“I can scout ahead, see where they’re going,” Rainbow Dash said, eager for any excuse to stretch her wings. All this sluggish flying had been taking its toll on the energetic pegasus.

Twilight shook her head. “You’ll only exhaust your magic that much faster. It can’t be much longer, now. Meg?”

“Ten minutes, tops,” she replied after checking her phone. The sluggish pace suited her just fine. She could keep this up all day. Looking back, the coast was nearly invisible, the coastal mountains faded by haze.

Dash groaned. “Fine.”

The boat roared on, still full throttle. Susie had gone below some time ago. At least the Pacific was living up to its name.

Finally their destination came into view. It was another boat, a much bigger boat. “That’s… an expensive yacht,” Meg said. She searched for a suitable analogy. “The kind Filthy Rich might own, if he owned a yacht.”

The captain finally cut back on the throttle. The other boat was facing the same direction, more or less, so the smaller boat didn’t have to waste time maneuvering.

“Could it cross an ocean?” Twilight asked.

“I wouldn’t rule it out.” It was about three times longer than the other boat, a pleasure yacht with styling that bragged its owner had disposable income. A nice, comfortable—and mobile—hideout.

The smaller boat came up along its side; a quick reverse thrust and it stopped right by a ladder already in place. Some ropes were thrown down to hold it in place for the transfer.

The first mate came up from inside with Susie. “Is Meg on that boat?” the little girl asked.

“Not yet,” the captain replied, “but she should be soon.”

She looked at the ladder, but did not move.

A harness on a rope was tossed down. “We’ll put this on you so you can’t fall.”

They really thought this through, Meg thought. She was already recording.

Susie didn’t say anything, but she didn’t resist either. Once the harness was on, she was led to the edge of the boat. Meg got higher, so she could see the deck of the larger boat. One man there was keeping tension on the rope, while another was at the edge, ready to assist Susie once she got to the top of the ladder.

As soon as she was on the ladder, the smaller boat pushed off and began its journey back to the marina. Susie was now committed. With the rope taking up most of her weight, she reached the top quickly.

Once she was onboard, Meg switched back to the timer. Another minute to go. Rainbow Dash was hovering beside her, eager to strike once the timer counted down to zero. The wait was agonizing as the harness was removed and Susie was taken inside the yacht.

Still fifteen seconds to go. There would be no trivial rescue. She switched back to the camera.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted, glaring at her.

“It doesn’t matter,” Twilight said. “We can’t go barging in there. We don’t know the layout of that boat or what defenses they’ve set up.”

Engines came to life, and the yacht began moving, deeper into the Pacific.

“So now what?” Dash asked, fuming.

Meg had no answer to that question. Neither did Twilight.

Rainbow Dash filled the void with her own answer. “We take that boat back with us to Equestria. Get the Royal Guard. Tear the boat apart if we have to.”

“It won’t fit in the throne room,” was all Twilight would say.

Dash rolled her eyes. “Even I can solve that! We go back, go behind the castle, come back here, then take it back with us.”

Twilight was not impressed. “When we arrived at the castle to begin this mission, was there a big yacht behind the castle?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, but then thought better of it. “You’d think time travel would be more useful,” she finally said.

“No kidding,” Meg said. They could’ve brought the yacht back to a different place, one that none of them would have seen in the past few hours, but she didn’t mention that. Would bringing it back to Equestria really have made it easier to get Susie out of there safely? It only would have made her captors more desperate. “Besides, that’s kinda how we got into this mess in the first place, and you don’t have the excuse of self-defense this time. The yacht stays here.”

Dash gritted her teeth in response. Twilight’s ears fell flat.

“Look,” Meg continued. “I don’t like being unable to do anything, but let’s be real. Susie is in no immediate danger. Our best options require that we return to the present first. We know where the yacht is now, which way it’s heading, and how fast it’s moving. There shouldn’t be too much of a problem finding it again.

“And you shouldn’t underestimate the power of the information we’ve collected. The owner of that yacht can be identified, not to mention the captain of that smaller boat or the woman who picked up Susie in the first place. It won’t take long.”

“And just how do we know where here is?” Dash asked, waving a hoof at the endless water.

Meg gave her a smile. “I just have to take a picture.” She flew closer to the boat, dipping below it’s deck, and snapped a picture of its stern, capturing its name, Atlantis.

“Really?” Dash said.

“Yes, really. Every picture is tagged with the GPS coordinates of where it was taken.”

“Uh…”

Twilight jumped in. “It’s the longitude and lat—never mind.”

“Well excuse me for not being an egghead.”

Twilight tried again. “Every picture is tagged with the location of where it was taken.”

“You could’ve said that in the first place. That includes the direction we’re facing?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Meg replied. “I’ll take another picture in a few minutes. The difference in… locations and the timestamps will give speed and direction.” She switched to the compass app. “But the phone does includes a compass, and they’re heading due west. They’re putting as much distance between themselves and land as they can.”

Twilight gave that some thought. “They still need to be able to return her quickly; I doubt they’re crossing the ocean. They’ll stop at some point and wait.”

“And drift with the currents.” Meg sighed. “We’ll have to do a search, but it’s not like we have to search the entire ocean. At least it’s a big boat that can be seen from high up.”

“I’ll get a contingent of pegasus Royal Guards to aid in the search.”

And once they’re found? “Twilight,” Meg began, “you need to be careful. We’re still in the territorial waters of the United States. You can’t just bring in your own army—air force. Whatever.” She thought about it. “Searching? I doubt that’ll be an issue. Once they’re found…?”

Twilight mulled it over. “How quickly can the forces of your government arrive?”

“The Coast Guard can arrive quickly enough; their boats should be faster than this. Helicopters are an option too, so long as they don’t get too far from land.” Meg looked down at the boat, praying that Susie would come outside. Then they could just grab her and return to Equestria. “I’m not saying your guards can’t do anything, but they must do it under the command of our forces. Keep in mind this will be a police action, not a war.”

Still no sign of Susie on deck.

“We’re invisible, right?” Dash said. “Would it really be so difficult to go inside and find her?”

“The passages are narrow,” Meg said.

“And we’re still quite solid,” Twilight added. “It’d be best if her captors were distracted by something outside, like this Coast Guard or helicopters.”

The yacht went further into the sea with every passing second. Twilight made her decision. “Have we gone far enough to take that second picture? We should return and set things in motion.”

Steve pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine. “Decided what you’re going to tell them?”

“Not really,” Meg said, covering her eyes to hide from reality. She had been checking her phone for messages on the way over. The yacht had been located in the present and the Coast Guard were on the way. Would that be good enough for her brother?

It would have to be. She unbuckled her seat belt and got out. Once her husband had done likewise, the two went to the front door and rang the doorbell.

Eternity ticked away before the door was opened.

Matt did a double take. “Meg? This… this isn’t a good time—”

“Susie’s missing, we know.”

“You… know.”

Meg pushed the door open and walked past her brother. “I don’t know what you’ve been told—”

“Damn little. The school says an FBI agent pulled her out to put her in protective custody, and the FBI just gives me the run-around, neither confirming nor denying.” He gave her a good hard look. “Why would you know anything about this?”

Meg avoided his eyes and went to the living room. Lori was already there. Avoiding her eyes as well, she sat on a sofa. “They’re using Susie to blackmail me,” she said in a hoarse voice.

“The FBI?” Lori asked incredulously.

“No, not… we don’t really know yet, but we should have answers soon. Look, remember the break-in last weekend, where I work?”

“Sure,” Matt said.

“What wasn’t reported in the news was that Twilight was there at the time. They actually tried to kidnap her; since they had stolen all the magic generators, they thought she was helpless. She, uh, took matters into her own hooves and captured her would-be captors.”

Matt sat in a chair across from her. “Took matters into her own hooves,” he repeated. “And the connection to Susie is…?”

“They’re cooling their heels in Tartarus right now. Their compatriots want them released. They know I have influence with Equestrian royalty.”

“Tartarus,” Lori said, standing beside Matt. “That’s a thing.”

“Sure, why not,” her brother said, “more to the point, what will the ‘Equestrian royalty’ do about this?”

“Thanks to Twilight,” Meg said, placing some emphasis on the name, “we know where Susie is. She’s on a yacht about fifty miles off shore. Twilight’s keeping an eye on it as we speak until the Coast Guard arrives.”

“On a yacht,” he droned.

Meg shrugged. “If we couldn’t find her, we couldn’t rescue her. I guess they didn’t want to deal with a pissed-off alicorn.”

“Dare I ask how you know she’s on that yacht and that she’s okay?”

Dare she answer it? Steve sat down next to her.

“May I assume magic was involved?” Matt added, in response to the silence.

“Fine.” Meg got her phone out. “But don’t you dare breathe a word of this to anyone.” She navigated to the video of Susie being transferred to the yacht and threw the phone to Matt. “Play it.”

Matt did so. He and Lori watched it in silence. “They sent this?” he asked once the video had finished.

“No.” Meg didn’t volunteer anything else; it would open a can of worms.

Matt’s eyes searched for answers. “Whose drone took this then? How could they not notice its presence? It was right on top of them.”

The questions went unanswered.

Matt scrolled through the videos. The pit in Meg’s stomach grew.

After watching another one, Lori looked up at Meg. “Why didn’t you stop them, if you knew they would take her from school.”

“I didn’t know,” was all Meg could say.

“Excuse me?” Matt stood up and walked over. He threw the phone back at her. “Yet you were there to take this video.”

The phone showed the end of that first video, when the car was about to depart the school’s parking lot. “The past is immutable,” she muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He rubbed his forehead. “For once, could you dispense with the drips and drabs and just spit it out?”

She checked her phone for messages. Still nothing.

“I didn’t know they had her until they sent their demands to me.”

He glared at her.

“We used a time travel spell to find out where she’s being held so we could rescue her in the present.”

A slight widening of his eyes was the only response.

“I’ve been assisting Twilight with that spell,” Steve said, “merging our understanding of physics with the magical insights of Star Swirl the Bearded.”

Matt threw up his hands. “Just when you think it can’t get any more absurd.”

“You got the license plate of the car, and that agent on camera,” Lori said. “We can find out who she is, right?”

“The White House is in possession of those videos,” Meg offered without further explanation. “It’s being given top priority.”

“The White House?!”

“Yes, Matt, the White House. An attempt was made on a foreign sovereign on U.S. soil, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Matt wandered back to his wife. “How did it all go from a cartoon to… this.”

“I never expected—”

He spun around. “And what comes next, Meg? Say we get Susie back safe and sound. How long before something like this happens again?”

Meg had no answer.

“A boat approaches, Your Highness.”

Twilight trotted over to the other side of the cloud platform the Royal Guards had set up. Sure enough, a boat was making a determined beeline towards their position. It was still too far away to make out Rainbow Dash.

Twilight turned around to address the three guards remaining, out of the dozen who had participated in the search for the yacht right below them. “Things are about to get interesting,” she began. “Remember that we are not in Equestria. This is a matter of human law enforcement; we are not fighting a war.”

“Understood, Your Highness.” Swift Wing spoke for them all.

Twilight returned to her original position and resumed watching the yacht. “For now, we wait until their Coast Guard gets their attention.” It wouldn’t be long now, only a few more minutes.

The yacht suddenly fired up its engines and took off, heading deeper into the sea. How was that possible? No one was outside scanning the horizon, and she could see the approaching boat only because of her elevated position. Must be more of their all-but-magical technology, she concluded.

Those mysteries could be solved later. “Lightning Strike, go tell them the target is on the move.” They probably had that same technology, but it couldn’t hurt to inform them.

The stallion gave a quick bow and shot off towards the boat.

She addressed the remaining two guards. “We’re following that yacht.”

They departed the platform, leaving the clouds comprising it to their fate. All three were visible, their magic supplied by generators; they maintained altitude to keep out of sight. Twilight bore the largest generator constructed so far. The magical reach it granted would not be found wanting.

Twilight looked back. The Coast Guard boat had gone full throttle. It would have no problem catching up.

A rainbow blur came out of nowhere and became Rainbow Dash by her side. “I did not tell Lightning Strike to stay with the humans,” Twilight said with raised eyebrow.

“I’m much faster,” Dash said, brushing that aside. “Their captain asks that you stop that yacht—if you can do so without causing any damage or injury. It’ll save them the trouble of threatening them with weapons or something.”

“Right. Not very credible with a child on board.” She could offer to teleport some officers onto the yacht, but that might not end well either. She needed to make it look so hopeless that they’d give up without a fight.

She studied the yacht below her. It was large, but mostly empty space inside. It had to be, for it displaced an amount of water equal to its weight. It should be lighter than a ursa minor. Piece of cake, if she had unrestricted access to magic. After quickly running some calculations in her head, she decided her magic generator had sufficient power.

“Stay back,” she said. “They may have weapons.”

Twilight began her descent, raising a shield almost immediately. She made no effort at concealment. Let them shoot. Let them see how useless that was.

By the time she reached sea level, the Coast Guard ship had caught up, its sirens blaring. It stayed back, though, no doubt waiting to see if she could stop that yacht.

She positioned herself slightly above the center of the yacht; her magical reach ought to be good enough, but the closer to its center of gravity, the better. She grabbed the entire yacht with her telekinesis and gradually—gradually—applied lifting force, giving her magic generator time to adjust to the increasing load.

The yacht slowly lifted out of the water. Once it was clear, she proceeded to counter its forward momentum. The pursuing ship slowed to match.

One of the captors came outside, spotted her, and fired a gun. The bullet hit her shield, stopped, and fell. The additional magical load was minor compared to lifting and stopping the yacht. Twilight ignored him as he fired a few more shots, the flattened bullets clinking as they hit the yacht.

The cutter pulled alongside the yacht. An amplified voice rang out. “Put down the gun. Prepare to be boarded.” Several officers were pointing guns of their own at the would-be assassin. Lightning Strike was standing on the ship’s bow, observing with professional interest.

The yacht’s engine had already shut off. It wasn’t going anywhere. Twilight slowly lowered it back into the water.

Freed of that burden, she flew over to confront her attacker face-to-face. “I think I may request your extradition to Equestria.” A grim smile. “Attacking a princess is a serious crime there, in case you were wondering.” She drifted in closer. “I strongly suggest that you fully cooperate with the authorities here.”

He nodded vigorously.

“Twilight! Send him to me.”

“Nor is it taken lightly here,” the alicorn said as she turned back to the aggressor. “For now, you can enjoy the company of the Secret Service.” Enveloped in her magic, he lifted off the yacht, thrashing about at the novel experience, and drifted over to Agent Fowler, who stood on the stern of the Coast Guard cutter. She handcuffed him.

“Send over his gun, too,” Fowler added. “It’s on the deck.”

Twilight look down and saw it. Seconds later, it floated over to the agent and into a plastic bag she was holding open.

That done, she turned around and looked through the window into the bridge. The older man who had welcomed Susie aboard was apparently the captain. A woman of similar age stood next to him. They were frozen in place, having seen everything. “Bring Susie to me now,” she commanded. “Don’t make me search for her.”

The woman managed to unfreeze herself and stumble her way off the bridge.

There was a knock on a door. One of the human guards had made his way across the narrow path along the side of the yacht. The captain tore his eyes away from Twilight and walked to the door. He opened it. “I-I didn’t sign up for this,” he sputtered, pointing at the alicorn.

Her ears had gone deaf to additional words, for the woman had returned and Susie was right behind her. Twilight teleported inside, reappearing right in front of them.

The woman shrieked in shock. “You can actually do that?!”

Susie wrapped Twilight in a big hug. “Of course she can!” she declared. “Magic is her special talent. Everyone knows that.” She let go to look into the alicorn’s eyes. “Is Meg with you?”

“No, Susie, she’s with your parents, who are very worried about you.”

The little girl was confused. “They don’t know?”

Twilight had no idea what to tell her, what she should tell her. “They can explain once you’re home.” She put on a big smile. “But first, Pinkie Pie would like to throw you a party. Ready to go to my castle?”

Susie couldn’t nod fast enough.

Meg put her phone down on the coffee table. “You’re on speaker phone,” she told Twilight. Steve, Matt, and Lori gathered around it.

“First of all, Susie is fine. They gave her up quickly once they realized, uh, who they were dealing with.”

“And who are ‘they?’” Matt demanded.

“I didn’t stick around. I returned with Susie to my castle as soon as possible. I’m sure Agent Fowler will be able to fill you in on that.”

“Agent Fowler?”

“Secret Service,” Meg said.

Her brother looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “Do I want to know?”

“We can discuss that later,” Lori said. “Where’s Susie now?”

“Pinkie Pie’s throwing her a you’ve-just-been-rescued-without-even-knowing-you-needed-rescuing party. I can come fetch you now, if you’d like.”

Matt looked at his wife, who nodded in return. “Please do that,” he said.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Twilight replied before ending the call.

He gave Meg that look again. “Have you met the President? You took that White House tour a year ago. Did you convince him ponies were real?”

“The public tour almost never gets to see the President in person.”

“You’re doing it again, Meg.”

“No. I didn’t see him on that tour, but I didn’t have to. Serrell’s the one who got us the tickets.”

“Drips and drabs,” he said, rubbing his eyes. He fixed his gaze on her once more. “So you met him previously?”

Reluctantly, she answered, “Yes.”

He sighed. “Feel free to use more than one word.”

“The circumstances of that meeting are classified.”

“Classified,” Lori repeated. “You’re not joking.”

“It’s no joke,” Twilight said, her arrival having gone unnoticed. “It’s classified in Equestria as well.”

Matt ran his hands over his head. “And now our daughter has been dragged into this.”

Meg didn’t know what to say. The worst part was, she couldn’t honestly say it wouldn’t happen again. They’d probably try something different, something that hadn’t already failed to work, but she couldn’t know that.

“Maybe protective custody is the right idea, until this blows over,” Lori volunteered. “We just need the right custodian.”

She was looking at Twilight.

“That’s not funny,” Matt said.

“Good. I wasn’t joking. They can’t get to her there, you can’t deny that. The school already thinks she’s been placed in protective custody.”

Matt tried to find a flaw with that, but after a few failed attempts he gave up. “Hypothetically,” he finally said to Twilight, “can you do that?”

“Hypothetically, yes. There would be the complication that she’d be the only human in Ponyville. It doesn’t help that I promised a few ponies that there wouldn’t be any humans allowed in town until certain, uh, issues were solved.”

“Then turn her into a pony,” Lori said. “Problem solved.”

“No!”

“Look at them!” she shouted, pointing at her in-laws. “They’ve been part-time ponies for a year now. Doesn’t seem to have done them any harm.”

“Lori, stop.”

All eyes were on Meg, some in disbelief.

“It’s not something to be done lightly. Becoming a magical pony has consequences… consequences like destinies and cutie marks.”

“And look how well that’s working out for you, Meg,” her brother said. “No ponification. That’s final.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen next—”

“And I forbid the use of time travel to find out,” Twilight said.

“Uh, right, it’s not as helpful as you might think, trust me. Anyway…” Meg took a deep breath. “This isn’t about Susie. They have nothing against her. Taking her was an epic fail for them, so if they do try something else, it’ll be that: something else.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Twilight said. “I’m still willing to let her remain in Equestria for a short while, until the dust settles. I’m sure Applejack would be happy to let her stay with them, and it’ll keep her out of the town. Susie can spend time with Apple Bloom and her friends.”

“She might be safer with those kidnappers,” Matt muttered. “Fine. Let’s keep that option open.”

“Are we done here?” Lori asked. “I’m curious to see what a you’ve-just-been-rescued-without-even-knowing-you-needed-rescuing party looks like.”