Well, all said and done things could have gone worse. On the bright side, Luna’s introduction hadn’t caused Lorrie to completely lose her mind, and I could rest a little easier knowing the princess has a (mostly) clean bill of health.

At least that’s what I try to tell myself as I walk past Lorrie sitting on the couch. She wasn’t crying anymore, but she does give a little sniffle and bring a hand up to rub at her reddened eyes as they turn to follow me.

We’d certainly need to talk, but perhaps there was some truth in what Luna said. A little time to gather our thoughts and cool off was probably best. Besides, drama really wasn’t my thing. I had burned so many bridges over time. Distancing myself from old friends and family. Just not wanting to deal with it anymore, and preferring instead to live a solitary life of peace and quiet.

In less than a day, such hopes had been thoroughly crushed as my life had not just taken a turn, but been mercilessly tossed off a cliff with no bottom in sight. Yeah, it wasn’t even noon and I was already over this day.

The beer in my fridge remains pointedly ignored as I head right for the bottle of whiskey on the counter. I’d need something stronger to get me through this. I frown as I pull out a glass and inspect the bottle. Only half full….I’d only had what, one or two drinks out of it? Whatever. It was an issue for later as I fill my cup, not even bothering to add ice before taking a long swig and wincing at the harsh burn of the uncut alcohol.

I top off the glass for good measure before recording the bottle and making my way back to the living room.

“It’s a bit early for that, isn’t it?” Lorrie asks, eyeing the full glass in my hand accusingly.

“Hey, 5 o’clock somewhere right?” I reply with a hesitant smile. With the faint hope I’d had of making my way quietly over to my office dashed, I resign myself to leaning on the doorframe and give the glass an idle swish. “Besides, I really need something to take my mind off of, well…” I wave my free hand. “Everything.”

That earns a disapproving frown from her. “I know, I’m still trying to make sense of it myself, but that…” She points a finger at the glass and shakes her head. “Really isn’t a good idea.”

“Hey! I’m just having one. Besides, it’s not like miss broody is coming out any time soon.” I retort.

“She’s not? Oh, I didn’t think I upset her that much, I just….”

“No.” I stop her short. “You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, she felt really bad for…overreacting like she did, and wanted me to apologize for her.”

Lorrie brightens a bit at that, but her frown quickly returns. “Oh. Now I feel even worse. She must be going through so much, and I’ve only made things harder for her.”

“Believe me, she really is grateful for your help. Let’s just give her some time to adjust, I’m sure she’ll come around in time.” Ah, there’s that familiar smile!

“Heh. I kinda wished I had gotten a peek under her tail though. You know, to see if all the clop artists were accurate or not. There’s a whole debate about these things!” She says with a giggle.

“Clop, what?” I ask in confusion.

“You know…pony porn? I told you the fandom’s weird!”

“Riiight…” I reply with a scratch of my head and another much needed sip of sweet sweet liquor. “Well if it settles your little debate, I got a glimpse earlier, and it just looked like a horse butt to me, except you know….blue.”

She hums thoughtfully at that, the answer seeming to satisfy her. Then she glances at the TV. “Hey, do you want to watch some of the show? I kind of want to see how the cartoon version of her compares to the real thing.”

“Huh. The way you used to talk about it, I’m surprised you don’t have every episode memorized at this point.” I say as I move over to power on the TV and boot up my well-used Xbox. Sure, it wasn’t really my thing, but I had to admit I was starting to get a little curious myself.

“Heh, I’m sure I did at one point, but it’s been a long time since it ended.” She replies as I hand her the controller. She scrolls around for a bit before pulling up YouTube, and apparently managing to find a playlist of the more “Luna themed” episodes, starting with one about some kind of Halloween knockoff.

As the episode plays, I can't help but pester Lorrie with questions, like the occasional "who's that?" Fortunately, rather than becoming annoyed she seems to take joy in answering them, as well as pointing out various members of the colorful cast, and offering explanations for various events, such as who Nightmare Moon was, Luna's banishment, the Elements of Harmony, and so on. Not that the plot of the episode itself was all that hard to follow, even if I apparently had a lot of catching up to do.

We both take particular interest when Princess Luna shows up, descending in her chariot and revealing herself to the citizens of Ponyville. Okay, her animated portrayal didn't quite do her justice, though as I'd seen in my rushed internet searches previously, her proportions seemed to be pretty close. Perhaps her actual muzzle was slightly longer, and legs a bit slimmer, and her wings were a bit larger, but overall it was pretty damn close. What the show couldn't capture, was the soft glossiness of her coat, and the sheer number of intricately placed delicate feathers on her wings, not to mention the sheer majesty that was the starry field of her mane and tail.

Her mannerisms and personality were much the same, though Lorrie makes it clear that this is a relatively early version of her, and she became more refined over time. Indeed, I'd never heard her refer to herself as "we," though I had caught the occasional use of "thy" and "thou." This led to a long discussion about just how closely her world matched up with that of the show. From Lorrie's explanation, both Luna and her sister Celestia ended up retiring, leaving their rule in the charge of Twight Sparkle and her friends. But this couldn't be the case, since Luna had referred to herself as one of Equestria's current monarchs. Yet another thing to add to the list of burning questions we had for her.

We sit there watching for some time as one episode plays after another, only stopping to fix ourselves lunch. I consider knocking on the bedroom door, not wanting Luna to be left out, but quickly dismiss the thought. She had been pretty adamant about wanting to be left alone, and respecting her wishes seems like the best thing to do if we wanted to establish any level of trust between us.

By the time the credits roll after the last episode on the list, rather than being some kind of enlightening experience for us, it just seems to bring up more and more questions that only the Princess her self would be able to answer. With a long sigh, I reach over and shut off the TV. That's when I notice something....off. A cold draft blows through my shortly cropped hair as I jump to my feet. Then, from somewhere deeper in the house I hear a door slam shut.

"Shit.....Luna!" I call out as run through the house, a panicked Lorrie following quick on my heels. In no time I reach the back door and throw it open. Sure enough, there's a set of hoof prints in the slushy remains of snow left on the small wooden deck behind my house. I don't care that my socked feet are getting soaked as I follow them down the stairs and out into the moonlit field.

"Luna!" I call out again as I trace the path she'd left, quickly leaving Lorrie behind as I shift into a panicked sprint, nearly falling over several times as my feet struggle for purchase on the slippery ground. The trail only leads a few more feet before I jerk to a stop when the hoofprints simply disappear. Only my ragged breathing and the cool wind can be heard as I whip my head back and forth, scanning the shadowy landscape for anywhere she might have gone.

I stand there panting and looking around for several moments before I hear footsteps approaching. I turn to see Lorrie walking up to me, having wisely opted to take the time to throw on a jacket and boots.

"Here, I grabbed these for you." She pants, shoving a pair of shoes into my hands. "*Huff*....did you see where she went?"

I shake my head as I gratefully slip the shoes onto my feet. "No."

My concern grows as we stand there, looking around anxiously. One benefit of living out in the country was that I didn’t have any close neighbors, so if she hadn’t gone far it’s unlikely anyone would spot her. But it’s not like I was comepletely isolated. Even from here I could spot the lights from various homes and farms scattered around the area, as well as the headlights of a few cars making their way along the road. It was still early in the evening, and likely many of my neighbors were on their way home from work.

“There!” Lorrie suddenly points. I follow her gaze and manage to make out a dull blue glow shining through the trees on a small hilltop not too far from us. It’s dim, but through the long shadows it casts from the sparse leafless trees, I’m just able to make out its source.

Wasting no time, we make our way up the short slope, my wet socks squishing unpleasantly against my cold feet as I pick my way over the rocky, slush covered ground.

When we reach the top, we find Luna sitting in a small clearing, staring up at the night sky with an impassive look as she seemed to be lost in concentration. She doesn’t so much as turn her head to look at us, though I do notice on of her ears swivel in our direction as we approach. A dark blue glow surrounds her horn, clearly the source of the light we had spotted earlier.

“I apologize if I have worried you.” Luna says slowly, her voice soft as her teal eyes remain fixed on the heavens, almost seeming to glow on their own as they reflect the pale moonlight. “But I could feel your moon as it rose, so alien, and yet…..familiar.”

A faint smile warms Luna’s face as she trails off, and I find myself looking up as well to admire the glowing sphere of the waning full moon. Though early yet, it was already framed by a backdrop of shining stars as the last rays of sunlight disappear behind the horizon.

She could have at least told us. I’m beginning to feel a bit annoyed after having rushed out here after her, but decide to let it go for now. Looking at her, it was becoming clear just how much this meant to her.

“Wait….you can feel the moon?” I ask.

“Indeed.” She let’s the glow around her horn fade as she cranes her neck to point down at the crescent moon in her flank. “It seems I share a connection with it as though it were my own, if somewhat….fainter.” She frowns, turning once again to examine the sky. “But everything else bears little resemblance to what I’m familiar with. These constellations and wandering lights are, well, a stark reminder of just how far from home I am.”

“Wandering lights?” I echo uncertainly as I look up again. I soon spot the blinking lights of a plane, as well as a distant satellite arcing its way across the sky. “Oh! Those moving lights are…” Just how was I going to explain this in a way she could understand? “Machines. Things people created that orbit around the planet to transmit information and various other things….”

Yeah, I wasn’t exactly an expert, but I didn’t seem to be losing her as I point towards the objects in question, simply adopting a thoughtful expression as her eyes follow my gestures. “And that’s an airplane. Do you have any kind of flying machines in Equestria?”

She nods. “Balloons and a variety of craft powered by magic, though nothing the likes of which could leave the planet itself. How is such a feat possible without magic? I have sensed nothing from these machines, as you call them.”

“It’s….complicated. I’m probably not the person to ask, but I suppose it comes from centuries of technological development.” Okay, kind of a non answer, but it’s not like I wanted to spend all night trying to share my limited knowledge of how a plane flies, or electronics work.

*Flash*

“The fuck!?” I spin around to see Lorrie grinning and holding up her phone.

“Heh, sorry. You two looked so cute together and I just had to take a picture!” She laughs, holding out her phone to show off the image of Luna and I staring up at the sky, my arms waving about as I animatedly try to describe things to her.

“Now, if you two have had enough fun, how about we go inside before we freeze to death?”

Author's Note

Hope this one wasn’t too dialogue heavy and meta for you guys, but don’t worry. Things will start to pick up soon.