The crowd was dispersed. The Sheriff skulked off to whatever hole he'd come from. Twyla was escorted back to her home. Lunar and the Mayor made their way back to town hall.
The door to the Mayor's office closed behind them. Flannery stuck out her hand out to Lunar. "Thanks for helping out back there. I don't know what would have happened if you had't shown up."
Rather than shaking her hand, Lunar shook his head and spread his arms. "It hasn't been that long, Flanny Cakes."
Flannery accepted the hug, and eight years of separation melted away in a singe heartbeat.
"Gods, I'm glad you're back." She broke it and flopped back in her chair. "Things have really be going to the dogs, lately."
Lunar sat down as well. "Well, I'm here now. I'll do whatever you need me to. This is my town, too."
"I'm glad to hear that, Lu." She tossed him a large bag of coin. "That's your down payment, you get the rest when bring me some ponies. I set up a room down at Mortha's inn, that's where you'll be staying."
"Mortha runs the inn, now?"
"Oh, you know Mortha. She had an eye on the place even before you left. We should probably head there, now, so you can get settled. I'm sure you're tired after such a long trip."
"I'm not, but Polaris probably is. They have stables, right?"
And so, the Mayor and the Hunter made their way to the inn across town. Many familiar faces came to greet him, shake his hand, admire his equipment. As the six-time winner of the Supernaturalist Extraordinaire Award, Lunar was something of a celebrity in the Kingdom of Questria. Flannery counted herself lucky to be childhood friends with him.
Some did not. Tedi was likely regretting that friendship now, and Lunar was the focus of more than one angry glare as he led Polaris through the town. They arrived before the Deep's Inn without incident. Lunar raised an eyebrow. The Deep was the home dimension of the Eldri, a race of tentacled abominations that thought of human beings as food or slaves, depending on the individual. Why would Mortha name an inn after such a horrid place?
No, he was just being paranoid. Mortha probably didn't even know about the Deep. She probably just thought it sounded cool. Lunar opened the double doors, and was reminded why he should trust his instincts.
Behind the bar was a Lesser Eldri. It stood on four armored, segmented legs, with tentacles dangling beneath the thorax where they met. Connected to the thorax was an almost-human torso topped with a disgusting insectoid head. Lunar's handcannon was in his hand almost instantly. With the flip of a switch, the cannon switched to 'Dragon Breath' rounds. When in doubt, kill it with fire.
"When you get back to the Deep, tell Cthulhu that Lunar sent you."
To Lunar's surprise, the beast actually replied, the Eldrish speech echoing near the base of his skull. Peace upon you, Hunter. I'd rather you didn't send me back to the Deep. They are not fond of me there.
"Lu! Stop pointing that gun at Robin!" Flannery shoved the barrel down, then stood in front of the Eldri, blocking Lunar's shot.
"Robin? You named it?"
"What's going on out here?" Mortha, the owner of the Deep's Inn, clacked down the stairs. In Lunar's absence, she'd filled out, from an awkward teenager into one of the loveliest women in Ponyville. She gasped when she caught sight of Lunar and gasped. "Lu? Where in the Deep have you been? Gods, it's been what, eight years?"
Lunar growled and gestured at 'Robin' with his cannon. "Am I the only one who's upset about the tentacled freak gallivanting about with no bleeding holes in him?"
Both women ignored him. Flannery pushed Lunar's gun barrel away from the abomination again. "I'm sorry about this, Mortha, I really should have warned him before we came, but I've had kind of a crazy night."
"It's alright, Flanny. I'm sure Lunar will understand if I explain." Mortha approached Lunar and gently pulled down her eyelid. "I'm not enthralled. Check my eyes, Lu. Neither is Flanny, or anybody in here."
"I know you're not enthralled, any Supernaturalist worth the title would be able to tell that. That's why I'm wondering why you are not concerned about this!"
I will explain. Images flashed through Lunar's mind at the speed of thought. Alien images seen through alien eyes. My Eldrish name is Rbńthlÿd, which means 'Unruly Child'. I was named such because among my people, I am rather young, though I existed long before your people ruled this planet. I have long disagreed with my elders on many subjects. As punishment, they forced me into this plane of existence.
Lunar watched the memory through Rbńthlÿd's eyes. It could sometimes take an Eldri years to accustom themselves to the constraints of a physical body, even in secluded places, like the bottom of the sea. Rbńthlÿd manifested in a pond in the Everfree Forest. He was nearly torn apart by predators within the first five minutes. It was pure luck that he materialized in the same pond that was Mortha's favorite fishing hole. At the time, Mortha hadn't known what he was, only that he was injured and needed help.
She nursed him back to health, introduced him to the town, and gave him a job. The rest was history.
Lunar wanted desperately to not believe him. But he could not. Eldrish was a language of thoughts and feelings. A connection between minds. Robin could no easier lie to Lunar than Lunar could lie to himself.
The Hunter put his cannon away. "Fine. Great. The abomination can stay. But you listen here, 'Robin'; If you put even one tentacle out of line, and I find out, then your ass is sushi."
While it is safe to assume that all creatures deemed 'supernatural' by your kind are evil, sometimes safe is not always best.
"Whatever. I'll have a scotch."
Right away, Hunter.