Underworld: Equestria

Chapter 3: Welcome To Ponyville

For the first time in his life, Lucian felt well and truly unnerved.

He had been through unbelievable torture, faced countless vampires, and even technically died thanks to a full clip of silver bullets, but none of those seemed to compare to what he was facing right now.

Before him was the door to Luna’s chamber, his hand resting on the heavy gold doorknob as he tried to mentally prepare himself for their encounter. If it were any other time he probably wouldn’t have been so uneasy, and would have simply walked in... but seeing as the princess of the night was renowned for losing control when she was angry, and Lucian knew she was far-gone from angry, that wasn't quite the case.

“Don’t think about it,” Lucian thought to himself, running the fingers of his free hand through his hair. “Just talk to her. How hard can that be?”

Tempting fate, yet again.

Without another thought, or word, Lucian grit his teeth, turned the knob, and gently pushed the door inwards, holding his breath as he emerged into the royal bed chamber of Princess Luna.

The sight that lay before his eyes was literally nothing like anything he could have expected; in regards to splendour her room was truly that of royalty, in both size and materiality, every wall lined with glorious paintings, wooden bookshelves, and small tables with flower filled golden vases.

Directly in front of him, however, was what held his attention. The deep blue blanketed bed of Princess Luna lay before him, with the regal ruler of the night sprawled stomach-down across the top cover, with her face and eyes buried in the depths of her pillow as she cried.

For a moment Lucian could nothing but watch, his insides feeling like a vial of liquid molten silver had just been poured into them. The sight brought back so many painful memories his mind felt like it was going to shift... memories of Sonja’s final moments, as she was burned alive, screaming, right in front of him simply because they had loved each other, the haunting sound of her cries and tears filling his mind.

Unsure of exactly what to do, Lucian gently closed the door as quietly as he could, though despite his best efforts, it still gave off a tiny metallic click as the locking mechanism closed, which Luna apparently managed to hear, the princess of the night tearing her head upwards in an instant to confront the intruder.

As soon as she saw it was the lycan though, the angry fire in the alicorn's eyes died, and with a sigh returned her head to the pillow, brilliant blue iris's locked on the silently awaiting lycan as she blinked her tears away.

“Lucian, would you mind sitting beside me?” she asked quietly, shifting over a little to imply he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

He did so without hesitation, seating himself with his legs facing the door and his left hand resting beside the princess’s neck. Slowly he ran his fingers through her mane and rubbed her flesh, trying, and hoping to at very least to bring some happiness to her. At last she gave a sort of whinnied grumble, and sat up on the bed beside him, resting her head on Lucians shoulder while he continued to pat her gently.

“I am sorry that I reacted so badly back there,” she sighed at last, pulling her head away so they were looking directly at one another. “It was behaviour that I should not have exhibited in front of you as royalty... or as your friend.”

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

"Not really... hmmf, but I guess I have little say in the matter," the alicorn sighed, sounding somewhere between defeated, annoyed, and perhaps a little embarrassed. "Lucian, the truth of the matter, as foolish as this sounds... is that I fear losing you."

“You know as well as anyone I can take care of myself Luna,” Lucian replied with a half grin, placing his hands on his knees and twiddling his thumbs as he spoke. “I have done so for over six hundred years, besides, I am staying in a library, not out in the middle of a forest.”

“It is… not just that which scares me.”

Lucian turned back to see she was now looking down at her front hooves with her eyes closed, looking like she was in some sort of silent mental debated with herself. The silence lasted a few moments before her eyes creaked open, and slowly she faced him again, this time however there was something in them that hadn’t been there before, something which both confused and unnerved the lycan.

“Lucian, I know it sounds foalish… but I am scared… because I fear losing not just you, but you're companionship as well. Where so many turn their backs and run from me, you did not, where so few give me chance, you did; perhaps this is what being alone for so long does to one, but after having felt the warmth of somepony like you, the warmth of a soul who also knows what it means to be truly alone... I guess I simply fear losing it,” gently, she ran her muzzle along his neck. "It is like your friendship is the warmth of a fire, and the thought of that fire going out terrifies me."

For the first time in his life, Lucian was actually speechless.

His mind flashed back to the night before; there had been that moment when they had just lay there on the bed.

Although he'd never admit it, Lucian knew it had been the most tender moment he had experienced ever since Sonja’s death over six hundred years prior, and the main reason he had enjoyed it was because Luna, someone who understood each and every emotional and physical scar he bore, had been laying there beside him.

Was this what it felt like to have a companion? Someone who truly understood you, who didn't judge you for who or what you were, who looked beyond what you had done in the past? Someone who held you close to their heart.

Did she truly see all those things in him?

It was then Lucian made a final decision; he had lived six hundred years and then died without forming any close bonds, and he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

“If it helps Luna… I’ll admit I feel such things for you too," he said, a hand finding it's way to her hoof. "You showed me kindness, understanding, and compassion, things that I have not felt for a very, very long time, so I truly understand how you feel.”

The princess of the night blinked in surprise. "You mean... you do not find my feelings... unsettling? Most I daresay would call me obsessive."

"I am not like 'most' ponies, Luna," Lucian chuckled, before shaking his head. "In truth though, and as you have said, we are far more alike then one would think. In me you see someone who can understand and be there for you, and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy spending last night with you... it has been so long since I met someone who would be willing to simply listen."

A hand found its way to he cheek as he continued. "Perhaps we can bear each others burdens."

A mere moment after he had said the words, he swore Luna’s eyes widened to the size of the moon she commanded, her jaw dropping simultaneously. Lucian went to lay a hand on her shoulder in a show of reassurance, though before he got the chance she sprang forward, and joyfully slammed him onto her mattress, her hooves around him a tight embrace and her head resting against his neck as she went into fits of happy laughter.

“I guess I forgot how girls can act,” Lucian thought to himself as she pulled back at last, smiling and running his fingers through Luna’s mane as he spoke. “So… will you let me go to this Ponyville town now and not worry about me?”

“Of course,” Luna said happily as she removed herself from his chest and let him up, the lycan rubbing a patch on his forehead where her horn had smacked him with her initial jump. “But, don’t expect me not to come visit you while you’re there.”

“I asked Celestia about that, and she agreed to let you come and visit,” Lucian chuckled as he scratched the spot between her ears, the princess of the night going into a fit of rather unroyal ticklish giggling. “Although I doubt you’d stay away, even if your sister said no.”

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“So, let me get this straight… you met each other last night, told a few stories, slept in the same bed, had a quick talk this morning, and then decided you're, what... best friends?” Twilight blurted out in rapid succession, her eyebrows raised to a point halfway up her forehead with amazement. “I’m sorry, but that is just so illogical that it’s not funny.”

Lucian growled to himself, and for a moment contemplated simply throwing the annoying unicorn out of the chariot, and letting her plummet to the ground below; the sound of her, her damn lecturing voice, he swore was soon to either make his ears start bleeding, or cause him to shift.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but while were on the subject, Twilight, in my world, your mere existence is considered so illogical it’s not funny,” he snapped and half growled in reply, leaning back into the side of the chariot he was sitting against, and ignoring the glare from the unicorn. “Look, I don’t know why it happened between us, we just... connected.”

Twilight gave a half grunted sigh and face-hoofed, the two pegasus guards who were carrying the chariot taking a quick glance back at the two, before muttering a few words under their breaths to each other.

“I’m not saying it’s bad or anything Lucian, in fact I’m glad that Princess Luna has found somepony to be there for her… but it’s just the way you two met, and the way this is all happening... just doesn’t work for or make any sense to me.”

“Twilight, I know you are curious and wish to understand… but, maybe sometimes you simply must accept that there are things that are beyond even you to comprehend,” Lucian replied with a shake of his head, using his fingers to remove his long black locks from his face. “You could not understand how it feels to constantly be surrounded by others, and yet feel constantly alone.”

Twilight grumbled something to herself, but said no more, rather returning to her side of the chariot and leaning over the edge to look at the world below.

For the rest of the journey there was a mutual silence between the two of them as they hurtled through the cloudless midday sky, Lucian quietly sitting back with his eyes shut as he thought.

In the end he finally figured out why he connected Luna so much; in part it was because of who she was, kind, considerate, accepting of what he was and had done, and gentle, beneath a rough exterior, to say the least.

The other part, as painful as it was to admit, was that she was just like Sonja in a way, a young and rebellious immortal with a fiery temper but a heart of pure gold.

“I wonder what she would think of this place,” Lucian thought to himself as he allowed his eyes to creak open.

No sooner had he returned to the world of the awake, he felt the chariot begin to descend rapidly, the change in feeling forcing the lycan to stand up and confront the town he would call home for the next few weeks. Gingerly, as the chariot came down, Lucian struggled to his feet and braced himself against the side, his blue eyes peering down at the earth below.

The sight that awaited him wasn't exactly what he'd had imagined.

Nestled next to an endless thick green forest, that appeared to stretch off to the horizon and beyond, was the sleepy town of Ponyville, its countless colourful inhabitants going about their business in the light of the midday sun. The buildings reminded the lycan of those of his youth in Hungary, quaint hatched roofs and wooden frames built amongst pine forests... which had the unfortunate habit of being the hunting grounds of William's sons and daughters, he silently admitted.

Lucian held on tight as the chariot made its way toward the middle of town, the driver pegasi guards aiming their landing roughly at the front of a huge oak tree turned building, which he had been told was Twilight’s library, and his source of accommodation.

An oak tree that was actually a library... how ironic.

Within a matter of moments the wheels hit the road, and the chariot swiftly came to a stop, Twilight briskly jumping out and thanking the guards as Lucian stepped down a little more shakily.

Flying chariots were something different all together.

Still, the feeling of hard brown earth under his feet brought a smile to the lycan’s face; he knew his place in the world, and that was on the ground.

Taking a quick Look around, and with an arched eyebrow, he took note of the rustic buildings that now surrounded him; unlike the white stone of Canterlot the structures, the ones here were predominantly wooden framed, with apparent cream coloured plaster, pink trimmings, and thick straw rooves.

They were... almost scarily familiar close up.

Slowly, while Twilight was still in conversation with one of the guards, Lucian wandered over to one, and ran his hand over one of the walls, feeling the smooth, cold plaster run under his fingers with delight.

Naturally, he could sense everypony was now looking at him strangely, and muttering things to their closest neighbour along the lines of 'what is that thing?', 'what's it doing?', and 'typical Twilight Sparkle', but Lucian was really too curious to take any notice of them.

“Strange,” he murmured, tapping the plaster with one of his nails. “These ponies do everything humans d…”

“LOOK OUT!”

A sudden frightened shout made Lucian spin around to confront what he thought was a threat; what he ended up getting, however, was a quick glance at a cyan blue blur just before it crashed square into him.

If this was the traditional greeting, then it was no wonder the town was so small.

If he had been human, Lucian figured he would've found himself flattened on the road. With the fraction of a second he had to his benefit, he began shifting and managed to catch the object on his chest.

The pure force of the collision caused him to slide backwards along the gravel road at least a meter. Luckily though, with his sudden added size and mass, Lucian found himself able to keep his feet firmly planted, they lycan merely feeling the wind getting severely knocked out of him as he caught the blue meteor.

After giving out a few coughing growls as he refilled his lungs with air, and regaining himself, he looked down at the object which abruptly had slammed into him, and upon doing so realized that grasped in his black paws was a slightly dazed Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus he had met the night before.

For a few moments she continued to look unwell, complete with eyes rotating in different directions, before shaking her head and looking up at him, her pupils at first widening with terror before a smile spread across her face.

“Oh, hey Lucian… welcome to Ponyville,” she giggled lightly as she rolled from the lycan’s grasp, and quickly landed elegantly on the road in front of him, shaking her coat of any dust a moment later. “Sorry about that, I guess I kind of lost control back there.”

Lucian gave an amused snort in reply before returning to human form, his black fur, dark claws, and hollow eyes replaced in an instant by Caucasian features, the resounding growls and cracks of reforming bone echoing through the street.

Looking around he saw everypony was now staring wide eyed at him with their jaws freely hanging open, or their faces green with disgust, like they had just seen something disturbing or supernatural... which they had really, after all.

They'd get used to it eventually.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lucian smirked as he returned his gaze to Dash. “What were you doing anyway?”

“Uh… racing,” Dash replied, her cheeks turning to embers as she played with her hooves. “…with my coltfriend.”

Lucian for a moment stroked his beard in curiosity; for some reason she seemed a little embarrassed and almost nervous talking about being in a relationship.

It was just then that Twilight came over and joined the small ground of two, although she did little more than look at Rainbow, who shrugged, the lavender unicorn only nodded in reply before turning to the lycan with a pained expression.

“Forgive me, but is there something I’m not getting here?”

It was then Lucian heard a rather loud thud, which was swiftly followed by the feeling of having a rush of hot air run across the back of his neck; his mind instantly going into an adrenaline filled, fight-ready overdrive.

“I think they’re just a little nervous abou…”

For the second time in a matter of minutes, Lucian spun around and shifted as his lycan instincts kicked in; his target this time was the source of a deep male voice that had, somehow, originated from right behind him.

He'd been out of action for a day, and he was already getting sloppy.

Though, for a moment after turning, he could do nothing but stand and stare into a set of massive emerald green eyes that met him... eyes that were roughly the same size dinner plates, and stared straight back at him.

It was then, however, that his lycan blood truly hit, and with a feral roar he slammed his clenched right paw into the side if the creatures face, the superhuman strength in the strike knocking the head of the whatever-the-hell-it-was sidewards, and momentarily revealing an exposed throat.

Before Lucian had a chance to go for it with his teeth though, Dash was between him and his target, yelling and shouting for him to stop as everypony around them ran for the nearest source of cover, her hooves rapidly striking at his face, but doing no more damage then serving to annoy him.

Still snarling like a caged werewolf, grudgingly, Lucian lowered his claws and backed up a little, and it was then that his still canine jaw slackened as he finally realized exactly what he had just hit.

Standing before him, with a grin on its face, and a huge claw resting on its now sore cheek, was a dragon, a massive dragon at that, covered in apple green scales, and identical to those Lucian had seen in the few books he'd read over his eight hundred year life.

Two long white horns emerged from its head, and a row of matching spines ran the length of its head, body and tail. From there, a set of wings emerged from its back just below it's shoulders, and a set of sword like fangs slightly emerged from its maw.

What?

If Lucian had his blades on him, then he would have drawn them in an instant, but since he didn’t... he just hoped his claws would suffice in the event of a fight.

“Well, I got to give it to you Lucian,” the dragon grinned as it rubbed it’s cheek, the pure fact the creature was actually speaking almost causing the lycan to double-take. “You have a pretty good punch on you.”

Lucian shook his head, and, albeit uneasily, shifted once more back to a more peaceful looking human form. His jaw however remained set as the dragon eyed him humorously... and then laughed.

“Would you relax, trust me, I’ve had a lot worse first encounters; first five minutes of being here in Ponyville I got put to use as a makeshift roadblock,” It chuckled, spreading it’s rows of ivory fangs in a smile as it sat back on its hind legs. “I’m Thane by the way, joker, weather dragon, all-round pain in rear, and Dash’s coltfriend, as these ponies refer to me as.”

Lucian’s eyes somehow managed to widen even further as he flicked his gaze between the dragon, and the small form of Rainbow Dash, who was at that point standing proudly with a grin on her face beside Thane’s right fore-claw.

“Wait… so you two… truly?” Lucian stammered, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to accept what he was seeing, and hearing. “Ok, forgive me but I need a moment to clarify… you’re a talking dragon... who’s the lover of a pegasus? Correct?”

Thane and Dash simply looked at each other, smiled, and turned back to the awaiting lycan and Twilight, who was by now standing beside Lucian and seemingly giggling at his confused expression.

Everypony else in the vicinity, as it was, had since stopped paying attention to the group and gone about their business.

With glances in various directions, however, Lucian could see they were still watching him.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” was Rainbow Dash’s eventual reply as she jumped into the air, hovering level with her dragon coltfriend’s sore cheek. “I know it’s not exactly what everypony would see as normal, but the hay, it's perfectly legal, we like us, and I think that’s all that really matters.”

"And you seem to have a track record with non-ponies." Thane sniggered with a glance down at her. "A certain griffin ringing any bells?"

The words earned the dragon a death glare. "I thought we both agreed to never bring up Gilda again?" she huffed venomously.

"I know, but you're just too adorable when you're wound up to resist."

"Ugh, you're lucky I love you," Dash mock-groaned, a small smile and a blush spreading across her face. "Otherwise I'd kick you're scaly backside all the way back to the Badlands."

Despite the odd way of being expressed, the passion in the words rang like a bell inside Lucian’s head as he heard them.

He knew all too well what it felt like to have others disapprove of ones love, simply because the partners were of different races, he and Sonja had been an extreme case of such disapproval; he dearly wished he'd ripped Viktor's head off for that when he had the chance.

Now it also seemed he was in a similar position with Luna, and the thought of how her subjects would react to the idea of her and a lycan being close friends... was something he found a little daunting... the nobility alone, if their reactions to him the night before meant anything, wouldn't take it with gladness and joy.

“If it is any consolation, I am happy for you two,” he replied at last as he pushed the thoughts away, grinning as he once again folded his arms across his chest. “I know full well what it feels like to have your feelings for another disapproved of simply because of race, so just know you will always have a friend in me in such regards.”

Now it was Thane and Dash’s turns to recoil and look somewhat surprised; probably, in theory, because that was the last thing they had expected to hear from Lucian’s mouth.

“Uh… wow… thanks Lucian, you’re probably the only one who’s not freaked out when we told them,” Thane chuckled loudly, his voice somewhat like roaring thunder. “You know, you seem pretty cool, you should come hang out when you get tired of being around all these mares.”

Dash gave him a none-too-gentle kick in the cheek in reply to his statement, which only caused both of them to smile awkwardly at each other afterwards. Lucian simply stifled a chuckle at the dragon before him; ten minutes into his stay and he already had new friends, a good sign by any account, and especially for a lycan.

“Nothing of it, and I’d be glad too,” Lucian grinned, shaking his head in amusement. “But I fear I must get settled, so I will leave you two for now… a pleasure meeting you, Thane.”

“Likewise,” the green dragon said warmly in reply, rearing back on his hinds and throwing up a cloud of dirt and dust as he jumped into the air, Dash beside him and the pair quickly disappearing from sight.

For a moment Lucian simply stood there beside Twilight and said nothing, his eyes closed as he processed the fact he had just befriended a dragon of all things. Once he was done with his mental safekeeping, he turned, and looked down at Twilight, the lavender unicorn patiently looking up at him with a soft expression on her face.

“That was… rather interesting,” He muttered to her, scratching his forehead. "Are such relationships common in Equestria?"

Twilight shrugged. "Depends," she replied simply. "Pegasus ponies and griffins have been doing the interspecies thing for some time now, which according to research is what lead to Equestria's hippogriffs coming to be... dragons and ponies being together are a much rarer case, but are far from unheard of... heh, we actually have three such couples in Ponyville."

She blushed and trailed off as she finished, prompting an odd look from Lucian.

“Hehe, anyway, please follow me,” Twilight laughed gently as she shook her head, leading her lycan guest back towards the library that he would call home. "I should get you acquainted with where you'll be staying."

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The inside and outside of the library were far from similar to say the least; the outside of the building realistically resembled a living tree in every detail, but the inside though was as far from natural as Lucian could've expected. It was in all a little bit of a culture shock for the lycan to say the least, but he was thankful none the less to at last escape the hot midday sun, and the eyes of the town ponies.

The main room was, as with any library, lined with countless book shelves containing possibly thousands of colourful books. For a few minutes Lucian did nothing other than pull random books out and flick through their contents with interest, upon finding they were writing in an illegible script however he quickly put each one back. On the left side of the main room as he saw was a doorway which led to what he guessed was the kitchen, and on the right a curving wooden staircase which apparently led up to the bathroom and sleeping quarters.

“I know it’s kind of basic,” Twilight offered with a touch of embarrassment as she closed the door.

“Trust me Twilight; it’s a lot better than the cage I grew up in,” Lucian smirked softly in reply, running his fingers over the rough fibres of the wooden shelves as he walked around the room.

For a few moments, Twilight simply sat quietly in the corner, and was silent as she watched the curious lycan examine his surroundings, looking into every tiny detail as he explored the room and its contents. These, she silently deduced, were his wolf instincts coming into play, the showing of a natural drive to examine and familiarise oneself with a new surrounding.

A few times she was forced to bite her lip to stop herself laughing, such as when he found himself confused by how the lights functioned without a switch; it seemed pony magic was something he didn’t yet fully understand.

“I can teach you how to read, and maybe about magic a little later on if you want,” she offered after he voiced his confusion, an amused giggle coming from the lavender unicorn. “But for now I suggest you go upstairs and take a look at your room. You’ll find the clothes the princess requested for you on your bed, and the bathroom's two more doors down… if you need it that is.”

Lucian smiled and was silent for a moment before replying.

“Thank you Twilight,” the lycan replied with a small blush, his shimmering blue eyes as usual catching her in a trance as she met their gaze. “Before I go, I need to ask if you had any plans for me tonight?”

“Uh…no…why?” she stammered with surprise, not entirely sure of what to think of the question.

“Because I have a certain… need… to be alone on some nights,” he replied gently, sitting down on the carpet with his back leaning against the bookshelves. “It is by no means any cause for you to be alarmed… but it would truly be best if you did not ask questions, or follow me on these nights... ever… for your own safety, with all due respect.”

Before Twilight could reply she saw something in his eyes change; their shimmering blue remained but underneath something rippled, a dark and unnatural tint that chilled the unicorn’s blood in a second; whatever it was, she knew it was both unnatural and bore the markings of an uncontrollable urge. If she had any thought of asking a question it ran out of her head screaming as fast as possible.

“Uh…sure, I don’t mind I guess.”

“Thank you, Twilight” Lucian replied with a gentle smile, the unnatural darkness in his blue eyes disappearing from sight, but still burning brightly in the frightened mind of the young unicorn

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Notes:

Just a question for a bit later on…anyone object to me putting Raze (a.k.a the massive black lycan/ Lucian's best friend) in here?