Author's Note: I apologize for the extremely long delay in getting this chapter out. I got side-tracked by another project for awhile and had a case of writer's block. With Celestia and Luna as my witnesses, it will not happen again. Thanks so much all, for your patience. I hope you enjoy chapter 20.

The God Particle

Chapter 20. The Weaving of Fate

James walked down the hall of the administration building, arriving at the same office he had reported to the first time. The same young administration pony sat behind the desk.

“Told you you'd pass,” he absently commented, looking up at the human and the uniform he was wearing before returning to some paperwork. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” he responded and nodded politely.

“You'll want to take your cap off before the Colonel gets here so she doesn't chew your tail off … if you had a tail to chew off that is. She might chew your head off instead.” the pony deadpanned without looking up from his paperwork.

“Oh … right … thanks,” he responded sheepishly, reaching up with his right hand and removing the cap. He wasn't used to wearing a cap and had completely forgotten he even had it on, much less that the uniform policy dictated the cap was not to be worn indoors.

“Not a problem.” The pony still didn't look up from whatever he was occupied with.

“Dr. Peterson. Good to see you again.”

He looked up to see the female unicorn who had been one of the leaders of the examination board he had faced the previous day.

“Thank you, Ma'am. Likewise,” he responded. He tried to hide his nervousness as she looked him over, inspecting him for any blemish or flaw—as if he were some piece of art on display in a gallery that she were considering buying. He was sure she would find something wrong with the way he had worn the uniform for the first time and would rebuke him for it. If she did though, she said nothing.

“Well, lets get started, shall we? Follow me.” She turned on her hoof, trotting out of the room. He nodded politely to the administration pony, who once again did not look up from his activities, then turned and followed the unicorn.

o.O.o

A brisk, chill wind blew in from the Northwest towards Ponyville. Smoke gray clouds on the horizon told of snow to come. Branches once covered in autumn, but now barren, whistled and creaked as the arctic wind blew through them. White smoke rose from the chimneys of the houses and businesses in town as most residents of the town stayed inside. But on the path leading out from Ponyville, a purple maned white unicorn trotted, along with a small dragon companion.

“I'm worried about her, Rarity,” Spike said, as he helped the fashionista unicorn hunt for gems. “She's obsessing over finding a way to send him home. And The Princess specifically said—”

“You know how she gets, Spike. Especially when she has some kind of scientific or magical problem she is trying to solve.” The unicorn looked back at him briefly, continuing her trot down the dirt road leading out of Ponyville and to the gem fields. “Once she's figured out that Princess Celestia was right, and it can't be done, she will move on to other things.”

“That's just it, Rarity. She's got it in her head that there's something The Princess isn't telling her.”

“You mean she thinks Princess Celestia is lying to her?” She stopped now, turning around to look at him, her eyebrow raised quizzically. “I've never known The Princess to lie. Especially not to her number one student.”

Spike paused and winced slightly. He probably shouldn't even be talking to Rarity. After all, Twilight trusted him as if he were her own brother. She had told him things in confidence—things it was not his place to share. But he could tell Rarity, right? After all, she was Twilight's friend too. Surely, he could trust her, and ehe needed advice. And besides, I definitely can't ask Princess Celestia herself. Twilight would never trust me with anything again if I did that, he thought to himself. He chose his words carefully.

“Well … Not lying per se … More like she may have ulterior reasons why she doesn't want the possibility that he might be able to be sent home looked into very deeply.” He shivered as a gust of cold wind picked up, wrapping his arms around himself for warmth. Although in truth, he wasn't sure whether it was the cold wind, or the fact that he was talking about Twilight behind her back that was making him more uncomfortable.

“Oh Spike, you are going to catch cold,” Rarity responded, changing the subject and raising an eyebrow. “We should get you back to the library where it's warm.”

“It's alright, Rarity. I'm fine. I'm a dragon, I have fire inside me, remember? I'm perfectly warm.” That wasn't true. In reality, he was freezing. He was a dragon, yes. But he was still reptilian in nature. And he simply wasn't made for this kind of cold weather. But Rarity was low on gems for the boutique, and she wouldn't be able to collect any once the ground was frozen and covered with snow. And she needed his help. And besides, anything for you Rarity, no matter how cold it is, he thought to himself.

o.O.o

Princess Luna tossed and turned in her bed, a restless dream filled sleep holding her. Suddenly, she awoke with a start, looking around her room. Everything was as it should be, but she found her fur damp with perspiration. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with her forehoof while trying to recall the details of what she had been dreaming about. There were normal dreams, and then there were premonitions—dreams that revealed bits and pieces of the future. This was one of those dreams. A thousand years of experience as a powerful magical alicorn allowed her to tell the difference by now with relative ease.

“Well, this is interesting indeed,” she said to herself.

She climbed out of her bed and walked over to her night stand, fixing her mane and making herself look presentable. Not as if she really needed to. She had no intention of letting any other pony see her while she was en route to her destination. But, she reasoned, she needed to maintain her regal appearance with him so that he would continue to respect her and her position, lest he forget who he was dealing with. She finished with her mane and put the brush down. Her silver tiara and necklace glowed with magic as she raised them from her night stand and put them on. Then, the window in her tower began to glow as it opened outward and the Princess of the Night left through it, quickly shrouding herself in cloud before she was seen by anypony.

o.O.o

Celestia's sun was already low in the sky by the time James finished orientation. His unicorn guide had drilled him on everything from proper protocol among other staff members, to various ranks held at the Academy, to protocol that Academy staff were expected to observe when at royal functions, as well as when out in public anywhere. He had also gotten his first class. He would be teaching an upper level class on particle physics when the winter semester started. He was relieved they hadn't given him a 101 level class. The upper level class would be smaller and wouldn't overwhelm him with a lot of students for his first semester. Also, it would allow him to spend more time in the lab studying whatever the strange object was they had found up North. For now, he was tempted to simply head back to his room in the staff dorm…he was exhausted and hadn't slept well the night before thanks to Luna. But he hadn't really gotten very much done today since orientation had taken up almost the entire day. He forced himself to go to the lab instead.

He nodded at the pegasi guards outside, exchanging brief greetings before going inside and heading directory downstairs. Inside the lab, he found Theory Point there, her horn glowing as she magically manipulated a quill and wrote down some notes.

“'Evening, James. How'd orientation go?” she asked without looking up from her clipboard.

“Hi, Theory. It went well enough. I don't think I'll ever get used to all the protocol around here though.”

“Don't worry. You will get it down pretty quick after getting your tail chewed off a few times for violating it.” She chuckled in an ambiguous manner…one that left him unsure whether she was joking with him, or being serious.

“So what you working on?” he asked her.

“I was just getting ready to head home for the night actually. But I wrote down quite a bundle of notes for you to read over. You might want to look over them tonight so that we can start on the same page tomorrow. Think fast!” She snickered and James blinked as the clipboard glowed brighter and started flying towards him. Fortunately, his reflexes were better than he thought. His right hand instinctively went up, and he caught it in mid air. He shook his head and scolded her with his index finger.

“Delta was right. You are trouble,” he admonished.

“Well, somepony's gotta keep you on your hooves. Or toes.” She grinned at him. “So you coming back to the dorm or what?”

“Nah, you go ahead. I want to study this thing at least a little bit tonight. I'll also read over your notes while I am here”

“Alright. Suit yourself. Good night, James.” She turned, waved at him with her tail as she left.

“Good night, Theory,” he responded without looking up from the clipboard she had thrown at him.

Once she had left, he busied himself with studying the notes she had written. She had measured various radiation emission numbers from it, using a real Geiger counter that was no doubt more accurate than the homemade one they had initially measured with up at the outpost. The radiation levels he was seeing now were lower than they had measured previously. Damn, he thought to himself. Even accounting for the difference in meter accuracy, the drop-off in levels worried him. The object seemed to have a very short half-life. As he had feared based on its mass, it was likely very unstable and was decaying rapidly. That meant they would have to work quickly if they were to unlock any of its secrets and learn anything about what its intended purpose might have been.

He picked up the quill and began adding some notes of his own to the ones that Theory Point had already written. As he wrote, he began to feel that he was not alone in the room. The temperature seemed to decrease as the feeling of fear he had felt in the morning returned to him. He turned around slowly, as if a coiled serpent were behind him poised to strike if he moved too suddenly. As he expected, the Princess of the Night was standing in the doorway again. Moonlight seemed to reflect off of her silver tiara and necklace, even though there were no windows in the room for the moonlight to shine through.

“Princess Luna,” he acknowledged nervously, placing the clipboard on the counter and forcing himself to kneel and bow to her. Once again, his better judgment screamed at him not to place himself in a such a vulnerable position. But he forced himself to remain on his knees anyway. “Your Majesty. I didn't expect to see you again so soon.”

“We have … nothing better to do on such a cold evening,” she responded, spreading her wings and then folding them lazily against her body again. He felt as if he were a mouse, and she were a cat toying with him. A cat that knew she had him at her mercy, and could end him any time she wanted, toying with him for her own amusement and to let him know how powerless he was against her. “It's not like there are many ponies out in this kind of weather. We figured we might as well come visit you. Please, stand.” She nonchalantly motioned him up with a forehoof.

He stood slowly on her command, grateful that this time, she at least allowed him to do so. Standing or kneeling, you are still at her mercy, his thoughts reminded him. “It is good to see you again, Your Majesty,” he lied.

“Do not flatter us,” she scolded. “We know thou are not thrilled to see us,” She lazily walked over to the counter, looking over the clipboard. “How is thy research going?” she asked in a tone that suggested she really didn't care about the answer. She didn't look up from the clipboard.

“We're just getting started actually, Your Majesty. I was at Academy orientation most of the day.”

“Ah, yes. Those orientations can be grueling. The Academy is very big on protocol,” she stated, as if she were trying to make smalltalk with him. There was a long awkward silence before he responded.

“I do have some concerns though, Your Majesty … The element is decaying very rapidly. I don't know how long it will be before it has decayed to the point where we will not be able to glean any useful information from it.”

“Well, then I'd guess thou had better be diligent in studying it. We shall ensure that the Academy administrators are aware thou art working on something important, and that they are not to overload thy schedule with classes or labs that thou wouldst have to teach.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I would appreciate that.” He bowed his head respectfully.

“Think nothing of it.” She waved a forehoof dismissively.

Another long, awkward pause before he responded. He was pushing his luck, he knew. But he had to bring it up.

“There is … one other thing then, Your Majesty. An … understanding that we need to come to … I will be a lot more effective in my research if you would refrain from haunting my sleep with nightmares … So that I may be well rested in the morning and able to think more clearly.” There he said it. He winced internally, hoping he had not made her angry. He waited for her wrath to be directed at him. Another pause. It was probably only several seconds. But to him, it seemed like an eternity of waiting.

“So be it. We shall … refrain from giving thee any more nightmares,” she responded as if it were nothing at all.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. It is most appreciated.” He bowed his head respectfully again. “You will inform Her Majesty, your sister of my concerns about the decay rate?”

“I will.” She nodded.

“It is much appreciated, Your Majesty.”

“Well, then. It is late. We shall let thee return to the dorm. It looks like thou hast a lot of reading to do anyway.” She nodded at the clipboard of notes. “Tomorrow evening, thou shalt accompany us to the hill where we watched the stars when thou first arrived in Canterlot.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” He knelt before her and bowed again.

“We have a date then. I will meet you at the main castle entrance.” She turned on her hoof and left the room, each of her hooves steps echoing off the walls of the silent and empty lab.

He waited until he was sure she was gone before standing up again, breathing a small sigh of relief. He definitely didn't like the idea of letting her drag him out of the city again tomorrow evening. Not after what had happened last night. But what choice did he have? He couldn't tell her no. And he couldn't plead his case to Princess Celestia. For one, she had already asked him to accompany her younger sister when asked. And besides, he didn't want to involve Celestia in this problem anyway. Pitting sister against sister would likely only make things worse for him if he were the object of their strife towards each other.

He picked up the clipboard and carefully placed it into the saddle bag / backpack he carried with him. He stopped with it half way in, looking at Twilight's cutie mark embroidered on the pack, studying the large pink star in the middle, the smaller stars twinkling around it. Slowly, he traced his finger over the large star in the center. He hadn't been away from her that long, but gods, he missed her. She had become like family to him—the only family he really had anymore. Yes, Theory Point and he had hit it off well, and he was rapidly becoming good friends with her. And yes, she was going out of her way to make him feel welcome, taking him to clubs, introducing him to other staff members, and so on. But it wasn't the same. Life in Ponyville might have been boring. But it had also been simple and care free. Now that he was in Canterlot, he had become involved in high level secret government research and was the object of strife between two powerful rulers. And all before he even knew what happened, or exactly how. He traced his finger over the large star on the pack again. A single tear rolled down his right eye. James, you shouldn't allow yourself to get so attached to a pony, he criticized himself. Then, he pushed it to the back of his mind, picked up the saddle bag / backpack, and left the lab, locking the doors on his way out, longing for the simpler days in Ponyville … or better yet, back home in Chicago.

He arrived back at the dorm. The common room was empty except for a few staff ponies at the table in the back corner. They nodded politely to him, but said nothing. He nodded back, remembering to remove his cap this time. The ponies simply went back to whatever they had been discussing before he entered. He was thankful they had not tried to engage him in conversation as he was not really in the mood for talking. Silently, he walked down the hall, up the stairs and to his own room. Once inside, he quickly undressed, carefully hanging the uniform up so it wouldn't wrinkle before climbing into bed. He laid down and stared at the ceiling. He was nervous about going to sleep, hoping that Luna would keep her promise and not give him any more nightmares. Despite his fear, exhaustion quickly took over and he was asleep within minutes. His dreams were of colorful butterflies, fluffy white bunnies, and lazy cotton like clouds floating through the sky on a clear summer day.

o.O.o

The next morning, he awoke refreshed and well rested. Although he was glad for the fact that he hadn't had any nightmares, he wasn't quite sure what to think of the dreams that he did have. It wasn't the kind of thing he would normally dream about. Did she cause those dreams to? He shuttered to think that she did. He couldn't fault her for not trusting him. And he couldn't really even fault her for the way she had treated him. A thousand years away from contact with any other living being would leave anyone socially awkward and maladjusted. But after the dreams last night, if she had, in fact, caused them, he wondered if she were downright insane. If she were, he couldn't blame her for that either. A thousand years of isolation … he shuttered to think what it must have been like when she got back and realized how long she had been gone. How much she had missed. How much things had changed. How every pony she knew would be long since gone. Even their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, all the way down for hundreds of generations. would be gone. That part of Equestria's history had been turned into legend. Eventually, legend has a way of becoming myth, And then, even myth fades into the mists of time until no one remembers. When she had returned, how many ponies even knew who she was? Knew anything about her history? Or anything about the pivotal role she had played in Equestria's history before the regrettable Nightmare Moon incident? How she had helped free Equestria from the iron rule of Discord? No, he couldn't blame her at all even if she had lost her sanity. Not after all she had been through. You're one to talk, he mentally chastised himself again. For all you know, you're the one who's insane after all of this. That was, of course, also a very real possibility. And who knows what his mind might conjure up for him to dream about after everything he had been through. What with colorful talking ponies, magic and science working together in harmony. But he couldn't dwell on any of that right now. He had research to do, and lectures to prepare. In less than a week, the Academy's campus would be teaming with students as classes started for the Winter semester.

He quickly showered, put on his uniform. It only took him two attempts to get the tie the right length this time. After making sure everything was aligned perfectly, he left his room, tromping down the stairs towards the common area, the smell of freshly brewed tea and hickory wood smoke teasing his sense of smell as he turned the corner and descended the second part of the stairs. Arriving in the common room, he found most of the tables were still empty, the room filled to maybe a quarter of its capacity.

“James! Over here!” a female voice called out. He looked in the direction it had come from to find Theory Point motioning him over with her horn. She was seated with a uniformed light yellow unicorn with a brown mane and tail that he had not met yet. He nodded and grabbed some tea and oatmeal from pots on the counter near the large fireplace, then went over to the small round table and sat down with the two unicorns.

“Morning, James. Sleep well? This is Ele Matrix. She's an electrical engineer here at the Academy. You'll probably work closely with her on a lot of projects.”

The light yellow unicorn nodded at James. “Pleasure to meet you”

“Likewise.” James nodded back.

“You've seen the Hoofer hydroelectric dam in Ponyville right?” Theory Point continued. “Came out of her brain. She designed it and supervised its construction”

“Well, I had help. I can't take all the credit,” she chuckled.

“Still, that's some impressive work,” James commented.

“So what they got you working on?” she asked, changing the subject with a slight blush. She seemed rather modest and uncomfortable at being complimented for her work, even when those compliments were well deserved.

“Well, they got me teaching an upper level undergraduate course on particle physics I'm preparing for.” Of course, left out the part about the nuclear research that Celestia had ordered him not to discuss with any pony.

“Sounds like a good deal.” She nodded. “It will be a challenging and interesting course to teach, but you won't be overloaded for your first class,” she echoed his own thoughts.

“Seems kind of quiet and slow in here for this time of morning,” he remarked, looking around again and noticing that even at this hour, only about a quarter of the tables were occupied.

“Most of the staff haven't returned from vacation yet,” Theory Point commented. “Don't worry. By next week, this place will be so full at this time of morning you won't be able to find a place to sit unless you get down here very early.”

“Well, I hate to cut it short,” Ele interjected, “But I have a grad student I need to work with on a field project today. It was good meeting you, James.” She nodded at both of them before taking her leave.

“Thank you. You too. I'm sure I'll see you around since we are in the same department,” James responded, nodding as she left, then turning back to Theory Point, taking a sip of his tea.

“You'll like her,” Theory commented. “She's very intelligent. Probably the best engineer in all of Equestria. Though she would never take credit for that honor. She's very modest.”

“I got that impression from her. Yeah.”

“So, I thought you and I might have dinner together,” the unicorn said out of the blue. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” he chuckled

“A date? No! Of course not!” she said defensively, squirming and looking generally uncomfortable now.

“Uh huh …” he said in a suspicious tone. “Are you sure? Because that certainly sounded like you were asking me out on a date,” he continued to tease her.

“It's not a date! It's purely professional. I just want to learn more about your research before you got here. In an environment quieter than the club. And we don't exactly have time to talk about it in the lab.” She huffed in protest.

“Uh huh … And what if I say no?”

“I don't have to give you a choice, you know. I outrank you here. I could just order you to have dinner with me.” She glared at him.

“Oh that's how it's gonna be now, is it? Are you always this assertive? Or do I just bring out that side of you?”

“Would you just … Why do you have to … It's not a date! I just want … grr!” she snorted, looking really flustered now.

“Relax, Theory,” he chuckled at her reaction. “Yes, I'll have dinner with you. What day did you have in mind?”

“Why can't you just” she continued, almost as if she hadn't heard him. Then she stopped and blinked. “Oh … You will? Well, how about tonight then?”

He shook his head slightly. “No can do. Princess Luna wants me to go out stargazing with her tonight I guess.”

“Oh. Hobnobbing with royalty are you?” She grinned at him.

He took a sip of his tea. “Yeah, more like being kidnapped against my will. She didn't really give me a say in the matter.”

“What do you suppose she wants with you?”

“I don't know. I'm not entirely sure I want to find out. My mind can conjure up all kinds of ideas, none of which are pleasant to think about for too long. Most of them involve locking me in a secure facility and studying me.” He shrugged.

“Well, I can't fault her for that. The thought crossed my mind once or twice.” She snickered.

“You sure know how to inspire confidence in a guy, you know?” he responded, his voice laced with sarcasm.

She chuckled and took a sip of her tea. “Still, the Princess of the Night requesting you to accompany her. She doesn't do that very often. with anypony. It's quite special really.”

“Yeah, well maybe if you hadn't blown her off for that debriefing, she'd want to hang out with you too.” He grinned, getting a magically tossed napkin in his face in response.

“Very funny, James. It's a good thing your a good scientist, because you wouldn't be able to make a living at the comedy club.”

He just snickered in response. “Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you and try to get you back on her good side.”

She took another sip of her tea, emptying the cup. “Come on. Lets get out of here.”

He nodded, finished his own tea, then followed her out of the dorm and towards the lab.

o.O.o

The day passed quicker than he would have liked, given he was not looking forward to the evening. Nevertheless, he knew he didn't dare no show Luna's requested meeting place, so that evening found him pacing nervously outside the main entrance to the castle, waiting for Princess Luna. He pulled the heavy Academy uniform coat tighter around himself as a gust of wind chilled him.

“Is something amiss, sir?” he heard a male voice call out. He turned to find that his nervous pacing had attracted the attention of two of the royal unicorn guards.

“No, I'm fine. I'm supposed to be meeting … somepony here. But thank you for your concern, sir.” He wasn't sure if he should tell the guard exactly who he was meeting since he knew that they generally disapproved of Luna sneaking out of the castle walls alone at night—not that there was anything they could do about it.

The unicorn guard eyed him suspiciously and said nothing. But the look he was giving him suggested the guard was not entirely convinced. He swallowed nervously. For a moment, he thought he might be taken into custody.

“Is there a problem here?” the voice of Princess Luna called out. For the moment, he was actually relieved to hear it, given the situation with the guard.

“No problem, Your Majesty”, both James and the two guards knelt and bowed before her. “Dr. Peterson here is waiting for somepony, apparently.”

“Indeed, he is,” The Princess responded. “That would be me. He is to accompany me tonight.”

Out of the corner of his eye, James noticed the guard that had spoken shifting uncomfortably at the idea. He could only imagine the other guard was equally uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the guards deferred to their Princess, neither one attempting to stop her.

“Of course … As you wish, Your Majesty,” the guard responded.

“Please, rise. Both of you. Shall we go then?” she said, looking at James now.

“Whenever you like, Your Majesty”, he said, standing up, the guards doing the same.

“The gate is still open. We shall walk out tonight,” she stated flatly, Motioning for him to follow. He did so. He was glad they were walking as he was not particularly fond of teleportation and it's unpleasant side effects, even if they did last only a few seconds.

As they approached the gate, the guards on either side of it bowed to their Princess. They looked nervous as she left the safety of the courtyard with him, but none of them said anything. The alicorn stopped once they were outside of the courtyard walls, motioning towards her back with her horn.

“Climb on,” she stated simply.

He didn't protest or argue this time, simply doing as he was told. Once he was secure, she gently leaped into the air. Again, she flew them over the tops of the houses, although this time she stayed a little higher then before. After all, the guards already knew the two of them had left. No need for secrecy this time, he figured. Again, her horn glowed and her magic seemed to form some kind of invisible barrier around them that kept the chill wind out. She flew into a cloud and he could no longer see the ground. The loss of the visual horizon started to make him feel disoriented. When they came out of the cloud, she was circling over her intended landing area on the hill. Lower and lower she circled, until flaring her wings and coming in for a graceful landing, as softly as if she had been landing on delicate glass. He barely felt her hooves touch the ground.

Once she had stopped, he climbed off of her, looking around as if he expected some hidden threat to suddenly pop out of the darkness. He wondered if she could sense his nervousness. Of course she can. She already told you she can smell fear and nervousness, he reminded himself.

“You don't have to be so nervous,” she said in a voice that had a soothing effect to it, confirming his suspicions that she could sense his tension. He turned from the shadows he had been staring into to look at her now. Her expression had taken on a soft tone that reminded him of the first night on this same hill, after he had comforted her about how beautiful her night was. It was as if a switch had been thrown—as if once outside of Canterlot, she no longer felt the need to be so defensive and protective. Also, he noted that she had switched to speaking in modern language, dropping the old English. “Come, let us sit down.”

“I don't really think I should, Your Majesty. The class 1 uniform and all. I don't want to get grass stains on it.”

She looked at the uniform for a moment, turned her head and pointed her horn at a spot on the ground. Her horn, and the area on the ground started to glow a faint purple. When the aura faded, there was a blanket covering the grass.

“Is that better?” she asked, turning to look at him again.

He just stared at the blanket for a moment. Even though he had been in Equestria for over three months now, he still hadn't gotten used to the idea of unicorns and alicorns being able to pull objects out of thin air like that.

“Yes, much better, Your Majesty. Thank you.”

He walked over onto the blanket, waiting for her to sit down before sitting down next to her. He looked up at the clear evening sky. The cloud they had flown through when they arrived was no where in site. The dark purple of evening twilight had not yet fully faded as night took over. Gradually, tiny points of light began to shimmer into view as the brightest stars became visible and indigo faded into the black of night. He stared at the sky, trying to relax as much as possible. But despite his best efforts, he could not make himself feel calm around Princess Luna right now. Not after what had happened with the nightmare, and the way she had confronted him in the lab the morning after the nightmare.

“Tell me more about your life before you arrived here,” she asked suddenly, snapping him out his own thoughts.

“What exactly would you like to know, Your Majesty?”

“Did you have any family?”

“Well … Not any direct family. I wasn't married and didn't have any children. There were my parents, sister, and such. but … we weren't that close.”

“And why weren't you close with them?”

“… Can we talk about something else, Your Majesty? Please?”

“No. We shall talk about this,” she said firmly, an air of finality about her.

He looked at the ground, sighed slightly in resignation. “As you wish, Your Majesty. It's just that I've tried so hard to forget about the past before I arrived here. And avoid discussions that remind me of it.”

“Do you really believe you can simply run away from your past like that?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I didn't run away from it. I was forcefully yanked away from it. It wasn't exactly my choice to get dragged into this world, or dimension,” he responded, letting a hint of a annoyance slip into his tone of voice. He bit his tongue as soon as he had said it. James, you foal. That's no way to talk to The Princess … Especially given she already doesn't particularly like you, he mentally scolded himself. If she was angry with his tone, however, she let it slide and remained calm.

“You were not forcefully yanked out of your past. You were forcefully yanked from one dimension into another. But you are running from your past,” she corrected him.

“How do you figure that, Your Majesty?” He started tracing his finger in the ground nervously, a habit he had picked up from her the last time they had been out there when she had been tracing her hoof in the ground.

“You run from your past because you fear that if you confront it, you will dwell on it. Am I not correct?”

“… You are correct, Your Majesty.” He didn't want to admit it. But when he thought about it, yes she did have a point.

“There are things you regret from your past that you wish you could make right, but now you will never get the chance,” the dark alicorn stated flatly. As if it were simply an undisputed fact. He realized it actually was.

“Yes, Your Majesty … Yes, that's it exactly.” Apparently it was his turn to open up to her now, as she had done with him when they had been out here the first night.

“And do you really believe that the path of running away goes anywhere except in a circle?” She looked directly at him. Attempting to lock eye contact with him.

“What do you know about it, Princess? Nothing!” he snapped at the alicorn before he even realized what he had said. Immediately, he closed his mouth tightly. But it was too late. It was over. She would turn him over to the royal guards. Or she would just bypass the guards and teleport him directly into a dungeon cell. Or somewhere worse. The fact that he was now in uniform and Academy staff, made his gross insubordination to one of the princesses that much worse. She'd been trying to trap him into giving her a reason. And now he had given her one. He cinched his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable …

But it never came. Instead, she responded with compassion, but also a note of hurt in her voice. “You think I know nothing of what it is like to regret the past?”

He looked at the ground in shame. After all he knew what she had been through … He looked back at her again, but kept his eyes lowered to the ground. “I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to snap at you.” He wasn't just saying it to save his own skin from the dungeon. He really did feel bad about snapping at her.

“I forgive you. It's an emotional subject for you to discuss. I understand that.”

“It's different, Your Majesty.” he continued after a pause. “You had a chance to make right the mistakes you made. To do something about the regrets. That's a chance it seems I will never get.”

She shook her head slightly, her mystical mane flowing as she did so. “No, James. I didn't. Remember that I was gone for a thousand years. All of the ponies I directly harmed were long dead by the time I got back. There was nothing I could, nor ever will be able to do, to make things right with them.”

He nodded. He wasn't sure how he had overlooked that. But of course, it was true. Yes, she was able to return. But the actual ponies she had harmed during her time as Nightmare Moon … she had never been able to undo the hurt she had caused them. Another long pause before he spoke again.

“But we can't just forget about the past, Your Majesty. Pretend like it never happened.”

“No,” she shook her head again. “Indeed, we cannot. And yet, you try to run away from it. Is that not trying to forget it? To pretend it never happened?”

“I suppose … Yes, Your Majesty.” He looked at the ground again, resumed his nervous tracing with his finger. He was less nervous about being around her. But the conversation was still an uncomfortable one for him. He had tried running. He had tried forgetting about it. He had tried focusing on other things. And now, he had tried discussing it with a being that had over a thousand years of experience to draw from. But he felt no closer to the answers. He could feel emotions starting to well up inside of him, tears trying to make their way to the surface, like bubbles starting to rise from the bottom of a pot of heating water as it approached a boil. Finally, he looked back up at her.

“What do I do, Princess?” His voice had an almost pleading tone to it that surprised even him. Despite his efforts to control them, a tear started to roll down the side of his face.

“You make mistakes, and you move on. You make peace with the things in the past that you cannot change, and you use the knowledge gained to change the things that you can change now. To shape the future. That is the only way. You will have to accept that your new family is here. Twilight Sparkle and her friends think very highly of you and consider you as such.”

He shook his head slightly, looking away from the alicorn and down at the ground again. “They are my friends, yes. But it's not the same.”

The dark alicorn nuzzled his cheek gently with her muzzle, startling him for a moment. But he did not try to pull away from her. Her fur wiped away the tears that were running down the side of his face. Despite the tension that seemed to exist between her and him over the last couple of days, he still found her touch soothing and reassuring. He feared her power, but also took comfort in the fact that she had that power. It was a strange feeling that he could not explain to himself, much less to anyone else. She took a few steps back and spoke again.

“Things can never be the same, James Peterson. The Universe is always changing. The next moment will not be the same as this one. And you can never go back. The only direction is forward. You will become closer to Twilight Sparkle than you realize. For you will need her more than you know. As she will need you.”

He blinked, looked up at her again. “… Your Majesty?”

“Your fate has become inextricably tied with Twilight's fate. As her fate has with yours.”

“What are you saying?” he questioned, both his eyebrows raising now.

“I have foreseen it,” she responded simply as if that kind of foresight were the most natural thing in the world.

“How? … Why?” he asked in confusion.

“That is something I am not privy to. You must understand, James, that even I am not privy to all things.”

He nodded slightly in acknowledgment. “Does Twilight know about this?”

“No. She does not.”

“She should be told.”

“She will be told nothing,” the alicorn responded in a resolute tone of voice.

“If if affects her, she deserves to know, Your Majesty,” he protested.

“There is nothing she can do about it at this time. You know how she is, James. She will obsess over it, despite the fact that she can do nothing. For her own well being, she will be told nothing at this time.” The alicorn gave him a resolute glare—one that left no doubt that there would be consequences if he told Twilight what she had just told him. He bowed his head in deference to her.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Your concern for her is admirable.” She spoke in a compassionate and reassuring tone again. “But you must trust me when I say that it is in her best interests if she knows nothing at this time. She will be told if and when the time is right.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.” That wasn't true. He didn't understand. And he didn't like the idea of keeping secrets from Twilight at all—especially not when they directly affected her. And besides, if the princesses were asking him to keep secrets from Twilight, and not telling her everything, how could he know what they were and weren't telling him? Still, he felt compelled to trust Luna's judgment on the issue. After all, she did know Twilight better than he did. He had only known her for a few months.

A cold wind began to pick up from the North, bringing with it hints of snow on the way. He subconsciously pulled the Academy uniform's coat tighter around his body to ward off the chill that managed to find any open space to sneak through and get to his core. He almost jumped when he felt something drape over him. He looked to his side to see that Princess Luna had spread one of her wings, draping it over his body to ward off the chill. He nearly pulled away, but resisted the urge, eventually calming down and accepting her offered warmth. He looked back up at the sky which had become completely dark now. Thousands of stars twinkled down at him from Luna's canvas of the night. There were even more of them, then there had been last time. And they were brighter. He was sure of it. The two of them sat in silence now, her wing draped over him effectively keeping the chill away from him. He stared up at the beauty of her night sky, contemplating what she had said. What she had said was true, he realized. There was no where to go except forward … But this whole thing of his fate being tied together with Twilight's? He tried not to dwell on that. Luna had said there was nothing Twilight could do about it right now. Well, I don't see what I can do about it right now either, he thought to himself. It would do him no more good to obsess about it than it would Twilight. But try as he might, he was unable to stop thinking about it. She hadn't told Twilight about it. He found himself wishing she hadn't told him either. It's true what they say, he thought to himself. Ignorance really is bliss …