Eclipse

Luna finally pulls her attention away from the sky. We hadn't covered that much ground to catch up to her, but the concern that flashes across her face reflects just how bad off we were. Wearing only a t-shirt and jeans, with my feet thoroughly soaked, I was starting to shiver now that things had calmed down. Lorrie was doing somewhat better, but wears a look of clear discomfort as a gust of wind tears through her golden locks. Despite her best efforts, the scramble up the hill had also left the bottoms of her medical pants soaked and dirtied.

"Hmmm, I'm beginning to see why you humans seem to insist on remaining garbed." Luna says, spreading her wings wide. She winces as she gives them a flap and pushes off the ground to hover before us, earning a squeal of shocked delight from Lorrie at the awesome sight. Even I find my jaw dropping at the majesty of the dark alicorn in all her glory as she looks down on us, framed by the light of the moon that lit up her coat and sparkling mane, seeming to give her body a radiance of its own.

*Flash!*

"Dammit Lorrie!" I growl as she smiles sheepishly and tucks her phone back into a pocket. The majesty of the moment ruined as Luna blinks several times to clear her vision.

"Some warning would be appreciated next time." Luna scowls as she lights her horn. "But indeed, it seems most prudent that we return. I have managed to regain a fraction of my magical strength, and shall assist you."

That's all the warning we get before I yelp as a blue glow surrounds me and I suddenly find myself weightless, arms and legs flailing as I'm lifted off the ground. In contrast, I hear an excited giggle from Lorrie as she's lifted up beside me.

"Wow! Can you believe it Dave, real magic!" Lorrie yells excitedly.

I'd agree, but it takes all my effort to force back a wave of nausea as Luna glides down the hill, sending us hurtling through the air as we're held in front of her. It's only a matter of seconds before we're set down on the deck behind my house, but I stumble unsteadily as the glow around me winks out, and I try to orient myself as my body seems to be trying and failing to figure out whether or not I was still moving.

There's a thud of hooves on wood as Luna lands behind us, and Lorrie, still grinning excitedly, pushes past me to get the door.

"Did...ugh...didn't you just say something about warnings?" I groan as Luna walks past me into the house, taking another few seconds to steady myself before following and closing the door behind me.

"Hmmm, well then. Perhaps I should consider us even." She retorts, flashing a playful grin as she looks over her withers at me before trotting away. What had gotten into her?

"But it wasn't even me!" I shoot back, but my words are lost on her as her starry tail disappears around a corner.

After a brief struggle to rid myself of my waterlogged shoes, I head into the living room to find Luna casually sitting on the couch talking to Lorrie, who had moved a chair in from the kitchen to make herself comfortable. As I enter, they both turn to look at me expectantly.

"As much as I do not wish to impose further, I am quite hungry." Luna says, clearly unused to having to actually ask for anything.

That gives me pause. I really didn't have much to offer, having neglected to stock my kitchen with anything that would be suitable to her. It would be pretty pathetic to offer her eggs and toast again, and I didn't even want to risk bringing up the ground beef in the freezer. "How do you feel about pizza?" I finally reply.

"Hmm, a fairly popular dish among the commoners, if it is indeed the same thing in your world. Yes, that will be acceptable." She nods.

Okay, that made things easy. I grab my phone and pull up an app for the one pizza place in town that did deliveries.

"Alright, what would you like on it?" I ask as I pull up a list of toppings, being careful to leave it hovering over the "veggies and other" option. This, however, revealed another problem.

"I cannot read whatever language this is." Luna says, tilting her head as she leans in close until her nose is nearly pressed against the screen, nearly going cross-eyed as she tries to focus on the text.

"But you're speaking clear English?" I question.

"Equish." She corrects. "Some of these characters are familiar to me, but it seems any commonalities between our languages end at speech."

Alright, no big deal. I pull the phone back and read off the various options to her. Fortunately, Lorrie is also a strict vegetarian, so after only a short debate we settle on ordering two pizzas. One with green peppers, olives, and chopped tomatoes, and one that was just plain cheese.

With the order in, and some time to kill before it arrives, we go about getting ourselves cleaned up. While Lorrie heads off with Luna to assist her in the daunting process of operating the shower, I settle on a simple change of clothes before sprawling out on the couch to wait. It's only a couple minutes later that Lorrie comes back in to sit beside me. Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury of having fresh clothes to change into, and had elected to simply discard her socks and roll up her pants to keep the dampness of her legs.

"How'd it go?" I ask.

"Oh, not bad at all." She answers. "It's so cool seeing her use her magic so casually. All I really had to do was show her how the knobs work and leave her some towels."

We both wince as we hear a thud against the wall. "Heh, it was a little cramped for her though." Lorrie chuckles.

"I can imagine." I reply, wincing again at the sound of hard hooves on porcelain, followed by another thud. "So, you planning on sticking around?"

She frowns. "I think I'm going to head out after dinner. I need to be at the clinic tomorrow, but my other vet should be able to handle things just fine for a while after that. He's probably not going to be happy about it though." She chuckles. "Besides, I didn't really expect to be doing all this." She nods to her dirtied pants. "But I'll stop by as soon as I can, if you don't mind having me here."

"Of course! Hell, I'll take all the help I can get, you've been a real life saver." I reply, stretching over to give her a hug.

A short time later the sound of running water shuts off, and after a few moments Luna steps into the room. Her freshly cleaned coat shines with lingering dampness, though it looks like every hair and feather on her body had been meticulously groomed and set in place, well...except her mane and tail that was. Despite whatever magical properties it was imbued with, it apparently behaved like any other hair. Rather than billowing around her and waving in a nonexistent breeze as it normally did, it lay limply across her neck as her tail drooped against her haunches.

"Soooo cute!" I hear Lorrie squee under her breath. Despite her best effort to muffle the comment, I notice one of Luna's ears turn toward her, clearly taking in every word as a soft blush tinges the fur on her cheeks. To her credit though, the princess quickly regains her composure and restrains herself from pointing it out.

"Hmmm, not the most comfortable shower I've ever had, but most pleasing never the less." Luna smiles, reaching a foreleg up to brush a limp strand of mane out of her face. "Though if I am to stay here, I do hope you can supply more than this....body wash thou hast provided. The smell is most....unusual."

I have to hold back a chuckle as she lifts a wing and pokes her muzzle under it, wrinkling her nose at the apparent scent. An alien pony princess that smells like Old Spice, now there's a thought I never could have imagined.

"I....I'll keep that in mind." I chuckle, unable to hold back my mirth, earning a scowl from the allicorn in the process.

With nowhere left for her to sit but the floor, Lorrie returns to her chair while I head to the kitchen to grab another one, allowing Luna to take the premiere spot on the couch. As I set it down and begin positioning the small coffee table, the only other notable piece of furniture in the room, into a more central spot for all of us to reach, there comes a knock at the door.

"Hah! Perfect timing!" I exclaim, giving the table one final adjustment before heading to the front door. Fortunately the house was arranged in such a way that I wouldn't have to worry about the delivery man getting a glimpse into the living room as I open the door to greet him.

Sure enough, a lanky teenager with a patchy mustache greets me as he slides a pair of pizza boxes out of a carry case. With a mumbled "thanks" as I fork over a handful of bills for a tip, he goes on his way as I close the door and head back.

"Thou do not use silverware?" Luna asks quizzically as I open up the boxes and select a slice.

"Nah, you just kinda go for it." I reply, holding up the piece to how her before taking a bite. Ahh, good old cheese pizza. Not exactly my favorite, but hey. Pizza is pizza.

Luna watches hesitantly as Lorrie selects a piece of the veggie, before a blue glow envelopes the one next to it and lifts it up to her mouth. She gives it a sniff before taking a dainty bite and smiling. "Mmmm, delightful." I watch in awe as she all but inhales the slice, already levitating up a second one as she finishes.

"Hmmm, I believe I may have discovered a way to return home." Luna says after polishing off her third slice.

"Really!?" Lorrie and I reply almost simultaneously.

"Indeed." Luna answers as she lifts up a napkin to dab at her lips. "As your moon has shown remarkable similarity to my own, if I can replicate the circumstances of my arrival, perhaps it may have the same effect as it did before." But then she frowns. "However, this would require getting word to my sister so she may do the same in Equestria, and until I regain my full strength, I am not sure if such communication between worlds is possible, even through the world of dreams."

"...Oh." I say dumbly, unsure how to respond. Fortunately, Lorrie has my back.

"Well, you won't know until you try, right?" Lorrie asks, receiving a nod from Luna. "And even if it doesn't work, I'm sure we can come up with something together if we put our minds to it!"

Lorrie's positivity seems to placate Luna, though as I consider the princess's plan I begin to see more and more problems.

"But, wouldn't that mean you'd have to move the moon....our moon?" I ask with concern. "Wouldn't that, you know....cause all kinds of environmental catastrophes, not to mention the kind of attention and panic it would create?"

"Perhaps, though I am fairly certain I could redirect it to its regular trajectory before the consequences become too severe." Luna replies, looking thoughtful. "Though you are correct in your assumption. Such an alteration of its orbit, no matter how brief, is bound to have an effect on your planet. Though, if it comes to a choice between this, and me remaining trapped here, it is a path I will take without hesitation." She says resolutely.

The conversation fizzles after that as her words sink in. It was clear her priority was in returning home, no matter the cost. There was no debate to be had, and only time would tell what could happen. After a while, Lorrie says her goodbyes and heads home. After the leftovers are put away, Luna heads to her commandeered bedroom while I ready myself for bed. When I finally lay my head down on my pillow, even as exhausted as I am, sleep doesn't come easy as my mind is plagued with thoughts on an uncertain future.