Chuckling to himself as he watched pony after pony rush past one another below him, Discord could not help but let out a sigh as he watched this beatifully chaotic sight. He especially got a kick out of it when they would occasionally crash into each other as they made their way through the large, yet currently thinning, halls of the castle.

To think, only a few days ago, word of 'escaped convicts' had been no more than a simple rumor spread about the grounds. Though this had likely been despite a poor attempt by Celestia, the 'almighty sun princess', or whatever she preferred to be called, and her guard to keep it a secret. Now, word had gotten out that these rumors were, as a matter of fact, true.

"And the rest, as they say, is history." Discord thought to himself as a tub of popcorn materialized in his hands, himself eating the container, rather than the food within as he watched the residents, servants, and even guards, of the palace run amok.

From what he had heard, Celestia had ordered for everypony in the castle to keep word of the prisoner escape to a slight lull at the very most, punishable by... well, he wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it was likely to be fun for Discord. Despite her attempts at a vow of silence from the staff, however, the princess had also ordered for the search attempts of the prisoners to be doubled, then tripled, as time went by.

Trying to keep a secret while also having to work on that secret under public view at the same time. Absolutely brilliant! At least, in Discord's opinion. After all, it certainly allowed for quite the show.

Popping the rest of the paper container that surrounded his snack into his mouth, and absentmindedly throwing away his 'waste' as he chuckled at yet another comical crash that occurred below him, he couldn't help but to wonder if he had something to do with this.

After all, the first actual escape by any prisoners did happen on the same day that he had decided to... 'let loose', with a small amount of chaos. Barely enough to sneeze over, literally.

"Hmmm... If, oh say, the princesses, or the elements, were to find out about this possible suspicion, I have the oddest feeling that they wouldn't be too happy... Ah, the look on their faces will be worth it, I'm sure." Before he could muse on this any further, a large series of clangs and tumbles from across the hall caught his attention, a smile of glee coming to his face.

"Oh, how I love a chaotic rush hour!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How can there still be nothing?" Celestia practically yelled to one of her returning guards, her wings flaring as her irritation over the matter barely spilled over its edge. The guard, though stoic as he may be, flinched at this, a sense of fear ebbing away at the back of his mind though he still held steadfast through his report.

"Since the escape of the human, your majesty, he and the other two prisoners have seemingly disappeared. No guards have been able to spot them on their patrols, from here to the crystal kingdom, and no civilians have claimed to have seen any odd sights." He said, looking to the princess of the day as stoically as he could muster.

Celestia, in a sense of frustration, placed her hoof against her head and gave out a sigh. Stress had begun to pile as the days passed since the escape of the prisoners. Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and Jeremy, as she recalled him to be named, were out there at this very moment, and she, despite her best efforts, had yet to find them.

She was in great need of finding the three. Capturing them once more and placing them back where they belonged would be the only way to keep peace in Equestria, along with the safety of her many subjects.

"... Thank you, commander. If any news is obtained, any whatsoever, please address it to me or my sister as soon as possible." The guard, slightly thankful at the process of being able to leave the currently fuming princess, bowed to her once more and exited the room as guard-like as he could. His heart though was currently acting like that of a foal being scolded by their mother for doing something they weren't supposed to.

The slam of the doors behind the guard, signaling the exit of the guard, was quickly accompanied by the faint sound of magic from the princess as she placed her hoof back to its original position. Her horn glowed as ash, with a minimal sense of effort, lifted a small stack of papers that had been piled haphazardly behind her throne. Each of them held information on both the former prisoners and the reports of the guards at the time. Truthfully, she must have looked these sheets over and over again up to a hundred times, each one just bringing her more frustration as she passed through them.

Reports that led all the way back to the escape of Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, which had apparently been caused by none other than the human, to the interrogations that then were given to him over the next span of time. All of it laid before her. Sessions of questioning, as was custom, in which two ponies would approach him, ask questions, and send the prisoner back to their cell with a considerably smaller amount of food for the evening. Instances of these came through again, and again, and again as she looked through the papers. It was pratically as though the papers had been copied over exactly, no matter the date. Of course, what could she expect. It wasn't exactly the most effective form to wear away at one's resistance, but earlier interrogations of hers over the many years of her rule had proven it to be something that at least effective and humane enough to work without being seen as torture.

Finally, it led to the escape of Jeremy, which, according to reports, had occurred when Jeremy had taken a guard captive and, with the assistance of Chrysalis who had come disguised as another guard, escaped with little to no effort. As to the name of the guard that had been held against his will, she believed that it was 'Brass Bones', as one of the other guards had referred to him as.

Nonetheless though, the capture of a guard, release of dangerous prisoners, all of this, just seemed akin to something that this human would do. And to think, that she had once welcomed him to Equestria with open hooves.

She mentally cursed herself, regretting not following her instincts on the off chance that this one would be different.

Before she could mentally rant on this any further though, a knock at the door interrupted her, causing her to release a silent groan as she once again shifted away the papers behind her.

"Come in." She said, looking to the door as it was immediately brought open by a nightly blue glow. It none other than her little sister, Princess Luna, making her way into the throne room.

"Sister, if I may have a word?" Luna asked, sitting herself before her older sibling. Nodding her head, Celestia closed the large doors behind her younger sister, ensuring any privacy for conversation that they may wish. In truth, she hadnt wanted wanted her sister to get involved. For one, the issue of Nightmare Moon was likely a sensitive one to her, and she didnt want her sister to relapse into a bout of guilt or shame as she had done prior. Not when she had been making such good progress. Furthermore, Luna was still adapting to the world as it was now, slowly being reintroduced to the responsibilities of the crown by the royal advisors, though much too quickly for Celestia's liking.

It was only because of the many rumors that were going about, as well as some of the dreams of the guards, that Luna unavoidably learned about everything. She was more than a little outraged, to say the least, of being withheld this information, but nowadays she instead toiled along her sister to help bring the escapees back into justice.

"Of course, Luna. Though, I must ask, why are you awake at this time? I would have expected you to have waited for the night to end your slumber." Shaking her head, Luna looked to her sister.

"This is a much more important matter, dear sister. It deals with the three escaped prisoners." At this, Celestia's brow rose, her full focus now given to her sister as she addressed this topic.

"Oh?"

"We- er, I" she corrected, momentarily having slipped back into her old way of speaking, "am curious as to the reason of not simply addressing this issue to the public." She gestured behind her as she did so. She, like many of the other guards, felt that this 'silence' that they were forced to keep was inefficient and that it slowed the seeking out of these prisoners. After all, the public was their best resource in this desperate search for the three. "Perhaps, if we-"

"I'm afraid that cannot be an option, Luna." Celestia interrupted, a serious tone about her. Luna, unsure as to her sister's reasoning, rose a brow at this.

"Yes, but why, sister? I can understand your attempts to not have the public panic, but surely if the elements of harmony at least were informed, they could-"

"It is not the panic of our subjects that I worry of, Luna." Luna's eyes widened at this.

"... Pardon?"

"The populace cannot know of the escape of Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, this is true. But, more importantly, they cannot know of the human."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh, we said to bring the new roundtable to the conference room, not the kitchen! Why would we have our meetings in the kitchen?" The suited earth pony with tinted sunglasses exclaimed, one of the many unicorns before him putting on a sheepish smile as he quickly began to rectify his mistake. Sighing, the pony looked to his close companion, and business partner, that sat next to him. He was, at the moment, taking a sip of coffee from the small container he had brought with him on the trip. Glancing to his right, the red and orange earth pony offered the other a sip, holding the container out to him out.

"Uh, no thanks, Even Out." The suited unicorn said, moving back in an attempt to gain some distance from the container shaking a hoof at him as he did so. Shrugging, Even Out swallowed the coffee he had in his mouth, shuddering slightly at the bitter, yet rejuvenating, taste.

"Suit yourself, Top Suit."

The two had come and gone to this site of construction - well, reconstruction - and furnishing for the past few months. Since the accident that had all but ruined their company, Hooves and Elbow Grease, things had proven to be rather difficult for the duo. Nonetheless though, they pushed on through this challenge, digging into their emergency funds and, with the help of their loyal workers and even a surprising stipend or two from the royal treasuries as thanks for their years of service, were able to easily fund and arrange the rebuilding of their company headquarters.

Despite this though, the two had still suffered heavy losses. Both in their profits and, tragically enough, in their work force as well.

As an earth pony worker helped to orient the front desk of the building's lobby, a knock at the door quickly drew both Even Out and Top Suit's attention. The two glanced to one another before turning to the door. Much to their amusement, they saw a regular customer of theirs was already inside of the building and, in fact, jokingly knocking on a door that as of yet had yet to be installed, instead lying slanted against the nearby wall.

"I take it nopony's home?" Chuckling at his own joke, along with a pair of snickers from the two business ponies, the orange-yellow stallion nonchalantly made his towards the other two, ducking as a unicorn moved another large table just over his head.

"Ah, Mr. Tendh- oof!" Even Out was cut early in his greeting by an elbow to his side, nearly causing him to spill his drink, as he turned to see the look given to him by his companion. "I mean, Hardhat." He quickly corrected, earning a nod from his business partner. "It's good to see you again." He extended his hoof outwards in greeting.

"Same to you two." Hardhat said, happily shaking Even Out's hoof as he glanced around the room, letting out an impressed whistle as he saw the progress that the two had so far made. "I see that you two are almost done over here. And from the looks of things, you've made some improvements!" The two gave prideful nods at this.

"Well, its gonna take more than a fire to keep old Hooves and Elbow Grease down! Isn't that right, partner?" Even Out asked, gaining a small tinge of satisfaction as he returned the earlier elbow to the side to his companion who let out his own small 'oof' in return. Top Suit just barely managed to keep his sunglasses from falling off of his muzzle, giving a slight scowl as he corrected them.

"Right... So, what can we do for you?" He asked, donning his professional work tone, only to draw a short laugh and a smug smile from their regular as a response.

"Now, you don't think you'll get answers out of me that easily, do you?" Rolling his eyes, though it wasn't so easily seen behind his sunglasses, Top Suit gave a knowing smile to Hardhat.

"Guess not." He 'surrendered', knowing perfectly well where this topic was likely going.

"Talk about it over a drink with the boys and I?"

"You know it." Walking from his side to join Hardhat, Even Out looked to the two in disbelief, his jaw hanging open and brow raised.

"Wh- Sure, you say 'no' to coffee, but the moment anypony mentions something that has to do with cider, you just have to be there?!" He exclaimed.

"You have your likes, I have mine."

"It's only three in the afternoon!" He continued, pointing to a nearby clock that had been placed on the adjacent wall. It was tilted slightly. Even Out grimaced as he took note of this, making a mental note to have somepony fix that later.

"I know. Later than usual for me, its a real travesty. I've just been so busy." Top Suit snarked as he and Hardhat exited the building, leaving a stuttering Even Out as he began to glance to between the lobby, and the doorway that the two had just left out of, in contemplative thought.

"... Oh, alright! But you're buying this time! Nearly lost my whole paycheck the last time I had to pay for your drinks!"

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

As the three sat together at one of the many booths at the pub, Even Out and Top Suit on one side while Hardhat sat at the other, they could clearly hear the sound of conversing and joking construction ponies around them. Each of them happily enjoyed their breaks as they passed the time with short stories and the occasional updates on their usual lives.

Hardhat held a large glass of cider in between his hooves, taking minimal sips from time to time again, while Topuit might as well have been gulping down his drinks, mug and all; not even the slightest bit of dizziness hung about him as he did so. Of the entire building, Even Out was likely the only pony without an alcoholic drink in between hooves, instead favoring a simple glass of water. He had a strong dislike of alcohol, just about as bad as his friend's dislike of coffee.

"Sooooo... the job?" Even Out asked, feeling distinctly out of place in the pub that they were in. Hardhat, in response, rolled his eyes, smiling as he took another sip of his drink before plopping it back down and motioning his arms in a 'calm down' fashion.

"Alright, alright. I know how much you don't like this kind of scene, so I'll just get this over with." Hardhat said, much to the chagrin of Top Suit who was honestly attempting to bide his time.

"Oh please, take as long as you need." Top Suit insisted, drawing a small glare from his partner. He paid no mind to this though, gulping down another quarter of his mug with ease.

"Heh, right." Adjusting himself in his seat, Hardhat cleared out his throat as he began to speak to the two. "Anyways, the boys and I are nearly finished with the next part of our build. Thing is though that we're gonna need some more designs for the other section. Nothing fancy, really. Just some casual stuff you would find on higher floors of apartment buildings is all." The two before him nodded in understanding.

"Simple enough. We'll get Follow Scene on it as soon as we can." Top Suit said, refilling his glass with a nearby bottle of cider. Hardhat, however, frowned slightly at this, looking down to the table as he let out a small, almost undetectable sigh.

"... Right... Follow Scene..."

Raising a brow at this odd behavior, Even Out quickly questioned Hardhat. "Something wrong?"

Hardhat, in response, quickly shook himself slightly out of his stupor. "No, no... well, yes. I mean, FolowScene's designs are great and all, but I'd still much rather prefer-..." He purposely trailed off at this, gesturing to the two, who both gained expression of understanding and realization.

"Ah. Right..." Even Out said, his own downtrodden tone enveloping his voice as he spoke.

"He was a good pony... Even if he wasn't really a pony at all." Hardhat added.

"Him, and the others we lost in that fire... Celestia's sake, all because of some faulty enchantments." Top Suit cursed, a more bitter outlook on the situation than the other two's. The three shared a moment of silence, looking downwards towards the table, before, with a sigh, TopSuit once again spoke up. "Still, we shouldn't let that get us down. After all, Hooves and Elbow Grease is going to have its grand re-opening soon!" He said, attempting to lift the heavy mood that had surrounded the table. The other two smiled at this, though only slightly, pushing away these thoughts of theirs as much as they could and giving Top Suit a nod.

Raising his glass in the air, Hardhat made for an impromptu toast. "To Jeremy, Cherry Lip, Blue Snazz, and the new Hooves and Elbow Grease!"

"Here, here." And with that, the three tapped their glasses together, pulling them back as they quickly took gulps of their individual drinks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just another pound or two for the road." A certain winged figure requested of the merchant, placing the bits down onto the counter as the seller, with a nod, quickly handed them a small bag of food. The figure quickly grabbed hold of, sniffing it slightly in their attempts to assure it's freshness. "Meh. I guess these'll do."

Securing the bag around a small string around their neck, they picked up her wings and slammed them back down, launching themselves into the air. They didn't pay any mind to the obvious discomfort this caused the stand owner as he began to wave away the dust and dirt that had been blown his way.

Glancing around the air, they pointed herself back into the original direction of they had been heading, propelling themself forward as they quickly began to slice through the air. The wind resounded loudly against their eyes and ears as they sped through the skies, giving them an idea of how swift their movement was.

It had been quite some time since they had made their way through this part of Equestria again, what with the, 'going where the wind takes them' attitude and all. By now though they had figured that, while they were in Equestria again, they might as well see an old friend again.

They chuckled to themselves slightly at the thought of this friend, making making a snide remark about how serendipitous it was that they had found them so soon after everything that happened with her prior companion.

"Bah, she started to hang out with losers anyhow. At least this one gets me." Their wings beating as they propelled herself even faster through the air, they wondered how he was doing after all of this time. "Probably still chilling around Canterlot, or something like that."

Next Chapter: Chapter 13: Wake Up Call [Here Again] Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 18 Minutes