Feral

"The child's naive dream of life is the only dream worth having."
-Marty Rubin

Celestia sat in the large throne room looking at the photos that her scout had brought her. She held a slightly stern expression while sifting through the photos with her magic. The warm rays of her sun in the morning could be felt through the stained glass windows depicting various events and images representing Equestrian history. Normally, it would be a nice and pleasant Thursday morning where different ponies would come to her bearing their political concerns and talk about minor issues that concerned them. More funding for a certain charity. Designing a new banner for the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant in a few months. Even an occasional request for Celestia to speak at the opening of a new business that was beneficial to Canterlot, but never did she expect to do what she was doing now. Not in her entire four thousand year rule.

The Princess sat on her large maroon and gold-trimmed throne looking through the photos that the grey unicorn had brought her.

"How many in all?" Celestia asked in a low voice.

"Thirty-seven, your highness," the grey unicorn with the solid, dark green mane replied.

Celestia's eyes widened.

'Thirty seven? Thirty seven of my little ponies have had their lives taken by animals that, according to their very nature, should be docile.' she thought. The Princess developed a scowl as she once again looked through the pictures. 'How could this have happened for weeks without me knowing?'

Each photo depicted ponies from across several cities which including Las Pegasus, Neighvada, and even Appleloosa. Every single pony had been torn to shreds and eaten. One was a white pegasus stallion with two foals and one colt at home. No doubt Celestia would have to make personally sure that the little ones would be in safe hands. Another one of the victims was a member of her own personal court. It was a tan unicorn mare with a dark brown mane and tail. She was one of the judges at the entrance exam of her lavender coated protégée. So many of the ponies she cared about and even some she personally knew. There were tooth and claw marks that matched Timber Wolves, Diamond Dogs, Manticores, and even some larger creatures such as the Ursa families and Hydras. All the creatures of Equestria were acting primal, except for most of the ones around Ponyville. Celestia chocked this up to the contribution and watchful eyes of the Element of Kindness...and the new Undead citizen that Ponyville had acquired five days ago.

After looking through each of the photos, she closed her eyes and gave a tired sigh before sliding them into the paper envelope and levitating them back to the grey unicorn.

"Our other investigators also claim there were tracks in blood and dirt that were from an unidentifiable animal," he told her.

She raised her eyebrow before opening her eyes and speaking,

"Really? What were the features of these tracks that were left at the scene of each crime?" she asked him.

"Well...uhh..." he stammered before looking at the waiting Princess nervously.

"They seemed to be comprised of the density and structure of a hoof at first...but the same tracks eventually...umm...changed in shape until they resembled an animal's," he spoke.

The throne room was dead quiet.

"Silver Mist?" the Princess called out to the grey unicorn scout gently.

"Yes Princess Celestia?" the stallion asked.

"I want you to continue to investigate these matters and bring me your findings. The general public is not to know about the deaths yet because it would put the masses of each city in an uproar of panic. We must know what is causing these creatures to act this way before we do something so brash," she told him before turning her head to the sharply dressed white unicorn by her throne's side. He wore a set of gold plated armor adorned with blue hair on the top crest of his helmet.

"Shining Armor?" she asked the white unicorn.

He saluted her before awaiting her orders.

"Yes, your majesty?" he asked his Princess.

"As head of the Royal guard, you will enforce a forty percent increase in the number of guards stationed in each city, as well as constant rotational shifts to make sure at least ten guards are stationed at every square block keeping patrol. This is to take place within every city of Equestrian rule, to ensure the safety of my subjects and all citizens of Equestria. Do both of you understand?" she asked with absolute seriousness in her voice. The Princess of the Day was not going to let this continue as it had been.

Shining Armor and Silver mist both bowed regally.

"Yes Princess Celestia," both evenly replied.

"Good. You are both dismissed," she told them before giving them a slight head nod. Such was the complimentary farewell gesture for her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia. She had given that nod to more ponies in her elongated life than she would have ever thought possible.

With that, they trotted down the plush red carpet leading out of the throne room to perform the duties they were given. When they were gone and the throne room was empty save the Princess, she slumped down from her formal posture and let out a long sorrowful sigh. She blinked her sad eyes and surveyed her throne room while thinking to herself,

'What is happening to my nation? There have been incidents where some of my subjects were killed by an animal or two, but nothing as horrible as this. What would even make somewhat civilized creatures such as Diamond Dogs want to kill ponies, and by Creation itself, what pony or animal could have left those odd tracks at the killings?'

She raised her head and looked out the large stained glass window to her left. It depicted Luna and herself wrapped around their joining celestial trademarks, the sun and the moon. It was recognized as the flag of Equestria across the entire planet of Equeas.

'Is this my fault?' she thought to herself with a sad gaze at the image on the window. 'Is it my fault that this happened under my watch? Am I not vigilant enough as a ruler? All those years ago when Discord ruled Equestria in utter chaos and disharmony, Luna and I found the Elements of Harmony and used them to end his tyranny. From that day on, I vowed to rule over this land and keep my subjects safe, and now on this day, thirty seven of my little ponies lie dead and were eaten alive.'

She cast her gaze upward and looked at the ceiling. Her eyes began to water.

"Have I failed everyone?" she asked the empty room.

"I dunno!" a voice replied bubbly.

The Princess nearly jumped out of her throne when she heard her question's answer come from out of nowhere. She quickly cast her gaze down and found herself looking at a wall-eyed pegasus with a blonde mane. She seemed to have a satchel draped across her grey coated chest.

"Mail call!" she yelled before speedily flying up inches from the Princess' face and held out a letter in front of her. Celestia had to give herself pause for a few seconds before she gripped the letter gently in a golden aura and levitated it down to her side. At that moment two day guards burst through the doorway panting heavily.

"Princess!...*pant*...We're...*pant*...sorry. We couldn't seem to stop her from getting through all the guards in the castle. We told her that you wanted to be alone, but she insisted," the white coated royal guard told her.

Princess Celestia was bewildered at the fact that the grey mare was able to evade her entire castle's defense. She gave a curious look to the mail mare who was hovering in front of her with a happy grin on her face.

"That's quite all right. Return to your posts," she told the two guards in the doorway. The golden armored guards looked at each other before saluting their Princess and doing what they were told. Celestia then turned her eyes to the mail mare.

"Derpy, is it?" she asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep!" the pegasus told her with a smile.

"Derpy Hooves is my name! Or Ditzy, or Derpy Doo, or Ditzy Doo Hooves, or anything really! Everypony always calls me by different names but they all know me mainly as Derpy, the most dependable, muffin loving, mail mare in Equestria!" she announced proudly with an adorable full-toothed smile. Celestia gave a light chuckle.

"Oh my, to what does a little old Princess like me owe the honor of having a wonderful mail mare such as yourself deliver me this letter?" Celestia asked her with a smile, her ethereal multicolored mane covering one of her eyes.

Derpy's wall eyes became as starry as a night sky at the compliment and her smile grew even wider.

"Oh believe me, it's MY pleasure to deliver a letter to the Princess! After all, at Derpy Mail, we...well, mostly me that is...strive to bring any package whatsoever with almost perfect precision to its destination! About eighty percent of everything we deliver has no damages whatsoever, so if you start using Derpy Mail today, we guarantee that you'll almost NEVER lose a package! Ever again!" Derpy announced to the Princess as if she were pitching a commercial.

"I see...well, who hired Derpy Mail to bring me this fine letter?" Celestia asked her.

Derpy's face shifted to one of attempted sternness.

"Oh, I can't tell you that Princess. You see, my client asked me not to tell anyone about the letter he wanted delivered to Canterlot and I promised on my honor as a mail mare that I wouldn't tell, and we at Derpy Mail never, ever, EVER break our promises. You see, Ponyville's post office workers would normally handle a trip to deliver mail to Canterlot, but I was paid a bunch more than the normal rate so I specifically could come here and deliver that letter to the Castle, and I figured who better to deliver to in the Castle than you!" she told her, before she turned her stern expression into one of mild nervousness.

"You're...you're not mad at me, are you?" she asked the Princess while sticking her bottom lip out.

The Princess gave a sympathetic smile towards Derpy.

"Of course not. What ever would give you that impression?" she asked her.

"Well, I flew past all your guards to give you this letter when you didn't want to be bothered, and now I can't even tell you who wanted it delivered," she told her while looking at the long carpet underneath her in shame. The Princess leaned down from her throne to the now standing Derpy and lifted her chin gently with her elegant horn.

"My little pony, there is no need to feel shame in sticking to your morals. Believe me, and thank you very much for delivering this to me," she told her warmly.

Derpy instantly perked up and returned to her previous wide smile.

"You're welcome Princess Celestia!" she told her happily before looking at the watch on her hoof. She gasped.

"Oh wow, look at the time! I better get going. I only have a few hours to get back to Ponyville before Dinky gets out of school," the wall-eyed mare told her before flying through the large doorway of the throne room with haste. With that, Celestia was once again by herself in the large throne room. She looked at the doorway still smiling.

'Enough blaming myself. It's my sole duty to watch over my subjects, and I would give my everlasting life to make sure that they were safe and no more lives were taken. This isn't abut me, this is about the nation Luna and I rule. I will have time to mourn for my mistakes when I know Equestria is safe. Until then, I will remain focused on stopping the killings that have gone unbeknownst to me until now.' she thought to herself.

She turned her gaze from the doorway and turned it to the letter that Derpy had brought her, still laying by her side. Celestia levitated it up from the plush cushion of her throne and looked at the front of the letter.

The paper was the color of eggshell and smoothly textured. It was also heavily scented in what smelled like high class perfume. On the front of the letter in bold elegant writing was her sister's name: Luna. This regal piece of mail was clearly for the Princess of the Night. Celestia looked to her left. She then turned her eyes to the right. She was still alone in the throne room.

The Princess of the Day got a sly grin on her face. Ever so gently she used her magic to turn the envelope over and lifted the seal, being very careful not to crack it in the process that way her sister wouldn't know she had read her mail. After a few seconds of careful pulling on the blue seal, she developed a small scowl.

"I wonder why these letters are so popular. They are more of an annoyance than anything, what with the sealing and folding. Scrolls are much so much easier to use. Just roll them up and send them away," she softly spoke to herself before she finally opened the seal without breaking it. Her face lit up when she managed to remove it.

"There we go," she said with satisfaction in her voice.

She unfolded the light blue note on the inside and started to read.

Dear Luna,

I am writing to you to remind you that I have not forgotten about the arrangement we made. I still have the full intention of seeing you this week. Expect me to be in Canterlot this Saturday night after I put my Master and Sweetie Belle to bed. Do not worry about meeting me. I shall find you, wherever you are at that time. I indeed look forward to sharing the night in the company of such a grace as yourself. Each night I bask in your glorious moon makes me all the more impatient to see you. I look forward to the night after the 'morrow.

Yours,

Marius

Postscript: When you are done reading this letter Celestia, please give it to your sister. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Celestia's eyes widened in shock as she read the last part of the short letter. They quickly narrowed in annoyance.

"How in Tartarus does he do that?" she asked herself.

The Vampire King.

That's what they once called him. He had come back as a walking incarnation of death itself and was responsible for bringing destruction to an entire race. Marius had fought entire armies by himself and crushed them like they were nothing but a group of insects.

But this...

This would prove to be the hardest challenge he has ever faced in his entire life.

"Ok everypony, settle down! We have a wonderful guest here today, so I want you to all make him feel welcome!" Cheerilee announced to her class.

Marius stood out in the hall waiting to be lead in by Sweetie Belle.

"How in the Deep Realm did I get roped into this?" Marius asked himself.

When Marius had healed Rainbow Dash after her crash yesterday, he took her and everyone else to the Apple family house where Applejack offered a bed to lay the unconscious Dash down on. She could get some rest after her hectic ordeal in one of the guest rooms while under the care of Applejack. By that time it was late in the evening and it was time for Sweetie Belle to be taken home. Going back outside and picking up the bouquet he almost forgot about, which still lay by the fence of the orchard, he picked up Sweetie Belle and flew back to the Boutique. Sweetie Belle loved being flown by her and her sister's Vampiric guardian. She loved the rush of wind through her mane and just the feeling of flight in general, which was not being limited to the confines of the ground.

When they got back to Carousel Boutique Sweetie had told her sister, who was busy thinking of a few designs for her new winter compilation, about the day they had and they way Marius saved Rainbow Dash. At hearing the news one of her best friends being spared from death by her servant, she was touched. Rarity had thanked Marius and shown her appreciation in a huge group hug with her Vampire and her little sister. The evening concluded as normal as any other in the past week. Marius cooked a late snack for them both and put Sweetie to bed since she had school tomorrow, and that's when she asked it. As she was being tucked into her cozy white and purple blankets, she proceeded to tell Marius that their Show and Tell at school was tomorrow and she asked Cheerilee a day in advance if she could bring Marius to show him to her class, which she had agreed to. The Vampire was a little skeptical to speak to a class full of children who he had never really spoken to and he would probably terrify them, not to mention it would require getting up at the absolutely dreadful hour of eleven a.m. Then he was reassured by his master who overheard the conversation. She told him that they would love him if he went to Show and Tell with Sweetie. After all, they were like the children at his welcome party, just a tiny bit older. Reluctantly, the Vampire agreed to speak to her class. The rest of the night had gone by peacefully. Marius flew back to Sweet Apple Acres that night to check on Rainbow Dash and was quite pleased to see that she had taken comfort in having Applejack stay by her side. They seemed to share a deep form of affection for each other beyond the realms of normal friendship. Marius was pleased by this, for he knew that the honest Cowpony's personality would meld particularly well with the egotistical yet loyal athlete's. Marius watched them cuddle next to each other for the whole night with a smile on his face. They snuggled up inside the covers. Applejack wrapped her hooves around Rainbow and pulled her in close so that Rainbow's cheek would rest on her chest, while she would rest her chin on top of Rainbows still somewhat dirty mane. Rainbow would sometimes shudder a little in her sleep, which would cause AJ to lightly mumble and wake up before planting the most gentle of kisses on the top of her head and pull Rainbow into a firm yet comforting embrace. It simply caused Rainbow to smile in her sleep and they would soon both be lightly snoring together again.

They were so easy to read, Marius didn't even have to use telepathy.

After that night, Marius decided to turn in early at five a.m. to get a couple hours of sleep before he had to walk to Sweetie Belle's school. Not that he needed it. Unknown to even his master, Marius could actually go years without sleep and it wouldn't effect him whatsoever. It just happened to be a luxury that he didn't like to let go to waste.

He now stood beside the door to the classroom as Sweetie Belle walked up to the front of the class. Some of the little fillies and colts were chattering lightly while most of them did as their teacher told them and waited patiently. They had all presented what they brought for class. Apple Bloom brought her papa's old hammer, while Diamond Tiara brought a giant bag of bits in a wagon that her father gave her for her allowance, and Twist brought a tiny Steller machine which was a device used to produce sticks from liquid candy and wrap them into caned mint treats. Everypony in class had presented their certain object and they were now down to the last filly who had to present her object, or Vampire rather. Sweetie Belle got to the front of the class beside her teacher, who nodded in her direction signaling it was ok to speak. She cleared her throat nervously.

"Ahem, ahem...hello everypony. Today for Show and Tell I have something very interesting," Sweetie said with a tiny squeak in her voice.

Diamond Tiara, who was seated in front of the classroom next to Silver Spoon, let out a large scoff before speaking,

"What's it supposed to be? A drawing of your cutie mark? Oh wait..." Tiara paused before grinning slyly.

"You don't have one!"

Tiara and Spoon along with several other children threw their head back in laughter.

Sweetie Belle felt stung with embarrassment and developed a defensive glare on her face.

"It is not!" she squeakily yelled at the still laughing children.

Marius overheard this outside the doorway and raised an eyebrow at Diamond Tiara's little insult. Cheerilee became quite cross with the children who were laughing.

"Now you listen here, little missy. You were actually quiet while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were presenting, so you will show Sweetie Belle the same amount of respect while she shows for this Show and Tell also. Is that understood?" the cherry coated mare told her tiara wearing student with a scolding look on her face. All of the students quickly shut their mouths and the laughter died down.

"Good. Now, continue Sweetie Belle," Cheerilee told the purple and pink maned filly. Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out at the glaring Tiara before continuing.

"What I have for Show and Tell today is somepony who's not really a pony. You've probably seen him walking around town. He works for my older sister and he's really nice. Plus, he's actually saved me from being hurt really really bad," the white filly spoke before turning to the doorway.

"You can come in now," she spoke.

The children turned their head to the doorway and their eyes got wider and wider as they slowly saw a large figure bend over to fit himself through doorway. He tried to stand up fully but found it was difficult as the top of his head made contact with the ceiling just as he straightened his body. Normally, all the children would have giggled at the creature hitting his head on the ceiling, but they were too awestruck to do anything but keep their mouths open. Marius had to resort to bending his knees slightly to avoiding hitting his head again, The fillies and colts had to crane their necks to look up at the very muscular and intimidating Vampire with short, disheveled brown hair and glowing red eyes. His black coat and cape that stretched down to his calves seemed to absorb every bit of light in the room that was hitting him.

"Everypony, this is Marius, and he's a Vampire," the little filly explained to all her classmates. There were only a few eyes eye in the room that didn't have fear in them. These were the eyes of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. None of the other ponies in Cheerilee's class had any experience with the Vampire other than they knew he liked to play with the smaller children who are in the younger classes such as Pip and Dinky, and many of them had seen the Vampire Marius speaking to the adult ponies around town. Even Cheerilee looked overwhelmed as she gaped up at the Vampire now standing in the classroom, and she had even attended his party. Luckily she saw how naturally good he was with children before the tiny scuffle with him and the Princess (which was the moment she decided to leave the party early).

"Umm...hello Marius, I don't believe we've been introduced properly. My name is Cheerilee and I'm the teacher for grades four, five, and six in Ponyville. Allow me to say that it's a pleasure to have you in our class!" she announced in a cheery tone with just a touch of nervousness. She told Sweetie if she was going to present Marius to the class, she had to make sure nothing bad would happen, like how his arm was blown to pieces by the Princess.

She was a little unnerved when the huge Vampire merely turned his head slightly and gave her a fanged smirk before speaking,

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine."

"Hi Mari!" Apple Bloom yelled from a seat in the middle of the class. He looked down and saw the little filly with a red bow in her mane smiling happily at him right next to a grinning orange pegasus who was waving her hoof.

"Hello girls!" he told them with a smile. "How are you on this absolutely disgustingly bright and sunny day?" he asked them. All three Crusaders giggled while the rest of the children weren't sure what to make of the Vampire talking about the sun with such disdain.

"Ah reckon we're pretty good. We actually just thought of the idea of gettin' our cutie marks in somethin' a bit different than we normally try! We might involve ya too!" Apple Bloom announced happily.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo yelled after her. "It's going to be totally awesome and it'll get us our cutie marks for sure!" she said with complete confidence.

Marius watched the little pale pink filly with a Tiara on her head roll her eyes and dismiss Scootaloo's confidence.

"*Pffft* As if. You little blank flanks couldn't come up with anything clever for getting a cutie mark even if it bit you on the nose," she told them before widening her eyes in realization.

"I got it! You must already HAVE your cutie mark!" she quickly developed a snide grin. "It must be blank too! That would explain why you all fail at everything you do," she said while looking at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She threw her head back in laughter again and several of the ponies in the class joined her, including Silver Spoon. Both fillies were visibly hurt by her insult. Apple Bloom merely looked at the ground in shame and Scootaloo glared at Tiara while biting her bottom lip to force her eyes to remain dry. Sweetie Belle's anger only rose to higher depths as she also fought back tears. Twist quickly leaned over her desk and sympathetically patted Apple Bloom's back.

"Thath not thunny! You could theriously hurt thompony by thaying mean thuff like that Tiara! You thould be athamed!" Twist scolded Tiara. Filthy Rich's little princess along with several other fillies and colts were laughing at the cruelty towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who should have had their cutie marks a full year ago.

"Hey Twist, you better watch that lisp. You might flood the whole THcool with all that drool! Hahahaha!" Spoon cackled with Tiara. Twist herself looked hurt by the spiteful words of the obnoxious fillies.

Cheerilee was fuming and was about to give Tiara and Spoon along with everypony else who was laughing a piece of her mind. Fortunately she didn't have to.

"HahahahaAAAH-" Tiara's laughter quickly changed into a squeal as she was grabbed and lifted out of her little school desk and into the air. She quickly found her voice gone and not able to scream when she saw how she got into the air. Marius had gotten down on his knees and used his hand to hoist the rude little filly up to meet his gaze. She was now being held inches away from his face while looking into his large, blood red eyes that were staring at the filly with curiosity.

"I...I uh....uhh..." Tiara found herself stammering and mouth agape as she searched for the right words to say to the terrifying Vampire to make him put her down.

"Why do you enjoy the misery of other ponies?" he asked her with his deep and smooth voice as gently as he possibly could. Tiara didn't expect to be asked this question and found her eyes darting around the room as she was held several of her body lengths off of the ground.

"P...please don't hurt me," she begged the Vampire using a volume that was barely a whimper.

Marius scoffed loudly.

"I did not say I was going harm you in any way, but you didn't answer my question. Why do you enjoy the misery of other ponies?" he asked her once more.

Once Marius assured Tiara that she wasn't going to be harmed, it actually made her aware of the question he asked, as well as all the other ponies in the classroom gawking at the spectacle.

"Marius, um...I'm not sure you should be doing-" Cheerilee spoke but was cut off as Marius turned his head to her and narrowed his eyes, jarring her into losing her train of thought. Cheerilee decide to let the Vampire do whatever he was planning because he probably had a good reason for doing it.

"Well, why don't you go ahead and answer Marius, Diamond Tiara?" Cheerilee comfortingly told her student who was still being held in the air. Tiara looked back into her interrogator's eyes and gulped

"I don't know. I mean, they don't have their cutie marks and it's been a year and a half since they made their dumb Crusader club. I think that they shouldn't even be in our class because they don't have them. It's embarrassing to other students like us," she snobbishly told the Vampire holding her up.

"Interesting," he said.

"So you're saying that they don't deserve respect like the rest of you simply because of their appearance?" Marius asked her.

Diamond Tiara seemed to get a little more flustered at each passing moment.

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad!" she yelled at Marius.

"That's because it is bad, little one," Marius told her.

"Trying to hurt someone due to their appearance or lack of a certain mark or quality that others possess is absolutely horrid, and it's one of the things that causes much conflict in this life," he explained to her.

"From what Sweetie Belle has told me, you speak spiteful words making fun of others as well. Not just the Crusaders because they do not have their cutie marks, but you also make fun of Twist because of her speech impediment, and the little one called Chowder because of his somewhat excessive weight," he named off to the little filly. By now Tiara was glaring at Marius.

"What's your point?! I don't see why I should care," she told him angrily.

Marius narrowed his other worldly eyes and returned a glare of his own, only his was intimidating enough to strike fear into Tiara and paralyze her along with several other students.

"My point is that you may be young and retain quite a bit of innocence now, but you are on a dangerous path. One that not only harms others, but you as well. If you continue to spew hate to those in your life just because you can, you will damn yourself to an unhappy life of bitter loneliness and eventually you will be on your death bed many years from now, regretting every moment of pain that you have caused. These thoughts will consume you until you will die with regret in your heart wishing you could go back and make it up to those you have hurt, but you will never be able to," he explained in a harsh tone that was just louder than a whisper.

Diamond Tiara was not use to such harsh words being spoken to her. The terrifying nature of the creature speaking them didn't help either. It was by this account that she realized something. She shifted her eyes down to stare at the ground that was a ways below her. Had she really been harming herself this entire time? Was she really going to die alone with no one that cared about her? The filly's eyes were filled with sorrow. All of the mean things she has said to other ponies never weighed more on her than they did in that moment.

"I'm so sorry..." she whispered to the Vampire who was still holding her while she continued to stare at the ground.

"Don't tell me," Marius said warmly. Tiara lifted her head and found that he was now smiling at her.

"Instead, try and make up for the bad things you have done and replace them with good things, such as treating those you have made fun of with kindness. You will find that this is what will make you truly happy," he spoke with comfort to her. "Remember that you are still so very young Diamond Tiara, and you have plenty of time to change your ways while there is still hope for doing so."

Tiara gave a sad smile to the Vampire.

"You're right...I'll try, Mr. Marius," the filly gently told him.

The Vampire winced.

"It's Marius, or, if you prefer, the pet name of Mari. It seems that other ponies have grown accustomed to calling me this name, therefore you can too, but NEVER call me Mr. Marius again," he told her. All of the children including Tiara giggled. Cheerilee watched the whole spectacle from over by the edge of her desk with a warmth growing in her heart. Diamond Tiara had learned a valuable lesson while speaking to the Vampire, even if it was very harsh. He seemed so wise...so old. Cheerilee began to develop an admiration and respect for the wisdom and intelligence the Vampire seemed to possess.

"Can you put me down now...umm...please?" Diamond Tiara asked Marius.

He smirked before replying,

"Nope."

The Vampire got up off his knees and stretched his arms forward, placing the tiny purple and white maned filly on top of the wobbly ceiling fan. He then proceeded to turn the fan on.

'Seemed to possess.' thought Cheerilee with annoyance.

"This isn't funny! Get me down from heeeeerrreeee!" Tiara screamed as she held on to the blade of the ceiling fan as it rotated faster and faster, whipping her around in circles. Everypony in the room excluding Cheerilee seemed to be letting loose gales upon gales of laughter.

"Could you please get her down?" Cheerilee asked the now chuckling Vampire. Marius noticed the look of irritation on the teacher before giving a sheepish grin, his fangs just barely noticeable.

"Hehehe. Of course."

Marius had managed to get Tiara down off of the ceiling fan and back into her desk. After a few minutes of mane ruffling and attempted grabbing of the flailing filly, he just decided to turn the fan off, causing Tiara to be shot at the ground and caught by the Vampire before her head made contact with her desk. Currently, she was none too pleased with the Vampire and had to work at straightening her mane up so her tiara wouldn't fall off. Marius had gotten back up to the front of the class after putting Tiara back in her seat and was now beside Sweetie Belle once more. He looked down at the little filly and gave that same kind smile she always saw him give her.

"I'm sorry that took so long," he told her.

Sweetie Belle let out a tiny giggle before speaking to him,

"It's ok. You may have stopped her from teasing us from now on actually."

Marius gave a small nod before asking,

"Are we ready to proceed?"

Sweetie Belle shook her head up and down excitedly.

"Yep! We sure are!" she happily announced before turning her head back to the class.

"Attention everypony! Your attention here please!" she yelled to her classmates. The small amount of chatter that had began among them quickly died down and now every eye was up towards the front of the classroom staring at Sweetie Belle.

"Marius and I decided that it would be best if we answered any questions that you might have about him now, since he is still my Show and Tell presentation," Sweetie Belle let out a snort at her little joke. "Are there any questions that you have about him that you want him us to answer? she asked her class.

It seemed like every hoof in the room went up at once. Marius stuck his index finger out and pointed to a grey blue unicorn colt in the back.

"You," Marius said plainly. Snips put his hoof down and began to talk.

"I was wondering, can you do magic? A lot of ponies that I've been hearing talk about you say that you can do magic, so I was curious if ya could!" he announced in a tiny harsh voice that sounded almost urban.

"Of course he can do magic!" Sweetie answered for him. "He healed my leg and saved Rainbow Dash yesterday by healing her. He even may have as much magic as the Princesses!" Sweetie's voice cracked as she announced.

Every eye in the room was now wide.

"Whoooooaaa..." the entire class said simultaneously.

"Can you...uh...show us your magic, eh?" asked a pale orange unicorn that sat by Snips and had a snail as his cutie mark. This caused everyone to lock their eyes on him, waiting for an answer.

Seeing no reason to not satisfy, Marius held out his hand like he was holding something in his palm and everyone including Cheerilee watched as a light red glow began to envelop his hand. The room's temperature became a bit chillier and the light in the room seemed to darken. Everypony gasped as a bright red current of electricity appeared from the Vampire's palm and arched its way through and around his fingers as he flexed them back and forth. Raising his hand slightly in the air, he shot the current of red electricity at the ceiling with a loud *crack* which made everypony jump. The raw magical current didn't connect with the ceiling and disperse, but instead it veered off before making contact. It ricocheted back and forth between the walls and floors, wrapping around the students desks. The light from the windows had continued to dissipate until it was very dark in the classroom and the only light was from the energetic red current. After ricocheting on every surface several times, it was headed right for the Vampire's face.

The crackling energy stopped inches from the Marius' face and the current wrapped around itself and winded immensely fast and a few seconds later it had condensed itself into a single glowing red ball of pure, radiant energy. The faint glow acted as a candle in the dark classroom which illuminated all the awestruck students and their teacher. Marius raised both of his hands and wrapped his palms around the field of non-visible force enveloping the ball. It offered little resistance to his hands as it allowed him to hold the orb.

"This is the essence of Vampiric magic, Plasmic Energy. All of the natural Plasmic Energy in your body remains for a time when you die, and becoming a Vampire merely makes it much stronger. This is due to the fact that after you are introduced to death, you strengthen your inner aura when you are re-introduced to your body and you reach the precipice of the bond between your mind and its connection to your inner energy. Couple that with gaining a better understanding of its pure atomic structure and nucleic makeup, it is very easy to understand how to ionize it and bend it to your will," the Vampire explained to the students. He noticed they looked at him with utter confusion. Even Cheerilee wasn't quite sure what he was talking about.

He sighed.

"Its like a unicorn gaining complete control over their magical font, including increasing and decreasing the amount of magic they can use before magical exhaustion starts to set in," he told them. A look of realization was put on the faintly lit faces of the many fillies and colts, while some of them (mainly those who weren't unicorns) still had the same look of confusion. After looking at all of them, Marius let the highly conductive ball of energy in his hands destabilize with a sizzle, and the sunlight slowly started to fade back into the class room.

"That...was..." Snips found himself searching for the right word.

"AWESOME!" he finished with a huge grin, his overbite goofily showing through his enthusiastic expression.

"That wath tho amathing!" Twist screamed.

"You might even be as good with magic as The Great and Powerful Trixie!" Snips spoke once more. Marius cocked an eyebrow.

"Who?" he asked.

"Ohh, she's one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria eh, but we haven't seen her since we brought the Ursa Minor to town and it wrecked her cart," Snails explained dully.

"Ahhh...I see," spoke the Vampire. He sifted through Celestia's memories to find the image of this Ursa Minor, until he settled on the image of a very large, ethereal, bear like creature. The Vampire made a mental note to ask his master how the town rid themselves of such a creature.

"Does anypony else have anymore questions?" Sweetie asked her class.

"Ohhh, ohhh, I do, I do!" yelled a skinny pegasus who was waving his hoof wildly in the air.

"Yes Featherweight?" Sweetie Belle asked the skinny pegasus. He put his hoof down and asked,

"I was wondering, you drink blood like the stories about Vamponies say right?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" Marius replied.

"Well...um...how do you uhh...go to the coltsroom?" he asked.

Marius found himself very curious at what the child was asking, while the rest of the class seemed to be giggling under their breath.

"I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean. Coltsro-?" it dawned on him what he was asking. Coltsroom must have been a play on the term boysroom, which meant he was asking how the Vampire used the bathroom. At realizing this, the Vampire howled in laughter.

"Hahaha, I haven't had anypony ask me that in the entire five days I have been here!" the Vampire said while letting his laughter slowly die down.

"I don't use the restroom. Anything I consume, including blood or normal food such as sweets or apples is completely devoured by my body, therefore there is nothing left to be forced out," he explained.

Deciding to change the rather gross subject, Twist quickly asked,

"How thtrong are you?" she asked through her lisp.

The Vampire opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Sweetie Belle

"He's super strong Twist! When we were about to be attacked by those Timber Wolves, he threw a tree that was as big as a HOUSE on top of them!" she told her fellow classmate.

"No way! That's amazing," blurted out plump little Chowder when Sweetie answered his nerdy fillyfriend's question.

"Whoa, tho that meanth you're even thtronger than Apple Bloom'th older brother!" she announced in amazment.

"Now how do yall reckon he's stronger than mah brother? Ah mean, Ah know he's pretty strong and Ah'm really grateful that he saved us and all, but Big Mac has drug a whole house across halfa' the town before!" she presented her argument.

"Yeah, but if we hadn't given him that Love poison, he probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off. He was under the influction of the brew that we made," Scootaloo announced. Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo's attempt to look intelligent.

"Influction...isn't a word," she announced to her orange coated friend with aggravation. Scootaloo rolled her eyes before speaking,

"*Pffft* You would know, Miss Dictionary," she told Sweetie who's left eye seemed to twitch at the mention of the word.

"What was that Scootaloo? I don't speak Chickenese," she gave a wicked smile towards the little pegasus, who was aghast at her friend.

"You did not just say that..." she told Sweetie while giving her a blood chilling glare.

All three Crusaders rolled around on the ground in a ball of hoof punches and tail biting for several minutes. Marius crossed his arms as he and Cheerilee both closed their eyes and shook their heads.

"Kids..." they both said together.

The rest of the afternoon at school continued and Marius was asked several more questions by the class. Such as how old he was, what the embroidered ankhs on his coat were, and if he knew how to bake (asked by Silver Spoon, oddly enough). He even decided to get down on his knees and slightly expand his wings, careful as not to scratch the walls. They all gawked at the large wings and even got a chance to come up to the front of the class and feel the black leathery skin that made up the dactylopatagium in between each wing finger. While he was showing them his wings, Sweetie Belle who was running her hooves along his right wing developed wicked grin as she thought of an idea.

"Marius?" she said while pulling on part of his right wing that wasn't being eyed and examined by the class. Marius cast his glance down and looked curiously at his master's sister.

"Yes Sweetie Belle?" he asked her.

"Can I show them how you heal?" she asked with as innocent a smile as she could muster.

He gave her a deadpanned look before sighing.

"Very well," he told her.

She grinned from ear to ear.

"Yay!" she grinned before taking a pencil from Miss Cheerilee's desk in both hooves, jumped slightly to gain more altitude, and jabbed the pencil into the inner ring of right his eye.

"Ahhhhh!" all of the children except for Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo screamed and backed away from his wings as they watched a stream of blood pour down his face out of the stab wound. Cheerilee jumped out from behind her desk and ran to Marius' side.

"Are you alright?!" she asked Marius, but was soon answered. She and all the children who were now backed away from him watched as he grabbed the pencil and yanked it from the stab wound in his eye with a smile, followed by a small gush of blood that hit the ground.

All three of the Crusaders rolled on the ground in laughter at the shock Sweetie got from stabbing Marius, who unbeknownst to the rest of the class, couldn't feel pain at all.

Marius just smirked as the small hole in his right eye healed and closed. Cheerilee, finally out of her shocked state, glared at the three fillies still cackling and rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Let's see if all three of you girls are laughing when you're the one who has to clean that blood off of the floor!" she sternly told them.

The girls quickly developed frowns before Sweetie Belle spoke,

"Oh, come on!"

In truth, Marius could have helped them clean the dark blood from his eye off of the ground, as he could have just returned it to his body, but he watched them scrub and clean the ground with a small sense of satisfaction since Sweetie only stabbed him to get a shock from her fellow students. The Vampire couldn't have thought of a more fitting punishment.

Marius stayed until school was over at about three o'clock in the afternoon. He actually proved to be a great help to Cheerilee, who had just started teaching Algebraic Theory to her students. After school was out, Marius waded through the crowd of very young ponies who were running out of the schoolhouse. Marius and Sweetie bid farewell to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom before they were on their way to Sweetie's parent's house. The Vampire had met and introduced himself to his master's parents Tuesday after the picnic. He had taken a liking to them, mainly because of how utterly embarrassed they made his master, Rarity. After a short walk through the West side of town, they arrived at a common, two floored house with a straw roof. It resembled every other house design in Ponyville and it just so happened to be where the parents of Rarity and Sweetie Belle lived. A quick knock on the door from the Vampire caused it to be swung open by Rarity's father, Yard Runner. The light brown coated unicorn was adorned with three hoofballs on his flank and wore an awfully designed floral shirt.

"Oh hiya there Marius! Thanks for walkin' our little angel home," he said as Sweetie jumped in the air and hugged her father.

"Daddy!" the little white filly yelled as she embraced him.

"Hi there pumpkin! How was school today?" he asked her as he rubbed her mane with his hoof.

"It was really fun. I took Marius to Show and Tell and he explained how he could do magic and stuff. It was so cool!" she squeaked.

"Ahh, that's nice dear. Have ya eaten lunch yet today?" her mother Garden Wishes spoke as she trotted up behind her husband. As if on cue, Sweetie's stomach gave a loud and audible grumble as if it had a bear inside it. Marius cocked an eyebrow as she smiled sheepishly.

"Umm...no, I guess I forgot," she told them.

"Well, I just made some fresh hay fries with that fancy new hay slicer that we bought from Las Pegasus, how about I make ya a plate pumpkin?" her mother asked brightly.

"I'd love some!" Sweetie replied a bit louder than she needed to.

She quickly jumped down out of her father's arms, and waved her hooves up in the air at Marius in anticipation for a hug. Smirking, Marius leaned down and scooped the little filly he had grown to care about immensely in the past five days into his arms. He held her gently against the top of his chest and neck so she could wrap her arms around the large Vampire and nuzzle his cold cheek with her own.

"Thanks for coming with me today Mari," she told him just above a whisper.

"It was my pleasure Sweetie Belle," he replied gently before placing a tiny kiss on the top of her mane and sitting her back down on the ground. Yard Runner and Garden Wishes both had their hearts warmed at the sight of the large, intimidating Vampire they had once slightly feared being so warm and gentle with their daughter, as if she was his own. They had no idea he cared about her so much.

"Thank you so much for watching her Marius, and for watching Rarity also," Yard told the Vampire as Sweetie Belle walked into their house. The Vampire merely smiled and got down on one knee to bow towards them as he put his arm in front of his chest.

"It is my sole duty...and I wouldn't have it any other way," he told them before standing, turning and walking off towards the upper part of town. Both unicorns watched him go with a sympathetic smile. They had heard from their daughter about what happened in his past, and they wondered how someone who has lost so much could seem so content. It was soon to be four o'clock and the Vampire had somewhere to be soon.

After all, Marius was not one to break dinner plans.

The soothing sounds of Ponyville and minor hustle and bustle was very relaxing to the Vampire. He saw ponies always seem so busy, yet in no rush to be anywhere. Such was life in Ponyville. It was beautiful how content one could be in the utter peace of the town. Knowing you didn't have to quite rush to be anywhere, for even if you were late you would reach your destination.

'I am curious if all towns in Equestria are as peaceful as this.' the Vampire thought to himself as he walked by the market stalls in the town square. He waved his hand to Rose.

"I've missed you Hot Flank!" he yelled to her. She quickly lived up to her name by having her cheeks turn the same color. She ducked down into her stall to avoid the embarrassment of being looked at by everypony, leaving the brown stallion with an hourglass as a cutie mark she was selling a bouquet to looking around to see where she had gone. He smirked at the actions of the embarrassed pale yellow florist. Marius waved once more, this time at Golden Harvest (although she preferred to be called Carrot Top), Applejack's prime competitor in the food market. She and Applejack had been warring for the past several years over the question that has been asked since the dawn of time: Which is better? Fruits or Vegetables?

'Honestly...I prefer meat, myself.' he thought to himself with a slight chuckle.

After taking some time walking through the downtown square, Marius finally arrived at his destination with the crudely repaired mailbox out front and no Derpy wedged inside of it. Marius walked up to the door and gave three loud knocks.

"Coming!..." an unfamiliar voice called out toward the door. For about thirty seconds there was no response, then It slowly opened to a slightly dripping Bon Bon with a towel wrapped around her mane. She brought her hoof to her mouth

"Marius! You're here early. You couldn't wait to cook us dinner, huh?" she asked with a sly look.

"Well, come in. You can make yourself at home. Lyra's still finishing up in the bath," she told Marius whilst ushering him inside their home, which he had to bend down to fit into the doorway just like most structures around Ponyville

Marius in turn looked at her curiously once inside the small living room.

'They were taking a bath together, therefore I am curious as to what she meant by finishing up...' he thought with a wicked smirk.

"Was that you who spoke to me through the door?" Marius asked her as she closed said door.

."Yes. Why do you ask?" Bon Bon spoke.

"Well, the voice that spoke to me sounded unfamiliar," he told her as they both started to walk past the staircase and into the living room. It was adorned with pictures of Lyra and Bon Bon together all over and a single red, plush couch in the middle of the room, sitting in front of the fire place.

Bon Bon gave a small chuckle before explaining,

"Yeah, people tend to say my voice seems to change from time to time. Weird huh?" she asked him. The Vampire raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. So, I take it you were bathing with Lyra?" he asked her deviously. Bon Bon's eyes shot open as she was drying her mane with the towel.

"Well...uh...yeah, I mean, she is my roommate and all, so isn't it normal for us to bathe together?" she spoke sheepishly.

"Of course," he spoke to her with a smile. "I was just curious if you were romantically involved."

Bon Bon laughed nervously.

"Well, I mean, of course not! Why would we be romantically involved? We're just really good friends," she explained to him, content with her answer. Almost as if pre-planned, a loud and shrill voice came roaring down the stairs and into the living room where they sat, dripping with the arousal and satisfaction of a sexual release.

"Auuuuuugghh!" cried the loud voice that sounded very similar to the voice of said mint-green unicorn. The voice then started to pant as it calmed in volume and tone.

"*pant*...*pant*...Bon Bon...*pant*...Who was at the door?" asked the voice.

The cream colored mare in front of Marius could have fried and egg on her cheeks from the pure heat coming off of them as she looked between Marius' eyes and the ground with a mortified expression.

Marius merely smirked that signature fanged smirk that he had.

"Finishing up, indeed."

After Lyra came down stairs and was told about their guest arriving early, she apologized multiple times to both Bon Bon and Marius for the embarrassing scream which had echoed through the house during her orgasm. She insisted that she thought Bon Bon and her were alone. The Vampire told her to think nothing of it. He wasn't uncomfortable at all with the thought of anything or anyone being involved in sexual activity, for he in truth was a monster and continued to enjoy it himself. He told them,

"Physical intimacy with another is a by-product of love and lust. When it is done through love, it should be valued, accepted, and enjoyed. It is the only thing in existence, besides raw magic on occasion, which allows life to flourish in this world. Lust, on the other hand, is the primal desire of carnal need. Without lust, the need to truly love wouldn't exist. The body lusts and the mind loves, therefore like every existing element in the world, one has to find a proper balance of both to maintain a happy life."

The young mares were shocked at the near guru-sense of wisdom which the young looking Vampire held. They hadn't known how old he was and asked him.

The answer they received caused their jaws to drop more than the children at school this afternoon.

When all was said and done on that issue, the Vampire made his way into their kitchen and started to cook them dinner. He gathered up some fresh tomato sauce with minced oregano, fresh carrots and mushrooms, spinach leaves, zucchini, and three types of cheeses being ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan out of the absolutely loaded fridge. He had to make the noodles from scratch out of a few eggs and flower, but otherwise he had all the ingredients needed to bake a delectable vegetarian lasagna. While cooking for several hours, Lyra asked him all she could about the human race. She asked him: How many were there? How did they live? Were they civilized? How did their hands work? Did they own pets? and many, many more.

Marius answered each question as truthfully as possible while he continued to cook, without giving her too much of the details about the horrible things that they were known for, such as killing their own race for disagreements, chastising and destroying innocence, and he left out what had happened with his family. He didn't want to have to go into those grizzly details.

He told her how they had advanced in technology by using scientific method and he gave her brief descriptions of the Ages of Steel, Steam, and Electricity. Fortunately, she seemed most interested in their anatomy as she watched him wash and use his hands to cook with amazement. Every time he would take a knife and use it instead of his claws, he would twirl it in his fingers like a baton to give her a little show. It caused Lyra to giggle and squeal like a filly with her hooves over her smiling mouth. Bon Bon just shook her head and face hoofed. Eventually when the conversation lead off of the topic of humans, everyone started talking about Lyra and Bon Bon's relationship. They had been living together for five years to avoid paying the costly fees of living alone. Over time, they had casually grown to become best friends and soon, marefriends. They have kept it secret for a year and a half due to not knowing how their family would react. Marius told them that if their family truly cared about them, then it didn't matter who they were with. Their family would accept them for who they are and who they choose to be with. This seemed to give hope and courage to the mares who leaned into each other and nuzzled while Marius was almost done cooking. He scooted them out of the kitchen and told them he'd be done in five minutes.

A short time later, he had come out and set their dining room table up for three, sitting the white ceramic plates down on the laminated oak, before bringing a divine smelling pan out to the table and sitting it down in front of the two waiting ponies. Somehow, in that short five minutes they were out of the kitchen, Marius found the time to put on a black apron. He scooped them out a large slab of the beautifully crafted dish he had made with a spatula and fork, and served them first before sitting down and scooping himself out a plate. Lyra levitated her fork and Bon Bon held it in her hoof as they both dug into the lasagna.

From the expressions they made, Marius thought they were both about to have an orgasm, instead of just Lyra this time.

"Oh...my....Celestia. This is quite possibly the best thing I have ever tasted," drearily announced Bon Bon through a small mouthful of the gourmet dish.

"Ditto..." was all Lyra spoke.

After all three of them finished the incredible dinner that the Vampire had made for them, the two happy and now stuffed mares bid him goodnight with a soft hug from each of them, careful not to cause them to spew like a bottle of soda. He was then on his way back to Carousel Boutique a few minutes after seven thirty p.m.

He closed in on the door to his new home and opened the door slowly before ducking under the doorway (again) and walking inside.

"Marius darling!" his beautiful master greeted him with a whip of her luscious indigo mane before trotting over to where he stood.

"How was your day?" she asked her servant.

"Interesting to say the least. Too many questions," he replied to her in minor irritation. "How was yours Rarity?"

She gave an overdramatic sigh before looking at her marshmallow like hooves and checking them for smudges.

"Well, to say my day has been dull would be the most true statement ever announced by anypony, but a lady would never refer to her day as dull. She would only see it as an opportunity to make tomorrow a day of fabulousness and productivity!" she announced with determination as she stamped her hoof she was inspecting lightly back into the ground.

"No new ideas for the Winter line I take it master?" he asked her simply.

Her determined face sank and looked at the ground.

"Not a one, Marius. How will I ever come up with something new and wonderful if I have been drawing nothing but blanks from my mind this entire week?" she asked him sadly while pouting out her bottom lip.

"Give it time, Rarity. If you believe that you will come up with something great, than you will. You just can't expect it right away," he comforted her.

"I suppose you're right," she said while looking to her left at the blank mannequins on the wall. She then furrowed her brow as she thought of something.

"Sweetie Belle and the girls have been quiet for an awfully long time. I wonder what they're up too," she announced with suspicion.

"I thought Sweetie was staying with your parents tonight," Marius said.

"Well she was originally, but then she begged if she and the girls could all stay here. It had something to do with a Cutie Mark Crusading idea that they came up with," she told him as she tapped her chin in thought.

They were quickly answered as a silver knife sailed across the air and stuck its blade into Marius throat. This caught him as a shock and he quickly yanked out the knife from his carotid artery in a large gush of blood. Rarity and Marius cast their gaze towards the stairs and their eyes quickly widened at three wickedly grinning fillies with silverware strapped to their chest like bandoleers and bloodlust in their eyes. They all unanimously screamed,

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER VAMPIRE HUNTERS, YAY!"