Author's note: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. And sorry it's a bit short, but this seemed like the best place to end it. I should have chapter 37 out before the end of the week. Hopefully, that will make up for the fact that this one is a bit short.

The God Particle

Chapter 36: Return to Canterlot

James and Twilight continued to look out the chariot windows in horror, the orange blasts of flame piercing the night sky in the distance. He glanced over at Spike who was sitting on the other side of the chariot, his young eyes filled with terror and fear. Suddenly, the chariot dived sharply, nearly throwing James off of the seat. He quickly braced himself against the walls. They leveled out again, and although he could see nothing below them, he assumed they must be skimming the treetops now. Turning to look out the window again, he could no longer see the orange jets of flame, although he did see an occasional eerie glow in the sky above them, like that of flames reflecting off smoke from a distant fire. He felt himself pushed backward as the chariot increased speed. Slowly, the glowing bursts of orange above them started to move off behind them.

"The Pegasus Guards must be trying to keep the fight above and behind us," he said, turning to look back at Twilight while hoping the pegasi pulling the chariot had some type of built in terrain avoidance radar. Every once in awhile, in the shadow of one of the orange bursts, he thought he could see the top of a tree whisk past the bottom of the chariot, nearly touching it.

As the orange glows continued to disappear further behind them, he thought, perhaps, they were safe. But his concern now was for the Pegasus Guards. How long could they hold off at least three, and maybe even more, dragons? And he wasn't sure if there might be griffins as well, or possibly rogue pegasi helping the dragons.

Suddenly, the chariot banked sharply. G-forces threw him against one wall and held him there, Twilight slamming into him shortly after as they made a knife edge turn. His ribs jolted painfully as the wind was forced from him with a gasp. He heard a thud next to him, turning his head to see Spike slam into the wall beside him. Outside the window, a ball of orange flame trailing a tail like a comet whipped past the chariot, barely missing it. Vaguely, he could see another wing of Pegasus Guards break off from the escort formation and turn sharply, rising rapidly into the night sky to engage whatever threat had appeared above them, or broken through the defense line of the pegasi behind them. The chariot came out of the turn as suddenly as it had entered, the three of them falling to the floor in a heap.

James sat up quickly, and helped Twilight back to her hooves as well. He reached out to check on Spike, who was also scrambling back to his feet. Suddenly, he felt invisible restraints form around him, as if unseen ethereal ropes had bound him. For a moment, he panicked and struggled against them, but then he noticed Twilight's horn glowing with a lavender aura.

"I magically anchored all of us to the floor," she said in an anxious tone of voice. "So we don't get tossed around if there's another sudden turn like that."

He said nothing in response, instead, simply wrapping his arms around her protectively as the battle continued to wage on in the sky outside. As well, he hoped that his arms around her might help calm and reassure her. But he wondered if perhaps he needed reassuring more than she did. After all, she was one of the Elements of Harmony. No doubt, she had seen far more danger in her life than he had in his, having faced Nightmare Moon and Discord.

Suddenly, the air in chariot lit up as bright as noon, accompanied by an ear splitting roar. A blast of flame surrounded them as if the chariot had been tossed into the middle of a burning forest. He wrapped his arms tighter around Twilight as the chariot shook and shuttered around them. The smell of burning paint filled the air as the outside walls blistered and boiled. They pitched and rolled violently, erratically. Loud scraping sounds assaulted his ears as tree branches whipped at the bottom of the chariot.

The inside of the chariot lit up again, but this time with a lavender aura. Twilight's horn glowed brightly, almost blindingly so. A sphere of light quickly expanded outward from it until it contacted the walls, then seemed to flow right through them rippling slightly like water in a pond. He felt the chariot slowing rapidly, felt the pitching and rolling come to a stop. They hovered now, the trees motionless below them in the glow of Twilight's powerful spell. Slowly, the chariot started to descend towards the ground. Tree branches brushed against its side, cracking and scraping. Finally, a small thump and jolt as it touched down on the forest floor.

James sat in silence for a moment, breathing heavily. The glow from Twilight's horn winked out and he felt the magic restraints anchoring him to the floor release suddenly. Twilight breathed heavily and stumbled before collapsing onto the floor of the chariot.

"Twilight!" he and Spike both called out out, his heart racing as he instinctively held her tighter.

"It's alright … I'm alright," she said between gasps of breath. "Controlling two spells at once and stopping the chariot from crashing just really drained me. I'll be fine."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Although the flames surrounding the chariot had gone out, they had heated the metal sides like an oven. The temperature inside was rising quickly as the heat transferred through the outside walls into the inside. He leaned back and kicked at the door latch with his foot, unlocking it, then kicking the door outward. Scrambling outside, he turned back towards the chariot and wrapped his arms around Twilight, cradling her like he had the night he carried her up to her bedroom. She started to protest that she was capable of walking, but he ignored her and quickly darted  away from the chariot, the young dragon running close by them. He set her down a safe distance away, where she almost collapsed again, but then recovered on shaky legs.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked with a frown, worry for her flooding his heart.

"I'm fine," she said, her breath starting to slow down as she seemed to start recovering her strength. "It takes a lot of energy out of a unicorn to work magic that powerful. That's all. I'll be fine in a few minutes." She paused, and a moment later, her muzzle took on a surprised look. "Come to think of it … That's the first time I have ever controlled two spells at the same time … I'm not even sure how I did it and I don't know if I could do it again …"

He nodded, breathing heavily himself from his sudden dash away from the chariot while carrying a full grown pony in his arms. "Well, I'm just glad you were able to do it," he responded. Then he turned and looked back, frowning deeply and lowering his head sadly. Like the last chariot that had been hit with a blast of dragon fire, the outsides were completely black and charred, the paint having boiled off. But far worse than that, there was no sign at all of the pegasi that had been pulling it. He winced and tried not to think about what he knew had happened to them.

He turned back towards Twilight to find her looking at the chariot as well, a deep frown etched on her muzzle, her ears flattened against her head.  For several long moments, neither of them said anything, mourning the loss of their Pegasus Guard compatriots in silence. The air around them was eerily quiet and still, but in the distance, occasional blasts of orange, followed by deep rumbles like distant fireworks told of the battle for the skies that still raged on somewhere above them..

He looked down at Spike now. The young dragon stared at the chariot. His eyes wide with fear. "Are they … Are they …" he stammered. James frowned and nodded his head solemnly, reaching down and placing a hand on the young dragon's scaled shoulder to try to comfort him, all the while still trying to keep the thoughts of what had happened from invading his head. Twilight still looked distraught as well. But Spike … No one so young should have to be exposed to that. But dwelling on it would do no good.

He turned his attention back to Twilight now. "They'll come looking for us … once the battle is finished. It wouldn't be safe for them to attempt to rescue us while the dragons are still around. All they'd do is draw attention to us and pinpoint our location on the ground for the dragons to blast away at. But they must know we went down," he said, sadness still in his voice as unwanted thoughts about what had happened to the Pegasus Guards pulling the chariot tried to force their way into his mind again. Twilight only nodded her head slightly and remained silent, looking towards the burned chariot as if still in shock over what had happened.

James took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He could only hope none of the other Elements of Harmony had been shot down. In an odd sort of way, it was fortunate that if one of them were going to be shot down, at least it was he and Twilight. The only reason they had likely survived the crash of the chariot was because Twilight had been able to control the impact with magic. The other Elements would not be able to do that.

Despair started to flood through him as the world unraveled around him. For perhaps the first time since arriving in Equestria, it really started to hit him: Up until now, he had largely taken this whole experience as some kind of epic fantasy fairy tale. A tale with beautiful princesses, magical unicorns, and wondrous castles. It had almost been like he was living out some type of dream fantasy. He had become the knight in shining armor: Serving the princesses, protecting the kingdom, living the good life, dancing with royalty. Upholding the values of the knight's code: Chivalry towards mares and the elderly. Towards others who could not defend themselves. But now, what had seemed like some grand fantasy with an assured happy ending had become cold, hard reality, as if it had suddenly dropped on him from above and knocked the wind out of him. There was no longer any assurance of a happy ending. Indeed, it was starting to look like there would be no happy ending. Are you sure you really wanted to play the role of the knight in shining armor, James? He thought to himself. Well, whether it's the role you truly wanted or not, it's the role you have now. He gathered his resolve and turned to look at Twilight again, sitting down on the ground and leaning his back against a tree. Another distant rumble, and he looked to the sky to see another brilliant flash of orange in the distance before looking back at Twilight again.

"Alright … I have a lot I must tell you. We may as well get started."

He proceeded to tell Twilight everything, starting all the way back to the trip he and Theory Point had made up to Whitepony. She listened intently, her ears flicking every once in awhile. Occasionally, she stopped him for clarification or further explanation. But mostly, she simply sat wide eyed, in seeming amazement. Eventually, he finished. The only thing he had not told her about yet was Luna's cryptic prophecies regarding their intertwined fates. There were several moments of awkward silence before she spoke.

"… James, you were involved in all of this? And I never knew? You never told me?" Again, she had a hurt expression on her muzzle.

"I wanted to, Twilight. I really did. But I couldn't. Again, we had to protect you. No one except Their Majesties, me and Theory Point, the Royal Council, and certain key members of the Royal Guard knew any of this. Even my superior officer when I was still at the Academy didn't know what it was Theory Point and I were working on in the basement of that physics lab … I'm sorry, Twilight. I really am. For not telling you … And for sometimes flat out lying to you," he finished, looking at the ground now.

After a few moments, he felt her forehoof on his shoulder. "It's okay, James. I understand. And there are things I didn't tell you either that I should have. Like … the portal … trying to send you home. I—" She stopped in mid sentence to sniffle.

He shook his head and pulled her into a hug. "Don't start on that again, Twilight. Not now. We've been over it. It wasn't your fault. I don't want you blaming yourself for it … And besides, there is more."

She wiped her eyes once with a forehoof and the tears seemed to stop as she looked back up at him, her ears perking curiously.

"I don't understand this whole Beyond thing very well … I'm not even sure either of Their Majesties fully understand it … But Princess Luna told me that my fate is intertwined with yours … That together, we must be the ones to stop it."

The unicorn's eyes went wide now, and he could see her visibly shutter. "What … how … what did she mean?" she finally stammered out.

"He shook his head. "I don't know, Twilight. Her prophecies were vague and cryptic. And neither Princess knows how we are supposed to stop the Beyond. We must be the ones to find a way."

Twilight appeared to be lost in thought for a moment, then she visibly shuttered and he could see fear in her eyes. "James … Does that mean that if I had sent you home … I could have destroyed Equestria?" she said in a nervous voice.

"We don't know that, Twilight. So you can't dwell on that. But we may have dodged an arrow, yes." He could see her start shaking slightly about what she may have almost caused and he put a hand on her withers again. "It's not your fault, Twilight. You didn't know. And Their Majesties couldn't tell you … I couldn't tell you. There is no blame to be assigned here for anything that happened."

Twilight didn't seem convinced. Her legs started to shake slightly and she quickly sat down to prevent herself from collapsing again. "James, I … I … I can't handle all this!" she suddenly shouted out, causing him to wince.

She's gonna snap under the pressure of everything that has just been dumped on her, he thought to himself. Not that I'd blame her for doing so. For a moment, he thought he would snap as well. That he would follow her down like a domino. But then he quickly gathered his resolve and grabbed both her withers with his hands gently. "Twilight, you have to get a hold of yourself," he said in gentle, yet firm tone. "You are the ruler of all of Equestria now. You have to find the strength to lead us through this."

"I just … I feel so alone all of the sudden. Without either princess to advise me on what to do. I don't know what to do, James! I don't know how to rule a kingdom!" she shouted again. He could feel her tensing up and see tears of frustration beginning to fill her eyes.

"But you aren't alone, Twilight. You have the full backing of the entire Royal Council to advise you. You are the one Her Majesty chose, and all of us on the Council will be as loyal to you as if you were one of the princesses themselves. The entire Royal Guard is also at your service."

She took a deep breath and seemed to loosen up a bit, but still looked and sounded nervous when she spoke again. "James … I don't know that much about the Royal Council … And having the entire army of Equestria at my command is not exactly a responsibility I think I am ready for. That's part of what makes me nervous."

"Well, you will have Captain Swordstorm, Captain Stardust, and the Council to advise you on any military actions that need to be taken. And as far as the Royal Council. Trust me, most of the rumors you have heard are not true."

"I've only had any real interaction with one other Council member besides you, James. And it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience."

He raised an eyebrow? "Oh? When was this?"

"After I left the castle when I saw you last. She followed me to the hotel I stayed at. I never saw her until she was right at the door to my room. No pony else saw her either. She was light green and had a blue mane. Blue like the sky."

He pursed his lips, letting out a breath slowly before responding. "That would be Storm Runner … She's actually a very nice pony. One of the ones I am closest to on the Council. Once you get to know her a bit, I'm sure you will really like her."

She nodded slightly. "So you said earlier you thought both princesses are alive … How do you know?"

"Because if they weren't, the binding spell would have broken. All of the Council members would have felt it happen."

"Can you be sure of this?"

He looked at the ground for a moment before responding. "Not completely … No. But we are almost certain that Princess Luna is alive. We didn't feel any disruption in the Lunar Source … Princess Celestia … The Solar Source is there, but it's weak. We don't know what that means."

Twilight winced and he could see fear and dismay filling her eyes again. "She's alive, Twilight. We'd know if she wasn't. You have to believe that. And we can't dwell on the possibility that's she's not. We have to be strong for her and perform the tasks she has set before us."

"Alright." She nodded slightly. "Alright … So what do you think our first priorities should be?"

"Well, other than the obvious ones of finding Their Majesties, I think we have to assume the sun isn't going to rise in the morning. So our next most pressing problem is going to be harvesting all of the food we can and storing it in non-perishable form. I estimate that if we have to go more than a week without the sun, the temperature all over Equestria will drop below freezing. That will destroy all of the crops. And then we will have a famine to add to our list of problems."

"I … I can put AJ in charge of that." She nodded, seeming to gain a little bit of confidence.

"Second, I think we should have every weather pegasus we can find start working on producing a dense low cloud layer over all of Equestria. The idea is to create a greenhouse like effect and trap whatever heat we already have close to the surface. That will buy us some extra time.."

She only nodded again. "So we have Rainbow Dash covered … What about the public? What do we do about them?"

He sighed a bit in frustration. "I haven't had much time to think about that. But obviously, we can't keep this a secret from them. The sun is scheduled to rise in about three hours. If it doesn't, they are going to know something is wrong. Also, unless every pony in Canterlot is deaf and blind, there's no way they missed more than a hundred Pegasus Guards and six armored chariots leaving the castle. Even in the dark, they would have seen them. Trying to keep panic to a minimum is going to be important."

"Fluttershy might be able to help with that. She's fairly good at calming down tense situations … at least once she gets passed her own fear."

He nodded slightly. "And then … we have to find Firewing."

She raised an eyebrow. "Firewing? The Elder Dragon Ambassador?"

"Yes. Her Majesty told me he can see the pattern. We need to find out what he knows."

"Do you think he will come to Canterlot looking for us?'

"I fear he might do just that, Twilight … Given there were multiple dragons involved in the attack on Princess Luna's convoy, and they killed twenty Lunar Guards, I fear that the rest of the Lunar Guard will be in shoot-to-kill mode if any dragon gets near Canterlot … If he tries to come to Canterlot, I don't think he will get away alive."

Twilight was about to respond, then closed her mouth and her ears swiveled upwards. Overhead, the distant sound of approaching Pegasus Guards drew nearer, like an approaching wind. The sounds of battle seemed to have stopped and there were no more orange flashes visible.

"Twilight, Spike, close your eyes," James said looking back to them as he reached into the inside pocket of his robe, removing the magic flare that Captain Swordstorm had given him earlier. He made sure both of them had done so, then removed the cap from the flare and closed his own eyes. He pulled down with both hands, breaking it in half. Unlike a traditional pyrotechnic flare, this one seemed silent, but even through his closed eyelids, he could see a brilliant red light form near his hands. Instinctively, he almost dropped the flare fearing it would burn him. But the flare generated no heat at all. Only light. The brightly glowing orb rose past his eyes rapidly and into the sky. He opened his eyes to see it hovering over the treetops above them. Shortly, the glowing red light reflected off of golden pegasus armor, giving the golden armor a macabre crimson tint like that of blood. It was not an image he wanted, given the circumstances. Six Pegasus Guards circled over the area once, then landed roughly.

"Are the other Elements—" James began.

"All of the other Elements of Harmony are safe," Captain Swordstorm responded. "I suppose we should thank Celestia it was you and Twilight that went down, since I don't think any of the other Elements could have controlled the crash like Twilight did."

"What about casualties, Captain?" James asked.

"I lost five of my ponies, including the two pulling your chariot. We killed one dragon and four griffins. The remaining griffins and the other two dragons fled once they had lost one of their main sources of firepower."

Spike suddenly had a pale look on his face. "You … You killed them?"

The Captain looked down at the young dragon for a moment, then responded harshly. "Would you have rather we let them kill you?" Spike said nothing in response and just looked at the ground.

James winced slightly at Captain Swordstorm's response to the young dragon, but said nothing for the time being. The wind noise from above started to increase and he looked up to see one of the armored chariots landing. He blinked as one of the guards opened the door: It was empty.

"Rainbow Dash has agreed to fly the rest of the way to Canterlot herself. In truth, they practically had to drag her into the chariot in the first place at Ponyville. 'Why should she ride in a chariot when she had two perfectly good wings of her own,' she insisted, according to Counselor Storm Runner.

"That sounds like the Rainbow Dash I know," James said before turning to look at Twilight. "Take Spike and board the chariot. I'll be with you both in a moment."

Twilight gave him a curious glance, but then simply turned. "Come on, Spike," she said, putting a forehoof around the young dragon momentarily before the two of them walked away, climbing into the chariot.

James turned back to Captain Swordstorm and spoke quietly. "Captain, you know I'd never question you in front of others. I respect you too much … But don't you think you were a little hard on Spike? He's just a kid. And it's gotta be hard on him, ya know? I mean yes, the dragons were attacking us … But they are still dragons .. his own kind. The fact that you killed one has to be hard on someone so young."

The pegasus captain let out a sigh. "You're right, Counselor. I'm sorry. I was frustrated about the loss of my guards and a bit annoyed that he seemed to have more concern for the dead dragon than he did for the guards that died protecting him from it."

James nodded. "I understand, Captain. But he is concerned for your guards. Before you got here, he was very shaken up about what happened to the guards pulling the chariot."

"I'll talk to him about it when we get back to Canterlot," the Captain responded.

"Thank you, Captain." James nodded respectfully before turning and walking towards the chariot, climbing on board and closing the door behind him. Then the chariot pitched up into the night sky, and resumed the long journey back to Canterlot …