Discord gestured forward with imperial airs. "What's in front of us, Seaman?!"

Fluttershy swiveled the periscope to get a better look. "I don't think that title really works for me, Discord." She was no sea creature, or a man. "But I see some light, far ahead. I think it's coming from around a corner." She pointed in the direction she was looking. "Maybe from below?"

"Let's have a better look." Discord grabbed the control stick, directing the submarine they were in towards the mysterious light. "I have a feeling this is going to be interesting."

Paul jumped, even he felt silly just after. It was his phone. A phone should not be reason to panic! Not that he had too many people that would want to call... The guards? He grabbed it out. "One moment." He turned in place, still sitting, away from the happy family to answer the call. "Paul here."

"Is Agent Miller in view?" asked the man on the phone.

Paul looked around, craning his head in search of the guard he hadn't seen in a bit. "Not that I immediately... see? They missing?"

"Come back to the hotel immediately," ordered the secret serviceman with no room for 'no' in their voice. "You are exposed."

Paul's expression soured, but evened out almost as quickly. "Copy that." He clicked the hang up button. "Looks like I have to go."

"Aw." Mobile pouted at the news. "Whyfor? I figured we'd have a nice cook-out with all of us here." She spread her talons wide. "So many friends, enjoying a nice dinner on the beach. Can't beat that, can you? Whatever that was it can wait."

Tim nudged his wife, hand against her shoulder. "That looked serious. Everything alright? If we can help...?"

"We're back!" There were their children, with Swift at the fore, leading Mike, both smiling. "Mike can swim now!"

Mike colored at that. "Y-yeah, but you don't have to say it like that."

"Like what?" Swift stuck out her tongue. "You had a problem, and now you don't. It's great!"

Tim wasn't paying much attention to the young ones, instead focused on Paul. "What are friends for?"

Paul put up a deflecting hand, but wasn't sure how to explain... actually why he'd have... Oh. "I have a few guards, just to be safe."

Head Stream's feathery ears twitched. "I heard you were on television once, for an ad. That's enough to rate needing a bodyguard?"

"Can't be too sure," he lamely assured, getting up to his feet. "And one of them got lost in the crowd. The other wants me to come home. Hey, they're earning their paycheck."

Tim was standing at about the same time, sand deforming under his sandaled feet. "We'll get you back nice and safe."

Swift burst into a merry laughter. "Now we're the guards? Awesome. Anyone bothers my friend and they're getting kicked." She struck a dynamic pose, as if she were ready to play a part in a low budget action movie.

Paul had planned to escape the family, but instead they were mobilizing to accompany him. Well, two families actually, that had decided he was their friend, and worth keeping safe. He smiled at the thought. Maybe he had picked the right place to be. "Alright, alright," he allowed, motioning downwards with his hands before pointing at one of several hotels in the area. "That's the one I'm staying at."

Tim whistled with his eyes on it. "I was looking at the prices. That's not a cheap one."

Mobile thumped into him from the side. "He has bodyguards. I think he can afford a nice hotel. Don't mind him, he's a dear, but a little daft once in a while."

It was impressive, to Paul, how quickly their entire group was up and ready to escort him. He began to lead the way, though lead was somewhat of the wrong word, with Mike and Swift up ahead, forming the vanguard against all perceived threats. "Don't think I got your name." Paul looked to the one hippo that had joined them while they were relaxing. "Husband of Head Stream, right?"

"Sure am," proudly confirmed the hippogriff stallion with a grin. "I wasn't expecting a new friend, but that was me not thinking this through."

"Happens to the best of us." Paul was quiet just a few steps. "It's a funny thing, no offense, but I so rarely see a..." What was the word? "A creature couple? In America that is." It was perfectly normal, and expected, in their own countries.

"How do you even do it." The hippogriff laughed at whatever he was imagining. "I mean, I should take that back. We hippos are the same way. Back where we're from, mostly more of us. Same with you, right? America, land of humans, wall to wall humans."

"Sometimes literally." Paul quietly decided that griffon was alright. "Paul Goldstein, by the way." He offered a hand.

Which was met with a set of talons, the hippogriff bouncing up to his hooves to grab Paul's hand in a warm shake. "Nice to meet you. Snowmelt," he introduced in kind, hiking his other hand's thumb at himself. "And it seems you've been adopted."

Paul burst into merry laughter at that. "Oh no. This isn't what I had in mind." Not that he was fighting it overly much. There were worse fates.

"There's a submarine approaching," croaked what had once been a human, but more resembled a bloated frog of a thing with spines running two lines down their back. "Orders?"

"Submarine?" asked Tirek with a sneer. "Humans don't have a sea presence in the area. Are you sure?"

"I'm looking at it." The frog-thing stepped to the side and gestured at the periscope he had been using. "Go ahead."

Tirek grumbled dubiously, but did approach to have a look. And there was a submarine, coming right at them. It was... small... Comically small. Too small to be a proper sub at all. "What in Tartarus...?" Still, it was coming, and they had to do something about it. "Have they seen us?"

The frog grunted, all the answer they had. "Right." Tirek punched one open hand with the fist of the other. "He said not to give ourselves away. Get us out of here, quietly."

"We don't do quiet." The floor lurched beneath them as another deformed minion began making the vessel they were in move, running in place in a great wheel like a hamster ready to get in their daily sweat. The great clangs of metal on metal heralded the movement of large rotors, causing the water to move around them.

The group was suddenly scattered. A great, and yet still somewhat muffled, explosion sent water flying up from the beach they had just left. The shockwave of it was enough to cause them to lose their footing a moment. Paul sagged, thrown to the side against a pole with a grunt.

The four legged members of their party, which was half of them, staggered, but remained upright. Head Stream was lending a talon to the fallen Tim. "What was that?!" She called as she did so. "Everycreature alright?"

Paul's phone began to ring. It was not a fancy ring, the one that came with the phone actually. He dug it out quickly and recognized the number. "I'm alright," he answered with.

"Good to hear. Can you give me an exact position? Are you within a block of the hotel?" The Secret Serviceman was all business, which made sense to Paul. "If you are, get close but do not enter. I'm on the way."

Paul waved the children closer. "We're already pretty close."

"We?"

"I'm moving with some new friends." He gestured over the group, not that the person on the phone had any chance of seeing that. "Everyone's intact."

A faint hiss of breath. "Get in cover and stay there. Do not go out in the open. Assume everyone that isn't already vetted is not to be trusted."

A chill ran down Paul's spine. Those were not casual words, not that people in that line of duty were known for their casual words. "Right." He hung up, tucking the phone away. "Let's find a quiet place while they get this sorted out."

He had gone from being the one being guarded to instantly being the one in charge, of wanting to keep them safe. "This way." Paul waved them on. "No running, no panicking, just walk." He was power walking, sure, but running wouldn't help the situation.

"I didn't say to fire!" roared Tirek, his booming voice bouncing off the walls. "What part of 'be subtle' did you miss? Tell me we at least got rid of them."

The frog-thing was slowly looking left and right through their periscope, trying to get a visual through the mess of dust and bubbles. "It's hard to see," they reported simply enough.

"Then let's take advantage of that." He swatted the flank of the creature in the wheel. "Take us forward. Let's get out of here. Little miss honeypot can handle herself for now."

They fled the scene of their crime, one submerged boat that none would discover, with any luck.

Discord flopped bonelessly onto the sands, stars orbiting his head, quite literally. "Did somepony get the number of the carriage?" But none answered him. "The joke wasn't that awful," he huffed, sitting up.

Fluttershy wasn't there. He picked up a nearby rock, and there was no Fluttershy there either, not that she would have fit under such a small rock. "Flutters? Where are you hiding?" Discord floated free of the sands, shaking himself off on the way. "Fluttershy! This joke has gone on precisely as long as it needs to."

Discord zipped out over the water, looking down into it as far as one could with sea water, which was surprisingly far. Clear tropical waters as they were. Which didn't make him any calmer, as there was no sign of Fluttershy. "Get out here this instant!" He dove into the waves and began zipping around, water rushing past him, but still no sign of the pegasus. "Where are you?!" he demanded despite being underwater, bubbles streaming from him.

But she was not emerging.

The crowd was a mess. Part of them were pressing towards where the big boom had come from, trying to gape and look. The more sensible portion was busy pushing and shoving to get far away from there. Local police officers, guards really, were doing their best to calm the crowd with mixed success at best.

But a lazy trail of smoke coming up from the sea waters had everyone on edge. Something had happened, and there was little denying that fact.

Mobile rubbed behind her head. "Wow, this is not what I had in mind. I'm so sorry."

Paul got out an aborted chuckle. "This isn't your fault. You've all been such great..." Hosts? "Friends. My guard should get here soon."

"Are they one of those super guards?" That was Swift, a grin on her face. "Knows kung fu, has a gun, only talks in really short sentences?"

"That's hurtful." Oh, there was the other agent, descending the stairs into the little dugout they had found that let them peek out onto the street. "Sir." He nodded at Paul. "Good place." He glanced back at the stairs he had just left. "No sign of my partner?"

"Not a one." Paul pointed out into the water, where the smoke lazily curled upwards. "Something happened out there, spooked a lot of people, but we're all fine."

"It was an explosion," burst Mike, throwing his hands out wide. "Boom, just out of nowhere. Water went this high!" He was holding his hand as high as it could go, which was not high enough. He tried jumping to make the difference, but it was a doomed effort.

The agent nodded at the teen as if they were giving super valuable intelligence. "Did you see anyone coming or going from the explosion?"

Paul raised a finger at that. "At that instant, no, but a lot of people are trying to get closer or further from it now." A sigh escaped him. "Is my vacation officially over then?"

Author's Note

Action, it has started. We've dilly-dallied around enough, hm?

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