"Alright, soldiers!" Captain Rainbow Dash addressed her fellow guards, pointing to a "Wanted" poster that was taped to the chalkboard at the front of the room. "We've just been informed that this criminal has just escaped from Tartarus, and that she may be hiding out somewhere in our area."

While rocks would always be her passion, Sergeant Maud Pie was never one to refuse a call to service. In this case, being on Guard Reserve in Ponyville was the least she could do to not only be close to her younger sister, Pinkie Pie, but also serve the nation she called home.

"So, I'll need a volunteer to go out and bring her in," Captain Dash explained. "Now, anyone that wishes to volunteer, step forward."

While Maud did not step forward, she looked to her left and right to find that the rest of her fellow Reserve Guards had taken a step backwards, leaving her standing in front of them all.

"Sergeant Pie," Captain Dash said in acknowledgement of her ‘decision.’ "Your country thanks you and is behind you all the way. Last intel we received was that the escapee was making her way through the Everfree Forest."

The earth pony gave a salute, her golden armor standing out from her dark grey coat. "I shall not disappoint," she vowed in a monotone. With that, she gave an about face and trotted off toward the forest.

"Golly," Cozy Glow arrogantly said to herself. "If I could only have seen the look on Headmare Twilight's face when she found out I escaped. Doesn't say much for Tartarus if li’l ol' me is able to escape." She giggled to herself at the thought.

Just as the criminal pegasus was about to give herself a wing-pat on the back, a certain earth pony decided to make her presence known.

"Halt," Maud Pie unenthusiastically said. "In the name of the Princesses."

Legends among the Everfree critters say lawmare and criminal stared at each other for a full five minutes, only breaking when the pegasus guffawed at the mare before her.

"You...." She had to contain her laughter in order to taunt properly. "You were the best they could throw at me?! At least get somepony that can chase me into the air!"

Cozy Glow's hooves left the ground as she took flight. "Tell the Princesses that they need to do better than that to catch the likes of me!"

With that final taunt, the pink pegasus made her escape, taking wing above the treeline and making her way to the Castle of the Two Sisters, about a ten minute flight if she had to guess.

"Alright," Cozy muttered to herself as she walked through the ruins into one of the structure's last rooms that still had most of its ceiling and uncollapsed walls. "Now, if I were an old book of spells, where would I be?"

"I would check the library," a monotone voice behind her suggested.

"Oh, thank you," Cozy said. Then her pupils dilated to the size of a needle point, and she turned her head to find that same earth pony she had just finished talking to. Something wasn't adding up.

"I thought… but you… and I… how… what?!"

"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."

"As if!" Cozy shoved the logistics of how the earth pony could have beaten her to the castle to the side, instead focusing on getaway strategies.

She made a beeline to the door she entered from and pulled it open, wood slamming against stone and almost knocking the door off its hinges.

"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."

Cozy almost gave herself whiplash checking to see that there weren't somehow two earth pony mares with the same dark grey coat and the same disinterested look in her eye trying to capture her. She promptly slammed the door in the earth pony's face and escaped the room out of a hole in the ceiling only just a bit bigger than her.

Now, Cozy Glow would never be one to admit that she was a fast flyer, but at this point, she was flying as if her life depended on it. Finally, after exiting the Everfree, she sped to the School of Friendship.

"Come on, come on, come one. Please still be here… a-ha!" Cozy found the secret passage she left that led her to the Crystal Caverns beneath the building. "No one would ever think I'd be back here. The perfect hiding place!"

She entered the passageway, covering her tracks behind her, and made her way down until she spotted the swath of crystals that signaled her entrance into the tunnels. "I should be safe down here."

"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."

"Oh, come on!!!" Cozy Glow shouted in frustration before she fled back through her secret passageway and away from the School.

Finally, Cozy Glow was able to sit down and take a breather. That non-stop flight from the school to Manehatten had taken a lot out of her. At least now she could enjoy this play that she had managed to sneak into.

The curtain opened, signalling the start of the show.

"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."

Sure enough, the armored grey earth pony had somehow beaten her to Manehatten. Cozy Glow promptly reacted like any sane mare would in this situation: scream bloody murder and get the Tartarus out of there.

Upon exiting the theater, she spotted a cloud drifting just above the city. "Of course!" Cozy Glow realized, smacking her forehead for not thinking of it sooner.

The pink pegasus took flight and promptly sprawled herself across the cloud, finally free of her monotone pursuer… or so she thought.

"Halt, in the name of the Princesses."

Cozy Glow almost certainly pulled a muscle craning her neck to find that the earth pony had already acquired a small red balloon and had ridden it up to her cloud in an unnatural amount of time. She probably also lost her voice after she screamed again.

Tears began to leak from the pegasus' eyes. "I can't take this anymore!"

She fled into a close-by building and rushed to find someplace where she could hide out and collect herself, as much of a fruitless endeavor as that was. She found the closest door she could and huddled up against the wall inside, just waiting for the voice that signaled that the blasted mare was already in there with her… yet it never came.

Cozy dared to open her eyes, only to find the single thing worse than her pursuer… prison bars. In a nanosecond, she went from traumatized to resigned fury.

"Fine!" she shouted for the whole city to hear. "I give up! Just as long as I don't have to see that stupid guard ever again!"

"We're glad you've seen reason," a chorus of monotone voices said.

They say Cozy Glow screeched so loud that all the glass windows on the block were cracked, if not outright shattered.

Meanwhile, in the cavern of the Mirror Pool, Maud enjoyed one of her favorite places to excavate.

Luna's laughter was still going strong as she exited the dream.

"Now that will make a good story for my sister," she thought to herself.

However, just as she was wiping the last of the moisture from her eyes, she noticed a flash coming from directly above her. Sure enough, about five feet above her, she saw a lone sphere strobing. Somepony was having a nightmare.

Luna swiftly grasped the sphere with her horn, converting it into the large white door frame that allowed her to enter and galloping onward to her subject in need.

Author's Note

Maud has the suprisingly common ability to dream in the third person.

Also, this chapter was based off this Droopy cartoon: