Emerald says that he is still more concerned with getting away at the moment, and mentions maybe he'll go west, or perhaps north to the Deer Kingdom.

"Hmm, well the west might not work so well right now, with the war going on and everything…" Hope says, quickly.

"What war?" Emerald asks, interested.

Hope looks imploringly at Joyride, but she just yawns.

"The war to the southwest between the zebra and the Haunchhock/Whitherwater kingdom alliance… It's been going on for a little while now…"

"S-sorry, I…"

"Probably haven't been out of the house much, huh?" Joyride says.

"No, I… This is my first time really leaving it… The most I've ever heard of the outside is the stuff I've read in books."

"Oh, you can read? Guess you are a rich kid and everything, so that makes sense." Joyride says, "Anyway, a warzone is a good place to escape if you want to disappear for a little while, or especially if you want to do it in a more permanent fashion. People disappear over there all the time."

"C-can we talk about something else please?" Hope says scared, "How about up north?"

"As for the north, I guess you could escape there. No deer government would likely hand you over. They have sort of a hard-on for justice. On the other hand, it'll always be very obvious where you are. There aren't too many ponies living in the deer territory. And it's not just your parent's goons you'd have to watch out for. Deer are people too, and can be just as evil." Joyride says, leaning back in her chair, "Plus your reading isn't going to do you much good there."

"I-I can read deer too…" Emerald says, blushing slightly again.

"Really now?" Joyride says, interest peaked.

"Yeah, and um, a few other languages as well…" Emerald says looking down at his hooves.

"Wow Emerald, that's quite impressive!" Hope says, clapping her hooves.

Emerald nods, sadly.