Further complicating matters was the question of if people were ready to know about the ponies. Sooner or later they’d have to be; sooner or later there was going to be contact again, regardless of what Dale did. They’d figure out a way to return Kate, or maybe they wouldn’t, but one way or another, sooner or later, they’d make another attempt. They’d gotten there once, and clearly they could return. Dale was reasonably confident that any future visits—at least in the near future—would be visits of peace. If he was right in thinking that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were the ponies in charge, they did not appear to have visions of conquest.