The God Particle

Chapter 35: The Windy City

Twilight's jaw dropped, then closed again. She stared at him, her eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. For several long seconds, she said nothing, her mouth opening and closing, but no words coming out. Finally, she spoke in a shaky voice. "Me? But I can't … I can't rule a kingdom … James, I can't! I'm too young! I don't know … Why did The Council pick me?"

He shook his head. "It wasn't our decision, Twilight. Her Majesty left contingency instructions for such an occasion. She's the one that chose you."

"But, James, I can't! One of the Council members should do it."

"We can't, Twilight. No Council member can ever sit on the throne of Equestria because all Council members are forever equal. There is no pony higher than any other. By the Council's own rules, none of us can ever sit on the throne."

"But, James, I …" she seemed to be fumbling for words, her tail flicking nervously a few times. "What if … What if I …" She swallowed hard, but then looked at him with a firm expression on her muzzle, finally saying what she wanted to say. "James, what if I say no. What if I won't do it."

James blinked in surprise. Her tone sounded more like she had made a statement rather than asked a question. The whole trip to Ponyville, he had known she would be frightened when he told her she would be the one ruling Equestria. But it had never occurred to him that she would say no, given her loyalty to Princess Celestia. He recovered from his surprise and answered her.

"You would even consider saying no? Twilight, even if weren't for the fact that she's the sovereign ruler of Equestria … She's your teacher. Your mentor. You would abandon the task she has given to you when she needs you the most?" he asked in a taken aback tone of voice.

"But what if I do … What if I say no?" she asked again, seemingly undeterred.

For a moment he said nothing, just looking at her in disbelief. He answered in a distraught, worried tone. "If you say no, Twilight … Then by default, the future of Equestria will be in the hooves of her distant nephew, Prince Blueblood. And even though he will be the official head of government if you say no, The Council will not follow him because he was not chosen by Her Majesty. You remember that The Council operates outside of the normal chain of government and serves Their Majesties directly, don't you? Half of the Royal Guard would probably follow Prince Blueblood. The other half would probably remain loyal to The Council … Twilight, if you say no … Equestria would fall into civil war."

He could see her wince visibly at that. Her legs started to shake slightly and she quickly sat down on her haunches before losing her balance. She looked at the floor for several long moments, her ears laid back against her head. He knew the weight of the responsibility that he had just placed on her must be like that of a mountain being set on her back. But he wasn't prepared when she suddenly looked up and shouted at him.

"I didn't ask for this, James! Why does this responsibility have to be dumped on me! I didn't ask for it! I don't want it! I didn't—"

"Twilight, I didn't ask to be brought to magic pony land either! But I didn't get to make that decision!" he shouted back at her in frustration.

Immediately, he regretted it. She recoiled backwards, her ears drooping to her head, her eyes lowered as she stared at the floor of the chariot. He frowned and sighed, reaching out a hand and placing it on her withers comfortingly, then spoke again in a soft compassionate tone.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. I didn't mean to snap at you. I know you're scared. We all are. But we have to come together and solve this crisis. None of us want to be in this situation. But that was not a decision that was given to us to make. And whether we want to be or not, we are in this situation. And all we can do now is come together and figure out how we are going to get out of it. Her Majesty would not have chosen you to lead Equestria through this if she did not think you were the pony most capable of doing it."

The unicorn nodded slightly, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright … So … So what's the current situation like in Canterlot?"

"Tense … And I'm sorry to say, there may be some dissension," he responded, looking at the floor.

"Dissension? In what way?"

"There are those … Who question whether Princess Luna may be behind the disappearance. Another attempt at usurping the throne and claiming sole power in Equestria."

Twilight's eyes widened again, she paused for a moment before responding. "And what do you think, James?"

He hesitated and looked at the floor. He still refused to believe she was involved. But could he completely rule out the possibility? After several seconds, he looked back up and responded softly. "I have to believe she's not, Twilight … I simply can't believe she'd try this again … And if she is involved, she had twenty of her own Lunar Guards killed."

Twilight recoiled slightly again. "Dead? Twenty Lunar Guards?"

He nodded and frowned. "During the ambush. Two dragons, multiple griffins, unicorns, and multiple pegasi were involved in attacking her convoy. We don't know anything else at this point. We knew there was a group of ponies that had been working on something we thought was malicious. But we didn't know they had formed some kind of apparent alliance with some dragons and griffins. That part, I'm afraid, came as a surprise to us."

"You knew?" She had an uncertain look now. A look of somepony who had been betrayed. He felt terrible about it. She looked back at him, a frown and hurt expression on her muzzle. "James … Why didn't you tell me any of this? Why? Why didn't Princess Celestia tell me any of this? Doesn't she trust me? Don't you trust me?"

"Twilight, it's not that at all. It's because we have more problems than just the fact that Their Majesties are missing … The magical barriers that protect this world are weakening. Entities from The Beyond are threatening to break through. I wanted to tell you, Twilight … Princess Celestia wanted to tell you … But we couldn't. Because if you had known, you would have attracted the attention of The Beyond, and that would have put you in terrible danger. We had to protect you Twilight, especially now that you are the one who needs to lead Equestria through this crisis … Her Majesty told me I would have to tell you everything eventually. And that I would know when that time came. That time is now I am sure. There is much I must tell you. I will start from the beginning."

Before he could start telling her, however, a change of wind noise around the chariot. It was subtle, but his ears detected it. Twilight's ears swiveled in the direction of the door and he knew she had heard it too.

Looking out the window into the inky darkness, he could barely see an entire squadron of Pegasus Guards bank sharply, racing away from the rest of the formation. The night sky lit up in the direction they had broken, a blinding stream of orange and red erupting in the distance and streaming towards the formation, like a giant serpent made of pure fire that had suddenly uncoiled and struck out from its hiding place. From the corner of his eye, another bright orange flash caught his attention. Turning his head, a second orange tongue of flame raced towards the formation.

He could not see the source of the flames, but he didn't need to. He stared in the direction the flames had come from. Flying death cloaked by the dark sky, like an approaching lion in the dark that he knew was out there, but could not see. Stalking, waiting, hungry.

He forced his glance towards Twilight. Her eyes were fixed wide, staring out the window as he was. Neither one of them said anything. They didn't have to. He was sure she must be thinking the same thing he was. They were not going to make it back to Canterlot alive …

…

Princess Celestia lie at the edge of the forest, her back legs tucked under her, front hooves out in front of her. The edge of the forest opened up onto the top of a hill that overlooked the massive city beneath her. Tall grass waved back and forth in the light breezes, breaking up her outline and obscuring her from any prying eyes below. She surveyed the strange sights beneath her. The strange metallic objects darting along the enormous roads. The similar objects that were so jammed trying to get onto the roads that none of them were actually moving. The constant buzzing noise from the stalled objects continued to assault her ears.

She swiveled her ears right at a low rumbling sound, far in front of her. One of the objects on the road, a large one that pulled some kind of long windowless carriage like thing behind it slowed down as it reached the jammed road. Black smoke spewed from a shiny metal pipe that extended above its head, followed by a loud grinding noise that hurt her ears. A minute later, a strange smell reached her nose. The smell of something burning. Like oil, but somehow different. She wrinkled her nose. She did not like that smell at all.

She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to keep herself calm and take stock of her situation. That she had somehow ended up in James' world, she had no doubt. The skyline in front of her was unmistakable from the photos he had shown her on his strange device.

She thought about the other human in the pattern and mentally chastised herself for being a foal. She had automatically assumed another human would be coming to Equestria. It had never occurred to her that the other human would play a role without ever leaving James' world. She couldn't even be sure it was Eric. But he seemed like the most likely candidate. He was the one who James had talked about the most. The one he had called his best friend in this world. But how would she find him? And when she did, how would she approach him without him running away, attempting to attack her, or who knows what other reaction he might have?

She sighed to herself and stood up again, shaking herself slightly. A few pieces of dead grass that had clung to her brilliant white fur flew off of her in both directions, lazily floating back to the ground. Then she turned and walked slowly back into the forest. The accelerator lab where James had worked. She should be able to find that, she thought. He had shown her a photograph of it taken from the air. The enormous ring of the main tunnel should be easily visible from the air, even if it had been damaged in the quake and collapsed in on itself. That meant she would have to fly. A risk, yes, as she might be spotted. But a necessary risk, she decided. She increased her speed to a trot now. If she had to take the risk, she at least wanted to be as far away from those busy roads and that massive city skyline as possible.

She trotted for a while, then increased her speed to a canter. Shortly after, she started into a full gallop. The wind whipped passed her ethereal mane, her tail blowing in the breeze. Trees flew past her in a blur of green and brown as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She ran for twenty minutes, perhaps even longer. She wasn't sure. Finally, she slowed down, coming to an area of the forest where the trees gave way to a small clearing. Her breath came in deep rapid huffs now as she recovered from her long, fast trek through the woods.

For a long time, she did nothing, waiting for her breath to slow down so she could listen. When it did, she swiveled her ears in all directions. The dull constant roar of the city was gone, as was the constant blaring, buzzing noise that had been assaulting her ears from the roads. The large shiny objects still flew overhead, but they were quieter now, and much higher up. The only other sounds she heard now were the sounds of birds singing, and of a light breeze blowing through the leaves of the trees and rustling the grass on the ground.

She tilted her head up, smelling the air around her for any sign of danger. Only the smell of pine reached her nose now, combined with the scent of various woodland flowers and plants.

Carefully, she stepped out into the clearing, turning her head first left, then right. She saw nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing she wouldn't expect to find in any other forest clearing. Birds flew from tree branch to tree branch. A squirrel raced away from her hooves, than quickly scampered up the trunk of a pine tree. From there, it moved out on to a branch, looked down at her, and began to scold her, chattering at her relentlessly. That caused her to recoil slightly, taken aback at the scolding. Where she was from, even the animals of the forest knew who she was, knew that she was the bringer of the sun, and treated her with respect and reverence. Of course, the animals here have no idea who I am, she reminded herself, as she started to walk slowly out into the clearing. The squirrel continued to scold her from the safety of its treetop sanctuary, but she paid it no more mind.

Seeing nothing unusual, she looked toward the sky again, waiting for an opportunity where she could neither see nor hear any of the large flying objects. The frequency at which they came by became fewer and further between. She wasn't sure how long she had waited, but eventually, they stopped coming completely and the sky seemed clear. It was now or never she decided as she spread her wings and took to the sky.

Higher and higher she soared, her majestic wings carrying her aloft with a grace that would shame eagles, or even angels. She continued to rise further into the air until the trees were small clumps of dark green below her, broken here and there by small clearings, ponds, and lakes. Now she had a view of the entire area.

In front of her, the skyline of the city was visible on the horizon, large skyscrapers reaching for the clouds, their glass reflecting the light of the sun. From this distance, she could see the entire skyline, and the city was even larger than she had thought.

Looking to her right, she could see the large field with the roads that went nowhere—the roads the large objects from the sky had been landing on. But now, nothing was landing there. Although the ground itself was congested with hundreds of the large flying objects, none of which appeared to be moving anywhere.

Looking beyond that, a great lake, that stretched on until it joined with the horizon, its blue water blending with the sky. Various boats sailed on the large lake, although they were nothing like she had ever seen before. They had no sails. Briefly, she wondered what powered their movement, but then quickly brought her mind back to the task at hand.

She turned around, still hovering in one spot high above the clearing. There! Slightly to the left, maybe fifteen thousand strides in front of her. There were several open fields, and in the center of them, she could see the outside of two enormous rings. The larger of the two, she estimated, must be at least fifteen hundred strides from one side to the other. That had to be the lab James had worked at. She was sure of it. Surely there could be nothing else in the area that looked like that from the air.

She folded her great wings slightly, allowing herself to glide back down as she flew in the direction of the lab. She passed over the clearing, skimming the tree tops closely now. Arriving near the edge of the woods, she descended further, flaring her wings and landing gracefully. She took a few steps forward, then folded her wings to her sides again. A few more steps, and she was at the edge of the first field.

She sighed slightly as she looked out across it. Short green stalks covered it from here to the edge of the lab far on the other side. She recognized it as a corn field, and had it been later in the year, the corn would have been tall enough to nearly conceal her as she crossed the field to the lab. But it must have been early in the summer. As it was, the green ears of corn didn't even come up as far as her belly. Crossing the field would be unsafe and would leave her dangerously exposed to anyone who might look across it. What about teleporting? Could she teleport across it? She definitely couldn't teleport all the way across. If she did, she might come out of the teleport directly in front of any humans that might be at the lab. She could perhaps teleport most of the way across the field, and then walk the rest of the way. But if she misjudged the distance she needed to teleport at all …

She looked to the left and frowned. A whitewashed wooden farmhouse bordered the side of the field. It was three stories tall and had two large windows on the top floor facing her direction. Anypony … Or any human looking through one of those windows would easily see her anywhere in the field. And there was no way to tell if anyone was looking through the window or not. She'd have to teleport most of the way, she decided. It was risky, but not as risky as attempting to cross the entire field on hoof.

She took a deep breath and calculated the distance as carefully as she could. Then her horn started to glow.

The vertigo hit her, the ground and sky spinning around her. A few seconds later it stopped and she regained focus. Looking in front of her, she had covered most of the distance to the lab. She was at the border of the outer ring now. A large chain link fence topped with razor wire stood between her and the ring itself. There actual lab buildings were still a fair distance away. And there didn't appear to be any activity on this side of the ring. The chain link fence was no problem for her, even with the razor wire. Her horn glowed again as she teleported the short distance to the other side of the fence.

Once inside, she walked carefully towards the buildings, alert for any sign of activity. Everything seemed extremely quiet. In a few areas, yellow tape with black words on it written in a language she could not understand marked areas where the ground had collapsed into the accelerator tunnel beneath it. At one such point, she stopped, looking down into the open ground. A deep tunnel that appeared to be made from concrete ran beneath it. Large metal conduits ran the length of the tunnel, although in many areas, the support beams and conduits had twisted, bent, and broken open, revealing a complex series of wires inside. She considered going down inside the tunnel. It might be safer than traveling above ground. And she was sure the accelerator was not actually running. Not with the extensive damage she could see, and not with what James had told her. She decided against it, however. The possibility of a cave in seemed all too real. Instead, she walked along the edge of the ring, following it around towards the buildings. Small grass covered hills that ran along it allowed her at least some cover she could probably duck behind if she needed to.

It seemed to take forever, but eventually, she neared the buildings. She swiveled her ears towards them, listening for any signs of activity at all. Still, she heard nothing. The entire area seemed as deserted as a ghost down. Again, she sniffed the air. No signs of anything living at all. Only the metallic smell of rusting metal and the musty smell of concrete dust that had settled into the tunnel.

Still, she walked slowly and quietly, coming upon an area with broken chunks of concrete. And twisted metal support structures sticking out of the ground, reaching upwards like macabre, bony fingers sticking out from a grave. They had been the support structures of a building at one point, she surmised. She sniffed the ground again. It had a faint smell of something she could not identify—an acrid burned odor to it. Stubs of grass had started to push up through cracks in the broken concrete as nature had already begun to reclaim the land that had once been the mighty physics research facility she knew James had worked at. And still, there was no sound, no movement.

Deciding no one was around, she let her guard down slightly as she walked along the parameter where it appeared the building had once been. She kept her head lowered to the ground, sniffing at various spots with her sensitive nose, although she did not know what she was looking for. For several long minutes she smelled at the ground, then walked a little further, stopping to sniff again. There had definitely been large buildings here at one point. Although there were many strange smells she didn't recognize mixed in with the scent, the scent of concrete construction was apparent. But those buildings had since been removed it seemed. There were a few that still stood, but they looked structurally unsafe. Their windows were boarded up, as were their doors. Some of them tilted to one side. Others had roofs that were sagging inward. On still others, the roofs had collapsed into the building. She walked towards one, examining the front. Even though this particular building seemed intact, it looked unstable. She wondered if perhaps, even one strong kick would collapse the whole thing. Any idea she had of going inside quickly vanished at the thought of the heavy concrete roof collapsing on her.

And so instead, she sighed, sitting down on her haunches and just staring at the cold gray brick of the building. Her head hung low and she laid her ears back Tears began to form in her eyes as she thought about Equestria. What had happened? Was Luna okay? Were her subjects safe? She chided herself mentally that she had not seen this coming. If Luna was okay, could she raise the sun if she had to? She had never tried before. Oh how she wished he had taught her to do it now. Raising the sun was like tickling an enormous dragon with a breath of fire that could destroy an entire world in the blink of an eye if even one wrong move were made. If Luna tried to raise the sun, and did any part of it wrong … But if she didn't try to raise the sun, how long would it be before everything in Equestria froze to death? She shuttered, thinking of her nightmare from so many months ago. The one where she had seen dragons and ponies dying in a frozen snow covered land. Her nightmare was coming true. Except, she wouldn't be there to see it … Wouldn't be there to stop it.

She shook her head and pushed that out of her mind. But the next thought that crept in was no more pleasant. She thought of her Council now, and the last thing she had said to them before she had ended up here. She hadn't meant it, of course. She would never do anything of the sort. Would she ever get a chance to apologize for it now? Again, she mentally tortured herself over what had happened. She did not deserve their loyalty, she thought. Not after that. And yet, she knew they would stay loyal to her. No matter what, she knew they would remain loyal to her and would never turn their flanks on her. That gave her at least some comfort. Her Council would be working on solving this problem right now. The entire Council would be putting everything they had into it. They would come up with a way to save Equestria even if she could not. She was sure of it and had full confidence in them.

"I take it you must be Princess Celestia?"

She jumped at the sudden voice behind her, quickly turning around. In front of her, maybe four strides away, a man stood with his hands raised in the air as if to show he was not a threat. He was about the same height as James, although his hair was black instead of brown. It was cropped short, and brushed neatly back against his head, although the breeze had blown some strands of it out of place. He wore a long gray coat, buttoned at the front that went nearly to his feet, which were covered in black shoes. His hazel eyes regarded her with a calm appearance, almost as if he had expected her, and were not surprised to see her.

"Who … who are you?" she stammered. "How … how do you know who I am?" She pranced backward one step, lowering her head slightly in a defensive stance, her horn pointing at him, ready to immobilize him should he threaten her. But he made no move, continuing to only stand there with his hands in the air.

"My name is Eric Thompson. I'm a friend of James Peterson. Can I reach into my inside coat pocket? There's something I want to show you that will make your second question easier to answer.

She blinked, her heart surging with hope despite her nervousness. Eric! The one she wanted to find! She relaxed her stance and nodded her head twice. "I will do nothing to harm you. You have my word."

Eric lowered his hands now, reaching inside his coat and pulling out an old brown book. The golden image of a unicorn head adorned its cover, the unicorn's eye inlaid with a turquoise sparkling jewel. She'd recognize that book anywhere. She stared at it in wonder for a moment before responding, a tone of bewilderment in her voice.

"Where … How'd you get that? You could read it?"

"I was actually hoping you could tell me how I got this, Princess. I found it lying on the floor inside the lab that used to sit on this very spot of ground. The one that James disappeared from. As far as reading it … well, once I discovered it was a phonetic alphabet for the same language we speak, it wasn't that hard to translate the entire thing once I figured out what a few words were based on some pictures."

She nodded slightly, still amazed that he had found the book. It didn't take long, however, to come to the conclusion that Twilight must have accidently sent it here when she was trying to figure out how to send James home. At least that gave her a ray of hope. If it was possible, and repeatable, to send something, or somepony to this world, then hopefully it would be possible for her to go back to Equestria.

"How did you know to find me here?" she asked.

"Well, James left from this spot. The book arrived at this spot. It seemed like the most sensible place to start looking for you."

"Yes, but I mean how did you know I'd be here? On your planet?"

"Well … Your calling card was a little hard to miss, Princess." He tipped his head skyward slightly, then back down and looked at her again. "You've caused quite a bit of trouble, Princess. In the short time you've been here."

"Excuse me?" she said, confused by his statement.

He reached inside his coat again, putting the book away. Then he pulled out another object. It was one of those small black devices with the shiny back. Like the one James had shown her photos on. He motioned at her with one hand to come over. She did so, looking at the device in his other hand. He tapped a finger on the screen. It lit up, and a moving image of a person talking started to appear on the small electronic wonder, sound also coming from the device:

"NASA officials continue to insist they do not know why the sun appeared to rise over the Central United States a full half hour earlier than it should have. However, they have urged the public to remain calm and insist they have no evidence to support the rumor that the Earth has fallen out of orbit and is plunging towards the sun—a rumor that has been spreading via Twitter and other social media outlets. Meanwhile, the Pentagon released a statement denying any military involvement. Quote 'There is no U.S. military involvement with this event. It is not some type of secret Air Force climate or weather control experiment as some have suggested. We urge the public to remain calm while the experts at NASA attempt to figure out what is going on.'"

He tapped the screen again, and the device stopped talking, the screen going dark.

Celestia winced. She knew if she had a mirror right now, the look on her muzzle must be beyond sheepish. She looked at the ground, fidgeting with sheepishness, lifting first her left, then her right forehoof and tapping them on the ground. After a few seconds, she looked back up at him. She was surprised to see that he had what seemed to be a very non-worried, almost amused expression on his face.

"I don't know what you did, or how you did it," he said in a tone of voice that sounded almost as amused as he looked. "But I certainly hope you can fix it. Other than the sun apparently rising a half hour too early, you've managed to shutdown O'Hare International Airport. Apparently the chief controller there ordered all planes to remain on the ground and they stopped landing planes as well, diverting them somewhere else. He was concerned it might be some kind of strange weather phenomena that was dangerous to flight."

She winced again, but then shook her head up and down slowly once. "I … I can fix it. I think … if I just slow it down a little bit until it's back on schedule … that should cause less confusion than if I move it backwards."

"I don't think you actually moved the sun in this case, Princess. I think you probably slightly sped up the rotation of the Earth. How you did that without crushing us with rapidly accelerating g-forces is something I don't quite understand though."

She blinked and gave him a confused look.

"In our world, Princess, the planet orbits the sun. I suspect what you did was sort of like … rowing a boat in the water. By pushing against the water, you move the boat. I suspect something similar happened here. Which is rather fortunate for us …" She waited for him to explain that part. But he didn't, changing the subject instead. "We can talk more later. For now, I think we better get you out of here, Princess. And back to my apartment. I don't think you want to be here when the first shift of demolition workers shows up this morning to keep tearing this place down and hauling it away. It'll be tight, but I think you will fit in the back of my SUV with all the seats down, as long as you are lying down. I brought a tarp to cover you with so no one will see you through the windows."

He turned and started walking down a path towards an open paved lot containing one of the strange metal objects she had seen on the roads near the city. Now that she was close enough, she was able to get a better look at what the objects actually looked like. James had told her a little bit about them. She thought they were basically chariots that were self-powered, not requiring any ponies to pull them. This particular one was rather large and painted a shiny black color. The windows on it were tinted dark, making it difficult to see inside. That was good, she thought. It would reduce the chance of her being seen. The wheels on the object were strange and foreign to her. The inside of them almost looked like shiny metal carriage wheels. But the outsides were covered in a strange looking black material that bulged out and had dimples all over it.

She watched as he took something out of his pocket and pressed a button on it. Then she stopped in surprise, as the strange carriage started to beep, the back of it opening upward without him touching it. She stared at it in confusion for a moment, before speaking.

"James told me you didn't have magic in your world."

"Magic? Oh … You mean the door opening automatically. It's not magic. It's an electric motor. It gets a radio signal from the key in my hand which tells it to open the door … So James is alive? And in your world, Princess?"

She nodded. "He is. He's on my Royal Council. One of my most trusted advisers."

"Adviser to a princess? To the ruler of a kingdom?" he chuckled and shook his head. "That man always did have extraordinary ambitions. But I doubt even he ever thought his ambitions would take him that far … I'm not sure how to … Do you need any help getting in, Princess?"

She looked into the back of the strange chariot again. Getting in the "traditional" way appeared that it might be a little bit awkward, given it was not tall enough for her to stand up in the back. Maybe if she lie down on the ground, she could teleport into it?

She decided that was probably the best option and lie down on the ground.

"Princess, this is no time to—"

Her horn glowed briefly, and then, she was in the back of the strange chariot, lying on the floor.

She looked up to see Eric staring at her. He opened his mouth, but then closed it and shook his head. "I'll ask about it later," he said. Then, he picked up the tarp he had brought and started covering her with it. "It's not very far to my apartment, so you won't have to stay covered long. Once we get there. I suggest you … do whatever it was you did to get in here to get in there as well. It probably wouldn't be wise for you to go walking through the hallways and use the elevator.

She shook her head. "I can't. I wouldn't know where I was teleporting to. I could end up teleporting into a solid wall or something. Or teleporting right on top of you. Or worse, into the same space you are, which would be disastrous for you."

"Right … I guess that could be a problem … Well, I guess we'll just have to take our chances then. At this time of day, there shouldn't be very much activity in the hallways. And there's a code to lock the elevator so it won't stop on any floor between the ground and the floor I'm on. We aren't supposed to know the code, but it's amazing what you can find on the Internet if you know the elevator manufacturer and model number, and the owner hasn't changed the default code," he said as he finished pulling the tarp over her. She could see his silhouette step backwards through the material. "Well, I guess that'll work. It breaks up your figure well enough that it's not possible to tell what's under the tarp."

Then she heard the beeping sound again and saw the silhouette of the door lowering over the back of the chariot, followed by a click as it closed and latched.

She heard him get into the front of the chariot, then a strange low rumbling sound. Next she felt them moving and the pitch of the rumbling sound increased. Although she couldn't see anything from under the tarp, she could tell they had made a turn and were now driving on a road

For a few seconds, she tried to ask him questions, but found his responses difficult to hear over the road noise and the rumbling. In addition, it seemed he was having a hard time hearing her as well. After a few minutes, she turned to her own thoughts instead. But none of them were comforting. Again, she thought about Luna, wondering if she was alright. She thought about all of her subjects and the kind of panic that must be running through Equestria right now. And she thought of her Council. They would figure out a way to solve this problem. They had to figure out a way. And perhaps, Eric would be able to help. James had said Eric was very resourceful, and that if anyone from his planet were able to figure out how to come to Equestria, it would be Eric. Now, she just hoped he would be able to figure out a way to get her back there.

It wasn't long before she felt the vehicle come to a stop.

"Wait here, Princess. Let me make sure there's no one around." She heard the door open, the sound of him getting out, followed by the door closing. It wasn't more than a minute before she heard the beeping again, and the sound of the rear hatch opening. He reached in and removed the tarp that was covering her.

"Alright, let's hurry. The first floor is clear and the elevators are just past the doors. Thankfully, there are no security cameras in this building."

She nodded and quickly teleported out of the vehicle, then stood up. She had no time to take in the features of the building in front of her as Eric was already jogging towards the double glass doors on the front. He quickly opened them, holding them for her. She trotted rapidly, entering them.

"In the elevator … uh, that's that small room at the other side with the open doors," he said quickly. She did as he indicated, quickly entering the small room. It was very cramped, obviously not designed for a horse sized creature. But Eric managed to squeeze in with her. She watched him touch a button on a panel mounted on the wall and the doors closed.

The elevator started upward with a small jolt that startled her briefly. She looked around the small, cramped space. At the top of the shiny metal doors, red symbols on some kind of display ticked passed, although she did not recognize the symbols and had no idea what they meant. A few seconds later, she felt the elevator slowing down, a strange feeling of almost being pulled off the ground. A soft beep came from the panel on the wall. Then, the doors slid apart and opened.

Eric stuck his head out of the doors and looked left, then right. "It's clear," he said as he stepped out. Then he turned left and jogged down the hallway. She followed quickly. About half way down, he stopped at a door on the right side, quickly fumbling with something in his hand that she thought was a key. With a click, the lock disengaged and he pushed it open, stepping inside. She followed quickly, and he closed the door behind her, engaging the locks again.

She watched as he breathed a sigh of relief. Then she turned her head left and right, looking around. They were in open room with white walls. The floor felt strange to her—almost like grass, but yet somehow different. Looking down, she saw that it was covered in some kind of light gray fuzzy material that felt soft on her hoofs. She looked back up. Two green chairs sat in the room, along with a larger green bench. Both of them sat angled towards some kind of large square object with a shiny front. And black edges. Beyond the room they were in, she recognized a kitchen. To the left a small hallway with two doors. In it—one on one side of the wall, another on the other side.

She looked back at the room they were standing in again, back towards the green chairs. Clothes had been carelessly hung over the back of one of them, similar to the types of clothes that James had been wearing when he was first found in Equestria. A small wooden table sitting in front of the large green bench had an open cardboard box sitting on it with some kind of leftover food sitting in it that she did not think looked appealing at all. Her keen sense of smell told her it smelled even less appealing than it looked.

She watch as Eric quickly went into the room and closed the box, picking it up in one arm. Then he walked over to the chair and hastily started to gather the wrinkled clothes hanging over it, as he fumbled with his speech. "I … apologize for the mess, Princess. And for the Spartan conditions. I'm sure you're probably used to much more luxurious accommodations," he said as he quickly opened the door to a closet, tossing the clothes in carelessly before closing the door again. Then he closed the lid on the box of unappetizing food, opened the refrigerator door, and placed it inside, quickly pushing the door shut again before walking back out in to the main room. "Please … Make yourself comfortable," he said as he sat down on one of the chairs.

She nodded slightly and sat down on her haunches on the floor. "Thank you … For coming to find me and taking me in," she said kindly.

He nodded in response, then spoke again. "Well, Princess, as I said, your calling card pretty much tipped me off that you had come here. But what I don't pretend to know, is why you came here."

She took a deep breath, sighing and frowning before answering. "I didn't intend to come here. Some … I don't know if assassins is the right word … but ponies who wanted me out of the way, sent me here. And now my world is in trouble and I need your help to get home."

His eyes widened and he stared at her for a moment. "My help? Princess, I don't know … How am I supposed to help you?"

"James told me something about what he had been working on. How he had been looking for this particle that some have labeled the god particle. In a sense, there was an event that night inside the accelerator that could be considered a god particle event. But it was not the one he was looking for. It was the creation of a particle far more powerful, and far more fundamental. A particle so fundamental to all existence that all dimensions ultimately sprung from it. That was the catalyst that brought him to Equestria."

She stopped and watched him, waiting for his response. He appeared to be intently focused on her, eyes wide with fascination at what she was saying. After a few moments, he frowned and looked at her more questioningly. She could already feel her heart sinking before he spoke.

"And that's all you know about this particle is what it does … You don't know anything about its physical properties, or how it does what it does?"

She shook her head slightly.

"So what you are telling me, Princess … Is that you need me to produce another one of these so called god particle events to send you back to your world."

She nodded once. "Basically, yes …"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his frown deepening as his face took on an apologetic look. "I'm afraid I can't help you, Princess."

Her heart sank, her hopes dashed. She felt the weight of Equestria descending on her back, and her utter helplessness to support it. Emotion welled up inside her as she spoke in a pleading voice. "But Doctor Thompson, please! You have to help! You have to!"

"Princess, you don't understand. I would help you if I could. But even if I could replicate the exact conditions of what happened that night … Even if I could produce another god particle event, the Tevatron is wasted. It'll never accelerate another proton again … I wish I could help you, Princess. I really do. But I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. I'm so sorry. I really am." He averted his eyes from her and looked down at the floor.

She only stared across the room, although her eyes focused on nothing in particular. Never before had she felt so completely helpless. So completely powerless. Somewhere, in some dimension, her world had tumbled into cataclysm. And there was nothing she could do to save it. Nothing she could do to protect her subjects.

Emotion threatened to overwhelm her, depression and anxiety cutting at her heart like a hot knife cuts through butter. She stood up, and turned, starting towards his door, her head hung so low in despair that her muzzle almost dragged along the strange fuzzy floor.

"Where are you going?" he called out softly from behind her.

"I'm sorry … I wasted your time, Doctor Thompson," she responded in a quiet shaky tone of voice as she continued towards the door.

"Don't go, Princess … Please don't go," he said softly. "Even if I can't help you get home, I'm not going to kick you out on the street. You are welcome to stay here as long as you need to."

She stopped and hesitated for a moment before turning around. Then she nodded slightly, although her head remained low to the ground. "Thank you, Doctor Thompson … For your kindness."

"Please … Just call me Eric … What kind of person would I be if I kicked a stranded princess out onto the street in a city like Chicago … Alright, look … I'll get the data the accelerator detectors recorded that night and see if I can find anything that might help. But I don't want you to get your hopes up, Princess. The detectors failed and stopped recording data almost as soon as the quake struck. So I seriously doubt they recorded anything that will be of any use. But I'll look at it. And I'll try."

"Thank you, Eric," she responded softly. "That's all I can ask you to do is to try."

He nodded slightly. "You look exhausted, Princess … Why don't you try to get some sleep. I'll go back to the lab and pull the data from that night. The server vault itself wasn't damaged by the quake so the data storage units are still intact. You can use my bedroom as long as you are here. I'll sleep on the couch."

She shook her head, once. "Thank you for the offer, Eric. But you are doing enough for me as it is by trying to help me and allowing me to stay here. I do not wish to kick you out of your own bedroom. I'm fine just sleeping out here."

"Really, it's okay … I want you to have it. I wish I could give you more … Just uh … Well, keep the shades on the windows pulled, don't answer the door, and don't go outside. I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, standing up and starting for the door again.

She nodded. "Thank you. Again," she responded, watching him leave.

Once he had closed the door, she stood up and turned, walking down the small hallway. The hall was narrow for her size, and the walls brushed against her fur as she walked through. She stopped in front of the door on the right side, looking down at the brass colored knob. Unlike doorknobs in Equestria, which all contained a handle that could be pushed down or up on for easy operation with a hoof, this one had a completely round knob. She forewent any attempt to operate it with her forehoof and instead simply opened it with magic, the small knob glowing with a golden aura as her ethereal energy grip turned it. Once it unlatched, she pushed the door in gently with a forehoof.

Inside, she stopped and looked around. The head of the bed was pushed against the far wall, its sheets and blankets lying on top of it in wrinkled chaos. The light green striped sheets clashed badly with the brown blanket and pillowcases. The gray floor was covered in various areas with clothes, including wads of wrinkled t-shirts and pants that had been balled up and carelessly thrown into a corner. The door on the closet was open, and more clothes were piled in a basket inside, the pants legs hanging over the edges. Open magazines that looked to contain complex mathematical equations and diagrams—she assumed they were science journals—lie on the floor next to the bed. There was a single window in the room, on the wall behind the bed, but its shade was closed. She resisted the temptation to open it and look outside, the possibility of being spotted not a risk she wanted to take.

She shook her head slightly in bewilderment. Definitely the bedroom of a male bachelor, she thought to herself. Not that she was about to complain about it. After all, he was kind enough to let her use it. Perhaps she could repay at least some of his kindness by cleaning up his bedroom and apartment while he was gone? Yes, she was tired. But she didn't think sleep would come to her. And lying around in bed trying to get to sleep would only keep her mind focused on Equestria and things she had no control over and could do nothing about right now. She really did want some activity to do that would keep her mind at least partially focused on something else.

And so her horn began to glow, followed by faint golden auras around the piles of clothes lying scattered about the floor as she started to pick them up, taking the task upon herself to turn Eric's bachelor pad into something that resembled actual living space …