He silently floated up in front of the mound. From inside, he heard mortified groaning. “I’m not giving up this chance.” he thought resolutely. He flew down and landed on the mound. “Ah-” he yelled. Sudden confusion came across him. “ha?” The covers weren’t collapsing the way he had expected.

“My head is over here...”

Starstep froze. The whisper hadn’t come from a few feet in front of him; it was actually behind him. And under him. “Umm,” he said.

Luna didn’t know what was going on and used her magic to go through the sheet. “What the-!” She found herself face to face with Starstep’s groin. “So this is what you wanted...” she said apprehensively. Starstep’s face went red and he shot right into the air.

“S-s-s-sorry!” he said. “I-I thought, that... that you were p-positioned differently... and... umm...” he stopped talking. Both ponies sat and floated in an awkward silence.

Both looked at each other for a moment. Luna giggled; Starstep chuckled. The giggling and chuckling started to turn into them cracking up. Ultimately, both lost face and laughed uncontrollably. Starstep fell from the air.

Luna was the first to regain some of her composure. “Well, that... that was one way to start your day.” she said. Starstep stood.

“Yeah. Yeah, it was.” Both continued their efforts to stifle their laughter. “It’s nice, after so much work.” Starstep commented. Luna nodded.

“Yes. Maybe now we can return to our routines.” She looked to the library. “Speaking of.” Starstep looked over to the library and nodded. “It’s been a few days.” he said. “I wonder if anything has happened?”

Luna walked toward the library. “I guess we’ll know soon enough.” Starstep saluted and went back outside. Luna made her way downstairs and to the pool. “Let us see just how far you’ve gotten...” she said.

**********************************************************************************

Ryan got up slowly. His joints creaked and cracked from sleeping on a wooden floor all night. Well, all night might be exaggerating. His sleep was on and off throughout the night. Between the flashback dreams and the anticipation of what was to come, he hadn’t been sleeping much lately.

He and Harris had arrived in Bangkok the previous day. It had been a frustrating journey to get there. The van had run out of gas, so the boys had to walk the rest of the way to the city. The entire way, Discord had been making incessant comments on how nice it was to be able to fly. At one point, Ryan shouted up at Discord to make him stop talking, and there had been people on the other side of the road. They looked up, and when they saw nothing, they looked and Ryan and Harris nervously and walked away.

Still, though, losing the van was probably better, even if it made traveling more difficult. When the boys neared the city, there were several patrols going around. All the cars looked the same and had the same foreign letters, indicating some kind of authority. “Must be looking for us.” Harris had said. Ryan grunted his response, and the two boys entered the city carefully. When they arrived, they were stopped by a car and were only released because they didn’t speak Thai. Several close calls like this had occurred.

Now, Ryan and Harris were in the city and looking for a way to get themselves into Cambodia. Smashing their way through the gate seemed like it could end badly. It hadn’t worked so great last time. So that only left the option of sneaking across the border away from any checkpoints. Of course, they had to actually get to the border for that. That was what Ryan had been contemplating in his free time. Discord had been saying that he thought the boys should use disguises and just walk past the checkpoint. It took Ryan an hour of carefully explaining the nature of foreign policy to him to explain why that would fail miserably. Harris agreed with Ryan that they should just sneak across somewhere. But he then pointed out the need for supplies.

“We won’t be able to survive in the wilderness if we don’t have something to eat and drink.” he had said. Ryan was growing more frustrated every hour.

He stood up and stretched himself a little bit. Almost immediately after arriving, DIscord had found them a place to stay. It was a little motel, cheap, and didn’t keep records of clients. It did not have real guest accommodations, though. They had to sleep on the floor, and the only bathroom was practically a war crime.

Ryan looked over to his left where Harris was sleeping. “Every frickin’ morning.” he said. He reached out to shake Harris and wake him. “Actually,” he thought. “I’ll do some stuff first... give him more time.” He sat over against the wall.

Removing his shirt, Ryan took a look down at his chest. He had never taken off the vest with his weapons since he got the van. Removing it, Ryan took a look at it. On the left, there was his P22, holstered on the side of the vest. In it, he knew he had eight rounds left, and he saw one spare magazine, full.

“Weird.” he thought. “Would’ve sworn I had another...”

He disregarded any thought on the subject. If he had had another, Discord probably took it. “That ass.” he thought. A mental sound of clearing one’s throat resounded through his head.

“I heard that.” Discord said. Ryan shrugged.

“Cool story, bro.” Discord mentally huffed and let Ryan get back to his business. Looking back at the vest, Ryan saw the M1911. It was holstered in a holster that was hanging down by where Ryan’s hip would be. With the full magazine in the gun, and the two full spares, Ryan had twenty-one rounds for it. “Nice.” he said. He flipped the vest over. On the back, he had found a secure way to carry the KaBar (with Discord’s help). He pulled it out and swung it through the air a few times. “Thank God for knife training.” he said. He sheathed the knife in the vest and set it down.

He took inventory on his other items next. He still had his Shen on the leather strap. It was usable as a garrote, which made it a weapon. Ryan still had his watch, which read seven thirty seven. His shoes were dirty, but in good condition. His bandages were another story, though.

The bandages on his chest were looking extremely dirty, and he could only imagine what the other side looked like. They felt somewhat crusty. “Dried blood.” Ryan reasoned. It wasn’t too concerning for him. An infection might kill him, but he was confident he could kill Narendra first. The bandages on his arms were turning yellow; there hadn’t been blood, but the chemical burns had taken their toll on his arms. Ryan figured he could remove them. Halfway through, Ryan was not happy with what he saw. “Damn...” he said. His arms looked nasty. They hadn’t been healing properly, seeing as they weren’t being cleaned. He removed the bandages completely, and to his relief, only part of his arms looked that way. “I should get cleaned up, or at least go to a doctor.” he thought. While he was mulling it over, Harris had awoken behind him.

Harris took a look at his friend’s back. The bandages were disgusting; the dried blood had made a crust on the bandage, making it crack whenever Ryan moved. Without thinking, Harris said, “You need new bandages, dude.” Ryan turned around to look at his friend.

“Yeah.” he responded. “I was just contemplating that.”

Harris nodded. “Discord!” he mentally shouted.

“Mmmm, yes?” he responded.

“Can you find a hospital near here? Ryan needs new bandages.” Discord confirmed and went on his way.

In the meantime, Harris looked over at Ryan, who was putting his stuff back on. “What were you doing?” he asked. Ryan grunted as he put his gear on. “Taking inventory, making sure that I have everything.” Harris nodded.

Before he had a chance to respond, Discord came back. “There’s a hospital about three blocks to the south of here. I’d try there.” he said. Ryan nodded and began to remove his gear again.

“Hold onto this.” he said, handing it to Harris. “I’ll come back here, and we’ll start to figure out what we’re gonna do.” Harris took the gear.

“What if you need this?” he asked, indicating the gear. Ryan opened the motel door and stepped out.

“I can’t exactly enter a hospital, especially HERE, heavily armed. It wouldn’t go over too well.” Without waiting, Ryan left and turned south.

He walked down the street with a close eye out for any danger. He was in a foreign land, with a foreign language, unfamiliar with the customs, and being hunted by government and terrorists alike. It wasn’t an ideal situation.

He had made it down the street almost a block and a half when he encountered trouble. Ahead of him, there was a group of guys standing around, smoking something Ryan could only assume was tobacco. When he got closer, the smell hit him like a wall, and he closed his nose. Before he could pass, one of the guys stopped him. “ยึดมั่นในเพื่อน.” he said. Ryan shook his head.

“Sorry, I don’t speak Thai.” The guy who stopped him looked back at his boys and smiled. He turned back, still smiling.

“ที่นี่ในประเทศไทยเราต้องการให้แต่ละอื่น ๆ ทั้งหมดที่เรามี.” he said. He used his hands to indicate giving. Giving... paper? No, money. Ryan shook his head again.

“Kill yourselves, I’m not giving you deadbeats any money.” He said it in the politest tone possible. They couldn’t understand words, only tone.

“มือมากกว่าเงิน.” the guy said. He pulled a knife.

“You reeeally don’t wanna do this.” Ryan said, stepping back to give himself room. He positioned his feet in a Sanchin dachi. “But if you think you really want to...” The guy decided he would give this kid one last chance to be smart. He stepped forward with the knife raised.

“มอง-” he managed to get out. Ryan had seen the knife and decided that he had had enough. Using his left hand, he flicked his wrist and knocked the knife, pointing it elsewhere. He followed up with a speedy bearclaw to the guy’s throat. His boys all shouted behind him as they saw their man fall to the ground. Ryan whistled. They looked at him disbelievingly.

“Let’s dance.” he said, smiling as ferociously as he could.

Three of the guys, there were four left, charged Ryan. Knowing that he couldn’t take all three head on, Ryan slid to his right into a Zenkutsu dachi, then shifted back into Sanchin, further putting himself to the right. Now, there was only one guy who could hit him. taking advantage of his temporary one-on-one match, Ryan got low and moved in on the guy nearest him. The guy tried to strike out, but Ryan blocked it upwards and kneed him in the solar plexus. He dropped to the ground, where Ryan proceeded to fall on his knee onto the guy’s head. A loud crunch was heard from the guy’s nose, and blood started to come out.

The other two guys disregarded their fallen friend and repositioned themselves to attack. Already learning from their fatal flaw, they got to either side of Ryan and tried to do a double flank. “When in doubt,” Ryan thought. His eyes locked onto the guy to his left. “do something unexpected.” He rushed the guy. The guy recoiled back, not having seen such a direct assault in his future. Before he could reel back far enough, though, Ryan was on him. Almost literally. Ryan put his leg in between the guy’s and behind the guy’s left leg and elbowed him hard in the chest. Unable to move his foot back, he fell down to the ground, smashing his head on a jutting sidewalk tile. He didn’t get up.

By this time, the last guy was ready to join in. He and the remaining one stood away from Ryan, unwilling to attack. Both of their previous strategies had failed, and they needed to think of a new one. Ryan wasn’t going to give them that much allowance.

He took one forceful step forward, and the two guys flinched hard. One covered his face. Ryan smiled. “Well.” he said, taking a calm stance. The two guys looked confused. “I think that’s the end of that.” He put his hands in his pockets. The two guys looked at each other and exchanged words. Ryan hoped that they were words of wisdom. “I’ll take my leave then.” And he continued on his walk to the hospital.

But he didn’t get far. As he passed the two guys, within a few feet of them, in fact, one had decided to pull a gun. Ryan had been watching and reacted quickly. Before the gun could be pointed at him, Ryan intercepted it and got the guy’s arm under his armpit. Putting his hands on the gun, which the guy still held firm, Ryan pointed it at the other guy.

“ไม่!” he yelled. Ryan had no idea what he was saying, so he just pushed the gun forward. At the same time, he held the other guy’s hand in place. The combination had forced the trigger backwards, firing the gun. A bullet flew from the barrel of the gun and into the chest of the guy.

“ไม่มี!” the guy holding the gun yelled. Ryan quickly elbowed him in the ribs several times, causing him to double over, releasing his vice grip on the gun.

The one who was shot was screaming, and writhing on the ground. Blood spurted from his mouth causing him to choke and cough. After a moment, there was only choking. He was drowning in his own blood. The guy on the ground before Ryan was yelling angrily at him. “You started this.” Ryan said coldly. The guy behind them stopped moving. “I’m ending it.” Ryan pointed the gun down at his foe and shot him once in the head. Pocketing the weapon, Ryan turned and left the scene, sirens blaring through the air in the distance.

Harris could hear sirens in the distance to the north. From their getting louder, he guessed that they were going south. He gulped. “I wonder what that’s all about?” Discord asked rhetorically. Harris shook his head.

“I’d rather not know.” He sat down and put his head between his knees. Discord looked off to the south.

“Don’t get yourself in trouble, Ryan.”

Ryan walked into the hospital lobby nonchalantly. The people around the lobby looked up at him as he entered, many looking curious as to why a white kid was there.Rather than pay them any mind, Ryan immediately walked up to the front desk. The clerk smiled at him pleasantly and asked, “ฉันสามารถช่วยคุณได้อย่างไร?” Ryan scowled just a bit. Still no English.

“I don’t speak Thai,” he started. He rolled up his sleeves. “but I think this’ll tell you what I want.” The clerk gasped at Ryan’s chemically burned arms and immediately called someone over. They exchanged a flurried dialogue, and before he knew it, Ryan was being rushed to a room.

He was seated on a table, it could’ve been any dinner table with tissue paper on it, really, and was told by hand signals to wait. So he waited and closed his eyes for some small amount of rest.

“Alright, what happened?” he heard a feminine voice ask. It surprised him that the woman said it in English. What was more surprising was the lack of accent.

“I’d rather not-” He stopped where he was, because the woman before him was Luna. “Where have you been?” he asked.

“I’ve been looking for a dangerous enemy of the state in my home world.” Luna said. She seemed... giddy. “What about you?” she asked. Ryan frowned.

“Me? I’ve been being hunted by government officials, stealing to survive, sleeping on the floor, nearly murdered and mugged, and spending my time trying to hunt down one of the most dangerous men in this half of the world!” he shouted. Luna recoiled. “Life hasn’t exactly been easy for me.” he growled. Luna gave a sad frown and quivered her lower lip. Ryan sighed. “Sorry.” he said. He didn’t want to see Luna sad; she was cute, in a pet kitten kind of way. “I’m just having trouble thinking of how I’m gonna get to Cambodia. It’s really frustrating.” There was a knock on his door. “Come in.” he said. A man in a doctor’s outfit entered.

“Hello. I’m doctor Mark.” He had a British accent. “I’m just a visiting doctor, but they asked me to treat you.” He walked through Luna over to Ryan. “What are your troubles?” he asked. Ryan responded by holding out his arms.

“I just need new bandages for my arms and back.” he said. The doctor looked at the injuries wide-eyed.

“And how did you sustain such injuries?” he asked. Ryan shook his head dismissively.

“Some guys attacked me on the street. Threw acid (it was actually a base), knocked me around, slashed me with a knife. I’m fine, though.” He said it so uncaringly that the doctor believed him.

“Alright. I’ll just get out some new wraps for you, and you’ll be on your way, then.” Ryan smiled as warmly as he could; it was arctic.

The doctor turned around and started to rummage through a drawer for new bandages. Ryan looked to Luna and tapped his head. She entered his mind. “I’m getting some new bandages. The old ones were inadequate.” Ryan told Luna. She nodded.

“Alright.” she said. “You said that you were having trouble coming up with a plan to get to ‘Cambodia’?” she asked. Ryan looked up at her. The doctor turned around.

“Alright, here we are.” he said, holding a bunch of bandages. “I’ll just do this, and you’ll be on your way.” He started to wrap Ryan’s arms. The room was silent.

To try to lessen the odds of the doctor thinking about Ryan’s injuries, Ryan decided to try to make small talk. “So, doc. I noticed you have a British accent.” The doctor laughed.

“Close.” he responded. “I’m Australian. I’m here to do some aid work for the locals.” Ryan nodded.

“Nice.” he said. The doctor thanked him.

“Yeah. It’s just tough, seeing people suffer like this. I came out here because I want to alleviate the suffering.” The doctor’s words struck Ryan in an odd way. In some manner, he was here to alleviate suffering too.

“Yeah, that’s also brought me here. I came to do some civil service, help the local populace.” It was half true. “Just doing what I can.” The doctor nodded. He finished Ryan’s left arm.

“Isn’t that what we all do?” he replied. Ryan nodded.

They didn’t talk again until the doc finished. Luna, however, was eager to talk with Ryan. “I think that I can probably help you to get across the border, if you choose to do so at night. It is my element, after all.” The doc finished Ryan’s other arm and had him lift his arms up high.

“That would be really great. I have a feeling that a lot of what we do may soon be during the darker hours of the night.” he said. Luna smiled warmly at him. ryan felt a pang of loss.

“I’m glad to help.” she said. She was glad to help. It was the first real kindness Ryan had been shown since the whole fiasco began. Despite his situation, he actually felt somewhat happy.

The doctor was about halfway done wrapping the bandages around Ryan’s torso. He hadn’t looked, or maybe just asked, about the wounds on his back, but if he did see them, he’d know they were intentional. Ryan remembered the kindness of his parents back home, and his friends. He longed for some connection to that life. Looking at Luna, she was sitting toward the wall reading some chart about human anatomy.

“Hey, Luna.” Ryan projected. She looked over, still smiling. “So how was your morning?” he asked. Luna’s smile widened hugely and she regaled him with the story of how her morning went. Ryan smiled inwardly. “She’s kinda like me...” he thought. She liked to have fun.She pushed the boundaries of what was “okay” according to those around her. She joked with her friends all the time.

But then Ryan thought about more recent events. Luna had nothing comparable to him anymore. He was a thief. She was an honest leader. He was a liar. She told the truth with conviction. He sought to take lives. She sought to save them. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. Luna saw his expression changing.

“Why does your countenance change so?" she asked.

The doctor slapped Ryan on the shoulder. “Well, you’re all done. I’ll go get some papers, and we’ll figure out how you’re gonna pay for this stuff. I’ll be back in probably half an hour, if I don’t have to treat someone else.” He left. Ryan turned his attention back to Luna.

“I just thought about home, was all. My friends... my family.” he said. Luna stepped forward and sat in front of Ryan on the floor.

“Do not worry, my young friend.” she said. Her tone was soothing to Ryan. “I’m sure that they are all fine. Worried, certainly, but fine.” Ryan shook his head dismissively.

“It’s not that.” he said. Luna frowned. He didn’t care about how his life at home was?

“What is it?” she asked, worried.

“I...” he didn’t want to answer. He had lied about his thoughts, but now he was stuck. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Luna left the subject alone.

After about fifteen minutes, the doctor still hadn’t come back. Ryan looked around the room. He certainly had no way to pay for anything; Harris had the money. He had a gun, but that would be very unwise to pull here.

He decided that he wouldn’t pay. In fact, he got up to leave. “Wait, where are you going?” Luna asked, following him out the door.

“I’m getting out of here.” he responded. Luna frowned again.

“Are you going to pay for anything?” she asked. Ryan shook his head.

“Do I look like I have money?” he answered. Luna wasn’t happy, but she understood.

The two passed a number of rooms in the hallway. Most of them had people in them, others were closets, and some were just empty. But one of them caused Ryan to stop. Medical Supplies, it read. He looked around. “What are you doing?” Luna asked. Ryan opened the door and peeked inside.

“Nice.” he said.

He entered the room and closed the door. Luna followed through the door. “What are you doing, Ryan?” she repeated. He looked around.

“I’m gonna grab some stuff. Just in case.” he said. He walked around. There were lots of boxes around him, many of which contained pills. But he had a specific thing in mind. “Luna, if you see a box with needles in it, tell me. I’m looking for morphine.” Luna scoffed.

“No!” she said. Ryan turned to her.

“I won’t help you rob a hospital!” she shouted. Ryan scowled.

“Fine, then.” He continued his search. Luna left and waited outside.

Ryan soon emerged with a small bag of covered syringes. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.” she said. Ryan looked around.

“Yeah, yeah.” he said. He his the bag in his pocket. “Let’s go.” Ryan turned and went down the hall. Luna followed close behind.

“You know that those could save lives.” she said. “Stealing them could result in the deaths of innocent people.” Ryan sighed.

“I’m not worried. I think that they’ll survive. Pain can’t kill.” Luna breathed heavily.

“No... you can't be doing this...” She spoke out. “You would create suffering so willingly?” she asked. It was a simple question; perhaps too simple.

“I would.” He turned to her. “But by stopping Narendra, I can stop a helluva lot more.” He didn’t really care about that. He was out to kill the man. “And that suffering is much worse than this, believe me. I know.” Luna clamped her mouth shut. She couldn’t argue that.

The duo left the hospital without incident. Ryan didn’t seem worried, so the staff just assumed that he was all taken care of and that his problems were done. They had no idea that he hadn’t paid them, and that he was stealing from them. Blissful ignorance.

On the way back to the motel, Ryan walked along the same street as before. While walking, Luna noticed some cars up ahead, all around a taped off area. “What has happened here?” she asked.

Ryan responded cooly, “Some guys tried to mug me at knifepoint. One pulled a gun.” He said it uncaringly. Luna looked at him hard.

“What did you do to them?” she asked. They went around the cars, crossing the street. While moving, Ryan pointed at the people within the taped off area. When Luna turned, time seemed to slow. What she saw made her freeze; there were massive pools of blood on the ground, and two bodies within them. One had his head blown open, with brain and bone all over, his face red from all the blood on it. The other looked pale in the face, but his clothes were a sanguine crimson. Blood had been pouring from his mouth, and everything below his chin was as red as the other one who was dead.

Luna looked back at Ryan, who wasn’t looking at the scene. “You... did that?” she asked. Ryan nodded.

“No choice.” he said, peeking down at her through his eyelids. “That’s how this world works.” Luna’s eyes welled up with tears. Ryan just kept walking.

For the second time on this street, he didn’t get far. A police officer stopped him. “Hey.” he said. Finally someone who spoke english! “Witnesses say that there was white man here. Did this.” he said, pointing at the bodies. “You know anything?” Ryan shook his head.

“Nope. I’m just a boy, not a man.” The officer took this reasoning, for some reason, and left. Luna looked at Ryan incredulously.

“Your world is just getting worse and worse as the days pass...” she said. Ryan sighed.

“No.” he said. “It’s always been this way.” The pair just kept on walking, as any other people would.

Harris and Discord were waiting at the motel impatiently. “He should be back by now!” Discord said. “I wanna get moving!”

Harris snapped at him. He had been doing this for half an hour. “He’ll be back when he gets back! Shut up!” Discord snapped his fingers and a pair of binoculars appeared.

“I’ll look for him.” he said. Suddenly, there were three knocks on the door. Harris approached, and Discord watched.

“Who’s there?” Harris asked warily.

“Open the damn door.” Came Ryan’s voice. Discord squee’d with joy.

“Well, it’s good to have you back.” Harris said, opening the door. Ryan nodded as he entered.

“Well, I’m all bandaged up, and ready to think about the future.” Ryan announced. He sat on the ground, in the middle of the floor. Harris sat across from him, and Discord sat somewhere to the side. Luna stood behind Ryan.

“Alright. So, what’re we gonna do?” Discord asked. Ryan paid him little mind.

“We can’t use any checkpoints. Disguises won’t work, and traveling in Thailand during the day may prove foolish. We need to travel at night, across an unguarded section of the border.” He looked at Harris, who nodded to indicate that he was to continue. “We’ll need to get supplies, enough to get us to the border and then across it to Kompong Chhnang. There, we’ll restock and make our way to the compound, where we’ll likely find Narendra.”

Harris nodded seriously. “Then we kill him and his little cronies.” he added.

Luna’s ears perked up, and she gasped a little. Knowing that she wouldn’t support him if she knew, Ryan quickly interjected. “My hope is to do a snatch and grab. We go in, grab him, then leave.” Luna sighed behind him. To avoid her hearing it, Ryan mouthed, “Then we kill him.” Harris nodded. Discord munched on some popcorn off on the side. “It’s good to have wiggle room, in case something goes wrong.” Harris leaned forward.

“And that wiggle room is killing him if we can’t bag him?” Harris asked. Ryan nodded.

“Eeyup.” Luna gasped again. “Odds are, we’ll be forced to kill him.” Ryan conceded. Luna looked at him from behind, her jaw quivering.

“So you do plan to kill him.” she said. Ryan’s head fell just a bit. She swallowed hard.

“How can I support this? He wants to grab Narendra and make him face court justice, but he thinks that may be too difficult. He had a plan to kill him. Can I support this?” she asked herself. “Is this supporting murder?” She couldn’t think about it here. Not in a world where murder was so much more common. “I must go.” she announced. Without waiting for a response, she vanished from Ryan’s world.

As soon as she could feel her body again, Luna got up and walked up the stairs to her bedchambers. She plopped herself down onto her covers and rested her head on a pillow. It was soft and welcoming; unlike everything that had just occurred. She tried not to think about how Ryan had killed those two men, but it stayed in her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about his plans. He intended to kill Narendra. But was it really murder? Were his actions justified to the point where they could be condoned?

The questions were nearly impossible to answer. They were making Luna’s head spin. Her entire moral compass was being questioned. Could killing ever truly be sanctioned? Was there really justice in his world, or was it just a continuous cycle of people wronging other people? Why should one person be allowed to decide who lives and who does not, who is well off and who is a slave?

Luna began to cry. It wasn’t a loud cry, but it certainly wasn’t quiet. It was like a child, who was afraid of the dark and couldn’t find the light. Or someone who lost everything, but had nothing to begin with. Luna felt like her world was upside down.

Starstep could hear it from outside. No other guard would have paid it any mind, but Starstep knew that it was his princess crying. He turned around and slowly opened the door. “Luna?” he said cautiously. She was crying into her pillow. Something had obviously happened in the colt’s world. He walked through the door. “Luna?” he asked. She still didn’t hear him. Not wanting to startle her, he slowly approached the bed and tapped Luna’s side. She noticed this.

“Oh!” she said. “I-I-I, umm, d-don’t worry...” she could barely speak. Starstep looked deep into her eyes. In them, he saw confusion and fear.

“What happened?” he asked. Luna knew better than to keep secrets from him. She told him the whole story and what was bothering her.

At the end, Starstep nodded and hugged Luna tightly. It was a difficult issue indeed. He had been forced to contemplate it some time ago, when he joined up with the Nighthawks. “You know, I had the same questions once.” he said. Luna looked up at him. “I came to a conclusion based on what my job was.” Luna sniffed.

“And what was that?” she asked. Starstep shook his head.

“That life makes us all think about these things. Albeit, not quite so severe or significant to us sometimes, but everyone does.” He leaned in close and pet Luna’s neck. “These questions, I found, don’t have a set answer. We all have different experiences that allow us to answer the question, and the question is based off of experience. On one hoof, I had to protect our nation from invaders. My values placed what I love above those things that I do not love. So I believe that my actions were justified. This colt, Ryan, believes that his actions are justified because he values what he is doing, which I think is protecting everyone else. He can justify his actions, whereas someone else cannot. Those guys who mugged him attacked him with a knife. Because he was the one in danger, Ryan justifies his actions with his experience and values. Others would say that he could have gotten out of that without bloodshed. Their experience might be that there is always a less violent way out, and they cannot justify Ryan’s actions. I cannot speak for him. Only he can justify his actions, and it is up to the rest of us to decide if it SOUNDS reasonable, not if it is. You don’t need to justify his actions, Luna. You need to decide if it seems reasonable to do what he did, and who he did it for.”

Luna took in the words of her guard intently. Her eyes were red from crying, and tears still streamed down her face, but Starstep flicked them away with the tip of his hoof. “Now, you just rest, and think about it all later.” Luna nodded and nuzzled Starstep’s chest.

“You are wise beyond your years.” Starstep patted her head, happy that she wasn’t crying anymore. “Stay here.” she ordered softly. He happily remained where he was. “You know, no one else had ever been this nice to me.” She looked up at Starstep’s face. “No one.” He put his cheek to hers.

“I’m just here because I want to see you happy.” Luna smiled. He really was the best thing to happen to her in the last... who knows how long. And she never wanted him to leave.

“I’m glad you are here.” she said, and she fell into a light sleep.

Starstep looked down at Luna. She looked so peaceful below him. “I’m always glad to be here.” he said. He shifted to put his forelegs around her and just laid there, content to be so close to his princess.

Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long. I've been busy with some other important stuff.