The God Particle

Chapter 23: Summer's Eve Omen

Luna's full moon shined outside the window of James' office in the science building the night before the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration. He had worked all day helping with preparations and probably should be exhausted. But he couldn't have slept if he tried. Excitement over seeing his friends from Ponyville again tomorrow kept him wide awake. But there was something else: He couldn't take his mind off the strange object. There had to be something they were missing. He was sure of it.

How was it gaining mass? And where was it coming from? If it was converting energy into matter, it would require truly enormous amounts of energy. In the entire time that Fermi Lab had been operational, it hadn't converted enough energy to matter where a human being could actually detect the weight difference by feel. There didn't seem to be any possible way it could store enough energy internally to do that. That meant there had to be an external energy source. And it had to be enormous. And it had to be of some form they weren't capable of measuring or detecting with any methods they had available to them. But it had to be coming in from somewhere. Or did it? He had sat on a quilt with Princess Luna once. She had seemingly made that materialize out of pure energy. But there had been an energy source: Luna herself provided the energy. He shuttered to think of the amount of sheer power she must possess to be able to do that. Fermi Lab and its one trillion electron volt accelerator could not have produced that much matter from energy in a thousand years of continuous operation. So maybe she didn't actually convert energy into matter? Maybe she had simply re-arranged the atoms in the air to form a quilt like structure? Maybe that's how this thing worked too? It just gathered atoms to itself? But that left him no closer to any answers. If it was gathering atoms to itself, it wasn't using gravity to do it. They'd measured the gravity fields around it. There were none worth writing home about.

He'd been in Equestria long enough now to know that certain types of magic could seriously bend, if not outright break some laws of physics. But he didn't know enough about magic yet to understand under what conditions that was possible, or even which laws could be bent and broken. Again, he found himself really wishing he could talk about this with Twilight Sparkle. Theory Point was a good physicist, yes. But she had told him when they first met that she wasn't fond of magic and only used what little she needed to in order to help her with her job. The insight of somepony who was well versed in magical theory would be very helpful right now—especially if that pony were also reasonably well versed in physics. Maybe he could ask her specific questions? Without actually saying what it was he was working on? She was coming tomorrow. And that might be the last chance he would get for a long time to have a discussion with her outside of mailing letters back and forth. But he didn't dare talk to her without getting permission first.

Princess Celestia, he knew, would already be asleep tonight, given the big day she had tomorrow. And tomorrow, she would be so busy he'd be lucky to get within a hundred meters of her much less get the opportunity to ask her for permission. And even if he did get the chance, there would be too many ponies around to overhear. That only left one option … One he was reluctant to take given he still feared her. But it was the only way he had a chance of getting permission in time to be able to talk to Twilight.

Making up his mind, he swallowed his apprehension, and the last of the water in his glass. Then, he stood up, left his office, and made his way to the outside of the castle. Luna's moon shined down on him brightly, and he hoped Her Majesty, The Princess of the Night, would spot him and come to him …

...

"Spike? Be a dear and bring me the forest green spool of thread, would you darling?"

The little dragon immediately jumped to attention, rushing over to the shelf where Rarity kept her thread spools. He scanned over it rapidly, finding the forest green spool and picking it up, taking it over to Rarity and presenting it to her with both hands, looking as if he were a servant presenting a cup of fine wine to a queen.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Twilight Sparkle barely managing to contain a giggle. He cast her a brief glare when Rarity wasn't looking, quickly losing it as soon as he saw the fashionista unicorn return her attention him.

"Thank you, Spike" she said, not looking up from her work.

"Oh … It's totally my pleasure, Rarity. There's nothing I'd rather be doing. Is there anything else I can help you with? Do you need any more pins? Or fabric?"

This time, Twilight was unable to suppress a brief giggle escaping her muzzle. Again he cast her a glare that could have melted iron, at which point she quickly tried to cover up the giggle with a cough.

"I must have … inhaled a cat hair or something." She coughed again to hide one last giggle before she was able to get control of herself.

"Opal, darling. Are you shedding?" Rarity said to her white feline pet without even bothering to look up from her work. The cat only gave a bored meow in response, then resumed licking at its paw.

"So Rarity, I—" Spike started, but was cut off by Twilight.

"Well, Rarity! Those dresses for the Summer Sun Celebration really are beautiful!" She gave a slight nervous laugh, then cast Spike a look that he interpreted to mean Shut up before you make an even bigger fool of yourself!

"Thank you, Twilight. I hope they are good enough to get noticed . All of the top clothing stores in Canterlot will be unveiling their latest designs for the Celebration."

"I'm sure yours will be among the best, Rarity. They always are. I should probably go check on Pinkie Pie and Applejack to see how their preparations are coming along."

"I'll stay here with—" Spike started to suggest, but stopped as he felt himself floating into the air, surrounded by a purple glow as Twilight magically lifted him into the air. A few seconds later, he gently came down on her back.

"Yes, dear of course." Rarity responded without looking up from the dress she was working on as Twilight trotted out of the boutique with Spike on her back. It was difficult to know whether she had even registered what Twilight had said, or was too absorbed in her work.

"Twilight! What'd you do that for?" he protested once they were safely outside. "I was having—"

"You'll thank me later, Spike," she cut him off with an assertive tone of voice, then switched to a softer one. "You really do need to learn to be a bit more subtle."

"Am I that obvious?" he asked with a hint of worry, getting one brief chuckle from her in response.

"Spike, you are completely obvious. I'm sure everypony, including Rarity, already knows."

He was silent now, grumbling to himself about Twilight having pulled him away from Rarity, but also worrying about how obvious he had been. He quickly forgot about his worry as they approached Sugarcube Corner, the delectable smells rising from the chimney of the bakery's ovens switching the young dragon's mind to thoughts of sugary candies and cookies. Various smells arose from the chimney, mingling together with each other. Some he was able to pick out. The delicious smell of freshly baked bread. The sweet smell of cinnamon that was almost as delightful as that perfume Rarity wore. Almost.

Stepping inside, his sense of smell was overwhelmed with the scents of freshly baked cakes, cookies, and other various treats. Just as in Canterlot, the entire town of Ponyville was coming together to prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration. The normally quiet small town bakery was now awash with activity. Ponies raced back and forth to mixing bowls, ovens, and wrapping stations. Most of them were volunteers—temporary help that had arrived to help Mr. and Ms. Cake with the Summer Sun preparations. Sugarcube Corner was a relatively small bakery, and they couldn't afford to pay the volunteers who had come to help. But that didn't matter. When another pony needed help, you helped them. That's just the way things were in Equestria—especially in the smaller towns like Ponyville. Even more so when it involved Princess Celestia's most special day of the year. Even the ponies that wouldn't be making the trip to Canterlot helped. After all, name recognition for the local businesses in Ponyville ultimately benefited every pony in Ponyville. And every pony wanted to make sure their town was well represented at The Summer Sun Celebration. Only the best for Princess Celestia. Especially for this celebration.

"Twilight! Spikey Wikey!" Pinkie Pie poked her head out from the back door. Her apron and fur were so covered in flour, sugar, jellies and jams that one would almost think there had been an explosion in the back room. "Are you here to taste test our latest creations? huh? huh? are you? are you?" she said excitedly.

"I'm afraid we don't have time, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, an apologetic expression on her face. "We have to visit others and make sure all the preparations are on track to be done in time."

Spike grumbled in disappointment, also noticing the disappointed look on Pinkie Pie's face. But the pink party pony quickly perked back up.

"That's okay, Twilight! You'll have plenty of time to try them all tomorrow at the Celebration!"

"So how are all the preparations coming along, Pinkie?"

"Everything's okie dokie lokie!" she responded just as a bell started ringing in the back room. "Oh! That's my cake timer! Gotta go!" She disappeared behind the door again, as quick as if she had been shot out of a cannon.

"Okay then … Cakes, cookies, and pastries … Check!" Twilight said, writing down a few more notes on the clipboard floating above her horn as she turned to leave the bakery.

"We could have at least tried a couple of samples, Twilight," Spike protested.

"There will be plenty of time to try all the samples you want tomorrow, Spike. We still have to check on AJ to make sure the baked apple goods are coming along okay. And Fluttershy to make sure all the floral arrangements are on schedule."

He just grumbled to himself again as Twilight continued the relatively long trot out of town to the Apple family orchard.

They arrived to find Big Macintosh with two crates of apples strapped to his back, carrying them inside the farm house. He didn't seem to notice the two of them arrive, absorbed in his work as he was. Entering the farm house, the rest of the apple family was hard at work over mixing bowls. Granny Smith was stirring batter for apple muffins, Apple Bloom was spooning batter into muffin tins. The smell of fresh baked bread and spice floated from the oven as Applejack took four loaves of spiced apple bread out of it, steam rising from their golden honey glazed tops. On the windowsill of the old farm house, apple pies sat cooling in the warm summer breeze, their delectable scent teasing his nose with the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg each time the breeze shifted slightly to blow into the house.

"Howdy, Twilight. Spike," Applejack said, setting the loaves on a cooling rack near the window. "Come to check on the preparations?"

"Yep. You know me. Always organizing." She smiled.

"Well, things are going mighty fine here, Twi. Got the whole apple family to come here and help out. Even my cousin Breaburn took the train here from Appleloosa to help out with preparations. It'll be the first time he's ever been to the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Well, I'm sure he will enjoy it," Twilight responded.

Spike thought something sounded a little bit off with Twilight. His suspicions were confirmed when Applejack seemed to pick up on it too.

"What's eatin' at ya, Twi? You sound like somethin's on your mind."

"Me? Oh … Nothing. I'm fine. Completely fine." She laughed nervously.

"Don't be trying to lie to the Element of Honesty now, Twi," the orange earth pony scolded. She looked directly at Twilight for a couple of moments. "You're nervous about seeing James again, aren't ya, Twilight." She said more as a statement than a question.

Twilight sighed, lowering her head slightly, her ears laying backwards a bit. "Yes. I guess, I am. It's been five months, AJ. How much more has he changed? How much more assimilated has he become? How much more of his home has he lost?"

"He always seemed like everything was alright in his letters, didn't he? And he always seemed happy?"

"Yes … But he never talks about his home anymore. Not even a word. That part worries me."

"Well, have ya tried talkin' to him about it?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"No. I don't feel like I should bring it up. I guess I figure that if he wants to talk about it, he'll bring it up. And it'll only be hurtful to him if I bring it up."

"Well … have ya raised your concerns with him in a more … subtle way? About him being … what's that fancy technical term ya used again?"

"Culturally assimilated. And no, I haven't. I don't think it's my place to bring it up."

"Well, if ya won't bring it up with him, I don't know what ya expect ya can do about it. Look on the bright side though. At least if he's treatin' the princesses with the same respect he was when he was helpin' Apple Bloom with her homework, I dun think you have to worry about him gettin' in any trouble with 'em."

"I'm not worried about that anymore, AJ. Now I'm more worried that's he's getting far to taken in with the Canterlot lifestyle and culture."

"Well, I don't think that'll harm him none too much, sugarcube. After all, you were raised in that lifestyle and culture, and you turned out alright."

"Well, I was rather self-absorbed until I came here." She frowned.

"You think he's becomin' self absorbed?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"No. It's not that. I just think he's repressing painful memories. Trying to run from them. And he's setting himself up for a very hard fall when he finds he can't run any further."

"I don't know, Twi." Applejack shook her head slightly. "I don't know that ya oughta being tryin' to psychoanalyze a species from another planet whose mind might work entirely different than ours do."

Twilight shook her head. "I lived with him for three months, AJ. He's not that different than us. He has the same basic needs, wants and desires. The same emotional needs. He experiences joy, sadness, fear, anger, pain, frustration … Just like we do."

"Well, alright then … But I still don't know how ya expect to do anything about it if ya won't talk to him. We should confront him. But if we're gonna do it, we should be gentle about it."

Twilight nodded slightly. "But not at the Summer Sun Celebration. I don't want to do anything that would ruin his first Summer Sun Celebration. And I don't want to ruin ours either."

"We might not get another chance for a long time," Applejack pointed out. "And I dun think this is the kind a thing ya wanna bring up in a letter."

Twilight sighed in response, nodding slightly.

Spike looked back and forth between the two ponies. When neither one of them had set anything for at least a minute, he finally spoke up.

"Can we at least sample some of the apple pie, Twilight? We haven't eaten anything all day." She'd forget her tail if it wasn't attached to her back side when she gets involved in organizing things, he thought to himself.

"Oh, sorry Spike," Twilight responded apologetically. Yes, it probably would do us both some good to eat something.

Granny Smith suddenly perked up. "You two youngin's just sit down right there and let ol' Granny Smith take care of ya!" she said, slicing two pieces of pie for them. "You know what they say about an apple a day. It'll cure what ails ya!"

And it was true, it did. As they ate the pie, Twilight began to perk up and look better. Spike only hoped she felt as much better as she looked …

...

Outside the castle, the night was completely still. Not a single leaf moved in the breezeless moonlit night. The only sound, the sound of his own heart beating. For now, James looked at the ground, at flowers glistening with night moisture, the silver moonlight reflecting off their petals.

Then, the flowers became dark, shadow passing over them as if a cloud had suddenly obscured the moon. He looked up, a winged silhouette against the lunar light. The silhouette passed out of the path of the moon, vanishing into the night sky, the flowers becoming visible again as the shadow disappeared. It reappeared, the flowers once again falling under shadow. It grew bigger, blotting out more of the moon's light as it covered more of the lunar disc. Majestic wings flared out to the sides as he dropped to one knee and bowed.

"Princess Luna. Your Majesty," as the dark alicorn landed gracefully in front of him.

"James. You come to me freely this time." It was an observation. Not a question.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, still bowed before her.

"You may rise. What is it I can do for you?"

"I need approval for something … Your Majesty," he said, standing up now, seeing her spread wings fold against her sides again.

"Well, go on. Don't make me drag it out of you." She looked at him with a hint of annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." he winced slightly, but quickly recovered. "The object we have been studying. I'm sure there is magic involved in the way it was behaving. But I don't have the necessary knowledge of magical theory to figure out how the magic is interacting with the physics. I don't think that Theory Point does either. I need the insight of a pony who is versed in both science and magic. With your permission, Your Majesty, I would like to ask Twilight Sparkle some questions tomorrow."

He waited apprehensively for her response. He hoped she wouldn't chastise him for wasting her time or something. After all, he had already been specifically told not to talk to any ponies about it, including Twilight Sparkle. She responded after a few seconds.

"You ask me instead of my sister?"

He thought he detected a hint of surprise in her voice.

"You have as much authority to authorize my request as she does, Your Majesty," he stated simply.

"That is true, I do." She nodded her head slightly, then turned her head away from him, looked to the ground, appearing to be lost in thought. She was silent for nearly a minute, then she spoke in a quiet voice, apparently to herself as she was still not looking at him. "The two webs have crossed. A single strand connects them. As thin as a wisp of cobweb glistening between two leaves on a pale Spring morn. A very fragile strand indeed. If it breaks, Equestria will fall. To the ruin of every living thing. What a strange pattern she is weaving. We cannot stop what has been woven. But we must influence where it goes …"

"Your Majesty?" He startled even himself with the urgency and abruptness with which he had said it.

The Night Princess looked back up now, but her head was still turned away from him, seeming as if she had come out of a dreamlike state. "As I said before, Twilight's fate is intertwined with yours … You have my permission. Talk to her. But tell her only what you must and not a word more. There are things she cannot know yet. And things she is not ready to understand yet."

He waited for her to elaborate—both on what she had been saying quietly to herself, and what Twilight was not ready to understand … "Your Majesty?" he said again when she did not.

She turned her head back to look at him. "There are things you are not ready to understand yet either. But you will be … You must be …"

She gave him a brief look of compassion, something he had rarely seen her do. Then she spoke again.

"Be well, Doctor James Peterson. Be well. And be ready."

Before he could ask her what she meant, she had already spread her wings and taken to the air. She hadn't even waited for him to bow first.

He stood, looking upward. But the night sky hid her as surely as a bottle of black ink would hide a grain of sand. Slowly, he started walking back towards the dorm. Despite the hot summer night, he shivered, chilled to the bone. Luna's words echoed in his mind: If it breaks, Equestria will fall. To the ruin of every living thing …