Feral

"What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly. That is the first law of nature."
-Voltaire

12,343 years ago, during the Age of Technology...

Ding.

The sound the phone made in her ear was a clear indication that someone had called in while she was on the line. She reached her finger over to the numeric pad on her desk and punched in the pound key, before pressing the number one. She spoke into the phone,

"You've reached the office of Mr. Giovanni, please hold," she told the person on the other end of the line as her finger still hovered over the pound key. She quickly clicked it once again and continued the conversation she was previously having on the other line.

"I understand that your time is very valuable sir, and I wouldn't want to waste any more of it, but Mr. Giovanni is a very busy man as well. He's wanted to schedule a meeting for weeks to discuss the proper use of your Graphite in..." she trailed off as the other voice on the line began speaking.

A young girl dressed in a denim mini-skirt and a cut-off leather jacket looked up over her cell phone and to the receptionist talking on the phone.

"Mom," the girl spoke, trying to get the attention of her mother who was attempting to schedule a meeting for Mr. Giovanni. The older woman lifted her finger to hush her daughter as she spoke on the phone. After sitting for at least a full minute while listening to the business man on the other end of line chat, she gave a defeated sigh.

"Yes, Mr. Newman. I understand," she spoke "I'll tell him that we will just have to plan around your schedule."

She then put the phone back on the receiver before turning and talking to her daughter, whose fingers were flying on her cell phone. She was no doubt texting her "friends" that her mother had deemed horrible influences on her.

"Yes, Summer? What did you want?" the platinum blonde woman asked her oldest child, who was nearly her spitting image.

Summer rolled her eyes before crossing her legs and making her back more lax in the waiting chair she sat in.

"When are we gunna get to leave?" the teenage girl asked with annoyance. "If I miss Sasha's birthday party tonight, I am going to be so pissed."

"Watch your language," Vicky spoke crossly to her child. "And we won't miss it." She picked up a stack of stapled papers on her desk and began to tap them on the surface of said desk, before shuffling them back into a beige folder marked with the name; Mr. Gregory W. Newman. "We'll probably just be a little late is all. I don't get off for another hour, and Mr. Giovanni is still in his board meeting."

Her beautiful yet naive daughter wrinkled her nose and blew a single strand of blonde hair out of her eyes, before staring back at her miniature keyboard.

"I don't even know why you try, Mom. You've been here for how many years, serving that guy his coffee, getting his dry cleaning, and doing whatever he wants you to do? But he still hasn't given you a single raise. He's a greedy jerk, mom."

Vicky was wearing black heels to accent her white blouse and business skirt, which made it a bit awkward to actually have to slide the rolling desk chair she sat in. Nonetheless, she slid her chair back to where it was in front of her computer.

"Summer, you know we struggle as it is with money," Vicky explained. She then craned her neck and glanced towards the door behind her desk. She assessed whether anyone could hear her before whispering across the desk to her daughter, "Look sweetie, I know it's not the best job, but with your father not working and your graduation coming up in a few years, it's the best I can do. Now please, be quiet or he and your voice will carry and Mr. Giovanni will hear you along with his colleagues."

The young blonde merely gave an aggravated sigh and slumped in her chair. Her thumbs once again went to the screen of her cell phone. Vicky moved the mouse on her desk for her computer, which brought back the log in screen as clear as day. Her password was one she could always remember and very close to her heart. She quickly typed in her daughter's birthday, sliding her fingers across the black ergonomic keyboard. The blank blue background of her desktop popped up. She brought up a spreadsheet that she had been working on for all the scheduled meetings for her boss, and began typing the information from a large notepad of appointments into the spreadsheet.

As Vicky worked, Summer sat in silence over by the wall adjacent from her mother. The receptionist glanced over to the seat which contained her daughter, and she quickly gave an embarrassed cough.

The door to her left and out of her field of vision opened quietly, without Vicky noticing. She whispered to her daughter,

"Summer, pull down your skirt."

Summer rolled her eyes like any typical annoyed teenage girl.

"Why, mom? Isn't it just me and you in here?"

Vicky opened her mouth and was about to inform her daughter that the bottom thread of her underwear was showing barely from underneath her skirt, but a deep male voice cut her off.

"Even if it were just you and your mother, it is very unladylike to sit in a manner such as that," the smooth voice rang throughout the near deathly-quiet waiting room. Vicky and Summer both jumped at the voice and now stood looking at a large man who now stood in front of Vicky's desk, ready to be waited on.

Actually, the word large didn't do the man justice.

He was massive. Roughly eight feet tall and wearing a black suit with a dark red undershirt and tie. His hair was a dark brown; nearly black. He gave a smirk down at them as they gawked.

"I do not mean any offense, of course. Just making a gentlemanly observation."

Vicky shook her head and recomposed herself while Summer pulled down the bottom of her skirt some, that way she wouldn't be as embarrassed if someone else just happened to walk through those elevator doors across the room.

"Um..." Vicky spoke, trying to collect her thoughts. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked the large man, looking into his deep blue eyes.

He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Appointment?" he asked.

Vicky reached to her left and grabbed the stack of papers she was using as a guideline for her spreadsheet.

"Yes. I'm afraid the Mr. Giovanni does not like having visitors without them making an appointment first. Did you call and schedule one with him?" she asked while staking the papers and looking up at the mystery man.

He merely smiled down at her.

"I'm afraid I did not," he spoke.

"Oh, well..." Vicky told him as she searched her desk for something to write with. She glanced at her daughter quickly to find her looking up at the huge man from over her phone, just in time for her to knock over her cup of coffee all over her appointment sheet.

"Ahh!" she exclaimed softly as she jumped up out of her chair. She frantically grabbed the notebook which held the papers and waved it in the air. Summer chuckled under her breath at the display of her mother's clumsiness, unknowing of what would happen to her because of one mistake.

'Dammit! If Mr. Giovanni finds out I ruined this week's appointments, he's going to...' Vicky thought and winced as she wafted the papers in the air. 'Hit me again.'

"Are you alright miss?" the large, handsome man asked the receptionist.

"Oh, I'm just wonderful. Peachy," she spoke sarcastically. "Aside from burning myself and just ruining every appointment my boss had this week, I'm doing just fine."

The man frowned.

"How interesting..." he spoke.

Vicky brought the notebook up to her face and noticed that all the work she had put into writing every single meeting down was washed away, and the majority of the pages were now soggy. She threw the notebook in the trash.

"Great," she spoke with a tone of disappointment. She looked up at the man.

"Well, Mr. Giovanni is convening with his board sir, and since you didn't make an appointment I can't do much for you other than tell you to just come back another day, but make sure you schedule first," she explained as she slumped back down into her chair and ran her fingers through her long, platinum blonde hair.

"Hmm," the man let an intrigued sound escape his lips. He looked over to her daughter.

The man stared at the young girl, his curious yet unlustful gaze running down her short denim skirt, her black skate shoes, and her wild yet shimmering blonde hair. She reeked of hairspray and cheap perfume, yet she had an innocent look about her. It was almost as if she put on the mask of a hotheaded teenager for a facade, to impress her friends.

The man smiled gently.

"Umm...Was there anything else you needed help with?" Vicky asked while looking at the relatively young man who was gawking at her teenage daughter. He didn't answer her question, and instead said something entirely unrelated.

"You love your child, do you not?"

The middle-aged woman began to grow worried. The huge man looked back to her to see the look of concern she had for the threatening tone he just used. He quickly realized what she thought.

"Oh no, I didn't mean anything harmful. I swear," he spoke while waving his hands in his defense at Vicky's confused stare. "It's just that I see that you really care for your daughter, and I admire that immensely."

Vicky cocked her eyebrow at the strange behavior of the huge man.

"Of course. Isn't that what being a mother is all about? Loving your family and friends is part of being human."

The man stared at the ground and chuckled through his lips.

"Hmhm. You would think so, wouldn't you?" he spoke. "Unfortunately, the majority of your kind seems to think otherwise. They mask their true intentions with a facade of false caring, only to further their agendas in the short amount of time they have left in this world. It's like an art form to most of them, using the ones who care about them to their advantage. One of the many flaws I loathe about the majority of your race."

The room was dead quiet for a while, an awkward silence building in the waiting room that was palpable enough to be cut like a gourmet butter. All the while, both Vicky and Summer stared at the man looking at the ground.

"I'm...sorry sir, but what was your name again?" Vicky asked.

The man brought his head up and looked into the woman's eyes with a deathly serious expression. It was almost as if his radiant blue eyes were staring into her very soul.

"My name is of no importance, Victoria," he told her. At the sound of his voice, the light coming from all the fixtures that adorned the white walls dimmed slightly, giving the entire room an orange glow. "What is important is that you and your daughter get out of this building immediately."

Both Victoria and Summer glanced at each other with worried expressions. Summer slowly put her phone back in her purse while Victoria reached down slowly. She pressed the security alarm very slowly and carefully, making sure the man didn't notice.

"Sir, I work here in this office why would I-"

"Want to get out of this building?" he cut her off. "Because in a few minutes your employer will be dead, just like the security that you attempted to contact with that silent alarm."

Vicky felt her stomach drop, and a cold chill ran down her spine.

"Wh...What?" was all she could muster out.

In a flash, the huge man appeared behind her desk. She turned quickly and looked up at the man with terror.

"Mom!" Summer screamed, and her mother turned around just in time to see the intimidating man inches away from her face. The way he instantly appeared behind her, it was almost as if he decided to teleport behind her.

"Mom!" Summer shouted in worry, and Vicky twisted behind her desk and grabbed a sharp pen. She swung her arm in an attempt to jam the pen inside her apparent assailant.

He caught her by the wrist before she could bring the pen down.

'Why are you being frantic? There is no need for this.' the man's smooth voice could be heard in her mind.

Vicky gasped.

"Wha....Did...you do that?" she asked. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, before speaking into the deepest reaches of her thoughts once more,

'Listen to me; I'm not going to hurt you or your daughter in any way. You have my word. Although, if you do not leave this building immediately, I will not be able to guarantee your safety. I understand this man has been violent with you and if you left, he would be furious, but I promise you that you will never have to worry about him harming you again. There will be a short man downstairs just outside the door. He will be wearing an odd looking leather outfit and hood. He will also have two swords strapped to his back. I want you to tell him that I sent you down. He will give you the money you need to live happily and healthy while supporting your family, even without employment. Now, leave at once Victoria.' the voice echoed throughout her head.

Vicky looked down to the ground.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The man smirked.

"Just an upstanding citizen."

Vicky ran over to her daughter who watched the whole spectacle with terrified curiosity.

"Mom, what-" Summer began to ask, but the jostle of being led to the elevator by her mother jarred her out of the question.

They quickly rushed to the elevator hand in hand, Vicky more nervous than ever about the sudden life threatening situation. As she got in the elevator with Summer and frantically pressed the one button over and over again, Summer realized she forgot something.

"Mom, my purse! It has my phone and everything in it!" the girl spoke. As soon as those words escaped her mouth, the man appeared before them with an outstretched hand, holding her purse. Summer grabbed the purse from him as he offered it back to her and began to thank him. She didn't get a chance to before he spoke,

"Remember, always cherish each other."

The elevator doors closed as they caught their last glimpse of the man...and he was smiling.

Across the waiting room and through the door leading to the conference room, Mr. Giovanni was concluding a meeting with several of his associates. A rather plump man in the middle of the long table began to yell,

"I don't see why we should have to entrust them with the valuable resources this company was built on! This is a firearms company, so why should we give weapons to people who aren't even human?!" An older colored gentleman across from him answered crossly,

"We supply them so they don't kill us! Why else would we? We have to think of the future of Giovanni Munitions, not be more agreeable with our pride. Are you that foolish?"

"Everyone calm down." Mr. Giovanni spoke with his raspy voice. He was not old, but was in his mid to late thirties. Mainly, it was all the constant nicotine use that caused his voice to be so raspy. "We have held a contract with Walpurgis for years, and no one even knows it exists. I assure you, our standing with the Vampires is very firm in trust. We warrant them modern weaponry, and in turn we gain profit and immunity. As for what is right or whether dealing with them is right or wrong, let's be honest here. We are business men, correct? " the sly man asked his associates. They all looked to one another and nodded their head in agreement.

He smiled a smile more crooked then one could possibly imagine.

"Then we have to think about what pays, not ethics. Our budget comes first, everyone. Every other human life they extinguish does not."

"How admirable of you." a terrifying voice came from the walls of the conference room, frightening everyone inside.

The doors to the conference room swung open, revealing the large man who let Mr. Giovanni's receptionist and her daughter escape with their lives intact.

Every single man and woman in the room looked dumbstruck as they looked up at the intimidating man.

"Who are you?" Mr. Giovanni asked, hair standing on edge.

The large man looked across the room with a smile.

"I come to kill every one of you on behalf of the Vampire race."

The room became extremely cold.

"I...Is th...this how the Vampire King does things? He sends a minion to handle his business for him?" Mr. Giovanni spoke, trying to seem intimidating, but did a horrible job of masking his terror.

"Actually, no. He prefers to handle his business himself," the man spoke. Everyone's eyes widened at what he spoke. Before them, the black suit that Marius wore melted into a long black overcoat. His blue eyes began to change back into a solid, blood red glow and his fangs extended once more. In seconds, the massive Vampire King stood before them, and he brought with him their imminent death.

He gave them a fanged smirk, before lifting his hand into the air.

"As he has always done."

Marius' hand exploded, and from the stump of his wrist, hundreds of long strands of dead blood flew through the air. The strands solidified and impaled every single man and woman in the conference room. A woman ran for the door, only to have her eyes punctured and explode from being impaled, along with having several strands puncture through her chest, legs, and throat. She fell lifeless to the ground after becoming a human pincushion and her freshly spilled blood seeped out onto the ground. Others were punctured, stabbed, and some even had their bellies and chest split open, their innards falling onto the ground and coating the former white carpet in a purple viscera.

All the while, the Vampire King never moved an inch. Twelve men and woman now lay dead on the ground, and Marius retracted his blood back into the stump of where his right hand was, before quickly regrowing it. Mr. Giovanni was still alive and fumbling through his colleague's mangled corpses in fear.

"Please spare me! Why are you doing this?!" the corporate mogul screamed at the top of his lungs.

Marius sauntered across the room as he reached down and grabbed the man violently by his throat, before lifting him up to eye level.

"Because you deserve it, you greedy disgusting creature," Marius spoke before letting a red current of plasmic energy course through Mr. Giovanni's body, electrocuting him and causing him intense pain.

"Aaaaaagggghhh!" the human screamed through having his throat squeezed by the hand of the Vampire. Marius looked into the eyes of the man.

"I will manage your company after you are dead. You need not worry," Marius told him. "I had planned on killing you quickly with the others and not making you suffer. But after learning how violent you were with an innocent woman who just wanted to support her family..." he trailed off.

Snap

"AAAAAGGGHHH!"

In a quick motion, Marius struck Mr. Giovanni's back and snapped all the vertebrate in his spine. Marius then wrapped his huge hands around the human's face, and looked into his eyes. Marius was so close; the human could smell blood on his icy cold breath. The pooled blood around the room began to move towards the Vampire's feet and meld with the black boots of his outfit, becoming one with him and helping appease his thirst.

"Now, stare into my eyes, and know the meaning of true agony," the Vampire whispered. Mr. Giovanni was shaking, sweat streaming down his face. The human looked into the eyes of the Vampire and saw his black pupils expand and darkness cover the deep red glow of his eyes. Marius' mouth began to stretch and expand as his fangs grew incredibly long.

"M-Monster..." were the last words Mr. Giovanni, before he viewed things that were not meant to be viewed by mortal eyes. His vision went black and his organs liquefied before oozing out every of every bodily orifice.

At this point, death would have been a blessing for the human...

"Peeka-boo!" the black alicorn yelled goofily as he brought his hooves out of his face.

"Hehehe!" the little foal inside the cradle giggled.

Luna and the girls all smiled at Marius' silliness while he played with the child. They had been traveling for hours since the train left in the morning, and had been talking with the passengers all the way up to the evening hours. The crusaders were currently taking a nap after getting into mischief this afternoon, and ruining half of Rarity's outfits she brought on the trip with a chocolate milkshake. Rarity was appalled but everyone else guffawed at her overreacting for a few silly outfits being ruined. Marius was laughing along with Luna, until his master ordered him to wash the dresses that were ruined. The Vampire wasn't too happy about that.

Now, in the evening, everyone had calmed down and sat discussing small talk. Rarity and Spike were cuddling in their seat, as were Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Twilight was chatting with Rarity while Spike was listening to them converse, and Fluttershy was reading a book she borrowed from the library for the trip. Pinkie was chatting with Luna about the things that the castle chefs cooked for royalty, and Marius was playing with the foal of one of the passengers.

"Bllllpph bwah bwah bwaaaah. You're so adorable; I could just eat you up!" Marius spoke to the little foal. The little cream colored unicorn foal looked up at the Vampire with her large green eyes and continued giggling. The foal's mother looked up at the huge alicorn nervously. Marius returned a sheepish smile.

"Of course, that's a figure of speech. I would never eat your foal, I swear."

The young mare returned his odd statement with laughter.

"My, you really like children don't you?" the mare asked.

"Indeed he does," a soft voice spoke, approaching the Marius and the mare.

The mare became even more nervous than before.

"I'll have to agree with my companion on this. Your child is quite adorable, isn't she?" the Princess of the Night spoke as she smiled happily and outstretched her hoof to the foal. The little unicorn baby opened her mouth and began gumming Princess Luna's silver slipper.

"T-Thank you P-Princess..." she spoke.

Marius and Luna both cocked an eyebrow.

"Does us being here intimidate you?" Marius asked. The mare scratched the back of her mane.

"Well, I mean...Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria and you, no doubt you're royalty. It's enough to make a normal pony like me and the rest of the passengers on the train be nervous. I don't know whether I'm supposed to relax or bow. Hehehe," the cream-colored mare spoke. Marius and Luna looked to each other and smiled.

"Trust us, you can relax. We just enjoy taking vacations now and again, don't we dear?" Marius said and winked at Luna, before smacking her flank with his hoof.

Luna's eyes became wide and her cheeks blushed red. She looked back at Marius angrily.

"You...I'm going to hurt you." she told the Vampiric alicorn threateningly. Marius merely extended his tongue out at her and smiled.

"You do, and I'll tell everyone you use the Royal Canterlot voice when you climax," he threatened her in return. Luna's jaw dropped, appalled that he would repeat that in front of a total stranger.

"Umm...I think I'll just leave you two alone now," the embarrassed mare spoke before rolling her child's cradle back to her assigned car. Luna still sat in the middle of the car, shocked, before smacking Marius across the face with her hoof.

"You are awful, Marius!" she told him, playful yet extremely embarrassed. The girl's, who witnessed the whole spectacle, just giggled. Marius rubbed his cheek.

"I know, dear." he spoke. Marius leaned forward to share a light kiss with Luna, softly caressing her lips with his. Luna still sulked about being embarrassed in front of everyone, but she could not stay angry at her Vampiric lover for long. The way he kissed her, it made her realize that no matter what he did, she would always see him as her goofy, yet foreboding love.

Little did she know just how wrong she was.

"Well, I think I shall get a few hours of sleep before night falls." Marius told everyone.

"What time will you be getting up, dear?" Rarity asked, careful not to be too loud and wake the sleeping Sweetie Belle asleep on her left side in the seat.

"Most likely after you decide to go to sleep yourself," Marius told them. "Tomorrow, I shall search for...sustenance. I've been feeling particularly thirsty these past few days."

The girls gave odd glances to each other. Marius rolled his eyes.

"No, I won't be asking to feed on any of you. I'll probably take some from an animal, but not enough to render death."

Sighs of relief came from every one of them in unison.

Marius turned and headed back towards the room he and Luna were assigned by the conductor to get some rest.

"Goodnight everypony!" Marius spoke.

"Goodnight!" they all returned.

Marius smirked and shook his head.

'Oh brother, I wonder how you will react to these ponies and their kindness. For that matter, how will you adapt?' the Vampire thought to himself.

Elsewhere, miles across the sea and deep within the heart of the large, bronze castle of the Griffon Capitol, a concrete coffin sat in waiting.

And its occupant, was very hungry.