The God Particle

Chapter 39: Princess Luna, Goddess of the Night

"Your Majesty?" James asked in awe, bowing deeply to her. Deeper than he had ever bowed before. "You're alive." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes. And so is my sister. Stand, James," she responded in a calming yet still regal voice.

"Where are you, Your Majesty?" he said as he stood up, still keeping his eyes lowered slightly in awe of her presence, as if he were meeting her for the first time, feeling that same sense of awe and wonder he'd felt the first time he'd seen Princess Celestia raise the sun.

The Alicorn Goddess shook her head once. "I don't know where I am. But I do know where my sister is. My captors have silenced most of my power, but I can still see the pattern. At least some of it. My sister's thread has joined with your friend, Eric's."

"Eric is here, Your Majesty? In Equestria?"

She shook her head again. "No. My sister is in your world."

James nearly jumped backwards in surprise. Celestia? On Earth? But that meant … "She's on Earth? Then Twilight can bring her back! The portal spell!"

Once again, she shook her head. "No, James. She can't. Twilight's portal spell is like a one way gate. She can send things to your world. But she can't pull anything out of your world. Any attempt to bring my sister back to Equestria will have to be initiated from your world. But Twilight's portal spell will not work from your world. So even if my sister remembers enough about what Twilight told her to be able to perform it, it won't help her in your world."

James felt despair try to overwhelm him again, attempting to fight against the calmness and inner strength that Princess Luna was filling him with, threatening to push it out like the tide pushing against a beach. Helpless. That's how he felt. Helpless. Now he knew where Celestia was, but there was no way to bring her back.

"James, you must listen to me. It is very important that you do not go through the portal to find my sister. The Beyond wants to separate you from Twilight Sparkle. If you go to Earth, that goal would be accomplished. And that may be disastrous for Equestria."

James nodded slightly. "But is Princess Celestia safe, Your Majesty?"

"She is with your friend, Eric. He has a good heart, James. She is safe with him."

He nodded once. If there was anyone he could trust on Earth, it was Eric. How they had found each other so quickly was something he couldn't even speculate on. But it didn't matter. They had found each other. And she was safe with Eric. But there was another question he had.

"Your Majesty … If they have you magically silenced, how is that you are able to appear to me right now?"

"The realm of dreams is completely my domain, James. They can do nothing to silence or diminish my powers in this realm. And they could not fully silence my powers in the physical world either, although they aren't aware of this. It's fortunate for us that I've come into your dreams before. It established a special connection between you and I that allows me to enter your dreams using very little of my power. And I retain enough of it even while silenced to enter your dreams. But I do not have enough power right now to enter your dreams without you inviting me and opening yourself up to me. So you must call to me." He thought he could detect a hint of regret and guilt in her voice when she mentioned having entered his dreams in the past.

"Can you come to me whenever I call, Your Majesty?"

She shook her head once. "No. Not if they are watching me. I cannot risk them knowing I retain some of my power. Although they have no ability to diminish my power in the dream realm, they can prevent me from entering the dream realm if they were to find out I'm able to do so."

He nodded once. "What do we do, Your Majesty? How do we find you? How do we bring Princess Celestia back?"

"I don't know, James. You must find a way. You, Twilight, and The Council. I have complete faith in you. I know you will find a way." She smiled at him slightly for a moment before her face took on a saddened expression, her ears dropping back on her head. "James … You have been very loyal to me. As loyal to me as even my most loyal Lunar Guards … And I have often treated you —"

"Your Majesty, there's no time for that right now," he said cutting her off. "There will be time for—"

She raised a forehoof, cutting him off in response. "No, James. I will not let this go unsaid … In case I don't get another chance … You've been as loyal to me as even my most loyal Lunar Guards. And I have often treated you horribly. I don't deserve your loyalty at all, but you have remained loyal to me anyway. I'm sorry, James. I'm sorry for the way I have treated you. And I thank you for everything. For remaining loyal to me and for believing in me."

"Your Majesty … Thank you. And I really appreciate it. But don't talk like you will never get another chance. We are going to find you and your sister. And we are going to restore both of you to the throne of Equestria. This I swear. As long as there is breath left in me."

She smiled gently at him. Suddenly, her smile changed to a look of concern, her ears perking up and swiveling to the left. She turned her head, looking in that direction towards something he couldn't see. Then she turned back and looked at him. "They are coming, James. I must go. Quickly, give me your hand."

He blinked but did as she told him, holding out his right arm towards her. She leaned down, placing her horn near the back of his hand.

"I'm sorry, James. This is going to hurt. But I need to make sure you know that this was not just a normal dream, that I really was here, and that you will be able to prove it to the others. The wound is magical and I promise you it will heal in less than a day and will not leave a scar."

Luna's horn started to glow with a searing silvery white light and he felt a sudden burning on the back of his hand, as if he had reached out and touched a hot stove. Instinctively, he pulled his hand away and looked at it. Burned into the top of his hand, was the image of a crescent moon. He winced slightly, but already the pain from the burn was quickly subsiding. Luna quickly looked to her left, then back at him again. She spoke in a more urgent voice now.

"I must go. You must wake up now, James. If you don't wake up, you will know I visited you, but you will have no memory of what we discussed. You must wake up." The Goddess of the Night took two steps backwards, and the fog that had parted for her begin to fill in again, obscuring her from his view like a ship sailing into the night fog on the dark waters of an ocean.

"Princess? Your Majesty?" he called out, but received no answer. The fog dissipated like smoke blowing away in the wind, and she was gone, leaving nothing but darkness once again.

He awoke suddenly, breathing heavily, disoriented and quickly looking around. He was lying on his side, in the middle of Princess Luna's sacred lunar seal on the floor of the chamber. Only the flickering torches on the wall illuminated the chamber now and the chill had returned. He pulled his robes tighter around himself against the biting cold. Gradually, he became aware of a dull burning sensation in his right hand, as well as a residual tingling energy throughout his entire body. Looking down at his hand, he saw the image of Luna's crescent moon burned into it, flickering dimly in the torchlight. The residual energy in his body, he realized, was from the spell Luna had put him under.

Like an open floodgate, the dream came rushing back to him, and he remembered everything clearly. "The princesses! They are both alive!" he said to himself, scrambling to his feet and starting towards the door at a run. "And I know where Celestia is!"

He threw open the door, rushing out into the courtyard and running towards the castle entrance, nearly tripping on his robe several times. He quickly entered the castle, making his way through the corridors and towards the Council meeting area, slipping on the floor and falling once, but quickly getting back to his feet. He threw open the door as soon as he arrived, startling those inside. Twilight Sparkle jumped slightly and looked at him.

"James, you are supposed to be—"

"Both princesses are alive! And I know where Celestia is!"

For several moments, there was silence, the only sound his own heavy breath from running, his heart beating heavily in his chest. He watched Twilight's eyes go wide, along with the rest of the Council. Catching his breath, he walked further into the room.

"I don't know where Princess Luna is … But Princess Celestia is in my world. She's safe, with my friend Eric."

Several jaws in the room dropped, and again, there were several long moments of tense silence. It was Storm Runner who finally spoke. "James, how do you know this?"

"Princess Luna came to me a dream. I … Well, I … prayed to her. And she came to me. She doesn't know where she is. But she can still see the pattern and she still has full control of the dream realm. She was able to see Princess Celestia's thread. It has merged with my friend Eric's. But not here in Equestria."

This time, it was Twilight that spoke. "Are you sure, James? I mean are you sure it wasn't just a normal dream? How do you know it was really her?"

He held up his arm now, showing her the back of his hand, and the image of the crescent moon that had been burned into it. "Because she left this. To ensure that I would know she was really there."

Twilight winced as she looked closely at the wound on the back of his hand.

"It doesn't hurt as much as it looks like it would," he assured her.

She nodded once, then Moon Song spoke.

"That's great, isn't it? Twilight can bring Her Majesty back using the portal spell that she developed to send you home!"

Twilight shook her head and frowned. "No, I can't. My portal spell can only send things to his world. It can't bring anything to Equestria from his world." She sighed, a strong hint of frustration in her voice. "Some other unicorn must have independently figured out the same spell I did. And used it to send the Princess to James' world."

James nodded, but inside he was frustrated. He shook his head. "I should have … I assumed Eric was coming to Equestria. It never occurred to me that he would play a role without ever coming here."

"It's not your fault, James," Storm Runner assured him. "All of us assumed the same thing. That he would be coming here somehow. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Was she right? He wasn't sure. But dwelling on whether they should or should not have considered the possibility that the signs in the pattern didn't necessarily mean Eric was coming here would do them no good now. He looked at Twilight and the Council, "Alright … alright, so I think we should try to send Princess Celestia a message through the portal. Of course, we have no way of knowing whether she will ever get it. And she can't send anything back to us. But if Eric and Her Majesty have found each other already, then it must mean the portal sent her to Chicago in a place where Eric would easily find her. Hopefully, it will do the same thing with any message we send."

"What if someone else on your planet finds the message before Eric does?" Storm Runner questioned. "Even if we write it in Equestrian, given it's just a phonetic alphabet for the same language you speak, it wouldn't be that hard for someone to decode it."

This time, it was Twilight that spoke. "Well, sometimes the best way to hide is in plain sight, right? What if James writes it in his language. Eric can read it to Princess Celestia. And if someone else finds it, it won't mean anything to them. They will think it's some children playing a game or something. I mean they'll never believe the contents of the message are real."

"I agree," James responded. "It would just be too far removed from anything that anyone would accept as reality. Any other thoughts?"

"It sounds like it could work to me. Or at least it's the best option we have right now," said Storm Runner. The rest of the Council nodded in agreement.

"Alright then," James said, nodding. "Can somepony find me quill and something to write on?"

Storm Runner trotted to the back of the room and returned shortly with a piece of paper, quill, and a bottle of ink.

"Thank you," James said as he took it from her and began to write. Once again, he found himself having a bit of trouble. It had been so long since he had used the Latin alphabet and written anything in his own script, that he occasionally had to stop to remember what the characters looked like. He mentally chided himself again for letting his writing skills in his old script become so rusty. But there simply was never any reason to write anything in his own script here.

He sighed in frustration, looking down at what he had written. While he had been criticizing himself, he had subconsciously switched to writing in Equestrian. Putting down the quill, he crinkled up the piece of paper and looked at Storm Runner apologetically. "Sorry … Can you get me a new piece of paper?" She nodded and did as he asked, this time bringing back several. He started to write again.

Several minutes later, he finished and handed the paper to Twilight. "We'll need a box to put it in. It might end up sitting outside for a while and it could rain," he said as Twilight took hold of the paper with her magic. She started to read it and nodded her approval. Then, she read it to the rest of the Council.

"Does this sound alright to everypony?" she asked. All of the Council members nodded in response.

"Consent is unanimous, milady," Moon Song responded.

Twilight nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She had a slightly nervous expression her face now, and her tone held a note of trepidation when she spoke. "You should all probably leave the room. The portal creates a vortex. And I don't want anypony accidently getting pulled through it, especially knowing there's currently no way I can bring you back if you do get pulled through."

"Of course, milady," Storm Runner responded. "There should be some small boxes in the cupboard in the back that can be magically sealed to be waterproof."

The entire Council nodded their heads respectfully to Twilight, then begin to file out of the room. James followed, hesitating and stopping at the exit, turning around again.

"Milady … Twilight," he said, dropping the Council formalisms as concern raced through him. "Are you sure this is safe? Are you sure you won't get pulled through?"

She nodded slightly. "I'm sure, James. I've figured out how to shield myself from the vortex. But I can only shield myself. Attempting to shield anyone else would require too much magical power and not leave me enough to actually open the portal."

He nodded and turned towards the door again. "Just … be careful, Twilight," he said before stepping out and pulling it shut behind him.

Outside the meeting chamber, thoughts raced through his head as he waited with the other Council members. Desperately, he tried to think of anything that might be of use in bringing Celestia back. Anything he could remember from the event that had brought him to Equestria. but still, everything was a blur. He remembered the warning bell going off, the shaking, the falling sensation. And that was it. Whatever happened between then and the time he woke up in the forest, was completely gone from his memory. Now, he could only hope that Fermilab's detectors had recorded the event, and that they might give Eric something to work with. But had the accelerator even survived the quake?

The sound of hooves running down the hall towards him interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see Captain Swordstorm running towards him at nearly a full gallop. Immediately, his heart sank. The Captain should be in bed, and the expression on his face appeared to be one of despair. The pegasus stopped a few feet from them and spoke in a stoic, tone of voice.

"Ponyville is under attack by griffins. One of my scouts reports extensive damage. The Pegasus Air Defense forces in the area are engaged in battle as we speak, but they are outnumbered. We need to send reinforcements."

James felt the chill of ice run through him and sighed slightly. He knew the expression on his face must be one of concern and fear, and the other Council members didn't look much better. He hesitated only a moment before speaking.

"Send … Send whatever you need, Captain." The rest of the Council nodded in agreement. "They must have gone there for the Elements of Harmony. What other reason could there be to attack Ponyville?" he said more to himself than anyone else, relieved that they had gotten Twilight and the others out of there in time. But that relief was tempered with a great deal of fear and worry. What about all the other ponies in Ponyville? He thought about the Cutie Mark Crusaders, about Applebloom's manipulative puppy dog look, about Nurse Redheart and Cherilee, But there was nothing he could do to help any of them right now. Nothing except hope they were alright.

Again, his thoughts were interrupted. This time by Storm Runner speaking. Her voice was stern and laced with anger.

"That's three griffin attacks in the last twelve hours. First against Her Majesty's convoy, then against us as we returned from Ponyville, and now against Ponyville itself. As soon as we can get back in the chamber, I suggest we recommend to Lady Twilight, that she declare an official state of war on the Griffin Kingdom."

"I agree," Moon Song responded.

James hesitated momentarily. Could they be sure the attacks were actually being authorized by the Griffin Kingdom? Or could it be rogue griffins at work? If it was rogue griffins, they were extremely well coordinated. And there were a lot of them. He made up his mind.

"I agree," he said in a stoic tone. The rest of the Council members followed suit, some taking a few seconds longer than others, until all of them had spoken. If the griffin ambassador doesn't like it, he can complain about it after the declaration is made. And besides, he should have contacted them by now, as should have Ambassador Firewing.

"We have unanimous agreement then." Storm Runner sighed, her ears drooping back on her head. She looked down at the floor uncomfortably for a moment, scraping her forehoof along it once before looking up again. "Pending Lady Twilight's approval, which is likely a given with unanimous Council consent, Equestria is now at an official state of war with the Griffin Kingdom." She turned her attention to Swordstorm, her eyes blank and troubled. "Captain … Inform your Guards. And inform the Captain of the Unicorn Guard to prepare for battle and to move against the Griffin Kingdom pending official word from Lady Twilight. Scheduled leave for all Royal Guards is indefinitely suspended. All Royal Guards that are currently on leave are to return to their assigned posts immediately and prepare for further orders."

Captain Swordstorm nodded, a stoic expression replacing his normally confident and firm demeanor. "And what of the dragons? There were dragons involved in the attacks as well."

"It doesn't make any sense," James spoke. "For any kind of sanctioned dragon involvement in this. I mean without the sun, the dragons are going to be the first ones to start dying. Their cold blooded reptilian bodies won't be able to handle the freezing conditions like we will, and the griffins will." He paused for a moment, thinking again, then shook his head. "Why would the dragons want to fight against Equestria? To help overthrow the princesses? It doesn't make any sense."

"I agree," Storm Runner said. "For now … let's assume the dragons are rogues that have rebelled against the Elder Dragon Council. But if Ambassador Firewing doesn't establish contact with us soon, I think we must assume that we are also at war with the dragons. And we must recommend to Lady Twilight that she strip Ambassador Firewing of his position, and dissolve the Elder Dragon Council."

Captain Swordstorm nodded once. "I'll go get ready. And I'll inform the Unicorn Guard of the situation," he said in a troubled, yet still firm and confident tone. Then, he turned on his hoof, and galloped back down the hallway again, his hoof steps echoing through the area like ominous distant thunder—The thunder of even worse things to come.

The air in the room seemed cold and hot at the same time, hanging heavy with oppression, as if the atmosphere was crushing in around him. None of the Council members spoke, each appearing to be lost in their own thoughts. Finally, a clang echoed through the hall as the door in front of them unlatched and opened, the frame glowing with a lavender aura as Twilight magically opened it and spoke.

"I've sent the—" she stopped, looking straight at James now, no doubt seeing his troubled expression. He watched her eyes wander over the rest of the Council members, their expressions mirroring his own he was sure. The unicorn frowned and her eyes fell back on James, the worry clear in them now. "James … what's wrong?" she asked in a frightened tone.

"Milady … Twilight … Ponyville is under attack by griffins." He watched her jaw drop, her eyes go wide with fear and despair. His heart broke for her, knowing what she must be experiencing. Her own home town was under attack.

"Is … are they—" she began in a timid voice, but James cut her off. He had to be strong for her now. He swallowed his own fear and trepidation, and spoke as confidently as possible,

"Milady … It is the unanimous recommendation of the Royal Council, that you decare an official state of war on the Griffin Kingdom."

Twilight's eyes widened and she stared back at him. She said nothing, and James could tell she was feeling overwhelmed again. That this responsibility should fall on someone so young seemed completely unfair to him. Yet, he still trusted in his heart that Princess Celestia knew what she was doing when she chose Twilight as regent. When she continued to say nothing, he spoke again, ignoring Council formalities and speaking to her in a compassionate, caring tone.

"Twilight, you have to give the order. Nopony else can do it. You have to give the order, Twilight."

She hesitated only for a moment more before composing herself and responding in a firm, yet still shaky tone. "Send … Send notice to the Griffin Ambassador: The Kingdom of Equestria, officially declares war against the Griffin Kingdom."

"Milady!" a voice called from down the hall. James turned to see another pegasus guard trotting towards them. He looked young and appeared to be a junior member. He stopped in front of Twilight and The Council, looking slightly nervous. "Milady. We captured one of the griffins while en route to Ponyville. She was alone and claims she wasn't with the force that attacked Ponyville. Says she was going there to warn them, but didn't get there in time. Gave us her name as Gilda."

Twilight raised an eyebrow and had a surprised look on her face. "Gilda? I know her. Where is she now?"

"In the dungeon, milady. We haven't interrogated her yet. But she did tell us, without being asked, that she knows the attack on Ponyville was ordered by the griffin king himself."

Twilight nodded and frowned. "I'll interrogate her myself. Take me to her."

"Yes, milady." The guard nodded, then turned on his hoof and started down the hall, Twilight following close behind.

...

Celestia awoke with a start and looked around. Had she overslept? She needed to raise the sun! Then, she noticed there was alright sunlight shining through the window. She frowned as the reality of her situation came back to her, remembering that she was not in Equestria, and not in her castle bedroom.

Stretching her legs, she climbed out of the bed she was in, shaking herself briefly before walking over to the door and magically opening it, stepping out into the hallway. Arriving in the living room, she saw no sign of Eric, who she knew had been sleeping on the couch. Scanning over the coffee table, a piece of paper with something written on it caught her eye. Walking towards it and looking down out it, she realized it was a note, written in Equestrian by a clearly unpracticed hand:

Your Majesty,

Gone back to lab to grab some additional things. Will bring back breakfast.

Eric

She smiled slightly at the note. Even though it had been a bit hard to read because the hand that had written in it had no experience writing the Equestrian alphabet, he had thought of her enough to write a note for her, in her own language. Despite what she knew was going on back home, it made her feel just a bit better that this human was thinking of her, and seemed to care about her. And she began to think he really would do everything he could to help her.

She walked over to the bookshelf near his wall, scanning over its contents and finally magically taking one down that appeared to be an atlas. She opened it and began to page through it. Even though she couldn't understand the words, the maps were still interesting to her. One thing that particularity fascinated her, was how much of the planet was covered in water, and how truly massive some of the bodies of water were. Surely, it must be impossible for beings without magic to be able to cross those vast distances, she thought. Did that mean most parts of this planet weren't inhabited? Or did it mean that they were simply very isolated from each other? Unable to travel easily between different parts of the planet. Eric's self-powered chariot could travel reasonably fast. But from what she had seen of it, she didn't think it would be able to travel on water. It looked like it would probably sink. Flying pegasi wouldn't be able to cross those vast bodies of water, she thought. There'd be no place for them to stop and rest. And she doubted the giant metal birds she had seen could cross distances that great either.

She paged through the atlas for a while longer, learning about the various land features of this world she was in, until she heard the door start to open. She floated the book back to the shelf, turning her head towards the door. Eric stepped back in, carrying a large box with a large brown bag on top of it. Some type of smell she couldn't identify was coming from the bag, although she could tell it was some type of food. In addition, there was a strange looking smaller box sitting on top of the large box.

"Good morning, Princess," he spoke as he set the large box down. "You were still sleeping when I left, and I didn't want to wake you. I hope my attempt at writing in your language was at least readable."

"Good morning, Eric. Yes, it was readable. Thank you for thinking about me like that." She smiled.

He nodded slightly, then picked up the small box. "It seems, someone sent you a package, Princess. At least I assume it's for you. I didn't try to open it, so I'm not sure what's inside."

"A package for me?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well it has your seal on it. I think it must have come from your world."

He turned it slightly, and she saw the golden image of her sun emblazoned on the side. Instantly, her heart leapt with hope. They knew she was here! But at the same time, she felt fear and dread flow through her. What was inside? Would it be bad news or good news?

In a mixture of excitement and terror, she quickly took the box from him, surrounding it with a magical golden aura as she floated it out of his hand.

"Woah!" Eric said in surprise. "Give a guy a little warning before you do that, would you, Princess?"

She blinked and noticed his hand glowing along with the box. She quickly closed up the radius of the spell so it was only covering the box and not his hand. "Oh … sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "The uh … the tingling in your hand will go away in a second or two. And the spell I used is harmless to living things. It won't hurt you." she said as she examined the box now, setting it down on the coffee table.

"Well … that's good to know at least," Eric responded a bit nervously.

Celestia touched her horn to the box and it glowed slightly as she cast the spell to break the magic seal. Then she opened the box, pulling a rolled up scroll out of it. Unrolling it, she magically held it in front of her for a moment, staring at it in confusion before looking back at Eric.

"It's from James. But it's written in your language. Will you please read it to me?"

He nodded. "Of course I will," he answered, reaching out his hand. She floated the scroll over to him, stopping the telekensis spell as soon as his hand touched it so that he wouldn't experience the tingling sensation again. She watched as he looked at it for a moment and raised his eyebrow.

"Damn, has James' handwriting of our alphabet really gotten this bad?"

She winced slightly. Did that mean he couldn't read it?

"Oh don't worry, I can read it. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Princess." He cleared his throat once before looking at the letter again and speaking:

"Your Majesty,

We know you are on Earth, and we know you are with Eric. Princess Luna is alive, but she has been captured and is being held at an unknown location. All of the Elements of Harmony are safe, and Twilight Sparkle has been sworn in as the Regent of Equestria, as per your orders.

James was able to establish contact with Princess Luna in the dream realm. Even though they are preventing her from using very much of her magic in the physical realm, she retains her full power in the dream realm.

Princess Luna's convoy was attacked by griffins, pegasi, and dragons. We currently don't know if the actions of the griffins and dragons were officially sanctioned or not.

We have figured out what the object is, or was supposed to be. An attempt to create an artificial sun. However, they were unsuccessful in their efforts to do so.

Twilight Sparkle's portal spell will not work from your world, so you will not be able to use it to return to Equestria. We are currently doing everything we can to find a solution, and we trust that Eric will do the same. We are also doing everything possible to find Princess Luna.

Eric hesitated for a moment before continuing, and Celestia noticed a troubled and worried expression his face. Her heart sank as she knew whatever came next in the letter was not going to be good news. She opened her mouth to ask him to continue, but he started speaking again before she said anything.

Our other most immediate problem, is that we cannot raise the sun. Efforts are underway to harvest all available food sources and store them before temperatures drop below freezing and destroy all of the farm crops.

In closing, we ask you to please try not to worry. We are doing everything possible to solve this crisis, and we will find away to restore both you and Princess Luna to the throne of Equestria.

Your faithful servants,

Royal Counselor James Peterson, the rest of Your Royal Council, Regent Twilight Sparkle

She only stared across the table, worry filling her heart, despite the admonishment of the letter not to worry. They couldn't raise the sun! How long could they actually survive without the sun? How long until they passed a point of no recovery? Two weeks? Maybe three? She noticed Eric looking back at her, concern and compassion on his face.

"Princess, I had no idea … I assure you. I will do everything in my power. Everything I possibly can, to return you to Equestria."

She nodded once and forced a smile. "Thank you, Eric," she said, although she knew her voice was full of sadness and worry. She knew Twilight and her Royal Council would do everything they could, but still, she felt despair trying to overwhelm her. She wanted to cry, but she tried desperately not to. Still, she could feel her eyes starting to water.

Eric frowned slightly, then stood up. Walking over to her. He reached out to put a comforting hand on her withers, but stopped, looking at her questioningly. She looked back at him, unsure as to why he had stopped. Then it occurred to her. He probably wasn't sure if it was appropriate to touch her without permission. She nodded gently at him, and he continued, placing his hand on her now.

"I swear it to you, Your Majesty. I will do everything I can to figure out how to send you home," he assured her.

She forced another small smile and nuzzled his chin slightly with her muzzle. "Thank you, Eric. I know you will."

"Try to look at the positive things, Your Majesty. James and your ponies know where you are. They've found you. And your … Elements of Harmony I think it said … They are safe. The situation is at least better than it was yesterday.

She smiled slightly at his comforting words. He was right. She did have that to be happy about. They knew where she was, and the Elements were safe And that was better than things had been yesterday.

For probably a minute, neither one of them said anything again. But somehow, the feeling of his hand on her withers felt warm and comforting. And she trusted him. If it were possible to send her home. He would find some way to make it happen. And now that Twilight and her Council knew where she was, perhaps they could help as well. At least, she could take a little comfort in that.

"Your Majesty, I was thinking earlier this morning … I should take you out of Chicago. I have a friend who owns a cabin and some land near the Pryor Mountains in Montana. He'd be more than willing to let me use it. I think you'd be happier there. It's very isolated country, and you'd be able to spend time outside without worry of being seen. If we stay here in Chicago, you'll have to spend all your time in this apartment."

"But what if they try to send me more letters?"

"I have a friend who I trust. I won't tell her anything about you. But I know she will check every day. If there is anything there, she will let me know."

She nodded once and smiled slightly, "Thank you … But I can't ask you to leave your life in Chicago for me. To leave your home and go somewhere isolated like that."

"It's okay. Really it is. I want you to be as happy as you can be while you're here. And I don't want you to have to spend all your time cooped up inside this small apartment. And besides, I could use some time away from this city myself. And it'll allow me to focus completely on trying to solve this problem without any distractions."

"Thank you Eric." She smiled again. "If that's what you think is best, and you are willing to do that for me. Then yes, we can go there."

He smiled awkwardly, still seeming slightly nervous around her. "Well, it's the least I can do, for the princess of an entire nation. I need to pack. But I'll be quick about it."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, I guess if you want, you can take the empty box in the closet in my room, and load all of the physics journals into it. I might need them for reference material."

She nodded "I can do that. And thank you, again Eric," she said as she started towards his room.

"Like I said, it's the least I can do, for a princess," he said, turning and going to the closet in the main room and taking out his suitcase. Then, the two of them started to prepare for the long trip from Illinois, to the Southern border of Montana.