The God Particle

Chapter 34: Darkness Falls

James continued running through the corridor, Captain Swordstorm running next to him. He skidded around a corner, nearly falling as he flung open a heavy wooden door, pulling himself back up with his arm on the handle, then proceeding down a winding, torch lit stairwell.

"Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Captain Swordstorm asked, descending just behind.

"I'll tell you when get to the secure room," he said between heavy breaths. He took the last four steps of the stairwell at once jumping down them and then bolting down the underground hallway. The trip to the secure bunker seemed to take forever. Even running. Please don't let it be too late.

Rounding a few more corners, he passed the heavy, reinforced door, Captain Swordstorm following close behind. Then he bolted down the hallway, turning to the right and flinging the door open. He breathed a sigh of relief. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were there, looking shaken from the sudden arousal and rush to get them down there, but otherwise, unharmed.

Princess Luna, he noticed, had none of her royal adornments on. He assumed she must have been woken from sleep and hurried down. Other than the two princesses, the rest of the Council members had already gathered as well, as had the captains of the Celestial and Lunar Guard.

He made a quick bow, then stepped into the room, Captain Swordstorm doing the same. Once they were inside, the guards posted outside quickly closed the door, two guards inside the door locking it.

For a few seconds, he panted, catching his breath and leaning on the wall with one hand as he recovered from the long sprint from the armory. Celestia and Luna both looked at him with questioning eyes, but neither one said anything, giving him time to recover. Finally, once he had his breathing under control, he spoke.

"It may be easier for me to simply show you then tell you why I ordered the gates closed and had both of you rushed down here, Your Majesties." He walked over to the table and laid the notes down in the middle, where both princesses, as well as the Council members, could see them.

For a long time, there was silence. He could feel the tension in the room as wide eyes stared at the paper. Only Celestia and Luna seemed to be unaffected, maintaining their usual calm demeanor. Mountains of stability in a crumbling world of uncertainty. It was Moon Song who finally spoke up.

"How could they have gotten this information? Other than the Council members, the Celestial and Lunar Guards, and certain members of the Royal Guard, nopony knows what time the guard changes happen, or what routes they take."

"An observant castle servant could have figured it out if they watched long enough," River Rock pointed out.

"But without attracting attention and looking suspicious? If they were watching all of the guard changes?" Moon Song countered.

James shook his head, looking at the other Council members. "There are more important things to worry about right now. Whether it's entirely an inside job or not, they've had eighteen hours to get potential assassins through the gates. Eighteen hours since those notes were found." He gasped once more, taking another deep breath from the exertion of the run, then looked over at Celestia and Luna. "Your Majesties. It is no longer safe for you to remain here. We must move you to alternate secret and secure locations."

"He's right, Your Majesties," The Captain of the Celestial Guard spoke up. "The time has come for you to leave Canterlot until we can remove any potential threat."

Celestia shook her head once. "I will not abandon my duties to my kingdom and to my subjects. This nation is not ruled by fear and I will not run and hide."

James could see the Celestial Guard Captain sigh in frustration at the stubbornness of his princess. He wanted to do the same thing, and wasn't entirely sure he hadn't. This time, Storm Runner spoke up.

"One of you must go, Your Majesty. If you will not leave, then perhaps Princess Luna …"

Celestia hesitated, looking at the floor, her eyes filled with turmoil. The room was as silent as death. Finally, Celestia responded. "Only if she agrees to it. I will not force my sister to leave Canterlot and go into hiding … only if she agrees to it." She turned her head, looking at Luna, her eyelids quivering slightly. James could tell she was holding back tears.

Luna answered without hesitating. "The Council is right, sister. One of us must go. I will go since you will not. But I believe it should be you that goes. If the worst were to happen here in Canterlot, you are far more capable than I of assuming sole leadership of Equestria." The sadness in her voice was apparent for all to hear.

"You don't have to do this, Luna," Celestia responded, her voice cracking slightly, a tear running down her muzzle now.

"I will be fine, sister … I spent a thousand years away from Canterlot. And at least this time, I won't be completely alone. I will have some of the Lunar Guards with me … I will go get ready to leave." the night princess turned and started for the door, her head hung low. James could tell from her appearance and tone of voice that despite her words, she herself, wasn't sure if she really would be fine. The Captain of the Lunar Guard spoke now.

"I'm afraid we cannot allow you back upstairs, Your Majesty. Not with this potential threat hanging over the castle. We will leave via the underground tunnel. I will send guards to your chambers to gather the things you will need."

Luna stared at the Lunar Guard Captain for a moment. He looked visibly nervous and for a few tense moments, James thought she was going to order him to let her back up to her chambers. Finally, she simply nodded her head.

"Very well then," she said sadly. "Take me to the secure loading area instead. My guards can wait with me there."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," the Captain responded, motioning to the two guards at the door. They unlocked it, and Luna stepped out with her escort, her head hanging low. The guards quickly closed the door again, re-locking it.

James turned his head away from the door, looking back at Celestia now. Her eyelids quivered more and he could see the tears welling up as she struggled to keep them from falling. She was silent for several long seconds. An oppressive weight hung over the room, as if they had been buried alive under a ton of mud, pressing down on them, weighing on them. Finally, Celestia spoke with a firm voice.

"The castle is on full lock down." Her eyes narrowed and she looked sternly at all assembled, her voice took on a harder tone now. "I will not lose my sister again. You find this threat. You find out what is going on using all means necessary." She looked down, her eyes quivering more. Suddenly she whipped her head around, bolting and starting towards the door at a near gallop, the guards scrambling to open it. It appeared she had no intention of stopping even if they didn't get it open in time, and would break right through it. She shouted in a cracking voice as she galloped towards it.

"You find and eliminate this threat! You find it or I will have everyone of you spending the rest of your days in the dungeon!" she cried out, rapidly approaching the door, the guards barely getting it open in time. She galloped through it, the guards quickly closing it again.

The room was silent, the oppressive weight hanging over it pressing down even more. James stared across the table, although his eyes focused on nothing, his mind reeling over the scene he had just witnessed. Finally, he felt Moon Song pat him on the shoulder with a forehoof.

"Don't worry about it. Just do your job and don't worry about it," he said in a reassuring tone.

"Don't worry about it," James responded in a voice as nervous as he felt. "She just threatened to throw us all in the dungeon for the rest of our lives. And you are telling me not to worry about it?" he looked at Moon Song incredulously.

"She doesn't mean it. Even Her Majesty has to vent once in awhile. She has to maintain a calm and composed demeanor when she is in public. Always looking confident and reassuring. But even she needs to vent sometimes. The only thing you need to do, is never let it leave this room, like anything else that is said or done here."

James wasn't reassured, and was certain he didn't look like he was. Moon Song must have picked up on it, and spoke again.

"In the entire history of the Council. In well over a thousand years, she has never once imprisoned any of her Council members for a day much less the rest of their lives. But as I said, even she needs to vent sometimes. During the first time Luna was banished to the moon? There are stories passed down in the Council since then. Her outbursts are the stuff of legends. You see that crack in the table?" He pointed to the huge crack that ran all the way through the round stone table. "She put it there with her forehoof. Shortly after Luna's banishment. We've often suggested the table should be replaced, but she won't allow it. She wants it as a reminder of the dangers of letting her anger have too much control."

James nodded slightly and there was silence in the room for several more seconds before Captain Swordstorm spoke.

"Alright, you all heard Her Majesty. The castle is on full lock down until further notice. The gates remain closed. Nopony and no anything else enters the courtyard. And nopony … no griffin, no dragon, no human, no anything that is currently within the courtyard walls leaves without written permission from Her Majesty. The guards at the gate will let no one out that does not have a note signed with the royal seal."

All of the Council members and the guards still in the room simply nodded in response. Then Storm Runner Spoke.

"The guards will start a search of every corner of the castle. Every building outside the castle. Every bush, every garden shed. Everywhere. Anypony who doesn't live in the castle will be questioned and searched. Only after every single pony who doesn't live here has been questioned and searched, and all areas of the castle and courtyard cleared, will any of them be allowed to leave."

"It will be as you say, Counselor Storm Runner," Captain Swordstorm responded. "But it may do us no good. There has to be somepony on the inside involved, given the notes that Counselor Peterson found. And it will take days to clear every area of the castle and courtyard."

"It's the best we can do right now," Storm Runner responded, sighing slightly.

"And of course, Her Majesty is not to leave the secure area," Moon Song added.

"We'll do our best to keep her down here," The Captain of the Celestial Guard responded.

"I'm going back to the armory," James said. "I had only started to go through those notes when I found that. I stopped instantly and came over here. But there's a lot more I need to go through. Maybe I learn something more that will help us out here."

"I'll go with you," Moon Song said, "Maybe I can help with something."

James nodded and started to file out of the room with the rest of the Council Members and the guards that were left. The Captain of the Celestial Guard turned and proceeded to the loading area. That was probably the direction Celestia had gone along with the rest of the Celestial Guards. For that was where Luna had gone, and no doubt Celestia would want to spend as much time with her sister as possible before she left with her convoy of Lunar Guards. James proceeded down the corridors in the direction of the stairwell leading back up to the main castle floor, along with Moon Song and Captain Swordstorm.

Arriving back at the Main Foyer, all three of them stopped and stared at the sight before them. To say the foyer was crowded would be an understatement. At least a hundred ponies milled around the closed main doors, trying to get information from the guards. The guards, of course, knew nothing, and could tell them nothing. Some of the ponies were angry and were shouting at nervous guards about not being allowed to leave the castle and not knowing why. The guards appeared to be doing their best to calm them. So far, at least, it didn't appear that the tense situation had turned violent. Fortunately, other than the few ponies arguing with the guards, most of them seemed to remain calm, if looking rather nervous about not knowing what was going on.

Captain Swordstorm shook his head a bit and looked at James. "If we get through this without any violence erupting just because of ponies angry about being detained, it's going to be a Celestia given miracle."

"Make them as comfortable as possible," James responded. "Make sure they have water, and food for those that need it. The elderly that need a place to rest … Search them and put them in guarded guest rooms."

Captain Swordstorm nodded. "We'll do the best we can."

James nodded respectfully, then turned and started down a side corridor with Moon Song, towards another staircase leading down below the castle. It was an underground tunnel leading to the armory. A longer route to get there than going outside, but opening the castle doors with all the ponies crowded near them was not feasible. Some of the more angry ones might start a stampede to get outside.

Both James and Moon Song were silent as they walked next to each other through the dimly lighted tunnel leading to the armory. But James was deep in thought over the last thing Celestia had said when she stormed out of the room. It frightened him. Frightened him to his core. It was not that he was afraid she really would imprison them all for life. No, he had convinced himself Moon Song was telling the truth that she was just venting. What frightened him, was that it was the first time he had ever seen Celestia lose her composure. The first time he had ever seen her completely unsure of herself. She had always seemed like an infallible mountain of stability to him. Somepony who always had the answers and was always firmly in control. No matter what happened, somehow, he had always thought she was in control of the situation and everything would work out. But for the first time, he had seen her lose her composure. And for the first time, he found himself wondering if perhaps she was not as infallible as he thought … that maybe, things would not be okay, and they wouldn't work out …

...

The sun had long since set, and it was well into the night. James paged through another folder of documents at the armory, Moon Song looking through a different one. They had found nothing more about any castle blueprints, or any concrete plans for any type of assassination attempt. But there were still thousands of pages of documents to go through.

Luna had probably gotten underway a couple of hours ago, he thought. The convoy would have waited to leave the secure loading area until they could do so under cover of darkness. Then, the Princess of the Night, along with her Lunar Guard escort could travel in near invisibility.

He flipped through a few more pages in the stack he was holding, stopping on a diagram of the object they had originally found nearly a year ago. The strange round sphere that was still sitting over in the physics lab at the Academy. The diagram had a large X crossing through it. Written over the page, in large script were the words 'DOES NOT WORK'. Well, I was right about that part, he thought to himself. The object had, indeed, been some type of failed experiment. But a failed experiment to do what? The notes he read shed no more light on it than what he already knew. What he had already figured out on his own and made notes for.

Putting that stack down, he sighed in frustration, looking over at Moon Song. "You come up with anything yet?"

"Some," he said, his horn glowing as he flipped the page on a stack of notes he was holding in front of him. "This is a schematic diagram for some type of magical launching device. Probably the one they used to launch whatever that was back during the Summer Sun Celebration. The notes on the diagram confirm that it was, indeed, supposed to put the object into orbit around the planet. So at least we know it was not intended to reenter the atmosphere and come down like it did. But neither the diagram or the notes say anything about what the payload was intended to be."

James nodded and reached into one of the boxes, picking up another stack of papers and starting to flip through it, he stopped on a reprint of an article from a very old journal, looking at the title. Alchemical Transmutation of Elements Using Subproton Magical Fields — Star Swirl the Bearded. He started flipping through the pages, looking at some complex mathematical formulas. "You know anything about magical alchemy, Moon Song?" he asked, eyes still focused on the formulas in the paper.

"Never studied alchemy. Almost all magicians and scientists in Equestria think it's junk science, and junk magic."

"Yeah … But Star Swirl may have been on to something here," James responded, never taking his eyes off the document, still staring at a couple of the mathematical formulas in front of him.

"Well, the alchemists spent most of their time trying to turn common elements into precious ones. Mostly gold," Moon Song commented.

"Yeah, that's what they did where I'm from too. But that's not what these ponies were trying to do." He stared at the formulas for a little bit longer before picking up some of the other research notes in his free hand. He looked back and forth between them a few times, then took them near the wall where a green chalkboard was mounted. He picked up a piece of chalk and started to write out some complex mathematical equations, solving them as he went along. As he wrote, he talked, more to himself than to Moon Song.

"So they have these spheres. Very heavy and made up of some extremely heavy element. They gain mass, which they were supposed to do according to these notes. But they were supposed to gain it at a faster rate than the one we found. This thing would have started to expand … It would have become enormous …" He paused for a moment, pondering that. Then shook his head slightly and continued. "At the impact site, we found an excess amount of hydrogen. Now Star Swirl presents a theory in this article called the theory of compounding proton loss that states that under certain magical conditions, elements will begin to lose protons at a compounding rate, thus transforming them into lighter elements. So if we take these heavy elements and plug them into Star Swirl's theory of compounding proton loss …" He stopped talking as he filled nearly the entire board with complex equations using formulas from Star Swirl's article. Once he had written them out, he started talking again. "That sphere, had it worked the way they intended, would have started to undergo proton loss at an exponentially increasing rate, becoming hydrogen ions. That explains the increased levels of hydrogen we found at the impact site … Why would they want to convert heavier elements into hydrogen …"

He thought for a moment, then picked up the eraser and cleared a section of the board, having run out of room to write. He resumed writing down more long equations, talking to himself again as he went.

"Okay … So once they had launched the sphere into orbit around the planet, it would have started to grow rapidly The heavy elements in it would convert into hydrogen ions. But the pressure at the core of the sphere would be increasing dramatically. The hydrogen ions would fuse together and form heli—" He stopped talking in mid sentence, stopped writing in mid equation, the piece of chalk in his hand falling to the floor and shattering into a million pieces, spreading in all directions. "They're trying to create an artificial sun …"

James bolted for the door, Moon Song jumping and following close behind. The two of them ran through the armory and down the stairs leading to the tunnel back to the castle.

Pain. Sudden. Severe. A thousand red hot knifes piercing through his skull. He reached up to grab his head. His vision went cloudy from the agony. He tripped and fell. Looking to his left, he could see Moon Song's face contorted in pain, his forehoof rubbing at his head, experiencing the same thing, he was, James thought through the agony. He started to feel dizzy, endorphins flooding his system, trying to dull the fire cutting through his head like a welding torch. Then as suddenly as it had come, the pain was gone. He stood back up, glancing at Moon Song. The unicorn looked just as confused as he was. James felt empty, as if something had been ripped out of him. The warmth. That feeling of the source. It was gone. In a near panic, he reached deep inside of himself. Then he found it. It was there, but very weak. But it was there.

"She's in trouble!" he shouted at Moon Song in a panicked voice, then quickly started running again, climbing the stairs back to the castle, darting through the hallways, then back down another set of stairs to the secure area. The run through the hallways seemed slow, tedious. But as he arrived near the secure room, his heart sank. Royal Guards poured through the huge reinforced door into the common area behind the blast door. Mass confusion seemed to run rampant. James and Moon Song forced themselves past the guards, down to the secure room Celestia would have been sleeping in.

The Captain of the Celestial Guard stood near the room, his eyes wide, his muzzle a combination of confusion and fright.

"Where is she!" James shouted at him.

"She's … she's gone. We heard a commotion inside the room. We went into the room to check on her and she was just gone."

"How can she just be gone?" Moon Song shouted. "That room is warded against magic. There's no way in or out of it other than the door your guards were securely guarding!"

"We don't know alright? We don't know!" The Celestial Guard Captain shouted in a bewildered tone of voice. "We don't know anything yet!"

"James! Moon Song!" Storm Runner's voice shouted from the council meeting room. She waved them into the conference room with a foreleg.

James took one last glance into the secure room Celestia had been sleeping in. Celestial Guards milled around inside, examining the room, shouting at each other in confusion and panic, he shook his head and shouted into the room. "Don't just stand around, you foals! Get outside and find her! They can't have gotten her outside the courtyard walls! Go!" He surprised even himself that he had shouted at the guards, and called them foals. But that thought drifted out of his mind as quickly as it had formed. He turned and rushed into the conference room, Moon Song running beside him. Two guards quickly closed the door, the chaos of voices outside being muted to a dull roar, but also being drowned about by ponies shouting at each other in the conference room. Captain Swordstorm stood in front of a large map of Equestria, along with Captain Starflash, Captain the Unicorn Guard, the two of them shouting at each other in heated argument.

"What do you mean she just disappeared!" Captain Swordstorm shouted.

"She'd still be here if your Pegasus Guards had done their job!" Captain Starflash shouted back. "But they were probably too busy practicing for Wonderbolts auditions to be watching the sky!"

Captain Swordstorm narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to the unicorn. "Perhaps you'd like to take a walk outside and say that to me again?"

"We don't even need to go outside we can do it right here!" Captain Starflash responded, not backing down at all.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! you two!" Storm Runner interrupted, stepping between them. "Now this isn't helping. Pull yourselves together, apologize, and lets figure out what we are going to do!"

The two captains stared at each other tensely for a few more moments, then nodded. Both raised a forehoof and touched them together before backing up a few paces.

The door opened, the loud noise of confusion flowing through it again as the Captain of the Celestial Guard entered, quickly closing it, the sounds outside falling to a dull roar again.

"I have two hundred Pegasus and Unicorn guards up in the castle running around without a clue what they are supposed to be doing!" he started shouting at the two captains. "Where is your leadership? Are you both honestly that—"

James shook his head, pounded a fist on the table, and shouted. "Everypony sit down and shut up!"

That seemed to get their attention. Some of them looked at him with expressions of shock at his sudden assertiveness, but they nodded. Soon Council members and Guard Captains alike were seated around the table. James himself was shocked that his outburst had been that effective, but he composed himself and started speaking again, as calmly as possible, although unable to hide the fear and nervousness he was feeling.

"She's only been gone for a few minutes and we are already tearing ourselves apart from the inside without leadership. Now lets pull ourselves together … Alright, what do we know at this point." He looked at the Celestial Guard Captain.

"Not very much. Only that we checked on her ten minutes ago, she was fine. Sleeping soundly. We did a sweep of her room, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Five minutes later, my guards posted outside the door heard a commotion inside the room. They opened the door, she was gone. There is no way in or out of that room except through the reinforced locked door that was heavily guarded. Nothing went through that door. They must have teleported in and then teleported her out."

Captain Starflash shook his head. "No. That's not possible. My best protectors warded that room. There's no way anything teleported in there."

"You have any other suggestions?" The other Captain said in a raised voice, his eyes narrowing at Starflash. James winced as he could tell another argument and shouting match was about to start. Quickly, he spoke in a loud voice to stop it before it started.

"Could she have teleported herself out?"

Starflash gave him a questioning look for a moment, but then responded. "She could have. But why would she? Without letting any of us know?"

Storm Runner shook her head. "Something definitely happened to her. I felt it. All of the other Council members did too." James thought back to the sudden stabbing headaches he and Moon Song had had. "The solar source is still there, but weak. She's not dead. But we don't know what the weakening means. It's never happened before."

"You think she's alive, Counselor? Or you know she's alive?" Starflash asked.

The pegasus hesitated for moment, then looked at the floor, "I think she's alive … I believe she's alive. I cannot know for sure. Again, this has never happened before. We don't know what we're dealing with." A collective sigh of despair filled the room. James felt as if the temperature had suddenly decreased dramatically, the thought that she might not be turning his marrow to ice. He pulled himself back together and spoke again.

"Alright, lets not dwell on what might or might not be right now. All we know for sure is that she's not here and has probably been compromised."

"The sun may not rise in the morning if she's been compromised," Starflash pointed out.

"Right … right." James thought for a moment. "So what about Princess Luna? She should be to the secure location by now. Can Princess Luna raise the sun?"

"We don't know. She's never tried." Starflash responded flatly.

James' jaw nearly dropped as he looked at Starflash incredulously. Now, it was him who lost his composure and calmness. "You don't know? She's never tried?" his voice got louder. "In more than a thousand years, nopony ever thought 'Gee. This might be important, in case Celestia were ever unable to raise the sun.'?"

Storm Runner put a forehoof gently on his shoulder. "James, you calmed all of us down. Getting angry yourself now isn't going to help," she said calmly.

He looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Even if she can … The question is, will she …" The Celestial Guard Captain said quietly.

"What are you saying?" Storm Runner asked in a surprised voice, turning her attention to the Captain.

The Celestial Guard Captain hesitated only a moment before responding. "How do we know she's not behind this? Another attempt at usurping the throne? Bringing about eternal night?"

"She's not behind this!" James responded quickly, sternness in his voice as he glared at the Captain.

"Can you be sure of that, Counselor? Given some of her behavior of late? How can you know that she is not behind this, Counselor?" The Captain responded, not seeming intimidated by his glare at all.

James looked down at the table. Could he be sure? Some of her behavior had been difficult to explain. And some of her treatment of him had been harsh and enigmatic. But she loved Celestia. Of that he was sure. and it had seemed that her treatment of him had been partially out of fear that Celestia trusted him too much. And she had been afraid he might harm Celestia. His thoughts were interrupted by the Celestial Guard Captain addressing him again.

"Well, Counselor? How can you know she's not behind this?"

"… I have to believe she's not …" James said quietly, his glare gone as he looked across the table at the Captain. He simply couldn't believe she was involved. She couldn't be. She loved her sister, he was sure of that. She wouldn't do this again.

"So you want us to stake the future of Equestria on your belief, Counselor. Is that it?"

Storm Runner spoke up, her wings flaring angrily. "That's enough Captain! You forget yourself, and who it is you are accusing of betraying Equestria. I would remind you that in the absence of either of Their Majesties, this Council has the authority to relieve you of your command. Watch yourself, Captain."

The Celestial Guard Captain glared at Storm Runner for a moment, but then lowered his eyes and nodded his head once respectfully. "Forgive me Counselor. I was hasty and the stress of this whole thing has made me speak without thinking." James thought he sounded sincere.

Before anything else could be said, the door opened, a Royal Guard from outside sticking his head through. "I'm sorry to disturb you, Counselors, but a junior member of the Lunar Guard is here to see you. He says it is extremely urgent."

James felt his heart skip, another chill run through him. He answered when no one else did. "Send … Send him in."

One of the Lunar Guards—James could tell he was very young—stepped in. His armor was covered in mud and stains. James could feel his heart sink even further, the signs that the guard had been in a battle obvious. He breathed heavily and looked exhausted, distraught, and frightened. His tail flicked nervously a couple of times, probably the first time he had ever seen a Council member, much less had to interact with one, James thought. The young guard spoke in a shaky and nervous voice.

"We … we were ambushed. About an hour after leaving. Two dragons, sev … several griffins. Unicorns and pegasi. We were outnumbered, overwhelmed. The unicorns silenced Her Majesty. They … they took her." He shook visibly now.

James sighed and rubbed his head with the palm of his hand before responding. "They took her. They didn't kill her. They took her."

"Ye … Yes sir. They took her. I didn't run away. I … I didn't abandon her. Her … Her Majesty herself ordered me to run and come back here. To tell you. I didn't want to leave her. But she ordered me to."

James nodded slightly. "You did nothing wrong. You served Her Majesty with honor," he said reassuringly. "What of the rest of the guards?"

"D … dead. All twenty them. We were overwhelmed. There must have been a hundred of them. Maybe more. And with the dragons and the griffins." The young guard stopped, visibly shuddering again.

For several long moments, there was silence. James looked down at the floor, as did the rest of the Council members and the other guards present. Finally, he looked up. "Thank you. You served Her Majesty well," he assured the young guard again. Then turned and looked at one of the Royal Guards near the door. "Please see that he is tended to. Given medical attention if he needs it. Food, water, a comfortable place to rest …"

The Royal Guard nodded, then lead the young Lunar Guard out of the room, the door closing behind him.

James turned his back to the table. For several long moments, there was silence as the Council and the remaining guards paid their respects to the Lunar Guards that had fallen trying to protect Princess Luna.

"Alright." It was Storm Runner that spoke. "Then it's time to open the midnight box." The midnight box, as the Council called it, was a locked, magically sealed box hidden in the secure conference room behind a reinforced panel. Inside, were orders from Princess Celestia that were to be carried out by the Council in the event that both she and Luna were to become unable to lead Equestria. James never thought it would have to be opened.

Moon Song nodded then put a forehoof on James' shoulder before standing up and motioning for him to follow. He did so, walking over to where the reinforced hidden panel was. Moon Song lowered his head to it, touching it with his horn. The panel unlocked and fell free. James knelt down, reaching deep inside the compartment and removing the box, taking it back over to the table. He set it down, then looked out across the table towards the others.

"Before the box can be opened, two unicorns from the Council must verify that the magic seal is the authentic seal of Her Majesty." He spoke in a tired resigned voice, as if the words were being drug out of him. Words he didn't want to say. Had hoped he would never have to say.

"Do we really have time for this?" Captain Swordstorm said in frustration.

"The protocol is important, Captain," James responded. "To ensure that the box has not been tampered with between the time Her Majesty sealed it and now."

Swordstorm nodded. Moon Song stood next to James as another unicorn from the council walked over to the box. Moon Song lowered his head to the box. His horn glowed briefly as he read the magical signature on the seal. When he raised his head, the other unicorn did the same.

"I concur, the seal is authentic," Moon Song said. Like James, he sounded as if the words were being dragged out of him. Words he wished he had never had to say.

"I concur, the seal is authentic," the other unicorn responded.

Moon Song lowered his head to the box again. A moment's hesitation, before his horn glowed. A small crack as the royal seal of the sun on the box split into several small pieces, falling onto the table. James couldn't help but wince at the broken sun seal lying there. The symbolism of a broken world. A broken world that had been whole one minute, and shattered the next.

He forced his hands to move, opening the box and removing rolled up scrolls from it. There were fifteen scrolls, all containing the same words. One copy for each Council member. James passed them out to each of the Council members. Then, they each untied the crimson thread around it, unrolled it, and read in silence. When they had all finished reading, James nodded slightly and spoke again.

"Alright … We all know her Majesty's orders now. I'll go to Ponyville, along with five other Council members. We will get the Elements of Harmony and make sure they are brought safely to Canterlot."

Storm Runner nodded. "I will go with you. Those who are not going … Start doing whatever you can to figure out where both of our princesses are. And how we are going to get them back."

"It will be done, Counselor," Both Starflash and the Celestial Guard Captain responded.

"And Captain Swordstorm," James began sadly "Send a detachment of Pegasus Guards to retrieve the fallen Lunar Guards. They died protecting Her Majesty and protecting Equestria. We will not allow their sacrifice to end this way. Not being left in an empty field. Bring them back here. They will be given proper burials with the full honors they deserve for their sacrifice."

Captain Swordstorm nodded solemnly. "I will ensure it is done. Meet me in the back of the castle. I will assemble armored chariots and four squadrons of Pegasus Guards to escort you and the other Council members to Ponyville. It will only take me a few minutes to get them assembled. That route is dangerous enough at night. Now that we know we may have dragons and griffins to contend with, I'm not taking any chances with all six of the Elements of Harmony.

James nodded. "Thank you, Captain." Then he turned and left the room, followed closely by the rest of the Council and the Guard Captains.

He walked down the hall quickly, climbing the stairs and returning to the Council living quarters along with Moon Song, Storm Runner, River Rock, and the other Council members that would be accompanying him to Ponyville. They changed into heavier robes—it would be very cold up in the air—then left and hurried to the back of the castle. The site that greeted them was impressive indeed. Six armored chariots waited for them. Lined up in formation, ready to take to the skies, were more than two hundred Pegasus Guards to make sure they arrived in Ponville, and got back here safely with the passengers they picked up there. The passengers that had saved Equestria in the past, and might, once again, be the only hope for Equestria's future.

"Counselors!" Captain Swordstorm called out. James turned his head and the Captain motioned them over with a forehoof. He was standing next to one of the armored chariots. They walked over to him and stopped, standing in a semicircle around him.

"Alright," he began in the authoritative, confident voice that made James feel like he was one of the guards serving under him. "Here's how this operation is going to work. Each of you will ride in a separate chariot. Each of you will accompany one of the Elements of Harmony back here. We aren't going risk having all of you ride in the same chariot. It'd make too tempting of a target for any dragons or griffins we might encounter. When we get to Ponyville, the chariots will land by each of the houses of the Elements. You get out as soon as the chariot is on the ground. You get in, you get your Element, you get out, you get back in the air. As quickly as possible. You give them no time to pack anything. Everything they need will be provided for them in Canterlot. The squadrons will remain in the air above you looking for any sign of trouble."

He hooked the latch on the chariot he was standing next to, opening the door. Then he picked up what looked like a cylindrical gray tube with his mouth, giving one to each of the Council members.

"This is a magic signal flare. It's enchanted by the Unicorn Guards so that non magic users can activate it. If you get into any trouble down there, you remove the cap, and break it in half. My guards will be on the ground in a matter of seconds to assist you. Do not look at it when you activate it. It will temporarily blind you if you do."

He reached back in the chariot again, and removed a long object with a belt attached to it. He gave it to James, then gave one to each of the other ponies on the Council, except for the unicorns.

"Let us hope to Celestia, that you do not need these," was all he said before turning and trotting off to speak with the rest of his guards.

James stared at the top of what he was holding in his hand. The design at the top of the hilt, a golden blazing sun. At its center, a silver crescent moon. The cross guard took the form of two golden Pegasus wings, spread as if for flight. Next to the sun, on either side, unicorns reared up on their hind legs, their forelegs resting on top of the sun, the tips of their horns touching the base of the polished, razor sharp steel blade. An actual sword of Equestria. Very different than the practice blades he had been using up to that point.

Had the situation not been so urgent, he would have spent more time marveling at the exquisite craftsmanship of whatever master weaponsmith had made it. Instead, he quickly strapped the belt around his robe, the sword hanging from his left hip. He assumed the unicorn Council members did not get swords because they preferred to use magic to defend themselves.

"To Ponyville!" Captain Swordstorm called out.

Quickly the Council members spread out, each boarding one of the chariots and closing the door. Once James had secured himself in the chariot, he watched out the window as the Pegasus Guards began to take flight, line by line into the night sky. Shortly, his own chariot lifted off the ground. Once they were all in the air, the Guard escorts formed a protective cocoon around the six chariots, surrounding them on all sides. Reaching a safe distance above the ground, they banked to the right, and flew towards Ponyville.

James leaned back against the wall of the chariot, emptiness and coldness filling him. He had become so used to that warm feeling of the binding spell inside of him. That thing he could reach out and touch inside of him. Also, he had also become used to the near constant companionship of the other Council members, seeing as how they lived together and did virtually everything together. But now he was alone in the chariot. And that warm feeling of the binding spell felt so weak. So distant. He felt as if he were in a dark space, devoid of any life. Devoid or movement or sound. A cold area of the universe where no stars shined. No sun existed. Never had he felt so alone before.

He tried to force his mind off of the lonely feeling. But nothing else that occupied his thoughts was any more pleasant. He thought of Celestia and Luna, and hoped wherever they were, they were alright. He thought of the Lunar Guards who had given the ultimate sacrifice to protect Princess Luna. And he thought of Twilight Sparkle. A vision of arriving in Ponyville to find nothing but the burning charred remains of a town with no signs of life forced its way into his mind. He tried to force it away, even banging the back of his head hard on the chariot wall in frustration once. Please, let Twilight be alright.

He thought of Celestia's words to him. "Twilight Sparkle will need to be told of all this soon. And you may need to be the one to tell her." She had also told him that if and when that time came, he would know when it was. Now, he knew what she meant. Now was that time …

...

Celestia awoke slowly, her vision clearing as if stepping out of a fog. She found herself lying on the ground, surrounded by trees. It was completely dark out, and it was cold. Looking up, she could see no stars, and no moon. A cold breeze blew at her, darting through her fur and biting at her. She shivered and stood up, looking around. Nothing but trees. The sounds of the woods. Wind blowing through the leaves. Branches creaking and moaning as they swayed in the wind. She had no idea what time it was, but the fact that she could see no evidence of the moon made her think it was supposed to be day. Despite soreness and pain in her body—she thought she must have fallen to the ground—she gathered her willpower. Her horn glowed and she attempted to raise the sun … Nothing happened.

Celestia nearly panicked. The dream she had had so many months ago. The dream of the forest. Of the cold. Of her subjects dying around her. Of her beautiful kingdom coming to ruin. The dream where she could not raise the sun. All of it had become reality. The sun would not obey her.

Desperately, she concentrated harder, pouring all of her energy into the effort. Her horn glowed. A golden aura surrounded her. The sun fought against her. Refusing to rise. She thought she had no more to give, but still she poured even more of her willpower into it. Finally, the sun yielded to her. A glow on the horizon. Oranges, pinks, and reds began to spill out over the sky. Finally, the glowing orb began to appear. Darkness gave way to shadows of trees on the forest floor, which eventually gave way to light, revealing a green carpet of grass and foliage underneath her hooves.

She breathed a sigh of relief, nearly collapsing, breathing heavily from the effort it had taken to raise the sun. For a full minute, she stood resting, recovering her strength. Never before, had it taken nearly so much effort for her to raise the sun. Something must be wrong with her, she thought. Had her magic weakened?

She gasped as it suddenly came flooding back to her. She had been asleep. In a secure room in an underground bunker of the castle. Five, maybe more unicorns had teleported in. The silencing spell was already on her before she had fully awoken. Then, all of their horns had glowed at the same time, and they had teleported her out of the castle. It made sense now. That's why raising the sun was so hard. The effects of the silencing spell they had used on her were still wearing off. Again she sighed in relief, at least her nightmare had not become real.

She started to walk. She didn't know where she was, or which direction to go in. But she knew she had to get back to the castle. As she walked the soreness started to leave her body, and the strength she had lost from her battle with the sun returned to her. Eventually, she began to hear sounds in the distance. The muted sounds of activity. She must be close to Canterlot now.

She smiled and felt well enough to stretch her wings now. They seemed to work. She leapt into the air, rising into the sky, clearing the tree tops. Her jaw dropped, Her eyes widened like saucers as she stared at the sight in front of her, beyond the tree line. Roads. Enormous ones, covered in gray and black. Eight lanes across. Bridges snaking in all directions. Thousands of objects covered the roads, at a stand still in most places. Loud buzzing noises reached her ears that seemed to come from the objects blocking the roads. The same type of objects flowed up and down cloverleaf shaped roads that lead on to and off of the large roads. Beyond the roads, buildings. Tall skyscrapers. Taller than even Manehattan's skyline. One so tall the top of it was obscured in the clouds. A roaring noise above her. She looked up. A massive gray and white object with enormous wings as large as some dragon's flew high over her, faster than a lumbering dragon could ever move. In the distance, she saw more of the huge flying objects, all going to a large field covered in long roads that looked like they went no where. On the ground, many of the large objects sat, lined up, waiting to use the roads, although none of them seemed to move out on to it. The belly of the object that had flown over her slowly split open. Wheels broke through, coming down out of the belly. The object continued towards the large field, descending, landing on one of the roads. More sounds flooded her ears. The constant buzzing from the other roads that were jammed with the smaller objects.

In a panic, Celestia folded her wings to her sides, letting herself fall out of the sky like a brick tossed from the top of a mountain. When she neared the ground, she extended her wings, slowing her descent, landing back in the cover of the trees.

She stood where she was, hyperventilating, realization hitting her. The objects jamming the roads. She had seen them in pictures on that strange device James had shown her. Automobiles, she thought he had called them. The tall building she had seen. She recognized that from his photos. What had he called it. The Sears Tower? Was that it?

She shook her head. It didn't matter what the building was called. She needed to focus. To think. What if they had seen her? When she had been in the air? Even if they had. Nothing could be done about that now. She could avoid being seen by anyone who came looking for her if she needed to. But she had bigger problems, she knew. She was alone and she had no idea how to get home. She knew she needed help. "Eric …" she said to herself. "James' friend … But how will I find him? He's in that city. Somewhere … How will I find him …"

...

James looked at the ground through the chariot window in relief. The town of Ponyville skidded past beneath them, still intact, sleeping peacefully in the night. At least, he could put the vision of finding Ponyville in ruins to rest now. The chariot he was in circled once, then began a steep descent toward the library. He placed his hand on the door latch, ready to open it and be out as soon as the chariot had stopped.

The wheels touched down gently, silently. He opened the door before the chariot had even come to a full stop, stepping out as soon as it was in front of Twilight's door. Quickly, he knocked on the door, the Pegasus Guards pulling the chariot scanning left and right, keeping an eye out for any threats on the ground, the guards overhead keeping the sky safe.

A slight glow from the upstairs window, then an increasing light. A candle being lit. At least the knock had woken her up. The flickering light disappeared from the window above, then slowly began to fill the window on the first floor. He heard the latch on the door, then it opened.

Twilight Sparkle stood on the other side, her mane hanging roughly down her face as would be expected for somepony who had just been roused out of bed in the middle of the night. She rubbed her sleepy eyes once with a forehoof, then looked at him, her eyes going wide with surprise, She didn't look sleepy at all anymore.

"James? What are you doing here? It's after two o'clock in the morning." Her eyes went down to his left side, where the sword was hanging from his robe. She looked back up at him with worry in her eyes. "You're armed. This can't be good. James wha—"

"Hurry Twilight. Grab Spike. No time to explain right now. You have to come to Canterlot with me. I'll explain once we are on the way."

"James, wha—"

"Please, hurry." He said, in a hushed urgent voice. "I'll explain on the way. You have to come now. Don't take anything with you. Everything you need will be provided in Canterlot. Just grab Spike and lets go. As fast as you can."

Twilight blinked, but gave a quick nod. She appeared to be wide awake now as she turned and quickly went back up the stairs. a few seconds later, she came back down with a yawning and very sleepy Spike in tow, the young dragon grumbling about being awoken in the middle of the night.

"Put the candle out and lets go." James said quickly.

She looked confused, but did as he asked, trotting through the door with Spike. James pulled it shut behind her. Twilight almost stopped and blinked upon sighting the armored chariot. James quickly gave her a nudge forward.

"Go. Get in the chariot," he said urgently again.

She climbed in, along with Spike. He quickly jumped in behind her, pulling the door shut. As soon as it was closed, the Pegasus Guards started moving quickly, the chariot taking to the sky rapidly.

"James, what's going on?" Twilight said, concern in her voice. She seemed fully awake now.

"Their Majesties are missing, Twilight. Both of them. We don't know where Celestia is. We were sending Luna to a secret secure location. Her convoy was ambushed and she was captured. We don't know where she was taken."

Twilight's jaw dropped, her eyes blinking, then going wide. He glanced at Spike from the corner of his eye. The sleepy dragon was now wide awake, an expression of shock on his face. He turned his attention back to Twilight. Her mouth moved several times with nothing coming out. Finally she spoke.

"Are they … Are the both aliv—"

"We think so. But we have no idea where either one of them are. There is a lot I must tell you. The rest of the Elements of Harmony are being gathered as we speak. Other Council members and parts of the Royal Guard are trying to figure out where their Majesties might be and what we can do." He spoke in a frantic, hurried manner. "But the first thing we need to do is get back to Canterlot so the regent can be sworn in."

"The regent?" Twilight questioned, confusion in her eyes.

"The interim ruler of Equestria," he responded quickly.

"Wait a minute, James. The interim ruler? Who's the interim ruler of Equestria?"

"You are, Twilight …"