After her return, Princess Luna spent much of her time trying to readjust herself to the modern world. So much so that she’s begun to grow tired of it. One brain can only learn so much new slang at once, and she refused to understand the concept of rizz. What in the name of The Moon does it all mean?

And so, she decided to spend a little extra time policing the dreams of the world. Currently, she was exploring the Dream-State of the Griffon Confederacy- and she noticed something unusual.

Every dream is represented by a door which gives an indication of the dreamer's personality; and just by glancing at it could she tell all the important information about the dreamer. You know; name, age, occupation, whether their dream is good, bad- or a nightmare. It was as if the door was speaking to her directly, and they could ask for help when necessary.

This door was different. She didn’t know who it belonged to- but they must surely be a powerful individual. It originated somewhere in Featherworth- that much can be discerned by the doors surrounding it. It had a menacing aura to it which the princess did not like.

The frame was a dark onyx black, dotted with eyes looking to and fro in seemingly random directions; the door itself was a garish, xanthous yellow color. There was a large crow skull mounted to it- far larger than any crow could possibly be. As she approached for a closer look, she stepped in something strange- a viscous black substance seemed to be seeping out beneath the doorway.

When she approached the entry, she noticed an odd symbol beneath the crow skull.

When she tried to get an exact read of the door's aura, it spoke to her.

One day all will know the daughter of Hastur- and the whole world will bow to the dark stars which hang over the skies in Carcosa.

Carcosa? Luna had never heard of such a place before.

The Night-Gaunts will fly in legion as they descend upon the masses, their stinging clutches carrying them to Hali to join the pit of the Shoggoth’s.

The Princess had heard enough. She opened the door and passed the threshold into the madness- and regretted it immediately. She felt as though she was being crushed beneath something and the door was long gone. She pressed forward.

Whatever she was in felt gooey and smelled rotten. It was at once solid and liquid- and she began to claw her way out, determined to stamp out this strange threat to her Kingdom. Finally, her head broke the top and she could breathe in the foul smelling air. Which was a step above no air. She pulled herself to shore and looked back. Her eyes widened and she retched fiercely.

It wasn’t a lake at all.

It was a sea of rotting, mushy corpses; their skin so soft it would slough off the bone at the lightest graze. She looked on in horror, seeing corpses of all sorts of strange creatures in there- many of the ones on the very top looked somewhat distinguishable. By the Moon…

Speaking of which- she finally looked upwards. She had never seen anything so strange since the reign of Discord. The sky itself was as bright as day, despite the twin moons hanging high in the sky; and the stars looked like dots of a black void in the daytime sky. And directly in front of her was a bright, xanthous wall nearly as high as Mount Canterhorn.

Using her magic, she summoned a rusty claymore- which when infused with her magic, became a blade of pure, raw moonlight; a favorite of hers from the days of yore. Holding it at the ready, she began the flight up the high wall- and literally gasped in awe at the city beneath her.

The city beneath her was far, far larger than any she had ever seen. She was willing to bet that if a city this big existed anywhere on Equus, it could fit the entire population of Equestria- and then some. In the center of the city stood a large, black-roofed castle, or a cathedral perhaps.

The sight was so beautiful that The Princess let her guard down for a moment- and that was all they needed.

She felt something yank her wings so hard they pulled out of their sockets; The hands of the strange creature stung like barbed wire nettles as it lifted her back over the sea of corpses. She shrieked in pain and terror, dropping her claymore far, far below into the black void. She looked up at the creature- and saw that it wasn’t alone.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of these creatures flew in the sky. They had black horns, were completely faceless, and had black, membranous wings.

In her time, she felt as though she had seen it all. The reign of Discord. The madness of Tirek. She fought, won, and lost countless wars, battles, and skirmishes- endured so much bloodshed that the average Pony would simply give up on life.

Nothing. Nothing could have prepared her for what was happening to her right now. She charged her horn to cast a spell but one of the creatures grabbed her horn, causing her to scream in pain- it felt as though her horn had been inverted to the inside of her skull.

She blinked away tears- and decided to look down.

The sea of corpses seemed to be alive with movement, the mass grave writhing as though it were in agony. Then, like a wave, a column of corpses went higher and higher, splitting in half at the top like a mouth. Her breathing intensified as she lifted a hoof to grab on to the demon which held her, deciding that the stinging pain was much, much preferable to whatever awaited her in the Maw of Corpses.

She heard a loud, witch-like cackle. She couldn’t hold on anymore- falling. Falling to whatever demise awaited her.

When Princess Luna woke up the next morning, to say she was confused would be an understatement.

Last thing she remembered, she was policing dreams… then… then what? She had no idea. Although what made her most confused was the strange symbol that popped in her head. She must have seen it somewhere before, surely? She just couldn’t remember where. Perhaps it was an interesting crater pattern on the moon?

Either way, she paid it no mind as she got ready to take her Sisters place in the court.

She still didn’t understand what rizz means.

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.”

-Howard Phillips Lovecraft

---

You ever have that moment when you wake up, knowing that you had a sweet dream but couldn’t remember it for the life of you? That was me right now.

But I wasn’t about to allow that to get in my way.

Let me tell you, this past week has been an interesting one. The media’s been going batshit- apparently a little girl almost being sexually assaulted by a drunkard was enough to spark a moral panic among the populace- people are protesting to have alcohol banned to “protect the kids.”

It’s a shame we were leaving- there’s always good money to be made bootlegging.

Even better, though; the cops had the decency to keep Ma and I anonymous to protect us- which came as a relief, to be frank.

International attention is never a good thing.

Ma and I had been discussing where to go, before we eventually came to the conclusion that immigrating to Equestria was our best bet right now. We planned to settle in a pony city- called Manehattan.

Eugh. That pun is fucking awful.

Today, I was gonna get a wagon for us. The plan is to take that wagon Northwest- through Nalot to the port city of Beaksmouth- and sell it there, along with whatever we don't need and buy tickets for a ship across the sea. Since most of our money was in the form of solid assets, we would just open a new bank account in Manehattan.

Not like we had a whole lot, anyway.

I was just strolling the city in my favorite cloak, finishing up any business- when I was stopped by a familiar blue face.

“Hey, boss!” he ran up to me excitedly and I just nodded with a smile.

“What’s up?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Did the intel work out good? I haven’t seen ya in awhile!” to which I responded by slapping him on the cheek.

“We are in broad daylight,” I said with a gritted beak, “Lower your voice.” I gave him a smile.

“And yes. You did good, real good kid.” he beamed at me. I wasn’t sure why he was so loyal, but I wasn’t complaining- especially since I pay him in basically table scraps.

“I’m gonna be leaving for a good while tomorrow morning.” Just like that, his smile shrank. “And don’t give me that look. You’ve been watching me work for long enough that I think you know what you’re doing.” He gasped,

“Really!? You really think so?” I rolled my eyes and gave him a smile.

“Yeah, I think you got what it takes. Just try not to get arrested, alright?” His smile grew- and I yelp!’d when he pulled me in for a friendly hug. I rolled my eyes again and patted him on the back. He let go and I just had to ask,

“So, what’d you say your name was, again?” He tilted his head, confused.

“It’s Gallus. Did I not tell you before?” I just shrugged.

“Eh, I probably forgot.” I gave him a smirk and held out my hand, “Nice to meet you. I’m Leona. Maybe someday we’ll meet again?” I just shrugged as we shook hands for what was probably the last time.

“May all your future ventures be profitable.” I said, turning around to leave. Then I had a second thought.

“One more thing, Gallus.” he looked at me and tilted his head. I snapped my fingers twice.

“Smokes. Let’s go.” He grinned and pulled a couple smokes out of his bag.

Then we parted ways.

Who knows? Maybe someday he’ll be a Made Man.

---

Next stop: lunch.

“Ayyy, Vito!” I yelled, and the jolly old man waved back.

“Now what can I help you with, little lady?” he asked, and I rolled my eyes. Like he doesn’t know damn well why I’m here.

“You know I had to get one more sandwich before Ma and I left tomorrow.” I set a couple bits on the counter- and threw in a few extra. He’d need it. He handed me a sandwich wrapped in foil, and I said,

“Thanks Vito. It’s been awesome.” I gave him a warm smile, while he smirked and rolled his eyes.

“I wish you and Ma nothing but success in your journey.” I went in for a quick hug,

“Same to you, Vito.” We'd already said our tearful goodbyes the other day when Ma and I broke the news to them at their place.

Poor Auntie was sad to see us go, but she’s glad we’re pursuing better lives for ourselves.

I just flew and ate my sandwich, making my way towards the next destination: the cart dealership.

---

I approached the cart dealership casually, the door making a ding as I walked in.

“Hey, Georgie! You around?” I yelled- the man in question appearing from the back- an older man, an ex guardsman with an eyepatch and his rear left leg missing.

“Ayy, Leona! Meet me out back. I got the stuff ready for you.” I smiled and nodded, going around the building.

The wagon we would be using was… if it was any shittier it’d have square wheels- but it would function. It was big enough to fit just enough provisions for the journey, our belongings, and some extras like camping gear.

“This got all I asked for?” I asked the old combat veteran and he gave me a grin.

“Yes it does! In fact, check this out-” in the back of the wagon there was a long, wide box. I gasped and my smile widened-

“No way that’s what I think it is!” I excitedly opened the box like I was opening the first gift on Christmas morning. What I beheld was beautiful.

It was a crossbow- painted black as night. One of the military assault models, with a shortened stock, pistol grip, and recurve arms- all the stuff the monarchy wanted banned from private ownership. There was a cocking lever up top which is what made it an assault model- a skilled soldier can fire off as many as five bolts a minute with this.

I had to wonder if it also took fifty-round drum clipazines and shoelace actuated bumpstocks?

Wait. What?

You’re probably wondering why I requested this one. It’s uh… it’s for hunting. Things. All kinds of things, yessir. Lots of hunting. I love hunting.

No, really. We may need to hunt for meat at some point during the journey.

Anyways, I tossed him the heavy sack of bits I owed him.

“You sure you’re willing to part with this?” I asked him- after all, this thing looked pretty fuckin’ top notch.

“Nah, it’s fine. I got like seven more.” He gave a hearty laugh, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and smile.

“Meet me outside my place tomorrow morning with all this?” The guy smiled and gave a mock salute.

“Yes, ma’am!” I nodded, satisfied.

I went home after that- it was time to get packin’.

---

The next morning, we were out the door and on the way. Ma was hooked up to the wagon and I was sitting on her back, just looking around as we traveled.

When we passed the city gates I couldn’t help but feel excited- We were going on an adventure! I wanted to see everything this strange world had to offer at least once before I died(again).

I also wondered what kind of sketchy shit I’d be able to get away with in Manehattan?

“Hey, Mamma. Can I ask you something?” I had a question that had been stuck in my mind for the past couple days now.

“Go ahead, sweetie.”

“When you were fucking all those guys, were their cocks at least big?” She stopped abruptly, lowering her head and causing me to roll off her back.

“That’s it. You’re walking.” She gave me a wide smirk and we both started cracking up.

“I love you, Mamma.”

“I love you too, baby.”

I figured we were due for a (relatively) lighthearted chapter after the last few :3

And so, Leona says goodbye and good riddance to Featherworth for now. But who knows- she has her whole life ahead of her yet. Maybe she'll settle down and make some actual, real friends instead of those she considers to be "associates"

After all, friendship is magic :P

And in regards to the last chapter- I'm super curious what everyone thought of that one. I was debating with myself a lot on whether or not I thought it was too much- after all. It was a pretty rapid downward spiral for Leona.

As always, thank you for reading! Likes and comments are encouraged and appreciated greatly :3