Author's Note: I know it's been a very long time since I have dealt with anything on Earth due to the long hiatus. If the beginning of this chapter leaves you confused, please skim chapter 43 to refresh your memory. Thanks.

The God Particle

Chapter 45: Captain Swordstorm

After coming up from their bow, the four young doctoral students simply stared at Celestia, their faces awash with awe and wonder. She stared back at them, all of the eyes on her making her uncomfortable. It was Thomas who finally spoke first.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Your Majesty, but I can't help but still wonder if this isn't some kind of elaborate prank that Eric is pulling on us."

"Would that it was a prank," Celestia responded solemnly. "Unfortunately, it's all too serious."

Thomas nodded slightly, appearing to be lost in thought for a moment, as if fighting some internal battle over whether he should say what was on his mind or not. Finally, he spoke again.

"So … you're a winged unicorn … Can you do magic?"

Celestia nodded once in response, feeling a slight bit of annoyance rise within her that this human seemed to think she was some kind of joke, or that this whole thing was a prank. "I can," she answered simply.

"Can you show me some, Your Majesty? Just to prove this isn't a prank of Eric's?"

Show him some, Celestia thought to herself. Never in her life had she had her magical ability questioned before. Not even by humans. Even James and Eric had not questioned her abilities. But if he didn't believe her and wanted to see some magic? Well, she would show him some.

She concentrated slightly and her horn began to glow with a soft, golden aura. Another soft, golden sphere appeared in front of Thomas. It expanded, enveloping him until it had surrounded his whole body, as if he were inside a bubble. Then, she watched his eyes go wide as she lifted him off the ground, floating him towards the ceiling of the cabin. He let out a brief cry of surprise, his arms and legs flailing for a moment as his feet left the ground. But then he stopped and simply stared at her, his eyes wide with awe. It required virtually no effort and no energy at all for Celestia to keep him suspended near the ceiling like that. The other students simply stared in amazement at Thomas' suspended form.

"That's cute, Thomas," Annette finally said with a short, nervous laugh. "Are you in on this with Eric?"

"I know nothing about any prank … I swear," Thomas responded with wonder and a bit of apprehension.

"This shouldn't be possible," Wendy said with awe in her voice. "Telekinesis violates several laws of physics … The inverse square law … The law of conservation of momentum … The—"

"Technically, it's not telekinesis," Celestia responded, still keeping Thomas floating near the ceiling of the room. "It's an anti-gravity spell."

"That should be even less possible. This shouldn't be able to happen," Wendy responded, her eyes getting even wider.

"Well, it is happening!" Thomas responded with impatience before turning his eyes back to Celestia. "Your Majesty … Could you please put me down now?"

She nodded once and slowly lowered him to the ground, setting him down gently, the golden sphere around him melting away into nothing. Once on the ground, Thomas took a few cautious steps, staring at the floor as if he expected it to fall out from under him and to find himself back in the air again. The other three students just continued to stare at her in amazement. Finally, he looked back up at her.

"I'm sorry … I didn't believe you, Your Majesty," he stammered.

"It's nothing. And please, you can all just call me Celestia, or Princess if you aren't comfortable being so informal," Celestia responded, shaking her head slightly and feeling a twinge of guilt over her chosen display of magic now. She had forgotten that both James and Eric already knew of her magical abilities before they had met her. James had already seen Twilight perform magic. And Eric had read the book from Equestria and knew first hand that she could control the sun.

"So you really are stranded here," Thomas said with a frown, to which she only nodded sadly.

For a few long moments, no one said anything more, Wendy finally breaking the quiet.

"Princess … While we wait for Eric to come back and fill us in … Is there any chance you could demonstrate that anti-gravity spell again? On me?"

Celestia blinked, but nodded once. "If you wish," she responded, her horn starting to glow slightly again.

"I'd be interested in trying it too, Princess," Annette responded.

Despite the grim situation, Celestia laughed slightly and smiled. "How about I just demonstrate it on all of you," she said, as she increased the power of her spell, her horn glowing a bit brighter as the sphere expanded to enclose all of the students. Once again, even with four students, it required almost no energy from her at all to lift them and keep them suspended.

Hearing a noise to her left, she turned her head slightly, not losing concentration on her spell, to see Eric entering the room. He looked at her for a brief moment, blinked, and then looked at the four suspended students before shaking his head slightly.

"I'm sure you are all having loads of fun playing 'Let's pretend I'm an astronaut' with Celestia, but we have a lot of work to do, and it's time to get started."

Celestia nodded once and then gently lowered all of the students to the floor, the golden aura around them dissipating like a morning fog in the sun. Then she turned her attention back to Eric.

"To start with, I discovered something very interesting that changes things entirely," he said, holding up a printout of the email with the DNA testing results. "The Princess isn't from another planet. At least not as we would traditionally think of it. These are the results of DNA testing I had done on a piece of fur from one of her subjects that happened to arrive with a package we received from her world before I left Chicago."

The students stared at the printout, Michael finally speaking.

"Then her kind is related to equines on our own planet? That's the only possible explanation for a DNA match that close." Celestia found herself confused, and somewhat shocked at the revelation. But she didn't interrupt, choosing instead to just listen and let Eric and his students continue to discuss the meaning of what they had discovered.

"That would seem to be the only explanation, yes," Eric responded.

"And I trust you've developed a hypothesis on how this is possible that you are going to share with us?" Annette prodded.

Eric nodded once. "I have a working hypothesis, yes. One that is supported by some additional information I know about her world. Most of the animals we are familiar with, also exist her world, which is called Equestria. However, there are no humans there. So my current thinking is that at some point in the past, our two worlds or dimensions were connected in a way that allowed genetic material to flow freely between them. But sometime after the evolution of most animals but before the evolution of modern humans. Some kind of cataclysmic event caused the two dimensions to become separated, thus severing the flow of genetic material between the two, and causing evolution to continue on two completely separate paths. So the first question, is what kind of event could be powerful enough to rip two entire dimensions apart?"

"That's an awfully big leap of faith to take right now, Eric. The idea that there are other dimensions out there that can support entire worlds and yet until now, we've never seen any evidence of their existence is pretty far-fetched," Annette stated

Eric nodded once. "I know it's far-fetched. But unless you have any better ideas, it's the best one I can come up with right now. So again, the question is what kind of event could have occurred that is so powerful, it could split apart two entire dimensions?"

"A gamma ray burst from a nearby star that went hypernova. It's the only thing that could even be remotely powerful enough short of the big bang itself. And we know this obviously occurred long after that," Wendy suggested.

"Good thinking," Eric nodded. "Thoughts on how we can find evidence to support it?" It was Thomas that responded.

"After the evolution of modern animals but before the evolution of humans puts us somewhere around two to three million years ago. A gamma ray burst that powerful should have caused a mass extinction event. If we find one in that time frame, I think it corroborates the hypothesis fairly well."

Eric nodded once. "Start researching and let me know what you find."

"Even if this hypothesis turns out to be correct and we can determine when the gamma ray burst that likely caused this happened, it's hard to see what good it does us. After all, we can't observe something that happened two to three millions years ago," Annette added.

"No, we can't," Michael responded. "But we can pull the data on more recent gamma ray bursts and look for any kind of unexpected anomalies. That might help us piece together what happened and how it happened. And by learning that, we might be able to figure out how to open a temporary dimensional corridor on a much smaller scale."

"I can contact my colleagues from when I did my internship at NASA," Wendy suggested. "They can send me the data from the Vela and Swift satellites."

Eric nodded. "Good. Make it happen as quickly as possible." Wendy nodded in response.

"What exactly is it we will be looking for though?" she asked.

"This is one of those cases where we don't know what we're looking for, but we'll know it when we see it," Eric responded. "Alright, to summarize, we need to research whether there were any mass extinction events between two and three million years ago that could be contributed to a gamma ray burst. And we need to get the data from the Vela and Swift satellites. In addition, there is still data from the Tevatron's collision detectors that we can analyze. There's not a lot because the detectors failed shortly after the earthquake began. But we might find something. So let's get busy, And remember, we don't know how much time we have, so let's work as fast and efficiently as possible."

o.O.o

A sound invaded James' mind as he slept in his Council room, something akin to a bee buzzing in his ear, or horn of some type. As he awoke and the fog cleared from his mind, he recognized it as the Canterlot defense sirens sounding. Quickly, he scrambled out of bed, grabbing his Council robe and throwing it on over his head as he made for the door. Stepping out into the hall, he found his fellow Council members vacating their rooms to join him. None of them said anything as they raced down the hall and out of the Council living area. None of them had to say anything.

Making his way through the castle hallways, James stepped outside, the sound of the defense sirens assaulting his ears much louder now. He glanced around, seeing the Royal Guard rushing from their barracks and lining up. Pegasus Guard squadrons formed up in the courtyard, awaiting their orders to fly. To his left and right, Unicorn Guards cast their light spells, their beams shooting into the sky, reflecting off the dancing and swirling snowflakes and illuminating various parts of the night like searchlights as they scanned for incoming threats. Other units of Unicorn Guards formed up and stood ready to defend the city with their deadly range spells of flame orbs, ice blades, and lightning bolts. In front of the Unicorn Guards, Earth pony archers stood ready to protect them, their deadly, razor sharp arrows ready to cut through the night sky and through any griffin that got in their way. With a precision that could only come from thousands of hours of drill practice, every guard knew where they were supposed to be, and what their role was in the defense of the city.

In addition, he also noticed stallions rushing from their homes to come to the defense of the city. These stallions, who were not Guard members, looked more confused, and quickly ran to the nearest Royal Guard member for further guidance as to what they should do, and where they were most needed.

James looked around more, finally spotting Captain Swordstorm rushing to give orders to his guards. He raced over to him, the pegasus turning and answering his question before he asked.

"Scouts spotted a griffin army squadron about eighty thousand strides to the east, inbound for Canterlot." He had shouted it in order to be heard over the wailing of the defense sirens.

James took in the information while looking around once more, then turned back to the Captain.

"Where's Twilight?" he asked. But before the Captain could answer, he saw her racing down the castle stairs to the courtyard, where she stopped next to him.

"Scouts spotted a squadron of griffin army soldiers about eighty thousand strides to the east, inbound for the city," he repeated for Twilight.

"How many?" she asked.

"They counted thirty-five."

"Thirty-five?" James asked in surprise. "It would be suicide for them to attack a city like Canterlot with a force of only thirty-five. Even without the Pegasus Guard to intercept them, the Unicorn and Earth pony ground defenses would slaughter them in just a minute or two."

"I agree," Swordstorm nodded. "But we can't be sure that there aren't other squadrons inbound that the scouts haven't spotted yet."

"Sir!" James heard from behind, seeing another Pegasus Guard rush up to them, stop, and give a quick salute to Captain Swordstorm. "Another scout has come back, sir. The inbound griffin squadron has raised the green flag."

"The green flag?" Twilight asked.

"The flag of surrender," Captain Swordstorm responded. "It would seem their squadron commander wants to talk instead of do battle."

"How can we be certain it isn't a trick?" Twilight asked.

"It's recognized as a war crime throughout the world to fly the green flag with false intentions," Captain Swordstorm responded. "And I have no doubt their squadron leader will honor that. After all, if he were to fly the green flag in deceit and trick us, it would only ensure that next time we did battle with griffin forces, we would be forced to ignore the green flag, even if they really were trying to surrender."

Twilight nodded once and thought for a few moments before responding. When she did, it was with a confidence suggesting she had found her stride as a leader.

"Force them to land well outside of Canterlot. Find out what they want. Do not allow them to get any closer than thirty thousand strides from the city border. You are authorized to use whatever force necessary to prevent them from coming closer than that. And take transport chariots with you in case you need to take prisoners."

"It will be done, Milady," Captain Swordstorm responded, snapping a quick salute to Twilight before turning and galloping to give one of his Pegasus Guard squadrons the order. Then, the guards spread their wings and took to the sky, Captain Swordstorm taking off with them and taking his place at the head of the squadron. A few seconds later, they made a sharp left bank, turning east and flying to intercept the griffins.

o.O.o

It took Captain Swordstorm and his squadron about twenty minutes to close the distance from Canterlot to the incoming griffins. Squinting through the darkness and the snow, he was just able to make out a glow from a torch reflecting off the surface of the green flag carried by the griffin squadron leader. Motioning behind him for his squadron to be ready, he cautiously moved in, igniting a magical signal flare to get the griffin leader's attention. The leader acknowledged the signal by igniting a flare of his own, the red glow flickering like a ghostly specter through the driving night snow. Once Captain Swordstorm was certain he had the other's attention, he moved his flare in a circle and in a downward motion, pointing it towards the ground, the intended signal being that the griffin squadron should turn around to avoid coming any closer to Canterlot, and then descend for a landing. The griffin leader acknowledged with a wave of his own flare. Then, the griffin squadron banked sharply towards the right making a half-circle turn as they began to descend towards the ground at a relatively steep angle. Captain Swordstorm motioned for his own squadron to do the same, and they began to shadow the griffins to the ground. Once they were on the ground, Captain Swordstorm addressed his squadron.

"Form up in defensive formation! Skydart, Icestrider, with me!" he called out, the squadron forming up as the two pegasi he had called out by name stepped forward and flanked him on both sides. He watched as the griffin squadron leader mirrored his own actions, their main force forming up defensively, two of his lieutenants stepping forward to flank him on either side. Then, the six of them began walking towards each other, stopping mid-field between two defensive lines just a few paces apart, the tension between the two opposing armies heavier than even the falling snow. The griffin captain spoke first.

"Captain Swordstorm. I must say it is an honor to finally meet you. Your strategic and tactical battle skills are nothing short of legendary. I have spent many hours studying you and your mastery of the art of warfare in the hopes that someday, I may be half the tactician that you are." Whether the griffin captain was being sincere or not, was impossible to tell.

"Let's cut the bullshit and get right to the point, Commander," Captain Swordstorm responded, aggression and anger in his voice, the memory of the unprovoked and surprise attack on Ponyville still fresh in his mind. "You've come an awfully long way just to surrender before even reaching your target. What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like we're doing, Captain? We're defecting," the opposing captain stated with more than a hint of hostility in his voice. Captain Swordstorm raised an eyebrow at that.

"Defecting? Why? Your king —"

"Our king is a fool who would see us all die in a vain attempt to satisfy his lust for power!" the griffin captain responded in an impatient tone of voice, although all hint of hostility was gone now.

"And what am I supposed to do with you and your soldiers then? Take you as prisoners of war?"

"That is one option available to you, Captain. But it would be a terrible waste of thirty-five skilled warriors. We would pledge our services to your Regent, Lady Twilight Sparkle, and fight for her as we would fight for our king were he not intent on destroying his own kingdom."

Captain Swordstorm raised an eyebrow again. Even the two guards flanking him couldn't resist doing the same. He hesitated for several moments before answering. When he spoke, it was with a tone of disbelief.

"And after the surprise and unprovoked attack on Ponyville, why should I trust you to remain loyal to us in battle? Why should I trust you to fight for Equestria?"

The griffin captain shook his head slightly in response. "We aren't fighting for Equestria, Captain. We are fighting for the survival of the griffins. Whatever disagreements we may have with Equestria are secondary at this point. We need your Princesses restored to power just as much as you do. Without Celestia's sun, we will soon freeze to death. Without Luna's moon, the tide of the Sea of Tears no longer rises. The lack of moon tides on the sea has devastated our fishing industry. Already, our people suffer from food shortages. Instead of making prisoners of us, let us fight for you. If you do that, Captain, more of us will come to your aid as the king's folly becomes more apparent. This, I promise you."

"If you want to help us, tell us where they are holding Princess Luna", Captain Swordstorm responded, getting a frown from the griffin captain in response, or at least the closest imitation it was possible for a griffin to make of a frown.

"Would that I could, Captain. But we don't know where they are holding her. I do know, however, that she has found a friend on the inside. He will help her escape when the time comes, assuming we can get word to him of any impending rescue attempt."

"Help her escape? Or ensure the griffins have ample warning that we are coming so they can move her or be ready for our attack," he responded dubiously, but didn't wait for an answer. "With regards to letting you fight for us, that is a decision I cannot make without conferring with Lady Twilight and the Royal Council first."

"I understand, Captain. And as a token of good faith, I and my soldiers will accompany you to Canterlot as your prisoners."

"Both you and your soldiers will have to be placed in restraints and wing bindings. And I can make no promises that you will be allowed to fight. And the decision could end up being to hold you as prisoners of war until this whole thing is over. The only thing I can promise is that if Lady Twilight does decide to hold you as prisoners, you will not be mistreated."

"I understand the necessity for that, Captain. And we are willing to accept that possibility."

"Very well," Captain Swordstorm responded. "Inform your soldiers then, Commander," he said. The griffin commander nodded, then turned on his heel, along with his lieutenants and began to walk back towards his squadron, Captain Swordstorm and his own escort doing the same.

Upon returning to his squadron, Captain Swordstorm addressed them once again.

"They're defectors who want to fight for us."

For a moment, nopony in his squadron said anything. Then, he heard a couple small bouts of laughter from within their ranks.

"No, I'm serious. They really are," he said, causing the laughter to stop. Now all of them were quiet and just looked to him for what they should do next.

"Take them as prisoners. Get them in restraints and wing bindings and loaded into the transport chariots. They will offer no resistance. Lady Twilight and the Council will decide whether to trust them and allow them to fight, or whether they will simply remain prisoners of war."

"Yes sir!" his squadron guards responded in unison before falling out of formation and attending to the task of getting the griffins restrained and loaded into the chariots. As the griffin commander had promised, they offered no resistance, allowing the restraints to be put on willingly, and making no protest as they were loaded into the transport chariots. It didn't take long to do so, and soon they were in the air and on their way back to Canterlot, the driving snow and frigid night air biting into their wings and faces once more.

As they flew back towards Canterlot, Captain Swordstorm would have given anything to have the weather pegasi blazing sky trail for them. They had been fortunate on the flight away from Canterlot to intercept the griffins in that they had a strong tail wind helping them to get here quickly. But now, on the way back, they were paying the price and bucking a strong headwind. Whereas it had taken them only twenty minutes to reach the intercept point, he estimated it was going to take them an hour to get back to Canterlot, especially with the heavily loaded chariots slowing them down. He adjusted his wings slightly, yawing towards one of his squadron members. The wind and weather proof lanterns mounted on the transport chariots provided just enough illumination for him to see the other members of his squadron in the pitch black. Beyond the small sphere of light cast by the lanterns, it was as if their world ended and met the vastness of space. He had to shout to be heard over the wind noise.

"Go up to higher altitude and see if you can find more favorable wind conditions! Report back to me when you return!"

"Yes, sir!" the guard responded before pitching up and rising above the rest of the squadron. Captain Swordstorm tilted his head up to watch him go. With the only available light coming from the lanterns on the chariots and the driving snow reducing visibility to less than fifty strides, it was only a few seconds before he had lost sight of him completely.

He turned his attention back forward, waiting for the high altitude scout to return. Briefly, he had considered that lighting the lanterns on the chariots was a risk as it might allow other griffin flights to spot them. But with the snow driving as hard as it was, and visibilities reduced as far as they were, he had concluded that any risk was minimal, and most probably, nonexistent. The griffins would practically have to be right in their formation before they would be able to see them. The scout returned a few minutes later.

"The winds are more favorable at higher altitude, sir. But there's also severe turbulence. The guards could handle it, but the chariots would have to slow down or risk structural failure."

Captain Swordstorm frowned at that. If the chariots had to slow down, they probably wouldn't save any time flying at a higher altitude, even if the winds were more favorable. It would mean his guards wouldn't have to work as hard bucking the headwind, but if there was any risk of structural failure to the chariots at all, it was a risk he couldn't take. If the chariots came apart, the griffin prisoners inside them would not be able to fly due to their wings being bound, and they would fall to their deaths. Killing his prisoners was not a risk he was willing to take. With resignation, he shouted back to the scout.

"We'll stay at this altitude then. But send two messengers on ahead at the higher altitude. Tell them to brief Lady Twilight and the Council on what's happened here. Also, tell them that at least for now, they can sound the all clear on the defense condition."

"Yes, sir," the scout responded before falling back and relaying the information to two of the guards. Then, those guards pitched up and quickly disappeared above them into the driving snow as they hurried their way back to Canterlot.

o.O.o

When the pegasus messenger arrived back in Canterlot, Twilight and the Royal Council took his report of the surrendering griffins who wished to fight for Equestria.

"Thank you," Twilight responded after he had finished. "Go to the kitchen and warm up. Get some hot tea."

"Thank you, My Lady," he responded, giving a quick salute before turning and leaving. Twilight turned and faced the Council members now.

"Sound the all clear siren. Tell the Royal Guard they may return to their quarters, but remain on alert. The civilian volunteers may stand down and return to their homes. We will wait until Captain Swordstorm has returned to convene the Council and decide the fate of the griffin prisoners. He needs to hear that discussion and be involved in it." Then she turned slightly to address James specifically. "In the meantime, Counselor Peterson, with me. I need to talk about a few research points with you regarding the portal."

"My Lady," James acknowledged formally, then followed her as she led him to a private meeting room, her horn glowing briefly as she closed the door. She immediately dropped the Regent demeanor and took on the demeanor of a concerned friend.

"James … Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do … Twilight, what's this about?" he said, feeling a slight sense of foreboding arise in the pit of his stomach at the question. He also couldn't miss Twilight's own discomfort. She hesitated a few moments before speaking again.

"I … need to probe your mind again … To look at the dimensional energy between our two worlds again and see how much it has changed since the last time I looked at it. I promise you that's all I will look at. Please believe me. If there were any other way …"

He hesitated as her voice trailed off. He hated the idea of letting her dig around inside his mind again, but he knew that the information held deep in his subconscious, or super conscious, or wherever it was, might be vital to getting Princess Celestia back home. And, he realized, he trusted Twilight completely, and was willing to put his very life in her hooves. He nooded once before responding.

"I understand," he said, feeling a twinge of fear over the procedure to come. After all, last time he had been asleep and unaware that anything was happening, and had had no memory of it when he woke up.

"I'll have to put you to sleep again. It could be rather traumatizing if I did it while you are awake. I'll wake you up as soon as the procedure is over."

He nodded once in understanding, unworried about the sleeping spell. After all, she had put him to sleep once already when he first arrived in Equestria and he had suffered no ill effects. Also, he found himself slightly less nervous about the mind probing procedure, knowing that he would be asleep again, feel nothing, and remember nothing when he woke up. Of course, there was no bed or couch in the private meeting room, so without further hesitation, he simply lie down on the floor. He took one deep breath and then let it out.

"Ready when you are, Twilight."

She stepped over to him, leaned her head down towards his, and her horn started to glow slightly. Unlike last time she used the sleeping spell on him, he didn't try to fight. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, the conscious world drifting away from him. After that, he remembered nothing.

o.O.o

"James, wake up," was the next thing he was aware of. He opened his eyes to see Twilight standing over him. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

He sat up, feeling no effects at all from the spell or the mind probe, and no residual drowsiness. If anything, he felt refreshed from the short nap.

"I'm fine," he answered, standing up and taking a seat at the table, noticing some diagrams, along with a what seemed to be a mathematical formula that Twilight had started working on. "What did you find?"

"A couple of things. The first, I already knew. And that's that the two dimensions orbit around each other and are only in alignment at certain times. Only when they are in alignment, is it possible for someone, or somepony, to travel between them. But what I wasn't able to compute until now, is the speed at which they orbit."

She paused for a moment, as if to make sure he was getting all of it so far.

"That's simple enough. What else?"

"Well, I also found that the dimensional energy flow is polarized, and that it changes sometimes. It's like the current of a river. The first time I probed the dimensional thread in your mind, the current was flowing in the direction of Earth to Equestria. That's why it was so easy for you to travel here. But now …" She frowned before continuing. "Now, it's flowing from Equestria towards Earth. That's why it was so easy for me to open the portal, and why it was so easy for them to send Celestia there. But it's much harder now for anything to travel from there to here than it was when you traveled here. It's like trying to swim upstream instead of downstream."

"How much harder?" he asked, concern rising in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm not sure yet. I still need to figure that out. But there's another issue too. Right now, because the current is flowing from here to Earth, we can send to Earth anytime we want. But because it's far more difficult to send from Earth to here right now and it's like swimming upstream, even when the dimensions are in alignment, the gateways, for lack of a better term, of the two dimensions also need to be aligned for anything from Earth to come here. That means there are only certain windows where it will be possible for her to come back."

Like windows for a space launch, he thought to himself. You have to launch during certain times if you want to ever be able to catch the space station, or reach the moon. He nodded once, indicating his understanding. She continued.

"While I work on trying to figure out just how hard it will be for her to come back, can you take this other formula I've written and figure out when the next windows will be?"

He nodded, taking the piece of paper she had written the formula down on, then looking at the orbital diagrams she had drawn. Then he went to work, once again, wishing he had a scientific calculator so he didn't have to do all the complex calculations by hand.

For the next several minutes, the two of them worked in silence. But as James worked on the calculations, fear suddenly flooded through him like a bursting dam.

"Twilight?" he began, the nervousness apparent in his voice. "What are the chances that your formula is wrong?"

"Not very high. I'm almost certain it's correct." The nervousness was evident in her own voice now. No doubt, she knew he had bad news.

"Then we have a serious problem. The next window is in twenty-eight hours. Obviously, they will never be able to make that one. In thirty-six days, there's an imperfect window that lasts for about forty minutes. There's a high probability they won't be able to use that one because it won't be a perfect gateway alignment. After that … the dimensions go out of alignment, and there won't be another window for … one thousand eight hundred years … Give or take a century. I rounded to make the math easier once I realized it was going to be far too long to do us any good."

He watched Twilight's face pale at the revelation. For a while, neither of them said anything. Twilight seemed to be lost in her own private misery. He finally spoke again.

"The window in thirty-six days is the only shot they're going to get."

"But if the alignment's not perfect …" Twilight began, but then trailed off, the fear evident in her voice.

James thought for a few more moments, his mind scrambling for any ideas. Eventually, one came to him.

"Maybe we can throw her a tow rope … What if we can influence the direction of energy flow just enough to compensate for the lack of a perfect alignment? With magic or something?" Twilight seemed to brighten slightly at the suggestion.

"It might be possible. But it would require an extremely powerful spell to do it, and it would require maintaining that spell for a significant period of time. Not even Star Swirl could have cast a spell that powerful, much less hold it that long."

"You're more powerful than Star Swirl was, Twilight."

Twilight blushed slightly. "Thank you, James, but don't flatter me. I'm not that powerful"

"Yes, you are, Twilight. I know you are. You are destined to become the most powerful unicorn that has ever lived … I don't know how I know that. I just do." And he truly did know it. Somehow, he knew that was her destiny, even though he had never been told that. Not by Celestia, not by Luna. Not by anypony.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, her ears perking just a bit.

"I know so, Twilight. Besides, perhaps the Elements of Harmony can help. I'm sure with all of that combined, we can do this."

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but then there was a knock on the door. She turned her head to look at the door instead.

"Come," she said simply. The door opened, a junior Royal Guard standing outside of it.

"My Lady. Captain Swordstorm and his squadron have landed with the griffin prisoners."

Twilight nodded. "Thank you. Please ask him to go to the Council meeting room and inform the Council members to convene. Tell them it's urgent. James and I will join them momentarily."

"Yes, My Lady," he responded, saluting before turning to leave, Twilight and James following him out.

Arriving in the meeting room a few minutes later, James took his place with the other members of the Royal Council. Captain Swordstorm, he saw, had also arrived and found a space. Once the doors were closed, Twilight began to speak.

"We were going to discuss what was to be done with the defecting griffins. But a more urgent matter has come up. I'm afraid the griffins will have to wait a bit longer in the dungeon for a decision on their fate."

James glanced around the room, taking in the expressions of confusion and aprehension on the faces of the other Council members, as well on Captain Swordstorm's face. Twilight continued.

"James and I have just discovered that the only chance for Eric to send Celestia back here happens in thirty-six days during a specific window that lasts for only forty minutes. And even that's not a perfect window. We are going to have to use some very powerful magic to shift the dimensional energy flow slightly, otherwise they will miss. After this imperfect window, another chance won't come along for one thousand eight hundred years."

A murmur of concern arose from those in the Council, but Twilight raised a hoof for silence and continued.

"It is vital that we get this information to Eric and Princess Celestia on Earth as soon as possible. Of course, this raises several problems. The first, is guaranteeing that the information gets to them. The last package we sent to Earth was not vital information for them. But this one most certainly is. The second, is that due to some random uncertainty in the dimensional energy, I can't guarantee that time doesn't shift inside the portal during the trip between dimensions, nor can I tell how much it will shift. But it could be as much as ninety minutes in either direction; long enough for them to completely miss the window. So even if we send them a clock through the portal, there's no guarantee that they would be able to use it to accurately compute the time difference between their dimension and ours to know when the window starts. That means, somepony is going to have to go through the portal to Earth and ensure this information gets to them, as well as compute the time difference."

"Isn't Councilor Peterson the obvious choice?" Moon Song asked. "After all, he would have the easiest time finding them since he knows where Eric lives and is familiar with the city."

James shook his head once before responding. "I can't go. Princess Luna was very clear about the fact that I can't leave Equestria."

Twilight nodded in confirmation. "Councilor Peterson is right. He can't go. One of you must take it to Earth, find Princess Celestia and Eric, and deliver the information to them without being detected. Of course, I don't have to tell you that whichever pony goes risks being permanently stranded there if … if they cannot figure out how to send Celestia home in time to make the window." James saw Twilight swallow a burst of emotion. He could practically feel her heart aching for her teacher, mentor, and Princess.

"It should be a pegasus," he added. "We don't know exactly where on Earth they will arrive. So we need a pony who can fly and get a bird's eye view to find their way to Eric's. Also, the safest way into Eric's condo without being detected will be to go through a fourteenth floor window that leads directly into his unit."

"I will go, My Lady," Captain Swordstorm volunteered.

"No," Twilight stated immediately. "I need you here to command the Royal Guard and give military advice."

"One of my understudies can do that, My Lady. I've taught them virtually everything I know. Before I became Supreme Commander of Her Majesty's Royal Guard, I was a special agent highly trained in deep penetration. I'm the most likely to avoid detection. And besides … it is my duty as Her Majesty's sworn servant."

"All of the Council Members, Lunar Guards, and Celestial Guards are also directly sworn servants of Her Majesty," Twilight countered. "The Lunar Guards are also highly trained in being able to avoid detection."

"If I may, My Lady," James interrupted.

"Yes?" Twilight answered, turning her attention to him.

"I believe Captain Swordstorm is right, My Lady. I think he is the best choice for this mission." He gave her a pleading look that he hoped the others in the room didn't catch. A look that he hoped said please, Twilight. You have to trust me. He watched her hesitate for a few moments, locking eye contact with him, hoping his own eyes communicated the message he was trying to give her. She nodded once, and answered.

"Very well. Captain Swordstorm, you will travel to Earth and deliver the information to Eric and Princess Celestia. Please go inform whomever you choose to take over your duties as Supreme Commander while you are gone. Councilor Peterson and I need about an hour to prepare the information to send with you. Meet us in the armory."

"My Lady," he responded, giving her a salute before turning and quickly making his way towards the door, pushing it open and stepping outside. Once the door had securely closed, Storm Runner spoke.

"We still have a problem. Our world is not going to survive thirty-six days with no sun. By the time Her Majesty gets back, all that will be left is an icy, barren wasteland with no life left on it."

"That's true," James responded. "And that means our survival now depends entirely on Princess Luna being able to raise the sun, and on finding and rescuing her in time."

Twilight nodded once. "Councilor Peterson is right. So for now, I want all of you to go and make that your main focus. Councilor Peterson will remain here with me to brief Captain Swordstorm on his mission to Earth and what he needs to be aware of there. The rest of you are dismissed."

"My Lady," all of the members acknowledged, getting up and filing out of the room quickly, leaving James alone with Twilight. Once they had all left, the door had closed, and the room was quiet, Twilight turned to him again, a concerned expression on her muzzle as she spoke.

"James … I'd never question your judgment in front of the rest of the Council. I respect and trust you too much … but are you sure Captain Swordstorm is the best choice for this mission? Wouldn't we be better off with him here commanding the military operations?"

"He's not the best choice, Twilight. But he's the only choice we have. We still have a traitor somewhere in the castle. It could be any one of the Council members, or any one of the Lunar or Celestial Guards. But I know it's not Captain Swordstorm. I trust him completely. He and I have just been through too much together. From the time he captured me when I first arrived in Equestria, to the dragon attack on our expedition up north, to the attacks we faced on the way here from Ponyville. He's the one pony here who I know is not the traitor. And we simply can't risk sending anypony to Earth who might sabotage the mission."

Twilight nodded once. "Okay. That makes sense, and I trust your judgment on this."

For the next several minutes, James occupied himself with drawing maps and diagrams of Chicago; as much as he could remember anyway. He also tried to produce a drawing of the condo building that Eric lived in, trying to write down and draw everything he could think of that might help Captain Swordstorm find Celestia and Eric. When he had finished that, he helped Twilight prepare the notes, formulas, and other information that they hoped would help Eric figure out how to get Celestia home. As a final step, he translated them into the Roman alphabet. Then, they placed the information in a box, and Twilight magically sealed it to ensure that only Celestia would be able to open it.

"I think we're ready," he said when he had finished the translation. "We should go now. Captain Swordstorm will be arriving at the armory any minute now."

Twilight only nodded somberly in response, and then led him out of the room. Walking quickly, the two of them took the underground tunnel over to the armory, climbing the stairs at the end and opening the door to the main room. Captain Swordstorm was already there waiting for them.

"My Lady," he acknowledged, giving a quick salute. "Councilor Peterson."

"Captain," Twilight acknowledged back. "I'm going to go ahead and let Councilor Peterson brief you on the mission, since he's the most familiar with Earth. Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions for me."

"Thank you, My Lady," James acknowledged, then turned his attention to Captain Swordstorm. "First of all, we're going to swap out your normal armor for Lunar Guard armor. The matte black finish on the Lunar Guard armor should help make sure you don't get detected." Then, he drew the Captain's attention to the maps and figures he had been drawing, pointing out the most important landmarks that he could use to find his bearings once arriving in Chicago.

"This is where we think you'll come out," he said, pointing to the area where the particle accelerator was. "Although we can't guarantee it." He moved his finger to a different location on the map. "This is the Sears Tower. It's the tallest building in the area, so it's very hard to miss. Over here by this small airport with the one runway on the peninsula near the large lake, is the John Hancock building. This domed building next to it is the Adler Planetarium." Oddly, he found himself thinking about Luna now. She would like planetariums, he thought. They would make her feel appreciated and loved. Monuments where people gathered to appreciate the night, and the stars. He brought his mind back to the task at hand.

"This large airport here, with multiple runways, is O'Hare International. And this smaller one over here is Midway. You'll need to be very careful of these. There are hundreds of large aircraft going into and out of these airports at any given time, and some of them carry hundreds of passengers. So that's tens of thousands of people at any given time who could potentially see you if you are in the air. Also, both of these airports have tall towers with people in them that will be watching the skies with binoculars. They could see you too if you're close enough. Furthermore, you won't have any way of knowing if they are currently looking in your direction. If they see you, you are going to end up with some unwanted escort trying to force you to land."

He paused for a moment to see if the Captain had any questions. When he indicated that he didn't, he continued.

"They also have radar installations at these sites. Those are sort of like electronic maps that show them the position of things in the air. It's unlikely the radars will detect you. If they do, you'll probably be mistaken for a flock of birds. But that's bad enough because the people running the radars will warn the aircraft in the area of your location and tell them to be on the lookout for you. The closer you stay to the ground, the less likely their radars will detect you. Also, Twilight is going to enchant your armor so that it scatters and neutralizes radio frequency radiation instead of reflecting it back to the source. That will also greatly reduce the chances they will detect you on radar.

"All that said, the fact that they probably won't be able to see you is also a liability. As I said, there will be hundreds of large aircraft around this area at any given time. Collide with any of them, and it will be the end of you, the end of the aircraft, and the end of the hundreds of passengers on board. So make sure you're always aware of what's around you."

Captain Swordstorm nodded once to indicate his understanding. James continued, moving his finger to point at a highway now.

"This is the major north/south highway that runs through the city. It's eight lanes and will always have a lot of traffic on it. You won't be able to miss it. From the ramp here that goes to the airport, it's eight exit ramps south until you get to the one that leads to Eric's condo building. Even at night, you'll be able to follow the highway and exit ramps easily because of the traffic, as well as the street lighting.

"After the exit, the condo building that Eric lives in is the third building to your left, and it's on the left side of the road. It's twenty stories and has a large green roofed veranda at the front entrance. The safest way for you to get in without being seen will be to go through a window. Approaching from the south side of the building, Eric's condo is the eighth window in from the left on the fourteenth floor. They didn't design those windows with the idea that anyone would ever try to break in fourteen stories up, so you'll be able to pop the lock easily with the small pry bar we are putting in your saddle bag.

"I strongly suggest you lie low until well after nightfall before you make your first flight. That will make it much harder for any of the people in the aircraft or the towers at the airports to spot you, as well as make it less likely anyone will see you approach the condo building. The streets and highways are lighted well enough so that you will be able to navigate at night. Also, the aircraft will have lights on them so you'll be able to see and avoid them."

Once again, he paused waiting to see if Captain Swordstorm had any questions. When he indicated he didn't, he continued.

"Now remember, there could be a time shift during your travel through the portal, even though the trip will seem instantaneous to you. Because of that, it's extremely important that you check the clock just before you leave here, and check it again as soon as you get to Earth so you can adjust for any time shift that did occur. Also, it's extremely important that you write down the time you arrived on Earth so you can compute the time difference once you find a clock there."

"Understood, Councilor," Captain Swordstorm acknowledged.

James thought for a moment before speaking again. "That's it I think. Unless you have any questions."

When the Captain indicated he didn't, James helped him put on the enchanted Lunar Guard armor, then loaded the pry bar along with the clock, notes, diagrams, and other information into his saddle bag. As they prepared him for his trip to Earth, James could feel emotion building inside of him once more at the prospect of possibly never seeing Captain Swordstorm again. Once again, all of the memories flooded back. The time Captain Swordstorm had arrested him on his arrival in Equestria. The time he had saved his life when he attempted to jump from the flying chariot. The encounter with the dragon on the mission to recover the strange object up north. The sparring lessons and sword training. He looked at Captain Swordstorm again, trying to hold back tears now.

"Are you ready?" he asked in an emotional voice.

"As ready as I can be," Captain Swordstorm responded.

Spontaneously, emotion threatening to overwhelm him, James reached out, wrapped his arms around the pegasus, and pulled him into a hug. Captain Swordstorm hesitated for a moment, surprised by the sudden action, but then wrapped his forelegs around James as well. Again, James spoke with emotion in his voice.

"Good luck, Sir. And may the light of their Majesties' sun and moon guide you on your mission," he said before releasing the hug.

"Thank you, Councilor. I'll see you in thirty-six days."

James nodded once, then turned for the door to go back down in the tunnel, knowing from last time that he couldn't be in the room when Twilight opened the portal, lest he be pulled through it too. Closing the door behind him, he felt his heart become heavy again with all the memories and experiences he and Captain Swordstorm had had together, and the knowledge that he might never see him or Celestia again if they weren't able to make use of the imperfect window in thirty-six days. The fate of Equestria seemed more in doubt than ever now.

Underneath the door, and around the gap at the edges, he saw a lavender glow begin to form, build in intensity, and then disappear. And so began Captain Swordstorm's mission to Earth. A mission from which he might never return.