Feral

"An ideal form of government is Democracy, tempered with assassination."
-Voltaire

14,238 years ago, during the 'Age of Steel'...

He looked up from under his hood to the giant estate that was decorated in white and gold trimmings. The entire mansion seemed to stand out as the most regal home in the city. It was far from varying in color, as most of the entire home was crafted from limestone, including the large row of white pillars that stretched all the way up to the third and last floor. The hooded figure continued to survey the large building for a good while.

"What do you think you are doing, peasant?"

The hooded man looked down from his fixed gaze to the large leather and bronze clad guard who asked spoke to him so rudely. They were in front of a bronze gateway that led to the home. It stood on the street of several homes and along with casting a shadow over vagrants who lived by the alleyways; all with light brown skin and dressed in warm colored tunics. Beggars and children without a home who would make fires to keep from freezing to death while the owner of the illustrious estate enjoyed their riches to the fullest. The hooded figure cracked a wide smile with his pale lips, the darkness hiding his eyes.

"How admirable," he spoke sarcastically.

"What was that?" the guard who originally questioned him asked. The warrior guard threw down his shield, lightly tapping it on his bronze chestpiece before it hit the ground making the black leather strips that were made for handle bracing flail from the impact. The large warrior stomped from his position and made his way over to the eyeing figure before grabbing him by the collar of his leather harness. The guard brought his face inches from the smiling man's, almost in a headbutt with the guard's bronze helmet.

"What are you doing eyeing this home, peasant?! Do you not know who lives here?! This is the home of the great King Tiuras, the King of Alokir and ruler of all the worshipers of the great Shi'vara, Patron God of Sun and Time!" screamed the dark skinned guard, spitting into the hood of the small man he had in his grasp with each word. He was rather pudgy and had a thick amount of black facial hair. The musk of his sweat could be smelt by the most dullest of noses. The guard turned angry warrior seethed at the hooded figure.

"I suggest you take your leering someplace else, before we cut off a part of you that you will beg to have back!" he screamed with finality.

The hooded figure's smile only widened as his head leaned backward from where the guard had a grip on his collar.

"Tell me...do you say that to all the girls you attempt to swoon?" asked the pale and short man whose smile got wider and wider, revealing a pair of sharp fangs. The guard's eyes got wider as well as the man's smile seemed to become so huge, it was about to crack his head in half while the rest of his face was hidden by the hood.

"Because I am not some cheap whore. I assure you, I know the direct way to a man's..." he trailed off before shoving a clawed hand through the chest of the guard, piercing his armor like tissue paper before he even had time to realize what killed him.

"...heart," finished the sadistic Vampire, who now had the dead guard's heart in his clawed hand. With a clean yank, he ripped his arm out of the guard's chest cavity and brought the heart up to his lips, before lowering his hood. The Vampire had short and scraggy blonde hair, along with one orange eye and one that was pale blue.

"That was almost too funny...but it would have worked better if I was actually attracted to men," Lyre told himself, a little disappointed at his poor joke. His large smile quickly returned.

"Ah well!" he announced, before burying his fangs into the deep crimson heart, tearing into muscle as blood gushed into his mouth. His tongue lashed at the sweet nectar before he greedily gulped it down. While chewing the guard's heart, he looked over at the other terrified guard who was on the floor looking at him with a mixture of horror and disgust.

Lyre smiled happily with a mouthful of muscle and blood and closed his eyes, before extending the heart towards the other guard.

"Want some?" he asked cheerfully.

"Aaaaaagghhh!" the guard screamed as he stood up and ran down the street as if he was a mad man.

Lyre looked offended at the display as he watched the other guard run as fast as he could down the street. Lyre raised his left eyebrow in curiosity.

"You could have just said no," he spoke before shaking his head. He dropped the heart down on the ground after having his fill and brought out a red kerchief from his left harness pocket to wipe his face.

"Now then, where was I?"

The Vampire took a look around and surveyed the street that he was on. Luckily, the cloak of a cloudy night sky made it easy to remain inconspicuous. Lyre didn't see anyone as he surveyed the dark area, lightly illuminated by candlelight. He smiled to himself, as it seemed no human was around to witness him murdering the guard. It would make his job much easier.

He caught the scent of another human.

Lyre quickly developed a frown, turned to confront the human who witnessed his crime, and was shocked by what he found.

The Vampire was staring down at a small, dark skinned girl dressed in green rags. She had long curly black hair and was clearly homeless, as she had no shoes and reeked of filth. The poor child looked up at the Vampire, who was only five to six inches shorter than him. The child had a look of shock on her face at the blonde Vampire who stood and stared at her in turn.

"You're short," she told him.

Lyre scowled at the child, who evidently still could muster up enough courage to insult the Vampire.

"Yeah, well you're food!" Lyre returned with an annoyed yell.

The little girl quickly developed a scowl on her face as well, lightly lit by the soft glow of light radiating off of the mansion behind them.

"Aren't you scared? I just tore that big, mean warrior's heart out in front of you. Shouldn't you be running away like that other human?" Lyre questioned the child, before he brought his blood caked claws up to his mouth and drew his tongue across them, savoring the aftertaste of delicious blood. The child was clearly scared of the Vampire in front of her, but she still stood firm and held her cool, despite shaking quite a bit from a combination of shock and chilly night air. She seemed to find herself at a loss for words, as she was scared, but she didn't know what to reply to the black leather-clad assassin. The girl stared dumbly up at Lyre, gazing into his mismatched eyes.

"Are you really telling me you can insult my height, which I happen to be very sensitive about by the way, and expect me to let you live? You better run back to your parents girl, while you're still able," Lyre told her, not bothering to mask his irritation.

"My parents are dead, sir," the tiny Alokir native spoke, seemingly all emotion swept from her voice. The little girl still wore a frown of sadness.

"I was caught stealing from one of the market stalls, not but several fortnights ago. My parents and I were living on the street and we were very hungry. I was caught by several of the men who patrolled the market and they decided they would make sure I was never able to steal again," the girl said quietly as she cast her glance down to the ground. It was then that Lyre's eyebrow rose upward once more, as he noticed what was attached to one of the girl's arms. Or rather, what wasn't attached.

"They decided to chop my hands off and give them to the man I stole from, as is the law in Alokir. Once they cut off the right, my father and mother attacked the men, who still happened to have their swords."

She spoke in such a soft and almost pathetic voice, Lyre could barely make out her thick Alokirean accent.

"The last words my mother spoke to me were, Don't stop running." she whispered while staring sadly at the ground, trying to fight back the tears that were building up.

Lyre scoffed loudly at the little beggar girl as she looked down at the ground and the stump on her right arm.

"Wonderful. So, not only are you stupid...you're also useless? That's fantastic. Think of it this way, at least you could get a job at a traveling sideshow," Lyre announced rudely to the poor little girl. "I hear many have openings for deformed children. Other humans can laugh and gawk at you, plus you will be paid! Win-win, right?" the Vampire asked her.

She didn't react to any of the Lyre's insults or rude musings. She just continued to stare at the ground.

Lyre dropped his wide smile and let out long sigh.

Suddenly, the girl felt a presence in front of her, and jolted her head upward. The short Vampire who had been standing a good ten feet away from her now stood mere inches in front of her. He looked down at her with minor annoyance before reaching out to grab her arm. The girl tried to pull it away, for fear that he was going to kill her, but surprisingly he just hoisted it up. Then to further her shock, he placed a large sack-cloth bag in her arms that was full of gold.

"Listen girl, what's your name?" he asked the little girl.

After a few seconds of initial shock, she answered,

"Urietta. My name's Urietta," she spoke softly.

"Well listen, Urietta. I, the Great and ever Powerful Lyre, Vampire and assassin extraordinaire, have happened to accumulate quite the amount of gold pieces during my stay in Sylvanis Mera," he spoke.

At the mention of the city, Urietta remembered hearing from the guards how several months ago; an unknown assassin killed the King and Queen of Sylvanis Mera, brutally butchering every guard they had stationed in their castle.

"Now, I will give you this entire bag of gold, but you can't tell anyone you saw me here. It would spoil my fun if humans knew what I was before I killed them. Do you have any idea how enticing that look of fear is that they get in their eyes? It's incredible, let me tell ya'. Anyway, I give you this bag and you leave here, never speak of me again, and everything will be perfect. Alright?" Lyre asked her, in his somewhat-high pitched voice, almost sounding youthful.

"Alright..." the girl replied softly.

At Urietta's answer, the Vampire got inches away from her face and smiled, frightening her.

"Good! You know if you told, I'd have to punch you...in the face...to death!" he announced to the girl in a happy tone, almost as if he was trying to sell her ice cream.

Urietta backed away slowly from the rude and sadistic Vampire, once more assessing his kind act. In a few seconds, she ran back down the alleyway with the bag of gold, generously given to her.

"Thank you so much, sir," she told him as she turned back to face Lyre and smiled, before disappearing around the corner. The short Vampire smiled with satisfaction, stood up, and stretched his arms. The sound of several joints popping echoed throughout the empty street.

"Now!" Lyre yelled to himself, before straightening his posture.

"Let's get started!"

Lyre bolted at inhuman speed towards the gate behind him. He grabbed the bars on the bronze gate and vaulted himself into the air, over the wall which kept others from entering. He extended his four wings from his back that he used for gliding so he could gain a higher altitude. Sailing into the air he looked down at the large yard of the mansion. It had a finely groomed lawn. It also had a single gold fountain that stood in the middle of a limestone walkway along with several other highly valuable gold statues placed throughout. There were two guards stationed at each of the east and west wings and two guards stationed at the front doorway. Lyre frowned.

"That's just pathetic," he said, a tiny bit upset at the fact the man who called himself King Tiuras had such a small amount of protection. He shifted in the air and started to fall directly towards the front entrance before speaking,

"There better be more inside."

The guard on the left lifted his head up and looked out over the yard, staring nervously at the several acres of grass that were barely noticeable in the night. He turned to his fellow door watcher.

"Did you hear something?" he asked.

The other guard rolled his eyes in dismissal.

"It's probably just your imagi-"

CRUNCH!

Something that fell from high in the sky landed on the nervous individual, crushing him into the ground and crumpling his bronze armor with the impact like it was tin. The five foot four inch assailant back flipped off of the ground and into a standing position. The other guard now stood with his mouth wide, staring at where his friend was.

"Exactly." Lyre spoke before unsheathing his right-armed sword from his back and shoving the tip into the agape mouth other guard, but not far enough to kill him. Lyre looked up and smiled at the man, whose terrified shaking caused his front teeth to lightly rattle on the blade of the Vampire's shortsword.

"Just his imagination," Lyre spoke, before flicking his wrist upward, making his blade vertical. It caused the helmet on the man to fly off and land on the ground, while his head slowly pulled apart into two symmetrical pieces, and flop to the side of his neck. His lifeless body dropped to the ground and made a hard impact with the limestone walkway, as Lyre put his arms down to his sides and fished out a black coin.

He held the black metal coin with a red Masquerade Ankh in front of him and drew his sword along one side.

"Now," he spoke. "Shall we do this quietly, or loudly?" Lyre asked himself before flipping the coin into the air with a thumb. The Vampire caught it with one hand and slapped it onto the back of his hand that held his shortsword.

Lyre smiled at the coin's side. It had a single slit in it, made by his blade.

"Loudly it is, then," he spoke before putting the coin back in his left pocket.

Lyre put his hands up to his mouth and screamed,

"SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP! IT'S A MONSTER! HE'S KILLING US! SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE US FROM THIS INCREDIBLY HANDSOME ASSASSIN!"

Miles away, there was a certain Vampire King who put his hand to his head out of pure annoyance.

He put his hands down to his sides and waited for a few minutes. Sure enough, four fully armored guards came round the sides and swarmed around the Vampire, who stood over their friend's corpses.

"He killed them! Slay the assassin!" one of the more bold warriors spoke. Another charged at him screaming, sword at the ready. Just as he neared the assassin, he was decapitated in the blink of an eye and his head went sailing into the air. His body still swung the sword violently in the air towards Lyre, who sidestepped out of the way of each slash until his body finally dropped.

The other guards had a look of horror on their face, because when he was decapitated, they didn't even see the Vampire unsheathe his swords. It's as if they just appeared in his hands.

The sound of the bronze helmet hitting the floor, human head still inside, was music to Lyre's ears. In a flash, he flipped his slightly curved shortswords around and rushed forward.

Time seemed to be halted for Lyre, just as the first man on the right raised his axe, Lyre's blade sliced through his legs and he started to fall. Afterwards, Lyre used his momentum to twist his body and cut through the neck of another man who began to unsheathe his sword that was attached to his hip. Still twisting in air, he landed on his knees and guided his swords through the remaining guard, halving them across his midsection. All in unison, their bodies fell and their armor clanged on the limestone. Blood ran from them and out into the grass.

Lyre had killed all four highly trained men in the blink of an eye. The Vampire got up off of his knees and smiled to himself.

"Well...that was...," Lyre let out a long yawn through his smile. "Pitiful," he finished.

The Vampire then jumped into the air and ricocheted off of a pillar, crashing through a large window on the third floor. The glass shattered and shards flew everywhere in the large room while the Vampire landed on the ground, arms outstretched to the side. A feminine voice screamed loudly at the shattering of the window, causing her to jump off the bed and the man that she was on top of.

"What was that?!" screamed the nude man as he stood and threw the young woman out of his way and onto the floor. He then grabbed the long white robe that was hanging on the dark oaken bed posts before putting it on.

"If one of those peasant kids threw a rock at my window, I swear I-" he didn't finish his sentence as he saw the hooded figure crouched down on his floor. The Vampire looked up at the plump man who stopped in the middle of tying his robe and stared at him. He had dark skin and was covered in black hair, just like the rest of his Kingdom's people.

"King Tiuras, I presume?" Lyre asked sinisterly. Then Lyre noticed how the King didn't have a look of shock on his face. Instead it was twisted up into a smile.

"We have you now," snickered Tiuras.

Lyre then noticed the burning sensation throughout his muscles, preventing him from moving.

'Solar Magic?' Lyre thought to himself.

'....damn.' was what the Vampire thought before his entire body caught fire.

"Hahaha, you fool!" screamed the King of Alokir. "After hearing what happened at Sylvanis, do you really think we wouldn't be prepared for something like this? Those men you killed were decoys!" screamed the King, before a hulking man came through the arching doorway with a huge battleaxe. The behemoth was clad in a suit of bronze armor, bearing the traditional 'scorpion embracing the sun' symbol that was recognizable from every Shi'varan flag on his breastplate.

Lyre dropped to the ground, gritting his teeth in pain and anger as the flames continued to lick his body. They burnt through his black leather outfit but he wouldn't let go of his swords.

"Ever since these killings have been happening across the Capitals, we knew to expect you. The Great Shi'vara gave us a small piece of understanding the sun and time itself, Solar Magic. We have used it for years to combat you creatures, and now we know it also serves us well as security measures for pathetic little Vampires such as yourself," explained the King as he sauntered across the carpeted floor, enjoying and boasting about his cleverness.

The young woman had wrapped herself in a white sheet and joined the King, standing by his side. Everyone watched as the glowing pentagram underneath Lyre kept him immobilized and was incinerating him slowly with ethereal flame. The King merely snickered under his breath as the huge behemoth closed in on the Vampire.

"Now, thanks to the work of some of our most skilled Solar Mages," the King spoke loudly over the roaring flames. The armored behemoth raised his axe so it was just above Lyre's head and ready to be brought down with full force.

"We can watch you die like the rest of your kin, you filthy abomination!" screamed King Tiuras as loudly as he could.

At the final word, the huge, brass armor wearing bodyguard brought down his axe.

Suddenly, the burning Vampire swung his hand up and caught the axe blade before it reached him.

"Nice try," scratchily spoke the short Vampire, due to his vocal chords and most of his neck being charred.

"Too bad for you...I'm not like the rest of my kin," seethed the Vampire before smiling sickly through his blackened lips.

Lyre then took his searing hot blade and cut his own arm off. The arm still held on to the blade of the axe and Lyre jumped in the air and wrapped his legs around the head of the Behemoth, who desperately tried to shake him off. The large armored man flailed while Lyre held on, being thrown about like he was riding a bull. The King and the young harlot watched in horror as the Vampire that they nearly incinerated into ash was somehow holding on to him, after breaking the spell it took them days to craft.

"You're strong, but...." Lyre spoke before letting out a loud grunt while twisting his hips as hard as he could, wrenching the behemoth's head all the way around with his thighs in one movement, making a sickening a snap echoe throughout the room..

"Hahahaha! My brother is much stronger than you," Lyre spoke through a sick cackle.

The large warrior dropped to the ground as Lyre rolled off of his shoulders and in front of the King, picking up the battleaxe in his hand as he rolled.

The Vampire now stood mere inches away from King Tiuras who was on the verge of shaking. Lyre slowly looked at the King with a sadistic smile spread across his incinerated face, as his flesh began to slowly regenerate, smoothing out and returning into its normal state over a short time.

Thinking quickly, the King unsheathed the knife he had within his robe and put it to the throat of the girl he was physically with not even fifteen minutes ago. The young girl yelped when she felt the knife touch her throat and the white sheet she was using to cover herself dropped to the floor. Lyre's expression didn't change. He still smiled that same psychotic smile that he always had when he was about to take his victim's life.

"How did you get out of that spell?! We spent days prepping th-"

"You humans are fools. You do not understand the true concept of Alchemy or magic," Lyre explained hoarsely, as his throat and missing arm were still slowly stitching themselves together and retexturing, the char flaking off in the process.

"You used salt to make that pentagram, right? It's otherwise known as Sodium Chloride, one of the chief minerals in many, many recipes and potions. The thing that your mages forgot, was that the prime ingredient in blood is Iron Oxide, which neutralizes any form of Sodium induced spell due to counter balancing their chemical properties in the spell itself," Lyre explained.

The King looked dumbfounded, to which Lyre merely scoffed.

"My older brother happens to be very intelligent and I occasionally pay attention when he talks," Lyre spoke.

The King's building rage was noticeable to the Vampire.

"How did you get blood that would have worked for that?!" Tiuras screamed, to which Lyre lifted his sword in the air and waved it, which was still coated in the blood of his earlier victims.

"Why do you think I didn't sheath them?" Lyre asked.

The King was now furious and screaming at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I CARE IF YOU OUTSMARTED US?! I STILL HAVE THIS GIRL AND I-"

Lyre swung the battleaxe with precision and connected with the hostage's shoulder, splitting her diagonally across into two pieces. She opened her mouth to scream, but it wouldn't come out due to her lungs being sliced in two, along with the rest of her body. Her lower half fell to the ground while the King held her top half in shock. Lyre's smile only grew wider.

"You actually thought that using some whore as a bargaining chip would work? I don't think you understand who you're dealing with," he spoke softly before dropping the battleaxe on the floor.

The King whimpered in fear as he dropped the other half of his whore's body and turned around to run, only to find that Lyre was already cutting him off, and the King didn't even see him move. Tiuras panicked and turned to flee towards the window, only to find that Lyre now stood in his way once more. He dropped to his knees and began to beg.

"Please! Please...don't kill me. Do you want money?" the pudgy King begged and perked up at offering Lyre a bribe.

"I can give you all of it. All of my gold and all of my women. They're yours!" the King screamed, trying to remain hopeful. Lyre leaned forward and got inches from the King's face who now stood inches from him, fully regenerated.

"Almost all of you humans are the same. Wallowing in your greed and treating this planet as if it were your possession. Gold doesn't matter to me, your highness," Lyre spat out. "Because the only thing that we care about is killing people like you, who are a proverbial shit stain on this world."

Lyre sheathed his blades on his back with both arms once more, before shoving his fingers into the King's mouth and grabbed his tongue with two claws.

"Haha. Now, you join my little collection," Lyre said with a laugh.

King Tiuras' eyes widened, before he had his tongue ripped out of his mouth by the Vampire assassin. As it flailed in Lyre's hand, he smiled, before taking his fangs and shoving them into the Kings neck, tearing into his soft flesh and spraying blood all over Lyre's face.

Lyre stood there for several minutes draining the former King's twitching body of every ounce of blood it had and making him age many years, before letting the now decrepit body fall to the ground and disperse into complete ash.

Lyre looked from the pile of decay that was King Tiuras and cast his glance up at the ceiling. He let out a long and satisfied sigh, before taking out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. Luckily, it was too thick inside of Lyre's coat to be harmed by the ethereal flame.

"Now....who's next on my wish list?" he asked himself with pure joy.

Lyre thought for a bit, and frowned.

"Damn. I should have asked him about the women, first. I mean, it's been...three days maybe? Four days?..."

"What in Equestria were you thinking?!" Celestia screamed at her younger sister, who still lay on her bed panting.

"What wast thou thinking, sister, when thine own rudeness happened allow one to march into our room uninvited, when we CLEARLY had a guest?! Such a folly is not excusable under any circumstances. It is most certainly an invasion of our privacy. Dost thou think that mayhap one should learn their proper and Royal manners?! Prithee sister, answer us!" Luna screamed using her Royal Canterlot Voice.

"I should learn more proper and Royal manners? Who was using the Royal Canterlot voice, screaming to the high heavens that hover our land while they were having personal relations with someone they barely even knew for a week?!" Celestia returned in the same volume.

Luna looked aghast.

"You think that-"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT!" a certain Vampire suddenly screamed and imitated their volume perfectly with an annoyed look on his face. Both sisters looked at him. Marius smiled.

"That's better..." he spoke with his soft and smooth voice, while letting out a long sigh after diffusing the situation.

"Marius, leave. Now!" Celestia hissed through her teeth.

Luna became furious.

"You will not leave Marius! You will stay right there," she spoke to him.

Celestia turned to her sister and glared.

"This is a matter between us. This is me, scolding you for a mistake that you made," Celestia started to lecture her sister.

"What was the mistake that you so blatantly say that I made?" Luna asked.

Celestia pointed a hoof at the Vampire in the room, who now covered his nude body with his wings.

"By being with him! Marius is not even a member of our species, Luna! Why would you choose to offer yourself to him, after knowing him for only a week?!" Celestia asked her sister loudly.

Luna cast her gaze downward towards her tangled sheets.

"We may have known each other for a week, but I feel like I've known him my entire three thousand year life. We share a connection, 'Tia. A very strong connection, and I..." Luna trailed off as her sister looked at her, still glaring.

"I feel love for him, sister. A love I have never known. Are you saying that what I feel is wrong?" Luna softly asked her sister.

Celestia looked to the huge and masculine Vampire, who was now leaning against the wall, twiddling his thumbs. He would glance up at them on occasion with his deep red eyes and look at them both, before going back to eyeing his hands.

Celestia looked to her sister.

"But he's not even a pony," Celestia spoke.

"What is your point, sister?" Luna asked softly.

"We ourselves are alicorns. There have been very few that were born like us in Equestria's history, but even still, species or race does not matter. What I feel for him is pure, and that's why I choose to share myself with him, and he with me. Love does not know such trivial words as species, race, or bloodline. He could be a buffalo and I would still care for him the same. Such is how I feel," Luna spoke to her sister with sorrow, hopeful that she would understand.

Celestia looked down to the ground, as did her sister and Marius for a good five minutes. Celestia then looked toward Marius, who had still wrapped his body in his huge bat wings. She looked at him with annoyance.

"How do you feel about her?" Celestia asked in almost a whisper to the Vampire.

Marius looked sadly to the ground.

"I just came for the doughnuts..."

A dark blue pillow enveloped in a similar colored aura was flung across the room and hit Marius in the face.

"Will you be serious Marius?" asked a slightly annoyed, yet still playful Luna. Marius chuckled a bit after levitating the pillow with his dark red aura and turned to Celestia, who was quite bemused.

"I want to know, Marius. How do you feel about my sister?" she asked in a melancholy tone, almost as if she was regretful for some reason.

"Well," Marius spoke. "I have not felt comfort for another being in a very, very.....very long time. At least, not the comfort I feel with your sister. Luna and I have a bond, and we seem to have developed it without even knowing."

Marius pointed his finger towards the balcony, which was fully open and allowed Luna's bedroom to be bathed in pale moonlight, making the surface of every object lightly shimmer.

"It's the night," Marius said softly, while looking into Celestia's eyes with true kindness, which was a look she had not yet received from the Vampire until now.

"The Princess of the Night, raising the moon and shining its beauty across your land. I have waited for the night sky to be this radiant for eons, and finally she has made it so," Marius told her. The Vampire cast his kind and heartfelt glance over to Luna, who smiled sadly as she looked into her new found love's eyes.

"As for love, I..." the Vampire trailed off, letting the silence fill the air, nothing but the sound of rushing wind inside of the room.

"I don't remember what it feels like to love, honestly. True yearning, and wanting to be with Luna is what I do feel. That inner peace. I haven't felt that since...Ysold," Marius uttered his late wife's name before looking at Celestia.

"I feel the warmth and comfort I had for Ysold...with Luna. I believe this is what love feels like, and I am certain that she feels this same way. Naivety about me and my past is not even a concern to her. There is much she does not know, and I can only hope that it would never change the way she sees me, but...I feel I am beginning to love another, once again."

Marius looked into the eyes of the Princess of the Day.

"I'm sorry if it upsets you, but I do in fact believe I am learning to love once more, and that Luna is the object of my utter affection and adoration," Marius finished.

Luna began to form tears on the edge of her eyes, while smiling lovingly towards the Vampire. She lifted her hooves and wiped her eyes.

Celestia continued to look sadly at the Vampire, before looking over to her little sister she cared so much about, watching her wipe away the tears that were beginning to form on the edges of her eyes. Celestia let out a heavy and lengthy sigh before speaking,

"I had no idea that you two could have developed such a strong bond without even knowing each other. It is truly touching... but Marius," Celestia turned her attention towards the Vampire.

"She is my little sister. I imprisoned her away in the moon for a full millennia, and I just got her back. So..." Celestia's eyes began to water, themselves. She closed them hard and pointed her head toward the ground. She tried to fight it, but the painful memories of being alone for all this time, just having her sister back, and the stress of the recent killings just added up. Now she couldn't hold it in anymore. She had to let it all out.

Celestia, Princess of the Day and four thousand year ruler of Equestria, began to sob like a foal.

"Please...don't take her away from me..." Celestia begged through her sobs. Her tears cascaded like an ethereal waterfall while tey dripped off of her snout and down onto the floor. The Princess was startled as she felt fur covered arms wrap around her and pull her into a tight embrace.

"I'm not going anywhere, 'Tia," Luna whispered into her sister's ear. The Princess of the Night was crying herself, as well. Celestia's tears matted and stained both of their coats while she sobbed, as Marius smiled at the touching moment between two sisters who truly cared for each other. He grabbed the dark blue sheets from Luna's bed while Celestia still had her eyes closed and wrapped them around himself, covering his lower extremities. Marius bolted for the sisters his huge arms embraced them in a hug before lifted them into the air, shocking them both into submission while he smiled as wide as possible.

"This is so beautiful! You have my word that I would never take your sister away Celestia. I do indeed care for her, and will protect her. This is truly wonderful. I care for all of you ponies so much, including my master, her friends, Sweetie Belle, everpony in Ponyville, your sister whom I have come to feel a love for, and now I even show affection for you! I cannot thank you enough for accepting us Celestia. You have made me truly happy," Marius spoke loudly while gushing with happiness.

Even the Stalwart and Stonewing, who were watching from the doorway, found themselves gagging at how much of a hopeless romantic the Vampire could be. Marius then noticed Celestia's expression and frowned in curiosity. He then looked at his love, who was biting her lip trying to contain her laughter while they both hovered in the air, being hoisted in an embraced by the Vampire. He had Celestia in one arm and Luna in the other hugging them both.

"What's wrong?" Marius asked Luna.

Celestia's eyes were wide as saucers and her cheeks were blazing red.

"My love, the...err, sheets fell..." Luna spoke through her chuckles.

Marius' own eyes widened as he realized he had been stark naked the entire time he was hugging them.

"Huh," Luna spoke. "I wasn't aware that Vampires could blush, Marius."

After apologizing for an hour after manhandling Celestia, while she assured him it was okay, Marius managed to make Luna laugh so hard that she snorted again, which made Celestia and Marius both snicker to themselves. Marius decided it would be better for him to keep his wings sheathed, and securely wrap Luna's sheet around his lower body this time in a knot. Pulling the last doughnut off and wiping her horn clean with a napkin; Celestia looked out from her sister's balcony. The moon was beginning to dip.

"It's nearly five in the morning," Celestia spoke. "I need to raise the sun soon."

Marius found himself intrigued.

"When you say raise the sun, do you mean actually lead it into rotation?" Marius asked Celestia, while Luna was over by her bed, remaking her sheets.

"Yes," Celestia spoke happily. "My sister and I have an innate ability to control their rotation with our magic. This comes from being born in the Platinum bloodline. We start a spell every day and night that allows the rotation to continue its, forgive the pun, celestial cycle and bring upon day and night across the entire planet after we raise them into their position," Celestia explained.

Marius smirked while staring out the balcony, bearing his fangs.

'If I wasn't sure where the Equines came from, I sure know now.' he thought to himself.

"Sister, if you please, I wish to sleep now. We are...*yawn*...rather exhausted," Luna told her sister through her yawns and dreary eyes.

Celestia gave a wicked smirk.

"I can't imagine why," Celestia spoke playfully to her sister.

Luna fund herself blushing wildly.

"Yes! Thank you! Good 'morrow sister! Be off now!" Luna yelled while Marius merely laughed at her odd display.

Celestia chuckled and headed out the door.

"Farewell. Do try and sleep peacefully, sister. I love you Lulu," Celestia told her sister lovingly from the doorway.

"I love you too 'Tia," Luna spoke to her sister. Then in a flash of ethereal mane, Celestia trotted out of the doorway and down the hall.

Stalwart and Stonewing were tired as well. They were looking forward to when the other Night Guards would come and relieve them of duty.

"Marius," Luna spoke to the Vampire, who turned to her and asked,

"Yes?"

"What time do you have to be back at Rarity's home?" Luna asked him.

"Well," Marius began as he put his finger up to his chin. "It is a Sunday morning, so I imagine she won't wake up until eleven or later. Why do you ask?"

Luna brought her hooves up and tapped them together several times lightly.

"Well, I was wondering if you-"

Luna felt the Vampire's cool and soft lips against hers, lightly pressing forward. They enveloped her lips in a gentle and tender kiss. He pulled away slowly and looked into her large, crystal blue eyes with his red gaze that somehow managed to be comforting.

"I'd love to stay and sleep with you for a little while," Marius told her softly.

Luna smiled and leaned upward to wrap her hooves around Marius' neck, press her lips into his, and kiss him passionately, sliding her tongue into his mouth and exploring it intimately. She pulled away slowly from the passionate kiss and looked over to see her door was still open.

"Good 'morrow, Stalwart and Stonewing. I apologize you had to witness such boorish behaviors on all our parts," Luna spoke to her guards sincerely.

Stalwart looked to his Princess and smiled.

"It is quite alright, Princess. Thou hast proven time and time again that you care for us and we shall guard thy love with just as much vigilance as we always have shown our most beloved Ruler of the Night," Stalwart spoke happily.

Luna smiled.

"Thank you, Stalwart Hide."

Stalwart turned to Stonewing before speaking softly so nopony could hear him.

"We should get earplugs for our next shift..."

With that, she enveloped the doors in a light blue aura and closed them softly, before wrapping the aura around the sheet on Marius, yanking it off revealing him completely.

"I need this to put on the bed," Luna said playfully. "Plus..." she started to say and trotted over to where Marius stood, motioning him to bend down. He did as he was asked and Luna leaned in so her cheek was touching his.

"There is no need to wear anything while sleeping with me, my love. Trust me," she purred seductively into the ear of the Vampire.

Marius smirked.

"My kind of girl indeed," he spoke.

The sun was barely below the horizon and the moon was descending slowly as well. A small amount of light shone in from pre-daybreak and illuminated Luna's room. The Princess of the Night lay in her bed, snuggling with the huge Vampire that she had come to find love for. Her pillows were very comfortable as they seemed to be made from satin and filled with tufts of night clouds. Luna had her head resting comfortably on Marius' chest, sleeping soundly. Marius himself had his right arm wrapped around Luna, pulling her in close while she lay beside him. Her right leg was lifted and rested gently on top Marius' legs and waistline.

The Princess of the Night had never been more comfortable while sleeping. She showed it with a large smile splayed on her face. Marius was at peace as well, comfortable and enjoying a nice rest after a long and fulfilling night.

He didn't want to be anywhere else but in that dark blue bed; resting with the mare he was growing to love more than anything else.

He finally drifted off to sleep.

SFFFT!

Marius caught an arrow with his middle and index fingers, inches away from piercing Luna's right eye.

Luna shifted lightly, lifting her head and placing it down onto Marius' chest, a comfortable smile still displayed on her lips.

Marius opened his eyes and scowled, before snapping the metal arrow in half with his fingers like it was made from ginger root.

He gently leaned his head down and kissed Luna on the cheek.

"Luna," he whispered lightly.

She didn't wake.

"Luna," he said a little louder.

Luna shifted in her sleep and woke, wetting her lips and smacking them together. She let out a long sigh.

"Yes, my love?" she asked sweetly.

"I hate to be a bother Luna, but someone just tried to kill you," Marius said kindly.

Luna's eyes shot open.

"What?!"

Marius then smelled something familiar.

He jumped out of bed before shoving his claws into his neck, yanking hard and tearing open a large hole that gushed blood all over his body. Quickly gathering all over his body, the blood began to take form as his long, black coat with his signature Masquerade Ankhs.

Luna and Marius ran down the hall, with both Stalwart and Stonewing following closely behind. Luna and her guards had to take to the air with her wings so she could keep up with Marius' fast pace.

"I can't believe a citizen of Equestria would try and end my life. We haven't even had anypony attempt to kill another in thousands of years," Luna spoke with disbelief as she flew beside Marius.

"Maybe, but they could be related to the small outbreak of killings that have been happening recently across this land," Marius spoke.

Luna was shocked.

"You knew about them? How?! My sister and I agreed not to tell any-"

"You didn't need to tell me, Luna. I could tell by the increase of security in Ponyville along with everyone being on edge here as well. I didn't even have to use telepathy to see there were ponies being killed," Marius told Luna while he was practically jogging down the hallway. "Besides, I can smell it. The scent of wrongful killing is thick, and I can sense it for miles upon miles. It's intoxicating."

Luna was a bit put off along with her guards at Marius' description of the deaths. She looked at the stern expression that her lover had displayed on his face.

'He's seems so predatory. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. Marius is a Vampire, after all. He drinks blood for sustenance.' Luna thought to herself as she flew beside her lover headed down the hallway. Luna then noticed her sister flying in up ahead.

"'Tia!" Luna yelled towards her sister, before she flew faster to catch up with her. Marius quickened his pace and was soon by them both.

"Sister, someone attempted to harm me just now! I believe they intended to take my life in the process," Luna told her sister.

Celestia gave a look of determination to her sister.

"I know, sister. The fools just did the same with me, only they botched their attempts. They sent a mere pegasus to try and kill the ruler of all Equestria," Celestia told her sister. "He managed to get away after trying to kill me with a curved knife of some sort. I levitated him and threw him against the wall. I was about to cast a spell that would incapacitate him, but he flew out of my balcony before I could."

Luna looked horrified. She gulped before asking,

"Who in Equestria would attempt to end our lives, sister?"

"I don't know Lulu," Celestia answered. "Whoever they are, we will make sure they leave here without harming our subjects. This I am sure of." Celestia turned to Marius, who was beside her as she flew down the hall.

"You sent me a telepathic message to warn me, didn't you?" Celestia asked. Marius nodded his head.

"Indeed I did. I made us head this way..." Marius spoke to her before turning his gaze forward, eyes widening as they came across what they were searching for.

"Because I smelt fresh blood," the Vampire finished. Celestia brought a hoof up to her mouth as she looked down the hallway at the sight, horrified of what she found. Luna and her guards quickly widened their eyes and looked mortified themselves.

"Shining!" shrieked a pink alicorn with a blade held against her throat.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" screamed a white unicorn with a blue mane and tail. He winced from moving his leg.

On the floor lay the body of one Sun Flower, the guard that had argued with Stalwart and Stonewing from the night before. He had stab wounds all over his body, including his neck and chest. His crimson blood had pooled along the floor and collected at Shining Armor's hooves. Encircling Shining were three large earth ponies, their coats a dull brown and their Cutie Marks blotted out by what looked like ink, just like the unicorn holding Cadance hostage. They all had daggers placed firmly in their mouths and had ganged up on Shining, stabbing and slashing at his legs and sides which were very vulnerable without armor. He levitated his spear up valiantly and scowled at the magenta coated unicorn that had a sword pressed up against his wife's throat, ready and begging to be drawn against flesh and stain her soft pink fur with innocent blood.

"What? You don't want us to kill your pretty wife? Well, since we didn't really succeed in what we came here to do, which was spill the blood of those Royal whores that you call Princesses, I think we'll have to settle with taking this one as a hostage," spoke the sinister magenta unicorn. "Now, since both of your majesties are here, I can tell you up close that I'm taking this precious thing with me."

The unicorn pressed his blade up against Cadance's throat harder, causing her to whimper and a thin stream of blood to drip down her neck. Shining's eyes widened and he raised his spear at the unicorn, only to be stabbed in the back of the leg by one of the encircling earth ponies. Shining let out a cry of agony as the blade carved through his flesh.

Marius' eyes narrowed at the unicorn.

"How dare you!" screamed Celestia.

"You come into my castle, try and make an attempt on our lives, and then say you're going to take a Princess as hostage? Nopony in Equestria has ever even attempted to kill another pony, not even Discord tried to take the life of another. Who do you think you are?!" the Princess of the Day fumed.

"Now, now Princess," the magenta unicorn spoke with his high pitched voice. "No spoiling the big surprise just yet."

"You..." hissed Luna through her teeth, before a clawed hand rested upon her shoulder and lightly patted it. She looked back at the Vampire, who merely smiled happily at her.

'Trust me.' Marius spoke inside her head. She stared at him blankly for a few seconds before nodding. He moved his hand off her shoulder.

"If you let her go, you can have me! I swear I'm just as valuable to you! Please, don't take her!" Shining Armor screamed and began to feel faint from loss of blood.

"HA!" yelled the magenta unicorn, while the other ponies around Shining began to chuckle. "You actually compare yourself to a Princess? How pathetic," the unicorn mocked him.

There were several moments of silence in the hallway, where the crowd stood in front of Shining and Cadance's open bedroom. Cadance continued to struggle in the grasp of the horrendous unicorn who seemed to talk and act like no other pony in Equestria.

"Excuse me," lightly spoke Marius, making everypony in the hallway fixate their attention on him. "I'm going to ask this once, nicely; Let Princess Cadance go, and I will let you walk away," spoke the huge and intimidating Vampire with a voice that could have been interpreted as kindness.

The unicorn holding Cadance threw his head back in laughter.

"I gotta say, I haven't seen anything like you before. Nice eyes ya got there. Do you do that so they see in the dark?" he asked, toying with the Vampire. The villainous unicorn looked at the ponies encircling Shining, and twisted his head towards the Princess's. Obliging, they charged at Luna and Celestia with their blades ready. The Night Guards jumped in front of their Princess's and were ready to defend them just as Luna and Celestia flared their wings while readying a spell. Suddenly, Marius no longer stood behind them. He was now in front of both Princess's and had all three ponies jump in the air and plunge their daggers into his chest, which he welcomed quite literally with open arms.

All three ponies dropped down to the ground and looked up in shock, as the Vampire pulled the daggers out of his chest, dropping each on the floor. Marius stood and looked down at the earth ponies while scowling, before casting his glance at the crazed unicorn that was inches away from slitting Cadance's throat out of desperation.

"I told you to let her go but you didn't listen, you made an attempt on the life of the only one I have truly come to care for in many ages and her sister, and you killed one of their most trusted and well respected guards." Marius told them, devoid of any emotion. "You will regret this decision..."

Marius stretched his left arm out to the side and opened his hand.

"...Reaver....come."

After the Vampire had stretched his arm out, everypony stood silent for a moment.

"Reaver?" spoke Celestia.

Boom...Boom...Boom...

"Wait....what is that?" the unicorn asked the Vampire, who still held his hand out to the side.

He didn't answer, and impacts became louder and louder with each passing moment.

"Tell me what that is now or I'll kill this Princess!" screamed the unicorn.

Boom...Boom...Boom...

Marius smirked, bearing his fangs.

BOOM!

Smashing through the stone wall like it was plastic and sailing through the air, a massive black sword spun in a circle before landing perfectly in Marius' hand.

Everypony, including the assailants, were shocked by the sudden appearance of the blade.

The sword itself had a wide, black blade that seemed to emit a crackling, red surge of energy that looked similar to an electrical current or a lightning bolt. The grip was a smooth steel, while the guard was a huge skull with glowing red eyes that matched Marius' perfectly. The skull had three spikes coming from each side and curved down towards the blade, while the pommel was a single, large ruby.

All in all, the sword stood about six and a half feet tall and looked absolutely terrifying.

Marius twirled the sword in his hands as if it was as light as a feather before bringing the blade to his face.

"Did you miss me, old friend?" asked the Vampire.

The sword emitted a low, demonic growl in response.

The three earth ponies stood and stared up at the Vampire.

With a thought, the blade shot out an arc of pure Vampiric energy, electrocuting the pony assailants.

The Princess's and their guards, including Shining Armor, watched as the earth ponies all screamed in agony before dropping to the ground, their fur charred but still alive.

The Vampire stepped forward and neared in on the last pony, who still held a knife up to Cadance's throat.

The unicorn was about to speak, but was cut off as Marius suddenly appeared beside him and wrapped his hand around the pony's neck. As Marius hoisted the sinister pony up into the air, Cadance ran away from them as fast as she could and collapsed into her husband's arms, weeping. In one motion, Marius took the blade called Reaver and shoved it through the chest of the pony, impaling him completely and sticking him to the wall.

"Marius!" screamed Luna at the utter act of brutality, until she saw the pure energy emanating from the blade. Luna watched, along with her sister, the guards, Shining, and Cadance as the red aura enveloped the unicorn's wound and healed around the blade while he was still impaled. Marius looked at the pony, who had blood gushing out of his mouth after having his chest and several organs skewered.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Marius asked. "The Vampiric magic is healing you while I already pierced several of your vital organs, turning you into a wall ornament. I can't allow any of you to die, though. You see," Marius spoke before looking into the eyes of the magenta pony. "I made a promise to my master that I wouldn't kill anypony. It's a promise I intend to keep. Now...why are you here?"

The magenta pony winced in pain before coughing up more blood. He gave a sinister look to the Vampire.

"Nadu Alal Mul'ri Ma Na'na," spoke the unicorn through his spitting and gurgling.

Everypony became curious at the foreign language, yet Marius had a completely different reaction. Marius' eyes widened as far as possible at the language that he thought dead.

Up until now, there was one thing that remained a constant in the Vampire's mind. That was the past was long buried, and there was nothing left of the human race, or his race for that matter. Nothing would ever come back to haunt him and cause harm to Equestria in any way.

He was wrong.

Marius yanked the blade out of the pony's chest, prompting the unicorn to scream in pain before he shoved his hand against the throat of the unicorn pulsating energy into his body so the huge hole in his chest stitched itself back together.

"Please stop," said Cadance, who even though held hostage and nearly was killed by the pony, didn't think he deserved more pain.

"Marius, she is right....please..." Luna started to say but didn't finish. She looked into her lover's eyes. No longer was he the kind and compassionate, yet silly and playful Vampire she knew. She recognized that horrible look in his eyes, and it seemed to paralyze everypony in the room. Luna remembered it as the look he wore when she asked him about the Deep Realm.

It was a look of pure hatred, forged from ages of pain and agony. His soft glowing eyes now blazed with pure rage and the intent to murder. His expression even seemed to make the pony he was interrogating shake from fear while being held in the air by the throat

"I want you to listen to me..." seethed the Vampire through an evil scowl.

"I don't know how you learned that tongue, nor do I know who sent you here and why you act with murderous intention, which is the opposite of how every single pony I have seen so far...what I do know is this;" Marius spoke as his face was mere inches away from the pony's face.

Celestia, Luna, and everypony around them merely watched and didn't utter a single word, for they now feared even speaking to the Vampire. They also were concerned about the well-being of the unicorn that Marius now held by the throat. Marius held out his sword and pointed it in the direction of Luna and the others. The blood that was on the blade seemed to be dissipating, as if the blade was greedily drinking every drop.

"If any more of your clan touches one hair one any of their heads, nay even attempts to come within fifty miles of this castle again....everyone you know. If you have cared about them at some point or are in association with them...I will kill them. There will be no rock that you could hide under, because I will find you. You tried to assassinate the first one I have loved for thousands of years and those dear to her. If you try this again, I will slaughter you all without hesitation," hissed the furious Vampire to the now trembling unicorn. The other ponies watched as Marius struck fear into the heart of the would-be leader of the assassins.

"I have told you the consequences and I want you to learn this name well: Marius, the Vampire King. It will be the name that will lead to all of your deaths if you attempt to hurt those I care about. Tell this to your superiors," Marius hissed. His eyes seemed to burn with that deep and sinister red glow, but for a brief moment, his black iris and pupils seemed to morph and expand ever so slightly, signifying something inside him was trying to get out.

Something very dark.

Marius twitched slightly and he opened his mouth, his fangs extending into extreme length. He used his true voice to speak to the pony next without moving his mouth, which brought the unicorn on the precipice of wetting himself.

"You will all. Know. My. Wrath."

Everypony in that hallway had chills running up their spine, Luna no exception. They remembered him using his true voice at the party, but still, when he spoke with the voice of thousands, all dripping with pain and anguish as he didn't even speak with his mouth, it was monstrous. He just continued to bear his long and sharp fangs in a deadly look towards the unicorn.

"Now BEGONE!" Marius screamed with his normal voice once more, as he enveloped the speechless pony in a dark red glow. In a brilliant flash of magic, the three earth ponies and the unicorn were gone.

Everypony stood and looked at the Vampire who still seethed with rage, before the huge sword he called Reaver completely liquefied into a dark red. The liquid snaked into the edges of Marius' fingernails, returning to its sheath. Marius turned to look at them with his scornful gaze, causing everypony to flinch.

Marius' demeanor instantly changed into one of kindness and gentility.

"I trust that you are alright, Princess Cadance?" he asked the pink alicorn with happiness.

She didn't answer. All she could do was nod her head dumbly towards the Vampire who terrified her to her core, yet seemed as gentle as a kitten. He smiled at her happily.

"Good. Now, let's heal your husband."

It had been an hour since the Vampire had healed Shining, and all mourned for the loss of Sun Flower. They had his body taken away properly and planned on having a glorious funeral, honoring his bravery and valor. Cadance was still recovering and calming down, so Shining took her back to their room and comforted her. Stalwart Hide and Stonewing had decided it was a long night, and finally headed to the castle barracks for some rest. Luna, Celestia, and Marius all now stood gathered in Celestia's chambers.

"Do you think whoever sent them here to harm us is who is behind the murders, and the sudden change in characteristics of the creatures?" Luna asked to her sister, who seemed to be contemplating to herself, still deeply in pain from the loss of her guard, Sun Flower.

"There is no question," Marius spoke, gaining the attention of the two Princess'. "I didn't need to view his memories to see that their sudden appearance and behavior was just too odd to be coincidental. There is no question that they were involved, somehow."

Luna walked over to her lover and threw her arms around him, prompting him to embrace her comfortingly.

"You scared me...you know that?" she said softly with a small chuckle.

"I know. I'm sorry, Luna. I didn't mean to intentionally, but such is the way I am. I would kill them before they harmed you or your sister, my master, my master's friends. Anypony for that matter. I am so sorry you had to witness my anger. Forgive me?" Marius asked softly into her ear while they embraced.

Luna pulled away and gave him a gentle peck on his lips before smiling.

"No need to ask, my love," she whispered.

"Where did you take them, Marius?" Celestia asked the Vampire curiously.

"Well, I teleported them to the middle of the forest. Why do you ask?"

Celestia narrowed her eyes.

"I want to know who did this," she hissed. "I want to know who tried to harm us...and killed one of my most trusted guards."

Marius and Luna walked over to Celestia. The Vampire gently rested his hand on Celestia's shoulder. She looked up at him sadly.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Celestia. I can't say for sure who they are, but I do know this: That language he spoke was by a race long dead, or so I thought. They were somewhat human in my time. They had the ability to morph their body into a large, wolf like creature. If this bestial race is still alive," Marius let out a long sigh before finishing,

"Prepare for a war..."

Celestia and Luna both looked to each other with shock. They had never had a war where mass killing could be a possibility. The worse they ever had was their battle between the divided sections of Equestria. One for eternal night, and one for the light of day. They both looked to Marius, hopeful.

"What should we do to prepare, if they do still exist?" Luna asked.

Marius took his hand off Celestia's shoulder and crossed his arms.

"Well...Celestia should gather up every other leader she knows. Griffin, Dragon, Minotaur, and every other civilized race in Equestria. Plan your defense and lay low until then Princess, for if they are indeed alive, the ponies that were here to protect you are not even close to their savagery and skill, yet these ponies were normal and not different in the slightest. The assassins were not beasts whatsoever. Your guards need to be trained more properly. Teach them not only the art of defense, but also help teach them to kill when necessary. I will help you do this in every way I can to prepare, plus I imagine my threat and name will keep them at bay for quite a while. First thing's first, though," Marius explained to them before looking out Celestia's balcony at the sun that she had just rose not even an hour ago.

"I have to find my little brother."

This was how it all began. The tale of a man who long ago traded his soul for vengeance, before being brought into a world of utter happiness and peace. Before you put yourself in his position, ask yourself this: What would you do if the ghosts of your past threatened to destroy those which you had come to love? For the Vampire King...it was a simple answer.
Protect them at all costs.

End of Feral: Act 1