Blue Moon

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7 (Rewrite)
Chapter 7.5
Chapter 8

Chapter 1

When the morning alarm went off, a sense of dread filled her. All that meant was another day of hiding from the world around her. She pulled herself up and forced herself to get dressed. Going downstairs, she passed by her sister in the bathroom.

“Hey Lulu, dad had to drive grandma’s today, so I’ll be driving you to school.”

“Okay.” She called back, mentally groaning.

Her rides to school with her father was her time to play their music and talk about whatever she wanted to discuss that day. Now, she was going to be forced to sit with her older sister and listen to her music, her about how her class at college were so much different than high school, and whatever drama was going on with her friends.

Coming to the bottom of the stairs, she swung around to the kitchen. Rifling through cabinets, she eventually settled on some frozen toaster strudels sitting in the back of the freezer. Throwing them in the toaster, she started making her lunch for the day. She gathered the ingredients onto the counter, and threw a CD onto the player in the corner. Electric guitar, bass, and drums filled the kitchen, and Luna started bobbing in time with the music.

Celestia came downstairs, throwing some binders into her backpack and zipping it shut. She set the bag down on the table, and joined Luna in the kitchen.

“You’re listening to Dad’s music again?”

“It’s not just his music.”

“I thought you only listened to it around him.”

“I like it.”

“You’re so old.” Celestia said as she walked out of the room. Luna’s bouncing with the music had stopped, and she reached over and shut off the CD player. The rest of her time in the kitchen was spent in silence.

Once she had finished, she’d thrown everything into a lunch bag and grabbed her backpack from the spot by the door. Closing the door behind her, she’d walked down the sidewalk towards to the car in the driveway.

The elder sister was already in the car, putting on lipstick in the mirror. Something Luna wouldn’t call music was blasting out of the speakers, audible through the glass windows of the car. The music had a sudden crescendo as she opened the door and sat in the passenger’s seat. The first thing she did was reach over and turn the music way down before throwing her backpack in the backseat and buckling her seatbelt.

“I don’t understand how you listen to that stuff.”

“Don’t hate on Christina Aguilera. At least I don’t listen to old people music like Rush or whatever.”

“At least my music involves talent.”

“Pfft, shut up.” Celestia snarked, turning the music back up. She started to drive, singing loudly and obnoxiously to the music.

“Oh my god, I have to tell you about what Leona did yesterday.”

“I’m sure I would love to hear it.” Luna said, not wanting to hear it.

“Okay, so like Sloan told us she was totally gonna ask this guy out, and then Leona totally stole him the same day. Like, what a bitch.”

“Uh huh.”

“Then Christie got all mad at Sloan for being mad at Leona. Then Izzie got mad at Christie and Sloan for starting an argument over Leona trying to find love. Then Sloan got mad at Izzie for support Sloan…”

“Oh would you look at that, we’re at school bye.” Luna said, jumping out of the car as fast as possible. She stopped only to get her backpack out of the backseat. Celestia rolled down the passenger window.

“Bye Lulu!” Celestia called.

“Oh my gosh, is that Celly?” A girl shouted.

“Oh my gosh, Hannah! I haven’t seen you in, like, forever.” Celestia called back. Luna shivered in disgust and zipped up her black hoodie.

She pushed open the doors to the building, walking down the chipped paint and cinder block walled hallways of the school. She was early: Class didn’t start for another fifteen or so minutes. She decided she’d just get to homeroom early, and set off for the classroom.

“Well if it ain’t the angel of death.” A voiced taunted. Luna stared ahead, not giving the voice any satisfaction. “Hey,” the owner of the voice grabbed her arm and pulled her around. “Look at your elders when they talk to you, brat.”

“What do you want, Cole?”

“What do I want?” He squeezed her arm tighter, and she yelped in pain. “I want for you to watch your damn mouth, young lady.”

Luna said nothing, struggling to pull away from the sophomore.

“Don’t they teach fish any god damn respect these days?” One of the lackeys in the background taunted.

“Absolutely not. I think we need to teach her the way my dad taught me.” Cole grinned evilly, reeling his arm back.

“That’s enough, boys.” A teacher’s voice called.

Cole looked up, and dropped Luna’s arm. He put his palms up in surrender, and walked away. Luna watched them leave, hoping they’d trip and die on their stupidly large jeans. She turned around to see one of the math teachers shaking his head before walking back into his classroom. He didn’t even glance her direction. She rubbed her arm and resumed walking, wrapping her arms around herself and keeping her head down.

The rest of the trip was less eventful, only a few taunts coming from some friends of Cole’s who’d she passed by in the hall. Words she could handle, she told herself every time. It was just when they got physical that she couldn’t bear it. She walked into class, taking the desk closest to the windows she could get while still staying near the teacher. She found people were leave her alone more if the teacher could see it, and she liked to stare out of the windows when she could.

Her plan worked perfectly, up until other people came into the room. The first was some more friends of Coles. The group had one of his earlier lackeys, and some other punk dressed tools that followed him around. They spotted the black hoodied girl and the leader of the bunch muttered something that ended with a group fist bump. They sauntered over, Luna hearing the rattling of the chains on their JNCO jeans long before they neared her. The three sat behind her, the leader directly so. Luna shut her eyes, hoping beyond hope they’d leave her alone.

“Alright class, let’s take attendance the teacher announced.” She lifted up her clipboard and started rattling off names as they were listen, getting several bored and tired responses back.

“Luna Solaire.”

“Here.” Luna said meekly.

She lurched forward as a boot clad foot slammed the back of her chair. The teacher looked up, but didn’t see anything that hinted the source of the noise. She shook her head and continued.

“Sharp Tool.”

“Here.” The boy behind her called, kicking her seat again. Once again the teacher looked up, but didn’t notice the trio of boys trying not to laugh.

“Uh huh.” She checked a box next to the name and lowered the clipboard. “Alright, you’ve got a study hall for today. Class ends at 9:35. Keep the noise down.”

The students all immediately turned to their friends and started chatting. Luna pulled a small black notebook from her backpack and set it on her desk. Waiting for the kick, she started writing once there’d been nothing.

Another day at this terrible building they call a high school. Three months in and it seems like I’ve already alienated half the student body, and the other half doesn’t care that I exist. I just wish these sophomore tools would get off my back. They’ve even got some freshmen involved so they can torment me more often. They think they’re all hip and cool or whatever just because they wear stupid ridiculous jeans like a band of jacka-

Her skid across the page haphazardly, drawing a massive line over it. She gripped the pen tightly, grinding her teeth to keep quiet.

“Oops. My bad.” The voice behind her said.

She gripped the pen so tightly her hand shook. She quietly let out a sob, a feeling of hopelessness enveloping her. Thankfully, she didn’t cry, nor did they hear her. She pushed the feelings down and kept writing. This time, it wasn’t anything meaningful. Song lyrics, story ideas, lists of things she wanted to get, it didn’t matter. Just something to get her mind off of reality for the time being.

The end of class came with no additional harassment. When the bell rang, she quickly pulled up her bag and hurried out of class. She kept her head down and stared ahead, trying to get out of the mass of people as quickly as possible. She made it to the next classroom, and fell in her seat. One down, seven more to go.

The school day seemed to crawl on forever, but Luna finally found herself almost running out of the front doors at the end of the day. The rest of the day had passed with little incident. Only a few tauntings in the hallway from Cole’s gang, but lunch had been easy ever since she started packing her food. She just stayed in the class she had before lunch and ate in her desk. It was history with Mr. Lockhart. He didn’t care if she was there, he just sat at his desk grading papers the whole time.

The brisk air of November proved to be a bit more than her jacket could handle, but just wrapped her arms around herself and carried on. The walk wouldn’t be too long, and then she’d be back home in the warmth of her own house.

The walk down the sidewalk was one of the best parts of her day. Quiet, peaceful, and sometimes there’d be people out on their lawn who’d smile and wave at her. It made her feel included in a world doing everything it could to push her out. Today, however, it seemed no one wanted to brave the chilly weather, so she walked alone.

The silence of the neighborhood allowed her to hear the growl of someone’s car racing up behind her. She ignored it, people always sped through this stretch of road. She turned around when she heard the squeal of bad breaks. The turned ended up being her downfall, as she was struck by several objects that splashed water all over the front of her.

“Might wanna cool off while you write to your diary, bitch!” A familiar voice shouted out the window of the car. Laughing mixed with screeching tires as they blew off down the road.

Luna started crying, the almost freezing temperatures making her wet clothes unbearable. She hardly could move, and just stood there dripping. Police sirens followed behind the judge blazing away, but the sirens quickly stopped and was replaced with heavy bootsteps running towards her. She flinched, expecting another attack.

“Hey, are you alright?” A kind voice called to her. She opened her eyes. She saw black boots, but not like the leather biker kind the bullies following her around had. She looked up, and the worried face of a police officer was there instead of an acne-ridden snarl. Luna started sobbing again, and shook her head. The police officer had been kneeling, as the girl was rather short compared to him. “Here, come with me.”

She nodded, and he led her over to his squad car. He opened the passenger door and pulled out a white towel.

“Here, try and dry yourself off with this.” He told her, taking her backpack off her shoulders.

She unzipped her hoodie, and tried to dry off the long sleeve shirt she had on. The officer hurried around to his trunk, pulling out a grey blanket. He returned, exchanging the blanket for her wet jacket. He swung the blanket around her. Thankfully, they’d gotten the hoodie off before the water had soaked through too badly. He kneeled down again.

“Can you tell me who it was that attacked you?” He asked her. She shook her head.

“T-They’re s-some bullies from school.” She was shivering, either from the cold or the crying, the officer couldn’t tell. “I-I didn’t see all of them, b-but I t-think one was Cole Sanford. A s-sophomore.”

The officer nodded, his mind racing.

“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Luna Solaire.”

“Alright, Luna. My name is Officer McNab. Do you want to get in the car where it’s warmer?”

Luna hesitated. There was that hole thing about stranger danger, but this was a police officer. They didn’t count, right? Plus, he was so nice. The young officer had done so much for her already, so she decided to trust him.

“Okay.”

He opened the passenger door to the squad car, and she climbed in. He set her bag and wet hoodie in the back seat, and shut the door before getting in on his own side.

“Okay, Luna, I’ve gotta do one thing, then I can take you home, alright?” Luna nodded, her crying had stopped for now. He smiled warmly at her and picked up the radio handset on the dashboard. “Dispatch, Echo 77. 510 on a silver Honda Accord. I’m escorting a young girl home who had water balloons thrown at her from the vehicle, over.”

Moments later a voice crackled through the speakers.

“10-4 Echo 77.”

Another voice crackled through.

“Dispatch, Echo 49. Vehicle is in sight.”

The officer turned to Luna, grinning. She smiled back, laughing through her tears.

“Alright, Luna. Where’s your house?”

The squad car pulled up in front of a two story suburban home. Officer McNab smiled at the freshman.

“Here we are.”

“Thank you.” She hesitated as she noticed the empty driveway.

“What’s wrong?” The officer asked.

“My sister isn’t home. And neither is my dad.”

“Well is your mom there?”

Luna paused again.

“My parents are divorced.”

The officer nodded, mentally kicking himself for saying something.

“I’m sorry.”

“Can you stay with me?” She asked.

The man was taken aback, but nodded.

“Alright. I’ve just gotta do one thing first.”

“Another radio thing?” Luna asked. McNab smiled.

“Yeah, another radio thing.” He picked up the handset. “Dispatch, Echo 77. 10-7. I repeat, 10-7, over.”

“Echo 77, Dispatch. 10-4.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

The two got out of the car, McNab ensuring the car was properly secured before locking up. He pulled the girl’s backpack out of the back seat, along with her jacket. He walked with her inside, his head on a swivel for anymore kids waiting to pelt her.

“Um, sir?” The man looked down at Luna. “I need to get my keys from my backpack.”

“Oh, sorry.” He said, swinging the bag off his shoulder. The girl unzipped the front pocket and pulled out a keychain of the cover art for Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album in the shape of a guitar pick. He smiled. “Nice keychain.”

“Thanks. My dad got it for me.” She unlocked the door, and the man followed her in.

He looked around the inside of the house. To his left was a living room. A large TV on an entertainment center was the focal point of the couch, loveseat, and recliner. To the back left was a set of stairs that ran along the back wall. To his right was the kitchen, which is where Luna was now. There was a note written on a legal pad sitting on the kitchen counter. Luna either hadn’t seen it yet or ignored it, but McNab read it quickly in passing.

Luna,
Hanging out with some friends tonight. Leftovers in the fridge. Dad won’t be home till tomorrow.

Celestia

McNab assumed this to be from her older sister. He shook his head in disappointment that the older sister left Luna alone like that. He looked up, watching Luna go towards the stairs.

“Where do you want me to put your bag?” He called to her. She waved over her shoulder.

“Just drop it on the ground by the door.”

McNab shrugged, and set the bag down on the floor, making sure it wouldn’t get in the way. Finding himself alone in a stranger’s house, he decided to wait for Luna before he started getting comfortable. He walked through the kitchen.

A few pictures were on the wall, a smiling family of four, sometimes three. He stopped in front of one of the pictures of the four. He quickly recognized Luna, and what must be her older sister, by their young age. The man he assumed to be their father was with Luna, on the left. The mother was with Celestia on the right. All four were smiling brightly at the camera, and their joy made McNab smile back. Their father looked a lot like Luna. Their eyes were similar in color, and his hair was a solid navy blue, similar to Luna’s without that extra layer of lighter blue that she had. Their mother had light pink colored hair and bright, but old, violet eyes. The four were standing in front of a touristy-looking sign for a beach city. The sun was bright, and everyone was in summer clothes. A wholesome family vacation if he ever saw one.

Footsteps were coming from up the stairs, and he turned back around in time to see Luna walking into the kitchen. Her long sleeve shirt was gone, as was her jeans. Now she was wearing loose pajama bottoms and a t-shirt with some sort of text on it that McNab didn’t recognize.

“So, Luna. Is this your family?” He asked, pointing at the picture he’d just been looking at.

“Yeah. That’s my sister and our parents when we went to the beach. Dad had gone there a couple times when he was a kid, and he wanted his kids to go there too. Mom was happy just to go to the beach. Tia and I did all the beach things you see in movies and stuff. Sand castles and all that.” Luna sighed. “Back then me and Tia were a lot closer. Now she’s gone off to college and has college classes and all that crap.”

“I know the feeling, a bit.” McNab turned around, hands in his coat pockets. “I had a friend who was two grades ahead of me. He went to a different school than me, and then he went off to college and did summer programs. I felt pretty abandoned by him for awhile.”

“How’d you deal with it?”

“Honestly for a long time I didn’t. I was mad about it all the time. Eventually I learned to live without him. He was still around during the school year, of course, so he wasn’t completely gone. I just found how to hang out with my other friends.”

Luna dropped her gaze to the floor at what he said, and opened the fridge, tactfully trying to hide herself. She pulled herself together and grabbed a soda from the fridge.

“Do you want a soda?” She asked.

“Sure. What do you have?”

“Coke, Sprite, and Ginger Ale.”

“I’ll have a Coke, then.”

Luna shut the fridge and walked over to the table, giving McNab his soda before sitting down. The tall man followed, sitting across from her.

“I wish I could do that, but…” Luna hesitated, sipping her soda. “I don’t really have any friends.”

McNab cracked open the can.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Why not?”

“All the other kids at school think I’m weird.”

“Why do they think that?”

“Because I’m not my sister.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It is, though!” She shouted in exasperation. “Celestia was everyone’s favorite! Star student, star athlete, star whatever the hell she did! And I’m nothing but a creepy weirdo kid sister who is average at best.”

“Hey, come on. That’s not true.” McNab leaned forward. “I don’t think you’re a weirdo.”

Luna grinned slightly, but it fell just as fast as it came.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter to them. It doesn’t help that all these sophomores keep trying to harass me.” Luna started tearing up. “I didn’t even do anything to them. They just decided to hate me and everything I do.”

“Is it those kids that threw the water balloons at you?”

Luna nodded.

“It’s stupid Cole Sanford and his dumbass friends.” Luna was crying, anger swelling behind her tears. “They think they’re tough just because they’re sophomores. And no one else cares. The upperclassmen think they’re stupid, but don’t care enough to stop it. The teachers don’t even care! They just wave them off when it starts to get physical or when it inconveniences them that I’m being bullied.”

McNab frowned, mentally noting everything she said. He decided he’d need to have a talk with a couple of individuals.

“They find me. They hunt me down and they scream things at me. They call me gay. Mrs. Columbine. Angel of Death. Anything they can think of.” Luna was in full sobs now. “I just want it all to go away. I just want the pain to stop.”

McNab stood up and hurried to her side, all the signal words of possible suicidal tendencies flying at him in rapid succession.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.” He said to her. She embraced the man. He was surprised, and didn’t know what to do. He tentatively hugged her back. He recognized that this child was in need, and that he was the only one available to help. “Shhh.”

“And Celestia doesn’t even know what’s going on. She’s always too busy for me or whatever. Mom’s away in some other part of the country, and Dad’s working two jobs to help pay for us so he’s never around either.” Luna sobbed. “I just feel so alone.”

The young girl cried into McNab’s uniform, and he did his best to comfort her. He was gonna have to have those talks a lot sooner than he thought.

Luna had cried until she couldn’t cry anymore. They’d been sitting at the table, Luna letting out all the pent up emotions she’d had in her. It had taken several hours, and it was getting late. McNab had held her close the whole time.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked. He mentally kicked himself at the stupid question.

“Yeah, I am.” Luna said. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

The two were once again left in silence. McNab looked to the clock. It was almost nine. He noticed that her sister still wasn’t home, and was once again disappointed in the elder sibling.

“I’m tired.” Luna said after a while.

“Do you want to go to bed?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.” McNab let go of her, and she stood. He stood with her, and she laughed slightly.

“You’re really tall.” She said. McNab smiled at the lighter humor after the long bout of sadness. McNab had to agree, though. His six foot five frame towered over her five foot four.

“I’ve heard. I’m not quite sure where people get that idea, though.” He grinned.

Luna smiled, something McNab was happy to see. She started walking towards her room, and McNab followed. McNab saw more pictures scattered throughout the hallway, similar to the ones downstairs. They came upon Luna’s room, and McNab hesitated at the door. He looked around her room from what he could see.

Posters from bands he recognized from when he was younger were scattered all over the walls. She only had on a dim lamp, giving the whole room a dark atmosphere. She had a digital alarm clock on a nightstand next to her bed, which is also where the lamp was. She climbed in bed, and looked up to the man standing in the doorway.

“Can you stay with me?” She asked. He nodded, and took a seat at her desk. She covered herself up and curled into a comfortable position. McNab sat quietly in the corner.

After a long while, light snoring came from the young girl. McNab smiled to himself, and stood to leave, turning the light off.

“Goodnight, Little Moon.”

Author's Note

So! A little side project of mine! I've really been wanting to do some Equestria Girls stories, and I decided that I'd start this as something I could do whenever I couldn't write more of She Wore A Yellow Ribbon. Let me know what you think down below!

I don't really like the cover art I've got, but I couldn't find anything I really liked. If anyone has a suggestion for something, I'd love to see it. I was trying to find a kid Luna Equestria Girls fan art, but none really showed up/were what I wanted.

~~Still looking for editors, if anyone is interested. PM me if you'd like to talk about it.~~

Chapter 2

“You wanted to see me, chief?”

“McNab, there you are. Have a seat.” The chief gestured to the seat in front of his desk.

The young officer sat down in front of the elder officer. The chief placed a pair of reading glasses on his face and shuffled some papers around before pulling a small manilla folder out to the top. He flipped through the stapled sheets, skimming over the contents on each page.

“So tell me about this recent report I’ve gotten.” The chief said. McNab nodded slowly, his mind racing about what this could be about.

“Well I was in the middle of a patrol through the neighborhood near the high school about halfway through my shift. I was heading down one of the streets when I saw a young girl walking down the road from the school.” McNab shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the chief. His stony expression betrayed nothing of what was inside. “I kept my distance but watched for a bit. A car pulled out off the street after she’d passed it, and I noticed the windows were down. I got ready to interfere if needed if they started catcalling or if they got out, but instead they threw water balloons at her. It was near freezing outside, and this girl was soaked. I called in the car and pulled over to help.”

The chief leaned back, and McNab paused.

“Please, continue.” The chief gestured. The junior officer nodded.

“I helped her dry off and got her in the car to get the heater on her. I drove her home, partly because she’s still wet and partly because I was worried there was more of them somewhere else.” The chief noted something on the paper, and McNab swallowed nervously. “A-And then we got to her home.”

“It says in the record at this point you called in an out of service call and were offline for about another four and a half hours, where you returned for the rest of your shift.” The chief set down the pages and looked up at McNab. “What happened in that period.”

A pit of ice fell into McNab’s stomach.

“Sir, you aren’t implying I did anything illegal in there, are you?”

“Please continue your recount, son.” The man replied simply. McNab shook his head.

“I went in. It was me and her at the kitchen table. We started talking about her family, and it was revealed to me that her family was… less than ideal. Her mother lives out of the state, her father is a single parent working two jobs, and her older sister is never around. She’s bullied at school, but no one did anything about it. She had no one to turn to and it was just…”

McNab shook his head.

“Sir, I know how this looks but I promise I’ve done nothing wrong. She was alone, she started talking about how she was alone and just all these other worrying things. I…” McNab sighed, defeated. “I genuinely believe she might be suicidal. So I made a decision there to do what I could to help her. I’m only a year or two older than her sister, and I never had siblings. I just felt like I had to do something.”

The chief leaned back in his chair, sighing tiredly. His gaze fell from the officer onto the papers in front of him. Sliding a few aside, he raised a picture from what looked like a recent yearbook photo. He flipped it around to the officer, and McNab nodded. No words were said, but both men knew what each other meant. The chief set the photo down in front of McNab.

“How old are you, son?” The chief asked at last. McNab was taken aback by the abrupt question, but shrugged.

“Twenty, sir.”

“And how long have you been with our department?”

“I started after high school when the age was 18.”

“So two years.” The chief grinned jokingly at the young man. “So you saw her as the sister you never had.”

“Yes, sir.”

The chief took his glasses off and set them in front of him, leaning back in his chair. He smiled at the confused nature of the junior. He slid open the top desk and threw down a rather thick file onto the desk. The thud as it hit the table made the younger man jump.

“What’s this?” He asked.

“An experiment.” The chief said simply. McNab’s confusion took over any worry he had before. “Not in the kind with chemicals or mind control. It’s an experimental police unit that consists of patrol officers with training in mental health.”

“Undercover internal affairs?” McNab asked. The chief laughed heartily. Then he realized the boy was serious, and forced himself to respond.

“No. Think of them more as police therapists.”

“I don’t think I follow, sir.”

“This is a group of officers that are trained to deal with mentally unstable individuals through calming them and helping them, instead of detaining them. And I think you,” The chief pointed to McNab. “Are a perfect new candidate. You’ve already made the connection, she trusts you, and you just need the training.”

McNab picked up the file, glancing over its contents. He’d have to go through a lot of classes, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for it. But Luna’s crying came back to him, and he knew he had someone relying on him to do this.

“When would I start?”

“They’ve technically already started the program, but I think we could get you in with only a little bit of catch up. The question is, though, are you ready for it?”

“What do you mean?”

“This isn’t like regular police work. This is talking to people that we know are mentally unstable. People we know can snap at any moment, and the only thing that’s stopping that is you. Now, I’m not trying to dissuade you here if you really want to do this. But I want you to understand everything you’re doing.”

McNab nodded slowly, determination overtaking his doubt.

“I’ll do it.”

The chief smiled.

“Good. Let’s talk scheduling, then.”

“Mr. McNab?”

“Hey Luna.”

The young girl was confused by the man in front of her. She was happy to see him, of course, but still surprised that he was there. He was leaning casually on the hood of his cruiser in the parking lot of the school.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well I wanted to check in with you after yesterday. Just to make sure everything was alright.” His calm grin paired with his relaxed nature was a welcome change to the hostility of her classmates. She smiled back.

“I’m fine. Aren’t you supposed to be… I dunno. Doing police stuff?”

“I am. I’m assigned to this neighborhood for patrols. And given the recent occurrences, I’m assigned to watch the students after school.”

“Really?” Luna smiled. “Awesome.”

McNab grinned.

“If you’d like to wait, I’d be able to drive you home. Beats walking in this cold.”

“Sure.”

The young girl hopped up onto the cruiser next to him, sitting on the reinforced hood. The two did a little bit of people watching to pass the time, chatting every so often about each person.

“So with the way she dresses and looks around at what people think of her, I’d bet she’s insecure about the way she looks.” McNab said, trying to subtly gesture to a girl walking out of the school.

“No, look. Her problem is the opposite. She’s looking for someone. She’s dressing that way to get noticed by someone, even though she hates it.” Luna countered.

“How can you tell?”

“She’s uncomfortable and keeps adjusting her clothes. If you wore the same clothes everyday, you wouldn’t be adjusting them all the time because you’d be used to them, right?” Luna watch McNab, and he nodded. “Exactly. So she’s not wearing the clothes she normally does, and she’s looking around.”

“She could be self conscious and that’s why she’s dressing that way.”

“Possibly. But she’s not looking back at people she’s seen already.”

“Hmm, yeah. She’s scanning the crowd looking for something, not at something.” McNab smiled. “Good eye.”

“Thanks.” Luna smiled.

“What about him?” McNab pointed to a student sitting alone by the side of the stairs.

“He’s a loner. Probably someone with an overactive imagination. His excessive daydreaming has led him to think of dozens of possible outcomes which have scared him off from a lot of social interactions. He’s not alone, but he feels like it all the time.” Luna said. “He thinks of dozens of stories everyday that all star a character that holds the traits he wishes he had, but gives them enough flaws to make them possible for him to believe.”

McNab stared at the girl on his hood as her thoughts trailed on. Luna stopped talking and stared at the boy. It took quite awhile for her to notice McNab wasn’t responding. She looked back and shrunk at his stare.

“Sorry, I don’t know if this is cheating, but I knew him.” She explained. McNab relaxed, but only somewhat. “I used to talk with him a lot in middle school, but he got really uncomfortable around me towards the end of eighth grade. He was always like that then.”

“Any reason why you think that happened?”

Luna shrugged.

“I don’t know. It just happened one day. I suppose it was less uncomfortable, but more awkward.”

“Do you think he might need a therapist or something?”

Luna shook her head.

“I don’t think so.”

McNab nodded slowly, thoughts racing. Luna kept on profiling the people in the crowd, but didn’t say anything further. Eventually the crowd died down and the two were almost completely alone.

“Well I think we can leave now. Everyone here looks like they might be around for a while.” McNab stood up. “I think we can get going.”

“Finally!” Luna jumped in the car before the man had even gotten a chance to turn around.

He smiled and shook his head as he walked around to the other side. He started the car and pulled out onto the road.

“So what does all this stuff do?” Luna asked. McNab looked over at what she was pointing to.

“Well that part is the radio, that part is a the database system.” He explained.

“Database for what?”

“Outstanding information. If I pull someone over and check their license, I can see if they have any warrants for their arrest. One time I pulled someone over and found out their license had been suspended due to drunk driving, so I arrested him.”

“That’s cool.” Luna smiled. “How many people have you arrested?”

“Well a good officer doesn’t rate his performance based off of how many people he’s arrested. Just how many people he’s helped by doing his job.” He said proudly. He smiled as he watched Luna try to hide her disappointment. “But it might have rhymed with Qwerty Kevin.”

“Thirty-seven people?” Luna asked. “Were any of them interesting?”

“Well, I wrestled a gunman to the ground once.”

“What? What happened?” Luna turned to watch him as best she could with the seatbelt, fully enthralled with just the notion that he was telling the story. He smiled. Kids always loved the action parts of police work.

“I got called to deal with a domestic dispute between two gentlemen. I get to the scene only to find that one of them has a gun pulled on the other, and is forcing him down on his knees. I ran out of the car and sprinted straight towards him. Then bam.” McNab hit the steering wheel. “Tackled the bastard straight to the ground. Pinned his arm to the ground and pried the gun away from his hands. I threw it into the grass before I flipped him over and cuffed him.”

“That’s insane. What if you had gotten shot?”

“The thought didn’t even cross my mind.” McNab lied.

In reality, he had been thinking of nothing but what if he had gotten shot. But in the end, the safest scenario was one where the gunman didn’t have the gun anymore. So he had made a rather gutsy decision. It wasn’t until after the fact that he realized just how stupid that move had been in reality, but that didn’t make for a good story, now did it?

“What were they doing?”

McNab waved a hand casually.

“Some sort of dispute. One guy accuses the other of messing around with his wife and confronted the other guy. I found out later that the call was for just the argument, but then they pulled a gun not too long before I showed up.” McNab turned and smiled. “Scariest part was, the gun was actually loaded. It wasn’t just for show.”

“Does that happen?”

“Yeah, more than often there’s no bullets in the gun. It’s just for show.”

“That seems like a waste of time.” Luna scoffed.

“Well most people aren’t killers. Even with soldiers. Most of them have a lot of trouble with it. So that’s why I think more often than not, violent people can still be reasoned with. No one is ever truly lost.”

“That’s a very optimistic way of looking at the world.” She nodded thoughtfully.

“I’ve always been like that.” McNab smiled. “People tend to surprise you when they get the chance.”

Luna smiled.

“That’s really sweet.”

“I’d like to think so. This is your house, right?”

Luna peered out the window.

“Yeah, that’s it.” Luna turned to McNab. “Have you ever played Nintendo 64?”

The man stared blankly at Luna.

“Uh…”

“So that’s a no?” Luna smiled. “Do you want to?”

“...Sure.” McNab laughed. “I don’t think I’ll be very good, though.”

“You don’t have to be good.”

“Alright, let’s do it.”

“Yes!” McNab screamed. “Not last!”

“Barely.” Luna laughed. “Third place in a four person race, against the computer characters.”

“Gotta start somewhere!” McNab shouted, his enthusiasm not wavering in the slightest.

Luna let the man have his victory, and tried to start another game. McNab stood up and did his victory lap around the room, coming to a stop behind the couch. He smiled at the TV, the bronze colored third place shining proudly.

“On that note, I call that a night.”

“So early?”

“Moon, it’s like 8:30.”

“Really?” Luna peered over at the clock. “I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.”

“Time flies, as my dad says.” McNab peered in the kitchen where Luna’s lunch bag sat empty and open.

“I think I’m just gonna go to bed now.” Luna stood, powering off the N64 and the TV. “Goodnight, Jake.”

“Night, moon.” McNab called.

Luna waved tiredly as she climbed the stairs, leaving McNab alone in the living room as he started to pull his boots back on. He heard the upstairs door shut softly, and McNab stared over at the kitchen.

“Luna! Time to go!” Celestia called.

“Alright, gimme a minute. I’ve gotta make lunch.”

“Just hurry up!”

Luna walked into the kitchen, and grabbed her lunch bag. She was shocked as the weight of the bag was significantly more than she expected. She unzipped the bag and peered inside. A myriad of foods were inside, more than she’d ever had time to make in the morning. A folded piece of notebook paper was on the top. Unfolding it, she was surprised to find a short note from McNab.

Hey Little Moon, made you lunch so that you’d have more time in the morning. Have a great day. I’ll be there to pick up after school.

Jake McNab

She smiled, and threw everything back into the bag. She clipped the bag onto her backpack with a carabiner clip, and headed outside just as Celestia started honking.

“I’m coming!”

Author's Note

This chapter was a bit of filler to make the next one make more sense. Expect that one shortly.

Oh yeah and the editor thing and all that. PM me if interested.

Special thanks to the one friend of mine who will pre-read this for me, even though he doesn't know this site exists and finds it weird that I write pony fan fiction.

Chapter 3

The bell rang, and Luna was once again all but running out of school. She flew down the stairs of leading up, and all the way to the end of the front courtyard. Today, there was a bit of a different air to the young girl. There wasn’t any trepidation for the journey home. No worry that at any point she’d be the afternoon entertainment at her own expense. There was a parked police car with a number 77 on the roof.

“Hey, Little Moon.”

“Hi Jake.”

Luna jumped into the car, and the officer rolled the windows up.

“So how was it today?”

“It’s a lot better. Since Cole is still in juvie, his idiot friends have been staying off me. Especially since I’ve been getting a cop to drive me home. These past week has been the best since middle school.”

“That’s definitely good to hear.” McNab said, pulling away from the curb.

“Tia still goes out all the time, and dad’s still working all the time. So I don’t really have that, but I think that’s just the next thing.”

“That’s great, moon.”

Luna looked over at the man. He definitely seemed to be distracted by something.

“Are you okay? You seem a bit more distant today.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Moon.” He sighed. “Luna, I’ve gotta tell you something,”

“What is it?” She was worried now. He never called her by her real name.

“Well you know I’m in the army reserves, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Well,” McNab hesitated. “We got called into a two week training session.”

Luna’s eyes widened.

“You’re leaving?”

“No, not leaving. I’m just going to be out of town for two weeks. I promise you, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“But... you can’t leave! Not now! Cole gets back next week! He’s gonna kill me if you’re not here.”

“I’m sorry, moon. I have to go. I can’t say no to the army.”

Luna slumped in her chair, dread and fear filling her all over again. She was going to be all alone again.

“Hey, moon. I’m not gone yet. Alright?”

“But you will be.”

“Sure, but not until Saturday.”

“It’s Friday.”

McNab sighed.

“I’m sorry.”

The rest of the ride was quiet. McNab kicked himself over and over again, wishing he could stay. Luna’s thoughts went wild, listing off everything that the bullies could possibly do. How alone she would be. Just like she was before. As the ride came to its end, McNab turned to Luna.

“Please, moon. Don’t be mad. I promise I’ll do everything I can to get back as fast as possible.”

“Okay.” Luna said. He was right. He wasn’t gone yet. She nodded, steeling herself. It was just two weeks. “Okay.”

McNab smiled, and they got out of the car. As he’d done everyday for the past week, he grabbed her bag and walked her to the door. She shut the door behind them, and McNab set her bags down.

“Hey, moon. Come here.” He told her. She turned around, coming back to him. “Do you know how to throw a punch?”

Luna grinned, confused. “What?”

“Do you know how to throw a punch?” He asked again, smiling. Luna raised a fist, and swung wildly. “Moon?”

“Yeah?”

“That was terrible.” McNab laughed. Luna laughed back.

“Well how else are you supposed to do it?”

“Okay, well first off, your thumb in under your fingers, see?” He pointed at her hand. He started moving her fingers as he talked. “Keep it out from there, under your front fingers. If you punch a man like that, you’ll break your thumb. Next, you just sort of swung your arm by extending your elbow. Don’t do that either. Keep it bent, and don’t really move your arm. Punch with your shoulder and use your body weight, like this.”

He swung his arm at the air, turning on his foot and putting his whole body into the movement.

“That way, you get a lot more power and weight behind it. Try that.” He held a hand up. “Punch my hand.”

Luna made a fist the way he told her to, and swung her arm, using more of her shoulder. She made contact with his hand, and a resounding slap echoed through the foyer.

“Nice!” McNab laughed, shaking his hand. “That hurt.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologize. That was really good. One more thing.” McNab pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket. “If you can, try and have something in your hand, like this flashlight. This is a good size to wrap your hand around so that when you throw the punch, there’s less give. Steel is a lot less squishy than fingers. So if you have time, do that. Hit them below the ear, and they’ll be out of the fight real quick. Here, you can have this.”

He gave her the flashlight.

“Don’t you need this?” Luna asked, looking it over.

“Nah, I’ve got this baby.” McNab pulled the large MagLite off of his belt. Luna laughed.

“I can imagine that does a lot more damage.”

“If you use it right.” McNab smiled, dropping it back onto his belt. “Don’t tell anyone I told you how to do that, alright? I don’t need people thinking I’m teaching a girl to kill a man.”

“Would this kill someone?”

“...No?” McNab smiled. Luna laughed. “Next time Cole and his boys come around, I think you’ll fare quite a bit better.”

Luna’s smiled faded slightly.

“I hope so.” She said. McNab looked around, trying to find something to distract her with.

“Hey, I think I can finally beat you at Mario Kart today. What do you think?”

“Pfft. You wish.” Luna said, embracing the distraction as she ran over and to start the TV and console. The familiar logo of a four sided N started up, with the words Nintendo 64 just beneath it. McNab smiled and sat down next to her.

“Let’s do it.”

The weekend came and went, and with it left Jake McNab. He would only be away for two weeks, but for Luna that felt like an eternity away. It was now Monday, and Luna dreaded her trip through the halls of the school. Cole’s boys had laid off her since he was gone, and more so that Luna had McNab with her. But now Cole was back, and McNab was gone.

Oddly enough, Luna had made it through most of the day without any contact with them. Either they didn’t know that McNab was gone, or they decided to lay off her for good. It didn’t matter to Luna. Any time she could get away from them was enough for her. But it seems it wasn’t meant to last.

“Sorry, Luna. I’ve got a meeting today during lunch. You can’t stay in here today.” Mr. Lockhart said. Luna tried to protest, but knew it was ultimately not worth it.

“Okay.” She muttered, leaving the room. She wandered the halls, looking for somewhere else to spend lunch. She found herself outside of the school, deciding that the outdoor picnic tables or a tree would suffice.

“Well if it ain’t Miss Columbine.” A familiar sneer came from behind her. “Where’s your boy in blue? Couldn’t drive you to school?”

Luna grasped the flashlight in her pocket, holding it tightly. She remembered everything Jake had taught her, and decided that she’d finally meet her problem head on.

“What do you want, Cole?” She turned around. Cole’s smug grin met her back.

“You got me in jail. Good thing they ain’t got shit on me.”

“You deserved all that and more.”

“Says you. I say, you deserve everything I’m about to give to you.” Cole pulled his arm back, and walked forward towards Luna.

As fast as she could, Luna pulled her hand out of her pocket with the flashlight in hand, and swung. Right away, she knew that she’d make McNab proud. All that power she could put into the swing made contact, her fist hitting the side of Cole’s head. She seemed to have missed the place Jake had showed her, as he only stumbled back and cussed.

“You bitch!” Cole held the side of his head. The lackeys next to him stared, surprised at the sudden act of violence from the small girl. This wasn’t the easy target they were used to.

Cole jumped back on his feet, and came in for another swing. He’d gone on the attack sooner rather than later, skipping the intimidation and going straight for pain. Luna’s small form allowed her to duck out of the way, Cole missing completely. The lack of any contact threw Cole off balance, and he stumbled forward. Luna was right behind him, hurling insults at him.

“It looks like you’re the stupid bitch now, Cole. Can’t even hit a girl.” She taunted.

Cole growled and swung again, and subsequently missed again.

“Come on, you’re embarrassing yourself.” Luna sneered. She found a certain electrifying energy to the sense of power after years of being on the opposite end. “Let me help you out.”

She walked up to him, and did something she’d seen in dozens of movies. She reared back and sent a solid kick between his legs. He fell to his knees, doubled over in pain.

“You bitch!” He choked out.

“Yeah, I am.”

She swung one more solid hit, now that he was sitting still, and got him right behind and below the ear, where Jake had showed her. His body fell limp almost instantly, and he slumped to the side. She turned around to the two boys watching. They met her gaze with fear, and threw their hands up in surrender. She grinned maniacally.

“I think he needs to go to the nurse. It seems he had a small tumble off the picnic bench.” She told them. The two looked at each other and nodded, picking up Cole and dragging him to the nurse. Luna grinned in satisfaction.

Maybe I don’t need Jake for the next two weeks.

The rest of the school day came without any additional trouble from the other boys. Luna thought she saw some of them avoiding her, which brought a smile to her face every time she saw it. In the last class of the day, she found herself once again sat staring out of the window. She’d relished the feeling of power she’d gotten from the fight. It was everything she’d dreamed of and more. She could get used to that, if ever the rest of the boys decided to come after her. If she’d beaten Cole Sanford, the rest of his lackeys would be childsplay. The ring of bell split through her daydreams, startling her back to class.

“Alright everyone. We have a test next monday, and homework six is due next class.” The teacher called as everyone rushed to pack up their things. “Luna, come here for a second.”

Luna walked over to the teacher’s desk. Had they heard about the fight? There was no one else around, and there weren’t any windows near the spot that could easily see. Had she missed someone? Had someone talked? A thousand thoughts swirled around her head about what it could be.

“Luna you were having a bit of trouble concentrating today. Have you been getting enough sleep?” The teacher asked.

Hello thought number thousand and one.

“I’ve been having a bit of trouble sleeping due to some… family troubles. I’m sorry, I’ll try better next class.” She said. It wasn’t a total lie. She really did consider McNab as family, and she really had been losing sleep over it. But that wasn’t why she was distracted. The teacher nodded sympathetically.

“I understand. If you ever need someone to talk to about that, the counselors are always available, and I’ll understand if you want to go do that during class. Okay?”

Luna nodded.

“Okay.”

Except the counselors here are about as good at talking about feelings as a drill sergeant. Luna thought.

In her past experience with the school’s counseling staff, they’d been less than helpful. She doubted they’d be any real help. The teacher smiled kindly, like she’d been the most helpful thing in the world to Luna. Luna forced herself to smile back.

“Thanks, Ms. Carver. Have a nice day.”

“You too, Luna.”

Luna rushed out of the doors to the class. That had been a colossal waste of time, and now she just wanted to get home to her games and her bed. That was were she was most comfortable and damn it all if she had to stay here longer than she had to. She pushed open the front doors, and was met with the same two lackeys of Cole’s from before in the yard.

“What do you guys want?” Luna asked, both dreading and relishing the thought of another fight. The two looked at each and the one on the left rubbed the back of his neck.

“W-Well, you totally kicked Cole’s ass today.” The left one said.

“And we thought that since you did that, you’re a lot tougher than Cole ever was.” The right one added.

“So we’re here to do… whatever you want us to do.”

“Right. What he said.”

Luna stared at the two. Confusion, shock and a little bit of that feeling of power melding oddly inside her.

“What?” She asked.

“We’re here to be your… assistants.” The left one said.

“So… you’re just gonna come do whatever I want because I beat up Cole?”

The two nodded.

“Why?”

“Well… we only hang out with the toughest person we know.”

“And since you kicked Cole’s ass, you take that spot from him.”

The two smiled expectantly. Luna shrugged, deciding not to push it further.

“Okay. What are your names?”

“Steel Armor.” The one on the left said.

“Sharp Tool.” The one on the right followed.

Luna grinned, the sense of power overtaking her.

“What happened to Cole?”

“Well after you kicked his ass, we took him to the Nurse. He had a concussion or something and they sent him to the hospital.” Steel Armor started.

“And his parents got so tired of his rough housing they were talking about sending him to this private military boarding school or something.” Sharp Tool continued.

“Yeah, and they were super into the idea. More than I’ve ever seen them about anything.”

“Steel, we ain’t seen them do hardly anything.”

“Yeah but it was a real solid talk. Like they were for sure gonna do it. Like the way Mr. Hyde talks when he convinces himself to do a lab or something.”

“Oh yeah it was a lot like that.” Tool nodded. He and armor exchanged a fist bump, but Luna was already lost in her thoughts again.

Cole’s gone for good? I beat Cole Sanford in his own game! And now I’ve got all his lackeys working for me. I can do anything I want. This is awesome!

“Alright, boys.” Luna straightened up, smiling widely. “Let’s get going.”

“Be ready for inspection early in the morning! Dismissed!”

A couple dozen men and women saluted in unison as the man shouting in front of them walked off. Their posture broke, and everyone started shuffling off to their respective destinations.

“McNab!” A voiced called out. The man in question turned over his shoulder as he walked.

“Hey Bowie.” The man behind him clapped him on the back as he fell in line with the taller man.

“Damn it feels good to be back.”

“Sure does.” McNab said, distracted.

“You alright? You’ve been a bit out of it this time around.”

McNab sighed.

“Bow, can I tell you something?”

The smaller man shrugged and nodded.

“Of course, Jake. You can tell me anything you want.”

“Thanks, Bow.” McNab grinned weakly. The grin quickly fell as he shrugged. “Well, I was out on patrol one afternoon by the high school back in town. It was the same as any other day, until I saw this girl on the side of the road get nailed by a huge water balloon. She got completely soaked and started crying.

“I pulled over the squad car and I get out and try to help her. She’s crying and dripping wet and all that, and I’m trying to just get her dried off and in the car with the heater on. It was pretty damn cold at this point. Anyway, she lets me do all this and I drive her home. Turns out she’s been getting bullied really bad recently.”

“Shit, man.” Bowie said. “That ain’t good.”

“There’s more.” McNab said. “Her parents are divorced, her dad and sister aren’t around to help her and her mom’s off in some other state.”

“Damn. Just keeps getting worse. How long ago was this?”

“Last Tuesday.”

“Are you serious?” Bowie asked. McNab nodded. “Well then what the hell are you doing here?”

“I can’t just not do this.”

“Sure you can! Family or personal matters. Something!”

“She isn’t family.”

“But this sure sounds personal.” Bow shook his head. McNab got really uncomfortable.

“Bow, she was hitting a lot of the signs.”

“Signs for…” Bowie’s eyes widened. “No…”

McNab nodded. Bowie block the man’s way, stopping him and shoved him back.

“Well then I resend my statement. What in the hell are you doing here? You need to get back there!”

“I can’t.”

“God dammit, Jake, I’m serious!”

“Well what the hell can I do?” McNab shouted. “I’m here now. I can’t leave.”

“At least call her or something!”

McNab nodded, sighing.

“Of course I’m gonna do that, Bow.”

Bowie put an arm over his shoulder.

“Jake, the first chance to get out of here, take it.”

“I’d have to get the chance first.” McNab sighed. “I just hope it isn’t for the wrong reasons.”

The phone rang in the kitchen.

“Hello?”

“Hey Little Moon, it’s Jake.”

“Hey Jake!” Luna smiled wide. “I didn’t think you’d call.”

“Of course. Sorry for being so late, we just got dismissed for the night.”

“That’s fine. I wasn’t in bed yet.”

“Alright. Well I’m just calling to make sure everything is going alright at school.”

“Yeah, no, everything is fine.” Luna started fiddling with the keys on the counter. “Cole hasn’t bothered me too much today, but I think he’s gonna lay off.”

Luna tensed up. Why was she lying to him?

“That’s great to hear.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “And everything else is alright?”

“Yeah. The test went fine, and all my homework is done. Tia and dad are still not around, but there’s nothing new there.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” McNab sighed. “Well… have a good day at school tomorrow. I’ll try to call again when I can.”

“Alright.” Luna smiled. “Goodnight, Jake.”

“Goodnight, moon.”

Author's Note

Special thanks to my friend Ben who reads this for me, even though he doesn't watch this show and finds it odd that I write fanfiction. He says it's better than the Power Rangers x Warhammer ones he read for his other friend (Yes, that is an entirely true statement. We're not making that up.)

Real quick note about the editor thing. I'm only looking for someone to bounce ideas off of and have pre-read for me for story flow. If anyone is interested, please PM me. Thanks!

Chapter 4

Jumping out of the car, Luna waved to her sister as she left, not that the older sister noticed. Luna shrugged it off, walking towards the school. Steel Armor and Sharp Tool fell in line behind her as she walked up the stairs. Steel stepped forward to open the door for her, and she slipped inside beside him.

The early morning bustle faded rapidly at the entrance of the trio. The sea of students parted as everyone recognized the tall lackys, but whispering swept through the crowd as they spotted the new individual heading off the posse.

“Who’s that with the Sanford Gang?”

“Isn’t she a freshman?”

“I heard she kicked Cole Sanford’s ass behind the school during lunch yesterday.”

Luna smiled to herself, empowered by the fact she no longer had to watch her back for the terrors that engulfed her daily routine. She marched down the halls, finally coming to a stop in front of her locker. Steel Armor and Sharp Tool flanked either side of her like secret service members to the president.

“Give it up!” A male voice shouted. Shortly after, the sound of someone being through against the lockers crashed down the hall. “I know you’ve got something!”

“I don’t have anything! I swear!” A meek voice pleaded.

“Bullshit! Don’t lie to me!”

Luna’s eyes snapped over to the noise’s source. A junior clad in lots of denim and leather was pinning a freshman to their locker. Luna recognized the freshman as a quiet, reserved, artsy classmate of hers. They’d never spoken, but Luna related with her on more things than most.

“You two.” She snapped her fingers at her lackeys and pointed to the freshman. “Help her out.”

Steel and Sharp looked at each other and shrugged. They marched up and encircled the junior.

“What the hell do you two want?”

“Let her go.” Steel ordered.

“What?” The junior laughed. “Go fuck yourself, I found her first.”

“We’re not playing, Carve.” Sharp warned.

“What are you to trying to do here.”

“Let. Her. Go.”

“Go. Fuck. Your. Self.” The junior sneered.

Steel and Sharp glanced at each other again, and nodded once. Turning back, Sharp ripped him off the freshman and pinned his arms behind his back. Steel reared back and socked him in the stomach, and the junior wheezed as he fell to his knees, Sharp dropping him as he went limp. Sharp walked around to the junior’s side and kicked him, his steel toed boot giving no give as it made contact.

“Last chance.” Steel repeated. “Let her go.”

The junior groaned as he pushed himself up.

“Fine.” He shuddered out. “Have at her.”

He wheezed as he limped down the hall, clutching at his stomach as he did. Steel and Sharp turned to the freshman, who was cowering against her locker. They nodded to her in greeting before returning to their post beside Luna. The freshman followed them with her eyes as they left, finally landing on Luna. Luna smiled sweetly as she closed her locked and waved.

“Have a nice day.”

Steel had departed as Luna headed to homeroom, but Sharp reassured her that she wouldn’t have any problems from anyone else while he was around. With Cole gone, it fell to Steel and Sharp to continue the gang. What they say goes, and they select the next head of the gang. Sure, a few people would have protests, they always do. But they’d get over it, one way or another.

They entered the classroom, Luna beelining for her usual spot with Sharp right behind her. The other two boys that sat behind her were surprised to see Sharp with Luna, but a quick glare from Sharp told them everything, and they quieted up. Sharp was big for a freshman, but that could be attributed to the fact that he was supposed to be a sophomore, like Steel and Cole, but he’d gotten held back.

As tough as he was, he wasn’t ever too good with schoolwork, unlike his companions who could skid by enough to pass. Bullying someone to do your homework only got so far once testing season rolled around. You couldn't bully someone into taking your state mandated standardized tests with your name. Regardless of the reasons why he was where he was, he was still extremely intimidating to the freshmen, which is why he still held the rank he did among them.

Luna took her seat and pulled out her notebook, same as she did everyday so far. And just the same as always, the teacher stood in front of the room and mindlessly read of the list of students for attendance. After affirming to the teacher that she was present for the day, she drowned out the sounds of the rest of the class by writing.

Beating up Cole was the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ve not just got him off my back, but I’ve got his dumb friends on my side too. They just mindlessly follow me around like servants. It’s the best. I was even able to help a freshman girl who was getting bullied. I suppose this makes me some kind of hero police commander kind of thing.

Speaking of police, McNab is still away for training up north. He called me last night to check on me, which was sweet. He’s more of a brother to me than anyone else has been. Including my actual sister. Dad tries, but even he knows it isn’t enough. But he does. Which I guess I can’t blame him for. I just need to stop making such a big deal out of it. He feels bad all the time about it, and I cause most of it.

Anyway, that doesn’t matter. I didn’t tell McNab about what happened, and that I now have these two on my side. I feel like he’d oppose it. He’d probably think I’m just becoming the same as Cole. He’s great, but I can see he just wouldn’t understand what I’m doing here. If I could help that one girl, I could help so much more. Especially if Steel Armor and Sharp Tool get the rest of Cole’s gang on my side. I’ll talk to them about it during lunch, but I think I’ve got something going on here. I won’t let people like me suffer if I can help it. They’ll love me for it. Maybe I’ll even be more popular than Celestia.

Luna smiled as she mulled over the thought of surpassing her sister in popularity and fame. She stared out the window in thought, watching the clouds as they obscured the sun.

“So what do you two think?”

Luna watched with bated breath for the reactions of the two in front of her. Sharp and Steel looked at each other, which Luna noticed they do lot.

It’s like that’s how they connect their brains in some kind of weird telepathy thing. Luna thought.

The two shrugged reluctantly.

“We’re just here to do what you tell us to do.”

Luna frowned.

“Don’t you two ever think for yourselves?”

The two looked to each other again, and shrugged.

“No.” They said in unison.

Luna stared blankly at the two.

“Right…” She said. “Well let’s change that. I’m giving you two some autonomy. We’re going to end bullying in this school by bullying the bullies. And I want you two to lead it. Get as many together as you can, in whatever ways you feel fit. Then if any of you see people bullying others, help the person getting bullied. Got it?”

The looked to each other again, and Luna had to suppress a scream in frustration.

“Yes.” They said.

“Fantastic!” She exclaimed. “Get on it.”

Luna stabbed her fork into her food, but paused. She looked up from her food to see the two still sitting in front of her, staring at her like a dog waiting for an order.

“That means now.” She repeated.

The two finally had a look of realization, and they nodded as they stood and set out. Luna sighed and shook her head as she leaned back in her chair.

“Hey Steel.”

“What’s up Sharp?”

“If we bully all the bullies, doesn’t that mean we’d have to bully ourselves since we’re bullies?”

“Uh... “ Steel paused. “I guess it does. But maybe it cancels out. Like in math. Two negatives make a positive.”

“They do?”

“Hell yeah they do. Numbers, man. They do some crazy shit.” Steel shrugged. “But yeah. We’re the good guys in this scenario.”

“But what if everyone joins us? Then who do we get to fight?”

“I don’t know, Sharp.”

“We should ask Luna about it.”

“We can’t. Don’t you remember? She wants us to do this ourselves. We ain’t supposed to bother her.”

“I guess.” Sharp shrugged. “Well what do you think we do?”

“Maybe we can… I dunno.” Steel thought. “Maybe we can convince her. Show her what’s going on here. She ain’t like the others.”

“What if she doesn’t wanna do all that? What if she decides that she’d rather leave?”

“You’re overthinking it, Sharp. Just let me deal with this. Besides,” Steel looked at Sharp. “It ain’t like we’re gonna get everyone to just stop beating other people up. It just won’t happen. This way, we got it more organized. Keep everyone from getting on each other’s turf. Y’know?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sharp nodded. “That’s why you’re in the big leagues, man.”

“Of course, bud.” Steel nodded. “Now let’s go get us a gang together.”

Next day at school came, and Luna was once again strolling down the halls with her boys on either side. The early money hours had gone easy. A few here and there that were quickly dealt with by the boys. Once school started, there wasn’t really anything going on. It started seeming that people just weren’t bullying when Luna and her boys came around, which made her smile at the thought.

Lunch came around, same as usual. While Luna was heading to the lunchroom, Steel and Sharp pulled her aside.

“Hey, Luna.” Steel said. “We’ve got a place we usually hung out at with Cole. It’s in the basement. A lot more privacy than the lunchroom.”

The basement? Luna thought.

Everyone had their own ideas of what was in the basement, and how to get there. Some didn’t even believe there was one. Given Luna’s past history with Cole and his friends, she knew it was real. She’d heard them talk about it plenty of times. But to actually go down there? That was something different. She nodded slowly. If she was going to do this, she had to go all the way. To show she was here to stay.

“Alright.” She said simply. “Let’s go.”

Steel and Sharp smiled, with Steel leading the way down the hall. After a short trip through the building, they came to an unassuming door marking only with “Electric” on the a nameplate next to it. Steel walked right up to it, and produced a key from his pocket. Unlocking it quickly, he swung it open for Luna to go through, and the two fell in behind her as he closed it.

Luna squinted to see in the darkness of the stairway. The halls upstairs had bright fluorescent lights blaring on the white linoleum floors. The stairs were much different. The old lightbulbs in the dusty fixtures were yellow, most likely due to age, and the stairs were painted a dark grey, almost black. The bare cinder block walls were darkened by years of weathering and moisture. The whole atmosphere of the thin corridor could be described as bleak at best. But as they came to the bottom, the thing stairwell opened up into a much larger room, albeit the lighting here wasn’t much better.

There were various chairs, from various parts of the school, with equally mismatched tables scattered in between. There we even a few couches and lamps thrown in, making the whole place look a lot more appealing.

“Cole scored this place a while back. Janitor was his uncle, and he got him to make him a key. They don’t use this room for anything anymore, used to be boiler room before they got actual heaters on the roofs.” Steel flopped down on one of the couches. “Either way, it sure as hell beats pretty much everywhere else in the school. Plus this gives us a ‘homebase’, I guess you could call it, that teachers don’t get in on.”

Luna walked through the chairs, her eyes falling on the arm chair at the head of it all. It was a plush, modern looking thing she’d seen in the office. Steel noticed where she was looking, and grinned.

“That was Cole’s spot. Which, at risk of soundin’ like a broken record here, is now yours.”

Luna walked up, and dropped her back next to it. She looked it over, like a pilot might inspect an airplane before take off. It was a perfectly ordinary lounge chair. She shook her head. She was overthinking it. It’s just a chair. She told herself. Shrugging, she sat down. After nothing happened, she let out a sigh and relaxed.

It was “just a chair” much in the same way that a king’s throne is just a chair. While the statement is technically correct, it’s the significance of the object that keeps people away from it. To Luna, this chair was her throne. This cheap mass produced armchair signified her victory against her tormentors. Her victory over Cole. And her future victory over Celestia. She leaned back in the chair and smiled to herself.

“There we go!” Steel smiled big. “That’s our benevolent leader!”

“And what a strong leader she is, ain’t she?” Sharp added.

“Yeah! She didn’t need no charity to get where she is. She earned her way up! Through tough work and hard fightin’!”

“Yeah!”

Luna, although initially confused by the two’s rambling, started thinking. They had a point. She did earn her way up here. Unlike her sister, who just piggybacked off the popular people on the sport teams she was in. Luna had suffered for months, possibly even years, and it was through her strength alone she got here. She smiled proudly as she nodded at what they were saying. Steel and Sharp looked at each other, and Steel grinned.

“Told you.” Steel whispered. Sharp grinned and nodded. Steel stood up and paced around Luna. “So, Ms. Luna. We all know it was your strength that got us all here. So what’s stopping the others from getting here themselves?”

Luna’s smiled faltered.

“I’m sorry?”

“Hey, I ain’t saying I would do anything like that. But what about those people that were just like you. The weak ones that don’t know their left hook from their right. What’s stopping them from coming up here and stealing your hard work?”

Luna stumbled over a response.

“W-Well, I guess they could…. B-But… Well y’know, they would never…”

“But they could. You did it. Why don’t they?” Steel shrugged. “It’s ‘cause they’re not strong enough.” He pointed at her. “But you are. You…” He nodded. “You’re the strong one. Besides, you made it out on your own. So why should they get handouts?”

“I-I don’t think I understand…”

“Luna, you climbed up on your own. Why don’t they?” Steel paced around in front of her. “You don’t feed birds because then they become dependent and useless on their own. It’s the same with these sorry kids. Survival of the fittest.”

Luna shook her head, thoughts racing as two voices duel in her head.

No. He’s wrong. We have to help those who need it.

But look at them! They’re weak! You fought your way up, just as he said. You beat up Cole, not someone else. No one fought him for you.

But, Jake taught me how to fight. He helped me when I could help myself.

Oh come on! He taught you how to punch, nothing fancy. It was your skill set, your courage, and your strength that actually took down Cole. This is how it has to be.

Luna nodded, convincing herself.

“You’re right. They have to get stronger on their own.” Luna’s face fell into stony determination. “We have control now.”

“That’s the spirit.” Steel glanced at Sharp, and the two shared a victorious nod.

“Well what the hell are you two waiting for, then?” Luna said. “Get out there.”

Steel gave a two finger salute.

“Yes ma’am.” He turned and started heading out. “Come on, Sharp.”

The two climbed the stairs, the only sound being the fading echo of boots.

“She’s down here.” Luna heard Steel say from the stairs.

Looking over, she watched as her two lieutenants led a several others down the stairs. In between them was a cocky looking guy with a smug grin. Luna had seen him around often. He was another one of the many people Cole had working for him. He usually stayed off of her, since Cole went after her personally. Despite their relatively little interaction, she’d heard of how much of a dirtbag he was.

The small group walked up, the smug kid having some kind of conversation with Steel and Sharp, not quite seeing her due to the low lighting. As they came up, Steel cut off their conversation.

“We’ve got some folks here for you.”

The cocky kid grinned.

“I’m excited to meet the tough bastard who kicked Cole’s ass.”

Luna looked up, meeting the cocky kid’s eyes. His light hearted attitude dropped as he recognized her.

“What the hell is this?” He laughed. “Nah. No fuckin’ way I’m out.”

“Woah woah woah, Gear.” Steel said. “That ain’t how this works.”

“The fuck are you on about?” The cocky kid known as Gear said. “I said I’d go under the bastard who kicked Cole’s ass. Not this bitch.”

“You seem to be assuming something here.” Luna said. “I am the one who fought Cole.”

Gear laughed.

“Yeah and I passed my fuckin’ Algebra class.” Gear sauntered up. “What? Did you brood so hard until he exploded?”

Luna nodded patiently. She turned to Sharp and Steel, and waved a hand. The two grabbed him by his arms and forced him to his knees.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Gear yelled. “Get off me!”

“You are making this more difficult than it really needs to be.” Luna said as she stood. “I beat Cole, so I would be the one you’re under.”

Gear spit at her feet. Luna sighed. She gripped the flashlight in her hand as she pulled it out of her pocket.

“Guess I’ve gotta prove it to him.” She muttered.

She stepped forward, keeping her arm low and close to her side. Her weight behind the hit, her knuckles made solid contact with his stomach in one solid blow. She stepped to the side as he groaned and coughed violently. He’d have fallen over if it weren’t for the two holding him up. His breathing was ragged as he stopped coughing.

“Are you feeling more cooperative?” Luna asked.

“F-Fuck you.” Gear muttered. Luna shrugged, stepping back and throwing another thundering blow directly into his stomach. Luna kneeled down, getting in his face.

“Let me be real clear. I’m in control. You are not. You are mine, or you are nothing. Decide right now which side you are on.” Luna muttered. “Now tell me, are you on my side, or not?”

Gear nodded.

“I’m with you.” He choked out.

“Good choice.” Luna said.

She waved her two lieutenants off, who dropped him to the ground. He sputtered and gasped, rolling on the floor. He pushed himself up, and stumbled off into a seperate part of the room, away from Luna. Luna just smiled politely at the crowd in front of her.

“Next.”

Author's Note

And we're back! Luna's gotten in with a rough crowd. Let's see where this goes...

Anyway, I'm not sure a new chapter will be out this weekend, because I'll be off on a bus to New Mexico and we'll see if I have the time. That being said, I will be on a very long bus ride to New Mexico... and the buses have wifi... so maybe it'll be the opposite problem. Who knows!

Thanks for reading! As always, I'm looking for editors/pre-readers/people to bounce ideas off of. PM if interested.

Chapter 5

“Celly! We have to go to the mall today! Nick and Craig are working again, and Sloan is totally going to try and get in with one of them. We have to watch!”

“Ugh. I can’t. I have to pick up my lame sister from school.”

“Ew.” Leona cringed. “I’m so sorry. Little siblings are the worst.”

“Tell me about it. Ugh. Whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright. Ta ta!”

Celestia waved to Leona as she left the university building. Walking through the parking lot, she pulled out her phone. A Nokia 5110 customized with a plastic yellow faceplate. She begged her father for it once she saw they could be colors other than black. He finally relented, and bought both her and Luna one, which was totally unfair ‘cause she didn’t get a phone until she was a senior, and Luna got one as a freshman. It didn’t matter anymore, there was nothing she could do but complain. She dialed Luna’s number and called her, groaning dramatically when it went to voicemail.

“Luna, I’m picking you up. Don’t take forever like you always do.” Celestia all but shouted into the phone before throwing it back into her bag.

Celestia shielded the sun from her eyes while pulling her sunglasses out of her bag as she weaved through the parked cars in the university lot. Coming up to hers, she unlocked it and swung the door open. She jumped in, quickly starting the car and turning up the heat to warm it up.

While she was waiting for the car to warm up, she reached over and opened the glove box, pulling out the large CD case she kept in the car with all of her music. Flipping through the sheets, she grabbed the first one that caught her interest, Spice by the Spice Girls. She turned the radio on to eject the CD.

“Sprawling on the fringes of the setting geometric order…” Rock guitars, drums, and synthesizers blasted through the car stereo. Celestia scoffed in disgust as she ejected Luna’s album from the player and replaced it with her own.

“I can’t believe Luna willingly listens to Dad’s old people music. Ugh.” She muttered.

Pulling out of the parking lot, she sang along as she drove through the streets of outer Canterlot. They were quiet and calm. High schools hadn’t let out yet and the suburban areas around the university were typically quiet anyway. Because of this, Celestia found herself in the parking lot of the high school ten minutes early. She’d have to wait for Luna to get out of class.

After a few moments of thought, she decided to take a slow lap around the school, and to reminisce of days passed. And mainly because high school parking lots never have any available spaces. She’d smile to herself as she saw familiar spots. A lunch-time hangout area, a waiting place for a ride home, and a few good spots for prom photos.

But there, on the other side of the driveway and beyond a chain link fence, were the athletic fields. The wide, open patches of grass where she spent hours upon hours of her time. Currently, it looked to be lacrosse practice going on in the main field. Several of the upperclassmen girls were recognizable to her. She slowed to watch them practice, mentally coaching them on their form. When several of them noticed her driving by, they waved enthusiastically. She smiled back as she waved back. Several of the girls were quickly chastised for getting distracted by the coach, but nonetheless the older woman waved to Celestia as she got the girls back to practice. Taking this as her cue to move on, Celestia gave one final farewell as she turned her attention back to other parts of the school.

Her eyes followed the two story building as she continued down the driveway. She paused, however, when she saw three people encircling a smaller figure behind the school some ways away. She gasped as she recognized Luna between two larger boys. She pulled the car over, getting ready to jump out to save her little sister. But she stopped. Luna had just raised her hand for some reason. What was she doing? She waved, and the two boys next to her grabbed the boy in front of her.

“What the hell…” Celestia whispered.

Her fear was replaced with mounting confusion as she watched the two force him onto his knees, arms pinned behind his back. His struggling calmed as Luna stepped forward. She leaned close and said something to him. He said something back, but Celestia couldn’t hear anything due to how far she was. She decided that it probably wasn’t very nice, given the furious look on his face. Luna shook her head, stepping back. Then suddenly, with an unnerving amount of practice, Luna lunged forward. Her fist made solid contact with his stomach, causing him to contort awkwardly in pain.

“Oh my god!” Celestia said out loud.

She didn’t know whether to jump out and help the kid or not. She didn’t even know if what she was seeing was real. This was her sister for goodness sake. Her quiet, loner, non-confrontational sister who’d never complain to polite company even if she was dying.

But then, Luna grabbed the kid by the rather short hair on his head and pulled it up, looking him in the eye all the while. She must’ve said something, because the kid nodded painfully as best he could with his hair being clenched. Luna nodded back, and dropped his head. The two pinning the kid down followed shortly after, sauntering back over to take their place on either side of Luna. She gave a two-fingered salute before waving for the two to follow as she left, leaving the kid writhing on the ground.

Celestia had seen enough. Possibly even too much. When had this happened? When did her sister go from being the quiet polite girl she was to… whatever the hell that was. It didn’t matter for now. She pushed the memory out what she’d just seen out of her mind. She’d confront Luna later at home, maybe. For now, she just put on her best poker face and acted like she didn’t just see her sister knock a kid’s stomach inside out. She just buckled her seatbelt and carried on, her thoughts racing all the while.

Luna, what the hell happened to you?

“Nope. No fuckin’ way. I ain’t takin’ orders from her.” Pinewood said with a mocking laugh.

Luna crossed her arms, staring the bigger kid down.

“I take it you didn’t hear what happened to your buddy Gear, did you?”

“Oh I heard alright. I just don’t believe it. Stories don’t mean nothing. You can pay for stories. Just like you can pay for your two boy toys here. That’s all that happened. So you know what? You want my loyalty? It’ll cost you. Just like it did Sanford.”

Luna shook her head.

“I don’t think I can make that work. How about you just do what I tell you instead?”

“How ‘bout you go fuck yourself?”

Luna sighed in frustration.

“Why do you have to make this so difficult?” She muttered to herself. She raised her hand. “Grab him.”

The two next to her stepped forward and grabbed Pinewood by the shoulders and the wrists, pinning him in place. His protests fell on deaf ears as they shoved him forward to his knees. He struggled against their hold, but the two together out classed him easily.

“Quit struggling. You won’t win.” Luna said as she stepped forward. Pinewood calmed quickly as she neared him. She leaned forward and smiled.

“Now. I’m going to ask you again. And answer carefully, because I don’t like repeating myself. I see you as a possibly useful person to have around, and I’d like your generous cooperation. Would you like to join our little partnership we’ve got going?” Luna said sweetly, with no small amount of venom lacing each word.

“I’d like for you to get the fuck out of my face.” Pinewood spat back.

Luna shook her head disappointedly.

“Now why did you have to go and do that?” She muttered.

She stood up straight and backed off a bit. Pinewood grinned in his assumed victory. He opened his mouth to hurl another insult at her. The words died in his throat before he’d even started to form the first syllable as Luna lunged forward and landed a solid hit to his stomach. He doubled over forward as the wind left his lungs. He groaned in pain as he was held up. Luna stepped forward again, and grabbed him by his rather short hair, yanking his head up to meet her eyes.

“I told you I hate repeating myself. And yet here we are. So do we have a deal, or not?” She said softly, all traces of the fake sweetness from before gone. Pinewood nodded weakly. “Good.” She said as she let go of his hair. She waved the two off as she stepped back again. “See how much easier it is when you don’t make someone repeat themselves?”

Pinewood just groaned from his spot on the ground.

“Exactly.” Luna grinned. “Well, I’m looking forward to see what comes next. Have a nice day, Pinewood.”

Pinewood raised his head just enough to watch the three walk away, the two boys on either side of her. Once they’d gotten a safe distance away, he shakily pushed himself onto his feet and coughed. He brushed off the grass from his jeans and shook his head.

“Fuckin’ psycho.” He muttered.

“Hey Celestia.”

Celestia jumped, and her eyes snapped over to the passenger side. Luna was standing there, looking rather confused.

“Uh, are you alright?” Luna asked.

“I’m fine.” Celestia said, just a little too quickly. Luna raised an eyebrow. Celestia swallowed nervously. “Are you gonna get in?”

Luna rolled her eyes as she opened the door.

“Nice to see you too, sister.”

Celestia shook her head, trying to calm herself down. It was just Luna. She would never do that stuff to her own sister, right? Then again, Celestia didn’t know why she’d done it to the kid. What if she was willing to do that to her own sister?

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Luna asked, tearing Celestia from her ferver. “You look pretty pail and you’re kind of… sweating.”

“I’m fine. I just must be getting sick or something.”

“Well don’t give me whatever you’re getting.” Luna said, leaning back in her seat.

Staring out the window, Luna didn’t see the nervous glance Celestia had given her.

“Hey Jake.” Luna smiled as she answered the phone.

“Hey Moon. How was school?”

“Same as always. Pretty boring with Cole gone for good now.”

“Well boring can be good.”

“Compared to what eventful meant, yeah.” Luna grinned knowingly to herself. “Even his old gang is staying off of me.”

“All of them?”

“Pretty much.”

“Wow. That’s great. Sounds like things have really turned around for you, moon.”

“Oh you can’t even imagine it.” Luna laughed, her confidence bleeding through. She shrugged it off, though, not wanting to risk slipping up and letting out her secret.

“Alright, well I’ll leave you to go to bed. I know it’s late and all, so I just wanted to say hi and check in.”

“Alright. Thanks for calling, Jake.”

“No problem. Good night, moon.”

“Night, Jake.”

Luna set the handset down onto the base, and grinned proudly to herself. Jake had no idea. And if she kept this up, then he’d never know. She turned and walked out of the kitchen, waving to Celestia in the living room as she climbed the stairs.

“Goodnight, Tia.”

“Night, Luna.” Celestia called back.

Once Luna had climbed the top of the stairs, Celestia listened to her footsteps as they walked down the hall. Only once she’d heard the resounding click of the door shutting did she let out the breath she’d been holding. Celestia stood quickly from her spot on the couch and all but ran for the phone in the kitchen. She grabbed the phone and redialed the number Luna had been on with.

“Come on, come on.” She whispered to herself as the rings kept going.

“Hello?” A confused sounding voice answered.

“Jake?” Celestia asked.

“Luna?”

“What?” Celestia shook her head. “No, this is her sister, Celestia.”

“Oh. Well what can I do for you, Celestia?” Jake responded. Celestia thought she could hear a little bit of hostility in his tone, but ignored it. She was just over thinking things right now.

“Well… it’s about Luna. I’m worried for her.”

“Are you worried about bullying?” Jake asked.

“Yeah. I just… well I just wanted to know what happened before you left.”

Celestia heard the man sigh.

“Well. I found her one day while I was on patrol in the neighborhood around the school. I saw a car drive by and throw a water balloon at her while she was walking home. She got soaked through and I pulled over to he-”

“Wait, hold on. She was the victim?”

“Of course. She’s been getting bullied for a long time now. Something she says you never noticed.”

“But… wait. I watched her beat up a kid today while two other kids held him down.”

“...What?” His voice betrayed his shock. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“No, please. I swear. I got there early and she just had the kid pinned down and… and she just punched him right in the stomach. I don’t know what to do. I’m…” Celestia glanced over her shoulder to the stairs, reassuring herself that she was alone. “I’m kind of scared she’ll turn on me at some point.” She said much softer.

“I…” Jake paused. He sighed in defeat. “God dammit.”

“Jake?” Celestia asked.

“Celestia, I’m gonna get out of this. I’ll be down there as soon as I can. Where is she now?”

“She’s in bed.” Celestia hesitated. “Aren’t you in army training? How are you going to get out of that?”

“Don’t worry about me. If Luna gets violent to you at all, call someone and then call me. I should be able to get there tomorrow evening. Can you hold on till then?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Celestia nodded to herself. “Yeah, I can do that. Thank you, Jake.”

“Of course. I’ll see you when I get down. Then we’ll sort this all out. Alright?”

“Alright. Goodnight, Jake.”

“Goodnight, Celestia.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait! Hope it was worth it. Short, but I felt this ending was more appropriate for how I felt the story was going.

Anyway, editors/pre-readers/people to chat with always welcome! PM if interested.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 6

“You want to what?”

“Sir, I understand this is highly unorthodox. But there is a serious emergency with… family. Back home. I need to attend to it, sir.”

The captain stared at the man in front of him. Private First Class Jacob Ross McNab. He liked the kid. A hard worker and a nice guy, but what he was asking was unheard of.

“McNab, I can’t just let you leave without any prior notice. You made a commitment here to the army. If I let you leave, that precedent might encourage some of the others to follow.”

“Captain Grey, sir. I understand. But a young girl very close to me just called me fearing for her safety. She needs my help.”

Captain Grey’s gaze was unwavering. He seemed to be watching for any break in McNab, looking for a marking that would make this into a lie.

“How old is she?”

“Eighteen, sir.”

Captain Grey sat silently, watching the man in front of him. Eventually, he shook his head and sighed.

“Fine.” Grey stood and walked over to one of his filing cabinets, pulling a piece of paper out of one of the drawers. He sat back down at his desk, writing a few things on it before signing it on the bottom. He handed the paper to McNab when he was done. “Give this to the guards at the gate. I’ll notify your platoon leader that you won’t be here to finish the exercise.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“McNab.” The captain stared at Jake. “Keep that girl safe.”

McNab nodded slowly.

“Yes, sir.”

“Jake?”

“Celestia. Hey. Is Luna at school?” Jake asked as he threw his duffel bag into the back seat of his car.

“Yeah, I just got home from dropping her off.”

“Alright. Any problems?”

“No. I don’t think she knows I’ve seen anything.” Celestia laughed darkly. “I’m talking about my sister like she’s some kind of mob boss. What the hell is going on.” Celestia sounded like she was nearing tears. “God. This is all my fault.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” Jake stopped before getting in his car. “You didn’t make her do this.”

“But I did make her! I wasn’t there for her when she needed me! I was so wrapped up with my friends I didn’t see when she started changing.” Jake was silent as he heard Celestia start to break down on the other side of the phone. “We used to be so close. When we were homeschooled and our parents were still together, we were inseparable.”

“Celestia, it’s alright.” Jake sighed as he leaned against the door to his car.

“No, it’s not. After our parents divorced and we ended up in public school, I was in high school when she was in middle school. I abandoned her to get with the popular kids because they made me feel important. I didn’t think Luna felt the same way. I let her down, Jake.”

“Celestia. I promise you, everything will be alright. You just need to stay positive.” Jake paused, hoping that his speech is giving her some confidence.

“Okay. Just… please hurry.”

“I will.” Jake relaxed as he got into the car. “Do you have class today?”

“...Yeah. I’ve got one class at noon.”

“Alright. Go to it. Keep your mind off things. I’ll be there soon. Okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, Jake.”

“You’re welcome, Celestia.”

Jake heard a click as she hung up, and he set the phone in the cupholder as he sighed tiredly to himself.

“McNab!” A voice called from outside the car.

Jake looked over to see Bowie coming up to the car. Jake rolled down the window as he walked up.

“Hey, Jake.” Bowie grinned. “I heard the news from Gale. You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, Bow. It’s Luna.”

Bow’s easy grin fell.

“Is she hurt?”

“No, the opposite. I think she’s the one doing the hurting.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Jake?” Bow shook his head in confusion. “Are we still talking about the girl that got hit by the water balloon?”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“Jake, how in the hell is she fighting people? Where did you even hear this from?”

“Her sister called me. She saw her have a kid pinned down and then beat the hell out of him.”

Bowie’s eyes widened in surprise.

“She had him pinned down? As in by someone else?” McNab nodded. Bowie shook his head and whistled. “Damn. She must’ve learned how to punch real well to get that kind of support. Gotta say, though, I’d like to know where she learned that.” Bowie shook his head, laughing. He paused as he noticed Jake avoiding eye contact with him. Bowie cussed. “Aw hell, Jake. Don’t tell me you taught her how to punch.”

“I thought it would help her defend herself incase they started getting physical!”

“What’d you teach her?”

“I taught her to put weight from her shoulder, how to hold her fist, and then I… uh...” Jake hesitated, and Bow gestured impatiently for him to continue. Jake shook his head and sighed. “I taught her strikers.”

“Jesus Christ, Jake.” Bow ran his hands through his hair as he backed away from the car, starting to pace in the parking lot.

“Look, I didn’t think this was gonna happen, alright? How could I?”

“Jake, that’s not the point here. You can’t teach those kinda things to teenagers. She coulda killed someone!”

“Look, I’m sorry, Bow. But I can’t do anything about that now.”

Bowie shook his head.

“No shit. Fine. You’re going back to deal with this?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Jake, I don’t want to have to arrest a crime boss with a fuckin’ bedtime. So don’t screw this up, alright?”

Jake nodded. “Alright, Bowie. Thanks.”

“Good luck, Jake.”

Bowie tapped the roof of the car as he walked away, heading back through the base and returning to the yard where the rest of the company was. Jake backed the car out of the parking lot and drove out of the base, stopping only to clear the security gate. As he pulled onto the highway, he sighed to himself. It was gonna be a long day.

“Come on, Luna. Don’t do this.” A freshman girl said as she cowered into the corner under the stairs. “You’re not a bully.”

“You’re right. I’m not.” Luna nodded. “You are. Because you were the one who left me to Cole Sanford when things got bad. You could’ve helped, Rosebud. But you didn’t, did you?”

“Luna, I swear. I’m sorry. Please. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“But you did!” Luna screamed. Rosebud pressed herself onto the wall, trying to put as much distance between herself and Luna. “And now I’m gonna hurt you.”

“Please, Luna. Don’t do this.”

The two lackies next to Luna looked at each other, worry on both of their faces. Steel Armor glanced over at the girl in front of them before mouthing words to Sharp Tool.

She’s fuckin’ nuts.

Sharp Tool nodded, and mouthed words back.

What do we do?

Steel Armor shrugged.

Go along with it.

This isn’t right.

I know. We don’t have a choice.

Sharp Tool shook his head, facing forward.

“Save your breath, Rose.” Luna said. “I’ve made my decision.”

The two lackeys stepped forward to grab the girl.

“No, you two stay. I’ll do this, you just say something if someone is coming by.”

Steel Armor looked to Sharp tool and shrugged reluctantly. The two backed up and turned around, standing guard. They heard the sound of a girl sobbing in fear before hearing a sickening wumpf as a hit connected, and the girl cried out in pain. Both of the boys cringed as the sounds of the one-sided fight when on. Finally, all that was left was the sound of sobbing.

“Alright. Let’s go.” Luna called.

The two boys gave each other nervous glances before tagging along behind Luna. Sharp glanced to his right, and saw a brief glance of the young girl bleeding and crying on the ground. He recognized her, or so he thought. Under the blood, she looked a lot like the girl they’d helped from the junior Carve only a few days ago. Sharp shuddered and shook his head, staring forward. It didn’t do any good to think about that.

“Hey Celestia.”

“Hey Luna.” Celestia greeted, nervously checking the clock. Jake was late. “How was school?”

“It was fine. Didn’t really do much.” Luna crossed her arms and leaned back. Celestia noticed her knuckles were battered and bruised. She swallowed nervously and turned her attention forward.

“That can be nice.” Celestia pulled out of the school.

Luna looked over at her sister.

“Okay, you’ve been acting really weird since yesterday. What’s going on? Don’t just say it’s nothing or you’re tired, because we both know that’s not true.”

Celestia stared ahead, cursing herself for making it so obvious. She swallowed her fear and turned to Luna.

“I’ll tell you when we get home.”

Luna stared back, but nodded skeptically. The rest of the car ride was spent in an uncomfortable silence, Luna’s mind running over what could’ve happened, and Celestia kept telling herself that Luna wouldn’t do anything to her.

Where the hell are you, Jake?

They pulled into the driveway, and Luna followed Celestia inside. Luna went to the kitchen and set her bag down on the table. While her back was turned, Celestia reached over and hit record on the video camera sitting on the counter. Thankfully, the motor turning the tape inside was quiet enough that Luna didn’t notice.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Luna said as she turned around. Celestia took a deep breath.

“I saw you beat up a kid behind the school.” Celestia braced herself for Luna’s reaction.

Luna’s eyes widened in surprise.

“When?”

“When I picked you up yesterday. Those two guys pinned him down and you beat him up.” Celestia said. In her fear, she just kept stumbling over her words and talking. “You beat him up without even letting him fight back. You’re no better than those guys who bullied you in middle school.”

“Shut up!” Luna screamed. “You don’t have any right to talk about that! You didn’t have to deal with that! You were all up there with the ‘popular’ kids and you all thought you were so cool just because you played sports and were a bunch of idiots!”

“I’m not an idiot! Besides, how can you pin some kid down and beat him up without even giving a fair chance to fight back? That’s exactly what they did to you!”

“Oh like you’d know what they did to me. You were so wrapped up in ‘college life’ that you didn’t even notice when your own sister came home with bruises and cuts.”

“I know, and I’m sorry Luna. But you need to stop this. This isn’t right!” Celestia pleaded.

Luna stared at her sister. After a few moments, she laughed. Celestia was confused. Luna laughed again.

“I see what’s going on here. I get it.”

“What?” Celestia asked.

“You’re trying to take away the only bit of power I’ve ever had so you can keep me down.”

“What?! No!”

“Don’t lie to me!” Luna screamed. Celestia backed away. Luna was beyond angry at this point, she was down right insane. “The one chance I’ve ever had to get a better life! The one time in my life I wasn’t scared! The one time I was even half as enabled at school as you and you want to shut me down. Just to save your reputation! Because you couldn’t stand being second to your sister!”

“Luna, that’s not what this is!”

“Yes it IS!” Luna screamed. “You always did this to me! You can’t just let me be happy for once, can you?!”

“Luna! I’m no-”

“SHUT UP!” Luna swung her arm wildly, her emotions causing her to forget everything Jake taught her. Luna’s fist caught Celestia’s cheek, and she fell back against the counter and to the ground. Celestia stared up at her little sister, terror keeping her from acknowledging the pain. Luna was breathing heavily, a fury overtaking her. “You got me! I beat up Cole Sanford and his dumbass friends started followed me around, doing whatever I wanted. But because of them, I get people beating up other people for me. I get money. I get respect. Something I never even got from you.”

Celestia’s eyes drifted from Luna’s, and focused on something behind her. Luna took notice of this.

“What are you looking at?” Luna yelled. Celestia didn’t answer.

Luna turned around slowly. Standing there, in the archway to the kitchen, was Jake McNab in his civilian clothes. He stared back at Luna, betrayal and hurt etched all over his face.

“Jake…” Luna said softly.

McNab shook his head, holding back tears. He didn’t speak, he just stared back at Luna. He turned to his side, avoiding her eyes. There were footsteps at the doorway, and he looked up and nodded. As he stepped back, a police officer stepped into the room from the front door.

“Luna Solaire. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” The police officer stepped forward, putting handcuffs on Luna. Luna complied quietly, the weight of the situation finally bearing down her. Her eyes met McNab’s, and she pleaded with him.

“Jake, please.” Luna said.

McNab shook his head, not speaking as he turned away from her.

“Come on.” The police officer said as he pushed her forward.

McNab stared at the ground as Luna was escorted out. Once she’d left the room, Jake looked up to Celestia. She was sitting on the ground holding her face where she’d been hit. Jake walked over to her and kneeled down.

“Are you alright?”

Celestia shook her head as she began to cry. McNab sighed as he pulled her into a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Celestia.”

The two stayed there, Celestia crying for a long time. Eventually, when Celestia couldn’t cry anymore, she just stayed there with McNab, comforted by his embrace. At some point he had gone from kneeling to sitting by her side, and the two were silent for a period. After awhile, McNab spoke softly.

“You’re gonna have to give a statement at the police station.”

Celestia nodded softly.

“I know.”

“We can go whenever you’re ready.” McNab said. “Just take your time.”

“No, I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?”

Celestia nodded.

“I just want to get it over with.”

McNab nodded softly, and let go of her as he stood. He reached down to help her up, and shook took his hand. As the two were stood there, she was surprised with how tall he was. That was when she realized something.

“This is the first time we’ve met in person, isn’t it?”

McNab nodded.

“I believe it is.” He stuck his hand out. “It’s good to meet you. Just wish it was under better circumstances.”

Celestia took his hand and nodded.

“Me too. I just… I want to thank you.”

McNab shrugged.

“For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“You did, though. You were there to support me. And while all this was happening, I realized something.” McNab tilted his head in confusion, and Celestia rubbed her arm as she continued. “I realized that she was right. I was more occupied with being accepted by people, that I didn’t stop to think if what I was doing was the right thing to do.”

McNab nodded, realization dawning. Celestia smiled.

“I’ve decided I’m gonna change. I’m gonna make friends for the right reasons. Friends who will like me for who I want to be, not for what they want me to be.” McNab smiled back as Celestia continued. “And I’m changing my major to education. I want to be a better teacher than those that let this all happened to Luna. There are more kids out there in the same situation. I want to be able to help them see there’s a better way.”

McNab nodded slowly.

“I’m glad to hear it. You’ll be great at it.” He was taken by surprise as Celestia embraced him again. He smiled and hugged her back. After a few moments, she let go.

“Alright.” She sighed, steeling herself. “Let’s go to the police station.”

Celestia didn’t like the police station. It made her uncomfortable. Everything was very utilitarian and was definitely a place funded by the government. The chairs were cheap and metal, and decorations were minimal. Grey seemed to be a common theme as well, since almost everything was that color. She shuddered as they walked up the wire-meshed windows of the desk. The lady behind the counter looked up, recognizing McNab next to Celestia.

“Hello, Jake. What can I do for you two?”

“Hey Nickie. We’re here to make a statement on the girl who just got brought in. Luna Solaire.”

The woman known as Nickie nodded, reaching over and pulling a file from the top of a stack. Opening it up, McNab saw that they’d already processed her, as her mugshot was paperclipped to an official looking document with her information on it. Nickie glanced over the page, noting the charge of assault. She glanced up at Celestia, her eyes falling on the bruise on her face. Nickie grabbed a form, and slid it through the slit in the bottom of the window. McNab grabbed it and started filling it out for Celestia. Nickie leaned forward, speaking softly.

“Is there anything we can do for you, sweetie? Anyone we can call?” She said to Celestia.

Celestia shook her head.

“I’m fine. Has anyone called our parents yet?”

“No, I don’t believe so. I can do that for you now if you’d like?”

“Please, if you would.”

“Of course.” Nickie reached for the phone next to her. Celestia gave her a phone number, and Nickie thanked her as the phone rang. McNab slid the now mostly empty form over to Celestia.

“Alright, just sign there at the bottom.” He said, sliding his own form under the glass to Nickie.

“Ms. Solaire.” A voice called. Celestia looked up, and a man in a suit walked up. “My name is Detective Carson. I’ll be taking you and Officer McNab’s statements, if you’d come this way.”

Celestia nodded.

“Of course.”

She slipped the signed document under the glass to Nickie, who pulled the phone away to thank her. Celestia thanked her back as she followed Detective Carson down the hall. He led the two to a conference room near a bunching of desks.

“Officer McNab, if you could wait out here while I get her statement.”

“Of course, Detective.” McNab said. Celestia looked over to him, and he smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Detective Carson will take care of you. He’s the best we’ve got here.”

Celestia smiled back nervously.

“Alright. Thank you, Jake.”

The two of them stepped into the conference room, taking their seats around the large table after Carson shut the door. Jake fell into the bench outside, sighing tiredly. Looking up, he saw another suited detective enter a door on the far wall. A few moments later, Jake could see him through the glass window next to the door. It was an interrogation room. The members of the department dubbed it “The Looking Glass” due to the fact that there wasn’t the normal one-way glass in the window. After the third time a criminal shattered the glass back in 1991, the department gave up paying the money for the costly glass and just replaced it with a regular pane of glass. Jake could see a blue haired girl sitting at the table, crying. The detective tried to talk to her, but she wasn’t responding.

Jake stood up and walked over to the window of the room. He stared through the glass at Luna, the emotions from before resurfacing. He’d trusted her, pitied her, and put his own ass on the line. And she’d repaid him by beating up innocent kids for money. It was that moment that Luna looked up at him. She said something inaudible to Jake, but he didn’t care. He stared back without acknowledging her. She said something else, her eyes pleading with him. He didn’t respond. He just turned and walked away.

Luna’s heart fell as Jake ignored her. He hadn’t said a word to her since he’d gotten back. When he’d seen her hit Celestia. Luna fell back against her seat, her sobs returning in full force. The detective across from her sighed.

“Luna, we have video evidence of you not only admitting to the crimes, but also of you hitting your sister. Combine that with the testimonies from over a dozen of your classmates, you’re going down either way. But I might be able to offer you a deal if you work with me here.”

Luna shook her head.

“I’m already alone.” She said softly. The realization dawned on her that she really was completely alone. “I’ve got no one. I can’t even handle myself. I’m all alone.” She broke down sobbing again, and the detective shook his head.

“Look, I’m gonna give you some time to come to a decision. I’ve gotta go file some paperwork. When I get back, you decide if you want to work with us or not.” And with that, the detective stood up and left the room.

Luna pulled her arms close to her, rocking back and forth. The sound of the AC was deafening. Not even the sounds of the rest of the department made it through the walls. It was the mocking period to the end of her sentence to be alone for the rest of her life.

But what the detective said rang with her. Maybe if she took the offer, Jake would forgive her. It was worth a shot. She wiped the tears from her eyes. It was her only shot.

“Detective!” She called out. “I did it! I did all of it!”

The door to the interrogation room opened, and the detective slowly walked in and sat across from her. He watched her with a reluctant gaze.

“Why the sudden change of heart?” He asked.

Luna looked out at Celestia and Jake who were seated outside of the conference room. She felt the familiar pang of jealousy, but pushed it aside.

“I’ve already let down somebody close to me. I don’t want to do it again.”

The detective followed her gaze and nodded slowly.

“Alright. Let’s get started.” He flipped open the file in his hands. “Tell me about Cole Sanford.”

“Jake, are you gonna be alright?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah. Eventually. Hopefully.” Jake sighed. “I should be asking you the same thing. You were the one who got hit.”

“That doesn’t mean you aren’t hurting too. You two were rather close. Closer than I’ve seen her with most people.”

Jake shook his head.

“You’re definitely gonna be a good teacher someday.” He laughed grimly. “Yeah. I’m mad. I’m disappointed. I’m…” He sighed, defeated. “I just feel so betrayed. I’ve never trusted anyone as much as her, and this is what I get.” Jake clenched and unclenched his fists. “I never should’ve let it get this far.”

“Jake… Just don’t do anything you’ll regret.” Celestia said. Jake nodded.

“Of course not.”

Jake’s phone rang in his pocket. He checked the number, it was Bowie.

“I’ve gotta take this. Are you gonna be alright?”

“I’ll be fine. My dad should be here soon.” Celestia smiled. Jake glanced over her shoulder.

“Looks like soon is now.”

Celestia turned around to see her father speaking to the woman at the desk.

“Dad!” She called. Her father looked up.

“Celestia.” He said. Celestia walked over to him and hugged him, their conversation inaudible to Jake.

Jake smiled at the two as he answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey Jake. It’s Bowie. How are things down there?”

“As much as it pains me to say, she was right, Bow. Luna was running her own gang after beating up the original ringleader.”

“Damn. I was really hoping it was somethin’ else.”

“Me too. To make things worse, I saw her hit her sister. So did another officer who saw it through the window. Detective Carson is interrogating her right now.”

“How’s her sister holding up?”

“She’s a bit bruised, but nothing serious. It seems like Luna forgot what I taught her when she was hitting Celestia. It was just a wild swing that only grazed her face.”

“That’s good news, at least. How are you holding up?”

“I’m... “ Jake sighed tiredly. “I dunno, Bow. I’m just feeling a lot of things.”

“I get you, man. Don’t worry.” Bowie hesitated. “Listen, I’ve got some…well. News.”

“What’s up?” Jake grew worried.

“Have you been paying attention to the news recently? About all the stuff going on overseas?”

“Yeah, why?”

“How much do you know?”

Jake sighed.

“I dunno. Just a bunch of people arguing and some farmers flashing guns to look tough. Why?”

“An oilfield just got bombed by those ‘farmers flashing guns’.”

“Aw hell. Tell me it wasn’t one of ours.”

“I’m afraid it was.”

“Son of a bitch, Bow.” Jake cussed. “Well, what’s gonna happen next?”

“They’re putting boots on the ground.” Bowie said grimly.

Jake froze, his heart dropping.

“Bow… please tell me you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”

“Jake. We’re being activated.”

Jake shook his head. He didn’t respond. How could he? He looked around the police station, his eyes falling on Celestia speaking with her father. She looked up, spotting the worry on his face. She started to stand to come talk to him, but McNab put on his best fake smile and waved her off. She reluctantly sat, and her turned back around, hiding his face from her. His fake smiled dropped like a rock.

“God dammit, Bow. When are we being deployed?”

“We’re getting shipped to training tomorrow.”

“That’s a pretty quick turn around.”

“Well they didn’t expect someone to not be here.”

“Fair enough.”Jake nodded slowly to himself. “Alright. I’ll get my loose ends tied up here… and I guess I’ll be there tonight.”

“Just make sure you make it by morning. Otherwise, you’re facing desertion.”

“Yeah, you really don’t need to remind me.”

“See you soon, Jake.”

“See you.”

McNab hung up, staring at the phone.

“Is everything alright, Jake?”

McNab looked up to see Celestia standing in front of him. He shook his head.

“No. It’s uh… It’s not.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My unit’s been activated.”

“...What does that mean?”

“Celestia… I’m getting shipped to Saddle Arabia.”

Chapter 7 (Rewrite)

Author's Note

After deep consideration, I realized that that was a fucking terrible ending. Fuck that. I can do better. SO! We're not done yet. We're still going. And since I can't put this Author's note on the bottom and the top, I'm gonna throw a real quick thing here:
PM if interested in proofreading for story flow and such as.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7 (Rewrite)

Saddle Arabia

August, 2012

Fourteen years later

“He’s gonna be fine! Just keep pressure on that wound!” Jake shouted over the roar of the battlefield around him. He turned from the private in front of him, screaming to be heard around the street they were on. “I need a goddamn medic!”

Jake turned around, and his eyes fell on a man a dozen or so feet away. The man waved. He was the medic, Kyle “Doc” Crawford. They were separated by an open road at least ten feet wide. Bullets ricocheted off the road as an unseen assailant let loose, keeping the men pinned. Jake nodded to the medic.

“Covering fire!” He screamed as he leaned out, opening fire down the road.

The enemy gunfire ceased for a brief moment, but it was enough for the medic to be able to slip across the road unharmed. As soon as the medic was safe, Jake pulled back into cover, and the enemy fire resumed. He ran over to the medic, kneeling beside the wounded man. The medic began treating the man’s leg, explaining to Jake what was going on.

“He’s been shot in the leg, I need Anvil to keep pressure on his leg here. Nab, keep him awake and alert.”

“Got it.” Jake nodded, turned to the man’s face. “Hey, Barley. Stay with me, alright? We’re just gonna chat while Doc does his magic, alright?”

“God dammit, Nab. It hurts so damn much.” Barley groaned.

“Hey, don’t worry about that. Just talk to me. Alright? We’re just gonna talk.” Barley nodded. “Good. Tell me about home. Where are you from?”

Barley glanced down at the medics hands, currently soaked red. He shook his head, and looked back to McNab.

“I uh… I’m from AppleloosAAH!” He screamed out in pain as the medic found a particularly painful spot. McNab held him down, still trying to keep his mind away from his wounds.

“Hey, look at me. Got any family?”

“I’ve got a daughter, but... ugh… we left on bad terms. We… Oh god, Nab. I ain’t ever gonna get to apologize to her. The last thing she’s gonna remember of her old man is our argument.”

“Hey, don’t think about that. Alright? What’s she like?”

“She’s sixteen. She was… a bit of an accident. Me and my wife had her when we were still dating. We were eighteen when we she was born. But she’s my little girl, even if we didn’t plan to have her when we did.” The man smiled. “She’s got the sweetest brown eyes, and long… brown… hair…”

The man’s eyes fell closed, and his body went limp. McNab’s head swung over to the medic, ice in his stomach. The medic shook his head.

“He’s just unconscious. We’ve stopped the bleeding, and I’ve given him some fluids to keep him alive. But he’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get back to the FOB right fuckin’ now, or he’s gonna die.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” Jake nodded to the medic, and grabbed his radio. “This is 2-1 Sierra Lima. I need an RTO to my position. I’m on the north-east side of the road under the two story building’s awning. Over.”

“2-1 Sierra Lima, this is 1-2 Romeo Tango Oscar. On my way. Out.”

Jake stared down at the man’s form in front of him. The medic looked over, and nodded his head.

“He’s gonna be fine. He’ll get to go home and be with his daughter soon.”

Jake nodded absently, still staring at the man. He didn’t hear the medic, his thoughts were racing already.

“Make way! Move it! Get the fuck out of the way!” Doc screamed as they brought Barley into the base on a stretcher. Jake held onto the back of the stretcher, barking orders just like the medic.

Two nearby privates ran forward and pulled the flap to the medical tent open, and Jake and Doc ran inside, Jake giving a nod of thanks to the men as they passed.

“Set him right over there. Red! Get the hell over here!” Doc called.

From farther down the tent, another uniformed man ran over. Much like Doc, he bore the same medical patch on his shoulder of two serpents intertwining a winged sword. Red nodded to Jake as he set Barley’s stretcher on the cot.

“Thank you, Sergeant. We’ll take it from here.”

Jake nodded and backed away slightly, but still staying close just in case. He watched with bated breath as they removed the field dressings. He cringed internally as he saw the bloody gash. The medics, with practiced ease, didn’t even flinch as they immediately got to work cleaning the wound. Much to Jake’s relief, the wound was actually much smaller than he thought once they’d cleaned off all the excess blood. Red injected his leg with another shot of painkillers before Doc pulled the bullet out with medical tongs. Red then reached back over and inserted something rather odd looking into the wound.

“Is that… a tampon?” Jake asked. Doc grinned.

“Yeah. These little bastards are perfect for these kind of wounds. They’re small when you put them in, but then they expand to fill the hole. Super absorbent, too.”

Jake just nodded, deciding not to dwell on the subject too much. The two medics silently finished wrapping the wound, standing back and nodding to each other when they were done. Doc looked up at Jake, and smiled.

“He’s gonna be alright, Sergeant. Just a little rest and he should be back on his feet soon. He’ll get to see his little girl again.”

Jake nodded silently, sitting on the cot next to the man. The medics looked at each other and shrugged. Doc leaned down to start cleaning up, and Red waved him off as he was still in full field gear.

“Go get changed, I’ll take care of this.”

“Thanks, Red.” Doc said. “Sergeant, I’m going to go get out my gear. I’m suggesting you do the same.”

Jake nodded absentmindedly.

“Alright.” He stared at Barley for several silent moments before he seemingly understood what he actually said. He shook his head. “Yeah, I’ll just… Yeah. Let’s go.”

Doc watched, not even trying to conceal his concern for Jake anymore.

“Nab, are you alright?” Doc asked.

Jake froze at the flap of the tent, his gaze falling to the sandy ground outside. He turned to face Doc, and shook his head earnestly.

“I don’t know.”

Doc nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Jake nodded and left the tent, the intense sun of the Saddle Arabian desert assaulting his eyes. He cussed under his breath, loud enough for Doc to hear.

“God I fuckin’ hate this place.”

“You sure stick around a lot for someone who hates it so much.”

Jake elected not to respond, instead keeping silent as he walked forward. He and Doc were in the barracks tent, and Jake lifted the tent before letting Doc on first. He ducked in after, but was quickly hit by the onslaught of concerns for Barley that were directed at Doc. Doc grinned to all the men assembled, and answered simply.

“He’ll be fine. It wasn’t too serious, and he should be able to go home and see his daughter.”

The men assembled cheered heartily and clapped Doc on the back before heading out of the tent, off to do whatever it is they do in their spare time. Jake grinned weakly as the men gave him their various thanks for his help in saving Barley. As the last man shuffled out, the sergeant let the grin fall, and his shoulders sagged with an uncharacteristic weight. Doc watched him as he all but collapsed onto his cot, throwing his equipment onto the ground before falling back against his pillow.

“Nab… I know it ain’t my place, but when Barley started talking about his girl back home, you got real uncomfortable. So… I was just wondering… If you had a daughter back home too.”

“No, Doc. I don’t have a daughter.” Jake called, unmoving from his spot on the cot.

“Is it a sister?”

Jake paused and shrug as he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the cot.

“...I guess you could call her that.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister, Nab.”

“I don’t. I’ve just got this girl back home. She’s a few years younger than me, and I met her when I was still on the police force back home. I’m gonna cut a lot out and just say that due to a series of events, I started seeing her as the little sister I never had. And I trusted her enough to teach her how to fight, since she was getting bullied.

“Then I get sent to reserves training, and part way through it I get call from her sister and she tells me she’s gotten wrapped up in all kinds of trouble. I get the XO to let me leave to deal with it, somehow, and when I get there I see a police officer pull up outside the house. Apparently, he was responding to a call of domestic violence at the house. We go in, him right behind me, and we see the girl slap the shit out of her sister.”

“Damn…” Doc gasped. Jake nodded.

“And as it turned out, in addition to this incident, a warrant for her arrest had been issued that day after a parent reported gang violence at their child's school, and was able to name her assailant as Luna. Uh… she’s the girl who slapped her sister. Anyway…” Jake sighed. “The officer arrests her and takes her into the station. I go to the station to give my statement, and I… I dunno. I just felt so betrayed. I’d never trusted anyone that much, and she just… walked right over me. I wanted to get away from it all. So I enlisted full time. And when my time to reenlist came up, I hadn’t found it in me to forgive her yet. So I just signed on for another tour of duty. Reenlistment time again, and I stayed again. I think you can see where that takes us to now.”

Jake shook his head.

“But I guess… I guess seeing Barley like that, with a disturbingly similar circumstance to my own… I dunno. I just pictured myself in his situation. How I’d never get to reunite with Luna. Maybe she’s changed, maybe she hasn’t. But I’d never know if I just let myself die out here.”

Jake fell silent, staring out the clear plastic sheet sewn into the tent to act as a window, watching the men outside. Doc shook his head.

“Jake, I’m not a therapist, but I definitely think it would do you good to see this girl again.” Doc walked in front of Jake and sat on the opposite cot. Jake nodded slowly. Doc internally sighed in relief, happy to see his friend was still listening to reason. “How many leave days do you have?”

Jake shrugged. “Sixty I think.”

“...Are you serious?”

Jake nodded.

“Have you been deployed for that long?”

“I just don’t take leave days. Where would I go, anyway?”

“Jake… Under my medical recommendation, take your fucking leave time.”

Jake nodded.

“I’ll talk to the XO about it.”

“No, we’re doing it right now.”

“Doc we can’t just go bother him whenever.”

“You think he wants to be writing those reports right now? He’ll take any excuse he can get to not do paperwork.”

“Doc…” Jake all but begged. B

But it was too late. Doc had already ducked out of the tent and was on his way to the XO’s tent. Jake sighed and followed him out, futilely begging him to stop.

“Doc, come on. Just let it go. I can handle this on my own.”

“I’ve known you for three years now, Jake. No you can’t. You’ll just put it off the minute I leave.”

“I swear I won’t.” Jake started to get more desperate as Doc rounded the corner and was only a few feet from the XO’s tent. “Kyle, come on, man. Kyle.”

Doc ignored him as he swung the tent flap open. Inside, Captain Grey sat staring at his laptop, pausing only to look up at the two that had just entered his tent. They threw crisp salutes, Jake’s being a bit more wild as he remembered almost too late to do that when entering the XO’s tent.

“Should I be worried why one of my medics and a Staff Sergeant just barged into my tent unannounced?” He asked. Doc spoke first, lowering his hand as he did so.

“Sir, Staff Sergeant McNab has something to talk to you about.” He said. The captain just stared at him for a moment before turning to McNab.

“What is going on here, Sergeant?”

Jake lowered his hand, and sighed reluctantly.

“Corporal Crawford has advised that I take some leave time and return stateside for a brief period.”

Captain Grey looked between the two, and shook his head tiredly.

“One of you is going to tell me what the hell is going on right now before I make you both run PT bare ass naked.”

“Sir, permission to speak freely.” Jake asked. The captain laughed sarcastically.

“Oh I think that ship sailed when you two just waltzed right in here to tell me I’m going to be getting paperwork on my desk tomorrow when you fill out your leave request. So what is this all about?”

“Well… do you remember back in ‘98, when we were still in training with the reserves back in Canterlot?” Jake asked. The captain nodded. “Right, well, do you remember when I had to take emergency leave back then?” The captain nodded again. “Well… That was for me to go deal with a probably back home with… my little sister.” Jake glanced at Doc as he said the last part. Captain Grey either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“I remember, but how the hell is this even remotely relevant to right now?”

“His sister got arrested fourteen years ago and he hasn’t spoken to her since.” Doc interjected. Jake whipped his head over to Doc. Doc shrugged. “You weren’t gonna say it.”

“Would you just let me speak?”

“Hey!” The captain snapped his fingers loudly, jarring to two back to him. “So you’re saying you’re requesting leave to go see your sister get out of jail?”

“Well… that’s the thing, sir. I never actually found out what happened to her after she was arrested.” Jake winced as the what he just said finally hit him. The captain stared him down for quite a long time, a scowl on his face as he did so. After an uncomfortable amount of time for the two enlisted men, the officer finally spoke.

“Is this the same sister who called you, scared?”

“That’s the other sister, sir.”

Captain Grey nodded.

“And what happened to this other sister?”

“...She got hit by the other sister and arrested for gang violence.”

“Did she now? Interesting.” Captain Grey pondered aloud. “Now, did you not keep in contact with the one in prison or the other one? Or both?”

“Both, sir.”

Captain Grey nodded again, dragging the silence out for as long as he could before speaking.

“When I granted that leave to you, do you know what I said to you at the time?”

Jake felt his heart drop, and he nodded silently.

“And what was it, Sergeant?”

“‘Keep her safe.’”

“You can’t really do that if you don’t keep in contact, can you?”

“No, sir.”

“No. You can’t.” The captain grinned sarcastically, and Jake could see the real anger that boiled beneath. “So what has possessed you to change that now?”

“When Private Barley got hit today… He started talking about his daughter back home, and how he’d gotten into an argument with her before his deployment. He was talking about how he was scared he’d never been able to apologize to her himself. He was scared he was gonna die before he could talk to her again. And I don’t want that to happen to me, sir.”

The sarcasm was gone from Captain Grey’s face as he stared at McNab for a long time. Eventually, without speaking, he reached into the drawers of his field desk and pulled out a leave form and handed it to McNab.

“Have this filled out by chow tonight and I’ll get it approved tomorrow.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Mhm. Now, get the hell out of my tent.”

“Yes, sir.” The two men choroused as they saluted and left the tent.

Neither man spoke, Jake’s thoughts were racing. He’d be home in a few days, and he’d get to talk to Luna and Celestia. Suddenly, his thoughts came to a grinding halt.

...Where do they live?

He realized that he had no idea where the two lived. He mentally berated himself as he realized that in his years of brooding, he never got to know if they moved at all. I’m such a fuckin’ idiot. He thought to himself. Maybe he’d need to put a few more days on that leave request. He was gonna have to make some calls first.

“Hey, Nab.” Doc nudged Jake, rousing him from his thoughts. “Red just texted me. Barley’s awake. Wanna go visit him?”

“Yeah. I just wanna make sure he’s alright.”

“Alright.” Doc smiled and nodded.

They turned and headed towards the medical tent. Doc raised the flap, letting Jake go in first. Barley turned his head and cheering softly.

“Hey. Look who it is. Guess I gotta thank you for saving my life or something, don’t I?” He called.

“I’d rather you didn’t. I’d have to do something first.”

“Well then in that case, I wasn’t talking to you. So thanks, Doc.” Barley grinned.

“No problem, Barley.” Doc said as he walked past. “Now behave, ladies.”

“Fuck you.”

“Uhuh.”

After Doc walked to the back of the tent and met with Red, Jake and Barley were left alone. Barley looked up at Jake, still grinning.

“In all honesty, I’ve gotta thank you, man. I got a chance to call my little girl back home. We had a pretty good chat. I guess while I was bleeding and trying to talk to you, I had my little come to Jesus moment and realized that I was being immature.” He grinned. “Wouldn’t have done it without you talking to me.”

Jake grinned.

“Well, I’ve gotta thank you too. I’m taking a leave of absence to go him and visit with an old friend of mine. We left on pretty bad terms, too, and I haven’t talked to her in… fourteen years?”

“Jesus, Nab. Wait long enough?”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just… trying to fix my mistakes. Better late than never, right?”

Barley nodded softly.

“Always.”

Jake shook his head.

“Well, I just wanted to check in on you. Gotta get back on your feet so we can send you to get shot at again.”

Barley chuckled.

“I’ll do that.” Barley nodded. “Take care, Nab.”

Jake nodded.

“I will.”

Chapter 7.5

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 8

Canterlot

May, 1998

Fourteen Years Prior

The angry buzz of the alarm sounded as the door opened, and the buzz immediately ceased once the door had shut behind the pair. Luna hated that sound, but she was forced to hear it whenever any door in this god forsaken prison opened. The officer behind her gently nudged her forward, and Luna complied. Walking down the hall, Luna felt like she was being escorted to the electric chair, rather than visitation. But to her, it might as well have been. She hadn’t spoken to anyone in her family since the incident in November. Not that she didn’t have the chance. Granted, she hadn’t been allowed visitors for the first two months, but even once she gained visitation rights, she hadn’t accepted any visitors. I didn’t deserve them, she told herself. But after being told that a person had been requesting to visit her every day for a month, she finally relented. She had no idea who would be wanting to visit her that badly, but she decided that if they had gone through that much trouble, she’d meet with them just once to humor them.

Another buzz as the door to the visitation room opened. Luna stepped inside, glancing around the room. Her heart froze as she saw a head of pastel pink, green, and blue hair sitting at an empty table. Celestia smiled at her, and Luna bowed her head, hiding her face. The officer behind her kept moving her forward until she sat at the table.

“You have ten minutes. Keep your hands where we can see them. Both of you. Got it?”

Celestia smiled and Luna nodded weakly. Satisfied, the officer left the two to their own devices. Silence fell over the table like a blanket of snow. After several long and uncomfortable moments of stillness, Celestia hesitantly smiled and spoke softly and kindly.

“Hey Luna.” She said. “How have you been?”

Luna raised her head slightly, her eyes tinted with both confusion and fear not quite meeting Celestia’s. She shook her head, shrugging half-heartedly.

“I’ve been better. I guess.” She let her head fall again. She squeezed her eyes shut, deciding to cut right to the chase. “Why are you here?”

Celestia’s smiled faded.

“I wanted to see my sister.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s something that’s been bothering me for a long time, and I need to get it out.” Celestia’s lighthearted facade was gone. She felt like she was all but pleading to her sister to accept that she wanted to be here on her own volition. “Can I just say what I need to? If you still don’t want to talk, then I can leave.”

Luna finally nodded slowly.

“Go ahead.” She said, still not meeting her gaze. Celestia felt her body relax in relief, but not for long. Now, she had to actually get the words out.

“I’m sorry.” Celestia said softly. Luna looked up. Celestia felt her heart lighten as she finally saw her sister’s beautiful blue eyes after so long.

“W-What?” Luna asked, showing more energy in that one word than she had in the entire conversation so far.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was never there when you needed me. I’m sorry I pushed you out of my life.” There was so much more Celestia wanted to say, but she couldn’t get the words out as moisture clouded her vision.

“W-what?” Luna whispered through her tears. Celestia shook her head, tears openly falling now.

“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t the sister you should’ve had. I’m sorry I left you in middle school. I’m sorry that I didn’t see when you were getting bullied. I’m just…” She trailed off. She couldn’t speak anymore as her crying grew harder.

The young sister leaned forward, embracing her sister as the elder sister’s sobs filled the otherwise silent room. Luna looked over at the officer standing by, silently making sure they weren’t going to be thrown out. He nodded to her, his face betraying no emotions he might’ve been feeling. Luna nodded back at him. Luna held her sister. And once her sobs had slowed, Luna spoke softly.

“You have no reason to apologize, Celestia. It was because of my terrible decisions that got me here, not anything you did.”

“I could’ve been there… I could’ve…” Celestia was overtaken once gain by her tears.

“Celestia, it was never your fault. You shouldn’t be the one apologizing. I’m the one who’s sorry, not you.” Luna shook her head. “I’m sorry for putting all of you through the consequences of my terrible decisions.

“Thank you for showing me that what I was doing was wrong. I had a lot of time to reflect, after I was home alone with Dad. I thought of how... I’m sorry to say it, but how awful your friends were. I did a lot of thing and I realized my friends were pretty awful people too. I also realize that I wasn’t happy at all with where I was.” Celestia smiled. “So I decided to change some things in my life. For me. First off, and most important: I’ve decided to change my major.”

“Really?” Luna smiled. “To what?”

“Education and administration. I want to be a teacher. And maybe someday even a principle. Who knows.” Celestia shrugged. “But I’ve got a lot more options now.”

“Oh thank god.” Luna sighed. Celestia smiled and tilted her head in confusion, and Luna laughed. “You didn’t seriously think you’d have successful career with a Hospitality degree, did you?” Luna shook her head. “Come on, you were getting a glorified certificate in working as a desk receptionist at a hotel.”

Celestia joined in her laughing.

“Yeah, I guess that was a pretty bad idea.” Celestia shook her head. “God, what was I thinking?”

“Quote of the year.” Luna sighed. “I can see it printed on the front of some big magazine thing.”

Celestia nodded, and her smile faded once again.

“Yeah.” Celestia sighed distractedly. The air around the elder girl shifted, an uneasiness taking over her face as she seemingly internally struggled to speak. Luna picked up on this.

“What’s wrong?”

Celestia steeled herself and looked her sister in the eyes, a determination that Luna was definitely not expecting. The sudden shift caught her off officer, but Celestia spoke anyway.

“Before I say anything, just know that I’ve not faked anything so far. This visit really was to be reunited with you.”

And shred of Luna’s joy from the meeting faded and was quickly replaced with a skeptical worry.

“Okay… What are you trying to say?”

Well.. there’s one last thing I need to talk to you about.” Celestia said. Luna nodded.

“What is it?”

“Luna… you remember Jake was in the reserves, right?” Luna nodded again.

“Of course. That was kinda how most of this,” She gestured around the room. “Started.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Celestia shook her head. “Well... his reserves unit got activated.”

Luna’s heart sank.

“O-Oh.” Luna said. She was shaken by the news. “W-When?”

“The day you were arrested.”

“Five months ago?!” Luna exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried, Luna. You wouldn’t talk to us. I couldn’t call, I couldn’t meet, there was nothing I could do to tell you.”

Guilt overtook her Luna. Her anger ground to a halt as she sunk into her seat.

“O-Oh. Well… did he send any way to contact him?”

Celestia shook her head sadly.

“He didn’t give us anything.”

Celestia mentally berated herself for not trying hard enough, and Luna held her head in her hands as she leaned her elbows on the table. Celestia sighed as she tried to reason with her sister.

“I’m sorry, Luna. He was really... torn up after everything and he left in a hurry before I could really get anything from him. Then he was gone by the next morning. I tried talking to some of the people at the police station, but all I got out of them was just what he told me.”

“There has to be some way to find him.” Luna shook her head. “There’s always a way. A directory or someone we can talk to.”

“Luna, I’m sorry to be the crusher of dreams, but... He’s gone. If he wants to contact us, it’ll be on his terms. Even if there is a directory, we wouldn’t even know how to find him.”

Luna shook her head, giving up on hiding her tears.

“I’ve watched the news, Celestia. I know what’s going on in Saddle Arabia. He’s in combat, getting shot at. And it’s my fault he’s there.”

“No, it’s not. He’s gone because of politics, and other things. Not you.”

Luna wasn’t listening, and Celestia leaned forward, but stopped and glanced at the officer. He nodded stoically before embracing her sister, whispering softly to her.

“It’s okay, Luna. He’s gonna be alright. He’s gonna be fine.” Celestia sighed wearily. “Look, I’ll see what I can find. But… don’t get your hopes up.”

Luna shook her head, and tried to speak through her tears.

“The only friend I ever made, and I drove him away because I’m a horrible person.”

“No, Luna, that’s not true.” Celestia tried to tell her, but Luna wasn’t listening. “Hey, look at me.” Celestia lifted Luna’s head to meet her eyes, her face set in grim determination. “You’re not a horrible person. You’re gonna finish your time here, you’re gonna go back to school, and you’re gonna prove it to the world that you are not that person. Okay?”

Luna shook her head.

“I don’t think I can. Not after what I did to all of those people.”

“I know you can. You fell, and hit the ground pretty hard. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get back up. It may take a little longer, but if that’s what it takes, then so be it. They’ll forgive you if you’re willing to put forth the effort.”

Luna laughed softly through her tears.

“God you sound like mom.”

“I know. I can’t stand it.” Celestia chuckled tiredly. “Promise me you’ll at least try?”

“I will.” Luna nodded meekly. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

The two let go at last, and Luna wiped the tears from her eyes. Celestia smiled at her little sister and Luna looked up, smiling back.

“Times up.” The officer interrupted. He wasn’t nearly as forceful as he was when they came in, but he was still firm. One had to hold appearances after all. Celestia nodded, and Luna’s smile faded.

“Will you visit me again?”

“Of course, Luna. I’ll see if I can get Dad in here one of these days, too.”

“Thank you.” Luna smiled to Celestia as she stood to face the officer.

Celestia watched as she was escorted through a metal detector in front of the door and out of the room. She stood at last and walked out of the room, grabbing her purse from the officer’s station on the way out.

Meanwhile, Luna was being escorted down the halls. This time, she kept her head up, and a small smile adorned her face. She was thinking about what Celestia had said, about becoming a teacher. If you’d asked Luna less than a year ago if she’d wanted to be a teacher, she’d all but scream no. But now… the idea didn’t seem too unreasonable. It had been thanks to teachers that she ended up in this mess, due to their ineptitude. Maybe if she was a teacher, things could be different. Even if it was just one kid…

Canterlot

June, 1998

One Month Later

Luna had served out the last month of her sentence with ease. Celestia met her everyday she could during school, and once colleges let out for the year, she was able to visit even more. The two sisters grew closer than ever, and at last the day came for Luna to leave the Canterlot Juvenile Detention Hall. After a series of extensive protocol procedures, she finally stood in front of the desk in the Property Room, where everything she had with her when she was arrested was locked away. The officer brought out a box with her name and inmate number on it.

“Luna Solaire, inmate number 322354.”

The officer set the box down on the desk, pulling the lid open. He pulled out a piece of paper and set it on the desk next to the box, checking off each item as he pulled it out of the box.

“One pair of blue Converse All Stars shoes; one pair of black socks, no name brand print on them; one pair of blue Old Navy slim fit jeans; one set of undergarments; one light grey shirt with the logo for the band ‘Rush’ printed on the front; one black hoodie jacket; one blue Nokia phone; one purple and black checkered wallet with a student ID for Canterlot High, Canterlot Library Card, and twelve dollars cash.” The officer turned the page around to Luna and set a pen on top of it. “Sign this.”

Luna scrawled her signature quickly, and the officer pulled the sheet back and set it aside. He threw the items back in the box and handed them to Luna.

“There’s a changing room over there. Make sure we get all of our stuff back.”

Luna nodded and walked into the nearby changing room. The two officers took post on either side of the door, waiting for her to finish. When she was done, she came back out and set the box on the table, with all of the issued clothing she had on before folded and placed in the box neatly. The officer gave her an odd look, but nodded his thanks.

“Let’s go.” One of the officers said.

Luna turned around, officer on either side of her, and followed as they started off down the hall. She smiled softly to herself as she realized this would be the last time she had to see these disgusting cinder block walls. One of the officers, noticed her smile.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Just happy to be leaving, that’s all.”

The officer nodded slowly. The trio kept silent as they marched forward through the halls, eventually reaching yet another gate. This one, however, had the door to the complex just on the other side. Luna’s smile widened as she heard the last angry buzz of the prison door swinging open. Stepping through, Luna was very nearly thrown off her feet.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted as she embraced her little sister.

The two officers stepped aside as the two embraced. One of them walked over to the other side of the room, where the two siblings’ father stood.

“Jericho Solaire?”

“That’s me. Good morning.” Their dad greeted the officer.

The guard nodded.

“Good morning, Mr. Solaire. We have a few papers for you to sign and then we’ll allow you to take your daughter home.”

Jericho nodded and followed the man over to a nearby desk. The two sisters silently held each other, smiles spread across their faces.

“It’s over.” Celestia said softly.

“Finally.” Luna laughed.

The two finally pulled apart after what still to the two felt like too soon.

“What do you want to do first, now that you have your freedom?”

“I wanna go eat.” Luna grinned.

“Really?” Celestia laughed. “Of all the things, that’s what you want to do?”

“You wouldn’t be laughing if you’d been forced to eat the food I have.”

“Alright, well let’s go get some food. Do you have any ideas on where you want to go?”

Luna grinned.

“Anywhere but here.”

“Sergeant McNab?” The logistics officer called.

Jake raised his hand from where he stood in the corner.

“That’s me, sir.”

The man nodded.

“Grab your stuff, plane leaves in thirty.”

“Yes, sir.”

The officer walked out of the low ceilinged office and onto the sidewalks outside. Jake grabbed his duffle bag and followed him outside. They were at an airbase, not too far from the FOB where he’d had been stationed. This was a serviceman’s only way in and out of Saddle Arabia, as it was the only base.

“Alright, so I’ve gotta give you fair warning here. This is a cargo plane, so it won’t be the most comfortable ride back.” The officer said.

Jaked looked over to the hangar, and nodded as spotted the large plane.

“Whatever it is, it’ll be better than a convoy through the desert.”

“Yeah… well it’s less the ride than the cargo.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake stopped as they walked up to the rear cargo ramp of the plane. His heart fell as he spotted the cargo being loaded into the plane. Wooden caskets with the Equestrian flag draped over them were being wheeled up and secured into the plane. Peering into the plane, he was devastated to see that they’d already loaded at least half a dozen, with just as many waiting to be loaded behind them. That was the base’s other job. To help servicemen get home when they get their ticket the other way.

“We’re transporting fourteen servicemen home to their families. I’m sorry, but your captain said it was urgent, and this was the first plane set to leave for another week.”

Jake nodded grimly.

“I’d be honored to fly alongside these heroes, sir. It’s no problem.”

The officer watched Jake, obviously he knew that this was hard for any serviceman, and the sergeant was taking it well. He nodded reluctantly.

“Alright. When we get them all loaded, you can strap yourself into the benches on the side of the hold.”

Jake nodded, and saluted the officer as he went off to attend to the rest of his duties. Turning away from the officer, he watched the airmen load the caskets into the plane. They all sported the same look of grim determination. It was a hard job, but it had to be done. And they all knew that. His eyes fell on an airman watching the rest of the men carry the casket up, waiting for one to come help him with the next one. Jake nodded to himself, and set his bag down on the ground. Silently, he walked over and stood on the other side of the casket. The airman nodded his thanks, and the two silently started loading the casket.

No words were said, they didn’t need to be. The airmen were professionals. And as much as it pained Jake to think of, he knew they’d probably had to do this a lot. But they performed with all the dignity and pride the men they were moving deserved.

One by one, they fit all the caskets into the hold, strapping them down. Jake walked to the ramp to grab his stuff, but was stopped as an airman came up the ramp.

“Here you go, sergeant.” One of the airman held his bag out for him. Jake recognized him as the one who had been standing alone earlier. Jake took the bag from the young man.

“Thank you.”

The airman nodded, and walked off to perform the rest of his duties. Silently, Jake pulled down the seat on the side of the hold and strapped himself in. His eyes fell on the array of fallen servicemen before him.

“Are you ready to go, sergeant?” A voice to his left called.

He looked up to see one of the crewman shouting through the hold. Jake gave him a thumbs up, and the crewman nodded before disappearing back into the depths of the plane. Jake felt the rumble of the engines starting, but paid no mind. Silently, he raised a hand in salute of the men before him.

Goodnight, gentlemen.