Underworld: Equestria

Chapter 2: A Life Like No Other

Slowly, Lucian lay back on the bed so he was staring up at the dark ceiling above him, drawing his hands behind his head, and relaxing as best he could.

Inwardly, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about letting out everything he had carried for the entirety of his life, his very long life at that... but Luna, it seemed, trusted him to a surprising extent, and hence he figured he had no reason to doubt her integrity.

“Very well Luna… as you wish,” He said finally, closing his sparkling eyes as he began his story. “I was born in a place called Hungary…”

For what seemed like hours, Lucian gave to Luna everything there was to know about him. Starting with his birth, and the fact he was the first lycan to be born of two werewolf parents, bearing all the outward features of a human yet the blood and soul of his forefathers. He described everything that he remembered truthfully, and to the utter best of his ability and memory, trying to create in the mind of the princess of the night an exact replica of the moments he recalled. For her part Luna did very little other than listen, and ask the occasional question, otherwise she was completely silent, and happily lost in the worlds her mind and Lucian’s words created for her.

Lucian held nothing back from her, seeing as he had no reason too; he told her everything about his years of slavery, including the tragic tale of his vampire lover, and the subsequent deaths of Sonja and his unborn child when they were discovered, the princess not even flinching as he gave up the painful six hundred year old memories. Luna quivered a little to show her sadness, but otherwise simply listened to him, the kindest thing anyone could have possibly done in her position.

He then told her about the ongoing war between vampires and lycans, giving to her the names, and in-depth descriptions of each of his lieutenants, from Raze to Taylor, as well as the strengths and flaws their individual personalities' possessed. He felt slightly saddened as he guessed he would never see them again, but it was the way of the world after all, for the living to eventually depart those they held dear, and hence he had accepted it.

Finally, he spoke of the hybrid, Michael, and his love for Selene the vampire, and how in a way they had become the Lucian and Sonja of a new era, and would hopefully bring peace between the immortal clans in time. He expressed his hope that, perhaps, they would one day no longer need to hide in the world's shadow, but was straight in telling her that was a slim chance at very best.

After he finished there were a few minutes of silence between the two of them, Luna lying still with her soft face resting on the lycan’s thigh while he ran his fingers silently through her floating mane.

“You did not lie when you said your tale was sad one, Lucian,” Luna murmured at last, the moon outside now resting at its highest point in the night sky and illuminating every detail of her face. “But thank you for telling me… as foalish as it sounds, I do enjoy hearing stories.”

“I do not want sympathy princess, but I am glad you enjoyed it,” Lucian replied with a soft chuckle, his eyes slowly opening to the dark world that was his chamber. “What has happened, has happened, and I cannot change it… besides… because there is now a hybrid in existence, the last laugh seems to have been mine.”

The two of them shared a chuckle with each other in the darkness; it was then at last she lifted her head and replaced it on the pillow beside him, supporting it with one of her hooves as she watched him lay there beside her peacefully.

“You are the most interesting creature I have ever met, Lucian,” she smiled, leaning forward and nuzzling his cheek with her muzzle in a show of affection. “And I hope my lands are as accepting of you as I am, for I would believe it to be a great shame if they weren't.”

Lucian grinned and returned his blue eyes to the ceiling, a sort of amused sigh slipping from his lips before he spoke again.

“We will see in time princess, although judging by the reactions of your captain and everyone else earlier, forgive me for being a little sceptical.”

“You and I are similar in that regard Lucian,” Luna said gently, nuzzling him once more and making him smile. “When I returned to pony society after a thousand years of being gone… I was feared to say the least. But Twilight Sparkle helped everypony get to know and understand me, and I quickly gained many friends, and found myself somewhat accepted again. I know you may seem rough on the outside, but your heart is gentle and compassionate, and I am certain once everypony knows that they will like you as I do.”

"You would go so far as to call me a friend?"

Luna simply nodded. "I believe that one's past should not dictate their future, Lucian. You have lost many friends, but that does not mean you do not deserve to make more... besides, you have shared with me something that you hold dear, and in doing indulged my wishes, so yes, I would call you a friend.

As she finished there was a moment of silence, in which Lucian turned his head so his shimmering blue eyes met Luna’s own dark blue ones. Lucian could smell cake and other sugary foods on her breath, and yet strangely he didn’t really mind the obscure scents. In turn, Luna felt the lycan’s hot breath running across and warming her face; she would never have gotten this close to anypony after only knowing them for a few hours, but Lucian was different, and it wasn’t just the fact he wasn’t a pony either.

“You are very kind Luna, and I will take your words to heart,” Lucian chuckled at last, raising a single hand and running it along the cheek of the princess of the night. “But I fear I grow tired… my back still hurts, and without sleep it will not heal as fast as it could, so here I must bid you goodnight.”

“Very well Lucian,” Luna replied softly, gently removing herself from the bed and slowly heading for the door “I hope you sleep well…”

As Luna reached the doorway however, she stopped and looked over her shoulder, smiling to herself as she saw Lucian had already been pulled into a gentle sleep.

There was something about him that made her happy, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it; perhaps it was the fact he treated her like a friend, rather than a ruler, maybe it was because he was so at peace at telling her everything about himself, or perhaps it was the fact they both knew how it felt to be an outsider.

Perhaps it was simply his compassion.

Luna had stayed awake every night since her return, and watched over Equestria diligently for each and every one of those, but she suddenly found herself feeling strangely exhausted, and the idea of sleep somewhat inviting. She knew she had her duties, and she also knew that Celestia would be grumpy with her in the morning, as any older sister would've been, but the princess of the night decided then and there she needed a night off for once.

Hence, with a smile and a yawn, Luna returned to her place on the bed beside Lucian, laying her head down on the pillow beside the sleeping lycan, and quickly allowing her dreams to take her away.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Where are you, Luna?” Celestia murmured to herself, turning and trotting down the eastern hallway in search of her younger sister. “It is most unlike you neglect your duties, let alone to miss breakfast.”

There were countless royal matters running through Celestia’s mind on this particular morning, and the fact she couldn’t find her sister was only making her rather bad mood worse. She had asked every guard she had come across, and all had said they were yet to see her, a fact which was really beginning to unnerve the ruler of the day, especially considering she had awoken to find the moon still hanging in the sky outside her window.

Normally, she would have dismissed Luna’s absence as simply her sister's want to be alone, but considering the day before there had been a massive changeling attack, and then the appearance of Equestria's first lycan, Celestia wasn’t taking any chances.

At that point she was going to explore one of her last plausible options, an option she seriously doubted, but had decided it best to check anyway.

“Ugh! of all mornings, Luna,” Celestia muttered to herself as she began to ascend the stairs of the eastern tower. “You best have a good reason for scaring me like this, little sister.”

As she emerged from the winding stairwell, Celestia stopped dead in her tracks, an eyebrow rising with her curiosity at the sight of what was before her.

The wooden door to Lucian’s chamber, as she noted, was wide open. To any common pony it would have meant nothing, but it was royal tradition that once a guest was shown to their room, the princess or guard, or whomever had escorted them, would close it as they left; it was a simple matter of privacy above all else. Because Celestia was yet to see Lucian this morning, it meant one of two things, either Luna had forgotten to close it, which was highly doubtful, or that the princess of the night had never actually left the lycan’s room.

Not entirely sure what to expect, Celestia made her way to the doorway and peered inside, her bad mood disappearing and an amused grin spreading across her muzzle as she did.

Lucian was lying flat on his back and still very much fast asleep, still dressed in his brown robe, with his hands folded across his slowly inflating and deflating chest. Lying beside him, with her head resting beside his, was the peaceful form of Luna; she too was still lost in the world of sleep and dreams by the looks of things, her forelegs tucked up against her chest, and face half concealed in her long mane as she slumbered. It was a perfectly innocent sight as Celestia knew, given that other such activities would have left a certain... scent in the air, but none the less a few stray questions formed in the back of the alicorn’s mind.

Slowly, and quietly, Celestia walked up next to Luna, shaking her head in amusement before giving her little sister a gentle nuzzle in the back to wake her. With a gentle sigh and small squirm Luna’s blue eyes creaked open to the day around her, the sunlight that flowed through the window dancing off her coat as she shifted to get her blood flowing.

“Did you enjoy your night, little sister?” Celestia asked with an amused smirk.

Upon hearing her older sisters voice, and in an action that Celestia would never let her forgot, Luna nearly fell off the bed in surprise, her head snapping around to see the princess of the day smiling down at her.

Naturally, Luna’s cheeks turned to embers in a moment, but she managed to maintain her grace as she removed herself from the bed, and then met Celestia’s inquiring gaze.

“I can assure you nothing inappropriate happened sister…” Luna started defensively, trying to keep her voice in check so as not to wake the still sleeping Lucian.

Celestia however simply raised a hoof to silence her.

“I know Luna… with all due respect, I would be able to tell if anything had, and I hold no grudge against you for a perfectly innocent action, such as sleeping beside a male.”

For a moment Luna was lost for words, and could do nothing other than open and close her maw a few times; not only was Celestia not angry at her for neglecting her duties, but she didn’t seem to even mind the fact she had slept beside their guest.

“I… Tia… you truly do not mind my actions? Are they not... well, you know, unbecoming of a princess?”

“You are a grown mare now Luna,” Celestia replied with a chuckle and a smirk. “Even if you don’t act like it at times, hence I believe I no longer need to monitor your every action… although I’d prefer next time I awake not to find the moon still outside my window.”

The two of them shared a quiet laugh with each other, still, however, trying their best to keep the volume at a minimum; they both knew what Lucian was capable of, and didn’t really want a grumpy lycan on their hooves.

When they finished their giggling though, Celestia’s smile faded a little, the change of expression prompting a worried feeling too well up inside Luna.

“Is something wrong sister?” Luna asked hurriedly, tilting her head in confusion.

“I fear we may have a slight problem Luna,” Celestia groaned, rubbing her forehead with her hoof like she had a headache before looking down at Lucian. “One which concerns our guest.”

Now it was Luna’s turn to raise an eyebrow in curiosity as she followed her sister’s gaze.

“What kind of problem?”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“It is a great annoyance to us, and perhaps I fear insulting to you, Lucian,” Celestia said dryly, tearing her eyes from her window and looking back at the awaiting lycan. “But I fear I have little say in the matter…”

Lucian simply raised his raised his hand in both acknowledgement and understanding, the ruler of the day falling silent as he did so. Despite his action, however, there was a snort of annoyance from close by.

Luckily it was directed at Celestia rather then him.

“I am but a guest in your lands Celestia, and hence I do not expect, nor ask, for any special treatment,” The lycan replied firmly but gently. “Besides, my presence would no doubt cause problems for you… having a creature such as myself lurking around the palace shadows after my initial actions... well, even I will admit that I would unnerve the court members.”

Upon awakening from his long sleep, Lucian had found both Celestia and Luna waiting outside his chamber; for her part, Celestia had looked to be stuck somewhere between unhappy and nervous, Luna however had appeared to be downright angry for some reason.

The lycan had tried to gleam what was going on from them, but neither had spoken a word of it; that was until Celestia and Luna had led him to the palace library, and locked the doors for privacy, only then had they explained what was bothering them both so much.

In light of the changeling attack, as had since been explained, the Equestria Court had been called to a sudden emergency meeting in Canterlot, a meeting which would require all members from across the pony nation to come and discus the newly discovered threat. Effectively, this meant that for the next two weeks, or more, the palace would become a home for the court members and their families, which in turn meant Princess Celestia would need as many free chambers as possible to accommodate them all. On top of that, there'd apparently already been rumours flying around the nobility about a 'monster' prowling around the castle.

He didn't need any more explained after that; all up it meant there would be no room for the lycan within the castle.

After exploring all other options, or so he'd been told, Celestia had in the end finally requested Twilight Sparkle put Lucian up at her library in Ponyville for a few days, a request the very curious unicorn had been all too happy to accept, apparently without a second thought.

Lucian personally didn’t mind the idea, if anything he needed to get away from the city, for reasons only lycans and vampires would understand; else he risked losing control of himself, and in his hunger attacking an innocent pony. Luna, however, was far from impressed with the entire situation, and had no problem or issue with openly showing it, snorting and stomping to show her displeasure while she spoke her view on the matter.

“I simply do not see sister why some of the court members cannot stay in accommodation outside the castle,” Luna snorted aggressively, her ears back and her dark tail slashing at the air in annoyance. “There are many fine hotels within Canterlot, as you know Celestia.”

“It is customary that the court members stay within the palace grounds, for reasons of security, Luna,” Celestia retorted with equal venom, her eyes angrily shifting from Lucian to her little sister, who was standing half concealed in the shadows of a large bookshelf. “I acknowledge that we have a guest on our hooves, but I cannot simply deny centuries of royal tradition.”

Lucian did nothing other than stand perfectly still between the two alicorns; his first encounter with magic had been a far from enjoyable experience to say the least, and considering how agitated the two princesses were, and how powerful he'd been told they were, he feared even a slight movement could cause one of them to snap.

“Ugh! This is ridiculous sister!” Luna yelled abruptly as she stalked from the shadows to the lycan’s side, sounding very much like the barrier which held her temper had just collapsed. “I will not have you…”

“Oh enough Luna!” Celestia jumped in just as loudly, the pure volume of her ancient voice silencing her sister in a moment, and startling the formally composed lycan. “Stop acting like such a school-filly and grow up a little! I have made my decision, Twilight Sparkle had accepted that decision, and Lucian will hence be leaving us at midday whether you are graceful about it or not.”

For a moment, Luna just stood there in a combination of anger, shock, and perhaps even sadness, her mind utterly collapsing on itself for a moment as it absorbed her sisters words.

Upon recovering, and before he could say anything, she did the last thing Lucian would have expected, which was to turn around and bolt hurriedly from the room as fast as possible, opening the door with her horn before slamming it loudly as she left.

A groan from Celestia made the lycan turn and face her once again, the white coated princess shaking her head in dismay before looking up at him.

“Please forgive my little sister, Lucian,” She sighed, turning and returning her gaze to what lay beyond the glass of the window pane. “She has never been one to control her emotions that well.”

“I did not mean to cause such a rift between you two,” Lucian sighed, feeling somewhat guilty as he ran his fingers though his locks of long black hair. “But I fear I do not completely… understand… what is going on.”

Celestia sighed and shook her head against before answering, the sunlight that bounced off her face only illuminating her frown even more.

“I believe Luna has grown rather attached to you, Lucian, for you see my sister has a somewhat bad reputation for a past wrong, and hence very few ponies here in Canterlot... take the time to get to know her, as you or her close friends have. You are different then everypony else in that regard, the act of being willing to spend hours simply talking to her has shown my little sister that, and by giving her the attention and friendly presence she so very much longs for... it has left something of an imprint on her. Do you know what happened last night after you fell asleep?”

“I fear I do not, princess,” Lucian replied, unsure of whether or not he wanted to hear what she was about to say.

The princess of the sun turned to him with a strange expression etched on her face, one which to Lucian resembled something like amusement. Slowly she walked circles around the lycan as she spoke, her eyes affixed on him as she did.

“After you fell asleep, Luna returned to your side, and spent the night next to you. It was perfectly innocent action I assure you… but it demonstrates how much she cherishes and cares about your company, Lucian. If I am to guess, her outburst was more or less a demonstration of her fear of losing you, like she believes that allowing you to venture beyond these palace walls will cause you to somehow disappear.”

Celestia turned and faced him directly. "Lucian, whether you realize it or not, you're friendship means a lot to my little sister. You are the first friend she has actually made herself in a long time, without any sort of intervention or input from myself or Twilight Sparkle."

Lucian bit his lip and stroked his beard as he tried to think of how to respond; he admitted that he liked Luna's company, she was, after all, readily accepting of his actions and his past, and had shown him nothing but kindness thus far, but the knowledge of just how much he had rubbed off on her was utterly left field.

The thought, in turn, of leaving her both sad and worried weighed down on his mind like a block of lead.

“Perhaps I should talk to Luna before I do anything, just so she understands my own feelings on this matter,” he sighed, looking up at Celestia who was now standing directly in front of him. “And... I must ask, would it be possible for her to visit me whilst I am away? If I mean this much to her... I wouldn't be able to be at ease knowing that she was distressed.”

Celestia's eyebrow arched in surprise. "Those are... some unexpected words, Lucian," She said, albeit sharply. "Words that I wouldn't have expected to hear."

"As I said last night, princess, I am, for the most part, a wolf; my instincts are to protect and care for my pack, or my friends as you might see them as, whoever and whatever they might be."

The words were punctuated by a menacing growl that spoke volumes, one that Celestia couldn't help but wince at, though she kept her grace.

"As the leader of a herd race by origin, I... I think I understand your feelings... She must be present at each of the court meetings… but otherwise I will make arrangements for her to visit if that is your wish,” Celestia said, a smile at last reappearing on her marble furred face. “And yes, I agree that you should go and talk to Luna.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

Sorry if this chapter is a little unimpressive, this week was end of semester submissions for uni so my writing time was a little short.

I know main character going to Ponyville is cliche, but there are many reasons and I can write a much more exciting story with the ideas I can now use...you will see what I mean.

Just a heads up that next chapter I’ll be introducing Thane (Dash’s ‘coltfriend’) and a few other dragon characters, so if you get bored or want to know their background read ‘My Red Eyed Friend’.