The God Particle

Chapter 15: Into the North

James awoke early the next morning to a cold chill in the room. The fire in the fireplace had burned down to just a few glowing embers sometime in the middle of the night. Shivering, he got out of bed and went over to stoke it back up, turning a few logs over until a flame erupted from them once again. As he added another log, he thought about how he missed some of the small, simple conveniences in life that he had taken for granted back home. Things like central forced air heating with natural gas that never required attention, and never went out in the middle of the night, leaving your room like an icebox in the morning.

The room slowly started to warm back up as he showered, dressed and prepared for his audience with Princess Celestia. He left his room early, fearing that he would need extra time to get lost while trying to find the throne room again. After taking a few wrong turns and getting lost in the large corridors of the castle, he finally stopped a royal guard to ask for help, who graciously led him to the throne room.

"State your name, and business with Her Majesty," a unicorn guard stationed outside the door challenged.

"Dr. James Peterson. I have a scheduled audience with Her Majesty to discuss ... my future here in Canterlot."

"Ah yes. She is expecting you," he responded as he turned along with his companion stationed at the other side of the door. The two of them unlocked the massive doors and they started to swing open.

James entered to see Princess Celestia already seated at the front of the room. He walked to the front, stopping several feet away from the stairs leading up to the throne, before kneeling and bowing, as had become routine when meeting The Princess.

"Good morning, James. I trust you slept well? Please, stand."

"Good morning, Your Majesty," he stoop back up. "Yes, I slept well, thank you."

"You snuck out of the courtyard with my sister last night," the alicorn stated flatly.

He felt a chill run through him as a twinge of fear hit him. "Well ... I ... we ..." he stammered.

She waved a forehoof to stop him. "Relax, James. I'm not upset with you. I know she didn't give you a choice. I've already spoken with her about it."

"How did you find out anyway, Your Majesty?"

"One of my pegasus guards spotted the two of you flying back."

"I see ..." he responded quietly.

"I wish she wouldn't sneak out like that ... I've tried to stop her from doing it, or at least get her to take some guards with her. But, she continues to insist on doing it anyway, and on doing it alone ... I suppose if she wants to take you with her, then I should be grateful that at least she isn't going out alone. So anytime she wants you to go with her, please do so."

"Of course, Your Majesty," he breathed an inaudible sigh of relief that she wasn't angry with him.

"And now that that's out of the way, lets get onto the two reasons I wanted to meet with you this morning. As I mentioned yesterday, I am very impressed with the progress you have made, with your willingness to help out at the school, and the articles you have written with Twilight."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Celestia paused for a moment before continuing. "James, I would like to place you in a research and teaching position at the Royal Equestria Academy."

James blinked in surprise. "Your Majesty, I—"

She waved a forehoof to stop him. "This is an offer, not a command. You don't have to accept it if you don't want to. I want you to think about it for a day or two before you give me your answer. It is a position of great prestige. But also one of great responsibility."

James thought back to when he first arrived in Equestria, and what Twilight had told him about The Academy, the fact that faculty were chosen by, and represented The Princess herself, the uniforms, etc. He still wasn't comfortable with the idea. Nevertheless, he would consider it. "I am honored that you consider me for this, Your Majesty."

"I believe you would be a valuable addition to the faculty." She smiled briefly, but then her expression turned to one of seriousness—perhaps more serious than he had ever seen her. She looked to the royal guards—both the ones stationed on either side at the foot of the stairs leading up to the throne, then to the ones guarding the double doors. "Leave us," she commanded, waving them off with her right forehoof.

The guards looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment, but then bowed respectfully to their princess before turning and leaving the throne room, closing the doors with a sound that echoed through the large room. Once they had left, James was alone with The Princess.

She stood up from the throne and walked down the stairs until she was standing directly in front of James. He bowed his head respectfully as she approached him.

"And now we come to the second matter ... There is something I want you to do for me," she spoke in a quieter voice, apparently to ensure that the guards stationed outside of the door wouldn't be able to hear her. "But what I am about to tell you, you mustn't share with anypony. This matter is of a serious enough nature that I will consider it high treason if you were to breach my trust and talk about it to anypony. Even Twilight Sparkle." She stopped and looked at him, her expression indicating she was deadly serious.

He hesitated. Whatever it was, he was sure he did not want to get involved. Clandestine government operations or secrets—especially ones that were so secret, that violating said secrecy would be considered high treason, a crime he knew was punishable by death, was definitely something he wanted nothing to do with. But on the other hand, he felt incredibly honored that The Princess now trusted him enough to even ask him. Despite his misgivings about the way government worked in Equestria, his respect for Princess Celestia had evolved to the point where he did not want to say no to her, even when he was allowed to. Some strong part of him had reached the point where he deeply wanted to serve her.   His resolve not to get involved crumbled.

"Of course, Your Majesty. You have my word that this will remain secret ... What would you have me do, Your Majesty?"

"There's a small research outpost far to the north. Much further north than even the town of Whitepony. There are three science ponies up there doing climate research. A couple of days ago, I sensed some kind of energy disturbance coming from the far north. The researchers were supposed to check in yesterday in Whitepony, but they never showed up there. I want you to go up there and see if you can figure out what caused the disturbance, as well as see if you can find out what became of the researchers."

James listened intently, and hesitated before responding. "Your Majesty ... I'm a research analyst for the most part. I spend my days working inside a research lab ... I'm not a field scientist."

"Well, it's never too late to try new things, is it?" she smiled slightly at him. "And besides, you won't be going alone. There's a unicorn that works at the Academy. Theory Point is her name. She's very intelligent and I'm sure you will get along well with her. I want her to go with you."

"Yes, Your Majesty" he stated flatly, resigning himself to the fact that any further attempts to get out of this would likely be futile.

The alicorn's horn glowed slightly as she levitated a sealed scroll over to him, which he took out of the air. "I have not spoken with her. These are orders for Theory Point to go with you. Given the secret nature of what I am having you do, they do not explain anything. I want you to fill her in while you are on the way up there. You leave in one hour. One of my chariots will be waiting for you in the courtyard. It will be unmarked and the pegasi pulling it will not be wearing normal Royal Guard armor."

"Yes, Your Majesty,"

Her horn glowed again as she levitated a small cloth sack over to him, tied shut with a string. "There should be enough bits in here to pay for anything you need up there. Normally, if it were royal business, they would just charge it to The Crown. But again, I don't want you to attract unnecessary attention so I want you to pay with bits. That will be all for now. Go find Theory Point. She should be in the engineering building at the Academy."

"Of course, Your Majesty," he took the glowing sack out of the air, which stopped glowing when Celestia released her magic from it. He bowed low to her again before backing up a few steps and then turning, walking towards the large doors leading out of the throne room.

"Oh, and James?"

"Yes, Your Majesty?" he stopped, turning around again to face her again.

"Make sure you dress warm. It's extremely cold up there."

"I will, Your Majesty," he bowed to her again before turning once more and knocking on the large double doors. The guards on the other side opened one of the doors. He exited, heading for the grand foyer, and then out to the court yard, following the signs  to the Academy.

As he walked towards The Academy, pulling his robe around himself against the chill morning air, he thought about the offer Celestia had made him to join the research and teaching faculty. On one hand he was overwhelmed by the offer. But on the other hand, he almost wished she hadn't asked him. Part of him really wanted to say no. He was still sure he didn't like an education system where all of the faculty were chosen by the monarchs themselves. But if he said no, what else would he do here? It was a chance to make a good life for himself here in Canterlot, as well as a chance for him to continue his research. And even if he wasn't fully comfortable with it, could he actually say no to Princess Celestia? Even if she was allowing him to say no?

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he arrived on the Academy's campus, following the signs to the engineering building. Students milled about the open areas, some going between classes, occasionally giving him odd looks. Multiple faculty members, all uniformed, also rushed between the various  buildings in a hurry to make sure they got to whatever class they had to teach on time. The engineering building was of a Romanesque architecture that could have been designed by Gundulf himself. There were four stories to the main part of the building. On each corner of the building, a tower rose up containing eight stories. Carved stone spires reached to the sky from the top of the towers, the banners of Celestia and Luna flying on top of each point.

James walked under the high stone archway to the main doors of the building, entering and finding a sign pointing in the direction of the faculty offices. Reaching the hallway with the offices, we walked down the corridor until he found an office with her name on it. A note hanging on the door said she was in the physics lab. "Great, now I have to try to find that," he said to himself as he turned around and retraced his steps back to the entrance and following the guidance of a different sign.

Eventually, he came to the physics lab and peered through the window in the door. Inside, he saw a white unicorn with a black mane that was tied into a bun at the back of her head. She wore a more functional version of the dress uniform that he had seen other faculty ponies wearing. He assumed the uniform she was wearing now was standard lab attire since dress uniform wouldn't be practical in the lab. On her flank, was a cutie mark of several small balls orbiting around a nucleus in the center that reminded him very much of the symbol of the old Atomic Energy Commission where he was from. He opened the door, standing at the entrance.

"You must be Theory Point?"

She looked up from the lab station she was working at. "I am, and I assume you must be James? I've been looking forward to eventually getting to meet you. I read the journal articles you wrote with Twilight. Very impressive work," she smiled at him.

"It's nice to meet you too," he nodded.

Her eyes went down at his hand and noticed the scroll he was carrying with Princess Celestia's royal seal on it. "Orders directly from The Princess herself? She must like you."

"Well ... to go to the North climate research outpost. The one north of Whitepony."

She raised an eyebrow, "She's sending you up there?" she shook her head slightly. "Then again, maybe she doesn't like you. Better you than me," she snickered a bit, going back to work at the lab station, her forehooves resting on the table as she stood on her hind legs.

James shook his head and walked over to her, unrolling the scroll and moving to stand behind her. "Yeah, don't get too happy yet, my equine colleague." He reached his arm over her shoulder and dangled the now open scroll in front of her muzzle. "You're going with me," he snickered back at her now.

Her horn glowed as she took hold of the scroll with her magic, holding it in front of her and reading it as James took several steps backwards now and waited for her to finish.

Her eyes moved back and forth as she scanned the text, her eyes getting wide and her jaw dropping. "What! What! She's sending me up there?" her horn stopped glowing and she dropped the scroll.

"It's only for a day or two. I'll fill you in on the details once we are on the way. She did say that this is completely secret and all. And that if we talk about it with anypony it will be considered high treason. So yeah ... keep your muzzle shut I guess," he chuckled. "Anyway, meet me in the castle courtyard in about forty-five minutes."

"Forty-five minutes? She doesn't believe in giving us much time to prepare, does she ..." the unicorn griped.

"She has her reasons. You will understand more once we are in the air and I can fill you in on the details." He turned and left, going back to the castle and returning to his guest room to pack the warmest clothes he had available.

After he finished packing, he went back downstairs and outside again. A rather plain looking unmarked chariot was waiting for him. Thankfully, it was a covered one. A couple of minutes later, Theory Point showed up, two saddle bags strapped to her back and still looking none to happy about having to on this little excursion. He opened the door on the chariot for her, followed her in, and then secured the door. The chariot began to move, leaving the courtyard. The pegasi pulling it sped up to a fast trot before taking to the sky, James watching the ground disappear beneath them again. Once they were a few hundred feet in the air, the pegasi made a right turn and began flying north.

Once they were on their way, James relayed everything that Princess Celestia had told him to the white unicorn traveling with him.

"What did she mean by 'sensed some kind of energy disturbance'?" she asked him.

James shrugged slightly. "You are the unicorn here. I was hoping you could answer that. I just assumed it was some kind of Star Wars-esque Jedi 'I sense a great disturbance in the force' type thing."

"... A what?" the unicorn looked at him oddly.

"It's uh ... well a series of stories from my home. I'll tell you about them some other time."

She gave a slight nod. "Anyway, I'm not that much into magic really. I know that probably sounds strange for a unicorn. But I prefer to focus on science and just use what little magic I have to in order to make my job easier."

James looked out the window of the chariot again. As they continued to fly further north, cities gave way to small towns. Eventually, even the small towns became rare, giving way to dense coniferous forests. Still further north, the green pine trees gave way to white, frost covered ones. A dense white blanket covered the ground as they reached the point where the first snows of the winter had already fallen. Eventually, even the dense pine forests began to thin out, giving way to snow powder covered tundra, dotted here and there by smaller pine forests in the few areas that were hospitable enough to support life. Gray clouds began to dart underneath them as they continued further north, like giant cotton balls that had been used for chimney sweeping. Then the ground disappeared completely underneath them as the broken clouds gave way to complete overcast.

James sighed slightly and looked back from the window, looking at the white unicorn seated across from him now.

"Nervous?" she asked him, apparently able to sense a growing tension in him, like Princess Luna had mentioned.

"A little concerned about how we are going to safely get down through this soup. Or how the pegasi are even going to find the outpost for that matter without getting lost. Pegasi navigate primarily by visuals don't they?"

"They have a natural compass ... Kind of like certain migratory birds. So they can navigate by dead-reckoning when they can't see the ground."

"Doesn't the wind still throw them off?"

"Nah. They are very sensitive to the feel of changing wind currents against their bodies. So they can correct appropriately."

"Fascinating," he said, truly impressed. "Still doesn't explain how they are safely going to get down through these clouds. What if they hit another ... flying thing? Or smack into a building or something? Cause they can't see in the clouds?"

The unicorn chuckled. "Up there? At that outpost? Trust me, there won't be anything else in the air to hit. And there's nothing on the ground tall enough to hit either. It's an arctic wasteland—Mostly barren tundra. I'd almost say The Princess is testing your loyalty by sending you up there," she smirked.

"What do you mean?" he looked at her quizzically.

"I mean that nopony would blame you if you ran as far away from Canterlot as you possibly can once you get back. To make sure she could never send you on another ... errand ... like this one again," she snickered.

"Thanks ... that makes me feel so much better about this assignment," he responded sarcastically.

James noticed it was starting to get darker in the chariot. He looked out the window again. A second cloud layer was starting to appear above them, leaving them flying between two cloud layers. The sun began to become a dim haze behind the thickening cloud layer above them, eventually fading completely as the rays could no longer penetrate the gray clouds. Light snow flakes started to dance and swirl around the chariot. The ride, which had been smooth up until now, started to become rough, like driving on an unpaved surface as they encountered cold air turbulence from the snow storm they were entering. Before long, the light, dancing snowflakes had given way to driving near blizzard like conditions.

Just as he was about to wonder aloud whether the pegasi could safely fly in this, he felt the pressure change in his ears, indicating the chariot had started to descend. The cloud layer beneath them skimmed the bottom of the chariot now, occasionally dropping visibility down to zero as the chariot skirted in and out of the gray muddle. As they continued their decent, they entered the cloud layer fully, the inside of the chariot becoming even less illuminated as they descended further into the lower layer of clouds. He felt the chariot start to circle. Looking down again, he could see that they were descending through a hole in the clouds, as if a tunnel had been carved out of the gray scud for them to go through. Looking to the side, he could see that a pegasus weather pony had joined them, escorting them down through the clouds and clearing a path for them. Well, that's an interesting and innovative way of solving the problem of how we get down, he thought to himself. He watched the pegasus work, who seemed to really have his/her hooves full trying to keep up, since they were working alone.

Soon he could see faint lights through the snow, which slowly began to shine brighter, like a lighthouse guiding a ship to shore. As they got closer to the ground, more lights became visible, and eventually, the snow covered roofs of buildings. "I don't think this is the research outpost," he said, turning away from the window to look at Theory Point again.

She looked out the window for a moment, then looked back at him. "It's the town of Whitepony. The pegasi probably decided the weather is getting to bad to fly all the way to the outpost. That means we are stuck here for the night."

"I thought the pegasi controlled the weather? Can't they just ... clear the route for us?"

"This far north? There are no weather pegasi stationed this far north. The one that cleared the hole for us to get down through is probably a mail pony who is just helping out so we can get down. Up here? The weather pretty much just does what it wants, and the ponies just let it happen."

He simply nodded slightly, looking out the window again as the ground rose up to meet them. Then there was a small jolt as the chariot touched down and gradually came to a stop. He opened the door on the chariot once it had stopped and immediately regretted it. Icy wind and snow forced its way inside, hitting him and piercing him like a thousand frozen needles. He looked down at the ground to shield himself from the wind and biting snow before stepping down from the chariot, his feet immediately sinking into several inches of snow. He held the door open for the unicorn, for it would have blown back shut from the wind had he not. She stepped out as well. They walked around to the front of the chariot. The two white pegasi that had pulled it were looking none to happy about having to come up here either. One of them looked at James and Theory.

"This is far as we go."

"You mean tonight, right? You'll take us the rest of the way tomorrow?" James questioned.

"No, I mean this is as far as we go, period. There's a couple of pegasi that live up here. Ice Breaker and Storm Treader are their names. You'll have to work out a price with them yourselves to get you up to the outpost and back. You will find them in the Red Dragon Inn and Tavern most likely," he pointed at a building with his forehoof. "Do not ask any other ponies to take you up, or even tell any other ponies where you are going. Only them," he warned.

James, nodded politely to the pegasus. "Thank you, sir." Then he turned to look at the building that the pegasus had pointed out. The structure in question was of a two story log cabin type construction and had a rustic appearance. Faint glows could be seen in the two windows on the front of the building, which were completely frosted over, partially covered with caked snow. A small wooden sign hanging above the door swayed back and forth in the wind. The harsh weather had not been kind to it, leaving it badly faded and partially covered with snow. A weather faded painting of a red chinese style dragon wrapped around a glass orb adorned the surface of the sign. The glass orb appeared to have once been lighted. But now it sat dark, nopony thinking it was worth changing the lightbulb after it had burned out apparently. Underneath the main sign, connected to it by two small hanging chains, was another smaller sign that read simply, Rooms available.

He looked around at the rest of the town, although he couldn't see very far due to the increasing storm reducing visibility. The rest of the structures were similar to the Red Dragon—mostly one or two story log construction with tall chimneys to ensure they didn't get covered with snow. The roofs were pitched at a steep angle to make pulling snow off of them easier. The few chariots and wagons that he saw were all on skis instead of wheels to make moving over the snow easier.

"James, Let's go inside. It's freezing out here," Theory motioned towards the Red Dragon and started trotting towards it, her hooves sinking into the snow.

He was broken out of his sightseeing, and followed her, trudging through the snow and up the four stairs to the Red Dragon, following her inside.

The interior of the building was just as rustic as the outside. The walls consisted of the same logs that he had seen outside. On two sides of the room, large stone fireplaces flickered and crackled, locked in a struggle against the driving cold and wind outside which pounded against the doors and windows, trying to invade. Next to the fireplace on the right side of the room, a set of crudely built wooden stairs led to an upper loft. Along the wall of the loft were four wooden doors, which James assumed must be the guest rooms. At the front of the room they were in, was a wooden bar with several stools. Crudely carved wooden tables were scattered about the room, arranged in no particular order, along with simple wooden chairs.

Several of the patrons turned to look at them as they entered, some giving them cold looks of disapproval. The ponies up here were different from any James had seen before. Their fur was thicker and longer than the other ponies he had seen—an adaptation to the cold climate, he assumed. All of them had a rough, unkempt look to them.

"What's with the stuck-up academic from Canterlot and her furless monkey stooge?" one of the ponies at the bar spoke in a gruff voice to his friend next to him, using a voice that was intentionally loud enough to make sure the apparently unwelcome visitors from Canterlot could hear it.

That elicited mocking laughter from some of the other clientele at the bar. This place definitely seemed to be rough—the kind of place where fights were likely to break out with little provocation.

Theory Point narrowed her eyes, glaring towards the pony at the bar that had mocked her, lowering her head slightly, pointing her horn at him. James put a hand gently on her withers and spoke quietly so only she could hear, with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Keep your cool ... We can't take on all of them ... And I'd rather not get bucked in the face or trampled and I'm pretty sure you'd rather not either. Lets not pick a fight with them."

He felt her withers loosen up a bit as she calmed down, her head rising back up and her eyes returning to something that resembled normal, but still hinting at displeasure.

The two of them walked over to the bar, still getting disapproving glances from some of the patrons, which had James pretty on edge. They sat down at one end of it, far away from the other clientele. Reluctantly, the bartender, a gruff looking unicorn with long brown fur came over to them.

"So what do you two interlopers want?" he spoke in an almost growling voice.

Theory Point looked at him disapprovingly. "You got any special drinks that aren't on the menu?" she asked in a slightly cocky and accusing tone of voice, causing James to wince slightly.

The bartender narrowed his eyes at her. "Just what are you accusing me of? I run a legal establishment. I ain't got no booze here. Inspected randomly and on a surprise basis by The Princess's Royal Guards for any alcohol on the premises. They ain't never found none ... Maybe I oughta just have to the two of you beaten and thrown out of here?"

James interjected before Theory could cause any more trouble. "We'll uh ... just both have a hot apple cider."

The bartender glared at James now. "I ain't got no hard cider you know. Just the nonalcoholic stuff."

"Right ... The nonalcoholic stuff is what we want," James responded nervously.

The bartender gave a simple grunt in response and clopped over to his tapped cider barrels to pour their drinks.

"Pleasant fellow, isn't he," Theory said sarcastically.

"What the hay is wrong with you?" James snapped at her in a quiet voice, giving her an incredulous glare. "Are you trying to get us kicked out of here? Or beaten up and then kicked out of here?"

"What? I was just trying to intimidate him a little bit ... You know, so he'd give us some respect, thinking that we could go back to Canterlot and report anything that wasn't on the up and up," she protested.

"I don't think he was intimidated," James deadpanned. "Look, we are both academic, introverted scientists. That means we are both a few straws short of a hay bale when it comes to social skills ... But from now on? How about I do the talking here?"

She flicked her tail a couple of times. "Suit yourself," she nodded.

The bartender came back with two steaming hot mugs of apple cider magically floating above him, which he unceremoniously set down in front of them.

James nodded his thanks. "We are also going to need two rooms for the night."

"Seventy bits each, you pay in advance. And three bits each for your drinks," the bartender responded flatly.

James reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled out 146 bits, plus a tip for the bartender. He placed it on the counter in front of him. "Also, we are looking for two pegasi. Ice Breaker and Storm Treader are their names."

"They're over there," the bartender pointed towards a table in the back corner. "Your rooms are the second and third ones up the stairs. No private bathrooms. Shared one at the end of the hall. You ain't out of them by ten tomorrow morning, you pay for an extra night."

James nodded in thanks again. "Thank you, sir," he stood up from the bar, grabbing his mug of cider and walking over towards the table the bartender had indicated, Theory Point following him. The two pegasi in question looked just as gruff as the rest of the patrons, if not more so. They both had long, thick fur of a dark brown color, their manes long and unkempt. Rugged mountain stallion or bush pilot look to them. James suspected aviation rules meant nothing to them, and aviation safety probably didn't mean much more, as long as it meant a few extra bits in their saddle bags.

The two of them looked up from their drinks, giving James and his unicorn companion a dirty look. One of them scoffed and spoke roughly. "Yeah? What do you two cityiots want?"

Theory Point narrowed her eyes again, James once more putting a hand on her withers gently to calm her. "We want to talk business," he responded flatly.

"What kind of business?" the pegasus responded.

"We need passage ... to the climate research outpost," James said flatly again.

"The outpost, huh ... Sure, we can fly you up there. But it'll cost you."

"How much?"

"Eight hundred bits round trip for the both of you."

"Eight hundred? That's ridiculous! Four hundred," James countered.

"Eight hundred," the pegasus responded flatly again.

"Five hundred."

"Eight hundred."

"Five fifty?"

"Eight hundred," the pegasus insisted again.

James sighed in frustration. He felt a tug on his arm as Theory Point wrapped a foreleg under his elbow and gave a slight pull. He looked at her and she motioned to an unoccupied area of the room, away from the table.

"Allow me to confer with my colleague," James responded, following his unicorn companion to the area she had indicated.

"Of course. Take your time," the pegasus responded, waving them off boredly with a forehoof.

Once they were in an area where the two pegasi couldn't here them, Theory Point spoke. "Maybe we should try telling them we will find some other pegasi to get us up there."

James shook his head slightly. "The Royal Guard was clear. We are only to ask these two."

"That's true. But they don't know that. We can at least threaten to find some other pegasi."

James smiled a bit. "Good point. I'll give it a shot," the two of them walked back to the table. He looked at the pegasus he had been talking to again. "Perhaps there is some other pony we should be talking to."

The pegasus snickered a bit. "You're welcome to try. You won't find anypony. We're the only two pegasi crazy enough to fly you that far north."

Well, that worked well, James thought sarcastically. "Crazy, enough huh? That's so reassuring," he responded sarcastically. "Six hundred, final offer."

The pegasus glared at him. "You wouldn't survive half a day up here on your own, you furless primate. And nopony wants you here anyway. And that goes for your prissy academic unicorn friend as well. The only way you are getting up to that outpost is if we fly you up there. If we don't, then you ain't going anywhere. So Eight hundred. Take it or leave it. If you leave it, you ain't going nowhere!"

James sighed and looked at the floor, his own frustration and anger growing now. He stared at the floor, emotion boiling up inside of him. Finally, he looked back up and glared back at the pegasus. "You know what? You are right. I couldn't survive up here on my own. And I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to be here. I hate it up here. But I'm not leaving until me and my companion get up to that outpost. So you are stuck with me until then. So the sooner you and I can agree on a reasonable price, the sooner you can be rid of me. And the sooner I can be out of this Celestia forsaken shit hole and on my way back to Canterlot! And the happier both of us will be!" James finished his tirade, during which he had managed to keep his voice low enough so only the two pegasi and Theory Point could hear, and glared at the pegasus.

Both of the pegasi stared back at him with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Even Theory Point had a look of surprise on her face. The pegasus he had been talking to finally looked at his companion who hesitated for a moment, then gave a slight nod. Then he looked back at James again.

"Alright, we'll do it for six hundred. But you pay for both ways of the trip in advance."

"Deal," James extended a hand, the pegasus doing the same with a forehoof, the two of them shaking on it.

"Assuming this storm has cleared out, we leave at seven in the morning, sharp. If it hasn't, we ain't going nowhere. Even we ain't crazy enough to fly up there in this kind of weather. We leave at seven sharp. That means we better see you two down here and ready to go by six-forty-five."

James nodded "Thank you, sirs. Pleasure doing business with you," he started to walk back to the bar, Theory Point giving a slight nod to the pegasi as well and then walking back to the bar with James.

"Wow, James. I didn't think you had it in you," she chuckled over the way he had ranted at the pegasus.

The bartender was over at one of the fireplaces, stoking the glowing embers until a flame leapt forth from them once again. He levitated a couple of more logs with his magic and placed them on the fire, the stone hearth giving forth warmth once more. He returned to the bar. "You two need something else?" he said, still just as gruff and seemingly displeased as before.

"What do you have to eat around here?" James asked.

"You have your choice of vegetarian chili and a roll, or vegetarian chili and a roll. So what'll it be?"

"... I guess we'll take the vegetarian chili and a roll then."

The bartender simply grunted again and disappeared through a door into the kitchen to get their meals.

Theory Point turned towards James as they waited. "So are you staying in Canterlot long term?"

"It looks that way. The Princess offered me a research and teaching position at the Academy."

"Oh?" the unicorn smiled. "And you told her?"

"I haven't told her anything yet. I wanted to think about it for a bit."

"You'd love it at the Academy. And we could certainly benefit from somepony or uh ... someone of your background. I read your bio in the journal. Your background and qualifications are very impressive."

"Thanks," he smiled a bit at her compliment. "I don't know though ... I mean the whole formality of it all—the uniforms and such. I just don't know if I'd do well in that kind of military like environment."

"You get used to it. And the uniforms do have their advantages. After all, they make it easy to figure out what you are going to wear every morning. And you don't have to worry about all the stuck-ups in Canterlot criticizing your fashion sense cause you wore the wrong thing or chose colors that didn't match," she giggled.

He snickered at that. "Well, that's a good point I guess."

"I hope you decide to join us. I'd really enjoy working with you," she smiled.

"Well, I'll take everything you said into consideration when deciding."

The bartender returned from the kitchen, using his horn to levitate two steaming bowls of chili along with rolls onto the bar in front of them. "Ten bits," he grunted.

James nodded and reached into the bag he was carrying, pulling out enough bits to pay the bartender. "Please make sure somepony wakes us up at six tomorrow morning," he looked at the bartender, who simply grunted an acknowledge and nodded his head slightly before walking off to attend to other duties.

The two of them consumed the chili and rolls in silence now. It was pretty mediocre by any standards, but James suspected the rough patrons up here probably were not too picky about what they ate. The rolls were slightly dry, tasting like they had probably been made a couple of days ago. The chili was bland and didn't have enough spices. But at least it was warm and helped take off some of the chill from having been outside and in the unheated chariot. Once they had finished, they got up and went upstairs.

"I'll see you in the morning, Theory."

"You too. Good night, James," she responded, the two of them entering their rooms.

Actually, the room was more like a closet then a room, given how small it was. It was sparsely and simply furnished—a far cry from the opulence of the Canterlot Castle guest rooms. Against one wall was a single bed that looked like it had seen better days, off-white linens and an olive drab blanket that probably should have been replaced years ago. Given the faded color of the linens, he didn't even want to think about when the last time they had been washed was, or how many guests had slept in them since then. Along the opposite wall was a small dresser, with a mirror hanging above it. In the corner a small round wooden table with one chair. There were no windows in the room, the only light in the room provided by a single dim bulb hanging from a cord running out of the ceiling in the center of the room. A small potbelly wood burning stove sat in the corner of the room opposite the table. There was no heat coming from it right now, but there was a small pile of wood, some paper for kindling, and some matches stacked against the wall a little ways away from the stove. Apparently, guests were expected to kindle their own fires. Fortunately, despite the cold outside, enough heat from the main floor downstairs reached the open second level that it was not freezing in the room, although it was still cold.

James decided to forego starting a fire in the stove and just sleep with warm clothes on and cover up instead. He pulled back the covers on the bed and laid down, quickly discovering the mattress was little more than a casing stuffed with straw, the pillow a real feather pillow. Like the kind they used to have on earth before real feather pillows were replaced by synthetics. He pulled the covers over him and thought more about the offer Celestia had made him to join the Academy staff. The Academy still seemed to military for his tastes, from what he knew of it. He was still of the opinion that it taught indoctrination rather than free thinking. Because of that, he wasn't sure it was one he wanted to support. On the other hand, both Celestia and Theory Point seemed to believe there was a lot he would be able to contribute there. The opportunity to get back into research would definitely be welcome. And he did enjoy teaching—both during his guest lectures at Northwestern University back home, and when he had substituted for the schoolhouse in Ponyville. Also, a faculty position in Canterlot would definitely allow him to have a good life there and be well respected in Canterlot society. He had time though. No need to make any hasty decisions. He had at least until they got back to Canterlot to think about it. He turned of the light and pilled the covers over himself a little more, finally drifting off to sleep as he thought about where they would be going tomorrow—what they might encounter and find out.