It took about an hour for the Guards to row their lifeboat to shore through the fog and find their way to Manehattan, where they immediately headed for the precinct and relayed the news that Silent Knight had escaped. The alarm was sent out immediately. Every available Guard spilled out onto the streets and headed out into the plains and forests surrounding the city. Manehattan was all but shut down while the Guards combed through the city and surrounding area throughout the night and into the dawn. Ships trawled several miles of coastline, searching for a body, while canine units hunted the beaches for a scent. Inevitably, the media got involved soon after, and the news of the second official escape from Clovenworth Prison spread across the nation like wildfire. The late evening and morning editions of every newspaper screamed out warnings that the attempted murderer of Princess Luna was on the loose in bold headlines.

The search for any trace of the fugitive slowly spread outward from the Manehattan coasts and continued nonstop, well into the next day. Meanwhile, security in the Canterlot palace was increased in fear that he might try to come back and finish the job. Everywhere Canterlot citizens went, they seemed to see Silent Knight's face glaring at them everywhere from posters tacked up on walls, each of which had the bold warning "Considered Armed and Extremely Dangerous" beneath the pictures.

Everypony was on watch, but nopony truly believed that Silent Knight would dare return to the city where he was being so heavily hunted; no, he would run, and try to find allies to hide and plan his revenge. That was what everypony seemed to think. All except one pony.

Phillip was sitting at a table in a small side room in the Canterlot Public Library, staring at a schedule of trains for Equestria and a map of the Manehattan coasts, the documents illuminated by the rising sun through the window. His hoof lay on a single line reporting a regular cargo train that passed through Manehattan and into Canterlot. If Silent had managed to get on that train...

Part of him knew that he was making a very long shot, but then again, his instincts were whispering to him on this one, and he'd learned to listen to his gut. He might not have spent a lot of time with Silent Knight during the Summer Sun Festival where Celestia had been shot and kidnapped, but the lieutenant had struck him as somepony who did not give up, and would not abandon Princess Luna for anything. If there was even the slightest chance of a potential threat to his Princess, nothing would stop him from trying to protect her.

He would come back to Canterlot. Of that, Phillip was certain. And if he was going to get to the bottom of this mystery, he had to find Silent Knight before the Guards caught him and threw him back in a cell, the key to which they would probably lose as soon as possible.

Hopefully his old contacts in the homeless network were still good...

Silent Knight floated in between sleep and wakefulness, allowing the dim memories to wash past him. The memory of the intruder in the hallway, dredged up from his subconscious, hovered in front of him, and he drank in every detail. He remembered the knife blade that had cut through the dark, barely missing his neck as he ducked and instead cutting through his cheek. He remembered how his shout had echoed off the walls as he counterattacked, moving to control the gold dust-colored left hoof, which held the knife as he sent a punch towards the hooded head. As if in slow motion, he watched as the intruder ducked out of the way, stepping back with his right hind leg.

Thunk.

The unusual noise echoed in the caverns of his mind. Pausing the image, Silent looked closer. The dark cloak had hiked up a bit, revealing the glimmer of metal. The pony had a false hind leg, a metal cast that replaced a lost knee and lower leg. Squinting closer, Silent saw a logo embossed on the metal: a golden crown atop a shield with a cross, and the letters CGH. Canterlot General Hospital. The image affixed itself in Silent's mind, every detail memorized.

Allowing the image to continue forward, Silent recalled how the attacker had slipped from his grasp, countering by flicking his sleeve at him. Salt flew into Silent's eyes, stinging and burning at his eyes like a swarm of bees. Blinded, he charged forward, trying to grab onto his attacker, but he slipped from his grasp, and he heard retreating hoofsteps. Holding up a foreleg to protect against further attack, he furiously wiped at his eyes, gradually restoring his vision just as three other Guards ran up. He turned to face Sergeant Miley, who opened her mouth...and crowed at him. "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!'

Silent Knight woke up with a start and immediately decided that he hated roosters. Blinking in the harsh light of the sunrise, he glared at the offending animal as it walked away towards the other chickens in the nearby coop.

He was currently lying on an old mattress set on the packed earth beneath a tarp held up on stilts. All around him were several other similar structures, arranged in rows like houses on streets: makeshift tents and lean-tos made of whatever materials were available, underneath which slept hoboes, the citizens of this miniature city outside of the borders of Canterlot. He sat up and stretched, feeling the weight of the aged, faded trench coat that he'd bartered off one of the other hoboes when he'd arrived at the camp last night. It was a couple sizes too big, smelled of cheap cider and mud, and didn't have any holes for his wings, but it was warm and covered his cutie marks. Besides, beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Well, good mornin' t'ya, sleepin' beauty!" a loud voice with a thick Trottish accent called out. Looking up, Silent saw a bulky unicorn with a fiery red coat, a salt and pepper beard and a cutie mark of a golden mountain and a guitar. When Silent had arrived at the camp, this pony had introduced himself as Highland Note. From listening to conversations from the other hoboes, Silent had learned that Highland had lost everything but the clothes on his back and his trusty guitar in a gambling run, and took to the rails as a way of life. Now he was in charge of this camp, providing a place of rest for anypony who needed it.

"How you doin', laddie?" Highland asked, sitting down before Silent, whom he knew as Silver Blade. "You were tossing and turning a lot last night."

"I'm fine. Just had some weird dreams," Silent replied, standing up.

"All right," Highland said, shrugging it off and pointing off towards a nearby clump of reeds. "There's a pond over there if you wanna wash up before breakfast."

Nodding his thanks, Silent walked over towards the pond, passing by several other shelters with their stirring occupants, the chicken coop and a patch of well-tended vegetable plants. Reaching the deep, wide, crystal blue pond, he bent down and took a long drink of water to soothe his dry throat. Rising back up, he took a look at his reflection in the water. Prison food and lack of adequate exercise had thinned him noticeably, his mane had grown to frame his face and shade his eyes, and a layer of facial hair was beginning to grow around his jaw. He wasn't unrecognizable, but it was hopefully enough to pass a brief inspection. Glancing around to make sure nopony was watching, he took off his coat and dipped into the pond's icy waters for a quick bath.

While the water cleansed him, he thought about what he'd seen in his memory. Canterlot General Hospital. There would be records there, of who had received a prosthetic leg. From there, he could try to track down the intruder. And from there...he'd have to think about that one.

Pulling himself back to the surface, he checked around once more to make sure he was alone, then strode to shore, shook himself off, recollected his coat, and walked over to the main fire in the center of the camp. Several other ponies were gathered around the flames, preparing breakfast: toast, oatmeal and a bubbling pot that contained either tar or coffee. Highland Note was sitting off to the side, idly strumming on a guitar.

"Where's the General Hospital from here?" Silent asked as he approached him.

Highland frowned at him. "Why do you ask?"

"I have a friend who works there. I thought they might be able to help me." Lies upon lies, reaching up to the sky, but what choice did he have?

Highland pursed his lips. "It's not that far. If you head east from here and cross the river, you'll find yourself in the suburbs near the Old Street Market. From there, you just head north til y'reach the market and turn right, the hospital will be down that street. Y'can' miss it."

"Thanks," Silent said.

Highland gave him an encouraging smile and a pat on the shoulder. "'Ey, chin up, laddie. You're a long time dead."

Long time dead, Silent thought as he headed for the fire to collect some breakfast. If only he knew how wrong he was.

After some breakfast to fuel him for the day, Silent set off on his adventure. It took him about a half hour of walking through a thick forest, the sun continually shining in his eyes, but he finally reached the outer borders of Canterlot. Even the middle-class suburbs, with their trim white houses arranged like pieces on a gameboard, seemed so warm and comforting to his eyes, like an old friend. For a moment, he felt like he was back home.

But then he saw the WANTED poster tacked up on a tree with his face and name clearly displayed upon it and remembered that he was a fugitive, hunted like a rabid dog. Getting an idea, he paused at the edge of the woods. Scooping up some mud in his hoof, he smeared it over his mane, turning it into a dark blue-black. Then he took up a discarded, rolled-up newspaper (which had his face splashed across the front page) and tucked it under his leg. Hoping that he looked natural enough that nopony would take too close a look at him, he walked casually down the street. All around him, ponies were emerging from their homes to start their day. Several smiled and waved at him, and he smiled and waved back, giving them no reason to suspect him of anything as he headed north.

He could have reached the Old Street Market in less than a minute if he could have flown, but his wings were pinned beneath the coat. He got to the street market just as the stalls were opening, bright-eyed vendors already calling out their wares to passing potential customers. Among the crowd, Silent saw two city Guards watching the crowd. The sight of the bright golden armor made him think of his sister Winterspear in the City Guard, and a queasy feeling of homesickness filled his stomach. Maybe he could somehow contact one of his family or friends? They'd be able to hide him, support him, help him track down his quarry...

Almost immediately, he banished the idea from his head. If he got caught, they would end up in the cell next door for aiding and abetting a fugitive. The thought of Winterspear or Crystal Wishes in prison made him sick to his stomach. And as much as it hurt him to think less of his family, he really didn't know who his friends and who his enemies were right now.

One of the Guards started to turn his way. Noticing this, Silent casually turned right and began to walk down the street, turning down a side street as soon as possible. Continuing down the smaller side roads, he managed to avoid any other crowded areas, and nopony challenged him as he kept walking, without stopping or looking around, all the way to the General Hospital. It towered over him as he turned a corner, a five-story glass and metal edifice that proudly displayed the crowned shield and cross above the revolving doors in front, a beacon of hope for all who came within. And the clue that he needed was buried within in the records inside.

Time for some reconnaissance. Silent walked around the building, entering the narrow side alleyway, flanked on both sides by brick walls and dumpsters. Moving around to the back of the building, he discovered a loading bay behind the hospital, with a set of wide-open back doors for ambulance access and another metal door near him that read "Employees Only." As he approached, the door opened and a nurse in pale green scrubs that covered most of their body exited, looking irritable.

"If the stain's bothering you that much, just throw them in the laundry and take another set from the extras over there. It's what they're there for," she said over her shoulder, pulling off her gloves and mane net as she spoke. Sighing in annoyance, she tossed the used materials into a dumpster and fished a stick of nicotine gum out of her pocket.

Hiding behind the corner, Silent thought about what he'd just heard. That door must lead to a locker room for the doctors and nurses, and it contained spare scrubs. He continued to wait and watch while the nurse chewed furiously on the gum for a few minutes, then spat it out, turned, and went back inside. She opened the door up, proving that it was not locked.

Strategy in real life, Silent reflected, is not that different than strategy on the game board. You just have to find the right opening to get where you needed to go, have the right pieces, and know the right timing to move.

He glanced up at the sun and estimated that it was about nine in the morning. A bit more recon to flesh out his plan more, and then he'd better find a safe place to wait for a few hours...

Author's Notes:

"It wasn't me! It was the three-legged pony!"

Progressing slowly but surely through this, and all I can do is hope that I'm not doing anything too wrong. What do you guys think?

Decided to take it down and add extra scenes to slow down the pacing a little.