Luna awoke to the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She sleepily lifted her head to see Raymond with a bad case of couch hair staring at her with the same expression as the night before.
"Please refrain from fainting" she said plainly as he stood there like a deer in headlights.
Raymond then inched into the room and timidly tapped the tip of her horn. Luna deadpanned the entire time.
"Happy?" she asked as he inspected his hand for goodness knows what.
"This can't be happening" he said breathlessly.
"If you need more evidence just ask Alec" Luna said rolling over to find the other side neatly made up.
"Oh, that's odd"
"What, the absent human or the present alicorn?" Raymond said with a snort.
"Regardless, one seems more important at the moment" Luna said throwing the sheets off and starting for the door.
Raymond cut her off. He had decided then and there that questions needed to be answered. Luna saw it and decided against the royal Canterlot voice. She instead sat back and waited for him to move.
"How do I know this isn't a dream" he said cautiously pointing a finger at her.
"Because if it was than I wouldn't know that you drive a "shitty Honda", as Alec put it". Luna realized that was the first Human curse she had spoken. It felt almost as strange as speaking in a different tongue.
Raymonds outstretched accusation finger shrivelled up into a fist of retreat. He then moved out of the way so Luna could pass. He remained in the bedroom digesting what had just occurred.
"She's right, I do drive a shitty Honda"
"..."
"Way to make me sound cool in front of the princess Alec"
He then made his way down to the garage to find Luna standing where the Chevelle should've been.
"He's gone" Luna said looking out the still open retracting door.
"Yup" Raymond said.
Luna turned to see him with a content look on his face.
"You know where he is don't you?"
Raymond nodded.
"He's where he always goes when he need's to think"
They both simultaneously looked back out into the lot now slowly being lit by the rising sun.
"Castle way"
///////////////////////////
Alec had gotten no sleep at all last night. Luna's presence wasn't what caused it as much as why Alec had reacted the way he had.
"Why did I do that?"
Alec asked himself this question over and over again as he sat idling in the morning sun rays
"She's a pony for god's sake!!! Why do I have to be an emotional rock but melt when an alien princess is added?"
Alec groaned and let his head fall into the steering wheel making it honk briefly.
"This is crazy. Mysterious mark on chest, followed by Luna being the victim of an assassination gone awry. Now I somehow have to get her back. Speaking of which is anyone even looking for her?"
Alec pressed his head harder against the wheel activating the horn for a good thirty seconds. The low blare disturbing a majority of the wildlife in the area, but at that point Alec could care less. It was a better substitute than tearing his own vocal chords by screaming.
He let off and leaned into the seat, letting his eyes slowly close. He was almost out when the Hondas engine buzzing it's way towards him forced him to crack one open.
"What does he want?" Alec said grumpily closing it once more.
Alec remained motionless as Raymond pulled up behind him on the shoulder. Luna and him got out an went to the drivers side window. Luna jumped up and rested her forelegs on the window sill. When Alec still didn't respond, Luna had had enough.
"Where were you??? I woke up alone with this guy questioning my existence" she barked suddenly.
Alec raised his head slowly eyeing the two visitors at his window.
"Good morning to you too" he muttered sarcastically.
"Ok Alec, forgive me for the disturbance, but you need to tell us what's wrong. You leave and come out here to camp in your car. Even I know there's something wrong with that"
Alec sighed and opened the door. He got out and blinked in the now almost risen sunlight. After a few stretches, he turned to see Luna patiently waiting and Raymond tapping his foot.
"Ok, I guess I'm just a bit frayed lately"
Luna sighed. After all she was in part (if not entirely) the cause for Alecs distress.
"I had a hunch. But understand Alec that they're looking for me, I know they are" Luna said looking skyward.
"It's alright, You're no burden trust me" Alec said waving a hand dismissively.
Raymond began walking back towards his Honda, at first making it look like that he wanted nothing to do with the station.
Luna and Alec watched as he pulled ahead of the Chevelle and stopped in the left lane. He revved his engine and leaned out the window.
"If you're stressed Alec, I know only one way to relieve it"
Alec stared at him as he drummed his fingers on the door, waiting for a response.
"What does he want you to do?" Luna asked looking up at him.
"Well, he wants me to race him"
"Excuse me?"
"You know, race, like what Rainbow Dash does all the time?" Alec elaborated.
In the book luna had read, there was a few sections on the culture surrounding cars, and a big part of it was racing. But all of the racing Luna was aware of was the races that took place on a track like the Wonderbolts.
"So, you two are going to race here?" she asked looking around. There was nothing apart from the same tree bordered road that she was all to familiar with.
"No" Alec said walking towards the Chevelle, getting in and leaning over the centre console to open the passenger door.
"Me, him and you"
Luna cautiously aproached the car and got in. she fumbled with her seatbelt in her mouth as she raked her mind for answers.
"Is he actually going against Raymond?"
Her answer came in the form of the Chevelle roaring to life, a sound that she found herself beginning to enjoy hearing. Alec veered out into the right lane beside the Honda. Luna's previous thought morphed into a question that she felt had to be voiced before things went any further.
"Alec, forgive me for jumping to conclusions but I believe I know who is going to win"
Raymond, hearing the question replied for Alec.
"This isn't for my sake, it's for his" he called across the road.
The two cars revved their engines, the Chevelle easily drowning out the Honda. Luna felt nervous, but at the same time, the butterfly colony in her stomach was making her feel excited. The raw power of the cars vibrating through her body was almost intoxicating. She felt herself leaning into the seat absorbing it's full effect.
"Ready dude?" Alec called.
"Hell yea!!!" Raymond shouted back.
Alec shook his head with a chuckle and put the Chevelle into first.
"Luna, mind counting us down?"
Luna brought herself out of the "moment" to do what she had learned from all those Wonderbolt shows.
"3"
"2"
"1"
"GO!!!"
Luna was barely able to react when the Chevelle seemingly erupted from under the hood with a crescendo of thunder. She felt her head snap into the seat as the car rocketed off the line. Alec couldn't help from grinning as the sensation of the front wheels lifting off the ground resonated through the chassis. He slammed into second with the Honda hardly a cars length behind going (and sounding) like an angry hornet.
By the time he got to third, Alec was leaving Raymond in the dust. The speedometers needle was shaking it's way towards 110 kilometres per hour.
Luna was, in a nutshell, happy.
Happy Alec was feeling better.
Happy that Raymond knew just how to cheer him up.
But mostly, Luna was happy they hadn't crashed yet.
When Alec reached 4th gear, Raymond was far behind, but that didn't stop the Chevelle from pushing 150. They would've gone faster, but Alec felt a bit more cautious due to the precious cargo he had aboard. Luna had her eyes locked on the horizon. The road seemed to melt into her peripheral vision as fast as it came into view. She turned to Alec briefly to see him with and equally large grin that was impossible to suppress.
"I think we won Alec!!!" Luna yelled over the engine.
Alec agreed and slowed down, in a matter of seconds the Chevelle was stopped in the middle of the road as Raymond came up beside them.
"I just realized that we forgot to set a finish line" he said laughing as he got out.
"If it weren't for Luna, I would've kept on going" Alec said gesturing to The alicorn beside him.
They got out and (unanimously) decided to sit on the Chevelles hood. It was more than likely that Luna didn't have a tetanus shot anyways, so the Honda was out of the question.
Luna opted to leap up with the use of her wings.
From a gentle trot, she flapped once, sending a few stray leaves into the ditch. Landing on the hood with a soft clunk, Alec assumed the worst.
"That scratched the paint didn't it" he said
Luna checked under her hooves, The metallic coating was untouched as intended.
"Don't worry Alec, I was extra gentle" she chuckled.
"Well, that killed 30 seconds" Raymond said laying back against the windshield.
Alec and Luna did the same. The afterglow of adrenaline slowly fading from their systems, they watched the sun as it reached it's peak.
All was quiet. No cars came either way and they had the entire road to themselves.
The sun was heating the hood rather quickly, and Luna was about to recommend they return home soon, but before she could put her thought's into words, she heard it.
Her sister, clear as day, asked her a question as if she was there with her.
"Luna, are you still alive?"
Luna sat up but did not run off into the woods. She knew that it was simply telepathy at work, but why was she hearing her sister now?
"It's been a good many weeks since I last saw you. It was the first day of summer. Now summer is almost over and I miss you with all my heart and more"
Luna listened as Celestias voice grew hoarse.
"I know it's terrible of me to think this but, I feel I could've prevented this..."
Her tone became wracked by heavy sobs, sobs that had been held back for too long.
"It's all my fault!!!! If I hadn't been so concerned with making the summer so pleasant, You would not have been alone, there would have been more guards!!!"
Luna felt her eyes beginning to cloud. Raymond looked over to see Luna tearing up for seemingly no reason. He jabbed Alec in the ribs but neither said anything to the emotionally unstable Alicorn.
"If you can hear me, just one last time" Celestia sobbed.
Luna stifled a sob in wait for her to continue.
"Know that I love you, so much more than anything in Equestria or the entire universe for that matter. My job as your big sister was to keep you safe... and I've failed"
"But I still love you"
Luna was barely able to hold it together. Between the sniffing and crying she was able to utter a single sentence.
"I know Tia, I love you too"
Celestia went silent. Not because of her connection to her sibling being severed once more for some unknown reason, but out of shock.
"Luna? did you just say something?"
Realizing she was no longer being adressed like a tombstone, Luna stopped crying as quickly as she had started. Alec and Raymond were both staring at her as she responded.
"Tia? oh my goodness can you hear me?"
Hardly a second passed before she got an answer that brought the tears back, only these were tears of joy.
"Yes!!! YES!!! OH LUNA I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!!!"
"No, I'm fine Tia but listen. I'm on the planet earth which is inhabited by a dominant species called humans. We speak the same Language and one of them saved my life!!! Oh sister i wish you could meet him!!!"
Celestia took a moment to go through what she had just heard.
Earth.
Same language.
Humans.
Her eyes widened further as another piece of the puzzle fell into place.
"Of course!!! she realized in her head. But her thoughts were soon interrupted by Lunas now ecstatic voice.
"Tia? did you hear that? I'm alright!!!"
"Yes Luna, I heard you but listen, I need to go and tend to something of the utmost importance. Clearly wherever you are is a place where we can communicate without errors. I'll need you to return to wherever you are tomorrow night at midnight. By then I will have informed Twilight... wait... what time is it where you are?"
A glance at Raymonds watch informed Luna that it was just past noon.
"It's just after lunch"
"Good. The time zones seem to be fairly similar. Twilight may take an interest in that"
"Twilight?" Luna asked. "Is she helping with the rescue?"
"Indeed"
"That's so wonderful!!! Give her my regards won't you?"
"Of course" Celestia responded with a laugh.
Luna was overwhelmed. She had finally found a way to reach her sister but was honestly a bit afraid to let go. severing the mental link across the cosmos felt like cutting the umbilical cord on a new born foal. Scary, but it had to be done.
"Will you be there? promise?" Her sister asked desperate for reassurance.
"I promise" Luna replied calmly.
Moments later she felt the presence vanish from inside her head. It was then Luna felt the two pairs of eyes boring into her.
She slowly turned, blushing to see Alec and Raymond with faces of complete incomprehension.
"I guess i have a bit of explaining to do"
The two humans nodded while keeping their confused looks.
Alec finally managed to get a sentence together.
"That was your sister wasn't it..."
Luna nodded.
"I bet she was the one you heard at the gas station"
Luna nodded again.
"I'm also hinting to the possibility of you having a bit more mental abilities than usual"
For a third and final time, Luna nodded.
The trio got off the hood of the Chevelles hood and waited for the explaining to begin.
Luna went ahead as clearly as possible.
"I guess you remember when I said I'd tell you something after that night at the gas station, don't you?"
"Uh huh" Alec acknowledged.
"Well, I'll make this as simple as I can. My sister now knows I'm alive and on earth. She also knows that I am in your care at the moment. Finally, the reason i heard her in the first place was because of an Alicorns ability to communicate through the use of telepathy. That's about it, we should return to this spot tonight to communicate further"
"You know... we kind of already knew that" Raymond quietly mumbled.
"Sorry?" Luna said looking in his direction.
"Well we did hear everything you said... you put on quite a show"
Luna blushed. She had been completely oblivious to the two as they watched her cry and go hysterical at a seemingly invisible presence for a minute or two.
"Well that sorts most things out" Alec said resolvingly.
"Yes" Luna agreed. "How was i able to hear my sister from so far away?"
They all lowered their heads in thought. Raymond was drawing a blank until something caught his eye.
"Um, guys... I think I know what "amplified" your "signal"
"What?" Luna and Alec said questioningly.
Raymond pointed behind them.
"That"