Arlington, Virginia

Mittal had not been asleep very long when the phone rang. It was one of the new cordless models. His wife was a heavy sleeper, but he picked up the phone and walked out of the bedroom with it.

On the other end was someone from the President’s staff. The van with the ponies in it had been involved in an incident, he said.

“Are they all right?”

“We don’t know yet, Admiral. It fell off the Wilson Bridge.”

Mittal sucked in a breath. That was bad, very bad. The bridge deck was fairly high above the water, and the river was deep.

“How long ago?”

“Minutes, sir.”

“What’s been done so far?”

“The Secret Service is mobilizing.”

“Has NIS been contacted?” Mittal realized he had misspoken. The Navy’s investigative service had only recently been renamed NCIS.

The man knew what he was talking about. “No, sir.”

“Get on that. They’ll respond even more quickly to a call from the President than a call from an Admiral.” He hung up.

Mittal stood for a moment, quietly thinking the situation through. They couldn’t afford to assume that this was an accident, although he couldn’t imagine who would want to hurt ponies. He came up with a plan of action, and decided what his first move would be.

Going downstairs, he retrieved a phone book and looked up the number for Little Creek Amphibious Base.

Potomac River

The crash had been violent and disorienting. The van spun, smashed into something and then there was a moment of freefall before a splash brought everything slamming to a halt. The three ponies ended up in a pile on the roof of the upside-down van.

Twilight hurt all over. There was blood, but she had no idea whose it was. She looked towards the back doors of the van. A trickle of water was coming in around the edges.

Without hesitation, Celestia used her magic to wrench the doors open, letting in a flood. Twilight only just managed to grab a breath before she was inundated. She fought her way out of the van and headed upwards. There seemed to be something wrong with her left hind leg.

She surfaced, gasping for air. Pinkie was there, and after a moment Celestia appeared.

“What happened?” Twilight managed. She looked up. The mangled guardrail of the bridge was visible.

“Is the driver okay?” asked Pinkie.

Celestia looked grim. "I checked before coming up." Pinkie didn’t ask again.

Twilight took stock of the situation. The three of them were alive, and didn’t appear to be too seriously injured. She realized the terrible problem they still had. The river was cold enough to have pieces of ice floating in it, and the air was below freezing temperature. They had to get out of the water and find someplace warm.

The closest riverbank was unlit and appeared to be covered in trees. The three ponies began swimming in that direction. The cold was so intense that Twilight couldn’t feel her leg injury anymore.

Norfolk, Virginia

The flight from Andrews hadn’t taken long, and Daniels was back to Little Creek in no time. He had been allowed to call his wife from the plane and she was waiting when he arrived. He’d been a SEAL for a while, and she was used to his coming and going at all hours. He felt lucky to be married to someone so understanding.

Their six year old daughter was in the car, too. It would normally be far past her bedtime, but exceptions were made when daddy came home.

The house was not far from base. Daniels spent a few minutes talking to his girl before tucking her back into bed. He went to have a shower, and was only just stepping out when the phone rang.

His wife leaned into the room, handing him the receiver. It was the Little Creek switchboard operator

Daniels groaned. I just got back! He listened while the call was transferred.

Admiral Mittal came on the line. “On the way to the White House, the van crashed,” he said.

“Is everyone all right?”

“We don’t know yet. It happened on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. You might hear something about it through your command, but I thought I would give you the heads up as soon as possible. Is there anything you can do?”

“Maybe, sir.”

“The President and I would take it as a personal favor.”

Those were the kinds of people Daniels wanted to owe him favors. “I’ll do whatever I can, sir.” Mittal thanked him and hung up.

From the conversation, Daniels’s wife knew he was leaving again.

“When are you going?” she asked.

“Right now.”

She nodded. “I love you, Kevin.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Daniels went to get ready. He got dressed and packed a little food. Opening his gun safe, he briefly debated which one to take. His options were open, because a winter coat would conceal just about anything. After a moment, he picked up his .45 caliber 1911A1 and threaded the holster onto his belt.

He was not expecting trouble. Carrying a weapon was just his habit. He’d have to be careful of the gun laws in D.C. but that was a small concern.

Grabbing the keys to his truck, he went outside. It was not going to be a short drive, and every minute that passed could potentially spell disaster for the ponies.

Speeding like a madman, he followed the interstate west towards Richmond and then north. It took him a little over two hours to make it to the bridge. The sun was not yet up, and traffic was thankfully light.

He walked out onto the span on the sidewalk and stood behind the police tape. Traffic was restricted to one lane. There was a smashed car sitting on the bridge near a bent, flattened guardrail.

A police boat was stationed below. As Daniels watched, a search and rescue diver in cold weather gear floated to the surface, gesturing at the men on the boat. Himself a skilled diver, Daniels recognized the man’s hand signals. It told him there was only one body in the wreckage.

There was still hope, then. Daniels looked around, speculating where the ponies would have gone. The closest shore had not been built up like the surrounding city. He wondered if they would seek help, or want to maintain a low profile.

Since the President hadn’t yet announced the existence of Equestria, Daniels decided that the ponies would probably want to stay hidden, although he figured they would approach people if they got desperate enough. He had to find them as soon as possible.

Daniels turned and walked quickly off the bridge, his breath trailing in a cloud behind him. Hypothermia was a serious concern, and unless the ponies found shelter, they were in trouble. They had at least a two-hour lead on him, and it was not going to be easy to track them down.

Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center

Oswald was working alone. It would take a while to get the parts he needed to fix the doorway, but there was maintenance to be done. He still felt that the failure was his fault.

Mittal had called to tell him that there had been an accident. The ponies were missing. Oswald thought it was terrible news, and mentally kicked himself again for creating the situation.

It only served to motivate him more. He had already been up all night, and now he vowed that he wouldn’t quit until the doorway was perfect.

As he examined some instruments, there was a ripping noise and a flash of light from behind him. He turned, and found himself staring at four multicolored ponies.

“Where’s Princess Celestia? What did you do with our friends?” said a rainbow colored pegasus, getting in his face.

“They’re gone,” stammered Oswald. “I mean—”

“Where did you take them?” demanded a white unicorn.

“They took them to Washington.”

“You’d better not hurt them,” said the pegasus, poking him in the chest.

Oswald held his hands up defensively. “We’re not, but there was an accident.”

“You’d better start giving us some answers,” said an orange pony who wore a hat.

“He hadn't been given the chance to explain himself,” said a quiet voice that somehow carried through the argument. Everyone stopped and looked at the yellow pegasus who had spoken. They all looked back at the man.

“Uh, right,” said Oswald. “Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie came here through the doorway between worlds. While they were here, the doorway failed. It’s going to take about a week to get things fixed so they can go back. In the meantime, they decided to visit the President in Washington, the capitol of the country. I just heard that there was an accident, and now we don’t know where they are.”

There was a moment of silence while the ponies absorbed the information. “We can’t just sit here,” said the rainbow pegasus, jumping up. “We have to go rescue them!”

“Hang on,” said Oswald. “Washington is over five hundred miles east of here. We also don’t know where in the city they could be.”

“We have to do something,” said the orange one.

“Let me make a phone call.”

Oxon Hill Farm

The three wet and shivering ponies pulled themselves from the icy river only to face a mass of trees and no civilization in sight except the highway. With nothing else to do, they pushed inland.

After a relatively short distance, the trees abruptly cut off, giving way to a wide field of unblemished snow. With the moon out, it reflected nearly enough light to read by.

Twilight noticed a gouge in Princess Celestia’s shoulder. It was a long wound, although not very deep. The cold water had sealed off most of the blood flow. The Princess didn’t look like it would hold her back. Twilight wanted to do something, though she was no nurse pony and didn’t have her medical spell books anyway.

Pinkie did not have her usual bouncy gait, although she still appeared to be in reasonably good humor despite the crash. She whistled a little, and Twilight saw a gap in her teeth that hadn’t been there before.

There was definitely something wrong with Twilight’s leg, although she could limp on it. Some buildings appeared off in the distance and all three quickened their pace. It didn’t look like they were human houses, but some shelter was better than none.

There were a few small windows in the first building, revealing a dim light on inside. Twilight could smell hay and animals. Celestia pushed open the door.

It was a stable. Two horses occupied stalls.

“Hey,” said Pinkie.

The horses looked at them, but did not reply. From conversations with Mittal, Twilight knew that there were only a select few animals on Earth that were considered especially intelligent. Horses and ponies were not among them.

“Awkwaaaard,” said Pinkie.

“It’s all right,” said Celestia. “I’m sure they won’t mind if we spend the night here.”

Regardless of whether the horses minded or not, Twilight wasn’t ready to leave any time soon. It was warm inside the stable, and there was plenty of hay.

The Pentagon

It was a good thing Mittal was a morning person, because otherwise driving to the office at four a.m. would be unbearable. There was a lot of work ahead of him, and he prepared to be on the phone most of the day.

One call he did not expect was from Dr. Oswald.

“Admiral, four other ponies showed up.”

“I thought you said the doorway wouldn’t be fixed for a while.”

“It’s not. They got here without it.”

“How did that happen?”

There was the sound of a short conversation from the other end of the line.

Oswald came back. “Princess Luna worked out a spell and sent them after the other three.”

This was what Mittal had been afraid of, some kind of panicked response from Equestria. At least they only sent four ponies.

“There haven’t been any updates on the situation, I’m sorry.”

“They want to help look for them.”

“We could use the help, but getting them here and searching without the public getting wise would be next to impossible.”

“My team and I are the only ones on base right now with clearance for this. We won’t be able to do very much, and the ponies can’t stay here.”

“I’ll see what I can do. No promises.”

Mittal made a few calls and asked if the Air Force would be willing to lend another transport flight for unspecified VIPs. Without another intervention from the President, it didn't look like it was going to happen. Some time passed, and Mittal was considering calling the White House, when his phone rang again.

Oswald’s call had gone straight through because he’d been on a secure phone. For this call, the Pentagon operator asked if Mittal would speak to someone named Lieutenant Kevin Daniels. Mittal accepted the call.

“Daniels, where are you?”

“I’m at a pay phone in Oxon Hill.”

That was not too far away, Mittal knew, just east of the bridge. “What do you have for me?”

“The precious cargo was not found at the scene of the accident.” Daniels knew that the odds of a random pay phone that he stopped at being bugged were slim, but stuck to security procedures.

“What does that tell you?”

“The precious cargo is somewhere else and still potentially in good condition. I’m looking into it right now.”

“Thanks for the update.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Mittal put down the phone. “Good luck,” he muttered. “You’re going to need it.”

Oxon Hill, Maryland

Daniels stepped out of the phone booth and got back in his truck. He didn't know the details of the place he was in very well, but was aware of the general area and how to find his way around.

The Wilson Bridge crossed the river at a spot where Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia came together. There was a lot of industry and housing spread out around, except for one place.

The National Park Service ran a small historical park on the banks of the Potomac. There were animals there, and it was isolated. No visitors would be there that early in the morning.

Deciding he had no other leads, Daniels started his truck and moved out. The sun was begining to turn the horizon pink.

Oxon Hill Farm

“I don’t remember the last time I ate hay directly from the bale,” said Princess Celestia. “It’s…nostalgic.”

“I don’t remember the last time I ate hay,” said Pinkie, taking another bite. “It’s not very sweet.”

The hay, while not bad, had probably been sitting for a while. Still, after fighting for her life through the crash and the swim to shore, Twilight was ready to eat anything.

“I wonder why there’s a farm right in the middle of the city?” she asked between bites.

“Perhaps it’s some kind of park,” suggested Celestia.

Twilight nodded. “Maybe. It just seems a little unusual in a high-tech place like this.” High-tech was a phrase Dr. Oswald had taught her.

Celestia's injury had stopped bleeding, leaving crusty dried blood on her coat. Twilight thought that they should get it bandaged as quickly as possible, but there were no materials at hoof.

Seeing her look, Celestia smiled. "I'll be all right."

There suddenly came the sound of bipedal footsteps walking up to the door.

Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center

Oswald hadn't called his team. It seemed a shame to get them out of bed. They could meet the ponies in the morning. He yawned. Bed sounded good.

He sat down in a chair in front of the doorway console. He'd triple checked everything, and there was not much left he could do without the new parts.

The new ponies had been quiet for a while. They occupied the furniture left over from the President's visit. For a while, they had made a fuss, but Oswald had eventually convninced them to stay put for the moment.

After a few minutes of boredom, his head began to drift down. He jerked awake a few times, but eventually couldn't fight sleep any longer. In a few short minutes, his breathing was regular and slow. Behind him, four ponies quietly left the building.